400 / 'NOYNOYING' ENTERS WIKIPEDIA
[PHOTO - The "Webometrics Ranking of World
Universities" is an initiative of the Cybermetrics Lab, a research group
belonging to the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), the
largest public research body in Spain. CSIC is among the first basic research
organizations in Europe. The CSIC consisted in 2006 of 126 centers and
institutes distributed throughout Spain. CSIC is attached to the Ministry of
Education and its main objective is to promote scientific research as to improve
the progress of the scientific and technological level of the country which will
contribute to increase the welfare of the citizens.]
MANILA,
MARCH 22, 2012 (MANILA TIMES)
ONCE again, the United Kingdom's Times Higher Education (THE) World
University Rankings (WUR) report, this time for 2011-2012, does not have a
single Philippine university in it.
Last year, on the 2010-2011 THEWUR list, there was also no
Philippine university among the world's top 400.
Understandably, some university authorities have pooh-poohed the THEWUR and
other ratings reports. Some say they could not have been included because they
did not participate. Well, if a university does not participate in these surveys
by submitting data the rating institutions ask for, then of course that
university could not possibly be rated. How can THEWUR, the Shanghai Jioatong
University, High Impact Universities Research Performance Index and the
Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) survey rate a university if they are not told how many
research projects the university did, how many PhDs it graduated in the
different disciplines, how many of its faculty received Nobel Prizes and other
awards, etc.?
The rank-giving agencies The most exacting ratings are those of the Shanghai
Jiaotong University. It compiles records of only 1,200 universities. It
considers the Nobel Prizes won by faculty members, articles published in Nature
and Science, and entries in the Science Citation Index and Social Sciences
Citation Index.
International educators consider the THEWUR the next most prestigious ratings
after Shanghai. THEWUR zeroes in on the universities' teaching and research
accomplishments. The Times, which cooperates with Reuters in compiling the World
University Rankings, does a poll among 13,000 selected academics from all over
the world.
The High Impact Universities Research Performance Index is the third most
prestigious rating agency. None of our universities rank in High Impact because
they are weak in research.
Some of the rank-giving firms are doing it to help universities connect with
fund sources and help students choose which foreign university to go to.
Such a rating agency is the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University
Rankings. In QS's survery last year, the University of the Philippines (UP) and
other leading Philippine universities such as the Ateneo de Manila University
(AdMU), De La Salle University (DLSU) and the University of Sto. Tomas (UST),
fell from their previous rankings among the best schools worldwide.
In that survey, UP, seen as the country's leading university, dropped to
332nd place from its 2010 ranking of 314th, while AdMU fell to 360 from 307 and
DLSU went down from the 451-500 bracket to the 551-600 bracket.
UST fell out of the Top 600 universities from the 551-600 bracket in 2010.
There are other agencies like Webometrics Ranking of World Universities. It
rates more than 19,000 colleges.
Webometrics' list of the top 10 Philippine universities has UP Diliman, DLSU,
Ateneo, UPLB, UP System, UST, Xavier, UP Mindanao, UP Manila, and MSU-IIT.
Another rating group that bases its ranking only on Internet statistics is
4International Colleges & Universities. It lists as the Philippine top 10
all the UP universities, Ateneo, Aquinas, DLSU, MSU-IIT, UST, UE, and San
Carlos.
Another agency geared more to help students find universities abroad is Top
Study Links. It has on its 10 top Philippine universities UP Diliman, DLSU,
UPLB, ADMU, Xavier, UST, UP System, UP Manila, UP Mindanao, and MSU-IIT.
Don't pooh-pooh the ratings agencies Pooh-poohing these international
agencies that survey the state and quality of our educational institutions is
like giving the finger to the institutions rating our country's competitiveness,
our business-friendliness, and our attractiveness as an investment destination.
Our lack of money, the incompetence and laid-back ways of our leaders and
policy-makers, their unwillingness to act for the common good and against their
dysnaties' self interest, should not make us behave like some children of bad
parents. We should not throw tantrums against the world, curse the light that
ratings and rankings give instead of making these inspire us to greater
innovation, zeal for fund-raising and eagerness for international connections.
Global university rankings are important. More than just school pride and
helping our universities' scholars go to the great graduate schools abroad or
get higher-paying jobs as OFW professionals, being on the list of the world's
top universities make them attractive to fund donors. Being on the quality lists
also make foreign scholars, professors and research-project leaders want to do
stints in our Philippine universities.
So how do our universities get into these lists? Pour more investments in
them.
But this is precisely the opposite of what the Aquino administration has
willed to do for the UP and other state universities and colleges. The
Commission on Higher Education (CHED) admits that budget cuts contributed to
Philippine universities' decline in world rankings.
Of the P1.816 trillion budgeted for the 2011 National Expenditure Program,
only P21.8 billion was allocated to the 110 SUCs nationwide, down from the
P22.03 billion allocated in 2010.
Less PhDs per capita in the Philippines More concretely definitive of the
Philippine inferiority to the best Asian countries in terms of academe is that
we have less Ph. D's working in our country per capita than Hong Kong,
Singapore, Japan, China, etc.
There is no question about the intellectual quality of the Filipino Ph. Ds
and how they compete magnificently well against their peers abroad. But they get
hired away from the Philippines as soon as they graduate.
A respected UP academic, Dr. Caesar Saloma, pointed out years ago in a story
that appeared in the Philippine Star that Filipino PhDs in the natural sciences,
mathematics, and engineering, make up a very small number. He said that in a
2004 article in the journal Nature, the number of PhDs per one hundred of the
population is 8, 17, and 18 in Japan, the US, and the European Union,
respectively. The Philippines, with its population of about 85.5 million [in
2004], would need to have 6.8 million PhDs if it were to aspire to the
scientific muscle of Japan.
