By Eunjeong Cho
By Sanghwa Lee
Showing posts with label issue: 75. Show all posts
Showing posts with label issue: 75. Show all posts
Thursday, November 22, 2012
ISSUE 75 - NOVEMBER 25 2012
Issue 75 is now OUT. (Print issue to be released TBD!)
A devoted GLP student considers whether the teachers' harsh treatment is justified.
Opinion
Abby Kim - You Should All Be Ashamed Of YourselvesA devoted GLP student considers whether the teachers' harsh treatment is justified.
Just how great is the SAT essay, anyway?
School
A freshman looks back on the year.
The German department got a treat from their home country when Daewon took in exchange students for two weeks. Get the details here.
Culture
A horror movie aficionado looks back on some of the shining examples of the genre.
A White Collar fan makes an argument for the show's popularity and quality.
SPECIAL FOCUS - Halloween
What might Halloween say about American culture as a whole? This student wants to know.
Admit it, you always wanted to know why.
Halloween and economics may not seem related, but as this writer argues, the two subjects are more connected than we realize.
One disgruntled student wonders why Daewon won't give us a break.
The freshmen had a blast on Halloween, and this reporter was there with all of the details.
Eunjeong Cho and Sanghwa Lee - Halloween Cartoons
Spook yourself silly with the artwork of some of the best cartoonists at Daewon.
Eunjeong Cho and Sanghwa Lee - Halloween Cartoons
Spook yourself silly with the artwork of some of the best cartoonists at Daewon.
World
NOTE: This article was intended for publication before the election.
A student looks on the track record of the Republican Party's candidate and gives his opinion.
A French department student shows his love of the language of...well, love.
A student rights activist looks at how giving teens the vote might fix many of our political problems.
You just have to read this one in order to find out what that title really refers to.
The two technology giants have been involved in one of the silliest legal and commercial slapfights in recent memory. Here's a tech fan shining some light on the feud.
SPECIAL INTERVIEW
Three juniors meet with a sunbae to find out just what the last year at Daewon is really like.
Interview With A Senior
Interview with A Senior
By Abby Kim, Moses Kim, and Saemi Han
w What is the difference between third
grade GLP classes and second grade GLP classes? Are they of the same
difficulty?
Nope. 3rd grade GLP is a joke, but that’s only because the teachers aren’t allowed to give us much homework. The classes aren’t as rigorous as the second grade GLP classes are, and most people just doze off in class. I think the school wants you to focus on your AP exams and the midterms in your senior year. You’ll be surprised to find yourself longing for the 2nd year classes that drained all the energy out of you and made you sleep-deprived.
w What can we do to prepare for third
grade other than the GPA, SATs, APs and other test related things?
If you are ambitious enough to do unethical things and if your parents are kind and rich enough to support you, then you will find plenty of things to spend money on and fill your application with crazy, bogus achievements you never made.
Otherwise, I would advise you to read during the winter vacation. In September, we were surprised by how much dumber we had become this year. By the time I had to write my essays, I couldn’t form coherent sentences in English. Apart from that, keep doing the activities you have been doing so far. Don’t try too hard to look for unique internships. I don’t think they matter a lot in the end.
w How is life in Injung building? What are
some nice things and not-so-nice things about the environment there?
Life in Injung building is not as different as you imagine. But the classrooms stink like hell because the sewage is right outside the windows. Don’t worry; you guys won’t be using these classrooms next year though. The teachers have agreed that the smell is unbearable in summer. Also, no GLP means that there is no incentive to come to school. Having to wake up every day knowing that you will hate every minute of school is very depressing.
w What is the one thing that you wished a
sunbae told you when you were in second grade?
I posted this question on our class’s Facebook page, and these are what my friends have said:
Senior year is not as easy as sunbaes say; don’t trust the school; check the Commonapp early in the year; get your SAT and SAT subject scores as soon as possible; Don’t wait till the last minute. Do everything in advance; You are on your own. Nobody can help you much.
w What about your time do you most regret?
Most appreciate?
I wasted a lot of time doing things I enjoy, rather than thing I was supposed to do. I’ve learned only recently that scores do matter (not much, but they still matter), so don’t screw your GPA and SATs. Personally, though, I think I would still do the same stuff if I could go back and start all over again.
I appreciate all those wonderful people I’ve met at Daewon. If I could go back in time, I would again choose to come to Daewon because of a dozen awesome friends and five amazing teachers I’ve met here. I know it’s the type of advice a mother gives her five-year-old son, but I’m going to say this anyway: Be nice to your friends. Competition is unavoidable at Daewon, but don’t get too obsessed with it because you will lose the biggest part of what high school is all about.
w Is senior year really as fast-paced and
stressful as everybody says?
