HKUST Genesis = 同創, Volume 4, Number 8

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.

間

割

HKUST Athletes Shine in Dragon Boat Races

Champions again! HKUST students rowed to

victory in the post-secondary division of the Sai Kung Dragon Boat Races on 24 June-for th巴 sec

ond year running. On July 4血， theteam compet巴d

again in the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival Inter-national Races and n巳arlywon﹔ theyfinished second

in the eight-team Post-S巳condaryStudents Champi-onship Race.

In addition to

stud巳n郎， staffteams

also braved unstabl巳 weather and the

threat of shark 剖，

tacks to compete in the fi 巴rcely con” tested races. In this

ye缸， srac巴，自vesta宜

teams-thr巴巴 men ’s The d, ummer beats steady time

and two women

’

s - challenging the rowers to pull

rep r 巳 sen t 巳 d together with all their might. HKUST. Their

fighting spirit and sportsmanship impressed all who watched the races including some one hundred

supportive HKUST staff members and their

fami-lies.

The three m間，s t巴amswere made up mainly of

sta旺 fromthreeO缸ices:EMO, OLS and EEE. In the wom凹，s sid巴， b巴causetoo few staff turned out to row, students were invited to join the medium boat

(s巴ating22 rowers). According to Rita Chui (PO),

科大健兒賽龍奪錦今年的西貢區端午龍舟競渡，又為科大健見提供了一個大顯身手的機會。過去三年，公共事務處及康體會都聯合贊助科大員工參與這個盛會。科大員工今年有五隊參賽一三隊男子，兩隊女子。各隊員竭盡所能，不怕風吹闊打，無懼惡鯊肆虐，從練習到正式比賽，均發揚了科大一貴的拼博精神。當日欣賞他賽的觀眾，包括約一百名科大員工和家屬，都為他們的體育精神喝采。男子隊主要是由物產管理處、實驗室服務處和電機及電子工程系三個部門組成。女子隊

one of the team co-ordinators, the staff had a very

good time with the students and they all enjoy巴dthe

festiv巴 atmosphere. The sta旺－studentcombination proved to be very successful. The boat finished

second in their race. A small boat ( s巴ating8 rowers) rowed by sta旺 only,also did well and advanced to the final.

The student team was sponsor巴dby the

O旺iceof Public Affairs, while the staff teams

were jointly sponsored by OP A and the S。” cial Club. Dragon boat T-shirts are now on

sale at the Information Centr巴， andsale

pro-ce巴dswill b巴 usedto help defray the costs of participating in th巴 races.

Jubilant staff and student rowers pose with the roast pig σar le舟， bannersand trophies which mark their victories.

方面，由於參賽員工不足，學生亦被邀請加入。身為女子陣聯絡人的人事處同事崔婉君表示：「我們和同學一起很開心，大家都感受到節日的氣氛。」學生及員工的合作成績理想，在中龍隊競賽中取得了亞軍。而一隊由員工組成的鳳艇隊亦順利進入決賽。由學生事務處贊助的一隊男學生參賽。繼上年勇奪大專杯冠軍後，他們這次成功衛冕。學生更於 t 月四日參加香港國際龍舟邀請賽中的大專公開賽，在強敵林立底下取得亞軍。龍舟隊的隊衣現時正在訪客服務中心售簣，所得利潤將用來支持龍舟隊參賽的費用。

What

’

s

Inside ...

P.2: Sta証 Introductions P.3: Food Servic巴 Staff in UG Courses P.4: News in Chinese P.5: UPGCRGC N巴ws Transportation

’

93-94 UG Enrollm巳nt P.6: Popular Science Lecture Gender Discrimination Committee P.7: Graphically Speaking CD Spotlight

On the Light Side

P.8: HKUST Souvenirs Announcements Administrative Circulars Advertisements Home A丘airs

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2

Lawrence Chan, Ass9ciat巴 Dir巳ctor,

TIC. Born 18 November in HK

;

mar”

ried with a 4-year old daughter. Graduated from MIT with a BSc and M祉， bothin Mechanical Engineering.

