XinLang Scholar - SMIC Private School

XinLang Scholar
Sharks’
Schedule
THE SMIC PRIVATE SCHOOL
28
31
5,6,9,10
7
OCTOBER
19
21
OCTOBER
27
NOVEMBER
26
NOVEMBER
NOVEMBER
NOVEMBER
NOVEMBER
NOVEMBER
College Night
Halloween
Mid-Term
Exam
SAT
Report Card
Distribution
Parent’s
Saturday
VOLUME XI, ISSUE II
INSIDE
THE SMIC PRIVATE SCHOOL, SHANGHAI
Giving Tree Bag Thanksgiving
Distribution
Holiday
OCTOBER 2015
V-Ball Senior Night One to Remember
KEN KIM
Staff Reporter
campus news | 2
NEW ELEMENTARY
BUILDING UNDER
CONSTRUCTION
A new school building, dedicated for the future 4th and
5th graders, has been under...
Editorials | 4
SMIC’S MESSY
LOCKER AREA
Though it seems a long
time has passed since the
school started, truthfully,
only one month has passed.
Considering the short...
(1) Boys Volleyball Group photo (2) Liang Shu serves the ball
Photo Courtesy of Ken Kim
AMOR: EVA ARMISEN SOLO EXHIBITION
Senior Night for Shark volleyball, hosted by the Athletic
Booster Club (ABC), was held in the gym on October
14th, from 4:30 PM to 7:00 PM. This Senior Night
event is an event where the senior players are honored
on their last game for the school. It was a successful
night, with all the seniors enjoying a glorious end to
their high school volleyball with a round of applause.
Both the boys’ and the girls’ varsity teams had their last
game against Shanghai Community International School
(SCIS) at our school gym. The Lady Sharks started the night,
playing great volleyball, complete with accurate passes and
Features | 7
Human VS Zombie Hosted by STUCO
Entertainment | 6
Eva Armisén, a painter
who devotes herself to interpreting “feminism”, has
recently established a solo...
BOHAN LOU’S
ROBOTICS
WORKSHOP
serves combined with passionate hustle. However, despite
their superb efforts and teamwork, the team lost with the set
score of 0-2. After the girls’ match, Coach Kristin Harper
gave her thoughts on the season and her senior players,
saying, “Our team ended the season with a ‘BANG.’ We
enjoyed having these girls on our team; it’s been such a
fun season. The season couldn’t have been better for us.”
Next up, the boys took the court and played ferociously
against SCIS. Over the course of the game, the boys’ vicious
spikes, wicked serves, and fantastic teamwork secured an
absolute domination over the game with a set score of 2-0.
Continued on pg 12
BRISSON LAM
Campus News Editor
Student Council is hosting “Humans vs. Zombies” this month, a
new event in place of “Last Man
Standing”. According to the Student
Council, the event is somewhat similar to the previous years’ Last Man
Standing, although multiple big
twists have been applied. While the
grounds for the game are still limited to the outside of the school building and the cafeteria, the players are
no longer aiming to kill their specifically assigned targets, but instead
the conflict will be between two major parties, Humans and Zombies.
If you’re interested in
robotics engineering or
programming, Bohan
Lou(12B) had created
a robotics workshop...
Sharks Sports | 8
CROSS COUNTRY
TOURNAMENT IN
BINJIANG PARK
Sharks Cross-Country
team ran 5000 meters in
Bingjiang Forrest Park on
October 12th for the...
Students are particpating in the event
Photo Courtesy of Brisson Lam
Continued on pg 3
2
October 2015
CAMPUS NEWS
X inLang Scholar
Sports Day Gives Students Much Needed Break
LANNIE DENG
Staff Reporter
On October 16, 2015, the 15th annual Sports
Day was held on the SMIC tracks and field.
Before Sports Day officially began, both Chinese
and English tracks’ Dance Clubs performed for
the audience. “[The performance] was *OMG*. I
honestly think it was even better than last year’s
performance because I see [that] there are more
members this year,” commented Anna Lu (CT12B).
SMIC students showed their enthusiasm towards
sports through participating in multiple types
of events such as high jump, 400m run, and the
class relay. The record-breaker for long jump (of
4.06 meters), Sophie Chao (ET9C), expressed
her feelings upon her achievement. “I was kind of
surprised when I [found out that] I broke the record,
because I didn’t practice much before Sports Day.
I’m proud of myself and I’ll try to break the record
again next year.” Other record breakers include
Alan Wu (6-9 boys’ 800m), Freya Wang (10-
12 high jump), Jamie Yeh (6-9 overhead), and
Photo Courtesy of Katie Hoang
Zhang Chu Yue (10-12 overhead). Another sports
event—and perhaps the most anticipated—is the
class relay that took place near the end of Sports
Day. One big winner for the middle school was 6B,
and for the high school—10B. Inho Kim (ET10B),
a star runner of the relay race explains, “Our class
was 5~10 meters behind 10A during most of
the race. I was able to turn the table when I was
given the baton for the final 100m dash. Somehow
we took first place in such a tight position.”
