Tag: Vol. LXXXIV

INILUNSAD ng Educational Technology Center (Ed-Tech) Innovative Learning Section ang bagong bersyon ng Blackboard e-Education platform upang tumugon sa modernong pangangailangan ng mga Tomasino at magbigay ng mas malawak na paraan ng pagtuturo.

Ang bagong e-Learning Access Program (e-LeAP) ay mayroong bagong login interface at overlay, social learning at notification system, retention center, item analysis at online calendar.

Binigyang diin ni e-LeAP Director Anna Cherylle Ramos na ang social learning ay isang mahalagang kasangkapan sa pagsusulong ng akademikong kurikulum kaalinsabay ng teknolohiya.

WHEN things seem to always be in our favor, especially when we realize our aspirations, we can’t help but hope that they would last forever.

But we have to admit that living within our comfort zones is dreaming without fulfillment. No matter how much we hold of the things we cherish the most, the time will come that we must leave them behind and we must move on.

Letting go perhaps is painful, or even harder than we expect it to be. There’s no other way but to move forward and continue walking towards another journey.

***

“Nobody, not even the rain, has such small hands.”—E.E. Cummings

I had an initiation of sorts with rain. My freshman enrollment in UST was met by a downpour. My mother and I were on the jeepney on España Boulevard when almost instantly the water rose to knee-level. We could not move. Floodwater had already clogged all the drainage; a swarm of cockroaches peeked through the cracks of the floor; and large black rats were carried off by the torrent. I had to wade through the high water barefoot just to get across! Of course UST didn’t suspend the enrollment; everything went by normally. As with the usual Welcome Walk for freshmen, rain is another invitation, a rite of passage with nature so to speak: one of many stories in our University’s rain lore.

Dreamers never want to let go.

Dreams, even the grandest, would not last: everything, no matter how beautiful and wonderful it may be, has an end. An end we all have to accept.

But having an end, dreams are always the pinnacles of happiness where one can experience a perfect state of drama and euphoria. Some dreams may have nightmarish endings, but before the gloom, they start with a flash of catharsis.

I was already on my third year in the University when I applied for staff writer in the Sports section of the Varsitarian. As a Journalism student, passionate and desirous about having my works published, the Varsitarian was everything for me. It was Varsitarian or bust.

I WON second prize in a global essay writing contest on the West Philippine Sea sponsored by the US Pinoys on Good Governance early this year. I am asking you to please give me a little of your valuable time to read on this very pressing issue in our society. In order to tell you why we must care whether Panatag Shoal will be stolen from us or not, here are snippets from my essay titled “Liberating the Kalayaan Sea”:

A FELLOW editor once asked me, “When you know that you only have limited time, would you not spend it to its fullest?”

And here I am, indulging what little space the Varsitarian pages allot me for.

This is supposed to be my last, my farewell—so to speak. I would like to grasp this opportunity to share a little bit of my story, to say my thanks and to bid my goodbyes.

And to make it worth its while, I use this space wisely—dividing this piece into three parts to prepare for my inevitable departure.

My story

“With great power comes great responsibility,” that's what Uncle Ben told Peter.

LIKE similar political exercises in the past, the May 13 senatorial election promised fresh advocacies and alternative politics. But with familiar names again dominating the Magic 12, did voters achieve change or did they only get what they deserved?

Former Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr., whose son Koko won in the senatorial race, spoke of a "prevalent cycle of poor judgment" among voters.

“Just because you are winning,” he told the Varsitarian, “you are not necessarily qualified for the job you are seeking.”

He cited the basic function of senators, legislation, a work requiring “a certain expertise.”

A RABID supporter of the Reproductive Health law crashed out of the Magic 12, but so did other senatorial candidates who strongly opposed the measure.

So was the so-called Catholic vote felt during the May 13 elections?

Half of the winners in the senatorial election were all endorsed by the White Vote Movement (WVM), an umbrella group of Catholic organizations fronted by Bro. Mike Velarde of the El Shaddai Movement.

They were Nancy Binay, JV Ejercito, Gregorio Honasan, Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, Antonio Trillanes IV, and Cynthia Villar.

A CENTER of biodiversity.

Dubbed as “Galapagos times ten,” the Philippines boasts of a rich biodiversity where different species thrive, especially those known to be endemic in the country.

In 2011, the Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) released the New Conservation Areas in the Philippines Project (NewCAPP) report, stating that the Philippines—housing more than 52,000 wildlife species throughout the archipelago—belongs to the 17 “megadiverse” countries in the world.

Rey Donne Papa, a biology professor from the College of Science, said the label referred to the abundance of species present in every given hectare of land.

PROMOTING sports and exercise science in the country by reiterating the basics, together with the current advances and modern innovations in the field, was the goal of the Philippine Association for Sports and Exercise Sciences (PHASES) in its conference last May 23 to 25 held at the Medicine Auditorium.

The event, organized in collaboration with UST College of Rehabilitation Sciences (CRS), gathered at least a hundred Physical Education teachers, coaches, students, practitioners and researchers from all over the country with the aim to present modern advances, demonstrate new skill and publicize research findings in the field.