Hummers! Highschoolers, did you miss your chance to travel in style? Well, make sure you don’t miss it again! If you’re interested in travelling like royalty you can contact one of the following agencies: Doha Limousine, Al Watan Limousine, Mustafawi Limousine, Qatar Limousine, Elite Limousine or merely con-tract Qatar’s national informa-tion number 180. Thanks to the hard work of the Senior Committee and the PTA, ASD’s guests and their dates were given a night of lavish sur-roundings and wonderful picto-rial “winnings.”

-Soukaina Rachidi

Ladies and gentlemen, many “wagered” that this year’s prom was going to be the highlight of ASD’s event calendar which, indeed, it was. Our dazzling “Desert Palms Ca-sino” night took place on Friday, May 15, at the luxurious Inter-continental hotel. Dozens of beautiful Grecian goddesses and handsome young men were her-alded into the expansive Wajba Ballroom at 7:30 pm, where they dined like royalty. The food was comprised of a variety of mouth-watering buffet courses, fol-lowed by heavenly desserts and an assortment of refreshing cold beverages. After this tantalizing meal, our “royal guests” enjoyed a night of dancing to 2009’s hot-

test beats, played by the eve-ning’s DJ. During a lull in the musical en-tertainment, Mr. Sage took the opportunity to announce the eclectic 2009 Prom “Royal fam-ily.” The casted votes coupled Abdullah el Julaifi and Brooke Bullock as Prom prince and prin-cess and David Isaacs and Aseel Abu-Dayya as Prom king and queen. With a nice twist, “Her Royal Highness” Aseel relin-quished her dance with David to his girlfriend, who gladly danced with her “king.” Many Prom guests arrived in impressive limousines that ranged from deluxe Lincoln Town Cars to 22-seater H2

THE

OFFICIAL

AMERICAN

SCHOOL OF

DOHA

NEWSPAPER

J U N E 2 0 0 9 I S S U E 6

Desert Casino ’09: A “Prom’onition” of Greatness

Have a great

summer

— The ASD Journalism

Team!

School P A G E 2

The IB Program at ASD 

According  to  the  ASD website, one  of  our  school’s  goals  is  to “diversify  and  expand  the  cur‐riculum.”  Amongst  the  action steps  to  reach  this  goal,  is  the new  incorporation  of  the  IB Diploma program into the ASD high school.   Furthermore,  this new addition to the curriculum was  recently  confirmed  when the  freshmen  and  sophomores were  given  the  option  to  in‐clude  IB  classes  into  their schedules for 2009‐10.  This  inclusion  of  the  IB  Pro‐gram  into  the  American  Di‐ploma came as quite a shock to some  students.  Many  did  not understand  the  difference  be‐tween  the  two  systems,  and which    system  would  benefit them.   The  IB Diploma – The  Interna‐tional  Baccalaureate  –  system is  extremely  well  regarded  in‐

ternationally.  Students  follow‐ing this intensive two year cur‐riculum  can  be  taught  in  Eng‐lish,  French,  or  Spanish,  de‐pending  on  the  school  they plan  to attend. This means  the courses  are  extremely  diverse as  they were  established  to be taught  in  multiple  countries internationally.  Altogether,  the I.B  is  taught  in  134  countries around the world.   In  the  IB  curriculum,  it  is  re‐quired  for  students  to  take  six subjects which are chosen from six  categories:  Language,  Sec‐ond  Language,  Individuals  and Societies,  Experimental  Sci‐ences,  Mathematics,  Arts  and Electives. These categories may seem a bit more extensive than those  that  the  American  Di‐ploma  provides,  and  students will  gain  a  deeper  knowledge from each course covering two years. 

