The Eye Mar 25, 2006

the eye Singapore American High School

March 24, 2006 / Vol. 25 No. 7

Musicians wow Taipei audiences

By Alex Lloyd Junior Colin Lee, who A silence settled across the characterizes himself as an athlete, auditorium, replacing the musical fury went into Cultural Convention not of Shostakovich that filled the theatre knowing what to expect. Like Byrne, moments earlier. In the spotlight on he thought the convention went the stage, the SAS smoothly and was a nonet (one more good experience. musician than “Most people an octet) sat in a from SAS did their semicircle facing best performances,” the audience, bows Lee said. “The raised, a look of practices could be a satisfaction on their bit tedious at times faces.

Moments and there was less later, the audience free time than there exploded into is in sports IASAS applause. tournaments, but “It was the best overall I had a really we ever played the good time.” piece,” violinist While the Brian Leung said. musicians impressed “We had practiced adjudicators with it so hard that it just Cultural Convention Delegate Christine their solo and group Byrne sings the scat solo in the festival came together for concert. the last day. Photo by Paul Griffin pieces, artists found us at that moment. their rewards in a That was my favorite part of the different way. After setting up an convention.” art exhibition in the foyer of the The acclaim was not restricted auditorium, art students set about to the strings players. Singer critiquing over 150 pieces of art from Christine Byrne, a senior and 3- IASAS schools. year participant, was chosen to sing “It was fun to see other people’s the solo in the festival concert. The work and the styles of people soloist is considered one of the best from different schools,” senior art singers at the convention. delegate, Amanda Sievers said. “ It “I can’t think of a better way to was interesting to get the opinions end my senior year,” Byrne said. “I of other people even if I didn’t think Taipei is the coolest place to necessarily agree with them.” have Cultural because it’s so different See CULTURAL on page 10 from Singapore.”

PENSIVE:. A Cultural Convention art delegate ponders a photo montage, her attitude reflected in the SAS piece beside her by Young-Tak Oh. Cultural Convention art delegates split up and critiqued over 150 pieces of art brought to the show from all six IASAS schools. Photo by Pauk Griffin

Record number of teachers, 18, to leave at end of year

By Denise Hotta-Moung When Robert Dodge started teaching at SAS in 1983, Cyndi Lauper was telling the world that “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” and E.T was on the way home.

That same year, Goh Cho Khoon began teaching her Mandarin class.

Students wore the first Nikes and had hair saturated with enough hairspray to ignite a forest fire.

The two SAS veterans have been teaching here for a combined 45 years and are among the 18 teachers who are leaving the school this year.

The number is more than the number of teachers who have left in the last three years combined. Four left at the end of the 2005-06 year.

Principal Paul Chmelik, who is leaving for a superintendant position at ISKL, said that the last time such a large number of teachers left, there was no dramatic effect and that people will enjoy the new personalities.

“A lot of students I’ve talked to are upset about [teachers leaving],” sophomore Nikita Due said. “It’ll be a big change, but I’m positive about

Permit #MICA (P) 234/10/2005

she plans to get married. the new teachers coming.”

Biology teacher Barbara Wieben Mathematics teacher Roy will also be leaving for romance.

Tomlinson is leaving SAS after four years for a job as the athletic and After five years at SAS, Wieben activities director at the International will be moving to Indonesia to be closer to her boyfriend. Leaving will School in Manila.

“I wasn’t in a major hurry to be difficult for her and she said she leave,” Tomlinson said. “But when would not have chosen to leave had it this job opened up, I asked [Bob] not been for personal reasons.

Gross if I could apply.”

Other teachers who are leaving include the head librarian Ron Starker and SAS’s Japanese Sensei Rie Kimura, who has been the only Japanese teacher for the past decade.

“It’s a positive change and it’s good [for the students] to be exposed to different styles,” Kimura said. “Everybody has their own teaching style and kids will get use to [the new Japanese teacher’s method].”

Kimura is leaving for Long time ceramics teacher Kathy Wasowski shows student Ong how to make a teapot. Wasowski will be among the 18 the United States where set to leave this year. Photo by Laura Imkamp

“I’ll always remember the IASAS games I wastched and the tremendous school spirit I saw there,” Weiben said. “This school has been n amazing experience for me.”

English teacher Elizabeth Bynum, who is moving to San Diego, agrees with Wieben.

“The IASAS basketball final will be etched in my mind as one of my fondest memories of SAS, “ Bynum said.

Computer teacher Robert Havens will also find it difficult to leave behind many memories as he moves to a job teaching computer studies at the International School in Seoul, Korea.

Havens, who met his current wife here, will have a hard time leaving.

“It’s going to be a mixed bag of emotions,” said Havens. “I will have to compare everything Michelle [from now on] with SAS.” teachers Business teacher Bill

Berg will be returning back to Colorado and looks forward to the change. He is unsure of what the change will be and may even take a break from teaching.

“It’s been 35 years with [school] bells and now I might be getting into a job with no bells,” Berg said.

Berg is proud of the development of B.O.S.S. and how much the program has grown.

“I’m going to miss the food and shopping of Singapore, but most of all the teaching at SAS,” Berg said.

“This has been the best school I’ve ever worked in.”

Kathy Stefanides agrees and said she will miss the community atmosphere of SAS. “In general there is a chance to get to know the students here,” Stefanides said.

Stefanides is moving to Florida where she will continue teaching.

She is going to miss Orchard Road and the hawker stalls.

“Nothing beats the [hawker’s] price.”

2 news

March 24, 2006

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the Eye

Students battle gaming addiction

By Joseph Sarreal It’s 1 a.m. on a school night and Gerald (not his real name) is awake playing the popular online game World of Warcraft against thousands of faceless characters on every continent. He’s leading a raid for gold, looking to cast a COA (Curse of Agony) on his foes, while looking to avoid crits (critical hits).

This Massive Multiplier Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) pits Gerald against other players logging on from around the world.

The game World of Warcraft (WoW) stages battles between humans and creatures known as Orcs. Players can create characters in this fantasy world, incorporating magic skills and battle techniques to defeat other players.

Within six months of its release, 400,000 WoW players were signed up and paying a monthly fee of USD 15 each. What sets games like WoW apart, is that the game continues in real world time even if a player’s computer is switched

off. Developments in the game can occur while a player is not logged on, hence creating a need to play for long hours.

“Most people play a lot because these games are designed to be played for a long time. The more you play, the more rewards you get,” Gerald said.

Gerald is part of a small community of hardcore gamers at SAS, some of who are involved in guilds, or online clubs dedicated to the game. Some play in the library

computer lab during their breaks and free periods, in defiance of the sign on the wall.

“YOU DO NOT PLAY GAMES IN THIS LAB.” Sophomore Wilson Hasan and his friends, disregard this warning.

Hasan and others save the games on their iPods and play in the library. He said he needed to play at school so that he could help a friend.

“I’m playing on my friend’s account to farm for items,” Hasan said.

Hasan was playing as his friend’s character in an effort to collect new game items such as spells, and drops, or items looted from defeated players.

Others who play in the library, like junior Vishal Chandaria, said they play for social purposes.

“I get to meet people online and get to meet my friends online,” he said.

Candaria said he plays till midnight most nights.

In extreme cases, some of the students interviewed related that they had skipped school in order to play.

Last year, a senior was expelled for missing too many days of school; his friends say he was at home playing WoW. For the hardcore gamers at SAS, even on the days they went to school, they still returned home to play for 3-4 hours a day.

The level of obsession surrounding MMORPG online games has led to the emergence of virtual sweatshops, especially in countries where unemployment is high and job opportunities rare.

In China, unemployed people, generally college graduates unable to find work, are paid to play online games. These sweatshop workers act as proxy players, playing for clients who can afford to pay for such a service. They are commonly referred to as “Chinese farmers” because they are “gold farming,” an activity performed to collect gold in the game.

Since time is a valuable commodity in online games, these proxy players allow their clients to spend less time on the game.

In these online games, characters normally can obtain virtual items.

A new trend is now emerging: the payment of real money for these items, sometimes costing hundreds of dollars. According to the British newspaper, The Observer, this growing industry is worth almost USD 900 million. In a March 13, 2005 article, journalist Tony Thompson explored this exchange of money for virtual items, a practice not sanctioned by the gaming manufacturers. Players will normally contact sellers through eBay and conduct their transactions using that website, paying with credit cards “Ten million Adena, the currency from a game called Lineage, was retailing for around £55 (USD 96).

Up to 200 gold pieces, the currency from Everquest, could be bought for £45 (USD 78),” the article said.

Gerald says he doesn’t use Chinese farmers, he doesn’t buy game items from eBay, and that he isn’t addicted, even though he’s up till 1 a.m. most nights playing.

“I can stop whenever I want.”

Students register online for the first time using PowerSchool

By Jeff Hamilton Junior Chris Grandidge, after careful consideration, finally decided to signup for AP Stats, Zoology, Criminal Forensics, European Literature, US history and Tragedy and Comedy as his core subjects, but he had mixed feelings about using PowerSchool to sign up for his courses. On the one hand he liked it much more than filling out a form by hand, but on the other, when he tried submitting his course selections the system logged him off and he had to redo it.

“I was angry that I had to resubmit my core selection, but overall I like the system,” Grandidge said.

One group of people who have not had mixed feelings about using PowerSchool to sign up for courses is the Counseling Department, which has been using SASI since the fall of

1996 to create a master schedule and when assigning students to classes.

SASI is the predecessor of Blackbaud.

