Official Community Newsletter of UP Los Baños
2016-03
July-September 2016
UPLB to hold 98th LD and 1st grand alumni homecoming All roads lead to the UPLB campus with the celebration of the 98th Loyalty Day and 1st Grand UPLB Alumni Reunion on Oct. 9-10. The celebration, with the theme “Rekindling the UPLB spirit in the service of humanity,” features activities for alumni and jubilarians. This year’s jubilarians are those who graduated in the years ending in 6 and 1. On Oct. 9, at 7AM, the UPLB Alumni Association (UPLBAA) will treat the alumni to a welcome breakfast with Chancellor Fernando C. Sanchez, Jr. during the General Assembly/business meeting in Baker Hall.
At 2 PM, notable UPLB graduates representing various sectors will be honored during a program in Baker Hall; and at 6 PM, a barn dance will take the alumni on a nostalgic trip to the “aggie” days of old. Other activities during the first day are also sure to pack a lot of fun. Alumni can bond with their family and friends in sports activities to be held at the Alumni Plaza at 9AM, fawn over cute canines at the College of Vetrinary Medicine’s Dog Show at the Baker Hall, or hang out at the DL Umali Freedom Park at 4PM to enjoy live music and a movie. The festivities will continue on Oct. 10, with the traditional Loyalty Day foot and float parade around the campus. .
UPLB tops in EE, Forestry, VetMed, & AgEng board exams UPLB graduates in electrical engineering, forestry, veterinary medicine, and agricultural engineering have again brought honor and distinction to the University with the high passing rates inked in their respective licensure examinations: 100% in both electrical engineering and forestry, 96% in agricultural engineering, and 90% in veterinary medicine. All 21 graduates from UPLB successfully hurdled the Electrical Engineer Licensure Examination, maintaining the record the University has held in 14 such examinations since 2010. The Electrical Engineering Licensure Examinations are conducted in April and September each year. The forestry graduates duplicated not only the 100% passing rate but also its being the lone top performing school, having four graduates in the top ten, and having 85 board passers in the 2015 Forester Licensure Examination. The graduates who landed in the top ten are Ma. Armie Janica Pasahol Ramirez (89.65%), Christian Rebong Amante (89.15%), Randelle Ralph Garcia Canicosa (89.10%), and Ma. Ericha Vivas Montecillo (88.95%) at
fourth, sixth, seventh, and tenth places, respectively. Meanwhile, UPLB is the sole top performing school in both the Agricultural Engineer and Veterinarian Licensure Examinations given by the Professional Regulation Commission on August 2016. Of the 50 examinees in each from UPLB, 48 and 45 passed the examination for agricultural engineers and veterinarians, respectively. The following examinees from UPLB made it to the top ten in the agricultural engineer board examination: Chen Lester Reñon Wu, 2nd place at 83.64%; Kristelle Marie Santos Dela Cruz, 3rd at 83.32%; Jade Vincent Reyes Jalalon, 4th at 81.65%; Katrin Joy Carandang Angeles, 6th at 80.97%; and Mike Lorenzo Gallarte Oleta, 9th at 80.34%. Meanwhile, UPLB’s Czarina Kristine Dema-ala Nobleza placed eighth in the exam for veterinarians with a rating of 83.20%. In order to become a top performing school in both examinations, a school must have 50 or more examinees with at least 80% passing the examination. (MJE Gloria, with information from www.prc.gov. ph)
CPDO, PPMSO merge into UPMO The University Planning and Maintenance Office (UPMO) has been created with the merger of the Campus Planning and Development Office (CPDO) and the Physical Plant Maintenance and Services Office (PPMSO). The UP Board of Regents approved the creation of UPMO at its 1320th meeting on Aug. 25. In Memorandum No. 110, dated Sept. 8, 2016, Chancellor Fernando C. Sanchez, Jr. said that UPMO shall be responsible for preparing plans for new construction projects and for rehabilitating physical facilities, rendering various engineering services, repairing and maintaining facilities, implementing policies governing physical facilities,and performing other functions assigned by the Chancellor.
The Memorandum also said that “the respective personnel of CPDO and PPMSO will be absorbed by the UPMO, but the Chancellor has been granted the authority to transfer or deploy personnel of the abolished units to other units in UPLB that require their expertise or skills.” UPMO is under the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Planning and Development and will be headed by a director and a deputy director. It will be composed of eight sections and an administrative services unit. The reorganization aims to provide better coordination between the planning and development and maintenance units of the University to ensure efficient service to University constituents. (MC Jadina)
Best float in 2015. The College of Agriculture won the best float last year. Will it win again this year? All schools and colleges will be in contention for the best float award on Oct. 10.
UPLB has 61 new freshies only! Gone are the days when we see students walking together in droves as the new freshmen are wont to do. “Cuyug” as some would call it, in reference to fish that swim in schools. This is because we have the lowest new freshmen intake ever in UPLB. Compared to previous years that saw more than 2,000, UPLB only has 61 this semester. This is replicated in universities across the country with the shift to the K to 12 Basic Education Program. The new freshmen were welcomed by University officials and other personnel during the Opening Convocation at the CAS Annex Auditorium on Aug. 3, 8-12 AM. Dr. Nina M. Cadiz, director of the Office of Student Affairs (OSA), told the students in her welcome remarks that college life at UPLB will not be a bed of roses as they will meet lots of challenges while working on their degrees. However, she assured them OSA will do its best to help hone their psychosocial skills for them to cope with these challenges. A message was delivered on behalf of Chancellor Fernando C. Sanchez, Jr. by Dr. Serlie B. Jamias, vice chancellor for community affairs. Dr. Jamias welcomed the new freshmen to the “greenest and cleanest UP campus in the whole UP System.” She also dispelled a common belief that UPLB is a “carabao college,” saying that it is a comprehensive university providing excellent training from the physical to
the natural and social sciences and the arts, a national center of excellence for a number of degree programs, and is a top performer in licensure examinations administered by the Professional Regulation Commission. The Chancellor’s message said that in order to maintain this academic excellence, the past and present administrations of UPLB had been rehabilitating or building new infrastructure, enhancing the capacity of faculty and staff, and improving the curriculum. She enjoined the students to imbibe the practice of honor and excellence while in UP and to know that honor comes first before excellence. “We want you to be academically excellent, but most of all, we want you to be critical thinkers who are socially conscious and values-oriented.” A highlight of the program was the message of the guest speaker, Prof. Jonas George S. Soriano, managing director of the Institute for Quality Productivity of the Development Academy of the Philippines and deputy executive director, Office of the Cabinet Secretary of the Republic of the Philippines. Soriano is a former BS Agribusiness student of UPLB. Prof. Soriano said that being in UP means being critical, and being critical means understanding where President Rodrigo Duterte will take the country. He emphasized the need to strengthen the justice system in the country and raising living standards. 61 new freshies ...page 2
Top freshies. The top ten UPCAT takers among those who enrolled in UPLB proudly display their certificates of recognition as they pose with University officials and the guest speaker, Jonas George Soriano, UPLB alumnus who is deputy executive director of the Office of the Cabinet Secretary. (Photo by CV Labe)