the

vol. XXX, issue 3

stentorian
the north carolina school of science and mathematics


february 2010
stentorian@ncssm.edu

Boarman Steps Down

By Avani Uppalapati
After ten years of service
to the NC School of Science
and Math, Chancellor Gerald
Boarman is stepping down
from his position. Boarman
is slated to start his job as the
new head of the private Bullis
School in Potomac, Maryland,
in July of 2010.
“Maybe ten years is what
it should be,” he said, noting
that his predecessors had been
Chancellor for ten years each
as well.
Boarman will rejoin his
family in Maryland, whom he
has been away from for ten
years. “It’s a matter of looking
at what’s best for my family,
and being able to reunite with
them,” Boarman explained.
Eleven years ago, the school
was looking for a new head. At
the time, Boarman was chief
educational administrator of the
Eleanor Roosevelt Community
Schools in Maryland, one of
which was a technology school
of about five hundred students.
Boarman did not know
much about this school and got
a call from a search firm asking
if he knew anyone who would
be interested in the position. A
couple of weeks later, the firm
called again and asked him to
meet with some administrators
in Washington D.C. changes
After that meeting, Boarman quickly, since
was called to interview at the students only
school and went in to it with a attend for two
noncommittal outlook. He said years. Under
he answered with no political the trimester
correctness, noted that the schedule,
“facilities kids had at their more classes
home schools were better,” were offered
and was surprised when he and juniors
was called back for a second had more
interview in spring. freedom. “We
Boarman recalled that started seeing
the area where the swing set students
now stands was the site of throwing
the power plant, covered in around a
graffiti, surrounded by barbed Frisbee,
wire. “There were no fobs or walking off
security. The school was in bad campus to
shape,” he said. Ninth Street,”
Since he started working Boarman said.
here in July of 2000, Boarman One of Boarman’s favorite pastimes has been conversing with students. He hopes Students were
has made many changes. that his replacement will also be student-centric. • Photo courtesy of Steve Wilson less stressed
Before his arrival, the school after the
had no GPA or classes labeled but that doesn’t mean more had a prescribed course of change.
AP (though students still took orderly,” he said. study. Under Boarman, the school
the AP tests). Boarman argued His next major decision Boarman also created the made many new research
that offering AP classes and was to close school early Curriculum, Assessment, and mentorship opportunities
calculating a weighted GPA for Thanksgiving break so and Standards Task Force available to students. He
would benefit students in the that students had a week off, to introduce new ideas and introduced robotics to the
college application process. instead of only 5 days. He saw fix problems in the school. school – something he had
Before Boarman’s arrival, that students were worn out When asked to come up with at his old school. “It’s been
the Student Center was not and felt they needed a break. different ideas for the schedule, exciting to see all the changes,”
open to students, which is Students did not have as Jim Litle, a current economics Boarman said. Boarman
ironic considering its supposed many free (or “study”) blocks, teacher and then a part of the recalls that the faculty was
purpose. On his second day as as students do now. Part of the task force, came up with the very supportive of the changes,
Chancellor, he decided to open reason was that students had trimester schedule. and the administration became
that area for student use. “The to take 6 core classes each Boarman and the much more student friendly.
school was a stricter place, semester and juniors generally administration tried to make Continued on page 11

Food for thought: an inside look at school world record attempt

By Jennifer Zhu
At NCSSM, it is difficult
to not be aware of the school’s
scheduled Guinness World
Record attempt on Mar. 20,
2010. However, although many
people, both inside and outside
of the school, have heard of
the attempt to break the record
for “Largest Food Drive in
24 Hours at One Location”,
students have confessed to not
knowing much about the world
record attempt beyond the
basic details.
Committee members (from left to right) Yusra Iftikhar, Elliot Cartee, Patrick together the food
Yang, and Rebecca Pham pose for a Herald Sun photo shoot.
The idea of setting a food Life Instructor and organizer
drive record evolved from of the world record attempt Sue
Residential Life Assistant Anne Lewis talked to Kevin
Hannah Wyatt’s idea to set Cromwell, Director of Student
a world record for World’s Services. “Mr. Cromwell
Biggest Gathering of Nerds. suggested that we take the idea
Part of her idea was that in [of donating food to be part
order to be a part of the record-
of the nerd world record] and
setting nerd experience, each turn it into a food drive [world
person had to donate at least one
record attempt],” said Lewis.
canned item that would then be There is the intrigue: how
donated to the food bank. Afterdoes one work with Guinness
the nerd proposal was sent to World Records to schedule
Guinness World Records in a world record attempt?
September and rejected near “They were hard to contact,”
the end of October, Student Lewis admitted. “We found
an organization
in Massachusetts
that had actually
been in contact
with Guinness and
they gave me their
[Guinness’s] phone
number, and we
had to write up a
proposal. Guinness
was pretty unhappy
about that [world’s
biggest gathering
of nerds] proposal.
From there, it
took Ryan [of
Developmental
Office] and I about
a month to put
drive proposal,
because we wanted to make
sure there was a lot of detail
and we went over and beyond
to Guinness’s answers to show
how committed, how much
we wanted to do this attempt.
We sent it in first week of
December and heard back first
week of January that we had
gotten approved.”
Although Guinness World
Records officially approved the
NCSSM world record attempt,
there are some restrictions
placed on the association of
NCSSM with the famous
Guinness World Records. Prior
to the event, NCSSM cannot
publicize the world record
attempt with the Guinness
World Record logo or use
the phrase “Guinness World
Records” on banners and in
the headlines of news articles
and flyers, although “Guinness
World Records” may be used
in the body of an article. The
right to use the logo and phrase
is purchased from Guinness
World Records, so Lewis and
her NCSSM World Record
task force must wait until two
weeks prior to the event in
order to have that right.
The record to beat is more
than half a million pounds of
non-perishable food, which
is not limited to canned food
and includes peanut butter
and rice. The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-Day Saints in
Calgary, Alberta, Canada holds
the current record and has been
tracking the progress of the
NCSSM Food Drive. “I have no
idea how they found out!” said
Lewis. “Honestly, I have no
idea—they’ve been following
us on Twitter as well! She [a
leader of the church] was very
excited, wished us the best of
luck, and hoped we would beat
the record so that later they
could go and beat us.”
Speaking to the current
record-holder helped Lewis
greatly. Many of Lewis’s
questions were answered,
including one that made a huge
impact on how NCSSM will
organize the food drive. Lewis
explained, “I thought the single
location defined in the world
record meant Science and
Math and that we couldn’t go
out and get food, that the food
had to all come here, but it
actually means all of Durham.
So when I talked to them, I
found out they canvassed the
neighborhood, had dropoff
locations in different stores,
found out about how they
organized that, also found
Continued on page 11
 february 2010
features the stentorian | ncssm

Students Bring Zombie Game to Campus

By Nathaly Lemoine
In the second week of
December, approximately
seventy students took part in
a campus-wide role-playing
game of Humans vs. Zombies.
Though it originated at Goucher
College, this glorified game
of tag is increasingly being
played on college campuses
across the country. In the
game, participating humans
utilize Nerf guns and socks to
ward off a zombie horde.
Senior Nick Sienerth first
heard about the game from an
NC State Facebook page and
decided to organize one here
on campus. “[I] thought it was
a good idea to bring it here…
we had all the requirements for
the game, that is, residential
students and an open campus.
I thought that a zombie-tag
game would generate a lot of
interest and everyone would
have a lot of fun,” Nick said.
Nick, along with senior Tylor
Mansur, initially contacted and
met with administrators to get
approval and to set down the
rules. Even though NCSSM has
residential students, it still has
to abide with high school rules.
“Originally we had the bandana
idea [to distinguish between
humans and zombies], but
because it might get associated
with gangs, we decided to use
headbands and armbands of
any color,” Tylor said. “Also,
we couldn’t use Nerf guns.”
As long as the participants
followed school rules and
administrators’ requests, the
game could continue. “We
were stringent on all the rules,”
Tylor said. “If any school rules
were broken, the game would
be accountable and we would
stop it.” One rule, that school
comes first, discouraged
participants from skipping
class to avoid zombie attacks.
Before starting the actual
game, Tylor and Nick had
to select a patient zero, or
original zombie to start off
the game. Out of several
possible candidates, senior
Chris McMahon was chosen.
“We offered everyone the idea
to be original zombie and we
considered them. We looked
for someone who is social and
who had the qualities needed
to start a game, so we chose
Chris,” Tylor explained.
Within the first twenty-
four hours of the game, Chris
managed to attack about half
of the human population.
“I kind of had an unfair
advantage because unlike
other zombies, I didn’t have to
wear my headband for the first
twenty-four hours,” Chris said.
Senior Macey Matthews, one
of the last remaining humans,
believes she would change
this and a couple of other
rules for the original zombie.
“It’s ridiculous the amount of
people who were gone the first
day,” she said.
Tylor agrees that this was
one of the reasons the game
ended as quickly as it did and
that he would change that rule
for the next game. “Instead
of no headband, the original
zombie would have twenty-
four hours to stay invisible to
humans until he tags someone,
then he is automatically seen,”
he said.
Another one of the last
remaining humans, junior
Will Greene, remembers when
he was tagged by a group of
zombies outside of his hall.
He was normally careful
about where he went, but this
group was determined to tag
him. “On the zombie forum
on Facebook, they had my
schedule, paths I was going to
take, people I walk with,” Will
said.
He believes this violates
the number one rule – don’t
be a jerk. This ambiguous
rule encompasses anything
from setting up ambushes or
camping out, to getting outside
help, to tagging roommates
and cheating. Because this rule
could be argued, moderators
Nick and Tylor reviewed
scenarios where this rule might
have been broken.
Humans that felt they
were tagged unfairly could
contact their moderators via
Facebook, email, or face-to-
face to report the scenario. If
humans were tagged fairly,
they would hand the zombies
a card with their unique ID
numbers. The zombies would
enter this ID number in the
website and they would receive
a feed. Going twenty-four
hours without a feed would
result in death.
Currently, moderators and
representatives are trying to
meet with administrators to
start a second game, sometime
third trimester. Their hope is to
convince them that Humans vs.
Zombies could have a positive
effect on the campus and
promote social interaction.

