Volume 6, Issue 2

American School In TaichungVolume Six Edition Two

After his first short visit to AST, Mr. Corcoran “was very impressed. [He] enjoyed meeting everyone, and even though it was a short visit, [he] felt very welcomed.” After being persuaded by Ms. Anna Lee and Mr. Stein, Mr. Corcoran visited for a sec-ond time, during the week of April 26. Mr. Corcoran thinks that AST is unique because it is “smaller, and def-initely quieter, since there are fewer students.” Mr. Corcoran also thinks that AST is “bucolic,” because of the flowers and trees that are planted around the school. AST is also dif-ferent in the fact that “with so few stu-dents, AST has so many sports. [He] was quite shocked when [he] found out that AST has around 24 sport teams!” Mr. Corcoran is a funny man. He loves to read—reading books by fa-mous authors, such as Hugo, Dumas, Verne, and Stendhal. He also loves to exercise, and has a profound sense

of humor (although he tries to appear stern). If he were to describe himself with five adjectives, Mr. Corcoran would declare himself “tall, chubby, thoughtful, inquisitive, and happy.” We are all glad to have Mr. Corco-ran as next year’s director. We look forward to the many changes that he will bring with his new position.

Change is coming to AST. Mr. Ir-win Stein, our current director, has been with us since 2001—making his stay a total of 8 years. During these 8 years, AST students and faculty have experienced many major changes, in-cluding the addition of the TAIMUN conference and the creation of many new activities and programs. With the arrival of Mr. Andrew Corcoran, old traditions will be maintained, while new ones will be introduced. Back in Febru-ary, Mr. Stein met privately with Mr. Corcoran in San Francisco. After a long, “worth-while talk,” Mr. Stein happily con-cluded that Mr. Corcoran was “very friendly and knowledgeable about the process of education. He cares for stu-dents, and believes that activities play a major role in a student’s learning.” Before he came to AST, Mr. Corcoran had spent 27 years first teaching High School Mathemat-ics, History, Economics, and Futur-istics, and later as the director of the Maryknoll High School in Honolulu, Hawaii. (Futuristics is an intriguing course that predicts what the world will be like in the next few decades.) For the past 8 years, he has been the director for the Chinese American In-ternational School in San Francisco. Mr. Corcoran has experience as a teacher and director, with both provid-ing different feelings and initiatives. As a teacher, Mr. Corcoran had “the satisfaction of seeing [his] students excel.” However, as a director, he was able to help teachers educate students. Another of his amazing experi-

All the Way from San Francisco: A New Director Arrives By Grant Wang

ences was “spending his last summer in South Africa, working with teach-ers and principals from rural schools.” In addition to working with them on how to improve their schools, “[he] was ‘blown away’ by their singing.” While in South Africa, Mr. Corcoran was also concerned about the apart-heid that plagued the nation; this is one of the reasons he fully supports

the Model United Nations program. Not only has Mr. Corcoran visited South Africa, Tai-wan, and Hawaii, but he has also vis-ited 5 of the 6 pop-ulated continents. The only continent he has not been to is South America.

As the new director, Mr. Corcoran wishes to introduce and implement new programs and ideas, but says that “it is just as important knowing what new things to implement as knowing what old things to keep.” He looks forward to seeing the success of the students of AST, and to ensuring the great futures of the graduating seniors. To achieve this goal, Mr. Corcoran pledges that “teachers will have the support they need to have interesting and engaging classes so that students can learn in a good environment.” When asked about AST’s pro-grams and curriculum, Mr. Corcoran was impressed by its organization. He strongly expressed his approval of the continuation of Model United Nations because “it was one of the things that made [him] interested in AST.” Mr. Corcoran is intrigued by TAIMUN because it “provides a sense of uniting. TAIMUN is a place where people not only talk, but hear.”

Mr. Corcoran dressed as an emperor during the Chinese New Year Festival.

Mr. Corcoran at his old office.

Volume 6, Issue 2

Eagles’ Eyrie

2 Volume 6, Issue 2

Eagles’ Eyrie

Every Friday, something special takes place in Ms. Danziger’s room during lunch: the “Crazy Creations” Club. If you ever wondered about this club, there is no need to guess anymore. “I think Crazy Creations club is a fun place to construct objects and spend time to play and share our creations with friends,” said Sandy Tang when asked for her opinion. Sebastian Chu, the founder and leader of the club, said that its purpose is for people to learn how to make physical devices by themselves. The word “cra-zy” is part of the club’s name because modern people do not think it is normal to make things by hand when robots can make everything. This is related to why Sebastian started the club in the first place: “In the twenty-first century, people use devices without actually un-derstanding how they work.” It is the “do it yourself” aspect of the club that is its most important part be-cause by making things with their own hands, people can figure out how their creations function. Past projects have involved cone shaped blow guns, ori-gami ninja stars, battery-powered cans that are able to roll on the ground by themselves, and kaleidoscopes.

Those mentioned creations sound pret-ty complicated, but the club has a way to organize meetings. They have group discussions in advance to decide what they want to make next. Then Sebastian brings the necessary materials to the next meeting. The club uses a variety of materials, ranging from metal to plastic to wood to paper. So, what has been the “craziest” proj-ect so far? Sebastian believes it was the blow gun that fired darts at high veloci-ties. This alone proves that the club is not just an average arts and crafts group. Although Sebastian does not consider the club popular, he encourages people who are curious, like to experiment, or want to know more about physical de-vices to join; no permanent membership is needed to participate. Anyone who feels like making what the club is mak-ing is welcome to drop by. There you have it; an entertaining and creative club that lives up to the name “Crazy Creations.” Sebastian might only lead it until the end of this year, but he thinks the club will continue without him. Hopefully, the “Crazy Creations” club will keep meeting here at AST and delight the rest of us with even crazier and crazier projects.

Crazy Creations ClubBy Kylene Harrington

Science ClubBy Pierre Thomas Why science? After all, what is the quantum configuration of an atom? What is a simple harmonic pendulum? Why is Taiwan so hot? Science club will answer all these questions and more. How do students come across such heady knowledge? Well, every week a few members of the science club begin researching a topic that interests them. During Tuesday’s lunch period, they meet to present their findings to the class in an eloquent presentation or exciting experiment. In a recent interview with Ms. Hsu, she mentioned that science club was a good idea overall, but she would like to conduct more experiments rather than have presentations. Experiments do not always work perfectly, as in the case of the infamous sodium explosion. Richie Wang, a 6th grader, showed up

at science club on that day to make a presentation on sodium, which turned into an experiment. While everyone was eating peacefully and chatting, Ms. Danziger, the other science teacher, arrived with a big beaker in her hand and a small rock in her other hand. As usual, no one paid attention. Ms Danziger quietly dropped the piece of sodium into the water, which promptly sizzled and released a dense cloud of smoke. A moment later, BOOM, the piece of sodium exploded, showering the lab table with smoking fragments and boiling water. It didn’t take long for the sodium to get broken down by the water. With such great action, thrills, and knowledge, science club becomes fun and educational for students who want to join. So why science? Join science club and find out.

Volume 6, Issue 2

Eagles’ Eyrie

Volume 6, Issue 2

Eagles’ Eyrie

3

What is this ‘Tie-Men’ everyone keeps talking about? What is this ‘conference’ that takes place once a year and gets everyone hyped up and energetic for weeks on end? It is AST’s pride and joy: our very own Model United Nations conference, Taiwan Model United Nations (TAIMUN). Elementary school kids participate in UN Day to pre-pare for the day when they will en-ter the world of Model UN. Middle School students attended the first ever Middle School TAIMUN at Taipei American School. All this will lead to the one day when they join the High School TAIMUN held by the American School in Tai-chung. In order to uphold TAIMUN’s pres-tige, the conference works to improve itself year after year. For TAIMUN VIII, the conference implemented new committees and required dele-gates to send in resolutions before the

conference to increase productivity and flow during merging. However, Secretary General Carol Lin believes that these administrative changes are not enough. “Adjustments of delegates’ attitudes and conference

schedule have to be made in order for the advantages of the changes to be fully experienced,” said Carol, who described this year’s conference as having been “enlightening—in an un-orthodox way.”

