2013 Issue 4: Oct 2013 UTLOOK Featuring SR of the Year David Smith Featuring iHMA Execs Tiffanie Sugianto Neil Chen Bernie Lim Movie to watch in OCT and NOV MAJOR event in OCT and NOV Catching Fire STUVAC Suppers TABLE OF CONTENTS 3 | Feature IHMA Executives: Tiffanie Sugianto, Neil Chen, and Bernie Lim 8 | Biomedical Sciences Cancer Nanotechnology 5 | Feature 9 | Leisure 7 | Science and Technology 10 | What’s up in Sydney A New Camera David Smith About Space 11 | Recommended Movies IHMA OUTLOOK IS OPEN TO FEEDBACK AND SUGGESTIONS! SEND US AN EMAIL AT [email protected] Cover photo by Shun Yang Ch’ng IHMA Execs 3 The end of the academic year is almost upon us and a new round of IHMA Executives will soon to be challenged into steping up to the high standards achieved by this year’s exec team: Tiffanie Sugianto, Neil Chen, and Bernie Lim. In this interview, the current execs reveal some interesting and important tips for the future execs. Interview by Shun Yang Ch’ng FEATURE Featuring Chairperson: Tiffanie Treasurer: Neil Secretary: Bernie What is your role and what is it about? As the IHMA Chairperson, my roles are to oversee the activities of IHMA, to actively listen to feedback from residents and to represent IHMA’s views in meetings with the IH Office, Senior Leadership Team, IH Council, SUIHAA and organisations external to IH. In consultation with the other Execs and/or the IHMA Committee, I give recommendations for IHMA programs and ensure all IHMA Committee members have all the resources and they need to implement them. My principal role as the IHMA treasurer is to manage the society’s finance, ensuring that all activities throughout the year have sufficient financial resources to proceed. Some of my duties include preparation of the annual budget, establish a proper financial record system and make sure all transactions are duly authorized and documented. I also communicate with the office and external parties regarding all matters financial. Despite my role is predominantly about money, I also play an important role as part of the executive team in facilitating a smooth operation of the IHMA committee. I am currently serving as the Secretary of IHMA. This means that I act as the liaison between the Committee and the rest of my house. My responsibilities include assisting in coordinating IHMA’s events and activities, taking minutes at the meetings, collecting IHMA mail, handling magazine subscriptions and attending SUIHAA and Council meetings. Why did you decide to nominate yourself last year? Ever since I came here last year, I have always strongly identified with the welcoming and diverse culture of IH. I had a wonderful learning experience in the IHMA Committee as a Food Coordinator and would like to greatly extend my contribution to the IH community as I gain valuable leadership experience. I nominated myself for this role primarily for professional reasons. Since I am studying an accounting related degree I really wish to be able to put some of that theoretical knowledge into practice. A unique advantage about being the IHMA treasurer is the relative lack of strict rules and regulations that governs the role. Though there are certain rules and procedures to follow, such as preparation of semester financial reports or preparing refunds, the process how I choose to do them is very flexible. This allows me to constantly try new approaches and always learn from my mistakes. The reason why I nominated myself was because I wanted to get more involved with the House. I had been on the general IHMA committee as a photographer and I thought that being Secretary would help me to get a better understanding of iH and allow me to get more involved in the community! Also it sounded like a cool job and I like taking notes :D What are some important personal qualities that your roles involve? Organisational skills, time- and stress-management skills, confidence, commitment, creativity, ability to delegate, communication skills, flexibility, openness in accepting and implementing feedback and optimism. This is my first chairperson experience and most of the qualities I listed are qualities I actually acquired from this experience. The number one quality required is dedication. Accounting can at times seem pretty repetitive and tedious, but one must constantly stick to the parameters you establish for keeping your records so as to ensure the integrity of data is not compromised. Second is a willingness to learn – always learn from your mistakes and try to come up with better ways of doing things. Last but not least, the ability to work as part of a team. It’s important to realize that the role does not exist independent of others. I think that the job involves good time management and communication skills. Time management is important for managing my various commitments and communication is important when working with everyone on the committee. tThe importance of creating and maintaining rapport and communication in inspiring actions. They involve always having a good attitude, sensitivity to feedbacks, carrying out routine follow-ups and understanding people in both professional and personal levels. I would