N.E.W.S. / Issue 4 by N.E.W.S., The UOiSA Magazine

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N. E. W. S.

Issue 4 // Winter 2014 // March

iSA Team 2013-14

Photographers

Director

Models

Hung Mai

Program Team Leigh Scheffey Sandra Benny Steven Rao Renee Arnett Dustin Jung Cecilia Xu

Office Team

Najod Alrasheed Christina Park Ashley Liu

Fundraising Team Luca Lin Kevin Ngo Jess Chen Amy Li Catherine Li

Publicity Team

Lily Chen Hillary Fowler Ihn Que Lee Esther Kim Alejandra Gutierrez Ina Song Negina Pirzad Ethan Kim Megan Garland Joshua Lee Stacey Goldberg

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Esther Kim Ihn Que Lee

Mehdi Salahdine (cover) Amy Li Negina Pirzad Renee Arnett Leigh Scheffey

Michele Aggrey

Content Editors Alejandra Gutierrez Ina Song Negina Pirzad

Layout Designer Ina Song

4 No.

CONTENT

4 04

Winter Formal

Mardi Gras

Coffee Talk with Alana

International Women's Day

Daylight Savings Time

Surviving the Dead Week

St.Patrickâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Day

Spring Break Guide

iParty

ISG Meeting Time

March Calendar

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Winter Formal

by Alejandra Gutierrez

If you attended our Winter Formal then you know what a huge success it was! Once students walked under the beautiful golden-black balloon arch, they became engulfed in the music and ambiance and they danced the night away. Delicious snacks and treats covered the entire table and delighted all who ate them. With a glass of bubbling cider in one hand along with the great music that was blasting through the speakers, everyone was smiling, laughing and busting out their best moves out on the dance floor. When the clock struck 10 it was time to sadly bring a great night to an end. Everyone left with a smile on their face and some people left with bran new henna tattoos. There was no better way to end a Saturday Night.

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Mardi Gras Beer, Beads, and Bourbon Street

By Negina Pirzad

March 4th

If you walked through the French Quarter on Tuesday, and you witnessed crowds of people drinking and partying, wearing costumes of gold, purple, and green, and saw women flashing their breasts for beaded necklaces, you would’ve found yourself in the infamous Mardi Gras celebrations of New Orleans, Louisiana. Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, is the last day of eating rich, fatty foods before the ritual fasting of the Lenten season in the Catholic religion, which begins forty-six days before Easter on Ash Wednesday. Many countries around the world refer to Mardi Gras as “Carnival Season” because the day is often filled with pure extravagance in every aspect. Some countries that are

known for their grand Mardi Gras celebrations are Brazil, Belgium, France, and of course, the US. Any holiday that gives people a reason to celebrate life and indulge themselves is a commonly celebrated one, especially on a college campus, and Mardi Gras is no exception. This year, Mardi Gras was on Tuesday, March 4th, and Eugene had several Fat Tuesday events around town like the Pink Buffalo’s Mardi Gras 5K and Reach Activity Center’s Mardi Gras Masquerade Party. And on campus, Newman Catholic hosted Mardi Gras festivities as a fundraiser for its alternative spring break program to work at the St. Therese HIV/AIDS outreach center in Henderson, Nevada.

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Coffee Ala

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e Talk with... ana McKenzie

By Alejandra Gutierrez & Negina Pirzad

What are you studying at UO? I’m studying German and Political Science. Still not too sure which is the major and which is the minor. How did you decide to study German? Well, I’m in love with Germany and I’m really interested in politics, and although I don’t want to go into it, it’s a good direction to go if you want to study cultures and international things. When did your language studying begin? It really began when I was in first grade where Spanish and German were both required at my school. But I didn’t really get into it until I was thirteen and went to France where I decided to learn French, which I didn’t ever learn. How many languages do you know? Well, fluently I only speak English and German, and then I’m communicative in Spanish, and I’ve also studied Russian and Romanian. And you’re studying Romanian right now with the self-study program? Yes, I am. It’s a great program. Can you tell me more about your international experiences? The first time I went abroad was when I was eighteen months old and my parents took me to Ecuador. But the first time I went on my own was when I was thirteen. My grandma, who’s a college professor, took me to France on one of her study abroad trips and that’s when I fell in love with Europe. I stayed there for four months with a really great family and became pretty good at German. Then after high school, I decided to go back and spend a year there as an au pair and really solidify my German.