Blackbaud includes the applications NetClassroom and FAWeb, but can not be used for scheduling. Ford believes that PowerSchool is a better system than both SASI and Blackbaud when dealing with a large student body. Ford also believes that using PowerSchool to sign up for courses should result in more efficiency.

“Previous software has not been sophisticated enough, but PowerSchool has sped up the process,” Ford said.

One reason counselors see PowerSchool as a more efficient program is that students enter data directly into the computer instead of the counseling office doing it.

Previously counselors have had to

enter in up to 11,000 data entries manually.

“We [Counseling Department] have dealt with students not selecting the correct number of courses, or students who have messy handwriting,” Ford said.

In contrast, PowerSchool ensures that students choose the correct

number of credits. Seven credits for freshmen and for sophomores is a requirement and six or seven credits for juniors and next year’s seniors is required.

If a student does not select the correct number of credits they are sent back to the signup page, where they must enter in all their information

again.

PowerSchool also creates a list of the number of students taking each course next year. This information is then sent to each department, so that the correct number of teachers can be assigned to teach a particular course.

Previously this too had to be done by the counselors.

PowerSchool is set to address classes that meet only once.

These are known as singletons or complicated classes. Once these courses have been set, then other courses can be put in place.

This allows for the maximum number of schedules to be accommodated, meaning that the maximum number of students will receive their first choice courses.

PowerSchool is also set to give priority to juniors choosing courses for their senior year, followed by

sophomores, freshman and finally eighth grade students.

Many students are pleased with the way courses are selected this year.

“It makes it a lot easier,” sophomore Jack Pitfield said.

But not all students who are pleased with the change had a troublefree encounter with PowerSchool.

“The first time I clicked the submit button it did not submit my course selection, so I had to redo it the next day,” junior Saagar Mehta said.

Ford said that about 30 out of 1,100 students experienced this or similar problems.

“PowerSchool has a security feature that logs a user off if they are idle for an extended period of time,” Ford said.

Blame it on the rain - College Board screws up Oct. SAT scores in US

By Ted Ho SAT’s College Board recently disclosed that 5600 of the 495,000 SAT tests administered in October, were scored erroneously. The Pearson testing unit, which scores some of the SAT tests on behalf of College Board, said that they are investigating to determine if any more tests have been affected.

Most students affected should have received higher scores than the

ones sent to their colleges. 95 percent of the scores were off by 10–90 points.

Some students had scores that were almost 400 points below what they should have received. As a result, many counselors are encouraging students to pay for a manual scoring service where their tests will be rescored by hand. This service costs from USD 10–100 in addition to the USD 41.50 that students have to pay for taking the exam.

“The admissions community is extremely concerned,” counselor Dale Ford said. “Thankfully, no one at SAS was affected by this problem.”

The SAT tests were not affected because they are not scored at Pearson’s Austin, Texas scoring center, the site where the scoring problems resulted from. Pearson said that the errors arose due to excessive moisture that caused the answer sheets to expand before they were

scanned.

Some counselors like Ford feel that as a result of College Board’s errors, many students could have their college decisions affected.

“Ultimately the academic record is most important,” Ford said.

“However, when two students are similar in this aspect, the SAT grades are taken into account.”

Ford feels that although some students may have benefited from

the scoring errors, it is unfair to those who had actually gotten the higher scores.

Students who were affected by this have been notified by their schools and by email if their scores contained errors. Students who had lower grades than what they were supposed to have received, had their scores corrected by College Board.

Students who had higher scores were able to keep them.

the Eye

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March 24, 2006

news 3

SAS alumni bring back real world experiences and stories

By Alex Lloyd Not many people can boast that they’ve written speeches for U.N. secretary Kofi Annan. Fewer still that can say they’ve written introductions for books signed in Annan’s name.

Then throw in that he’s a friend of John Legend, the singer who won three Grammys at the 2006 Grammy Awards. For Siddarth Mohandas, such things are commonplace.

As part of a literary week, SAS alums Mohandas ‘96 and Brittani Sonnenberg ‘99, both Harvard graduates, visited classes to talk about their experiences around the world in writing and politics.

“Both of them were outstanding students when they were here at SAS,” social studies teacher Bob Dodge said. “I knew that they would go a long way after leaving SAS.” Mohandas, who attended SAS from kindergarten to 12th grade, spoke to students on a variety of different topics ranging from his experience as assistant editor for Foreign Affairs magazine, to his opinions on US foreign policy, to a discussion on “truthiness,” a term coined by the “Daily Show’s” Stephen Colbert to describe the quality of preferring concepts or facts one wishes to be true, rather than concepts or facts known to be true.

Mohandas’ true passion, though,

is government, which he is currently can have in the journalistic world,” She read excerpts from one of her studying at Harvard graduate school Siddarth has written for publications newer stories, “Hong Kong Buffet” to obtain his Ph.D. His thesis focuses Newsweek and the Christian Science which explores the relationships of on the ways war-torn nations rebuild Monitor. a number of people from different after conflict. ethnic backgrounds who “I’ve always been work or attend a Chinese fascinated by the restaurant. relationship between “I’ve always loved nations,” Mohandas reading,” Sonnenberg said. said. “Because of this “Everything would go away, I have a real interest in and I would be absorbed getting involved in U. into the book. It was always S. policy making.” a magical experience.”

M o h a n d a s Sonnenberg worked in attributes some of Phnom Penh, the capital his drive to become of Cambodia, as a local a policy maker to the journalist after graduating current administration. from Harvard.

“After seeing the “I felt like I was in a sort way they dealt with of a bubble when I was living Hurricane Katrina in Singapore,” Sonnenberg I realized we really said. “In throwing myself have an incompetent into Cambodian culture government,” I was experiencing the Mohandas said. “I exciting and risky way of hope to have a say in living as a foreigner.” the things our country While Sonnenberg is does so I can do SAS alumnus Siddarth Mohandas and senior Vrutika Mody discuss politics a fiction writer, she says something about the on the Morning Show. Photo by Alex Lloyd. inevitably she tends to insert bad decisions that are being made Sonnenberg, who, like Mohandas, biography into her stories, if not in right now.” is a writer, presented from a slightly the characters, then in the themes of Siddarth is also considering the different perspective. As a fiction her pieces. possibility of continuing his career in writer, she spoke about how her “My stories tend to be about journalism. Apart from working for travels through Asia and the sense of cultural identity, coming together, Foreign Affairs journal, described by displacement from her expatriate life or loss,” Sonnenberg said. “My Dodge as “just about the best job you have influenced her writing. sister died while I was here so that

experience has heavily influenced my writing. But sometimes I don’t even notice that I’ve put part of my life into my story until I read back over it.”

Sonnenberg is currently going to graduate school, but hopes to become a foreign correspondent for corporations like National Public Radio in the United States.

Dodge, who has known Sonnenberg since she was a baby, said she sailed though Harvard with ease.

“I think she can do just about anything she wants with her life,” Dodge said.

SAS students were also surprised by the versatility of the visiting alums. “[Mohandas has] done so much and he’s still so young,” freshman Mitoo Mahesh said of the 28 yearold alum. “He knows so much about the world and he’s so educated. It’s really inspiring.”

Sonnenberg was pleased with her visit to SAS. “I was afraid in coming back that I would find students trapped in that same bubble caused by going to an American school abroad that I was in,” she said. “It’s exciting to learn students seem to have broken out of that bubble and are really international people.”

Eng Seng Ng places 2nd at AMC

SAS beats TAS at AMC for the first time in 9 years, Ng fights his last AMC battle

By Karan Parikh In the past nine years, the Eagles Varsity Math Team has only defeated the Taipei American School at the American Math Competition (AMC) once. This year, the tide changed as Dr. James Kett, coach of the Varsity math team and head of the high school math department, led the squad to victory as they notched a win over the Taipei Tigers.

“It has been a goal to beat TAS and we have proved that this year,” Kett said.

Over 700,000 students from American public schools along with international schools from Europe and Asia competed for the AMC, in what is recognized here as the IASAS math tournament. The competition has grown this year, as 140 SAS students packed the auditorium on Feb. 15 to take the first round, 25 question test in 90 minutes.

“The first five questions are actually quite easy because they’re algebraic equations, but after that it just became harder and harder progressively,” senior Kristin Liu said.

Although the intensity of the questions may have beset many students, the five top math students at SAS remained unmoved. Seniors Eng Seng Ng, Harrison Won and Ashley Xu, and juniors Young Kyun Hur and Steve Kim, have combined their skills to form the prestigious Eagles Varsity math team.

The competition itself is widely recognized by most schools but differs from the usual IASAS tournaments that most students at SAS are accustomed to.

Senior Eng Seng Ng with his AMC prizes.

Ng placed second out of 700,000 other students. Photo by Dr. James Kett.

“This competition is different from the athletic and cultural events because each participant takes the standardized test in their own school, which means that we don’t actually meet the our opponents,” Ng said.

The AMC has been known for challenging students more and more each year, as they stress on the importance of problem-solving strategies as well as unconventional thinking.

This year’s team faired extremely well and Coach Kett has confirmed that they finished in the top two.

“The team has practiced for this competition by spending more time on old exams and taking other tests,” Kett said.

“It is a great competition,” Ng said. “It shows how much each member of our team has developed, especially when we compare our scores to those of students from other countries.”

While this year’s tournament was Ng’s last, he claimed recognition amongst the many mathletes from around the world, as he placed second, earning 128 points out of a possible 150. The senior, who has become a veteran on the squad, has just completed his third AMC competition in as many years at this tournament, but this year’s performance hasn’t come as much of a surprise to Kett.

