SHSID|Times 2017 Jan-Feb

Persistent, Aspiring, Noble, Diligent, Achieving

SHSID|TIMES January February 2017 Edition

BEHIND

HOW TH

E MAG

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AZINE

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TIMES

COMES

TO LIFE

The TIMES Team Editor in Chief Tiffany Mei Managing Editor Jasmine Jiang Director of Digital Media Celine Sung Features Editor Angela Shiu Creative Director Angelina Ding Director of Photography Mark Wu

News Minji Suh Andrew Mi Bevin Pan Jerry Chen Jinyoung Yoon Junho Suh Rachel Wang Rachel Wu Sophie Li Tania Kim Yuki Lam Lifestyle Jasmine Jiang Angelina Ding Annie Fang Celine Sung Evelyn Wan Irene Chan Michael Fan Tania Kim Ting Shing Koh English Literature Chloe Tan Lilly Dai Rachel Wang Rachel Wu Sophie Li Winston Wang Chinese Literature Karen Mao Carrie Zhuang Happy Wang Helen Tianxin Li Jessica Qu Kathy Wang Tina Chen

Student Journal Celine Sung Emily Teng Laurie Yang Sophia She Yuki Lam Sci-Tech Allen Xie Andrew Mi Eric Fan James Hu Jeff He Raymond Cheng Xiuwen Shen Design and Illustration Angelina Ding Anerlise Kim Angel Wang Ann Tang Anna Heath Dave Kim Irene Chan Judith Luo Kevin Jiang Maggie Huang Mingyi Suo Photography Mark Wu Anna Jin Audney Guo Cindy Bu Isabella Yin Ivy Sung Jacqueline He James Zhang Joshua Lu Maggie Chen Nicole Zhou Sophia She Simone Yang

English Literature Advisor::Mr. Justin Way Publicity Coordinator: Ms. Zhang, Nan Supervisor: Mr. Ma, Feng

Letter From the Editor Producing 46 pages of meaningful contents and elegant designs has never been an easy task, and perhaps to those uninvolved, what we do behind the scenes has always been a mystery.

In this issue, we present the big reveal—for the first time ever, SHSID|Times shares with our dear readers the very nitty-gritty details of how our magazines are created. From the head scratches over blinking cursors to the OCD over design drafts, the Jan-Feb cover story presents it all.

What makes me immensely proud of Times is not just the production of our signature red-bordered issues that have become familiar to most, but also because even from Times’ very start in 2006 as a newspaper, it has been a platform for expression. Therefore, it is natural that in honor of this origin, we produce an issue with the theme of EXPRESSION, manifested in conversations surrounding topics such as free speech, dance, beatboxing and the writer’s dream.

Like always, we wish our expression of individual creativity—no matter if it’s through writing, photography, or design—can inform, inspire, and influence you. We hope that our endeavors prompt you to reflect over your own forms of expression, and how you too, can utilize them to create impact.

Love,

Jasmine Jiang, Managing Editor

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TABLE OF Cover Story 1

SHSID|TIMES: Behind the Scenes

7 days planning. 21 days writing. 15 days designing. 7 days printing. TIMES breaks down for you how this very magazine is produced, from start to finish.

News 9 11

4 Teams, 4 Days, 14 Hours On Harvard Model United Nations After 14 hours of flight across the continent, we were at one of the most prestigious MUN conferences in the world

OPINION: Free Speech or Hate Speech?

Free speech is vital for intellectual growth, but when is it not ok to say certain things that are considered hateful and offensive?

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United Sates Academic Decathalon Insight to the 2017 USAD journey.

Physics Day

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Students truly enjoyed physics through an assortment of activities.

Lifestyle 16

OPINION: Dancing King: Breaking Male Stereotypes in Dance Learn to view, admire, and chrish male dancers with an unfiltered eye.

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Shanghai Library: Making Full Use of Your City Guide to the most comprehensive public library in China.

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PHOTOGRAPHY SHOWCASE: String Quarter New Year Concert

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CONTENTS My Little Angel

Literature 23 25 27 30

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神坛之下 我曾去过一个嘈杂而古老的国度，遇到一些特别 的人。他们逆着圣光，赤脚走在平凡的路上。 后・仪式感 （仪式）它使某一天与其它 日子不同，使某一 时刻与其他时刻不同。

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最熟悉的陌生

When a beautiful person makes the academic life seem crude, a boy feels the weight of peace and regret.

Student Journal Jackie and Dongju Dongju and Jackie, the SHSID human percussions, generate music using just their mouths, lips, and voices.

Chasing the Writer Dream Have you ever dreamt of being a writer yet felt it is not realistic? Yol Cheng and Michael Shi prove otherwise.

这是我熟悉的故乡，也是我陌生的“魔都”，千 百副面孔，我又识得几副？

Science and Technology

To Learn

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Life is bottle caps and rain that never falls…turning back and hearing those bells for the last time.

Eye of the Beholder The pattern of a snowflake may be absolute, but the beauty that it holds never is.

Keep the Screen Away Before You Sleep A concise article on how looking at phones before you sleep can greatly affect your health and your mind.

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Modular Devices: Nintendo Leading The Game

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Behind Zuckerberg’s Smart Home Jarvis

The next part is you.

How “smart” is it?

COVER STORY

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COVER STORY

COVER STORY

BEHIND SHSID|TIMES Written by: Angelina Ding, Allen Xie, Jerry Chen, and Sophie Li

Producing a magazine is no easy task.

7 days planning.

21 days writing.

15 days designing.

7 days printing.

60 students.

2 factories and dozens of workers, and hundreds of manhours.

Over the last two months, all of the Times crew worked together to create this new issue of Times. This is how they did it, and how every magazine that you have received has come together.

HOW THE MAGAZINE COMES TO LIFE

Printing of the Magazines Photo by: James Zhang

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COVER STORY

The Initiation: Sketching the Blueprints

A

fter a mere one-and-a-half week interim between the last issue and the next, it is time for the editors of Times to sit down at the drawing board and sketch out the blueprints for the new issue’s schedule and theme.

A new issue’s brainstorming process is a rather flexible procedure that begins before the last issue is printed and distributed. Angela Shiu, Features Editor, elaborates on the meticulous process of choosing a theme, “Before we start to work on each new issue, we always hold an editorial meeting during which we brainstorm article ideas together.

Each section editor will first give a list of possible ideas. After gathering as many as possible, we will see if a theme can be determined.” Tiffany Mei, Editor in Chief, states an alternative. “Sometimes, an idea seems like a natural option because of the undeniable importance we foresee it to play in SHSID in the upcoming two-month period, such as ‘Winter Festivities’ (2016 NovemberDecember) and the SHS 150th Anniversary [issue].”

Other times, a determining factor of the new theme is the Cover Story, a four-spread article written in depth and from unique angles. Take “oClubs— Revolutionizing the Future,” the Cover Story in the 2016 September-October magazine, for example. As Angela notes, “Because oClubs had just made its innovative debut on campus, the theme ‘Novelty’ was appealing, for it seemed to not only shed light on oClubs’s ingenuity but also foreshadow upcoming

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changes in SHSID and Times.”

The editors are careful, however, not to choose a theme that is too broad to the point where the articles seem scattered, or too specific to constrain the writers. When new occurrences such as oClubs are rare, Times shifts its focus away from concrete happenings and towards abstract themes that are pertinent yet often unappreciated in our daily lives, such as "Food Culture" (2016 February-March).

However, themes aren’t stringent borders; instead, as Tiffany notes, there are “still other times [when] there is simply more creative freedom in abandoning the concept of a theme altogether, like the issue that you are reading at this moment.”

Page numbers for each article are then assigned. The total number of pages in each magazine must be a multiple of four to facilitate printing, 48 or 52 being the norm. While certain constants (such as the six pages that make up the covers, staff list, letter from the editor, and table of contents) are predetermined, the layout rest of the magazine is rather fluid.

Jasmine Jiang, Managing Editor, is responsible for creating a spreadsheet in which all ideas, deadlines, and final dates are recorded. Yet, scheduling is not as easy as it may appear. In an attempt to finesse through the inexorable test dates and fully utilize each priceless weekend and break, the Times schedule has to be intricately crafted to be both doable for the crew and com-

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pact enough to squeeze into two short months. With such a large staff, cajoling everyone to meet deadlines is no easy task.

Inevitably, things all head downhill whenever deadlines are ignored, and how infrequent could it be with such a large staff? “Section editors [may have to] deal with emergencies that pop out of the blue. A writer is sick or has lost her phone…a text can no longer be published in print because of photography mishaps […]” The list of possible emergencies could go on. Fortunately, there is always a backup plan. “…My secret,” Jasmine admits humorously, “…is that we always have one week of buffer time, so we would tell writers earlier deadlines and expect them to hand in then, but if they don’t we still have breathing room to think of Plan B.” Jasmine then emphasizes, “But of course, [writers, designers, and photographers] get… our disapproval if they don’t hand it in time.” Besides verbal warnings for late work or absence, unpunctuality is often punished with a strike—three strikes, and you’re out.

However, Times does not purely rely on these incentives to prop up production: backup plans including backup articles and designs are always ready to ensure that a few people’s absences do not hinder the production of the magazine.

Now that blueprints are sketched, the basic framework for the magazine—the themes, schedules, ideas, and Plan ‘B’s and ‘C’s—is laid out, it’s time to enter the writing stage.

SHSID|Times - JAN-FEB 2016 - EXPRESSION Section

Writers

Spreads

Outlines

Draft 1 1/13

Draft 2 1/18

Draft 3 1/23

CHECK

Lifestyle

COVER STORY

Photographer Photoshoot Photos Done? or Illustrator Arrangements

Designer

The Shanghai Library – A Guide to the most Comprehensive Public Library in China

Tania Kim

2 ✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

Dancing King: Breaking Male Stereotypes in Dance

Annie Fang

3 ✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

Intro to Classic Board & Card Games

Michael Fan

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Marvel vs. DC

Irene Chan

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✓

Design Draft TBD

Design Done

Angelina Angelina

✓

Sci Tech Modular Devices

Eric Fan

2 ✓

✓

✓

✓

Angelina

Home AI

Raymond Cheng

2 ✓

✓

✓

✓

Angelina

Artificial Light Induced Sleeplessness

Andrew Mi

1 ✓

✓

✓

✓

Angelina

A New Age of Batteries

Jeff He

English Lit (3 print articles, all on pan) Eye of the Beholder

Sophie Li

2 ✓

✓

✓

✓

Judith

My little angel

Winston Wang

3 ✓

✓

✓

✓

Judith

To Learn

Lilly Dai

1 ✓

✓

✓

✓

Anna

神坛之下

Kathy Wang

2 ✓

✓

✓

✓

Angelina

后仪式感

Helen Tianxin Li

2 ✓

✓

✓

✓

Ann

公交车上发生的几件小事

Jessica Qu

最熟悉的陌生

Happy Wang

3 ✓

✓

✓

✓

Writer Dreams

Laurie Yang

4 ✓

✓

✓

Angelina

Dongju & Jackie

Emily Teng

3 ✓

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✓

Angelina

USAD

Tania Kim

3 ✓

✓

✓

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Anerlise

Free Speech or Safe Spaces

Bevin Pan

2 ✓

✓

✓

✓

Irene

Physics Day

Junho Suh

2 ✓

✓

✓

✓

Angelina

HMUN Boston

Chloe Tan

3 ✓

✓

✓

✓

Angelina

6 ✓

✓

✓

✓

Angelina

✓

Chinese Lit (3 print articles, all on pan)

/

✓

Angel

Student Journal

News

Cover Story Behind the Scenes - Times Special Feature Quartet performance???

Others

“Putting Pen to Paper”: From Ideas to Articles

Allen, Angelina, Sophie, Jerry

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The process of generating article ide- 52 WeChat as varies drastically in different sections.

News section articles, as writer Rachel Wu explains, often center major campus events. Literature pieces come in freer forms – Karen Mao, Chinese Literature section editor, recalls that when she writes, she “often relate[s] the topic with the issue’s theme.” Lifestyle writers, like Irene Chan, draw inspirations from their surroundings such as on social media sites. Science and Technology writers focus on “cutting-edge developments and impactful events,” explains Andrew Mi, which demands close attention to technological innovations and in-depth research for personal evaluations. Student Journal writers such as Sophia She go after peers who “pursue unique interests” and provide a rare point of view.

A new addition to Times since the 2016 September-October issue is the “Opinions” column. This has opened up a platform for students interested in sharing their perspectives on current news; however, bearing a mission to educate but not to preach, the writers must present a picture as complete as possible, before stepping in with their own stances. “The Greater of Two Evils? A Closer Look at the 2016 US TOTAL

Election” article in the 2016 November-December issue by News writer Bevin Pan features not only a comprehensive overview of Donald Trump’s rather controversial policies, but also the likeliness of the implementation of such policies.

