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High Notes, Vol 6 No 27, September 09 2005From the Principal
High Talent High debating representation in combined teams this year is unprecedented. Tom Kaldor, Gabriel McManus and Sriram Srikumar are in CHS, while William Clegg is in GPS. To underscore the strength and depth of our debating students this year, we had 5 of the top 24 debaters in state schools and 3 of the top 12. No other school could match this level of high quality debating.
Showdown at Saint Ignatius High as negative asserted that in principle all information is good in a democracy. The role of the fourth estate is to inform the people, monitor governments and promote debate about issues in the public domain. They took issue with the identification of 'leakers' and 'whistleblowers', claiming that the motives of the individual would be difficult to determine until after they were exposed, hence what was the point of differentiating between them? They asked the affirmative for some criteria to separate 'leakers' from whistleblowers. They argued that whistleblowers would be deterred by the affirmative's model in case they were judged to be leakers after the event. Confidentiality was an accepted protection against disclosures in relationships such as doctor-patient, priest-communicant and husband-wife. Likewise, journalists and informants need to be protected or disclosures would not be forthcoming. The affirmative promoted journalistic integrity and professional judgement. The affirmative responded by asserting that the negative assumed facts and figures were being disclosed by sources, whereas lies, distortions, half truths and invented sources characterised stories written after 'leaking' behaviour. 'The ship of state is the only ship that leaks from the top down'. The affirmative averred that cracking down on 'leakers' and encouraging whistleblowers to use the courts for their public exposés was the right way to deal with the problem.. The media cannot be trusted. They lie and sensationalise information. Engendering journalistic integrity would result from the exposure and punishment of leakers and the protection of whistleblowers. The negative countered with the concept of proportionality. Yes there are some problems with the sources of some stories, but in the totality of stories using sources, the problematic ones are a very small minority. In any event, identification issues remain. The negative stood their ground on the right in a democracy to have information published. Defamation and sedition laws were in place to protect individuals and the state. Let the public judge. Let the sources be tested in open debate. Let the truth come out. What sort of a precedent would be set by the affirmative's model - state control of journalism? What next? Will journalists be jailed for not disclosing their sources? What is the point of attacking those who help us to make the government accountable? Where is the demonstrated risk? Readers judge well. Competitor journalists find sources of their own. Lies are exposed over time. Let the fourth estate do its job. It was a first class debate and our boys did us proud. The decision was split 2-1 for the affirmative. I was surprised as our team of speakers was clearly more fluent and eloquent and the argument for or against the proposition was very close, and appeared even slightly favouring the negative. I thoroughly enjoyed the debate.
Debating Dinner
1955 Reunion Dinner
Athletics Meet
Student behaviour on buses "I would like to complain about the students from both Sydney Boys High and Sydney Girls High as they travel on Sydney Buses. I have had to stand, whilst the students comfortably sit, ignoring that there are paying travellers standing up. On top of that, passengers are forced to endure the loud chatter from the students, their large and bulky bags that take up seats and hit passengers as they rush to get off the bus. "I understand that Sydney Buses provide free passes to the students, and that they are expected to travel on designated school buses. Most do not as the school buses drive past almost empty. Regular buses for the public are half filled with students. This makes the buses fill up and go past bus stops where passengers are waiting to go to the city. After the students alight from the bus, its noticeable how empty it is. "It is hard for the drivers to ask students to make room for the public as they are busy negotiating Sydney traffic. Surely, the students should be using common sense and giving their seat up. However, most just stare out the window, pretending that no one can see them and that they can not see anyone else. Its most annoying and very rude. I've seen people having to tell the students that they should give up their seats and its seems that they reluctantly give up the seat. "Surely, both schools should be reminding their students who travel on public transport to be more courteous, obliging, mind their manners and take the school buses instead." All boys are reminded that travelling free to school by bus is a privilege. Do not abuse it by discourteous behaviour. You are required to give up your seat to a fare paying passenger. More importantly, High boys would want to show their community service orientation by offering their seat to adults.
