Mar 23, 2012

www.saseye.com • 40 Woodlands St. 41, Singapore 738547 • www.sas.edu.sg/hs • (65) 6363 3404 • MICA (P) 091/05/2011

By Ash OberoiRecent changes to the Interim

Semester program disappointed science teacher Simon Bright, co-sponsor of this year’s “Swiss Bliss” trip. In the four previous years, Bright sponsored “New Zealand: Muddy Wheels, Mountain Biking.” Planners pulled both courses from next year’s list of offerings.

The new eco-adventure category

now encompasses a full-blown immersion in nature, with the emphasis on outdoors. The new guidelines say students “should spend the majority of nights in tents or other rugged, eco-friendly accommodations.” Neither of Brights’ trips include sleeping outdoors.

“If you’re burning huge numbers of calories biking, skiing, surfing etc. for 6 hours each day, is it

really necessary to sleep in a tent to experience the ‘outdoors’? You’re tired, sore, banged up from all the exercise so you just need a place to sleep and recharge,” Bright said.

Science teacher Jay Kumpel sponsored “Australia: Learn to Surf/Ocean Safety” for seven years, another skills-based trip that did not make the cut for next year.

Kumpel said that his trip should

have fallen under the eco-adventure category since its “action-packed” itinerary is set completely outdoors. Kumpel’s course faces the same problem as Bright’s - the students return to a hotel or apartment at the end of the day.

“To be quite honest with you, I have sort of a problem with that stipulation,” Kumpel said. “I was in the military, I was in the Peace Corps,

and I can tell you what it’s like to be cold, wet and hungry for long periods of time. If the spirit of interim is taking students out of their comfort zone and exposing them to things they can’t do here in Singapore, then I think this trip does exactly that. I don’t know why we have to put a very strict ‘you can’t stay in a hotel’ clause. I just hope we don’t get hung

Sophomore Evan Porter greets Thai children before playing a game of duck-duck-goose. The Habitat for Humanity Thailand group visited a school in Udon Thani, for a day, bringing school materials for the children. On other days, students built houses on the other days. Photo by Kelsa Kazyak.

New interim criteria results in cut trips, mixed feelings Changes made to program try to deepen student immersion in learning without walls

continued on page 2

Singapore American School Vol. 31 No. 5 March 23, 2012

2 March 23, 2012

the eye

Students on Interim’s Swiss Bliss course. Photo courtesy of Islander

RISHIKESH, INDIA ORPHANAGE. Sophomore Christina Lee plays with children in an orphanage, visited on the Himalayan Getaway in Rishikesh, India course. Students helped set up a new dorm for 11 girls. All of the orphans are children of lepers who are no longer able to take care of them. Photo by Zarima Greco

Questions raised over value of learning “lifetime skills” and mandatory service courses

up on a little nuance of a rule.”Tico Oms, Chair of the Interim

Review Committee, and high school principal Dr. Timothy Stuart made the decisions on which trips would stay, which ones are within reach and which are “fatally flawed.”

One list includes trips that will be maintained on the books for two years giving potential sponsors the time to rewrite those to fit the criteria, in order to fall under one of the three categories: global issues, service learning or eco-adventure (“Interim Revolution,” The Eye, Feb 10).

Some students worry that the fun of interim will be wiped away by the inflexible application of the new criteria. Oms said he wants to assure these students that Interim will not lose its fun factor.

“It should be memorable, it should be a special, enjoyable experience,” he said. “There should be bonding with other students. I don’t want to take away any of those great things away, but I still have to make sure there’s learning involved.”Service requirement begins with rising freshmen

Another worry that students share is a new rule requiring all students to do at least one service Interim in their high school years. That requirement

applies to next year’s entering freshmen. Current classes are exempt.

Some argue that students should not be forced to take part in service, that the requirement defeats the altruistic nature behind service. Oms offers the flip side of this argument, that exposing students to service learning will inspire them to contribute to their society.

“We have to introduce kids that

aren’t doing service to the beauty that is service, and hopefully it will actually encourage them to keep doing it,” Oms said.

Martha Began, head of Service Council, said that the act of service should be ‘authentic and sincere.’ She added that by enforcing one year of service for interim, “it pushes people, who otherwise might be spoiled, sitting on the couch and playing their video games or, you know,

‘please don’t interrupt my time on Facebook’.”

“I feel that it is our duty, as educators, to make sure that we understand how to be a good global citizen and that requires nudging people into uncomfortable zones where this type of learning creates a more globally-aware citizen,” Began said.

English novelist Arnold Bennett

wrote, “Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts.” This situation is no different; most of the changes are well-founded, justifiable ones, but there will be some casualties - namely, the trips that get cut out of the program entirely. Skills-based trips take the biggest hit

Kumpel said that all interim courses that include a “skills component” or teach lifelong lessons

are targeted by the new criteria. Dawn Betts, co-sponsor of “Switzerland: Winter Sports”, said that a fourth category should be created for those interim trips.

“Lifetime skills is not even a category anymore,” Betts said. “You have to ask yourself, do you think Interim should build life-time skills? I do.”

As of now it appears, Betts’ and Kumpel’s courses have both been canceled.

“I don’t know [if I get time to modify my trip]. I’m confused by it to be quite honest with you,” Kumpel said, “It sounded

like, when Mr. Oms came and first talked to me, that it was canceled - along with a number of other trips.”

However, Oms said that no trips have been completely written off yet.

“If there’s a course that a teacher thinks should go through, then they have a chance to appeal for it,” Oms said.

Paul Terrile, who has sponsored “Switzerland: Winter Sports” for 11 years, argues against the cancellation

‘‘You have to ask yourself, do you

think Interim should build life-time skills? I do.

Dawn BettsSwiss Bliss sponsor

of his trip, which he says teaches a lifelong skill.

“A lot of these kids have never seen snow before,” Terrile said, ”Even some great athletes have never been on ski’s before. My father, who’s 79, and I, still ski every Christmas.”

Terrile said that he has not been offered the option to “save” his trip. He said that as far as he knows the main reason for the cancellation of his course is that it is stationary and does not travel from one skiing destination to another. Interim changes lack transparency

A number of faculty are frustrated by the interim modifications. They say that the changes may have been too much, too fast.

“I think it’s a lot of change in a very short time and I think people are anxious, understandably anxious, that they’ve invested a lot of time and energy into developing trips and then they’ve been, kind of, axed,” science teacher Craig Olsen said. “Perhaps some of the communication about that hasn’t been as good as it could have been.”

Junior Stephanie Slaven was one of two students chosen to be on the Interim Committee. Slaven said that her opinions were listened to and taken into account. She added that some of the final changes stemmed from her ideas. Slaven said she is optimistic about the direction that Interim will be taking and hopes that the student-body feels the same way.

“Overall I think maybe there are some changes that kids won’t particularly like, but I think that their disagreement with it is just teenagers being unjustifiably annoyed, which is bound to happen with all of us,” Slaven said.

[email protected]

continued from page one

3the eyeMarch 23, 2012

By Tyler StuartSweeping changes to the Interim Semester program

baffled teachers and students who failed to understand the motivation for the changes.

Principal Dr. Timothy Stuart and the Interim Semes-ter review committee, lead by Interim coordinator Tico Oms, devised three categories with criteria to guide teachers and vendors in revising and creating interim trips: eco-adventure, global issues and service learning.

An evaluation by Oms and Dr. Stuart determined that 15 interim trips on this year’s books do not fit the crite-ria, 12 trips must be revised in the next two years, and 23 meet the criteria set by the new standards.

Most students and teachers believe that progress is good, but the moment progress mandates change, especially to a cherished program, opposition rises.

According to its official page on the school website, Interim Semester is intended to “enhance the curricu-lum by providing high school students with diverse edu-cational experiences beyond the traditional classroom.”

The lack of learning-focused trips hindered the po-tential of Interim Semester because students equated Interim with a much-needed vacation from school work.

