|
||||
| SU
President Attends UBCHEA Leadership Program in Hong Kong Open to new university administrators, preferably presidents and vice presidents, the program, handled by the Asian Christian Higher Education Institute (ACHEI) of the UBCHEA, guides participants through a re-exploration of the elements of leadership and management within the context of Asia, higher education and Christian service. This seventh annual workshop focuses on four issues: leadership and governance in higher education, maintaining Christian tradition in religiously plural and increasingly secular campuses, academic excellence in context, and building financial capacity. The program, according to the ACHEI website, intentionally targets a small group in number, and aims at providing a friendly atmosphere that will facilitate the process of building a support of network of administrators in the region. Facilitators
of this program are university leaders with experience in Christian
higher education in Asia. The Silliman University Angelo King Center for Research and Environmental Management (SUAKCREM) and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) will re-launch February 12 a book on the results of scientific studies on the South China Sea by Filipino and Vietnamese scientists from 1996 to 2007. Entitled “Proceedings of the Conference on the Results of the Philippines-Vietnam Joint Oceanographic and Marine Scientific Research Expedition in the South China Sea,” the book is a collection of 23 scientific papers that deal with various areas of investigation into the oceanographic, biological and geological characteristics of the South China Sea, including the area’s marine ecosystems and biodiversity. Dr. Angel Alcala, SUAKCREM Director and Editor of the book, said the papers tackle findings of the four JOMSRE expeditions conducted over a period of 11 years, from 1996 to 2007. As heads of the research program, referred to as JOMSRE, the project’s acronym, Dr. Alcala and his counterpart Vietnamese Chief Scientist, Dr. Bui Hong Long, led a group of 60 Filipino and Vietnamese scientists who embarked on two of four expeditions to the Spratlys in 2005 and 2007. Two earlier JOMSRE expeditions to the same group of islands were conducted by the Vietnamese and Philippine scientists from the University of the Philippines-Diliman in 1996 and 2000. Specifically, the papers discuss the following topics: physical oceanography, chemical oceanography and environment, marine biology and biodiversity, corals, marine geology, marine ecotoxicology, and plankton in the Spratlys. Dr. Alcala said JOMSRE is scientifically significant, especially because it is the first ever scientific study made on the Spratlys by joint Filipino and Vietnamese teams of scientists. JOMSRE, he added, would also provide the necessary database for future collaborative research studies on the area, including those in the fields of marine biology and oceanography. He also said the close cooperation between Filipino and Vietnamese scientists developed through JOMSRE could serve as a good example for a peaceful resolution of conflicts in the area. “JOMSRE was a confidence-building activity for Vietnam and the Philippines, both of which have claimed parts of the Spratly Group of Islands,” Dr. Alcala said. He added: “This cooperation could serve as an initial effort towards more lasting diplomatic and cooperative arrangements in the future, one of which is the establishment of marine protected areas.” Dr. Alcala served as the Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources from 1992 to 1995, during the administration of former Philippine President Fidel V. Ramos. Putting science at the service of peace was the intention of then Philippine President Ramos and then Vietnam President Lee Duc Anh when in 1994, during President Ramos’ state visit to Vietnam, both leaders agreed to start a program of a joint scientific investigation of the Spratlys. That agreement materialized into the JOMSRE program, which started in 1996. Hope for Peaceful Resolution to Spratlys Conflict The Spratlys have been a heavily contested area in the region since 1930. At least six countries—China, Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei—are occupying or have overlapping sovereignty claims on all or part of the islands and reefs in the Spratlys. The South China Sea is said to be one of the biggest continental shelves worldwide, possessing substantial natural resources—oil, natural gas and seafood. One study placed the oil and gas reserves in the South China Sea to be larger than Kuwait’s reserves of 13 billion tons and placed it as the fourth largest reserve bed worldwide. The conflict in the Spratlys has resulted in some military incidents, giving rise to concerns about regional stability. In 1992, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) drafted a declaration which committed its members to resolve disputes peacefully and to consider joint exploration. But up to the present the search for a long-term, peaceful solution to the conflict continues. President Ramos, in his foreword to the book, however, expresses the hope that scientific cooperation among countries bordering the South China Sea could contribute to this search for a peaceful solution. He said the research results from JOMSRE formed “a substantial contribution to knowledge and appreciation of the South China Sea and its resources…and the remarkable friendship between Philippine and Vietnamese scientists as well as the foreign affairs officials of both countries.” He also said: “The win-win approach which I supported brings together all the states with maritime interests therein to avoid conflict by settling disputes through peaceful, diplomatic means.” Other scientists and government officials of both countries who were involved in implementing the research project expressed the same appreciation of the JOMSRE’s scientific and diplomatic value. Mr. Vu Dung, Vice Foreign Minister of Vietnam, said JOMSRE was “an excellent example for promoting bilateral relationship between (Vietnam and the Philippines) and to the maintenance of peace and security in the South China Sea.” He added that the scientific data will help in understanding the natural processes of the South China Sea, mitigating natural catastrophe in the region and promoting its sustainable use and management. Philippine Ambassador Alberto A. Encomienda, head of the Philippine delegation to the conference, also pointed out JOMSRE’s pioneering effort as valuable towards the formulation of “a coherent, holistic and credible ocean governance of the area.” After the completion of the study in 2007, the scientists met in Halong Bay, a UNESCO heritage site and popular world tourist destination in Vietnam. