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Taiwan Quick Take

■ SOCIETY
Kinmen fetes success
The Kinmen County Government held a seminar yesterday to display its success in remodeling derelict barracks into recycling centers, with County Commissioner Lee Chu-feng (李炷烽) hailing it as a mutually beneficial development for the military and private sectors. Lee said the derelict facilities became an asset for Kinmen after the military continued to reduce the number of troops stationed there. With money from the Environmental Protection Administration, since 2003 the county government has refurbished five barracks recommissioned by the military into recycling facilities, Lee said, adding that the administration had earmarked some NT$10 million (US$300,000) for each of the facilities in five townships selected for recycling. The project is being carried out by the Kinmen Environmental Protection Bureau.

■ AGRICULTURE
Mango tops the list
The mango tops a list of 10 classic locally grown fruits in an online vote held by the Council of Agriculture's Agricultural and Food Agency, results released yesterday showed. As of Friday, the mango had received close to 90,000 votes in the activity that began on July 1 and will end on Oct. 31. It was followed by the strawberry, with 82,000 votes, and the lychee, with 76,000 votes. The strawberry topped the list earlier this month thanks to an overwhelming endorsement by Internet users in Miaoli County, one of the country's major strawberry producers. The other most popular fruits were, in order: pears, bellfruit, grapes, bananas, water-melons, pineapples and longans.

■ CRIME
Nurse swindlers arrested
Taichung police arrested Lin Mao-tai (林茂泰) and Chen Yi-wen (陳義文) on Friday after some 200 nurses reported being defrauded. For two years, Lin and Chen allegedly led a 12-member fraud operation that sent out "Are you lonely? I want to be your friend" messages on the Internet, targeting nurses. When a nurse agreed to meet, the perpetrator would drive an expensive car to meet the date at a fancy restaurant. When the nurse became enamored of one of them, he would borrow money from her under the pretext of investing to expand his purported business. If the nurse had little cash to spare, the criminal ring would arrange for her to take out loans from several banks. As soon as Lin or Chen had received the money, they would vanish. Lin and Chen admitted they targeted nurses, who often work night shifts and have few opportunities to meet young men outside the workplace.

■ EDUCATION
University inks deal
National Kaohsiung First University of Science and Technology signed an agreement on Friday with the International Association for Volunteer Effort and its Taiwan branch to pave the way for future international exchanges in service-learning. The agreement, known as "I Volunteer," will allow the university to appoint students with foreign language competence to translate the association's Web site from English into Chinese, while the latter will provide opportunities for service-learning to students at the university. Students who attain enough hours of service -- including reception, interpretation, or promotion for international conferences, exhibitions or contests -- will receive international volunteer service certificates, university president Jou I-chang (周益昌) said.

■ EDUCATION
McMillan park inaugurated
A life education park in memory of the late American philanthropist Joyce McMillan and her devotion to the nation's disadvantaged children was inaugurated yesterday in Changhua County's Erhlin Township (二林). Lin Yu-chang (林玉嫦), vice president of the Erhlin Happy Christian Homes, a polio sanatorium for children where the park is located, said the park includes a memorial garden and two museums replicating McMillan's residence and displaying photos to introduce her life and benevolent deeds. McMillan came to Taiwan alone in 1958 from California and later established the Erhlin Happy Christian Homes that housed and provided medical care and education to children with polio when many Taiwanese suffered from the disease. She devoted the rest of her life to taking care of polio and leprosy sufferers and mentally or physically challenged kids, helping them to live normal lives.

■ CRIME
Wang fever sparks murder
The popularity of New York Yankees pitcher Wang Chien-ming (王建民) proved so deadly that a man was clubbed to death for stealing a newspaper supplement about the baseball star, local media reported yesterday. Chou Chu-hung (周祖泓), 51, was caught by a convenience store manager in Taoyuan County on Friday when he tried to steal a newspaper supplement reporting on the star, cable news network ETTV said. In a fit of anger, the manager, identified as 26-year-old Chen Kuo-chih (陳國治), beat Chou with a baseball club until he died, ETTV said. Footage of the brutal act showed Chou using both hands to protect his head and repeatedly asking for forgiveness, but Chen ignored his begging. Chen was later arrested by police.

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