Newsletter No. 1

CUHK Newsletter breaks for meals and rest. By the end of the second day, all the 120,000 books, were moved to the new library. 'That'sreally something to be proud of.' Dr. Fu says, 'we didn't have to suspend a single class.' Indeed, the college needed only to close the old library for one day before the removal and the new library was very soon open to staff and students. All this could not have been achieved without the concerted effort of students, staff, and their families. They moved a library; does their story move you? Have you any old photograph of the University which tells a story? Are you an old timer on the campus with a plentiful supply of anecdotes? Were you a participant in or an eyewitness to some memorable event which took place in the University? Can we ask you to share your memories and stories with us? They are our common heritage and by weaving bits and pieces together we hope to recreate the past for staff old and new. And to show our appreciation, a little souvenir will be sent to you after your contribution has been published. So write to us now. All About Animals You may know a lot about George Orwell's Animal Farm, but how much do you know about the University's Animal House? While pigs are the main characters in Orwell's story, here in the Animal House we have mice playing the leading role, making up 90 per cent of the total animal population of 7,000。 Other minority groups include dogs, cats and rabbits. All inhabitants live in air-conditioned rooms with temperature and humidity control, and arefedwithnutritious food imported from abroad. They are jealously guarded against 'undesirable elements' such as human beings who might carry deadly germs . The only visitors allowed are Animal House staff members and a few select medical students. All such ado is to serve one single purpose: to keep them in top-fit condition until they are sent to the laboratory for experiments. But where is the Animal House and how big is this sanctum? Mr. Ng Hon Chuen, director of the Animal House since 1981,tells Newsletter that it is on the third, fourth and fifth floors of the Choh-Ming Li Building for Basic Medical Sciences, occupying atotal floor area of 2,500 square metres. It started on a very small scale and was originally attached to the Science Faculty, located in the Sui-Loong Pao Building, and under the supervision of Professor Y.C. Kong of the Department of Bio chemistry. With the establishment of the Faculty of Medicine, the demand for experiment animals grew substantially and theAnimal House became an independent unit. It moved into the present premises and has now set up a branch of its own in the Prince of Wales Hospital. When Mr. Ng himself first assumed office as director in 1981, however, the Animal House had no animal at all and no cage — just an empty house. One of Ms first tasks was therefore to order animals and cages. He still remembers the day when a batch of animals arrived by flight at midnight and he had to get out of bed to fetch them at theairport Mr. Ng also explains why most tenants in the Animal House belong to themouse family: 'They have a short life-span, arc easy to breed, and occupy little space individually. It is more economical if we want to produce them or keep them in large numbers.' When asked whether there were any unforgettable episodes during Ms nine years' service, Mr. Ng recounts, 'The year before last in summer, the water mains in the University burst and there was no water supply for the cooling system of the air-conditioners, which automatically stopped functioning. We tried every means to lower the temperature in the Animal