8
Do You Know your Random Information?
cont. from p.7
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
True
True
False- Singapore has
69 MRT stops
True
False- cats have only
four rows of whiskers
False- every two thousand frowns
make a wrinkle
True
False- Cleopatra used
pomegranate seeds for lipstick
False- Canada is an Indian
word meaning “Big Village”
True
True
True
False- babies don’t get knee caps
until they reach 2-6 years of age
True
True --Una Mihajlovic
The Amazingly Awesome Afro
Out of all the hairstyles in the world, the afro is possibly the most
beloved. True, you don’t see afros very often but when you do, it’s
memorable. The people in our school have been very lucky to see an
afro, Jacek Swiezaczynski. Afros were first seen in the 1960s; worn
most often by African-American men and women. If you want to start
sporting an afro yourself, you need very curly hair, otherwise no afro
for you. Jacek says, “When I moved to Poland my hair starting getting curly and then eventually turned into an afro.” The afro was
very active with the disco era; in those days people sported afros on
a daily basis. It is a hairstyle that is not that hard to maintain if you
have curly hair (the hair extends from the head in the shape of a ball).
Nicknames for the afro include “fro” and “natural”. According to Cynthia C. Scott “the afro was not only a
hairstyle or a fashion trend but a political statement that allowed people of color to express their cultural
and historical identity”. At the start of the afro phase, it was frowned upon by elders who were very closedminded and believed in “older values”, however the popularity of the afro only increased because it was
worn by such people like Whoopi Goldberg. Other than the original afro there is also the “jewfro”. A jewfro
is basically the same thing as an afro, but of the Ashkenazi Jewish descent. According to urbandictionary.
com, there are endless definitions for afros for example “an afro is a natural hairstyle for people of African
ancestry. Beautiful, and unique, it will come in many different textures, endless styling possibilities. Can
be brushed out, or worn close to the head”, or simply put, “big puffy hair”. Tatiana Filajdic says that “afros
are really cool and I wish I could grow one but that would be weird”, whereas Theresa Koja takes a more
forward approach and says “I love em, they’re sexy. Jacek should never shave his head!”, and Lana Al-Huneidi (also known as Lana Banana) thinks “they are fun to play with”. I personally think that seeing Jacek’s
afro was a life-changing experience! Many people think that afros are going to make a huge comeback and
that we should wait for them to come back with a bang!
--Anja Paspalj
Behind the scenes of COSI
Issue 5 November 30th, 2009
Behind every great golf player there’s a great caddy; without
the caddy, the golfer would not be able to play his games half as well. Such is the same with major events like Cosi; without the stage crew
an event like this wouldn’t be possible.
When you walk into a theatre, you will look for your seat, see
how set pieces are arranged on the stage, talk with your friends or
listen to the pleasant music in the background, while you wait for the
magic to start. But while you sit there, unaware, a frenzy of unseen
activity is occurring all around you. Actors are quickly reviewing their
lines; make-up artists are putting the final touches on their subjects;
stage crew are checking their props; SFX checks are taking place and
the lighting crews are ensuring all of their cues are prepared.
I spoke to a number of important backstage workers, each with
their own comments about the stresses of the job. When Darija Minic
(part of the makeup department) was asked what sort of concentration was needed for her job, holding up a large pair of scissors, she replied, “I need to concentrate very hard because I could accidently kill
Louis [while preparing his moustache].”
continued on page 4
Editorial: 20th Anniversary of the
Fall of the Berlin Wall
From 1961 to 1989, the Berlin Wall divided Berlin into West
Berlin (democratic) and East Berlin (communists). How did Europe
end up being divided? It all started after the end of World War II. The
United States, Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union were responsible for rebuilding the sectors of Germany they were given. The
United States, Great Britain, and France combined their sectors to
form West Germany. The Soviets controlled East Germany. The U.S.,
France, and Great Britain rebuilt Western Europe with democratic
governments while the Soviets rebuilt Eastern Europe with communist
governments. In 1961, the USSR built the Berlin Wall to divide Berlin
in half. For the next thirty-eight years, the wall stood there throughout
all the tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union. On
November 9th, 1989, the wall finally fell. That day Gunter Schabowski,
the minister of propaganda, announced that the borders are open.
After this announcement, thousands of people gathered around
the Berlin Wall demanding that the guards open the gates. Realizing
that they couldn’t hold the crowd back, the guards finally relented and
opened the gates. The crowds went
through without being checked.
East Berliners were greeted by ecstatic West Berliners. Over the next
several weeks the Berlin Wall was
chipped away.
Berlin Wall (1989)
continued on page 3
Editorial: OffSchool Privileges
As we all know, currently only
the seniors are allowed to leave
campus during lunch. Why? Well
simply because they can put
up with all rules. However, that
doesn’t mean that the younger
students cannot do that as well.
As you might have heard, the
sophomores were rewarded with
an off campus lunch period, due to
the fact that only two people got
sent to the principal’s office for the
WHOLE week. According to them
it was “fun” and “a great way to
spend the lunch periods”.
contiuned on page 9
2
Do You Know Random Information?
100% of Overworked Individuals are Stressed
Workplace stress comes in all
of destruction has been given a
shapes and sizes; it’s a harmful
price tag) for the low, low price of
physical emotion that is created
10USD a customer is allowed to
when a person’s workload outbreak a magnitude of household
weighs their capabilities, leavitems over a 15 minute interval.
ing a feeling of helplessness and
This literally involves a person beinadequacy. Perhaps the greatest
ing left alone in a small room full
problem with stress is the lack of
of fragile objects with nothing but
action, more time is spent talking
baseball bat (pay extra for themed
about the stress then actually rerooms, these include; Greek diner
lieving it. So, without further ado,
and your bosses office). While this
I bring to you, THE ANSWER.
does sound like a great deal of
Many people have different ideas
fun, it lacks any long term benefits
and perspectives on stress relief;
and would require multiple visits
in some countries such as Japan
a week to suit the stress levels
and China were the workload is
of the average American. (Not to
so high, that workers have been
mention, breaking stuff just isn’t
known to kill themselves on a
fun if you know nobody is going to
regular basis, (gathered from Biocry about it afterwards).
Medicine.org ‘Workplace Stress
One interesting stress relief article
Leads to Rising Suicide Rate in JaI came across during my lengthy
pan’) the government were forced
internet travels was the story of
to implement anti-stress
one Ameriplans. Not to mention
can man
multibillion dollar corpowho believes
rations inventing things
stress is a
such as, “The Japanese
buildup of
Stress Vase,” which is bapoltergeists
sically a 48$ piece of plasin the soul
tic shaped like a vase that
that he can
you scream into. Interestexorcize for a
ing in principle, but still as
fee. However
gimmicky as they come.
this idea was
Quickly moving onto the
so completely
next theory;
bogus I shall
this one was provided
move on imJapanese Screaming Vase
to me by the wonderful
mediately.
