Register in person, by phone 264-8833, or by mail. Use form given.

178 IN Winchester St, Chicago

Basic Photography

    This is an eight-hour course for beginners who want to learn how to use a 35mm camera. The teacher will cover such areas as kinds of film, light, and lenses(镜头). Bring your own 35mm camera to class. Course charge: $50. Jan.10,12,17,19, Tues. & Thurs. 6:00~8:00 p.m. Marianne Adams is a professional photographer whose photographs appear in many magazines.

Understanding Computers

    This twelve-hour course is for people who don't know very much about computers, but need to learn about them. You will learn what computers are, what they can and can't do, and how to use them. Course charge:$75. Equipment charge:$10. Jan.14,21,28, Sat. 6:00~10:00 p.m. Joseph Saimders is Professor of Computer Science at New Urban University. He has over twelve years of experience in the computer field.

Typing

    This course on week-days is for typing. You are tested in the first class and practice at one of eight different skill levels. This allows you to learn at your own speed. Each program lasts 20 hours. Bring your own paper. Course charge:$125. Materials charge:$25. Two hours each evening for two weeks. New classes begin every two weeks. This course is taught by a number of business education teachers who have effectively taught typing courses before.

Oil Painting

Oil paint is easy to use once you learn the basics. When you enroll(注册) in this oil painting course, you will learn to draw and paint using many oil painting techniques under complete guidance and instruction. Together—with the teacher's knowledge and your passion—we'll unlock your creativity and develop your potential! Course charge: $35. Jan. 5,12,19,26, Thurs. 2:00—5:00pm. Ralf Ericssion has taught beginners to masters and he has learned that everything builds on just a few basic concepts that he will show you here.

    TransNatura International Nature Photo Competition

    The application is open, and all photographers are invited from all over the world, except the jury (评委会) and the organizers. The basic requirement is that the recordings have to be made of natural habitats without disturbing the wildlife. On the photos only wild animals can be included.

    Two categories:

    A Category: Open—any type of nature photography, representing animals, plants, landscape, and so on

    B Category: The art of flying—nature pictures that represent the movement of flying animals and the beauty of flying

    The assessment by the jury: 16th September〜10th October

    Announcement of results: 30th of October

    Exhibition Opening: 23th of November

    The works received will be evaluated and decided upon by an international jury made up of the five persons from Hungary and Romania.

    A total number of competition prizes will be awarded:

    Grand Prize—1,000 Euro;

    1st Prize—600 Euro;

    2nd Prize—400 Euro;

    3rd Prize—200 Euro.

    Entry requirements:

    A participant may enter the competition with at most four pictures per category.

    The pictures for the competition have to be submitted before 15th of September in the form of digital images, in jpg format.

    The participant must have full copyright over the submitted photos.

    The entry fee is 10 Euro for a category, 15 Euro for two categories.

    Additional information can be obtained by e-mail at: transnatura@vadon.ro.

    They aren't great artists like Leonardo da Vinci or Vincent van Gogh, but their paintings are just as popular on Chinese social media, with millions of Chinese people willing to pay for them.

The 36 works were painted by ordinary Chinese people who live with autism (自闭症) or cerebral palsy (脑瘫), aged from their early teens to late thirties. They all studied art at World of Art Brut Culture (WABC), which is a Shanghai-based non-profit organization (非赢利组织) for art education. The project was started by WABC and supported by the Tencent Charitable Foundation. Users could buy a digital copy of each painting by donating (捐赠) 1 yuan or more. By Aug 29, donations totaled more than 15 million yuan, with about 5.8 million people participating (参与).

    “The paintings by these autistic kids and adults are beautiful: the style is similar to that of the Dutch artist Van Gogh. I'm really impressed by their talent,” Feng Li, a customer service officer in Shanghai, told the South China Morning Post.

    However, the popular campaign also led to certain questions.

    Li Laoxi, an experienced special education teacher in Hangzhou, said that based on his experience, people with autism could only draw a few lines or fill in colors under the guidance of their trainers. “Maybe there are some geniuses out there, but I've never met them”. Others questioned where the money would go, as the donations went to WABC instead of the painters. In response to these concerns, Miao Shiming, founder of WABC, said the money would be used to employ art teachers, buy supplies, and rent facilities. Meanwhile, Tencent said that all donation information would be open to the public.

