On October 24, Soong Mei-ling (Ma-dame Chiang Kai-shek) died at her New York residence at the age of 105. Born in 1898, she lived through the waning years of the Qing Dynasty (which ended in 1911), the early Republican era, the Northern Expedition and the reunification of China under the Kuomintang (1928), the eight-year long War of Resistance against Japan (1937-1945), the Chinese Civil War pitting the Kuomintang against the Communist Party, and the retreat to Taiwan with the Chiang regime (1949). She then lived in Taiwan for more than 20 years, before moving to New York after the death of her husband in 1975. After relocating to the US, her role in Taiwanese politics steadily diminished, but she has never been forgotten. Indeed, news of her death came at a time when many people are still discussing a recent Public Television series on her life that took two years of painstaking work to prepare.

The image of Mme. Chiang held by most Chinese is a combination of elegance and single-minded determination. She is famous for her moving address before the US Congress in early 1943, in which she attempted to draw the world's attention to China's lonely struggle against the Japanese invasion. The image of the delicate-looking Soong interacting with Roosevelt and Churchill at the Cairo Conference in November of that same year is also a lasting one. During the darkest days of the war, Soong launched a drive for Chinese women to sew uniforms for men at the front, and after coming to Taiwan she sponsored the opening of an orphanage and a hospital.

Mme. Chiang's death brings to an end a legendary life that was in many ways synonymous with the Republic of China. But great eras and great models always leave indelible memories. When the Kuomintang regime retreated to Taiwan in 1949, it was accompanied by many intellectuals who believed in the importance of passing along traditional culture and morals. Among them was Fu Ssu-nien, who became the first president of National Taiwan University. Relying on his passion as an educator and his character as a scholar, Fu helped NTU emerge from the colonial era-in which the school was meant to serve Japanese imperial aims-and create a new climate emphasizing reason, knowledge, and scholarship.

Carrying on Fu's selfless spirit of "a university contributed to the universe," NTU has cultivated countless leaders in the years since-some diligently working away in forgotten corners of academia, some serving society in the public sphere, some dominating the realms of commerce and business, others pioneering reform in politics. NTU-ites have always been intimately tied up with the directions and vicissitudes of all fields of endeavor in Taiwan.

In mid-November, NTU will celebrate its 75th birthday. Compared to some of the great universities of the West, NTU may be a mere hatchling, but the tribulations of history have forced it to mature rapidly, as its faculty and alumni have had to shoulder much of the burden of leading the nation. In both the 2000 presidential election, which witnessed the first democratic transfer of power in Taiwanese history, and the upcoming March 2004 presidential contest, the story at the top has remained the same: NTU-ites vying against NTU-ites.

NTU's anniversary serves as the inspiration for the cover story for this issue of Sinorama, as we look at how NTU-ites have shaped and are shaping the nation in many ways. Today our institutions of advanced education face many challenges: What is the best balance between research and teaching? How can academics broaden their horizons so that theories can be put into practice? How can knowledge be a force for positive change? How can we ensure that academic involvement brings us closer to solutions, rather than causing new problems? Can intellectuals avoid the trap of being so absorbed by their own thinking they lose sight of the forest for the trees?

Looking beyond the campus walls, while academic discourse can lay a deep foundation for society and politics, one must not underestimate the power of popular culture, either. Following up on the special report on cross-strait publishing that appeared in last month's issue, this month we discuss the problems of logistics and distribution facing Taiwan's cultural and publishing community in the PRC, as well as looking first-hand at the burgeoning magazine market there. While the mainland's own periodical publishers are growing by leaps and bounds, we trust that Taiwan's magazine industry still has the edge in terms of subject matter, depth, reporting, and editing, and that there are still commercial opportunities to be exploited "out west" in the PRC. And perhaps even more importantly, beyond commercial gain, mass-market publishing can serve as an effective platform for the exchange of ideas between people on the two sides of the Taiwan Strait as well.

The models and leaders of the past are gone. But the key to a new and better future is in our own hands!