|
||||
|
Stories Portal
West Formally Opens The Portal West Building, established as a flagship initiative of the Silliman University Board of Trustees to augment the University’s non-tuition revenues, is a four-storey building costing around P60 million. Its first three floors are already fully occupied, while only 30 percent of its additional fourth floor is available for lease. It is largely supported by the Silliman University Alumni Council of North America and other alumni and friends of Silliman. Silliman President Ben Malayang III, in his message, on behalf of the SU Board of Trustees, said the Portal West Building allows the University to provide better opportunities of business and education to the community. “The Portal West Building and others like it standing on a narrow strip of land facing the commercial section of the city, represents a limited commercialization of Silliman assets to prevent the commercialization of Silliman education,” he said. Dr. Malayang shared how parents are faced with the challenge of rising costs of education, and how some institutions simply transfer the onus of addressing this to their students and parents. With revenues from rentals aimed at widening the University’s scholarship base and lessening the pressure to raise tuition, he said, “the building is a manifestation of Silliman’s care for and sensitivity to its students’ and parents’ struggle to acquire an excellent education.” Dr. Malayang also discussed how the building, as it serves the University, also enhances local commerce and enterprises, many of which are owned and operated by Sillimanians. Dumaguete City Mayor Agustin Perdices supported this statement, stressing how the “magnificent building” will have a substantial impact on the City’s coffers. “Silliman has done much help to the City, and the building will further contribute to the progress of Dumaguete,” Mayor Perdices said. Before his term ends in 2010, Mayor Perdices said he looks forward to seeing the planned twin structure of Portal West, the Portal East Building, already erected. Negros Oriental Governor Emilio Macias II, a Sillimanian, for his part, explained how he was “bewildered” at first about what was happening in Silliman. He mentioned how there was a debate among alumni on whether Silliman should establish a commercial building. “But I am happy that a decision was made”, the Governor said. “Silliman should realize that it is not our fault why people are poor. But it is another story when we do not do anything about it to prevent it from worsening.” The
blessing ceremony of the Portal West Building was graced by Silliman
and government officials, and members of the business sector,
including the Portal West tenants. The
lecture, entitled “Forging Peace through Economic Opportunities,
was about Atty. Futalan’s pre-feasibility study on Tamlang
Valley, a 24,000-hectare area shared among four municipalities:
Dauin, Sta. Catalina, Pamplona and Valencia.
“When people have something to work on which would help
them produce enough for the needs of their family, they would
be prevented from doing something that is not within the confines
of what is not peaceful,” she explained. The
lecture of Atty. Futalan at the University of Baltimore was a
product of an invitation from Dr. Christine Nielsen, professor
of international business and strategy in the Merrick School of
Business and the University of Baltimore’s Yale Gordon Chair
of Distinguished Teaching. Dr. Nielsen visited Silliman University
in October as a Fulbright-Sycip Distinguished Lecturer. .................................................................................................................... Based on the consistent quality performance of Silliman in the Certified Public Accountant Board Exams from 2003 to 2007, the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) awarded Silliman as Top 1 accountancy school for Category 4 (with 10 to 25 examinees). Silliman’s application for COD in Accountancy was reviewed by the Technical Panel for Business and Management Education and approved by CHED sitting en banc at its 12th Special Meeting on October 15. The
University is a Center of Excellence in Nursing Education and
Teacher Education and a Center of Development in Biology, Business
Management Education and Information Technology Education. ....................................................................................................................
