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Tech Officeby Stephanie Zhou, Staff Reporter

February 2010: Volume 6, Issue 4

plays I-Spy

Teacher ProcrastinationGraffitti PostersSports in CollegeFried Scorpions. Mmm!Frugal Living for StudentsStalking Neil GaimanEQ versus IQ

pg. 2pg. 3pg. 4pg. 5pg. 5pg. 7pg. 8

Inside This Issue:

In today’s world, where hacking, spyware programs, and online tracking devices run rampant, internet privacy is a ma-jor subject of dispute. In light of the growing awareness of web abuse, workplace internet monitoring is becoming increas-ingly common. Schools, catching onto the growing trend of online surveillance, are also beginning to impinge on inter-net privacy through the implementation of so-called “internet spy” programs1. These programs are so pervasive that they can track a student’s activity down to their latest IM conversation and keystrokes. As more schools adopt the practice of internet surveillance, students are finding it increasingly difficult to see where ISB stands in the raging online privacy debate.

Unsurprisingly, some ISB students remain firmly opposed to having their activity tracked online. “When people go onto the Internet, they are entitled to their anonymity,” asserts Pe-ter Ding (11). “They should be allowed to keep their identities a secret if they wish.” However, others approach the issue of internet surveillance from a different standpoint. “I’m not op-posed to internet monitoring,” says Alex Phan (9). “It might help to save us from ourselves.” With the addition of a new school-wide WiFi system, the internet – and an excuse to en-gage in Tetris while “taking notes” – is just a keystroke away.

The specialists at the Tech Office shed some light on ISB’s stance on internet privacy. Jeremy Gilpin, one of the office’s technology experts, explains, “Generally, we’re expected to deal with issues like threats and harassment. Facebook and Twitter usage, for example, can be seen as more of a class-room issue. We try to take a more passive stance concerning Internet usage.”

For the time being, ISB is not planning on invading stu-dents’ internet privacy. “I’m glad they aren’t spying on us,” de-clares Jessenia Knowles (11), who is content with their posi-tion. “We deserve to have our privacy online.” Ms. Pratt agrees that “instead of policing students’ activity online, it would be better to have them use the internet in a positive way. Wiki-spaces, for example, can be used to promote interaction be-tween teachers and students.” So while ISB students can rest assured that their privacy is safe, they should keep in mind that many schools out there make it their business to barge into their students’ private lives. Perhaps internet privacy at school, then, is no longer something to be taken for granted.

I <3 N

eil G

aiman

Teacher Procrastinationby Jason Lee, Staff Reporter

Excited to see my test results from weeks before, I step into my class. “Sorry guys, I haven’t finished marking them yet.” The room is immediately filled with a sym-phony of sighs, “yay’s,” and disappointed coughs. Students are generally pinned as the champions of procrastination. But some-times, those episodes of American Idol are just too good to pass up—even for teachers.

Certain students feel that while teach-er ‘procrastination’ is justifiable in certain situations, it shouldn’t become a trend. Iris Ma (11) expresses that “it’s understand-able that it takes time for teachers to grade assignments like essays. However, for homework such as worksheets that already have answer keys, teachers should be able to finish grading them relatively quickly.” Angus Ning (12), however, comments, “It never struck me as a major issue. For me, it’s not a huge deal whether they hand back my tests or assignments immedi-ately, because I’ve already done my part.”

A survey of 8 questions was conduct-ed with 25 high school teachers, through e-mails and on paper. As it turns out, 88% of the 25 high school teachers responded that their procrastination level, in a scale out of ten, is, drumroll: one – they do not procrastinate at all. The average number of days students get their assignments back is 4.5 days, as indicated by the teachers. And here we were thinking our teachers were somewhat normal human beings. “So far I have maintained a prompt turn-around,” says Mr. Chen, who teaches Chinese, “but such performance has taken away

just about all the time when I’m awake”. Among the excuses for alleged slow

returns is the incredible workload that teachers get. Of the surveyed teachers, 80% indicated that they have “5-6 or more hours of workload” a week day on average, a number quite familiar to us students. “We know how the workload can just grow and grow if we leave some-thing until the next day[…] The chances that most teachers can get all their work done between 8:00AM and 4:00PM are pretty much zero,” says Mr. Burchell, MUN director and History teacher.

