BEYOND OUR SHORES LETTING GO
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19 COVER DESIGN BY DANIEL SON
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ISSUE 19 BEYOND OUR SHORES LETTING GO 201 8 S U M M E R
CREW
201 8 S U M M E R
CONTENT EDITORS
JIHO HA
DAVID NOH
GABRIELL A KIM
NATHAN HA
ALEX OH
CL AIRE OH
BONNIE HYUN
JINYEONG OH
DAIN AHN
CL AIRE JO
JACK PARK
RACHEL CHO
ALICE JUNG
HEIDI SEO
BRIAN HA
ADAM KIM
JAMIE SOH
MINSEO KIM
DANIEL KIM
MINGYU SONG
SUNGHEE KIM
DAVID KIM
STELL A YEOM
NIKKI LEE
DO HYUN KIM
HANNAH GREY
HANNAH SEO
GYULIN KIM
ELOI ROBERTS
SHUNTO SHIGETOMI
JAY KIM
EDWARD KANG
DANIEL YOO
JEONGHA KIM
THERESA LEE
ADRIENNE YOON
JUSANG KIM
AMY HWANG
JENNA YU
JUSTIN KIM
LILY LEE
MINSOL KIM
YUNA CHO
DESIGN/PHOTO EDITOR
PETER KIM
MINSUNG SON
SOPHIA KIM
PHOTOGRAPHER
YECHAN KIM
JI HOON MICHAEL HAM
WRITERS
BYUNG HOON KO
CION CHOI
NANCY KWON
STAFF
CHRISTINE BAE
DONG GUN LEE
MR RAYMOND MAHER
SOYON BAE
JAESEONG LEE
MR JASON SANNEGADU
JUDY BANG
JASON LEE
MS SHARON KENNINGTON
JADEN CHANG
YAE JOON LEE
MS KYU YOUN KIM
SM CHUNG
ANGEL LI
MRS DORTHE ALLEN
BRIAN HA
STEVE NA
MR JONATHAN TAYLOR
FOREWORD
ISSUE 19
IN CONVERSATION WITH MRS MCCABE SHUNTO SHIGETOMI YEAR 12, HALLA EAST
We were called in by Mr. Maher who told us that we were to conduct an interview with an individual from NLCS UK. Taking into consideration the fact that one of my writers was writing an article on the renowned “Founder’s Day” and that we lacked any knowledge of this annual tradition, the writer and I agreed to take on the job. The interview was to be on a Thursday break during the inspection week, when everyone was on edge. We arrived early, thinking it was our only chance to speak to such an individual, and clumsily took our seats while taking a deep breath. Waiting carefully for her arrival, I was unusually fidgety, only to let out a heavy sigh. Perhaps it was the painstakingly weighty silence; nevertheless, there was really no way I would have known then. Five minutes flew by in the blink of an eye, and there she was–Mrs. Bernice McCabe. As soon as Mrs. McCabe took her seat, we began the discussion, albeit tensely. The discussion revolved mainly around the history and significance of Founder’s Day, but we were given the opportunity to also get to know her personal opinions on the ocassion. She told us that the event represents, celebrates and commemorates the work of pioneers for
women’s education and the extraordinary history of NLCS UK – of how Francis Mary Buss changed the expectations of women that dominated and oppressed them for centuries in the past. To think that we are celebrating not only the founding of our very school but also the emancipation of women made me feel proud of myself, and it made me unwittingly look forward to the Founder’s Day I dreaded so much. She also told us about what the Daffodil represented, and why such a strange plant holds so much meaning in our school. Upon hearing that the Daffodil was Francis Mary Buss’ favorite flower, I immediately thought I understood the reason behind the Daffodil’s significance. However, Mrs. McCabe continued her explanation: the Daffodil represents perseverance and will power, blooming during early spring and yet standing tall to withstand the deadly winter frosts. Mrs. McCabe told us how Francis Mary Buss, much like the Daffodil, withstood criticisms for her achievements during the Victorian era and how Sophie Bryant, who carried on her will, introduced the procession in front of a window representing wisdom. The Daffodil therefore embodies the women’s rights movement–a symbol truly fit to represent Founder’s Day.
Finally, she told us her own thought on the NLCS enterprise, from the perspective of a former headmistress. As a strong believer of NLCS’ philosophy of “making the world a better place”, she told us the she loves the “special alchemy” between the students and teachers and believes that appointing passionate subject specialists and giving students more responsibilities through extra-curricular activities is the key to such alchemy. She is confident that such measures will give students the confidence and independence that will “spread” to their academic experiences and that this is reinforced by making sure no one “slips through the net” – the attention the school asks to pay to each individual is unparalleled and she says that, despite this being a difficult process, it is just as rewarding. We, the Islander team, hope that this issue reaches out to the student body, to spread word about not only the history and significance of the Founder’s Day we thought was only a nuisance but also the philosophy that this school, NLCS Jeju, was founded upon. On behalf of the Islander team, I truly hope the student body can enjoy reading the articles just as much as the writers enjoyed writing them.
FOUNDER'S DAY YAE JOON LEE YEAR 7, SARAH EDITED BY DAYON LEE, YER 12, HALLA
WHAT IS FOUNDER'S DAY? Originally called Foundation Day, Founder’s day was renamed after the death of the school founder Frances Mary Buss, and the service was originally created by Dr Sophie Bryant, her successor. Camden School, also founded by Frances Mary Buss, holds a similar ceremony each year and Founder’s Day is also celebrated at NLCS Jeju and NLCS Dubai. During every Founders day we use daffodils to celebrate, because this was the favorite flower of founder of the NLCS UK, Frances Mary Buss. During the interview with Ms.Mccabe, she had talked about few different reasons why NLCS could be a famous school. The reason was not only because our school is IB school, but it was because NLCS had let students choose what they want to do. This allows students to become more creative and capable people. This made NLCS schools become what they continue to be today. This leads the NLCS family of schools to be places where high quality students are made. INTERVIEW WITH MRS. MCCABE I had a interview with Mrs.McCabe. She told me how she loves Founder’s Day. It is a very special day celebrating NLCS and women’s education. She has been Headmistress
of the London school for twenty years, having previously been in charge of another school, and she talks so warmly and with passion about having had the best job in secondary education. She says that Frances Mary Buss and Sophie Bryant changed the expectations of women and the kind of lives they could lead which affected generations, not just in the UK but across the world. Mrs. McCabe recounted that NLCS was used by the government as a model for all the academic girls schools in the UK, it was, in her words, “the mother”. Miss Buss would be involved in the appointment of the Headmistress at Independent girls schools that sprang up around the country using NLCS as the model and these people would have training at the London school so they could effectively run their schools on the same lines, using the same ethos and values. Indeed she recounted how she had been educated at a school in Bristol modeled on the mother and how, when she got the job at NLCS, she felt she was coming home. Across the world similar schools were established, for example Pretoria Girls High School, established by a graduate of NLCS, and also a school in Australia. Just at the turn of the twentieth century in the UK a range of free schools was set up along the NLCS lines. “From those to whom much is given, 6
much is expected” from the prayers used in Founder’s Day reflects one of the strong elements of the ethos of the schools. NLCS gives students a very good education but, in return, the school wants them to go out and make the world a better place. One of the things the South Korean government wanted, when they were looking to establish the Global Education City, was that graduates of NLCS Jeju would want to give back to their country, make their country a stronger and better place. Mrs. McCabe went on to explain two reasons that the school hymn is relevant to what is being achieved at NLCS. George Handel, the composer, was music master at Cannons, where the London school is now housed, but, more importantly, the song evokes a soothing air and encourages those leaving to take their education and bring it out into the world to do good. What is being celebrated on Founder’s Day is a special alchemy created where academic results can be achieved, not in an academic hothouse environment, but with students taking responsibility for Societies and magazines, being actively involved in art, sport, music and drama, lots of other extra curricular activities which, in the words of Mrs. McCabe, “give the students the confidence to run their own race, to be independent, to be selfconfident and that confidence spreads into their academic performance”.
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CONTENTS
01
ISSUE 19
ACADEMIC WRITING
02 03
SOCIETY
HISTORY
04
SPORTS
06 07
CURRENT AFFAIRS
05
JUNIOR ISLANDER
SCIENCE
08 09
MEDIA
FICTION
2018 SUMMER
14 HOW SIGNIFICANT TO GLOBAL POLITICS IS THE CURRENT RISE IN POPULISM AND NATIONALISM? 17 IS POPULISM THE INEVITABLE OUTCOME FOR DEMOCRACIES? 18 TO WHAT EXTENT DID HITLER CREATE A TOTALITARIAN STATE? 22 FEELING LOST WHEN A LOVED ONE PASSES AWAY 23 WHAT DID I DO TO BE SO DARK AND BLUE? 24 PET FUNERAL 25 LOSS SYMPTOMS 26 LIBERIA: THE COUNTRY WHERE PEACEFUL DEMOCRACY WAS FINALLY POSSIBLE AFTER 73 YEARS 28 IS IT ALWAYS NECESSARY TO PROJECT OUR LIFE OPTIMISTICALLY? 30 RACIAL DISCRIMINATION 31 FOR OUR GOODS 32 THE LIFE OF A NORTH KOREAN REFUGEE 34 GLOBALISATION 35 AN INCREASE IN THE KOREAN MINIMUM WAGE 36 BITCOIN: IS IT ONLY A GAMBLE OR THE FUTURE? 37 GETTING OVER OUR MISTAKES 42 GETTING LOST IN THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE 43 THE FIGHT FOR WITHIN 44 THE DIARY OF A WHITE SETTLER 42 GETTING LOST IN THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE 43 THE FIGHT FOR WITHIN 44 THE DIARY OF A WHITE SETTLER 48 MIAMI MARLINS ON FIRE SAIL AGAIN 49 TWO OWN GOALS AND THREE GOOD SHOTS 50 GOLD MEDAL ROBBED IN SOCHI 51 KAYAKING 52 THE TRUE HERO, TERRY FOX 53 THE UNBELIEVABLE GLENN CUNNINGHAM 56 CAN GLOBAL WARNING BE A GOOD THING? 57 ROSWELL 58 SQUASHED 59 TALIBAN IN PAKISTAN 60 VIETNAM 64 JEJU'S ENERGY SOURCE OF THE FUTURE 65 PLASTIC POLLUTION 66 MODERN TECHNOLOGY IN ENGINES 67 RENEWABLE ENERGY 68 IS SCIENCE GOING TOO FAR? 69 SETTING SALE FOR THE MOON AND BEYOND 72 THE SLAUGHTER FIELDS OF JEJU 73 NK vs US A WAR OF RHETORIC 74 WALKING THE FINE LINE 75 GAME ADDICTION 76 WHY DID APPLE SLOW DOWN OLDER IPHONE MODELS? 78 OUR NEW IB SUBJECTS AN A TO Z 82 BEYOND THE SHORE 83 GAME. RAINBOW. CODE. WARRIORS. 84 FROM HEEJIN TO GOWON: LOONA 85 THE RISE OF KOREAN CULTURE 88 LETTING GO
CONGRATULATIONS CLASS OF 2018
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ACADEMIC WRITING.
In this issue we celebrate the academic writing achievements of two students who participated in the inaugural FOBISIA Social Studies Essay competition 2018, a competition for member schools of the FOBISIA organization we joined some years ago. Students studying any of the social sciences were asked to consider the following question: Donald Trump; Brexit; Front National; UKIP; Austrian Freedom Party; Kurdistan; Catalonia. How significant to global politics is the current rise in populism and nationalism? Is populism the inevitable outcome for democracies? One student, Daniel Yoo, was awarded first prize of $250 and a second student from NLCS Jeju, Cion Choi, was highly commended. In this issue of the magazine we reproduce their essays. Also included in this section is an essay from Claire Oh on a more historical populist and nationalist, Hitler. This essay is taken from a series of impressive work Claire has submitted in her History studies.
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HOW SIGNIFICANT TO GLOBAL POLITICS IS THE CURRENT RISE IN POPULISM AND NATIONALISM? DANIEL YOO YEAR 12, HALLA EAST
Donald Trump was elected as the president of the ‘United’ States, Le Pen’s defeat was a close call, the coalition of far-right parties formed in Austria, and Angela Merkel got another wrinkle on her forehead after Alternative for Germany’s debut to the Federal Parliament. It seems like the world is experiencing a great transition. We once rejoiced the era of globalization and diversity. However, increasing number of refugees and economic stagnation seems to overwhelm people’s state of mind. Populism and nationalism are waving their flags in international society. The rise of populism and nationalism is a worldwide phenomenon, and it is derived from the dissatisfaction of two major groups: the conservative group and victim mentality group. Their dissatisfaction was exerted by a form of ‘neophobia’. Neophobia is an abnormal fear of new things. One of the topics that conservatives, specifically conservatives who are evangelical Christians, strongly show their neophobic behaviour is concerns homosexuality. In 2012, a baker in Colorado, Jack Phillips, was sued for refusing to bake a wedding cake for a gay couple. Five years later, a Solicitor General in the Trump administration supported Phillips, claiming that “making custom cakes is a form of free expression protected under the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment” (NBC NEWS, 2017). On 25th June 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that same-sex marriage be granted in all 50 states. Despite then-President Obama appraising the ruling as a ‘victory of America’ (Reilly, 2015), the ruling faced criticism from conservatives. Bobby Jindal, a Republican Then-Governor of Louisiana, said: “I think it is wrong for the federal government to force Christian individuals, businesses, pastors, churches to participate in wedding ceremonies that violate our sincerely held religious beliefs.” The
conservatives are shocked as they saw more and more people openly announcing their sexual orientation, which is against their religious values. Another conservative-hostile topic is immigration. Due to the unstable political/ security situation in African and Middle Eastern nations, the number of immigrants to European nations rapidly increased. According to United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), 362,000 refugees and migrants entered Europe in 2016 and 105,000 refugees and migrants reached Europe in the first half of 2017 (UNHCR, n.d.). This, along with Islamophobia, created discontent for conservative citizens. Reactionary nationalists considered the mass influx of foreigners a threat to their ethnic and national identity. In European countries including Germany, France, Britain, and Netherlands, supporters of Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West (PEGIDA) went on an anti-immigrant march on 6 February this year. The results are shown from the elections. In German federal election of 24 September 2017, Alternative for Germany (a far-right party that is famous for its
German nationalist and populist ideas) became the 3rd largest party in the Federal Parliament and the first far-right party to make it in there since the Nazi party. Victim mentality group, a terminology which one has created, refers to a group of people who consider themselves as the ones who did not receive benefits that they deserve. Most of them work in declining industries – miners, secondary industry, etc. During the U.S. Presidential election campaign, Donald Trump, a protectionist and climate change sceptic (Matthews, 2017), appealed to the voters of the Rust Belt (North-eastern region of the United States such as Detroit, Pittsburgh which were the beneficiaries of a manufacturing boom between the 19th and early 20th century but now experiencing economic decline) and coal mining areas that he would encourage manufacturing and coal mining industry by disaffiliating from the International Paris Climate Agreement, “opening up federal lands and offshore areas for oil and gas exploration and production” (Fehrenbacher, 2016), or imposing a 45% tariff
THE RISE OF POPULISM AND NATIONALISM IS A WORLDWIDE PHENOMENON, AND IT IS DERIVED FROM THE DISSATISFACTION OF TWO MAJOR GROUPS: THE CONSERVATIVE GROUP AND VICTIM MENTALITY GROUP. 14
Nigel Farrage, former UKIP leader 15
on Chinese imported goods. The voting result of electoral voting (de facto Presidential voting) was surprising: Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, the three representative Rust Belt states and also the states which voted for Barack Obama (Democratic party) in the previous 2012 presidential election, voted for Donald Trump (Republican party). Donald Trump aroused the sense of anger from “victim-mentals”, by suggesting that they are the casualties of the renewable energy trend and introducing the idea of nationalism – that America should be treated first and American industry should be protected. After all, Trump’s strategy worked. The similarity between these two demographic groups is that they both feel that they are underrepresented. Whether that is because of social change (immigrants, gay marriage) or economical paradigm shift (conventional fossil fuel to renewable energy, protectionism to free trade), these people are not impressed. The current situation is changing at an alarming rate: many nations that used to work as global co-operators, like Germany in the EU and United States in the UN, are turning their eyes to populism and nationalism. As there will be more people who are left behind (either mentally or economically), populism and nationalism will gain further significance. However, despite its potential harm that the prejudice and irrational quality of populism can cause to the international society, one does not assess populism and nationalism as things that should be or can be prevented. Democratic system has granted its citizens the power to make the decision, and most of the democratic nations follow the majority rule. If the majority feels that their religious, social, economic, or national foundation is being hampered they are likely to vote for the populist or nationalist party. On the other hand, if the majority are ready to embrace change, difference, and recognises the impact that their decision would cause to society– such as minorities or the environment of our planet–they would make more insightful choices. Populism and nationalism are not ideas that should be eradicated but things that will naturally become extinct as time goes by.
Marine Le Pen, Front National leader
BIBLIOGRAPHY UNHCR. (n.d.). Europe situation. [online] Available at: http://www. unhcr.org/europe-emergency.html [Accessed 4 Dec. 2017]. Reilly, M. (2015). Obama Praises Supreme Court’s Decision To Legalize Gay Marriage Nationwide. Huffington Post. [online] Available at: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/26/obama-scotus-gaymarriage_n_7671378.html [Accessed 4 Dec. 2017]. NBC NEWS (2017). Trump Administration Backs Baker Who Refused to Make Gay Wedding Cake. [online] Available at: https://www. nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/trump-administration-backs-baker-whorefused-make-gay-wedding-cake-n799766 [Accessed 4 Dec. 2017].
Fehrenbacher, K. (2016). How Donald Trump's energy policies are all about removing regulations. FORTUNE. [online] Available at: http:// fortune.com/2016/09/26/donald-trumps-energy-policy/ [Accessed 6 Dec. 2017]. Matthews, D. (2017). Donald Trump has tweeted climate change skepticism 115 times. Here's all of it. Vox. [online] Available at: https:// www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/6/1/15726472/trump-tweetsglobal-warming-paris-climate-agreement [Accessed 6 Dec. 2017]. The Federal Council of Switzerland (2016). Arrêté du Conseil fédéral constatant le résultat de la votation populaire du 5 juin 2016. 16
IS POPULISM THE INEVITABLE OUTCOME FOR DEMOCRACIES? CION CHOI YEAR 12, HALLA NORTH In order to effectively contemplate the question of whether or not populism is the inevitable outcome for democracies, the terms ‘democracy’ and ‘populism’ must be defined first. Populism is characterized by the mobilization of the population against an institution or government, usually in defense of the undervalued or ordinary divisions of society. It is based on the idea that political and social goals are best achieved by the direct actions of the public. Democracy is a system of government in which the citizens exercise political power directly or elect a representative to form a governing body. In ideal democracy, supreme power should rest with the people. Based on these definitions, it is clear that democracy should not allow populism, since democracy is a governmental system that values majority opinion over the minority with the decision of the majority contributing to the outcome. However, populism usually puts emphasis on the voice of the minority and often takes a radical and extreme approach to convey that voice. Therefore populism and democracy seem to contradict one another in their aims and approaches, raising the question of whether or not this contradiction is inevitable in democracy. Eventually, this essay will conclude that it is inevitable for a number of reasons. One reason why populism is the inevitable outcome for democracies is because the nature of democracy initially emphasizes the importance of considering the opinion of the masses, not a lone authority. Similarly, populism almost always disrupts social order to challenge the authority, in response to the existing authorities’ lack of capability or abstinence to ignore public opinion. Therefore for an ideal democracy to function, populism is necessary. For example, the French Revolution against the monarchy to achieve a democratic state was an act of populism. The French Revolution was triggered by the Enlightenment, which challenged prominent domains of knowledge imposed by the church and the monarchy. For instance, the church supported the position of the monarchy by propagating the idea of a God-given telos (purpose),
whereby Louis XVI was selected to be the monarch of France by God. This superficial yet prominent view of the monarchy’s legitimacy was challenged by philosophers such as Rousseau and Voltaire, who emphasized injustice in justifying inequality in social status using religion. This was a direct cause for the French Revolution, hence why the common people of France revolted against authority with the goals of achieving democracy, which was thought to bring equality and freedom to a society with its respect towards the opinion of the ‘common men’. John Stuart Mill, a British philosopher of the 19th century, also supports this argument that populism is inevitably necessary in a democracy in his book ‘On Liberty’ in Chapter II, ‘Of the Liberty of Thought and Discussion’. He states, “mankind ought to have a rational assurance that all objections have been satisfactorily answered” to describe the necessity of challenging the status quo by embracing opposing opinions in a society divided into two parts: the elite who propagates one view of the truth and the ordinary people who should be challenging that view to reach a clearer truth. Therefore, Mill supports the inevitability of populism in that it acknowledges democracy as a system that unintentionally encourages populism with its skewed perception of truth; democracy usually accepts the majority opinion, which often abides by the status quo. Another reason why populism is the inevitable outcome for democracies is because of the disparities in opinion within the people themselves. Since democracy naturally assumes that everyone agrees with the majority opinion when in reality the majority does not include a contrasting and important viewpoint, the contrasting viewpoint inevitably utilizes populism to convey itself. A historical example that demonstrates this reason is the civil rights movement led by Martin Luther King. Martin Luther King was famous for his captivating oratory and leadership skills, as demonstrated in the ‘March on Washington’ in 1963 with his ‘I have a dream’ speech. The movement allowed black Americans in mid-1900s America to gain political power, especially with the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that prohibited 17
racial discrimination in voting. This shows how Martin Luther King’s populist propaganda to express minority opinion expanded American democracy to include black American opinion. In response to this argument, some may argue that populism is not inevitable if the electoral system of a democracy functions fully and perfectly, so that the opinion of the masses is always reflected in the governmental system. However, this view is unrealistic and generalized for two reasons. Firstly, the electoral system of a democracy cannot function perfectly in the real world due to controversy in social conventions that will prohibit certain social groups from voting. For instance, it is undeniable that within the history of mankind social conventions have prohibited groups such as women and Native Americans from voting. Secondly, the ‘opinion of the masses’ cannot be taken into account in a decision fully because it is hardly ever unanimous and there will always be a minority opinion that is sacrificed. The last reason why populism is the inevitable outcome of democracy focuses on ‘exclusive populism’, which is different to ‘inclusive populism’ that the other two reasons were based upon. ‘Exclusive populism’ aims to refute and exclude the stigmatized groups. For instance, Donald Trump’s election campaign to become the United State president fed on the idea of exclusive populism; he emphasized his willingness to deport undocumented immigrants (the minority) to provide more employment opportunities for Americans (the majority), which helped him to be elected because of the majority’s opinion support for this exclusive policy. Democracy, the “rule of majority”, can exclude the minorities’ opinion to an extent that they are shunned from society, which shows why populism is inevitable when democracy is at its extreme. In conclusion, populism is inevitable in democracy because of the necessar y contradiction between authority and the masses, the voicing of the minorities’ opinions. Additionally, it is clear that an extreme form of democracy will eventually reach ‘exclusive populism’.
