The Quill Volume 2 Issue 2

Quill The

A NIGHT TO REMEMBER

ICS GOT TALENT AND HIGH SCHOOL LOCK IN BY

WIN LEELAMANTHEP

September 2014

Quill The

Letter from the Editor Dear readers, On a Sunday morning last week, I woke up to a pile of work and a list of things I had to do. The first quarter had just flown by, and on the next day, it was rainy and gloomy. I passed by the students on the hallway; everyone seemed down in the dumps. This caused me to begin to wonder whether the sunshine and the smiles would ever return. However, deep inside, I know that the rain would pass and the rays of sunlight would cut through the gloom, and each year, it returns and brings everyone hope and success.

The road to contentment is tough and there are many small battles to fight. One thing I have learned from both the rain and the sun is that life is both delicate and resilient. We all have the capacity to reconstruct and recover. After each skirmish, we become broken and defeated, yet we pick ourselves back up, stronger than ever.

Every now and then, I look back at my life, asking myself how I can make my school, my country, or the world a better place.

I have come to the conclusion that the rain symbolizes hardship and the buffer for change. In this issue, The Quill crew is proud to present to you a different perspective on the senior’s economics project, the fresh, new, critically-acclaimed ICS TV Club, and lessons to be learned from the sports matches. As a team, The Quill crew observes, listens, and writes to inspire change. I hope you enjoy this issue.

“Rise and rise again until lambs become lions”- Robin Hood Quill-fully yours,

Will Leelamanthep Editor-in-Chief

4 A Night to Remember High Scho ol Lock-in

11 It’s Okay, I’ll Buy

Later...

14 The New Vogue ICS TV Club

16 Senior Session Kwan Tadadolthip

17 Eagle Eye

Lily Phongvilakoun

26 A Significant Step

Towards Denouement

September 2014

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Volume 2 Issue 2 September 2014

The

Contents Verdict of Paralympic Athlete Oscar Pistorius

LIFESTYLE

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28 Technologies

Biggest Enemy

Apple

30 6 Things You didnt

Know About Mr. Todd 32 Joan Rivers 33 ICS Students’ Voice

20

Childho od Dreams

ATHLETICS

18 Sports Statistics 20 Lesson to be Learned

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22 The Bright Side

The Naga’s Midnight Reading

24 A United Kingdom

But A Divided Union

35 How to Live with Fiction

OUROPINION

38 Honor Roll

A slightly less tastier form of sushi rolls

40 Mr. Stephen’s

Response to Honor Roll 42 Waikay’s Corner Critical Thinking

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

LAYOUT DESIGNER

Will Leelamanthep

Pann Sermchaiwong Surawut Withayarukson

ADVISOR Ms. Lissa Scott

SECRETARY Poom Sethabutr

PHOTOGRAPHERS Pann Sermchaiwong Surawut Withayarukson Time Chaiteerath

EDITORS

Young Kwang Shin Poom Sethabutr Prim Thientanakij Khem Somsak

WRITERS Keshav Garg Win Leelamanthep

18 Fayfay Prasutchai Poom Chiarawongse Poon Vorapanyaskul Kitty Rodchareon Grace Hsieh Tom Choi Poom Sethabutr Khem Somsak Young Kwang Shin Gid Jiranuntarat John Kim PunPun Chaiyakiturajai Koch Kasemsantitham

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A Night To Remember by

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Win Leelamanthep

September 2014

nice to come and see what our children are up to. Sometimes, the things people regard as weird or abnormal are the best things on stage.” As the hands on the clock moved on, the Got Talent 2014 came to its conclusion, the crowd moved to the ARC, and Lock-in began. This night, just like any other previous years’ started with big group games.

The winners of the giant twister are Andrew (Grade 11) for the guys and a tie between Aishu (11) and Pat (12) for the girls. Later on

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and dancing to videos, the performers of the event showcased their extremely awe inspiring talents. Sadly, the event could not be won by all, and the fortunate holder of the title ‘Winner of ICS’ Got Talent 2014 is Minki (Grade 8), who took home a certificate and 3000 baht cash prize.

Second place this year goes to Jeirah (Grade 8) and third goes to Indian Swag (Grade 12). Happiness was certainly in the air, not only from performers, but also from the audience. As a parent puts it, “It is always

The

A minute hand finished a cycle, another hour passed by, and before we knew it, 2.30 PM had turned to 6AM. For the first time ever, the ICS Student Council combined ICS’ Got Talent and Lock-in, bringing about another memorable event in 2014.

The second ICS’ Got Talent had a wide variety of performances. From solving the rubix cube using his feet to singing

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September 2014

in the night, a dodge ball battle between the grades was held. This year’s event featured special rules made

by Mr. Tyler, and was won by the Juniors. After the game, the crowd dispersed to different activity rooms, some of which include: game room, worship room, movie room, ‘karaoke’ room, refreshment room, and sleeping rooms.

Midnight worship was led by the Harkins. Opposite

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from it is the refreshment room, filled with foods and drinks, and the game room. On the far side of the arc lies the karaoke room where other forms of activities such as playing cards were offered. As the hour hand on the clock slowly moved to 5, all started packing, ready to leave. Shortly, the campus was cleared and all left to spend the rest of their Saturday in bed, while

some unfortunate few were forced to suffer eight more hours of ROTC. All in all, the 2014 ICS’ Got Talent and Lock-in was a great feat, as the ICS student body, especially the ICS high school students, got to spend time together and know each other even more. So thank you for joining us in Lock-In, and see you again next year!

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It’s Okay, I’ll Buy Later...

by FayFay

Prasutchai

“TA-DA!”, an A for the day. No, in fact, this project actually makes students form their own businesses and make real money, like real. While a business’s goal is to take money from customers’ pockets to their own pockets, it is to be reminded that to sell “stuff”, a business has to settle on what they’re actually going to sell. Afterwards, they have to use money to purchase products from factories or manufacturers.

While working through their projects, they are also obligated to pay wages to the group members, which is required by Thai

September 2014

as much money as they can. They are allowed sell any products (of course, within ICS’s rules) that they believe would be ludicrous enough to generate cash to satisfy an A in the class and get some shares from their sales.

