Issue 53 by The High

Editors in Chief Jocelyn Kwan, Meghana Mortier

Editors Ruby Griffiths, Chetan Khanna

October 9th, 2015 Issue 53

This Is Syrious Chloe Rodriguez

ou are all probably familiar with the Syrian conflict, especially after the secondary assembly a few weeks ago informing secondary school about the Syrian Refugee Crisis but here we are again retelling their story, why they need help, and how you might be able to help. In 2011, one seemingly normal night in the streets outside a school in Syria, 6 teenage students went and graffitied on a school wall. Graffiti protesting against the Assad Regime was met with the abuse and detention of the six boys after being caught by the school guard whilst they were in the act. Protests against this act of violence against the boys erupted and these protestors were then met with violence. Four people were killed in the ensuing chaos leading to more protests in the neighbouring cities and regions. Protestors taking arms then

lead to carnage that spread nationally in the past 4 years. Chaos and destruction between more and more factions accumulating and fighting against each other. This lead an estimated 9 million innocent civilians of Syria to flee the country for their own safety. Ever since the Second World War, Switzerland has gained a reputation as a safe haven for asylum seekers and those affected by human conflict. Switzerland has been the birthplace of many non governmental humanitarian organizations and is the home of the one of the largest United Nation headquarters. Switzerland has been cultivating this humanitarian tradition for years now. Since the conflict in Syria began in 2011, the Swiss have allowed over 9,000 Syrian refugees past their borders and have donated CHF 128 million in aid to the war torn country. In recent years, we’ve seen an influx of over

200,000 Syrian refugees who have applied for asylum in Europe since the conflict began. Many of Syria’s neighbouring countries such as Turkey and Lebanon are hosting most of the refugees, as well as some of Europe’s major powers, most notably Germany, who has welcomed 20,000 into the country. However, what can we do to make a difference in our little ISL bubble? We are planning to host the usual chains of bake sales and clothes drives.During last week’s assembly, we were also introduced to the very new and interesting concept of a vow of silence, in which you sponsor someone to not say a word for a single day. As tempting as it is to finally have the ability to pay for that one person shut up for the day (and for a good cause as well!), can we, the ISL community do more to help? One of the small actions that the school has taken exists in the form of a simple backpack. Students are encouraged to take an old backpack and fill it up with anything they think can help the refugees, particularly children. This includes old clothes, school supplies, toys, and books. These simple backpacks have the capacity to make a significant difference in a child’s life. I suppose one of the best ways to help in this time of intense need is to take action yourself and to take the situation into your own hands. Simply doing simple acts like research, spreading awareness, or doing a small monthly donation can culminate into something great if we all do our little part.

Anzère We Were Matteo Rubeo and Luca Adams

ear 10, obviously the best year: jumped off a bridge, survived. Jumped off a cliff; survived. Had a staring contest with fighting bulls; survived. Walked for hours in the pouring rain… still recovering. Here’s how it happened: As soon as our year arrived, we were split into four houses: Super Sassy (pronounced thu-per tha-thie), Aardvarks, Marmots and Oompa-loompas. The goal of the trip was to become more connected to our fellow students, so we spent the first day getting to know the people in our groups with awesome team building games like zombie sponge fight, a game where the aim is to hit everyone else with sponges that have been scattered everywhere, while your teammate guides you by shouting from a distance. Oh yeah, and you’re blindfolded. But, the evening activities of that day were the main highlight. There were two games, crab football and kabaddi. Crab football is football’s horrible, mutant sibling. It’s essentially football except that it is played with a yoga ball, tiny goals and the key difference: it must be played on hands and feet, with your back facing the ground. The second game, kabaddi, is weird tag, originating from India. There are two teams on either side of a long piece of string, one team attacking the second defending. The attacking team secretly

chooses one person who crosses the line and tries to touch at least 3 people. When he/she feels they have tagged enough people, they attempt to return to their side of the string. Doing this will eliminate all the people who have been tagged. However, the defending team isn’t completely helpless and can defend themselves. If they immobilise the attacker for at least three seconds, the attacker is eliminated. There are no rules in the way you can immobilise the opposition, so the things can and did get very violent. The most intense part of the trip was the vertical day. Everybody woke up to a drizzling morning with the cold slowly creeping in. But this did not affect anybody’s mood. Essentially it was: “go there, jump of this, have fun, repeat.” Bridge swinging was just a giant rope with a harness on the end and the abseiling involved sitting in a harness dangling 75 metres above the ground. There were a few who started having second thoughts but everyone completed the activities. After the abseil, we ziplined across a river, hiked back, and ate lunch. The rest of the day was spent exploring the five senses and tasting wild plants. Another awesome activity was mountain biking. We started with practicing biking skills and then went on a real trail, full of roots, rocks and mud. The treacherous trail made it all the more fun. On that same day, we headed up a spectacular twisting road (with a

