Newsletter No. 19

No.19 June 1991 CUHK Newsletter Learning for the Future A symposium and exhibition on ‘Learning for the Future' was held from 24th to 26th May at the Hong Kong Science Museum for those interested in pursuing postgraduate studies in Hong Kong. Jointly presented by The Chinese University, the University of Hong Kong, City Polytechnic of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Baptist College, Hong Kong Polytechnic, and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, the function included a series of forums and counselling sessions organized by each of the six institutions. The symposium began on the afternoon of 24th May when heads of the six tertiary institutions met to exchange views on the future of postgraduate education in Hong Kong. Two more public forums were held on the following two days. One focused on the job prospects for graduates with higher degrees, and the other was entitled ‘Postgraduate Study Opportunities in Hong Kong' . In the latter, high-level representatives of the six tertiary institutions gathered to identify characteristics of the postgraduate programmes offered in each of the institutions, and to discuss their perceptions of Hong Kong's need for expansion of postgraduate places. Prof. S. W. Tam, pro-vice-chancellor of the University and dean of the graduate school, also gave a public lecture to introduce the curriculum structure of the graduate school in The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Yet Another Vi c tory for CUHK Debaters T he University's Cantonese debating team achieved its second victory in three months in an intervarsity debating contest held between The Chinese University and the University of East Asia on 18th May 1991 at Sintra Square, Macau. Arguing against the motion ‘The media should not encourage senseless culture', the CUHK team won by a margin of two to one after an hour of heated debate. Mr. Cheng Kong-chung on the CUHK team was also selected best speaker in the contest. The intervarsity debating contest is an annual event organized by the two universities to encourage cultural exchange between students and to cultivate their interest in debating activities. New Computer Equipment Donated by Sun Mi crosys tems T he University recently received some HK$ 1,000,000 worth of new computer equipment from Sun Microsystems. The donation comprises one SPARC server 330, three SPARCstation 1 + workstations and two SPARCstation SLC workstations, all manufactured by the Sun Microsystems plant in Mountain View, California. The equipment has been installed at the Open Systems Laboratory in the Department of Computer Science, and is now part of the Chinese University Engineering Computer Network, which can be accessed by workstations and personal computers anywhere in Hong Kong using the UNIX operating system. This donation w i l l be used to study UNIX-based distributed computing environments and related problems. A ceremony to mark the generous donation from Sun Microsystems and the opening of the Open Systems Laboratory was held on 13th May at the Department of Computer Science. 3