TO WHAT EXTENT DID HITLER CREATE A TOTALITARIAN STATE? CLAIRE OH YEAR 12, HALLA NORTH W h e n h i s t o r i a n s C a r l Fr i e d r i c h and Zbigniew Brzezinski identified the characteristics of a totalitarian state, such as the existence of an elaborate ideology, a system of terror, control of all aspects of citizens; lives, and a single party dictatorship, Hitler’s Third Reich was recognized with having many of these characteristics, especially by examining factors of Hitler’s totalitarian state, namely the use of social policy, terror, and governmental structure. However, it is also evident in such factors that there were limitation to totalitarianism in Nazi Germany. In order to create a totalitarian regime, Hitler attempted to control all aspects of citizens’ lives through social policy. Since their experience as a youth, Germans were constantly involved in an experience of a controlled group life. For example, the membership for the League of German Maidens, created in the aim of developing the ideal women character in girls and to foster the ability to perform bearing, as well as the Hitler youth, which was a youth group that had an emphasis on physical activities and the outdoor life, were made compulsory in 1939. Such policy effectively influenced the unconscious of the German nation from its earliest ages, as the ideas demonstrated in these youth groups reflected the ideologies of Hitler. For example, the development of female character in relation to motherhood in the League of German Maidens involved the nazi ideology of Volksgemeinschaft and to foster the Aryan race. Moreover, the extent of the controlled group life that was forced by the Nazis for the youth to be involved in also indoctrinated National Socialist values in the youth such as patriotism, loyalty, readiness to put the Fuhrer and the nation before them, reinforcing the communitary value emphasized in the idea of Volksgemeinschaft over that of the individual. Moreover, German youth was indoctrinated by Hitler’s ideologies such as anti-semitism and Volksgemeinschaft also through education, especially though a curriculum that was specially designed by the Ministry of Education, directly under Hitler’s control, that had a focus on subjects such as eugenics and history that reflected and
emphasised Nazi ideologies. This emphasis of major Nazi ideologies suggests the extent of pervasive indoctrination as well as how these policies were based on the objectives that were outlined from the earliest stages in Hitler’s rise to power, namely the 25 point programme of the NSDAP and Hitler’s Mein Kampf. Furthermore, this totalitarian concept of the state controlling every aspects of citizens’ lives continued in the later part of the citizens’ lives through the organised leisure activities provided by the KdF. This concept is clearly revealed in the report of the KdF written by Robert Ley, who led the DAF and the KdF for the workers, in which he calculated a total of 3740 hours of free time in a year for an average German worker after he subtracted sleeping and working time from the total hours in a year. He then consequently proposed a variety of supervised after-work activities, holidays, and leisure time to control these 3740 hours of free time of workers. Among these activities included a cheap cruise holiday to the canary islands for the summer, skiing holidays, and regular KdF sports matches which was especially popular as seven million people took part in this event annually. As a result, within two years of the KdF programme, five million Germans had been sent to holidays, which suggests the stretch of the pervasive influence of Hitler and his cult and ideology that was present in everyday life of Germans. Nevertheless, there were some limitations in Hitler’s totalitarian social policies as 16% of youth were still uninvolved in various youth groups even after membership was made compulsory. There were also some alternative youth opposition groups against Hitler’s policies, such as the Edelweiss Pirates and Swingjugend, that showed and encouraged acts of non-conformity to Hitler’s policies. However, considering the influence of Hitler’s use of terror, such minor acts of resistance held importance and legacy more due to its heroism rather than the actual threat it posed against the regime as a totalitarian state. Germans therefore were constantly influenced by the use of terror for their support in Hitler’s major policies. Hitler successfully created a terror state in which 18
Germans were not free to do or think as they please as they were constantly reminded that if they speak out against the government, they would be punished with violence and terror. The atmosphere of terror was created mainly through the SS and the Gestapo. The Gestapo, or the secret police, created an impression among Germans that there were eyes of the Nazis everywhere and whatever action they did, leaving the citizens with no room for opposition and enforcing the totalitarian image of the regime. The SS ran the concentration camps which involved any political oppositions or persons against the nazi ideologies. For example, the racial ideology of the Nazis which included the denigration of ‘non-Aryans’ or those who were unable to proceed the duty of a healthy Aryan race of the idea of ‘Blood and soil’ was reflected in various policies that led to the persecution of the disabled and the Jews. The disabled, for instance, were mostly subject to sterilisation and euthanasia programmes after the government proposed a sterilisation law in 1933 which made sterilisation compulsory for a wide range of hereditary diseases and the 1939-41 euthanasia programme against the physically and mentally handicapped, which killed 720,000 people during the programme. Moreover, the antisemitic ideas demonstrated by policies such as the Law for the Protection of Genetic health of the German people, the Reich citizenship law, and the 1942 Wannsee conference successfully created a system of terror, as it killed over 700,000 Jews by the winter of 1941 and five million Jews were systematically murdered in extermination camps during 1942 to 1945 under legal protection guaranteed under Hitler’s influence. Such system of terror was also enforced in courts such as the Decree for the Protection of People and State, which allowed indefinite detention without trial, the judges could be removed from their political beliefs after 1933, and were special courts were set up for political crimes, including a court that dealt with treason offenses. These policies successfully utilized an open atmosphere of terror towards German citizens and in effect eliminated some opposition against Hitler’s regime. Nevertheless, there were some limits
against the totalitarian policies led by Hitler’s ideologies, as confessional churches opposed against eugenics, and individuals of the church, such as Cardinal von Galen, openly criticized such practices. Moreover, some historians argue that the use of terror in Hitler’s Third Reich did not create a totalitarian regime as Germans pre1933 had not been particularly anti-semitic, as Hitler turned down SA demands for more than a one day boycott of Jewish shops for fear of a hostile response inside and outside Germany which could suggest that many Germans had a fair relationship with their Jewish neighbours and failed to respond to Nazi use of force to ensure anti-semitism. Moreover, due to the fact that the Gestapo was heavily dependent on the denunciations from ordinary Germans, some historians have claimed that direct use of force was not particularly strong during the Nazi regime. For instance, in Wurzburg, 54% of all race-related charges were initiated by private citizens, which perhaps implies that the Gestapo operated under the citizens’ individual temptations and hatred rather than nazi ideologies and control in reality. Therefore, for some extent Hitler did create a totalitarian state despite some minor limitations. The governmental structure and its policies strengthened the course of terror and the ideological effects of social policy, suggesting that Hitler created a totalitarian state. For instance, major policies of the German state mostly stemmed from the ideologies that were
personally detained in Mein Kampf. These ideologies include mainly Volksgemeinschaft, lebensraum, and racial policies that suggested anti-semitism, and were later reflected by policies such as the Reich citizenship law which eliminated Jews from being a citizen of the German state. In addition, many intentionalist historians claim that the confusion within the Nazi government was created and manipulated by Hitler to his advantage in a “divide and rule” strategy that created an environment which no one could hold enough power to oppose him. Hitler was careful where and to whom he delegated power to ensure that his regime was protected from any possibilities of opposition that might arise from his power: he only gave huge power bases to only few men he trusted, namely Himmler, Ley, Goring, and Bormann. Another example of this is that Hitler refused to support Frick’s attempt to establish a central control over the governors and the Gauleiter, the district officials. Moreover, the Cabinet existed only at Hitler’s will and ceased to meet at all after 1937. These evidence suggests that Hitler was intentionally distributing his power in a certain manner that would reduce any possibilities of major threats to his power. Such ideas proposed by intentionalist historians are further supported by Hitler’s actions to remove any oppositions against his policies and major ideologies when he rose to power. Furthermore, to support his power that he obtained through legal means, the legal system operated under 19
Hitler’s name and the judges swore allegiance to him; some judges were even ordered to interpret the law according to the “will of the Fuhrer”, impling the extent of control that Hitler posed upon the legal system and thus to create a totalitarian regime. On the other hand, structuralist historians have claimed that the Nazi regime and its policies evolved from functional pressures. The historian Edward Peterson has even described Hitler as “the man who does not decide” as his style of rule, which was characterized by a distaste in conventional administrative work routines, was incongruent with that of a totalitarian government. In conclusion, although ample evidence on Hitler’s influence in social policy, the use of terror, and the governmental system suggest that Hitler did create a totalitarian state, due to some limitations in his control over his regime that were against the characteristics of a totalitarian state, it is difficult to argue with certainty that Hitler created a totalitarian state. However, despite that historians such as Ian Kershaw have claimed that Hitler’s ruthlessly pursued objectives were then clarified rather by those below him, not by himself, it is undeniable that Hitler had a strong influence in initially setting up the ideologies that would affect and control every part of the lives of an ordinary German, suggesting the creation of a totalitarian regime.
SOCIETY. In a small society at NLCS Jeju and a larger world in which we are part of, we learn to understand, empathize, and share the diverse experiences we have. Prepare to read a series of insights on personal life to global affairs in this section of the Islander. Edited by Dayon Lee, Hannah Seo, Jenna Yu, Rachel Cho, Sunghee Kim, Gabriella Kim, Dain Ahn, Claire Oh and Daniel Yoo who are all in Year 12.
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FEELING LOST WHEN A LOVED ONE PASSES AWAY HEIDI SEO YEAR 8, NORO
Losing a loved one during our life can be tough and very difficult to handle and to deal with. Family members, friends, pets and any loved ones will come and go, leaving you forever. This grief can lead to various psychological issues in our minds - but what are some of these issues and is it the end? Can these issues lead to even more serious issues? How can we fight through these troubles? One of the most common mental issues that grief brings along is depression. Depression, or major depressive disorder,
is a well known mental disorder but is even more serious and critical than people expect it to be. Depression can be caused by many factors such as history of depression running through the family, certain physical illnesses, trauma or stress, but here, it is caused by major life changes. This mental difficulty can cause complications even in everyday activities such as sleeping, eating, thinking, feeling, and more. Some symptoms of depression include consistent sadness, pessimism, fatigue, suicidal thoughts. 22
Losing someone you love can also trigger alcohol and drug abuse. Although it is not very common for young children, this tendency to abuse alcohol and drugs upon depression is very common amongst older adults. According to the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions(NESARC), 20 to 30 percent of the participants had experienced unexpected deaths in their family. Whatever form a depression might take talking to someone will help.
WHAT DID I DO TO BE SO DARK AND BLUE? DAVID NOH YEAR 8, SARAH
The Soiling of Old Glory
Did you ever see the photo, The Soiling of Old Glory, captured by Stanley Forman? This picture depicts a white teenager, Joseph Rakes, assaulting a black man, lawyer and civil rights activist Ted Landsmark, with a flagpole bearing Old Glory, the American flag. Also The Soiling of Old Glory won the Pulitzer Prize and the photograph has had a huge impact on the world. The photograph was taken at 1976, when extreme racism existed. As we witnessed in assembly, the extreme racism existing years ago still has an impact; small black children still pick out the black doll as ugly, bad and being a type of doll they don’t want to be. In the past, black people discriminate by white people, because they have different skin ‘colour.’ Black people trade as slaves, treat as animal and suffered drastic hatred. White people seperated area as ‘colour,’ divided personality
as bad for black and good for white. White people have pride about having pure ‘colour’ as skin, however pride ruins the noblest character. In the 20th and 21st centuries, black people have suffered more difficulties then white people. We can see in statistics like life expectancy that compared to white people, black men and women have a huge gap. In 2009, the average life expectancy of black men and women in the United States was just 75. That's practically the same as the average life expectancy of white male and female in 1979. The mediocre life expectancy of the black male in 2009 was just 71 (compared to 76 for white male). While such a meaningful gap is troubling, the 2009 black/white life expectancy gap was absolutely closing to an all-time low of four years. In 1950, that gap was almost twice as large. The researchers found that white men with 16 or more years of schooling can expect to live an average of 14 years longer than black 23
men with fewer than 12 years of education. So, why is black people’s life expectancy less than white people? What is killing black people? In Business Insider, January 9th, 2014, it was stated that "higher death rates due to heart disease, cancer, homicide, diabetes, and perinatal conditions" accounted for 60 percent of the gap”. Black people do better than white people and in terms of suicide and Alzheimer disease. However, this might be explained by them not living long enough to get the disease. Why can’t black people live their life long as white people? What is or who is killing black people? I believe the absurd of view of society and prejudice about black people are killing black people. Government and society deny racism that happening in states, but still huge discrimination exist. For instance, when Asian people speak english fluently, most of people keep ask them ‘Are you American or Asian?’
PET FUNERAL ARTHUR LEE YEAR 7, GEOMUN
Do you have pets? What will you do if your pet died? Animals tamed by humans, get different food and housing depending on how much the owner likes the pet. Some pets get expensive food and live in comfy warm animal houses. On the other hand, some pets have no house and get very little amount of food. Probably, pets getting a good treatment will get a good and expensive funeral and pets getting poor treatment will probably have a cheap funeral or it might just be thrown away. Funeraal costs differ depending on style or size. For example, goats, pigs, horses or cows are big animals so, eventually, their coffins will going to be big and it is very hard to take care its dead body. So, big animals will take more money. On the other hand, middle or small sized animals such as dog, cat, goldenfish or hamster takes very small amount of money because it is very easy to bury it . Nowadays, pets are very close to humans. Some people even think their pets as a member of their family. Many people are having a pet just because they want to tame them or spend time with them. So, as much the pet’s owner loves the pet, pet’s owner will get very sad about it. There is a symptom people get when their pet dies, a ‘pet loss symptom’. People get this symptom if they are so sad and tragic
about their pet’s death. If you get a pet loss symptom, you will feel very guilty and you will live with an extreme depression, you will feel very bad and you will remember the times that you spent with your pets; good times, sad times, angry times. You will have all this good or sad memories in your head like a film.You will feel that you could have done better with your pets. You will also feel that you’ve lost a brother or sister or a very close friend. “The more time you spend with your fourlegged companion, the better you feel,” explains Dr. Becker. As he says pets can benefit us. “Dog owners walk 79 percent farther each day than people who don’t have a dog,” says David Niven, Ph.D., a psychologist and social scientist at Ohio state university, according to him we can say that pets make us very active and keep us healthy. In addition, with pets, you can brighten your mood, according to a research from the University of Missouri Columbia, just a few minutes of petting can give us hormones serotonin and oxytocin which is two calming chemicals that make us to feel peaceful and relaxed. People have their own perspective of pet’s death. Some people think pets are just animals but some people think pets are very important and think their pet as a friend or part of their 24
family. Eventually, people thinking their pets are very important, will take their pet’s death very seriously and give their pets a proper funeral. Pets get different kind of funerals depending on their owner. Some pet owners make religious funeral and some people make a normal funeral. Well, the cost of funerals are depending on what kind of funeral it is. There are three kinds of pet funerals with different costs. There are communal cremation, partitioned cremation and private cremation which is the most expensive funeral. Communal cremation is cremating more than one pet at once, there are no physical barriers to prevent a pet’s ashes getting mingled with other pets and the cost is $50 to $65 which is the cheapest. Communal cremation is to save money. Partitioned cremation is cremating more than one pet at once, there are some physical barriers inside the chamber which will separate pets’ ashes and the cost of pocket pet starts with $95. For private cremation is having only one pet in the chamber and private cremation is the most expensive cremation. Pets also can have a funeral and there are various kinds of funerals which already exist in the world. Pets, can sometimes make people happy and sad. A pet’s death can be very sad for someone but it is not so sad for someone.
LOSS SYMPTOMS JUSANG KIM YEAR 8, GEOMUN
Letting go People let go of many things in their lifetime. People let go of their family, homes, pets, jobs and lots more. There is nothing sadder than letting their pets go and see them crossing the rainbow. It was the saddest thing that I have felt in my lifetime. There are many types of stress or sadness that turns into a sickness because the person cannot let go of the fact that their family/pets have just died. Pet loss The people who cannot cope with the loss of a pet suffer from pet loss. This is worse than melancholia, which is also caused by stress and sadness. If a person has this symptom, he or she will have a very serious problem because these symptoms may lead to greater depression and an inability to function normally. These people have to go see a doctor. Many people suffer from pet loss and elderly people or children tend to have more difficulty with dealing with it. Elders are very emotional and children tend to consider pets as their friend while growing up with them, so it is a sad experience for both. Pet loss usually goes on for a very long time. Nowadays, people get more and more pets because owning pets have become a trend.
Consequently, there are more people who suffer from pet loss. Symptoms may be different, depending on what kind of pet you had and what kind of behavior it had showed. For instance, if a dog dies, you will miss the dog welcoming you when you come home. If your cat died, you will miss the cat purring or watching the cat jump. People buy pets for companionship, so you will be lonely when your pet dies. People are usually given 1 or 2 days off work when their pets die, but this is such a short time for people to cope with the loss.
Loss of Family There may be some situations where a family member passes away. The sadness would be greater than the loss of pets. When a family member dies, you usually receive stress from the fact that one of your family members has just died. People try to stay out of school and work. Families are very important and people tend to have strong feelings for them. This is something that will happen to everyone. People get old and will eventually pass away. You should be prepared for the loss of family members beforehand.
How to prevent pet loss To children, it will be more beneficial to tell them directly that their pet is dead. Children can get very much stress when they face death. Parents need to explain it very carefully. Another way of prevention is not buying pets. If elders have soft hearts and cannot cope with loss of life, don’t buy them a pet. If people feel too much loneliness or get stressed out too much, they should go see a doctor. Also, it might be better not to go out with your friends friends or to your workplace because they may say words that can hurt you deeply and worsen the symptoms.
How to prepare yourself for loss of family Family loss happens to everyone. You can always put photos of the person that passed away around the house. Also you should be good to them if you don’t want to live the rest of your life in grief and regret because you haven’t been good to them. These ways could greatly help you from recovering from the death of a family member. If you feel like you cannot cope with the loss of a family member, you should see a psychiatrist.
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LIBERIA: THE COUNTRY WHERE PEACEFUL DEMOCRACY WAS FINALLY POSSIBLE AFTER 73 YEARS ADAM KIM YEAR 8, MULCHAT
Liberia is a West-African country bordered by Sierra Leone, Guinea and Côte d'Ivoire. With around 4.6 million descendants of freed American slaves, it has suffered a major economical drop because of its civil war, that began in 1989 and continuing until July 1997. Because of the civil war, around 250,000 people died, and many others were injured. But, even with this nightmare, recently they have made a huge target; the first democratic vote for president. They have elected George Weah, their former best football player in Liberia so far. Liberia was a west-African country which was not discovered until the 19th century. In the 19th century, the Americans discovered Liberia, and they colonised it. Luckily for Liberia, they were freed not long after, in 1849. During the colonisation period, most Liberian young men were often captured and sold as slaves. In this period, some Native Liberians were friendly to Americans, and themselves and their descendants have had the power to dominate the entire country. This state has been continued until the 1980s - we can see this as Liberia provided the US with its natural resources. But, in the 1980s, a civil war, involving Samuel Doe happened. In 1989, Samuel Doe
and his people caused a civil war which lasted for seven years. Even if this was not enough, in 1997, there was a second civil war, which ended in 2003. This, also made Liberia suffer for a very long time. Eventually, in 2005, Ellen Sirleaf was voted for president, with 59 percent of the Liberian vote. But, George Weah, the opposition, announced that this vote was a fraud. The announcement from Weah was ignored. How was democracy made possible in Liberia? It was possible because of two civil wars. The two criminals that caused the two civil wars, Samuel Doe and Charles Taylor, were assassinated and captured (Charles Taylor is now serving 50 years in prison in the UK). In 2005, Ellen Sirleaf, the first voted African female president, was elected. After two 6 years of herself in power, George Weah, in December 2017, was elected, and this time was 100% vote. Who is George Weah? George Oppong Weah is a former legendary football player who has played in top football teams such as ParisSaint Germain F.C., A.C. Milan, Chelsea and so on. He has won the Ballon d’Or in 1995, the best prize a professional footballer can get. After taking part in the Korea-Japan World Cup in 2002, Weah retired from football. 26
After retiring from football, George started his career in politics. He tried straight for the president in 2005 but failed because of Ellen Sirleaf who got more votes than him. In October 2011, George was a candidate for a vice president but failed again because Ellen Sirleaf got one more run on the president. Finally, on December 2017, Weah is now elected for the president of Liberia. To conclude, Liberia has gone a very long way in those 73 years. In that specific time period, Liberia has come through a lot of things, such as independence, two civil wars, and so on. During this time, Liberia’s citizens were suffering pain from dictators wrongly using powers and collecting ‘taxes’ that they have been poorly used. But, after these periods, Liberian citizens have earned the right to at least vote the leader they want, and the first real leader of Liberia is George Weah, their hero. On his first speech, the current president spoke about ending corruption and also improving the life quality of people with financial status located in low to mid parts in Liberia. In my personal opinion, I am very glad to see the dreams of Liberian citizens, taking the power of the country, to come true.
