The High 75: The Equal

THE EQUAL EDITION 75 | JUNE 22, 2018

Illustration by Manon Libine

WHAT NOW? EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Hannah Besson DEPUTY EDITOR

Suhasini Mehra

NESTLÉ’S LIE

REASONS WHY

GOODBYE

Spilling the milk

Both sides of the tape

So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen

2

PRESS PLAY

Ellie Parsons

Massive Attack - Teardrop The trip-hop duo released Mezzanine in 1998 and, along with it, their biggest hit: Teardrop. If you want to enter a completely chilled atmosphere, this is the song for you.

Nas - Memory Lane (Sittin’ in da Park) With the release of the Kanye/Nas collaboration Nasir, let’s take this opportunity to revisit classic hip-hop track “Memory Lane” from one of the best albums to come out of the 90s, Illmatic. If you’ve ever listened to Nas you will know how hypnotic his flow can be. A staple in summer tunes.

Cocteau Twins - Heaven or Las Vegas Revolutionary in their time, the Cocteau Twins were the pioneers of Dream Pop. Ethereal and dreamy, the title track from their most critically acclaimed album won’t fail to make your Sunday afternoon in summer perfectly relaxed.

The Avalanches - Because I’m Me Experimental and hip-hop band The Avalanches had a lot to follow up to with their 2000s release Since I Left You, which was made entirely from samples. 16 years later and they didn’t disappoint, bringing one of their most uplifting songs to date: Because I’m Me. Ariel Pink - Dayzed Inn Daydreams Ariel Pink manage to sound nostalgic despite only being active in the 21st century. Several tracks pay homage to previous indie rock bands, while still being able to have their own sound.

bit.ly/thehigh75

EDITORS

Suhasini Mehra Eleanor Payne Edward Fraser

La Femme – Tatiana The only non-English song on my list is from French band La Femme. Mixing elements of new wave, krautrock, psychedelic pop and yé-yé, “Tatiana” is a prime example of La Femme adopting a pop oriented sound while still retaining features from past psych-punk albums.

The Beatles - With a Little Help from my Friends One of the most memorable Ringo performances, “With a Little Help from my Friends” is a perfect song to have on in the background when with friends. From the “greatest album of all time” as claimed by Rolling Stone Magazine, “With a Little Help from my Friends” is a classic, and a peak in British pop music.

The Flaming Lips - Do You Realize??

A song that proves wrong the ideology that modern music isn’t good. From the last Flaming Lips album (that’s actually worth listening to), “Do You Realize??” is quirky and oddly celestial.

The Stone Roses - She Bangs the Drums From Manchester, The Stone Roses are one of the alternative rock bands that emerged from England, who have gained a cult following over the years, along with Oasis and Blur. “She Bangs the Drums” has one of the most melodic choruses I have ever heard.

Kanye West - All Of The Lights Produced to perfection, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is Kanye’s best album in my eyes. “All Of The Lights” is full of memorable features and an emotional narrative. In light of Yeezy season, take a moment to revisit a modern classic.

Joseph Nobs Maddie Johns Amara Sarao

TABLE OF CONTENTS Equality Week Gender & Science Gender & Leadership Excuses / Agony Aunt School Punishments Naughty Nestlé The Buddy System Royal Wedding

03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

11 Horoscpèes / Goodbyes 12 13 Reasons Why 13 Radical Leftism 14 15 Kim and Donald Manon’s Goodbye 16 Being Shy Sucks 17 Sports Salaries 18 Hermit At A Party

3

A QUALITY WEEK

E

quality Week, a student-led project that aims to challenge and educate our community on a variety of issues related to diversity and inclusion, is coming to a close today. Over the last five days, our school was taken over by a barrage of debates, songs, exhibitions, and lectures, that offered perspectives on topics such as genocide, racism, unemployment, sectarian violence, or gender discrimination.

The project team, led by six Year 12 students with the support of a group from Year 11, as well as Ms Moran, Ms May and Mr Ivett, had been working for months to prepare all the activities, contact external guests, and drum up participation.

The week kicked off on Monday with talks by Billy McCurrie, who was incarcerated for a murder he committed during the Irish Troubles. Mr McCurrie, who could not be physically present as his flight got cancelled, spoke via Skype on his own journey of acceptance and reconciliation, and his work on prevention of extremist violence.

Monday evening saw a gathering of parents, alumni, teachers and students to listen to Kristian Skeie, a Norwegian photojournalist who has covered the efforts to recover from genocide in places such as Bosnia, Rwanda and Iraq.

Kristian, originally trained in the UK, moved to Switzerland in 2012, with the idea to work with the Olympic movement or corporate photography. His involvement with a number of NGOs led to his work on a series of documentary projects, and from then sprung his connection to war zones and areas after genocide. He says that his work is about “relationship building” with the people he photographs: “People ask how do I photograph people I don’t know, but I do know them.”

Of the areas he has visited, his favourite is “Rwanda, a tremendously beautiful country that often reminds me of Switzerland, and then there was the awful thing that happened there”; the main subject for his photographs there “experienced literally hell.”

Currently a professor at Webster University in Geneva, Kristian believes “it is super important to educate and remind ourselves of what is going on all the time. There was a survey in which a third of the student population in America could not picture who Hitler was, what the Holocaust was, or politically what was going on around the world; that’s kind of scary.”

One of the main events of the week was the performance on Monday evening of “Borderline”, a satire of the refugee camp in Calais. The play, performed by a mixture of European and refugee actors, kept swinging between humour and confrontation, and ended with the provocative question “What now?”

Sophie Besse, founder of PSYCHEdelight and director of the production, stated that she wants to “use theater as a tool to help depression but to also shine a light on certain social issues”. Having worked as a volunteer in the Calais jungle, she “noticed a very different image of refugees than the one that is usually portrayed in the media, and wanted to show the other side” - their extreme resilience in difficult circum-

Hannah Besson and Maddie Johns stances. Commenting on the tone of the performance, Sophie pointed out that she was “initially concerned where the boundaries are”, but that the refugee performers “weirdly enough, were the ones who wanted to push it further.” These actors want to “shine on stage and to share their message but in a way that would make them look good or fun or attractive, rather than generate pity or tears”; she quotes one of her company members saying “I have had enough sadness; making people laugh makes me feel better.”

The other main event of the week was ISL TalX, an evening of

“I have had enough sadness; making people laugh makes me feel better.”

lectures delivered by a combination of ISL students and external guests. The keynote speaker was Bisi Alimi, a Nigerian gay rights activist who challenged the audience to become “angelic troublemakers”.

When asked to describe the most difficult aspects of fleeing Nigeria and arriving in the UK, Bisi mentioned that “the most challenging thing” for him “was becoming black” because before he “left Nigeria [he] wasn’t black”. At first he felt that thought maybe he “made a mistake” because he felt that he had developed an understanding of how to fight homophobia in Nigeria, “but nobody prepared [him] on how to fight racism.” Bisi also clarified that he doesn’t regret his decision to come out and in turn moving to the UK because “It was the right thing to do because if [he] had not left, [he] might have been killed and would have never had this opportunity.” He also shed light on the stark differences between being a gay man in Nigeria and being a gay man in the UK. Of course, in the UK there is still discrimination against the LGBTQ community however gay marriage is legal. In contrast, in Nigeria, “if you get married you go to jail for 14 years, and if you witness the wedding you go to jail for 10 years.” Additionally, he revealed that in Nigeria “there is a societal perception of lesbian and gay people; 90% of Nigerians believe that nobody is born gay and 83% of Nigerians support the law that puts gay people in jail. So, expressing yourself is very difficult.”

Bisi also wanted to offer his advice for young LGBT people: “If you are reading this and you are an LGBT person, I want you to know that it’s okay. You love differently, it does not mean that you are different, and no one has a right to determine whether you are normal or abnormal. The people that love you don’t care, and the people who care are not your friends.”

4

NON-STANDARD DEVIATION

W

ith the theme of Equality Week, we get to talk about one of the biggest challenges, but also opportunities for improvement in Science & Technology - the gender gap. There has been a lot of debate on this topic and there are no clear or easy answers to overcome the gender gap.

Math, Physics & Chemistry Only 1 out of 10 Physics & Chemistry innovators is a woman?