“He has worked hard for this tournament,” Kett said. “He is a Math Club member that comes in every Wednesday for practice and his final position in the competition justifies the work he has put in.”

MIDDLE SCHOOL BOUND: Swarstad will leave the highschool to become a middle school counselor next year. The move will coincide with middleschool counselor Dawn Betts move to highschool and the arrival of new counselor Sylvander.

Photo by Sam Lloyd

Counselors shuffled for 2006

By Barbara Lodwick After nine years, counseling 250 college bound students, and writing more than 500 letters of recommendation, Mark Swarstad is moving to the middle school.

Swarstad felt it was time for a change. He said his decision to leave was at a time at the beginning of the year when he was planning a peer support retreat and doing 50 letters of recommendation. He has been a high school counselor for 20 years at five different schools.

“It was time for a change.”

Swarstad said. “I’ve had second thoughts, but I’m ready.”

Betts, a former high school P.E. teacher, began her counseling career in sixth grade last year, and will be responsible for the high school students with last names beginning with the letters, A, C, and N. New counselor Mario Sylvander will be responsible for the letters, B, D, and N. Sylvander is from St. Albans Missouri. His last job was at Chesterfield Day School as a principal and college counselor to high school

students. Chesterfield had only 200 students enrolled in K - 12. His student load at SAS alone will be almost 200.

He said he can bring many things to the counseling department at SAS. “Iwillbringmyself,”Sylvandersaid in an email. “My advisees, colleagues, and parents will be the judges of what I bring as myself, but I will do my best to bring optimism, affability, humor, empathy, integrity, organization and creativity.”

Sylvander is fluent in French, and said he will use that to relate to third culture kids.

“I can’t say that I am a third culture kid myself, but I was a yearlong exchange student to France in high school and lived with a family who spoke no English.”

Sylvander has coached varsity soccer in his past, and said he would like to coach in an international school.

“I learned to play rugby in France and competed for a team in Sweden before founding a team at Beloit College,” Sylvander said, “but I have never coached and would love to.”

4 op / ed staff editorial

Sex, lies and scandal: rumors unraveled Wait, they were seventh graders? In a bathroom? Getting it on? Oh, it was a staff bathroom— even worse. Godley walked in during the whole thing? Wow, scandalous. So then the girl disappeared? She was pregnant so she ran away? He moved?

They both were expelled?

People kept talking. The story was never cleared up.

This middle school incident is just one example of a situation blown out of proportion by word of mouth. What really happened?

A girl cried in a bathroom because her best guy friend was moving away. How did this spiral into a tale of sex, scandal and expulsion? Ask SAS students.

“We have pretty creative, smart people here based on the stuff they come up with,” senior Jade Jack said. “I think it’s rather pathetic that they don’t have anything better to do with their lives than talk about other people.”

Most underestimate the consequences of the rumor mill.

One tiny thing gets twisted in order to keep people interested and the story builds, each storyteller enlarging the myth.

If we look to the US for examples of rumors gone wild, we see how crazy things can get.

In one incident at Los Gatos High School in Saratoga, California, rumors spread that a bomb would explode during a spirit rally.

School officials cancelled the rally. Los Gatos-Monte Sereno

eye e

th

Police found no evidence of any bombs. What was the real story?

One student overheard two other students making “inappropriate comments” about a bomb, and those casual comments got blown out of proportion.

While the SAS rumor mill has not prompted a 911 call, there is no doubt that people’s emotions, self-dignity and respect often get tangled up with malicious rumors. As adolescents, we are sensitive to what our peers think of us.

Unfortunately, we are all guilty of gossiping at one point or another—we’re human. But when it comes to the point when people meddle with others’ lives to entertain themselves, it’s gone too far. The rumor mill has got to stop cranking. Every student has problems. Why do we have to add to the mix?

“It’s all about boredom, selfbetterment and self-esteem,” sophomore Maritz Buchhloz said. “People think if you blow somebody else’s candle out, yours will be brighter.”

We all need to take a step back and think about gossip.

Why do we do it? Why can’t we stop? Is it really a problem?

As a student body, we need to listen more carefully when someone says something to us.

We need to evaluate our sources of information. We need to be more empathetic towards other people: What if it was you?

Singapore American High School 40 Woodlands Street 41 Republic of Singapore 738547 Staff: (65) 6363-3404 x537 Adviser: (65) 6363-3404 x539 Fax: (65) 6363-6443 eye@sas.edu.sg

Editors-in-chief Laura Imkamp, Alex Lloyd Editors-in-chief: News editor: Joseph Sarreal, Ted Ho Op/Ed editor: Jeff Hamilton, Denise Hotta Features editor: Priyanka Dev A&E editor: Amber Bang, Rhoda Severino Sports editor: Kelsey Heiner Photo editor: Sam Lloyd Reporters: Amber Bang, Priyanka Dev, Jeff Hamilton, Kelsey Heiner, Ted Ho, Denise Hotta, Laura Imkamp, Simreen Kaur, Michelle Lee, Nicole Liew, Alex Lloyd, Sam Lloyd, Barbara Lodwick, Karan Parikh, Joseph Sarreal, Nicole Schmitz, Rhoda Severino, Ravi Shanmugam, Catherine Ward Adviser: Mark Clemens Assistant adviser: Judy Agusti The Eagle Eye is the student newspaper of the Singapore American School.

All opinions stated within these pages are those of their respective writers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Singapore American School, its board of governors, PTA, faculty or administration.

Comments and suggestions can be sent to the Eagle Eye via the Internet at eye@sas.edu.sg. At the authorʼs request, names can be withheld from publication.

Letters will be printed as completely as possible. The Eagle Eye reserves the right to edit letters for reasons of taste and space.

March 24, 2006

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the Eye

Cartoons expose intolerance on both sides “Free speech is life itself” Muslims were further incensed by according to author Salman Rushdie, what they perceived as the West’s but today we live in a society that bears double standards. Holocaust denial witness to a clash of cultures, a clash is a crime in many Western countries, that is putting that mantra through the and on the same day European papers severest of tests. reprinted the cartoons, When children’s holding up as sacrosanct author Kare Bluitgen freedom of speech, couldn’t find pictures of British Historian David the prophet Mohammed Irving was convicted for a storybook about in an Austrian court tolerance that he was for Holocaust denial. writing, his plight caught He got a three-year jail the attention of a Danish sentence. newspaper’s culture “People should have editor. The newspaper, Ravi Shanmugam a right to be wrong,” said Jyllands Posten, held a Elmar Kresbach, Irving’s competition, and printed lawyer. the results – 12 cartoons, one of which State prosecutor Michael Klackl, showed the prophet with a bomb for on the other hand, called Irving’s a turban statements an “abuse of freedom of The cartoons offended a group speech.” of Danish Muslims because they There comes the crux of the violated a tenet of Islam that forbids problem. People must wonder what is the depiction of the prophet. They an abuse and what is not. How can went to the Middle East to find support cartoons depicting the Prophet as a for their cause, and soon much of the terrorist be considered less of a crime Muslim world rose up in arms. Riots in than a harmless lunatic claiming the Riyadh, Damascus, Jakarta and Beirut Holocaust did not exist? highlighted the escalating tensions, Sophomore Belal Hakim said that even as newspapers across Europe freedom of speech was one thing, but reprinted the images to defend press it had to be exercised within certain freedom. Angry protesters targeted moral limits. He said that the cartoons Danish embassies in Muslim capitals, were “designed to incite fury in an and a sweeping Muslim boycott of already sensitive area.”

Danish products hurt Denmark’s “(White House press secretary) economy resulting in the lay-off of Scott McClellan said that denying thousands of Danish jobs. the Holocaust was an act against Meanwhile, Copenhagen said humanity, but didn’t say anything it was unable to apologize for about the cartoons,” Hakim said. He the cartoons, since the press was added that this showed the double independent. This further fueled standards were not limited to Europe. resentment in the Islamic world.

Junior Patrick McNulty agreed Singapore condemned the cartoons, with Hakim in that the cartoons and Home Affairs minister Wong should never have been reprinted, Kan Seng came out saying that press but he also said that he agreed with freedom could go to far. the convictions based on Holocaust “Free speech is the whole thing, denial. “Denying a true event is a the whole ballgame,” said author crime,” McNulty said.

Rushdie, who famously had a Once more this brings up the point fatwa placed on his head by Iranian about boundaries. Where does an Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini for his honest mistake become a criminal act, book, “Satanic Verses.” Rushdie, who and what will populations be forced held a Columbia University audience to accept? If freedom of speech is electrified during his 1991 speech not absolute, then governments will there when he discussed freedom of decide when speech is criminal. There speech and his plight. Rushdie, who may then be a temptation to force constantly feared for his safety, was populations to accept propaganda. vilified by many Muslims for his Should denying Japanese atrocities 1988 publication of Satanic Verses, result in jail terms, as Chinese premier which they said insulted Prophet Hu Jintao would have?

Muhammad If lunacy and ignorance are crimes, Even as the cartoon furor increased, then civilization truly has taken many

Rumor has it...

steps back. Should we blindly put our trust in our government to be unbiased in deciding what is historical fact and what should be criminal, as authoritarian regimes in the Soviet Union and North Korea expounded?

Senior Eric Schmidt said that Jyllands Posten had an inalienable right to publish the cartoons. “Muslims in the Middle East now get angry about anything” said Schmidt, who also believes that “Middle Eastern Muslims were looking for an excuse to protest.”

Schmidt said that Irving should have a right to say what he wants, although he drew a “distinction between Holocaust denial and humorous cartoons.”