Because education is bolstered by enthusiasm, the current mindset must change in order to do justice to Interim Semester. If students and teachers express a greater willingness to learn, not only will the trips be fun and engaging, but the intent of the program will be achieved.

Interim Semester experiences have the potential to influence students and teachers by shifting paradigms through new experiences. When wealthy, educated

students get down on all fours and play with an im-poverished child, the true spirit of Interim reveals itself.

Dr. Stuart and Oms have emphasized the importance of defining and adhering to learning outcomes for each trip without losing the magic that students and teachers experience on Interim.

The implementation of the Interim changes could have been more smooth and transparent, but none of that matters. The idea that Interim should educate in a way not possible in the classroom has been pitched and accepted. Time to embrace it.

Follow Tyler on Twitter @tylerestuart

Interim courses categorized for action

These already meet the new criteria

TanzaniaBH AdventuresCambodiaChina Leaping TigerIndia Trekking DharamasalaSabah Sea to SkyNepal AdventureNepal AnnapurnaPH Changing Lives PH HousebuildingTH HabitatTH River Kwai

TibetAustralia Cycling in the WestWestern Australia AdventureFrance ImmersionSpain ImmersionNZ Milford TrekNZ Routeburn TrekIndia RishikeshIndia: South IndiaSA Cape & CoastNZ Meeting of Nations

Majority of courses meet new criteria, while others offered time for reworking content

We’ll thank them laterDespite bumpy transition, Interim changes an improvement

Swiss Bliss. Photo courtesy of Islander

Greece. Photo courtesy of Islander

Dan Rama on South Africa Cape and Coast. Photo courtesy of Islander

These do not fit the new criteria

The Big ScubaAUS SurfingNZ Ultimate AdventureNZ Muddy WheelsSwiss BlissWinter SportsIndonesia BintanChina C, C, & CS

Poland & Czech RepublicPortugalSpain ExplorationSA DrakensbergTaiwan’s Treasure IslandTH Sea KayakingChina B

These courses have 2 years to meet the new criteria

SA KrugerBH Thunder DragonChina AMyammarSri Lanka AdventureTH North Thailand

TurkeyGreeceJapanLondon TheaterRussiaIndia Rishikesh

“The current mindset must change in order

to do justice to the Interim Semester

program.

4 March 23, 2012

the eye

An Eye Staff Editorial

Tighten reins on service clubsLast year, 436 students in 49 service clubs accumulated almost

27,000 service hours and raised tens of thousands of dollars. But do these numbers represent our students’ genuine passion to benefit others or the fluff with which they plump their resumes? That requires assessment beneath the surface clutter of statistics and names

In order to climb those golden stairs and reach the hallowed gates of Ivy League-hood, it is no longer enough to be just an-other member of a club, an extra set of hands to sell smoothies at Food Fest or an additional body to man the bake sale booth.

Officership is now a resume must-have. After all, serving col-leges a fancy title on a silver platter will surely sway their minds, but if that fails, starting a new club is an equally acceptable alter-native.

Some students think they can beat universities at their own game by pursuing quantity at the expense of quality. But, as ad-mission officers and counsellors will caution, there is no substitute for transparent, genuine compassion.

Reforms to the process of awarding service hour have already been made. Those reforms are not enough. An even stricter system should be implemented, one which will weed out the tepid participants and resume buffs, making way for those who volun-teer and work without service hours dangled in front of their noses as bait.

Clubs should be held accountable for the character of their actions, rather than their numbers, and be forced to maintain a certain standard.

Reducing the number of existing clubs by combining clubs with similar agendas would be an encouraging first step. It should be followed by the establishment of sunset laws that require clubs to undergo annual reevaluation.

The criteria for this reapplication would consider the nature of a club’s activities, the level of interactivity and the magnitude of im-pact. While PTA events offer clubs opportunities to raise funds for their various causes or activities, blending milkshakes and spin-ning cotton candy do little to change the world, beyond satisfying community sugar cravings.

This is a call to rethink motives and revise actions to work to-wards tangible community benefits, thereby leading all concerned to rediscover the integrity of service at SAS.

Editors-in-chief: Anbita Siregar, Megan Cosgrove, Managing editors-in-chief: Monica Chritton, Tyler Stuart, News Editors: Tyler, Features Editors: Olivia Nguyen, Op-Ed Editor: Klara Auerbach, A&E editor: Kate Penniall, Sports editor: Erica Hus-ton, Photo editor: Pamela Chan, Copy Editor: Emily Nelson, Megan Talon Report-ers: Klara Auerbach, Pamela Chan, Monica Chritton, Megan Cosgrove, Theresa Ellsworth, Erica Huston, Edward Khoo, Sanjna Malik, Emily Nelson, Olivia Nguyen, Ash Oberoi, Kate Penniall, Quin Reidy, Danni Shanel, Kiran Siddique, Anbita Sire-gar, Tyler Stuart, Megan Talon, Sana Vasi, Adviser: Mark Clemens

Singapore American School40 Woodlands Street 41Republic of Singapore 738547Phone: (65) 6363-3404Fax: (65) [email protected]

All-American Pacemaker

Gold Award International First Place

The Eye is the student newspaper of the Singapore American School. All opinions within these pages are those of their respective writers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Singapore American School, its board of governors, PTA, faculty or administration. Comments and suggestions can be sent to the Eye via the email address, [email protected]. At the author’s request, names can be withheld form publica-tion. Letters will be printed as completely as possible. The Eye reserves the right to edit letters for reasons of taste and space.

Campus ‘toons By Danni Shanel

It is time that we face the elephant in the room. As a collective, we are now spending almost all of our time at school through taking on more responsibilities in clubs, after-school sports, heavy course loads and other volunteer commitments. The largest issue we face as a school now is that students still have time to themselves.

The simple solution is to move high school students on campus and make it their home until graduation. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, students will be totally immersed in the real work of students, unhampered by the interferences of family and similar non-school distractions. Only on holidays, or with a school approved pass would parents be allowed to directly interact with their children.

Housing for 1200 high school students is not the problem it might seem. Since SAS seems to have access to lots of cash, they can buy the surrounding HDB flats to provide housing for students - and teachers. Roommates can be assigned much the same as interim trips, since we’ve mastered that system.

Teachers will act as surrogate parents and floor managers, making sure that students behave and feel loved, and helping with homework.

A meal plan could be introduced, so students can practice living like real adults, buying food at the local markets, stalls and school-sponsored

If you can’t beat them, join them: make SAS a school-year home

cafes. SAS could expand the cafeteria on campus to host a variety of local and fast food and triple the size of Subway to reduce wait time.

The current bus system will be 1200 students lighter reducing environmental and noise pollution. Students will be spending so much time learning and participating in t e a c h e r -s p o n s o r e d p r o g r a m s , there would be no need to go anywhere else. Every n e c e s s i t y is within w a l k i n g distance - dinner at the Wo o d l a n d s courts, dental needs from the 7-11, shoes from Causeway and so on. Underground passages will connect the dorms to the academic buildings, maybe even to nearby stalls and stores.

Unstructured entertainment will be replaced with SAS-approved sports and recreation activities sponsored by teachers who now have the time to connect with the students. Social studies teacher Clay Burrell suggested that weekend time could be filled with extensive culture seminars that would be designed to mold students into modern intellects.

I always had a vision of what my prom would be like. Dressed in a Cinderella-like gown, I would walk arm-in-arm with my dap-per Prince Charming into a ball-room setting not unlike Beauty and the Beast . It would be like a scene out of my own personal fairy tale.

From what Disney movies, Barbie Dolls, and TV shows have taught me, how could an event like prom be anything but perfect? I am old enough now to know that by hav-ing such high expectations, I am simply asking to be disappointed.

What if my Prince Charming does not ask me? What if my princess says no?

