Bulletin Autumn‧Winter 1995

organized a seminar on 27t h May 1995 to introduce to teachers and students of 30 secondary schools an educational computer communication project for local secondary schools. • The University organized/co-hosted the following functions: - An international symposium on hypertrophic scars on 3rd and 4th June 1995. - A forum on the latest developments in information technology in Hong Kong on 5th June 1995. Prior to the forum a publi c lecture on 'Impact of Information Technology on Engineering R & D and Education' was delivered b y Prof. H.T. Kung, Gordon McKay Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Harvard University. - The second Asian Pacific Congress of Endoscopic Surgery from 19th to 23rd June 1995. - The Tenth International Conference on Integrated Optics and Optical Fibre Communication from 26th to 30th June 1995. • The Department of Chemistry organized a series of workshops on chemical instrumentation for young Chinese scientists in June and July 1995. • The Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences hosted the International Symposium on Modem Challenges in Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences from 30th June to 3rd July 1995. • The Department of Architecture organized the first international conference on Chinese architectural history from 7th to 10th August 1995. The conference also featured an exhibition on The Living Building' which w i ll run until 19th November 1995 at the Antiquities and Monuments Office in Kowloon. • The Teaching Developmen t Un it organized a workshop entitled 'University Teaching: Challenges and Enjoyment' on 23rd and 24th August 1995. Renaming of Units Two University units have recently been renamed: • The Department of Computer Science is now the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. • The 'Art Gallery' at the Institute of Chinese Studies has been renamed 'Art Museum'. Its Chinese name (文物館) however remains unchanged. Survey of New Students 1994 Results of a survey on the University's new students in 1994-95 conducted by the Office of Student Affairs were released in early 1995. According to the survey, the average age of newly- admitted undergraduates has grown steadily from 18.3 in 1989 to 19.4 in 1994. The increase in the average age is due mainly to more admissions at the form 7 level. The more mature student population also includes some who could not enter the University in their first attempt. A large percentage of the students continue to be from families of limited means. Close to eigh t per cent of the students come from families with a monthly household income below HK$6,000. The median family income of HK$13,411 per mont h represents a meagre 0.6 per cent increase over that of last year, and the average household size is 4.8. A l l these figure s explain the substantial increas e in the number of students applying fo r government and University assistance this year. Taking their fathers' educational attainment as the bench mark, about 85 per cent of the new entrants are first-generation tertiary students. As few as seven per cent of their mothers have receive d any tertiary education. A case for strengthening language training of CUHK students is borne by the figures denoting self- assessment in abilities 一 23.5 per cent of the students surveyed indicated inadequacy in spoken English, and 72.3 per cent in Mandarin. While the majority of respondents indicated confidence in adapting to University life, many anticipated difficulties in three areas in particular: meeting course requirements (44.9 per cent), adapting to the University's teaching method (38.9 per cent), and understanding reading materials i n English (28.4 per cent). The respondents also indicated their four most preferred areas of employment to be administration/ management (39.6 per cent), teaching (33.4 per cent), research (17.1 per cent), and computers (15.0 per cent). Those pursuing courses in professional disciplines like accountancy, computer science, electronics, medicine, and social work naturally opted for careers that correspond with their training. New Asia College Celebrates Ch'ien Mu Centenary New Asia College held a series o f activities to commemorate the centenary of its founder, Mr. Ch'ien Mu. Apart from a two-week exhibition of Mr . Ch'ien's writings, calligraphy and paintings at the Hui Gallery from 8th to 19th May 1995, a three-day academic conference was held in Cho Yiu Conference Hall from 11th to 13th May. It was attended by over 40 scholars from mainland China, Taiwan, USA, Japan, Australia, and Macau, Mr. Ch'ien's wife and three children, and local participants. On the evenings of 11th and 14th May, two public lectures featuring speakers from China, USA, and the News in Brief 31