My Middle Test

I thought my writing's middle test was easy enough. I only confused about the run ons's part. It was so difficult. I forgot what the mark that i had to use there; the semicolon or comma.

Actually i didn't learn hard before the middle test. I only read the book few hours before the middle test began. I knew it's good but i felt so lazy. I couldn't help it though. And the result was the penalty of my laziness. I only got 60. Good but not good enough ._________.

Don't blame on me. I got so task that i had done before the middle test. That's why i didn't had enough time to learn and felt o lazy. i had learned hard enough for the final test. I hope it's better than the middle test.

Movie and Novel

Cinema and literature… These two words have a opposing each other for quite a long time now. Since the beginning of the XIX century cinema has produced a great number of films. Some of them are worth of the spectator’s attention, some of them are not but nevertheless nowadays it is hard to imagine a person that does not know “what’s new” in the movie world. Literature is a complete different world. It is a world that in spite of its openness and accessibility still remains unreachable for the majority of contemporary people. We are not to analyze the reason of this phenomenon but it is important to say that a movie does save time in comparison with the book. This “time saving process” of course in the first place influences the quality of the “product” and as a result we have endless amounts of poor quality movies that are claimed.

As every production, movie-making needs “raw-materials”. Books become a perfect never-ending source where film producers borrow or sometimes even steal the ideas of writers’ imagination. People, as it has been said before, do want to save their time, but they also want to stay educated and get acquainted with the works that are considered to be “the classics”. Therefore the only way to get acquainted with the most stunning literary works is through watching movies made form these books. Only a few producers have an aim to truly show the reader what the book is about, making their movies truly objective. This fact makes the contrast between films and books even bigger. The “immortal” books have inspired many producers to make films out of them, unfortunately quite a few can state that their filming had a successful result. Of course for a person that has not read the book the film might seem rather good and sometimes even splendid. “Yes, yes, now I know what Hemingway (Shakespeare or anybody else) meant“, - is usually heard after the film. A film becomes the reflection of the book. But thought it is sad to mention, a garbled reflection with rare exceptions. No one will argue with the fact that it is very hard to do a one-year novel in a two-hour movie. This is primarily due to a set of external and internal difficulties.

The “charm” of the books lies in its ability to give the reader countless hidden and revealed messages. One single reader will get only one combination of messages from the book; another one will get another combination. Therefore, no reader gets the same “pattern” of the author’s ideas and this pattern is unique for every reader.

A film presents just of those patterns, but it still does put a tag on the book. The only thing that can reflect the book perfectly is the book itself. Otherwise people face difficulties in understanding the movie. Producers, like no one else, know what these difficulties are about and dedicate their work into their elimination. They try to convert a product of the word-dimension into a product of a visual-dimension and this process has a lot of barriers.

One of the major difficulties in making a movie out of a book is that it is hard to make words into image and sometimes it results in a movie with poor quality. This is a theorem that does no need any other proof except watching existing movies and therefore it becomes an axiom.

One of the most important fields concerning this problem is the media field. Books deliver their core with the help of words; the book-descriptions create corresponding imagination responses in the brain of a person. So it may be even said that the book does not only penetrate a man through his consciousness but it actually shapes the book-based consciousness of this man. In this case the person becomes the media himself, creating a magnificent effect on the reader. The contents of the book becomes an integral part of the reader: not just the author’s perception of the world, but also the readers perception, too. This imposition of two philosophical worlds one over each other produces the “effect of presence” that a film can hardly claim to achieve.

Movies, in their turn, provide visual images that are already given and unchangeable. They represent a product that is all ready for its consumption. There is no need to turn on the imagination or make a deep analysis of what is being observed, because the producer has processed everything for the viewer. In other words, the information is already been “chewed”, so the spectator simply needs to open his mouth and eat it. So generally, the reader’s personal opinion is replaced by the producer’s perception of the books contents. These difficulties are impossible to overcome even with the help of the latest contemporary video techniques, equipment and effects.

No matter how good the movie based on the book is, it always has it ownbuts… It may be good, but it will be always unilateral; always the producer’s personal interpretation and perception of the book. A book, literary, is a sequence of words that produces a unique effect on the reader. The words appeal to the imagination and the imagination complement it with all the necessary attributes taken from the book-descriptions.

A film is a sequence of image, sound and only then words. The focus is taken away from the meaning to the words. Words are visualized, but the main controversy or difficulty is that as soon as the word becomes visualized it is not a word any more. It becomes just an image and sometimes it possesses a small amount of the original message of the author’s word. This is the primarily reason for reading a book before watching the movie. This will make the movie not good, or bad, but different. Reading the book will make it just another opinion on the book. Of course, if it goes about qualitative productions.

The temptation to add words of his own is great for the producer and is ordinarily done. Once in a while the world sees great films made from books, but no matter how objective they try to be, subjective interpretation is the essential quality of a human being. So while a book represents author’s pure thoughts resulting in the reader’s unique interpretation, a film results in a twisted reflection, which is based on a garbled interpretation of the book contents made by a producer.

The difficulties that producers face, prevent them from making a true book-based work, making it just their personal perception of the author’s message. The truth is that a film was never meant to “match” the book, because otherwise the producer’s creativity would not be valued. A movie is just an addition to the book. It is like a review that helps the reader to see other sides of the work. But as a person cannot make any judgments on the book basing on literary reviews, a spectator cannot make any judgments concerning the book after watching a movie on it. Another thing to remember is that: reviews can be bad! So may be movies should encourage people to read books, as they present the subjective producer’s opinion on it. As the film is the producer’s personal interpretation of what he had read it is nothing more that “his personal” interpretation. The spectator has to understand it and take it into account. In order to create the most objective perception, the spectator has to read the book, create a unique understanding of the author’s thoughts and then, and only then he may say, “Yes, now I know what Harper Lee and Steinbeck meant”!

Games and Violence

Computer games have seriously caught the attention of Mass Media and nowadays every channel considers its duty to remind people how much damage these games cause to children and adults. The increasing amount of games with violent scenes sock the society and makes it very aware of them.

It is already common knowledge that violent games cause violence in people. This fact is not even doubted by the majority of people. Every other person says that the reason lies in games being too close to reality. The opinion that games make violent actions normal for the player and therefore make the player pitiless can be often heard. In this case the game is the cause of violence and the act of violence by itself is a consequence. And can real-life violence exist in the reality of a game? Is the transfer of the definition of “violence” with all its peculiarities from one world to another justified only according to the external similarity of these two worlds?

Games originally are entertainment. Contemporary games are very realistic and for this reason they are a source of great experience for the player and develop the imagination. Games are entertainment and even more then that. In addition, the statistics of the New York University lead by Green and Bavelier claim that the player preferring active games get an improvement of some types of brain activity, related to processing of visual information. In particular, game players cope with problems of simultaneously tracking several moving objects at the average level of 30% better then people who do not play active computer video games. The “gaming” violent experience may not be the cause of violent behavior in reality. None of the playing experience will become the priority in making important decisions concerning problems in real life. A game is an abstraction. A player gets abstract tasks and acts according to abstract rules.

