ncssm I the stentorian
august 2003 B 4
“Lights Out” -
from Page 3
have suffered through at least
one restricted study session.
The students have responded
that the problem is the late
nights that we often endure
and some have even suggested
that the attendance policy be
changed to be less punitive and
more corrective. With the new
lights out policy the adminis
tration has taken a step to fix
ing the problem, but in their
own way. After abusing the
three absences rule, coming in
late to class on a daily basis,
and in some cases showing a
total disregard for class atten
dance, the students are in no
position to argue their right to
stay up as late as they want. As
students we all desire the priv
ilege to freely learn through
personal experience and
choice, but we have blown it
by ignoring our primary duty
as students. Now we must deal
with the consequences.
- Sorrell Massenburg,
Grand-senior
It just amazes me that the
."brightest" stu-
I dents are han-
Idled the same
I way as the tod-
Idlers I work
I . Iwith. Except
^students actually
CAN stop doing whatever they
want and go to sleep when
lights go off. So who actually
knows what is best? The
administration and a small
group of adults? Or the
teenagers living their own life
and the group of doctors who
have spent YEARS studying
and proving the idea that some
people actually DO work bet
ter in the wee hours instead of
right after school?
“Gay Rights”
from Page 2
Falwell and Pat Robertson
have begim campaigns for the
public to pray for the Supreme
Court to "come to its senses"
before we all begin living in
complete sin, cavorting in the
streets with llama, marrying
our siblings and collecting
There's nothing better
than class till 3.30, practice till
5.30, class (econ for example)
till 10.20 then rushing to do all
your internet stuff by 12, then
the rest of your work till 2. But
hey, no one needs to eat, or
shower, or potty at all. I know
I can do everything in under 4
hours.
- Terri Eller, Senior
Honestly, the lights out
policy won't really infringe on
my night because I love to
sleep and I make it a rule to get
to sleep by at least one o'clock
every night if not earlier. But,
when I'm not so lucky to get
sweet dreams and need to pull
an all nighter I will definitely
be breaking that rule if it is
really set in place!
- Anonymous, Senior
We have to learn how to
set our own bedtime at some
point; isn't it easier to make
that transition with the support
we have at Science and Math?
- Katherine Tessier, Senior
Even though the 'Lights
Out' policy undermines a stu
dent's personal responsibilities
(i.e. if you stay up until 3:00
am, you still have to go to
class. If you don't go to class,
you will eventually get kicked
out.), I feel that we as students
need to understand that [Dr.]
Boarman isn't necessarily call
ing the shots here. He is the
executive director of NCSSM,
but he answers to a large group
of people. In order to gain
funding for the school, he has
to make concessions. It is very
likely that the 'Lights Out' pol
icy is a political compromise
that he has made in order to
gain money for NCSSM.
Nobody likes chapge and
rising tide of anti-abortion leg
islation. Despite the fact that
Santorum and his ilk see the
ruling as a harbinger of fire,
brimstone and moral corrup
tion, June 26 marks a decisive
victory not only for the gay
rights movement, but also for
tolerance and cultural
progress. Even the negative
J US”
mMMiL
F B ■
f A'.-
multiple spouses.
Conservative newsletter
WorldNetDaily writer Joseph
Farah calls for the impeach
ment of the so-called "sodomy
6," referring to the six justices
who made up the majority
opinion in the decision.
Wild and panicked proph
esies aside, many lawyers and
professors are seeing a
brighter future for privacy
rights in many arenas, ironic in
the wake of the Patriot Act and
public attention devoted to
opponents of this ruling is
indicative of positive changes
taking place in American soci
ety. Controversy is the hall
mark of progress.
Australia, Canada,
Germany, Israel, Japan,
Sweden, the UK and many
other countries allow openly
gay men and women to serve
in the anned services. Canada
recently legalized same-sex
marriage.
Meanwhile, in the US,
nobody likes
being told what
to do, but we
have to recog
nize that Dr.
Boarman DOES
(answer to peo
ple higher-up.
- Jacob White, Senior
Want your students to
someday become adults with
out moderation, discipline, or
judgement? Then turn their
internet off for them.
