Newspapers / North Carolina School of … / Aug. 1, 2005, edition 1 / Page 4
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august 2005 summer the stentorian | ncssm Glaxo summer researchers busy during break BY Margaret Yim A t most schools, once the final bell has struck, stu dents and staff alike pile out of the school and try as hard as they can to erase the hor rors of the school year from their mind and replace it with hours in front of the TV and sunbathing at the beach. But then again, NCSSM is not like most schools - we do not have bells. Even though some mem bers of our community do be come couch potatoes or go to the beach, one can always be found hard at work on their col lege apps, community service, or even school work. More interesting, though, are the eerily empty halls and dark classrooms during the summer months. The campus is still functional during summer break - some SLIs still live here, the administration and other staff still come in for work - and this amalgam of busy students, dedicated staff, and an open campus led to opportunities for summer researcn such as the Glaxo program. Through personal interest in biology, students apply and are selected to carry out a self-pro- posed scientific project in two weeks of extensive research while residing right here at NCSSM. Similar programs are available through the Research in Chemistry and Research in Physics programs for those disciplines, and they run for an additional week after Glaxo has ended. Students are given a sti pend for food during their stay, and at the end of the two or three weeks, each project is pre sented in a PowerPoint sympo sium that is attended by fellow researchers, teachers, parents, and administrators. This summer, a normal day of a summer research program started at 8:30 in the morning, and individual research oc curred until 5:00 with an hour lunch break at 12:00. Student researchers either stayed on campus and worked with the directors of these programs, who are teachers here at NCSSM, or ventured off to a lab at a nearby university, such as UNC or Duke. Project topics varied from single bubble sonoluminescence, to induced resistance to heparin sulfate, to ultrasound arrays, to butterfly mimicry, and the quality of work exhibited by all of the partici pants showed the effort and time devoted to the projects during those weeks at school. Although the actual research was the significant aspect of the summer programs, perhaps more memorable were the extra curricular activities that the group engaged in. With the stress of having a huge project to do, the researchers tried to find time to let themselves relax and enjoy what is rightfully a part of their summer. Ultimate Frisbee games were held on the IM field each night from 7-9 with the participation of a majority of the researchers and even some SLIs. Since the PFM was no longer free to the students, everyone either ate what they brought to NCSSM or ate out, considering that no one want ed to pay to eat PFM food. This led to exploration of the many eateries on Ninth Street with friends and fellow researchers, and to satisfy that sweet tooth, some SLIs even drove a loop out on Ninth Street for Margaret Yim works on her Glaxo project in summer Francesca’s at night just for the students. Nights were also filled with activities from watch ing the NBA Playoffs, to view ing Napoleon Dynamite, to mid night bowling. All of this made for a wonderful atmosphere in which students could share sci entific insights as well as make friends and socialize. This is not to say that sum mer research should be attempt ed just for the fun of it - the summer research programs are highly competitive and require a great deal of time and effort to come up with an idea as well as to execute it. If juniors are inter ested in research at NCSSM, they should consider taking one of the Research courses or do ing mentorship, and perhaps a summer continuation of a project from those courses would be feasible for the out come of the scientific work. But one should not apply for and go into summer research and expect it to be all fun and games - it will be a wonderful experi ence, but remember - there is always a greater amount of work than play. IftBlwcoiitinueil fram paie 1 uating classes could also ben efit from this decision, which comes after many debates about the state budget and many calls from Science and Math family members to their legislative representatives. Nevertheless, the tuition grant has the potential to be revised every year as the state budget is approved. The Class of 2004 was the first to be eligible for the tuition grant. The legislation came af ter NCSSM and other special ized schools in the nation were ex{3eriencing declining numbers of applications because of the growing emphasis on account ability for public schools. Since the tuition grant was offered, though, applications have once again soared. However, not everyone thinks that the tuition grant is a good idea. The John William Pope Center for Higher Educa tion Policy released a report in January that called the program unfair. Some Science and Math students even point out the disadvantages. “I personally think S&M is better without the grant,” said Alex Solomon. “It’s hard to hate free money, but if you look at S&M a few years ago, and then you look at it now, you can see the changes. Grant ed, all of them are not due to the grant, but some of the peo ple are. The grant draws more people than just those with that insatiable thirst