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《纯C论坛·电子杂志》2004.11.SP1（总第2期）SP1

culture can be traded as a commodity, but I don't think so.
Leona: A country's existence is dependent on its culture and traditions. Every
country has its own customs. I cannot deny that the Year of France benefits us
and that we can get acquainted with Western tradition and broaden our minds. But
there is an unhealthy trend. Foreign things have become fashionable for many
young people and even some of them criticize our culture. Culture is accumulated
over a very long time, and we must remember where we belong.
Gong Xiaowei: I think we definitely need cultural exchange. The world is getting
smaller every day. The high speed of economic growth and increasing amount of
international collaboration have made people all over the world get closer to
each other. People need to better understand each other without cultural
obstacles. The real globalized world requires both different voices and
open-mindedness.
**********
TEN university Youth Leagues in Yunnan Province started a two-week-long "campus
love messenger" programme on October 14. Students will fill in a questionnaire
on what they have done to help others. The universities will pick five
messengers and a team, whose names will appear in China Youth Daily. 
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PEKING University will hold the Fourth Model United Nations Conference this
Sunday. There will be 180 students from Peking, Xi'an Jiaotong, International
Relations and China Foreign Affairs universities taking part. The idea is to
demonstrate students' diplomatic ability in discussing issues like disarmament
and environmental protection.
**********
A TWO-day college student robot contest will begin at Nanjing Post and
Telecommunications University, Jiangsu Province, on October 30. Students will
compose programmes for robots to perform jobs like dancing and putting out a
fire. There will be 65 teams from 17 universities taking part.
**********
GUANGDONG Foreign Studies University is encouraging students to name the roads
and lakes on campus. This used to be the administration's job. But, the school
has said it hopes to develop a sense of self-administration and participation
among students. The creators of the best names will get certificates and awards.
**********
Blood: to give or not to give?
WANG Yiqing feels he is no different from his schoolmates, but he does have some
problems with his eyes. And, when his classmates asked him to go with them to
donate blood, Wang consulted his doctor. The doctor told him not to go. So he
didn't and he got punished by the school.
"The school said that we wouldn't get our degree if we didn't donate blood,"
said Wang, who is a senior at Capital Economics and Business University. The
university hospital had asked seniors to donate blood earlier this month.
Northwest Normal University students donating blood on October 14. XINHUA
Zhao Wenhan, Party secretary at the hospital, explained why to Beijing Times.
The Beijing Health Bureau ruled in 1993 that college students had to donate
blood at least one time, Zhao said. "Since it's an obligation to donate blood,
the school will penalize them if they refuse," he said.
It turns out, however, that Zhao was wrong. That ruling was cancelled in 1998,
according to an employee of the Beijing Health Bureau named Chen. The current
national ruling is that college students are encouraged, not obliged, to make an
effort to donate blood. A university cannot force them to.
The university hospital refused to comment on this.
At the same time, although it's not right for the university to demand that
students donate blood, some say they think it's good for students to volunteer.
"Hospitals still lack blood and college students' blood is of fairly good
quality since they're young," explained Jiang Chaofu, director of a Guangzhou
blood centre. "And, donating blood can improve their blood-reproduction function
and can benefit their health."
Many universities have taken measures to encourage students to donate blood.
At Beijing Foreign Studies University, blood donors get 100 yuan and a point
added to their evaluation score at the end of the semester.
"Donating blood's a good way to show a willingness to help people in need. The
material encouragement is meant to inspire good intentions," said Liu Houguang,
head of the student affairs office.
Tsinghua, Renmin, Zhejiang, and Wuhan universities all have similar methods. And
students have responded.
"Almost all the students in my class volunteered," said Du Siqian, a senior at
Peking University.
More than 1,000 Nanjing University students have donated blood this year. That
was double last year's figure, according to Zhang Zhiyao, deputy director of the
student affairs office.
Meanwhile, some students have suggestions about how to improve things.
First, the hospital and school should make sure that the blood donations are
safe and they should tell students that it's good for their health, said one
Renmin University grad student.
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Note
YOU should pay attention to the following before and after donating blood.
Before:
1. Get a good night's rest.
2. Don't drink spirits or too much water.
3. Don't eat greasy food. Eat light food, such as steamed buns, porridge and
bread.
After:
1. Get enough rest. Don't stay up late or do strenuous exercise.
2. Don't drink spirits or eat too much.
3. Eat high protein food such as eggs, pork liver and bean products. Eat
vegetables and fruits such as cabbage, spinach, celery or apples.
4. Try not to catch a cold.
**********
Students beware
LIU Hongbin, a Beijing Jiaotong University sophomore, never expected that a
devastating blow would hit him when he joined the 24th Beijing International
Marathon last Sunday. Liu died unexpectedly in the race.
The race started at 8:31am at Tian'anmen Square. The finish line was at the
Olympic Sports Centre in the north of the city. The distance was more than 42
kilometres. The race was organized by the Chinese Athletic Association, with
more than 20,000 people reported to have entered, including more than 3,000
students from Beijing universities.
At about 10:30 am, Liu collapsed after having run about 19 kilometres. He was
taken to Haidian Hospital for emergency treatment but was pronounced dead at
3:10 pm.