bus) and were dropped a few hundred metres from our destination. Then we hiked up the rest of the way to reach an amazing altitude of over 2km, where some nice farmers showed us how they make their mountain cheese. We were also allowed to taste and buy it. Later in the week, the whole year went on a big hike. It was an interesting hike exploring the history of Valais and their techniques for using and distributing water (the bisses). Unfortunately there was an abundance of rain. In other words, we were “wooses” and used the rain as an excuse to give up on the hike and go visit the bisses museum. That was the last day, we all put our bags on the bus and went to the adventure park where we all went on some awesome tree climbing courses including one called the commando. After we had a football match and then a rugby game and finished off with a certificate giving ceremony.

3 things we learnt this week: 1. Cows are scary 2. Mr Marlow is a big cheat! (tree climbing) 3. Mr Kirby has impressive frog saving skills

Open for Business Camilla Lozinska-Brown got a press pass

n Thursday 8th October 2015, the school’s official inauguration ceremony took place in the new South Campus. The ceremony attracted dignitaries, corporate partners, media and architects from the Canton of Vaud and more specifically our local commune of Le Mont-sur-Lausanne. The director, Mrs Cheetham; Rosalie Hoffman, Board Chair; together with AnneCatherine Lyon, the State Councilor, Head of the Education Department, Youth and Culture of the Canton of Vaud; and Jean-Pierre Sueur, Syndic of Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, cut the red ribbon marking the official opening of our new South Campus. Before the ribbon cutting took place all the distinguished guests assembled in the auditorium to sit and listen to mu-

sical performances and speeches. Mr. Marcel Rieder introduced the ceremony with a brief foreword on the school. After this a short film was shown to the audience, depicting different aspects of our school life, and the different areas at which the school succeeds. Mrs Cheetham then took the stage to outline the school’s unique culture and outlook on education, as well as giving a brief history to the school’s past to show how much it has developed. Since the new expansion 820 students of 66 nationalities now attend ISL which really puts into perspective how international the school has become over the past decade. Speeches then followed from Mrs. Hoffman, who explained how the school’s expansion project came about, then Mme Lyon spoke about how our school’s international spirit has influenced local schools to incorporate a bilingual swiss maturat. Finally M. Sueur

concluded with a brief word on the positive impacts the school has brought to the commune of Le Mont-sur-Lausanne. Between each speech was a musical interlude performed by several younger students. The first musical act was a young girl masterfully playing a piece on the piano. This was then followed by Mrs Cheetham accompanying a young soprano singer on the piano. The third musical act of the night was a Coldplay song performed by the Year 6 choir which was then followed by the Swiss Quintet group. Once the speeches and the acts had concluded, all the guests filed out of the auditorium and onto the south campus’ balcony to view the cutting of the ribbon. Once Mrs Cheetham had officially proclaimed the new campus to be opened, drinks and food were offered to conclude a splendid and special inauguration.

Beanbags and Signal Zsofi Igo is comfy

he IB lounge became a very heated topic at the end of the year last year due to the drastic changes that would be taking place, such as all the couches being replaced … by tables and chairs. We fought long and hard but with little success, and we were not looking forward to the new, ‘improved’ lounge. However, I must say now that we have lived in it for a month, it has become quite enjoyable. First of all, we got beanbags! Contrary to our prejudices, these actually turned out to be a great success. In addition, the lounge is finally clean! Dust no longer comes out of anything when you hit it and the cleaning ladies can finally clean the floor properly, though we cannot eat in the lounge so

it generally remains clean. Even so, we do have a microwave but have discovered that the Snack Bar hides one behind its cupboard doors, which is rather convenient. Although we do have to take the effort to walk all the way downstairs, but that is manageable. An advantage that came with having the tables and chairs is that we can work in the lounge during our study period, which is excellent. This allows us to do group work without having to whisper or, if we just want to do some quiet reading, we can move ourselves onto the beanbags for maximum comfort. Moreover, we do not have to walk all the way to the North Campus to have our own working space because we have the lounge (and the multiple

other free study places in the South Campus). Also, we have more windows (thank god!). Not only does this make the air in the lounge breathable and allow us to stalk anyone walking across the red carpet outside, but we have service on our phones. This is a function that seems to have been taken away in the new building (maybe deliberately?), but the lounge is thankfully immune. Lastly, the traditional lounge music still remains as we were allowed to keep our speakers. This is one of the best parts of the lounge because in the morning we can relax to some chill music on the beanbags and during lunch, thanks to Bruno, we can get all hyped up with his Hard-style playlist.

