On 20th February 2011, there’ll be turnover ceremonies for the UP Presidency at the Quezon Hall Lobby at UP Diliman. Alfredo E. Pascual, 20th UP President, shall receive the UP President’s Mace from outgoing President Dr. Emerlinda R. Roman, 19th UP President. I’ve been invited to this turnover ceremony, having been member of the Board of Regents representing the UP Faculty in 2008. Much as I wish to be present in this significant occasion, I have to attend to previous commitments. However, I do wish the incoming President much luck and hope that he’ll succeed in what he has set out to do for the University of the Philippines System.
UP continues its journey into its second centennial. To be sure, there have been a lot of ups and downs for this great university in its first hundred years, and President Pascual, having been President of the UP Alumni Association in the last few years, is quite familiar with the problems besetting UP. It’s our hope that he’ll be able to respond to the needs of this institution. Certainly, he alone can’t solve the problems of UP, but if he provides the needed leadership the UP constituency is ready to follow and do its share in getting UP back to its glory.
Outgoing UP President Emer Roman did well as UP’s Centennial and First Woman President. Incoming President Fred Pascual has only to continue and perhaps improve upon the efforts.
Mr. President, I don’t have to overstate the fact that UP’s physical structures are almost completely dilapidated. Perhaps the university, under your watch, might consider upgrading classroom and laboratory facilities. In many of our classrooms, furniture are in state of disrepair, there are no equipment needed in classroom discussions such as LCD projectors and sound system. They, too, are hardly ventilated, much less air conditioned. UP wants to be world class university, but its facilities are for fifth class municipality in this country.
Then, of course, there’s still the need to formulate the salary scale for UP, which, under the UP Charter of 2008, the UP Board of Regents can approve and implement. The trick, of course, is that UP must be able to raise the needed funds. Well, from my understanding, President Pascual has a lot of friends in private industry who could help the university. Let’s see if those connections, which were effective in getting the position of the Presidency, will be helpful in upgrading UP as an institution of high standard education in this country.
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On February 22-24, 2012, the UPOU, the Philippine Society for Distance Learning, Inc. (PSDL), and the UPOU Foundation, Inc. shall organize the International Conference on Open and distance e-Learning.
A draft concept paper on this international conference states that said conference “aims to engage stakeholders in critically revisiting and exploring, using new lenses, the following:
The state of the art and opportunities opened up;
Best practices, trends, innovations and tools;
Problems, barriers, reforms and solutions; and
Future directions and possibilities in open and distance education and e-learning.”
Watch out for announcements regarding call for papers. Keep on visiting the UPOU website: www.upou.edu.ph.
This international Conference shall coincide with the Anniversary of the UPOU, where the new UP President shall be invited as Guest of Honor. Also being planned would be the presence of UPOU students who shall interact with UPOU faculty and guests. These students shall also be given the opportunity to expound on their experiences as UPOU students.
Indeed, these events are something to look forward to.
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A few days ago, a female UPLB student was mugged near the 7-11 store at the Agapita Complex along Lopez Avenue going to UPLB. The mugging happened rather early in the evening. The student had the presence of mind, and, recalling what she has learned from her PE class (Aikido), she got herself free from the two men holding her and then she ran towards her boarding house shouting at the top of her voice seeking help from whoever. The two men, of course caught up with her and they attacked her with a knife. Fortunately neighbors heard her shouting and they came out just in time to prevent the two men from hurting her more seriously. She had two knife wounds and since her neighbors decided to bring her to the nearby hospital (LBDH) the two men got away.
Mugging incidents near the UPLB have started only in the last couple of years. We have talked to people around, and they believe the attackers are not natives of Los Baños. They think these attackers come from a place near Los Baños where informal settlers in Metro Manila have been relocated. I’m not sure about this and I don’t like to believe it, but the Barangay Officials of Batong Malake and the Los Baños Police must look into these incidents, with the view of preventing future ones.
I hope that Los Baños Mayor Anthony Genuino looks into this. We’re talking about the safety of UPLB students and other residents of Los Baños.
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