Author Archives: krystalyubai

The Greensborough Village provides high end luxury living

Posted on by

By Yu Bai
Delta Digital News Service

JONESBORO – A new village is coming to Jonesboro and will offer a  high quality of life experiences for local residents.

The Greensborough Village, which occupies 200-acres, master plan is to establish a “city within a city.” The village envisions an integrated development project that includes opportunities for retail and food. In addition, the village also provides high-end apartments and brings in some potential companies.

JTown’s Grill, a chain restaurant company, is one of the restaurant complex construction owners in the village.

“The infrastructure of the restaurant has been basically completed, and is expected to open in May of next year,” said construction worker Dave Jibson.

Malco Theatre announced it will build its newest VIP Theatre in Greensborough Village. According to Malco Executive Vice-President Jimmy Tashie, Jonesboro is a “Malco town” and has been a rich part of its company’s success.

The new state-of- the-art lifestyle theatre will feature 80-inch full leather reclining seats, a cinema grille with an expanded food menu and beverages, and the latest advanced digital sound and laser technology.

The Greenborough Village will also provide a broad array of home styles that will appeal to residents looking for a private escape.

The Landing at Greensborough Village are luxury apartments that has started leasing out. There are a total of 264 units, and four buildings are open for residents so far.

“As the newest luxury apartment in Jonesboro, it’s exciting because the village is growing out here, and we’re seeing a lot of different variety people coming into Jonesboro,” said Dana Farguhar, the property manager of The Landing at Greensborough Village.

Traffic has always been a concern for some nearby residents and business owners. But with the help of the Arkansas Department of Transportation and city planners, a transportation plan has been developed to create a system that minimizes traffic congestion in that part of the city.

Once the village is completed, it’s estimated that there will be 2,500 people live in.

NOTE: Featured photos by Yu Bai.

COLUMN: An International Student’s Choice — Is Studying Abroad Worth It?

Posted on by

By Yu Bai
Delta Digital News Service

Yu Bai/Delta Digital News Service

At the end of this year, I will graduate from college and end my four years of life as an international student in the United States. Looking back on the four years of college, I gained valuable experiences and unforgettable memories. It is a courageous decision to give up your familiar environment in your homeland along with family and all of your friends to study abroad in an unknown country. However, when most people discuss becoming an international student, they all ask the same question, “Is it worth the high tuition to study abroad?” As for me, my answer is “YES.”

The exchange rate of the Chinese Yuan (monetary currency) to USD is 1:7, and I cannot calculate how much money my parents paid for my entire college career in the United States during these four years. But I think the things I learned and experienced in the past few years cannot be measured by money. They are far more precious than money.

The first thing that I feel is the most significant difference in my scholarly life is the difference between Chinese and Western education models in college. In Chinese’ college, students’ grades are mainly composed of mid-term exams and final exams, while attendance and homework only account for a small percentage. However, in the United States, in addition to exams and homework assignments, quizzes, class discussions, and presentations will all affect a student’s final grade. It means that if a students decide to study abroad, they need to allocate their time more reasonably and attach importance to each requirement on their syllabus. In addition, the syllabus is a unique thing in the western education system. In China, students will not receive all the course requirements that they need to complete at the beginning of the semester. The content and method of their homework depends on various professors. Professors will hand out assignments from time to time according to the progress of courses, and the deadline is also flexible.

While I studying in the United States these past years, I have learned to arrange my study time reasonably. I can clearly see the tasks of each course from the syllabus, and it helps me a lot to design my study plan based on different deadlines. I have developed the habit of writing down the assignments that I need to compete during each week in my notebook and give priority to the assignments with earlier deadlines. It’s one of the most effective ways to improve learning efficiency because you know which tasks are most important.

However, when you start a new life in an unfamiliar country with a non-native language, you will also encounter many difficulties. The past few years of studying abroad have exercised my perseverance and ability to deal with problems. As a student, the biggest problem for me is the language. For example, you don’t understand what the professor said during class, and you cannot communicate with other people due to your poor oral English. It means that if you want to keep up with the class, you have to work harder than native students. Unlike a large number of calculations in business majors, my journalism major requires a higher level for reading, writing, and oral skills. In order to better understand the content of the class, I need to look through the reading lists posted by the professor before class. The large number of unfamiliar vocabulary words and syntax is a huge challenge for me. Thus, I usually spend a lot of extra time to completing tasks. Although the process is arduous, I am grateful for these experiences because they made me an outstanding pupil. Compared to when I had just arrived at the United States four years ago, my English ability has improved a lot in all aspects.

