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Showing posts with label Issue 2. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Issue 2. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 14, 2015
Animal Cruelty: the Ugly SIde of our “Green” Country
Animal
Cruelty: the Ugly SIde of our “Green” Country
The Cult News| October
2014
By W.S
By W.S
A toucan left unconscious without the upper
part of its beak, an axed anteater, a bound crocodile in a bar, abused dogs
with a low chance of being rehabilitated, a tiny baby ocelot found dehydrated
in a house… What is going on in Costa Rica, the “green” country? Since the news
of the beakless toucan back in January, some say there has been an enormous
increase in cases of animal abuse and, incredibly, a massive indignation from
the citizens. According to La Nación, the National Service of Animal Health (Senasa)
informed about 1,200 reports of animal abuse last year. In comparison to the
1,200 reports of animal abuse from last year, it seems as if this 2015 will be
even worse for animals across this country. The toucan incident is not only
outrageous, but also a vicious crime. To make this all worse, a reinforcement
of the animal protection law is still missing.
It is incredible that Costa Rica, the green
country, has not approved a more efficient law for the protection of animals.
Animals abuse should be punished by prison time. Even with all the
indignation of citizens, all the petitions and the protests –like the one on
February 8th, the government is still not willing to pay full
attention to this matter. Evidently, President Luis Guillermo Solís has distinct
priorities in spite the fact that during his presidential campaign he promised
to prioritize this bill concerning the animal law and pledged to be a supporter
of animals’ rights.
Let’s also not forget that a bill has to
be supported and accepted by the legislators. However, since last year, many
opposite arguments that favor the livestock sector have unfolded. During the
protest Protesta de la Muerte on February 2015, a legislator indicated
that they have been ignoring the requests for the approval of this new bill.
With the obvious indifference and the
obstacles this law is confronting, the government has showed a complete double
moral. They state that they are trying to promote and approve this new bill but
still they set obstacles in front of it. They print out an ecological image of
this country to the rest of the world, yet we are not.
Meet the Staff: Ekaterina Zamyshliaeva Talks about her Learning Experience for Teaching
Meet
the Staff: Ekaterina Zamyshliaeva Talks about her Learning Experience for
Teaching
The Cult News| March
2015
By G.Cocozza.
By G.Cocozza.
Native of Moscow, Russia, Ekaterina has a
particular passion for teaching languages. Ekaterina started teaching in Letras
in 2011. She has dedicated her life to deliver a special learning experience to
each one of her students. Her classes aim to offer a compelling and friendly
atmosphere for students to gain more interest in the language and culture.
She
developed part of her teaching style back when she was 7-years old. When her
mother was about to enroll her into school, it was very popular for children to
learn French. Entering the post- Soviet Union era, French was the language most
politicians around Europe would speak to discuss international matters,
therefore, it was expected that she first started learning French as her first
foreign language . “To my luck, my mom changed her mind after meeting
with the director of this school, who seemed to perform a military-like ruling.
She told me that she did not like the atmosphere,” Ekaterina remembers. She
ended up attending a school number 43, located in Suschchióvskaya Ulitsa. Besides Russian lessons, students
were encouraged to take German. This institution remains a public school today,
focused on the teaching of German, English and French. For her, this experience
was the most nurturing one. The stigma that existed about Germans as people who
were severe and stiff was mistaken; instead teachers would be filled with life
and inspired to teach. They were very virtuous and were able to motivate their
students to love learning. In spite of the fact that it was a very
hard-working environment, the spark of learning for fun would never disappear.
The
relationship between instructors and pupils was effective, personal and
engaging. “I remember our school director, greeting all his students by their
names at the front gate of the school every single morning, ” she says.
Certainly, these devoted teachers in her early life had influenced
her role as a professor. She makes her classes an “experience to remember,”
both for the students and herself. At the end of every class, and upon her
request, students provide her with feedback. After 32 years in the field, she
does not take students for granted. Teaching never becomes a routine for this
professor who knows best that each student represents a different challenge.
To Art or not to Art: Video Games as an Artistic Medium
To
Art or not to Art: Video Games as an Artistic Medium
The Cult News| March 2015
By B.A. Umaña
By B.A. Umaña
With the 2012 ruling by the United States
Supreme Court that categorized video games as an art form, scholars,
professionals, and even common Joes alike have put the video games as
entertainment or art question to debate. People of all types look to this
medium and take sides in the argument; some rejecting the possibility of seeing
that video games are art, while others propagate video games as art by
analyzing these as one would critique a painting or a movie.