How the (Mr.) Unicorn Got Its Horn

By Molly Kuo
It is an odd tradition: every
year, men come together
to dance, sing, and model
formal wear in a competition
for the esteemed title of Mr.
Unicorn. Still going strong,
the humorous male pageant
has actually been held annually
ever since the senior year of
the first graduating class.
Irene Kuo (’82) distinctly
remembers when the idea of a
Mr. Unicorn pageant first came
up at a Student Activities Board
meeting during her senior year.
The board had wanted to have
a Homecoming; it seemed
unlikely that it would work,
however, because the school
had no alumni to invite back.
Students still wanted some sort
of homecoming queen contest,
but the board decided that
singling out one girl was not
representative of the spirit of
the school, so Kuo suggested
that “it would be entertaining
to have the guys do it as a
spoof.”
Each hall picked a male
representative, and helped
him find his feminine side for
the competition. Without an
auditorium on campus, the
competition, which included
talent, swimwear, evening
gown, and question/answer
sessions, was held at EK Powe
Elementary School on Ninth
Street.
Kuo’s hall, 2nd Wyche (now
Royall) nominated Ishan Sehgal
(’82) for the competition, who
twirled baton for his talent and
sported a speedo/bikini during
the swimwear portion. First
Hunt chose Robert Lee (’82).
“I read some German lyrics
from a Frank Zappa album,”
Lee recalled, “which you can
imagine were pretty explicit.”
Second Beall nominated
Roger Kromer (’82). “I
attempted to solve a Rubik’s
Cube—they were a new fad
then—while the theme to the
1968 movie 2001: A Space
Odyssey played over the PA
system. I was unsuccessful in
solving it in the allotted time,
which I can only surmise to
be the reason I lost the Mr.
Unicorn title,” Kromer said.
“I [remember being] decked
out in over-the-top prepster
drag; a pink twill scooter
skirt, white 100% pima cotton
buttondown, kelly green solid
pullover, 14kt. gold add-a-bead
necklace, Dottie B reversible
canvas belt, grosgrain ribbon
headband, espadrille wedges,
and a matching pink Bermuda
bag.”
In the end, it was First
Beall’s choice, Gerry
Sherman (’82), who became Gerry Sherman (left), the original Mr. Unicorn, sings his self-penned song. Another contestant,
the first ever Mr. Unicorn. Roger Kromer, models a preppy version of formal wear.
Sherman remembers that
many contestants “performed
humorous acts,” but he sang
a song that he wrote himself,
which he still believes was an
important factor of his success
in the competition. “I suspect
delivering a self penned song
may have given me the edge.
[But] it was actually the first
time in my life that I wasn’t
trying to win a competition...
none of us were trying to win.  I
believe we were all just caught
up in the spirit of having fun
and making others laugh.”
It is exactly that
noncompetitive spirit that has
stayed with Mr. Unicorn to this
day. In this year’s pageant,
two contestants tied for the
first time in the history of the
contest: AJ Woodard and Arjee
Restar are Mr. Unicorn 2010.
Junior Durant Carter won the
title of Baby Unicorn, a more
recent addition the pageant that From left to right: Gerry Sherman, Nate Dobson, Ishan Sehgal, Hector Cooper, and Robert Lee.
allows juniors to compete.
 the stentorian | ncssm
Sadie Hawkins: Is it still important?
By Ade Ilesanmi
At some point in the past
Sadie Hawkins must have
been a pretty taboo concept.
The idea of women in a
dominant role to men has yet
to gain complete popularity,
but back in the thirties when
Sadie Hawkins Day was first
mentioned in the hillbilly
comic strip L’il­ Abner, there
must have been some real
commotion going on.
Nowadays, the whole girls-
asking-guys phenomenon is
less of a phenomenon and
more of a yawn.
“I don’t think it’s as big of
a deal as it was when the idea
first came about.  I think that
the concept of it only being
socially acceptable for guys to
ask girls is a way for [girls] to
appease themselves when they
don’t have the guts to do what
they want,” says junior Anna
Hall.
So does the concept of
Sadie Hawkins remove the
sense of security given when
guys are always expected to
ask girls to a dance? Does it
make girls more vulnerable,
or does it do just the opposite
and make them feel more in
control, reversing the gender
roles defined by society? Both
the girls and boys of our school
have mixed feelings about the
answer to these questions.
Generally, people tend
to perceive Sadie as an
opportunity for girls to escape
the status quo of how the
“asking out” should occur.
“I think Sadie Hawkins
dance is fun. It’s the time
when girls do not have to wait
for a guy to ask her to the
dance. The girl gets to do the
sweet ‘asking out’ thing. And
it’s when the girl can almost
casually hit on a guy of her
interest,” says senior Ami
Sueki.
Indeed, Sadie does allow
the girls to enjoy the more
appealing aspects of courting.
“I enjoy planning and
thinking about how I am going
to ask that one guy to the
dance. It allows the girls to ‘be
in the guy’s shoes’ for every
time he has to ask a girl to a
Sadie Hawkins Day was originally a plot device in the hillbillie comic strip L’il Abner. It is now a tradition at many high schools and colleges.
features
dance,” states senior Shawna many guys beg to differ.
Schafle. “For the young men
While Sadie allows girls to involved, our ‘swagger’
enjoy the liberties of asking the shouldn’t be damaged by
guys out, it leaves boys in the something so little as being
reversed role, in which they are asked to a dance by a girl. If it
left apprehensive and waiting. is, swagger is nothing more than
One anonymous male excessive pride and egotism.
student put it this way, “One The world is no longer ruled
“It does the opposite of empowering girls, because
usually we have the power of rejection.”
Michelle Ye
shortcoming of Sadie is that… by physical strength alone, and
girls still don’t seem to like women are no longer inferior
asking guys. Sure, you don’t to men,” said senior Stephen
see as many guys moping Wise.
around about not getting asked Junior Neil Macintosh agrees
like girls do come prom time; that insisting on guys asking
it’s still nice to have someone girls “is only perpetuating a
to go with….I guess it’s not system based on the assumed
totally unacceptable for the inferiority of women.”
male to ask the female to It is this “assumed
Sadie, but it carries the same inferiority” which makes it
weight of awkwardness as it difficult for the idea of women
would for a girl asking a guy to courting men to be accepted
Semi….[G]irls don’t seem to even outside the realm of high
want to ask guys…[and] I have school dances.
no idea [why]. I’m not a chick. “Men usually ask girls
But don’t think that we don’t on dates, they usually pop
have the same apprehensions/ the engagement question,
ideas when we pick dates for and they usually ask girls to
semi/prom. We are just as dances.  Not only is the asking
afraid of rejection as [girls] are. itself intimidating, crossing
Unlike girls, society does not this unfortunate boundary can
offer us the convenient option be the added weight that deters
of going as a group of male us girls from asking that special
friends (because that would someone to a dance,” explains
just be weird and everyone senior Eileen Smith.
knows it)….Regardless of the As one of the few current
excuse, girls don’t really have avenues in which girls in
an excuse to not ask a boy now a dominant role to guys is
and then expect to be asked socially accepted, the question
(probably in some really cute arises of whether Sadie really
and prohibitively expensive does make girls feel all that
fashion) to prom two months dominant and “empowered” in
later. This is not my opinion the long run.
alone….Many…men feel this “I don’t think that the
way. It is not a huge deal to us concept of girls asking guys
but it is kind of annoying.” is anything new, or even that
Even when girls have the uncommon today. Granted, it
“permission,” there is still is still more socially acceptable
apprehension about asking the for the guy to ask the girl but
guys because of the emphasis it is commonly accepted either
placed upon guys asking girls. way. Maybe some girls feel
There is a certain perception empowered by it, but it doesn’t
that girls asking guys takes make a difference to me,”
away from the “macho-ness” states senior Jeanette Juran.
of the guy being asked; though, “I personally don’t see it as
‘empowering’ girls anymore,
but rather as a tradition that
we continue. I’m perfectly fine
with a Sadie Hawkins dance”
says senior Tylor Mansur, a
male with a similar view.
Though some students feel
that Sadie does not affect girls’
gender roles, others believe
that it has a negative effect on
it.
“I think it does the opposite
of empowering girls because
usually we have the power of
rejection, but I don’t mind. It’s
not like girls can’t ask anyone
to a regular dance. This is just
taking off the pressure on those
poor shy boys,” says junior
Michelle Ye.
With her point being
made, there grows yet another
question of whether a dance
should even be necessary for
girls asking guys to be socially
acceptable. Shouldn’t girls
asking guys be welcomed
for any dance or other social
affair? Some, but not all, would
answer “yes.”
“In order for girls to be
empowered, it should be
socially acceptable for them
to ask guys to ANY dance.
Also, guys shouldn’t always
be expected to do the asking.  I
think most guys would love to
have that pressure taken off of
them. Sometimes both genders
are just a little shy and afraid of
rejection,” says senior Chelsae
Dumbauld.
Wise concedes with
Dumbauld on this view,
stating, “there shouldn’t be
a specific dance that allows
young women to ask out
young men, but rather a
change in tradition and social
acceptance that lets either party
take the lead.”
Others feel that a specific
dance for girls asking guys
is necessary, at least in our
current society.
february 2010 
“I think there should be a
dance where the girls get to ask
the guys out because otherwise
we look stupid if we want to do
just that.  Even though a lot of
social progress has been made
in the past century concerning
this topic, it is still customary
for the guy to be the one to ask,
which does not help us if the
guys are too shy to ask,” retorts
junior Michelle Barton.
As an anonymous student
states in agreement, “[i]s [the
concept of Sadie Hawkins] as
big a deal as when the dance
was conceived? No. Does there
need to be a specific dance for
it? Yes, many girls still hold the
idea that guys should ask them
unless otherwise stated.”
So what can be taken from
all these viewpoints about
Sadie Hawkins? Well, there
does not seem to be any real
problem with the concept of
girls asking guys, but I do
personally agree with the
notion that there shouldn’t be a
specific dance for girls to ask
guys. I think that eventually
there will not be a need for
Sadie Hawkins, or rather, it will
become irrelevant because the
idea of girls asking guys will
become the norm. It already
has, as I have heard stories of
girls asking guys to semi and
to prom.
Most girls do not have a
problem with asking guys
out, and most guys do not
care if a girl asks them out,
so what exactly is the barrier
that perpetuates the need for
a dance like Sadie Hawkins?
Is it those few people that are
not okay with the idea? Until
that question can be answered,
I think that we as confused,
hormonal individuals can do
no more than continue our
tradition of Sadie Hawkins
with the notion that it is not
right in its entirety, but that
there is nothing wholly wrong
about it either.
Anna Hall quoted the
Relient K song Sadie Hawkins
Dance: “Sadie Hawkins dance/
In my khaki pants/There’s
nothing better/The girls ask
the guys/It’s always a surprise/
There’s nothing better/Do you
like my sweater?”
• Picture from Wikipedia
 february 2010 valentine’s day the stentorian | ncssm

A Romantic Date On Broad Street

By Chris Maynor and
Christian Johnson
Ah, Valentine’s Day is close
upon us. For most, this means
trying to find that one special
card or fretting about which
chocolates to get for your
significant other. But really,
that mass-produced Hallmarks
greeting card isn’t that unique,
and chocolate from Walgreen’s
is, well, chocolate from
Walgreen’s.
So in order to go beyond
these commercialized rituals
and find a real way to celebrate
true love or whatever, the two
of us decided to go on a little
lunch date to Watts Grocery.
The restaurant is open Tuesday
through Friday for lunch,
Tuesday through Sunday
for dinner, and Saturday and
Sunday for brunch. Lunch
prices are around $10 for a
main entrée, while dinner is a
little more expensive.
Well then, how did
it compare to cards and
chocolates?
Good Food, Good Date Restaurant All To Myself
Chris
For the appetizer, I ordered the chili bowl with cheddar
cheese and mole verde. The dish was a beauty to look at when
it arrived at the table, but the tongue told a truer tale. The mole
verde, a Mexican sauce made from toasted pumpkin seeds,
was creamy and infused with a subtle roasted flavor. While
the beef chili had a mild spiciness to it, this was partnered
nicely with an underlying sweetness. The texture of the chili
was almost perfect, but it could have been slightly meatier and
a little less runny.
For the entrée, I ordered Zuke’s Country Pate on buttered
baguette with Creole mustard dressing, cornichons [basically
small pickles] and pickled vegetables. In all honesty, the
sandwich had me at first bite. The tangy, crunchy cornichons
and vegetables along with the mustard gave good contrast to
the softer yet still meaty pate, while the mixed greens salad
on the side with a creamy balsamic vinegar was simple yet
refreshing. I found myself taking smaller bites so that the dish
might last longer.
The two courses went very well together, and although
most of you won’t have the chance to experience dining with
the tall, handsome, and still-single Christian Johnson, I’d
definitely recommend this location for a simple meal out with
someone close.
Christian
I was duly impressed with the atmosphere of Watts Grocery
as soon as I entered—the place certainly seems very well-kept
and we were seated immediately. For anyone who cares, the
sanitation score was 93.5 if my memory serves me, more than
satisfactory for a casual restaurant like this. I took no issue with
any comfort or service amenities, except for the fact that we were
the only customers in the restaurant for about half an hour.
I ordered the Yellowfin Tuna Sandwich with bacon, avocado,
and red pepper aioli, mostly because I saw that it had bacon in
it, and overall I was extremely satisfied with my choice. I found
the tuna to be just the right consistency for a sandwich, without
being overcooked or chewy. Likewise, the bread was toasted
just a slight amount, which provided some nice texture contrast.
Unfortunately, the sandwich suffered from slight structural
integrity problems: the tuna and bacon had a tendency to slip
out of the bread. In addition, the aioli was, in my opinion, a
little lacking in flavor. However, these are at best very minor
complaints, and in general the sandwich was fantastic.
I ordered my sandwich with a side of French fries, which were
definitely up to snuff. They were crispy without being crunchy,
and were perfectly seasoned. If you would like to learn more
about Watts Grocery, you can visit their website http://www.
wattsgrocery.com/ and check out their different menus. I’m sure
you will have as good an experience as I did!.

Chris Maynor (left) enjoys a romantic lunch with Christian Johnson (right) one Tuesday. (This is not actually Watts Grocery.) •Photo by Dustin Burleson

