The Eye Feb 5, 2007

theeye Singapore American High School

EYE IN FOCUS:

Racism at SAS pg. 6-7

Feb. 5, 2007 / vol. 27 no no. 5

Extreme weather prompts debate, action on global climate change by Sam Lloyd that while global warming and its affects are generally accepted, “the recent heavy rainfall event does not point to a lasting change in climate in Singapore. Rainfall is known to have very large variability from year to year, particularly during the Northeast Monsoon Season.”

Meng cited a January 20 study where the Singapore weather was said to be “unusual but not unprecedented.”

In considering the causes of Open up the International Herald this weather, scientists and the media Tribune on any given day recently, and have also given weight to the role you are more than likely to find a new of the ongoing article on such El Niño, known climate change to create such worldwide. The diverse extremes “worst bush fire of weather. conditions in “Some of this Victoria’s history” might just be destroy Australian weather, but the homes even as other thing we frigid conditions need to consider, threaten the Floods engulf Kota Tinggi, Malaysia. Photo and certainly we California citrus courtesy of Kate Thome talk about it a lot industry. Melting as scientists, is El of the Greenland ice shelf is forming Nino,” Dr. Kevin Trenberth, Head new islands even as the Maldives risk of the Climate Analysis Section at being submerged by a rising sea level. A the National Center for Atmospheric dearth of snow threatens the American Research, on the NPR program snowmobile and European ski “Science Friday.” industries even as blizzards devastate He also said that effects in other the livestock and hay of Colorado. parts of the world, especiallyAustralia, New York saw its latest snow in 129 are typical of the phenomenon, which years, and the list goes on. is the “warming of the waters out in According to Environmental the tropical Pacific, east of where Science teacher Steve Early, the they usually occur,” and predicted scientific community has attributed that it would continue for “the next much of these “changing patterns” to two or three months.” global warming.

However, he still expressed alarm Yew Choong Meng of the at global warming, which “has really National Environment Agency said kicked in in the last 35 to 40 years,”

In the past couple of months, Singapore has had its share of extreme weather.

Last December was the rainiest ever recorded here, causing flooding in low-lying parts of the island around Upper Thomson Rd and minor landslides in many areas.

Permit # MICA (P) 234/10/2005

increasing ocean temperatures, energies in reducing emissions cyclone power and worldwide while staying economically feasible, amounts of heavy rain. according a number of experts. The Environmental science teacher Earth Policy Institute has reported Steve Early drew attention to the that “three wind-rich U.S. states effect global warming has had on the — North Dakota, Kansas, and Texas pattern of El Niño.

— have enough harnessable wind to “For hundreds of years, El Niño meet national electricity needs.” was recognized to have a 15 to 20 While his reference to energy was year cycle,” he said. “Now it appears only Bush’s second use of the word that these cycles are appearing more “mandatory” in a State of the Union regularly.” The last major El Niño address, according to the New York was nine years ago, with one minor Times, AP Environmental Science one since. teacher Martha Began expressed One topic of general agreement is doubts about his follow-through. the existence of global warming, Early “It’s very easy to just sing the said, which finds more acceptance song and not do anything,” she said. in the scientific community every “Now let’s see if he really does it, day. Meng concurred that there is and does it appropriately.” “general consensus Concern over The recent heavy indifference among scientists.” to “There is a global climate rainfall event does discernable influence, change has been on all of these events, not point to a lasting h i g h l i g h t e d of global warming change in climate in in the media, nowadays and it’s from decreased Singapore. affecting droughts; sensitivity of Yew Choong Meng, it’s affecting extreme climate-tracking National Environment Agency rainfall events in satellites to particular around the world,” increased logging in Brazil.

Trenberth said on “Science Friday.”

“I don’t think we can destroy President Bush, too, has officially global warming completely because acknowledged the “serious challenge we’ve done so much to start it,” of global climate change,” calling AP Environmental Science student for energy reform in his State of the Junior Bryan Gamble said. However, Union address on January 23. In his he said, we can moderate its effects speech he called for a mandatory with appropriate legal standards and fuels standard, citing concern over public opinion.

American dependency on foreign This role of public opinion is oil. evidenced by recent trends in cars, One alternative Bush suggested clothes, and computers, to name a was wind power, possibly the most few goods, where companies are promising of the current alternative finding benefits in “turning green” in

“

”

order to attract consumers, according to articles from the New York Times where global climate change turns up as often in the business as in the science section.

According to Began, SAVE Club is beginning to plan a contest to reduce the school’s carbon footprint, to be possibly introduced later this year.

She said that on a global scale the most probable defense against global warming is through legislation.

“Unless it’s legislated, we don’t do it,” she said. “We should, but we don’t. Global warming is this hotbed political issue.”

The issue, she says, is complicated by “way, way too much” political power in the hands of corporations, especially car and oil companies who do not acknowledge the problem.

Indeed, “Scientific American” reported that “70 percent of all Americans ‘think global warming is an environmental problem that is causing a serious impact now.’ Yet... only ‘18% of North American chief executives are concerned about climate change.’”

Columnist Jonathan Morris claims that many Americans who see only the immediate effects of global warming hold a likewise ignorant philosophy.

“When you live in the northeastern part of North America and can leave your house wearing sandals the first week in January, you don’t ‘blame’ whatever source is allowing you to do this. You give it credit. And that’s what’s happening with global warming here,” he says in “The Problem with Global Warming.”

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Feb. 5, 2007

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the Eye

Four new faces in faculty, staff

by Ravi Shanmugam and Vicky Cheng

Magdelene Yeo Assistant librarian Frequent library users would have noticed a new pair of hands shelving books and quietening garrulous students. Former accountant Magdelene Yeo has taken the position of Assistant Librarian since the start of second semester in January.

The Singaporean said she quit accounting because it was “too desk bound” and chose to become a librarian because of her love of books. Yeo described the students as “friendly.”

Jenelle Taylor P.E. teacher Jenelle Taylor is an outdoor adventure enthusiast. Prior to being a P.E. teacher at SAS, she taught outdoor education at UWC, a job consisting of taking mainly middle school level kids up to tropical islands such as Malaysia and Thailand.

She has only been teaching for three years in Singapore and is originally from Australia, where she attended Notre Dame in Fremantle for college.

Margaret Phang High school secretary Deputy Principal Doug Neihart’s new secretary is former development officer Margeret Phang. Phang used to work on projects and human resources before her company “decided to consolidate resources” and closed its Singapore office.

She is enjoying her job and describes her boss as a “nice and patient man.”

Clockwise from top left: Magdalene Yeo, Janelle Taylor, Magaret Phang and Zalinda Lajin. Photos by Cat Ward and Mark Clemens.

Zalinda Lajin Counseling secretary Zalinda Lajin is the third addition to the SAS staff. Lajin, who wants to be known as Linda, has been at SAS for five years, although she only moved to the high school in November. She said her job keeps her busy, but describes her new work as different and is happy to learn new things. Lajin said one of the differences between the high and intermediate schools is that high school students, by virtue of being older, tend to “hang out” less with staff.

Student complaints prompt change in library rules

A student studies at a library table with a small peice of paper citing the library rules taped to it.The library rules have changed, as the paper reads, so that “students may add one chair or two chairs to the library tables.” Photos by Rohin Dewan and Cat Ward

Briefs

Expelled student gets second chance

by Jeff Hamilton The start of a new term saw the start of a second chance for one junior boy previously removed from SAS after testing positive for ecstasy on a mandatory drug test.

The junior boy and a senior girl who tested positive were expelled from school on Nov. 5 2006 and lost all first semester credit.

“They were effectively no longer considered SAS students’” Norcott said.

According to high school Deputy Principal Doug Neihart, each student had to meet certain criteria before they could talk to Admissions about returning.

“Upon reflection each chose the course of action which suited their situation,” Norcott said.

Both Norcott and Deputy Principal Doug Neihart stressed that this decision and all future decisions would be made on an individual basis and that every student who makes the choice to take illegal substances takes a serious risk.

“I think that every situation needs to be evaluated on an individual basis,” Norcott said. “A student who compromises the school’s drug policy stands to lose everything.

Sri Lanka interim trip cancelled

by Rohin Dewan “Dicey” is the word Deputy Principal Doug Neihart used to describe the entire situation. The fact that civil war has broken out in the small island just south of India has forced the United States State Department to issue a travel warning for Sri Lanka. Students on the Sri Lankan Interim trip were anxious to find out where they were going instead. There have been no complaints about the trip change.

“I think everyone was a bit nervous about Sri Lanka so I don’t think there was a lot of controversy about switching the plans,” Dale Smith, one of the trip sponsors, said.

According to an undisclosed contact in Sri Lanka, there were military planes flying over the contact’s location and new checkpoints setup along every mile of road in Colombo, the capital city.

The contact said that southern Sri Lanka had considerable violence as opposed to northern Sri Lanka, which was not as intense, however random targets were chosen and the situation was still unmanageable.