IS IT ALWAYS NECESSARY TO PROJECT OUR LIFE OPTIMISTICALLY? BRIAN HA YEAR 11, SARAH
I am now in a position where I have to think and make decisions for my own future - no one else can change my future and construct a path in order to achieve what I truly desire. For instance, should I make decisions from an optimistic viewpoint, aiming at the topmost universities as well as the highly paid and honorable jobs, or concede to reality and critically evaluate myself? Nowadays, it is easier to find books that contain advice or stories from successful people that could possibly help others in deciding their future. Furthermore, teachers and parents are also capable of giving you relevant guidance and tips. However, most of their inputs can often be cliches and paradoxical. They will always tell you to do what you want or what you will enjoy the most. I would never argue that such advice is wrong, but I would like to suggest that you think from a different perspective. Do you actually know the true meaning of being positive? Does it mean that if people think of happy things they would be able to fly, just like Peter Pan? People must ask themselves whether telling someone to stay positive, without defining the word, will actually help them. With all the clichés such as “look at the bright side,” one question arises: what does it mean to stay positive? Since positivity is a matter of perspective, no definition can suit it - it is different for every single individual. However, it is being positive is usually expected to lead to
favourable outcomes, whatever goal one may pursue. In other words, positive thinking is the process of transforming plans and imagination into reality - a positive mindset shall lead one to happiness, health and a happy ending. Despite such advantages, one still has to consider whether this positive attitude actually helps one in mitigating risks and conflicts. One example could be the lotter y; approximately 5,120,000 Koreans buy lottery tickets on a weekly basis. Most of them believe that they have a high chance of winning it. However, according to reliable sources the chance of one winning the lottery is 1 out of 8,145,060, while the chance of one being struck by a lightning is 1 from 500,000. This indicates how there is a much higher chance of being struck by lightning than winning the lottery. Considering this, should people still be positive, wasting vast sums of money each week? Or instead, should they try to face reality and rather save the money for other purposes? Starting a business can be another relevant example. When one plans to set up a new business, he or she will always have a certain target - although it is good to dream big, people have to think realistically as well. I have personal experience regarding this stance; one of my father’s friends is a business addict who has to start a new business whenever an idea inspires him. This year, he started a business on the field of inventing an insole of a shoe for those who suffer from arthritis. He initially attempted to invent a cleaner for glasses,
a vitamin pill, a computer case, and so on; unfortunately, none of them succeeded. Despite the fact that he has now lost all the faith from his investors and is suffering due to a huge amount of debt, he still continues to establish new businesses. From this example one can notice that although the argument that people should view conflicts from a positive point is reasonable, they should often take a step back to oversee the situation and make a wise choice. The difference between false optimism and the rational optimism should also be considered; the two concepts can clearly be distinguished. The main difference between false optimism and rational optimism can be captured by two different statements: "There's nothing to be concerned about, everything will be just grand," which is false optimism, and "We've got a real mess on our hands, things don't look too good, but if we tackle it step by step, we can probably do something about it," an example of rational optimism. A false optimist will deny and neglect the truth while a rational optimist will accept the reality and try to solve the problem from a healthy and positive viewpoint. Returning to the starting point, people should now think deeply about the real meaning and the differences of being positive and being realistic. Will optimism actually help one in living a better life? It is crucial to understand the true meaning and the implications of being an optimist.
FOR IT IS CERTAIN THAT THE FUTURE WILL BRING REALITIES FOR WHICH OUR TRADITIONAL OPTIMISM FAILS TO PREPARE US AND AGAINST WHICH OUR ECONOMIC MOMENTUM FAILS TO ARM US. ROBERT HEILBRONER 28
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RACIAL DISCRIMINATION SOYON BAE YEAR 10, NORO
Many Koreans go overseas every year for different reasons. Studying abroad, improving language skills or for future careers. I’ve also had an experience of traveling abroad to study. When I was 11, my close friend gave me a suggestion to travel abroad to go to a camp. It was a good chance for me to both study and experience different cultures. However, my biggest fear was racial discrimination, that I may have to face later. While I was considering whether or not to go, my mom told me not to fear and try, and this was how I came to travel abroad. So at the age of 11, I traveled abroad to get involved in a camp that took place in Maine. I felt isolated at first, but as time passed, I realised that I was the one who didn’t open my mind to the unfamiliar world. I never realized that I was being too conservative to the people who were being friendly to me. The lesson this camp taught me was not to feel unfair about something when you didn’t even try. The camp still remains to me as a good memory in my young days. It changed my opinions about discrimination and made a big
transition to my values. The friendly image of the counselors and teachers gave me a good impression towards foreigners. I thought discrimination was a disparate word to me. However, it was a long time after when I realized that racial discrimination was not just an unfamiliar topic. A year later, when I was watching a newspaper, I discovered an article about racial discrimination. It said that discrimination is also happening between same people included in the same country. In TV shows, people from South Korea were criticizing and saying bad words about North Koreans, even though North Korea and South Korea are one country. I was more shocked as I discovered that racial discrimination also occurs in public and open places. A singer who was filming an entertainment program last year was discriminated by a group of people from another race even though it was being filmed. Also, last year a Korean student was assaulted by students from the UK, and eventually had to go to the hospital because his tooth was broken, and 10 of his teeth were shaking. 30
An investigation said that racial discrimination had increased 27 percent in 2016, and approximately 63,000 cases happened. The thing is that even though people say discrimination caused by other races is unfair, they are also discriminating other race. To me, who was 12 years old at that time, it seemed like an absurd contradiction. Discrimination being an issue doesn’t mean that it is happening every time, everywhere. There are some people who are working for campaigns against this. The exact cause of racial discrimination isn’t definite, but it is clear that people aren’t getting educated enough about this issue, one of the most common but serious problems that should be solved quickly as it can be. Racial discrimination had been a hot issue for years. To prevent the awful discrimination that is happening to us, we should show respect for others. ‘If we desire a society of peace, then we cannot achieve such a society through violence.’
FOR OUR GOODS CHRISTINE BAE YEAR 11, SARAH Globalisation has resulted in many companies whether by taking over other small companies or setting up their own companies in other countries. As the free market system and economic liberalism came along, many domestic companies started spreading out to various countries to maximize their profits. The companies such as Nike, Apple, and Adidas, which all of you may recognize immediately, are called transnational corporations (TNCs) or multinational corporations (MNCs). These companies are very large in sale. They are consolidated enterprises containing parent enterprises and their foreign branch organisations. The parent companies are located in their home country, which take care of assets of the other entities in other countries usually by owning a capital stake. The parent companies centrally own and control the production in various countries other than their home country. Coca Cola is a great example of a successfully settled multinational company. This company started its sale in a small candy store in Vicksburg, Mississippi in 1894. The pioneer of this company, John Pemberton, sold the stock to investors and enlarged its
economic impact. In 1928, Coca Cola was introduced to the world as a sponsor of the Olympics Games. By 1960s, small companies such as Fanta, Sprite, and Minute Maid were taken over and the company expanded rapidly within America. By incorporating other small companies in other countries, Coca Cola successfully got its title as the ubiquitous drink. Multinational corporations go abroad for better profits, to enlarge their markets, and to sell to more customers. These companies seek to invest in other big companies in foreign countries as distribution networks or new technology. For example, Ios exports their technology to Apple and could earn huge profits. This is how they expand their markets and make better profits. Some companies invest strategically for their own benefit. They seek to reorganize their overseas budgets in response to broader economic changes. They sometimes seek for more resources and cheaper labour. Better outcome with cheaper input is the reason why they stretch their business area further and build the factories, mainly in LEDCs. The working environment for some of the companies in LEDCs are very poor. They don’t provide the workers with sufficient resting
time and they don’t treat them with a suitable working rights. However others provide good working environments and seek to develop the countries they relocate to. Multinational corporations may bring great development of technologies or economics all around the world. They help foreign countries increase employment and increase tax revenues for the country. However, some companies give negative impact to a country as the development gap between the extremely wealthy and the extremely poor widens. It continues to widen the gap between countries, which has the parent company and the country which has its factories and subsidiary companies. The environmental impact of the multinational factories can extreme. They have a reputation for leaving a large carbon footprint in countries with loose environmental regulations. Perhaps we need to think about these issues and put more pressure on multinational companies when we purchase products. However we must not forget that we are getting these products cheaper as a result of this business innovation and that people in poorer countries have jobs as a result.
PERHAPS WE NEED TO THINK ABOUT THESE ISSUES AND PUT MORE PRESSURE ON MULTINATIONAL COMPANIES WHEN WE PURCHASE PRODUCTS. 31
THE LIFE OF A NORTH KOREAN REFUGEE CION CHOI, GABRIELLA KIM AND NANCY KWON YEAR 12, HALLA This article is an account of a former North Korean school teacher, who lived in North Korea, China and is currently living in South Korea. Through her spectacular journey, she learnt to understand and articulate the hardships that North Korean refugees have to endure, especially how the minds of North Korean children are affected. Although the article touches on a very sensitive and emotional issue, there are some unexpected turns of laughter: the most surprising thing about South Korea for her was that everyone looks so pretty! We have been so fortunate to have the opportunity to interview this strong, independent woman as part of the Amnesty Society of NLCS Jeju. Focused on women's rights, freedom and education in North Korea, this article is indeed more than just the usual speculation about the nation still under a veil. FREEDOM We normally perceive North Korea as a country with absolutely no freedom - people are forced to live under the Kim family"s control without opportunities to speak out for themselves. This personal anecdote from our interviewee reveals the truth of North Korean society: up to what extent is the "truth". One of the very first things she pointed
out when asked about the question of freedom was the right to earn money according to one's efforts - the more you work, the more you earn. This very simple ideal of capitalism was, in fact, surprising for her. In North Korea, this was impossible; regardless of how hard you worked, everyone received the exact same amount of income. Therefore, it was rather ironical for her as a past North Korean to find South Koreans leaving for America, stating that they would like even more freedom. The second issue the interviewee raised was the lack of freedom of speech. Apparently, everyone in North Korea is prevented from even privately talking about their own opinions. For instance, if a group of people talk about issues that are "disturbing" and banned from discussion, one option for them would be to conceal the conversation - this is what would "normally" happen. However, the North Korean regime does not tolerate any form of criticism. Every single person who disobeys the laws of the nation are executed in front of the public. Consequently, even as they are socialising, people have no other option but to praise the Kim family. The North Korean government have also developed a system of self-surveillance, where the people monitor each other 24 hours a day. If a person openly denounces the regime, a spy will report him or her to the police.
There is absolutely no mercy and tolerance for such "criminals". Therefore, people are always sensitive and careful of what they say. Another notable factor was how people had more freedom in their expression in terms of clothing. The interviewee claims to have loved the idea of wearing sleeveless shirts, make-up, and getting tattoos. In North Korea, such sights would be considered inappropriate. In addition, clothes that had English phrases written on them were prohibited completely. Even if a person is an adult and a teacher, he or she cannot keep their hair long - hair should be kept short, and if it was longer than the restrictions set they were accused of being the supporters of capitalism. The interviewee also mentioned the relationship between opposite genders certainly, in South Korea and most other European countries, dating amongst teenagers is common. In North Korea, apparently, people are banned from dating. If a couple are caught by a teacher or another adult, they are forced to break up immediately and some are even kicked out of school. As young people were not allowed to date, most marriages took place with their parents" intervention. Most of us take the rights listed above as a privilege and accept them as natural. However, we should, from time to time, look back at ourselves and appreciate what is given to us.
IF A COUPLE ARE CAUGHT BY A TEACHER OR ANOTHER ADULT, THEY ARE FORCED TO BREAK UP IMMEDIATELY AND SOME ARE EVEN KICKED OUT OF SCHOOL. 32
EDUCATION Freedom isn't the only thing that has been locked away from North Korean people. One of their most basic needs and rights - education - has also been removed from their lives as well as the media which could have supported them to know of such developments. Of course, there are certain levels of education provided to them, divided into certain levels such as elementary school, middle school, high school, and university. Yet they are for the most basic knowledge, focused on brainwashing the young students rather than actually educating them with subjects like science or humanities. She told us that the students must learn subjects that are based on the words of the "Kim family, which form the basis of the education provided, with other subjects taught as though they were originated from the Kim family’s words". In such a state, the students were diverted from their passion and freedom to choose what they wish to learn. They only "do what the government tells them to do". There is absolutely no choice given to them to determine what they want to learn, and what they wish to do in life. Thus it all comes back to the decision of the government. Even in their University years, they are forced to learn topics related to the work of the Kim family. Although they can actually learn "knowledge" by then, they are still regulated and terminated by names like the "Kim Jeongil History department", and the "Kim Il-sung History department". Whatever they learn, is also to be only used for the development of the government and the country. At the end of their University years, the students are allocated to specific jobs in specific areas by the government. If they don't follow these orders, the only thing that may follow is death, so the
students ultimately have to follow the given paths. Yet this lack of choice also brings a positive impact on its people. North Korea has a high satisfaction rate. There are no people that commit suicide. No women are infertile. Everyone enjoys life as it is, as there is no other option provided for them. On the other hand, South Korea, an OECD country that has a high GDP, has high suicide and stress rates. Since we are in a competitive community, we "have to compete against each other" to sustain our positions and lives. This causes stress and anxiety to most people, which eventually negatively influences our lives. Thinking about it this way, North Koreans have an easier life compared to us. As she told us, "there is no reason to be stressed". "Even if you don't study, your scores shall rise. It doesn't even impact your graduation, thus you don't have to work hard, as long as you follow the orders given from the government". "You have to be happy". Why wouldn't you be? If you know no other way of doing so, if you don't even know what course you could follow, and are trying to "live in the way that the government tells you to live in", there would be absolutely no stress. Or else, the only other option is working in the mines, which is not a good alternative. With the freedom of choice, you are both free and limited. WHAT WE CAN DO? Reading these stories about how difficult and disparate the lives of North Korean refugees would be like, one might wonder: what can I do? According to our interviewee, it is better to make people feel included rather than to simply give what they need. There is a saying in Korean: “Do not give them the
fish, teach them how to catch the fish.” Within context, it means the focus for enlivening North Korean refugees" lives should be their emancipation and self-sufficiency. Simply giving what people need on a hand-to-mouth basis means that once the supply is cut, they cannot live their own lives independently because they had been relying too deeply on what was given. We cannot solve all the problems for them but we can certainly help them address it themselves. For her, a warm word of welcome or a caring question like “how are you?” is what makes her feel most included. Most North Korean refugees who live in South Korea don't have family. They usually cannot afford to escape North Korea in individually, let alone in groups, which is why they have to leave their family behind. Especially on traditional Korean holidays such as Chuseok when the entire family gathers to celebrate, they worry and reminisce about their family. This is when we can be understanding and inclusive, holding out a hand for them to grasp when they desperately need company. She says, “there are times when I want to die as I think about my family I left behind. When I was in North Korea, my life was so hard that I didn’t have time to think about my family, but in South Korea where my life is more comfortable, I genuinely wish for my family to be here with me to share this blessing.” She also has difficulty acquiring religion, because she has never experienced religion before. She cannot easily find friends either. So friendship, small talk and a simple act of kindness is all that she asks for. Next time you encounter a lost soul, simply try saying hello. It could turn out to be a life-changing moment for you and the one you saved.
GLOBALISATION MINSOL KIM YEAR 10, NORO
Globalisation is the process by which the world is becoming increasingly interconnected. Through globalisation, businesses or other organizations develop international influence or start operating on an international scale. An example of globalisation is Transnational Companies. Transnational Companies (TNCs) like Nike and H&M grow bigger through globalisation. They are the companies that started small in their countries but after globalisation they were able to expand their market to the whole world, and they built their factories in the poorer countries using the cheap workers. This process of globalisation and the growth of TNCs causes different people benefits and problems. Globalisation has different political, cultural, economic and ethical benefits. Globalisation increases the need to cooperate from country to country to make a better world. It is clear that through the proverbial shrinking of the world, countries and cultures are brought together to facilitate international agreement. The creation and existence of the United Nations, for example, has been called one of the classic examples of political globalisation. Another benefit is that ‘The shrinking world’ allows individuals to travel across the globe and learn different cultures in different parts of the world. The exposure of media like TV, Internet and Movies in society which features different places in the world also encourages people to learn about different
cultures by traveling. But the biggest benefit of globalisation is that it allows for the exchange of goods and services across the globe. As a result of globalisation, areas with limited resources (i.e. areas with limited farmland or no access to medicine) are able to access goods that can substantially improve their population's standard of living. Even though globalisation brings many people benefits, some people in the Less Economically Developed Countries (LEDC) argue that there are many consequences of the globalisation that is negatively affecting them. Factory workers in LEDCs wouldn’t be able to increase their income by working hard like in MEDCs because if their income increases there won’t be any reason for those TNC factories to stay in LEDCs. This shows that the growth of international trade is aggravating income inequalities, both between and within industrialized and less industrialized nations. Another consequence is that TNCs have come into the streets of developing countries with cheaper prices than local people who used to sell on their own small store. This makes local people who sell in their store to survive harder to succeed in their business. Global commerce is increasingly dominated by TNCs which seek to maximize profits without regard for the development needs of individual countries or local populations. But the most serious problem is that globalisation operates mostly in the interests of the richest countries, 34
which continue to dominate world trade at the expense of developing countries. The role of LEDCs in the world market is mostly to provide the North and West with cheap labour and raw materials. And an absence of strictly enforced international laws means that TNCs may operate in LEDCs in a way that would not be allowed in an MEDCs. They may pollute the environment, run risks with safety or impose poor working conditions and low wages on local workers. TNC growth was a big part of the globalisation and how the world has become so interdependent. The TNCs allowed different parts of products to be manufactured in different regions of the world. While one area may excel in producing semiconductors for your phone, another area might excel in crafting your touch screen and so on. This creates synergies through collaboration, enabling specialists to focus on their business strengths. This makes countries more interconnected because they have to cooperate in order to make a product which would later be sold to the whole world which will bring all of them profit. This process forces imports and exports and cooperation in order to survive. This had brought to the situation like nowadays where countries are interdependent to each other and the economy or the state of a country also affects the countries around them.
AN INCREASE IN THE KOREAN MINIMUM WAGE SUNGHEE KIM YEAR 12, HALLA EAST Minimum wage is the lowest price per hour an employer can pay his employee. Minimum wage is a type of price control, specifically price floor. The price floor is the limitation of the lowest price set by the government.
