Colleges and Universities

[Miguel]

Ang Silliman University sa Dumaguete sabi ng workmate ko na taga Ateneo. Dami daw foreigners dun, at malapit nga sa beach.Sobrang lapit. Pano ba naman, marine bio and specialty nila. Astig di ba? Parang mga school sa Miami. At and trend, the tanner your tone is, mas mababa grades mo. At pag umattend ka ng mga oath taking ng board exam, me mga taga dun n nagtotop sa Engineering

I'm from Silliman, siguro not many of you are familiar with this school. Actually this is the oldest American School in the country, and the first university outside Manila, founded in 1901. Cross cultural ang setting dahil marami rin ang mga foreign students. Noong nag-aaral pa ako may mga na classmates ako na american, japanese, koreans, from congo, pero yung madali lang pakipagsamahan ay ang indonesians because we have the same features like them. Other foreign nationals came to take undergrad and doctorate courses of its world reknowned marine biology course. kasi 30 years ago, ang Apo Island, pinakaunang lugar sa bansa na na save from destruction of its marine habitat dahil sa effort ng SU, kaya ngayon maraming mga from foreign tourists ang pumunta para mag diving lamang at siyang naging model sa ibang diving spots sa bansa gaya ng Tubattaha, Palawan at Bohol. Siguro, very few have known this, sa sobrang impress nila sa abundance of marine life, ang Shedd Aquarium and Museum ng Chicago, USA ay gumawa ng permanent giant replica including the sand, corals, and live fish sa kanilang aquarium. Now that's something we Filipinos can boast and be proud of.

In terms academic performance, according to the report released by CHED and PRC in 2000, among the top 10 schools in the country with the highest overall passing rates on its courses offered for 1994-1998, Silliman ranked third behind Xavier University of Cagayan de Oro then UP-Dilliman. Among its alumni are Silliman trained Simeon Toribio (one of the first Olympic medalists), the only school in the south to produce 2 national artists, Eddie Romero (film) and Edith Tiempo (literature- almost all great names in modern phil. literature were under the Silliman Writers Workshop, the pioneering writers workshop in the country, like Nick Joaquin, Conrado de Quiros...) and Philippine President Carlos P. Garcia. Even today, the current secretary of the Dept. of Finance, Juanita Amatong, is an alumna. But even though it's a 66 hectare campus area (which includes beach, farm, hospital, village, mini forest <conservatory of country's endangered species like pilandok>...) it only produces a small number of graduates, only about 1 thousand per year. So that's why you rarely hear from its alumni but they do held key positions in our country and abroad.

The only thing that saddened me about my alma mater is that of its high tuition fee. Back in 1996, 8K lang ang tuition, ngayon 30K at pataas na. Kung ngayon ako nag-aaral siguro hindi na maka afford ang parents ko. Quality education daw comes with a price, kaya ngayon very few students na lang, siguro less than a thousand will graduate, pati ang performance sa board exams ay bumaba dahil sa kunti na lang ang mapipilian na mag-aaral. Usually, ang mga mahirap ang talagang nagsikap mag-aral kumpara sa mayayaman. We'll so much for it, for a virtual tour of the campus you can log-on to www.su.edu.ph.

[IMG]www.suhs79.com/.../ 400_0/media/SU_old_better.jpg[/IMG]
Silliman Hall-the only remaining American Gothic Architecture in the country

[IMG]www.dumaguete.gov.ph/ su-marine.gif[/IMG]
Marine Lab- home of the 2nd largest collection of whale bones in Asia

[mhe-ann]

Originally Posted by Miguel

Quality education daw comes with a price, ......

hindi rin siguro. I have a very high tuition fee in College (wag mo na isama ang sobrang mahal na Lab fees, books, uniforms for different occasions, Org fee, etc. andami...) pero hindi mataas ang quality ng education (hindi ko na babanggitin ang name ng school kc hindi nyo rin naman kilala). I was supposed to transfer to DLSU Lipa, Bats. when I was 3rd year, same course (CoE), but decided to stay in my school because the tuition fee is much higher (double) and I'm going to be 1st year again. waahhh!