Outside of debates and lobbying, the Conference also has a student-run admin staff, headed by Isabel Chen and a press team, which produces the quality newspaper, TAIMUN Times. Furthermore, in keeping with most Model United Nations conferences, TAIMUN VIII held a dinner dance, which took place at the Plaza Ho-tel. First time attendee of TAIMUN, Sandy Hsu, exclaimed that the din-ner dance was “pretty exciting,” but did not seem too keen on the choice of DJs. Meanwhile, Maria Challand, another MUN first-timer, simply stated, “how do I put it nicely…” Despite varied opinions of the TAI-

MUN dinner dance, TAIMUN VIII was an overall success. Delegates, admin staff, press members, and ad-visors left the closing ceremony with a sense of accomplishment and the overwhelming desire to come back to TAIMUN, bringing something more to add to the conference.

TAIMUN: Distinctly ASTBy Karen Sims

Beginning New Traditions High school students from inter-national schools around Taiwan have been involved in Taiwan Mod-el United Nations for the past eight years. However, this year, middle school students had a chance to rep-resent their delegation and most im-portantly, themselves. Model United Nations is an opportunity for students to interact with world issues and train themselves to become better writers and pub-lic speakers. This year, Taipei American School hosted the first Middle School Taiwan Model United Nations, also known as MS TAIMUN. On April 28th, 22 delegates and four chairs from AST traveled to TAS for MS TAIMUN. During the opening ceremony, two college students who founded groups in Tai-wan to help Haiti made the keynote speeches. They gave the delegates a

message: “we can start a movement.” Youth should not be an inhibition to-wards expression; whether children take immediate action towards situa-tions is their choice. The first day of lobbying went well; AST students became main submit-ters in all four committees. In the En-

vironment Committee, Tiffany Lieu, the delegate of Philippines, made a convincing speech on the issue of safe drinking water.

Kelvin Paul, a delegate in the Health Committee said happily, “This is my first year of MUN, and I’m glad that Jeffrey’s resolution passed, because it is a very good one.” Lily Hsu, the delegate of China in the Human Rights Committee, sub-mitted a resolution that eradicated

child labor. After her main sub-mitter speech, several placards shot up, but she was able to an-swer of all the questioners with-out doubt or hesitation. After six rounds of points of information, she walked off the podium satis-fied, successfully persuading all nations that her resolution was the solution for the issue.

At the end, delegates were exhaust-ed from the 12 hours of conferencing, but they thought that it was worth the experience. Both delegates and chairs remarked that they look forward to MS MUN II.

By Stephanie Yang

The officers sit onstage during the opening ceremony while Mr. Stein speaks.

The middle school MUN delegation smiles happily at Taipei American School.

Volume 6, Issue 2

Eagles’ Eyrie

4 Volume 6, Issue 2

Eagles’ Eyrie

Volume 6, Issue 2

Echoes of Future StarsBy Emily Lu The 2010 Spring Concert held on April 29 commenced with blaring ap-plause as the attention of the entire au-dience turned to the stage, where the first performer, Andy Chen, entered. With the emergence of his mirthful melody, the atmosphere sank into tranquility and delightfulness. All the young musicians were able to conquer their nervousness, and complete their piece of music. As the elementary per-formances came to an end, the grade three to five students used their en-ergetic voices while displaying their dancing talents with the song “Turn the Beat Around.” The disarming smiles on those adorable faces brought cheering and booming applause. When the intermission ended, the middle and high school students swarmed the auditorium. The first handbell performance was by the chipper middle school musicians. MS

Bells played three difficult pieces. Priscilla Huang commented, “Al-though we encountered several ob-

stacles, especially the part trying to match the rhythm with the melody, we worked hard to make it per-fect.” The next act came as the MS Music Mix violinists played the classy and el-

egant piece, “Canon in D.” Although it was a difficult song, the middle schoolers were still able to play it perfectly. The resounding clap-ping echoed across the theater as the next group of performers– the actors and singers of HS Drama– entered. Their creative costumes along with their ludicrous movements brought laughter to the audience. The selection of songs from the musical, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, including “Magic Foot” and “Pande-monium,” left the audience wishing

for more. Jasper Tsai, playing the role of a counselor, remarked, “One dif-ficulty I had to overcome was to not

forget my lines. However, I still had confidence in myself, so I kept tell-ing myself that we won’t mess up.” The last performance by the HS Bells was the romantic song, “Beauty and the Beast.” While the hand bells rang with ecstasy, the minds of everyone in the audience followed along with the cadence of the tune. When the last note reverberated against the walls of the theater, Mr. Stein tossed a bouquet of flowers to Mr. Wiles as Mr. Time drew an end to our Spring Concert.

Elementary students Andy, Hames, and Raymond play “Clinking Coins.” High School Bell Choir. (Left to right)

Iris, Alice, Rose, Isabel, Andrew, Daniel.

A Spelling B-E-E E-L-A-N-G-U-E-S-S-E-N-C-E. Ding! “That is incorrect.” This year, HS Drama brought a most captivating production called The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee to AST. There were brilliant boys and girls traveling from numerous districts to participate in this spell-ing bee: Chip Tolentino (Patrick Lo), Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre (Karen Sims), Leaf Coneybear (Rob-bin Yang), Marcy Park (Winnie Liao), William Barfée (Hunter Putzke), and Olive Ostrovsky (Mary June Manno). These kids were the winners of their own district bees and were not only prepared but eager to face a huge new challenge: The County Bee, hosted by the lovely Rona Lisa Peretti (Katja Putzke). Spellers needed courage, knowl-edge, and a truckload of luck to be able to win the bee. There were oppo-nents. There were friends. There was joy. There was disappointment. But

every speller took on this impossible mission, and word pronouncer, Vice Principal Douglas Panch (Jason Tang), did not let them off easily. He threw words that required stren-uous thinking at the poor spellers and audience volunteers, words such as thalposis, xerophthalmiology, epicalyx, and cow. A tiny mistake, a tiny misplaced letter triggered the clear —Ding! —of the bell and sent the speller home with a juice box from Mitchell M. Mahoney (Jasper Tsai), the comfort counselor. Even as the sadness of the elimi-nations struck home, humor reigned, especially as the two gay dads (Connie Wang and Grace Chen) encouraged their daughter, Logainne, to work harder. The drama production was a complete success, in large part to the hard work of the advisors, Ms. Lee and

Mr. Wiles as well as the stage crew/prop handlers (Alice Hsieh, Maria Challand, and Miko Shih). Finally, it would be remiss to overlook the wonderful piano accompaniment per-formed by Grace Wang. From the very nice beginning to the musical excitement in between and all the way to the very nice end-ing, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee had audience members leaving the auditorium humming and chuckling, eagerly awaiting the next HS drama production.