Concluding the interview, “Thailand is a non-issue at this point,” Neihart said. “There have been no plans to alter the Thailand trips, as there were negligible bombs just after New Years.”

The trip has been relocated to Vietnam with a different vendor from the two other Vietnam trips.

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news 3

Feb. 5, 2007

Pressure, thrills blamed for cheating

An Honor Code Committee poster encouraging students not to cheat. Photo

by Arunima Kochhar

by Nicole Schmitz In a Dec. 11 article in the Philadelphia Daily News, more than 40 percent of teens said they felt intense pressure to succeed academically at any cost. A national ethics poll by Junior Achievement and the financial advisory firm Deloitte & Touche USA LLP, found that 22 percent of the 787 students surveyed said they had cheated on a test in the last year.

Counselor Gwen Bergman thinks

a concern with grades and getting into the right college fuels these worrying statistics.

“A larger percentage of people are going off to university,” she said.

“There’s more competition.”

Peer pressure can also be blamed.

Bergman says that sometimes students cheat so that “they won’t get embarrassed in front of their friends for getting a lower grade.”

Bergman’s last school, St. John’s International School in Waterloo, Belgium, had a low incidence of cheating which Bergman attributes to the small school’s secure atmosphere and strict ethics code.

Bergman said that students at St. John’s took cheating more seriously because of a mission statement, student awareness and strict followthrough on consequences.

School psychologist Dr. David Putnam said that factors hard to foster in the college-prep setting of SAS – a stronger sense of community, a relaxed student body, and not as much pressure for academic success – may be other factors that could lessen the incidence of cheating.

Anxious students usually take their cues from their parents, says clinical psychologist Madeline

Survey Results 48.4% of 68.2%

Levine, author of “The Price of Privilege: How Parental Pressure and Material Advantage are Creating a Generation of Disconnected and Unhappy Kids.”

Well-meaning parents “are afraid their kids aren’t going to be successful,” said Levine, whose book is one of several about teenagers and intense stress published this year. “[SAS] caters to a type-A, driving, professional clientele,” Putnam said.

Bergman said the Honor Code Committee is a good vehicle for making students more aware, especially when they are asked to sign the honor code.

Dr. Putnam attributes cheating to both external and internal pressures faced by students.

“Academic achievement is highly valued here,” Dr. Putnam said. “There is an illusion that everyone else gets good grades, that everyone else is perfect.” He said that some students believe that they have to perform well to be viewed as successful.

Kiasu sprit – the need to get ahead of the pack.

“In the scramble to do everything they can do to get into the best school and, eventually, best job, they may

50%

lose perspective,” Dr. Putnam said.

He thinks that some students lose perspective by thinking in absolutes.

“If I don’t do this, I won’t get the grade. I won’t be successful.”

Dr. Putnam added that a minority of students cheat just for personal thrills.

Senior Julia Knight is the chair of the Honor Code Committee, a student organization that drafts and maintains the honor code while trying to uphold and encourage the integrity of the school.

“It’s important for students to take classes that are at their appropriate level so that they feel like they can do the work without resorting to dishonesty,” Knight said. “Sometimes when people see the easy way of getting out of work, they’re willing to take it.”

Bergman believes that integrity is a life-long commitment.

“It isn’t just for your high school career, but for anything you do,” she said. “Colleges are not just interested in good records and background, but also in integrity.”

Letters to the Editor should be emailed to eye@sas.edu.sg. Note limits in staff box, page 5.

P.O.W. BUST!

by Nicole Schmitz Despite a notation that “Solutions are understood to be original and independent work of the student named on the paper,” six students still cheated on math Problems of the Week (POW) last semester.

Cheating POW – math problems that students solve for extra credit was discovered last semester after six students turned in the same work after working together and copying from each other.

The students were thrown out of the probability competition and lost all previously-earned extra credit. They are also prohibited from participating in POWs for the rest of the year.

Math teacher Paul Terrile said that the some of the best math students were adamant about not getting help, even from teachers.

“Sometimes a student fends off a curious teacher and says ‘I don’t want help, and I can do it on my own,’” he said.

of sophomores say that they get the greatest academic pressure from their parents.

juniors have copied work off the internet for class assignments. of girls report feeling guilty when they cheat.

60.7 %

of freshmen have never cheated on a test.

Critique reflects ballet’s skinny rule

Junior Evelyn Toh rehearses for the upcoming dance showcase. Photo by Cat Ward

by Amanda Tsao After hoarse supporters of juniors Evelyn Toh and Esther Lukman cheered “E-squared! E-squared!” for the umpteenth time, the stage quieted down to listen to what “Dance Floor” judge Bill Calhoun had to say.

“Do you guys exercise every day? Because ballet is all about this,” he said, holding an inch of air between two palms. “If you guys trim down, you’ll look fantastic.”

“I was kind of in disbelief,” junior Callie Scheidt said, who was present when the comment was made. “I understand where he came from, but the fact that he said it on national TV, and to 16-year-old girls was just inappropriate.”

While some were alarmed at Calhoun’s comment, his viewpoint was not new to the world of dancers.

Toh, who dances for Singapore Ballet Academy, did not consider the

criticism an insult.

“As a dancer it’s part of the package – physique,” she said. “I’m constantly told in class that your body is your canvas. I’ve been told before I need to lose weight and grow. Most dance companies have height and weight restrictions, but to a normal person it’s a big insult.”

Toh said that in any dance genre other than ballet, weight is not much issue. Among the “Dance Floor” contestants who did not perform a lyrical or ballet piece, were dancers who were heavier than Toh and Lukman, but did not receive feedback on their weight.

According to the Critical Dance website, in November 2000, Krissy Keefer, the parent of an eight-year old dancer, filed a complaint with San Francisco’s Human Rights Commission against the San Francisco Ballet (SFB) on behalf of her daughter, Fredrika. Fredrika was rejected from admission for not having a certain body type.

A panel of three dance industry judges defended SFB, concluding that it had the right to create its own criteria for entry. SFB’s published criterion for entry says, “The ideal candidate is a healthy child with a well-proportioned, slender body; a straight and supple spine, legs that are well turned out from the hip joint, and correctly arched feet.”

The Boston Ballet company website is more explicit in their

requirements: “Please note Boston Ballet does have a minimum height requirement for prospective dancers – 5’5” for women and 5’8” for men.”

In a 1997 article from “Dance Magazine,” author Gail Cox wrote that “Boston Ballet artistic director Anna-Marie Holmes says the company ‘values and accepts a diversity of body types,’ however, the most obvious body diversity in all of these companies is in height.

In the Boston Ballet, the women range from 5’4 to 5’9, but none are fleshy.”

Arthur Mitchell was a former New York City Ballet dancer and winner of numerous prestigious dance awards such as the Lifetime Achievement Award from the School of American Ballet in 1994. Contrary to the emphasis on nutrition at ballet school, Mitchell reportedly remarked, “They’re all fat,” during a Dance Theatre of Harlem school ensemble rehearsal.

Mitchell refused to comment when journalists from “Dance Magazine” questioned him about the remark.

Resulting from the pressure of the ideal figure, it is not surprising that eating disorders are reportedly common throughout ballet schools in particular.

Dance teacher Tracy Van der Linden worked closely with the Australian Ballet and studied dance in college.

“There was probably a good half [in my college class who] were suffering from eating disorders,” Van der Linden said.

Holly, a 15-year-old student at Universal Ballet Academy, writes in her Xanga blog: “I went to the nutritionist on Tuesday, and basically I have to keep a food diary, and not count calories.

I can still have 500 calories a day or less as long as I spread it out, but whatever. Oh, she also said my GW [gross weight] of 95 lbs was not a healthy BMI, but like I care. That’s what [George] Balanchine [a famous Russian ballet dancer] wanted.”

Student views concerning weight has caught the attention of The Endocrine Society in Naples, Italy.

Doctors, and medical researchers experimented on 144 ballet dancers and ex-dancers, all of whose dance training consisted of more than ten hours of exercise per week. The experiment, which was entered into “The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism,” was titled, “The Influence of Intense Ballet Training on Trabecular Bone Mass, Hormone Status, and Gonadotropin Structure in Young Women.”

The report observed that 83% of the test subjects were underweight.

Their reduced Body Mass Index was evident in the 24% of dancers who were having or had previous menstrual disorders, presumably

a large fraction of whom suffered from eating disorders.

“This leads to a significant reduction in certain nutritional parameters and subsequently in BMD (bone mineral density)” testers from the experiment said.

Some ballet dancers hide behind the pressure to meet body requirements as a vindication of their obsession with thinness. Ballet has always stressed the importance of staying lean while maintaining muscularity, but when dancers do not understand the delicate balance between the two are influenced by suggestions like that of “Dance Floor’s” Calhoun’s, it reaps problems.

“If someone [who misunderstood] found that comment they might take it really personally,” Toh said. “They might compare it to themselves.

They’ll see me or Esther and they might think, ‘I’m as skinny as her, so should I be skinnier too?’”

R

CORECTIONS In our last issue, a photo James Hart of scriptwriter was credited to Mary Gruman.