Students in Economics class form their own groups of whatever number of people. Their basic goal is to sell products and earn 1000 baht in profit every week for four weeks. It actually sounds very easy to pull out a thousand baht from your weekly pocket money and just hand in your work, and

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Perhaps, in recent days, that has become many of you readers’ most frequently n uttered phrase. By the time you’re (hopefully) reading this thingamajig, you’ve probably been offered a myriad of items, from sweaters, hoodies, T-shirts, and even brownies, and sometimes, it is simply too overwhelming to refuse any products because the merchants just looked so dedicated to their things.

Why? Because it is the time when students of Economics class do their sales projects where they sell “stuff” to ICS student body and earn

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September 2014

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law itself. It is not a momand-pop business just for fun because you’re bored.

We’re getting real here.

According to Mr Dayton, the Economics teacher who has been overseeing this project for 13 years, the aim of this project is to create an experience of doing business for the students, especially those who dream to establish one for themselves. Moreover, this project requires students to establish roles in the business process. In the project, whilst not an

exhaustive list, there are roles such as the CEO, the bossy leader who manages the big picture of the project, CFO or the treasurer, the CPO, who is responsible for supplies.

And of course, there are those in charge of sales and transactions. The point is to let a group to assign roles clearly amongst themselves.

This is to prepare students who wish to do business for a free-market, capitalist economy

Although this project sounds pretty easy to do, there are definitely

challenging parts to the project. In a 4-week period, it is difficult to plan, prepare, and execute in such a short period of time, and the best of them have tripped over this arduous part. The most cumbersome part of the project is to have the amount of profit correspond with receipts and orders. Like in real life, a company will always have to present every single bit of their expense and income to the government who collects taxes from them.

Students will be checked weekly for their expenses,

students, there is a lesson to be learnt about how to solve the problems critically instead of giving up. In fact, as students of ICS ourselves, it is necessary for us to support our friends (or acquaintances, or schoolmates) and the seniors who will need these money to make their last year of high-school as much memorable as possible. So let us as a community cease blabbering this weak excuse about ‘buying it later’. Take out that wallet, and expel the cash. We are investing for ourselves.

September 2014

juniors weren’t motivated enough to participate in the project. After the students became entitled to a share of the profit, the profit doubled. The amount of money to fund the senior trip has thus remained unchanged throughout, and the change in policy became one that pleased both sides.

Many of our parents may have annoyingly reiterated that it is experience that matters the most, not knowledge. And this is true, even though it is but an opinion. Even though this has been a difficult time of many Econ

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including wages, and whether their profits reach the set goal.

The most commonly asked questions is probably: where does the profit go?

Since last year, the profit was split amongst the group members so that half of it would be paid to the members according to each player’s respective importance and the other half to fund the seniors’ year-end trip. But before, 100% of the profit went to the seniors, and this apparent injustice remained a colossal turn-off for juniors who also took Economics.

Unsurprisingly, many

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The New Vogue ICS TV Club by

Greetings Fellow Readers!

Most of you must’ve heard about the ICS TV Club.

You all may not see it immediately but according to the the evidence of the now, ICS TV will likely become the next fashionable item here at ICS.

It is a late Tuesday night as the typical ICS student scrolls through your bland Facebook News Feed when suddenly a new 1 4

Keshav Garg

story pops up. The student looks at the person who shared it and notice it is Bobby Singh. The student immediately clicks the link to the video because he or she knows that Bobby = Humor and thus you know what you clicked must be appealing. As the student waits for the Youtube video to load he or she returns to the Facebook tab and scans through the share and sees that it has few comments

and numerous likes. He or she switches back to the Youtube tab knowing that the video must’ve loaded.

Then behold...

It is almost something magical. The video is so captivating and so endorsing that one cannot avoid watching it more than once. The makers of the video clearly have an understanding of who and what people like and thus based on such knowledge

weird responses and was all in all, diverse.

To be quite frank, the reason why the ICS TV Club will prosper is because it is able to find the balance that is necessary in order to capture and entertain an audience. The video neither goes overboard with explicit entertainment nor does it go beyond school conduct.

The ICS TV Club is indeed ICS’s new Vogue.

September 2014

continued on into a brief interview with Mr.George about the recent soccer games.. Next up the video mentions the news of a dress down day getting cancelled with smooth transitions bringing the topic up. Finally the video commences into a hilarious student interview on the question of “if you were invisible for a day….what would you do?.” The interview featured many

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created their first video so simply titled “Spirit Week (ep.1).” Their very introduction song verifies the effort they put into establishing this indisputably amazing concept.

Their hosts for the first video were Bobby Singh and Ansisha Singh.

They both served as great hosts and the elegant background music really fit well as the video progressed. The video then

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SENIOR SESSION

with Kwan BY

Poon Vorapanyasakult

Q: Where did you study at before coming to ICS? Kwan: Northfield Mount Hermon, MA, USA.

got to experience American culture and made many friends that I still keep in touch with.

Q: And you were an exchange student during your sophomore year, right?

Kwan: Yes, at Mora High School.

Q: What would you say is the biggest difference between ICS, an international school with an American curriculum, and schools that you have studied at in the States?

Kwan: Bible education and the teachers care more about you as a person here at ICS. Teachers in public schools in the States usually only are about homework.

Q: What state were you in and how was your exchange student experience?

Kwan: Minnesota. It was so much fun and chill. I got to try many new things such as cross country, skiing, fishing, and softball. I also 1 6

Tadadolthip

Q: Lastly, what is the most interesting/important thing you’ve learned about the world, people, and cultures after being an exchange student and is now an international school student?

Kwan: Stereotypes are not true. Not all Chinese are smart. Not all Americans are good at basketball.

Not all Asians are nerds.

Stereotyping people lead to social discrimination which hurts people. Look at people as their individual selves. We are all unique and interesting.

EAGLES EYE with

Lily

Phongvilakoun BY

Poon Vorapanyasakul

Q: Is this the first time you’ve ever been in Thailand?

Lily: This is my second time that I have been in Thailand.

Q: What was the biggest culture shock for you?

