31 Mar

Report – by Ivan Beljic

001kings_college01

Photo by Melinda Kolk

To the School Administrator,

Introduction

This report outlines the recently noticed security issues and the possible solutions for the future.

The general situation

In recent days, there have been reports of intruders on the premises. I conducted a survey based on a questionnaire of our students and it showed devastating results for our security system. As I am the Student Representative I was asked to write a report for the college authorities in order to solve this problem.

Security problems

According to some students, the feeling of safety in the hall of residence is much worse than it was before the unpleasant events. Some of the problems are:
* unlocked front door during the night
* possibility than anyone can come inside the hall, because there is no ID needed
* many thefts in the last two weeks/ – such as some cases of missing clothes or PC technology

Recommendations

In the light of the above, we believe the following will make improvements:
* providing an ID card for every student and a machine which would read that card at the front door
* having the doors automatically locked at midnight exactly – we believe it is better to have this type of closing the doors than a human, because human can always make a mistake, let someone in or forget to look the doors
* install security cameras in halls

06 Nov

The Big Clean-up Campaign! – by Ivan Beljic

by allen.goldblatt

 

Have you ever wondered what our college would be like if it was cleaned up? If the answer is yes, you should have taken a part in our Clean-up Day last Saturday.

As you know, our paper has been campaigning to clean the college. Judging from the emails we’ve received many students have complained that the college is untidy and that they would be glad to take part if there was some action concerning this issue. So, the idea was to clean it up and that the principal would introduce some new policies. On the day itself, we handed out rubbish bags and rubber gloves. Many students suddenly set to work, and what’s the most interesting they didn’t complain, like saying: ,“I’m tired, I can’t do this anymore”. On the contrary, people felt more positive about a clean college. While ones were giving away the equipment needed, the others were distributing leaflets about how to keep our college clean. As a reward we had free snacks and juices after we’d finished the job.  We also put some extra bins in order to encourage people not to drop litter on the ground.

When we analyse the results, it turns out that the most popular policy was NO SMOKING (even smokers hated seeing cigarette ends everywhere).

Unfortunately those leaflets only led to more litter being dropped. And what’s the most obvious, but sadly, is that fines for dropping litter will never work, because they are too high.

So all in all, now we have a cleaner college, but don’t forget to keep the emails coming in if you notice someone breaking the rules!

Assignment from Advanced Expert CAE

21 Oct

Ayers Rock Tour, Australia – by Ivan Beljic

Uluru Sunset, by Prince Roy

To the Editor

I am writing concerning the commentary on the Anangu opposition to tourism development in Uluru in the local paper cutting I received from an Australian friend. I want to express my disagreement with the criticism expressed. In my opinion we all should respect Anangu people and their tradition.

The Anangu people who have been there over 20,000 years call Ayers Rock as Uluru. It is their sacred site to which they are so attached that they never climb it and that is why they do not like when tourists do that. On the other hand, everybody realises that they benefit from tourism, and it is in their interests to increase visitor number to the rock. I think this can be solved by involving controlled tourism, which will ban climbing, but at the same time provide more seasonal work around the site and education to visitors.

I suggest that there is better cooperation between the goverment and the Anangu. To achieve this, the Culture Centre should have more jointly organised activities such as: educating visitors about aspects of the Anangu culture and explaining the spiritual importance of the area to their people. Visitors to Uluru are currently 400,000 a year. This is low compared with many other National Parks, and numbers could be increased. That is why Anangu should have a greater role in promotion, because then more profit will go to them.

All in all, the local people are right when they ask for a ban on climbing and for more control in tourism. I believe that this is the only way how this problem could be solved to make both sides satisfied.

Assignment from Advanced Expert CAE

 

26 Sep

Slow and Fast Life in Valjevo by Ivan Beljic

Photo by Ivan Beljic

We live in a peaceful city. Some say that’s good, while others say the opposite. Those who like this city are usually older people, who like to have a peaceful morning or time for sleeping, without noise from local pubs and cafes. But, on the other hand, young people who are full of conviviality tend to have some places to go out and have fun.

