The Eye Nov 22, 2006

theeye Singapore American High School

November 22, 2006 2006/vol. 26 no. 3

SAS largest international school

Enrollment nears limit

by Rhoda Severino

Photo by Brian Riady

Non-American population likely to shrink if rapid growth continues

On Tuesday Nov. 14, Megan Griffith went to her first day of kindergarten. She is the newest of 3,698 students enrolled at SAS, two students less than the government-set limit of 3,700. 5th grade through 12th grade have already reached full capacity. The high school is over its limit of 1,100 by nine students.

The 3,700-student cap was set as the Singapore Land Authority’s condition in leasing the 37-acre plot to SAS. This limit must be reached before the school can reject anyone who does not meet their several admissions criteria.

The Board of Governors has conducted preliminary discussions on how to handle the school’s growing population, including the possibility of

a new campus. Substantive discussions will probably not take place until at least next semester or even a few years from now.

Board vice-chairwoman Shelley DeFord said that the board would probably hold concrete discussions a few years from now on the possibility of a new campus. She said that the size of the population might even decrease over time, as it has in the past.

“When we opened the first Woodlands campus in 1996, we had an increase of 380 students over a twoyear period,” DeFord said.

Enrollment for the 1996-1997 school year dropped from 2,709 to 2,593 students.

DeFord said that at the moment, a new campus is not financially realistic since the school has just finished a $65 million-expansion of the current campus. The board has reached a consensus that the current campus will no longer be expanded, only improved.

Superintendent Bob Gross stressed

the need to keep the school’s charter in mind during the board discussions.

“The founding document, I think, has to remain a centerpiece to this discussion,” Gross said.

The board’s policy states that “Singapore American School will seek as a primary objective to serve children of the American community in Singapore and, as a secondary objective and subject to available space, to serve children of other communities whose further education is intended to take place overseas in the United States of America.”

This is in accordance with an agreement between SAS and the Singapore government that the school’s primary mission would be to educate American citizens.

“The government is always recruiting multinational corporations into Singapore,” Gross said. “They want to tell them that their kids will have a school.”

Gross, like board members, is undecided on the best course of action.

“I’m not sure there has been enough discussion yet within the community to form a conclusion,” he said. “But I think any good leader needs to be open to any candid discussions.”

Though he said that the community should have some input, Gross said that it should ultimately be the board’s decision.

“In the end this is really the Board of Governors’ responsibility,” he said.

“A lot of input comes from our short term interests.”

Gross added that the average family only stays for three-and-a-half years.

The admissions office currently has a priority system in place to help control the student population. U.S. passportholders take first priority; non-U.S. citizens who work for US companies take second priority; students transferring from other international schools take third; and fourth priority goes to everyone else.

In addition, admitted students must have at least average grades and cannot have any past disciplinary problems,

need an English as a second language (ESL) program or any other special support. Difficult choices are referred to the student’s school division principal and counselors for the final decision.

The school limits each nationality to 10 percent for each grade level. At the moment, the Korean population is the only group at this limit.

Even with these more stringent admissions requirements, as of Monday Nov. 13, this semester’s waiting list has 141 school-wide applicants on it while next semester’s has 322.

“As of right now, students are only being accepted where a space opens up,” admissions officer Laurie Thompson said.

DeFord said that she does not see the long waiting list as a serious concern.

“We’re the largest international school in the world,” she said. “It’s normal to have waiting lists.”

“Families used to stay on a two to three-year contract,” she said. “The average is five years now.”

After Mutsch deliberation, Aramco schools head gets super nod

Dr. Brent Mutsch will take over from Superintendent Bob Gross next year when Gross takes up a new job with the U.S. State Department’s Office of Overseas Schools. Photo courtesy of Aramco Schools

by Denise Hotta-Moung The tables turned on Dr. Brent Mutsch and Dr. Francis V. Barnes when they were asked to write a response to an SAT-type prompt as part of their interviews for the superintendent position.

“We wanted to see their writing styles,” board member Sally Greene said. “The job requires a lot of communication, both oral and written.”

After three days of interviews and evaluations, Dr. Mutsch was elected to replace Superintendent Bob Gross for the 2007-2008 school year.

The School Board went through resumes that were submitted and interviews via phone calls before inviting the two final candidates to come to Singapore for a round of interviews.

“It was a very intense three days,” Greene said.

Dr. Mutsch and Dr. Barnes both met with administrators, the PTA, classified staff and high school students.

“We had a ‘we are good, but we can still be better’ attitude and wanted to see what candidates could contribute to that,” Greene said.

A social cocktail was held to give

board members a chance to see what the candidates were like outside of school.

“Personally, I was looking for someone that was child-centered, rather than a business-type guy,” Greene said.

Gross was not involved in the selection process but said he was pleased with the candidates.

“From an outsider’s point of view, I thought they were two really quality candidates,” Gross said. “It was a nice position to be in for the board. They were both really good candidates.”

“Regardless, it would have been

a good decision, but there’s only one position,” he said.

Gross has known Dr. Mutsch for eight years from the educational conferences that are attended by international educators.

Dr. Mutsch currently works as the superintendent of Saudi Aramco Schools in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. He also worked as a high school principal, counselor and American history teacher in Iowa.

“They were both really super guys,” Greene said. “It was not easy, but in the end we got the one best for our school.”

Permit # MICA (P) 234/10/2005

2 news

Early Prom: When AP stands for After Party

by Amanda Tsao With a slow song playing in the background and under a soft veil of Christmas lights, a guy and a girl sat at the very end of the ballroom quietly talking. As he leaned in closer to her he whispered, “So are we covering chapter 13 for the mock exam?”

Historically, Prom has been the bottle of water at the finishing line; the reward for all the hard work students put in for studying for their exams. However, this year Prom is to be held on Apr. 14, during AP mock exams.

Junior President Pradeep Mahtani explained that the date had been set since last year, as that was when he was notified. There was no specific person who had set the date, rather the calender had set the date itself due to the available weekends in April and May which had run out.

April 21 falls during IASAS

and on May 5 SAT tests are held.

The AP exams begin May 7 to May 18 pushing the weekend of May 12th out of the way and on May 19, the Choir Concert takes place. The following weekend of May 26 falls right in the middle of final exams.

Mahtani and Executive Council President Jennifer Nockels met with Principal Dave Norcott to request a rescheduling of the Choir Concert so that Prom could take place on May 19. However, it was not only the guest conductors scheduled to fly down, but also has to do with the SAS hosting of Music and Art Cultural Convention that made the change of date not possible.

“Normally we would have the music festival in March but because we host IASAS and Cultural Convention and Music this year, we couldn’t do that,” Norcott said.

Although he said the set date was unfortunate, Norcott maintained that it may have advantages.

November 22, 2006

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the Eye

“[In past years] we have crammed so much into May that it has distracted students from grades and doing well in exams [so much to the point where] they can’t even focus on what they’ve spent a whole year preparing for,” he said.

He also said that most schools he had been associated with had never had prom around the time of exams at all.

Another potential problem arises concerning with the legacy of prom: drinking. Because Prom will be held the weekend before third season IASAS sports, the temptation to drink during Prom with the threat of getting caught is intensified. In past years Prom has been held after IASAS, not conflicting with the alcohol/drug policy that all athletes must abide by. The expected chances of getting caught are higher, and so are the stakes of not being able to participate in IASAS. “I think that the athletes that

by Nicole Schmitz In mid-October PowerSchool visibility to teachers and parents and students was shut off.

The problem began when two middle school teachers discovered that grades had been switched to different categories in PowerSchool.

Technology Coordinator Judy Ridgway explained that at the end of each quarter, the scores are “stored” so that GPA and honor rolls can be calculated. Once stored, grades cannot be accessed or changed by teachers.

When Ridgway and Director of Technology Ed Gilbreath tallied the grades necessary for GPA and honor roll calculation, they discovered that assignments were not uploading, Gilbreath said that PowerSchool did not crash, but was shut down when the problem was identified.

“We closed PowerSchool to students and parents because we

couldn’t ensure that all the grades were 100 percent accurate,” Ridgway said.

Ultimately, Gilbreath determined that no high school records were affected.

The 14-hour time difference with PowerSchool’s California-based tech support created difficulties as well.

Gilbreath was frustrated with the slow response from tech support, despite his attempts to be on call throughout the ordeal.

“I gave them my handphone number, home phone number and office number, but they didn’t call [to ask or give help],” he said. “I called at 9:30 p.m., midnight, and 4 a.m., but they didn’t reply.”

When tech support finally answered, they told Gilbreath that they did not work on Sunday.

“They could have finished it if they worked through the weekend,” he said.

Gilbreath said while the problem was a random, rare occurrence, it still caused concern.

“It scared us enough to take it really, really seriously and pretend it was happening to everybody,” he said.

It re-opened on Tuesday, Nov. 7.

U.S. President George Bush kicked off his week-long tour of Asia speaking in front of a crowd of Singapore’s most distinguished persons at the National University of Singapore, Nov 16. Among the well-known faces that included Laura Bush, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew and Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong was a group of 27 high school Student Council representatives.

