theeye Singapore American High School
February 21, 2006 2006/Vol.25 no 6
HOME SAFE
Most return with fond memories, a few with scratches, suspensions Story by Ted Ho
Students at Thalani Primary School in Soweto, South Africa, wave goodbye to visiting SAS students. Photo by Danny Wen
For the first time in her life, junior Michelle Conway saw snow, something that she had only seen in movies. “I got to do what kids in movies get to do every winter,” Conway said of her Japan Interim adventure. “I played in snow and got into so many snowball fights. It was an amazing first-time experience.” From Jan. 21-29, Singapore American School students traveled the world, seeing more places in their four years of high school than the average American high school student will see in his or her lifetime. From the mountains of Milford Sound in New Zealand to the churches of Madrid and the savannas of Kruger National Park in South Africa, students were able to experience the culture, history and people of the 25 countries visited during interim semester. “I got to experience Maori culture in a way that I wouldn’t have if I went
Permit # MICA (P) 234/10/2005
to New Zealand with my family,” said junior Simi Oberoi, of the New Zealand Meeting of the Nations interim. “The highlight of the stay at the Maori Marae was the Hangi feast where our meal was buried and cooked in the earth for eight hours.” While Oberoi was witnessing a traditional Maori war dance during the Hangi feast, 5500 miles away, Conway was experiencing a different type of dance. “We dressed up in traditional Japanese kimonos, and then we were instructed by Japanese dance instructors,” she said. “Everything we did on the trip pertained to the culture of Japan. We stayed at traditional hotels, ate Japanese food throughout the trip and were given free time to immerse ourselves in the Japanese culture.” Conway also felt that having to stay with the group in the foreign culture of Japan helped them form astrong bonds. “Because we were the odd ones out in Japan, it forced us to stick together and bond,” Conway said. European trips such as France Spain, Russia, Turkey and the Greek Odyssey emphasized not only the cultural but also the historical environment of the place. Students spend more time visiting museums
and historical buildings. Some wanted more than they got. On the Russia trip, senior Naren Sridhar voiced his dissatisfaction with his trip’s itinerary. “We would only stop and take pictures of those places and not actually go inside the historical attractions. I really wanted to see the interior of the Church of the Spilt Blood, but we were only able to take photos,” Sridhar said. On the same trip, students attended a Russian hockey game, a distinctly local experience. The group arrived late and found their reserved seats taken by a group of Russian hockey fans. “Mr. Page had to kick 20 Russian men out of our seats,” Sridhar said. “Some of them willingly left, but others got mad that Mr. Page made them move.” Trips such as the Milford Trek and Ladakh focused more on physical activity than visiting tourist attractions. “The whole trip itself was an amazing bonding experience,” sophomore Belal Hakim said of the Milford Trek. “It reinforced everything that an interim trip should, such as adaptability, dependability, and responsibility.” Hakim participated in a four-
day hike over 33 miles of terrain in the Fjordland National Park of New Zealand during his experience. Some trips such as the Turkey: Istanbul and Beyond trip were able to experience a little bit of everything. “We got to visit a lot of Roman ruins like Pergammon and Ephesus; we learned how to haggle properly at the Grand Bazaar, and some people even went snowboarding one day,” senior Leslie Lim said. The students were snowed in at a hotel for two nights as a blizzard passed through the area and spent a relaxing day lounging by the pool, exploring the hotel, or just hanging out in rooms. “One of the funniest and most exciting parts of our trip when we got snowed in, because it turned out to be one of the most relaxing times of our trip,” Lim said. “Because we missed both Gallipoli and Troy, our school compensated for those activities by letting us have full-body massages, which I really enjoyed.” Although most interim trips were hassle-free for the students, some trips were faced with some unexpected problems and interesting encounters. “Our rafting company told us to stay away from the hippos,” senior David Lee, a student on the Kruger National Park, South Africa interim,
said. “A hippo appeared out of nowhere and lunged at Mr. Melsom, because the hippo was trying to protect her child. Hippos and water buffalo are the two of the most dangerous animals of South Africa, because when they lunge at you they are really trying to attack you.” There was unexpected adventure on the Thailand: Sea Kayaking trip when sponsors discovered six students had been drinking in the restaurant where they sometimes ate dinner. The students, a mixture of freshmen, sophomores and one junior, were given three days of outof-school suspension and lost their 2006 interim travel privileges. Hakim, was involved in a less serious incident when he was stopped by airport security screeners. He forgot that he was carrying a knife in a concealed pocket of his jacket when he boarded a domestic flight in New Zealand. . “I went through the metal detector and the security screener asked, ‘Sir we would like to have a word with you’,” Hakim said, “Then I asked him, ‘is there a problem officer?’ and he replied ‘Yes, there’s a knife in your jacket.’” The problem was solved when security allowed him to move the knife to his checked baggage.
2 news
February 21, 2006
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the Eye
More on Interim Trips
Students question whether too much free time, too little work on some trips
SNOWED IN. Students in Turkey use their free time to play in the snow while the itinerary is on hold during a snowstorm. The group spent an extra day in a hotel, waiting for the roads to open so they could continue on the planned trip after skipping a few destinations. Photo by Rachel Spencer
By Ravindran Shanmugam A sailing trip that escaped the curse of gales and a Ladakh experience that avoided a premature snowy end were only two of the success stories on this year’s interim semester. It was not an unqualified success. There were complaints about inconsistencies in work assigned and levels of supervision. Sophomore Byron Barett, said that while his Cycling in Australia trip had a “tolerable workload,” he recognised that on other trips sponsors assigned differing amounts of work. He said that some students felt hopelessly overburdened while others relished the break from homework that interim entailed. Barett argued that the academic assignments should not depend on the sponsors’ philosophies. Sophomore Ben Lewis agreed. He said that while it was true that “trips are vastly different,” greater consistency in workloads is needed. “Whatever trip I go on, I need to do research, whether it is golfing or sightseeing in Europe,” Lewis said. “If people are going to do something, then they need to research on how to do it.” Social Studies teacher Bill Rives, who led the Habitat for Humanity trip, disagrees. Rives
said that because of the number of choices students have, consistency is unnecessary. He said that students can choose their trips and sponsors depending on how much work they are prepared to do. Senior Eric Schmidt said that, more than choosing trips, “students sign up fvvor sponsors.” He contends that students know what they are getting into, and should not turn around and grouse “about the choice they made.” Bill Rives pointed out that on some trips, such as his, there was a large physical component, which could be taken in lieu of heavy academic work. He said that on the more culturally oriented trips, there was minimal physical work, and that was then replaced by a greater number of academic assignments. Rives said it all depends on a given trip’s objectives and pointed to his primary aim, namely “to involve students in hands-on, grass-roots, house-building work,” which is very different from that of a cultural trip. He said that this discrepancy rendered consistency impossible. Sophomore Jun Yul Choi said that consistency in requirements would ensure that all the students who go overseas would have a similar amount of free time, which would help sponsors on the issue of supervision.
