Emmapemma Wenjun Xu

     Nobel peace prize Laureat Elie Wiesel talked about his life and the concerns for the future of mankind in the documentary ELIE WIESEL (the video is available in the library). After his survival from Auschwitz, he became a journalist and later novelist. He sums up his life of seeking to understand human behavior, mourns the tendency of humans to dehumanize each other in order to kill with impunity. In the documentary, he expressed his view of September 11 (42ed-48th min). His words are calm and pregnant with meaning. Will the 21st century recreate the nightmares of the 20th? He analyzed the re-emergence of terrorism in this century.

      Another video BEYOND HATE, which is about the global violence is also available in the library.

      I watch the movie called  Stolen Childhoods during the break. It’s a documentary, filmed in seven countries: Brazil, India, USA, Mexico, Indonesia, Kenya and Nepal, on global child labor. The facts which were told in the documentary are shocking.  We accept the reality that everyone is not born equal in the world, since the society will never be absolutely  equal. However, can we allow those children losing their childhood at such an early age? Their childhood is stolen as well as their future and whole lives.

     I was just folding my cloth from laundry, 2 sport pants were made in Kenya; 3 tops made in India and 1 skirts was made in Indonesia. Was child labor used in the manufacturing process of these cloth? I don’t know. However, I feel guilty when I know the posibilities exist.

http://video.on.nytimes.com/?fr_story=d2ac92f32b31bd10a798d1338f13e831e6049d77

Last Saturday, I attended the 2007 Washington DC AIDS Walk along with SGAC members.According to the organization, which organized this event, there were about 6,000 people registered for the walk.  On the front of our AIDS walk T-shirts, it says that among every 20 adults in DC, there is one who has HIV.

      I felt astonished about this fact. In this capital city, HIV is threatening people’s lives step by step, while busy people always neglect this fact. Fortunately, some people decided to get together to raise awareness of AIDS, to support AIDS research, and to fight back. No one knew or cared who among us had HIV. People walked 5K for the same purpose and they moved each other. Our group finished that 5K in 1 h and 15 minutes.

Family weekend is going very well. You can see excited families around the campus. They enjoyed listening ghost stories, singing college songs, taking part in 4 miles cross country games, and attending auctions and the amazing Pumpkin Parade. Some of them are alumnae of this college. This is the most amazing thing of this college. Hearing students mention that their grandmother’s grandmother graduated from this college is not a strange thing here. History and students are the assets of this college, and they are the power that support the college survives till now. I can imagine how excited my families will be if they can come. They will fall in love with this fascinating college as me.