“One is intended to be funny, but the other was offensive,” said Schmidt.

It is a damning indictment on our society today that we are unable to deal with problems such as this in a civilized manner. That Muslims had a right to take offence I do not question, for the cartoons should never have made print, but the reaction is disproportionately severe, and exposes problems far more deeprooted.

As evidenced by the recent riots that gripped France in terror, Muslims in many European countries are finding it difficult to assimilate with local populations. They are disillusioned with the dearth of job opportunities and the discrimination that they feel they have to endure.

The growing affluence gap between Europe and the Islamic world, coupled with Islamic resentment against Western heavy-handedness and perceived Western support of Israel against Palestine has made for a virtual tinderbox, threatening to explode in our faces. This resentment was only exacerbated by the recent U.S. invasion of Iraq, and by the role of Spain in preventing North African Muslims from entering their borders, resulting in the deaths of many of those Muslims.

The issue is not the printing of a couple of cartoons, but how to integrate the different cultures and try to curtail resentment by allowing Muslims their fair share of opportunities. Anything else would be a shortsighted and short-term solution, one bound to implode in the faces of such protectionist governments.

by Laura Imkamp

“uiyrhfytuwo four calves jhguyirefrnb” “qpo nhuyyrfnj friend Steff huighjlreibhf” “nmcbxoiwb huif when plants hkog bnbwhn”

“Did you know Jeff got calf implants?”

the Eye

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features 5

March 24, 2006

Survey stats reveal surprises

Results from September’s Search Institute Survey came back in late February. The survey gives students, parents and administration a snapshot of the SAS environment and its impact on the student body. Story by Ravindran Shanmugam.

Walking down the corridor every morning, seven out of every 10 people you see feel that they do not live in a caring school environment.

Only three out of ten feel they know an adult who models positive, responsible behavior.

SAS has often complained about a lack of school spirit, a lack of support for athletes, and a dearth of camaraderie.

According to the survey, most students feel they do not attend a school that cares about them, which may be one of the causes.

Caring school climate, the category that so few students responded positively to, was comprised of three questions, which asked students if their teachers cared about them, if fellow students cared about them, and if they got encouragement at school.

The resulting statistics did not overly surprise Junior Eric Brisson.

“If teachers cared about all their students, they would have emotional breakdowns when the students left at the end of the year,” Brisson said. “I’d say about half of my teachers really care about me.”

Brisson said that teachers simply had too many students to care about every one of them, and he drew a distinction between caring about students themselves and caring about their education.

Sophomore Charles Maher said that students probably felt that way because “there is too little interaction” between students and teachers. He also said that many students did not like the fact that their teachers gave them homework.

The amount of homework given to students was another point brought up by the survey, with 55 percent of students saying they got 3 or more hours of homework a day, the highest category available.

The Browne Report on American Education noted

70% of students feel that their best friends model responsible behavior Only

47% of students said that

their “life has a purpose.”

95% of students said they were

sometimes or usually bored at school Only 36% of students said they had high self-esteem

25% stated they had

NEVER had alcohol to drink About 1/4 of all seniors said they had “made love”

60% said they spend 0 hrs of an average week at a religious or spiritual place

24% of students said they were

physically harmed by someone either in the family or living with them

40% agreed with the statement “At times, I think I’m no good at all.” that the average U.S. highschool student got around an hour of homework a day.

The think tank did research that suggested that students absorbed little after the first hour and a half.

“The fact that 55 percent of students [at SAS] have 3 or

more times the U.S. average is something the school needs to look into,” psychology teacher Jeff Devens said.

Devens said that while SAS was committed to academic learning, education is holistic. School is not only about academic development,

but also for the development of EQ and for the activities that help students enhance themselves physically and morally.

It is an oft-bandied mantra of English teachers that students do not read enough on their own, but it looks as

though some self-examination might be due on that point.

It may not be a lack of desire but a lack of time that inhibits students’ ability to read vociferously. Due to homework and other commitments, only 27 percent of the students surveyed said they had time for pleasure reading.

In a meeting held to discuss the survey with students, Devens, head Counselor Dale Ford, principal Paul Chemelik, and school psychologist Dr. David Putnam highlighted some other issues and possible reasons for them were discussed.

At the forum, sophomore Nicole Schmitz pointed out that many students at SAS might not have adult role models because of the “international setting,” with many parents based in Singapore traveling a lot. Schmitz said this would also leave many children unsupervised, which some kids would then take advantage of to flout otherwise sacrosanct rules.

An example of this was the six percent who said they had used marijuana or hashish during the last 12 months, a percentage about quadruple that of top local schools Raffles Institution and Anglo Chinese School Independent.

Nineteen percent of students said they had had five of more drinks at least once in the last thirty days, with 36 percent having had at least one drink.

Again, these percentages are higher than those witnessed

by Singapore’s better local schools.

Personal questions concerning students’ sexual lives were also included in the survey to get a good sense of what the student body at SAS is exposed to. So, if you should chance to see a wan and drawn face with droopy eyelids and a pursed mouth turn up for class, there is a 15 percent chance that that person had “gone the whole way” the previous night.

6 features

In our school The following statistics are all average occurences at SAS. The results are taken from the Search Institute Survey administered in September.

18% have felt sad or depressed most or all of the time in the last month (September).

This breaks down to: 24% of female students 12% of male students 13% of students have attempted suicide at least once.

This breaks down to: 18% of female students 8% of male students 12% have engaged in anorexic or bulimic behavior.

This breaks down to: 17% of female students 7% of male students

General Facts 9.5% of the US population age 18 and older experiences depression in a given year.

15% of the population of most developed countries suffers severe depression.

30%

of

women

are

depressed.

80% of people suffering from depression are not being treated.

15% of depressed people will commit suicide.

Women are twice as likely to experience depression as men, but men are three times more likely to commit suicide.

Suicide is the third leading cause of death for people between ages of 15 and 24 and the fourth leading cause of death for children aged 10-14.

One in five women can expect to develop depression at some point in their lives.

Children and teenagers who attempt suicide are 8 times more likely to have a mood disorder, three times more likely to have an anxiety disorder, and 6 times more likely to have a substance abuse problem.

Scientists think that more than half of the people who have had one episode of major depression will have another at some point in their lives.

March 24, 2006

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the Eye

The darker The first time Anna (not her real name) saw a counselor was in sixth grade. She was having problems at school and her insecurities were getting the best of her. It was not until almost four years later that she first saw a psychiatrist and was diagnosed with clinical depression.

Towards the end of her freshman year a doctor prescribed the antidepressant Zoloft, but after a year without any clear improvement in her mood, she stopped taking the SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) and tried to cope with the depression through therapy alone.

It was around this time that Anna also started injuring herself as a release for her intense emotions.

Tenth grade did not start any better. She began the school year severely depressed. Her attendance was so poor that the administration asked her to leave in the fall semester. She transferred from SAS to the Canadian school, where she lasted three days. She then tried home schooling, but her mother eventually gave up because of problems with the system.

During that entire time, Anna was still struggling with self-harm.

As well as cutting herself on various parts of her body, she burned herself or smashed her wrists against hard corners or surfaces until her arms were bruised. In March of last year, she checked into the behavioral ward at Mt. Elizabeth hospital, expecting to be there for only a week. Instead she stayed for 35 days. She had a big empty room to herself and one suitcase. She was not even allowed a phone. Only family members and certain friends were allowed to visit, and she was not even allowed to go to a Coffee Bean around the corner without supervision.

“It was weird. I didn’t realize how much I missed and needed my family until I was pretty much locked up,” Anna said.

This year Anna is back at SAS as a sophomore. She said that her time at Mt. Elizabeth did not help much, and she is still struggling with self-harm. In December

blue

she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder – something her maternal grandfather had as well. She said she was not surprised.

“When [my psychiatrist] told me, it sounded more scary than it really is,” she said. “I was like, ‘People are going to think I’m psycho!’”

Though this year started out well for her, each quarter has taken her a little more into a depressive episode. She said that lately she is rarely at school for an entire week, and she said that at one point last week she slept for 25 hours straight because it was simply too hard to deal with things – especially when people expect her to smile and be happy.

Depression, according to the World Health Organization, will be the second largest killer by 2020, second only to heart disease. Fifteen percent of those who are depressed will kill themselves. Already, 15 percent of the population of most developed countries suffers from severe depression.

At SAS, 18 percent of the high school student body reported feeling sad or depressed “most or all of the time” in the Search Institute Developmental Assets survey administered in September.

It also showed that 13 percent of high school students here have attempted suicide at least once, and 12 percent have engaged in bulimic or anorexic behaviors, which are often associated with depression and mood disorders.

School Psychologist David Putnam said that the purpose of the survey was not to point out specific traits like depression rates at our school, but to highlight things that are going on in the school community. In this case, the results in such areas show that depression and mental health could potentially become bigger issues at SAS. “ ‘Sad or depressed’ doesn’t exactly equate clinical depression, so it’s not necessarily saying that they’re all clinically depressed,” he said, referring to the wording of some questions. “But that the

numbers for [feeling] those feelings so often are high is something to keep an eye on.”

Anna thought that the distinction between sad and depressed is a pretty clear one.

“When you’re depressed you’re constantly sad, but when you’re just sad it can last for a few days and then something cheers you up.”

Putnam also said that because of the varying degrees of the disorder, it is difficult to quantify how many kids are actually depressed.

The mood disorder, like many others, does not have a single clear cause. It can be the result of a combination of factors, including environmental, biological and possibly even genetic influences.