Surfin’ U Essay Shivani Patel and Jocelyn Kwan ride the waves.

e were all ecstatic when hearing about our surfing trip to Biarritz - until we were told that we’d be driving for 14 hours. We set off at 6pm on Sunday evening, preparing ourselves for the 14 hour drive ahead of us. We all struggled to get comfortable, with some of us fighting over getting a double seat to ourselves, some sleeping on the floor and some just not sleeping at all. Despite all of this, our journey was made a little more bearable by a couple of food stops along the way. This was not how we wanted to spend the night before an afternoon of surfing. After a sleepless night, we arrived at 8am in cloudy Biarritz, bright and early and after a quick breakfast, made our way to make an immediate start on our Extended Essays. The Extended Essay sessions were either very useful for those who decided to make good use of their time, or useless to those who didn’t. It was quite difficult for many of us to get into working gear, many still half asleep from the restless bus ride.

After efforting through the morning, we immediately proceeded to yet another long bus ride to the surfing site. We arrived disappointed to find no improvement in the chilly weather, and all separated for lunch. We’ll admit that we weren’t very keen on getting into the water on such a chilly day, but after getting in and riding our very first waves, it was the most amazing experience ever. Watching all our classmates and friend struggle to fight against the waves and get themselves up on their boards. Managing to finally stand up on our boards was an exciting achievement. You could see familiar figures in the distance, high up above us riding the waves, grinning stupidly at the motion of the waves pushing them along.

Thursday was our final day and we all wanted to make the most of it. The last surf was lacking in the big waves of the previous days but nevertheless it was just as fun. We got to surf further out at sea and most of us were finally able to stand on our board. A special highlight was the photographer that captured our amazing progress (and fails). At 9 p.m. it was sadly time to leave the beautiful beaches of Biarritz and endure another 14 hours on the bus.

On Wednesday evening we got to go over the border and try some Spanish tapas, which most of us had not tried before. Most of us, however, were lacking in the language skills needed and thus relied heavily on the few native speakers to show us around. After trying the delicious Spanish delicacies, we returned back to our hotel to get some sleep before another packed day.

Right On Target Paul Baroudi eats, shoots, and leaves.

he morning of Monday, 14th of September, was one of excitement and fatigue as the 80-strong group of year twelves and teachers boarded buses for the Alps from last year’s trip from the South of France. The aim of the trip? To have new experiences and team building. The calm, quiet town of Verbier was the perfect site for five days of mountaineering. Unfortunately, the poor weather prevented a homeroom group from braving the via ferrata, a 200 meter “road of iron” up the side of a mountain. However, that did not stop another group from having the long awaited twenty meter in a bridge jump. A ropes course was also part of the program, as was the traditional half-day team building games

for each homeroom that brought us closer, which gave the instructors a well needed break. Another new activity this year, and a useful skill, was an introduction to archery. It was not only a challenging activity, but another favorite, for it improved stability and hand-eye coordination. Our last remaining sessions were downhill mountain biking and trotinetting, which is very similar to mountain biking absent a seat and pedals. It is simply two wheels, handlebars, and a pair of brakes. With sporadic rain and taxing challenges throughout the week, the whole year gladly received a generous treat from the organizers on Friday when ditching physical activities for an early departure from camp. A stopover in the Lavey-les-Bains hot baths ensured students unwinded and relaxed in preparation of a long weekend and after that, the gauntlet of IB.

In the end, year twelve bonded with the alpine adventure and look forward to the shores of Biarritz in the following year.

Bored-Oh! Nikolay Zhurov had a dry sense of humour before this trip.

he Bordeaux trip can be simply described as a swim in a mountainous river. You come from the relative warmth of clothing, and then get into your shorts and get into the river. At first, the water is cold, and although you may think it eventually gets warmer, another stream flows into the river and the water is freezing again. Then, you begin to enjoy the current, and realize you’re going through rapids, avoiding huge boulders in your path, and are required to assume the heavily-enforced ‘white-water rapid safety position’. You go through the water, exhausted and sleepy, and when you’re finally pulled out of the water, you learn to appreciate the warmth and fuzziness of the towel like never before. Oh, and also: that swim in the river lasts a week, and you get into the “water” on a Sunday morning. During the trip we learnt to treasure the warmth of our sleeping bags, the sweetness of hot chocolate, and privilege-based divides in a society. Upon our well-awaited arrival, we were blessed by the week’s weather forecast via demonstration. A light drizzle added yet another layer of damp to our belongings, followed by stunning rays of sunshine, and finally a downpour that would humble even Noah’s Ark. This was to be our weather forecast for the week. After being al-

