Hong Kong International School 1 Red Hill Road Tai Tam, Hong Kong http://dragonnet.hkis.edu.hk
“Veritas vos liberabit”
ISSUE 2
NOVEMBER 2011
A STUDENT PUBLICATION OF HONG KONG INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL
Protesters “Occupy” Exchange Square
Nine Students Suspended for Cheating on the SAT Reasoning Test BY MARTIN MAN
SKY SMITH
A wide assortment of groups protested against an array of economic and political issues in Exchange Square on the 15th of October. Styling themselves after the “Occupy Wall Street” protesters in New York City, they named the event “Occupy Central.” The protesters marched from the HSBC tower to Exchange Square, where they stayed for a few hours. At six pm, the police escorted the crowd back to the HSBC tower, where some protesters camped out for the night. An informal stage was set up, where different speakers took turns talking to the crowd through a speaker system. The protesters held signs with English and Chinese slogans written on them; “Banks are
BY THOMAS RUAN
Cancer!”, “We are the 99%”, and “No bulls! No bears! Just pigs!” were a few of them. Although the event was officially started from a Facebook event made by the Leftist organization Left21, many different protest groups were there. Though there were many different opinions voiced at the event, a common theme was protest against capitalism. A Left21 speaker said on the speakers, “Hong Kong is not ruled by people, not ruled by laws, but by the capitalism of the ruling class.” This anti-capitalist sentiment was echoed amongst the different groups present at Occupy Central. One of these groups was People Power, a pro-democracy organization
that was started early this year. Albert Chan, a member of LegCo and leader of People Power, was at the protest. He explained that People Power is “not afraid to confront people.” “The young people of Hong Kong are beginning to express concern,” he said. “This is a good sign.” At around four pm, Chan waded through a pool and climbed on top of a metal bull sculpture. As he stood on top and waved a flag, he shouted political slogans. Another organization that was present was the internet activism group Anonymous. Members of Anonymous wore Guy Fawkes masks, and refused to talk to anybody from the press. Continued on Page 5
Powerschool: Addiction or Helping Hand?
HKIS Forms Sustainability Committee
BY SAMANTHA FONG
BY BEATRICE YEUNG
One of the newest applications available for students’ uses in the high school is Powerschool. Most students claim that Powerschool is a good thing, while others don’t think that it is of much use. Rachel Tang, a freshman, said, “Powerschool is good [because] you can see how you’re doing. But it’s also bad, since you get addicted to looking at it.” Rachel says that she checks it at least a couple times a week, and she doesn’t think she’s addicted. When asked what she thought was addiction to Powerschool, she replied that people who check it multiple times each day would be addicted. Tang, like most people, says she has an incomplete report from all her teachers. Tang says that only five of
her grades have been displayed on Powerschool. She also said that even though some people don’t check it because their teachers don’t update the grades often, she does not mind the delays in posting grades. Another freshman, Ashley Kung, said that Powerschool is mostly a good thing, as it “lets students know how they’re doing on tests, individual grades and overall. For example, some classes only grade homework, while other classes don’t. If you complete all your homework, but do badly on tests, it shows what you need to improve on.” Kung says that homework completion heavily affects overall grades, and Powerschool helps her do better on the completion of her homework. Continued on Page 5
Initiated by HKIS administrators, a Sustainability Committee has recently been formed in order to allow HKIS students to exhibit global citizenship and appreciate global diversity. Since the start of the school year, the Sustainability Committee has held two meetings, which included Ms. Anderson (the Associate Head of School), Mr. Hall (the Director of Facilities Management), faculty member Ms. Vipond, two parents, Ms. Dokken and Ms. Brucker, and students representing Roots and Shoots, Global Issues Network, and Greenpeace. “One of the primary purposes of the committee is to promote and facilitate environmentally responsible behaviors through the HKIS Continued on Page 3
SCHOOL NEWS
Students Misuse Textbook Lending Service PAGE 4
Memorial Bench Removed
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Freedom of Speech in HKIS
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HKIS Students Write PSAT
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Interim Sign-Up Now Closed
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Kevin Dunning Becomes New Head of School PAGE 3 HKIS Alumnus Set to Release Sixth Album PAGE 3 STUDENT BODY DIVIDED AFTER SAT CHEATING PAGE 4
API Levels and Possible Health Risks to HKIS Students PAGE 5 Founder of HKIS Returns as Guest Speaker PAGE 5 College Application Process Causing Stress for Seniors PAGE 5
Students Displeased With Grading Consistency PAGE 7
Nine senior students were suspended on Monday, 3 October, for cheating on the SAT Reasoning Test. Five students were suspended for one week, while four were suspended for two days. The test—administered Saturday, 1 October, in the gymnasium—and the circumstances surrounding the cheating are now under investigation by College Board. All scores for tests taken that day are now put on hold pending the results of the investigation. Suspected students were called to the office on the morning of 3 October after administrators received student reports that cheating had taken place. Ms. Harvey—associate principal for academic affairs—explained that there were “multiple reports from students” “to college board and to us on the administrative team.” Although reports were filed for previous tests, it was “not to this extent,” said Ms. Harvey. She indicated that ‘a significant number’ of students “reported concern” and that the administration was “really happy about that.” “It is not rumour,” Ms. Klekamp stated in an address during senior big homeroom. “It is fact. There was cheating on the SAT and it happened in the boys’ bathroom—specifically in the gym.” According to accounts by several suspended students, five seniors took advantage of the four break times throughout the three hour and forty-five minute test to meet in the male changing rooms. They “planned the cheating by preparing little paper slips” on which they wrote the answers to test questions. In the changing room they discussed and wrote down test answers, then “hid those slips in their palms while taking the test” and copied them onto the answer sheet. “They also wrote down answers,” one suspended student stated, “for the math grid in sections.” The other four students—who were suspended for two days as
opposed to one week—were not involved in the planning and execution of the operation. They “had no idea what was happening in the changing rooms during break-time” until they encountered the cheaters. A suspended student said, “We had absolutely no intention of cheating at first.” But they approached their friends and “verbally discussed answers” in the changing rooms. The College Board considers “attempting to give or receive assistance on the test” and communicating with other test-takers during the test as “misconduct.” As such, the students who discussed test questions were also punished. Ms. Klekamp, Dr. Johnson, and Ms. Harvey were asked to provide details on the circumstances of the cheating and how the students were caught, but all three declined to comment. Ms. Harvey explained that they were “not at liberty to discuss the present situation” pending investigation and the final decision by College Board. Following the accusations of students who witnessed the cheating, the administrators called in the nine students. According to accounts of the suspended students, “the group that planned to cheat with paper slips were caught first,” and were summoned in the morning. As those students confessed and surrendered the names of the other students present in the changing rooms, the other four were also called in. They “were asked to tell the truth,” one student said. “The admin knew that we were in there. I didn’t know to what extent the admin knew about us, so in case they knew everything, I decided to tell the truth,” he said. He added, “if I was caught lying it could’ve led to more serious trouble.” Ms. Fine then asked him to recall “who else were there” and told him to “write out a truth statement explaining what happened.” Continued on Page 4
DEIDRA WIRAKUSUMAH
John Anderson and Anna Mikami performing Nightwatch as John and Elaine Wheeler. Story on Page 7
REVIEW
SENATE UPDATE LETTER FROM JODIE CHAN Senator of Public Relations
Review: Nighwatch Successful Despite Many Obstacles PAGE 7
Hello again High School! Since the last article, several non-senate members of the high school HKIS community have dropped into our meetings, so thank you for those who have. PAGE 2