Lily: So many things, such as wearing a uniform to school, taking off shoes when entering other people’s houses, seeing lots of street vendors selling things.

Q: What do you like most about Thailand?

Lily: The thing I like the most about Thailand is everywhere you go, you find food. I’m the biggest fan of eating so that’s my favorite, and everything is cheap.

Q: What do you miss about your home country?

Lily: I miss my friends so much, I miss my car and overall I just miss the feeling of being there, the atmosphere is different here in Thailand.

Q: What has been the most academically challenging portion of your immersion experience in Thailand?

Lily: There is so much to do, lots of homework here.

The challenging part was wearing a uniform and trying to catch up on all the work. Even though I missed two weeks of school, it feels like I missed a whole month, so much work to do in such a little time.

Q: What is the general perception of Thailand in your home country? Are these perceptions true for you?

Lily:The general perception was that Thailand is known for good and amazing food which is true. Thailand is the most plastic surgery and changing/transfer gender whether from male to female or female to male, which is also true.

Q: Finally, I assume you have had the chance to try some Thai dishes, what would you say is your favorite dish?

Lily: My favorite Thai dish is Pad Thai. It is so good and very tasty.

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ATHLEICS

Sports Statistics

by Kitty Rodchareon

As of September 18, here are the match statistics for the Varsity and Junior Varsity sports of International Community School so far this season: Varsity Boys Soccer 4 wins, 1 tie, 4 losses

Junior Varsity Boys Soccer 1 win Varsity Girls Soccer 5 wins, 7 losses Varsity Boys Volleyball 4 wins, 4 losses

Varsity Girls Volleyball 4 wins, 2 losses Junior Varsity Girls Volleyball 1 win, 1 loss

Lesson to be Learned by

ATHLETICS

September 2014

After a rather reputable start to the season, the boys Varsity football team enjoyed a decent tournament at NIST, as well as some possibly impactful injuries. With the football season actively getting underway, the players may perhaps need to overcome some tough roadblocks in the upcoming weeks.

With the loss of a few important Seniors at the start of the new academic year, this year’s Seniors who were enlisted into the team had to keep the morale 2 up. Along with the Juniors 0

Koch Kasemsantitham

and a few Sophomores, they certainly did so. Right before our first tournament, the players had to face Ekamai International School at ICS. The team’s performance was on point, as they took the lead with Happy Nishioka scoring the first goal. As Alan Dobson came on, the team’s pace was rising. With Happy completing his hat-trick, Alan managed to put two in the goal. The defense kept the game in ICS’s hands, and their goalkeeper, Daniel Ha, had to make

only two saves the whole game. Seung Woo, the team captain, managed to net his 49th career goal for the Eagles. In a fantastic display of their teamwork, ICS’s team thrashed EIS in an exciting 6-0 match.

Coming next was the NIST tournament, spreading into the whole weekend, pitting ICS against the hosts on the first day. With both teams knowing each other well, the game was certainly a tough and nail-biting one.

The game opened up with ICS leading the attack and firing two into the

injured players. Being injured myself I can’t tell you what exactly is going wrong for the team, but from the sideline I can tell that we’ve lost some of the passion we previously had before this weekend and hope that the team will regain that fire and bounce back!” commented Daniel Onoe, who missed the past few matches due to an ankle injury.

Hopefully the players will take this as just another battle, and get their winning form back. Fixtures in the near future include a home game on the 22nd against ASB, another home game against TCIS on the 25th, and an ISB tournament on the adjacent weekend.

September 2014

faced with a tough match against a Thai club team, losing 7-0. Their spirit was slowing down and lost 3-0 to NIST, subsequently slotting ICS into the 4th place spot.

Not only did this tournament temporarily destroy the ecstatic character of some of the players, but it took its toll on their anatomy as well.

Players that suffered injuries include Happy, Peter, and Alan. They went to join Daniel Onoe, who was injured in the previous week.

“Our most recent performances (with the exception of the Shrewsbury match) have definitely been poor. I know the team is capable of much better despite having several

ATHLETICS

opponent’s side. In the second half , ICS’s control of the game drastically changed hands, and NIST managed to tie the game up. As the Varsity team tried to bring the game up to their usual tempo, the NIST players were taking advantage of throw-ins and air-balls. This led to two more goals for them, with ICS pulling only one back.

The game finished with a 4-3 win for NIST. As the weekend flew by, ICS defeated Shrewsberry to advance to the semifinals.

Highlighting this match was Seung Woo, who managed to score his 50th career goal for ICS. This milestone is the first of its kind, and hopefully the first of many more in the future. ICS was

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AROUNDTHEWORLD

The Bright Side Naga’s Midnight Reading by

Poom Sethabutr

DISCLAIMER: This article is a work of satire, fiction, and/or half-truths. The purpose of this article and the intentions of the writer is strictly for the sake of humour. The writer does not hold the views presented in this article, and those who may be offended are advised to shield their delicate eyes and move on to the next column.

On the 10th of September, a day as inconspicuous as any, a guard in the Chulalongkorn University grounds discovered strange markings on the ground and the windows of the Chulalongkorn Faculty of Art’s library building. Clearly, the most logical source of these trails must have been the doings of a mystical beast from Thai folklore, known as the Naga. The early crowd and passersby deftly arrived at this conclusion with reasoning abilities even 2 Sherlock Holmes would 2

envy. Overnight, the situation has been sensationalized over social media sites and by simple word of mouth.

In order to explain this phenomenon, we must begin by understanding the beast in question. The Phaya Naga, or Nagas are believed to be serpent-like creatures in traditional Buddhist stories, holding great power and authority within the natural order. One can see these creatures adorning various structures all over Thailand, while also standing in as the Thai equivalent of the Loch Ness monster, believed

to reside and occasionally volunteer for photo-ops within the Mekong River. It has long been a creature of great reverence, which begs the question: “What was it doing at Chula, of all places?”

As Professor Proud Sethabutr revealed to reporters, the libraries are indeed extensive, but hold no magical tomes or secret grimoires within its shelves.

