Tiger Times Volume 47 Issue 5 by SIS Tiger Times

s e o u l i n t e r nat i o na l s c h o o l

Tiger Times VO L U ME X LV I I

December 2015

ISSUE 5

T T O N L . O RG

KASA flea market opens

(Left to Right) Advertising for an eco-friendly water bottle, Somi Kim (10), Amy Kim (10), and Hailey Lee (10) present their items to Mr. Syverson during the Flea Market by KASA on Nov. 25th. The money collected in the event was used to help animals in the upcoming KASA trip to Busan.

Diverging from the bake sales of the past, the Korean Animal Service Association (KASA), hosted its first flea market on Nov. 25 after a delay due to hazardous levels of micro-particles on Oct. 21. Selling anything from scarves to books, KASA sold merchandise to fund its mission of rescuing abused animals. “The past year was eventful for KASA,” said Karen Joo (10), KASA secretary. “We raised funds through bake sales and helped animals in need with those funds. We actively visited animal shelters where we swept away feces, cleaned cages, and set up beds. But because we needed to earn more revenue, we decided to take a different approach with the flea market.” At prices ranging from 10,000 won to 30,000 won, students could purchase a wide spectrum of secondhand merchan-

#PrayforParis: Slacktivism on SNS VIEWPOINT by Nicholas Kim

Photo by Daniel Shin

dise, all of which were donated by KASA members in support of the club’s cause. Each member was tasked to rummage through their belongings for seemingly useless items that could be utilized by others. “We realized that some of the things we regarded as expendable or unnecessary could be useful to other students,” said Evelyn Baek (10), KASA member. “Merchandise such as SAT textbooks, clothes, and other school supplies are things that students would want or maybe even need. I myself donated SAT textbooks and phone cases.” Hosted alongside the last basketball home game of the season, many attendees of the game also attended the flea market. “While on my way to watch the basketball game, I ran into the flea market and looked around for around 10 minutes,”

Justin Lee (11) said. “Although I didn’t buy anything, it was interesting to merely look at the items being sold. The flea market was a valuable experience and a great way for our school to get together and raise school spirit while supporting a good cause.” Many students, such as Elliot Nam (10), who attended the flea market found the variety of items being sold unexplainably attractive and found themselves compelled to make a purchase to support KASA. “I was passing by the flea market and found many of the items like the phone cases, DVDs, and school supplies,” Elliot said. “There was a wide variety of things to buy, most of which I can’t buy even at the school store, but I settled on buying a book.” The event was seen as successful especially since it was the first ever flea market but KASA executives still found room for

Race to 2016: Ben Carson

Fundamentalism in the media

China’s economic impact on the West

NEWS by Andrew Ham

FOCUS by Marie Park

LIFESTYLE by Diana Lee

improvement in following years. Problems in promotion as well as the pricing of the products prevented the flea market from being a complete success. “Keeping in mind that this was our first flea market, I think we did well – although it wasn’t a total success, it was a good start,” said Sarah Hahn (12), KASA president. “I saw a lot of interest from both students and teachers. We definitely should try to advertise more because not a lot of people knew what the flea market was so we should have more announcements, posters, and flyers to promote. Organization would be another aspect to improve on especially since a lot of items were sold below its price range.” By Justin Chang Sophomore, Staff Writer

Editorial

Fundraising: method over outcome The ends do not always justify the means. In fact, the means are often more important, especially when it comes to fundraisers. At SIS, clubs often focus more on the quantitative end result of fundraisers—the money—rather than the fundraising method itself. The importance, however, of charity events is not just that that they raise money; it is that they bring an increased awareness of certain causes, as well as a sense of community and the spirit of giving. SIS clubs and organizations have good intentions when they raise money. Whether it be to support a trip to Cambodia through selling baked goods or sending Christmas presents to a local orphanage, clubs put in a lot of time and effort behind the scenes in order to make the fundraiser a success. However, much of the focus is on the end result—the money itself—rather than the fundraising methods themselves. After all, by definition, a successful fundraiser is one that sponsors the necessary amount of money. While this is obviously important, as the funding goes toward serving a good cause, too much of an emphasis on the quantitative result makes it easy to forget or ignore the value of the specific fundraising method itself. The ideal fundraiser is inherently valuable, not only because it brings in the funds to support a certain cause, but also because it unites the community in an active way. Club members who spend days organizing the event develop an increased interest in the cause at hand, as well as pride in their involvement. Participants—those who may not have managed the event but still pitched in— also develop a sense of pride in their contribution to the cause. Successful fundraisers ultimately work because of the pride that club members and participants hold as a result of their involvement. So instead of focusing on the numbers, it is important to reevaluate the quality of the fundraising method. Often, donations are misunderstood to be fundraisers. In actuality, however, the two do not hold the same value. For instance, let’s say that a club started a so-called “fundraiser” in which individual club members would have to meet a certain quota of donation money. Members would walk around the school, asking their fellow classmates and teachers for money to help fund a certain cause. If they didn’t meet the minimum amount of money, they would simply pay for the remaining amount of money themselves. Although donations may have the same effect on the donor, it does not bring the organizing club together in the same way fundraisers do. Earning through donations is decidedly efficient and realistic; after all, many globally established organizations stand only on money earned through voluntary donations. It must be noted, however, that fundraisers are more effective in bringing a sense of community and giving because they require the effort of the masses - something that the individual nature of donations neglects. Whether it be through baking or creating art, fundraisers allow participants to invest more time and effort into their involvement, bringing important values of unity and camaraderie to the table.

Let yourself be heard. If you have any responses to articles published in Tiger Times or original contributions, please send them to tigertimes@ gmail.com

VIEWPOINT

GPA strategies: skipping your way to an

A+

“I’m not coming to school tomorrow,” someone boasts. “Why?” “I have an AP Biology test,” he admits, “and I’m just not ready.” By Andrew Ham

nd how will our “just-notready” student get out of class? In many cases, he will feign illness and not come to school—although it is certainly given that some students will be genuinely sick, coincidentally on the day of their tests. Despite what the common perception may have been in middle school, the doctor’s note that is currently necessary to justify an absence can actually be easily obtained, according to a few students who are apparently experienced in the craft. In order to test their tried-andtrue method, I decided to pay a trip to my local hospital last week. At first I had been considering faking my symptoms and seeing if the doctor would pick up on what I meant, but eventually I decided to come out straight with it. “I have a test tomorrow and have to be ‘sick’ not to go to school,” I explained in Korean—and to my surprise, the doctor nodded in tacit understanding. She then printed out a legitimate letter explaining that I had caught the cold. When I arrived home, I compared my new letter with one I had from last month when I had been legitimately sick and therefore had to use the note to sit out during swimming class. They were precise mirror images, of course, because all the doctor had to do was print a generic letter with information filled in by her computer. Now, obviously my experience could be simply mine alone, as it depended on a very specific set of factors such as the hospital I visited and the specific doctor who was in

her office at the time. However, if we reason through the established facts, it quickly becomes quite clear that there cannot possibly be another way in which students can excuse themselves from school if they were to use fraudulent sick absences. It is commonly established that many students who are not ill somehow obtain doctor’s notes proclaiming that they are—and often, they are only “sick” for a targeted day. Additionally, the relative ease and understanding my doctor showed when I explained my dilemma while struggling simultaneously with the rest of my broken Korean suggested that she was accustomed to such a task—and I doubt that my hospital is the only one visited by such students. If this is the case, there are two main parties at fault here. One, the doctors—who, by the Hippocratic Oath, have sworn to “fulfill, to the best of [their] ability, the health of their patients” instead of helping teenagers fake their way out of school. However, condemning the doctors would only do so much as long as a demand still exists for false diagnoses, and prosecuting them would be an entirely different matter out of the authority of the school—which is why the second party, the students, are at primary fault in this issue. It should be the leadership team’s job to establish rules regarding sick days and the obligations students have, and that job has actually been satisfactorily completed. It should not be the leadership team’s job to hound on individual students in order to keep them accountable for their own education. In fact, there is not much, legally, the leadership team can do any further to ensure

