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University hopes `Ecko' will inspire students, teachers

National Cheng Kung University launched an afternoon coffee program yesterday, the first of its kind, in the hope of bringing together people from various fields to share their thoughts and encourage innovative thinking.

University president Michael Lai (賴明詔), who came up with the idea, said the program, dubbed "Ecko," would take place between 3:30pm and 5pm every Friday.

There will be a speaker each Friday to talk about a specific subject, but they will only speak for five minutes and the rest of the time will be left for participants to mingle and chat over tea or coffee, Lai said.

Yesterday's speaker was a member of the Chi Mei Mandolin Orchestra, who spoke about the mandolin.

Lai said that he took his cue from the tradition of afternoon tea in Britain, saying that although research funds for British universities are not as big as their counterparts in Taiwan, British students are very innovative in research. He attributed that innovativeness to their practice of "afternoon tea."

He said the university's coffee program is designed to "set up a culture and a concept."

Students can make use of the informal occasion to get to know each other and learn about areas other than their own studies, he said.

The program has won the support of tycoon Hsu Wen-lung (許文龍), founder of the Chi Mei Group.

Yesterday's speaker received a free coffee, while the other attendees got a 40 percent discount on their drinks.

The school said it welcomed anyone to speak at "Ecko" time, saying that several of its professors have already signed up.
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