While
some may believe that video games are treading into untouched territory by
sitting between the line being, and not being an art form, we should know that
this has been the case for many other “modern” art forms. In fact, the question
of whether a form of human expression is art or not is in no way exclusive to
video games. Almost every new medium is put under the heat of philosophical
questioning, and while it may take time, eventually, these forms of expressions
are generally accepted as art by the majority.
Such
was the case for both Photography and Film. Jesse Prinz, speaker at the 2007
Pacific APA convention in Pasadena, mentioned that in the early days of cinema,
the act of filming was not considered an art form. Analyst Brett Martin shares
a similar point about photography in his article "Should Video Games be
Viewed as Art?" by stating that the form of expression was discredited in
the mid-nineteenth because "photography required no talent."
The
early history and the etymology of the term “video games” itself give
antagonists to the video games as art position a place stand on.
Etymologically speaking, the word "Games" in the term refers to the
competition and strategy which come hand in hand with the medium, and this, to
many, might be enough to compare video games to other competition based games
-such as board games and sports, and not art. In the case of the first video
games ever produced such as Cathode Ray Amusement and Pong, competition was
their main objective, and therefore, the term fit perfectly. However, Far Flung
News correspondent Michael Mirasol points out that this no longer applies
because, starting from the second generation of video games (such as games in
the first Atari and Sega consoles) and on, the medium conveys more information
and emotions than a board game or sport can. One can invest more deep emotions
on Mario, Sonic, and Master Chief than one can on a brook or knight in a game
of chess.
Aside
their value as an artistic medium, video games require artistic thinking to be
developed. Video games, like we now know of Photography and Film, need
talented, artistic individuals to be developed, and can certainly not be made
by “just about anyone.” Most modern games have complicated and even
multi-branched storylines with well-developed characters. Acclaimed video games
such as Skyrim, Mass Effect, and Bioshock Infinite hold true to this, being
supported by a storyline as good as any you might find in a blockbuster film,
or an all-time reading classic.
And
even if we're not talking about the games’ storylines, artistic knowhow is
needed to design the many levels and challenges the protagonists of these
stories face. To add to this, both story developers and gameplay designers have
to consider one unique aspect of video games that make them different to other
mediums: While book readers and movie seers take a passive role in the events
of the story, gamers are active agents of the world they're immersed in. That
means two things: One, the story should be relatable to most of those playing,
and two, as mentioned by Michael Mirasol, the character or characters we
embody must be designed in such a way that players can imagine being them.
When considering whether this medium is an art or not, its uniqueness must be
taken into account in the same fashion we consider the differences between
books, movies, and paintings. The criteria for the evaluation of this medium
must be different.
Video
games face yet another challenge in to road to being considered an art when we
consider the basic requirements that one must fulfil before the medium can be
appreciated. To be able to see the art in a video game, one must play it, which
means that one not only needs the technology to play the game, but also the
skills. If one lacks one of the other the designer’s creation cannot be
enjoyed. Mirasol says, “One cannot make a judgment about […] games […]
simply by watching recorded gameplay, any more than you could judge a book by
its cover, or a movie by its trailer.” That means a part of the general
population is excluded from having the right to enjoy and critique the work,
which causes its antagonism. While one cannot refute the experience case, the
argument concerning the technological limitation is one that was also held for
film, as at one point in history, the vast majority did not have a projector
sitting handy to view movies. Time may change this, though.
Now,
I am not one to believe that video games are the next step in art, and
that these are a clear sign that our race has evolved artistically. That idea
is completely preposterous. Video games are, in my opinion, an artistic medium
that should be respected as such. By this, I do not mean that we should cease
to challenge the worth of a video game because all games are a perfect representation
of art, but rather that we should be as critical towards them as we are
towards books and movies, scraping out the gunk and uplifting the worthy. Video
games should be seen as an art, to have the dignity of an art. With the medium
getting more and more popular, the more we push for video games being art, the
more art we deliver to everyone.
8 Fascinating Facts about Saint Valentine
-Valentine’s Day is a worldwide celebration. However,
this day is not a holiday in many countries. The name Valentine is derived from
valens (worthy, strong, powerful),
and it was a popular festivity in Late Antiquity.
--St. Valentine is not only the patron saint of
affianced couples, engaged couples, happy marriages and lovers. He also is the
patron saint of travelers, beekeepers and epilepsy.