By Jason Tang

Volume 6, Issue 2

Eagles’ Eyrie

Volume 6, Issue 2

Eagles’ Eyrie

5

Mrs. WilliamsBy Jason Hsieh

In a small quiet town of eight hundred where everyone knows one another, no one seems to know any-thing about the old lady. In Wallace, Texas if you set foot outside of your house, some friendly folk are bound to say howdy. No one has ever talked to the old lady because the old lady has never left her house. Allow me to explain how I came to know all this information before you go off thinking I’m a no-good, devil-dealin’ crook who spends his time snooping around. My name is Andy and I work at the local grocery, Wayne’s Produce. Wayne’s Produce is owned by Jonathan Duncan, who began this delivery service 40 years ago as a favor to many of the elderly residents. I deliver groceries to the town’s elderly and disabled. I have delivered groceries for 30 years for Jonathan. I deliver groceries to folks like Old Man Reggie who is the oldest man in Wallace at 93, and David Hor-ton’s little boy, Jared, who just came back home about 4 months ago from Iraq. Jared left his legs there. Anyway, I basically just drive around town in a white truck with the Wayne’s Pro-duce logo on the side and the trunk full of groceries and deliver them to people in need. The old lady’s house happens to be on my route. The old

lady’s name, as listed on my deliv-ery list, is Edna Williams and it says she has been a registered customer for over 30 years. I have a delivery to her house every second day, and it’s been the same order for thirty or so years. I pull up to her house, take out her groceries, and march into her garden of meter-high grass up to her front steps. It’s a sor-ry sight. Her house, that is. It is more of a shack, a beaten up and weath-ered shack that has its paint peeling everywhere. Surprisingly, all the win-dows are still intact, but the window sills look like they are ready to fall right off. I have never spoken to Mrs. Williams on my deliveries and I am instructed to just leave the grocer-ies on the front steps. I’ve spoken to Mrs. William’s neighbors several times and they have never seen her

open the door for her groceries. They told me sometimes when they peer out their windows before they hit the hay, they can still see the bag of groceries on the front steps, with the bright green “W” on the side of the bag. Mrs. Williams just sits in her house. I have seen Mrs. Wil-liams through the large window of her living room, sitting and star-ing out the window, with a candle burning on the coffee table next to her. Her expres-sion is blank and she

doesn’t seem to focus on anything in particular. The boys around the area have come up with the rumor that Mrs. Williams is a witch. The older folk around town say she’s insane or escaped from a mental asylum or something. But I know those rumors to be false, I can see it. Mrs. Wil-

liams is suffering from a broken heart. Someone broke her heart and that someone left her there alone. That must be why she hasn’t spoken to anybody in so long. Just yesterday I drove up her street towards her house. The bagging boy must have packed in one of those large jugs of milk; something was soaking through the bag and darken-ing the bright green “W” on the bag. I pulled up in front of Mrs. Wil-liams’s house and killed the engine. No matter how many times I have delivered to Mrs. Williams, walking up her house is always unnerving. I grabbed the bag of groceries and carefully walked through the chaotic front lawn and stopped at her front door. Like all the other times I’ve been here, I knocked. Like always, no answer. After a few more seconds I let out a sigh and left the bag of groceries on the front steps for my mother.

Image source: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3567/3492440868_b3ef30d45e_o.jpg

Volume 6, Issue 2

Eagles’ Eyrie

6 Volume 6, Issue 2

Eagles’ Eyrie

“They fought like true Eagles. Every game they would chase down loose balls, hustle to the passing position and stifle the other team’s offense. They enjoyed

themselves on the pitch.” - Katja Putzke

JV Girls Basketball

JV Boys Basketball

SemeSter two

MS Soccer Girls

JVB Boys Basketball

“This year’s season was fantastical and was the best season of my high school

career. We came really far as a team and by the end of the tournament we were

playing as one.” - Vincent Chi

“This year’s JVB basketball team showed great promise. Over the course

of the year, the team drastically im-proved and it showed at the year-end

tournament.” - Jasper Tsai

“We had several freshman and soph-omore players but we still beat the

teams that were more experienced; it felt awesome. I look forward to play-

ing next year.” - Stephanie Yang

January FeburaryBy Johnny Teng

Volume 6, Issue 2

Eagles’ Eyrie

Volume 6, Issue 2

Eagles’ Eyrie

7

Cross Country

MS Soccer Boys

MS Basketball Girls

MS Basketball Boys

“It was my first year coaching and for my first year I’d say it’s been a rather good one. I really enjoyed coaching them” - Pierre Thomas

The middle school boys did great this year; they played well against MCA and KAS. They played with confi-

dence, passed the ball numerous times before shooting, and displayed great

sportsmanship.

“I had high expectations for this year and they did not let me down. They

improved a lot and the outcome was very unexpected. I think that they impressed

a lot of people at the tournament, myself included.” - Connie Wang

March April May

Hunter Putzke came in first in his grade and broke the record for the course. Tif-fany Lieu also won gold for her race in the middle school division. Finally, Mr. Hart won the master’s race, nabbing the

third gold medal for AST.

AthleticS recAp

Volume 6, Issue 2

Eagles’ Eyrie

8 Volume 6, Issue 2

Eagles’ Eyrie

We Are What We EatBy Tina Fun and Michelle McNeill

Don’t you love the feeling of biting into that fresh strawberry, savoring the sweet juices dribbling down your chin but also relishing the fact that it is organic? Farmers who grow organic food try to give their crops a healthy diet and restrict themselves from feeding their fruits and vegetables pes-ticides, insecticides and herbicides. Vital for the diet of children are or-ganic foods, which have higher nutrient levels and are free of food additives such as artificial preservatives and sweeteners. If you are interested, ev-ery Saturday morn-ing at the National Chung Hsing Uni-versity (250 Kuo Kuang Rd., Taichung, Taiwan) the NCHU Organic Farmers’ Market is open from eight a.m. to twelve a.m. Red and white tents pop up as fami-lies set up their fresh food on tables to sell. Organic farmers from Nantou, Changhua, Yunlin, Tainan, Hsinchu, and Taitung gather at the university to bring a variety of organic products to the table. Potatoes, tomatoes, spinach, pineapple, strawberries… whatever is in season can be found there.

Farmers’ markets have been on the rise. In the United States during the year 1994, there were 1,755 farm-ers’ markets. In 2009, there were 5,274. This dramatic increase has brought food from sustainably man-aged farms that conserve soil and provide habitats for wildlife to the

forefront f public awareness. These markets also ben-efit society by keeping important social ties strong and bonding rural and urban popula-tions. Taiwan, in recent years, has become aware of the consequences of bad food result-ing in bad health and has begun to create more mar-kets throughout the small island.

Farmers’ markets not only benefit the customers with the elimi-nation of unnecessary wrapping and exporting fees, but the farmers them-selves profit reasonably without pres-sure from agri-business. On September 1st, 2007, an agricultural professor, Dong Shi Rui, founded the NCHU Organic Farmers’ Market. He had studied in Florida and the local farmers’ markets in his town inspired him to promote this idea in Taiwan. Soon after the Organic Farm-ers’ Market put its wheels into motion, financial and product problems struck. Farmers lacked the needed financial support and the organizers struggled to find organic farmers in Taiwan who were willing to explain their methods of growing their crops or participate in the market. Nev-ertheless, with determination and hard work, the Organic Farmers’ Market now has over a thousand

members with about thirty participat-ing organic farms. On any given Saturday, the NCHU Organic Farmer’s Market swarms with people. Table upon table of deliciously enticing food beckons. Fruits and vegetables make up a large portion of the wares, but there are veritable columns of tea leaves and soya products. Many farmers bring foods that never see the lights of gro-cery stores and calmly explain what they are to confused bystanders. The chatter between farmers shows the strengthening bonds carefully culti-vated by weekly meetings at the farm-er’s market.The Organic Market never fails to of-fer wonder and amazement to all cus-tomers. Like a baby needs help from his mother to learn how to take his first step, the NCHU Organic Farm-ers’ Market needs your help to keep their culture sustainable.

