by Louis Chen
Nobody can possibly have missed this year’s splendid display of azalea blossoms on the NTU campus. But another, much less noticed plant put on its own quite spectacular show at about the same time It is the Taiwan Fringe Tree, Chionanthus retusus Lindl., or in Chinese, Liu2-su1 流蘇. Its scien-tific name means ‘snow flower’ - perhaps because when its blossoms wither and drop, the ground below looks as though it is covered with snow. The Taiwan Fringe Tree is only found in Taiwan, Japan, and Korea, and it is relatively rare in Taiwan. But we at NTU are lucky to have quite a few specimens right here on campus that were carefully planted and cultivated before Taiwan’s retrocession in 1945. Unfortunately you have just missed this year’s show, but make sure next year to head over to any of the following places to get a good close look at this very special tree when it’s in its full glory: the Department of Mathematics; Women’s Dorm #1; the Department of Philosophy (two); the west side of the General Library; the College of Liberal Arts building; the Department of Agricultural Economics (two); and the Chemistry Department (five!). There are also two newly planted saplings in front of the Department of Veterinary Science.
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by Juliet Tzou
The minute we landed in the Johannesburg airport, my parents began warning me to watch out for strangers. It was 1984, and South Africa’s controversial policy of racial segregation, apartheid, was operating in full force As a child of nine, the idea of racial differences was only a vague one in my mind. The only two races I knew of were Oriental and white: the former as my own people and others of East Asian origin; the latter were people I encountered and admired with curiosity every once in a while in the busy streets of Taipei. It seemed as though adults could always succeed in scaring kids to death with their words of warning, especially when those words were accompanied by alarming facial expressions. The atmosphere in the car that took us from the airport to our hotel (our future home for the next two months) was tense. Intermittent conversation between my father and a colleague lightened things up a bit, but whenever the car fell silent, I could feel the tension again. I bet my parents would have regretted those interminable warnings if they had known of all the frightful images their little daughter was beginning to conjure up of her future days in South Africa. by Chi Shen
If you read our last issue, you should now know where to go for your English language book shopping. A few of the same places, like Lailai Book, can also supply some of your second foreign language needs. But when you’re ready for serious European language and Japanese book browsing, you will want to try some of the following. by Mei-lan Liang
Oooo – love you, love you Baby… Or, alternatively, DearJohn, oh how I hate to write… Ever wonder if there’s anything worthsinging about besides hormonal teenage love and lost love? Ms. Chung Shih-fang 鍾適芳of Trees Music & Art (大大樹 42-1,Yung- kang Street; (02) 357-8648) would give you an unequivocal “Yes!” Disenchanted with the pop music scene in Taiwan, Ms. Chung began tolook into what the world music scene had to offer. by Erin Wang
Have you ever dreamed about becoming a radio broadcaster? Maybe hosting your own program? Well, it doesn’t have to remain a dream any longer. There is now a place where you can turn your dream into reality, without waiting another ten or twenty years: the NTU Student Station. The NTU Student Station is a liberal forum for NTU students to discuss and exchange ideas. Set your radio dial at 98.3-98.5 FM any Sunday afternoon and you may hear the voice of someone you know–like NTU Student Association president Wang Ching-ning 王慶寧, talking on the controversial showing of porn videos in Women’s Dorm #3 last March. Or you may hear a report on the NTU club you just joined last week. Or an interview with a member of Gay Chat, or a presentation on classical music by Brian Lin
The beauty of poetry cannot wash away the hurt in the heart Two ridges lacking a bridge leave nothing but emptiness Our lives don’t intercept anymore Why bother looking longingly back? A heart once hurt is now cherished with loving hands A love once shared is water over the dam Casting aside the bewildering past in recognition that life goes on Be true to yourself in the days to come For my widening sky refuses to embrace your shadowy wings 詩的美無法褪去心的痛 無橋的兩岸只剩空洞 我倆的世界已無交集 又何必汲汲回顧過去 傷透的心 已有人用雙手捧起 愛過的你 只得留待回憶 放下凌亂的過去 只為自知人生究竟要繼續 未來的日子裡 請善待自己 我的天空 容不下你 by Margarita Lai 賴佳宜 edited by Jose’ Eugenio Borao
I’m a Spanish III student; I started studying Spanish a little more than two years ago. In the first two years, we studied mainly grammar using the textbook Espan~ol en directo. We began, as we did when we studied English in junior high school, with verbs: first infinitives, then tenses in the indicative mood - present, future, and the perfect, imperfect and indefinite past tenses. In our second year, we covered the past perfect, conditional, and subjunctive verb forms. Sometimes we read short stories that were simple but interesting. Our instructor taught us some Spanish songs, and each semester we wrote three to four compositions. This year in Spanish III, we study Spanish literature and culture by reading adaptations of famous Spanish literary works, such as The White Deer and The Cross of the Demonby Gustavo Adolfo Be'cquer, and Jose’ Zorrilla’s Don Juan Tenorio, perhaps the most famous Spanish play. They are all very interesting, and not too difficult to get through. by Annie Hsu 徐奕暉, freshman, Financial Law
When I was in elementary school, I had a special classmate who always wore a beautiful smile. Everybody liked him, but no one knew how he could always keep a smiling face. We all have bad moods at times; didn’t he ever have one, too? I wondered. When one of my other classmates asked him about this, he just replied, “Smiling makes me happy.” I couldn’t under- stand what he really meant at the time – we laugh when we are happy; I’d never heard anyone say he smiled in order to be happy. Now I think I understand what he meant. When we smile, we open our minds to the world, and the warmth of others can come in. In this way, we can make ourselves happy. by Hua-chi Kao
Taiwan’s problems with environmental protection are patently evident to any casual onlooker. Taipei in particular wages a constant–and often seemingly losing–battle with smog, garbage, impure water, inadequate sewage treatment…and the list goes on. You may find temporary respite from some of Taipei’s urban ills when on campus; but in fact Taiwan University has plenty of its own environmental problems to deal with, many quite urgent. by Michael Lee
I first saw him in front of Women’s Dorm #8 chasing after a biker. Straining toward his target, he barked furiously while scattering fresh new sprinkles from the puddles in his path. Swinging an unopened black umbrella backward with one hand, the gentleman on the bike tried frenziedly to fend off his enemy while maintaining balance. But the knight’s lance seemed only to agitate the yellow dragon. The creature bounded about fearlessly with a mouth full of gleaming teeth, until the intruder was far from the castle he guards. He came back victoriously with his tongue lolling and his tail thrashing. Then he saw me, an unwanted trespasser, chatting with one of the princesses in his territory. Immediately his ears spiked and he started to growl deep in his throat. I took a deep breath, trying to stay calm while war whoops sounded around me. I was prepared to use my four years of training–maybe I could talk him out of this nonsense with my business negotiation techniques. Right before the duel, Princess dashed out toward my foe, and started to pat him on the head. A woman’s touch works its magic again. The dog hid his flashing teeth and lay down meekly. But I knew he was still watching me from the corner of his challenging eyes. “This is Buddy,” Princess said. |
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The Taida Student Journal has been active since 1995 with an ever-changing roster of student journalists at NTU. Click the above link to read about the authors Archives
May 2024
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