News

A NEWLY RENOVATED NT$ 5,000,000 MULTI-MEDIA CLASSROOM (V101) OPENED AMID FLAMENCO FANFARE

Room V101 was once a poorly lit room in a fairly run-down two story building right next to the Administrative Building, but after a revamp that cost up to NT$ 5,000,000, the room has received a breath of new life. It has been transformed into a performance space with multi-media facilities and professional lighting. Its opening ceremony was held in the evening of April 17 amid some Flamenco dancers and music.

A VISION OF THE TKU “FOURTH WAVE” HAS BEEN CAST IN WORDS

Dr. Clement Chang, the Founder of TKU, published his vision of TKU’s future, in a book entitled “The Fourth Wave of Tamkang—Tamkang University Culture: Excellence with a Soul.” English and Japanese translations are also available for foreign visitors.

CULTURAL DIFFERENCES IN EUROPE

An international forum held by the Department of German, the Center for the Study of Globalization and Cultural Differences and the Europaeum (a loose organization of ten leading European universities) based in Oxford, England, will open on April 27 at 2 pm in B1012. The program on April 28 will be held in E680.

ME SPEAK CANTONESE PRETTY ONE DAY

A two-week Cantonese conversation class held by the Hong Kong and Macau Student Association ended successfully last Friday. Over 70 people joined the class learning not only about the language but also the cultural differences among HK, Macau and Taiwan. Chien Chen-rong, the organizer who is a student of the Department of History was pleased to able to converse in Cantonese and play the role of a cultural facilitator.

CELEBRATING EASTER THE GERMAN WAY

An event celebrating Easter was organized by the German Department in the lobby of the Foreign Languages and Literature Building last Wednesday (April 18). Stories and traditions of Easter were introduced amid rich German food and drinks. Several students who returned from Germany as part of the Junior Year Abroad Program also shared their experiences of spending Easter with their German host families to an audience of over a hundred students and faulty members.

TAMKANG LIBRARY CELEBRATES WORLD READING DAY

In commemoration of the 12th World Reading Day, TKU Main Library is holding a series of events to celebrate the joy of reading on April 23 this year. The event will start off at 12:30 noon with a “Reading Lottery” right in front of the library, with prizes ranging from special Tamkang Library note books, to library coupons, to lottery tickets, among many other things. Everyone is cordially welcome to participate. However, in order to participate and win, you need to read at least 10 books chosen by the library (a list of the books can be found on http://www.tku.edu.tw/lib.html), from which 30 questions will be compiled. Ms. Fong Bi-ling, the organizer of the event, reveals that speed is the key to the contest. She said, “The first person who gets the answer right to a question, wins a ticket to something exciting.” “Please join us!” she urges.

SECOND FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNING IS IN HOT DEMAND AMONG FRESHMEN

A recent survey that conducted an analysis of TKU’s freshmen needs in terms of learning strategies and resources reveals that students either need or are in dire need of support from the Center for Leaning and Teaching, who carried out the survey and also designed the 28 questions that were distributed to 5,197 students. These questions aimed to explore four main areas: diagnosis of students’ learning style and aids available to them, learning strategies and methods, language skills and approaches, and research skills. Even though most students feel they need guidance in all areas, learning strategies and methods is the area that concerns them most. Above all, “second foreign language learning and approaches” as well as “methods and skills for test preparation” are the two items that stand out from the 28 questions students perceived as the most necessary.

ON-LINE DATABASES ARE A TREASURE TROVE OF INFORMATION

The National Science Council (NSC) purchased five on-line databases, at a cost of NT$ 110,000,000, for the academic institutions of Taiwan in 2006. TKU completed their installation at the beginning of March this year and will release them for open access soon.

TKU PROFESSOR HAS BEEN QUOTED BY SERIALS REVIEW

Serial Review, a world renown SSCI journal in the publishing sector, quoted Professor Chiu Jeong-yeou from the Department of Information and Library Science and his view on the future of Open Access in its latest edition that is entitled “The Balance Point”, addressing the current situation of OA in Chinese-speaking regions. Professor Chiu is also the chief editor of “The Journal of Educational Media and Library Sciences” published by TKU Press.

14 TKU STUDENTS HAVE BEEN VOTED AS “2007 UNIVERSITY OUTSTANDING YOUTHS”

TKU GRADUATES REMAINS THE MOST POPULAR AMONG PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES BY TAIWAN’S COMPANIES