In addition to new courses and structure,  the  IB  Diploma  also requires  that  students  take  a Theory  of  Knowledge  course (TOK),  complete  a  4000‐word extended  essay  (EE),  and  do 150 hours in Creativity, Action, and Service (CAS) areas. These requirements  will,  hopefully, be  successful  in  pushing  ASD students  to  their  limits  and  to try  dabble  in  new  situations. Through CAS, ASD will be able to  continue  to  promote  its ideas of service to the world.   Another  option  that  ASD  has willingly  taken on  is  the  incor‐poration of I.B subjects into the American Diploma system. Stu‐dents can take the IB courses ‐ while  also  taking  the  US  cur‐riculum  if  that  they  wish  and receive certified credit from IB. This is highly regarded on their transcript  by  many  colleges around  the  world.    With  this 

School

P A G E 3

Africa/ Europe/ Middle East 706

Asia‐Pacific 368

Latin America 254

North America & the Caribbean 1302

Total Schools Providing the IB Curriculum

option,  students  can  experi‐ment  with  different  subjects earlier  on  to  later  define what they would like to focus on and pursue  at  higher  levels  in  the future.    As a result of the intro‐duction  of  the  IB,  many  of ASD’s  returning  students  and parents  are  left  wondering which  system  is  better  for  the student,.  There  is  no  definite answer. It is known that the IB courses  are  at  a  higher  level, and are more  intense  than  the average class in the US system. They  are,  in  fact,  equivalent  to the AP courses our school cur‐rently  provides.  Colleges  usu‐ally  regard  AP  and  IB  courses at the same level. Both courses provide proof  that a student  is searching  for  a  higher  level  of education  and  want  to  chal‐lenge and extend their ability.   The  main  difference between the IB and AP courses is  that  the  APs  are  focused solely  on  one  exam  at  the  end of  the  course,  and  that  is  defi‐

nite  outcome,  whereas  the  IB courses are graded throughout 

the  course  combined  with  the grades  of  the  students’  exami‐nations.  AP  courses  only  take one year to complete, whilst IB courses    take  two.  IB  courses provide  a  two  year  learning experience  of  the  one  subject. Students  therefore  can  focus and  learn  at  more  thorough level by  infusing  these  courses into their transcripts.    Students  who  have previously  completed  the  IB diploma,  or  have  received  IB certificates  for  individual courses,  are  not  shy  to  state 

that  it has provided them with that  extra  something  when being  considered  for  colleges. They  also  help  with  students’ performance  while  attending these colleges.    On the whole, ASD has succeeded,  once  again,  in changing  and  improving  the school for the better. It is quite clear  that  the  option  of  the  IB curriculum, combined with  the current  American  Diploma,  is going to benefit the students in more ways  than  one.  Students of  ASD  2010,  get  ready  for  an opportunity  to  extend  your knowledge  in  ways  that  you can’t yet imagine.   

‐ Antonia Webb 

The IB Program at ASD cont’d

P A G E 4

Swine Flu: Detrimental or Delusional?

Feature

large threat to society due to its similarity to the common flu. The symptoms are much the same, except that the symptoms caused by swine flu are much more severe. Addi-tionally, there is no vaccina-tion to prevent this flu. With-out a vaccination, this flu could possibly spread world-wide! There is, however, “Tamiflu.” Tamiflu is the current medi-cine prescribed to those in-fected with H1N1, and it seems to work quite well. However, people in distress are stocking up efficiently on these tablets without realizing that those most susceptible are more in need of it. Develop-ment of a vaccination is cur-rently under way, but it proba-bly will not be ready for use before fall. Can we dodge the flu until then? It is true that pork is an illegal commodity here in Doha and that we are far from witnessing any contamination from pigs. however, that does not prevent us from the threat. Officials have stated that cooked pork does not pose any threat what-soever as the heat kills the influenza. Therefore, staying away from pork does not do us any good in this situation. The real problem facing us in Doha is travel. Living in an era of globalization, millions travel each day from nation to nation. In other words, if

health care in Mexico and the extensive use of home treat-ments and self-prescribed anti-biotics, the cases would evi-dently be more serious. If this thought turns out to be correct, then we will be much more at ease here in Doha. We cannot rest just yet, how-ever. The Swine flu is cur-rently at a level five on the pandemic scale—just one level from a full-blown pandemic. Level five is defined by WHO as a virus with a large number of people infected by the virus, but the virus is still localized. However, although we are hearing of the influenza dying down, officials are still on the edge of their seats. A particu-larly similar flu pandemic that occurred in 1928 had detri-mental effects on society. At first, this flu began to spread out in the spring and died down during the summer sea-son. Then, when fall came, the effects were unbelievable. The cold climate gave the influ-enza the perfect weather to spread. Up to 20,000,000 peo-ple were infected and many died! Yet, looking back at this pandemic, doctors and health officials realize that the greater number of people actually died from pneumonia triggered by the virus and from not the flu itself. This has also backed up the thought that the prime is-sue will be tackling the flu in underdeveloped areas, such as Africa. Further, swine flu poses a

