In university I had a part-time job at a shop that sold doughnuts and coffee. Situated on a block where several buses stopped, it served the people who had a few minutes to wait for their bus.

    Every afternoon around four o'clock, a group of schoolchildren would burst into the shop, and business would come to a stop. Adults would glance in, see the crowd and pass on. But I didn't mind if the children waited for their bus inside. Sometimes I would hand out a bus fare when a ticket went missing — always repaid the next day. On snowy days I would give away some doughnuts. I would lock the door at closing time, and we waited in the warm shop until their bus finally arrived.

    I enjoyed my young friends, but it never occurred to me that I played an important role in their lives — until one afternoon when a man came and asked if I was the girl working on weekdays around four o'clock. He identified himself as the father of two of my favorites.

    "I want you to know I appreciate what you do for my children. I worry about them taking two buses to get home. It means a lot that they can wait here and you keep an eye on them. When they are with the doughnut lady, I know they are safe." I told him it wasn't a big deal, and that I enjoyed the kids.

    So I was the Doughnut Lady. I not only received a title, but became a landmark.

    Now I think about all the people who keep an eye on my own children. They become, well, Doughnut Ladies. Like the men at the skating rink (滑冰场) who let my boys ring home; Or the bus driver who drove my daughter to her stop at the end of the route at night but wouldn't leave until I arrived to pick her up; Or that nice police officer who took pity on my boys walking home in the rain when I was at work — even though the phone rang all the next day with calls from curious neighbors. "Was that a police car I saw at your house last night?"

    That wasn't a police car. That was a Doughnut Lady.

    Depression and suicidal thoughts have doubled in young Americans, according to a new study from the American Psychological Association.

    Likely triggers? Cell phones and social media.

    "More US adolescents and young adults in the late 2010s, vs the mid-2000s, experienced serious psychological distress, major depression and more attempted suicide (自杀)", says lead researcher Jean Twenge, professor of psychology at San Diego State University. "These trends are weak or non-existent among adults 26 years and over, suggesting a generational shift in mood disorders instead of an overall increase across all ages."

    Twenge believes this trend is partially due to the explosion of digital culture over the past decade, which may have twisted modes of social interaction enough to affect mood disorders.

    The study analyzed data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, which tracked drug and alcohol use and mental health issues in more than 200,000 youths aged 12 to 17 from 2005 to 2017 and almost 400,000 adults from 2008 to 2017.

    Major depression in the last 12 months increased by 52 percent in kids from 2005 to 2017 and 63 percent in young adults aged 18 to 25 from 2009 to 2017. There was also a 71 percent jump in young adults experiencing serious psychological distress in the previous 30 days from 2008 to 2017.

    So what's so different now? Twenge says research shows young people just aren't getting as much shuteye as they did in previous generations.

    Whereas older Americans might have established more stability in their lives, sleep-disrupting social stressors are likely at their peak for teens and young adults in this digital era, she says. Older adults are also less likely to let devices interfere (干预) with sleep.

    These results suggest a need for more research to understand how digital communication versus face-to-face social interaction influences mood disorders and to develop specialized interventions for younger age groups.

    Her suggestion? Put your phone down at least an hour before bedtime.

Our Annual Cultural Events

    A Night in Rio

    We are proud to bring the energy and enthusiasm of Brazilian Carnival to Charlotte with A Night in

    Rio! Get a taste of Carnival through dancing, live music, authentic food, drinks and marketplace. Put on your green and yellow, and join us for the unforgettable experience of Brazilian Carnival!

    Date: Saturday, February 24, 2018

    TICKETS AVAILABLE ONLY AT THE DOOR

    Location: Neighborhood Theatre, Charlotte

    Time: 7 PM

    Ritmo & Sabor

    We are thrilled to bring the annual celebration Ritmo & Sabor Festival! Featuring dance performances and FREE dance lessons and delicious, authentic Latin cuisine, this festival will be a fantastic celebration for the entire family to enjoy! Food and beer will be available for purchase. Come out to enjoy a great summer evening of Ritmo & Sabor!

    Date: Saturday July 2, 2018

    Location: International & Cultural Center, Charlotte

    Time: 5-11 PM

    FREE ADMISSION

    Las Américas

    Join us in the annual celebration LAS AMÉRICAS! We display our history and identity of Latin America through musical performances, story-telling and poetry. Enjoy yourself with local artists, shop your way through a market of arts and crafts and join in some of the finest Latin American cuisine.

    Date: August 18, 2018

    Location: Midwood International & Culture Center, Charlotte

    Time: 2-7 PM

    Admission is FREE.