Although prom itself changes from year to year, it has elements and tra-ditions that seem to be set in stone.

According to recent SAS custom, guys are challenged to come up with an extravagant and creative “prom-posal,” finance and organizing the tickets, dinner and transportation. As boys take their traditional, active role, we girls remain passive while waiting for an invitation and making the necessary beauty arrangements.

At SAS, these traditions remain strongly intact. For girls, there is a

very enchanting element to prom. The idea of being publicly and creatively courted by their Prince Charming and tradition stops most girls from doing the asking.

The thought of putting them-selves in the public eye and fac-ing possible rejection would make any girl forget about taking the initiative to ask a guy to prom.

Some American high schools are starting to take a stand against these traditions. Instead of a con-ventional prom, an increasing num-ber of schools have been adopting morp (prom spelled backwards), an anti-prom where tradition-al roles are reversed or ignored.

Morp, or anti-prom follows no predetermined format. As there are no expectations to amp up the glitz and glamour, morp allows stu-dents to determine for themselves how they want to experience prom.

Students are therefore not con-fined to a set of rules that tra-dition has established and are not denied this right of passage.

While SAS is an American in-ternational school, there is a sig-nificant effort to make students

American prom tradition an increasingly fractured fairy taleMorp, the anti-prom reaction, targets expense and pretence of annual event

HDBs for dorms, food courts for three square meals, Causeway Point for rare entertainment

and their families feel as if they are still part of the community they moved away from. Arguably, SAS is more determined to uphold Ameri-can traditions, such as prom, than are most high schools in America.

SAS, as well as its students and families, go to extreme fi-nancial lengths to make sure this sense of home is preserved.

The cost of last year’s prom round-ed out at roughly $43,500; a luxury that most American high schools cannot afford and we are lucky to have. Along with ticket, dress, tuxedo, dinner, and transportation expenses that students are respon-sible for taking care of, prom can end up being a very costly affair.

For most at SAS, prom’s financial demands are of no worry. For some, it is an extravagance that cannot be spared.

Upholding the traditions of Ameri-can schools is a way for many Ex-pats to feel as if they remain con-nected to their communities at home. Yet, the financial extravagances and social demands of such events can-not be met by all who wish to attend.

[email protected]

Klara Auerbach

Quin Reidy

“I would have kids sit with me, drink copious amounts of coffee, read and discuss Confucian and Taoist philosophy, and groove out to some ‘hot jazz’ in 10-hour sessions,” he said.

I asked physics teacher Fred Crawford what he would think about living in the same environment as his students.

“I think this is why S i n g a p o r e has gun-control laws,” Crawford said.

H e compared my dorm proposal proposal to Soviet Russian g u l a g s .

When asked what he thought of my proposal, a high school counselor said, “Are you serious?”

As it stands right now, the only way that SAS can improve as a academically high-achieving school and community is to have its students withdraw from the distractions and temptations beyond our barbed wire crowned fence. It wouldn’t be a tough transition for most of us. We already live here most of the time.

[email protected]

“Twenty-four hours day, seven days a week, students will be totally immersed in the real work of

students

5the eyeMarch 23, 2012

With cool graphics, graffiti posters, t-shirts and catchy music the 30 minute long video released on March 5, 2012 is a visual barrage of propaganda. Directed by Jason Russell, one of the three founders of Invisible Children, the video targets the social network generation of teens and young adults who sit on their computers, scrolling through 9gag, their newsfeeds, their dashboards or their twitter feeds avoiding homework, looking for something better to do. Kony 2012 gives them something better to do.

Jason Russell exposes a war criminal who has been around for 26 years, Joseph Kony. Joseph Kony originally stationed in Uganda, is the leader of the Lords Resistance Army. The LRA abducts children and forces them to fight and commit acts of torture and murduer, including brutally killing their own people. The LRA has abducted over 30,000 children and since it’s beginning has spread from Uganda to the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and the Central African Republic.

While most watching KONY 2012 couldn’t even point these countries out on a map, they are undeniably fired up about putting a stop to Joseph Kony and the LRA. Who wouldn’t be after watching such a cleverly packaged campaign? While everyone was spinning themselves into a tizzy, ordering action packs and bracelets (the merchandise sold by Invisible Children in support of the KONY 2012 campaign) and posting on every wall they could navigate to, a blogger by the name of Grant Oyston had something else to say.

University student calls KONY 2012 a hype campaign

A sociology and political science student at Acadia University in Nova Scotia, Oyston published a site on March 6, 2012 in response to the “hype” KONY 2012 had created.

“I do not doubt for a second that those involved in KONY 2012 have great intentions, nor do I doubt for a second that Joseph Kony is

a very evil man. But despite this, I’m strongly opposed to the KONY 2012 campaign,” Oyston wrote.

Oyston breaks down Invisible Children’s annual expenditures, which are available to the public on the Invisible Children website, revealing that only about 32 percent of donations had actually reached Africa for direct aid. The other 68 percent were spent on staff salaries, travel and transport and film production.

The Ugandan Army as Corrupt as the Man They Seek

“Both the Ugandan army and Sudan People’s Liberation Army are riddled with accusations of rape and looting” Oyston writes.

In February 2011, a report by a Sudanese NGO worker told of two Ugandan soldiers who took a 15 year old Congolese girl named Marie to a clinic in Nzara, South Sudan. The girl was reportedly “rescued” from the LRA by the two soldiers. Unfortunately, before they dropped her off at the clinic, “nearly dead,” they allegedly gang-raped and impregnated her.

Another similar report from August 2011 recounts the story of a young girl who at age 14 was abducted by the LRA in the town of Obo, CAR. Upon being rescued in May 2011 at the age of 16, the girl was raped by a UPDF soldier at the army base in Obo. The solider later returned to Uganda after impregnating the girl and left her in the custody of another solider who continued to abuse her.

In response to these allegations, Col Felix Kulayigye, the army’s spokesman says, “That report is unfortunate. It’s from masqueraders who are trying to earn bread from our blood and sweat. The UPDF is one of the most disciplined forces in Africa and we are pro-people. Anyone can check our record.”

Oyston reiterates that the LRA is no longer operating in Uganda

Is KONY 2012 the real deal or just propaganda hype?Viral video offends many, but creates widespread awareness of LRA’s Joseph KonyKate Penniall

and has not been since the year 2006. He poses the question of why Invisible Children targets this army to be responsible for the arrest of Joseph Kony? Invisible Children defends the UPDF claiming that out of the Central African Republic, Congo and South Sudan armies, they are the most organized and well equipped force to handle this task.

Can you Really Make a Difference?

After the publication of Oyston’s article, many felt duped. In a world with a population of over seven billion, it’s easy to feel small and unimportant. With the KONY 2012 initiative, Invisible Children gave young adults a way to feel more important, to feel that they belong to something big, that they could make a difference. Then Oyston comes along and shoves us back into our small and unimportant roles. But does this have to be the case?

The movement to stop Joseph Kony is huge and the fight to bring him down isn’t going to be as simple as clicking like or re-tweet. These simple acts of sharing however, are good first steps. Any movement this large has to start with baby steps. Informing as many people as possible about the evils of Joseph Kony and the LRA is what needs to happen now.

“Our goal is to change the conversation of our culture and get people to ask, Who is Joseph Kony?” Jason Russell says in the KONY 2012 video.

The way this happens is buy clicking like or re-tweet, posting on people walls, re-blogging, texting, making phone calls, emailing, posting flyers or wearing t-shirts or bracelets. There are many easy ways to spark this conversation and that’s all that KONY 2012 is asking us to do.

There’s another step we can take though. After sharing the film or spreading the word among your friends or among the school, it’s time to go bigger. If we really want to see change, we’ve got to get, as the video states, both pop culture and political leaders in the know. It’s as easy as writing a letter or sending an email.

