The Student News Site of The American School in Japan Wed, 24 Apr 2024 00:32:44 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.3 /opinion/gaza-and-the-conversations-we-arent-having/ /opinion/gaza-and-the-conversations-we-arent-having/#comments Tue, 23 Apr 2024 14:49:01 +0000 /?p=5033 Reading Time: 7 minutes ASIJ saved me. After attending a series of private and religious schools in South Korea, where learning was merely a relentless, rote pursuit of status within a rigid, standardized system, I arrived at ASIJ eight years ago with little intellectual curiosity and rife indifference. Stepping onto the Chofu campus felt like entering paradise. ASIJ’s commitment...]]> /opinion/gaza-and-the-conversations-we-arent-having/feed/ 13 /opinion/in-a-field-as-subjective-as-art-do-grades-matter/ /opinion/in-a-field-as-subjective-as-art-do-grades-matter/#comments Tue, 23 Apr 2024 00:29:20 +0000 /?p=5010 Reading Time: 5 minutes The inherent subjectivity of art is not a particularly controversial concept; there is no single way to perceive either the visual form or the intended meaning of an artwork, as every viewer takes a unique point of view and set of experiences into their reading of art. So, many artists have questioned, how is it...]]> /opinion/in-a-field-as-subjective-as-art-do-grades-matter/feed/ 1 /opinion/american-anti-intellectualism/ /opinion/american-anti-intellectualism/#respond Mon, 01 Apr 2024 12:26:45 +0000 /?p=4865 Reading Time: 4 minutes The United States has always been riddled with contradictions. The universal humanist principles that were ostensibly at the forefront of the Founding Fathers’ minds (and subsequently written into the founding documents of the United States) are in contention with the very settlement of America, and the nation’s path through slavery. As the country grapples with...]]> /opinion/american-anti-intellectualism/feed/ 0 /opinion/how-helpful-is-duolingo/ /opinion/how-helpful-is-duolingo/#respond Fri, 16 Feb 2024 01:19:52 +0000 /?p=4721 Reading Time: 2 minutes Duolingo is a popular language-learning app that I recently started using in anticipation of a trip abroad. After learning how to write “Elle mange une pomme” (she eats an apple) for around the fifth time, I started to wonder, how useful is Duolingo, really?  After neglecting the app for a month, I received a spam...]]> /opinion/how-helpful-is-duolingo/feed/ 0 /opinion/a-guide-to-surviving-second-semester-of-junior-year/ /opinion/a-guide-to-surviving-second-semester-of-junior-year/#respond Sat, 03 Feb 2024 08:10:39 +0000 /?p=4641 Reading Time: 3 minutes “You should expect never to leave your house.”  “I would not want to relive that.”  “It was a rough time.”  These are just a few phrases current seniors used to describe the battle that is the second semester of junior year.  In our already fiercely competitive school environment, packed with students driven by academic validation,...]]> /opinion/a-guide-to-surviving-second-semester-of-junior-year/feed/ 0 /opinion/why-we-fail-to-stick-to-our-new-years-resolutions-and-how-to-succeed/ /opinion/why-we-fail-to-stick-to-our-new-years-resolutions-and-how-to-succeed/#respond Wed, 13 Dec 2023 11:22:18 +0000 /?p=4600 Reading Time: 2 minutes With winter break around the corner, for many it’s a time for reflection on the past year and looking ahead toward the new year. Around the world, various cultures celebrate the new year in different ways, however, a common theme of many celebrations is goal-setting. But how likely are we to actually stick with our...]]> /opinion/why-we-fail-to-stick-to-our-new-years-resolutions-and-how-to-succeed/feed/ 0 /opinion/learning-to-become-a-global-citizen-at-asij/ /opinion/learning-to-become-a-global-citizen-at-asij/#respond Thu, 16 Nov 2023 01:30:33 +0000 /?p=4556 Reading Time: 2 minutes On October 7, 2023, terror struck once again in the Middle East.  Thousands have died in the most recent conflict between Israel and Gaza and a hasty end to the fighting seems unlikely. The headlines are disturbing and sobering, and invite many questions. How should we interpret this crisis? What can be done to avert...]]> /opinion/learning-to-become-a-global-citizen-at-asij/feed/ 0 /opinion/is-renewable-energy-completely-clean/ /opinion/is-renewable-energy-completely-clean/#respond Thu, 26 Oct 2023 12:35:56 +0000 /?p=4497 Reading Time: 2 minutes As greenhouse gas emissions increase and global temperatures rise, renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power have become more and more common, with greater stigma around the use of carbon emitting fossil fuels. According to the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, “renewable energy is the fastest-growing energy source in the United States,...]]> /opinion/is-renewable-energy-completely-clean/feed/ 0 /opinion/minimalism-disinterring-a-lifestyle-buried-by-the-digital-age/ /opinion/minimalism-disinterring-a-lifestyle-buried-by-the-digital-age/#respond Tue, 24 Oct 2023 09:35:12 +0000 /?p=4487 Reading Time: 3 minutes In a society where consumer markets meet social media to offer a seemingly limitless supply of products, minimalism has been buried under the rubble. Fundamentally it may seem abstract, but the concept of minimalism is familiar to our generation. Phrases like “less is more,” or “quality over quantity,” are by now cliches, but these phrases...]]> /opinion/minimalism-disinterring-a-lifestyle-buried-by-the-digital-age/feed/ 0 /opinion/navigating-the-gray-area-plagiarism-and-inspiration-in-ai-generated-art/ /opinion/navigating-the-gray-area-plagiarism-and-inspiration-in-ai-generated-art/#respond Fri, 06 Oct 2023 07:52:00 +0000 /?p=4405 Reading Time: 3 minutes With the recent proliferation of AI-generated content, the boundaries of plagiarism and the validity of AI-generated work have been called into question. Arguments have emerged concerning the use of artificial intelligence in both academic and professional contexts, from talks of complete bans of all AI software, to questions of whether work that has been altered...]]> /opinion/navigating-the-gray-area-plagiarism-and-inspiration-in-ai-generated-art/feed/ 0