A second reason is a result of student absences. “The problem lies more with absent students – particularly this year. In most cases I get the papers graded and ready to go but have to wait on students out for MUN, APAC, and other activities,” com-ments Mr. White, P.E. and math teacher.

The high school IB coordinator Ms. Farr, remarks, “Many of us have commit-ments outside of school and within the school day it is hard to find time to mark and prep, when you teach, meet kids for EE, etc. It is stressful most of the time.”

Like anything in life, time is a ne-cessity when grading assignments and tests. As mentioned by Mr. Burchell, teachers already dedicate great chunks of their days to not only marking nu-merous papers, but also to complet-ing their individual workload. It’s just a matter of being able to fit in all the as-signments within a certain time frame.

Photo courtesy of www.betterthanslicedbread.info

Europlaza: Not So Snazzy

Located directly opposite the Beijing International Exhibition Center and fewer than five minutes away from ISB, the year-old Europlaza sits grandly in Shunyi District. However, contrary to its attractive exterior, the mall is relatively bare inside. Except, of course, for the constantly full McDonald’s.

While Europlaza was under construc-tion, students held high hopes. Von Lyn Lee (11) frowns, “I was so excited. I thought it was going to be a big shopping mall where I could buy more than just food.” In a sur-vey of 100 ISB students, one-third expressed disappointment upon their first visit to Eu-roplaza, while another one-third “didn’t care.” Jenny Lin (10), one of the many with great expectations of the mall says, “I was excited, but when I went, there were barely any shops open except for McDonalds and Cold Stone.”

Although Europlaza is one of the few malls available in Shunyi, 36% of students never or hardly go to Europlaza, while about 60% visit there only once or twice a week.

Two-thirds of the students surveyed said “yes” when asked if the mall seems to be empty and deserted most of the time, showing that the mall’s lack of appeal is a result of its empty interior. Despite its seemingly deserted floors, Europlaza is home to 49 stores, not counting several more shops set to open in the near future. However, shops situated at lower levels count for more than half the stores of the five-storey mall; the fifth floor only has two stores open, as opposed to the four-teen shops open on the first level. Cus-tomers are concentrated on the first few floors, leaving the rest abandoned.

ISB students are disappointed that Eu-roplaza is lacking, and 65% surveyed be-lieve that the mall: “could be better.” When asked for suggestions for improvements, a common response was the addition of more stores.“If there was a movie theater, I would go there more often,” Peter Brown (10) stated, mirroring the responses of many students. Jenny Kim (12) agrees, “I would definitely go to Europlaza more of-ten if there was a Watsons or an H&M.” If such changes are implemented, Europlaza will finally live up to its slogan and become “the mall we always wanted.”

Photo courtesy of www.harvestcapital.com.hk/projects.html

by Teresa Teo, Staff Reporter

Staff List

China and Beyond

Editors-in-ChiefKaren Chen

Melissa Powers

Managing EditorAlice Li

Section EditorsGabriel MekbibStephanie Liew

Wendy LiuIris Rhee

Eric Wang

JournalistsFrancesca Bottorff

Emily Chang Peter Ding Jason Lee

Jeremy LeungSam Min

Gaius Ong Amelia ParkTeresa Teo

Jonathan TaiWatson Yim

Stephanie Zhou

Cover Art & SketchesAngela He

AdvisorsCinder Merritt

Helen Pritchard

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Students Vandalize Graffitti WallsThe rainbow-coloured, doodled, very

conspicuous “Environmental Wall” and the “Berlin Wall” tell all: a new breed of ad-vertising and awareness-raising posters has invaded the school, this time putting the bright markers of power in the hand of the by-passer. These huge and interactive post-ers, compared to their boring blue bulle-tin brothers, are surely novel ideas. This graffiti business seems meaningful and eye-catching, but do these posters really serve their goals?