Take Your Own Stance

Invisible Children may have flaws with distribution of money or leadership, but that doesn’t mean Joseph Kony isn’t a real person. Kony is a real war criminal who is committing real crimes. The LRA is very real and there is a way to stop it. It’s a long and tedious journey as foreign policy works nowhere near as the speed of the Internet, but it is possible.

Collecting and raising money for donations is fine and dandy, but that’s not the step that needs to be taken right now. What needs to happen now is the circulation of knowledge. The more people who know, the faster a solution will come. That’s what this KONY 2012 campaign needs to be about, knowledge not money.

This campaign has made it cool for our generation to care, but it’s even cooler when we are informed about what it is we care for. How do you get informed? Watch the film, read articles, listen to both sides and get informed. Then find your own stance based on how you feel and take a stand.

The Kony 2012 campaign simply asks the public to spread knowledge about Joseph Kony, to Make Him Famous. The public needs to understand that just making him famous isn’t going to solve the problem, but it’s a step in the right direction. It’s the first baby step we need to take to stopping this man.

[email protected]

By Tyler StuartOn March 4, Joseph Kony was a little-known

war criminal; four days later he was the most famous man on Earth.

On March 5, a video named KONY 2012 was released by the organization Invisible Children. Within 48 hours, the video had gone viral through YouTube and Vimeo, was trending worldwide on Twitter and cluttered students’ home pages on Facebook. Social media facili-tated the swell and break of the KONY 2012 movement, but organizers could not sustain the hype that subsided within the week.

The minute the video was uploaded to You-Tube, its views began to climb, the Kony 2012 wave swelling as individuals shared the video in their communities. The movement percolated as social media caught hold of the video, expe-diting the process.

Several students posted links to the video as their Facebook status trying to contribute to the new movement. Within 48 hours of the release, hash tags about the video were trending world-

wide on Twitter.Not only did social media facilitate the

big break of KONY 2012, it also snuffed out perspectives that conflicted with the move-ment. For the first 24 hours after the release, Facebook blocked the sharing of the blog Visible Children, which questioned Invisible Children’s budget and practices. Acadia Univer-sity student-blogger Grant Oyston noted that only 32 percent of funds raised in 2011 were allocated to their African program.

After one week, the Kony wave subsided. While the video achieved over 80 million views, the rate of views leveled out.

On Sunday, the wave briefly swelled when Jason Russell, the video’s director, was ar-rested and hospitalized for a public drunken escapade, reportedly, after a break of psychosis due to the overwhelming stress he faced after the video’s brief success.

The movement’s next swell should arrive April 20 when the Cover the Night campaign.

Follow Tyler on Twitter @tylerestuart

KONY 2012 video swells, breaks, subsides in one week

Graphics by Klara Auerbach

March 5

March 6

6 March 23, 2012

the eye

“I am excited for prom itself, like dressing up and stuff. I look good when I go to prom. I always do.”

David Doolittle, senior

“I am a cheeseball, so I’ve considered a morning show walk-in or buying half a mile long paper and hanging it up

from the fourth floor.”Liam DuPreez. junior

By Kate PenniallProm, the Oscars of high school, where stu-

dents dig deep into their wallets to make this night go down in history. With a ticket, dress,

h a i r , makeup, dinner and transportation on t h e bill, expenses for one night can rack

up quickly. There are ways to avoid breaking the bank account though

and still keep your night extravagant. Start with the ticket. There’s only one

way into prom and it is with this little piece of paper. Prom committee sets the price of the tick-ets; this year it will be $90 for singles and $170 for couples. If the ticket itself is out of budg-

et, start thinking ahead now. Asking parents for odd jobs around the house to earn money can be a

great way to earn a few extra bucks. Instead of buying that new shirt or another drink while out during the weekend, save the cash.

Unfortunately, some peopleare incapable of holding onto their mon-ey, if that’s you then there’s still hope. This year the Prom Committee will be holding a competition for the best Promposal where the winners

receive free tickets to prom. If you have a special person in mind to ask, find a new and creative way to make that proposal and not only will you maybe get a yes but also a free ticket. A win/win situation.

The perfect dress is possibly the single most important part of the night for the girl. A dress can make or break the night.There’s a per-fect dress out there for everyone and not all of them come with a hefty price tag. Make sure to ask your school or family friends if they or their siblings have old dresses that are good for another wear. Since your dress will not currently be on the shelves, you eliminate the problem of showing up to prom with the same dress as someone else, which is a girl’s worst nightmare. You can also organize a dress swap. Invite a bunch of friends over and have them bring their old dresses, or dresses they have gotten from other people and trade. This is a great way to see everyone’s dresses, open up your options and save money on not having to buy a brand new dress. If you still cannot find the perfect dress, look around in the sales racks or visit a fabric shop and make your own. By making your own dress you’re assuring originality and getting exactly what you want. All the same goes for guys. Make your own suit, borrow your dad’s or a friend’s or arrange a suit swap. As for the hair and makeup to match, do your own or get a friend to help. A friend can often make you

look better and more like yourself than a high-priced professional can. Next on the agenda comes dinner. Traditionally the guy takes the girl

out to a big fancy dinner with several courses and a large check. Girls, instead of making the guy pay for the whole dinner, split the check or dine at a less expensive restaurant. There are many places around Singapore that serve delicious cuisine at an attractive price. Delicious cuisine does not have to be purchased though because a home-cooked meal can be just as good. Gather a bunch of friends, create a

5-star atmosphere in your own din-ing room and eat at home. Often

times, having fun with friends over a home-cooked meal can be a lot more fun than the pressures of maintaining man-ners at a hoity-toity restaurant. Prom should be a night of

memories. This year your memo-ries do not have to cost an arm and a leg. You can do prom on a dime and still have a grand time.

[email protected]

“I’m just scared I won’t have enough courage to ask

someone”George Bock, senior

“Last year, it wasn’t that fun. No one does anything. Everyone is just sitting around talking at tables, and there isn’t really

anything to do. It’s awkward.”Peter Hunt, senior

Prom on a dime Ways to keep prom experience grand but price low

By Emily Nelson Junior Sachith Siriwardane recited a love poem during poetry

slam during the last few days of Cultural Convention. As he fin-ished, he asked fellow delegate and friend, junior Sonia Parekh, and asked her to prom. The audience members of Cul Con ap-plauded this romantic gesture, not knowing it was an inside joke.

“It was just a fun thing to do to get the crowd on my side,” Siri-wardane said.

Parekh’s boyfriend, junior Nikhil Nilakantan was also in on the joke. Parekh and Nilakantan will attend prom together this year.

“It was a good closing touch to Cul Con, very nice and funny,” Nilakantan said.

A few weeks before the big day, prom takes the student body by storm, it becomes a constant topic of conversation: Where to go? Who is wearing what? And most importantly, who is going with whom? Boys have taken to asking girls to prom in ways both romantic and very public proposals at SAS.

Last prom season, then senior Viraj Bindra had a creative asking. Bindra recorded a short video that got onto the morning show. In his video, he didn’t talk and people were curious to what was go-ing on. Slow, melodious music began to play and Bindra held up a series of A3 note cards, he was asking friend Hannah Goode to

prom. Each card held a different statement, portraying how amaz-ing of a person she was and appreciating their friendship. The cards outlined Goode’s characteristics that Bindra liked and stated how wonderful of a person she is. When the video finished, Bindra walked into Goode’s classroom with flowers and asked Goode in person.

“Hannah’s a good friend and I wanted to make my proposal very sweet,” Bindra said in a Skype interview. “I actually gained inspira-tion from ‘Love, Actually’.”

Vincent Wu, a junior last year, had a creative asking. After spending his entire spring break to individually handcraft 1000 pa-per cranes, Wu asked junior Rin Okumura to prom. Wu laid out the cranes, creating the message: “Rin, prom?” Okumura accepted and Wu’s asking became one to go down in promposal history.