Swine flu could potentially result in the death of millions worldwide. At a time where overpopulation, diseases, and poor health care are a threat, the problem is clear. Swine flu, or the H1N1 virus, is cur-rently plaguing newscasts eve-rywhere as the cases infected and the seriousness gradually increases. How does this affect us here in Doha? With virtu-ally no pigs in sight and a con-siderably warm climate, many of us believe to be miles from the problem. However, we cannot feel safe just yet. The summer approaches and many of us will return to our homes where we must take precau-tions to stay safe from this potentially deadly virus. Swine flu has been rumored to have originated in Mexico through a series of sick pigs. Nevertheless, many rumors are yet to be justified as officials from The World Health Or-ganization (WHO) have stated that it is difficult to specifi-cally detect how the original infected strain developed. Margaret Chan, senior health official of WHO has stated in a current press conference that cases were first detected in Mexico followed by an in-fected strain in America and another in Europe. Dr.Chan went on to state that there is yet to be confirmation about just what causes cases in Mex-ico to be particularly harsher than those found in the more developed nations. It is thought that, due to the lack of

Feature P A G E 5

SATs were cancelled May 2nd at Qatar Foundation, leaving many of us frustrated and con-fused. Being in a crowded space for three and a half hours is not the best idea at such a time. On the other hand, if most teens in the states were permitted to take the exam, wasn’t it a bit of an overreaction by the Qatar foundation to cancel our SATs here when no reported cases have been found in Doha? When dealing with this issue we should not panic. Only a few people outside Mexico have died and they have been

someone travelling to Doha has the swine flu, we could all be in danger. Obviously, offi-cials have realized that this threat exists and therefore have installed “thermo graphic” machines all over airports. Upon entering a country, you will walk through a machine which tests your body temperature. If you have a fever you will immediately be tested. With this in mind, we can see why summer trav-elers are not at risk just yet. However, nothing can be cer-tain as the issue keeps evolv-ing. Nevertheless, you are ad-vised to stay away from ex-tremely densely populated areas—and from Mexico, where the flu is the most prevalent and severe. With all these facts and obser-vations, we can see why the flu affects us as students here in Doha. However, is this a global crisis or just a wide-spread overreaction? The

triggering other diseases such as pneumonia. Also, up to half a million people per year die from the common flu com-pared to the smaller number of people currently infected. With swine flu furthermore, haven’t we heard this before? Bird flu, SARS, and even AIDS! Simple hygiene can go a long way. Sneeze into the inside of your elbow, not your hands because it reduces germs. We cannot stress and put our lives on hold once again. We must wait to see what happens next.

-Natasha Turk

http://newsitemsto-day.today.com/files/2009/04/swine_flu_pig.jpg

http://shaila11.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/swine-flu-symptoms.jpg

http://www.marktalk.com/blog/wp-content/up-loads/2009/05/swine_flu_i_5_sign.jpg

UPDATE: swine flu cases have recently

been reported to have sprung up in Kuwait, Bah-

rain, and the UAE! Keep

your ears open for more news on this issue!

 

Feature P A G E 6

A New Virtual Generation

Social networking websites have become one of the most popular ways to communicate with one’s childhood friends, classmates, and family members. Today, one of the most popular networking websites is Facebook. This phenomenon of the twenty first century allows one to search for their classmates, colleagues, and family members through various categories in the pro-gram, such as educational insti-tutes and countries. At the start, it was only adult’s who were active on Facebook. Mark Zuckerburg, a student at Harvard University, established Facebook, project for his com-puter science class. After that he opened it up to Harvard College students and then to the whole world, making it a worldwide phenomenon. Today all over the world these are two hundred million users, and five hundred and six students on the American School of Doha network. A network is a hub that groups together everyone who attended the same school, col-lege, or any other educational institution. In addition, it con-nects people who may be living in the same country or city. Due to its immense size, Face-book has headquarters in Massa-chusetts, California, and Ireland. Each main hub or headquarter being the operator of the regions surrounding them. However, now people of all ages are using this website. Despite all of the positive features, Face-book can have many negative

affects. Some Facebook users have crossed the line… these people are known as “Facebook addicts”. To some people, Facebook is a helpful way to communicate with longtime friends and family. To others it is a way of life; Face-book has become their addiction. Facebook Addiction Disorder (FAD) is not an actual diagnosis, however many people all over the world suffer from it. Some of the symptoms include being late to important events, work, and school. Another symptom is when one is constantly thinking about Facebook, and access it from their mobile phone, no mat-ter where they might be.

