2014 PROUDLY PRESENTED BY THE HIS STUDENT NEWSPAPER: APR Spirit Week 2014 MONDAY: SOCIAL MEDIA DAY TUESDAY: FAVORITE CHARACTER DAY WEDNESDAY: HOUSE SPIRIT DAY THURSDAY: AROUND THE WORLD DAY FRIDAY: BEACH DAY TRIP TO EUROPE INTERVIEW WITH MR. SALER! TAIMUN XI THE BAMBOO TIMES This spirit week, the green house took their prize -- an ice cream party -- home, by scoring the most points with 320. This year, the blue house came in with a close second with 290 points , and the yellow (280) and red (240) teams came third and fourth respectively. The HIS annual spirit week started on April 21st and ended on April 25th. Organized by the Student Representative Council (SRC), the spirit week was filled with daily surprise lunch- time activities as well as a different theme each day.
Transcript
2014 P R O U D L Y P R E S E N T E D B Y T H E H I S S T U D E N T N E W S P A P E R : APR
Spirit Week 2014
MONDAY: SOCIAL MEDIA DAY
TUESDAY: FAVORITE CHARACTER DAY
WEDNESDAY: HOUSE SPIRIT DAY
THURSDAY: AROUND THE WORLD DAY
FRIDAY: BEACH DAY
TRIP TO EUROPE INTERVIEW WITH MR. SALER! TAIMUN XI
THE BAMBOO TIMES
This spirit week, the green house took their prize -- an ice cream party -- home, by scoring the most points with 320. This year, the blue house came in with a close second with 290 points , and the yellow (280) and red (240) teams came third and fourth respectively. The HIS annual spirit week started on April 21st and ended on April 25th. Organized by the Student Representative Council (SRC), the spirit week was filled with daily surprise lunch-time activities as well as a different theme each day.
Health By: Angel Chang
Brain atrophy, also known as cerebral atrophy, is the condition of the decreasing amount of brain cells. It causes the dysfunctions of brain activities. The dysfunctions of brain activities increase as the atrophy become more severe, and in some cases, it would eventually lead to the death of the patient.
There can be several different causes for brain atrophy, and they can be put into two main categories: congenital and acquired. Different kinds of developmental disorders or genetic problems include Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia. Infections such as AIDS could be a cause of brain atrophy as well. Of course, injuries are counted as acquired causes to brain atrophy including traumatic brain injury and stroke. If people are born with the potential to have brain atrophy, they should be more careful as they get older or suffer head injuries .
As for the symptoms of brain atrophy, they are also put into two main categories: generalized and localized symptoms. Generalized symptoms occur when the loss of brain cells is throughout the whole brain while localized symptoms occur when the loss of brain cells is only partial in the brain. Generalized symptoms includes disorientation, problems with memory and comprehension, and vast changes in personality and behavior. Localized symptoms includes losing balance and coordination, impairment in vision, and aphasia.
Brain atrophy is permanent and cannot be cured. The treatments towards brain atrophy only focus on making the patients feel more comfortable, to lessen pain and inconvenience, and to prevent further loss of brain cells. Physical therapy and medications can be taken to control brain atrophy and to improve the ability of daily activities. Engaging in mental activities and exercise on a regular bases can also improve cerebral atrophy.
After all, cerebral atrophy is something that people have to live with once they get it, so to prevent it, healthy eating, controlling blood pressure, and engaging socially, physically, and mentally are important.
“Cerebral Atrophy” bettermedicine. Health Grades. n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.
“NINDS Cerebral Atrophy Information Page” National Institute of Health. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.
Science Fair By: Timothy Wood! As we diligently worked on our science fair project for months, our team was eager to get first place. This year, only students from grade 7-10 participated. Starting at 8:30 in the morning, every group presented its projects with only a short break time. As we relentlessly worked our way through the explanations to teachers and judges, the time finally came for the awards ceremony. When the judges called out my name and my teammates’ names, we jumped up happily to receive our box of Ferror Rochers. Even though not every group won a prize, no one seemed to be disappointed at all. I think it’s because we all thought our hard work paid off. Science fair does not depend on the prize, but it all depends on how hard we work.