Volume 6, Issue 2

Eagles’ Eyrie

Volume 6, Issue 2

Eagles’ Eyrie

9

Model United Nations, Twelve Days of Giving, Charity Walkathons: these are just a few of the activities AST participates in to impact our community for the better. However, simply participating in these events is not always enough. That is why a minimum of 25 hours of community service is required for graduation from AST. However, other than to gain school credit, why do commu-nity service? What do we get out of it? That is the beauty of community service. You get no material reward out of it, but at the same time you are given an unforgettable experi-ence that will profoundly affect your thoughts and actions in the future. Community service usually gets stu-dents thinking about different oppor-tunities to help out in their communi-ty. It gives students a chance to think about what matters to them, and how they can do their part to improve their world. Community service provides students with a chance to actually get out there and make a difference with their own time and effort. Eventually, students are no longer providing com-munity service because they have to; they are doing it because they want to. Some AST students who have gotten first-hand experience in com-munity service include sophomores Jessica Cheng, Robbin Yang, and Christine Lin. Robbin and Jessica

have helped out at retirement homes for the elderly, while Christine has volunteered at a children’s library, where she organized books. “Organiz-ing books is tiring! We have to appreciate the people who volunteer to do all the work for us in our lives,” said Christine. Jessica Cheng helped out at a school for disabled children. She even organized a group of several AST students to go the Huei-Ming School for the Dis-abled. Christine Lin said the experi-ence had a profound effect on her. “I think…I’m too greedy. People who are disabled are very determined, and work hard. I’m always complain-ing and stuff, which I shouldn’t.” She said, “[My experience at Huei-Ming] made me a better person.” Jessica Cheng shared with us a pas-sionate response regarding what she learned from her community service hours at Huei-Ming. She talked about how fortunate we all are, and how we often take this for granted. “Peo-ple complain although they already have almost everything they want, right? …I complain a lot too. And in Huei-Ming, people aren’t rich, people aren’t perfect, people don’t get what they want, [some of them] can’t even see, but they always keep a smile on their face.” Jessica strongly encour-

ages other members of the student body to pay a visit to Huei-Ming. “I don’t know how to describe it…” Jessica finishes, talking about the emotions she felt after help-ing out at Huei-Ming. “I just know that they are special. It’s a plea-sure to have them in this world.” A great time for community service is during the summer. An-drew Yang volunteered at Tung-hai University last summer vaca-tion, and helped out with some administrative work, such as car-rying books from place to place. Andrew said that it was a reward-

ing way to spend some of his extra

time during the long summer break. Furthermore, not all community service has to do with humans. There are a lot of things people can do for the environment or for animals. Ma-ria Challand spent a week as a vet-erinarian’s assistant. She said the experience was especially rewarding because she learned so much. “I’ve decided not to become a vet…because I can’t stand to watch animals die,” says Maria. “It taught me to make the most of everything because you never know when you’re going to lose it.” Whether you wish to help save animal lives, or to make life a little brighter for the disabled or elderly, community service will not only help you discover more about your world, it will also teach you more about yourself and your personal be-liefs and values. Take the extra time to improve someone else’s life, your life, and the community we all share.

For more information on fulfilling your community service requirements, please visit Mrs. O’Sullivan to find out about community service forms and how to fill them out properly.

For more information regarding com-munity service at the Children’s li-brary, call the Taichung City Cultural Affairs Bureau, or students can call the library directly at 04-23727311.

Huei-Ming School for the Disabled can be contacted at 04-25661021.

Community ServiceBy Karen Sims

Belle Wu reads a book to a young girl.

You too, can feel the love and experience gained from community service!

Volume 6, Issue 2

Eagles’ Eyrie

10 Volume 6, Issue 2

Eagles’ Eyrie

Bon Appétit!By Michelle McNeill, Anderson Yang and Tina Fun

Food is both a love and a hobby for many of us. For some, food is a way to ease pain or to bring smiles to faces. For others, it’s their life. Food is deep, soulful and intense. It can bring one to fame or ruin one. Three bold AST students step out into the spotlight. They have taken on the challenge of organizing and preparing a full meal. This is a life or death situation. Or not. These three friends have gotten together to have fun and experiment with food. They selected a few recipes from the internet and added a twist of their own. Now, they have brought this opportunity to you. You now have the chance to explore the world of culinary arts and experi-ment for yourself. Enjoy!

Today’s MenuCrab and Avocado Crostini

Baked French Onion Soup

Shrimp and Scallop Risotto

Chocolate Souffle

Apple Pie with Vanilla Ice Cream

Crab and Avocado Crostini

1 French baguette 3 Tablespoons and 1/4 cup of olive oil

1 Lemon, juiced Salt and fresh ground black pepper

1 Yellow bell pepper, seeds removed and diced 1 Avocado, halved, pitted and flesh diced

1 Shallot, finely diced 8 Ounces of lump crabmeat

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C). 2. Slice the bread into 1/2-inch thick slices. Lightly brush the bread slices with the 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Ar-range the bread on a baking sheet fitted with a rack and bake until lightly toasted, about 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool before topping with the crab mix-ture. 3. In a large bowl whisk together the lemon juice, 1/4 cup of olive oil and salt and pepper, to taste. Set aside.4. Add the yellow pepper, the avocado, shallot and the crabmeat to the lemon vinaigrette and toss gently, so as to not break up the crabmeat. Top the bread slices with about a tablespoon of the crab mixture and arrange on a serving platter. <foodnetwork.com>

Baked French Onion Soup(serves 6)

3 Tablespoons of olive oil4 Large onions, sliced

2 Cloves of garlic, minced2 Tablespoons of flour3 Cups of beef stock

1 Cup of dry white wine1/2 Teaspoon of dried thyme

1 BayleafSalt and pepper to taste

6 Slices of crusty French bread3 Tablespoons of butter

3 Cups of grated Swiss cheese

1. Saute onions in oil over low heat until tender and golden yellow, about 20 to 25 minutes.2. Sprinkle flour over onions; cook a few minutes more, browning the flour well. Add stock and wine and bring to boil; add thyme and bayleaf. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer gently for 20 minutes or so. Add salt and pep-per to taste.3. Spread bread slices with butter and toast, watching carefully to avoid burning.4. When soup is ready, spoon into 6 ovenproof bowls; top each with a slice of toast. Divide cheese evenly sprinkle over toast in each bowl. 5. Place bowls on cookie sheet and bake in 400F(205C) oven for 10 to 15 minutes until cheese is bubbly and golden. <cdkitchen.com>

Volume 6, Issue 2

Eagles’ Eyrie

Volume 6, Issue 2

Eagles’ Eyrie

11

Shrimp and Scallop Risotto(serves 5)5 Scallops

5-7 Shrimps of any size4 Tablespoons of olive oil

2 Large garlic cloves, minced1 1/2 Cup of (Arborio) rice

4 Cups of vegetable or chicken broth1/4 Cup of crumbled Feta cheese

1/3 Cup of fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped1/4 Cup of Parmesan cheese, grated

Freshly ground pepper1. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Pan fry scallops and shrimp until well-cooked and set aside.2. Heat the remaining oil in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add onion and garlic. Saute for 1 minute. Stir in rice and saute for 2 minutes.3. Add 1/2 cup broth and cook until liquid is almost absorbed, stirring constantly. Add the remaining broth, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly until each portion of broth is nearly absorbed before adding the next.4. Remove from heat, stir in feta cheese, parsley and Parmesan cheese.5. Serve onto plates and top with shrimp and scallop.

