The Eye Dec 13, 2005

the eye Singapore American High School

Dec, 13, 2005 / Vol. 24 No. 2

Deputy Principal Dave Norcott explains the interim sign-up rules to students for the last time. Next year the responsibility will go to the new deputy principal. Photo by Laura Imkamp.

At the end of three weeks of principal interviews, the high school has a new principal. On Dec. 2, deputy principal Dave Norcott was told that he had the job.

After a pool of 23 possible candidates for the job, Maddie Hewitt of Cairo American College, Tom Oden of the American Community School in Beirut, William Hart of Leominster High School in Massachusetts, and Norcott were shortlisted as the top four candidates.

All four candidates went through separateinterviewswithSuperintendent Bob Gross and the board, high school faculty, high school students, high school PTA representatives, counselors and activities directors, and the board of governors.

Gross said that as well as the standard questions asked of every candidate, faculty members also asked Norcott questions specifically relating to his four years here.

“They want to see if he’s picking up on areas that need to be strengthened,” Gross said.

Norcott agreed that some questions he was asked were probably a little different because the interviewers Permit # MICA (P) 234/10/2005

already knew him.

“The questions asked of other candidates were trying to get to know them,” he said. “Everyone already knows who I am. The issues we talked about were more real issues [at our school] than hypothetical ones.”

Still, he said that the questions were fair and kept at a generic level.

“A process like that really sharpens you,” he said.

Everyone present at the interviews had the chance to write down strengths, concerns and any additional comments relating to the applicant. They were also asked to indicate whether or not they would be pleased with that person as the next principal. Gross then looked at every form that was turned in for each of the candidates.

Though the final decision was his own, Gross said that he was interested in input from the various groups. He also wanted to see whether or not the groups were raising any issues that he had not thought of.

“I had to square away with my own opinion after getting all their input,” he said.

Another factor in hiring any of the other three applicants was whether or not there was a teaching position available for their spouse. All three candidates are married to teachers.

Still, Gross said that Norcott came out as the strongest candidate. He said that judging by the comments made, all groups felt positive about putting Norcott in the job and that he had an extra edge because of his experience not only in schools, but also as a parent

who has raised seven kids.

Comments on the forms indicated that people saw Norcott as making good decisions, and that he was good at getting back to teachers quickly.

They also felt that the way he goes about discipline “leaves both sides with dignity.”

“He educates rather than punishes,” Gross said.

Interviewers also said that they were happy with his involvement in the school culture and student events and activities.= “I enjoy being at events. I don’t go because I have to,” Norcott said. “I hate it when I can’t get to the caf at break, and I get frustrated when there’s meeting after meeting [during break times.]”

Another strength Norcott possessed was the amount of experience he has under his belt: he was a teacher, a coordinator of the gifted and enrichment program, a middle school deputy principal, a middle school principal, a high school principal, and for the past four years at SAS, a high school deputy principal. In between his teaching years he even “hitchhiked” his way around the world for two years, taking time to work in Europe, Africa and Asia.

“We could have just hired him,” Gross said. “But the process is important so the community can see the caliber of the candidates. So even if we did end up with Norcott, [now we know] we’ve got the best of the pool available.”

Norcott said that if he had not

been given the job here, he had a job offer at the Rabat American School in Morocco, and he was shortlisted in the final two at schools in Beijing, Shanghai and Johannesburg.

Some of the things Norcott said he wanted to work on once he takes over the role of principal include getting people more engaged in the SAS community and culture and making sure that the courses offered are relevant to the real world and not “superficial” or too narrow in subject matter.

“I want to keep taking what we’re doing and refine it,” he said.

Norcott said he also wants to make every space in the school “flexible.”

One of his ideas includes expanding the wireless laptop capabilities on campus so that kids and classes could potentially check out laptops that could be used anywhere on school grounds.

“Why take a class to the lab when you can bring the lab to the classroom,” he said.

He said that in a school growing as quickly as SAS, a wireless network could possibly open up more classroom space in place of computer labs.

Norcott also recognized that not being able to fit the entire school into the auditorium is a problem because the high school cannot meet as a group.

He said that this takes away from the community feel.

“It’s like having five kids at a table for four,” he said. “One will always be left out and even if you rotate who it is, that person won’t feel very good when he’s sitting out.”

At the moment there is a proposal to renovate the current gym into a topnotch gym that would host assemblies, major sports games and other school events. There are, however, no definite plans yet.

Now that the principal position is taken care of, the next step is to find a new deputy principal to take over Norcott’s current role. The job is open to both internal candidates from the school, as well as external candidates from any other schools.

Both Gross and Norcott had similar views on what kind of person they would like for the job.

Gross said that an ideal individual would have strong interpersonal relationships, would understand the difficulty of the job, and could make tough decisions.

“We don’t want someone who is [just] nice,” Gross said. “That’s what we want when we’re looking for a brother or sister. We’re looking for a deputy principal.”

Norcott said that he wants a people-person: someone who has a passion for the job and loves working with kids and people. He said he’d like someone who enjoys what he does and wants to be there every day as a part of the school. He also said that he wants someone wise. “[We want] someone who has enough experience to be able to deal with the ambiguity of the job,” Norcott said. “Nothing is simple in here.”

Gross said that it could take up to the third week of January to reach a decision, if not sooner.

2 news

Earthquake relief drive exceeds expectations

By Rhoda Severino in to help, raising $1,262.The most One temporary shelter in generous donor was Peace Initiative.

Pakistan costs US$ 400 to build. The They managed to sell $4,591 worth Earthquake Relief Committee has of raffle tickets. After them, Global raised enough money for 36 shelters. Giving Club sold $3,936 worth of From Oct. 27th to Nov. 23rd, all raffle tickets. five schools raised $24,812.10 for the On an interesting note, on Nov. Pakistani refugees of the South Asian 18th, the High School only raised earthquake, almost $5,000 more than $13. In comparison, on that same day the Earthquake Relief Committee’s even the 6th grade was able to raise original target. more money at $791.05.

Five high Co-chair of school clubs, the Earthquake Global Giving, R e l i e f Broadcast Club, Committee Peace Initiative, Julia Knight Independent said she was Performing pleased with Artists Union the outcome.

(IPAU) and the “I’m very French Club all happy,” Knight contributed to said. “Everyone the fund. Global Students react as junior Tommy Paddock and senior on the project Chris Fussner have their hair shaved.

Giving, Peace has worked Initiative and IPAU’s donations all extremely hard and the community came from raffle ticket sales. has been very supportive.”

The head-shaving fund drive, The money raised will be split organized by the Executive Student evenly between two charaties Council, was a huge success, raising in Pakistan: Children’s Relief more than $3,000 in one day.