Forth巳 nextten years, Mr Chan worked for various companies in the US, his last position being Senior Design En-gineer with Hewlett Packard. He was awarded three patents during his US career. Back in HK, he took up a post as Senior Lecturer at City Poly. Soon after he became head of the Industrial Liaison

O旺ic巴， andplayed a key role in setting up CPHK Enterprises Ltd, which he subs巴quentlyheaded as Managing Director.

Mr Chan joined HKUST in July. H巳rein TIC, as at City Poly, he will spearhead technology transfer, se巴kingto develop beneficial links with local industry.

For relaxation, Mr Chan e吋oysspo郎－swimmi嗯， table tennis, and badminton.

Theresa Leung Foon-wai, PE Of-ficer, SAO. Born 28 January in HK; single. Graduated with a Teachers' Cert. from Sir Robert Black College of Education, an Advanced Teachers' Cert. from Grantham College of Edu-cation, and a BEd from Liverpool U.

She has taught physical education at the secondary and tertiary lev巴ls. After earning her BEd, she became a lecturer in PE at her alma mater, Grantham, and then took up a post as PE O証icerat City Poly.

Ms Leung joined HKUST in September

’

92. Here she

organis巴SPE programmes for students, including sports clubs and University sports teams.

Ms Leung enjoys spo巾 evenafter

“

office’,hours. Earlier,

she was a member of basketball, hockey and fencing teams representing HK in regional-and at least one international一

competitions. For a change of pace, she is now taking up Chinese calligraphy.

Teresa Tsai Miu-ling, EOII, P巴rson

nel Office. Born 26 Septemb巴rin HK; single. Graduated from HKU with a BA in English. Before graduation Ms Tsai taught part-time at the HK Insti-tute of Quality Education, and then took a full-time administrative post there.

She joined HKUST in Nov巳mb缸 '92. Here she handles th巳 administra

tion of conditions of service for terms B and C staff. Outside the office Ms Tsai likes to play bridge, a game she first learned in Form 2. She also enjoys TV games such as Super Nintendo.

Geoffrey 1司rong, AS, TIC. Born 9 December in HK; married with a 2-year old daughter. Graduated from HKU with a BA and, later, from CUHK with an MBA. Between degrees, Mr Wong worked for Governme剖， theTung Wah Group of Hos.pitals, and HK Poly in various administrative posts. After his MBA, he joined IBM, and stayed with them for 11 years

’

first in HK and then

August 1993

in Canada. In his last position in Canada he headed a business unit within IBM which marketed educational services.

Mr Wong returned to HK in May and joined HKUST in June. The focus of his work at the moment is assisting in the establishment of the HKUST RandD Corporation. He looks forward to the next phase of the operation-interfacing with industry in marketing the potential of HKUST faculty and their research.

Mr Wong reserves his spare time for his family and friends, and finds great pleasure in cooking and listening to music. Miranda Lam Tse Sau-kuen,

Assist-ant Personnel Manager. Born 30 Janu-ary in HK; married with a son and a daughter. Graduated from CUHK with a BA in English Language and Litera-ture. After graduation she worked for the HK Government in the Urban Serv-ices Department, Transport D巴partm巳nt

and, most recently, the Labour Depart-ment. In 1992, after studying part-time

for two years

’

she obtained an MP A (Masters in Public Admin-istration) from HKU.

Mrs Lam joined HKUST in December 1992. Here she works in the Benefits Section of the Personnel Office.

In her spare time she e吋 oysswimming and playing badmin-ton.

Edith Leung Wai-yee, EOII, ARR. Born 2 July in HK﹔ singl巳. Graduated from CUHK with a BSSc. After gradu-ation, Ms Leung worked as a teacher in a Po Leung Kuk College for one year. She then joined a travel agency where she work巴das an Executive O旺icerin the Sales and Marketing Department and occasionally led tours.