Other numbers show an even more shocking gender gap in the field. For example, only 2 out of 207 Physics Nobel Laureates and only 4 out of 178 Chemistry Nobel Laureates were women. This gender gap is a big problem. Why? Because it means that women’s talents are not being harnessed and exploited to progress science. A report by Duke University finds two causes of this gap: first, teachers do not encourage girls as much as boys to pursue careers in science; secondly, there are very few women role models that girls can look up to. Yet, despite the restrictions that society imposes on young girls to study science, many women have grown up and made groundbreaking contributions. One woman who should be an inspiration to all of us is Maryam Mirzakhani.

She was born and grew up in Iran during the war with Iraq.

Still, she outgrew the difficulties and became the first woman to earn the most prestigious award in Math, the Fields Medal.

Computer Science & Technology The gender gap in Computer Science is significant but smaller than in Maths, Physics, and Chemistry. In 2018, only 18% of computer science graduates were women - yet as more role models emerge, the gap starts to close. The causes are also similar to those for Physics & Chemistry. First, both teachers and parents encourage girls less than they do boys to pursue Computer Science. A report by Google found that 65% of boys were “very confident” that they could learn Computer Science if they wanted to, but only 48% of girls were. Boys and girls grow by society’s gender stereotypes that direct them towards separate fields and this is evident also in Computer Science and Technology. The numbers support this.

While 34% of boys are “very interested” in Computer Science, only 16% of girls are. Luckily, role models are emerging and becoming more visible. The Wojcicki sisters are one of many inspiring examples. Susan Wojcicki is the CEO of YouTube, and Anne Wojcicki is the CEO and founder of a biotechnology company that reads your genes to find your ancestry and tells you about your health.

Medicine & Biology Last year, we reached a major milestone in this field. For the first time ever, more than half of medical school enrollees - 50.7% - were women, compared to 24.9% in 1980.

This growth can be tracked down to two causes. First, girls receive equal encouragement to boys to pursue careers in

Achilleas Martinis makes the case for equality in science

biology and medicine. Second, we have more women role models than in any other science & technology field. In the past 5 years, there have been more women Nobel Laureates in medicine than there have been in Physics in the past 100 years. Tu Youyou is one of the Nobel Laureates in Medicine who should be a role model for all of us: without her, we wouldn’t have new treatments to Malaria, which have saved millions of lives.

Science & Technology at ISL At the stage of the Diploma Programme in ISL, the gender gaps in STEM fields are sadly the same as those we see in the outside world. In my Physics class, there are 3 girls out of a class of 13, and in my Math High Level class, there are 2 girls out of a class of 11; but, in my Biology class, the number of girls outweighs the number of boys. What are the causes of the gender gap in STEM subjects in the school and how can we solve them? To answer this question, I went to ask some of our school’s female teachers in STEM fields. Here are their answers.

What/who inspired you to follow a career in chemistry?

Ms Smiley: I think growing up in a family of only girls helped.

Plus, a lot of our toys were given to us by male cousins. I had a lot of legos and building sets growing up. None of them were pink!

Ms Ashton: It never even crossed my mind that some subjects might be preferred or more frequently pursued by certain genders, I simply studied the subjects I was interested in.

Why do you think there are fewer women than men in chemistry?

Ms Rudd: Media does not help with regard to inspiring girls to become scientists. Scientists are almost always depicted as men and so we are sowing the seed in the minds of young people that women are not scientists from a young age.

Ms Baker: One of the reasons is school math. School math is about speed and fluency and competition. There has been research that says that at a general level these elements are more male areas of enjoyment than female.

What could we do in the school to encourage more girls to participate in STEM fields?

Ms Childs: First, we can bring more female scientists in as role models to give talks to students.

Secondly, we can use girls doing Diploma Programme sciences who are going to pursue science in University as role models for younger students. Thirdly, we should reference more current female scientists within lessons to make women in science the norm.

Ms Baker: When teachers do interactive and collaborative mathematics, this raises the self-efficacy of girls and engages them in the subject.

5

LEADING

BY EXAMPLE?

A

t ISL, we promote a variety of ideals, such as fairness, kindness and equality.

Does the fact that we are an international and diverse community exempt us from the influence of world issues? Unfortunately, the answer is no. One of the most prominent examples is the gender imbalance that is present in our leadership team here at ISL. If we look at gender imbalance through a global lens, we see that almost 4 in 10 businesses in G7 countries have no women in senior leadership positions and globally, only 24% of women hold a senior business position, according to Forbes.

Currently our secondary leadership team consists of six members, of which only one is female. So, even though we just dedicated a full week to equality, does ISL really practice what it preaches?

When talking to Ms. May about this issue, I asked her why she thought gender imbalance continues to thrive on as a global, and perhaps local, issue. She answered, “There is definitely bias in the world. If we are talking more broadly, beyond ISL, you look at Donald Trump and his ability to make lewd comments about sexually assaulting women and remain president of the free world. We clearly have a collective problem.”

It is interesting to think of gender imbalance being a result of bias or sexism in the world. Of course, put on paper, it seems obvious, but the link is not always as evident. Ms. May, further added, “Maybe gender imbalance in leadership is about traditional roles of men and women more broadly.”

What are the traditional roles of men and women in our world? Upon researching the phrase, you will find that there is no such thing. The roles each gender has played in society have been versatile throughout history, constantly adapting to the needs of society. For example, many Native American systems were matriarchal, meaning women were considered as the leaders of the tribes. In fact, the idea that women are the child rearers and dependent on their husbands, the providers, is new and ironically, outdated in philosophy. Yet, these ‘traditional gender roles’ seem to affect us quite profoundly.

Mr. Cairns described one of the consequences in our interview: “Research shows that men are more willing to put themselves forward for positions of authority versus women. That is a societal and a fundamental problem. Imagine if you have 30 people putting themselves forward for a job and only five of them are women. Within the 25 men, you have much greater variation and that is just because people are people. The fact is women end up less likely in getting the job

Khwaish Vohra wants to balance the scale just because of lower representation.” He added, “Research seems to suggest, anecdotally, that men tend to think that they are more competent even when they are not and women think they are not competent, even when they are.”

When asked about what we need to do as a school to shift the imbalance present in our leadership team or the world in general, he told me a story about a friend. This friend talked about how someone said something to her which she found quite offensive as a woman but did not say anything against it. He went on to say, “I think if you let things pass, things will never change. In a casual context, I think you have to be brave enough to say, ‘I am sorry, I’m not happy with you talking about women in that way.’”

The thing about tackling gender imbalance in leadership, or sexism as a whole, is that it is an intricate and delicate issue, with many opinions and prejudices deeply intertwined with one another. There is not just one answer, or as Mr. Cairns put it, “a button, which we can press to solve this issue” It cannot be that one of us comes up with a set of rules that everyone has to follow, and like magic, the problem is eliminated.

The encouraging aspect is that ISL is aware and willing to change and progressively move forward. In fact, one of the three points the administration plans to review in order to better our school addresses this very particular issue.

Gender imbalance is the direct consequence of the notion of traditional gender roles, which is the direct consequence of sexism and discrimination. ISL sits amidst all the injustice and inequality present in our world, and it would be naïve to think that it could be immune to all of it. The change needs to start within us. As an intelligent community, we need to be conscious of the problem and challenge the established mindset in a way that allows people to change their inner values so that we may tackle a problem as deeply rooted in society as sexism.

Illustration by Jade Tan

6

BAD EXCUSES

BAD FASHION

BADVICE #2

Hannah Besson

Raquel Muzquiz

The Disclaimer

We’ve all made excuses, hell, even our teachers make excuses; you’d be lying if you said you never even tried. So, what’s the ISL version of “my dog ate my homework”? Here’s what the teachers had to say:

It’s been discussed by parents, students, and even teachers. It’s been a “dangerous” debate, and controversy for many people within the ISL community. Can you guess what it is?

This month’s article, to celebrate the nearing end of term, I will be answering three questions, as opposed to one.

Our uniform!

Teacher: “What did you write for this question?”

Student: “Well, I didn’t finish the homework...”

T: “Did you start it?”

S: “... I thought about it”.

It’s the thought that counts right?

Teacher: “Do you have the homework?”

Student: “What homework?”

T: “The homework we discussed and I posted on google classroom.”

S: “No you didn’t post it. I didn’t receive an email.”

T: “Really? I’m sure I did.”

S: “No you definitely didn’t.”

T: “Ok, open your inbox and search my name.”