The emerging trend certainly does add creativity to our hectic routines, pro-viding students with a chance for self-expression and stress relief. However, the very same factor that makes these posters special is also its crucial flaw. The posters may give the public a voice, but when the public scrawls “LOL” on a poster designed to promote awareness, the purpose of the posters seems to be defeated. Additions are meant to be insightful and related to the topic, and insincere comments ridi-cule the importance of the issues present-ed. The “Environmental Wall,” which was put up to during ISB’s Earth week, seems to have gone a bit far in paper usage. “If you want to conserve paper, then why do you want to waste it there?” asks Brian Tsang (9).

by Jeremy Leung, Staff Reporter

Wait! I thought Tom Riddle was dead!

Aside from the slight contradiction pointed out by Tsang, other problems arise from the controversial and inappropriate comments on the posters. As can be seen

on the “Environmental Wall,” Harry Potter is probably not altogether that relevant. Some students have even written very inflammatory comments about certain teachers on the “Make-A-Wish Poster,” a poster by the library promoting peace. Such behavior results in failure to raise awareness and undermines the seriousness of the topics.

“In a school setting, there is always freedom and responsibility for everything you do,” expresses High School Art Teacher Ms. Farrell, whose office is right across the “Environmental Wall.” Indeed, freedom of expression is no problem on an individual level, but when it’s written out in school, it becomes public. In a learning environ-ment, it is important to take responsibility for what comments are on display for stu-dents of all grade levels, staff, and visitors. For these interactive posters to succeed, a high level of maturity is necessary from students.

Weighing all the aspects, interactive posters might not be the ideal display for school, but the innovation is refreshing.

Photo Courtesy of Jeremy Leung

Coco Chanel once said “Fashion is in the sky, in the street; fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.” Though her words may seem excessive, the revolutionary designer was vindicated by history: fashion is a blatant aspect of mod-ern society. Though there are few fashion-related events held throughout the school year, the interest is palpable amongst the swarms of students.

The charity fashion show gave fer-vent fashion followers the opportunity to flaunt their designs. Developing ap-parel to the designer's liking may seem simple, but requires much effort, time, and money. Though some students sewed their own clothing, the majority chose to have a tailor follow their design sketches. Hugo Kang (10) states, “It costs a lot to get clothes tailored, but it doesn’t matter –I am still going to design in Lady Gaga style.” “My theme this year is futuristic street fashion”, says Jack Lo (11), another student designer. “It will be my first time designing, but I want to show people what I got.”

This year’s show also introduced a new addition. The competition was judged by representatives from the event’s spon-sors, with the winner receiving a substan-tial prize. Sophia Maltesen (11), an or-ganizer of the fashion show, believes this change will be a way to “honor the design-

Students Fashion Steps Forwarders as well as increase the quality of the designs.”

Other fashion devotees who partici-pated in the event but not as designers, expressed their fashion interests by strut-ting down the catwalk as models. Tara Roy (10), a strong follower of fashion, satisfies her hunger by reading magazines such as Teen Vogue and discussing fashion regularly with her sister. Although she does not de-sign, Roy still took part in the event as a model, along with 25 other students.

Like the design competition, the sponsorship of “Only” and “Jack and Jones” was new to the fashion show. Last year, the charity fashion show focused solely on displaying student’s designs and took place outside in the OLE to suit its nature theme. However, with the new events and the inclusion of various sponsors, this year’s fashion show created a scintillating experience for the audience.

The students who participated in the fashion show as models, designers, or ad-min only consisted of a small portion of the many hundreds of ISB students who share the same devotion and interest in fashion. A mere look around ISB halls may allow one to see that interest in fashion, wheth-er flamboyant or not, is indeed prevalent throughout ISB’s halls.

Photo Courtesy of http://socialitelife.cele-buzz.com

by Amelia Park, Staff Reporter

Cute as a button.

China and Beyond & Arts

by Gabriel Mekbib, Section Editor

Arts & Sports

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In a world where athletes are always challenging the limitations set by the hu-man body, sports have reached a whole new level. Although athletics is not the main focus within ISB, the sports program is still something to envy. The girl’s swim-ming, tennis, rugby, basketball, softball, and soccer teams were all either APAC

champions or runner-ups while the boy’s swimming, soccer, basketball and badmin-ton teams were dominant in their own respective competitions. But one question remains: how well does ISB prepare its students for college sports?

