The Overachiever February—Midwinter Break, Valentine’s Day,

Harvard MUN, and hearts

February 2014

Vol. 9 Issue 11

International Academy

1020 E. Square Lake Road

Bloomfield Hills, MI 48304

Cover Design

Image from

http://www.bellanaija.com/2013/02/14/events-this-weekend-the-valentines-day-2013-%E2%9D%A4-

special/

In this issue...

News………………………….…..3 Too Rich for Jail……..……….5 Most Anticipated Movies.…7 Sports……….....…..…............9 Harvard MUN 2014.…...…10 February.…….........Back Page

Staff Principal

Ms. Lynne Gibson Associate Principal

Mr. Christopher Smith

Faculty Facilitator Ms. Sarah Clancy

Editor-in-Chief Nancy Huang

News Editors Jenna Wang & Rama-Armaghan K. Ahmad

Features Editors Alayna Wang & Eleanor Khirallah

Entertainment Editor Monali Desai & Alaina Valente

Sports Editor Mahum Farooqui

Perspectives Editor Vedha Ghanta

Back Page Editor Tami Lacasse

Contributors Abrar Quazi Alison John Emily Moll Peter Barr

February 2014 3 News

Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics

Once every four years, the world is graced by the glistening ath-letic spectacle that is the Winter Olym-pics Games. This February, the world’s attention rests on Sochi, Rus-sia, where 2,800 athletes have travelled to from a rec-ord-breaking 88 countries to compete for glory and dis-tinction in 98 sporting events. The Games’ biggest sport attractions for its global audi-

ence are winter classics such as figure skating, ice hockey, skiing, snowboard-ing, and speed skating. However, for Sochi 2014, there are also other unique headlines being made—namely, the host country’s controver-sial anti-gay policies. As the Games continue on for a total of 16 days, we will take a look at some of the high-lights, both on the ice and off the slopes.

Opening Ceremony The Opening Ceremony that com-mences the official beginning of each Olympics Games is the epitome of pomp and show, and Sochi 2014’s was no different. The Ceremony was held at Fisht Olympic Stadium and was at-tended in person by 40,000 spectators, with millions more tuning in on televi-sion sets around the world.

One of the main points of interest dur-ing the Opening Ceremony was the Parade of Nations, when all the coun-tries filed into the stadium in Cyrillic alphabetical order (ABVG instead of ABCD). Another unusual occurrence, this time unintentional, was during the unveiling of the Olympics rings, when one of the five failed to transform from a snowflake into a ring. This malfunc-tion, however, was covered up by pre-recorded footage that was shown in-stead in the live broadcast. Local Pride On The International Stage This Olympics, the state of Michigan had the unique honor of sending sever-al notable athletes to represent Team USA in Sochi. Among them are the wildly successful and charming ice-dancing duo of Meryl Davis and Char-lie White. Davis and White hail from West Bloomfield and Royal Oak re-spectively, and are six-time U.S. na-tional champions. They train in Canton and also attend the University of Michi-gan in Ann Arbor. The Olympian connection even ex-tends to International Academy, where several students have had close inter-actions with famous athletes. Divya Goel (’15) recalls a time when she and Charlie White took violin lessons from the same teacher, and he showed up at one of her recitals. Maureen Wu (’15) sometimes glimpses famous ath-letes at the Detroit Skating Club (DSC) while practicing her own figure skating. Once, Wu says, she even went into the sound room and accidentally shut off the music that Canada’s Patrick Chan, who is currently ranked #2 in the world for Men’s Figure Skating, was rehears-ing to! Other Olympians who train and reside in Michigan include skating sibling duo Maia and Alex Shibutani and men sin-gles skater Evan Bates, who all attend college at the University of Michigan. In

addition, many world-class Canadian skaters cross the bridge from Windsor to Detroit on a daily basis to train in Canton and Bloomfield Hills, including 2010 Olympics gold medalist pair Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir.

Gay Rights Controversy With Putin's anti-gay law put in place, the global community expected that there would be protests as the Olym-pics neared. Gay rights protests were organized in 19 cities during the open-ing ceremony. There were even some talks about boycotting the Games by some of these activist groups. These growing protests show that this years Olympics are not just games, but a political battle field as many countries around the world are united in the ef-fort to make Putin repel the anti-gay laws in Russia.