SAS’s opportunity to watch the speech was primarily achieved through the efforts of Superintendent Bob Gross who appealed to officials to let representatives of the American community attend.

Regardless of personal opinions about the president, those who attended were grateful for the chance to attend the event. Senior

Class President Peter Vaz said that the speech was not what he expected, but the fact that he was able to see the President live was enjoyable.

“You always see these people on TV, and you get this image in your mind of these people,” he said.

“When you see them live, it is a different experience.”

Those attending heard President Bush cover topics ranging from international trade to transportation, from defense to disaster relief.

The President also talked about the world’s dependency on oil for fuel. The President likened this dependency to an addiction.

“We are too dependent on a single source, and that is oil,” he said.

As members of the audience emerged onto the street, they were met by a lone protester holding a black umbrella on which the words

Glitch takes PowerSchool down, delays grade reports

Luck of the draw. A student draws a number for her sign-up position from Deputy Principal Doug Neihart. Photo by Devi Wulandari

Interim adjustments prompted by civil war, fungus, sponsor interest

by Alex Boothe Interim Semester offers up surprises for planners every year.

This year the sources include a civil war, exotic fungus and a popular trip without sponsorship.

Some students were disappointed at the October sign-up when they could not find the Leeuwin trip in their interim catalog. A trip that usually filled its 40 slots quickly, Leeuwin was dropped this year when not enough teachers signed up as sponsors. Kim Criens who sponsored the trip twice turned it down this year.

“I really want to see other parts of the world,” Criens said.

Project Soweto sponsor Mark Clemens was looking forward to his second trip to Soweto, South Africa, when he was diagnosed in October with a malignant tumor on his lung.

When surgeons operated they found instead a fungus, one probably contracted from gum trees in South Africa. As a safety precaution and to appease his wife, Clemens is staying in Singapore this interim.

The civil war between the government and the rebel Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka raised red flags for those involved in the Sri Lanka Adventure. Even with apparent danger in the country, the trip has the green light.

Trip sponsors, Dr. Dale Smith and Eric Burnett and administrators are closely monitoring the situation.

Administration takes its cue from both the U.S State Department and International SOS - a website designed to track and alert travelers of problems in foreign countries. If either of these sources advises a “no go,” the trip will be cancelled.

A meeting between sponsors and administration was held to look at a plan B that would be set in place if the situation escalated. Although he will not reveal the alternative venue, Deputy Principal Doug Neihart said that it would be a nice trip “a waysaway,” where none of the students in this year’s group have been there.

Most of the areas that the students will be traveling to have not been affected by the war.

“The parents’ perception of the danger is a bigger factor in curtailing the trip rather than the troubles themselves,” Dr. Smith said.

Students will be touring the south where the threat of danger is small There will be one day of shopping and a bus tour spent in the Capitol, Colombo, where a few attacks have been made. The trip is still seen as safe, and it has been made clear that if safety is compromised Neihart’s plan B will be put into action.

Dr. Smith remains confident the trip will go, but said he is not worried about alternatives.

“If they need me to take a trip to Fiji instead I’d be happy to do it,” Dr. Smith said.

really care about the sport will not drink, but there’s still a good chance that a lot of athletes will [drink],” junior Chao Dou said.

There is hope yet for those who are worried about having mocks on the day of Prom.

“Mr. Devine and [I] are in the process of approaching teachers of the [AP mock exams held on Apr. 14] and looking to see if we can place them elsewhere,” Norcott

said. “We would likely have some mocks on the morning of Prom, [but for] the afternoon and [on] Sunday we are looking for alternate spots to place those.”

Photo by Devi Wulandari

Despite the recent setback, Gilbreth thinks that PowerSchool is an improvement over the previous systems, Net Classroom and Blackboard.

“I was happy with the organization until now,” Gilbreath said. “The initial installation and operation of [PowerSchool] was almost flawless. It’s faster, better than its predecessors.”

The problem was inconvienient for seniors, who usually evaluate their first quarter grades when deciding whether or not to apply for early decision.

“I cared when I couldn’t see my quarter grades,”senior Michelle Conway said. “I got a little annoyed because I got used to checking it whenever I want, but it doesn’t affect my life.”

Gilbreath reported only a few complaints from parents.

“Teachers were [really good about] keeping parents informed,” he said.

“It makes us realize how dependent we are on technology,” Ridgway said. “A few years ago, checking grades online was a real novelty. Now, when we don’t have it, people really miss it.”

Student Council reps attend President Bush’s first speech of Asian tour

President Bush’s audience at the National University of Singapore included 27 SAS students . Photo by www.chinadaily.com.

“Bush is a war criminal” were written.

“It was really interesting to see a protest in Singapore,” senior Class Vice President Sophie Greene said. “It was freedom of speech in action, which I rarely see in a place like Singapore.”

the Eye

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November 22, 2006

news 3

Combes tapped for M.S. deputy’s job

The gift of smell. Senior Sang Hoon Lee and freshman Lars Crawford offer Jane Goodall a whiff of pomelo on the Sensory Trails. Photo by Sam Lloyd

Jane Goodall visits Pulau Ubin to explore Sensory Trail

by Sam Lloyd The call of the red jungle fowl, resembling a rooster’s crow, rang out across Pulau Ubin, imitated by hundreds of voices greeting Jane Goodall on Nov. 4, Roots and Shoots Day in Singapore. She responded with a chimpanzee call as she had when she last visited SAS two years ago.

Goodall, known for her work with chimpanzees and environmental conservation, took a bumboat ride to Pulau Ubin to experience the Sensory Trail, a path designed for guiding the visually handicapped through a little piece of nature.

In order to experience the trail as the visually handicapped do, Goodall opted in a surprise move to be guided around the trail blindfolded.

As she was led around the trail, she passed different stations where “interpreters” from different grade levels at SAS and from Raffles Girls College read aloud a description of a plant. Other kinds of sensory exposure, such as smelling the fruit or feeling the bark, was also done to complete the “sensory” experience.

“I’m very happy that I was here,” Goodall said to those who attended, after her guided tour while she shared

anecdotes about her experiences in conservation.

“This trail is so much at the heart of Roots and Shoots and the idea that every individual makes a difference, every individual matters, every individual changes the world every single day, she said.”

“She knew a lot more than we bargained for,” SAVE Club Sensory Trail Head senior Michelle Schmitz said.

“She’s had all this experience; she could tell us as much about the trail as we could tell her.”

Schmitz has guided visually handicapped on Pulau Ubin for six years, and was one of three SAS students to take Goodall around the trail.

The Pulau Ubin Sensory Trail was created and is maintained by the SAVE Club and the Greenfingers and Eco-Club of the Middle School.

Both Eco-Club and SAVE Club are affiliates of the Roots and Shoots Foundation, a branch of the Jane Goodall Institute that organizes youth to take action on behalf of animals, the environment, and encourages human interaction with the environment. According to

Goodall, there are 9,000 active Roots and Shoots groups in 90 countries throughout the world.

“The greatest joy of Roots and Shoots is that I want to help everybody. Through Roots and Shoots and the passion of young people we can help just about everybody out there,” Goodall said.

Science teacher Steve Early said he had been “fully prepared for complete chaos,” on the day but “things went smoothly.” Early, along with high school teacher Martha Began and middle school teachers Kate Thome and Zeeb McNichol, planned the event.

Began said that the day was a “great success,” but said she realized that some may have felt a lack of direct interaction with Goodall.

She attributed this to the increase in those expected to come: 100 at the plan’s inception to about 300 on the actual day.

SAS’s environmental clubs have been conducting tours of the Sensory Trail for many years, guiding visually handicapped from SAVH. SAVE Club has also conducted walks for the visually handicapped in the mangroves of Pasir Ris.

d use are es cub it un ht Eig Calculated win for Eagle mathletes to form a larger 2 by 2 by 2 cube. The six faces of this larger cube are then painted red. When the paint is dry, the larger cube is taken apart. What fraction of the total surface area of the unit SAS teams placed 1st and 2nd in the overall team competition of the Singapore International Schools’ Math Competition (SISMC) held at the high school Nov. 11.

Freshman Jae Won Kim and and sophomore Amit Parikh tied for first place in the individual category.

We really didn’t have any weak points,” Parikh said.

“We won in everything.”

In the same competition last year SAS mathletes took the first and third team honors.

Sixty students from eight international schools competed this year. The three competitive events were individual, team relay and team energizer, the latter a frenzy of problem-solving and a favorite with students.

Dr. Kett and UWC teacher Stephen Lamb organized this local competition last year to give Singapore’s international school students practice for the Southeast Asia Math Competition (SAMC), an event that will bring 148 students from international schools in Malaysia,

by Cat Ward After working in the Athletics and Activities Office for five years, Brian Combes is stepping into the middle school deputy principal job for the 2007-08 school year.

The current middle school deputy, Franke Thomas, recently accepted a deputy’s position at the high school.

The middle school deputy principal is in charge of all building maintenance, the supervision of all the classified staff, one half of the teacher evaluations, lunchtime supervision, student management, most special events and chaperoning.

Thomas said that nothing will drive Combes crazy at the middle school.

“I know that there won’t be a dull moment,” Thomas said. “It’s a marvelous staff. The kids are really great.”

