I page■
October
99
Floyd devastates NC
teresa anasti
O n
Tuesday, Sep
tember 14"',
something very
rare happened
to the students
of NCSSM.
Due to threat of
a near cata
strophic hurri
cane, they were
sent home to
the protection
of their homes.
However, many
students may
have fared bet
ter if they had
stayed at the
school. Many
students had to
evacuate their
homes, and
some could not
return Sunday
like they were
supposed to
because of the
conditions of
the rivers and
the roads.
A 1 -
though Hurri
cane Floyd
lasted a mere
ten hours.
North Carolina
will need a lot of time,
money, recovery and
rebuilding to return to
normal. Within the
state, 40 people are
dead, 1,500 are
stranded, 10,000
people are inside tem-
p o r a r y
shelters,
and crops
and live-
stock
have been
obliter
ated. Al-
ready
suffering
with Den
nis’ dam
age, the
storm has
caused
rivers and
lakes to rise to their
highest point, flood
ing into roads and
buildings. In many
cities around North
Carolina, people
needed boats to leave
the second story of
their house.
“My mom
works in the emer
gency room at the
hospital, and she
would come home
with stories of people
getting hurt and oth
ers drowning in their
cars,” said Andrea
Kaelin, an NCSSM
student from Greens
boro, North Carolina.
Due to
people still inside
our
A young Rocky Mount boy observes the flood
damage left behind by Hurricane Floyd.
shelters, and the con
dition of the roads,
students in Pitt
County are still out of
school, and may be
out for another two
weeks. Floyd has
completely wiped out
several towns, includ
ing Princeville, the
first African-Ameri
can chartered town in
the country.
“We had to
take everything out of
house in one
night, and we had to
leave the next day.
We lost a pier outside
of our house when it
fell into the ocean. A
lot of roads were
washed out, and
many
trees
fell
down.
It was
really
scary,
b u t
luckily
nothing
hap
pened
to my
house.
M y
friend’s
house was con
demned though,” said
Stephanie Cate, an
NCSSM student from
Sunset Beach, NC.
Two days be
fore the storm reached
the North Carolina
coast, the Outer
Banks was nearly de
serted, because
people were forced to
evacuate. With ero
sion already a large
problem along the
coast, this storm has
just made it worse.
The Outer Banks may
have to bring in sand
to the coast, or else
there may not be a
beach within two or
three years.
“In front of
our house, a swamp
had overflowed into
the road, and you
could see fish swim
ming in the roads. In
a town near us, people
had to be rescued
from boats. They left
one woman in a rest
home who drowned.
Along the roads, you
could see trailer parks
and caskets floating.
Some people were
asked to donate body
bags to collect the
bodies found in the
water,” said Senior
Melissa Hardy, a resi
dent of Bertie County
Most people
cannot imagine some
thing like this happen
ing. For many people
living in the eastern
part of North Carolina,
however, this image is
a reality.
Gaby Had
dock, an NCSSM stu
dent from
Wilmington, NC said,
“It was really bad,
there was lots of
flooding, and lots of
damages. All the ma
jor roads were
washed out, and we
had no power or wa
ter for a week.”
Wilmington
seems to be the attrac
tion spot for hurri
canes. Marisa Biondi,
an NCSSM student
also from Wilmington,
said, “In the past four
years we have had
four hurricanes. But I
think that Fran was
worse than Floyd.”
If an
NCSSM student is in
terested in helping
out the victims of the
hurricane, the Catho
lic Ministries is taking
up a collection, and
various radio station
in the area, including
96.1, have been hold
ing contests to see
who can donate the
most money. So if
someone is interested
in helping out the vic
tims, these are one of
the many ways in
which to do so.
A new year, a new beginning
frank menius
Many seniors may
have noticed an increased
effort among the adminis
tration and faculty to be
come more involved in the
student activities and the
students lives this year.
Still there seems to be
some decided clashes be
tween students and the
administration.
“This year has
started out great. It is
energizing...and I think
that the students are a part
of that. I hope we can
continue to work to
gether,” said director of
student life Dr. Joan Bar
ber.
Out of her 14 years
of working at NCSSM
“this year” is her “best.”
Dr. Barber certainly has
been more involved in
student lives. On Septem
ber 24th you could have
found her telling her “sec
ond joke ever” at Coffee
House, an appearance
that helped her become
acquainted with this years
juniors and seniors.
“I can’t afford not
to be in-touch,” she said.