International, a Christian nonEven the youngest members of governmental organization, and the the community, the students of the International School of Islamabad Early Childhood Center, chipped Relief Project.

Dec. 13, 2005

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the Eye

Sophomore Tommy Paddock has his hair shaved for the “One Hair, One Life” fundraising drive organized by the Executive Student Council for the victims of the recent Pakistani earthquake. $3,391.60 was raised during the Nov. 18th event held during the breaks. David Bywater, Caroline Joseph, Chris Fussner, Sam Redway, Kris Riemer, Peck Yang, Tommy Paddock and Jim Baker all pledged to shave their hair after a certain amount of money had been raised. Baker bid adeu to his moustache, a constant companion for the past 40 years. Executive Council President Caroline Joseph ended up not having her hair shaved. Joseph was not too happy about not being able to being able to go under the clippers.

“It kinda sucked cause I prepared myself,” Joseph said.

All photos by Laura Imkamp A Tiger Woods lookalike, sophomore Tommy Paddock laughs as he holds his hair shavings.

Senior David Bywater Junior Peck Yang laughs as Senior Chris Fussner grimaces as his hair is his hair is shaved. silently contemplates. shaved.

TB unit causes stir as 140 students tested for exposure to tuberculosis

By Ted Ho Following the diagnosis of an SAS senior with tuberculosis, 140 high school students were called to the Nurse’s Office on November 29th to get a TB test.

During the past month rumors about a senior with tuberculosis caused speculation by both students and faculty concerned about the likelihood of infection.

“I feared that rumors might start to spread and that both students and family members might start to fear the tuberculosis incident and whether or not their child could catch it,” Nurse Shelley Donahue said.

About a month ago, a teacher told

Donahue that a certain senior had contracted tuberculosis. Donahue then contacted the student’s physician who confirmed that. The physician informed Donahue that he had contacted the Tuberculosis Control Unit of Tan Tock Seng hospital.

“I wanted to be proactive about this, so I contacted [the TB unit] first,” Donahue said. “We contacted them numerous times, but they had technical problems. It wasn’t until the third time that they were really concerned with the situation.”

Despite the difficulty in communication between the school and the TB control unit, the group began administering TB tests

two weeks ago. Students took the Mantoux test, where a little bit of the bacteria is injected into the body.

After 72 hours, it shows either a positive or negative result.

“The test is not absolute though,” Donahue said. “It will show a positive result if a student has been exposed to TB sometime in their life, and it will show positive especially if they have had the BCG(tuberculosis) vaccine before.”

Despite many assurances, some students were still nervous about the tests.

“I had to take the TB test on my birthday,” senior Leslie Lim said. “I was getting kind of nervous while

waiting in the waiting room, but in the end it only hurt when the needle went into your skin.”

Lim’s test turned out negative, but for the many students who had the BCG vaccine or had been exposed to TB at some time before, it meant a further series of tests.

“I heard a lot of other kids tested positive, so I wasn’t really nervous about it,” senior Tyler Reed said.

“When we found out that [our] results were positive, we were each told to get an X-ray.”

Students are being contacted individually by the Tuberculosis Control Unit, which allots them a day to come and get X-rayed. The TB

unit will take care of the cost of the X-ray for students under 18, while the school will take care of the fees for students above 18.

Opinion differs as to how the school handled the event. While most students feel that the school reacted quickly to the situation, others feel that the school’s system of testing had some loopholes.

“I think the school handled the situation well, but I also know a lot of people in my APES class weren’t tested even though they had shared a class with Andy,” senior Andrea Long said. “However, they did do a good job of bringing in health officials to get people tested.”

Change of guard as Chmelik takes head of school job at Int’l School of Kuala Lumpur

By Michelle Lee Paul Chmelik accepted the head of school position at the International School of Kuala Lumpur on Thanksgiving Day. Chmelik was the unanimous choice among the four candidates interviewed by the board, faculty, and parent-student representatives.

“Paul really stood out. He was very pragmatic and very frank and fair with his ideas about the future of ISKL,” said Piyush Gupta, a member of ISKL’s board of directors.

Gupta said that Chmelik shares the vision of his predecessor, departing Superintendant William Powell, and

believes that he will continue to build on that legacy. Gupta cited Chmelik’s people skills, and his enthusiasm for education and learning as two of the main reasons Chmelik was chosen.

“Mr. Chmelik has an extensive educational background, and ideas about how to bring ISKL forward in the community; for example, upgrading the school’s equipment, and moving the school to a new location in the near future,” junior Freya Groom, a IASAS student union representative said.

Groom was one of the student government members asked to interview the candidates. The

students asked the finalists about their views on the student council, and what kind of relationship with the students they hoped to foster.

After the interview, the group listed each candidate’s pros and cons and passed them on to Joseph Granzow, the student government advisor at ISKL. “I don’t think Mr.Chmelik had any cons. All of his ideas seemed realistic and I’m sure they’ll be implemented. Mr. Chmelik seemed overall an incredibly nice guy. He was approachable and friendly, and was very sincere in his responses,” Groom said.

He credits the common views of ISKL as a small school to the comparison between ISKL and newer schools in the IASAS community.

He said he would like to be part of the development of ISKL into a larger stage that guarantees a higher quality of education available for the students.

“Yes, I’m confident about my ability to face the challenges, but I’m fully aware that there will indeed be challenges,” Chmelik said.

Chmelik said that the opportunity to experience increased contact with government officials as the head of school will be part of the new

occupational experience for him, and he feels it will be a satisfying one.

“The high school student council is looking forward to Mr.Chmelik’s arrival at ISKL. His friendliness and vast experience will definitely be well received by the ISKL community,” senior class Vice-President Michael Chan said.

Chmelik said that he was excited about the move, but has mixed feelings about the move because of the gratitude and good feelings he has about his tenure at SAS, the school where his son, Chris, graduated from two years ago.

the Eye

By Catherine Ward According to the U.S. Department of Education female students achieve higher grades in every subject than male students. High school girls have a higher median class rank. They also are more likely to participate in the school paper, yearbook, student council and academic clubs. The same is true at SAS. Out of the top 102 students, 60 percent are females and of all students taking AP courses, 66 percent are female.

“Girls outperform boys in elementary school, middle school, high school, college, and graduate school,” a school psychologist and author of “Raising Cain” Dr. Michael Thompson said in a CBS News article “The Gender Gap: Boys Lagging.”

“Boys get a lot of mixed messages about what it means to be masculine and what it means to be a student.”

“For adolescent males, identity comes from the ability to stand out as an individual,” said Jeff Devens.

Because of the various messages concerning masculinity, it may be harder for male students to gain an identity than for female students. This could result in the lack of academic achievements that male students experience.

The average curriculum does not take into account this difference between males and females. Because of their different maturity and growth levels their learning styles may be different.