Non-Couples To Celebrate Music Review: Justin Nozuka

Single Awareness Day B X J
By Emma Hawkins
Valentine’s Day is a day for
lovers to buy chocolate, teddy
bears, and giant cards. It is a
time where one can experience
romance and love in all its
magnitude. But what are the
chronically single to do? Some
suggest they simply spend the
day with their friends, buying
gifts and enjoying each other’s
company. But if you happen to
be without a significant other
or friends this year, here are
some options you can look into
to make sure your SAD (Single
Awareness Day) is all that it
can and should be.
One’s first course of action
is avoiding couples sure to
be roaming about campus
this Valentine’s Day. As an
inherently awkward person,
I find that sneezing loudly
or jingling my keys usually
forewarns any caught in an
awkward position. However,
if this Valentine’s Day the
couples are extra aggressive,
don’t leave your room without a
water gun. Whether the couple
is holding hands or studying
anatomy, a few squirts of water
typically does the trick in
breaking them up.
Something else to do this
SAD is invest in Ben &Jerry’s.
Holly as a whole. Nozuka an apartment flat next door to
You would be surprised how
much Cherry Garcia heals a
broken heart. So go ahead,
head to the school store, and
buy a pint—or two if you are
really depressed. Grab a spoon
and attack the ice cream. You
could go to the gym and work
out your frustrations; but let’s
face it: this feels so much
better.
Find some sad songs. I find
that Whitney Houston’s cover
of “I Will Always Love You”
is a heart-breaking ballad. Or if
you’re looking for something
to mock yourself, I find that
Ne-yo’s “So You Can Cry”
is an excellent find. If you’re
single because you’re in love
with someone who hasn’t
noticed, I recommend Taylor
Swift. Anything by Taylor
Swift. That girl has some man-
issues.
However, the most important
thing you should do is go to
Sadie. Whether you weren’t
asked or didn’t do the asking,
get dressed, get sexy, have a
good time, and don’t think
about how depressed you’ll be
tomorrow. Just get out there!
Then this Sunday, SAD, follow
the afore-mentioned tips to
ensure your February 14th is all
it can be.
y avier arrett
Though it is now almost
three years old, Justin Nozuka’s
debut album, Holly, still has
a profound musical impact
today.
The acoustic indie-soul
album harbors a great deal of
talent along with meaningful
lyrics. Justin Tokimitsu
Nozuka, 21, decided to push
the envelope in a unique way
when he constructed the album.
Instead of having the profanity
and sexual implications found
in many songs of today, each
song from Holly features a
mature, adult-themed topic that
has an undercurrent of sadness
or nostalgia.
“After Tonight” was the first
single released from the album
and won Nozuka momentary
fame. The acoustic guitar
sound along with his soft, yet
powerful vocals mesmerized
many. The love song’s carefree
video could be found repeatedly
running through VH1’s Top 20
Countdown for several weeks
straight; however, the song
lacked the true feel of Nozuka
as an artist.
The centralized theme
of the hit single radiated an
upbeat and positive message
that could be said to contradict
found his niche in the musical
world with the more hardcore
songs that fought back against
the troubles and talked less
about subjects that make up
our society.
The melancholy feel of
Nozuka’s music in its entirety
can be heard in “Mr. Therapy
Man.” The second single from
Holly tells a story of heartbreak
centering on a woman fleeing
secretly into the night from
Nozuka. The lyrics are filled
with a pain that is conveyed
expertly by Nozuka as an artist.
Melding in with the heavy
drum and guitar instrumentals,
the song showcases a slightly
more up-tempo side of the
album while keeping up with
Nozuka’s image of being a
thought-provoking and serious
artist.
Even though “After Tonight”
and “Mr. Therapy Man”
were two singles released by
Nozuka, the true masterpiece
track on Holly was “Save
Him.” The song is the epitome
of Nozuka’s indie-soul image.
The five minute track runs like
a miniature novel telling the
love story of a couple whose
relationship dies due to the
effects of domestic abuse.
The song places Nozuka in
the fighting couple where he
hears the husband beating his
wife each night after returning
from work. Each time that he
would beat her though, the
wife would fall to her knees
and ask for him to be saved
from his sins.
The song continues, telling
about the physical abuse she
received from her father in her
early childhood. Eventually the
song reaches its climax with
the father killing both himself
and his wife while their child,
the wife now being beaten as
Nozuka listens and watches
from the doorway.
Holly is not an album
for everyone; some of the
messages conveyed are
depressive and grave. But
there are inspirational tracks
scattered throughout the the
album, which showcases
human nature in its rawest
form and is guaranteed to have
a song that you can relate to.
Nozuka seeks to affect
people on an emotional level
that few other albums have
accomplished. Through the
release of Holly, he surpassed
this goal as his music continues
to bridge the three year gap
since the CD’s release and still
attracts fans young and old.
 the stentorian | ncssm
A Romantic Date On...Campus
By Emma Hawkins
A romantic Valentine’s Day
is hard to put together under
the best of circumstances. But
our teenaged awkwardness,
coupled with 600+ teenagers,
and no vehicles to move around
in, makes for a challenge.
Some would like to get out
and go on a loop to a romantic
restaurant where they can have
reservations.
This may be an issue, given
our current recession and lack
of a bus for loops. Your only
option may be to prepare a
special dinner here on campus.
Our PFM lacks the atmosphere
of most romantic venues and
despite what some of the more
sketchy couples may say, there
are not very many areas where
one can exclusively enjoy one
another’s company.
A nice picnic can be
one good way to start your
Valentine’s Day off right.
Perhaps outside on the chiba
is a good idea; however if
the weather is cold, or wet,
or windy, I would advise you
move the picnic inside to an
open classroom. Sure, it may
be dusty and you may end up
interrupting someone, but at
least you and your honey-bee
will be out of the foul weather.
If a classroom is not
available, then you can always
Love: The Universal Language
Maite zaitut
German
Ich liebe Dich
French
Je t’aime
Italian
Ti amo
Spanish
Te quiero
valentine’s day february 2010 
set up a romantic evening in
Top Ten Nerdy Pickup Lines
the PFM. Hire a musician
to serenade you, light a few
candles, sprinkle rose petals
from the entrance to a table. Compiled by Sangeetha Kumar
However, a work service
student may sweep up the
rose petals. And candles are 1. I can figure out the square root of any number in
not allowed. And I don’t
know how much serenading
less than 10 seconds. What? You don’t believe me?
violinists go for these days. So, Well, then, let’s try it with your phone number.
worst case scenario, you can
bring an air freshener, iPod, set
2. I don’t like my current girlfriend. Mind if I do a u-
of speakers, and pretend it’s a substitution?
romantic evening.
As a last resort, if you’re
3. What’s your sine? It must be pi/2 because you’re
desperate for romance, you the 1.
can ask for help from mom
and dad. Maybe they’d be 4. Like a graph with n^2 edges, you complete me.
willing to drive you and your 5. If you were C6, and I was H12, all we would need
significant other. Just be sure
they understand that they are is the air we breathe to be sweeter than sugar.
there for a ride to your venue. 6. I wish I were adenine because then I could get
They are not dining with you.
If you can arrange it, they are paired with U.
not even in the same restaurant
as you.
7. You’re like an exothermic reaction, you spread your
However, it may be an hotness everywhere!
awkward car ride to the
restaurant. If your parents are
8. Baby, if you were words on a page, you’d be what
anything like my dad, they may they call FINE PRINT.
tell your date fun facts such as
“I have a concealed carrier’s
9. Why don’t we measure the coefficient of kinetic
license” or “I’ve spent almost friction between me and you?
thirty years in the Army.”
True story: he does this. I find 10.If I were a 30 degree angle, you’d be a 60 degree
that you can typically avoid angle. You’d be my complement, and together we’d
awkward moments like this if
you pretend your date speaks be right.
only Spanish.
Compiled by Avani Uppalapati
Arabic Chinese
‫أحبك‬
Russian 我爱你 Japanese
uHíbbik
Basque я тебя люблю
Wo ai ni 愛してる
Ja teba lublu Aishiteru
Korean
사랑해
Saranghe
Tamil
Naan unnai
kaadhalikkiren
Tagalog
Mahal Kita
Swahili
Turkish Ninakupenda
Seni seviyorum
Hebrew
Igbo ‫אני אוהב אותך‬
A hurum gi nanya Ani ohev otakh
Esperanto
Mi amas vin
 february 2010 valentine’s day
Love Legends: Dr. Wilson
Dr. Wilson smells the flowers and remembers falling in love. •Photo courtesy of Dustin Burleson
By Jennifer Zhu
Do you believe in true love and a soulmate? What is your
philosophy on love?
Yes, I believe in true love. I think that love isn’t just infatuation:
love is something that is built on a deep friendship and an ability
to communicate with each other, to go through the thick and thin
of life, knowing that you’re going to have some bumpy roads and
everything isn’t going to be perfect. You have to look out a window
and see the world pretty much the same just in the big world view, not
the little things, and see the same big picture as in the same outlook
on life [not necessarily same political and religious beliefs].
What was your most interesting date?
I think it’s the night I met my husband! I can tell you where my
husband was standing and my first impression of him. I remember,
I don’t remember for anybody else I dated. I had gone on the date
because my roommate had fixed me up, and she was dating a friend
of my husband, I mean, I don’t go on blind dates! But she told me,
“Okay we’re going to study and then at 10 o’ clock, we’ll go have
a beer.” And later, my husband and I discovered that we both didn’t
like beer, that we both had just ordered one to be polite. This was
the month after I graduated from college—I was back on campus
to start my master’s. This was all at Duke.
How did you meet your husband? First impressions?
You know it’s kind of interesting because another friend of mine told
me, “Ginger, I just met somebody who is perfect for you!” I told
her to forget it—I don’t go on blind dates. And it was Gerald [my
husband]. She couldn’t believe it when I told her who I was dating
later—she said, “That was the guy I wanted to fix you up with!” Very
soon, I realized we [Gerald and I] had a lot of common interests. I
was a history major, he was a history major. He was very interested
in politics, I was very interested in politics. We liked the same kind
of architecture and furniture and basically, neither one of us really
enjoyed just dating for dating. We really wanted to date somebody
who was interesting, who sort of looked out of the window and saw
the picture that I did, who was a possibility for marriage.
How did he win you over?
I think he has a beautiful speaking voice. Not only did I like his
voice but I liked what he said. He had and has a very good sense of
humor: he’s an optimist. He sees the world in positive terms.
When did you know that he was the right one?
I think after the first summer, by September of that year, I knew that
I really liked him in a way that was different from other guys.
How did he propose?
After the first year, it was sort of a given that we were going to
the stentorian | ncssm
get married. He asked my parents’ permission in December of the
second year. We were holding hands, and I felt like he was killing
my hand and my wrist was dying, he was so nervous.
How do you know it’s the right person?
I don’t know how you know; it’s just a feeling. When you’re dating
somebody, you know them but you don’t know them. In that way,
love is always a chance, but we’ve been married for forty six years
this June. Love has to be something that will stick. You have to go
into marriage thinking that this is forever. That’s something that
people don’t really do now, but you have to go into it really thinking
that I’m going to find a person that I can spend the rest of my life
with. You have to go in thinking this is for life.
What about changing yourself for the person you love?
There’s always compromise with anybody, whether it’s just a friend.
You have to know that you’re going to have to compromise, but if
somebody wants you to change in major ways, then it’s probably
not the right person. You always want to improve yourself, and you
need to give each other space, space to grow. When you grow with
that space, there’s also that mutual love that holds the two of you
together while you’re growing. You can’t say I want my husband
to be this, this, this. I think you have to know yourself well enough
that when you meet somebody, he may look different or be different
than what you pictured.
What about listing out characteristics and criteria you want
that significant other to have? Is it good to have an idea of what
you’re looking for or is that making you too inflexible?
When they [characteristics/criteria] are broad, it’s okay. You want
somebody who is smart, and they don’t need to be clown funny but
they need to have a sense of humor because things will happen that
if you can’t laugh, you’re going to be crying a lot in life.
Any advice on love for the readers, especially for us
teenagers?
First of all, I think you need to know yourself, and know yourself
well and what kind of things make you happy and what kind of things
make you sad. And I think that if you know yourself well, then you
can look at other people and see if they’re going to complement
you. And I think that love is the most important thing in the world,
whether it is between husband/wife, siblings, parent and child, love
between any two people or love between a person and an animal. It
makes your life to know that other people care about you and you
care about other people.
Don’t ever get desperate and just take anyone just to say you have
someone! If you know yourself and you feel good about yourself,
I don’t think you would do that.
 the stentorian | ncssm valentine’s day
Love Legends:
Mr. & Mrs. Gann
By Kirby Varnadoe-Russ
What was your most interesting date?
Mrs. Gann: On our first real date, we went to a Chinese restaurant, and
Chris got something that was really, really spicy.
Mr. Gann: Yeah, it was, like, the spiciest thing I’ve ever eaten. I didn’t
get it to be impressive or anything, I love spicy food, but it
was hot
Mrs. Gann: I didn’t actually notice anything, I found out when we were
talking about it a couple of weeks ago, so he must have pulled
it off really well. I think he might have been a little sweaty.
Mr. Gann: Yeah, I definitely didn’t finish the dish.
How did you meet each other? First impression?
Mrs. Gann: We met in college freshman year – we both went to Berry
College in northwest Georgia. We had seen each other around
campus, and we had some mutual friends.
Mr. Gann: The first time I saw [her], we were at a pool hall and…
Mrs. Gann: (laughing) One of the people in the group I was with broke a
light in the pool hall! It wasn’t me, it someone else. Definitely
not me.
Mr. Gann: We really met 2nd semester freshman year, we were in a class
together called “Authority, Freedom, and Postmodernism”; it
was an honors class.
Mrs. Gann: I thought, ‘Who’s that cute guy with the eyebrow ring and the
sweet smile?’
Mr. Gann: I used to have an eyebrow ring. I remember telling my friend,
‘that girl Cheryl in our class, she’s pretty cute. I think I’ll talk
to her after class.’ During class I think we had been having
some kind of debate, so that was an opening to talk to her. I
think she happened to be tying her shoe and so I was able to
catch up to her.
Mrs. Gann: He asked me to hang out later and so we hung out in his dorm
room. I think we talked, and maybe strummed the guitar a
little.
Talk about the time you dated. Any enlightening or funny stories?
Mrs. Gann: There was one time when I convinced my parents to let me
spend spring break with him in Pennsylvania, and I went to
meet his parents. Chris didn’t have a car, and I didn’t want to
put a lot of miles on mine, so we decided to take the bus all the
way there. It was a horrible adventure. It took 20 hours. We
had to wait in all of these dirty bus stations at 2 in the morning
with all of these shady people around.
Mr. Gann: At one point on the trip, the only two seats that were together
were right in front of the bathroom, and so they didn’t recline.
So the whole time we sat bolt upright with people practically
in our laps. It wasn’t exactly comfortable.
Mrs. Gann: And then when we got to his house we were disgusting, and
The Ganns work at NCSSM together, and both are instructors in the math
department. •Photo courtesy of Dustin Burleson
february 2010 
that was the first time I had ever seen his parents. Also, later
that day Chris and I were driving in the car with his dad, who
was talking about how appalling he thought tattoos were. I
had gotten a tattoo about a year before, and Chris new about
it of course, so we just kept our mouths shut… until later that
day when I bent down to pick something up and his mom saw
it and asked me about it. His dad was really embarrassed,
especially because we got along really well.
What was the proposal like?