S: “Ok... see I received noth... ah ok, yes I did receive an email from you but its not on google classroom.”

T: “Really? Did you open the email?”

S: “Well no but look... ah yes, yes you did post it on classroom too.”

It’s not me it’s you.

“I left my book in Mexico/Spain/Portugal.” -- (fill in the country!)

Ahhh… first world problems.

“I didn’t have a pen” Seems like you didn’t have a better excuse either.

“I haven’t seen my tutor yet and they were going to do it for me, no no noooo I mean with me.”

No wonder you need a tutor.

“I’ll be honest with you, I really didn’t want to do it” Honesty is the best policy.

“My grandma was sleeping in my bed so I couldn’t do my homework.”

Can’t argue with the sleeping grandma.

But, what school uniform?

Although it is true that ISL doesn’t have an official uniform, it seems as though the new ISL trend has become the new uniform. A recent survey sent to High School students revealed that the trendiest thing at ISL was to dress in black, grey and white. And, indeed, it has become rare to walk through the hallway and not see girls wearing these colors.

Now, you may wonder, what makes these colors so special? How is it that people have been wanting a uniform for so long and they have never been able to get it, but a trend like this achieves it with such little difficulty?

Well, there isn’t an exact answer to all those questions, and there is no particular reason for this trend becoming such an important part of the ISL community. The only thing that this trend does is make many people look the same and discourage originality.

But if you prefer to fit in with everyone else, make sure to keep in mind when you go shopping that you should only buy clothes in these three colors! Purchasing a color outside of this spectrum may cause you to stand out, and that is definitely not what you want!

How do I get a boy/girlfriend?

There is nothing like love in this world.

Ultimately, the meaning of life is to find happiness in whatever way one can, and love is a form of complete and fundamental happiness. I mean, I’m guessing that’s why this question came up about ten different times in the survey. It could just be we have a lot of lonely, sexually frustrated teenagers in the school, but we also want to change that. So here are my tips.

Firstly, you need to select someone to be your future partner. Either go for someone conventionally attractive, or someone who is interested in you. If you locate one where both these variables apply then stop reading this, as you probably already have a partner.

Once you have decided on somebody, follow them around and constantly talk to them. It is recommended that you constantly look out for signs of them being uninterested in you, so that you do not continue to creep them out and can move your taste to someone else.

When you locate such a sign, make light of the situation by drinking with your friends. For this stage, you will need friends first.

How do I get a friend?

Good question. Firstly, you need to select someone. Probably best to go for someone who is interested in you.

Once you have decided on somebody, follow them around and constantly talk to them. I suggest you think of something good to talk about, to make conversations long and interesting for both parties…

How do I speak to people? I can never think of anything good to talk about, and conversations are generally short and uninteresting for both parties.

I’d love to help, but this article is about to run out, so I’m afraid I’m going to have to…

7

CRIME, NO PUNISHMENT

E

veryone knows the age-old threat used by teachers in school: ‘‘If you keep acting like this, I’ll send you to the principal’s office!” Discipline varies, of course, but the baseline is simple: bad behavior merits punishment – as it should be. At ISL, things are no different. There’s an entire section in the Student Handbook on discipline where it outlines the specific punishments students can receive for different actions, from public displays of affection to which objects are and aren’t allowed on campus. This set of punishments is what the school is supposed to follow when disciplining students for misbehavior, but does the school really follow them every time? How satisfied are students when it comes to ISL’s disciplinary behavior? After sending out a survey to Years 10-13, the answer became clear – there are plenty of dissatisfied people.

The survey received 98 responses from people in all year groups of high school. The survey consisted of two simple questions: did the respondent think the school was fair and consistent when disciplining students, and if they answered no, why did they believe it wasn’t? Some students who answered the survey were unaware of certain rules - for example, one student said that girls never seemed to get told off by male teachers for wearing clothes that violated the dress code, but this is only because male teachers are instructed to leave that to the female teachers to make the conversation less awkward. However, some students brought up actual issues, a common theme being that many teachers were too lenient with homework reports, saying they were “constantly threatened but rarely given.” To directly quote one response, “some teachers cannot control students who are disrupting the class. The people who want to learn are wasting their time, not learning, and it is a waste of money for the parents.” It seems to be a common idea among students that the punishments for smaller behaviors weren’t followed through often enough. One thing I’ve noticed is students chewing gum during several of my classes, and despite being caught

Salim Markabi breaks the rules

nearly every time, they’re simply told to spit it out, and the punishment never seems to escalate, despite the repeated offenses. Other students believed that the fact that we are instructed to follow the same rules on school trips as we are in school - the rules like no hats and no gum - and that we can be punished for not following these rules is too strict.

All in all, there are lots of things about the school’s way of administering punishments that students are unhappy with.

To see what some of the people who are in charge of student discipline think about these results, I interviewed Ms. May, ISL’s High School Principal.

During my interview with Ms. May, I presented her with some of the responses from unsatisfied students. When asked what she thought of these replies, she said, “I think it’s a really sad message, and it’s one we need to listen to. If that’s the impression, we need to put it right.” She went on to explain that sometimes, disciplining a student might be something done quietly. It isn’t always made public knowledge simply to protect the student and to give them some privacy. As a result of this, it “becomes quite difficult to show all students what’s actually happened.” When asked about the consistency of the punishments, Ms. May replied that “the difficulty for us is that each situation is quite different, so if you have a very fixed rule, it’s often quite hard to enforce it because each situation and each student is unique. However, in terms of response, I’d like to imagine that we can engage the students and look at the survey again. I think that’s really important that we listen. I think the feedback is very valuable, and I’d like to see the school act on it.”

So there we have it. Hopefully, students who replied on the survey that the school is too lenient with discipline will now understand why it doesn’t always seem like the school is punishing students. With any luck, the school might even, as Ms. May hinted at, attempt to talk to us about the disciplinary system. Maybe someday we might even get to tell them what we think is unnecessary or what we think could be improved.

Illustration by Minnie Lowin

8

THE SECRET FORMULA

P

hilip Morris is bad” is something that we’ve all heard, which makes sense - tobacco is harmful. In 2016, 7.1 million people died from smoking related diseases and Philip Morris did not admit the fact that their product was addictive before 1998.

However, in more recent times, things have started to change. According to their website, PMI is “committed to being a great employer…[and they] strive to to be environmentally and socially responsible”. PMI envisions a “smoke free” world by offering alternatives “less” harmful than smoking.

But while the infamous Phillip Morris has gotten a lot of attention for being bad and changing values, what about its neighbour Nestlé? What happens at Nestlé is often overlooked in ISL because what they sell - coffee, yoghurts, tea, water - seems harmless, despite their goods coming at a cost.

Let’s start with their drinking water.

Nestlé is the largest producer of bottled water in the world. They own brands such as Perrier, San Pellegrino, Nestlé Pure Life and many more.

In 2013, Nestlé received backlash as their chairman, Peter Brabeck, stated that having a right to water was an “extreme solution”. It was then revealed that his statement was taken out of context. The Nestlé chairman corrected himself by saying that water is a universal right - but only for drinking and sanitary purposes, as it cannot be wasted on other things due to clean drinking water being a scarce resource.

However, Nestlé has been harvesting water from drought-prone California, which has affected the lives of the local community and Native Americans. It is estimated that bottling a water bottle “requires up 5 to 11 times more water to produce than the bottle holds.” - not even considering the environmental impact that plastic has on our oceans.

So, if Nestlé is so concerned about the environment and clean water being a scarce resource, why not just abandon

the idea of selling single-use plastic water bottles?

For those over the age for forty, you most likely know about the uproar caused by Nestlé’s baby formula. In the 90’s Nestle marketed their breast feeding formula to individuals in LEDC’s people who lived in absolute poverty, had little to no access to education and were often illiterate. This caused many children to die due to them being fed baby formula diluted in unclean water, as parents could not read the product’s instructions - that boiled water had to be used. Even worse, according to IBFAN (The International Baby Food Action Network), samples of baby formula were often available for free in hospitals and, if used for a long enough time, some mothers stopped lactating - creating an economic dependency on Nestlé’s baby formula. But the 90’s was a different time, we’ve moved past all this... right?

Yes and no. Life-threatening marketing is not longer used, but a recent study found that Nestlé marketed its baby formula as being close to human breast milk, something prohibited by WHO. In addition, Nestlé has been making contradictory claims regarding their baby formula. In South Africa, Nestlé uses sucrose in their baby formula - despite Nestlé also promoting the “fact” that their baby formula is sucrose-free in Hong Kong and Brazil.

