■ EDUCATION
Tuition increases limited
Increases in tuition and miscellaneous fees at domestic universities will not exceed more than 2.88 percent for the academic year starting in September, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. Based on the rate, tuition and miscellaneous fees can rise between NT$327 and NT$1,928, according to different departments and universities, the ministry said in a statement. The announcement came amid reports that many universities were planning to apply to the ministry to raise fees by between 5 percent and 10 percent for the next academic year. Opposition legislators have expressed concern that the hikes would deal another blow to cash-strapped households already hurt by inflation. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Pan Meng-an (潘孟安) said a 5 percent hike would push public university tuition and miscellaneous fees into the range of NT$26,000 to NT$42,000 per semester and those of private universities to NT$45,000 to NT$74,000 per semester.
■ AID
Taiwanese pledge millions
Taiwanese people and firms pledged more than US$9 million in one night to help rebuild schools in China’s earthquake-hit region, China’s state press reported yesterday. The donations were made to a television show on Thursday evening aired to raise money for victims of the May 12 earthquake that devastated Sichuan Province and killed more than 69,000 people, Xinhua news agency said. Taiwanese and Chinese singers performed on the three-hour show, which also featured video clips. The report did not give details of the donors, other than to say they pledged a total of 64 million yuan (US$9.38 million) to rebuild the many schools that collapsed in the quake, killing thousands of students. By the end of last month Taiwanese had also donated 2,000 tonnes of cement, 100 satellite telephones, 100 tonnes of tents, sleeping bags, medical supplies and other relief materials, the report said, citing the Chinese government’s Taiwan Affairs Office.
■ FLOODING
Authorities to investigate
The Kaohsiung City Government will assess the city’s drainage system following flooding on Thursday, Kaohsiung City Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) said yesterday. Thursday’s torrential rains in central and southern Taiwan left many places in Kaohsiung flooded, with some low-lying areas submerged in knee-high rainwater for hours. The city received about 240mm of rainfall on Thursday, receiving up to 90mm in one hour. The drainage system is designed to handle 79mm per hour. Residents complained that a concrete wall built by the city government for dredging at Lotus Lake (蓮池潭), the city’s famous scenic spot, blocked the drainage facilities and turned out to be the major cause of the flooding. Chen said the city government’s Public Works Bureau and related authorities will investigate the reason for the flooding and if the investigation shows the cause was the concrete wall, the construction company that built it and the city government will take responsibility.
■ SPORTS
First lady for Paralympics?
Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) yesterday suggested that first lady Chow Mei-ching (周美青) lead the nation’s delegation to the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games, which will be held in September. After resigning as the head of the legal department at Mega International Commercial Bank, Chow decided to serve as honorary chairperson of Taiwan’s Red Cross Society.
A tropical depression east of the Philippines became a tropical storm early yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, less than a week after a typhoon barreled across the nation. The agency issued an advisory at 3:30am stating that the 22nd tropical storm, named Yinxing, of the Pacific typhoon season formed at 2am. As of 8am, the storm was 1,730km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, with a 100km radius. It was moving west-northwest at 32kph, with maximum sustained winds of 83kph and gusts of up to 108kph. Based on its current path, the storm is not expected to hit Taiwan, CWA
Commuters in Taipei picked their way through debris and navigated disrupted transit schedules this morning on their way to work and school, as the city was still working to clear the streets in the aftermath of Typhoon Kong-rey. By 11pm yesterday, there were estimated 2,000 trees down in the city, as well as 390 reports of infrastructure damage, 318 reports of building damage and 307 reports of fallen signs, the Taipei Public Works Department said. Workers were mobilized late last night to clear the debris as soon as possible, the department said. However, as of this morning, many people were leaving messages
A Canadian dental assistant was recently indicted by prosecutors after she was caught in August trying to smuggle 32kg of marijuana into Taiwan, the Aviation Police Bureau said on Wednesday. The 30-year-old was arrested on Aug. 4 after arriving on a flight to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Chang Tsung-lung (張驄瀧), a squad chief in the Aviation Police Bureau’s Criminal Investigation Division, told reporters. Customs officials noticed irregularities when the woman’s two suitcases passed through X-ray baggage scanners, Chang said. Upon searching them, officers discovered 32.61kg of marijuana, which local media outlets estimated to have a market value of more than NT$50 million (US$1.56
FATALITIES: The storm claimed at least two lives — a female passenger in a truck that was struck by a falling tree and a man who was hit by a utility pole Workers cleared fallen trees and shop owners swept up debris yesterday after one of the biggest typhoons to hit the nation in decades claimed at least two lives. Typhoon Kong-rey was packing winds of 184kph when it slammed into eastern Taiwan on Thursday, uprooting trees, triggering floods and landslides, and knocking out power as it swept across the nation. A 56-year-old female foreign national died from her injuries after the small truck she was in was struck by a falling tree on Provincial Highway 14A early on Thursday. The second death was reported at 8pm in Taipei on Thursday after a 48-year-old man
RSS