--You can celebrate this day several times a year.
Because of the abundance of St. Valentines on the Roman Catholic roster, you
can choose to celebrate the saint multiple times each year. Besides February
14, you might decide to celebrate St. Valentine of Viterbo on November 3. Or
maybe you want to get a jump on the traditional Valentine celebration by feting
St. Valentine of Raetia on January 7. Women might choose to honor the only
female St. Valentine (Valentina), a virgin martyred in Palestine on July 25,
A.D. 308.
--On Valentine ’s Day, about 3% of pet owners will
give gifts to their pets. There are also people who decide to send gifts to
themselves. About 15% of U.S. women send themselves flowers on Valentine's Day.
---About 1 billion Valentine’s Day cards are exchanged
each year. This makes it the second largest seasonal card sending time of the
year. The first printed Valentine's Day
cards were produced towards the end of the 1700s.
-- More than 35 million heart-shaped boxes of
chocolate are sold for Valentine's Day, and about 220,000 is the average number
of wedding proposals on Valentine's Day each year.
--The eternal lovers also celebrate their day. In the
Italian city of Verona, where Shakespeare's lovers Romeo and Juliet lived,
about 1,000 letters are received addressed to Juliet every Valentine's Day.
--Cupid is the Roman god of desire, erotic love and
affection. In Latin (ancient language),
Cupid means Amor.
The Empyrean
The Empyrean
The Cult News| March
2015
By J. Porras
By J. Porras
Released in 2009, John Frusciante’s tenth
studio effort is one album in which the sum of its parts, rather than the
separate pieces, allows an emotional and spiritual journey for the listener to
enjoy. Nevertheless, it should be listened several times in order to be able to
digest the collection of songs as a whole.
Regarding the
album’s concept and its lyrics, the Empyrean employs spiritual and religious
imagery to narrate the story of a person’s journey of self-discovery and
rebirth. In fact, the songwriter has taken his record’s name, Empyrean, from
the highest place in Heaven, which is where God dwells, and has been
represented in literature by authors such as Dante Aligheri in the Divine Comedy and John Milton in Paradise Lost. Similar to previous
releases, John Frusciante explores his life experiences as a tool to have a
more intimate interaction with the listeners; nevertheless, these elements
appear in a less straightforward manner. Disguised as a metaphysical journey,
the protagonist’s odyssey mirrors the guitarist’s former struggle with drugs,
how his addiction led him to near-death experiences and how rehabilitation and
reintegration to society has allowed him to come to terms with himself and his
source of creativity. Moreover, the lyricist expands on his personal philosophy
(which has been the concept of many of his songs in previous releases) by
exploring the relationship between humanity and existence (Central,
Unreachable, After the ending), karma (Enough of me, One more of me), and time
(Ah yom).
In terms of
composition, the Empyrean includes an opener of nine-minutes guitar solo,
reminiscent of Funkadelic’s Maggot Brain, as stated by music critics such as
Sean Westergaard, from All Music, and Chris Campion, from The Observer.
Furthermore, the record displays an extensive use of instruments, from electric
pianos (Unreachable), to
strings (Central), drum
machines (Dark/Light) and even
voice effects (After the Ending),
which vary from being used in an almost subtle manner to become massive sound
waves that give the songs almost an orchestral quality, without deviating from
a consistent sound. This varied instrumentation complements the album’s
metaphysical concepts by giving an ethereal sound to the lyrics. In addition,
the guitarist has experimented with lyrical repetitions in the song Central, repeating the same four
verses for almost four minutes without sounding monotone or becoming tiresome
to the listener. However, the musical exploration in this production is
evidenced in the songs Enough of me
and One more of me, which both
feature screeching and off-the place guitar solos. In a similar vein to Tool’s
Wings for Marie, part I-II and Viginti Tres, from 10000 days, Enough of me and One More of me can be combined by
being played at the same time, creating a new song in the process.
While some listeners may be put off due to
some of the songs’ length or the experimental qualities of the album, The
Empyrean is a musical experience that cannot be missed, and as its creator has
said, this is the kind of album that is “suited to dark living rooms late at
night.”