Despite the relative popularity that many sport teams enjoy at ISB, involve-ment in college sports at a varsity level does not seem to share the same status. Mr. Johansson, the Director of Student’s Activities, states, “Many of our athletes perform at the inter-mural level; however, maybe only five per cent compete at a very high, or varsity, level.” He explained that this was due to the fact that “a lot of the colleges ISB students apply to are fairly large and well-known. As a result, the ath-letics at those kinds of schools are natu-rally going to be very competitive.”

Varun Singh (12), who plans to still do sports in college, agrees, “Although ISB sports are highly competitive, they do not provide the necessary means to excel in college sports.” Singh seeks out extra pro-grams that are offered outside of school to supplement his athletics.

HaNa Lee (11) muses, “I’m doing sports simply for fun. However, I think people who do want to play varsity sports in college need to keep their own intensity levels up.”

Although successful in inter-school competitions, there are still very few op-potunities equivalent to the level of atten-tion college scouts give American athletes.

As the retired number eleven jersey in Gym 2 reminds us, there has been one ISB alumnus who has made it big in the sports world. Milwaukee Bucks (NBA) player Joe Alexander returned to ISB last year to deliver a speech about his career, showing that, with the right amount of skill and de-termination, playing professionally is pos-sible.

One problem that students face is time; or rather, a lack of time. Two hours, three times a week is simply not enough time spent to satisfy the demanding rigor and the high level of college sports. Fur-thermore, amid the rigorous demands of IB classes and Extended Essays, students simply may not have the time to spare for sports.

Scott McCrae (12), who left ISB in or-der to fully dedicate his time to competi-tive swimming, comments, “To be honest, I'm not completely sure any international schools or training programs can quite compare to those in America. There is more emphasis placed on sports; there are also a lot more chances, opportunities and competitions.”

Although ISB may not produce abun-dant NBA stars, the sports program is un-deniably a large part of the school. Sports require time and practice; students wish-ing to pursue Varsity teams in college should be willing to sweat.

Photo Courtesy of www.msnsportsnet.com

Beyond the Fields of ISB

The Beijing Youth Or-chestra (BYO) is an ensemble established by the Beijing Music Network from Dul-wich College Beijing (DCB) and is conducted by Shane O’Shea, Dulwich’s music in-structor. This selective group encompasses 35 musicians from Chinese Conservatory and another 35 from the Western Academy of Bei-jing, the Beijing International School of Singapore (BISS), and the International School of Beijing.

The only collaborative youth orchestra in Beijing, the BYO provides a more professional environment for students to strengthen both their musical and coop-eration skills. “It offers our students an unrivaled musical experience as well as an opportunity to communicate with lo-cal musicians and perform a top class stan-dard repertoire every 6 weeks,” explains Mr. O’Shea. “The orchestra is getting bet-ter with each concert and huge plans are afoot for future concerts and events.” The

BYO also differs from many other school ensembles in that the orchestra practices many pieces in a very short amount of time, which provides students with a re-alistic orchestra experience.

Regarding the rigorous schedule, trombone player Hoi Fung (10) sighs, “It was very hard… that’s all I can say.” The

This could be you!

Young Musicians Strike a Chorddouble bass player for the sec-ond concert, Jared Beckstead (8) continues, “It is very hard but rewarding. When my fin-gers bled during the rehearsal, I was bleeding not only my own blood but also my inex-perience.”

This is the second year the BYO has performed. Plans for future performances lie ahead, such as a debut in the Forbid-den City Concert on February 26th. Students can look for-ward to not only the group’s own performance, but also collaborations with other pro-fessional groups including the Hong Kong Welsh Male Voice

Choir and the Danish Boys Choir. The con-cert will even invite Dr. Robert G. Hasty, a conductor from Northwestern University. Meanwhile, in-school performances will be held during the year in the participat-ing schools.

Photo courtesy of Sam Min

by Sam Min, Journalist

International Schools Choral Music Society

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Standing Columns

Money is something most of us hum-ble students worry about on a daily basis. To help those finding their wallets getting skinnier by the day, here are some excel-lent ways to save money!