Games are also the possibility to be however a person wants to be and to rest from the outside world for some time. But what if a person gets so much excited with the game scenes that he becomes violent in reality? Then, it proves that the games cause people to become violent. Let us stop for a moment right at this point. Those who do not participate in this type of activity usually make the conclusion of presence of violence in the game-world. Nobody will ever hear this kind of statement from those who play, from those who know the rules of the game and understand that it is just a virtual world. A psychologically healthy person will never confuse or connect these two different worlds. A game is a virtual world with visual images very similar to human. These images represent by themselves nothing but simple playing obstacles. A game may potentially give the opportunity to “destroy the obstacles” that may not be destroyed according to the rules but it is more about personal choice whether to do it or not. This leads us to the conclusion that violence is not a consequence but the cause. People who are originally prone to violence may get irritated by games and perform violence in the “real world”. But in this case violence in games is a simple justification of the violent nature of the player.

Games looks like reality but nor real. Gamers must know that. They also must know what’s the best time to play games so it’s not interfere another activities. Every part of the game is just imagination. Please don’t make it real.

Moral Difference Between Hitting A Computer and Hitting A Person

The contemporary reality with its unceasing progress has caused a lot of changes in the life of every single person on the planet. Nowadays, computers surround us almost everywhere. Of course they are primarily there to facilitate our existence and save our time by presenting us ready results of their activity. Nevertheless, their constant presence has created several disputes for the humanity one of which is the inclination of human beings to “animate” computers. Ascribing personalities to computers may be easily observed through the way people talk about computers and even treat then. Computers get names, are punished by turning them off improperly and rewarded by getting new soft or hardware for them. That is to say that if we talk about morality concerning people it may be appropriate to talk about morality concerning computers. Suppose, some person gets mad and punches a computer for not working “right” and then later on when meeting a friend gets annoyed by him and punches him too. It goes without saying that such a behavior towards a friend can be a subject to morality. What about the other victim? Is a computer-violence in this case a subject of morality, too?

Well, as everything else in this world it is rather comparatively. It completely depends of the details of a given situation. If this same person really does consider his computer to be “alive”, then the morality of his action is voidable. And if he does not consider his computer to be “animated” his action is nothing more that a result of his dissatisfaction with the work of the machine. The computer remains being a “material thing” and does not stand on the same level with a friend. And as we all know morality concerns only rational persons and not things. And a thing will not ever substitute a person.

The situation requires a deeper analysis in order to revels all of its “undersea stones”.

A lot of thoughts concerning computers and machines have been said and written starting with Descartes and continuing with John Searle, John McCarthy and others. But nothing and nobody is able to place it at the human’s place yet. Nobody argues that punching a friend is an act of low morality or no morality at all, because we are talking about a real alive person with feelings, to say nothing of the damage that the punch may cause to the health of a person. Aggression addressed to another person has always been criticized by the moral codes. But if we stop at this very point and take a deep breath we will come to the conclusion that punching a computer is also an element of the aggression that is so much criticized by the codes of social morality. And in this case it does not matter whether a person considers the computer to be “alive” or not. We come to the conclusion that every manifestation of aggression is immoral. And this conclusion is canceled by “response aggression” that may be used as self-defense and therefore is not immoral.

So we come back to where we started. The moral difference between hitting a computer and hitting a person also depend on what is understood by “morality”.

According to the Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy morality may be used “descriptively to refer to a code of conduct put forward by a society or some other group, such as a religion, or accepted by an individual for her own behavior”. This definition does not reveal objective morality but is mostly focused on the variations of morality that leave our double-ended issue quite unsolved. The morality we talk about need to be completely separated from etiquette and society morality. Morality is always basically what is “good” and “right” to do in any situation. It is often said that high morality is a virtuous conduct presented by people towards…other people. And at this point we stop again. Does a computer fit in the list of the objects of virtuous conduct of a man? Who sets the standards of good and bad towards such a machine as a computer? Finally, a computer is just an auxiliary tool for a human being. So this is the perfect time to enter a new kind of morality – computer morality or if to speak globally AI (artificial intelligence) morality.

Once again analyzing the peculiarity of this question it is necessary to say that computer morality in this case completely depends on the belief whether computer is really capable of thinking and should be treated as a living being, for instance as a friend. Are they conscious or not? And therefore may the immorality of hitting a human being be applied towards hitting a computer?

As we are not the first to raise this question let us turn to the opinions of the people who have dedicated years of experiments to this issue.

John Searle is the man who became famous for his point of view on the problem and his Chinese room argument. It dealt with the belief that computer cannot be conscious. John Searle was the supporter of the opinion that “no computer could ever be made which could really "think" in the way we do”. He showed it through his Chinese room experiment. The experiment was the following: A person in the room has a huge book that is full of Chinese characters in it. Someone else pushes a paper under the door of the room with some Chinese character on it, too. The person has simply to match the character he gets from under the door with the characters he has got inside the book and give away the response that the book suggests. This person does not know Chinese. But the person behind the door will get answers logical to his questions and think that the man in the room does understand Chinese. The person does not understand Chinese or think. The person simply follows the rules or in other words follows the commands. Just the same way a computer does. Therefore the computer does not think, neither. So, according to Searle the “behavior” of a computer is “taking input, putting it through a set of formal rules, and thereby producing new output. Such an interpretation of the work of computers suggests that computers do not think and therefore the question of the morality of hitting a computer falls off.

Contemporary computers do posses intellectual and metal qualities, but nevertheless what they lack is emotional qualities, which are so typical for a human being. Nevertheless, the process of ascribing personalities to computer is in its early blossom and the fruits are yet to come. As John McCarthy states the process of ascribing personalities is the result of the attempts to understand what computers do while they work.

It is not even that we hit a friend or a computer but it is that we can get response for our “I am sorry I was wrong” from a friend and not from a computer… Or we can but we are still not sure about the computer understanding what he is saying. Well, it is common knowledge that a machine does not have feelings. And we still come back to the Chinese room effect. But this opinion is one out of a million and many more a still to come.

Descartes was sure that during our life be all get a lot a false believes and he made it his main goal to select the ones that are “beyond doubt”. This is why Descartes’ First Meditation starts with Descartes assurances in the need to “to demolish everything completely and start again right from the foundations”. The basic essence of the First Mediation is the Dreaming argument. Its contents is the following: Not depending on whether a person is sleeping or is awake, the person in both cases is not in a good position to state whether he is sleeping of awaken. So therefore a person cannot indicate and sort out any of his experiences as a dream or reality. All the experiences may be dreams and a person can never tell whether this or that experience is not a dream.

According to this argument there is one most weighty conclusion from the basic thoughts: “You can’t know anything about the external world on the basis of your sensory experiences”.

If we apply this argument to the question of morality of hitting a computer we see that, as we cannot observe the computer “thinking” with our sensory experiences it does not mean it does not think. And therefore it can still be immoral to hit a computer in terms of respecting its own way of thinking, which may be damaged, by a hit. Once again we come back to the thought that only the conviction of a person in the fact that a computer does think and it “animated” is a criterion of the evaluation of the morality of hitting a computer compared to the morality of hitting a person.