Lost in Reverie
LOST IN REVERIE
The Cult News| October 2014
At
8:15, the alarm woke me up and a gleam of light touched my cheek. The alarm song that I had set up to wake
me up every day was "Here Comes the Sun." That song had a special
meaning for me. Every time I would wake up by its tune, it would remind me that
either my hands or my feet don't have a purpose if I stay in bed. That particular day I looked around my
room and noticed everything was quiet and cold. However, I resisted the seductive warm of my
sheets and headed out at once. My body rushed and my hands fixed my
hair to a messy-bun look, and then I went out for a walk.
As
usual, he was reading the newspaper in the balcony and she was watching out the
pass of time through the lattice window. The neighborhood seemed like a market
of old but energetic people; people like those who love habits and routines.
When I arrived to the park, I couldn’t help thinking about those moments when
simple acts turn into a cycle that consumes us, like the habit of making
decisions. Some are automated choices and some others are way more complex.
This reminded me that I’ve been always a wishy-washy person. I have issues
trying to make up my mind and coming out with the right end. The idea about
decisions turning into a one-way plan have tortured me in different chapters in
book of life:
¾
Coffee or tea?
¾ Novels or poems? Maybe, short stories?
¾
Iceland or Argentine
Patagonia?
Sometimes
I worry about trivial matters, but the frustration increases when I have to
make big choices related to my future. I thought that choosing the right
major and university were the most important to-do in order to have the right
job, but what happens when a cycle comes to an end and you have nothing but
dreams? No job, no master programs, only dreams.
There
was I having trouble picking out a bench in the park. I sat on the grass and
discovered it was wet. There was also a dog exploring the outdoors, and I
trying to do the same with a busy mind and an exhausted body. I kept
daydreaming and playing with a stick, when someone came close to my direction. A pregnant woman with short gray hair
approached the bench that was in front of me. She was wearing a nice flower dress and
a black hat. She sat under a tree, stared at me and started writing. It was
intimidating, but the fear of talking to strangers didn’t stop me from
beginning the talk. I wanted to know her fictions, and she was willing to share
them with me.
¾ So glad you came to say hi —she said with
a peaceful tone of voice as if she knew me— I was going to start writing about
you. I rather not knowing your name. It would ruin our conversation, don’t you
think?
¾ You are right. Who are you? I have never
seen you around.
¾
I
can be an eager traveler who wants to breath in the world and hold it the longest possible or I can be just a lady who comes with
her journal to straighten herself up and compensate her confusion through the appreciation of nature and
fiction stories. Which one would you
rather me to be?
¾
I
think you could be both. That can make you even more interesting. What were you going to write about me?
¾
I
was going to write about the girl I saw sitting right there playing with a
stick in the dust, not about you, sweetheart. You just changed my perspective…
—she said with a gentle smile— well dear, I don’t want to be rude; I’ll
introduce myself. I’m a writer who travels in order to collect stories from
people around the world and give sense to others’ lives with what I own. That
is the reason why I consider myself a giver. I love giving others whatever I
can, like blood, love, words… whatever that makes them feel satisfied. I had
lived in the land of ice and brought warm in the hearts of those who felt
meaningless. I had lived in the land of fire and gave water to the thirsty.
I’ve learned to live with joy in times of abundance and poverty. I’ve learned
that greatness are not the things we do or we have; greatness is shaped by an
almighty hand that has the purpose of creating a humble heart. I’ve been in
different parts of the world and I’ve seen many faces, and I have realized that
there’s nothing more deceiving than the human heart. You just know it when…
¾ Mommy, look at this caterpillar —a
soft gentle voice interrupted her monologue
¾ There you are —she looked at her with a
huge smile and then she talked to me— so glad I had the chance to talk to you.
Hopefully, I’ll see you someday. I’m eager to hear your story.
She left singing “Here Comes the Sun” and
I just felt my soul rest lighter. Everything was back to normal pace. I hastily
turned around and switched the alarm off. It was late and I had to start
getting ready for my graduation. The stuff in my room was in place, except for
my dress that has slipped off its hanger.
Worship the Night
WORSHIP THE NIGHT
Late in the night, pondering starts
Feeling loneliness, just like the stars
Miles away in the darkness they stand
Just staring at life, as I do in my
stance.
Silent and still, revolving thoughts come
upon,
Instants vanishing as I reckon.
Misty eyes are never apprized,
For some souls are never enticed
Allurement, my decision
While I lay in night vision.
It’s my time to be alive,
While others live their own life
My thoughts are prancing,
While I decide to start dancing.
My skin gets brighter
And I sense the air lighter.
Time freezes.
My feet feel the pieces.
Myself, mesmerized,
Happiness not improvised.