Chocolate Souffle(serves 10)

7 Ounces of finely chopped bittersweet chocolate4 Tablespoons of unsalted butter

3 Large egg yolks1 1/2 Teaspoon of pure vanilla extract

3 Tablespoons of warm water1/2 Cup and 2 tablespoons of sugar

8 Large egg whites 1/2 Teaspoon of fresh lemon juice

1. Brush ramekins with butter and coat with sugar. Preheat oven to 400F (205C). Put chocolate and butter in heat-proof bowl and place in a pan of simmering water. Stir until melted, remove from heat and add vanilla extract. Set aside. 2. Combine egg yolks and warm water in bowl and beat un-til frothy. Gradually add two tablespoons of sugar and beat for 5 mins. Lightly fold yolks into chocolate mixture.3. Put egg whites in bowl and add lemon juice. Beat with mixer until frothy. Gradually add the 1/2 cup of sugar. Quickly, fold about 1/3 of the egg whites into the choco-late. Fold in the remaining whites until blended. Ladle mixture into ramekins and level off surface. Bake for 18-20 mins. Serve immediately after baked. <foodnetwork.com>

Apple Pie with Vanilla Ice Cream

1. Slice each apple into 8 pieces. Peel skin and remove seeds. Melt the butter in a large pot over me-dium fire. Add the apples and sugar in the pot. Shake the pot to coat the apples with the sugar.2. Turn fire to high and use a wooden spatula to mix the apples. When apples start to dehydrate, add the lemon juice and cook. 3. Cook for 10-15 minutes and shake the pot. When apples turn soft and light brown, remove from heat.4. Let apples cool. Place pie crust on pie pan. Place apple mixture into a strainer and drain completely. Sprinkle the cinnamon over the apples evenly to your taste. Put the apples in the pie crust in a slight mountain form. Make sure the top is even with no gaps. 5. Beat the egg and paint the edge of the pie crust with the egg. Place the 2nd pie crust over the pie and push the edges together. Put in the fridge for 15-20 mins. Preheat oven to 200C. Cut edges off of pie with knife and make beautiful according to your taste. Use egg glaze and brush over top. Poke several holes in the top. Decorate as you please. Put in oven until the pie color changes, and decrease the heat to 180C. Bake for 40-60 mins. <myhomecooking.net>

2 21cm pie crust6 Red apples

10g of unsalted butter100g of granulated sugar

2 Tablespoons of lemon juice1/4 Teaspoon of cinnamon1 egg

Photo credits to: the cooks; nerdfighters.ning.com; istockphoto.com; foodnmore.wordpress.com

Volume 6, Issue 2

Eagles’ Eyrie

12 Volume 6, Issue 2

Eagles’ Eyrie

The Eagles’ Guide to Dining EtiquetteBy Christian Leong

At home or at fast food restau-rants, people eat however they want. It is normal for people to use only spoons, forks, chopsticks or even their hands while eating. They do not have to act formally or wear formal clothes. How-ever, there are restaurants where etiquette is a large portion of the dining experience. Sometimes, we don’t know which spoon or fork to use while eating or how to act formal-ly in front of oth-ers. The following suggestions will teach you the fin-er ins-and-outs of dining etiquette. On the table, you will see forks, spoons, knives, a napkin, wine and water glasses, a bowl, a plate, a butter knife, and a bread and butter plate. There will be three different forks: a salad fork, a dinner fork and a dessert fork. On the other side of the table, there will be two spoons: a soup spoon and a tea spoon. All uten-sils and dining objects are placed in a specific order. On the left side, you will see the napkin, followed by the salad fork, dinner fork, and dessert fork. Right above the forks are the bread and butter plate and the butter knife. Between the forks and spoons, you will see the din-ner plate and the soup bowl. On the right side, you will see the din-ner knife, tea spoon, and the soup spoon. Above the spoons, you will see the water glass and the wine glass. While eating, you will work

toward the dinner plate from the outermost utensil. The napkin must be used prop-erly. When you are seated, remove the napkin from the table, unfold it and put it on your lap. Do not shake it open. At some restaurants, the waiter might unfold the nap-kin for the customers. The napkin is used to protect your lap in case

you accidentally spill liquids or drop food from your plate. Your napkin should rest on your lap un-til the meal is over. Never use the napkin to wipe your face or blow your nose. If you excuse yourself from the table, fold the napkin and put it on the right or left side of the plate. Never leave your napkin on your chair. Dining manners are very im-portant when eating with guests or during a formal meal. The fol-lowing instructions are crucial for your success. An important rule of formality is to say “please” and “thank you” when asking for some-thing. When dining, it is important to have both hands on the table. However, your elbows should re-

main close to your body, which creates good posture. Never talk with a full mouth. In addition, if you are going to cough or sneeze, cover your mouth with a napkin. If you are dining with a guest or a person older than you, start eat-ing only after the guest has begun to eat. If you dislike the taste of the food in your mouth, or you get

a piece of some-thing inedible, do not spit it on your plate; instead, spit it into a pa-per napkin. When a meal is served, do not begin your meal right away, or swallow too quickly. Try tak-ing smaller bites, chewing more and swallowing with your mouth closed. If you spill a drink

while eating, be calm and apologize before wiping it up with a cloth napkin. If you are served food that can be eaten with the fin-gers, use the thumb and the index finger to pick it up. Always use the right hand while eating these foods. These suggestions should guide you through the treacherous trap of formal dining and proper eti-quette. Dining etiquette can be a little frustrating and wearisome at first but once you are familiar with all the rules you will get used to behaving properly all the time. Above all, do not worry about making a mistake. As long as you learn from your mistakes, you will be able to perform better the next time.

This is how the table will be set up in a formal restaurant.

By Timothy Edstein

Volume 6, Issue 2

Eagles’ Eyrie

Volume 6, Issue 2

Eagles’ Eyrie

13

Don’t Trust HollywoodBy Timothy Edstein

Could humanity meet its end in 2012? Will we be drowned by massive tsu-namis, boiled by erupting volcanoes, burned by an unforgiving sun, or crushed by shifting continents? Did the Mayans really predict our demise? Fortunately, every doomsday theory surrounding the Mayan “predictions” has been proven wrong or misinter-preted. Here are five doomsday pre-dictions that have been grossly exag-gerated.

1. The Mayan “End” of Time The Mayan long-count cycle lasts for 5125.37 years and the cycle ends on December 21st, 2012. Howev-er, this does not mean the apoca-lypse will occur at that date; just that a new cycle will begin. Think of it just like our calendar: it ends on December 31st every year. The Mayan calendar will just be-gin again at a “Day Zero” when, chances are, an apocalyptic event will not occur.

2. The Planet X Collision The idea of Planet X, also known as Nibiru, destroying the Earth’s magnetic poles, originated with Nan-cy Lieder, a Wisconsin woman. She claims that she was abducted by grey extraterrestrials who told her to spread their message of impending doom to humanity. She claims to be in con-stant communication with said extra-terrestrials via a chip implanted in her brain. While NASA adamantly denies the existence of Nibiru, she accuses them of covering up its existence. The

problem with Nibiru: if there were such planet, anyone with a telescope could see it because it is supposedly four times the size of the Earth and it is in the same orbit as Jupiter. If such planet existed, it would have been ex-pelled from the solar system because of Jupiter’s gravitational pull.

3. Killer Flare This theory is based on how a solar flare could disrupt the Earth’s magnet-ic poles, which would cause a massive amount of heat and radiation to pen-etrate the Earth’s atmosphere. NASA has predicted a solar flare in 2012, but not one of that magnitude. Due to the below-average number of sunspots in the past decade, the solar flare should have a minimal effect on the Earth’s magnetic field. One important factor that people must remember is that the Sun is a very stable star without many fluctuations. Most planets with a dis-rupted magnetic field exist in solar systems with either an unstable star or a binary star system.