5. Sell your clutter on eBay Take this quick test: You’re at home.

Open a cupboard – any cupboard will do, whether it’s for shoes, clothes, or old toys. Now look inside. If it’s full of things you’re never going to use, take the initiative and sell them on eBay! There are always people out there willing to spend money on things you no longer need.

4. Don’t pay full price for admis-sion tickets

Beijing is full of theatres and theme parks that sell discounted tickets. By sim-ply remembering to bring your student ID, you can often save as much as 40 kuai. Tip: Call the place and ask if there are any promotions or offers for the tickets.

3. Skip the taxi rideIf you are able to cycle or walk to a

nearby destination, do it! Paying 10 kuai for a taxi ride isn’t always the best solu-

tion. In the long run, not only will you have saved a lot of money, you’ll also have exercised along the way!

2. Learn to say “no” Next time a friend asks you if you

want to go to a concert that you really, re-ally, don’t want to attend, show some spine and politely decline! Don’t go if you don’t want to. The simple act of saying “no” will keep you from wasting money on things you’re not interested in.

1. Ask yourself: Do I really need this?

As you’re innocently perusing the cell phone display at the mall, you catch a glint out of the corner of your eye only to dis-cover it’s the latest cell phone model on the market: 4000 kuai, yes, but oh so pret-ty. Now, stop before you pick up that cell phone (and never let it go again) and ask yourself: Do I really need this? Skip your automatic response of “absolutely” and in-stead pay more attention to your often ig-nored logic. Exactly. Now, put it down and walk away. For thousands of years, humans have lived without cell phones. All you re-ally need to get by is a cell phone capable

of calling and texting.

Following these tips can save you a sub-stantial chunk of extra cash every month to spend even more wisely! Or not.

Photo Courtesy of http://weeklyreader.com

Top 5 :Ways to Save MoneyBy Gaius Ong, Staff Reporters

Although it’s situated conveniently be-tween Tiananmen and Wangfujing, DongHuaMen is surprisingly less popular than the two tourist-friendly regions. Nonetheless, it is still worth visiting. Even though the street spans one kilo-meter and opens only at night, it proves to be more than enough for the average food enthusi-ast (e.g. your average starving pedestrian).

As you turn onto DongHuaMen, an over-whelming blast of festivity greets the eye: hundreds of shopkeepers attempt to attract customers to their stands, while thousands of people answer in the form of frenzied elbow-ing as they try to reach the food offered. Large rubbish bins are stationed every few metres along the street in order to accommodate the amount of trash that is generated every hour by hungry tourists. Even bicyclers know to avoid

this street on weekend nights, when crowds of people threaten to trample anyone who gets in the way.

The wide variety of foods available throughout the entire festival-like street of DongHuaMen is exquisitely complemented by its ambience. Rows of food stands as-semble in straight lines along the street, each casting a reddish glow from its lan-tern. The neon lights shining off the red brick walls of the Forbidden City reflect a colorful veil on the night sky, making the street truly one of a kind. Each stand has its own specialty dishes: some serve lamb and beef chuan’r, while others might decide to sell noodles and eggs boiled in tea. Scorpi-ons and beetles are also common culinary dishes. Other stands contain more treats

that are also exotic, such as fried ice cream and BBQ squid, making this festival street an utter feast for your taste buds.

However, DongHuaMen is, after all, a tourist attraction, and the shopkeepers know it. A normal lamb chuan’r, which typ-ically sells for one or two RMB elsewhere in Beijing, can be as high as five RMB here. Nevertheless, the atmosphere of the street makes the price more than worth it. As an aphorism states, “The Chinese eat every-thing in the air but airplanes; everything in the sea but ships; and everything on the ground but man and cars.”

Photo Courtesy of http://www.flickr.com

Neighborhood Review:DongHuaMen Street

By Peter Ding and Watson Yim, Staff Reporters

“Well, drat.”

Come and get your fried starfish!I <3 Neil Gaiman

If you’re craving the next installment of the Twilight saga, worry not. Finding books in English isn’t as hard as it used to be. The Break has compiled a list to satisfy all your literary needs.

