The uncertainties we face today may keep us from feeling festive this Christmas. But I urge you to keep the faith and to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas, and to be thankful for our blessings.

It is in this spirit that I thank you all for your invaluable contributions towards attaining UPLB’s output. The year has been a great one for our University. We have strengthened our pillars of Distinctive Excellence and provided an enabling environment for scientific and creative work. Truly, Together Everyone Achieves More.

Perhaps at no other time since the last World War has the world –-indeed, the planet –- been in such peril as it is today. So, perhaps at no other time is there less reason to feel festive.

And yet, it is precisely in dark times like this that there is need to assert the human spirit, man’s ability to endure and prevail, even as a beacon of light serves to guide ships buffeted by stormy winds.

The UPLB Foundation, Inc. invites the community to attend the Science and Technology Professorial Chair Lectures for the month of December. Details are as follows:

“Reforming the Agrarian Reform Program: A Score Later, What is the Real Score?”
By Dr. Rolando T. Bello
December 12, 2008, (Friday), 2-4PM
IARDS, UPLB

The College of Arts and Sciences will celebrate its 36th Anniversary by holding the First UPLB CAS Student-Faculty Research Conference on December 8, 2008 at the CAS Aunditorium. This is the first time that the college anniversary is celebrated in December following the correction of its founding to the historically accurate date of December 21, marking the establishment of the College by the Board of Regents in 1972, as opposed to November 20, the date Presidential Decree No. 58 created UPLB as an autonomous campus.

The College of Arts and Sciences has lined-up activities in celebration of the UP Centennial. These include the CAS Academy for Arts in Science and Math Performances, CASaySayan (featuring the Makiling Sarswela), CAS Student-Faculty Research Conference, and CAS Alumni Dinner Concerto. All alumni of the College are invited to take part in these activities.

For those constrained by time and location there are other ways to help out. CAS alumni could opt to be a donor instead and choose from a few centennial projects to place their donations. These projects include student scholarships, faculty development, modernization of facilities, and endowment funds for the artists and athletes.

For further details, please visit the website of the UPLB Centennial activities
at http://fundcampaign.uplb.edu.ph/donate.html The instructions on how to donate are also included. CAS Dean Dr. Asuncion K. Raymundo's actual letter to the alumni follows.