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student participation than what is established in its current policies. It cannot reduce the number of given absences to students, as that would harm a majority for the actions of a minority. It cannot track individual students and make sure that they are truly sick before allowing them to stay home, as that would be a logistical nightmare and raise multiple privacy concerns at the same time. In this way, mutual trust and accountability is required between the two parties in order to allow such a system to work. Therefore, this becomes a matter of personal integrity and character, just like many issues at SIS tend to boil down to—and once again, we have failed in a test that asseses our moral values. Now, not only is it insufficient to marginalize school education by receiving outside help on schoolwork through the traditional hagwon system, but we must disregard it altogether by simply not showing up to class. By dropping out on whim, students wreck the schedules so carefully planned by teachers, who then have to arrange individual make-up assessments. Teachers should not be obligated to go out of their way to accommodate those who purposefully miss school and therefore blatantly disregard their authority. Students at SIS must realize that their repute is suffering another setback, exacerbating their reputations as ultra-competitive and grades-occupied with the advent of yet another GPA-raising strategy. In order to preserve the legitimacy of school and to justify the time and money families invest in such an education, students should reserve their absences only for legitimate issues.

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Tiger Times December 2015

Posts on social media are more than pretentious prayers From flag-tinted profile pictures to images of the peace sign merged with the Eiffel tower, social media was recently flooded with photos and phrases expressing condolences to those suffering from the attacks in Paris. Millions of people around the world shared their prayers for Paris through social networking systems such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. But what are the implications of publicly displaying one’s grief for tremendous, unprecedented tragedies, such as the bombings in Paris? Does it spread a phony culture in which people feel morally and socially obligated to post pretentious statuses on Facebook? Or should people see the more genuine message it tries to send—that the world can, and should, be united in times of struggle? For some it may seem as though uploading and sharing photos with the caption #PrayforParis is insincere and shallow. After all, it only takes a few seconds to post a photo or status on social media, and some consider such behavior to contribute to what is now known as “slacktivism.” However, there are numerous benefits to actively displaying one’s sorrow after a tragedy. The impact of social media is much greater than often perceived, and the potential advantages that can arise from it cannot be overlooked. Social networking systems have the advantage of being able to spread information quickly and easily, and such characteristics can be taken advantage of when it comes to social crises worthy of attention from all generations. The fast dissemination of ideas raises awareness at a much faster pace, allowing more people around the world to become exposed to these societal issues more quickly. Such benefits are heightened when celebrities such as Sam Smith, who has nearly four million followers on Twitter, or politically influential figures such as US Vice President Joe Biden share their thoughts on the war against terror, since they are

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eminent figures followed, or even idolized, by numerous fans and supporters. This, eventually, leads to a greater number of donations; in fact, over 9,470 blood donations were made for Parisian victims just three days after the attack. Social media also fosters solidarity, as people of different races, genders, and religion all unite to support a single cause. It promotes a sense of unity all around the world, which is difficult to achieve when prayers are made individually. As noted landmarks such as the Sydney Opera House of Australia, Calgary Tower of Canada, and the World Trade Center of the United States are all lit up in shades of red, white, and blue in honor of the victims of Paris, nations are accorded in harmony with one another, displaying unanimity and cohesion. According to Bill de Blasio, Mayor of New York, the spire of One World Trade Center was illuminated in red, white, and blue to show that the entire city’s hearts and prayers are with the people of Paris. De Blasio elaborated that the citizens of New York are especially able to empathize with Parisian victims, as they experienced similar terrorist attacks during the 9/11 attacks. Having said this, it is important to realize that whether someone chooses to express hope and sorrow in solitude or chooses to post a status to raise awareness and encourage others to mourn in unison, the method of sharing sorrow should not be the standard for judging one’s sincerity. Temporarily putting the overlay of a French flag on one’s profile picture does not do any harm, just as refraining from doing anything publicly does not necessarily indicate indifference. Though to some it may seem pretentious, showing one’s condolences through social media is a practice that cannot be deemed harmful. By Sarah Kim Junior, Staff Writer

Slacktivism in face of Paris attacks unproductive to healing process

Responding to the sudden Paris bombings on Nov. 16, Facebook introduced a new feature that would allow individuals to overlay the tricolors of the French flag on their profile pictures. However, what seems to be a well-intentioned action to show solidarity with the Parisians is actually counterproductive in that it does not offer a tangible method to fix the situation. Whether it be the movement to bring notorious African war criminal Kony to justice, or the #BringBackOurGirls campaign, it has become increasingly easy to “join” social movements. Slacktivism, which refers to the actions via the Internet in support of political causes, has been hailed as a way to mobilize social change. Sadly, with such little involvement, the campaigns have often fizzled out: Kony remains at large, and the kidnapped Nigerian girls remain missing. Instead of relying on people with sustainable dedication to a movement, slacktivist movements rely on Facebook likes and Twitter reshares, misleadingly inflating their own appeal. Unfortunately, with less emphasis on commitment and more on the sheer quantity of individuals, movements are relying on an increasingly transient body for support. The typical rationale given for this armchair activism has been that it “raises awareness.” Yet in arguing so, proponents fail to understand the purpose of raising an issue’s profile in the first place. Claiming that changing a profile picture breeds solidarity and that the people of Paris should know that the world is “with them,” such keyboard warriors mean well, but neglect the necessity for real action. In the face of tragedy, the victims want more than just a Twitter reshare. It is nice for a victim of a shooting or a bombing to feel as though the world stands with him, but ultimately, tangible actions are the ones that affect change on the ground. Granted, the arguments against Inter-

net slacktivism may seem harsh. In fact, one of the main talking points among the generals of the armchair warriors is that slacktivism gives otherwise dormant citizens an opportunity to demand change, rather than sit back in resignation. Yet this rhetoric remains at its roots a false dichotomy. The issue is less of slacktivism versus no action, and more of slacktivism getting in the way of feasible change. In reality, slacktivism makes individuals feel as though they are doing something while doing nothing at all. There is a significant opportunity cost for the support for the movement with tangible action being replaced by an influx of noncommittal likes. Without actions, the tangible real world problems can never be solved by just public support. By making movements seem larger than they are and giving people a feel-good pat on the back, steps to solving the issues become much more generalized and simplified. Had each change in a profile picture demanded a blood donation or a $50 donation, would the number of filtered pictures be so high? By resigning citizens to a hashtag or a sad face emoji, we are neglecting how much possible influence each person can have in catalyzing social change. By lowering the barriers for demands for social reform, social media artificially makes people feel like they are doing something to help, while they are actually doing nearly nothing, making them less likely to take action in other ways outside of social media platforms. Actions via the Internet have no tangible impact on the ground unless individuals start acting on the ground. If people are not willing to do more than take a few seconds to change a profile picture, it is high time for societies to ask themselves if they really care. By Nicholas Kim Sophomore, Staff Writer

