VOL. 2, ISSUE 5 TUESDAY, 4 NOVEMBER 2014 YALE-NUS, SINGAPORE

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HALLOWEEN/NYU SHANGHAI DOUBLE ISSUE

NEWS

2 | 4 Nov, 2014

When the new executive board of Yale-NUS International Relations and Political Association (YIRPA)

was elected into office on Oct. 8, they took a vote on whether to keep YIRPA open and running. The eventual vote was in favour of keeping YIRPA for the next academic year, before another vote will be taken by the next executive board. Why was there a need for the vote? What issues are student organizations like YIRPA facing?

When organising an event, student organizations in Yale-NUS College have the option of booking venues within RC4 or in University Town. For the recent Yale-NUS Model ASEAN (YMA) held from Aug. 22 to 24, 2014, YIRPA utilized seminar rooms in

RC4, the multipurpose hall in RC4, seminar rooms in the Educational Resource Centre (ERC) and Ngee Ann Kongsi Auditorium.

According to YIRPA, the Dean of Students Office (DoS) had initially agreed to cover the cost of all venues. This was recently revised. “DoS had originally agreed to pay for the venues, and then it [was] later retracted, very recently.” Walter Yeo ’18, President of YIRPA, commented, “[They expect that] YIRPA is going to pay for it.”

On booking venues for events, Chris O’Connell, Student Programs Manager, said, “Here at RC4 [venues are] all free… typically the student organization should bear the cost for the venues [outside of RC4]”.

Andrea Lee ’17, Vice-President (International Relations) of YIRPA stressed the importance of having venues sponsored.

“When we organize conferences, we always… try to get venue sponsorship.” Lee said, “Venue is a very big cost and if venues are not covered… it does not make economic sense [to organize the conference].” According to Lee, the key reason cited by the DoS was prior miscommunication.

YIRPA made a profit of approximately $20,000 from YMA. They are expected to pay approximately $6000 for the venues.

Trojan Model UN took place from Oct. 30 to Nov. 2 in Southern California, America. 12 YIRPA students were scheduled to participate in the conference. According to Lee, this was an important conference as it was an opportunity for YIRPA students to take part in conferences beyond Asia. However, YIRPA was later unable

Venue SponsorshipsFaculty Approval or “Buy-In”

story Joyan Tan | photo used with permission from Xunliang Photography

UNDER THE MICROSCOPE:AN INVESTIGATION INTO YIRPA AND DOS

YIRPA’s Executive Board for academic year 2014/15.

NEWS

4 Nov, 2014 | 3

to send a delegation to Trojan Model UN. The official stance of the DoS on missing

classes for extracurricular events is that faculty approval must be obtained before any funding proposal will be considered. “You are a student first,” O ‘Connell commented. “We won’t consider funding proposals from students unless they receive approval from their faculty.”

However, faculty members are allowed to change their minds on granting approval. While all students scheduled to participate in Trojan Model UN had initially obtained faculty approval, they were later informed that their funding proposal would not be considered due to a lack of “faculty buy-in”.

O‘Connell expressed, “In some instances… faculty has looked into what the student has asked permission for… and shifted their opinion about it… Faculty have every right to change their mind.” When asked if there is a deadline by which faculty can change their minds, O‘Connell responded that “[they hadn’t] quite crossed that bridge yet” on setting a specific deadline.

According to Yeo, “a couple of students had already paid for the hotel and they are in the midst of trying to get refunded. One particular student had already paid for airfare using her Miles.”

While recognizing that students may incur additional costs due to last-minute changes, O‘Connell suggested that “there’re trade-offs to everything; having to navigate these trade-offs, whether extra-curricular or not, is all part of [being a student].”

Both regular registration for Pan Asia Model UN in Taiwan and stage one of priority registration for World Model UN in Seoul closed on Oct. 15. On Tuesday night, Oct. 14, the YIRPA board received an update on recent policy changes regarding payment of conference/competition registration fees.

One version of the Travel and Conference Funding guidelines released by DoS dated ‘Semester 1 — 2014’ states that “The Dean of Students office will cover registration fees for events that require early sign-ups, even if travel funding has not yet been secured.” An updated version of the guidelines dated ‘2014/2015 Academic Year’, that is available on the Yale-NUS website at the date of publication, states “Funding may be used for registration fees and travel expenses.” Students are also expected to “submit [the] completed form to the Dean of Students Office at least six weeks in advance of the departure date.” Under the new policy, registration fees no longer fall under individual student organization budgets but under the Travel and Conference Funding budget.