Ms Leung joined HKUST in July

’

92. She is now involved in several aspects of undergraduate admission, including conducting outreach activities and processing direct entry applications.

Travelling is her favourite pastime. Already she has visited the US and Hawaii as well as many Asian destinations, and she plans to take a trip to Europe soon.

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SC

’

C prepares to brief interested caterers

in anticipation of tendering exercise

The Staff Catering & Club Facilities Management Committee (SC' C) has be巴nmeeti時 biweekly in 巴ffortsto dev巴lopexpertise and to be ready with advice for the administration on the future of campus catering.

As for the selection of a caterer when Cafe de Coral

’

scontract ends on Octob巳r1, the University is now canvasing for interest. A notice has been published in local newspapers requesting caterers interested in operating either or both the Staff Restaurant and the Phase II Co缸巴巴 Shop. More than 50 caterers have responded. All those who responded will be invited to a briefing

S巴ssionin on 6 August at which time the services required by the

University will be explained more fully.

Staff seeking admission to

UG

courses

in the fall should prepare now

Staff who would like to enroll in UST undergraduate courses offered in the fall semester should begin making preparations now. The In-House Sta宜 DevelopmentTraining Scheme allows for heads of departments and directors of offices to nominate suitable non-academic sta証 forany undergraduat巳 course. Th巴

d巳adlinefor rec巴iptof applications is Wednesday, 18 August.

Henc巴，staffinterested in being admitted to or continuing their

studies in University courses should contact their heads of

d巳partment/officesoon.

Sta証 in undergraduate courses will not be considered as

enroled in degree-awarding programmes but they will rec巴ive

credit for courses successfully completed. Those who accumu-late credits may accumu-later apply to be admitted with advanced standing to a degree programme一-eitherat HKUST or elsewhere. The criteria for admission will be similar to those applied to regular or mature applicants. For all courses, this includes passing an English test or otherwise demonstrating an adequate standard of English. Th巴 Language Centre will conduct an English Languag巴 Testto determine languag巳 proficiency on Friday, 20 August, 9 a.m.-12 noon. Those who fail the test are welcome to try again

;

the Language C巴ntrehas no objections to

staff sitting the test as many tim闊的 theywish, until a pass is achieved. Another test will be arranged in December for the spring semester.

For all courses, allocation of places to sta缸 willbe at the discretion of the departments o釘ering the courses and will depend on vacancies not filled by full-time undergraduates. Course descriptions are given in the University Calendar, which should be available in all departments and offices. The fee per credit for 1993-94 for sta証 attending undergraduate courses under this Scheme is $510.

For further details of application procedures, please contact Miss Edith Leung of ARR on Ext. 6637 or e-mail AREDITH.

Student canteen service to expand for fall

semester

The Office of Student A宜airshas announced definitive plans for expanded food service on LGS and LG7. If all goes well, the new services should begin when classes b巴ginon 6 September. On LG7, the majority of the space will continue to operate as it does now, serving economical Chinese and Western meals,

Chin巴seroast meats (“‘siu m巴i"

in fast-food style. In addition, a small section of the area will be partitioned off and op巴rated as a Chinese restaurant, with table

servic巳 anddishes cooked to order.

LGS will be opened for the first time. On this floor, accessed either from the lift lobby or from the main dining area of LG7, self-service food will be provided. The menu will o証era range of Western foods, including spaghetti, hamburgers, hot dogs, fried chick巴n,salads, and sandwiches. To satisfy Chinese tastes, there will be soup noodles (both "mien

”

and

“

ho fun"), meat balls, and roast m巴ats (“siu m巴i"

b巴V巴ragesand desserts will also be available.

Operational details are yet to be finalised. Once confirmed, a catering guide containing details of the catering options will be issued for distribution to all students and staff.

According to Pandora Yuen (SAO),“We are working to

-wards a target date, i.e. the day classes begin. But it all depends on how the works proceeds

[as to whether we can meet the

target]... it could be earlier or it could be later. But even 芷

modifications and fittings are not fully ready, we may be able to deliver partial service. We w山 dothe best we can.