Junior year is stressful because you have a lot of exams and homework to do. It’s exhausting because you barely get enough sleep. Senior year, on the other hand, is less stressful in terms of work load once the AP season is over. But it’s still stressful because you have to start thinking realistically about colleges and Mr. Cho ranks your scores and GPA. You will find out where you stand among your peers and how many people have better SAT scores than you do.
w What three things should we begin to
prepare as we enter senior year?
Study Maths and save your GPA ; prepare for the SAT. If you get high enough score in January, your life will be easier next year; keep reading so that your brains won’t atrophy.
w What is one thing you would like to see
change at Daewon? Do you think it's possible?
I can’t choose only one!
I
want to bring Mr. Bruske and Mr. Busby back, but I don’t see it ever happening.
I’ve always thought that when I graduate and visit Daewon two or three years
later, I would find all those teachers I’ve respected and have admired doing
the same thing and bored (hopefully just a little) in the GLP office. Too bad
it won’t happen. I will still track them down to see them, but it won’t be at
Daewon.
I
will also get rid of those domestic classes you have to take. Minsa and Yongin
have their specially designed classes for students planning to study abroad. But
we don’t, mainly because the domestic students won’t be able to get good
naeshins if you guys don’t take the same tests as they do. Simply put, we’re
being sacrificed for their naeshins. It’s not entirely the school
administration’s fault though—I heard the domestic kids’ parents are much scarier
and more powerful than ours.
w What should we do during the last days
of GLP?
Do something you’ll always remember the rest of your life. Take a lot of pictures, film as much as you can, write letters, make videos for the teachers, do a Q&A session with the teachers, eat cakes, whatever you want. Personally, I remember it as one of the most embarrassing days at Daewon because I cried my eyes out during Mr. Bruske’s party. Now that I think about it, we actually worked in composition class. We discussed David Foster Wallace and some Lobster article he wrote. Prepare something fun and don’t let Mr. D get to you this year.
w How is the general atmosphere of the
seniors during college admission season?
I find it a little scary because some kids are willing to do very devious and disgusting things I can’t even imagine. On the other hand, you can get much closer to your friends and get to know them better because you share a lot of personal things. Some kids succeed in maintaining their sanity while some others go menboong.
w Are early decision school choices
usually shared or kept secret?
Mr. Cho posts everyone’s school choices on TCCI so that you can make reasonable changes. But that’s only a few days before the early deadline, and many people keep it secret until then.
w How do the essay conferences go? There
are rumors that they are financially burdensome, is it true?
There are seven teachers giving essay conferences this year. We reserve a slot on Latisse, and bring our essays at the appointed time. If you have an essay conference during a domestic class, you can legitimately skip the class to go to the conference. I guess the essay conferences don’t seem cheap (50,000 won per conference), but if you go to hagwons for college counseling, the price can soar up to 50,000,000 won. Quite many people still choose to go to hagwons instead.
w Are the conferences generally awkward?
Is it difficult getting such a personal essay reviewed by your teachers?
Because I had conferences mostly with Mr. D and Kim, I don’t really know about the other teachers, but I heard they’re all nice and very devoted. Most kids choose two or three teachers and continue meeting them instead of going to seven different teachers. In the end, you will listen to whoever’s opinion you value most. My essay wasn’t personal, so I can’t really answer your second question, but I think getting your crappy drafts reviewed by the teachers is more difficult.
w What are the seniors planning to do
after the admission process is over?
Samsung VS LG
Samsung
vs. LG
By Steve Lee
By Steve Lee
Samsung and LG have been fighting
with each other for over 40 years but, this fight is unlike the one between
Samsung and Apple. It is more childish.
The most recent clash between them
was over their refrigerators. LG advertised their new LG DIOS V9100
refrigerator as the world’s biggest refrigerator, with a capacity of 910
liters. Soon after, Samsung published a video titled “The Inconvenient Truth of
Refrigerator Capacity”. This video showed a comparison between Samsung’s Zipel
T9000 and a “third-party refrigerator”, LG’s DIOS V9100. The video starts with the
ring of a bellas personnel pour water into the empty refrigerators to show how
much each refrigerator can hold. The winner is, obviously, Samsung,holding 8.3 more
liters. What Samsung was trying to say was that LG’s 910 liter refrigerator
holds less than their 900 liter refrigerator.LG, enraged by this video,
immediately accused Samsung of false advertising and requested an apology and
censure of the director.
