A fencer's musings

Happy New Year

2012-01-01T00:00:00.001+09:00

Another exciting year has passed...into the wave of time...

Happy New Year, everyone, and may all your wishes come true this year

Happy Holidays

2011-12-10T22:49:00.000+09:00

Happy Holidays to everyone from our family and everyone from the UAlbany family.

Happy Holidays!

Tickets on Sale for New York World Cup

2011-06-07T07:59:00.001+09:00

Tickets for the New York World Cup are now available for purchase online for the first international 2012 Olympic Games qualifying event to be held in the United States.

Tickets can be purchased online at http://tinypay.me/nyacfencing and are expected to sell out prior to the start of competition.

Read more at: Tickets on Sale for New York World Cup, June 24-26 News USA Fencing

TBS eFM Meet Your Neighbor Interview

2010-07-17T15:59:00.000+09:00

A couple of weeks ago, I was contacted by a staff reporter from TBS eFM, Irene Choe, and was asked to be interviewed for the "Meet Your Neighbor" segment of the show titled Soul of Asia. For the interview, we talked mostly about my involvement in the sport of fencing and the Seoul Fencing Club - which I have belonged to for the past five years.

Because of our individual schedules, Irene and I ended up conducting the interview in my office, which gave Irene a chance to get a short tour of the Yongsan Army Garrison as well.

The interview was aired on July 3, 2010 from 11:00 to 11:20 AM. I was a bit anxious about how the interview would turn out since this was my first radio interview, and because all of my past interviews with the media (mainly newspapers) seemed to have misquoted me or got something wrong about my personal information. I listened to most of the program when it originally aired, but Irene was nice enough to send me the clip of the entire program after it aired so I could listen to the entire thing. Well, the interview turned out alright, I think; however, program, not to disappoint, did get one of my personal information wrong - I was introduced as a Sergeant Major instead of as a Major in the Army. Oh well...I would have to say, though, that if that is the only thing the program got wrong, it is definitely better than the most.

Click on the below picture to hear the clip of the program/interview:

In the program, Irene mentions that she found my information in the back of the Groove magazine. Click here to see the short article that she was referring to.

Numa Numa

2010-07-16T17:06:00.004+09:00

As I was driving to work today, I heard a very familiar song on the radio. At first, I thought it was Hyun Young's song she released back in 2006 called Sister's Dream [누나의꿈], but as I listened, I realized the song was being sung by a group of male singers and it was in what sounded like either German or some other Eastern European language (since I don't speak German or any other Eastern European languages, I did not know for sure, but that's what it sounded like to me).

Naturally, the curiosity killed the cat. After doing some "serious research," I found out that what I've always known as Hyun Young's song was actually a remake of the song called Dragostea Din Tei by a Romanian group called O-zone that was released in 2004.

Of course all of this would not have been any news if I was actually half interested in what's going on in the music or the entertainment scene for the past decade or so...for me that really ended after I stopped following the alternative rock groups such as Nirvana and Tool in the mid 90's.

Anyway, since I had done all this "research," I couldn't just let it wither away...so I decided to upload this post and share with you some of the videos I found on this.

First, here's the official music video of the original "Numa Numa Song" by O-zone:

Just in case you don't speak Romanian, here's the English version with the lyrics:

Now, here's a version by the Korean entertainer Hyun Young:

And another version by Alina Puscau, which was remixed by Basshunter:

After seeing the variations of the Numa Numa Song, I don't know about any of you, but personally, I'd rather watch either Alina or Hyun Young perform this piece than the three Eastern European guys that originally sang it...although, the three guys do sing much better.

Oh, and here's one more thing that I found out on this...
Apparently, this next video is what actually got the original song spread around the globe. In the video, Gary Brolsma, the maker of the video, dances to the song. Brolsma's video, originally released in December 2004 onto the website Newgrounds.com, apparently was the first Numa Numa-themed video to gain widespread attention. Less than three months after the release, it had been viewed more than two million times on the debut website alone. Aptly named, Numa Numa Dance, Brolsma's video has since spawned many parody videos (Like this South Park version).