Combes cited the SAS middle school staff as one of the reasons he was interested in working in the middle school administration.

“I’m excited to work with the middle school faculty. I think that they’ve got some great teachers up there,” he said. “They approach their job in education with an enthusiasm that is truly in sync with what middle school students need.”

In middle school, faculty and administration have the opportunity to see the students come in as kids and then leave as budding adults, Thomas said.

“Middle school kids are at an interesting time, an interesting point in growth and development,” Combes said. “They’re really learning about themselves.”

Combes has spent all five of his years at SAS in the Athletics and Activities Office, but he has had teaching and administrative positions before. At the Osaka International School he was the International Baccalaureate diploma coordinator, and was in charge of the high school curriculum.

Combes started working on his administrative credits 13 years ago, when he was 30 years old. In 1991 he spent 5 years in Europe working on his Masters Degree in the administration of international schools.

Combes worked in Israel during the first Gulf War. Forrest Broman, the headmaster of the Walworth Barbour American International

School, where Combes taught, told Combes that although he could not compensate Combes for teaching during the war, he would sponsor a trip for Combes’ to go to the Principal Training Center (PTC).

It was during Combes’ first attendance at the PTC that he became interested in working in administration.

Although Combes has enjoyed working in the activities office, he said that next year is a good time to move on.

“Five to eight years is really the duration that I like to be in a position,” he said. “I’m always looking for an opportunity to learn and to grow.”

Zaiton Jafaar, the athletics and activities office secretary, has been working with Combes for all five years that he has been here.

“One thing that I really like about him is that he always thinks about you,” she said. “He’s very caring.”

Jafaar said that she and Combes always had a collaborative way of doing things which made it very easy to work with him.

This past summer Combes directed the SAS Summer Program.

He was in charge of the overall program design, curriculum, fee structure, hiring teachers and assistants, organizing the bussing, the food service and doing a program evaluation.

“I’ve accumulated a real breadth and depth of what a school is all about,” Combes said. “It’s from all of that, that I’ve decided I’m ready to be in a leadership position.”

Biology teacher Jay Kumpel has been friends with Combes for the past five years. “[Combes is] very Chmeliklike,” Kumpel said. “They come from the same sort of mold. He’s a good listener, very polished.”

Kim Criens, a Weight Training and P.E. teacher, is also a good friend of Combes.

“I think that he’s very hard working, committed and fair,” Criens said. “On a personal note, I’m going to miss him.”

Thomas said that ping pong skills are critical for the middle school deputy principal.

“If can’t ping pong, can’t come,” he said.

“Dude, I can play some ping pong,” Combes responded.

Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Brunei, Vietnam and Thailand to SAS Feb. 1-3, this year.

This years’s SAMC guest mathematician, Dr. Ron Lancaster of the Universty of Toronto, is the creator of math trails. He will lead will lead the competitors on a math trail where he will teach them to see geometric patterns, symmetry and shapes in architecture, art and nature.

In their three-day stay students will compete in a Singapore Amazing Race (one with mathematical clues), in a math trail and Suntec a non-math evening at Night Safari.

“It’s just fun,” Dr. Kett said.

SISMC Results 1st place overall team: J.C. Kim (9), Young Won Kim (9), Jae Won Kim (9), See Young Lee (10) 2nd place overall team: Amit Parikh (10), Alex Kua (10, Chris Chee (9), Yun Hoi Koo (9)

Departing coach, co-director. Combes will be leaving his current position as activities co-director for a middle school job. Photo by Mark Clemens.

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November 22, 2006

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Trio of friends, colleagues, veterans leaving SAS

by Denise Hotta-Moung If there are any skeletons in SAS’s closets, secretary to principal and SAS veteran Boni Kapel would know about them.

Boni arrived at the King’s Road campus in 1970 where fewer than 300 students roamed the halls, some protesting the Vietnam War and many wearing hair that fell well past their collars. Fast forward 14 principals, one move and 36 years later to Dec 15 where Boni will be spending her last day working at SAS. “I’ve been contemplating retiring for a while,” she said. “It’s just the right time.”

Boni said that her main reason for leaving is so she can spend more time with her family.

“My grandson always wants to play, but I’m too tired,” Boni said.

“I want to see my mom and family more often.”

Administration assistant Azizah Sultan has worked with Boni for 31 years. She could not summarize what she would miss about Boni in

just a few words, but said she would miss the “good old days.”

“I’m going to miss her, that’s all I can say,” Sultan said. “She’s a joy to have around.”

Having spent 10 hours a day at school for almost four decades, Boni considers SAS her second home. She said she feels comfortable at school, which makes her eager to come to work.

Former principal Paul Chmelik worked with Boni for six years and said that her experience was helpful to the faculty and students.

“Everyone views Boni as a part of SAS history,” Chmelik said. “If you ever needed information about what happened before or what should happen in the future, you could look to Boni for [that].”

While Boni was known for her knowledge, Chmelik said that she never flaunted it.

“There was appeal because she carried her knowledge

gracefully,” Chmelik said.

Senior Shruti Shekar said she will miss Boni’s readiness to help.

“Even if there are a lot of people waiting in line, she’ll be like ‘Yeah sure, how can I help?” She’s just really nice,” Shekar said.

Principal Dave Norcott said that he would miss Boni’s positive attitude and great work ethic. “[I will miss] her cheerful disposition. She’s a really nice person, a great lady,” Norcott said.

Chmelik said he would also remember Boni’s positivity.

“My lasting memory will be that she was always smiling,” Chmelik said. “Her positive demeanor and ‘Good Morning, Mr. Chmelik’s always meant so much to me.”

“I will miss the students,” Boni said. “They keep me young. I will miss all the people and all the friends I made here.”

AV Specialist leaves after 33 years

Among Boni’s friends is AV Specialist Betty Choo who joined Boni at the King’s Road campus in 1973. Choo will be leaving SAS after 33 years.

“[Boni and I] were very close, ever since the beginning,” Choo said.

Both Choo and Kapel remember the King’s Road campus as “family-like”, an aspect of SAS that they both miss.

“We worked hard and played hard [at King’s Road],” Choo said.

“After school we played games like badminton. Everyone mingled from the principal to the custodians. It was like a big family.”

Choo said that though she used to be close to many of the other SAS veterans, there is not as much time to meet up.

“It’s kind of sad. I was walking to the high school [from the TDC].

It takes about three minutes to walk over there but I didn’t meet any teachers on my way,” Choo said.

“It’s like they were all hiding in their rooms or something. I was thinking ‘Where is everyone?’”

Choo said she will leave SAS with memories of the friendships

Students leave their marks with class murals

by Barbara Loedwick A living yearbook will grace the lobby in the week of Nov. 6. This yearbook will actually be a wall displaying images of students of each class.

These murals will feature pictures of everyone in the grade, and will reflect that class’ personality.

“We find that the population of the school is so vast, unless you’re in a sport, large active club, or in student government, all you’re doing is attending the school,” said Senior Class President Peter Vaz. “The mural is something to recognize the art students and reflect each grade,” said Sophomore Class President Sajan Shah.

The art teachers composed a list of their best art students, and

five or six were chosen from that list. They were given a choice of what they would like to paint on the wall. The choices were something Singaporean, the class officers’ portraits, or something to do with school.

Each class will have a wall.

“The walls are to show a sense of bonding in the school,” said Shah.

The inspiration for this project came from a trip taken by Student Council sponsor Mr. Norris to Jakarta International School. At JIS, they have a circular drive with glass cases called “Dragons Way”, and in each case are pictures of all the activities going on at the school.

“I got a good feeling from all the pictures, and they bring out how every student is involved in the

school,” said Norris.

The initial boards will be decorated by the art students, and more boards will be added over time to the wall. The next boards to go up will have pictures of all the students in each grade, these pictures were taken by students from each class.

The murals will go up in the entrance to the high school.

“Placing went by seniority,” Norris said. “Seniors go first, and they’re right up front, juniors are near them, sophomores are by the library, and freshmen are in the corner.”

Right now when alumni return, they can only relate because they attended school here. After this year, students will be able to come back and find a picture of themselves and their friends during high school.

Photo by Rohin Dewan

“These days people feel no direct attachment to the school,” said Vaz. “Being able to come back to a school and still have a part of it makes a big difference to how you feel for the school.”

SAS teachers run well in New York City’s JP Morgan Race

Hallam on the track. He placed 29th with a time of 18:38 Photo by Rohin Dewan

by Megan Anderson It’s an animal. It’s a machine.

No, it’s SAS English teacher Andrew Hallam, runner extraordinaire.

Teachers Andrew Hallam, Mark Forgeron, Cary Greegor and Katherine Hallam flew to New York to compete in the JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge Championship on Oct 27 as a mixed team. The annual competition is held on Park Avenue in New York City.

JP Morgan Chase races are held annually in Johannesburg, Singapore, London, Sydney, Frankfurt, and American states.

The top runners from each country are then chosen to represent their respective companies in the championship race held in New York City.