”

QUESTIONS

?

~

O Why have both paper towel dispensers and hand-driers been installed in the washrooms? Why not only hand-driers to save paper?

Mike Hudson, EMO, replies that the issue is not as straightforward as it seems. He notes that, at HKU and HKP where only electric hand-driers are installed, people use toilet paper rather than the driers, leaving the washrooms in a mess-and the cubicles without the paper they require.

The HKUST strategy, Mike Hudson explains, is to o叮叮

people a choice, so both electric driers and paper towels are available. To reduce waste the University do巴sbuy recycled

pap巳rtowels and from a supplier whose towels exceed EPA

requirements for such materials (i.e., more than 40% post-consumer recovered materials). Furthermore, it recycles all used towels.

At current usage rates, it costs the University approximately 10 cents per staff member per day to supply paper towels.

(4)

4 廿一世紀的就業機會「廿一世紀將是亞太區和中國急劇發展的世紀。香港的大學畢業生在尋找工作時，眼睛不要只盯著香港，更要關心整個亞太區和中國的發展。把亞洲作為自己表演身手，獻心獻力的舞台。」香港科技大學最近為將於明年畢業的第一屆本科同學辦了一次「就業機會研討會」’邀請社會人士一一也就是同學們未來的僱主一一來向同學們介紹工作世界，以及僱主在對新畢業同學的要求。這些未來僱主提到的一點意見，就是：「一九九七之後，香港的大學生將面臨更大的競爭，更大的挑戰，因而得好好努力，磨勵自己的才幹’來迎接廿一世紀的挑戰。」前來與同學們會面的，包括政府部門、公營機構和私營企業的代表。他們向同學們提出：作為香港的大學生，要發掘香港同學自己的獨特和無可取代性。要提高語言能力，接觸外地文化。這些機構代表表示：香港正面臨經濟轉型，現時，大部份製造業已搬到香港以外地區進行。亦即是說，工業發展的機會已離開本地區，因而同學們的眼界更要攘闊，努力發掘自己的潛力，來應付社會急劇發生變化的需要。科大第一周本科同學已完成第二年課程，秋季之後便進入第三學年，明年秋季便畢業，正式進入工作世界。學生事務處負責人表示：「第一屆本科同學沒有的兄師姐在社會工作，一切得靠自己的表現來爭取社會人士的信任。正因為如此，學生事務處特別利用暑假時候，辦了這個有關就業機會的生活營，讓二年級同學在畢業街刺前，先行了解未來的僱主需要甚麼人才。 J 生活營在科大舉行。幾天的節目包括就業市場介紹，協助同學了解自己、發掘潛能、計劃前途、認識自我。一些求職和面試的基本技巧，亦有介紹，同學們反應至為熱烈，成認為上了人生重要的一諜。

...

陳玉樹教授出任工商管理學院院長香港科技大學宣佈，已委任陳玉樹教授擔任工商管理學院院長。陳玉樹教授畢業於香港中文大學，後赴笈美園，在柏克萊加州大學攻嶺，取得工商管理學碩士、經濟學文學碩士、與及財務及經濟學博士學位。陳教授在一九九一年加入香港科技大學，擔任財務及經濟系副系主任，其後又擔任工商管理學院教研主任。在加入香港科技大學前，他在南加州大學擔任達爾財務學講座教授。在談及工商管理學院的發展計劃時，陳玉樹教授表示：「科大的工商管理學院，要成為亞洲最優秀的商學院之一。因此，未來幾年的發展至為關鍵。」他表示，工商管理學院將於短期內成立兩個研究所，開展有關中國經濟發展的研究，及有關亞洲區財務和金繭的研究。陳教授說：「中國經濟正從計劃經濟向市場經濟的模式過渡，這同時也是個私有化的進程。目前正是開展這方面研究的良機。此外，亞太區是發展最具潛力的區域， August 1993 而金融財務的發展尤為重要。以香港優越的地理位置，開展這兩方面的研究，可說佔盡優勢。 J 他續說：「商學院的水平，建立在教員的質素。因此，甄選優良的師資至為重要。在未來三、四年間，工商管理學院將招聘六、七十位教學人員，即是說，我們將自現時九十人的規模，發展至一百六十人，成為一所具實力規模的商學院。 J 陳教授又表示：未來幾年，商學院將尋求與工商界建立密切關係，為高級行政人員提供培訓︱課程﹔并開展與內地商學院和企業的聯系，及為內地高級經理人員和行政幹部開辦培訓！課程。