Countless problems have oc-curred due to the fact that people are using Facebook. An incident that happened this year in Amer-ica was that a mother was ne-glecting her nine-year-old daugh-ter since she was too busy on Facebook. Not only are parents neglecting their children, but also children are neglecting their studies. Facebook has become a way to pass time; this when stu-dents do not wish to study they log on to their Facebook account.

When young adults and children are using Facebook to pass their free time, this means that they are not being psychically active. Children are not getting the es-sentials of life such as spending time with their friends socializ-ing and playing with them in person. Instead they are commu-nicating online through Face-book. Psychologists have come up with steps for those Facebook addicts in order to stop them from ac-cessing Facebook as much. First, the Facebook addicts must admit that he or she is, indeed, a Face-book addict. Second, they should keep a diary about how much time they spend on Facebook each day. Third, they should set a time everyday to access Facebook, and each day spend less time. Finally, the Facebook addicts must change their train of thought when think-ing of Facebook, and instead think of their real social life. Facebook has brought some peo-ple distress and often has ruined their real social lives. It has also brought others pleasure and a sense of connection with their friends and family. In life there will always be those people who use things with moderation and others who abuse it and cross the line.

Facebook will remain the easier way to communicate until an-other social networking website steals its thunder.

- Reem Al-Sulati

Feature

P A G E 7

friend list, to everyone in the world! Not surprisingly, Twitter, being the next “in” thing, is very popular among teens and col-lege students. What is truly sur-prising, though, is that 42% of users are between the ages of 35 and 49. Twitter’s success may lie in the fact that it is permeat-ing a generally untapped market share for networking sites. Though still only the third larg-est networking site (behind Facebook and Myspace, ranked first and second, respectively) Twitter is, by far, the fastest growing. According to Nielsen Wire, from February 2008 to February 2009 Facebook grew by 228%, while Twitter grew by 1382% -- thats 5 times more growth than Facebook. The Nielsen site also has estimated that Twitter gets approximately 55 million visits a month. Created in 2006, Twitter has quickly become a tool that many rely on. The site has a very broad range of users, from teenagers to celebrities and even politicians. Younger users mostly use Twitter to make plans or to gossip, and celebri-ties have capitalized on this. Like anything that is new and trendy, by joining the site and posting to their followers every few hours about what they’re doing and what other celebrities they are with. However, we really start to see the versatility of Twitter when we think about who else uses it.

During his campaign, President Barack Obama famously posted updates about every detail of his side of the presidential race. Even now, post-inauguration, he still updates his followers on the events happening in the white house and important dates for his upcoming speeches or public appearances. The Red Cross has also began using Twitter. They post tweets about natural disasters and any crises occurring around the world. Similarly, during the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mum-bai, people unfortunate enough to be stuck inside the building during the incident updated the world via Twitter. No one can be sure, yet, whether Twitter is just another passing, fleeting, fad, or if it is something - a tool perhaps - that is here to stay as a new form of connectivity and com-munication. As long as people continue joining the network at the same rate and continue to rely on Twitter to keep themselves up-dated, it is doubtful that we will see the end of the ubiquitous tweets any time soon.

-Reece Laudick

First there was Myspace, then there was Facebook. It ap-pears that the next big social networking site is going to be Twitter. Rather than providing more features than the past networking giants, Twitter sticks with the time-tested formula of less-is-more. While Myspace and Facebook scramble to provide new ap-plications and gimmicks to draw in new users and keep old users coming back, Twit-ter keeps it simple. All some-one needs to become a mem-ber on Twitter is a name, an e-mail address, a user-created screen name (to identify be-tween different individuals registered on the site), and a password to access their own account. Like Myspace and Facebook, Twitter provides the option of adding friends and allowing users to upload and share photos, through the Twit-Pic utility. However, a feature of Twitter that the others do not have is the op-tion to become a “follower” of another user. If you become a follower of another user you will be notified any time he or she updates her status on the site. The main focus of Twitter, however, is the tweet func-tion. A tweet is a short (140 character) message by some-one about anything. You could post about plans for the night or about any event that has just happened. It is up to the poster to decide who gets to see their tweets -- anywhere from one or two people on a