[jbkayaker12]

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[bagel]

So likewise, would conservation efforts to save the Bengal Tiger by taking a tiger (and its surrounding vegetation) out of it's natural habitat in Asia and shipping it to a zoo in California actually be destructive?

[jbkayaker12]

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[Francis20]

wow! we have an alumni (sp?) of Silliman University here.
I didn't know you have such a expensive tuition fee. That's probably comparable with Ateneo and DLSU's. Ours is comparable with SLU's. So it's affordable. Plus if you got scholarship, it would be no fuss.

[Miguel]

Can you imagine hauling sand from a beach and at the same time catching all those species of fish, that is plain destructive. It takes such a loooonnnnng time to create a natural beach and to just haul them overseas for an acquarium is definitely no no.

Well before this project was undertaken it was first consulted and then supervised by the marine biological experts that no damage would done to the marine habitat. It would be ironic to display a replica of a community managed marine reserve which served as a model for the world to follow when the original one no longer exist or is already damaged, and I'm quite sure also that the Apo Island community wouldn't allow of more than 20 years of effort be perished in an instant just like that. Unlike marine mammals, like the dolphin and whale which produces only a single offspring, fish breed hundreds of eggs which means they have the capability to multiply in huge population, so the number of fish found those in Shedd Aquarium is insignificant compared to those living in its original habitat. Though the sand is also part of the natural environment, those taken are from the beach not on the seas. To note also that sand is a non living thing so no life spared and as long as it will not be constantly taken, like quarrying, it will be naturally replenished. From what I have heard, those sands in Dakak is not originally from that area, as well as those in Shangrila Mactan which were said to be from Bohol. The sand used also in the Nestea Beach Volleyball, specially in its regional finals (as national finals is usually held in Boracay), were hoarded from a beach. So this sand transfer phenomena is not new and is tolerated as long as it will not cause damage.

So likewise, would conservation efforts to save the Bengal Tiger by taking a tiger (and its surrounding vegetation) out of it's natural habitat in Asia and shipping it to a zoo in California actually be destructive?

Yes, it can be destructive specially if the animal could not adopt to its new environment. But Silliman University is actually using this method of transferring the animal or "breeding loan" from its original habitat to another place in order for the animal to survive in number and not become extinct. As I have previously mentioned that SU also has a mini forest. This MINI FOREST serves as a home and as a captive breeding area of some of the country's endangered and endemic species. Efforts have been made to save these animals from extinction like the fruit bats, philippine deer, and the visayan warty pig. The loaning also of animals to other zoos were made in concern of the animal's survival just like the PHILIPPINE SPOTTED DEER (different from the philippine deer) which is on the brink of total extinction. The marine lab also houses another critically endangered animal the PHILIPPINE CROCODILE. Having these animals in a "zoo" is a must for their greater chance of survival.

I was just surfing and got here in this site by chance. Nice forum, good sharing of insights. I think Ateneo is more expensive but since La Salle is trimester(?) so they have much higher tuition overall. But Silliman's tuition is still high considering that Dumaguete is just a small city and the neighboring provinces in Visayas and Mindanao were not that rich also. The total population have greatly diminished on the verge of extinction also , when i graduated in 2000, there were about 8000 of us, now just above 5000 only. Americans used to support the school but no longer so since this is now handled by Filipinos, fundings are mostly relied from donations of alumni and benefactors. Excellent teachers have transferred to state universities who offered a much higher salary and the campus maintains also a huge number of facilities. With few students around, performance have been affected. SU used to top in accountancy nationwide, batch 2000 got 100% considering that national passing ave. ranges only from 17- 20%. There is no other recourse than to increase tuition. Well as the song of Meja goes, "its all about the money, its all about the dum-dum-dee-dee-dum-dum..".