Over 90 faculty and staff members represented SAS at the JP Morgan race on April 26, held at the Padang in Singapore. A Singapore military Gurkha contingent led the

men’s race claiming all first five positions, but Hallam broke their chain and, according to the results, came in 7th. Actually, Hallam was neck and neck with one of the Gurkhas and out-sprinted him in the final 100 meters, claiming the sixth position.

“It was kind of funny because I sprinted so hard to beat him and they put me in seventh place anyways,” Hallam said.

Six of the female teachers placed in the top 20: Annika FerrellDahlgren, Katherine Hallam, Cary Greegor, Becky Green, Lauren Mehrbach and Wendy Liddell.

Because of their outstanding results, the Singapore American School faculty and staff qualified to send a mixed team and a women’s team to compete in the championship race in the Big Apple.

Greegor and Katherine Hallam finished 77th and 88th respectively out of 195 of some of the best

female corporate runners in the world. Andrew Hallam clocked in at 18:38 and put himself in 29th place, beating two rival Gurkhas.

“It was cool beating [the Gurkhas],” Mr. Hallam said, “because I never had before.”

Forgeron was not far behind Hallam and finished in 21:26.

The SAS mixed team finished in 9th place and the women’s team consisting of Becky Green, Lauren Mehrbach, Audrey Forgeron and Wendy Lidell, placed 19th.

Calling it the “working man’s Olympics”, JP Morgan Chase a Senior Vice-President said that the race encourages fitness amongst the working communities.

“I see [Mr. Hallam] practically sprinting around the track for an hour or so after school all the time,”cross-country runner Devin Hardee said. “It’s like he never gets tired. He’s a machine.”

she made. Choo will take over a child care center with best friend, secretary Tracy Yeo, who is also leaving SAS after 15 years.

Secretary in Counseling Office leaves after 15 years

Tracy worked in the counseling department and was in charge of helping with seniors’ college applications.

“Next year I’m moving to greener pasture,s, so it’s good in a way,” Tracy said.

Grade seven counselor Mark Swarstad, who moved from the high school counseling department last year, has known Tracy for nine years.

“She loved her job, loved feeling a part of the SAS community,” he said. “She was dedicated to her job.

It really did take a lot of time.”

Zalinda Lajim has already been employed in Tracy’s secretarial position. Choo’s last day was Nov 13 and Boni will be leaving in December.

“We’ll hopefully all stay friends,” Choo said.

Additional Reporting by Sam Lloyd

Two students test positive for amphetamines On Nov. 5, a junior boy and a senior girl were notified that they had tested positive for amphetamines, specifically Ecstasy, in a mandatory school drug test.

The Oct. 17 test was the first one of the year ; 34 students were tested. Originally, a test was scheduled for Sept. 13, but shortages in medical staff on campus forced cancellation of that test.

Deputy Principal Doug Neihart said in an interview with The Eye that the drug test checks for five different drugs: cocaine, opiates, amphetamines, marijuana and PCP. The advantage of testing hair follicles is that traces of the drug remain for several months afterward.

Both Principal Dave Norcott and Neihart chose not to speak about the details of the punishment either student received. Neihart did confirm that the two students were removed from class on Nov. 5.

“There are students who are not here today [Nov. 6] that were here at the start of school yesterday,” he said.

Norcott later said that the two students had been suspended indefinitely, but declined to talk about any details with The Eye. Norcott and Neihart feel that it is currently in the best interest of everyone involved not to elaborate on any specifics regarding the situation. Additionally, Neihart, from experiences working in America, follows the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA,) a Federal law protecting the educational records of students.

the Eye

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November 22, 2006

The Eye’s Profile (This is you)

features 5 Singapore

Students forfeit privacy for online thrills

by Cat Ward The diary that once held your deepest secrets always promised confidentiality with the lock that only you had the key to. Now, the modernized diary - the online blogno longer promises that security, our thoughts now available for anyone to read.

Facebook is used by 65 percent of all undergraduate students at four-year colleges in America.

Because of the rapid growth of these websites, U.S. authorities have become concerned “not only about inappropriate behavior, but that kids are making themselves vulnerable,” said the online USA Today article, “What you say online could haunt you.”

While Facebook claims that it bans nudity on the site, students post other personal information.

Often underage teenagers write about using drugs, getting drunk and having sex. Still others write insults and derogatory remarks.

There are students who have paid the price.

At Fisher College in Boston, two students were expelled for using Facebook to threaten to commit a crime. At North Carolina State University, four students were disciplined for posting remarks about drinking. Two Louisiana

State University swimmers were kicked off the team in the spring of 2005 for insulting their coaches on Facebook.

At SAS a female student was suspended for posting hurtful comments on her MySpace page.

“It was brought to our attention that there were certain emails or comments through electronic communications [that] were very negative, very personal and very abusive,” Principal Dave Norcott said.

Norcott said that because it took place electronically, some people thought it was beyond the school’s jurisdiction.

“We feel strongly, though, that when a student is harassed, we should involve ourselves and try to sort out the situation,” he said. “We involved ourselves to stop the harassment and help both groups of students become more responsible.”

Students’ online comments can hurt their chances when applying to colleges. Many admissions officers can access the websites, read an applicants posts, and make judgments about their character.

“Admissions dean Paul Marthers at Reed College in Portland, Oregon, says the school denied admission this year to one applicant in part because of his entries on blogging

site LiveJournal [which] included disparaging comments about Reed,” said the online USA Today article.

Business employers also review applicants’ online profiles before making hiring decisions.

“An employer who was ready to hire a student from Vermont Technical College in Randolph Center changed his mind after seeing the student’s Facebook page,” said Lauri Sybel, the director of the college career center, in the online USA Today article.

For Jason Johnson, a former student at the University of the Cumberlands, posting his personal information on his MySpace led to his expulsion.

After discovering that Johnson was gay through his MySpace site, administrators of the Baptist university confronted Johnson and expelled him.

In another incident, Michael Guinn was expelled from John Brown University, a Christian college after administrators were shown pictures of him dressed in drag that were posted on his Facebook account. The college said that Guinn’s activities were “in violation of campus conduct codes stating that behavior must be affirm and honor Scripture.”

Police nationwide in America are using these Web sites as well.

“At some institutions, following an incident such as a party that got out of hand, campus police have found information or photos on Facebook that incriminate the students responsible,” said an article, “7 things you should know about Facebook,” from Educause Learning Initiative. “Not all Facebook profiles result in positive outcomes for the students.”

Online predators are also a risk, even on password protected sites like Facebook.

In Jan., 2005 police in Connecticut arrested a 21-year-old man who they accused of raping a 14-year-old girl whom he found on MySpace. At the same time, on Long Island, investigators said another man found the work address of a 16-year-old girl on either MySpace or Facebook and used it to lure her to a parking lot where he sexually assaulted her.

These sorts of occurences are increasingly common not only in the U.S. but worldwide. Online social networking has become a pick-up place for sexual predators, making it easy for them to target adolescent girls who live in their area.

“When [students] post their private thoughts online, strangers are definitely watching,” said the MSNBC article.

In an early Octorber assembly, a speaker warned SAS freshmen, sophomores and juniors about the dangers of displaying personal information on websites.

“The speaker at the assembly made a good point,” Norcott said.

“He was saying that anything that’s in the public domain will be available to almost anyone. So students say it’s their MySpace, when in reality, anyone with technology knowledge can access it.”

Seniors students missed the assembly, held after freshmen, sophomores and juniors took the PSATs and PLAN test. Norcott said that seniors will, at some point, get to see the presentation as well.

“It’s a caution not to say anything too personal or post anything graphic, because someone could see it,” Norcott said.

The dark side of media influence concerns educators, viewers

by Denise Hotta-Moung Senior Anna Simpson cries during most episodes of The O.C. “People relate the shows to themselves,” Simpson said when asked why kids are affected by TV shows. “It touches on the things that happened in your own life.”

Television plays an increasingly bigger role in the lives of the “M” Generation, a generation shaped by the media. While many students claim not to be influenced by the media, reality proves otherwise.

In Melbourne a group of teenage boys filmed a movie that showed them harassing a homeless man, participating in fights at local parties and sexually abusing a 17-year-old girl. The high school students, who call themselves “The Teenage Kings of Werribee,” were fans of the MTV series “Jackass.” Co-creator Johnny Knoxville denied claims that the boys were imitating the series.

“We’re not mean spirits; we’re not evil,” he said to the Sydney Morning Herald. “Shoot those little b**tards.”

High school counselor Dawn Betts said that it was important for parents to monitor what kids are watching on TV. “It’s important that some shows aren’t shown to younger kids,” she said. “When you’re older you understand that it’s just a joke.”

Simpson said that while celebrities did influence people, they could not be blamed completely.

“It’s not their fault, really. They get so caught up in the glamorous world,” she said. “It’s society that needs to impress upon them that it’s not okay what they do. We need to realize that they’re not that special.”

Despite the growing awareness of the power media has to influence, Betts sees the media as harmful, to adolescents especially.

“These shows seem so real, but even shows that are supposed to be reality shows are scripted. [These shows] are in between reality and fiction,” Betts said. “Some kids don’t even realize they’re being manipulated.”

One area of the media that worries Betts is the promotion of violence towards women that is shown in the media.