For those who did not sign up for sports
events, a carnival of many booths provided
food, beverages, and entertainment to enjoy
the Sports Day. For example, Psychology club
provided personality quizzes; G Aerospace
Division held a paper airplane race; Spanish club
hosted a piñata challenge. All of these interesting
events further fueled the spirit of Sports Day
and allowed everybody to enjoy it even more.
New Elementary Building under Construction
BRISSON LAM
Campus News Editor
Photo Courtesy of Brisson Lam
A new school building, dedicated for the future
4th and 5th graders, has been under construction at
the Elementary School since the summer vacation.
The new piece of architecture will be placed where
the Elementary grass field and tennis courts used
to be in the past. So far, the construction is moving
along nicely. Mrs. Laurie Whiston, Academic Affairs Director of the Elementary school, explained
that the building will take a few more months to
its completion. “[The construction of the building]
is expected to be completed by around January
2016.” She also expressed about her concerns and
excitement about the construction. “We lost the use
of a large grassy area and playground. However,
a new playground will be built. We are very excited about our new building and the new auditorium, science labs, computer labs and other facilities
that our elementary children will have access to. ”
Despite the ongoing construction, not many in-
dividuals are fully aware of this new building.
“I [have] heard [of the new building], but never
been [there]. Where is it anyways?” Ms. Joanna
Tung, a biology teacher, asked. Brian Ge (10B),
a sophomore, commented that it was sad news to
hear the playground was turned into a building.
“When we were still in Elementary School, we
used to play around every day in the hills and lawn.
Hearing that the place was taken to build a building there inflicted a surge of nostalgia on me, and
made me ponder upon my childhood memories.”
The site, currently blocked off by metal siding, prevents trespassers from entering and
also affords less of an eye-sore. A great yellow crane marks the center of the venue, hinting that the building is far from the completion.
Library Updates Late Policy on Book Returns
WENDY PARK
Co-editor in Chief
From the new start of the school year, with deep
consideration and discussion, the Middle High
School Library decided to fine students who do
not return books on time. This is actually not
an entirely new idea because MHS library has
already been fining students who had not returned
borrowed college preparation books. However,
this time, the library plans to do this for every
book, though the price may be different for distinct
categories: for college prep books, it is 10 RMB
per day and for normal books, it is 1 RMB per day.
According Ms. Sophia Lin, one of the MHS
librarians, the library had decided to start this
fining system after seeing the ineffectiveness of
previous methods. In the past, when there were
overdue books, they simply restricted students
from borrowing more books or from collecting
their report cards. However, because report cards
are distributed only two times per semester,
the method was inefficient. Furthermore,
Ms. Lin thought the old plan was “unfair”,
and said, “Students who had serious overdue
issues and those who had less serious overdue
issues were being treated the same way.” Also,
because the punishments were light, students
seemed to “disregard the library policies.”
Ms. Lin thought the new plan for the library policy
was strict but necessary. She commented, “We
do not like to penalize students, but we like even
less that students take advantage of the system.”
She and other librarians agreed to spend the
money for the benefit of school and students. They
plan to use the money to purchase new books
for the library, or do some seasonal decorations.
Basically, with the money, they can fill the
library with more books from broader categories.
Considering the results, many students show
interest and agree with the new library policy.
For example, David Kang (12A) said, “I
know that students tend to not consider school
properties seriously if there is no severe
punishment or if they are forgiven easily.
Therefore, I really agree with the policy. Though
the intensity may be weak, it might still mean
something for young kids and I also like the
idea of getting new books for the school with
the collected money. It has mutual benefits.”
Ms. Lin has the same view. She said, “It
[the new plan] is very effective. Students
start to pay attention to the due date, and
make a point to return books or renew books
before the due date.” With this new plan the
library hopes to encourage responsibility,
and the safe return of the school’s books.
Photo Courtesy of Wendy Park
October 2015
X inLang Scholar
CAMPUS NEWS
CAP Students Strive to Raise Cancer Awareness
LANNIE DENG
Staff Reporter
CAP, also known as the Cancer Awareness
Program, is a newly created club here at SMIC.
Recently, CAP has been planning multiple events
in hopes of raising cancer awareness on campus.
CAP plans to hold multiple activities in order to do
this. September, for example, was Childhood Cancer
Awareness month, and CAP hung up a poster board
in the MHS lobby. “We wanted to make a card for
children with cancer and have people from our
school sign it so that we could give it to a hospital
to put it up on their walls,” said Sara Tadayyon
(11C), the President of CAP. She further explained,
“This was supposed to be finished in the month of
September for Childhood Cancer Awareness, but
with Sports Day and everything else going on, we
haven’t had a chance to go to a hospital to give it
yet. We really appreciate everyone who signed it.”