NEWS

ZEITGEIST ISIS continues killings despite international resistance By Jaeha Kim On Nov. 18, the Islamic State (IS) added two more to its stunning kill toll of 170,000 people, confirming the killing of two more Chinese and Norwegian hostages. According to CNN. com, the terrorist organization previously advertised on its English-based magazine “Dabiq” that both hostages, known as Fan JingHu and Ole Johan Grimsgaard-Ofstad, were for “sale” and would not be released until a ransom be paid to rescue them. Despite an “all-out” military mission by the Chinese government to rescue the two hostages, both Fan and Ole faced a murderous death adding to the international outrage and movement against the IS. “The terrorist actions of IS seem to continually increase over the course of the past year, as can be seen by the bombing in Paris and the killing of various international hostages,” said Juhyung Park (11), MUN member. “From what I know, the Norwegian government refused to pay ransom for their citizen, because it was under their constitution that they would not negotiate with terrorist organizations. Governments all over the world should follow this model, and instead strike with force, in order to completely deter the IS from committing these actions again.” In response to this killing, several governments vowed to retaliate against the IS. Both the Chinese and Norwegian government stated that they would take aggressive military measures in order to ensure that no more sacrifices are made in the war against IS. Several other presidents, such

as the Russian president Vladimir Putin, stated that they would personally make sure that terrorists of the Islamic State pay the price for their killings. US and France, two of the most-involved countries in the war against ISIS, also strengthened military measures by launching numerous air strike missions over the past few weeks. “Although at first glance, US President Barack Obama’s drone wars have been viewed as a strong deterrent of terrorism, it has recently been condemned as the cause of rising Muslim terrorist groups and youth recruitment into the terrorist organization,” said Jeffrey Park (11). MUN Member. “Four former US air force members have written a plea to Obama stating that collateral damage caused by these drones are the main source of hatred and animosity towards America, and that he should seriously reconsider his military tactics. Therefore, although an intensified global response is necessary to stop the terrorism crisis, it is essential that the solution which you pursue is not too much of a militaristic approach but rather a diplomatic one, in which the US administration aims to come to negotiations and peace treaties with the ISIS.” As the situation intensifies over the months, the international arena seems to be more actively participating in the stopping of the Islamic terrorist group. Coupled with the domestic resistance of the Shi’ite militants, who have recently won over several battles in Syria, the international response appears to be closing in on ISIS’s main base in Syria.

Race to 2016: From Trump to Shining Trump

Ben Carson

When a little-known, soft-spoken, retired neurosurgeon from Detroit finally overthrew Donald Trump in the national polls last month, there were audible sighs of relief throughout the US (excluding a few select states under Oklahoma, of course); at least it’s not going to be him. Ben Carson—wait, Doctor Ben Carson—actually seemed great. He was a groundbreaking scientist, a renowned physician, and a living embodiment of the American Dream. With his scientific authority, he would bring together those on both sides of the debates on abortion, climate change, and homosexuality. Our Lord—our savior! Then he went and said this: “Being gay is absolutely a choice. A lot of people go into prison straight—and when they come out, they’re gay.” Something tells me that this is some advanced, politicized version of the “don’t drop the soap” joke that regularly makes rounds on the Internet. The one true scientist in this entire Republican field then went on to say that “the science is still murky” on the issue, befuddling viewers—wasn’t he supposed to know the science-y stuff ? “I have no problem whatsoever with allowing gay people to live as they please, as long as they don’t try to impose their lifestyle on everyone else.” Right, because those “gay people” are going around forcibly stopping heterosexuals from marrying whom they want, forcing their traditional views on marriage onto others—or maybe, just maybe, Ben Carson is telling homosexuals that they cannot marry because they do not adhere to his own lifestyle. That’s not all. A little research into this former neurosurgeon reveals a distressing number of cringe-worthy comments that only—you guessed it—Trump supporters would be okay with. In fact, most of Carson’s supporters have joined his campaign after realizing that they were supporting a former reality TV star whose greatest moments in the spotlight came during WWE matches. However, they have yet to realize that Carson is merely a more polite version of Trump. In fact, Trump’s infamous comments about “building a wall” and labeling all Mexicans as “rapists and murderers” pale in comparison to what Carson has been spewing, quietly but ridiculously nevertheless. Here’s Carson:

“I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation. Islam is not consistent with the Constitution.” That comment sparked my curiosity enough for me to go and read the actual thing a bit—and I found a handy little portion of the Constitution that may possibly have significance in this debate: “No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty-five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.” Nowhere in this section is race, religious affiliation, or any other class divided and line drawn; in fact, the Fourteenth Amendment specifically rules against this kind of discrimination. So now, the million-dollar question: why would a presidential candidate not know our own Constitution? Speaking of millions and dollars, poor old Trump has been lambasted and berated for his anti-“poor people” comments and rhetoric supporting billionaires. Once again, take a look at Carson: “Nobody is starving on the streets. We’ve always taken care of them. We take care of our own; we always have. It is not the government’s responsibility.” I’m sure that this explains the 53,000,000 hungry and 600,000 homeless people in the United States as of 2015. Thank you, Ben, for reminding us that it is nobody’s responsibility to help them—of course they must help themselves, right? “Look, even if you’re Bill Gates, you’ve got problems. I’m sure he would probably easily give a few billion dollars to get rid of all the problems that he has.” I’m sure the hungry and homeless would too, if only they had that sort of money, of course. Clearly, Ben Carson is a candidate who truly understands the problems that plague American society today. Vote for him—remember to bring your ID when you do—and you may just be able to catch a glimpse of “The Donald” and his glorious hair on the vice-president ballot in 2016! By Andrew Ham Sophomore, Staff Writer

HFH travels to Bali, Indonesia for annual service trip

ending a helping hand to the underprivileged, members of Habitat for Humanity (HFH) went on their annual international trip from Nov. 26-29. Unlike their previous Thanksgiving break trips, during which HFH members went to Cambodia, this year’s trip was to Bali. The change in venue shifted the club’s goal from the general construction of houses to providing aid to families with children. HFH plans to take their trip to Cambodia later in the year. Over the years, HFH has organized trips to a variety of locations in the world that are in need of better infrastructure. While traveling to different places , the club has emphasized cooperation with local workers in order to provide better living conditions to local residents. According to Jeesoo Shin

(11), HFH secretary, the club decided to help out Lovina, a rural area in Bali, Indonesia this year in hopes to experience building on different sites. In order to build safe homes for families with children, HFH members divided into two groups and worked at two different houses. For four days, they mixed mortar for the floor, sanded doors and windows, and painted the houses. On the final day, they presented the finished houses to the families that they were aiding. “I really enjoyed helping the families out and learned a lot,” said Caroline Min (10), HFH member. “I am grateful for the environment I live in and the privileges I have, and I now have a greater passion for wanting to aid people in need. This was an amazing opportunity and I am looking

forward to future trips.” Though the work was not as grueling as it has been in the previous years, the members were able to showcase their leadership skills and perseverance, according to Peter Beckway, HFH adviser. “On the first day, the members were disappointed that the work wasn’t as demanding,” said Mr. Beckway. “However, they continued to work hard starting from the second day, mixing cement and even creating a system of moving the cement into the house. With some help from a local worker who gave them instructions, the students were self-sufficient most of the time. They worked extremely hard and some of them were disappointed after we came back because they wanted to work harder and longer.”

Aside from this trip, HFH hopes to continue helping out the global community through the various projects they have in store for the rest of the year, including two more trips and a new event they are currently planning. “After winter break, we are planning to hold a Walkathon for Water, just like the Half-A-Liter Challenge back in October, to help raise awareness of water shortages in Third World countries,” Jeesoo said. “In addition, because we also want members to realize that it is not just the people in less affluent nations that need our help, we are planning a local trip within Korea in the summer.”