4. Supermassive Black Hole Align-ment

The theory revolves around how an alignment with the Supermas-sive Black Hole in the center of the Milky Way would hypothetically cre-ate a gravitational pull so large that it would pull the Sun towards it, creat-ing havoc on the Earth. However, sci-entists from NASA have disproven this theory, as our solar system is

on the outer rim of the galactic disk and the alignment has no astronomi-cal significance. Conspiracy theorists rely on people’s lack of knowledge of astronomical vocabulary. They use words such as “great rift” to cre-ate fear in people. A “great rift” is a collection of large dust clouds in the empty space of the galaxy.

5. Apocalypse 2012 Before the end of World War II, Nazi scientists developed the “Der Ubermann” program in Antarctica. This program was designed to create super soldiers, who can live without food and survive the harshest condi-tions known to man. The project was a fall- back for National Socialism to protect itself from the poisoned ideol-ogies practiced by capitalist America and communist Russia. Der Uber-manns reproduce by biting the necks of their victims, which will also create the world’s first Zombie Apocalypse. The Nazis selected Antarctica as their project site for one very specific rea-

son: Global Warm-ing. They knew that American cor-porate greed would slowly devour the atmosphere, thereby melting the world’s ice caps. After the ice caps melt in 2012, an army of unstoppable Uber-manns will conquer the world. As we all know global warm-

ing is a farce and corporations have not polluted the oceans, so America has once again defeated the Nazis with pure Laissez-faire capitalism.

Image Sourceshttp://www.2012-decoded.com/im-ages/meteor-hitting-earth.jpghttp://quarterbloom.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/mayan_cal-ender2_vnm1.jpg

Volume 6, Issue 2

Eagles’ Eyrie

14 Volume 6, Issue 2

Eagles’ Eyrie

Many Taiwanese people have no problem eating stinky tofu. They be-lieve that it is xiao chi that smells and tastes like paradise. Foreigners, on the other hand, think that the dish smells rotten and tastes nauseating, and when they smell the strong odor coming from stinky tofu stalls, their facial ex-pressions twist into masks of disgust. In contrast, Taiwanese only exhibit an expression of starvation and crav-ing. To the Taiwanese people, stinky tofu is more like “fragrant tofu,” seen as having a wonderful aroma that can take you on a voyage of satisfac-tion. However, most fans of stinky tofu are unaware of the process behind this Taiwanese street food. Clean, white tofu becomes stinky tofu after it has been fermented, be-coming a big petri dish for bacterial growth. Before it starts growing bac-teria, the fresh white tofu is marinat-

ed in a mysterious brine filled with a variety of spices and ingredients. The traditional brine usu-ally consists of rotten vegetables, dried shrimp, garlic, exotic spices, and many more “secret” ingre-dients. Other variations of brine include rotten eggs, spoiled milk, and decom-posed meat. In order to grow bacteria, the brine is

exposed to the air, which can draw maggots and other pests. After the

brine has been fermented for at least a month, the fresh tofu is then marinat-ed in the brine. However, some stinky tofu producers do not want to wait a month, so in order to speed up the fer-mentation of the brine, these produc-ers add in unsanitary or contaminated substances. For example, some add in human urine or manure, rotten food waste from the trash, or dangerous chemicals to speed up the fermenta-tion process. Since the Taiwanese au-thorities cannot interfere with the “se-cret” ingredients in the production of the brines, there are no strict controls on the sanitation of the brines. When the brine is ready, the fresh white tofu is marinated until a white or, grayish mold grows on the tofu. The tofu is no longer white and in-nocent; instead, it is now hairy and malodorous. The hideous mold is then washed from the stinky tofu be-

Stinky Tofu RevealedBy Johnny Teng

fore preparation and cooking. Once the stinky tofu is free of mold, it will be prepared in a variety of ways. Ven-dors will sell steamed, spicy, grilled, or, as the most commonly seen in Tai-wan, deep fried. Despite the horrid process behind stinky tofu, it has been scientifically proven that stinky tofu contains bacteria that are beneficial to the human body. After Eagles’ Eyrie revealed the process of stinky tofu, many people responded that they will continue to eat the Taiwanese delicacy, despite the fact that it is fermented tofu mari-nated in brine filled with rotten ingre-dients. Andrew Lih is still willing to eat stinky tofu as long as it does not hurt the body. Anderson Yang’s re-action to the process of stinky tofu was indifference. He said, “Although stinky tofu has a disgusting process behind it, it still tastes wonderful and has health benefits.” On the other hand, Winnie Liao was disgusted af-ter discovering the process. She added that she never liked to eat stinky tofu due to the repulsive smell. Next time, keep in mind the image of the making of stinky tofu before you dig in.

Pictures taken fromhttp://bayleung.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/55425_1.jpghttp://farm3.static.flickr.com /2599/4187649352_65dd134462.jpghttp://farm3.static.flickr.com/2336/ 2037043989_1c66d37477_o.jpg

Fried stinky tofu is a very common Taiwanese “street food.”

On the left is stinky tofu during the marinating process. On the right stinky tufo before it is fried.

Volume 6, Issue 2

Eagles’ Eyrie

Volume 6, Issue 2

Eagles’ Eyrie

15

Broken PhysicsBy Hunter Putzke

Reality seems quite boring. We don’t have floating mountains, bizarre aliens that still look humanoid, cars that explode with the slightest tap, conveniently placed garbage trucks outside bathroom windows for when we need a quick escape, guns that fling people like dice, or superpowers. But some people, the author included, have wondered “what if?” Indeed, what if you had super speed? Could you make it possible for a car to explode with a light touch? How can you make a mountain float, anyway? Many pop culture heroes break laws; but most people don’t know that they break the laws of physics. Let us begin with super speed. On the surface, super speed would be totally awesome. I can travel faster than speed-ing bullets! Of course, there are a few problems with super speed. First, the question of kinetic energy and inertia. Kinetic energy equals ½ mass times velocity squared. This equation is the reason why bullets go through things while weighing very little. A person traveling at this speed would have a frankly terrifying amount of energy, potentially on par with a small nuclear weapon. Now, while in motion, this energy is not too bad, but stopping be-comes a problem. Name-ly, there is a reason why race tracks are designed with lots of space: slow-ing down hurts. Imagine you are in a car and the car in front of you slams on the brakes. When you slam on the brakes, you slide forward into your seatbelt. Now imagine that feeling all across your body when you stop on a dime from traveling at your ludicrous speed. Well, I should probably say you would feel that, but only for a moment. This question of deceleration plagues fiction. You have probably seen this scene before: a helpless victim plung-

es toward the ground, screaming. A set of hands reach over and snag the victim with bare inches to spare. The crowd cheers and the day is saved. Unfortunately, how did the victim survive the MASSIVE deceleration caused inches above the ground? After all, the ground was going to do the same thing the arms just did: stop the victim. Ah, the laws of phys-

ics: ruining comic books and movies. Now, floating mountains are pretty awesome. Magnetic fields to support them? Okay… that seems vaguely plausible. But I sure hope there is not metal anywhere near those mountains, because that would be bad. Let us say that you are wear-

ing a metal bracelet and someone turns on an MRI (Magnetic Reso-nance Imaging) machine close to your wrist. Snap. Now multiply that by a thousand because the magnetic field is supporting a gigantic moun-tain. Hope you have health insurance. While you are in the hospital for your magnetically-induced trauma, say hi to the victim of the car explo-

sion. Quite the freak accident, but the way cars act in films, it is surprising we actually use cars at all. In short, cars very, very rarely explode. Gaso-line is flammable, yes, but only in spe-cific amounts when mixed with air. It is possible to douse red hot metal in oil or gasoline. In fact, when used with oil, you create tempered steel, vital to the creation of strong swords. The conditions for ignition are rare-ly present outside of the engine in a car. A well-designed gas tank (i.e. almost all of them; look up the Ford Pinto sometime) will actually contain a fire and prevent it from spreading. In movies, a well-placed bullet can cause a car to explode or a bad guy to soar through the air with the greatest of ease. We just learned that the car will not explode, but let us look at the flight of the matter. In

the movies, someone shot usually will soar through a plate glass win-dow and flip over a table. Now, this scene is broken. Why? “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” Newton’s third law of mo-tion means that if the person receiv-ing the bullet flies backward ten feet,

the shooter should fly backward about ten feet — and another movie cliché bites the dust. To wrap up, the laws of phys-ics are routinely crushed into tiny pieces by movies. But now that you know, it can be fas-cinating to re-watch movies while watching for the laws of physics. Try it sometime. I rec-ommend a superhero movie or something in space for maxi-

mum enjoyment. And now you know, but always remember the Mystery Sci-ence Theater 3000 mantra: “It’s just a movie; I really should just relax.”