The photo was taken by Beth Gribbon.

The Eye staff apologizes for this error.

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Feb. 5, 2007

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the Eye

Second season athletes stay in shape over break

by Megan Anderson School holidays are when people usually pack on the pounds, lazing around the house, scrounging for leftovers from extravagant meals, but with IASAS a mere two and a half weeks after Winter Break, SAS athletes were forced to keep in shape.

Eagle athletes were not asked to deprive themselves of the scrumptious pies, cookies and cakes that come hand in hand with the festive season. Instead, they were advised by their coaches to make healthy choices in their exercise habits.

“If [the girls] could keep their level of fitness over the break, that was all we were asking,” Girl’s Varsity Basketball assistant coach Richard Bissett said.

It is easy to let one day turn into another without breaking a sweat except for when walking to the fridge or searching for the television remote, but being lazy can prove to be detrimental on the fitness level of a conditioned athletes.

“You actually start to decondition after 24 hours and it’s a pretty steep decline over the next two weeks after that,” high school PE teacher Mrs. Pong said. “You can de-condition 100% within three

months.”

The Girl’s Basketball team was given workout guidelines to follow over the long break. They were required to workout at least 40 minutes a day. For those who stayed in Singapore for the holidays, the high school gym was open for two

also had open-gym, and were encouraged by their coaches to keep active over the break. Upon return from Winter Break the open-gym practices and scheduled workouts proved effective. “[The boys] were not in as bad shape as I had feared,” Varsity Boy’s coach Mike Norman said.

Steve Betts and his rigorous swim practices were not cut short due to the Winter break either. Most swimmers came into school every other morning to keep in shape. “[Mr. Betts] put up six workouts we could do on Black Board,” junior swimmer Anna von Essen said. “ He recommended we swim as much as we normally would. Some of us also practiced with Fighting Fish.”

The tennis teams were not given such rigorous workout schedules over the break; they were simply Students in Jenelle Taylor’s weight-lifting class learn how encouraged to play as much as to stay in shape. Athletes can de-condition after only 24 possible. hours without exercise. Photo by Mark Clemens SAS athletes could not afford to be lazy over the Winter Break. The break, they also wanted to teach unbelievable success SAS has had hours on most of the mornings.

“When we get back from the them to maintain healthy exercise at IASAS is due to the commitment break we should be taking time to habits that they could maintain for and loyalty the athletes have towards their respective sports teams. fine tune in practices not on bringing the rest of their lives.

“When a player comes back from “It’s a good life skill,” Bissett the girls back to fitness,” Bissett said. “Fitness should be part of your break in shape it tells a coach that said. they are responsible, organized, and Coaches not only wanted their daily routine.”

The Boy’s Basketball team committed,” Bissett said. players to stay in shape over the

English teacher’s coming of age story headed for big screen down a more generous offer for the book from a London film company. He declined it because he wanted the film to be made by a South African.

Blacklaws did not author the finished script since he had already made commitments to teaching and fatherhood.

Blacklaws hopes that the film will be finished toward the end of next year and expects it to travel to film festivals in Toronto, Venice and Berlin.

“Karoo Boy” is the comingof-age story of Douglas Blacklaws’s first published novel “Karoo Thomas, an English South Boy” is being made into a film. Photo by African boy who lost his Rohin Dewan twin brother in a freak cricket

by Rhoda Severino accident. His parents dealt with their In 1996, English Troy Blacklaws loss in different ways. Douglas’s was forcibly removed from the father seems to disappear and his Frankfurt Book Fair, where he had mother moves what remains of taken his manuscript to be reviewed her family from Cape Town to a by publishers. Undaunted, Blacklaws small bush town in the Karoo area snuck back in later in the day. He where Douglas learns to live as an never got a publisher to take his “untwinned” boy. book but he did meet his agent there, Though “Karoo Boy” is set in his starting the long, yet ultimately native South Africa, Blacklaws says successful journey to becoming a the autobiographical influences in published author. the book are few.

Now, Blacklaws’s first published “It’s only autobiographical in the novel “Karoo Boy” is being made sense that it’s a story about loss,” into a film. It has been translated into said Blacklaws, whose younger French and Dutch and was recently sister died when he was just starting bought by a German publisher. Rock university, and whose father died stars and civil rights activists alike shortly after he was born. “But have praised his second published inevitably when you’re writing a novel “Blood Orange.” story, you’re drawing from the palate The film “Karoo Boy” is being of your experiences.” produced by South African Anant The cricket ball incident is also Singh (“Red Dust,” “Cry, the Beloved based on a real event in his extended Country”) and Zimbabwean director family. He changed the setting to Sunu Gonera. Blacklaws turned the beach because he wanted it to

be reminiscent of the pivotal scene in Albert Camus’s novel “The Stranger.”

The idea for the story was born when Blacklaws was turning his manuscript of “Blood Orange” in to his agent a year after he met her at the Frankfurt Book Fair. He had not realized that to turn in a manuscript he also had to be working on his next work so he came up with “Karoo Boy” in a Frankfurt bar, setting the story in Karoo because his agent was originally from the area.

“I was still a bit high from turning in my manuscript, and I also think I was flirting a bit,” Blacklaws said.

“I made up most of it on the spur of the moment.”

“Karoo Boy” was meant to be a response to fellow South African writer J.M. Coetzee’s novel “Disgrace,” a book Blacklaws called “relentlessly morbid.”

“The country he evokes is South Africa but not the South Africa I know,” Blacklaws said. “There’s a crazy kind of hope and forgiveness [in South Africa].”

While “Karoo Boy” is Blacklaws’s first published book, his first finished book was a memoir with fiction elements entitled “Blood Orange.”

“It’s a fascinating thing to explore where those boundaries fall between life and fiction,” he said.

“I’d written a book [‘Blood Orange’] before,” Blacklaws said. “I’d been sending that out to publishers for years but nothing had come of that. I spun out another story [‘Karoo Boy’] in cafes in Vienna 6,000 miles away from the country I was evoking.”

It took Blacklaws’s London agent two years to find a publisher for “Karoo Boy” and two more years to publish “Blood Orange” in Holland and South Africa. “‘Too fragmentary,’ ‘too sketchy,’ ‘not knifed together’ were some of the phrases used [by the publishers],” Blacklaws said.

“The structure of the book is a metaphor of the journey from boyhood to manhood.

It’s very raw and clumsy and awkward and ungainly.

Too tailored a structure belies the violence and brutality of my youth.”

Blacklaws found out on Thursday Jan. 25, that “Karoo Boy” will be published in Germany. “Blood Orange” is with publishers in New York and London who are deciding whether to publish the book.

“At the moment I’m on tenterhooks,” Blacklaws said.

Blacklaws attributes some of the success of “Blood Orange” to

“ I spun out ‘Karoo Boy’

in cafes in Vienna 6,000 miles away from the country I was evoking.

”

an endorsement by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a prominent leader of the South African civil rights movement and a Nobel Peace Prizewinner, who called the autobiography “tantalizingly beautiful.”

All the revenue from “Blood Orange” goes to The Homestead shelter, a grassroots, non-profit organization based in Cape Town`, which tries to take children off the streets by offering them food, a place to sleep at night and an education.

Blacklaws’s agent is currently searching for a publisher for Blacklaws’s third book, a forbidden, Lolita-like love story set in South Africa, Vienna and Thailand.

Blacklaws is also working on two children’s books. One is to be called “Bafana, Bafana,” meaning “the boys, the boys,” the nickname for the South African soccer team.

It is about a young boy in a South African village who dreams of watching the national team play. He is hoping to have the book ready for the next FIFA World Cup, which is to be held in South Africa in 2010 Blacklaws’s other children’s book is set in Bangkok and is about a turtle named Angel.

French teacher Laurence Patrick has read the French translation of “Karoo Boy” and has given it to her independent study French class to read and the first chapter to her French 4 class.

“What was striking me was the precision of the description,” Patrick said. “It’s quite a performance to write like this.”

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Feb. 5, 2007

features 5

“FAGLES!” scrawled across the cafeteria doors on Jan. 25th, a day after IASAS athletes left. The word was created after two students erased the bottom bar of the “E” of “EAGLES!” Photo by Brian Riady

Empathy missing in ‘harmless’ jokes, pranks

by Denise Hotta-Moung It took Student Council and the IASAS athletes 40 minutes to decorate the cafeteria windows with shout-outs to the teams and SAS pride. The windows read “Go Eagles!” “Bring home the gold” and the names of the athletes.

The day after athletes left, two students altered the word “EAGLES” to create the word “FAGLES.” A senior girl said she saw the two students removing the bottom bar of the letter “E”.

“It was a little immature,” she said. “I think they were just trying to be funny. There wasn’t any reason for it. It was just sort of stupid.”

Senior Sean McCabe agreed that the incident was not malicious and suggested it was an act of boredom.

“I’ve sewed my wild oats on a few SAS walls before,” McCabe said. “It’s not funny; it’s just something to do.”