An Archer’s Mark What does it take to become a good archer? For Mark P. Javier, an Information Technology graduate of Silliman University, it definitely takes a lot more than sharp eyesight and a good pair of bow and arrow. With only three slots up for grabs in the Continental Qualifying in Asia in Xian, China last October 2007, Mark Javier bested other Asian archers as he landed on the 1st spot, making him the only Filipino archer to qualify for the upcoming Olympics in Beijing, China next year. As to how he got this far, he said that one has to be very keen, determined, and focused to be able to hit each athletic endeavour right on the mark. After Lisa Ygnalaga and Jennifer Chan, Javier is the first male and the third Sillimanian archer to qualify for the Olympics. With a sudden enthusiasm to share his passion for archery, he explained, “I personally just feel it…You must perfect or at least be consistent with your form, so that you also get consistent shots. It’s difficult to do because you have to analyze what you weren’t able to do right. Even if your coach or your team mates tell you comments, it is really different if you yourself get to know what you should do to improve.” Born in Dumaguete City on October 20, 1981, Mark is the only son and is the middle child in a brood of three. Looking up to his father who is an air gun shooter, he himself got into the sport at a young age and started competing in tournaments when he was in third year high school. However, as fate must have had it, he got into archery during his first year in college in search for some challenging activity. “Since the (air gunning) club became inactive, I got bored. That’s when I joined the (Silliman University) archery team. Aside from that, my aunt is also an archer. My parents were very supportive of me when I told them that I wanted to get into archery instead,” Mark explained. His
aunt, Purita Joy Mariño, who has also inspired him to pursue
archery, is a medallist in the Kuala Lumpur Southeast Asian Games
(SEA Games). Silliman President Dr. Ben S. Malayang III handed over the keys of the motorcycles to City Administrator Engr. Dominador Dumalag and City Police Chief Dionardo Carlos in a simple ceremony held October 26 at the Dumaguete City Hall grounds. President Malayang expressed hopes that the riders of the motorcycles will strictly observe traffic and safety rules and regulations, among which is the wearing of helmet. (Silliman has implemented the “No Helmet, No Entry” policy on campus.) The
donation is part of the continuing efforts of the University to
extend assistance to the community. Apart from the sharing of
experts in its pool of faculty for consultation and advice, Silliman
has also been making available for free some of its facilities.
The newest facility now open to the community for games and sports
training purposes is the Silliman Ballfield. Silliman students
and those from other schools can now enjoy the fully-lighted ballfield
from 6PM to 7PM, Mondays to Fridays. Implementation of the "No Helmet, No Entry" policy started last semester but with some considerations. Those without helmets are made to leave their motorcycles either outside the gates or in designated parking areas by the entrance. For those who want to ride their motorcycles to their destinations inside the campus, helmets may be borrwed at the guard posts. Starting November 19, however, those without helmets will be refused entrance on their motorcycles into the campus. They will have to park their motorcycles outside the gates. The guards will no longer be issuing helmets for borrowing. The
“No Helmet, No Entry” policy highlights the concern
of the University for the safety of the members of both Silliman
and the larger community of Dumaguete who drive motorcycles. Silliman
seeks to help motorcycle drivers get used to the wearing of helments,
eventually realizing the benefit of protection derived from it.
In Dumaguete, there have been cases of deaths and serious injuries
due to motorcycle accidents which could have been prevented if
those involved had worn helmets. “The Forbidden Games Filipino Children Play”, Sy-Delfin said, delves on “the shocking sexual precocity of Filipino children.” She said because of our conservative culture which discourages parents from openly discussing sex with their children at home, children suffer from lack of accurate information about it. The television, internet, magazines, and other materials then become their source of information. “Most
often, it is taboo talking about it (sex) with children in many
Filipino families. This leads children to explore it on their
own, thinking it's just another game,” Sy-Delfin, explained.
“So,
what I did was to get information from psychologists, police officers,
educators, among others, to explain the reasons of this phenomenon.
Gathering the data was also difficult. There was no ready information
available. I was really doing it from scratch,” she related.
Unlike
her first report, “When Wells Dry: A Tragedy Looming Large”
was not much of a challenge in terms of data gathering for Sy-Delfin.
