What can you do if you can freeze the time for half a second

At the coffee table today with three of my friends a question was raised: What will you do if you can stop the time for half a second? After half a minute (60 half seconds) of silence one of us said that that much time is enough to dodge a bullet. Another one said that an athlete can win a competition if he had half a second more than his opponent. I said for a fencer it is plenty of time to score since on thrash takes less than half a second (about .20 seconds as I was told).

The person who raised the question made it more complicated by saying that would it be worth it if between each pause you would have to cool down or recharge for 5 minutes before you can freeze the time again. And were we sure that we could really do anything in that short time with the difference of a wink.

The discussion didn't continue from there on since the conversation was interrupted when some one else showed up and the topic was changed to something more current.

After I left I considered the question again that who would get the most use of this ability. It occurred to me that even for athletes you would have to be good enough to benefit from it. If you are a slow runner half a second every five minutes would not do you any good. For a fencer to win you would have to be able to win on your own anyway since one bout or fight can end in less than three minutes which means that they can get only one extra point during that bout.
To dodge a bullet you would have to know when the trigger is going to be pulled and by the time you freeze. If you miss to guess when the gunner is going to shoot then the ability would be useless since you would have to wait for a whole five minutes before you can dodge again.

Special abilities like this may sound good at first, but after reconsidering the matter it becomes worthless and it would be worth using only when you are well enough on your own. So why would you use it. by the way, in most uses that I can think off they are actually a way of cheating even if know one knows.

The abolishment of youth law in Thailand

          Youth law refers to law that protects minors who are under 18 years old. It is mainly created to prevent child abuses. And if any youth commits a crime, their punishments will be lesser than common laws. In Thailand, there were various cases that clearly injustice. For example, an underage biker raped a women but he was sentenced to be jailed just for 3 months. The punishment was terribly unfair since offender was a youth. Another incident was a group of bikers provoked and disturbed townsfolk in the late night. There were a couple of men approached this gangster and hit one of them with their shovels caused that youth biker died. But those brave men were convicted, condemned and punished to be in the prison for a long term. These major incidents are crystal clear that Thai’s legal system and the police department are incompetent. Moreover, teenagers will be encouraged to defy laws. Why a common people should be sentenced instead of those convicted youngsters?

          In my opinion, I can recommend 2 choices. The first one is the abolishment. If Thai court cannot sentence these criminals with justice, Thailand should rescind youth law and enforce public law on Thai teenagers instead. I believe that if it could be done, crime rates in Thailand will be reduced. And peace will be restored in the communities once again. For the second way, we can edit some of youth law. The definition of the word “underage” should be corrected to 10 years old instead of 15 years old. Public law will be effective on any people whom age is above than 10. The second option will be more flexible and it is still protect Thai adolescents. Whatever it is, the youth law should be improved.  

By Nuttagon "Pique" Sattayapanich : 530132006

The Achievement in Learning English as a Second Language of Children from Thai-Bilingual Families


At present the idea of raising children in a bilingual environment is appealing and possible for more and more families because the term of globalization. Children who are growing up with more than one language may have its advantages in today's global world. Yet bilingualism is not something new that simply happens. Bilingualism can be described in two different ways. First, bilingualism means an equal ability to communicate in two languages. Second, bilingualism means the ability to communicate in two languages but with the possibility of greater skills in one language. Learning a second language is a focus in speaking, listening, writing and reading in that language beside their native language. A second language is also often learned in an environment in which it is not heard outside of the classroom.
These days, the number of Thai children speaking other languages especially English language in Thailand is expected to increase in the next decade. Many more Thai middle class families are increasing. Moreover, parents have opportunities to study in high education. They have seen the importance of language especially English language which plays an important role worldwide. Parents in globalization world want their children to be competent in many languages at the same time in the early years of life. This is because the early stage of life, between 1-5 years or preschool years, is the stage of learning language acquisition. The brain of children effort required to master the two languages instead of one certainly diminishes the child’s power of learning other things which might and ought to be learned (Jesperson, 1922).
In my opinion, I think bringing up children bilingually is a good idea to clarify what bilingual systems fit for each family. Families including both Thai parents but speak foreign language and native language will provide bilingual systems suiting for their families and children in Thai environment. More Thai children from bilingual families are entering bilingual schools or international schools and tend to have a better learning skill than monolingual children. Therefore, if I have a chance to have my own children in the future, I will bring up my children bilingually because I believe that bilingual system will help children to have a better achievement in learning English as a second language.


Poonsinsiri Poolsuk 530132022

MUSIC THERAPY

What kind of music do you like? Everyone has different tastes in music and I believe that everyone has their own favourite song. I am the one who really like listen to music. I always listen to music in my free time. Moreover, I am a musician as well. I think that music has a lot of advantages. For example, music is used for intelligence stimulating creativity by creating channels of neurons in the brain. Research has proved that music tunes the brain to higher planes of thinking. Music is not only has a role to entertain and to relax the listeners, it has another role as a therapy as well.

Music therapy is an alternative medication emerging arena of health care in which music is used to heal patients fighting cancer, children with reading or writing problems and others. Many health care facilities also make use of music to help patients fight depression, cope with pain and ease muscle tension. There are plenty of other advantages associated with music therapy as music impacts the mind and body in many ways that are powerful. Studies have shown that music with strong beats can help bring alert thinking and better concentration there by promoting calm and a meditative state. Many experts suggest that it is the rhythm of the music or the beat that has the calming effect on us although we may not be very conscious about it. They point out that when we were a baby in our mother's womb, we probably were influenced by the heartbeat of our mother. We respond to the soothing music at later stages in life, perhaps associating it with the safe, relaxing, protective environment provided by our mother.

Music therapy is largely used to counteract the damages caused by chronic stress and thereby leads to promotion of all-round health. Music helps to create a positive bent of mind and helps to stay away from depression. This can lead to better levels of optimism and creativity and a lot of other benefits. Because of all these advantages and positive effects physically, many view music as a crucial factor which helps the body to fight diseases and to stay healthy.

For me, I am familiar with music especially, Thai traditional music since I was young. I love playing instruments and like listening various kinds of songs. I also use music as a therapist as well. For example, when I cannot sleep at night, I will listen to music so that I can sleep well. I like to listen and play music after serious examinations as well. Moreover, sometimes I feel down, music can make me feel better with a lyric that can encourage me. I think that playing music is meditation for me making me more relax and clam. Therefore, my life cannot stay away from music. It can be said that “Music is my life”. So, let’s listen to music together.