Newsletter No. 42

NoA2 May 1993 CUHK N e w s l e t t e r DonationsTotalling $70Million Pledged for University Development T o commemorate the University's 30lh birthday this year, several major donations have been pledged by longtime friends of the University in support of its teaching and research activities. The total amount pledged exceeds HK$70 million and the donors' gestures have given the University a tonic boost in its pursuit of academic excellence. The S.H. Ho Foundation Ltd. has pledged HK$40 million to establish aHo Sin-Hang Education Endowment Fund at the University to support visiting professorships, medical education, research and large scale development projects. To give due recognition to the donor's generosity, the University Council has decided to name the new engineering building after Mr. Ho Sin-Hang. Another major donation of HK$13.5 million has been pledged by the Shanghai Fraternity Association to set up a research and development fund at the University. A new research facility on the campus will be named after the association as a permanent record of their generous gift. Mr. Thomas H. C. Cheung, member of the University Council and a staunch supporter of University alumni and student activities, has pledged to donate HK$10 million to the University for the establishment of an alumni fund to mark the University's 30th anniversary. The $10 million will be the first contribution towards the alumni fund and efforts will be made later this year to seek further contributions from the large network of CUHK alumni local and overseas. Last but not least, the Shaw Foundation (Hong Kong) Ltd. has recently made another substantial donation of $7 million to the University for the expansion of the Endoscopic Unit at the Faculty of Medicine. HowtoFaceChallenges in Primary Education P r o f. A. Y. Kelly, dean of the Faculty of Education at Goldsmiths' College, University of London, gave a keynote lecture on 'Concepts of Primary Education 一 Principles to Practice' in a conference organized by the Faculty of Education on campus on 8th April. With 'Facing up to Challenges in Primary Education' as its theme, the conference attracted close to 300 local educationalists, who gathered in the Chung Chi Chapel and the Ho Tim Building to discuss issues and problems related to primary education in general. There were four parallel discussion sessions, covering topics such as curriculum development, learning targets, students' emotional problems, school management, school-based teacher development, computerization of school administration, and extracurricular reading. Dr. Leslie Lo, dean of education, presided at the opening ceremony of the conference, and Prof. Rosie Young, chairperson of the Education Commission, was the guest of honour. Professorial Inaugural Lecture on IgA Nephropathy P r o f . K. N. Lai, professor of medicine (nephrology), delivered his inaugural lecture entitled 'Over the Rainbow— Tribulation and Thrill of Medical Research' on 30th April. In his lecture, Prof. Lai drew on his own experience to illustrate two different approaches in medical research: the laboratory approach and the clinical approach. According to Prof. Lai, IgA nephropathy is the most common nephritis worldwide and accounts for about one-third of primary nephritis cases in Hong Kong. It is a slowly progressive disease that will cause kidney failures in some 20 per cent of patients in 10 years. Using human white cells in laboratory experiments, Prof. Lai has been able to demonstrate that IgA isolated from IgA nephritic patients can activate the white cells and stimulate the release 3