Finally, the experiences of studying abroad made me feel the importance cultural diversity, which helps me look at different things with an inclusive attitude. In college, I take classes with students of different skin color. When we are communicating with each other, it’s the best way to learn new things about a different culture. Before we meet each other, we might have some stereotypes about people from different countries. However, it’s these years of my American life which make me more aware of the importance of racial equality. I like the freedom of speech on campus where you can talk about racism at any time. Although racism is the main contradiction and problem in American society, fortunately, I have never suffered unequal treatment during these years.

In general, studying abroad is a worthwhile thing for me. I have been learned about different cultures and training myself to deal with difficulties at the same time. These precious experiences cannot be measured by money.

Note: Featured photo by Claudia Wolff on Unsplash

Voters flock to the polls for early voting

Posted on by

By Yu Bai
Delta Digital News Service

JONESBORO, Ark. – Early voting in Arkansas began on Monday, October 19.

As polls closed on Monday, November 2, over 17,000 people have turned out to vote early in Jonesboro.

A sign displayed at the Jonesboro City Annex encourages everyone to vote. Photo by Yu Bai

“If you wait until the last day, and you could run into instance where there could be errors like machines done or power goes out,” said Nathan Coleman, of Jonesboro Police Department.

According to data from the Arkansas Secretary of State’s office, there are around 22,100 eligible residents that voted early in 2016. In contrast, the number of early voters this year is much lower.

Craighead County has more than 15 voting locations in the county, and because there are no locations assigned, voters can vote wherever they please.

In the city Jonesboro, the Craighead County Election Annex on Jefferson Street is the selected location for early voting.

New candidates and elected officials can also place their names on the ballot in the city of Jonesboro municipal election.

Issues such as term limits for certain positions are on the ballot.

“The term limits are important because I will only serve two terms, but my opponents are not for that. I also want the pay rise during the first year for the term, ” said incumbent Jonesboro Deputy Clerk Stan Mitchell.

President Donald Trump has already received the endorsement of the local Fraternal Order of the Police.

“He actually received all 50 states endorsements from FOP, and it’s obviously the first time in the history that one candidate received all of them,” Coleman said.

Voters have to bring a picture I.D. to cast their ballots. Once the voter’s information is verified, each voter will receive a card with a bar code and stylus. The card is used to upload the voter’s unique ballot to the screen.

Once the voters make a choice, they will receive a new code card. Voters will be instructed to put it in another machine when leaving the voting building.

In Jonesboro, there are total of 20 voting machines that include two machines for disabled people.

In order to ensure a safe social distance, only 20 people are allowed to enter the voting hall at the same time.

Monday, November 2, was the last day to return your absentee ballots.

Note: Featured photo by Yu Bai

OPINION: TikTok’s Dilemma in U.S. — Should it be banned?

Posted on by

By Yu Bai
Delta Digital News Service

Yu Bai is a Chinese national and multimedia journalism major at Arkansas State University.

JONESBORO – TikTok is a Chinese video-sharing social networking service by ByteDance, and is used to create videos such as short music, lip-sync, and comedy of 3 to 15 seconds. The app’s most popular function amongst its users is to create lip-syncing and dancing videos. It is simple but omnipotent. TikTok includes interesting videos like Youtube, music like Myspace, filters like Instagram or Snapchat, and communication like Whatsapp.

Recently, President Donald Trump suddenly announced that the U.S. government would consider banning the use of TikTok because of concerns about national security. The executive orders argue the Chinese government can access data from TikTok which utilizes an artificial intelligence algorithm to grab content from its user’s information stream and push it after deep mining, which can be potentially leveraged for espionage or blackmail.

I think this is absurd hegemonic behavior of the American government. The Chinese government responded strongly believing the U.S. has blurred the concept of national security, and made resumptions of guilt and issued threats to relevant companies without any evidence, which violated the principles of market economy. TikTok should not be banned and treated in such a threatening way.