"We haven't found out the reason for his death. But it's likely that he died of
fatigue and some latent disease," said Yu Liwei, deputy director of the
hospital.
Liu wasn't the only one who suffered ill effects during the race.
According to another doctor at the hospital, two students from Tsinghua
University and one from Beijing Post and Telecommunications University were
taken to the hospital suffering from extreme fatigue. Fortunately, they pulled
out of it.
These kinds of accidents happening to college students worry some experts who
say that students should be better prepared.
"It's important for them to check their physical condition and start training at
least one month ahead," said Xiong Xibei, an associate professor at Beijing
Sports University. "Some latent diseases aren't discovered until they're doing
strenuous exercise. They should make sure it's safe for them to enter the race."
Liu's death has taught some college students a lesson.
"I used to go jogging for at least one hour even when I felt exhausted," said
Liu Juanfeng, a grad student at Peking University. "Now I see that excessive
exercise may be bad for our health and it's necessary to do it in a scientific
way."
**********
Getting involved in politics early
NOVEMBER 2, the day of America's presidential election, is approaching and the
two candidates, John Kerry and George W. Bush, are making their last effort to
persuade voters to give support to their campaigns.
Because citizens can vote at the age of 18, many Yale students will be voting in
the election. They're concerned about the candidates' performances and some have
made an effort to help one or the other of the candidates.
Last Friday night, my roommates and I didn't go partying. Instead, we stayed in
the dormitory to watch the second debate between the two candidates. Later, I
found out that we weren't the only students who'd picked the debate over campus
parties. Almost everyone on my floor opted to stay in.
Yale students are a politically aware and active group. There are the Yale
Liberals on the left and the Party of the Right on the right. And there are lots
of other student organizations in between. In the past few months, they've held
weekly meetings to help get support for their candidate by handing out leaflets,
campaign buttons and other promotional materials.
**********
More TOEFL chances
THERE will be two additional TOEFL tests scheduled for next year, on July 9 and
August 20, according to the US-based Educational Test Service, the test
producer. There are also two regular tests in January and May. The addition is
meant to give more opportunities for people to take the old version of the test
before the updated test, which is said to be more difficult, takes effect next
September. Details about registration will be available at www.51test.com, next
March.
**********
Overeducated grads
THERE was an appeal for more practical postgraduate courses to improve job
prospects at the postgraduate education forum for English majors in Beijing,
October 15-16. It was organized by Beijing International Studies University.
Soaring recruitments and fewer job openings in recent years have driven
postgrads in English into jobs that only people with a Bachelor of Arts degree
previously took. The more practical courses that were suggested included
business English, writing, and speaking.
**********
More aware of English
BEIJING held a large English event over the weekend to increase foreign language
awareness for the 2008 Olympic Games. The two-day Foreign Language Festival had
lectures on how to learn English more effectively, as well as interactive games
like the IQ puzzle contest and family English contest. These were meant to
encourage the active participation of visitors. The festival brought in around
60,000 visitors, or double the figure for last year.
**********
New men's shirt never wrinkles
The Washington Post: Stylishness is no longer the only criterion for buying
clothes. Functions now show up.
Key words: apparel, fade, garment, odour, wrinkle
(1) A COUPLE of months ago I got an email from the JC Penney department store in
the US touting the release of the chain's new super shirt  a men's dress shirt
made of "functional" fabric that didn't simply resist wrinkles, it also helped
evaporate perspiration and controlled odour.
(2) The writer of the message claimed the big trend in menswear today was
"performance". Really? Men surely think about performance in all kinds of ways,
but do they really associate it with their clothing?
(3) So I was already wondering about functional fabrics when I got a shirt years
ago that similarly claimed stain-, water- and odour-repellent properties. I must
say, I had much fun pouring all kinds of things on this shirt to mess it up, to
no avail.
(4) I have since found out that even wilder, more wonderful capabilities are on
the verge of showing up; shoes infused with silver molecules to resist odour,
clothing and curtains infused with fragrance that can last years.
(5) But unlike the old Alec Guinness movie "The Man in the White Suit", in which
the invention of a never-needs-cleaning-or-ironing fabric sends the apparel
industry into trouble, the clothing and retail worlds are positively confused
about the real-life possibilities technology is offering. And people are
apparently willing to pay more for the ability to spill coffee on themselves.
(6) At JC Penney, the company's stain-repellent trousers cost more than its
regular ones but became the top-selling pants as soon as they were introduced 18
months ago, said Tami Wolfe, director of product development for JC Penney.
(7) "We're going to see this all over the place  not only in apparel fabrics,
but also car applications, carpet applications,'' said Ingrid Johnson, a
professor of textile development and marketing for the Fashion Institute of
Technology in New York. She predicts widespread consumer acceptance and demand.
(8) "Somebody throws a glass of wine on you and it just rolls off  that's
very, very, very visual and easy to understand," she said.
(9) Already, she said, the costs of using such technology are coming down
because its application is growing. Right now much of the performance apparel is
aimed at men's dress shirts, suits, and underwear. And there's a reason: Men not
only want something that looks all right, they are drawn to a garment that is
easy to care for.
(10) "I would say when it comes to women, style and fit are the number one and
number two purchase drivers," said Maureen Griff