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Khoa Son, Vice President of Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, explained then that the purpose of the conference was for the JOMSRE researchers to summarize their findings, evaluate their achievements and propose a new framework and methods for future cooperation between Philippines and Vietnam and other countries. Regarding future cooperation, Dr. Alcala revealed that already China and some government officials of Malaysia have signified their interest in joining future collaborative research on the area. “From the scientific point of view, our present knowledge of the South China Sea is only sufficient to highlight urgent issues, including effects of climate change, marine pollution, safety of navigation, marine protection, etc.” he said. “The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea has more specific provisions for the involvement of countries around the Sea.” Out of the 23 papers in the book, 7 papers were written by Silliman University scientists and researchers: Dr. Alcala, who summarized the findings of three expeditions and their management implications; Mr. Brian Stockwell, who did the study on reef fish stocks; Dr. Hilconida Calumpong, Ms Armeda Macansantos, Ms Clarissa Reboton and Ms Jacinta Lucañas, who studied floral and benthic macrofaunal diversity; Dr. Calumpong and Ms Macansantos, who studied the distribution of giant clams in the Spratlys; Ms Floredel Dangan-Galon of Palawan State University, who studied seagrasses and algae; and Mr. Adonis S. Floren, who studied the distribution patterns of ichthyoplankton. The re-launching ceremony will be attended by DFA officials and representatives from the Vietnamese Embassy. Silliman University officials and faculty from several departments as well as faculty from other Dumaguete colleges and universities are expected also to attend. Some universities and colleges from Bacolod City, Siquijor and Dapitan City are also attending the re-launching event. The book was first launched by the DFA in Manila last December. (SUAKCREM Press Release) [
Back to top
] [ Home
] Can a professional be an amateur? The keynote address of Fr. Roderick C. Salazar Jr., President Assistant for Planning and Development of the University of San Carlos (USC) in Cebu City, during the 1st National Convention of the Integrated Professional Counsellors Association of the Philippines (IPCAP), Inc. held last month at the Silliman Hall, seemed to reflect on this question as he discussed how professionals need to preserve the amateur in them. Citing a website, he shared the question: “Are you a professional?” The same website differentiated a professional from an amateur, and cautioned: “Don’t ever do anything as though you were an amateur.” But Fr. Salazar, while he said he generally agrees with the contrasting, said: “There are, however, things about amateurs that we need to be ashamed of, that in fact we should adopt.” Formerly USC President, Fr. Salazar said, “there is something in the amateur that we must understand and savor, learn, and even live.” He proceeded by explaining the etymology of the word amateur, from its Latin form amare, which means to love, to the French version amateur, which later became part of the English language. “But whether in Latin or French or English, amateur means one who loves, or more precisely, one who does things out of love, or for love,” he said. Fr. Salazar discussed how an amateur does things out of passion, out of love and commitment. Relating it to the conference, he said guidance counsellors are cautioned against emotional attachment to their counselees, “to ensure our emotions do not cloud or get in the way of our professional judgment and expertise.” “Still, I submit that we can love, even must love even as we continue to be professional. The love I mean here is basically the will and the willingness to relate to our counselee as subject, not as object, and treat him or her accordingly,” he explained. While a guidance counsellor may know the rules of the profession and play by them, “our work does not, need not and should not preclude our continuing to be amateurs, surely not in the sense of bungling neophyte, but in the deeper sense of professionals excellent in our jobs but ever with the touch of humanity, the light of love,” Fr. Salazar said. IPCAP is the first and only Securities and Exchange Commission-registered Guidance and Counselling-related organization of Registered Guidance Counsellors. The convention convened close to 30 professional guidance counsellors from around the country, including the officers of IPCAP. It was coordinated by Dr. Evangeline Aguilan, Career and Placement Officer of Silliman University. [
Back to top
] [ Home
] Silliman University and Hanyang University in Korea entered into a formal partnership last month. President Ben S. Malayang III signed the Academic Cooperation Agreement, which was previously signed by Hanyang President Dr. Chong Yang Kim, in a simple signing ceremony attended by Hanyang business professors Dr. Won-Shui Shim, Dr. Junyean Moon and Dr. Maragtas Amante. The agreement encourages joint research on common areas of interests and student, faculty and staff exchange. It also envisions mutual participation in academic-related and professional activities. Silliman has an international student population of over 300 from 23 different countries. The Koreans comprise the largest international group. | ||||
| [ Back to top ] |  | |||