“It was a lot of work, but definitely worth it,” Wu said.Each new promposal sets the bar a little higher for boys who

have yet to pop the question. From Wu’s romantic crane display to Bindra’s creative “Love, Actually” inspired cards, promposals progressively get more elaborate.

Although some boys build up the courage to ask their dates pub-licly, like Wu, others admit that asking a girl to prom is not as easy as it sounds.

“I think it’s fun, sweet, and enjoyable to watch,” senior Cameron Noble said. “But I’m not sure I would do something so public.”

Some critics say the only reason boys ask in such elaborate ways is because they are afraid to get turned down, the theory be-ing, “the bigger you go, the more they can’t say no.”

“It’s just more sweet to me when you ask your girlfriend or friend face-to-face and not with some elaborate promposal,” Noble said.

While some boys might prefer the less extravagant proposal, there are boys who still go all out and ask publicly. Many boys come through and execute elaborate promposals in ways never seen before.

“It’s a once in a lifetime thing, so yeah, make a big deal out of it and make it awesome,” senior Jason Li said.

Last year, senior Bryan Lee asked his girlfriend Stefanie Chan by giving her a bouquet of flowers at the Chili’s located in Tanglin Mall, off of Orchard Road.

“Prom is cool and all, but I don’t see the point of going big for one night,” Lee said. “I would much rather just show my affection another way.”

[email protected]

By Megan Talon

Graphic by Ed Khoo

Boys’ thoughts

7 March 23, 2012

the eye

“This year I heard they are actually planning on actually

having something to do at the prom, and it’s a really good idea when they invest more money

and time into that.”Amélie Bouckenooghe, junior

“I’ve heard that no one really dances and that it’s awkward,

but everybody likes getting dressed up, taking pictures”

McKenzie Moore, junior

look better and more like yourself than a high-priced professional can. Next on the agenda comes dinner. Traditionally the guy takes the girl

out to a big fancy dinner with several courses and a large check. Girls, instead of making the guy pay for the whole dinner, split the check or dine at a less expensive restaurant. There are many places around Singapore that serve delicious cuisine at an attractive price. Delicious cuisine does not have to be purchased though because a home-cooked meal can be just as good. Gather a bunch of friends, create a

5-star atmosphere in your own din-ing room and eat at home. Often

times, having fun with friends over a home-cooked meal can be a lot more fun than the pressures of maintaining man-ners at a hoity-toity restaurant. Prom should be a night of

memories. This year your memo-ries do not have to cost an arm and a leg. You can do prom on a dime and still have a grand time.

[email protected]

“I like the idea that it’s something that connects back to the States, and it might be a

way of home”Sonia Parekh, junior

“I’m sure many girls in our grade are afraid about not being asked,

and I’m pretty sure that’s what determines who won’t go. ”

Antaara Chhabra, junior

“I think it’s fun, sweet, and enjoyable to watch,” senior Cameron Noble said. “But I’m not sure I would do something so public.”

Some critics say the only reason boys ask in such elaborate ways is because they are afraid to get turned down, the theory be-ing, “the bigger you go, the more they can’t say no.”

“It’s just more sweet to me when you ask your girlfriend or friend face-to-face and not with some elaborate promposal,” Noble said.

While some boys might prefer the less extravagant proposal, there are boys who still go all out and ask publicly. Many boys come through and execute elaborate promposals in ways never seen before.

“It’s a once in a lifetime thing, so yeah, make a big deal out of it and make it awesome,” senior Jason Li said.

Last year, senior Bryan Lee asked his girlfriend Stefanie Chan by giving her a bouquet of flowers at the Chili’s located in Tanglin Mall, off of Orchard Road.

“Prom is cool and all, but I don’t see the point of going big for one night,” Lee said. “I would much rather just show my affection another way.”

[email protected]

Across the street from the legendary Colbar café, Pietras-

anta Ristorante is an Italian restaurant with a charming outdoor

terrace. Its interior decor blends contemporary design with an

authentic Italian touch - several tables are made of deconstructed

wine boxes and flower pots hang above the furniture.

Unlike the home-cooked feel of No Menu, Piertrasanta Ris-

torante’s dishes boast a more refined finish. The Italian tradition

of rich cheese, dough and sauce remains prominent in the menu

though.

As an appetizer, we had Parmesan and tomato eggplant fol-

lowed by beef carpaccio. Stewed rack of lamb, their signature

dish, accompanied by a cream-based truffle tagliatelle served as

our main dish.

Highlight Course

Tagliatelle with Truffles and cream sauce

“This is a thick, rich dish for hearty eaters and

truffle lovers.” - Ed

“There’s nothing bad I can say about this dish. The

thick cream sauce goes perfectly with the tagliatelle,

and truffles just make everything better.” - Anbita

Ed & Anbita dine outRestaurant, dish recommendations for the big night

The dimmed lights and the aroma of fresh, baked bread filled with space of this family-run restaurant.

No Menu, tucked away in the business district on Boon Tat Street, is a quaint, family-run Italian restaurant

whose dining rooms are decorated much like the restaurant they left behind in their Piedmont village with

the family’s personal collection of Vinyl LPs, copper pots and pans and framed prints.

“It looks like a restaurant straight out of ‘The Godfather’,” Ed said.

By the end of the night, we had shared two appetizers - clam in vongole white wine sauce and buratta

cheese - and two main courses - stewed beef cheek and tagliatelle pasta with lobster and tomato sauce.

Highlight Course

Buratta cheese accompanied with caramelized peaches, cherry tomatoes and green salad.

“The acidic tomatoes complemented the peaches well. The cheese itself is really soft,

so the crunch of the salad helped create a nice texture.” - Anbita

“It was an eclectic mix of tastes, each contrasting the other but all coming together

deliciously in one spoonful.” - Ed

This modern French restaurant, settled on Purvis Street, feels posh with its

soft lighting and quiet atmosphere. There is a private room in the back that larger

parties can rent out which would be perfect for five or six couples to share for

prom.While we were ordering, the waiter offered us some bread on a silver platter

and a tempura amuse-bouche. Though the servings were disproportionally small

for the sizable bill we paid, the slick ambiance and exquisite cuisine are fitting for

prom-goers who do not mind digging a little deeper into their pockets.

We decided on cold angel-hair pasta with caviar for an appetiser, roasted

carabinero gambas and tomato rice and a tenderloin steak with bordelaise sauce

for the main courses. As for dessert, we opted for their signature apple tart with

rum raisin ice cream.Highlight CourseFine apple tart “à la dragées,” Havana rum raisin ice cream

“It looks disgusting, but I can’t stop eating it,” - Anbita

“It’s like an apple-flavored cookie in the shape of a pizza. ” - Ed

By Erica Huston

Girls’ thoughts

8 March 23, 2012

the eye

By Sana Vasi Traditionally, Junior Student Coun-

cil spends most of their year rais-ing money. The fundraising process generally begins for a council in its freshmen year and continues up to prom day itself. From selling fruit punch to cotton candy, one of their main objectives involve planning and organizing for prom in April.

“It kind of made student coun-cil more of a party planning com-mittee than a student body govern-ment,” last year’s Junior Council president and this years Execu-tive Council president, Bo Hamby said. “It wasn’t necessarily diffi-cult; it was just time consuming.”

A decision made by the combined senate last year led to the creation of

By Theresa EllsworthOver 15 years ago, SAVE Club

members proposed that all campus photocopy machines use only recy-cled paper. The administration adopt-ed the proposal and followed through until the beginning of this school year when SAVE students noticed a change.

“[This year] everybody noticed that the paper was white and higher quality,” SAVE Club sponsor Martha Began said. “They all said, ‘Huh?’.”

High school principal Dr. Tim Stuart said the recent change was purely a financial decision.

“The business office suggested that there was a cost difference between paper that we were using and sug-gested that we look at using a differ-ent type of paper that was cheaper.”

SAVE Club responded to the change by writing a letter request-ing a reevaluation of the decision from an environmental point of view.

