SU Hosts Reproductive Health Summit

The Reproductive Health Leadership Summit, hosted for the first time in the Visayas by Silliman University, ends today at the historic Silliman Hall.

An undertaking supported by the Institute for International Education and the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and National Resources Research and Development Foundation, the Summit started last Wednesday. The same summit was simultaneously conducted at the Asian Institute of Management in Makati and the University of Southeastern Philippines in Davao.

The three-day seminar highlights the reproductive health needs in the Philippines, especially amidst a growing population.

According to Ms Cheryl Francisconi, Summit Director, the country has “a very high maternal and infant mortality rate because of lack of reproductive health services.” Failure to provide more health services contributes to the problem of population explosion, which, in turn, impacts on food supply.

This problem, Ms Francisconi explained, cannot be addressed without letting people understand how family planning methods can help in achieving quality of life.

“Were not asking people to limit the number of children, or not give birth at all. We just want the mothers to resort to family planning so that they will be able to better manage their resources for their families,” she said.

Participants, coming from various sectors, including the government, academe, civil society, religious organizations, media and the youth, are expected at the end of today’s session to identify their roles in advocating reproductive health, and work together in combating barriers to its promotion. (by OIP Intern Juliana Alano)
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Silliman University President Dr. Ben S. Malayang will be heading a team of administrative and academic staff of the University at the 7th Annual Knowledge for Development Center (KDC) Meeting sponsored by the World Bank (WB).

The meeting, which will run from April 21 to 25 in Tuguegarao City, seeks to strengthen the link among WB partner universities in the country, and develop a concrete plan for the involvement of the KDC network in social accountability and procurement reform. It also aims to train the participants on basic procurement guidelines, including compliance with the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System.

Some WB officials from Washington and Manila will be joining the participants composed mostly of key individuals (university presidents, university librarians, extension directors, information officers) in WB’s 13 partner universities across the country.

Silliman, together with Dr. Malayang, will be represented by Director for Extension Dr. Nichol Elman, Director of the Office of Information and Publications Mr. Mark Raygan Garcia, University Librarian Ms Lorna Yso, SU-KDC Librarian Ms Gemma Plasabas and College of Arts and Sciences Dean Prof. Carlos Magtolis Jr.

In the same meeting, Dr. Malayang will talk about “Knowledge Sharing and eLearning.” WB invited Dr. Malayang to share his ideas on the topic, following the plan of Silliman University to eventually establish what may be known as a “V-Silliman,” a virtual campus, which will maximize the use of technology for instruction, collaboration and research purposes. Silliman is always considered an access point for the Visayas of WB for activities it organizes via videoconference, including the presentation of the annual World Development Report.

The KDC at Silliman University is located on the ground floor of the Main Library, and is open to the public for free. It houses various development publications and multimedia facilities.
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Prof. Joseph Raymond of the History and Political Science Department will be reading a paper at the 48th world conference of the International Society for the Comparative Study of Civilizations (ISCSC) in June this year at St. John University, New Brunswick, Canada.

The paper, Colonial Apostles: A discourse on Syncretism and the Early American Protestant Missions in the Philippines, discusses early Filipino responses to Protestantism and how identities are formed through power relations and negotiations within the colonial experience of cross-cultural contacts and exchanges.

Concurrently, the paper is Professor Raymond’s dissertation interest for his doctoral studies in history.

This year’s conference is themed: “Civilizations in the Americas and around the World: Past, Present, and Future: Exploring Multiculturalism in Globalizing Civilizations.” It is conducted annually along the commitment of the ISCSC “to the notion that complex, civilizational problems need divers multidisciplinary analyses.”

ISCSC was formally established in 1961 at a meeting in Salzburg, organized by historian Othmar Anderle and attended by fellow historians Arnold Toynbee and Rushton Coulborn.
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Administrative and academic offices in the University have been urged to undertake and observe extra measures to conserve energy and water on campus, beginning this month.

The Public Assistance and Safety Office has been tasked to ensure that all public lighting around the 62-hectare Silliman campus are put off by 5:30am. Offices have also been requested to use their air-conditioning units for only around five hours per day, from 9am to 12noon and 2pm to 4pm.

To conserve water, the different offices and campus residents have been encouraged to exert extra efforts to collect water used in dishwashing or food preparation for watering plants. In washing vehicles, the memorandum advised the use of water in pales, not hosed.

These measures run along the goal of Silliman to further develop environmental consciousness among the members of the Silliman community. This, on top of its commitment to make available its pool of experts for public lectures about climate change, its effects on food supply and on the marine and terrestrial environments, and on possible measures to help address it.
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