Welcome to Our Clubs in Masonic Village

☆Art Club

The Art Club provides a place for aged people to paint, improve their artistic talents and show their works of art. Members can also sell items that they painted. The money raised goes toward providing painting supplies for club members. Anyone may join the Art Club, whether you already know how to paint or you want to learn how to better express your creativity. Painting supplies are provided by the club for free.

Time: Wednesdays, Thursdays & Sundays from 1 p. m. to 3 p. m. in the Freemasons Cultural Center Art Studio.

Cost: $12 per year

☆Computer Club

This club is meant for aged people with little knowledge of computers. Various topics are discussed at each meeting about computers（such as the Internet, software and email）as well as related technologies. The club has a computer lab with high-speed Internet connection. Members of the club have free access to the computer lab.

Time: Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1 p. m.to 3 p. m. in the Computer Resource Room on Level 2 of Smith North. Open general lab sessions are available for free.

Cost: $35 per year

☆Tai Chi for Arthritis

Arthritis is a common disease for old people. The joints（关节）in the patients’ body often hurt badly. Tai Chi for Arthritis is designed to improve the quality of life of those people who are suffering from arthritis using Sun-style Tai Chi. This style includes quick-moving steps and exercises that may improve mobility, breathing and relaxation. The movements don’t require deep bending.

Time: Wednesday s from 3: 30 p. m. to 4: 30 p. m. in the Irem Clubhouse.

Cost: $65 per year

Teenagers are self-contradictory. That’s a mild and objective way of saying something that parents often express with considerably stronger language. But the-self-contradiction is scientific and personal. In adolescence, helpless and dependent children who have relied on grown-ups for just about everything become independent people who can take care of themselves and help each other. At the same time, once cheerful-and obedient children become rebellious teenage risk-takers.

A new study published in the journal Child Development, by Eveline Crone of the University of Leiden and colleagues, suggests that the positive and negative sides of teenagers go hand in hand. The study is part of a new wave of thinking about adolescence. For a long time, scientists and policy makers concentrated on the idea that teenagers were a problem that needed to be solved. The new work emphasizes that adolescence is a time of opportunity as well as risk.

The researchers studied “prosocial”(亲社会)and rebellious traits in more than 200 children and young adults, ranging from 11 to 28 years old. The participants filled out questionnaires about how often they did things that were selfless and positive, like sacrificing their own interests to help a friend, or rebellious and negative, like getting drunk or staying out late.

Other studies have shown that rebellious behavior increases as you become a teenager and then fades away as you grow older. But the new study shows that, interestingly, the same is true for prosocial behavior. Teenagers were more likely than younger children or adults to report that they did things like unselfishly help a friend.

Most significantly, there was a positive correlation between prosociality and rebelliousness. The teenagers who were more rebellious were also more likely to help others. The good and bad sides of adolescence seem to develop together. Is there some common factor that underlies these apparently contradictory developments? One idea is that teenage behavior is related to what researchers call “reward sensitivity.” Decision-making always involves balancing rewards and risks, benefits and costs. “Reward sensitivity” measures how much reward it takes to outweigh risk.

Teenagers are particularly sensitive to social rewards—winning the game, impressing a new friend, getting that boy to notice you. Reward sensitivity, like prosocial behavior and risk-taking, seems to go up in adolescence and then down again as we age. Somehow, when you hit 30, the chance that something exciting and new will happen at that party just doesn’t seem to outweigh the effort of getting up off the couch.

When Poppy Johnson, a 23-year-old London-based college student, was only five, she accidentally saw Michael Jackson’s Thriller music video. Ever since then, she has been suffering from a fear of pop legend Michael Jackson.

Every time she sees or hears anything about Michael Jackson — a song, an interview or even a poster, she will experience a moment of fear. Her fear even grows stronger at home, as Poppy’s parents are big fans of Michael Jackson and have a collection of souvenirs around their house. But she never tells them this would add to her fear at home. Poppy explained, “I never really spoke about it or told it to other people, as I worried they’d think I was silly.”

Managing her fear of Michael Jackson hasn’t been easy for Poppy, who would often excuse herself whenever she was out with her friends and a Michael Jackson song started playing. She would then spend a few minutes somewhere else trying to take her mind off it.

Earlier this year, when the documentary Finding Neverland came out, news and photos of Michael Jackson were everywhere online. At that time, Poppy’s life was quite tough and she always felt that her heart was in her mouth.

Poppy recently started opening up about her unusual fear and even started taking steps to handle it. She started seeing a hypnotherapist (催眠师). After four weeks, she now says things are getting better. In addition, she told her parents that the things related to Michael Jackson at home made her feel fearful and finally her parents understood her and completely removed all the things about Michael Jackson.

Now Poppy’s situation is getting better and better. She reminds anyone else who experiences similar things that it is important to seek help as early as possible.