Bulletin Spring‧Summer 1993

Celebration Starts with a Walkathon O n Sunday, 17th January 1993 over 2,500 students, staff, alumni and friends of the University took part in a walkathon which heralded a year of celebration. The aim of the 30th anniversary walkathon was to raise funds for the Hong Kong Cancer Institute set up at the Prince o f Wales Hospital, the University's teaching hospital. Proceeds obtained would enable the institute to acquire the most effective diagnostic and treatment facilities for cancer patients. The event also symbolized the University's mission t o walk into the community and serve its needs. Walkers gathered at the Lingnan Stadium on the Chun g Chi campus on a chilly morning for the walkathon's opening ceremony. Guests of honour included the Hon. John Chan, Secretary for Education and Manpower; the Hon. Elizabeth Wong, Secretary for Health and Welfare; Dr. E. K. Yeoh, director of operations of the Hospital Authority; Si r Q. W. Lee, chairman of the University Council; Dr. Alice Lam, treasurer of the University; and Prof. Gerald Choa, chairman of the Hong Kong Cancer Institute. On the same occasion, two generous donations of $10 million each were presented by Mr . Thomas Chen and Mr. George Cheng to the University. After the opening ceremony walkers started to march towards their destination, the Sha Tin Central Park, via the Marine Science Laboratory and the Tolo Harbour bicycle track. The seven-kilometre walk lasted for two hours and raised a furthe r $1 million for the Hong Kong Cancer Institute. The University is grateful to the Hong Kong Girl Guides Association, the Civil Aid Services, the Auxiliary Medical Services, the Royal Hong Kong Police, the Kiangsu-Chekiang School (Sh a Tin) Band, and the A ll Stars Football Team for helping to make the event a success. 30th Anniversary Lectures The University's seven faculties will each invite world-renowned scholars to give public lectures in the 30th anniversary year. Thanks to the generous sponsorship from the Wei Lun Foundation Ltd., four such lectures were organized between January and April; four more will be forthcoming in the next six months. Dementia, Ag i ng and Amy l o i do s is The first 30th anniversary lecture was organized by the Faculty of Medicine on 19th January. Dr. D. Carleton Gajdusek, Nobel Laureate in Physiology and Medicine, delivered a public lecture on 'Dementia, Aging and Amyloidosis'. Dr. Gajdusek, virologist of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, USA, is renowned fo r his discovery of the 'slow viruses', which are the infectious agents in kuru and other related chronic degenerative brain diseases. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiolog y in 1976 for the discovery. In the lecture, Dr. Gajdusek described dementia as a group of conditions characterized by progressive deterioration of intellectual 30TH ANNIVERSARY 2