Trip to Europe By: Henry Ko
This year, for another annual trip, a handful of ninth graders and one eighth grader attended the “Europe trip” that was meant to help educate students on the cultures and architectures of certain parts of Europe. The countries visited were Spain, France, Switzerland, and Italy.
Within the first day, we arrived at Barcelona. We thought that everything was so clean and that it was so technologically advanced, although also very expensive. For cultural studies, we visited a couple of sites. The most memorable site from Barcelona was the Sagrada Família, a gothic church that the government recently finished. Apart from cultural and architectural studies, we also went to the great soccer stadium in Barcelona. However it was a pity that the great soccer match in Spain was taking place the next day, the day we left for Perpignan.
In Perpignan, we did some basic sightseeing. We first took a quick glimpse of a map of the city, and then decided to walk to all the separate castles within the city. The castles were amazing, though some of them had a lot of graffiti and the environmental management wasn’t exactly the best since there was a lot of manure. However, because it was a Sunday, it was extremely inconvenient when it came to food and shopping. As a result, we had Dominos’ pizza for lunch and we had to cook our own food for dinner.
The next day, we left for Sète. We really only went there for one reason: the great canal in Sète. It was very
beautiful. Finding a hotel at Sète was incredibly challenging: It’s either very bad or very expensive. However, Sète was great overall due to its great sightseeing opportunities.
After Sète, we went to France’s second largest city, Marseilles. In Marseilles, we went to some churches and castles. The most memorable part of our stay at Marseilles was at the islands, which is related to the story of the man with the iron mask who escaped. The island was absolutely magnificent as we even found old, abandoned military bases. The view itself was just great as it was almost completely untouched. We also met a group of students that were very fascinated by our group. They even came by and took photos with us.
After Marseilles, we went to our final destination: Milan. In Milan, we visited several churches for cultural studies. However, the most memorable part was when we went to the greatest shopping
district in Milan (everything was so royal and expensive!). In fact, there was even an Emperor Armani department store! When I decided to shop at Ralph Lauren, I was forced to buy an expensive shirt that cost 85 EUROS! The greatest part was when we crossed the streets and saw three Ferarris, one Lamborghini Avantador, and two Ducatis!
Although the trip was great in general, there were still some difficulties and problems. In Europe, it seems that every store closes on Sunday and Monday and all the stores close very early. Also, there really aren’t that many convenience stores like Family Mart or 7 Elevens in Europe, which made things very inconvenient. Also, the greatest difficulty that we had to face was that we didn’t pre-book the hotels, and so whenever we left the train station, we had to go and find a hotel to stay in. Otherwise, the only problems were the high prices of products in Europe.
Overall, the trip was very nice, and also allowed us to have a lot of cultural experiences. The trip was also, like most trips, an experience that allowed everyone to get closer and for us to know more about each other.
TAIMUN By: Angel Chang
After the HSINMUN IX in IBSH in October, another MUN conference came up for HIS MUNers. This conference was TAIMUN, which took place in Taichung on April 10~11. It was a much bigger conference compared to HSINMUN. 13 HIS MUNers, chaperoned by Mr. Meneses and Ms. Santiago, attended the conference.
TAIMUN had more committees compared to HSINMUN: Security Council, CDIS, Human Rights Council, ECOSOC, Environment, SOCHUM, WHO, SUSDEV, IAEA, and ICJ. The ICJ was quite different from other committees because it functioned more as a court than a committee. The Security Council was also different from other committees as well, since it didn’t merge resolutions, and debates started on day one. Instead of submitting a resolution, delegates of the Security Council would submit clauses for debate. On the other hand, in other committees such as the Environment Committee that I was in, we caucused on the first day, and debated on the second day. However, many of the issues in TAIMUN only had one solution, so even though we split into two major groups for each issue, the resolutions were too similar for a fruitful debate to take place.
On the second day, we not only debated in our own committees, but also had the “Crisis”. The Crisis was when all TAIMUN delegates gathered together to discuss the world’s current issues together. For instance, we discussed the Ukraine Crisis together and merged the clauses submitted by 10 committees as a resolution.