CAP officers are planning another school-wide
event that will begin in early November. CAP’s
secretary, Willow Cutts (11A) explained, “We will
have teachers who will [offer to] shave their heads,
wear a weird wig, or color their hair. Students will
get to donate to the teachers who they’d want [to do
this], and the teachers who raise the most money
will have to [do what they promised].” The money
will go to the American Cancer Society(ACS).
ACS is a society dedicated to helping patients fight
and overcome cancer. The society’s four ways to
save lives are: “We help people stay well”, “We
help people get well”, “We find cures”, and “We
fight back”. Finally, they hope to make the world
a place with “less cancer, and more birthdays”.
CAP’s advisor, Ms. Anastassia Pugatch,
expresses her opinions on this newly formed
club. “I think that it’s a really great club to have
[because cancer] affects many people’s families.
[However,] it’s not really something that many
people talk about since it’s a more personal issue.
Something that the CAP wants to spread awareness
for is that this is a problem shared by many people.”
Throughout the year, CAP will continue to raise
awareness for cancer in the SMIC community.
Zombies will cover their lower half of their faces
with bandanas. When a human is infected, he or
she is to immediately report to Student Council so
that there is no confusion of that player’s identity.
While the Zombies can infect humans by a single
touch, Humans can only fend off zombies by
temporarily paralyzing them for three minutes with
the Student Council authorized water gun, although
there is a possibility of reviving Zombies back
into Humans by acquiring resurrection potions
through special missions initiated by the Student
Council. If every human is infected, the Zombies
win; but if a single human survives, victory belongs
to the humans. At the end, the winners’ names,
along with a group picture, will be permanently
hung in the lobby in memory of their feat.
President of Student Council, Geenie Choy
(12A), explained the reason behind replacing the
new event with Last Man Standing. “We hope
to encourage people from different grades to
interact with each other and mix up. Last Man
Standing consisted more of individual competition,
whereas in Human Vs. Zombies, students will
have to collaborate and work together in order to
survive.” Charles Wang (12B), Vice President of
Student Council, added, “We [the Student Council]
have been hosting Last Man Standing for quite a
while, and this year we want to have a new event.”
However, Geenie is quite concerned about honesty.
“The game would be based entirely on selfdiscipline and we hope that every player would be
honest when they get shot or get infected.” Charles
further comments, “But we all know that people in
our school are persons of character and I’m pretty
sure such issue will be minimum.” Students are also
quite enthusiastic about the event. Jesse Zhang
(10B) told the Xinlang Scholar that the event would
be a great stress relief. “I think that once in a while
we need something like this to relax ourselves
and put out the stress from our daily hassles.”
Charles makes a final tip to every participant:
“Stay in groups and work together.” He wishes
everyone good luck and that participants would
follow his advice. The event began on October
19th and will last for approximately two weeks.
Photo Courtesy of Sara Tadayyon
Human vs. Zombies (continued from front page)
BRISSON LAM
Campus News Editor
Student Council is hosting “Humans vs.
Zombies” this month, a new event in place of “Last
Man Standing”. According to the Student Council,
the event is somewhat similar to the previous
years’ Last Man Standing, although multiple
big twists have been applied. While the grounds
for the game are still limited to the outside of
the school building and the cafeteria, the players
are no longer aiming to kill their specifically
assigned targets, but instead the conflict will be
between two major parties, Humans and Zombies.
Humans have to collaborate with each other,
with the end goal of surviving the apocalypse.
On the other hand, Zombies spawn when their
two assigned Patient Zeros appear. Patient Zeros
aren’t announced on the first day of the event,
but they possess the power of stealthily infecting
others. After the first day, Patient Zeros and
individuals tagged by them will officially turn into
Zombies and start hunting the Humans. Bandanas
are distributed to every participant of the event,
indicating the status of that player. Humans will
tie their bandanas around their forearm, while
Art for Charity Coming Soon
CINDY LI
Guest Writer
The SMIC Private School has been organizing the Art
Charity Program since 2004. The exhibition showcases
our students’ art work. All proceeds will be used to help
disadvantaged children and to show our love for those
children during the holiday season. For this event, the
students will use their creativity to put together the art
work, and with the purchase from the community, raise
donations to help the disadvantaged children. At the
same time, students will have the opportunity to participate in live performances, or serve as caring volunteers, learn from this experience and develop good
moral character. We also welcome parents to join us in
helping out with School Presale, or the actual events
in November and December. Appreciate and look forward to your continuous support and participation!
HS students are encouraged to participate as volunteers, volunteers will gain community service hours.
Come see Mrs. Jean Huang and sign up at MHS SA
office A113 if you are interested. Volunteers don’t
need to participate on all the dates listed below, but
are encouraged to be there on the dates highlighted
in red, and have to attend on the performance date.