By Soomin Lee Sophomore, Staff Writer

Tiger Times December 2015

The confused person’s guide to the SpaceX landing SpaceX landing? 47 years ago, people around the world cheered as they watched Apollo 11 land on the moon. Last month, many did the same as they watched the first stage of Falcon 9 land on Earth. The latter seems much less impressive, but it signals the first step in making exploration of the last frontier possible. What does SpaceX do? Founded in 2002 by Elon Musk, SpaceX is a private aerospace company with the vision to build rockets that are capable of returning to space multiple times, much like commercial airplanes and their capability to fly. NASA has commissioned SpaceX on two occasions. The first contract agrees that SpaceX will resupply the International Space Station (ISS) with their own designs and demonstrations. The second agrees to develop and demonstrate a human-rated spacecraft to carry astronaut crew to the ISS. While the first has been completed on multiple occasions, the second commission is still a work in progress. What even is a “Falcon 9”? Falcon 9 is a rocket developed by SpaceX. Made up of two parts, or “stages,” the first

stage is designed to be reusable while the second stage is not. It is capable of carrying a payload of 53 tonnes, stands 70 meters tall, and weighs 541,300 kilograms. Falcon 9 is used to run missions for NASA and other private companies. What happened during the flight? On Dec. 21, 8:29 p.m., Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Taking a 10-minute flight, it dropped off 11 satellites and its second stage into orbit, then reignited its boosters to return to Earth. As the rocket set down in the form of a blazing orange ball on Landing Zone 1, six miles south from where it first left the planet, cheers erupted at SpaceX’s California headquarters. So what’s the big deal? Currently, we use rockets like we use paper plates: they are used once, and then thrown away. As rockets aren’t as expendable as paper plates, it means that the costs of space flights are astronomical. According to NASA, every space shuttle sent up into space during the space shuttle project cost from $450 million to $1.5 billion. Falcon 9, developed nearly 25 years later, costs $61.2 million, still quite a hefty sum of money.

This successful recovery of the first stage rocket in the most recent flight signals the soon-to-be increased availability of space due to cost cuts. According to Musk, every first stage that returns back to Earth represents $45 million, cutting nearly three quarters of the cost needed to develop spacecraft. Did it happen in one try? The success of the 20th Falcon 9 flight would not have been possible without failures. Only 6 months ago, the 19th flight resulted in the detachment and subsequent destruction of Falcon 9’s second stage from the capsule that it was carrying. In several other instances, the landing was unstable and the first stage of the spacecraft was lost or severely damaged. What’s next? In the long run, Musk states that SpaceX’s goal is to enable people to live on other planets, beginning with the colonization of Mars. In the short run, however, SpaceX reports that there was no damage found on the returned first stage, and looks to its next launch of the Falcon 9 rocket on Jan. 17. By Joyce Lee Sophomore, Staff Writer

News Briefs By April Kim

Number of acceptances for NHF increases Since last school year, submitting an audition recording for the National Honor Festival (NHF) became a mandatory project for both string and band ensembles. Compared to last year however, this year’s orchestra received significantly improved results as, half of the 80 accepted members in NHF Strings Orchestra were from SIS and 29 members in band were accepted. Members of strings say that the high standards Ms. Kim had for the recordings played a big role in the number of acceptances for NHF. “I wanted students to have this opportunity because they get to learn from other directors outside of school,” Ms. Kim said. “They also get to meet other students with musical passions, which is a great chance for them to experience interaction with new people.”

SIS students to represent Korea in WISDC Alexander Song (10) and Sky Park (10) will be representing Korea in the upcoming World Individual Debating and Public Speaking Championship (WIDPSC). After being selected on Nov. 14 at the Korean Public Speaking Championships, they gathered with nominees from other Korean international schools at Korean Minjok Leadership Academy to showcase their oratory, interpretive reading, and debate skills. Alexander and Sky will take part in WIDPSC 2016 from March 30 to April 5. “I’ve always been a debater but I’ve never done speech before,” Alexander said. “Hopefuly this international tournament will help me understand myself as a speaker on a global scale.”

Justin Chang initiates “Project Hope for Nepal” Justin Chang (10) initiated “Project Hope for Nepal” on Nov. 13, with the help of Jean Piscioneri, adviser for the fundraising project. By selling cards with a picture of the Himalayas to fundraise for the earthquake in Nepal that struck this April, Justin was able to raise awareness about the devastation. He followed the fundraising event with a presentation to middle school students in order to explain the process that began this humanitarian project. “What made me want to begin ‘Project Hope for Nepal’ was the fact that no one else at school was taking action to help out,” Justin said. “This experience allowed me to be more in tact with global issues and I am now more interested in trying to stand up for matters like this outside of Korea. It would be nice to have students continue to support and donate to Nepal.”

Religious Belief: How M Paris attacks highlight trend toward harsh reactive measures By Nicholas Kim

t seems to be a never-ending ritual. Just days after the initial grief over recent terrorist attacks in Paris, politicians have kickstarted the debate on how to prevent the next strike. The recent series of coordinated attacks from radical jihadists spawned no different reaction. Less than three days after the attacks, John Brennan, director of the CIA, called for less “hand-wringing” and increased powers in the hands of national governments to prevent terrorism. Specifically, governments are reacting to increased surveillance capabilities and law enforcement’s reach. France’s government has extended emergency powers under its Constitution, and has conducted pre-dawn raids in the tourist-friendly streets of Saint Denis. More broadly, European nations are exploring policies of deportation to locations where torture is practiced, tightening policies for immigrants, and increasing domestic surveillance to ensure that attacks will be caught in the future. In the post-9/11 era, the global war on terror has morphed to include ever-evolving boundaries. The primary national security interests of nations throughout the world has moved from conventional warfare with the issue of combatting two tangible, primary actors, to how to locate a hazy threat among its own citizenry. From undercover sting operations to warrantless no-knock raids, national governments have made it clear that the conflict with radical Islam has no boundaries. Instead of a state versus state conflict, the definitions of war have transcended clear boundaries, moving now onto ones involving a state versus non-state actor. “The shift of warfare to include non-state actors has placed countries in a conundrum. Now that countries face a nebulous and hazy enemy within its own borders, it becomes harder to protect citizens while preserving their sense of stability in the first place,” said

Jiwhan Moon (11), MUN member. “By seeking to provoke harsh reactive actions, the terrorists are deliberately striking fear in the hopes of provoking a response.” The previous perception of terrorism, accompanied by bearded outsiders sent by specific entities is increasingly becoming obsolete thanks to the changing nature of terror. With the rise of “lone wolf ” European terrorists striking at the heart of Western countries, terrorism is more inspired by organizations like Islamic State (IS), not ordered by then. Coupled with an increase in French, German, and American citizens heading overseas to join terrorist groups like IS, voices within Western governments have been calling for increased powers to be granted to various government agencies to catch individual actors. Ultimately, it is a frantic race against time for national intelligence and counter-terrorist organizations to understand the warning signs before the threats turn deadly. As such, governments around the world have been rushing to extend security measures to increase the ability to intercept and obstruct acts before they occur. “The new face of terrorism is frankly more terrifying than the more organized mass terror that we saw earlier in history,” said Juhyung Park (11), MUN member. “Although I agree with the notion that terrorism has become more individualized and brought down to a smaller scale, the fact that we do not know who could potentially be a terrorist is what makes this issue particularly pertinent. Most of the Paris attackers were EU nationals and there were even some French nationals. Because terrorism has now become more individual, governments are alarmed and thus are more prone to utilize more surveillance on their own citizens. In that way, we cannot really blame them because we now live in a world in which we

Major Terrorist Attacks from 2001 to 2015 Source: Wikipedia.org

really can’t trust people, even if they are our own.” Yet the new measures have not been without their controversies. Revelations from Edward Snowden, ex-contractor at the National Security Agency (NSA) have shown evidence of metadata collection through PRISM program, and brought attention to potential abuses. Notably, demands for increased powers have inspired protests from concerned citizens that key liberties are being eroded. “If actions among the citizenry causes a clear and present danger to the people, the government has the right to restrict those liberties,” said Paul Roberts, social studies teacher. “The only problem I have is that this standard is too vague. At times, governments have gone too far. Governments have a tendency to react when they feel threatened, and a lot of times, they overreact. My worry is that especially in Western democracies, we become the monster that we are fighting.” Yet the solution remains more elusive than ever. Understanding what drives terrorism with objective standards such as computer algorithms remains almost impossible. Rather than fighting an adversary as in conventional wars of the past, the new face of terrorism hides behind the shadows. It seems nearly impossible to discover the terrorists within our societies, and it remains uncertain as to what steps national governments are willing to take to protect liberty, while at the same time preserve their citizens’ fundamental rights.