Also, Nestlé has continuously come under fire for exploiting children for its cocoa production in Côte d’Ivoire.

In 2001, Nestlé signed the Harkin - Engel protocol aiming to end the “worst forms of child labour”. However, still to this day, children are “whipped, beaten and forced to work for 14 hours a day” to harvest the cocoa used to make your favourite Nésquick cornflakes or the Kit Kat you just bought at a vending machine. On their website, Nestlé even admits to being complicit in child labour and is “determined” to stop this.

Leonardo Morosini flees the nest It is fully understandable that there will be regulation issues due to Nestlé being such a large company and it using suppliers independent to Nestlé for their cocoa. However, this has been going on for decades and if Nestlé so “strongly opposes any kind of child exploitation”, by now this would no longer be a problem. A way to solve this issue is to simply stop the demand; Nestlé could have moved their supply chain to another place such as Mexico or Malaysia. And at the end of the day, do you really want to eat food supporting child labour?

Despite these issues, almost all multinational organizations have faced some type of backlash during their existence so is Nestlé really to blame?

On their website, Nesté states that they strive to have “zero environmental impact in [their] operations”, help “improve 30 million” individuals by 2030 by directly supporting their communities.

This shows how, despite their previous scandals, Nestlé is trying to change and, while the change might be slow, it should result in a more environmentally friendly and equitable world.

Right?

Illustration by Joseph Nobs

9

RUN, BUDDY, RUN Khwaish Vohra makes new friends

B

eing the new student is not rare at an international school like ours. At some point in our lives, most of us have been in this position and know exactly what it feels like. It can be intimidating; everything is different, you no longer know the systems that keep the school running and there are no familiar faces amongst the crowds of students. You may feel lonely and isolated.

At ISL, we have systems in place to make transitions into our school as smooth as possible. Perhaps the most well-known is the ‘buddy system.’ A system, according to ISL students, designed to help alleviate both the anxiety and unfamiliarity of being new in a school.

To understand the system’s inner workings, I talked to Ms. Vivian, the school’s guidance counsellor. She explained to me that each year, students are asked whether they would like to be a buddy to a new student the next year. After students sign up for the role, there are two different meetings to brief them on what the role entails. After these meetings, they are given the name and contact information of their buddies and are told to contact them and meet them before the school year starts. According to Ms. Vivian, this initial contact is a crucial part of the process as it allows the new student to come into school knowing at least one person. As well as this, the new student will have check-ins with the guidance counsellor throughout the beginning of the year, to make sure they are fitting in.

According to students, your buddy is meant to be your support system throughout the first few weeks of school; they are supposed to answer any questions you have, and be there for you whenever you need it. In theory, this system sounds great: it is a simple role, and students at ISL are kind-hearted and always wanting to help each other.

Unfortunately, as you may know, this is not how it always works out. Of course, there are a significant number of cases where the buddy system has flourished; however, we cannot simply turn our backs to the times where it has not. Its malfunctioning can be traced back to several different factors - wrong information given to the buddy about their role, the buddy’s attitude itself, miscommunication between the school and students, and the simple fact that sometimes your buddy and you are not similar people. But most importantly, the current system tends to fall apart when students come in at odd times of the year; if the school accepts students throughout the year, they should ensure that the system remains functioning for them as well.

I also spoke to some of the students who have been buddies, as well as new students in the recent past. In an interview, a student said, “Your buddy does not necessarily have to be

your friend, but they can be friendly.”

This is noteworthy as it reflects the nature of the current system and its flaws. ISL is relatively international; people coming and leaving is common. Yet there exists a population of students who have been here their whole lives. A problem arises when certain students don’t understand, what it is like to be new. Being new can be extremely overwhelming. At that exact moment in time, your whole life is disoriented and unfamiliar. Having a buddy who does not care or acts aloof does not make the transition smooth. At that moment in time, you need all the help the help and support you can get.

ISL offers a variety of academic opportunities, but perhaps we have been missing one very important lesson. The flaws in the buddy system represent a larger problem, the inability to empathize with one another.

“Your buddy does not necessarily have to be your friend, but they can be friendly.”

Empathy is considered as one of the highest forms of intelligence and I think that Atticus Finch himself best explains it when he says, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view … until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” The remarkable thing about being empathetic is that it allows you to relate to a whole variety of people. In other words, it gives you the ability to help someone and what they might be going through, regardless of who they might be. In a world polarized by conflict and differences, the need for us to be empathetic has never been as urgent. If our school is meant to model what society should be like, then we need to place a stronger emphasis on basic values such as empathy.

The buddy system and its challenges are twofold. On one hand, you have problems that are logistical and rectifiable.

On the other hand, you have an attitude that needs a complete makeover. Buddies need to be empathetic, committed to helping the new student and approachable. While it would be nice to assume that, everyone can exhibit these qualities, we know it is not the truth. Perhaps the solution lies in the process of selecting a buddy itself, if ISL were more selective in who they chose as buddies, then we would eliminate some of the challenges the system faces currently. After all, it is better to not have a buddy rather than have one with the wrong mindset.

10

WHEN HARRY MET MEGHAN

M

eghan Markle’s name has been plastered all over the media ever since the announcement of her engagement to Britain’s sweetheart Prince Harry, but who really is she, and why has she been receiving so much media attention?

She is unconventional for the royal family in a number of ways. She is a divorcee, raised a Catholic compared to the Royal Family who belong to the Church of England, and arguably the characteristic that got people talking the most, she is a woman of mixedrace. She was born and raised in California and has been an actress for the past 15 years, until she got engaged to Harry, at which point she had to give up acting to become a full-time Royal.

Although the Duchess of Sussex is believed to be the first Black English royal, she is actually the second. Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, who reigned from 1761 to 1818, was the first. So even though the title of the first Black member of the Royal Family was taken a long time ago, Meghan is still an emblem of hope for society today. Entering the Royal family as a mixed-race woman is new and exciting, yes, but in the end it’s because of love.

Harry, who happens to be a prince, happened to fall in love with Meghan, who happens to be a woman of mixedrace, and that was it. Harry could have married one of his previous girlfriends, who were at the royal wedding, both of whom are Caucasian. Meghan’s story is an inspiring one, but I think it’s more about love than anything else.

Meghan’s story is an inspiring one.

Meghan’s father, Thomas Markle Sr., created much drama in the months leading up to the wedding. He announced that he wasn’t coming because of an emergency heart surgery he had to undergo. He had been pictured in the months coming up to the wedding in quite a negative light, and so had some staged paparazzi photos done of him in an attempt to improve his image, which consequently failed miserably and if anything worsened his already bad portrayal. An interview with Thomas Markle was released by Good Morning Britain a week or so ago, and we get a proper insight into who he is and how he feels about all the newfound media attention, as well as the his-daughter-marrying-a-prince thing. This interview portrays him in a more positive light than has previously been seen, and we get to hear him speak his opinion rather than just seeing paparazzi photos. Her half-siblings have also been taking advantage of the media attention and portraying her in a bad light, however once people saw her walk up the steps to St George’s Castle, everyone forgot all the drama and admired her beauty. None of her half-siblings received invites, however Markle apparently has no relationship with either of them, which provides a valid reason for not inviting them. However, all this negative attention was completely removed when Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland, emerged onto the scene, riding with her daughter to St George’s Chapel on wedding day.

She seemed to be the only one to get an invite, apart from Meghan’s father, and sadly sat alone, unaccompanied by any other Markle family members at the front of the chapel while the ceremony happened.

In amongst all this Markle drama, people tended to forget about half of the royal equation: Prince Harry! He has been the “bad boy” of the Royal Family for quite some years, particularly in his twenties, when he apparently drank champagne out of a prosthetic leg and

Eleanor Payne salutes the royal couple stripped naked in Vegas. He eventually calmed down though and Meghan will surely keep him tame. He is Britain’s sweetheart, and so of course people were sad to see him commit to someone so quickly, but people got used to it pretty quickly.

Meghan and Harry’s relationship was quite a whirlwind. They’d been dating for just under two years when Harry popped the question in November of 2017. Despite some people thinking that the engagement was too soon, Harry said in an interview with the BBC that he knew she was the one from the very first time they met. The story of how the two met is awfully mundane, which makes them even more likeable to the public eye. The two were set up on a blind date by a mutual friend, and the date was clearly successful.

