Script of the podcast of ICRT local news

Subject: Chen Blasts Past Presidents Over Loss of U.N. seat
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President Chen Shui-bian says late President Chiang Kai-shek should be held
responsible for the country's loss of the U.N. seat in 1971 and that his son,
Jiang Jing-guo, who was premier and president between 1972 and 1988, failed
to push for the country to re-enter the U.N.

Touting the government's campaign to promote the country's U.N. bid under
the name Taiwan, Chen is critizing the opposition KMT for continuing to
push for the U.N. bid under the country's official title, the Republic of
China, describing the act as "self-deceiving."

Chen made the remarks while attending the opening of an exhibition on the
loss of Taiwan's U.N. membership and the outlook for the country's quest for
U.N. seat under the name Taiwan.

The exhibition, which features historical and official documents and books,
will run through Nov. 1 at the National Central Library in Taipei.

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Subject: Suicide at Presidential Residence
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Security officials are investigating the apparent suicide attempt of a guard
at President Chen Shui-bian's residence in downtown Taipei.

Television news report says the guard shot himself with his own gun at around
8:30 this morning.

The man was rushed to the hospital for treatment.

Officials say the guard has worked at the presidential residence for several
years, and they are at a loss as to why the man would attempt to take his own
life.

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Subject: NCC Advises Parents on Graphic TV
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The National Communications Commission or NCC is advising parents on how to cope with the legal opening of adult programs on cable TV.

The NCC says it will ensure that children are denied access to profanity不敬的、褻瀆的語言and sexually explicit programs.

Defending their licensing of a cable TV system to provide free
pornographic programs on basic cable TV... NCC officials say the move
was predicated on proper controls to keep the programming out of reach of
minors.

NCC officials said that the opening is being made in accordance with
government policy.

The NCC, established less than two years ago, is Taiwan's highest media
regulator.

Missiles make PRC think twice about attack.

Missiles make PRC think twice about attack.

CHENG CHENG-IOK (鄭正煜)

Sunday, Oct 28, 2007

Before 2000, Taiwan's top defense strategy against China was "effective deterrence and resolute defense." In case of war, the plan was to "detain the enemy on the opposite shore, fight the enemy at sea, and destroy the enemy if they land." The Taiwan Strait and the coast of Taiwan itself were considered the main battlefield. This was a passive attitude to defense. In the event of conflict, the battlefield would be the Taiwan Strait, and the fight would extend to Taiwan's coast and into the hinterland.

During the presidential elections in 2000, Democratic Progressive Party presidential candidate Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) favored the idea of "offshore engagement" as part of defense strategy. He hoped this would ensure that any armed conflict would not ravage the country. At the time, a lot of people laughed: How could Taiwan be powerful enough to engage China "offshore?"

Around 2004, the Southern Taiwan Society invited an expert working in the US to discuss the military situation in Taiwan and China. During the meeting, a member of the society asked if Taiwan had the power to launch a counterattack against China. The expert replied that it did not.

After Chen became president, the budget for the military-run Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology -- which is in charge of weapons research and development -- was immediately increased from NT$7 billion (US$216 million) to NT$9 billion. Information about three new missiles -- the Hsiung Feng III, Hsiung Feng IIE and Tien Kung III -- was released in both national and foreign media. Recently, the US put pressure on Taiwan not to display the Hsiung Feng IIE cruise missile in the military parade on Double Ten National Day, and made it clear it did not want Taiwan to deploy the missile on its outlying islands.

The missile's range is 600km, which means Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong and the Three Gorges Dam would be within its reach. The Hsiung Feng IIE gives Taiwan the power needed for "offshore engagement." The US, wanting to halt further research by Taiwan that might enable it to build a missile with a range of 1,000km, is now said to be considering selling Tomahawk missiles to Taiwan.

Between 2001 and last year, Chen has given instructions for the allocation of NT$19 billion to research and development of the Tien Kung III missile. Combined with US-supplied Patriot and Hawk missiles, this has equipped Taiwan with a potent arsenal of anti-aircraft and anti-missile systems. There is also speculation that because its research and development system was joined with that of missiles with a range of 1,000km, the Tien Kung III might become the first of more Taiwanese medium-range missiles.