Social theorist Jean Kilbourne, in her documentary “Killing Us Softly,” presents advertisements that create the problems that Betts worries about. In one advertisement for a perfume, the copy reads: “Apply generously to your neck so he can smell the scent as you shake your head ‘no’.”

In recent years, the media has made attempts to change the way they portray women. Dove recently started their ‘Campaign For Real Beauty,’ an effort to end the distortion of beauty by the media.

Advertisements show everyday women with ‘curvy’ figures.

“The media is now saying we do have influence,” Betts said.

Betts noted that models now need to have health certificates in order to walk on the runway, just like athletes do before being allowed to play.

“Right now sex is one of the biggest ones that worries me the most on TV,” Betts said. “I think it’s hard for you guys to see the difference. But I can compare it to what was shown before and in terms of music and TV, the amount of teen sex shown has changed.”

Betts hopes that parents will not only monitor what their kids watch, but also have discussions with them. “[They should] talk about what’s real and what’s not,” she said.

The influence entertainers has is not limited to just the youth. British comedian Sacha Noam Barron Cohen angered the Kazakhstani Foreign Ministry with his character Boran, a Kazakh journalist. Cohen portrays Kazakhstan as a backward, oppressive nation, specifically one that discriminates against women and ethnic groups.

Kazakhstan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Rakhat Aliyev invited Cohen to visit the country to see how different his portrayal is from how Kazakhstan really is.

“He can discover a lot of things.

Women drive cars, wine is made of grapes and Jews are free to go to synagogues,” Aliyev said in an interview with Kazakhstan Today.

Aliyev said that Cohen’s “freedom of creativity”

should be respected, and stressed the importance of a country having a sense of humor.

Despite this, the Kazakh government banned Borat’s website and ran ads on CNN and in the New York Times that showed facts, figures and cultural achievements of Kazakhstan.

Cohen’s film “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan” made $26.4 million dollars its first weekend. While Cohen hit the jackpot in terms of entertaining viewers, he created controversy in Kazakhstan, even prompting Kazakh President Nazarbayev to discuss the issue during his visit to US President George Bush.

The problem has become a paradox: on one end, viewers demand that entertainers claim responsibility and on the other, entertainers are merely selling what sells best.

A little less conversation: electronics replace in

by Katrina DeVaney Like many SAS students, sophomore Erica Ng signs on to her MySpace account daily. She says MySpace is useful for helping her keep in touch with her friends in Tokyo, where she moved from recently. Out of her 60-some friends on the site, she says that she is friends with all of them, and close friends with most of them.

Does she talk to them regularly?

“Kind of,” Ng said.

There are over 40 social networking sites with more than a million users on each.

Two-thirds of SAS students belong to social networking sites such as Xanga, Facebook or MySpace.

Students say they have different reasons for participating on these sites rather than just idle socializing; they are reuniting with lost friends or keeping in touch with friends in other countries.

Senior Nate Mahoney signs on to MySpace once a week “to keep in touch with my old friends.”

And even if students do not use social networking sites, they still keep in touch with far away friends using technology. Sophomore Kyle Smith, who moved five times, does not have a social networking site that he regularly uses.

“MSN and email is good enough for me, “ he said.

MSN and AIM are popular instant-messaging programs.

Usually students who move from the U.S. use AIM, while MSN’s appeal is more international.

“I use both. AIM for my friends back home, and MSN for my friends here,” said sophomore Nihal Varkey, who recently moved here recently from Georgia.

Despite the large number of buddy lists, the majority of teens, 78 percent, have 10 or less ‘regular IM partners,’according to the recent Pew Internet and American Life Project.

It is rare to see a SAS student without a handphone. And, due to the sophisticated features of Asian cell phones, students are using their phones for more than just calling.

“[I also use my phone for] texting, and if I’m waiting for something, then I play games. My phone is old though. I want a video phone,” junior Alice Grgas said.

However, there is no consensus whether all of these digital tools really benefit teens’ social lives.

Duke University sociologist Lynn Smith-Lovin attributes technology use to a false sense of friendship.

"We're not saying people are completely isolated,” Smith-Lovin said. “They may have 600 friends on Facebook.com and e-mail 25 people a day, but they are not discussing matters that are personally important.”

In 2005, the Stanford Institute’s Quantitative Study of Society strongly suggested that friendships and family bonds suffered when people were online for more than 10 hours a week.

Ten hours a week translates into about one and a half hours a day.

According to a recent Eye survey of 413 high school students, about 70 percent of SAS students spend over one hour a day online just on social networking sites.

Internet addiction is a growing

problem as people disassociate themselves with the ‘real world’.

Stanford University found that between six and 14 percent of online users suffer from ‘internet addiction’.

SAS students who spent more than seven hours daily just on social networking sites are also most likely to engage in other activities, such as spending 10 or more hours a week lanning, and having met an online friend, or boy/girl-friend person in real life. They were also most likely to say they have large number of friends, both in person, and online.

On average, they say they have more than 10 close friends, and have more than 1,000 friends on their online buddy list.

Psychiatrist Elias Aboujaoude from Stanford University said that real world relationships suffer as people move their social lives online.

“We worry when people use virtual interactions to substitute for real social interactions,’’ he said.

Most surveyed SAS students (46 percent) say, “digital tools help my social life a little bit.” However, the majority of SAS students (62

The Media G

Meeting face-to-face with The following statistics were taken from a survey that was sent out on Nov. 3 to SAS students regarding technology usage. 413 seniors, juniors, sophomores and freshmen responded to the survey.

60.3% of males and ‘lan’ on a weekly basis

11.4% of females

16 males and 4 females spend 10+ hours lanning per week 62.1% feel their privacy would be violated if social networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook, Xanga, Friendster, Facebook, were viewed by administrators and teachers.

33.6% have 100 to their online buddy list

200

friends on

19.2% have 30 to 70 friends on their online buddy list

by Amber Bang The craze of online communities such as MySpace and Facebook continues to capture the attention of millions globally. Though many view these networking websites as harmless, horror stories abound of people discovering their online friends are not who they appeared to be through a computer screen.

MySpace, ‘a place for friends’ as the website says, hit its one hundred million user mark in Aug. 2006.

Many high school students are aware of the imminent dangers that an online community can present if they are not careful about releasing personal information. However, a survey recently sent out by The Eye revealed that 17.5 percent of MySpace users at SAS have physically met with people they first met online.

“This one girl added me on MySpace and she said she was new to Singapore,” senior Saagar Mehta said. “She asked me where I lived, and I said East Coast, and she asked me where on East Coast because she

lived there too. And it turned out that we lived in the same building. So we met downstairs and talked. We still talk today.”

Another story was shared by a senior girl who asked to remain anonymous.

“This guy randomly messaged me on MySpace and told me he was here on holiday from California with his sister who lives in Singapore.

He asked what I was doing that weekend, and I eventually said that he could come hang out with me and my friends. We hung out at Clarke Quay, and we became really good friends,” she said.

Jerry Szombathy, middle school technology applications coordinator, expresses his concern for students using websites such as MySpace.

“I think that MySpace is great, but I also think that it gives many users a false sense of security. My bet is that people have at least one person on their friends list who they haven’t met face-to-face, [such as] friends of friends,” he said.

One example of a meeting with an

Eye in Focus

nteraction percent) say that digital tools such as hand phones, social networking sites, instant-messaging, and virtual worlds are taking the place of faceto-face interaction.

“Sometimes, even when we’re both at school, I still message her or call her, instead of talking to her face to face,” junior Danielle Lopes said.

The largest, around 30 percent of SAS students says that they have somewhere between five to 10 close friends, ones that they can discuss personal issues with. The next largest group, around 20 percent, say they have three close friends.

This data is surprising, since Americans have fewer close friends today, than ever.

On average, Americans have just two close friends, down from about three in 1985 according to the General Social Survey, which is conducted by the National Opinion Research Center. “[I do not think SAS students have more friends], because they don’t really know who their actual friends are,” junior Min Hee Do said.

“And they never know who’s going to move. So its better to have more than one or two best friends.”

“Alex Ettlin broke curfew because of lanning.”

- Anka Uozumi “All Jay Yen cares about is his girlfriend, food, and DOTA.” -Anshul Parikh “Most dedicated? Kyu Min Kim. Most violent?

Kyu Min Kim.” -Steve Kim “I hate playing with noobs, aka David Small.”

-Anshul Parikh “This guy on my bus Christian Hvide grew a new muscle in his hand from playing.”

-Caitiln Hale

Generation

h Myspace online friend gone wrong took place in Werribee, Australia. A seventeenyear-old girl, who had chatted with two boys on MSN messenger, agreed to meet up with the boys at a local mall. When she arrived, a group of 12 boys surrounded her and forced her to a wooded area.

There, the group burned her hair, urinated on her and sexually assaulted her. The boys made and sold a DVD that showed the abuse of the girl. This incident was just four weeks ago. The people involved have not been charged yet, but MySpace has deleted the accounts of some people who may have been involved in the DVD. MySpace is not the only popular networking website.

Facebook, which started as an online community solely for .edu email addresses, has branched out to high school students as well as corporations in the United States.

It has recently opened its doors to the rest of the world, creating an atmosphere similar to that of Myspace.