If it took her two weeks to finish the first report, “When
Wells Dry: A Tragedy Looming Large” took her a week. The CAC, headed by University Cultural Officer Elizabeth Susan Vista-Suarez, unveiled its line-up of six cultural shows for the season, including auxiliary cultural events that include upcoming exhibits and lectures by visiting artists, writers, and cultural workers. The first show, which premiered last November 10, was a double-bill of award-winning one-act plays by two of the Philippines’ most prominent young playwrights today, under the auspices of Tanghalang Pilipino, the theater arm of the Cultural Center of the Philippines. Chris Martinez’s Welcome to IntelStar is as comedic monologue that won the 2005 Palanca Award for the One-Act Play, and tells the story of a call center trainer (played by Mailes Kanapi) who conducts her lecture to would-be operator hopefuls through a Powerpoint presentation, and discovers what it means to be a modern-day Filipino. The role, originated by comedians Michael V. and Eugene Domingo in Manila, has won top acclaim from many of the country’s theater critics. At the other end of the spectrum of human experience is J. Dennis Teodosio’s Gee-gee at Waterina, which has since been adapted to an award-winning independent film last 2006. It is the tale of Waterina, an aging comfort gay (played by Lou Veloso) who receives the royalties from a movie based on his life story from his friend Gee-gee (played by Paulo Cabañero). Their subsequent conversation uncovers the many instances of laughter and pain gay men have to endure in Philippine society. On December 1, Jay Cayuca, the legendary Filipino violin virtuoso takes to the Claire Isabel Luce Auditorium stage and promises more than precise and expressive notes on stage—he is certain to captivate the Dumaguete audience with his boundless energy and exceptionally superior talent. His passion for the instrument and performing is highly evident in his flawless strokes and up-to-beat bodily movements. No other violinist in the world matches his unique total showmanship. On January 11, tenor Ramon Acoymo will give a concert that will showcase a singing talent that has been described by the press on three continents as “mesmerizing” (in New York), “successful” (in Rottenburg), and “remarkable” (in Manila). His Lincoln Center recital debut was hailed a “triumph” by Headline Philippines, New York, and no less than The New York Times accorded him good notices for his theater debut as the lead in Flower Drum Song. On January 26, Powerdance, the critically-acclaimed contemporary dance company under Douglas Nierras, presents an all prayer repertoire that exemplifies the prayerful nature of the Filipino. The entire program depicts the essence of Filipino piety in numbers as soulful as “Requiem” and as vibrant as “Gloria”. It traces the different dynamics of the way the Filipino prays; in quiet solitude, in fervent energy and in frenzied joy almost to the point of cry on the mountain top. The music used in this program is a mixture of original creations of Filipino composers as well as well-known and best loved international classical pieces by respected composers worldwide. On
February 23, around the Valentine season, Actor’s
Actor Inc. presents Love Letters, a bittersweet, romantic comedy
by A.R. Gurney, which is a unique and imaginative play that reconstructs
the lifelong correspondence between Andy (played by Bart Guingona)
and Melissa (played by Pinky Amador), who went to school together,
whose relationship evolved beyond friendship, sibling bonds, and
romantic ties into something so complete, that it got taken for
granted until too late. The Cultural Affairs Committee is also unveiling a new set of speakers for the Albert Faurot Lecture Series on Culture and the Arts, including some of our celebrated local artists and writers such as visual artists Kitty Taniguchi and Jutsze Pamate, photographer John Stevenson, and poet Myrna Peña-Reyes. It
promises to be an exciting cultural season in Dumaguete City and
Silliman. Tickets and season passes for all shows are available
at the College of Performing Arts Office, the Luce Auditorium
Office, and at the theater lobby before every show. For inquiries
and ticket reservations, please contact (035) 422-6002 loc. 520. This is what Ms Maria Ressa, Head of News and Current Affairs of ABS-CBN, said at opening of the Pinoy Media Congress (Visayas-Mindanao) held November 8 at the Luce Auditorium, Silliman University. Ressa discussed the tipping point idea based on the book The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwel. It states that several minute changes occur until it arrives at the tipping point. One small push at this point will then create radical revolutionary change. “The tipping point in our society, I think, is near. I think it will happen in the next five or ten years, it will happen in your lifetime, and that it will happen when you enter the industry. It is a critical time for our country and a critical time for communications,” Ressa said. After the May 2004 elections, Ressa studied a Pulse Asia report which showed 90 percent of Filipinos getting their information through television. Statistics rose to 98 percent after the 2007 elections. “This shows that television is a powerful and potent force. And in our country it can be a potent force for nation building,” Ressa said. She added that putting this fact and the idea of the tipping point together makes this time a very exiting time to join the media industry. “The dialog begins with you. If you look at what you are getting, be critical, demand for something better. This is a time for you where you can help push the tipping point. Clarity of thought, vision, tipping point— those three ideas. It starts with you and it starts right now,” Ressa said. Ressa also read ABS-CBN Chairman, President and CEO Eugenio “Gabby” Lopez III’s keynote message. In his speech, Lopez explained that the people turn to media for two things: for help and hope and that Philippine mass media has become the people’s