Instead
of an apology, Samsung’s reply was an extended version of the video, this time
with coffee cans. Experiment personnel open the refrigerators, both of which
are filled with coffee cans. They start to take the coffees out, one at a time.
When the “third-party refrigerator” seems to be empty, the referee comes to
check and fids some more cans concealed in a small compartment nudged between
the door cells. One of the personnel scratches his head as if he is embarrassed
and continues to take the coffees out. The result is, however, Samsung’s
victory with 67 more cans. The experiment personal does his “horse dance” from
Gangnam Style as a victory dance. Round 3 is done with tuna cans, although I’m not
sure if it makes any difference: after all they are both cans. It goes through
the process and the result is, again, Samsung with 90 more tuna cans. The series
of videos finishes with a score of 3 to 0, a complete win for Samsung. LG
immediately sends anapplication requesting the banning of the commercial to the
court. Samsung only replies that the LG people engaged in similar behavior with
their video of butter melting on top of a Samsung phone, showing the high
temperature caused by the phone. LG also released videos explaining how the Samsung
videos were not reliable with three reasons. One, water leaks into unused
spaces within the refrigerator. Two, the door detached from the refrigerator
created non-existing spaces. Three, error can be caused by external pressure.
Like
this, there have been similar clashes between them throughout the 40 years.
Ever since Samsung came into the market, LG and 59 other electronics company
said “If Samsung enters the narrow domestic market with limited consumers; the
electronics industry will gobankrupt”. The most active protestor was LG.
Samsung and LG argued for six months through their newspapers “Joong-AngIlbo”
and “Gook-Jae Shin Bo”. The first clash started with the competition over their
slogans. LG advertised with their slogan “The symbol of technology”, and
Samsung replied with “The symbol of the state-of-the-art technology”, then with
“The latest symbol of the state-of-the-art technology”. In 1985, Samsung
organized a consumer movement contest on January 10 to advertise their
products. LG quickly went on and scheduled their consumer
movement contest on January 7, three days before Samsung’s. Silly competitions
like this continued. The most funny one occurred last year when Kim Hyun Seak,
Samsung executive director, said “All the LG display engineers seems to be
stupid motherf**kers”.This case eventually ended with an apology from Samsung.In
addition, both of them do not trust each other’s announcements of market shares:
sometimesthe sum of their market shares exceeds 100%.
These
are just some of the incidents that happened for the past 40 years, but it
seems like the two rivalsare not completely against each other. In 1987, two
companies were charged with manipulating the prices on their television sales
and limiting the warranty repairs. In 2001, they were charged with jointly
increasing prices of television and air conditioning during the negotiation for
the Government PPS system. In 2008, they agreed to discontinue the production
of the cheapest washing machine, reduce the incentives for television, and
increase the factory price of their laptops, illegal actions which they had to
face fines for. What can you call them but“enemies with benefits?”
The Miseries Of A British Accent
The
Miseries of a British Accent
By Robin Lee
By Robin Lee
I
lived in Britain, commonly known as the island of posh people, for slightly
more than six years. Having been surrounded by these people, it was natural for
me to adopt their accent throughout my years in Britain, but it never occurred
to me once that I had an accent; how was I supposed to know when my accent is
the same when compared to all my friends and teachers? Over there, I was not
teased by my friends for having a British accent but rather for having an Asian
one. However, this does not mean that I was not aware of my accent and Korea’s
general perception towards it.
Before
I moved to Korea to go to Daewon, I had various tastes on non-British people’s
perception towards my accent. First off, I noticed that many people found the
fact that a kid, who looked completely and utterly Asian, not only spoke good
English but also spoke in an outrageous British accent; this is when I noticed
that my ethnicity was of an extreme minority. When I once went on holiday to
Thailand, an group of American tourists were intrigued by my British accent.
Also when I visited Korea on holidays and went to English hagwons, the teachers
and the pupils were pleasantly surprised.
However,
these experiences were not enough for me to be ready for the adventures to come
in Daewon due to my British accent.
On
my first day at school, I had to give a short introduction about myself to my
class. When I talked about what I liked and how I was and all that, they seemed
indifferent and bored. However, as soon as I told them about my long stay in
Britain, their reaction was formidable. Girls uttered cries of jubilation that
rivalled the ecstasy the Jews expressed when Jesus was resurrected. Boys roared
as thunderously as the crowd of 5000 people who were fed by Jesus with
bottomless baskets of bread and fish. The ground shook as the students jostled
around to get near me to hear my teachings, making noise that not only brought
attention from the neighbouring classes but from the entire school building. In
seconds, a large crowd had gathered outside my classroom. Then, I placed my
right hand’s index finger on my lips as a gesture of silence and when all was
finally quiet, I gave my introduction to the crowd. The crowd listened well,
but there were whispers; some said that I was a prophet others even claimed
that I was the son of god, that I was the messiah.
