Dr. Quebengco to Leave Dlsuphotos by William Cruz by Raymund Cuesico
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IN T H E K N O W I N R E V I E W Half student, half T h e C o s t s o f athlete, 4 The Research, 5 Orient yourselves with the academic What will it take to pursue truly lives of some of our student- groundbreaking research in athletes. DLSU? BASTIONLaSall OF ISSUE-ORIENTED CRITICALia THINKINGn VO L . X lV I I NO. 8 TH E O F F I C I A L stUDENT P U BLICATI O N O F D E LA SAllE U N I V E RSITY 17 JANUARY 2 0 0 8 Dr. Quebengco to leave DLSUPhotoS BY WILLIAM CRUZ BY RAYMUND CUESICO fter serving 12 years as Executive Vice President and almost one year as Chancellor, Dr. Carmelita Quebengco—now COMMENTARY Chancellor Emeritus—is leaving the University after her mandatory retirement last December, and is currently working Aon a transition between her administration and whoever will be named the University’s next Chancellor. Riding Hackneyed Prior to her retirement, Dr. Quebengco In addition, the University has two patent more complicated and difficult. Nonetheless, was concurrently DLSU Vice Chancellor for applications being processed. Dr. Quebengco she countered, “If you don’t raise the bar or Credentials Administration. mentioned that on top of publishing research in even lower standards, that’s when deterioration BY RAYMUND CUESICO In an interview with The LaSallian, Dr. international journals, DLSU must have patents and corruption happens.” Quebengco looked back at the way the Univer- credited to its name as more concrete proof of L evel I V P A A S C U treatment of professors for second sity has changed over her years in office. its contributions to society. Creating visible change accreditation, Commission on takers, and sometimes just muster- Amid uncertainty following her retirement, Dr. Quebengco pointed to several aspects Higher Eduction (CHED) Centers ing enough of a grade from easier Dr. Quebengco assured the community that Raising all bars that she believes have contributed to raising of Excellence, government board course requirements to reach the there are qualified people to fill her shoes. In At the top of Dr. Quebengco’s priorities DLSU’s overall standard. exam first-placers—these are just cut-off passing grade even while this regard, she said that a Brother President during her time in the Administration was the In the area of student development, she some of the achievements used failing in major exams. In short, and a Chancellor is a viable option for the constant monitoring of educational quality in mentioned that allowing students to sit and by the University as evidence there is a great variance in the University, just as it is currently the practice in the University through the following indica- participate in policy and decision-making com- of quality education. But while quality of education being admin- impressive at first glance, a more istered in the University—even other Lasallian schools. Those from within the tors: the number of externally funded research mittees, such as in the Multi-Sectoral Committee informed and detailed look at these among students in the same degree academic community, on the other hand, would grants, performance in the board examina- on Budget, has helped in molding better and indicators reveals that these honors program. need to be considered first in naming a new tions, accreditation results, and undergraduate more mature leaders. do little to truly distinguish DLSU Vice Chancellor for Administration, according admissions. The decision to open the University Mu- from its counterparts. Compounding the Knowledge to Quebengco. The Chancellor Emeritus believes that seum to all students amid security concerns, In fact, the University’s repeti- Gap raising the standards of the school begins with likewise, has resulted in increased attendance tious use of these qualifications Deficiencies in skill arising the admissions process, explaining that the from the Colleges of Science, Engineering, and Developments in the near future may be a sign that we barely have from the failure to attain specific As Chancellor Emeritus, Dr. Quebengco, University tries its best to attract the highest Computer Science. anything else to be proud of, learning goals defined in course aside from working on laying the groundwork scorers in the DLSUCET to enroll in De La More recently, the Sinag Solar Car Project and that stagnation has begun to syllabi result in a lack of knowl- for her successor, is currently involved in DL- Salle because it reflects on the image of the provided an opportunity for students to ex- set in. edge in a series of subjects, as it is SU’s bid to gain accreditation at the ASEAN school. Thus, in order to increase selectivity, perience hands-on work that is well beyond very evident that some courses are level this June. she has proposed