Here's Gary Brolsma doing the Numa Numa Dance:

Since we are at it, here's another funny version...the Navy Numa Numa (CJ, if you are seeing this, the state of physical fitness of some of the sailors in this video will make you want to reach through the fiber optics and choke the living **** out of them...what you said about the bumble bee when we last met comes to mind...):

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the videos...thought it'd be a good and light-hearted way to end the week. Have a good weekend everyone, and if you are in Seoul, Korea, like me, try to stay dry...

Today...We Celebrate Our Independence Day

2010-07-04T22:15:00.007+09:00

Today is the 234th Independence Day of the United States of America. - it's the fifth consecutive independence day I celebrated overseas. My son, William, celebrated his first independence day (this year) overseas as well. If everything goes as planned, the entire family will be able to celebrate the next independence day in the US.

The US Army garrison in Yongsan, Seoul, Korea, capped off this year's independence day celebration, as it does (almost) every year, with a round of fireworks.

Here's to the last independence day celebration for us in Korea, and happy independence day everyone!!!!

Tragedies of War

2010-07-02T06:45:00.004+09:00

I am currently working on a presentation for a group of South Korean college students on the Bosnian conflict. I have given presentations on this topic before and I had a short video clip that I like to use to gain the students' attention at the beginning of my talks. Over a number of moves and IT upgrades over the years, I no longer seem to have the clip stored on any of my hard drives. So, I looked it up on Youtube...just in case...you never know these days, right? After a little bit of searching, it wasn't too difficult to find the clip I used in my previous presentations (of course, I found much more than the one I was looking for as well). The video shows images of life in Sarajevo during its siege. The clip is set to the music of Seal's Crazy, which I think is a very appropriate, given what happened there during the conflict.

Generational Differences...

2010-06-25T13:52:00.003+09:00

Here is an interesting poll that was conducted in South Korea on the sinking of the ROKS Cheonan by South Korea's Ministry of Public Administration and Security.

A poll of 1,000 middle and high school students as well as adults found that those in their 20's are least inclined to blame North Korea for the sinking of the Cheonan than all other age groups polled.

What is very disturbing is that 85.7% of the teenagers polled did not know when the Korean War began...but then again, what do you expect from the South Korean education system? [That's a whole another posting]

Here's the full article on the results of the poll:

(Original Article by Chosun Ilbo; Original Title: Young People Less Inclined to Blame N. Korea For Shipwreck)

Although 70 percent of the South Korean public believe North Korea was behind the sinking of the Navy corvette Cheonan, the proportion is only 60 percent among people between the ages of 20 and 40, a survey suggests.

Marking the 60th anniversary of the Korean War, the Ministry of Public Administration and Security conducted a poll of 1,000 middle and high school students as well as adults about their attitudes to national security and found that 75.4 percent of adults and 73.4 percent of teenagers believed North Korea was responsible for the sinking in March.

The poll shows that younger Koreans, especially those in their 20s, are suspicious of accusations against North Korea. When asked which country they did think attacked the ship, only 64 percent of them said it was North Korea. Some 5.6 percent said the U.S. and some even pointed to Japan (3.3 percent) and China (1.9 percent). Twenty-five percent said they didn't know.

Among those in their 30s, 75.1 percent said North Korea was behind the sinking, and among 40-somethings 69.7 percent. The proportion rose to 85.3 percent among people in their 50s or older. The percentage of those in their 20s who pointed to North Korea was lower than among high school students (75.4 percent).

When asked about the likelihood of another provocation by North Korea, 16.6 percent of teenagers said "very high," compared to 32.3 percent of those in their 50s or older, a more than two-fold difference. But 73.5 percent of adults and 73.4 percent of teenagers said the chances of another provocation are "very high" or "high."

Compared to a survey last year, more people saw North Korea as an enemy, with 60.9 percent as against 38.9 percent last year. Only 35.4 percent in this year's survey described the North as a "cooperative partner" or "positive competitor."

Meanwhile, 36.3 percent of adults and 85.7 percent of teenagers did not know when the Korean War broke out. And 20.4 percent of adults and 36.3 percent of teenagers did not know that North Korea started the war by invading the South.

