TED video Review: Let's simplify legal jargon!

Alan Siegel - Let's simplify legal jargon!

          To write a review about a TED video, I looked through several videos with ideas worth spreading. Many were interesting, starting from how to defend earth from an astroids to a 12-year old app developing prodigy. I liked the videos, but I couldn't find an idea that I would like to passionatley advocate for. Rummaging through the TED site, I found this specific idea. Alan Siegel is speaking in favor of simplicity, where official documents will be writen in plain, concise English instead of jargons. With what seems like a simple idea, I strongly agreed.

          Actually, I felt the problem of it just few hours ago. When making an account, there is a long, verbose contract with a check box saying "I read this contract and agree to the terms mentioned." Every time reading those checkboxes, I wonder how many percent of people read the contracts with gravity. The contracts are 80 pages long, with insipid jargons making it more obscure. People realize that such contracts are important, but they feel reading the whole contracts is nearly impossible and very tedious. Most of the times, there is no serious problem caused by not reading the contracts; however there are people who get pivotal damage by not reading.
         Going back the history, verbose documents were always used to discriminate people. The rich and educated people used jargons and made the content ambiguous to prevent the poor, uneducated people form comprehending what they were making contracts for. As a result, the uneducated became depleted of their remaining wealth, family members, and more. They were bound to the rich and became trapped in a cycle of poorness.
         Actually, such discrimination still exists in today's world. It is especially lucid in courts. Usually, workers are not aware of their contracts and their working conditions. They are desperate for their jobs, and sign the contracts without knowing it. When they later find out about their unfair conditions, they sue their employees and companies. Workers and companies go through the court process, a complex process filled with legal documents full of jargons. Workers have hardship in going through the court process itself. Uneducated people cannot endure innumerable contracts needed nor the cryptic message the contracts possess. They tend to give up, and another bad cycle occurs.
         Contracts are there to help people to cooperate better with the company and to prevent people from getting possible disadvantage. It is not a pretentious piece of writing to appease skeptical consumers. To serve the full purpose as a contract, redundant jargons need to be replaced with relevant, easy English. By the reform, the contracts can give authentic help to the people.

High School Musical (Review)

           Recently, I came to dwell on my past as I was playing basketball during Sportsday time. A friend of mine was singing the lyrics of a song from High School Musical. The lyrics sprung my childhood memories of the great movie series.

           Among all 3 movies of the series, the first and original High School Musical is the one that strongly lasts in my mind. The story was inspiring to have a high school life depicted in movies. Although I was not a high school kid, I was able to agree on some universal apsects of school life the movie showed. Probably that is why many students around the globe was on a frenzy whenever High School Musical was on air.

        Let's review some of the key sources that lies beneath the teen success of High School Musical.

1. Story

          High School Musical deals with the story of  East High School. Troy Bolton (played by Zac Effron) is the captain of the school's basketball team Wildcats. He usually leads the school team in rasing the numbers on the scoreboard. Meanwhile, Gabriella Montez (played by Vanessa Hudgens) transfers to East High School. She becomes they key member of the school's academic team. Both Troy and Gabriella is not known for musical singing or auditions. Instead in school, Sharpay Evans (played by Ashley Tisdale) and Ryan Evans (played by Lucas Grabeel) is known as the musical types. As Troy and Gabriella reach for their real dreams, students of East High School learns something valuable.

          With a story that might be conventional, the movie fascinated the minds of many teens around the world. The story was able to gain sympahty of students, who frequently feel the same way like Troy and Gabriella. The movie gives space for teenagers to portray themselves in the characters of High School Musical, thus gaining hope and excitement as Troy and Gabriella reach their dream. The movie focuses on the teenager's point of view. Probably to viewers not of teens age, the story might be childish and sentimental.

2. Songs

           Personally, I liked the songs from the movie. The movie consists of about 13 tracks, which I basically liked. Each song has its own story and mood, reminding each scenes from the movie.

Get'cha Head in the Game

           This is the song which  reminded me of High School Musical few days ago. I like the intro part where the dribbling of the basketball and squeaking of sneakers make up the beat for the song itself. The strong beat and the rythm go well with the scene where Troy is trying to focus on his basketball practice. In the film, the song matches with the powerful basketball moves and dances the actors show. As a student who likes basketball, I personally liked the song and the moves.

Coach said to

Fake right and Break left

Watch out for the pick

And keep an eye on defense

Gotta run the give and go

And take the ball to the hole

But don't be afraid

To shoot the outside "J"

Let's make sure

That we get the rebound

'Cause when we get it

Then the crowd will go wild

A second chance

Stick to the Status Quo

        This is another song from "The Highschool Muscial." The song deals about how students prevent each other from doing what they truly like to do, because the students have their own places. I thought that it was interesting, since it showed how students are always aware of others, that they lose their chance of doing what their heart tells them to do.