The job of administrator
demands that she be ac
quainted with the events
of the day, and with the
needs and desires of the
students and faculty.
Dr. Barber stressed
that she has an “open
door” policy in which stu
dents can either by ap
pointment,
or just by
knocking
at her door,
come and
talk to her
about
problems
that they
feel need
to be ad
dressed or
things that
should be
Dr. Barber talks with Benita
Jones in Bryan Lobby
done in the future. She
did point out that she is
not the only administrator
on campus, and that she
would like to work on get
ting the student body fa
miliar with the other
administrators.
“Perhaps during a
speakout we could intro
duce all the Administra
tors,” said Barber.
The issue of the
school budget has be
come a hot topic among
students with the expense
of new furniture in the
Bryan and Hunt lobbies
while individual hall fur
nishings deteriorate. In
addition, the lack of prom
ised air-conditioning in
Bryan has made some
girls upset and uncom
fortable. Dr. Barber noted
that the funds to support
such venues as student
life, are very small and
mostly appropriated,
meaning
that money
is set aside
by the do
nator for a
certain pur
pose.
“It is
very sel
dom that
we get un
restricted
money,”
said Dr.
Barber. The
money for the Bryan
Lobby furniture was given
to the school for furniture,
by putting it in Bryan
Lobby it reaches the most
people. If such money
were to be divided among
the separate residence
halls, there would not
even be enough for one
new piece of furniture a
hall. She also noted that
the money for the air-con
ditioners in Bryan has
been set aside and they
should be in place by next
year.
Perhaps the big
gest issue on students’
minds is the “8 o’clock
rule.” This rule was
brought up during an Ac
tion Planing Committee
meeting last year. Dr. Bar
ber pointed out that this
rule was always in the
handbook. The rule states
that no club meetings
could be planed after 8
o’clock during a school
night, with the exception
ofSGA. The entire cam
pus simply ignored this
mle.
“I was shocked
when it was brought up,”
said Barber. It was ex
panded last year to in
clude SGA and all student
activities in order to con
vince students to do
school work before 10:30
check. This expansion
has caused many stu
dents and staff to feel
cramped and stressed. Dr.
Barber assured that this is
sue will be reviewed, and
that it is bad practice to
set down a new rule with
out reviewing it to see
how it works.
Many new is
sues have been brought
up this year already, but
Dr. Barber believes that
nonetheless this year has
gotten off to a smooth
start. She feels that it is
because of student and
faculty interactions. She
“values student opinion”
and hopes that “through
cdoperation the rest of the |
year will unfold to the sat-;
isfaction of the whole of
the NCSSM community.” |
Nelson... pi
the Arts.
With all this ex
perience , Phil has formed
a few knowledgeable opin
ions on how to take ad
vantage of life to the
fullest extent.
“Travel. See the
world, just get out there.
You don’t have to know
what you want to do when
you are a senior in high
school,” he said.
Phil decided to
come to Science and Math
as the Interim Executive
Director because he is,
heart and soul, a teacher.
He is truly concerned with
the students’ lives here
and makes a concerted ef
fort to get out and hear
students speak their
minds on subjects ranging
from yesterday’s test to
Floyd’s repercussions.
Students can see him in
the PFM almost every day
at lunch eating and chat
ting with students.
“The conversa
tion in the lunchroom is a
sure sign of how intellec
tually stimulating a
school is,” said Phil.
In contrast to many
people’s notions that the
administration is inca
pable of hearing the
student’s opinion on
events within the school,
Phil enjoys talking to the
students and wants to
hear their views. The stu
dents are, after all, directly
impacted by issues made
by his office.
It is very impor
tant to Phil that communi
cation lines are kept open
across campus, both
among the students and
the administration.
“My interest in
coming here is not only in
the learning, but also in
helping people communi
cate.”
During the days
before the school was
closed by Floyd, for ex
ample, Phil asked the opin
ion of SGA president,
April Land, on what
should be decided about
the threat of the storm in
order to avoid a situation
similar to Fran.
“When you
have people in your trust
then you have to keep
their best interests and
safety first in your mind,”
he said. Even though
Durham was spared and a
tragedy was narrowly
avoided, Phil is glad that
he sent the smdent body
home for an impromptu
hurricane vacation and
out of harm’s way.
Phil genuinely has a
concern for the student
body. He has already
made a lasting impact on
the NCSSM community
and his work here isn’t
done yet.