North Korea's View on the Korean War

2010-06-25T12:16:00.001+09:00

History, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder...what's more, history - in too many parts of the world - is in the hands of those in power to write the "approved version." It is always interesting to know what different points of view everyone has on the same historical event - even if it is completely skewed and ludicrous.

Here's an article from Chosun Ilbo and Voice of America about North Korea's view on the Korean War (Original Headline: N. Korea's War History Is Mirror Opposite World View)

South Korea and the rest of the world this month are commemorating the 60th anniversary of the start of the Korean War. Most of the world agrees on when that war started, and who started it. But North Korea has its own, unique version of the story.

It was on June 25, 1950 that assault divisions of the North Korean army streaked across the 38th parallel that divides the Korean peninsula. They captured Seoul within days.

South Korea, along with virtually every other nation on earth, recognizes that attack as the start of the three-year Korean War. But Pyongyang sees it differently.

Yang Moo-jin, who is with the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, says North Korea calls it the "Fatherland Liberation War." The North teaches its people that South Korea and the United States attacked the North first, he says. North Korea says it had to respond to liberate the nation.

North Korean media have demonized U.S. soldiers for decades as aggressors. But a scholar on North Korean propaganda at South Korea's Dongseo University, Brian Myers, says they did not originally blame America for starting the war. "It was not actually until after the Korean War, until basically after the North Koreans were left back where they started, that they began to reinvent history," he said.

For a while, some historians lined up behind North Korea's claim that it was just defending itself. Myers says that changed dramatically when the Iron Curtain fell. "Revisionism has been widely discredited since the early 1990s, when Boris Yeltsin, who was then of course the leader of the Soviet Union / Russia made the old Soviet archives available to the West and to South Korea," he said. "And there we saw quite clearly that North Korea and the Soviets had actually planned the assault on the 25th of June together."

North Korea has also never shared details with its people about the armistice that Pyongyang signed to halt the Korean War. Instead, the North describes the 1953 cease of hostilities as a supreme victory for its military over the U.S. and South Korea.

Team USA v. South Korea at the Quarterfinals?

2010-06-25T06:39:00.004+09:00

The Under Secretary of the Army Joseph Westphal told a gathering at the ceremony at the Pentagon to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Korean War on June 24 that he hopes Team USA and South Korea will play each other at the quarterfinals of this year's world cup. Given this year's match ups, it seems there is a fairly high possibility that both Team USA and South Korea could win their round of 16 matches against Ghana and Uruguay, respectively, to meet each other at the quarterfinals. If that were to happen, that would indeed be one of World Cup's most memorable games - at least in my book.

If nothing else, this could make it for a sleepless Saturday night/Sunday morning this weekend for me here in Korea because Korea plays at 11 PM on Saturday, followed by Team USA at 3:30 AM on Sunday.

Here's the full Yonhap report on the Under Secretary of the Army Westphal's comments:
U.S. Wants to Face S. Korea in Quarterfinals: Official
(25 June 2010; By Hwang Doo-hyong)

WASHINGTON, June 24 (Yonhap) -- The United States wants to meet South Korea in the quarterfinals of the FIFA World Cup tournament, a senior U.S. official said Thursday,

Joseph Westphal, undersecretary of the Army, made the remarks while congratulating South Korea for a 2-2 draw with Nigeria Tuesday to advance to the round of 16 in Group B, hoping the U.S. team will meet South Korea in the quarterfinals.

"I congratulate the ambassador and the Korean people for a victory that moves in, though a tie, but moves in the next round of the World Cup," Westphal told a gathering at the ceremony at the Pentagon to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of the 1950-53 Korean War, which falls on Friday. "Of course, the United States, we had a victory yesterday and moved us to the second round. So we will meet in there somewhere."

South Korea faces Uruguay Saturday in the first round of the knockout match, and will meet the United States in the quarterfinals if the U.S. team defeats Ghana.

It is the first time that South Korea advanced to the round of 16 on foreign soil, although they were semifinalists in the 2002 FIFA World Cup, co-hosted by South Korea and Japan.