TAIMUN was a really great experience after all. We not only learned to be better debaters, but also made friends, and had fun throughout these two conference days.
Teacher’s Interview By: Alex Tsai
AT: What inspired you to become a teacher? Also, why did you choose this school?NS: I have always loved history as my dad was always into history when I was a kid. When I was going to university, I majored in History and Psychology. Back then, I had a pretty good feeling that I wanted to teach as there were some teachers in high school that really made me start thinking about teaching so I minored in it in university. However, I wasn’t sure that I wanted to [teach] do high school so as I got older, I got to teach some younger kids in Korea. Then, I realized that it was definitely older students that I wanted to teach. How I got to this school was that I was living in Hsinchu for about a year and a half teaching English and I just finished my Teaching degree. I just happened to send Mr. Butcher an email because I knew that it was a reputable international school and everything worked out really well.
AT: Who was your role model or hero when you grew up?NS: Probably my mom. My mom, when I was in high school, worked 12-hour days and was doing her Bachelor’s degree at the same time. She worked really hard and was very successful too.
AT: What challenges have you faced in this school? If any, of course.NS: I faced challenges when it comes to getting students to be more involved in athletics, getting the school to become more competitive in sports, and getting them to care more about athletics. Athletics are a really important part of my life and I really want students to have the same experiences I had growing up. I feel it’s a struggle - it’s just having more sports and more athletic competition available for students.
AT: Is homework necessary?NS: I don’t think it’s necessary; I think it improves learning as you don’t have enough time in class to cover everything so I find it a useful way for students to gain knowledge and skills that we’re not able to cover in class.
AT: What part of your job do you enjoy the most? NS: Interacting with students and watching students grow, I think. It’s really incredible to see - it has just been a short span of time - that some of my students have grown not physically, but emotionally and their skills to really grow so much over that time is pretty cool to watch.
AT: We want teachers to be role models for students. What advice do you have for students?NS: To work really hard and to not close doors on any avenue. You never know what may turn out to be beneficial later in life. Just because you don’t like something now, don’t just completely ignore it. Same thing goes with people: don’t create enemies, because you never know how those people can turn out to be to help you or to become friends with you later on in life.
AT: Do you think there are certain things that students should avoid in general?NS: I think a little bit of everything is okay and too much of anything is detrimental.
AT: What do you have to say for the students who are possibly threatening their health with a combination of stress and poor time management?NS: Ha ha. What do I suggest for them? Maybe make a priority list? Maybe look at your future to figure out what is most essential to you and start from that I guess?
AT: What if you are kind of undecided upon such things?
Teacher’s Interview (2)By: Alex Tsai
NS: It may not just be one thing, but things are you most interested or passionate about in life. It doesn’t necessarily have to be school work, but things that you care most about. Maybe try to prioritize how much time you put in to all of those so you realize how much time in the day you have and what things do you want and need to do everyday. Maybe make a list of “Want VS Need” and try to get a little of both those things done each day.
AT: What’s your definition of success and failure?NS: Success is being a happy, healthy person. Failure is being the opposite: not being happy or healthy. Success can mean a lot of different things to a lot of people as long as you have a happy, healthy life, I think you’re living a successful life. I think everything else would fall into this place if you have those things.
AT: What are your goals for your classes aside from teaching whatever you’re supposed to teach?NS: For my students to become happy, healthy people, for me to be able to provide some wisdom along the way, to maybe provide some entertainment so maybe they’ll actually be interested in areas that I’m actually teaching about - maybe they want to pursue one of those fields that I’m into. For example, hopefully, maybe a couple of you will major in psychology in university or maybe take it further and have a field in psychology. I wasn’t the one who influenced Trevor’s decision [to consider majoring in Psychology], but it makes me happy to see that someone is interested.
AT: What’s the most interesting thing that happened in your class?NS: Babies coming into Psychology class? I don’t know... Or maybe that time when the Psychology class tried the “miracle fruit” pills that temporarily altered your taste buds?