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Ecuador

France

How have your language abilities help you with your travels and with your studies? Language is pretty much what I live for in terms of academics and having a good time. I love intercultural anything and interlinguistic anything, and I’m just really fascinated by language and all the different things that make it up. Have you taken any classes in linguistics? I took Language and Power, which was really cool. But I realized that if I studied linguistics, that would not necessarily lead me to international work, unless I went into research or more academia. So, I settled on international studies or political science instead. Then I can still study languages, but also be getting all the politics and intercultural communication stuff, instead of just syntax and grammar. How important do you think intercultural dialogues and bridges are in our society today? Really important. In America, it’s kind of like a micromerge of languages and cultures that have to function together, which doesn’t always work. But especially now, in the world at large, I guess we say the world is getting

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Germany

smaller. So, it’s really important to at least have intercultural understanding even if you don’t know another language. What are your future plans after your undergraduate studies? What I’m hoping to do is to go to grad school in Germany for intercultural communication through a program in Heidelberg. But if that doesn’t pan out, I might do something like the Peace Corps, or try to do an internship in Washington, D.C. working with foreign cultures. Aside from political science and language what are your other interests? Music. It’s one of my favorite languages. And I like working out too. I dance Zumba. And I just like being with friends and meeting new people. So do you play an instrument? I’m a singer. I attempt to play piano and guitar, but I should just stick to being singer.

International Women'sDay March 8th By Negina Pirzad

s a junior studying Accounting, Shirui Zhang also juggles the role as the ASUO Women’s Center’s International Student Advocate. The Women’s Center is considered to be a safe space for women of any and all backgrounds to visit, to volunteer with, and to work with, in order to create the best educational and working environment for UO’s female population. As International Student Advocate, Zhang mostly prioritizes the international women on campus, whom she believes need a lot of assistance and counseling.

In addition to working with the international women on campus, Zhang is working with women abroad for International Women’s Day, which is March 8th.

“I am an international student, so I know all the problems the women have. And a lot of the time, they don’t know how to deal with their problems or if there is anyone out there to support them,” Zhang said. “Homesickness is very common, and sexual violence too, so sometimes they are scared to find someone to help them. They often don’t ask for legal support, so those are the kind of women I’m trying to help and let them know they should share their experiences to help others.”

Zhang hopes to continue on with her work next year with the Women’s Center and with women from all around the world, either as the International Student Advocate again, or as a student volunteer.

“A project we’re doing is a geographical display. We will interview females from different countries to see how they celebrate International Women’s Day,” Zhang said. “We want UO students to learn more about women from different cultures and how they live.”

The ASUO Women’s Center is located in the EMU in Suite 3. For more information about the organization, visit their website at pages.uoregon.edu/women/index.html or email them at womenctr@uoregon.edu.

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Daylight Savings Time Spring Forward, Fall Back March 14th

By Negina Pirzad The history, purpose, and practice of Daylight Savings Time (DST) have all been disputed by the world for hundreds of years. Some say Christopher Columbus invented it while on vacation in Paris. Others say it was the American farmers of the colonial period who first set clocks back. The actual observing of DST has also been questioned in history, but it isn’t as confusing as people may think. In the US, time is set one hour ahead on the last Sunday of March, and set one hour back on the last Sunday of November. This is why we have longer days during summertime than in the winter. With no idea of the actual history of DST, it wasn’t until World War I when Germany brought the theory

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back into the international community. The world has implemented the practice off and on, and often in different ways, depending on the country and its seasons. DST is observed in over seventy countries today, all for which daylight hours are savored from March and into November. Some regions of the world that observe DST during their appropriate “summer” time are the US (excluding a few states and territories), Paraguay, Haiti, Germany, Turkey, Egypt, and Australia. This year in the US, DST will begin on March 14th, and it will end on November 30th.

Surviving the Dead Week Are exams and homework knocking you down?-Here’s what you need to fight back!

by Alejandra Gutierrez

lthough the UO is fantastic, it does have one downside: its under the quarter system. That means that we will all be swamped by two set of midterms, finals and papers from week 2 to finals week. With all that amount of work and knowledge that you have to absorb you have to stay on top of your game!

