The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, September 07, 2000, Image 3

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    Thursday, September 7,2000
cto be
>rated
i lights
victims
LING
n
emorate the lives of the
who died in the 1999
apse, the city of College
t decorate Bison Park
cated street lightsanda
eet light will have a
aque with the deceased
re, class, hometown and
e a picture of a bonfire
a me.
it something permanem
of these students,” said
Iriffith. co-chair of the
ition historic preserva-
ttee and health educa-
inator at A.P. Beutei
ler.
rling, special facilities so-
t and emergency shelter
for the city of College Sta-
state markers will cost be-
and 1.100 and the cost of
las not vet been estimated
marker will have a state-
how the tragedy affected
Station community.alone
f the Aggies who died,
op of the plaque, there
icture of a train station
ottom. after the text, will
; of a bonfire,
nmittee agreed unam-
ast it in aluminum rathe:
e. They are being pro-
>MC Industries.
Jasek. former chair-
le College Station historic
i committee, said thecih
,d a dedication ceremom
s not yet been set because
lee is waiting to make sure
no conflicts with Texa>
ns for memorials and oth-
illege Station Historic
on Committee alsodis-
■sible action on a Neigh-
Recognition Program
n the historic area of Col-
n who remodel, re-1
iprove their home maybe
I by the city. Nomination
>y neighbors or others ir
mity, Jasek said,
i behind this is to recognize
• restore or enhance the his-
asek said. The detailsofth
ive not been finalized,
nmittee discussed a poten-
nd film on the historyd
i-College Station area
old begin once adequat;
received. The city wout
mate $50,000 along will |
Bryan, Brazos county an
donors and private donor
hultz, a member of the her | ■
J, presented the book an ; I
committee and said other
;e the film production,
reject will began onc<
funding is received
lid.
mmittee said it will nee>
to decide on this issue.
ViTALlON
r. Editor in Chief
F, Managing Editor
lohiuddin, City Editor
Luna, Graphics Editor
nine, Sports Editor
oln, Sports Editor
lara, Sci/Tech Editor
tiyhoff, Aggielife Editor
tson, Aggielife Editor
, Opinion Editor
tchison. Photo Editor
;es, Photo Editor
ales, Night News Editor
uist, Copy Chief
:ns. Radio Producer
\tyton, Web Master
(ISSN #1055-4726) is published da'lyTW
uring the fall and spnng semesters and fM»
during the summer session (except University It
i penods) at Texas A&M University. Penodx# |
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to The Battalion Jem A&M University, lilt *
X 77843-1111.
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ThTirsday, September 7, 2000
AGGIEAA
Page 3A
THE BATTALION
(ZeUegc sltibml < J-cng
Ancient Chinese method helps achieve harmony and balance with thenatym of one’s room
By Stuart Hutson
The Battalion
More than 5,(XX) years ago, Taoist
\ philosophers converged in ancient
i China to develop a method for man
[• to live in perfect harmony and bal-
. ance with his surroundings.
Today, Feng Shui (pro
nounced “phong shway”) has
' branched out from from its ancient
Chinese roots to work its way into
practically every civilized country
in the world.
“When a lot of educated Chi
nese started leaving China and
. moving into the Western coun
tries, they brought this study
* with them,” said Ke-Tsung
Han, a landscape architecture
and urban planning graduate
. student who plans to pursue a
career in Feng Shui.
Han said that although
. the principles and intricate
details that make Feng Shui
- effective can take years to
learn from a Feng Shui mas
ter. there are some basic
. principles that can help
bring balance to even the
. cramped living space of a
college residence hall.
Qx 101
Qi (pronounced “chee”)
< is believed to be the energy
upon which the universe
functions. Every human, an-
. imal, plant and object pos
sesses this energy. It can ei
ther “create or destroy,
bring luck or misfortune.
Some items can create
positive qi, which brings
luck and harmony. This
energy is obtained and held by the
balance of all things in the natural
environment.
