Newsletter No. 59

CUHK NEWSLETTER Curriculum in the Journalism and Communication Department stresses both the theoretical and the practical. Students are trained in communication and journalistic theories which help to develop their analytical power, and at the same time they participate in practicums which make them express themselves more effectively. Dr. Chan has been teaching at The Chinese University for eight years, and he thinks that his department has always been able to attract students of fine calibre, a fact which is reflected in the high standard of the department's graduates. However, in the face of rapid advancements in communication technology and the developing Greater China media market, Dr. Chan believes it is essential that the department updates its curriculum, expands its manpower resources, and improves its teaching facilities to accommodate the needs of an information- oriented society. Dr. Chan's first task is to strengthen research in his department. He plans to introduce amentoring system whereby teachers not yet substantiated may consult senior colleagues for tips and hints on research. Seminars will be conducted frequently with colleagues, visiting scholars and media personages as speakers. A research project involving Prof. C. C. Lee( professor of journalism and communication), Dr. Chan, and several other colleagues is also afoot. To facilitate interflow among teachers and students, a display cabinet for staff works and publications w i ll soon be installed in the department. A computer-aided telephone interlock system whereby data input is effected the same time interviewees respond to telephone surveys is also being planned. According to Dr. Chan, research projects w i ll continue to centre around international communication, and communication and social changes, and focus will be on the development of news and communication industries in Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, and Asia in general. Prof. Mark O. M. Tso, Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences 'As chairman of the department, my duty is not confined to bringing up a fledging academic unit. I am aiming at developing the department into a model ophthalmology unit in Southeast Asia, and a training ground for ophthalmologists in Hong Kong, China and Southeast Asia. This is a most challenging task.' No doubt it is, and that is what attracted Prof. Tso to Hong Kong. According to Prof. Tso, the development of ophthalmology studies in Asia has been slow when compared to Europe and North America, and at present it receives the attention it deserves only in Japan and Singapore. Taking Hong Kong as an example, there are just 100 ophthalmologists for a population of six million, and 40 of them are in private practice. As a response to this acute shortage, the department has been established to train medical students at the two universities as well as physicians in service. Teaching and research will be conducted using the facilities at Queen Mary Hospital, the Prince of Wales Hospital and the Hong Kong Eye Hospital in Argyle Street. At present there are seven teachers in the department, one being on secondment from the HKU. The operation of the department is supervised by a joint management board comprising representatives from the medical faculties of the two universities. Prof. Tso outlines his department's three main areas of work as follows: first, the department is mandated to train 300 CUHK and HKU medical students in primary eye care every year, to train eye specialists for the Hospital Authority, and to provide community education programmes aimed at the prevention of eye diseases. In the second place, the department will help to raise the standard of eye care not only by producing more specialists, but also by providing specific training in sub-specializations NO.59 OCTOBER 1994 13