Valentine’s Day!
Have you been hit by
Cupid’s arrov/?
Pages 6 and 7
Want to know
the latest
about the
Senior Trip?
James tells
of his adven
tures at
Waffle
House.
Page 2 Page 8
All About
Ultimate
S(SrAi
Page 10
°a
\
the north Carolina school of science and mathematics 1219 broad street, durham nc 27705
voi, XXV http://www.ncssm.edu/stentorian february2002
Out of
the Bubble
Emily Currin
It’s February once again.
Love is in the air—^weli, not
really. I’d say hostility seems
to be looming over our cam
pus. This month may be ded
icated to love, but we aren’t
saps here at NCSSM. If
you’re looking for a way to
escape the third-quarter grind,
there is a lot to do! February
may be the shortest month of
the year, but it is packed with
lots of exciting happenings.
Movies
2/16; Moulin Rouge-A-Tbon!
(The North Carolina Museum
of Art in Raleigh)
Moulin Rouge (1952) 4:00
Moulin Rouge (2001) 9:30
2/21-2/24: North Carolina
Jewish Film Festival (at the
Carolina Theatre, Durham)
Music
2/22: WEEZER (Raleigh
Entertainment and Sports
Arena)
3/7: 311 (Ritz-Raleigh
Theatre) -
3/9: Far Too Jones (Lincoln
Theatre, Raleigh)
Arts
2/12-2/17: Contact (BTI
Center, Raleigh)
2/14-2/23: Cabaret (BTI
Center)
3/05-3/10: RENT (BTI
Center)
Ackland Art Museum on the
UNC campus- intriguing
museum with a mix of modem
and classic art
Sports
2/14: N.C. State Wolf Pack at
Duke Blue Devils
2/17: Florida State Seminoles
- Men’s Basketball at N.
Carolina Tarheels
3/8: Washington Capitals at
Carolina Hurricanes
Hot Date idea of the
Month:
Watch a steamy romance
flick. Re-enact your favorite
scenes.
See pages 6 and 7 for
V-Day restaurant ideas!
Tests Got You Stressed?
Brandon Carroll
W ith the end of first
semester, and third
quarter now in high
gear, the worst of the academic
workload is behind most sen
iors, who have their eyes fixed
squarely on June I. Juniors
have learned to cope, expectant
ly looking forward to the tanta
lizing possibilities of next year.
A look back at less pleasant
days, however, might conjure
up memories of critical labs,
time-intense group projects,
lengthy papers, and, worst of
all, tests that travel in herds,
feeding on sleep deprivation
and stress among NCSSM’s
sujdents. And it’s not over yet;
third quarter has a reputation for
being the hardest for juniors and
those seniors who still care.
Wifag Adnan (’02)
recalled having “a Miller test
and a Phys Tops test [the next
day] and two more tests that
week. 1 had to do three labs and
write a history paper that
week too.”
Frederic
Lee (’02) also ha
not-so-fond
memories of 3rd
quarter stress.
“I remem-
ber the last
week of third
quarter.
That week
was hell:
six tests, a
N a n n e y
project, a
Wilson proj- \
ect, and a ,
paper, with ten
nis practice on
the side. When I
“Well, you applied to come
here. Of course if you have
three tests on one day
and other projects
due, you are going
to have stress,
I but you
Ur^C!' just
have to
deal with
^ it.”
Other
students think
, perhaps there
\ are better
' ways to
deal with
the test
. problem
than
simply
keeping a
stiff upper
got home, I slept for 16 hours lip- Recognizing the issue,
straight. Juniors, you have no SGA President Alex
idea...” Baranpuria decided in the fall to
James Lagasca (’03) said, assemble a small group of stu-
hy Ashley Perryman
Dr. Teague: In His Own Words
Shauna Jin
H is classes are known
for their depth and
scope. He himself is
famous for his engagingly
funny lectures and is known
as the wielder of the infamous
“chalk.” Those who have
taken his classes remember
late nights and early mornings
working on problem sets, yet
students continue to expressly
take classes he teaches. This
month we present Dr. Teague,
in his own words:
So where are you from. Dr.
Teague?
Where I am from is a little
hard to describe because I
moved around a lot. I guess
I’m from Raleigh because I
was bom there. I grew up in a
small fishing village in
Florida. I also lived in
Panama for two years.
Who do you think was your
greatest influence when you
were young?
sigh> That’s also hard to say.
In an obvious way, your par-
Annafrancesca Fuchs
Dr. Teague, NCSSM's own Mathemagician, outlines the finer points
of Euler's Method to his Calculus II class.
ents are your biggest influ
ence, but second to them was
my peer group, and I think 1
was particularly fortunate in
that respect. You don’t always
bump into people who are
good for you, but I found good
friends who were helpful.
When did you first become
interested in math?
I’ve always been interested in
mathematics. I think 1 wanted
to be a writer and I wanted to
be a professional athlete, but
the first time I found out I was
good at math was in the third
grade. We knew how to mul
tiply two-digit numbers by
one-digit numbers and then
the teacher put a three-digit by
two-digit problem on the
board and I figured it out. I
realized it was .something you
could do by thinking, not by
remembering a bunch of stuff.
See “Or. Teague,"
Page 3
dents to examine the problem
and possible solutions.
“I personally thought of
this issue as a key concern early
on, and thought that if a good
group of students got together,
we could make something hap
pen,” said Alex. Using the for
mula that produced a top-notch,
if unsuccessful, proposal for
Senior Exam Exemptions, a
small committee called the
Testing Policy Committee was
formed.
Alex appointed Steven
Gentile (’02) to chair the com
mittee, and it began work by
examining the current policies
in the handbook. Although cur
rent policy prohibits more than
two tests per days, this permits a
theoretical number of ten tests
per week. In practice, four to six
tests in a week is not unusual.
See “Questioning the Testing
Poiicy,” Page 5
War Against
Terrorism
Elysa Wan
I n many of our minds,
the “War Against
Terrorism” ended with
the fall of the Taliban.
In Afghanistan, recon
struction has begun under
the interim government.
Tribunals have been
arranged for suspects that
are now detained in
Guantanamo Bay. Also, a
league of sponsor nations
has promised $4.5 billion
in foreign aid.
But in other parts of
the world the war against
terrorism is still the cause
of conflicts, particularly in
the Middle East and south
ern Asia.
In Israel, the relation
ship between Israelis and
Palestinians has steadily
deteriorated following a 3-
week period of relative
calm.
See “War Against Terrorism,”
Page 3