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Can you take a seed and make it grow?
"Giant pumpkins--from little pumpkin seeds grow!"
Have you ever heard the expression: 'Mighty oaks from little acorns grow'? -Geoffrey Chaucer-1374
Over 150 members of the UEM community planted pumpkin seeds this spring. Some have been very successful. Others have not. When someone is a good gardener we say that he has a "green thumb". Gardening, like everything else in life, is a learning experience.
Some of our participants have watched th...
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2009
Are you on vacation? Where are you now?
In front of the Eiffel Tower, on the beach in Cadiz or right next to the Blue Mosque in Istanbul? Maybe you are looking at the Taj Majal in Agra or on top of a mountain in Peru or in the Highlands of Scotland. You might be discovering the rainforest in Costa Rica, climbing up the Teide or having a great time ...
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2009
The scoreboard in Pretoria showed Chile 1-Spain 2 on the 25th of July. The World Cup soccer game was almost over. The players were moving around on the field, but they weren't really playing. Spain had the ball, a ball which was just kicked around, from one player to another. Spain was stalling, waiting for the time to run out. Meanwhile Chile seemed content to hold back. The coaches must have told their teams to just hold tight. They had already classified.
What a boring end to one of ...
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2009
Summer has come and everything is dry.People are heading for the countryside and forests,for day-long picnics and camping trips. Smokers carelessly flick their cigarettes off the trail. Campers leave their barbecues unattended or don't put out their campfires completely. Be careful! You don't want tobe responsible for starting a fire.
As children in the US we were taught to be careful with matches and to watch out for forest fires. Adults didn’t need to tell us because Smokey the Bear d...
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2009
You're off with your friends. For an hour, for a weekend, for the summer.
You're talking and laughing and having fun. Sound familiar?
Well... be careful!
We got stopped at a lone traffic circle on a country road near a provincial town with absolutely no traffic in sight. The Guardia Civil, police, pulled over the lead car and then his partner signaled for the 2nd car to pull over too. What was this all about?
Before we got the explanation as to why we were stopped, we were told t...
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2009
Spring in Vinuesa, Soria, Spain.
A beautiful stone village, off the beaten track... but easily accessible.
You'll find a river and a lake and pine forests. Spend the night. Get a feel for the place. You'll relax. You'll forget. You'll meet new people. You might even bump into someone you know. Someone who's kept this place a secret. Someone from the UEM!
In the spring storks nest here. Dozens of storks. They're on the churches, on smoke stacks, in the trees. We saw 2 and...
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2009
President and CEO of Laureate Education, Inc., Doug Becker, was on campus to welcome the Prime Minister of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, at his Doctor Honoris Causa ceremony on May 18th, 2010.
The ceremony is on the UEM web page, but I transcribed his speech and thought some of you would like to see it.
Wendy
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May 18, 2010 Doctor Honoris Causa Recep Tayyip Erdogan
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2009
How is your attitude these days? Are you usually up, or are you often down in the dumps. Are you taking the world by storm, getting prepared for whatever comes your way, or just complaining about everything? Maybe you're in your 20s, studying a lot and looking for a job. Maybe you're in your 30s and don't have the money for a mortgage, or in your 40s, trying to do a balancing act between work and family. You could be ...
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2009
"What a beautiful campus!" That's the first comment all visitors make when they arrive at UEM, Villaviciosa. There's a lake full of fish and a bridge to cross between 2 of the buildings. The landscape architect did a great job with the lawns and shrubs, trees and open spaces. Public buses stop outside the gate. There are occasionally chartered buses, but that's rare, and there is no traffic except for Graduation Day. Even the terraced tree-lined parking lots are part of the campus charm. Late...
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2009
Looking for an alternative to air travel? How about non-stop fast trains?
The Chinese are working on this new concept.
There are 30 stations between Beijing and Guangzhou, 30 stops with a minimum of 5 minutes per stop. That's an extra 2.5 hours of train time.
Some of you may remember the trains in Spain in the 1970s and 80s. Few people had cars and though hitchhiking was still an acceptable practice, students used to get around the country mostly by bus or train. Taking the mail tra...
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2009
Who are we? We are but a dot on a globe, a tiny insignificant sphere cruising through time and space. We are but a small, minuscule member of the Milky Way Galaxy, one of many galaxies.
I'd like you to see this fabulous digital representation of THE KNOWN UNIVERSE as presented by the AMNH, the American Museum of Natural History. It shows us just where we are in the afterglow of the Big Bang. You will see our planet with our artificial satellites and our moon, our sun and beyond.--Wendy
...
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2009
A volcano erupted in Iceland and the ash cloud headed east. Chaos in the airports as European flights were canceled. Planes were grounded, leaving passengers stranded both here and abroad. Some of our near and dear had to find alternative means of transportation: a ferry out of Liverpool, a bus with 30 kids returning from a now-prolonged tour of Wales... And the stories started to circulate. We worried about Europe and flights and friends, but what about the Icelanders and their livestock. Ho...
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2009
It looks like winter is finally over. The flowers are blooming!
You would have thought that this was northern Europe a few short months ago. We had snow, and more snow and then even more snow. What a strange winter for central Spain!
Now it's a different story.
There are daffodils and tulips and pansies.