Often, depression can be situational; it might develop when a person is under a lot of pressure and stress, has a heavy workload, or has recently been through a traumatic experience. In such cases, the depression usually eases up when its causes do, too.

Situational factors, however, can have a bigger influence on some people than on others – especially in an environment where people come and go so regularly.

There are those who can cope well with moving, changes and making new friends while there others who have trouble starting over in a new place. Putnam said that, usually, the later in his or her high school career a teenager moves, the harder it becomes to adjust to the changes.

He said that some results might be skewed because the survey was given so early on in the year, when many of the new students were still trying to find their groove at SAS. However, he said that winter break and interim semester are usually turning points for those kids Sometimes, though, such environmental factors are just a springboard to developing major or chronic depression.

“At some point it crosses over to where your thinking and emotions start to really change,” Putnam said. “The depression starts to have a lot of traits or characteristics that

The Clues: Signs and symptoms of depression A person suffering from depression may not necessarily show all of the symptoms associated with the mood disorder.

However, psychiatrists say that if someone feels at least one for two weeks or more, or is generally down, it might be something to check out. Basic signs of depression include: Constant feelings of sadness, irritability, or tension.

Decreased interest or pleasure in usual activities or hobbies.

Loss of energy, fatigue, feeling tired despite lack of activity.

Feelings of worthlessness, hopelessness, or guilt.

A change in appetite, with signifi- Thoughts of suicide or death. cant weight loss or weight gain.

Depression does not only A change in sleeping patterns, affect people mentally. It often such as fitful sleep, inability to somatizes, or affects the body sleep, early morning awakening, physically. Studies are linking or sleeping too much. more illnesses, such as osteoporosis, diabetes, heart disease, Restlessness or feeling slowed some types of cancer, eye disease down. and back pain, on depression.

Other physical symptoms can inDecreased ability to make deciclude headaches, stomachaches, sions or concentrate. tension and exhaustion.

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March 24, 2006

in red, white and blue are independent of what’s going on.”

Jen (not her real name), a junior at SAS, has been dealing with depression since she was in elementary school. She was involved in sports and was friends with all the boys, so the girls her age began to tease her. Eventually they stopped being her friends altogether. The situation became so bad that she transferred schools in fifth grade. Still, the depression persisted and eventually became something that she couldn’t shake.

Though she knows she has been clinically depressed for a long time, she was not actually diagnosed until just before this year’s interim semester. She was prescribed the antidepressant Lexapro, and says that it has helped stabilize and elevate her mood.

“I was just consistently not being who I really am,” she said.

“Recently, people have been saying I’ve been more sarcastic because that’s actually how I am. I’m just not funny when I’m depressed.”

Still, Jen said that she finds it hard to deal with the disorder at SAS. She said that because of the size of the school and its many different cliques, people are more detached from everyone else, making it harder to find good friends. She also said that since depression is not something that is “out in the air” or often talked about, she feels she would be treated differently if people knew that she suffers from the disorder. She did say, however, that her teachers have been very supportive of her when she was in a slump or dealing with too much pressure.

Jen said that before she was on medication, she let things pile up until the pressure became so great that she would just crack and break down. Now, she says she can handle more than she could before.

She also said that instead of feeling down for no apparent reason, she can usually pinpoint the cause of a low mood, and more often than not it is because of frustration with the lack of expressive outlets, or

Causes of

Depression Nobody is entirely sure what exactly causes depression.

It is sometimes situational, which means it might be caused by circumstances in a person’s environment such as stress, pressure, or traumatic events. This kind of depression may go away when the factor bringing it on - stress, for example - eases up. However, there is also a good chance that it can lead to clinical or chronic depression.

Scientists think that chronic depression and major

by Laura Imkamp

Types of Depression

having trouble relating to kids at this school.

Anna said that, for her, the most difficult thing about dealing with mood disorders is just getting herself going. She said that she feels bogged down, wants to sleep all day, and loses interest in things easily. “[At school] you have to focus on what you’re doing, but I can’t so I’ll just be staring at a blank piece of paper,” she said.

Though she is not suffering from an eating disorder, Anna said that she often has periods of time where she just does not want to eat.

She said that it is not uncommon for her to skip out on dinner. And as long as she does not begin to lose a lot of weight, her parents do not bother her about it.

Often though, eating disorders are linked to depression – especially in bulimia, where purging plays the same role as self-injury does: to serve as a physical way of releasing emotions and emotional energy. “[Eating disorders] are often thought of as being about food,” Putnam said. “Food is just the vehicle of expression for difficulties that are posed, especially in emotional issues. There is a fair amount of crossover.”

For Jen, her main form of letting off steam is crying. She also used to write poems and short stories until she became too busy to have enough time. Now, one of her strategies for rationalizing and sorting out her feelings is to just take a step back and look at the situation from both sides. Jen has figured out that most people will react to something negative by either getting angry or sad, and realized that she usually gets sad.

Before she lets it take over though, she asks herself whether it is even something worth getting sad about.

“In any situation you can do that, to see whether or not this is something I can overreact to,” she said.

depression can be the result of a combination of things, including biological and genetic factors, environmental influences, and childhood or developmental events.

Researchers believe that an imbalance of certain brain chemicals contribute to depression. Low levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin may cause the sleep problems, irritability and anxiety that depressed people often feel, while a deificiency of norepinephrine, which regulates alertness and arousal, could contribute to fatigue and a general depressed feeling.

Other chemicals that are

features 7

Major depression, also known as major depressive disorder or clinical depression, is characterized by a severely depressed mood that persists for at least two weeks, and is generally believed to have a biological component such as a chemical imbalance in the brain.

Dysthymia, or chronic depression, is a long-term, mild depression that lasts for a minimum of two years.

The symptoms are usually not as severe as those in major depression, although those with dysthymia may have co-occurring episodes of major depression. This disorder often begins in adolescence and can last for the lifespan..

Bipolar disorder, sometimes called manic depression, is an episodic illness that has two types.

In bipolar disorder I, moods cycle between mania and depression, while bipolar disorder II is characterized by more depressive episodes and hypomania.

Mania is basically a severely elevated mood accompanied by irrational thinking, large amounts of energy, a decreased need for sleep, racing thoughts and grandiose ideas and plans. Hypomania is a state of mind or behavior that is “below” mania. It has all the symptoms of fullblown mania but they are not pronounced enough to be considered a manic episode. thought to be involved in depression include hormones such as cortisol. In normal people, this ‘stress hormone’ usually peaks in the morning and then levels off as the day goes on. In depressed people, however, cortisol peaks earlier in the morning and stays at a high level throughout the day.

Scientists are not sure if the hormone is a cause of depression, or if it is the other way around.

Higher and more prolonged levels of cortisol can have negative effects on the body that include impaired cognitive performance, blood sugar imbalances such as hyperglycemia, higher blood pressure, and low-

ered immunity and inflammatory responses in the body.

It is not entirely sure if depression is a hereditary disorder, but studies with identical twins show that if one of the twins suffers from depression or manic depression, the other has a 70 percent chance of developing it as well. Other research also says that if a person has a parent or sibling with a mood disorder, he or she is 1.5 to three times more likely to develop it as well.

Manic depression, or bipolar disorder, has especially strong genetic roots. About 50 percent of people with the disorder have a parent with a history of

clinical depression, and a if a parent has bipolar disorder, their child will have a 25 percent chance of developing the disorder as well.

These statistics show that there may be a genetic predisposition for mood disorders, though no clear link between a specific gene and a vulnerability to depression has been found. Just because depression may run in the family does not mean that someone has a 100 percent chance of developing it. It is believed that a genetic influence is only partially responsible for the development of depression.

8 features

March 24, 2006

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the Eye

Oedipus band members and guest singer Eric Casella perform at Phunk, a Mohammed Sultan nightclub.

Clockwise from left: Casella belts out ‘Man in the Box’ by Alice in Chains in two photos; lead singer Dugard takes the mike and the red spotlight; Smallman takes his turn at the mike; the band’s drummer Dawe keeps the beat for the others; below, Gerebtzoff, Dugard and Smallman get into their performance and light up the stage; the spotlight shines on Dugard as he takes a breath from intense lyrics.

Photos by Laura Imkamp and Emma Roberts.

Backstage pass: Oedipus rocks out at local club gig

By Amber Bang The audience was jumping up and down with their hands in the air, and those who weren’t jumping were nodding their heads to the beat of the music. The metal band Oedipus, landed a gig on March 4 at Phunk, a nightclub on Muhammed Sultan.

The band consists of seniors Nick Gerebtzoff, Ben Smallman, Doogie Dugard and junior Jordan Dawe.

Oedipus performed from 7 to 10 p.m. with a half-hour intermission in between. The show was catered to all ages, women paying $12 and men paying $15. Despite being advertised

by both the band members and high school club Independent Performing Artists Union (IPAU), the gig was not a school-related event.

“The band members came and asked to use equipment for the gig, and I went a week before to do layout and wiring,” IPAU sponsor Paul Koebnick said.

“I thought they played a really good show,” junior and president of IPAU Eric Brisson said. “They had two hours of music, and the crowd was great.”

Oedipus got the gig through senior C.J. Snell, who knows the

owner of Phunk and suggested Oedipus play at his nightclub. The show was aimed at promoting the band publicly, which may prompt a permit to play regularly at similar venues.

Most of the audience was comprised of SAS high school students, but there were some viewers from other schools who came to watch the show.

Numerous people commented on the band’s extraordinary improvement.

