Seoul National University Bright Quasar Survey in Optical (SNUQSO). II. Discovery of 40 Bright Quasars Near the Galactic Plane

We report the discovery of 40 bright quasars and active galactic nuclei (AGNs) at low Galactic latitude (b<20deg). The low Galactic latitude region has been considered a place to avoid when searching for extragalactic sources, because of the high Galactic extinction, as well as a large number of stars contaminating the sample selection. Bright quasars (R<~17) suffer more from such difficulties because they look like bright stars, which are numerous at low b, yet their surface number density is very low. In order to find quasars in this region of the sky less explored for extragalactic sources, we have started a survey of low Galactic latitude bright quasars as a part of the Seoul National University Quasar Survey in Optical (SNUQSO). Quasar candidates have been selected from radio and near-infrared (NIR) data. Out of 88 targets, we identify 29 bright quasars/AGNs around the antigalactic center, and 11 bright quasars/AGNs in the outskirts of the Galactic center, from two observing runs in 2006 at the Bohyunsan Optical Astronomical Observatory (BOAO) in Korea. Our finding demonstrates that quasars/AGNs can be discovered effectively, even at low Galactic latitude, using multiwavelength data.Comment: 16 pages, 3 figure

Voices from the margin: A culture -centered look at public relations

This dissertation aims to document the voice of South Korean peasant-activists and their communicative acts of resistance in the wake of neoliberal globalization. Using the culture-centered approach (Dutta, 2008) as a conceptual framework, I interviewed and worked with the peasant-activists in two peasant-activist organizations in South Korea—the Korean Peasants League and the Korean Women Peasants Association—that have led South Korean peasants’ struggles against neoliberal globalization for the past twenty years. As a result, this study presents South Korean peasant-activists’ construction of the meanings of globalization and the ways in which they put forth a form of grassroots food activism to protest the oppressive structures. The meanings the peasant-activists attach to neoliberal globalization stem from their life experiences at the margins of the globalized economy: neoliberal globalization to the peasant-activists means poverty, injustices to food and health, and the colonial order. To break free from the structural constraints imposed by neoliberal globalization, the peasant-activists mobilize various communicative acts of resistance through which they struggle to represent their voice and intervene the dominant policy discourse. The processes of mobilizing resistance open possibilities for the peasant-activists to participate in affecting the creation and implementation of the Korea-US FTA as an embodiment of neoliberal globalization and the colonial power relations

The Paradox of Fair Trade : The Influence of Neoliberal Trade Agreements on Food Security and Health

One of the essential components of health is food. Food calls our urgent attention because it constitutes “the overriding human need, the very means of life, recognized in the charter of United Nations as a human right” (Madeley, 2000, p. 25). Food is a fundamental necessity in our lives. The Food Research Action Center (2005) notes a wide range of negative health outcomes due to hunger and malnutrition: hungry persons suffer from two to four times as many individual health problems, such as unwanted weight loss, fatigue, headaches, inability to concentrate and frequent colds; the mortality rate is closely related to inadequate quantity or quality of the diet; iron-deficiency anemia in children can lead to negative health effects such as developmental and behavioral disturbances that can affect children’s ability to learn; pregnant women who are undernourished are more likely to have low-birthweight babies and these babies are more likely to suffer delays in their physical and cognitive development; in addition to having a detrimental effect on the cognitive development of children, malnourishment results in the loss of knowledge, brainpower, and productivity for the nation; hunger and malnutrition aggravate chronic and acute diseases and speed the onset of degenerative diseases among the elderly; finally, hunger and food insecurity have an emotional impact on children, their parents, and the communities. Hunger, therefore, has tremendous impact on people’s health, quality of life, and the decisions made along the life path