Investing in our Schools From English
'The Power of the Pen'
What Matters is Knowing What Doesn't Matter For example, if your rugby team suffers a loss on the weekend it does not matter. It may affect your team's rank on the competition ladder but it will not affect the world as a whole. If you stub your toe while walking up the stairs it does not matter. You might get a bruise on your toe but this event will not bruise the world as a whole. If you accidentally wear your school uniform on a mufti day and all your friends laugh at you it doesn't matter. You might get embarrassed and go a deep shade of red but the world will not go red with you. So what does matter? To me what matters is that I realise that I am fortunate in this world. The knowledge that 35,615 people died of starvation on September 11, 2001 and that every 2.5 seconds someone dies of starvation puts into perspective what really does matter. It matters that a staggering proportion of deaths due to starvation occur among children below the age of 5. Furthermore, over 800 million citizens of the world are malnourished. Without adequate food supplies and the necessary vitamins and minerals to thrive, these human beings are being neglected. It really matters where you are lucky enough to be born to even receive enough to eat and drink. Knowing that every two and a half minutes a species becomes extinct really matters. It matters because, at this rate, we are endangering our own species, homosapiens and the species we should be protecting. It matters that the planet is endangered due to this lack of diversity. It matters that we do not seem to have real solutions to this problem. There are 6.4 billion people living on Earth. Less than one billion of these live in the "developed" countries. The 5 billion people living in the developing world do not have access to the things we, in the developed countries, take for granted. It matters that we live in a world that is unfair. The USA, the richest nation in the world, has inequity problems of its own. "The 13,000 richest families in the US now have almost as much income as the 20 million poorest. (Socialist Worker, Aug 1st 2005)" What is more alarming is what this means on a world scale. There are extremes of rich and poor within the USA but the comparison to developing nations shows what, we should all agree, really matters. "The 400 richest US citizens have a combined income of $69 billion, which is more than the total income of the 166 million people living in the four African countries of Nigeria, Senegal, Uganda and Botswana". (New York Times, July 9 2003)
In the end what really matters is that we realise and appreciate that we have the opportunity to
write about what matters to us, the opportunity to get a great education, the opportunity to eat
fresh food and drink clean water and above all, the opportunity to live. SBHS Gardening Working Bee
Sunday 11 September Science NewsHere is Science quiz 10 - open to all students and parents. Why not have a go? The closing date is Tuesday week 9. Ian Salman, a Qantas aerospace engineer recently found a way to make small planes safer and more efficient by turning their wings into flying speakers.
Mr. Bernoulli Year 11 ParentsPlanning (Progress review) Meeting for Year 12 Parents Farewell
Please come if you can on Wednesday 14 September, Staff Common Room, 7.30 pm Invitation to all Year 9 ParentsPlease come along to a social dinner for all SBHS Year 9 Parents on Friday 16th September at 7.00 pm at : Maya Indian Sweets Restaurant 470 Cleveland Street Surry Hills
BYO Drinks. Vegetarian Menu. We will have a room to ourselves upstairs. On-street parking on Bourke and Crown is limited, but you can park at Coles on the corner of Cleveland and Baptist Streets. Please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it if you would like to attend.
PS : If you are not already receiving Year 9 Parent Group emails and would like to do so, please
send your email address to
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Annual Report
The School's Annual Report 2004 has been printed and will be distributed to all boys this
week. Attention all Sailing ParentsWe DESPERATELY need your help this Friday evening (9 September) to park cars. It is a Swans Final game so we need lots of helpers to raise money for our keen sailors. Please come and help out.
We are meeting outside the gym at approximately 5.30 pm on Friday afternoon. See your
there. CommunitiesInsight - Strongly recommended: SBS Insight Transcript (click on 30 August 2005).
"What measures should we take?" "INSIGHT brings together representatives of the Muslim community, the Attorney General, civil libertarians, and police, to thrash out these issues."
Australian Culture
(1) Debating Round 7 VS St Ignatius College
The Decider Unfortunately the result was not in our favour in either First or Second grade, but anyone who witnessed the debate will tell you how ferocious the battle was. A huge congratulations to First Grade- Gabriel McManus, Tom Kaldor and William Clegg, and Second Grade- Faraz Amin, Romesh Abeysuriya and Sriram Srikumar for their gallant efforts throughout the season. A special word of thanks and appreciation to their coaches Hamish Nairn, Alex McCauley and Alex Gruszka, who have put in many many hours to develop the boys skills, analysis and general knowledge. Well done to all the boys who debated this year- it was a record season for High. . It has been quite a learning experience for me as MIC this year and I'm already preparing and planning for next season in order to improve aspects of coaching and debating opportunities.
