USL Newsletter Volume IX l ISSN 1908-7683

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ISSN 1908-7683

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USL Newsletter Volume IX

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The Official Newsletter of the University of Saint Louis, Tuguegarao City, Philippines

Life is good when you are happy...

Life is better if you make others happy....

photo by fabiettophoto/ @flickr.com

Merry Christmas.

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USL Newsletter

THE GALACTIC GAZER Dr. Ferdinand N. Cortez

CHRISTMAS...CHRISTMAS...CHRISTMAS

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hat is Christmas?

It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future. It is a fervent wish that every cup may overflow with blessings rich and eternal, and that every path may lead to peace. Christmas candle is a lovely thing; It makes no noise at all, but softly gives itself away; while quite unselfish, it grows small. Christmas shopper’s complaint is one of long-standing.

A lovely thing about Christmas is that it’s compulsory, like a thunderstorm, and we all go through it together.

And the angel said unto them, “Fear not!

For, behold, I bring you tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

“For unto you is born this day in the city of David A Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you: Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.” Are you willing to believe that love is the strongest thing in the world - stronger than hate, stronger than evil, stronger than death - and that the blessed life which began in Bethlehem 2000 years ago is the image and brightness of the Eternal Love? Then you can keep Christmas.

As we struggle with shopping lists and invitations, compounded

by December’s weather, it is good to be reminded that there are people in our lives who are worth this aggravation, and people to whom we are worth the same.

Ask your children two questions this Christmas. First: “What do you want to give to others for Christmas?” Second: “What do you want for Christmas?” The first fosters generosity of heart and an outward focus. The second can breed selfishness if not tempered by the first.

At Christmas, play and make good cheer, for Christmas comes but once a year. Bless us Lord, this Christmas, with quietness of

mind; teach us to be patient and always to be kind. Christmas day is a day of joy and charity. May God make you very rich in both.

Christmas Eve was a night of song that wrapped itself about you like a shawl. But it warmed more than your body. It warmed your heart... filled it, too, with a melody that would last forever. Christmas gift suggestions: to your enemy, forgiveness. To an opponent, tolerance. To a friend, your heart.

To a customer, service. To all, charity. To every child, a good example. To yourself, respect.

Christmas has lost its meaning for us because we have lost the spirit of expectancy. We cannot prepare for an observance. We must prepare for an experience.

Christmas is a necessity. There has to be at least one day of the year to remind us that we’re here for something else besides ourselves.

Christmas is a race to see which gives out first - your money or your feet. Christmas is a time when everybody wants his past forgotten and his present remembered. What I don’t like about office Christmas parties is looking for a job the next day. Christmas is doing a little something extra for someone. Christmas is for children. But it is for grown ups too. Even if it is a headache, a chore, and nightmare, it is a period of necessary defrosting of chill and hide-bound hearts.

Christmas ... Is not an eternal event at all, but a piece of one’s home that one carries in one’s heart.

Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind. To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas.

Christmas is not just a time for festivity and merry making. It is more than that.

It is a time for the contemplation of eternal things. The Christmas spirit is a spirit of giving and forgiving. Christmas is the day that holds all time together. Christmas is the season for kindling the fire of hospitality in the hall, the genial flame of charity in the heart.

Love came down at Christmas, Love all lovely, Love Divine; Love was born at Christmas; Star and angels gave the sign.

Christmas - that magic blanket that wraps itself about us, that something so intangible that it is like a fragrance. It may weave a spell of nostalgia. Christmas may be a day of feasting, or of prayer, but always it will be a day of remembrance - -a day in which we think of everything we have ever loved. ( So the wise sages said...)

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USL Newsletter

KALEIDOSCOPE Dr. James Pattaguan

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elcome to the last issue of our USL Newsletter for 2008. Given barely few days to write, I thought of using the acronym Christmas as my guide to facilitate the organization of my thoughts for my column. Like the colors of the rainbow, I dwell on various topics of different colors, so to speak. These topics range from light to moderate and most of which are interest to me and likely to you my dear readers.

C is for Christ our Lord whose birth we will commemorate this Christmas. He is the center of our celebration. Hence, let us not substitute Him for all the many material things that come along with the celebration. C is also for CT Scan. I thought it would be good to dwell on this topic as well as I have experienced the same with my daughter Dyna exposed to this medical procedure. We were advised by her pediatrician to subject her to it because of possible fracture or hematoma over her left temple after hitting our wooden bed while playing. Upon hearing of CT Scan, something must be wrong. But I have fervent faith.