    Latin American Festival

    Festival Latinoamericano returns for its 28th year, with musical artists and dance performances, a diverse authentic selection of Latin American food, visual artists, and a street festival environment with activities for the whole family.

    Location: Symphony Park at South Park Mall, Charlotte

    Date: Saturday Sept. 29 (1-8pm)

    Admission: $10; Children aged 8 & under are free.

    Ten years ago, I set out to examine luck. I wanted to know why some people were always in the right place at the right time, while others consistently experienced ill fortune. I placed advertisements in national newspapers asking for people who felt consistently lucky or unlucky. Hundreds of extraordinary men and women volunteered for my research. Over the years I have interviewed them, monitored their lives and had them take part in various experiments.

    In one of the experiments, I gave both lucky and unlucky people a newspaper, asking them to look through it and tell me how many photographs were inside. I had secretly placed a large message halfway through the newspaper, saying, "Tell the experimenter you have seen this and you will win $50." This message took up half of the page and was written in type that was more than two inches high. It was staring everyone in the face, but the unlucky people tended to miss it and the lucky people tended to spot it.

    Unlucky people are generally more nervous than lucky people, and this anxiety affects their ability to notice the unexpected. As a result, they miss opportunities because they are too focused on looking for something else. They go to gatherings concentrating on finding their perfect partners and miss opportunities to make good friends. They look through newspapers determined to find certain types of job advertisements and miss other types of jobs.

    Lucky people are more relaxed and open, and therefore see what is there rather than just what they are looking for. My research eventually showed that lucky people are skilled at noticing opportunities, make lucky decisions by listening to their intuition (直觉), are open to new experiences, and adopt a never-say-die attitude that transforms bad luck into good luck.

    NASA has a new job listing, and it's no joke. The US space agency is looking for a "joker" to join their planned mission to Mars.

    A mission to Mars is no laughing matter. On average, the red planet is 140 million miles (225 million kilometers) away from Earth. A trip there would take around eight months in a small spacecraft. And Mars has a communications delay of 20 minutes. This means that astronauts will have to wait 20 minutes for a reply, when an emergency happens.

    "When you're living with others in a confined space for a long period of time, such as on a mission to Mars, problems are likely to occur," Jeffrey Johnson, a scientist at the University of Florida, told The Guardian.

    This is probably why NASA wants an astronaut with a sense of humor. "These are people that have the ability to pull everyone together," Johnson said.

    In stressful situations, perhaps humor is a way to know we aren't alone. By laughing together, we share our stress. Then we can focus on our jobs instead of just worrying.

    There are other examples of team "clowns". One example is the journey to the South Pole led by Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen. It was a difficult journey full of danger. Adolf Lindstrom, a cook at Amundsen's team, was a "clown". He made people laugh through the whole journey. Amundsen later wrote that Lindstrom was the most valuable member of the team.

    But if you're hoping that your favorite TV comedian will fly to Mars, that probably won't happen.

    "Being funny won't be enough to land somebody the job," Johnson said. "They also need to be an excellent engineer."

    Besides, they must be in top physical condition.

    A scientist once said: "I have concluded that the earth is being visited by intelligently controlled vehicles from outer space."

    If we take this as a reasonable explanation for UFOs (unidentified flying objects), questions immediately come up.

    "Why don't they get in touch with us, then? Why don't they land right on the White House lawn and declare themselves?" people asked.

In reply, scientists say that, while this may be what we want, it may not necessarily be what they want.

    "The most likely explanation, it seems to me," said Dr. Mead, "is that they are simply watching what we are up to—that responsible society outside our solar system is keeping an eye on us to see that we don't cause a chain reaction that might have unexpected effects for the outside of our solar system."

    Opinions from other scientists might go like this: "Why should they want to get in touch with us? We may feel we're more important than we really are! They may want to observe us only and not interfere(干涉) with the development of our civilization. They may not care if we see them but they also may not care to say 'hello'."

    Some scientists have also suggested that Earth is a kind of zoo or wildlife reserve. Just as we set aside wilderness areas and wildlife reserves to allow animals and growing things to develop naturally while we observe them. So perhaps Earth was set aside ages ago for the same purpose.

    Are we being observed by intelligent beings from other civilizations in the universe? Are they watching our progress in space travel? Do we live in a huge "zoo" observed by our "keepers," but having no communication with them?

    Never before in our history have we had to face ideas bravely like these. The simple fact is that we, who have always regarded ourselves as supreme in the universe, may not be so. Now we have to recognize that, among the stars in the heavens, there may very well be worlds lived by beings who are to us as we are to ants.