82nd annual Oscar awards: March 7, 2010

The Academy Award, more commonly known as the Oscars are awards presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to recognize the excellence of film industry professionals such as directors, actors, writers, and motion pictures. As most of you may know, the 82nd annual Oscar awards took place on March 7 of this year. There were 24 awards to give, 5 nominees for each award, but only 1 out of each could win. There were so many nominees, some of which were nominated for more than one award.
There was an award for best picture, directing, actor and actress in a leading role, art direction, foreign language film, film editing, documentary feature, visual effects, music (original score), cinematography, sound mixing, sound editing, costume design, actor and actress in supporting role, writing (adapted screenplay), makeup, short film (live action), documentary short, short film (animated), writing (original screenplay), music (original song), and animated feature film.
One of the 2 movies that were nominated for more than one award was “Avatar” directed by James Cameron and Jon Landau. It was nominated for best picture, directing by James Cameron, art direction by Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg, film editing by Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron, visual effects by Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones, music (original score), cinematography by Mauro Fiore, sound mixing by Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson, and sound editing by Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle. Although it did not win what seems to be the most important award-best picture- it did win awards for art direction, visual effects, and cinematography. Many people said it was the best movies they had ever seen. The other movie that was nominated for so many awards was “The Hurt Locker” by Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Nicolas Chartier and Greg Shapiro which won the award for best picture. People were expecting “Avatar” to win the award for best picture.
There were different actors nominated for awards as well: actress in a leading role, actor in a leading role, actress in a supporting role, and actor in a supporting role. Sandra Bullock won the Oscar for actress in a leading role in the movie “The Blind Side” and Jeff Bridges won the Oscar for actor in a leading role for starring in “Crazy Heart”. The Oscar for actress in supporting role went to Mo’Nique for starring in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” and Christoph Waltz won the Oscar for actor in supporting role in the movie “Inglorious Basterds”. There are so many more details about the Oscars and for more information go to http://oscar.go.com/.

gecko life: iPods and mp3 Players in Between Classes at School

Last school year the school faculty put a new rule into effect about iPods and other mp3 players which does not make students happy. The high school students are not allowed to use their iPods or other mp3 players during school hours. This was not a rule before, but apparently the mp3 players “distract students from school work,” says senior Tyler Yoshimoto. Junior James Kim says using mp3 players at school would set “a bad reputation for the school.”
The rule about mp3 players is enforced in between classes, during morning break, and lunch break. Students are taking breaks from classes and having some time to relax. Mp3 players play music, which entertains and makes people happy-especially high school students who are into listening to music in their spare time. Sophomore Amber Roberts says, “I feel it’s unnecessary since kids aren't doing anything.”
Parents of some students do not like the idea of their children using mp3 players at school because they send their children to school to learn, not listen to music. When asked to put herself in the place of a parent sending her child to SIS and is asked how she would feel about her child using an mp3 player at school, freshman Christine Kim doesn't mind. “I don’t think it disrupts anything,” says Christine. Senior Selyna Leon Guerrero says she wouldn’t mind “as long as the teachers are able to teach easily.”
Apparently students have a very different view about using iPods and mp3 players at school compared to parents and teachers. Using mp3’s during class is definitely something to ban but it shouldn’t be a problem during breaks and in between classes because students do not have anything to worry about. As long as school work is not being disturbed there should be nothing to worry about.

English and ONLY English at SIS

There has been a problem with speaking English for students at SIS who are from outside countries and whose native languages are not English. There is a rule that states that students must speak only English to each other during school hours.

The majority of the students at the school are Korean and it has become the most spoken language at school but never the less there are Chinese students who speak Chinese to each other while in class and probably more than that. The main reason students are being sent to SIS by their parents, besides to get a good education is to get better at speaking English which should be considered a great privilege to students who do not speak English as their first language.