perhaps say that I am much I’ve learnt to trust my own judgmore financial literate as a result of serv- ment. ing on this position. I learn how to look at finance from a holistic perspective, I learn how to use accounting software, and basically I get to deal with all sorts of stuff that I wouldn’t have had the chance to experience before. This role is like a window to the real commercial world for me. How much time/dedication/commitment per week does your role involve? I actually never count how much time I spend. I think it really varies from time to time, depending on the number and scale of IHMA events happening, availability of resources and my own and Committee members’ academic workload. It varies depending on the times of the year. I would perhaps say at the start of each year it’s always the busiest time because of the amount of learning that is required to get ready for the year (such as learning how to deal with the software, take over management of the bank account, analyze previous budget/ actual patterns and then make your own budget). As the semester goes along it will then be more about keeping a tight record of income and expenditures, monitoring the budget, and be actively engaging with the general committee regarding the operations of all events. I wouldn’t be able to assign a set amount of hours that my role involves as it varies with the amount of events on. I would say that it just requires you to be dedicated to IHMA for the whole year. How would you recommend potential nominees to prepare for your role? Create good relationships with various groups of residents, build confidence, gather lots of determination and start planning! It would be helpful if you have some basic understanding of accounting prior to starting, so that you won’t find the whole thing too overwhelming. Other than that, just remember to always be willing to learn, and you will pretty much get on track in no time once you get started. Make sure that you are able to commit the time and effort to the role. Being on IHMA Exec isn’t going to be an easy job, but it is a great experience and will teach you many things. Any other comments? - Based on the current situation, the much I’m super excited for IHMA feared incorporation is perhaps not going elections! ahead for 2014, so the role of treasurer still has the benefits I mentioned above regarding the degree of flexibility enjoyed. FEATURE What is the most important thing you’ve learnt from this role so far? DAVID SMITH David Smith was voted as the Senior Resident (SR) of the Year in the recent IH Ball. In this interview, David reveals some of his secrets being an SR... FEATURE Featuring Interview by Shun Yang Ch’ng 5 Where are you from, what are you studying, and why are you here (in IH)? I hail from the overpopulated state of New Jersey in the United States of the USA. I’m studying Chemical Engineering, and I decided to stay at International House for the convenience. I’m so close to the engineering buildings I can wake up late for class and still get there on time! Why did you decide to be an SR? I wanted a key to everyone’s room so I can sneak in and take pictures of people as they sleep. Just kidding, I don’t take pictures because it wakes them up :P. I also felt that I had been here long enough (3 years and ongoing!), and knew I should give back to the house in some way. When I found out there were a few openings for SR, I went for it. I’m glad I did because I gained a new group of friends that are great to work with. What characteristics do you think an ideal SR have? The SR needs to be at the right place at the right time, acting and reacting to situations in a manner that allows the House to run properly. This means ensuring that the majority of the House is comfortable, happy, and able to go about their academia. They must be quick on their feet and forthright in their methodologies. They must also be the person that individuals can go to if they need help with something personal, academic, or professional. Honestly, as the SR of the year, any characteristics I have are essentially characteristics an ideal SR should have. Look no further. I’m there at the right place at the right time, forthright in our methodologies whilst keeping the House’s best interest at heart, even if that means looking the other way when “Honestly, as the SR of the year, any characteristics I have are essentially characteristics an ideal SR should have. Look no further.” - David, on the ideal SR characteristics FEATURE needed. Other SRs may have read handbooks. I wrote the handbook. Other SRs may seek to build strong relationships with residents so they may listen to them when needed. I don’t need to, as residents know what’s going to happen when they disobey. Because at the end of the day, I’m thriving in this role. What have been some of the challenges you have faced as an SR and how did you solve them? I can’t say there has ever been a challenge so hard, a day too rough, or a resident too tough to handle. But people will nevertheless try thinking for themselves and asking questions like, ‘but why can’t I take my food to my room and take the plate down later?’, or ‘what happens at 11 pm that makes the roof an unsafe place to be?’ Proper explanation of the rules and complete disregard for their drivel generally gets them to walk away, their place reaffirmed. If you are to give potential new SRs one advice, what would it be? Quid pro quo. Tit for tat. If you have provided some kind of special service for someone, they will listen when you need them. If you keep them down and ensure they know their place, they will start looking up to you. And remember that I AM THE SR OF THE YEAR. PRAISE ME! Interviewer Yang approaching David for an interview for the Outlook soon after David was voted the SR of the Year at the IH Ball. Interviewer Yang befriending David a year and a half ago knowing that he could potentially be the SR of the Year. Interviewer Yang co-directed this year’s i-Night SR Short Film together with David. ABOUT SPACE SCITECH Science and Technology Written by Samanvay Karambhe 7 Take a moment to reflect on your own achievements in retrospect of our collective achievements as a human race in the past 100 years. Certainly you might say that your achievements are merely a spec of dust compared to the latter but as a race we have been undoubtedly productive compared to other animal species. To put this into perspective, the astrophysicist Neil De Grasse Tyson once suggested that chimpanzees and humans were 99% similar genetically. However we owe our greatest discoveries to that 1% difference, within that 1% we have created global cities, mastered the natural sciences, stretched our presence to the edge of the solar system, and many more things that make us distinctly advanced. This raises a question: what if we were to find an alien species that were to be 1% more intelligent than us? We would likely be no more than babies to them. This is one of the exciting questions that sprung off space exploration. Space exploration is a necessity that have often been mistakenly treated as a leisurely activity by governments such as the US which infamously allocated only $1.6 billion to NASA research funds while open-heartedly spending up to $1 trillion on warfare. This could be blamed on the government’s pre-occupation with short-term benefits rather than the much-needed foresight into the scientific future of NASA research. You might be wondering that how could any space exploration possibly be beneficial to us in Australia, a country that lacks a space race. Well, the answer lies with the side effects of space research. You might be unaware of it, but a large majority of the technology surrounding us are the offspring of the NASA space research program that wouldn’t be possible otherwise. You don’t have to look very far for examples of NASA’s space-research-inspired technology. Just have a look at your running shoes. It contains shock-absorbing soles similar to the ones used in space boots. Your plasma screen computer monitors and television screens would not be possible without NASA scientists. Ear thermometers that you often see at medical centres are yet another example of NASA’s technology. In addition of all these “inspired” technology, NASA has even aided in improving the water purification systems used by various countries. Space Exploration can open up more doors than we realise and affect us in many unforeseen ways. It might someday hold the key to our future but we will never know unless we try. It should be seen as more of an obligation (financially permitting) as this is the hotbed for innovation. As Neil deGrasse Tyson puts it ‘Space exploration is a force of nature unto itself that no other force in society can rival’. Biomedical Science BIOSCIENCES CANCER NANOTECH Is cancer nanotechnology safe? Written by Michael Teoh As you all know, cancer is a disease which has affected our lives in some way. This disease is primarily caused by mutations in the DNA which cannot be controlled and as such can be contracted by anyone, anywhere at any time. Currently, a cure for cancer has yet to be found. Surgery never fully removes malignant cells from the body so the remission time is very short. Recently, there has been an emergence of an idea of combating cancer with the use of nanotechnology. Nanotechnology is a rapidly developing field, with many applications in a variety of other fields, ranging from medicine and healthcare to engineering and even to sports equipment. Many scientists already think that nanotechnology has other hidden potentials which could prove to be useful in cancer research. There are many new research projects under way that are aimed at developing cancer nanotechnology. There has been a recent breakthrough in cancer research with a new innovation that can identify and “filter out” circulating tumour cells, or CTCs for short. CTCs are an important factor in the metastasis, a.k.a spreading, of malignant tumours in the body. They form when tumour cells break off from the group and travel to other parts of the body in the blood stream. They then latch on to other parts of the body and form into more tumours. Filtering out CTCs is a relatively new technology that is currently being researched. It is a silicon wafer with “silicon nanopillar- covered substrates