5. Pirated Book Stall on Bar StreetIt may not be a “real” bookstore, but

the selection of classics, bestsellers and kitsch reads at pocket-friendly prices make this stand a lovely neighbour of the chuan’r next door. If cheap books and a slight dis-regard for ethics are your thing, this un-named literary cove may be your calling.

4. Haidian Foreign BookstoreSitting comfortably next to the Beijing

University, this book nest was established nearly 50 years ago. Carrying a wide selec-tion of current English bestsellers, classics, and travel books, this bookstore is an ideal haven for book worms of all backgrounds. 3. Charterhouse Booktrader

Although not large in space, this new-ly-opened Hong Kong-based chain located at the bottom floor of The Place has an ex-tensive collection of English books, ranging from picture books for children to more sophisticated novels for young adults. Ad-

Top 5: Bookstores in Beijingditionally, if they do not hold what you are looking for, you may place an order on it. Now you can go to The Place for more than the giant TV screen.

2. Beijing Foreign Languages Book-store

The largest foreign bookstore in Bei-jing, the store is located in Wangfujing’s Oriental Plaza and hosts a large vari-ety of English books. The friendly staff is always ready to lend a helping hand and it doesn’t hurt that their English is nearly up to par with their customers’. 1. The Bookworm

Situated in the Sanlitun district, the Bookworm is a favourite among expats as a bookstore, café and library. The book-store, which offers wireless Internet, stocks an impressive array of titles ranging from gossip magazines to paperback clas-sics. The relaxing atmosphere makes it an ideal place to read a book or even catch the occasional talk held by an international au-thor. Bonus points for having Quiz Nights every Monday.

Photo Courtesy of The Bookworm’s Facebook

by Jonathan Tai, Staff Reporter

Top 5: Ways We Could be Greener

From growing plants on its rooftops to creating new charity organizations, ISB has been taking more measures over the last few years to reduce its negative impact on the environment. Undoubtedly, ISB is well on its way to reducing its carbon foot-print on the earth. More improvements, however, will bring us even closer to be-coming more environmentally friendly.

1. Use more natural lighting.Throughout the year, most of ISB’s

classrooms stay lit all day, and sometimes even during the night when the school is deserted. One example of this is the library, which, despite its large wall of

windows, keeps its large lights lit. Keep-ing lights on during classes on cloudy or heavily polluted days seems reasonable, but on sunny days, instead of drawing the curtains, let the sun shine through your window and turn the lights off. When not using a classroom, remember to click that light switch off before leaving.

2. Switch to paper takeout boxes.

It’s been a while since we saw Eurest hand out paper boxes to those going to lunchtime meetings. The current distri-bution of plastic boxes from the cafeteria contributes to the plethora of plastics de-composing in landfills, waiting for their lifespan of 1000 years to end. The transi-tion back to recyclable, easily decomposed paper boxes would help ISB become more environmentally friendly.

3. Power off computers.We are lucky to have so many comput-

ers around our school; however, comput-ers have a tendency to suck up electricity like vampires, increasing ISB’s electrical bills as well as its carbon dioxide emis-sions. Although turning computers on and off during the school day may waste more energy than simply leaving them on, turn-ing off computer monitors when they are not in use would be a good way to help

save energy without causing too much in-convenience to others.

4. Use Studywiz. Instead of printing hundreds of cop-

ies of worksheets, teachers could begin using Studywiz more often. This new and improved “Edline” is an effective chan-nel for posting handouts and homework, thus saving paper. This would also prevent students from losing worksheets and be-ing “unable” to complete homework. Stu-dents, in return, could submit more of their assignments electronically as well.

5. Don’t touch the thermostat. While walking into a warm environment on a winter day is certainly pleasant, some classrooms are set to temperatures so high that it’s almost like being in a sauna. On the other hand, that also doesn’t mean we’re justified in creating an artificial North Pole so that we can cool down during the summer. It seems that most of the time, if not always, these extreme temperatures are set by students. Students should be more cautious of changing temperatures, if they want to be helpful in saving even more energy.

Photo Courtesy of Emily Chang

by Emily Chang, Staff Reporter

Standing Columns

PAGE 6

Despite the wall of windows, the library still keeps all its lights on.