According to O’Connell, these changes

Payment of Registration Fees

in funding policies mean that where only registration fees would previously be paid for, student organisations can now apply for subsidies for both registration fees and travel expenses through the Travel and Conference Funding guidelines.

Yeo, however, expressed doubts over whether this is an advantageous change in funding policy for student organisations. As subsidies for registration fees are now subject to approval of travel funding, “it’s a higher uncertainty.” Yeo commented, “If you secure registration fees… that’s absolute certainty in a very small amount. But to students, that’s comforting.”

Furthermore, Yeo raised the concern that the change in funding policy was only communicated to YIRPA on the night before the registration fees were due. “As a student in a new school, I can understand that changes have to be made, but why was [the] financial policy not revised at the end of the academic year, or at the end of the semester, rather than a random Tuesday night in the middle of the week in the middle of the semester?” Yeo stated, “We expect change, but we expect change at a reasonable time like the start or end of the financial year so that YIRPA can also budget.”

“Changes should be applied in the future, not retroactively.” Yeo added.

YIRPA will be sending a delegation of 22 students to Pan Asia Model UN in 2014 and 12 students to World Model UN in 2015. According to Yeo and Lee, the fees were eventually covered by YIRPA instead of individual members. Registration fees for both conferences add up to approximately S$6210. YIRPA is applying for funding through the Travel and Conference budget, and this is subject to approval by the DoS.

Student organizations play a large role in student life in Yale-NUS. YIRPA is the largest student organization with 126 members and one of the fastest growing organizations on campus. YIRPA’s rapid growth however, has also brought many challenges with it. “I feel that YIRPA is limited by what the school has already done.” Lee commented, “We cannot grow faster than the pace at which Yale-NUS is growing.”

At the same time, O’Connell expressed, “We’re very impressed with YIRPA.” O’Connell acknowledged that changes are happening all the time in Yale-NUS, and said, “The more flexible everyone is, ourselves included, the better off all of us will be. Change is hard.”

The total DoS budget for student organizations from this semester to March 2015 is $65,000. To date, 21 recognized student organizations have received some form of a budget from the DoS Office.

$65,000Total DoS budget for student

organizations from this semester to March 2015.

6Number of weeks prior to

departure date for a student conference/competition that

funding forms should be turned into the DoS Office.

BY THE NUMBERS:YIRPA AND STUDENTORGANIZATION FUNDING

126Number of student members in YIRPA.

$20,000YIRPA’s approximate profit from the Yale-NUS Model

ASEAN in August.

$6,000Amount YIRPA is expected to pay for venues used during the

Yale-NUS Model ASEAN.

4 | 4 Nov, 2014

HALLOWEEN COMES TO YALE-NUS

A dark pathway with twists and turns. Fog in the air and blood on the walls. Mannequins covered in sheets. A shrill

shriek. Fluttering of some hanging cloth. One of the mannequins starts. These were several of many scenes during Yale-NUS’s haunted house. The latter was one of two main events on Halloween night, the other being a Halloween Mixer. Both events were held consecutively in the Multi-Purpose Hall, and planned entirely by students.

The Haunted House took place last year, so the sophomores who worked on it had some experience. According to Meredith Jett ’18, there was a substantial amount of planning that went into the event. “It started with conception, which is basically we’re allowed to use this space, how can we maximize the scare,” she said. “We split the space into smaller sections and [talked] a lot about where we want people to get scared, how we want to scare them, whether its visual or auditory or whatnot.”

According to Jett, the haunted house ended up being quite a success. “I would say that it was a success ... we had between probably 210 and 230 people ... from Yale-NUS and other NUS faculties,” she said.

The mixer, planned by a student group called the Illuminafrati, ran for the first time this year. According to Goh Si Yuan ’18 the school was very supportive of the idea. “I went and pitched [the mixer], and surprisingly they were really happy about it and [said] ‘how can we help you to make this free for everyone?’” he said. The Illuminafrati ended up getting a sound and lights systems, an MC, and two DJs for the night.

The mixer was likewise considered a success by several students there, and attended by 150-200 students, according to Goh. “It was really awesome how it ended up, I think that everyone [who] came ... had a really good time ... even people that I didn’t ask to help us came in and helped us,” he said.

Ziyad Bagharib ’18 said he felt very happy with how Halloween was celebrated, because, “During orientation, there was this point we were sitting in the CAPT auditorium, and ... discussing what [we wanted] to see happen in the school ... and there was this big resounding sentiment that Halloween should be celebrated here ... [The] fact that Halloween turned out this way, that’s just a show of how much initiative there is in the student body and how spontaneous people are and how there are people who help make things happen.”