This will be able to help students greatly in their future. Some people take that privilege for granted and do not make the right amount of effort to improve their English and continue to speak their native languages. This is why there is a new very strict rule about speaking languages other than English at school. First there are warnings, which lead to detention, which may lead to suspension, which might just lead to expulsion. This shows how much the staff of SIS wants to help non native English speakers improve their English to help them in the future. As a warning, before saying something, think about what language it is going to be in.

A Movie Worth Watching: Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day is a movie a romantic comedy that tells the story of how a few different couples in Los Angeles, young and old, spend their day of romance. The whole movie takes place on Valentine’s Day. Each couple is somehow linked to all the others through friends or work.

Each couple in the story spends their day very different from the others. The scenes switch from couple to couple showing where they are and what funny things they are doing throughout the day even while they are not with their partner. There are funny flaws between each couple such as funny valentine gifts, age difference, high school versus work, funny personalities, weird jobs, and more.

One cool thing about the movie is that all it’s stars are all actors that are already famous and who’s names are well known throughout the country. Country singer and song writer Taylor Swift is one of the many stars of the film, playing a clueless high school student whose handsome athletic boyfriend is played by hunk Taylor Lautner, the werewolf in the Twilight Saga. This is probably the cutest and funniest couple in the movie.

The movie is really funny and is worth watching, comparing every couple to the others and seeing them side by side. Looking at love between high school students next to love between middle aged people and comparing them to the real world is so hilarious. For some people it might just be one of those movies that you can watch over and over again without getting tired of it. If romantic comedies are a favorite, head down to the movie theater before it's gone.

National Merit Scholarship Program

Students of SIS, you have a very good reason to be proud to attend SIS because just recently, one of our seniors has become a National Merit Scholar! Say congratulations to Selena Leon Guerrero of the senior class of 2010!

The National Merit Scholarship Program is a United States academic scholarship competition for recognition and college scholarships administered by National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), a privately funded, non-profit organization. Headquarters are in Evanston, Illinois.

National Merit Scholarship Corporation manages two competitions every year for recognition and scholarships: the National Merit Scholarship Program, which is open to all students who meet entry requirements, and the National Achievement Scholarship Program which is only offered to African American students who wish to participate. Every year approximately 10,500 scholarships are awarded through National Merit Scholarship Corporation programs.

To enter the competition, a student must: be enrolled as a full time high school student advancing normally towards completing high school who plans to enroll full time in college in the fall after graduating from high school; a US citizen or heading towards becoming a US citizen at the earliest opportunity allowed by law; and take the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) in the thoroughly explained year of the high school program (usually the junior year at one’s own school).

There are a few complicated steps students must pass through to earn scholarships. They must first qualify to be a semifinalist through their PSAT and must then be chosen to move on. In August after the PSAT is taken, high school principals are mailed notifications about their Semifinalists. Principals communicate these results to their students. Those who are not chosen to be Semifinalists are "Commended", and receive a Letter of Commendation; they do not continue in the competition for Merit Scholarship awards. Semifinalists must meet the expectations of additional requirements and advance to the Finalist level to be considered for a scholarship.


About 15,000 of the 16,000 Semifinalists advance to Finalist standing by submitting SAT scores that confirm their PSAT/NMSQT performance, having an outstanding academic record, and being approved of and recommended by a high school official. They must also submit an application that includes high school courses and grades, extracurricular and volunteer activities, and a self-descriptive essay. The information that is collected about each Semifinalist is used later in the process to choose scholarship winners. All Finalists receive a Certificate of Merit in recognition of their outstanding performance in the competition.

Out of the 15,000 Finalists, about 8,200 receive Merit Scholarship awards. All Finalists are considered for one of the 2,500 National Merit $2,500 Scholarships. So, congratulations to Selena for her hard work and achievement.

Movies For the Month of February

For the month of February, there are a 7 good movies playing at Hollywood Theaters: Shutter Island, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, Valentine’s Day, The Wolfman, From Paris with Love, Tooth Fairy, and Avatar.