Photo Courtesy of popgadget.net
Oprah ladies and gentleThe internet
man; Dr. Rovenia Brock reports
is full of small “weird” things that
that certain types of food will depeople say you should do to relive
crease your stress levels and keep stress; I will name a few of these,
you healthy, such as; foods rich in
1. List all the craziest things
vitamin B, papayas, red bell pepyou’ve done in your life on a piece
pers, basil and arugula and sunof paper, and then burn it, 2.
flower seeds. This is all well and
Email a co-worker a link to an odd
good now that a doctor is saying
story you found on the internet,
it, but could it possibly be because 3. Pluck one leaf from a tree for
eating healthy could stop you
every person you work with.
looking like the whale of a perIll let you form your own concluson you’ve turned into and make
sions about those.
you generally feel better about
FINAL SUMATION,
yourself? Thank you Oprah you’ve
Stress is a problem, and people
done it again. Another bright idea
have made millions of dollars
from a Ms. Sarah Lavely of San
selling bogus products that don’t
Diego, who is CHARGING people
really do anything other then
to break stuff, (yep you heard
distract you from your stress. And
me right, our ‘god given’ right
this is called PROCRASTINATION
the number ONE cause of stress
on the entire planet. So let me
provide you with an ancient secret, passed down from generation
to generation.
*key component of the final sumation has been removed by our
totalitariate school system and
editor, however, it can viewed on
request in a super exclusive word
document.* --Monty McGuire
Blue & Gold Mission
Statement
The Blue & Gold is published so that
other students attending ISB can be
informed about what’s going on in the
world and their school community. The
newspaper is published twice a month
and includes columns concerning ISB
community news, world issues, the environment, entertainment, and sports.
The aim of the Blue and Gold is to
produce and publish genuine and appropriate articles for the students, staff
and teachers at ISB. We pride ourselves
in writing original articles and giving
credit where credit is due. Our journalists strive to embody the values of integrity, honesty, respect, and responsibility. The staff welcomes any questions,
opinions, comments, and sugestions
regarding the Blue & Gold Newspaper.
Blue and Gold
Managment Staff for
November
Editor - Priyanka Sethi
Copy Editor -Lana Al-Huneidi
Layout Chief - Una Mihajlovic
Print Chief - Carl Kelly
7
Think you’re smart? Let’s see how you do on these questions. Answer whether or not these amazing,
random, interesting, and crazy facts are TRUE or FALSE.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
A pregnant goldfish is called a twit.
Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur.
In Singapore the Metro system (MRT) has 21 stops.
Human birth control pills work on gorillas.
Every cat has six rows of whiskers.
Every 300 frowns create one wrinkle.
Shrimps’ hearts are in their heads.
Cleopatra used a cloth soaked in blood for lipstick.
Canada is an Indian word meaning “Red Land”.
Goats’ eyes have rectangular pupils.
A group of owls is called a parliament.
Phtot Courtesy of granitegrok.com
The smallest mushroom’s name is “Hop-low.”
Babies are born without knee caps. They don’t appear until the child reaches 1-2 years of age.
There is a city in Turkey called Batman.
All porcupines float in water.
Death By Goodness
Let’s face it, everyone loves chocolate, and for those of you who
are shaking your head (you know
who you are!) read on, because it
doesn’t just taste great. It’s good
for you too. Chocolate has over
500 different flavors so you’re
bound to find
something you
like. Before we
continue, let’s
thank the Aztecs for chocolate, because
they were the
first ones that
decided to
melt chocolate
Photo Courtesy of
into the bars
that we love so trueslant.com
much. In fact,
they practically worshipped it.
According to Allwomenstalk.com
Emporer Montezuma drank liquid chocolate before entering his
harem, so he would experience
increased levels of pleasure. So
naturally, chocolate is considered
to be an aphrodisiac. Squidoo.
com says that chocolate’s melting point is just below your body
temperature, so the phrase ‘melts
in your mouth’ actually applies
here. Chocolate melting in your
mouth raises brain activity and
stimulates your heart rate more
intensely than kissing someone
would, and the increased heart
rate also lasts four times longer.
Not only is chocolate scientifically
proven to make you feel good,
but it also acts as an antidepressant. According to
Squidoo.com, chocolate
contains tryptophan which
helps you create serotonin,
otherwise known as your
body’s own antidepressant.
Chocolate also has its health
benefits. Infobarrel.com says
that while it does contain
fat, it actually helps reduce
high blood pressure and deal
with tumors. Another interesting
thought: You know those energy
drinks that are full of colors, additives and preservatives that we
drink so much? Well. They. Are.
Bad. Chocolate is better. Chocolate contains natural energy. Extremechocolate.com says that one
SINGLE chocolate chip can actually provide enough energy for
an adult to walk 150 miles. Plus,
that petite French guy Napoleon;
he was a chocolate lover too. He
actually took some chocolate with
him during military campaigns
because it gives you added energy
Answers on page 12
and restores carbohydrates, which
is why trainers still give their athletes chocolate energy bars today.
Yes, chocolate does contain fat,
and too much of a good thing like
chocolate can be bad. Candyfavorites.com states the first ever
recorded case of ‘Death by Chocolate’ was in the 1700’s. Apparently, the properties of chocolate
were more powerful in those days,
and a man named Henry Purcell
died due to a chocolate overdose.
That was in the day, though. So
don’t worry, because nowadays
the chances of dying due to a
chocolate overdose are extremely
minimal because its potency has
been reduced a hundred-fold.
Also, contrary to popular belief,
chocolate does NOT cause acne
like most people think. Chocolate
actually does not make a big difference to your skin. Acne is due
to an improper diet or a hormone
imbalance.
Overall, chocolate is awesome,
because it tastes good, is good,
and makes you feel GREAT. But
remember, too much IS bad for
you. So go easy on the goodness,
‘mmkay?
-- Lana Banana Al-Hyundai
Sports
6Carl’s Top 3 Pointless Winter
team with the most target points. Sometimes I wonder if
the teammates with the brooms would be good cleaners as
house husbands. Skeleton is a wacky sport where a toboggan run is used as a track for a wood sled with two long
blades on the bottom. Each athlete performs separately,
The Winter Olympics is always a time of excitement
and joy; it’s a time when people gather to watch their favor- sliding with their stomachs on their sled down the toboggan
run as fast as possible. The winner, obviously, is the person
ite sports in the snow and ice. In January and February of
with the fastest time. But remember, these people can ride
2010, the Winter Olympics will be held in Vancouver, Canup to 100 miles per hour, basically head first! In my opinion,
ada, and although it should be exciting, there are a couple
it’s too pointless to spend my whole life training to ride head
of sports that seem just pointless to mankind. According
first down an ice toboggan run while
to vancouver2010.com,
the sled does all the work for me.
these sports are officially
And last but not least, the Biathlon
going to be played in the
is a sport that uses a great amount
2010 Winter Olympics.
endurance and rifle shooting skills.
