Article for Jan 27th

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Samsung Pressed to Compensate

Taean Residents Rally in Seoul, Demanding Special Law

Thousands of residents in the western coastal areas hit by the nation's worst oil spill came to Seoul to stage a large-scale rally Wednesday. They called for Samsung Heavy Industries to assume ``unlimited responsibility,'' and for the legislature to draw up a special law for victims of the manmade environmental catastrophe.

More than 3,000 residents from Taean and Seosan, contaminated by 10,500 tons of spilt oil, gathered in front of Seoul Station in central Seoul.

Numerous banners and picket signs read; ``The government and Samsung should compensate,'' ``Enact a special law for the region,'' and ``Samsung should take unlimited responsibility.''

They displayed contaminated fish, seaweed, shellfish and oysters caught near the contaminated areas.

``Taean is in chaos. We're completely broke since the oil spill hit the region,'' Kim Jong-moon, a leader of rally, told The Korea Times on the scene. ``We see no tourists here except for volunteers participating in cleanup operations.''

He said Samsung and the government should come forward with measures for immediate compensation.

Several lawmakers and members of local assemblies were also present at the rally.

Rep. Roh Hoe-chan of Democratic Labor Party said, ``We will do our best to pass the bill on a special law during the special session and launch parliamentary investigation to clarify the reason for the accident and people in charge.''

Noting that it would be too late if the government pushes ahead with the compensation plan with current criteria and policy direction, he said ``In similar cases that took place in France and Spain in 2002, the government there paid around 90 percent of estimated damage in advance. The Korean government needs to compensate in the same way.''

Lee Ki-hyung, head of an ad-hoc committee for the oil spill in Grand National Party (GNP) said the party had submitted a bill on the special law to the National Assembly Monday.

``GNP will put all its efforts toward passing the bill during the extra session in the National Assembly to be held in February,'' Lee said.

Government's Call for Compensation

The government has asked Samsung Heavy Industries to take a ``reasonable amount of responsibility'' for the oil spill in Taean that one of the company's barges caused.

Kang Moo-hyun, minister of maritime affairs and fisheries, said Wednesday that Samsung should take more responsibility and compensate the residents and the country for the damage its ship's collision caused instead of making simple apologies in newspapers.

His comments came after the prosecution's interim report concluded the nation's worst oil spill was one where both parties were to blame, while downplaying Samsung's fault as professional negligence rather than much anticipated gross negligence on Monday.

If charged, the company was to take ``unlimited responsibility'' for the tragedy that caused billions of won's worth of damage to both residents and the marine eco-system.

On Tuesday, the company made an apology by running ads in newspapers, but Kang and many others expressed discontent.

The minister met a spokesman of Samsung and talked about others ways to compensate the victims. A ministry official said, ``The court will decide how much the company must pay later. But we are asking them to listen to their conscience.''

Q1>What government and Samsung should take action for Taean residents.

Q2> Conglomerates in Korea still have long way to ensure transparency and to set business ethic. What is the problem of Korean big company awaiting the solution?

 Q3> Three residents in Taean have committed suicide by despair. What is the problem of before and after this accident?

Q4>Many people have so far rushed to volunteered to clean up the oil slicks. Have ever joined any sort of volunteer job or donated for others.

Conservative Teachers Kick off Labor Union

By Bae Ji-sook

Staff Reporter

The New Right Union Wednesday established a teachers' union of their own, confronting the progressive Korean Teachers and Education Workers' Union (KTU).

Oh Young-se, the director of the New Right Teachers and Education Workers' Union said the union will be a good alternative to the liberal teachers' union.

The KTU has made numerous headlines for teaching against the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement and other controversial issues. There were some criticisms that the progressive teachers are making the classroom abuzz with politics and ``socialism.''

``We believe that free market competitiveness drives the whole country and we don't see teaching against it is appropriate. The New Right Union will teach no ideology or politics on campus,'' he said.

Unlike the KTU striving for the egalitarian and liberal education of all students and focusing on reunification of the two Koreas and anti-globalization, the new union is concentrating more on internal issues, the director said.

Their main slogans are making the school another form of a ``family''; making them places students want to go to; accept the teacher eval‎uation program by the students and be involved in government policy making from the beginning.