TikTok operates strictly in accordance with the laws of the United States. As a short video application, it aims to provide entertainment for the public. Donald Trump should not use political means to suppress U.S. competitors. It is an example of extreme protectionism, which directly disrupts the free market economy.

According to investment bank Piper Sandler’s report, TikTok surpassed Instagram in the United States and became the second favorite social application amongst teenagers.

Also, the ban has been widely resisted by well-known bloggers on TikTok. Nine bloggers with around 54 million fans stated in an open letter to Trump that TikTok has achieved interactions that cannot be achieved on social media such as Facebook and Instagram. TikTok gives them a platform to show their talents and bring joy to other people. If the platform is banned, they will lose a major source of creativity and their happiness in life.

I disagree with the argument that TikTok is an urgent threat to U.S. national security. Like all Chinese technology companies, ByteDance must comply with Chinese censorship laws, which forces the app to provide user data to the Chinese government. But TikTok’s content review work is led by the American team and is not effected by any foreign government. In addition, if TikTok is a threat to American national security, so then are popular video games such as League of Legends, whose maker Riot Games is owned by China’s Tencent.

If all countries in the world use imaginary risks to make things difficult for these popular social platforms, will there still be common applications in this world? If such unfounded national security principles are promoted globally, the biggest losses will undoubtedly be American tech giants such as Apple and Microsoft.

For people who are not American citizens, such as me, an international student, this ban order will have a great negative impact on our lives. TikTok is a platform for us to communicate with family and friends far away in the United States, and it means that we will lose the opportunity for long-distance communication if it’s banned. Trump’s executive order is going to make the U.S. a hostile place to visit, study in, or immigrate to. For a diversified immigration country like the United States, banning TikTok is not a wise decision.

The current series of American crackdowns on TikTok are actually an act of anger under the failure of competition. Behind the legitimate success of Chinese companies and the suppression of a Chinese app that is highly recognized by the American people, is an unfair ban that attempts to obviously make the Trump administration gain favorable interests.

If the government really cares about privacy and data collection, then it is better to find an unbiased solution to their problem than to ban the app by using mandatory administrative orders.

COVID-19 hampers holiday, economy

Posted on by

By Yu Bai
Delta Digital News Service

The first Monday in September is the traditional Labor Day in the United States. However, due to the impact of COVID-19, most people recognized the holiday at home rather than attending public settings.

Jonesboro physician Chance Smith stayed home for the holiday. “I did have a barbecue, and I swam with friends and family only on Labor Day,” said Smith.

Smith practiced safety precautions by staying home and only being close to those familiar to him.

To contain the spread of COVID-19, the city Jonesboro strongly encourages residents to keep social distance and avoid gatherings of more than 10 people.

Businesses such as restaurants and bars are limited to takeout or delivery while personal care services, and gyms have been closed.

Slowing customer traffic has caused small businesses to have limited profits limiting funds for overhead costs. The city provides some grants and loans to help these companies survive the temporary closures and loss of customers.

Director of Communications for Jonesboro Bill Campbell said, “We have built reserves to get through what we call ‘rainy days,’ which means the periods of emergency or catastrophe or anything like that.”

Employment in the leisure and hospitality industry has always been a dominant area of Jonesboro’s economy, and the permanent closure of these businesses will make many people in Jonesboro unemployed.

Labor Finders is a temporary staffing and employment agency in Jonesboro, which provides good short-term services for those who are unemployed. It can immediately provide jobs for people who need to find a job and pay a daily salary.

Debra Dunaway, the assistant manager of Labor Finders, said, “ We provide construction workers and construction clean up, and we give them money right away when they’re in need.”

However, Dunaway said that they did not recruit too many workers to work in recent days compared with before because so many things are shut down right now.

Jessica Tran is a local resident whose parents have a business. “My parents were forced to close their business for a few months due to a mandate ordered by the governor. As for me, I actually had a job as a desk assistant. However, when the virus started spreading more, everyone was sent home, including me.”

The epidemic has suppressed the development of many private small businesses, and it also has diminished the government sales tax. Companies continue to develop their business while expanding social distancing requirements to stimulate economic recovery.