No, no, no, nooooooooooo
No, no, no
Stick to the stuff you know
If you wanna be cool
Follow one simple rule
Don't mess with the flow, no no
Stick to the status quo

3. Actors

 

      Actors who fit well with the characters are also a another key of success. Each actors actually played well with their characters. The actors seemed comfortable with working each other. Especially, Venessa Hudgens and Zac Effron once were couples, being natural. Probably, the likeliness of each characters had helped young teens to be pulled into the series.

<RANKING> : Four and a half-eaten cookie

School Meal Rotation : Is It Really Effective?

             Recently, a new policy has been implemented in Korean Minjok Leadership Academy (KMLA). For a nice, hot meal, students have to wait wave by wave to have their plates full. Traditionally, students received their meals in the descending order of third graders to first graders; however, due to the order of the school principle and Mr. Sung, the school adopted the meal rotation policy. This new policy brought debate between the students: Traditional or Reformed? The debate is based on two aspects: practicality and efficiency.

             One major concern that the students have is the practicality of the policy. The policy has been around for about two months since Mr. Sung Hun-Jae announced it Monday morning assembly. The reason that the policy was adopted was that the freshmen were not getting adequate amount of food that they deserve. True, freshmen students have frequently experienced the frustrating moments of lacking delicacies. Especially, when there were favorable dishes such as meat or noodles, the dishes were quickly exhausted even before it reached the first graders. To relieve the unfair distribution, the students are to rotate every few weeks or so. The wave that ate the last in this term will be first in next term, second to last, and first to second. The policy seemed like an effective solution, but it turned out to be an ideal one. Even after the policy was adopted, lacking of meals frequently showed. Consequently, the policy was not able to serve its full purpose.

             Efficiency is another troubling aspect of KMLA's meal rotation policy. Actually, there had been large amount of complain from seniors and juniors after the policy was adopted. Complains were that the meal rotation policy is taking away the free time available during lunch time and dinner time. The order of receiving the meal does have a serious impact on the free time available during meal time. The first order has the most efficiency of saving time for other activities. Students can eat lunch or dinner right after classes, and then have about remaining time of thirty minutes. On the other hand, being the last is most inefficient. Before meal time is too short to concentrate fully on something. After, students have to go to classes right away. As students become higher graders, school life becomes more busy and students have less time. Seniors and juniors, who need to use time efficiently, need to gain the most efficiency possible from meal times. Freshmen, who are going to be seniors and juniors in the future, understand such matters. In addition, confusion of the rotation term only made the cafeteria to be more crowded at times, with two wavers being in the same place. Thus, the policy eventually brought lower efficiency.

             In all, KMLA had debates and conflicts regarding the meal rotation policy. While some like the new policy, some find flaws in the policy, flaws which make backfiring results. The lacking of food is a serious problem and needs to be solved, but current meal rotation policy also needs some changes to most effectively solve the problem. The different situations of students needs to be considered.

Three Words Are All You Need

Describing Myself

     I had a pet chick in elementary. Whenever I looked into its yellow fur, I saw my reflection. The chick peeped continuously, always ran around the house having adventures, and flapped wings when trapped in a box. I felt the similarities of such characteristics within me. Yellow fur reminds me of a fresh banana. A fresh banana has a white, delicious flesh inside, covered with a bright, yellow peel outside. Many people say I have an extroverted mind, bud I also have some shyness inside. The banana has the softness of a cotton candy. I want to become a sweet and comfortable person to others.

Metafiction - Living

             About three years of my KMLA life had passed, with the same routine of classes and studying all over again. Then, suddenly, I had felt this urge to tell what I have learned through my life, a value that I consider important for everyone, including myself. Desperate I was to tell my story, but it was Sunday and I had no ways to spread my thoughts to the whole school. Luckily, tomorrow is Monday, and we have morning assembly. I did not ask for permission to deliver my speech, but I don't care. This is important, and I have to say it out loud.

             I woke up early, partly excited from thinking of my speech, but I also had this unknown feeling of worry. It seems to lie somewhere deep inside. I don't know why, but it is there for sure. Maybe it's the stage fright. I had few chances to speak my mind in front of such a large audience and I now have an audience of approximately 500 people. With such thoughts in mind, I went up the cafeteria to have breakfast.

             As I was eating, I thought of yesterday's dinner. It's been a few days since my mom didn't give me my meals. We had a one week vacation from school, and suddenly my mom didn't give me breakfast, lunch, or dinner anymore. Well, actually it was since my mom had a big cry on one night. Must be something awful, since she didn't have a conversation with me from then. She seemed to live in a world of different dimension from me. To say the truth, I was little hurt, but what can I do? I decided to understand her pain and let her be.

             After finishing, I hurried to the gym to get a good look of the place I will be presenting. It will probably relieve my stage fright and this little worry. Strolling around, I reorganized my thoughts and waited for other students to appear. Soon, students arrived and the morning assembly started.

             "Next, we will have salute to the flag. All rise."

