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　　The University of Wales, Bangor has been rated the top university in the UK for the help and support provided for students by the Times Higher Education Supplement．We want to make sure all our students are happy and that they enjoy their time here in Bangor．We realize that you may need some support during your time here to solve some personal problems or difficulties．

　　Our Student Services Centre and the Students' Union can offer the following：

　　●An advice service that is free and confidential．

　　●You'll have a personal teacher in your department．

　　●A Peer Guide will welcome you to Bangor during your first week and answer any question you might have．

　　●Student Services and Security are on call during the day and there is a warden(管理人)on call at evenings and weekends at all our halls of residence．

　　●Personal support and advice on a variety of problems through the Students' Union Welfare Advice Centre．

　　●Nightline, a confidential support service run during the night by students for students．

　　●A team of staff volunteers are available to deal with any serious incident which happens outside normal university hours．

　　●Health care in daily surgeries where you don't need an appointment．You will need to register with a local General Practitioner(全科医师)．We also have a nurse who can make visits to your place when necessary．

　　●An adviser for international students．

　　●A room where local postgraduate students who live at home and travel to the university each day, can spend their free time．

　　The university welcomes applications from disabled students and aims to provide equal opportunities for all．For more information please see our Student Services pages．

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　　School violence is in the headlines again after recent shootings at schools in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Colorado．After hearing the news, it's natural for students－no matter how old they are or where they go to school－to worry about whether this type of incident may someday happen to them．

　　So how safe are schools?It's actually safer to be in a school than in a car．Twice as many 15-to-19-year-olds die in car accidents than in shootings(and that's all shootings, not just the ones that happen in schools)．According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, less than 1％ of all homicides(杀人罪)among school-age children happen on school grounds or on the way to and from school．So the vast majority of students will never experience violence at school．

　　However, some schools have re-evaluated their safety needs in response to the concerns of families and communities．Some now require that guests check in at the office or have more guards on duty．Some schools have fixed metal detectors．Another thing that helps make schools safer is greater awareness of problems like bullying and discrimination．Many schools have practiced programs to fight these problems and to help teachers and administrators know more about protecting students from this type of violence．

　　The cause of school violence isn't easy to understand．There is no single reason why students become violent．Some are just copying behavior they've seen at home, in the streets, or in video games, movies, or television．There's one thing experts do agree on, though：Having access to guns or other weapons makes it easier for some people to lash out against the things or people they don't like．

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　　McGill Comedy Club

　　Important meetings today．Discussion on putting on Blazing Saddles．Union room 302, 3－4pm.New members(both actors and non-actors, living and dead)are welcome．

　　History Students' Association

　　Prof.Michael Cross of Dalhouseie University will be speaking on“Unskilled Labor on Rivers and Canals in Upper Canada, 1820－1850：The beginning of Class Struggle”at 10am.in Peacock 230．

　　Design Mirror Sale

　　All types and sizes of design mirrors priced to please．Sale today in Union room 108．

　　McGill Teaching Assistants' Association

　　A general meeting, for all the Tas will be held at 4pm.in peacock 116．

　　Women's Union

　　Important general meeting at 6pm.Union room 423．Speaker on“Importance of Deciding Basic Goals of the Women's Union．”Everyone－old, new and those interviewed, please attend．

　　Film Society

　　Last meeting of the term for all members．All managers are required to be present at 6pm.sharp, Union room 434．

　　Canadian University Students Overseas

　　CUSO presents“Guess Who's Coming to Breakfast”at 7pm.newman Centre, 3848 Peel．Find out about CUSO here and overseas．Everyone welcome．

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　　There are many types of reports．A report is simply an account of something that has happened．The commonest are new reports．We get them in newspapers, over the radio and on television．Sometimes cinemas also show us newsreels(新闻影片)．

　　The main purpose of a newspaper is to provide news．If you examine a newspaper closely, you will find that there are all types of news：accidents, floods, fires, wars, fashions, sports, books, etc．The news covers everything that happens to people and their surroundings．Sometimes there are news items which are very amusing．

　　A news report is usually very short, except when it is about something very important, but it contains a lot of information．It is also written in short paragraphs．The first paragraph is, in fact, a summary of the news item．It gives all the necessary information－what, when, where, how and why．The other paragraphs give full details of the subject．There may also be interviews with people．The words actually spoken by them are within inverted commas(引号)．