The form in which the article will be in is also taken into consideration along with the inspiration. Lifestyle article typically exhibit a wider variety of article forms; “for example my last article was Winter Drinks, as it was recipeThis has opened up a platform for students interested in sharing their perspectives on current news based, a listicle was the better fit,” Irene recounts. Student Journal, on the other hand, has maintained the most original message in their articles through the form of interview transcripts or first person narrations. As a newly introduced concept, News has published regular updates on the bimonthly club correspondents, with a short introduction for each club. Literature has also stepped out of its comfort zones of po-

ems, prose, and short stories, and began to explore more ideas in the genre of serial stories and book reviews; for example, “Lo Squalificato: A Review of No Longer Human” set a new precedence for the Literature section.

With the “20 Things Every SHSIDer Understands” listicle in 2015 receiving more than six thousand views, the Digital Department of Times has also grown to new heights in the past year. In addition to releasing several informative and engaging articles across different sections, the WeChat platform brings something to Times that the print issues could never have achieved—multimedia projects. For instance, the Christmas week series brought music, movies, and more right onto the phone screens of our subscribers. The contents are all carefully selected, edited, and designed

by Celine Sung, Director of Digital Media, to tailor to the readers’ needs.

Each article usually goes through three to four rounds of edits, during which section editors look for conciseness, appropriateness, novelty, and many more editorial elements. Only then can the articles be sent to one of the most crucial steps in the formation of each new issue—visual layout.

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COVER STORY

“Bringing Words to Life”: The Visuals Black and white texts demand the right visual support, and this all depends on Times’s Visual Department.

The management spreadsheet is first sent to the Photography Director, Mark Wu, who then assigns three articles to each Times photographer according to the their skills, aesthetics, preferences, and relationships with the writers. Photography assignments not only require countless on-campus photo shoots, but also include frequent long trips around the city. For the digital article “Christmas in Shanghai”, for example, 11th grade photographer James Zhang took a forty-five-minute ride to Huaihai Road just to capture the beautiful Christmas displays on Hong Kong Plaza. As a former member of the department, Mark understands how excited, yet, perhaps inevitably, burdened the photographers feel to receive these bimonthly assignments.

Although the photography process is long and arduous, the greatest obstacle is the selection of photographs. Due to Times’s coherency and quality standards, not every photograph arrives on the pages of Times. Nicole Zhou, a 9th Grade Photography member, admits, “considering the amount of effort I have put into the photos, I would feel a little disappointed. But I understand this because there are limited spots available for pictures and [that] the holistic appearance of the issue is of utmost priority.”

Thankfully, this problem is not left unresolved. Since Mark took over as the Times Photography Director, he has made the department a place where photography lovers can grow their skills together. Photographers have supplementary assignments and studio sessions to hone their skills. This winter break, for example, photographers were given three projects: “Black & White," “The Blurred World,” and an exercise that focuses on photos' visual composition. During school days, the

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team also meets regularly in the school's also photographers, stylists, and modphotography studio, where members els,” says Angelina. Judith Luo, an 11th take turns teaching each other the tech- grade model and fellow Times designniques of taking different photo styles, er, agrees, “The photo shoots were just such as chiaroscuro, Rembrandt light, amazing. Other than Mark's directions and single light source. and suggestions of posture and angle, Simultaneously, the management Angelina was there next to Mark, dispreadsheet is also sent to the Design recting [us] and helping us look natural and Illustration Department, where and less nervous. I was [also] astonished Creative Director, Angelina Ding, care- by Celine's amount of cosmetics…[it] fully assesses the incoming article and made me feel like I was in a dream.” photography drafts. Just a month beWhile projects take up a great part of fore printing, she’d sit down with Mark the magazine’s visual efforts, the bulk to discuss potential “projects” in the of the magazine is assembled by indiupcoming issue. vidual collaborations within the depart“The ‘projects’ can be considered as ment. After holding a troubleshoot and the aesthetic highlights of each maga- assignment meeting, Angelina sends zine: special effort is put into selected designers straight off to work. Some articles to make each issue unique,” are paired with illustrators where they explains Angelina. These projects in- meet to discuss the layout and aesthetic volve collaborations among not only suitable for each article, finding inspirathe Times visual staff but also a “Crea- tion in their favorite books, magazines, tive Team” of models, makeup artists, and websites. Others work in different and stylists. After ways. For threebrainstorming ideyear illustrator “What I love about as, Angelina, Mark, Dave Kim, Times photographers, is more of an inthese projects is that and the Creative project. they allow us to create dividual Team would spend After asking about spreads that are peraround three hours the aesthetic reafter school in the quirements all at sonal and meaningful photography studio. once, Dave gets to not only the design- straight to work The photo shoot day is extremely fast on his digital tabers and writers, but paced: obtaining the let, then adjusts it also photographers, right makeup style, in Photoshop and stylists, and models” shot, and props in Illustrator before just three hours definally sending it mands a high level off to a designer to of cooperation and efficiency. format.

Successful photo shoot projects reinThe designers’ creative whims are forced with thoughtful designs create girded by Times’s strict formatting unique articles that enhance Time’s guidelines: 10.5 point Baskerville typevisual elements. Highlights in the 2016 face, 11.5 line spacing, one inch marNovember-December issue include gins, three columns, 50 to 60 mm wide Lifestyle’s Opinion piece, “Two Other text arrangement, and color schemes Reasons Why We Love Literature,” specific to each editorial section… Afwhere studio shots were embellished ter a week and a half, designers submit with Ann Tang’s playful sketches to their spreads to Angelina, who comcreate a whimsical, imaginative spread; piles, reviews, and comments on necesLifestyle’s “Drinks to Keep You Cozy sary edits. “I like to think of Times as a This Holiday Season,” where photos design spectrum of sorts. News and Sciof models posing with drinks made ac- Tech lie on the more professional end cording to recipes by writer Irene Chan of the spectrum, while sections such as and Dave Kim's clip-art graphics com- Lifestyle and Literature may lie on the bine to form a lively, festive piece; and creative end,” Angelina explains, “The Literature piece “冬至将至,” where greatest challenge in visual editing is to the author herself, Carrie Zhuang, take each section’s individual aesthetics posed for the title page. and somehow combine them to create “What I love about these projects a magazine that is cohesive without losis that they allow us to create spreads ing the distinctive style of the designthat are personal and meaningful to ers. This is something that the visual not only the designers and writers, but department is still working towards.”

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COVER STORY

Section color schemes

Behind shooting student journal Photo provided by: Jack Lee

Preparing for photoshoot Photo by: Maggie Chen

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COVER STORY

“We’re Good to Go”: The Final Approval and Printing In addition to the student staff, Ms. Zhang Nan is also heavily involved in crafting the Times magazine. As SHSID’s official school magazine, it is very important to have the school’s input in each new issue. “The most ideal [Times] is the one that fully reflects SHSID students’ study, life, and thoughts,” Ms. Zhang says.

And certainly, her supervision reflected these ideals. Ms. Zhang usually conducts three rounds of reviews across the entire production process. The first round starts when the general outline is formed in order to ensure that no major school events had been left out from the content.

When all articles and designs have been compiled into the first magazine draft, the second round of review starts, now with a focus on the details of individual articles. Ms. Zhang remarks that a successful article, no matter which section it is in, needs to excel in “content, design, and [utilization of] resources.”

Necessary changes are made after this.

When the new issue is finalized, Ms. Zhang would go through the magazine once more, and after some additional back and forth revisions, she’d give the final approval, and the issue may finally move on to the printing factory.

1SHINE Advertising handles the final production details and actual printing of the magazine. Printing a magazine takes much more effort compared to printing out an English essay. What may sound like a press of the “Print” button, in reality, involves a team of design experts, two different factories, dozens of workers, and hundreds of man-hours to complete.

The finalized draft for the entire magazine is first sent to 1SHINE’s design team. There, the team prepares the draft for print, looking over any possible problems with printing that the draft may have, such as bleeds (the 3mm border trimmed off of each page after the magazine is printed), photo resolution, and color quality. For example, the color of the cover page is adjusted in order to be consistent with the

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rest of the magazine, as the paper used for the cover reacts differently than the content pages to the same type of ink.

The printing factory has four roomsized printing presses. The fastest press can churn out as many as fifteen thousand colored pages per hour. Despite having extremely efficient machines taking over the actual printing, there are still quite a few workers around.

Mr. Yongzhi Li, the executive director of 1SHINE, gave a very easy-tounderstand explanation of the printing process.

“These printing presses operate in a similar fashion to an assembly line,” he says, “Now look at this very page of Times. Notice how it has many different colors? The printing press doesn’t directly apply these exact colors onto

“These printing presses operate in a similar fashion to an assembly line” -Mr. Yongzhi Li this page. Instead, it breaks down all these different colors into four primary colors: red, blue, yellow, and black. This printing press is called the four-color printing press because of this. Take yellow as an example. Any part of this spread that has the color yellow will be highlighted with a special material on a plastic board known professionally as a PC board. The plastic board will then attract yellow ink onto these highlighted areas, and when firmly pressed onto the piece of paper, the color yellow appears in the places it needs to be in.”

The same process is performed with the three other colors, and after going through all four PC boards, the final spread will be teeming with vibrant colors. Of course, it would be pretty time-consuming to press the PC boards onto each piece of paper individually, which is why the PC boards are made into cylinders, which when rolled over

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pieces of paper, produce fully-colored pages at extremely high speeds.

Still, operating the printing press is not purely mechanical. It is a constant process of quality check through human monitoring. A team of three is always present when the printer operates. One is there to make sure that the input of paper is working smoothly, as the machine operates at extraordinary speed. Two others stand on the other side of the printing press, sampling a spread every minute or so to make sure that the printing quality remains consistent. Though the printing press can operate at fifteen thousand spreads per hour, it rarely stays at that speed for long periods of time, for everything is printed in batches of roughly several hundred spreads. This gives yet another layer of quality control. Truth is, the factory can easily operate with minimal staff, but who knows what this magazine you’re holding will look like without the hard work and effort that so many workers put in?

And really, that is just step one. The magazine is now like an essay sitting on a printer, nice and warm, but in no way stapled or organized. The printed stacks are then sent to the bookbindery, where they will be properly stapled.

The paper used at the printing factory is large enough to fit four spreads of Times, or eight pages in total. Thus, the first thing to do at the bookbindery is to cut these pieces of paper up into smaller spreads. Specialized machinery is used to split the paper. The pages are then manually organized into the right order, then stapled together and folded up with the aid of machines. Finally, through careful packaging, they are sent on their way to SHSID, ending up in your hands.

Even though machines are there to perform tasks such as stapling and folding, workers are just as important in this process. The machines operate with a rhythm, and it is up to the workers to fit with the rhythm, requiring months, if not years, of practice and conditioning to master this job.

COVER STORY Printing Press Photo by: James Zhang

Manual effort doesn’t just apply to the bookbindery: looking back at the entire process, people are at the heart of this operation, from start to finish. From brainstorming to the technical assembling process, the Times magazine goes through the hands of dozens of people. They are there every step of the way, undergoing this complex process in order to push the quality of the Times magazine with each new issue. And Times have been improving, whether it is changing paper types or accomplishing the more long-term plan of holding writing workshops, like every student organization here at SHSID, Times grows every step of the way. Through the at times tedious yet enjoyable magazine production process, the Times staff hopes to continue to expand and improve in the future.

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NEWS

4 Teams 4 Days 14 Hours

On 2017 Harvard Model United Nations Written by: Chloe Tan | Photos by: Sophia She

“H

arvard Model United Nations is a four-day international relations simulation for high school students held annually in downtown Boston. At HMUN, delegates gain insight into the workings of the United Nations and the dynamics of interna—” Reads the introduction letter of the sixty-fourth session of HMUN Boston on their official website. But behind the prestigious and assuming brand of Harvard University, there is a story and a journey for Grace Jing, Jerry Chen, Emily Teng, Sophia She, Ben Yang, Bower Chu, Ricky Pan, and myself. After 14 hours of flight across the continent, we were here.

I suppose when the SHSID delegation arrived, the first thought that came to our minds when we touched down on Boston soil made us tremble. That fiery, burning urge to shake and break something, that nervous energy that bubbled on the rim of our minds and at

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the edges of our research and preparation, all seemed to boil higher than ever — that is, until we actually stepped into the Boston air. And then everything was just cold.

This was the first delegation in history to span three grades. We were both prepared and very unprepared for the biggest high school Model United Nations conference in the world.

What exactly we were doing

Model United Nations is a simulation of the actual United Nations, an intergovernmental organisation consisting of 197 countries and, despite various debates and discussions, still remains the most influential international body.

Harvard Model United Nations first started in 1927, which is interesting because the United Nations was created 18 years after that. The first Harvard conference was a model of the League of Nations, and after 1945 HMUN

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expanded to include talks on not only international peace and security, but economic and social progress, as well as adding on to their creative array of historical and specialised agencies.

