I could feel the judging eyes of my family burning a hole into the back of my head as I picked up my phone. All of a sudden, the chattering in the living room died and all I could hear was the sound of the turkey sizzling (发出嘶嘶声) in the oven.

    “Look at her! She's been on her phone all day long! It's all your fault! Children will never respect elders if they are not taught how to behave! ” my grandmother shouted.

    I was very shocked and angry! I opened my mouth to say something, but words failed me and I just sat down quietly on the chair like a mouse in its trap. I thought “Here we go again.” I truly love my family and I would do anything for them. I also know that they would do anything for me as well. However, there are moments that make me feel that they are just stuck with me. They all agree on one thing: technology is wrecking me.

    If I am going to be treated like a child or completely ignored, I will most likely not enjoy your company, and I feel that this applies to (适用于) the majority of the people. So I sometimes simply shut myself in my room and listened to the voices coming from the living room, thinking: They all grew up in a world so different that it amazes me how they have actually gotten this far. They did not have phones or any type of advanced technology, which is both good and bad. Bad because they had almost no type of fast communication, and good because they were forced to interact (互动) with one another, which is something today's society is lacking in. However, maybe if they made an effort to be aware of how things work nowadays, they would not be so against everything.

    Do you know an outstanding junior high or high school teacher, coach, guidance counselor, librarian, or headmaster? Nominate (提名) that special teacher you'll always remember and give him/her the chance to be recognized in a famous national magazine through “Educators of the Year Contest”!

    Prizes

    Cash awards will be given to those from across the country who are given the honor of Educators of the Year. Besides, your winning essays will also be published in our magazine.

    Guidelines

    We will only consider essays written by teens, and nominations must be for junior high or high school educators only. Elementary school educators are not suitable.

    Convince us your educator is special. Tell us about his or her style of teaching, his or her role in school activities, and community service. What has your educator done for the entire school, your class, for you or another student? Give examples with specific details. Keep your essay between 200 and 1,000 words. Remember to include the first and last name, position, and school of your educator in your essay.

    Don't forget to submit (提交) your essays through our website. You can also read our submission guidelines for more information on this website.

    The Deadline

    The deadline for submitting your essays is December 30. Your essays are accepted and will appear in our magazine all over the year. Winners will be made public after the January issue is published.

    Many people turn to doctors or self-help books, but they ignore a powerful thing that could help them fight illness: their friends.

    Researchers are only now starting to pay attention to the importance of friendship in health. A 10-year Australian study found that old people with a large circle of friends were 22 percent less likely to die during the study period than those with fewer friends. A large 2007 study showed an increase of nearly 60 percent in the risk  for obesity (肥胖) among people whose friends gained weight. And last year, Harvard researchers reported that strong social ties could improve brain health as we age.

    “In general, the role of friendship in our lives isn't well realized,” said Rebecca, a professor at the University of North Carolina. “Friendship has a bigger effect on our psychological health than family relationships.”

    While many friendship studies are about the close relationships of women, some research shows that men can benefit, too. In a six-year study of 736 middle-aged men, having friendships reduces the risk of heart attack. Only smoking was as important a risk factor (因素) as having little social support.

    Exactly why friendship has such a big effect isn't entirely clear. While friends can send a sick person to the hospital or pick up medicine, the benefits go well beyond physical assistance. Friendship clearly has a big psychological effect. “People with stronger friendships feel like there is someone they can turn to,” said Karen, a doctor. "The message of these studies is that friends make your life better.”

    Friendships can be difficult—because often people aren't as honest and open as they should be. Sometimes, people end up getting hurt.

    Most problems with friendships come up because people are just too selfish to care about the things that their friends need. They care about their own needs much more, which makes it hard for friendships to work. However, being selfish is part of human nature. A person is put together in order to take care of himself and his own needs, not necessarily those needs of other people. Even though being selfish is something that all humans are born with, it is something that everyone should guard against.

    The best thing to remember when you are a friend to anyone is that you need to treat your friend the same way as you'd like to be treated. This is wonderful advice for a friendship, because it is really the only way to make sure that you are giving your friend everything you would want to be given in a friendship. Whenever you have a question about how you should treat a friend, it is easy to find an answer simply by asking yourself what you would like your friend to do for you, if he or she is in your shoes.

    Even if you're always thinking about how you'd like to be treated, and your friends are too, there are issues that come up from time to time in each friendship, and it is important to understand how to deal with these issues so that you can build stronger and healthier friendships. Issues like friends getting boyfriends or girlfriends and not spending enough time with their friends, or even friends finding new friends and leaving old friends behind are issues that will probably come up with one or more of your friendships. It is important to know how to deal with these issues so that you can keep your friends and make new ones. No one wants to have a broken friendship.

    Developing healthy eating habits starts from childhood, therefore it is important for parents to teach and provide children with a healthy diet. DPHSS administrator of the Bureau of Nutrition Services, Charlie Morris told KUAM News, "A healthy diet for a child consists of a lot of fruits and vegetables in the diet limiting the amount of simple sugars in the diet and high fat food and highly processed(加工的) food."

    This means staying away as much as possible from food such as chips, cookies, candies and sugary drinks, as all children need to have meals which involve a well-balanced diet. Community nutritionist(营养学家) Thelma Romoso said, "The fruit, the vegetable, the grain, the protein, and also the milk, the diary product, so for the fruits it's easy for a mother to go into the two plus three concept of fruits and vegetables or five a day."

    This concept means that there are at least two servings of fruits a day, three servings of vegetables a day which can be served for lunch and dinner. As for protein parents can make a variety of dishes from chicken, beef, fish or even dried beans to make sure the child gets three servings a day.

    Morris said that the child's hunger level controls how much is eaten and the parent controls what and when the meal is offered, saying, "Mom needs to ensure that the food offered is good food for the child to eat and throughout the day depending on how active they are, snacks(零食) are not a bad thing, so the mom should offer good kinds of snacks."

    When it comes to preparing your child's lunch and snacks for school, make sure to keep in mind that the food you provide should not only be a source of energy but also be nutritionally beneficial such as fresh fruits, and whole grain bread. But parents must be sure to remember that a good nutritional diet must be balanced with physical activity, namely it is important that children get outside and run around and play and get activity in addition to eating a good diet.

    When "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" was first shown to the public last month, a group of excited animal activists gathered on Hollywood Boulevard. But they weren't there to throw red paint on fur-coat-wearing film stars. Instead, one activist, dressed in a full-body monkey suit, had arrived with a sign praising the filmmakers: "Thanks for not using real apes (猿)!"

    The creative team behind "Apes" used motion-capture (动作捕捉) technology to create digitalized animals, spending tens of millions of dollars on technology that I records an actor's performance and later processes it with computer graphics to create a final image (图像). In this case, one of a realistic-looking ape.

    Yet "Apes" is more exception than the rule. In fact, Hollywood has been hot on live animals lately. One nonprofit organization, which monitors the treatment or animals in filmed entertainment, is keeping tabs on more than 2,000 productions this year. Already, a number of films, including "Water for Elephants," "The Hangover Part Ⅱ" and "Zookeeper," have drawn the anger of activists who say the creatures acting in them haven't been treated properly.

    In some cases, it's not so much the treatment of the animals on set in the studio that has activists worried; it's the off-set training and living conditions that are raising concerns. And there are questions about the films made outside the States, which sometimes are not monitored as closely as productions filmed in the Sates.