The rain comes and goes but the trees are blossoming and everything is green.
Have you noticed? Everyone is out, walking around, sitting on the steps and benches ...
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2009
"Jacaranda" is the contemporary dance troupe at the UEM. The dancers are all students in their first year of the Dance degree or in the Sports degree programs. These kids can really dance! That's an understatement if I have ever made one.
They put on a very professional show in the halls of the UEM last week and impressed us all. The choreographer, Eduardo Castro was present. He's a professional dancer with the Compañia Nacional de Danza de Nacho Duato.
We were all impressed. You wou...
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2009
Do you remember people when you see them again? You may not remember their names, but do you remember if you've seen them before and when you saw them?
? ? ? ? ?
Try this test. You have to pay attention!1. Look at the faces and try to remember them.
2. Look at a 2nd group of faces and try to remember them.
3. Answer the questions:
Have you seen the faces before? Were they in the first group or the second?I was very surprised. I know that I'm terrible at remembering names and...
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2009
What do you think about this car-plane the "Transition" which is expected to be available in 2011? Terrafugia has completed its flight testing of the Transition POC (Proof of Concept). It's a plane that you can land at the airport, fold up the wings and drive home. Great idea! 20 years from now will we all have "Transitions"? Just think of the traffic jams in the sky! Check out Terrafugia.
Vocabulary:
available: disponible
flight: vuelo
proffo: prueba, comprobació...
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2009
It's raining. The raindrops fall into the pond or lake, puddle or pool. And in the same place drops of water pop up. Are these the same drops that fall?
Where do the droplets come from?
For non PhD's: There's a thin layer of air separating the drop from the water below. It's like an elastic sheet. The connection is pinched off and a smaller droplet is formed, again and again until the tiny droplet can be absorbed.
Once I was swimming and the rain was falling. The sunlight was com...
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2009
We're lucky here at the UEM. Yes, we are. We have a great Tech Support team , the TIC, hidden away in Building C. They keep tabs on the main computer and solve all our computer issues. You'll see them in the cafeteria or on the bridge, or when you are desperate because your laptop refuses to obey you. Yes, we do have the occasional computer glitch, but it's usually the user who's complicating the issue. At least it is in my case. I admit it. I'm one of the computer illiterate. Well, not compl...
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2009
You do a load of wash. The clothes go in and the clothes come out. Everything's nice and clean. You take the shirts, shake out as many wrinkles as you you can, and throw them in the dryer. You grab the socks and underwear and toss them in too. Then you're off to attend to other demands. A few minutes later you're back again. You don't want a pile of ironing, so you take out the damp shirts and hang them up. No mystery there. Your mother taught you well. A few more minutes for the rest of the ...
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2009
We all know about the tragedy in HAITI: a major earthquake, tremors, aftershocks, another earthquake. Can you IMAGINE what it's like to be in HAITI right now?
The Haitian people need our help. Contribute! Donate a Euro; donate 50. Drop a few coins in the box as you come and go. It will all add up. And now UEM and Laureate International Universities havepromised to double our donations!
You'll see students in red VOLUNTEER vests collecting money in Building B today. There are collection...
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2009
Please help the people in HAITI who are suffering from a 7.0 magnitute earthquake and 5+ magnitude aftershocks. The UEM VOLUNTEERS have set up tables, MAIN HALL, BUILDING A to collect money for HAITI through the CRUZ ROJA, the Spanish Red Cross . This initiative came from the 3rd and 4th year LAW students. They will be manning tables from 9:00 to 14:00 all this week. We know that it is exam time and everyone is busy, however they need more volunteers to collect money. Marta Acosta Soria and A...
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2009
The International Space Station is often in the news,and has been since 1998. We know that there was a basic structure and that other components have been added over the years. We hear about the people on board, the difficulties they have, the experiments that are carried out. We know the ISS is up there and that it is quite an achievement.
Watch this presentation via computer graphics. You'll see the components ...
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2009
Happy New Year! Happy 2010 ! Oh, that looks futuristic just like 2000 or 2001 did a decade ago. And what about 1-1-2010? That looks really strange, doesn't it? Well, a week has already passed and we're still sitting here, writing 2009 by mistake and staring at the computer screen, wondering what the future will hold.
Have you made your New Year's Resolutions yet? Are they the same ones you made last year and the year before? Is this THE YEAR when you're finally going to get it together? D...
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2009
Ideas! Needs! New products! You could create a new product, find a market for it, and become the entrepreneur the world has been waiting for. Think Bill Gates and the personal computer you may be using right now. You have great ideas. Work on them.
Just think of the people who stumbled upon Post-Its. They created a glue that didn't stick very well. It was useless. "No....wait....maybe this could be useful." Add it to note paper Wow! The POST-IT was invented.
And the people w...
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2009
You hear many songs in English every day: on the radio, in the department stores, in the mall, on CDs and DVDs, in the cinema and on TV. You might know a few words but do you know ALL the words to the most famous songs?
Here's one I know you'll recognize, and have probably heard recently. Do you know the name of it? Who's the composer? You can learn the words if you watch this link."
VOCABULARY:
department stores: grandes almacenes
the mall : centro comercial
link: enlace
Wendy
htt...
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