There were over 200 high schools present, and a stunning total of over 3,300 students from all over the world. Featuring delegations from South Africa, Korea, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Japan, Thailand, Peru, Croatia, Argentina, India, China, and many, many more countries, HMUN Boston is the largest and arguably the most competitive high school Model UN conference.

Our school represented the United States of America in the United Nations Human Rights Council, the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, the International Atomic Energy Agency, and the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs. All of these committees are considered Economic and Social Councils, all of which are double delegate committees, each with 54 delegations and

NEWS 108 delegates in total.

We modelled international relations with other countries by assuming the roles of UN representatives and members and being known to fellow competitiors as “delegate of the United States” for the four days of the conference.

Where we went

Though organised by Harvard University, the conference took place at the Sheraton Hotel, the John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Centre, and the Marriott Copley Place. Encased within the ballrooms, conference rooms, and smaller meeting rooms within the hotel, each conference room features a long table for four Assistant Directors and the Chair to study the delegates from. Additionally, a podium is erected on the side for delegates to speak and acknowledge delegates. This was not conventional for typical conferences, where there is usually one Chair and a maximum of two Assistant Directors.

With the six Harvard college students seated at the front of the room, delegates would stand at the front of the committee, in the middle of rows and rows of ballroom chairs, and speak.

The ultimate goal of committee was to pass your draft resolution, a collection of solutions and suggestions devised by you and your allies, while lobbying with more countries to rally their support and debating their foreign policy.

“A four-day battle of legislature and diplomacy with a hundred others is gruelling… Despite that, they were able to rise to the challenge and overcome their trepidations … I am proud of every one of them,” spoke the SHSID International Affairs Association (IAA) Secretary General Victor Yu, “ I believe, as I felt for myself a year ago, that the conference experience is character-building, and, at the end of the day, that is far more important than any award.”

Lasting from January 26th to 29th, there was a total of 21.5 hours of intense committee session, lasting from early morning until way past midnight. Physically exhausted and mentally drained, we relished in both the fatigue and exhilaration of the immense amount of competition. Domestic schools such as Phillips Exeter Academy, University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, and The Dalton School, proved extremely strong, with large student delegations spanning up to twenty or so delegates. Interna-

tional schools like The Lyceum, Karachi Grammar School, Aitchison College from Pakistan, Colegio Nuestra Señora del Carmen from Peru, Upper Canada College, and, of course, Shanghai High School International Division, seized the opportunity to engage and interact with the multitude of accents and skin tones that each delegate presented.

“Sometimes, it’s a bit more about cooperation than debate,” spoke Melissa Li, the Committee Director for the United Nations Human Rights Council, “and this was the best conference I had so far.” Though SHSID was recognised with two committee awards, each of the eight delegates learned something valuable about the world of Model United Nations, the world of other people, the reality of it, the beauty of it, and perhaps a bit more about ourselves.

This is what we brought back with us.

In addition to the conference, we spent a few extra nights in Boston, enjoying the crisp, rattling cold air, visiting colleges such as Wellesley College, Tufts University, Amherst College, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, eating delicious seafood on Newbury Street, in Harvard Square, at food trucks and street delis, playing card games late into the night and watching anime and cartoons in the hotel.

Harvard Model United Nations Boston was the one of the most impactful events of our lives, and for some of us, our last Model United Nations Conference. After interviewing and asking the students who went on this expedition, this is what was compiled:

What were some of your most memorable moments?

I loved bonding with our own delegation.

I wish I wore more and didn’t get sick.

I learned the importance of finishing each other’s sentences.

I read 10 pages of research in a suit on a toilet in a public bathroom.

I should have been in the committee room when the chair auctioned off having breakfast with him!

I loved it when Harvard staff who pretended to be “Trump” came in to make a speech about how horrible one of the solutions were.

I regret…

Not trying hard enough in committee Not talking to people more, not talking to more people Not trying hard enough to win the card game Not trying hard enough in life Not eating enough sea food Not preparing enough Not pushing myself to my limits enough Not being strong enough.

What would be your final word on HMUN Boston 2017?

My director is extremely cute.

Meeting Neil deGrasse Tyson’s daughter was great.

There are so many cute people everywhere Everywhere.

This could be the best experience in my life.

Opened my eyes up to the abilities of my peers and the possibilities of discussion.

So cold, so cold, so cold.

This was the best experience in my life.

We won some, lost some, but somehow got everything.

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OPINION

ABOUT THE AUTHOR A frequent victim of acute senioritis, Bevin spends an unhealthy amount of time on late-night Talkshows and all things political when he is not thinking about life or eating his favoirte junkfoods.

O

n January 13th, 1993, UPenn student Eden Jacobowitz was burning the midnight oil on his English report when a group of sorority members began singing, stomping, and yelling loudly outside his dormitory. Annoyed that he could not concentrate, he opened his window and shouted “Shut up, you water buffalo!”

However, little did he know that this simple expression of annoyance that nearly cost him his entire academic career. Upon hearing those words, the sorority members filed a complaint against

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Written by: Bevin Pan Photo taken from: impawards.com Eden for racial harassment, and the university charged him accordingly. The sorority members, who are mostly Black, argued that the phrase “water buffalo” is a racial epithet that objectifies African Americans by comparing them to a dark, primitive beast of burden that lives in Africa. However, as NBC news anchor John Chancellor puts it, “[This claim] is questionable semantics, dubious zoology, and incorrect geography.

Water buffalos live in Asia, not in Africa.” Furthermore, in his own defense, Eden Jacobowitz claimed that the He-

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brew term “Behema” (water buffalo) is used commonly in Israel, where he spent many years living in, to simply refer to a loud and rowdy person. However, the school still refused to drop charges, which served to greatly publicize the incident as major media networks from both the US and other countries eagerly reported on this event. A few months later, the sorority members who filed the complaint decided to rescind this action, arguing that such widespread media attention nullifies the possibility of a fair hearing on the incident.

OPINION This event, later known as the “Water Buffalo Incident”, marked the beginning of the “counter-PC” (political correctness) movement, of people demanding a clear delineation between free speech and hate speech, and of individuals “proclaiming offense over nonsense,” as Philadelphia magazine writer Sandy Hingston puts it. Yet, more than 23 years later, this movement is still just a movement, with its frontlines expanding from college campuses to entire nations. On one hand, many champion the wave of political correctness as steps of racial, gender, ethnic, cultural, economic, social, and geographical inclusion that serve to lead to a more peaceful world. On the other hand, those against this wave of political correctness worry that this movement is a violation of free speech and the First Amendment of the United States. As Hingston and the founder of Philadelphia-based civil rights organization FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights in Education) Greg Lukianoff argues, “PC has spiraled out of control, starting on college campuses and graduating into the real world, eventually splitting the nation into two sides, red and blue, that don’t speak to one another, despise each other, and don’t even bother to try to understand the other’s point of view.”

Furthermore, it is hard to find a

balancing point in this decades-long struggle between advocates for free speech and advocates for political correctness. Both parties base their arguments on “basic” moral standards that differ greatly, and the blurred line between these two sentiments only serve to make finding a balancing policy even harder. As former University of Pennsylvania president Sheldon Hackney puts it, “Two important […] values now stand in conflict. There can

more than hatred; they can be vessels that communicate knowledge and expand our intellect, tools that foster collaboration and facilitate cooperation, and also crucibles that help prepare and individual for a more fulfilling life.

Yes, while it is true that hurtful words must not be uttered, but those claiming offense over anything that they disagree with do more harm than good.

As FIRE founder Greg Lukianoff posits, the overwhelming trend of “blind” political correctness creates people who lack the “experience of uninhibited debate and casual provocation” that keeps minds open and helps foster intellectual development of individuals. Let’s face it. The real world is not exactly full of safe spaces and trigger warnings. Sometimes one must disagree with what the majority thinks.

One must stand against the tide, out of the ordinary, to create a difference.

Gagging any ideas that the majority disagrees with is the perfect way to facilitate groupthink and water-down any sort of uniqueness in an intellectual landscape. If those arguing for political correctness truly believe in the celebration of differences, diversity, and individuality, then it is counterintuitive to prohibit such an expression of individual opinions, despite the inevitable fact that opinions may be agreeable to some and disagreeable to others.

Free Speech or

Hate Speech? be no compromise regarding the First Amendment right of an [individual] to express whatever [he/she] chooses. At the same time, there can be no ignoring the pain that expression may cause.”

Indeed, words are powerful weapons. Sentences and phrases can carry tremendous amounts of hate and inflict great injury upon another person.

The use of such hate-filled phrases must be discouraged and even prohibited. Yet, words can convey so much

Let’s face it.

The real world is not exactly full of safe spaces and trigger warnings.

Sometimes one must disagree with what the majority thinks.

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NEWS

United States Academic Decathlon Written by: Tania Kim | Photos taken by: Audney Guo

T

his February, 125 teams of high school students from all across the country arrived in Guangzhou, China for the competition they were dedicated to for the past six months— the United States Academic Decathlon (USAD) China 2017. This is the second time for the SHSID decathletes to participate in this demanding but fruitful competition.

Regardless of where the decathletes are from, their goal was one: to become one of the top 15 teams who gain the opportunity to go to Wisconsin, United State for the final round.

USAD: One Competition, Ten different disciplines The USAD is an annual high school academic competition consisting of ten events, including seven challenging multiple-choice tests, a speech, an essay, and an interview. Each team consists of nine members, divided into three divisions based on their academic abilities: Honors (3.75–4.00 GPA), Scholastic (3.00–3.74 GPA), and Varsity (0.00–2.99 GPA). All of the decathletes compete with others in the same division, and the team scores are based on the top two overall scores from each division. Medals and trophies are awarded to the top individuals and teams.

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Preparation: World War II? World War II! This year, the overall theme of the competition was the Second World War. For Science, the decathletes had to explore atomic and nuclear physics including information on the Manhattan Project and the

“Before every study session, I would stress ‘China #1!’ and my teammates would repeat it like a mantra.”

- Koki, on working together development of the atomic bomb, while for Literature, they learned selected works on the Second World War, including Anna Seghers’ novel Transit. The Art and Music curriculums also included knowledge on fundamental elements that were heavily used during the World War

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II era. Social science and Economics examined the impact of the war on the world economy and the society. This year, most of the students found music most difficult. “We were dumbfounded when we had to learn the positions of G-Major and Italian jargons like subito and pianissimo…” says Koki, “Luckily we had a talented musician in our team to save the day. Life lesson: get an Italian-speaking musician for your decathlon team.”

Leaders and members of each team had different difficulties they had to overcome. Like any other decathlete, every student struggled with the immense amount of material they had to study. One of the decathletes, Jerry Chen, says that the most difficult part was “remembering all the details you are tested on.” Angle Qian, another participant, also says, “the main difficulty I faced was the sheer amount of material I had to prepare for.”

Besides the workload, the leaders had one more challenge to deal with: ensuring that the team was working well together as well as individually. One of the leaders of SHSID’s Decathlon teams, Sonia, explains, “Some of the problems we met included assembling the team at the beginning and making sure that everybody was doing their work during winter break.” Koki kept trying to emphasize the goal of the whole team. “For instance, before every study session, I would stress ‘China #1!’ and my teammates would repeat it like a mantra.”

To Guangzhou!

As all decathletes from all over China gathered in Guangzhou, the USAD China 2017 finally began. The first day of the competition hosted the objective tests and the decathletes’ favorite event, Super Quiz, where honor, scholastic, and varsity students from each team separately solve the problems displayed on the screen.

The second day started at the Group Assessment Center, the platform in which the decathletes had the opportunity to work as a team. As a team, the decathletes had a plastic ball and several straws to work with. On the table, there were obstacles such as German tanks and planes. Teams

NEWS need to use the straws to build a bridge across two points in thirty minutes.

After the assigned time, decathletes had to push the plastic ball across the bridge as fast as possible. The room was filled with joyful exclamations and frustrated groans.

In the afternoon, the last two events awaited: speech and interview. One by one, decathletes walked into the room with their prepared speeches and stood in front of three judges. Each decathlete was interviewed on various WWII related questions by the same three judges soon after.

It was All Worth It As with in any other competition, our decathletes “SHSIDed”. On the awards ceremony, the 3 SHSID teams reaped home one trophy each. One of our teams qualified for the final round held in Madison, Wisconsin in April.

“USAD is my true love—one that I will always embrace and devote for,” says Koki, leader of the decathlon team going to Wisconsin in April.

Good luck, SHSID decathletes!

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NEWS

Physics Day Written by: Junho Suh | Photos by: Simone Yang

O

n the afternoon of January 4th, 9th and 10th graders held the Physics Day event during their double CAS class. Physics teachers, with the help of ASB members and helpers, organized this event for students to learn more about physics through simple activities.