Ok…
perhaps, this is not the most honest recollection of my first day at Daewon and
this is my point: my British accent is just another accent. Yes, it is true
that each accent has its own characteristics; I have heard friends say that the
British accent is distinctive and somewhat influential; even Mr. Dranginis
talked about the unfairness of the British accent sounding so official and how
it makes him want to believe that everything I say is right. However, I think
the real misery of having a British accent is not that friends tease me and try
(but fail miserably thus creating a weird and stupid sounding accent) and
imitate me but the fact that people think more about my accent and care less
about the real and the meaningful side of me. When I want to talk about things
that interest me, people are more often commenting about how great my accent
is; I did not even ask for this godliness! It is frustrating when these things
happen over and over again and it really does grind my gears.
So,
now that you know, can you please stop telling me how marvellous my accent is?
Let's Love French (Aimons Le Francais)
Let’s Love French (Aimons Le
Français)
By Daniel Minkyu Choi
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By Daniel Minkyu Choi
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The first thing you’ll notice about
this article one part of it is actually written in an esoteric language. This
arcane part was written in French. Why would I write an article in French when
everyone else in this newspaper writes in English? I could simply say that I
did so because I wanted to, but I would like to give you a more convoluted
explication. To state the reason briefly, I dedicated half of my allocated
amount of space to French because I love French, and I would like to convince
you to have the same opinion.
Historically, France has
continuously been one of the most powerful countries in Europe from the Middle Ages,
especially from when Charles The Great reigned as the king of the Franc
kingdom. Because the Franc kingdom had later become divided into segments that
now consist of Germany and Italy, French naturally assimilated into various
European languages either profoundly or shallowly. As for Great Britain that
has consecutively been the worst enemy of France, its royalty and nobles only
used French among themselves to flaunt their statuses just until few centuries
ago—Britain is still educating French as their number one foreign language.
Internationally, French has been the only diplomatic language in Europe up to
the first World War and is still one of the five formal language of the United
Nations. Now, one might ask himself: “What’s so special about French that so
many people have been using it? Isn’t it simply a ‘romantic’ language that guys
use to seduce girls?” It is true that the unique phonic system of French creates
a somewhat romantic ambience, but I have more reasons that prove why French
should be revered.
If you stroll around your house
right now, you would soon be able to find one reason. Most of the weird brand
names with alphabets such as “Tous Les Jours,” (“every day”) “Monami,” (“my
friend”) “Ma Monde” (“my world”) are in French. It is difficult to say that it
is practical but you can simply brag about the fact that you know these words.
Second, you can acknowledge one reason when you apply to a college or a
company. In this era of globalization, most of the people who head to top universities
and top companies are fluent in the usage of English. Even though French is
still used in many parts of the world such as in Europe, Africa, and North
America, comparatively less people speak it than English. It would be an
enormous advantage to be fluent at French due to its practicality. Lastly,
since most of the diplomatic records were written in French, people who want to
study the international relations of the past and the present would be ignorant
to neglect French. Again, for its academic profundity, French is an admirable
language.
You might not have sufficient time
to respect French by learning it. However, if you are ready to love the
language when the opportunity comes, I think that would be fulfilling my
purpose of writing this article.
La
première chose que vous trouverez après avoir vu cet article sera qu'une partie
est écrite d'une langue bizzarre. Cette partie anormale est écrite en français.
Pourquoi est-ce que j'écris une article en français quand tous les autres
écrivent en anglais? Je pourrais simplement dire que je l'ai écris comme ça
parce que je le voulais, mais je voudrais vous donnez une explication plus
compliquée. Pour vous dire ma raison en bref, j'ai écris la moitié de mon
espace assigné en français parce que j'adore le français, et j'aimerais vous
convaincre pour avoir la même opinion que moi.
