Roman assured of UPAA support

THE UNIVERSITY OF the Philippines Alumni Association (UPAA) has assured incoming UP President Emerlinda R. Roman of its continued support and cooperation “to help make UP a great university.”

At a luncheon hosted by the UPAA last January 31 in honor of UP President Francisco Nemenzo and Roman, UPAA President Jaime S. de los Santos said he wished the Roman Administration “a clear and objective mind to propel UP to greater heights.”

Greatest resources
Nemenzo acknowledged the importance of the alumni’s support. “The alumni,” he pointed out, “are one of UP’s greatest resources not only in terms of funding but also as a political force that can protect UP against pressures from outside.” He said that when one senator tried to block the passage of the proposed UP Charter in the previous Congress, the alumni rallied behind the University and helped to ensure that the senator did not get re-elected in May last year.

For her part, Roman admitted that “I am getting more scared by the day as I approach February 10 (when Nemenzo will officially turn over the presidency to Roman). Why? Because I only know too well the expectations and the things that we have to do for UP.”

Then again, Roman said, “I know I have nothing to be scared about because since I have been elected, I have been hearing words of support from various sectors—colleagues, donors, alumni, faculty, administrative staff, and students.”

Indeed, even Nemenzo volunteered his service. “I will not interfere with the Roman Administration,” he said. “But I will just be around to help whenever needed.” Nemenzo, who will be named professor emeritus by the Board of Regents on the day of his retirement, plans to continue teaching in UP.

Centennial plans
Roman also took the luncheon as an opportunity to inform the alumni of her plans. “If there is any event that is going to distinguish our administration from the previous administrations, it is going to be the [University’s] centennial celebration [in 2008],” she announced. “And we intend to involve not just the academic community but more so the alumni.”

“Apart from the academic structure that we now have in place, we are also thinking of creating a parallel structure that will focus on the centennial celebration,” continued Roman. “I don’t think our vice presidents who take care of our academic programs will have time to work on the celebration. The centennial is a big event, it requires no less than full attention from another group of individuals. And for that, we will need the support of the alumni. Many of the programs that we have in mind require the active participation of our alumni both here and abroad.”

In spite of the attention that will be given the centennial celebration, however, Roman assured the alumni that her administration will continue to build on the tradition of excellence that has always been the landmark characteristic of UP. “We all know that presidents come and go,” she said. “But the vision of building on academic excellence will always be there.” (ROD P. FAJARDO III)

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New program to promote Cebuano language, culture

ON MAY 29, 1989, the Board of Regents (BOR) at its 1021st meeting promulgated the UP language policy with the aim of promoting English as the global lingua franca, Filipino as the national language, and the regional languages as the fountainhead of Filipino. English, thus, remained the general medium of instruction in UP, while the Sentro ng Wikang Filipino was established to promote the national language.

As for the third objective of promoting the regional languages, the BOR approved at its 1188th meeting last October 28 the establishment of the Cebuano Language Culture and Program (CLCP) under the UPV-Cebu College Central Visayas Studies Center.

The CLCP aims to encourage the students of UPV Cebu College to be proficient not only in spoken and written English and Filipino but also in the regional languages of Central Visayas and Mindanao. The program also intends to promote the revival of popular interest in Cebuano literature and indigenous art forms, and undertake research on the language and culture of the region.

To realize these goals, the CLCP will work in close collaboration with the local governments, religious groups, business firms, and NGOs. UP will only take the initiative, but the community is expected to sustain it with financial and other forms of support.

In concrete terms, the CLCP will undertake the following projects: 1.) develop a course on Cebuano literature, 2.) hold occasional Cebuano writing clinics, 3.) sponsor debates and essay-writing contests in Cebuano, 4.) stage Cebuano dramas (balitaw) and other art forms (kulilisi, panaygon, etc.), 5.) compile an authoritative Cebuano dictionary, and 6.) publish scholarly works in the Cebuano language.

Proponents of the Programs requested P1 million as starting fund. The local governments, business establishments, and prominent citizens in Cebu will be asked to help sustain it.

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Alunan tops poetry tilt

PROF. MERLIE ALUNAN of the UP Visayas-Tacloban Division of Humanities added one more to her extensive list of achievements and awards when she won the 2004 Home Life Family Magazine’s Annual Poetry Contest.

Her poem “Mater Dolorosa in Two Voices” was chosen as winner in a special poetry competition to mark Home Life’s 50th Anniversary. The poetry contest is an annual event held by the prestigious magazine published by the Society of St. Paul.

Alunan is one of the most respected poets in the country and has won the Palanca Award for Literature several times. Her latest book, Selected Poems, was recently published by the UP Press as part of its Jubilee Student Edition series.

Genevieve L. Asenjo, an alumna of the UPV Literature Program, won the First Prize in the Filipino category. She previously won Palanca Awards for fiction in Hiligaynon. (DERIS ROMERO)

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UPVTC freshie first in Nat’l Stat Quiz

AFTER RULING THE Regionals six times, UP Visayas-Tacloban finally bagged the 13th Philippine Statistics Quiz, the academic Mecca for number crunchers.

Jane Lois de Veyra, a Computer Science freshman, emerged the winner among student representatives from the 17 regions who gathered for the final round at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas building in Manila last December 7. On the road to the finals, she beat freshmen contestants from more than 500 universities and colleges. Her coach was Engr. Roberto Capon of the Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics faculty. He teaches trigonometry and other math subjects.

With Region 8 (UPV-Tacloban) taking first place, Region 10 settled for second while Region 6 (represented by UPV Iloilo) placed third.

Aside from assessing the competency and skills of students in statistics acquired from the secondary education curriculum, the annual PSQ is used to focus attention on the use of statistics in development-planning activities of the government. The rigorous competition requires exceptional comprehension and application of statistical concepts and probability analyses based on graphs and tables.

Two other UPVTC students, Bobby Jay Ochea and Rolito Medina of the BS Biology program, had joined de Veyra during the provincial eliminations. De Veyra and Ochea went through to the regional elims after placing first and second respectively in the province-wide competition held last November in Tacloban City. (YOLANDO R. DE GUZMAN)

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Student group creates computer program for USC elections

A UP STUDENT group formed to promote the use of Open Source software is proposing a computer program which would automate the Student Council elections in the campus this March. Endorsed by the incumbent UP Diliman Student Council, the Halalan voting system being developed by the University of the Philippines Linux Users Group (UnPLUG) was presented to the UP Diliman student councils and student newsletter publications last January 27 at the Palma Hall Lobby.

The web-based system would entail the use of the computer laboratories and e-terminals of the different UP Diliman units as voting stations, with election administrators providing passwords to students so that they can access the voting site. Waldemar Bautista, UnPLUG president, said counting would be instantaneous and results could be immediately generated once the voting period is declared over.

Michel Kristian Ablan, UPD-SC chair, reported that the Council has been threshing out the implementation details of the system with the different student political parties, the Office of Student Activities, and Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Ma. Teresa Jazmines. Jazmines was presented the proposal last November, Ablan said, but has yet to assign a representative to a board that would customize the program. The group also announced the beta-testing of the system which would involve holding a mock election some time before the proposed implementation in March.

UnPLUG invites the University sectors to check out the system and post their comments and suggestions at their website—http://www.uplug.org. UnPLUG, composed mostly of students from the College of Engineering and the Department of Computer Science, has worked on the system since February last year. Their aim is to do away with the financially and physically draining manual counting which characterized Student Council elections since the 1920s. Ablan said the new system could also attract more students than the usual, which is usually less than 50 percent, to vote. (JO. FLORENDO B. LONTOC)

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