NEWS
PANOPT
DENGUE OUTBREAK ON CAMPUS story Yonatan Gazit, May Tay | photo Pareen Chaudhari
A Yale-NUS Student Publication
ISSUE NO. 15
TUESDAY, 2 SEPTEMBER 2014
Yale-NUS Gourmet Club’s inaugural welcome tea.
OF WELCOMES AND TEAS story May Tay | photo Christopher Khew
S
ince the Student Activities Fair on Aug. 18, the past two weeks have seen campus life abuzz with welcome teas, friendly sports games and first club sessions organised by various student organizations. The welcome teas ranged from cosy informal gatherings to larger scale general meetings, usually accompanied by food. One example was the Singers’ Guild’s welcome tea, which was attended by 40 students from both, the freshmen and sophomore classes. Sau Tsoi ‘17 , Head of Funding, said, “A couple of us started singing The Confrontation from Les Miserables, which sparked off an impromptu Les Miserables jam, which eventually led to us singing along to Beatles’ hits with Dr. Rosenberg on the piano. This was exactly what we’d hoped for—spontaneous bursts of song, just as if we were in a musical.” Another interesting tea was the Gourmet Club’s welcome gathering, where those present got to sample a variety of local delicacies bought from famous stalls around Singapore, such as char kuay teow, black carrot cake, goreng pisang and nasi lemak. The club seeks to build a community centered around food through food-related social events for members. Fatima Ezzahra Daif ‘18 enjoyed the welcome session for The G Spot, a student diversity group concerned with feminism, gender and sexuality. “We casually talked about what the club is, versus what some people think it is (which I found pretty funny!),” she said. The Class of 2018 was also heartily welcomed by the sports teams on campus. Subhas Nair ‘17 shared, “Their arrival was
much anticipated, especially by the sports teams in YNC. Now we have healthy competition for places on teams and many more sports ambassadors for the college.” In addition, many in the Class of 2018 are excited to create new student organisations. The Yale-NUS College Students Facebook page reveals many ideas in the pipeline, from an astronomy club to a scuba diving club. At the same time, however, Dean’s Fellow Ng Yin Ling thinks extra-curricular commitments should be balanced with enough rest and personal time. To this end, she said, “Be like when you go window shopping—try out as many things as you want, but when it comes to committing your time and resources, choose wisely. ‘Wise’ means what really piques your interest and fires your energy.”
MODEL ASEAN CONFERENCE
YALE-NUS, SINGAPORE
of its kind, according to Jared Yeo ‘17, the Secretary General of the conference. “It’s not that [Model ASEAN has] never been done in Singapore; it has been done, but it has never been done on a university level, organized by university students, with a slightly more rigorous academic component,” he said. The conference’s roots can be traced back to a Model UN conference in Taiwan last year which YIRPA attended. “Two of our delegations were in the ASEAN regional forum. And then they shared with us how different it is, and then it just got me thinking,” Yeo said. “We as university students are still very alien to the ASEAN style of debate, then what about high schoolers and people younger than us. So it got me thinking, why not create a Model ASEAN.” In mid March of 2013, a group of members within the club met for the first time to begin planning the conference. The organizers required delegates to write an essay, explaining why they wanted to participate in the conference, to ensure delegates would come committed and add to the debate. “The quality of the debate was surprisingly good. They were very fluent. Also, very focused. And I think it’s got to do with the application process,” Diamanta Lavi ‘17 said. According to the organizers, the event was also a great chance to promote the college. “We gave our delegates, the high school students, an opportunity to get to know Yale-NUS and the culture better, from interacting with President Lewis and Dean Farley and hearing from Austin an Admissions talk to speaking to any one of us about what the culture is. We had a dinner and dance at the MPH, we had the first day of council sessions all at [Residential College four],” Yeo elaborated. YIRPA hopes to make the model ASEAN conference a recurring event for the school and plans to increase the conference’s size next Continued on page 3...
story Yonatan Gazit | photo used with permission from YIRPA
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rom Aug. 22 to 24, the Yale-NUS International Relations and Political Association (YIRPA) hosted 154 high school students for a Model Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) conference. Like Model United Nations (MUN) conferences, the Model ASEAN conference was meant to simulate ASEAN conferences. YIRPA’s conference was one of the first
NEWS/FEATURE
Above: Model ASEAN delegates vote on the resolution in the Membership Council.