A Brand New Tweet! FAMOUS PEOPLE WHO USE

TWITTER:

Feature P A G E 8

Twilight, a passionate love story with an edge, is the latest New York Times Interna-tional Best Seller, written by a Stephenie Meyer. The Twilight phenomenon has taken over the world; the book has been translated into over 20 different languages and is sold in dozens of countries all around the world. In her novels, Stephenie Meyer has taken a sen-tient creature, the vam-pire, from old, dark folklore and added a new shine to it, both figuratively and physi-cally – Meyer’s version of the creature actually sparkles when exposed to sunlight. With an audience rang-ing from teenage girls to middle-aged house-wives, Meyer has re-vealed her great ability to draw her audience in, with all of these women falling head over heals for the heroic, hand-some Edward Cullen. The romantic vampire in Meyer’s saga falls in love with a mortal, Bella Swan, an insecure, clumsy teenage girl. Unfortunately for them both, Ed-ward is not only drawn to Bella romantically but also physically, as he dangerously lusts for her blood through the saga. Twilight and its sequels New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn, document the ups and downs of Bella and Edwards relationship. Three out of four of the books have topped the New York Times Best Seller List, while Twilight on

its own has been honored as USA Today’s Best Selling Book of 2008. It also topped many of The American Library Association’s Top Ten lists. The novel has been turned into a movie of the same name, which was released to the cinemas last November. The sec-ond book in the series, New Moon, is currently being trans-lated to the big screen and will premiere this November.

The Twilight phenomenon has even struck our tiny, somewhat isolated home of Qatar. Book-stores all across the nation sold out of the novels, and ASD’s li-brary also ran out of the books, leaving many vampire crazed girls scrambling to sign a waiting list for their chance to continue on the journey with the popular char-acters. Many critics, including the fa-

mous Stephen King, have criti-cized Meyer’s writing. Many be-lieve the only reason the novels are popular is because female readers can empathize with Bella, an ordinary, shy, insecure teenage girl who falls in love with Ed-ward, who is the opposite of ordi-nary. Critics claim that the series can be compared to the fairytales young

girls are exposed to when they are little, concerning handsome princes rescuing damsels in distress. They also claim that Meyer is making women look weak and fragile. Throughout the books Edward rescues Bella repeatedly, portraying Edward as a gallant prince instead of the bloodthirsty vampire that he is. Meyer’s diction is not what one would call erudite or impres-sive. At times, the reader won-ders if the author is relying on a thesaurus for the many ways she describes Edward Cullen. On the other hand, the plot, tone, mood, characters and other aspects of the novels are incredible. Disregarding Meyer’s structure

and syntax, the story of Bella and Edward’s love will draw the reader in like few other stories will. So go ahead, sink your teeth into this more modern, edgy tale of a Romeo-and-Juliet-esque love story.

- Lene Adolfsen

Twilight Statistics

The popular enter-tainment website Fandago has con-ducted a survey of

more than 5,000 Twi-light fans and re-

leased statistics con-cerning the movie.

Here are a few of the results from their

poll.

• 83% plan on seeing “Twilight” more than once • 56% plan on seeing the movie with a group of friends • 42% are 25 or

older

• 58% are younger than 25 • 25% claim they will see “Twilight” with their moms or daughters • 67% say they are attracted to “Twilight” because of the love story between Edward and Bella

The Twilight Epidemic

Feature P A G E 9

Lol- laugh out loud Rofl- roll on the floor laughing Jk - Just Kid-ding Lollerskates- laugh out loud (skates added) Roflcopter- roll on the floor laughing (helicopter added) Tyt- take your time Brb- be right back Omg- oh my god/gosh Wb- welcome back Idk- I don’t know

