Pain.

When I see this picture, it reminds me of the pain of wearing stiletto heels. I think this picture actually represents the pain of wearing heels. As great as it may look to wear these heels, they cause a lot of pain especially if you wear it for long periods of time. This pain is usually associated with blisters, small or big. Well, there's no surprise even just by looking at the picture. The foot angled at nearly 90 degrees near the tip. If you stood on your tiptoes like that for a long period period of time, your feet would start to hurt and eventually, you would have level your feet back to the ground. For guys, feel free to try it so that you can somewhat see what it is like to wear high heels, if you haven't already. Or better yet, go to a shoe store and try some heels on! =)

Two year old girl run over ignored by 18 passerby.

 

WARNING: Graphic video; To watch this video on Youtube, you have to be 18 years or older.

     As I watched a Peter Chao weekly news round-up Youtube video with my friend, I heard about a two year old girl in China being run over by two cars and a total of 18 people passing by her ignored her. So, I decided to look into it. Apparently, the two year old girl named Wang Yue thought the white car that eventually runs over her, was a bread truck. The driver stops for a little while, but continues on driving. A few people walk by, ignoring her. Then, a second car runs over her. People continue to walk and drive by her, as if everything is fine. Finally, one kind-hearted woman who was collecting cans stopped and took a look at the child before the mother came over. Apparently, people were too scared to help the child because they do not want to be blamed for the child's condition.

     I say that you have nothing to worry about if you are not guilty. With today's technology, there is not much to worry about if you are not guilty because there are hidden cameras practically everywhere. If one of the people who saw her before the second car hit had helped her, there would've been more of a chance that the child lived. Some may argue that the child's parents should've been watching her. I agree with that argument to a certain extent. Truth is, we all let our guard down sometimes, and unfortunately sometimes at the wrong time. The mother definitely didn't want this to happen; she happened to let her guard down at the wrong time. Overall, I think someone who passed by should've helped the little girl; in this case, the mother's mistake shouldn't have been someone else's mistake either because they had a chance of saving someone's life.

If you want to learn more about this situation, here is an article (Warning: Graphic images included):
After surviving for more than a week since the hit, Wang Yue now dead.

Letter to chancellor of Syracuse University.

If I wrote a letter to the chancellor of Syracuse University, it would go something like this:

Dear Nancy Cantor,

     As a Syracuse University undergraduate freshman, I am concerned. Prior to coming to the university, I knew Syracuse University had a great academic reputation. It's great that SU had a great academic reputation, but the problem is it "had", meaning it may not be the case today.

     In fact, Syracuse University has fallen in terms of rankings in the U.S. News and World Report. Hearing that SU was ranked in the high 40s in the late 1990s and now ranked number 62 concerns me. Furthermore, the university has dropped out from the Association of American Universities (AAU) this year knowing that it was going to be forced out. News about the declining ranking of Syracuse University not only concerns me, but more importantly, potential undergraduates and graduates. What can explain this change in ranking? Well, from the 2007-2011 academic years, administrative costs have increased by 22.3 million. Meanwhile, costs for academics have only increased by 5.7 million. As great as it is to help revitalize the city, our main focus should be the education being given. For my entire freshmen academic year, my parents have to pay around $36,000 for me to attend Syracuse University. Meanwhile, if I went to a SUNY college, I would pay around $20,000.  The fact is, the main focus of students is their academics, not revitalizing the city. As great as the city may be, it is worthless if students do not get the education they expected. The education being given at Syracuse University affects not only current students, but also alumni.

     I'm not saying that the quality of education at Syracuse University is bad; what I am trying to say is that the education at Syracuse University could be better. We should start improving our rankings in the U.S. News and World Report and the AAU because it will essentially attract more students in the top ranking of their secondary schools to attend SU. To improve SU rankings, we could start with making admissions more selective, which include admitting students with higher SAT scores and averages. Since the Ivy League schools are so selective, students strive to attend those schools. If a school is not selective, students are less attracted to it because they believe anyone can get into that school and it's not much of an accomplishment by attending that school. In fact, I was one of those students. Since I was rejected from Stony Brook and Binghamton University, I wasn’t left with too many choices. I was stuck between Syracuse University and Fordham University. I ended up choosing Syracuse University because it was ranked slightly higher and I would be able to explore other places such as the city of Syracuse instead of staying in New York City.

     Despite the fact that this year's admission acceptance rate is dropping back down to 50 percent, I believe it is not enough. Since Ivy League schools have a low acceptance rate of about 10 percent, I think SU should have a 40 percent acceptance rate, similar to Stony Brook University. Along with a more selective criteria and lower acceptance rate, SU should spend more money on the academics. With academics being notable and selective admissions criteria, Syracuse University would be higher in rankings in no time. I hope you will consider my thoughts into your decisions.

Sincerely,
Angela Tong (Class of 2015)

                                                                                                                                       

Tryng to find yourself?

