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Staying connected on campus has its price

By Yue Huang

Published on the Metro on Mar. 24, 2010

BOSTON - As social media becomes ingrained in society, Greater Boston schools are embracing various platforms as an intellectual sounding board for professors and a method of reaching out to the students for campus lifestyle directors. However, with resources stretched and new sites coming out every year, is it worthwhile for colleges to spend so much time trying to stay hip?

In February, Tufts University topped a Collegesurfing.com ranking of schools in the U.S. based on their use of social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and blogs.

Tufts University topped the list of 50 finalists for its active Twitter accounts, Facebook groups and a whole Web site dedicated to Web 2.0 like Wiki, podcasts and conferencing. On top of the Twitter account the school public affair office manages, each department and offices have their own accounts, including @Tuftsdining, updated daily with menus in cafeterias.

“ ... Social media is a vital way both for us to communicate with a savvy, on-the-go audience and for them to keep tabs on what's happening at the university,” said Kim Thurler, a Tufts university spokeswoman.

Same with Emerson College, No. 8 on the list.

“It’s our job to go to where our community is to get members the information that they need and to engage them,” Emerson’s spokeswoman Allison Teixeira said.

However, some say the popularity of school-managed social media may be only a flash in a pan.

“It’s the nature of online social-network sites; there’s always a new one coming every once in a while to replace what was popular before,” said Dr. Brett M. Rhyne, adjunct professor of multimedia at Boston University.

The other factor is money.

“Instead of spending two hours cataloging books, the person in the library is spending these two hours tweeting,” Rhyne said. “It may be a good thing in the short time, but in the long term, the college is going to want the two hours back.”

Social Media & The Chile Quake

By Yue Huang

Zilin Cui was sleeping in a tent when she was woken up by the trembling ground in the middle of the night. The trembling lasted 15 minutes. “I was little scared and felt unreal,” she recalls. “I have never felt it that close, sleeping on the ground and wanting to hold on to her but knowing she was being torn from inside.”

Cui, a Chinese native and a junior at Mount Holyoke College, was one of the Boston college students who were in Chile during the recent 8.8-magnitude earthquake. She happened to be on a weekend retreat with her church group in Paine, away from Santiago. After the earthquake occurred, they gathered to the biggest tent, prayed, and tried to contact their families. But problem was, phone signals were close to 0.

When her group finally made it back to the city, she was able to contact her family in China through the Chinese Embassy. Next thing she did – she went on Facebook to update her status to inform her friends that she survived the quake.

As with the earthquake in Haiti, social media tools, such as Facebook and Twitter, have been an important source of information, as well as a way for family members and friends find out about their loved ones. Here are a few interesting web-based tools that were widely used after the quake:

1. Twitter List: The New York Times created a list of Twitter accounts with the earthquake information. CNN and many other major TV networks were using real-time information and images coming from Twitter as well.

2. Livestream videos: they can be watched online. Many of the video feeds were shown on TV as well. (CNN's iReport is good for real-time videos as well.)

3. Google's Person Finder: Google launched Person Finder quickly after the quake for people who are looking for their families and people who may have information about quake victims.

These sites are becoming increasingly popular. The question is, why do most people believe that these sites are reliable when other ways of communication is not practical? Is social media really the best way to reach family and friends in dire situations?

But for Cui, she was glad to see her Facebook wall full of posts from her worried friends, when she logged in to update her status.

“I was moved to tears and I was really glad that I’m so loved,” she said. “It made me feel close to them in a special way.”

She soon also started to call for relief effort on Facebook by creating a Facebook group to ask her peers to donate to the Red Cross. She said for safety reasons, she is not able to move around the city to participate in relief service and medical supply drives, and reaching out through Internet is the best way.

"I felt a need to help millions who are less fortunate," she said. "t´s just not fair to sit confortably at the hostel feasting on sweet crackers my host family stocked up and watch people suffering in the news... Chile feels like a second home to me and I want to do something for her."

Q & A with Paul Hall: Making Chile earthquake make sense

By Yue Huang

Two major earthquakes in two months. One 7.0-magnitude and one 8.8-magnitude. More than 200 thousand lives lost in Haiti and Chile. How do these two earthquakes compare? What does the string of earthquakes mean? Are these catastrophic events truly signs of apocalypse?

Boston University EarthScience professor Paul Hall, “the earthquake guy,” who focuses his research on the Earth’s deep interior and plate tectonics, has the answer. Today, Hall sits down with me to compare the two earthquakes, explain the science behind them, and assure that the world is not ending in 2012.

Q: How does an earthquake release so much energy to tear the ground apart?