Team USA Advances with a Dramatic Victory over Algeria

2010-06-24T12:04:00.010+09:00

With Landon Donovan's goal at 91st minute goal against Algeria, Team USA won its first World Cup match in eight years and finished atop its frist round group (Group C) for the first time since the original World Cup in 1930. In a rematch of sorts, Team USA will play Ghana next on June 26 at 2:30 PM EDT at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg, South Africa, in the round of 16 for a spot in the quarterfinals. Ghana won the final match of the opening round against USA to send Team USA packing in Germany in 2006.

Now, here are some photos of the American fans at yesterday's game:

South Korean Public Universities to Pay Professors Based on Performance

2010-06-22T13:32:00.000+09:00

I have mentioned on one of my previous postings that the professors teaching at the public universities in South Korea are wofully underpaid and those with talent are being plucked by the private universities with much higher salaries than those who stay at the public universities. Chosun Ilbo ran the following article today about the South Korean Ministry of Education, Science and Technology's plan to pay professors at the public universities based on their performance. I can only say one thing about this decision - it's about time...

Here's the full Chosun Ilbo report:

Newly-employed public university professors will be compensated based on their performance starting from next month.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology announced plans to reward professors who perform well with up to four times their usual compensation.

By 2015 salaries for those who fall in the lowest 10 percent performance category will be frozen at the base level.

The performance-based pay system will expand to affect over 16,000 professors at 41 public universities in five years.

The average South Korean university student is simply not interested in North Korea

2010-06-07T06:27:00.001+09:00

The average South Korean university student is simply not interested in North Korea: "This Blog Linked From Northeat Asia Matters: The Korean Peninsula."
Monday, June 7, 2010

Cool Video of Point of View Fencing

2010-04-30T09:31:00.002+09:00

This video provides a pretty cool first-person view of fencing. The problem with one of these mask-mounted cameras is the image stabilization. This clip isn't too bad so the fencer must not have been bouncing too much.

This kind of video really gives the observer an idea of what it is like to be inside the fencing bout. You don't get the full feeling but it's a lot more immersive than watching even world cup videos.

[Source: www.fencing.net]

Korea Junior Women's Team Foil wins Silver in Baku

2010-04-19T14:57:00.005+09:00

The Korean Women's Junior Foil Team won the Silver for Korea at the 2010 Junior World Championships after losing to Russia 35-29.

The Korea Junior Women's Foil squad of Kim, Lee, and Park got to the finals by defeating the US squad 39-29 at the semi-finals (The US would go on to place 4th after losing to Poland in the Bronze Medal match).

The Korean team finished the first bout of the gold medal match trailing the Russian team 4-1, and continue to trail the Russian team for the most of the match (Korea took the lead briefly around the middle of the match). When Lee of Korea faced off against Derglazova of Russia, who won this year's individual Junior Women's Foil title, for the 9th and final bout of the match, the score was 29-19 in favor of the Russian squad. For the next 3 minutes of fencing (which actually lasted for approximately 11 minutes), Lee patiently worked to close the gap but ran out of time at the end. The match ended 39-29, and the Russian squad took home the Gold and the Korean squad took home the Silver.

This match was very much a personal match for me and my wife because we know two of the Korean fencers (Kim and Lee). We have known Lee (a freshman in college) and Kim (a high school senior) since they were in the 9th grade (3rd year of middle school here in Korea) because the fencing club we belong to in Seoul practices together with the high school team Kim currently belongs to (and Lee used to belong to until she graduated). So, we have had the privi privilege to watch these young ladies grow as competitive fencers for the past four years, and are very impressed and very proud of what they have accomplished.

As my wife and I were watching the video clip of this year's gold medal match, I told my wife, "if Lee and Kim keep up what they are doing, we will be able to say, 'I knew that youngster when she was still a snot-nosed middle school kid,' when one, or both of them show up on TV as olympians." She laughed and agreed....

Now that I think about it...this really makes me feel a lot older than I am... hehehe :)

At any rate, although my wife and I both know that the three young ladies of the Korean team will probably never read this posting, we just wanted to publicly acknowledge their hard work and outstanding accomplishments as well as our support.