PAGE 7

Opinions

by Karen Chen, Editor-in-Chief StalkingAt exactly 2:06PM in room 3211,

my co-Editor-in-Chief Melissa Powers screamed at her computer. Cause of hys-terical behavior? Neil Gaiman, writer of Sandman and American Gods, had just tweeted an elusive “5 minutes ago” that he was “at 46 Fangjia Hutong, Beijing, to talk about writing and sign books for people. Nice warm-up for Sunday’s event in Chengdu.” These 140 characters trans-formed the usually reasonable Powers into a Pattinson-fan-esque squealer. After a few shrieks, the scheming set in. Melissa tweeted Gaiman: “You are in Beijing. I am in Beijing. I certainly hope you’re an easy person to stalk.”

With modern day technology, her goal shouldn’t be too difficult to accom-plish, should it? With social networking sites such as Twitter or Facebook and sev-eral blog sites, all of which make a little more information than necessary available to all those with a functional server, track-ing down a fugitive is easier than ever.

The first uses of new-age stalking tech-nology that come to mind are the sketchy ones: perversion, psycho exes, future col-lege admissions boards, your parents…This case, however, is different: Powers

just wanted an innocent autograph and shout-out from one of her favourite au-thors. “He’s visiting Singapore and Cheng Du after this. Seems like everyone gets to see Neil Gaiman but me,” sighed Powers as she scrolled through the author’s personal blog. She may be a tad overzealous (she did end up getting an autograph, courtesy of her relatives who tracked Gaiman down at his Singapore book-signing), but her means are legal and not reproachfully dangerous.

Although Powers is not a criminal, just how much stalking is too much? Where is the line between a harmless pursuit of knowledge and flat-out “stalking”? Technol-ogy’s wonders are well-known by all but the 70913 members in the “Facebook Stop Invading My Privacy Petition” group and many others hold a strong opinion against such free access of personal information.

However, all information released onto such public domains is intended to be read. If Gaiman didn’t want people to “follow” him, he wouldn’t have tweeted his location. It may be a question of intent: Powers wanted an autograph, others may have wanted something drastically dif-ferent. And yet we continue posting our phone numbers and addresses on our pro-

files in full knowledge of who may be able to view this information: the victim is not fully innocent. If your crush’s Facebook profile is practically your home page, s/he may think you’re slightly odd but s/he is the one who put the information there. It’s important to keep in mind that if you’re publishing information about yourself on the web, someone’s bound to read it.

In this specific case, I think it’s just a matter of new ways to find information. Being creative and taking advantage of so-cial networking can be an excellent way to track down favourite authors or even build contacts that could end up being primary sources for an extended essay. Powers recently received an email from Gaiman’s agent stating that “it’s so great to hear from fans all around the world.” The term “stalker” is thrown around to-day like “cooties” was ten years ago. If we can harness new methods of locating knowledge and manage to keep within the boundaries of the law, so be it. If we can get super-cool autographs out of it, too, better yet.

All sketches of Melissa in this issue courtesy of Angela He

GaimanNeil

G.P.A. The three letters guaranteed to cause winces and shudders, perk ears and haunt us. The widely known and feared “Grade Point Average” that appears at the bottom of quarterly report cards undoubt-edly conjures mixed feelings from receiv-ers. While achieving good grades seems like it’s the most important thing in the world, grades do not necessarily equate to future success. Does poring over hours of homework equip us to face the realities of the outside world?

Students and parents sometimes make the mistake that a student’s intellectual ca-pacity is based solely off his or her GPA. To be blunt, intelligence is being mea-sured by a number. The rigor of a student’s math, science, and humanities courses and the grade attached often determine how

You May Be Smarter Than You Think!“smart” an individual is. That is, at least in the perspective of colleges and peers.

While the traditional measure of IQ would serve as an effective measure of one’s “book smarts,” emotional intelli-gence, more commonly known as EQ, as-sesses one’s “street smarts”— having prac-tical rather than theoretical knowledge.

According to underclassmen counsel-or Susan Shuford, students with relatively high EQs tend to have good “social radar” and are able to “respond appropriately to people’s needs.” They often demonstrate strong leadership skills. These students may or may not shine in terms of academ-ics but they are just as valuable as those with high IQs.