Mr. Gann: It was shortly after we had returned to school from Christmas
break. I had gone ring shopping with my dad over break, and
so I took Cheryl to this spot on campus…
Mrs. Gann: I think we had gone on a date there before…
Mr. Gann: It had a little pond and a little lamppost and a walkway.
Mrs. Gann: It was actually in sight of the chapel we got married in, Frost
Chapel. Anyway, it was really cold outside and so I was like ‘I
don’t want to get out of the car!’ but Chris said ‘No, no, come
on!’
Mr. Gann: It was dark outside, and so we stood under the lamppost in the
freezing cold.
Mrs. Gann: He just said very sweet things about how much he loved me
and things like that, and then he asked me to marry him. We
immediately started making plans for the wedding… we
definitely wanted to wait until we were out of college. We got
married on July 6, 2002… it was the hottest day of the year.
When did you know that he/she was the right one?
Mr. Gann: Almost right away when we started dating we spent a ton of
time with each other. I think we realized that we were really
serious when the school year was coming to a close and we
had to decide what to do about the summer… it would be a
long time to spend away from each other. So I spent most of
the summer in Georgia living with her and her parents… it
was a lot of fun, we both had jobs a temp agency, which was
interesting…
What do you think about changing yourself for the person you love?
Is it a good thing or should you never change yourself for somebody
else?
Mrs. Gann: I think that the motivation for changing should be motivated
by your desire to. You shouldn’t do it just for someone else but
it’s okay if it’s partly a factor.
Mr. Gann: People change because people are dynamic, but in a good
relationship, people talk about their self goals and if they’re
in accord, people can keep each other accountable for the
changes they want to see in themselves.
Swan Lake, near where Mr. Gann proposed to Mrs. Gann, has a view of Frost
Chapel from some of its walkways. •Photo courtesy of www.berry.edu/vtour
 february 2010 valentine’s day
Love Legends:
Dr. Miller ponders love. •Photo courtesy of Dustin Burleson
By Jennifer Zhu
Do you believe in true love and a soulmate? What is your
philosophy on love? Do you believe in soulmates?
I always hoped that the girl I asked for a date would say yes! So,
great hope is my philosophy. Love is great hope!
I don’t believe that love is easy. I think that attraction can be easy,
and the first stages of love can be easy. The deeper and the longer
love lasts, the harder it is, the fuller and the richer it becomes, and
the more it requires. Love’s a hard teacher, and its assignments are
hard.
I’m not exactly sure what a soulmate is. I don’t believe in soulmates
if that means that there is only one person in the entire world who
is singly and perfectly destined to be with you. I think statistics
bear this up. If you think about the people who break up and find a
new relationship, even in a small community like this [NCSSM],
there seem to be a lot of successes. So there seem to be lots of
possibilities for loving relationships—each a bit different and each
special in its own way.
What was your most interesting date?
This is a very hard question for me, since I haven’t done it for almost
50 years! …I’m not sure I can even remember. The girl that I married
had lived next door when we were in elementary school. When
her family sat down to eat their Sunday dinner, my family whose
house which was about three feet higher than her house could see
them eat their dinner. And then her family moved ten blocks in one
direction and my family moved ten blocks in the other direction.
When we went to the same junior high school, we each did our
nerdy things separately. Then we went to high school and began
to date our senior year.
In elementary school, we played together all the time and were in
the same class in school. We lived right next door to each other,
and we ran and jumped and screamed and hollered together. Her
family took me to the beach, but not because there was a relationship,
we were just children together. In high school, we started dating.
I think walking home from school together was very special, the
most wonderful thing. I found myself to be so lucky to not only have
somebody who would actually walk home with me but to have it
be somebody I liked and was attracted to. It made me proud and
happy. Being released from school was great, but being released
from school to walk those 30 minutes home with her was ever so
much greater…and of course, those dates were nothing but putting
one foot in front of the other, exploring one another’s existence and
the foolishness of the day.
How did you meet your wife? First impressions?
Well, it must have been a good one! We got to know each other twice,
because we had known each other as little children, but then there
was a break between 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th grade, and we had never
been on the outs [with each other], but we had simply ceased to be.
And we went to Durham High School, which is now the Durham
School of Arts.
the stentorian | ncssm
How did you court her?
I’ve always suspected that she chased me to ground. I certainly had
no conscious strategy. I never said I was going to do this for this
reason, I was never very conscious. I think things just happened. I
think she was more conscious, she was smarter. But I think that our
having the sense that we had known each other initially gave us the
sense that we still knew each other even though we really didn’t.
This sense of familiarity about it all made it really easy to sit there
and talk like we knew each other. As we pretended to know each
other, the more we came to actually know each other. Then we came
to the realization that this is who we are and where we are, and that
we enjoyed being together, and so we continued. We just got there
without meaning to get there.
We dated throughout college, she went to a girls’ college Salem
College, and I went to Davidson, which was a boy’s school back then.
Initially, dating involved my riding the bus to Salem College. It was
a five hour bus ride and I could only do that once every couple of
months, so we didn’t see a lot of each other during the school year
the first couple of years, and that’s very hard when you’re used to
seeing a lot of each other, so we had on-again and off-again periods
in college but finished college on-again.
The course of true love didn’t run smooth, and our course was not
always a smooth one. Part of the courting process is discovering who
you are as well as who your partner is, part of college is wanting
to explore possibilities a bit. Sometimes, the familiar becomes
tiresome, and all of a sudden, we would find ourselves out of sorts
and separated for a while, but we always seemed to gravitate toward
one another once again.
Talk about the time you dated. Any enlightening or funny
stories?
People now don’t always understand how we did things then.
Dating in of itself was not necessarily so big a deal as it seems to
be now. Before I dated my wife, it was not at all uncommon for my
friend Kent Rogers who had a car to say to me Monday morning,
“Why don’t we get dates and go out Friday night?” And I would
call somebody. Sometimes, not very often, because I couldn’t get
many dates. I could date somebody Friday and somebody different
Saturday and we would just see a movie and get a coke afterwards,
and I suppose the girls liked it because the guys paid.
We would go to the movies (35 cents).get a box of popcorn for a
dime, and wind up afterwards at the Tops Drive In, where Ben and
Jerry’s is right now, for a hamburger and a coke that would cost
another 60 cents. There was no sense that a date meant “I love you,”
or “this is forever”, or even that “this is the first step” even if you
dated the same girl ten times. Kent and I often took two girls who
were best friends and good friends of ours out, and occasionally
Kent and I would forget who was officially dating whom that night.
Dating was much more an activity that teenagers did than a pairing-
off activity, so when my wife and I started dating, it was part of that
herd-mentality that we did in couples.
Do you think dating has become more serious now?
It seems to me that now people don’t date as much. They go in
packs together, rather than as couples: at the semi-formal this year,
the gym filled up for the line dances, and everybody did that group
activity as a group, whereas in the late 50s and late 60s, everyone
filled the gym—the whole group dancing, but in pairs, usually very
fluid pairs. You participated in the group activities as pairs, but
people wouldn’t think of us as a pair unless you announced you
were “going steady.”
The girl I took to the Christmas formal was the only time I ever
dated her. It was a big event and I probably called 15 people and she
happened to be the 15th one that nobody else had called yet. I mean,
I took her home and as far as I’m concerned, that was the last time
I remembered her in my life.
When did you know that she was the right one?
I think at some point, some things become inevitable. We finished
college, and I had a military obligation and I had to go to basic
officer training soon after graduation, and she had planned to go to
graduate school. It was the Vietnam Era and then I was going on
 the stentorian | ncssm valentine’s day
: Dr. Miller
active duty and where that would lead nobody knew and we decided
at that time that we would get married.
And she joined me sometime later in Fort Knox, and we had a child,
and then I went to Korea for a year. And then she had to stay here,
so then we kind of repeated what we did when we were in different
colleges: we wrote letters almost every day just as we had done in
college. When there were no such things as cell phones, there was a
pay phone in the dorm lobby which everybody wanted and nobody
could use for long. It was easier and better to write letters. She had
majored in French, I think, to rebel against her very medical family
and went into schoolteaching and taught only one French class for
one year out of 30 years, and taught English the rest of the 30 years.
She was a very good teacher.
How did you propose?
It was kind of mutual: “well why don’t we…well we could…let’s!”
and we came to “let’s” about the same time.
How do you know it’s the right person?
I think if you don’t know, then it might not be.
A young woman called me ten years ago, she was a former student.
She had a couple of guys who were interested in marrying her and
asked what she should do. Well, answering that question is a fool’s
game. I asked what about this guy, what about that one. Then I told
her: the very fact that you’re asking this question suggests to me
that you aren’t sure of the answer, and if you aren’t sure, then you
probably shouldn’t. I think this confirmed what she felt and she
ended up not marrying either of them.
Shakespeare Sonnet 116 says, “Love is not love, Which alters when
it alteration finds, Or bends with the remover to remove: O no! it is
an ever-fixed mark.” This makes love a forever kind of thing and
when we’re 22 or 30, we don’t know anything about being 50 or 60.
I don’t know how I’m going to be like and I don’t know how you’re
going to be like 50 and 60, so whatever comes, you have to work
through it and with it. And in many ways, my wife has betrayed
me horribly—when we married, she had very dark hair, now she
has white hair! Sometimes, the changes are inevitable, sometimes
people change, they can be nicer or meaner—we don’t know how the
changes are going to be and how they’re going to play out, so you’ve
got to be willing to confront these things and deal with them.
You never know your lovers. Shakespeare says that we can tell
how tall they are and what they look like, but one never knows the
other person completely. Indeed, that person doesn’t know himself
or herself completely just as we don’t fully know ourselves. This
means we are constantly surprised, appreciative, and horrified by
our partners and have to deal with these feelings.
What about changing yourself for the person you love? Is it a
good thing or should you never change yourself for somebody
else?
You know, it always worried me! Ann Landers, who wrote the
Lonely Hearts column, would get this letter a lot, “I’ve dated my
boyfriend for four years, and he owes me a lot of money and he
beats me, but I think if we got married, I could really change him”
and Ann Landers always said: if you want to change your lover,
you don’t really like your lover—you want to kill your lover and
reconstruct him in your own image. So, you have to very careful
when you talk about changing your lover.
You can change yourself, you have autonomy over that, and
sometimes when you change yourself, it affects your lover, you
know: “I liked you the way you were!” That’s the problem with
any relationship, there are changes in life, and people change, and
if the relationship is going to work, the nature of the loving has to
grow and change with the changes of the lovers.
What about listing out characteristics and criteria you want
that significant other to have? Is it good to have an idea of what
you’re looking for or is that making you too inflexible?
I was just very interested in finding a girl who would go out with
me! Specific criteria beyond that was always negotiable! If I called
her up Friday night and she said she would go, she was the right
february 2010 
one for Friday night! I never had much confidence that I was in the
choosing game, I just hoped somebody would choose me. I was
always very grateful.
I remember a young woman who went to school here. She was
very pretty, and the guys on campus loved her, and to this day, I’ve
had her schoolmates with their wives and two babies in arms come
by, and I can almost watch him [the old schoolmate] get a faraway
misty look in his eyes and he will ask, “have you heard from ___?”
Clearly, she was special to him then and the memory of her remains
special. This was because she said yes to any guy who asked her
for a date. Even the nerdiest guy on campus would get the next
date available, and when they went out she would make him feel
like the most special guy in the world! She would give him 100%
of her attention for the 30 minutes it might take to get a bagel! She
made everybody she was with feel like a million dollars.
I asked her about it once when she was an adult, “You still go out
with anybody who asks?” And she said yes. “Why is that?” I said.
And she responded, “My mother told me that it was very special to
be asked, and I believed that; and I’m very appreciative to all the
people who have asked.” I’ve always thought what a wonderful,
wonderful person she is who made a lot of young men feel better
about themselves.
She could have married hundreds of guys who would have asked
her in a heartbeat! Males and females need to keep that in mind: to
recognize that other people are special, that your partner whether
it be for two dates or one or for a forever relationship needs to be
recognized and acknowledged for being special —whoever the
person and whatever the relationship is. That’s just good manners,
and lovers can’t forget that. The fact that you’ve been married for a
hundred years does not free you from the obligations from turning
around and saying, “You know you look nice tonight, that’s pretty,
why don’t we..?” something like that. You have to recognize that
that person shares the universe, the planet with you.
Shouldn’t you be selective when it comes to love?
Most of us want to be exclusive and want to make a choice, but the
problem is selective for what? Do you have to be selective about
your thirty minutes trip to go and get a bagel? It’s an honor to be
asked, that was her [the former student’s] feeling, and she always
took it as if it were an honor, she felt privileged to be asked. It’s a
wonderful way to think. That’s why so many people think so fondly
and mistily of her.
Any advice on love for the readers?
Remember: I was just thankful that somebody was happy to put
up with me! If you are always thankful that somebody’s putting up
with you, you tend to be respectful of them and thankful for them,
which I think helps the relationship. My goodness, she is willing to
put up with me, she must be a woman of much charity and kindness.
Be honored.
*in a growl* Never, ever, be maliciously hurtful. I think sometimes
we have to be hurtful in relationships, but you never want to be
maliciously so. There was a very popular song when I was in school,
your age, and the name of the song was, “Love hurts” and it does.
If we sit down and think of the folk we know and the number one
cause of the worst pain is relationships that have run amuck.You
can get over failing an English test, but it’s a lot harder to get over
being dumped. Sometimes separating is necessary because two
people discover that they really don’t like each other very much.
The fact that we’ve been going out does not mean that we have to
spend rest of life together. When the time comes, you never want to
do it maliciously or deliberately hurtfully. Always do it in a way that
is as gentle, generous, and kind as possible, realizing nonetheless
that you are still doing a hurtful thing. At the same time, you should
never feel obligated to sacrifice yourself to your lover.
Any additional comments, Dr. Miller?
Well, I’m just sitting there, thinking this article needs to get burned.
I’ve been making up stuff as I go! It’s all a mystery, all a wonder.
10 february 2010 news the stentorian | ncssm