The day began with Physics H level students’ presentations of their group projects. In their homerooms, 9th and 10th graders displayed their experiment results through PowerPoint presentations and videos. Several groups created cart models that travels a certain distance, calculated the acceleration of an elevator, and some groups even made a song that introduced a physics formula. These presentations gave H level students an opportunity to show their completed projects to everyone else, and fellow students were encouraged to learn from the H level students’ projects.

During the second period of CAS class, several different activities related to physics were held. Each activity featured a certain physical phenomenon or formula, and it allowed the students to experience physics through experiments conducted by their own hands. Students particularly enjoyed two of these activities: Marshmallow

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Spaghetti Stronghold and Lab Railgun. Marshmallow Spaghetti Stronghold challenged the students to only use raw spaghetti noodles and a bag of marshmallow to build tall and steady towers. Many of the students struggled with balancing the towers with such resources but still enjoyed the process. The other game, Lab Railgun, challenged the students to make a steel ball travel the path of a

“The projects were very creative and relatable, and students who presented [their projects] seemed very confident and accomplished.”

- Ms. Jiang Min

rail by applying the principle of conservation of momentum and only a set of magnets and steel balls. Diana Park, a student from class 9(10), says, “There were numerous activities during the event and among them the most memorable one was Lab Railgun. Through this activity, I not only

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learned knowledge about physics but also how to cooperate [with others] in order to solve problems. Overall, I really enjoyed it.”

Students enjoyed these events greatly they showed enthusiasm for completing challenges posed by each activity. At the same time, they found physics to be more enjoyable.

Eric Lim, a freshman from 9(4), says, Physics Day “was a new approach to learn about physics. It was a fun, fascinating time for us to enjoy the charm of physics.”

Teachers’ feedbacks on this event were also very positive, as the homeroom teacher of class 9(3), Ms. Jiang Min, says, “by relating physical information with models and activities, Physics Day made students more interested in physics. The projects were very creative and relatable, and students who presented [their projects] seemed very confident and accomplished. I personally enjoyed all the events of this new day.”

This year’s Physics Day featured many different informative and entertaining activities about physics.

The success of this event reflected efforts put into this event by both the teachers and the ASB members. Next year, it is expected that this event will return with more diverse activities.

OPINION

DAN CING KING Breaking Stereotypes of Male Dancers Written by: Annie Fang | Photos by: Mark Wu

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OPINION

I

still recall the moment when I walked into the school dance club audition for the first time back in seventh grade. I was surrounded by a group of more than thirty girls, but there was, however, not a single male candidate in the room. At the time, this did not strike me as odd at all.

In fact, most people still probably wouldn’t find this gender imbalance strange, and this is exactly where the problem is. The imbalance of participation between the two genders in dance stems from the culturally purported gender roles that offer female dancers more freedom to pursue different dance styles but leave male dancers facing a lack of choice.

As a female dancer, I’ve always been a silent observer of this gender imbalance in my immediate surroundings, as well as the greater dance community of softer dance styles like Jazz and Ballet. The same inequality extends back to the 1980s when William L. Earl conducted his study on American stereotypes.

When he asked mall-goers to describe male ballerinas, some of the most common responses were “Pretty boys afraid to soil themselves with honest labor”, “snobs!”, “secretive”, “neurotic”, “narcissistic”, “soft”, “vain”, “frail”, and “momma’s boy”, comments that are highly irrelevant to actual dance techniques. Being a girl in the dance industry, of course, does not shut away all criticisms from my audience, but it does breed much more freedom for me to pursue any style I wish. When a girl appears on stage wearing a snapback and rocking a choreography to an Eminem rap song, she will almost always win a room of wild applause. The emerging B-girl genre once again confirms the observation that there are more girls comfortable with dancing masculine hip-hop routines than males who willingly perform the feminine.

Perhaps the conventional thought of women being smaller in size and more agile in movement portrays their bodies as being more suited for dance, no matter the style.

In the eyes of the general public today, male dancers seem to be forcibly labeled with a traditionally upheld masculine trait—strength. Most obvious in duets, the role of the male is almost always as the supporter. In

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ballet and contemporary dance, the male counterpart is constantly lifting, holding, or picking up the female dancer. In break-dancing, which contains many of the industry’s male practitioners, male routines are characterized by continuous spinning headstands, intricate foot steps, and power moves fueled by hip-hop or funk music—all of which require great strength. When these moves are utilized, the audience is often left in awe of the expressions of power and masculinity. Unquestionably, there are male dancers who enjoy such genres of dance. However, they do not account for all of the others who who often face unfair criticisms for the feminine personas they present. The audience’s stubborn misconception of “male dancers equate strength” results in the arbitrary labeling of male dancers as “sissies” simply because they wave their chests and hips

While dance certainly leaves space for personal expression, there is not always a direct link between performance persona and personality or sexuality. and dance in heels, performing supposedly “feminine” moves. Because of this misconception, the audience unintentionally establishes a causal relationship between personality and dance styles, which are two entities that may actually not have that much in common.

From the now YouTube-famous dance studio, 1 Million (1M), choreographer BongYoung Park is known for his passionate choreographies and shares a prime example of gender stereotypes’ troubling consequences. In his choreography of Jason Derulo’s “Wiggle,” BongYoung wore a pair of sky high heels and was not afraid to incorporate “feminine” elements through provocative hip swings and alluring gestures. The comment section under that video was immediately flooded with responses questioning his sexuality. Later on in an inter-

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OPINION

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Other than the hours that Annie spends battling academics, you will find her dancing, watching three different korean dramas at the same time, eating burritos, and always looking for her phone.

view, he had to openly negate claims of homosexuality just because of his dance moves. Although BongYoung and others may have hopped out of dance’s gender stereotypes by presenting performances with elements that the audience would more often associate with female dancers, if we focus on their performance techniques rather than the unfairly-dichotomous gender traits, we might realize that they are just as powerful, adept, and passionate as the male dancers of a traditionally “masculine” style.

It seems that a male dancer, in his audience’s eyes, is either an embodiment of power and attractiveness, or an unappreciated deviant from the masculine norm. This rigid gender construction has limited the confidence of male dancers and has narrowed the range of dance styles that they are allowed to explore. Last May at Tipsy, an annual high school dance competition held in Shanghai, one of the judges, dancing his sassy steps in heels that most girls would have found difficult to walk in, left me in awe at the fusion of softness and strength in his performance. All the while, no one in the crowd mocked him for his display of femininity as he rejoiced in a wild ovation. I couldn’t help but wonder if talent like this was buried in someone else too, existent but suppressed by the fear of embarrassment and of portraying a false on-stage persona. If, however, more and more audience members begin to view such performances with an appreciative eye and focus on a dancer’s technique rather than judging his appearance or jumping to irrelevant conclusions on their personal traits, wouldn’t the performer be more comfortable immersing himself in the fluidity and aesthetics of his dance and thus more confident in his performance?

A successful dance performance is successful regardless of its performer’s identity. While dance certainly leaves space for personal expression, there is not always a direct link between performance persona and personality or sexuality. Given the gender stereotypes instilled in society, learning to view, admire, and cherish dance with an unfiltered eye is not an easy task, yet it certainly is an essential and valuable one.

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LIFESTYLE

Shanghai Library A Guide to the Most Comprehensive Library in China Written by: Tania Kim Photo by: Angel Wang School, home, school, home‌ Amidst of this repetition of typical day of high school students, we often need an opportunity to change our studying environment for refreshment. If you need a new atmosphere for studying or just reading in general, the Shanghai Library is right here for you.

Established in 1952, the Shanghai Library is the second largest and the most comprehensive public library in China with public services, technology, and informational research functions. The following is an extensive guide for you to smoothly maneuver your way through the library and make the most of it.

Location: 1555, Huai Hai Zhong Lu (Central Huai Hai Road), 200031, Shanghai Subway: Line 10, Shanghai Library Station/ When you take exit 3, you will immediately see the building right behind you

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LIFESTYLE

**Be aware of the time!! Even though the building is opened up to 8:30 PM, a lot of services, including reference borrowing, reader registration, stop running at around 4:30 PM. Most importantly, the whole fourth floor closes at 5:00 PM! These are almost all of the useful services I have introduced in the article, which means, please go to the library earlier, unless you are going there to solely enjoy your free self-study hours.

1. Reader’s Card Upon entering the building, you will immediately see a cylindrical pillar labeled “Readers Registration.” Beside it are machines that you use to sign up for a membership. Offering different languages, the machines provide straightforward instructions; if additional help is needed, college student assistants are usually readily available.

There are four different types of cards with different functions. For international students, registering for the “reference lending card,” which requires a 1,000 RMB refundable deposit, is perhaps the best option. The deposit may seem like a large sum of money, but it will be refunded upon cancellation.

With this handy card, the fourth floor, which houses foreign books, becomes available.

While filling in your information, you will need your passport, so do not forget to bring it with you! Interesting fact: you can also use this card to borrow books in any other libraries in Shanghai.

2. IPAC (Internet Public Access Catalog) Service The IPAC Service is the best way to make the Shanghai Library yours and is also the easiest way to search for a book.

Simply bring your card to one of the computers on any floor.

Insert your card into the machine connected to the desktop and search for the title, author, publisher, etc., of the book you want to read. If you click the book you want, the computer will not only inform you of the status of the book and its number but also the name of the library and the specific location the book is at. Since all the libraries in Shanghai use this IPAC Service, the computer will tell you which library has the book if the book is not available in the library you are at. Most books, however, are available at the Shanghai Library.

On the right side of the first floor, there is a designated area called “Reference Borrowing.” This is where IPAC can help you with your research papers. The reference books are not on open shelves; hence, you have to use the computers on the first floor to search and register for the books you want. After fifteen to twenty minutes, the machines behind the reference borrowing desk will bring the librarians the books you’ve registered for. The screen in front of the desk will then display your name to call you to get the book. Trust me. As you wait for the screen to announce your name, you will feel like one of those cool characters in the sci-fi movies for some reason.

3. Foreign Document Reading and Circulation Room

As a public library in an eclectic city, there is a wide range of books you can choose from, and the variety includes books of different languages.

When I walked into the Foreign Document Reading and Circulation room, I discovered so many interesting texts awaiting me. To the left, there was the United Nations Depositary Reading Area. At first, I was so overwhelmed and felt like I was reading one of the secret documents from the United Nations.

Other than that, in the Foreign Books & Proceedings Reading Room, there were 561,000 volumes of books in foreign languages, including English, Japanese, Korean, German, Russian, French, Italian, etc. Of course, English books constituted the majority. With subjects ranging from psychology to social sciences, from economics to law, the Shanghai Library ensures you will be able to find interest in the many different types of books it provides. With fiction, nonfiction, dictionaries, textbooks, and more, this is the best place to spend your tedious holidays as well!

4. Food and drinks

Are you planning to study at Starbucks for the second monthly or the final exam? Are you the type of person who needs sweets for your concentration? There are many choices of food and drink offered around the library, and you can even bring them inside.

Right beside the Reader Registration machines on the first floor, there is a small cafe which sells light beverages, ice-cream, and cakes. However, La Casbah Coffee, a cafe located right across the street, is the place you are looking for. Even though it has an attractive and cozy interior, do not forget that you are there to study! Get a cup of carrot juice and a slice of New York cheesecake and bring them into the library. When it is winter, buy yourself a cup of hot Americano or latte, which is inexpensive (about 14/18 RMB) compared to Starbucks, but are still perfect for your study.

On the way out of the library one day, I met three Pakistanis who seemed to be in their early middle ages. They were Pakistan government officials who came to Shanghai two weeks ago to learn a new language. After I had told them how to get membership cards, I asked them, “Even though you just came to the library for the first time, [what] do you think of this library?”

“We were already having so much fun looking around the new city,” one of them said, “but then when we got to the library, we [were] so overwhelmed with the fact that we found a new place to study as well! The services and facilities seem really nice.”

I remember the two college students who helped me out for reader registration last year. With clumsy Korean, they explained how they just started learning the language.

These extraordinary encounters with different kinds of people dedicated to their very own lives gave me motivation and reminded me that I am at the center of education in Shanghai.

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String Quarter New Year Concert Written by: Tiffany Mei Photos by: Mark Wu On January 3rd, 2017, the SHSID Quartet formed by Daegeun Kim, Miho Takeuchi, Mon Madomitsu, and Yeshin Moon performed alongside graduated alum Yido Ho in the Blackbox Theatre. Their New Year repertoire included classic and romantic compositions by Mozart, Haydn, and Dvorak, in a unique fusion with modern theme songs from blockbuster movies such as Star Wars and Pirates of the Caribbean. Here are snapshots captured by SHSID|Times Photography Director, Mark Wu.