Meghan didn’t know much about Harry because she grew up in America, where the Royal Family is not constantly talked about or seen in the media. The one question Markle asked her friend before going on the date was “Is he nice?”, which is refreshing, because despite the fact she knew she was going on a date with a prince, she wanted to know things below the surface, and not just go out with him because of his status.

They started dating in the summer of 2016, which means they’ve been together for two years now, and hopefully many many more to come.

Illustration by Joseph Nobs

11

A HERMIT AT A PARTY

S

tage One: Denial You stand at the gates of the house, bag (containing your phone, your wallet, a water bottle, two books, and a Nintendo) hefted over one shoulder. The sounds of blaring music - some sort of rap fusion? - emanate from the house in near-tangible waves, and the walls are painted with colored lights. It’s a little intimidating, but that’s fine. Life is all about taking risks, right? Heaven knows you’ve had enough of hiding away in your room. The time has come to step out of your shell, and it’s going to be awesome. So what if your fellow shut-ins think you’re crazy? So what if you’ve spoken to the host a total of zero times? You’re putting yourself out there, and you’re going to do great. Squaring your shoulders and putting on your bravest smile, you cross the threshold.

Stage Two: Anger Flash forward twenty minutes. You’re standing on the fray of the party, classic red cup (filled with Wholesome Tap Water, obviously) and a single crisp in hand, gazing blankly at the scene before you. There are… a lot more people here than anticipated. Half are inside the house, jumping along to the… ahem… music. The other half are hovering around the snacks table, chatting easily. A flash of anger seizes your throat. No. This is not what you came here for - you are not going to spend this party dithering awkwardly behind the conveniently placed foliage. You are… you are going to walk in there and start dancing, like everyone else! Yes. That is absolutely what you’re going to do. Right now, in fact. Placing down your cup and taking a decisive bite of the crisp, you lift your chin and march inside...

Stage Three: Bargaining ...And march right back out a moment later. Wow, it was hazy in there - the air seemed opaque, almost solid with the essence of people and the pulse of music. You take a step away from the door, and then another, just for good measure.

It’s alright though, you’ll go back - eventually. Picking your way through the clumps of people in the garden, you find an open space of grass that hasn’t yet been contaminated by dirtied paper plates and broken glass, and sit down. Pulling out your phone, you dismiss the texts from your fellow hermits - ranging from curious to concerned - and hop onto Instagram. There are posts about the party up already. Scrolling through them, you feel a sense of comfort - watching from afar has always been more your style. The music changes; this time it sounds almost pleasant. You glance from your screen to the house and back, and decide to try again. Well.

Maybe after just one more quick scroll…

Stage Four: Depression Fifty-nine scrolls later, someone trips over your motionless form and, at last, you look up from your phone. The party has continued to rage around you - man, the garden is trashed.

Suhasini Mehra panics at the disco A second person, chasing after the first, trips over you. Gathering your things, you retreat further from the activity and pull your knees up to your chest. All around you, people are talking and laughing. Watching them, you take the opportunity to wallow in self-pity. What is it about them that makes this come so naturally? Well, aside from the fact that they don’t spend all their time wrapped in eight layers of blanket, eating ice cream out of the box and watching reruns of the same cartoons on repeat… but that’s a trivial detail. Oh, god, you really are a loser.

Stage Five: Acceptance You hate this. You really, truly hate every part of this. You would much rather be at home watching some guy on YouTube play Darude Sandstorm on a potato. You’re never coming to one of these again. And that’s okay. Not liking parties doesn’t make you a loser. You’ve noticed, sitting on the outskirts, that not everyone is having as much fun as you’d thought - some, like you, are sneaking off into secluded corners to breathe, and others keep checking their watches as they dance, as though wondering when would be considered polite to book it. They’re not losers. A lot of other people, you’ve seen, really are having fun - chatting, singing, dancing, eating. And they’re not any kind of loser, either. All of you have fun in different ways, and no one way is superior, or right. Sure, maybe you’ll avoid parties from now on - but at least you’ve experienced one, and come out of it knowing something more. Laying on your back, you look at the constellations. Apparently, sitting amidst piles of trash in a garden at midnight with loud noises all around you turns you into a philosopher. The buzz of your phone indicates that your ride is ready to go, and you haul yourself up, stopping to nab a final slice of cake before you leave. If you’ve learned nothing else from tonight, at least you know this: no matter how bleak the situation, where there be cake, there be happy.

Illustration by Misha Scokalo

12

HORROR SCOPE

GOODBYE MESSAGES

Madame Aster Capricorn: Don’t eat the Chicken!!

Trust me, it ends badly.

Aquarius: Invest in a good vacuum. It’s a just good investment.

Pisces: YOU WON A FREE CAR!!!

Aries: We didn’t start the fire. YOU started the fire. STOP starting fires.

Taurus: You’re like really stubborn and like gucci.

Gemini: Try talking about your feelings less, bottle them up them them fuel you.

Cancer: Prepare your guest room, plz I need a place to crash.

Leo: You win everyone over with your smile™ and pure dihydrogen monoxide © Virgo: Relax, it doesn’t matter if the recording says Laurel or Yanny. What matters is what’s inside your heart.

Libra: Gravity will betray you. You will trip and fall. It will be strange as you are the most graceful person on the Planet Earth, but it will happen.

Scorpio: Your boyfriend is trapped in an alternate desert dimension. It is difficult to say when he will return. Perhaps take up drinking while crying in a silent room.

Sagittarius: I get the feeling that you were born from November 22 to December 21, share this article if I’m right.

WORLD RECORDS McKenna Quam

Matthew, I haven’t known you for very long, but I enjoyed knowing you a lot. You talked to me at the beginning of the year and helped me adjust to being in ISL. Thank you for being a friend to me - and for putting up with how bad I am at video games.

- Salim Oh, Manon. You fabulous being. It’s been an amazing three years knowing you, being one of the very first people I met when I first arrived in Year 9. Remember the Asian Aquarium? (lmao - good times) You’ve always been an amazing friend who never failed to make me laugh, and I don’t think I could ever thank you enough for being there when I needed it. Wishing you good luck in your new school and keep on drawing (because they’re REALLY good). Also, don’t forget to visit sometime! Or maybe I could visit you, we’ll keep in touch. I’ll miss you lots...

- Jade the Shade P.S. I would love updates of whenever you changed your hair color, that would be hilarious!

To Katia, Love you, love you more, love you most.

- Clara Matthew Haid says: “oh MATTHEW, american snIPER, AMERICAN SNIPER!” - Lukas 2k18 After three amazing years of being a student at ISL, I’d really like to thank all the girls who’ve been my friends, specifically Zoé, Erin and Moa for making my short time here so much fun. I’d also like to thank Mr. Ivett for spending time helping me with my application into my new school in Canada, and all the teachers who made my learning experience so much fun.

Thank you and take care, - Grace Franklin

Breaking one world record is impressive, but what about 2 world records, or over 120 world records?

It turns out that there is a world record for breaking the most world records, and it is held by Ashrita Furman.

He has captured the public’s imagination by breaking Guinness World Records under outrageous conditions and in the most exotic places. He holds over 300 records overall.

Ashrita has broken a Guinness record on every continent including fastest mile on a pogo stick in Antarctica, and fastest marathon skipped. That’s right: not only did he skip 43 km - he did it in under 6 hours.

Ashrita also has a knack for balancing things on his head. He holds the record for longest continuous distance while balancing a milk bottle on your head (130 km), longest continuous distance balancing a pool cue on your chin (1.6km), and the longest time bouncing a golf ball on golf club (1 hour 20 min).

He also holds records for creating the largest of things.

Ashrita has made the world largest pencil, tennis racket, and popcorn sculpture. And, of course, he holds the records for most current records held at the same time by an individual with 131 world records held.

13

T

he T.V. series “13 Reasons Why” has generated a popular controversy. There is a question of whether the teenage suicide, caused by various traumatic events, was represented appropriately. Many people believe that it glorified and justified suicide. I beg to differ. In the television series, there were scenes that included rape, suicide, one’s testimony, bullying, sexual and verbal harassment, alcohol and drug abuse, and depression. Each of these are fair reasons to lead to suicidal depression. These are possible scenarios because they do in fact happen to people in real life every day. So what’s wrong with talking about them?