Let the games begin! Regardless of this controversy that the 2014 Olympics faces, countries from all around the world sent their athletes to represent the unity and bond the world has. The Olympics has always been a joyous time, and will continue to be for

generations to come.

The official logo for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics

Image Credit:http://www.meteoweb.eu/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/sochi_2014_logo.jpg

Meryl Davis and Charlie White compet-ing in the 2014 U.S. Championships in

Boston. Image Credit: http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2014/01/24/davis_white_custom-bdf54ec59feb436de6145c3e2405540487d35797.jpg

by JENNA WANG AND ABRAR QUAZI

News The Overachiever

Protests Rock Ukraine by RANA-ARMAGHAN K. AHMAD

4

Prominent protest in the last few years have been mostly concentrated in the Middle East. We barely have heard about solid protests in Europe. However, since November 30, millions of people in Ukraine have been fighting for their fundamental human rights including the right for a more democratic form of government.

It

all be-

gan with a peaceful student protest in Kyiv, the capital in Ukraine. These protests were soon violently dispersed by the Berkut. The Berkut are the Ukrainian police units spe-cially trained to suppress civilian uprisings. They only num-ber 4000, but are paid a high salary in Ukraine. After these students were attacked, a million people demonstrated in the central square of Kyiv. The govern-ment hoped to end the rebellion would go away, but it has intensified into a strong anti-government uprising. The people in Ukraine are tired of the corruption and the lack of social justice. Security officials in Ukraine, such as the police, have exploited the people as well. The middle class of Ukraine is the driving force in this uprising. They are angry with unfair policies from the tax agencies. Radi-cals and nationalists have also taken part in the uprising, and are more involved in the violence against the govern-ment. In all, the people demand the resignation of the Pres-ident Viktor Yanukovych and Prime Minister Mykola Aza-rov. The Berkut brutality with the protestors has been absolutely horrific. The Berkut have been torturing journalist, activists, and anyone they can get their hands on. The ironic part of this uprising is that President Viktor Yanukovych was elect-ed democratically in 2010. The international community accepted his victory as a legitimate democratic victory. This uprising is different than the Arab Spring. In the Arab Spring, the rulers overthrown were all cruel dictators that ruled their people with an iron fist. There were multiple po-litical parties partaking in the election and his won based on the peoples’ votes. The reason people are now mistrusting

Yanukovych is because of his family’s control over many sectors of Ukraine. For example, the total wealth of the President’s son, Alexander Yanukovych, has tripled to $510 million in the last few years. Many people are suspicious of corruption and manipulation of profitable sectors in the Ukrainian economy under the watch of President Yanu-kovych. Additionally, in the last few years the government of Ukraine has shifted from a parliamentary republic to more of a presidential system. President Yanukovych is holding more power for himself. For now, the protests continue. The violence continues. The police brutality continues. And the people continue to ask for their rights. The most peaceful way to resolve this issue is for both sides to compromise. The President should give up some of his power, but the people cannot expect him to com-pletely leave, for he was elected democratically. He needs intro duce reforms and satisfy the fundamental human rights of the common citizen.

Hundreds of thousands of protestors gathered at independence square in Kyiv

Image Credit: http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1490436/thumbs/o-KIEV-PROTESTS-facebook.jpg

Protestors set buildings on fire Image Credit: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/Atempt_to_put_down_the_massive_fire_set_by_protesters_to_prevent_internal_forces_from_crossing_the_barricade_line._Kyiv,_Ukraine._Jan_22,_2014.jpg

by ALAYNA WONG

by PETER BARR Too Rich for Jail? 5 February 2014 Features

Tips for Going Green! Every issue, the Overachiever will be shar-ing a new idea to help you live an eco-friendly life. So, keep a lookout for more green tips in future issues!

Tip for Month: Lots and lots of clean paper gets tossed. Ask your parents to collect paper from their offices that has at least one side clean and donate it to local schools in need!

