The 1979 Seminar on China Studies for International Youth drew 95 participants of 16 nationalities.
Presiding at the closing ceremony were Hsun Ou-yang, president of National Chengchi University, and Pan Cheng-chiu, director of the China Youth Corps.
The five-week seminar, first held in 1970, provided an opportunity for Sino-American young people to get acquainted and engage in cultural exchange.
The 95 participants came from the U.S., West Germany, France, Belgium, South Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Indonesia, Ireland, Jordan, Nether lands, Philippines, Thailand, Costa Rica and the Republic of China.
The 1979 International Youth Culture and Recreation Tour attracted 173 participants from 28 countries.
Participants in the 12th tour visited government agencies and saw historical artifacts, national construction projects and summer youth self-strengthening activities.
The China Youth Corps provided board, lodging and transportation in the Republic of China. International fares to and from Taipei were paid by the delegates.
Two out of three is not so bad
Boys of the Republic of China won two world baseball titles and lost a third by default. This was a comedown. Last year the boys from Taiwan took all three titles.
The Little League title (boys 12 years old or younger) went to the team from Putzu town in Chiayi County of west central Taiwan. Dai Han-chao pitched the ROC's second no-hitter in a row to defeat the diminutive but fine fielding team from Campbell, California, 2 to 1, in a eight inning overtime thriller.
The Californians scored an unearned run in the first inning and held the lead until the fifth, when Chen Chao-an homered to make in 1-all.
In the eighth, first baseman Hou Chi-mou singled home an unearned run for the victory.
The Republic of China collected six hits off Bob Fraka, who at 5 feet 2 inches qualified as the tallest player on his team. However, the Putzu boys had two miscues afield compared to an errorless performance for the Campbell "clones," so called be cause of their resemblance to each other.
Thirty thousand people watched the game at Williamsport, Pa., and about 6 million were hanging onto their television sets in 'Taiwan at 5 o'clock in the morning.
In the semi-finals, Chen Chao an struck out all 18 batters for a perfect game in the ROC's 18 to-0 rout of the Aviano (Italy) team made up of sons of U.S. servicemen stationed there.
Putzu's first victim in the finals was Puerto Rico by a score of 3 to 0.
This was Taiwan's seventh Little League title in nine years of competition.
The Little League Senior crown went to the Chinese boys from Taichung at Gary, Indiana, despite a 7-3 loss to the U.S. South that relegated them to the losers' bracket.
Taichung came back to win all the rest of its games, including 4-3 and 6-0 triumphs over the U.S. South in the closing contests. Kang Ming-shan pitched a two hitter in the finale.
Only the Little League Big League championship eluded the Republic of China. The U.S. South was awarded a 7-0 default victory because the ROC team used a pitcher who had hurled in relief the preceding day. Rules require at least a day of rest, and the U.S. South protested as the Chinese boys were leading, 2 to 1, in the seventh inning.
60,000 students cross the island
More than 60,000 young people from colleges and high schools hiked across Taiwan on the East West Cross-Island Highway from July 1 to August 25.
The hike has been sponsored by the China Youth Corps for more than 10 years to give students' the opportunity to make friends and visit scenic places.
Hikers start from Tayu Ridge and complete the 100-kilometer walk in five days. The hike ends at Taroko Gorge, half an hour's drive from the east coast port of Hualien.
Lai Chi-yen, 17, from Taipei First Girls' High School, said the trip exhausted her but was meaningful. She said, "You can make many friends and visit many attractive marble cliffs, rock walls' and tunnels. It is a nice trip although I felt tired."
Government seeks to help the people
Government authorities throughout the country are implementing social affairs improvement measures designated by the 3rd Plenary Session of 11th Committee of Kuomintang.
Minister of Interior Chiu Chuang-huan said a nationwide campaign is under way to support adherence to the law. Support is provided by the Ministries of National Defense, Education and Communications and Government Information Office.
Another measure provides assistance to workers, fishermen and businessmen.
Young people are being helped to participate in national construction.
Low cost housing will be built on a large scale to cope with the population increase.
A project for the health care of the residents of remote areas has been undertaken.
Teachers asked to serve society
Premier Sun Yun-suan urged teachers to help create a healthy and sound society in Taiwan as a model for all of China.
Speaking at an educational seminar, Sun expressed appreciation for the contributions of teachers.
He called for inculcation of the modem spirit of the Three Principles of the People.
Education is assuring stability and prosperity, he said, and urged teachers to redouble their efforts at a time of difficulties.
Students from ROC rank 2nd in U.S.
Nearly 6 of every 100 foreign students in the United States are from the Republic of China, al most all of them studying for advanced degrees.
The National Association of Foreign Student Affairs estimates the ROC's total at 13,650 of the 235,000 foreign students in the United States.
Iran tops the list with 36,200 students followed by Republic of China, Nigeria with 13,510, Canada with 12,600 and Hongkong with 12,000.
At least a third of the Chinese students are studying engineering. The rest lean heavily toward business and management.
Chinese students get 15 per cent of all Ph.D. degrees.
Foreign students in the United States are from 175 countries.
Communists urged to respect rights
The Chinese Human Rights Association called on the Chinese Communist regime to accord human rights to those under its control.
A declaration said the Communist system has failed to eradicate the people's longing for human rights.