Sponsors’ authority over their charges is more limited than that of parents. This autonomy is sometimes abused by students. On the Thailand Sea Kayaking trip, five students were caught smoking and drinking. The trip, co-sponsored by social studies teacher Dave O’Connell and substitute teacher Travis Clemens, was the only one on which students were caught openly flouting the rules. Clemens, a former SAS student (’97), replaced social studies teacher Patrick Hopkins who flew to the U.S. when his father was injured in a traffic accident. On the Kayaking trip, the drinking occurred during students’ free time. The students had two to three free hours directly before dinner and another two after their meal. Clemens said that his inexperience was a contributing factor in the students’ transgressions. When he discovered the room, which he suspected students were using as their sanctuary, he knocked and the students did not open the door. Clemens said that although he was sure there were students inside the room, he did not persist in trying to gain entrance. Having never been faced by such a situation before, Clemens chose what he described as “not the best course of action.” The Sea Kayaking trip was not the only one where the issue of
supervision was highlighted. One girl said she was “mildly shocked” when her sponsors let her out after dark in a large city, without any maps or directions, as long as the students went in pairs and returned in a couple of hours. Although she did not expect “to be babysat,” she felt that an unreasonable risk was taken. Patricia Kuester, who cosponsored the Greece trip, echoed Rives in saying that it is hard to set clear guidelines when “trips are so different.” She pointed out that for cultural trips like hers there would be no way one could “make sense of architecture unless research is done.” She said that students have a choice between “physical and intellectual trips,” with different skills learned. While Kuesgter assigned research before the trip, students benefited from it. Kuester also said that sponsors need to be responsible in their supervision, keeping an eye on kids all the time. Rives described Interim Semester as “one of the premier academic experiences in the world,” and contended that while there are blots on its record, such as this years Sea Kayaking trip, “one or two squeaky wheels should not have all the oil.” He added, however, that one transgression was “one too many.”
SAS graduate Kendra Payne (‘02) dies in cycling accident By Amber Bang Former SAS student Kendra Payne (‘02) died on Jan. 11 in Santa Barbara, California in a cycling accident. A three-season star athlete at SAS, Payne was captain and a four-year varsity athlete of the girls’ swimming and track & field teams, as well as a varsity girls’ crosscountry runner. Payne, 21, was a senior at the University of California Santa Barbara, where she was an aquatic biology major and an accomplished athlete. Her former SAS teachers described her as caring and vivacious. She was described as an
energetic person, full of ‘joie de vivre,’ always with a smile on her face. “She loved the challenge of competition. She was determined to be the best she could be at all she attempted,” track and field coach Jim Baker said. She ran track and became involved in triathlon competitions while in California. SAS biology teacher Kim Melsom, the mother of Payne’s best friend, Jenny Melsom (‘02), remembered one such story of Payne’s risk-taking endeavors. “Kendra wanted [to run the
400m hurdles], and like everything Kendra pursued, she did well,” Melsom said. “It is a rare individual who would want to run this event, much less do it well. Tough race for a tough lady.” Payne still holds the school record for the 400m hurdles, as well as the 200m and 400m relay races. “She firmly believed that each moment was a gift, and she lived her life to the fullest because of that belief,” Melsom said. She continued life with this competitive drive, as she and three friends were mountain biking on the morning of Jan. 11, when a three-
Varsity rugby players busted during Tiger time By Michelle Lee After a Friday rugby practice three varsity rugby players drinking Tiger beers at the Woodlands S-11 stalls noticed High School Principal Paul Chmelik eating dinner three tables away. They did the only thing they could think of: they ran. On the Monday following the incident, Chmelik invited the three athletes to a meeting with athletic directors Mimi Molchan and Brian Combs. Later, their parents and coach Cam McNicol were informed and McNicol told the players that they were not allowed to play in games or wear their rugby jerseys on game day during for one week. The students, two juniors and one senior, signed an athletics contract and their coach’s policy at the beginning of second sports season. The contracts stated that alcohol, tobacco and drug use were forbidden during that season. It also warned that coaches would penalize infractions of the rules. Varsity Boys’ Rugby coach Cam McNicol, stated in his written policy that any member of the team who is determined to have participated in smoking or drinking alcohol during the season might be suspended from participation for one week for a first time violation. A second infraction results in the athlete’s removal from the team. Each coach’s policy on infractions differs. Some coaches find the punishments too lenient. Boys’ varsity soccer coach Tim Zitur’s current policy implements a two-week ban on competition for the first infraction. “Two years ago they would have at least lost the season,” Zitur said. Varsity Track and Field coach Jim Baker thinks the punishment should be stiffer. Baker said that he would not allow his athletes to participate in IASAS if they violated their contract. The IASAS tournament rules, revised two years ago are more lenient than the ones they replaced. Instead of an automatic expulsion from all extra-curricular activities for a full calendar year, it imposes a 40-day period ban on extra curricular activities and a 20-day revocation of free periods and breaks.
axle trailer truck carrying asphalt passed by them. Payne was trailing behind her friends when a second truck came up behind her on the 14foot wide road. According to the Daily Nexus, UCSB’s student newspaper, the space between Payne and the truck narrowed to one foot, and Payne lost control of her bicycle. She was run over by the trailer’s rear tires, and was pronounced dead at 11:52 a.m., two hours after the accident. Rick Silverman, one of Payne’s former teachers, characterized her SENIOR PORTRAIT. As a student at SAS, as “unpretentious - a very natural Payne was a varsity athlete and still holds records in swimming and track and field person.”
the Eye
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February 21, 2006
news 3
Quibe the parrot, a middle school icon, dies
Freshman Spencer Anderson tries to generate interest in the Darfur crisis during Spaker’s Corner Jan. 20.The turnout for both audience and speakers was one of the smallest so far this year. Photo By Laura Imkamp
Speaker’s Corner tries new angle with debate about Darfur crisis By Rhoda Severino “This is not a nightmare. This is Darfur.” This was the message that Peace Initiative tried to get across at the Jan. 20 Speaker’s Corner on the humanitarian crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan. Peace Initiative’s Action committee tried something new by making Speaker’s Corner’s goal awareness about a certain issue instead of merely trying to get the school body to voice their opinions. “We felt that the issue wasn’t getting enough attention so we decided to try it,” Peace Initiative officer Daksha Rajagopalan said. Speaker’s Corner had an usually small audience during the first segment, because of a time conflict with the Honor Roll brunch. The discussion really started heating up when a debate started between sophomore Evan Edmond and junior Sean McCabe on the merits of the United States’ policy on Darfur. “We’re trying to broker relationships with the Sudanese government,” McCabe said.
“We can’t openly declare it to be genocide.” Rajagopalan corrected McCabe, saying that U.S. President Bush had already declared the situation in Darfur to be genocide. Edmond expressed skepticism that this mattered in the big picture at all. “Who listens to Bush? He also said Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction,” Edmond said. Rajagopalan and Peace Initiative vice-president Rachel Witt asked the audience why they thought that the situation in Darfur had gotten worse so quickly. Sophomore Evelyn Lo said that the media is guilty of downplaying the gravity of the problem. “The way that people project information is that it’s all happening far away,” Lo said. “It’s all aloof, apathetic watching.” Freshman Spencer Anderson said that the problem lies in where Darfur is more than who the people are. “Is the world discriminating racially and religiously? It’s probably more about where it is than who’s involved,” Anderson said. “People believe Africa can’t be fixed.”
TOT
Wasosky’s Beetle crushed by tree tree Wasosky’s bug crushed by falling TOTAL LOSS. High school art teacher Kathy Wasosky’s Volkswagen Beetle was smashed by a falling tree on Christmas Eve. Wasosky was visiting a friend’s home and during a rainstorm that night, a tree fell on her second-hand Beetle, worth $58,000. “All I saw was all this green with this yellow beneath it! My Beetle is now a convertible,” Wasosky said. At the moment, Wasosky has no plans of buying a new car even though her bug was insured. Reporting By Nicole Liew
Witt also questioned the internatinoal labeling of the conflict in Darfur as genocide. “Is what is happening in Darfur genocide?” she asked. “Or is it really just a civil war?” While discussing possible solutions to the crisis, McCabe voiced his support of more effective action. “The US needs to take serious military action. This isn’t even about aid anymore. This is about stopping people killing other people,” he said. Witt disagreed, saying that aid needs to continue but it also needs to be better managed. “Aid is coming to Sudan but it’s not reaching the people who need it the most,” she said. What all the speakers’ opinions had in common was that immediate action is needed to stop the situation in Darfur from escalating further. “Something had to be done about the Holocaust. Something had to be done about Pol Pot in Cambodia,” Anderson said. “Something has to be done.”
STRESS LINK:
By Catherine Ward Before winter break and around the time of semester exams, more than the usual number of high school students reported to the nurses’ office with stress-related physical ailments. “Almost every student we saw was for stress-related symptoms,” school nurse Shelly Donahue said. Symptoms of stress include inability to focus, irritability, headaches, stomachaches, anxiety and insomnia. When students report to the nurses’ office with symptoms such as a headache, nurses ask students if they think their headache is due to stress or because they are coming down with something. During those periods, most students responded that stress was the main factor. Nurses also ask most students to rate their stress on a scale of one to
online what could have happened to By Joseph Sarreal For the last 13 years, Quibe Miller the bird. They suspected that Quibe’s attended classes in middle school. death was related to her diet. Quibe was well fed, but she ate Quibe was not a student repeatedly held back, but middle school “too much butter” and spaghetti. The teachers’ Chip and Patty Miller’s Millers came to the conclusion that parrot. This December, Quibe died a Quibe had probably died from a heart attack. Since the Hispaniolan Amazon month before her 15th birthday. has a normal life The Millers span of more first encountered than 50 years , Quibe in January Quibe’s death 1991, while was unexpected. teaching in the The Millers had Dominican antcipated that Republic. A child quibe would offered them outlive them and the bird, which had included her was stuffed in in their will (a a little box and common practice in poor physical among parrot condition. The owners). Millers nursed With Quibe’s Qube back to death, Chip health and Esquivocado “Quibe” Miller Miller recalled brought her the effects of with them the bird on his whetn they students. moved to “ K i d s Singapore absolutely loved 13 years her and came in ago. While every day [to popularly visit her]. She known as made a lot of Quibe, her people happy,” real name was he said. Equivocado J u n i o r and she was a Simi Oberoi Hispaniolan remembered Amazon. Quibe as a On Dec. “welcome 14, the Millers Above: Chip Miller with Quibe, who died distraction in hosted a party. unexpectedly on Dec. 14. Chip Miller said that he put Quibe, class.” “[Quibe] was a bird sitting in the in her cage, outside about 3 p.m., a classroom that squawked once in a daily routine. “When she wants to come while, and, as 6th graders, we dug in, she squawks. But she never it,” Oberoi said. With Quibe’s death, Oberoi squawked,” Miller said. The Millers found Quibe dead at the bottom of remembered what the bird meant to her cage after the party had ended. her. “Quibe was my first real Initially, they considered having an autopsy performed on the bird to experience with a bird up close and determine the possible cause of her as a sixth grader, I thought it was the death. Instead, they chose to research most awesome thing on earth,”
Nurses’ Office records higher incidence of students with headaches, ulcers during exams ten, one being no stress and ten being very high. Donahue said the most common response is seven or eight. “When you start having physical symptoms - when it’s starting to make you sick mentally and physically - it’s not healthy,” Donahue said. Out of all the students with stress-related symptoms, five were diagnosed with stomach ulcers. Such ulcers can be caused by an increase in stomach acid that erodes the stomach lining. Some students said that while they were stressed more during the end of the semester and exam times, the culture of SAS is stressful yearround. “Everybody’s so used to being stressed out, so it’s just kind of accepted,” sophomore Brit Hvide said. “I just think it’s regular for us to be stressed out.”
Although some teachers believe that stress is not a problem at SAS, others acknowledge the high amount of stress, but said they do not attempt to alleviate the pressure on students. While some teachers might understand the amount of stress students here deal with, fast-paced curriculums and tight schedules often make it difficult to alter the trend. In the past, teachers have criticized The Eye for exaggerating the severity of the stress issue at SAS, but the emotional and physical symptoms students have reported may be partial proof that stress levels might be linked to school-related pressures “I think that the stress level is moderately high here,” Donahue said. “For some reason this school is much more stressful.”
4 op / ed staff editorial
A beer! A beer! My interim for a beer!
When kids can’t go a week without alcohol, something is wrong. When sponsors treat supervision like a 9 to 5 job and they stop caring where the kids are after 5, something is wrong. When students break the rules during their free time, everybody suffers. When interim becomes nothing more than a vacation, without academic requirements, the original intent of the program is lost. Let’s face it: it’s easy to drink on interim. Alone in hotel rooms, or sneaking out while the sponsors sleep, students are tempted by the bottle. Many people consider drinking an underclassman problem, but don’t be fooled by the disproportionate number of underclassmen caught drinking. Though drinking is not confined to a particular grade, underclassmen are getting caught because they haven’t figured out how to drink discreetly. Instead of chilling with weekend friends like Jack Daniels and Jose Cuervo, students should do something they can’t do on Mohammed Sultan on a Saturday night. Go to a café, a Turkish bath or even a hot spring. Students often complain that Singapore is boring. Interim allows them to explore and try new things, drinking not included. While Europe’s historic beer halls and clubs are renowned and certainly culturally significant, they are not part of the itinerary. Temptation abounds, especially where drinking opportunities arise; and those opportunities often come about when supervision is lax. Most trips allow free time, when it is not unusual for sponsors to leave
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their charges unattended for long hours. In fact, this is a very important component, which has been spoiled by a few. Students have the chance to roam a country beyond the normally scheduled tour, experiencing things up close instead of through the bus window. But when sponsors turn in early, fail to do bed checks, and are only seen by students a couple of times a day, those few that want to bend the rules have free reign. Though last-minute deviation from the scheduled plans can be an added bonus on the trip, ignoring the itinerary altogether just defeats the purpose of interim. On one trip, students were allowed to shop at a mall and sunbathe rather than participate in what was supposed to be group activity. We’re not advocating suspending this privilege of free time. We’re calling for tight sponsor supervision. If this means that the sponsors have greater oversight to check in with their kids a little more, it would be worth it. Finally, there are trips that lack a clear academic purpose. There is a discrepancy. Many interim trips’ academic requirements include reports and presentations while other trips’ academic components are something as simple as watching a video or writing a simple, short essay. This doesn’t mean that essays and research, should be piled on, but there should be consistent academic guidelines. Interim is a privilege envied by many and enjoyed by few. Don’t turn the ultimate classroom without walls into a school vacation. Singapore American High School 40 Woodlands Street 41 Republic of Singapore 738547 Staff: (65) 6363-3404 x537 Adviser: (65) 6363-3404 x539 Fax: (65) 6363-6443 eye@sas.edu.sg
Editors-in-chief: Laura Imkamp, Alex Lloyd News editor: Joseph Sarreal, Ted Ho Op/Ed editor: Jeff Hamilton, Denise Hotta Features editor: Priyanka Dev A&E editor: Amber Bang, Rhoda Severino Sports editor: Kelsey Heiner Photo editor: Sam Lloyd Reporters: Amber Bang, Priyanka Dev, Jeff Hamilton, Kelsey Heiner, Ted Ho, Denise Hotta, Laura Imkamp, Simreen Kaur, Michelle Lee, Nicole Liew, Alex Lloyd, Sam Lloyd, Barbara Lodwick, Karan Parikh, Brian Riady Joseph Sarreal, Nicole Schmitz, Rhoda Severino, Ravi Shanmugam, Catherine Ward Adviser: Mark Clemens Assistant adviser: Judy Agusti
The Eagle Eye is the student newspaper of the Singapore American School. All opinions stated within these pages are those of their respective writers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Singapore American School, its board of governors, PTA, faculty or administration. Comments and suggestions can be sent to the Eagle Eye via the Internet at eye@sas.edu.sg. At the authorʼs request, names can be withheld from publication. Letters will be printed as completely as possible. The Eagle Eye reserves the right to edit letters for reasons of taste and space.
February 21, 2006
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the Eye
Me love you long time When I was six years old, I “first love” never truly leaves fell in love. His name was Ben you. Beer found that, contrary to Savage and he played popular belief, Cory Matthews on the the problems TV show “Boy Meets people face in World.” I was only their romantic three feet tall but I relationships was sure he was the have little one. to do with At what age can we past family properly understand difficulties. the concept of love? Instead, she Today it seems as found that it though “I love you” has more to has turned into a do with what casual phrase for transpired in many teenagers. Denise Hotta-Moung the relationship Is it possible to with that first comprehend those love. three words at a young age? Or has “Whatever happened [in the “I love you” lost all its meaning? relationship] can set [people] up “I think there are different as thinking ‘this is what I am like definitions of love,” junior Sophie as a relationship partner,’” Beer Greene said. “High school love said. can exist, but it’s a lot different The importance of first love from the love people find in may be great, but some teenagers marriages.” refer to first love in the plural, and First love plays an important this is before they’ve role in the adolescent stage of our reached the age of 18. lives. Adults laugh off teenage At what points in these love, but it is said that a first relationships did these love can serve as a foundation students know it was for what comes later in romantic love? relationships. “I knew that the University of California, feelings I was having, Berkeley, graduate student I hadn’t felt before Jennifer Beer conducted research with a simple crush,” on first loves and its influence on said junior Casey later relationships. Her research Deford, “but at the same time, you showed that after a break-up, your experience a lot of new emotions
in high school, and, most of the time, those feelings are misread.” Long distance dating is the ultimate test for whether or not a couple’s love can last. Though couples are assured they will be together forever, the physical gap tends to tear most apart. Teenagers then move on to the next relationship, leaving us to wonder where that deep love disappeared to. According to a The New York Times poll, 59 percent of Americans still think about their teenage sweetheart. However, the article “Hello, Old Love” on the American Association of Retired Persons website, states that for most married people, a ‘blast from the past’ will not result in a divorce in their current marriage. “Most of the time, if we were meant to be in each other’s lives, we would be.” psychologist David Greenfield said. “In most cases, these relationships are over for a good reason.” Some couples are not only in love, but are considering each other as their marriage partners. As ridiculous as it sounds to plan the rest of our lives at our tender age, it is what we have been doing every year. Every year, parents, counselors and teachers force us to consider what college we will go to, what we will major in, and what career we will choose. We are already planning the next 30 years of our lives. If we are allowed to consider our professional life at the mere age of 18, then we should be allowed to consider our life partners now as well. Though it is a little dangerous to finalize your decision on who you will marry, there is no harm in considering someone. Besides, marrying your high school sweetheart is not the most outrageous thing that could happen. Junior Keri Dixon’s parents met in high school and have been married for 23 years. Still, Dixon is ambivalent about long-term prospects for high school love. “My parents are proof that it’s possible to find love in high school,” Dixon said, “but realistically, most people who meet in high school won’t get married.” At our age, it is difficult to know if, 30 years from now, we will be in love with the same person. Some teenagers laugh at the idea, while others are more hopeful. It is fair to say that love can be found at any age. At the same time, we must be more cautious. We devalue the words “I love you” when we throw them around casually to anyone that we have the slightest infatuation with.
“59 percent of Americans still think about their teenage sweetheart.”
All you need is love.
by Laura Imkamp
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February 21, 2006
features 5
Lone mac joins PCs in library computer lab
Alumni scientist re-enters SAS orbit By Karan Parikh An SAS Alumnus of the Class of 1984, Hussein El-Lessy, who works for Boeing at the National Aeronautic and Space Agency (NASA), was nicknamed “NASA Man” by kids and teachers on campus. El-Lessy talked to high school students about modern science and the space program, and reminisced about old times with teachers Michael Cox and Jim Baker when he visited SAS from Jan. 16-20. “Speaking to current SAS high school students, I was able to share my experiences in the science field, especially because they showed keen interest in flight motion,” ElLessy said. “I also met up with my accelerated chemistry teacher, Mr. Cox, who was probably one of the first teachers I spoke to when I was offered the job at Boeing’s office at the NASA Space Center.”
The 35-year-old EgyptianAmerican, an “all-around science fanatic,” visited SAS with his wife and son as part of the school community’s 50th anniversary celebration. His experience in the science field is varied: he has engineered airplanes and space shuttles, and has even worked as a respiratory therapist at Cook Children’s Medical Center in Forth Worth, Texas. In addition to speaking with physics, chemistry, and relativity and quantum mechanics classes at SAS, El-Lessy conducted a presentation organized by the Singapore government at the Singapore Science Centre on Jan. 18th. “Singaporean scientists are still far from developing their own space program but they have sent many aeronautical engineers over to NASA to work on space travel and
In Our Pages...
Hussein El-Lessy signs autographs after a session with intermediate school students. El-Lessy also gave presentations to high school students. Photo by Beth Gribbon
in-flight motion” El-Lessy said. As a student, El-Lessy represented SAS at the IASAS Cultural Convention and was a long distance runner on the Cross Country and Track & Field teams. He also participated at several science fairs in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta. Away from the space center and the science labs, El-Lessy is an avid scuba diver and is an active member of the Aikido Association of America, along with his wife and son. “I have taken up different types of sports because it’s a good way to get away from work and I can spend more time with my family. At the same time I get a good workout.” Although El-Lessy ponders what he will do next with his education, his feet remain firmly planted on the ground, but says he would visit space if he had the chance.
The new Mac sits in the library computer lab, surrounded by its PC counterparts. Photo by Brian Riady.
By Barbara Lodwick It sits in the corner of the library computer lab, by itself and hardly used. Many wonder why it’s there. “It” is the Mac Computer, standing out, white against a sea of black. Privileged with MySpace, it holds many secrets that students should divulge. But some don’t know that this white mystery is, in fact, open for anyone and everyone to use as long as they find out the log in details. Some students, howeverr, may be reluctant to use the Mac. Macs have a completely different system than the Windows PCs. Control is replaced in many cases with the small apple next to the space bar, and a series of buttons will do many things that the average PC cannot. There are two Mac computers in the Library, one for “staff use” and one for students. Librarian Ron Starker said he put the Macs in the lab because they have great graphics, audio, and digital abilities. Also because many students were using the Macs in the publications and photo labs during
THE REPORTER Tuesday Forum
King’s Road Review
June 3, 1982: The Eagle Eye the eye
Canadians Contrive Crackpot Plan The following article appeared in a previous issue of The Eagle Eye, The Eye’s predecessor. It is a humorous proposal to reorganize the typical student schedule and revolutionize a typical school day at SAS. School is a learning experience. For every minute you spend in a classroom, you gain another minute of knowledge. For every minute of knowledge you gain, you are that much farther ahead when you graduate; and just that much more prepared when forced out into the ruthless world. So for your benefit, as of the 1982-83 school year, the following modifications have been made regarding your daily schedule. We believe that good organization is the way to obtaining maximum learning time. For this reason the
buses have been syncronized so that they will all arrive at the school at the same time. Students will go directly from the bus to their first period class. It has also come to our notice that the time spent riding the bus to school is the longest unproductive period in the school day. To rectify this, teachers will be stationed on each bus to start teaching the students informally, as soon as they get on the bus. Classes will be 46 minutes long, 4 minutes between each class. Skateboard and rollerskates will be allowed if the students need them to get to class in time. A portion of the stairs will be flattened to accomodate them. Students with broken or disabled legs may be allowed another thirteen seconds to get to class. Free periods will be allowed only
in special cases if a students schedule is particularly difficult. Teachers who are not teaching a class will be positioned in the student lounge, cafeteria or library to conduct spelling bees and quiz bowls for students with free periods. Students without free periods eat lunch during NC-which will be shortened to 9 minutes, and the cafeteria will be remodified with 4 serving lanes to serve precooked dinners on sturdy disposable trays. This will allow one to eat while walking to class and dispose of the tray when finished. To further save valuable time, bathrooms will be built directly outside each classroom. At the beginning of each week everyone will be given a bathroom card which entitles you to 12 one minute (or the equivalent) trips to the bathroom. You will have to give up a point
for each trip. These points will be regarded as a privilege. This means that points can be deducted if a teacher feels you deserve it. Points will be deducted if students perform poorly in the spelling bees and quiz bowls during free periods. Furthermore, a suspension will no longer be a form of punishment. Missing school is no way to punish someone; instead, a person’s bathroom card will be taken away for the appropriate period of time. The only drawback of all is we may have to raise the school tuition slightly. The teachers have rightfully asked for overtime for teaching on the bus. Also with the 46 minute periods, teachers will have taught an extra 3 hours by the end of the year, and they have demanded an appropriate pay raise. The only way to cover this would be to have a proportional increase in tuition.
their free periods when they had to get work done. The second Mac is currently not open for student use and will onl be avaliable if the first one becomes more frequented. “I wouldn’t stop students from using [the second ‘staff’ Mac], they just don’t ask.” Starker said. “ I just don’t want to [ask],” sophomore Paul Ruan said. Many students dislike Macs because their operating system is so different from that of Windows, and it takes some time to figure out how they work. “[Macs] could be better. Newer, faster, teach more students to use them properly,” junior Ee Chien Chua said. “I prefer to use the PC’s, because I have used them longer, and know how to use them better,” Chua said.
Brief
Alumni Visits for 50th Celebrations By Alex Lloyd Harvard graduate Siddharth Mohandas will be visiting classes beginning Feb. 21 as part of the Literary Week. Accompanying him will be award-winning short-story writer Brit Sonnenberg. SAS teacher Jim Baker will also be part of the week with the launch of his book “Singapore’s Eagles, a History of Singapore American School.” In March, a troupe of actors led by SAS alum Sarah Murray will work with SAS acting classes and faculty, and put on a show for the intermediate and primary schools. The troupe will also put on a performance with the help of SAS dancers. In the same week, Cheryl Quek, Class of 1998, will be working with dance students. She will help coordinate a dance performance that includes students, faculty and alums. April is designated as the closing month of the 50th Anniversary celebrations. World-famous cellist Inbal Meggido will visit SAS to perform with students. Minister Mentor Lee Kwan Yew will be speaking at the formal commemoration ceremony on April 11. On April 13, SAS’ birthday, a barbeque will be held on the stadium field, followed by fireworks and a parade.
6 arts
February 21, 2006
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the Eye
IASAS Results
NUMBER ONE:The eagles celebrate their gold medal during the pool party at the end of the meet.
Swimming in Jakarta
CATCHING UP: Freshman Kirstie Parkinson glances over at Sophomore Courtney Taylor in the 200m breaststroke.
UP FOR AIR: Senior Mark Fordney powers through towards the gold in the 100m butterfly. Photos by John Pitfield
Swimmers floating in gold Girls win eighth gold, boys win third straight gold By Alex Lloyd A narrow 25-point lead took the boys to their third straight gold this year at the IASAS swim meet in Jakarta. The margin was a little less comfortable than the 64-point lead of the year before, adding excitement to the competition overall. “It was great to have Jakarta breathing over our shoulder the whole time,” Coach Jay Kumpel said. “It made the competition so much more exciting.” Sophomore Brian Maissen agreed. “We had a lot of really close races,” Maissen said. “Jakarta swam really well.” The closeness of the boys’ scores was not paralleled in the girls swimming. The girls’ team finished first with 178 points, 78 more than
second place Jakarta International School (JIS), making it the girls’ eighth win in a row. Leading the way, senior Whitney Taylor broke IASAS records in all five of her events, two of which were relays. “The relays were really cool to watch,” freshman Mili Kale said. “They were the highlight of the meet.” The boys set records in the new 4x50m freestyle relay, an event added for this year’s IASAS tournament, and in the 4x100m medley relay. The new medley relay record was a full four seconds faster than the old IASAS record. The four members of these relay teams, seniors Mark Fordney and Brad Bordwell, and sophomores Richie Pavone and Thomas Brisson, are not returning next year, in addition to three other members of the IASAS team, a total of seven out of twelve swimmers. “We have to be concerned,” Betts said. “We’re losing four seniors and two sophomores who are IASAS record holders.”
The girls’ team, which was half freshmen, will only be losing Taylor. “We won by a ton,” Kale said. “I’m not really worried for next season.” What stood out for most swimmers this year, more than in previous years, was the way the meet was organized and run. “It seemed so much more efficiently run than in previous years,” Maissen said. “The opening and closing ceremonies were also really nice.” Bollywood dancing, traditional Indian music, and traditional Indonesian dancing greeted IASAS swimmers entering the opening and closing ceremonies of this year’s IASAS swim meet. The performance was part of an effort on JIS’s part to “bring a cultural aspect into IASAS sports,” Activities Director Steve Clarke said. “I really have to compliment JIS on an excellent meet,” Betts said. “They really did a good job.”
Young tennis team fares well in KL By Michelle Lee A hard-hitting tennis season ended with a third place finish for both the boys’ and girls’ teams. “It was a disappointment to end up third, but we all played well and I’m proud of our team,” boys’ team captain Aseem Nambiar said. New players, though inexperienced, proved to be a huge asset to the team. First doubles duo, freshman Andrew Ni and veteran junior
Shintaro Masuno, pulled through for SAS, winning all five of their matches to be the only team from SAS named as a part of the AllTournament Team. Also on the AllTournament Team were professional under-18 players from ISB and JIS. The teams placed first and second in the tournament over SAS. “JIS [Jakarta International School] and ISB [International School of Bangkok] were definitely strong teams this year, and they will
continue to be a threat in the future,” second doubles player Rachel Liou said. IASAS tennis was held in a venue half an hour away from the host school, ISKL, with bigger courts than those on school grounds. “It was a good experience for most of our underclassmen, and a good last tennis IASAS for all of the seniors,” senior Kyohei Morita said.
GIRLS
BOYS
200 Free Natty Chalermpalanaupap JIS - 2:09.52 Michelle Ong SAS- 2:15.62
200 Free David Round JIS - 1:59.96 Ritchie Pavone SAS - 2:03.28
100 Breast Kirstie Parkinson SAS - 1:20.29 Courtney Taylor SAS - 1:23.37
100 Breast Mark Fordney SAS - 1:07.28 Jonathan Yew TAS - 1:11.37
50 Fly Lindsay Borman JIS - 32.34 Katherine De La Hoz SAS - 33.00
50 Fly David Round JIS - 27.63 Jonathan Yew TAS - 28.60
100 Back Whitney Taylor SAS - 1:04.37* Lindsay Borman JIS - 1:07.31
100 Back Thomas Brisson SAS - 1:02.12 GT Go ISM - 1:02.22
400 IM Natty Chalermpalanupap JIS - 5:10.72 Jody Liu TAS- 5:41.44
400 IM Ivor Mollema JIS - 4:56.89 Kristian Danorwayan SAS - 5:14.13
200 Free Relay SAS A - 1:52.38 TAS A - 1:58.07
200 Free Relay SAS A - 1:38.81 JIS A - 1:41.06
200 IM Natty Chalermpalanupap JIS - 2:26.30* Cha Inn Moon ISM - 2:39.27
200 IM Ivor Mollema JIS - 8:48.79 Thomas Brisson SAS - 2:18.15
800 Free Joanne Round JIS - 10:06.93 Ruth Norwinda SAS - 10:20.60
800 Free Ivor Mollema JIS - 8:48.79 Will Cheng TAS - 9:10.82
200 Breast Kirstie Parkinson SAS - 2:56.16 Nicole Bryson SAS - 2:59.27
200 Breast Alex Lloyd SAS - 2:39.38 Kentaro Hosoki ISM - 2:39.38
100 Free Whitney Taylor SAS - 58.46* Cha Inn Moon ISM - 1:02.13
100 Free David Round JIS - 55.16 Ritchie Pavone SAS - 55.56
400 Medley Relay SAS A - 4:42.45* JIS A - 4:45.39
400 Medley Relay SAS A - 4:08.37* JIS A - 4:20.83
400 Free Whitney Taylor SAS - 4:28.01* Natty Chalermpalanupap JIS - 4:34.19
400 Free Ivor Mollema JIS - 4:10.44 Will Cheng TAS - 4:24.86
100 Fly Michelle Ong SAS - 1:14.21 Erin Brown ISB - 1:20.46
100 Fly Mark Fordney SAS - 1:01.16 David Round JIS - 1:01.26
200 Back Lindsay Borman JIS - 2:26.71
Natsuki Sato TAS - 2:35.26
200 Back GT Go ISM - 2:17.49 Thomas Brisson SAS - 2:20.17
50 Free Michelle Ong SAS - 28.26 Cha Inn Moon ISM - 28.57
50 Free Brad Bordwell SAS - 24.95 Ritchie Pavone SAS - 25.12
400 Free Relay SAS A - 4:16.74 JIS A - 4:22.52
400 Free Relay JIS A - 3:47.36 SAS A - 3:51.76
TEAM TOTALS 1. SAS - 178 2. JIS - 100 3. TAS - 59 4. ISM - 41 5. ISB - 34 6. ISKL - 6
TEAM TOTALS 1. SAS - 149 2. JIS - 124 3. ISM - 52 3. TAS- 52 5. ISB - 32 6. ISKL - 8
*new IASAS record
Tennis in Kuala Lumpur
GIRLS 1. JIS 2. ISB 3. SAS 4. TAS 5. ISKL 6. ISM
BOYS 1. ISB 2. JIS 3. SAS 4. ISKL 5. TAS 6. ISM
the Eye
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February 21, 2006
‘Scenes from Children of Eden’’s biblical theme well-received
sports 7
‘Eden’ rehearsals rushed but cast pulls it together
KICKED OUT OF PARADISE. “Children of Eden” cast Nathan Choe, Peter Ayer, Chelsea Curto, Penn Bullock, Christine Byrne, Eric Brisson, Priscilla Chan and Jane Hurh. Photo by Brian Riady
By Nicole Schmitz “Scenes from the Children of Eden,” this year’s student musical that ran Jan. 18-19, is based on the first book of the Bible, Genesis. Adapted from a book John Caird, the musical was written by Stephen Schwartz. The four-time Grammy and three-time Academy award winner also collaborated with composer Alan Menken on Disney’s “Pocahontas” and “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” before returning to Broadway as a composer and lyricist for “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West.”
Eden premiered in London’s West End, closing just four months after its first show. Despite its slow beginning, the show is still being performed by professional and amateur actors around the world. “We were going to do a more difficult play,” producer Nick Kreston said. The producers settled on “Children of Eden” since it was geared toward an audience of all ages, especially middle and elementary school students. Former Thespian Erin Han was on the selection committee, along
FORBIDDEN LOVE. Christine Byrne and Penn Bullock engage in an onstage kiss. Photo by Brian Riady
with drama teacher Tricia Kuester. “[Han] had a great experience with the play at a summer program and recommended it to us,” director Wera von Wulfen said. Junior Peter Ayer, who playsed Ham and is a narrator in Eden, lauds von Wulfen and musical director Christine Byrne for editing the play. “They pulled a huge all-nighter to make the changes,” he said. Originally several hours long, 18 songs of the original 37 were cut, trimming the duration of the play to one hour and 20 minutes.
Although they were working with a truncated version of the play, the cast and crew still felt rushed. “There wasn’t a lot of time to rehearse,” von Wulfen said. “Though we were right on schedule, there was less time to prepare [for the play]. We had Yuleest, Cultural Convention Drama auditions, and Winter Collage interfering with our schedules.” The cast also had the added stress of exam week. “Rehearsals were divided by Christmas break,” junior Penn Bullock said. “It was really hard to
come back after a month and have a week and a half before the actual performance.” Some of the cast felt the pressure more than others. Junior Nathan Choe, who had no acting background, said, “learning to act was hard.” “I still can’t act,” he says despite scoring the main roles of Adam and Noah in the play. Sophomore Chelsea Curto, a seasoned thespian, is amused. “At the auditions, Nathan just blew them away with his singing, but when he finished the monologue part, Nick Kreston looked at him and said ‘Try to do it with more emotion next time.’” Even with the drawbacks of lmited time and practice, the play garnered rave reviews from students and parents. “Though it was sort of religious, they did a good job of pulling it off,” junior Casey Deford said. “I really liked it. I thought it was interesting because it was different from last year’s [You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown], which was a more upbeat musical.” Not everyone was happy. Curto, a devout Christian, did not think it accurately reflected the Bible. “I even considered dropping out at one point,” Curto said. However, eventually Curto saw it as “an opportunity to get people aware of the Bible.”
Friday the 13th festival brings no ill omens aside from small audience
IPAU festival brings past, present and future to one stage
HARD CANDY. Punk rock band Suburban Candy Militia being videotaped for the Paufest DVD. Photo by Sam Lloyd
By Sam Lloyd Crawling on the stage with video cameras in hands, Independent Performing Artists (IPAU) members angled for the best shot. Shooting musicians and performers from behind, from close up and from floor level, photographers surrounded and sometimes outnumbered those on stage. Members not filming tried to liven up the crowd by dancing around while the audience chose not to respond by simply sitting back and enjoying. This was the second annual Paufest, a four-hour IPAU music festival that took place on Friday the 13th last month. Despite the ominous day chosen, IPAU sponsor
Paul Koebnick felt the show was a great success. “There were several bands that were just outstanding, and the others were excellent,” he said. If the concert had a downside, it was the small audience. Koebnick initially predicted 150 to 200 people through the course of the night, but the final count was around 100, the same number as last year. “People that were there stayed for a longer period of time, and the audience was into it,” Koebnick said. “Less people felt like more.” Koebnick also felt the event could have used more diverse club and performer participation. “I want to get more clubs involved so it becomes more of a
club party, a club event with more clubs included to sell things,” he said. “For example, I would love to be able to turn the drinks over to others, with IPAU doing just music. I’d like to keep people involved. Anything could be done; poetry could be read.” Unlike last year’s concert, this one was recorded. Junior Eric Brisson, IPAU president, was in charge of creating a Paufest DVD. “This is a showcase of what IPAU is and what we can do,” Brisson said. He acknowledged that the taping complicated everything “because we had to record everything,” using two stationary and one or more moving cameras, plus a special recorder for the music. Koebnick said the complexity of this process explained a few of the technical difficulties that occurred during the show. One complication was the length of the event. “It was originally from seven to ten but it ended up overflowing,” Brisson said. “Chmelik didn’t want kids at school after 10:30.” When the band The Flavor: Explosion! and the SAS Improv Group pulled out at the last moment, they allowed IPAU to stick to the original schedule while giving remaining bands sufficient
performance time. This also made space to delay the starter, the middle school band 3 Llalf an hour later than scheduled in order to gather a larger audience before beginning. According to Brisson, only a couple of the 25 present were non-IPAU members. As the night progressed, the audience grew. “I came here just because I like music,” sophomore Larissa Hardesty said. IPAU member Brad Kobylarz thought performances improved as the show went on. “The opening was like ‘I wanna kill myself,’” he said during the show. “It’s been bad so far but it’s gonna get better.” “It’s obvious that the bands don’t have much performing experience,” IPAU member Anit Das agreed. “That’s what IPAU is here for.” The night progressed through the crowd warm-ups of 3 lazy and Deepy&Co., the rocking beach boys of The Look out! the acoustic melodies of Doug Chu and Alex Lloyd, the alumni guitar duo of Akiko’s Son, the punk rock of Suburban Candy Militia, and the ear-bashing Slipknot-style cansmashing Oedipus. “We appeal to a lot of different genres,” Brisson said. “What I
really love about this is that we have the future, past and present of IPAU performing,” he added referring to middle school performers as well as alumni of IPAU’s past. A few complained about the quality of vocals, that the performers’ words could not be understood. Brisson explained that “you need a really expensive mixer” for this to be remedied. The bigger issue was the deficient audience size. Most band members, when questioned about the performance, quickly expressed their desire for a larger group of listeners, though the present audience made up for their size with their enthusiasm. This happened even though, according to IPAU vice-president David Lee, IPAU members accounted for 70 percent of the audience. Despite these factors, Koebnick felt Paufest was a good show. “I’m very happy with the club this year,” he said, “We did a better job on advertising, and the whole group participated.” “You know what I love about this? It’s all about having some fun. The proceeds of this just go to this – getting more equipment and stuff. It’s all about fun.”