A: An earthquake occurs when you have two blocks of the Earth crusts that move past each other. In the case of Chile,

you have the South American plate, which is a continental plate, and the Nazca plate, an oceanic plate. These are two separate portions of the Earth’s upper crust. The two plates are moving towards each other, and the denser one ends up getting pushed underneath the other one. In Chile, the Nazca is the denser plate being pushed under the South American plate, and this type of motion is a compressive motion, known as a thrust fault, where the lighter plate is being thrust up over on top of the denser plate…(Photo credits:http://whatonearth.olehnielsen.dk/)

So where does the energy come from? As these rocks slide past each other, they don’t just slide nicely. They stick, deform and bend a little bit. Eventually you reach the breaking point, where the stress exceeds the strength of the rock, and they suddenly slip. It is that sudden slip that generates the energy. It’s like a rubber band stretches and eventually breaks.

Q: Do rocks stretch? They don’t seem to be elastic like rubber bands.

A: On a scale that we don’t usually experience every day. The deformation is tiny, but it adds up over a longer period of time.

Q: So the measurement “magnitude” is related to energy an earthquake releases. Chile’s earthquake is 8.8-magnitude, while Haiti’s is 7.0-magnitude. Why did the Haiti earthquake cause so much more damage?

A: Chile’s earthquake happened three times deeper than Haiti. The amount of damage it gets done in an earthquake depends on a couple of things. It depends on how much energy is being released in the earthquake, how deep [the earthquake] is, and the kind of ground you are built on… But it also matters where the earthquake happens. The Chile earthquake happened 200 kilometers offshore, whereas the Haiti quake was almost right through the city, Port-au-prince. The other thing that is interesting is the building standards. Chile is used to earthquakes because they’ve had bigger earthquakes in the past, so they have more strengthened building code, and their buildings hold up better.

Q: Besides damage, what would you say are the major differences between the two earthquakes?

A: One big thing is that the type of fault you had. In Chile, you had a thrust fault. You had the two plates moving towards each other, the oceanic plate on top, which is what allows for a tsunami to be generated. You have the ocean and you are pushing it up, creating a bubble of extra water on the top, which is what creates the tsunami.

In Haiti, the fault is largely a transform fault (one special case of the strike-slip fault) on land, which is why it didn’t generate a tsunami.

(Photo credit:US Geological survey)

Q: On top the damage the Chile earthquake has caused, most people were shocked at the fact that this major earthquake happened only 7 weeks after the Haiti earthquake. Is the frequency of earthquakes random?

A: Yeah, but it’s an interesting question also because there is some evidence that one earthquake can sometimes trigger another earthquake. Certainly, that happens with aftershocks. When you have a big earthquake, it sets off a whole bunch of little earthquakes. But it’s not the rule…

Q: But Haiti obviously didn’t trigger Chile, did it? It happened seven weeks before the Chile quake.

A: All these rocks are connected on the surface. If you move this rock on the surface of the earth, you end up changing the stress on the rock next to it. And they change the stress on the rock next to them. And it travels outward.

Q: Is that something scientists can monitor?

A: They are starting to, but it’s a tricky thing to measure. So for Chile, an earthquake happened in 1960, and there’s another earthquake in the 1930s, which was also a magnitude 8 earthquake, so the part that ruptured from the recent earthquake is right in the middle. And that makes sense. Scientists knew the middle part would break sooner or later, but the question is when. Is it going to five years from now or 50 years from now? Is it going to be a bunch of little earthquakes or a huge earthquake? The energy has to be given off, we just don’t know how.

Q: So the Chile earthquake happened not long after the Haiti quake, following the 8.0-magnitude earthquake in Sichuan, China in 2008. There are some theories floating around, apocalypse, global warming, el Niño, how is an earthquake related to these events?

A: Well…it’s not. There are some earthquakes that are related to these events. For example, a few years ago, some researchers here at B.U. and Harvard started to notice that there are earthquakes coming from Greenland...[The researchers] found out that they were actually caused by the glaciers on top of Greenland. The glacier was chafing, and the iceberg [broke] off [that caused the quakes]… If you look at the stats in the past 10 years, there has been an increasing number of glacier earthquakes from Greenland and people tie that to global warming [because it causes the glaciers to melt]. But the bigger earthquakes you think about, like Chile or Haiti, they are not caused by global warming…

(Interviews excerpts are selected.)

BU students already responding to Chile Quake

By Yue Huang

Published on the Daily Free Press on March 1, 2010

BOSTON - Nikki Rojas, a College of Communication sophomore, was woken up by her mother’s phone call on Saturday morning, only to find out that an earthquake had struck Chile, where she was born.

Rojas was only one of the many Chilean students at Boston University who eagerly awaited news from their loved ones after the massive earthquake rocked Chile, only about seven weeks after the catastrophic quake in Haiti.

