Print

Mail

wiki links

Taiwan News Quick Take

■SOCIETY

Disposable income rises

The average annual disposable household income in Taipei City stood at NT$1,287,800 (US$40,000) last year, topping all other cities and counties, the Taipei City Department of Budget, Accounting & Statistics said yesterday. The average disposable household income in Kaohsiung was NT$980,400 last year, while the figure for the rest of Taiwan stood at NT$923,900, an official said. Taipei City’s average increased 2 percent over that posted in 2006, the official said. The disposable income is income after taxes, bank interest and donation spending. Taipei families put aside an average of NT$324,100 each year as savings, or roughly 25 percent of their disposable household income, tallies compiled by the department showed.



■SOCIETY

AIT requests nominations

The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) and the Foundation for Scholarly Exchange are soliciting faculty nominations for a Study of the US Institute program on “US National Security Policymaking in a Post 9/11 World.” The program will be held from mid-January to early March next year at an institution in the US. The Study of the US Institute is a six-week program for multinational groups of university faculty and professionals from outside the US. Approximately 18 foreign educators will be selected. The program aims to strengthen curriculums and improve the quality of teaching about the US at institutions outside the US. Mid-career university instructors with an academic interest in National Security issues are invited to apply. A program summary and application form can be found on the AIT Web site. The deadline is Oct. 5.



■JOURNALISM

UN policy panned

Paris-based Reporters Without Borders renewed its call on Tuesday for the UN to stop discriminating against Taiwanese journalists, who have again been barred from the annual session of the UN General Assembly. The UN has refused for years to issue press accreditation to Taiwanese journalists for the annual meeting on the grounds that Taiwan is not a UN member state. The policy continued for the 63rd session of the General Assembly that opened on Tuesday in New York. Taiwanese journalists used to be able to cover the annual World Health Assembly held every May in Geneva, but authorization was withdrawn in 2004 after pressure from China. In a letter sent recently to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Robert Menard called on the UN to “do something for the Taiwanese media.” “We regard journalists as individuals who represent only the media they work for and not their country,” the letter said.



■HEALTH

Better dementia care vowed

Minister of the Interior Liao Liou-yi (廖了以) said yesterday the government was aware of the problems faced by the families of dementia sufferers and would provide better care to sufferers to ease this burden. Liao was speaking at a news conference sponsored by the Taiwan Alzheimer’s Disease Association in which the association announced a series of activities, including screening and counseling, in 18 cities and counties this weekend. Liao said Taiwan had around 130,000 Alzheimer’s patients over the age of 65 and around 20,000 aged under 65. Grand Justice Hsu Yu-hsiu (�?q) expressed the hope that the government would subsidize brain scans and include them in regular health checks to allow for early detection and treatment.




■EDUCATION

Students head for France

Nine Taiwanese students will leave for France to work as short-term Mandarin teaching assistants in France’s middle schools next month, the Ministry of Education’s Bureau of International Cultural and Educational Relations said yesterday. The plan is part of the first foreign language teaching assistant exchange program between Taiwan and France, the bureau said. The exchange program is meant to promote Mandarin learning in France and enhance French students’ understanding of Taiwanese culture, the bureau said. Eleven teaching assistants from France recently arrived in Taiwan.



■EDUCATION

Veteran journalist to visit

From Saturday to Sept. 27, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) is sponsoring the visit of Deborah Potter, a television journalist and journalism educator, who will conduct workshops, talks and professional exchanges in Taiwan on media issues and media best practices. She is currently the executive director of NewsLab, an organization in Washington, dedicated to excellence in television news reporting. Potter will speak at university journalism departments in Taipei and Kaohsiung, conduct workshops for working journalists and give a public speech in Taipei on difficult decisions in journalistic coverage called “Tough Calls: The Untold Story” on Wednesday, Sept. 24 at 7:30pm at National Chengchi University’s downtown campus at 187 Jinhua Street. The program is free of charge and open to the public. Simultaneous interpretation will be provided. To register for the speech, log on to www.ait.org.tw/events/ToughCalls/. For more information, call AIT Public Affairs Section at (02) 2162-2315 or (02) 2162-2041.




This story has been viewed 1231 times.