Now for your enjoyment, then, here's the video clip of the 2010 Fencing Junior World Championship Women's Team Foil gold medal match brought to you by courtsey of FIE Video:

2010-04-18T10:06:00.005+09:00

Junior Fencing World Championships 2010 Baku, Azerbaijan
Mens Team Foil Gold Medal Match
Italy vs United States

ITA (Francesco TRANI, Edoardo LUPERI, Lorenzo NISTA, Daniele GAROZZO)
USA (Alexander MASSIALAS, David WILLETTE, Gerek MEINHARDT, Zain SHAITO)

The US Men's Foil Team of Alex Massialas, Gerek Meinhardt, Zain Shaito, and David Willette defeated Italy 45-35 for the Gold Medal in the 2010 Junior Team World Championship for men's foil.

Way to go, Team USA!!!

Courtsey of FIE Video

2010 Junior Fencing World Championships Men's Team Sabre Final

2010-04-18T09:47:00.004+09:00

Junior Fencing World Championships 2010 Baku, Azerbaijan
Men's Sabre Team - Gold Medal Match
Canada vs Germany

Courtesy of FIE Video

A look at Pax Koreana

2010-04-13T07:14:00.003+09:00

Found this interesting piece on the organization called Pax Koreana today. This piece was written by Andray Abrahamian, a doctoral candidate at the University of Ulsan, South Korea, and was originally carried on Asia Times Online.

Evangelical Pax Koreana crosses the line

"Do you agree that the Republic of Korea can become a superpower, stamping on defeatism?" This is the question one must answer to be accepted into Pax Koreana's Internet cafe. Thus appears the online introduction to this group: a secular introduction to a blend of conservative politics and religion that has attracted a steadily growing 10,000 or so members.

It would be easy to dismiss the group as another hyper-patriotic or passionate religious group, if it weren't for the fact that it was involved with both Robert Park and Aijalon Mahli Gomes, the two Americans who separately crossed into North Korea to become evangelist martyrs in recent months.

Jo Sung-rae, Pax Koreana's spokesperson, claims that both men planned and executed their missions alone; the wealth of media attention he received and the detailed information he provided news outlets during Park's detention suggest otherwise.

Until the attention Robert Park garnered, Pax Koreana was mostly responsible for small street protests along various conservative themes. One held last September in downtown Seoul saw 10 protesters decry a national trade union and its political allies for "ruining the country".

Founded in 2009 on the anniversary of a North-South naval clash, Pax Koreana blends faith and politics toward two main goals: first, the reunification of Korea and the destruction of communism. Second, to develop Korea into a great power. Ironically, some of the language on the group's forum is reminiscent of the calls for unity and patriotism that one sees in North Korean publications - only with a god, rather than a terrestrial leader, at the center.

Since 2009's currency reform, if we are to believe most South Korean and US media, the end for North Korea's Dear Leader is just around the corner. It probably isn't, and even if Kim Jong-il's health does fail him, North Korea would not rapidly descend into chaos. With significant (if unknown) amounts of aid and investment from China, plus a track record of surviving significant adversity, Pyongyang's government isn't disappearing anytime soon.

Pax Koreana's rallies often call for an immediate end to the regime rather than some form of measured, gradual realigning of North and South. Oddly, in public prayer its adherents even "proclaim the end of Kim Jong-il's regime" and an end to ideological warfare; as if by invoking god, it becomes manifest.

However, Pax Koreana is exactly the kind of organization that would make its presence felt if there was a sudden change in the North. If a nation of people were overnight unable to depend on the form of political and social organization that permeated their entire lives and were quickly reunited with the culturally and materially very different South, the social stresses would be enormous. Race-based patriotism and the earnest faith of evangelical Christians could be expected to fill the void.

Pax Koreana, which has organized protests against national labor unions and progressive politicians in Seoul, would have Northerners exposed to the shock of an entirely different social system, with only the balm of religion to soothe the transition. Multiple Christian groups work with North Korean issues - its stubborn resistance to their message makes it the ultimate prize in the eyes of some evangelists.