What can be said about our citizens is that they tend to linger over coffee and gossip, which is not very clever. I think that’s a waste of time, but when I look deeper I believe this may be the one of the reasons which connects the people, so no wonder if you come across neighbourliness almost everywhere. Our people are very hospitable, especially to their neighbours.

Although there are young people, subsidies are not very much popular in our area. In my opinion, that may be the breakpoint for young people to choose to leave Valjevo, so they go to more developed cities in order to seek for a job. What could be interesting  here is the fact that there are some shoemakers and watchmakers who actually still have jobs.

As for the cuisine, Valjevo is known for dishes made from fishes caught in the river Gradac. By the way, Gradac is a favourite picnic area of citizens during hot summer days (this includes not just older people, but also the younger ones).

So, all in all, Valjevo is a city full of diversity. It can make young people feel fulfilled, but I believe it’s more suitable for life of older people.

21 Mar

VALJEVO CHESS CLUB by Ivan Beljic

 

Chess game by muffet

Who are we?

  • Valjevo’s chess club was established in 2006 and our members are mostly young people.

Where and when do we meet?

  • We meet every Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Valjevo’s Youth Centre.

How good do you have to be?

  • you do not have to know anything about chess
  • it doesn’t matter whether you are a complete beginner or an expert
  • polite teachers will help you to learn it and to develop your skills

Is it open to all ages, and men and women?

  • everyone can join, both men and women
  • new members of 17-25 years of age are always welcome

Why join the club?

  • the club has great atmosphere, all members are sociable and creative people
  • you will meet a lot of new people, and you will broaden your views
  •  if you are a professional chess player, you will be able to work on yourself and improve your skills

Are there any competitions?

  • yes, in both categories: beginners & experts
  • there is a competition in our club every two months, but you can also attend competitions in other towns

Who do you contact?

  •   if you have any questions or you want to enroll in our club you can dial the number  338-6610
  •   just to let you know, the membership is free
  •   if you apply until 1st April you will get a chess set as a gift
05 Mar

Newscast Review by Ivan Beljic

Phoenix Lights II by n8kowald

Many people usually do not believe in the UFOs but would you think differently if you happened to be in Arizona 15 years ago ? In 1997, in Phoenix, there were some unexplained lights showing up over the sky. People were shocked and amazed and some of them even terrified.

In the news, we can see a man and a woman, who witnessed this event. They describe it as huge lights which unequaly spread over the town . People say that it was the size of a football pitch. They were just standing on the ground, probably thinking how small and helpless they were that they could not do anything about it.

Fife Symington, who was the Governor of Arizona at the time also noticed this mystery. Leslie Kean, who is in a coalition for the freedom of information explains why he could not claim that he had seen an UFO, and she adds that the reason is obvious. He was a public figure.

To sum up, Fife Symington could not tell in public what he had seen because it would cause panic between the people and it would bring them to some negative emotional reactions. But, I believe that was not the reason. In my opinion, the Defence Department did not want anyone to talk in public because it was their aircraft which they had probably developed against the terrorists.

I assume that can be one of the reasons, but in the end who knows. That remains a mystery till today.

22 Feb

Character Reference by Ivan Beljic

Water boy...by marc falardeau

I have known Petar for 10 years, both as a friend and as a schoolmate. We met at primary school and have continued to be friends until the present day. Our friendship is real, without any envy or looking down on each other, so I can say that I know him pretty well. At this moment, we are both in Grammar school in the natural science course.

I have always known him to be very kind to children. He has always proved himself to be extremely sensitive, for example, he used to take poor children from the streets for lunch. I can confirm that he is easy to connect with children. I remember him doing babysitting once. He was caring for two young children aged two and three years old. Their parents had to attend a very important meeting in order to get a higher position in the same firm they worked in, so he offered to take care of their kids. To children, he looks so fun and they quickly get interested in his fantasy stories and fairy tales.

I must say, however, that sometimes his tolerance can lead children to behave even worse than they usually do. I suppose that is because he is very patient with children and there is a moment when his flexibility comes into effect. I assume this is the only drawback he has when dealing with children. I suppose he should be more strict and everything will come into its place.

For the reasons I have given I have no hesitation in supporting Petar’s application for this job. I believe that you will be more than happy to have him as a babysitter.