Looking to find yourself deep within? Wondering who you truly are or what you were destined to accomplish? Well, stop. Actually, look no further Why? It is because life is not about finding yourself. As I always say, "Life is not about finding yourself; it is about creating yourself." As a teenager, I have always heard people say that they need to find who they truly are, and I was always like "Why?" The answer was always "I need to find out what I am destined to be." The conversation about that would end.
Life is about creating yourself because you are who you want to be. Follow your passion. I mean, we all know our personality traits. It is your choice of whether or not you want to change them. You are who you make yourself. No one can stop you from being who you are.

Is the value of SU education declining?

     Syracuse University, greatly known for its diversity and academic reputation, apparently seems to be slowly declining in terms of academics. Once ranked in the high 40s among national universities in the late 1990s by U.S. News and World Report, Syracuse University is now ranked number 62 [Fall 2011]. Furthermore, the university dropped out from the Association of American Universities (AAU), a nonprofit organization of 61 leading research universities in the United States and Canada, this year knowing that it was going to be forced out. So, why has Syracuse University fallen in ranking in both the U.S. News and World Report and the AAU?

     Two main factors contribute to the university's downfall; they are the lack of money towards academics and the slight transition from being selective to inclusive. Ever since Nancy Cantor, chancellor of Syracuse University, took over in 2004, the school has been spending tens of millions of U.S. dollars to revitalize the city. Nancy Cantor supports her actions by saying that "the university cannot isolate itself up on the hill, disengaged from the city, as it has so often in the past." She also claims that everything done by the university in the city has an academic component. She says that people "should have an impact on our democracy and do work that addresses pressing issues in the world" and adds that "It's not that you stop caring about the fundamentals or quality, you redefine what constitutes quality and exciting scholarly work."

     Jeffrey Stonecash, who is a professor of political science in the university, wonders whether tuition money is mainly being used for the university's expanding ventures with the city instead of academics. According to Stonecash, the amount of money used for administrative costs has grown at a faster rate than money used for academics. From the 2007-2011 academic years, administrative costs have increased by 22.3 million. Meanwhile, costs for academics have only increased by 5.7 million. Don't parents send their children to college for their education?

     According to some professors, Syracuse University was on the way to becoming a more selective university before Nancy Cantor came. Currently compared to SUNY colleges such as Binghamton University and Stony Brook, Syracuse University has a lower criteria for admission as well as students who have a lower average SAT score. With the high tuition costs of attending Syracuse University, is it even worth it? The tuition costs of Binghamton University and Stony Brook University not only costs about $20,000 less than Syracuse, but also have a higher criteria. Although their rankings are lower than that of Syracuse, they have greater potential to increase their rankings mainly because they spend more on academics such as on research studies.

     Although it's great to revitalize the city, the education being given at Syracuse University is more important. Aside from rankings by the U.S. News and World Report, the education received by thousands of students at Syracuse University is not the best it could be. The students who attend Syracuse University might not be as prepared for the workforce compared to someone who graduated from Binghamton or Stony Brook University. Helping out the city of Syracuse could be a side project, but academics come first. When it comes to one's resume and skills, it all comes down to college or university attended but most importantly, one's skills. After all, we do go to college for our education. As Scott Collison says, "The important questions lie in how we define SU and what the value of an education here is".

-Angela Tong

Subtracting to Be Creative.

     According to Austin Kleon, author of Newspaper Blackout, creativity is subtraction. While many people worry about not being creative enough, creativity actually includes the act of being boring. While you be may adding more details to your paper to be more creative, perhaps less details is the way to go, because you decrease your chance of being repetitive.According to Kleon, being boring is actually the only way to get work done. This relates to the
phrase used by Austin Kleon, "Steal like an Artist." I believe that this phrase is used to inspire people to get general ideas from people and make it their own work by adding their own touch to it.
     Is blacking out newspapers or any other works boring? It can be quite fun actually, and yet creative. You can create your own quotes, whether it is inspirational or funny. One of my quotes, blacking out a few paragraphs from
"A Winter Storm Stay Bag" in the New York Times newspaper, is "In the quest for light, unattended fat raccoons use the fridge." It was meant to be funny, or rather a silly joke about raccoons in all due respect.
     Aside from being silly, I came up with an inspiring quote [to me] about criticism. I saw the word criticism in "In the N.H.L., Shanahan Is Enforcing
Rules with Gusto" by Jeff Z. Klein, and I just went with the flow from there. My quote is "Criticism helps change." While criticism may be hard to handle for some people, it is actually not a bad thing sometimes. Criticism, however, is
bad if one says something disrespectful to another's work. Aside from that, criticism can help one critique their work and make it better than it was before.
     Don't be afraid of criticism. If you are confident about your work, let it be.
If you feel strong and confident about your work, don't change it regardless of what others say. Always be confident in your work! Most importantly,
remember to be BORING, while still having fun!


-Angela Tong