Thus, magical shenanigans can be ruled out of the picture. No prior incidents have ever been recorded, so it is also safe to say that the Arts Faculty is likely not the

a school, whether public or private?” That’s right, a whopping 0. In the past 3 years, the Thai government has spent at least 3 times more tax revenue on airconditioning than they do on providing equal education for Nagas. How can we intend to grow as a society if we continue to segregate a group of just-as-intelligent beings merely because of the way they look? This tyranny of the masses will continue to trample across the customs and traditions of the Nagas until they lose all semblance of identity, allowing the globalized view of their society be full of contempt.

Perhaps this event is the dawn of a new era.

Perhaps the young Naga is at its home right now, learning about the world that it cannot dream to experience. And maybe, this is a sign that a great change is upon us, that this Rosa Parks who refused to comply with segregation will lead the flagship of revolution that will one day reinstate the Nagas as productive and accepted members of society. Perhaps the history books will remember this day as the beginning of lasting peace; when man and snakecreatures can set aside their differences and live together in harmony, for the good of all.

Quill September 2014

towards one conclusion, and one conclusion only: this particular Naga, in its curiosity and hunger to learn, snuck into the big city in order to steal a book from the library and bring it to its fellow aquatic kinsmen.

This irrefutable motive, quite surprisingly, paints a harrowing picture of the inefficiency of our society that many of us have learned to ignore long ago.

The social issue that is eating away at our country is far from the ludicrous notions of corruption or bureaucratic incompetence, but is instead the oppression and segregation of the Naga community within our ranks.

We speak of economic expansion and regional presence, but we turn a blind eye towards the plights of the poor, serpentine minorities that must find jobs as mere statues and backdrops for the ungrateful denizens of the nation. The root of the problem is undoubtedly the stunted education given to the Nagas, resulting in constricted (no pun intended) opportunities for those who survive the growing pollution and water contamination. For those of you who refuse to believe that the kettle is hot until someone has to hit you repeatedly in the face with it, simply ask yourself “How many Nagas have I seen in

The

meeting place of a dangerous gang of Naga bikers or any such congregations. Neither have any Nagas been reported to be associated with any powerful dark wizards who must-not-be-named.

Perhaps its motivations are more mundane than experts believe. Perhaps it desires something more… realistic.

At this point, pragmatists and skeptics are likely to be pointing towards their supposedly “rational” or “logical” explanations. They may bring up the suspiciously similar patterns made by the high-pressured water cleaners which have always been used to clean the University’s grounds. However, the Quill intends to look beyond conjectures and suppositions and concretely arrive at the facts, drawing conclusions only from evidence.

So, then, let us present the evidence as sensibly as possible: Fact - The only creature capable of making such marks are Nagas.

Fact - They are not known to consistently associate themselves with humans or civilization.

Fact - Nagas do not receive adequate education.

Fact - Nagas can read (probably).

Therefore, any reader with half a brain can clearly see that the evidence all points

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A United Kingdom But A Divided Union

AROUNDTHEWORLD

September 2014

by

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The Scottish Independence Referendum and its results were significant for Scots, but not exclusively so. Promises made and a divided populace will surely have its effects ring out for months on end, perhaps to a worldwide context.

On September 18 from 7 A.M. to 10 P.M. local time (UTC), 3.6 million Scots took to the polling stations to answer the question ‘should Scotland be an independent country?’

Interest was extremely high, with 97% having registered and 85% turning up on the day of polling. Parallel to the enthusiasm and concern, division amongst the populace was also significant; 55% no to 45% yes.

Dundee City was most favorable of ‘yes’ with 57.35% of its 118.729 residents voting so, and Orkney Islands was most against ‘yes’ with 67.20% of its 17,806 residents voting ‘no’. Scotland’s population centers, Glasgow and Edinburgh, were divided against one another with Glasgow voting ‘yes’ and Edinburgh voting ‘no’.

As if to testify to the division in Scotland, 6 people were arrested on September 20 for trouble caused in George Square the night before, with investigators reporting that “further arrests will be made” and to “[not] think that because you were not arrested by last night that you will not be caught.”

Tom Choi

The unrest compounded with the news that Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond has resigned over the poll results assert that the issue has taken an emotional, personal significance.

A Union Jack Shaken

“[The United Kingdom] has endured a deep fracture,” says Philip Hodson, a psychotherapist. “One side threatened a legal separation and the other construed it as an act of infidelity and insisted they would never be taken back if they left.”

And as such, reconciliation will not happen overnight and will require a “difficult mourning process,” only to work if

for the House of Commons, a commission dedicated to the investigation of this question, along with its March 2013 report may result in a plethora of reactions, one of which is the possible formation of an English Administration, separate from the Parliament.

The Saltire to the World

The Cross and Saltires

Resilience is key. As psychotherapist Philip Hodson has stated, the process will be “long and hard.” Two of the four constituent regions of the United Kingdom had just ended a yearlong struggle and brawl, only to face older challenges with a new dimension. A challenge is ahead the British people for 2015—a challenge now solely in the hands of the British people.

The blue, red, and white flag of the Kingdom has never been in such peril since its adoption in 1801. All one can hope how is the astute path the Lion of the Parliament can and will, in addition to must, walk in.

September 2014

But why exactly does this all matter?

The reason is simple— Scotland is not the only place seeking independence.

Catalonia and Basque in Spain, Venice and South Tyrol in Italy, Corsica in France, Flanders in Belgium, and Bavaria in Germany are some examples of separatist movements with considerable drive. In fact, 89% of Venice voted ‘yes’ for independence in an online petition in 2012.

Scotland’s referendum defined many aspects of separatist movements, many of which

were the sovereign’s response.

In the end, the loss of the ‘yes’ faction may have lead to a considerable loss of initiative to those movements.

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both England and Scotland are “magnanimous and empathetic.”

It is no doubt that the rebuilding process, rebuilding of trust, will not be a clear, straightforward path.

Devolution of power from the Parliament to the Scottish Administration remains an unavoidable task and it is becoming increasingly clear that Wales and Northern Ireland will vie for such too.

In the grasp for power, the age-old West Lothian question was revisited with newfound urgency. First introduced in 1977 by Tam Dalyell, the question asks whether it is just for Scottish, Welsh, and Irish Members of the Parliament to exercise effect on English politics whilst the English Members had no say in their respective administrations.

