Ateneo's favorite son,
an agriculturist?
Image captioned simply 'Agriculture' by MidnightSoleil (flickr.com/), source text by Gregorio F Zaide, Jose Rizal: Life, Works And Writings, National Bookstore 2003: 27). While he was studying at the University of Santo Tomas, Rizal also studied at the Ateneo In those days, Ateneo offered courses in agriculture, commerce, mechanics and surveying. I don't know why Ateneo forgot agriculture but not his favorite son: when he was in Dapitan, he was both a doctor and an agriculturist, among other things. He planned his North Borneo project with people and agriculture in mind. He could not have gotten away from Calamba to Madrid without agriculture - his father was a rich sugarcane farmer. Now I know why those friars in Calamba in those days bungled their hacienda - they were poor agriculturists! (Or poor farm managers, which makes it worst.) Meanwhile, Ateneo excels, but not in agriculture - why not? Rizal had gold medals in agriculture and topography. I would give each a gold medal to MidnightSoleil and Zaide for their works, their humanity in their works. Now then, I challenge Ateneo to offer BS Agriculture and not copy UP, which has too much science and not enough humanity.