Figure 1, which is shown above, is a graph which shows how price floor works. A minimum price of PFis set, which I will set as 10,000 won higher than the equilibrium price, PE, which I will set as 5,000won. As the price PE moves to the point PF, the demand decreases to QD as the supply increases to QS. Setting a price floor can be advantageous in the way that it can help improve social welfare. As workers can earn more money, the lowest economic class are now able to guarantee their quality of living more than when they had a lower minimum wage, since the people who have been getting the minimum wage will get a higher income, which will help them afford the necessities that they need. Therefore, consumer confidence, which is when consumers use a lot of their money because they have confidence that they have more money than before, becomes higher. There will generally be more consumption of products in the society and the standard of living of citizens in the country will get better. Therefore, we can say that economic
development of society will result due to the increase in minimum wage. Workers will also generally get more motivation for work since they know that they will get more pay. Therefore, the efficiency of production increases. The labor productivity rises, resulting in more production which means that there will be a rise in supply. Since the scarcity of the product decreases, the product price falls. The consumers will then demand more of the good since it fits in their incentive to satisfy their desire for a cheaper price. This allows the economic market to activate more and therefore leads to economic growth. On the other hand, when the price floor for minimum wage rises to a higher price, the inflation rate rises. Due to increase in minimum wage, people generally get to have more disposable income, which leads to positive consumer confidence. The consumers, since they have more money, now feel that they have enough ability to generally consume more. Therefore, the demand for all different products increases, which results in price rising. This leads to inflation. If the inflation rate is higher than the rate the wage rises, then the standard of living worsens, since people in the lower sector of the economic hierarchy would not be able to afford the products. The producers also need to at least pay the minimum wage set, to every employer, so they only have a limited number of employers that they can use. When we look at the increase in minimum wage in this aspect, it is arguable that the number of unemployed people will increase. Employees who are already employed will also be worried since they might get fired due to the limited number of employees. For people who are working towards getting a job, it will be harder for them to find a job since the number of jobs has decreased. Different people in the society will feel differently about this change if this change actually happens The number of workers that the producers hire will decrease since 35
they will have to pay them more than before. People who are already working will also try to work harder since they know that some of the workers will have to be fired, and they do not want themselves to be fired. The employees who work on low-level skills and who have just started to work are the ones who usually get minimum wages as their pay. These people benefit from this policy since they do not have to worry about getting low paid when they need at least certain amount of money in order to even continue their living. The unemployed will be more worried about the fact that the unemployed will increase and they will have more competitors and that it would be harder for them to find a job. However, they will get more motivated to get a workplace since they know that they will get paid more than before. South Korea has been using the concept of minimum wages from 1986. Korea is facing a situation where the minimum wage is about to increase to about 10,000 won(about $9) in 3 years. Most of the workers are considering this as a good change, but when we look at it from a more economic point of view, there are different aspects of increasing the minimum wage as well. In fact, there is a highly related correlation between inflation and minimum wage. Continuing the real-life example of Korea, when we look at the data table, it is obvious that as there was a 6.1 percent rise in minimum wage in 2009 in the Korean economy. At the same time, the inflation of South Korea has reached the peak of 2.76. Some people might think that increasing the minimum wage might bring only benefits, but the fact is that there are some crucial side effects which might even lead to economic failure. It is true that increasing the minimum wage can improve the general welfare of the country, as it guarantees the quality of living for the lowest economic class and increases production efficiency. However, If the companies are unable to afford the minimum wage for the workers, they have to fire some workers, which will lead to an increase in unemployment rate. There will be an inflation which might make some necessary products unaffordable for the unemployed people, worsening the standard of living.
BITCOIN: IS IT ONLY A GAMBLE OR THE FUTURE? ADRIENNE YOON YEAR 11, SARAH MINGYU SONG YEAR 11, SARAH
Imagine an island with unicorns. There are 100 unicorns on the island, and a suspicious man promises that he is willing to give all the money to someone who brings him a unicorn for him. When people in the island hears this news, they start to search for a unicorn frantically. As people frantically capture unicorns and there are fewer unicorns, the price the man offers for the unicorns shoots up exponentially, making people become even more obsessed with them. But then, one day, the man leaves the island for a vacation, and his secretary secretly tells the people that he will sell the unicorns that are already in the man’s cage at a very high price for the people to pretend that they have caught the unicorn and give it to the man. The secretary earns lots of money as people believed that the man would offer much more than the price that the people bought the unicorns. Then one day, the secretary goes on vacation and both the man and the secretary never come back. You might think that this preposterous tale about an island with unicorns has nothing to do with current affairs. However, the unicorns are actually a symbolic representation of bitcoin, which has been around for a while but hasn’t been long since it became the interest of the whole population of Korea. Gambling, speculation, and new hope are all the keywords related to the cryptocurrencies. Since the cryptocurrencies are still in a process of development, the value of it frantically fluctuates. Even one high school student’s trifling mischief has changed the price of the bitcoin by 40% and provided the monetary losses of 50 trillion won. Then, why people are being so frantic about the Bitcoin transaction even though it has a high risk and treated like a gamble? Tr y to imagine that you have been gambling for a long period of time. You might have lost a huge amount of money, or
you might have earned some money by it. Either way, as you keep on continue to spend your money on gambling, you will become so addicted to it and unable to keep track of your loss of money. Furthermore, there is not enough information and statistics regarding the gambling, which can provide the proper evidence of your investment of money. Then, what are the similarities and differences between the gambles and bitcoin transaction? Bitcoin is the first type of cryptocurrency which has become known to people. In 2008, Satoshi Nakamoto, a computing programmer, has designed Bitcoin: money which does not have an owner. Bitcoin’s creation is based on the technology named ‘blockchain’, and many futurologists insist that this blockchain
change the world in a good way. After that, during the upcoming 4th industrial revolution, people became able to run a factory with ICT and also it became possible to manufacture the wanted products only with few office workers. Cryptocurrency is one of the biggest outputs. The biggest advantage of the usage of cryptocurrency such as bitcoins is that it is decentralized, and therefore there is no tax or commission bound to them. Also, as it is not affected by the exchange rate, it can be used in any country without having to deal with complicated calculations. That it takes up no physical space can be another advantage; since everything is on the internet, there is no need to carry a wallet around or to worry about losing it.
GAMBLING, SPECULATION, AND NEW HOPE ARE ALL THE KEYWORDS RELATED TO THE CRYPTOCURRENCIES. technology will be the most significant technology in the 4th industrial revolution. In the same line, during the 2nd industrial revolution, Henry Ford designed the conveyor belt which accelerated the manufacturing process in factories and provided people a lot of financial benefits and opportunities to 36
For example, at the time when Russia had the 2014-2015 financial crisis within their country, the price of their national currency, the ruble has collapsed by 11%. The biggest reason for the ruble crisis was the deficient belief of nationals on their own currency and in this case, bitcoin might have been the
most appropriate resolution for the crisis. The exchange volume of bitcoin has increased by 250%. Then why Bitcoin could be the alternative of the ruble? Since, Bitcoin did not require any taxes, perfectly decentralized, and totally unrelated with other currencies. Furthermore, as the nationals became not in favor of using the overseas currencies such as U.S dollars, mitigation of the dramatic fall of the ruble was possible. However, there are drawbacks to this type of new currency that seem to outnumber t h e a d va n t a g e s . So m e m a y a r g u e t h a t cryptocurrency is a huge risk because a person’s
fortune may disappear just in seconds due to a computer crash, or an attack caused by a hacker. However, the vital disadvantage of cryptocurrency, though, is that it will lose the fundamental purpose of its existence; as it becomes more popular, countries will start enforcing regulations and restrictions. Moreover, as there are no standardized policies, it is almost impossible to get a refund when through bitcoins. Another fatal disadvantage of bitcoin is that the value is never fixed- the price of it fluctuates over short periods of time. There are still a number of barriers that need to be overcome in order for bitcoins
to become a part of the main currency. For instance, the technology has to be complicated so that it cannot be hacked easily but has to be simple enough at the same time so that people can understand how it works. Moreover, although cryptocurrency has a decentralized structure, it still needs protection and regulations to a certain degree in order to prevent tax evasion or any kind of financial crime and the government has to work on finding such governance. But nobody knows what will happen- in 10 years time, you may be able to go shopping and buy what you need with bitcoins, without having to carry a wallet.
GETTING OVER OUR MISTAKES BRYAN HOON KO YEAR 9, NORO
Do you hate screwing up? Of course, we all do. There's nothing worse than that sinking feeling that you've made a miscalculation, offended someone when you didn't mean to, or poured a lot of money into a useless endeavor. The very worst part is how you feel afterward--ashamed, guilty, and most of all, angry at yourself. We all make mistakes. In fact, it is extremely natural to make mistakes. But if we make mistakes, we should learn from them by admitting to our mistakes and by looking at the mistakes from different angles. If we make mistakes, it is very likely that it has the potential to disadvantage other people. So, what do we mean by “learning from our mistakes?� This means that you should remember your actions in your mistakes and
try not to repeat the same steps. This way, you can improve your life and do better next time when you encounter the same situation. Most of our stresses come from outside influences. Physiological or biological stress is an organism's response to a stressor such as an environmental condition. That is, some of the stresses that we collect is caused by other people nearby us. So how can we release the stress that we gather over time? There are many ways to get rid of stress, such as meditation or breathing deeply or even having a simple chuckle of laughter. The most suitable one is having a time for yourself and meditating. There are seven types of meditation. Guided meditation, Mantra meditation, Mindfulness meditation, Qi gong, 38
Tai chi, Transcendental Meditation and Yoga. The best ones for stress are Guided meditation, Mindfulness meditation and Mantra meditation. Guided meditation is sometimes called guided imagery or visualization, with this method of meditation you form mental images of places or situations you find relaxing. You try to use as many senses as possible, such as smells, sights, sounds and textures. You may be led through this process by a guide or teacher. Mantra meditation is a type of meditation, you silently repeat a calming word, thought or phrase to prevent distracting thoughts. Mindfulness meditation is a meditation is based on being mindful, or having an increased awareness and acceptance of living in the present moment.
FORGIVENESS BRYAN HOON KO YEAR 9, NORO
"An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind”. This is a quote from Gandhi. He was the leader of the Indian independence movement. This quote suggests that if people don’t forgive each other, the world will become chaos. Whether or not we want to forgive a person, it is difficult to move this thought into action. So, why is forgiveness so difficult? There are 6 main reasons why we can’t forgive each other that easily. 1. We're often reluctant to let go of our anger. 2. We want to satisfy our sense of justice. 3. Forgiveness may feel like letting our offender off the hook without punishment. 4. We wish to harm as we've been harmed. 5. They haven't apologized 6. When someone commits an injustice, we often cease to see or believe they could be capable of any good. Most of these are about our unhealthy thoughts- but what is the significance of forgiving? There is a story that perfectly demonstrates the answer for this question;
once a upon a time, a kindergarten teacher has decided to let her class play a game. The teacher told each child in the class to bring along a plastic bag containing a few potatoes. Each potato will be given a name of a person that the child hates, so the number of potatoes that a child will put in his/her plastic bag will depend on the number of people he/she hates. So when the day came, every child brought some potatoes with the name of the people he/ she hated. Some had 2 potatoes; some 3 while some up to 5 potatoes. The teacher then told the children to carry with them the potatoes in the plastic bag wherever they go (even to the toilet) for 1 week. Days after days passed by, and the children started to complain due to the unpleasant smell let out by the rotten potatoes. Besides, those having 5 potatoes also had to carry heavier bags. After 1 week, the children were relieved because the game had finally ended. The teacher asked: "How did you feel while carrying the potatoes with you for 1 week?” The children let out their frustrations and started complaining of the trouble that they had to go through having to 39
carry the heavy and smelly potatoes wherever they go. Then the teacher told them the hidden meaning behind the game. The teacher said: “This is exactly the situation when you carry your hatred for somebody inside your heart. The stench of hatred will contaminate your heart and you will carry it with you wherever you go. If you cannot tolerate the smell of rotten potatoes for just one week, can you imagine what is it like to have the stench of hatred in your heart for your lifetime?" Therefore, we should let go of the stress that we have to ourselves, to your friends, to your family, or even anybody. As it says above, Most of our stress comes out of mistakes, whoever had made them. Not only should you understand everyone makes mistakes, but you should also learn how to forgive these errors, these mistakes. Yet, whether you want to forgive that person or not is eventually up to you. If other people do something that you can’t possibly forgive, you don’t have to; but when such a situation happens, my advice to you is: just don’t care about them and let it go.
HISTORY. Learn about the obscure but fascinating events in history, and the peculiar people that made such events take place! The articles in this section provide a better understanding and an insight to the world we live in, and in NLCS we learn how to research deeply into historical agendas to expand our perspectives. Edited by Claire Oh and Shunto Shigetomi who are both in Year 12.
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GETTING LOST IN THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE DANIEL KIM YEAR 10, SARAH
The Bermuda Triangle covers about 500,000 square miles of the ocean off the southeastern tip of Florida. The Bermuda Triangle has been one of the greatest mysteries of all time. Known to most as the ‘Devil’s Tongue’, many ridiculous tales have spurted out even to the extent of aliens, a lost city, and giant structures under the sea. There are even stories of souls of african slaves and government testing. A lot of these sound absolutely ridiculous and they actually are. Some of the probable ideas of the Bermuda Triangle are related with the weather. Tropical cyclones, one of the most believed causes, are powerful storms that form in tropical waters and have killed thousands of people. These cyclones are already known to be the blame for a number of sinkings. There has been only one sole survivor of the Bermuda Triangle and he claims that his compass is going counter-clockwise by itself, and that the sky turns a strange gray and there was no horizon and he was only around electricity. The term electric fog is introduced and it is defined as the bizarre storm clouds caused by thunderclouds and high level solar winds. Pretty scary and mythical..right? Some of the unfortunate cases can be seen in William Shakespeare’s play “The Tempest,” which some scholars claim was based on a real-life Bermuda shipwreck, may have enhanced the area’s aura of mystery. Nonetheless, reports of unexplained disappearances did not really capture the public’s attention until the 20th century. An especially infamous tragedy occurred in March 1918 when the USS Cyclops, a 542-footlong Navy cargo ship with over 300 men and 10,000 tons of manganese ore onboard, sank somewhere between Barbados and the Chesapeake Bay. The Cyclops never sent out an SOS distress call despite being equipped to do so, and an extensive search found no wreckage. A pattern allegedly began forming in
which vessels traversing the Bermuda Triangle would either disappear or be found abandoned. Then, in December 1945, five Navy bombers carr ying 14 men took off from a For t Lauderdale, Florida, airfield in order to practice bombing runs over some nearby shoals. But with his compasses apparently malfunctioning, the leader of the mission got severely lost. All five planes flew aimlessly until they ran low on fuel and were forced to ditch at sea. That same day, a rescue plane and its 13-man crew also disappeared. After a massive weeks-long search failed to turn up any evidence, the official Navy report declared that it was “as if they had flown to Mars.” As more and more ideas were gathered it seems that the mystery has already been solved beneath what we are able to see in our eyes. There was no mystery in the first place. The reality was that the Bermuda Triangle was a simple coincidence of human error and bad
weather. The fact that quite a number of ships and planes that pass the Bermuda Triangle during transport does not really help either. In fact, the number of disappearances is the same as anywhere in the world on a percentage basis. Some of the more specific statistics can be seen in the Lloyds register and it reported 428 vessels lost since 1955. In regard to the earlier testimony of the survivor, researchers flies into a same weather condition and the results were astonishing. ‘Frequencies of 652 and more, the energy levels were bouncing off the scale.’ The greatest mysteries...one which has already been proven and defined as a weather condition called ‘electric fog.’ There are many things beyond our shores and mysteries that we don’t know. What we shouldn’t be doing is just leaving it as a mystery. We should be figuring out and solving these mysteries and go beyond what we are, without the limit of a human being.
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THE FIGHT FOR WITHIN STELLA YEOM YEAR 9, MULCHAT
A scene from the Seige of Leningrad
The moral behaviors expected of humans are taught from childhood in school, households and daily life. Parents and teachers focus on the importance of being incorruptible, straight, and morally upright. And yet, can we honestly say that we are applying what we learned from our parents well in society? The Siege of Leningrad is one of the examples of immoral and violent human behavior. During the 3 years of the siege; from September 1941 to 1944, there followed a series of attacks such as artillery shelling, stopping trade, food, rations, and also electricity to force the Soviet Union to surrender. Capitals such as Moscow were destroyed; main roads and shops would be robbed and residents were forced to flee. Germans continued to bombard
the city to its worst conditions, whilst Russian soldiers frequently did not have the energy to fight due to hunger, and normal citizens had to stand for hours to attain a bit of stale bread and one potato. This situation continued for 900 days. The siege was only lifted after the Germans, as part of their general retreat, withdrew in the face of the advance of the Red Army. This event allows us to depict both the physical and emotional sides of the citizens. The Siege of Leningrad is an event where soldiers were not the sole warriors of their country. Normal citizens who were brave and willing to surrender and rebel against Germany were amazing shields. For example, gangs of people braved German guns to leave the city 43
and dig up potatoes in fields outside of the city. This actually did bring in some food that was not kept by those who ventured out- the potatoes were handed in to the authorities and were distributed equally. The city authorities ordered that a bread substitute be concocted by those who may have the skill, as they knew that flour was in very short supply. Bread baked by bakers even in the first few months of the siege contained only 50% rye flour. To boost the loaf, soya, barley and oats were used. However, the oats were meant to feed horses and malt was used as a alternate substitute. Even cellulose and cotton seed were tried in an effort to produce bread.
DIARY OF A WHITE SETTLER Dear Diary, I have just returned from an experience of a lifetime, meeting the Sioux tribe. When I first arrived I noticed that they did not live in houses like we do, they live in tents; conical, portable, made from cloth, buffalo skins and other materials. They called them Tipies, comfortable for hunters and the whole family. They often move around the large area in the Great Plain so they need their Tipi to be easily collapsible. Structurally, this shelter has a place to make a fire in the center inside the tent with an opening at the top, and just enough space for each family. This is quite different from us settlers. White settlers make their houses permanent using bricks. We also brought some windows to decorate the house. The interior of our houses have a living room, one or two bathrooms a sink to wash it, settle beds depending of the number in the family, and a large yard. In the living room they can boil the water in a open fire by using woods. Sioux is also using same system in their tents. However, the house that I lived in with the Sioux was smaller than the house of a white settler and had a very simple interior. A group got one tent made with animal’s skin, crops, or something which is undeveloped. Inside of the tent, there was a rounded space to burn the fire at the night. Perhaps the main difference between our house and theirs is the purpose: for us, we use our house for diverse purposes, such as sleeping, eating, resting, and reading books, while for Sioux, their houses are mainly used for sleeping and eating. The Sioux need to be mobile, we are more settled. I also noticed that men and women have different roles in the Sioux tribe; the men participates in hunting and things that are done outside, sometimes war between other tribes. Consequently, most men are required to learn how to use buffalo and weapons. To be a ‘men’ in Sioux, people need to overcome three jobs. First, they need to stand in the rock for 24 hours without movement, then they need to dry themselves for a long time, and finally they need to make a wound in their chest to get a large pain. However, adolescents of the settler community are not required to go through such sophisticated processes. Women’s job in Sioux is quite similar to the housewives of white settlers. They mend and take care of the home economics, including food, dwellings, raising and education of young children, medicine, and all
JASON LEE YEAR 8, GEOMUN
other other works while men were out hunting or protecting the tribes. For men, however, things are different. Most of the Sioux men are hunters and soldiers, while for the settlers, the men are farmers, artisans, or merchants. Nonetheless, we are quite similar in that the male role is distinguished from the female role, and that women take care of the household, and the men take care of the resources. Therefore, you may be able to say that for both societies, the men were in charge of the security, while women were in charge of the managing on a small scale. Whilst I was visiting they had a council meeting which was different to what I had ever seen in America. The Sioux Council meeting involves the election to choose the chief. The vote is granted for every men inside the tribe. Whilst in our monarchy in the old country, England, the prince gets the next throne after the King dies, in Sioux tradition, the council chooses the next chief that will remain chief for the rest of his life. This system is similar to the republics of ancient Greek and Rome, where the leaders are chosen by the people. There is also something called Seven Fires Council, which is a council of all councils. There are seven Sioux tribes, and each tribe has one chief, and when all seven chief gathers, we called these men the Seven Fires Council. Although the Seven Fires Council doesn’t meet often, these people gather when there are issues to discuss across the tribes. Most of the white people who settle down into the Great Plain are either the poor who cannot afford to live in the city and are looking for new opportunity as pioneers, or those who wish to earn a jackpot by investing in land. Just like the Sioux, we also run our own town, as our main government in Europe are difficult to get in touch with due to the geographical remoteness. We thus focus more on guarding ourselves and making our own rules. The religion of the Sioux people is also distinct. Basically there are three aspects of Sioux religion. The first is Animism, which is believing that animals have spirit and special power, and, by doing dance rituals, the Sioux believe that they will be able to acquire similar powers to the animals. Another interesting aspect about the Sioux is their belief in totemism, a belief that everything in nature has a symbolic spirit. Totemism is a different concept from the myth. Myths connect a lot of different gods who control different parts of nature. However, in totemism, each part 44
of the nature itself has the spirit, and there is no hierarchy, but only harmony. Manitou is a human who serves a miracle ability to communicate with gods. Manitou knows about medication, so they heal people in their tribes. Therefore, I thought that Manitou holds a special position in a Sioux tribe. On the other hand, white settlers are mostly Christian. As most of Europe holds Christianity as their main religion, in each area where the white settlers live, there is at least one pastor, which means that most of place where white settlers live has a church. The Sioux also dress differently to us, as they wear the clothes made from deer skin and buffalo hide. These materials are from the animals that warriors had hunted and they dye their clothings with shells and vegetables to make them colourful. They have clothings that were quite comfortable - their shoes, moccasins, are still popular today for comfort. The Sioux also use Porcupine quills to decorate their clothings as well. For us, we wear clothes made of linen and cotton, and rarely leather, except for boots. The men wear shirts and trousers with socks and shoes, and women, most of the time, wear blouses with long skirts, often with aprons and headdresses. Most shirts for men are white and the rest of clothings were brown or black, which can look similar to the Sioux leather colour. Finally, I have learnt that I should not call these people Indians, it is offensive to them because calling them Indians would mean that insulting or ignoring their existence in the American continent. This naming came from Columbus’ mistake, when he just arrived into the new land, he thought that he had come to India, so he called them Indians. However, since this is just misunderstanding, we should not follow this practice anymore. At first, I was horrified that I have lost my way and led myself to this unknown tribe. I firstly worried about my safety, and communication with them, but the Chief had accepted me very kindly, even though I couldn’t understand their language. The food was a very unique taste that I have never tried before, but it was pretty much delicious. However, I was shocked that a few men ate uncooked buffalo's organ. How lucky they are that they are healthy despite it! Except for food, in my point of view, this tribe is very ideal in that it respects harmony with nature, but in other hand, they must develop a lot in terms of war technology or they might be conquered quickly by other civilizations.