    After a homeless man offered a college student in England all the money he had so she'd be able to get home safely, the woman is paying it forward—in a massive way.

    The story began in early December. It was about 3 a.m. and Harrison-Bentzen was panic. “I came out after a student night out and realized I didn't have any battery on my phone. I'd lost my friends,” the 22-year-old told BBC Radio 5. She'd also lost her bank card, she discovered, and she had no money.

    Just then, a homeless man, known only as Robbie, approached the young woman and asked her if she needed help. He reached into his pocket and pulled out all the money he had—loose change amounting to about $4.60. He insisted that Harrison-Bentzen take it to pay for a taxi so she'd get home safely.

    Harrison-Bentzen, a student at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston, England, says she refused to take Robbie's money and found another way to get home. But following her encounter（偶然相遇）with the generous man, she says she couldn't get him out of her mind.

    For the next few days, the student searched for Robbie, driving around the streets with her mom and using social media in an attempt to locate the man. In that time, Harrison-Bentzen says she learned more about Robbie and discovered that he actually had a reputation for helping strangers.

    Finally, after four days of driving around Preston, Harrison-Bentzen found Robbie. She was determined to do something to help change Robbie's life.

    So, earlier this month, the student launched a fundraising campaign in Robbie's name. She explained that she would be spending 24 hours on the streets, so as to “understand the difficulties” that the homeless face on a daily basis.

    Harrison-Bentzen says she had initially（最初）hoped to raise about $780 with her campaign. Her expectations, however, were quickly blown out of the water. As of Thursday morning, 4,800 people have donated almost $50,000.

    Many people trying to sell homes find that an increase in home prices has turned the market in their favor. But sellers can still get the short end of the deal if they aren't careful. Here are a few tips for you:

    Don't test your luck. Of course you think anyone who moves into your lovely home should be willing to pay top dollars, especially if you've recently invested in some improvements. But listing a home at a price that's too high above the market price could turn away some buyers.

    Buyers noticing that the home which still hasn't been sold may begin to assume there's something wrong with the house and use that as a reasonable excuse for offering a lower price. And if a home hasn't received any offers after two weeks, it might be time to reset the price.

    A price that's too low can bring about an undesired outcome. Listing your home at or slightly below the market price can have the effect of drawing in a large group of buyers and increase the chances that a home will receive multiple offers. But setting the price too low comes with several risks. One possibility is that buyers will get skeptical of the home that is listed for $15,000 to $20,000 less than similar homes in the area, especially if it's not properly marketed. Once again, people might assume there is something wrong with the home and may not bother to look at it.

    Spy on the competition. Going to other people's open houses can give you a better sense of how your home compares with others on the market. Check out the decoration in their kitchens, the size of their backyards and use the information to figure out where your home should fit in the range of the price. But don't set your pricing just on what you see elsewhere.

    Last month, voters in the second Congressional District in New Orleans, Louisiana, made a historic choice. They elected Anh "Joseph" Cao a Vietnamese-American Republican party member, as their representative. It is the first time in over one hundred years that voters in this area of New Orleans elected a non-democratic Party lawmaker. And, Anh Cao is the first Vietnamese-American to be elected to the United States Congress(议会).

    Anh Cao went through difficult times to get to where he is now. He was born in Saigon in nineteen sixty-seven during the war in Vietnam. In nineteen seventy-five, North Vietnamese troops took control of Saigon. He was separated from his family for many years. Anh Cao lived with his uncle in Indian, then later moved to Houston, Texas.

    He decided to work for social justice in a non-religious way. So, he worked as a lawyer in New Orleans.

    He joined the Republican Party and became active on local and state political committees. He decided to compete against his local representative in Congress, William Jefferson, who had been in office since nineteen ninety-one. Minister Jefferson's reelection campaign was not helped by federal corruption charges against him.

    Mister Cao won the election. That night he said that never in his life did he think he could be a congressman. He said the American dream is alive and well.