coated with epithelial-cell-adhesion molecule antibodies”. They are used like filters to essentially filter out circulating tumour cells from the blood. The new breakthroughs in cancer nanotechnology all seem too good to be true. However, there are potentially many unknown risks in using nanotechnology which have yet to be full assessed. A recent study stated that there was no clear data and information on the risks of nanoparticles like its “toxicity in humans” and there has been very little investigation conducted on the possible negative effects of nanomedicine on the human body. Currently, there are a variety of programs being conducted in the U.S. that are aimed at studying these risks. However, it is because of the fact that nanotechnology is relatively new that such extensive testing needs to be done first as there is inadequate understanding of the effects, whether long-term or short-term, that nanomedicine has on the body. Other than studying the effects of nanomedicine, there is also the problem of communicating the risks to the public as they are the ones who will be exposed to these new changes in medicine and healthcare. In the book “Emerging Issues in Nanomedicine and Ethics", Bawa and Johnson explained that the public is still uncertain of the implementation of “nanomedicine” due to its unknown properties. Nanomedicine manufacturers and researchers will have to educate the public on both the benefits and risk of nanomedicine and hold discussion sessions in order to avoid offending the public due to a lack of concern for their opinions. In other words, cancer nanotechnology may be a big step towards a cure for cancer but as a long way to go before it can be considered a viable solution for treating cancer. A NEW CAMERA What camera should you get for summer travels? LEISURE Leisure Written by Shun Yang Ch’ng I have made a list of highly rated cameras sorted by camera needs and ranked in order of price (option 1 being the cheapest, and option 3 being the most expensive). Do remember, however, that you pay for you get. Hipster Option 1 Fuji X20 Option 2 Fuji X100S Option 3 Fuji X-Pro 1 Snappers Sony HX20V Olympus XZ2 Sony RX100 Enthusiast Photographer DSLRs Enthusiast Photographer CSC Nikon D5200 Canon 70D Nikon D610 Sony NEX-3 Olympus OM-D E-M5 Sony Alpha 7 The hipster need is catered for people who like to be different and own beautiful retro-styled cameras. The Fuji X20 is ideal for beginners who simply want great photos from a beautifully crafted camera. The Fuji X100S and the Fuji X-Pro 1 on the other hand are made for serious enthusiast and professionals as it includes full manual controls that imply a steep learning curve. While the X-Pro 1 provides the flexibility of inter-changeable lenses, the X100S utilizes a highly praised integrated fixed 23mm (35mm full frame equivalent) lens. Fuji X100S The snappers need is catered for beginners who just want a camera that is slightly better than their smartphones. These cameras are simple, cheap, and easy to use. In other words: point and shoot! The Sony HX20V features a 20x optical zoom and is an ideal compact travel camera. The Olympux XZ2 has a well-designed fast 28-112mm lens, which makes it ideal for everyday use – be it in the morning or at night. Finally, the Sony RX100 is an advanced compact camera that combines extensive features with great image quality. Sony RX100 The enthusiast photographer DSLRs need is catered for enthusiast who wants to have full manual controls paired with awesome image quality. DSLRs are ideal cameras to learn photography with and offer a wide array of interchangeable lenses. The Nikon D5200 features a vari-angle 3.0” screen that makes it ideal for videos or taking photos from awkward angles. The Canon 70D features a touch screen capability and offer an incredibly high ISO sensitivity of 12, 800. The Nikon D610 has a full frame sensor that guarantees incredibly sharp photos and amazing low light performance. Do note that the images produced by DSLRs are highly dependent on the lenses you choose. Nikon D610 The enthusiast photographer CSC need is catered for enthusiast who wants to have image quality as good as DSLRs, but at a smaller package. A new and upcoming trend for enthusiasts and even professionals, CSC cameras also offer interchangeable lenses. The Sony NEX-3 is a relatively cheap well-rounded beginner CSC camera that offers manual controls. The Olympus OM-D E-M5 is Olympus’ retro digital camera that claims to be the fastest CSC camera at autofocusing. Sony Alpha 7 is an advanced full frame CSC that combines great ergonomics with amazing image quality. Sony Alpha 7 9 Looking forward to summer travels (after the final exams, of course)? Want to take lots of beautiful and awe-inspiring photos? Dedicated to record down all the awesome memories? Things to do in SYD What’s up in Sydney? So, you’re bored in Sydney (completely understandable) and you are wondering what you can do. Fortunately, there is actually quite a bit to do in Sydney...This list contains Compiled by Jieyang Low things to do during the summer break too! The Rocks Village Bazaar: Ya’ll should clear Eveleigh Artisan’s Market: Put on