　　Often there are photographs with the news to make it more interesting．

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　　The soldiers had just moved to the desert, and as they had never been in such a place before, they had a lot to learn．

　　As there were no trees or buildings in the desert, it was, of course, very hard to hide their trucks from enemy planes．The soldiers were, therefore, given training in camouflage．They were shown how to paint their trucks in irregular patterns with pale green, yellow, and brown paints, and then to cover them with nets to which they had tied small pieces of cloth．

　　The driver of the biggest truck had a lot of trouble camouflaging it．He spent several hours painting it, preparing a net and searching for some heavy rocks with which to hold the net down．When it was all finished, he went for lunch．

　　When he came back from his meal, he was surprised and worried to see that his camouflage was completely spoilt by the truck's shadow, which was growing longer and longer as the afternoon advanced．He stood looking at it, not knowing what to do．

　　Soon an officer arrived, and he, too, saw the shadow, of course．

　　“Well,”he shouted to the poor driver,“What are you going to do about it?If an enemy plane comes over, the pilot will at once know that there is a truck there．”

　　“I know, sir,”answered the soldier．

　　“Well, don't just stand there doing nothing!”said the officer．

　　“What shall I do, sir?”asked the poor driver．

　　“Get your spade and throw some sand over the shadow, of course!”answered the officer．

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　　With the Indian economy predicted to grow by 7.5 percent this year, experts say it could be time for Western CEOs to learn some lessons from Indian CEOs．The key differences between Indian and Western bosses are：

　　Social purpose

　　One of the most important things is that Indian leaders lead with a sense of social purpose．Every leader in India gave a specific social purpose as being the goal of their business．Those purposes ranged from improving healthcare to getting cell phones to people who didn't have access to communication tools．Having a social purpose motivates workers．

　　Invest in employees

　　Indian firms invest an enormous amount in their employees' training and development．IT firms typically offer 60 days of formal training for newly hired workers and they even spend months training experienced workers．A study said that Western firms have largely abandoned investing in employees, seeing it as a waste if they quit．But Indian bosses believe that investing in employees ensures the quality of those who stay at the company．

　　Take the long view

　　Indian bosses stress far less on shareholders than it is typical at Western business．As a result they're more able to take a long-term view．Western companies can't just ignore their shareholders, but their CEOs can do more to protect their-employees from short-term financial pressures, letting them get on with their jobs．

　　Work from their strengths

　　Western companies often think about strategy in terms of chasing customers or pursuing market opportunities, but Indian firms will more often start by identifying their strengths and customers' needs, and then try to meet those needs．

　　Act as a role model

　　Being a personal role model for their employees is an amazing thing for a CEO．If Western bosses could think of themselves as role models, it would have a real impact on their workers．

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　　It takes courage to stand up at work．Now more and more people are standing up when they are working on something important．Standing up is in fashion．Medical researchers have found that people who stand at work tend to be much healthier than those who sit．But I wasn't just looking for better health－standing would also improve how I work and relax my body．

　　In recent years, many office supply companies have begun to sell adjustable desks．These so-called“sit/stand”models are equipped with an electric motor that lets them shift from chair height to person height at the push of a button．Unfortunately, sit/stand desks tend to be expensive, hard to find and not very easy to test in person．

　　I discovered that when I worked standing up, my mind was clearer and new ideas kept coming to me．I suspect that this is because when you're standing, you feel a bit unchained from your desk．If I got stuck on a word or sentence as I wrote it, I found myself shaking my arms, bouncing(跳)on my feet or stepping away from the desk for a bit－things I couldn't do in a chair．Often, standing up seemed to relax my mind enough for me to get over creative barriers．

　　There's another thing about standing for a long time：I tend to get hungrier than I do when I sit on a chair．That feels like confirmation(证实)of the stand-up advocates' belief that you burn more calories when you stand than when you sit．For this reason alone, I'm hoping that one day mass-market furniture companies can make many low-priced versions of sit/stand desks．We could all work with a bit more standing up．

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　　Is there a magic cutoff period when children become responsible for their own actions?Is there a wonderful moment when parents can become spectators(audiences)in the lives of their children and shrug,“It's their life,”and feel nothing?