located to our tents, we discovered that there were, in fact, two sections to each tent: an inner ‘sanctum’ and the outside tarp. Oh, how naïve we were, thinking nothing of the double layers and what they meant. We were treated to dinner, and moved into our tents. Woken up at 7:30 in the morning, we realized the preciousness of the inner sanctum of the tent. The beds on the outside were ‘damp’ to say the least, and there were enough insects to replace the human population of ISL. We decided to let those on the cold, wet outside of the tent stay there. This taught us an important lesson on the segregation of a community within the capabilities and limits of the more and the less-privileged members of said community. Also, it taught us how good it felt to be inside cosy, dry, and warm sleeping bags whilst others outside complained about how cold it was and how the slugs wanted to be more than ‘just friends’. The first day of the trip engaged us with white-water rafting, a ‘fun’ activity where we spent over an hour going down a freezing river with the Frenchspeaking counsellors (a disadvantage for some of us) making plans to flip us over into the very, very, cold rapids of the river. At least we had the chance to complete a 5 meter high cliff dive in the middle. Without that we’d be freezing in the cold water without having dived off of a steep cliff. We were then blessed with the gift of visiting a “near-

by” town, only 45 minutes away. After we had wasted most of our allowance on the first day, we returned into our fantastic housing in order to get a nice, refreshing, cold rain bath – at least for those outside the “sanctuary”. Following the first day we rejoiced, as we were granted an entire three days in ice water and cutting winds! What a lucky bunch, we were. Through kayak polo, horizontal-mountain biking, and sailing, we thought we couldn’t get any colder. Well, we quite obviously thought wrong. After an entire day spent sailing (and for some, holding onto the boat for dear life), we were informed of our evening activity, entitled “the challenge”. We waded through swampy water, getting our shoes lost in mud, finding kayaks and falling off, swimming, and more wading. All in the light of the cloud-covered moon. Finally, we returned to our now comfortable and warm beds, and fell as would warriors after years of battle. Finally, the last day was upon us. 5 in the morning, a fresh start to the day! A two-hour bus trip back – and only a couple of hours more waiting at the airport. Upon our return to our loving families, we were granted an extra day of peace following the weekend, which we spent sleeping and bathing as if never before.

New Profs On The Block Ruby Griffiths and Lyndon Kwan meet some of the fresh faces in campus

maybe you might learn you have a thing or two in common with one of these teachers.

t the start of every year a considerable amount of teachers enter this school just as afraid and scared as the students. Often these teachers fear their new colleagues and the children they will be teaching over the course of the next few years. Meeting people is a difficult thing especially if you will be seeing them everyday for quite a while. We had a catch up with four of these new teachers asking them questions about their career and personal life to help you get to know your teacher a little better. Do them a favour and read some of the interviews and drop by just to say hello! Who knows,

The majority of teachers interviewed had a passion for their subjects back in school themselves. Even Ms. Baardsen “ really loved [economics and TOK] as a DP student [her]self, and then went on to study economics as [her] degree at university.” Yet, what drew most teachers to the canton of Vaud were a mixture of the environment, new languages and as Mr. Parry puts it, “great people and ISL!” Our new teachers have all lived in expat environments before, as Mr. Tarbutt spent time living in Beijing in the middle of the industrial revolution. Ms. Baardsen lived in India; Mr. Humphrey was in Hong Kong. On the other hand, we are glad to report that amongst favourite TV shows, our new teachers’ choices include Mr. Tarbutt’s Downton Abbey, Mr. Humphrey’s Game of Thrones, and Mr. Parry’s The Wire. Unfortunately, Ms. Baardsen could not answer this question because focusing on the more simple things in life, she does not have a TV, but she mentioned that she really enjoyed Clint Eastwood in the movie Bridges of Madison County.

A quite interesting question we had to ask was “Are you a feminist?” Surprisingly enough, the one female teacher we interviewed, Ms. Baardsen, was the only one that said no. She explains that “[she] thinks the feminist cause is important but [does not] always think that the ways of getting to the outcomes are the best. [She] thinks men and women have some nice differences between them.” It is important to not overlook that there are clear physical differences between male and female. When asked about their tastes in music, two groups emerged. Ms. Baardsen and Mr. Tarbutt prefer to wind down after a busy day and enjoy calming classical music. Whereas, Mr. Humphrey likes anything with guitars in because he plays guitar. Mr. Parry likes everything from Oasis, The Rolling Stones, to London Grammar (he’s also a fan of Juno and its soundtrack composer and performer Kimya Dawson). But the main thing to take from this interview is that none of them are Republicans.

But hey, I hope you learnt something new about these teachers because you will most likely be spending quite some time with them and if not now, one of them will most likely end up teaching you a thing or two about life. Unfortunately, there are far too many new teachers for us to have interviewed all of them, but hopefully this has inspired you to go and ask your teachers some serious and personal questions about your teachers. Students of ISL, Your new teachers.