...

鄭天佑教授獲委任為生物技術研究所主任香港科技大學宣佈，委任鄭天佑教授為生物技術研究所主任。鄭教授現已履新，正致力於推動香港的生物技術研究工作。鄭教授表示，科大生物技術研究所將繼續集中力量，就一些有利於香港社會經濟發展的題目進行研究，這包括食物及農業生物技術、環境生物技術、醫藥診斷學及其方法等。除了現有的研究項目外，鄭教授表示科大生物技術研究所將增設蛋白質設計研究項目，這方面的工作，包括成立一所分子結構寶驗室。鄭教授於九二年七月由美國明尼蘇達大學前來香港科技大學生物化學系任職。他的研究興趣主要在蛋白質和細胞膜的生物物理化學性質。他在各地學報發表了逾一百六十篇有闊論文。鄭教授為國際知名學者，會應邀在超過五十個國際學術吉普座及會議上發表學術報告。他亦曾在美國、英國、德國、法國‘瑞士、比利時、西班牙、前蘇聯、日本和中國等地的學術機構講學。鄭教授於美國耶魯大學取得生物物理化學博士學位。他是美國生物物理學會和美國生物化學家及分子生物學家學會的會員，現時亦為《生物物理學報》和《生物能量學與生物薄膜學學報》的編輯委員會成員。

...

首個在科大舉辦的科學營香港科技大學校長吳家瑋教授於七月十九日在科大舉行的科學營中發表演講，題為《作為科學家，我可以做什麼》。這個科學營是皇家文藝及工商協會香港分會的創會活動。科學營由七月十九至廿一日在科大舉行。參加者都是年齡十五歲的中四同學。科學營的主題是「活的科學」。內容著重工業、設計和環境。在籌辦這次科學營的過程中，教育署提供協助，從二百五十位申請人中，挑選了六十人。除了吳校長，科大及其他大專院校老師亦將就不悶題材發表演講。科學營亦包括實地參觀，參觀地點包括清水灣自然郊野中心，香港氧氣公司及科學館等。

(5)

UPGC loosens

quotas

on

research

postgraduate

students

In response to advice from the Research Grants Council and

to submissions from UPGC-funded institutions, the UPGC has

reached preliminary conclusions which allow member

institu-tions to enrol research postgradu批（盯g）如dents over and

above the official enrolm巴nttargets.

The categories of RPg students which may b巴巴nrolledand/ or count巴doutside the institutions ，。在icialtargets fall into two categories. These are:

(1) full-tim巳 acad巴mic staff of an institution enroll巴d as research students in the same institution

;

and

(2) students substantially funded by externally awarded

peer-reviewed research project grants such as competitively

awarded Earmarked Research Grants from the R巴searchGrants Council or the Croucher Foundation.

For the three universities-HKU, CUHK, and HKUST一－the

UPGC sets no limit on the excess enrolment ofRPg stud巳nts. For

CPHK, HKP and HKBC, a limit of 20% above the institutions' RPg student numb巳rtargets is considered appropriate.

At the moment RPg targets for th巳 threeuniversities fall between 6.4% and 8.4% of total student enrollment (i.e., 6.4%

for CUHK, 8.2% for HKUST, and 8.4% for HKU).