Veterans’ Village nears completion

Posted on by

By Yu Bai
Delta Digital News Service

JONESBORO – Military veterans in Jonesboro will soon have a permanent place to call home. Construction of the first ever veterans’ village is in its last stages of completion.

“The village looks to be done on March in the next year,” said Guy Pardew, the vice president of Olympus Construction, “we are really proud of it.”

The construction plans started in 2019, and almost all the basic construction of houses has now been completed.

The village includes nine units which can hold up to 20 people. Two of these units include a two-bedroom floor plan which is designed for veterans with their families. The reaming seven units are one-bedroom apartment.

In addition to living houses, the village will also include a faculty building and a community building that can provide computers to veterans to do their works.

The out-door area will be a common place for veterans to cook together.

The veterans village is a partnership between the city of Jonesboro and Arkansas State University. The Beck Pride Center of A-State is willing to provide combat wounded veterans with first class educational programs and services.

“Our goal is to get these homeless veterans back into society. So with the programming, we’ll use students from different programs like social work, occupational therapy, and physical therapy to provide services to these veterans,” said Lynda Nash, director of the Beck Pride Center.

To better treat those veterans with PTSD and psychological trauma, the Beck Pride Center also provides free classes to them, such as anger management, stress management, and music classes. When veterans join these classes, they will explore to learn more appropriate coping mechanisms with their leaders.

“It’s a national project between us and the village, we’re lucky because Jonesboro is the only city in Arkansas selected to build the village,” Nash said.

The village is built on Aggie Road from Pepsi Beverage warehouses. The Cooper-Mixon Architect Firm is responsible for the construction of the entire village project.

John Mixon, an architect at the Cooper-Mixon Architect Firm, said the house’s actual size is smaller than expected, which is adjusted according to actual needs.

The village is close to the road, so the transportation for veterans is convenient. The  city will provide a complete transportation system that includes bus stops, bicycles, and the JET system.

Total cost of the village is $1.1 million dollars.

OPINION: Mulan – Learning from a Chinese feminist icon

Posted on by

By Yu Bai
Delta Digital News Service

The origin of Mulan’s story can be traced back several centuries and before it became a much-loved cartoon image created by Disney in the 90s. This year, film director Niki Caro adapted the story into a live-action movie for the big screen.

Yu Bai/ DDNS Social Media Coordinator

Yifei Liu, the actress cast as Hua Mulan, is the first Chinese actress selected to star in a Disney movie. This historic casting is one of the reasons the movie has demanded a huge box office in China.  As such, Liu as Mulan represents the breaking of traditional societal constraints of Chinese women.

The story of a Mulan is that of a Chinese woman who disguised herself as a man in order to replace her elderly father in the army. As a solider, Mulan would inevitably engage in combat, eventually becoming a heroine on the battlefield.

Mulan is witty, brave, and self-conscious. She is the ordinary girl who became extraordinary – the ‘heroine’ that everyone hopes become. When her country needs her, she stepped forward and made the sacrifice. More importantly, her actions were not driven by the actions of men as were most Chinese women at that time. Mulan proved through her efforts that women also have the strength to protect and defend their families.

The boldness of her choice is evident, as hundreds of years ago, China was a feudal society where women were subordinate to men. Mulan reflects the hardworking, kind, and brave character found in traditional Chinese women which inspired future women to strive for self-improvement and challenge the status quo.

The story also teaches young women an important lesson  – the pursuit of a self-satisfying identity can only happen when you shed society’s “good girl” constraints to become who you were meant to be inside.

In addition, the legend of Mulan has created a new understanding of how traditional eastern women are defined in Western culture. Whether in fairy tales or in Disney animated films, the traditional European and American princesses are always gentle and innocent, waiting to be rescued by the prince. However, as a warrior Mulan subverts this tradition.

At the end of the story, when Mulan plucked up the courage to return home, her father accepts her as she is. It conveys the attitude of family tolerance — no matter what happens, your family will always welcome you home.

In the development of the Chinese film market, there are also many outstanding actresses representing the spirit of Mulan. Successfully breaking into the Hollywood film industry, Chinese-American actress such as, Lucy Liu, known for the “Charlie Girl” series, was nominated for an Oscar in 2013. In addition, Ziyi Zhang, known for the character of Yu Jiaolong in the 1999 martial arts film, “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” won the American Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actress. In 2005, Zhang was shortlisted for best actress during the 63rd American Film and Television Golden Globe Awards for her film, “Memoirs of a Geisha”.

