June 11, 1982 page 2
•1
a Future
by Cathy Moses
N’t
First Place
On Saturday, April 24, the NCSSM Quiz Bowl Team won
the Quiz Bowl state championship which was held at the
North Carolina Central University. To reach the state
level a team has to win its county competition and place
first or second in the regional competition. The NCSSM
team won both the Durham County and the regional tour
naments for this area. The team had amassed more total
points than any other school and were seeded first in the
state competition.
A quiz bowl match consists of three rounds. In
each round each person on each team is asked one question.
A correct answer is worth 10 points in the first round
and 10 more in each successive round. A wrong answer
allows the other team the opportunity to answer for half
value. Consultation is allowed only in the third round.
The first match pitted the Unicorn team against
the formidable team of Hickory High. After two rounds
Hickory High had taken a lead of over 50 points. By the
third round, NCSSM took the lead and went on to win by
85 points. The next match for the math-science team was
a semi-final bout with Westover High. They won this one
handily by over 100 points. Tlien came the state final
match between NCSSM and Northeastern High. The team was
behind by a sizable margin after two rounds. Again,
however, the team pulled it out in the last round to
win the championship.
For this win, each team member won a $100 savings
bond and a small cup. The school will also receive a
large trophy. Team members were Adam Falk, Darryll
Hendricks, Eric Roush, and Tommy Yadon. Alternates for
the team were Charlotte Chiu and Robin Cunningham. Through
out this trek to victory the team was faithfully sponsored
by Mr. Litle, Dr, Wilson, and her husband.
Did You Know?
by Meg Gatling
One of the characteristics of this school is pro
gress and continual change. Obvious evidence is the
constant hammering, building, and noise coming from the
areas around Beall and Bryan all in preparation for the
years ahead. Construction has been going on at NCSSM
from the very beginning when they renovated Watts Hospital
and will continue until the school reaches the point
where it can comfortably accommodate the maximum number
of students. Many things are on the agenda for construc
tion ; the top priority is the completion of the biology
and chemistry labs which will be located on second and
third floors of Bryan Center. Also, pavilions C, D, and
E, adjacent to Beall Pavilion, will become residence
halls with a laundry to accommodate 96 students. The
new library will be on first floor Bryan North with con
struction beginning in June of 1982 and ending in January
of 1983. Construction on the cafeteria begins May of
1982 on ground floor Bryan resulting in a kitchen, dining
room, snack bar, and staff lounge. The long awaited obser
vatory will be placed on the roof of Bryan in May. Various
planning committees have been meeting to plan for a
gymnasium and infirmary, renovation of Watts Hall for ad
ministration, Math, and English departments, and a new
Art department. We are definitely making progress despite
unforeseen delays. Dr Braughn Taylor, coordinator or dev«»
elopment, said, "With better and more careful planning
construction would proceed more smoothly, but problems
always arise."
Remember when your physics teacher told you that the
Newtonian physics you'd been learning wasn't quite right
because it didn't take relativity into account, and you
almost left the room? Well, researchers at the University
of Arizona believe that Einstein's theory, which was form
ulated on the hypothesis that the sun is a speroid, is in
complete; they seem to have evidence that the sun is,
instead, oblate. Using the acoustic vibrations of the
sun to measure its rotation rate at different depths,
they have obtained data suggesting that the sun's core
rotates seven times faster than its surface, a difference
great enough tp cause a "gravitational stretching" of the
sun. If the sun were oblate, space-time would be curved
differently and another term accounting for solar oblate
ness would be added to Einstein's theory. However, no one
has been able to reproduce this data, so neither you nor
your physics teacher should get indigestion over it . . .
especially if you eat food subsitutes, like polysugar.
Poly sugar is a sugar substitute made of a poly
(vinyl alcohol) and a sucrose. Researchers at the Univ
ersity of Dayton have synthesized nine different polysugars,
each having a different number of poly groups attached and
a distinctive degree of sweetness. Because polysugars
cannot be broken down easily in the mouth, they form
organic acids that are too heavy to diffuse into the blood
stream. Imagine being able to inhale your mom's chocolate
cream pie without having to worry about all those calories.
On a more practical note. Professor Melvin Calvin
of the University of California is convinced that certain
plants can provide automotive fuels that will eventually
be cost-competitive with gasoline and diesel fuel. These
plants are mostly tropical and contain hydrocarbons - the
main ingredient of automotive fules - in a milky substance
known as latex. Plants belinging th the genus Euphorbia,
especially the gopher weed, are rich in hydrocarbons and
can be grown on semi-arid land, such as that of the Amer
ican Southwest. Calvin's goals are to find efficient ways
to extract the needed chemicals and to increase the yield
per acre of these plants to make their product competitive
with imported oil. An acre of gopher weeds now yields not
only six barrels of refinable crude oil, but also six
barrels of alcohol.
While Calvin studies plants, another researcher
at the University of California, entomologist George
Poiner, pores over preserved insects. He has identified
subcellular structures in the cells of a gnat that got
caught in the sap of some ancient pine tree and has mummi
fied over the past 40 million years. This hardened sap,
called amber, has preserved insects so well that even
chromatin can be seen in cell nuclei. Allen Wilson, also
at Berkely, will soon try to extract DNA from gnat cells
and to incorporate it into bacteria. Thus, scientists
may soon be able to read ancient genetic messages and to
learn about the evolution of genes by comparing these
continued on page 3
Student Council '83
by Meg Gatling
The rising seniors of NCSSM have chosen the fearless
few who will lead us through the second half of our
NCSSM experience. President Dhruva Sen, Vice President/
Secretary Doug Graham, and Treasure Adam Falk will
undoubtedly turn the 1982-83 school year into the best
days of our lives. We can be sure that our ideas and
complaints will be considered at Student Council meetings
through our six Representatives-at-Large, Kim McLauchlin,
Hooman Sabeti, Marty Schwartz, Lisa Shouse, Amy Sturkey,
and Simon Verghese.
What qualities do students look for when they select
class leaders? A random survey indicates that most voters
seek responsible, friendly, dedicated, realistic, enthusiastic
and diplomatic candidates. Campaign speeches emphasized
the need for greater student interest and involvement in
their government. The communication gap between the Student
Council and the Administration was also recognized. Plans
for next year include establishing a stronger Network,
promoting class unity, and informing the students of matters
discussed in Coucil meetings.
This year's Student Council,headed by President Chip
Tillman, Vice President/Secretary Curtis Adair,, and Treasurer
Roger Kromer, held weekly meetings throughout the year
which other students were welcome to attend. Our new
leaders have been working with current officers to en
sure a smooth transition. Junior representatives will be
elected next fall. We are proud of our present Student
Council and thank them for laying the foundations of
student leadership.