“The changes [that need to be made] are as simple as incorporating more activity into classrooms, which can go a long way toward accommodating the temperament

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Dec. 13, 2005

Gender Gap

GRO

of boys,” one article in the Detroit News said. “Boys fall behind girls in grades.”

Educators speculate in the United States on the growing gap between male and female students accomplishments in the classroom.

This gap starts in kindergarten and is especially visible in American universities.

SAS students jump on bandwagon, and join worldwide Manga craze Schmidt said.

By Joseph Sarreal Manga became a national Tucked away in the Library’s “Modern Language Japanese” section, obsession in Japan when it emerged Manga comic books hold court. The after World War Two. Manga cafes, or well-thumbed books, some with pages Manga kissaten, where people drink detached from the binding, are popular coffee and read Mangas, have grown exponentially. with many students.

Wa n t e d Imagine a guy who posters for becomes a girl. This criminals “girl” has four fiancés have appeared and is a karate master in Manga who saves the world by format and the fighting monsters. These government outlandish propositions has explained constitute the plot line of public policy the Manga “Ranma 1/2.” proposals in Manga, Japanese Manga format. comic books, literally M a n g a translates to “random also competes pictures.” In Japan, on a global Manga is held in high scale, finding esteem as both an art form popularity and popular reading. from France “Its really a part of Eric Schmidt leafs through some of [Japanese] culture,” the popular “Slamdunk” comic books to Indonesia. is said senior Masanori in the library group room. Staged Comiket the largest Nabeshima.

“Even photo by Brian Riady comic book middle-age businessmen convention in the world with over half read comics.”

According to Nabeshima, Manga’s a million participants Despite its popularity, concerns popularity is especially high among have emerged about sexually explicit teens.

“Teenagers [in Japan] prefer to and violent themes in Manga.

But according to James Brooke, read Manga over novels.”

Senior Eric Schmidt is favors a writer with the New York Times, Manga comic books are as popular Manga over American comics.

“American comics like Batman as ever. “Comic books account for and Spiderman are for nerds and guys 60 percent of printed publications in our age but Manga is for everyone,” Japan.”

WS While there are 800,000 more males aged between 18 and 24 in the United States, there are more females attending and graduating from college than males.

This difference is a result of many factors, including the rapid rate at which males are dropping out of high school. It is generally accepted that females mature earlier in life than

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males and that somehow this affects the academic abilities of students.

While drop-outs are rare at SAS, students and teachers generally agree that females mature faster than boys, and that this does impact the academic performances of females and males.

“Girls mature faster than boys,” AP Literature teacher Dr. Roopa Dewan said.

But she added, instead of being a result of gender or maturity, good grades result from “a personal drive.”

Senior Joanna Tu agreed. “I think that anybody can do well if they just [focus and try hard].”

Most students said that males and females have the same ability to get good grades and to excel in this academic environment, but student performances at SAS reflect U.S. data for gender differences in school.

There are more female students in the journalism class at SAS. There are more than twice as many females in the yearbook course. More student council offices are held by females.

The student leader of any club is more likely to be female than male.

Everyone seems to understand that females are doing better in school.

Yet, no one has proposed a solution for improving the achievements of male students. One factor to focus on may be the social pressure that exists for males to be less academicallyminded than females.

“There’s this belief that it’s not cool for guys to be smart,” senior Leslie Lim said.

“It is a common feeling that when a male is connected with academics, he is nerdy, while a female associated with academics is considered hard working,” senior Kavanaugh Livingston said. “This stereotype is a factor in the growing gap between male and female students.”

Whether caused by a social stereotype, different learning styles or opposite mind-sets, or from a combination of each factor, the disparity in performance between males and females concerns educators and parents.

S A S

• The top 10% of high school students are 60% female • Last quarter, only 37 males had a GPA of 4.0 or above as compared to 56 females.

•66% of the students taking AP Courses are females

U S

•133 females graduate college for every 100 males • Females students have a higher median class rank • Women earn 170,000 more bachelor degrees each year than men

Busy SAS students find time for work

By Ted Ho For $6 an hour, senior Hannah Thoman arranges clothes as a sales assistant at the Club Marc shop at the Takashimaya Department store. On the other hand, for $2000 Sophomore Abby Murray models jeans in Levi’s commercials.

“I work once a week on Saturday and on occasional Friday nights,” Thoman said, “I like fashion, so its fun for me.”

Thoman enjoys her job overall, but says that there are some customers that try her patience.

“You get people who want your help, and you get other customers who are rude,” Thoman said. “We have different ways of coping with them.”

On an average day her job is problem free but occasionally some interesting customers show up.

“Our shop only sells female clothes,” Thoman said. “And there was this one time where we had a male customer, who was trying to try on clothes in the female dressing room.”

Sophomore Abby Murray, who is also interested in fashion, got her current job in an unconventional fashion.

“I was on Sentosa beach and a lady named Vivian asked me to model for her company,” Murray said.

Murray says that her job has opened up new experiences and opportunities for her.

“You get to wear nice clothes and “My duties were shared between look pretty,” Murray said. “You get working as a cashier, loading plants paid while meeting people from all into the back of people’s car, watering over the world.” plants and various other services,” L i k e Swenson Thoman, said.

M u r r a y Swenson has flexible worked 15 working to 16 hours hours, but a week from her pay the end of depends on April to the contract September. she is being He was paid offered.

US$7.50 an “The pay hour. By the depends on end of the the contract,” summer he Murray said. earned more “Recently I than $1000.

“I enjoyed did a job for working at Barbie which this store, paid $1500 because there and I’ve were many also done a couple of Hannah Thoman organizes clothes at Club Marc in opportunities Takashimaya where she works on Saturdays. to work runways.”

Photo by Ted Ho outside and S o m e students opt to work during the enjoy the outdoors,” Swenson said. summer when they get back to their The work experience not only home countries because of more free provided Swenson with spending time in the summer, higher wages money, but also with some insightful in their home countries and fewer experiences on how to deal with working restrictions. customers.

Senior Michael Swenson worked “Because I worked at a plant at Frank’s nursery and crafts, a U.S. store we had interesting customers,” chain store that sells garden plants and Swenson said. “There this one guy crafts. The chain went out of business who came into the store and pretended late 2004. to be the manager of the store.”

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Dec. 13, 2005

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the Eye

Dodge plays games with Nobel winner

By Denise Hotta-Moung Social Studies teacher Robert Dodge has a personal interest in Thomas Schelling’s Nobel Prize.

While studying at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, Dodge was enrolled in Conflict Cooperation Strategy, a course that focused on game theory. His teacher was Professor Schelling.

“He was one of the famous professors [at Harvard],” Dodge said. “I thought I was lucky to get in his class.”