Humans of ISL Interviews by Emily Coyne and Camilla Lozinska-Brown

Indiana Edwards

What is your biggest fear after graduation?

y fears aren’t so different from anyone else who is about to graduate, or people who’ve been thinking about it ever since middle school. I’m terrified of the real world; I mean how do I do taxes? I’m also terrified of managing a budget. I mean my parents give me money and I’m supposed to manage it, but I don’t have to pay rent, buy groceries, pay taxes, etc. Plus knowing me, as soon as I see something like a chocolate fountain or rare Pokémon merchandise, my savings will be gone. But I’m also terrified of university…like what if I’m the stupidest one there and I get shunned.

How would you describe yourself?

Um, I guess I’m kind of a nice person. I find it really hard to describe myself. When I do those Buzzfeed quizzes, and it asks ‘how would your friends best describe you?’ I usually put funny down; but when I ask my friends what they would put down for me…. Funny is close to last, which is really, really depressing. I guess the best way to describe me is that I’m kind of a mom. I like to respect the rules and get really mad when my friends don’t follow them. I’m constantly trying to watch out for them since they are my school children.

Who is your role model and why?

I don’t have a role model. I have that group of top ten best people, who I look at as inspiration. It’s just for me, the title of role model seems so amazing, that I can’t really give it to one person and I don’t think someone is that entirely perfect. For example, I totally respect Pikachu, I mean that guy perseveres, he doesn’t let obstacles get in his way, he prefers peace than destruction and doesn’t follow the crowd…and yet he also has some negative qualities, like he judges people from the get-go. So I generally like to think of my role model as a superhuman or blob or whatever, that has all the amazing qualities of all these amazing individuals.

Charles Wilson What is your biggest fear after graduation?

oming back to Switzerland and everyone I know is gone. I think it will be really hard to graduate and leave my ISL family; you become so close to your year that they are family by year 13 and when we all have to pack up and leave it’s going to be hard. You keep your close friends I’m sure, but there are people you still care a lot about and it upsets me not to know how everyone’s life will turn out. The night we graduate will most likely be the last night in history where everyone in my year will be together in the same room, and that really scares me.

How would you describe yourself?

I would say I am very indecisive, I find it really hard to make decision especially when they are big or long term decisions. I find it really hard to know what I want. But I would also say I am a very relaxed person, I never really feel stressed. I would also say I am confident in the sense that I always believe in myself and I dream big, because you either go big or go home.

Who is your role model and why?

Well a role model is the person you want to be like, so for me it’s probably a mixture between Sherlock Holmes, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Mr.Ivett. A weird mix of people, I know. Sherlock Holmes just for the way he thinks logically about everything, he is a problem solver and that’s something I admire. Cristiano Ronaldo because he simply has an amazing work ethic, he won’t stop until he is the best and that’s something I intend to do to. He also deals with a lot of hate, but he believes in himself and keeps on succeeding. Mr.Ivett, well, because he is just an amazing person who sees the good in everyone and is genuinely interested in people and their stories, no matter who you are. I don’t think you could ever make Mr.Ivett hate you, I think he would always understand you and try to help; I hope I can always be as kind to others as he is.

Let the Howling Begin Genta Hemmi checks on this year’s new Wolves

ow that tryout periods are over, we can safely assume that our teams for this semester (or rather for the entirety of this year) are locked in place for competitive play! This year, competitive ASA activities include such classics including football, tennis, basketball, volleyball. netball, etc, as well as more underappreciated activities that deserve to be in the spotlight such as swimming and cross country.

september in a thrilling match full of steals, counter attacks and occasional dunks by the Leysin team. Although losing most of their old school players to graduation, we can expect these proud wolves clawing back up to glory. One of our own PE teachers, Thomas Skweres have stated repeatedly, “To become a competitor, you must watch it be done professionally to improve your skills as a competitor”. I believe that this statement should be stuck with anybody competing and willing to be committed, just like it has been stuck with

me for a long time (Although my hair color may be hot pink by the end of this month due to a bet I made regarding competitive sports). Also, we can never forget about the wolfie spirit we have within us whether you are a competitor or a spectator. It should be a given to support the wolves as well as paying respect to the visitors or flipped roles, us as the wolves should play our hearts out no matter what the results may be. On the bottom line, the sporting culture in ISL is very competitive as it should be and we should keep it up throughout the year.

