EDUCATION
Dispute pending arbitration
A trademark dispute between National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (NYCU) and New York University (NYU) in the US is pending arbitration by the US Patent and Trademark Office after NYCU stated that it filed the most recent paperwork regarding the issue yesterday. NYCU said that it filed its acronym with the US Patent and Trademark Office in 2021, following a merger and had gained an initial approval. NYU voiced opposition to the trademark application, citing the similarity with its own. Both universities failed to reach a resolution following preliminary discussions, and each presented its defense to the office regarding why the abbreviation was and was not too similar. NYCU secretary-general Tsai Chin-wu (蔡金吾) said the selected acronym aimed to establish a more internationally recognizable brand, adding that the university had no intention of confusing the public’s understanding of NYCU and NYU.
Photo: Taipei Times
TOURISM
Zoo to open until 9pm
Taipei Zoo is to extend its opening hours to 9pm during the summer vacation for eight consecutive Saturdays from July 5 to Aug. 23, and there would also be nighttime tickets available for purchase from 4:30pm to 8pm for NT$60. The zoo’s regular opening hours are from 9am to 5pm, with the last entry at 4pm, but it would remain open until 9pm during the summer months, according to the extended Saturday schedule posted on its Web site. The zoo was closed to the public from Wednesday last week to yesterday for annual maintenance. Visitors who enter the zoo before the night ticket sales begin can stay until closing time without needing to purchase the special nighttime tickets, the zoo said. Regular daytime ticket prices are NT$100 for general admission, NT$50 for concessions and NT$60 for Taipei residents.
CRIME
Tainan RDEC chair quits
The chair of Tainan’s Research, Development and Evaluation Commission (RDEC) resigned yesterday following an investigation by prosecutors into alleged corruption. Meng Chih-cheng’s (蒙志成) resignation was quickly accepted by the city government after Meng and his wife were released on bail early yesterday following overnight questioning by prosecutors. They had been taken into custody by the Tainan District Prosecutors’ Office on Thursday evening after Meng’s office and the couple’s residence were searched on suspicion that they had contravened the Anti-Corruption Act (貪汙治罪條例). The couple allegedly misused government funds and vehicles allocated to Meng for official use. Meng was released on NT$500,000 bail and his wife on NT$50,000 bail.
EDUCATION
School calendar revised
The Ministry of Education has revised the school calendar to avoid a short interruption between the start of the new semester and the Lunar New Year holiday next year, ensuring a continuous winter break for students. Originally, the second semester of the school year was scheduled to begin on Feb. 11 next year, which would have required students to return to school for three days before they started the nine-day Lunar New Year holiday on Feb. 14. In response to concerns from parents about the disruption to family routines, the ministry decided to move the three school days to Jan. 21 to 23. The winter break would start three days later than scheduled on Jan. 24 and extend without interruption through the Lunar New Year holiday, which ends on Feb. 22.
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
ECHOVIRUS 11: The rate of enterovirus infections in northern Taiwan increased last week, with a four-year-old girl developing acute flaccid paralysis, the CDC said Two imported cases of chikungunya fever were reported last week, raising the total this year to 13 cases — the most for the same period in 18 years, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. The two cases were a Taiwanese and a foreign national who both arrived from Indonesia, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said. The 13 cases reported this year are the most for the same period since chikungunya was added to the list of notifiable communicable diseases in October 2007, she said, adding that all the cases this year were imported, including 11 from
Prosecutors in New Taipei City yesterday indicted 31 individuals affiliated with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) for allegedly forging thousands of signatures in recall campaigns targeting three Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers. The indictments stem from investigations launched earlier this year after DPP lawmakers Su Chiao-hui (蘇巧慧) and Lee Kuen-cheng (李坤城) filed criminal complaints accusing campaign organizers of submitting false signatures in recall petitions against them. According to the New Taipei District Prosecutors Office, a total of 2,566 forged recall proposal forms in the initial proposer petition were found during the probe. Among those
The Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant’s license has expired and it cannot simply be restarted, the Executive Yuan said today, ahead of national debates on the nuclear power referendum. The No. 2 reactor at the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County was disconnected from the nation’s power grid and completely shut down on May 17, the day its license expired. The government would prioritize people’s safety and conduct necessary evaluations and checks if there is a need to extend the service life of the reactor, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference. Lee said that the referendum would read: “Do
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