Now, 16 years later, Schelling has been awarded the Nobel Memorial prize in economics for “having enhanced our understanding of conflict and cooperation through game-theory analysis.” Schelling shared the prize with Israeli Professor Robert Aumann.

Game theory is a branch of applied mathematics that uses models to study interactions between countries, businesses and people.

Chess-like strategies are applied to arms races, price wars and even actual warfare.

Dodge was surprised that Schelling had not received the Nobel Prize sooner. Schelling had been a finalist before; including the year mathematician John Nash received the prize.

“He’s been recognized in his

Dodge poses with his former Economics professor from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Photo provided by Bob Dodge

field for a long time,” Dodge said. “I think it’s appropriate that he receive the recognition that a lot of people have thought he deserved for some time now.”

During his college career, Dodge knew Schelling only on a teacherstudent basis. Dodge said Schelling always focused on trying to make students analyze and think logically.

“It wasn’t a course where you studied things and then repeated what you learned. You had to find a way of using the methods of analyzing things and then apply them,” Dodge said.

Dodge’s later interest in introducing game theory to a younger audience led to a friendship

In Our Pages...

with Schelling.

“I talked to him about it and he thought it might be interesting to see whether it worked,” Dodge said. “We just started keeping in touch and getting together in the summers, and that’s how we became friends.”

Dodge now teaches a course at SAS called Conflict Resolution, which involves game theory and it’s application to problems in social sciences.

“Game theory is thinking vicariously,” Dodge said. “It comes from observations like chess where you have to think like the other person is thinking and every move you make is based on that.”

Last year Dodge completed a biography on Schelling.

“I was talking to him [and said it would] be really interesting for him to write his own memoirs,” Dodge said. “He said he didn’t want to spend the time doing it, so I volunteered.”

In the past, Dodge had not seen much publisher interest in his book.

Since Schelling’s Nobel Prize win, Dodge has been contacted by several people about it.

“After the [Nobel] Prize I suppose I might need to touch it up a little bit with a little more game theory,” Dodge said.

THE REPORTER Tuesday Forum King’s Road Review - Dec. 1971

The Eagle Eye the eye

Plea for an end to bathroom smoking Don’t Spoil It on the Toilet The following article appeared in the Dec. 1971 Issue of the King’s Road Review, a previous SAS journalism publication.

It discusses smoking in school bathrooms and proposes the addition of a smoking lounge in response to a prevalent smoking problem.

Today, a smoking lounge is “not even a topic under discussion” according to Mr. Norcott, since “nobody wants it.”

By Derek Poe Whether smoking looks cool or not, causes disease or not, or is to be tolerated at our school or not, it should not be done in the bathrooms.

A familiar experience I’m sure to most students who don’t have urinary disorders or have crew-cuts, is walking into the john and being asphixiated by the stale choking smoke, left there by friendly puffers.

Visibility is sometimes so poor that one can barely find the toilet no less see oneself in the mirror. Luckily, thanks to most of our rather large population of smoking students at our school, nonsmokers are guaranteed to find it increasingly unpleasant to

enter a bathroom, unless something is done.

Adult opinion on this issue varies.

Most parents hold the stubborn, but more than likely not wrong, feeling that smoking should not in any case be enjoyed by school-aged kids at home, at school, or at play. Most of the rest of the “grown-up” empire are smoking themselves to death and couldn’t care less what the younger generation does.

Students are also divided in opinion. The majority of nonsmoking people here think that whoever smokes in the bathrooms, thus ruining others’ enjoyment of the facilities, are both inconsiderate and crude. Of course, to most of the smoking portion of students, smoking at school has now become second nature.

Obviously there are no routes open that can possibly satisfy all of the people involved. The Administration is left with several choices of action, some of which would not be beneficial to studentadministration relationships, while some I feel could further ease these relations and even spur the movement we have barely started at SAS for more “student rights”.

The Administration could

possibly 1) launch a more effective anti-smoking raid system on the bathrooms, which would be very disagreeable to all students, since I’m sure no student, smoking or otherwise occupied, would enjoy being barged in upon. This would obviously not be advantageous to the Administration either, since I’m sure it has much better things to do than raid johns.

Possibility 2) would be to designate special areas, not bathrooms, where students could smoke and talk undisturbed. This would obviously be the most sane decision, and it has in latter years been brought before the Board of Governors, but due to parental persistence, was shot down immediately. Route 3) is the same boring road that this school has been trodding along for years. Remaining in this “wishy-washy” state of having little or no suppression of bathroom smoking, can only mean for students and faculty alike, more nagging, more discomfort and more unhappiness.

Sooner or later something has got to be done, an amendment, a compromise or whatever. But until then, please don’t drop your butts in the potty, they’re awfully hard to relight.

Fussner competes for US$300,000

By Karan Parikh With a 35mm Digital SLR camera hung around his neck, feet sunk into a pair of retro Nike kicks, headphones covering his ears while he breaks to the beats of the latest Foo Fighters album, senior Chris Fussner captains a team of 5 to compete at an international gaming tournament.

Fussner, a Filipino-American, has been at Singapore American School since he was three years old.

“He is really easy to get along with,” said senior Nadine Ismail, Fussner’s friend since kindergarten.

“I’ve known him for a very long time and other than being a good friend, he’s always in the best mood.”

Fussner also takes interest in multiplayer and role-playing games such as Counterstrike and World of Warcraft, and plays on the international circuit. As leader of his team, Endure, he aims to compete at the Summer Cyberathlete Professional League 2006 that will be held in Texas.

If Fussner and his teammates qualify, they will face 264 teams from around the world to win the US$300,000 prize money.

“Endure is a new but experienced team. We have quality and our team is comprised of many nationalities,”

Fussner said. “We’re in the process of receiving sponsorships from Kingston Ram, Inno 3D Graphics and Starhub.”

Adding to Fussner’s interests in electronics, he is a recreational and freelance photographer. The runner-up of last year’s Interim Photo Contest and President of the Photo Club, he also takes photos that have been published in magazines like “Frontal Labs,” “JUICE” and “GAMEaxis.”

Fussner is also a fan of the former Philippine First Lady, Imelda Marcos, who owns 1060 pairs of shoes. Fussner is an avid retro sneaker collector and owns around 37 pairs of shoes.

“I really love the designs on all my shoes,” said Fussner. “When I first started buying them, people thought I was crazy to spend so much on shoes but now, I’ve got friends who borrow them.”

Various styles of clothes are important to him too and he values upcoming brands the most.

“I usually like to kick back wearing relatively unknown, underground brands such as Japanese labels like NEIGHBORHOOD, W)TAPS, or American brands like Nom De Guerre and BAPE,” Fussner said.