The 8.8-magnitude earthquake hit Chile off the coast at 3:34 a.m. on Saturday, followed by more than 100 aftershocks, marking the seventh strongest quake ever recorded worldwide. Buildings and bridges collapsed, while crushed cars and trucks disappeared into the cracks on the ground. At least 700 were reported dead, and thousands were left homeless. (Click here to see pictures of the aftermath of the quake from the New York Times)

Rojas said she turned on her TV to follow the earthquake coverage, and was relieved when she found out her grandmother, who visits Chile during the winter, survived the quake.

“Thankfully, I found out that most of my immediate family is OK,” she said. “But there’s my mom’s uncle who we haven’t heard from. We are hoping that he’s all right.”

Rojas said her family lives in Viña del Mar, which is not very close to the epicenter of the earthquake but was hit hard by the aftershocks reaching up to 6.6 in magnitude. (Click on link to see a map of the quake zone)

“Electricity is down and they are having a lot of problems,” she said. “I haven’t personally spoken to my family. I have no idea how they feel and what it was like."

More than 2 million people have been displaced by the quake, according to the Chilean National Emergency Office. Chilean President Michelle Bachelet declared a “state of catastrophe” on Saturday, adding that 500,000 homes were severely damaged. (Clink on link to see video)

Power, communications and transportation systems were largely ruined in the quake, hindering search and rescue efforts. Many BU students who have connections in Chile said they experienced difficulty trying to reach their families, relatives or friends in the quake zone.

“The phone lines were all blocked and people were having trouble getting a hold of their friends and family,” COM senior Martin Morales, whose mother is from Chile, said in an email. “I emailed my cousins, but we ended up talking on Facebook chat and they told me everything was fine.”

The massive earthquake was felt as far as Brazil, causing panic around the globe for the potential tsunamis the earthquake could trigger.

A tsunami evacuation was issued in Hawaii and warning sirens were sounded throughout the state. Students from Hawaii said they were nervous about their families, but were glad little damage was reported.

“I called my mom, who was already awake because of the siren, but my family was not very nervous and I think it was the attitude that most people had at home,” said Alia Wong, a COM sophomore from Honolulu.

Wong said she thinks some Hawaiians students were being overdramatic about the tsunami, an impact that was caused by the 1960 Hawaii tsunami caused.

“Most people that were in school were freaking out because they felt helpless and they didn’t know what was going to happen,” she said. “But the people at home weren’t panicking at all.”

According to BU’s International Student and Scholars Office, there are more than a dozen BU students in total who are Chilean citizens.

BU spokesman Colin Riley said the university will discuss plans for support in the coming weeks.

“The news coverage has shown terrible devastation,” he said in an email. “The university will reach out to members of the university community who are affected by the earthquake.”

Rojas, who started a Facebook page called “Boston Students United for Chile,” said she’s trying reach out to students to start relief efforts on campus.

“We’ve seen how well the community responded to Haiti,” she said. “We need to do the same thing for Chile.”

A list of organizations that initiated relief effort can be found on Boston Students United For Chile on Facebook.

Qingdao Garden: feels like home

By Yue Huang

BOSTON - I’ve struggled to find a good Northern Chinese restaurant in Boston. I wanted one that wouldn’t serve French bread, chicken wings and beef teriyaki. I wanted one that wouldn’t cost me a fortune when I craved my Chinese comfort food. But I wasn’t asking for the impossible – all I wanted was a cozy, family-style restaurant that could make the Northern Chinese food I grew up eating.

So when I set foot in Qingdao Garden two years ago, a tiny Chinese restaurant located on Massachusetts Avenue in North Cambridge after reading a Boston Globe article about its dumplings, I was stunned.

The minimally decorated restaurant provides barely 10 tables, each surrounded by two to four dark green metal chairs. The beige tile floor is simple, but clean. Six framed photographs of Qingdao, a costal city on the Northeast part of China, hang on the plain wall. Two of the bigger photographs that extend almost 10 feet wide depict a day and a night view of the city, its beaches that scatter along the winding coastline, and its German architecture that marks the city’s colonial past. Behind the cashier, a red paper banner that dangles on the wall reads “Wish you happiness and prosperity” in Chinese.

The restaurant doesn’t contain any classic Chinese restaurant décor of painted carved murals, lanterns or maroon tablecloths. But with a simple and typical interior, it is exactly the kind of restaurant you would stumble upon anywhere on the streets of China.

From then on my obsession with Qingdao Garden began. My boyfriend and I frequent the restaurant over the weekends, and are greeted politely every visit by the same waitress who always leads us to the same table and remembers exactly the dishes we want.