More and more Chinese actresses appear in Hollywood films breaking Hollywood movie tradition by playing roles that have historically been dominated by European and American actors and actresses.

Li’s portrayal of Mulan in the film shows a young woman who becomes a legendary feminist icon by daring to challenge and break the mold of traditional gender roles.

Editor’s Note: (Feature Image credit: Disney)

 

 

Tattooist educates as he creates

Posted on by

By Yu Bai
Delta Digital News Service

JONESBORO —  In downtown Jonesboro, The Mutiny Tattoo Co. provides great service to a variety of tattoo lovers.

The Mutiny Tattoo Co. is more than just a tattoo design shop for tattoo lovers, but a destiny for people to experience the culture of tattooing and understand the colorful body modification process.

Andrew Null, the proprietor of The Mutiny Tattoo Co., and a professional tattooist, brought his art to Jonesboro a few years ago. Null does not like ordinary and boring work, but hopes he can create a colorful work of art and enthusiastic style of delivery for his clientele.

“Since I started knowing something about tattoos, I fell in love with the art. I enjoy doing special things in my life, and tattoo makes me brave and outgoing,” Null said.

The history of tattoos can be traced back 1,000 years. Having first originated from ancient Asian cultures, Null said that it was a symbol of criminals. With social progress, “it became a specific popular culture among people,” he said. To better master his tattoo skills, Null learned a lot about tattoo culture from various regions and customs. He combined his unique insights into tattoos with his artistic creations.

“Null is an outstanding tattoo artist, he can always understand the preferences of costumes and design the unique tattoo for me,” said Kristen Robinson, a client who frequents the shop.

“New School” is the most popular American tattoo style. It perpetuates the cartoon, beauty and seafarer life elements based on the old style. The color aspect distinguishes the old-style tattoo from the large-scale solid color flat and the tangential line without any rhythm change.  Aside from the New School style, The Mutiny Tattoo Co. provides a variety of patterns for customers to choose. For example, realistic style, portrait style and Ukiyo-e, a well-known Japanese art style, are some of the many choices customers have to choose from.

People get tattoos for many different reasons, however each is a form of self expression.

“Tattoo is an art to encourage people to express themselves and release their emotions, it is a new way to show yourself to others,” said a fellow tattooist and employee, Troy Levon.

Free Food Transfer Hub for the Homeless

Posted on by

by Yu Bai
Delta Digital News Service

JONESBORO — About 48,000 homeless people live in Arkansas: 8.5% of them are veterans and 20% of them have a serious mental illness. People who suffer homelessness are also struggling with a serious problem: hunger.

Many factors are contributing to this problem. Homeless people in the age group of 60 to 65 in Arkansas are mostly African-American or Hispanic and they lack transportation to the food vendors, so they are more susceptible to food deprivation.

“I don’t think there is anything that directly contributes to homelessness other than the circle of poverty. People cannot buy food without money. The most difficult problem I have to face is about getting fresh food,” said Vonte Benjamin, who has been homeless since 2018.

Food Bank of Northeast Arkansas

The Food Bank of Northeast Arkansas started in Jonesboro in November 2012. This organization distributes food to people in need through nonprofit agencies and networks.

“We are a member of Feeding America. We have served more than 30 million pounds of food to homeless and the poor since we established,” Corporate Partnerships coordinator Amber Horton said.

Living in an agricultural state, FBNA makes every effort to ensure it provides the freshest and safest food. Local and national manufacturers, retailers and growers supply the food sources. Otherwise, people who work in the Department of Food Security will destroy other unidentified food.

Benjamin said the place he has been living has no kitchen to cook in so he went to the food bank to find fresh food.

The organization runs its work with a mature industrial chain. It distributes four-to-five kinds of food to 20 locations in 12 different counties each year. People must check a schedule list before they go to the designated location to get food.

Homeless people have a chance to get an emergency box that includes sufficient food once a year. It is the only special program requiring them to show their identification.