Jim Baker’s newest book, The Eagle in the Lion City, was launched on Monday December 5. The book uncovers the history of Americans living in Singapore. “There is a difference between history teachers and historians,” Baker said.

“And this book makes me a historian.”

the Eye

staff editorial

To sleep or not to sleep “I went to sleep at 10:30 last night!” a student said to her home base teacher.

“Good for you! I don’t know how you kids do it with all the work you get,” the teacher said.

Ironic. A teacher, who is the source of the work, is amazed the student can even complete all the homework she gets, let alone do it well. The student got to bed at 10:30. If her school bus comes at seven, she might get up at six. That gives her seven and a half hours of sleep, which according to a new study presented at an American Medical Association (AMA) science writers meeting, is about an hour less than she needs. That means she’s sleep-deprived. She’s among the lucky ones.

In an Eye survey published in the Feb. 2003 issue, 66 percent of seniors claimed three to six hours of sleep per night. That’s a sleep debt of possibly six and a half hours. How can these students possibly do class work let alone stay awake?

In the experiment, researchers controlled the amount of sleep of a group of 6 to 12-year-old children, some being sleep deprived and some getting the recommended amount of sleep – around 9.5 hours.

The AMA researchers noticed an interesting, but hardly surprising, trend. Grades went down as hours of sleep went down. That means that as hours of sleep go down, mental performance goes down. It also means that attention during the day goes down. A survey of American students across the U.S. found that 15 percent of students fell asleep during class at least once during the day.

Fifteen percent.

There’s something ridiculous about this situation. In class, learning should theoretically be more valuable than homework time because students should theoretically learn better. If this is true, then teachers shouldn’t have to give so much homework.

So why do most teachers assign an hour and a half of homework, the

length of a class period? If a student gets home at seven after sports and does an hour an a half of homework from four classes every night (6 hours), then they end up getting to bed at one in the morning.

It doesn’t make sense. Teachers, whether on purpose or not, give large amounts of homework, which causes students to deprive themselves of sleep, and in turn to focus less in the class where they learn the most. Does anybody see a contradiction here?

Here’s one solution: less homework. While teachers tend to believe their respective subjects are the most important, that doesn’t give them license to assign a class period’s worth of work due for the next class.

Kids are kids. It’s not a crime to let them have some free time.

If a normal student’s ability to stay focused is impeded without sleep, think about students who have learning difficulties.

Another solution: it’s been found that teenagers operate better after nine in the morning. This is because their circadian rhythms, the internal clock that determines when they want to go to sleep and wake up, gets shifted. Teens naturally want to stay up later and wake up later. The seven hour school day doesn’t need to be changed. If we shift the hour after school, reserved for activities and clubs, to the morning from eight until nine, the schedule would fit students’ biological clocks better.

We could follow the example of South Korean students, who believe that those who get more than four hours of sleep will fail their exams.

Then again, South Korea has the highest teen suicide rate in the world.

Or we could learn from Tennessee legislators who passed a bill forbidding teachers from giving tests before nine in the morning. If we did that, the school could maximize students’ performance, and fairly assess their abilities. After all, what good are schools if they prevent students from learning?

e th

Singapore American High School 40 Woodlands Street 41 Republic of Singapore 738547 Staff: (65) 6363-3404 x537 Adviser: (65) 6363-3404 x539 Fax: (65) 6363-6443 eye@sas.edu.sg

eye

Editors-in-chief: Laura Imkamp, Alex Lloyd News editor: Joseph Sarreal, Ted Ho Op/Ed editor: Jeff Hamilton, Denise Hotta Features editor: Priyanka Dev A&E editor: Amber Bang, Rhoda Severino Sports editor: Kelsey Heiner Photo editor: Sam Lloyd Reporters: Amber Bang, Priyanka Dev, Jeff Hamilton, Kelsey Heiner, Ted Ho, Denise Hotta, Laura Imkamp, Simreen Kaur, Michelle Lee, Nicole Liew, Alex Lloyd, Sam Lloyd, Barbara Lodwick, Karan Parikh, Joseph Sarreal, Nicole Schmitz, Rhoda Severino, Ravi Shanmugam, Catherine Ward Adviser: Mark Clemens Assistant adviser: Judy Agusti The Eagle Eye is the student newspaper of the Singapore American School.

All opinions stated 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 Eagle Eye via the Internet at eye@sas.edu.sg. At the authorʼs request, names can be withheld from publication.

Letters will be printed as completely as possible. The Eagle Eye reserves the right to edit letters for reasons of taste and space.

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Dec. 13, 2005

op / ed 5

Wikipedia no encyclopedia

Forgive me, for I have sinned. fail to take advantage of a service Like many students, I used the like ProQuest or a free source like Google Scholar free online encyclopedia for their research.

Wikipedia as a primary My problem is that source for my academic students are over research. I confess I used reliant on Wikipedia Wikipedia because it was and consider it absolute convenient and easy to truth—the Gospel of use. But I experienced online information. an awakening of sorts Wikipedia is no Walrecently. I realized that Mart, it doesn’t have Wikipedia is like snake Joseph Sarreal everything. But similar oil—it promises to cure to Wal-Mart, they do all, but in the end it fails employ potentially shady characters to deliver real substance.

A few weeks ago, I was assigned to work for them. Therein lies the a research paper in one of my classes. problem. Wikipedia is great because A requirement was that I would anyone can author an article. The have to utilize dedicated research problem is that ANYONE can tools, like ProQuest and Google author an article. While there are Print. I have an excuse for not individuals online who devote time using Google Print, because it was to rooting out “bad” articles, many introduced recently. But ProQuest, articles are still tainted by half-truths well, let’s just say that the last time and inaccuracies. Several times, I I used ProQuest, the Democrats have found articles with ominous held a majority in the Senate, the official warnings.

“This article needs a complete Backstreet Boys were “in” and Sean John Combs was still known as Puff rewrite.”

“This article is in need of attention Daddy. This is unfortunate, because the school pays money for access from an expert on the subject.”

“The factual accuracy of this to research material otherwise article is disputed.” unavailable to us.

Encyclopedia entries should My problem isn’t that students

contain facts and not pander to any one opinion or ideology. Wikipedia’s own “Neutral Point of View Policy” affirms this convention.

But it’s common to find factually incomplete and overtly partisan articles. Some students will find articles with limited information.

This means every article available on Wikipedia has to be treated with some suspicion. What’s true? What’s accurate? What can I use?

There are “vandals,” people who deliberately perjure Wikipedia articles by inserting lies and falsities.

I have no problem with people who use Wikipedia for research. I use it myself. I’m worried though.

I’m worried that there are too many students who use Wikipedia and only Wikipedia for research.

I won’t be hypocritical and pine about the days of old fashioned research—going to the library and yes, actually picking up a book.