Junior Kyu Min Kim and seniors Gonzalo Carral, Jack Kim play DOTA at Genie Funland in Far East Shopping Center. Photo by Ming Yen

Gaming addiction pwns* students

by Vicky Cheng Walk down a dimly lit staircase smelling of urine, through two unmarked brown doors to a smoky car park, past a neon sign reading “Genie.” A group of SAS boys yell as their digital opponents cry out, in unison, “First blood!”, a phrase that draws cheers from one team and vulgarities from the other.

Computer gaming, colloquially referred to as “lanning,” is a common pastime among high school students, mostly boys. For some, it is a way to kill time. For others, it is a hobby, with time set aside specifically for gaming.

The gaming center Genie Funland in Far East Shopping Center is popular for its location in the heart of Orchard Road and its affordable prices, at around two dollars for an hour of play. Popular battle-type games include DOTA (Defense of the Ancients) and WOW (World of Warcraft).

Lanning is seen as a healthy pastime if it is a few games played on the weekends before kids go home or to kill time before a dinner date. It can potentially become an addiction if some start play directly after lunch and don’t finish until after midnight.

“It’s just embarrassing.

You sit in front of a computer for like, five hours,” junior Anshul Parikh, a DOTA player, said.

“I’m not embarrassed to go lanning,” sophomore Hunter Hughes said.

Junior Charles Carver, who plays Rome Total War, agreed.

“It’s exhilarating. You could be someone you could never be in real life,” Carver said.

The amount of time spent gaming affects players’ work habits and relationships. Some break appointments to go gaming.

Senior Saagar Mehta has ditched a few friends when they suggested going to a movie, telling them he had to go home.

“They wouldn’t let me go if I told them the truth!” Mehta said.

Senior Valerie Mahillon is dating a faithful WOW player, though he never ditched her.

“I did sort of get mad at him when he skipped school to play,” Mahillon said.

Senior JJ Subaiah, like many other gamers, plays DOTA from home as well, though he thinks playing at gaming centers is more fun.

“It’s easier to coordinate attacks, and it’s more fun to hear the shouting and stuff,” Subaiah said.

“Yeah, it takes up a lot of homework time, but I can’t afford to get rusty.

People play a lot, and I can’t take the chance of losing my place as a good player.”

Players at gaming centers can become emotional or violent.

Lanners agreed that outbreaks of anger are regular.

“Who was it that ripped off a speaker once?” Hughes said.

“Dan Tsukuda almost got beat up by four Singaporeans,” Mehta said. “Dan and this Singaporean guy started insulting each other’s moms [via instant-messaging during a game]. When Dan went to the bathroom, he got surrounded by four or five Singaporeans. They threatened him but didn’t do anything.”

While most high school boys enjoy gaming, a select few students do not like it.

“It’s stupid, it’s boring,” sophomore Billy Fulton said.

In the 2005-2006 school year, a DOTA gaming “tournament” was held towards the end of the year.

Forty boys were involved, broken down into randomly chosen teams of five. All teams played with each other to qualify for quarter finals, semi finals and finals. The tournament took place over two days, and the winning team won the pot of money which everyone contributed to for playing privileges.

Among gamers, there is something of a league.

“I’m small-time compared to those big-timers like Rhys Holding and David McNicol,” Parikh said.

Big-time or small-time, the indelible truth reigns supreme: “There are two kinds of guys at SAS: the ones who lan and the ones who lie,” senior Philip Kwee said. * a term used primarily in the Internet gaming culture, means to soundly defeat an opponent.

8 arts

November 22, 2006

❁

the Eye

Dancers strike an encore pose for an enthusiastic audience in the first performance of “Clue.” The cast fiound an attentive audience for all performances. Photo by Brian Riady.

Whodunnit board game inspires moves in crimno-dance

HIT

by Kathy Bordwell Photos by Brian Riady

principal cast:

Mrs. Peacocks glide across the stage.

An old, haunted-looking house sits ominously on a projection screen and creepy, heart-racing music plays in the background as the lights darken the crowded auditorium.

This was the start of the “Clue” experience. What followed was a night full of colorful costumes, green and red, yellow and purple; all dancing around a stage-filled with colored lights and set designs symbolizing a different room in a mansion.

The billiards room with darts and pool tables filled one’s imagination during the strict, militarylike dance of colonel Mustard.

The bright colors, fitted costumes and set designs all contributed to an overall entertaining dance.

“Clue” is a well-known board game in which each player is a suspect in the murder of Mr. Body. Throughout the dance, the audience wondered who could have murdered him, looking closely at the dances for clues pointing them to the guilty party.

Audience-goers couldn’t simply ask a friend who saw an earlier performance; the murderer changed each time.

In the four o’clock show, the culprit turned out to be Colonel Mustard. The detective was correct, and a younger kid in the audience won a “Cluedo” board game for his correct guess.

The Dance Performance groups all rehearsed twice a week from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. and attended two Saturday rehearsals running two hours each, said dance teacher Tracy Van Der Linden.

With fewer rehearsals than prior years Van Der Linden found that the dancers were less stressed and could find more time for homework between rehearsals.

She also attributed their success to students’ hard work on details

Mr. Black - Sean McCabe Detective - Esther Lukman

Ms. White - Abigail Murray Reverend Green - Shih Yiu Liu

Lead Detective Esther Lukeman steals the spotlight.

Mrs.Whites curtsy to the audience.

right from the beginning.

Clever costuming was used to denote the lead character out of the group of dancers. For example red gloves identified senior Anushka Bharvani as lead Miss. Scarlett. Dancers wore a different style for each character.

“I’m so proud of all the choreographers and all the dancers,” Van Der Linden said. “They really developed their own version of their character.”

“I thought it was good,” senior Lauren Johnson said. “I could see how much [the dancers] worked on it.”

But Johnson found the plot confusing.

“I thought it was different and a little bit confusing because you didn’t really know what was going on,” she said.

The Art Club designed the sets which were used to show which room each scene took place in. The clever symbols to show which room each dance was in, such as the backdrop of a roaring fireplace to symbolize the library, was well suited for each set and Van Der Linden thought they were wonderful.

The dancers chose the music to suit their characters. The song, “Insane in the Membrain”, sung by Cypress Hill and danced to by the Professor Plums, was a special favorite with the audience.

Sophomore Sanskriti Ayyar gave the dance a mixed review.

“I liked it because the choreography was really good, but the dancers weren’t very coordinated,” Ayyar said.

Most students enjoyed the new and varied dance. “The performance went extremely well, all of the students were really happy with themselves and the show,” Van Der Linden said.

Miss Scarlett - Anushka Bharvani Colonel Mustard - Ahilya Kaul

Professor Plums let loose in the Library.

Ms. Peacock -Anna Allen Professor Plum -Esha Parikh

Colonel Mustards stand at the ready.

the Eye

❁

arts 9

November 22, 2006

Cast members Sean McCabe and Alice Jenong during a duet.

Photo by Brian Riady

Senior Sean McCabe played the role of Anatoly Sergievsky the With just two weeks till the opening of the musical “Chess,” student director Daniel Dugard stepped into the spotlight and took on Russian chess delegate who is caught in a love triangle between the role of Molokov after Nathan Choe had to drop out due to health his wife Svetlana Sergievsky played by senior Alice Jeong and assistant to the American delegate Florence Vassy played by reasons. “[Taking on the role of] Molokov was challenging,” Dugard said. junior Chelsea Curto.

McCabe said he especially enjoyed “the ladies.”

“But Ms. Kuester and I both knew I could do it and do it well.”

“When you’re a sexy Russian Although the show suffered stud, you’re hard to resist. I had to minor hiccups such as the loss of fight them off with a yard stick.” main character Molokov and some There were vocal challenges for backstage crew members felled by senior Peter Ayer who played the role the flu, the cast and crew pulled it of Frederick Trumper, the American together just in time for opening delegate for the World Chess night.

Championship.

“Chess” opened to an audience “Most of the music is [written for of over 300 students, parents and a] tenor and I am a baritone, so it was teachers on Oct. 27 and ran for a bit of a challenge hitting the right three shows. The Sunday, Oct. notes,” Ayer said. “But we worked 29 matinee was performed with with it and changed a few of the notes precision and experience. Many of the cast members felt it was their The people of Merano celebrate the arrival of Chess competitors with drinks and got it down in the end.” and dancing. Photo by Brian Riady Ayer’s performance received best performance of the weekend. kudos from many in the cast, crew “I thought that the third night went really well,” junior Jane Hurh said. “Not only because and audience.

“I had seen musicals before and had always been really we performed well for the audience, but we performed well for interested in being in one so I thought this was a great opportunity ourselves.” and a great learning experience.”

The show was well-received by the audience.

Even with the loss of a cast member, prop mix-ups, crew “At first I didn’t know that the play was based on the Cold War,” said junior Kea Scullion. “But later I realized it was and thought it members on stage during scenes and and a few missed cues in the orchestra, the entire production team felt the musical came was cool how it was incorporated through music.”

Former ABBA stars Tim Rice, Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Anderson off well.