Ttyl - Talk to you later

Ily - I Love You

Is instant messaging corrupting or should we adopt it into our language? Imagine a loud “RING!”, coming from a laptop computer. If you are and adult, you would probably get a perplexed look on your face and wonder, “Was that the com-puter?” Of course, any student will recog-nize it as the familiar ring from their Instant Messaging program telling them that they have a mes-sage. Instant Messaging, or “IM-ing”, has become an in-creasingly popular side af-fect of technology becoming ever more prevalent. Where the adults of today are con-fused and perplexed with the mysteries of new tech-nology, the youth are at home and comfortable with it. “Chatting” on Instant Mes-sengers such as AOL or MSN, has increased so much, that today’s youth from all corners of the globe are using it to stay in touch, chat, and meet new people. Harmless right? Not according to the vast majority of English teachers. They will almost all agree that they can de-tect traces of IM “lingo” and jar-gon in the vast majority of their students’ writing. Students writ-ing “lyk” instead of like, “Ltr” instead of later, “cuz” instead of “because”, and “w/” instead of “with” are just a few example of bad writing and spelling habits that stand out in teachers minds and in red ink on your papers.

The negative affects are obvious. Students receive poor grades be-cause their essays and papers are beginning to appear substandard. This is because the teachers are having to mark down for bad grammar, poor punctuation, and improper abbreviations. Globally, teachers are complain-ing that papers are being written with shortened words, improper capitalization and punctuation. There are also complaints about the use of characters such as “&”, “$”, “@”, “w/”.

The biggest problem for students is that, because they are totally immersed in an almost “ I.M cul-ture”, they don’t even realize that they are doing anything wrong. Students log on to their Instant Messenger at all hours of the day. Most of their time then, they are using a colloquial and slang form of writing. So when the time comes to write an essay, they have no clue that what they are writing is inappro-priate and nowhere near formal written English. Even after stu-

dents move on from school, when they have to write something for a job interview, or perhaps an email to their boss, they could find themselves in some real trouble. In many schools, especially here at ASD, Instant Messaging poses a major threat to students who do not speak English as a first lan-guage. These students talk to their friends online and in “chat” form, and in this way begin to form bad habits in their writing. Unlike students who were raised with English writing, interna-

tional students do not even real-ize they are wrong. Of course, there is another side to this topic. There are many linguists who feel that this is all part of a change in language. In previous times, language developed with the time, the culture, and the surroundings. It is a quite commonly accepted theory that this jargon, could one day slowly morph onto a new proper form of written English.

I leave it up to you: Is Instant Messaging destroying the English language and corrupting the writ-ing of today’s youth? Is it a slow but sure change in the language? Or is it both?

- Luke Arriaga

To Corrupt or To Coin?

Feature P A G E 1 0

You’re sitting in class on a Thursday afternoon, completely ignoring the fact that your teacher is in the front giving you a lesson about cosine graphs and the be-havior of light after it bounces off of a convex mirror. Instead of paying attention to this valu-able lesson, you are on your phone, texting back and forth with your friends, and discuss-ing what you will do that night or after school. As many teens put it: “Having a cell phone is mandatory if you want to have a life.” As you may or may not have noticed, almost every student in the ASD High School owns a cell phone. As a matter of fact, four out of five seniors have a spare cell phone at home. (I myself have three cell phones that I use alternatively depending on battery charge). Nine out of ten ASD High School students own their own cell phone. The first and most popular reason for students to own a cell phone is definitely the multiple ways that these devices allow for friends to stay in touch. Whether communi-cating with people live next door, or oceans apart, the conveniences of owning a cell phone can keep people connected. Newer, 3-G enabled phones allow video call-ing and video conferencing. Al-though such functions are not frequently used, they do add to the overall “glamour” and value of the phone. The basic functions used by teens would be the “call dial”, the “calls receive”, and the text functions. There are no other vital functions.