Historiquement, la
France était inlassablement un des pays les plus puissants en Europe
depuis l'époque médiévale, particulièrement depuis quand Charlemagne est devenu
le roi du royaume de Franc. Parce que le royaume de Franc avais été divisé par
des morceaux qui sont maintenant l'Allemagne et l'Italie, le français s'est
assimilé dans de varieuses langues Européenes, profondemment ou
superficiellement. A propos de l'Angleterre qui a été l'enemi le plus mauvais
de la France pour longtemps, les famille royales et les nobles utilisaient
juste le français pour étaler leur position jusqu'à peu de siècles avant(le
royaume-uni est toujours en train d'éduquer le français comme leur première
langue étrangère). Internationalement, le français était la seule langue diplomatique
en Europe jusqu'à la première guerre mondiale et maintenant est un des cinq
langues formales des Nations Unies. Maintenant, une personne pourrait se
demander: "Mais qu'est-ce si spécial sur le français que si beaucoup de
personnes l'utilisaient? Est-ce que ce n'est pas simplement une langue
romantique que les gars utilisent pour seduire les filles?" C'est vrai que
le système phonique du français produit une ambience romantique, mais j'ai plus
de raisons qui prouvent pouquoi le français doit être respecté.
Si vous vous promenadez
en dehors de chez vous juste maintenant, vous pourriez trouver vite une raison.
La plupart des marques avec des alphabets inhabituels comme "Tous Les
Jours," "Monami," "Ma Monde" sont écrites en français.
C'est difficile de dire que c'est pratique mais vous pouvez simplement être
fier que vous savez ses mots. En second, vous pouvez savoir une raison quand
vous postulez à une université ou une entreprise. Dans cette époque de
globalisation, la plupart des gens qui postulent pour les meilleures
universités et les meilleures entreprises parlent l'anglais couramment. Mais
même quand le français est utilisé en Europe, Afrique, et l'Amérique du nord,
peu de personnes le parlent relativement que l'anglais. Savoir parler en français
serait une avantage énorme à cause de sa practicalité. Dernièrement, parce que
presque tous les documents diplomatiques étaient écris en français, les
personnes qui veulent étudier les relations internationales du passé et du
présent seraient idiot de négliger le français. Encore une fois, son profondeur
academique rend le français admirable.
Peut-être vous n'auriez pas assez de temps de respecter le français par
l'appendre. Mais si vous êtes prêts d'aimer cette langue quand vous la chance
vient, je pense que ça sera suffisant pour mon intention d'écrire cet article.
Teenage Suffrage, Part Two
Teenage Suffrage, Part Two
By Hyeyoon Jeon
By Hyeyoon Jeon
My last article was about the
justification for teenage suffrage—why teenagers should have the right to vote
according to the Constitution. In this article, I’m going to deal with the
necessity of teenage suffrage: why teenage suffrage is necessary for the welfare
of teenagers and eventually, the general public.
Teenagers have always been isolated
from politics, and politics have been isolated from teenagers. Most people
believe that the subject of politics is inappropriate for teenagers. They think
that teenagers should be innocent, so they try to keep teenagers from the dirty
subject of politics.
However, this
isolation is a very dangerous approach. The distance between teenagers and
politics makes politicians apathetic to solving problems associated with
teenagers, such as suicide, bullying, a competition-oriented education system,
and the lack of adequate protection for non-student teenagers. Because
teenagers don’t vote, politicians aren’t interested in solving such problems. Most
of the policies that seem related to teenagers are mostly targeted toward
parents, who comprise the majority of the voting base. Take, for example, how
politicians have handled the topic of free lunches. The policy, strictly
speaking, benefits most parents rather than students. In most cases, parents
pay for their children’s lunch. There are only a few policies that are directly
concerned with teenagers.
Even in the
upcoming presidential election, there seems to be no candidate who is
interested in solving such problems. The candidates make countless promises for
all kinds of people—the working class, the poor, the disabled, and so on. But
teenagers are excluded. Asunaro, a teenager human rights organization, asked
the three leading presidential candidates—Park Geunhye, Moon Jaein, Ahn Chulsoo—about
their policies for teenagers. Park Geunhye answered that she hadn’t prepared any
policies yet; Moon Jaein replied that he would create a “happy” education system
that prioritizes students; Ahn Chulsoo pretty much repeated what he wrote in
his book, showing concerns towards the current competition-based education
system. One candidate did not even have any policy, and two other candidates
pretty much stuck to their basic policies, showing that none of them had thought
deeply about policies concerning teenagers. Such a phenomenon is not new:
politicians have always neglected teenagers. Teenagers have to have influence
on the ballot to get politicians to listen. Because teenagers don’t have the
right to vote, problems related to schools and teenagers are never properly
dealt with, and because of this apathy, the problems grow bigger and become
harder to solve. After women’s suffrage was granted, politicians began to deal
with gender equality. Shouldn’t teenagers have the same influence on policies
that affect them?