School to deal with School ‘bubble’ keeps

increased budget cuts students in the dark
schools like us that
don’t charge a fee.
In my second year
here, I proposed a By Rebecca Hong the earthquake, which was just
nine-hundred and as strong and could have been
fifty dollar fee It is often said that students nearly as destructive.
– but what I really here live in a bubble, so caught Televised news—and
wanted was state up in the work and drama television in general—is not
funding.” of 24/7 campus living that popular among students.
Boarman got they hardly take notice when When the hall TV is on, “[it] is
his wish – and a something happens in the usually on MTV or VH1,” Qi
law that prohibits world outside. The school does said, and most students don’t
the school from not receive newspapers, most have time to watch TV anyway.
enacting a fee students don’t have radios, “Nobody takes the effort to
unless the state and when they have free watch the news,” Smith said.
legislature time, students would rather Some halls may also be
approves. Many catch up on sleep than current finding it difficult to watch
people might not events. It is partially true that news on TV due to bad
even apply for fear students here are somewhat reception. Junior Kerry Dutra,
they cannot afford oblivious to world events, but who usually follows the news at
a fee. Boarman that does not tell the whole home, explained why keeping
says he doesn’t story. Students clearly care up with local news is difficult
recommend a fee, about world issues, organizing on Third Beall. “We don’t get
afraid it “would food drives, book drives, channel eleven or five on hall,”
cause a great deal and most recently a “text-a- she said. “I used to read the
of ill-will.” thon” to support victims of newspaper, but now I don’t
With the budget in such bad shape recently, many students don’t see why we Students and the Haitian earthquake to help want to pay to subscribe to an
keep spending money on things that seem to be useless - like repainting walls parents are an people around the world. The online paper, and I don’t have
when students graffiti them or renovating buildings when we could be funding active part of question is: how—and when— the time to watch television.”
student activities. In reality, funds from three major categories (shown above) this community, are students getting their news? Though it may seem given
are not fungible and must be used as listed. • Graphic by Alex Lew and they can Some students rely on that students do not have the
help to save the their parents and friends for time to worry about news, do
By Avani Uppalapati Seventy-eight percent of budget. Students can turn important world news. When instructors also have a hard
the operating budget is used for lights off when not in use, let asked how she learned of time staying up to date? The
The NCSSM budget is salaries and benefits. The other maintenance know when the the disaster in Haiti, senior census was mixed, but all
divided into three main parts: twenty-two affects student life air conditioning is broken, Nina Qi said, “My dad had to instructors agreed that even if
the operating budget, repair and academia. The 16.5% and practice other basic tell me.” Others, like junior they didn’t get news while at
and renovating budget, and the budget cut reduced funds for conservation principles. Ivana Mbullah, learned from work, they were well-informed
capital involvement budget. books and computers. Boarman encourages friends’ updates on the social by the time they got home. Julie
Funds from one of these Gerald Boarman, the parents to donate to the school networking site Facebook. Graves, math instructor, said,
budgets cannot be transferred school’s chancellor, says by saying “Donating to the “My friend posted [news about “While I’m at school I don’t
into another section. For that there will be another hall is nice, but donating to Haiti] as a Facebook status, get news. I get news in the car
example, the school will five percent cut for the next the school goes into a fund and now I see it all over the or at home.” When asked how
continue to renovate because year, but the school won’t governed by the board.” That internet,” Mbullah said. students should stay updated,
the money available in that be able to handle more than fund helps students go to Yahoo and other news Graves replied, “If you want,
category is not transferable that. If a teacher retires or special events and activities. aggregation websites are you can get news online.”
to the operating or capital leaves after that cut, then the Boarman is setting up an also popular among students. Perhaps the online solution
involvement budget nor can it position will be eliminated advisory budget committee Senior Sangjin Smith, who is the most convenient for
be saved for the next year. and the responsibilities will to carry on after he leaves. uses a Yahoo email account, everyone in the NCSSM
The operating budget is be distributed to others in the It will include faculty, staff, said that he immediately saw community. Dr. Les Fleming,
further divided into academic, department. and students. These people Haiti-related headlines while physics instructor, said “I get
administrative, student life, But if it is a singleton will understand the cuts and checking his mail. Junior news [at school] from RSS
library, and plant operation position, like teaching how to manage them. He Kevin Huang said that he feeds to make sure the world is
sections. It affects people, German, a replacement will hopes to create transparency, also relies on Yahoo after he still there.” RSS feeds stream
supplies and dorm life. Funds be made. This adheres to which allows people to help. “stopped watching TV” at breaking headlines on any
within the divisions of the Boarman’s motto to “cut “Inclusion is important” he school. website or even on the desktop
operation budget can be things, not people.” He says says. However, students rarely of your computer as a news
redistributed. “Last year was a miracle The budget is more give online headlines more icon.
The repair and renovating budget. Everybody still has complicated than most may than a cursory glance. Though Will NCSSM students
budget is used to help improve jobs, we have what we need.” have thought, but everyone almost all students surveyed ever break out of the bubble?
the function of the school. That When asked if there is a can help The North Carolina had heard about the earthquake Unless world news becomes
budget helps with maintenance possibility of a fee to attend School of Science and Math in Haiti, only a few knew more accessible to students
issues such as creating new the school in the future, he stay afloat in these tough about the January 12, 2010 (and less of a hassle to read),
sidewalks, painting, having air replied “We’re one of the two economic times. aftershock about a week after the answer is probably no.
conditioning and fixing roofs.
The capital improvement
budget is used to create new
buildings. Since the funds
Four Finalists Named for Conrad Awards
are non-transferable, if there By Seon Kang mittee selected Team Sun protein, weight, carbohydrate, their efforts will be at the sum-
were seven million dollars in Sailors and Team Tenorios as and taste requirements while mit itself where teams will
the budget for a new Reynolds On April 8, 2010, four finalists in the aerospace ex- staying within the sugar and present their concepts to a
building, that money, for teams from the North Carolina ploration category, Team Orca fat limits.” panel of experts. At the sum-
example, could not be used for School of Science and Math as a finalist in the renewable Stone, who is currently en- mit, they will also be attending
new textbooks. will head to California for the energy category, and Team rolled in Research in Chem- workshops with other finalists
Last year, there were 18.5 Innovation Summit as Conrad Rocket as a finalist in the space istry said, “It started off as an and listening to presentations
million dollars in the operating Innovation National finalists. nutrition category. introduction to the research on innovation, entrepreneur-
budget. Of that, 6.5% was The Conrad Innovation Senior Nikita Khlystov is experience. We did a good job ship, and cutting edge science.
cut, causing the school to cut Awards encourage students to the team leader of the Sun Sail- and hopefully we’ll be able But the teams still have one
some textbooks, supplies, and use science, technology and ors, who designed a spacecraft to develop it into something obstacle left before the sum-
vacant positions. However, entrepreneurship in creating powered by solar winds. Their more.” mit - they have to raise funds
this budget cut was offset by products that can be introduced design is based on a parallel As finalists, they have the to cover the travel expenses
the enrollment growth funds. into the marketplace. Students set of panels connected by so- opportunity to win grants involved in attending the In-
In addition to newly-placed were challenged to develop lenoid coils that create a mag- based on their success at the novation Summit. The Con-
budget cuts, Governor Purdue products in the areas of green netic field to help navigate the Innovation Summit. They rad Foundation will match the
held back another five percent schools, aerospace explora- spacecraft. must create team videos, make funds raised by the teams, but
to put in a fund to help the tion, renewable energy, and Junior Samuel Stone of logos, and post on their team the costs are still substantial.
school in crises. Therefore the space nutrition. Team Rocket talked about the blogs to help the voting public The four teams from Sci-
total budget cut was 11.5%. The four NCSSM teams judging criteria of the Space grasp an understanding of their ence & Math will be compet-
Another budget cut of five were among twenty five final- Nutrition Category, “We went projects. From March 26 until ing in California on April 8,
percent increased the school’s ist teams selected out of a sev- through various food filling April 12, the public can vote 2010 in each of their respective
total budget cut to 16.5% this enty two team applicant pool. and topping ideas… we had to on projects. categories.
year. The Conrad Selection Com- determine how best to meet the The culmination of all of
 the stentorian | ncssm
School to attempt world record: an inside look
Continued from front page
out how they recorded and
documented all of that, and they
sent me PDFs of their excel
spreadsheets. So, they were
very, very helpful and offered
any help they could get us until
we actually attempted.”
More than thirty NCSSM
students are currently active
in organizing the food drive
through committees. There
are five committees: civic
organizations (Lions Club,
YMCA, community service-
oriented organizations), K-12
schools within the Triangle
Area, colleges, businesses, and
religious organizations. These
students do everything from
working with NCSSM alumni
at the different local colleges
to going out and talking to
different businesses to put up
flyers and ask for raffle and
food donations. Although
spaces on the committees are
filled, Lewis encouraged all
to help out in any way: “Join
a Facebook group and invite
all of your friends! Come to
a volunteer meeting because
there are plenty of opportunities
to volunteer in shifts on the
day of the food drive, and any
volunteer will get one of our
Together We Can NCSSM
World Record shirt free of
charge.”
Because Lewis is overseeing
the entire world record
attempt, she turned over the
committees to adult sponsors
to manage: “It’s kind of up to
them [the adult sponsors] how
frequently they’re meeting and
how they’re organizing their
committee. So I’m kind of
hands off [with committees]—
answering questions, but I have
other things on my plate.”
What Lewis does do day-to-
day is answer e-mail messages
from the Durham Herald-Sun
newspaper, which has already
run four articles on the NCSSM
Boarman steps down after 10 years
Continued from front page
Boarman proposed the
tuition grant to Senator Kay
Hagan because “the [students]
deserve a reward.” He based
his idea on the Georgia’s
Helping Outstanding Students
Educationally scholarship. The
scholarship is for students who
attend in-state universities and
keep grades above a certain
level. Since its inception, fewer
students have gone out of state
for college.
However, because future
classes will no longer receive
When Boarman first arrived at the school, this graffiti-covered power plant stood where the
swingset now does. It was surrounded by barbed wire.
world record attempt, respond
to e-mail messages on the
NCSSMFoodDrive@gmail.
com account, return phone
calls, and contact different
corporations to help sponsor
the food drive bills.
Lewis has already been
contacted by several food
distributers: Cisco Foods and
the food provider of the PFM,
which will make large food
donations to the food drive
on the day of the event and
supply snacks and beverages
for the volunteers during the
event. Lewis remarks, “It’s
really exciting how the event is
snowballing, how more people
are finding out about it, and
how we’re getting the support
of different communities and
organizations.
Lewis and her taskforce of
students are not alone in their
work for the food drive. Ryan
Faircloth of Developmental
Office helped to write the
Guinness World Record
attempt proposal and has
been working with Lewis in
contacting various corporations
for donations. Therese Taxis
has been reaching out to
alumni and parents to get
involved. Lauren Everhart,
Director of Communications,
has been working on press
releases, created and is helping
to maintain the website, and
worked with the Durham Crop
Walk to schedule Durham Fight
Hungers weekend as the same
weekend as the food drive.
NCSSM Asiafest is also on
the same day as the record-
attempting food drive. The
Asian Cultures Club (ACC)
Officers immediately jumped to
help the cause by hosting a VIP
Seating Challenge. Groups of
4-5 individuals, both students
and faculty, are expected to
collect cans and other non-
perishable food items as
teams, and the nine groups that
the tuition grant, he believes
that the school should pursue
more articulation agreements
in the future.
Boarman’s term as
chancellor has had its share of
controversy. When construction
began on the NCSSM soccer
field, homeowners in the
surrounding neighborhoods
were worried that the light from
the field would be disturbing to
local residents. Then in 2005,
the administration informed
faculty council president and
math teacher Carol O’Dell
news
collect the most pounds of
food will be recognized during
the performance and given the
first three center rows in the
auditorium for the performance.
A special prize would be
additionally rewarded for top
collecting team.
Rebecca Pham, ACC Officer
and NCSSM Food Drive
Business Committee member,
explained, “The [Asia]fest
celebrates the diversity of
Asian ethnic groups and is one
of the largest annual events
at NCSSM. I immediately
realized this would be a great
opportunity to contribute to
the world record attempt.
AsiaFest this year promises
to be a great show as always;
seats fill up fast and what better
way to guarantee a spot for the
best seat in the house?” Asian
Junior Marlee Sloan of residential hall 1E2E2D designed the logo for the NCSSM Food Drive.
Cultures Club is also asking
for at least a one-can donation
in exchange for experiencing
an Asian cuisine buffet before
the show. Pham said, “One can
per person is not a big request
and the effort can go a long
way.”
The NCSSM World Record
taskforce is working to
encourage as many individuals
to donate as possible. As
that her contract would not be
renewed. O’Dell claimed that
the school’s academics were
declining and later told media
such as NBC 17 that she was
pressured to give A’s and B’s.
Recently, Boarman has
come under fire from local
newspapers that reported
that his salary increased from
$185,028 in 2004 to $245,000
in 2009. Boarman responded
to that, “It’s kind of interesting,
because I don’t control my
salary. The Board of Trustees
actually controls my salary.
incentive, every person who
donates on March 20 will
receive a raffle ticket and
another raffle ticket for every
ten pounds donated. These
numerous raffle prizes include
autographed items by television
stars Daneel Harris of One
Tree Hill and Jensen Ackles of
Supernatural, NCAA National
Basketball Champion Eric
Montross, and Anoop Desai of
American Idol. There will be
one raffle for the general public
and one Science and Math-only
raffle. There will also be prizes
for the male and female hall
that collect the most pounds
of food and for the individuals
that collect the most pounds of
food.
Lewis reminded not to
forget the main cause of the
food drive: “The thing I’m
trying to keep in mind is not
breaking the world record but
bringing as much as we can
to the food bank. If we break
it, that’s great, but if not, then
it’s fine.” Nearly half a million
people are at risk of hunger
in the 34 counties that make
up Central and Eastern North
Carolina, and all food raised
from the world record attempt
would go directly to the food
I’ve turned down raises twice
because we didn’t have the
budget.”
As far as the future of
NCSSM is concerned, Boarman
was instrumental in planning
the Discovery Center, which
he hopes will provide great
opportunities for students. He
believes it will be the hub of
student-oriented activity. It
will have a brand new library,
student center, café, outdoor
movie theater, and student
store.
Student enrollment is
expected to increase to
between nine hundred and nine
hundred-and-fifty when the
new center is built. Boarman
hopes the school will offer
more online courses and
that instruction will be more
blended; that is, students will
study independently more. He
sees our campus extending to
all of the Triangle, and not just
the Durham community.
Looking back, the school
provided him with many
memorable experiences. In
2001, he remembers that the
school had its first Siemens’
winner. Boarman is excited
february 2010 11
bank for Central and Eastern
North Carolina.
As Miniterm and trimester
break approaches, the NCSSM
World Record taskforce will
be encouraging students to
bring back food. A virtual food
bank is also available on www.
ncssm.edu/fooddrive. When
somebody visits the virtual
food bank link and enters his
debit or credit card, the food
bank will provide eight pounds
of food for every one dollar
spent. This method promises
non-perishable food at cheaper
prices that can be generally
found in grocery stores. Lewis
urged, “Every little bit helps—
one more person participating
to help our cause, one more
person’s contributions to help
reach goal of beating world
record. When I think of it,
if each person can bring one
paper grocery bag full [of
non-perishable food] from the
grocery store, if you fill that
