Issue 27 - Sept 2011 - Scots College

MICHAEL MOORE-JONES AT DIGITAL LIFE ACADEMY
34 people from 19 different countries were
brought to Singapore to work for six weeks
on creating the future of social networking
at the Digital Life Academy. It’s been a lot
of work, even more fun, and an absolutely
perfect place to learn more about the
Internet and entrepreneurship.
Many people don’t actually realize that
there is a problem with the Internet in its
current form. For me, above all else at the
Digital Life Academy, I’ve been shown that if
the Internet continues along the path its on,
we’re going to see a lot more negatives than
benefits. The way that websites and social
networks have been created means that
they don’t cater for actual human values and
preferences. They’re built to maximise profits
at the expense of our (the users) privacy.
Perhaps an even bigger problem than
our loss of privacy is the de-valuation of
content worldwide. Why should a quality
news article be worth 0cents? To me, and
most people worldwide, it may be worth
something like 5cents. But because of the
existing payment infrastructure controlled
by the credit card companies, we cannot
make payments less than a dollar –therefore
content becomes worthless. When content
becomes worthless, people lose the
incentive to continue to produce, because
they cannot realize the value of it. And
when people stop producing content (text,
audio, video, images – it could be anything)
we have a society that is not creative, and
knowledge stops being shared. To me, this
is an incredibly scary thought.
I think that being educated on the
problems with how the world works is
probably one of the best forms of education
you can get. As someone who knows what I
want to do in life, all I need is to be aware of
the problems with the world so that I may
do my part to solve them.
UNITED NATIONS YOUTH COUNCIL
Ash Stanley-Ryan was one of 96 delegates
from Australia, New Zealand and Japan to
attend the United Nations Youth Council
(UNYC) in Adelaide, Australia in July.
He spent a week listening to keynote
speeches, participating in advocacy
sessions, workshops, drafting policy
suggestions for the Australian government
and debating in the mock United Nations
committees and general assembly.
It was an exhausting, but exhilarating
week with many highlights. Ash will always
remember the extremely high standards
of the debates, speaking at the General
Assembly (he was the only Kiwi to do so),
and the Gala Dinner – a great way to end
the formalities.
However, the most inspiring hour
was a discussion led by Benson Saulo,
the Australian Youth representative to
the United Nations. “It showed us what
someone, no matter how young, could
do if they had the passion and the drive”,
stated Ash.
Mackay School Exchange
When we started the fabulous
trip to New Zealand, none of us had any
idea of how the trip was going to be. The
first stop was Auckland and the entire group
was very tired because of the thirteen hour
flight and the sixteen hours time difference
with Chile. But this was just the beginning
with our exchange, spending time in a new
country with new people in a new culture.
When we arrived in Wellington
everyone was very nervous and
excited about our host families.
Everyone was asking themselves who was
going to be his family. I believe this was
probably the most difficult part of the
trip. When we first met, it was really hard
to start coexisting with strange people,
but gradually we start knowing each other
in a confident, trustful and respectful
relationship that turns strangers into family
along these three weeks of exchange.
The experience at school was
very enriching, because teachers were very
kind to us, inviting us to be part of their
class no matter how long we will be there,
our previous knowledge and the language.
We would like to thank Miss Charlotte
Jackman for scheduled activities not just in
Scots College 1st XI Football travelled to
Brisbane on Sunday 10 July for the annual
Southern Skies Winter Sports Tournament.
After some solid performances the team were
in 3rd place in the round robin and playing
More than a new experience, a new life.
Wellington but also to Kapiti Island. Visiting
those places was very interesting and funny
for us, because we had the opportunity to
learn about the New Zealand culture and
increase our general knowledge.
This awesome trip wasn’t only for fun, it
was also to improve the autonomy (solve
problems that you don’t have at home
by yourself ), the English language skills
and the tolerance (respecting people of
other cultures and races). We all develop
in different levels those important values
that are so hard to achieve when you are
at home and everything has been done for
you by others to make us feel comfortable,
FIRST XI FOOTBALL TRIP TO BRISBANE
against second place for a run to the final.
The last day of competition saw Scots
playing Harristown for a chance in the final
but this did not start well and Scots ended
up losing 0 – 3. This result meant a 3rd/ 4th
safe and secure.
We would like to thank our host families
for letting us to be part of their daily life,
for the patience to understanding that
we were away from home, trying to make
us feel good when we were homesick.
Also I would like to thank Scots staff and
all the students for the way they treated
us during this time, so kind and cozy.
We really hope that next year we could
host you and make you feel the same way
you have done in the last two years of
exchange.
Javier Hasbun Lara – Mackay School
play off would follow.
In the playoff the team played enough
good football to prevail with a 2 - 1 victory
giving an overall 3rd place; which was a fair
result for the week.
As part of our careers day (Tuesday 17
May) we had many different options to
choose from, from Natcol Design to Exodus
Gym. As I chose Commerce, our group
visited Statistics New Zealand. On arrival I
wasn’t too sure what to expect but as we
progressed through the day and talked
YEAR 12 CAREERS DAY 2011
first hand to some of the employees, we
got a better understanding of how the
business operates.
Overall it was a very enjoyable and
informative experience.
Tim Rowe
What Tim did not mention is that he and
Patrick Gluck won a stats competition on
the day, and received the 2010 NZ Official
Yearbook in return. Since they could not
split it, they opted to donate it to the
College Library, where it was gratefully
received.
10 THE QUAD | SEPTEMBER 2011 – ISSUE 27 THE QUAD | SEPTEMBER 2011 – ISSUE 27 11