According to NBC News, many parents and students think the series “glorifies and romanticizes suicide and self harm.” Many students at ISL think the same, but I disagree. I don’t understand how a realistic story about depression and the tragic factors that cause it could in any way make mental health issues seem desirable. Watching a girl feel completely alone because, piece by piece, her life starts to fall apart, made me feel driven not to end up in a destructive story of my own. And in no way did I find myself jealous of her pain.

Personally, I believe that this show should be watched. Every day, teens are dealing with suicide and self harm. Seeing their story on T.V. makes them feel less alone. But, most of

Clara Schmidt the world does not find it adequate. In news articles and on social media, teens are being told that the show is dangerous as it could cause them to have suicidal thoughts of their own. Well, being taught about a problem does not mean it will become a problem for us. If we ignore the topic because it is too scary, how can we help the people dealing with these issues? A third of high schoolers will have depression before they graduate. One third. That means whatever classroom you may be sitting in, 3 out of 10 people near you have most likely been in this situation and can relate to the T.V. show.

We are at the age where we are beginning to become aware of the reality of these subjects, and adults and psychiatrists are swooping in to save us. How is a silent world going to help the millions of teens like Hannah Baker?

Illustration by Leah Parsons

THE DEBATE: 13 REASONS WHY

13

Reasons Why has started many conversations. A few discuss suicide, many more, the show’s depiction of it. At the heart of it, though, is the fact that the showmakers failed to convey that when someone commits suicide, they die. They are gone. Forever.

Throughout both seasons, Hannah Baker seems to live on through her tapes and Clay’s visions of her—ironic, as the very premise of the show is her suicide. In fact, she’s more empowered after her death than before. Maybe this reflects a sad truth of our society: your story only matters once you’re dead. But, in all of its realism, 13 Reasons Why risks sending young viewers the wrong message.

For the vast majority of people, the show is a social commentary plagued by poor acting and anachronisms. Yet, there are always those who interpret things differently, and so there will always be those who will find the wrong sort of inspiration in Hannah’s story, or validation in characters like Bryce and Montgomery.

situations often are handled, but certainly not how they should be. And there is nothing accompanying it, warning the viewer of the dangers—not everyone will be as willing as Tyler to accept help.

Not all is bleak for 13 Reasons Why, though: its graphic and personal accounts present a new perspective on the effects of a toxic school environment. Of course, the show may give rise to the very kind of undesirable behaviour it depicts, but anyone who has access to Netflix also has access to the internet, and we all know of the dangers lurking on there. Whether such collateral damage is permissible, I’ll let you decide.

But at this point, what’s done is done, and accusing the show of glorifying suicide is like cursing the doctor for a diagnosis.

Instead, let’s target the disease: the real-life perpetrators and the bystanders who turn a blind eye. A silent world is not the answer, but, ironic as it is, neither is futile debate over a show’s depiction of an issue, all the while ignoring the issue itself. 13 Reasons Why has highlighted the problems in our society; it’s up to us to solve them.

Unacknowledged mental health issues are rife, throughout the show, and when a student plans a school shooting, the students decide that sending an unarmed teenager to talk him down is a better idea than calling the police. This is how

Pia Tiwari

14

TWO LEFTS DON’T MAKE A RIGHT

C

an the left go too far? A question too few ask. We know the political right can go too far; the idea of ethnic or racial superiority can manifest itself in government policy, resulting in catastrophe. We see this in the events we learn about in Humanities. The Holocaust. Apartheid. The KKK. We know the right can go too far, and we discuss it regularly. Whether we are talking about President Trump’s latest display of diplomatic skill in homeroom, or discussing the actions of Hitler in Humanities, we constantly see when the political right goes too far, in both less vitriolic cases and cases of utter catastrophe.

But when can the left go too far? In all of my Humanities classes, I have never been asked this question, until very recently. I cannot speak for the contents of the IB DP, but I for one have never been taught about how to answer the question “when does the left go too far?” until very recently, in which Year 11 Humanities had an IDU on genocide. My point is, this is far too late for the opportunity to learn about radical leftism to arrive. So, I have a story to present to you, so that you too can answer the question “when does the left go too far?”

Those of you who know me know that I come from Kazakhstan. Let’s be serious for a moment, however, because I have some questions for you. What if I told you that my people were subjected to genocide? What if I told you that it was caused by radical leftism? Kazakhstan was once part of the USSR. It was one of the largest countries in the union, but Kazakhstan was also barren - less than 10 million people lived in the million square mile country. Stalin had control over economic policy within the union, including Kazakhstan. Now, Communists, and Marxists as well, are notoriously awful at economics. The entire ideology of Communism and Marxism are toxic. But I’m not going to discuss these ideas specifically; instead, I wish to show you that you can turn both left or right on the highway to hell.

So, Stalin had a great idea - the 5 year plan. In it, he outlined growth goals for the union. From Kazakhstan he demanded 13 thousand tonnes. All of this food had to be sent out of Kazakhstan, including livestock. There was an obvious problem - no food was left for the Kazakhs. And so, a famine swept the country, resulting in the deaths of 1.5 million ethnic Kazakhs.

In Taraz, a Kazakh town, a woman was arrested after police discovered something awful. The woman had become so emaciated, so hungry, that her mind gave way to cannibalism. She was found cooking the corpse of a seven year old child. A letter was sent to Moscow detailing the incident.

Nobody followed up. And so, rats were in the cradles of Kazakhstan. And yet, the world has forgotten. If you aren’t in my

Rashid Baxter communisn’t

year, and haven’t heard me go off about Stalinist genocide, then I would wager that you haven’t heard about the famine in Kazakhstan. The fact that you hear so much about fascist genocide and so little about communist genocide is a tragedy of modern education.

I do not wish to criticise the Humanities department. The teachers we have are A-class educators who have our success in mind. However, the problem lies within our discussions. We must discuss how the noble pursuit of equality can not only squander freedom. Let it be noted that I’m not criticising the pursuit of equality of opportunity; I myself am involved in Equality Week. I’m not against striving for equality. I’m against causing suffering. In fact, Equality Week is covering equality of opportunity more so than outcome - I’m primarily discussing equality of outcome becoming the centre of thought.

What I have to say next is controversial, and maybe not even true. But, I’d ask you to think about it, seriously, before dismissing it. The idea that complete equality of outcome is possible, at all, is the idea of which caused the greatest isolated anthropogenic catastrophes in human history. The death toll of this idea is over 150 million. How can we not talk about it? I fear that in 100 years or so, the names Lenin and Stalin won’t be remembered. Of course we must remember what Hitler did to the Jews, to the roma, to those who were mentally ill, or homosexual. My point is not that the left is worse. My point is that suffering has multiple sources, including radical leftism. An idea can be bent and broken to suit any kind of insanity. It doesn’t matter if the promise is for equality, or for racial superiority.

We have to remember. Because people are already forgetting about Stalin and Mao, their ideas might spread. Some others might tell you that equality of outcome really is worth more than your freedom. At that point, we might see each other at the ration lines for food. I hear the wait for bread can be long.

Illustration by Ellie Parsons

15

DONALD DUCKED UP

L

ast Tuesday, June 12th, a presumably historic moment took place in Singapore. Two leaders who have been sending worrying but at times entertaining tweets and messages managed to meet. This was the first time Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un, or any leaders representing the United States and North Korea, have met. Hopefully, this is a step towards peace and denuclearization. However, what will it actually mean for the millions of people under a brutal regime in North Korea?

The meeting between the two leaders was seen as a triumph that will result in peace and an end to the nuclear threat, despite no concrete evidence that North Korea is undergoing denuclearization. If that continues to be the case, the summit was not only a failure but an event that worsened the current situation.

The summit was essentially an advertising campaign for Kim Jong Un, which he can use to further maintain the status quo within his own country and his own pretence of playing a legitimate role in global affairs. This can lead to dangerous ramifications considering the abuse of human rights and military threats he has made in the past.

Not only did praise for the leader come through by Singaporeans taking photos while Kim Jong Un was escorted from one place to another, it came directly from Donald Trump on behalf of the United States. Donald Trump referred to Kim Jong Un as “a man, who loves his country.” Moreover, he used positive personality traits to describe him such as “smart” and “talented.” This positive outlook on the personality of the dictator has the world forgetting what this man is responsible for. He is responsible for abusing every single fundamental right. Trump describing him in these positive terms gives him legitimacy while exacerbating his own egotistical thinking, enables the continuation of human rights abuses within North Korea.