Chen has done everything in his power to protect research and development of Taiwanese missiles, and offshore engagement capabilities have been realized. It is now one of the considerations that Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) points out in his internal directives: If a military conflict broke out in the Taiwan Strait, China's coast could be a seriously affected, halting economic development.

(to be continued)

Will collect your notebooks for grading at the coming session!

2007 Nobel in Economics: Designing Better Markets

2007 Nobel in Economics: Designing Better Markets Three Americans -- including the oldest-ever Nobel Prize winner -- will share award for creating mechanism design theory.

Many things perform effectively but not efficiently. To be efficient means to produce a desired effect with as little waste as possible.

How can markets be designed to make them more efficient? This is a question that the three winners of this year's Nobel Prize in economics have tried to answer. They established mechanism design theory.

It began with work by Leonid Hurwicz of the University of Minnesota in nineteen sixty. Eric Maskin of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, and Roger Myerson of the University of Chicago further developed it.

The three Americans will share the award worth about one and a half million dollars. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced the winners this week.

In everyday life, there are many things that get in the way of efficient markets. There may not be true competition. Buyers and sellers may keep some information private from each other. Also, the production and use of goods may result in outcomes like pollution or social costs.

Mechanism design theory permits economists to identify situations where markets work well and where they do not. For example, it shows why an auction is generally the most efficient way to sell many kinds of goods.

In fact, experts say the theory explains why a version called a double auction is often the best way to trade. In a double auction, buyers and sellers both make price bids.

The Swedish academy says the theory also explains why there is often no good market solution to providing some goods, like uncrowded roads.

Mechanism design theory is part of the wider economic idea of game theory and it has many uses -- including in political science.

Roger Myerson even built a mathematical model for elections. He found a voting system that he says would have helped Florida avoid its problems in the two thousand presidential election.

The Nobel Prize award ceremonies will take place on December tenth. The official name of the economics award is the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. The Swedish central bank created the prize in nineteen sixty-eight.

Leo Hurwicz was born in Russia in nineteen seventeen. He developed new ways to understand markets. He began his work after World War Two. At ninety years old, he is the oldest person ever to win a Nobel Prize.

'Green' Schools Grow Around US

Voice of America

11 October 2007

Environmentally friendly designs cost more to build. But supporters say they lead to energy and water savings and healthier students.

In Alexandria, Virginia, the two thousand students at T.C. Williams High School started classes last month in a new building. It was built as a "green" school based on requirements from the United States Green Building Council.

The council is a nonprofit organization made up of building industry leaders. It has a rating system for buildings called Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED.

In two thousand one, there were four schools asking for LEED certification. Now there are four hundred, including T.C. Williams. So far, fifty-eight schools have been recognized for meeting the requirements.

These include protecting natural areas and limiting the amount of chemicals in building materials. They also include better lighting and improved indoor air quality.

Buildings are also rated on how well they use energy and water, and on things like the use of recycling programs.

At T.C. Williams, one example of green design can be seen in the many windows that let in natural light. Students say the sunny rooms help them stay awake during class.

A rooftop garden is designed to provide stormwater control and help keep the building cool in the sun. And an underground tank can store one million seven hundred thousand liters of rainwater for air conditioning and other systems.

The new building cost about ninety million dollars to build. It stands next to the old T.C. Williams building, which officials say will slowly be taken apart and recycled.

T.C. Williams High School is still waiting for the final part of the LEED certification process. Schools receive points for the number of requirements they meet. Buildings are rated silver, gold or platinum.

Around the country, concerns about limited budgets for public schools sometimes lead to objections to investing in green schools. But the Green Building Council points to a report by Capital E, a Washington, D.C., company that serves the clean energy industry.

Capital E examined the cost of thirty green schools in the United States. It says the average cost was only two percent higher compared to a traditional school. And it says this extra cost is small compared to the savings over time from lower energy and water costs and healthier students.