LITERATURE

之神 下坛 Written by: Kathy Wang Photo by: Anna Jin

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LITERATURE

被

身后拥挤的乘客推搡下了火 车，一脚踉跄着踏上了污 迹斑斑的地面。将行李箱匆 匆拖下的短短几秒中，便已同火车 站上形形色色的人“擦肩而过”，我 一边揉着被撞到的肩膀，一边提着 行李箱寻找一块可以落脚的空地。 布料与布料之间相互摩擦，四处都 是提着大包小包或是拖家带口的人 们，在这样熙熙攘攘的月台上，举 步维艰。 这是一个鱼目混杂的地方。这 是阿格拉的火车站。这是印度，那 片汇聚着古老信仰的圣土。 走出火车站，一阵被驶过车辆 带起的灰黄色尘埃便劈头盖脸的往 脸上招呼，带着一股浓重的恶臭气 味。路面上尽是横七竖八流淌着的 污水，两边路上或蹲或坐着许多裹 着布巾或包着头巾的人们，面上或 呆滞或不耐烦。再往前，路两边有 卖各类食物的小铺子，桌面上摆着 一个个半生锈的铁罐头，里面盛着 叫不出名字的食物。终于在一头牛 大摇大摆从我旁边走过时，我默默 将脚边最破的行李箱也从肮脏的地 面上提了起来，不愿拖着它走过这 样的路面。 在阿格拉的第三日，我们便来 到了那莫卧儿王朝时期所建，赫赫 有名的印度建筑，泰姬陵。这座沙 扎汗为其妻子修建的陵墓，成为了 许多人眼中印度的代表。象牙白的 大理石一块块堆积，和着远处湛蓝 的天空，像伊斯兰教徒身上纯白的 衣袍一般圣洁。赤脚立于平台冰凉 的大理石上仰视这座宏伟的陵墓， 每一处雕花都如此繁复细腻，每一

块宝石都被镶嵌的天衣无缝。泰姬 陵自身像是一个虔诚的教徒，屹立 在历史的长河上，守卫着这个国度 傲人的信仰。 除了莫卧儿王朝时的伊斯兰教 统治，孔雀王朝时的佛教传播，印 度教自身也是世界四大古代宗教之 一。印度教相信自然界万物皆有灵 气，所以皆是神灵。在世界上如此 之多的教派中，印度教也许是社会 制度最为森严的宗教之一。教派中 创造了等级制度以及种姓制度，以 姓氏和出身划分了人群，人们从出 生开始，便被宿命限制住了一生， 且无论如何，无法改变自身所在的 阶级，只能期盼来世有一个好的归 宿。然而在近一个世纪来世界的飞 速发展下，无论是严格的种姓制度 或是因果报应的轮回之道都在越来 越开放的思想中慢慢消退。印度毕 竟不是一个完全封闭的古国，旧时 的文化同世界进步的碰撞勾勒出了 这样一个多元化的国家。 泰姬陵的出口处连接着一条狭 窄的巷子，居民在贩卖各式纪念品 时过着平凡的生活，有赤脚走在泥 地上的孩童和坐在矮凳上挑菜的妇 人。地上有坐着乞讨的孩子扯着我 们的衣服下摆，我们只得快步走出 巷子。 在回旅馆的路上我们遇到了一 个较为健谈的摩的司机，他皮肤黝 黑，浓眉并一双雅利安人种特有的 深邃眼窝，身穿一件棕灰色的皮夹 克，脚上拖沓着一双大号的拖鞋。 他开车非常快，擅长在拥堵的马路 上见缝插针的变道，每次转弯都有 种要翻车的感受。我曾出于好奇，

问他信不信教，他无奈又不屑的对 我摇了摇头。我照了一张他开车时 的照片，远处融于背景中的泰姬陵 在他肩头，依旧纯白无暇。 印度的宗教文化更多的溶于他 们的民俗文化和日常生活，但真正 恪守种姓制度或众神说的人已经并 不很多了。印度拥有世界第二多的 人口数量，而这个国家在近年来在 经济和科技领域都呈飞速发展。庞 大的人口也带来了巨大的竞争性， 为生活所迫时，人们很难真正为了 来世而行善，更多的只是用无论卑 劣好坏的方法生存下去。新式的思 想在一步步冲淡宗教根深蒂固的观 念，毕竟要让一个在外打拼的年轻 人相信命运的掌控或一生都无法摆 脱的门第观念实在是太过残忍。即 使这个国家拥有比世界上任何地方 都深厚宗教背景，它也不可能成为 永远的史诗。 这座千年的古国并不常见双手 合十，虔诚诵经的僧侣，更多听到 的是那充斥着街道的轰鸣声。也许 生存与信仰本来就站在人性的对立 面，神灵能在最深的迷惘中拯救一 个人，有时却无法战胜人类求生的 本能。乘着突突车，看到的半轮落 日掩在泰姬陵拱顶的背后，整座陵 墓四周衍射出金光万丈，不似世间 之物。旁边的街道上，有一个身着 紫色沙丽的女子，在日落的余晖下 收起晾晒了一日的素色布匹。 这是一片圣土，离神灵最近的 凡间。他们都是凡人，都是生于神 坛之下的凡人。

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后·仪式感 Written by: Helen Tianxin Li Photos by: Ann Tang

《小王子》中的狐狸曾经说过：“（仪式）它使 某一天与其他日子不同，使某一时刻与其他时刻 不同。”

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时候的我却很讨厌“仪式”这个概念。仪式对我来说不过是各种形式 的集会，新年跨年，升旗仪式，开学典礼。我坚信在这之中有一部 分仪式的参与人员，包括我，并不是选择了去做真正想做的事。况 且在很多工作过程中任务可以在没有“仪式”的概念下，更有效率地完成。当 人们认为如此重视创造仪式感而偏离了行为原始的目的的话，往往是得不 偿失。“仪式”以及由仪式产生的众多人的“仪式感”，只不过是走个形式，装 装样子。 可后来，在我长大的过程中，却渐渐意识到了仪式感的重要性。仪式 注重的不仅仅是集会人数的多少，而是对于生活的重视。 仪式感帮助我们纪念了生活中一些重要的时间点。人们去旅游时， 总会多多少少拍些景色的照片。这些照片并不一定有杂志中或是网络上中 拍的那么好看，没有调节过色彩和结构，却包含着我们对于这个场景的回 忆。甚至仅仅是拍照片这个行为，便已足够让某一个时刻独特于其他，以 至于我们在回忆那段旅行时，可以准确的想起那个拍照的时刻，以及镜头 前的景色。

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其实，各式各样的节日也是由仪式感产生。仔细想 想，跨年的零点从时间意义上来说可能和其他日子的午夜 零时没有多少差别，前一年最后一天过完，新的一年来 临，就在12月31日和1月1日之间也不会巨大的改变发生。 但是人们 赋予了这两天仪式感，赋予了这两天对于一个 新的开始，对于改变的殷切希望。在上海，每年从圣诞节 开始到春节结束，大街小巷都会有所装饰，整个城市弥漫 着红色的喜气和暖意，火树银花抵抗着冬天刮人的冷风着 凉了一个又一个夜晚。但这些装饰，过不了两个月都会渐 渐被换下。生活中的一切仿佛又回到了两个月前，什么都 没发生似的，放假的人们逐渐开始上班，忙碌起来。像圣 诞节，春节这样的节日由很多，而且正随着时间的推移慢 慢变多。也许这是人们赋予自己的一个放松、休息、冲动 的消费的日子。但也就是因为这样的一个个特殊的日子， 以及那天会收到的任何礼物，会有与平日不一样的惊喜 遭遇，都会给一年中剩下的三百天带来数不尽的期许和向 往。因为仪式感，我们一年中有了几个日子可以期待可以 回味，有了更多的美好可以去珍惜，而不是平凡无趣地度 过每一天。 仪式感是生活中微小而又巧妙的较真，它让人们把看 似单调的日常变得更加美好。有些人做饭前总喜欢把食材 一一摆好在砧板上，然后拿出手机找好角度来拍照。等到 料理结束后，又拍好照片，放在社交软件上与别人分享， 这是他们每次下厨时必须进行的，有仪式感的行为。也许 这样小心翼翼的摆放、装盘、拍照对于其他人来说是浪费 时间，是不必要的行为，但这样具有仪式感的行为让那些 在吃这一方面除了饱腹之外有其他要求的人得到了满足。

人的生命就像一条川流不息的大河，有太多的人及 事物来的时候毫无征兆，走的时候悄然无声，我们坐在轻 轻的竹筏上，随着波涛漂流。我想，仪式感是我们为了将 自己剥离于一层层混乱无序生活的手段，是我们身处竹筏 上，在河堤刻上的痕迹。很多时候我们忘记了这条河从哪 里起源，又终将流向哪片大海，剩下的便只是一道道痕 迹。 感谢仪式感带来的生活节奏和幸福感，珍惜脆弱的由 心而生的仪式感。 也许仪式感只是自我安慰，自圆其说，毕竟有没有这 样那样的意识世界依旧会转； 但也许生活中微小的片段，确实因为仪式感变得不 同。它不同，便具有意义。

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最 熟 悉 的 陌 生

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Written by: Happy Wang | Photos by: James Zhang and Maggie Chan

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海是一座错综复杂的城市，有序地混乱着，清醒地沉睡着。 “卖大饼油条咯！”“肉包、菜包、馒头、花卷……”这些曾经出现在 上海的叫卖声渐渐淡下去了，只有街上的喧嚣----赶着去上班的人匆匆 的路过，着急地排队买大饼油条，时不时张望一下前面的队伍又看一眼手表； 背着书包穿着校服的少年少女——貌似没有太大的变化，就好像变成了一场被 消音了的电影，依旧栩栩如生，却少了几分活力。 成排的梧桐树坚挺地站着，星星一样的树叶应着麻雀为他们伴舞；有些叶 儿实在调皮，便挣脱了树枝，随着风儿到处去流浪；阳光懒懒地照下来，像是 在和叶儿完捉迷藏，零零散散地左躲右闪，不盖到叶子。在富有年代感的洋房 旁，这一列列挺拔又柔和的梧桐树好像让人到了外国的街道，迷离的阳光，静 静的风声，好像走在一条乡间小道，城市的喧哗都被两排梧桐树挡在了外面， 用轻轻地沙沙声来完成一幅只有上海才会有的街景，曾经租界内富有各国特色 的洋房，和淡淡点缀在街道上的上海的梧桐树叶。只可惜这样美好的画却没有 什么人会驻足欣赏，人们或在上班，或在去上班的路上，凌乱的脚步声，汽车 的鸣笛声，成为每天上海一定会持续弹奏的清晨交响曲。 这样的上海，是我熟悉的上海。匆忙，又别有风味；马不停蹄的运转着， 又美丽的不停生长，好 像没有什么能阻止它停下前进的脚步，也没有什么能盖过它的风情。 相似的寒暄在弄堂里一遍遍回放，每一扇门前都有着自己的故事。 窄窄的走道，或是门对着门，或是墙对着墙，高高的两边将阳光和风全 挡了去，只留一条细细长长的天空当作屋顶，抬头看天，仿佛墙就要向你倾倒 下去一般，感到一丝紧张却又留恋那一小片随时都在变换的天空。石头铺成的 路让每一样落在上面的东西都发出声响；也许是小孩子蹦跶时候发出的一串串 笑声，也许是水滴破碎时候绽开的声音，也许是弹珠弹到地上时候清脆的撞击 声。只能过两个人的走道却好像承载着数不清的笑声，搓麻将声，哭闹声，灶 炉声，问候声，读书声，数不清的声音在一面面石墙之间回荡。每个经过的 人，只要用心去聆听，便可以听到这些窄窄的，一户紧挨着一户的弄堂在讲故 事，每一块砖都讲述着一代又一代的人在弄堂里的生活，描绘着弄堂里平和又 热闹的生活。世世代代住在弄堂里的人，老人孩子，中年人，他们依旧会在没 事的时候抬起头，透过那看似摇摇欲坠的高墙，望着那一条细细窄窄，却又变 化万千的天空。 这样的上海，我并不熟悉。虽然弄堂里人来人往，看似热闹非常。但当你 把视角向旁边平移一点，你便会看到它是那么安静地躺在上海最繁华的商业街 之一的南京路边，像一个听话的孩子，又像一个祥和的老人，在家门口等待着 忙碌的人群回家。 上南京路站的地铁，便可以看到上海形形色色的人。有的身着西装，一 手提公文包，一手拿着手机，仿佛随时都在待命一样，他们脚步匆匆，目视前 方，对周围发生的事并不感兴趣，但若仔细看他们的眼睛，他们的眼里透露着 些许一种对生活的期待；有的画着精致的妆容，踏着8厘米的高跟鞋，一套用心 搭配好的服装，手提着购物袋或小包，或与同伴聊天或对着手机微笑，一具疲 惫的身体下藏着一颗渴望有人陪伴的心；有的一家几口人带着一个小孩子，或 笑或闹，一手牵了哄着，大家的嘴角便漾出幸福满足的波纹。 还有一些人，他们穿着统一的工服，皱皱的，淡淡的，看上去已经洗了不 知道几遍了。他们肩上背着蛇皮袋或者背包，里面装着沉重的工具和生存的重 担。脚上的运动鞋有些旧了，磨破了的地方也都用补丁补了。手上和脸上都存 着生活带给他们的痕迹，一道道深深的皱纹扒在眼角，厚重的茧攀附在手上， 彰显着劳动者的辛劳。这样的生活改变了他们很多，但嘴角那知足的笑容不会 变，眉间那一抹忧愁不会变，眼里对明天的向往不会变，心里对未来的憧憬不 会变。 他们的生活并不轻松愉快，背井离乡来到一个陌生的城市闯荡，只有靠自 己的双手为自己筑起自己的港湾。住在只有几平米的出租房里，吃着简单的快 餐盒饭，一个大大的水壶里装着一天喝的水，天天埋头苦干，却只能挣到一笔 维持生活的微薄工资。漂泊不定地他们努力地在大城市闯荡出一片自己的立足 之地，可能为的只是给子女一个更好的未来，希望他们以后不用像他们一样辛 苦。 砖块经过他们的手，一块块被垒砌起来，变成一栋栋高耸入云的大厦，而 每一块砖都寄托了一点他们的期望。他们不是上海人，却建造了上海，让上海 JANUARY FEBRUARY 2017