4
5
Other items bring
negative qi, that brings
misfortune and dis
traction. This en
ergy is attracted
to systems
which are not in
balance.
“Feng Shui ac
tually is translated
to mean ‘wind’
' and ‘water’ be
cause it was be
lieved that peace
fully moving water
[such as a babbling
brook] is a good
source of positive qi
[because it was found
to have a calming,
soothing effect and
supported life around
it], and strong wind was a
source of negative qi [such
as a hurricane which
would cause massive
destruction along
the Chinese
coastline],” Han
said. “Taoism
teaches us that
everything has the
same origin of qi.
whether it is a plant, an
animal or a human. And so
we must treat everything
with brotherhood.”
According to the
New Feng Shui
Concepts Website,
Feng Shui can be
compared to the
force in Star
Wars. The light
side of the force
brings strength
and serenity (like
positive qi), while
the dark side leads to anger, rage and
one’s eventual destruction.
<r Lha fiioe. <LUnte.nls
One of the basic beliefs of Taoism
ts that the universe is constantly go
ing through cycles of construction
and destruction. In
According to Feng Shui in Very
Few Words by William Cassidy, wa
ter may be present in the form of a
miniature fountain or aquarium with
a recirculating filter. Wood may be
present in the form of plant life which
has soil that can fulfill the need
_ , for earth. Fire may be
1
RUBEN DELUNA/Tm BaiTM.ION
these cycles, energy
and matter can take the form of one
of five fundamental elements. Water
allows the growth of wood. Fire
transforms the wood to earth. Earth
gives rise to metal. Metal is purified
by, and controls the How of, water.
To have a balance with nature, it
is first necessary to have all of these
elements present in one’s habitat.
present in the form
of candles, and metal can be
present in countless forms.
However, Han said there are
many other ways to have a represen
tation of the five elements in one's
habitat.
“The elements are very compli
cated because they can represent
many things,” Han said. “The can re
fer to organs in the body, different
shapes, such as
circles and squares,
and different colors.”
Red represents
fire, brown repre
sents earth, white rep
resents metal, blue repre
sents water and green
represents wood.
“What is impor
tant is to have these
in the environment in
any form,” Han said.
'!*><&$ an? HX&sks
A major difficulty posed
to any college student attempt
ing to properly arrange a
room is what to do with
the desks and beds that
seem to take
up so much 1
space. Han
j said beds
should not be
completely vis-
f ible from the
if outside of the
W doorway.
“From the tradition point of
view, having the beds straight in
front of the door is bad because it al
lows negative qi to directly enter the
room and effect the person while
they are sleeping," he said.
Han said placing the bed out of
view allows for more pri
vacy for those sleeping,
thus allowing a more
peaceful sleep.
As for desks, Han
said the proper posi
tioning is with the desk
facing the door to where a person sit
ting at the desk would have his or her
back against the wall.
“The reason for this is complicated,
but practically, it is for security,” he said.
“A person feels more safe in this po
sition and thus can
work better.”
Whatever position
ing is chosen, Han
said it is also impor
tant to remember that
furniture should be
evenly distributed in the
i room, and that the
amount of free
floor space and
space occupied
by furniture
should be equal.
lAon t Aerqe.1
the extras
According to an arti
cle on Feng Shui by
SanDiegoInsider.com,
small additions to a resi
dence hall room can
—enhance an already
J) h present balance.
The article
states that wind
chimes are very
powerful produc
ers of positive qi,
and colorful flow
ers can enhance the
production of one's
own positive qi.
Han said that by
positioning mirrors
so that they reflect
items that create pos
itive qi, such as foun
tains or wind chimes, one
magnifies the qi produced.
“Mirrors can reflect positive qi,
but they also can be used to create
a greater sense of space, so that if
you have a cluttered room you can
help create a sense of balance be
tween free space and occupied
space,” he said.
2>
2000 Deloitte Consulting
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