friday, january 30, 2004
news
the university daily kansan 3A
Holiday party starts today
Students celebrate Chinese New Year with food, songs
By Jodie Kraftt
jkraftt@kanans.com
Kansans staff writer
With fireworks, dancing and dumplings, millions of people across the world celebrated Chinese New Year and ushered in the Year of the Monkey Jan. 22.
Celebrations at the University of Kansas will begin today with a Chinese New Year Party from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Ecumenical Christian Ministries, 1204 Oread Ave.
LeaMarie Herron, event coordinator, said interest had increased considerably over the years. Last year's attendance was about 100. This year she expected more. Better publicity and more KU classes coming to the events contributed to
the increase. Herron said.
Herron said most of the students who participated in the events were actually American, either majoring in Asian studies or taking an Asian class.
Bailey Skiles, Marion senior, said she would most likely go to the party this afternoon. Skilles studied abroad in Hong Kong for business during the Fall 2002 semester but left before new year celebrations began.
"Students there get one to two weeks off of school, and a lot of people travel and visit their families," Skiles said.
Skiles said she enjoyed traditional Chinese dishes in Hong Kong and was looking forward to eating them at the party.
"Real Chinese food is very different than Americanized Chinese food," Skiles said. "It's not like anything you're going to find in Kansas, but I liked it ultimately."
Herron said the party, sponsored by the Center for East Asian Studies, would be as traditional as possible. From 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. students and faculty can sample treats such as dumplings, rice cakes, sesame candies, melon seeds and oranges and sing Chinese songs.
"Most Chinese celebrations involve food and fireworks," Herron said. "But of course we're not allowed to set off fireworks on campus."
Tailan Chi, associate professor of international business, will experience the festivities for the first time as he helps to make 1,000 dumplings from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Chi said cultural events were beneficial to all students.
"It's a very good way to facilitate cultural exchanges and to stimulate student interest in other cultures and countries," Chi said.
-Edited by Nikki Nugent
Chinese ring in New Year
By Patrick Cady
pcady@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
In legend, the order of Chinese time began with a race.
Twelve animals gathered at the edge of a river, each wanting to be the one to lead the Chinese cycle of years. When they set out, each animal used its own special skills to try to win.
In the end, the mouse scurried first to the shore, and the pig, having decided to have a lunch as the rest were racing, came in last, and was doomed forever to remain fat.
This year, the wheel of Chinese time turns again, and it lands on the wily monkey. Mainland Chinese mark the coming of the new year with a vibrant 15-day spring festival. People receive up to seven days vacation, and cover the streets with decoration.
"To us its a big thing," Lian Kuai Ting, Beijing, graduate student said. "When the spring festival comes we will get a lot of
things to eat and new dress."
The Chinese New Year began on Jan. 22, and the celebration period will run until about Feb. 8. Local celebrations of the lunar new year are similar to the national Chinese galas in that they all share an underlying spirit.
"It's a time of renewal." Sheree Willis, China program director for The Kansas Asia Scholars, said. All of the customs surrounding the spring festival or Chinese New Year emphasize hope for the new year, prosperity and an emphasis on family, Willis said.
These might include firing massive chains of fire crackers to scare away evil spirits, hanging bright red coupless written in Chinese characters around the doors or hanging signs with words such as "prosperity," or "happiness" upside down.
"They do that because the Chinese word for arrive and upside down are homophonous," Willis said.
happiness to come to them in the new year.
By doing this they, in effect, bid
Another custom widely observed during the Chinese New Year involves bright red envelopes. Filled with money and called hang pao, these are given to the youth and unmarried by elders and married couples.
The youth in turn, honor their elders by wishing them a good new year and bowing in respect, Ting said. People also pay off debts, clean house and buy new clothes to start the new year fresh.
In Malaysia, sometimes people hire costumed lion dancers to dance in front of houses to summon good luck, Eugene Lau, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, graduate student said.
In the United States, though, the celebrations are much more simple, but still stress the value of togetherness.
"It's sort of like Thanksgiving," Lau said.
—Edited by Nikki Nugent
By Patrick Cady pcady@kansan.com Kansan staff writer
Thoughts of Mars captivate students
All it might take is a microbe. One microscopic fossilized organism, or even proof of onceflowing water, could change the world.
As Spirit, NASA's multimillion-dollar scientific mobile robot, and its twin sister, Opportunity, slowly rove across the rusted dirt of Mars, possible existence of past or present life on the red planet captures the world's mind.
"There might be places where life might be more likely but we don't have access to them," Adrain C. Melott, professor of physics and astronomy, said. "So Mars is it for now."
With such a search, the Red Planet rises on the minds of KU students.
"I think it's possible there might have been microbial life on Mars," Brian Thomas, Lawrence graduate student, said. "But the big question is if there was once running water."
Even if thoughts of life doesn't catch imaginations, other aspects of Mars make students think.
"Microbes wouldn't excite me," Andrew Willey, Colorado Springs, Colo., senior, said. "I'm more excited by the commercial prospects the geology and new rock formations might offer."
If life is discovered, though, the revelation could have great impact in religious circles.
Especially in some Western faiths, some adjustments might be needed, Sandra Zimdars-Schwartz, religious studies professor, said.
Thad Holcombe, campus minister and director at the Ecumenical Christian Ministries, sees an advantage in Mars exploration.
"Finding signs of life would be wonderful," Holcombe said. "It wouldn't surprise me, and it
"I asked two astronauts who were guests there whether or not they would accept a mission to Mars even if they knew the chances were small that they could return. They said, Like
a shot! James Gunn
professor emeritus and director of the Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction
might help some people realize humanity might not be at the center of the universe after all."
For other faiths, the possible discovery of life may end up fueling discussion.
"I think for the Jews our favorite pastimes are arguing, debating and questioning," Polli Kenn, program director at KU Hillel, said. "I don't think it would throw a wrench in our beliefs, but it would give us something else to argue about."
As information is continually beamed back to Earth from the rovers, reality seems to border on science fiction.
Even if no information confirms past or present life on Mars, the pull of Mars is still strong to some.
James Gunn, professor emeritus and director of the Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction, attended a conference in China six years ago where he met several veterans of the space program.
"I asked two astronauts who were guests there whether or not they would accept a mission to Mars even if they knew the chances were small that they could return," Gunn said. "They said, 'Like a shot!'"
Edited by Henry C. Jackson
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