Ask

If you could go back and change one day in your life, what would you change and why? (Santa Clara University)

If I could go back in time and change a day in my life, I would go back to the day that I had a dance with a girl whom I have the affection for. It was not long since I started liking this person, but I like her a lot anyway. I really enjoyed that day, I would say that it was one of the few days in my life that I feel extremely happy and smiled a lot. I thought it went well, but I did not do what I wanted to do because I just felt that I would hear something I did not want to hear. After that day, things between me and that person get really awkward, though I did not know how. If I could change something that night, I would ask her if she wants to out with me or not.

I would have changed many things. First of all, I would not be feeling the way I am feeling right now; I feel like a mess and an extremely dumb person because I did not take my chance. I would not be doing a lot of thinking about it like what I do now; every time there is a silent moment, long or short, I would start thinking about it and lose concentration on what I am doing at the moment. I would not have any if-questions because those if-questions started from the answer that I will get and how I would feel after hearing the answer and so on.

Advice

What is the best advice you ever received? Why? And did you follow it? (University of Pennsylvania)


I always remember the day when my friends sits around me and tell me to try my best for everything even though the result may not be the way I want it to be because then I would be able to say that I gave it the best shot. Earlier this year, I had many problems with many people around me. My personality, somehow, changed from being carefree to cautious about everything. I tried to make everything go the way I want, but it never worked out so I started showing my negative emotions. Some of my close friends tried to understand me and lend me a hand to comfort me. They told me stories relating what happened to me with themselves. "You can try really hard, but no one ever get everything that he or she wants right?" said one of my friends. I stopped thinking the way I was thinking at that moment and started thinking in a new way. I did not get what I wanted, but at least I tried my best. My friends also told me that I should learn from my failures and never get emotional because of those failures again, instead, expect them and be ready for them next time so it will not hurt me as much.

After that day, I never regret doing anything even though it fails because I can proudly say "Too bad, couldn't have done any better than that."

No Human?

What invention would the world be better off without, and why? (Kalamazoo)

I strongly believe that the world would be better off without human, invented by God (according to Christianity). Every day, we see that we, human, are doing more harm than good to the environment, the world. We raise the temperature of the earth, trap the heat inside the earth, releasing a lot of harmful gases, create greenhouse effect, and heat up the earth, creating global warming. We are not only destroying the environment, we also destroy lives and even ourselves. We create many weapons to protect ourselves from ourselves and also to bring down ourselves, harming the environment even more. It clearly shows that we are extremely selfish. Everything that we do is, mostly, based on our interest. We do not do any good to anyone, except ourselves. Many leaders are corrupted, allowing harmful things to happen to get the most benefit out of their position. The earth probably has a cycle, extreme changes in climate; human, however, speeds up such cycle and going to bring about the phrase change earlier than usual. Human destroy the regulation of nature. We also builds in floodplains, knowing that it will be harsh once water comes, but, still allow it to happen because the flood is affecting “those people”, not “me”.

Choices

Title/Link: Psychopaths: Born evil or with a diseasedbrain? 
 

By Matthew Taylor Presenter, Brain Culture

Date published: Nov. 15, 2011 Date accessed: Nov. 16, 2011

Summary: A brain scan of a serial killer shows that the brain of the serial killer, Brian Dugan who pleaded guilty to the rape and murder of a seven-year-old girl, Jeanine Nicarico, has limited activity in the area processing emotions. Dugan pleaded guilty in 2009 even though he had murdered her in 1983. Dugan would have received capital punishment if the death sentence had not been withdrawn in Illinois. The serial killer showed no regrets for any of his actions so the scientists believe that this maybe the reason why he committed those crimes.

Response: A person with a diseased brain may not be able to control their actions properly because they are sick; it is not what normal people would do because normal people are not sick. The article “Brain on Trial” by David Eagleman has a similar idea with this article. The sick ones maybe the unlucky ones because they do not have a choice, they do not have control over their body, but the normal ones do. It is most likely that people who are with diseased brains probably would want to do what others do to fit in, but they cannot control. The biggest question is this: Is it correct for the people whom have damaged brains to get the same punishment as the people who are not sick?

Vocabulary:

Clinically

1.       Clinically, it is fascinating.

2.       Concerned with or based on actual observation and treatment of disease in patients rather than experimentation or theory.