“I’ve seen them practicing and they’re a lot better,” freshman

Fawn Roby said. “They’ve really improved.”

Members of the band agreed.

“We definitely did better at this gig than at all the other gigs we’ve played before,” bassist and lead singer Daniel Dugard said.

The end of the show was greeted with three encores from the audience.

“Oedipus did way better than people expected them to,” Snell said.

“They were pretty impressed.”

This is not the first time an SAS band has played a gig outside of school. Bands such as Helga and

The Old Kings have performed shows at nightclubs in the past. The Old Kings played at the Esplanade outdoor stadium to promote their third album.

The owner of Phunk has invited Oedipus to come back and play again since the show was such a big success.

After having performed at a public location, Dugard offers advice to emerging bands.

“It’s good experience, and other bands should go out and try it.”

Food Services Committee orders healthy options

A view of Mr.Hoe’s cafeteria selection and a satisfied customer. Photo by Laura Imkamp.

By Amber Bang A sea of people flows into the cafeteria seconds after the bell rings for a break. Requests for lemon chicken, French fries and fried rice call out from a crowd of students.

This high school cafeteria scene has begun to be observed by the Food Services Committee, who has come up with many suggestions to improve the food offered at SAS.

The Food Services Committee was started in August 2005, with two people representing each division of SAS. The committee is composed of faculty, parents and one high school student. Rhonda Norris, the Assistant Superintendent for Business, at SAS, is the chair for the Food Services Committee.

“The Food Services Committee’s job is to evaluate and recommend. We have not made any recommendations to remove anything at the high school, though we have asked the primary, the intermediate and the middle school to remove all soft drinks,” Norris said.

The committee has met recently to put forth recommendations, such as the addition of healthier drinks and snacks, improvements to the salad bar and ingredients used in cooking.

“We have recommended there be fresher ingredients, less oil, less salt, and for the food not to be so greasy,” Norris said.

This sentiment seems to be

echoed by many high school students and teachers.

“I feel there should be healthier food options,” science teacher Martha Began said. “More soup choices and more fresh fruit, and less fried foods. I think there should be a mix of delicious but healthy food.”

Other students don’t seem to mind the grease, but have concerns of their own. “[Mr. Hoe’s food] has a lot of grease, but it doesn’t bug me. We need more food of some kind though.

After four years, I’m so sick of it,” senior Kris Riemer said.

“It would be nice to have some different kinds of cuisine as well, like Italian and Mediterranean food,” junior Wera von Wulfen said.

The Food Committee has already discussed this concern, and has suggested changes to the current food system.

“We are working on changing out ingredients so that the food is not the same everyday,” Norris said.

Although the franchises, Subway

and Juice Zone, are available as healthier options for students, many complain about the cost.

“I normally eat at Mr. Hoe’s, but if Subway was a bit cheaper, and the line was a bit shorter, I’d eat there,” sophomore Byron Barret said.

Junior Shruti Shekhar, a vegetarian, would like more options for vegetarians at SAS. “I wish they had more vegetable meals, because there are a lot of vegetarians at our school. I like how Subway has a veggie sub, but it gets boring sometimes. And when I do order a vegetarian meal [from Mr. Hoe’s], they cook it in the same pans as they use to cook meat in.”

Students have also commented on the fact that schools such as the International School of Bangkok and Jakarta International School have more interesting food options than SAS. JIS has a variety of different stalls offering different kinds of food, while ISB, in addition to their main caterer, has a large sushi bar.

The Food Services Committee

did observe two other international schools in Singapore to compare to SAS. Sophomore Daksha Rajagopalan is the only high school student on the Food Services Committee. She commented on the role the committee plays in making real changes in the cafeteria.

“We have suggested hiring a consultant for the nitty gritty details, as we’re not qualified to actually make real suggestions,” Rajagopalan said.

Corrections

In the Feb. 21 issue of The Eye, a major character in the student run musical “Children of Eden” was left out. Junior Sean McCabe played God. In the rugby story, Mike Loscalzo was chosen All-Tournament, not Braden Betts. The number of boys who were returning from the IASAS team the year before was three.

the Eye

Review: GET ARRESTED

Ratings decline as viewers turn to other shows

By Denise Hotta-Moung Set in Orange County, this critically acclaimed show deals with family troubles, love triangles, fatherless children, infidelity and crime. It’s not “The O.C.” It’s “Arrested Development.”

“Arrested Development,” an Emmy Award-winning comedy series, turns potentially heartbreaking, dramatic scenes into outrageous, comedic moments.

The show is about a dysfunctional family trying to keep it together after George Sr. Bluth (Jeffery Tambor) is sent to prison for illegal accounting practices. George’s son Michael (Jason Bateman) is forced to save the family. Meeting the requests of his demanding family proves to be a difficult task as Michael finds himself stuck in impossible situations every week.

Review: LOST

Arrested differs from most television comedies in that the show does not rely on laugh tracks and is filmed as a ‘mockdocumentary.’

Using a single camera, Arrested follows the cast as they act, making it seem as though the audience is listening in on their conversations.

Despite popularity with television critics, “Arrested Development” producers had to fight to keep the show on air. When the show reached it’s third season, Fox cut the 22 episodes down to just 13, even though Arrested was chosen as AFI program of the year in 2003.

The fate of Fox’s awardwinning “Arrested Development” does not look good.

Arrested’s humor cannot compete with the suspense of

Stranded-island theme a hit

By Rhoda Severino A lottery winner. A drug addict.

A doctor. A paraplegic. They came from all over the world and the only thing they had in common was that they were all fortunate, or unfortunate, enough to have been seated in the middle of the plane.

When Oceanic 815 crashed somewhere in the Pacific, they were all strangers. In the course of a month, they became enemies, friends, rivals, comrades, and sometimes all of these combined.

The multi-Emmy winning series “Lost,” launched in the United States on September 22, 2004, explores the lives of fourteen survivors of a plane crash.

As the series progresses, these characters’ pasts, secrets and motivations are revealed to the audience, providing explanations for their often baffling actions. The best and the worst is brought out of the people who are lost.

The characters in the show are forced to work together to survive the harsh and brutal environment of the island.

“Lost” is the latest in the long line of shows drawing from the “stranded on an island” genre. Much like its classic and most famous predecessor “The Lord of the Flies” by author William Golding, “Lost” examines the lengths to which a human being will go to survive, and how that affects his relationships with fellow survivors.

For some, the daily fight for survival brings out the best in them, such as Jack, a spinal surgeon turned leader, and sometimes the worst, as seen in Sayid, a former communications officer in the Iraqi army reverting back to his brutal ways.

Complications are added to the plot when the survivors are forced to band together for dear life, despite their differences, after they

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March 24, 2006

“Who Wants to Marry My Dad?” - a show where young adults shop their dads around to middle aged women.

While “Arrested Development” engages an average of 4 million viewers weekly, “Who Wants to Marry my Dad?” drew 11.2 million viewers during its final episode.

It does not take a genius to understand the humor of “Arrested Development,” but the show’s script is filled with subtle puns and allusions that may be too advanced for the average television viewer.

“America supports simpler, unchallenging, middle-of-theroad, mediocre stuff,” said David Cross, who plays psychologist turned actor Tobias Fïnke on Arrested.

The irony is that “Arrested Development” has been recognized for its achievement by 12 award committees, and in more than 20 categories. The show has won five Golden Satellite Awards, one Golden Globe award and six Emmy Awards.

Clearly, Arrested’s ratings are not commensurate with the quality of the show. For some reason, America is not watching.

Television viewers have passively watched as “Arrested Development” comes closer and closer to an end. Poorly scripted T.V. soap operas get more attention.

As a result, it is highly unlikely that “Arrested Development” will come back. As Gob Bluth from Arrested says, “we’ve made a huge mistake.” discover that they are not alone on the island.

Mysterious whispers in the jungle, a Frenchwoman who has been on the island for sixteen years, the occasional polar bear, and a menacing, unseen monster all terrorize the survivors.

The answers to these mysteries arise piece by piece, teasing the audience with red herrings and cryptic clues.

The second season, currently airing in the United States, continues where the first season finale left off with an infuriatingly suspenseful cliffhanger. Asian viewers wait eagerly for answers.

Will Michael rescue his son from his seafaring kidnappers?

What was that hatch hiding? What do those recurring numbers have to do with anything? We can’t wait to find out.

New characters are also introduced in the new season, including Ana Lucia, a woman featured in the first season finale.

How these new characters will be integrated into the original band of castaways remains to be seen.

The second season promises to be just as exciting and suspenseful as the first, possibly even more so since it can now skip over all the background of the first season and can now plunge directly into the action.

Until “Lost” season two comes to Asia, fans of the show will have to make do with analyzing past episodes to find the answers they so desperately want.

Savior for lost music found in CopyPod

By Cat Ward Your computer crashes, iTunes and all of your music is lost. You have your iPod, but no way to import the songs back to your computer.

What do you do?

CopyPod can save you! CopyPod claims to be the, “ultimate backup and recovery tool for your iPod,” says copypod.net.

The software can be purchased for US$ 20, or you can use if for free for two weeks. The Wall Street Journal review, Software to Help You

Download From iPods, Share iTunes on 1 PC, recommends CopyPod for Windows users.

CopyPod’s can either backup your iPod, or import songs from your iPod into iTunes. It’s also compatible with all models of the iPod. Mac users who need a way to back up their iPod music can try PodWorks, from www.scifihifi.com/ podworks. PodWorks is slightly cheaper for US$ 8, and you can try it for 30 days for free.

