Newsletter No. 138

2 No. 138 4th January 1999 CUHK Newsletter Joining Hands wi th Shantou University to Set up Wor ld Class Eye Centre T he Faculty of Medicine signed an agreement with Shantou University on 14th December 1998 to establish a Joint International Eye Institute in Shantou to provide quality patient care and conduct training and education programmes. The institute w i ll also engage in innovative and collaborative research on issues of common concern, such as the prevalence of myopia among school children in Hong Kong and mainland China and the examination of the risk factors in the development of myopia. The project is made possible by a generous donation of HK$40 million from Dr. L i Ka-shing through the L i Ka Shing Foundation Ltd. At the agreement- signing ceremony, the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences and the Centre for C l i n i c al Trials and Epidemiological Research also revealed the findings of a study on the vision health of school children in Hong Kong. Having screened the vision of 1,187 primary school pupils, the study found that the prevalence of myopia and squint in the local student population is one of the highest in the world. (From left) Prof. Joseph C.K. Lee, dean of medicine; Prof. Arthur K.C. Li, vice-chancellor; Dr. Li Ka-shing; and Dr. Zhang Xiang Wei, president of Shantou University H a r v a r d Musicologist on Chinese M u s i c Studies P rof. Rulan Chao Pian, Professor Emeritus of the Music Department and the East Asian Languages and Civilization Department of Harvard University, gave a lecture on ' The Ethnomusicological Approach to Chinese Music Studies' on 7th December in her capacity as Wei Lun Visiting Professor. Prof. Pian began by discussing the nature and development of ethnomusicology before focussing on a series of Chinese musical genres including ritual music, musical drama, instrumental music, and the Jiangnan Sizhu. She examined the political and social significance of some of the genres, the social relationship among the performers in others, and the effect of the performers on the development of a musical genre. Born in 1922 in Massachusetts, Prof. Pian was brought back to China for grammar school education and later returned to the US where she continued her education in Radcliffe College and finished her Ph.D. in musicology. She began teaching at Harvard University in 1947. Under her guidance many students finished their MA theses and Ph.D. dissertations on topics including Chinese music, Korean music, Japanese music, Indian dance, and South Pacific Island music. In 1968 she was awarded the Otto Kinkeldy Prize by the American Musicological Society for her book Song Dynasty Musical Sources and Their Interpretation. Prof. Pian served as an external examiner of the University's Department of Music from 1975 to 1994. Her ongoing support contributed to the development of the Chinese music programme from an elective course into the present Ph.D. programme. CUHK STUDENT WINS SILVER IN ASIAN GAMES (From left) Miss Karen Hon Kwai-yue, director of the Physical Education Unit; Prof. Chung Yue-ping, dean of education; Ms. Chiu Wing-yin; Prof. Arthur K.C. Li; and Prof. David Paul Johns, chair of the Department of Sports Science and Physical Education M s. Ch iu W i n g - y i n, second-year Sports S c i e n ce and P h y s i c a l Education student at the University, became the first local university athlete to have won in the Asian Games. Ms. Chiu was first runner-up in the squash competition in the 13th A s i a n Games h e l d i n Bangkok. Prof. Arthur K.C. Li, vice- chancellor of the University, congratulated Ms. Chiu on her success at a party held in her name on 18th December. New Honour for Prof. C.N. Yang P r o f . Yang Chen N i n g , No b el Laureate, Distinguished Professor- at-Large of the University, and Albert Einstein Professor of Physics at the State University of New York at Stony B r ook, was conferred an honorary Do c t or of Science degree by the Un i v e r s i ty of M i c h i g an on 20 th December 1998. The citation for Prof. Yang lauded him as someone who has 'played a seminal role in the development of mode rn physics and enhanced mankind's understanding of the basic laws of the universe' through the 'enormous scope and elegance of his contributions to theoretical physics'. Quan t um Leap for Sinus Surgery T he Department of Surgery has acquired breakthrough technology which makes endoscopic sinus surgery much safer and more effective. The computer-assisted surgical navigation (InstaTrak) system allows the surgeon to see areas of the sinuses and sku ll anatomy that remain hidden under conventional technology. The systemwas purchased in 1997 and has been applied on several patients. Currently endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) is used to repair the sinuses. In ESS an endoscope acts like a miniature telescope to show the surgeon the immediate surface area of the sinuses but not the comers. Because of the proximity of the sinuses to the eyes and the brain, sinus surgery has risks. W i t h the InstaTrak surgical navigation system, these risks have been greatly reduced. The precise p o s i t i on of su r g i cal instruments can be seen and their movements tracked in real time, allowing the surgeon to seek out and remove diseased tissues while being made aware of the proximity of vital structures in relation to the surgical site. The system has revolutionized the approach to difficult sinus cases and reduced the overall operation time. Patients with chronic sinusitus, nasal polyps, chronic sinus headaches, and unsuccessful nasal surgery w i ll benefit most from this new technology. Over 2,500 minimally invasive ESS procedures are performed in Hong Kong public hospitals every year. Gathering of Academics, Translators and Interpreters J ointly organized by the University's Research Centre for Translation and the Academy o f Social Sciences, Shanghai I n t e r n a t i o n al S t ud i es Un i v e r s i t y, the Fou r th Language International Conference on Teaching Translation and Interpreting drew to a close on 5th December 1998. Hosted by the Shanghai International Studies University, the four-day conference provided an excellent opportunity for academics as we ll as professional translators and interpreters from all over the world to meet and exchange views. Seventy-six pa r t i c i pan ts f r om 22 countries including China, Sweden, Hungary, the UK, Italy, Austria, the US, Brazil, Israel, South Africa, and Japan took part in the conference. A total of 60 papers were presented. To coincide with the conference, a book display was held at the conference venue.