June 15th, 2013. Ethan

Couch and a group of his friends

are running rampant in Fort Worth,

Texas. They rob a local Wal-Mart

of two cases of beer and are headed

across town to a local “chemist’s”

house. On the way Couch crashes

his father’s Ford F-150 into a moth-

er and daughter trying to fix their

stalled vehicle and a youth pastor

who was on his way to a sermon.

By the end of the night Couch has

left 4 dead, 8 hospitalized, and 1

brain dead. Ethan Couch was driv-

ing with a blood alcohol level of

0.24, three times the legal limit.

Ethan was reported as "Belligerent

towards the police and showed no

signs of remorse." Also, the police

found valium in his system.

Valium or Diazepam, which is its

chemical name, is a drug used to

treat anxiety or panic attacks. It is

often abused and is similar to mor-

phine, codeine, and heroin.

Ethan was charged with

four counts of manslaughter for

which he pleaded guilty, but he

served no jail time. Why? Ethan

comes from a rich family. His fa-

ther owns an extremely successful

sheet metal works and makes an

annual turnover of approximately

15 million USD. At the time Ethan

was living alone in his father's old

mansion. He was left to run wild,

throw crazy parties, drink alcohol,

and do whatever he pleased. This

lead Ethan’s defense attorney to

hire a psychologist by the name of

Dr. Dick Miller. Dr. Miller testi-

fied that Ethan suffered from a rare

mental disorder known as Affluen-

za. Affluenza is only present in

young rich kids who were never

disciplined and therefore cannot be

subject to the consequences of their

actions. This defense strategy re-

sulted in 10 years of probation in

which Ethan’s father would pay for

him to attend a world class rehabili-

tation facility in California costing

around $450,000 a year. Mean-

while , Ethan Couch has said noth-

ing. Having been proven right that

the rich can get away with any-

thing, why should he need to say

sorry?

by ALISON JOHN

6 Features The Overachiever

High school is hard

enough with balancing an

individual’s social and

school life. Standardized

exams are not only an ad-

ditional stress put upon

students but are required

for all colleges. Students

stress over standardized

exams due to the time con-

straints and the material

they cover. Before delving

into the world of standard-

ized exams, you should

take the PLAN and PSAT

to see which exam you do

the best on. Most colleges

only require one standard-

ized exam, so depending

on your PLAN and PSAT

scores you can decide

whether the ACT or the

SAT suits you best. The

ACT can be an easier ex-

am if an individual pre-

pares for it appropriately.

If you decide that the

ACT is the right test for

you, the most important

thing is practice. Prior to

your exam date, it is cru-

cial that you take a prac-

tice ACT before taking the

real one. The ACT is a

stressful exam no matter

what, but without prior ex-

posure to it, it becomes an

even more difficult task.

Borrow or buy an ACT

book and take a practice

exam to see what your es-

timated range of score is

and find out what your

weak areas are. By doing

this, you will know what

sections you need to do

additional practice prob-

lems for. Also, you will

not feel overwhelmed

when you take the test of-

ficially for the first time.

A 36 on the ACT is ob-

viously no guarantee, but

everyone can work hard to

do their personal best. At

the end of the day, practice

makes perfect!

The First Step to Acing the ACT

Entertainment The Overachiever 8

The Most Anticipated Movies of 2014

by MONALI DESAI

2014 is going to be a year of

many new movies that have been

anticipated for months, even years.

There are many films that audiences

are eagerly awaiting, so grab some of

that $20 movie theater popcorn and

sit back, because there are quite a

few movies coming out.

One movie coming out very

soon is Veronica Mars. Based on the

hit TV show of the same name, this

movie follows the once-detective

now lawyer as she goes back to

sleuthing. What’s interesting about

this movie is that it’s not a huge pro-

duction produced by big name movie

studios. This movie’s $5 million

budget came from a kickstarter. Die-

hard fans of the show are waiting in

eager anticipation for this movie.

Seeing as this a newspaper

for high-schoolers, it’s only fair to

talk about the movies adapted from

young adult novels. Based on the

best-selling novel of the same name,

Divergent is one of the most antici-

pated teen movies to come out this

year. Set in a futuristic North Ameri-

ca where society is grouped into

“factions”, a girl must decide where

she belongs. The Fault in Our Stars,

based on the novel by John Green, is

about two teenagers with cancer who

manage to find love along the way.