AT: What would be your strengths and weaknesses?NS: There’s a classic way to answer this question. Well, I’m a perfectionist. That’s my biggest weakness - I have to have everything perfect. Somebody else might give you this answer as I don’t like answering this kind of questions.
AT: What do you think will become of the world? You can go wild on this if you want to.NS: Very philosophical, aren’t you? I think the world is going to continue as it is for a very long time. There will be problems, people will overcome some of those problems, and there will continue to be ongoing problems. New problems will emerge and people will learn to cope with such problems to make them even better. Humans will always be there.AT: Do you think that they will at least learn from their mistakes?NS: Hopefully.AT: Hopefully.NS: If they study history a little bit more, they will.
AT: Is there anything else you would like to add to this interview?NS: Nope. That’s pretty good.
AT: Okay. Just one last question. Throughout your life, what is the one thing that you have learned that you believe is the most important?NS: Don’t worry too much. Everything will be okay. I really believe that everything turns out okay. My opinion is that everything works out.
History TodayBy: Mr. Meneses
May 1, 1891 - The Commemoration of International Workers' Day
On May 1, 1891 Paris, France, the first congress of the Second International declared that May 1 would be knows as International Workers' Day to commemorate those who were killed by a bomb in Chicago, U.S. during a labor protest on May 4, 1886. The May Day commemoration (as it widely known) began as a protest by various trade unions around the world, with workers being told to stop work for one day to advocate for the 8-hour work day among other issues. In the beginning, May Day would be met with violence and state intervention, but eventually many countries around the world would adopt May Day as an official holiday.
Although many take the May Day as a shopping holiday, it retains its importance in countries like the People's Republic of China, North Korea, and Cuba. It will be common to see military parades in these countries. Alternatively, it is a day of mass protests and marches for various issues such as labor issues and antiwar demonstrations.
To distance itself from the leftist influence of the holiday, nations like the United States and Canada adopted Labor Day on different dates. May Day commemorations still retain their importance to labor groups, and still has a controversial legacy.
In the United Kingdom, May Day activities begin on the first Monday in May and work and school are closed. The former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher attempted to cancel May Day commemorations, but the holiday survived her government. In Taiwan, May 1 is a public holiday and known as Labor Day. This year's Labor Day celebrations will see the nation's capital inundated with protesters with multiple grievances ranging from nuclear power to a trade agreement with China.
Current Events By: Lawrence Wood
As middle class wealth is the basic wealth measurement in a modern economy, any country with a large and rich middle class is therefore a rich country. The USA, leader of the free world, with the richest economy and the wealthiest middle class, has always been the symbol for the success of capitalism. However, that is changing quickly. In a recently published article by the New York Times, Canada’s middle class, that was lagging behind only a decade ago, caught up with the US in 2010 and surpassed it just a few days ago. Canada now leads as the richest middle class country in the world. This report on the US wealth contains more than this staggering news. Although US economy rose these past few years, sadly that increase is not affecting the whole population. Europe, with their hard hit economy has their poorest 20th percentile richer than their US counterpart. Canada as mentioned above, has the richest middle class. The saddest part of this news is for the richest 30th percentile. The US richest population has grown over the last few years and now has made a gigantic gap compared to it to similar country like Canada, from a decade ago. Despite the US still having the highest GDP per capita, this reliable statistic gathered over a 35 year period, disagree with that fact. This further shows the unfair income distribution. This is the direct effect of policy set down by the US government, and the dramatic effect it will have toward the young American population. This small problem will be amplified if no actions are made to solve this.
College CounselingBy: Ms. Liao
Colleges Offering 50-100% Scholarships To All Students
Continuing this series of different kinds of colleges, this month I will be discussing schools that offer free or greatly-reduced tuition to all students. See the March issue for more information about women's and men's colleges and the February issue for more information about research universities and liberal arts colleges.