The menu, which has separate pages for Chinese diners and American diners, consists of a simple collection of Chinese Northern favorites: beef, lamb and chicken that are heavy on garlic, leeks and scallions – as well as options of noodles and bing, a kind of wheat, flour-based Chinese flatbread, often cooked on a skillet with ground meat, eggs or vegetables.

And there are, of course, the steamed dumplings that are responsible for the restaurant’s reputation in the neighborhood. The hand-made crescent-shaped dumplings, with choices of six kinds of stuffing, have a smooth texture, great chew and flavorful juice inside. My American boyfriend, who has an irrational obsession with Chinese cuisine after studying and working in Beijing for a year, can easily inhale 15 of them, claiming that the dumplings bring him back to his Beijing home with every bite.

Yet these dumplings, delicately made and freshly steamed before they arrive at the table, take very long to prepare, owner Ge Wang says. The dumpling chef “extraordinaire” there makes up to 900 dumplings a day all by herself which consists of making the dough, rolling the perfectly round skins, and wrapping them with finely chopped veggies and meat.

(photo credit: Qingdaogarden.com)

Wang says her main customers are made up of college students in Cambridge, Chinese residents in the neighborhood, and American families that have become hooked with their authentic Chinese cuisine. Even on New Year’s Eve, diners have flooded the restaurant and overwhelmed the staff of only five at Qingdao Garden. Wang admits only one of the workers is actually from Qingdao, despite its name, as she and her husband inherited the name of the restaurant when they bought it three years ago – a business decision Wang never planned.

Wang says she studied to be a dentist in China and received a master’s degree in computer science in America, but the 2000 I.T. bubble burst forced her into the restaurant business to make a living. Now, Wang still spends most of her time working as a personal care assistant, while her husband, the 56-year-old Wenzi Xiang who specializes in Chinese and Japanese cooking, manages the restaurant.

“My husband is so busy because we never know how many people may be coming, so he is always going back to Chinatown to buy fresh vegetables,” Wang says, approaching her husband and complaining about the huge amount of New Years Eve deliveries.

“Of course! What day do you think it is!” he shouts back, storming out into the cold with the take-out boxes.

When he returns, I ask if they are going to celebrate New Year’s Eve after the restaurant closes. He cracks a laugh and says, “New Years? I haven’t celebrated one in 20 years!”

Wang says the restaurant is so busy that her family can barely spend any time elsewhere. Even her 20-year-old son, who moved to Boston from China three years ago to attend Quincy College, has to help out everyday after school.

“I feel like I’ve been here for a long long time,” Wang says, musing on how the day before New Years Eve marks her 14^th year in the United States.

Wang says she plans to move back to China after her son graduates from college and can support himself.

“Why would I stay,” quips Wang, her voice drowned out by the chatter of the customers and the laughter from the back kitchen. “This is not where I belong.”

But as for now, with all her family and friends crammed into this crowded little restaurant, it is Qingdao Garden that Wang and her family call home.

Qingdao Garden

617-492-7540

2382 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA

Payment: Cash, Visa, Master ($20 Minimum for Credit Card Charge)

Website: www.qingdaogarden.com (menu available to view online)

Price: appetizers: $3 - $8; Main dishes: $7 - $15; Steamed dumplings are $5.75 to $5.95 for 12 pieces. Frozen dumplings are sold at $14 - $16 for 50 pieces.

Delivery services are available for Cambridge, Alwife, Somerville, Arlington, but not Boston.

Presidents Day Weekend boost car sales

By Yue Huang

Published on the Metro on Feb. 15th, 2010

BOSTON - Boston auto dealers celebrated a sales boost on what they had hoped to be a busy Presidents Day weekend, despite a rash of Toyota recalls and a faltering economy.

Rich Balristiero, sales manager of Sentry Ford Lincoln Mercury, called the holiday a “very active day.”

“The people that are here right now, they are buying and they are spending the money,” he said.

Donald Mills, sales manager of Boston Volvo Village said the store is seeing twice as much sales due to advertising and blowout sales over the holiday weekend. Mills said Presidents Day weekend is traditionally a big retail weekend for New England car dealers, which can boom sales for the entire month of February.

Dan Rosengarten, general sales manager of Cityside Subaru in Belmont said the Cityside agreed, adding CitySide is seeing an 80 percent increase in sales compared to last February.

“It’s been great for the past weekend and we are very optimistic,” he said.

Dealers said customers are buying despite Toyota’s recall, but they are seeing a lot of trade-ins.

“The recall is helping everyone else, but it’s devastating Toyota,” Mills said. “Because they are so big and they are losing, everybody wants a piece of their pie.”