The two minute trailer has made

countless people sob uncontrollably,

so expect to see a spike in theater

floodings once this movie comes out.

The Hunger Games: Mocking-

jay Part 1 is one of the most anticipated

movies of the year, and also a great

scheme by Hollywood to make more

money (does a 300 something page book

really need to be split in two?). If that

isn’t enough though, The Hobbit: There

and Back Again is coming out this year,

and I really do wonder who thought it

would be a good idea to split a 300 page

book into 3 separate parts.

Superheroes return to the box

office again with the return of Captain

America in Captain America: The Win-

ter Soldier. Marvel , realizing that super-

heroes mean super profits, is also releas-

ing the start of a new franchise titled

Guardians of the Galaxy.

There are many long anticipated movies being re-leased this year.

Entertainment The Overachiever 8

The 86th Academy Awards

by ALAINA VALENTE

On March 2, 2014, prepare

for the red carpet to roll out and be

globally televised as every famous

actor and actress walk down it wear-

ing designer dresses and tuxedoes.

The 86th academy awards, hosted by

Ellen DeGeneres, is one of the most

anticipated events this year and in-

cludes many categories for the

blockbuster films of 2013. The

nominees for best picture include

Captain Phillips, American Hustle,

Dallas Buyers Club, Gravity, Her,

Nebraska, 12 Years a Slave, Philo-

mena, and The Wolf of Wall Street.

In the best actor category Christian

Bale, Bruce Dern, Leonardo Di-

Caprio, Chiwetel Ejiofor and

Mathew McConaughey have all been

nominated. The best actress nomi-

nees include Amy Adams, Cate

Blanchett, Sandra Bullock, Judi

Dench and Meryl Streep.

But the Oscars were not al-

ways such a glamorous event. When

they first began in 1929, less than

three Hundred people attended the

event and the winners had already

been announced before hand.

Throughout the years though, the

academy awards have escalated to

the top of the hall of fame for many

movie producers, directors and ac-

tors. Over 500 movies have been

nominated, and inside of that 500 are

timeless movies that went beyond

what was ever expected and are still

praised to this day.

Titanic, a widely popular

film for its emotion, received a total

of 14 Oscar nominations and won 11

of its categories, two of them being

best picture and best director. Over-

all, the film tied with the movie, Ben

Hur, for the most Oscars won by a

single film. It was also the first film

to earn one Billion dollars in profit

and remained the highest profited

film of all time until James Camer-

on’s Avatar came out. It still re-

Another highly accom-

plished company in the film industry

is Disney. Collecting a total of

twenty three academy awards, Dis-

ney has always received high praise

for their animated and realistic films.

Mary Poppins won for best picture

and Beauty and the Beat was also

nominated for that same category.

Their short cartoons have also re-

ceived more awards than can be

counted on fingers and are among

the best in the business.

Watch live or record for lat-

er, this year’s Academy Awards are

expected to be one of the greatest.

Prepare for a show that will dazzle in

all aspects.

by MAHUM FAROOQUI by MAHUM FAROOQUI

February 2014 Sports 9 Olympics Update

IA Athlete of the Month

Laura Perry, A senior at the IA, is balancing her heavy workload of the school and is also a Track and Cross Country runner at Bloomfield Hills High School. I decided to interview her and asked about how she manag-es the workload of the IA while do-ing these three difficult tasks, along with her personal experiences.

Q. What sport do you do and when did you start?

A. I do Cross Country and Track and Field, and I started these sports back in the eighth grade.

Q. Who do you play for?

A. I play for Bloomfield Hills High School.

Q. How do you handle schoolwork and attending games? Does it get hard?

A. I try to get as much one as I pos-sibly can in school during sports sea-son. I also try really hard not to go on Facebook or other social media.

Q. What relationship do you have between yourself and your team-mates?

A. My teammates and I go way back. We were really close back in middle school and have grown up doing track and cross country togeth-er. I am also really glad that through these sports, I can still keep in touch with my homeschool friends. Also, since we have to compete together, our friendships have increased great-ly.