Sentimental disapproval,
No! I’m just looking for renewal.
Finding myself in motion,
It’s definition of emotions
My bed’s space is eternal
It is where I run feral.
It’s my time, it’s my place,
Every night is a new race.
In solitude I feel …
The company of the world,
Like stars in the galaxy,
Vibration unites the whole.
Morphosyntax I: From Myth to Reality
Morphosyntax I: From Myth to Reality
The Cult News| March 2015
By Prof. Héctor Alvarado
For those who are about to start their third year of
the major, there is one subject that has become a sort of a mythical beast:
Morphosyntax I. In fact, for some people it is the “math” of the grammar
courses. However, it turns out that it is not such a monster and, on the
contrary, it is a very useful class, just like the previous two grammar
courses, for what is to come as professionals of the English language. There
are two main components of Morphosyntax I, therefore, that I would like to
point out for every student who is about to take this course: Morphemes and
verbs.
First,
Morphosyntax I deals with the essence of words; how they are formed and how
they are used in a sentence or within a given context. In this sense, it is
more like a game where you have morphemes (basic units of meaning) put together
to create words. For instance, if you take a greek root such as chrono
(time) and you add a prefix (syn) and suffix (ize), you can have a word such as
synchronize that works as a
verb. Moreover, you can also take that word working as a verb (synchronize) and add another suffix
like ion and create a noun such
as synchronization. In this
case, you changed the category of the word for it went from being a verb to a
noun. This type of change is known as morphological derivation for the word
changed its essence. The opposite of a morphological derivation is the change
known as morphological
inflection in which a word remains within the same category. To
illustrate this type of change, let’s take the same word derivation and add the inflectional
suffix “s” that stands for the plural form of a word, then the new word is derivations;
the word changed from singular to plural, but it is still a noun. In a word,
the change did not create a new category. To know this is extremely important
because it allows you to master the language in a proper way.
There
is one key element, moreover, that every student has to pay attention to when
taking Morphosyntax I, and that is the
verb; for it tells you all you need to know about the sentence you are
reading or analyzing. A verb is the DNA of a sentence. Once you have identified
it, you can see what the sentence is about: transitive, intransitive, types of
complements it can take, inner structure, and the type of sentence it is. Verbs
are the heart of every sentence; they turn a group of words into a living idea,
bringing life to any language. Of course, there are other important components
of Morphosyntax I such as the form and function of words but they all come into
action as part of a cluster of elements within a sentence that enrich and
expand it.
At
the end of the day, a language is just a colorful means through which humans
are able to communicate, and Morphosyntax I gives us the opportunity of
learning how to elaborate our ideas and feelings into bridges of words that are
full of life and color. So all you have to do is just be ready to discover it,
for it goes beyond the myth to be part of our reality.
Passport Stories
Passport Stories
The Cult News| October 2014
By D. Blandón
In
my mind, I had lived that moment a thousand and one times: A large group of
people would be holding red flags and signs randomly, and perhaps someone would
be playing a rattle while waiting in the crowded lobby of a gigantic airport
–Because in my mind, everything in the US had to be gigantic. However, then, I
passed through the glass doors to the modest lobby of an airport that did not
have trains or subways because they were not needed. I ran into 2 people in
their twenties with tired, friendly faces, wearing a matching red shirt with
the International Orientation Monmouth College’s sign on them. Our eyes met
wondering if we were the people each one was expecting. One of them was a blond
girl, Sarah. She did all the initial talking with a very soft voice, slowly, as
if she were thinking how to say things properly. By then, I thought she was
being polite to make sure I would understand, but after having her as my
favorite neighbor for 9 months, I learned that that was just the way she spoke.
“I will get your suitcase” said the tall man in a cap and
shorts. “Thank you. It’s all wrapped up in plastic,” I said. I felt proud of
the natural way I had spoken and how well I had pronounced the phonemes in the
sentence. Those were the first words I told one of my now closest friends whom
I plan to visit someday soon in Canada. When we headed to Monmouth College, I
noticed there were no big buildings everywhere, and when we got to campus, it
wasn’t as cold as I had expected it to be. Two of the chaperons assigned
to my group guided me to the apartment –It was “my apartment,” as I used
to repeat to myself with a smile.