From the Medical.net.com, I got the following information: What is CT scan?CT scan is Computerized tomography scan.

Pictures of structures within the body created by a computer that takes the data from multiple Xray images and turns them into pictures on a screen. CT stands for computerized tomography.

The CT scan can reveal some soft-tissue and other structures that cannot even be seen in conventional X-rays. Using the same dosage of radiation as that of an ordinary X-ray machine, an entire slice of the body can be made visible with about 100 times more clarity with the CT scan.

The tomograms (“cuts”) for CT are usually made 5 or 10 mm

CHRISTMAS... apart. The CT machine rotates 180 degrees around the patient’s body. The machine sends out a thin X-ray beam at 160 different points. Crystals positioned at the opposite points of the beam pick up and record the absorption rates of the varying thicknesses of tissue and bone. The data are then relayed to a computer that turns the

information into a 2-dimensional cross-sectional image.

The CT scanner was invented in 1972 by the British engineer Godfrey N. Hounsfield (later Sir Godfrey) and the South African (later American) physicist Alan Cormack. CT scanning was already in general use by 1979, the year Hounsfield and Cormack were awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology for its development.

After a bad experience with the attendant in a CT scan, whose question of Hindi ba iiyak ang anak mo Sir, instead of playing the role of a child psychologist, in a known private hospital, I was advised to get the result in the afternoon, only to wait for almost two hours more.

The good part of course is that the result reads as follows: negative of fracture and of hematoma.Thanks God, what a sigh of relief after the stress of waiting for the result.

H is for the Homecoming on December 27, 2008.This will be hosted by HS Batch 83.All alumni/ alumnae are invited to attend the

same. As graduates of this great institution, let us recall the good old days with our administrators and mentors.

R is for Rice, yehey, we have received our gift of one cavan of rice.Thanks to the USL Administration.

I is for initiative. One of the keys to success in any endeavor, be it for life or otherwise, is initiative. I would like to quote John Viney Drive’s wisdom on initiative:”If there is a trait which does characterize leaders it is opportunism.

Successful people are very often those who steadfastly refuse to be daunted by disadvantage and have the ability to turn disadvantage to good effect. They are people who seize opportunity and take risks.

Leadership then seems to be a matter of personality and character.” Such challenging wisdom, is one of my guides in doing many of our programs and projects in school.I hope every Louisian keeps this virtue also for himself/herself in his/her daily undertaking in school and community.

S is for silence. The old adage, which says, that God must have given us two ears and one mouth, so that we may listen more than speak, is another challenge that I will pose to every reader of this column. In this season of Christmas, let us find time to be silent, to reflect on life and what has been for the year 2008.Let us not forget, that in silence, God speaks to us.Let us learn then to listen to Him. M is for merry making, let us also enjoy our Yuletide season.

It is bonding time for all of us, especially with our family, relatives and friends.

A is for Alay Pasko 2008.This is a once in a year event where we share goods to our less fortunate brethren, They, who do not have to page 04

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I

’m thankful the muse has

dawned on me!

Back in college, I was an irregular and delinquent columnist and writer for fear of losing a scholarship over writing for the school paper. I was less into writing but more into reading – in solitude.

Like Jo, a favorite character of mine in Little Women, I am a bookworm, and I don’t mean to brag about this selfproclamation. I am no vain, that is why, when I call myself a mallrat once in a blue moon, I always head towards a bookstore, and armed with some good penny, I would grab a book or a magazine. I can even exchange a sumptuous meal for a good read. Kind of impulsive? Not quite.

When I was in elementary, I was as any typical girl who was as glorious when given a “pasalubong”. I took glory in scavenging newspapers that wrapped the tobacco of my “inang” and the papers that clothed the dried fish for lunch. I was interested in the entertainment news. I remember memorizing the name Linda Blair, who was a major character in a horror movie, but I have never seen the movie

DOESN’T T MATTER erac

A cheese bread on a Christmas eve The ants were feasting The old man arrived.

The taciturn girl Asked in her eyes The old man’ss eyes on the sponge.

The old man finally spoke Offered the bread feasted over By tiny fellows red as the season.

Then the old man, the girl Some boys and other girls Ate what were left over.

Water.

Just that On a Christmas eve.

JO in ME

nor do I further know Linda Blair. The long legs of Miss Pretty Woman Julia Roberts still are vivid in my mind.

In my early twenty’s though, I was able to see the movie. I was happier.

Then, I have developed reading history. I like to read about war – about Hitler’s expansionistic ideals, about people who died in ruthless bombings, about Anne Frank and her diary, about shattered love stories and dreams, about the Kamikazes who managed to strike a pose before a suicidal flight…

Annihilation meant collateral damage.