Even if we do not realize it or feel it, our body is under a lot of stress constantly and if we don’t help it out a little bit, it will definitely crash and you’ll be constantly exhausted. Even though you are young and you are in the prime of your life, sleep is something that you absolutely cannot skip, unlike your philosophy 101 class. Without enough sleep, your mind and body cannot function properly. Which means that you will struggle to stay awake in class, it will be hard to study and you might even get headaches. Your body won’t have the energy to keep up with all your activities such as school, going to the gym or even playing basketball with your friends. Talk to any senior you know and they will tell you that sleep is a beautiful sleep and that you should sleep as much as you can. Apart from sleeping, you need to keep your body energized and not by eating cup noodles and drinking Redbull. Be sure that you are getting enough nutrients from protein, juices, veggies and fruits, etc. Not only will you feel better, you will be able to do so much more, since your body will have the nutrition it needs. If you eat right you won’t need any energy drinks and lets face it, actual food is way better than cup noodles. Try to limit the amount of coffee, pepsi and energy drinks you consume and try tea instead. It also has a decent amount of caffeine and its better for you. Regarding studying, try to find a quiet place with few distractions in order to finish your homework quickly. As much as you try to convince yourself, you actually can’t multitask. Just turn off the TV, and turn you’re your loud music and focus on your assignments. The faster you get your homework out of the way, the more free time you have to actually to fun things. If you ever need help or more helpful tips, just swing by the Health Center and they will be more than happy to help you out and give you a little care package that contains tea, ear plugs, cough drops and more. You can do it! Just focus and power through.

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P a t . t

rez ra Gutier

d by Alejan

Also known as Feast of Saint Patrick is a religious and cultural holiday celebrated on March 17th. As its name suggests, this day is named afte the patron saints of Ireland, Saint Patrick. This holiday was created in celebrate Christianity becoming a part of Ireland. Therefore, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a day associated and that celebrates Ireland and its culture. The Irish celebrated this day since before the 9th century by having a feast that gathered family and friends. Also, there is always a religious procession which commemorates the historic event and Saint Patrick However, as the years passed by, St. Patrickâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Day slowly began to be c in different ways. Although it is still associated with the Irish, it becam green clothing. If a person fails to do so, they will get pinched by ever funky pants and hats, so yes, you will definitely stand out if you are no out and celebrate while taking a few drinks with their friends. What children are told is that during this day, little leprechauns come become a tradition in some places to handout and receive golden cho classrooms in the hope of catching one of those little guys. Last but not least, the color green is associated with good luck and wi Which is why people when people find some, they keep them as lucky something green because not even all the luck in the world will save y shirt.

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trickâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Day

y that is er one of n order to y that is

great s k himself.

celebrated me a tradition that on March 17th everyone must wear a piece of ryone else. Hundreds of people will be wearing green shirts, shoes, ot wearing green. So not only do people wear green, they also go

e out of hiding and go search for golden coins. That is why its ocolate coins. Some children build little leprechaun traps in their

ith the four-leaf clovers which will bring you even more luck. y charms. Even if you find one of these clovers, go and buy yourself you from all the pinches you might get if you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t wear that green

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SpringBreakGuide You donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to watch from your bedroom window as countless cars pull out from their drive way and head towards the airport or the highway. Your neighbors and classmates may be heading to sunny California, Boston or Vancouver, which makes you think that there is nothing to do in Oregon during your break. You could take the train or bus and go to California or Vancouver, but you would miss out on all the things that Oregon has to offer, which are many.

If you decide to simply stay in Eugene, the are great local breweries, many restaura Zany Zoo, the Raptor Center, the Willam Park, museums, parks, theaters, laser tag

You can wake up early one morning with your friends, drive to Spencerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Butte and watch the sunrise. The idea of getting up early during your break might not sound too appealing, but it is worth it. As soon as you reach the top, you overlook the entire city of Eugene and all you can see is a sea of clouds stretching over a beautiful. You can take a little container with hot chocolate and you can hangout with your friends until the sun rises from behind the mountains in front of you. As the sun peaks out, its bright colors slowly start to illuminate all your surroundings which creates a breathtaking view.

There are also kayaking tours on Wald lakes in the entire U.S . You can also go away by the beauty of the landscape. Th that you can go visit. Whether you go i leave feeling rejuvenated and cleansed sleep like a rock the moment your he also a great place to visit, and there are lion caves.

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by Alejandra Gutierrez

ere are many things to do as well. There ants with fantastic food, You can go to mette bike trail, Smith Rock, Amazon g, mini golf, arcades, bowling and more.

So if you are staying in Oregon for Spring Break, do not worry about a thing. You have the option of doing fun stuff and going to amazing places. Not only will you safe a lot of money and time by not buying a train ticket and spending 11 hours on a train ride, you will get to see the true beauty of Oregon.

do Lake, which is one of the cleanest o hiking to Crater Lake and be blown There are also several natural hotsprings in the morning or afternoon, you will d. You will be so relaxed that you will ead touches your pillow. The coast is e of course the sand dunes and the sea

If you want other trips that donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t involve so many outdoor activities, you can go to Portland and tour around their immense Saturday market. You can check out all the stores and shopping malls that you canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t find in Eugene. You can go to the Rose Garden, the Oregon Zoo, the Waterfront and countless other places.

