Friday, July 3, 2009

UNIV 2010

UNIV 2010 will be launched this Saturday, July 4 from 1:30-3:30 pm @ Banilad Study Center with Daisy Lopez, UNIV National Coordinator as the guest speaker.

From the UNIV Forums website:


UNIV Forum 2010

Can Christianity inspire a global culture?

In modern times society has often been built upon the values of liberty and tolerance, dialogue, equality, and the search for peace. Although they are often difficult to put into practice, these principles have a special force which engenders their universal appreciation by men from the most distinct countries and even allows them to serve as the basis of a global culture. In his discourse to the University ‘La Sapienza’ in Rome in 2008, Benedict XVI acknowledged that our understanding and recognition of human rights have increased thanks to the notable development of the sciences in Modernity.

He added that this is an achievement for which we should indeed be thankful. Nevertheless, Pope Benedict also pointed out that this modern heritage is jeopardized if it forgets that its roots are grounded in the Christian faith: “if our culture seeks only to build itself on the basis of the circle of its own argumentation, on what convinces it at the time, and if – anxious to preserve its secularism – it detaches itself from its life-giving roots, then it will not become more reasonable or purer, but will fall apart and disintegrate.” The UNIV Forum 2010 wants to contribute to current thought on the role played by the Christian conceptions of the person, of society, and of history in the establishment of principles which can give life to an authentically global culture.

The following are some possible areas of reflection for UNIV 2010:
- The role of the concepts of human person, society, happiness, etc., in economic thought. Are they only one more option among various models and policies?

- When it comes to making laws, how can one design a juridical system capable of welcoming people of radically diverse convictions?

- The need for Christians to communicate their own beliefs while respecting the freedom of others and still having a real influence on society.

- The philosophical debate on whether transcendence and an acknowledgement of God are a necessary basis for a global culture.

- The human and moral formation of the leaders of contemporary societies.

- The origin of the Modern Constitutional State as a defender of the dignity of the person and guarantor of liberty and political participation.
These themes are just a few possible examples. The goal of the Organizing Committee of the UNIV Forum 2010 is to open an international discussion, among both professors and students, on the Christian basis of the values of a global culture.

rAdIoLoGy NoTeS 20: Crazy Things Happen in The Radiology Department :)

I thought about this post when the currently rotating senior clerk/intern in our department said to me: "Doc, I don't think you would ever grow old rotating here with such funny people to work with."

And it's true... The radiologic technologists (radtechs for short) can be crazy...

Majority of them (I'm beginning to think it's a requirement before you get hired at our institution) can make a gay impersonation close enough to fool any consultant radiologist (the sonologist actually got tricked into thinking this, when currently none of the radtechs are male homosexuals). The CT-scan techs did do Tuesday Vargas' ditty which went "Hindi ako bakla..." complete with costume for last year's Christmas party celebration.

I also had this intern last month who would don two-three lead gowns the entire time he was assigned to the ct-scan.... No wonder his next 15 days of rotation was spent at the psychiatry department of the local government hospital.

In the MRI, we usually hide the food in the drawers or in the dressind room, but i think the consultant knows that we eat in the control room when she's out. At lull periods, they are quick to hide their PSP's when she drops in at the control room, and everybody then pretends to be busy.

We have also been hiding the water dispenser from the administrator in the IR dressing room for almost a year or so (water deliveries done only after office hours).

Then, there's the free for all internet access from one of the network computers (the provider knows that we use it for the access because of some sort of team-sharing and the fact that the radtechs have shown not a few websites and message boards to the engineer while he was visiting).

Crazy.... But this is where I work...

Monday, August 18, 2008

UNIV 2009 Research Writing Seminar

Our next scheduled activity is the UNIV Research Writing Seminar to be held this coming Saturday, August 23, 2008 from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. at Aboitiz Corporate Center – Audio Visual Room, Banilad, Cebu.
We hope to see all the participants in the UNIV 2009 Orientations there!

Friday, June 13, 2008

UNIV 2009 Resources

Here's a link to UNIV 2009 resources for those of us in the Phlippines:
Click here.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

UNIV 2009 Up and Coming!