for learning. Parents started forcing their children to apply, [and] you got applicants who really didn’t want to be here. These stu dents, [who] you will see walk ing the sidewalks of our cam pus, took the place of someone who wanted to come to a school like S&M solely because of their passion for learning and advancing their knowledge.” Summer Ventures prepares for NCSSM life BY Kathleen Hebert N ot everyone is lucky enough to get accepted to the North Carolina School of Science and Math. For those unfortunates, there is an opportunity for them to experience NCSSM life for a month. Summer Ventures in Sci ence and Math, a four week long summer camp, gives 550 North Carolina stu dents a taste of NCSSM life every summer. There are six North Carolina Uni versities where this program is held: the Universities of North Carolina in Charlotte and Wilmington, Appa lachian State, West ern Carolina, East ern Carolina, and North Carolina Cen tral University. Each campus receives 70 to 80 students showing an interest in the various sub jects available. Ex amples of some of the classes are Op tical Engineering, Field Biology, Sta tistics, and Archeol- °sy- Some of the uni versities ask stu dents to write a pa- per on a subject students within their course of study, which are then entered into a competition called the Catalyst Award. The two win ners are given the opportunity to present their project to the state’s Science and Math Teacher Conferences. I was placed into the Summer Ven tures program in the University of Charlotte in the Quantitative Methods in Rocks and Miner als class. We stayed on the road, traveling from West Vir ginia to Wilmington for two weeks, looking at rock forma tions. Nicknamed the Rockhounds, my class became extremely close and I made many new friends. Summer Ven- at ASU Summer Ventures study hires was very beneficial to me during the summer before my first year of Science and Math; it gave my mind a month of ex ercise that it wouldn’t have got ten sitting around at home. Ad ditionally, I was fortunate enough to be a semifinalist in the Catalyst Award for my pa per on North Carolina sand and sandstone grain sizes. My father has worked for the Summer Ventures program in Appalachia every summer for the past 15 years. I went to visit him after my camp had ended and luckily, got to meet a few other NCSSM students. We met at a local restaurant to get to gether and ask a mil lion questions of two rising seniors who were nice enough to come. I also asked a few questions of my own to some of the students about their Summer Ventures ex perience. “Summer Ventures helped me prepare for having a roommate and inde pendently working on class work,” said Mat thew Gildner. Several others also enjoyed the chance to meet teenagers from all across North Carolina that shared their aca- I demic and social in terests. Summer Ventures is just one of the many programs North Carolina offers their students, but it is one of the best. The chances attendees have, such as the peo- geology pie they meet and ex periences they gain, give them lifelong memories. I and my fellow Summer Ventures students are well prepared and looking forward to Science and Math because of Summer Ven tures. Harry Potter and the Half- Blood Prince: the other summer reading book BY Victor Leu O n July 16‘\ Harry Potter’s journey through the magical world continued as the young wizard began his sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the lat est book in author J.K. Rowling’s popular series, hit the shelves amidst thousands of people dressed in wizardly garb crowding the aisles of no table booksellers. In the week before the book’s release, a Real Canadian Superstore in British Colombia, Canada accidentally sold 15 books. Raincoast Pub lishers, the Canadian publisher for Harry Potter, quickly took steps to keep information from leaking. Opening day saw 6.9 million copies being sold in the US alone, mzSdngHarryPotter and the Half-Blood Prince the fastest selling book in history. As The Half-Blood Prince begins. Lord Voldemort has de clared war on the Wizarding community once again, spread ing fear and death. Soon after returning to Privet Drive after his fifth year at Hogwarts, Har ry jumps back into the Wizarding world accompanied by none other than Albus Dumbledore. The staff adds a new member, Horace Slughom, as Potions master, and Snape is finally given the Defense Against the Dark Arts position. Harry becomes Quidditch cap tain, and must find and train a new Gryffmdor team. While the sixth book perhaps does not deliver as much action as previous books, it explores the world around Harry. The beauty of the book lies in how despite a war raging around them, the pressure of classes, and life in the castle itself, life goes on for the students at Hogwarts. It is during this year that Harry grows up. He begins to understand that he has to rely on himself and his fnends as Lord Voldemort grows in power. Harry questions the loyalty of Severus Snape and tries to see into Draco Malfoy’s plots. Harry begins private lessons with Dumbledore, and learns about his foe. At the end of The Half-Blood Prince, Harry realizes that he can no longer rely on those older, wiser, and stronger than himself, that he can no longer be a child. Named as the only one who can de stroy Lord Voldemort, Harry fi nally embraces his destiny. Book seven will be the final chapter in Hanr’s struggle. The question is, will he survive?
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