As it’s been a few weeks since these squads have been locked into place, some have had head starts including the varsity football team storming their way towards an amazing season ahead of them with goal differentials being seven or more in their first two games. As well as the varsity volleyball team finishing 1st in their tournament earlier this month, promising us a great season for them as well. The fresh varsity basketball on the other hand suffered a loss to Leysin back in late

Game Review: Rivals of Aether Conrad Grindheim-Borrell is a player.

ivals of Aether is an indie multiplayer fighting game on Steam that changes up the formula and takes inspiration from one of the least conventional fighters in this generation. Rather than having a life bar like fighting games such as Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, and Tekken, Rivals of Aether, often abbreviated as RoA has a percentage system, similar to Super Smash Brothers. This means that instead of taking health points every time you get hit, you get a higher percentage. The more percentage you have, the farther you get launched when you’re hit. Additionally, since this game doesn’t have a health bar, you need to get launched/ fall off the screen to die (this is where the increased knockback with higher percentage comes into play). Due to this mechanic, the players can

“edgeguard” each other. Edgeguarding is when a player uses attacks off of the edge - battles take place in arenas where you can fall off - to prevent from their opponent from coming back. This adds depth to the game as you would normally want to defeat your opponent by edgeguarding since they lose their lives earlier that way . However, it is also risky to stay on the edge of the stage since it could end up with yourself losing a life. Furthermore, RoA also has a plethora of techniques that you can implement into your game to increase your options. The first of these is wavedashing, which is done by “air dodging” to the ground. This makes your character slide a bit, which in return helps you move very slightly towards one direction, almost micromanaging your position on the stage. Another technique which I believe adds incredible depth into the game is parrying. In short, you perform a parry by pressing the parry

button and this provides you with a sudden state of invincibility. When the opponent hits you in this state, they are unable to move for a moment, which gives you time to attack them. However, if you miss the parry, you are left vulnerable, which allows your opponent to counterattack. This adds complexity to the game because it leaves the player constantly guessing about what their enemy’s next move is. If your opponent believes that you are going to parry, they will wait and attack then. However, the other player might predict that and wait a moment to parry and then punish even harder than they could have before. All in all, RoA is a great game to play whether it is just for fun with your friends, or online in a competitive match. The fast speed lends itself well for spectators to watch and keeps the players on their toes, while the intense, yet easy to grasp mechanics make it a fun time.

ISL At First Glance Anna Voigt is beginning to feel at home.

his year at ISL the school nearly doubled in size, with new students and teachers, and with the expansion of the south campus. I have only ever been to American schools and one French school, so my opinions will probably be different from others. I sent a google form to all my fellow new kids in Year 11, and I have tried to consider other people’s views on this topic too. On my first day at ISL I was very impressed with the teachers. Most of the new students agreed that teachers are relatively nice. I personally have not met a teacher whose teaching methods I strongly dislike. Kids at ISL seem to place school work surprisingly high on their list, while most of the other schools I have attended I have found a student body that can’t be bothered with homework or study-

ing. While the kids at ISL are very motivated, I get a sense of the school itself being more laid-back than ones I have previously gone to. While grades are important, the school lets us actually have room to breathe and really focus on what we are learning. This allows each of us to find out what our talents are and enjoy classes instead of being suffocated by stressful grades and the fear of not passing and flunking out. The other students had a wide range of opinions on the subject; some thought it was stricter and some thought that it was in fact calmer. It is hard to determine this, because we all come from different schooling backgrounds where the grading systems might be different or even the approach taken towards the students. Personally, the first week was difficult in terms of adjusting to the atmosphere of a new school. All new kids go through that weird phase of feeling the stress of being thrown into a new system. It was hard when even long term students

couldn`t find any of the classrooms if asked! Yet almost all of the new kids have already moved schools at least twice if not many, many more times before. After the first week, once you get into the routine, everything worked quite smoothly. The school is like any other school in the fact that there is drama, lots of homework, cliques, and cramped lockers. Yet I was impressed with things like the food, the option of having our own computers, the wonderful new campus that provides high end classrooms, and the list goes on. When asked what their favourite thing about ISL was, the new year 11 student body replied with answers like the atmosphere, facilities, campus, the positive attitudes of everyone in the school, the teacher and student relationships, and the fact that there are no uniforms. The students overall agreed that they like and appreciate being a part of ISL. I have never been at a school with such a focus on the student before, and it really has made a positive impression.

Concrete Impressions Meghana Mortier stares at the wall.

he South Campus has been in use for just over a month and for DP students it has become the “main building”. Venturing to the other side of the road feels exactly like that, a short trip to a now-foreign place. Having to spend the majority of our time in the new building has given the DP students time to experience what it has to offer. If the school’s aim was to create an atmosphere of vaguely disorganized minimalism, they managed to execute it perfectly. Huge areas of space with not very much to fill them seem to be common on this side of the campus, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The lack of any objects probably works to deter making a mess and any untidiness would be very easy to clean up. Despite this strange minimalism, if you ever want to sit somewhere you can bet that’ll you’ll find a chair tucked away in some corner. There will never be a time