to raise cut-off scores in the any apprenticeship program being offered in High tide, low tide prerequisites to others. A grading In this regard, pilot testing of the instru- entrance exams. the industry. Government board and li- system that equates 100 percent ments to be used, as well as exercises, were From her experience, Dr. Quebengco re- In academics, Dr. Quebengco’s term saw censure exams are supposed to to full mastery of a subject means already conducted for the University’s chemical marked that the refusal to work hard on the part the University gain local recognition through be standard measures of excel- that a 70 percent passing mark engineering and economics programs. These of some people as the biggest stumbling block Level IV PAASCU Accreditation and the nam- lence across different schools leaves a 30 percent gap in profi- two, the Chancellor Emeritus reasoned, have the to progress in the University. She said that she ing of Centers of Excellence by the Commis- because all test takers have a fair ciency (assuming, of course, that most number of Ph.Ds in the faculty, and have has received feedback that her thrust of raising sion on Higher Education (CHED). chance of performing well. While the grades are valid and correct). consistently produced more research. standards in DLSU was merely making work Dr. Quebengco’s term also saw the expan- DLSU-Manila can claim to have As a student progresses through SEE DR. QUEBENGCO , 4 the highest passing rates and the several related subjects without best performing students during addressing this gap, it continues NATIONAL SITUATIONER the season when regular students to grow until it reaches the point graduate and take their exams, it where there is simply no chance to The Nine-Headed Dragon also cannot be denied that it suf- correct this problem. fers from mediocre results when Hence, truly raising the bar BY FLOREN FAYE CHUA it’s the irregular students’ turn. (A does not only mean increasing the The Face OF Philippine On the side of the administration, clear contrast to this is the consist- passing grade, but also making sure politics will again be changed in a Senator Richard Gordon has admitted ently strong performance of the that the students that get to gradu- matter of months—28 months to be plans of running for president, and University of the Philippines-Dili- ate do not fall far behind their bet- exact—and while this is more than two Metro Manila Development Authority man across the licensure exams its ter counterparts. Every time that years away, a lot of names have already (MMDA) Chairman Bayani Fernando students take.) a few sub-par students manage to emerged as possible candidates for the has made no secret his desire to become The most glaring reason for make their way through college and presidency. Chief Executive. Finally, no discussion this discrepancy is the marked perform well below expectations There are currently seven unof- of administration “presidentiables” difference in the quality of the stu- outside of it, the reputation of the ficial candidates already jockeying for is complete without mentioning Vice dents taking these exams: While University is tarnished. position. Two of them are the “flag President Manuel “Noli” de Castro, who the first set of examinees passed all In essence, the University bearers” of the Philippines’ oldest has been labeled a strong contender for their subjects without any retake, must be able to align passing marks political parties: Sen. Manuel “Manny” the country’s top office. the second set of examinees most with the minimum requirements likely had to take some, if not for the quality that we portray and Villar for the Nacionalista Party and several, of their subjects more is required in the outside world. Sen. Manuel “Mar” Roxas III, who is LOREN LEGARDA than once. In this way, those getting excel- currently president of the Liberal Party. If opinion polls and recent elec- Giving students a second lent grades are rewarded not only Other unofficial candidates include tions are any indication, then Legarda chance to pass is not fundamentally for performing better than their opposition Senators Francis “Chiz” perhaps represents the opposition’s best the issue; the real problem is the peers, but for reaching the true Escudero, Panfilo “Ping” Lacson (who bet as president. Legarda topped both fact that students retaking these standard that these grades stand ran for president in the 2004 elections), the 1998 and 2007 senatorial elections, subjects would make the grade for; while those who barely pass and Loren Legarda, who was the United and lost only narrowly against former without gaining enough knowledge should remain competent and even Opposition’s vice-presidential candidate newsroom colleague Noli de Castro PHOTO BY WILLIAM CRUZ and skill to fare comparatively well competitive in their field.