Despite their vows to make the campus a ``conflict-free'' zone, it is likely that the two unions will clash over administration issues. While the progressives are active the whole year through, the New Right said they would only be active during vacation time.

Also, they showed support for the presidential transition team's plan to eliminate government intervention in college entrance examination completely by 2012, while the progressives fiercely raised concerns that the policies would place further financial burden on parents with more private education.

Still, the union is more confident than ever that the group will gather members in the education field. The union has been running under the name of New Right Teachers' Group, an affiliate of the conservative New Right Union, for two years and openly supported Lee Myung-bak's election.

Oh said he expects the group to draw about 150,000 members out of 400,000 teachers in the nation. ``The Korea Federation of Teacher's Associations has 180,000 and the KTU has 70,000. I believe the rest are showing support for us,'' he said. The New Right Teachers' Group had 8,000 registered members.

Q1.>What do you think of New Right Teacher’s group?

Q2>Currently many people say “School is collapsing” What is the problem in terms of Korean education? What is the solution and policy to settle that problem.

Q3>What do you think about corporal punishment in school?

Q4>Who is your the best teacher you’ve ever met?

Recommendations for Your Caffeine Intake

According to encyclopedias, caffeine is a xanthine alkaloid compound* that acts as a psychoactive stimulant* in humans. It is found in beans, leaves, and the fruit of over 60 plants, where it acts as a natural pesticide that paralyzes and kills certain insects feeding on the plants. It is most commonly consumed by humans in infusions extracted from the beans of the coffee plant and the leaves of the tea bush, as well as from various foods and drinks containing products derived from the kola nut or cacao.

Weekly Hankyoreh 21 said Koreans are one of the largest consumers of instant coffee mix. It assumed that a Korean adult has at least two bags of instant coffee, sugar and cream mixture at home or at work. It's not only coffee. In 1999, Koreans drank sixty-two 237-milliliter cups of cola a year. Green tea, which is also one of the best selling beverages in the nation, contains a certain amount of caffeine.

Caffeine has an awakening effect on human bodies. It has the effect of warding off* drowsiness and restoring alert!ness. It also has diuretic* effect as it stimulates digestion. Those who have a stomachache from eating too much or have gas, drinking beverages containing caffeine might remedy it. Moreover, some people say caffeine is effective for quiting drinking. Drinking a cup of coffee gets rid of urge to drink alcohol, they say.

However, caffeine has its side effects. Doctors advise pregnant women to not drink coffee or lessen its amount, because caffeine can get into cell tissue and affect the placenta* or even fetus*. One or two cups a day may be fine but more may be bad, they say. Also, its awakening effect induces insomnia in some people. Some people are very sensitive to caffeine and drinking a cup of coffee may lead to a sleepless night. Caffeine is, most of all, said to be addictive. Those who are used to having a certain amount per day cannot get do without it, people say.

The Food and Drug Administration recently announced recommendations for caffeine intake. It said less than 400 milligrams and 300 milligrams per day is recommendable to adults and pregnant women, respectively. It also advised children to have less than 2.5 milligrams of caffeine per 1 kilogram of their weight. According to the government, there are an average of 69 milligrams of caffeine in one 12-gram coffee mix bag, 23 milligrams for 250-milliliter cola, 16 milligrams per 30 grams of chocolate. The recommendation means a six-year-old child weighing 23 kilograms should not drink more than a can of cola, a piece of chocolate and one coffee flavor ice cream. A high school student should not eat more than two cans of canned coffee.

Q1> How much coffee, coke or tea do you drink a day? How you feel after dringking And do you know these things include caffeine?

Q2> It has been prohibited to sell any carbonated drink in shool for students health.

What is your opinion about this policy?

Q3>What is the addictive thing that you never can’t stop?

Q4> What kind of effort you do to keep your health?

[Risky(종호)]

내가 이찌방!!ㅋㅋ수고했어요~!^^

[서선영]

아...내가 니방! 수고가 많았다...공부 열심히 해갈께...^^

[Lisa]

내가 삼방..!! ㅋㅋㅋㅋ 가혜~ 바쁜데 수고 많이 했어~~~~~ ^^

[Jamie (이재우)]

아 이번주부터 나가려고 했는데, 이번주엔 일이 있어서 못갈것 같습니다. 다음주부턴 꼭 참석하겠습니다.