Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Betsy Joy Tan headed a delegation from Silliman University to the conference of the Asian Christian Faculty Fellowship Federation held November 13 to 16 in Bali, Indonesia.

The other members of the delegation were College or Arts and Sciences Associate Dean Dr. Margaret Alvarez and College of Law Dean Atty. Myles Nicholas Bejar. The three Administrators read a paper in different sessions related to the conference theme: “Religious Pluralism and Higher Education in Asia.”

Titled “Service-Learning Asian Network: The Kyosei Way,” Dr. Tan’s paper traced the development of the service-learning (S-L) program of Silliman which is a teaching-learning strategy. The S-L program aims to pursue the development of the students’ intellectual capacity along their chosen career paths by honing their sense of social responsibility through service in a community.

The paper also discussed the creation of the Service-Learning Asian Network (SLAN), a product of a conference hosted by the International Christian University in Tokyo, Japan. The creation of SLAN led to the conception of the International Service Learning Model Program (ISLMP) that espoused kyosei – a Nippongo term that denotes intercultural symbiosis. Silliman was the host of the 2006 ISLMP participated in by students from six universities around Asia.

Dr. Alvarez’s paper, “Part of the Conversation: Women’s Studies in Higher Education,” began with the examination of the goals of higher education and the question of which of the two – equality or equity of education – must be emphasized.

“While there are those who suggest that equality of education should be provided, meaning identical educational opportunities for all learners, there are others who are promoting equity of education, meaning the provision of varied educational opportunities in order to achieve specified goals,” she explained in her paper.

Dr. Alvarez mentioned four theoretical models for considering the role and place of women in education: the conceptual approaches of pluralism, assimilation, deficit, and social justice.

For his part, Atty. Bejar shared how the College of Law is able to integrate service-learning in its curriculum and in the activities of the Dr. Jovito R. Salonga Center for Law and Development.

Under the College’s program, students particularly of Environmental Law, Legal Technique, Local Governments and Legal Counseling take part in S-L activities. “(They) are able to acquire skills not ordinarily taught in the classrooms, the value of service without expecting reward in return, the joy of helping people in need, the fulfillment of seeing an ordinance that works, the happiness brought about by doing community service, and the rich experience of having gone through all those.”

The law program revolves around four S-L components: City Council Team (working with the city council in formulating and passing effective ordinances), Free Legal Assistance (rendering of free legal assistance and representation in cases), Legal Research (gathering of information and critical research on legal matters), and Advocacy (advancing community advocacy positions, building strong networks, linkages, and allies).

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Outstanding Sillimanian for Law is ISSA Chair

Silliman alumnus Atty. Alfredo Tadiar was recently elected Chairman of the 10-nation Board of Advisers of the International Development Law Organization (IDLO) during its first meeting last month in Rome, Italy.

Atty. Tadiar was awarded Outstanding Sillimanian in the field of Law in August of this year. He earned three academic degrees from Silliman: Associate in Arts (with high distinction), Bachelor of Arts (cum laude), and Bachelor of Laws (cum laude) in 1955. He placed 14th in the bar examination in the same year. He finished his Master of Laws at Harvard University in 1972, with commendation from the law dean.

The election of Atty. Tadiar makes him automatically ex-officio member – and the only Filipino and Asian member – of IDLO’s governing board. He was nominated to the board by the Philippine Judicial Assembly of the Supreme Court, where he is chair of the Department of Alternative Dispute Resolution, and endorsed by the Department of Foreign Affairs.

In the news material issued by the Institute for Social Studies and Action, of which Board of Directors Atty. Tadiar Chairs, it said the IDLO is composed of an 18-national Assembly of Parties. “(Its) principal purposes are to promote sustainable development through improvement of the legal and judicial systems in developing countries and countries in economic transition, and contribute to the establishment and progressive development and application of good governance and the rule of law in said countries.”

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Silliman Hosts Students from Ferris University

Silliman University hosted 13 students from Ferris University in Japan from November 20 to 28, under the Ferris University-Silliman University Global and Intercultural Studies Program.

The Program, which is part of the Peace Studies program of Ferris, entails community exposure and processing of the experiences of the students from the field. Japanese students are assigned to different partner communities and agencies.

Dr. Masaki Yokoyama, a professor from the Faculty of Global and Intercultural Studies at Ferris, is heading the group composed of: Miho Arai, Yoriko Kawashima, Yukiko Nishikawa, Yuuka Shinozaki, Kyonghi Ko, Risa Kuroki, Tone Chiharu, Midori Yano, Sakiho Dochi, Tomoko Kawaguchi, Misaki Harada, Aiko Takanashi and Nobue Kusaka.

“The program helps the students adjust to the community’s living environment. They can experience firsthand the ways of the community and the priorities of the local people,” Dr. Yokoyama said.

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2 SU Teams Make it to National Debate Final Series

Two teams of the Silliman University Debate Society (SUDS) advanced into the quarterfinals and octofinals of the 10th National Debating Championship (NDC) held last month at the Ateneo de Davao University.

Quarterfinalist Team A, composed of Political Science senior Clyde Gregorio and Psychology senior Kristi Allen, went up against University of the Philippines Diliman (UPD)-A, Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU)-A and UPD-D. The motion was “This house believes that liberal democratic states should grant asylum to sexual minorities who face persecution.”

Silliman Team B, composed of Political Science senior Micah Dagaerag and Medical Technology freshman Theresa Amor, faced off in the octofinals with teams from ADMU and San Beda College on the motion “This house believes that the US should allow its allies to negotiate with terrorists.”

Another Silliman debater, Gus Ganir, who joined the adjudication category of the NDC, qualified as a semi-finalist adjudicator.

The third Silliman team was composed of Emmarah Sarreal and Carlo Regalado, Mass Communication junior and Nursing sophomore, respectively.

The NDC gathers annually hundreds of college debaters from around the country, and uses the British parliamentary format.

Meanwhile, Gregorio, Dagaerag and Amor will be representing Silliman on ANC 21’s Frankahan: The Franklin Drilon Debates on December 17. Last year, Silliman was a quarterfinalist when the debate program was still named Square Off.

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