3.       The medicine was clinically proven and tested.

Pioneer

1.       Dr Kiehl is seen as a pioneer in a cutting-edge area of behavioural neuroscience

2.       Someone who helps to open up a new line of research or technology or art

3.       He went as a pioneer with only little information he had at that time.

Controversial

1.       It is controversial because for thousands of years, men like Dugan have been labeled not as ill, but as evil.

2.       dispute, argument, or debate, especially one concerning a matter about which there is strong disagreement

3.       The issue of the death penalty is highly controversial.

Unrest in Syria

Title/Link: Dozens killed in Syria as Jordan king tells Assad togo

BBC

Date published: Nov. 15, 2011 Date accessed: Nov. 15, 2011

Summary: The unrest in Syria causes people to continue to lose their lives; troops were killed in the clashes with traitors near Jordan border. The neighboring Arab country’s king suggest a way out to the unrest: the president of Syria should step down from his power and saying that hurting the people would bring no good to the country. As a result, the supporters of President al-Assad were outraged, gathering outside the Jordanian embassy in Damascus late on Monday. The Jordanian Foreign Ministry spokesman said that three protesters climbed the fence and took down the Jordanian flag; however, the no one was injured because of the incident. The United Nation says that the protest in Syria took more than 3500 lives already. The Syrian government blames the gangs for the loss.

Response: The events that are currently happening in Syria can be related to the French Revolution. When people are unhappy about the government, they rise up and protest for what they think is right. The government will somehow put down the protestors and maybe shift the blame to other people to make the world believe that the government itself is not taking part in the killing. Something must be done to stop the unrest; like what was done in the French Revolution, the 3^rd Estate took down the ones that had power, the 1^st and 2^nd Estates. In this case, the government has the power, but not satisfying the majority of the population so the population should have the right to take out the government.

Vocabulary:

Defector

1.       more than 30 troops were killed in clashes with suspected army defectors

2.       a person who gives up allegiance to one state or political entity in exchange for allegiance to another

3.       The Russian defector was sentenced to death because of his actions.

Conspiracy

1.       it was illegal and vowed to overcome "conspiracies" against Damascus.

2.       an evil, unlawful, treacherous, or surreptitious plan formulated in secret by two or more persons; plot.

3.       The teachers uncovered the conspiracy and suspended the participants.

Severely

1.       Syrian government has severely restricted access for foreign journalists.

2.       Harsh; unnecessarily extreme; serious

3.       His brain is severely damaged because he fell from a high place and landed on his head.

X

Find x. (U of Chicago)

X could be anything so first, I have to set a goal on what I want to find. In mathematics, x is the solution, but in real life, x is probably is something that I am looking for. Every single step that I take, every little thing that I do and every little thing that happen to me are clues to x. By using all those clues, I will be able to predict x in such a way that nobody will understand. I have to find out x myself because nobody can help due to the lack of understandability of other people: they are not me and I am not them. As life goes on, I will probably be able to find x or make up my mind that x is something which I have already found. X could be something that did not happen to me and will answer the questions that I have no answer to; x could be a place, a thing, or a really important person. Surely, x will make me feel satisfy because once I find out x, there is nothing more to find out; there is only using x to substitute the equation and see clearly that the sides are equal. It also means that the problem is solved. The equation, however, could be improvised by changing the constants, changing things and putting colors into life.

Thailand's flood

Title/Link: Satellite images reveal Thai flood plight 

Matthew Knight, CNN

Date Published: Nov. 3, 2011 Date Accessed: Nov. 3, 2011

 

Summary: The images above were taken by a satellite showing how the landscape of a part of Southeast Asia has transformed from before the flood to how it is after the flood. The top picture was taken on November 12, 2008 and the bottom picture was taken on November 1, 2011. The most noticeable change is in the center of Thailand as a flood is submerging everything that it goes through, including the historic city of Ayutthaya. Ayutthaya was found in the 14^th century, at the place where three rivers meet, was an important trade center, now is under water. The head of International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) says that the flood happened in Thailand because the improvement of the country was not done properly. The estimated economic loss from the disaster exceeds $3 billion.

Response: Due to the flood, the loss exceeds $3 billion; this probably is excluding the implicit loss. The implicit loss is; for example, trust in the government, the feeling of the population, the opportunity cost of everyone doing something else, other than getting ready to face the flood and having their house submerged. The people of Thailand have faced the current government before, it was, most likely, the most corrupted government ever in the Thai’s history, but the Thais do not learn from the mistake of voting for the wrong political party. I, as a citizen of Thailand, never trusted the current party because the things that were done by the party created a big scar in many people’s heart. The government made a wrong turn by choosing to improve the public transport rather than choose to improve the dam system to prevent future floods.