The Halloween celebrations came to an end by 2.15 a.m. on Nov.1.

story Yonatan Gazit | photos Christopher Khew, Pareen Chaudhari

NEWS

Annette Wu ’17 prepares behind

the scenes for Yale-NUS’ Delirium

haunted house.

Class of 2018 students (left to

right) Dynn Othman, Ziyad Bagharib and

Goh Si Yuan dress up to celebrate at

the Halloween mixer.

Rachel Ong ’17 and Nia Bia ’17 pose in

their Halloween costumes at the

student mixer.

4 Nov, 2014 | 5

On Friday Oct. 31, delegates from four different student organizations in Yale-NUS College arrived in Shanghai,

China to meet with their NYU Shanghai counterparts. While the trip was originally created to form a connection between both schools’ basketball teams, the other three organizations that also participated in the exchange were Elected Student Committee (ESC)— Yale-NUS’ transitional student government, G-Spot— the LGBTQ+ society and Panopt— a Yale-NUS student publication. The 16 students were accompanied by four other staff members from the Dean of Students Office.

How were these organizations chosen out of over 25 student organizations in Yale-NUS? Chris O’Connell, Student Programs Manager at Yale-NUS, stated, “[NYU Shanghai] staff had suggested some organizations at NYU Shanghai that were particularly active and would be relevant and interested to host our students and… the ones that were suggested were basketball, the newspaper, the LGBTQ group and the Student Government.”

Though the selection process of organizations to participate in the trip was fairly arbitrary, the participating student organizations gained from the exchange. The students represented a diverse range of interests and perspectives from both colleges, and over the course of three days, they engaged in active discussion of their respective experiences, whether curricular or extracurricular. While both colleges share many similarities such as the sophomore class being the inaugural class, the differences in their experiences also allowed students to learn and benefit from their counterparts.

For example, Yale-NUS’ ESC is different

from an official student government as they are still in a transitional phase and tasked with the process of setting up the school’s constitution. In addition, they also function as an avenue where student concerns can be heard and conveyed to the relevant administrative offices. As NYU Shanghai’s Student Government had created their constitution and elected their representatives by the end of the academic year 2013/2014, they could draw on their experiences to offer advice to students in Yale-NUS’ ESC.

NYU Shanghai’s Student Government President Roxanne Roman acknowledged that the process of creating a governing body is not an easy one, “The Student Government created the student constitution, and once the student government was created, then we [could] start creating all of the student organizations and student activities and start funding them, because it is the students who manage everything. We had to have a side governing body set up and have elections. And as the first Student Government [we had] to write [the] bylaws and plan the student events and each of the other committees [had] to write their own policies.”

Other organizations also benefited from being able to check their progress against similar student organizations that had developed under comparable circumstances. One such example is the student publication in both colleges. While NYU Shanghai’s student publication ‘On Century Avenue’ and Yale-NUS’ student publication ‘Panopt’ were both started in Fall Semester 2013, they adopted different approaches to suit their respective target audiences and objectives. On top of providing a platform for student voices to be heard, On Century Avenue (OCA) also seeks

to take advantage of their location within the city to reach out to the expatriate population in Shanghai. This has led OCA to develop sections like City Lights that discusses nightlife in Shanghai, fashion, food, and more. Also, while OCA publishes exclusively online, Panopt publishes both print issues and online each week.

For the administration as well, the experience seemed to be a fruitful one. Kyle Farley, Dean of Students at Yale-NUS remarked, “It is clear that despite the differences between the two schools, them being in the second year meant that they share similar struggles and similar opportunities. Just having the opportunity to talk through those experiences was very powerful for administrators and students on both sides.”

When asked how the event was funded, O’Connell explained, “We put together a partnership agreement …[and] the hosting campus incurs all the cost associated with hosting so housing, dining, events, logistics etc, and the visiting schools covers the transportation and the visas too.”

According to the Yale-NUS administration, this exchange will be the first among many such exchanges. Farley commented, “This is clearly the first of several visits between the two schools and we look forward to future collaborations during visits and between visits. And we are very excited that by the time we host them next year we can showcase our beautiful new campus.”

The participants from Yale-NUS flew back to Singapore late afternoon on Nov. 2.

* This article is written in collaboration with On Century Avenue, the student publication at NYU Shanghai.

BEYOND THE “A” CUPstory Spandana Bhattacharya and Kadallah Burrowes ’18 NYU Shanghai | photos Joyan Tan

NEWS

NYU-Shanghai’s campus is on Century Avenue in the city’s center. Students at NYU-Shanghai bring Yale-NUS students to the Bund.

