National Taiwan University’s student council yesterday expressed indignation over what it called the school’s failure to prioritize students’ right to use campus facilities.
At the center of the furor was the university’s decision to rent out its track and field as the venue for the “Sing! China: Shanghai-Taipei Music Festival,” which is scheduled for tomorrow and is cosponsored by the Taipei City Government’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Chinese reality TV singing competition Sing! China.
According to the department, the music festival is part of memorandums of understanding on cultural and arts events signed by Taipei and Shanghai in 2010 and 2014 respectively.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Representatives of the student council said at a news conference that the rental has not only caused structural damage to the facilities, but also denied their use by the university’s students and sports teams.
The damage to the track and field might also cause the facilities to lose their certification from the International Association of Athletics Federations, they added.
The university reportedly received NT$650,000 in rent for the event.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Student council president Lin Yan-ting (林彥廷) said regulations governing the use of the track and field stipulate that physical education classes have first priority to use the facilities and sports teams have second priority, followed by commercial rental, which should be scheduled on holidays or weekends.
The student council questioned the university’s decision to prioritize the music festival over students’ needs, as well as the “sealing off” of the facilities for a week.
There are already cracks in the surrounding pavement and some parts of the track have holes 20cm deep, Lin said.
The university handled the issue poorly, allowing damage to the facilities, which were recently repaired, and depriving students of their right to use campus facilities, Lin said, adding that it also failed to notify students and faculty of the event.
National Taiwan University Department of Athletics director Kang Cheng-nan (康正男) apologized at the news conference for what he called “actions lacking thorough consideration,” saying that it was a personal error in judgement.
Meanwhile, Democratic Progressive Party Taipei City Councilor Lee Ching-feng (李慶鋒) said the city government might have made shady deals with the other organizers, as it is odd that the facilities were walled off for a week during school hours.
Department of Cultural Affairs official Wu Chun-ming (吳俊明) said that such a mistake would not be repeated.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary