The Eye May 22, 2009

the eye Singapore American High School

May 22, 2009 / Vol. 28 No. 7

Swine flu threat real as first cases reported across causeway Story by Melissa Huston

On April 29, the Egyptian government ordered the slaughter of 300,000 pigs in the predominately Muslim country. Hordes of upset farmers

blocked the roads and pathways to their pig farms in a last-ditch attempt to save their life’s business, pig farming, from the trucks and bulldozers that came to slaughter their only source of income.

In Mexico, officials recommended to the public that kissing, hugging or giving handshakes should be kept at a minimum and preferably not done in public. Both drastic and mild measures were attempted to defend against the unpredictable H1N1 virus. (inside) Posed photo by Danielle Courtenay

MICA (P) 211/10/2008

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Dec. 16, 2008

Swine flu threat: real or panic?

Continued from page 1

Although the H1N1 virus has been nicknamed the “swine flu,” the World Health Organization was quick to reveal the label as a misnomer: pigs are not at fault for the spread of the virus and the new strain of subtype H1N1 (swine flu) has not previously been reported in pigs. Instead the pigs are known to be a host where influenza strains from humans, birds and pigs can intermingle and exchange genes to create potentially dangerous new strains and, in rare cases, can pass from pigs to the humans who work closely with them.

“H1N1 right now doesn’t seem to be deadly or as virulent has other viruses like SARS,” Environmental Science teacher Martha Began said.

“But it can become more so if it is transferred back into the pig and makes the pig sick. Then it could mutate in the pigs, go back to the humans and that strain, whatever it might be, is the scary part.”

According to the WHO, the swine influenza is endemic among pig populations in America. Fiftyone percent of pigs in North America have had swine influenza, a similar strain to the one affecting humans in this swine flu outbreak. Out of angst and misguided beliefs, the blame for the outbreak has fallen on pigs.

On the same day that Egypt

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began slaughtering their pigs, Jordan first. ordered the country’s five pig farms It may not have hit Singapore’s shut down. The decision to kill half shores yet, but one major worry the pigs while relocating the rest to Singapore government officials have places away from the majority of is that the local community could the population was considered an potentially underestimate efforts to ‘appropriate’ approach to dealing confine swine flu. After the SARS with the recent threat of swine flu.

Epidemic, Singapore was given high Among the flurry of panic, marks for its successful fight against Singaporeans the deadly virus and the SAS and officials community promised the have remained general public relatively that they are untouched, yet ready to fight outside this against the swine isolated bubble flu. the swine flu Even though continues to the swine flu has spread. been confirmed From April in Malaysia, just 28 to May 16, 20 minutes away a period of 18 from the SAS days, there campus, most have been 73 feel a sense of deaths globally security buffered and confirmed

by Singapore’s cases in 34 highly-acclaimed countries. emergency Between May response system.

Martha Began 15 and 16, in “I feel pretty AP Environmental Sciences just 24 hours, cavalier right the number now,” Began said. of confirmed “It seems like it’s cases rose to 1,023 individuals, so far away and that it won’t affect bringing the total number of us because it’s not here right now.” confirmed cases as of May 16 to However, with the flu that has 7,520 individuals in 34 countries. On been going around the school, some May 16, Malaysia officially reported first worried that their symptoms its second confirmed case of swine were more than that of the typical flu one day after it confirmed its cold.

“

I feel pretty cavalier right now. It seems like it’s so far away and that it won’t affect us because it’s not here

right now.

Getting the last word Priscilla Chan and Mark Guggisberg to speak at graduation

By Hee Soo Chung Students paced back and forth outside the class, waiting their turn to audition as a graduation speaker.

“I was really nervous, but at the same time, I was thinking, ‘I’ve done what I can and what happens, happens,” senior Nihal Varkey said.

Graduation speaker auditions took place March 18-19 with 14 seniors speaking in front of Senior Council officers and sponsors Ursula Pong and Nanette Ruhter.

“We judged the speakers based on categories like delivery, content and ideas,” Senior Council Vice President Michael Jeong said. “It was important for their speeches to be representative of everyone.”

On April 15, Senior Council members settled on Priscilla Chan as the graduation speaker.

“I never imagined that I would be chosen,” Chan said. “There were so many good speakers and a lot of competition.”

Chan said that she wanted to be the graduation speaker because it would be an “incredible experience.”

Before writing her graduation speech, Chan watched YouTube videos of graduation speeches for inspiration. She said the speeches last year were too impersonal.

“I didn’t want anything too formal or detached,” Chan said. “I looked back on something that unites our class and connects us all. I hope I can leave everyone a great feeling and touch them individually.”

Seniors chose Mark Guggisberg as the teacher-speaker at graduation.

“I felt honored and surprised

”

“I seriously was freaking out,” junior Erika Farias said. “I had at least half of the symptoms that they said to watch out for, so I went to Azizah because I thought I should go home. She sent me to the nurse who told me I didn’t even have a fever and said I had to calm down and go back to class.”

As the flu continues to spread across the globe, what people want to know is if Singapore will become a battlefield between advanced medicine and the virus. Began, along with others, believes that because Singapore is such a huge hub for trade and transport there is a good chance that the virus will reach its shores. The Ministry of Health (MOH) says that it is only a matter of time before Singapore will see its first H1N1 case.

As WHO reviews a possible vaccine for the H1N1 virus, Singapore has set up infrared cameras and temperature-scanning machines in major places across the island. MOH has lowered the Disease Response Outbreak System, a similar classification procedure to the WHO’s 6-level alert system, from Orange to Yellow. This phase is second lowest in a 5-level alert system. The government has also lifted the Home Quarantine Order on travelers coming from Mexico.

“Singapore will be strictly governing what will happen in the next couple of weeks,” Began said.

“It will definitely react quickly and efficiently against the virus.”

CORECTIONS In our last issue, reporter Steffi Lee wrote that the “Bang Bang Your Dead” play was student lead. However, the entire play was directed by drama teacher Tracey Meyer.

It was also written that the play took “weeks and weeks” of approval on vice principal Doug Neihart’s part, but it only took eight days.

The character ‘Josh’ in the play is also not ‘insane’ as described by the article.

The Eye would like to apologize to Tracy Meyer for misunderstandings caused before the preview of the play.

In the article “A Cardinal Decision” by reporter Jenny Park, Stanford University university was inaccurately referred to as an Ivy League. Stanford, like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is not part of that group.

2009 Homecoming to increase in scale, competition (letter edited for length)

On a high note: Senior Priscilla Chan, who played Gerrude in “Seussical”, was chosen as the graduation speaker. Mark Guggisberg was chosen as the teacherspeaker.

because I was chosen as a speaker three years ago,” Guggisberg said.

“I love this senior class and I know them better outside school because of my son.”

He said that writing his speech is an “enormous amount of work” and that he would not have taken on this task if it wasn’t for his son, senior Wyatt Guggisberg.

“I rewrote my speech ten times last time,” Guggisberg said. “It kept me up a lot of nights.”

Currently writing the third draft of his speech, Guggisberg said that he is having difficulties injecting humor.

“My speech is what the senior class need to hear from a teacher’s perspective,” Guggisberg said. “I don’t want them to boo me.” chung.eye@gmail.com

by Steffi Lee With summer just around the corner it seems a little early to talk about Homecoming 2009, but the recently elected Executive Council is doing just that.

“We recently had a meeting about next year’s Homecoming,” Junior Treasurer and next year’s Executive President Lauren Felice said.

They have been going more indepth with the planning. Homecoming, which first premiered two years ago, is an all-ages event intended to unify members of the school for one night. The central event of Homecoming is the sports match. The previous two homecomings have been centered around boys’ basketball one year and SACAC football the next. This year executive council scheduled next year’s homecoming

around matches with the International School of Kuala Lumpur during an already scheduled exchange on September 4.

“We are doing homecoming a bit earlier than usual, around the third week of school,” Felice said. “It’s because there’s an exchange that’s supposed to be held here around that time, and matches are already scheduled for both girls’ and boys’ teams.”

As opposed to last year’s football game, which divided the loyalties of the student body because SAS students played on opposing sides, the soccer matches against ISKL, an IASAS school that SAS regularly competes with, will bring out more competition and involvement from the students.

“I definitely hope for a huge increase in spirit,” Felice said. “I think

people will start to take it more seriously, but then again you want it to be a fun event in the long run.”

While the soccer matches are being played out on the main stadium field, booths will be set up for food, games and other activities on the back fields. There will also be chances to win prizes in lottery raffles and the traditional Homecoming court will be crowned during the event.

“It’ll be at the same venue as last year, on the stadium field,” Felice said. “StuCo is really looking forward to it because it’s one of our biggest events and part of tradition building.”

“We just hope to have an event for everyone at SAS to come together in a fun way,” Felice said. “We hope to continue and make it bigger than it already is.”

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Dec. 16, 2008

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Domestic helpers reveal woes about life in Singapore Mixed experiences recounted by maids bring into question their treatment, abuses by their employers

the Philippines,’ and I cry when she

by Maria Lloyd Every Sunday afternoon, Or- says that to me.”

There are plenty of dangers in chard Road is packed with Singapore’s maids, sometimes called working as maid. The trip back home helpers. The sidewalk of the Tangs is costly and maids who lose their building is lined with chatting wom- jobs have limited time to find a new en, and Lucky Plaza is packed with one in Singapore. Many maids who Filipino workers talking in different are abused choose to suffer rather dialects, at least 80 percent of them than face returning to the Philippines young women. It is the one time of jobless. Common abuses by employthe week when maids get a chance ers include cigarette burns, beatings, sleep deprivato be visible and tion and starvaloud. Rarely are tion. Pamittan a maid’s thoughts One time, they only had told the story and dreams heard. two eggs to feed the entire of a friend who “We come here family for a day. She ran ran away from to work for a green her employer to away to the Philippine pasture,” Filipina the Philippines Mel Chora PamitEmbasssy.

Embassy betan said.“We’re cause they were looking for a good Mel Chora Pamittan barely feeding living in order to her. support our fami“My friend worked for a poor lies and for our daily living, to have family in an HDB flat. She was very food.”

Most maids come to Singapore underfed,” Pamittan said. One time, to support families back home and they only had two eggs to feed the pay for the education of children, entire family for a day. She ran away brothers, sisters, nephews and niec- to the Philippine Embassy. A lot [of es. Shirlyn Padilla, who has worked maids] don’t get fed and must run.”

Padilla said that she had two bad in Singapore for 15 years, said that there’s no choice between working experiences with employers, but left in Singapore and staying in the Phil- the jobs soon after she was hired.

“I worked with an Indian family ippines.

“We Filipinos have this culture for 25 days. They didn’t let me sleep that you need to help one another, properly. After work at home I had even if you still have to take care of to go to the grandmother’s house and clean for her. I would get to sleep at your family,” Padilla said.

Pamittan paid for the university 2:30am and wakeup at 5:00am. After education of her nieces and nephews 25 days, I couldn’t take it any more. by working as a maid in Singapore. I called Mrs. Cecelia Ong and asked She originally attended a missionary her what to do. She took me back to work for her.” school and did misThe second sionary work sponA relationship here is only experience was sored by an Ameria pastime because we with an Austracan family. When lian and Britthe family moved are different races. ish couple who back to America, didn’t feed her she gave up her edHazel Navidad enough.

She ucation and came to didn’t get along work in Singapore.

“I would be a Christian teacher at with them and agreed to leave.

“It’s more important to have a a Bible school, “ Pamittan said. “In one way I regret [giving up my edu- good employer than get a good salcation], but I’m glad I came, other- ary. If you have a bad employer, you wise I would not be able to give edu- are so miserable,” said Padilla.

Romantic relationships in Sincation to my nieces and nephews.”

Pamittan has worked in Sin- gapore are superficial at best. Many gapore as a domestic helper for 37 maids said that they choose not to years. For the first 18, she worked for be involved with men. The maids Cecelia Ong and her husband. She that said they were carrying on a relationship while working as a maid talked of the children she raised.

“The daughter is very helpful to had mostly bad experiences. Lorna me now. She gives me money for Rosquetta said that her husband marfood. She told me, ‘Mel, We grew up ried another woman several years like this because of you and we love after she began working in Singayou even though you will go back to pore leaving her two children with

“

”

“

”

Maids in Singapore rarely have the chance to take days off, and when they do, they patronize common meeting places like Lucky Plaza and Far East Mall, visiting banks, clothing stores and parks.

Photo by Maria Lloyd

his mother. Another Filipina maid, Hazel Navidad, was involved in a relationship for several months, but does not have a positive outlook on keeping a boyfriend in Singapore.

“For me a relationship here is only a pastime because we are different races. It’s not like [a relationship with a Filipino] where you can express your feelings and understand him,” she said.

Only one woman said that she felt good about her relationship. Glory Montoy plans to go back to the Philippines to marry her boyfriend of four years. She has been working in Singapore so that they can afford a plot of land to live on.

The maids’ impact on the genera-

tion of children they have raised is often underappreciated. For many children, domestic helpers become a surrogate parent. Pamittan spoke sadly of the conflict caused by her close relationship with her employers’ children.

“The mother is very jealous of me because the children love me more than her. If the mother says something bad about me, they would speak back to their parents, and ask her, ‘Where were you when we needed a mother?’ no matter how much I told them not to talk back to her parents,” Pamittan said.

Future plans among domestic helpers are as different as the people themselves. Rosqueta doesn’t ex-

pect to see her children again any time soon.

“In my case, I must work until my kids finish study. I must work hard or I don’t know what will happen to my kids,” Rosqueta said.

Rosqueta, who has been working in Singapore for 15 years, is a single mother supporting her two children going to school in Indonesia. Her husband married another woman after she left her job in Malaysia and her children, 11 and 13 years old, now live with her mother-in-law.

One maid said hoped to travel the world. She will soon move to a job as a maid in Europe, but hopes to study teaching.

English teacher leaves to pursue studies after 11 years at SAS

“

I loved her. She

actually took the time to always comment on our writing.

Photo by Kenny Evans

”

Kathryn Tinker, junior

by Caroline Hui English 9 and American Studies teacher Stacy Jensen could very well have been a sciene teacher.

“When I graduated from high school, I knew I wanted to be a teacher,” she said. “I loved the humanties, but I also found science fascinating and intriguing, especially biology and chemistry, When I entered [Queens University in Canada], though, I found out that if I sutdied science, I would have to do extra hours of labs.”

Jensen said she would have had to do 30 hours of classes each week, as opposed to 15 hours of classes each week if she studied the humanties. She chose to go into the humanities. Her students say it was the right decision.

“I loved her,” said junior Kathryn Tinker, who had Jensen for English 9. “She actually took the time to always comment on our writing. ”

Jensen has taught at SAS for 11 years, eight in middle school and three in high school. After over a decade here, she is taking a oneyear leave of absence to study at the National University of Singapore (NUS) to get a Master of Arts in Literary Studies.

“I’ve always wanted to get a masters degree,” Jensen said. “My passion is education. Being a teacher is only half of education; the other is being a student.”

Jensen was born in Hamilton in Ontario, Canada, but moved to Kingston when she was 18 to attend Queens University. In her last year at Queens, her then long-term boyfriend and now husband, Scott, got a job with Coca-Cola in Singapore and Jensen flew out to join him, Jensen was doing her practice teaching placement at the Canadian International School in Singapore when hte school principal, evaluated

her and asked about her long-term plans.

“He told me he knew of a spot open at SAS for an 8th grade RLA teacher,” she said. “I sent in my resume and had an interview with the principal and the 8th grade team leaders, and I got offered the job.”

Jensen moved to the high school in August 2006.

“There are pros and cons to both,” she said. “Middle school teaching was fun, but high school students tend to be more developmentally ready for more challenging work. My ultimate goal was to be a high school teacher.”

Jensen will return in August 2010. Next year, English teacher Kelly Nash will take her place.

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Sext and the city: Singapore part of “sexting’’ trend

by Nicholas Lesiuk This March, three Pennsylvanians were caught sending explicit materials featuring underage nudity.

The culprits: teenage girls. The content: nude images of themselves.

The girls sent these racy photos to classmates and by the time officials at Tunkhannock High School apprehended them, up to 20 students had received the photos. The boys possessing cell phones with these images ranged from 11 to 17 years old.

Prosecutor George Skumanick Jr. threatened to charge a girl who appeared in the photos but didn’t send them, as well as another girl who was photographed wearing a bathing suit. One of the accused facing charges as an “accomplice” of child pornography is 11 years old.

“The whole tawdry episode seems to call for a little parental guidance and a pop-gun approach, not a howitzer approach with a felony prosecution,” said Louis Natali, a law professor at Temple University.

Many SAS students responded in the same manner to the case.

“If a 15-year-old girl sends pictures of herself to another person of the same age, she shouldn’t be charged with being a pedophile,” senior John Hardee said. “She’s not since it’s to a guy of her age.”

Junior Lauren Betts said that while harsh, the punishment teaches them a lesson.

“It’s a good way for them to learn their lesson,” Betts said, “but if it’s part of their high school culture, then I don’t think they should be punished or humiliated too much.”

She too seemed understanding.

“They’re just stupid teenag-

ers, it’s idiotic of them to do it, but they’re not in the same league as pedophiles.”

Even some SAS students are guilty of participating in this growing trend.

“I’ve seen a naked older girl from our school,” Hardee said. “Last year I received a picture from a friend.

The girl obviously posed in it for somebody.”

When asked who was sexting the most, ironically upperclassmen thought underclassmen were doing it the most and visa versa.

“It’s probably younger girls who are trying to get older guys atten-

tion,” Hardee said.

“I don’t think underclassmen do it,” said sophomore Claire Zee, “I don’t know of anyone in my grade that does it.”

Other students think that it’s more prevalent in U.S. schools.

“I think it’s dangerous, but more common in the States than here,” Betts said. “I know someone in the States who does it, and she said its common there.”

School psychologist Jeff Devens said that evidence from the U.S. suggests it may not be a strictly alien trend.

“I don’t know how prevalent it is,

but based on information from U.S. and teens in general, I’m sure its being done here,” Devens said, “but on what level I don’t know.”

Devens also said that sexting can extend to erotically-charged text messages, and that the likelihood of that being done at SAS is very high. ”I think certainly it’s being done by verbiage but I don’t know about pictures.”

Devens explained that sexting represents a new stage in the continual progression of expression.

“Part of it is continual evolution in how kids are expressing themselves through different mediums,” Devens said. “It moved from being able to speak on the phone and leave notes so now we can text someone.”

The laws in place that are classifying the girls as producers of child pornography are actually meant to protect children, not incriminate them, but under the circumstances the girls could legally be charged.

“There are laws where those kids would be identified as sexual predators somehow,” Devens said. “Unfortunately, teenagers have access to this kind of material and are able to mass distribute it.”

Devens said it’s unreasonable to focus blame solely on the teenagers.

“You have to ask yourself, first, why aren’t the parents monitoring the girls sending these pictures? And secondly, why aren’t parents monitoring the kids sharing the pictures among themselves? On some level there has to be some accountability with the parents.”

This case brings up a question though, one that is gaining increasing importance as technology makes

networking even easier; when it comes to electronic communications what is private?

“This is the biggest issue,” Devens said; “how to use and deal with electronic communications. We have tendency to detach ourselves from what we write or publish. We write or put up pictures thinking what it won’t come back to us. What we do online matters.”

The threat is real; Devens has even heard firsthand accounts of alumni getting rejected from a job due to content on their social networking sites.

“I’ve heard stories of college grads getting refused jobs because their interviewer looked at their Facebook accounts,” Devens said.

Once again the question of privacy, whether online or through other electronic communications, seems a touchy subject.

“What is private?” Devens said.

“If I have a password, does that entail that it is my private space? Teenagers think it is, but obviously the public disagrees.”

The case serves as a sobering reminder of the limits of confidentiality in a technological era. While sexting may be just one of a multitude in new types of communication, they all still represent a threat if misused.

Mark Gregston, author and self-professed expert on contemporary teenage culture, gives a fitting analogy of the internet in today’s world.

“The internet is like Las Vegas’.

What gets on the internet, stays on the internet,” Gregston said. Like a tattoo, you can never completely erase it. lesiuk.eye@gmail.com

Physical education teacher a jack of all sports and a master of many PROFILE: Keith Hynes

“

Physical Education and coaching allows a different type of interaction with kids.We get to see the students outside the ‘classroom’ more and we get

”

to see them work hard.

by Melissa Huston Majoring in education in college consists of countless textbook-based studies and hours of lectures. Aside from flipping through hundreds of teaching-texts and cramming for major exams physical education teacher Keith Hynes, who double majored in education and physical education, spent hours training, working out and running.

Running in college for Hynes was not a leisure activity. Physical education majors were required to complete a Cooper Fitness test every semester that encompassed a series of push-ups, pull-ups, dips, sprints and a rigorous fitness run.

Hynes was required to run 3km, approximately seven and a half laps, in under twelve minutes. This test was originally created in 1968 for U.S military use to train and test recruits’ physical condition and endurance. It was later adopted in colleges to prepare and train those who were set on becoming a physical education teacher like Hynes.

Apart from the physical requirements, Hynes studied anatomy, physiology and kinesiology in the program.

“My final teaching [for the program] was in a public school outside of London,” Hynes said.

“After completing my time there I knew I wouldn’t have to face any tougher kids or a tougher school

than that one. It was only up from there.”

During his time at the public school in London, Hynes almost failed his four-year teaching course.

“While there, I had to teach the students how to play tennis,” Hynes said. I had to describe how to change your clothes, throw balls up in the air, and collect them if they went out of the court,” Hynes said. “Apparently the words I used, which are perfectly normal to use in North America, did not have the same meaning in England.”

Although Hynes did not play sports in college he participated in five varsity sports during high school.t “I went to a small high school consisting of 200 students from grades seven to twelve so I was able to play for varsity teams from seventh grade,” Hynes said. “I spent most of seventh and eighth grade on the bench but practicing with older kids really helped me develop skills faster.”

Because of short seasons, Hynes was able to play more sports than a typical three-season schedule allows. He played third base and outfield for softball, outside hitter for volleyball, point guard for basketball, participated in singles and doubles for badminton and did high jump, discuss and javelin for track and field.

“I guess I was a jack of all trades and a master of none,” Hynes joked.

“I enjoyed volleyball and basketball because it was a chance to be with my friends and my brother. When my brother graduated then I started to enjoy badminton and Track more because they were individual sports that allowed me to travel to Provincial (State) finals.”

According to “Outliers: The Story of Success” by Maclcolm Gladwell, if one plays a single sport for 10,000 hours one can master it.

Hynes, in his 30 years of playing sports, thinks he has come pretty close to those required hours. He believes that the sports he has played have not only kept him entertained and in shape, but also have taught him life lessons. He takes a similar approach when teaching.

“Physical Education and coaching allow a different type of interaction with kids. We get to see the students outside the ‘classroom’ more and we get to see them work hard, struggle at times, and we get to help them make improvements and achieve the goals they’ve set.

I hope I’m providing the students some tools for maintaining a healthy way of life in the future.” Along the way if I provide some life lessons or ways to handle life then that’s even better.”

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EYE IN FOCUS: featuresCOLLEGE SPECIAL

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Colleges go SAT optional amidst increased competition

by Ann Lee With the college application process getting more competitive each year, a high score on the SAT is to kill for. Many students are investing time, money and a normal life for a good score. An average SAT prep course costs over 1,200 SGD. Most of the courses attract a full class, where students sweat away with their Blue Books, spending a week or more of their summer vacation crammed into a tiny room.

College administrators are debating whether a four- hour test should be so important in the application process.

Now, more colleges are abolishing entrance exams. According to the New York Times, more than 280 four-year colleges do not require standardized test scores for admissions.

Wake Forest and Smith College just admitted their first classes of applicants who declined to submit SAT or ACT scores. Sewanee and Fairfield will do the same next year, according to the Associated Press.

“I don’t know if you can tell a tipping point until after it’s happened, but it’s very close,” said Bob Schaeffer, the testing critic who heads the group FairTest.

Fairtest, a non-profit education advocacy group, reported that some schools still use test results to judge applicants, among them the University of Texas-Austin and the University of Iowa. In addition, some SAToptional schools still use the SAT to place students in freshman-level courses. Fairtest states that it’s wise to get specifics from the schools of interest before deciding to avoid the test. The College Board reports that only 45 schools are truly testoptional.

The SAT was launched in 1926 to increase opportunities for low-in-

More and more colleges, like Wake Forest, George Mason and Smith College are changing their test-requirement policies in response to the increasing number of applications per year.

Photo by Jon Cheng

come students and ethnic minorities.

The test intended to break the barrier between rich prep-schooled kids and public school kids.

Some say the reverse has happened, pointing out to the SAT score gaps between racial and socioeconomic groups. The expensive fee, about 55 USD per test, is also a concern, along with criticism that the test is too coachable, giving the advantage to those who can afford multiple tests and tutors.

Another debate concerns how well the SAT and ACT tests predict college success. More colleges and instructors are answering that excellence in these tests does not guarantee success in college.

In 2006, George Mason University went SAT optional. Admissions officials said high school students who rank in the top 20 percent of their class and have a GPA of 3.5 or better can apply without submitting SAT scores.

In a Washington Post story, George Mason’s dean of Admissions Andrew Flagel said the university examined the performance of students who did well in high school.

They found that SAT scores were a poor predictor of how those students would fare at the university.

“We know that for our students, it’s not telling us who’s likely to succeed if the student already has a strong academic record,” Flagel said. “If you know a score isn’t telling you about the likelihood to succeed, using the score doesn’t make sense.”

“SATs are a business. We should bear that in mind,” social studies teacher Rick Bisset said. “AP essays are very good indicators. Students’ time is much better served doing something else than studying for SAT tests.”

Standardized tests are already optional at many small liberal arts colleges, including Middlebury Col-

Despite economic woes, seniors beat college slump with elite acceptances

by Akhilesh Pant With public schools such as those in the University of California system and hundreds of others withdrawing billions from their endowment funds, expectations for college aceptances diminished with some SAS kids having to change their dream school lists.

But with admission rates at an all-time low and waitlist lengths at an all-time high, the SAS class of 2009 still managed to pull out with an unexpected number of “elite acceptances.”

Between December and April 1, over 60 acceptances packages were mailed to SAS students from the top 20-ranked universities in the United States, without the exception of a single Ivy League school.

Most notable of these students were Alex Hoffer and Helen Knight, who were both accepted to Harvard University, with Hoffer also accepted to Stanford, and Knight to Yale and Princeton.

“I wasn’t as excited with my second acceptance as I was with getting into Stanford initially,” Hoffer said.

“But I didn’t expect to get in and have to make a decision between to the two.”

Both Hoffer and Knight took a week off school to visit their universities and make a final decision.

Knight stayed with students in dorms at each of her three choices,

attending Princeton’s admitted students talks.

Hoffer shadowed SAS alumna Sakshi Agarwal (‘08) to some of her classes, asking as many people as he could what exactly they didn’t like about Stanford and then surveyed Harvard similarly.

“Students at Yale seemed overwhelmingly enthusiastic and welcoming more so than at Harvard and Princeton,”Knight said. “I ended up choosing Yale based on that, not because my sister is there.”

“I noticed Harvard seemed a little more segregated,” Hoffer said.

“The Asians sat at one table watching YouTube videos, the AfricanAmericans at another, the jocks at another.”

Both the candidates decided to take a pass on Harvard’s prestige and took their other options.

Aside from the two “superstars,” the list includes five acceptances to Duke, one to the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia and Dartmouth each, three to Brown , eleven to Cornell, five each to Washington University at St. Louis and Emory, six to Johns Hopkins and Northwestern, eight to UC Berkeley, four to Georgetown, six to Wellesley and nine to Tufts.

While many were happy to get in at any of their choices, others were left with a tough decision to make by the May 1 deadline.

“I had Wellesley, Tufts, Middlebury, Claremont McKenna, Emory, BC and USC as choices,” senior Shreya Gandhi said. “On the 31st, I finally decided on Tufts because I couldn’t find anything wrong with it.”

Allen Koh was admitted to Rennselaer Polytechnic, Olin, Carnegie Mellon, Johns Hopkins and Northwestern University.

“I ended up choosing Olin because it’s small and easier to get attention from professors and it’s always a plus that the tuition is completely free,” Koh said. “The disadvantage is that I probably won’t get the same college social expereince as others.”

According to a New York Times article, the yield rates at many of the top universites remained steady or even increased this year, contrary to expectations, showing that students are still insisting on attending despite financial harship. Some of this can be explained by the increase of financial aid funding by many institutions to counter the effects of the recession.

To the fortunate SAS seniors, the economic slump does not seem to correlate with a college slump. With so many elite acceptances, an inverse relationship would seem more fitting pant.eye@gmail.com

lege in Vermont and Bowdoin College in Maine.

An April 19 article by AP’s Justine Pope said that the College Board sent AP an e-mailed statement explaining why the SAT is valid.

College Board said that the SAT has been proved in hundreds of studies and remains important because high school grade inflation makes it hard to compare students. The statement noted the organization has always advised colleges to use SAT scores in combination with other factors such as grades.

Last fall, the National Association for College Admission Counseling encouraged colleges to consider dropping standardized tests like the SAT in favor of other tests more closely tied to students’ high school coursework, while it did not tell colleges not to use the SAT. Some SAS students still believe in sending in SAT scores when they apply to college.

“I don’t think it’s fair [to abolish SAT tests] ,” junior Akane Otani said.

“As much as I hate taking tests, I believe we need to standardize it because it’s a important factor that determines the good students from the bad students,” Otani said.

She added that there are schools that give out “free As,” inflating GPA points.

“Even if they do [go SAT optional] , I’ll send it in because I think it’s a big part of your transcript,” junior Dominic Wong said.

Yale’s dean of admissions, Jeffrey Brenzel, said that test scores play a role in the admissions process.

“In some parts of our process I would have a hard time seeing what would be the replacement,” Brenzel said. lee.eye@gmail.com

A day in a life of an AP GRADER

by Ann Lee AP testing season is over. Most students are done with their regular AP exams and are celebrating the end of a long year.

After the grueling three hour exam is over, the tests are flown over to the U.S. to different locations depending on which test it is.

For the 2008 AP European History test, 1,000 graders came together at Fort Collins, Colorado, to grade the test. Eight teachers were assigned per table, and they worked from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. for 10 days, while living in a college dorm.

AP European History teacher Rick Bisset said that in terms of professional development, AP test grading is one of the best activities.

“People who actually make the exams are there,” Bisset said.

“You can see how they make the rubric, and get a feeling what they are looking for when they grade papers,” Bisset said. “It gives you an

insight into what the CollegeBoard is looking at.”

For the 2008 AP Calculus test, 700 graders came together to grade the free response questions.

“I love it, it’s fantastic,” math teacher Tim Zitur said.

Zitur has been grading AP Calculus tests for 6 years.

“It’s a great professional experience. It’s invigorating, and I go and ask other teachers how they teach their students,” Zitur said.

At these grading sessions, CollegeBoard holds various workshops for teachers.

“They have evening sessions where top math teachers present and you learn more about different topics,” Zitur said.

The AP graders agreed that the 10-day grading session for AP tests helps hone their insight into the AP testing system, along with being able to communicate with teachers of the same profession. lee.eye@gmail.com

a the EyeSPECIAL Dec. 16, 2008 EYE COLLEGE 6 IN FOCUS:

features

CLASS o SAS

Connor Abdelnoor Evergreen State College Jelita D. Adams George Washington University Madonna Albanese DePaul University Viendy Alim University of Michigan An Xiao (Jully) Tsing Hua University Spencer Anderson Vassar College Theresa Angela Santa Rosa Junior College Cristina Ardon University of Arizona Priyanka Arya Georgetown University Mary Ann Asai Boston University Sanskriti Ayyar Claremont McKenna College Nicolette Bader University of Alberta Soo Yeon Bae Undecided Brady Baildon Concordia College Aishwarrya Balaji University of South Hampton Adrian Bautista George Washington University Jonathan Bayens Savanna College of Art & Design John G. Becker National Service Laura K. Bell Undecided Duncan Benjamin UC Santa Barbara Krisna R. Bharvani George Washington University Joshua Block Widener University Shana Bolander George Washington University Rebecca Borgard Georgia Institute of Technology Brian T. Briggs Michigan State University Emily Brotman Pomona College Calin Brown Wellesley College Martis Buchholz Reed College Michael Bukovitz Pennsylvania State University Jonathan Butt National Service Thomas Bynum University of Virginia Lillianne Cadieux-Shaw King’s College London Kyle Carbon Harvey Mudd College Alexander Casella Fordham University Marco Castano Fordham University Kenneth Chan U. Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Priscilla Chan Stanford University Zubin Chand Carnegie Mellon University Kwang Jae Chang School of Visual Arts Nicholas Chang National Service Ben Charoenwong University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Claire Chen UC San Diego Eric YW Chen U. Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Jeremy Chen University of British Columbia Charlotte Cheng University of Oregon Jon Cheng Tufts University Michael W. Chi Brandeis University Kevin Chin University of British Columbia Shreya Chohan Wellesley College Joon Ho Choi Suffolk University Aashna Chopra London Alan Chow CSU Northridge Brian Chow Academy of Art, San Francisco

Cindy Chu Hee Soo Chung Christopher Comstock Trevor Conrad Victoria Couch Ana Crivorot Lauren Culy Stephanie Dauenhauer James Davis Katherine De La Hoz Tulsi J. Desai Rohin Dewan Beatrice Ding Anna Downs Kimberley Dunbar Chloe Dunderdale Oliver Rhys Evans Jhila Farzaneh Alexander Finch Rachel Fink Nigel Flippo Michael Fu William Fulton Samantha Fung Casimir Fussner Shreya Gandhi Tatiana Gerebtzoff Hilary Go Julian Goh Edric Goh Ryan Goulding Cathleen Graddy Alexander Greene Wyatt Guggisberg Zachary Hagy Joseph Hakam William Hamberlin Nora Hanagan John Gilbert Hardee Meredith Hayward Michael He Lindsay Henson Charles Hewitt Amanda Ho Sang Alex Hoffer Lorenzo Holt Steve Hong Ai Hosokai Jae Yong Hur Tomas Isman Kathryn Jackson Michael Jeong Mili Kale

Northeastern University Wellesley College California Maritime Academy Blinn College Denison College George Mason University Elon University University of Colorado Boston University Bryn Mawr College Duke University Glion Hotel School Santa Monica College Brigham Young University Australia American University of Paris Marymount College George Washington University Texas Christian University Northern Colorado University University of Colorado, Boulder McGill University UC San Diego Cornell University Marymount College Tufts University Concordia University University of Southern California National Service National Service, Emory University Pennsylvania State University University of Oregon Old Dominion University Southern Methodist University University of Missouri Columbia Brown University University of British Columbia Bates College Marymount College Rutgers University, New Brunswick Northwestern University Central St. Martins College National Service Carnegie Mellon University Stanford University Northeastern University Emory University Singapore U. Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Tufts University University of Oklahoma University of Indiana-Bloomington Parsons School of Design

Danny Kang Tae Koo Kang Pallavi Karunakaran Ahilya Kaul Audrey Ketchum Tun Tun Khaing Hyun Soo Kim Sein Judy Kim Julie Kim You Na Kim Helen Knight Allen Koh Russell Kreutter Alexander Kua Pedro Kubota Angelina Kumala Carolina Kumala Puja Kumar Shen Wei Lai Audrey Lancon Ashley Lau Kai Ying Lau Jong Eun Lee Bella Lee David Lee See Young Lee Patricia Leone Alexandra Lesiuk April Emily Lesiuk Nicholas Lesiuk Tiffany Leu Benjamin Lewis Jonathan Lewis Nicole Liew Brent Lightfoot Alexander Lim Han Soo Lim Connor Liu Maria Elena Lloyd Louis Loeckx Shang Yu Lu Anne Lydens Elizabethe Lynch Mithila Mahesh Elle Marsh Lauren Martinez Meiko Masuno Daniel Matchar Matt McHugh Robert E. Mehring Joseph Metts Ronald Milne Elliot Miranda

University of Indiana-Bloomington University of Washington Northeastern Ohio University UC Los Angeles Sarah Lawrence College Parsons School of Design Duke University Georgetown University Smith College Wellesley College Yale University Olin College of Engineering Georgetown University Brown University Beloit College Suffolk University Suffolk University Hofstra University Undecided Concordia University Brandeis University Tufts University St. Johns College Korea Pennsylvania State University UC Berkeley Undecided Southern Methodist University Texas Christian University Southern Methodist University New York University Southern Illinois University University of Texas, Arlington University of Toronto LeTourneau University National Service National Service Wash. University St. Louis Middlebury College Landmark College Undecided Pomona College LaSalle, Singapore Boston University University of Melbourne University of Texas, Austin UC Santa Cruz Northeastern University Colby Sawyer College Woodbury University Brigham Young University-Hawaii McGill University Elon University

EYE IN FOCUS: COLLEGE SPECIAL features

7

of 2009 the Eye

a

Dec. 16, 2008

WHERE ARE YOU GOING?

Serena Mirchandani Jeffrey Daniel Misa Shunsuke Murakami Hikari Nagasaki Jessica A. Nelson Tyler G. Nelson Erica Ng Ai Lin Michael Nguyen Andrew Ni David A. Nockels Young Bean Oak Nanami Oki Erica Padgett Daphnie D. Pan Akhilesh Pant Amit Parekh Yeon Joon Park Kirstie Parkinson Vanessa Peck Alison Pendergrass Chealsea Perry Natascha Picard Olivia Pickering Yaesshna Pillay Lucas Pipoli Rebecca Priestley Aye Nyein Pyu Genovieve Ramirez Nishant Rao Vignesh Rao Raehanna Reed Jordan Reinert Alyssa Reinoso Enja Reyes Eric Riemer Brian Robertson Christopher Rock Christina Rualo Mila Rusafova Victoria Rushton Christopher Ryan Alika Savira Kayla Schilling Joseph Schmidt Ali Schuster Christopher Seet Daniele Selby Neha Sethi Sajan Shah Avery Shawler Evan Shawler Emma Sheldon Daphne Shim

Northeastern University Rutgers University UC Santa Barbara Pratt Institute Brigham Young University Brigham Young University University of Michigan, Ann Arbor University of Arizona UC Berkeley University of Indiana-Bloomington Cornell University University of British Columbia University of Southern California UC Merced Northwestern University Duke University National Service, Cornell University Wheaton College Northeastern University Upper Iowa University, Idaho Azusa Pacific University Parsons School of Design DePaul University Smith College University of Indiana-Bloomington Australia Cornell University Weber State University Queens University U. Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Gap Year, Queens University University of Pittsburgh McGill University Gap Year University of Wisconsin, Madison Villanova University Virginia Polytechnic Institute DePaul University Columbia University Rhode Island School of Design UC San Diego Purdue University Elon University Michigan State University University of Southern Florida National Service, Cornell University Vassar College U. Illinois, Urbana-Champaign University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Middlebury College Air Force Academy Cornell University Purdue University

Spenser Silverman Michelle Sims Malavika Singh Vivien Singson Rinku Sinha Richard Skill Lindsay Slaven Valerie Smart Joshua Smith Kyle Smith Christopher Sohn Daniel Sohn Sean Son Esha Sondhi Tolley St. Clair Apurv Suri Yotaro Suzuki Rachel Min Tam Carolyn Tan Nicole Tan Julia Tan Natalie Tan Benny Tang Mitchell Tang Roseanne Tang Darlene Teddy Morgan Thain Christopher Thome Ernest Tien Aaron Tsai Georgea Tsakiris Surbhi Ugra Robert John Uram Jasmine Vahdati Nita Vaidya Meghna Vaidyanath Nihal Varkey Ciera Walker Douglas Wang Victoria Williamson Dominique Wilson Smith Adrienne Wilson Joshua Ryan Wolf Eugene Wong John-Patrick Wright Vera Xu Tung Han Yang Vivian Q. Yang Samson Yuwono Vania Zhao Cynthia Zu

University of Northern Colorado UC Davis New York University (Tisch) Santa Rosa Junior College University of Maryland University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Cornell University University of Central Florida University of Arizona Middlebury College Cornell University Emory University University of Washington Wellesley College Trinity College Pace College McGill University University of Washington University of British Columbia Undecided University of Michigan, Ann-Arbor LaSalle, Singapore National Service Bryant University University of Melbourne Pacific Union College Dallas Baptist University University of Miami University of Washington Digipen Institute of Technology Singapore Rutgers University Denison University Undecided Northeastern University Boston University U. Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Georgia Institute of Technology Santa Clara University Bath University UC Irvine Rensselaer Polytech Inst.

Purdue University Carnegie Mellon University University of Virginia Northwestern University National Service, University of British Columbia Cornell University Northeastern University University of Texas, Austin University of Rochester

BACKGROUND ILLUSTRATION: The picturesque campus of the University of Virginia is consistently ranked as one of the top from various guides.

Photo from Aaslestad, Flickr.com

EYE8 IN FOCUS: COLLEGE SPECIAL Dec. 16, 2008

a

opinion & editorial

the Eye

Filling in the gap: an option for the restless, curious, adventurous

Eagles take flight Every year, a portion of SAS leaves, a new batch of kids enters, and life goes on. But just because that cycle seems inevitable does not mean that each departing group has nothing unique to take away with them.

For the class of 2009, SAS has been a giant laboratory for intellectual and emotional development, a place for experimentation and a place for creating lifelong bonds with both teachers and fellow students. You might say that any high school student can boast the same, but at SAS, the experience is starkly different.

Most everyone graduating this year has lived in at least two countries and each and every one of us can say with confidence that we live an international life, entire spectra away from the average American life. We have experienced the mesh of cultures that Singapore is, and within that, the more concentrated melting pot of SAS. It’s true that we may have been spoiled by the expat culture, but that is precisely what has allowed many of us to grow. Not many kids anywhere else in the world can travel from one end of their city to the other independently, without having to ask Mom or Dad to drive them. And as controversial as the topic is, not many kids have experienced being able to walk into a store and buy alcohol, often without identification, or walk into a club and be treated as adults. Also, how many high school students have gone on excursions to everywhere from Turkey to New Zealand? In each of those, we learned not only about traveling (which has become increasingly important in a globalized job market), but also about being sensitive to other cultures and dealing with the variables that exist in every individual place. It is through those experiences that we became aware of many realities that we will face in college far earlier and under more supervision and control than we ever would if they came about in college.

So exactly why does all this matter? It’s quite simple: we have a huge advantage that is worth appreciating. The high degree of academic rigor, the cultural diversity, the independence and the understanding of the world - each of these is unique to SAS’s graduates.

Along with the experience gained is the spirit of SAS that we share. This senior class was just entering high school as freshman when SAS celebrated its 50th anniversary with the giant SAS@50 formation that has become a landmark image in school history. With us, we take a legacy that perhaps we don’t appreciate yet. From now on, we won’t be studying with hundreds of fellow international students, but with students that may have lived in rural Montana for all their lives, or come from inner city Washington D.C. and were never given opportunities that we have. When you look around at all of them, being an Eagle feels pretty darn good. Access to an international alumni network and the opportunity to come back for reunions twenty years from now and see where our SAS educations have taken us is something that we will all savor.

At the end of the day, we all like being Eagles; it’s why we won our barbeque and it’s why we will each walk down the stage at commencement with grins on our faces, a hint of silent pride and maybe even a hidden tear in our eyes. And we all look forward to, and dread, that last night with classmates who share this unique experience with us.

It’s been an unforgettable time for all of us. To juniors and underclassmen: do us a favor and enjoy what’s coming for you. It isn’t all about studying for hours and applying to college and sweating bullets waiting for your futures to unfold. Rather, when it finally comes to graduation, it is much more about everything we’ve gained here and everything we’ll leave behind. It’s safe to say that each of us will miss it dearly.

Cheers to a great year, seniors.

Size matters by Cindy Cherng

Lilliane Cadieux-Shaw

Putting college on hold allows time for reflection, for widening experiences of life

As the Class of 2009 marches off into clear and defined futures, primed for success with SAT scores clenched in hand, it feels like we can at last let out one collective sigh.

College, the ultimate goal, is only a few months away.

This is what we have been working for, right? AP scores, GPAs, Honor Roll luncheons recede, melded into one distant memoryblob. Now, shimmering images of our college campuses loom before us, offering four years of unimagined possibility. But, college might not be the immediate destination of all.

Some students are instead choosing a bold alternative - the gap year.

Amber Bang, Class ’08, knew she wasn’t ready for college. Her parents knew it as well. Initially, Bang’s mother wanted to send her to Korea to live with her father before going off to college, but after a small compromise, Bang is now living in Benin, a small African country just east of Nigeria. She went to do a medical internship, and is now teaching English and learning French. Occasionally she misses the security of high school.

“I miss the feeling of getting worried about a test I have to study for,” Bang said. She says it has been worth it, though.

“I’m going to med school, so

that’s four years, and then two or three more, so where would I have the time to experience the world?”

Taking a gap year means putting college on hold. With the costs of a college education rapidly increasing, a gap year is is an expense many cannot comtemplate as they focus on getting out and getting work.

Harvard Dean of Admissions William Fitzsimmons wrote in an article ,“Time Out or Burnout for the Next Generation,” that Harvard has been recommending gap years for the past thirty years. Harvard even proposes the idea in their letter of admission. “[Gap years are] a time to step back and reflect, to gain perspective on personal values and goals, or to gain needed life experience in a setting separate from and independent of one’s accustomed pressures and expectations,” Fitzsimmons said.

“Many speak of their year away as a ‘life-altering’ experience, or a ‘turning point,’ and most feel that its full value can never be measured,” he added.

Unfortunately, students who want to take gap years often face difficulties. Their parents may not support them financially, or if they are not 18, they will not be able to get work, or even apply for volunteer programs. Also, colleges will not

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students.

International non-paying students are further down on the U.S. colleges’ admissions ladder. Just Students who are wealthy are given more advantages as for non-paying U.S. citizens, international students have the best in college admissions, but there are still opportunichance at wealthy private schools. ties out there for those who aren’t Mila Rusafova Many such schools offer both needStudents at SAS understand the colleges remove students who can- based and merit-based scholarships importance of money in preparing not pay from the waitlist and a stu- for both American and international for college. AP exams cost S$160 dent’s financial status affects the students. Some schools that offer each, an SAT Reasoning Test is college’s ability to admit and grant significant aid are Amherst, BowS$66, an SAT Subject Test is S$43 scholarships. doin, Columbia, Stanford and about and a Studyworks SAT prep course “But colleges are trying to even 32 other U.S. colleges. Students who costs nearly S$1,500. The aver- the playing field,” Sylvander said. seek to apply for financial aid should age SAS student applying to colSome colleges practice holistic be at the top end of the college’s aplege with five APs, a prep course, admissions, where they try to fill plicant pool to increase their chances two SATs and three SAT of acceptance.

Subject Tests is looking at Colleges also Wealthier students have better chances S$2561 just in standard- because of the general advantages across the sometimes take into ized tests. SAS tuition itself board in education and in life. But colleges are account a student’s is S$25,500 per year with high school rigor and trying to even the playing field extraneous fees of another try not to penalize - Mario Sylvander, high school counselor nearly S$20,000. students, for examFamily finances affect K-12 edu- certain quotas with students from ple, for not taking any APs if their cation as well as college and univer- different backgrounds and with dif- school does not offer any. sity opportunities. This is even more ferent interests. These colleges try Despite colleges’ efforts, college relevant today with the global finan- to compensate for imbalances by admission is still tipped in favor of cial crisis. setting lower admissions criteria the wealthy. Nothing can completely “Wealthier students have better for financially disadvantaged stu- outweigh the advantages in upbringchances just because of the general dents. Other colleges are need-blind, ing, education and opportunities of advantages across the board in edu- meaning applying for financial aid full-paying students. With countless cation and in life,” high school coun- does not affect a student’s admis- aid opportunities, both merit-and selor Mario Sylvander said. sions decision and finances are dealt need-based, the opportunities are Non-paying students, and par- with in cooperation with the school. there, up for grabs, even for students ticularly non-paying international These schools are generally private who cannot pay. students, are disadvantaged in the and wealthy, with large endowrusafova.eye@gmail.com college admissions process. Some ments, and are out of reach for many

Affording college now a reality for all classes

“

Singapore American High School 40 Woodlands Street 41 Republic of Singapore 738547 Phone: (65) 6363-3404 Fax: (65) 6363-6443 eye@sas.edu.sg

approve deferrals if they cannot see a valid reason.

The key aspect for gap years is to have a vision, or some sort of passion to pursue. Structure is important. With a well-defined plan and solid reasons to back it up, it becomes easier to convince parents and colleges, and easier to find programs that interest you.

If you have not seen much of the world, travelling can be a way to grow and discover. Work experience or internships are a good idea for those who may be daunted by the prospect of losing their weekly allowance once they get to college. Volunteer programs show an adventurous spirit, and may often revea; things about yourself that surprise you. “[Gap years] are different from following the assembly line to college,” Bang said.

Some may even find that they have no choice in taking a gap year; boys who are half or fullSingaporean must do National Service for two years, and only then can they make their way to college.

Universities want men like these; they’ve matured from their high school selves into more disciplined, self-confident young men.

The same applies for gap years.

Whatever the reason, and whatever you do, it is a guarantee that what you learn as a result of a gap year will stay with you for the rest of your life.

“Burn-out is an inevitable result of trying to live up to alien goals.

Time out can promote discovery of one’s passions,” Fitzsimmons said.

Editors-in-chief: Jon Cheng (senior editor), Melissa Huston, Hee Soo Chung News editor: Nick Lesiuk Op/Ed editor: Akhilesh Pant Features editor: Ann Lee Eye In Focus editor: Maria Lloyd A&E editor: DJ Hartman, Jennie Pwark Sports editor: Nora Hanagan, Caroline Hui Photographers: Kenny Evans, Maria Lloyd, Melissa Huston Reporters: Philip Anderson, Lil Cadieux-Shaw, Jon Cheng, Aashna Chopra, Hee Soo Chung, Kenny Evans, Nora Hanagan, DJ Hartman, Caroline Hui, Melissa Huston, Ann Lee, Steffi Lee, See Young Lee, Nick Lesiuk, Alex Lim, Maria Lloyd, Haani Mazari, Akhilesh Pant, Jennie Park, Mila Rusafova Adviser: Mark Clemens Assistant adviser: Judy Agusti

”

The 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 Eye via the Internet at eye@sas.edu.sg. At the author’s request, names can be withheld from publication. Letters will be printed as completely as possible. The Eye reserves the right to edit letters for reasons of taste and space.

arts & entertainment

the Eye

a

Dec. 16, 2008

9

Recommendations now a bigger factor in admissions

by Caroline Hui There’s no doubt that stress plays a huge role in a high school students’ junior year. With AP’s, SAT’s and college talk, the year dubbed “the most important year in high school” is bound to be full of pressure.

But juniors also have another thing to add to their list of stress creators: teacher recommendations.

Students pursuing teacher recs are filling out a teacher recommendation questionnaire recounting their experiences with a particular teacher, have it checked by their counselor and give the form to the requested teacher.

Although not as important as a Journalism and filmmaking teacher Mark Clemens receives about 10 recommendations a transcript, teacher recommendations year, but has only rejected two since joining SAS in 1996. Photo by Malavika Singh still play an important role, according to counselor Nathan Schelble.

Journalism teacher Mark Clem- doesn’t feel comfortable writing “A student may not be getting A’s, ens, who wrote about 11 recommen- their recommendation, they will tell but teacher recommendations can dation requests this year, has turned the student to find someone else,” show their academic maturity. They down two students in the past 15 Schelble said. “A student should can predict how a student might per- years. ask a teacher they have good rapport form at university,” he said “To the first one, I said, ‘I can’t with.”

Finding a teacher to write a rec- write you a recommendation that English teacher Andrew Hallam ommendation can be a stressful pro- will help.’ To the second one, I said, only turns down students who give cess because some teachers may not ‘Are you serious?’” him recommendation forms after assent to writing one for a student.

“If a student asks a teacher who May 1. Hallam received 23 requests

last year.

“If a student is actually coming to me, they obviously feel like I know them well. To turn them away would crush them,” he said.

If a weak student approaches him, Hallam said he uses “positive language.” For example, he might say that a student is “still developing their writing skills” or “has grown since the beginning of the year.”

“I think a skilled reader can look between the lines, though, and see what isn’t being said,” he added.

Writing recommendations can also be overwhelming for a teacher, especially because most start from scratch.

“I always start from scratch,” Clemens said. “There was one teacher who used the same phrasing for two different recommendations, but didn’t know that the two students applied to the same university. A lot of recommendations are anecdotal.

Each one has to be different.”

Social studies teacher Dale Smith, who receive 14-20 recommendation requests a year, says that he has never re-used a paragraph.

Ex-broadcaster turned teacher returns to bright lights

By Nick Lesiuk After journalism teacher and yearbook adviser Lisa Oake handed the final pages of the 2009 Islander to Glenn Ang of C.O.S. Printers on May 13, she couldn’t stop smiling.

It was her second and, for a while anyway her last.

Oake began her career as an anchor-reporter while in college at Memorial University of Newfoundland by becoming a radio announcer for OZ FM, a local radio station. After earning her masters in journalism, she tried her hand as a reporter-cameraperson at Newfoundland Broadcasting Company. That led to a job with CNBC Asia in Singapore. From there she took an anchor’s job with Canada’s Business News Network,

before heading back to Singapore with husband Keith Hynes. Hynes resumed a PE-coaching job he’d left a year earlier while Oake took on the yearbook and an advanced broadcast journalism class.

While Oake says she is leaving so she can concentrate her efforts on working in television, she did leave the door open for a possible return.

“I decided that I wanted to continue working in television for a few more years before retiring from it completely,” Oake said, “I told Mr. Norcott that I want to come back [to SAS] and pick up where I left in about five years.”

Although the challenge of balancing two careers with parenthood might seem daunting to some, Oake appears to be managing fine.

Math-science teacher to return to favorite haunts

by See Young Lee Ingrid Rennenberg, a science and mathematics teacher at SAS, has been teaching the subjects for more than twenty years. But in contrast to her veteran experience, her teaching career at SAS seems to be rather short-lived. After this year, she will be heading back home to teach in Europe.

During the last two years, Rennenberg has inspired many students throughout the grade level through teaching a wide range of classes from Algebra I to AP Physics.

“Ms. Rennenberg is an excellent math teacher,” freshman Jade Fogle said. “She always explains in detail and finds easier ways for you to learn and understand math.”

Fogle said that Rennenberg’s strength as a teacher is breaking down the problems so that students can understand more easily. But she did not forget to mention her wit and sense of humor.

“Ms. Rennenberg really likes to connect with her students,” junior Sara Gibson said. “She is hilarious and work is never stressful in her class, which is always a plus when you have other AP classes.”

Edwin Bywater, currently a mathematics teacher, will be replacing Rennenberg’s position

next year.

“I am looking forward to teaching physics next year because that’s what I originally studied to teach,” Bywater said.

Despite her short stay in Singapore, Rennenberg seems to have developed a close tie with the place.

“I will miss some people I met and some good friends I have here,” Rennenberg said.

Bywater said that Rennenberg was a great teacher who pushed her students to do well. He said that she had many good ideas with respect to integrating technology into classrooms.

“As sad as I am that such awesome teacher is leaving, I’m also a tiny bit happy because I’ve been waiting for the science switch since I arrived three years ago,” Bywater said.

Students expressed sadness at Rennenberg wwdeparture.

“I feel really sad,” Fogle said.

“I will definitely miss her comedy and her making fun of guys in my class.”

“I will miss how my class and she got along so well,” Gibson said. “We had a good year and a good group.” seeyoung.eye@gmail.com

“I’m used to working full time,” Oake said, “and the fact that I got to teach and anchor part time made it pretty easy” The transition into a teaching didn’t faze Oake either, and the fact that she still held a part-time job at CNBC Asia helped.

“The first year was a learning curve for me, since I never had to interact with students before,” Oake said “but they were really mature and helpful, and they made it an easy transition.”

The affection Oake shows to her students isn’t one-sided.

“She’s very sweet,” senior Tina Ardon said. “I love her to death, and she’s a great teacher.”

Ardon, who was in Oakes Advanced Broadcasting Class, said that Oake knew what she was doing from the start, and was very helpful.

“She’s always there for you to talk to,” Ardon said, “and she always gives lots of tips about broadcasting and journalism.”

Senior and Islander Co-Editor Rebecca Priestley commented on the value of Oake’s previous work.

“She’s really good from a journalistic perspective because

For choir director Devens, SAS job fulfilled longheld dream

by Ashna Chopra During her seven years at SAS, Nannette Devens was living her dream - teaching choir.

“Teaching at SAS was wonderful,” Devens said. “I have enjoyed myself very much. It had its challenges and took me a while to get used to it, but it was fantastic.

I loved every minute of it.”

Her husband, Dr. Jeff Devens, the high school psychologist, knows that there is nothing else his wife liked better than teaching.

“Nannette is passionate about what she does, and she loves kids.”

Devens said. “The pay was just a bonus.”

A mother of a 5-year-old and a 3-month-old , Devens resigned from her position to take care of her kids and also to earn her masters in music

“I start from scratch,” Smith said. “Another thing I do is I don’t look up a student’s grade. The most important things are their interest, diligence or anything they do that makes it easy for a school to distinguish them.”

One way the counseling department has reduced stress for the teachers is by asking students to choose one teacher their junior year and a second teacher their senior year.

“It spreads out the work for the teacher,” Schelble said. “As a senior, a student may have a different teacher that they want to write their letter.”

Many colleges and universities require at least one teacher recommendation. Tier I schools require two recommendations. UCs, Australian schools and Canadian schools do not need recommendations.

Schelble said that he has seen some “honest letters,” but overall, “teachers at SAS write fantastic letters.” hui.eye@gmail.com

Tugged in two directions by new and old loves, Oake chooses both - in turn

Journalism teacher Lisa Oake during “Capital Connection,” one of the CNBC shows she anchors when she is not working with yearbook and broadcast students. CNBC photo.

of her at experience CNBC Asia,” Priestley said.

Priestley said that while Oake understandably had a tough learning curve when it came to the technological aspect of laying out the yearbook, she more than made up for it with her writing advice and layout ideas.

Oake will be replaced next year

by SAS graduate Tate Sonnack ‘02, a former yearbook editor. Sonnack was editor of the only Islander to win Columbia Scholastic Press Association’s Gold Crown, awarded

to fewer than 20 high school yearbooks.

Sonnack, who graduated from USC with a degree in film in 2007, will act as yearbook adviser next year while interning in broadcast journalism and filmmaking.

Sonnack attended SAS from kindergarten through graduation.

He was Executive Council C.D.. a member of Peer Support, Filmmaking Society, Quill and Scroll, Photography Club, SAVE, Social Services, Athletic Council, Peace Initiative and the Morning Show.

education to increase her already vast knowledge of music. Senior Priscilla Chan , a student in the SAS Singers class, feels that the departure of Devens is not something easily forgotten.

“She created a family,” Chan said. “Whenever I went to Singers class, it felt like I was going into a family. She taught us a whole lot.”

Similarly, senior Ahilya Kaul, also in SAS Singers, feels that Devens has taught them two crucial lifeskills: teamwork and sacrifice, along with those essential to develop a good singing voice.

“She has given us a good repertoire of music,” Kaul said.

“She has taught us all the games and breathing techniques to sound better and to blend as a choir. She will definitely be missed.”

They are not the only ones feeling the loss. Devens describes her students as intelligent, challenging and passionate.

“The breadth of knowledge that the students displayed is amazing,” Devens said. “They have taught me so much about my own craft.”

Devens, who taught them how to appreciate music and not to stress over what role they play in productions.

“Music is its own reward,” Devens said. “It is not about who sings the solos and who is on the stage for longer. It is about the music and music just makes us better people.”

Australian Phillip Greene, a cellist by training replaced Devens when her second child was born. He was the music director at the Mac. Robertson Girl’s High School, an exclusive institution in Melbourne.

Like Devens, he believes that it is “an honor” to work with the talented, musically-inclined pool of SAS students.

“The students here are mad keen and the entire music department cohesive,” Greene said. “The toughest challenge was getting my head around the classes because I had to hit the ground running.

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arts & entertainment

the Eye

Annual film festival celebrates SAS students’ stories

Now in its 9th year, the Laurie Nelson Film Festival looks to further spread awareness of film across student body

by See Young Lee & Jon Cheng Back in 1998, eleven members of the Eagle Eye staff founded the Film Society with the single goal of watching movies together, They watched films in the Linda Clark’s Independent Living kitchen and dubbed it the Kitchen Theater.

A year later, Laurie Nelson, Scotty Nelson’s sister, and friend Diana Bates became co-presidents and expanded the club’s interest to discussing and debating the artistic value of films with others. That same year, Peter Galassi, another zealous film lover and filmmaker, called for new elections, organized an opposition slate and took over the club.

In naming the first film festival to be held at SAS, Galassi insisted that the event be named the Laurie Nelson Film Festival as a jibe at the ex-president. Nelson is long gone, now a photo editor in New York City, though remembered yearly on festival posters.

The Laurie Nelson Film Festival, now in its ninth year, is an opportunity for film enthusiasts at SAS to make their own films and show them to a larger audience of students.

“Any SAS high school students may submit films,” filmmaking teacher Mark Clemens said. “But

mostly kids from beginning and advanced filmmaking courses participate in this event.”

Most participants shoot their films on videotape and edit them in iMovie or FinalCut Express. This year’s entries vary in length from one to 16 minutes, each based on themes selected by the students and Clemens.

This year’s films will be judged by four Tisch Asia graduate students and two former SAS film students who will select films for Lauries that focus on technical and aesthetic aspects of the films.

The 90-minute event, scheduled for today at 4 p.m., is open to everyone in the SAS community.

“It is going to be fun for the audience to chill and relax for a few hours watching those films as they are all quite well-made.”

Last year, then junior Malavika Singh, clinched the best film award

IN FOCUS: RYAN CHAN One month ago, when the Shanghai Student Film Festival notified junior Ryan Chan that they lost his film amongst over a hundred film submissions, he prepared for the worst.

“I thought I lost,” Chan said. “I was almost sure I didn’t get it.”

Chan resubmitted his film. His disappointment turned to an unexpected surprise when, one week later, he received an email from film festival judges telling him of his first place win.t “My heart started racing,” he said. “ [The judges] said to expect something in the mail.”

Chan’s film, “The Hard Approach” won International first place among all student films submitted outside of Shanghai. for “Working Title,” while then sophomore Ryan Chan won the best cinematography and best sound awards for his film-noir crime film “The Hard Approach.” seeyoung.eye@gmail.com

Talent from an early age

At an early age, when his friends played sports and video-games, Chan took his first steps toward a film career after his family moved from Singapore to the U.S.

“I was in this this tiny town with nothing to do at all; so I decided to be different.”

He experimented first in stickfigure animation, then in filmmaking after watching claymation animation (“Wallace and Gromit”) and Lego animation in third and fourth grade.

When Chan moved back to Singapore and enrolled at SAS, he started producing serious films of his own. Since his freshman year, he has made over ten films, three of which made the nomination list for the Laurie Nelson Film Festival.

Despite his strong interest in filmmaking, Chan is apprehensive about pursuing it as a career.

“I have to decide whether I want to risk it or play it safe,” Chan said.

His short term goal before he graduates is to film a documentary highlighting the village life of the Kerala town in rural India. This summer, he will travel there with a crew of four other students, live with a tribe, and document their interviews. cheng.eye@gmail.com

SAS actress scores role in German Tisch Asia film

Veteran photographer credits inspiration in real-life interaction

Photographer John Reuter demonstrates photo negative preparation to seniors Rebecca Priestley, Zach Hagy, Michelle Sims and junior Sarah Mountjoy. Photo by Paul Griffin

by Aashna Chopra Bill Clinton. Elton John. Fleetwood Mac. These are just a few of the prominent figures that John Reuter, a veteran photographer, has had the chance to work with. This was why photography teacher Paul Griffin thought it would be a good idea to bring him to school as a visiting professor.

“Shooting Clinton was an amazing experience,” Reuter said. “Talk about pressure, I definitely did not want to make any boo-boos there!”

Reuter first met Griffin at an image transfer workshop that he has been running for the last thirty years. Teaching the course is one of his most “rewarding experiences” “One of the best ways to learn about something is to teach it,” Reuter said. “One important thing that I learnt through teaching is that I need to have the confidence to fail, as this often pushes me in a direction that results in very good things.”

Showcasing the work that students as SAS did through his instruction, Reuter was pleased with the way that most of the images

turned out.

“The photography students were fearless and jumped right into it,” Reuter said. “It was great to see. I was especially impressed by their ability to roll with the punches.”

Reuter has taken photos of the Dalai Lama, Al Gore and Richard Gere. He offers an unconventional photoshoot experience, where the person being photographed has to interact with him so that it is “almost like an event.”

The trust Reuter fosters in his interactions with those in front of the lens has clinched him clients like Cosmopolitan, Vanity Fair and the New Yorker. He has also worked on set for Good Morning America and the Today Show.

When he is not holding one of his eight yearly workshops at the International Center of Photography in New York City, he is busy with other projects. Currently, he is planning and programming the “Free Arts for Abused Children” auction. All art pieces auctioned off will raise money for the yearly budget for children that have been subjected to domestic violence.

“It is a really cool project,” Reuter said. “When I go back to New York City, that’s what I’m going to spend all my time on.”

Before visiting Singapore American School, Reuter did not know what to expect from such a large international population of high school students much younger than the usual cohort he is used to teaching. He was surprised at how open to learning SAS students were.

“All work presented poses some degree of risk,” Reuter said. “SAS students are willing to take that risk, probably because of Paul’s teaching style.”

Junior Tatianna Nasr, an advanced digital photography student, was equally impressed with Reuter’s passion for his work.

“Mr Reuter was pretty inspirational,” Nasr said. “He was absolutely devoted and absorbed in his work. The chance to work with someone like that is rare. I think that the entire arts department was lucky to have him assisting, helping and teaching.” chopra.eye@gmail.com

by Nora Hanagan When the typical high school theater student creates their portfolio, it usually includes a few school plays and maybe a brief appearance in a local commercial or two (if they’re lucky). When junior Olivia Auerbach applies to theater programs next year, not only will she have starred in over 13 plays, both professional and amateur, but she’ll have a full blown film under her belt.

Early last year Auerbach recieved an email from her old casting agent in New York City about a director looking for a female lead in her short film the NYU’s Tisch Asia program in Singapore. The role was a perfect match for the actress, allowing her to utilize both her composure in front of the camera as well as her fluency in German (the films is an allGerman dialogue).

The film, about 45 minutes long, is set in the future where a man who is socially awkward with women and has been, so far, unlucky in love, decides to go looking for his ideal woman [Auerbach] in a less than conventional way - by buying himself the electronic equivalent. As a robot, Auerbach plays the role of Vera, Michael Pink’s wife. This required 17-year-old Olivia to maintain a mature and yet mechanical demeanor throughout the sometimes grueling film process.

“It was a full workday. I would finish school and go straight to the studio and work sometimes to six a.m.” Auerbach said.

Besides fighting back exhaustion, Auerbach also had to take in her stride what would be unbearably awkward for an average teen - kissing her costar.

“He was my husband, so of course I had to be romantically involved in some scenes. But I also had a stand in for some parts.” she said.

For Auerbach, it was all part of her role, something she takes very seriously with a maturity beyond her years, contrary to her every-day goofy personality.

Auerbach agrees that although the process was tiring and sometimes daunting for a full time student, she is very fortunate to have the film experience “It really opened my eyes to the film world;I had no idea how complicated the process was.”

She remembered how sometimes a single ten-second scene took up to an hour to complete.

“There’s so much going on behind the scenes. What people don’t see are things like the script supervisor, whose sole job is to just keep ever hair, table and body position in the same place to maintain continuity from one shot to the next.”

The film, The Perfect Woman, will not be shown in Singapore, although a few of Auerbach’s close friends and family witnessed her in action at its premiere showing a few months ago. hanagan.eye@gmail.com

sports & activities

the Eye

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Dec. 16, 2008

single point scored by a sixth-place finish.

Not only did they win big and finish first, but every single girl on this year’s IASAS track team scored a point and contributed in some way to the final count of 144 points - not too far off coach Baker’s predicted “best case scenario” of 156 points.

Both eagles teams race to finish with double GOLDS

Story by Nora Hanagan

After two years of disappointing finishes, both decided by a single point, the women’s Eagles track team finally broke the curse of the silver medal to bring home the gold.

“The earth is back on its axis,” track coach Jim Baker said.

After a previous winning streak that looked unbreakable until their surprise loss in 2007, it is no wonder Coach Baker was pleased to be back on top. This year’s team was no different from those of the past, strong in almost every aspect of the meet, but especially in the middle distances.

“Baker always says the way to win the meet is to be good at the

quarter mile [400 meters],” senior captain Annie Lydens said, “because every meet has a lot of them.”

Lydens and her teammates didn’t let Coach Baker down, placing at least silver in every event on the track except the 4x100m relay.

Not only did the girls place well, but the 4x800m “dream team” of Lydens, sophomores Jenny Alberts and Linda Kim and freshman Ruby Hohensee destroyed the record previously set in 1997 by over ten seconds. Alberts led the way to a second record-breaking relay team by anchoring the 800m leg of the medley which also included junior Natasha Irani and freshman Isabella Shaulis

in the 200m legs and senior Tolley St. Clair in the 400m leg.

Surprise finishes also helped in gaining a confortable 21-point lead over ISM’s Bearcats. Sophomore Becky Kreutter, a first-year track participant, threw a personal best by seven meters to steal the gold from unexpecting competitors. Another first-year surprise came from freshman Isabella Shaulis when she leapt past her competitors to claim an easy gold.

Although, as the last two year’s teams know, a track meet is not won by the glory of a first place finish here and there. To be successful, every point counts - even if it is a

Girls end three-year medal drought

In an expected IASAS tournament, Girls Badminton smash their way to a Bronze

by Caroline Hui Four years ago, senior Neha Sethi played as an alternate on SAS badminton team. That team won a silver medal.

This victory was followed by two years of disappointment (the team placed last two years ago and tied for fifth last year), leaving the team’s expectations for this years’ IASAS low.

“I didn’t think we would win a medal,” Sethi admitted.

This year, surprising herself, Freshman Dacia Goh, one of two freshmen on Sethi became captain, stepped up to the team, serves the birdie to her opponent. play first singles, won four out of her Photo from IASAS website. six matches at IASAS, and helped “Our girls knew how to handle the team place third. the pressure this year, whereas last “It was good for our seniors, espeyear, we had mostly new girls,” she cially Neha, to get a medal their last said. year,” Coach Charles Shriner said.

Next year, the girls team will start One reason why this year’s rethe season with little experience. sults differed from previous years’ Seven out of 11 girls are leaving might have been the different trainthe varsity team; four of those were ing regime. This year, the boys and on the IASAS team. Sethi advises girls varsity teams separated during next year’s team to “work hard, train practice so that coaches could give outside of school and do everything players more individual attention. with integrity.”

In the past, boys and girls practiced To celebrate, Shriner is taking the together in the same gym with Shrigirls out to the Hard Rock Cafe -ner and middle-school teacher Gorand it’s his treat. don Cyr coaching.

“I thought they did as well as they Sethi believed such a change could,” he said. would pay off.

“We wanted to try something dif- No such luck for the ferent because last year, we had to boys team rush from one team to another,” Shriner said. “Once teams were done, Despite a new training program, they would sit there without getting Saturday practices and dedicated immediate feedback from us. We players, the boys badminton team wouldn’t be there to debrief them, so this year faced disappointment at they wouldn’t know why they had IASAS, placing fifth.

“We didn’t do that well standlost or why they had won.” ings-wise, but we put in a lot of ef“The girls and boys needs are diffort,” captain Michael Jeong said. ferent,” Sethi said. “We have differ“All the games were so close.” ent practice routines. It’s more proLike the girls team, the boys ductive this way; last year with the underwent changes in their practice boys, they would always fool around this year; they run the pacer once a and it would be distracting.” week and work on technique with Not only did the training help, but coach Dirk from the German school Sethi attributes a better placing to a once ever two weeks. more experienced team.

Boys remain undefeated in over a decade

Twelve years is a long time by any standards. For the IASAS schools in boys track and field, it may seem even longer. As the Eagle’s swooped in to steal their twelfth consecutive win, and both teams cheered their way through a victory lap, it was as Baker says, “a great day to be an Eagle.”

The Eagles started the meet thinking that the TAS tigers would be their biggest competition, but in a close race to the finish of the 300m, ending an ongoing battle with Tiger Joseph Lu, senior captain Evan Shawler showed that his team was not going down without a fight.

In the end, the Tigers were not as well distributed throughout the meet and the closer competition was offered once again by ISM’s Bearcats. Although the final score

11

for both teams wasn’t as high as the girls, the boys spread their points more evenly throughout every event on the track and on the field and relied less on the point advantages of a first place finish.

In fact, only three boys on this year’s team placed first in individual events, senior Brian Robertson in the 800m, junior Alexis Laozon in the 400m hurdles, and senior Chris Davis in the long jump. Although there were relatively few individual golds, the boys stacked up most of their points in the relays.

The relays also proved to be the most entertaining races of the meet. In both the 4x800m relay and the 4x100m relay, anchor runners Robertson and junior Max Shaulis respectively, came from behind to win by a tremendous lean over the finish line - in Shaulis’ case, outleaning two other competitors by hundredths of a second.

Even with a disappointing finish in the final 4x400m relay due to some unfair jostling of Robertson by a TAS runner, the nail-biting finish in the 4x100m didn’t hold true for the entire meet, as the boys breezed ahead of the competition to capture an easy team gold. hanagan.eye@gmail.com

The EYE Profile

Former student turned athletic trainer, coach to leave SAS

by Alex Lim

“It’s really tiring,” junior Shawn Teng said. “Dirk makes us do fitness and then hit a shuttle against the wall 500 times without a water break in between.”

To prepare his boys for the big tournament, Cyr said he had the boys hit a lot of shuttles. Saturday practice and Spring Break practice was held for players who stayed in Singapore.

“It’s a short season,” he said.

“Things happen fast and we lose two weeks because of Interim and Spring Break. [We were] using every minute of the hour and 45 minutes we have.”

But boys came up short at IASAS. “Sometimes in matches, you just don’t get in the game mode,” Teng said. “It was unfortunate; it was really close. We lost to ISB and ISM 3-2 and ISB was in the finals, so we actually weren’t that far apart.”

“Our standing was 1-4, but every game was close,” Jeong agreed.

“It came down to the clutch points.

Most of them, they won by lucky shots, like the birdie barely went over the net. Every time we won two games, we needed to win a third game to win the match, but we could never win that third game.” hui.eye@gmail.com

It began almost a decade ago, when Josh Nobles, class of 1999, left SAS. A celebrated two-sport athlete in footba ll and softball during his high school years, it seemed only fitting that Noble’s future be somehow intertwined with athletics. Nobles is both a football and track coach as well as the head athletic trainer at SAS, although he will not be returning following the end of the school year.