This is because most of my school career has been researching material online. But if more teachers asked for a proper works cited or they prohibited using Wikipedia as being used as a primary source, then this trend of over reliance on that white elephant would decline.

Girl, put some clothes on I couldn’t believe my eyes. said. “It’s all uncovered for me.”

Wrapped around her hips was a lowIndeed, the dress code seems slung, narrow strip of to drive us all up the navy blue cloth. One could wall. Teachers get sick hardly call it a skirt. Feet of extricating students balanced atop stilettos to from class for a visit to kill, the girl teetered up Mr. Norcott. Students the stairs—half walking, get sick of worrying half toppling. Was she about what they wear. en route to Cheeky Teachers cry for Monkeys? On her way to homogeneity, students Zouk? No. With binders for individuality. The and books in hand, she Priyanka Dev battle over dress code was heading over to never fades.

H422, her AP Lang class.

But this is more than a dress “I don’t’ see why a fourteen- code concern; rather, it is an issue year-old needs to dress like a street walker, or why we have to accept it,” social studies teacher Jim Baker said.

The dress code is designed to eliminate distractions, yet even as a female, I can’t help but stare at some girls. Skirts have crept up, baring excessive leg and spiky heels have lengthened, becoming even more dangerous. This year, my fourth year in the high school, I find it to be worse than ever.

The first day of school arrived with a relatively new phenomenon— tiny, floppy skirts flying up with every slight breeze and revealing underwear, cheeks or both. Classy four-inch heels sticking in drain gratings as girls rushed to class.

Do these girls think when they dress? It seems that some females, instead of breaking the dress code, decided to stretch it to its limits this year. We have these specimens of Saturday-night party animals tramping through our hallways, making us all feel uncomfortable just because they look so out of place.

“These days, I don’t really have to imagine much,” a senior male

of self-respect. Don’t these girls want to be respected? The campus is still an educational arena. Students still need to look decent and well dressed. The skin-tight clothing and the ‘legal’ yet lethal stilettos are not convincing evidence that people are here to learn.

This isn’t a plea for harsher restrictions. It’s not a call for greater disciplinary action. Simply put, it is a request for some self-dignity.

Dress as you like on your own time, but for the sake of yourselves: save the more risqué outfits for Orchard Towers.

STRIKE !!

By Laura Imkamp

6 op / ed

Dec. 13, 2005

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the Eye

Teacher knows best: excessive parental influence not advised The idea of educational their influence, private schools are institutions run by professionals has generally more susceptible than public schools because long been the basic tenet private schools need on which schools like SAS to sell themselves have survived. Parents in to parents to keep today’s society cede the enrollment high. responsibility of framing Public schools receive their children’s minds government funding to professionals trained and consequently in specific fields who have a greater degree are better able to impart knowledge to students.

Ravi Shanmugam of autonomy.

In the article While giving up control of their children’s education, parents “Private School Behaviour Festered still try to influence the assessment by Parents” that appeared in the of their child’s performance. Good Aug 14, 2001 “Los Angeles Times”, grades have become vital to college Heather M. Wolper catalogued some entrance and future financial success. of the instances that inspired her to Parents must find it painful when quit her private school teaching job their children receive poor grades, for one in a public school. Wolper especially if they attributed inflated said she had been told to “grade intelligence levels to those kids. creatively” by a headmaster bowing The natural reaction is to blame the to pressure from an influential parent.

Another time, a mother spat in her teacher.

When parents try to exercise face because her “brilliant” son had

A&E Two-hour movie no match for book

By Nicole Schmitz Scores of students thronged the Lido Cinema Complex on the opening weekend of “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,” one of the most anticipated movies of the year.

Released in mid-Autumn to beat the Christmas movie rush, the film grossed $249 million worldwide.

This fourth screen installment is the adaptation of “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” in J.K. Rowling’s popular series centered on the TheBoy-Who-Lived and his two best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.

“I like it because it’s in a series,” senior Novita Ciputra said. “You always want to know what happens next.”

Filmmakers are racing against time as the actors age faster than the characters in the movie. Seventeenyear-old Rupert Grint plays Ron, a 14-year-old in the movie. Even Daniel Radcliffe, who plays Harry Potter, is sixteen. Only 15-year-old Emma Watson, who plays Hermione, is the close to her character’s age, only a year a head of them. As the main characters enter adolescence, it is no surprise that this movie is darker and scarier than the previous three.

“It’s much better the other three because the characters have grown up,” Ciputra said.

Time also works against the filmmakers in more tragic ways.

Richard Harris, who played Headmaster Albus Dumbledore in the first two Harry Potter movies, passed away after the making of the second movie. He was replaced by a sprightlier Michael Gambon.

“Dumbledore seemed more aggressive,” sophomore Evelyn Lo said. “He was always throwing people up against the wall.”

The film did not attempt to cram

been doing multiplication drills in class instead of more challenging work. These incidents stopped when Wolper changed schools.

SAS Business and Applied Technology teacher Bill Berg believes that boundaries need to be set on the influence of both teachers and parents. He said that parents should have a right to talk to teachers as individuals, “but not as vocal members of the PTA.” Berg believes that parents have all the rights they need, and that “parents should not tell me that their children are to be treated better because of their position.”

When asked if parents ever crossed those boundaries, Berg said that while he himself had not been challenged on his grading, other teachers may have been approached.

Sophomore Chris Hussey said that while he thought parents

occasionally tried to influence coaches, coaches were for the most part strong enough to deal with it, a sentiments shared by sophomore Karim Ismail, who said that it was “rare” for parents to push their children into school teams.

Swimming Coach and Middle School P.E. teacher Steve Betts said that he did not think parental pressure influencing coaches was a big problem. He said that in sports like swimming, who goes to IASAS is clear cut because times are a concrete quantity, but conceded that judging was more subjective in sports like basketball and football.

Betts believed that most coaches had “a sense of honor” and that they would make judgments according to who they thought was best.

Betts said that while parent pressure might occasionally be a problem, if it should happen, it would be dealt with and “the administration

will support a coach over a parent.”

Betts also pointed out that while a private school in the US might be subject to parent pressure, “SAS does not face the same problem, because we have no issue with enrollment.”

Betts said that SAS enjoys a large degree of autonomy by virtue of its popularity.

Parents should have a say in their children’s education, but they should also learn to let go of their children and allow teachers to teach. Parents need to adhere to boundaries like those proposed by Berg, approaching teachers for discussion and not for threat, as individuals and not as influential members of a given body.

Influence exerted to get undeserved results will deny their children the valuable lessons associated with defeat and bad grades and affect other more deserving students. An accident of birth should not override ability and work ethic.