The biggest group of schools that offer free tuition are known as work colleges. As the name suggests, work colleges "purposefully [integrate] a college education with valuable work experience and service to others."[1] In other words, in exchange for working in the college
for 10-15 hours a week (that is, help run and operate the school), students pay no or greatly-reduced tuition. There are seven members of the Work Colleges Consortium: Alice Lloyd College, Berea College, Blackburn College, College of the Ozarks, Ecclesia College, Sterling College, and Warren Wilson College. Benefits of attending a work college include developing leadership and problem-solving skills, fostering a work ethic, demonstrating responsibility and commitment, and of course, financing your own education while minimizing tuition spend. A notable alumni of the work colleges is John Fenn, 2002 Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry.[2]
Deep Springs, mentioned last month as a unique men's college, is a variation on the work college theme. In exchange for working on the ranch or farm, every student at Deep Springs receives a full scholarship. Unlike the other work colleges, Deep Springs offers only Associates' Degrees (2-year degrees), but it's alumni go on to their pick of prestigious 4-year educational institutions. In the past 10 years, 16% of students transferred to Harvard, 13% to the University of Chicago, 7% to Yale and 7% to Brown. [3]
Besides work colleges, a number of engineering schools offer full or greatly-reduced tuition. The Webb Institute is the only full-tuition scholarship private undergraduate college, offering only a double major in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering. This small school of about 80 students boasts a 100% employment rate.[4] Both the Olin College of Engineering and The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art offer a 50% merit scholarship to all admitted students. Olin seeks students who want to not only study engineering but who are also entrepreneurial, creative, adventurous, and want to experience a "revolution in engineering education."[5] Education is very hands-on from Day 1. Meanwhile, the Cooper Union is the only private, undergraduate college in the U.S. dedicated exclusively to preparing students for the professions of architecture, art, and engineering and its undergraduate program is well-known for its rigor.
Last but not least is the Curtis Institute of Music, also known as the most selective school in the U.S. with an acceptance rate of just 4%. Curtis accepts just enough students to maintain a full symphony orchestra and an opera program, and then trains them for careers as performing artists. Full-tuition scholarships are provided to all of students.[6]
These are some interesting educational options that you may not have heard of, and certainly provide innovative ways to save money on the ever rising cost of education as well as unique educational experiences.
Ban Ki-moon is the current secretary general of the United Nation. He took office on January 1st, 2007, from his position in South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. It was considered a long-reaching goal when he announced that he would be campaigning for the UN secretary general, but he eventually overcame all of his troubles and succeeded in being selected for the duty.
Ban Ki-moon was born on June 13, 1944, in the Japanese-colonized Korea. His family fled to a remote mountainside during the Korean War as they lost a warehouse business during Ban’s childhood. Ban earned a trip to the United State when he was 18 because he won an essay contest sponsored by the Red cross. He met US president John F. Kennedy, and was interviewed by journalists. He expressed his interest in becoming a diplomat at the time. He received advanced education and studied in the field of international relations at Seoul National University and later studied at Harvard University.
When Ban was 26, He successfully passed Korea’s foreign service exam and joined the ministry of foreign affairs. He became affiliated with the UN after Park Chung-hee’s assassination in 1979. He became the director of the UN International Organizations and Treaties Bureau in Seoul and visited nations like India, the US, Austria, and Slovenia as an ambassador or UN-affiliated agent.
After Ban’s various success in the Korea’s ministries and in some UN agencies, he decided that he would run as a candidate for secretary general to replace Kofi Annan. He was not considered as a serious candidate and was not expected to be chosen. However, he took several measures that greatly aided him in his election. He visited all 15 nations that had a seat on the UN Security Council, using South Korea’s economic power to convince various nations to vote in favor of him for the position of Secretary General. During the election, he was the only person who gained the support of all 5 permanent nations in the UNSC. His candidacy was opposed only by Japan, and solely for historical reasons.
Overall, Ban Ki-moon was a secretary general who focused on keeping peace through unbiased choices. He visited Middle Eastern countries during his time in office and called for peace on Middle Eastern conflicts. He opposed various US stances, unlike many eastern-oriented diplomats. Ban was praised for his speedy and efficient efforts, and was a critical piece in maintaining peace throughout the world.
Features: Book RecommendationBy: Hsuanhsuan Chang
The setting of the book “The Help” is Jackson Mississippi, in August 1962. The story is narrated by Skeeter, a gutsy young white writer who wants to publish a book that includes some pretty dangerous information about how some black maids are treated (and they are not good), and two black maids who apparently lost their minds since they agreed to this seemingly crazy act in this small, racist town. As secrets and scandals blow across town, a lot of people are going down.