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SPORTS. Remember the catharsis and excitement when playing your favorite sport? Sports is indeed an enjoyable pastime, but it is also a global phenomenon and an international business that we are all inevitably linked into. The articles in this section will guide you to the wonders and controversy in sports. Edited by Adrienne Yoon in Year 11, Gabriella Kim and Shunto Shigetomi who are both in Year 12.
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MIAMI MARLINS ON FIRE SAIL AGAIN DOHYUN KIM YEAR 11, MULCHAT Miami Marlins have again traded their key players just like they have done in 1997 and 2005. Supporters have shown rage and announced to boycott the next season due to the unpromising future of the team. Moreover, the fans have felt a sense of betrayal as the new owner of the club has been trying to earn money by trading their beloved franchise players and are in disbelief due to the poor trading ability of the general manager, Derek Jeter. The Marlins started the opening of the fire sale by announcing that the three-time Major League stolen base leader Dee Gordon has left the Marlins and joined the Mariners. In return, the club acquired two minor league pitchers Robert Dugger and Nick Neidert - and minor league shortstop Christopher Torres. Although all three are strong players, Neidert is a mere No. 10 prospect: Torres, a No. 17 prospect of the Marlins, and Dugger’s name could not even be found in the MLB Pipeline’s Marlins top 30 prospects list. A few days later, the Marlins confirmed that the National League MVP Giancarlo Stanton will be headed to the Yankee Stadium. Even though the Marlins gave up the finest hitter in the world, the team did not get much in return as their only concern was about salary dumping, but not acquiring the top prospects. The Marlins ended up acquiring Stalin Castro, an average infielder, Jorge Guzman and Jose Devers, each a minor league pitcher and infielder. It was a devastating result for the club as Castro is a fitting puzzle for win-now club, Guzman seems to be a future reliever due to the issue of the third pitch and command, and Devers does not have enough offense ability to play for the first team. In conclusion, what the Marlins acquired for giving up the best hitter in the world is an unnecessary player, the future reliever, and the prospect who is struggling even at the low minor league level. The Marlins then announced that the two-time All Star Marcell Ozuna has been traded out to the Cardinals. Although Ozuna is a young talented player who the Marlins could control for more than several years, the Marlins decided to send him to another team just to reduce the payroll. In place of Ozuna, the Marlins acquired Magneuris Sierra, an outfielder, right-handed pitchers Sandy Alcantara and Zack Gallen, and a left-
handed pitcher Daniel Castano. Even though Alcantara and Sierra spotted the No. 4 and No. 7 prospect of the club, Alcantara is not good with his command and Sierra lacks power. Gallen’s ceiling seems to be the back-end starting pitcher and Castano seems unlikely to make a major league debut. The successive losses of key players have made the American international outfielder Christian Yelich request a trade. In January, Yelich left the club for the Brewers. In return, the Marlins acquired the Brewers’ top prospects, Lewis Brinson and Monte Harrison with an infielder, Isan Diaz, and a right-handed pitcher Jordan Yamamoto. The rankings of the prospects make it seem as if the Marlins
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have done well this time, but considering that Brinson suffered severely in the Major League level, it just shows that the Marlins have made a risky choice. Isan Diaz also has underperformed this season and Monte Harrison’s contact tool is below average. ESPN reported that the all star catcher J.D. Realmuto has also requested a trade and is on the table with several other teams. However, considering the previous trades, it seems that it is unlikely that the Marlins will leave with prospects of the quality that the team is in need of. The Marlins have “sacrificed” their present for the “promising future.” The future of the Marlins no longer seems promising.
TWO OWN GOALS AND THREE GOOD SHOTS DOHYUN KIM YEAR 11, MULCHAT Transfer is an indispensable factor in football. During the transfer market, football clubs not only bolster their squads, but also lose crucial players. However, usually in the winter transfer market, not many influential transfers takes place as not much time is allowed for clubs during the process of transferring and finding a substitute player. Surprisingly, unlike in previous years, this year’s winter transfer market was full of noticeable signings and a significant amount of money was spent by clubs. The first big signing of the market was completed by Barcelona, announcing the arrival of Philippe Coutinho from Liverpool. From the summer, Barcelona had continuously exerted utmost effort in the club to bring
Coutinho in order to prepare for the shift in generations as his performance in Liverpool has shown excellence in his skills. Barcelona spent 142 million pounds-the third most expensive transfer fee in the history of football-to bring the Brazilian technician and it was absolutely the most expensive signing during the winter transfer market. Barcelona is looking forward for Coutinho to both substitute Andres Iniesta and support the forwards in the future. The second most influential transfer was the swap deal between Manchester United and Arsenal: both clubs agreed on exchanging Alexis Sanchez and Henrikh Mkhitaryan. The deal could be made because Sanchez’s contract with Arsenal was about to expire and Sanchez
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had no will to renew the contract. Manchester United could have brought Sanchez after the season without cost, but the club agreed on losing Mkhitaryan, as the club was afraid of Manchester City’s intervention in the Sanchez saga. Both squads of Manchester United and Arsenal were bolstered through the trade. Arsenal’s signing of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the last few days of the transfer market was also very influential as it led to a number of subsequent transfers. In order to bolster the offence, Arsenal paid the club a record of 56 million pounds to bring him to the Emirates Stadium. It brought about other transfers as Dortmund announced that they won’t let Aubameyang leave the club if they had failed to sign a new striker. At that time, Chelsea was chasing Arsenal’s striker Olivier Giroud for another striker option and tried to send away Michy Batshuayi when the new striker arrived. Arsenal let their rival to acquire Giroud, because then Chelsea would let Batshuayi head to Dortmund. Therefore, the three clubs have swapped the strikers to bolster their squads and get rid of unnecessary players. As a result of the deal, Giroud had become a Chelsea player and the biggest rival of Arsenal and Arsenal gained the former Bundesliga top scorer. The defenders’ transfers during the winter transfer market were also noticeable. Liverpool brought Virgil Van Dijk from Southampton for 75 million pounds. Liverpool invested the money earned from the Coutinho deal to bolster their weakest part. Meanwhile, Manchester City announced that Aymeric Laporte has become a Citizen with a transfer fee of 57 million pounds. In his debut, he proved why Manchester City has pursued him for more than a year and Manchester City could consolidate their position in the league table. In order to substitute Laporte, Athletic Bilbao spent 32 million Euros to bring in Inigo Martinez from their local rival, Real Sociedad. The transfer was a shock to the fans because Martinez has played for Sociedad for almost a decade. This year’s winter transfer market was fascinating thanks to the big signings and transfers between rivals. Now what is left is for the football fans is to watch and enjoy the performance of the latest signings.
GOLD MEDAL ROBBED IN SOCHI SUNGJIN PARK YEAR 9, MULCHAT This year, South Korea held the Winter Olympic games at Pyeongchang for the second time in 30 years. It was a significant event for South Korea as there is extreme pressure on the host nation athletes to win medals. The last edition of the Winter Olympic was held in Russia in 2014, but there were numerous issues especially with regards to women’s figure skating. This is still a sensitive issue in South Korea especially after the Korean gymnast, Yeon Jae Son, pressed ‘like’ on an Instagram photo of Sotnikova winning the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic gold medal. At the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics women’s figure skating. the gold medal was awarded to Adelina Sotnikova from the Russian Federation while the silver medal was awarded to Yuna Kim from the Republic of Korea - the event was controversial, and still remains a source of heated debate. Yuna Kim, one of the most prominent figure skaters in the world, holding a record for the figure skating score at the Olympics, has shown outstanding performances throughout her entire career. The majority of broadcasting media companies and their commentators were shocked at how skilled and proficient she was; they thought that Kim was yet to win another medal at the Sochi Olympics, and this seemed to become a fact when Sotnikova fell down during her performance. After the results were shown worldwide, declaring Sotnikova as the winner of 2014, both the commentators and the audience members furious; some just couldn’t believe the results. Some will win, but the majority will lose at the Olympics. However, why was Kim’s ‘defeat’ such a problem? One of the key reasons to this was that the judge was a Russian, and it seemed obvious even to the figure skating experts and commentators that it was either Kim or Carolina Kostner from Italy that would win. Moreover, Adelina Sotnikova had made a mistake in her program whereas, Yuna Kim and Carolina Kostner performed with great flair and elegance. On the other hand, some suggest that people are overreacting; according to them, Sotnikova truly deserves the gold medal. Despite the mistake, they claim, Sotnikova did display technical skills equivalent to the level of Kim.
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KAYAKING SUNGJI PARK YEAR 11, MULCHAT BEYOND OUR SHORES Kayaking for me was literally ‘beyond the shores’. Despite being a very attractive looking Bryant, only 8 people signed up for it. It was ocean Kayaking, which wasn’t as dynamic and extreme as its river equivalent. Sadly, the island of Jeju lacked rivers, and abundant in coastlines. Nevertheless Sea Kayaking provides a good challenge. HOW IT WORKS So first you get in a plastic boat. They come in two kinds: one for singles, and the other which is for doubles. Then, you are given a paddle with two blades. This is so that you can paddle more easily without having to swerve your elbows each time you paddle. If you are by yourself in the boat you are in charge of both paddling and turning. However, if you are on a boat with a partner, the person at the front does the paddling and the person at the back controls the direction of the boat. If you are with other people in the boat, then it is a good test of your teamwork skills. If you are by yourself in the boat, then it is a good measure of your own physical prowess. ONE PERSON KAYAKING So this is the most common type of kayaking, and how it was originally envisaged. It’s very simple: you sit in the middle of the boat and paddle. If you paddle close to the boat, it moves either forwards or backwards. If you paddle far from the boat, then the boat turns left or right. This is much simpler than double-kayaking because you govern the boat by yourself, but doing all this by yourself takes a toll on your back and shoulders. DOUBLE-KAYAKING The controls are fairly similar, but there is a slight caveat. Both of you have to paddle at the same rhythm because if not the boat will tip over and you will eventually fall off and get your clothes wet (not that your clothes will be completely dry even if you don’t fall off, but relatively so). This method requires the two individuals to keep a rhythm and to listen to each other. If the two start arguing, they both eventually “fall out”. H OW S P EC I F I C A L LY D O YO U KAYAK The paddle can be your saviour if used correctly, but it will become your mortal enemy if used incorrectly. The paddle has boards on
both. sides, and is curved like hands facing backwards like you were doing the breaststroke. If not done correctly, it is likely that you will be marooned at sea (that’s what I did on my first day, relying on the instructors to rescue me; one piece of advice is never go out to sea until you are experienced enough.) Then, you have to lift the paddle up, and your arms and the paddle have to be perpendicular to each other. Your position of your hands on the paddle has to be symmetric too to avoid overusing one arm too much. SOME HANDY TIPS First, try to eat something before kayaking. I recommend something light like a banana or two, but if your stomach can handle it, having something a bit more filling like bacon may be a good idea. Practicing squatting will also help because the van that you will ride, or at least what I rode, will be very small! If you are old enough, so for example if you are in KS4, you will get a designated seat at the front, but if you are in KS3 like four of us, then you will be stuck at the back. So, to survive 30 minutes of this excruciating experience in such a tiny space you might want to practice squatting. Also, some people get the idea that playing on their phones in the van is okay, but I tell you, and I warn you, it is absolutely not okay to use your phone in the van. Unless you have the very rare trait of being absolutely immune to car sickness, in which case you will be okay, but if you do not belong to that group of people, then using your phone is highly discouraged. The final piece of advice is to bring some money. Sometimes near the shore, there is a fried squid stand. If you do not like squid or other fried seafood, then be sure to bring some snacks of your own, such as a candy bar or a small pack of chips. WHAT YOU WILL LEARN So overall, the kayaking Bryant classes will teach you the very basics. You will learn how to paddle on the first day, and day by day you will be able to go out further out in the water than before. On the final day, you will be able to visit many fantastic places by kayaking, like submarines or a cave full of trash and dead fish (Surprising, I know). You can see how the waste we produce is killing the fish and making the cave smell bad. If you are unlucky and the wind blows harshly, the Sea Police will come to you and say that it is not safe to go out in 51
the sea. Then you will sometimes be taken on an Olle trail, or in the worst scenario, taken to a huge fish tank, and kayak with the fish inside the tank. The fish are nothing short of humans however, as the fish have been proven to be smarter than me. (*Sniffle*) Sleeping with the fish is highly discouraged, but if you wish to ignore my advice, you, my friend, will be taking a risk no one has ever taken before- good luck. SOME MORE ADVICE BECAUSE WHY NOT First, get some sleep. Sleep is just as important to kayaking, as it is for school. If you do not get enough sleep and choose to play on your phone all night the day before you go kayaking, you will have a hard time, and will paddle badly. Second, get some exercise and warm up before you get on the boat. It will be easy to get a muscle cramp while on the boat paddling, which will make your Kayaking experience very painful. My last piece of advice is that you should always keep yourself healthy. Being sick on the day of the Bryant and having to sit around on the shore is just as painful as being sick. So if you want to go on the boat, always remember to keep yourself healthy enough to paddle. Trust me, you DO NOT want to sit on the shore, especially without your phone (But don’t take your phone). CONCLUSION Kayaking is fun, and if you know about the big floating piece of plastic well, it will be a lot more amusing to ride it. So take my advice and read the article well, because you don’t want to be stuck on a kayaking boat in the middle of the ocean (which has happened to me). Now that I have taught you what I have been taught by the ever-so-respectable Mr Evans, you should be able to survive in the sea without any problems. Remember, stay strong! (Or just alive I guess). This was Jay Kim from Mulchat House, have a good kayaking experience. Adios.
THE TRUE HERO, TERRY FOX JUDY BANG YEAR 7, SARAH
Terry Fox was born on the 28th of July, 1958, in Winnipeg, Canada. Before he lost his right leg, Fox loved sports and so did his brothers; during their youth, they frequently played baseball, road hockey and basketball. However, the year he turned eighteen Fox lost his right leg due to osteogenic sarcoma, a cancer that starts from the bone. Because of that cancer, his leg had to be amputated - the surgery resulted in a loss up to six inches above his knee. However, Fox still enjoyed running even after the unfortunate incident. One notable incident was when during a marathon, which continued for 143 days, Fox gave up running due to the cancer that was starting to spread further into his body. Nevertheless, this
incident impressed many and consequently raised awareness of cancer research. To honour his achievement of attempting to publicise cancer, more than sixty countries decided to offer marathon events titled the ‘Terry Fox Run.’ This became one of the biggest cancer fundraising events with more than half million Canadian dollars being donated annually. Whilst being hospitalised after the accident, Fox was able to encounter the extreme suffering of other patients, many of whom were young children. This motivated Fox even more that he decided once more to run across Canada. His goal was to persuade every single Canadian to donate at least one dollar for the cancer research, and this effort 52
resulted in him raising over a total of $650 million. The marathon he ran this time was also left unfinished, since Fox was forced to stop as he reached Thunder Bay, Ontario; the cancer had appeared in his lungs. He wanted to continue further, but his lung was already in a severe state - this left Fox powerless. This ultimately led to Fox’s death, and he passed away on the 28th of June, 1981 at the age of twenty two. This left his fans worldwide in despair, and hundreds mourned for his death. Even though Terry Fox passed away, we have him in our heart. His message is still commemorated by many around the world, and his efforts are still credited and appreciated.
T H E U N B E L I E VA B L E GLENN CUNNINGHAM JAMIE SOH YEAR 7, NORO Can you run about 800m in less than 2 minutes? Even though it is unbelievable, this person had achieved it. His name is Glenn Cunningham. He was an American middle distance runner and the greatest American miler of all time. How hard and tiring is running? 300 meters exhausts most people, 500 meters as daunting as it sounds, but what about 800 meters? You would be completely out of breath, your legs would feel as though they are ripping apart. Normal people’s average second for 100m running is 11~15 second and the average time for running 800m is over 3 minute. Then think that you run 800m without rest in 2 minutes. Glenn cunningham had run 800m in 1:51.8 and 1500m in 3:52.3 .Running that much in a extremely short time will be so hard to us, but Glenn cunningham had run very fastly in a very short time. Don’t you think it’s cool? He had been tired very hard to run and get a record. Glenn Cunningham was in the little country schoolhouse where they used heating by an old fashioned pot style heater. A young little boy had a job that every morning, he had to go early to school and heat the old
fashioned heater. One day morning , someone in the classroom put the gasoline then the kerosene. The students and teachers arrived at the morning. When they all arrived ,in the classroom a big fire was coming out threw the old fashioned heater. However, badly Glenn was inside the classroom and because of that , his brother Floyd had died in young age. When Glenn was inside the fire, he didn’t want to die so he bravely escaped out of the classroom. His life was safe , but unfortunately the fire had destroyed his almost all his lower part of his body. Again bravely even though Glenn had hurt hardly, he tried to walk again. He tried to walk everyday , his mom and dad massaged him everyday and his mom and dad helped him to get better. Because of his parents and his brave mind , he could finally get well and go out from the hospital.After he went out of the hospital , he went to run to his school , house and everywhere.He was so happy that he could walk and run freely. Later, at college glenn made a track team and Glenn’s nickname in the team was ‘Kansas Flyer’. In 1934, glenn had got Men’s mile world record holder. Also,
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in 1936, Men’s 800 meters world record holder. He went to the world biggest events and made a record. It’s even extremely hard to go to olympic and participate. Glenn Cunningham went to the olympic and run for represent his country. Everyone needs to be proud of him and there would be lots of strong runners , but even though there are many strong runners, he got a record. Glenn ran a very long distance in a short time in the olympic. Olympic is a huge event, so he would be very nervous , scary and also he will feel pressured. But , even he was nervous and feel pressured , he confidently got a record from the olympic. Glenn Cunningham did an amazing job in his whole life. Even he got a big hurt , he didn’t let go and try his best for his dream. There is a sentence that “Failure is the mother of success.” As the sentence says , Glenn had a fail that he got a big hurt that almost can’t walk forever,but he tried his best for getting better , so even he failed he got a success that he got many record and he won several times in big events. I wish everyone knows about Glenn Cunningham and even though you fail many times, you will must success.
JUNIOR ISLANDER.
A view from the Junior School and the future editors of The Islander. In this edition you can read all about global warming, the Roswell mystery, the adventures of Squaishies, Malala and even find out all about Vietnam. Edited by Ms Allen.
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CAN GLOBAL WARMING BE A GOOD THING? HANNAH GREY YEAR 5
Hello, I am Hannah Gray in 5B2, I would like to tell you about one of the world’s most severe problems; Global warming. WHAT CAUSES GLOBAL WARMING? Global warming is caused when carbon dioxide (CO2) and other air pollutants and greenhouse gases collect in the atmosphere and absorb sunlight and solar radiation that have bounced off the earth’s surface. Normally, this radiation would escape into space—but these pollutants, which can last for years to centuries in the atmosphere, trap the heat and cause the planet to get hotter. That's known as the greenhouse effect. In the United States, the burning of fossil fuels to make electricity is the largest source of heat-trapping pollution, producing about two billion tons of CO2 every year. Coalburning power plants are by far the biggest polluters. The country’s second-largest source of carbon pollution is the transportation sector, which generates about 1.7 billion tons of CO2 emissions a year. WHY IS GLOBAL WARMING BAD? Global warming causes many problems including polar bears becoming extinct and having shorter seasons, I will first tell you about polar bear extinction. Polar bear extinction
is caused when we make global warming and polar bears are needing to move homes every year. As you may know, ice and snow is the polar bear’s habitat andirons is disappearing every year caused by global warming. Polar Bears are needing to swim to their homes and also to eat food. NOW, AFTER READING THIS DO YOU THINK THAT GLOBAL W A R M I N G C O U L D P O S S I B LY B E GOOD? Well, Global Warming means warmer winters that could mean fewer deaths and oceans can work as insulators so if global warming keeps on coming then we will have a better environment. Also CO2 is very good for plants so this could be very good for farming and also for other environments. Then, would global warming have a good effect to animals? Well, We all know that global warming is famous for ‘the extinction of the polar bears’ but then what about the other animals that live on land? Could Life get better for these animals? Well, in simple words NO! WHAT CAN WE DO TO STOP GLOBAL WARMING? Well, there is no REAL solution but little things we do like use less water, use less air conditioner and heater etc. 56
D O E S G LO B A L WA R M I N G A F F E C T DOGS? YES. Global warming means a longer flea period that could be dangerous. This is a picture of a Pomeranian that had fleas caused by global warming.
Lastly, Global warming is NOT a problem that can be solved by just one person, it needs many people to help, so please just try to do at least one thing to save our planet and lastly if polar bears are extinct then one day humans will be too.
ROSWELL ELOI ROBERTS AND EDWARD KANG YEAR 6 AND YEAR 5 In 1947, a random rancher spotted undefiable garbage and waste materials on his sheep pasture inside Roswell, located in New Mexico. The air forces say that they were remains of a weather balloon, people have made rumors that it was actually remains of a flying saucer. Although that no one knows if the incident was real or not, everyone believes what they believe. In the internet, if you search ‘roswell’, there are pictures of the alien that was inside the flying saucer. This is another mystery. This means that mysteries make more mysteries. The U.F.O is expected to have been made with metal that was undefiable, thin, but not burnable,
not cuttable. People got more suspicious in this incidents. There was a model or a real UFO with gas fuming out of the craft. When a woman touched the metal, she couldn’t feel it. A general who was on the case, made it a cover up. It was a cover up of a crashed weather balloon and the U.F.O was a rumor to make citizens calm down. He didn’t tell anyone. When a woman saw the sighting, the general said to tell no one or that he will kill her. The roswell incident was just a crashed weather balloon. But despite all the varied beliefs of the people, no one can know if the Roswell incident is true or not. What do you think? I hope you keep believing that way!