In announcing these decisions, UPGC emphasises that they are prel虹ninary and that this matter, as well as the question of increased flexibility in the enrolment of taught postgraduate students, will be kept under review. More definitive policies can b巴 expected after the

“

common data collection ex巴rcise”， re viewing the entire system, which UPGC intends to undertake later this year.

HKUST ranks highest in percent

of

proposals accepted for RGC grants

Results of the annual UPGC Research Grants Council (RGC)

Competitive Grants awarding exercise were released in June. Of

61 proposals which HKUST submitted-representing UST

’

s

quota as stipulated by UPGC-44 were approv巴d. This

repre-sentsasucc巴ssrateof72.1 % and the highest rate among the three

universities. Th巴 comparable rate for HKU was 52.2% (41

proposals approved);62.2% (i.e., 56）。fCUHK’ sproposals were approved.

The funds awarded represent $20.4 million, approximately

one-fifth of the pie which UPGC divides up among the seven tertiary institutions.

Established in 1991 under the aegis of the UPGC, the RGC annually funds r巳search projects in two ways: through direct allocation grants and through a comp巴titive bid process. The direct allocation grant is a lump sum giv巴nto each of the seven

tertiary institutions from which 巴ach funds faculty research

projects at its discretion.

In the competitive bidding, faculty from the various institutions compete individually for RGC funds. In the past, each institution

was assigned a quota of proposals which they could submit. In the coming year

’

s exercise, no quotas will be imposed on a trial

basis to 巳ncouragegreater individual competition.

Improved public transport to

UST

to

begin in

September

Based on student enrolment and staff establishment figur巴s

for the coming academic year, the Transport D巴partment has

confirmed the following improvements in bus service to HKUST:

KMB 91M. Starting from 1 September, buses will be more

frequent. Service will increase from 12 to 7-minut巴 intervals.

New KMB 291. Starting in October, a new circular route 291 will be introduced between the University and Choi Hung. Like the 298, the buses will be air-conditioned coaches.

Tentative: Minibus route. The Transport Department is

also considering a new green minibus route between Hau Tak

Estate （泊 Hang Hau) and Sai Kung. This would serve the

University en-route on Clearwater Bay Road.

Undergraduate enrollment for

’

93-94

reaches 68

%

of quota

First-year undergraduate enrollm巳ntfor

’

93-94 has already

passed the two-thirds mark in reaching quota. With two more rounds of the JUP AS exercise to go and with a good pool of of direct-entry applicants to draw from in

“

topping up”, lecture

halls should b巳 fullwhen class巴sresume in September.

Figures as of 24 July appear below:

1992 1993

University Confirmed Confirmed % Acceptance

Quota O匠ers• Acceptances Quota Rate

980 1345 461 1059 354 908 36% 68% 77% 86%

*

These are the offers which went out to applicants who sati枷d

the conditions of their conditional offer following the recent release of A-Level Examination results.

The next selection round of the JUP AS admissions exercise

(Level 2 Round 1) took place 23-28 July﹔ r巴sultswill be released on 13 August. Round 2, a further topping up, will take place on

(6)

6

p。但』larSci凹ceLectu時

普及科學講座 August 1993

Landslides: Causes, Prevention and

P

recautions

by Kin-Man Lee, Leena叫 De凹，tmentof Civil and Stntcntral Engineering

ll:00 a.m -12叩p.m, Sunde旬， 29August

Lecture Hall, Hong Kong Science Museum, 2 Science MusewnRd,

Tsimshatsui East

臼nguage: Cantonese with Engh泌的ms

HKUST faculty are again this year delivering popular science

lectures at the Hong Kong Science Museum. August

’

s lecture is

the fourth in the series, with two mo,叩lannedforNovember and

December. All the lectures are free and open to the public.

Due to Hong Kong

’

s naturally steep topography, landslides are a constant and ve可 realthreat. During heavy rains, entire hill sides can slip, as occurred in Kotewall Rd and Sau Mau Ping in the early

’

70s and in Victoria Rd at Baguio Villa last year. The potential for such a disaster constantly threatens the lives of those who live below steep slopes.