Curling is a sport in
This sport is a mix between cross
which a team of four
country skiing and rifle shootpeople embark to propel
ing. Courses vary between differcircular granite stones a
ent hills and countries. Basically,
half meter in diameter,
the contestant rides through the
onto the target on a
cross country course with 2-4 rifle
45-46 meter long sheet
shooting checkpoints with targets
of ice. This is very much
at a certain distance. So, if you like
like shuffleboard, and
guns, and cross country skiing at
almost like a helicopter
the same time, then this is the sport
Photo Courtesy of Vancouversun.com
landing on a launch pad.
for you. Why would anyone merge two completely different
The team’s task is to first get their circle to slide all the way
sports that would never go together: rifle shooting and skidown the ice onto the target at the other end. Also, they
ing? Just make sure you don’t shoot any of your opponents
can hit the other team’s circles out of the target. What’s
while you’re skiing at the same time.
funny about this sport is that you have one man throwing
--Carl Kelly
the circle, and two or three others with brooms who move
Olympic Sports
in front of the moving circles brushing away excess ice
that would slow the granite stone down. The winner is the
ISB Takes 2nd Place in
CEESA Soccer
Tournament
From the 29th of October to the 1st of November, the
ISB boy’s soccer team competed in a CEESA tournament
hosted by The Anglo-American School of Sofia. Four
schools played in the tournament, there would have
been five competing, however the American International School of Zagreb pulled out last minute due to
several cases of Swine flu. The schools present in the
tournament other than Belgrade and Sofia were NOVA
School Skopje, as well as a joint team between The
American International School of Cyprus, and the American College of Sofia. The ISB Boys soccer team opened
the tournament with their first game on Friday morning
against Sofia, with a 6-2 win. They followed up the pummeling of Sofia, with a 4-2 win over Skopje, and a 4-3
win over Cyprus. Saturday started off with the semifinals, where ISB played Sofia. The semi-finals began
with ISB winning 5-0,ISB’ s fourth consecutive win, and
a Hat-trick from Riccardo Fiore. In the other semi-final
Skopje beat Cyprus to advance to the final. ISB and
NOVA School Skopje were set to play in the final. The
first half of the final was closely contested, and hard
fought by both teams. The half ended in 0-0 stalemate.
Early into the second half Skopje were given a corner.
ISB was able to clear the first ball out of the the box,
Terrorist Killings Lead to Execution
3
A killing spree in 2002 resulted in the death of 10 people, the recent
execution
of a mentally disturbed terrorist and a teenage tragedy.
John Allen Muhammad’s birth name was John Allen Williams. He had
changed his name after converting to Islam. He had been trained in the
army and it was there that he learnt to shoot.
At the age of 42, Muhammad caused the death of 10 people in a
killing spree in October 2002, in Washington DC. He and his 17 year old
accomplice Lee Boyd Malvo were arrested on the 24th of October.
They were also suspected of fatal shootings in other states.
Lee Boyd Malvo was convicted of killing an FBI analyst Linda Franklin,
who was 47 years old. Malvo was initially given the death penalty, but this
was ruled out because the Supreme Court of the United States did not allow
the execution of juveniles. Instead, he has been put to life sentence without
parole in Virginia.
According to an article in ‘CBS News’, Muhammad’s attorney asked the
Courtesy of Life
governor not to give Muhammad a life sentence as he claimed that Muhammad was “mentally ill”. He said
that Muhammad had brain damage and neurological problems as a result of the “Gulf War Syndrome”,
which are symptoms with no medical explanation.
After spending over 7 years in prison, Muhammad was executed on the 10th of November by lethal
injection, in Virginia-Greensville Correctional Centre in Jarratt. Muhammad still claimed that he did nothing
wrong and refused to give any final statement.
An article in ‘Fox News’ states that there was no apparent cause for the killings. Malvo said that
Muhammad wanted to set up camps in Canada for training homeless children to become terrorists, using
money ($10 million) that he planned to get from the government by threatening it. However, Muhammad’s
ex-wife thought he did all this to conceal his actual plan of killing her to regain custody of their children.
The execution brought this nightmare to a close, and family members of the victims are relieved to
have this over with.
--Priyanka Sethi
Cont from p.1
Photo Courtesy of ISB
however the second ball played into the box went over
all ISB’s defenders and Skopje headed the ball into the
net for 1-0 lead. ISB fought hard to come back, but
unfortunately couldn’t tie the game. The final ended 1-0
to Skopje. It was a heartbreaking defeat to Skopje, who
impressed everyone by taking first place in their first
ever CEESA soccer tournament.
--Dean Harrison
The year 1989 was a historical year. All countries that were members of the Warsaw Pact began to lose
their power. Poland and Hungary organized competitive elections. Then massive protests occurred in
Czechoslovakia and East Germany. The Bulgarian’s and Romanian’s government crumbled with Romania’s
being overthrown in a violent uprising. On February 9th, 1989 the Berlin Wall opened. This was the beginning of the end the Eastern European Communist Regime and the Iron Curtain was lifted. Two years later
on December 1st, 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed, breaking into fifteen different nations. East Germany
and West Germany were finally reunited. This was supposed to benefit the world right? Right? Wrong! The
nations making up the former Soviet Union were mostly poor.
In order for the nations created by the breakup of the Soviet Union to gain wealth, they sold many Cold
War-era weapon technologies such as advanced tanks, jets, missiles, and other weapons to earn money.
The sale of these weapons caused problems for western countries for the next decade as they found that
hostile countries were equipped with weapons designed by the Soviets to combat western powers. Western countries prospered from this time of chaos in Eastern Europe. A lot of Russians lived in poverty when
the government switched to a free-market economy. East Germans and West Germans had problems unifying because of cultural differences. Because of the breakdown of communist regimes in some countries
which were able to keep the country together by force, ethnic and civil tensions were produced especially
in former Yugoslavia. So today people celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall, but
what people don’t realize is the problems that occurred during the end of communism in Europe. Was it
better for the world or did it make the world worse?
--Garek Wong
4
PANDEMIC FLU
H1N1, also known as swine flu, is the new influenza
virus. It is called swine flu because it was thought to haveoriginated from swine (pigs), however this has not been verified. According to PubMed.gov Swine Flue originated in Mexico on
April 2009. It became an epidemic in Mexico and spread worldwide and became a pandemic. United States was the second
country to have confirmed a case of the virus. The H1N1 virus is
extremely contagious and has started spreading from human to
human. There are some people that can be considered at highrisk, these include; children under age of 5, people over age of
65, pregnant women, patients who have had drug treatment
for asthma in the past three years, people with chronic organ
diseases, immunosuppressant people and people with diabetes.
The symptoms of Swine Flu include; fever, coughing, a sore
throat, a blocked nose, headaches, body aches, exhaustion and
drowsiness. Some cases might include, diarrhea and vomiting
in addition to other symptoms. Cases of Swine Flu have been
recorded across the globe, the highest frequency of deaths
from Swine Flu was documented in the United States reaching
1918 deaths on 17th of November 2009. Global casualties have
reacged 7,092 confirmed deaths.