“Initially, people weren’t too into it, so the performance had wrote the lyrics to “Chess.” The musical involves a romantic triangle between two competitors in a world chess championship and a woman a slower start,” Hurh said. “But after the first show it went off really well, and I wish it had lasted longer.” who manages one and falls in love with another.

principal cast:

Anatoly Sergievsky - Sean McCabe Svetlana Sergievsky - Alice Jeong

Assistant director and cast member Daniel Dugard in “Soviet Machine”

Fredrick Trumper - Peter Ayer Florence Vassy - Chelsea Curto

Cast close the production with “Nobody’s side” during end song.

Spotlight

on dark Cold War musical

Chess

by Arunima Kochhar Photos by Brian Riady

Molokov - Daniel Dugard Walter de Courcey - Jason Tsai

Character Fredrick Trumper is interrogated by the press.

Arbiter - Jane Hurh

Chorus uses propaganda to sway audience opinions on tournament.

10 op / ed staff editorial

Silencing the whiny chatter Silence was shattered at the Nov. 17 Peace Concert when Principal Dave Norcott intervened with the crowd, pulling a male student away from the stage. The boy had climbed onto the stage during Metal band Osmium’s performance and jumped into the arms of the 30-something people that had gathered in front of the Peace Concert stage. He was asked to stay away from the crowd.

Peace Initiative sponsor Troy Blacklaws then went onstage and addressed the students, telling them that they needed to calm down or leave, which prompted jeers and boos from the crowd.

But none of this could ruin Peace Concert, which made at least $15,000 from the sales of tickets, T-shirts and sponsors. Despite the drama that unfolded, we should all keep in mind the success of Peace Initiative, which, in our opinion, is one of the most competent and successful organizations at SAS. Let’s not obsess over the minor hiccups, but rather, how much Peace Initiative has done to help people around the world which includes children affected by land mines and children diagnosed HIV/AIDS. Besides, as Peace Initiative President Daksha Rajagopalan said, it is a rock concert. Rajagopalan said that she understood the “moshing” that occurred because that it is an aspect of a rock concert environment.

“I’m sure [crowd surfing] has happened before,” Rajagopalan said.

“It is a peace-rock concert.”

Peace Initiative sponsor Dr. Roopa Dewan said that they expected kids to have fun and “mosh”, which is half the reason some kids attend.

Peace Initiative President Rachel Whitt agreed, but said that

eye e

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she understood that there needed to be someone to control the crowd at times.

Perhaps one of the best aspects of Peace Initiative is the organization’s dedication to its charities. The club makes a point of having long-term sponsorships, rather than donating as a one-time thing.

“We don’t give it to them in a one shot deal just to feel good about ourselves,” Dr. Dewan said.

“Instead of leaving them hanging, we support the same charities,” Whitt said. “We add a couple every year, since Peace Concert has been making more every year.”

Peace Initiative researches each charity to make sure they know exactly where their money is going.

Dewan said that there were too many people in this world that would just take the money and run with it.

“Some charities we support have lasted for ten years. They still send us pictures and proof of what our money is going to,” Whitt said.

Whitt hopes that the problems at Peace Concert will not overshadow the positive aspects.

“In the five hour show, it was just five minutes,” she said. “Overall, there was a lot more positive than negative.”

Rumors will fly regarding the events that occurred and students will only look to criticize. Forget the couple of hundred student hours we spend on newspaper issues, let’s criticize those spelling errors. Forget the work Student Council puts into making school better for us, let’s label them useless.

So let’s not forget about the thousands of dollars Peace Concert raised, let’s forget about the minute that the crowd may have been out of control.

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

November 22, 2006

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Everyone needs a home...base Norris said that without homebase

By Cat Ward It’s hard for our Student Council teachers do not have the opportunity to meet together. It’s hard for the to interact with students who they do not have in National Honor Society class. This limits to organize bake sales and contact between events without meeting in teachers and homebase. It’s hard for the students.

Morning Show crew to run The Morning from the TDC to their first Show is the period class and face angry source for teachers because they’re a few minutes late. most of these It’s hard because of the announcements, loss of homebase. broadcasting Student Council important Cat Ward and Executive Council information are the student body’s through out the representatives. And yet school.

But, it is hard for them to get together with the Morning Show now cut to as a group because homebase-less Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays schedule. and with the possibility with some “[It] makes it extremely difficult teachers muting the show and go to distribute information and get straight into class, the important feedback from students,” student council sponsor Eric Burnett said. “It’s doable,” he added.

“Just frustrating.”

Will Norris, the other Student Council sponsor, said that the lack of homebase affected Student Council negatively. He agreed with Burnett that having no homebase makes it hard to communicate with students.

Both teachers recognized advantages in the new schedule such messages that the Morning Show’s as the more efficient use of schedule crew works hard to get out are not time, and the noticeable increase in being received nearly as well by attendance during first period. While the student body as they were when students could easily skip homebase there was an established regular without being noticed, they cannot homebase skip their first period class without “We are late every single day being marked as absent. [because of the Morning Show,]” Both sponsors recognized said senior Shruti Shekar, Morning homebase as a time to receive updates, Show host and crew member. reminders, and announcements.

While she acknowledged that

“[It] makes it extremely difficult to distribute information...”

some teachers are supportive of the Morning Show, she said that others get upset when the show plays during attendance time and when students come a little bit late to class.

“We’re concerned that kids can’t get to class on time and then teachers get mad at kids because they can’t get to class,” said Mark Clemens, the Morning Show adviser. “We’re wondering what number of teachers are just muting the volume so that they can get an extra five minutes in for class.”

Norris said that some students have complained to him about their teachers starting class right away and ignoring the Morning Show and the attendance period.

“It’s [also] hard to have a themed week,” Shekar said referring to the show’s practice of sometimes building the program around a theme This is because of the limit that has been put on the Morning Show, decreasing their shows from five per week to three per week. The limit was decided in a teacher administrator committee to give time to teachers for administrative purposes such as handing out paperwork that the office needs.

Problem 1. The distribution of notes by class is extremely hard.

Problem 2. There is no dedicated homebase for the morning show.

Problem 3. Service clubs cannot meet every morning.

Problem 4. Teachers have limited exposure to students they don’t teach.

Four problems.

One solution.

A school divided A Tsaoist thought

By Amanda Tsao

Editors-in-chief Denise Hotta-Moung, Cat Ward Editors-in-chief: News editor: Sam Lloyd, Rhoda Severino Op/Ed editor: Amanda Tsao, Vicky Cheng Features editor: Jeff Hamilton, Nicole Schmitz Eye In Focus editor: Katrina DeVaney A&E editor: Arunima Kochhar, Kathy Bordwell Sports editor: Michelle Lee, Barbara Lodwick Photo/Layout editor: Rohin Dewan Reporters: Megan Anderson, Alex Boothe, Kathy Bordwell,Vicky Cheng, Katrina DeVaney, Rohin Dewan, Jeff Hamilton, Denise Hotta-Moung, Arunima Kochhar, Michelle Lee, Sam Lloyd, Barbara Lodwick, Enja Reyes, Nicole Schmitz, Rhoda Severino, Ravi Shanmugam, Amanda Tsao, Cat Ward Adviser: Mark Clemens Assistant adviser: Judy Agusti, Sridevi Lakshmanan The Eye is the student newspaper of the Singapore American School. All opinions stated within these pages are those of their respective writers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Singapore American School, its board of governors, PTA, faculty or administration.

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

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

As the high school expands, the Board of Governors speculates on many options including the construction of a second campus.

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sports 11

November 22, 2006

Swimmers compete against each other for pizza SWIMMING Nov. 11 Exchange 1. SAS - 1292

2. JIS - 923

3. ISKL - 248

RUGBY TOUCH SAS 3 - Patana 2

ISB A 4 - SAS 3

SAS 1 - ISM 0

.

SAS 2 - ISB B 1

SAS 1 - TAS 1

SAS 2 - ISM 1

Senior Brian Maisson dives towards a victory at the intersquad swim meet on October 27. Photo by Brian Riady.

by Rohin Dewan and Denise Hotta-Moung Eight pizzas waited for the winning team at the Varsity swim team’s first meet on Oct 27. The event was an intersquad meet, meaning SAS swimmers competed against each other. The swimmers were divided into two teams: the red team and the blue team. At the end of the meet, the blue team took the victory.

“Everyone wanted to win because the prize was pizza,” girls’ co-captain senior Nicole Bryson said. “Swimmers are fatties. All we do is eat and swim.”

There were seven events at the meet that showcased the potential of the new Varsity team.

“I was surprised by the general performance of the intersquad [meet],” boys’ co-captain senior Brian Maissen said. “We hadn’t had many practices and yet people were either near to or [already] beating

their times from last year.”

The intersquad meet was a preview for the strengths and the weaknesses of the swimmers. Girls co-captain senior Michelle Ong said that because it was the first meet, swimmers were nervous, but said it was that nervous energy that made things more competitive and exciting.

“The amount of focus [needs to be improved]. The excitement and enthusiasm is there, but the intensity could be worked on,” Ong said. “I guess everyone, including myself, should work on ‘getting [in] the zone’ before racing.”

A majority of the swimmers this year are new, but Bryson is pleased with the teams.