Another concern has to do with the public’s
awareness on politics. Nowadays, after every election, the press reports how
voting rates have decreased, especially among those in their twenties. Though
this decrease seems counterintuitive, considering how sudden people are granted
with suffrage, what could we honestly expect? In many cases, soon after newly
qualified voters graduate from rigorous high schools where they are forced to
think about nothing but studying, they are suddenly asked to vote for the politicians
who are going to lead them. The process is rather too sudden. They were too
busy to think about politics during high school years; all of a sudden, they
become adults who must vote and have interest in politics and the world around
them. At last, they simply choose not to vote, not because they are satisfied
with the status quo, but because they are apathetic to politics, like they have
been trained to be when they were teenagers. Thus, starting to vote from a younger
age may actually encourage people to adapt to the process easier. There might be
a different awareness towards politics. Teenagers are usually in environments
where discussions of sensitive topics are tolerated, at least better than among
adults. When teenagers start to vote, they would discuss politics among their
peers much more actively than they do now. Since teenagers are free in their speech,
they are likely to exchange diverse opinions from diverse peers, and such
discussions would help to create individual opinions. If the government is
truly concerned with the public’s apathy towards politics, there is no reason
not to accept suffrage to teenagers. Having suffrage from a younger age can change
people’s attitudes towards politics.
All in all, teenage suffrage is
necessary not only for teenagers but also for the general awareness and benefit
of all Koreans. Now, the government ignores the voices of teenagers, but when
teenagers have suffrage, inevitable changes are going to be come. The adults
now neglect politics for being corrupt, but when they start voting from a
younger age, they are likely to be less ignorant on the topic.
Mitt The Same Guy
Mitt the Same
Guy
By Beom Joon Baek
By Beom Joon Baek
Mitt Romney, after finishing
degrees from both Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School, went to work
in Boston Consulting Group (BCG). After co-founding Bain Capital, a private
equity firm, he went on to become a multi-millionaire, CEO of Salt Lake City
Winter Olympic games, and governor of Massachusetts. He is now running for the
presidential election, and although many doubt him for various reasons,
following the trend, he will be the one against Obama this November. I never
heard about Mitt Romney, nor the term ‘private equity’, before I read about him
on Wall Street Journal.
When I first
encountered that word, private equity, I did not know what that meant, nor did
I know how it is done, but I did know one thing; you sure can make one big pile
of money. From that day, I could see the rows of people who decided to follow the
steps of Mitt Romney and various other businessmen; graduate with a major in
business or computer engineering, work for a technological firm for 5 years, enroll
in a Harvard MBA/JD joint course or an MBA in Hong Kong University, get
recruited in a major consulting firm(I am looking at you, McKinsey &
Company!), move to an private equity firm (probably Blackstone or Goldman
Sachs), set up a private firm specially devoted to technological management,
and when the time is right, run for an office.
The story of Mitt Romney is indeed
a special one, as he is from a privileged family (his father being the United
States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 1969 to 1973), from a
privileged neighborhood, from a prestigious school. And one might say, he is
the perfect role for the president! He has all the experience needed, so I’m
sure he’ll do one hell of a job. If that was your opinion, I beg to differ.
One first perception that one gets
after doing some research on Mitt Romney is the fact that he and his father are
possibly the same person. Like father, like son they say, but in the case of
the Romneys, the parallel seems too uncanny. To list some queer similarities:
l Both
served as Mormon missionaries in Europe and considered the experiences
formative.
l Both
pursued high school sweethearts single-mindedly until the women agreed to marry
them several years later, then had families with four or five children.
l Both
had very successful careers in business and became known for turning around
failing companies or organizations. Both presided over a stake in the LDS
Church.
l Both
achieved their first elected position at age 55, as Republican governor of a
Democratic-leaning state.
l The
two bear a close physical resemblance at similar ages and both have been said
to "look like a president".
l Both
staged their first presidential run in the year they turned 60.
l Both
were considered suspect by ideological conservatives within the Republican
Party.
Their uncanny
similarities point out that Mitt Romney might be dominated by his father’s legacy
and that his actions are like what George W. Bush to his father: an act of
proving better than his father.
Mitt Romney
might be having oedipal complex as we know. In a $50,000-per-plate fund raiser,
Mitt Romney said that 47% of Americans are “dependent upon
government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a
responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health
care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it.” This 47% comment goes directly
against the values hold by his father. As one political comedian puts it, Mitt
Romney could not even get a vote from his father. Is it an act of ignorance, or
an act of defiance over his father? Whether it might have been, this complex he
has towards his father hinders his road to presidency. It renders him uncommunicative
towards the general public. Sorry, Mr. Romney, you’re not that good enough to
be a president.