when you can’t find a space to study. There are both classrooms and open spaces, providing students with a variety of studying atmospheres. The large conglomeration of table where the Year 12 students sit probably isn’t the most conducive to studying, but they seem to be enjoying some sort of benefit from sitting there. For those of us who prefer a quieter space, the small round tables that have four chairs but are mainly dominated by one student each are valuable property. They provide space for a laptop, a textbook, and a notebook: the minimum materials necessary for a DP student to do their work. With the expansion, an empty classroom for serious hard work isn’t hard to find, and for Year 13’s the lounge offers a relaxed atmosphere for busywork. Lining the walls of our school are the lockers that made everyone forget about any apprehensions regarding the new school. There is space for every textbook and notebook, plus area for your bag and a coat. Even with all that in my locker, I still have space. Experiments done last year resulted in the

conclusion that an entire human can fit in these lockers. Definitely an upgrade from the North campus lockers, and something all younger students can look forward too. Even so, I miss the striking red lockers of the North campus. The lack of color in this school is quite curious and doesn’t help the empty, haunted quality the building. This feeling goes away when the halls are crowded, but traveling into the lowest floor of the school brings it back, as does staying at school after the main student body has left. There were some initial problems with the new school that have been rectified, such as getting a microwave and fridge. Some things are still bothersome, like the crossing the road in the rain over some weird sort of crosswalk that only gets mroe slippery when it’s wet, a choicewthat seems incomprehensible to me. To be fair, thinking through every problem when building an new school would be tough, and though imperfect, I’ve come to accept it as mine.

The Strength of Street Knowledge Edward Fraser is not black.

traight Outta Compton. This biographical film detailing the lives of Andre “Dr. Dre” Young, O’Shea “Ice Cube” Jackson, Eric “Eazy-E” Wright, Antoine “DJ Yella” Carraby, Lorenzo “MC Ren” Patterson, and the one white guy in the movie, Jerry Heller. This film is focused around the band N.W.A., and I’ll let you search up what that stands if you’re still curious. Interestingly, the role of Ice Cube was played by O’Shea Jackson, Jr. -- Ice Cube’s son. This was a very convincing role as well, although I can’t say I personally knew Ice Cube back in the ‘80s... Besides Ice Cube’s performance, various other cameos can be seen throughout the movie; Tupac Shakur, Suge Knight, Snoop Dogg, and Warren G. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started watching the movie, but it turned out to be quite an amazing story, and an amazing repre-

sentation of their lives too. This movie shows what the drug-filled and highly violent Compton community was like from the ‘80s to the modern day and how the music group N.W.A. came to life, with one of their most popular songs to date, Straight Outta Compton. Police brutality and racial discrimination was also apparent in this film and was a powerful motivator for N.W.A.’s members, along with a lot of the black community throughout California. The movie is also interesting and teaches its viewers a little bit more about the background of each song and the transformation of N.W.A. along with its members over time. For example, “F*** Tha Police” was a song created in response and protest against the police brutality and racial discrimination the group had been subjected to during their career. Overall, this film lets viewers have a better understanding to the lives of N.W.A.’s members and will be a very well-spent, moving, and entertaining two and half hours of your life.

American Ultra John David Villariño is not a spy... or so we think.

his movie is about Mark Zuckerberg growing long hair and becoming a stoner. Mike Howell (Jesse Eisenberg), is a local stoner and clerk living a strange yet mediocre life, lives together with his girlfriend, Phoebe Larson (Kristen Stewart) in a small town called Liman in West Virginia. However, their lives changed when a CIA agent came to Mike’s tiny convenience store saying seemingly random words at him. Said CIA agent however was the head of an operation in the CIA called Ultra, producing super agents, like Mike himself. Her program called the “Wise Man”, has failed over the years whereas a rival agent, Adrian Yates, and his “Tough Guy” program succeeded and therefore all failed “Wise Man” products were of no use anymore and were ordered to be killed. Confused, Mike went outside only to accidentally kill two strongmen planting a bomb on his car with a spoon he was using to eat Kimchi Korean Noodles™. After the kerfuffle, Mike and Phoebe got arrested for the

murder of the two strongmen who were actually “Tough Guy” operatives. As they arrived in the jail, however, two more bad guys came around and tried to kill them. Using, once more, his super agent skills and abilities, they barely escaped the prison whilst killing one of the bad guys in the process. Being in constant threat of scary men trying to kill them, Mike and Phoebe must therefore hide in safety and try to not die to give us the wonderful experience of a 90 minute action movie that, in the end, is actually quite entertaining to

watch. Plot wise, the movie was rather blunt and predictable although it had its clever moments. The whole concept of the movie is elaborately well thought of as well which allowed for things to be less clichéd. The special effects were brilliantly done, especially with one particular scene that involves a frying pan, something to watch out for. The character and development of said characters were mediocre although it becomes much more elaborate as the story progresses.Ultramately, this movie can indeed be a merry to watch.

