Education scholars discuss ways to shake internet addiction

Four education scholars will speak at the seventh 50^th Anniversary Fair Public Lecture. The topic will be “Shaking off Internet Addiction: Issues and Challenges”. Details are as follows:

Synopsis:

With the rising popularity of smart phones and vastly improved Internet accessibility, the Internet has become an essential component in our lives. Every day the Internet provides us with new information to digest, creates new platforms to share, and establishes new networks to expand our social circles. People expect the newest and the freshest to be on the Internet, just one click away anytime, anywhere. While people are enjoying the instant pleasure that the Internet brings, they are, sadly, much less aware of the potential threat of Internet addiction, which may adversely affect one’s academic or work performance, social relationships and health.

In the format of an open forum, the four speakers will define and discuss Internet addiction, a problematic contemporary issue for people worldwide, especially adolescents and those emerging into adulthood. Through case study analysis, they will probe the issue from psychological and mental perspectives, and the points of view of principals, teachers and parents. As they address the challenges that different stakeholders face, the speakers will indicate directions and provide recommendations for schools and families to deal with Internet addiction.

For more information and online registration, please click on the link next to the title.

CUHK 50th Anniversary Fair - Exhibition at Tsuen Wan next week

The roving exhibition of CUHK 50th Anniversary Fair will be staged at the Event Hall, on the ground floor of Citywalk at Tsuen Wan next week (September 9 to 13, Mon-Fri) from 10:00am to 10:00pm.

Exhibits include historical collections of the University as well as display panels and interactive games to illustrate the history and its latest developments. All are welcome and admission is free.

Venue sponsor: Citywalk

In addition, the exhibition will extend to local secondary schools from September to December. Display panels will be set up in those schools to provide an opportunity for the students there to have a deeper understanding of CUHK’s history, campus life, study and research.

11 participating schools include:

       ▶   Christian Alliance S C Chan Memorial College
       ▶   Christian Alliance S W Chan Memorial College
       ▶   Wah Ying College
       ▶   SKH Lam Woo Memorial Secondary School
       ▶   St. Stephen’s College
       ▶   Sing Yin Secondary School
       ▶   Hong Kong True Light College
       ▶   Elegantia College
       ▶   La Salle College
       ▶   CUHK FAA Chan Chun Ha Secondary School
       ▶   CUHK FAA Thomas Cheung Secondary School

Please click on the link next to the title for more details on the Anniversary Fair.

Act fast to catch the discount for “CUHK Golden Jubilee Alumni Concert”

In celebration of the University’s Golden Jubilee, three CUHK music groups including Chung Chi Orchestra, CU Chorus and NA Chinese Music Society will perform together for the first time in “CUHK Golden Jubilee Alumni Concert” on November 22. Alumna Wong Kin Yu will perform with NA Chinese Music Society as the organist. In addition to performing a wide selection of songs, the three groups will come together to perform the world premiere of alumnus Alfred Wong’s “Voice of Heritage”, a new musical piece specially composed for the occasion. The climax of the concert will definitely be the performance of the newly-arranged version of “Under the Lion Rock” featuring Vice-Chancellor Prof. Joseph Sung under the baton of guest conductor Prof. Lee Ou-fan. Details of the Concert are: Date: November 22 (Fri) Time: 8:00 pm Venue: Concert Hall, Hong Kong Cultural Centre Ticket price: Stall - $300, Balcony - $200 (For Balcony tickets, 50% discount will be offered for full-time students / senior citizens / the disabled)

Priority booking:

You could enjoy a 10% special discount if you book the Stall tickets via the Alumni Affairs Office before October 10. To download the order form, please click here.

After priority booking, all tickets will be available at all URBTIX outlets or via the internet at www.urbtix.hk from October 22. Telephone booking service will also be available at 2111 5999 from October 22.

Prof. Chu Ming-chung’s talk on “Ghost particles and the evolution of the universe”

On August 24, Prof. Chun Ming-chung presented a lecture entitled “Ghost particles and the evolution of the universe”, introducing ghost particles, which are essential to understanding how the universe evolved to its present state.  The lecture drew a full house of over 300 participants, including academics, students, alumni and members of the public.

In recent years, advances in cosmological observation have built up a large volume of precision data.  As a result, physicists have gained tremendous insight into the content and evolution of the universe.  However, the normal matter that people are familiar with accounts for only a small fraction of the total mass-energy of the universe.  Instead, ghost particles – particles that have almost no interaction with ordinary matter – dominate how the universe evolved to its present state.

In the lecture, Prof. Chu introduced the physics of ghost particles and their roles in some important and outstanding problems in cosmology.  Recently, scientists have made significant breakthroughs in the study of neutrinos, a class of ghost particles.  Prof. Chu also discussed a related research project that a CUHK group of researchers has been actively participating in, the Daya Bay Neutrino Oscillation Experiment.

ACM Special Interest Group on Data Communication International Conference (SIGCOMM 2013)

The ACM Special Interest Group on Data Communication International Conference (SIGCOMM 2013) was held on August 12 to 16 on campus. The Conference is the annual flagship conference on data communication, presenting significant research contributions in all aspects of computer communications and networks: analysis, technical design, engineering, measurement and management. This year the Conference attracted a record attendance of over 770.

The 3-day Conference consisted of a keynote speech by the winner of the SIGCOMM Award, paper presentation sessions, plus poster and demo sessions. There were also pre-conference and post-conference workshops and tutorials and networking activities including a welcome reception, a student dinner and a conference banquet.

For more details of the Conference, please click on the link next to the title.

“Inter-University Seminar on Asian Megacities: Asian Urbanism and Beyond” speaks to realities

Organized by the Urban Studies Programme, the Department of Geography and Resource Management and the Faculty of Social Science, an international conference titled “Inter-University Seminar on Asian Megacities: Asian Urbanism and Beyond” was held from August 15 to 17. An opening ceremony was held on the first day of the Conference and was officiated by Pro-Vice Chancellor Prof. Fanny Cheung and Director of Planning Ling Kar-kan.

The three-day conference featured five keynote presentations, twenty thematic sessions and three post-conference technical tours, attracting more than 150 scholars from 15 countries.

Aiming to explore the nature, evolution and uniqueness of urbanization issues and processes in Asian megacities, the Conference covered a wide range of topics, including urban development, urban planning history, housing matters, architecture, conservation and urban design. Five keynote speakers, Prof. Harry Dimitriou of University of College London, Prof. Gu Chaolin of Tsinghua University, Prof. Anne Haila of University of Helsinki, Prof. Ananya Roy of University of California, Berkeley and Prof. Wu Fulong of University College of London took the challenge of understanding Asian urbanism seriously and argued for the need to generate theories that spoke to the realities and unique contexts in Asia.