September 11, 2001

2,996

Hijacking and terror attacks at the World Trade Center Twin Towers and the Pentagon.

Organizer: al-Qaeda

Much is Too Much?

Layout by Soomin Lee

Fundamentalism in the media: journalistic responsibility or audience entertainment?

Graphic by Eunie Jang

wave of panic regarding terrorism has reemerged globally with the recent Paris attacks, a series of shootings and suicide bombings conducted by members of the Islamic State (IS) on Nov. 13. The shooting with the highest number of casualties at about 100 deaths took place in the Bataclan concert hall, where four terrorists raided the well-known venue, in which citizens were attending a performance of an American rock band called “The Eagles of Death Metal.” Though tragic, the Paris attacks were far from the only incidents that happened on that day—Beirut was bombed leading to 43 casualties, a funeral was bombed in Lebanon, and an earthquake occurred in Japan. But which event was covered more by all of the main headlines? Horrible incidents happen all around world, but why does the media tend to cover certain events more than others? Why do they seem to focus more on terrorism and other deeds that are allegedly committed in the practice of fundamentalism? “Fundamentalism is the belief that your interpretation of the scripture is absolutely right,” said Alex LopezBarton, history teacher. “Fundamentalists usually interpret scripture literally and believe that we need to go back to the beginning of the religion because they think the religion has

November 26-29, 2008

166

Shooting and bombing terror attacks in Mumbai Organizer: Lashkar-e-Taiba

By Marie Park become impure over time. The IS practicing fundamentalism becomes problematic because the Quran is from a time period that’s much different from today. But the IS isn’t an accurate representation of Islam: for one, their treatment of women in their patriarchal, male-dominant society is not included in the origins of Islam.” The media’s obsession with extremist groups isn’t limited to just the IS—other extremist groups of various religions were and are covered more than other issues that might have occurred at the same time. Some examples of such extremist groups that have gained mass media coverage are Al Qaeda, the Buddhist monks who killed innocent civilians in Myanmar, and the Westboro Baptist Church. One of the reasons that extremist fundamentalist groups receive so much coverage could be because most of the well-known media outlets are private broadcast companies (albeit the controversy surrounding it), whose main goal would then be to make as much profit as they can. Such goals lead to the need to cover news that their audience wants. “It would be nice, in a perfect world, for private broadcast companies to have a mission of reporting information, not entertainment, but the reality is that a majority of mass communications today is geared toward entertainment first and foremost,” said Michael Stanton, history teacher. “[Various mainstream media outlets] have a responsibility to their shareholders and need to entertain their audience. This might even do a greater disservice to the public than simply being propagandist or biased because they don’t inform the public; they engage in both misinformation and a lack of information. Entertainment driven news agencies help to fuel the American society, consisting of one group that’s biased and

one group that’s ignorant.” This misinformation causes many, though certainly not all, newsreaders to perhaps form a confirmation bias, or a cognitive bias that involves the favoring of information that supports previously existing perceptions. Therefore, it becomes easier to accept information from sources that may not know the fundamentals of fundamentalism. For instance, in 2014, Reza Aslan, an Iranian-American writer, scholar of religions, and professor at the University of California, Riverside, had to call out key misconceptions that could potentially lead to the propagation of Islamaphobia in an CNN interview. When asked: “does Islam promote violence?” Aslan replied, “Islam doesn’t promote violence or peace—Islam is just a religion ... [and] if you’re a violent person, your Islam, your Judaism, your Christianity, your Hinduism to be violent.” Similarly, in her Fox News interview on Nov. 17, Saba Ahmed, president and founder of the Republican Muslim Coalition, once again emphasized that the few terrorists linked to Islam do not represent the religion as a whole and that presidential candidate Donald Trump’s proposition on closing down mosques would challenge constitutional rights associated with the freedom of religion. “Mass media outlets have a large impact on the community because it is our only source of global news without actually being present,” said Sophia Song (10), MUN member. “A lot of people tend to believe everything the media says with barely any second thought since that is out only information outlet, especially if it’s from a news source that they think are reliable and unbiased. We could unconsciously adopt the writer’s bias, whether it was intentional or not.”

130

November 13, 2008

Mass shooting, suicide bombing, and taking of hostages in Paris

Organizer: Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant

8 LIFESTYLE Thinking at 0 m/s

Reindeer Aerodynamics, Deriving Santa

anta Claus could be the next US presidential candidate—everyone talks about him during that time of the year, but nobody really sees him around. And everyone forgets about him when the season ends. Even though Election Day is still almost a year away, everyone in the mainstream media is already obsessed with the candidates. So I think it’s fair to put an equal amount of focus on Santa Claus. Like with Bernie Sanders, everyone loves the idea of Santa Claus, but nobody really understands what he does and how he does it. To do this, we need to look at some numbers. There are just over seven billion human beings on the Earth. Of those, roughly two billion are individuals under the age of 18. Given that the average household has 3.5 children, we can approximate 571,428,571 households in the world. Santa visits all of them in one night. He has 24 hours to make the trip, assuming he travels from east to west. That’s 6,614 households per second. Maybe you already knew that. But why does this matter? To understand, we need to look at a few more numbers. The total surface area of land on the Earth is 149,000,000,000,000 meters squared. Given that the average household is 70 meters squared, we can approximate 3,722 meters between households. Handling 6,614 households per second, Santa must spend—at most—0.00015 seconds between households. Diving the distance between households and the time it takes, we find that Santa must travel at 24,813,300 meters per second, 8.3 percent the speed of light. No wonder nobody sees him. To make matters heavier, the average gift is 1 kilogram. With two billion children, that’s two billion kilograms of weight. We know that each reindeer can pull roughly 140 kilograms; Santa needs 14,285,714 reindeer to pull the sleigh. Add 15 quintillion (15 zeroes) Joules per second due to air resistance, and the white Christmas becomes a hotter issue. What does this mean? It means Santa must be very energetic. The world consumes roughly 5.486 quintillion Joules of energy per second. Santa beats this by a factor of nearly three. If Santa used his reindeer to explore Mars, he would make the six-month-voyage in just 36 minutes. We don’t really consider these details when thinking about the world. Santa Claus is just one of the many aspects of culture that is glossed over. The general public thinks of science and mathematics as esoteric fields that are useful only to rocket scientists and quantum physicists. But there are so many things that can be expanded, inspected, and investigated. Everything in the world should be able to explained using science and rational thinking - even Santa. To this day, this is the very fact that drives scientific discovery and innovation. It’s true your average class at MIT won’t start off by discussing reindeer aerodynamics or reviewing the proper proof to derive Santa. But ultimately, these are the questions that drive the scientifically inclined—these are the questions that keep us awake at night. So the next time you’re studying for a history test and you’re stumped, think back—have you tried taking the integral of the function?