The Commission on the consequences of devolution

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A Significant Step towards Denouement Verdict of John Kim Paralympic Athelete Oscar Pistorius by

AROUNDTHEWORLD

September 2014

The prolonged trial of South African athlete Oscar Pistorius returned to the attention of the international media with the verdict of a judge on the 11th of September 2014. A body of prosecutors in the court of Pretoria prosecuted the athlete for the murder of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, on Valentine’s Day of 2013. Judge Thokozile Masipa convicted Oscar Pistorius of culpable homicide, ruling that the defendant was negligent when he opened fire four rounds in his home after hearing what sounded like an intruder in the middle of the night.

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Under South African law, culpable homicide is defined as the illegal killing of someone through irresponsible behavior. The sentence for a culpable homicide is at the judge’s discretion and ranges from a suspended sentence and a fine to as much as 15 years in prison. South Africa does not have a jury system; thus the 66 year old judge unanimously reached the verdict with her two assessors.

Judge Masipa later said Pistorius could not be convicted of premeditated murder, or a less severe murder charge, because the prosecutors did not endeavor

to prove that the defendant knew the 29-year-old model was behind the locked toilet cubicle when he shot through the door.

“Got Away with Murder?”

Judge Masipa’s decision to acquit the double-amputee of murder has left many denizens of South Africa asking the question above.

Most legal analysts, however, expressed consensus about Masipa’s verdict that Pistorius could not be found guilty of premeditated murder.

Prosecutors presented testimonies of the defendant’s neighbors claiming that they heard a woman screaming

Chief prosecutor Gerrie Nel said it is now “probable” that Pistorius will serve time in prison. Du Toit, the aforementioned criminal

defense attorney, said eight to ten years would be a severe sentence for this case and would be applicable only if the judge found he was acutely negligent during the night of the incident. Nevertheless, the comment “people think he got away with murder” of Johannesburg resident Veronica Nyathi reflects the current disappointed stand of a considerable portion of the South African citizenry on the extent of agreement with the judge’s ruling.

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Masipa further explained Pistorius did not foresee that his actions could cause someone to die but a reasonable person in his position should have. Ergo

she found that Pistorius was therefore negligent in Steenkamp’s death and guilty of culpable homicide, although he had no intent to kill anyone that night. The judge also said the athlete acted “too hastily and with excessive force” when he grabbed his pistol, went to confront a perceived yet uncertain danger and fired four rounds.

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from inside the Pretoria villa. The judge rejected the prosecutors’ evidence along with the allegation of a nighttime quarrel between the couple. Marius du Toit, a South African criminal defense lawyer, commented that Masipa dealt with the premeditated murder charge “brilliantly”.

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by

Keshav Garg

Technology’s Biggest Enemy Apple

LIFESTYLE

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Heartfelt Greetings Readers!

It is once again the time of the year when Apple discharges its new devices. Over the years, these events have gathered much attention and have caused an anticipation to build within the audience around the world. However, with the redundancy of the same designs and ideas it appears that we will now view these events with apprehension.

I strongly feel that Apple is retrogressing us to the dark ages of technology.

In case you are unaware, Apple has recently launched its latest products; the Apple Watch, and the iPhone 6.

Both products are placed with exorbitant prices such that a man in China would have to sell his kidney in exchange.

The only difference between the Iphone-6 and the previous models is a larger display.

Apple boldly asserts on their advertisement campaign “Bigger Than Bigger.” Then we have the Apple Watch.

A watch that is useful only

if you have an iPhone. I do, however, greatly appreciate one quality that Apple has finally recognized. Personalization.

At last Apple seems to acknowledge that people want their technology products in different styles and colors and skins rather than just wallpapers.

My biggest adversary is Jonathan Ive. A British born designer, Jonathan happens to be one of the most meticulous designers of our century. However, every year

With the direction Apple is currently headed, it seems quite explicit that there is no hope to salvage the legendary company. It appears that soon Apple too will become like IBM; a now forgotten innovator of the field. The person who I feel most sorry for, however, is in fact, Steve Jobs. May he rest in peace seeing his own child being dismantled. It once again appears that our human vision for technology will be lost in the immanence of a new dark age.

Quill September 2014

business and management field. He happened to be one of Steve Job’s favorite managers. Allow me to repeat, MANAGERS. Tim was a person who could head the management of the company, and yet today he has transformed into a billion dollar figure head. He has neither a comprehension of technology nor a passion for innovation.

If you watch closely, very closely, you will indeed notice that he has no taste or style.

Without style, he is just another technology CEO who can inform but cannot compel during product launches.

The

he deceives the audience into attaching themselves to the ditto products using his pretentious British accent. Now let me be clear, I cannot complain about his designs. They are absolutely stunning and give the user a very passionate feel. My problem comes when the entire product is about the design and does not go beyond that realm.

I still wonder why Jonathan doesn’t start a fashion line in Paris instead of trying to sell technology in fur coats.

Then we have Tim Cook. An American born entrepreneur, he received his formal education in the

God Bless.

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6 Things You Didn’t Know About Mr. Todd by

September 2014

1. Mr. Todd was a disinterested teenager in high school. “Wait”, you might ask, “wasn’t he like the top student?”

A: Actually I was not the valedictorian at my high school. Not sure how that rumor started, but maybe it’s because I present myself as such a cerebral person? :) I finished about 6th or 7th out of 150 students, which I was happy with. I never really got the point of school and didn’t really become motived to learn until I was in college.

It’s kinda ironic considering that now I’m trying to inspire high students to learn and take school seriously. If I had the opportunity to teach my teenage self, I would probably chew myself out for not doing my best.

LIFESTYLE

2. The dream job he wanted was to pilot planes.

A: I really wanted to be a pilot growing up. I loved learning about planes and really liked the idea of flying from city to city and having the opportunity to explore different places around the

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Khem Somsak

world. Things worked out though, I still get to explore all around the world but I don’t have to be away from my family (which is really why I decided not to become a pilot).