3
4
October 2015
EDITORIAL
X inLang Scholar
Locker Areas in Need of Major Improvement
WENDY PARK
Co-Editor in Chief
Current situation of the lockers
Though it seems a long time has passed since
school started, truthfully, only one month has
passed. Considering the short duration, it is
sad to see the current state of our locker area.
Upon entering, one sees rubbish as well as
students’ personal belongings lying all over the
place—on top of the lockers and on the tables.
Of course, it is understandable that the locker
area might become dirty because we, as students,
spend a lot of time there. We have so many things
we need to use at school and this may require
some more space; and so, we use the space on
top of the lockers. Such reasoning is indeed
understandable. However, it is still an excuse
because when we really observe the locker area,
we discover that most items are not personal
ones. They are unwanted items like unused boxes,
broken umbrellas, and old projects. We should
Photos courtesy of Wendy Park
keep in mind that this is one of the first areas that
people see when they visit SMIC. If we continue
to leave it in the condition it’s in, many visitors
will not have a good impression of our school,
meaning they will not have great feeling about us as
well. To say this is not good is an understatement.
As a student who also shares in the blame, I am
recommending better behavior from all of us—
behavior that would benefit both ourselves and the
school we represent. You may wonder how we can
benefit from cleaning up the locker area. In my
opinion, if we clean up the locker area, we will
be able to work in a cleaner environment, which
will probably lighten our mood. Not only this, but
it will improve our ability to concentrate, since
people tend to study and work better in cleaner
environments. And so, we should take advantage
of this and clean up our locker area. As a bonus,
SMIC would benefit because we would be leaving
people with a better impression of our school.
I am not the only student who believes the locker
area could use tidying up. There are many other
students such as Seyoon Park (11A) who agree.
She said, “I totally agree with you. I mean since
I got used to the environment, I am okay now. But
thinking [from] the perspective of visitors, I believe
the condition of SMIC’s locker area is serious. We
need to think of something to change the situation.”
Certainly, it may not be an easy job. However,
if we work together, we can keep the area clean,
providing visitors with a better impression and
allowing students to study in a more conducive
environment. This has been the hope of many
teachers for a long time. I believe if we work
together, we can make their hope turn into reality.
Latest Gun Death Raises Gun Control Debate
SALLY PARK
Co-Editor in Chief
Mother of the McKayla mourning about daughter’s death
On October 5, 2015, the fatal shooting of a young
girl in Chicago once again raised the gun-control
debate in the United States. Though this debate’s
history is as long as the gun death toll itself, not a
single successful alternative to reduce gun deaths
has yet to be established. In light of this recent
incident, we need to take a stronger action in
controlling guns in order to prevent further fatalities.
According to Agence France-Presse (AFP), an
11-year-old boy (name not released) used his
father’s 12-gauge shotgun to shoot his neighbor,
McKayla Dyer, because she didn’t let him see
her puppy. The boy fired at McKayla’s chest, and
McKayla was pronounced dead as soon as she was
rushed to a nearby hospital. This was not the only
shooting incident caused by young children. The
most recent one occurred in Idaho State, where
two-year-old son accidentally shot his mother
with a gun he found in her handbag. There have
been numerous fatal shootings by young kids, and
McKayla Dyer smiling toward camera
the number continues to increase. And, sadly, as
American President Barack Obama once put it,
“Somehow, this has become routine.” So, is it safe
for Americans to leave this regulation unchanged?
Gun control groups strongly contend for stricter
regulations on gun usage and access, since guns can
encourage and elevate the level of crimes; while
pro-gun groups insist that more regulations will
encroach on citizens’ rights to protect themselves
from harm. Nevertheless, I think stronger action
needs to be taken by the government to reduce the
amount of gun related crimes. Even though we
do not know if gun usage has actually increased
the crime rate in United States, gun violence is
obviously a big part of the problem. According to
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
the number of gun deaths in America from
2004 to 2013 totaled 316,545. This shows how
much of a problem gun violence is in America.
Additionally, the government should reinforce
gun restrictions because guns could be used for
personal reason, which is mostly bad intention.
There are people who possess guns to protect
themselves, but there are large numbers of people
who use guns as tools for their crimes. According
to the research done by “Gun Violence”, of the
39,530 gun incidents in United States, only
1,390 of them were accidental. Although we
cannot completely eliminate any intentional gun
crimes, we can at least reduce the number by
regulating gun possession to a greater extent.
Will this shooting incident end like other cases,
without any alternatives to prevent another tragic
gun death? Let’s hope not. And let’s hope that people
might learn from this incident and do something
to make the United States a safer place to live.
