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VOLUME 35 |
ISSUE 5
|
December 17, 2008
PHOTO
KARL SUMINISTRADO
NASA ATING mGA kAmAY.
Sama-samang ipininta ng mga Iskolar ng Bayan ang balangkas ng kanilang mga kamaybilang pagpapahayag ng suporta sa kampanya para ipagtanggol ang Opisina ngRehente ng mga Mag-aaral.
UPLB tops eng’g board exams
Harriet Melanie Zabala
UPLB continues itstradition of academicexcellence as its engineeringgraduates dominate the 2008licensure examinations.
The Department of CivilEngineering (CE) registered a100 percent passing rate (28out of 28 examinees) in the CELicensure Examination heldlast November, making UPLBthe top performing school inthe CE Board exams. Six UPLBgraduates were among the 45topnotchers in the examination, with Maricel Dela Cruz Aquino
ranking rst with a score of 99.10 percent. The other ve
include Arnel Marie IsletaMonteiro (98.95 percent), JohnVincent Pare Musngi (97 percent)and Ryan Jay Ramos Policarpio(97 percent), SunseehrayAlessandra Casiño Banaña(96.85 percent), and JoseLorenzo Marcelino Labiccasi(96.65 percent), who ranked
second, fth, sixth and seventh,
respectively.Banaña, one of thetopnotchers and now aninstructor in the Department of Civil Engineering said she wassurprised the exam was not as
Campaigns to get tougher
Calls to defend OSR intensies as January comes
Nikko Angelo Oribiana andRogene Gonzales
In accordance to the
OSR’s unication call to all
UP units, and with less thana month before subjecting the
Codied Rules for Student
Regent Selection (CRSRS) ina referendum, the UniversityStudent Council (USC) andCollege Student Councils (CSCs)of UPLB launched the DEFENDOSR campaign last Dec. 3.
Under the newly approvedR.A. 9500 or UP Charter of 2008,Section 12g contains a provisionthat requires all the UP studentsto choose a new SR “in accordance
with rules and qualications
approved in a referendum by thestudents.”The rules to be set in thereferendum involve the CRSRS, which has served as the governingprocedures since 1997 in theselection of the SR. The GeneralAssembly of Student Councils(GASC), a convention of all UPstudent councils that deliberatesand selects the SR, has craftedand has annually deliberated onthe CRSRS. The referendum to formalizethe CRSRS as the basis for SRselection is set on Jan. 19-23.At least a 50 percent + 1 of voterturnout and another 50 percent
+ 1 afrmative vote from this
turnout are required.
PRINCIPLED, PRO-STUDENTREFERENDUM
USC Councilor and StudentRights and Welfare CommitteeHead Vincent Baracao stressedthat students should vote “Yes”to the referendum, not just tocomply with the UP Charter but
to reafrm a CRSRS that is a
“principled”, “pro-student” and“democratic” yardstick in choosingthe SR.If students will vote ‘yes’ tothe CRSRS, the presence of theSR who will stand for students’ welfare will be secured in theBoard of Regents (BOR), thehighest policy making body in UPsystem.However, Baracao stressedthat the administration’sassaults on the democraticright of students have been“systematically evident” in therepressive recognition policieson organizations, delayedappointment for the studentpublication’s Editor in Chief,delayed election for the studentcouncil and now the referendum
for the ofce of the SR.
UP CHARTER OF 2008
The new UP Charter, wherethe upcoming referendumis based, was passed bythe congress, without priorconsultation with students andother sectors of the university.Section 12g of the new UPCharter also states that the SRto be chosen by the studentsshould serve for one (1) year, inaccordance with the rules and
qualications approved in a
referendum.With this, the SR will onlybe recognized by the BOR if theUP system-wide referendum issuccessful.
CAMPAIGN
The USC-CSCs havestarted the campaign bygaining assistance from variousorganizations in order to informthe students and gain supportfrom them.At present, the USC conductsdorm hops, fora and consultations with students to give them deeperbackground and understandingabout the referendum.Also, the CSC starteddistributing pins and postingteasers as publicity materials.Other CSCs also have theircollege-based exhibits in eachmajor building of their respectivecolleges.According to Pura BeatrizValle, College of Forestry andNatural Resources StudentCouncil (CFNRSC) Chairperson,the response of the studentsto their manifesto signing and
leaets are positive.