3. He likes Rock Gospel music.

A: My favorite band is Switchfoot. When my wife and I were dating she actually surprised me one night and drove me down to Clemson University (about 2 hours from where I lived at the time) to watch Switchfoot perform at Clemson’s basketball coliseum. I usually don’t like surprises, but that was really cool and we had a great time that night.

Switchfoot is awesome live.

4. He hates traveling.

A: I’ve probably visited about 15 different countries and, along with the U.S., I’ve lived in Russia and Thailand.

Ironically, even though I enjoy living cross-culturally, I don’t really love to travel.

I like to stay close to home, spend time with God, listen to music, get plenty of sleep, and lay low. I’m what people

in America call a “homebody”.

5. Pushing students is his way of showing love, and asking questions is how we can return his feelings.

A: I really like it when students ask questions and have a sincere desire to learn.

I also appreciate the students who maintain a positive attitude and like to share about their lives in class.

We’re all in this together and it makes it fun with students embrace challenges and don’t look at me as the enemy for trying to challenge them.

6. Asked if ICS should know anything more about him, Mr. Todd shares his wish to learn an extreme sport.

A: My dream is to one day learn how to kite board.

My wife’s family lives at a beach in North Carolina and I would love to one day live at the beach and kite board every chance I get.

Just another way of being “mounted up on wings like eagles” I guess. :)

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JoanRivers by

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PunPun Chaiyakiturajai

Joan Alexandra Molinsky, or more commonly known by her stage name Joan Rivers, was born in New York, USA on the 8th of June 1993 as the second child of the family. She was virtually everything a person could be — an American actress, comedian, writer, producer, a wife, and a mother.

In 1968, Joan became the

first woman to host a late night television talk show, The Late Show with Joan Rivers. She was nominated for copious awards including the Grammy Award for her album What Becomes a Semi-Legend Most?, and the Tony Award for her performance in Sally Marr. Indeed, she made great contributions to the entertainment industry.

Joan Rivers died at the age

of 81, on September 4th, 2014, after suffering from cardiac arrest for a week.

She was transferred from a local clinic to Mount Sinai Hospital where she relied on life support for several days. Rivers’ long-standing heart condition was not the only reason of her death, and the actual cause is still unknown.

by

Last Friday, you entrusted the Statistics Club with your childhood dream and your thoughts about it – now it is only right that you see the results.

You ICS guys are a curious case. Imagination really pervades ever

corner of the school, and that’s a good thing, right? To make a point, a high school student responded in the survey that his childhood dream was to become a terrorist.

Some years later, after receiving a dose of good old ICS education, that

September 2014

Poom Chiarawongse

LIFESTYLE

ICS Students’ Voice Childhood Dreams

same child now aspires to live the life of a ‘devout Muslim banana’, a much more peaceful existence.

So yes, of course, you can be anything you want to be.

As the case study testified, the survey shows that there is great

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Children

Adults

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6 How much the dream will benefit the society

How much the dream will benefit the society

LIFESTYLE September 2014 3 4

this is innate and has very little to do with education. This is further substantiated by that the correlational strength is almost the exact same between the child and the grown-up. Changes in environment have very little say in this.

However, socioeconomic status may come into play here. ICS high schoolers tend to be in the upper-middle class, making them unrepresentative of the population in general.

This means that though this correlation appears to describe ICS students, it may be non-existent in outsiders. So take this study as you will.

to which it will benefit the society. This connection is present in “grown-ups” as well. The correlational strength maybe weak, (r = 0.3, for those of you who know what that means) but it stands out in comparison to other relationships, about which no correlation can be concluded at all.

Differently stated, it’s there. It may be weak, but it’s not illusory. It does exist.

The most reasonable hypothesis is that the children and the adults alike find meaning in doing good, and, more generally, that humans are good, at least partially. Its presence in childhood hints that

intellectual progression between childhood and less-childish-hood. Still, what the data shows has an even deeper and far more upbeat implication than that ICS education is effective – if not in proselytizing, then at least in promoting a pacifist mindset.

One’s childhood aspiration very rarely coincides with one’s adulthood goal, in terms of meaning one feels toward it, and in terms effort one has put in. There is very little correlation between these variables.

What seems to correlate, however, is how meaningful one’s dream is, and the extent

5 y = 0.4996x + 1.59 R² = 0.2936

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0

1

2

3

4

How meaningful the dream is

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5 y = 0.5446x + 1.7132 R² = 0.3065

4 3 2 1 0

0

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How meaningful the dream is.

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LIFESTYLE

How to Live with Fiction

“We’re lost.”

“No we’re not. Shut up.”

“You know we’re going in circles.”

“Just read your book.”

I shrugged and leaned back into the worn leather seat of our borrowed car, content in letting my brother figure our way out of the dense trees of an obscure forest somewhere in Northumberland. I considered getting back into my book, but I had gotten carsick sometime around when we passed the rock shaped like a llama for the third time, so I rejected

the notion. I pressed my forehead into the cool glass window and let my eyes wander over the passing foliage and greenery.

Many would call the view beautiful, what with the carpet of fire comprised of autumn leaves brushing up against the shedding trees.

I was overall unimpressed.

Nature was for the less evolved.

My incompetent driver was about to make another turn that insured a fourth rendezvous with the petrified llama, when a break in the otherwise

Grace Hsieh

uninterrupted red and gold of the forest floor caught my eye. “Jared, stop.” I blurted, grabbing him quickly by the shoulder. He stomped down immediately on the break, throwing the both of us forward in the old, jerky car.

“What?” he asked calmly. He was pretty used to me piping up urgently out of the blue. I have a pretty short attention span, and when my eyes wandered they often pick up on--strange--things.

“There’s a road, I think, just....there.” I

September 2014

by

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LIFESTYLE September 2014

squinted and pointed. The grey of the gravel seemed to appear and reappear, almost like a mirage. Jared squinted with me, but eventually just shrugged and turned the wheel to where I was pointing, driving by faith. Soon enough though, we felt and heard the tires leave the bed of rotting leaves and start rolling on slightly loose gravel. Jared heaved a sigh of relief and I went back to staring out the window.