In Serbia
cases of swine
flu have been
detected in the
citys Belgrade,
Novi Sad, Niš,
Sombor, Srbobran,
Nova Pazova and
Šabac. Local victims
included three
athletes participating in the World
Student Games.
Photo Coutesy oursurprisingworld.com
Serbian Public Health
Institute said to B92 that 16 people had recovered from the flu
in Serbia, adding that most of the cases had been either light
or moderate. Over 100 swine flu cases have been registered in
Serbia so far, more than 60 of which were infected from contact
with other patients. Only 11 deaths have occurred in Serbia
according to Wikipedia.com. Even though, it is said that there
are many more unconfirmed deaths. Dr. Eric Sands said “Over
the past 2 weeks we have been monitoring the news associated
with the H1N1 virus and its impact on ISB and Central Eastern
European Schools and Association (CEESA) activities”. The HS
Soccer/Volleyball Combo Tournament was canceled due to the
school in Kiev being closed down as a result of the H1N1 virus.
The MS Speech and Debate tournament which ISB was intended
to host was canceled, and the HS Speech and Debate tournament in Moscow was also canceled. He also mentioned in his
H1N1 update that if the school was closed, the MS and the HS
will continue our education through Moodlic. For LS; teachers
will email the assignments to the parents of LS students. For
further updates on H1N1, you can visit the ISB School Website
and read the “H1N1 Update” by Dr. Eric Sands. Although
Serbia has ordered
3 million vaccines
from Switzerland,
there are plenty of
preventative actions
for Swine Flu. It is
important to keep
your hands clean
and to always sneeze
and cough in a tissue
and dispose of it as
quickly as possible.
Photo Courtesy to www.albany.com
This flu affects your
immune system, so it is very important to take preventative
measures.
-- Irem Yener
Cont. from p.1
Cosi article
Moving to the prop area, inside small tent right outside the left
wing of the stage, Siir Tecirlioglu and Tatiana Filajdic who have
been charged with and array of different props that all need
looking after. During the play, there is the constant pressure
to do everything right, so when it comes to props, Siir had this
to say: “It’s stressful because if you lose something, they [the
cast] blame you for it”
I went on to ask the ISB production director, Mrs. Sands; about
new problems she faced with Cosi that didn’t come up before:
“Learning about mental illness, making the play work in the very
small theatre space, and keeping the actors healthy [due to the
H1N1 outbreak] was also a huge concern.”
Behind the audience was the technical crew, with the lighting
department being Rebecca Sereinig and Luci Novak.
One of the easiest things to notice in a play is how the mood
changes with the lighting. What you don’t notice, however, is
that while you are watching a scene, the next change of lights
is being set up. Being able to keep track of all of these cues is
hard enough and these two had it covered. Rebecca said: “We
write all down in the script” and
Luci added: “It’s actually not that hard, Sweeney Todd was
much more complicated.”
Finally there was the sound department which was done by me,
Richard Korn. New to the drama scene, it was an intriguing new
experience for me. There were parts in Cosi where sound FX
needed to be gradually faded in and out with music at the same
time. This had to be done carefully to give the audience a good
experience.
--Richard Korn
5
Belle de Jour
A woman gained
fame and notoriety in
London by starting work as
a high class call girl. She
took this job up to support
herself while completing
her doctorial thesis in 2003
when she realizing she had
no issue with getting paid
for delivering sexual favors.
She gained fame through
writing the bestseller diary,
“Belle de Jour”, under her
pen name ‘Belle’, carefully recording her sexual
escapades and life during
her work as a call girl. A
series was soon made out
of her book on UK prime
time television, starring
Billie Piper, and became a
huge success in Britain. She
eventually quit her job as
a call girl when she didn’t
need it to support herself
anymore. After many years
of living a secret double life,
she came out to the world,
finally revealing her true
identity. Her name is Brooke
Magnanti, she is 34 years
old, and presently works
as a cancer and developmental neurotoxicologist
at the University of Bristol.
Magnanti feared her ex
boyfriend would break his
silence and reveal the truth
about her, because she -- wanted to answer back to
the prejudice held against
her, and because she didn’t
“want this massive secret
over me” anymore.
A specific case prejudice
held against her was that
the senior Church of England clergy used his website
to express his negative
opinions on “Belle de Jour”,
stating that “fiction like
‘Belle de Jour’ created a
myth that sex workers were
independent women, empowered by the hold they
have over men” – Magnanti
has said to have been most
upset by the accusation that
her story is fiction.
Magnanti, and
other women in similar
situations as she put herself
in, open up several controversial questions regarding
the ethics of prostitution.
Prostitution is still a discreet
occupation for good reasons. It’s widely considered
a dirty, cheap way of
earning quick money, and
reserved for tainted, moralless, and greedy women.
Public sentiment toward this
‘career’ is still negative, and
some of the reasons behind
all the prejudice toward this
occupation are perfectly
justified, because it’s such
a risky and dangerous job.
Supporting prostitution helps
support dirty businesses and
crimes like human trafficking, and even rape. Even
without the interference of
others, prostitution can lead
to STDs, unwanted pregnancies, and can have a very
negative mental impact on
the prostitutes themselves.
Is Magnanti’s way of getting
herself through college ethical, or is it something that
should be prohibited, even if
it doesn’t pose a problem for
the girl in question?
--Danica Tancic
Editorial on Off-School Privileges
Cont. from p.1
There were no problems caused; no tardy students, everybody returned, and nothing bad happened. This should happen more often, once every month or so (although it would be better to have it more often), and not only for the tenth graders
but for all grades. This was found unfair by many students of other grades but if the policy is made fair, the students will be
more enthusiastic about working and such, as they would have something to look forward to. For example, so that there aren’t
too many students out at the same time, the last week of every month, the ninth graders should be allowed to go out one day,
then the next the tenth graders, and lastly the eleventh graders. Also, the public Serbian schools all have off-campus privileges
for the whole high school. If they do, then why shouldn’t we? We are in the same city, community, we have the same responsibilities, and their schools allow them to leave school for lunch and ISB does not. It takes exactly five minutes with an average
walking rate to reach the center of Senjak where all of the stores, cafes, and restaurants are; so in total the students have thirty
minutes (without the ten minutes which it would take them to get to there and back to school) to waste. It is better and more
refreshing if all would be able to leave, at least once every now and then. Mr. Kralovec was asked if we could really have such
rights and he said “I’ll think about it” but even though it would be nice to have that done, the students should also respect the
rules and if there are many tardy students or if some don’t return, the advantage should be taken away. Some of the seniors
found this especially unfair, because they did not get such privileges when they were our age, but if it works then why not make
a change and have some of the privileges apply for all?