The most appealing factor is the dark and mysterious plot. Newell takes viewers on a more mature adventure through Hogwarts. In the movie, Harry, Ron, and Hermione start to develop as characters as they begin to experience love, heartbreak, and teenage-angst.

New characters take precedence over old favorites like Professor Snape and Draco Malfoy in “Goblet of Fire”. Instead, the audience is treated to close-up shots of Cedric Diggory while Mad-Eye Moody and his crazy eye deliver hysterical oneliners.

The cheesy lines found in the earlier movies are replaced with dramatic scenes that make Harry question what lies ahead in the future.

Finally there is a movie where things don’t end in the typical Hollywood cliché. If I hadn’t read the fifth book, I would still be hanging in peril over the pending fate of the non-muggle world of which I have come to love.

You cannot talk about Goblet of Fire without mentioning the special THE TRIO. The official Harry Potter website featuring Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint. effects. Creating a world, which the entire 734-page book into the Director Mike Newell took the complete with the trio of Harry, has already been envisioned by the 157-minute movie. easy way out by focusing solely Ron, and Hermione would soon millions who have read the book, is a “Everything [was left out] except on the Tri-Wizard Tournament and be available on DVD it was like daunting task. But I am comforted in for the Tri-Wizard Tournament,” skirting the potential love triangle. hearing that semester exams had the fact that author JK Rowling has senior Eng Seng Ng complained.

“All the scenes were really short, been canceled. given her blessing to each movie.

“If they extended the scenes, so they didn’t really develop the The fourth movie, “Harry Potter It’s hard to comprehend that with we would’ve aged five years story,” junior Aubrey Jackson said. and the Goblet of Fire”, released every wave of a wand, a special just watching the movie,” senior The movie did not live up to this November did not disappoint. effect had to be created. The walls of Kavanaugh Livingston said director Alfonso Cuarón’s adaptation Nothing – not Hogwarts “It can’t be completely faithful to of the third novel Harry Potter and even having to contain the book because it was too long, but the Prisoner of Azkaban. sit on the floor thousands it did a good job of summing up the However, Ng hopes that the next because our seats of special story,” junior Caitlin Hale said. movie, “Harry Potter and the Order had been stolen effects. The Some students thought that the of the Phoenix”, will be more faithful – would have Tri-wizard characters of Harry’s competitors to the book. ruined my Harry Tournament in the Tri-Wizard Tournament were “I expect the next movie to be Potter experience. a l o n e poorly developed, but attributed it to really funny,” he says with a grin.

My admitted consisted the difficulty of adapting the tome- “I’m looking forward to seeing obsession with of three like novel. who will be cast as Professor Harry Potter events, all “It wasn’t as detailed as it could Umbridge.” would never EYE CANDY AND MAD EYE. Two new characters, r e q u i r i n g have been. You kind of got the sense allow me to speak Tri-wizard champion Cedric Diggory and professor s p e c i a l that it was rushed,” Lo said. critically of any Mad-Eye Moody. effects.

Senior Kim Hartung said that Harry Potter I highly recommend “Goblet of watching the movie without reading movie, but I honestly believe that the Fire” even if you have already read the book made the film hard to new director Mike Newell has taken the book. My only complaint is that follow. the Harry Potter franchise to another the next movie is not coming out for “It didn’t seem to fit together By Kelsey Heiner level of movie magic. The quarter of another two years. Thankfully I have I have been reading the Harry a billion dollars amassed worldwide well as the other movies. It was the DVD’s to hold me over. made to assume that you’ve read it,” Potter books since fifth grade. So by the movie is a testament to the when I heard that a magical world Harry Potter legend. she said.

Harry Potter brings mixed reviews

New director takes film to higher level of ‘movie magic’

the Eye

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arts 7

Dec. 13, 2005

Yulefest venue change pleases audiences

TADA! The entire Yulefest production, from peasants to royalty. Photo by Brian Riady.

CLASS CLOWNS. Court jesters Michael Jeong and Amanda Cain entertain the audience. Photo by Brian Riady.

By Jeff Hamilton The Visual and Performing Arts Department stages Yulefest every other year, alternating with musicals.

Yulefest takes medieval themes and mixes them with present day humor to paint a picture of the past in a whole new light.

The greatest difference in this year’s performance was its new setup.

Yulefest took place both in the king’s court and outside in the medieval village.

This multi-dimensional element pleased audiences, who have in the past complained about the lack

ROYAL COUPLE. Queen Christine Byrne and King Sean McCabe serenade each other.

Photo by Brian Riady.

of aircon and the chaos that comes from having tables of individuals talking amongst themselves, while performances from students compete for audience attention.

“We really liked being inside concentrating on the show, and it still feels like we are inside when we are outside,” parents Stephen and Sharon Morris said.

The show was split into four sections. The first and third took place in the medieval fair, and the second and fourth took place in the King’s Court.

AT THE KING’S TABLE. Rachel Spencer, Renuka Agarwal and Colin Lee. Photo by Brian Riady.

Within each setting were different types of performances.

In Act 1, set in the medieval fair, the audience was warmed with performances by the Improv club.

In Act 2 the audience was treated to a music competition between the king’s ‘new’ music and the queen’s ‘old’ music. The competition pit king and queen against each other in a singing competition. This competition invited the audience to participate by voting for the King or Queen.

“The king won all three nights,”

ROYAL MINSTRELS. Stephen Bonnette prepares to direct the String Ensemble. Photo by Brian Riady.

Sean McCabe, his royal lack of highness, King Sean the Lion Head, said.

In Act 3 the audience returned to the medieval fair to experience a taste of medieval life. As servants served food provided by Mr. Ho, the ten members of the royal court spoke with their loyal subjects. As usual, the King and Queen continued to quarrel.

“I really liked the constant bickering between the king and queen,” said 8th grader Marian Spencer.

In Act 4 the audience was treated to more medieval entertainment.

Included in this act was one of the most enjoyable performances of the night. In a medieval rendition of RRH (Red Riding Hood) members of the audience were welcomed on stage to help the acting troupe by performing the roles of trees, wind, swaying trees and the house. There was something for everyone as the wolf traded in eating RRH for drinking a bottle of Perrier.

“A ten out of ten performance,” Spencer said.

Peace Concert offers good music for a good cause

By Nicole Liew While sitting on the bleachers Once Upon a Time is heard playing their unique style of screamo. In front of the stage some students are kicking and sliding through a huge puddle caused by the heavy rainfall.

Throughout the concert, teachers are continually seen breaking up groups attempting hardcore mosh pits. At this year’s Peace Concert, a total of nine bands had outstanding performances thrilling the crowd with their amazing talent.

Peace Concert is held every year at SAS and is hosted by Peace Initiative. Money raised during this concert is used as contributions to good causes. Peace concert Tshirts were sold prior to and before the concert. Raffle tickets were also sold for the chance to win prizes as glamorous as an Apple iBook or

MOSH PIT. Students enjoy a performance by local band Set for Glory. Photo by Kristin Liu.