In the next ten minutes we almost lost the road twice, once because of Jared’s similarly limited attention span, and another time because a stag almost

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knocked our car off of the road as it bounded through the trees. It had seemed to be completely oblivious of, or just blatantly ignoring our Morris Minor. Finally, the top of my future residence began peering over the thinning trees.

“Oh, Jared I’m gonna kill you…” I muttered under my breath as the rusty gray jalopy rattled up to intricate gates of the aged English estate. Jared brought the car to a stop just in front of the wrought iron bars blocking our way.

“Hey, don’t go blamin’ me, I’m just the driver.” My 27-year-old deadbeat brother turned

around in the leather seat to grin at me. Despite the fact that he had 10 ten years on my 17, it was the general consensus that I was the (considerably) more mature one. I shifted my gaze from the window to Jared’s face and shot him a scathing look.

“You could’ve fought harder against mom.

Actually, you could’ve fought, period. All you did was drink beer and watch T.V.” I said archly.

Jared’s full lips twisted at my accusation and he lowered his dark blue eyes, which were disturbingly similar to my own. He turned back around to the steering

wearing my jacket, I’d have been freezing. The trees we drove through earlier and the ones surrounding the mansion now were also brightly displaying the vitality of autumn. The whole scene was like a vignette by a 17th century landscape artist, except for the floodlights lining the edges of the property. The prison-like qualities of the lights reminded me of why I was being sent here, and effectively kept me from admiring the estate’s natural beauty.

September 2014

glaring at him through the rearview mirror.

“Still, you could’ve tried. And she could’ve gotten us a better car. This piece of junk doesn’t even have air-conditioning!” I complained, the last traces of my anger fading away.

He chuckled.

“Hey. Do not insult a British classic. Besides, it’s almost fall in England.

What the heck do you need air-con for?” It was true.

The temperature today hovered around 19 degrees Celsius, and if I hadn’t been

LIFESTYLE

wheel and thumped his palm against the car horn twice. We sat in silence for a while, and watched a faraway figure emerge from the mansion. The figure headed towards us with an agonizingly slow pace, and after about a minute of the stranger’s casual ambling, Jared sighed.

“Look, you know how it is with mom. Once she gets an idea in her head, you can’t talk her out of it.”

He reasoned in a diplomatic voice. I crossed my arm and slouched deeper in my seat,

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OUROPINION DISCLAIMER: This article is solely based on one writer’s opinion.

Honor Rolls A Slightly Less Tastier Form of Sushi Rolls by

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Gid Jiranuntarat

In every school, there exists a place for exemplary students who excel in their studies. These students are the best of the best in academics, rolling through school like a tank over dead corpses.

These students stand at the top by the sweat of their brow to achieve a GPA of over 3.5. Wait.

What? 3.5? That’s child’s play. Anyone can get that. Yes it’s true, in ICS a 3.5 GPA is quite literally child’s play, because we are children. The Honor roll, to be quite

frank, is supposed to be an achievement that few come close, and fewer still achieve it. But the case in ICS is quite the opposite. Rather than the top 10% who receives the honor roll, it’s actually the bottom 25% who don’t. When over 75% of the students in the high school have their name up in the honor roll, you know something isn’t right.

Now there’re two explanations for this.

One, we’re currently being squeezed through the mold of the great

Asian standard machine.

Social pressures dictate us to behave and act a certain way; that failure to achieve academic success results in great shame being brought upon the ancestors. Perhaps the constant churning by parents to be better than that other student they heard about from a friend is keeping us moving forward and has caused above-average aptitudes.

Maybe, it’s the value we place on grades as a whole, with each student holding their latest A+ high above their heads

receive the grades they worked for, and those who don’t work for an A simply don’t deserve an A. I know I didn’t deserve the majority of my A’s in high schools. I don’t think it’s very fair for the students who studiously jot notes and study four hours every night to receive the same grade as that tall Asian kid who sleeps in class and only studies for the select few classes he enjoys.

However, I highly doubt the school will change its curriculum based on my opinion.

After all, who am I but that tall Asian kid? I’m no more important to the school than the janitors who work here, in fact an argument can be made that the janitors are more important than me. And if the school does change its policies and make the curriculum harder, then that would make plenty of students angry at me, wouldn’t it? So keep the classes the way they are, Mr. Stephen. Quite frankly, I quite enjoy receiving my A’s for the small investments that I put in.

Quill August 2014

not. But when everyone receives the same grades, it makes the grades you receive exponentially less impressive, no?

If everyone makes higher than a 3.5, then 3.5 becomes the bare minimum, and it’s the ones who get lower than 3.5 who should be commended because, holy cows on a hoverboard, it’s hard to fail a class in ICS.

The main reason I can see why this happens is because it definitely does make the school look incredibly good, doesn’t it? How swell must it be for ICS to proudly proclaim that more than half of their students are on the Honor roll and get to dress up with that sweet yellow sash? Honestly though, it severely diminishes the achievements of those who do put in that extra effort to receive that A. There is nothing wrong with students not being able to achieve a 3.5 GPA, or being able to receive that yellow sash.

It’s an achievement that has to be worked towards.

Students who work for their grades should

The

for the lesser mortals to gander and behold.

Any student here can attest to the fact that their friends see grades as the measure of the man, and all of them do care about their academic performance. The first things any student asks a fellow achiever at the beginning of the school year is “What AP’s are you taking?”, followed by either feigned awe or extreme contempt. This fierce competition among peers may be the hot air that is inflating these GPA balloons.

But this explanation would not explain why the amount of elites in this school is still so hefty, even compared to other schools under similar conditions and curriculums as ours.

The next best explanation however; and one that I would say holds the most water, is that the school is too afraid to fail students. Too many times the school would bump grades up and offer ridiculous amounts of points to students. Not that I’m complaining about free grades, because I’m

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The Principle’s Response to Honor Roll by

Grade inflation is a huge buzz word in the educational realm. Just two weeks ago I read an article which stated that the most common grade for the past 10 or more years given out at Harvard University is an A. The median GPA currently at Harvard is in the A- range. Then just yesterday, I read an article stating that Princeton University has given up it’s 10 year battle to stem grade inflation. They had a policy in place which only allowed each department to give A’s to no more than 35% of the course work.