By Michael Kim and Sang Ho Lee Senior, Project EIC and Production Editor

“The Priests” opens gateway to new horror in Korean cinemas with spiritual exorcism theme

any enter theaters with full boxes of popcorns, expecting the horror film to be plastered with tacky blood clots, unexpected ghost popouts, and loud booms that send chills down the spines. On Nov. 5, however, director Jaehyun Jang brought a different type of horror to the Korean movie industries: religious exorcism. In “The Priests,” protagonist Priest Kim and his assistant Priest Choi put all their efforts into saving a young, possessed girl named Youngshin. Since Priest Kim is infamous among a group of secretive priests for his erratic way of treating patients, Priest Choi is sent undercover to disclose the truth behind this rumor. Set mainly in a shabby apartment floor, the two priests come fully prepared to conduct exorcism, an expulsion of an evil spirit, on Youngshin, who appears brain-dead at the moment due to a car accident. One of the 12 darkest evil spirits around the world lies within Youngshin’s body and it is the priests’ duty to expel the spirit, move it into a piglet, and eradicate it by throwing the pig into a river. “The Priests” is unique because exorcism in horror movies has long been a nonexistent theme in Korea. While it is certainly not a gripping story of zombie attacks or a the traditional horror movie with bloodcurdling dummies and ghosts in a parking lot, this movie spots a new light on religious topics in the Korean movie market, the one area that most Korean movie directors have tended to stay away from. By successfully opening up a new gateway for horror films, “The Priests” seems to have earned satisfaction from most of the audiences. The film itself revolved around only three characters and was mostly set in a dark room where Youngshin lay. Despite its limited variety of settings, “The Priests” was still able to create a tense atmosphere and maintain it throughout the whole movie. The conduction of exorcism under two priests was almost spotless; the plot was fastpaced and alarming, giving a sense of urgency to the audience. For instance, Priest Choi’s litigious recital of Lord’s Prayer in Latin and Chinese put the audience in a trace or sorts, muddling their brains with incomprehensible rap of foreign words. Not only did the pace contribute to an overall satisfaction,

but the use of a small attic in a dark alley within a bustling city also showcased a different “kind” of exorcism from those of Western cultures. Although brilliant acting on the part of the main characters accounted for great ratings from critics, some considered the general development of the plot too abrupt and disconnected at times. The movie did not develop details of Priest Choi’s childhood as much, which explained how he lost his sister as well as how his phobia of dogs originated, and the story sprinted to its final climax much too quickly. The climax is undeniably intense, but the story finished too early, without real closure of the details provided at the beginning. Moreover, especially because this movie is about Catholics and their priests, some audiences

were reluctant to view “The Priests” citing their personal connections with religion. Despite its apparent flaws, “The Priests” still deserves a round of applause. Belonging to the horror genre, the movie does not necessarily serve to convey an important message to the audience; rather, it focuses on building up a strong climax with mesmerizing scenes of exorcism. Yet “The Priests” was an enthralling movie: each and every scene represented a new trail for Korean horror movies and immense capacity for growth. Released in the midst of great public attention, “The Priests” is expected to continue in its high box office ranking. By Grace Yang Sophomore, Staff Writer

Tiger Times

December 2015

From dark horse to red stallion: China’s economic impact on West turns cultural

“

he message to the West is clear: We have bought their buildings, we have bought their companies, and now we are going to buy their art,” said Yiqian Liu, former taxi driver turned Chinese billionaire, in an interview with The New York Times. On Nov. 9, he emerged victorious in a Christie’s auction for a painting by Amedeo Modigliani at a whopping bid of $170.4 million, the second highest ever for a work of art. Such is the Chinese swagger of a new heavyweight champion entering the international ring. Western economies may have considered China a dark horse just twenty years ago. Ever since the 1990s, however, China has been proving itself a formidable red stallion. According to Time, though China only accounted for three percent of global trade in 2003, the

number had shot up to 10 percent—the leading number—by 2014. It now boasts of the second biggest economy, only behind the US. According to Time, this economic rise of China is likely to translate into a cultural rise. “Economic power definitely gives great advantage in soft cultural power,” said Alex Lopez, history teacher. “If you look at the US, England, Russia, and even in Islam, the connection is generally strong. Wealth is appealing to people. It becomes the idea that, ‘Rich people do this, so I want to do something similar.’” In fact, Mr. Liu’s confident challenge to the West is not an outlier. Jun Lei, for example, is the CEO of Xiaomi, a Beijing-based electronics company founded in 2010 that, according to Wired, is already challenging Apple for Chinese and Indian market shares.

Entrepreneurship Day brings back attention to “girls”

n Nov.17, a number of girls from both high and middle school, selected by the leadership team, attended a Global Women’s Entrepreneurship Day event at K-Hotel for four hours in order to discuss gender inequality within society. “It was a unique opportunity for students to reflect on how the majority of people are still indifferent about the idea of female inferiority,” said Jane Han (10), one of the students who attended the event. “Even I realized only yesterday that gender inequality still exists nowadays—that it isn’t just a story from fifty years ago.” The main objective of the event was to boost confidence among young female students who would soon step out into the “real” world. The conference began with introductions from ambassadors from the US and Sweden, along with professors from Ewha Womans University, all of whom have successfully earned positions in their respective fields despite a workplace dominated by males. All speakers explored and shared their thoughts on the position of females in today’s society and the level of awareness people have about it. “These women stood strong and confident,” said Sidney Ganus (11), a student who participated in this conference. “Because I was able to hear stories directly instead of reading plain ones online, I think this particular activity inspired me the most.”

Invited to this event was a diverse range of schools to the conference, including numerous international and Korean public schools. For the first half of the session, students were randomly divided into groups where they engaged in a “Question-and-answer” session with a specific ambassador. In the latter half of the session, each group made a poster to represent their ideas on gender inequality and treatment of women in today’s world. Such variety of activities provided opportunities to improve collaborative skills and united all participants under a single cause. “I thought this was both an intimidating and a captivating experience because at first, we had to collaborate with students from all over Korea,” said Karen Joo (10), another student who attended the conference. “In fact, some of the students were unable to speak English, so those who did understand had to translate for them. But it was also captivating in a sense that we discussed certain topics that students normally would not discuss as part of their daily conversations at school.” Marking a successful ending of the Global Women’s Entrepreneurship Day, the leadership team hopes to continuously bring outside opportunities that can allow students to experience contemporary social issues. By Grace Yang Sophomore, Staff Writer Think about the one person you trust the most. What kind of person is he? He can admit his mistakes and keep his promises. Isn’t this the kind of person he is? One you know will always follow the rules. This is the kind of person you can trust.

“Apple is gone! Apple and Samsung are gone!” shouted Mr. Lei with flair similar to Mr. Liu’s as he announced the newest Xiaomi phones this April, according to Time. Indeed, according to National Public Radio, some now dub Xiaomi “China’s Apple.” “Chinese people who prefer Apple are usually either very big fans of Steve Jobs’ design or care a lot about its cultural brand,” said Hui Feng, Chinese teacher. “Chinese people are very big about brands—people like to show off names like Apple. However, my friends say people in China are also crazy about Xiaomi these days because its products are cheap and of high quality.” According to National Public Radio, Xiaomi manages its competitive prices by acquiring factories in bulk to reduce production prices—a scale almost incon-

ceivable in the West. “The growth rates of China and Asian Tiger economies have been leveling off as they finish catching up to American and European economies,” said Steven Smith, AP Economics teacher. “But, American and Chinese economies are actually very interdependent. For example, China owns a lot of the US debt; their investments are connected.” According to Time, as China sets its sights on Western economies and vice versa, it will be inevitable that the competition spreads into the cultural sphere. But, as in most cases regarding the global economy, the claws of the tiger and the bald eagle are more closely intertwined than one might assume. By Diana Nakyoung Lee Sophomore, Staff Writer

