by Wanda Chiu
People of any age seem to be crazy for stars: movie stars, singers, basketball stars, actors… Whenever we turn on the TV we see nothing but star shows on every channel. Many people say that they can’t imagine life without stars, but why? Are they just beautiful people or do they have specific skills which differentiate them from others? This is a phenomenon worth exploring. A star is a bright point of light, clearly observable by everyone, and people have always looked up to the stars in the sky when considering their hopes and dreams. Stars can be a symbol or an inspiration, and also proof that people may one achieve their life goals. Celebrities make these goals seem more obtainable, especially for those who come from a difficult background or have limited resources. Stars have long been objects of desire, interest, and speculation, and humans are, by nature, social creatures. Until fairly recently, humans lived in small groups where everyone knew everyone. As society has grown more complex, we have stretched to know the names of a great many people that we don’t really know. By knowing just a few random details, we start to think of them as being a part of our tribe. This has the advantage of allowing us to feel more connected in a wider web of society, and it provides a common ground for conversation with people we know. Because they have a great many people who feel connected to them, stars feature heavily in the media. This reinforces our belief that we know them, so we want to follow their lives to keep up with a friend. The stars themselves become arrogant because they get so much positive reinforcement regardless of what they do, and they seem to be able to get away with crimes because they are wealthy people and because we want them to maintain their popularity. Thus we can continue to have an idol to admire. In the last few years, blogs have increasingly become a powerful force in the new media, profoundly affecting the way people are receiving information. Through blogs, people are able to write about topics that interest them and comment freely on what is going on in their lives and in the world around them. And blogs have also become quite successful in the world of stars and entertainment, including star news, photographs, and other topics on entertainment. Star’s blogs have a large and loyal audience and they are influencing older, traditional media outlets and markets. This is important because it allows new voices to be heard and challenges the established media outlets to compete and raise their levels of coverage. Someone once said that events don’t drive new media technology; the new media technology succeeds in finding ways to exploit events. In just this way, star blogs are succeeding in exploiting anecdotes about celebrities and we can’t seem to stop reading them. In conclusion, there is no question that stars are having a great influence on us, and few would disagree that celebrity news is very entertaining. Yet it also up to us to try to direct our attention to more positive stories about stars and to those things which influence us in an instructive and helpful way.
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by Jorge Villanueva
Radio was the main source of entertainment for quite a long time, until it was ousted by television. Now a similar situation is evolving around old fashioned books and electronic readers, known as e-readers and tablets. Will the usefulness and functionality of present day technology beat a tradition that in the West dates back to the 15th century, when the first printing press was built and books were available for common people? Do students really take advantage of this new type of technology, or is it just another way to become distracted in class? And finally, will the book business still be profitable a few years from now? No wonder that e-book sales have gone up, what with low pricing and the ease of carrying your e-reader everywhere. Who wants to carry around a heavy hardcover? And to be honest, nowadays you can find almost any book on the internet and in a matter of minutes download it into your e-reader. Whether you are an Apple follower or an Amazon Kindle adventurer, there are plenty of titles for you to browse and choose. According to an estimate done by Forrester Research, Amazon Publishing pays authors 45 to 50% of the selling price and an even higher rate if it is self-published, meaning the author doesn’t deal with a publishing house and covers the entire publishing cost by him or herself. This is definitely a more appetizing deal than the 20% authors usually get with traditional publishers. Although best-selling authors like Stephen King, Isabel Allende, or J.K. Rowling, to mention a few, are bound to big publishing houses, this new marketing strategy is working out very well for new and freelance authors. According to a survey done by Pearson, an academic books publisher, nearly 25% of students in higher education own an electronic tablet, and 90% of them find it valuable for educational purposes. And most surprisingly, over one third of the students interviewed are planning to purchase an electronic reading device when the technology becomes cheaper. In my opinion, old habits die hard, and there is no way I’m going to replace my organic chemistry book with something lighter. But as trends have shown, we might be seeing more and more people walking on the street with e-readers instead of books, and it won’t take long before electronic versions overtake printed ones in terms of sales. So get prepared and welcome to the new era of electronic reading. Think about the last time you kissed someone. Was it a great kiss, the kind that leaves you craving more, or was it a disaster, clumsy and sloppy? Did you stop to think about your reaction afterwards? You probably have never wondered why we kiss or even why we like it so much (in theory, it sounds pretty gross, doesn’t it?). It’s curious enough that about 90% of human cultures engage in kissing, while the rest have kissing-like behaviors (such as licking another person’s face).