The Debating Dinner Tom Dawkins from the class of 1997 and the founder of Vibewire Youth Services was our Distinguished Guest who, after hearing of the successes of the Debaters this season spoke about the importance of taking advantage of the opportunities available to young people and the role they have in creating opportunities where they may not have otherwise existed. He talked also of the importance of social capital and the enormous role and value of people in shaping and directing communities. Tom was thrilled to have the opportunity to be involved with High once again, and his speech was insightful and relevant to the students. You can check out Vibewire's Youth Initiatives at This year we have instituted the Dr Joseph Suttie Award for Excellence in Teamwork which rewards the team who have displayed cooperation commitment and change. The prize is to be awarded in consultation with the coaches, the MIC and the Principal. The perpetual plaque is engraved with the names of the team and their coach and the award includes a subscription to The Economist Magazine, which will be available for all students to use in the library. Congratulations to the winners of the Inaugural award is the First III's 2005. I would especially like to thank Evan Solomons and Hamish Nairn for their assistance with organising the trophies and plaque. The Debating Dinner could not have been the success it was without the enduring hard work, attention to detail, care and effort of Mrs Valda Roser. Valda has been a powerhouse of energy in organising the table settings and decorations that truly transform the "sheds" into a gorgeous function centre. She is truly irreplaceable, her contribution to High is remarkable - thank you Valda! ! Next year we will ensure that we have a bigger venue (ie the hall) so that nobody misses out on attending the dinner as was unfortunately the case this year.
DSG - AGM
More information can be found at Email
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Rugby Committee Meeting SummaryThe sixth meeting of the SBHS Rugby Committee for 2005 was held on 31 August 2005. The following is a summary of the meeting: Attended: Rob Fetherston, Serdar Bolen, Kel O'Keefe, John Mittelheuser, Katherine Deacon, Valda Roser, Geoff Stein. Apologies: Adrian Vertoudakis, Christina Chow, Andrea Frieman. AGM election of office bearers for 2006 - President: Rob Fetherston Treasurer: Kel O'Keefe BBQ coordinator: Adrian Vertoudakis Canteen coordinators: Christina Chow, Andrea Frieman Parking coordinator: Vacant. Serdar Bolen volunteered to be a temporary coordinator for the rest of 2005, requiring the assistance of two parents should a parking day become available. A vote of thanks was expressed to John Mittelheuser and Adrian Vertoudakis for their tireless efforts this year for rugby. John tabled the Parking fundraising amounts for 2005 and would send the email contact list to G. Stein for the next Parking coordinator. It was suggested that the use of email addresses by the committee be included in the Permission notes to play rugby in 2006. John has also passed on the Canteen organisation details to Christina Chow, Andrea Frieman. Bunnings BBQ: V. Roser tabled organisation details. The rugby contact person needs to be familiar with the procedures required by Bunnings. 15/10/05 BBQ date may be a fundraising opportunity for the 2006 Gold Coast team. Tony Hannon would be approached for interest. J. Mittelheuser has further details. BBQ coordinator to have an emergency crew available to fill in for other groups who are unable to fulfil their obligation. Parents of 13 Year teams (2006) could be encouraged with funds raised going directly to the 13 Year's rugby program. Correspondence: Written confirmation received from SHS Foundation that no charge will be made for the use of the school crest on gear donated by Macquarie Sports or anybody else. Treasurer's report: Report tabled. Balance as at 29/8/05 was $12,846. Cheques still to clear would have the balance just over $10K. G. Stein tabled receipts for $337.82. S. Bolen submitted an invoice for the balance of his coaching services as agreed to by the committee at the start of the season. J. Mittelheuser tabled the Parking income for 2005 at $11,360. Looking at the 2006 rugby calendar with only three home games (possibly four), K. O'Keefe made a prediction of raising $6K from the BBQ and Canteen next year. Australian Sports Foundation - Copies of program guidelines were distributed to allow the committee members to give some thought on how the ASF can be used to benefit the rugby program. Registration fee for rugby - Discussion included the pro's for funding medical assistance, extra coaching, con's turning players away from rugby, % of school fees goes to fund sport. Should be voluntary, how much? Possible ASF option. An anonymous survey of rugby parents as to their views on the subject, should the issue require further input. P&C compliance - AGM and season details to be compiled and forwarded to the P&C. Rugby match reports and website 2006 - Rugby player/s in Years 8, 9 or 10 to coordinate the Rugby website and team match reports to appear in the High Notes. Search for appropriate person/s early 2006.
