The Varsitarian

THE ORDER of Preachers has set a 2013 deadline for the complete turnover of UST to the Filipino Dominicans from the Master of the Order in Rome, to resolve “difficulties and misunderstandings” in the way the University is administered.

According to the Acts of the Elective General Chapter of the Order of Preachers, a documentation of the decisions and deliberations during the 2010 General Chapter in Rome, Fr. Bruno Cadore, O.P., Master of the Dominican Order, was tasked to appoint a commission for the transfer of UST to the jurisdiction of the Dominican Province of the Philippines. Cadore is chancellor of UST. read more »

THE THOMASIAN community formed the “largest human cross” on Ash Wednesday last March 9, in its second attempt to enter the Guinness Book of Records.

An estimated 24,000 Thomasians gathered at the UST field to form the black-and-white Dominican Cross, symbolizing the Catholic and Dominican identity of the University.

Campus Ministry head Fr. Winston Cabading, O.P. said the idea of forming a cross came from the students, after the formation of the “largest human rosary” in December was not accepted by Guinness as a world record.

“We wanted the event to be spiritual in nature. We are not only celebrating Ash Wednesday, but also the 400 years of the University,” Cabading said.  read more »

FORMER UST rector Fr. Ernesto Arceo, O.P. has returned to the Dominican Order after taking a two-year canonical leave of absence in 2007 following a dispute over the redevelopment of UST Hospital.

In an e-mail to the Varsitarian, Arceo said he was happy to be back in the University in time for the Quadricentennial celebrations.

“I was there during the Quadricentennial celebration and I was glad to be around. It was really an amazing and inspiring celebration, which I think the whole Thomasian community found so meaningful,” Arceo said.

Arceo did pastoral ministry in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, California. He came back to the country after his leave of absence expired in June last year. read more »

IT’S 38 and counting.

UST athletes continued their dominance in the University Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP), bagging their 13th straight general championship and bringing to 38 their total overall titles since the league was born in 1938.

Thomasians also grabbed their 13th overall title in the juniors’ division with 128 points. The University of the East was second with 113 points, while Ateneo High School finished at third spot with 109 markers.

UST ruled in seven divisions in the seniors’ tournament en route to a total of 313 points, which was way ahead of De La Salle University’s 263 points. The Far Eastern University placed third with 219 points.

In all, UST collected seven gold medals, 10 silver, and five bronze, besting La Salle’s 4-6-6 gold-silver-bronze medal haul.

The rest of the UAAP teams were no match for UST in men’s badminton, women’s taekwondo, men’s table tennis and women’s judo during the first semester. Thomasians then dominated men’s volleyball, men’s tennis, and baseball in the remainder of the season. read more »

A HIGH-RANKING University official found nothing wrong with a professor’s decision to give “incentives” to students who would go public with their position against the controversial Reproductive Health bill.

Theology professor Aguedo Florence Jalin drew the ire of the left-leaning Akbayan Youth Group when he encouraged his students to post their opinion on the bill at the group’s Facebook fan page last month.

Sought for comment, Secretary General Fr. Florentino Bolo, O.P. said Jalin and other UST professors enjoyed “academic freedom” so long as they would not violate student rights and University policies. read more »

THE SYMBOLIC wreath-laying rite at the University’s original campus in Intramuros has been moved to next year, with UST officials taking steps to rehabilitate the old Plaza Santo Tomas in Intamuros.

The ceremony at Plaza Santo Tomas—which hosts a replica of the statue of the founder, Msgr. Miguel de Benavides, O.P.—was earlier scheduled last February. But because of the flurry of events last January for the Quadricentennial Week, UST officials have decided to reschedule it to January 12 next year for a “more meaningful celebration.” read more »

IN A REPEAT of last year’s Central Student Council (CSC) elections, independent candidates once again ruled the polls and grabbed five of six council positions for the academic year 2011-2012.

The highest seat in the council, however, was won by Lakas ng Diwang Tomasino (Lakasdiwa) party bet Lorraine Taguiam of the Faculty of Civil Law, who got a total of 13,661 votes against independent candidate Justin Tan of the College of Architecture who acquired 10,993 votes.

Taguiam, the lone Lakasdiwa winner, said the failure of her partymates to get elected won’t hinder her projects.

“At the end of the day, we will serve the students and not our parties,” she said. read more »

THE FACULTY of Arts and Letters (Artlets) will trim its subjects by 12 units starting next academic year in a bid to streamline an “over-crowded” curriculum, Artlets Dean Michael Anthony Vasco said.

Vasco said the faculty’s 195-unit curriculum was way above the requirement set by the Commission on Higher Education (Ched), which mandates only 152 units for a Bachelor of Arts degree.

“In this way, the curriculum becomes more flexible,” he said. “The students will have more time to concentrate on their area rather than taking many subjects [that are] sporadic.” read more »

UST ROLLED down the curtain in this year’s UAAP volleyball tournament with split performances as the Tiger Spikers grabbed a fourth straight title while the Lady Spikers failed to keep their crown this Season 73.

The Tiger Spikers prevailed against rivals Far Eastern University (FEU) in a pulsating three-setter, 29-27, 26-24, 25-23, in Game 2 of the best-of-three series at The Arena in San Juan last February 26.

Coach Emil Lontoc had been confident early on of winning a fourth straight championship on the occasion of UST’s Quadricentennial.

“That was our goal. They [Tiger Spikers] had a high morale playing it today,” coach Lontoc said. read more »

REIGNING champion UST Golden Sox demolished the twin towers of UAAP baseball in their last two games to sweep the tournament at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Park.

UST crushed last year’s runner-up National University (NU), 6-5, last January 27 after escaping past defending “three-peat” champions Adamson University, 4-3, last January 20 to finally stop its six-year championship dry spell.

“We worked hard and this is the result. I told them to think as if it were just an ordinary game so that they won’t get pressured,” coach Jeffrey Santiago said. “I also told them not to be overconfident.”

The Golden Sox took over the game with a series of runs after the fourth inning. They were then trailing NU, 0-2. read more »