2 Sept, 2014 | 1
A
aron Lai ‘18 had only recently returned from his freshman orientation trip when he began to feel feverish. “At first I thought it was just a normal fever, but … by day three or four of this I went over to the UHC [University Health Centre] and they took blood tests and after a few days I found out I had Dengue,” he said. “I was the second or third registered Dengue statistic in UTown.” Dengue fever, also known as the bonecrusher disease, is a mosquito-borne viral disease spread through the bite of an infected Aedes mosquito. There is no existing drug cure. It was a difficult time for Lai, who said, “ I was in a position where I really couldn’t be upright that much, plus when I slept my bones and back muscles were in pretty bad pain.” Associate Dean of Students, Kim Cheah, also came down with Dengue around the same period. “It was really challenging to be hit with dengue, especially at a time when school had just started and so many events were happening. Physically, I was down with a high fever and chills, intense body aches and pain, swollen hands and feet and the need to be horizontal for most of the day,” she shared. In all, there have been three cases of Dengue within Yale-NUS College, and a total of 50 in the College Avenue East/West cluster, according to the National Environment Agency. This is the first time Yale-NUS has dealt with an outbreak of Dengue fever on campus. The previous Dengue outbreak happened in 2007. “Right now, Dengue is our top priority, and we are trying very hard with our concerted efforts to fight against Dengue and eliminate Dengue on campus,” said Ms. Radha Pebbisetty,
Alex Pont ‘18 takes preventative measures against Dengue.
Senior Manager of Safety & Health. Soon after UTown was classified as a high-risk dengue cluster, the college implemented combat measures. Information about Dengue fever and preventive measures was disseminated to the community through email blasts and even orientation slides. All students were given samples of mosquito repellent patches and residential common lounges were stocked with repellants for public use. The frequency of external misting increased from once to twice weekly, and biweekly internal misting was introduced. On Aug 26, two representatives from the National Environmental Agency (NEA) were seen setting up an interactive Dengue information booth in the dining hall.
According to Ms. Radha, Yale-NUS is working very closely with NUS and NEA. There are regular meetings with NUS Crisis and Emergency Management representatives to “strategically discuss the Dengue situation and the path forward in this fight against Dengue”. Although it is unclear where all the Aedes mosquito breeding spots in the College Avenue East/West cluster are, the new Yale-NUS campus construction site was found to be one of them. As a result, access to the footpath adjacent to the construction site has been restricted. It is, however, not uncommon to find students breaching the safety barriers. Amidst the undercurrent of anxiety surrounding the Dengue outbreak in UTown, Seung Hee Lee ‘18 is appreciative of the effort taken to control the situation. He said, “I think the school has actually been making a considerable effort to solve this issue. Coming from an international school in Jakarta, Dengue is really common. My high school really didn’t do any of these protective measures so I appreciate what they’re doing here.” When asked what he would want to tell people about Dengue, Lai said emphatically, “Kill every mosquito that you find. I’ve been exterminating them day in and day out. Don’t become paranoid about it, but do make an effort to make sure there’s nothing buzzing around.” “Dengue was more debilitating that I ever imagined, so stay vigilant and safe where possible. If you show any symptoms, get tested immediately,” added Dean Kim. At this point in time, the Dengue situation in Yale-NUS is stable and under control. No new cases have emerged since Aug. 20, 2014.
TO ICE OR NOT TO ICE? story Kavya Gopal, Regina Marie Lee | photos Tamara Burgos, Adam Goh, Hannah James
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ver the last two weeks, more than 20 students have done it. The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge has spilled over into Yale-NUS. First, students were challenged by their friends back in the United States. They then tagged their peers, inundating social media feeds with videos of people pouring ice buckets on themselves. Even President Lewis, Rector Mcadoo and Dean Farley completed the challenge after being nominated by students. There are many variations of the challenge, but most participants choose to pour ice water on themselves, and/or donate to research for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), a progressive neurodegenerative disease that eventually leads to death and currently has no cure. They then upload the videos of the act
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onto social media, nominating other friends for the challenge to ‘raise awareness’ of the disease, or at least the challenge itself. The Ice Bucket Challenge stands out as a unique and new form of activism due to its viral nature and entertainment value. The ALS Association, a US organisation which receives the bulk of donations from the challenge, reported on Aug. 27 that it had received a whopping $117.80 million (USD $94.3 million) in donations in less than a month. Yet, some concerns have been raised about how meaningful the challenge is. Some who have been tagged have conscientiously refused to join in. For Julianne Thomson ‘18, one of the first at Yale-NUS to undertake the challenge, it was
a good way to gain and spread awareness about ALS. She said, “To be honest, I didn’t know what ALS was before, but now I do. Even my friend in Indonesia on Facebook asked what the challenge was about, so I explained it to him.” Zach Mahon ‘17 was afraid that people would skip his video, so he attempted it creatively—by pouring ice water from the 17 floor of Residential College 4. He explained, “I thought that if it could be a little different, people would actually watch the video instead of scrolling past. I also made sure to talk about how important it is to donate.” In response to criticisms that the challenge is a lazy form of activism, Mahon said, “At the end of the day, the numbers back up the
FEATURE/SPORTS
Yale-NUS students do the ice-bucket challenge.