Students have opposing views of SAS’s general attitude towards homosexuality.

“Our school takes homosexuality negatively,” sophomore Sam Lockett said. “[SAS] doesn’t discriminate, but we’re not open.”

Senior ellen Wuest said that SAS is a closed environment.

“There’s less exposure [to homosexuality], so people just aren’t as open,” Wuest said.

“Most of the people in the school are against it,” freshman Scott Swingle said.

Wuest sees SAS as a conservative environment, but in a survey conducted by the Eye, a junior boy commented on how liberal he found the school.

“The attitude of the school is VERY liberal,” he wrote. “The environment is set so that if you

have a non-liberal view on anything you are wrong and hated.”

Senior Cat Ward has been a leading force in spreading awareness about homosexuality. Ward proposed a Gay-Straight Student Alliance in 2005. She was turned down by the administration.

Last year SAS held its first Day of Silence, a day when students take

is less “There exposure [to

homosexuality] so people aren’t as open.

”

Senior ellen Wuest a vow of silence to recognize the struggles faced by ‘silenced’ gay youth around the world.

The day was met with various reactions.

“I rarely see anything positive about the United States. Also, I don’t appreciate the Day of Silence, showings of “An Inconvenient Truth” or Speaker’s Corners that pretty much bash the United States and the Conservatives/Republicans of the school,” the junior male wrote.

Lockett said that he thought the Day of Silence was a “great idea.”

Most students agreed that the “FAGLES” incident was not aimed at homosexuals and that any connections made would be an overreaction.

“I don’t think it was against homosexuality,” Wuest said. “It was

vandalism.”

Ward said that cracking jokes about homosexuality does not help to break down stereotypes, but only to strengthen them. She said that the ‘fagles’ incident was “an example of a so-called harmless incident that perpetuated the idea that homosexuality can be made fun of.”

“I understand the whole point about ‘it’s a joke, meant to be funny,’ and I don’t think it was meant to hurt anyone, ” Ward said. “I just think that it was an incredibly stupid thing to do. Jokes only work to reinforce stereotypes about gay people because the environment here is not conducive towards homosexuality.”

“It might hurt some people here, but most people know it was a stab at our school,” Lockett said.

It is common for people to be sensitive when it comes to issues concerning sexuality.

“The View,” co-host Rosie O’Donnell, who is openly lesbian, accused talk show host Kelly Ripa of homophobic comments on a Nov. 21 show. Former American Idol runnerup Clay Aiken was co-hosting Ripa’s show when he reached over and put his hand over her mouth in the middle of her sentence. ” I just don’t know where that hand’s been, honey,” Ripa said in response.

O’Donnell then claimed on “The View” that Ripa’s comments were homophobic.

“Now listen, to me that was a homophobic remark,” O’Donnell said. “If that was a straight man, if that was a cute man, if that was a guy that she didn’t question his sexuality, she would have said a different thing.”

There was one problem with O’Donnells accusation: Aiken has never said he is gay. Ripa called the remarks outrageous and told

O’Donnell that she was not referring to Aiken’s sexuality in any way.

Because the issue of sexuality has become so sensitive, it is rarely talked about or acknowledged.

“I think that part of the problem at SAS is that homosexuality and gender identity aren’t talked about at all,” Ward said. “Or at least not by the administration, and never with

open arms except within a small group of students.”

“The issue is not confronted here as much as in the States,” Wuest said. “There’s just immature jokes.

SAS is more, just indifferent.”

Letters to the Editor should be sent to eye@sas.edu.sg . See staff box, page 5, for limits.

‘Grey’s Anatomy’ pretend doctor seeks treatment after incident

Knight and Washington are all smiles at a TV Guide Emmy after-party in August 2006, two months before the incident occured.

Photo by www.570news.com

by Kathy Bordwell Turmoil has been building up on the “Grey’s Anatomy” set ever since co-star Isaiah Washington (Dr. Preston Burke) referred to co-star T.R. Knight’s sexuality with derogatory slang.

After the incident, Washington apologized for his behavior but denied calling Knight a “faggot”. He then repeated his claim at the Golden Globes, saying “No, I did not call T.R Knight a faggot.”

Knight then appeared on “The

Ellen Degeneres” show to explain what had happened.

“He referred to me as a faggot,” Knight said. “Yeah, so I heard it, everyone heard it. It was on the set.”

Knight said that he had not been planning on coming out before the incident but was forced to after Washington’s remarks.

“It’s such an awesome word isn’t it?” Knight sarcastically said.

“I’ve never been called that to my face. So I think when that happened, I don’t know, there’s something that shifted and it just became bigger than myself.”

After Knight’s appearance on the Ellen Show, Washington released an apology and has entered a treatment facility.

“With the support of m family and friends, I have begun counseling.

I regard this as a necessary step toward understanding why I did what I did and making sure it never happens again,” Washington said in his statement.

Though the incident has garnered much press, there have been no announcements regarding Washington leaving “Grey’s Anatomy”. There is a petition being passed around asking that Washington be forced to leave.

6 features

MinoRity Report Feb. 5, 2007

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the Eye

A clash of color, cliques, class and culture

Cliques and high school just click

by Vicky Cheng “Mean Girls,” a popular movie centered on high school cliques and the problems they bring, released in 2004, told no lie. “Now, where you sit in the cafeteria is crucial because you got everybody there... freshmen...preps, JV jocks, Asian nerds, cool Asians, varsity jocks, unfriendly black hotties, girls who eat their feelings, girls who don’t eat anything, desperate wannabes, burnouts, [and] sexually active band geeks.”

Hosting a population of kids from over 50 countries and “committed to cultivating American values while nourishing academic excellence with an international perspective,” one could assume Singapore American High School would brag the picture of international perfection.

A stroll through the cafeteria

proves otherwise.

SAS shows remarkable divide when it comes to various social cliques. While a portion of students feel that factors such as materialism and extracurricular activities play a strong role in the creation of cliques, ethnicity is the most physically obvious divider of students.

Taiwanese-American senior Kenneth Chen said that racially divided groups, though common, don’t necessarily occur on purpose.

“It’s easier because there’s more common ground when you come from the same background. What sports and clubs you do have a lot to do with who you hang out with too,” Chen said.

Caucasian-American senior Sara DeNoma disagreed that it was based on ethnicity, whether purposeful or not.

“I think it’s more like the people who have been here for longer make friends with the older SAS crowd while new kids tend to hang out with other new kids,” senior Sara DeNoma said.

Students said that the student body should be more ethnically integrated to live up to its classification as an international school. In an Eye survey, students answered that the student body is too segregated, though probably not on purpose. In a free-response question, one junior said that it was “so hard to ‘fit in’ when you only have one choice to follow…your race.”

A surprisingly large number of responses to the Eye survey criticized the practice of gathering with only those of the same ethnicity and speaking in their native tongue.

The responses sarcastically called those people the “elite” when they

made others feel out of place by not speaking English and claim that SAS has become too “Easternized,” even though SAS still enrolls a majority of US passport holders and gives Americans priority for entry to the school above all other nationalities.

Korean passport holders come second, filling their maximum of 10 percent of the student population and therefore stemming the flow of future Korean students.

Some of the surveyed students argue that SAS is an American school, and should therefore enforce an American lifestyle at school. Just recently, the administration approved an American Culture Club, sponsored

by Eric Burnett. Fliers posted on windows and bulletin boards have the tagline: “’Cause this is an American School.”

Korean senior Sung Won Hong said

that neither he nor his friends had spiteful or condescending intentions by spending time with mainly all Koreans and speaking in Korean.

“It’s just easier to talk to each other in Korean. I used to have an American name, but I forget what it is,” Hong said.

Singapore is an international enough community that flippancy with ethnic jokes is generally tolerated. However, in 2005, a Eurasian senior jokingly called a Japanese friend “fat Jap” to his face. Laughs went around, but a teacher overhead and the senior was suspended.

Students in SAS casually make derogatory comments that are often misunderstood by the casual passerby, but many students who make racist remarks are merely joking and not practicing premeditated malice.

features 7 Stars shed light on racism, prejudice Survey the Eye

by Alex Boothe “Monkey hands” read the remark scrawled across a SACAC football poster hung in the café during the Oilers 2006 season. The poster depicted an African- American’s hands reaching for a pass. Judy Agusti was the teacher who found and reported the matter to Deputy Principal Doug Neihart.

“I just remember being disgusted and shocked,” Agusti said.

“I’m not a racist”, is a response you would here from most who are confronted with racism. That’s what Michael Richards, Seinfeld’s ‘Kramer,’ said in his apology on the David Letterman Show following his outrage towards two black men at a comedy club in December.

When major media outbreaks occur like Richards’ society then begs the question, how much is racism still apart of America and how does it affect us? Race is in fact is still a

major part of our make-up whether it is in movies, music, or comedy.

Recent examples are things like the controversy on the European TV series Big Brother and Rosie O’Donnell’s public mockery of the Chinese language.