Some groups provide aid to refugees escaping through China. Others smuggle literature into the country. One group, NK Missions, claims to be working towards collecting and storing a Bible for each household in North Korea and organizing a delivery system to distribute them within six months should North Korea open up.

Two things set Pax Koreana apart from these other groups. First, the contradiction between its universalist, Christian message and its exclusive, nationalist one. (One wonders if Gomes even understood the patriotic bent of the group - the superpower-patriotic part of its message is only in Korean). Second, the willingness to encourage the potential "martyrdom" of two Americans to wage a public relations campaign against Pyongyang.

Martyrdom is, after all, an extreme choice and makes for a powerful media campaign: the sudden media exposure of Pax Koreana's spokesperson, Jo Sung-rae, is testament to that. In his flurry of interviews during the internment of Park and then Gomes, the universalist Christian/human rights portion of the group's message was oft repeated. There was little mention of the nationalist side and it was claimed that the two men planned their trips alone.

Both Park and Gomes appear to be very devout Christians. Jo Sung-rae likes to compare Park to American civil rights activist Martin Luther King. Others have interpreted his actions as those of a "slightly unhinged Christian". His own pastor in Arizona has referred to him as "unusually serious" about his faith. Serious to the point that he walked into North Korea with a letter telling Kim Jong-il that God loves him and that he should resign. Gomes also appears to be deeply devout, with Jo reporting that he was seen in tears during prayer at a protest meeting against North Korea.

Pax Koreana has been understandably vague on the details of Park's and Gomes' entry into North Korea, but reports suggest that neither man arrived in Seoul planning to become a martyr. It appears they were both, to some degree, persuaded of the righteousness of and aided in the logistics of their missions. Park and Jo have been longtime associates - there is no record of Gomes being interested in North Korea proselytizing before he moved to the outskirts of Seoul to teach English.

Riding the wave of interest in both Americans' illegal entries, Pax Koreana's public relations campaign received the international attention it hoped for. The number of people at rallies connected to Pax Koreana grew to hundreds and the organization's online membership has continued to grow. This prompted one moderator to become suspicious of "commie infiltrators". The moderator exhorts the group's members to root them out ''in the spirit of Joe McCarthy'', the American politician who until his death in 1957 was the most visible public face of a period in which Cold War tensions fueled fears of widespread communist subversion.

Furthermore, claims leapt on by various media outlets that Park was the victim of sexual torture in North Korea seem to have started with a radio interview given by Jo after Park's brief stay in a California mental hospital. News outlets dutifully reported this interpretation, though it seems entirely possible that the mental state that led him into North Korea also took him to the American hospital.

Encouraging religious infiltrators of dubious mental health accomplishes little positive. In fact, the crossings ironically work to strengthen the North. Pyongyang receives a potential domestic public relations gift and the governments of South Korea and the United States get even less leverage than usual. It's unclear if political capital was expended on Park's release. What is clear is that the timing and manner of Park's freedom was entirely at Pyongyang's discretion. On April 7, Gomes was sentenced to eight years hard labor and fined US$722,300 - again Pyongyang has the chance to use him as a goodwill gesture or to extract some kind of concession for his early release.

While Pyongyang receives an extra tool in its dealings with the United States, Jo and Pax Koreana are given an international forum for some of their message - the hyper-patriotic part remaining obscured in a Korean-language, members-only forum. But the internationalized message concerning human rights is nothing new and doesn't put any real pressure on policymakers he hopes in turn will pressure Pyongyang.

Several Christian leaders have spoken out against Park's and Gomes' illegal crossings into the North. However, if just a handful of believers are more inspired than frightened by the strategy of these two men, Pax Koreana will continue to grow.

Comparison of High School Students in Northeast Asia and the US

2010-04-09T10:46:00.005+09:00

The Japanese Education Ministry apparently released the results of a survey of 6,200 high school students in South Korea, China, Japan, and the US on their attitudes in class yesterday, according to Dong-A Ilbo.