This lecture will begin with a brief description of the geologi-cal conditions which caus巴 slopeinstability. It will then describe some simple signs to look for to detect slope instability, and suggest precautions people who live under steep slopes can take to protect their lives and their property. Information on v紅i ous slopes in Hong Kong has been r巳leas巴dby the Geotechnical Engineering Office (GEO), and this can be useful to people in assessing the stability of particular slop巴s.

Finally, the lecture will describe recent research in the area of landslide prevention and several m句 orgeotechnical projects currently being carried out in Hong Kong.

山泥傾瀉知多少分士十博三文時建三李十師午講下系至程時工一情十結午及上木日時間土期講學星演大日館技九學科廿科港月港番八番香港地勢陡峭，山泥傾瀉時常發生，對市民威脅甚鉅。每逢豪雨，整幅山坡的泥土也會鬆脫倒塌。情況就如 t 十年代早期在旭穌道和秀茂坪，以及去年在碧瑤灣域多利道所發生的天災。這種潛在的危險經常威脅山坡下居民的生命。這個講座先會簡介形成山坡不穩定的地質條件，再而解釋探測山坡有不穩跡象的簡單方法和斜坡下的居民應採取何種防預措施來保障生命及財產。土力工程署所發表有關香港斜坡的資料亦有助於了解個別斜坡穩定性。最後，講座亦會介紹預防山泥傾瀉的最新研究及本港正在進行的幾項重大土力工程。

Holding g

r

o

u

nd in

H

o

ng K

o

n

g

In anticipation of his upcoming Science Museum lecture on

landslid凹， DrKin-man Lee shared some thoughts on the topic particularly relevant to HKUST.

Is HKUST built on a dangerous slope?

“

Well, I think we

’

re not in danger of a landslide! First, this is a relatively safe location. Second, I believe the engineers did a good job of site formation. The most troublesome-and dangerous-slopes are those made of

“

CDG”,or

“

completely decomposed granite’,. Such granite has been weathered down to

soil and is weak’的peciallyduring rainfall. On the HKUST site,

most of the CDG was removed down to rock, and this was reinforced. Also th巴yhave cut the slope at a stable angle."

Are you pursuing any current research relevant to the landslide problem in Hong Kong?

“

Studies of slope stability are p訂tof our ongoing res巳arch.

“

Basically, we are taking two approaches: analytical and experimental. In the analytical approach we are trying to develop a numerical model for actual situations. People are doing this elsewhere, but we are trying to develop a general softwar巴 with three-dimensional capabilities-that is unique.

“As for the experimental approach, w巴 arelooking at two new ways of reinforcing existing slopes: soil nailing and using geosynthetic materials. Soil nailing involves inserting something into the slop巴 tohold it in place. A student has just finished an MSc project, which included field studies, on this topic. Geo synthetics are plastics used to improve drainage or r巴inforce the soil. We hope to begin field studies with these next ye但．．” Is Hong Kong receptive to these new technologies?

“

Both of these new techniques have been widely used else-where but not in Hong Kong. We hope our experiments will provide local exp巴riencewhich can convince them to adopt these new methods."

Gende

r

Discrimination

Com

m

ittee established

The University has established a Gender Discrimination Committee with terms of reference as follows:

1. To raise general awareness of gender discrimination.

2. To provide information on all forms of gender discrimination and how to prevent it.

3. To look into specific cases of discrimination brought to the attention of the Committee by any member of the campus

community, having proper respect and regard for the rights and sensibiliti巴sof all parties involved.

卸1rIan Macpherson, as PVC-AB, will chair the Committee;

it will comprise two faculty members nominated by PVC-AA, two students nominated by the Students Union, and one member from the Office of Student Affairs. Faculty members serving on the first Committee will be Dr Raymond S. C. Wong (EICH) and Dr Pamela Drew (COMP). The students will be Miss Delphine Lee and Mr Anthony Wong. Mrs Pandora Yuen (SAO) will be the Secretary with Miss Carman Yau (SAO）的 AssistantSecretary.