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going out of your re you E N H A T T I T O U N interested S comfort zone to ROUGHO H T meet people from in learning S ION T different cultures as more about cultures A R B E you on a week that has from around the world? L E C been strategically planned out Or tasting foods from for you to do so! This is a chance different continents? Or possibly for everyone to celebrate individuality even showcasing your culture to the and cultural differences that makes the UO campus community at large? If you are, then an enriched and inclusive environment, and for students you’re right where you’re supposed to be. Come see the world in a different light than you are already used to, and to take part in fun activities as well as learning about the experience different cultures without the need for a passport importance of a diverse society at the same time. We aim during the upcoming International Week and Night (IWN) to promote understanding and integration between all students alike and just like every year, IWN is an event ISA this year! IWN is an annual international cultural festival based at the looks forward to hosting, and we want you to look forward to it just as much as we do as well! University of Oregon in Eugene, devoted to promote and If you have even the slightest urge to perform or volunteer celebrate global culture diversity. International Week and Night is hosted by the International Student Association with us, please feel free to contact our Volunteer Coordinator, Megan Garland at mgarland@uoregon.edu, or (ISA) at the University of Oregon, and will be held Week stop by the ISA office anytime! We are located conveniently 6 (May 5th – May 9th), this upcoming spring. IWN is the next to the Mills International Centre in the EMU, and largest cultural event on campus. International Week is filled with events that promote awareness and appreciation we will be more than happy to have any of your questions answered by our hardworking and friendly interns! Even if of our international community, with International Night (May 6th) kick-starting the weeklong event with an evening you didn’t have a question for us, feel free to stop by to say hi! We would love to get to know you more! of cultural performances, exhibitions and food from different parts of the world! Come join us for a week and night of fun, whilst immersing ISA is committed to celebrating the diversity of the campus yourself in an array of cultures! You don’t want to miss out! and community, and nothing will be more exciting than by Sandra Benny

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Director of International Week and Night, 2014

..........Club Meetings

Winter, 2014

Club Name Time Location

ASA (African Student Association)

M / 6PM

Willamette 112

KP (Kultura Pilipinas) T / 5PM

MIC (Mills)

VSA (Vietnamese Student Association)

T / 6PM

MIC (Mills)

HKSA (Hong Kong Student Association)

T / 7PM

River Room

TWSA (Taiwan Student Association) T / 7PM EMU Skylight IBEC (International Business and Economics Club) JSO

W / 6PM

Lills 232

(Japanese Student Organization) R / 6PM Pacific 16

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Event Calendar..........Mar., 2014 • Important Dates v

• Campus Events

• Community Events

VITA -- Free Tax Preparation Service 12pm / Lillis

Spring Registration

3 Stress Less 2pm / EMU Language Circle 4pm/EMU

Italian Conversation Group 730pm / La Perla Pizzeria

Job Shadow Program Info Session 12pm/Lillis

Job Shadow Program Info Session 2pm/Lillis

Course Offering for Summer 2014 Available Online Course Evaluations for Winter 2014 Begins

VITA -- Free Tax Preparation Service 12pm / Lillis

Ducks After Dark Double Feature: Bridesmaids & Hangover Part III 830pm / PLC Hall

Mardi Gras

iSA Coffe Hour with Jewish Student Union 4pm / MIC

Future Music Oregon 7pm/Forhnmayer Music Building International Women’s Day

Daylight Saving Time Begins

Spring Registration

10 Stress Less 2pm / EMU Language Circle 4pm/EMU

Italian Conversation Group 730pm / La Perla Pizzeria

Job Shadow Program Info Session 2pm/Lillis

iSA Coffe Hour with VSA & Mind the Gap 4pm / MIC

Application Deadline: CFMA Scholarship

Last Day to Process a complete withdrawal from all courses

Dead Week

St.Patrics Day

Final’s Week

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CHANGE IS IN THE AIR From this issue, N.E.W.S. is officially changed from UOiSA Newsletter to UOiSA Magazine. N.E.W.S., stands for North, East, West, & South, published itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first issue in October, 2013. With the goal of bridging the gap between the international community and the domestic community on University of Oregon campus, we have been publishing articles that introduce both globle and local news and issues. We appreciate our readers, for you are the motivation behind this magazine. Thank you for all the love and support in the past! If you have any suggestions or feedbakcs, please contact us at: uoisanews@gmail.com

Check out past issues of N.E.W.S. Magazine at: issuu.com/uoisanews

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N.E.W.S. is looking for Volunteer Models. Sign up at UOiSA office [EMU, M148] or Email us at uoisanews@gmail.com

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