Vocabulary: 
 

A. Confluence

     1.Founded in the 14th century on the confluence of three rivers, it was an important trade center.

     2.a merging or flowing together, esp of rivers; a gathering together, esp of people

     3.The confluence of the friends is essential as it would bring the friendship back together.

B. Flux

     1.The urban economy has also been thrown into flux with an estimated 1,000 factories affected.

     2.Obsolete. to purge.

     3.In 2008, the world's economy went into flux as everyone was suffering from depression.


C.Inundated

     1. On the northern outskirts of Bangkok, the Don Muang Airport closed at the end of October after its runways became inundated with water.

     2. to flood; cover or overspread with water; deluge.

     3. Woodstock School will never ever become inundated with water as it is on top of the hill.

Childhood

Tell us about the neighborhood that you grew up in and how it helped shape you into the kind of person you are today. (Yale and the University of Chicago)

The country that I am from is certainly different from any other countries. I am from a Southeast Asian country called Thailand. In Thailand, the Thais are thought to be respectful; back in my old school in Thailand, the one before I apply for Woodstock School, every morning at about 8 o’clock and every evening at about 6 o’clock, all the Thais would stop what they are doing and sing the national anthem as the flag rises to the top of the flagpole. In Thailand, I am a day scholar and I live with my family consisting of my dad, my mom, my brother and my sister. My family is neither rich nor poor. We have money, but we do not use it for non-benefiting things such as following fashion. My parents always tell me not to waste any opportunity cost, they tell me to think about the future, not the present because what really matters the most is the future so here I am writing an essay to apply into an extremely awesome university for the better future. What my parents thought me to be cautious about what I do; I think more than once before I decide to do something. However, my parents also tell me that not everything are important; things that I need not care about, I would be really casual and carefree about them since they will not impact my future that much. As of now, the 4 of November of 2011, Thailand is flooded and my family is a victim. My parents tell me that they are fine and I should not worry about them because I have to pay attention for my schooling. Of course I care about them, but what can I do for them? All I can do for them is prey and study hard for them so we will be able to move to a better place where we will not be flooded in the future.

Gadhafi's death

Title/Link: Gadhafi killed in crossfire after capture, Libyan PM says

 

Moni Basu and Matt Smith, CNN

Date Published: Oct. 21, 2011 Date Accessed: Oct. 21, 2011

Summary: CNN reports that Mahmoud Jibril, Libya’s transitional prime minister, claimed that the ousted dictator Moammar Gadhafi has been killed after being captured. The prime minister’s troops overran Gadhafi’s hometown and captured the ousted dictator unharmed as Gadhafi did not resisted even though he had a gun, but when Gadhafi was being loaded into a vehicle, Gadhafi’s supporters arrived and a gunbattle between prime minister’s troops and the supporters erupted. During the gunbattle, Gadhafi was hit in the head, and died before arriving at the hospital. However, Ali Aujali, Libya’s ambassador to the United States, stated that troops found Gadhafi in a large drainage pipe that was filled with trash and sand. The Libyans celebrate the fate of Gadhafi.

Response: This article relates to One Flew Over Cuckoo’s Nest  as there was conflict between two group of people; as in article, Gadhafi’s and Jibril’s supporters, as in the novel, the patients and the Combine. Gadhafi can be viewed as McMurphy because he dies at the end, may have brought a change in the end to other people that remain alive and also shows that nobody can beat the system. In this case, McMurphy is a villain and the Combine is the good side. The Combine is the belief of justice that mankind has, that is why most people in the world go against Gadhafi.

Vocabulary:

1. Ousted

1.       “Libyans cheered the fate of ousted dictator Moammar Gadhafi into the early hours of Friday”

2.       to expel or remove from a place or position occupied

3.       The bouncer ousted the drunk; to oust the Prime Minister in the next election.

2. Coroner

1.       Gadhafi died moments before arriving at a hospital in Misrata, Jibril said, citing the city's coroner.

2.       an officer whose chief function is to investigate by inquest, as before a jury, any death not clearly resulting from natural causes.

3.       The coroner claimed that George Bush had indeed died of a stroke, not alcohol poising.

3. Insurgency

1.       "There will be tribal differences, there will be Gadhafi loyalists who melt into the population and attempt to launch an insurgency like what we saw in Iraq."

2.       rebellion within a group

3.       There was a sense of insurgency as people had different views as to who should be the chief leader.