Newsletter No. 190

2 No. 190 19th October 2001 CUHK Newsletter CU Rowing Team Clinches Chamnpionship Trophy F o l l ow i ng their success a t th e Hong Kong Universities Rowing Championship held on 9th September, the Chinese University rowing team again outshone their opponents from the University of Hong Kong in the 15th Intervarsity Rowing Championship held on 23rd September on Shing Mun River. The CUHK team came out of the six races with four gold trophies, one silver, and one bronze. In the focus event of the day — the men's coxed eight race, they beat the H K U team b y tw o boats t o c l i n ch th e championship title for the tenth time i n 15 years. The boat became the first i n the history o f the CUHK rowing team t o have won both th e Intervarsity Row i ng Champ i onsh ip an d th e Hong Kong Universities Rowing Championship in the same year. Prof. Arthur K.C. L i , vice-chancellor o f the University, Prof. Jack Cheng, university dean o f students, Mrs. Clara Lee, director o f student affairs, and Mr. L o Yuen-cheong, director o f the Physical Education Unit, were present a t the races t o cheer the CUHK team on. The vice-chancellor (right 1) and the CUHK rowing team Quality Schools Project to Help Schools Seek Self-Improvement T he Centre for University and School Partnership under the Faculty of Education received a grant ofHK$34,176,700 from the Quality Education Fund earlier this year to launch the Quality Schools Project for two years from August 2001. The project aims t o consolidate experience gained from the Accelerated Schools fo r Quality Education Project launched b y th e same centre from 1998 t o 2001 and t o apply such experience for the further improvement of schools. A l l relevant know l edge an d exper i ence ga i ned w i l l b e transformed into guideposts and procedures t o facilitate school reforms. The project w i l l also enhance theory-practice interfacing by establishing a close partnership between educationists, frontline practitioners, an d a team o f professional School Development Officers, thereby providing insight fo r th e teaching staff o f the Faculty o f Education i n the development o f new courses and curriculum fo r their students. The Hong Kong Institute o f Educational Research w i l l provide sound research back-up fo r the Quality Schools Project. Cross-school studies and a case-study approach w i l l b e employed t o understand the process o f change i n schools an d to develop a quality school transformation model. CUH KAN DTO P BUSINES SSCHOOL S DELIVE RONEMB A T he Faculty o f Business Administration has formed a partnership with four top business schools i n Europe and Ame r i ca t o deliver On eMBA, a premier global executive MBA programme that spans five different business cultures an d connects a diverse network o f executives living and working around the world. The four business schools are Funda çã o Getulio Vargas, Escola de Administra çã o d e Empresas d e S ã o Paulo, Brazil; th e Mo n t e r r ey Tech Gr adua te Sc hool o f Bus i ness Adm i n i s t r a t i on an d Leadership, Me x i c o; Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam School o f Management, the Netherlands; and the Kenan-Flagler Business School, University o f North Carolina a t Chapel Hi l l, USA. The curriculum o f the programme w i l l be developed j o i n t ly and taught b y leading faculty members from th e partner schools. OneMBA i s designed fo r executives with increasing international responsibilities, who may include global managers of multinational companies, and managers of regional and national companies that are operating amid the challenges o f a changing international environment. The r i go r ous 21 -mon th p r og r amme w i l l beg in i n September 2002 with a class o f approximately 100 senior executives distributed across the five OneMBA campuses. The students w i ll study at their home business schools for two-thirds o f the programme and spend the remaining t h i rd w i th th e other students i n experiential learning modules held in different locations around the world. Local professors w i l l deliver the modules i n their own regions, w i t h core courses coordinated across a l l On eMBA campuses. The participants w i ll work on three international teams during the programme t o develop skills i n cross- cultural interaction and global virtual teamwork. Graduates w i l l receive an MBA from their home universities as well as the OneMBA. Medical Researcher Selected Outstanding Young Person of the World P r o f . Denn is L o o f th e Department o f Chemical Pathology, Faculty o f Medicine, has been selected b y Junior Chamber International (JCI) as an h o n o u r ee o f t h i s y e a r ' s Outstanding Young Persons of the World, marking yet another time a CUHK member ha s been s o honoured. Prof. Dennis Lam of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences received the same award in 1995. To b e eligible fo r th e Te n Outstanding Young Persons (TOYP) contest, Prof. Lo had to be an awardee i n last year's regional contest 一 the Hong Kong Ten Outstanding Young Persons Selection run by the Hong Kong Junior Chamber. With the support o f the regional branch and that of his sponsor, Prof. Christopher Lam, chair o f hi s department, he applied fo r entry into the international event as a candidate i n the medical innovation category. Prof. L o won on the strength o f his having developed a safer and less stressful (to the mother) prenatal testing method. The development was made possible by his pioneering discovery i n 1997 that during pregnancy, the baby's DNA is released into the mother's blood plasma. Hence doctors can simply use the mother's blood to test for genetic/chromosomal abnormality i n the foetus instead of using the traditional and mo re d a n g e r o us me t h o d, amniocentesis. This technique has recently been adopted b y th e National Blood Service i n the U K as a non-invasive test for determining the baby's rhesus blood group type before birth. I t also ha s implications for testing for nasopharyngeal and liver cancers. Cancer cells release abnormal DNA into the blood stream of the patient. Using blood tests based on this phenomenon, doctors can easily detect the presence o f tumours w i th mi n imal discomfort to the patient, and monitor the patient's progress after treatment. For it s use in nasopharyngeal cancer, clinical trials have indicated a 95 per cent accuracy. The method i s now being evaluated b y many hospitals and laboratories i n Hong Kong and elsewhere. Prof. Lo believes that in the not to o distant future, i t w i ll b e made available in many parts of the world where these cancers are prevalent. Prof. L o also believes that similar tests can be applied to many other tumour types. The panel of judges fo r this year's TOYP contest included Anthony Jones, Anheuser Busch Companies; Edmund Ho, Ch i ef Execu t i ve, Macau Special Administrative Region; the Honourable Joseph Deiss, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Switzerland; Reginald Schaumans, past president of Junior Chamber International; and the Honourable Artur Mas, Counsellor o f th e government o f Catalonia, Department of the Presidency. The award presentation ceremony will be held on 7th November 2001 in Barcelona. Prof. Lo , who i s very happy t o b e selected as an honouree, sees i t a clear indication that medical research i n Hong Kong i s being increasingly recognized i n t e r na t i ona l l y. H e be l i eves hi s achievements are the result o f a group effort, with essential contribution from members o f hi s research team an d collaborators. The TOYP programme o f Junior Chamber International serves to recognize up t o 10 individuals between the ages o f 18 to 40 who exemplify the best attributes of the world's young people. Nominations are received in 10 categories: (1) business, economic, and/or entrepreneurial accomplishment; (2) political, legal, and/ or governmental affairs; (3 ) academic leadership and/or accomplishment; (4 ) cultural achievement; (5 ) moral and/or environmental leadership; (6) contribution to children, world peace, and/or human rights; (7) humanitarian and/or voluntary leadership; (8 ) s c i en t i f ic and/or technological development; (9) personal improvement and/or accomplishment; (10) medical innovation. The honour roll of past recipients o f the award features prominent an d distinguished figures from around th e world, including the late South African film-maker William Faure and Estonian Prime Minister Mart Laar. Eleven Hong Kong citizens, including Prof. Lo and Prof. Lam, have made i t t o th e list since th e establishment of the Hong Kong branch 28 years ago. Founded i n Mexico City i n 1944 , Junior Chamber International i s a wo r l dw i de f ede r a t i on o f young professionals and entrepreneurs spanning 123 nations. Its mission is to contribute to the advancement of the global community by providing the opportunity fo r young people to develop leadership skills, social responsibility, entrepreneurship, an d fellowship necessary t o create positive change. Headquartered i n Florida, i t is a non-governmental organization with active participation i n th e United Nations system. Prof. Lo at the awards ceremony of the Hong Kong Ten Outstanding Young Persons Selection