[bag] up—that’s approximately
25-30 pounds of food you can
bring, and that’s just in one
bag.”
For more information on
the NCSSM Food Drive, visit
its website at www.ncssm.edu/
fooddrive.
that the number of applications
to this school has more than
doubled since the beginning of
his time here.
Boarman says he is glad
to see students having more
of a voice, and administration
listening more. All of the
cultural fests, social events
such as Mr. Unicorn pageant,
and seeing students run
to the Butterfly House at
prom have been part of his
favorite experiences. He likes
conversing with students in the
cafeteria as well.
He has enjoyed seeing
students at reunions and
finding out where students go
after here. Boarman admitted,
“I’m not sure that I’ll ever find
a school like this again.”
He hopes that whoever the
University Board of Trustees
finds to replace him, that
person is student-centric.
“My philosophy is students
first. Whatever the program
is or the mission is, or what
you want, is this best for the
students? If it is, fine. If it
isn’t, we need to make sure,
and ensure, it becomes the best
program for students.”
12 february 2010
Swimmers Set School Record, Student-led fencing
Have Successful Season team succeeds
By Vlad Krokhmal
This year’s swim team has
accomplished unprecedented
achievements. Overall the
men’s team achieved a 2nd
place in the conference,
trailing just barely behind
Carboro. The women’s team
got 3rd place, and was only 5
points short of the second
place spot. Aside from the
impressive performance
during the regular season,
many of the swimmers
have qualified for the
NCHSAA 1A/2A Eastern
Swimming & Diving State
Meet.
These results, however,
were not achieved without
extraordinary hard work.
Junior Kyle Delehanty
said, “It’s quite the
commitment, especially
balancing school work
with practices.”
The importance of balance
holds especially true for
swimming. In the middle of
the season the swim team had
trouble with their original
pool where they practiced.
Due to renovations, the team
had to relocate to the Campus
Hills pool. Consequently, the
practice time switched from
right after school to 7:30 P.M.
– and the swim team only gets
back to school just before the
Women Advance to Basketball State
Playoffs, Men’s Team Improves
By Gary Li
Women’s Basketball
Women’s basketball has
progressively become one
of the hotspots of NCSSM
students’ attention. Two factors by many
might be the cause of such
positive growth, one being the
3 year coach David Ritchie,
whose faith and confidence in
his team has had nothing but
a positive influence. “This
year’s team is the first in many, our goals set earlier in the year
many years to have a winning – (we) qualified for states!”
record in the conference and Ritchie certainly praised the
they should be recognized for girls for their performances
that,” said Ritchie. The team this school year in memorable
Senior Aisha Venugopal tries to
outmaneuver a defender.
•Photo courtesy of Britt Brown
start of Happy Half at 10 P.M.
Although some might
attribute the success of the swim
team to the fact that Cardinal
Gibbons is now competing
in a different conference,
there is more than just one
contributing factor. This year,
juniors Tony Fang, Kyle
Finn, Garrick Gan and Nick
The swim team poses for a post-meet photo. • Photo courtesy of
Ben Gellman
Woodcock broke the school’s
record for the 200 freestyle
relay, thus demonstrating the
team’s dedication and ability.
Senior Kirby Varnadoe-
Russ was named the 2010
1A/2A Women’s Conference
Swimmer of the Year, thus
showing the team as strong
competition toward the other
conference teams.
currently has an 11-10 record
overall and a 7-6 record in the
conference.
Another reason which has
greatly contributed to the overall
success of the team is the hard
work and determination shown
seniors and juniors
on the women’s basketball
team. According to junior
player Molly Kuo, “We are
very dedicated and are aiming
for a winning season. We have
already accomplished one of
games against Raleigh Charter
and South Granville,
“Both games the girls
came from behind
and showed amazing
intensity, resolve,
and togetherness.”
The future of
women’s basketball
at NCSSM looks
good. As Ritchie
put it, if the team
continues to exhibit
a strong sense of
motivation and
determination, next
year’s season should
be very exciting.
That means in the
upcoming years,
women’s basketball
will be competing
with many of the popular
sports at Science & Math,
sports
Senior Tony Botros said
that “having done cross
country, track, soccer and
even some football, I believe
that swimming is the most
demanding sport, both
physically and mentally.”
No doubt a part of the
team’s success comes from
the coaches, Darcie Smith,
Michael Newbauer, and Lex
Alvord. Although the coaching
team was newly assembled
last year, it has a wealth of
combined swimming and
coaching knowledge. With a
successful season completed,
and bright possibilities in
the State Meet, the NCSSM
swim team has proven its
excellence.
if it has not already been
doing so. In fact, with such
confidence and diligence, it’s
hard not to feed off the energy
of the players.
Kuo specifically mentioned
that, “Having a crowd really
helps us in the game.” The
increasing popularity and skill
of the women’s team has not
gone unnoticed by students
either. Senior Mohammad
Kodaimati reflected on one
of their games, “Their guard
game has improved a lot, and
they seem to be much better
contenders than they did
last year.” Certainly, as time
progresses it soon may not be
a question of whether the team
can best past performances, but
whether the team can achieve
state titles.
Men’s Basketball
“…I feel like this year
we’re a closer team and our
record is definitely better than
last year’s record,” said senior
player Joshua Quinnett about
the current team. “We really
appreciate everyone coming
out to our games and supporting
us.” His positive outlook is not
to go unaccounted for. Last
year, the team’s record was 2-
20.
“We did beat Raleigh
Charter, who has a pretty good
team,” said Ying-Ao Zhang,
a captain of the Unicorn
By Ben Gellman
Sword fighting is a staple
of adventure novels like The
Count of Monte Cristo or
The Mask of Zorro. Exciting
scenes involving battles to the
death can be found throughout
these works.
To those in the NCSSM
Fencing Club though, sword
fighting is something done
after school for fun and for the
thrill of competition.
Fencing is not a varsity
sport at Science and Math, but
those who compete with the
club team are dedicated to the
art of fencing.
“The team is very young;
hardly anyone had fenced
before this year,” said team
captain Peter McNeary.
The inexperience of the
team has not stopped it from
doing well this year, though.
The team placed third at a
tournament hosted by Bishop
McGuinness High School in
Kernersville, North Carolina,
in early January and placed
fourth at a tournament hosted
by the Cape Fear Fencing Club
in Wilmington on January
23rd.
McNeary has been very
impressed by how well his
young team has done this
basketball team, “and we beat
Trinity School at the beginning
of the year.” Trinity School
currently holds an impressive
record of 12-4.
Many have their doubts
about the team. However it
cannot be overlooked that the
team does have many gifted
players such as Zhang and
junior Travis Morton, just
to name a few. As it is well
implied, a team sport requires
a lot of talent from many, if not
all, of its players, and a good
coach to lead it. Without such
qualities, it is difficult to be
successful.
The outlooks of the team
may not look the best, and
certainly many may have
Juniors Jordan Firn, Andrew McDonald, and Jake
Emerson stop for a huddle. •Photo courtesy of Britt Brown
the stentorian | ncssm
year. “Everyone has been very
committed and gotten very
excited. We’ve done well, so
it’s paid off,” he said.
There are no more fencing
competitions this year, but
Team NCSSM continues
to practice and to improve.
McNeary is confident that
fencing will do well next year.
McNeary is the only senior
on the seven person team,
and those on the team show
interest in continuing the club
next year.
“I’m really very pleased
with how they’re doing,” he
said of his young team. He
hopes that the club can gain
attention going into the next
school year.
McNeary said he would like
to see fencing become a varsity
sport, which would entitle it to
many benefits, including the
ability to practice in the PEC
on a regular basis or to host a
tournament on campus.
McNeary encouraged
anyone who is interested in
swordplay to join the club.
He talked about all the things
he likes about fencing in
our interview, ending with
“Fencing is just one of those
sports that you know you’re
going to love.”
ambiguous feelings about the
upcoming seasons. However,
the uncertainty of the basketball
team’s future success is not to
be confused with indifferent
feelings. Yet, the team still has
three or four games left to play,
which might be a big factor in
rousing not only team morale
but also student support as
well. If the team can rally and
pull off these last few games,
they will be able to end the
season on a high note.
It comes as no surprise
that despite the 4-15 record
of NCSSM’s men’s basketball
team, the Unis still have
enough school spirit to surge
forward and face the roar of
enemy crowds.
 the stentorian | ncssm
I Heart
You
By Kirby Varnadoe-Russ
Not only is February home
to one of the biggest chocolate
and teddy bear-buying days
of the year, but it is also an
important month in health,
known as National Heart
Awareness Month.
Heart disease is the number
one killer of Americans, and
so it is important to stay fit
and heart-healthy throughout
February and the rest of your
life.
I Heart the Gym
One of the ways to keep the
heart healthy is to exercise,
regularly. How should we
Science & Mathers do that?
By going to the lovely PEC, of
course.
The gym is loaded with
gym equipment, a dance/yoga
studio, racquetball courts,
basketball courts, and free
weights. It may not be up to
Ritz Carlton standards, but it is
an effective gym all the same.
“It’s not the biggest thing
around, but there are definitely
a lot of different exercise
programs that can be done with
our facilities,” Coach Gonyeau
said.
Gonyeau suggested that
students go online to get ideas
for workouts, then over time
build a workout routine more
suited for them as individuals.
Of course, most students know
we have a gym but don’t take
advantage of it.
“Well, the thing is, a lot of
students don’t make the time to
come in. They all try to come
in after school and then see
that it’s busy and then give up.
What they should do is make
time during the day… come
in for 30 or 40 minutes during
some free time,” Gonyeau
said.
But what about those who
are not athletically inclined?
Those who might cringe at
the thought of sweating, who
huff and puff after even a light
jog? They must realize that
it is never too late to start.
Exercising does not have to
be a grueling and unpleasant
activity. As Cynthia Kuhn, the
most recent speaker for senior
student life, said, “even going
for a walk will do, just as long
as you do something.”
The important thing is to
get active. Daily physical
activity not only promotes
heart health, but also promotes
neuron growth which aids
brain activity and makes you
smarter.
So there are benefits all
around – not only will you
have a svelte physique after
you exercise, but you’ll be ten
times as smart.
I Heart Food
Now, we all know that the
PFM is probably as good for
your heart as a fried bologna
sandwich, but what most
students don’t know are the
healthy options that the PFM
offers.
Now, I know that it is
difficult to eat healthily in the
PFM for reasons other than
availability of health foods,
but if students make an effort
to avoid the unhealthy food
at least 3 or 4 times a week,
think of how much healthier
everyone will be.
The first healthy option in
the PFM is the salad bar. The
salad bar is always complete
with salad, toppings, and most
importantly, lots of vegetables
and fruit to munch on. It may
not be the ripest of the crop,
but it’s much better than not
getting your plants in at all.
The PFM also offers a wide
variety of vegetarian items,
which are often more healthy
than the main entrée because
they contain, well, vegetables.
Getting Raisin Bran instead
of Fruit Loops will help you
avoid that mid-morning sugar
crash, and at the grill they have
veggie burgers, which actually
taste pretty good.
Not willing to give up your
daily hamburger or pepperoni
pizza? Instead of cutting out
all unhealthy foods, try to
gradually work health foods
into your diet.
Researchers say it takes 30
days to break a habit, so if you
work a little bit of healthiness
into your meals every day, by
the end of February, you’ll
be a lean, mean, green-eating
machine.
I Heart My Heart
So whether you decide to
treat your heart to something
special this Valentine’s Day by
grabbing a bite of something
deliciously healthy, or decide
to make it work for your love
by breaking the sweat you
never thought you had, be
heart conscious this February.
Remember that if you take care
of your heart, it will always
take care of you.
Cheerleaders are now allowed
to stunt and try more daring
feats. •Photo courtesy of Britt
Brown
sports
Winter Track team to
compete at state meet
By Gary Li
The winter track team
has improved significantly
this season, so I decided to
dig deeper into the sport and
contact Coach Nick Lehman,
who is not only a Student Life
Instructor, but also a teacher of
the Student Life course, and
a coach of the indoor track
team.
How many years have you
been coaching track and do
you plan on continuing to
coach track?
This is my 5th year coaching
track at NCSSM, 4th as head
coach.  I will continue to coach
track as long as I am here.
Is there any difference
between winter and spring
track?
The purpose of the winter
track season is to prepare for
the spring track season.  The
focus is on training, not on
competition.  Athletes who
participate in winter track will
gain a strong foundation of
training and be able to start the
spring season already in great
shape.  developing
The track team is much
smaller in the winter because
we take only the most focused
and dedicated athletes.  group will do long, easy runs
Competition is rare.  Most of
our athletes will compete only
once or twice over the course
of the winter.   winter, throwing nearly two
When we do compete, the
events are different than the
Wrestling Small, but Serious
By Vlad Krokhmal
NCSSM wrestling this year
has certainly become a more
serious endeavor. Wrestling
is an individual sport which
requires a sizable amount of
people of all weight classes.
This year’s team has been
suffering from a variety of
setbacks, especially numerous
injuries and academic and
athletic conflicts of team
members. Of course wrestling
is a difficult physical challenge,
one that not many can devote
themselves to amid academics
and the little free time that is
left.
One team member, Branson
Kinsey, however, notes that he
does wrestling because “It is
a tough sport, very physically
Cheerleading Renewed
By Vlad Krokhmal
The renewed and reener-
gized Unicorn Spirit is, in part,
due to NCSSM’s reinvented
Cheerleading team.
With the new coach, Katy
Greene, the team has been
able to soar to new heights,
literally.
The team now has an ar-
senal of 4 types of stunts,
something the team could not
february 2010 13
standard spring track events.  the team this year?
For example, there is no 100, This is the most dedicated
200, 400, or 800 (meter race).  winter track squad we have
Instead, they run the 55, 300, had during my time here.  I
500, and 1000.  Officially, it’s have never had so many people
called “indoor track,” but that’s training so consistently over
a bit of a misnomer since it is the winter.  All of our seniors
almost never actually indoors.   are noticeably improved from
The only actual indoor last year and we have some
track in this area is at UNC- promising juniors as well. 
Chapel Hill.  They host the Last year and the year
State Championship each before, we only had two
February and one or two athletes qualify for the state
other meets during the season.  meet.  This year, we have
Other than that, everything is eight.   Our state meet is
done outside.  combined 1A/2A/3A, so when
our athletes qualify, it really
How many members are means they are competitive at
currently on the track team? the 3A level. 
Currently, we have 19 students
participating.  Is there anything else that
you would like to add about
What is a typical training the track team this year?
day of winter track? The state championship will
We have three training groups be held Saturday, February 13
– sprints, distance, and throws.  at UNC-Chapel Hill.  Here’s
Each group has a separate who we have competing:
training plan, and there is Women’s 500: Courtney
also some individual variation Applewhite, Colleen McGuire
within each group, so there Women’s 3200: Frances
is not really one “typical” Dougherty, Callie Turlington
training day.  Women’s 4x800 Relay:
The throwers have mainly Ashley Baker, Frances Dough-
been in the weight room erty, Stefanie Schwemlein,
strength and Callie Turlington
power.  The sprinters generally Women’s Shot Put: Chelsea
alternate weight room days and Lineberger
running days.  The distance Men’s Shot Put: Antonio
Kornegay
most days, supplemented with It should also be noted that
some strength training and Antonio reset his own school
speed work.  record at his first meet this
Compared to last feet further than he did last
year’s team, how is spring.
year for the
wrestling team
was against
Granville
central.
This match
showed that the
team could pull
through even
against some
of the bigger
Junior Chance Smith watches his opponent. challenges,
•Photo courtesy of Britt Brown
being able to
field every
demanding, and I am motivated team member and squeezing
by this challenge to go on”. a victory. And even if the
Even with a small team, team size has not grown, the
NCSSM has been able to do members of the team have
better than last year, currently certainly improved, winning
holding a 2-4 conference their matches through quality,
record. A key match this not quantity.
do last year, and even new levels this year, placing 9th in
Uni-colored pom-poms. The NCHSAA competition and
NCSSM cheerleading team is even getting a bid to Nationals,
split into two parts. which NCSSM unfortunately
There is an 11 person com- could not afford.
petitive cheerleading team and With such an invigorat-
a 25 person (including the 11 ed team, Arjee Restar notes
who do competitive cheerlead- “Cheerleading has given me
ing) cheerleading squad which confidence, as the only male
pumps up NCSSMers during cheerleader, to pursue what
Basketball games. makes me happy without fear;
The competitive cheerlead- cheerleading has become a part
ing team has reached new of my life.”
14 february 2010
opinion the stentorian | ncssm