A Break To Remember: The Freshmen's Halloween Party
A Break
To Remember: The Freshmen’s Halloween Party
By Sandra Ha
By Sandra Ha
Just
a year ago, most of the GLP freshmen were busy writing application essays to
come to Daewon. After receiving the last report card in middle school, the
pressure to go to Daewon occupied the train of thought of so many freshmen.
Most of them spent Halloween locked up in academies without knowing that the
date is October 31st. These were the dark ages when GLP was not introduced to
any of the freshmen’s lives. After a year, thankfully, they are in GLP, one of
the only few classes in Korea that celebrates Halloween.
In
Korea, it is virtually impossible for students to celebrate Halloween in a
conventional way. Korean residence dominated by apartment buildings has
vanquished anyone's dream of initiating trick-or-treat. The backbreaking schedule
of a Korean high school student has also tantalized the slightest desire of
wanting a decent Halloween party at school. In this harsh situation, GLP
sunbaes have cultivated a tradition in which Halloween does not go away
unrecognized. They have adapted Halloween in a GLP way. In addition to
costumes, make up, and food, GLP Halloween also gives the sense of pleasure
that sprouts from the situation in which GLP can enjoy the remainder of October
while the domestic classes can't.(Most of the times, this is a period called
"Guknaeban Hell" when the domestic class takes three hours mock tests
to prepare for November's Korean SAT.)
Succeeding
the Halloween tradition enriched by sunbaes, the first graders also armed
themselves with the Halloween spirit. “The Halloween night was amazing. I was really
excited because we had never had a party like this before. It is wonderful to
celebrate Halloween in Korea, a country where Halloween is still something disparate.”
Lindsay Lee, a GLP student, confirmed the joviality and excitement that was
prevalent in the freshmen’s Halloween party. The party itself was pre-planned,
but all of the details happened in the spur of the moment. On the day before
Halloween, Ms. Lee generously allowed the first graders to bring costumes and
snacks to create a Halloween ambience. Each class prepared Baskin Robbins Ice
cream cake, Dumari Chicken, six boxes of Choco Pie, and Chupa Chupas. Everyone
went viral when Ms. Lee opened the ice cream cake, so she allowed each student
to only eat one spoon at a time. This regulation was effective in terms of
controlling the eating frenzy, but it turned out to be too time-consuming. The
food distribution predicament was soon resolved as the ice cream cake was
dissected into six parts and delivered to each people.
A
lot of students prepared costumes like the Vampire Slayer, FedEx delivery guy,
McDonald’s janitor, a witch, a milk cow, a cute kindergartener, a transgender ballerina,
and a pink pet dog. Some of the guys wore Daewon uniform skirts and put on
intricate makeup to look like a girl for one day. One of the teachers ended up
saying that one guy looked like a very masculine prostitute.
Everybody
thought the Halloween party would just end as a break time costume party, but
the teachers proved them wrong by extending the Halloween spirit to GLP
sessions. All of the students in the class gathered in a circle to share scary
stories and play truth or dare. Rosa Lee, a new student who just joined GLP,
says that if she were still in the domestic class, she would be solving boring
trigonometric functions while other GLP students were celebrating Halloween as
a family. “I couldn’t understand why my GLP friends had so much pride on being
GLP before, but now I understand. If it was the domestic class, nobody would
have brought costumes even though the teachers allowed you to. But most
students in GLP was in funny costumes and taking pictures with others.
Halloween party really made me feel the solidarity of GLP – an element missing in
the domestic class.”
Although
it was exciting, some students thinks GLP Halloween Party could be better next
year. “I just hoped the party could be more organized and well planned out next
year. This year’s party was rather spontaneous. Many students were worried that
the teachers might not cooperate, but thankfully, they did. I know it will be
hard, but I hope next year’s party could be more organized with all grades
involved with mandatory costumes. It will be a cherry on top if the teachers
could also wear costumes.”
It
is definitely not a typical American Halloween party, but the GLP adaptation
has inculcated valuable memories to GLP students about Halloween. For students
who had spent twelve hours a day to solve hundreds of SAT Math IIC problems,
for students who had stayed up until two o’ clock in the morning to prepare for
SEOMUN, for the seniors who had worked on their application essays for more
than three months, and for all the GLP students and teachers who are spending
the last two months of 2012, the Halloween party was a great break that shed a
new light on Daewon life. This truly told all of the first graders why they
wanted to come to Daewon last year about this time, when they just received their
school report card to decide what school to go.
