Dr. Irving Domingo L. Rio, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dr. Mary O’ T. Penetrante, Acting Director, University Research Center led the ribbon cutting to officially open the 15th Research and Development Week.
Promoting research as a vital tool in inclusive development, the Central Philippine University Research Center held its 15th Research and Development Week at the Educational Media Center on March 5-9, 2018.
With the theme “Technopreneurship: Driving Growth and Expanding Beyond Borders,” the event also showcased the 19th Faculty Research Symposium and the 16th Student Symposium, which featured studies done by the CPU faculty, staff, and students.
Keynote speakers included Dr. Richard S. Abendan, Manager, USAID-STRIDE Research and Industry Partnerships and Ms. Marianne Tajanlangit-Bebit, Intellectual Property Field Operations Specialist, Intellectual Property of the Philippines.
Posters of the different studies presented during the 15th Research and Development Week are exhibited at the Educational Media Center.
Faculty presenters included Dr. Reynaldo N. Dusaran, Director, Accreditation and Instructions with his study on “Validation of 2017 Business Permit Licensing System”; Mr. Jun Ozbert M. Haguisan, Stockroom Coordinator; Prof. Ann Marie P. Alguidano, faculty, Chemistry Department, College of Arts and Sciences presented their study entitled “Comparison of Heavy Metals in Salt”; and Dr. Mary O’ T. Penetrante, Acting Director, University Research Center gave a presentation on her study entitled “Farmers’ Market Linkage” .
The students also presented their studies on information technology, social sciences, social and political sciences, business, engineering, agriculture, education, humanities, chemistry, and other related fields.
Rev. Cris Amorsolo V. Sian, Senior Pastor, University Church.
In line with the celebration of Christ Emphasis Week, the Central Philippine University College of Law held its biannual special convocation at the Educational Media Center (EMC) on February 28, 2018.
For the words of welcome, College of Law Dean, Atty. Zacarias D. Bedona Jr., shared the anecdote about Mr. Philip Bliss. “In 1958, one of the best and popular singers was Philip Bliss. Years later, the descendants of Philip Bliss sent Mr. Albert B. Smith a letter. The letter contained the story of young Philip and his teacher Mrs. Murphy. Before he learned to read and write, Mrs. Murphy made the children memorize Psalm 23. One time, the children were made to recite the verse, and Philip recited the lines, ‘surely good Miss Murphy will follow me all the days of my life.’”
Dean Bedona shared that this year’s CEW text, Psalm 23, is a verse close to his heart because it was his wife’s favorite before she died. “This verse is also very dear to me because I would sometimes read the verse as, ‘[S]urely goodness and Mercy will follow me all the days of my life.’ Mercy is the name of my wife. I hope that tonight you will encounter God in a very special way.”
For the message, University Church Senior Pastor, Rev. Cris Amorsolo V. Sian, talked about loneliness and depression as one of the leading issues the youth face today. “Amos 8:11 talks about a famine. It says, ‘‘Be certain of this, the time is coming,’ says the sovereign Lord.
‘when I will send a famine through the land—not a shortage of food or water but an end to divine revelation! People will stagger from sea to sea, and from the north around to the east. They will wander about looking for a revelation from the Lord, but they will not find any. In that day your beautiful young women and your young men will faint from thirst. These are the ones who now take oaths in the name of the sinful idol goddess of Samaria. They vow, ‘As surely as your god lives, O Dan,’ or ‘As surely as your beloved one lives, O Beer Sheba!’ But they will fall down and not get up again.’’”
According to Rev. Sian, there is a special mention of the youth in the said verse. “The verse talks about beautiful young women and young men and it speaks about your generation, and how vulnerable the times are in this stage of your life. I am not saying the previous generation is better but nowadays the temptation is greater and the desire to satisfy is met with temporary solutions to a permanent problem.”
Rev. Sian shares about the 2018 Grammy Awards in Madison Square Garden, New York. “During the 2018 Grammys, one of the nominated song of the year was “1-800-273-8255”—this is the hotline number of the National Suicide Prevention Lifetime. The song talks about a man wanting to die and then on the other side someone talks to him that it’s not the end, that there is hope. Every day, the hotlines received around 6,000 to 7,000 phone calls and it only speaks of the magnitude of depression. A lot of people are calling for help and a lot of people are in despair.”
He goes on to talk that the root cause of depression and loneliness is that people have forsaken God. “If you hunger for food, it can be remedied, but the famine of the soul does not have a solution from a human perspective. There is no shortage in the preaching of the Word of God. There is a famine in hearing. Because of our rejection of God, the consequence is meaninglessness and desperation. The solution is to go back to God.”
Ending his sermon, Rev. Sian told the story of Ernest Hemingway’s “The Capital of the World.” In the story, a man and his son, Paco, had an argument and the latter ran away. The father looked for Paco everywhere and after failing to find him, eventually published a post in the newspaper saying, “Paco, meet me at Hotel Montana at noon on Tuesday. All is forgiven! Love, Papa.” On the said day, the man went to the said hotel and to his surprise he found 800 young men named Paco. “There is a deep hunger for forgiveness. Picture God as a loving father who calls us home. Our hearts are restless until we find rest in Him.”
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