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Taiwan News Quick Take

■ EDUCATION

Rights program planned

Soochow University will soon launch a graduate program in human rights, a university spokesman said yesterday, adding that the program would focus on human rights theory and practice and include cross-disciplinary approaches and research. The university has long had a strength in human rights research, the spokesman said, noting that it established its human rights research center in 2000 and launched an undergraduate program on the subject in 2004. The university has more than 100 students in its undergraduate human rights program. Online registration for the graduate program opens on Feb. 13 and an enrollment exam will be held on April 14. Prospective students are welcome to attend an information session on the graduate program on Jan. 19.



■ SOCIETY

Survey looks at Web habits

Taiwanese men and women differ in terms of their surfing habits, a survey released on Monday showed. The survey, conducted by MSN, polled Taiwanese Web users between the ages of 18 and 45 and found that women spend more time browsing a given Web site, while men visit a single site for a shorter period of time before moving on. The survey also reported differences in the Web surfing habits of married and single Internet users with white-collar jobs. Married Web users rarely spent time surfing the Internet after work. By contrast, singles -- as well as students -- spend a significant amount of time online in the evenings, visiting blog portals, photo-sharing sites and other Web pages, MSN said.



■ POLITICS

Hsieh pans Ma over suit

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) yesterday criticized his Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) counterpart Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) for suing the prosecutors who had charged him with graft in February. Hsieh called on Ma to face judicial scrutiny with courage and morality. Ma's lawsuit showed that he is trying to intimidate prosecutors from looking further into the matter, Hsieh said. Ma was indicted on Feb. 13 on charges of mishandling funds and embezzling NT$11.17 million (US$344,000) from his special allowance fund during his two terms as Taipei mayor. He was acquitted by the Taipei District Court on Aug. 1. The prosecution appealed the decision to the Taiwan High Court on Aug. 27 and the Taiwan High Court last month upheld the Taipei District Court's ruling.



■ HEALTH

Taichung warns on H5N1

Taichung City issued a warning yesterday against traveling to countries and areas affected by bird-flu ahead of the approaching Lunar New Year holiday. The city government urged the public to take precautions against the disease before traveling to bird-flu affected countries and areas, including Indonesia, China, Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos, Poland, Cambodia, Benin, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Djibouti, Iraq, and Turkey. As an industrial area, Taichung employs many migrant workers and has a large number of spouses from Southeast Asia -- especially Vietnam. The week-long Lunar New Year holiday provides them a chance to travel to their home country. Taichung municipal authorities said that Indonesia recently reported two new cases of H5N1 influenza, bringing its total to 115, including 93 deaths, citing information released by the WHO. Also, in China's Jiangsu Province, two new cases involving a father and a son were reported recently. China has so far recorded a total of 27 cases of H5N1, with 17 deaths.
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