T a i p e i a m e r i c a n S c h o o l

Blue & Gold

He should be a world record holder. He is faster than a calculator. To the students, Dr Arthur Benjamin, the visiting Joanna Nichols scholar, was a comedian and a college professor. He was superhuman. Dr Benjamin won the crowd over within the first minute of his presentation in the auditorium on Thursday, August 30.

“What is three hundred and ninety-two squared?” an audience member asked. “Why, three hundred and ninety-two squared is one million fifty-three thousand and six hundred sixty-four. Am I right?” Dr Benjamin’s rapid fire response took less than five seconds. The entire audience was stunned and the students frantically pressing their calculator buttons were open-mouthed. The auditorium erupted with applause. Watching Dr Benjamin was like watching a magic show. He turned high school students into speechless gawking fish.

“He is a genius... wow,” commented Danny Wu (11) after hearing Dr Benjamin’s presentation. For TAS students, it was the first time they’d witnessed an actual human-being out-perform a TI-84 calculator.

So what was the magic behind this speedy

mental calculation? It turns out that Dr Benjamin’s specialty is combinatorics, the study of enumerations, combinations and permutations of sets of elements .

With a mind that moves a mile a minute, Dr Benjamin calculated the square of a five digit number in less than thirty seconds. In trying to solve for a ten digit, he used words to substitute the large valued numbers. “Titan rocks......I see Carrie coming.....no nails,” he murmured while trying to come up with the correct ten digit number.

Dr Benjamin has been a math professor at Harvey Mudd College since 1989. In 1997, he won the American Backgammon Tour, a national backgammon tournament masterpoint race that is held annually. The Mathematical Association of America gave him a regional award for distinguished teaching in 1999 and a national one in 2000.

“The mathemagician is clever and intelligent, it was a fantastic time looking at his math skill!” said Jessica Yang (10). Dr Benjamin visited math classes throughout the three weeks he stayed at TAS. Receiving a standing ovation from the entire upper school, Dr Benjamin’s presentation will be hard to top.

Volume XIX, Issue I

Celebrity SpottingsSee Page 9

Public SleepingSee page 4

Friday, September 28, 2012

Is it magic or is it math?by Berry Sheu & Rachel Kwak

Are you faster than a calculator?: Harvey Mudd professor, Dr Arthur Benjamin, squared numbers and beat Janne Deng (11) and Michael Chou (9) on the calculator.

by Adrienne Shih & Berlin Cheng

Photo courtesy of PhotoOps-Emily Wang (12)

Snazzy Beats: Emily Wang (12), Pelix Kim (12), Christopher Liu (12), and Thomas Lee (12) at the opening night of the Jazz Exchange on September 7, which featured the TAS Jazz Ensemble with the professional Taipei Jazz Orchestra.

Photo courtesy of PhotoOps-TinTin Kao (11)

gymnastics

swimming

basketball

track&field

soccer

This past summer, while most TAS students were e i ther s leeping , studying, or Facebooking, Ms Sinclair was off at London Olympics, making a big political statement-with her clothing.

Decked out in a Taiwanese flag T-shirt, Ms Sinclair watched the mens’ basketball match between China and Great Britain, the first game Great Britain won in 60 years.

Fortunately, and unfortunately, there was no reaction, even when she looked for Chinese b r o a d c a s t n g s t a t i o n cameramen and walked all around Olympic Park! “I wasn’t sure what I’d exactly do if someone came up and challenged me,” she said, laughing.

When asked why, Ms Sinclair responded that it was her own way of protesting against the International Olympic Committee, who don’t allow Taiwan’s national flag to be displayed at the Olympics. Taiwan can only compete under the title of ‘Chinese Taipei.’ The reason? Pressure from the

People’s Republic of China“Since I first moved to Taiwan, I had this goal,

at the back of my head, to be at the Olympics wearing a Taiwan flag,” She said. She wasn’t scared, in fact, she was excited to make such a bold political statement.We congratulate Ms Sinclair for making such a brave move, and maybe someday, we’ll be able to see the Taiwanese flag at the Olympics, somewhere other than on Ms Sinclair!

Reppin’ Taiwan loud and proudby Heyun Jeong & Juliana Chang

Favorites of

31%

24%

20%

15%

10%

In a survey of the whole Upper School on favorite Olympic events, gymnastics vaulted to the top.

New year, new buildingOne day last April, Mr Paxton walked

into Dr Hartzell’s office and said, “I’ll take that bet.” This wager concerned the new building: the principal was sure that the building would be completed in time for the new school year, and the teacher was the only one willing to challenge his opinion. Five months later, the new building is filled with students and Mr. Paxton is short 100 NT.

After years of sharing the B Block with middle school students, upper school students now have more space and freedom. The D block building is an innovative new working space. However, construction was at times frustrating. Red tape slowed construction. There were problems with the building permit. “The city changed the procedure for acquiring [permits],” Mr Panta said. “That was a bit difficult and took the longest to solve.”

There are a total of 45 classrooms, each equipped with state-of-the-art features. “Each classroom has a smart board, sound system, whiteboard, and a bulletin board...the way the classrooms are set up [makes] it a very positive learning environment,” Mr Panta said.

The new building is flooded with natural light. “The atrium gives a fabulous feeling to the building, said Mr Panta, “Unlike the B Block, which has a double-loaded hallway (classrooms on both sides), the atrium allows a single-loaded hallway, with classrooms on one side.”

A “glass curtain,” which can be seen

from Lane 776, an alley parallel to the side of the new building, is both functional and striking. This curtain allows natural light into the stairwells and gives the building a stylish signature.

Perhaps the most anticipated features of D Block are the addition of a new gymnasium and dining halls. “We are hoping to get them completed by late September or early October,” Mr Panta said. “We’re not sure yet, since we haven’t tendered the contract for the completion of these features.”

The addition of the new dining halls will mean new hot spots for socializing, freeing up the current cafeteria and Upper School library.

The planned dining hall will seat 450 people, and will have “several different types of seats from benches to tables to booth to bar type seats.” The gym will accommodate up to 1,000 spectators, and will have 2 full-size basketball courts.

The old B Block building is also set for a new look. The lower and middle school will be “allocated into the space where the upper school vacated”. The lower school will move into the second and fourth floors, while the middle school will take the third floor and a portion of the second floor.

The new features are undeniably exciting, even to our unsuccessful gambler. “It’s a much nicer facility than what we had,” said Mr Paxton. “[The bet] was all in good fun. Am I upset? No. Because we’re in the new building and that’s all that matters.”

Photo courtesy of Ms Sinclair

NewsBlue & Gold2 September 28, 2012

by Rachel KwakInstant Noodle Crew’s Cooking Comeback

From Round Table to Smart BoardBy Heyun Jeong

September 11 now marks two devastat-ing events in the long and tiring history be-tween America and the Middle East. There’s the 2001 Twin Towers attack, but now, there’s also the attack on the U.S. consulate in Beng-hazi, Libya, which resulted in the death of the U.S. Ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens.

One of our newest faculty members and recently retired Director of AIT (American Institute in Taiwan), Dr William Stanton, had not only met Chris Stevens in the Foreign Ser-vices Department. before, but he faced similar danger serving at The U.S. embassy served at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon dur-ing 1980’s civil war, as well when he, too, saw many similar.

The closest he ever got to an attack was when a rocket-propelled grenade was fired into the Beirut office right next to his. Fortu-nately, it was empty, but he distinctly remem-bers his knees turning to jelly. After a few more, smaller attacks, Dr Stanton wanted out. “I didn’t see there was going to be much prog-ress,” he said, “And frankly, was just tired of dealing with tragedy.” He correctly foresaw more danger. The embassy was attacked on a much larger scale in a suicide bombing in 1983, with 63 deaths, including many of Dr Stanton’s colleagues. But by then, Dr Stanton had relocated to Beijing, on the gut feeling that Asia would be important in the future. He now looks back on this decision to focus on Asia as “one of the best in my life.”

Having served all over Asia, the Middle East, and Australia, Dr Stanton has definitely had an exciting diplomatic life. After receiv-ing his Ph.D. in English Literature, Dr Stan-ton, who had never considered joining the

Foreign Services, was advised by a friend to apply while he was still young and free to travel. Coincidentally, the Foreign Services were hiring and the exam was right around the corner, so he gave it a try. To his surprise, he passed and was called in for the oral exam. Again, he passed, beating a very impressive-looking young man in a tweed suit. It was truly serendipitous.