(7)

都

Peter

Time Out!

It seems that just about ev巴rytime I am almost ca略htup

with my work, I have another holiday or vacation staring

m巳 inthe face. It

’

s hard to get anything done in a place that

celebrat巳severy festive occasion that two very di在erent

cultures can com巳 upwith. Without its contact with th巳

Orient, Britain probably would never have imagined a need for a Dragon Boat Festival, but then the Chines巴

would not likely have invented Boxing Day either. Here

in Hong Kong, w巳 tak巴 advantageof both creations --and

wish the Queen a Happy Birthday in between.

One of th巳 oddthings about some of th巴 Chineseholidays

is that many people don

’

t even se巳mto know what they

commemo帥．的di don’tm間加stus culturally deprived new com巴的. I have often asked local members of the staff

what a holiday is for, or what is called, with little result.

I often get more than one answer even from the few who

pretend to know. Apparently the main thing about these

traditional festivals is that they are mark巳din red on the

calendar and you don't have to show for work. (Of course, I have yet to find a British colleague who can explain what Boxing Day is all about, either. Or cricket, for that matter.)

On top of all these holidays, I have to struggle with the almost unlimited amount of vacation that the University

foists upon me. Keeping track of it, and figuring out the

rules for using it, are two of the things that make one need

it. I hav巴 finally r巴alised that the reason we are only

allowed to split annual leave into two parts is that 江 we

took it more often we might actually be able to remember the rules and regulations relating to it. As it is, the interval between trips is just long enough for the bureaucratese to

completely fad巴 frommemory.

What makes vacation and holidays less than e在ectiv巳 as

a means of resting from my toils is th巳 factthat every time

I get back from a we巴kaway, I realise I am a we巴kfurther

b巴hindin getting my work don巳. As I implied at the top of this column, it takes until the next vacation or holiday to get close to caught up. Oh, w巴11, I am still looking

forward to a little time o旺 thissummer. I just hope I can

(8)

8

Announcements

• Salaries will be paid on 26 August.

.

The Self-Access Language Learning Centre (Rm 3026,

access via Lift 2) is open weekdays, 12-4 p.m. Materials for

learning English, Cantones巴， Mandarin and Japanese are

available, and a member of staff is on hand to help us巳rs.

Browsers welcom巴！

• The Badminton Club welcomes all sta証 tojoin

\II

”,

their r巴gularpractices on Wednesday evenings, ＼頁TIT7

6-8p.瓜，i叫h巳 S 且 HoSports Hall. For ft凶her

I

U

I/

information, contact Mr Mok Kwok-way (PO) 嘲個嚀

。nExt. 6583. 、J

Ad

ministrativ

e Circulars

For copies of the following new circulars and for a list and copies

of old circula,可 askyour Office Manager.

Private T巳nancy Allowanc巴， PersonnelCirc. 8/93

Conditions of S巳rvicefor Student Helpers,

Personnel Circ. 9/93

Typhoon Allowance and Local Subsistence Allowanc巴，

Sta狂 MedicalInsurance Sch巴m巳 for1993-94,

Sta缸 DentalScheme for 1993-94, Personnel Ci,℃ 12/93

H

om

e

Affai

r

s

.

Lau Kwok-man (LIB) announces his marriage to Ho

Chui-chun on 16 Jun巳．

E

-

mail GENESIS

All submissions to Genesis which means advertisements,

announcemen尬， articles,and contributions to

“

Exchange

Square

”-

should be sent either by e-mail to address

GENESIS or by internal mail to

“

Editor, Genesis”,Office

of Public Affairs. Pleas巴 getthem in before the 20th of the

month for inclusion in the following month

’

s issue.

For sale: Antique desk

suitable for lady with

thick legs and large