--Linda Kirova
4
PANDEMIC FLU
H1N1, also known as swine flu, is the new influenza
virus. It is called swine flu because it was thought to haveoriginated from swine (pigs), however this has not been verified. According to PubMed.gov Swine Flue originated in Mexico on
April 2009. It became an epidemic in Mexico and spread worldwide and became a pandemic. United States was the second
country to have confirmed a case of the virus. The H1N1 virus is
extremely contagious and has started spreading from human to
human. There are some people that can be considered at highrisk, these include; children under age of 5, people over age of
65, pregnant women, patients who have had drug treatment
for asthma in the past three years, people with chronic organ
diseases, immunosuppressant people and people with diabetes.
The symptoms of Swine Flu include; fever, coughing, a sore
throat, a blocked nose, headaches, body aches, exhaustion and
drowsiness. Some cases might include, diarrhea and vomiting
in addition to other symptoms. Cases of Swine Flu have been
recorded across the globe, the highest frequency of deaths
from Swine Flu was documented in the United States reaching
1918 deaths on 17th of November 2009. Global casualties have
reacged 7,092 confirmed deaths.
In Serbia
cases of swine
flu have been
detected in the
citys Belgrade,
Novi Sad, Niš,
Sombor, Srbobran,
Nova Pazova and
Šabac. Local victims
included three
athletes participating in the World
Student Games.
Photo Coutesy oursurprisingworld.com
Serbian Public Health
Institute said to B92 that 16 people had recovered from the flu
in Serbia, adding that most of the cases had been either light
or moderate. Over 100 swine flu cases have been registered in
Serbia so far, more than 60 of which were infected from contact
with other patients. Only 11 deaths have occurred in Serbia
according to Wikipedia.com. Even though, it is said that there
are many more unconfirmed deaths. Dr. Eric Sands said “Over
the past 2 weeks we have been monitoring the news associated
with the H1N1 virus and its impact on ISB and Central Eastern
European Schools and Association (CEESA) activities”. The HS
Soccer/Volleyball Combo Tournament was canceled due to the
school in Kiev being closed down as a result of the H1N1 virus.
The MS Speech and Debate tournament which ISB was intended
to host was canceled, and the HS Speech and Debate tournament in Moscow was also canceled. He also mentioned in his
H1N1 update that if the school was closed, the MS and the HS
will continue our education through Moodlic. For LS; teachers
will email the assignments to the parents of LS students. For
further updates on H1N1, you can visit the ISB School Website
and read the “H1N1 Update” by Dr. Eric Sands. Although
Serbia has ordered
3 million vaccines
from Switzerland,
there are plenty of
preventative actions
for Swine Flu. It is
important to keep
your hands clean
and to always sneeze
and cough in a tissue
and dispose of it as
quickly as possible.
Photo Courtesy to www.albany.com
This flu affects your
immune system, so it is very important to take preventative
measures.
-- Irem Yener
Cont. from p.1
Cosi article
Moving to the prop area, inside small tent right outside the left
wing of the stage, Siir Tecirlioglu and Tatiana Filajdic who have
been charged with and array of different props that all need
looking after. During the play, there is the constant pressure
to do everything right, so when it comes to props, Siir had this
to say: “It’s stressful because if you lose something, they [the
cast] blame you for it”
I went on to ask the ISB production director, Mrs. Sands; about
new problems she faced with Cosi that didn’t come up before:
“Learning about mental illness, making the play work in the very
small theatre space, and keeping the actors healthy [due to the
H1N1 outbreak] was also a huge concern.”
Behind the audience was the technical crew, with the lighting
department being Rebecca Sereinig and Luci Novak.
One of the easiest things to notice in a play is how the mood
changes with the lighting. What you don’t notice, however, is
that while you are watching a scene, the next change of lights
is being set up. Being able to keep track of all of these cues is
hard enough and these two had it covered. Rebecca said: “We
write all down in the script” and
Luci added: “It’s actually not that hard, Sweeney Todd was
much more complicated.”
Finally there was the sound department which was done by me,
Richard Korn. New to the drama scene, it was an intriguing new
experience for me. There were parts in Cosi where sound FX
needed to be gradually faded in and out with music at the same
time. This had to be done carefully to give the audience a good
experience.
--Richard Korn
5
Belle de Jour
A woman gained
fame and notoriety in
London by starting work as
a high class call girl. She
took this job up to support
herself while completing
her doctorial thesis in 2003
when she realizing she had
no issue with getting paid
for delivering sexual favors.
She gained fame through
writing the bestseller diary,
“Belle de Jour”, under her
pen name ‘Belle’, carefully recording her sexual
escapades and life during
her work as a call girl. A
series was soon made out
of her book on UK prime
time television, starring
Billie Piper, and became a
huge success in Britain. She
eventually quit her job as
a call girl when she didn’t
need it to support herself
anymore. After many years
of living a secret double life,
she came out to the world,
finally revealing her true
identity. Her name is Brooke
Magnanti, she is 34 years
old, and presently works
as a cancer and developmental neurotoxicologist
at the University of Bristol.
Magnanti feared her ex
boyfriend would break his
silence and reveal the truth
about her, because she -- wanted to answer back to
the prejudice held against
her, and because she didn’t
“want this massive secret
over me” anymore.
A specific case prejudice
held against her was that
the senior Church of England clergy used his website
to express his negative
opinions on “Belle de Jour”,
stating that “fiction like
‘Belle de Jour’ created a
myth that sex workers were
independent women, empowered by the hold they
have over men” – Magnanti
has said to have been most
upset by the accusation that
her story is fiction.
Magnanti, and
other women in similar
situations as she put herself
in, open up several controversial questions regarding
the ethics of prostitution.
Prostitution is still a discreet
occupation for good reasons. It’s widely considered
a dirty, cheap way of
earning quick money, and
reserved for tainted, moralless, and greedy women.
Public sentiment toward this
‘career’ is still negative, and
some of the reasons behind
all the prejudice toward this
occupation are perfectly
justified, because it’s such
a risky and dangerous job.
Supporting prostitution helps
support dirty businesses and
crimes like human trafficking, and even rape. Even
without the interference of
others, prostitution can lead
to STDs, unwanted pregnancies, and can have a very
negative mental impact on
the prostitutes themselves.
Is Magnanti’s way of getting
herself through college ethical, or is it something that
should be prohibited, even if
it doesn’t pose a problem for
the girl in question?