After an emotionally difficult first over-seas position in Beirut, Dr Stanton took differ-ent posts in China, Pakistan, Egypt, Australia, and South Korea until he was appointed Di-rector of AIT in 2009. For these 3 years, he’s certainly proud of what he and his colleagues accomplished—they made progress on the visa waiver program, finally settled the issue of beef imports, and advanced Taipei-DC rela-tions. “Overall, I think it was a very success-ful period,” he said, “[The diplomatic career on a whole] gives you the chance to feel that you’ve achieved something, even in a small way.”

After retiring, Dr Stanton could have gone back to DC to be a lobbyist or join a think tank, but instead he accepted the offer to come teach at TAS. In May of 2011, Dr Stan-ton visited TAS to guest teach IBHL English Year 1 and AP English Literature, but teaching full time has been a very different experience. Teaching for a full 80 minutes is more difficult than giving speeches and talks, but the greater challenge lies in the high integration of com-puters in class. “The classroom’s changed,” he laughed. “You take attendance on a computer, put grades on a computer, and you’re sup-posed to put assignments on the computer—I’m [still] working on that.”

The TAS alumni Instant Noodles Crew returned in style last month. Four members of the team, Charles Lee (’08), Mike Yang (’08), Chuck Maa (’03), and Geo Lee (’03) put on two fast-paced perfor-mances before the whole school. The group performed over two lunch periods to put on a show which began with a free styling dance-off and ended with a Q and A ses-sion. The questions “What is the hardest thing about being a dancer?” was answered by Charles Lee with “Well, first of all, you

have no money”, which generated chuck-les. He then explained the hardships of as a professional dancer.

This dynamic group of break-danc-ers (dancers who engage in energetic and acrobatic street dancing), rose to fame in Season 6 of America’s Best Dance Crew. Before revisiting TAS, the Instant Noodles crew put on dance workshops and perfor-mances across the US, most notably win-ning a bronze medal at the World Hip Hop Dance Championships.

TAS welcomes diplomat: AIT Director Dr William Stanton, President Ma Ying-jeou, and AmCham Taipei Chairman Bill Wiseman at the 2011 American Chamber of Commerce.

Back with Style: The members of the dance crew Instant Noodles, Chuck Maa (‘03), Geo Lee (‘03), Mike Yang (‘08), and Charles Lee (‘08) end their performance with a cheeky pose.

Photo courtesy of AIT

Photo courtesy of Derek Yen (11)

Photo courtesy of Derek Yen (11)

Photo courtesy of Mr David Badgley

Photo courtesy of Mr David Badgley

Photo courtesy of PhotoOps - Nick Yeh (12)

United for Sports: The varsity cross-country, soccer, and volleyball teams competed in rainy conditions from Friday, September 14 to Saturday, September 15. International competiton was provided by teams from ISB Beijing, SAS Shanghai, and ISM Manila.

TAS groundbreaking ceremony: AIT Director Dr William Stanton (left), TAS Board Chair Dr Winston Town (center), and TAS Super-intendent Dr Sharon Hennessy (right) at the Groundbreaking Ceremony for the new building in September 2010.

TAS hosts Sports Exchange

New school year, new clubs, new opportunities

3Features Blue & GoldSeptember 28, 2012

Stephanie ChenBy Ally Seo

Searching for the inner beauty of MongoliaImagine an entire summer with no access to a toilet,

shower, and no concrete roof over your head.While most of us simply have to imagine it, senior Lydia

Chu lived it for an amazing seven weeks during her internship in Mongolia.

During her first week there she lived near the ancient city Kharhorum with a nomad family in a ger, a round, almost tent-like structure. “There was no privacy at all, but I found it to be very comfortable,” Lydia said. “It felt like family because I was forced to be in one room with them, which is really just what a ger is.”

For the next two weeks after that, however, she traveled to the capital city of Ulaanbaatar in order to complete her in-ternship with a vet. She was lucky enough to arrive in time for Nadaam, a midsummer holiday festival. In between work with dogs and horses, she watched wrestling, horseback riding, and archery games.

Her most memorable Mongolian experience? Hard to choose, but Lydia loved returning to the nomad family after her internship. “I lived with them for two weeks because I really like them and they felt the same,” she said.

During those two weeks, Lydia witnessed and experienced things almost unimaginable to city-folk like us. For instance, she rode horseback and drank airag, fermented horse milk, which the

Mongolians used as a substitute for water.Lydia did more than just live with the nomad family; she

worked alongside them as well. For example, she was able to take part in the herding of cattle. One time, when a group of three sheep ran off, the grandfather gave her a horse to chase after them with. She also learned this summer that counting sheep is just as it sounds: counting sheep jump over wooden blocks.

How did she make friends? “Even though there was a language barrier, somehow we managed to communicate, and somehow we got on really well,” Lydia said.

One little boy of ten had a big influence on her time in Mongolia.

“[He just made a big impact on me because] he was so happy and open and outgoing even though he couldn’t speak Eng-lish… He’d say: ‘HORSE’, then translate it to ‘MURR’; ‘GRASS’, then ‘OSS’. He reminded me what being a little kid is about, and that we should keep some of that.”

Looking back, it’s the people and their culture that Lydia remembers the most. “What made Mongolia were the people in the countryside,” she said, “and how nice they were. Their life really was so natural, and I realized from this trip that I was an outdoorsy person.”

A summer to revisit? Definitely. As Lydia has said, “I already have plans to return to Mongolia in the future!”

By Connor Lin

Mandarin and English are but two of the three languages Stephanie Chen (12) is f luent in. Music is the third. Sight-reading is something that comes almost naturally to this young cel l ist . That’s not to say she doesn’t have to work hard to earn her spot at the top. TAS might have talented musicians, but no one is as passionate and determined as Stephanie. Stephanie was f irst musical ly influenced by her mother at the age of f ive. Since then, practicing cel lo has been a top priority for her on a daily basis , “I don’t know why, but i f I don’t practice every day, i t feels real ly weird. I just have to practice at least ten minutes every day. Once, I woke up at f ive in the morning to practice,” she says. Though she is a three year IASAS Music par-t ic ipant with countless awards from various music competit ions, she st i l l has nerves, l ike everyone else. “Right when I walked on the stage of my own concert, my heart was l ike thump, thump, thump, and when I put my hands on the cel lo, my hands were shaking for the whole t ime”, she confesses. Recent ly , S tephanie ’s never-ending dedica-t ion to playing the cel lo helped her grab the once in a l i fet ime opportunity—having a master class with one of the greatest cel l ists al ive, Mischa Maisky.

Over the last 25 years, Maisky has made over 50 recordings with many notable orchestras such as Vienna Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic and London Symphony Orchestra. Because there were too many young musi-cians waiting in line to earn this exciting opportunity, only two people were chosen through an audition. Of course, Stephanie was one of the Top 2. Nothing about the master class turned out to be normal. Maisky’s Albert Einstein hair, bold style of playing, and extensive use of vibrato definitely made it a memorable l i fe experience. “He sat next to me and listened to me play, and he just grabbed my cello and started playing the piece that I just played. I t was as i f he knew everything. I t was perfect”, she explains. One aspect of Maisky that Stephanie found real ly inspir ing was his audacious style . “He’s not scared to do anything,” she says. Though frustrating at t imes, she is now on a journey of f inding her per-sonal style. A f t e r g r a d u a t i n g f r o m TA S , s h e h o p e s t o continue on her path towards her goal of becoming a professional cell ist . With hard work and talent, you’ll no doubt see her in the future playing in the National Concert Hall as a professional cel l ist .

By Hannah Lin

:

When Alex Tseng (11) called on Mr Vandenboom dur-ing a magic trick at last year’s Spirit Week, everyone in the Upper School held their breath. Mr Vandenboom had to smash a paper bag that supposedly had a long nail in it. Mr Vandenboom survived and Alex won our attention.

Despite the excitement of his performance at Spirit Week last year, it’s fair to say that magic is a passion, or skill, that often times goes unrecognized in this community. That is to say, until this year, when Alex decided to create the TAS magic club.