Nokia phones.

Many bands tried out for a spot to perform during Peace Concert while only nine made it to the top. These

nine were Breakfast Club, Six on the Beach, Ronin, Summer’s Over, Set for Glory, Elemental, Rafe, Saw Loser, and Once Upon a Time.

Different clubs volunteered to sell food during peace concert to raise money. There was a wide range of food including hot dogs, baked goods, popcorn, and pizza.

Though Peace Concert seemed to run smoothly, students gave suggestions on how Peace Concert could have been a better event.

“It was okay. They should have like sheltered the place more or something because it was pouring rain and you couldn’t get from the food to the stage and bleacher area without getting wet!” Freshman Amanda Ho Sang said.

Sophomore Karan Mehta said that the music was just about decent and there should have been better bands.

Students also had positive comments about their experience.

“I really liked Set for Glory and Saw Loser. I liked how IPAU really handled everything well, they’re one of the best clubs. The peace interludes were really nice and overall I would say it was really good.” Sophomore John Ratley said.

Sophomore Cedric Green was unable to attend Peace Concert due to other plans but wishes he had.

“I love all sorts of music and Peace Concert was a chance to hear what my peers can produce.

Like they could be regular students at SAS or any other school, but when they get on stage, be totally different. Concerts in general are just a good way to bring a crowd of people together by the power of music.” Green said.

8 sports

Dec. 13, 2005

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the Eye

Basketball brings back 4th and 5th in Hong Kong

By Kelsey Heiner Varsity Girls’ Basketball rebounded from an 0-4 start to clench 5th place in the 36th annual Hong Kong Basketball Tournament November 24-26.

This year both the boys and the girls’ tournaments were expanded to include two pools of four teams.

“Hong Kong is a tournament with solid teams that takes us to the next level,” coach Brian Combes said.

Coming out of pool play, the Eagles were still in search of their first win.

“We weren’t playing with confidence,” Combes said. “We were letting the other teams dictate the tempo of the game to us.”

In the quaterfinals, the Eagles lost a close game 40-45 to defending IASAS champions JIS. “It was really frustrating, we were tied with them at half-time and they made some shots at the end to win it,” senior Katie Fusco said.

On Saturday morning, the Eagles got their first win of the tournament, handily beating ISKL 44-26. The win put the Eagles in the fifth and sixth place game against the host team HKIS that evening.

“We always play well against HKIS,” Fusco said. “Our confidence level was pretty high too because we just came off a great win versus ISKL.” An aggressive full court press and a defense that only allowed 17 points in the first half helped the

Sophomore David Small and junior Clay Crawford play defense against HKIS.

Senior Katie Fusco dribbles the ball against full court pressure from Kadena.The Eagles lost the game 31-38 but placed 5th out of eight in the tournament.

Eagles run away with a 38-24 win.

It was the first time in ten years that an SAS girl’s team beat HKIS. “Everything seemed to come together in the last game,” sophomore Megan Anderson said.

“We really worked the offensive plays and made HKIS work hard for every basket.”

The 5th place finish was an improvement for the girls’ team who finished 6th last year.

“It was pretty sweet to finally beat HKIS. We came away from the tournament feeling confident and looking forward to IASAS,” Fusco

Tennis team picks up pointers in Bangkok

By Michelle Lee The SAS Eagles returned with mixed feelings after an exhausting exchange, hit hard by the reality of their five out of twenty-three record this weekend.

“Bangkok is the team to beat this year,” said boys’ team Captain Aseem Nambiar.

“In the morning matches, eight out of twelve matches went [ISB’s] way, including both singles and doubles matches, and in the afternoon ten out of eleven matches went their way,” he said. “This Bangkok team is stronger than before.”

Teams played a round of twoset long matches in the morning, followed by another round of one set matches in the afternoon.

Grimbergen also mentioned that the conditions were a little less than perfect after being used to the rainy weather that has plagued their practices lately. Both Grimbergen and Nambiar said the experience was eye-opening.

“It was a good wake up call especially for the less experienced players,” Nambiar said.

Despite the daunting 22 percent

winning record, Grimbergen said things are looking up for his team.

“The boys displayed a high level of skill, and showed that they are able to compete with outstanding players.”

The girls also seemed to be affected by an element of bad karma.

“It didn’t seem like the girls were all there,” captain Sarah Yang said. “They just weren’t keeping it together like they normally do.”

As the end of the semester looms, tests and deadlines are beginning to pile up for athletes. Conflicting SAT schedules resulted in a late start for some players on Saturday morning.

Yang, one of the SAS students who took the SAT while at the exchange, agreed that the workload was heavy.

“Everyone was doing homework during the exchange and on the plane ride,” she said.

Girls’ team Coach Tim Thompson said that the exchange went fairly well.

“We played every combination of doubles, and the results were split in terms of wins and losses,” he said.

said.

Unlike the girls, the Varsity Boys’ Basketball team started the tournament undefeated, coming out of their pool with a 3-0 record.

The defending champs easily beat JIS in the quarterfinals 77-21, setting up a semifinal game against HKIS. “In our first four games, we executed our plays well,” junior Clay Crawford said. “None of the other teams seemed like they could keep up with our speed.”

In the semifinal, the Eagles gave up a fourth quarter lead, losing to

Small challenges HKIS player while senior co-captain David Bywater and freshman Ian Gillis look on. Photos courtesy of HKIS.

HKIS 60-63.

“We actually didn’t play that bad,” sophomore David Small said.

“HKIS made some huge threepointers towards the end of the game and by that time it was too late to come back.”

Two questionable travel calls were made with two minutes left in the game. The calls were made after the Eagles stole the ball and were on their way to an easy layup.

“If those calls weren’t made, we might have won the game. They would have been four easy points,” Small said.

Boys’ team fails to get revenge

In a re-match of the U-20 national championships, SAS Boys’ Rugby faced off against the Raffles U-20 team in a friendly December 1. After leading for three quarters, SAS surrendered two fourth quarter converted tries resulting in a 10-14 loss.

Right: Senior Chris Fussner jumps to the ball following a “line out.” Below: Senior Katsuki Kikui dives on the ball after coming out of a scrum.

Photos by Michael Palomaki.

The loss put the Eagles in the consolation game for third and fourth place. It would be a rematch with the Seoul American School, who the Eagles defeated earlier (7254 ) in pool play.

After some tough breaks, the Eagles ended up losing the game by one basket 52-54.

“We were the favorites after coming out of pool play,” Small said. “So when we didn’t make it to the finals I think we were a little upset.”

Additional reporting by Barbara Lodwick