--Danica Tancic
Editorial on Off-School Privileges
Cont. from p.1
There were no problems caused; no tardy students, everybody returned, and nothing bad happened. This should happen more often, once every month or so (although it would be better to have it more often), and not only for the tenth graders
but for all grades. This was found unfair by many students of other grades but if the policy is made fair, the students will be
more enthusiastic about working and such, as they would have something to look forward to. For example, so that there aren’t
too many students out at the same time, the last week of every month, the ninth graders should be allowed to go out one day,
then the next the tenth graders, and lastly the eleventh graders. Also, the public Serbian schools all have off-campus privileges
for the whole high school. If they do, then why shouldn’t we? We are in the same city, community, we have the same responsibilities, and their schools allow them to leave school for lunch and ISB does not. It takes exactly five minutes with an average
walking rate to reach the center of Senjak where all of the stores, cafes, and restaurants are; so in total the students have thirty
minutes (without the ten minutes which it would take them to get to there and back to school) to waste. It is better and more
refreshing if all would be able to leave, at least once every now and then. Mr. Kralovec was asked if we could really have such
rights and he said “I’ll think about it” but even though it would be nice to have that done, the students should also respect the
rules and if there are many tardy students or if some don’t return, the advantage should be taken away. Some of the seniors
found this especially unfair, because they did not get such privileges when they were our age, but if it works then why not make
a change and have some of the privileges apply for all?
--Linda Kirova
Sports
6Carl’s Top 3 Pointless Winter
team with the most target points. Sometimes I wonder if
the teammates with the brooms would be good cleaners as
house husbands. Skeleton is a wacky sport where a toboggan run is used as a track for a wood sled with two long
blades on the bottom. Each athlete performs separately,
The Winter Olympics is always a time of excitement
and joy; it’s a time when people gather to watch their favor- sliding with their stomachs on their sled down the toboggan
run as fast as possible. The winner, obviously, is the person
ite sports in the snow and ice. In January and February of
with the fastest time. But remember, these people can ride
2010, the Winter Olympics will be held in Vancouver, Canup to 100 miles per hour, basically head first! In my opinion,
ada, and although it should be exciting, there are a couple
it’s too pointless to spend my whole life training to ride head
of sports that seem just pointless to mankind. According
first down an ice toboggan run while
to vancouver2010.com,
the sled does all the work for me.
these sports are officially
And last but not least, the Biathlon
going to be played in the
is a sport that uses a great amount
2010 Winter Olympics.
endurance and rifle shooting skills.
Curling is a sport in
This sport is a mix between cross
which a team of four
country skiing and rifle shootpeople embark to propel
ing. Courses vary between differcircular granite stones a
ent hills and countries. Basically,
half meter in diameter,
the contestant rides through the
onto the target on a
cross country course with 2-4 rifle
45-46 meter long sheet
shooting checkpoints with targets
of ice. This is very much
at a certain distance. So, if you like
like shuffleboard, and
guns, and cross country skiing at
almost like a helicopter
the same time, then this is the sport
Photo Courtesy of Vancouversun.com
landing on a launch pad.
for you. Why would anyone merge two completely different
The team’s task is to first get their circle to slide all the way
sports that would never go together: rifle shooting and skidown the ice onto the target at the other end. Also, they
ing? Just make sure you don’t shoot any of your opponents
can hit the other team’s circles out of the target. What’s
while you’re skiing at the same time.
funny about this sport is that you have one man throwing
--Carl Kelly
the circle, and two or three others with brooms who move
Olympic Sports
in front of the moving circles brushing away excess ice
that would slow the granite stone down. The winner is the
ISB Takes 2nd Place in
CEESA Soccer
Tournament
From the 29th of October to the 1st of November, the
ISB boy’s soccer team competed in a CEESA tournament
hosted by The Anglo-American School of Sofia. Four
schools played in the tournament, there would have
been five competing, however the American International School of Zagreb pulled out last minute due to
several cases of Swine flu. The schools present in the
tournament other than Belgrade and Sofia were NOVA
School Skopje, as well as a joint team between The
American International School of Cyprus, and the American College of Sofia. The ISB Boys soccer team opened
the tournament with their first game on Friday morning
against Sofia, with a 6-2 win. They followed up the pummeling of Sofia, with a 4-2 win over Skopje, and a 4-3
win over Cyprus. Saturday started off with the semifinals, where ISB played Sofia. The semi-finals began
with ISB winning 5-0,ISB’ s fourth consecutive win, and
a Hat-trick from Riccardo Fiore. In the other semi-final
Skopje beat Cyprus to advance to the final. ISB and
NOVA School Skopje were set to play in the final. The
first half of the final was closely contested, and hard
fought by both teams. The half ended in 0-0 stalemate.
Early into the second half Skopje were given a corner.
ISB was able to clear the first ball out of the the box,
Terrorist Killings Lead to Execution
3
A killing spree in 2002 resulted in the death of 10 people, the recent
execution
of a mentally disturbed terrorist and a teenage tragedy.
John Allen Muhammad’s birth name was John Allen Williams. He had
changed his name after converting to Islam. He had been trained in the
army and it was there that he learnt to shoot.
At the age of 42, Muhammad caused the death of 10 people in a
killing spree in October 2002, in Washington DC. He and his 17 year old
accomplice Lee Boyd Malvo were arrested on the 24th of October.
They were also suspected of fatal shootings in other states.
Lee Boyd Malvo was convicted of killing an FBI analyst Linda Franklin,
who was 47 years old. Malvo was initially given the death penalty, but this
was ruled out because the Supreme Court of the United States did not allow
the execution of juveniles. Instead, he has been put to life sentence without
parole in Virginia.
According to an article in ‘CBS News’, Muhammad’s attorney asked the
Courtesy of Life
governor not to give Muhammad a life sentence as he claimed that Muhammad was “mentally ill”. He said
that Muhammad had brain damage and neurological problems as a result of the “Gulf War Syndrome”,
which are symptoms with no medical explanation.
After spending over 7 years in prison, Muhammad was executed on the 10th of November by lethal
injection, in Virginia-Greensville Correctional Centre in Jarratt. Muhammad still claimed that he did nothing
wrong and refused to give any final statement.
An article in ‘Fox News’ states that there was no apparent cause for the killings. Malvo said that
Muhammad wanted to set up camps in Canada for training homeless children to become terrorists, using
money ($10 million) that he planned to get from the government by threatening it. However, Muhammad’s
ex-wife thought he did all this to conceal his actual plan of killing her to regain custody of their children.
The execution brought this nightmare to a close, and family members of the victims are relieved to
have this over with.
--Priyanka Sethi
Cont from p.1
Photo Courtesy of ISB
however the second ball played into the box went over
all ISB’s defenders and Skopje headed the ball into the
net for 1-0 lead. ISB fought hard to come back, but
unfortunately couldn’t tie the game. The final ended 1-0
to Skopje. It was a heartbreaking defeat to Skopje, who
impressed everyone by taking first place in their first
ever CEESA soccer tournament.
--Dean Harrison
The year 1989 was a historical year. All countries that were members of the Warsaw Pact began to lose
their power. Poland and Hungary organized competitive elections. Then massive protests occurred in
Czechoslovakia and East Germany. The Bulgarian’s and Romanian’s government crumbled with Romania’s
being overthrown in a violent uprising. On February 9th, 1989 the Berlin Wall opened. This was the beginning of the end the Eastern European Communist Regime and the Iron Curtain was lifted. Two years later
on December 1st, 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed, breaking into fifteen different nations. East Germany
and West Germany were finally reunited. This was supposed to benefit the world right? Right? Wrong! The
nations making up the former Soviet Union were mostly poor.