success. The ALS foundation received much more in donations compared to the same time period last year.” Still, Ami Firdaus ‘17 raised good point about how such foundations use their money – “You don’t necessarily know where your money is going, so I don’t think it’s a very informed way of supporting the cause. It’s very easy to say that you support the cause by pouring water on yourself and thinking that you’re giving ALS publicity, but I think most people don’t even donate.” Such quick, emotionally motivated donations may counterintuitively prevent donors from critically engaging with the issue. Silvia Lara ‘18 explained, “All of my friends have done it, so I feel like they already know about ALS. I also felt like many were just doing it out of peer pressure.” She had declined to do the challenge. Yet, others felt that doing the challenge was important in addition to donating, because the videos helped to highlight the cause to one’s network of friends. Alex Pont ‘18 said, “At first I thought doing the challenge wouldn’t make a difference and that it was only for fun, so I made a donation instead. But after watching more videos, I realised how powerful [a viral video is] and decided to do it.” President Pericles Lewis, who was nominated by Muhd Amrullah ‘17, also accepted the challenge. In response to concerns of water wastage arising from the challenge, he said, “It is very important to give clean water to people who don’t have it, but we are not wasting water that would otherwise go to help people in those situations. I’m sure we consume much more water when we take a shower than used in this challenge.” For Rector Brian Mcadoo, his decision to do the challenge a second time in Yale-NUS was a conscientious one. “This particular methodology has raised a staggering amount of money for something most people hadn’t even heard of. Without doing the silly gimmicky thing, it wouldn’t have gone as viral. If we can figure out how to tap into that energy for other
causes, that would be a good way of using social media to change the world.” The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge brings up several questions about effective activism. Does dumping a bucket of ice on yourself make a difference? Is raising awareness simply about stating the name of the organisation but giving very little explanation for its activities? Does activism on social media bring about sustained and meaningful change? The nature of activism has definitely transformed. But it is important to ensure that our actions as activists are meaningful and thoughtful, not just feel-good fun.
BLEEDING BLUE AND ORANGE story Dave Chappell
W
hilst a sudden downpour may have rained off the semester’s first basketball match on Friday 29 Aug. 2014, it did little to dampen spirits. The rapturous applause drowned out the pummelling rain, the claps of thunder sticks rivalled those of the actual thunder and the screams from the crowd brought a hush to the howling wind—even long after the game had concluded. Despite the early finish, the match was in many ways an unqualified success. The team performed admirably and the atmosphere set a high standard for future Yale-NUS sporting events. As Zach Mahon ‘17 noted, “We play because we like the sport, but our main goal is to proudly represent YaleNUS College in the best possible light”—a goal the team and its supporters definitely achieved. The atmosphere both prior and during the game was electric. As the first basketball match of the semester, expectations were high. The
players have been training with an external coach, intensively, twice a week, since the start of the term. Yale-NUS support outnumbered the home-side’s three to one, with notable guests including President Lewis, Dean Farley, Sebastian and Paloma. A sea of posters and placards declared support, encouraged the “Zach Attack” and begged the question, “Who’s #Juan?” The level of anticipation was palpable. Some may argue that this pressure may hamper player performance. But when asked about the effect the build-up has been having on the team, Mahon pointed out that “it has helped us stay focused,” a sentiment echoed throughout the squad with the phrase “No pressure, no diamonds.” In fact, the encouragement was greatly appreciated by those on court. “The hype has been unreal. We really appreciate our supporters and always give our 100 percent for them. They bleed as much blue and orange as we do,” Subhas Nair ‘17 stated, when asked about the hype surrounding the game. Indeed, this was demonstrated repeatedly, throughout the match. Described as “a group of hard working and dedicated men,” by their captain, Nair, the team lived up to their reputation. Despite falling behind by 12-6 near the end of the first quarter, the team fought back to 12-12, owing to a couple of two pointers from Sebastian Cortes ‘18 and two free throws from Nair. At 16-12, a pair of twos from Mahon and Aaron Kurzak ‘17 brought Yale NUS level once again. A two pointer and a successful free throw by Nair, a two from Cortes and three pointer by Mahon, took Yale-NUS, from 26-18, to 28-26. Time and time again, the team retaliated, spurred on by the crowd’s rapturous applause. If the game had not been prematurely halted, it would still have been all to play for. Hopefully this level of college pride and spirit can be maintained throughout the year, not just in basketball but all sports. Starting with the Inter-Faculty Games this week, all students and faculty members are encouraged to come and give their all for the players. As Nair notes, “I do not believe there is such a thing as ‘too much pressure.’”