As an international student, I was requested to arrive a
week earlier than my roommates. Therefore, it was all empty and quiet. It
wasn’t at all like I had expected it to be and I was loving it. I unpacked my
clothes, thinking of the days I would wear them and found a place for my
notebooks and pencils, inspired by the thought of how much I would
study and learn that year. That night, I lay down on my brand new set of bed
sheets, noticing for the first time the whistle of the train passing by. It was
then that I started believing that this was indeed happening to me. It was the
start of an exciting 9-months journey.
Indeed, those empty walls from the apartment started getting
filled with memories and fun stories, with pictures and lights. Ahead of me
were the awkward self-introductions in a room full of international students,
-So many times we had to introduce ourselves as a group to the university staff
that I can still hear everyone’s voices, stating their countries of origin as
if they were their last names-, the adaptation process of living with
three more women from very different backgrounds, the nights spent looking at
the ceiling of my room with my roommate on the next bed talking my homesickness
away, the seemingly endless minutes I got lost without a phone in Chicago
because my friends have long legs that walk faster, the unforgettable nights
out, the empty space in my stomach during Watson’s American Contemporary
Literature class, where all the students were clever, critical and
participative, and that one day when they turned their heads to the unheard
voice of the Costa Rican girl that dared to speak in class even with her
accent, the nights at my host mom’s house eating and talking to her
intellectual friends, the crunching sound of snow under my boots, the glorious
feeling of being able to ski smoothly down the hill with a hurt leg, the jokes
and puns I never got in class, the library that opened until midnight, the
cafeteria at the library and all the life-lasting friends I met.
And then I finally came back home. I walked through the Juan
Santa María Airport with the same passport that I took with me to leave in the
first place, yet I was not the same Daniela. I left my old suitcase at campus
because it was too small. I came back carrying not only a bigger luggage, but
also bigger ambitions and ideas for my future. Amidst kisses and hugs
from my family, I put an end to the 9-month experience that once seemed so
unreal. I knew that this was not the last time that my country would welcome me
back.
Prisoners with an Instinctive Grasp of Fashion
Prisoners
with an Instinctive Grasp of Fashion
The Cult News| March 2015
by G.Cocozza
Today, 70% of the total prison’ population in Costa
Rica complete their sentence and return to criminal activities. However,
solutions such as Down to Earth Wear also known as TO Products,
pledges to put an end to the cycle of poverty and crime that many inmates
face in Costa Rica. TO Products offer a great variety of bags that feature high
manufacturing technology and materials that are 98% biodegradable and
recyclabe.
This
project lead by Fundación To, a national private company, together with the government
aims to improve the rehabilitation process of prisoners, through trainings
about entrepreneurship and the acquisition of news skills for the production of
clothing. Besides, enrolling in the TO program also enables prisoners to
provide for their families during their jail time while undergoing a successful
reintegration process upon release.
The
TO products program renders a down to earth solution for the broken national
justice system that struggles with the same challenges many countries across
Latin America face, such as prison overcrowding and high recidivism rates. This
initiative strengthens the role of prisons, which is to supply an appropriate
environment for rehabilitation to decrease crime rates.
Five Benefits of Joining a Book Club
Five Benefits
of Joining a Book Club
The Cult News| March 2015
by B.A. Umaña
The Cult News is
creating a book club for students of UCR that will be convening for the first
time on April 1, 2015. Book clubs gather lovers of literature that want to
share their opinion on fictional and non-fictional stories of all types while
making friends with similar likes and interests.
To commemorate
the upcoming meeting, here are five benefits of joining a book club that will
make you consider joining ours.
#1: Be exposed to new literature
One of the
greatest benefits of joining a book club is getting to read literature that you
never even imagined existed before. Due to the many ways book clubs choose
their readings –such as taking turns to choose, or nominating books, every
member of the group ends up encountering a book they had never heard of before.
What is wonderful about this is how well-read you will become; and who knows,
perhaps one of these books might become your all-time favorite.
#2: Get intellectually stimulated
With every new
read and its analysis, book club members are enlightened with new knowledge
about the world. Sheila Malloch, member of the West Side Stories Book Club in
Toronto says “By reading about life in different cultures and societies, my
understanding of the world has been enormously enhanced” (O’Niell, 2015).
Also, book
clubs are cultivating grounds for free thinking and the creation of new wisdom.
When one makes a critical analysis of a book, one is not only questioning the
book’s content, but the culture, and the values that come with it. Book clubs
provide the intellectual breath of fresh air that many need.