There’s no question that magic can do miracles: pulling rabbits and doves out of top hats is an image universally as-sociated with magicians. However, the club seeks to provide audiences with more than just gasps of awe. In fact, they plan on leaving the school walls to spread the passion and joy of magic, whether that is performing at local orphanages, hos-pitals, or even on the street for strangers. “I learned magic simply because it amazes people and brings great entertain-ment,” Alex said.

ROAR, is a new club dedicated to raising TAS school

spirit, whether it’s through sports, merchandise, or music was formed by the Activity Council. ROAR’s projects range from designing TAS merchandise to make posters for games, to escorting Tony the Tiger through the school during Friday night games.

According to Juliana Chang (10), co-president and co-founder of ROAR, the club “aims to raise school spirit and make students proud to be a part of TAS.” One unique aspect of ROAR is the amount of collaboration with other TAS clubs. Currently, ROAR is working with StuGov, Athletic Council, as well as the Art Club to reach their goals.

Students also have the opportunity this year to join Long Life Friends, the club focused on health and fitness, t2square, the online blogging and student media club, Roots & Shoots, a school environmental club, Reach Out, the new student buddy club, and last but not least Mental Health Ac-tion Club, which seeks to help the mentally ill at the Taipei School for Mentally Ill.

With all these new clubs, each with a unique goal, the TAS Upper School club choices have risen to a new high.

Learning from the master: Stephanie won a rare chance to take a master class with Mischa Maisky, a world class cellist.

Finding families near and far: Standing in front of a ger, Lydia Chu (second from the right) spent part of her summer with a Mon-golian nomad family.

Photo courtesy of Lydia Chu (12)

Photo courtesy of Stephanie Chen(12)

Out of the top hat: Alex introduces the art of magic to TAS.

Photo courtesy of Alex Tseng (11)

Opinions4 Blue & GoldSeptember 28, 2012

The Blue & Gold is produced and distributed free of charge monthly during the academic year by the Journalism classes of Taipei American School, 800 Chung Shan N. Road, Section 6, Shih Lin, Taipei, Taiwan 111. The views expressed in the Blue & Gold are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect views of the school, its students, staff, faculty or administration. The Blue & Gold demonstrates leadership in the school community as a non-biased newspaper that is dedicated to maintain-ing journalistic integrity, presenting timely information and coverage on events and issues affecting the school and community. In striving to create and produce a com-prehensive school newspaper, the Blue & Gold website (www.blueandgoldonline.org) is dedicated to providing a greater voice to the members of the community. Speech is protected on the condition that it does not infringe on others and upholds the Taipei American School values of Honesty, Respect, Responsibility, and Kindness.

Blue & GoldEditor-in-Chief: Meg SilsbyManaging Editor: Jinnie Khatri

VOLUME XVIIII ISSUE I September 2012

Staff: Berry SheuValerie LinJuliana ChangRachel KwakAlly SeoRebecca Tseng

Sectional Editors: Adrienne Shih Berlin ChengOnline Editor: Hannah Lin

Heyun JeongVivian LeeCarol ChenVergil HsuConner LinJodelle Lai

Advisor: Ron Bell

by Adrienne Shih

Do the Olympics Games live up to all the hype?

The new building: not perfect, but getting thereby Rebecca Tseng

Taipei: Snooze fest city

“I fell asleep on a bus and I fell onto [a random man’s] shoulder,” recalls Neha Pur-swaney (9). “When he got off, I fell onto the other chair and woke up. I was past my stop and people were staring at me.”

Neha’s story isn’t an unusual one; sleep-ing on random peoples’ shoulders on the bus is not uncommon in Taiwan.

In Taiwan, it seems to be entirely nor-mal to sleep during the day-no matter where you are. As long as you have the time and feel tired, the notion of sleeping in public is toler-ated. While public sleeping is the wall paper of our lives, it’s a different story in the west. In America, you hardly ever see people lying on park benches, sleeping contentedly, unless they’re the town drunk.

This habit is so unusual in the US that there is actually a blog dedicated entirely to pictures of Asians sleeping in libraries. There’s even a Facebook page called “There’s always an Asian person sleeping on the bus…” It has more than 25,000 likes!

But the real question is: why do so many Asians sleep in public?

“They [Asians] don’t like to waste time. So all the time they take sleeping on the pub-lic transportation doesn’t feel like it’s going to waste,” says Jocelyn Chen (9). Another student told Blue&Gold, “Asians study more into the night so they’re more tired in the morning.”

So when is the perfect time to go to sleep?

According to the National Sleep Foun-dation, teenagers should get 9 and ¼ hours of sleep each night. Their research, however, shows that only about 15% of teens get even 8 and ½ hours.

Harvard researchers have found out that “a lack of adequate sleep can affect judg-ment, mood, ability to learn and retain infor-mation, and may increase the risk of serious accidents and injury.”

So if you don’t want to end up sleeping on people’s shoulders and embarrassing your-self while on the bus, you should get more sleep. It’s pretty obvious that sleep is impor-tant, and you should aim to get enough of it in order to be ready for the day ahead.

Every four years, nations from all over the world come together in one city to compete in everything from weight-lifting to powerwalking. Billions of dollars are spent on building stadiums, improving public transportation, and planning for the thousands of people that will flood the city. But for all the excitement, is it worth the extraordinary cost?

When I asked around my group of friends for their views on the new D Block, I was barraged with an outpouring of com-plaints

Friend A said she despised how cold the classrooms were; Friend B, on the other hand, complained that the clocks were hung on the back wall so teachers were able tell that whether students were paying attention in class. Friend C thought the lockers were a burglar’s delight.

While these problems do affect stu-dent learning to some extent, there are is-sues of greater importance and concern that need addressing.

Issue number one: the student lunch-time ban. This is perfectly understandable if you’re taking a test. Who wants to hear girls loudly gossiping in the hallways about the roller coaster marriage of Blake Lively and Ryan Renolds?

But what I don’t understand is why we aren’t allowed to enter the building in small, quiet groups without being tackled by a teacher or administrator.

Trash cans are a rare species in the D Block hallways. I know that the admin is trying to tell us that food and drink aren’t allowed in this area. However, students have more than just food wrappers to worry about.

Don’t get me started on the shortage of bathrooms. While I have yet to wait in line, it’s only a matter of time before I do. Remember the good old days in the B Block? Each floor has at least three bathrooms, which eliminated any possible chance of waiting in line.

Another major inconvenience: stu-dents who have first period free must trudge all the way to D Block to sign in.This prob-lem is being addressed in a swift manner, however. There are rumors regarding check-in points in the B-Block.

Have you been to a department of-fice to ask a teacher a question, only to be stopped by the secretary? These offices, which in past years allowed students to directly talk to teachers, are now “no go zones”. Students must wait near the sec-retary’s desk and wait for their teachers to come to them. This makes talking to your teachers seem formal. Asking your teachers for help should be natural, but now? It’s a whole other story.

When students want to find a quiet place to study, the library has always been the place to go. Now, with the elimination of places to simply “hangout”, students have resorted to meeting with friends in the library. This makes it extremely noisy and annoying for those who are actually study-ing. I’m eagerly awaiting the opening of the Stu-Gov run “Student Commons”, which I’m sure will serve as an ideal venue for in-dependent study.

I’m sure that most people are sick of hearing complaints about the D-Block. Isn’t it about time that we also acknowledge the things we love about it? The space is open and airy. Bathrooms are spotless. The best part? We don’t have to share facilities with Middle School students anymore. Maybe we should start to see the D-Block in a more positive light, rather than viewing it in a negative one.

The Olympic Games are known internationally as a competition that is supposed to promote world peace and harmony. It’s also a platform for friendly competition. It is true that this competi-tion does have its benefits. It recognizes athletes’ hard work and, in some cases, a whole nation can bask in their glory.

However, the recent London Olympic Games suggest that the Games do not always meet these lofty goals.

As with all competitions, you need an impartial group of judges in order to ensure that no country has an unfair advantage. Sadly, the recent London Olympic Games were repeatedly criti-cized for questionable judgments.