[jbkayaker12]

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[Miguel]

It's nice to know your concern for nature Jon. But don't worry these marine biologists know what they are doing. They are experts on their field and knows what's best to do and what should not be done. In fact the lead biologist is a multi-awarded environmentalist both here and abroad, a Ramon Magsaysay Awardee (the Nobel Prize version of Asia), and a former Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources during the term of Ramos. He is undoubtedly the premiere expert of marine biology in this country. No need to worry, I assure you Apo Island is in good hands.

The purpose of Shedd Aquarium of having a replica of Apo Island is to create awareness to the whole world the harm and the damage on the aquatic environment brought about by fishing malpractices, yet all hope are not lost, that despite of the destruction it could still be repaired as long as there is a firm commitment to conserve it. Now here is a small island in the Philippines who have that commitment, that after years of destroying its seas, it has made a complete turnaround and is now rewarded with the abundance and beauty of marine life. Here is a real example for the world to follow that there is still a chance for change.

[ron_guevara]

Originally Posted by XetraDAX

dlsu's field is very small compared to those of up, ateneo and ust's.

buildings also are pangit. maganda lang yung st. la salle hall (the one along taft, beside mcdonalds). and yung yuchengco hall.

I agree. Even as a DLSU graduate, there is not much to talk about there. Super liit ng campus ng DLSU-M. Kayang-kayang i-tour ng 1-2 hours on foot. Pag natapos mo ang freshman orientation tour, nakita mo nang lahat. Little space for quiet study and even less fresh air.

And yes, the majority of the buildings (except for the St. La Salle/Main Building and the Yuchengco Building which was modelled from it) just look plain and uninteresting. Just restrict your sightseeing to the south side of the campus.

[jbkayaker12]

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[tyronne]

hi guys! i found this magazine in the men's room here in school and out of curiosity i scanned through it. it's a law magazine so a law student must have left it there. anyway, i found this interesting article so i immediately went to the computer lab and scanned it. by the way, the magazine is The National Jurist, November 2004 issue.





by the way, that's my school right there ^ GGU; im not a law student though





and another one from a different section of the magazine:


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ang galing no? di talaga pahuhuli ang pinoy

[jbkayaker12]

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[rico]

but A.P.O. fraternity is in the University of the Philippines, not De La Salle University.

Originally Posted by rico

but A.P.O. fraternity is in the University of the Philippines, not De La Salle University.

yes...but the exam is held always at DLSU

[rico]

Originally Posted by ronnaveth

yes...but the exam is held always at DLSU

i know but i was referring to the part (last part, short article) where they were talking about the oblation run being held in la salle. i've never heard of naked neophytes running around la salle.

edit: oh i'm sorry. i may have misunderstood the article.

they do run during exam seasons outside la salle...probabaly at taft avenue

[Miguel]

Originally Posted by jbkayaker12

Miguel>>>If those people involved were marine scientists as you have mentioned and world class in their fields then they should know better that it is destructive to haul sands from beaches anywhere in the world and not just in the Philippines. Perhaps because of the excitement brought on by their project they have forgotten that it took hundreds if not thousands of years for a beach to form while they were hauling those precious sands.

Jon

That would be the most ridiculous line I have ever read. Just mere logic Jon and you could get the whole picture or better yet visit Apo Island so that you could prevent your imagination from being blown out of proportion. It would be much better for you to see the real thing than just speculate or better yet search the net of the reactions of the foreigners after visiting the place. How dare you say that they were carried away by their excitement, it took them years to master their field and how easy for you to underestimate them. These are the same scientists who look after some of Philippines best diving and tourist destinations like those in Tubbataha, in Palawan, Cebu, and in Bohol. Dollars from tourists have poured in but best of all they help conserve our environment. So instead of just taking them for granted and assert your "knowledge", better yet thank these "real" experts for what they have contributed to our country. I don't want to make this forum into an argument so it would better for me to leave.

[JudeD]

Miguel, don't mind jon that much. He really tends to feel strongly about things so he sometimes takes his arguments a bit too far and is rather agressive with his opinions, kaya medyo antipatiko ang dating. He was like this even at another forum.

[jbkayaker12]

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