As it has been already said computers require a different standard of morality: the so-called “computer-modality”. This primarily point out that as the computer and a person cannot be placed at the same step no matter what, then the behavior conducted towards them cannot be evaluated with the same measures. So the morality of immorality of hitting a computer may exclusively be evaluated by the system of values. As we have found out – the problem of morality concerning computers is even more than twofold. This happens because of the major role that computers are already playing in our everyday life. Computers sometimes substitute the outward world for people becoming their friends. As the attitude to a computer is a very personal issue it is very hard to evaluate the act of hitting a computer from the point of view of standard morality. Nevertheless, it is possible to say that the morality of hitting of computer completely depends on the person’s supposition of the computer’s ability to think and sometimes even feel. If a person crosses this line as he does hitting a friend, then altogether it is immoral to hit a computer.

As the computer’s ability to understand and to think is invisible and according to Descartes not a subject for sensory experiences it is very hard to state anything. The objective absence of emotional qualities in a computer will not resemble in the person attitude towards it. And not matter whether the computer understands us or just follows the rules as in the Chinese room argument, we attach it the significance we chose ourselves. And the same works with the friends we chose.

There definitely is a moral difference between hitting a computer and hitting a person. But his difference lies inside each man.

It is up to you to decide what a computer is for you. And whether morality is applicable to the case!

Smoking

"Smoking is cool". That's the opinion of smokers about cigarette. Cigarettes have become part of their lifestyle. It's so hard for them to quit smoking. They smoked at every opportunity. After eat, when hanging with friends and family, at bus etc. Unfortunately they are not aware of the impact of smoking to their health and non-smokers.

By smoking, you can cause health problems not only for yourself but also for those around you. 440,000 deaths occur in the U.S. each year from smoking-related illnesses; this represents almost 1 out of every 5 deaths. The reason for these deaths is that smoking greatly increases the risk of getting lung cancer, heart attack, chronic lung disease,stroke, and many other cancers. Moreover, smoking is perhaps the most preventable cause of breathing (respiratory) diseases within the USA. Smoking harms not just the smoker, but also family members, coworkers, and others who breathe the smoker's cigarette smoke, called secondhand smoke or passive smoke. Exposure to passive smoke can also cause cancer. Secondhand smoke also increases the risk of stroke and heart disease. On the other side, smokers feel they eat more and favors if they eat after smoking. There may be substance in cigarettes that make their appetites grow. Smokers also said they felt more energized after smoking. Young people are especially vulnerable because of pressure from their peers and the image that smoking is clever, cool or 'grown-up'. Just trying a few cigarettes can be enough to become addicted.

Evidence shows people who start smoking  in their youth - aged 11 to 15 - are three times more likely to die a premature death than someone who takes up smoking at the age of 20. They are also more likely to be hooked for life. Nicotine, an ingredient of tobacco, is highly addictive – it takes on average on about six cigarettes before nicotine receptors in the brain are switched on, generating a craving for nicotine which may continue for the rest of the persons life. In less than one packet of cigarettes, a person’s brain can be changed forever from that of a non-smoker to a nicotine addicted smoker. On the other hand, many people say that smoking helps them to feel more relaxed or cope with stress. They feel relax after smoking cigarettes. They also feel happier after smoking. I guess it's the effect of nicotine in cigarette.

Smoking is good for your health. It's also not good for your economic.All smoker to do is quit smoking. I know it's so hard to do but they have to. They must realize that they just burn their money. They may just be aware if their chest is perforated to enter the hose to help their breathing or a family member is ill merea due to constant sucking their cigarette smoke.

The good news is smoking is a risk factor you can control. If you want to quit smoking, it helps to set a quit date. When you choose a date to quit smoking, make it one when it is less likely you'll have added stress. Stress is a major roadblock to any behavioral change. That's especially true when you try to quit smoking. When you first quit smoking, it will be rough. You might feel miserable, irritable, even depressed. But according to the American Lung Association, nicotine clears out of the system quickly. It is usually in the undetectable range within 24 hours after someone quits. Remove smoking triggers. Try icotine replacements. Ask about drugs approved by the FDA for helping smokers quit. Know why you crave cigarettes. And don’t forget to get support or counseling.

Television

Television has become a “member” of almost every single family on our planet. And not just an ordinary member, but a very important one, because the time spent next to it exceeds the amount of time spent together with any other family member. You do not have to apply any efforts to talk or listen to complaints while “communicating” with it. You do not have to play with your little son after a hard working day. You are SO tired! Can anybody respect that?

You can simply turn the TV on and everything is done: kids are quiet, your wife is not complaining and you feel absolutely happy. It is so simple that it has become an integral part of the culture of every family. It is the only time, when a person can forget about all the family troubles and the failures of the day. The sofa opposite the TV set has become the place of “reconciliation and spiritual unity” of the family. And instead of playing together and having emotional talks people prefer to watch an episode from a thriller. It is senseless to deny the all-embracing negative effect the existence of television has brought to our lives. But to make our point of view ultimately convincing we will introduce to your attention certain facts that people do not want to accept and often try to justify.  The base of the tomorrow’s society – are children today. And on the way they develop depends how are world is going to look like tomorrow. The television negative effect facts that are well known to every single parent, but are ignored by them in order to put the responsibility for bringing up kids and showing them examples through interaction on the shoulders of somebody else. Contemporary parents work a lot, but when they come back home they are not eager to spend time with their child, the consequences of this fact are the following: kids are given to themselves and watch everything they want or TV plays a role of a babysitter. Therefore children learn moral principles from the television, where by the age of 16 they observe 100,000 violent acts and 33,000 murders.

The models of life interactions given in the television are very exaggerated and garbled. Children learn that they can gain what they want through being stronger and subordinating other people that they can become popular through killing and that even if you are a “good” guy killing is o.k. Statistics have proved that the growth of time spent next to the TV-set scales up the development of aggression. Many years before the examples of imitation for children were their own parents; now these examples come from hit-thrillers and violent films where the personages imitated are cruel, impartial and often purely negative personages. Nowadays, resulting this phenomenon, children instead of playing leap-and–frog on the open air pretend to be “terminators” and run around “killing” each other. The fact of child’s identification with a “negative” destructive image has a vital impact on the development of his or her personality. Violence becomes an ordinary way of interaction, alongside with anger. Early exposure to sexual scenes may lead to early sexual contacts, with destroy the healthy development of a child. Young people are pressured by such an amount of sexual scenes and these scenes normalize casual sexual encounters. They do not to evaluate what they see – they take it as the reality. All the listed above may cause a trauma to a young consciousness and in combination with the violence may produce an unbalanced and unhealthy conduct. We do not have to go far away for examples when kids get guns and go to their schools shooting their teachers and schoolmates. This becomes a call to get somebody’s attention on them, the result of the TV violence and examples influences that overfills their minds.  Television has also a great influence on the self-image of people watching it. We see perfectly shaped bodies hundred of times per day. All the men shown on the TV screen have big muscles and are handsome, and all the women shown are very skinny and their faces and bodies look like a complete perfection. This has caused numerous eating disorders, especially in the teenage group. Such things as bulemia, anorexia and self-mutilation became a well-spread phenomenon.