In order for the nations created by the breakup of the Soviet Union to gain wealth, they sold many Cold
War-era weapon technologies such as advanced tanks, jets, missiles, and other weapons to earn money.
The sale of these weapons caused problems for western countries for the next decade as they found that
hostile countries were equipped with weapons designed by the Soviets to combat western powers. Western countries prospered from this time of chaos in Eastern Europe. A lot of Russians lived in poverty when
the government switched to a free-market economy. East Germans and West Germans had problems unifying because of cultural differences. Because of the breakdown of communist regimes in some countries
which were able to keep the country together by force, ethnic and civil tensions were produced especially
in former Yugoslavia. So today people celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall, but
what people don’t realize is the problems that occurred during the end of communism in Europe. Was it
better for the world or did it make the world worse?
--Garek Wong
2
Do You Know Random Information?
100% of Overworked Individuals are Stressed
Workplace stress comes in all
of destruction has been given a
shapes and sizes; it’s a harmful
price tag) for the low, low price of
physical emotion that is created
10USD a customer is allowed to
when a person’s workload outbreak a magnitude of household
weighs their capabilities, leavitems over a 15 minute interval.
ing a feeling of helplessness and
This literally involves a person beinadequacy. Perhaps the greatest
ing left alone in a small room full
problem with stress is the lack of
of fragile objects with nothing but
action, more time is spent talking
baseball bat (pay extra for themed
about the stress then actually rerooms, these include; Greek diner
lieving it. So, without further ado,
and your bosses office). While this
I bring to you, THE ANSWER.
does sound like a great deal of
Many people have different ideas
fun, it lacks any long term benefits
and perspectives on stress relief;
and would require multiple visits
in some countries such as Japan
a week to suit the stress levels
and China were the workload is
of the average American. (Not to
so high, that workers have been
mention, breaking stuff just isn’t
known to kill themselves on a
fun if you know nobody is going to
regular basis, (gathered from Biocry about it afterwards).
Medicine.org ‘Workplace Stress
One interesting stress relief article
Leads to Rising Suicide Rate in JaI came across during my lengthy
pan’) the government were forced
internet travels was the story of
to implement anti-stress
one Ameriplans. Not to mention
can man
multibillion dollar corpowho believes
rations inventing things
stress is a
such as, “The Japanese
buildup of
Stress Vase,” which is bapoltergeists
sically a 48$ piece of plasin the soul
tic shaped like a vase that
that he can
you scream into. Interestexorcize for a
ing in principle, but still as
fee. However
gimmicky as they come.
this idea was
Quickly moving onto the
so completely
next theory;
bogus I shall
this one was provided
move on imJapanese Screaming Vase
to me by the wonderful
mediately.
Photo Courtesy of popgadget.net
Oprah ladies and gentleThe internet
man; Dr. Rovenia Brock reports
is full of small “weird” things that
that certain types of food will depeople say you should do to relive
crease your stress levels and keep stress; I will name a few of these,
you healthy, such as; foods rich in
1. List all the craziest things
vitamin B, papayas, red bell pepyou’ve done in your life on a piece
pers, basil and arugula and sunof paper, and then burn it, 2.
flower seeds. This is all well and
Email a co-worker a link to an odd
good now that a doctor is saying
story you found on the internet,
it, but could it possibly be because 3. Pluck one leaf from a tree for
eating healthy could stop you
every person you work with.
looking like the whale of a perIll let you form your own concluson you’ve turned into and make
sions about those.
you generally feel better about
FINAL SUMATION,
yourself? Thank you Oprah you’ve
Stress is a problem, and people
done it again. Another bright idea
have made millions of dollars
from a Ms. Sarah Lavely of San
selling bogus products that don’t
Diego, who is CHARGING people
really do anything other then
to break stuff, (yep you heard
distract you from your stress. And
me right, our ‘god given’ right
this is called PROCRASTINATION
the number ONE cause of stress
on the entire planet. So let me
provide you with an ancient secret, passed down from generation
to generation.
*key component of the final sumation has been removed by our
totalitariate school system and
editor, however, it can viewed on
request in a super exclusive word
document.* --Monty McGuire
Blue & Gold Mission
Statement
The Blue & Gold is published so that
other students attending ISB can be
informed about what’s going on in the
world and their school community. The
newspaper is published twice a month
and includes columns concerning ISB
community news, world issues, the environment, entertainment, and sports.
The aim of the Blue and Gold is to
produce and publish genuine and appropriate articles for the students, staff
and teachers at ISB. We pride ourselves
in writing original articles and giving
credit where credit is due. Our journalists strive to embody the values of integrity, honesty, respect, and responsibility. The staff welcomes any questions,
opinions, comments, and sugestions
regarding the Blue & Gold Newspaper.
Blue and Gold
Managment Staff for
November
Editor - Priyanka Sethi
Copy Editor -Lana Al-Huneidi
Layout Chief - Una Mihajlovic
Print Chief - Carl Kelly
7
Think you’re smart? Let’s see how you do on these questions. Answer whether or not these amazing,
random, interesting, and crazy facts are TRUE or FALSE.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
A pregnant goldfish is called a twit.
Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur.
In Singapore the Metro system (MRT) has 21 stops.
Human birth control pills work on gorillas.
Every cat has six rows of whiskers.
Every 300 frowns create one wrinkle.
Shrimps’ hearts are in their heads.
Cleopatra used a cloth soaked in blood for lipstick.
Canada is an Indian word meaning “Red Land”.
Goats’ eyes have rectangular pupils.
A group of owls is called a parliament.
Phtot Courtesy of granitegrok.com
The smallest mushroom’s name is “Hop-low.”
Babies are born without knee caps. They don’t appear until the child reaches 1-2 years of age.
There is a city in Turkey called Batman.
All porcupines float in water.
Death By Goodness
Let’s face it, everyone loves chocolate, and for those of you who
are shaking your head (you know
who you are!) read on, because it
doesn’t just taste great. It’s good
for you too. Chocolate has over
500 different flavors so you’re
bound to find
something you
like. Before we
continue, let’s
thank the Aztecs for chocolate, because
they were the
first ones that
decided to
melt chocolate
Photo Courtesy of
into the bars
that we love so trueslant.com
much. In fact,
they practically worshipped it.
According to Allwomenstalk.com
Emporer Montezuma drank liquid chocolate before entering his
harem, so he would experience
increased levels of pleasure. So
naturally, chocolate is considered
to be an aphrodisiac. Squidoo.
com says that chocolate’s melting point is just below your body
temperature, so the phrase ‘melts
in your mouth’ actually applies
here. Chocolate melting in your
mouth raises brain activity and
stimulates your heart rate more
intensely than kissing someone
would, and the increased heart
rate also lasts four times longer.