　　When I was in my twenties, I stood in a hospital passage waiting for doctors to put a few stitches(缝线)in my son's head．I asked,“When do you stop worrying?”The nurse said,“When they get out of the accident stage．”My mother just smiled faintly and said nothing．

　　When I was in my thirties, I sat on a little chair in a classroom and heard how one of my children talked continually and disrupted the class．As if to read my mind, a teacher said．“Don't worry．They all go through this stage and then you can sit back, relax and enjoy them．”My mother just smiled faintly and said nothing．

　　When I was in my forties, I spent a lifetime waiting for the phone to ring, the cars to come home, the front door to open．A friend said,“They're trying to find themselves．Don't worry; in a few years, you can stop worrying．They'll be adults．”My mother just smiled faintly and said nothing．

　　By the time I was 50, I was sick and tired of being weak．I was still worrying over my children, but there was a new wrinkle．There was nothing I could do about it．My mother just smiled faintly and said nothing．

　　I continued to suffer from their failures, and be absorbed in their disappointments．My friends said that when my kids got married I could stop worrying and lead my own life．I wanted to believe that, but I was haunted(萦绕心头)by my mother's warm smile and her occasional“You look pale．Are you all right?Call me the minute you get home．Are you depressed about something?”Can it be that parents are sentenced to a lifetime of worry?

　　One of my children became quite anxious about me recently, saying,“Where were you?I've been calling for three days, and no one answered．I was worried．”

　　I smiled a warm smile．

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　　The cars were honking(鸣叫)on the road one morning as I was walking to the park．I walked on and soon found the cause－a little taxi that had got stuck in the middle of the road．There was sweat on the driver's face as he tried to start the engine again and again－nothing happened．“No petrol．”

　　I said to myself and then found myself getting angry．“Why doesn't the fool move his taxi to the side?”I thought, so did all the others who honked and shouted．

　　He got up tiredly, and the passenger in the taxi got out．He was a young man in a white shirt, who watched the driver try to push it to the side．“Stupid guy!”I said．“Can't he lend a helping hand?”

　　I watched as the poor driver pushed it to the side．Cars, buses and trucks went past cursing(咒骂)the poor man．The young man took another taxi and went off．

　　The taxi driver began mending his taxi．“Stupid passenger!”I said to him．“He didn't help you!”The taxi driver slowly got up．“Sir!”he asked,“Did you?”I looked at him guiltily, then looked away, and walked away fast, asking myself,“Did I help the poor man push his taxi?”

　　What had I been doing as the traffic jam took place?How had I helped deal with the problem?Did I help the poor man push his taxi?I'd done my bit, with my mouth．But never had I moved to solve the problem．I was shocked with guilt as I heard him asking,“Sir!Did you?”

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　　Your chair is your enemy．That is the conclusion of several recent studies．Among people who sit in front of the television for more than three hours each day, those who exercise are as fat as those who don't．

　　So what's wrong with sitting?The answer seems to have two parts．The first is that sitting is one of the most passive things you can do．Compared to sitting, standing in one place is hard work．To stand, you have to tense your leg muscles, and engage the muscles of your back and shoulders; while standing, you often shift from leg to leg．All of this burns energy．

　　You may think you have no choice about how much you sit．But this isn't true．Suppose you sleep for eight hours each day, and exercise for one．That still leaves 15 hours of activities．Even if you exercise, most of the energy you burn will be burnt during these 15 hours, so weight gain is often the cumulative(累积的)effect of a series of small decisions：Do you take the stairs or the elevator?Do you walk to the corner store, or drive?

　　But it looks as though there's a more sinister aspect to sitting．Some evidence suggests that when you spend long periods sitting, your body actually does things that are bad for you．

　　Lipoprotein lipase(蛋白脂酶)is a molecule that plays a central role in how the body processes fats．Low levels of lipoprotein lipase are associated with a variety of health problems．Studies in rats show that leg muscles only produce this molecule when they are actively being moved．The result is that when you sit, an important part of your metabolism(新陈代谢)slows down．You may also have a higher risk of suffering from diabetes(糖尿病)．

　　Some people have advanced radical solutions to the sitting syndrome(综合症)：replace your sit-down desk with a stand-up desk, or watch television in a rocking chair．But whatever you choose, know this．The data is clear; look out for your chair．