After a six-hour meeting, the National Taiwan University (NTU) election committee yesterday decided to ratify the election of NTU president-elect Kuan Chung-ming (管中閔).
Kuan’s election has been controversial, because he has been accused of breaching research ethics and his position as an independent director of Taiwan Mobile (台灣大哥大) could be a conflict of interest.
The university said it forwarded information to the Ministry of Education (MOE) and the Ministry of Science and Technology showing that Kuan has no record of ethics breaches.
Photo: CNA
While NTU had hoped that the MOE would expedite Kuan’s approval, the ministry asked it to convene the election committee and clarify the matters in question.
It is not the committee’s place to say whether the result would have been different if Kuan had made his position at Taiwan Mobile known, it said.
Regarding the plagiarism accusation, the committee said it would respect the NTU Research Ethics Office’s decision that Kuan’s paper was not an official academic thesis and therefore should not be subjected to plagiarism standards.
The committee said it had observed all voting procedures, adding that it would issue a formal notice to the MOE of Kuan’s approval.
Committee convener Chen Wei-chao (陳維昭) said the public was aware of the decision as of Jan. 5.
However, the university opted to abide by MOE, Legislative Yuan and Control Yuan requests to convene the committee and clarify matters, Chen said, adding that all members attended the meeting.
“We hope Kuan can be sworn in today,” Chen said.
MOE Department of Personnel Director Chen Kun-yuan (陳焜元) said as of press time last night that the department had yet to receive the documents.
All official documents must be passed between the MOE’s Department of Legal Affairs and the K-12 Education Administration, so Kuan would not be able to be sworn in today, Chen Kun-yuan said, adding that the ministry is compelled to accept the results of the meeting.
The MOE is not concerned with the timing of when the procedures are completed, he added.
Additional reporting by Rachel Lin
One of two tropical depressions that formed off Taiwan yesterday morning could turn into a moderate typhoon by the weekend, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Tropical Depression No. 21 formed at 8am about 1,850km off the southeast coast, CWA forecaster Lee Meng-hsuan (李孟軒) said. The weather system is expected to move northwest as it builds momentum, possibly intensifying this weekend into a typhoon, which would be called Mitag, Lee said. The radius of the storm is expected to reach almost 200km, she said. It is forecast to approach the southeast of Taiwan on Monday next week and pass through the Bashi Channel
WARNING: People in coastal areas need to beware of heavy swells and strong winds, and those in mountainous areas should brace for heavy rain, the CWA said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday issued sea and land warnings for Typhoon Ragasa, forecasting that it would continue to intensify and affect the nation the most today and tomorrow. People in Hualien and Taitung counties, and mountainous areas in Yilan and Pingtung counties, should brace for damage caused by extremely heavy rain brought by the typhoon’s outer rim, as it was upgraded to a super typhoon yesterday morning, the CWA said. As of 5:30pm yesterday, the storm’s center was about 630km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving northwest at 21kph, and its maximum wind speed had reached
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said that it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Ragasa this morning and a land warning at night as it approached Taiwan. Ragasa intensified from a tropical storm into a typhoon at 8am yesterday, the CWA said, adding that at 2pm, it was about 1,110km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip. The typhoon was moving northwest at 13kph, with sustained winds of up to 119kph and gusts reaching 155kph, the CWA Web site showed. Forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said that Ragasa was projected to strengthen as it neared the Bashi Channel, with its 200km
PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENTS: Hualien and Taitung counties declared today a typhoon day, while schools and offices in parts of Kaohsiung and Pingtung counties are also to close Typhoon Ragasa was forecast to hit its peak strength and come closest to Taiwan from yesterday afternoon through today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Taiwan proper could be out of the typhoon’s radius by midday and the sea warning might be lifted tonight, it added. CWA senior weather specialist Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said that Ragasa’s radius had reached the Hengchun Peninsula by 11am yesterday and was expected to hit Taitung County and Kaohsiung by yesterday evening. Ragasa was forecast to move to Taiwan’s southern offshore areas last night and to its southwestern offshore areas early today, she added. As of 8pm last night,
RSS