No magnetic field could maintain this without chang-ing the planetary magnetic field.

Images fromhttp://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/8/2010/01/avatar-18.jpghttp://www.vgnetwork.it/images/Wanted_Weapons_Of_Fate/want-ed-weapons-of-fate-01.jpg

You cannot curve a bullet. I’m sorry.

Volume 6, Issue 2

Eagles’ Eyrie

16 Volume 6, Issue 2

Eagles’ Eyrie

The Chimerical World Have you ever thought about how everything was created? The earth, our ancestors, and all those living creatures? According to scientists, everything in the universe was created through an explosion called the Big Bang and all of the different species of life came to be through evolution. But what if the Big Bang theory was not true? Then who or what created everything? The Chinese believed during the ancient times that the god Pan Gu lived inside an egg which was dark like the universe. 18 thousand years had passed before he was roused from his long sleep. As he woke up, the light part of the egg, the yin, rose and formed the sky, while the heavy part of the egg, the yang, drifted down to form the earth. Pan Gu stood up, separating the sky from the earth. Another 18 thousand years later Pan Gu died. His body parts trans-formed into the different elements and features of the earth such as the mountains, river, and plants. This is how our planet was created according to the Chinese mythology.However, the Iroquois thought differently. They believed that in the beginning, there was only the Great Blue and no land to live. Up in the sky, there was a woman who loved to dream. One day she was punished and was thrown into a well because she caused the tree that lit up the sky to disappear. Down she fell, and below her was the Great Blue. She thought that she was going to drown in the waters, but a hawk saved her. Afterwards, the hawk called for the aid of all the other creatures. Together, they dug up mud from the ocean floor and put it on a turtle’s shell. Soon enough, it was big enough to allow the woman to rest. The animals continued building the land until they made a whole round earth. The turtle holds up the Earth to this very day. The gods were happy with their creation of this new world. Their next job was to make living beings. Some cre-ation myths say humans were the first to live on earth. Others, on the other hand, explained that animals came before humans. However, the first beings were created in different ways. In Mayan myth, Tepeu and Gucumatz, the Forefathers of Maya, wanted to create a race of beings to worship the Forefathers. First came the animals, but they only knew how to howl and squawk. Because of this, they could not worship their creators and were banished to the forest. Then the gods made men out of mud, but they were fragile and dissolved once it rained. Next they made wooden humans, who had no minds nor souls nor hearts. These beings could not worship their makers. Finally, the gods made men out of maize, who were the suitably respectful race that Tepeu and Gucumatz had wanted. According to the Norsemen, humans were created by the gods, who shaped men from trees and women from vines. In Egypt, people were created from the tears of Atum, a manifestation of the sun god Ra. Men were also cre-ated with mud in the Chinese myth. But the Ainu, a Japanese tribe, believed that the first people had bodies of earth, hair of chickweed, and spines of willow sticks. Not all versions of creation myths were the same. In central Africa, the Boshongo of a Bantu tribe believed that in the beginning, there was only darkness, water, and the great god Bumba. One day, Bumba had a stomach ache, which caused him to vomit. The sun came out, which dried some water, leaving land. Bumba threw up again and the moon, the stars, the leopard, the crocodile, the turtle, all the other animals and finally some men came out. However, in South Africa, the Zulu thought that their Ancient One and Creator, Unkulunkulu, came from the reeds.

Sources:http://www.livescience.com/history/top10_intelligent_de-signs.htmlhttp://www.magictails.com/creationlinks.html

By Sandy Tang

They simply believed that Unkulunkulu created everything and brought forth humans to the world. He then taught the Zulu how to hunt, make fire, and grow food. This is how the first hu-mans, the Zulu, began their life on earth. Every culture has its own myths and legends about the creation of the world and the first human race. Al-though they may seem unrealistic, this is what people have believed for generations. So just remember that reality is myth, math, metaphors, and a pinch of magic.

Volume 6, Issue 2

Eagles’ Eyrie

Volume 6, Issue 2

Eagles’ Eyrie

17

AskPutzke: All Questions AnsweredDisclaimer: All views expressed herein are not the views of Hunter Putzke or Eagles’ Eyrie. They are the thoughts of a collection of neurons residing in Hunter’s head that do not respond to the rest of his head. In short, the “Putzke” here is a fictional creation. All answers are meant to be either humorous or crazy (ex-cept for the math question which is totally true) and are the product of a slightly deranged imagination and therefore cannot be used against anyone in a court of law. Also, you may have noticed that the tone of the answerer changes. Kudos for noticing! Thank you, and have a nice day.

Throughout these years, how do you feel about the mistakes you’ve made? Are you ashamed of them? Or proud?I’m proud of my mistakes. They’ve made life that much worse for everyone else.

What do you prefer, today’s happiness or tomorrow’s happi-ness? Today’s happiness brings joy, just like sugar. Sugar makes people bounce around. Basketballs bounce. Therefore, basketballs are people too, and we shouldn’t dribble them without asking them first.

If a green boat with white spots is 50m long and 10m wide, going at 50km/h from Antarctica to Moscow, with a tail wind at SE 50 de-grees, with a crew of 25 people, and three times more the average of half of the workers are obese, knowing that the water has a salt concentration of 10 to 20%, varying depending on the place, and that it contains terrorists, what is the age of the captain?I believe you forgot about the time dilation. See, this problem becomes unanswerable if we’re not told the speed of the Earth’s rotation, the color of the ship’s flag, the meals served in the cafeteria of the Mexican Secretary of State’s office building, and the average number of stripes on every tiger in Southern Asia south of Laos. And the captain and parents’ age.

How much milk does the Milky Way contain?It’s 50% M. I. L. K. Anything that’s 50% milk is healthy and delicious. Delicious things are unhealthy. Cardiac arrests cannot be predicted, just like the stock market. Therefore, milk caused the Great Depression.

Looking at the room with noth-ing inside, what is the most complex thing in this room?Simple is as simple doesEmpty nothingness floatsAcross an open seaThis room should have moats.On the other hand, the concept of the room itself. Really, once you begin thinking about the massive amount of calculations that our brain runs you begin to sympathize with people trying to do brain research. Of course, the syntax of that sentence will cause even more headaches for science.

Can you do pages 515-516 in the pre calc book?Yes. Yes I can. To prove it, here’s number 50. A+O=185, 2A+3O=452 A=185-O 2(185-O)+3O=452 370-2O+3O=452O=82 A+82=185 A=103An eight ounce glass of apple juice has 103 milligrams of vita-min C and an eight ounce glass of orange juice has 82 milligrams of vitamin C.

We all know that Mr. Stein’s mustache is his source of magi-cal power. So what would hap-pen if he shaved it off? Let’s find out! Where’s my razor and shaving cream?