Star comedian faces anxiety behind stellar career

On Nov. 12, Hyeongdon Jeong, comedian and entertainer, announced through his agency, FNC Entertainment, that he would be stepping down from all of his programs due to personal issues with anxiety disorder and that he planned to seek medical treatment. Prior to Jeong’s announcement, many Korean stars such as Gura Kim, and Taehyeon Cha had also stated that they were suffering from this disorder. Anxiety disorder is a category of mental disorder characterized by abnormal fear and unease. It is known for its various physical repercussions, which include heart palpitations, insomnia, and shortness of breath. Last August, Jeong had hinted these issues on the TV show “Healing Camp,” saying that he was feeling “constantly agitated about the future.” “Jeong has a huge presence in his shows, and his break will devastate some of his programs such as ‘Please look after my Refrigerator and ‘Weekly Idol,’” Julie Song (10) said. “For example, in ‘Infinite Challenge,’ all of the cast members have distinct personalities that makes the show so entertaining. Without him, I fear that the show will seem much emptier and lose its fundamental entertainment value.” Lately, Jeong had been enjoying a peak in popularity, regularly appearing on six shows and being nicknamed as one of the

“Four Kings” of comedy. When he made his announcement, many were surprised by how he had managed to be optimistic even while suffering from constant unease. “He always seemed to be in a good mood on his shows,” Nuri Choi (10) said. “I remember watching ‘Infinite Challenge’ when I was a kid and I cannot remember any other image of him than that of a funny, fat guy. I guess that really shows how much it took to hide that and be on air all the time with a smile.” The proliferation of top stars suffering from mental disorders displays how many celebrities in South Korea are pressured by the idea that they must retain their popularity. With Jeong retiring from his shows until further notice, the severity of this disorder is being put into scope. “Anxiety goes beyond stress in that it is a irrational, stressful reaction to a stressor, where eventually, whatever your initial stressor was, little irrelevant things become new stressors,” said Mercy Jesudass, counselor. “However, for someone to recognize that they are having these problems displays that they still have healthy boundaries.” By Joyce Lee Sophomore, Staff Writer

SPORTS

Varsity basketball teams emerge victorious against GSIS

oth the girls and boys varsity basketball teams had successful home games against GSIS on Nov. 25, with both teams ending their respective games with victories. This was the first weekday home game of the season, so numerous high school students came to watch the game and cheer on the Tigers. The boys varsity team played first and started the game off successfully, ending the first quarter with a score of 23 to 4. They scored points with the techniques they worked to polish during their practices, ranging from layups to three-pointers. Because of the relatively large difference in the score at the end of the first quarter, players who play off the bench had an opportunity to play for a longer time during the following quarters. “I think the spirited and enthusiastic crowd played a major role in getting the entire team hyped up, which contributed greatly to our success during the game,” said Michael Sun (12), varsity boys basketball team co-captain. “It was nice to see the younger players play with more confidence and grit than ever before. The improvements that we are making as a team are becoming more and more evident as the season progresses.” The boys took the game home with a score of 57 to 30, continuing their win streak from the beginning of the season. The girls, on the other hand, ended the first half of the game with a score of 6 to 9, losing by three points. The score, however, did

not discourage the players as they steadily made their way through the game to eventually win with a score of 21 to 19. “Before the game, as captain I was a bit worried that our teammates were too used to facing losses during games because we had lost four out of the five games we had played,” said Joomin Chung (12), girls varsity basketball team captain. “However, during the home game I was both relieved and proud to see that every player was determined to play as well as they could, trusting each other the whole way.” According to Joomin, the encouragement that the team received from their coach, Chris Koester, motivated each individual to maintain a positive attitude and play with persistence regardless of their results. He advised them to get up after every fall, and play with determination, as he knew that players’ attitudes could greatly affect performance on the court. “I always tell my players that it’s not whether they get knocked down, but rather that it’s whether they get up,” Coach Koester said. “Although unfortunately we lost a majority of the games we had so far this season, we never gave up. I deem perseverance to be one of the most important and valuable qualities amongst athletes, as a positive attitude and mindset will definitely bring about better results throughout the rest of the season.” By Sarah Kim Junior, Staff Writer

Michael Sun (12), takes a shot during the home game on Nov. 25. The boys and the girls varsity basketball team triumphed against GSIS and won their first home game of the year.

Photo by Ryan Jang

Former UFC women’s champion knocked out in UFC 193

onda Rousey, the current Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Bantamweight champion, was dethroned by Holly Holm. On Nov. 14, at the Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Australia, Holm knocked out Rousey with a head kick 59 seconds into the second round of the UFC 193 match. Many UFC followers were shocked at Rousey’s loss, as they expected the undefeated champion to win. Rousey’s fans argued that her loss was due to her poor physical condition. According to Bloody Elbow, a site for Mixed Martial Arts and UFC news, Herb Dean, a veteran referee who officiated the fight, believed that he “might have seen her in better physical shape.” Others, however,

believe that Holm won due to her superb game plan and execution. They accredited Holm’s win to her fast footwork and counterstrikes against Rousey’s charges. “Before the match, Rousey was looking stronger because she had already knocked out her previous opponents in the first round, who were undefeated,” Eugene Chung (10) said. “But people underrated Holm, even though she was also undefeated. I think Holm won because she had more determination: Rousey was a little arrogant because she easily defeated her previous enemies. She even showed signs of bad sportsmanship by not tapping her glove with Holm’s before the fight.” Strong reactions continued to pour in

from both people within and outside of the martial arts community. Undefeated boxer Floyd Mayweather showed his support, saying he didn’t “think it’s cool how everyone is trolling [Rousey] on social media,” while undefeated boxer Laila Ali reported “it’s obvious who the better fighter was” and that “in order to be the best in the world, you definitely don’t get beat up like that in your prime period.” Even celebrities such as Lady Gaga and 50 Cent pitched in their opinions via the social media platform of Instagram, posting photos of Rousey and captioning the photo with less than congratulatory statements. “In any other sport, a lot of these reactions are considered mean and are

not tolerated by the rules of the game because it goes against the nature of good sportsmanship,” Wonjai Lee (10) said. “But the unique nature of boxing is that its results of complete domination and complete defeat. It’s an intense 1-on-1 match, not a team sport, and a more ‘arrogant’ sport than others, such as basketball. Rousey kind of had these reactions coming for her, because first, every professional boxer risks the intense reactions because of the nature of the sport, and second, Rousey was so arrogant about her title and her ability before the game.” By Marie Park Sophomore, Staff Writer

Tiger Times December 2015

South Korea wins Premier 12

SPORTS PHOTO OF THE MONTH

the cheerleading squad has already influenced other boys to try out and ultimately, succeed in the predominantly female sport. One such athlete is Haanbi Kim (9), a junior varsity member this season. “At first I was unsure as to whether or not I should join cheerleading,” Haanbi said. “However, after getting closer to [Sabin], his positive energy rubbed off on me and convinced me that there was absolutely nothing to be ashamed of.” Haanbi isn’t the only one. In fact, he is one of the multiple male cheerleaders that have tried out, influenced by Sabin’s enthusiasm, confidence, and energy. To those hidden guys, afraid of being negatively stigmatized by the existing stereotype that cheerleading is not a “manly” sport, Sabin has a message. “Don’t be limited by what people think,” Sabin said, a hearty grin spreading across his face. “Lifting and throwing girls is probably the best display of manliness available at SIS.”