The most controversial case, perhaps, was that of the South Korean épée fencer who lost her chance at a medal due to a timing error. Shin A-Lam (the fencer), who was literally a second away from a clinching a win against a German fencer, lost the match due to the timer freezing with one second left on the clock.

Dubbed “the case of the longest second in the world,” the controversy led some to question the integrity of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) . To add insult to injury, the Federation Internationale D’escrime (FID) thought it would be a good idea to offer the Korean fencer “an award for her sportsmanship,” which only exacerbated the crisis.

Shin A-Lam’s case is not the only conflict that has sullied these London games, however. In the case of South Korea alone, there were more than three cases of faulty rulings and two in which the rulings were changed.

The London Olympic Games has failed to create harmony and friendly competition; it has created conflict between nations and doubts about the IOC’s integrity. When an international event such as this is so widely disputed, it casts a shadow on the very idea of the Olympics. It is not worth the sacrifice of billions of dollars every four years.

-Jae Hun Shin (11)

He SaidShe Said“If my dreams can happen to me, your dreams can happen to you.” In just thirteen words,

Olympic long jump world-record-holder Bob Beamon epitomizes the importance of the quadren-nial Summer Games. For many of us, the Olympics may be nothing more than another form of entertainment that we manage to squeeze into our already packed schedules—not much different from, say, a popular TV Show.

But I believe the Olympics don’t remotely compare with Keeping Up With The Kardashi-ans or Jersey Shore. Why? First of all, it’s a valuable opportunity for top-level athletes from all over the world to meet and compete against the elite. The competition is their dream; it is repre-sentative of years and years of training. Yet, relatively few athletes make it onto the podium or appear in the media’s spotlight. What these athletes chase after are in their own sets of goals, and in the process, they inspire the millions of followers and fans watching them compete.

Take 15-year-old US swimmer Katie Ledecky for example. She won less recognition than lionized teammates such as Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte. But Ledecky, the youngest member on the 2012 US Olympic swim team, delivered an outstanding performance. She shocked the world by winning gold in the grueling 800m freestyle event, overtaking seasoned veterans such as defending Olympic champion Rebecca Adlington and 2008 bronze medalist Lotte Friis of Den-mark. Her time was a mere 0.53 seconds away from the world record. For someone barely into their teens, that’s quite amazing.

Inevitably, the results, especially in highly competitive settings such as the Olympics, will always involve some controversy. In fact, if there were no conflicting opinions regarding the Games, no heated discussions or debates, it would be abnormal—and quite frankly, boring.

Ultimately, the amazing feats accomplished by Ledecky and others, inspire us all to work harder, dream bigger, and achieve more. As long as we have dreams, the Olympics are worth the money, time, and attention that is lavished on it every four years.

-Berlin Cheng (11)

Gardening with style... and art

Blue & GoldSeptember 28, 2012 5Arts & Culture

By Hannah Lin & Heyun jeong By Meg Silsby

Genius or Madman?

When surrealism meets realityBy Jinnie Khatri

“It was exhilarating and I was really surprised,” says Pauline Silsby (10). When she submitted her photo to be considered for The Student Creative’s annual project, Pauline had no idea she would even be selected, much less have her work featured on the cover.

The Student Creative is a network of teachers from around the world who work together on digital arts projects. This year, they published Surrealistic Me, a

book of student a r t w o r k . I t w a s a TA S collaboration w i t h t h e D i g i t a l A r t s Te c h n o l o g y A c a d e m y i n California, the

Shanghai American School, and the Valhala High School in California. This year, the theme for the annual publication was surrealism, or more specifically, surreal self portraits.

The goal of the production was for students to combine photography and Photoshop to create a self portrait that revealed some aspect of the artist. For instance, Cecily Hale’s (11) self portrait blended her face with dark, green bushes. “[My] photo represents my personality because I like to blend in and observe but I also like to pop,” says Cecily.

Mr David Badgley, Head of the Art Department, introduced the idea to his students after hearing about the project. He saw it as a great opportunity for his digital photography class. After making an initial cut, Mr Badgley sent the best of the works to be judged, and nine photos were ultimately

selected to be part of the book. Besides Pauline and Cecily, the winners included Randy Huan (11), Mitchell Liu (11), and Shannon Hsu (11), and class of ’12 alumni Amanda Chen, Jeffrey Chen, Kowun Kim, and Charles Liu.

Proceeds from sales of the book helped raise money for the Jacaranda Foundation and the Jacaranda School for AIDS orphans in Malawi.

“We would definitely love to be part of more projects like this in the future,” says Mr Badgley. He plans on submitting more student work later this year, once the theme of the next project is announced.

The students are just as enthusiastic as Mr Badgley. “It’s nice having people recognize my work and also being part of a bigger cause,” says Pauline. “While my focus is just to create artwork

for myself or class at the moment, i f people take notice, then by all means, I enjoy it.”

With a new and shiny D-block, a freshly painted bright cobalt track, and more renovations coming our way, TAS feels fresh and new. That is, except, for the barren 4th floor C-block roof.

However, plans are in place for all that space to be turned into a flourishing, eco-friendly garden.

This is the goal of the Art Garden, a project initiated by art teachers Mr Reyes and Ms Bruce. It’s already starting to take shape in the form of the various potted plants that now brighten up the roof. But there are plans for the entire C Block rooftop to become a garden where students can embrace nature. Although nothing is set in stone, they have ideas such as winding paths that branch like tree roots to vines that climb the walls.

The Art Garden, however, is more than just a simple art project to beautify the school; it will be a huge collaboration. Lower School students will come in to water the plants every day, art students will help create designs for the framework of the garden and science students plan to amass and

interpret data. Even the Robotics Club hopes to contribute by creating an irrigation system run completely by robots! All these very different groups will come together with similar goals for this tangible, “real-life” project.

How did such a complex project come to existence? Surprisingly, it was a response to a problem: the windswept space next to the art classrooms was useless and not exactly aesthetically appealing. Both Mr Reyes and Ms Bruce had so many ideas for Art Innovation, an art project focused on new ways to teach art, that they didn’t know where to start.

They first experimented with stones just a year ago and had Lower School students create 2-D sculptures of anything they wanted. “It was a fresh way to show how to draw,” Mr Reyes told the Blue & Gold. “Then we said, what if we could actually use new materials that are alive? Is [it] possible to make art out of things alive?” And the idea of a garden was born.

Getting the plans from paper to real life, however, isn’t as easy as it looks. “It’s very difficult to maintain a garden by yourself,” Mr Reyes admitted, “But that’s the point—this is a community building experience.”

The Art Garden carries an extra burden that most projects do not- the fragility of life. In fact, when Mr Reyes and the other students returned to school in August, they found a lot of the potted plants they had left behind in May dead. It was definitely a discouraging sight. “But where there’s death, there’s hope… It’s okay if something withers or even dies, because there’s always room for growth,” said Mr Reyes.

From a broader perspective, Mr Reyes hopes for others to view the Art Garden and see potential. With everything still in the early stages, anything can happen. “I want people to come here and say, ‘Here’s my idea; how do I make it happen?’ For me, being able to transform their ideas into reality is the best practice you can have as high school students.”

Even for those of you who are new and green, this project might just be the way for you to go green and explore your green thumb!

Across all ages: Lower school students lend a helping hand to the Art Garden project.

Salvador Dali’s greatest, or perhaps “craziest”, work of art was his life. He had a pet anteater for crying out loud.

A 21st century Renaissance man, Dali did not restrict himself to simply creating art on canvas. His ability to work in various media is reflected in the “Mind of a Genius” exhibition which is owned by the Stratton Foundation & United Exhibition Group and on show at the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial. The exhibition has been on display since June 16 and closes on September 30.

Dali was both a world renowned surrealist artist and an eccentric entertainer. Due to his egotistical personality and often strange behavior, opinions on Dali remain divided even today. While some view him as a madman, others consider him an artistic genius.

Among nearly 100 pieces included in Dali’s Taipei exhibit are some of his most notable sculptures, oil paintings, and gold ornaments or jewelry. However, his exhibit does not stop there. His bizarre personality is also reflected in a number of wacky pieces of furniture that are on display near the end of the exhibit, including a bright pink couch in the shape of pursed lips.

Quite a few of Dali’s pieces explore the ideas of time and space. His widely celebrated surrealist painting titled, The Persistence of Memory, features softly painted melting clocks.

