The Exchange - National Committee on United States-China Relations

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To <strong>The</strong> Moon Brad Badgley In the British newspaper <strong>The</strong> Guardian an article appeared on May 20 th reporting that the Chinese have plans to put a man into earth’s orbit by 2005, and land one on the moon by 2010. After that, they have plans to set up a permanent lunar base. L E A R N I N G I asked my students if they knew of this plan. <strong>The</strong>y said that they did. I then wondered aloud why China wanted to go to the moon <strong>The</strong> students said that it would show that China was part of the modern world and would gain respect from other countries. Several said simply, “because America did it so we must also.” <strong>The</strong>n, I boldy wondered if it wouldn’t be better for them to help the poor. This received muted mumbles of approval. <strong>The</strong>n one student rose and said. “Well, why doesn’t America stop spending money on missile defense and help the poor in Africa” I must have really hit a nerve. He stood there and watched for my reaction. <strong>The</strong> room was thick with nervous anticipation. I grinned at the kid. “Good point! Actually, forget about Africa! Africa <strong>The</strong>re are poor and struggling people in America. And their numbers are growing!” <strong>The</strong> students laughed. <strong>The</strong>y were trying to decide whether to believe me. <strong>The</strong>y were starting to think. I began again. “So, China wants to go to the moon so that they can gain respect and national pride. Well, people have already been to the moon. It has been done. Why not do something humans have not done before” <strong>The</strong>re weren’t any comments but their eyes were lit up with the challenge. <strong>The</strong>n a student rose and said, “If we can go to the moon there are minerals there that we can use to build houses for the poor people.” This presented an interesting conundrum: is it better to spend billions because we think we will find a solution to earth’s problems out there Or, should we use our vast financial resources to fix the problems here first One student said, “We must go out there first. We can use what we learn to help the poor people here.” Another student rose and said, “What about the poor people now Which poor are we helping Those 100 years from now or the ones who are in trouble now” A third student rose and said “<strong>The</strong> solution isn’t to give money. <strong>The</strong> poor have to be able to help themselves.” A girl rose, and with great trepidation said, “We must go to the moon because America must not be allowed to steal it from the people of the world.” <strong>The</strong>n nobody spoke. <strong>The</strong>y gazed at their hands, and their desks, at the floor, at their shoes. That was it. That was the answer. <strong>The</strong>re was nothing else to say. <strong>The</strong>y had been floating without the answer net and had had a spell of vertigo. This girl brought their feet and minds firmly back to the ground and to the task at hand. I knew they wouldn’t go any further so we played hangman. After class, one of the boys who sits in the back caught up to me as I was leaving. “Badgley, here is what I think.” He handed me a piece of paper on which he had written while we played hangman. It said, “China must do both. If we only use our economy, technology, and resources to help the poor then we will always be poor. If we can work on both then we can benefit from our discoveries and help the poor even more.” Sharp kid. I returned to my office and spoke with one of the Chinese teachers about what I had discussed in class. Together we started to look for information on the moon on the Internet. We learned that water has been discovered under the southern pole of the moon. Lots of water. Scientists believe that this water can be used to supply a lunar rocket base. Secondly, there is Helium 3 on the moon. This, scientists say, is fuel for nuclear fusion. <strong>The</strong>re is also an entire ocean of iron ore and titanium. Furthermore, a lunar day lasts 14 earth days. That is a lot of sunshine! Enough, scientists think, to power lunar mining operations and have a surplus to beam back to earth. Officially, the moon belongs to all. China and the U.S. are two of many nations which have ratified the1967 outer space treaty, which declares that exploration and use of the moon shall be carried out “for the benefit and in the interests of all countries, irrespective of their degree of economic or scientific development, and shall be the province of all.” In Article IV, the treaty states that the moon is to be used “exclusively for peaceful purposes.” <strong>The</strong>n in 1979 the United Nations drafted a decree saying that the moon and its resources belong to all nations and humans and should be apportioned as such. Russia, Japan, China, and the United States have not signed it. <strong>The</strong> race is on! 16
My First Baseball Game Zhang Ling When I woke up in the morning, I became worried because it was still raining. Today our office, which I call “three kingdoms” because we come from three different nationalities, had an office activity – a game between Yankees and Minnesota Twins. This is my first baseball game and I have looked forward to it for several weeks! Fortunately, the rain stopped before noon. Great! In the D train, there were many people wearing Yankee hats, coats, or T-shirts who obviously were on the way to the same destination as us. We sat near some real Yankee fans, so I got to hear what they often shout: before the game, they shout every Yankee player’s name until he turns around and waves or nods back; during the game they either cheer for Yankees or yell at the other team; they even stop people from making “waves” with the others just to annoy the box seat guys! My colleagues were quite busy because they joined in the shouting or cheering and at the same time never forgot to explain the rules of the game to me. Yankees had a good beginning – 2:1 – but during the next several innings both sides played so-so. <strong>The</strong>y had a very exciting game last night which lasted 5 hours and ended with Yankees 1, Twins 12, so they must be very tired today. However, Yankees did hit a home run! I jumped onto the bench and cheered with the others, realizing soon I’ll be a Yankee fan too! <strong>The</strong> players No. 25, 12 and 2 seemed quite popular and won many cheers every time they appeared in the field. No. 25, Jason Giambi, is a good batter, and he is the hero who hit a home run and got Yankees win finally. But the 17 of the Twins clearly made the fans angry because he complained about the home run and in return got himself a lot of nicknames. <strong>The</strong> 9 innings lasted about 3 hours. <strong>The</strong> weather was so chilly that we had to keep drinking a lot of hot chocolate, but it was great fun! I like the happy atmosphere and quite enjoyed myself, so did my friends. So I came home quite content, with a free Yankee cap on my head! Glad it’s a “cap day,” not a “bat day”! <strong>The</strong> Boston Marathon Gong Yan I went to see the Marathon. I stood on Beacon Street at about 1:00, waiting for the coming athletes. Good to have someone standing beside to explain something. Someone said here came the first runner when she saw the police cars coming, and also the helicopter up in the sky. I thought the runners would be scattered. (That’s why I didn’t bring my camera, which made me feel so sorry.) But the truth was, right after the first runner, followed by many, not quite far behind. I didn’t expect to see Chinese runners, and got so excited when seeing them, both men and women athletes. I cheered for them loudly, which was the first time I shouted in public, I think. You can’t imagine how I wished I could run with them to the end at the time. One disabled man pushed a wheelchair with another one in it while running. I was so greatly moved and the scene was still before my eyes. People say he has been running Boston Marathon for more than 20 years already. Some people running that day took it just for fun. Two gays dressed themselves in dresses, one in bright red, the other in white. Speaking of white, there was a couple running the marathon too, I guess they are bride and bridegroom, because the bride was wearing a beautiful white veil. <strong>The</strong>re were some other ones who had Mickey ears, rabbit ears on their heads; someone wore a long, long stick with an empty Coke can at the end right before him, someone wore a plate on which was written “Go, Dad.” People standing by the roadside all cheered when seeing that: Go, Dad. People on the roadside were so enthusiastic. <strong>The</strong>y gave the runners applause, they gave them water, they gave them cheers. That was really unforgettable. What made this marathon eternal in my memory is: the computer teacher in Snowden who is now my good friend is a running lover, he used to run marathon and did some volunteer jobs as well. He gave me two Boston Marathon commemorative jackets. I gave the 2002 to a colleague and kept the 2001 for myself. This morning he gave me a button and it was 2000’s, so I said it didn’t match and he promised to find a 2001 for me. So, all ends well. 17
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