aking first place, the South Korean national baseball team defeated the US national team on Nov. 21 at the final Premier 12 baseball tournament, an international baseball championship that took place at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan. A tournament organized for a total of twelve countries, South Korea prevailed in the tournament and finished off the game against the US team, composed of Minor League players, with a final score of 8-0. “In my opinion, the Korean team was lucky to win against the US national team,” said Andy Kim (10), baseball fan. “Because South Korea did not start off this tournament smoothly, as they lost to Japan, another very strong team, in their very first game, I thought that South Korea was not even going to get to the quarterfinals. However, I think that South Korea soon redeemed itself, due to the skills of key players such as Daeho Lee, who hit a home run in the ninth inning in the previous game against Japan, in which Korea won 4-3.” South Korea started off strong in the game against the US, when Hyunsoo Kim added to a 2-0 lead with a bases-loaded double play, to make the score 4-0. Soon after, Byungho Park hit a three-run home run, widening the point gap even further. “South Korea’s baseball team has always been included in the top five international baseball teams, and this game clearly showed this, as we were able to defeat such a strong team like US by a significant margin,” Haanbi Kim (9) said. “Our team was able to keep its composure, gaining the lead early in the game, and maintained it until the end of the game. Although the Korean baseball team itself is very strong, it needs to keep practicing to win all future games against dominant teams such as Japan and US.” According to CBS Sports, South Korea, as the winning team, earned $1,000,000, while US won $600,000. Besides obtaining this financial prize, Hyunsoo Kim, was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament. “Since South Korea won almost every game in this Premier 12, and has surprisingly won the finals against one of the strongest teams, US, I believe that South Korea has achieved an extremely high status in the game of baseball,” Joonhee Han (11) said. “Because the US team only consisted of Minor League players, I believe that South Korea pulled through rather effortlessly. Hopefully, South Korea will proudly proceed to end next year’s Premier 12 title also on a high note, even if some Major League players are incorporated as part of the US national team in time to come.”

By Daniel Shin Junior, Staff Writer

By Alice Lee Sophomore, Staff Writer

Cheering for the varsity team, Julie Choi (11), performs the “Go-Fight-Win” cheer along with her teammates during the home game on Nov. 25.

Photo by Leo Lee

Breaking gender stereotypes in cheerleading

ho’s big, strong, and likes lifting things? The common answer for children would be Popeye, a cartoon character. SIS students however, would point to junior Sabin Macklin. The only difference is that while Popeye lifts weights, Sabin lifts people, and he’s quite good at it. His presence in the varsity cheerleading team during his freshman year has given him the strength to break something Popeye has never been able to: the stereotype that cheerleading is a sport only for women. Sabin’s journey as an athlete stemmed not just from his love for sports, but also from the encouragement of his father and Director of Testing Services, Gray Macklin. Mr. Macklin had also been a varsity cheerleader, and always took it upon himself to instill within Sabin an athletic mindset. “Participating in sports has always been Sabin’s way of expressing himself and I will always support that,” Mr. Macklin said. “But more than that, I think the challenges and difficulties he faces when playing sports develop a kind of grit in him

that will eventually make it easier for him to overcome future obstacles.” Since a young age, Sabin had a particular interest in basketball, soccer, and jujitsu, and would always work out during his free time for maximum performance in these activities. What got him into cheerleading however, according to Mr. Macklin, was the flexibility and strength he got from hapkido, a Korean martial art with particular emphasis on kicks and jumps. Despite Sabin’s obvious athletic ability, making the final decision to try out as a freshman was admittedly, daunting at first. “Being the first male at SIS to join the cheerleading team was definitely nerve-wracking, especially as a freshman,” Sabin said. “Eunie Jang (12), a fellow cheerleader, was the person who really persuaded me to join. She gave me confidence by teaching me jumps and techniques that I could have never learned by myself.” Now, he tries to do unto others what Eunie did to him many years ago: encourage other male students to become interested in cheerleading. In fact, the display of confidence and energy Sabin brought onto

SMALL TALK

FAUX NEWS SIS celebrates WASC ‘No Life’ ranking

BY JUNGHO DANIEL CHOI

race andg l e i r a tmas Chris

Christmas season is once again approaching! Pulling out a rack of golden sugar-coated cookies can often be the most delicious present you can give yourself. However, a problem occurs when all the cookies decorating tutorials, which make the process seem

so easy, actually turn out to be very difficult. In celebration of another jolly Christmas, we decided to experiment with simple, yet festive, Christmas cookie designs using only one heartshaped cutter.

1. Roll the dough into circles half a centimeter thick. 2. Using the heart shaped cutters, make as many cookies as possible. (Tip! Take out the extra dough after cutting and roll it again until you use all the dough!) 3. Use sprinkles to decorate your cookies. (Tip! Don’t use M&Ms because they crack in the oven — unless you’re going for that “grunge” look.) Also, if you only apply red sprinkles to the bottom of the heart, they can be Santa cookies later on!) 4. Bake the cookies! (We baked ours for 12 to 15 minutes at 170 degrees Celsius.) 5. Use chocolate and icing decorations to decorate! (Tip! Decorate the Santa cookies so that the top part is a beard, and add some eyes and a nose to complete the look!)

PHOTO OF Dec 12 Playing his cello, John Kim (12) performs “Lyric Metal” at the Dec. 8 winter concert. “This song is a mix of classical and metal,” John said. “This modern twist was interesting because it was different from the other songs the Strings ensemble played this year.”

PHOTO BY Daniel shin

This coming Friday, Sad International School (SIS) will hold a Silver Jubilee celebration on campus in order to commemorate the 25th consecutive first place award it received in the “No Life” ranking. Every year, the Wacky Association of Schools and Cafés (WASC) visits various schools in order to conduct highly statistical polls and experiments to determine its famous annual “No Life” ranking of schools. The Silver Jubilee celebration will include displays of students’ hagwon attendance certificates, teacher grading contests, and a competition between students to see who can go without the most sleep doing SAT preparation worksheets. World-class hagwon instructors will attend as guest lecturers. WASC’s “No Life” ranking is determined using a statistical analysis of several factors including, but not limited to: the frequency with which students refresh their PowerSchool accounts, the quantity of hobbies and extracurricular activities unrelated to college applications (or lack thereof ), and the total number of SAT exams taken per year. This year marks the 25th consecutive year that the SIS student body has attained this prestigious distinction. “When it comes to students with no life, SIS is unrivalled,” said Boris Dome, WASC president. “The combination of cutthroat student competition, grade obsession, and a general lack of life, though present in other schools, is uniquely prevalent at SIS. I found one anecdote about a junior student who argued with his biology teacher over 0.0002% of a point particularly impressive. SIS truly deserves this award, as its student body is the epitome of a group of people with no life.” According to John Bee (10), the student body takes pride in its collective lack of life, and students regularly send each other messages boasting about how late they stayed up to study for tests or how long they spent in SAT hagwons. “Yesterday, I pulled an all-nighter to study for my history test,” John said. “I know we were supposed to study for this starting last week, but I decided to cram everything into one night of studying, so that I could spend the rest of my time preparing for SATs and getting a head start on my college apps. I know I’m only a sophomore, but applications are important, and I need to start writing my essays now. I’m very proud to be part of a student body officially declared to have no life, and I want to do my part in helping our school so that we can keep winning this prestigious honor.” According to Tracy Harr (12), Keelover International School (KIS), she is jealous of this accomplishment of the SIS student body, and hopes that KIS will one day be able to remove enough life from its students to win this distinction. “No matter how hard we try, it seems that KIS can’t beat SIS in terms of how little life its students have,” Tracy said. “I’ve tried everything—I’ve gone to SAT hagwons for 13 hours a day, I’ve demanded more grade boosts from my teachers, and I’ve participated in so many extracurricular activities to help me appeal to colleges. And I know that my classmates have done the same to remove life from their lives. However, it seems that when it comes to lifeless students, SIS is the master.”

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