Q. What suggestion would you make to students at the IA who do sports/would like to do sports?

A. I would strongly encourage everyone to do a sport. Don’t think that if you go to IA, that you won’t be able to do a sport. Cross Country and Track are ex-periences from high school that I will never forget. In addition, running is a way to relieve my stress from the workload of IA, so it may not be that much of a

The 2014 Sochi Winter Olym-pics have been filled with much excitement because of the new records placed by many of the athletes. All the sports are equal-ly thrilling, but the one sport that seems to have everyone hooked is figure skating mainly because of the new records that have been broken this year. On February 9th, 2014, Julia Lip-nitskaia became the second youngest gold-medalist figure skater in Olympic history. On the same day, Evgeni Plushenko became the second figure skater to win four Olympic medals by competing ion four consecutive Olympic games. In addition, Yuzuru Hany won the first Olympic gold medal for Japan in a men’s event. Denis Ten also obtained a bronze met-al, which became the first Olym-puc medal for Khasakistan in figure-skating.

Andover Girls’ Cross Country Team

Julia Lipnitskaia

10 February 2014 Perspectives

Harvard MUN 2014 by RANA-ARMAGHAN K. AHMAD

Model United Nations is an

international club all about high school

students representing different coun-

tries, debating policies, and ultimately

making resolutions to real world day to

day problems. It’s a great club for any-

one who likes current events, debating,

or getting to meet new people from

different schools or even countries.

This year, the MUN from IA

Central participated in three confer-

ences, one at the local level called

SEMUNNA (The Southeast Michigan

Model United Nations Association),

one at the state level called CASC

(Canadian American Security Council),

and an international grand level confer-

ence called HMUN (Harvard Model

United Nations).

The Harvard Conference is

absolutely huge. Over 3000 students

from all sorts of countries from India to

Turkey, Egypt to China, this confer-

ence was truly international, represent-

ing the diversity of world. The confer-

ence really represented IA in a way,

with all the diversity and people from

different countries.

Our 13 delegates, under the

leadership of Mrs. Hedges, departed

for Boston on Wednesday January

29th. Our flight was in the evening at

around 7:00. We arrived at Boston in

about 100 minutes. To get around Bos-

ton, we really depended on public

transportation, especially the subway.

The subway was jam-packed when we

arrived there because it was right after

a basketball game. It took more than

an hour to get to our hotel from the

airport. We stayed at Sheraton and the

conference was also held there.

On Thursday, we had a lot of

free time, as the opening ceremony

wasn’t until 5:30. Our group traveled to

the government center via subway and

explored many historical locations. We

saw the Massachusetts State House

and some graveyard from the 1700s.

To end the day there, we ate an au-

thentic New England sea food restau-

rant. We got back in the afternoon at

around 2:00.

At 5:30, opening ceremony

began, and at 6:15 we had dinner. Din-

ner was absolutely chaotic. Thousands

of people flooded the food courts within

the hotel. After dinner ended, our ses-

sions began. Depending on which

committee you were in, there was a

different number of people. I was in the

General Assembly, and we had about

400 people in the room. Each country

is General Assembly was represented

by two people. Jashan Kishore and I

represented Panama. It was very in-

tense. Everyone was eager to speak

and make their point. At 11:00, our

committee for the day ended and we

went back to our hotel room.

On Friday, we had some more

free time in the morning and we trav-

eled to Harvard Square. There, we split

into smaller groups and wandered. We

saw the campus for Harvard, and even

met some IA alumni that go there. At

12:00, we went back to our hotel,

where some of us had lunch. The rest

of the day was spent in committees,

with a dinner break.

On Saturday, there was really

no free time during the day. We had to

be in committees by 9:00. During the

evening, we had free time and went

close by to a Mediterranean restaurant

to eat dinner.

On Sunday, committees were

wrapped up and the award ceremony

took place at 1:00. We were so happy

when Neil Oza and Mateusz Boro-

wiecki were awarded with honorable

mentions. Their hard work had paid off

and they made our school proud.

Overall, the Harvard Confer-

ence was a great experience. Every-

one enjoyed themselves and met new

people.