Photos courtesy of Madworldnews.com
Important information from USAToday.com
October 2015
X inLang Scholar
Letter to the Editor
EDITORIAL/ARTS
ANDREW KANG
Guest Writer
As a person who likes to keep track of important
news, I have been looking thoroughly at the current
situation regarding the refugees from Syria. My
question is: what attitude should a ‘global citizen’
take? After reading through a variety of articles,
there seems to be contrasting views of whether
or not European countries should accept these
refugees. One side argues that accepting the
refugees will not only cause their economy to
suffer since they have to provide for all their needs
until the crisis is over, but will also expose their
own citizens to the dangers of religious conflicts
and so on. Of course, their arguments make sense,
but are these inconveniences more important than
someone’s life? Like what Sally wrote in her
editorial piece, we should treat others the way we
want to be treated. Even if the Western countries
suffer from some temporary economic loss after
accepting the Syrian refugees, they will be able
to form a strong bond between the two countries
when Syria recovers its economic powerbase.
More importantly, more and more precious lives
will be lost if no serious and adequate actions
are performed. Saving lives must be first priority,
and the consequences can be considered later.
In addition, what is being a global citizen? Is it
giving weak excuses to those in need to reduce
the amount of money spent on foreign aid?
Definitely not.
A global citizen must care and show concern for the
needy, and take actions to improve their situation.
If adults want us to become global citizens, they
first must be global citizens themselves, and show
us the right way to respond to such instances.
September Corrections
Last issue, there were two major errors that we found. One, the Joey Kim article was missing and is
located in the features section of this issue. Second, Mr. Jensen’s correct details are located below:
AP Physics; Regular Precalculus
1. I went to the University of Philippines. They have different campuses, but I went to the main one.
2. This is my 30th year of teaching.
3. I taught at three schools when I was in Manila and then I
was in Texas, then Brazil, so five schools before SMIC.
4. I’m only going to compare SMIC with the international
school I taught at in Brazil. It’s multicultural. When they
hired me, I looked at the core values and what struck was
the “joy” value. Most international schools don’t have that.
5. Fun
The
XinLang
Scholar
Printed Monthly, except Feb,
July, August. Printed by QiuZhi Print, Shanghai
Created by the Journalism Class at the SMIC Private
School, 169 QingTong Rd., Pudong New Area,
Shanghai, China, 201203
WENDY PARK, Co-Editor in Chief
[email protected]
133-1168-7125
SALLY PARK, Co-Editor in Chief
[email protected]
186-1697-1733
JEFF BOLDT, Faculty Advisor
[email protected]
AMBER ZHAO, ENTMT Editor
[email protected]
BRISSON LAM YAT SUM,
Campus News Editor
[email protected]
KATIE HOANG, Features Editor
[email protected]
MICHAEL CHEN, Sports Editor
[email protected]
LANNIE DENG, Staff Reporter
[email protected]
IRENE CHAN, Staff Reporter
[email protected]
JANE XIA, Staff Reporter
[email protected]
KEN KIM, Staff Reporter
[email protected]
TOO MANY “PENGUINS”
JEFF BOLDT
Faculty Advisor
5
6
October 2015
ENTERTAINMENT
X inLang Scholar
Amor: Eva Armisén Exhibition Captivates
AMBER ZHAO
Entertainment Editor
Eva Armisén preparing for exhibition
Photo courtesy of ArtN Space
Eva Armisén: “I always have had the children’s way of thinking or solving problems.”
Eva Armisén, a painter who devotes herself to the first day of the “Amor” exhibition. The first
interpreting “feminism”, has recently established painting that visitors saw upon entering the exa solo exhibition in China that displays a series of hibition was Tangled, which hangs solely in the
warm illustrations regarding the life of a fictional middle of a blank, white wall. Eva draws part of
character, “She”. “She” is a character representing the hair of “She” on the wall, extending the lines
people of every ages, nationalities, and even gen- outside the verges of the painting. This special
ders. The exhibition is co-operated by ArtN Space, change made to the painting helps differentiates
located on 2F, 87 Moganshan Road, and lasts from this exhibition from those held in other countries.
October the third to November the sixth. According
Though born in France, Eva spent most of her
to Eva, the exhibition’s name, “Amor”—a phrase youth in South America, Africa, and Europe,
meaning “love” in Spanish—is intended to reveal thus experiencing a blurred sense of belonging to
the jovial aspects of “life”, “family”, and “dream”. any hometown. Nevertheless, Eva embraced all
Before this exhibition, Eva had opened a warm- cultures and developed a warm heart, still lovup painting activity with Art&Heart on Octo- ing her life. She successfully found her sense of
ber 2nd in order to attract more visitors for the belonging in all places on the earth. Previous“Amor” exhibition. Most of the participants who ly an urban professional, Eva studied with a clay
attended the warm-up activity also appeared on artist for around ten years, and later set up her
Poster courtesy of ArtN Space
own art business in Bangkok, Thailand, in 2004.
From then on, her works have been on display
in Singapore, Taiwan, Hongkong, and Korea.
