Tag: Vol. LXXX

WHY NOT bring corpses back to life tomorrow?

Stupid (sarcastic, actually) as it is, this may have been the consequential question lingering in a seemingly dying idealistic mindset of a newbie in the Philippine national elections like that of this writer after listening to criticisms from simple conversations way up to the level of mass media. On one hand, people tend to unreasonably compare upcoming candidates for the 2010 elections with previous leaders whose alleged accomplishments seemed not to materialize. The other holds the shallow romantic’s bubble of false hopes.

“You know they always say if you live in one place long enough, you are that place.” - Sylvester Stallon as Rocky Balboa in Rocky V

CURTAIN-RAISER: This writer hogs the spotlight one last time. But more than the traditional cheers and jeers blanketing his presence on the rostrum, he wishes only a simple token of departure from believers and naysayers alike in his reflective gallery – that he be allowed to express his gratitude and critical latitude by filling this space with the re-personalizing words “I”, “me” and “myself” before calling it a day on the cardboard stage.

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TALK ABOUT serendipity.

(No, not the kind that projects a cinematic boy-meets-girl scenario leading to the mushy happily-ever-after ending. Yet to its unfolding similarities inevitably abound. Listen.)

A FEW strokes before midnight last June 2, the dominant tenants of the House of Representatives once more submitted to their nocturnal incantations, morphing into heedless beasts of gore and horror as their parliamentary fangs savagely ripped apart the flesh of the body politic.

By dawn, the ghouls of the lower chamber had returned to their statesmen-like disguise, yet burping incessantly from yester-night’s impish power bacchanalia.

Behold the so-called House of Representatives, whose 170 members from the majority bloc are again salivating on the rotting carcass of charter change through the graveyard-timed passage of House Resolution (HR) 1109, which seeks to convene Congress as a constituent assembly for the purpose of amending the Constitution “to be able to finally put an end to the perpetual conflict on the legal interpretation of how to amend the charter by way of constituent assembly,” if we are to believe Speaker Prospero Nograles.

DESPITE extensive efforts to prevent the spread of the influenza A(H1N1) virus, four swine flu cases emerged on campus in a span of three days, forcing the one-week closure of three buildings just two weeks after University officials delayed the opening of classes precisely to avoid a flu outbreak.

The St. Martin de Porres Building which houses the colleges of medicine, rehabilitation sciences, and nursing was shut down last June 22 with the discovery of the University’s first A(H1N1) case, followed by the Roque Ruaño or Engineering Building last June 23 where a student tested positive for swine flu.

Training at the gym was suspended until July 2 when a female athlete was found to have A(H1N1) also last June 23.

• The Influenza A virus is the most common cause of influenza or “flu” to humans, while H1N1 is a subtype that has strains of swine flu and avian flu.

• According to the Centers for Disease control and Prevention, the first A(H1N1) patient in the United States was confirmed by laboratory testing on April 15, 2009. The second patient was confirmed on April 17, 2009. Reports said the outbreak started in Mexico, but the World Health Organization (WHO)is still investigating the epidemiological evidence in Mexico.

ABOUT 12,000 freshmen students have enrolled in UST for the semester, the Office for Admissions said.

Admissions director Mecheline Zonia Manalastas said the University expected only 10,170 students to confirm. But as of May 19, those who have confirmed their enrollment reached 10,263. Last year, freshmen enrollment was pegged at 11,756.

The numbers were expected to increase as late enrollees from here and abroad would still be entertained in June, she added.

Manalastas said the University’s ability to accommodate more students without neglecting the quality of instruction is one of the reasons why UST continues to attract a great number of enrollees.

Each college has its own projected number of sections based on the number of classrooms and facilities it can provide to students.

“Each department only accepts the number of students it can accommodate (so as to ensure quality education),” Manalastas said.

THE FACULTY of Arts and Letters (Artlets) remained the chief producer of honor graduates in the University, data from the Office of Alumni Affairs showed.

Out of 584 graduates of Artlets, 16.10 percent or 94 were honor students, 84 of which were cum laudes, while 10 were magna cum laudes. Last year, honor students were 17.8 percent of the total, or 114 of the 641 graduates.

The Faculty of Pharmacy, which had the highest number of graduates at 705, followed Artlets with 83 honors composed of 64 cum laudes, 17 magnas and two summa cum laudes.

The College of Tourism and Hospitality management wound up third with 64 cum laudes, six magna cum laudes and one summa cum laude.

OUTSIDERS who want to jog inside the University are now requested to get a “joggers pass,” a new security measure according to officials.

“The implementation of the jogger’s pass has been practiced for some time now,” Assistant Treasurer Leonardo Syjuco said. “This is to qualify the people going inside the campus and to avoid the entrance of people with hidden agenda.”

Applicants must submit a bio-data, two 2x2 photos, and pay a fee of P150.

UST LANDED second in the mechanical engineering licensure exams, but ranked poorly in both the Civil and Chemical Engineering boards.

UST posted an 83 percent passing rate in Mechanical Engineering as 15 of the 18 Thomasian examinees passed, 11 of whom were first-time takers.

The University was the second top-performing school, next to the University of the Philippines-Diliman.

Despite the low passing turn-out in the Civil and Chemical Engineering boards, the University managed to enter the top ten in both exams.

“The result was good (since many of those who passed were first-time takers). Normally, those who take the April board exams are those who are already working but failed in their previous attempt,” said Nelson Pasamonte, Mechanical Engineering Department head.

The national passing rate for the mechanical engineering exams was 49.57 percent as 577 out of 1,164 examinees passed.

THE UNIVERSITY produced 100 new lawyers out of 193 Thomasian hopefuls who took the 2008 bar examination. But the passing rate has plunged.

The Faculty of Civil Law had a 51.81 percent passing rate, a far cry from last year’s 66 percent passing mark but much better than the national passing rate of 20.58 percent. Only 1,310 out of 6,364 examinees passed this year.

Acting Dean Roberto Abad noted that the Supreme Court again lowered the passing rate.

“UP (University of the Philippines), Ateneo and San Beda suffered the same decline in passing percentage. The other reason is we graduated an extraordinary large number last year,” Abad said.

Of the 100 Thomasian passers, 79 were first-time takers while 21 were repeaters. No Thomasian got to the top ten.