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Taking debate to higher level

Organized by China Central Television (CCTV) and Singapore Media Corp, the 2007 International Varsity Debate kicked off in China last week. And the first round of the competition is now running online. Thirty-two teams from 32 colleges are competing for the opportunity to represent the Chinese mainland in the final debate in Beijing among the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Soochow University of Taiwan, Macao University, the University of Putra Malaysia and the National University of Singapore. The six teams will compete for their place as champion of Group A.

Meanwhile, two teams from Tsinghua University and Zhejiang University will travel to the United States, Great Britain, Russia, Egypt, Australia and South Korea to debate with teams from colleges of these six countries. The winning team from each country would compete in the finals for the Group B championship to be held in Beijing.

Founded by Singapore Media Corp in 1993, the International Varsity Debate runs every two years, and Singapore and Beijing take turns hosting the competition. In the first three events, only Chinese-speaking colleges took part in the Debate. Since 1999, foreign students speaking Chinese joined in, and the organizer divided teams into Group A and Group B. Colleges from Chinese mainland won the competition in 1993, 1995, 1999, 2003 and 2005.

Disney bans smoking in its films

Walt Disney Co on Wednesday became the first major Hollywood studio to ban depictions of smoking, saying tobacco use would be off-limits in its family-oriented, Disney-branded films and "discouraged" in films distributed by its Touchstone and Miramax labels.

Disney Chief Executive Robert Iger also said in a letter to US Rep Edward Markey, whose committee last month held hearings on the effects of movie images on children, that the studio would place anti-smoking public service announcements on DVDs of any future films that feature cigarette smoking.

He said the company would encourage theater owners to screen anti-smoking public service announcements, or PSAs, before such films. Iger cautioned that "cigarette smoking is a unique problem, and this PSA effort is not a precedent for any other issue".

Markey described Disney's commitment as "groundbreaking" and urged other studios to follow suit.

Research cited by American Legacy, a nonprofit created from landmark litigation between the tobacco industry and states attorneys general, suggests children with the highest exposure to smoking in movies were nearly three times more likely to start smoking.

Tobacco is featured in three-quarters of G, PG and PG-13 rated movies, and 90 percent of R-rated movies, the studies showed.

Doc captures spirit of the PLA

To celebrate the 80th anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army of China on August 1, China Central Television (CCTV) and the Dayi Fund have co-produced a 15-part documentary featuring 15 heroes from different periods of China's revolution.

Entitled China Will Not Forget, the documentary is broadcasting on the news channel of CCTV and will replay on CCTV 7 in August.

The 15 leading characters are not especially well known but made great contributions to the revolution. The documentary also portrays some groups of people who made special contributions to the Chinese revolutionary course.

China Daily-Agencies

(China Daily 07/27/2007 page18)