What I really love about this book is how honest and down-to earth the author describes the racial segregation going on in a southern town, especially from the point of view of black maids. I also enjoyed the humor of the book, and that the story transitions smoothly from one narrator’s point of view to another. This book just felt real to me, and it’s definitely worth a read.
Features: Movies and MusicBy: Sydney Ko
Divergent: Let’s all take a moment and exhale, because Divergent, the movie, is finally out, and it seems to be the buzz! Even if you have not heard about the movie yet, the word “Divergent” must’ve been familiar, since it was a book featured in the Bamboo Times a few months back. The movie is set in a dystopian world in Chicago. In the new world, the society is divided into five factions: Dauntless, Erudite, Abnegation, Amity and Candor. Each faction stands for a human characteristic, and once teens reach 16, they get to decide which faction they want to switch/go to. In the story, Tris Prior, a sixteen year old teen, faces the struggle in finding her true self. Directed by Neil Burger, and starring Shailene Woodley, Theo James and Kate Winslet, the film was out on April 11th.
Features: Movies and MusicBy: Sydney Ko
Captain America: The Winter Soldier Captain America: The Winter Soldier is the sequel of Captain America: The first Avenger. Basically, in the second movie, Captain American and Black Widow find themselves going up against an assassin called “The Winter Soldier”. It is directed by the Russo Brothers and stars Chris Evans (Captain America) and Scarlett Johanssan (Black Widow). It came out on April 4th, and I hope that everyone has seen it already. Like, who can resist Scarlett Johanssan?
Christina Perri- head or heart Christina Perri came out with another heartbreaking, yet heart racing album again! And keeping the tradition, Christina keeps every title of the song not capitalized, which is rather special. The album features the song “Human,” which must be a song that everyone can relate to. The album “head or heart” also features Ed Sheeran in the song “be my forever”. Perri’s melodramatic, soothing voice, makes you put the repeat button on, replaying and reliving.
Ed Sheeran- Sing Who is excited for Ed Sheeran’s new album “x” or “multiply”? The single, “Sing,” has already blown everyone away, with it’s new beat and style. “Sing” is very different compared to his last album. It includes a very upbeat drum in the background. The album will be coming out in June. Try and sit tight, guys, because Ed is coming…
EPILOGUEEditor’s Note:Thank you for reading this month’s HIS student newspaper! The newspaper team hope you enjoy this monthʼs issue. If you have any concerns, reactions, criticism, hopefully compliments, comments, or any ideas - please feel free to inform the newspaper team! (You can stay anonymous if you feel uncomfortable for us to know your name.) We will gladly accept any comments from you! If there are any secondary staff or students that would like to submit any work to be included in the next issue, please send an email to me! Thank you, once again!
Acknowledgements:Thank you to Ms. Liao for her College Counseling column, Mr. Menses for his History Today column, and Mr. Christie for spending his time proofreading!
Special thanks to Aichi Hsu for providing photos from spirit week!
Editor-in-Chief: Daphne Wood (G11) Assistant Editor: Lawrence Wood (G11) Secretary: Henry Ko (G9) Staff Supervisor: Mr. Christie Reporters: Sydney Ko (G8), Timothy Wood (G8), Angel Chang (G9), Henry Ko (G9), Hsuanhsuan Chang (G9), Ho Hsuan Hsieh (G9), Alex Tsai (G10), Daphne Wood (G11), Lawrence Wood (G11), Jae Han (G12)Photographers: Chloe Hsueh (G9), Shawn Lin (G9), Shannon Liu (G9) Designers: Daphne Wood (G11), Jae Han (G12)
Principal’s Message:
Another scintillating issue from our Team at the Bamboo Times and their efforts to provide a wide variety of topics for us to peruse during this drab weather. Wishing you a pleasant read over this long weekend break and that you stay safe and dry, we'll see everyone again on Tuesday 6 May 2014 relaxed and refreshed, ready for exams! Good Luck!
