FORUM UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES
sh a p i ng
m i n d s
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VOLUME 18 NUMBER 2
APRIL-JUNE 2017
Health, Wellness, and Heritage
Shaping Minds, Shaping UP Broadens Its Bodies | 2 Horizons | 4
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healthy mind in a healthy body. A sound mind in a sound body. Mens sana in corpore sano. This old adage points to the ideal condition of a human being’s health—that a healthy person is one who achieves both intellectual and physical well-being. In the academe, where intellect and brains take center stage, physical wellness seems to be relegated to the background. It may be recognized as an important pursuit but perhaps not as important as stimulating and cultivating the mind. Looking at the assertion of “mens sana incorpore sano” in the context of university life begs the question: How can one’s mind truly be sound when the body is not equally healthy?
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hile everyone wants a UP in his or her own backyard—the System now has eight constituent universities spread around the country from Baguio to Davao—the national university clearly can’t be as national as it could possibly be, given its limited resources. That said, it’s done its best to serve as many corners of the archipelago as it reasonably could, without compromising the high standards of teaching it’s been known for. Thus were established campuses to serve the major island groups of Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao, and recently, cyberspace. UP was born in Manila in 1908, but that
UP’s Cultural Landscapes | 6
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ush, green, beautiful, serene, grand, open, free, wild and, perhaps to outsiders, a little bit odd. These are the words that are often used to describe many of UP’s 17 campuses. These are also, in a way, qualities expected of UP faculty, student, staff and alumni: the capacity to think independently and creatively, a beauty of character shaped by the values of honor and excellence, the ability to adapt to the twists and turns of life, an open heart and, much like the stately Oblation common to all UP campuses, a willingness, even eagerness, to offer all to the people we serve.