SPLASH: SAS Jazz band players performing at the March 18 American Club artshow Eclipse tossed themselves into the pool after their performance.

Eclipse showcased artwork from the SAS AP Art students. Parents, teachers, students and other art enthusiasts attended the evening show.

Above: Photography teacher Paul Griffin scrutinizes a piece by Karishma Mehta.

Left: Senior Sarah Knowlton takes a break next to her art work Below: Senior Artist Summer Beinhorn shows off her artwork to seniors WhitneyTalyor and Megan Avery and Sophmore Abby Murray. All photos

by Laura Imkamp

10 arts

March 24, 2006

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the Eye

CULTURAL: benefit in sharing Continued from page one...

Senior Sarah Knowlton, also an art delegate, agreed.

“It’s nice to get the perspective of someone outside of the school Knowlton said. “Art-wise it was enlightening to see the differences between the AP and IB programs and how it affected the artwork.”

The delegates and instructors found the AP art to be more technical as compared to the IB program which was more conceptual.

Despite the differences, Knowlton felt that each of the pieces was good in it’s own way.

“They were all really unique, both in composition and style,” she said. “I enjoyed all of them.”

After critiques, SAS artists attended evening performances by the musicians. The honors recital on Thursday night showcased the pieces of either a group piece from a certain school, or a solo performance.

Trumpet player, senior Ben Spalter, was one such musician.

“I felt pretty good about how I’d done and then one of the trumpet instructors came up to me and told me that I should study music in college,” Spalter said. “That made me feel really good about my performance.”

It was here the strings nonet stunned the audience by playing their piece by Shostakovich, a Russian composer.

“It was a very risky piece because it was kind of unconventional and unusual,” strings conductor Steve Bonnette said. “It really showed the rest of the IASAS schools where we are as a department because our whole group played so well, we didn’t just have one or two outstanding players.”

The vocal octet performed a piece called “Prayer of the Children” written by Kurt Bestor.

“Vocally we did a really nice job,” vocal conductor Nannette Devens said. “All the vocalists showed a great deal of maturity.”

On the final night of cultural convention, musicians joined forces to play a number of pieces they had been given at the beginning of the convention.

“It’s great playing with such a large group of talented musicians because we’re all just thrown together and what comes out sounds really good,” Spalter said. “I really enjoyed being able to mingle with musicians from the other schools.”

For art teacher Barbara Harvey, it wasn’t just the music and artwork that she liked at IASAS. “The best part about the convention for me was the three art delegates wanting to go see

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Art delegates Amanda Sievers and Sarah Knowlton look for their team name as they prepare to hang SAS students’ art in Taipei. Cellist Natasha Liou during her strings performance, Azhani Amiruddin collaborates in an all schools performance. Students complete critiques for absent artists.

Photos by Alex Lloyd and Paul Griffin.

their peers play in the concert,” she said. “I was so proud to see that our students are really proud of what their peers are doing. To me, that’s what Cultural Convention should be all about.”

CLOCKWISE FROM BELOW: Artwork by SAS Cultural Convention delegates includes“Pop Culture:The Destruction of Beauty” by sophomore Alison Tan, “Untitled” by senior Chris Fussner, “Puppet” by senior Karishma Mehta, “Colors of the Gingko Leaves” by junior Hye Na Kim.

the Eye

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arts 11

March 24, 2006

Drama and Dance in Bangkok

Actors take dark comedy, dancers their bad day to Cultural

By Nicole Schmitz Joseph K., wakes up one morning to find himself under arrest and then imprisoned without a court proceeding in “The Trial,” presented by the SAS Cultural Convention drama delegates. The play, performed March 9, featured Franz Kafka’s literary warning against totalitarian states.

The delegates used Harold Pinter’s adaptation of the book in their 45-minute version of the play.

Pinter, who received the Nobel Prize for literature last year, has his plays characterized by scenes in a single room with a constant unknown menace.

The preview for the play was performed on March 6, and though the cast had practiced rigorously, not everyone was happy with it.

“My actors weren’t loud enough,” acting teacher Patricia Kuester said.

“The audience was disruptive.”

“We messed up some of the transitions [in Monday’s performance],” senior Daniel Dugard

said.

“There was not a lot of time to warm up. We need at least one hour to warm up and the assembly left us with only 30 minutes,” senior Will Reid said.

“There was less time to prepare and get focused for [the show],” actor senior Lexi Kirwin said. “As a cast, we were concerned about the play and how well the audience would accept it.”

“The Cultural Convention audience is usually receptive,” Reid said.

His greatest concern was getting the transitions down and whether the audience would understand it. Reid, a seasoned thespian, has been in two of the previous Cultural Convention plays. He noted that last year’s Cultural Convention piece, “Dinner” by Moira Buffini, was not as intense during the dress rehearsal, but was performed well in the actual presentation.

“They both are fantastic plays, but ‘Dinner’ wasn’t as intense. I hope

SAVED FROM CORRUPTION. Senior Will Reid as Joseph K. being pulled away by senior Nick Kreston playing Joseph K.’s uncle from senior Lexi Kirwin playing Leni in Harold Pinter’s adaptation of Kafka’s ‘The Trial’. All photos by Susan Murray.

it’s the same story on Thursday,” Reid said.

“It’s a dark comedy; a serious play,” Dugard said.

The actors worried that the audience would not understand it.

Many enjoyed the performance but could not really understand the meaning behind the actors’ movements.

“I thought it was extremely weird, but I liked it,” junior Jennifer Gamez said. “[Joseph K.] is basically on death row from the moment he wakes up.”

She was also able to appreciate the way the actor was able to switch into different characters. “[Everyone] had to do more than one character,” Dugard said. “It was hard to do.”

Though others were confused about the ambiguity of the play, senior Eric Schmidt enjoyed it. “[The Trial] had some really great satirical parts,” Schmidt said.

He also praised the stark scenery of a few chairs and minimal accessories

and props.

“It was a great minimalist approach to the play,” Schmidt said.

“It allowed you to pay attention to the characters and what they were saying.”

There were more practical reasons for this staging. “We couldn’t take the whole set to Bangkok with us,” Dugard said.

Reid maintains that the cast has purposely kept the ambiguity.

“The play is supposed to have nightmarish qualities,” Reid said.

“The audience can interpret it the way they wish.”

“We didn’t show Joseph being killed so that some think he gets killed, some think he doesn’t,” Dugard said.

Reid agreed. “There was hope,” he said.

“I think [Thursday] was our best performance,” Kirwin said. “We worked so much harder when we got to Bangkok. It was the real thing.”

As for the Cultural Convention dance delegates, they performed

THE TITORELLI GIRLS. Kirwin, sophomore Mariko Thomas, Kreston, junior Crystal Clower, sophomore Chelsea Curto, junior Wera von Wulfen and freshman James Linton hover outside the artist,Titorelli’s, house.

a piece titled “Out of Order”, choreographed by high school dance teacher Tracy Van Der Linden, as well as the dance delegates.

The dancers seem to be happy with their performance at ISB. “I think we did really well,” sophomore dancer, Abby Murray said. “It was the best out of all [our practices].”

The dance delegates also had the opportunity to collaborate with other dancers.

“It was fun doing workshops with a well-known choreographer and dancer,” senior Alison Yuen said.

Responses were similar when the dancers were asked how they thought they compared to other schools.

“I think we had one of the best dances out of all the schools,” Yuen said.

Junior Anushka Bharvani was pleased with the emotion displayed through the dance.

“We felt that we were finally able to show what we wanted to express.”

Additional reporting by Amber Bang

TEMPTATION. Kirwin pulls Reid towards her in an act of seduction.

SAS forensics triumph at ISB Cultural Convention

By Priyanka Dev Students from every IASAS school rose from auditorium seats to their feet. Noise of applause hit the air. Five judges sat at desks in front of the stage, each scribbling feedback on their adjudication sheets. Who would win the finals round? Nobody knew, nobody cared. Most agreed that the performances and speeches given were all amazing.

This year, the final rounds in every event- Impromptu, Extemporaneous, Original Oratory, Oral Interpretation and Debate- ended in just this manner.

“I think anyone could have won that final round,” senior and Oral Interpretation gold-medalist Will Reid said. “I’m really happy that I was one of the competitors that was up there.”

He added that the competition this year had progressed since last year in most events.

The caliber of participants was not the only thing that many said differed in this year’s convention.

Sponsors and students alike returned from Bangkok citing the unusually friendly atmosphere surrounding this year’s competition.

“I felt that this year was a lot less contentious than before,” Impromptu sponsor Rick Silverman said. “There were none of those old animosities between schools.”

While competition was said to be friendlier, our delegates still outperformed other IASAS schools.

SAS students reached the finals in all five events.

“It was great because it was obvious that SAS had a very wellrounded group,” junior Penn Bullock said. “The caliber of the delegates we brought to the competition was unlike any of the other schools.”

Bullock won gold in Impromptu for his second year in a row, and silver in Extemporaneous speaking.

In Oral Interpretation(OI), the event in which participants use solely their voice to narrate and bring life to a story, Reid tied for gold and senior Nick Kreston tied

for bronze. Sophomore Chelsea Curto, another OI participant, also reached the finals.

Senior Priyanka Dev and junior Tarang Agarwal returned with gold in debate after participating in seven debates over this year’s resolution: feminist ideals are detrimental to the attainment of gender equality.

After the team defeated ISKL in the semi-finals, the senior-junior duo went on to defeat an ISM team in a heated debate on the stage at ISB’s auditorium.