Prince Charming: Students Respond to

A Thing of the Past?
By Maili lim
The woman of today is
nothing like her grandmother.
No. The recent trend ob-
served in today’s youth leads
psychologists to believe we are
undergoing yet another sexual
revolution not seen since the
1960s. The problem is not that
we have entered an era where
the behavior of teenagers on
the dating scene is troubling;
rather, it is that we have en-
tered an era where the idea of
courtship and dating is becom-
ing obsolete altogether.
So what is the rationale
behind some 70-80% of col-
lege students on campus par-
ticipating in the exchange of
sexual favors before even the
exchange of names (The Week,
“Love in the Time of Hook-
ing Up”)? Granted, times have
changed over the past century;
the portrait our society paints
of the “acceptable” is indeed a
far cry from that of our grand-
mothers’ generation. But as
uninhibited sexual activity be-
gins to replace relationships,
we neglect to see how the situ-
ational power of today’s young
women drops substantially.
From an evolutionary
standpoint, this current trend
in behavior does not piece
together logically at all. It is
widely accepted among biolo-
gists that females, by nature,
are pickier than males when it
comes down to the selection of
a partner.
According to Psychology
Today article “Sexual Libera-
tion: Whose Sexuality is Liber-
ated, Men’s or Women’s?”, the
female’s significant investment
and energy expense in the off-
spring as opposed to that of the
male leads to the inevitable
differences in sexual motiva-
tion between the genders. In
theory, the judicious nature of
females pushes males to com-
pete against each other for this
womanly “resource”.
Scientifically, women and
men have different needs; this
discrepancy is bound to mani-
fest in behavioral differences.
The male’s eagerness to mate
is universal; in every coun-
try of the world, men beat out
women with their interest in
non-committal relationships
(Psychology Today).
While there are still wom-
en who claim to be interested
girl in a Nicholas Sparks fairy-
tale? Still, numerous women
proudly assert their mascu-
line insensibility to the issue,
claiming they can play the
same game of “no-strings-at-
tached” as men do.
But between men and wom-
en, whose basic psychologi-
cal needs are truly being met?
A survey conducted in 2007
found that men are three times
likelier than women to feel sat-
isfied with a one-night-stand:
women are twice as likely to
regret the decision. According
to The Week, this psychologi-
cal phenomenon becomes even
more prevalent on college
campuses. With the increasing
number of sexually available
women (some 100 females
for every 75 males on college
campuses), women continue
to give themselves away un-
der “high supply, low demand”
circumstances (Psychology To-
day). This leaves women with
no choice but to behave more
like men in order to keep up in
the romantic race.
In the end, women lose far
more than just virginity: re-
spect is frequently lost in the
process. In other words, once
Prince Charming realizes that
he doesn’t need to be a Prince
in order to get what he wants,
why should he still act like
one? In spite of this loss, rec-
reational sexual activity is still
argued as a means for power
and control. But in all actual-
ity, women have relinquished
much of their power in being
able to harness a secure emo-
tional commitment.
And what happens when the
evening is over? While young
women today are indeed expe-
riencing a “sexual liberation”
from previous decades, it may
not be all that it’s cracked up
to be. “You have contact with
many, many more people, but
each of those relationships
takes up a little bit less of your
life,” one 25-year-old woman
living in New York City con-
fessed to The Week. “That
fragmentation creates a lot of
loneliness.”
With the tables turned, we
begin to wonder if this isn’t
a sexual revolution for men
after all. So what happens, la-
dies, when we give ourselves
over too easily? Where are our
knights in shining armor?
Internet Cut-off
By Kexin Yin
In today’s society, it is be-
coming harder and harder for
teens to live without the in-
ternet because it is the place
where they go to download
music, to find information, to
play video games, to watch
movies, and to keep in touch
with friends.
As students of North
Carolina School of Science
and Math, our dependence
on the internet is even more
greater due to the fact that it
is the main source used by the
school faculty to provide vital
information to all students; it
is the medium used to find and
turn in homework and to keep
from going insane during win-
ter when sundown is at 5PM.
Although the standard 1
A.M. internet-cutoff was not
implemented at the very be-
ginning of the year, due to
parental concerns, the admin-
istration began cutting internet
off at 1 A.M. again. The rea-
soning is that the internet cut
off would prompt students to
finish their homework before
1 A.M. and to go to sleep ear-
lier than they would normally
have; however, many stu-
dents are not happy with this
change.
Junior Jane Ma stated, “I
get that the administration’s
intentions are good, and they
Senior Daniel Jones is just short of pulling his hair out over Moodle and NCSSM At a Glance not
working after 1am. •Photo courtesy of Dustin Burleson
simply want us to get to sleep
in a timely manner. But hon-
estly, I have a lot of work some
nights, especially with [swim]
practice and meets, and a lot
of times that work requires the
internet. I find myself going to
sleep at 2 or 3 A.M. and then
getting up at 5 A.M. to finish
internet work. I realize the
smart thing to do would be to
do all the internet work first,
but sometimes I just don’t have
enough time.”
However, many adults are
worried that if the internet is
left on until later, students are
likely to spend most of their
time on social-networking sites
such as Facebook.com, or just
procrastinating in general.
When asked how the Face-
book website affects her study-
ing habits, Brooke McKenna, a
junior, answered, “I feel like it
really depends on the people.
For me, I set goals and only al-
low myself to sign onto Face-
book when I finish a certain
amount of homework and so
on. But yes, I can see how the
site could be distracting and
take away time from school
work especially when looking
at pictures and using Facebook
chat.”
Ryan Boodee, a senior
voiced his own opinion, “I
think that Facebook, even
while a distraction, can pro-
vide a nice medium by which
you can communicate on group
projects, which I personally,
seem to be spending a great
deal of time doing.”
As for the internet cut-off,
Boodee’s take on it is that it
is a decrease in efficiency that
students have to learn to deal
with. He also believes that the
internet cut off is not helping
students finish their homework
early and go to bed. Boodee
believes “it [internet cut-off]
ensures that if students need to
work after one, they find them-
selves unnecessarily burdened
by the lack of ability to do re-
search required for classes.”
It can be concluded that
while the internet cut-off is a
good idea, it is not suited for
all of the students’ working
habits, and the belief that Face-
book hinders most students’
ability to work is simply not
true because even if Facebook
disappeared, those who have
bad self control can still find
other addictive sites on which
they could pass time.
Many students would like
their parents to rethink the in-
ternet cut-off and consider the
situation more closely because
NCSSM is not the typical high
school that parents are used to
dealing with.
Opinions? Write a letter to
stentorian@ncssm.edu

Recycle this paper!

only in casual sex, let’s look at No wonder chivalry is
this realistically. What woman dead.
wouldn’t want to be the lucky

