Newsletter No. 239

Au t ob i og r aphy and G l o b a l i z a t i o n in the Spot l ight of CUHK Conference S eventy delegates f r om across the world presented papers at the Fourth International A u t o b i o g r a p hy and Biography Association Conference held by the Department of English from 15th to 18th March at the Sir Run Run Shaw Hall. Candidates f r om Australia, the US, Canada, Germany, the UK, Singapore, Malaysia, Sweden, Spain, Nigeria, New Zealand, Denmark, mainland China, and Hong Kong expounded their views on the theme 'Inhabiting Multiple Worlds: Auto/ biography in an (Anti-) Global Age'. Topics covered included autobiography of the Chinese diaspora, mixed race autobiography, hybridity, the multilingual self, self-translation, travel narratives, post-Holocaust autobiography, Australian and Canadian life narratives, and life narratives on the Internet. The opening keynote address, 'The Fifth Book of Peace', was delivered by celebrated writer Maxine Hong Kingston (see photo). Other keynote addresses were given by Prof. Gillian Whitlock of the University of Queensland who spoke on 'Soft Weapons: Recent Life Narratives from Afghanistan', and Prof. John Eakin of Indiana University, whose topic was 'Living Autobiographically'. A selection of papers from the conference will be published as a special Winter 2004-5 issue of the journal Biography. It will be guest edited by Prof. David Parker, chairman of the University's Department of English. Support for Eight Research Projects T he following eight research projects undertaken by faculty members of the University have attracted funding support from different quarters: • Salvage of Ischemic/lnfarcted Myocardium by Dagencao Induced Rapid Angiogenesis and Myogenesis and Its Development (HK$8,670,000) Sponsors: Innovation and Technology Fund, and Lead Billion Ltd. Principal investigator: Prof. L i Ming (Department of Medicine and Therapeutics) Other CUHK investigators: Prof. John Sanderson, Prof. Yu Cheuk Man, Prof. Kenneth Lee, and Dr. Edmund Cheung • OnME: Online Mobile Engine for Creating Multi-players Online Game for Mobile Devices (HK$2,494,700) Sponsor. Innovation and Technology Fund Principal investigator: Prof. John C.S. Lui (Department of Computer Science and Engineering) Other CUHK investigator: Dr. Winston Chiu • Automated Data Mining for Hot Bundle Analysis and Inventory Control (HK$1,413,000) Sponsor: Innovation and Technology Fund Principal investigator: Prof. Ada W.C. Fu (Department of Computer Science and Engineering) Other CUHK investigators: Prof. Jeffrey Yu and Mr. Raymond Wong • Enabling Tools for the Design and Development of Chinese Style Game Characters, Sceneries, and Effects (HK$1,600,000) Sponsor. Innovation and Technology Fund Principal investigator. Prof. Hui Kin Chuen (Department of Automation and Computer- Aided Engineering) • The Design and Development of a Novel Bio-interactive Electro-chemical Wound Dressing Incorporating the Physical Vapour Deposition of Nanoscale Silver Ions (HK$2,341,984) Sponsor. Innovation and Technology Fund Principal investigator: Prof. Andrew Burd (Department of Surgery) Other CUHK investigators: Prof. Margaret Ip, Prof. Christopher W.K. Lam, and Mr. Poon Kwok-man • Augmented Reality Computing Arena for Digital Entertainment (HK$3,896,000) Sponsor︰ Innovation and Technology Fund Principal investigator: Prof. Michael Lyu (Department of Computer Science and Engineering) Other CUHK investigators: Prof. Irwin King and Prof. Wong Tien-tsin • A Longitudinal Cohort Study of Burnout and Attrition in Nursing Students in Hong Kong (HK$70,000) Sponsor: The British Academy Principal investigator. Prof. David Thompson (Nethersole School of Nursing) • Maternal Plasma Human Placental Lactogen mRNA Levels in Pregnancies Complicated by Intrauterine Growth Retardation (HK$30,000) Sponsor: Hong Kong Obstetrical and Gynaecological Trust Fund Principal investigator: Prof. Michelle H.Y. Tsui (Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology) BBA Team Ranked Top 3 in Danish Competition T he University's BBA team was selected as one of the three best teams in the Third Copenhagen Business School Case Competition held in Denmark on 5th March 2004. The team comprised four final-year BBA students 一 Cynthia Lau, Catherine Chan, Evelyn Chan, and Peggy Chau, who flew to Denmark under the guidance of Prof. Gordon Cheung, associate dean of the Faculty of Business Administration. This year the competition drew teams from 12 internationally renowned business schools from the world over, including the Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania, and Kenan-Flagler Business School, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The CUHK team managed to outperform them to enter the finals with Copenhagen Business School and the University of California at Berkeley. The champion was Copenhagen Business School. Contestants were given a real business problem faced by a Danish company to solve w i t h in 36 hours. The recommendations and oral presentations of the CUHK team not only earned praise from the panel of judges, which comprised leading figures in academia and commerce in Denmark, but also received much applause from the audience of 500. The BBA team and Prof. Gordon Cheung Survey Reveals Discriminatory Attitudes Towards Recovered SARS Patients A survey on 'Public Perceptions on Recovered SARS Patients' was conducted by the Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics of the School of Public Health on 400 Hong Kong Chinese residents in January this year. The results, released in late March, found that SARS is seen as highly infectious and transmittable through multiple channels, and associated with high mortality rate, inadequate treatment, and poor long- term health. The survey found that about 90 per cent of Hong Kong citizens believed that SARS could be transmitted by droplets and formites, and the sewage system; 75 per cent believed it could be transmitted by rats and cockroaches; 66 per cent, by pets; and about 50 per cent, by aerosols. Three-quarters of the respondents believed that the virus could be transmitted by asymptomatic patients while a quarter were of the view that there were currently many asymptotic SARS cases in the commmunity. Many respondents indicated that they would avoid having daily contact with recovered SARS patients, such as shaking hands (16 per cent), dining together (17 per cent), using escalators together (15 per cent), and letting their children make close contact with them (22 per cent). Many also believed that recovered SARS patients should avoid working in certain areas such as food catering (30 per cent), teaching (24 per cent), medical and nursing care (23 per cent), and child care (27 per cent). About 80 per cent of the respondents said they would express their concern for SARS patients if given the chance. Prof. Joseph Lau, director of the centre, said certain misconceptions about the disease and its former sufferers could translate into discriminatory attitudes or behaviours. There is no evidence that patients who have recovered for some time are carrying the virus, that there are many asymptotic cases in Hong Kong, and that they are capable of transmitting the disease. Prof. Lau called for the dissemination of updated and accurate i n f o r m a t i on as a means to a v o i d discrimination. 3 No. 239 19th April 2004