- David Lorang, Senior
There are many aspects of
this new policy that can be dis
cussed until both the adminis
tration and student body are
blue in the face, but one
important fact remains: the
new policy, in conjunction
with its manner of introduc
tion, will simply serve to fur
ther alienate the student body
from the administration,
increase student discontent,
and distract the SLIs and other
staff members from enforcing
more important rules that
serve to ensure the students'
safety (smoking, drinking,
etc.).
- Luis Crouch, Senior
The school wants to
decrease the stress level, so
they force me to do homework
earlier and take away my
means of communicating with
loved ones when I actually
have the ehance?
- Jason Pridgen, Senior
Let's be passionate about
Americans who need health
insurance, about how we [dis
criminate against] Native
Amerieans and don't feel
guilty because we gave them
some...land in the Mid-West,
ninety-seven percent of stu
dents report homophobic
remarks from elassmates, and
fifty-three percent recall
homophobic comments from
teachers and staff. Eighty-five
percent of teachers oppose
integrating gay themes into
their curricula. Due to their
sexual orientation, lesbians
earn up to fourteen peftent
less than their heterosexual
female peers.
Scalia's resistance to
intervention characterizes an
attitude in our society that pro
liferates. a tradition of preju
dice and discrimination; a con
vention that .spawns a growing
number of hate crimes, sui
cides and homicides each year.
Nationally, Are 1320 sexuali
ty-related youth suicides and
1229 sexuality-related hate
crimes per year an acceptable
casualty rate for Scalia's "cul
ture war"?
This ruling is a major vic
tory, but the fight for equality
and tolerance absolutely can
not stop now. Avoiding the
issues will not change reality;
about lack of funding for
North Carolina
schools...about drunk drivers
or child molestation for crying
out loud.. .do we really have to
waste all our passion on trying
to get some more AIM time?!
- Anonymous, Senior
I admit I was shocked and
angry when I first heard Dr.
Boarman speak about lights
out/internet policy, but now
that I have had time to think
about it, the lights out policy
doesn't really affect me since I
generally go to bed before
2. And I could live with the
new internet policy if they
moved it back at least an hour;
12 a.m. is just too early to cut
it off...Students who get no
sleep because they stay up
talking on AIM or playing
games can .'..face the conse
quences themselves. Don't
punish the majority if the
problem is a minority.
- Rachael Ashworth,
Senior
I feel that
they are punish
ing students for
choosing to
enjoy them
selves while
there is daylight and then try
ing to do the woric that is nec
essary. I am aggravated that
the administration would just
drop this decision in our lap.
They interviewed [non-repre
sentative individuals] instead
of the average person t\1io gets
by.
I agree that we have more
freedom than some teens but
we are losing the freedoms that
most teenagers have...All I
heard last year was that we
were turning into a regular
school....far from it, we are
one in ten of us is gay. Will we
deny every tenth person the
right to marry, and/or adopt?
Our residence in an insu
lar community such as
“Glaxo”
from Page 2
confidentiality agreement.
The Biology students. Alia
Whitney-Johnson, Emily Hon,
and Maggie Thompson, spent
their days catching butterflies,
raising and weighing caterpil
lars, and analyzing their data
at UNC. Their project con
cerned the effects of global
warming on Pieris rapae and
the consequences of increased
nocturnal and diurnal temper
atures. The Physics students,
Asiri Ediriwickrema and
Jeimy Xue, researched "The
Effects of Neutron Capture
Rates on the R-Process A=195
Peak" at UNC campus. The
computer programming stu
dents, Frank Chen and Will
Tipton, experimented with
computer-assisted communi
cation.
A research symposium
concluded the summer session
of hard work. After a poster
showing session, a sharing of
their papers and powerpoint
presentations, these students
headed home to begin their
summer, or to complete their
community service. Either
way, these students will be
returning to school in August
with valuable research experi
ence and many of them, with
plans to continue research
during the school year.
Juniors, does this sound
like something you d be inter
ested in next summer? Direct
your questions towards any of
the students mentioned above,
and ask your SLI who you
need to talk to to get involed in
this program or one just like it.
NCSSM should not tempt us
to inaction; instead, it must
show us the promise for a tol
erant and accepting communi
ty on a national level.
0)
stentorian
the north Carolina school of science & mathematics
1219 broad street, durham, nc 27705
http://www.ncssm.edu/stentorian
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