IA Central HMUN 2014 Delegates

11 February 2014 Perspectives

Taking Summer Classes by NANCY HUANG

Preparing for college

doesn’t just include buying cute dorm decorations, figuring out your

financial aid situation and saying goodbye to loved ones. You also

need to prepare academically! For many collegiettes, it can be nerve-

wracking walking into that first col-lege class in the fall, unsure of

what to expect. That’s why some collegiettes opt to take a summer

class at their future colleges be-fore freshman year.

Most colleges offer some sort of summer session to stu-

dents, allowing them to take an extra class or two while living on

campus for a month or two. Some schools make it mandatory for stu-

dents to enroll in at least one sum-mer session during their time at

that college, and other schools make it an optional addition for

students who want to pick up extra credits.

As soon as you know where you’re attending college, be

sure check out your school’s “Summer Session” page (typically

found under “Academics” or “Academic Resources” on the

school website, but a Google Search will do the trick!) to find out

which classes are offered and if the session is mandatory.

Typically, summer sessions are four to eight weeks long, de-

pending on the number of courses you’re taking and the rigor of the

program. Different schools have

different requirements for how

many classes you should take dur-ing your time on campus in the

summer, but typically it’s one or two. Additionally, different schools

have different purposes for their summer sessions and therefore

different policies about which courses you should take, so it

would be wise to talk to an admin-istrator or current students about

why you’re taking summer session classes in the first place.

Also, if there’s a summer session open to incoming fresh-

men, your future school will proba-bly send you some more infor-

mation via email or snail mail, so

be on the lookout!

They help you explore your

interests. Trying to pick a major is one of the most anxiety-filled deci-

sions for collegiettes. The pres-sure is multiplied if your college

makes you choose your major up-on entering freshman year. After

all, you don’t want to make the wrong choice and spend the rest

of your college career trying to make up the credits you missed!

Taking a summer class can be a great way to explore your in-

terests before you arrive at school. Not sure if you want to spend four

years pursuing pre-med require-ments? Try taking one or two of

them over the summer. My sister Patricia, a gradu-

ate from University of Texas at

Austin, found herself in this predic-

ament before starting college. “I was really interested in going the

pre-med route, but didn’t want to waste my first semester taking all

of these science and math classes only to find that I didn’t even like

the subject matter,” she says. Taking summer classes in

chemistry and calculus paid off for Patty; it turns out going pre-med

wasn’t the right choice for her. “I think a lot of freshmen go into

school and don’t truly know where their academic interests lie,” she

says. “The great thing about the summer classes I took were that I

was able to say without a doubt that I wasn’t interested in pre-med,

so while other friends of mine were slowly (and painfully) making that

same realization during their first

semester of college, I got to move

on and take classes I might actual-ly enjoy.” Another added bonus of

being on campus early? You’ll be the cool freshman in the fall who

already knows her way around!

Image from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/15/pre-college-summer-class_n_4774782.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

The Back Page Everything else you could want in the news.

by Emily Moll

In the world, people are either pro-valentines day or anti-valentines day. This year it seemed like the ma-jority of the students were pro-valentines day because of the large participation in the roses and choco-lates sale. This sale was sponsored by the seniors and allowed them to spread the love and raise money for prom. It is a tradition I hope is continued in the years to come.

Valentine's Day is a day to show the people are around you how much you love them. They do not have to be a significant other, but could be a best friend or a family member. Some call Valentine's Day "“Single Awareness Day", but instead of focusing on whether or not they have a boyfriend/girlfriend, they should focus on the people that are already in their lives.

Many groups of students showed their love to their teachers, including FHS and Student Leader-ship. The other groups that were 'showing the love' were the cult of personality leaders from Mrs. Hedges class. During the month of February, different groups competed to create the best cult of per-sonality they could. Mr. Hodgkins, Brian, and Mr. De Zwaan competed through their 'workers' to gain the most influence on the school. Let's say that their efforts included a lot of creepy posters all over the school. The results are not in, but I have to say that I have seen Mr. Hodgkin's face way more than I typically do.

February is the month of snow, break, and love-- so enjoy!

Puzzle of the Month

Solution