 A person, especially a child that spends a lot of time next to the TV-set has a very high probability of damaging the eye mechanics and the ability to focus and pay attention. Another negative influence that is connected with the sight is the spoiling of the hearing due to the shortage of auditory stimulation. Even if the programs watched are not violent, if they are watched per hours may have a deep impact on the personality, causing psychological and physiological problems. All the hidden effects in the films and commercials subconsciously depress children and grown-ups. Another reaction of a child to the TV violence besides his aggression is fair. A child, or a person may become so much scared of what they had observed in the television that it might cause their depression and emotional misbalance. Television prevents children from doing their homework and adults from completing their work, influencing in a very bad manner the school grades and work productivity. It lowers the overage level of physical fitness of a person, breaking the coordination. Children being attached to the TV-set loose the possibility to learn the world through real nature, games, sports, etc. They do not feel the world with all its colors and peculiarities. They do not read, and get acquainted with the unforgettable characters of Robinson Crusoe or Tom Sawyer. They do not learn the messages that a book carries inside. Due to that the personality of a person looses a very important piece and may not by called complete. Television has converted or lives into a nightmare. A nightmare where children kill not only on the TV screen and adults loose their will sitting next to the TV-set eating “junk food”. A nightmare where the time spent by a family next to the TV-set watching a soup-opera is considered to be “family time”. It is a nightmare where violent television performs the role of the parents. What else can be said to show that television destroys the healthy development of a child’s personality.  All the negative effects listed above concern grown-ups as well, but through the special sensitivity of children towards the influences we wanted to show to the full the destructive power of television. It has turned our lives into an addiction that suppresses the beauty of our real life by the violent substitution. And can without any doubts be called one of the worst inventions of modern times.

Television actually has bad side and good side. The bad side is we can be lazy to do another activities. Television has so much interesting programme so people prefer to watch television than to do outdoor activities or sport. The good thing is we can get many new knowledge. Tv channel such as national geographic etc can give us more information about animal. Choose the bet time to watch television. Limit time watching tv. Remember you still have to do another activities and contact with another people.

Fashion and Indentity

For hundreds of years people have put some message in the type of clothing they wore. Long ago people started wanting to stand out from the “crowd” and be different from other people by means of changing their clothing. Some examples of these “standing out” became very popular and were followed by more people. This was the moment when fashion appeared. Nowadays, fashion is sometimes defined as a “constantly changing trend, favored for frivolous rather than practical, logical, or intellectual reasons”. Nevertheless, it is necessary to say that at the present moment fashion has a deeper influence on the life of people and possess more than just frivolous reasons for its existance. Clothing has become an integral part of self-realization of every person. It is no longer just an “external shield” and a frivolous attitude towards it may cause loosing a very important physical, psychological and social aspect of a person’s life. The harmony attained by the combination of the inner world of a person and his “exterior” makes it very hard to say not even being a professional in this sphere that fashion is just about looks. Clothing is basically a covering designed to be worn on a person's body. This covering is a need, a necessity that is dictated by the norms of social conduct. This “necessity” brings a lot of variety into the lives of people and makes their image more complete. It is not about people serving fashion; it is about fashion being a slave of people.

The type of clothing completely depends on the person who is wearing it; therefore it becomes a reflection of his perception of himself, which leads us to the term – personal identity. Lately a lot is being heard about personal identity and its meaning in the life of every single person on the planet. The choice of clothing and accessories (clothing that is worn or carried, but not part of a person’s main clothing) is as important as identification through the color of hair, height, skin and gender. Clothing nowadays is a media of information about the person wearing it. It is a cipher; a code that needs a decryption in order to understand what kind of person is underneath it. The present time offers a great variety of these “ciphers” and therefore gives people a large number of opportunities to reveal their identity. As every cloth carries a strong message about its owner, every owner “nests” a certain value in it depending on his temperament, mindset or today’s mood. Therefore, the clothing of a person is a mean of communication with the outside world. It is the way of telling people about the “state” and the ”status” of it owner.

Communication by its definition is supposed to be bilateral. So if a person carries a strong personal message to the people outside what is the response from their side? The response is the reaction on the clothes the person it wearing. It can be acceptance or complete outcast and a misunderstanding. This especially touches extraordinarity in clothing (a very expressive personal identity) or an obvious lack of taste and vulgarity. Malcolm Barnard in his book “Fashion as communication” makes a great work by outlining cultural roles, rules, rituals, and responsibilities that are maintained and constructed by fashion. Fashion is compared to art. It is like an architector that gives his creation any shape he desires and at the same time is the reflection of the architector’s belonging to a certain social level, a certain psychological condition and so on. One of the questions concerning the communication through fashion is whether the message possessed by fashion is the reflection of the internal or external identity. There are arguments that support each of the sides; therefore it goes without saying that fashion is a “polyhedral being” that intersects numerous internal and external aspects of any personality. The message that clothing contains is basically a way of nonverbal communication with gender, ethical and power aspects.

Clothes have an immense impact on the perception of people around and on the perception of the person wearing them, too. A suit can make a person feel more confident and organized, which would eventually change even the gestures and the manner of talking of the person or for instance wearing jeans after a suit may change the conduct of a person to a very liberal and feeble one. The perception of people around can be very predictable in terms of their reaction on a person wearing this or that style of clothing. Fashion is one of the most powerful means of communication, which sometimes may play a vital role in the life of a person; it especially concerns the cases of getting a desired job. Therefore fashion may not only carry a message, it can also create a “pseudo-message” that is required by a situation the person finds himself in. This can be simply proved by analyzing the reaction of the people on the street on people wearing different types of clothing. The preference is always given to people dressed in “business style”, personifying their dignity and seriousness in everything. This is one of the primary reasons that even the smallest companies make wearing a suit one of their requirements for their employees. The customers feel more confident in such “consultants”. So, fashion is a very keen tool of manipulation while communicating besides its importance in social class, culture, sex and gender relations of people.

Clothing is a fundamental part in the image of a contemporary man or a woman. The image is constructed for various reasons and has various manifestations. Dressing has become a way to create, to reveal and to conceal information from the external observers. Fashion has always been considered to have more of a women based orientation. As soon as women realized that experimenting with their clothing might bring them the results they need they became the most interested consumers and the demand on women’s production increased greatly.

As every person belongs to a definite culture and has the right to reveal it, personal identity may sometimes be replaced by cultural identity. Cultural identity is the type of identity that is related to a certain culture or a separate group. It brings people belonging to a culture definite highlighting differences with other people. Clothing in terms of culture is to reveal either the historical roots of a person or the roots the group he belongs to. The oriental-followers are easily defined from the crowd by the specific collars and style of dressing they hold on to. Demonstrating a belonging to a certain cultural community is the free right of every person like people that freely declare who they are going to vote for. Talking about culture it is possible to mention that nowadays exists ”material culture” that dictates its own ways and code of dressing. The liberation of culture off the borders made the cultural fashion developments increase dramatically. The “freedom of word” has found a place in every single cultural attribute nowadays. Wearing a cowboy hat may not be a sign of being from Texas, but a sign of political preference.