A scene from the Seige of Leningrad
In mid 1947 the US Army Air Force found a balloon crashed in the desert near Roswell, Mexico. There were so many people interested, they went inside and they found the Alien and named him Roswell; he was found dead and some people thought that it was a hoax, but from my perspective it is not a fake,. because it made an appearance in the newspaper. I think the Government was sweating when it hit the media because the Government does not want you to know about their plans or to show something strange that happened in space. I 57
think they are covering up something about the Roswell story. I think it has something to do with the alien blood composition that shocked the scientists. It might be that no man-kind has seen this kihd of material and perhaps there was something that is considered dangerous. I also think that it is likely to be something useful that can help the earth. Like for medical purposes or other such benefits. Overall, it must have been something useful or extremely dangerous. What do you think? Do you believe it?
SQUASHED! THERESA LEE YEAR 5
The weeded grass hung by the roof, the small caravan was a perfect place for animal sighting. Green bushes hiding the caravan from view, while the smooth window for looking out into the dark dark forest full with all kinds of animals. Soft rustling of the bushes and animals can make everyone calm. The sweet smell of honey scented the hideout, coming from a small soft honey squishy. The gigantic trees swade as the light breeze rustling the leaves sprouting from their fragile branches. The prickly ivy stung however, from outside came the cool breeze refreshing from the damp and humid air of summer. Squishy berries and leaves squashes under huge boulders to be turned into squishy muck. Smelling sweet and spicy the air swirled by a small tornado breathed in and out by hundreds of life. All peaceful and silent but dangerous... Once upon a time, there was a land of Squishies and there lived a blue sheep squishy named Yang Yang aged 11 and half. Yang Yang liked to hang around with his honey toast squishy named Bear. One day, a colossal person called Austin ordered a sheep and honey toast squishy. The king squishy was so horrified by the height of Austin that he agreed in selling his squishy. The king only knew one sheep and honey toast squishy. It was his beloved brother’s best friend. The king had no choice but selling his brother so he called his unlucky brother to come and be sold now. When Yang Yang heard the news, he was
livid and terrified that he and Bear had to be sold to Austin. He dashed to his brother’s new glossy palace were his brother lived. Bursting through the door, Yang Yang saw in horror as bear was dragged into a huge box all squashed. When Bear started to rise up, his eyes widened. And that was what Yang Yang saw before he was squished out (knocked out). Squishies are like immortals. They can’t die except when you cut them in little pieces and burn them all. So when they get squished, they faint until they rise up then they will wake up completely. When Yang Yang woke, he was in a pitch black box. “Where are we?!” Bear explain in a voice that even an ant can’t hear him that the ignorant king put them in a wooden box that was being on a long journey to their new king Austin. Yang yang went pale like a ghost in the thought of his own brother betraying him. As he thought about the thing that he and his wonderful brother did together in the past, he heard whimpering noise and saw Bear close to tears. Yang Yang tried to confront his friend and while doing so, he tried to confront him in the same time. What will happen to them both? They could still see each other thanks to the breathing hole on the top but it took awhile to adjust their eyes in the dark. And now bright light shone telling the two friends 58
that someone was opening the lid of the tiny box. They tried to shield their from the light. However they found that their bodies was stuck together. And to their relief they could still speak. “Why can’t we move?” Yang Yang whispered as the humans was talking to each other. Bear looked very surprised. He clearly remembered what his teacher, Mrs. Allen squishy, had said about human world during geography class. Yang Yang must have dozed of. “We can't move because we are in the human world. So the people can squish us, sell us or do other strange things to us. Mrs. Allen squishy told us that fact yesterday you moron!” Bear said in frustration, forgetting to put his voice down. “Sorry. I think I slept during the lesson. Geography is so useless.” Bear rolled his eyes. It was a pity that they had opposite feeling towards school. He always felt that someday it will be a reason to a terrible fight between them that will tore them apart. Suddenly, a gigantic hand shot out from nowhere and grasped Yang Yang as another hand shot out for Bear. Thank goodness that the humans can’t hear their voices out in their world, or by now the two squishes will be a small rubber pieces. Bear and Yang Yang screamed as Austin and his friend Ricky squashed them flat like a pancake.
TALIBAN IN PAKISTAN AMY HWANG YEAR 5
Malala Yousafzai is a young girl who fought against the Talibans. Her health was not good and her only dream was to have a free education. She wanted to be a doctor so she could help people that had been injured by the Taliban. SWAT valley was a beautiful valley that had lots of natural wonders. But in 2007, SWAT valley was taken over by the Taliban. Everything was damaged and destroyed, even the villagers’ human rights. The Taliban banned everything that had been allowed for women to do. They banned education for girls, female
schools, and banned them from going to the markets. If girls fought against them, they were whipped. One of the girls who fought for freedom of education was Malala Yousafzai. She wrote a blog for BBC to make the world aware of the facts that these terrible things were happening in SWAT valley. She didn’t use her real name or else she will become known to the Taliban. But unfortunately the Taliban found out what Malala was doing and soon Malala became the Taliban’s next target. It was October 12th 2012 when she was riding a bus home that she was shot in the 59
head by one of the Taliban. Malala was bleeding to death on her friend’s lap. Thankfully the bus driver drove straight to the hospital. Later, she was moved to another hospital for a better quality surgery. The doctors found out that the bullet was lodged very close to her brain but they were able to operate and save her life. For her braver y, great efforts, and determination to fight for the rights of girls to be educated she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize by The United Nations in 2014. She is still fighting for girl’s rights and against the Taliban today.
VIETNAM LILY KIM AND YUNA CHO YEAR 6
Pho Vietnam is a country in South East Asia. It shares borders with Cambodia, Laos and China. It has one of the oldest cultures in the world, with various features to it. Let’s look at some diverse traditions owned by Vietnam. The most famous type of noodles in this country is a type of noodle soup originating in North Vietnam called pho. It consists of rice noodles and beef soup, sometimes chicken soup, with several other ingredients such as bean sprouts and scallions. Another food culture is goi cuon, which is well known in not only Vietnam, but also in different countries such as South Korea. This is a food where people put pork, shrimp, vegetables, noodles and more, according to their choices, in a rice wrap called bánh tráng. In some cases, people eat the rice wrap by boiling it in hot water and dipping it in soups, instead of having something in it. People in Vietnam, nowadays, wear different clothing based on their occupation. Firstly, there are students. Although it may vary from school to school, for most younger students, the school uniform is a white shirt, blue pants or skirt and a red scarf. In most secondary schools, girls in the final years are
required to wear ao dai, either all white, or white with black pants, instead of the school uniform worn in earlier years.Another example is Farm workers and labourers. They wear shirts and loose cotton pants that can be easily rolled up when working in mud. For footwear, people wear sandals or go barefoot, which is very usual in the countrysides. Traditional clothing is called ao dai. ‘Ao' means jacket or top, and 'dai ' means long. This costume has a flowing tunic worn over long trousers. The women's close-fitting tunic or dress has a high neckline, long sleeves, and is split to the waist at each side and buttoned down the left side to the waist. It is worn over the pants, usually black or white. The men’s traditional costume, often has a shorter and fuller tunic, and is generally worn only at weddings, ceremonies or to perform traditional dance. Men and women who work in some airlines, high class hotels, restaurants and expensive shops are sometimes required to wear ao dai as their uniform. The ao dai was made in Vietnam in 1744, when men and women were ordered to wear buttoned gowns over trousers. There have been changes through the years, such as moving the buttons from the 60
front to the side and shoulder. Today the top of the women’s tunic is tight-fitting, and there are more variations in neckline. There are some small differences in each region, such as a four panel tunic or the addition of a scarf. Tet, the Vietnamese New Year The most important holiday celebrated in Vietnam, and indeed by Vietnamese people worldwide. Tet is commonly described as Christmas, Thanksgiving and your birthday all celebrated at once. The second most celebrated Vietnamese holiday is the Mid-Autumn Festival. This celebration honors the harvest time and family. There are many other Vietnamese holidays, religious and non-religious, wide-spread and local, influenced by Chinese culture or unique to Vietnam. Most Families of Children from Vietnam chapters celebrate both Tet and Tet Trung Thu, either with their local Vietnamese community organizations or independently. All of what we have mentioned were some of the cultures in Vietnam. It is clearly evident that this nation has very interesting and unique traditions, and it is still popular these days. Just like any other countries, the Vietnamese culture is something to be proud of and impressive.
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SCIENCE. Science has developed alongside human history, and now has become an integral part of our everyday lives. Science broadens our perspectives; it takes us from past to present, from the microscopics to the universe. The articles in this section will navigate through diverse problems of the world we live in and offer scientific solutions for them. Edited by Peter Kim in Year 10, Shunto Shigetomi, Daniel Yoo, Hannah Seo amd Gabriella Kim who are all in Year 12..
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JEJU'S ENERGY SOURCE OF THE FUTURE DAVID KIM YEAR 8, JEOJI
An American environmentalist Bill McKibben argues, “there is an urgent need to stop subsidizing the fossil fuel industry, dramatically reduce wasted energy, and significantly shift our power supplies from oil, coal, and natural gas to wind, solar, geothermal, and other renewable energy sources.” But, why is it critical to shift our power sources from non-renewable energy sources to renewable sources? Fossil fuels such as coal, crude oil, and natural gas are considered as non-renewable energy sources. The buried remains of plants and animals that lived millions of years ago become fossil fuels with the aid of heat and pressure. These fossil fuels take thousands of years to form naturally, and they cannot be replaced as fast as they are being consumed by people.
In order to address the problem, scientists have made various efforts to reduce nonrenewable energy sources. Renewable energy sources are energy sources such as solar power, wind power, hydro electricity, and bio electricity. These kind of energy are made from nature and these energy are not limited so we don’t need to worry about using them up. I think that wind turbine are the best way to produce energy and I will talk about wind turbine’s way that it works and the dis and advantages of the wind turbine. A wind turbine is a windmill that produces electricity. It works in a way in few steps. First the wind turns the turbine blades and it spinnes the motor inside the windmill. The the Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines (HAWT) moves and it generates electricity. It 64
then converts electricity from DC to AC and the electricity goes to the mains power. Then finally it goes to our house. Thinking economically, wind turbines have both advantages and disadvantages. On one hand, Wind turbine have a very efficient use of land. For example, one wind turbine uses less that 1 acre of land, and that land can also be used as a farm or in a another purpose a the same time. Also wind turbine are very efficient because 70~80% of the time wind turbines move and it can generated a big amount of electricity that is equivalent to amount of 16000 solar panels. The another advantage is that windmills don’t need water to generate electricity unlike fossil fuels or nuclear power points.
PLASTIC POLLUTION SOEUN KIM YEAR 7, GEOMUN Are you aware of all the potential damages plastic pollution can cause? Plastic pollution is takes place when plastics collect in a specific area, arousing negative impacts on the environment and problems for plants, wildlife, and human beings. It primarily takes place in Asia, especially in China, Korea, and Indonesia. Plastic pollution occurs due to numerous reasons; rubbish and non-recycled products can be one factor. People tend to waste both plastic and paper, producing extreme amounts of rubbish that eventually harm the environment. Although plastic makes our lives much more comfortable, convenient, and cost-efficient, it is normally used only once. For instance, the plastic bags people use when buying food and necessities produce millions of kilograms of
waste every single day. The pollution we cause is unbearable, and conditions are exacerbating because of people throwing litter on the ground and those using plastic bags and products carelessly. Furthermore, plastic pollution can also affect a myriad number of other things on Earth. One impact will be that it kills animals. We frequently come across animals - ducks, fish, whales, dolphins - entangled in lumps of fishing nets and garbage. Other than being trapped inside the heaps of rubbish, there is another source of danger for the animals in the water: they might eat the plastic. The plastic floating on the water is often colourful and highly resembles the food they are used to eating.
Then, what could the solution be to this seemingly unsolvable problem? One small step forth could be a worldwide effort to decrease the number of plastic bags we use. People can replace such inefficient products with reusable bags that can be used for years without polluting our environment. In addition, the populace should also put an end to bottled water and paper cups. Instead, they should try and bring their own water bottles to school, the workplace, and so on to save the environment. The final alternative is to recycle. The actual process of recycling and reshaping plastic is not as easy as the word suggests, and it is also an extremely time-consuming process. However, it is better than wasting reusable products.
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MODERN TECHNOLOGY IN ENGINES JADEN CHANG YEAR 8, JEOJI Since 100 years ago, the car is a major part of transportation. During this time, cars were developed, and every car has it’s target of being fast, comfortable and luxurious, and efficient. The only solution to take this goal was to make a big engine and made it as not-environmentalfriendly as possible. Because of this problem, there was a huge amount of oil used, which increased running costs with the rise in global oil prices in 1973 and 1979, as a result, the majority of people suggested that it would be better to make the car more eco-friendly, and efficient. This kind of background has suggested the idea of adding more technologies to the engine. The modern engine will need to fit in with lots of environment rules such as Euro 6. The rules were very strict, in petrol cars carbon monoxide of only 1.0g/km, THC of 0.10g/km. It was hard for the carmakers to stop making idiotically fast and powerful cars. Additionally, to make the cars as good as the big engined cars again the only solution for them was to put a lot of technologies that will make the engine powerful, efficient, and fast. For the performance car companies, the game has changed and become harder. It is performance car companies’ expected standard to be powerful and faster than the previous generation. Currently, they needed to be more economical. This made car industries to put in use technologies such as the turbochargers, direct injection, and superchargers. The point is that they will make more power with less fuel for less harmful emissions. Direct injection is mixed with air in the car's intake manifold; this means fuel is mixed inside the cylinder room, allowing for better control over the amount of fuel used. It can change the fuel usage depending on cruising or acceleration. There is another technology called cylinder deactivation. It is using half of the cylinder in the engine. For example, in Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8, there is a 6.4L supercharged Hemi V8. When there are lots of cylinders, fuel economy gets worse. Consequently, when the cylinder deactivation is activated it becomes eight cylinder engine to four cylinder engine. The turbochargers and superchargers are extremely important in the world of economical, efficient, and powerful cars. Turbochargers are in machines which will increase the pressure of the air in cylinder
room. There is a turbine which will generate the power from the gas from engine. Then this turbine will force the air outside to get into the engine, which means there will be more power produced by the engine and this means there is no point of using big displacement. In superchargers, the effect is similar to a turbocharger, but, the way it works is different. Turbochargers are powered by the mass-flow of exhaust gases driving a turbine. Superchargers are powered mechanically by a belt- or chaindrive from the engine's crankshaft. In other words, in a turbocharger, there are sometimes exhaust gases to turn the turbines, and it has a turbo-lag, and it will have some interval until it accelerates. However, in a supercharger, exhaust gases are not needed to turn the turbine. Instead, the turbin will turn at same speed as an engine so that it will be much smoother and there will be no interval until acceleration. In the economical cars, or normal cars, such as Hyundai, Volkswagen, and Skoda, there is a great need to make better fuel efficiency. It is much important for their marketing strategy to show how efficient they are. For these kinds of cars technologies such as direct injection, decelerating fuel shut off, cylinder deactivation, idle stop, brake regeneration, “stop and go” are very useful. First of all, how direct injection works is, the injector will be placed on each cylinder, spraying gasoline into the cylinder itself. Multiplication of injectors, direct-injection systems are more expensive and have also been associated with increased engine noise. But direct injection leads to more-efficient engines, as the gasoline-air mixture burns more completely. The individual injectors also ensure that each cylinder gets the same amount of fuel, and the spray can be more precisely timed. Secondly, “decelerating fuel shut off ” and ‘idle stop’ is quite similar. When the driver doesn’t accelerate, (for example, in traffic, or when braking) the engine will automatically shut the fuel going into the engine. When the car stops, ‘idle stop’ will automatically turn off the engine, and start it when the driver accelerates. There are lots of future technologies, instead of making those in more economical and powerful way. It just makes it simpler and more efficient. Camless engines, clean diesel, KERS, HCCI, OPOC are the example, of future engine technologies. Firstly, KERS 66
system, (Kinetic Energy Recovery system) has come from F1 cars. This system’s job is simply recovering the kinetic energy under braking that would have otherwise being lost as heat. The
IT OFFERS 15% MORE FUEL EFFICIENCY same recovered energy could then be utilised in the form of boost by the transmission system to power the car. It will use the energy more efficiently. Secondly, OPOC (opposed cylinder opposed piston) looks quite simple and it actually is. However, it is very sophisticated engine. More specifically, this engine has same form of geometry as a flat engine, however, the single combustion chamber is used for pushing two pistons. The engines do not have a conventional valve train and uses ports for breathing and thereby reducing pumping losses and cost of production. Another great advantage of this engine is that it offers about 15% more fuel efficiency than conventional engines. To conclude, my opinion towards future technology is, I like the idea of the new technology. The engineers in car industries are contributing in many aspects of business to make engines as economical, and efficient as possible. Therefore, I'm looking forward to the new technologies that will be discovered in the future. However, the controversy for the petrolheads such as car manias is that, even though car industries try their best to fit the combustion engine, the oils will run out in several decades. At last, FCEV, and electric cars will be the only choices left.
RENEWABLE ENERGY CLAIRE JO YEAR 7, SARAH
T he effects of glo b a l w a rm in g a re becoming more prominent despite some skeptical voiceS towards global warming, and the main contributor to it is carbon dioxide. The one that should be blamed the most is the fossil fuels. It is the most common source of energy, but they are running out quickly. Numerous scientists argue that it will run out in about 40 years. Also, fossil fuel produces lots of carbon dioxide. Since fossil fuels are not much left and that the use of them involves an immense amount of carbon dioxide emission, it is time for us to think about renewable energy, as it can be used countless times and doesn’t harm the environment. The first most popular renewable energy is solar energy. Solar energy is a radiant energy comes from the sun. It usually works by solar panels receiving the heat and boiling the water in a container. The steam that is produced
by the boiling process turns the turbine and generates electricity. The advantages of solar energy are that sun shines every day. Scientists had claimed that sun will shine the Earth at least 5 billion years. Also, when we use solar energy, the energy bill that we pay every month will drop. However, the disadvantages of solar energy are that the cost to generate the solar power is extremely expensive. Also, the effectiveness of electricity generation on rainy or cloudy days would not be as good as electricity generation on sunny days. Lastly, solar power energy needs enormous space to manufacture satisfying amount of energy. Another renewable energy is wind power. Wind power energy simply means to generate energy with the wind. Wind power is the cheapest source of renewable energy. Also, to form wind power energy, it needs a lot of workers which will lessen the number of 67
unemployed people. On the other hand, wind energy takes quite a large area to manufacture the energy. Firstly, it needs tons of wind power to generate the sufficient energy. Secondly, it needs at least 100m between each one because the blade can crash into each other. Furthermore, there can be birds flying into the wind power without knowing and losing their lives. Therefore, wind power energy also has its advantages and disadvantages as well. In conclusion, to improve the global warming, we need to change our small habits. For example, reducing the amount of water that we use for the shower, turning off the light when you leave the house or riding bicycle/ walking for moving short distance etc. Even if we experience some inconvenience while attempting to reduce CO2 emission, it is a necessary measure.