Richards’s case began with an outburst at a comedy club in West Hollywood when an African American man shouted that he wasn’t funny. Richards reacted with profanity and racial obscenities using the n-word multiply times and making references to racial lynching, “shut up! Fifty years ago we’d have you upside down with a f------- fork up you’re a--!” He then went on to imply a superior racial standing, “Throw his a—out, he’s a n-----! That’s what happens when you interrupt the white man, don’t you know?”

As far as punishment there are legal grounds for Richards offence but Josh Smith an African-American

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Feb. 5, 2007

student at SAS “it’s pointless because even if it’s wrong its still gonna be there in the morning,” Smith said.

Richards’s later attempted to apologize, but to those it was directed that damage had already been done.

Smith, an African-American student at SAS, finds the apology “bogus” and doesn’t think that Richards should apologize if that’s how he really feels.

Richards is not the only celebrity currently under fire for racist behavior. A drunken Mel Gibson was pulled over by police in Malibu for speeding in July of 2006. Gibson yelled anti-Semitic remarks at one of the officers. Gibson apologized for his behavior days after and asked the Jewish community for help on his “journey to recovery”.

Hollywood took a more positive approach to the issue of race with the 2005 release of the Academy

Award-winning movie, Crash. The movie attempts to shed light on the stereotypes and prejudices of Backs, Whites, Latinos, Asians and Middle Easterners in America, and how they mix and clash in society with there different standards of living, morals and values.

Music is another area of popculture which deals with the issue of race, particularly in the genre of rap.

In today’s rap world, race is one of the major elements strung through much of its music. Because it’s a predominately black industry, the n-word appears frequently in songs, some argue it is degrading to AfricanAmericans. Smith said that he doesn’t feel comfortable with the way the word is constantly used “But it has a different meaning, like a brotherhood between blacks; because it’s something we went through that “white America” just can’t relate to.”

Mormons find comfort within community

by Katrina DeVaney “I’m a good little Mormon boy,” junior Bryce Robinson said. There are about 22 members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly known as Mormons at SAS. In addition to believing in the Christian bible, they also follow the Book of Mormon, and believe that Joseph Smith, Jr. is a prophet of God. Their different and sometimes controversial religious beliefs have lead to persecution. Despite this, Mormon teenagers feel comfortable at SAS. “You do get a lot of attention back in the States if you’re a Mormon, [but not here], because the school and Singapore in general is multicultural, multi-religious,” Robinson said.

Most of the Mormons interviewed said that they hung out with fellow Mormons a lot, but did not aim to alienate others. Robinson said that he sits with a table of mostly Mormons at lunch.

“I feel more comfortable with them, and I see them outside of school,” he said.

Freshman Scott Swingle said he hung out with other people, but only if they had similar morals.

Most students interviewed said that they had rarely, if ever, been propositioned by another SAS student to do something that was against their beliefs.

“No, except for people who want to cheat,” Swingle said.

Most students said that they

had not been treated differently once people found out they were Mormon.

“People have made jokes,” sophomore Kylie Woon said. “I didn’t really take it seriously. I don’t mind because they’re my friends.”

Mormon students said they have many restrictions. These include no alcohol, drugs, ‘hot’ drinks (coffee and tea) and premarital sex.

“Corrupt” music is frowned upon, as well as R-rated movies. Mormon teens are not allowed to date until they are 16, and then they are only allowed on group dates until they are 18. Tithing is an integral part of the Mormon faith with 10 percent of any income earned donated to the church.

Sophomore Alison Pendergrass said that even for small jobs like babysitting, tithing is expected.

“I have a notebook to record who I received the money from, why I received it, and how much I received,” Pendergrass said.

Even though some of these restrictions might seem excessive or limiting to a non-Mormon, all of the students interviewed said they did not resent the restrictions place on them.

“I pretty much follow the concepts of the church,” Robinson said. “I was raised as a Mormon. I also believe the concepts myself.”

Mormon students attend 45-minute morning religious class, seminary, on school days.

They try to finish all work,

Results

The following comments were taken from from an Eye survey on cliques and racism sent in January 2007.

“I dont want a school that is said to be “American” if there isn’t even going to be any American culture about it.”

American freshman “The gap between Asians and everyone else seems too big. It feels as though they don’t like us and it makes everyone feel out of place when they speak in their native language, not just on their own time.”

-American sophomore “I believe much of SAS’s social scene is based around materialism and appearance.”

- French senior

Kylie Woon, Cory Robinson, Ali Pendergrass, Marian Spencer, Scott Swingle, Tyler Nelson, Bryce Robinson and Lauren Woon attend a daily seminary at Spencer’s house in the Woodlands before school. These Mormon Students meet every morning before school from 6:15-7:00.

including homework, before Sunday.

Mormon students attend three-hour church services on Sunday, with an hour devoted each to sacrament, Sunday school, and a Young Women’s or Young Men’s meeting. “[It takes up more time] than other churches, but I don’t mind because I like my religion. I know it’s the right church,” Swingle said.

Their religion also impacts their later life choices. Brigham Young University, which is affiliated with the Latter Day Saints Church, is the third most popular college for SAS graduates. Over the last three years, 34 SAS students have applied to any one of the BYU universities, with 15 going on to attend.

“It allows us to keep our values strong. BYU is 98 percent Mormon,” senior Eee Chien Chua said.

Mormon teens at SAS plan to go on the traditional missionary trips, during which they recruit converts in different places around the world.

Males are strongly encouraged to go on a two-year trip when they are 18 or 19. Females can also go, but only when they are 21 and then, for only a year-and-a-half.

Swingle said that he while he was sure of his beliefs, he did not try to convert fellow students. Woon agreed.

“Well if they want to know, I’ll share with them. I don’t go out converting people,” she said.

“People of certain races tend to stay together, especially the Asian kids; although you do find mixes within cliques.

SAS does have a lot of different cliques, and even though it wouldn’t be the hardest thing to go outside of your group, it’s not generally done.”

- Singaporean junior “We are in an international school with so many interesting people around. It should be easier to approach just about anyone... There have been people that have been in SAS for a long time, and they still don’t feel like they belong.”

- Filipino senior

8 features

Feb. 5, 2007

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the Eye

Student Profiles

Juniors dance-off on “The Dance Floor”

by Kathy Bordwell Not many people have a shot at fame before their senior year of high school. But with a chance of making the top ten on Singapore reality TV’s “The Dance Floor,” juniors Esther Lukman and Evelyn Toh have that shot.

Lukman’s love for dance stems from tap dance lessons, along with jazz and surprisingly, ice-skating.

However, when Lukman’s friend got a concussion while practicing their double axles, she decided to switch passions and ended up trying ballet.

Toh’s love for dance also began at an early age when her mother put her in lessons at the age of four. “ It was when I turned eight that I realized how much I liked it.” Toh said.

In “The Dance Floor,” Singapore’s version of “So You Think You Can Dance,” Lukman and Toh made it through auditions and judging to the top 32. From there, the group is split into four groups of eight, and two from each of these groups will make it into the top ten.

“In the top ten, each week will have a different theme,” Lukman said. “In the dances you don’t have to actually do disco or whatever the theme is, but we have to incorporate

elements [of the theme] in the dance.”

“The routines are more tailored to entertainment value,” Toh said.

“It’s different for us. The energy has to be different and it’s been hard for us to adjust.”

Both agree that the process so far has been challenging, but they look positively at their future in the competition.

“If we get into the top ten we’ll be ok,” Lukman says. “Because we’re a modern group it’s hard to compete with hip hop, since it’s so explosive. It will be amazing to get in and all do the same thing, everyone will be on the same plane.”

Lukman said the experience so far has been fun. She gets excited when talking about the photo shoots and getting their hair done, but she does admit the judges are harsh.

“The judges are new, they’ve been told to be more controversial,” Lukeman said. “As a dancer you have to have hard skin. They told me I had to ‘trim it down’.”

The judges had misplaced Lukman and Toh, a lyrical contemporary duo, as a ballet contemporary group, in which the idea of “the slimmer the better” is generally held.

Evelyn Toh Junior Dancer

Esth e Juni r Lukman or Danc er

“You have to be confident and know people are always going to say things like that,” Lukman said. “Their criticisms, some were constructive but more weren’t. We didn’t know how to improve.”

Toh felt differently on the judges and their comments.

“Sometimes their comments, because it’s TV, are more exaggerated. Once you analyze it they make sense. Sometimes it’s hard to understand, but they are qualified,” Toh said.

Both reacted similarly to a hard decision they had to face: leaving cultural.

“It’s horrible,” Lukman said.

“We knew we’d have to drop when we got our schedule. It’s hard to give up either. But I did [cultural] last year, and there’s always next year.

It’s nice to have the support of the cultural team.”

“It’s upsetting,” Toh said. “Both are equally important, but we are legally binded to the show.”

Lukman and Toh have noticed the differences of stage and television can be big and beneficial.

“It’s very different dancing onstage than on TV,” Lukeman said.

“Onstage when you mess up it’s noticeable. On TV they can get the right angle to maximize a move or

Singapore. “[Exton] is a small town,” she said. “I actually I really like it being in the center of things, because now I live on Orchard.”