Trance Adela Sahraoui is not a hypnotist.

rance is a psychological thriller directed by the famous Danny Boyle (“Slumdog Millionaire”, “Trainspotting”, “127 Hours”) starring James McAvoy, Vincent Cassel and Rosario Dawson. The plot revolves around an auction house being robbed at gunpoint with the art auctioneer Simon (James McAvoy) tasked to protect a masterpiece painting. The robbery doesn’t go according to plan as Simon is ambushed by the robber Frank (Vincent Cassel) who knocks him unconscious, grabbing the painting … except there is no painting as it was cut out from its frame. Simon’s knock on the head causes him to lose his memory and with it all knowledge of the whereabouts of the painting. To regain Simon’s memory, Frank

decides to hire a hypnotherapist Elizabeth (Rosario Dawson) whom Simon picks from a website. From this point on, the movie is filled with plot twists as Simon begins to remember more than the whereabouts of the painting and recalls hidden memories and people who are not being what they appear to be. With a fast, tense, intellectual plot, Trance is a film that plunges us into the same confusion facing the main character Simon. The film starts as a fairly lighthearted action movie but switches to a psychological thriller with an engrossing and tense ending as characters begin to show their real selves. The movie focuses on hypnotism and offers stunning visuals and scenes that are long, complex and so intense that you gasp at how awesome they are! The cool soundtrack enhances the fastbeat and chaotic drama of the thriller. The sound and visuals of the movie, as well as its clever plot, make it stand

out from other films. The actors deliver excellent performances, bringing the screenplay to life. Being a die-hard fan of this film makes me ignore possible faults of the movie. There is some banter around psychology, memory and art which at times can be lengthy and slow-moving. Another flaw is the mostly happy go lucky ending, slightly anticlimactic and sentimental, after everything that has happened. Other issues for some might be the complexity of the plot to the point where, with so many plot twists, we don’t know what’s going on anymore. But apart from that, the movie is entertaining to watch and fun to figure out. Overall, even though the ending could have been more thought out and the plot-line less confusing, for many, Danny Boyle manages to hypnotize the audience and this is what makes this movie, in my opinion, a fantastic movie.

GoT Blood? Ian Chen will never be royal.

eresy. That would be a plain and simple description of HBO’s seismic “Game of Thrones” series. Of course, the show is not undeserving of credit; you don’t lead an industry on a fluke. There are remarkable portrayals –not least of which are Peter Dinklage’s Tyrion Lannister and Charles Dance’s Tywin– alongside groundbreaking precedents in engaging audiences. Yet is the show doing justice to the story? Has it lost its way? Unsurprisingly, the series is routinely criticized for its gratuitous orgy of sex and violence. While it is an effective marketing strategy, its vitality as a replacement to engaging drama and masterful plot lines will be short-lived. While the viewership has hitherto been seduced by the shock-and-awe cinematography, the cracks in this wall are beginning to show. The controversial (and rather pointless) rape of Sansa Stark has failed to collect the praise of similarly gruesome scenes from the first

season. What about Shireen Baratheon’s shocking immolation? Far from adding to the series’ stun-effect, it consolidated a series of character inconsistencies, particularly of Stannis Baratheon’s disparity as both loving father and spineless parent. Perhaps the directors have become drunk on the successes of shocking scenes and now disregard the importance of proper plot development; there must be a point to sex and violence. Then there is the true heresy: the unnecessary and wanton deviation from the source material. At present, the show’s projected road corrupts the essence of what is rightfully titled “A Song of Ice and Fire.” This is of course coming from a cultist of author George RR Martin’s canonical script. It is true that every adaptation adds its own flavors and interpretations; studies have shown that adaptations typically fair better with altered source material. Game of Thrones has achieved this at multiple points, particularly in the acclaimed episode, “Hardhome,” and its memorable zombie swarm. Yet this does not provide a writ to corrupt and usurp the

very essence and soul of the story. Was there a point to Gendry’s pointless and sexualized sortie to Dragonstone (replacing a perfectly good Eric Storm from the books)? Or what about the similarly sexualized Melisandre? Gone is the cunning and mysterious sorcerous from the books; there exists only a misguided and thoroughly detestable prostitute. If there were a census of reasons why people watch the show, the ballots for sexual drama and wanton violence would doubtlessly eclipse political intrigue or a healthy engaging plot. Though it may be hard to believe given Game of Thrones’ recent seasons, Martin was not writing a piece of erotic literature but a political and historical allusion to inherit the mantle of Lord of the Rings. To be sure, the books are in no shortage of explicit eye-gouging or sex. Even so, the driving spirit of political intrigue is rarely if ever eclipsed, something forgotten by show runners Benioff and Weiss. Put simply, “Game of Thrones” has become a venue for pseudo-pornography; perhaps the next best thing for some when avoiding illicit web content.

ALL The Rules? Jocelyn Kwan

We welcome the new member of our editorial team, Flavia Kirby!