This leads us to the very first problem with teen owned cell phones: Price. The social bar has been set at a bare minimum of a phone with at least a two-megapixel camera, a music player, and a light. This of course

is not a worldwide thing. It is actually only seen to this extent in the oil rich GCC countries. The average price for the phone of an average American teen is about $40, while the average price for the phone of an average teen liv-ing here in the GCC is about $150. $150 gets an average phone, normally with a 2.3-3.0 megapixel camera, and not many extra functions. An excellent, high end phone such as the Nokia N95, N85, E66, 8800 and the Sony Ericsson W585, P990i, W980, and the K880i could cost the consumer anywhere from $300 to $900. Although this kind of money may be easy for many here to afford, there are also a lot of people who would have a difficult time to afford that much. This may even

cause problems and arguments within the family in which the teen, due to peer pressure, may want a phone with a five-megapixel camera. The parents will definitely think the situation through before taking five hun-dred dollars out of their accounts. It may be even harder to take this money out knowing that the phone that is about to be pur-chased could get lost or get sto-len. This is not the only down-side of owning a phone. As a matter of fact, buying the phone is only the first problem. The cell phone, of course, is like a horrible bank. It’s like a bank, because people put a lot of money into it. It is a “horrible” bank because you may have completely wasted this money, and thrown it down the drain. You may also have in-vested it well. To careless teens, the spending being done on “Hala” cards and other Qtel offers may seem routine, but to many parents the average amount of spending on cell phones seems unreasonable. Qtel requires that a 30 riyal Hala card be bought at least once a month, to avoid expi-ration of the SIM card. This is only the minimum. Over-obsessed teens with a lot of events happening in their lives are known to buy these 30 riyal hala cards on a daily basis. Other than that, the average ASD student buys about two of these every month. That’s an average of 60 riyals a month or 720 riyals a year. ($250) Now you decide: Is it worth it?

- Hamzah Arif

Cell Phone Rules and Regulations

within School • Cell phones are not allowed to be used in class unless special permission is taken from the teachers.

• Cell phones are allowed to be used be-tween classes. • According to the rules of the high school library, cell phones may not be used at any time within the library. • If a cell phone rings in class, the teacher has the right to take away the cell phone; therefore it is the responsibility of the student to put his/her phone on silent. • A teacher may keep a student’s cell phone for any amount of time that the teacher finds appropriate.

Cell Phones: Worth the Cash?

Editorial P A G E 1 1

You have

brains in your head.

You have feet in your shoes. You can steer

yourself in any direction you choose. You're on your own.

And you know what you

know. You are the

guy who'll de-cide where to

go. -Dr. Seuss

The ceremony for the American School of Doha’s graduating class of 2009 will be held at 6:00 pm on June 5th in the high school gym. Each senior will be given ten tickets to give to their family and friends. Although the students in the senior class come from vari-ous cultures and religions they have put away their differences, pulled together and created a close-knit at-mosphere here at the Ameri-can School of Doha. Graduation is an event that takes place in order to con-fer diplomas for the comple-tion of a course of study. We graduate from one phase of life to another. Here at ASD, graduation is videotaped and posted on the Internet for family and friends to watch. This thoughtful idea makes the ceremony extra special for the graduates and helps them remember their special day. The ring, the yearbook, the diploma, the memorable music, the senior jackets, and the cap and gown – all make up a traditional ASD graduation ceremony. After graduation, the stu-

dents will go out into the world on their own adven-tures. Each of us must climb their own separate rocky mountain in order to reach our own view of success.. Graduation day is a huge step in a senior’s life and marks the beginning of uni-versity and adulthood. Four years of working extremely hard and dealing with the stress of ACT’s or SAT’s will pay off once they hear their name being called to receive their high school diploma. Education is the most pow-erful tool, which can be used to change your life and the world. James A. Gar-field, an early president of the United States, once stated: “ Next in importance to freedom and justice is education, without it neither freedom nor justice can be permanently maintained.” Education is much more important than we think. Graduation pictures will be-come souvenirs of the un-forgettable day. The Ameri-can school of Doha has given the seniors their first push to the real world. Leaving family and friends is never easy, but graduation

day will give the graduates one last tremendous event to experience together before going off to university or the work world. Graduation day is an event that all seniors and guests will remember for the rest of their lives.

- Mead Qarage

Class of 09’ Graduates!!

http://www.wondercliparts.com/graduation/graphics/

Editorial P A G E 1 2

A bearded man in ragged clothes, carries an AK-47 machine gun in his filthy hands. Behind this man is a suppressed, veiled woman.

This is the global image that has been created to depict the Islamic people. Such photos are taken by cameras with skewed lenses through which looks an ignorant eye that sees with bad intentions. This image then appears on the news, the Internet, in movies, and is then im-printed on the minds of mil-lions of people

Many people stereotype Muslims as terrorists but I wonder how many people have the capacity to disagree to that majority and formu-late their own opinion based on knowledge. In high school we often see the world through somebody else’s camera lense. We should take a step back and focus on what we are really willing to believe.