OPINION
SPIRIT OF THE INDEPENDENT COURSE column Graham Link | photo used with permission from Yale-NUS College Admissions
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MC (Modular Credits) Independent Courses are arguably one of this college’s most compelling benefits. The opportunity to propose, build and shape your own course is simply unique in higher education. These courses erase our major labels and grade anxieties, allowing us to pursue knowledge with no other purpose beyond itself. In short, we become learners before students. There is a certain purity about the whole idea. But all this could soon change. On Aug. 19, 2014, the Curriculum Committee laid out a new policy on Independent Courses. Unfortunately, although some reasonable points on formal assessment and overloading are made, there are also some serious restrictions: (1) All so-called ‘2MCs’ must now be capped at five students. If more than five students are interested in a course, it is up to the professor to whittle it down “by any criteria they desire”. (2) Enrolment in 2MCs will now take place through the standard add/drop system used for all other courses. These restrictions are cause for concern. Arbitrarily limiting class size to ‘X’ number of students is counter to the spirit of 2MC courses, where desire to learn should be the only criteria. The new restrictions cite space limitations and the absence of Committee review to justify X=5, but neither reason is satisfactory. Firstly, students who take 2MCs are passionate. Practical concerns like space will not stop them—a classroom is just Starbucks minus frappuccinos. This problem will of course be resolved in the new campus. On the issue of curriculum review, we must remember that these are independent courses. Their content is student proposed and designed according to personal interest—one of their primary benefits. Imposing a requirement for Committee review would become a limiting hurdle and stub out proposals before they gain legs. Separately, it’s inevitable that more than
Yale-NUS professors engage in discussion outside the classroom.
five students will participate in 2MCs anyway, if the professor will have them. If there are eight interested students, three will just have to audit. Being truly curious, they won’t miss the credits. Five (possibly random) students will get credit for their passion while the others will not. If there are to be size restrictions, they should be left to individual professors. They should not be imposed from the top across the board. As for the new enrolment procedure, if the course registration process becomes just another online ‘add/drop’ listed alongside every other course, we risk diminishing the proposal process. We lose the fun of the chase. For me, crafting these courses has offered just as much value as the courses themselves. Collaboration with interested peers and professors toward your own curriculum is extremely rewarding. But under the new policy, students may no longer need to have a personal hand in this process. Instead they will simply sign up after the fact when it’s all already said and done. To address these issues, we should distinguish
LETTER TO THE EDITORS
Continued from page 1:
...year to about 200 students, according to Yeo. Lavi said she believed the event helped give everyone involved a deeper understanding and appreciation for how ASEAN really works. “ASEAN is by consensus...and most of the delegates are very much used to model UN, so there were a few surprises for them that it has to be a consensus vote, that there has to be no against vote,” she said. “It was very interesting and makes you better appreciate the ASEAN way of thinking and working together.”
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It was heart-warming for me to see Raeden and Aaron voice out such ardent school spirit. I too am tired of having to explain again and again that Yale-NUS isn’t an NUS faculty, and I too want to see Yale-NUS stand in equal with other universities in Singapore. I, however, did not have the privilege of “rejecting prestigious universities around the globe” to come here; I was also lucky enough to have my parents be only 3000 kilometres away.
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I also feel that, somewhere amongst the 30,000 students at NUS, there are too those who took risks, who chose to be a part of NUS because they, like Raeden, wanted to be different. I guess my qualm lies in the pronoun “we”—it assumes the identity and voice of a collective that may or may not have shared an individual’s experience and sentiments. I personally did not feel comfortable identifying with that “we”—a “we” that trivialised the
between faculty and student proposed 2MC courses. Use the public ‘add/drop’ system only for faculty proposed courses such as ‘Math for Economics’. Retain the current ad hoc system for student proposed courses. This would both ensure student involvement in course proposals, and allow every student who contributes to a course proposal to receive rightful credit. Separate kinds of courses deserve separate policies. Annette Wu ‘17, current student in a 2MC course, sums it up thoughtfully: “Yale-NUS is about doing things differently and if administrative barriers are enforced at the sacrifice of an amazing, viewchanging, totally unique course… it would be a real waste of our pioneering potential… We clearly care about our education, and we know our professors truly care for us. Why not make the most of it?” i. Yale-NUS Registry. “2 MC Courses in Semester 1 (AY 2014/2015 - Aug-Dec 2014).” Message to the author. 19 Aug. 2014. Email.
Send your letter to the editors to yncpanopt@gmail.com by 5 P.M. on Friday for the chance to have it published here next week. experience of my friends at NUS. And so, I sincerely hope that, if and when PANOPT feels the need to speak on behalf of another, its writers and editors will do so with extreme humility, because everyone has his/her own stories, and these stories should be told with respect. —Hoa Nguyen ‘17