Specifically, the association called for mainland restoration of private property, free choice of occupations, abolition of rationing, free trade and the lifting of restrictions on religion, speech, assembly, personal association and marriage.
Burn treatment centers planned
The Veterans General Hospital plans to set up treatment centers for bums in Taipei and Taichung.
Each center will have 30 to 40 beds, according to Dr. Chin Yu-hung, director of the hospital's Rehabilitation and Plastic Surgery Department.
Chin said that since 1970 the Veterans General Hospital has treated 789 burned patients with a death rate of 5.2 per cent. Half had been scalded.
Children under 9 years of age numbered 171. Most are burned in the kitchen or bathroom.
Children are also burned by firecrackers. Adults are likely to be burned as a result of smoking in bed.
Early treatment is important.
Storyteller houses fall on bad times
Wenhwa Storyteller House, the only one left in Taipei, may not survive a threat to its quarters.
Situated in an old wooden house at the Lungshan Market, on Changshuei Street, WenhwaStory teller House has barely kept its head above water for the last 20 years.
Members of the audience average over 50 years old. Only three or four storytellers are left and they see the same faces day after day.
Lin Pao-yu, 65, owner of the house, recalled that in the 1950s storyteller houses were found everywhere on the island. There were seven or eight in the Lung shan Market area. Audiences were numbered in the thousands. Wenhwa opened in 1946.
Rust removed from old tripod
Mao Kung Ting, the most treasured of the bronze pieces in the custody of the National Palace Museum, has successfully under gone anti-rust treatment.
The tripod will be watched for two or three years to make sure the rust has been checked for good.
Rusty spots were discovered several years ago. Humidity of the Taiwan climate is blamed.
After treatment with diluted benzotriazole, a white crystallized compound, the rusting was stopped.
The chemical has formed a thin protective film over the originally rusty spots.
Unearthed in 1843, the Mao Kung Ting has a 500-word inscription on the bottom of the inside. None of the characters was dam aged by the rust.
Taiwan gets its first animal park
The Leofoo Village Safari Park, the first of its kind in Tai wan, opened at Kungtzukuo, Kuanhsi, in Hsinchu County.
The 75-hectare park is divided into sections for predators, herbivorous animals and small animals.
Chuang Fu, president of the Leofoo Hotel and the owner, said there are about 1,000 animals imported from the United States, Japan, Africa and elsewhere. He invested NT$300 million in the park.
Visitors are urged to stay inside cars as they drive through the park. Admission is NT$100 per person.
TV newscasters reject show biz
Women reporters of the three television networks opposed plans of the Chinese Television Service to recruit two female show personalities to work as newscasters.
Reports said CTS hoped to recruit Betty Pai, a retired TV hostess and singer now in Indonesia, and movie actress Tang Pao-yun.
"I am not against an entertainer making newscasts," said Miss Chou Chia-chuan of Taiwan. Television Enterprise. "But it's another matter when people try to make newscasts into a show."
"If a TV network considers its women reporters lacking in physical charms, that is easily solved. There are pretty girls among journalism majors."
Miss Hsiung Lu-yang of the China Television Company said that she is not sure whether Betty Pai would be a competent newscaster. "But one thing I am sure of: None of the TV reporters, male or female, will be happy to be treated as an entertainer," she said.
At 5, he reads everything on TV
Chiang Chun-yen is not yet 5 (he will be in November). But he reads like a third or fourth grader, although he can't write and doesn't know the phonetic signs.
Chiang Ping-huang, Chun-yen's father, took note of his son's precociousness during a train trip last year. At each stop, Chun-yen read out the name of the station on the signboard.
The father gave Chun-yen a first grade reader. The boy read it with ease.
Chun-yen also could read the subtitles on the TV screen and translate them into Hakka or Amoy dialects.
Chiang works for the Taiwan Power Company and is a graduate of the College of Chinese Culture. Chun-yen's mother has an elementary school education.
"The boy probably learned how to read by watching TV," the father said.
Cultural Center for French opens
A French sinologist has opened a French Cultural Center in Taipei. It is a private organization but has the blessing of the Quai d'Orsay.
Rene Vienet is from the University of Paris and has been in Taipei for some time.
His French Center will pro mote cultural exchange and pro vide colleges and universities with teaching aids in French.
Vienet hopes to give French lessons on TV. He arranged a visit to Taiwan by seven French college students who are living in Chinese homes.
The Republic of China broke diplomatic ties with France in 1964 when Paris recognized the Chinese Communist regime.
Reader's Digest chief visits Taipei
The Reader's Digest, the magazine with 100 million readers, is effective because it communicates ideas in 15 languages, said its editor in chief, Edward T. Thompson, who visited Taipei.
The 39 editions have 31 million subscribers in over 180 countries.
Thompson's worldwide staff of 400 deals with human' needs and desires ranging from health hazard warnings to new experiences.
"We are mostly concerned with the way people live," he said, "and try to show them how to enjoy life through examples and not by preaching."
Editors with a keen feel for human interest are needed along with several years of experience.
Thompson says light tidbits contribute to the magazine's popularity.
"We have more funny story readers than any others," he said. "We even have readers who never read anything else."
Articles are original and condensed from other publications on a 50-50 basis. Thompson, who has been editor since 1976, cut back the originals from 75 per cent.