Mulroy Laura Mulroy has the Senior advantage Moved from of simply E x t o n , enjoying this Pennsylvania semester as she had already applied early decision to Penn State and was accepted school did not before moving match up here. to Singapore.

She was unable to Guillerm Guillermo o Ardon continue taking Senior Ardon, who the same math Moved fr prefers to be called om Braz course because the il Billy, moved to curriculum differed Singapore this at SAS. There semester from was no space in the Environmental B r a z i l where he has lived Science class here, so she was unable for the past three years. Ardon lived to continue the same science course, in Sao Paolo where he attended taking instead Criminal Forensics. Graded School. It is an American Mulroy said that her classes are school, though 70 percent of the more difficult here. school’s population is Brazilian. He Still, she said she enjoys the describes Singapore as being very change of scene in moving to different from Brazil, especially in

terms of safety.

“Singapore is very safe,” Ardon said. “You can walk around here, which you can’t do in Brazil. I needed a bulletproof car there.”

The size of the SAS student population overwhelmed Ardon as much as it did Mulroy. There were 70 students in Graded School’s senior class. He said classes were about as difficult here as there, though the homework load is heavier here.

The only scheduling problem he encountered was transferring from the International Baccalaureate (IB) program to the AP system, but he was able to take classes relatively similar to those he had been taking previously.

“It wasn’t that hard to adjust to Singapore. But Asian and Latin American cultures are different,” Ardon said.

He described Latin Americans as more openly warm, often inviting him to their homes for meals despite not knowing him well. He does not expect this behavior in Asia.

Ardon mailed his college applications from Brazil in November, seeking admission for colleges in Arizona and Michigan.

hide mistakes.”

“We’re used to people coming to watch us,” Toh said, “not making them want to see us.”

These juniors have gotten much experience in television. However, they have learned that fame has its price.

“There’s lots of waiting for reality TV,” Lukman says. “A clip that’s five minutes long could take a whole day to shoot. Once we were there at Mediacorp until one A.M.”

Class of ‘07 welcomes two additions

by Amber Bang It is unusual at the beginning of a second semester to welcome seniors to SAS, but Laura Mulroy and Guillermo Ardon were two seniors that made the hard move.

It is not Laura Mulroy’s first time living in Singapore or attending SAS. She was here SAS until eighth grade before moving to Exton, a small Pennsylvanian town.

She said differences between SAS and her U.S. school are the class lengths and the physical size of the school. Though her private school in Exton had 1400 students, the two schools do not compare in area.

“It was good to know people, but it’s still really weird coming in halfway through senior year,” Mulroy said. “The school’s changed a lot since eighth grade.”

She found some difficulty in adjusting to her SAS classes. Two classes she was taking at her old

Norwegian Sophomore assists National Hockey team

by Vicky Cheng Sophomore Gyda Sim is the only girl to play on the Singapore National Hockey Team.

Sim moved to Singapore from Norway, where she also played hockey.

Sim has rigorous training four to five times a week with her team which is largely comprised of other international kids.

She said that hockey is still more competitive in Norway than it is in Singapore.

“Hockey is definitely a big part of my life,” Sim said.

She is considering pursuing a career in hockey.

the Eye

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op / ed 9

Feb. 5, 2007

Media, advertisers, seduce ‘tweens’

Among a Spiderman action of “The Daily Show” Jon Stewart figure, a Polly Pocket playset and joked about the CNN crawl, a collection of Disney Barbie dolls specifically referring to one incident in which CNN showed the was a “Peekaboo bodies of Uday and Qusay Pole Dancing Kit.” Hussein. Underneath the The description read, graphic images, the crawl “Unleash your inner read “Beyonce doesn’t sex kitten…Soon like the word bootylicious you’ll be flaunting anymore.” it to the world and Last week I saw a earning a fortune 12-year-old girl at The in Peekaboo Dance American Club dressed in Dollars.” The kit a sultry top matched with a appeared in the “Toys mini skirt, a purse scrawled and Games” section of British company Denise Hotta-Moung with “Dior” resting on her artificially-tanned shoulder.

Tesco’s website and The image of a “tween” is enough included an extendable pole, a pink to demonstrate that entertainers do garter, fake money and a DVD that have infl uence on today’s youth. teaches the buyer how to strip It is a bit frightening to think that Stories from the Middle School Paris Hilton and her posse are role of catty sabotage and promiscuous models for young girls.

Hilton, who romps prompt concern that today’s claims to be a “good role model,” is youth is, sadly and slowly, entering known for her catfi ghts with fellow the adult world at younger and younger ages. Submitting to our Hollywood starlets, her partying, innate need to point fingers, we and barely-there outfits.

In an ad for Carl’s Jr. fast food ask, who is to blame? The Tesco restaurant, Hilton sports a skimpy corporations of the world that see black bathing suit while she washes no harm in promoting such items a car, because, yes, that is how we all to children? Those celebrity role eat our burgers. models who provide anything but Such revealing content is not healthy lifestyles as examples? Or foreign to teenagers. In fact, I’d be do we blame ourselves for passively surprised to find a high schooler watching the process unfold? shocked by anything in Hilton’s ad.

It took numerous parent Explicit songs and R-rated flicks complaints before Tesco agreed to are made for our age group. It would remove the item from their “Toys be naïve to worry about any influence and Games” section. Amazon.uk the media has on us: our generation currently has the item in their “Toys has already accepted whatever is and Games” section, but has placed it marketed as ‘normal.’

That ship has under the subcategory of “Games for sailed.

We are a battle already lost.

Grown-ups.” It was unspecified in What does scare me though, is the article on www.dailymail.co.uk the thought that such promiscuity which subcategory the item was placed under on the Tesco website, and wild antics will become normal but none of the categories – which to the tweens, the 10-12 year olds, or include “Dolls and Playsets” or even younger children.

The fashion industry alters what “Action Figures” - are even remotely they sell to their young clients in suitable for this particular “toy.” response to new ideas of what’s hot.

Often, we see the media as the In 2002, Abercrombie, a division culprit. Movie stars are everywhere: of Abercrombie and Fitch that on the sides of buses, on the radio, targets 7-14 year olds, began selling on the television and in magazines. thong underwear in child sizes.

Celebrities even make the cut The thongs read “Eye Candy” and for CNN newscast. On an episode

eye e

th

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: Denise Hotta-Moung, Hot Cat Ward 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: Barbara Lodwick, Megan Anderson Photo/Layout editor: Rohin Dewan Reporters: Megan Anderson, Kathy Bordwell, Alex Boothe, Vicky Cheng, Katrina DeVaney, Rohin Dewan, Jeff Hamilton, Denise Hotta-Moung, Arunima Kochhar, Michelle Lee, Sam Lloyd, Barbara Lodwick, Nicole Schmitz, Rhoda Severino, Ravi Shanmugam, Amanda Tsao, Cat Ward Adviser: Mark Clemens Assistant advisers: 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.

“Wink Wink.” Parents were enraged by what Abercrombie called “the modern-day version of Underoos.”

How promising. The modern day equivalent of children underwear decorated with images of Spiderman or Scooby-Doo is the thong.

In an article in “Journal Sentinel” costume historian Jo B. Paoletti said that parents angered

by Abercrombie’s thong underwear should realize that the “latest fashion is part of an evolution toward promiscuous clothes.” Like many, Paoletti passively accepts the new social norms.

“It is outrageous,” Paoletti said.

“But we’re living in outrageous times in terms of pop culture.”

In 2005, Abercrombie and Fitch began their “Attitude Tees” campaign: a line of t-shirts scrawled with various slogans. One shirt read “Who needs brains when you have got these?” across the chest of the shirt. Classy.

It is easy to blame these corporations, but we should not ignore the fact that these items actually sell. The ever-diminishing age at which children ‘lose their innocence’ cannot be attributed to just one factor. It seems, that it is society as a whole that continues to push this image on our youth.

Children are fed an image of who

adviser’s note

they are supposed to be, and most accept what they are told. The media and corporations then exploit this fact, supporting and pushing the message by glorifying wild lifestyles and marketing provocative items to the younger generations.

A symbol of the increasing diminishment of childhood innocence is the child beauty pageant. Girls as young as two strut around in pantyhose and glittery costumes, their hair styled with big curls, pounds of makeup suffocating their pores. Some even wear fake teeth to hide gaps.

While the beauty pageant industry is not to blame for the corruption, the image that they sell certainly does not help. The young girls are so made up that any indication of their youth is ultimately lost.

Many deny the power of the media and corporations to influence the youth, calling any claims against them hypersensitive and overanalytical. This could be true. These factors may not greatly affect a child in the long run. The kind of person a child grows up to be may not rest on that one TV show or that one degrading song.

Still, it is a shame that we have adjusted so easily to these new norms.

It is a shame that we have chosen to merely sit back and watch.

Photo by http://juliansanchez.com.

Photo by www.amazon.com

Photo by www.cnn..com.