Shutter Island stars Leonardo De Caprio and Mark Ruffalo as U.S. Marshals in 1954 investigating how a murderer disappeared from a hospital on Shutter Island (fictional). Chaos results for the Marshalls as they run into a web of fraud, a hurricane, and a deadly inmate riot that leaves them trapped on the island.

Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, magical fantacy, stars Logan Lerman as Percy Jackson, a boy who finds out that he is the son of Poseidon and becomes the main suspect in the robbery of Zeus’ lightning bolt.

Valentine’s Day, a hilarious comedy, stars many very famous actors; Jessica Alba, Kathy Bates, Jessica Biel, Bradley Cooper, Eric Dane, Patrick Dempsey, Hector Elizondo, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Topher Grace, Anne Hathaway, Ashton Kutcher, Queen Latifah, Taylor Lautner, George Lopez, Shirley Maclaine, Emma Roberts, Julia Roberts, and Taylor Swift. They appear as different couples in Los Angeles that make their way through love, romance, and heartbreak over the course of one day-Valentine’s Day.

The Wolf Man stars Benicio Del Toro as a noble man named Lawrence Talbot who copes with an ancient curse, searching his childhood homeland for his missing brother, while a bloodthirsty beast prowls the open land.

From Paris with Love stars Jonathan Rhys Meyers playing an intelligence operative working in the U.S. Ambassador’s office in France who partners up with a high-ranking U.S. agent, played by John Travolta, who was sent to Paris to stop a terrorist attack.

Tooth Fairy stars Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as a man named Derek who tells a 6-year-old girl that the tooth fairy does not exist and is left to save the tooth fairy kingdom.
Most people have already seen Avatar seeing as it came out last December and already know what the futuristic movie is about. But the movie is probably going to be gone soon, so for those who haven't seen it, it's recomended. But...for those who enjoy drama and were excited for the movie Dear John to be released, it did not come to Saipan. It was released in the states on February 4 but was not sent here. The movie stars Channing Tatum playing the role of a young soldier, John Tyree, who is on leave and falls in love with college student, Savannah Curtis (Amanda Seyfried). The couple is parted when John goes back to work but stay in touch by sending love letters but the correspondence eventually leads to fateful consequences. It is now the number 1 movie in America.

There are a few movies coming out later this month that are said to be good: Cop Out, starring Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan, The Crazies, staring Timothy Olyphant, Radha Mitchell, Danielle Panabaker, and Joe Anderson, and Yellow Handkerchief starring William Hurt, Maria Bello, Kristen Stewart, and Eddie Redmayne. Let’s just hope they come here!

By: Jessi Soll

Girls Volleyball Team’s Winning Streak Ends

Last month SIS started up an all girls volleyball team and entered in the public high school league. The team got off to a great start, winning their 1st game in one hour against Saipan Southern High. They continued to win until they had their 1st loss against Kagman High. After that, they got back on their on their winning streak until they lost in a very close match against MHS. After a month of playing, the team was in 1st place out of seven teams and it was time for the playoffs. Their 1st game of the playoffs was to be against the winner of the match between Grace Christian and MHS. Grace won and it was time for SIS to beat them for the 3rd time and move up to the finals.
The team started off very poorly because they were very nervous. The score was 13-3 for Grace and suddenly, SIS started winning point after point until they got ahead. SIS was 3 points away from winning the first set and the tension started up again. Grace got the ball and shot up to win by 2 points. For the beginning of the 2nd set, SIS was in the lead. The score was pretty even between the 2 teams throughout the set until SIS got up to 23 points. They were 2 points away from winning to move on to a tie breaker, but the team started to get nervous because Grace was catching up, and they got up to win the 2nd set by 2 points, just like the first.
The match was exciting with some very exciting points which had the audience sitting on the tip of their seats. Players Emma McCullough-Stearns and Jessica made a few serving streaks, Shane Jones made some great tips, Amber Roberts made some winning spikes from some great serves from Oall Haag, and some great saves were made by Lani Russel and Jian Joyner. The playoffs were single-elimination, so after the close game, the team was out, and will probably end up in 3rd place. The team’s final game was very close, but not close enough.