The University of St Thomas (UST) in Houston, Texas, on Wednesday last week launched a Mandarin Center in cooperation with Kaohsiung-based Wenzao Ursuline University of Languages, which would facilitate exchanges between Taiwanese and US teachers, as well as offer US students opportunities to study in Taiwan.
The center is the first of its kind in US, UST said.
The two schools have had sister-school ties for more than a decade and in September decided to establish the center, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Houston said, adding that it had helped facilitate donations from US-based Taiwanese.
Photo courtesy of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Houston
The center’s commencement ceremony was presided over by UST dean Richard Ludwick and UST global studies director Hans Stockton, who heads the center.
Economic office Director-General Robert Lo (羅復文), E&M Foundation founder Don Wang (王敦正), UST board member Rocky Lai (賴賢烈), and Texas Mandarin Teachers’ Association members represented Taiwan at the event.
Wenzao University president Margret Chen (陳美華) and other members of the Kaohsiung school were also present via teleconference, while a prerecorded message by Ministry of Education Department of International and Cross-strait Education Director Lee Yen-yi (李彥儀) was played at the event.
Stockton said that the center would offer courses that benefit experts as well as local residents.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
US climber Alex Honnold left Taiwan this morning a day after completing a free-solo ascent of Taipei 101, a feat that drew cheers from onlookers and gained widespread international attention. Honnold yesterday scaled the 101-story skyscraper without a rope or safety harness. The climb — the highest urban free-solo ascent ever attempted — took just more than 90 minutes and was streamed live on Netflix. It was covered by major international news outlets including CNN, the New York Times, the Guardian and the Wall Street Journal. As Honnold prepared to leave Taiwan today, he attracted a crowd when he and his wife, Sanni,
Taiwanese and US defense groups are collaborating to introduce deployable, semi-autonomous manufacturing systems for drones and components in a boost to the nation’s supply chain resilience. Taiwan’s G-Tech Optroelectronics Corp subsidiary GTOC and the US’ Aerkomm Inc on Friday announced an agreement with fellow US-based Firestorm Lab to adopt the latter’s xCell, a technology featuring 3D printers fitted in 6.1m container units. The systems enable aerial platforms and parts to be produced in high volumes from dispersed nodes capable of rapid redeployment, to minimize the risk of enemy strikes and to meet field requirements, they said. Firestorm chief technology officer Ian Muceus said
RSS