Support your local newspaper Two issues ago, Eye staff left a photo caption unfinished, referring to Miracle Anderson as “Miracle XXXX.” In an earlier issue, a headline noted that the musical was getting ready for a “big—something.”

Reporters, editors and photographers all make mistakes. The staff is always disappointed with the shortcomings of each issue. Reporters and editors promise themselves they won’t make the same mistakes again. But they do.

The Eye is the product of a newspaper journalism class. First and second-year staff members are practicing a new craft, the way a dancer tries new moves, or AP U.S History students their first DBQ. The mistakes that staff catch in critique sessions are noted in a corrections box.

While most typos go unacknowledged, mispelled names and misquotes are owned up to. At least the ones that they are aware of.

While journalism ethics forbid reporters from showing stories to sources before

TSAOISM

publication (a type of censorship called prior restraint), every quote is supposed to be checked with sources on controversial stories and many not-so-controversial ones. In deadline rushes this does not always happen, and this is when reporters get into trouble.

There’s a cause-and-effect relationship here when that reporter learns the hard way the consequences of misrepresenting a source.

Too often, reporters are made to pay by sources who refuse to talk to, not just that careless reporter, but any Eye reporter, a standard considerably higher than that applied to coaches and players who fail to bring home the gold, English teachers who fail to extract a perfect essay from every student, or students musicians who botch a tune.

It is a hard lesson, and reporters who make it rarely repeat the same mistake. All Eye reporters suffer when a source is lost, when students and teachers speak badly

Lost in Translation

of the student newspaper.

Some might respond that these sorts of moments are realistic experiences.

Professional publications incur the same wrath from unhappy sources and readers.

But SAS is not the mean streets of New York and student-reporters not nearly so well-armored as the pros.

The Eye often covers controversial issues. It is practice for real world journalism. The staff wants to provoke thought and focus students’ attentions on issues that directly affect them.

The Eye honors student achievements, and praises wise policy, but it is not a public relations tool. The “Newsflash” and the SAS web pages admirably fulfill this role.

The Eye’s pages produce the work of its best and weakest reporter-writers.

The weak improve with each issue, the strong grow stronger. All labor with good intentions. All want to be respected as students’ local, “hometown,” newspaper.

By Amanda Tsao

10 arts

Feb. 5, 2007

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the Eye

Fake audience the real deal

FINAL SCENE: Cast members of “Audience” evaluate and chat about a play they just watched. Photo by Brian Riady.

by Arunima Kochhar In the ‘audience’ sat a professor and his student, an adulterous couple slinking in the shadows, a mother and daughter squirming in each others company, a newly-married old couple celebrating their wedding, a father, mother and reluctant teenager celebrating her birthday, and a director watching in distress.

Student-led production “Audience,” directed by junior Chelsea Curto, was performed from Friday, Jan. 19 to Jan. 20. The fortyfive minute production illustrated ‘audience’ members watching a play about audience members.

“The story line seemed a little

confusing at first,” senior Shabiba Hasan said. “But by the middle of the play it began to flow really well.”

The cast of 12 “audience” members brought their own personal lives into the production and had their own conversations throughout. “[The play] was so different and unique,” Hasan said. “I didn’t know where to look, I was so fascinated by all the characters.”

Although the play may have had a slow start, the 12 cast members slipped into their characters effortlessly.

“Each person really fit their character,” senior Shruti Shekar

said. “They didn’t just ‘act.’ It was like they were the character.”

“I thought each person created their character perfectly and exceeded my expectations,” senior Chandrika Chandran said.

Freshman Tika Marshall found it hard to believe the characters.

“It was weird seeing people you see in class acting as someone else,” Marshall said. “I thought Wendy (played by freshman Olivia Auerbach) and Lee (played by freshman Alvi Hasan) were really cute.”

“They were hilarious,” freshman Rebecca Tay added. “I also especially liked the old guy.”

Senior Steven Costello played the role of Merrill, the newly wed 76-year-old man who had trouble staying awake during the production.

“Since my character was so old,” Costello said. “It was hard work trying to find a subtle part rather than a clichéd one, but I had a lot of fun.”

Director Curto said she thought her first production went off well.

“Being the director, you get to become every character and learn their emotions,” Curto said. “Overall it went off really well, and the cast was amazing at developing their characters.”

Actors Miguel Meñez and Priscilla Chan who play the “adulterous couple,” find alone time away from their spouses in “Audience.”

Photo by Brian Riady.

Vandals deface AP students’ work in foyer gallery

Artist Marina Patterson takes the Eye to the scene of the crime, where her artwork was vandalized. Photo by Mark Clemens

by Kathy Bordwell The culprits: unknown students.

The crime scene: the High School foyer. The weapon: fingers, possibly a thumb.

In an instance of vandalism that would make Criminal Forensics students drool, persons who defaced several pieces of art work left plenty of clues for investigators to consider.

Sometime in the last week of January, vandals defaced several pieces of AP Studio Art students’ work displayed in the area by the Booster Booth.

Junior Marina Patterson’s diptych project received the most attention.

Parts of her pastels were smeared, the brown colors from one pastel smeared onto an adjacent black and white piece.

There were smears across ahand holding an iPod and the iPod listener’s face, but the most prominent mark a fingerprint in the screen of the painted iPod. “For the most part, you can’t see the smearing unless you know what you’re looking for,” Patterson said.

The culprits vandalized the work in view of a security camera, left several fingerprints behind and used an ink-smudged thumb or finger to write comments in Korean next to the painting.

Security is checking surveillance tapes in an effort to identify the culprit or culprits.

the Eye

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Feb. 5, 2007

Bald Eagles grasp the

sports 11

GOLD

Swimming GIRLS

SAS- 821 TAS- 575 JIS- 479 ISB- 358 ISKL- 157 ISM- 159

BOYS SAS- 637 ISB- 496 TAS- 473 JIS- 437 ISM- 300 ISKL- 208

Tennis Eagles co-captain senior Brian Maisson flies during a 100 meter race at IASAS. Photo by

by Jeff Hamilton The boys swim team took to the water and swam away with the top podium position. Not to be outdone, the Lady Eagles overpowered and outswam their opponents and came away with the gold also.

Twelve male and twelve female competitors from IASAS schools premiered a new competition format at the annual IASAS tournament held at the indoor swimming complex of Taipei American School, Jan. 25 – 27. Swimming coach Steve Betts said that in the past, six swimmers scored in an event. Now, fourteen athletes can score. Preliminary swims in the morning were followed by consolation finals and finals in the

afternoon and a team event at night.

The three-day tournament was a test of both physical and mental strength for the boys and girls of Eagle swimming.

After losing seven of the top male swimmers from last year, Betts relied on the youthful talents of seven freshman males to help bring home the gold. They performed well according to boys co-captain Brian Maissen.

“Usually the first IASAS is pretty overwhelming,” Maissen said, “but the freshmen performed really well.”

Making matters worse for the boys was an earlier defeat at the exchange in Manila.

“We knew we were a strong team, but the meet in Manila was a reality check,” junior co-captain Jack Pitfield said.

Betts relied heavily on strategy to counter a lack of experience and it paid off as the boys came away with gold despite winning only two out of fifteen events. Girls cocaptain Michelle Ong said that the girl swimmers were a different story.

They entered the competition as the favorites to win.

“We were pretty confident because we did not lose that many players and we won all the exchanges,” Ong said.

The girls not only came in first, but based on the old format of scoring,

managed to out score the second and third place teams combined.

Controversy struck though, during the girls 200m freestyle relay when a member of the SAS swim team dove into the pool early, warranting a disqualification.

“Someone dove in too early, and we all thought for sure we would be disqualified even though we won gold,” Ong said. “It turned out that we were not because, according to IASAS rules, the team has to be notified within ten minutes and they did not tell us, so we still won.”

Ong nearly came away with a new record in the girls 50-meter freestyle. She finished short by .3 seconds.

GIRLS Gold- JIS Silver- TAS Bronze- ISM 4- SAS 5- ISKL 6- ISB

BOYS Gold- ISB Silver- JIS Bronze- SAS 4- ISM 5- TAS 6- ISKL

Silver the new gold for rugby and touch teams

by Michelle Lee Despite a deficit of gold medals, and the abundance of injuries that characterized the second season IASAS competitions, both Eagles rugby teams advanced to the finals on the 27th of January 2007.

Winning all but one of their round robin matches, the boys’ team fought through a David and Goliath battle against the team to beat, the ISB Panthers, in the semi-finals to clench a place in the finals against an even stronger JIS Dragons team.

The Eagles tackle rugby team’s first day of play concluded with a very convincing 24-0 win over the TAS tigers, after a hard-fought loss of 5-18 against the JIS dragons. Senior and returning player Jordan Dawe suffered a blow that resulted in a broken nose and popped collarbone after the first 5 minutes of play.

“Losing [Jordan] Dawe that early was a tough setback,” senior J.J. Subaiah said. “He would have been instrumental in our success in the tournament.”