Next meeting Wed. 30th November 2005, 6pm in Room 901. Rifle ShootingNine boys competed on Saturday 3rd Sept in the first of the season's Metropolitan Grade Matches at the Malabar Rifle Range with the support of Sam Mason and coach Victor Bow. This marks a return to regular competition for fullbore shooters from the School, our first competition other than the GPS and All Schools matches this year. Interested boys from year 7 and 8 are urged to enrol AS SOON AS POSSIBLE with Sam Mason for smallbore rifle shooting as a Summer Sport. Forms need to be completed NOW to allow time for approval from outside the School.
Rifle Shooting BBQ South Coogee Bowling Club cnr Moverly Rd and Henning Ave Kingsford Volleyball Report #12High dominated the proceedings out at Olympic Park on Sunday. We had 7 teams playing: First Grade, 17s, 16s 15As, 15Bs, 14As and 14Bs. For the two Year 7 teams this was their first ever tournament let alone a match against another school. The surprising turn of events saw the 14Bs win the unofficial U14s division. Unofficial as the U14s had to play in the U15s division. The U15s for the first time got to dominate the U15s division, as they usually had to play up a level. The 15Bs played the 15As in the semi final with the 15As eventually taking the silver medal behind Forster (the NSW U15s CHS team) in a close match. First Grade showed their continual dominance of volleyball in NSW taking the gold. The U17s also had good fortune. The 16As had to play up a division and played very well against older and more experienced players. What's happening in Volleyball:
1. Saturday 24 September - Referee accreditation for 15A, 16A, 17s and First Grade.
Keep your ear to the ground on this one as the date MAY have to be moved!
17As Match Report In our second game, it was against Great Lakes 16s team. We believed the score was too tight, so Yang (our coach) gave us some inspirational words to help us with our game. David Dizon got onto court and led our great team to a 2-0 victory. A great amount of energy was used so we were required to refill at McDonald's. Right after our meal, we returned for our game against Sydney North. Excess food was in our stomachs so the match was a great way to exercise it off. Terry started us off, spiking with maximum power as usual. However, we were losing the first set. Hope appeared as we closed the gap between our scores but unfortunately, we lost our first set of the tournament. However, the second set saw us taking the set with ease. The final score was 1-1 due to the lack of time. Excellent serving from Sam Chhor and Jordan Luong as well as great passing from Alex Le and Victor Nguyen and great B-Quicks from Ping Lu saw us taking our next game against Baulko 12s with ease. We were in the semifinals! Before our game against Fairvale, we required rest as we realised we have three games in a row. The game, however, started momentarily. Exceptional spiking from all our players led us to an easy victory. Then, it was our toughest match yet. . . the finals. . .against Baulko 10s. Soon, the game started and massive spikes from both teams saw a neck and neck battle. The game was very thrilling with minimal errors occurring finally made us the Champions of the game!!!
We were very tired after the end of the day and sore muscles were present on Monday.
15Bs After sitting around and cheering on the 15As, we came across Forster in our next match who happened to win the tournament. We versed them head on, and we spiked at them for every 2nd or 3rd clean spike we received. Danny Lam did a back-court spike which landed us a point. Soon after, Michael Chan spiked cross-court into a flaw he had seen in their rotation. Hope was in the air until the bitter smell of defeat replaced it when the horn blew, signalling the end of the match with 2 sets to nil. Once the customary wait was over, the 15A's and the 15B's stepped onto the court. The honest and brutal truth was that we were slaughtered, by a team that came second. To put it a nicer way, we were determined not to lose. Everyone put in their best efforts, some spikes were blocked, the serving was consistent and injuries were expected. In the end, it was 2 sets to nil.