For instance it is very easy to distinguish a European from a Hindu by the style of dressing or an Indian woman from an oriental woman by the distinctive spot on the forehead of an Indian woman and a veil worn by Moslem woman. Fashion has taken the best part of the traditional costumes of every culture and sometimes this leads to propagandizing a definite cultural group. For instance, the brightest example is the increasing interest towards the Moslems and oriental culture nowadays.

Fashion and identity are inseparable companions. Fashion with all its symbolism and attributes form an outstanding base for personal and cultural identification. Identity is a necessary process of a healthy personality as it is a part of self-realization of a person that is so much required for finding a place in life of every person. Fashion has become a tool for achieving harmony with the inner world and a way of revealing or concealing peculiarities. Fashion possesses a specific meaning and the more diverse is the society around us the more fashion-trend will appear and surprise us. As long as it does not hurt people around fashion symbols are acceptable, nevertheless while thinking about fashion and identity it is necessary to remember the ethical side of the issue. Fashion and identity through it still remains a twofold issue but there are a lot of positive aspects one can enjoy and share with other people.

Death Penalty For Children

The death penalty issue has always been one of the most important issues of the contemporary system of justice. Years ago the majority of the criminals were male over 20, but nowadays the situation has quite changed. Not only grown-ups but also by children who are under 18 years old nowadays commit murders and other terrible crimes. Ordinarily, a young criminal is not applied the same restrictions for his crime as a grown criminal is, nevertheless if it especially goes about capital crimes people start talking about the death penalty for such juveniles.

A child always remains a child and if he commits a crime it is not because he has had a good life. It is not the guilt of the children, but their big misfortune. It is a misfortune of not having anybody to love and truly support them and lead them in the correct direction. Along with that it is common knowledge that the period of 11 through 17 is a period of an especially intensive changes both in the organism and the mind of a child. That is why it is not fair to put a child in the same line with a grown up that can be completely responsible for his actions. A child is not mentally capable of comprehending the crime he or she commits. The system of values in the age under 18 is not built yet, other people can easily influence children and the psychic process are not stable yet. Under these conditions a child should never be sentences to death or a life sentence for they still have a chance to change and re-evaluate their life. If the aim of the prison is to change criminals for better then children under 18 should become the “material for changes” of the highest priority.

The year of 1988 was an extremely important year of the United States of America in terms of the death penalty for adolescent criminals. Before that time even a fifteen year old could be a subject to a death penalty for capital crimes. The Supreme Court in 1988 refused to use death penalty over those criminals that were under the age of sixteen. Nevertheless the 1988 decision did not influence many states and for instance, the state of Texas conducted its last death penalty over a juvenile in 2002. The U.S. Supreme Court has always called the execution of children a violation of the Constitution, where a child is every person under the age of eighteen years old. Nowadays 19 out of 51 state allow the conduction of the death penalty over children who are sixteen and seventeen years old. The death penalty of children fewer than eighteen years old is immoral, for killing a child implies killing a weaker human being that simply required supervision and attention from the side of his parents. As each society tends to be more humanistic, the probability of the fact that an eighteen-year-old is as guilty as a grown-up criminal starts being completely neglected. One of the main cases of the modernity was the case of 2004 of Roper v. Simmons. This was a fight between two completely opposite opinions – one was that death penalty for juveniles is completely normal, as the capital crimes they commit are sometimes even worse then those committed by the grown criminals; and the other side was that death penalty for juveniles is completely unconstitutional and absolutely immoral as they are only children and not mature grown ups able to be fully responsible for their actions.

The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the American Society for Adolescent Psychiatry, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and the American Psychiatric Association have claimed that facts against the death penalty for children under the age of eighteen.

The main reason of such statement is the fact that the researchers reveals: the prefrontal cortex, situated in the frontal lobe of a human being whish is responsible for the formation of the most important functions of the brain finished its completely formation after everything else, so is the part that forms the longest amount of time . According to the Wall Street Journal the prefrontal cortex is the management center of the human brain as it is the part responsible for the most important function – planning, anticipation of the consequences, controlling the impulses and is responsible for abstract thinking. And the most important fact is that this part of the brain is a subject to continuing formation until a human being is twenty-years-old. The second vital piece of information is that the decision –making process in adulthood is controlled by amygdala, known as the most primitive part of the human brain and therefore is the center of impulses and emotions.

These facts emphasize the notion that the change of the brain during the period of adolescence is immense and this is the reason young people reveal a big deal of the irrational behavior of the humanity. Children should not be sentences to death as the development and therefore the functioning of the brain is not the same for teenagers and adults. The line for death penalty should be drawn at age 18 because at these age the majority of the processes stabilize and rich the state of full brain formation. Even if a child knows what is not right to do, but he or she may still perform a behavior that would not be socially appropriate and may even damage the lives of other people because of the their mental incapability to evaluate their behavior properly.

So, according to the age peculiarities a teenager under the age of eighteen by no means should become a subject of death penalty. Some congressmen still tried to apply death penalty through lethal injection to guilty juveniles sixteen years of age. Such proposed legislations are truly inhumane and break all the moral laws and the rights that every child possesses. In case the Congress approved such legislation as a reaction the protests would have been tremendous, as killing people that have not even reached their mental and physical development potential means killing a person that is not able to take full responsibility for his or her actions.

There is not secret that the United Nations Organization has signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and especially its Article 37 whish states that a child should never be a subject to cruel, treatment and punishment. According to this very article the offenders that are below eighteen years of age cannot be sentenced to life in prison or become subjects to death penalty [5]. This convention also states that a child that has committed a crime and is under 18 needs to go through rehabilitation. The possibility for the child being rehabilitated is recognizes a child being a human being and provides that possibility for the child to start his or her life for new. Such rehabilitation gives the second chance for the child and his family, because a child can change due to the fact that the development of the functions in his brain has not stopped yet.

Each human being is born innocent and it is important not to forget that 2/3 of the negative manifestations are acquired from the way parent bring their child up and the child’s social environment. If the child has only aggressive and violent examples in his social environment, is not accepted and guided by his parents, not supported by his teachers then the child’s personality deforms. For instance it is obvious that if a child is abusive he has a deficit of tactile contact and gentleness. These deformations may have the harshest forms: emotional instability of the child, aggression, and violence against other people. A juvenile is NOT an adult criminal and should never be treated alike, and especially be a subject to death penalty. The death penalty is meant to make criminals scared of committing serious crimes, but in reality this does not work this exact way. It is more important to prevent children from committing crimes and to remember that children do not commit crimes on the basis whether the crime in accordance with the punishment for it put simply reflect what the family and the society have put into his “head”.