The survey was reportedly conducted from spring to fall last year. Here were some interesting figures:

1. Students admitting to frequently or occasionally dozing off in class:
China: 4.7%
Japan: 45.1%
South Korea: 32.3%
US: 20.8%

2. Take notes in class:
China: 90.1%
Japan: 93.1%
South Korea: 68.1%
US: 89.1%

3. Actively participate in class:
China: (Newspaper article did not say)
Japan: 46.2%
South Korea: 16.3%
US: 51.5%

Having attended high school in the US (oh, so many years ago), I was surprised to see that the US students compared so well to thier Chinese, Japanes, and Korean counterparts. Then I read the rest of the article...

...59.4% of American students said they are absentminded in class. American
students were found to be the most distracted in class out of the four
countries: 64.2% said they socialize in class; 46.9% said they eat snacks in
class; and 38.9% said they send e-mails or read unrelated books in class.

Hmmm....now that's the American high school students I remember.

The article also said that the Chinese students were found to have very high level of participation and behave themselves very well in class -- Hmm.... who says Communist brainwashing is all bad? (Yes, that was cynicism)

After reading this article, I wondered what the results would be if one would ask the same set of students the following two questions:
1. Are the classes structured to encourage the students to think for themselves?
2. Do class assignments and exams require the students to write essays as answers?

Just wondering....

USS Nicholas captures attacking pirates

2010-04-02T13:37:00.004+09:00

Being a pirate is apparently harder than it looks.

A group of pirates apparently attacked USS Nicholas at 12:27 AM (local time) on April 1st while USS Nicholas was patrolling west of the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean.

USS Nicholas, an Oliver Hazard Perry Class guided missile frigate, defended herself and returned fire, capturing three pirates who were aboard the attacking skiff - the Nicholas later sank the skiff. The Nicholas later also captured two additional pirates and the mothership.

The US Navy is currently holding the five unlucky pirates aboard the Nicholas.

When they were asked what they were doing attacking a warship, they reportedly answered, "it seemed to be a large expensive ship they could get a lot of ransom for."

I don't know about you, but if I saw the Nicholas (photo shown on this post), or any other US warship, passed by me, attacking it is probably not the first thing that goes through my mind.

Not the smartest bunch, but they did get one thing right. The Nicholas is a large expensive ship, weighing in at 4,100 displacement tons and 445 feet long.

Korea National Police arrests Two Pakistani Men suspected of Terrorism

2010-04-02T10:55:00.003+09:00

Yonhap News Agency just posted this article. I wonder if these guys are related in any way to the suspected Taliban who was picked up in February of this year.

********************

Police arrest two suspected terrorists from Pakistan

By Kim Eun-jung
SEOUL - Two Pakistani men who are suspected of being members of a terrorist organization have been arrested for allegedly illegally entering South Korea, police here said Friday.

The two men allegedly entered the country via a Pakistani merchant ship that arrived in the southern port of Busan late last year and bypassed an immigration checkpoint by climbing over the wall there, the National Police Agency said.

According to police, the Pakistani men moved to Changwon, a nearby city, and began working in a clothing factory until they were arrested by immigration authorities last month.

Investigators said they have obtained intelligence that the detainees are members of the Taliban and have asked the Pakistani government to verify that information.

"We are currently investigating why they came and possible links to other terror groups, but no clear evidence has been found yet," a police officer said.

In February, another Pakistani man who claimed to be a member of the Taliban was arrested for passing through South Korea several times using a fake passport, raising alarm over the country's immigration control ahead of the Seoul summit of the world's 20 major economies in November.

Body Scanner

2010-03-25T23:49:00.005+09:00

An airport security worker plans to sue her bosses after a colleague leered at her "naked" image in an anti-terror body scanner, The Sun reported Thursday.

Jo Margetson, 29, spent Wednesday in crisis talks with Heathrow owner BAA.

She has consulted lawyers at civil rights group Liberty amid claims her privacy and human rights were breached.

The Sun reported how security guard John Laker, 25, took a picture of Jo's breasts when she mistakenly walked into the X-ray machine, which makes "nude" images of passengers to find hidden weapons.

