Shall We Plant a Tree on Arbor Day This Year?Sang-Yeol ShinSenior, Textile EngineeringThe 5th of April is Arbor Day, a day we should plant trees. Every one is aware of that, but just a few people actually do it, and what is worse, the number of people who do seems to be decreasing. In my childhood, I was so naive that I thought it was an obligation to plant trees on Arbor Day. I used to buy flower seeds or little seedlings with my pocket money and planted them on the hill at the back of my house or in a flower garden. After planting a tree, I used to step on the soil around it, and whisper "grow well, little tree", which somewhat gratified me. It is an invaluable memory to me. It is sad that Arbor Day turned into just a holiday to rest. I started to spend Arbor Day thinking that "Arbor Day has nothing to do with me, just enjoy the holiday". Due to this attitude, Arbor Day lost its national holiday status in 2006. Now we have to make time if we want to plant trees. This year the pleasure of planting flowers or trees suddenly started to occur to me because I want to feel the satisfaction I felt in childhood again. This is my last semester and my college life is going to end soon. There are a bunch of memories buried here and there on campus over my 8 years as a student. Now, before graduation, I want to leave a little flowering tree. After time elapses, when I visit school again, just the fact that there are more places to visit with trees will put a smile on my face.Why don't you plant a treasure for yourself on campus?To Make the World a Better Place, Plant a Tree!Lucas Pignaton Yeungnam University Korean Language Institute StudentKorea, like many other countries, has a lot of special dates through the year. Some of them are about love and friendship, such as Valentine's Day and White Day. Others have religious or historical significance such as Christmas and Constitution Day. Some others are about awareness and well-being such as Arbor Day.I didn't have much prior understanding or knowledge about Arbor Day before writing this article, so I did some research to find out a little bit more about this special and important day. And here is what I found out : Arbor Day originated in Nebraska City, Nebraska, in the United States. It was officially founded in 1872 by J. Sterling Morton a politician and journalist originally from Michigan. Throughout his lifetime Morton worked to improve agricultural techniques in Nebraska. He set a personal example, by planting a variety of trees and plants on his own farm and urged his neighbors to do the same. Arbor Day was set as an official holiday in Nebraska in 1885 on April 22nd, the same day that Morton was born. Over the decades many countries have adopted their own versions of Arbor Day. Korean Arbor Day began in 1950 during the Korean War. The Korean government designated April 5th as Arbor Day, but the holiday lost official status in 2006; however, the day is still celebrated through out the country. In Korea, April 5th is also recognized as the day the Silla Kingdom unified Korea.I personally never celebrated this special day, but I believe that the message of Arbor Day is quite positive and raises awareness about the environment we live in, especially in these times where issues such as global warming and environment safe products have such high priority.Trees are valuable in a number of ways: they clean the soil, produce oxygen, act as windbreaks and can also increase the value of a property by 15% or more.So on this next April 5th pay close attention to the trees on your property, see if they present any signs of damage or parasites. Raise awareness and talk with your neighborhood and in your community about Arbor Day. Make the world a better place. And most important, plant a tree!I will be doing the same.