“In recent years, we provided about 2.5 million pounds of fresh produce through the support from grower partners; it’s equivalent to 62 tractor-trailers’ load capacity,” said Jennifer Hannah, FBNA outreach coordinator.

Competition and Cooperation with Arkansas Foodbank

As the distribution center, FBNA works with more than 100 organizations, including the Arkansas Foodbank, which located in Little Rock.

The Arkansas Foodbank started in January 1984, and it is the foundation in the fight against hunger. It forms an important food hub with FBNA for providing fresh food supplies to nearly 34,000 people in 12 counties.

These organizations feature the same programs, such as food pantries, soup kitchens and shelters for homeless people.

Compared with FBNA, the Arkansas Foodbank can access other partner organizations in big cities such as Houston, Texas because of its central location.

“Both of our food banks play a special role as warehousing and distribution facility, and it is more in the sense of complements rather than competes,” FBNA Compliance and Facilities manager Jeff Fielder said.

However, there is a program unique to the Arkansas Foodbank — it has a partnership with the Arkansas Rice Depot.

Rice farmers in Arkansas realized they had a surplus crop and many hungry neighbors in 1982. They tried to improve the lives of hungry Arkansans with the establishment of Arkansas Rice Depot.

Arkansas Foodbank depends on the food source of Rice Depot, and the Rice Depot needs the food bank as a shipment center to help it transport food to other places.

The food bank constantly is looking for better and more efficient ways to deliver much-needed food to people. It is a vital organization to help solve the food shortage and security problems of the homeless.

Outlet Encourages Musical Growth

Posted on by

by Yu Bai
Delta Digital News Service

JONESBORO – Back Beat Music provides chances for people to make their music dreams come true.

Open in Jonesboro since 2015, Back Beat Music not only sells instruments but also provides a place for people who are interested in music to share their feelings.

“Music is creative. I enjoy music because it is no rules, like painting,” owner Darrell Sykes said.

Customers can take lessons for different kinds of instruments such as guitar, piano and ukulele. Lessons teach everyone from beginner to the professional. Teachers are not just instructing students simply how to strum and play by ear; they are teaching students how to understand music and music theory.

“I have been learning guitar about five months, and I feel relaxed and enjoyable when I play it. I spend 30 minutes practicing the guitar every day,” said Jett Bradsher, a student taking guitar lessons.

Local musicians are preparing for the music festivals during the summer months.

“Even though we do not play professionally on the music festival, we just go to attend and enjoy. We hope more people come to join us, and let more people hear our bands,” assistant Greg Arnold said.

Back Beat Music continues to adjust music lessons schedule and introduce more varieties of instruments.

School Teaches Design of Art

Posted on by

by Yu Bai
Delta Digital News Service

JONESBORO — The Art School of Jonesboro allows people of all ages and walks of life to express their feelings and imaginations.

The Art School of Jonesboro opened its door to students in 2009, and it has grown to more than 80 artists. Artists shape the opinions of others through their work. Through the study of works by both the great masters and modern-day artists, all students are exposed to art history. Different kinds of art classes exist for people to enjoy. Drawing is the most popular; students focus on developing contour through drawing and shading. Younger students begin with a general art class, which will develop their skills for advanced classes such as digital art.

46855349714_69d0274b39_o

 Students practice during the painting class. (Photo by Yu Bai)

“I love teaching the kids about all kinds of arts, especially portrait art and illustration. As a freelance artist, I work in both photo-realistic and children’s illustration,” said Tanya Eddy, the proprietor of the school.

Since opening, students have successfully participated in art competitions throughout Arkansas and Tennessee, bringing home dozens of awards. Teachers base the class on art history or movement. Student skills are evaluated to place them in classes that will challenge them. For example, if a fifth-grade student can work at a senior-high level, the school provides them the opportunity to advance.

“We feel as if it is important for the students to learn from the great masters, and we use those works in our classes. We also look at artists of today and learn their techniques through observation and practice,” said Maya Eddy, a part-time art writing teacher.

The unique teaching style offered at the Art School of Jonesboro is very popular among students. Classes remain small: only six-to-eight students are allowed in per class. Teachers get to know their students and their families, and they encourage their educational endeavors outside of the studio.

“I really enjoy classes here, and it is wonderful to see people learning to create something of their own,” 18-year-old Olevia Dunman said.