Newsletter No. 267

What's Happening i n the Department of English The English Department is currently immersed in the vibes of Shakespeare and its latest scholarship winner. Training the Trainer for the 2nd Shakespeare Festival From 20th to 27th October , 25 Englis h or drama teachers from top universitie s on the mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao wer e on CUHK campu s to lear n how t o direc t Shakespeare . The y wer e invited b y the English Department an d the Office of the Arts Administrator, the organizers, t o atten d a seminar ru n b y G e o f f r e y B o r n y , experienced theatre directo r and academi c f r o m th e A u s t r a l i a n N a t i o n a l University, i n preparatio n for the Second Shakespeare Festival i n Januar y 2006 . The festival' s debu t earl y this yea r mad e i t th e firs t Shakespeare Festiva l i n Greater China and despite its success, Prof. David Parker, c ha ir o f th e E n g l i s h Department, has introduced some change s t o mak e i t even better. The Tien Chang Lin Technology Innovatio n Foundatio n has also doubled its sponsorship for this year's event . 'In the last festival, some teams di d very wel l but the standard was uneven . We thought about how we could make a contribution t o rais e th e standar d o f Shakespeare i n universitie s an d t o promote Shakespearea n an d Englis h drama in general. We believe that training the teacher s who' d b e directin g th e students is a more strategic and leveraged way of achieving that than simply giving the student s a master clas s like we di d last year ,' explained Prof. Parker. The semina r addresse d topic s including 'Shakespearea n Performanc e Conventions and Direct Address', 'Scrip t Selection and Script Analysis', 'Directin g Tragedy an d Directin g Comedy ' an d 'Management an d Filming' an d covered plays such as Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth, Measure for Measure, A Midsummer Night's Dream, an d Julius Caesar. A CUHK tea m rehearsing for the festiva l was als o use d b y Prof . Born y fo r demonstration o f direction . Th e 2 5 teachers were split into small groups and given first-han d experienc e t o direc t fellow teachers . The teacher s returne d t o thei r universities to train their students and will send in videos of their performance to the festival organizers to be judged. There are 30 participating universities, compare d to 20 in the last festival, and there wil l be 12 finalists, two more than previously. The performances wil l take place i n the afternoon rather than in the evenin g as the organizer s believ e tha t matin é es would bette r fi t th e lifestyle s o f thei r target audienc e — secondar y schoo l students. And to give the young audience some idea of what a professional performance i s like , ther e ar e plans t o brin g i n Sydney' s Bel l Shakespeare Company to do some scenes in each of the afternoons . The compan y i s a n innovativ e educational vehicl e tha t make s Shakespeare accessibl e t o a s many a s 60,00 0 student s i n Australia each year. Internally the Chinese University has three teams rehearsing . A competitio n will b e held in November t o determin e which on e will represen t CUHK i n the finals. 'We hope t o se e English plays ge t established on the mainland and in Hong Kong. W e als o believ e tha t i t i s ver y important fo r Hon g Kong' s secondar y schools t o se e that Shakespear e i s no t only a monument o f literary perfectio n but als o a p l aywr i gh t wh o write s extremely enjoyabl e theatre,' say s Prof. Parker. And i f audience response in the first festival is anything to go by, the o r g a n i z e r s ' secon d aspiration i s no t fa r fro m being realized. English Student Wins Scholarship to Oxford May Chan , a n Yea r 3 linguistics majo r o f the English Department, has won the Esther Yewpick Lee Millennium Scholarship t o stud y M.Phil . i n genera l linguistics an d comparative philology a t the University of Oxford. Her interest i n the subject has been sparked by CUH K and the University of Toronto where she was expose d t o fascinatin g ne w linguistics theorie s durin g he r yea r abroad. Sh e crave s mor e in-dept h knowledge o f the subject and Oxford is certainly on e of the best choices for the pursuit o f that. May want s t o becom e a n Englis h teacher lik e Stev e Yeung , a 'loving , tireless and committed' Englis h teacher at SKH Bishop Baker Secondary Schoo l — o n e o f thos e rar e life-changin g mentors no t al l student s have the goo d fortune t o mee t — wh o inspire d her t o study languag e an d to dedicat e he r lif e to teaching. May's othe r aspiration is to work fo r th e government' s educatio n branch of which she has had a taste as a summer intern at the Language Learning Support Sectio n o f th e Educatio n an d Manpower Bureau . May 's drea m i s t o becom e a n individual who does not measure success by mone y o r materia l achievements , a dream compatible wit h the spirit o f the scholarship. Established with funds from the estate of the late Dr. Esther Yewpick Lee, the Esther Yewpick Lee Millennium Scholarship Schem e seek s candidate s who demonstrat e no t onl y academi c excellence, but also respect for humanity, a curious mind, moral integrity , a spirit of adventure , an d th e potentia l t o contribute t o th e well-bein g o f th e community. May, whose non-academic interest s include squash , basketball, jogging, and classical music , say s th e Englis h Department has provided a very supportive and caring environment fo r her to learn . She is especially thankful to Prof. Davi d Parker fo r hi s encouragemen t withou t which she might not have applied for the scholarship. Sh e is also grateful to Prof . Jason Gleckman and Prof. George Braine for their help and support. Piera Chen Prof. Geoffrey Borny (middle) and participating teachers at a training session May during the department's UK cultural study tour in summer 2005 Protocol for Evaluating TCM Treatment for Osteoporosis E xtensive researc h ha s bee n c o n d u c t ed o n t h e us e o f traditional Chines e Medicine (TCM) to treat osteoporosis and some treatments have been introduced int o the market . To ensur e th e effectivenes s an d efficacy o f treatments, CUHK scholar s and thei r mainlan d counterpart s wo r ked w i t h th e Wo r l d Healt h Organization t o se t up Guidelines on TCM for Preclinical Evaluation and Clinical Trials in Osteoporosis, whic h e v a l ua te TC M t r e a t me n t s f o r osteoporosis usin g th e evidence - based approach . The y provid e a protocol fo r academia, healt h servic e p r ov i de r s, an d pha rmaceu t i ca l companies t o evaluat e th e dru g effectiveness o f TC M and , i n doin g so, contribut e t o th e modernizatio n and internationalizatio n o f TCM . Clinical studie s by the Departmen t of Orthopaedic s an d Traumatolog y s howed tha t a 12 -mon t h ora l administration o f a herbal formula wit h Y i n Y a n g H u o ( e p i m e d i u m leptorhizum) a s the mai n componen t registered a n average increas e o f tw o per cen t i n bon e minera l densit y a t sites wit h hig h ris k o f fractures . Th e department als o pioneere d th e us e of microC T technolog y t o measur e three-dimensional bon e structur e and b o n e a r c h i t e c t u r e . Th e technology ca n rais e precisio n i n predicting bon e strengt h t o 8 0 t o 9 0 per cent . Researc h i s als o bein g conduc t ed o n usin g nanoC T t o measure three-dimensiona l bon e structure an d bon e architecture . C U H K P IONEERS T REATMENT OF G ASTRIC C ANCER G astric cance r rank s fourt h a s a cause o f cancer-relate d deat h i n Hong Kong . Early gastri c cance r (EGC) , define d as stomac h cance r involvin g onl y th e mucosa o r submucosa , i s har d t o recognize. Ove r the years, the Faculty of Medicine ha s introduce d a wide rang e of ne w endoscopi c an d laparoscopi c techniques fo r the managemen t o f EGC. In 2004, the faculty introduce d th e endoscopic submucosa l dissectio n technique t o trea t EGC . Recentl y th e faculty applie d chromoendoscop y an d m a g n i f y i ng e n d o s c o p e t o t h e assessment o f suspiciou s gastric lesions . Th e ne w magnifying endoscop e ha s a magnification powe r o f 8 0 t i m e s w h i c h a l l o w s endoscopists t o examine th e glandular pi t structure and pattern of the gastric mucosa . Earl y cancers havin g an ulcerative morpholog y o r invadin g int o the submucos a nee d t o b e surgicall y excised. Since 2000, the faculty has been performing laparoscopi c gastric resection for earl y gastri c cancer s with success . Researchers announcing the results on 6th October 2003 2 No. 267 4t h Novembe r 200 5