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Taiwan Quick Take

■ ENTERTAINMENT
Taiwanese win film awards
The nation took five awards at the 40th Worldfest-Houston International Film Festival, Taiwan's representative office in Houston said over the weekend. The winning films included Amour-Legende by director Wu Mi-sen (吳米森); Visions of Taiwan's Mountains and Digitized Operations in Taiwan, both of which are documentaries made by the Government Information Office, and Kuanwu Formosan Salamander and Taipei MRT by director Chen Chin-fa. Amour-Legende is a story about a young man who suffers from memory loss and begins to question his own existence after going on a journey. The film was shown at last year's Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival and won the Global Vision Award at the 31st Hong Kong International Film Festival. Chen's Kuanwu Formosan Salamander deals with an endangered species of amphibian.

■ HEALTH
Aflatoxins found in peanuts
Twelve out of 14 samples of crushed peanuts tested by Taipei City Government's Department of Health tested positive for aflatoxins, a potent carcinogen produced by many species of Aspergillus fungus. The sample with the highest level of aflatoxin contained 81.2 parts per billion (ppb), more than five times the legal limit of 15ppb. Of the 12, five samples exceeded the legal limit. The tainted products will be recalled and their producers fined between NT$30,000 to NT$150,000.

■ EDUCATION
Scholarships touted in US
The Taipei City Government is offering scholarships for US citizens who live in Taipei's sister cities to learn Chinese in Taiwan, Taiwan's representative office in Washington said in a news release on Sunday. The scholarships, NT$25,000 (US$750) per student, are part of Taipei City's efforts to expand international exchanges, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Washington said in a press release. A total of 10 applicants from 12 of Taipei City's sister cities in the US will be awarded scholarships. The 12 cities are Houston, Marshall (Texas), Dallas, Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Atlanta, Oklahoma City, Boston, Cleveland, Indianapolis and Guam. The US students who receive the scholarships will take classes from September this year to next February at National Taiwan University, National Taiwan Normal University or National Chengchi University. For more information, visit www.edunet.taipei.gov.tw/public/ReadNews. Registration closes on May 22.

■ ENVIRONMENT
Conserve coral week begins
A series of activities designed to call attention to the need for coral reef conservation began yesterday at Kenting National Park in Pingtung County. The Coral Reef Biodiversity and Conservation Week activities coincide with the spawning season for coral off the southern coast, said the Kenting National Park Administration, which is organizing the event along with the Taiwanese Coral Reef Society, the Academia Sinica Research Center for Biodiversity, the Underwater Photography Association and the National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium. The Kenting coral spawning season usually begins on the second Sunday of the third month of the lunar calendar. The seven-day event will include a series of seminars on the sustainable management of coral reefs, beach and coastal water cleaning activities and a free concert on the Maobitou coast on Saturday.

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