Trick Or Halloween Party, Daewon
Trick or
Halloween Party, Daewon
By May Lim
By May Lim
When do we really like school? When
we have our school festival, when the domestic classes take model exams, and when
we have suddenly gotten the notice that we have to go back to our home due to
sudden typhoon, we like school. Here’s another question. When do we really have
a blast in school? The only answer to this question is probably FOLA. And at
this point in my school life when all the assignments and SATs and homework
overlap, all I want to say is this: I WANT FUN.
Compared to English speaking
countries, Halloween culture hasn’t developed much in Korea. People skip over
Halloween, thinking of it as a superficial ritual in which they share candies
with their friends and teachers. However, Halloween means much more than that.
Remember the days when you carved a jack-o-lantern yourself and had it in front
of your porch? Remember when you walked around houses to houses, emptying your
candy bag often so that you can get more candy? Like this, we have so many good
memories about Halloween.
In this article, the reason why we
should have a celebrated Halloween in Daewon can be basically separated into
two reasons: celebrating a world-wide holiday as means of broadening our
perspective internationally and sharing happiness by sharing candies.
When Daewon is all about fostering
the so-called “global leaders” and expanding our domain to an international
level, why doesn’t Daewon give respect to an international holiday, Halloween,
as much as it deserves? With the motto “Koreans Branching Out Across The World”,
getting along well with the culture around the world is an essential quality to
be global leaders. Knowing how to make decent pumpkin pies, knowing which
costume fits you the best, and mostly understanding thoroughly the culture
itself is a big part of living in a global society. By providing these
opportunities in school, students would be able to develop their abilities to
adjust to different cultures flexibly, not necessarily restricted only to
Halloween but also to different cultural ceremonies such as Thanksgiving or
Easter Day.
Another reason we must celebrate
Halloween is sharing love. To see this in a big frame, chocolate has almost
always been a tool for sharing love. On Valentine’s Day, White Day, Christmas,
and on any other special occasions, people share chocolate and candies to send
their love to people whom they care. While Daewon is full of competition and is
all about self development, we need love. To our friends we care about and to
our teachers who we always admire, we would like to show our love towards each
other by sharing what we have. By sending each other chocolates, we will acknowledge
how much we love each other once more, leading to a happier school life.
With all the other benefits
Halloween carries, having a holiday in Daewon will give us so many benefits,
from broader experiences to contagiously benevolent school lives. Therefore,
give us a break, Daewon.
How Much Do We Need For Halloween?
How
Much Do We Need for Halloween?
By Lorens Lee
By Lorens Lee
People
are busy a day before Halloween Day. As for lovers – though Halloween is not
originally for them –girlfriends are disappointed if their boyfriends do not
prepare surprise candies. For teenagers, it’s a basic axiom that they bring
candies or snacks to share with classmates; for children, their kindergarten
teachers prepare for Halloween parties to be held tomorrow. Regardless of age,
gender, or occupation, everyone gets excited and looks forward to the day of
Halloween.
However,
before the big day, there are many things that we need to buy: snacks/sweets
that there’s no any other intention except revealing how many you can buy with
your money, a basket to put them in which seems useless, fabulous costumes only
to show your friends, and small accessories that make you hampered; the list
goes on and on. So, exactly how much do we need for Halloween? The answer is “as
much as you can pay.” In the year that Pirates of the
Caribbean made a great hit in the United States, pirate costumes were sold for $1,000. Even Suri Cruise bought a $6,000 Halloween costume last year. Gradually
and unconsciously, Halloween has come to mean more than one candy bar. Even companies
make advertisements related to Halloween and mesmerize the public as Walt
Disney Productions promoted their TV programs by filming special Halloween-editions.
Outwardly, it seems that people celebrate the cosmopolitan anniversary, but this
phenomenon actually implies that various companies abuse this annual occasion for
their profits.
Also,
most people lose sight of the fact why we have the Halloween Day. We expect the
day because of candies or presents which can be distantly related to Halloween.
Then, for instance, Korean parents of children voice and doubt about the reason
of a Halloween party at their kindergartens. According to one newspaper, they
mentioned, “We cannot understand why we should commemorate Halloween also.
There are lots of anniversaries or parties which kids can enjoy except
Halloween. It’s neither originally formed in Korea nor a formal celebration of
Korea. We don’t know how much buy for Halloween and we have troubles with
affording the costumes or accessories. Moreover, it does not seem educational
for kids in the first place.”
Why
do you feel happy with Halloween? You can amuse yourself, share delightful
memories with people whom we love, or preserve the worldwide custom. Each person
may have his
own reasons for celebrating Halloween, but it should be celebrated basically
when we’re able to be responsible of it.
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