UNIV 2009 will soon be launched in Cebu this academic year.
Watch out for it!
To learn more about UNIV, check out this website: http://www.univforum.org/index_en.html

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Youth and Happiness

Here's the results of MTV and AP's Survey on what makes the youth happy.

Poll: Family ties key to youth happiness

By JOCELYN NOVECK and TREVOR TOMPSON, Associated Press Writers Sun Aug 19, 5:48 PM ET
NEW YORK - So you're between the ages of 13 and 24. What makes you happy? A worried, weary parent might imagine the answer to sound something like this: Sex, drugs, a little rock 'n' roll. Maybe some cash, or at least the car keys.
Turns out the real answer is quite different. Spending time with family was the top answer to that open-ended question, according to an extensive survey — more than 100 questions asked of 1,280 people ages 13-24 — conducted by The Associated Press and MTV on the nature of happiness among America's young people.
Next was spending time with friends, followed by time with a significant other. And even better for parents: Nearly three-quarters of young people say their relationship with their parents makes them happy.
"They're my foundation," says Kristiana St. John, 17, a high-school student from Queens in New York. "My mom tells me that even if I do something stupid, she's still going to love me no matter what. Just knowing that makes me feel very happy and blessed."
Other results are more disconcerting. While most young people are happy overall with the way their lives are going, there are racial differences: the poll shows whites to be happier, across economic categories, than blacks and Hispanics. A lot of young people feel stress, particularly those from the middle class, and females more than males.
You might think money would be clearly tied to a general sense of happiness. But almost no one said "money" when asked what makes them happy, though people with the highest family incomes are generally happier with life. However, having highly educated parents is a stronger predictor of happiness than income.
And sex? Yes, we were getting to that. Being sexually active actually leads to less happiness among 13-17 year olds, according to the survey. If you're 18 to 24, sex might lead to more happiness in the moment, but not in general.
From the body to the soul: Close to half say religion and spirituality are very important. And more than half say they believe there is a higher power that has an influence over things that make them happy. Beyond religion, simply belonging to an organized religious group makes people happier.
And parents, here's some more for you: Most young people in school say it makes them happy. Overwhelmingly, young people think marriage would make them happy and want to be married some day. Most also want to have kids.
Finally, when asked to name their heroes, nearly half of respondents mentioned one or both of their parents. The winner, by a nose: Mom.
___
HAPPINESS IS ...
"...two kinds of ice cream," according to the song from "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown." John Lennon, more darkly, described it as a warm gun. A much more typical description comes from Stacy Rosales, a 23-year-old recent college graduate, who calls it "just a general stress-free feeling where I'm not really worried about anything. THAT makes me happy."
For Chad Fiedler, 17, it's "just waking up in the morning and looking forward to what I'm going to be doing that day." And for Eoshe Roland, a 14 year old from Nashville, it's "playing trumpet in my school band."
However you express, define or feel it, 65 percent of those surveyed say they're happy with the way things are going for them right now.
WE ARE FAMILY:
When asked what one thing makes them most happy, 20 percent mentioned spending time with family — more than anything else. About three-quarters — 73 percent — said their relationship with their parents makes them happy. After family, it was relationships with friends that people mentioned most.
"It's good news to hear young people being realistic about what really makes them happy," says psychologist Jean Twenge, author of "Generation Me" and a professor at San Diego State University. "Research has shown us that relationships are the single greatest source of happiness."
Also confirming existing research, Twenge says, is the finding that children of divorced parents are somewhat less likely to be happy. Among 13-17 year olds, 64 percent of those with parents still together said they wake up happy, compared to 47 percent of those with divorced parents.
FIRST COMES LOVE, THEN COMES...:
Overall, romantic relationships are a source of happiness — but being in one doesn't necessarily lead to greater happiness with life in general.
"It would be nice, but where I am right now is, I want to take care of myself," says Rosales. "Before you can be in a committed relationship you have to know who you are and what you really want."