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“它可以 奢华繁荣， 也可以孤独 无依”

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有了它现在的风华。 他们是值得尊敬的。在逆流中奋力前进，为了理想而打拼， 缔造了我们所谓的繁华。 这样的上海，使我知道这一群人的存在，但却从来没有了解 过他们的生活。也许下次，和他们擦肩而过的时候，给他们一个 微笑，看到他们提着大袋子挤公交的时候，给他们让一个座，让 上海对他们来说多一分温暖，多一点人情味。 上海，我生活了15年零7个月的城市。这里是我的出生地，是 我家的所在，但我接触的上海又有多少呢？于我陌生的上海，究 竟有几副我真正熟悉的面孔？站在茫茫人海之中环顾四周，第一 次发现上海是一座多么神秘的城市。它可以奢华繁荣，也可以孤 独无依；它曾是人烟稀少的小渔村，也曾是西方国家的租界；它 穷苦过，也繁荣过；它有着蕴含历史的弄堂，也有着造型摩登的 高楼大厦；它有着无数人梦想的生活，亦有无数人想要改善的命 运。它，有着这样多的面孔，而每一面都会让人为之着魔。 着忙碌的人群回家。 上南京路站的地铁，便可以看到上海形形色色的人。有的 不会变，眉间那一抹忧愁不会变，眼里对明 身着西装，一手提公文包，一手拿着手机，仿佛随时都在待命一 天的向往不会变，心里对未来的憧憬不会 样，他们脚步匆匆，目视前方，对周围发生的事并不感兴趣，但 变。 若仔细看他们的眼睛，他们的眼里透露着些许一种对生活的期 他们的生活并不轻松愉快，背井离乡来到 一个陌生的城市闯荡，只有靠自己的双手为 待；有的画着精致的妆容，踏着8厘米的高跟鞋，一套用心搭配好 自己筑起自己的港湾。住在只有几平米的出 的服装，手提着购物袋或小包，或与同伴聊天或对着手机微笑， 租房里，吃着简单的快餐盒饭，一个大大的 一具疲惫的身体下藏着一颗渴望有人陪伴的心；有的一家几口人 水壶里装着一天喝的水，天天埋头苦干，却 带着一个小孩子，或笑或闹，一手牵了哄着，大家的嘴角便漾出 只能挣到一笔维持生活的微薄工资。漂泊不 幸福满足的波纹。 定地他们努力地在大城市闯荡出一片自己的 还有一些人，他们穿着统一的工服，皱皱的，淡淡的，看 立足之地，可能为的只是给子女一个更好的 上去已经洗了不知道几遍了。他们肩上背着蛇皮袋或者背包，里 未来，希望他们以后不用像他们一样辛苦。 面装着沉重的工具和生存的重担。脚上的运动鞋有些旧了，磨破 砖块经过他们的手，一块块被垒砌起来，变 了的地方也都用补丁补了。手上和脸上都存着生活带给他们的痕 成一栋栋高耸入云的大厦，而每一块砖都寄 迹，一道道深深的皱纹扒在眼角，厚重的茧攀附在手上，彰显着 托了一点他们的期望。他们不是上海人，却 劳动者的辛劳。这样的生活改变了他们很多，但嘴角那知足的笑 建造了上海，让上海有了它现在的风华。 容不会变，眉间那一抹忧愁不会变，眼里对明天的向往不会变， 他们是值得尊敬的。在逆流中奋力前进，为 了理想而打拼，缔造了我们所谓的繁华。 心里对未来的憧憬不会变。 他们的生活并不轻松愉快，背井离乡来到一个陌生的城市闯 这样的上海，使我知道这一群人的存在，但 荡，只有靠自己的双手为自己筑起自己的港湾。住在只有几平米 却从来没有了解过他们的生活。也许下次， 的出租房里，吃着简单的快餐盒饭，一个大大的水壶里装着一天 和他们擦肩而过的时候，给他们一个微笑， 喝的水，天天埋头苦干，却只能挣到一笔维持生活的微薄工资。 看到他们提着大袋子挤公交的时候，给他们 漂泊不定地他们努力地在大城市闯荡出一片自己的立足之地，可 让一个座，让上海对他们来说多一分温暖， 能为的只是给子女一个更好的未来，希望他们以后不用像他们一 多一点人情味。 样辛苦。 上海，我生活了15年零7个月的城市。这里 砖块经过他们的手，一块块被垒砌起来，变成一栋栋高耸入 是我的出生地，是我家的所在，但我接触的 云的大厦，而每一块砖都寄托了一点他们的期望。他们不是上海 上海又有多少呢？于我陌生的上海，究竟有 几副我真正熟悉的面孔？站在茫茫人海之中 人，却建造了上海，让上海有了它现在的风华。 环顾四周，第一次发现上海是一座多么神秘 他们是值得尊敬的。在逆流中奋力前进，为了理想而打拼， 的城市。它可以奢华繁荣，也可以孤独无 缔造了我们所谓的繁华。 依；它曾是人烟稀少的小渔村，也曾是西方 这样的上海，使我知道这一群人的存在，但却从来没有了解 国家的租界；它穷苦过，也繁荣过；它有着 过他们的生活。也许下次，和他们擦肩而过的时候，给他们一个 蕴含历史的弄堂，也有着造型摩登的高楼大 微笑，看到他们提着大袋子挤公交的时候，给他们让一个座，让 厦；它有着无数人梦想的生活，亦有无数人 上海对他们来说多一分温暖，多一点人情味。 想要改善的命运。它，有着这样多的面孔， 上海，我生活了15年零7个月的城市。这里是我的出生地，是 而每一面都会让人为之着魔。 我家的所在，但我接触的上海又有多少呢？于我陌生的上海，究 竟有几副我真正熟悉的面孔？站在茫茫人海之中环顾四周，第一 次发现上海是一座多么神秘的城市。它可以奢华繁荣，也可以孤 独无依；它曾是人烟稀少的小渔村，也曾是西方国家的租界；它 穷苦过，也繁荣过；它有着蕴含历史的弄堂，也有着造型摩登的 高楼大厦；它有着无数人梦想的生活，亦有无数人想要改善的命 运。它，有着这样多的面孔，而每一面都会让人为之着魔。

LITERATURE

To Learn Written by: Lilly Dai

Illustration: Pinterest

Life is bottle caps and rain that never falls A plank of unbalanced wood The points of a snowflake The rock that trips you up The father that never calls When I was two and young I ran away When all the colours and lights All the walls and bricks The paint I had spilled Called for me to stay My friends thought I was rather dumb Why would you leave Why would you run Why did you look and decide Everything felt numb I picked at leaves and shrubs as I walked Saw dark things watching Felt coldness creeping Heard the night fall across the sky As the world and I talked And as I walked, I grew and I thought Where are the sticks The burnt up papers And the sound of sunshine And all the things we brought My journey grew long and I went back Past the darkness The growing children Through the undergrowth I felt the lack I turned my head back one last time To get that last look To feel nostalgia And continued walking At the school bell’s chime JANUARY FEBRUARY 2017

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here’s a horror that grips me when I wake up to the sound of laughter and snowball fights.

“Everyone loves winter. You’re unique, like a snowflake.”

I despise their platitudes. What makes a snowflake any more unique than other things? They say no two snowflakes that are exactly the same, to which I retort: “Well, same could be said for the gravel and pebbles beneath our feet. The only difference is that one falls from the sky, and the other is trampled on.”

Outside the window, children stick their tongues out to catch falling snowflakes.

The air is cold enough so that I can see the wisps of my breath clearly. Beyond my window, the snowflakes fall gently, touching down onto the freshly mowed lawn. A feeling of hibernal melancholy gathers me into its arms. Its embrace is cold.

I never understood why they would compare fresh snow to a blanket covering the ground. Blankets were warm—snow was not.

But then again, there is much I cannot comprehend of what I call the human species. They congregate outside of my doors, stacking heaps of snow up on top of more snow to make what they think is a corpulent replica of themselves: a snowman. The only resemblance I see between the snowmen and the people who make them are that they both wear indissoluble smiles regardless of the fact that there’s nothing around them to smile about.

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I take a sip of what once was hot chocolate.

It is lukewarm. The heat had long been snatched away by the cruel, unforgiving grasp of winter.

What beauty do they see in snow? They claim it’s white and pure, but all I see is gray slush collecting in the crevices. They claim it’s soft, but all I feel is hard, stinging shards of packed ice.

LITERATURE I never understood why people were so intent on standing in the midst of a blizzard.

I never understood why people love winter, when the world kills all warmth and heat and light, when the world issues unwarranted cruelty, when the world leaves me beside a suffocated fireplace struggling to keep alive.

I look over at my door. It’s hanging ajar. Even I do not know whom I am still waiting for. No one’s going to join me by the hearth to hide away from what I perceive as unrelenting cold and bitterness.

I never understood people.

But the flames begin to falter. I start to believe that no smoke is going up the chimney anymore. Because after all this time I know I am fighting for a hopeless cause. I’m alone in my own world where winters are cold and cabins are warm when I know others see the snow as beautiful warmth and me as cold and unaccepting.

I look at the door. The cold I despise is encroaching beyond the threshold. I don’t move to stop it. Because even if I tried, the cold can’t touch me---The cold can’t touch me.

Snow is beginning to pile up at the door. I don’t care. I convince myself that someone will tire of the cold and replace solitude in accompanying me by my fireplace.

The Eye of the Beholder Written by : Sophie Li Illustrations from: Tumblr.com

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LITERATURE My

Little

Angel Written by; Winston Wang My little angel, why do you weep?

Hush now, hush now, quick, go to sleep.

My little angel, why do you cry?

Let’s find the palace high in the sky.

There’s a pavement of gold, And a fountain of honey.

There’s a garden of candy, To fill your hungry tummy.

My little angel, why do you grieve?

Our words of love, you shall receive.

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H

(1)

e was furiously tapping away at his keyboard. He hadn’t slept for nearly twenty hours. The words on the screen were becoming blurry, and he desperately needed rest.

“Son! Where are you? It’s time to go to the hospital,” his mother cried out from below.

“I have a paper to turn in at noon,” he shouted in an irritated voice. “How many times do I have to tell you to stop disrupting me while I’m working!”

“You promised me a week ago that you would go with me to the children’s hospital to visit Jane,” his mother pleaded. “It’s her birthday today, and she’s all alone.”

He sighed. Whatever he was doing had to wait. Jane was a leukemia patient that his mother had met during her job as a volunteer in a local health charity.

His mother had been visiting Jane three times a week for nearly a month now.

He promised his mother that he would visit Jane once winter break started, but he didn’t anticipate that there would be so much schoolwork left to finish. He didn’t want to let his teachers down, but he didn’t want to break his word either.

After all, a promise is a promise. There’s no turning back.

LITERATURE (2) St. Peter’s Children’s Hospital was not large, but it was bustling with activity. Impatient parents were shouting at frantic nurses, and the sounds of crying children intermingled with the sounds of medical equipment being pushed along the main corridor.

Presently, he and his mother arrived at a small room near the end of the left wing. A nurse opened the door to let them in and called out.

“Jane! Some visitors here to see you.”

The room was surprisingly empty.

The walls were bare save for a tiny window near the ceiling. Jane sat on a hospital bed in the center of the room. She was bald and her face was ghastly pale.

Despite her frail appearance, she had an exuberant smile, and one could tell that she used to be quite pretty. There was a notebook on her lap with an unfinished drawing.

She’s hardly ten years old, he thought.

He imagined her to be much older. How was she able to remain optimistic in the face of so terrible a disease?