Lionel Tate’s case may without any doubt be called the most well known criminal case of the beginning of the XXI century. Lionel Tate, a teenager was born 1987. At the age of fourteen he was accused of a murder he committed when he was twelve years old, for which he obtained a life-long sentence. The details of the case are the following: at the age of twelve Lionel Tate killed Tiffany Eunick who was six years old. The girl was Tate’s playmate. The details of the murder are awful – the body of the girl has numerous signs of brutality such as injuries one of which is the skull fracture. Lionel Tate was only twelve years old when he committed this murder. It has been announced that the boy was only copying the wrestling moves, but no matter what it was the boy was imitating something that he has seen before either on TV or in real life. The Court found the boy guilty and accused him of a first-degree murder. The punishment for that is a life in prison.

The fact of giving a life sentence to a fourteen-year old shocked the society because everybody understood that a child in his twelve years couldn’t be judged as a mentally developed adult. It was for the panel of the 4th District Court of Appeal that a new trial was set in order to identify if Tate comprehended the proceedings held against him. The competency of a fourteen-year-old child to stand the trial was very questionable. The reveled the understanding that such a child cannot be mentally capable of taking responsibility for his own actions. It is obvious that Lionel Tate has committed a serious crime and the consequences of his actions are simply terrible because the life of another child was taken away. None says that the boy should not be punished, but not with death penalty or life in prison. The decision of home arrest and probation is right for Lionel Tate. Lionel Tate deserves being punished but not made to spend his whole lifetime in a prison for a crime he committed when he was twelve years old and could not take full responsibility for his actions and completely realize the consequences of his actions for the little girl and himself. That is the reason this example should always be kept in mind by congressmen before they make another juvenile lethal injection suggestion.

According to the Death Penalty Information Center 72 juveniles on death rows were under 18 when they committed the crime they were accused for. It is twenty-nine for Texas, fourteen for Alabama, five for Mississippi, four for Arizona, Louisiana and North Carolina, three for Florida and South Caroline, two for Georgia and Pennsylvania and one for Nevada and Virginia. Such states as Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Utah, Delaware and New Hampshire do allow juvenile execution but at the moment do not have any juveniles on death row at the moment [6].

All these “criminals” were children under eighteen when their crimes were committed. Being under eighteen great changes were happening in the brains and bodies making this people emotionally instable. Other factors gave them the example of how the crime can be committed but their inability to evaluate the consequences and the lack of functionality of the decision-making process lead to a sad end. They all should be punished, in order to firmly understand that committing crimes against other human beings is immoral but their death is not best way out of the problem. Forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing!

Free Topic: Java Jazz 2007

Java Jazz 2001 is one of the best night in my life. There were so many artist who performed there. I actually wanted to watch Jamie Cullum but the but tickets are already sold out. At last i watched Level 42 with uncle and aunt. Level 42 performed at 11 pm which means they were the closer of Java Jazz 2007 but the audience still excited to watch them.

That was the their second performance at Java Jazz 2007. Although already appearing on the first day but the audience still wanted to watch this band from England.

Frontman Mark King as the old 80's generations looked in his best performance with the others members. Slapping his style one the bass continue to dominate throughout the show. Level 42 is actually is Mark King.

By the end of the show, thousands of spectators still participate swayed when singles like Running In The Family, lesson In Love and Something About You played. Included their new single called Cold Water. Wing funk fusion group had a chance to use classic trick by pretending to quit the show after they play Something About You. Seeing the audience who still did not move, they went back to carrying two final single, Sleep Talking and The Chinese Way.

Although old age wrinkles already looked at Mark King's face, but his spirit was still excellent. his vocal and shred bass sounded smooth flawless. Sweet.

That was my first concert. i actually didn't know anything about Level 42 but the show was unreal !!! Mark King is really a King of bass.

Why do people prefer to buy vehicle than to use bus ?

Crazy traffic jam. 24 hours non stop. That's the best words to describe the traffic jam in Jakarta. Old vehicle and new vehicle become one on the road. Traffic jam has been a 'lifetime' problem of this city. Time magazine named Jakarta as the best place to learn patience for having the worst traffic in Asia. The government has tried to solve this but the it became worse. 

I've been sticking with this crazy traffic jam since the first day i was here. I've been seeing people with posh vehicle feel disappointed about this condition. In my opinion, they have to take a look at their car and count how many empty seat there. But i can't blame on them 100%. They work at the office and of course they don't want to use bus which always full of people with bad service.

Their car is a new one. It's way much different with bus which usually old or used bus from other countries. People who have their own car can do anything there. they can listen to their favorite music, watching television etc. People who use bus can't do that because of the space. They can only sit or talk to other people. Boring activities tough. Bus are also often broke down because the engine is old. 

More vehicle in Jakarta means the traffic jam is going crazier. It also waste of time. The bus drivers typically like to endanger the safety of passengers. They are driving like a F1 racer. I think that's the first reason why people prefer to use their own vehicle than to use bus. 

If we observe the traffic jam in Jakarta we can see the rhythmic of the traffic jam. The most heavy traffic jam is always in the ending time of office hour especially in the primer street point to outer city area (BOTABEK à Bogor, Tangerang, Bekasi and Depok). Such as in the Mampang-Buncit street (vehicle form south of Jakarta, Jakarta, Cinere, and Depok). A research in 2002 said that not less than 139.700 traffic take place in south of Jakarta with 716.000 total movements in traffic average speed only about 34.5 km/hours. Can you imagine how bad the traffic is??

I think some best way to solve this problem is the government must buy really new buses. Train the drivers in order to provide best services to passengers. Add some facilities for entertainment of passengers on the bus.the last but not least is please make a better planning in Trans Jakarta. I see now is that the government make it all in one time which make all the street suffering worse in traffic jam because all the street are under construction. I hope they will make it one by one. If they make it one by one it will be easier for others to find alternative way in order to avoid the street construction.

Fan

Do you know what  fan is ? Fan is person who likes an actor, band, manga etc. Suppoter is its another name. Sometimes fan is very nice and make its idol happy. In the other hand a fan is also annoying.

There are two kind of fan. Big name fan & fan girl. A big name fan is a fan who has achieved notoriety and respect within a fandom for their constributions for their idol. They make fan club, gathering with the other fans etc. They also make event or merchandise to make their idol to be more popular. It's way much different with fan girl. It's a fan obsession with their idol. They are so annoying. They supposed to do thing extremely like scream when they see their idol or touch theirs idol's body.

Fan loyalty can be treatened by team actions. Some big name fans have made such a longstanding contribution to the support of a celebrity that they are able to meet the object of their affection and interest. They write about their idol on blog, tumblr, twitter etc so people can recognize and fall in love with their idol. In the other hand, fan girl is usually fighting with other fangirls over who "owns" the idol.

If their idol come to do a concert, a big name fan will announce it on their website. They also help the promotor who bring their idol in ticket sale. Some big name fans made cards with number and name to help fans who registered to them to get their ticket easily. On the other hand, a fangirl's behaviour can fall anywhere. they're just obsesses with their idol, dreaming their idol will be theirs but do nothing to promote their idol.