One of his most sought after pieces is his greatly revered sculpture, Profile of Time, which is placed near the beginning of the exhibit’s winding path. Dali’s limp clock creations were actually inspired by the view of Camembert cheese melting in the sun.

Since I visited the exhibit on the weekend, I struggled through hordes of people also seeking inspiration or a simple 30 minutes of entertainment from some of his more controversial pieces. Dali’s interpretation of Lewis Carroll’s classic children’s story, Alice in Wonderland, stuck with me because of the place the story had in my childhood.

This collection of watercolors take

“Alice” on a dark and twisted turn, exemplifying Dali’s ability to think outside of the humdrum reality we are all confined to. His artwork features complex creatures and scenes almost unimaginable to the average person.

Any Alfred Hitchcock fan would love this exhibition. For Hitchcock’s notoriously spooky movie, Spellbound, Dali created an enormous painting that nearly reaches the ceiling. It looms over visitors. The painting depicts a number of creepy wide-eyed eyeballs and, true to its name, casts a spell that leaves you speechless.

If you are considering visiting the exhibit before it packs up and leaves (which you must), be warned: Dali was a most unconventional man. One of my older brothers, who has nerves of steel, found some of the work stomach-churning.

Nonetheless, Dali’s art has been revered for nearly a century for just that reason: it has an effect on people. Whether that be life-changing inspiration or a dash to a nearby trash can is up to you to find out.

Profile of Time: A statue that reflects Salvador Dali’s perception of time.

Photo courtesy of Mr David Badgley

Photo courtesy of Mr Cesar Reyes

You fall prey to it all the time. Sitting with your friends, flipping through girly magazines on a lazy afternoon, someone inevitably says what everyone is thinking. “Ugh, she’s so pretty and skinny-I want to be like her.” But how much of this “beauty” that you adore is real?

It’s no surprise that magazines tweak photos of celebrities every now and then. After all, who wants a stray hair or embarrassing blemish to be seen by the entire world? But what most teenagers don’t realize while idolizing these perfect models and superstars is just how much editing occurs before photos are plastered on magazine covers or billboards.

Airbrushing not only takes away stray hairs and blemishes, but it also smoothes any traces of wrinkles or freckles, and can even go so far as to changes face shape to create a defined jaw or cheek bones.

While celebrities are often times known for having great bodies, they are nowhere near as perfect as magazines portray them.Clothing company Ralph Lauren has been caught multiple times with leaked photos, the most controversial including a photo of model Velentina Zelyaeva, whose waist was edited to be smaller than her head and her thighs as skinny as her hand. So it turns out that some celebrities may have that dreaded muffin top just like you-however,

you can’t see it, thanks to the magic of Photoshop.If girls strive to resemble the women in magazines, in

reality, then problems with self-image are inevitable. As psychology teacher Mr Peter Kimball says, “People see things and think it’s the reality.” According to him, this is very harmful to the self-esteem of girls. “The idea of girls having an ideal that they will never reach creates a cognitive dissonance. It’s disruptive and damaging, especially for adolescent girls.”

If the damage done to teenage girls is so destructive, why hasn’t it been stopped? The truth is, the reality of retouching is only revealed if magazines happen to be caught with an overly unrealistic photo or an embarrassing mistake, such as a missing arm or leg (yes, this has happened before).

Ultimately, it falls on the girls of today to realize this fact and know that they can only be affected by it if they don’t know the reality. “Usually people don’t know how extreme photoshopping is,” says Ann Lin (12). “If people don’t know about it, it can be bad. [Magazines] just want their products to look good.”

Yes, magazines and clothing companies are just trying to sell their products, but at what cost?

-Jinnie Khatri (12)

The PerfecT Body: Sugar, SPice, and PhoToShoP

The Whitewashing of Taiwan In the fall of 1996, a rumor surfaced that fashion mogul

Tommy Hilfiger said he didn’t want Asians wearing his brand. The world reacted with justifiable outrage. While the rumor has been exposed as just that - an empty rumor – it raised many questions about racism in brand advertising.

At 1.31 billion people, Han Chinese is the largest ethnic group on the planet, clearly beating out the second largest group, the Bengali, by more than 700 million. Yet, Asians are still considered a minority in the global modeling and advertising industries. One would not expect this to be an issue in Asia itself, yet prejudice against Asian models is just as prevalent here.

From double eyelid surgeries to blonde hair dye to the badly written English on Taiwanese T-shirts, it’s hard to argue that this little Asian island hasn’t been affected by this phenomenon commonly nicknamed “whitewashing.” If you looked at the advertisements for popular clothing brands in Taiwan like NET or Esprit, you wouldn’t even know that these advertisements were for a Taiwanese consmumer, since they look so westernized. If you walk out of school and head to Watson’s, you will face a crowd of Caucasian faces plastered on makeup advertisements.

Models are meant to be a visual representation of the most beautiful people a culture has to offer. What does it say about Taiwan when the majority of faces that show up in our fashion ads are Caucasian ones?

This is not to deny that there has been progress. The model Liu Wen was the first Asian to walk in the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, and Jang Jae, is the first Asian to model for Vans. Yet

Oriental faces are often times still a minority in Taiwan’s clothing advertisements.

It almost feels like there’s a sense of shame associated with being Asian in the fashion world. The sense of shame might be deeper- do Taiwanese customers share such prejudices? Faith Huang, an independent Taiwanese model agent, told Taipei Times, one of the biggest English newspapers in Taiwan, that companies look to present a Non Taiwanese image “If you have a Taiwanese person doing [car commercials], it doesn’t look very good,” she said. Shirlene Lai Allison, an Asian Australian model, told the Sydney Morning Herald of her discomfort regarding her looks: “I used to dye my hair lighter and wear green contact lenses”.

Like many other TAS students, I will spend my entire life tap-dancing on the border between Asian and Western cultures. We students know better than anyone the importance of cultural fusion, and it’s commendable that Taiwan is so eager to jump up and embrace Western culture, especially against the backdrop of more resistant countries, like Iran or Russia. However, in our haste to Westernize, we seem to have left another culture behind in the dust: our own.

When someone says the word prejudice, the image that comes to mind is almost never a modern one. Yet, one of the saddest things about this “whitewashing” is that it’s not a thing of the past. This summer, Tommy Hilfiger launched a massive advertising campaign in Taiwan, including one substantially sized poster at Taipei Main Station. The poster spanned across the entire side of a wall, and contained a total of fourteen models. The number of Asian models?

Zero.-Juliana Chang (10)

The Model lIFe

“Ugh, she’s so pretty and

skinny- i want to be like her”

“there’s a sense of shame as-sociated with being asian in the

fashion world”

While most high school students are busy memorizing where the 38th parallel line is and how to graph sine and cosine functions, a few Juniors have been flaunting their poses in front of cameras off campus.

Crystal Yin (11) is a fearless model who has given striking performances in TAS ILA Fashion Show for the past two years. More recently she made it to the final 15 in the Catwalk model competition, which was held at Net Studio on August 28.

Crystal found the experience behind the scenes just as challenging as on the catwalk. There was lack of privacy, because “before the photo-shoot, guys and girls had to change in the same room…. Since nude thongs and bras cover some parts, models weren’t considered as naked,” Crystal said.

However, unlike the icy atmosphere in America’s Next Top Model, Crystal thought that there wasn’t much tension in the air, “I made a lot of friends and because I joined for just the sake of more experiences and not having any regrets, I thought the overall atmosphere was okay”.

According to Crystal, extreme strength and patience were required. “We also had to walk with heels for three hours. It was pretty intense,” she said.

Crystal’sclassmate, Alida van Gelderen (11), has been a part-time commercial and magazine model since the age of six.

Having worked as a model for over ten years in Taiwan and witnessed the industry up-front, one of the major issues she sees

is superficiality. “The fashion industry focuses so much on looks rather than what is under the surface, people (models especially) can put all of their self-worth into their looks,” Alida said.

And is there racism in Taiwan’s fashion industry? Alida thinks the answer is yes, but it’s a complex issue. “Taiwanese industries really look for more of an Eastern European look rather than American... If it’s for an international poster, [the companies] tend to use American, Russian, and European models. And if it’s for Taiwanese posters, they use more Asian models.”