Sophomore Ang-Jun Seow and senior Vrutika Mody were finalists in Original Oratory, the event in which participants prepare a persuasive speech beforehand and present to judges at the convention. Mody spoke about the pitfalls of self-help books, concluding that the next self-help title might just be “How to Read a Self-help Book” and Seow attempted to convince listeners that blogs were the new megaphone for ordinary people.

In Impromptu, all three SAS

participants made it through to finals, with senior Leslie Lim and Seow joining Bullock onstage in the round. In this event, participants are tasked with the job of preparing an interesting and insightful speech on a word or phrase in a mere 30 seconds. For example, in the finals, each participant was asked to use either the word ‘scrutiny’ or the phrase ‘Dreamers are Lonely,’ to make a speech.

It is evident that sponsors and participants are happy with the way SAS shined this year.

“This is one of the better years we’ve had in a long time,” OI sponsor John Hurst said.

Participants claim that they owe success to the dedication they invested into their events. While ISB participants, for example, started preparing in some events only a few weeks before Cultural Convention, students from SAS started preparing in some events as early as October.

“I was here every morning since late January at 7:15 a.m. working

on my piece,” OI medalist Kreston said. “I think the fact that so many of us were in the finals is a testament to the high standards we set for ourselves and expect to reach.”

Participants in every event also said they enjoyed the support of the entire SAS delegation, including drama and dance students.

“Everyone who spoke in the events was confident,” dancer, junior Anushka Bharvani said. “I was really impressed and proud to be part of the same school.”

Bharvani, a member of the Cultural dance team, sat in the audience throughout the entire round of debate and forensic finals. She was just one of the many that stood for the standing ovations that marked the camaraderie of the participants at this year’s convention.

“Learning from my own experience, but more importantly, learning from the performances of participants from other schools was invaluable,” Kreston said.

12 sports Pain killers: health saver or health risk?

March 24, 2006

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the Eye

While large doses may be harmful, doctors feel that moderate usage should not have adverse affects on athletes’ health or performance

By Sam Lloyd The immediate benefits of painkillers are obvious: they reduce pain, something especially useful for athletes in a hard workout. But according to Activities Co-Director Brian Combes, usage may have reached an unhealthy level at SAS. “There are people who pop Advil and Aleve like it’s candy,” Combes said. “I wouldn’t encourage athletes to take them in excess. Having pain is part of the training cycle, and pain relievers should be given for injury rather than discomfort.”

Combes based his warning on the case of Kenny Easley, strong safety for the Seattle Seahawks until 1988, who suffered kidney damage requiring a transplant due to excessive use of Advil, also known as ibuprofen, throughout his football career.

Combes admitted he has little medical knowledge about the drugs’ side effects except some background from his brother, a pharmacist.

School nurse Shelly Donahue concurred that some painkillers, known as non-steroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs, which include aspirin, ibuprofen, ketoprofen, and Aleve), can have serious negative side effects if taken in excess. However, an “excess” is no small quantity.

“You have to take a significant amount to have an overdose,” she said, noting that it would be far above the recommended dosage even for prescriptions, which advise four times the over-the-counter dosage in the case of Advil.

As it is, Donahue restricts her handout of the drugs and requires parental permission to administer them.

“Basically, it would be difficult to take too much,” Donahue said.

“You can’t get a lot here.”

Dr. William Wong N.D., Ph.D, Member of the World Sports Medicine Hall of Fame, holds much the same position, but expressed concern about the drugs’ long-term effects if used consistently, even in moderation.

Tennis courts locked up Concern arises over issues of safety on roof

By Michelle Lee Doors to the tennis courts will be locked until 3:30 PM on school days. Prior to closure, the tennis courts had only been monitored through camera-surveillance, and security officers could not watch the surveillance screen while conducting traffic at the school entrance.

Concern increased by a student who was positioned precariously on

“The usual dosages taken on occasion for pain usually do not create side effects except in those with compromised kidneys or livers,” he said. “It is the long term constant use (over 3 weeks) against conditions like arthritis and such that begin the toxicity and eventual shut down of the kidneys and liver or that severely thin the lining of the intestine leaving the patient liable for hemorrhage.It should be noted that the deaths of the vast majority of the victims of NSAIDs were not from overuse or abuse but from standard dosing recommended use.”

Another worry is individual sensitivity to such drugs, according to Dr. James Snodgrass, despite the fact that the majority show no signs of side effects from their first use.

“Some people will take one pill and have sudden, severe reactions,” he said, while noting that such people

“

often have other problems, such as liver damage, as well.

Symptoms of overuse, if ever reached, include headache, rash,

by other factors as well, so a blood test would be required to determine the specific cause. Symptoms can be worsened if the user has a liver problem or uses alcohol in conjunction.

Senior Ben Spalter says he has noticed no such effects of Advil use.

Spalter has used Advil consistently for two years due to an injury to his shoulder acquired while playing baseball.

At first he took ten pills every day, but has gradually reduced the dosage, as prescribed.

He attributes his lack of negative side effects to eating beforehand.

“Ibuprofen is actually the safest NSAID,” Donahue said. “Symptoms may be more prevalent among other painkillers.”

Donahue took care to distinguish between NSAIDs and other overthe-counter painkillers known as acetaminophens, which include

There are people who pop Advil and Aleve like it’s candy.

”

- Brian Combes hypertension, diarrhea, vomiting, and toxicity problems in the liver and kidney, with the worst outcome being liver failure.

The most serious and common symptom is probably gastrointestinal bleeding. These could be brought on

Coaches need to focus less on medals and more on athletes’ health

By Kelsey Heiner “Pop.” “Crack.” Two of the scariest sounds in sports. In the span of a few seconds, an athlete’s season, year or career in sports can be over.

Some injuries are unavoidable and some are unpreventable. There is always a risk of injury when you step out onto the field. But many athletes don’t realize the risk. It is the responsibility of the coaches to ensure that their players are taking the preventive measures to avoid injuries.

A weight-training program should be mandatory for all sports teams. Athletes should work with athletic trainers and coaches year-round to maintain their conditioning with exercises and nutrition.

Athletes should be taught the proper technique and exercises to strengthen their developing muscles.

A weight-training program would be preventative.

Two hours in the gym is not a sacrifice compared to the possibility of the loss of an entire season to a torn ACL or muscle strain injury.

Athletes who participate in multiple sports need to take even greater care of their bodies. Out of

the fifth floor.

“There were two main reasons for taking action,” Vice-Principal Dave Norcott said. “One was that it is unsupervised, and the other is due to the lack of control that the faculty or staff have over students who abuse the area.”

Security and Safety manager Isaac Benjamin was also concerned about smoking in the unsupervised area.

“The actions of irresponsible students who cannot hold off their [habitual] activities until their own time is causing an inconvenience to all,” Benjamin said.

the 7,000,000 high school students participating in varsity sports in the U.S., 57 percent of those students participate in two or more varsity sports. Playing multiple sports puts an incredible amount of stress on the body. You just keep going, going, going without any break.

The weight room is new, spacious, well-equipped and under-utilized. Teams are not taking advantage of the opportunity. It should be a collective effort, not just an individual choice.

SAS has established a tradition of excellence in sports. Students consider silver medals mediocre and you might as well not come to school if you get sixth place in IASAS. The dedication and commitment to athletics at our school does not equal the dedication and commitment to keeping our athletes healthy.

We can’t keep winning if our athletes are on the sidelines.

We have the facilities. We have the resources.

What we need now is to give our athletes the best possible chance of avoiding injury. There is a lot to gain but also a lot to lose.

The new crackdown on smoking is focused on isolated and unsupervised areas in the school, like entrance of the tennis courts near the back door of the theatre where the IPAU jam room is located.

“The smell of smoke is carried into the theatre through the vents, and the whole theatre ends up smelling terrible,” said one senior.

Theatre Manager Paul Keobnick put up signs near the back doors to dissuade smokers from using the area. His signs read, “Do not smoke in this hallway, your smoke is going into the theatres and really stinks.”

Tylenol and Panadol.

“Panadol is better for reducing symptoms of sickness, while Ibuprofen is better for sports injuries. They treat pain differently,” she said. “Due to its strength, the complications of NSAIDs have somewhat greater potential to be detrimental to health.”

Senior Briana Witherspoon, sprinter and hurdler on the Track and Field team, said she takes four to six Advil a day for minor muscle discomfort without a prescription.

Like Spalter, she has noticed no adverse side effects. According to Donahue, this is within the safe dosage.

“It works,” Witherspoon said.

“It might be psychological, but it still works.”

Another psychological aspect of the medication may be a kind of addiction.

“I’m kind of afraid of what will happen if I don’t [take Advil,]” Witherspoon said.

According to Donahue, however, NSAIDs are not physically and psychologically addictive like narcotics are. She admitted a psychological dependency might develop.

A better method of reducing inflammation, according to Dr. Wong, is use of systemic enzymes that take part in functions all over the body. More information on this can be found at enzymescience. com. “[Systemic enzymes] will lower inflammation and in that mode control pain without toxicity and with out serious side effects.”

Alternatively, the athlete may be better off by either taking a rest or sucking it up, without medication.

“If you’re injured, you need to take time off and rest,” school nurse Elizabeth Witt said. “Professional or otherwise, [athletes] don’t get much rest. Everybody wants a quick fix.”

“In general, as a population, we are always looking for an easy solution,” Combes agreed. “But one way or another, we face the consequences.”

ACESS DENIED:This sign hangs in the elevator, informing students that they will not be able to access the courts. The measure is aimed at improving saftey on the roof.

Photo by Alex Lloyd