             The assembly droned on and on and I waited for the perfect timing to go up the stage. Then, after singing the national anthem, there was a slight pause.

             'This is it!'

             I ran up the stairs and to the podium. I took a deep breath, looked around, and opened my mouth.

         "Nowadays, life is like a spinning wheel. I am like a puny little hamster frantically moving my feet, trying to catch up with the speed of the wheel. However, the energy also powers the wheel itself. The faster the hamster runs, the faster the hamster will have to run. Ironically, the hamster is still in the same place, no matter how much time has passed.
             The future seems to be far away as you're going round repeatedly to catch up the speed of fast-rolling wheel, you must hold your soul and pretend not to be hurt. Contradictorily, as much you pretend to be strong, the more pain you'll be dived into. The more pain you feel, the more you hide yourself. The time seems to crush down out of your reach. However, as you already know, the wheel keeps spinning."
             I looked at the audience, but no one seemed to be interested in my speech. Neither were the teachers. Maybe my speech lacks impact. I pulled my voice into a higher tone.
             "Maybe that is why time is more precious than gold. How much progress one has made depends on him, but time passes uncontrollably. One might be trapped in his own trepidation about losing the race. Once the hamster loses the courage to continue running, the wheel stops. When the wheel stops, the hamster stops. Time is merely a means, a measure of how much one has gone forward. Time cannot crush one down, but the fear of time can."
             Still, no one seemed to be interested in my speech. Next, I found myself desperately screaming the next lines.
             " It sounds very philosophical and far away from us, talking about spinning wheels. but it all comes down to our lives right now, the life in KMLA. It seems like you're in the same spot no matter what you do. Somedays, you feel too tired to catch up with the spinning wheel that, from some point of my life, started to spin on without my will wanting, and begging to stop, but being unable to, is what dominates my mind nowadays."

             'Why? Don't the other students feel like this?'

             I felt hot sorrow gagging my throat. In my life, I tried to be perfect at everything that I did. Maybe too obsessed to be true. Every time I tried to be perfect, what I did seemed to be full of flaws. More I tried, more I became tired and obsessed with my work. The work became clumsy, and I was full of despair. I wanted to come out of this madness, wanted someone to hold me back and say that it is okay to make mistakes. Inside of me begged, but no one could listen. The only thing on my shoulder was expectations. Then, I thought it was better to die.

             Now, I realized that that is not my true feelings. I want to live again. Thanks for listening to my speech.

Reflective Response to Kim Ki Duk's Film "Spring"

           Wisdom is different from being intelligent or smart. Wisdom is something that is accumulated through several generations, not acquired through experiments or books. Wisdom is earned from trials and errors of lives of thousands of people. Nobody is perfect, and everyone makes mistakes even from the start of their lives.

           Kim Ki Duk's film "Spring" deals with similar routine of life. In spring, new life forms come out without knowing anything. Similarly, the young monk in the film does not have a lot of experience to know what is right or wrong. With a few Buddhist teachings, the young monk follows his instincts. He likes to take adventures on mountains and follow his footsteps. One of his instincts is having fun while playing around with animals. In the film, he ties a fish, a frog, and a snake to small stones with thread. The young monk snickers as he watches the tied animals wriggling while struggling with the weight of the stones. Apparently, the wriggling of animals gives joy to the boy, who does not know that his acts can be a pain to the animals. To make the boy learn, the master monk ties the boy to a rock. When the boy asks the master monk to untie the rock, the master monk orders the boy to untie the animals. As the boy goes on a journey to untie the animals, he finds out how much the animals had suffered. The fish was dead, the frog was unable to climb the rock, and the snake was dead with blood splattered all over the place. The young monk regrets his thoughtless acts and sheds tears.

           The young monk had no idea of knowing how the animals felt as he made the animals his toys. If the master monk had just told the young monk not to torture the animals, the young monk probably would not have understood why and kept torturing the animals. Instead, the master monk had the wisdom to enlighten the boy about the importance of life. Such wisdom came from accumulence of life lesssons. The master monk passed on his wisdom to the young monk.

           Similarly, I have also made mistakes on which I did not know that it could be a pain to someone else.  In elementary school, I learned how to cooperate with other kids. I did not have a special fight with people, but still I naturally learned how to behave differently in school. For example, I was quite self-centered and poor at controlling my dissatisfaction when I was young. When something bothered me, I was not able to hide or control my anger.  One day, my friend made a petty mistake, and I  got too much angry and almost shouted. My behavior also made my upset. We both felt bad for each other,since we both did not knew that our behaviors will hurt each other's feelings. We apologized, and like this, step by step I learned how to control my emotions.
           Wrongdoings give pain to each other, and no one wants to be hurt. As we give and receive pain simultaneously, we learn life lessons along with wisdom. The wisdom is used for changing one's own behavior and also to teach others. Through trials and errors we fill each other's imperfectness.