Lee In Sook, a PhD in Korean studies, quoted
Goethe in her review: “Das Ewig-Weibliche Zieht
uns hinan” (The Eternal-Feminine draws us upward). This exhibition is definitely festive for the
eyes and, most importantly, it is totally free. Tanya
Chang (12B) expressed her expectations for this exhibition: “I’m so excited about this exhibition—I’ll
probably go there with my nonexistent boyfriend.”
There are some related products on sale in a room
next to the exhibiting region. For people who are
really interested in Eva’s works, most of them
are available for sale at quite suitable prices.
Important Information from KoreaRealTime.com
We Are Just a World Apart: Psychosis Exhibition
IRENE CHAN
Staff Writer
Location : B1 & 2F of Réel Mall at East NanJing Rd
Time : October 10 - January 3 2016
Price : 60 RMB
Poster courtesy of WHB.cn
We live in the normal
world—the odd and different separated from us. On
October 18th, I was fortunate enough to visit “A Journey to the Psychosis World”.
Through this exhibit, visitors are able to experience
the world of the separated—
the world we never got the
chance to explore. Since
2014, a team of explorers
visited over 30 mental institutions in mainland China,
interviewed up to 220 patients, and received support
from eight psychologists as
well as four neurologists.
The 310 days of hard work
helped create this “out of the
world” exhibit presented to
us today.
Upon entering, visitors are
confronted by several people dressed in hospital wear,
who lead guests from one
place to another. The exhibit
covers a total of 13 different
sections, most of which are
mainly artwork created by
mental patients. The main
idea the team is trying to
present is that most mental
patients could very likely
be geniuses; and that their
isolation hampered, but did
not terminate, their skills.
Though most people may
not understand what they are
drawing or are unable to follow their thought patterns, it
is often undeniable that the
artwork is beyond compare
and, at the least, intriguing.
There were many aspects
of the exhibit that were hard
to comprehend; it was difficult to understand how devastating it must have been
to be quarantined from the
world. Many visitors (from
social media sites such as
“Go” and “Weibo”) agree
that the most inspiring part
of the exhibition was at the
beginning, where there were
several boxes with a little
peephole in the middle. This
was meant for audiences to
experience what it would
have been like to be kept
away from the world, just
like a mental patient.
Though the exhibit may
be a little small, it is highly recommended. There are
not many exhibits like this
that come around all the
time. Mental asylums are
not accepting visitors any
time soon either. This exhibit reflects on and celebrates
the potential of all humans,
“crazy” or not. For more
information, check out the
info box located next to the
article.
7
October 2015
FEATURES
X inLang Scholar
Bohan Lou Starts Impressive Robotics Workshop
KATIE HOANG
Features Editor
If you are interested in robotics engineering or
programming, Bohan Lou (12B) has created just
the venue for you. His workshop, ROS (Robotic
Operating System) Shanghai, is not a school club,
but has become a bi-monthly event located outside
of SMIC that has already attracted local engineers.
What is ROS exactly? According to Bohan,
“It is an open-source (free) robotics platform; a
collection of software packages. It is meant to
create a standard way to develop robotics around the
world. It is pretty technical stuff. It was [originally]
developed at Stanford University, but now it is
used all over the world. Many Chinese robotics
universities also use it.” He realized that people
who are familiar with this program are already in
a big company or corporation and the people who
are interested in further study do not have enough
experience or time to create a workshop. So, he
decided to create one himself. “I was in Israel this
summer working with a professor on ROS, and
that’s how I learned about it. After coming back,
I talked to many people and realized they are
interested, their company’s interested, and people
want to learn more. But there aren’t many resources
since they are usually in English,” he added.
This is exactly what he envisions for ROS Shanghai.
Photo Courtesy of Bohan Lou
“I want this workshop to be somewhere where people
can meet up and discuss and learn ROS together,”
he said, “It will be a starting point for them.”
ROS recently had its first meeting ever, and he was
shocked by the turnout. “It was a lot more people
than I expected. Around 31 people showed up. It
is open to anyone. [But] so far it has been older
people, around their 30s, all [in the workplace].”
Excited by the level of interest, Bohan has even
gone around promoting his workshop. “Shanghai
has a few hackerspaces—a place where people
could come to make stuff or inventors gather. The
first one was in Puxi, Jing An Shi. I [was able to
give] a talk there about ROS, which got me a lot of
publicity. I gave a talk at another local hackerspace,
which was willing to give me the space for free.”
Bohan has received a lot of support so far—from
people attending the events to others donating
space to even a university lending him their robot.
ROS is currently hosted every other Sunday from
7PM to 8 or 9PM at the hackerspace near SMIC
(five minutes by cab). Everyone is welcome.
If students are interested, they can contact Bohan Lou
or check out their website: www.rosshanghai.org.
Teacher of the Month: Ms. Tricia Kirkendall
JANE XIA
Staff Reporter
Photo Courtesy of Ms. Kirkendall
When students think of teachers,
they generally imagine boring old
people doing nothing other than
giving lectures and grading papers.