Overall, it was a good day, since we enjoyed ourselves and came 3rd.
The other match reports will be in next week's issue. AthleticsLast Saturday our very own Sydney High/Scots Athletics Invitational was held at ES Marks. A larger number of athletes were present which was pleasing to see considering there is only one meet left before the GPS Championships. Hopefully, we will get even more people this upcoming Saturday at Narrabeen. There were some excellent results on Saturday in many events. The vast majority of athletes improved on their times and/or distances from last week, hitting their straps as the Championships loom closer. Shadman Ali (100, 200m) and George Denny-Smith (shotput) continue to impress in the 13s with good results in their respective events. Super quick Joshua Hui returned this Saturday to finish 2nd in his 14's 100m race, as Lachlan Street continues to amaze us all with his abilities in a variety of events, finishing 3rd in long jump and 3rd in 100m while competing in another three events. Louis Yang ran a personal best 2:12 in the 15s 800m Championship race to finish respectably. Mischa Steen finished 3rd in the opens 200m while Joel Ninyo finished 2nd in the opens shotput. However, the star of the week was undoubtedly Frank Jin who returned from a dislocated shoulder which he can still only move his arm halfway with to win the 16s long jump with a jump of 5.97m. Frank continues his remarkable record of winning every long jump he has ever entered at a GPS meet.
I was ecstatic to see how well everybody competed this Saturday, doing our school proud. I want
to see as many people as possible turn up to the Knox meet at Narrabeen this Saturday. The
Saturday after that is the culmination of the season, our very own Grand Final, Head of the
River, whatever you want to call it, the GPS Athletic Championships. We urgently need everyone's
support, and we would love to see you all make it on the day at Homebush. It'll be a great day to
support your school. Another sparkling Saturday morning on the ES Marks track as athletes prepared for a big day of events. There was a commendable turn out by the Sydney High athletics team. It was great to see so many of the senior athletes of High, running, jumping and throwing. Sydney high hosted the carnival with fellow GPS school, Scots College. My highlight, however, was watching the three members of our first grade debating team, Tom Kaldor, William Clegg and Dawei Qi running the 1500m and coming 1st, 2nd and 3rd ... from the end. A terrific day out and once again I urge as many athletes to turn up at this weeks carnival at Narrabeen. If you have trouble with transport please contact Mr Devlin. This is the last carnival before Championship Day so please get some races under your belt. A very special thanks to the following high staff, supporters and parents who made the day a great success: Mr Gainford, Mr C. Barris, Mr G. Barris, Mr K. Barris, Mr Luscombe, Mr Burrell, Ms McCosker, Mr Taylor, Mrs Hui, Mrs Taylor, Mr Codey, Mrs Ovadia, Mr Creer, Mrs Watzlaff and Mr Watzlaff.
And the prefects who give up their time: William Clegg, Karl Kruszelnicki, Tom Kaldor, Dominic
Wong, Mitchell Taylor, Yaegan Doran, Dawei Qi, Bryan Wrench, Jeremy James, Ian Kwok, Jason Phung,
Tom Mittelheuser, Alan Dam, and Sen Mitsuji. Results from the High/Scots Invitational 3/9/2005
Basketball: Shooting HoopsSunday Parking Excellent job by all the students that helped out with last's Sunday Parking (27/08)! A total of $3237 was made (after all deductions) for basketball! Special thanks to Kumi Abeysuriva for organising this day - She has done an amazing job as our basketball parking coordinator. Any Year 7's or other parents/ students who are interested or would like to know about parking should contact Kumi at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . All helping hands make a great difference and it is a lot of fun.
Great thanks to
House Basketball
Basketball Canteen Parent Support
Court Supervisors
High Basketball Website
Others
~Brought to you by Johnny Shih and Francis Wong. Thanks to Mr Hayman . Words Of Wisdom
Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.
Never confuse movement with action. In order to be walked on, you have to be lying down.
When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door
that we do not see the one which has opened for us.
A man who has committed a mistake and doesn't correct it is committing another
mistake.
Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear. UNSW Co-op ProgramLinking Leaders - "Discover the leader in YOU!" "U Lead" Leadership Program To graduate, a University of New South Wales Union "U Leader" must
a) Undertake 15 hours of community service
* Thinking about Leadership "U Lead" is FREE!!!
Prestigious UNSW Co-op Scholarships & "U Lead"
"We recognise that the UNSW Union's 'U Lead' program is an outstanding opportunity for students
to extend their developing leadership skills and involvement in the community. Being part of this
program will most certainly enhance the skills that we are looking for in our applicants." For more Co-op Program details, see your Careers Adviser or visit:
Who should apply? We are looking for students who would like to develop confidence in leadership just as much as those who are already confident. Those selected will be a mix of students fitting into both of these categories.
Workshop Times and Application Process Interested students should lodge an Expression of Interest by stating in 100 words or less "Why do you want to learn about leadership?" Include your full name, school name and roll call class. Expressions of Interest should be brief and simple. Don't spend hours creating the perfect paragraph! There are two possible ways to lodge your Expression of Interest: 1. Print it on an A4 paper sheet and deposit it with your Careers Adviser. 2. Email it as an attached Microsoft Word document. Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Expressions of Interest must be lodged before 3:20 pm, Friday, 9 September. Good luck!
Linking Leaders "On our year 12 muck-up day at SBHS, we raised thousands for
charity. What we did was great but I look back and think how much more we could have contributed
with skills developed through early leadership training. The vision for high school students to
undertake leadership training has led to Linking Leaders, an initiative of SBHS proudly in
partnership with UNSW Student Recruitment Office, UNSW Co-op Program and UNSW Union."
Postal Address: PO Box 797 Kingsford NSW 2032, State of the Arts
GPS Music Festival
Congratulations to the following boys for their outstanding results in their recent AMEB music
exams:
Music Exam Performers Soiree
Coming up:
Sydney Boys High Music Department Presents Featuring Year 7 Jazz and Concert Band, String Ensemble and Soloists. Monday September 12th 6.00pm Boys arrive at 5.00pm in school performance uniform- white shirt Great Hall Free Admission Year 7 band rehearsal will be held on Monday morning September 12th to prepare for the concert.
Jazz Band 7.15am Concert Band 8.00am High Cricket BulletinThe weekly newsletter of Sydney High Cricket As our High Notes co-editor has advised, cricket is nearly upon us and the time has arrived where we can now look forward to the season, with the winter sports now concluding. The information in this week's High Notes needs to be retained for reference as it will act as a guide for not only our new cricketers, but also our existing cricketers. REMINDER - SELECTING CRICKET AS YOUR SUMMER SPORT in Term 4 and for Term 1 means that only players who can play on Saturdays in our School GPS teams may nominate for cricket for Wednesday and Thursday Sport Afternoons. If you are not available to play on Saturdays, then you will have to select an alternative sports, such as Softball or Athletics. Too many boys nominated for cricket last season and then advised they could not play on Saturdays which caused many problems. Those who play Club cricket should be aware that they advise their Clubs that they are only available for Sunday Competitions if they wish to continue with both High and their Club. TEAM NOMINATIONS FOR TERM 4 and TERM 1 (2006) - we will be nominating the following teams for this season providing sufficient students nominate for cricket. Teams proposed are as follows: 1st XI, 2nd XI, 3rd XI, 4th XI, 16A, 15A, 15B, 14A, 14B, 13A and 13B. A decision to enter an Under 17 Team, in lieu of a 5th XI was discussed at the MIC's meeting, but it appears that only three GPS Schools have these teams. I will await the number who nominate for cricket before finalising this matter.
CHANGE OF RULES AAGPS - number of changes are to be trialled in Term 4. The important
areas are as follows:
ALL CHANGES WILL APPEAR ON THE CRICKET WEBSITE FOR THE INFORMATION OF ALL.
OPEN SQUAD CAMP
PARKING DUTY - The Cricket Section has been allocated parking for FRIDAY 16 SEPTEMBER 2005
for the SYDNEY FC V CENTRAL COAST MARINERS commencing at 8.00 pm. Volunteers are required to
assist on the night together with Senior Squad boys. This fixture could be very rewarding for our
fundraising considering the debut of the Sydney FC. Please contact me at
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