On this afternoon, Nobles can be found in the activities office, chatting amiably with fellow football and track coach, Brian Donaldson, who also happens to be Noble’s former high school math teacher. On his desk curiously sits one half of a pair of replica “WWE Tag Team” title belts an apparent gift from Max Shaulis, a student on the current track team.

“Brian [Donaldson] is my tag team partner,” jokes Nobles good-naturedly when asked who the owner of the other belt is. “You’ll probably be seeing us wearing our belts at some point before the year ends.”

And perhaps that’s the best way to sum up Noble’s brief, albeit, significant tenure at the Singapore American School – with jokes. Noble’s capacity to be able to connect through the use of humor with the very athletes that he instructs extends well beyond the curriculum vitae of being a good coach and is precisely what endears him so greatly to his players.

“I think Josh is young enough to be able to relate to the kids but he also knows where to draw the line professionally,” says activities and athletics director Mimi Molchan, “The bottom line is that he cares very deeply about the welfare of the kids, both on and off the field.”

Molchan retells the story of how Nobles was hired in 2006 after the school began an extensive search for an athletic trainer. Fresh out of the University of Colorado at Boulder with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology, Nobles, who was travelling through Singapore for what was supposed

to be a casual visit, interviewed and eventually landed the job, although when asked about it, Nobles disputes the accuracy of Molchan’s story, instead offering his own version of events.

“Brian Combes, the head of the search committee, happened to browsing the Internet when he found an instructional video called ‘Six Minute Calves’ featuring myself,” laughs Nobles. “It was one of those webcasts teaching people how to get well defined calves. That’s how he got the initial idea to hire me.”

It’s difficult to distinguish whether Nobles is being entirely truthful.

Nevertheless, there is another side to Josh Nobles, he insists, that not many students know of. For instance, he is a big fan of salsa – “but only in high heels,” Nobles is quick to say – and his favorite form of music is polka.

After the initial laughter subsides, the serious question regarding the uncertainty of his future plans is raised.

The mood of the conversation shifts.

“To be honest with you I have no idea what I’m going to be doing in the near future. I’m thinking of moving to Buenos Aires with my girlfriend,”

Nobles says, pausing for just a moment before delivering his oneliner. “Probably to pursue a career in unemployment.”

Now that would be a real joke. lim.eye@gmail.com

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sports & activities

the Eye

My two years on The Eye: What it’s all about

By Jon Cheng When I first signed on to newspaper towards the end of my sophomore year, I didn’t know what I was getting myself into.

Working on the newspaper is always a misconception to the general public. Contrary to popular belief, it isn’t nearly as cutthroat as working like Washington Post reporters Woodward and Bernstein (who broke the Watergate story about the Nixon administration), and it isn’t as glamorous as the Daily Planet, where Clark Kent and Lois Lane gallivant around the office like spies on a mission.

It is more like a job than a class. Although some students who signed on this year initially thought newspaper would be more like the latter, it turned out to be different (much to their horror). And they paid the price, grades-wise.

For some of us, especially the editors, working on the newspaper meant giving up many of our weekends, trading off sports and getting used to the Publications Lab as our second home. We worked until six every day for the weeks before publication and stayed to see all corners of our school pitch-black until after midnight. Pastamania delivery became our regular staple - an upgrade from cold fries and nuggets that we once got from KFC nearby.

Newspaper ran its hectic course and tested both our patience and

working like real journalists covering real-time events on daily deadlines.

Weariness got the better of us, and for Cultural Convention we stuck with publishing a 20-page monster issue covering the whole event.

Saviours at times of distress

PPhoto by Melissa Huston

endurance. Last year, “The Eye” triumphed with a 15-strong staff of mostly seniors whom we had the privilege of working with.

With most of that staff leaving, we were afraid that newspaper would lose its appeal. What’s more, the class quota for students filled up to 21 students - about four or five more than a comfortable maximum.

When the year began, editors Melissa Huston, Hee Soo Chung and I began to feel the burdens of being chief editors: missing or late stories, last-minute photos, layout problems and a very tight deadline. With every consecutive issue, we worked

harder, and as the second semester started, it began to pay off in terms of efficiency and responsibility.

Eye staff habits never beat traditions

Like last year, we had a diverse group of students in our staff. DJ pitched the most random story ideas, Nora, Jenny and Steffi watched “Gossip Girl,” “The Hills” and “90210” on Sidereel unnoticed.

Facebook usage became such a distraction for some in class that Mr. Clemens briefly locked the computers whenever he suspected its use. This lock-down system was

THE GAME WITHIN THE GAME:

The role psychology plays in modern sports Alex Lim

“Ninety-nine percent of this game is half mental.”

Yogi Berra, former Major League Baseball player and manager

The lineage of great athletes is as much a question of nature versus nurture as is any other genealogical spelunking. Having evolved well beyond the days of short shorts and leather football helmets, the number of challenges faced by the modern day professional athlete is truly mind-boggling.

The tangible awards afforded to professional athletes is only a small part of an assortment of external distractions and pressures, all of which have the potential to derail even the most gifted of performers.

The predominant question that seems to be deeply imbedded in the minds of many is also one that both historians and sociologists alike seem to have been trying to answer for years – all things being equal, what separates the great ones from being merely good?

As sports have become increasingly specialized, any other strengths athletes might possess to distinguish themselves from the rest of the field has become vestigial, like the ability for pitchers to hit, for example.

According to Tim Sheeper, a professional tri-athlete and coach from Menlo Park, California, there is one characteristic that plays a vital role in determining the exponential trajectory of success enjoyed by a select few.

“Physical talent is similar in many

athletes at the top level around the world,” says Sheeper. “The mind is the only thing that sets the champion apart – the laser-like focus on winning.”

Nowhere is the need to gain the mental edge more glaringly obvi-

man was the only player to have lost play-offs in all four of golf’s major tournaments and no season better served as a microcosm of his career than in 1986, when Norman held a three-round lead at all four majors, only to come away as the victor of

“Physical talent is similar in many athletes at the top level around the world.The mind is the only thing that sets the champion apart – the laser – like focus on winning.” -Tim Sheeper ous than it is in golf. The late Mark McCormack, founder of the global marketing powerhouse International Management Group (IMG), wrote in his book “What They Don’t Teach You at Harvard Business School,” that the golf course was his favored venture for character revelations, saying.

“You can tell more about how a person will react in a business situation from one round of golf than in a hundred hours of meetings.”

Considered by some to be the finest golfer in the world during the mid – 1980s to the mid – 1990s, Greg Norman had also somewhat cruelly been labeled as being a “choker,” – the kiss of death for any professional athlete, although in his case, Norman’s share of criticism was not completely unjustified. Nor-

one, the British Open. In the same year, he also lost a Masters play-off when opponent Larry Mize holed a forty – five yard pitch shot. Norman later admitted that he cried on the beach at 3 a.m. after the incident and wrote in his autobiography, “Shark,” “Nothing could be as reverberatingly bad as when Larry Mize sank that pitch shot.”

In contrast, Tiger Woods, golf’s equivalent to the messiah and poster boy for mental toughness, holds a considerable psychological advantage over his peers and seems to operate on a different plane from the rest of the PGA tour. His individual accolades have already been well documented – 14 major championships, 65 PGA tour events, third all time and more career wins than any other active golfer, but more tell-

so effective that Nick (Lesiuk) used that to ask Nora (Hanagan) to Prom.

And as with any year, coming up with story ideas was always a difficult feat. Haani could always come up with a facebook story.

Akhilesh turned news stories into op-eds, and Ann always took on stories that dealt either with politics, racism or acts of being moral human beings.

The staff produced more IASAS issues than any other. The first batch, which covered the rugby championship, ran a course of four days with a six to eight page issue.

That experience gave us a feel of ing than any of these achievements, perhaps, was his comment about his match-play mentality.

“It’s not physical, where you go up there and put a shoulder in somebody and take him out,” Woods said in an interview in 2006. “It’s about the ability to bear down and pull out quality golf shots on your own, and put an inordinate amount of pressure on your opponent. That’s the only thing you can do in our sport.”

Ideally, the goal of every athlete, amateur or professional alike is to reach what many call “the zone,” or, in the words of Bruce Ogilvie, the man long considered to be the father of modern sports psychology, “an elevated sense, almost an out-ofbody experience, a disassociation, a displacement.” According to sports psychologist Shane Murphy, a tremendous amount of preparation is required in order to reach this state of heightened awareness.

“Athletes don’t know instinctively how to perform at their best in competitive situations,” Murphy said. “They have to spend as much time practicing their competitive mental skills as they do their physical skills.”

Another crucial piece of the puzzle that leads to peak performance is the ability to block out distractions and focus exclusively on the task at hand. This skill, says Ogilvie, is what distinguishes the elite athlete from the rest of the field.

“In the moment of truth, the great athletes lose total self-awareness and even lack of consciousness of what is going on,” Olgilvie said.

“The athletes have total faith in their performance and a trust in their motor skills.”

Of course, reaching such states

Sometimes we ran into deadends, and that would usually happen the day before we were due to turned the paper into the printer, causing waves of panic that would send us - and Mr. Clemens - into a state of pandemonium. Melissa could turn out a newsworthy front-page story in a jiffy, Maria’s endless - but brilliant - feature stories helped us fill page space, and Kenny could grab great photos under stress.

When the newspaper was finally printed after countless proofs and corrections, we always got a thrill, especially the moment when we opened the thick packages of 100 inky-smelling papers like children wondering what they got for Christmas. For me, if not all of us, completing each issue would always be a major achievement by its own.

Sometimes I wonder why I joined newspaper despite not knowing anything about journalism two years ago. Now, I know why.

Thank you, Mr. Clemens, for putting up with our staff. The Eye would not be the newspaper that it is today without you.

often takes mental discipline and visual imagery, Olgilvie added. “They mentally rehearse their task and even the pressure attached to it, then they feel comfortable with it when it comes.”

To say that developing a solid foundation of mental skills will translate to winning, say, the 100 -meter dash in the Olympics, would border on absurdity.

Certainly, there are a host of other factors involved, with genetics being the most significant. In Jon Entine’s book “Taboo: Why Black Athletes Dominate Sports and Why We Are Afraid to Talk About It,” he comes up with a bullet list of physical advantages possessed by West African blacks for explosive sports: relatively less subcutaneous fat on arms and legs, proportionately more lean body and muscle mass, higher percentage of fast-twitch muscles, more anaerobic enzymes, etc.

Although Entine argues that the influence of genetics cannot be ignored, he also reminds us that it merely provides a starting point advantage (or disadvantage) in relation to the average, and that it is up to the individual competitor to leverage whatever genetic gifts are present in order to compete at the top level.

Dr. Max Testa, a prominent sports performance physician in the world of cycling once said, “genes determine who makes it into the pack, but not who wins the race.”

The significance of this statement is obvious and is something that gives us greater insight into the world of competitive sports - all things being equal, the mentally tougher athlete usually wins. lim.eye@gmail.com