農曆新年起源   

農曆新年是中國民族最重視的日子，春節的起源，是來自耳熟能詳的「年獸故事」，話說遠古之時，一隻頭如獅子身如黃牛的獨角獸，名為「年獸」，「年獸」本被天神鎖於深山，但天神答允每年給予牠一天的自由，一個年三十晚，「年獸」走到民間四處搗亂。

 可是當牠走到一戶門前掛著大紅布的人家時，立即跋足狂奔，人們又發現「年獸」害怕熊熊火光及放鞭炮的巨響，於是便興起過年貼紅紙，掛大燈及燒炮仗等習俗，而在大年初一拜年的習俗，亦代表著避過「年獸」或是「惡運」而互相祝賀一番。

 古人的「年」字是以「禾」及「千」兩個字組成的，意味著五穀豐盛，收成良好的意思，農民在歲晚時檢討過往一年的收成，亦對未來一年充滿期望，根據中國歷史文獻記載，自堯舜時代開始，人們就有在新年慶祝豐收、迎接新歲的民間風俗，後來逐漸成為一個既定的傳統節日。

News captured from Hong Kong - 

狗年大吉

  黃大仙祠昨晚十一時（子時），大批善信爭上頭炷香。

市民消費疏爽 檔主笑逐顏開 春雨無減年宵熱

    綿綿細雨無減市民逛花市的興致，維園昨日出現愈夜愈旺的景象。

華仔揮筆祝願強勢社會     華仔加招財狗表演書法賀狗年。  Soler返澳門老家度歲    Soler跟各位讀者拜年，希望大家身體健康。

UIUC HKSA wish you a Happy Chinese New Year!

How are you guys doing?
Hope you guys will find the following info useful!

OWENS CORNING
3ND ANNUAL DIVERSITY LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE


Owens Corning, a global leader in the building materials and composites industries, is eager to identify students to participate in our third annual Diversity Leadership Conference.  The purpose of the event is to provide an opportunity for talented sophomores and juniors to enhance their knowledge and understanding of leadership and corporate values through case studies, workshops and exercises.

The conference will take place January 26-28, 2006, at the Owens Corning World Headquarters in Toledo, Ohio. Transportation, lodging, and training materials for each student will be provided.

The Tentative Agenda includes:

Thursday, January 26
2:00 p.m. ?4:00 p.m.   Greeting, Introductions & Icebreaker; self assessment review
4:00 p.m. ?5:00 p.m.   Overview of Case Study
5:00 p.m. ?5:30 p.m.   Tour of the World Headquarters
5:30 p.m. ?7:00 p.m.   Reception & dinner with OC reps & customers
7:00 p.m. ?8:00 p.m.   OC Quiz, Q&A
8:00 p.m. ?9:00 p.m.   Initial work on case

Friday, January 27
8:00 a.m. ?9:00 a.m.   Continental breakfast & speaker  - Leadership
9:00 a.m. ?10:30 a.m.  Diversity, Culture, Affinity Group Fair
10:30 a.m. ?12:00 p.m. Final work on case
12:00 p.m. ?1:15 p.m.  Lunch with OC Reps
2:00 p.m. ? 5:30 p.m.  Case presentations & debriefing
6:00 p.m. ?7:30 p.m.   Dinner
7:30 p.m. ?9:30 p.m.   Celebration & fun!


Saturday, January 28
8:00 a.m. ?9:15 a.m.   Continental Breakfast & Presentation on Extraordinary Talent
9:30 a.m. ?11:00 a.m.  Career Opportunities
11:00 a.m. ?12:00 p.m. Debrief, Q&A
12:00 p.m. ?1:00 p.m.  Lunch, speaker, group picture




Selection Criteria / Application Materials
We will be selecting 25 students to participate, using the following criteria:
?Sophomore or Junior class status
?Demonstrated leadership experience in student organization promoting underrepresented group membership
?GPA of 3.0 or above
?Majoring in Business or Engineering
?Career interest in: Sales, Supply Chain, Finance, Human Resources, Information Systems, Customer Service, Manufacturing Engineering, Operations or Research & Development
?2 essay questions
?Current resume

The application can be found online at: http://www.owenscorning.com/diversity2006.

Owens Corning employs nearly 20,000 people and has over 300 locations in 25 countries.  Our Purpose is to deliver solutions, transform markets, and enhance lives.  We are dedicated to developing leaders, providing an inclusive environment, and promoting diversity throughout our business environment.