He saw his mother laying down a hand-woven silk scarf on the table beside the hospital bed. It was scarlet, with the words “My Little Angel” sewn across it in gold cursive letters. “Happy birthday, Jane. I made this for you,” he heard his mother say. “You will look wonderful in it!”

“Thank you,” Jane replied politely. “I will ask the nurse to help me put it on.”

Visitors were not allowed to make physical contact with the patients. It was an inconvenient but necessary precaution.

“What are angels?” Jane asked. She had just seen the words on the scarf.

“Are they the beautiful people with rings of light above their heads?”

“Yes, they are,” he replied eagerly. “They are the winged messengers of God, and they live in a magnificent palace located far, far above in the sky.”

“What is this palace like?” she inquired.

He looked into Jane’s attentive black eyes and spoke with a tone of mysterious excitement.

“Why, it is a palace decorated with colorful gems sparkling as brightly as the sun. There are pavements made of pure gold, fountains flowing with honey, and a garden of candy growing on flowers. The angels sing in heavenly chorus,

(3) with a circle of animals dancing around them.”

“Will I get to go there?” Jane asked with a look of longing.

“Maybe later, if you are a good girl, but not now,” He paused to gather his thoughts. “Promise me that you will stay strong, Jane. There are so many people here that love you, and they would hate to see you leave.”

“I promise.” Jane said feebly.

The nurse came in and announced that visiting time was over. It was time for Jane’s nap. As he walked towards the door, he felt an inexplicable sense of peace and happiness.

“Thank you,” Jane replied politely. “I will ask the nurse to help me put it on.”

Visitors were not allowed to make physical contact with the patients. It was an inconvenient but necessary precaution.

“What are angels?” Jane asked. She had just seen the words on the scarf.

“Are they the beautiful people with rings of light above their heads?”

“Yes, they are,” he replied eagerly.

“They are the winged messengers of God, and they live in a magnificent palace located far, far above in the sky.”

“What is this palace like?” she inquired.

He looked into Jane’s attentive black eyes and spoke with a tone of mysterious excitement.

“Why, it is a palace decorated with colorful gems sparkling as brightly as the sun. There are pavements made of pure gold, fountains flowing with honey, and a garden of candy growing on flowers. The angels sing in heavenly chorus, with a circle of animals dancing around them.”

“Will I get to go there?” Jane asked with a look of longing.

“Maybe later, if you are a good girl, but not now,” He paused to gather his thoughts. “Promise me that you will stay strong, Jane. There are so many people here that love you, and they would hate to see you leave.”

“I promise.” Jane said feebly.

The nurse came in and announced that visiting time was over. It was time for Jane’s nap. As he walked towards the door, he felt an inexplicable sense of peace and happiness.

Four days had passed, and memories of the hospital visit were already becoming foggy.

When he returned home from a party with his friends, he was shocked to see his mother crying. He did not understand.

“She’s gone, son… she’s gone,” his mother sobbed.

“Who’s gone, mother?” he asked in a puzzled tone.

“Jane.” It was only one word, but it shattered his heart. The terrible truth was beginning to dawn upon him.

“How?” All he could utter was an exasperated gasp.

His mother explained that Jane was diagnosed with an extremely rare and deadly case of leukemia. When her parents learned that she only had a few weeks left to live, they signed an agreement allowing the doctors to subject her to an experimental treatment method. Everything appeared to be going smoothly until last night when she suddenly began bleeding internally. The doctor’s tried their best to save her.

A pang of guilt struck him. He never knew that Jane’s illness was in a terminal condition. He was ashamed of his selfishness. Why hadn’t he visited Jane sooner? Never had death felt so real and so menacing! In a frenzy of anger, he flew out the house, and roared at the top of his lungs. He cursed the world for its cruelty as the winter wind pierced his neck with a thousand icicles of despair.

Then, he caught sight of a small flap of paper hanging out from the mailbox.

It was an envelope from the St. Peter’s Children’s Hospital. Tearing the envelope open, he found a folded piece of notebook paper.

It was a crudely drawn crayon painting, but he found it to be strikingly beautiful. There was a golden gate and a colorful palace sitting above the clouds.

Several angels stood around a fountain in happy chorus. And right there, in the center, was an angel shorter than the rest, with a scarlet scarf wrapped around her neck.

He could not help but smile, even as tears flowed down his cheek. For a moment, the darkness in his heart dispersed, and he looked towards the sky in wonder.

There she was. He knew she was there. He could even see her smile.

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JACKIE AND DONGJU Written by: Emily Teng | Photos by: Mark Wu and James Zhang

A

s the stage lights dimmed, the auditorium gradually fell silent.

A single beam of light illuminates two performers – Jackie Seog and Dongju Shin. They walked up to the microphones and began their beatbox debut.

“Everything you just heard and everything you are about to hear are all produced by our mouths.”

As a member of the audience, I was amazed at how they were able to use their mouths, lips, tongues and voices to generate sounds that one might never expect to come from the human body. With this curiosity at heart, I interviewed these two talented junior “human percussions” one afternoon at school.

Beat Dropped: How It All Started

It is hard to imagine that both Dongju and Jackie only started beatboxing a year and a half ago. When I ask them why they started, they answer simultaneously, “It’s cool.”

Cool – just that simple reason. “You can bring the beat wherever you go and it’s just a form of entertainment,” says Jackie. Since their first beats vibrated the air, the two 11th graders have continued this hobby with persistence and passion.

For Dongju, beatboxing started with a casual walk. “I remember we were walking down the street and [Jackie] just suddenly started beatboxing and

told me to learn it too. The next thing I know he was teaching me beatboxing for thirty minutes.” He confides that he secretly wanted to give up then, but was afraid to hurt his friend’s feelings.

Jackie, on the other hand, says that he used to always make random beats with his mouths, but really started beatboxing after once seeing his cousin execute some basic beats. Jackie was tempted to do it himself and then started searching for videos.

Formation of a Beat

Secretly attempting to beatbox, I find my “beats” to be more of air and saliva than concrete sounds. Thus, I decided to ask the two experts: how did they learn beatboxing? They answered with two pieces of advice: practice and visualization.

Practice has always seemed to be the answer for everything, and Dongju gave a personal anecdote of how consistent practice and training eventually helped him. He said that learning the K snare, one of the basic sounds of beatbox that mimics the snare drum, took him a week of making this same sound repeatedly. “Jackie was always training me, so one day when I was walking, I tried to make this noise for thirty minutes. Then when I got home, I knew how to do it,” he said. Jackie also agreed that practice is key for improvement, “There is a significant difference from a beat that was practiced for 30 minutes and one

practiced for months and years. If you keep honing them, they will only sound better every time.”

The second piece of advice initially seemed rather absurd, so they explained to me how visualization helps beatboxing. “Online tutorials will tell you these theoretical things, such as blocking your throat with your tongue, inhale and create vibration”, says Dongju, “You need to try to visualize this whole process and then suddenly you will get that epiphany.” Building on this comment, Jackie adds, “it is all about seeing the friction of air.” Following what they said, I imagined the air rising from my stomach and nostrils and eventually concentrating in both my cheeks until I push it through my teeth by pressuring my lips. After around 5 seconds, I finally squeezed out a “b”. Yet, it was still flat and empty. Just when I was attempting to repeat the previous motion, Jackie made a Kick, a “buh” sound that was loud and concrete resonated with the surrounding air. Practice makes perfect, I reminded myself.

Art Festival Performance

Having the courage to showcase their skills after just one and half years of learning, they ranted on about the process of forming the final art festival performance that was seen by the entire high school department. Behind their performance was both of

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STUDENT JOURNAL them pouring time and thoughts in practicing and constructing the original number. Taking what they had watched from tutorials, the duo gathered and modified past ideas into their own coherent performance, perfecting it until the day before Art Festival. Drastically changing the number they used during the auditions, both of admitted to be distressed in a couple of instances, but agreed that the pressure motivated them to produce such a creative piece. Through throwing out ideas and suggestions to each other, they eventually found the concept of a metronome to be quite intriguing. “We came up with ‘Metronome’ as our group name and added the sounds of a metronome into our performance as well,” said Jackie.

Their debut received overwhelmingly positive feedbacks. Jackie noted the elevation of awareness fellow students had on beatboxing soon after their performance. “I always beatbox in the hallway during recess,” Jackie said, “but after [the] Art Festival, my friends started to actually take notice of it and sometimes other students would come up and commend our performance”.

“You need to try visualizing this whole process, and then suddenly, you will get that epiphany.”

The Beat Goes On

When most of us listen to beatboxing, the best compliment that we manage to muster borders a squeak of exclamation, “That sounds really cool!!!” However, this technical skill certainly encompasses more than mere suave, and only professional beatboxers have the critical ears to detect the intricacies within. As a beatbox outsider, I was interested to step into the theoretical world and understand what improvement, inspiration and creativity mean in the realm of beatboxing.

Explaining the notion of “improvement” in beatbox, Jackie explained, “It is not only about the beat. There are a ton of skills you can add to it” such as filling up vacant spaces, making the transitions smoother, or adding different techniques and phases. Jackie commented that beatboxing is like playing an instrument. There is always

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- Dongju, on how to beatbox

room for improvement.

This continuous practice means to constantly invent and add new sounds and beats into their personal repertoires. Where do they get their inspirations and creativities?

“I watch a lot of beatboxing online and then Dongju watches me,” Jackie says humorously, “There are a lot of beatboxers out there, but I would say my favorite is Two. H.” Besides watching other beatboxers, Jackie also said that he would just beatbox any time and record bits and pieces on his phone to gather his ideas.

When asked if they have ever considered beatboxing as a possible career choice, both students immediately shook their heads. “If we beatbox everyday for the next ten years, then it might be possible,” laughs Jackie. For both of them, beatboxing has been a form of entertainment and a source of relief from the pressure of school.

As their passion has only grown, they agree that they will continue beatboxing as a hobby and want to spread their enthusiasm to others.

Jackie admitted that he considers to open a beatboxing club next year, which I believe many like me will rush to join.

Throughout the interview, my most memorable part was when a student’s phone rang in the room, and Dongju and Jackie started mimicking the sound of the ringtone, and gradually incorporated more and more beats, constructing a coherent performance right on the spot.

Immediately I was brought back to their Art Festival performance, when the curtains lifted and the spotlight was casted upon these two boys as they introduced themselves, “Hello, we are Metronome,” following a breath of meticulously designed beats and a wave of applause. Sharing several classes with Dongju, I would have never imagined the quiet classmate that I take English with is the same person on the stage that day. I hope that they will take part of Art Festival next year, and cannot help but wish more talented individuals like them will showcase their passion and interests amongst us.

STUDENT JOURNAL

CHASING the

WRITER DREAM Written by: Laurie Yang | Photos taken by: Mark Wu

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M

any of us have dreamt of writing fictions and creating a Hogwarts of our own. But what does it take to pursue this? Today we invite you to take a peek into the lives of two SHSIDers who strive to be writers. Yol Cheng is a sophomore who writes online teenage fictions. Although new to the field, she is learning surprisingly fast. Michael Shi is a senior student who has published novels that comment on the adverse effects of technology on human progress. To these two, authorship is no longer a distant goal.

Yol Cheng When Yol first told me about her writer dream, I knew she wasn’t joking around. What I didn’t know was that she embarked on that dream almost right away. After a semester, the results took me entirely by surprise. Well, who would have guessed that a 10th grade girl has already published a novel with over ten thousand online reads?

There must be a “first time” to everything: Like many of us, Yol started off by keeping diaries as a kid. But she took her writing to the next level. In ninth grade, Yol made her first attempt at publishing stories online, her first piece being a 30 chapter novel about friendship. In it, she expresses the everyday struggle of teenage girls and the awards of genuine friendships, sending a positive message to the readers. However, Yol soon found that “the plot was going too fast” and resolved to delete the entire novel. Later, she overcame this problem by limiting the events told in each chapter.

Take it seriously:

After the failure of her first attempt, Yol realized that writing is not as easy as she imagined it to be. To perfect her style, she started taking Optional and Academy courses on writing, paying more attention in English class, and building up a strong vocabulary. She play with the concept of incorporating allusions to Shakespeare’s classics into the modern

settings of her own writing. “I love to use Shakespeare because I can take his timeworn works and make them less clichéd through my modern settings.”

For Yol, time is the biggest obstacle.

Having promised her readers to update a new chapter every Friday, she needs to arrange her time to meet that deadline. One Friday, despite extreme fatigue, she still pushed herself to write a new chapter. “I rushed through everything,” she admits, “and my readers were disappointed.” Since then, she has always planned out each chapter well before Friday. Now, wherever she is, whenever inspiration strikes, she’d jot it down. Even on the school bus, you can see her taking out an iPhone to record an interesting conversation. Her explanation: “I could use it in my story.”

