Newsletter No. 219

Conference Examines Chinese Overseas Studies O ver 200 scholars and librarians from 14 different countries and regions attended the Second International Conference of Institutes and Libraries for Chinese Overseas Studies held from 13th to 15th March at the Cho Yiu Conference Hall. With a theme on 'Transnational Networks: Challenges in Research and Documentation of the Chinese Overseas', the function was hosted by the University Library System jointly with Ohio University to provide a forum of exchange for institutes, libraries, and individual scholars engaged in networking in the field of Chinese overseas studies. The conference was part of the University's 40th anniversary celebrations. Officiating at the opening ceremony were Prof. Ambrose King, vice-chancellor of the University, Dr. Robert Glidden, president of Ohio University, Dr. Roderick Chu, chancellor of the Ohio Board of Regents, and Dr. Colin Storey, University librarian of CUHK. Keynote speeches were delivered by Prof. Wang Gungwu, director of the East Asian Institute of the National University of Singapore, and Dr. Claudine Salmon, senior researcher of the French National Centre f or Sc i en t i f ic Research, Paris. Prof. Wang spoke o n ' M i x i n g M e m o r y and Desire: Tracking t he M i g r a n t Cycles' and Dr. S a l m o n o n 'Transnational N e t w o r k s as Reflected in the Epigraphy: The Case of Chinese Buddhist Bells in South-east Asia'. Distinguished Lecture in Engineering Examines Intelligent Mining Prof. Benjamin W. Wall, Robert T. Chien Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign and past president of IEEE Computer Society, delivered a lecture entitled 'Intelligent Mining for Time Series Predictions' at the University on 21st March in the Ho Sin-Hang Engineering Building. Prof. Wall expounded on the role of data mining in time-series predictions, and proposed the use of intelligent agents for the abs t r ac t i on o f non- numeric information, the decomposition of non- stationary time series into multiple stationary time series, and the prediction of trends using artificial neural networks. He ended his lecture by illustrating h is t e c h n i q u es f o r predicting stock-market data. Prof. Wall received his Ph.D. in computer science from the University of California, Berkeley. He has served as a faculty member of Purdue University, as a programme director at the US National Science Foundation, as Fujitsu Visiting Chair Professor of Intelligence Engineering at the University of Tokyo, as McKay Visiting Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at UC Berkeley, and as professor of computer science at The Chinese University. In 1998 he received the IEEE Computer Society Technical Achievement Award, and ill 2000, the IEEE Millennium Medal. Experts Discuss Way to Go for Tourism in Hong Kong L eaders from the tourism and hospitality industry, policy-makers, and educators gathered at a tourism forum organized by the University's School of Hotel and Tourism Management on 22nd March 2003 at the MBA Town Centre in Central. The event, en t i t l ed ' Cha r t i ng Strategies f or Developing Hong Kong as a Tourist Destination', was held in celebration of the University's 40th anniversary. During the discussion session, the par t i c i pan ts exchanged ideas and identified significant directions for enhancing the tourism industry, which is recognized as one of the four pillar industries sustaining the Hong Kong economy. Mrs. Selina Chow, chairperson of the Hong Kong Tourism Board, shared her views on the local tourism industry in her keynote speech. Presentations were delivered by Dr. Colin Johnson of É cole Hoteli è re de Lausanne, Dr. Judy Siguaw of Cornell University, and Mr. Don Robinson of Hong Kong Disneyland. Vice-chancellor Prof. Ambrose King and Mrs. Selina Chow at the opening ceremony Weeklong Promotion of Campus Greening The week from 14th to 21st March 2003 was designated as the Environmental Protection Week to enhance environmental awareness among students and staff of the University. The theme this year was 'Recycle and Sustain'. A wide range of activities were organized, including a tree planting ceremony, a green campus exhibition, a waste utilization design competition, a debate, an open forum entitled 'How to raise Hong Kong's recycling rate ?', a flea market, a waste reduction workshop, and bird-watching. At the opening ceremony held at the Cultural Square on 14th March, different models of organic waste composers adopted by the University were put on display. The officiating guests were Dr. the Honourable Sarah Liao Sau-tung, Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works of the HKSAR government, Mrs. Mei Ng, director of Friends of the Earth, Prof. Ambrose King, vice-chancellor of the University, Prof. Liu Pak-wai, pro-vice-chancellor, and Prof. Chan King-ming, chairman of the University Steering Committee on Environment. The freshly published Environmental Report 2002 distributed at the opening ceremony gives a detailed account of the measures taken by the University to improve the campus environment. 1 No. 219 4thApril 2003