Laker was given a formal harassment warning from cops and may also face the sack.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission said: "There needs to be a lawful system of training and conduct rather than the current haphazard approach which is already showing its flaws."

Note: The photo was carried on Korea Times and did not have an explanation as to if it was a photo of Ms. Margeston or if it was a file photo. Either way, I for one think that there is a civil rights and privacy issue here. Prevention of terrorism is important, but one must also ask, "at what cost?" As someone who worked counter-terrorism cases before, personally, "at all cost is not and cannot be the answer."

Marriage Rate Falls to Lowest Level

2010-03-24T21:42:00.000+09:00

(KOREA TIMES) - The country's marriage rate fell to its lowest level ever in 2009, a year of economic downturn. The average age of brides and grooms, meanwhile, rose to its highest ever.

According to Statistics Korea, 310,000 couples tied the knot last year, down 5.5 percent, or 18,000 marriages, from the previous year, and 10 percent from 2007.

The crude marriage rate, or the number of marriages per 1,000 people, stood at 6.2, the lowest level since 1970 when the statistical office started compiling such data.

Marriages have been decreasing since 1996, except for 2007 which was a "double spring year" on the lunar calendar. Many people got married in the belief that couples who marry in such a year live happily.

The office attributed the falling marriage rate to the aging of society and the economic downturn.

"People seem to be delaying marriage for economic reasons" a spokesperson at the statistical office said.

Grooms who got married for the first time last year were on average 31.6 years old, 0.2 years older than the previous year. First-time brides were 28.7 years of age, 0.4 year older than in 2008.

Couples in Seoul were the oldest, with grooms being 31.9 years old and their mates 29.6 years old.

The ratio of couples with the bride older than the groom was 14.3 percent, up 0.5 percentage point from the previous year. The ratio of couples whose members were the same age stood at 16.1 percent.

One of 10 who wed last year married someone from overseas. The number of Koreans who tied the knot with a foreign spouse totaled 33,300 last year.

Among Korean grooms working in the farming or fishing industry, 35.2 percent married a foreign wife.

S. Korea Listed in Internet Censorship Watchlist: Rights Watchdog

2010-03-15T12:36:00.001+09:00

SEOUL, March 15 (Yonhap) -- South Korea, the world's most wired country, has been listed as an "Enemy of the Internet" by the Paris-based rights watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) for its "draconian" censorship.

The RSF said in the "Internet Enemies" report dated Friday South Korea has been listed for the South Korean government's alleged censorship promotion.

The media organization also listed North Korea among the world's 12 top enemies of the Internet, according to the report.

"Draconian laws are creating too many specific restrictions on Web users by challenging their anonymity and promoting self-censorship," read the report.

The South Korean government requires visitors of some Web portals to input their real names and residential registration numbers to verify their identity before posting messages or comments.

The report warned that the government's battle against proliferating false information could even alienate potential investors.

"Its drastic rules with regard to Web user registration and surveillance are considered by such international websites as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter as a deterrent with regard to their entry into the South Korean market," it said.

It also introduced the case of the popular blogger Minerva whose 2007 portrayal of the South Korean economy was accused of disseminating false information on the Web.

The report from RSF analyzed that the government's strengthening of censorship was motivated by its attempt to maintain order in a period of social unrest. But the authorities have resorted to "excessive means," it said, which guides users to practice self-censorship.

By Lee Youkyung

2010-03-03T10:04:00.001+09:00

North Korea has its own "Internet" – a national information network independent from the US-based Internet regulator – it apparently also has its own operating system (OS), named Red Star, reportedly developed by order of Kim Jong-il.

A Russian student Mikhail, who studies at the Kim Il-Sung University and writes a blog [written in Russian] from the Russian embassy in Pyongyang, has recently purchased the Red Star OS and tested it. RT.com, with permission from Mikhail, provided some photos and screen shots of the OS and provided an opportunity to take a glimpse at IT life of North Korea.

Curtis Melvin has very kindly posted the article on his blog North Korean Economy Watch. Here's the link: http://www.nkeconwatch.com/2010/03/01/dprks-linux-os-red-star/