Connecting with the readers:

There is real magic in the way which literature bridges the authors and readers. Weighed down by the busy school schedule, Yol once considered dropping her story altogether, yet her fans kept her going, warming her heart with encouraging comments and mails. “I feel obliged to finish my story for the people who truly enjoy it.” Readers are inspired

by Yol’s stories — and in turn, our young author has earned their gratitude and support. Each new story and encouragement adds to her experience, making her a better writer. Now, Yol’s goal is to publish paperback versions of her stories before graduating from high school.

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STUDENT JOURNAL

Michael Shi A few paces away from Yol in SHSID’s Xian Mian Building, another student is also laboring restlessly with his work. While Yol’s novels are bright, Michael’s novels are on the opposite of the spectrum, enthralling the readers with dark mysteries.

Breathtaking.

That is what I would use to describe Michael’s maiden work, Incentive. Inspired by Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, Incentive paints a futuristic world in which technology services mankind’s everyday needs and human contact becomes unnecessary. The huge disparity between the city and rural areas has resulted in two civilizations, each completely detached from the other. When duty sends Jack, the main character, on a quest to the countryside, he is startled by his discovery— that rural people aren’t’t just “savages” or “barbarians” as depicted in city media, and that humans are capable of “loving” each other, something long lost in the urban world.

An exaggerated depiction of realistic issues in the 21st century, Incentive is filled with scorching irony, warning its readers that “knowledge” misused could make man more ignorant than before. With the narratives told from different perspectives, the entire book is a jigsaw puzzle for the reader to solve. Some feel that the metaphors in the book are confusing, and Michael himself admits, “I honestly do

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not understand some of the things I wrote. I put them purposefully to lead the readers to think”. He believes that a good writer should not provide definitive answers but leave everything open to the readers’ interpretation. Now, Incentive is published on Amazon, along with Michael’s most recent work, Imagine. Michael plans on getting his books into bookstores right when he gets to college.

“I honestly do not understand some of the things I wrote. I put them purposefully to lead the readers to think”.

How did it all start?

Growing up in a small town in England, Michael spent the bulk of his time in a local library, reading all the books that he could get his hands on. “I practically lived there,” he recalls after eight years. After countless hours of reading, he was fascinated by how the authors could weave such intricate webs to entrap the readers, leading them deeper and deeper into the heart of mysteries. He began to notice patterns of descriptive and narrative techniques that recur in several novels. Writing came naturally for Michael, “one day, I just picked up a pen and started writing."

Michael took up writing seriously in ninth grade. After several un-

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finished projects, he finally completed Incentive over the winter break. “To think of an idea is easy,” admits Michael, “but to persist is the real challenge.” Incentive was brainstormed in about half an hour, but the actual writing took a few hours each day for over 30 consecutive days.

Finding freedom: For Michael, writing has grown from a hobby into a special way of life. “With writing, I can do whatever I want, say whatever I want, be whatever I want. If I want a fire-breathing dragon to ride a bicycle through Central Park, a fire-breathing dragon will ride a bicycle through Central Park.”

While reading opens up our eyes to more possibilities, writing allows us to create endless possibilities. It’s like being God. As Michael puts it, “I have at my fingertips access to a whole new world, a world which answers to me and me alone… Nothing else will ever give you this much freedom.”

Writers find freedom when they deploy language at their will, breathing life into nonliving words. Michael and Yol have found their freedom in writing and stuck with it. Some say that whatever grants you the most freedom, is where your truest passion resides. So, when a deep voice bubbles up from the bottom of your heart, it is time to chase after your own dream. Who knows? You might even become the next Picasso or Ray Bradbury.

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Keep the Screen Away Before You Sleep Written by: Andrew Mi Photo from: lifesitenews.com

I

t is no cutting-edge discovery that most inhabitants of the modern world are extremely attached to their phones. We reach for our phones the moment we open our eyes in the morning and often go to bed right after checking mobile notifications.

Yet this occurrence may have a drastic effect on people’s health, as being exposed to screens in shortly before sleeping may lead to insomnia. This adversely affects people’s productivity, making them blurry-eyed sleepwalkers in the morning. However, this can be deftly avoided with a number of simple solutions.

Insomnia due to phone usage before sleep can be explained by humans’ biological reaction to certain spectrums of light emitted by screens. Generally, blue light is associated with daytime, and visible blue light emitted by screens can be especially disruptive to the human body due to our biological sensitivity. A high level of blue light inducese the brain to suppress me-

latonin, a chemical that entices sleep.

Studies from Harvard University and the Scientific American Journal both agree that being exposed to blue light will disturb a person’s biological clock.

Even if you are able to fall asleep, your biological clock will still be impacted, and it can lead to many undetected yet harmful effects: those who look at screens before they sleep may feel more tired than those who do not; key processes of organs may be inhibited; and risks of cancer and heart disease may be dramatically increased.

Limit device usage on school days may be easier said than done. Homework communication happens over social media, and the draw of a relaxing video game and friends’s WeChat messages is simply too momentous. However, there are solutions that can ensure a healthier lifestyle. One way you can work around this is to complete computer or phone-based homework assignments earlier in the evening. Set time periods during which you will re-

spond to texts or surf the Internet, so not only will you sleep better, but your health will also be boosted. If your fingers truly itch for the smooth touchscreen, there are glasses that filter away that pesky blue light substantially. if you have an iPhone, turn on the Night Shift mode during the evening. This mode reduces the blue light emitted by shifting the hues of the screen to the warmer end of the light spectrum. For other devices such as computers and android phones, there are applications such as f.lux and Twilight that serve similar purposes.

Though the lure of electronic devices may be great, gradually reducing device usage right before you sleep is a small step in the right direction. After all, in the grand scheme of things, having better health is much more important than scrolling down Moments or playing another game of Wangzhe.

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Modular Devices:

Nintendo Leading the Game Written by: Eric Fan | Photo from: youtube.com

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W

hen do we see a Next-Gen device? When they can transform.

Pick up your phone. See how it’s in one piece? Well, modular devices, on the other hand, are in multiple pieces known as modules. With a modular phone, when you don’t have your Beats speakers near while practicing outside for the Art Festival next year, all you have to do is pull out a part of your phone, attach a better speaker module, and you will hear music.

Modular devices are essentially LEGO bricks. They come in different colors and shapes, some with more advanced functions than others. Ultimately, the bricks come together to form a larger creation. With thousands of possible combinations of functions and appearances, the right arrangements hold the power to revolutionize our hardware industry.

Google became the vanguard in developing modular devices. Around two years ago, Google's Advanced Technology and Projects group (ATAP) released the video, “Project Ara: Part of It.” The video showcases a main board with several slots where module including high-resolution cameras, louder speakers, more batteries, night vision, and replaceable screens that can be inserted through USB Type-C Ports. At first, updates on the project were posted regularly, but as less and less news was heard, fans were left wondering if the project was still possible. Finally, around the end of 2016, Google announced the suspension of Project Ara, as the lead developer and numerous mem-

bers of the crew had left Google for Facebook.

After Google, LG and Motorola released the LG G5 and the Moto Z respectively. Both promised the ability to upgrade your phone by swapping and rearranging new parts and modules, but neither had luck in meeting their expectations. Sure, the Type-C port that contains Intel’s Thunderbolt 3 technology made possible devices that detach, like the Microsoft Surface Book, but the main problem of modular devices resides in the development of a centralized operating system. If you

build computers, you know how long it takes to upgrade your graphics card and download the respective drivers required to make the new graphics card compatible with the current system. Even if a redesigned Android system was able to handle the frequently rearranged hardware, compatibility and safety issues will still persist.

In the midst of Google’s failing venture, however, Nintendo, a com-

pany that delivers, surprised gamers with the announcement of the Nintendo Switch. The Switch is a hybrid console that can be played either on the go as a tablet, or docked at home on a TV. The tablet has two detachable “Joy-Con” controllers. Each controller can be used independently as a wireless motion controller for mini-games like Quick Draw and Samurai Training in the 1-2-Switch game pack, or snapped on to the tablet to form a gamepad to experience classic Mario in the upcoming Super Mario Odyssey. The tablet also has a kickstand that two players can crowd around when playing on the go. Using Bluetooth technology, two Switches can be placed back to back for two-on-two local multiplayer gaming. Evidently, with just a few parts, the Switch adapts to different environments with its various forms. What this means is that game developers can invent a wide range of games without worrying about compatibility. It also means that more different accessories and gadgets can be built and attached to the Switch for even more diverse gameplay. In fact, the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller, a standard console controller, has already been featured in the trailer video for more complex gameplay with the Switch.

Nintendo is the final straw. If the Switch fails, perhaps it would also mean the end of modular devices. Luckily, Nintendo has already released the product to limited populations on January 13th. The official magazine has also arrived in February. Reviews are coming soon, and hopefully, the product will be perfected before its public release.

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Behind Zuckerberg’s

Smart Home Jarvis Written by: Raymond Cheng | Photo from: ibtimes.com

While Jarvis is a well-rounded, convenient, and practical solution for automating appliances in the home through pioneering technologies, there are also a few notable obstacles that prevent it from becoming better.

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M

ark Zuckerberg is one of the most innovative technology entrepreneurs in the world, but did you know that he sets an annual challenge for himself ? His challenge for 2016 was to build a smart home system for his family. Smart home refers to the automation and control of home appliances and devices, such as lighting control systems, media control systems, and household security systems in the household. Jarvis, the smart home system that Mark Zuckerberg built, is a simple AI that can control his home, including lights, temperature, appliances, music, and security. Zuckerberg can interact with it through his phone and computer and receive responses from Jarvis in the voice of Morgan Freeman!

While Jarvis is a well-rounded, convenient, and practical solution for automating appliances in the home through pioneering technologies, there are also a few notable obstacles that prevent it from becoming better.

The first step of establishing Jarvis, or any smart home system, is to connect it to a network. By applying network capabilities to the lights, thermostats, and doors, Zuckerberg can then control the brightness of the lights, the temperature of the rooms, and the locks of the doors with a touch on his smartphone.

He also enables networking in his music and camera systems to allow for more flexibility and control over his entire house. Music can be played in any room with the attached speakers, and the camera systems are linked to the network for more convenient surveillance of the house. Thus, all information can be easily managed and accessed. Since the home devices are all connected in a network, Zuckerberg and his family can instantly tend to their own needs by controlling nearly every aspect of their house wirelessly. If you are amazed by the benefits of this connectivity, try searching up smart home devices such as Amazon Echo, which allows you to control everything from lights to music to TV just by voice recognition, so you learn the advantages of using a smart home system!

The next step in building an interactive smart home system is the implementation of more powerful technologies. Speech and facial recognition technologies are essential components of a smart home system. Zuckerberg created a voice assistant for the house so that easy commands, such as “unlock the door” and “turn on the microwave,” can be fulfilled with spoken words. The voice assistant can also complete more intelligent tasks, like responding to “play my favorite album” and providing song suggestions. In order for the voice assistant to actually know what the commands mean, Zuckerberg also integrated natural language processing, an algorithm that allows Jarvis to understand the text converted from speech and the user’s intentions through the translated text. With this, Jarvis can successfully accept the commands and complete the tasks the Zuckerberg family orders. For example, the sentence “bake some bread” can be interpreted and analyzed, so Jarvis

knows the intention of the speaker is to actually bake bread. Without the technology, it simply cannot differentiate the statement from “bake a potato” since it would not be able to know what the words mean at all. However, the voice recognition systems and natural language processing of Jarvis also experience certain technical restrictions. For example, “what do you think about my new sweater” is relatively more difficult for them to recognize and interpret than “shoot me my T-shirt,” a more specific task. It is more difficult for Jarvis to respond to more general inquiries rather than particular commands. Next time you approach a system like Jarvis, try saying something like “My name is not Eggs” and expect a strange answer like “From now on, I’ll call you ‘Not Eggs,’ OK”.

Another part that cannot be left out is the addition of face recognition, which permits Jarvis to recognize objects and people. Zuckerberg implemented computer vision on the cameras at his front door, so the person on his doorsteps can be accurately identified. He also uses it to monitor his daughter Max, checking whether she is awake and moving around in her crib. Nonetheless, the downside of facial recognition is that a large number of sensors and cameras is also needed to make the system less prone to misinterpretations. Imagine the costs of setting up five cameras at different angles watching your front door just to make your house safer.

That would undoubtedly add up to high expenses.

Mark Zuckerberg’s Jarvis is a quintessential model of modern smart home systems. It enhances his family’s standard of living by implementing useful functionalities and convenient benefits.

Jarvis’s powerful technologies, including speech recognition, natural language processing demonstrate their farreaching capabilities. Although Jarvis is limited by certain imperfections, it still offers a decent overall experience for the Zuckerberg family. I am sure that you too will experience unprecedented enjoyment and be blown away by its features when you encounter a smart home system!

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Shanghai High School International Division 400 Shang Zhong Road Shanghai, China 200231 Website: www.shsid.org