your Newtown Festival:: Glebe Street Fair: Finders Keepers Markets: For those of The Lion King: You know that town up the your Fridays up for the thick-rimmed glasses, grow road from the house that doesn’t really look new, months of November and out your handlebar musDecember. Seriously. The taches and gingerly slip on but it’s named such anyweather is clearing up, and into your skinny jeans, be- way? There is going to be getting nice and warm, so cause local indie artists have a festival in the early half head on over down to The their stalls set up on the first of November, with over a hundred stalls selling vinRocks and treat yourselves Sunday of every month, to a vibrant village experi- showcasing as well as selling tage stuff, new stuff, exotic ence. Art, music, food and their handmade art, fabrics foods, with tents set up to feature panels of writers, and jewelry. So head on miscellaneous things to plus lots of entertainment. over to Eveleigh! tickle your heart will make Also, a dog show! Explore this a great experience. the deeper parts of Newtown you’ve never seen before! New Year’s Eve on the Harbour: Darling Harbour. New Year’s Eve. Fireworks, performances, and huge crowds. What else could you ask for? It’s gonna be a beautiful night. Picture the ever lovely Glebe Markets. It’s alright, but swing on over down to Glebe Point Road on the 17th of November and feast your eyes on a kilometer-long (0.6 miles for some of you) stretch of stalls and entertainment. With a smorgasbord of things to choose form to look at or eat, you will not run out of things to treat yourself to! you staying on through the summer after the contract ends, you might want to check out this colossal indie market in Eveleigh. With hundreds of emerging designers and artists striving to become stallholders, this event is one to keep an eye out for, on the 6th and 7th of December! Check out the cool garbs and get some fairy-floss! NAAAAAANTS INGOOOOOONYAAAAAAMAAAAAA BAAAAAAGITHI BABAAAAAA! I’m sorry. I could not resist, but hey, it’s The Lion King musical, at the Capitol Theatre, starting in the middle of December, and going on for a good few months. You know what that means? It means no worries, for the rest of your days. It’s also a problem-free philosophy. If you have about fifty bucks to blow, go see it! RECOMMENDED 11 Movies-to-watch in OCT/NOV The Hunger Games: Catching Fire: It’s returning, and the film series adaptation of the acclaimed book series looks to be better than ever. With the dreamy Liam Hemsworth being in this movie, how can you say no? Ender’s Game Science fiction meets war, with the movie adaptation of the book being highly anticipated. Humans and aliens and soldiers. It’s looking to be like the conventional science fiction movie, yet not at all. Muse – Live: As of typ- Surfest 2014: You’re not ing, there are limited tickdoing it right if you come ets left for sale, and by the to Australia and don’t even time you read this, you just try to learn how to surf. It’s might have a few seconds harder than it looks, much left to be able to secure a more fun than it looks and ticket to catch the phenomfar more rewarding an enal rock band live in Sydexperience than it looks. ney. Known for putting on It’s a bit far away, located amazing live performances, at Merewether Beach in Muse is one of those bands Newcastle, but totally worth that are just that much bet- the journey to see a few of ter live. Ready your bodies the top surfers in the world and ears for the Friday the competing.form to look at 13th of December. Luck is or eat, you will not run out on your side. of things to treat yourself to! Summer Wrap Up: This isn’t an event, but more of a suggestion. If you’re in Sydney for the summer, be it for school or just chilling out, go out and explore. Go up the coast. You won’t regret it. Go down the coast. You won’t regret it. Although up the coast seems pretty cool. Australia is beautiful, but you have to go looking for it. It doesn’t come to you easily. With stellar views and impressive attractions, you shouldn’t linger around a city if you can. Go out, and have fun! CONTACT US if you guys have any questions, comments, opinions, recommendations, suggestions Shun Yang Ch’ng Jieyang Low [email protected] Tiffanie Sugianto - Chairperson Bernadette Lim Lo Suy - Secretary Neil Chen - Treasurer Neil Fraser - Social Coordinator Amar Arsiwala - Social Coordinator Jess Hoorda - Social Coordinator Katie Croaker - Social Coordinator Samuel Lee - Shop Coordinator Friska Ruslim - Shop Coordinator Andre Sugianto - Shop Coordinator Donny Ha - Sports Coordinator Bo Yun Lu - Sports Coordinator Bella Draeger - Food Coordinator Evan Voroney - Food Coordinator Tess Bennetts - Food Coordinator Elaine Xue - Intercollegiate Rep. Shannon Tay - Intercollegiate Rep. Shun Yang Ch ng - Publications Officer Jieyang Low - Publications Officer Mai Nguyen - Environmental/ Welfare Officer Ashan Dias - Environmental/ Welfare Officer Julie Chow - Photographer Timothy King - Photographer Fei Xue Jin - Advertising Officer Karina Sathar - Advertising Officer Jun Ming Kong - Advertising Officer
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