Not only is chocolate scientifically
proven to make you feel good,
but it also acts as an antidepressant. According to
Squidoo.com, chocolate
contains tryptophan which
helps you create serotonin,
otherwise known as your
body’s own antidepressant.
Chocolate also has its health
benefits. Infobarrel.com says
that while it does contain
fat, it actually helps reduce
high blood pressure and deal
with tumors. Another interesting
thought: You know those energy
drinks that are full of colors, additives and preservatives that we
drink so much? Well. They. Are.
Bad. Chocolate is better. Chocolate contains natural energy. Extremechocolate.com says that one
SINGLE chocolate chip can actually provide enough energy for
an adult to walk 150 miles. Plus,
that petite French guy Napoleon;
he was a chocolate lover too. He
actually took some chocolate with
him during military campaigns
because it gives you added energy
Answers on page 12
and restores carbohydrates, which
is why trainers still give their athletes chocolate energy bars today.
Yes, chocolate does contain fat,
and too much of a good thing like
chocolate can be bad. Candyfavorites.com states the first ever
recorded case of ‘Death by Chocolate’ was in the 1700’s. Apparently, the properties of chocolate
were more powerful in those days,
and a man named Henry Purcell
died due to a chocolate overdose.
That was in the day, though. So
don’t worry, because nowadays
the chances of dying due to a
chocolate overdose are extremely
minimal because its potency has
been reduced a hundred-fold.
Also, contrary to popular belief,
chocolate does NOT cause acne
like most people think. Chocolate
actually does not make a big difference to your skin. Acne is due
to an improper diet or a hormone
imbalance.
Overall, chocolate is awesome,
because it tastes good, is good,
and makes you feel GREAT. But
remember, too much IS bad for
you. So go easy on the goodness,
‘mmkay?
-- Lana Banana Al-Hyundai
8
Do You Know your Random Information?
cont. from p.7
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
True
True
False- Singapore has
69 MRT stops
True
False- cats have only
four rows of whiskers
False- every two thousand frowns
make a wrinkle
True
False- Cleopatra used
pomegranate seeds for lipstick
False- Canada is an Indian
word meaning “Big Village”
True
True
True
False- babies don’t get knee caps
until they reach 2-6 years of age
True
True --Una Mihajlovic
The Amazingly Awesome Afro
Out of all the hairstyles in the world, the afro is possibly the most
beloved. True, you don’t see afros very often but when you do, it’s
memorable. The people in our school have been very lucky to see an
afro, Jacek Swiezaczynski. Afros were first seen in the 1960s; worn
most often by African-American men and women. If you want to start
sporting an afro yourself, you need very curly hair, otherwise no afro
for you. Jacek says, “When I moved to Poland my hair starting getting curly and then eventually turned into an afro.” The afro was
very active with the disco era; in those days people sported afros on
a daily basis. It is a hairstyle that is not that hard to maintain if you
have curly hair (the hair extends from the head in the shape of a ball).
Nicknames for the afro include “fro” and “natural”. According to Cynthia C. Scott “the afro was not only a
hairstyle or a fashion trend but a political statement that allowed people of color to express their cultural
and historical identity”. At the start of the afro phase, it was frowned upon by elders who were very closedminded and believed in “older values”, however the popularity of the afro only increased because it was
worn by such people like Whoopi Goldberg. Other than the original afro there is also the “jewfro”. A jewfro
is basically the same thing as an afro, but of the Ashkenazi Jewish descent. According to urbandictionary.
com, there are endless definitions for afros for example “an afro is a natural hairstyle for people of African
ancestry. Beautiful, and unique, it will come in many different textures, endless styling possibilities. Can
be brushed out, or worn close to the head”, or simply put, “big puffy hair”. Tatiana Filajdic says that “afros
are really cool and I wish I could grow one but that would be weird”, whereas Theresa Koja takes a more
forward approach and says “I love em, they’re sexy. Jacek should never shave his head!”, and Lana Al-Huneidi (also known as Lana Banana) thinks “they are fun to play with”. I personally think that seeing Jacek’s
afro was a life-changing experience! Many people think that afros are going to make a huge comeback and
that we should wait for them to come back with a bang!
--Anja Paspalj
Behind the scenes of COSI
Issue 5 November 30th, 2009
Behind every great golf player there’s a great caddy; without
the caddy, the golfer would not be able to play his games half as well. Such is the same with major events like Cosi; without the stage crew
an event like this wouldn’t be possible.
When you walk into a theatre, you will look for your seat, see
how set pieces are arranged on the stage, talk with your friends or
listen to the pleasant music in the background, while you wait for the
magic to start. But while you sit there, unaware, a frenzy of unseen
activity is occurring all around you. Actors are quickly reviewing their
lines; make-up artists are putting the final touches on their subjects;
stage crew are checking their props; SFX checks are taking place and
the lighting crews are ensuring all of their cues are prepared.
I spoke to a number of important backstage workers, each with
their own comments about the stresses of the job. When Darija Minic
(part of the makeup department) was asked what sort of concentration was needed for her job, holding up a large pair of scissors, she replied, “I need to concentrate very hard because I could accidently kill
Louis [while preparing his moustache].”
continued on page 4
Editorial: 20th Anniversary of the
Fall of the Berlin Wall
From 1961 to 1989, the Berlin Wall divided Berlin into West
Berlin (democratic) and East Berlin (communists). How did Europe
end up being divided? It all started after the end of World War II. The
United States, Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union were responsible for rebuilding the sectors of Germany they were given. The
United States, Great Britain, and France combined their sectors to
form West Germany. The Soviets controlled East Germany. The U.S.,
France, and Great Britain rebuilt Western Europe with democratic
governments while the Soviets rebuilt Eastern Europe with communist
governments. In 1961, the USSR built the Berlin Wall to divide Berlin
in half. For the next thirty-eight years, the wall stood there throughout
all the tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union. On
November 9th, 1989, the wall finally fell. That day Gunter Schabowski,
the minister of propaganda, announced that the borders are open.
After this announcement, thousands of people gathered around
the Berlin Wall demanding that the guards open the gates. Realizing
that they couldn’t hold the crowd back, the guards finally relented and
opened the gates. The crowds went
through without being checked.
East Berliners were greeted by ecstatic West Berliners. Over the next
several weeks the Berlin Wall was
chipped away.
Berlin Wall (1989)
continued on page 3
Editorial: OffSchool Privileges
As we all know, currently only
the seniors are allowed to leave
campus during lunch. Why? Well
simply because they can put
up with all rules. However, that
doesn’t mean that the younger
students cannot do that as well.
As you might have heard, the
sophomores were rewarded with
an off campus lunch period, due to
the fact that only two people got
sent to the principal’s office for the
WHOLE week. According to them
it was “fun” and “a great way to
spend the lunch periods”.
contiuned on page 9