In the big world sense, standards of job hiring have been, and will continue to undergo change. Ms. Shuford claims that “employers are now seeking individuals with good social skills and integrity” who are able to diplomatically voice their opin-ions and facilitate consensus among group members.

What we need to look for is a way to accurately assess students’ EQ in addi-tion to their IQ. If doing math tests isn’t one’s forte, perhaps collaborating with other students in The Break or helping out in HFH is a better outlet for one’s skills. Extracurricular activities, stressed even by IB’s CAS system and its weight in certain college admissions, allow for an explora-tion of managing people, organization and leadership supplementary to classroom learning.

The Chinese system of education is

hard-wired to gaokao, a single exam that makes or breaks students’ chances of ad-mission into top universities. Ayi Wang, whose daughter passed the test last year, explains the sitaution,“The gaokao doesn’t allow room for creativity, only cold mem-orization. It doesn’t matter if you have EQ, you won’t get into TsingHua that way.” Many liberal arts colleges try to shift their focus away from pure numbers by asking for personal statements, interviews, and essays. An MIT admissions essay prompt1 asks, “What do you do for fun?” Depend-ing on who you are, that could be orga-nizing monthly slam poetry meetings for friends or figuring out the math behind a poker game. What’s important is that each finds his or her own way to excel.

“We all have our unique gifts,” Ms. Shuford adds. For some students—like the exceptionally creative individual with less-than-stellar grades—this news may bring relief.

Success comes down to knowing who you are, finding your niche and, most im-portantly, learning to effectively play up your strengths. It doesn’t matter if math isn’t your gift. If English is your strong point, just become the very best at it. If you’re a person who can effectively voice your opinions, or are able to interpret the emotions of others, take advantage of that gift—it’s what makes you smart. After all, if we were all carbon copies of one all-around perfect person, wouldn’t that be boring?

1 www.commonapp.org

Varsity BluesFor years the ISB varsity bag has been

a staple of ISB’s athletic elite. Awarded to the varsity-level athletes in all our sports teams, it has been a symbol of excellence, a goal for many and a fashionable accesso-ry. However, much to my dismay, varsity bags are no more.

As of this school year, all high school sports teams have the same bag. Instead of bags differentiated by division (Fresh-man, JV, or Varsity), teams are now dis-tinguished only by the tags attached to the generic sports bag. Though the new bags look much like the original varsity bags, the change allows non-varsity ath-letes to use the exact same bags as varsity captains.

According to Mr. Johansson, the Di-rector of Student’s Activities, the new bags are also more logistically efficient, since now every student who participates in sports gets the same bag and only that one bag every year regardless of how many different sports in which he or she participates. Confusion in the past about how many bags a multi-sport students

gets can thus be avoided, and the distri-bution system is more streamlined.

Despite these perks, a simple tag does not seem a suitable substitute for what has always been the icon of varsity athletics for me. Since middle school, I dreamed of owning a varsity bag upon making the Varsity Swim Team. It provided moti-vation for me during grueling hours of practice. When the bag was finally mine, it was like a trophy representing my ath-letic achievement. Despite the one letter difference, I must say I’m having a harder time striving for a varsity tag.

It can be argued that the amalgama-tion of the different bags make sports less elitist and offer less distinction in the ath-letic hierarchy, leading non-varsity stu-dents to feel less inferiority or embarrass-ment. Still, tags do not solve this issue, as they still spell out athletic statuses. Since sports are by definition competitive, it is only natural for the fast to be separated from the faster. Healthy competition can provide a powerful incentive for athletes to push their own skill level for the ben-efit of the entire team.

In all fairness, the varsity bag was something that was earned, and rarely taken for granted. Perhaps those who are upset can take comfort in the thought that by putting time and effort into their sport, they can also earn that bag—well, tag—one day.

Image courtesy of http://images.clipartof.com/small/13649-Cute-Blue-Baby-Dinosaur-Smiling-Cli-part-Illustration.jpg

by Eric Wang, Section Editor

Opinions

PAGE 8

by Francesca Bottorff, Staff Reporter

Much like dinosaurs and dodo birds, varsity bags are now extinct.

But I am smart, honest!