6 | 4 Nov, 2014

In the inaugural battle for the ‘A’ cup—The Pioneers of American Universities in Asia: NYU-Shanghai vs. Yale-NUS on Nov. 1, the

Yale-NUS Men’s Basketball Team triumphed with an ending score of 71-69. In an interview with one of the shooting guards, Shaun Tan ’17, discusses the game and his experiences.

When did the basketball team first start training for the game?

At the beginning of the semester, when we officially got our coach. We knew that coming to Shanghai could be a possibility at the start of the semester and we didn’t want to be caught off-guard. We were also practising for IFGs.

What were your expectations for the game?Upon seeing their physical height, I was

kind of intimidated. Their average height was 6 feet and we were not 6 feet. They were at least a head taller than most of us. From previous

YALE-NUS TRIUMPHS IN BASKETBALLAN INTERVIEW WITH SHAUN TAN ’17

story and photos Joyan Tan

exchange with the basketball team, we also thought we were years behind them. It turns out that we were actually pretty close in skill. We were really glad.

How did you feel during the game? I was feeling quite good after the warm-ups

because I was hitting my shots. And I knew that I could trust my team to carry us through. Normally, we would have Coach to look at the other team during their warm-ups and tell us who to watch out for. But this time we were just really focused on ourselves and so we came into the game confident that we could put up a good show. Playing as a team was really important for us. We felt good; warm-ups were good. It really set the tone for the game.

What is your most memorable moment of the trip?

It would have to be the game-winning foul

that Zach committed with just 0.07 seconds left in the game. If they did tie the game, Zach was fouled out so there were a lot of mixed feelings. I think we had let them go on a 6-nil run. At one point, we were 6 to 8 points up and then they started catching up. When Zach fouled out, it was crazy because I would have to step back in and there would be more pressure. Zach was also one of our key players and at that point, I was slightly more intimidated. But it all worked out.

Looking forward, what are the basketball team’s plans?

We have a couple of friendlies coming up with a few of the NUS halls. We’re definitely looking forward to ICGs and bringing the basketball trophy back. We’ll get first and second this year. We’re also looking forward to Sebastian and Teck Yuke coming back and just playing together as a team.

SPORTS

YALE-NUS BASKETBALL TEAM

Zach Mahon ’17Point Guard, Co-Captain

Subhas Nair ’17Power Forward,

Co-Captain

Aaron Kurzak ’17 Center

Raeden Richardson ’17

Small Forward

Rakesh Prabhakaran ’17

Shooting Guard

Shaun Tan ’17 Shooting Guard

Kaushik Swaminathan ’18

Shooting Guard

Raeden Richardson ’17, small forward on the Yale-NUS

basketball team, goes up for a lay up against NYU Shanghai.

Yale-NUS students cheer on the team in Shanghai.

4 Nov, 2014 | 7

OPINION

guest column Lishani Ramanayake | photo illustration Pareen Chaudhari

CHECK YOUR PRIVILEGE

Transitioning into college life is a definite change from high school—it’s scary, it’s difficult, and Yale-NUS’ efforts at

being the cushion that allows for a comfortable transition is undoubtedly appreciated by us all. This means, however, that we must ask ourselves a difficult question: where is the line between support and hand holding, and how do we make sure we don’t cross it?

Iwani Zoe Mawocha ’18 has this to say: “What made it so much easier to step outside my comfort zone [at Yale-NUS] and ask for help was the abundance of it…this individual attention is what set Yale-NUS apart for me in the first place.”

True, this incredible support structure is what distinguishes Yale-NUS from other institutions, but some would argue that this comes with the threat of too much support which creates a false sense of entitlement. Take for example the DF meetings held right after the freshman orientation trips. When asked what could have been improved about the trips for future reference, most students tended to complain about all the things that went wrong, as opposed to acknowledging the amazing opportunities that had been opened up to us. Constructive feedback does not

equate to complaining, and the faculty at Yale-NUS do not exist to indulge our every whim and fancy, which is how their presence is so often misconstrued. This air of entitlement does stem, in part, to the incredible support structure that avails us at every turn. However, having access to this kind of support is a privilege, not an entitlement. We as students have the privilege of attending this institution. We have the privilege of having a Dean of Students Office that caters to our needs in the most comprehensible way possible; whether it is by making more fruit available in the dining hall when we asked for it, or frequent stress relief, whether it is in the form of pancake mixers or the much talked about bouncy castles that were so popular on the student run Confessions page. We have these privileges, and more, and the idea that so many people think that it is acceptable to complain about not getting their first choice for Week 7, or not getting funded to fly overseas borders on the ungrateful, and makes me wonder if this sense of false entitlement stems from the almost overwhelming support structure we have.