Big name fans may have their own fans who praise them and seek out their work. Sometimes they make competiton and give away tickets and help other fans to know more about their idol. Sometimes they invited as guest of honour of a show about their idol which pay for appearance. Fan girls get nothing. no one likes them because of their behaviour.

If you were asked to send one thing to represent your country to an international exhibition, what would you choose? Why?

I love dance so i'd send folk Indonesian folk dances. Indonesian folk dances is so unique and interesting. people believe its beginning in religious workship. Even today, many dances are considered sacred or can be traced back to their early spiritual associations. Among these are not only the temple dances of Bali, but also such seemingly profane dances, such as the Bedoyo Ketawang of Solo, performed only on such rare occasions that they are in peril of becoming lost for the lack of younger generation dancers able to perform them.

Dance traditions today are as widely diverse as the various ethnic cultures of which they are part. Nurtured to refined perfection in the royal Javanese courts and princely homes the classical dances of Central Java are highly stylized expressions which have probably already attained their basic movements during the height of the Hindu-Javanese culture from the 8th to the 13th century. From the courts, those dances eventually reached the broad strata of the common people who gave them a more spontaneous form of expression.

In the hands of the people, these dances provided a rich source not only for popular dance dramas, but also for social dances which often display clear erotic overtones, such as Tayuban or Ngibing.

The bumbung dance of Bali which incidentally evolved into the beautiful "bumblebee dance" and Tamulilingan, a creation of Bali's late famed maestro of the dance, I Mario.

Other popular folk dances still display strong magic associations, as for instance the "kuda lumping horse dance". Whereas rigid discipline and artistry mark the dance of Java and Bali, those of Sumatra, Maluku and most of the other islands (one exception is the Gending Sriwijaya of South Sumatra) are characterized by their gracefulness and charm, a distinction which is further accentuated by the entirely different, non- gamelan, musical accompaniment.

The old traditions of dance and drama are being preserved in the many dance schools which flourish not only in the courts but also in the modern, government-run or supervised art academies where at the same time the search is continually being conducted for new expressions better adapted to modern times though based on the old traditions.

in th[ u m t 8L xn ity.

What is costume of your culture that you wish other country would adopt ?

I'd like the other countries to adopt folk costume from my hometown, Minangkabau, West Sumatra. It's so unique. It also taken one of the neighboring country. particular Minangkabau villages specialize in cottage industries producing handicraft such as women sugarcane and reed purses, gold purses, gold and silver jewelry using fliligree, and granulation technique, women songket textiles etc

I will tell you about clothes of Bundo Kanduang. A woman who has been appointed Bundo Kanduang (biological mother) plays an important role in his nation. Not all women can be Bundo content. He must be a wise man, his words are heard, go places and come home asking the news. He is also crate ambon puruak, means a place or a holder of treasures of his people.Therefore have different traditional clothes with other women. As well as the prince of clothing, each region has a variation of Minangkabau adat respectively. But generally completeness Kanduang Bundo clothing consists of tengkuluk, baju kurung, fabric sash, fabric glove, and adorned with earrings and necklaces.

A bladder Bundo tengkuluk wearing horns or tengkuluk ikek as headgear. The material is woven from the fabric balapak Smart Brush Padang Panjang. Shaped like buffalo horns with the pointed end of tufted gold or gilt brass. Use of this tengkuluk symbolizes that women as a homeowner gadang. Kurungnya clothes are black, red, blue or violet paved with gold thread. Minsai edges decorated as a symbol of democracy but within the limits that should be. On his right shoulder into the ribs left berselempang balapak fabric, symbolizing the responsibility must be shouldered by the Bundo Kanduang to continue the descent. Under the cover body is used sarong (codec) balapak embroidered in gold. Gloves are a religious function for the wearer, as a symbol of putting something in place like the proverbial endless eating, dived (hiding) lingering.

Earring jewelry that is worn or earrings of gold. Necklace of some sort, namely a horse necklace, necklace pinyaram, gadang necklaces, and necklace Kaban. Her hands adorned with bracelets sieve (large), snake bangle bracelet and bapahek. Use the bracelet symbolizes that everything must be done within the limits of ability.

Free Topic: The Most Important Day of Helen Keller

The most important day of Helen Keller is the one on which her teacher, Anne Mansfield Sullivan , came to her. The morning after Miss Sullivan came, she led Helen into her room and gave her a doll. When Helen had played with the doll for a while, Miss Sullivan slowly spelled into her hand the word "d-o-l-l". Helen was at once interested in this finger play, and she tried to imitate it. When she finally succeeded in making the letters correctly, she was flushed with childish pleasure and pride. Running downstairs to her mother, she held up her hand and made the letters for doll. She did not know that she was spelling a word or even that words existed: she was simply making her fingers go in monkey-like imitation. In the days that followed she learned to spell a great many words in this uncompehending way. She also learned that everything had a name, and each name gave birth to a new thought. She doesn't remember what new words are but she does know words make the world blossom for her.

Free Topic: Argumentative

There were several reasons why the Industrial Revolution started in GB rather than in France, the other great power of the day. in the first place, Great Britain had the money necessary to finance the larger enterprise. England's supremacy in the seas had encouraged commerce, and the England had been amazing wealth trough their commerce and industry. The newly rich class in that country was not the aristocratic group, but merchants who were willing to devote themselves to industry and scientific agriculture. They didn't believe that to engage in business was beneath them. The wealth at France, on the other hand, was largely in the hands of the nobility, and they were not willing to do the necessary work to develop industry.

In the second place, Great Britain had to undertaken very early the manufacture of inexpenive and more  practical products for which there would be an ever-growing demand from the people, especially the new middle class. Woolen and linen cloth as well as iron and wooden articles had been important products in England for centuries, while France produced articles in the luxury class. These demanded handcrafting. More over, the demand for luxury gold is always limited. England was the producer of golds that were needed in quantity and if a cheaper means producing them could be found, the markets could grow. So England was ready for methods that would make it possible to manufacture in large quantities.

In the third place, for a long time England had had large numbers of semiskilled workers. When the feudal system broke down and the manors wee turned to sheep raising, large numbers of people went to the many other occupations that developed skills. When the Industrial Revolution began, they were available to work on the new machines. Moreover, they were free and could move from place to place as the new the need for workers arose. This had not been the case in France. France was still chiefly an agricultural country with peasants bound to their masters in many ways so they could not easily move to the cities.

In the fourth place, coal was abundant in Great Britain, and a large amount of this cheap fuel was necessary for running the factories. There was late in tapping such resource because nearly all the people defended directly or indirectly on farming for their living.

Topic : imagine you had a thousand dollar, but you couldn't keep it. you had to give it away to a person/charity who would you give it to?what would you want them to do with it?

If i had a thousand dollar, i'd spent them to buy all that i need first. House, travelling around the world, make people i love happy etc. I'd do some charity activities to. It's the way to thank God for the money that i got.

I'd give my money to a person/ charity who could i put my trust onto. If they're honest, i'd be no hesitate to give them the money.They must have clear programme. They also have to give me a report so i'd know who would receive my money are the right people.

