Alumni Letter November 2013

Dear fellow Sillimanians and friends:

The month of November brought together as one the Silliman community to respond to the need of helping both the Yolanda typhoon victims and the Bohol earthquake victims. Silliman University and the SU Church pulled together their resources in mounting a relief campaign. The response was overwhelming. Within the last three weeks of the month, Silliman University sent out three shipments of relief goods. The last shipment was given directly to the churches of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines in Leyte that were badly hit by the typhoon.  A 10-man team with disaster management experience and training was sent earlier to Ormoc and Tacloban to find out about the families of our presently enrolled students from Leyte and Samar who needed immediate information of their whereabouts. Fortunately, all survived the typhoon.  

While Dumaguete was spared by typhoon Yolanda, our fellow countrymen in the affected areas continue to suffer. We share with you the newly launched SU?s Continuing Calamity Response Program spearheaded by Vice President for Development, Jane Annette Lupisan-Belarmino.

About the Program

The Program is guided by four objectives:

• Provide financial assistance to students from the affected areas, calibrated according to need and based on availability of funds. The financial assistance comes in the form of any or a combination of the following: partial or full discounts for tuition and/or board and lodging.  
• Mobilization of a team for continuing psychosocial intervention, technical assistance and service-learning activities in the communities affected.  
• Reinforcement of the University?s climate resiliency in its logistical preparations, precautionary measures, infrastructure design and development, and IEC (information, education and communication) approaches.  
• Provide immediate disaster relief to affected communities. 

Appeal for Support

The University is appropriating 3% of its audited annual income starting this fiscal year 2013-2014 towards the Program. We are aware though that with natural disasters increasing in frequency and magnitude, we need to set aside more funds to better prepare for what are ?new normal? natural occurrences,

We call on our friends and alumni for support.

Current figures point to 105 students from Bohol and 92 from Leyte and Samar ? areas affected by the 7.2 magnitude earthquake and the super typhoon Yolanda. A good number of these students whose means of living may have been compromised can benefit under this Program.

How to Support

Donations can be made through any of the following:

Option A

Donations may be made directly to Silliman via any of the banks listed below. For us to trace donations deposited in any of these banks, please observe the following: (1) send through e-mail the validated deposit slip to [email protected], cc [email protected];

(2) write in the subject line ?Continuing Calamity Response Program Donation?; and (3) indicate in the e-mail [a] the purpose of the deposit, [b] full name of the donor, and [c] mailing address and contact number of the donor.

Option B

For those in the United States, donations may also be made through the United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia. These are donations specifically for ?Scholarships? for the students from the areas affected by the 7.2 magnitude earthquake and the super typhoon Yolanda.

Accountability to Donors

The Program will adopt mechanisms of ensuring best benefit to those most in need of assistance. These include being able to assess applications for assistance, in order for any support to go towards the continuing education of the students involved.

Through the Office of the Vice President for Development, the University will issue official receipts to our donors. We shall also endeavor, as we always do, to provide regular updates on the utilization of funds under this Program. A similar report will be released to the public on the University website.

Please let us know how we may further facilitate your engagement in the ?Continuing Calamity Response Program?. Feel free to e-mail us at [email protected], or call us at +63 35 422-6002 local 224.  You may also get in touch with the Director for Alumni and External Affairs at [email protected] or call local 290.

Student Organization Responds to SU?s Continuing Calamity Response Program

The Panhellenic Society recently sponsored A Dinner Gathering in Solidarity to Rise as One in support of Silliman University?s Continuing Calamity Response Program. The 1,000-peso per plate fundraiser was held at a local Asian fusion restaurant KRI in Dumaguete. The 2 evenings for the dinner fundraiser, November 29 and 30, 2013, saw a full house. Panhellenic Society initially turned over Php 52,000.00 pesos towards the program through VPD Jane Annette L. Belarmino. Others present during the turnover were SU Legal Counsel Atty. Myles Nicholas G. Bejar, Alumni Affairs Director Ruben N. Bokingo, Prof. Lourdes Angela Florendo-Piñero and Joanne Asunto-Gomez Panhellenic advisers.

SU Alumna Eufemia Tobias-Munn, who is based in Washington, recently released her new book entitled Bridging the Gap, Kindle Edition (e-book). She says this book is ?her life story?. Munn says, ?Bridging the Gap, chronicles my journey from World War II — I survived the Japanese, the Muslim raiders, malaria, and leeches in the jungle — to building a bridge of understanding, peace, and harmony through education across religious and cultural barriers in my hometown, Alabaman, Lanao del Sur, Philippines.? You can purchase a copy of her book on-line through http://www.amazon.com/Bridging-Gap-Eufemia-Munn-ebook/dp/B00H30I962.

Inviting you to a campus tour

If you have not visited Silliman campus for some time now, you might want to plan a trip soon. We invite you to drop by the Alumni and External Affairs office and book a campus tour with us. Points of interest to visit are:

The Anthropology Museum at the Silliman Hall; A.Y. Reyes Zoological and Botanical Garden, home of the Center for Tropical Conservation Studies (CenTrop); and the interpretive collection at the Angel C. Alcala Marine Laboratories, where the Institute of Environmental and Marine Sciences is. To take you around the University?s 62 hectare campus, we have 3 electric golf carts, donated by alumni chapters in the United States: two units came from the Silliman University Alumni Association of Southern California and another one from the Silliman University Alumni Association International-Chicago. The Silliman Cruiser, a 14-seater limousine-like vehicle with open sides for better air circulation is also available for campus tours. The Cruiser is a donation of the Silliman University Alumni Association of Southern California. A campus tour is provided with a member of the Corps of Campus Ambassadors as guide.

SU Jazz Band Goes on a Mindanao Road Trip

The Silliman University Jazz Band headed by Prof. Joseph B. Basa goes on a Mindanao Concert Tour December 14 ? 21, 2013. The tour will include performances in Aloran, Bonifacio, Calamba, Clarin, Jimenez, Sinacaban, Tudela and the Cities of Ozamiz, Tangub and Oroquieta in Misamis Occidental. A student recruitment campaign and alumni chapter visitation component has been integrated into the tour. Alumni chapters in these areas have been very gracious in hosting the Jazz Band.

IN MEMORIAM: Susano P. Larena (High School 1953) on November 1, 2013; Elsie Mapeso Monares (BSN 1989) on November 10, 2013; Arianne Fern Sia Serbest (Elementary 2000, High School 2004, BS Nursing 2008) on November 16, 2013; Eleanor Mae Lopez Macias (Elementary 1978, High School 1988) on November 26, 2013; George Augustus P. Arnaiz (Elementary 1988) on November 30, 2013. If you know of any Sillimanian who is not on our memorial list, please inform us.

Thank you for always being there for dear old Silliman.    

President Ben S. Malayang III has requested this office to update you regularly about the happenings on campus. We are also interested in knowing what you and your alumni chapters are doing.

Please keep in touch and update your file with our office if you have not done so. We would truly appreciate it. You may reach the President?s Office through this email address: pres@su.edu.ph. You may also contact the Alumni Affairs Office through this address: [email protected].

Sincerely,

The Officers and Staff of the Alumni and External Affairs

cc: Dr. Ben S. Malayang III