중앙데일리

Flighty yes, but not homeless

The legacy of Chung Ju-yung, the late founder of the Hyundai Group, seems to decline as time passes, save for one thing. The Seosan Farm, a large landfill in Cheonsu Bay, South Chungcheong province, is getting more attention. The farm created by linking Seosan-gun and Taean-gun with an embankment 8 kilometers long, is 15,000 hectares wide. The area has become famous for bird watching, it is known as a paradise for birds and a place where visitors…

Nov 15,2002
In praise of diamond guerrillas

"It was like fighting against a god. Their pitching changes and pinch-hitting were amazing. I thought our team was going to lose. I have never experienced this kind of game," said Kim Eung-yong, the head coach of the Samsung Lions professional baseball team, about Game 6 of the Korean Series last Sunday night. Those who watched the game can understand what Kim meant. His remark was no formality coming from a winner's generosity. Game 6 was a brea…

Nov 14,2002
Scanning the land for a star

The rating system applied to fence out underage moviegoers and television audiences has its roots in a scale that measured the brightness of stars and other heavenly objects. Hipparchos, a Greek astronomer, is credited with using six different "magnitudes" of brightness to catalog the stars. In the 2d century B.C., on observing their varying degrees of luminosity, he categorized the 1,080 stars then known to exist into six stages of brightness. T…

Nov 13,2002
The nature of things

An inquiring child is often fully capable of sending an adult into an abyss of ignorance. Take this example: You are asked why the moon changes in shape. You are probably able to answer that it's because of the movement of the universe. You might even bring out a sphere, a lamp and a baseball bat, turn out the lights and demonstrate the revolutions of the moon. The child might then ask why the moon revolves. You might then talk about Newton's Law…

Nov 12,2002
Diamond-studded rights abuses

The Rhodes Scholarship, a renowned British academic program at Oxford University, has awarded scholarships to many professionals around the world, including Bill Clinton. The scholarships were established through property bequeathed by Cecil John Rhodes (1853-1902). Mr. Rhodes was an entrepreneur and politician in the British African colony of Rhodesia. In 1887, Mr. Rhodes founded the De Beers Mining Co, which now controls about 65 percent of…

Nov 11,2002
Doctors and paupers

Walking along the streets of Berlin, one often notices nameplates that begin "Dr. Dr." These titles can be found on business cards as well. "Dr. Dr." means that a person has received two doctoral degrees. If the person is a professor at a university, the title becomes longer: "Prof. Dr. Dr." Although some say it sounds ridiculous, it shows the German respect for education, tradition and authority. Anyone with a Ph.D. may well be proud of the a…

Nov 09,2002
Echoes of Daewoo

Last week Fiat, Italy's largest automaker, officially announced that it was experiencing a crisis. To survive, Fiat needs to lay off 5,100 workers. Labor unions have blocked roads near Fiat factories in Milan and Turin, and in Sicily, in protest of the decision. Meanwhile, Fiat management has hinted of restructuring plans. Italians are in a state of shock, for Fiat is the "pride of Italy." Giovanni Agnelli (1866-1945) founded the company in 1…

Nov 08,2002
Tortured innocents

"You put me through terrible torture. You've done terrible things, and there was nothing I could do. I was so terrorized that I did not dare to get angry. Damn you, you evil people." Kim Keun-tae, a Millennium Democratic Party assemblyman, says he spoke those words to himself when he asked to shake hands with the officers who held and tortured him for 20 days in September 1985 on charges of anti-government activities. Torture kills humani…

Nov 07,2002
Anti-terror or hegemony?

On June 22, 1941, Hitler's army invaded the former Soviet Union. As Germany and the Soviet Union began full-scale combat, the United States and Great Britain expressed their support for the Soviet Union, a country with an ideology hostile to theirs. They promulgated the Atlantic Charter on Aug. 12 as an anti-fascist league. The main reason that Hitler invaded the Soviet Union was to secure resources for a possible long-term war against the Uni…

Nov 06,2002
Rumor mill in overdrive

"What's behind it?" Koreans often say whenever there is a suspicion raised about an incident or political news. It doesn't matter whether the news is about a domestic incident or an international one. Rumors of conspiracy concerning the bombing of the World Trade Center in New York still continue after more than a year. Some say the U.S. government set up the whole situation to increase the popularity of President Bush. Others say the event w…

Nov 05,2002

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