“After the first game, we knew that the Dragons were going to be very competitive against the boys,” senior touch player Sylvia Chew said.

The next day brought substantial wins against the 5th place ISM

Senior Peter Vaz helps Robert Whitehead intercept a pass during their game against ISKL. Photo by Judy Ridgeway

Bearcats and the 6th place ISKL Panthers, who failed to please their home crowd. The Eagles regained their confidence with a 36-0 win over ISM and a 26-7 win over home team ISKL. The last game of the round robin was against the hotly contended ISB Panthers.

“We went all out and beat the Panthers 19-10, and lost two of our guys for the final,” Subaiah said.

No SAS team had won a rugby IASAS championship outside of Singapore, or had made it to the finals for two years in a row. With

seven out of ten seniors returning IASAS participants, this year’s silver is bittersweet.

“It was heartbreaking to lose, especially after winning last year, and not be able to defend our title,” senior All-Tournament Adam Anderson said.

“Next year, the competition is going to be tough,” Anderson said.

“A lot of experience is going to be lost with this year’s graduating class” Anderson scored a team and tournament best number of 10 tries in his final rugby tournament, and

his teammate and fellow senior Rhys Holding scored three impressive tries, while fourth year IASAS player and captain Dave McNicol put up another three tries for SAS. The first phase of the tournament was a breeze for a strong Eagles touch team, who upset the JIS dragons with a 3-0 win. They later went on to beat the ISM bearcats 2-1.

The second day proved a little tougher for the Eagles, as they were to face the home team, ISKL Panthers in the morning. However, the eagles emerged victorious, conceding no tries, and scoring three.

The afternoon game against the ISB Panthers was going to set the tone for the rest of the tournament, as the Panthers were the team to beat. Coming into the tournament placing fourth last year and with little to no championship experience, the touch girls pressed the strong Panther team and managed to delay their first try. However, after halftime, Sophomore Kelly Procida saw a gap in the Panthers’ defense in an offensive play close to the try line, and dove in for the try and draw.

The last round robin game was against another tough contender, the TAS Tigers. The winner of this game would advance to the final.

The breakaway try scored by junior Alex Shaulis from the Eagles’ own defensive half was the only one for the game, and the Eagles, for the first time in seven years, proceeded to the championship game.

The Eagles touch team, conceding only two tries in the round robin went into the finals fully aware of the challenge that faced them. After a grueling first half from both teams, the ISB Panthers scored the first triy late in the second half with less than 10 minutes remaining. A pass made through a gap on the left side of the field allowed the late try. Confusion arose when the left line judge called the try illegal as the pass was said to have been made forward, but after deliberation from the right side judge and game referee, the try was called with a defiant blow of the whistle. “[SAS] had a lot of opportunities.

We tried and tried, but nothing went through the Panther defense, it was too good, and that’s how it finished,” senior Tiffanie Wu said.

“All of us were a little sad that we lost in the finals because we were so close,” Wu said. “But coming from a fourth place finish last year, no one saw us as a real threat, and we were able to surprise them.”

12 sports Gold in short supply for roundball teams Feb. 5, 2007

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the Eye

BASKETBALL GIRLS Gold- JIS Silver- TAS Bronze- SAS 4 - ISM 5 - ISB 6 - ISKL

BOYS

Gold- ISB Silver- SAS Bronze- TAS 4 - ISKL 5 - JIS 6 - ISM

All-Tournament Players: Barbara Lodwick Nicole Banister Clay Crawford Chris Hussey Above: All- Tournament player junior Chris Hussey shoots early on in the championship game against the International School of Bangkok.

Left: All- Tournament player junior Nicole Bannister drives to the basket during a game against the International School Manila.

by Barbara Lodwick For the first time in eight years, the boys’ basketball team returned from IASAS without a gold medal.

Basketball traveled to Bangkok for the IASAS competition this year.

Starting the tournament against the Jakarta Dragons on Thursday morning, the Eagles came out strong defeating the Dragons 8231. That night, the Eagles faced their toughest competition of the tournament, the Bangkok Panthers.

In the first quarter, David Small suffered an injury to his anterior cruciate ligament. The Eagles lost the game 63-66.

“When the guy hit me, my leg was straight and it snapped then bent out of place.” Small said.

“The worst part about hurting it was not being able to play the rest of the tournament, and I’ll have to go through surgery next week.”

On Friday the Eagles faced the Taipei Tigers. Without Small to defend the Tiger 6’6” center, the

Eagles scraped a win 63-53. Friday night, the boys faced the Manila Bearcats, who they beat last year for the championship. The Bearcats were less fierce this year and the Eagles beat them 81-66.

The boys started Saturday against the International School of Kuala Lumpur (ISKL). The Eagles were hot and defeated the Panthers 77-56. That night the Eagles would again play against the Bangkok Panthers in their home gym.

With only three rows of fans, including the bench, the Eagles were automatically the underdogs.

Without sophomore Ian Gillis and Small, the boys were outmatched under the basket. Gillis had previously hurt his meniscus, and re-injured it at the tournament.

Even with the mismatched odds, the boys kept with the Panthers, and were ahead by six at one point during the game. The Panthers pulled away in the final minutes, and the final score was 73-66.

“Playing in their home gym was difficult, but it didn’t have an affect on our game,” senior Captain Colin Lee said.

While the girls were going for the first back-to-back championship since 2000, they fought hard to bring home the bronze.

“Competition was tougher than we thought, I feel like we went against Manila thinking, ‘oh it’s just Manila,’ and they took it to us,” junior Megan Anderson said.

The Lady Eagles took on the Lady Bearcats on Thursday. ISM (International School of Manila) proved to be the team to beat as they continued in the competition. The final score of the game was 26-45.

With only one game between their first and second game, the Lady Eagles went into the game against JIS (Jakarta International School) fatigued, but ready to compete.

The Lady Eagles had hung with the Lady Dragons until the bitter end.

The final score was 43-47.

Starting early on Friday morning, the Lady Eagles faced the home team, the Lady Panthers from ISB (International School of Bangkok). The Lady Eagles controlled the game from the start, and pulled away with a win of 4743. That night, the Lady Eagles played the Lady Panthers from ISKL. The game allowed everyone on the team to get adequate playing time, and the Lady Eagles handed the game to the Lady Panthers 5216.

Saturday morning, the SAS would play the first seed in the tournament TAS (Taipei American School). The Lady Tigers were on fire that game, and senior Solange Wong was nearly unstoppable. The game ended with a score of 47-54.

In the consolation game against Manila for the second time in the tournament, the Lady Eagles fought hard to come out with a third place finish, winning the game easily, 43-37.

Tennis plays to potential, places 3rd and 4th

by Cat Ward This year tennis IASAS was characterized by an increase in competition due to a large number of talented freshman. The boys singles champion was a ninth grader from the International School Manila.

Boys’ coach Frans Grimbergen was “pleasantly surprised” by the increased level of play. He said he did not think that a ninth grader taking home the gold medal for singles had ever happended in IASAS tennis history.

“Ninth graders have been making the difference in IASAS competition,” Grimbergen said.

“They have so much background [in tennis] at that age,” girls’ coach Tim Thompson said.

By the time the current freshman

are seniors their talent and skill will be even more impressive.

However, Grimbergen said, by that time another skilled ninth grader will probably have come along.

Grimbergen was proud of the way that the boys’ team played, and said that they deserved the bronze medal.

“I thought this was the best we could do, but the other teams were so much better,” captain senior Phillip Kwee said. “We’ve all matured into our rolls [as players].”

“With ISB (Internatioanl School of Bangkok) and JIS (Jakarta International School) being so strong, that was the maximum we could get, and I’m happy with that,” Grimbergen said. “I think the boys did really well.”

Kwee said he was happy with the team’s performance, but that it is unfortuante that the team is going to lose main players next year.

“My four seniors are going to be missed a lot,” Grimbergen said. “But I really think my four ninth graders have a good chance of taking over the roles of the four seniors.”

The girls’ tennis team lost in the consolation game, finishing fourth in the tournament.

“It was okay, but we could have done better, we didn’t really lose by a lot, but we could have done a lot better,” girls’ co-captain junior Clarissa Vainius said. “The team performed well.”

JIS took the gold for the girls, while ISB took the gold for boys.

“I think I could have played

RUGBY GIRLS Gold- ISB Silver- SAS Bronze- JIS 4 - TAS 5 - ISM 6 - ISKL

BOYS Gold- JIS Silver- SAS Bronze- TAS 4- ISB 5- ISM 6- ISKL All-Tournament Players: Kacey Whitaker Alex Shaulis Nora Hanagan David McNicol Adam Anderson Adam Schwarz better [individually,]” co-captain junior Rachel Liou said. “As a team we tried our best.”

“In a year, the only thing we can do is improve,” Liou said.

“IASAS has been a good experience for me,” said Kwee.

He is confident that returning players next year will perform to the best of their ability.

All tennis captains were pleased with the results but felt that both the boys’ and girls’ teams could have performed better.

“I’m proud of what the kids did,” Grimbergen said.