closest ally when their leaders and their government fail. Lopez wrote that the long lines of people outside their ABS-CBN office and the volume of calls, emails and letters they receive every week manifest an urgent sign of societal distress. Meanwhile, in one of the plenary sessions, Ressa also discussed the role of civic journalism in the current broadcasting field. Citing a program ABS-CBN ran during the elections, she said “Citizen Journalism magnifies our reach. And you showed us what you were interested in. You allowed us to take mass media and put it to use for you… It was the first time that cell phone technology, citizen journalism and the political purpose were put together,” Ressa said. Ressa shared her hopes that Filipinos can do better in the arts, and in the broadcasting and journalism industry. She said across Southeast Asia, the Philippines is more sophisticated and freer than its counterparts. But given where we are in our development, she said the country has a lot to do. “What I’m hoping is that as we keep citizen journalism, we educate you a little more so you come closer and, at the same time, we upgrade and professionalize to a greater degree the professional journalists who are there so that we can work together,” Ressa said. Ressa graduated from Princeton University with a degree in Bachelor of Arts in English Literature, minor in Molecular Biology, cum laude. She worked at the Cable News Network (CNN) for 17 years, with her last assignment being the Bureau Chief for Southeast Asia. PMC
(Visayas-Mindanao) was sponsored by ABS-CBN, the Philippine
Association of Communication Educators (PACE) and the Silliman
University College of Mass Communication. For the first time
after two years, PMC was held outside Luzon as part of PACE’s
regionalization efforts. (Celeste June Rivera, College of Mass
Communication) ........................................................................................................................ Real ranked 10th among 1,133 passers in the Mechanical Engineer Licensure Exam given October 16 to 17. The recent licensure examination had 2,127 takers. Silliman University garnered a passing average of 87 percent against the national passing average of 53.26 percent. The other new Sillimanian mechanical engineers are:
Arbolado, Romyr The winning paper, entitled “Density-dependent Spillover from a Marine Reserve: Long-term Evidence,” was co-authored by Dr. Garry R. Russ, professor of the School of Marine Biotechnology and Aquaculture of James Cook University. This was published in Ecological Applications, 15 (5): 1798-1812 (2005), an internationally-acclaimed refereed journal. Mr.
Abesamis received a trophy and a cash award of PhP50,000 during
the CHED International Conference on Research in Higher Education
Institutions (ICRHEI) held October 24 to 27 in Cebu City. ........................................................................................................................ The paper was co-authored by Dr. Angel Alcala, Director of the Silliman University-Angelo King Center for Research and Environmental Management (SUAKCREM) and the Commission on Higher Education Zonal Research Center (CHED-ZRC) for Region VI and VII (Negros Oriental and Siquijor). The paper examined the dynamics behind the partnership of Silliman University, the municipality of Dauin and the Apo Island community toward the establishment of the island’s marine protected area (MPA). It interfaced the past and present works on Apo Island MPA of Dr. Alcala and Dr. Oracion, who are representing two generations of researchers and disciplines (natural and social sciences) but with a common research interest, to historically demonstrate that this conservation tool could have not been successfully established and sustained without the collaboration of various stakeholders. It likewise emphasized the importance of applying a multidisciplinary approach in effecting change to the destructive resource use practices and in providing various benefits from the positive results of protective conservation to all stakeholders. Meanwhile, Silliman President Dr. Ben Malayang III, who also attended the conference, acted as the moderator of the parallel session on integrating and harmonizing the three functions of higher education institutions (instruction, research and extension). Silliman faculty members who also participated in the conference included Prof. Gina Bonior (College of Education), Prof. Channel C. Concepcion (College of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences), Prof. Wilma M. Tejero (College of Business Administration), Prof. Janice V. Forster (College of Computer Studies), Engr. Carlito R. Aguit (College of Engineering and Design), and John Karl P. Villanueva (Physics). The
conference was attended by about 800 researchers and educators
in the Philippines and abroad. ........................................................................................................................ Discussions during the said seminar-workshop focused on extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and the Human Security Act. Salonga Law Center Director Atty. Mikhail Lee Maxino said the issue on extrajudicial killings has become a major concern not only in the Philippines but also abroad. “Most recently, the Supreme Court has issued the Rule of The Writ of Amparo, which is a remedy available to any person whose right to life, liberty, and security has been violated or is threatened with violation by an unlawful act or omission of a public official or employee, or of a private individual or entity”, Maxino said. This,
Atty. Maxino said, highlights the need for information dissemination
and education to the public. He said: “Ultimately, the State can get away with fundamental rights only when we allow them to do so.” The
seminar-workshop was attended by law students from Silliman and
Negros Oriental State University, members of the Philippine National
Police, lawyers, and human rights advocates. (Christy Ann Marie
R. Cong and Shenna S. Moncada) | ||||
| ||||