Although she’s seen herself in posters all over

Taipei, it’s still irresistible for her to hide her excitement at being the center of attention, “Once, I found myself on one of the TV advertisements in the cafeteria. And then I was like ‘Oh my God! I’m there! It’s me!’” she said.

Alida also agrees with Crystal that “having self-esteem and the ability to impress” is very important for models. According to them, here are the keys to success: having passion, confidence and most of all, having fun!

-Ally Seo (10)

STudenT By day, Model By nighT

The Model lIFe

Don’t deny it. At least once in your adolescent life you’ve succumbed to the pressure of purchasing global brands.

When walking up and down the halls of the D Blockit’s often times easy to spot an Abercrombie&Fitch moose or Nike logo plastered to someone’s blouse or sneakers. Though the issue may not be obvious, peer pressure takes on a different shape here at school.

Although many students won’t bring themselves to admit it, we are essentially influenced to dress a certain way based on the people we surround ourselves with in social settings and at school. As we’re all searching for our individual identity, it’s hard to come to terms with the fact that our clothes “Cause everyone else wears them,” Anne Tseng (11) says. “Conformity, it’s like, ‘Oh, everyone wears them so I should wear them too!’” When certain brands are associated with a cool image, of course we’re going to buy it.

Whether we’re comfortable with the idea or not, our clothes say a lot about us. The extent to which they define us, however,

is up to each and every individual. While we’re all searching for our individual identity,

it can be hard to realize how overpowering the pressure to buy certain brands can be.

“Perhaps a celebrity you like is a spokesperson for it.” David Cheng (12) says. When brands are

mainstream and associated with a celebrity or are “in style” it’s difficult not to resort to buying them.

Not everyone bows to brand bullying, however. “If I like it then I’ll wear it” says Crystal Yin (11). According to Crystal, the mainstream brands are “trendy clothing and affordable. [Whatsmore] they restock a lot...so there’s a lot of variety”. This “variety” gives room to “find the type of styles they [one] likes,” Crystal added. For some, brands

don’t dictate one’s wardrobe. If they find something that makes them feel comfortable and confident, they’ll wear it, even if there isn’t a name-brand logo plastered on the front.

In other words, though it may be inevitable for us to be influenced by the outside world or the TAS community, the extent to which our clothes have to speak for us is ultimately in our control. So, don’t let brands do the branding for you.

-Valer ie Lin (11)

Branded by Brands?

“once i foUnd myself on one of the tV adVertisements in

the cafeteria!”

“if i like it, then i’ll wear it. oUr clothes say a lot

aboUt Us.”

Imagine a bowl of fried rice: delicious aroma wafting from it, hints of flavorful vegetables hid-den beneath the perfect bowl shaped dome of snowy rice. All natural ingredients. Just rice, veg-gies, and…monosodium glutamate.

Better known as MSG, monoso-dium glutamate is an artificial fla-vor enhancer which was discovered around a century ago. It’s used exten-sively not only in Asian cuisine, but in Western food as well. With that in mind, it’s reasonable to assume that all of us have ingested some amount of MSG in our lives...and not just in instant noodles or Chinese fast food either. Head over to the nearest 7-11 or grab some Pringles, and you’re consuming MSG. Buy some McDon-ald’s or KFC, and you’re eating MSG. Or if you attempt to avoid that, get a frozen packet of food instead….and

yet you’re still eating MSG. Heck, many of the condiments we use, from soy sauce to salad dressings, all con-tain some traces of this food additive.

The main reason for the MSG boom is simple: it adds flavor to food, and often makes bland food taste much more delicious.

Why then, does MSG get so much negative publicity?

“I think MSG is bad for your body,” Morgan Yang (10) said. ” Even though I eat it all the time…I mean, it makes your food taste better, but it also makes you su-per thirsty afterwards.” Many other people, including teachers and students, echoed this view.

“We are an MSG free school, and have been that way for many, many

years.”Chinese Restaurant Syndrome (CRS) may be the reason for MSG’s un-popularity. According to CRS, MSG is the culprit in Chinese restaurants for symptoms such as nau-sea, dizzi-

ness, and palpitations.

But is it really? Despite a great deal of research, MSG has been rated safe by the American Food and Drug Adminis-tration (FDA) in 1995, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN in 1987. It was rated as [being generally safe] unless consumed in large proportions, or if one is allergic to it. That said, those who experience Chinese Restaurant Syndrome are relatively rare compared to those who enjoy MSG on a daily basis.

In fact, the one time Mr Auciel-lo, an Upper School English teacher, did have an allergic reaction to MSG, it wasn’t in Taiwan but in America. “It was an intense high blood pressure feeling,” said Mr Auciello. “I had that

symptom once when I went to a place I had not gone before in the US, when they were a little liberal with their MSG. In the Chinese community and countries though, it’s never been an issue for me.” How’s that for irony?

However, many other peo-ple dislike MSG simply because it isn’t necessary. Mr O’Neal, Head of the Food Services believes, “If you were really good at cooking, I don’t think you’d need to use MSG.”

For those of us still worrying out there, here’s the big question: Does our school use MSG? No wor-ries. According to Mr O’Neal, “We are an MSG free school, and have been that way for many, many years.”

Health

by Vergil Hsu

Sports drinks: the help that harms?

MSG: Mouthwatering sans grevious bodily damage

by Jodelle Lai

Blue & Gold8September 28, 2012

Eat the best, earn the best So taking an exam first thing

in the morning isn’t your cup of tea? Solution: have a cup. Literally.

Many TAS students claim that caf-feine is bad for you, but that’s not true.

“There is certainly much more good news than bad news, in terms of coffee and health,” says Frank, nutri-tion and epidemiology professor at the Harvard School of Public Health.

Is caffeine the key to activating your brain? Yes, it is. Coffee is a popular drink that satisfies most teachers’ addiction and believe it or not, some TAS students drink coffee as much as teachers do. Accord-ing to Ms. Tsao the coffees from the snack bar has sold extremely well over the past few years. If you’re one of the few peo-ple that dislike coffee, don’t force your-self to drink it. There are plenty of sweet alternatives to boost your energy levels.

Let me introduce you to the three yum-my mini snacks you can eat during the day that will give you much needed brain fuel.

Bananas contain high fiber and can provide you long lasting energy. Banan-as are packed with antioxidants. Antioxi-dants are substances that can prevent free radicals from hurting your cells. So, for

students who sneak foods into the gym, the humble banana is the one to choose!

“My dad eats two bananas a day, he loves them” says Rebecca Tseng (9). So, what are you waiting for, run to the cafeteria as fast as you can and grab yourself a banana before Rebecca’s dad steal them away!

If you dislike bananas try salad. Salad contains vitamin C, E, and other vitamins.

“Salad is okay, but be more care-ful when it comes to dressings” warns Ms Yeh (the school nurse). She gives the green light to orange vinegar, raspberry vinegar, and olive oil. For added flavor, throw in some nuts or berries. This will su-percharge your tasty lunch salad and get you ready for that monstrous math exam.

Rachel Grumman Bender (health coach AND nutritionist) advises, “if nuts aren’t in your regular snack rotation, you’re missing out on major disease-fighting nutrients that pro-tect your heart, boost brainpower, and more.”

Ms Yeh recommends nuts such as al-monds, pecans, and walnuts. Be warned: some nuts are really fattening but as long you don’t eat too many then it will be ok. In fact, some people use nuts to control their weight because they make you feel fuller.

Always remember: you are what you eat!

Sports drinks may seem like a great supplement for athletes and sports players alike, rehydrating the body and renewing electrolytes lost during training or exercising. But do they really benefit the human body?

Gatorade was invented in 1965, by researchers at the University of Florida. It was designed to prevent dehydra-tion amongst athletes by replenishing water, carbohydrates and electrolytes in their body during competitions.

Drinking a sports drink to hy-drate your body may seem logical and should benefit the body, but sports drinks aren’t the best drink available. It isn’t necessarily the most efficient method; most of the time, water is still the best drink for athletes. According to about.com, one only needs to drink 4-6 ounces of water per 15-20 minutes of exercise.

One question still remains: do sports drinks actually enhance performance? George Chow from the Fitness Cafe be-lieves that they do have an impact. “Well, it’s relative, I mean if it’s versus just water, sports drinks have electrolytes and carbo-hydrates, and that’s energy. It helps for sure!” George recommends sports drinks for rehydrating after strenuous sports.

Though some may not like its taste, in order for water to be more efficient than sports drinks, one needs to drink large amounts of it. Most of the time, people only feel they are better hydrated when they drink sports drinks, due to the sweet taste of the beverage itself. “One of the main reasons I drink sports drinks is because it’s sweet” states Steven Chao (10). The sweetness causes people to drink more, usually leading to better hydration. Sports drinks aren’t only popular among exercise enthusiasts. In fact, many people who don’t exercise consume this refresh-ment purely because of its good taste.

Many sports drinks contain emp-ty calories in the form of added sugars as well as artificial colors and flavors. Sports drinks tend to be high in sugar, and have little-to-no nutritional value. According to the Food Network, on av-erage, one cup (237 ml) of sports drinks contain about 50 calories, and 3 tea-spoons of sugar. This excess of sugar and acidity levels in the beverages erode tooth enamel, which can lead to decay.

Water is generally still the best drink for the body. Don’t be fooled by the claims on the label. Drinking sports drinks regular-ly can cause weight gain. Drink cautiously!

by Hannah Lin

The Blue &Gold Presents...

September 28, 2012

Apple Sues

Samsung Welcome to

the iMonopoly

W e l c o m e t o t h e A s i a n I c e A g e

by Berry Sheu

C a l l M e M a y b e

P a r o d i e s This is getting crazy, please don’t call me

baby

G a n g N a m S t y l e When

Korean pop goes

viral

Cele

brity

Sig

htin

gs

WhenAdrienneHsieh(12)yelledout“Barney!”at theSanFranciscoAirportthis summer, she wasn’t trying to get theattentionofamanhiddeninalargepurpledinosaursuit. It was Barney Stinson, centralcharacter in the popularAmerican sitcom,How I Met Your Mother. Whenaskedaboutherinitialreac-tion,Adriennesays:“IfirstsawthebackofhisheadandsomehowIthoughthelookedsomewhat familiar. But then [when] heturnedaroundIinstantlyrecognizedhim.”NeilPatrickHarris,whoplaysBarney,maybe a ruthless, womanizing character theshow,but inreality,he’s fardifferent.Un-likehisTVcharacter,Harris isactually fa-miliar with the word “commitment,” andhas settled down with longtime partner,David Burtka, who has his own cateringbusinessandactsandsingsaswell. Meanwhile, back in Taipei, An-nie OuYang (12) spotted Maggie Q whileshewasinterningatTheRegentHoteloversummer.“Shewent toRobin’sSteakhousefordinner.” Half Vietnamese and half Irish-Polish, Maggie Q, is currently the main

characteronherownhitTVshow,Nikita.Shestartedhercareerinmodelingandthenwentontostarinmanymajoractionmov-iesinAsia.MaggieworkedalongsideChrisTucker, Jackie Chan, and Tom Cruise inbothRush Hour 2andMission Impossible III. Anniehasaneyefordetail.“Shelookedreallynice;shewaswearingablackstraplessdress.Herhairwascurled,andshehadasweetsmileonherface.”ConsideringAnnie isahuge fanofMaggieQ,shewasparticularlyexcitedtobeabletoseeherinperson. StarringinthehitTVSeries,Pretty Little Liars,ShayMitchellplaysthecharacterofEmilyFields,andwasspottedbyMichaelAng(10)thissummer.Shewasadvertisingher new fashion line at American Eagle’sstore at Times Square in New York. “Shelookedbeautiful andpretty tall,” saysMi-chael. Some of the best actors can playconvincingrolesthatdiffercompletelyfromtheir personalities and private lives, likeNeilPatrickHarrisorMaggieQ,butattheendoftheday,theyarejustregularpeoplewhowalkthestreetsliketherestofus.

There is nothing better than fluffy,sweet icepairedwithdifferent toppingsonahot, humid day.A bowl of BubbleMilk TeaSensationfromIceMonsteristheperfectsum-mer dessert. With shaved milk-tea ice andchewybubbles,itisfarbetterthananaveragemilk-teadrink. Ice Monster was born in 1995, thechildofTaiwanesenative,MrFrankLo.Today,theseTaiwanesetreatsareabighitaroundtheworld.Affiliated restaurants can be found inHong Kong, Japan, Singapore, andAmerica.With nearly 10,000 servings per day, it’s nowondertherestauranthasbeencoveredbytheNewYorkTimes. Before excitedly grabbing yourfriends and runningdown to the shop, how-ever, keep inmind that youmay have to doa great deal of waiting before you get yourshavedice.WhenIvisited, ithadamile longlinethatranallthewaydowntothecornerofthestreet.Nevertheless,seeingeveryoneenjoytheir lime jasmine tea sensation, createdwithjasmineteaflavorediceandrefreshinglemonjuicepouredontop,madeyouwanttowaitnomatterhowlongthequeue. Ifyoudon’tmakeareservation,itishighlyunlikelyyou’ll scoreapreciousseatat

IceMonsterwithout firstwaiting an hour ortwo in the scorchingTaipeiheat.You’llprob-ably appreciate shaved icemost when sweatdroplets, possibly even salt crystals, have be-guntoformonyourskin.

Theirdelectabledesserts,resemblingheapsoffreshlyfallensnow,comeinarangeofdifferentflavorsandtastytoppings.What’smore,theshavediceportionsarelargeenoughto share between two people. Butwhy sharewhenyoucanhaveanentirebowloficygood-nessalltoyourself?

The famous Ice Monster is knownaround the world for their signature mangoshaved ice. With fresh mangos and a sweetsaucedrizzledovertheice,itisamatchmadeinheaven.Otherflavorsincludetoppingslikestrawberriesandkiwi,whichcombinetocreateasweetandjuicysensation.Youtastethefreshsummerfruitsineverybite.

Located in downtown Taipei, No.297,ZhongXiaoE.Road,Sec.4,IceMonsterisnot easy to find, but is completelyworth thetrip.Thedessertpricesrangefrom$120to$200NT,whichisadecentpriceforalargeserving.IceMonsteropens10:30amandcloses11:30pm.Justcall(02)8771-3263aheadoftimetomakesuretheysaveyouseatsatthisbusyrestaurant.

New Water Bottles New year,

new buliding, new bottles

- Vivian Lee (11)

Yoppi Yogurt 20% off yogurt?Yippie!

BobsJust

another TOMS

knockoff

Starstruck Students

Ms. Guzman

New TeachersBlue & Gold10 September 28, 2012

Spotlight on new faces I taught public

speaking in June here as a part of summer academy... so I was glad to get the op-

portunity to get more involved at a full time

basis here.

Department: College Counseling Previous city: Shanghai

I love learning languages. It’s why I

learned Japanese, and in college took that language along with Italian and Chinese.

The transition from an American school

to college isn’t always easy, and I’m

here to help with that.

I had to use a lot of hand gestures when I ordered dumplings

(shui jiao), some people thought that I wanted to

sleep.

Mr. Ives

Ms. Chien

Mr. Rios

Dr. StantonMr. Clapper

I had been expecting

just all city, and to be in a place that’s so mountainous-

it’s great.

Ms. Su

Mr. Mitchell

Mr. Delgado

Ms. Wu

Ms. Fagen

Mr. Brundage Mr. Hansen

Ms. Chen

Department: MathPrevious School: Concord Academy

Sometimes I feel completely acclimated to living in Tai-

wan then the next second I realize I’m not.

Department: Social StudiesPrevious School: Head Royce School, Oakland.

I would say volleyball is definitely [a passion] that I love to be able

to get involved with by coaching. I’m coaching

with the men’s this year. That’s a lot of fun.

Department: MathPrevious City: Chicago

The building is very

professional and most of the students

here are hilarious.

Department: Science & Math Previous location: North Carolina

Department: Art

I love yoga, swimming, and riding my bike.

Department: Political Science & Forensics

Department: Academic SupportPrevious location: North Carolina

I was a lone care-taker on a 600

acre tree farm for a summer when I

was in college- See-ing alligators along

the banks of the river every day was

always a bit unnerving.