Dr. Saloma said that the total number of PhDs in the Philippines is not
likely to exceed even 10,000.
WORLD'S TOP TWENTY UNIVERSITIES
1. California Institute of Technology-
2. Harvard University (tie) United
StatesUnited States
2. Stanford University (tie)United States
4.
University of OxfordUnited Kingdom
5. Princeton UniversityUnited States
6.
University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom
7. Massachusetts Institute of
TechnologyUnited States
8. Imperial College LondonUnited Kingdom
9.
University Of ChicagoUnited States
10. University of California,
BerkeleyUnited States
11. Yale UniversityUnited States
12. Columbia
UniversityUnited States
13. University of California, Los AngelesUnited
States
14. Johns Hopkins UniversityUnited States
15. ETH Zurich - Swiss
Federal Institute of Technology ZurichSwitzerland
16. University of
PennsylvaniaUnited States
17. University College LondonUnited Kingdom
18.
University of MichiganUnited States
19. University of TorontoCanada
20.
Cornell UniversityUnited States
SOURCE: http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2011/10/06/the-worlds-top-universities/
FROM PHILSTAR
'Noynoying' enters Wikipedia By Rhodina Villanueva
(The Philippine Star) Updated March 22, 2012 12:00 AM
MANILA, Philippines - The term "Noynoying"– coined by militants to refer to
President Aquino's alleged inaction on the country's pressing social issues –
has caught worldwide attention.
"Noynoying" is now in online encyclopedia Wikipedia, which describes the word
as an Internet meme or concept that defines an effortless pose or activity
consisting of sitting or standing around, in an unconcerned manner.
"It is also recognized as doing nothing when in fact you have something to
do. The word is derived from President Aquino's nickname, Noynoy, and the suffix
-ing, to describe the act of being Noynoy. It is a parody of his work ethic as
President of the Philippines," according to Wikipedia.
Noynoying was introduced on March 15, 2012 by youth protesters in support of
the transport caravan, led by the transport group Piston. "Noynoying was
described as an effortless pose, an obvious jab at President Aquino, which
borrowed his nickname, Noynoy, who is being criticized for having done nothing
to cushion the impact of, or prevent the spike in, crude oil prices and tuition
fees," the online site said.
Wikipedia said, "Noynoying is synonymous to being lazy, indecisiveness or
just neglecting the things to be done by concentrating on other matters. It was
created as a reaction to what the public perceive as the President's inaction
with regard to major issues affecting the country."
But Wikipedia said the entry had been nominated for deletion and to be
checked for its neutrality.
The umbrella group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) has been accusing the
government of Noynoying" on the issue of oil price hike.
As transport fares and oil prices go up, President Aquino still has no
substantial response to the people's demand for relief. He still thinks the
economy is doing good and that his presidency has performed above par. The
insensitivity and inaction is appalling. Noynoying at its worst," said Bayan
secretary-general Renato Reyes.
The group questioned if government is waiting for a "national emergency"
before addressing the issue of high oil prices.
"The government continues to ignore calls for the lowering of oil prices,
even despite warnings of political unrest. The intransigence of Malacañang is
beyond belief. It's like Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo all over again," said Reyes.
"First Aquino opposes any move to lower or suspend the VAT and repeal the oil
deregulation law. Now he flatly opposes the P125 wage hike in Congress. The
callousness of this government will be its own undoing," he added.
Not contented, militant workers yesterday coined a new term to spite the
President for Malacañang's rejection of the legislated wage increase, saying
there is a disconnect between his "words and deeds."
"Just last Friday night, P-Noy declared in front of employers that workers'
welfare is paramount but now his administration has thumbed down the wage hike
proposal with the usual capitalist blackmail. P-Noy is a Noy-ngaling," noted
Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) chair Renato Magtubo.
Noy-ngaling apparently comes from word "sinungaling" or liar.
According to Magtubo, Malacañang's claim that the P125 across-the-board wage
hike would only lead to layoffs of workers was unfounded.
"Such horror stories are just black propaganda and blackmail. Why should we
be afraid of additional money circulating in the economy due to a wage hike when
billions of dollars in remittances entering the country is always applauded? If
the stronger purchasing power of OFW families is a positive factor in the
economy then should not the same thing hold for more money in the hands of
workers which we will use to buy the necessities of life?" he added.
He said that a "wage hike will be good for the workers and will also be
beneficial to the economy because it will spur the production of more goods and
provision of more services."
However, Vice President Jejomar Binay took up the cudgels for the President,
saying even the least of officials like the barangay chairman is also working.
"Put an end to this," Binay said, referring to the derogatory term.
"Spare the President. Can you imagine if the President is not doing anything?
The President is working more than anyone else in the country."
Palace: P-Noy unaffected
Meanwhile, Malacañang said yesterday President Aquino would just continue his
work despite all the criticism.
Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the most important thing was that
the government could carry out reforms that would benefit the country's economy
and the poor. "Other countries would see our economic indicators and that's the
reason why you see a lot of foreign investors coming in," he said.
According to Lacierda, the President was not affected by criticisms and did
not take those comments personally, knowing that being in public office could
entail harsh criticisms from detractors.
"The best evidence is that the President is answering you straight and that's
his style. He doesn't take things personally," he said, adding that "free speech
is enshrined in the Constitution and that is something we will honor." -- With Aurea Calica, Jose Rodel Clapano, Sheila Crisostomo
Chief News Editor: Sol
Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE
NEWS ONLINE
All rights reserved
PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS
ONLINE [PHNO] WEBSITE
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