High school students always wonder: Why are we learn-ing this? When are we ever going to use this in our lives? In reality, this pleth-ora of seemingly nonsensi-cal information our educa-

tors are stuffing in our crani-ums is helping us grow men-tally. We are so oblivious to how fortunate we are to be given education of such high standards. With our mental strength we will have the capacity to have our own insights, opinions. With that, we are able to make signifi-cant changes in the lives of many.

By using and valuing our education we are empower-ing our generation to make advances in society, to make better decisions, and to pre-vent ignorant assumptions and stereotypes that have been so long impeding on our growth as a global com-munity.

There are millions of hu-mans in the world who are suffering from lack of edu-cation, living under the man-date of corrupt and vile rul-ers. With education we can prevent the implementation of such people in govern-ments and educate these people so that they can learn to help themselves. One mans blissful ignorance is the suffering of millions

Students of ASD, we will very soon we are all going graduate and leave this

school. We will be fully equipped to face the obsta-cles we are going to face in life. We should always re-member to use our knowl-edge in not only in our work but also in our everyday lives.

In Plato’s allegory “The Cave” there are a group of people who have spent all their lives sitting on the floor of a cave, facing its wall. All they have ever seen are the shadows of the outside world being casted upon the wall, so in their minds, this is reality.

The image of a human is only a mere dark outline swaying on the cave wall, their voice is nothing but an echo of the actual sound. Their perception of reality is skewed, this is only because they don’t know what else to believe.

None of these people in the cave are the students of ASD. We are the people on the outside, illuminating such caves and eliminating ignorance by bringing knowledge to the unknown.

-Lina Raslan

Education: Giving way to an empowered generation?

Prom Photos! P A G E 1 3

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Feature P A G E 1 4

For seniors at the American school of Doha, May and June have always proven to both the most challenging and busy months of their high school ca-reers. During AP exams, Prom and preparation for finals, seniors also cope with the rapid approach of what is likely the biggest life-style change they will experience in their lives thus far….college! While college is usually a wel-comed and exciting aspect of youth, it comes with certain responsibilities and burdens that would otherwise have fallen on the guard-ian. When a stu-dent gets in trouble or struggles aca-demically in high school, both the blame and pressure to fix the issue are placed, for the most part, on the parents. In college however the students themselves are expected to make wrongs right and to excel in their studies without the help of anyone. The sudden shift from dependency to complete independence is under-standably intimidating, if not downright frightening. Most kids in high school say they are ready to move on to college and get on with their lives, but it is important to note that very few fully comprehend the duties that accompany living on your own. A 2008 graduate of ASD, Sasha Green, made a point of saying

that college is not only about partying. When I asked her to further elaborate, she explained that with independence comes the elimination of all the perks of being a kid. One has a finite al-lowance or income, and if they spend it too quickly they cannot merely ask their parents for an-other handout (although many try). These are facts of life that most

seniors do not yet understand. They probably won’t until they live it themselves. Most go into college expecting it to be nothing but a good time. Then l the se-mester starts and they are faced with tremendous responsibilities that are all a part of leaving home. Come fall of 2009, very few will lead lives that even slightly re-semble the ones they are familiar with now. What is perhaps most ironic, is that not many recognize that. It is not necessary that they do however it is imperative if they want to avoid any huge surprises.

Most colleges strongly recom-mend that students organize them-selves to have both good time and financial management, especially for their freshman year. It is not news to anyone that the amount of effort exerted in high school is not nearly enough to get you through college. While kids at ASD are financially supported by their parents, the kind of careless spending one

usually witnesses in Doha would will leave them bank-rupt anywhere else in the world.

No one is arguing the need for kids to go to college and gain independence. Both parents and students can agree that moving on is necessary for indi-vidual growth as well as for educa-

tional purposes. The life changes that come along with college need to be better understood by stu-dents and taken a lot less lightly. As 2009 seniors bid farewell to high school and start to get ready for a new stage of their lives, it is important that they don’t forget one of high schools most impor-tance lessons: always be prepared.

- Talal Alyan

F A R E W E L L 2 0 0 9

A Farewell to High School