#3: Better your communication skills
Book clubs
provide the perfect opportunity for everyone to practice self-expression. The
open and tolerant ambiance of a book club helps individuals who do not give their opinion much to speak without
being shunned; and for those who speak plenty, book clubs provide that perfect
space for you to hone your talking-skills. In that sense, book clubs will make
one a better, more efficient speaker.
#4: Improve your writing skills
If you write,
you have most likely heard that “the best way to improve your writing is to
read.” Book clubs, therefore, are a goldmine for writers-to-be. With every book
read, members of book clubs get to know not only new and unique writing styles
that they may be inspired by, but they also get an insight on what readers
want. The opinion of every member of your club can be taken as the opinion of
the general public one may want to write to. Listen to them, and you will be
listening to everyone.
#5: Make friends while having the freedom to
be honest
In book clubs,
one of the main objectives is to speak as truthfully as possible. When a member
of the group shares his or her opinion, one may have the right to differ with
that person, and even debate the topic, but the opinion must be respected. That
means you can be yourself without being shot down.
If you can be
yourself, that means the friends you make in the club will know who you truly
are, and will be okay with it. Friends met in book clubs can therefore last a
lifetime.
---
Be sure to
visit The Cult News’s stand on either the 16th or 19th of
March to sign up for our book club. The club can only accept a limited number
of individuals, and we work on the basis of first-come first-served.
Arts and Tech: What You Can Expect this 2015
Arts and Tech: What You
Can Expect this 2015
The Cult News| March 2015
by Natalia Fernández
As future-oriented individuals we are, every year, we anxiously
wait for the comings in technology and arts. This 2015 brings a wide range of
innovations in regards to computers, video games, useful apps, movies and
theater.
Here are some of them:
In Technology
Microsoft releases its Windows 10 for free
As announced by Microsoft, Windows 10.0 will be
released during the second half of this year. Among some of the features of
this OS are the return of the traditional Start Menu as well as the new apps
for “Office 2016,” which will run in a virtual desktop. Also, Microsoft said
that Win10 will be compatible with Xbox One, enabling gamers to play the same
video games through both their PC and their console. Users of Windows 7 and 8
will not be charged when downloading the latest operating system of Microsoft.
Long Awaited Video Games are Coming
In regards to video games, a great variety of
options will be offered this year. Assassin’s Creed Victory is expected to be
released this 2015. However, no specific release date has been given by the
developer, Ubisoft. Some leaked information- later confirmed by Ubisoft itself-
says that this time, the game’s setting will be London’s Victorian Era. This
game will be available for PC, Playstation 4, and Xbox One. Other games will
also be released this year such as Nintendo’s Legend of Zelda, Mortal Kombat X
(announced to be available worldwide on Apr. 14, 2015), and Warner Bros’ Batman
Arkham Knight (Jun. 2, 2015).
Pronunroid Helps to Improve IPA Learning
As people learning languages, phonetics apps are
highly useful, especially for those oral courses where transcriptions are a
daily life practice. This app is not new, but it is surely something college
students would not like to miss. Just by typing a word, the app provides the
phonetic transcription for it, alongside the option of listening to the correct
pronunciation. It only requires 1.73 MB and can be stored in the cellphone’s
external memory card. This college student’s tool is available in Google Play
Store for free.
In Arts
Films
Film lovers in Costa Rica will have the chance
to choose from animation to drama. Among some of the releases, 2015 will bring:
- Cinderella
(April 2)
- Avengers
2: Age of Ultron (April 30)
- Minions
(July 9)
- Hotel
Transylvania 2 (September 24)
- Peanuts
(November 6)
- Star Wars
VII: The Force Awakens. (December 2015)
In addition, a new involving movie experience is
being brought to Costa Rica at Cinépolis, Terramall. Those who want to go
beyond the traditional experience may find this place attractive. This cinema
introduced 4DX technologies, making spectators perceive elements of the movie
such as smell, wind, water, movement, light, and fog at their own seat. For
movies featuring this technology, look for 4DX theaters in Cinépolis.
Theater
Teatro Expressivo will feature "Bodas de Sangre" by Federico García Lorca
and directed by Jose Pablo Umaña during the months of February and March.
"Crónica de una muerte anunciada" by
Gabriel García Márquez and directed by Carlos Salazar Z. will be featured in
April and May.
On the other hand, Teatro Nacional, will
feature “Romeo & Juliet” with the interpretation of the Russian Classical
Ballet on March 21 and March 22. Prices may vary.
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