I want that person/charity not only give my money the right people in cash, but in things or programme to make their life even better. It could be a training programme and teach them how to use the money right. I also want them to donate my money to build school, mosque ect that can use by many people.

Topic: We must take English course to improve our English or we must not.

I think i don't need to take English course to improve my English. It's just waste my time. I think i have enough English lesson in school. I don't need to waste my money to English course. Not all English course are good. All good English course always expensive.

I got 6 hours of English lesson in school. I'd be so tired and bored of English if i had to take more hours on English course. It's be better if i spent my time to learn English from book, magazine, music or movie. It's a funnier way than to learn in English course.

Some famous people can speak languages just from book. Buya Hamka learns English and Arabic just from books. he learned it by himself. So if we want to make our English better we don't have to spend a lot of money. All we need is hard work. Of course don't forget to pray. Just believe in yourself that you can speak English then you will :)

Topic: We Must Speak English All The Time or Not

I think we have to know where we are. If you're in a situation. which we have to speak English so we must do. For example: we go to England. English is the national language of England. Everyone speaks English there. If we want to speak to other people, we must to do it in English.

There are some situation that even in countries that use English as their main language, people don't speak English all the time. For example: Muslims of UK in mosque. Mosque there is not only for pray. Muslims sometimes use it for school, a place to meet other muslims  etc.If they were a couple of people from indonesia there, they prepare to use Indonesian language.

We can't speak English all the time in Indonesia too. We have Indonesian language as our main language. Not all Indonesian can speak English. I know English is an exclusive language anymore but we have to know when and where we have to speak English. For example: when we guide a tourist travelling we have to speak English all the time but when we're in Indonesian language's class we have to speak Indonesian language.

Topic: My Sweet Room

Honestly i don't have a sweet room. Now i live in my aunt's guest room. It's not my kind of room cause it's so small. I had a nice room in my grand mother's house in Batusangkar, West Sumatra. It's a big one.it's also one of the best place on earth.

I like music. I have many posters and albums of my favorite musicians. My poster covered all walls, even the door, of my room. It felt weird at the first time. it was like they're watching me but also made me happy. I put my album at a little cupboard with my lovely comics and collections of my favorite musicians. i have a big bed next to the door. There was a stairs of wood to access the second floor. I put my magazine and old school books the the ladder.

There was a stairs in the left of the bed. Next to it there was a table and a chair. I used them to study and saved my books and bag. In front of the stairs there was a cupboard. it's a big one. I think all my family's clothes could save there. I liked to play my favorite music on my tape or walkman then sit next to the window in the afternoon. I've missed my sweet room.....

Topic: What do you hope for English Letter Department in the future ?

Last month English letter department celebrated its 11th anniversary. It's getting older and older. of course i also want it to be better than ever. A better English letter department would birth a better university student. I believe it'd be happen.

I have some expectation for English letter department. First, i hope there'd be AC in every single class. It would make student more excited in learning. The classes we have now is so far away from -what we called- a dream class. Then i hope  there'd be more plants around the faculty too.

I really wish that the lecturers will be on time. I hate waiting anyway. it just waste of time. I have to spent 4 hours from house to campus. I so upset if lecturer late or absent without prior notice. I also wish that the service would be so much better. i haven't got my student card yet. I wish i'd get it soon so it'd be easier for me when i have to pay for the next semester. That's all.

My Childhood

There was so many good things and bad things in my childhood. 60% of it was the bad things. I was so thankful that i still had 40% of good things that helped me through the bad things. Bad things came from the outside. I realized that the only one that can help me is myself so i tried to find my own happiness.

I'd like to tell the bad things first. I didn't feel comfort with my family. They told me to don't do that, do this. No freedom.I had my own life but they wouldn't allow me to live my life freely. They also liked to judge me me wrong. Everything i've done is wrong. Joined the basketball club, took math course etc were wrong because it made me late  to go home. They really messed my life up .

The worst thing in my life is happened when i was 8 years old. My parents are divorced. Divorce always make the bad thing to kid, little or big. That was happened to me. before my parents divorced, i was a cheerful kid. Divorce also made me quite and loved to lock myself in my bedroom and cried over my fate.

But there is always good things beside the bad things right ? I have some  good things in my childhood too. i have God. Sometimes i cried in my prayer but i always felt way much better after told God about my pain. I'd like to thank God for making me falling in love with music and books. They taught me to move on. they pictured the story of my life tough.

Friends are the first things that i thank in my life.Family means nothing to me but friends mean everything. they always be there when i need them. They always support me. Their jokes make me smile. i elieve in them and so do they.

Free Topic: Descriptive

No one expressed interest when the new man arrived at the old mining town o Hurdy-Gurdy. His arrival produced no curiosity or concern. For many years, nobody had cared who came to Hurdy-Gurdy: in fact, nobody cared whether anybody came. This was because no one was living in Hurdy-Gurdy.

Two years before, the population had included two or three thounsand persons. The men had worked earned fly for a few weeks in the hope of finding gold-gold which had been promised them by a gentleman with more imagination than honesty. A bullet had ended the life of that imaginative gentleman when very little gold was discovered Hurdy-Gurdy, and now all its citizens were gone.

But they had left ample evidence of their short stay. Rows of abandoned buts lined both banks of the crecks and other desolate dwellings could be seen on the hill above. The little valpey itsself, torn and battered in that frrantic digging for gold, had lost whatever beauty it might once had possessed. weeds coveed the ruinned earth; aomng them one could find reminders of the town's brief existance - an old boot, a hat, muddy fragment of a shirt, and many bottles- bottles everywhere

A foreign visitor has only one day to spend in your country. Where should this visitor go? What should he do? Explain why.

If a foreign visitor only has one day in Indonesia, i'd like to invite him to/her to Raja Ampat. It's a unique place.detikcom named it as the best marine tourism on earth. Everyone who has been there said it's luxury and very special. Raja Ampat or Four Kings is the name of given to these islands and comes from a local myth. The four major islands found are Walgeu, Misool, Salawati, and Batanta.

Underwater enthusiasts flock to this region because it offers the world's best marine sights. It has a starting diversity of habitats to explore. Each of these -from the start wave-pounded slopes that drop way beneath the karst cliffs of Wayang & Uranie to the deep. Nutrient rich bays up Maya ibit, Kabui, and Aljui to the "blue' water mangrove "channels of Kufiau and gam to the plankton-rich upwelling areas of Misool and the dampier Starst - are home to unique assemblages of species that, when taken together, add to produce the most impressive species list ever completed a coral reef system of this size.

The foreign sisitor could do many marine activities there. Overfishing, mining and logging has the potential a key role in the convervation of Raja Ampat's spectacular underwater rwalm, while also creating real benefits for the local communities. There are some areas where soft corals and sea fans dominate others with amazing diverse hard corals, seagrass beds, mangroves, shallow reefs drop off etc. Then there are fish, lost of them in more shapes and sizes than anwhere else in the world. Not only are there loads of fish, but all the levels of the food chain are well represented. The reef in Raja Ampat just buzz with life !!

Here is a video of Raja Ampat http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQsvB-MDWzQ