“Our girls’ team is stacked, for sure,” Bryson said. “The boys team is almost all new, but there’s a lot of potential.”

Changes have also been made to the swim practices.

“They took away all the fun things and claim that these horrible events are bonding,” junior Lena Bryne said. “We miss the 24-hour swim.”

“It’s definitely harder this year,” Bryson said.

When asked about the changes to the trainings, coach Steve Betts said that it was necessary.

“Last year we lost our seven best boys and two best girls. There was a leadership vacuum which worried me,” Betts said. “If swimmers think training is harder, then it’s probably because we need our “average” swimmer to perform at a higher level.”

While Betts is pleased with the progress of the swim team, practices have been plagued by bad weather.

“We should win IASAS in girls.

Boys will be difficult, but possible.

Most boys are doing well but the weather is killing us,” Betts said. “It has interrupted our training at least

twice a week, and then there was the haze as well.”

Betts said that the amount of time spent practicing has been cut due to these factors.

“It requires practice to be more intense because we’re behind in the amount of training. If there is less of what we do, it has to be better,” he said.

The swim team had their first exchange in Jakarta during the weekend of Nov. 11. SAS competed against the Jakarta International School (JIS) and the International School in Kuala Lumpur (ISKL).

SAS came in first, followed by JIS and ISKL. “It’s going great. It’s a close team, a good group of kids. There’s good chemistry between the swimmers,” Betts said. “We lost a lot of stars, but it gives more people a chance to be important, which is a good thing.”

TENNIS BOYS 1st - SAS 2nd - JIS 3rd - ISKL

GIRLS 1st - SAS 2nd - JIS 3rd - ISKL

Tennis takes on KL, JIS teams

by Michelle Lee The lack of seniors on the SAS tennis teams proved not to be a problem in the exchange at the International School of Kuala Lumpur (ISKL).

The Eagles competed against the Jakarta International School (JIS) Dragons and the hosting Panthers on the weekend of November 10th.

Play was conducted at the courts at school and at Kelab Dahrul Ehsan [KDE], a country club near ISKL’s high school campus.

“The time it took to go back and forth [from the school to KDE] was longer than expected, seeing as it’s right next door,” co-captain junior Clarissa Vainius said.

The transportation time did not detract from the quality of competition as Eagle girls’ team had

an impressive record with the most wins.

“Even though the two top-seeded players for Jakarta weren’t there, we were pleased with our wins and losses,” Vainius said.

The first and second singles players from Jakarta that were not present at the exchange are ranked within the top 500 in the world.

The format of this exchange gave all players a chance to play in at least three singles matches and one doubles match.

The purpose of an exchange is to see which players can handle the pressure, and which players work better together, and Coach Tim Thompson was pleased with the outcome.

“This weekend turned out better than I expected. Head to Head [SAS]

beat both teams,” Thompson said, “The girls stepped up, especially in doubles, making minimal mistakes.”

The boys’ team’s four seniors were key for their success. Captain senior Phil Kwee expects big things from the team next year.

The Eagle boys’ have five new players who have contributed positively to the team.

“This year it’s not only about our success; its about rebuilding and teamwork,” Kwee said.

Even if the focus was not on individual success, the boys, with a record of 18 wins, 8 losses and 4 draws, finished strong.

“Everyone did a great job fighting until every last point,” Coach Frans Grimbergen said.

Captain Phil Kwee waits for the ball during a match in Kuala Lumpur.

12 sports Touch rugby takes third place in overtime November 22, 2006

by Jeff Hamilton On a day captain Kacey Whitaker described as “scorching,” the Eagle girls took to a Bangkok field in hopes of claiming victory at the Girls Touch Exchange held at the International School of Bangkok, Nov. 11 and 12.

The tournament brought together the Manila Bearcats, Taipei Tigers, and two teams from ISB as well as the British International School in Thailand [British Patana School.]

With only four returning Varsity players, the tournament was as much about establishing a strong base early in the season as it was about gaining valuable IASAS experience for players on the team. According to co-captain junior Alex Shaulis, the team showed real promise despite its youth.

“Everyone has an understanding of the game,” she said. “Last year we had a few main players. This year everyone can do anything. Anyone can score.”

After winning two games and losing one game to host team, Bangkok A, the Eagles managed a tie of 1-1 against the girls from Taipei,

leaving both teams tied in second place. Officials compared earlier results of the two teams. According to Whitaker, officials first compared point differentials that each team had with first- placed team Bangkok A. Both the Tigers and the Eagles racked up three tries against them, prompting officials to turn to overall tournament points to decide which team would play Bangkok A in the finals.

“Taipei had managed to score more points against a weaker team earlier in the tournament, which we were unable to do,” Whitaker said.

While the Tigers went paw-topaw with the girls from Bangkok A to eventually win the tournament, an exhausted SAS side took the field to play the Bearcats in the consolation match for third place.

Despite a 3-1-1 record prior to the game, the Eagles quickly learned that the consolation match would be no walk in the park. Senior Tiffany Wu ran in a try thanks to a pass from Whitaker, but with the scores level one all at full time, both teams were forced to dig in for sudden death overtime. An early score in overtime

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Junior Isabella Reid runs with the ball during a match against ISB at the Touch Rugby exchange at Bangkok. Photo by Gale Hanagan.

by senior Aubrey Doyle secured a much-deserved win for the girls in red and blue.

Despite a good record on paper and a strong team, coach Bill Hanagan said that winning IASAS this year would not be easy.

“There are no walkover teams,”

he said. “We have a good shot, but all of the other teams have an equally good chance.”

Hanagan said a lack of team fitness was the primary reason SAS had to settle for third.

“We have tons of speed and attack, but we were the least fit team

there,” he said.

Both players and coach attributed a lack of fitness to the October haze and onsoon lightning storms, which have consistently halted training this year. Hanagan said that it did not help that both the Tigers and Panthers were in very good shape.

Girls’ Varsity endorse coaches’ new curfew rule

Members of the Varsity girls’ basketball team, co-manager Miracle XXXX and new assistant coach Rick Bisset sit on the bench during a game on Nov. 16, against United World College (UWC) while coach Chad Brekke stands and watches those on the court. Photo by Mark Clemens.

by Cat Ward This year has brought many changes to the girls’ basketball program. These include new JV coach Eddie Bywater, and new varsity assistant coach Rick Bisset and head coach Chad Brekke.

Another change for the varsity program is a curfew for the team.

The curfew is week-long, and mandates a 10:30 p.m. at-home rule on Monday through Thursday, a 9:30 curfew on Fridays, and 12:30 on Saturday and Sunday nights.

“I’ve always had a curfew [for my basketball team],” Brekke said.

“It’s not just here.”

Brekke said that the three reasons for the teams curfew were to establish rules, to hold the team responsible for their actions and to make the players rest.

In addition to the curfew, this year

the Girls’ Varsity Basketball program has a Blackboard account. On it, coaches post basketball videos, such as Michael Jordan commercials, and instructional commercials as well as notes for the players.

“The tradition. The pride.

The sense of the community. The family. Those are the things that make the Lady Eagle’s Basketball program special,” Brekke said on a Blackboard announcement to the team.

Brekke said that coming together as a unit and understanding the meaning of a consistent championship style team would be vital to the coaches program this year.

A part of the program includes observing in the curfew set by the coaches. The curfew was set during the first week after tryouts.

“At first they didn’t like it,” Brekke said.

“I didn’t really like it,” team member senior Amelia Newlin said.

But, she added, “I understand why it should be early on game night.

We haven’t been out partying – that probably helps [the team].”

“At first I was kind of upset, but it’s understandable because they just want us to rest before games and stuff,” junior Tina Kirwin said.

“It’s not unreasonable or overly stringent.”

Other team members said that they did not mind the curfew, even from the time it was set.

“I didn’t think it was that bad,” sophomore Nicole Bannister said.

“It’s keeping people in their houses, people that [wouldn’t] get a good night’s sleep on a game night.”

“I didn’t really mind,” sophomore

Sam Tierney said. “People aren’t like clubbing and partying.”

Tierney also said that the curfew has helped to mentally prepare the team for their games.

Co-captain junior Barb Lodwick said that she thought it was a good idea and that it has helped to unify the team. Kirwin agreed.

“I think it’s helped people become more intense and focused,” Kirwin said.

The curfew has also resulted in increased respect for the coaches. “[It] gave the coaches authority,” Lodwick said. “They expect the best of us.”

“Plus,” Kirwin said, “if you do need to be out past curfew they are willing to give exceptions if it’s a reasonable reason.”

Examples of this are senior Rachel Witt, president of Peace

Initiative, staying at school for Peace Concert on Nov. 17 and other players sleeping over at friend houses or going to birthday parties which ran until late at night.

Because of the curfew, and the expectation of Brekke and Bisset that the team will act responsibly, players are communicating well with the coaching staff.

“They are coming to me,” Brekke said. “They are talking to me.”

Brekke said that the curfew has helped the team realize that being on a team means a lot.

No SAS coach that Athletics and Activities Co-Director Brian Combes knows of has issued curfew for their team before.

“I don’t care what [the other coaches are] doing,” Brekke said.

“This is what we do.”