Eventually, though, marriage is a goal for most young people, with 92 percent saying they either definitely or probably want to get married.
"I don't want to be one of those career businesswomen who just doesn't ever settle down," says St. John, the New York high school student.
MONEY, MONEY, MONEY:
Money may make the world go around, but when asked what one thing makes them happiest, almost nobody in the poll mentioned money or anything material. Still, money does play a role in happiness.
Those who can't afford to buy many of the things they want are less happy with life in general. Just under half of young people think they'd be happier if they had more money, while the same percentage (49 percent) say they'd be just as happy.
"I'm going to college next year," says Fiedler, who will attend Drexel University in Philadelphia. "Not the cheapest thing nowadays. Money isn't the most important thing, but if something happens, it can turn into it."
STRESSES, FEARS:
Young people in this survey had a 10 percent higher stress rate than adults did in a 2006 AP-Ipsos poll. For ages 13 to 17, school is the greatest source of stress. For those in the 18-24 range, it's jobs and financial matters.
Only 29 percent feel very safe traveling, and 25 percent very safe from terror attacks. Still, those interviewed said the fear of terror interfered very little with their lives.
DRUGS AND ALCOHOL: Alcohol users are slightly less happy than those who don't drink. The differences are more remarkable among 13-17 year olds; just 40 percent of those who drank in the last seven days reported being happy with life, versus 68 percent of those who didn't. And 49 percent of illegal drug users reported being happy with life, compared with 66 percent of those who didn't use drugs.
RACIAL DIVIDE:
While 72 percent of whites say they're happy with life in general, just 56 percent of blacks and 51 percent of Hispanics say that. And 66 percent of whites were happy at the moment the interview began, compared with 57 percent of minorities.
SUSTENANCE FOR THE SOUL:
"I just like believing in something greater than me and everybody else," St. John, who attends a Catholic school, says of her commitment to religion. "When I pray, sometimes it just makes me feel better, if I'm freaking out about things."
Those for whom religion and spirituality plays a bigger role tend to be happier, according to the poll. More than half — 55 percent — say it is either a very important part of life or the single most important thing in their lives.
I NEED A HERO:
Oprah Winfrey? Michael Jordan? Hillary Clinton? Tiger Woods? All those names came up when people were asked about heroes. Of public figures, Martin Luther King, Jr. got the most mentions. But nearly half mentioned one of their parents, with mothers ranking higher (29 percent) than fathers (21 percent.)
"My parents came here from the Philippines in the '70s," says Rosales. "They raised a family and got to where they are from scratch. My mother's now the director of a hospital. I admire them both so much."
"My mother is a pastor, and she's my role model," says Esohe, the 14 year old in Nashville. "She's so giving." Blacks and Hispanics were more likely than whites to name their mothers.
Also mentioned: God (more than 10 percent), teachers (nearly 5 percent); and members of the military, policemen and firefighters.
THE CRYSTAL BALL:
Will young people grow up to be happy adults? Overall they're optimistic: Sixty-two percent think they'll be happier in the future than they are now. (Those over 18 are more optimistic.) But many anticipate a more difficult life than their parents had.
"I think a lot about my kids and what their lives are going to be like," says Fiedler. "There may be wars going on, who knows. I just have a feeling it's going to be harder for the future generation to be happy."
___
The AP-MTV poll was conducted by Knowledge Networks Inc. from April 16 to 23, and involved online interviews with 1,280 people aged 13 to 24. It had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
AP News Survey Specialist Dennis Junius contributed to this report.

Saturday, September 29, 2007

UNIV 2008 Research Seminar and the Upcoming Rural Service Project.

We recently had the research writing seminar for the participants of UNIV 2008 today, 5-6pm by Mrs. Alice Belen. We are currently finalizing research topics and looking at possible methodologies.

UNIV participants are also encourage to take part in this October's Rural Service Project (26th to 31st) as a venue for reaching out to those in need. Activities include construction of public toilets for the recepient community (sitio Ibo, Brgy. Pondol, Balamban), medical-dental services, health classes, livelihood seminar, catechism and tutorial classes. An excursion for the volunteers is also planned. Volunteers, and donations in cash or kind will be greatly appreciated. Feel free to contact the UNIV Local Coordinator for details (email: jaaraf@yahoo.com, cell no. 09176404305).