■ EDUCATION
Minister mum on dispute
Minister of Education Cheng Jei-cheng (鄭瑞城) yesterday declined to comment on National Chengchi University’s refusal to renew the teaching contract of former Ministry of Education secretary-general Chuang Kuo-rong (莊國榮), who drew strong criticism as a ministry official for comments about then-presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and for his handling of the name change of National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall. The university said it would not renew Chuang’s contract on Wednesday, citing “gender discrimination” and “indecent speech” as the reasons. The university said a profane comment Chuang made one week before the election about Ma’s father was inappropriate. Chuang had earlier also called Ma “a weakling” and insinuated that Ma and Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) were homosexual. After losing his contract, Chuang said he hoped the ministry would stand by him.
■ BIOLOGY
Unknown beetle discovered
A biologist at Kenting National Park in Pingtung County has spotted an unknown species of longhorn beetle, sources at the park administration said yesterday. The sources said that a new species of longhorn beetle was first found in 2003 by Chung Yi-ting (鍾奕霆), a researcher at the park’s Houbihu Service Station, and that Chung spotted the same species a second time earlier this year. Several taxonomists who had examined the specimen said the latest longhorn beetle of euryclytosemia genus may be a new species. The park administration has decided to request assistance from other experts around the world to certify the findings. Currently, only one species of the euryclytosemia genus has been spotted in Taiwan.
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