Why did the gecko climb into my bag and rot under my books in sixth grade? Death is life interrupted. Inter-ruptions are inconvenient. In-conveniences are also known as annoyances. Therefore, death is annoying and should be banned… Was it squishy when you pulled it out?

How many boards would a Mongol hoard if a Mongol horde got bored?The Mongol hordes would hoard as many boards as the Mongol hordes could hoard if the Mongol hordes got bored. No, but seriously, assum-ing that one Mongol could hoard a dozen boards (extrapolated from horse carrying capacity, the assumption of 2x4 boards, recognition of the nomadic lifestyle, and other such factors), a Mongol horde could hoard approximately 2400 boards (assuming a horde of 200 warriors). However, if we take an entire Mongol community into account, we should arrive at *hands slapped away from keyboard*

Thank you to Carol Lin, Eric Yeh, and everyone else who sent in questions!

Volume 6, Issue 2

Eagles’ Eyrie

18 Volume 6, Issue 2

Eagles’ Eyrie

When was the last time you took a picture worth looking at? You have probably seen many pictures on the internet as you think to yourself: Wow, that is amazing! How come I can’t take pictures like that? Owning a good quality camera with a vari-ety of functions helps. That does not mean having special gadgets that add photo frames or stickers to pictures; it means having the ability to take a picture of something that is moving quickly, like a person kicking a soc-cer ball. First of all, you’ll need to know the basics. The three main qualities of a functional camera are ISO, shut-ter speed, and aperture. All cameras have these three attributes. ISO is used for light sensitivity. Be careful though, because higher ISO not only means a brighter image, but also more noise for lower-end cameras (i.e. any camera that is not a Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) camera). For those who haven’t heard of the term, noise is the dots you may see in a picture if the image is made too bright. Shutter speed is also partly about the brightness of an image and how much light goes in with each snap of the shutter. The shutter speed is how fast the picture snaps and therefore, how much light gets into the snap shot. With a low shutter speed, there will be a brighter image, but if your hands aren’t steady or you’re not us-ing a tripod, then the picture might be

blurry. This is because it takes longer to take the picture. If you use a high shutter speed the picture is taken in an in-stant, unlike a low shutter speed where you have to hold down the button for a while until it takes the shot. The third main function on a camera is the aperture value. This also plays a part in the amount of light that gets into the picture. The aperture is in-side the lens, and the aperture value determines how much it opens. When the aperture value is small, the aperture opens a lot; when it is large, it opens a little. When it is a low value, there is a shallow depth of field. This means the cam-era focuses on closer objects and blurs the background. A high aperture value means the image will be darker. These three functions all work together; like “rock, paper, scis-sors,” they cannot function properly without each other. On a DSLR camera, there is a button with different letters on it. One of the letters is P, which stands for “program auto.” “Program auto” means that when you take a picture, everything is automatic. This is usually used when you don’t have a lot of time to adjust all the settings and functions to make the photo perfect, and you just want to take an acceptable picture. Basically,

it is just a very convenient button to turn to when you don’t have enough time to manually set up the pic-ture. The most important and effective technique of tak-ing a picture is the Golden Ratio. The golden ratio is 1.618. Some cameras show a grid with two ver-tical and two horizontal lines, forming nine boxes which you should follow. If you’re taking a portrait, then it should be from the upper thighs and up, but make sure to leave some

space between the head, which should be in between the two vertical lines, and the top of the photo. If you are taking a scenic picture, make sure you put the main subjects you want where the vertical and horizontal lines cross. This is the same for taking a picture of more than one person. Make sure that the picture is not too cluttered so that the camera can focus on one thing. This way, the photo-viewer knows what to look at, and what is the most important object in that picture. Another basic way of taking a picture is not to just stand straight in front of an object when taking its pic-ture. Move around; have a little fun experimenting with different angles through the lens of the camera before taking the picture. Don’t just stand in one stance, or one direction. Make it more three-dimensional and real-looking by capturing the shadows and symmetrical shapes of objects and the natural affects of nature. Remem-ber, reading is a whole different thing than actually experiencing and test-ing these tips out. Try taking pictures of different scenery and people. The more you take pictures, the better you will get. So take your camera out and start shooting.

This is one example of a good picture which fol-lows the golden ratio.

This is a failed attempt at getting three people into one picture. The colors are underdeveloped and unbal-anced, which means the photo is blurry and dark.

Can You Take Good Pictures?By Mary June Manno

Volume 6, Issue 2

Eagles’ Eyrie

Volume 6, Issue 2

Eagles’ Eyrie

19

Shots of the Year

“The Girls” by Carol Lin

“Italy: Venice Water Street” by Ms. Danzinger

“Panorama, Australia” by Jesse Chang

“New Zealand Scenery” by Michelle McNeill

“Sparkly Surface” by Michelle McNeil

“Sydney Operahouse Sunset” by Jesse Chang

“Malaga, Spain”by Pierre Thomas “Boracay, Philippines”by Pierre Thomas

“Thailand - Koh Pangan Beach” by Ms. Danzinger

“Qikiqtarjuaq, Nunavut” by Mr. Hart “Qikiqtarjuaq, Nunavut” by Mr. Hart

“Dancers” by Carol Lin

Volume 6, Issue 2

Eagles’ Eyrie

20

The AST Crossword Across1 What happens after 62208000 seconds of school8 Sweet pudding12 Girl13 Between E and F?14 Harp by Apple Inc.15 It’s okay, you’ll get over it17 Art of persuasion20 Ötzi and his pals21 A billion years22 Found on vacationing cars23 To formally change a document24 “Love” to Juan25 Device and an action down a mountain26 White robe in a Christian Church27 Those who compete against the Mustangs30 Registered nurse31 Last option in Pokemon32 Grey’s Anatomy Sandra33 a.k.a. wooden croc35 Remember to zip this up36 Foolish person38 A synagogue39 Makers of Madden40 Square root of a warlord in the Eastern Han Dynasty43 Moi44 Solo46 Synonym of clip48 Demonic creature from Middle- Earth50 Giant wave52 Collect $20053 Ahead in the game55 Angry56 Rabbit food59 ____ and Nancy60 Washes or blows away slowly62 Agency responsible for the response to Hurricane Katrina63 First two letters of H2O64 Oodles of _______66 Algebra student’s worst nightmare68 Save our ship69 Length between birthdays70 __TV71 Canadian Question Capper

Down1 Scrambled Brain Cells2 Singer of “Life is a Highway” (Misspelled)3 Monday after lunch4 Thought about, scrambled5 Everyone has this bright blue book6 Teacher’s Assistant7 Not a hoax

8 “Flower” to Paloma9 The Golden Compass heroine and her clones10 Never gonna give you up…11 British Kiss14 A novel by Stephen King16 Famous Actress Zellweger18 a.k.a. AST19 _____ like a star, scrambled28 The land of Sunny29 K-1234 Strength building exercise for runners35 Tar and _______37 Emeril’s Catchphrase, scrambled40 Beavers, maple syrup, snow41 A for Morrison or Ivy42 Unit of resistance45 Language of the Jewish people in Germany47 Cancerous growths49 Like rich soil51 Big no in Mr. Parker’s class54 Fancy student’s plea57 Popular clothing brand58 Character in “The Incredibles”61 Suddenly, I ____!65 Online AP course on our transcript67 Six points in football

Halo/Walking on Sunshine -Glee

Summertime -Chet Baker

Island in the Sun -Weezer

Sunrise -Norah Jones

Our Last Summer -ABBA

Pocket Full of Sunshine -Natasha Bedingfield

When it Rains -Paramore

Merrimack River -Mandy Moore

The Girl from Ipanema -Any Cover

Summer Music Playlist

By Belle Wu and Hunter Putzke