He is responsible for abusing every single fundamental human right.

Furthermore, there was likely no mention of human rights at the summit at all, as neither Trump nor Kim Jong Un responded to questions about whether that issue has been addressed. Hence, making this event another pointless stunt aimed to improve relations between countries that will make the world and the government forget about the state of peo-

Zofia Choinska disagrees to agree ple in North Korea, all because Kim Jong Un made a positive impression.

Nevertheless, it is important to keep in mind that denuclearization is an important issue. The question is: will the summit be successful in leading to the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula? We do not know, however, treating the summit as a success and a positive moment in history is harmful because, if nothing is actually accomplished, it will have done more harm than good. The fact that North Korea signed a declaration stating they will work towards denuclearization does not mean anything as this is in fact the seventh time that the nation has promised to take such action since 1985 - and it has done nothing in order to achieve this goal. Why would this time be any different?

A problem also lies within the ambiguity of the declaration both leaders signed. The agreements are very broad and therefore could be interpreted differently by both leaders as there is no uniform and clear way to measure how well nations are “working towards peace” or “improving the lives of their citizens” which is what the declaration includes. Furthermore, the two countries have different ways in which they define denuclearization. Unlike the United States, North Korea may not see denuclearization as a complete and immediate dismantling of all their nuclear weapons but simply ceasing their production or minimizing it over the coming years. The broad agreement the leaders signed does not directly address these unclarities.

Therefore, the question becomes, should Trump have actually met with Kim Jong Un? It depends, we have to judge it by the results. Even though the words he used to describe a tyrant were far from appropriate, it would be a step worth taking if denuclearization would be assured. However, if nothing changes as a result, the summit and diplomacy coming from Trump will have been a failure. It does not matter that diplomatic relations have improved as they are not the goal; they are simply a technique used to accomplish a goal. In fact, positive relations with a tyrant only reinforce his tyranny and are useless if a goal is not reached, resulting in nothing but a continuation of the cruel reality in North Korea.

As students and people, it is important to keep thinking about what is happening around the world, outside the bubble of ISL, Switzerland, or Europe. Issues like these have become meme and satire material. The Twitter battle between the two leaders, which has become a laughing stock, is partially what led to pressures and excitement about the summit, and there is nothing wrong with comedy. While the summit was a moment of excitement as it symbolized the end of a story we have all been following, it is important to keep in mind that people’s lives and freedom are at stake.

16

DRAWING TO A CLOSE

S

o, it’s that time again.

Several months ago, I was told that we’d probably be moving to the City of the Gays. It turned out that that ‘probably’ would become a definite. Along with the tedious amount of packing and planning came the crushing realization that I’d no longer be surrounded by people that I’d come to know (and, begrudgingly, love).

Since then, I’ve been able to look back on all the experiences I’ve had in my five year stay at ISL, and so, I’ve decided to summarize my years here in a sentence or two each.

Year 7 - Year of the Freedom. A young first year middle schooler, spending her days complaining about her “amount of homework” (hahaha, oh young Manon, you’ve never known true suffering).

Also - long hair.

Year 8 - Year of the Edge™. Possibly the worst year of my life, and the one I look back upon with the most cringe. Also long hair.

Year 9 - The year I truly started taking drawing seriously. Also the year of the Asian Club - shoutout to Jade, Amy and Jianing. My final year of middle school.

Also - FINALLY SHORT HAIR, THANK GOD! Year 10 - Year of the rainbow hair, anime, two short-term relationships, and the start of my friendship with Shrek.

Also - Soukoku.

Year 11 - This is contempt of the Ribas, Mr Kirby! All the single ladies, arrival of my new passion for hating PP, and horrible crushes. Also - dating sim #1.

But of course, this isn’t just about me.

It’s also about the people who’ve made my stay at ISL one of the most memorable parts of my life. From teachers to students, I’ve been affected by people more than I’d like to admit. From Mr Driscoll’s awkward yet quick witted sar-

casm, to Madame Apicella’s jokes and conversations, along with a sprinkle of Mr B’s calm personality contrasting greatly with my boisterous Digital Design class, and a side dish of chaotic energy from Mr Fessler - be it from class or The Crucible, all of these teachers have affected me in some way, and made this year so much more light hearted and bearable. Of course I can’t forget Mr Nobs’ support and feedback towards my great interest and improvement in art, and any other teacher who I’ve had over my years here. The other people I’ll leave to the end.

Ah, I also can’t forget about the moments that have made this school memorable. From all the drama (of course), to an unsavoury but interesting moment in year nine regarding a knife, to the several camps where I twisted and sprained my ankle (specifically the one where I somehow twisted my ankle on a tree), along with - of course - the wacky weeks where my year came third once and second twice.

The experiences after school as well, of being in two school productions: the musical Oliver (some of you who were there during my worst year would remember), and this year’s The Crucible.

The High, of course, being a relatively large part of my weeks as well, mainly drawing graphics, and writing the occasional comedic relief article about fictional crushes and/or exams. I can’t forget the highlights of my weeks in middle school, when porcelain painting came along, and kickstarted my interest in art, an ASA in which I am most certainly grateful for for that exact reason. Finally, banter-filled afternoons on Wednesdays in which my friends and I, along with several other acquaintances, drew naked ladies and each other (no relation).

Manon Libine on a jet plane article that I originally titled “Sayonara Suckers”. I have to seriously thank Minnie, who’s been my friend since year one (or well, seven), and who’s been there for me through thick and thin, regardless of the age and year difference.

Along with her, my more recent friends.

Suhasini, a fellow nerd who - despite being different from me in every way when it comes to physical contact and extrovertedness - took the bait when I offered her pizza, and has stayed a loyal and wonderful friend throughout my high school experience so far. Pia and Lewis, another two friends who, despite their contrast to my rather explosive personality, stayed positive and always had something to say, along with their own unique opinions.

Needless to say, there are many more people that I want to give their own sentences to, but unfortunately, word limits are quite strict in The High. So unfortunately, the rest of you’ll have to settle for your names. McKenna, Jade, Leah, Philipp, Luca, Joseph, Kia, Tia, Heloise, and Max Munster. Without you guys I wouldn’t be who I am today, which - if that’s a good or bad thing, I’m not too sure. I guess all I can do now is thank you for being there, and for each having your own little or big meteor of impact on my life in and out of ISL. If there’s a lesson from all this, I guess it’s something that I’ve gone through already. From Switzerland, to Poland, to Hong Kong, back to here, and now to San Francisco - I know that some friends will stay and some will go. New experiences will be made and some memories will be lost. While it is true that ultimately, I will make new friends and move on, I do know this. You guys will stay forever in my heart… leeching my love like parasites.

With that - I bid you adieu.

Finally, I have to bring the “comedy” to a close, and start being sincere. Well, as sincere as I could ever get writing an

17

TOO SHY TO SAY GOODBYE

I

am going to be very self indulgent with this article but it’s something that I have wanted to write for a long time, so I hope that you bear with me.

All of the other articles that I have written before were all written in a very formal tone; hell, I put “in conclusion,” in my last article. I haven’t written an article in a long time either.

As someone who has somewhat controversial opinions, I often get comments in the hallway. The comments have never been said maliciously, and they’ve always been conversational, but I still remember them to this day. When people tell me that my writing style is weird and that my articles haven’t been well researched or have been very reactionary, I fully agree. But the comments still bother me, even now, nearly a year later. I know that it’s only because of my social anxiety.

Most people are pretty surprised when I say that I’m “shy.”

People are mainly surprised because I volunteer for public speaking or because I like acting or because whenever they speak to me, I am fairly confident. But not being confident isn’t the whole picture.

Lewis Martin exits stage left

I remember the hot flush of shame when my teacher called me out in front of the whole class for not doing my homework. I remember crying into my pillow for half an hour when my dad got slightly frustrated with me because I kept asking him to let me use the big TV. I can still tell you every single word I said last month when I snapped at a classmate when he was just trying to make a light hearted joke.

I could keep going but I need to stick to a word limit.

When I look in a mirror, usually after midnight and after weeping over an offhand comment someone said to me, having to look at a six-foot bloke desperately trying to wipe away tears with toilet roll doesn’t really help my self-confidence.