However, that is not the case for
Ms. Tricia Kirkendall—the PE Director for the Middle High School.
Ms. Kirkendall has always liked
change. She enjoys moving around
and trying out different things. For
example, she has studied not only at
George Fox University in Oregon—
her birthplace—but also at Daystar
University in Kenya. Throughout her
18 years of teaching, she has taught
social studies, ESL, language arts, and
reading. However, she has decided on
Physical Education because she believes that “being healthy and fit improves your quality of life.” She goes
on to say, “I wanted to be able to share
that with the students I have taught.”
One thing that keeps Ms. Kirkendall from being anything but boring
is the creation of a “bucket list”, some
of which she has already completed.
She lived on a tropical island for a
year, learned to fly an airplane, and
even visited the Taj Mahal. In her
opinion, however, the most exciting accomplishment was skydiving,
which she did when she turned 30.
Although she has done some exciting and adventurous things, this
list is not even close to completion.
“I want to run the Great Wall Race,
which I’m going to do in May. I also
want to run in the Big Five Race,
which is a marathon in Africa, and
you [get to] run through giraffes and
zebras,” she stated in excitement. She
also hopes to one day buy her own
float plane (seaplane), visit Machu
Picchu—the ancient ruins of Peru—
and run with the bulls in Spain. Her
bucket list, however, is just as dynamic as her life. “I’m always changing
and adding things on my list. Sometimes I might not think of something until the moment comes, and
I’ll come back and add it to my list.”
Previously, Ms. Kirkendall had
lived in Europe for three years before
coming to Asia. “I had lived in Korea and loved it so my husband and
I decided to see what China (specifically Shanghai) would be like.” She
wants to do several more things in
Asia, such as visit Tibet and Vietnam, which is something that living
here will allow her to do. During
her stay here in SMIC, she has also
witnessed some things that astonished her, “I’ve never been to a school
that serves chicken feet,” Ms. Kirkendall commented with wide eyes.
Though Ms. Kirkendall has experienced and accomplished some
amazing things, she is not planning to stop there, but hopes to
one day fulfill her bucket list.
Former Sophomore Joey Kim Goes to College
KATIE HOANG
Features Editor
One of our own sophomores, Joey Kim, instead
of transitioning into his junior year like everyone
else, is actually off to college. Joey is 15 years
old, from Korea, and attended SMIC for 11 years,
from kindergarten to grade 10. He now attends
Bard College at Simon’s Rock, Massachusetts—
an early college—just west of Boston.
After taking the PSAT, he received quite a few
collegiate ads and decided to reply to one of them.
And then, an admissions counselor sent out an
email informing applicants that she was coming
to Shanghai for a college fair. What people did
not know was that she was also doing interviews
for potential students. Joey got himself on her
schedule and “that started the dominos,” he
explained. This whole process took a lot of months,
but eventually, he got accepted and moved in
this past August. His main reason for acceptance,
according to him, was his communication
abilities. “The only thing I did right,” he admitted.
Simon’s Rock is a four year liberal arts college,
but is specially designed for students who wish to
enroll in college early. “That means I’m studying
calculus with middle schoolers, learning computer
science from eighth graders and dancing with high
school graduates. The community is unique and
completely crazy, and this school embraces it.”
The primary difference between high school and
college, Joey mentions, is freedom. “You get to
learn things that you have to do, things that you
don’t really have to do anymore, and things that
YOU REALLY NEED TO DO RIGHT NOW
EVEN IF IT MEANS AN ALL-NIGHTER.”
Secondly, there are plenty of interesting people
to see and crazy things to do. “There’s so much
going on I can’t even remember how life was at
SMIC.” He is glad he got to try something unique.
Joey Kim now lives in a dorm with a roommate
and is enjoying college. He is thankful for the
friends he has, though he does miss all the
people at SMIC. He is currently taking these
courses:
Dance
Fundamentals,
Computer
Science, Seminar (writing and college skill class),
Accelerated Introductory German, and Calculus
I. He was originally taking six classes, but was
forced to drop one due to credit limitations.
“But there’s plenty of work outside of classes,
so there’s no time to be disappointed,” he said.
Technically though, he hasn’t graduated from
high school yet, but he will be allowed to take a
test later in the year for his diploma. “It’ll be like
I graduated from a high school in Massachusetts.”
After graduation from college, he might transfer to
a nearby school like Columbia. “Or maybe even
the big ones,” he added. Joey continues to enjoy
early college and looks forward to the future.
8
October 2015
SHARK SPORTS
X inLang Scholar
Cross Country Tournament in BinJiang Park
MICHAEL CHEN
Sports Editor
Senior Night (cont.)
KEN KIM
Staff Reporter
Oscar Su runs to the finish
On October 12th, the Shark Cross
Country team ran a total of 5000 meters to compete in the SISAC tournament at Bingjiang Forest Park.