IS SCIENCE GOING TOO FAR? JINYEONG OH YEAR 7, GEOMUN Science has been of great help to us in many ways. Entertainment, medicine, work, there exists no area where science no longer holds a major role. Science has been mankind’s friend ever since the first of homosapiens stepped out of the incubator we now call Africa. However, when science turns its back on us, it brings grievous consequences. It seems as though science has already begun to turn its back on us, causing huge problems all around the globe. The question of whether further scientific development is required rings closer than ever before. The main issue brought up by people who doubt the positive side of science is the moral boundaries it has. The problem of overpopulation is becoming more serious by the year and scientists have developed a pill to decrease birth rates. Some people consider this as an inhuman way of treating this problem. People have been claiming that this act is immoral and has no respect for human life. Also, killing babies when they are developing inside their mothers’ wombs is another major issue people tend to disagree with. These moral issues are only a small fragment of the myriad of issues raised by science. More complex issues are introduced below which are of equal, if not greater, importance. A better understanding of genes has allowed individuals to manipulate their children’s genomes to create a “better” person or to overcome any perceived disabilities. Despite the fact that genome editing may be helpful, it is currently only accessible by the rich which will eventually end up in rich people being near-immune to existing diseases. People suffering from poverty will not be able to survive the advanced diseases since they have no money to access tem. The poor will need insurance but the rich won’t. Insurance companies won’t want to insure the poor because they will be quite likely to get diseases and the insurance cost will be too high for the poor to afford. Poorer people will just have to go on suffering. Aside from manipulating the human genome, scientists have worked on many other ways to improve people’s lives, prime of which is the discovery of new energy sources. If I were to pick one invention which, I think, has the most impact on our lives, it would be nuclear plants. There are, like any other
motion, two sides to the argument. The first is that It gives us a great boost in the production of electricity. On the flip side, there have been several accidents around the world such as the Chernobyl accident in Ukraine and the Fukushima accident in Japan which had terrible effects on the world. They were both catastrophic accidents at INES 7 (International Nuclear Event Scale). The two accidents continue to harm with people suffering from exposure to radioactive materials to this day. This is expected to take a considerable amount of time before the radiation ceases. The first nuclear accident was the Mayak/ Kyshtym accident in 1957. A malfunction in the cooling system resulted in an explosion, and an estimated amount of 70 to 80 tonnes of radioactive material were released into the atmosphere. Despite people having seen the destruction nuclear plants can cause, they have not been so keen on halting nuclear/radioactive developments courtesy to the belief that the benefits outweigh the consequences. There were also casualties which have been caused intentionally. The first atomic bomb, invented by the United States, was used in
Hiroshima, Japan on the 6th August 1945. It was called the ‘Little Boy’. The second bomb was used on Nagasaki, 9th August. This time it was called the ‘Fat Man’ and caused far more damage than the bombing of Hiroshima. These disasters were caused intentionally, and the blame lies on its perpetrators who knowingly sentenced thousands of people to their deaths. These kinds of nuclear events continue to torment the lives of people today, even after half a century. The cases above all contain two sides, both with compelling arguments. They all have had harmful effects on humans and have been responsible for thousands of deaths. Since the genesis of major accidents stems from scientific discoveries, more people have begun to adopt a more sceptical attitude towards developments in the area. Some even claim that further development in technology is unnecessary and that people should be satisfied with what they have now. On the other side, science supporters argue that we should continually strive for progress. So the question lies in this: ‘Will further development be helpful or will it lead to destruction on an unprecedented scale?’
The Fat Man atomic bomb explodes
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SETTING SALE FOR THE MOON AND BEYOND JINYEONG OH YEAR 7, GEOMUN
Have you ever heard of the term ‘Moonshot'? If you know what it means, have you considered how Moonshots affect our daily lives? The dictionary definition of this word is the act or procedure of launching a spacecraft to the moon. However, from a technological perspective, it is used to describe ambitious, exploratory and near-impossible projects kick started with no expectation of profit and with huge potential losses at stake. One of the earliest moonshots took place back in the years of Polynesian exploration in the time period 1000-1300 BC. For a long time, scientists for years have tried to figure out the preferred means of travel of the Polynesian people in the hope that they could prove that the explorations actually took place. The Polynesian people never lingered on one island for an extended period of time. Their ship making skills were beyond comparison to any civilisations' existing at the time, ideally designed for seafaring and navigation through the oceans. They travelled from island to island, in search of food and other resources, as the their homeland was infertile and comprised of unforgiving terrain. The Polynesians themselves probably did not realise that they were the conceivers of the very first moonshot. Many explorers today are inspired by the brave, nomadic souls that were the Polynesians who continued to achieve daring feats which in turn inspire us. When most people think of aeroplanes two people come to mind, the Wright brothers. Wilbur and Orville Wright tested their first successful self propelling plane on the 17th December, 1903. The Flyer I flew for 4 miles near the Kill Devil Hills, moving mankind a step further to reaching the moon. However, the Wright brothers were not the first ones to fly. Joseph and Jacques Montgolfier beat them to that title when they invented the first functioning air balloon in 1703, nearly
120 years before the conception of the plane. Behind the success of the Wrights’ designs was a tremendous amount of effort and research. It was only because of the time taken and the effort that was put into this project that made it a success despite the odds against it. This project ended up inspiring more streamlined and stable designs of planes we are used to seeing today, once again proving that moonshots are not as far away from our daily lives as they might seem. When do you think humans invented the first vehicle to go beyond the sound barrier? It was, in fact, quite a long time ago. The first supersonic vehicle was invented in December 1968 by the Soviet Union. The first supersonic vehicle, the Tupolev Tu-144, reached speeds up to 675 m/s. The plane met its end on the 3rd June, 1973 when it crashed, killing the crew. The Tupolev Tu-144 has now retired and can only be found in aerospace museums. The Concorde was also a well known supersonic vehicle. Concorde's maximum speed was twice the speed of sound at around 685 m/s. The Concorde was slightly faster than Tupolev Tu-144 and resides in the Bristol Aerospace Museum hangar. For any readers who might have an interest in the history of supersonic flight one would highly recommend visiting the museum. Google X, a branch in the Alphabet company specialising in moonshots, have been responsible for two to date; buoyant cargo ships and vertical farming. Google attempted to grow plants in vertical environments in order to grow more crops in a limited area. While they were successful in many areas, such as lighting and automated harvesting, they could not work out a way to plant and grow crops on a vertical surface. So, after continual efforts to work out a solution, Google suspended the project. If this project had succeeded, huge amounts of 69
crops could have been harvested from all parts of the world. It is not an overstatement to say that the solution to this problem could have also single handedly combatted the effects of overpopulation. The buoyant cargo ships' goal was to reduce the exorbitant costs of massive cargo ships while simultaneously decreasing delivery time. They were successful in planning how they could make the flying cargo ships. However, instead of reducing costs to build a ship, calculations proved that their first ship was going to cost around $200 million. Since they could not justify spending $200 million for their test data, the project was scuppered. The original moonshot, the project which literally involved sending a projectile to the moon, was the project which gave us the term ‘moonshot'. The race to the moon, also known as the Space Race, was a race between the Soviet Union and the US to gain a political and technological advantage and also to reaffirm their national pride. In the end, the US beat the Russians to the moon and proved that they possessed the highest order of technology at the time. The shoot for the moon was a long time project which spanned across a few decades and took a vast amount of resources to realise. It was a project with lots of peoples’ lives on the line and of unfathomable risk. However, its success, again, helped mankind take huge leaps towards technological advancement. It was, indeed, one giant leap for mankind. Moonshots can be helpful but they can also be destructive. Even when it ends in success people have to take risks and will in some way suffer a loss. Yet, humanity has seen huge development precisely due to those losses. The neverending development of technology has resulted in pollution and other man-made hazards all over the world. So nobody can quite clearly decide on whether moonshots have either a negative or a positive effect on our community. What would be your stance on the motion?
CURRENT AFFAIRS. Living in the Southernmost region of South Korea, isolated from the mainland, your focus on what is happening around the world might deviate. However, keeping updated with the news and current affairs is important as it can provide you a cosmopolitan mindset. The articles from this section will help you acquire the knowledge you need. Edited by Brian Ha in Year 11, Dain Ahn, Dayon Lee and Sunghee Kim who are all in Year 12.
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THE SLAUGHTER FIELDS OF JEJU YECHAN KIM YEAR 12, HALLA NORTH Jeju, surrounded by the sea, was a colossal jail and a slaughter field‌ - The Jeju 4.3 peace park. Today, Jeju is South Korea's top honeymoon destination. It boasts mild weather, delicious seafood, and gorgeous beaches. But it was once a killing field. Beginning on April 3, 1948, South Korean authorities waged a scorched-earth campaign against the communist guerrillas--roughly 400 fighters armed with antique rifles and bamboo spears. Over the next year, the soldiers burned hundreds of "red villages" and raped and tortured countless islanders, eventually killing as many as 60,000 people - one-fifth of Jeju's population. They committed these atrocities in plain view of the highest authority then in southern Korea--the U.S. military, which had occupied the peninsula south of the 38th parallel following the World War II defeat of Japan. The Americans documented the brutality but never intervened. Now that democracy has taken root in Seoul, the island's story is being told. Newly declassified documents from the U.S. National Archive and oral histories compiled from witnesses and survivors on Jeju paint an unsavory picture of the prewar Seoul regime. The evidence supports a new interpretation of the Korean War--that hostilities actually started well before Pyongyang's armies blitzed southward on June 25, 1950. By prior agreement, Soviet forces occupied the peninsula above the 38th parallel, Americans below. When the foreign armies arrived, they found left-wing people's committees active in most areas. Moscow and Washington were supposed to prepare Korea for national elections, to choose a united government. But as the cold war intensified, Korea polarized. A pro-Soviet regime emerged in the north, and in the south a U.S.-backed political group took control. Above the de facto border, communists loyal to Kim Il Sung persecuted Christians, rightists and Japanese collaborators. Below, conservative leader Syngman Rhee courted the same groups to consolidate power against the South Korean Labor Party, or SKLP. Rhee's machinations triggering several localized uprisings--the largest on Cheju. By late 1947, an estimated 80 percent of Cheju islanders were SKLP members or loyalists. As the American occupation commander, Gen. John R. Hodge,
put it, Cheju was "a truly communal area peacefully controlled by the [local] people's committee." Cause of the April 3 uprising The key trigger for the April 3 Uprising was the March 1 shooting incident. This event marked a watershed in the modern history of Jeju when police, under the control of the U.S. military Government, opened fire on a crowd, killing six innocent people and injuring eight. The main cause for the rebellion was the elections scheduled for May 10, 1948, designed by the United Nations Temporary Commission on Korea (UNTCOK) to create a new government for all of Korea. The elections, however, were only planned for the south of the country, the half of the peninsula under UNTCOK control. Fearing the elections would further reinforce division, guerrilla fighters of the South Korean Labor Party (SKLP) reacted with protests against the police and right-wing groups on the Island.
Responding to the unrest, the methods used by the South Korean government to suppress the protesters were especially cruel. On one occasion, American soldiers discovered the bodies of 97 people including children, killed by government forces. On another, American soldiers reported government police forces carrying out an execution of 76 villagers, including women and children. In the end, between 14,000 and 30,000 people died as a result of the rebellion, or up to 10% of the island’s population. Some 40,000 others fled to Japan to escape the fighting. In the decades after the uprising, the memory of the event was suppressed by the government through censorship. In 2006, almost 60 years after the rebellion, the Korean government apologized for its role in the killings. The government also promised reparations but as of 2018, nothing had been done to this end. This year marks the seventieth anniversary of the event.
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NK vs US A WAR OF RHETORIC JUSTIN KIM YEAR 8, JEOJI July 2017: ‘Reaction to missile launch’ - Trump criticized North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, tweeting “Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?” and calling on China to “end this nonsense once and for all” pressuring trade relations. 8th August 2017: ‘Fire and Fury’ - Trump threatened ‘Fire and Fury’ on North Korea if they do not stop making threats on the US. North Korea responded by announcing its plan to fire missiles to Guam, which will ‘send a warning sign’. 16th August 2017: ‘Wise’ - After North Korea backed down, Trump tweeted that "Kim Jong Un of North Korea made a very wise and well reasoned decision," and that the alternative would have been ‘catastrophic’. 17th September 2017: ‘Rocket Man’ Trump and President Moon Jae-in agreed to intensify economic and diplomatic pressure on Kim. Trump then tweeted ‘Rocket Man’ in a reference to Kim Jong Un. 19th September 2017: ‘Suicide mission’ - Speaking to the UN, Trump warned that the US could ‘totally destroy North Korea’ and that while the US had ‘great strength and patience’ options will soon run out. He also said ‘Rocket Man is on a suicide mission’. 2 2 n d Se p t e m b e r 2 0 1 7 : ‘ Me n t a l l y deranged’ - Kim accused Trump of being mentally deranged. State news agency KCNA said ‘Action is the best option in treating the dotard who, hard of hearing, is uttering only what he wants to say’ 28th November 2017: ‘Striking capabilities’ - Pyongyang revealed that an ICBM (Intercontinental Ballistic Missile) has been successfully tested with a ‘super-large heavy warhead’ that can strike the western seaboard of the continental US. 30th November 2017: ‘Little Rocket Man’ - Donald Trump tweeted, ‘The Chinese Envoy, who just returned from North Korea, seems to have had no impact on Little Rocket Man. Hard to believe his people, and the military, put up with living in such horrible conditions’. 73
From a foreigner’s perspective: While foreigners may think that Koreans may be panicking in terror - in fact, it is just the opposite. Day-to-day life is progressing as normal, and people have fallen into this calm complacency reminiscent of cold war America. According to ‘A South Korean journalist explains why her country isn’t panicking’, written by Lindsay Maizland, published in Aug 11, 2017, she interviews a South Korean journalist. In the article, she says that it is partly due to South Korea’s contradictory relationship with the north - on one side, they see it as a long-lost brother, but also is wary of the military threat the North imposes. She also says “there's a certain level of fear about what's going on, if this or that were to happen, but on the whole, there's not a hugely palpable sense of fear… there’s years and years of indifference, of not really talking about North Korea that much and not showing too much interest.” As it is evident, while South Korea may be the first on its hit list, most Koreans are not quite as bothered as its overseas ally.
WALKING THE FINE LINE GYULIN KIM YEAR 7, JEOJI
Parents today put a lot of effort and planning into helping their children achieve more than just good grades in an effort to secure their placement in what is considered an ‘outstanding’ universities. However, this instills in children parental pressure, behavior exhibited by parents that is perceived by their children as requiring high, unlikely, or even unattainable expectations. Briefly, there are two big reason why this happens. First of all, parents worry. By having a parent worrying about them succeeding, a child can feel less inspired and even threatened. They’ll be so paralyzed by fear of not doing well, that they won’t actually learn and succeed like they would otherwise. Also, if they have feelings of anxiety, they are less likely to know what the main causes of their distresses are. It is possible that they will place further blame for their bad feelings on themselves for not being smart enough, therefore causing more stress and anxiety. If the child expresses any worrisome signs of stress pertaining to school work, the parents should try to talk with the child together finding a way to solve and help through reassurance. Secondly, parents often have too high standards for their children to achieve. Parents usually want their children to do what they themselves wanted to do when they were young or what they think their child is good at, apart from what their children would like to do. If the parents set too high standards, the children naturally get pressure in order achieve this goal. For example, say a parent wants their child to get A on all of the subjects studied at school. Unfortunately, however, the child doesn’t have the ability to accomplish that goal. How much pressure will the student get from their parents? How much stress would
this child get as the child works on some assessments or important projects? These reasons can end up with children having bad behavior. Too much pressure to do well in school can cause kids to do unethical things. They might turn to drugs or alcohol to deal with the stress. They might give up on achieving the score which the parent wants, just about cope with their parents or even stop communicating with them. Keep a close eye on your child if they are showing any signs of distress from school and talk to them if you have any questions or concerns, not just pressuring your child to work hard again. The act of giving too much stress can give the children much more of a bad effect sometimes it is better just leaving them alone. Also, these kinds of pressures can make children think that they are not good enough.
If you are adamant for your child to match the expectations you have set for them in school, then they are likely to have a difficult time coping, even if they miss the mark by just a little bit. They will believe that success is based on perfection and if they can’t accomplish that, they might as well just give up. If your child feels inadequate due to not achieving a certain grade, let them know that you’re there for them and that a grade doesn’t determine whether or not they’re a good person. If you want to help your children do well in school, you need to encourage your children, rather than pressuring them. By offering encouragement through means such as assisting with schoolwork and discussing different ideas and concepts, you can help to spark inspiration for your child.
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GAME ADDICTION STEVE NA YEAR 9, JEOJI
Game addiction: the most familiar word around teenagers, also known as the hardest instinct to control. Many adults think game addiction vitiates children’s minds, causing damaging side effects such as a lack of concentration and growing brutality within their mind. A survey, from 2012, in the Joongang Daily claims that 35% of teenagers are able to play games with great felicity, demonstrating that many students had spent enormous amounts of time playing games. Moreover, In a large study of seven thousand video gamers from NCBI, close to twelve percent were classified as being addicted to video games.This article will explore the reasons why the teenagers are so easily addicted to games. The problem within the game industry antedates the first PC online game. During 1990s, console games dominated the game
market like Mario, Sonic and Pacman. The comfortableness provided from the simple, straightforward games specialized in consoles were apropos for the gamers hyped-up many players and gave positive rush of endorphins when gaming. This has continued even with the advent of PC online games, today with strong marketing strategies, advanced graphics and online playability and has hooked teenagers successfully. Fur thermore, the game companies developed meticulously planned games to squeeze more money from teenagers by charging, for example, for precious items like gems, golds and guns encouraging teenagers to protect and expand their territory. If this spending habit piles up, it becomes similar to the concept of investment, preventing teenagers from easily quitting the game. The more you have invested the more you think
you are committed. Consider, you might be better off not throwing good money after bad. Lastly, many teenagers think that it's easy not to get attracted by the games. However, if we look deeply into the marketing arrangement, the advertisement elicits emotions like excitement, pace and achievement making viewers feel guilty by simply watching. Not even playing. With slogans like “now or never”, “everyone but you online” and its highly singular appellation, Maplestory, League of Legends lures teenagers easily even though they were practicing a very cautious approach. In conclusion, the good impressions continued over time and the money already invested in games snares the teenagers to become more absorbed in those games, disturbs them and eventually leads them to be addicted. The vicious cycle continues.
A scene from the Seige of Leningrad
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WHY DID APPLE SLOW DOWN OLDER IPHONE MODELS? CM CHUNG YEAR 8, SARAH
The massive, comprehensive rundown of Apple’s history all started from a 1970 meeting the new Apple visionary founder, Steve Jobs had. Recently, Apple became one of the world’s most innovative, digital companies, its 41 years experience leading it to become the highly respected elder statesman of the digital industry. However, one disgraceful message informed the customers about how the older iPhone models consistently performed. It was essentially uploaded on December 12, 2017, and it made many customers disappointed. Apple has, at last, acknowledged what many iPhone users long suspected, that Apple has been slowing down older iPhone models. Consumers sent their terrible feedback about the way the firm manages products with older batteries and how it engaged in the process of communication. The degraded functions and performance of old phones had the lower expectation, which wasn’t the right guidance of looking for the further iPhone models in the future. Apple has tricked us for years and years on selling their products, but why was it really, then? Apple has announced on December 12, 2017, that they were purposely slowing down older iPhone models when new models come out and failed to properly disclose that at the time of the parties entered into an agreement. They supported with a shocking statement that “our goal is to deliver the best experience for customers, which includes overall performance and prolonging the life of their devices.” An American lawsuit is demanding the replacement of the old iPhone models for loss of use, loss of value, the purchase of new batteries, and other losses in the form of the deprivation of the value of iPhone and overpayments. Customers were incredibly mad at their strategy of selling the products because they did not receive what they paid for. But, the reasoning was unbelievably impossible that they slowed down 76
phones in an effort to get customers to upgrade to new devices. When Apple started designating the phones in 2007, its product was so delicate and innovative that it could have deliberately degraded durability without fear. But in the last couple years, the company has faced stiffer competition from Samsung and HTC among others. Tech analysts and angry customers have reported in recent days that operating system updates had caused old models to slow considerably with some suggestions that Apple shouldn’t be using the tactic, confusing fans, to promote new phones. They strongly supported “buyers are smart, and if they start figuring out that one of the costs of buying Apple’s products is that they’re constantly nickel and diming you, they’ll switch”. Some customers showed their complaints by explaining that if the industry of phones works forever, people who already own the devices won’t buy new ones because they cannot trust the company. However, Apple insisted the updates were made with a different goal in mind: It said the performance of batteries degraded over time, which might encourage customers to buy new ones. Apple has been hearing feedback from the customers about the way they handle performance for phones with older batteries and how they communicated. They replied with an apology. They said “there’s been a lot of misunderstanding about this issue, so we would like to clarify and let you know about some changes we’re making. First and foremost, we have never and would never do anything to intentionally shorten the life of any Apple product, or degrade the user’s experience to drive special upgrades.” Yes, their goal has always been creating products that their customers love, and making phones last as long as possible significantly. This hope so that the company would never intentionally slow down the performance itself again.
OUR NEW IB SUBJECTS AN A TO Z JENNA JEONGWON YU YEAR 11, JEOJI
Starting from the academic year of 2018/2019, NLCS Jeju will be offering four new courses to the future Sixth Formers, recognising the growing and diverse interests in the student body. The following is a short collection of information about the new subjects.
WHAT ARE THE NEW SUBJECTS? 1. Literature (English) and Performance SL (taught by Mr. Bradshaw) 2. Chinese Literature HL & SL (taught by Ms. Liu) 3. Global Politics HL & SL (taught by Mr. Tipney) 4. Psychology HL & SL (taught by a new teacher) HOW WILL THE CLASSES BE STRUCTURED? Literature (English) and Performance The classes will be structured through an enquiry based approach to the material. This means lots of practical activities to explore how we can transform a piece of text into a performance. This will be supported by classes on the devising processes, discussions of literature and and research lessons into methods of performance and literary theory. Chinese Literature The course consists of 4 parts: Part 1: Work in translation Part 2: Detailed study Part 3: Literature genre Part 4: Options. In Part 1, we are going to explore 2 (3 for HL) translated work, mainly to recognize the role played by cultural and contextual elements in literary works; and to respond independently to the work by connecting the individual and cultural experience of the reader with the text. In Part 2, we are going to study 2 (3 for HL) literature works from different genres (ranging from fiction, poem, prose etc.).