Evolutionary psychology offers a theory in which kissing evolved as an assessment tool to pick out potential mates. Due to the proximity while kissing, we are able to pick up another person’s scent. We all have our own; this scent is one of the things that guide us in our search for a partner with compatible DNA. For example, studies show that women prefer the scents of men with complementary genes for the immune system, which makes sense, given that this would equip their hypothetical children with a stronger immune system and be better able to fight disease. One thing that could explain why kissing has such an impact on us is the structure and organization of our brains. There is a strip of cerebral cortex that processes sensory information. In this strip, areas are organized by body part; the lips, tongue, nose, and cheek areas occupy a large portion of this strip, implying that the brain spends a lot of resources processing information coming from our lips and neighboring areas. This also explains why we can be so sensitive to a kiss. We are so sensitive that a bad kiss has the ability to kill a promising romance. The climax of endless flirting and coy play is that one, first kiss—and if it’s bad, that’s probably the only kiss that will come out of it. In a psychological study at the State University of New York at Albany, 1000 undergraduate students were interviewed: 59% of men and 66% of women said they have ended a budding relationship due to a bad kiss. But what is it about kissing exactly that influences our decisions, our behavior towards another person? As some of you may have found out, kissing is addictive and it’s no coincidence. Kissing activates the same pathways in the brain that drugs do, basically causing us to crave the other person. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that is involved in our feelings of pleasure and reward and which plays a big role in substance addiction, as well as kissing, which is why we can easily find ourselves obsessed about a new romance. Another big player in this game is oxytocin, a neurotransmitter dubbed the “love hormone”; it plays a major role in the bonding process between two people. Experiments show that oxytocin can affect the levels of another neurotransmitter: cortisol, which controls our responses to stress. In one experiment, couples kissed for 16 minutes and scientists examined their hormone levels afterwards. The results showed that cortisol levels were lowered after the kissing session, while oxytocin levels were increased (although the increase in oxytocin was only seen in men, surprisingly). Scientists think the lack of increase in oxytocin in women’s brains could be due to the artificiality of the setting in which the experiment took place. However, similar experiments are being carried out, in hopes of shedding more light on the relationship between kissing and these substances, which is intricate and still somewhat unclear. Although all of us experience more or less the same effects from kissing, there are differences in the way men and women interpret a kiss, as seen in Gordon Gallup’s research, co-author of the study at SUNY Albany. His research suggests that men see kissing as a means to an end…we can all guess what they want. They are also more likely to use kissing as a tool for reconciliation. Women, on the other hand, use kissing as a bonding gesture, as well as a way to figure out where a relationship is headed. Women can be very sensitive to a partner’s kissing frequency or technique; any changes in these could be taken as a sign. This research also uncovered other differences, specifically about the types of kiss preferred by men and women. For example, men preferred more tongue and wetter kisses, while women tended to complain about too much tongue. Two possible explanations were offered for men’s preference: 1. Women are extremely sensitive to testosterone in men’s saliva. Kissing the same person over weeks or months might influence a woman’s sexual drive, which increases men’s chances of getting lucky. 2. As said before, kissing provides information about potential mates. Men, on average, are not as sensitive in the saliva-tasting department as women are. So, they might need wetter kisses to help them make a choice. Although evolutionary psychology, with the help of neuroscience, can break down a kiss into a biology lesson, it doesn’t take the romance out of the equation. You may be thinking about all this the next time you kiss someone, but chances are, as soon as that person’s lips touch yours, all of this scientific babble will fly straight out of your head—if he or she is a good kisser, that is. by Jessie Yang
After years of expectation, the new College of Social Sciences building is finally moving to the main campus. Though the project has encountered some controversy, the building will open next July. Located at the northeast corner of the main campus near the back gate, the 32-meter-tall building doesn’t plan to be nondescript; instead, it boasts to make the back gate become NTU’s front gate, not only because of its height, making it literally stand out from neighboring buildings, but also because of its famous Japanese architect, Toyo Ito. Ito was a winner of the Golden Lion Award for lifetime achievement at the Venice Biennale of Architecture in 2002. His style is to make architecture breathe and make it closer to the natural environment. Rather than forming “boxes” that are seen everywhere in the hustle and bustle of cities, Ito builds “soft architecture,” something more alive, that can inhale and exhale, and that lets sound penetrate through it. One of his seminal works is Sendai Mediatheque, which looks like a huge aquarium with transparent glass, through which you can see seaweed-like tubes. In recent years, Taiwanese people have