According to Dean’s Fellow, James Shirvell, as a start-up college, this sort of support is essential “in order to make sure that the student

experience is a successful one.” He adds, “with the student population size so small, the ratio of support to students is very favorable for the latter, but that ratio will change as we add more classes of students, so perhaps to some individuals, that ratio seems skewed, but it will align as the student population grows.”

Maruska Godina ’18 says of the matter, “support systems are extremely important especially in a place like Yale NUS where 40% of the students are not from Singapore and in a experimental academic environment… [however] I feel support should help students solve their own problems rather than it being done by someone else. It’s very hard to say at this point but I am not sure if Yale-NUS is creating support or dependence. Only time will tell.”

College should be about stepping outside comfort zones, but if we have a security blanket for every time we bruise, are we really learning? This is not to dismiss the efforts of our much loved and appreciated DF’s and faculty, but rather to highlight the disturbing atmosphere of entitlement that has been lurking around campus lately, and to serve as a reminder that the support we have at Yale-NUS exists for personal growth, not to pamper us.

Some students wonder whether Yale-NUS’ extensive support system has led to student coddling.

This issue digs deep into our community – YNC Confessions, intolerant remarks in public spaces, lift posters, etc. Unfortunately, the posters which created some of this ruckus were not in the slightest intended to be transphobic, which is where I have to agree with you that there could have been “more appropriate and sensitive methods” to have fun. I am all for community, and we should all strive to better this community that gives us so much, but we cannot force someone to sacrifice their individuality for the community. If an individual chooses to do something at the expense of others, you know what? That is their choice, and they accept any repercussions. In the same way, we can’t ostracize someone or hold grudges against them for choosing to act in their own interests – they have every right to, just as you do if you choose to.

People within our community are too easily offended. Not everyone will subscribe as

OPINION

8 | 4 Nov, 2014

panopt.org | facebook.com/panoptync | @yncpanoptCHECK OUT MORE AT:

LETTER TO THE EDITORSSend your letter to the editors (maximum word count 200) to yncpanopt@gmail.com by 5 P.M. on Friday for the chance to have it published here next week.

In a community which is so accepting of all religions, sexual orientations, and cultures, we sometimes commit the fatal error of being

intolerant of the ‘intolerant’. If we want to create a truly “safe and inclusive” environment (to quote the 14th October opinion piece, which was written to express concern over the parody posters in the elevator), we must acknowledge that the racist, sexist, or the transphobic have equal right to their opinion as everyone else. By forcing them to self-censor themselves into not expressing their opinions, we are doing exactly what we set out not to do. We are creating a community which discourages open expression for a minority (or majority) group – if they do speak out, it is at the risk of violent backlash, simply because the other’s views are more vehement.

Everyone has a right to their view, no matter how ridiculous, and everyone should be able to express it and be accountable for it. It’s what creates a creative, diverse environment, and allows people to express their discontent and happiness openly. Taking down posters is oppressive. Keep in mind that doing this has infringed upon the “wellbeing and safety” of the transphobic community by tearing down their point of view. We cannot strive for this idealistic, lovey-dovey, harmonious community at the cost of silencing the minority opinion. We cannot hesitate to put up our expressions of discontent, rebellion, or humour, no matter how contentious. If we could all live in absolute harmony, I would be deeply disturbed. I came to a college where students co-exist with a multitude of views. If we are all in agreement about everything, either we are all truly the same person, or many people are self-censoring themselves every day for the sake of others. Is that fair? Who decides who should compromise? The majority? The most vocal? The historically most oppressed?

guest column Rakesh Prabhakaran | photo from 343 Industries

WHY “SAFE”, “INCLUSIVE”, AND “COMMUNITY” SHOULD NOT BE SEEN IN THE SAME SENTENCE

strongly as you do to your views or to political correctness; dislike it as much as you will – it’s counterproductive to get offended by their opinions and grudgingly attach a damaging judgement onto the individual for his or her beliefs. I do not mean to say that we ought to put up lewd posters, or be encouraged to dress up as Ebola victims, or condone the use of ‘gay’ as an adjective, but should it happen, we should be mature enough to constructively settle things in a face to face manner. We came to this college from various social backgrounds. We cannot expect everyone to conform to the idealistic views of a community that we hold. We can try to unite our community, but if people ultimately differ in opinion, we must let them express themselves freely and then let them be held fully accountable, even if it goes against everything we believe in. That’s the sacrifice we make in having an inclusive community.

The Halo Master Chief Collection is due for Nov. 11, featuring Halo 2 Anniversary with stunning new graphics and cinematics.