The prevention and cure of SARS should be carried out in a calm and efficient manner, Tsinghua’s new president Gu Binglin told a special SARS task force of nearly 200 University administrators and faculty on April 29.
Presiding over the meeting of the SARS Prevention and Cure Guidance Group (SARS-PCGG) was University Council President Chen Xi, who is also director of the group. Professor Chen announced that vice president He Jiankun has been appointed deputy director of SARS-PCGG.
Yang Zhenbin, vice president of the University Council and vice director of SARS-PCGG, outlined the current status of the SARS situation on campus. Later, Vice President Zheng Yankang, who serves as vice director of SARS-PCGG, detailed the anti-SARS measures to be taken on campus over the next two weeks. Also during the meeting, Vice President Hu Dongcheng listed what needs to be done in the anti-SARS campaign as it relates to Tsinghua’s foreign affairs work.
Group officials said that the SARS situation at Tsinghua is relatively stable, thanks to the joint efforts of faculty, staff and students. However, the officials stressed that the growing spread of the virus in the areas surrounding the University still poses a threat, and the next two weeks would be the critical phase in the University’s fight against SARS.
According to Zheng Yankang, restricting the flow of people to and from the campus is the key to success. One of the ways this can be done is by strengthening the management of the students, faculty, staff, and temporary employees who live off campus. Professor Zheng said that any service personnel who regularly come into close contact with teachers and students should be moved to a centralized habitation on campus; the teaching load of professors living off campus should be decreased; and graduate research students should contact their tutors by telephone and email rather than in person. Also, the coming and going of University personnel from campus will be more closely monitored.
In addition, full-time students living on campus are required to have a permit for entry and exit to be shown to security at the University gates; students whose families are on campus are required to live in student dormitories; and graduate students living off campus who plan to come to the University for the graduate oral exams must apply for an entry permit one week in advance. Also, infrared thermometers will be placed at the University gates to measure body temperatures of people entering.
University employees in key departments will be required to work according to the A/B shift system to ensure the smooth operation of various offices. Also, the University has notified those students who have left school not to return for the next two weeks and to continue their study at home.
Professor He Jiankun told the group that all of these measures were intended to control the efficiency with which people move on and off campus. Other new rules mandate that temporary workers living outside will not be allowed to enter campus for the next two weeks and the related units should provide housing for them if necessary. Family members of faculty and staff will be given photo-ID permits.
Professor He said all faculty, staff, and students must comply with the new regulations, and anyone violating the rules will face punishment.
President Gu emphasized that these measures, though extreme in some cases, are being taken with the best interests of Tsinghua faculty, staff, and students in mind. He charged all Tsinghua personnel and students to persevere in spite of the enormous stress of the SRS situation.
Also attending the meeting were Vice President Wang Mingzhi, University Council Vice President Zhuang Lijun, and numerous school and department heads.