Department: Science

The weather is very humid. Where I was

before, it could rain only maybe 20 days per year.

Department: PE

Department: College CounselingPrevious location: Pennsylvania

Department: EnglishPrevious job: AIT Director

I really like theaters, ballet, and art. I collect

art from around the world to remind me of the places I’ve been.

Department: Political Science & ForensicsPrevious location: Minnesota

It is great to be at a school that has such an enthusiasim for

excellence.

Department: EnglishPrevious location: Boston

My wife and I started building a new house on the southern part of the island about 19 months

ago.

Premium Rush: WeavingthroughNewYorkCitytraffic,avoid-ing pedestrians and taxi cabs, and all the while keep-ingcalmandcomposed:thisisthedailyexperienceofaNewYorkCitybikemessenger, aswell as the focus ofDavidKoepp’snewlyreleasedactionfilm,Premium Rush. AtfirstIwasskeptical:amovieaboutbikemes-sengers?Wouldn’tthatbeabitdullor,dareIsayit,boring?AfterwatchingPremium Rush,however,Iwasconverted;the film was an explosive thriller, well worth the ride. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, the heartthrob whostarred in2008’s romantic comedy,500 Days of Summer,and this summer’s blockbuster, The Dark Knight Rises,shines with his portrayal of Wilee, a bike messengerwith an addiction to speed.Wilee is given a “premiumrush”delivery,onethat isurgentandneedstoreachitsdestinationassoonaspossible.Littledoesheknow,thatthis envelope containsmore than he has bargained for. Wileeistargetedbyadirtycop,BobbyMonday,whohasapersonalproblem.MondaydeperatelypersuesWileeandhispreciouspackage. Inonescene, MondaychasesWileedownabusystreet,whichresultsinWileebe-ingbuckedoffhisbikeandintoastreamofspeedingcars. While Gordon-Levitt is the star of this film,Michael Shannon, who plays another police officer,steals the scene as one of summer’s most memorable

movievillains. ThisroguecopchasesWileearoundthecity,eagertogetaholdoftheletter inhisdeliverybag. While this isoneofDavidKoepp’sfewdirect-ingendeavors,heisnorookie.Hehashaswrittensomeof Hollywood’s most legendary blockbusters, includ-ing Jurassic Park,Mission: Impossible, andMen in Black 3. Thisfilmisbuiltonthrillingspeedandincred-iblebikestunts.Manytimesthroughoutthefilm,viewersareabletolookthroughWilee’seyes;hevisualizespos-siblepaths(somewhichresultinhimbeinghitbycarsorrunning intopedestrians)untilhefindsone that issafe. While the movie is fast-paced and crammedwith moments of heart-racing action, I found theplot lacking in substance.Take out the chase scenesand there isn’t much left. The storyline is predict-able, andwhenWillee or his comrades aren’t perform-ing gravity-defying tricks, the movie can seem flat. InthechaoticbustleofNewYorkcitytraffic,therawandunrestrainedconfidenceandgritofbikemessen-gersisawe-inspiring.Thiswasastorywaitingtobetold. Gordon-Levitthaswonmeover as oneof ourgeneration’smostpromisingyoungactors-and,notsimplyduetochiseledfeatures.Hehascharismaandstarpower. Premium Rush isdefinitelyamust-seefor thrillseekers.Hoponforanexhilaratingride-nobrakesrequired.

By Adrienne Shih

September 28, 2012

Off the ShelfLast Call forThe Office

“Iamfast.TogiveyouareferencepointIamsome-wherebetweenasnakeandamongoose…andapanther.” Oh,thethingsthatcomeoutofDwightSchrute’smouth.Thisbeetfarmermeetspapersalesmanmeetsvolun-teersheriff’sdeputyepitomizestheterm“Renaissanceman”. Sinceitsinitialreleasein2005,theNBCmocku-mentary,The Office, has been aworldwide comedicphe-nomenon.IshylyadmittolaughingsohardIcriedonce. Much to my dismay, however, the ninthand final season opens on September 20. Con-sidering the quality of the past eight seasons,I have high hopes for this “farewell” season. SetinthedrabindustrialtownofScranton,Penn-sylvania, the show features theday today livesofofficeworkersatabranchoftheDunderMifflinPaperCompany. WhileDwightremainsthemostunconventionalcharacterattheoffice,JimandPamHalpertserveasmod-elsofsanityamidstthechaos.Inthefirstseason,thelove-birdsweretooshytoadmittheirfeelingsforanother,butbySeason8 they’vehad twoadorable children together. OfallthepeculiarcharactersonThe Office,AndyBarnard is by far the dorkiest. The one thing everyoneknowsaboutthisplaid-wearingprepisthathewaspartofanacappellagroupatCornellUniversity.However,besidesboastingabouthistimeatCornelleveryotherepisode,healsotriestomicromanagetheidiosyncraticofficestaff.Per-

hapsintheninthseasonhe’llfinallylearnhowtobeaboss. Andy’s cute love interest in the last few sea-sons,secretary,ErinHannon,shareshisloveofallthingsdorky.You can’t helpbut fall in lovewithErin.Thoughshe is often times portrayed as an “airhead,” she man-ages to remain both sweet and fun loving as well. InadditiontoErin,thereareanumberofotherodd-ballsthatmakeupThe Officecast.Forinstance,theoldmanattheoffice,CreedBratton,isthe‘manthatwillneverretire’.Notonlydoesheclaimtobefluentin“piratecode”,buthecanneverseemtofigureoutexactlywhatproducthesells. Kevin Malone is the “big baby” of the of-fice. Considering he has the body of a giant ted-dy bear, it’s not surprising that he always ap-pears to be preparing for a yearlong hibernation. Inother words, food is always within reach. At the office,he’s either protecting his giantM&M collection ormak-ingafeastofcrackersandCheeseWhizforhisco-workers. At the end of the day, Kevin and I havemorein common than one would initially think. Althoughwe are vastly different in terms of our size and person-ality, we both have things in our lives that we aren’twilling to let go of. While Kevin is never prepared tounclasp his hands from a cookie jar, I’m not willingto come to terms with the prospect of The Office com-ing toanend.Without it, I’m justabigbaby likeKevin.

PiscineMolitor“Pi”PatelisaveryordinaryIndian boy. He even deals with everydayteenageproblemssuchasbulliesmakingfunof himbecausehis name sounds like slangforurination.However,hislifetakesaturnfor the extraordinarywhenhebecomes thesole survivor of a shipwreck. Stranded ona lifeboat in themiddle of the PacificwithonlyaBengaltigernamedRichardParkerforcompany,PiPateltellstheamazingstoryofhiscastawayadventureashedrifts227daystoMexico.Life of Pi is abrilliantbookwitha surprise ending thatwill trulymake youquestionwhatitmeanstobelieve.ThemoviehitstheatersthisDecember!

A young Houdini-in-training, JosefKavalier sets the bar high by escapingfromNazi-regulated Prague in 1939 andmoving toNewYork.As comic book fe-ver sweeps the nation, Kavalier and hiscousin,Clay, inventapopular superherocalledTheEscapistwhohasthepowertoliberatehimselffromanyentrapment.Nochainscanholdthisdude!All’sgoodandKavalierhaseven foundhimself aprettylady,butherealizeshisfreedomisworth-lessaslongashisfamilyisstillbeingop-pressed inPrague.Whilehe’spowerless,nothingisholdingTheEscapistbackfromkicking Nazi butt. Spanning two dec-ades,thistaleoftwocousins,amagician,and a superhero is truly worth a read!

-Georgia Huang

Feeling the Need for speed

The Solitaire Mystery weaves an ingenioustalefromtheviewpointofatwelve-year-oldboy named Hans Thomas. Accompaniedbyhisfather,HanThomasdepartsonacartrip through the land of the philosophers,searching for his mother who left them 8years ago to ‘find herself’. On his journeyto Athens, Hans is given a pocket magni-fying glass, which allows him to read amysterious little book that tells the storyof a living, breathing pack of cards and aship-wrecked sailor on a deserted island.The closer the duo get to their destina-tion, the more Hans begins to realize thatthestoryhe’sreading is linkedtohisown. -Valerie Lin

By Meg Silsby

-Georgia Huang