The pulp and paper industry re-quires extremely large amounts of water and often entails the use of toxic chemicals. The most problem-atic are the chlorine compounds used in bleaching pulp to make white pa-per. According to U.S. government figures, the pulp and paper manufac-turers are the fourth largest indus-trial emitters of greenhouse gases.

After discussions among the ad-ministration about the effects of vir-gin paper, they came to a conclusion.

“We just made a decision that we are not going to be continuing with the paper; we’re going back to recycled paper and it’s effec-tive immediately,” Dr. Stuart said. This is just a high school decision.

[email protected]

SAVE persuade admin return to recycled paper

Admin kicks in funds to relieve classes of fundraising rush; Regent Hotel site of carnival themed prom

Secretary Linda Lajim, family head to Australia after 11 years at SAS

Prom Commitee president Angela Wang leads the committee’s weekly meeting with members Yana Demeester, Juhee Lee, Rachel Jackson, Andrew Lydens and sponsor Karen Olah. Photo by Megan Cosgrove.

By Monica ChrittonSenior Vincent Wu visited the

Counseling Office to say goodbye to Linda Lajim, who was the aide in his third grade class nine years ago, and today is the person responsible for taking care of his college paperwork. Exchanging a hug and memories, Wu and Lajim laughed about his time in third grade.

Counselor Frieda Dietrich said it was “a touching moment to see them reminiscing.”

Lajim started her SAS career 11 years ago as a third grade aide and moved to the high school six years

ago taking the counseling secretary’s position. She oversaw more than 200 college visits per year and made sure every senior’s college applications, ACT and SAT scores were accounted for on time.

Lajim said she will be moving over-seas for the first time to Melbourne, Australia to seek a more relaxed set-ting.

“We are looking for a change in en-vironment,” Lajim said. “Singapore is so crowded, and we want a slower pace of life.”

From her desk behind the counter sited on the entrance of the Coun-

seling Office, Lajim is usually the first to greet incoming students, par-ents or teachers.

Counselor Dawn Betts says there are times, however, when Lajim’s desk act as more of a barrier.

“She kind of protects [the coun-selors] when we are super busy and having a tough time,” Betts said. “As a counselor, I can’t even tell you how many times she has helped me.”

Lajim’s job description embraces much more than directing traffic.

“She has to make sure critical docu-ments are sent on time while keeping not only students on schedule but

a separate Prom Committee to relieve Student Council of this burden and free up more time for them to get more involved with their respective classes.

“I’m personally impressed by last year’s student council, because I don’t see how they managed to [raise money for prom], and still do....stu-dent government,” junior Prom Com-mittee member Andrew Lydens said.

“Apparently Student Council...spent [so much] time raising money that they couldn’t do what Student Council is supposed to do,” Junior Prom Committee adviser Karen Olah said. “Now that pressure is off, and they can work on other things for the student body population rather than just raise money for prom.”

Prom Committee consists of five juniors who meet every Monday to plan every aspect of prom, from hiring DJ’s to planning and arrang-ing lighting, decorations, food and gifts. One of their first and most important tasks is find a location.

“We’ve spent a couple weekends going around looking at hotels, try-ing to get a feel for them,” Olah said. “We knew what we wanted in our heads. We had to see it in

person to see if it would work.”This year, prom will take place at

the Regent Hotel on 1 Cuscanden Road, off Orchard Road. The theme is “Carnival” and ticket prices range from $90 dollars for singles and $170 for couples during the first week.

A second significant change from last year is that, unlike Student Coun-cil, Prom Committee is not required to raise funds for prom. The school gives them some money to start off with, and the ticket sales cover everything else.

Prom Committee is going to try to maintain their prom budget so that it does not exceed last year’s. Un-like previous proms which tend to cost more each year, they want to keep the budget from increasing.

“We’re not going to try and do anything too crazy,” Prom Commit-tee president, Angela Wang said.

Last year, prom cost $42.5 thou-sand and the money made from tickets were between $30 and $40 thousand. The majority of the money used for prom came from the sale of tickets, while the rest was earned through multiple fundraising events.

Now that Student Councils don’t

New committee relieves Junior Council of prom planning

Counseling losing long-time memberalso counselors on schedule,” Betts said. “There are crying kids and kids emailing her at crazy times; she is just incredibly patient.”

Counselor Frieda Dietrich said Lajim excelled at keeping up with the mounds of paperwork she was re-sponsible for.

“She was behind the scenes making sure everything worked like clock-work,” Dietrich said. “She did it all with a wonderful sense of humor and was able to run down the hallways in her favorite pair of Charles & Keith high-heeled shoes” Dietrich said.

Senior Maya Kale, a frequent visi-tor to the Counseling Office, credits Lajim with aiding her in both Peer Support and college applications.

“For seniors and anyone that is go-ing to college at our school, she lit-erally does everything,” Kale said. “I would not have gotten into college properly if not for her. She gets eve-rything in on time and it’s perfect.”

Senior Jacqui Geday says she bonded with Lajim during the college application process in conversations whose topics ranged from life issues to their shared love of food.

“Sometimes I go to the Counseling Office only to see Linda,” Geday said.

Lajim’s last day at SAS is Friday. Her husband, Faizul Lajim, worked at SAS as a system engineer since 1997 until switching to Marina Bay Sands in 2009 and has now already found a job in Melbourne. Lajim, who has two teenage children, said she is re-signing before the school year’s end so that the family will not be separat-ed over the course of the move.

Lajim said she would miss SAS but is excited for her first move overseas.

“I think I have the best job.”[email protected]

need to worry about prom, they can focus more on student activities and charity events. Survivor, completed in the beginning of the year, is an example of this; the winner was pre-sented with a thousand dollars to give to the service club of their choice.

“Throughout the next couple of weeks we have five activities com-ing up including Lipdub,” Hamby said. “The money we have raised so far we’re giving to...service clubs.”

Student Councils also had to decide what to do with the money they had previously fundraised for prom, since it was no longer needed with the estab-lishment of Prom Committee. They decided to combine all their funds into a single bank account, contain-ing $30 thousand from all councils.

While raising money is no longer as much of a necessity as last year, the Student Councils do not want to lose money either. Although they still continue to fundraise at events like County Fair, individual class councils can use the money from their account to host specific events, as long as it benefits their grade.

[email protected]

Counselling office secretary Linda Lajim (on the right) participates in last July’s Tri Factor Half Marathon. Lajim and her family will move during Spring Break. Photo by Faizul Lajim.

9 March 23, 2012

the eye

By Olivia NguyenEvery morning sophomore Li-

anne Adamopoulos walks out of her house to the bus with her shorts at school-appropriate length. By the time she gets off the bus, her shorts are cuffed twice just like her peers.

“I hate the awkward length that the school shorts are at,” Adamo-poulos said. “I don’t see many girls walking around with their shorts rolled down, so I guess I just feel more comfortable rolling mine up.”

The student handbook states that “students are required to wear the official school uniform, which

should be clean with no holes, tears or frayed areas; shorts and skirts should be mid-thigh or longer.”

Female students break dress code rules by wearing unauthorized sweat-ers and jackets, rolling waistbands on skirts, and cuffing school bottoms.

Teachers, parents and staff mem-bers have reported school shorts cuffed multiple times, shortening the length from the mid-thigh to the thigh.

Because of repeated dress code violations and complaints made by parents and faculty members, Dr. Tim Stuart has modified the de-sign of next year’s school uniforms.

Starting in August, the SAS logo on the girl’s uniform bottoms will be relocated from the back of the belt line to the bottom of the shorts above the hem. This logo will be em-broidered in order to prevent girls from rolling or altering the shorts.

Deputy Principal Doug Neihart changes are minute and will not have a tremendous impact for the girls.

“There is no change to the length of shorts; it’s what they currently are, and it is how they’re manufac-tured,” Neihart said. “We did not ask them to increase the length.”