8 sports
February 21, 2006
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the Eye
Eagles Win Double Gold in Front of Home Crowd Girls’ Basketball goes from worst to first place finish
By Kelsey Heiner The girls’ Varsity Basketball team beat Jakarta International School 53-47 in the IASAS championship game, winning their second gold medal in two years. The gold medal finish completed a comeback season that saw the team go from sixth place last year to first place this year. “We never questioned that we could win the gold,” coach Brian Combes said. SAS dominated during the round robin play finishing with an overall record of 4-1. Their only defeat came in a 40-43 loss to Jakarta during the first day of the tournament. The Eagles quickly rebounded Saturday morning and secured their spot in the final by beating the International School of Bangkok. “We knew that we had it together by the time we played Bangkok,” Combes said. “The glue and the chemistry that we had been working towards all season had finally happened. We were ready for the championship.” The final pitted the defending champions, the Jakarta Dragons, against the host school. The Lady Dragons jumped out to an early eight point lead in the first quarter, but an aggressive fullcourt press that created 21 turnovers helped the Eagles make their way back into the game. Key baskets by sophomores Babara Lodwick and junior cocaptain Cat Ward gave the Eagles a three point advantage going into half-time. Led by junior all-tournament Kelsey Heiner’s 18 points, and senior all-tournament Katie Fusco’s team high five steals, the Eagles were able to survive several momentum shifts in the second half. “We had the luxury of being able to use different combinations of players during the game,” Combes said. “We were truly a championship team.”
Boys’ Basketball wins eighth consecutive gold
CHAMPIONS: The girls’ team poses for the camera with the net after their championship victory over Jakarta.
LIFT-OFF: Sophomore Natalie Knowlton makes a shot over the reach of a TAS player in the final.
REACHING FOR THE REBOUND: Sophomore David Small snatches the ball from the reach of an opposing Manila player during the boys’ final. Photo by Laura Imkamp
Basketball in Singapore
E-E-E-A-GLES: SAS fans show their spirit along the sidelines during the girls final. Above photos by Brian Riady
GIRLS 1. SAS 2. JIS 3. TAS 4. ISM 5. ISKL 6. ISB
BOYS 1. SAS 2. ISM 3. ISB 4. ISKL 5. TAS 6. JIS
FINAL SAS 53 JIS 47
FINAL SAS 74 ISM 66
All-Tournament: Katie Fusco Kelsey Heiner Nicole Bannister
All-Tournament: David Bywater Colin Lee Ian Gillis
Mixed results for rugby teams in Taipei matches Boys win the Gold while Girls finish in fourth place By Priyanka Dev The girls’ touch team formed an Eagle tunnel, shrieking “Heeeey, heeeey baby! OOO! AHH!” while the boys, dripping with sweat, ran under. Barely an hour after losing a bronze medal in the consolation game, the girls serenaded the victorious boys. The boys’ tackle team clenched the gold at this year’s rugby IASAS with only __ returning IASAS players. The girls, stocked with 8 returning IASAS veterans, slipped to fourth
Left: Sophomore Meagan Braun celebrates a try. Right: Sophomore Bella Reid scoops up the ball while Senior Priyanka Dev heads down the field. Photos by Meghan Dwyer.
place this year after winning bronze for the past two years. “It was frustrating because we were tied with TAS for second after the round robin,” co-captain Meghan
Dwyer said. “We didn’t connect in the consolation game and lost a medal because of it.” The girls team emerged from the round robin with a 3-1-1 record,
losing only to the home team, TAS Tigers. The team was defeated 2-0 by the JIS Dragons in the consolation game. Senior Katie Crocker added the team played well for most of the tournament despite this loss. “Touch games are so short in length, anything can happen,” she said. “One moment, we were on a high from all our wins, and the next, we were crying after our costly loss against JIS.” The boys emerged from their round robin with a 4-1-0 record and beat the ISB Panthers in the championship game, 31-10. “We had our best games of the season at IASAS,” senior captain Scott West said. “We played with a lot of heart more than anything else.”
By Kelsey Heiner The boys’ Varsity Basketball team won their eighth consecutive gold medal, beating the International School of Manila 74-66 in front of a boisterous home crowd. After graduating five seniors last year, the boys’ team returned to IASAS determined to continue their dominant winning streak. “We knew what our competition was going to be like because Manila had four returning starters,” Alltournament senior captain David Bywater said. “We knew it was going to be tough.” The win avenged the Eagles earlier loss to Manila in round robin play. “The loss was frustrating, but we knew we were going to probably see them in the final,” Bywater said. Besides the loss to Manila, the Eagles breezed through round robin play - winning by an average of 33 points. The final pitted the sharp shooting Bearcats against the well-balanced Eagles team. The Bearcats jumped out to an early lead and maintained a three point advantage at the beginning of the fourth quarter. “Our game plan was to give them only one shot with a hand in their face,” Bywater added. After a timeout was called, the Eagles rebounded to go up by eight points with less than two minutes remaining. Crucial free throw shots by junior Clay Crawford sealed the victory and the Eagles went on to win by eight points. “With our backs against the wall we were able to overcome the obstacles and keep the legacy of Eagle basketball intact,” Bywater concluded.
Rugby in Taipei BOYS 1. SAS 2. ISB 3. JIS 4. ISKL 5. ISM 6. TAS
GIRLS 1. ISB 2. TAS 3. JIS 4. SAS 5. ISM 6. ISKL
FINAL CONSOLATION SAS 31 - ISB 10 SAS 0 - JIS 2 All-Tournament: Braden Betts Adam Anderson Paul Charbonnet David McNicol
All-Tournament: Sara Calvert