You see, I have understood better my Philippine history. In my spare moments, I get my youngest brother’s books and relearn. Once, I did not want to give a wink reading how Bataan and Corregidor fell under the Japanese troops. There were many brave soldiers. The Filipinos fought. It wasn’t only the Americans who did.

Then I repeatedly stared at a picture on a page where soldiers carried their comrades who fell along their march to death. Help can be immediate or suspended. Thus McArthur’s “I shall return”. Was he too late when he came back? Perhaps he was on the dot. The rest is history.

Reading a day’s lesson is different from reading life’s lessons. Read humanity. Jo says “Christmas won’t be Christmas without any presents”.

Do you agree with her? Just in time and round the corner you hear, “…At magbuhat ngayon kahit hindi Pasko ay magbigayan…”

I have not so many books in my shelf, and I strive to make them get across. God bless us all!

KALEIDOSCOPE from page 03 any this Christmas. This beautiful tradition, we do not only conduct as a charism of our beloved CICM, but also, our commitment as Catholics/ Christians.

S is for security and safety of everyone. A thing I wish for all Louisians and our countrymen.We hope and pray that the world will be able to address the economic recession the world over to ensure our security and safety in all our undertakings for 2009. On security and safety,let us be inspired Alan Cohen’s wisdom and I quote: It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power, end of quote.

With serenity, Merry Christmas...

Lay-out by islaw2008.

All photos from flickr.com

Speech delivered by: Dr. Emmanuel James P. Pattaguan Vice-President for Administration Chairman, Kaibigan ng Kalikasan Program University of Saint Louis Tuguegarao City Friends of the Environment Awarding Rites Provincial Government of Cagayan December 16, 2008 Our dynamic provincial governor, the Hon. Alvaro Antonio,ably represented by his Chief of Staff, Atty. Joseph Pauig, Forester Robert Adap, Officer-In-Charge, Provincial Natural Resources and Environment Office of Cagayan, Dr. Fely Lattao, the Assistant Schools Division Superintendent of the Division of Cagayan, our beloved president, Dr. Rosalinda Valdepeñas,of the University of Saint Louis, other school officials, both from the public and private, LGU Officials, Director Purita Licas of the Philippine Information Agency, the most esteemed members of the evaluation committee for this year’s search, media partners, dear colleagues in the preservation and conservation of our natural resources, friends, ladies and gentlemen, a green morning to everyone.

I would like to extend on behalf of the entire University of Saint Louis Family, my sincerest appreciation to the provincial government of Cagayan, particularly the Provincial committee on sustainable development, for the honor bestowed to our University, as Best Implementer for Solid Wastes management among Private schools for the third time, thus elevating the University of Saint Louis as one of the Hall of Famers.

I commend the officials of the provincial government of Cagayan for this noble endeavor of recognizing the efforts of institutions and individuals in making our province environmentally friendly.

Looking back, prior to any competition, we have made our University, a no-smoking campus, a no-burning campus, we have a tw0-way segregation scheme on wastes managementthis way, it is easier to educate the youth, instead of the usual four-way scheme, among the many good practices.

On our part as an awardee, please be assured of the fire and passion to continue making our institution a model for environmental education. The honors we received today shall be another inspiration to move on and even bring to higher heights our 8 year university-wide environment program dubbed as the Kaibigan ng Kalikasan Program.

Currently, we have embarked on a Parol Contest, made out of wastes and adorned with lights. I invite you in the evening, or probably attend Misa de Gallo to see for yourself our accomplishment in managing wastes. We likewise have started building a giant butterfly garden which we envisioned to be finished by end of March 2009.As I have said, in the past during the first awarding ceremonies of the Friends of the Environment Contest, we will not stop from doing good for the environment.

In the words of Robert Redford, Yosemite National Park dedication in 1985, he said: I think the environment should be put in the category of our national security. Defense of our resources is just as important as defense abroad.

Otherwise what is there to defend? Such a strong quotation challenges us as a school and as individuals to contribute our share in defending our environment. I likewise pose this as a challenge to all our leaders that together, we should not cease from educating our people for the love and care of the environment.

Beginning today and forever then, let us be counted, as Marshall McLuhan in 1964 said: There are no passengers on Spaceship Earth. We are all crew. Together, let us act to making our province a: davvun nga kakastan.

On these notes, I wish you all the best this Christmas, as we look forward to a bountiful and green 2009.

Thank you and a pleasant day to everyone.