Please complete the nomination form no later than November 11, 2005.  A panel of Leaders from various functions in the organization will select 25 students to participate and we will notify applicants with our decision by December 1, 2005.

Welcome Students!! - 
 
School starts already! Yay ^0^!!~
Let's say bye bye to our dear summer '05 and welcome the 
fall semester!!
Quad day was fun , isn't it?! O yeh Baby! Thanks for your 
interest and signed up for us.
Now, the HKSA is going to bring you the *Opening Event* for 
the year - the Kick Off party!!!!!!!! Harray~~~~~~~
Details are as follow...
 
Date: 26 Aug 2005 (This Fri)
Time: 415pm - 630pm
Venue: Illini Union Room 407
 
Everyone is welcome!! (*Even if you r not hknese =) 
In this event, you are going to meet a lota new comers as 
well as current students/ members. You will learn more about 
us and have a good time.  Come play games, mingling with 
cool people and have a wonderful beginning for your school 
year!!
See you all there!!! =D
 
Cheers,
HKSA BOARD
www.uiuc.edu/ro/hksa

HOLA MEMBERS!!!!

Skool is gonna start soon and we are sure that we all will miss the lovely summer!!  But bare with us that we
will have a great school year too!!  Let's look forward to
it! =)

Now, here are the 2 opening events to welcome our new year!


------------------:::::: Quad Day ::::::-----------------

          Date: 8/23/2005
          Time: 10am - 3pm
         Place: Main Quad
What is Quad Day: On Quad Day, all the Student
               Organizations/ Associations, Fraternities
               and Sororities will hold booths for giving
               out information and recruiting new
               members. There will be free gifts and
               souvenirs given out, too. Of course, don't
               miss a chance for meeting a lota cool
               peeps!! We will have a booth there 2, come check us out!!!  =)
_____________________________________________________________

---------------:::::: Kick Off Party ::::::-------------

       Date: 8/26/2005
       Time: 430pm - 600pm
      Venue: TBA
Party for you: It's the first official event exclusively held for our HKSA members in Urbana-Champaign!!! In this event, you are going to meet new comers as well as current students. You will learn more about us, have a good time there playing games and mingling with cool people. So come join us!
____________________________________________________________

Enjoy your events!!
We will see you there =)

      ++++++++++++ Apartment Sublease +++++++++++

Looking for an apartment for SPRING Semester?

Attention Study Aboard peeps...or anyone who is looking for an apartment in SPRING!

Great Apartment available from late December till whenever you want!
 Location: 1102 W Stoughton St.
Close to..: Siebel Computer Center (Just one min walk
away!) ; Grainger ; Engineering Quad/ Campus
        On...: 21, 26, 22 Route
= = = CONVENIENT! = = =
Great Clean, and LARGE Room!

Great Landlord, Great upkeep, Great clean clean apartment!

Price: Negotiable! (Willing to take any price! )

Interested? Questions? yinchi.lui@gmail.com / 217 721 1665

Best
Eric Lui

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

**** DINNER GATHERING SUMMER05 @ HONG KONG ****

Dear Members,

This official yet informal dinner gathering being held by
your HKSA Board is provided for all alumni, current
members and **new comers, who are in Hong Kong
to chit chat chill and have fun before going back to skool.=D

Info. of the dinner is as follows:

                            Venue:  Brazilian BBQ 
                         Location:  Tin Hau, near Victoria Park's Swimming Pool
                                        (close to Tin Hau MTR Station)
                  Meeting place: Tin Hau MTR Station (Hang Seng Bank)
                               Date:  July 30 2005 (Saturday)
                               Time:  7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
                               Price:  $108 per head (buffet style)
                        *Reply to:  uiuc.hksa@gmail.com
!!Reply by DEADLINE!!:  7/28/2005 (Thurs) 11:59pm!!

We hope to see you all! And remember to reply to uiuc.hksa@gmail.com  by the deadline, Thursday 1159pm!!!

------------------------**TO OUR NEW COMERS** -------------------
Thanks for those who came for the info. session on 7/16/2005!! We hope our booklet and the presentation are helpful~!
However, for those who missed the info. session, please come to our gathering dinner this Sat (7/30)* for the booklet deliberately prepared for you and for hanging out! =D  
You will get to know a lot of cool UIUC peeps while there may be visitors from other schools, too!!
Come know more people and have fun ^0^!! :::APPLAUSE:::
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------