Stentorian Staff
Editors-in-Chief: Jennifer Zhu, Alex Lew, Kirby Varnadoe-Russ
Junior Editors: Seon Kang, Nathaly Lemoine
News Editor: Avani Uppalapati
Opinions Editor: Emma Hawkins
Sports Editor: Vlad Krokhmal
Lifestyles Editor: Erica Venning, Ade Ilesanmi
Photography Editor: Dustin Burleson
Advisor: John Kirk
Thoughts? Comments? Want to write for us? Send an email to
stentorian@ncssm.edu!
 the stentorian | ncssm
Focus on grades, but Why young adults should read
keep grades off Focus Young Adult fiction
By Davis Goodnight
It can sometimes be hard
to adjust to the first C students
receive here at NCSSM. It can
take a while to realize that one
bad grade on one assignment
will not keep anyone from
graduating. But while students
eventually come to understand
this, it might be harder for
parents. The school is currently
considering requiring faculty
to maintain an up-to-date grade
book on Focus visible at all
times to students and parents.
Both students and parents
would be able to see grades
for every assignment in every
class they take.
This means that, for instance,
a student could do poorly on
a quiz and the parent could
know instantly. This removes
the interaction between parent
and child, allowing parents to
jump to conclusions before the
student has any possibility to
justify their grade.
Of course, the administration
is aware of the problems this
would cause. Parents would
be able to access course
expectations explaining the
grading policy and difficulty
of the course. A parent would
then know that a D on a piece
of homework is not as bad as a
D on a test or quiz.
Most students speak with
their parents about grades on a
regular or semi-regular basis—
at least enough for them to
NCSSM Presents: Thoroughly Modern Millie
By Erica Venning
When set next to musical
productions of the past,
Thoroughly Modern Millie
stands out. NCSSM has an
arguably impressive string
of musicals, including The
Boyfriend, Anything Goes,
and Once Upon a Mattress
in the past three years.
However, many students cast
in Thoroughly Modern Millie
will tell you that this show is
going to be the best yet.
Strikingly similar to the
“Roaring Twenties” feel of
last year’s The Boyfriend,
Thoroughly Modern Millie
embraces the quirky, flapper
styles which originated in
1920’s America. Perhaps the
main difference in the two plays
is that last year, when songs
from The Boyfriend were stuck
in your head, you did anything
you possibly could to get them
out. Now, when songs from
Thoroughly Modern Millie
(TMM) are stuck in your head,
it is probable that you will
enjoy it. In essence, TMM is
simply a better written play
in both dialogue and musical
scores.
The first thing I noticed
when I read the script was that
TMM is legitimately funny.
The cliché jokes interspersed
opinion
know the general trends of
how the student is performing
academically. Allowing
parents to unceremoniously
eyeball grades at any moment
both severs a link between
parent and child and hinders a
parent’s ability to view grades
on a large scale, focusing
instead on small pieces of a
large puzzle.
Luckily for others who
share these concerns, the
situation might not progress
to this point. Steve Warshaw,
Vice Chancellor for Academic
Programs, said that while the
capability of showing grades
to students and parents alike
exists within Focus, this is by
no means a definitive step in
the future.
Warshaw said that, for
the most part, “access to
information is good,” but he
agrees with concerns about
allowing parents to view all
grades. He says that at some
point, teachers will probably
have to display all grades
on Focus, though they will
most likely have the option to
share the grades with students,
parents, or both.
No decision has been
finalized yet, so there is still
room for change. It seems
that both parties will have
to continue voicing their
concerns in the coming months
to influence when, how, and for
whom grades will be visible
online.
in the dialogue never fall flat: I
find myself cracking up during
rehearsal every day. Also, the
jokes are easier to follow. They
flow better with the dialogue
and make sense with the plot.
In fact, the plot itself is a bit
of a big joke—not in the sense
that it’s a flop, however.
The play revolves around
the main character, Millie
Dilmount (Polly Tobias), who
moves to New York City in
order to become a true “modern
woman”. In her mind, a modern
woman should not get caught
up with petty things like love,
and so her main ambition is
to marry well. As you may
have expected, Millie is
unprepared for the insensitive
and unyielding populace of
New York.
Immediately after she
arrives, she is robbed and runs
into Jimmy Smith (Nathaniel
Swofford). Jimmy is a suave,
savvy individual who looks
down on Millie for her naiveté
and optimism, traits not found
in many New Yorkers. Without
giving away too much more
of the plot, I will tell you
that Millie longs to marry
her boss, Trevor Graydon
(Nick Sanford), gets caught
in the midst of a white slavery
ring headed by Mrs. Meers
(Ashley Teal), finds a friend in
By Tasha Samborski
At some point in time
we have all walked into a
bookstore and seen the section
completely devoted to teens.
Most of us do not think to take
a second glance and keep on
walking, as we seem to think
they are too young for us, or
are too much like our everyday
lives. The thing is, there is
a plethora of books in this
section to choose from that are
enjoyed by all age groups and
have so much to offer.
Their topics range from
high school drama, high-
strung adventures, and
cliquey romances to the many
emotional issues that so many
teens face. They also act as
portals to unknown worlds,
just as books have promised to
do for years. The characters are
commonplace – they almost
feel as if they could be your
best friend, or arch-nemesis
– it is easy to relate to them
and find some semblance to
your own life.
As someone who is quite
familiar with this genre – I
have professionally reviewed
over 300 different titles as
a book blogger – I feel that I
can say that you should all try
at least one good Young Adult
(YA) book. You will see that
the authors try extraordinarily
hard to make sure that
everything, from the clothes
that the characters wear to
Miss Dorothy Brown (Jessie
Brown), and in the end finds
love thanks to the guidance of
Muzzy Van Hossmere (Erica
Venning).
If the cuddly witticisms
found in the story line don’t
evoke some musical curiosity in
you, perhaps the choreography
or the song line-up will. Nearly
every day, Monday through
Thursday, members of the cast
are in the auditorium rehearsing
Students rehearse as the performance dates of “Thoroughly Moddern Millie” draw closer.
their facial expressions, fits in
line with our everyday lives. I
have also found that because
YA authors try so hard, their
books come out so much better.
Knowing that we young adults
are a tough bunch to impress,
YA authors bust their butts to
write a good book for teens
rather than a mediocre book for
adults, a much less selective
audience. Because of this fact,
YA books end up just being
better in regards to writing and
storyline. It’s like applying to
college - you know you will try
harder and consequently write
a better essay for Harvard,
Princeton, or Yale, than one of
those easy-to-get-into schools.
Now many people have
reservations about reading YA
books as they are too focused
on teens, or they do not want to
read about a life they already
know about, but here’s the thing
– you get to see a new person’s
life in a different light. Also, a
lot of the time, the only reason
why YA books are classified
as such is because their main
character is a teenager.
Take Megan McCafferty’s
“Jessica Darling” series,
which starts out being about a
senior in high school and all her
calamities and then proceeds
to follow her throughout her
college years. Within the books
there is gossip, juicy scandals,
and oh so much more and
all of it has been enjoyed by
countless teens and adults alike
– and the only reason that you
from 4:30-6:00 P.M. If the cast
isn’t blocking lines, they are
either in the dance studio or in
the music wing.
Thanks to Amanda Ackovitz
and dance teacher Kathy
Berberian, the choreography
in Thoroughly Modern Millie
is going to be some of the best
I’ve ever seen. I’ve witnessed
members of the ensemble, who
take part in the majority of the
numbers in the play, running
february 2010 15
would find it in the teen section
is because the main character
happens to be 17. Look at the
Twilight series. Many people,
both young and old, have
enjoyed these books and they
are classified as YA.
As you can see, YA books
are not young, they do not
represent a genre that we have
outgrown – they are simply
books about teens, meant to be
enjoyed by all, but in particular,
enjoyed by teens themselves.
Just think: you have years and
years to enjoy the thousands of
adult books that are out there,
but only a few to cherish those
that have to do with you, right
now.
Tasha Samborsk’s book
blog can be found at http://
andanotherbookread.blogspot.
com/. • Photo courtesy of Tasha
Samborski
choreography down the halls
on the way to class. If dance
isn’t quite your cup of tea, then
you certainly will enjoy the
songs. With fairly complicated
harmonies and challenging
notes to hit, the songs are
incredibly entertaining. As
theater teacher and director
Adam Sampieri’s 10th show at
NCSSM, Thoroughly Modern
Millie promises to be a lively,
enjoyable, and all around
impressive experience.
• Photo by Dustin Burleson
16 february 2010
Students gear up Haitian earthquake moves
for Miniterm students to help
By Sangeetha Kumar
The most anticipated time
of the academic year is just
around the corner. Miniterm
serves as a path away from
the traditional academics of
the school towards an exciting
project or class of the student’s
choice. This year students are
given the choice of choosing
from over 47 proposed courses
or developing an independent
project of their own.
One of the popular Miniterm
classes over the past two years
has been instructor Charles
Roser’s Glassblowing course.
Fortunately for students, the
course capacity has doubled
this year, from six students
to twelve students. In this
Miniterm students will be
taught by a skillful glassblower,
Jonathon Davis, who has a
studio in Chapel Hill. They
will create various items out of
glass, such as vases, marbles,
and beads, then introduce
intricate color patterns as a
final touch.
Of the 47 proposed courses
seven involve travelling. The
oldest travelling Miniterm
currently is the one to Belize,
which has been in the course
listing for over eight years.
The students travel with Myra
Halpin and Leslie Brinson
to immerse themselves in a
week’s worth of field research
of the ecosystems in the nearby
community. Not only do the
students have to be capable
Soles4Souls to shoe the shoeless
By Ade Ilesanmi
Junior Catherine Thriveni
started a fundraiser at NCSSM
for the Soles4Souls program.
As a result of her efforts, 185
pairs of shoes were donated.
For those not familiar with
Soles4Souls, it is an organization
based in Nashville, Tennessee
that collects shoes from the
Thriveni is collecting shoes from students at NCSSM to send to Soles4Souls, an organization that
ships shoes to people who need them, all over the world. •Photo courtesy of Dustin Burleson
swimmers, but they must also
be willing to live without
electricity and running water.
Students who are not
interested in any of the
proposed courses can submit
an independent project. This
year, the Miniterm committee
approved twenty-four
independent projects, many of
which are group efforts. One
example of an approved project
is seniors Olivia Pan, David
Gu, Eric Yun, and Sandy Kim’s
“Exploration of Durham’s
Culture and Environment
through Photography” project,
in which they plan to take bike
rides around Durham while
taking scenic photography of
the things they see.
What should juniors expect
out of Miniterm? Most seniors
come to the same conclusion,
that whether or not juniors
receive their first choice: make
the best of their experience.
“I think that it is just a
great time for students to not
have a billion things to worry
about concerning academics,”
senior Josh Chappell said. “It’s
essentially one topic, with not
a lot of homework and not the
added pressure to make an A.
I think the juniors should be
excited for Miniterm.”
In regards to Miniterm
next year, Mr. Clayton has
discredited the rumor that the
program will be cancelled. He
says that the Miniterm will
remain as long as there is an
interest in the student body.
warehouses of footwear
companies and from donations
of people like the students and
faculty at NCSSM.
Thriveni was first exposed to
Soles4Souls when shoe drives
were run for the organization
at her middle school. Upon
arrival, she decided to bring
the shoe drive to the NCSSM
as well.
news
By Kagan Griffin were horrified by the images
and news of grief stricken
Natural disasters affect Haiti.
every area of the globe, but Gino Lerebours, a junior
when an earthquake hit the with relatives in Haiti said,
western hemisphere’s poorest “My parents are basically
nation, Haiti, on January 12th, keeping in touch and giving
headlines pulsed with news support to family and friends,
catalyzing others to help. and are setting money aside for
Haiti was first hit by a organizations and families that
7.0 magnitude earthquake, need it.”
followed by more than 52 The students without
aftershocks which have relations to Haiti, however,
devastated 3 million Haitians are not as certain about what
and killed over 170,000, as the school is doing to help.
of January 27th. This horror Marcela Torres-Cervantes,
drew more attention to the fact a senior, said, “I think we’re
that Haiti is extremely poor joining Facebook groups, but
and will not be able to house, in all honesty, whatever we’re
care for, and feed its citizens doing is not enough.”
without outside aid. Chris McMahon, a senior,
The students of the North said, “I feel like the initial
Carolina School of Science aspect of raising awareness
and Mathematics, along with is there, but it’s missing any
countless organizations and follow through for actual
countries around the world, relief.”
Grand seniors Sunny Huang and Mark Linnville went to Atlantic Beach for Miniterm 2009.
•Photo courtesy of Brooke Wolford
“Around Christmas I students and their friends and
thought it would be a good families donated 112 pairs of
idea to organize one at NCSSM shoes. Because of an article
so students could bring back about the drive written in her
shoes after Christmas break hometown’s newspaper, The
from friends and family. When Salisbury Post, she received
I went home [again], I could donations from people in
deliver them to the warehouse Salisbury as well. She was able
in Alabama,” said Thriveni. to ship a total of 185 shoes to
Her plan was nothing short Alabama with the help of her
of a success, as NCSSM parents.
Though Thriveni did a lot of
the work on campus herself, she
owes much of the program’s
success to the assistance of
her parents, close friends, the
school administration, and the
internet.
“A lot of close friends
donated. I worked with Kevin
Cromwell [, who] sent my
emails, gave me advice, and
helped in organization and
advertising. I made a Facebook
group, [too]. My parents were
also really supportive; they
sponsored everything: all the
cardboard boxes, the trips from
Durham to Salisbury, and the
shipping,” explained Thriveni.
Soles4Souls has four main
locations: Nashville,Tennessee;
Roanoke, Alabama; Sheldon,
Iowa; and Las Vegas, Nevada.
Donations can be shipped to
any of the four sites.
Interestingly enough, the
influence of the donations is
not limited to just the United
States. In fact, Soles4Souls
the stentorian | ncssm
Some halls around campus
have been holding food
drives. Linden Wait, a senior
and Resident Life Assistant
on 2nd Beall said, “We held
an impromptu can drive and
managed to send at least some
relief to the people of Haiti.”
NCSSM, slow as some may
have thought it was in catching
on, is now doing something
to help Haiti. Students can
participate in the text-a-thon,
with parental permission of
course, to send ten dollars per
text to help relief efforts in
Haiti.
Haiti’s earthquakes have
rattled the country on political,
social, and economic levels.
The country’s infrastructure
can only be rebuilt with a
combined international effort,
be it a nation’s government
or a small science and math
school.
distributes shoes to over 125
countries, including Kenya,
Thailand, and Nepal, and
because of the devastation of
the recent earthquakes in Haiti,
large amounts of the donations
are being sent there.
The organization also
welcomes donations from
abroad.
Soles4Souls is open to
individuals, businesses,
religious organizations, and
footwear industries. There are
several different ways to get
involved, including raising
money or traveling with the
Soles4Souls crew. One can
also follow Thriveni’s example
by organizing another shoe
drive.
What Thriveni wants more
than anything is for people to
get involved, not only through
Soles4Souls, but through any
avenues they can find to take
action.
“I really encourage people
to take initiative, start drives
and other community projects,”
she said. “Everyone wants to
get involved but just [doesn’t]
have the opportunity to do so.
That’s why it’s important to be
a leader.”
The success of this
year’s Soles4Souls drive has
persuaded Catherine Thriveni
to consider running another
one next year.