OUROPINION September 2014 4 0

Mr. Stephen Ladas

The reasons for giving up on that approach is because it created a very negative student morale around campus. They battle this issue at the undergraduate level and it’s battled at the HS level as well.

As many students know, I used to be a high school teacher in a high-achieving public school in the states.

Some of our graduates would go onto some of the top universities in the USA. Teaching in that district gave me a glimpse of the typical “American” student. After three years of teaching there, I moved

onto ICS Bangkok. The one thing that immediately stood out to me at ICS was the motivation of our students here. I was amazed at the diligent nature of our student body compared to those even at a very high-achieving public school in the states. I knew it right when I stepped into the classroom on the first day of school back in 2007. The ICS student was a “different” student. What impressed me most was the ICS student’s motivation to achieve higher goals and that motivation inspired his/ her classmates to do the

of pushing themselves to another level. We, as a school, don’t report the number of ribbons we have on graduation day or how many students achieve over a 4.0, we want the student’s lives to speak for themselves. We pray that no matter the grade, the student has learned how to learn, how to grow, and how to make a difference in the next season of their lives. Grade inflation is an issue that we will continue to monitor and make sure that teachers aren’t falling into the trap of doing. We as a school, like our students, hope to “continuously excel” in all that we do.

September 2014

like some may be. There are students who struggle in this school and it’s not easy.

Many students work hard every day and may still end up with a D or C. Those students are sometimes the most hard working students out there and in most cases, that diligent attitude is what leads people to success in the future, above grades or scores.

There may be pressure at this school to give A’s to students, but I believe that our teachers do their best to meet the students’ needs. Our teachers have a heart to see our students grow and learn. Some students take up to 10 AP classes which is an obvious sign

OUROPINION

same, effectively lifting up the progress of the class as a whole. That process was really neat to witness as a teacher. This competitive but encouraging nature among our student body really makes a difference.

I believe that is one of the main reasons why there are many students wearing those yellow ribbons on graduation day.

On the flip side, what many students don’t see are those students that do struggle to keep up in a college-prep curricula such as ours. The environment could be intense sometimes and not all students are molded in the same way and are geared towards picking up concepts quickly

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OUROPINION September 2014

Writing an hour before the deadline really gets one to examine his or her priorities.

I’ve been procrastinating under the all-encompassing, lie-detector-immune excuse of college applications, which isn’t entirely untrue. It was, after all, the catalyst behind the title. As I pondered more and more about learning, every fork in the road of my brooding seemed to lead back to one overriding concept: critical thinking.

Critical thinking is a term that is as undefined as it is used. Many teachers, in their syllabi or otherwise, will claim to integrate this holy grail of education into their classroom, more than

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likely ‘to foster a lifelong desire to learn’ or some other tedious tripe following the initialized SWBAT. The sheer ambiguity of this term isn’t limited to the classroom, however. More and more communicators of science are using this term to promote their populist books, and some humanoid mouthpiece present at some BigThink or TedTalk will throw around this term for cheap applause.

It seems only pertinent to ask: what exactly IS critical thinking? Historical discussions of the concept appear to have arrived at this long-winded conclusion: it is a mode of thinking that recognizes, analyzes,

ing

diagrams, and above all critiques fundamental assumptions behind a claim made. Coupled with rudimentary civility, critical thinking can be a potent player in dialogues that can open paths to societal progress like no other. Yet, why is this so difficult, and why do public educators feel the need to emphasize something so basic? It’s because the proper context of critical thinking, I argue, lies not in others but lies within.

The fundamental problem I see in so many pseudo-intellectual YouTube comments, tweets, and the like is the absolute lack of self-correction. To diagram

principles, deductions from which make sense of the process. Such is the place of philosophy, the discipline that directly deals with such a priori truths. By overemphasizing the reach of science, communicators can in fact insult their very own discipline.

This piece is turning out really jumbled, but I’ll restate my thesis here: critical thinking begins by evaluating your own beliefs and thus saving the others the labor of dealing with your pretension.

It doesn’t matter what your position is. Hashtagging #reason, #logic, #science, without thinking about their assumptions and implications, to deviously demand proof without giving some yourself, and even framing your position as a default position on the basis that it is in counter to your opponent’s and thus ridding yourself of the burden of proof is not intellectually superior to raindancing. Well, that’s about it for this chaotic chapter of my mind. You must excuse me - according to YouTube, people like me have their superstitions to cater to.

You could join me in my necromantic chanting. Then again, perhaps you already have.

September 2014

tackle the questions behind it. Is there physical evidence behind this statement? If not, is it still a valid claim? If so, what counts as evidence? Is this statement perhaps selfevident? In what way would that constitute its validity? Ad nauseum.

A quick word on science seems appropriate, now that the topic has been breached. More and more often do I find that popularizers of science, usually unintentionally, in the process of simplifying its subject to the general audience, vaguely preach the neglect of critical thinking that which underlies the scientific method. Right here, some irate commenter might view me as some irrationalist who’d much rather find comfort in the rain dance than in meteorological predictions. That is not the case. I’m simply saying that the essence of science, what gives science its potency - its Method - is one that cannot be discussed in the context of science. Science is an inductive enterprise, one that seeks evidence prior to its claims. But its method is framed in metaphysical (for the last time, metaphysical doesn’t mean supernatural, it means ‘relating to existence’)

OUROPINION

this phenomenon, I shall introduce what I’ll call Waikay’s Law: any internet conversation’s probability of succumbing to namecalling and self-righteousness approaches 1 as the duration of the discussion continues.

While one commenter may proclaim that ‘All claims require physical evidence’ like some enlightened crusader of reason, the resultant conversation will plainly show that he is just saying that to perhaps conceal some intellectual insecurity over which Sigmund Freud would have a field day deconstructing.

Another problem arises from the example: one of intuition. Oftentimes, we accuse others of relying too heavily on intuition without seeking evidence.

This is true. However, what we neglect is that all evidence does is modify our intuition, changing its direction and object. This is the central reason why critical thinking must be a constant in evaluation. The possibility of us being reliant on intuition cannot go away.

The claim ‘All things require physical evidence’ may or may not be true. However, if one is to really advocate the statement, one must

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