Though everyone finished the run,
sadly, no trophy was brought back.
Shanghai American School (SAS)
and Concordia International School
Shanghai (CISS) runners occupied
the first 10 places, and were one
to two minutes ahead of the Shark
athletes’ time. Brisson Lam (12A),
who attended the event, told us that
players from those two schools are
generally taller (and, therefore, have
a longer stride). Coach Bill Zander
also added that [international
schools] probably run year-round.
Nevertheless, because of the nature
of cross county, many Sharks still attested to a fulfilling season. Brisson
Lam shared his enjoyment over this
year’s season: “The happiest moment [was] when I finished the tournament and got to know that I improved by 22 seconds compared to
Photo Courtesy of Cindy Chang
last year.” Another runner, Atusushi
Yamada (12B), stated that, “I was
the proudest when people cheered
for me because it made me want to
run further and so that I won’t let
people down.” In cross-country, improving average speed, or even finishing a route can be quite fulfilling.
Coach Zander commended the
middle schoolers for their strong
performance in this tournament,
saying, “The Middle School runners
ran well, particularly David Li (7B),
Oscar Su (7C), Hanna MacArthur
(7C), and Harrison Williams (6A).”
To encourage more students
to participate in this great sport,
here’s a jockey quote from Brisson, “Join Cross Country! Building up stamina, you’ll survive a
bit longer in a zombie apocalypse
if you can outrun them, while your
untrained friends might get eaten.”
At last, congratulate all Cross
Country sportsmen and women as
they finished the 5000-meter run.
Photo Courtesy of Ken Kim
Girls Volleyball Group photo
In between the games, there was a
ceremony where the coaches handed
out handwritten letters (from the teammates) to each senior, showing their
respect and gratitude for all their hard
work. The senior boys were: Brandon Lee, Bryan Fu, Anthony Huang,
Liang Shu, SeungMin Hong, Charlie Chang, Kevin Yu, Curtis Ho, and
YiReh Tak. And the girls: Geenie
Choy, Michelle Chen, Emily Huang,
and Jane Park. During the presentation, Coach Kara Carmichael of the
Lady Sharks gushed with pride: “Our
seniors were great leaders of the team;
they showed passion and talent. I am
so excited to see where the rest of their
lives go.” For the boys, Coach Henry
Canfield gave a simple phrase for the
seniors, “I love you all.” Geenie Choy,
a senior Lady Shark, said, “This season
has definitely been rewarding and I feel
so grateful…We attempted a lot of new
things that we never dared to try, such
as hitting constantly, blocking, and focusing on overhand serves. I think the
coaches really did a great job pushing
all of us and we ended up exceeding all
of our own expectations.” Junior William Su (11B) also stated, “This year
was a really special year because, out
of our 12 members, 9 of them were seniors. The team itself was so special. I
feel so thankful to the seniors for playing volleyball this season with me.”
After this event, the boys and the girls
Varsity teams each received 7th and 5th
place, respectively, in the tournament.
Middle School Soccer Kicks Off 2015 Season
KEN KIM
Staff Reporter
It finally came! The MS Soccer Season,
which students have been eagerly
awaiting, finally began on October 20th.
This season, the boys’ teams are
separated in a unique way compared to
previous years. The boys are divided
into three groups: C1 (Top Class) Boys,
C2 Boys, and Junior Boys (youngest).
In these teams, the greater the player’s
skill level, the higher his placement will
be. Coach Simon Pang offered a bright
perspective about the season, saying,
“We will try to play an expensive game
[a tempting game that people are willing
to pay for watching it], where we move
the ball around and keep possession
of the ball.” He further added, “We
also need to focus less on beating
everyone individually, and focus more
on finding gaps to play our own game.”
On October 20th, the Junior team
invited Concordia International School
Shanghai (CISS) to play their first match
of the season. The C2 boys, however,
went to Nord Anglia International School
(NAIS) to play their first match. After
playing his first game, Sam Lee (8B)
stated, “There are a lot of new players
who aren’t familiar to playing soccer,
so we need to go back to the basics.
However, I think that this is the part that
makes me excited for the new season.”
Coach Sarah Clowe, the coach of the
girls’ soccer team, also showed optimism
about the new season for the Lady Sharks.
She said, “It will be challenging at times
because we have a wide range of abilities,
but as long as they work together and
do their best we will be successful.”
Meanwhile, the team had their first
game on October 22nd, which was an
away game at Dulwich College School
(DCS). Helen Kim (8A), a member of
the girls’ team, was excited after the
impressive start of the season. She said,
“I am really excited about the season, and
I wish that I can perform my role well.”
Both the boys and the girls have finished
their first matches, and are looking forward
to an exciting season that awaits them.
David Kim is dribbling the ball
Photo Courtesy of Ken Kim