The learning objective will be producing appropriate analytical responses to specific genres; and to be aware of how particular effects are achieved through language use, and analyse elements such as character, theme and setting. In Part 3, we are going to work on 3 (4 for HL) literature works all from one same genre. After the study of this part, we will be able to understand the ways in which content is delivered through the literary conventions of the selected genre; and to be able to compare the similarities and differences between the chosen works. In Part 4, both SL and HL are going to research on 3 freely chosen works (e,g. new textualities, prose, literature and film), and the learning objectives are for you to learn how to interest and hold the attention of an audience through certain work; and to be able to present an individual, independent response to works studied at the end of this part.
range of the great schools of political thought to interpret the causes and identify a prognosis for the situation. This may be through the lens of a structural realist, a liberal, a feminist, a neo-con or even a Marxist. We would then consider a provocative political question such as ‘"International Human Rights agreements are worthless". To what extent do you agree with this statement?' in light of these interpretations and try to reach a well argued answer. The next step would then be to identify another case study that has shared characteristics and see what further perspectives and issues it illuminates. As we will be researching contemporary ideas and events you will be exposed to a wide range of resources; from podcasts to academic articles to TED talks. Psychology This is variable depending on the topic we are covering. I try to mix things up to keep it fresh and interesting. I use a lot of active,
A COMPLETE GUIDE TO ALL OF THE NEW IB COURSES AVAILABLE IN THE NEXT ACADEMIC YEAR Global Politics The basic approach is to identify a political challenge in the world either going on at the moment or in the recent past - a good example of this might be the current migration crisis in the Mediterranean. We will then attempt to apply the world-view / critical methods of a 78
student-led techniques, such as discussions, group work, role pays. In addition, as essay writing is such an important skill, I like to spend time concentrating on excellent exam skills and helping students’ techniques to achieve the best possible grade. Psychology classes are never boring!
W H AT W O U L D T H E D I F F E R E N C E BETWEEN HL AND SL BE FOR THESE COURSES?
about a political case study of their choosing which will be submitted to the examination board for assessment.
Literature (English) and Performance Unfortunately, there is no HL course that can be offered at this stage. We may see the development of a HL course by the IB in the near future, but for now it is only available at SL.
Psychology Exams are mainly essay based and so students will develop their essay writing and critical thinking skills throughout the two years of study. During the first year of study all students will learn about the biological, cognitive (mental processes such as memory and perception) and sociocultural (societies and cultures) influences on behaviour. In the second year students will: Replicate a simple psychological experiment and write a report on their work. The marks for this work will go towards the final IB Psychology grade Standard Level students will study one option from a choice of four: Abnormal Psychology, Developmental Psychology, Health Psychology, and the Psychology of Relationships Higher Level students will study two options from these choices and they will also study Qualitative Research Methods (interviews, case studies, observations)
Chinese Literature Apart from the quantitative difference mentioned above (SL students are required to study 10 works, whereas HL students are required to study 13), there are significant qualitative differences between the 2 levels. Two of the assessment tasks for SL are less demanding than the comparable HL tasks. Individual oral commentary—SL students present a 10-minute formal oral commentary on one of two works studied in part 2 of the course, whereas HL students present a formal oral commentary on poetry studied in part 2 and then engage in a discussion with the teacher on one of the other two works studied. Paper 1—both SL and HL students write a literary analysis of a previously unseen prose passage or poem. However, SL students write in response to two guiding questions, whereas HL students write a literary commentary with no assistance from guiding questions. Global Politics Higher Level and Standard Level students will cover the same four key units over the two year course. These are the Foundation (Political Theories and Concepts) Unit, the Human Rights Unit, the Development Unit and the Conflict and Pace Unit. Both SL and HL students will sit one document based examination and one essay based examination in the final assessment. HL students will have an additional 50 minutes in the essay exam in order to answer an extra question from the paper (they will therefore write three essays in total). Both SL and HL students will complete the Engagement Activity (the equivalent of the IA as described above). HL students will additionally record a 10 minute presentation
WHAT DO THE TEACHERS RECOMMEND YOU TO DO TO P R E PA R E Y O U R S E L F F O R T H E S E COURSES? Literature (English) and Performance I recommend that students read anything that strikes their fancy, but below is a list of books, in no particular order that may whet the appetite of Literature and Performance students • Why Poetry by Matthew Zapruder • The Empty Space by Peter Brook • Blackrock by Nick Enright • The Distance From Here by Neil Labute • David Copperfield by Charles Dickens • The Life of Galileo by Bertolt Brecht • Brecht on Theatre by Bertolt Brecht Trans. Eric Bentley • On The Technique of Acting by Michael
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Chekhov • Waiting for Godot by Sam Beckett... Ok, I could go on… Perhaps just "Why Poetry" by Matthew Zapruder and "The Empty Space" by Peter Brook for now. The other thing to do is to see as much live theatre as you can over summer break, doesn't matter what kind, just go and see something. Chinese Literature Since one of the aims of the course is to encourage, through the study of texts, an appreciation of the different perspectives of people from other cultures, and how these perspectives construct meaning, I hope those who planning to take this course could prepare themselves by familiarizing some of the chosen literature works (such as Thunderstorm written by Cao yu, The Song of Eternal Sorrow written by Wang An-yi); Or at least you could develop the habit of reading Chinese literature work/ long work at this stage. Global Politics Easy - get interested in the world. Read, listen, and watch the news regularly, use the amazing current affairs resources available in the library, explore what local connections to politics you have (and this means any group or organisation that makes decisions that affect a community, whether or not they have tea with the President!) Psychology No prior study of psychology or other specific subjects are required, the skills needed for the psychology course are developed during the course itself. But to get everyone's interest flowing, this is a great site to read articles about the oddities of human nature! http://www. psychologicalscience.org/news/were-onlyhuman If you have any additional questions about these courses, I suggest you ask the teachers personally.
MEDIA. Everyday and everywhere, we are constantly surrounded by media, which not only offers us new information but reveals a new perspective to view our own culture. From movies to novels, from K-pop to trends in Korea, the articles on this section will nativage through different media in the world we live in. Edited by Shunto Shigetomi, Daniel Yoo, Sunghee Kim and Rachel Cho who are all in Year 12.
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BEYOND THE SHORE JIHO HA YEAR 9, SARAH
Truman reaches the edge
"Good afternoon, good evening, and good night." I’m pretty certain that you said “Hello”, “good morning” or any sort of greeting to someone you met today. Greetings mean a lot to some people, but simple greetings such as “Good Afternoon, Good evening, and Goodnight “ are something that most people say unconsciously. The Truman Show, a drama and fantasy genre movie filmed in 1998, is a CLASSIC example of people living inside the box and the process of them going out of the box and beyond the shore. In the movie, citizens are fed up with with the same old style of TV programs. They
wanted something new and different, and that’s when the producers came up with the 'Truman Show'. A man called Truman was selected to be spectated and there was a small world made for him. The show started as soon as when he was born. He was spectated with 350 cameras around him. Truman did not recognize that he was being spectated and lived an uninformed life until he spotted that everything except him was fake. He was denied to travel beyond the shore and he was trapped. In the movie, the director of the TV show created a trauma of drowning to Truman to make him become afraid of water. This made Truman always to be on the island and never attempt to travel beyond the shores. However, he manages to fight out his trauma and finally 82
succeeds to sail out of the island. Even Though there were lots of difficulties, after he succeeds to sail beyond the shores he was more creative and was thinking what would the real world be like. If we take this in our situation, things such as participating in societies, watching Sejong lecture series, or even reading an article in the Islander magazine takes time and energy but also that moves you to go beyond the comfort zone and start new things to be beyond the shores. As students of NLCS school, we must be able to move away from our comfort zone and sail beyond the shore.
G A M E . R A I N B OW. CODE. WARRIORS. ALEX OH YEAR 8, SARAH A rainbow colored, kaleidoscopic cover and the 3D words, Warcross silently lures the wandering reader to place. Not to mention, the lines of ‘Player, Hunter, Hacker, Pawn’ grabs the reader's’ attention, rendering them helpless but to turn its pages. The cover soon reveals a hidden dystopian story, a realm filled with numbers and codes. Warcross focuses on the story of Emika Chen, an 18-year-old bounty hunter who is desperate to make ends meet. ‘Warcross’ is a worldwide famous neurotech game; however, to some ‘Warcross’ isn’t just a game - it is their way of life. In such a game, a tiny security breach can lead to the complete breakdown of the game software. Hideo Tanaka, a young and successful CEO who created ‘Warcross’ himself, is therefore paranoid, and so a simple security breach for money turns all the spotlight towards Emika Chen who unexpectedly becomes the wildcard- one of the handful that is chosen to participate in the world-wide broadcasted championship. And this simple suggestion from Hideo is about to change Emika Chen’s world completely.
The world of Warcross was was and is still very fascinating. One reason was that despite having complicated jargon, it was interesting and easy to understand, and was neither boring nor dull. The introduction was simple yet was able to fully explain the complex organization and technology behind “Warcross”, and, despite the fact that such technology has not been developed yet, the story was surprisingly realistic and the details were very intricate. The descriptions made it seem so real, and made it as if the reader was looking directly into the future. Furthermore, the reference to the negative aspects of Warcross - the “Dark World” or addiction - reveals that perhaps technological development is not something that is only positive, a clear reflection of the problems faced in the real world. Another reason is that Warcross contains a myriad of different characters. For instance, there is Asher, the leader of Phoenix Riders, who suffers from a condition that forces him onto a wheelchair. Still, the crowd respects and follows him despite his condition, not because his brother directed multiple world-famous
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films, but purely because of his leadership. Other than Asher is whom Marie Lu’s calls an ‘ignorant main character’: Emika Chen. Her inexperience and lack of knowledge of the technology of “Warcross” gives the reader a chance to connect with her: despite her skills as a hacker, Chen’s low financial status meant that she was incapable of indulging in the delights of the ‘new’ world. This is shown when Emika explores her room in her team, Phoenix Riders. Although she recognizes the piece of technology on her desk at first sight - an item that projects the screen towards the wall - her reaction of awe and glee shows how excited she is in having access to the technology of the new world. In my opinion, the novel “Warcross” is a piece that enables us to have an “eye-opening” experience. Full of action, drama and suspense, I only hoped that the pages never end. The novel itself transcended the typical “Marie Lu” novel and is on a whole new level in terms of the plot and the interactions of the characters. To those who want to read the novel, prepare popcorn!
FROM HEEJIN TO GOWON: LOONA NATHAN HA YEAR 9, SARAH
On October 2, 2016, there was an announcement made by BlockBerry Creative that there will be a historical event which will change the flow of the kpop industry. The concept of LOONA is clear; every month, an extended play or a single would be released, whether the Extended Play or the Single is a unit or a solo music. Lasting for 18 months, with the project fully completed, all twelve members will debut in one group called LOONA. Between October and January 2017, there were four members released. Haseul, Yeojin, Heejin and Hyunjin were revealed, and the songs have met lukewarm reactions with over 300k views, which is an impressive progress for a rookie girl group. As of now in January 2018, HeeJin’s music video for her single ‘ViVid’ has garnered over 1.9 million views. Yeojin has gathered over one million views, while other members have reached round about 600 to 900 thousand views. At March 2017, three members (Haseul, Heejin and Hyunjin) and a new member named ViVi debuted as a new unit called LOONA ⅓. Love & Live reached
number 10 in gaon monthly charts, and sold over 2900 copies to date. After the first unit was revealed, the first member for the second unit was released shortly after the ‘Love & Evil’ promotions. Kim Lip, who’s the first one to showcase to the general public and the first member revealed from the second unit Odd Eye Circle, released ‘Eclipse’ which was produced by Cha Cha Malone, who has been continuously having success producing artists such as Jay Park and Rainbow. Kim Lip’s single actually managed to crave the attention of the western K-Pop fans, and reached over 2.3 million views. Kim Lip’s success involved Nasa, who included ‘Eclipse’ as a part of their solar eclipse playlist. JinSoul’s track ‘Singing In The Rain’ also followed up, which met critical success, along with a korean webzine ‘Idology’ commenting that ‘Singing In The Rain’ might be the best track of the year for a girl group. The final member, Choerry met instant success, garnering over 500 thousand views just in a week. Odd Eye Circle has been branching out both internationally and domestically. Their 84
first single, ‘Girl Front’ which was produced by Hayley Aitken and Ollipop (who produced songs for Red Velvet) has actually managed to gain a spot in the US iTunes K-Pop Chart. The album also managed to get a position in the Billboard World Album Charts, respectively peaking at number ten. Including the repackage ‘Max & Match’, the album sold a total of 4000 copies, still an impressive sales for a rookie girl group. Between the months November 2017 and January 2017, there were two members revealed. The first member, Yves, reached number 13 in the iTunes K-Pop Charts, and gained over a million views in a month. The second member revealed, Chuu, has reached number 5 in the iTunes K-Pop charts, and gained a million views in two weeks. The third member, Gowon’s teaser photo was released during January, and her single is yet to be released. Their growth continuously spreads both domestically and internationally, and their place in K-Pop is becoming larger and stronger, and hopefully they’ll make a successful debut in June or July 2018.
THE RISE OF K O R E A N C U LT U R E BONNIE HYUN YEAR 9, GEOMUN K-pop started garnering national attention during the 90s and in the 2000s, it is having a greater impact across Asia. This global phenomena is called ‘Hallyu’. It means the global popularity of South Korea’s cultural economy exporting pop culture, entertainment, music, TV dramas, and movies. Today, people became more interested in the music genre, passing onto other people through social media, radio, and TV as well. K-pop is especially something that people find really entertaining and fresh as it is different from what foreigners usually listen to and the experience and knowledge they get from it. Recently, one of the most famous boy groups, ‘BTS’, received the “Top Social Artist Award” in Billboard Music Awards. They were the first South Korean to have such honor.They were also invited to American Music Awards to perform their song called, “DNA”. These awards are considered as the best music awards in America and it is particularly difficult for Korean group to even be invited to the annual award ceremony. However, their worldwide popularity, catchy songs, and engrossing performance broke the stereotype and made the huge change in Kpop culture as well. Moreover, they travel countries in the world and hold their own concerts. Twelve of their music videos recorded 100 million and 200 million views, and this proves that large amounts of people have interest in Kpop. On the first day of their music albums, 'Love Yourself - Her' were released, they sold a total of 455,888 copies. The album set an impressive new record for highest stock preorders with 1,122,946 albums. The most surprising thing is that BTS had the second most Twitter engagements in the world. Since then, BTS' average retweets has gone even higher to reach the highest rank. Furthermore, Korean Dramas are making great impacts all around the world. The global audience for Korean drama is exploding across Asia and is even spreading to Europe and North America. There are many reasons why K-dramas have gained such a wide following
globally. And why is it so popular? Firstly, it has the cultural appeal. We can learn about various societal norms by watching the day to day life of the characters. Many people even watch Korean Drama and understand Korean culture, which is different from the programming they are used to. The tension is built up so expertly that it is more emotionally resonant when the main couple finally holds hands halfway through the series. Also, the plots, types of characters and settings in K-dramas feel fresh
and new. Moreover, today, video streaming sites have made foreign television more available than in the past. So, people are able to watch K-dramas through innumerable sites and disks, even in farthest countries. Most Korean drama fans, 95.1 percent of them, used online streaming services to watch subtitled series and popularity of the TV show quickly paid off its 13 billion won($11 million) production cost, which was helped funded by Chinese companies. Recent famous Korean Dramas include, ‘Descendants of the Sun’, ‘Heirs’, ‘My Love from Another Star’ and ‘Goblin’. Especially, Goblin has the unique plot, which makes it more sensational. The story begins in ancient 85
times,and Kim Shin, the main character, is an unbeatable general in wars, but the young King (Kim Min-Jae) is jealous of Kim Shin and kills him. As a result, Kim Shin becomes Dokkaebi (Goblin), and lives an immortal life. At first, he thinks that he is blessed, but he realizes that he is actually cursed.Kim Shin has waited 900 years for a human bride to end his immortal life. One night, he saves a dying pregnant woman (Park Hee-Von) who is destined to die. Meanwhile, the Grim Reaper (Lee DongWook) is unable to find the dead pregnant woman. The woman gives birth to a baby girl named Ji Eun-Tak (later played by Kim Go-Eun). 9 years later, Ji Eun-Tak lives with her aunt. Kim Shin and Ji Eun Tak eventually meets each other and it is revealed that the human bride Kim Shin was waiting for was Ji Eun Tak. In addition, k-drama, named, ‘슬기로운 감방 생 활’ is drawing attention by its fresh storyline, which is a black comedy depicting the story of a famous baseball player, Kim Jae-Hyung, who becomes a criminal overnight, and living a life of a prisoner. In the 21st century, Hallyu is still the most talked-about issue in the Korean peninsula. For example, Korean government, business, mass media and academic world are competing for making the blueprint on Hallyu for the future they want. Even, president Moon Jae-in said he hopes to increase the number of Hallyu fans to 100 million in the next five years. Firstly, we should examine the possibility of Hallyu in the context of East Asian and global culture politics. The rising of Hallyu is a good lesson which shows “high stature of East Asian culture industry” in global cultural order. In this regard, Hallyu can be a successful case of cultural transformation strategy by targeting a niche market in East Asia, in accordance with cultural globalization and/or decentralization of thoroughly pro-American culture production. It’s based on the premise that the vitality and sustainability of Hallyu depend on its “attractiveness” and the “extension of East Asian networks.”
FICTION. At NLCS we not only encourage students to write argumentative essays that illustrate their opinions, but we also attempt to constantly inspire them to write creative pieces where they can write stories and poems. This section contains a short story by Jamie Soh, and it is about an old woman called Jennie. Edited by Dain Ahn who is in Year 12.
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Letting Go
Purpose of the story; The old woman Jennie likes to donate to poor people. She likes to remember things and she is good at remembering the past. She had a job like normal women and men. When time passes, we get older, get more mature and many things change. I’m Jennie and I am 98 years old. I like to write diaries and I like to remember my past days. I like to donate money and I like to help the poor or the people who d find it hard to live. Other people can’t remember as well about their past history. But I can remember well. When I was 1 year old, it was my first day to live on this earth. The time when I first woke up was 2005. 03 .05, 05:13 in the morning. After I had been born, I couldn’t hear the nurse talking but I knew that I needed to stay in the hospital for 2 days. I was wearing my clothes and I remember that I was very small. The nurses were wearing pink costumes and beside me, the nurses and the doctors were busy. During the 2 days in the hospital, the nurse helped me and she took care of me. After 2 days, I could see my parents face. My dad was quite young, as was my mom. My mom had brown and long curly hair. My dad had dark brown hair and he was tall, but not slim. Actually, my parents have passed away now as I am writing this story, but I am glad that I can bring back my memories with my dad. However, my parents took me to the house and when I went back to my house in my memory, I think I felt very new but strange. I remember lots of things when I was 8 years old and until when I was in my company. When I was 8 years old, I got bigger and I had slightly changed. For the first time ever, I went to elementary school and I met many friends. I had my first teacher. His name was Mr. Smith
JIWOO JAMIE SOH YEAR 7, Noro
and he helped me adapt to the school. Mr. Smith always wore a black suit and he always wore same black shoes. Janice was my best friend. She lived near to my house, so Janice and I went to school together every morning. Janice was a very kind and polite girl. She always helped me do my homework and she was always polite to the teachers and parents. When I was in middle school, janice and I went to different schools. I needed to let go of Janice for the rest of my life. She was kind to me and she was close to me, so it was hard to let her go. Even though I let go of Janice, I stayed in contact with her. During my middle school life, I made a new best friend called Grace. She was similar to Janice. She was kind and polite too. In my memory, I passed my middle school easily. At high school, I started to donate money to orphans and UNICEF. When I walked down a street and saw poor people who needed help, I had always given my money to them. I also had many experiences of donating money to UNICEF. The high school offered a camp to go and help kids in Malaysia. I went to that country and helped the children to develop their school. I had helped the children using my memory skills and I also told them my past stories too. Just like I went to Malaysia, I went to lots of other countries and helped lots of people. Because of my many experiences, I could go to a good company. Before I went to the company I had to let go of my best friend Grace too. I cried because I have to part from her but I had to let go. I also had to give up university and start working straight away. I wanted to do this university because I wanted to have more experience of charity in my life. During my days working at the office, I still tried to help others all the time. I got a good rank in my company because I worked hard, and I did a good job at my company. My 88
company life passed by like that and when I was 30 years old, I got married to my husband. His name is Brian and I first met him when I was 28 years old. We got married on the February 2nd in 2036. We had a baby 1 year later. When I became pregnant, it was hard. It was very painful, and I also had to do lots of things for her. My daughter's name is Rachel and she was born in 2037, 02.25, 09:30. My daughter went to elementary school, middle school, high school and university too. She spent her time as I did. After she graduated from university, she married her husband and I had let her go of her so that she could have a life with her own family. In 2062, when my daughter got married and lived separately, my husband Brian got into a big car accident and he died because of it. I had could hardly let go of my husband. It was very hard to believe, but I had to do it. I had never forgotten him and I tried to live as best I could for the rest of my life. I became a grandmother and I had let go many friends and many people who were close to me. I had remembered my best friend’s phone number. I wanted to contact them and I wanted to meet them because lots of years had passed. I hardly made contact with Grace and Janice. They changed very much and they had a family as I had. I was glad to see them and I told them what I remembered in the past and we talked about what we did in our life before. Like I did, I let go of many valued friends, people and I had let go of my age. I had changed very much then from when I was a year old, and also I had many experiences as I aged. I want to tell everyone that we need to let go of our valued things and we need to be ready to change. Letting go of things that are value is hard. Not even hard. Extremely hard. But you must let go.
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