As of now, the USC and CSCshave gathered around 4,000signatures in their manifestoand signature campaigns and atpresent have conducted fora withabout 34 student organizations,excluding college-basedorganizations. [P]
UPLB admin steps up beautification campaign
But some students decry misallocation of budget
Katrina Elauria
New infrastructures con-structed inside UPLB have brought major changes in theappearance of the campus,which according to the UPLBadministration are part of along-term plan to make UPLB a“walking campus.”
Fernando Sanchez Jr., Assis-tant Vice Chancellor for Planningand Development, said the thrustto make UPLB a “walking campus”has been almost 20 years in themaking, but has only been for themost part realized under the termof Chancellor Luis Rey Velasco. The plan started with theimplementation of jeepney rerout-ing last year, which was done toencourage students to walk insidethe campus. This move has been
under much ak for allegedly
disregarding “genuine” studentconsultation.
UPLB AS A “WALKING MUSEUM”
Furthermore, the proposalincludes the plan to make thecampus look more like a museum.In order to do so, Sanchez hasalready devised some guidelineson putting art pieces on differ-ent buildings within UPLB. Byencouraging the UPLB alumni toparticipate in the initiative, San-chez related that art pieces will bemainly donated by them.Sanchez added that theChancellor has already approvedthe proposal of the UPLB AlumniAssociation (UPLBAA) to constructan Alumni Plaza near the Carillontower. The UPLBAA will shoulderall the expenses necessary to con-struct the said project.Meanwhile, a plan for theconstruction of ten student prom-enade parks will be started in thenext few years.Another project set to beestablished is the “Mulawin CreekEcowalk” project, where thepathway along the creek from theHortorium up to the Forestry willbe cemented.“The main objective (of the
beautication projects) is to pro
-vide the basic necessities of UPLBconstituents - not only academic,but also [their] recreational, per-sonal, and social needs,” Sanchezsaid.Meanwhile, John BernardPaco, BS Chem ‘07 said “okaykasi ‘di na nahihirapan ang mgaestudyante sa paglalakad, alsothey serve as attractions ‘pag maycelebration sa UP.”However, he said the admin-istration seems to prioritize the
campus beautication more than
improving the facilities in class-rooms.
BEAUTIFICATION FUNDS NOT FROM TOFI
So far, two student prome-nade parks have been constructed within the academic year. Therefurbishing of the Mariang Bangaand the area around the Humani-ties Building were started late lastsemester. The UPLB Perspective tried toget a copy of the breakdown of thebudget allotted for these projects
but the Ofce of the Chancellor
turned down the request.
Sanchez claried that thebudget for the beautication
projects does not come from thetuition increase, but from the gen-erated income of the university,
specically, from rentals of IRRI,
SEARCA and other stakeholders.“The 40 million money gener-ated from the tuition increase willbe used for the construction of anew dormitory,” Sanchez added. The new dormitory willbe constructed as soon as thebudget for the building reaches
70 million. The Ofce of the Vice
Chancellor for Planning andDevelopment (OVCPD) plans tobuild the dormitory near the NewDormitory. The installation of lamp-posts and cementing of sidewalksaround the campus were also partof the plan of promoting walkinginside the campus.More lampposts will be in-stalled along the New Dormitorydown to the College of VeterinaryMedicine and Animal Science toincrease security.Soon, Indonesian pavilion willbe erected inside the campus toadd to privately-funded Thai and Japanese pavilion constructed topromote ecotourism in UPLB.Faustino Arrienda of the De-partment of Agricultural Businesssaid these projects are in line withUPLB’s ecotourism project.Barbie Baradi, BSHE ‘06, said“Kung gusto nilang pagandahinang campus, dapat unahin muna yung loob ng mga classrooms atlaboratory dahil ‘yun ang maskailangan ng mga studyante.”Dr. Maxima Flavier, Direc-tor of Institute of Chemistry, saidtheir institute is having problems with the increase in class sizebecause of lack of classrooms.She furthered that the ToFIused for the reagents and otherchemicals in laboratory classes
is still insufcient because of the
increase in the cost of chemicals.Meanwhile, Dr. EliezerAlbacea, Head of the Institute of Computer Science, said althoughthey have enough computers forstudents, they still cannot updatethese as often as they want tobecause of inadequate fund.University Student Council(USC) Councilor, Maricris Cyn-thia Ariz delos Santos said, “Masbinibigyan nila ng pansin angexternal na hitsura ng UP at ‘di‘yung kalidad ng edukasyon nameron tayo.”She added that laboratoryfacilities and equipment have notimproved much since the approvalof the tuition hike.[P]
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