Junior Antaara Chhabra feels

that the proposed uniform chang-es were inevitable due to students consistent violation of dress code.

“I feel it is pretty fair because some of the shorts do get really short, and sometimes it can get out of control,” Chhabra said. “But I feel like it’s a waste of money and time for all the people who have al-ready bought uniforms this year.”

Freshman Sharlene Martin said that adding new uniform bottoms and dis-continuing the current ones will be ineffec-tive. She feels that despite the changed regu-lations in dress code, students will still violate school rules.

“If student’s don’t like what they’re wearing, they’re going to find a way around it,” Martin said.

Along with changes made to the girls uniform bottoms, the ad-ministrators have discussed a pos-sible switch from the current PE uniform to a Nike dri-fit style.

Dri-fit is a high-performance micro-fiber polyester fabric created by Nike that pulls sweat away from the body and transports it to the fabric sur-face. This allows the sweat to evapo-rate and leave the skin cool and dry.

“We’re looking at going into a dri-

fit, and actually the middle school is going to that,” Neihart said. “The style will be different though, and that would be phased in. I think that every-body would agree that in this climate, that would probably be a good move.”

Junior Andrew Black-mon is looking forward to next year’s change in gym uniforms.

“I like the uniform changes be-cause dri-fit is more comfortable and absorbs the sweat better,” Black-

mon said.Other stu-

dents such as sophomore Zach Fair-clough are not as thrilled about it.

“I don’t think the new uni-forms would

make any difference in my ath-letic ability whatsoever apart from the fact that it will make us more uniform and look like ‘Mao’s lit-tle children’,” Fariclough said.

While the PE uniform chang-es are still undecided, the girl’s uniform bottoms will be al-tered and put in action next year.

“The change is a really small change, but we hope it has a big impact,” Neihart said.

[email protected]

Shorts to be un-cuffed, branded next yearProposed uniform changes aimed at stopping alterations to girls’ uniform bottoms

Female students have altered current school shorts where they are cuffed too high, violating dress code. Photo by Pamela Chan.

By Kiran SiddiqueSingapore American School an-

nounced this year the suspension of its summer program to allow mainte-nance and remodelling projects dur-ing the summer break. The announce-ment led to the surprise and dismay of students who stayed in Singapore during the summers to participate in the summer program and raised ques-tions of loy-alty to the sum-mer program.

The school website ex-plains that the school is “plac-ing a moratori-um on the sum-mer program”. The normally five-week long program is ex-pected to stay suspended for a period of three to four years as a part of the school’s ten-year facilities plan. The website reassures school members that the school will “contin-ue to evaluate the feasibility of hold-ing a summer program in future years”

Summer program direc-tor Marth Began said that she had no knowledge of the deci-sion to cancel the 2012 program.

“I was surprised and dis-

mayed,” Began said.The summer program had been

halted previously during the con-struction of the high school in the 2003-2004 school year.

Construction in the past few years did hinder the activities of the sum-mer program. Children had to be care-fully watched in the swirl of construc-

tion activity and some activi-ties were al-tered to avoid c o n s t r u c -tion around the campus.

A number of SAS alum and current students work in the sum-mer program. Junior Wendy Sung-Clarke worked in last year’s p r o g r a m . Sung-Clarke said it was a

good summer job.“If the summer program reopens

while I’m in college, I might come back to work with them,” she said.

The program employs students and teachers who dedicate their summer to working. Alumni members come back in the summer specifically to work at the summer program. The

moratorium of the program signals the end of work opportunities for high school students in Singapore who do not have the opportunity to become employed elsewhere. Sung-Clarke said she is “upset because [she will] have to find another job”

The Summer Program’s offers op-portunities for similar programs. United World College South East Asia (UWCSEA) is starting a sum-

mer program to rival SAS’s this year. “My deep concern is that after

working really hard to build [the summer program] up, and to pub-licize [the program], there might be a real difficulty in building that up after three or four years.”

Began believes that the distin-guished reputation of SAS will ensure its Summer Program’s success in the

future. An SAS parent said “It will be simply because school sponsored things will always be popular with the student body and secondly because SAS students are transient--people typically come and go--and so the pro-gram will always be something new.””

[email protected]

Construction prompts Summer Program moratoriumMajor summer work on campus poses safety hazard; hiatus could last three, four years

Alumnus Connor Murray and Senior Ameya Benegal accompany Summer Program attendees to a field trip to Jurong Water Park. The program has been suspended due to campus construction. Photo courtesy of Martha Began.

“Martha Began

Summer Program coordinator

My deep concern is that after working really hard to build

[the summer program] up, and to publicize it, there might be a real difficulty in building that up again after three or four years.

“Deputy Principal Doug Neihart

There is no change to the length of shorts. It’s what they currently

are, and it is how they’re manufactured.

10March 23, 2012

the eye

Cultural

Enlightened delegates return from Taipei and BangkokSenior Ed Khoo places a scrap of fabric, creating the top of a dress with the aid of an ISB delegate. During the two workshop days, delegates tailored dresses and crafted rings.Photo courtesy of Ed Khoo

Senior Jacqui Geday and senior Cameron Noble act out a scene from “We are Lucky to Have a Turkey”. Drama delegates also participated in a fashion show with art and dance delegates. Photo courtesy of Kate Penniall

Senior Jisoo Lee, drama delegate. Photo courtesy of Kate Penniall.

Convention 2012

Sophomore Min Kyong Kim accompanies senior Albert Stanley during his third Cultural Convention performance. Music delegates took part in an open mic night as well as master classes. Photo by Jimmy Yoon

Junior Anna Kook and Senior Jimmy Yoon, music delegates. Photo by Jimmy Yoon

Junior Will Kingan, junior Clare Kang and senior Matthew Koh, music delegates. Photo by Jimmy Yoon

Senior Jisoo Lee, drama delegate. Photo courtesy of Kate Penniall.

Freshman Sid Iyer-Sequira and senior Athelia Pauli. Photo courtesy of Kate Penniall

11March 23, 2012

the eye

Junior Rachel Liem and sophomore Jackie Benfield

are healthy cells in a dance titled “Infected”.

Dancers mimicked the process of replication and

healthy cells overcoming a virus.

Photo by Pamela Chan

Senior Abby Quick, junior Rachel Liem,

freshman Bailee Jo Sorenson,

sophomore Jackie Benfield,

junior Alexis Hiles, sophomore

Alex Koncki and junior Carrie

Dwyer, dance delegates. Photo by Pamela Chan

Sophomore Alex Koncki, sophomore Jackie Benfield and freshman Bailee Jo Sorenson,

dance delegates. Photo by Pamela Chan

House keeping staff honored with luncheon

Senior Alistair Chew and senior Abby Quick, dance delegates. Photo by Pamela Chan

Facilities and The Help club organize appreciation lunch for school’s house keeping staffClockwise from Left: Hamidah Ismail and coworkers read messages written by

students over the course of a week, organized by The Help club.

Rosidah Jaffar and Munawarah pick food. Assistant House Keeping Manager Wong Bee Bee serves

serves her coworkers curry puffs.Front row left to right: Rosnani Hassan, Masirah Ahmad,

Siti Fatimah Marjuri, Rahimah Abd. Rabhid. Second row left to right: Ita Irawati, Tanno Rengasamy, Kaliamah, Hamidah Ismail. Third Row: Noryati Kechot, Latipah Ismin, Munawarah

Abdul Ghafar, Rogayah Muhd. Nur, Naemah Hitan, Juraimi Shah and Rosedah Abdul Majid

Photos by Hyojin Park

12March 23, 2012

the eye

By Fidella Darmawan, Eye OnlineAlumnus Viraj Bindra said SAS

students were stressed past the point where it was healthy. Bindra gradu-ated from SAS last year and is now a freshman at Stanford University.