become more familiar with him owing to his famous dragon-like World Games Stadium in Kaohsiung and the “Sound Cave” Taichung Metropolitan Opera House. Both of them demonstrate Ito’s concept of fluid space and the closeness of nature. Thus, since the College of Social Sciences was looking for a new design that not only responded to an era of globalization, but also combined nature and the humanities together, it was no surprise that Ito was their choice. It was not until his third proposal that the committee agreed that the design met their original requirements. The final appearance of the building consists of a main building which is empty in the middle, also featuring a glass curtain wall of 360 angles and a 7-meter-tall library, in the front of the building, having lotus-shaped pillars and ceiling, as well as French windows facing a revolving pool. Everything is designed to be eco-friendly, using fluid space and embracing the natural environment. Here are a few examples to give you an early glimpse. Lotus-leaf-like ceiling in the library Look up and you will see that sunlight shines in through slots that form the shape of lotus leaves, giving readers the feeling that they are working in a natural surrounding rather than deep inside a building. Floor radiant cooling This is the first time in Taiwan that this kind of air conditioning system will be used. Unlike most air conditioners that emit cold air from above, this system does it from below, and since it can provide cold air up to normal human height, about 2 meters, it saves energy. Besides, its air flow will be soft and comfortable. French windows and pool While saving energy, these windows create a beautiful environment for both students inside the library and for people outside. Part of the campus wall on Shin Hai Road will be torn down In the hope of making the campus a place for people and the city to interact, the Shin-Hai Road wall is being removed. In the future, the new College of Social Sciences building will render everyone in the city a good view. Certainly, there is more, and the only way to find out is to explore it for yourself! Be sure to pay a visit to the building after it’s completed, especially if you aren’t a student from the College of Social Sciences. You might find yourself closer to the international world, and closer to nature as well. by Rita Lu
People like to travel. But what exactly does travel entail? Does it mean trotting around in a tour bus from one destination to another? Or taking pictures with victory gestures? How about trying something more lively and down to earth, like traveling as a volunteer! Volunteer traveling has a lot more to offer than conventional modes. The first and foremost is the authentic experience with local culture. Living and working in a community is the best way to immerse oneself in a new environment and to interact with local people. Without the convenience of hotel services, shopping at the local market and jostling to get around on public transportation will be your most treasured memory for years to come. It can also make us appreciate the trivial things of everyday life like clean water, air conditioning, and even traffic lights! Another alluring feature is friendship. The time spent together with other volunteers forges a sense of companionship. Volunteers usually live together as well, helping to reinforce further this sense of closeness. Whether it is cooperating with one another to finish their work or going exploring together, mutual trust and friendship are gradually developed. It is comforting that in a totally alien world there is a group of people who strive for the same goal, even though they just met and come from very different backgrounds. Last but not least, volunteering in a foreign country broadens your horizons and deepens your global perspective. By stepping out of the comfort zone and seeing the most humble image of a society, I started to contemplate things that I had read about but had never given much thought to. The abandoned children I saw in China, for example, cruelly reflected the ramifications of the country’s one child policy. There are many programs to choose from and they are of varying duration. Generally speaking, the destinations are usually in Asia, Africa, and South America, where social workers and volunteers are most needed. But you shouldn’t be overtly concerned about this, since the accommodation provided is modest and comfortable and your needs should be well tended to as long as the organization you have chosen is reputable (see the recommended list at the end of this article). Most organizations cover housing and meals, but you have to pay yourself when traveling on your own time. Choosing what kind of volunteer work you want to do is important as well. While the most common placements include teaching and community construction, there are some special programs such as environmental preservation, castle restoration, and even medical assistance, some of which may require special skills. In the end, I would like to remind you that there are inevitably obstacles and hardships, not least from culture shock and homesickness. Volunteer work is a challenge both physically and mentally, stimulating though it may be. Prepare yourself for some exciting and enlightening experiences, and let go of your prejudice and squeamishness for the sake of a wonderful journey! 願景青年活動網協會 http://www.vya.org.tw/ International Volunteer HQ http://www.ivhq.org/ Volunteering Solutions http://www.volunteeringsolutions.com/ International Student Volunteers http://www.isvolunteers.org/ Cross Cultural Solutions http://www.crossculturalsolutions.org/ |
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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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