Trying to convince yourself that you are feeling sad and that you’re not overreacting or trying to play up your emotions for attention is a very difficult thing to do.

I know why I haven’t written an article in a long time. It’s because I’ve been too nervous to walk into a room of people for a newspaper club, of which most are people that I know.

Shyness comes in many different forms and people have different ways of coping with it. Some people like to just walk away from conversations or avoid them entirely. Others have nervous ticks that calm them down. Personally, I panic.

I have had this article in my head for a long while now. I’ve written and rewritten it over and over in my head for months.

Why am I showing it off now? Because someone pushed me to.

I start running on pure adrenaline. I make a snap, unconscious decision on how I will act for the next 10 minutes; quiet, loud, “wacky,” etc. Because of this, I can be cold and quiet to some, and loud and in your face to others. During these conversations, there is no filter. Words just start to spill from my mouth like Niagra Falls, and my relationship with the person I am talking to is the barrel, tumbling into the rocks below to break into a million pieces.

By the time that you are reading this, I have less than a handful of days before I leave ISL. And I know that, despite not finishing school here, it has helped me become someone who I am proud to be. I have met people who, despite my awkwardness, have talked to me. I have met people who will listen to my incoherent ramblings. I have met people who, despite me being a huge d**k to, tried to get to know me better. People who saw past my self consciousness and pushed me to do something I wanted.

It’s only after that person has walked away that I realize how liberal I was with my tongue. Or that I just made a 9/11 conspiracy joke to a Muslim. Or that I was interrupting them while they were talking. Or that they were telling me to f**k off and I just didn’t get it.

“But this isn’t unnatural. Most people tell really inappropriate jokes or have conversations go horribly. So what?”

My brother usually tells me this as I am talking to him over the phone. I’m usually wallowing too much to really think of an answer. But even now, when I am trying to think of one, I really can’t find one. I don`t understand why I get so flustered. Even now that I’m writing this article, I am physically wincing, thinking back to my childhood. Even events when I was younger than 10.

Those people made me who I am. And I won’t forget that.

tŚLJ ĚŝĚ / ƐĂLJ ƚŚĂƚ ŽŶĞ ƚŚŝŶŐ ůĂƐƚ dŚƵƌƐĚĂLJ Ăƚ ϭϮ͗ϱϳ͍

Illustration by Ellie Parsons

18

A MESSI DEAL Tom Secheyron does not get paid enough for this

W

ith the 2018 FIFA World Cup now officially underway, Russia (this year’s host nation) has been buzzing with incredible goals, out-of-this-world celebrations, crazy fans, and surprising anecdotes. The World Cup excitement is also palpable in Lausanne, as many apartment buildings are now decorated with colorful flags, little boutiques are representing the Swiss colors, and the fan zone in Ouchy is constantly bursting with noise as the matches are broadcasted to crowds of up to 8,000 supporters.

Even ISL is showing its enthusiasm regarding the event with various flags spread throughout the cafeteria. However, despite this unavoidable passion for one of the world’s biggest sports events, questions do arise regarding the equality of pay which certain footballers such as Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi receive compared to other great athletes in less represented sports. How is it that we haven’t heard about a man such as Martin Fourcade, who completely dominated the Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang?

Could lack of global attention be leading to differences in pay between these athletes?

It is interesting to first take a look at the amount of money which Ronaldo made just this year. The Portuguese player was actually the 3rd highest-paid player in the world. He made a grand total of 108 million US dollars, 61 of those coming from his salary and other winnings while the other 47 came from endorsements. In very similar fashion, Lionel Messi was just above him, making $111 million this year. This gives us two important points: 1. Two of the top three highest paid athletes in the world are footballers. 2. They are making significant amounts of money – not only from their on-field performances, but also from their endorsements and sponsors. All these statistics are definitely intriguing, but why are these two athletes are being paid much more than other top athletes from different sports, despite their equal skill? Of course, many

examples of these triumphant athletes from other, lesser-known sports exist.

Take for instance, Martin Fourcade, the breath-taking French biathlete who has been dominating his sport for the past 10 years, in similar fashion to Ronaldo or Messi. One could say that comparing these athletes is unfair given their career successes, but this simply isn’t the case. Fourcade, a 10-time individual world champion, double Olympic champion in Sochi and a man who has 63 individual victories to his name,

Could lack of global attention be leading to differences in pay between these athletes?

matches up quite well with the imposing profiles of both Messi and Ronaldo.

As simple as it may sound, it is quite simply a question of publicity. Even though Fourcade may have all the titles in order to be considered one of the greatest athletes in the world, his sport of biathlon (which I am sure is completely unknown to many of you) cannot keep up with the undeniable popularity of football. Going back to the anticipation which we have all felt as the 2018 FIFA World Cup has started, it is practically impossible not to know about football and its main protagonists in our modern world when it is being constantly mediatized. And, of course, Messi and Ronaldo are at the center of this great show. Watching this spectacle are aspiring footballers, small and big, waiting for the perfect burst of speed or the pinpoint, faultless shot which will lift a nation above an-

other on the biggest stage. Once again, Fourcade’s gutsy but unrecognized trek through the South Korean mountains cannot compete with Ronaldo’s bicycle kick and this, this undeniable aspect is what causes the differences in the salaries which the two athletes collect at the end of the year.

In addition, there is no doubt about it: the media and its unstoppable impact on our modern society of today plays a massive role on the question at hand.

Massive corporate brands such as Nike and Adidas do not hesitate a single second before jumping onto this bandwagon of exhilaration that football and other popular sports hold. However, as an international school, it is vital for all of us to keep our minds open and to recognize as many of these elite, no matter how publicized or how well rewarded, athletes as we can. Just like anything else in our daily lives, it is important to not only focus on the obvius (the World Cup at the moment), but also on smaller, minute details such as Fourcade’s incredible performances in the winter or the soon-to-start Tour de France. Maybe with this mentality, we will be the ones to cause change and inverse the tendency which allows for salaries of similarly-skilled athletes to be so incredibly different.

Illustration by Misha Scokalo

19

CUP QUIZ

Tom Secheyron 6. What time did England score their winning goal against Tunisia?

2. How many stadiums will be used during the 2018 FIFA World Cup?

7. Which World Cup was the first to use vanishing spray?

3. Where are the opening match and Final being played?

8. In which two countries was the 2002 World Cup held?

4. Which world-class player scored a hat trick in the first round of Group Stage matches?

9. Which country has the most World Cup losses?

10. Senegal, with a 2-1 win versus Poland.

1. Where is this year’s FIFA World Cup hosted?

9. Mexico, with 25 losses 8. South Korea and Japan 7. 2014 World Cup in Brazil 6. 90+1’ previous World Champions (1-0 final score). match as the Mexicans were able to overthrow the 4. The Portuguese player, Cristiano Ronaldo. try.

3. Luzhniki Stadium, the biggest venue in the coun-

10. Which African team was the only one to win in the first round of the group stage matches?

5. Mexico vs. Germany, a Group F first-round

5. Which match has been one of the biggest surprises of the tournament so far based on the final result?

sia will be used during the tournament.

2. 12 various stadiums spread out throughout Rus1. Russia.

ANSWERS

WORLD SEARCH

20

THE LAST LAUGH: US AND THEM

Eve Kurt-Elli

CROSSWORD ACROSS:

DOWN:

1. Commendable (8)

1. Sensibility (15)

5. Well-known image or person

2. “Likewise� (5)

(6)

3. Islamic city (6)

7. Potential difference (7)

5. Acting body of a film (4)

8. Japanese dish (5)

6. State of making something il-

10. Danish building blocks (4)

legal (15)

12. Awake, warning (5)

9. Personal assistant in a com-

13. Salvador _____, Spanish surre-

pany (9)

alist (4)

11. Scottish city (7)

16. To make excessively joyful (5)

14. US state (7)

18. ____ columnifera, Latin name

15. Location of the pyramids (4)

for the Mexican Hat (8)

17. Very bad (4)

19. World War aerial combat (8)

21. Like a stoat (6)

20. Garlicy Mediterranean sauce

24. Roman two-faced deity (5)

(5)

25. Final (4)

22. Opposite of up (4) 23. Marie _____, Polish physicist (5) 24. Indonesian island (4) 26. West African virus (5) 27. A natural disaster (7) 28. Greek city-state (6) 29. Optical _____, a deceptive visual experience (8)