“Certain atmospheres are naturally competitive,” Bindra said in a chat interview. ”That means you have a lot of motivated kids with their sights set on top-notch colleges. Students stay up too late and get sick more easily. They skip school days to rest, stop eating or start popping pills.”

Bindra said that although junior and senior years [at SAS] were the two most stressful years of his life so far, stress has been a great motivator for him.

“My parents stressed me out sometimes about grades, but that drove me to study a bit more some days,” Bindra said.

Alumnus Phillip Anderson con-siders stress as a positive force, as long as it does become too self-con-suming. Anderson is in his first year at George Washington University.

“Be busy, and be smart about it. If you get too caught up in it, it will sweep you away,” Ander-son said. “But if you ride the cur-rent, you can easily make it out alive and maybe even get ahead.”

Naima Kimura, class of 1997, said that stress is both a friend and an enemy.

“Besides acne showing up all over my face, I lose my appetite causing weights loss,” Kimura said. “Plus, I get cranky, easily irritated. But stress is something that I have been deal-ing with for a long time. I know I can live without it, but life without stress means less challenge, thus a bit boring to me. I do not like to have a lot of it,

but I need some to spice up my life.”Bindra said he handled the

stress by channeling the drive into things he really cared about.

“I ended up doing a lot of graphic design in high school, just because I loved it, and I loved SAS’s school spir-it so I got involved in StuCo, and I had a secret love of math so I really liked Math Club,” Bindra said. “I also took APs I was really interested in, rather than ones that might ‘look good’ and that served me pretty well because I was more motivated to do the work.”

Bindra said the most important thing he did was structure free time into his days. Instead of going to meetings or doing work during breaks, he would choose to spend time with friends. At least 30 minutes of video games or TV after school kept him sane.

Laura Imkamp, class of 2006, relies

By Megan Cosgrove with Tyler StuartStudent government members

poured into H211 after school on March 13. Council representatives ex-changed casual conversation as they

on exercise as a way to manage stress.“When the work gets too much, I

go for a run, or a bike ride,” she said.Imkamp said she believes in

working hard and playing hard.“If you work really hard dur-

ing the week, you deserve—and usually need—some time off on the weekend to prevent your-self from burning out. Otherwise, you’ll end up hating everything you do and that’s a terrible feeling.”

Bindra thinks the academic culture at SAS could be modified to reduce its rigor without jeopardizing its status.

“There are steps I could fore-see SAS making that could poten-tially improve things, and that’s not being done, which is trouble-some and perpetuates the stress-ful environment,” Bindra said.

Bindra said there are private schools in the U.S. that put limits on the number of APs students are al-lowed to take. They still offer all the possible AP subjects, but restrict stu-dents to picking a maximum of two, or three AP classes in a given year.

“Since college admissions are all about determining if students have maximized their potential in a given environment, it’s shown that this hasn’t harmed students’ abilities to get into good colleges,” Bindra said.

Bindra said there are schools that have done away with APs en-tirely. He thinks this works well be-cause it allows students to explore subjects and fields they are inter-

found their seats with their respective councils but were promptly hushed as Executive Council president Bo Hamby approached the front of the room and brought out the authorita-tive gavel, calling the Senate to order.

ested in with a lot more flexibility.Principal Dr. Timothy Stuart said

while SAS does not encourage stu-dents to take huge numbers of AP courses, the school believes students and parents should have the choice to determine their accepted level of stress for themselves. He said SAS caters to an environment where it is okay to be competitive—where it is okay to succeed and reach a stu-dent’s highest possible potential.

“That is why we are not neces-sarily into putting a cap on personal excellence or rigor. We believe kids should be allowed to push them-selves as high and as far as they choose to go,” Dr. Stuart said.

Though AP changes are not ex-pected in the near future, Dr. Stuart said the administration is review-ing policies to minimize stress.

The high school is looking to change the value placed on home-work and mandate a policy where students are only allowed to take two tests on any given day.

Dr. Stuart said, right now, too many students are nervous about getting their homework correct. In his opin-ion, homework is just practice and should not be assessed for grades.

“It will not be about busy work, rath-er about competency. We are moving towards demonstration of mastery of the concept or skill and moving away from busy work,” Dr. Stuart said.

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Alumni appreciate shove of stress, but counsel balance

Student Council amends forgotten document

Suggetions include limit APs, do away with APs, exercise to de-stress, manage time better

Two formal Senate meetings incorporate 6 of 7 proposed amendments

Alumni Viraj Bindra ‘11, Phil Anderson 11, Naima Kimura ‘97 and Laura Imkamp ‘06.

Students use the whiteboard at the from of room H211 to track the argument by weighing pros and cons, tallying ayes and nays and adding subclauses to the proposed amendment. Council members considered seven amendments and adopted six of them by the end of the meetings. Photo by Tyler Stuart.

PASSED: Altering position titles from current model (Secretary, Communica-tion Director, Treasurer, Secretary and President) to (Vice Presidents and one president)

a. All candidates run for top 5/6 spots with top vote getter becoming presi-dent and remaining elected council members becoming vice-presidents.

PASSED: Altering grade level designation of Exec from current model (usu-ally exclusively made up of seniors) to (One senior President, 2 senior Vice-Presidents, 2 Junior Vice-Presidents, 1 Sophomore Vice-President)

a. Passed model: 3 seniors, 2 juniors, 1 sophomorePASSED: Altering timing of elections from current model (Exec + 4 grade

level presidents in the spring; all other positions in the fall) to (Exec in the spring, all grade level positions in the fall).

PASSED: Altering meeting days from current model (inconsistent Tuesdays and other breaks/after school periods) to (Tuesdays and Fridays 3:15 to 4:00 with Tuesdays being structured/agenda-based Senate and/or grade level meetings and Fridays being work days for grade levels/committees)

DID NOT PASS: Altering number of sponsors from current model (2 Exec + 8 grade level) to (2 Exec + 1 grade level)

PASSED: Moving from grade level cabinet structure to as-needed commit-tee structure

PASSED: Creating new method of impeachment for concerns initiated by council members, sponsors and general student body

Last Tuesday’s gathering marked the first of two Senate meetings where all four class councils met with Executive members and spon-sors to debate proposed revisions to the SAS Student Council Constitu-tion, an antiquated document last amended in the nineties. A follow-up meeting was held the next day.

The idea of conducting a formal constitutional revision was enter-tained by previous councils, but the current Senate decided to turn this no-tion into action after last year’s crea-tion of a separate Prom Committee.

Executive Council sponsor Eric Burnett notes that this change was in-tended to relieve Student Council of its traditional “party-planning” obli-gation, consequently freeing up more resources to organize activities that would benefit the general student body.

“There are no groups that going to change their peer group at prom, so we haven’t raised spirit, we haven’t changed the demographic, we re-ally weren’t improving the school at all. We were just making mon-ey to throw a party,” Burnett said.

Amendments to the constitu-tion aim to give Student Council a makeover, addressing everything from the implementation of a more comprehensive election process to a redefinition of titles and jobs.

The Constitutional Revision Com-mittee, one of the Senate’s twenty-seven new committees, was formed at the beginning of this year and,

under the leadership of Senior Coun-cil vice president Max West, has spent months revising the SAS Stu-dent Council Constitution and draft-ing a list of the most urgent issues, which was presented to the grade councils during Tuesday’s meeting.

West says he hopes the changes will provide the Student Council process with a new transparency to hold members accountable for the nature and quality of their actions.

“Before, many students, those in Student Council included, didn’t know we even had a constitution,

Discussed amendments and voted status:

much less know what was in it, and so we are trying to hold ourselves more accountable within Student Council itself, as well as giving stu-dents and teachers outside of stu-dent council a way to hold us ac-countable,” West said. “We feel this new constitution will do just that.”

The updated constitution will be published online and acces-sible to students and faculty next year after the revisions are ap-proved by the administration.

[email protected]@sas.edu.sg