december 2005
news
the stentorian I ncssm
Complaints, school rules curb dancing styies
■BY Amy Bryson
W ith today’s music style
and culture, grinding
and other forms of
contact dancing have beeome
very popular and can be seen at
mixers and dances at NCSSM.
But in an e-mail sent out before
the Halloween Dance it was
requested that students elimi
nate “dancing that violates the
mles already established about
public displays of affection.”
“We were getting lots of
complaints about inappropri
ate dancing from students,
staff and parents, and we are
asking students to stop,” said
Steve Jones, student activities
coordinator. “It is very hard
to define inappropriate danc
ing, but most students know
what is crossing the line.”
Jones started hearing com
plaints from some parent chap
erones at last year’s Semi-
Formal. Since the first dance
of the year, more students
and staff have voiced com
plaints to Jones that “danc
ers are all over each other.”
“I personally don’t enjoy
school dances because of the
grinding and PDA that occurs
between other students, and
mixers are even worse,” one
student said. “I can see where
all the complaints are coming
from. A lot of girls are just rub
bing their butts all over boys.”
Another reason for limiting
the contact that occurs dur
ing dances is established in
the school’s PDA guidelines.
“The way some couples have
been seen dancing, violates sex-
■
Why would
we allow
something
on the dance
floor that we
wouldn't let go
by in a hallway
or during an
IVIZ?"
-Steve Jones
Geek-a-thon gets
computers to those
who need them most
T here were two goals that
the recent Geek-a-thon,
held in the Assembly
Hall at NCSSM, set out to ac
complish. The first was to give
NCSSM students an experience
where they could learn about
computers. The second was to
get computers into the homes of
people who need them and have
never had one before.
Mark Dibner founded
Kramden(his name and his
son’s name backwards) to help
accomplish this second goal.
Kramden is a non-profit orga
nization created by Dibner and
his son two and a half years
ago for those who can’t afford
computers., “That pilefof com
puters) represents a family who
is going to have internet in their
house that never has before,”
Dibner said.
Making computers to be
shipped to these households in
volved several steps. Old com
puter parts were first cleaned,
analyzed both in hardware
and software, and when the
problems were discovered or
what the computer is lacking
was found, it was collected,
refurbished, and donated to the
needy.
Twice as many volunteers
turned out for the event as
expected, and they worked
anywhere from two to ten hours.
Some went beyond that. Patrick
McKiimon, a senior on Third
West Hunt who signed up for
one six hour shift, partnered
up with Alex Calhoun to work
twenty one hours over that
weekend. “By the end of my
shift, I was absent mindedly hit
ting my self with a power strip,”
said McKiimon.
McKiimon was a super-geek
at the event, which meant it was
his job to make sure a computer
could turn on and an operating
system could be installed. If it
could not possibly be salvaged,
the computer went to the scrap
heap. Alex Calhoun referred
to their team as an “assembly
line,” constantly getting error
messages, opening comput
ers, and mounting new parts
where old ones did not work.
They had a problem with “anti
loader arrows” that they had for
about two hours, and they got
to the point where they could
mechanically solve it in ten
minutes.
In order to test for the internet
on every computer, the volun
teers created a phone system in
which, when the modem sent
out a signal, the computer was
tricked into thinking it was
plugged in and caused a phone
to ring. This ring was followed
by clapping, since it signified
the completion of one computer
to be shipped to a family.
SLI Mike Fliss was both a
volunteer and the event orga
nizer for the Geek-a-thon. In
addition to putting up signs, he
made sure that the Assembly
Hall could electrically handle
ranning all the technology. “I
worked all day,” he said, in ref
erence to the twenty five hours
he put in over the weekend.
Even though he said Kramden is
“still starting up,” he definitely
believes in its missioa
Fliss’s main goal as to
“make sure folks learn a little
bit more.” There was one set of
ual behavior and PDA rales,”
Jones said. “Why would we
allow something on the dance
floor that we wouldn’t let go by
in a hallway or during an IVIZ?”
In response to the complaints,
SLI’s discussed the situation
and decided to send out an e-
mail to see if the problem could
be resolved. Students found
dancing in an “inappropriate
manner” will be asked to stop
and, if the problem contin
ues, asked to leave the dance.
“During the [Halloween]
Dance many people were tapped
on the shoulder and told not to
dance like they were,” junior
Stephanie Laboy said. “As soon
as a guy walked up behind me,
an SLI jumped in and said,
‘Don’t dance like that here.’”
If the problem persists, light
ing levels may be raised, the
music played may be changed,
or Levels may be given out, but
staff hopes that students will
acknowledge a simple request.
“We don’t want to make this
a big deal,” Jones said. “We
would rather just ask people
to change their behavior and
have the problem resolved.
Senior Kam Rokon feels that
a restriction on dancing is unfair.
“We should be able to dance
however we please,” Rokon
said. “One of our few sources
of fun is grinding on girls and
they are taking that away.”
This is not the intent of the st^.
“We are not trying to be
censors,” Jones said. “We
want kids to go to the danc
es and have a good time.”
Laboy finds the staff is han
dling the situation appropriately.
“I think they are off to a good
start by addressing the problem,”
she said. “They just have to find
a good medium that works.”
Demonstrations of inappropriate (staged) and appropriate dancing.
Students find differences at LSMSA
ISMSA coirinuedhmi mgel
about perspectives on the hur
ricane from other students.
“For days after the hurricane,
many students who were from
New Orleans had no contact
with their family. A lot of
people felt like the school really
wasn’t doing anything to help,
like they were kind of ignoring
the problem.”
After the presentation of the
check, the weekend arrived with
a rash of excitement, filled with
parades, fireworks, and bonding
time with the LSMSA hosts.
NCSSM students were able to
leam about the similarities and
differences between the two
schools.
“The class sizes were really
small. And they had an interest
ing course selection. Classes
like microbiology, strategy
and military systems, and even
dance courses were offered,”
Margaret Yim said.
According to the LSMSA
official website, students are
required to take six to eight
classes per semester. One-hour
classes are held on Monday,
Wednesday, and Friday, and
ninety-minute class sessions
are held on Tuesday and Thurs
day.
“The classes seem simpler
than they are at Science and
Math. They didn’t seem to go
as in depth as we do here, and
they didn’t tiy as hard to con
nect their learning to real-life
situations,” Currier said.
LSMSA students also have
the option of graduating with
distinction in any particular
field of study. This requires
the maintenance of a 3.6 grade
point average as well as par
ticipation in research or other
projects.
“That allows students to
choose just one particular area
of study so that they don’t have
to take as many classes in the
subjects they’re not as con
cerned about,” Yim said.
Student life at LSMSA is
also different from NCSSM.
Check is taken by the Student
Life Advisors every weeknight
at ten, and every weekend at
midnight. They actually check
every room to make sure that
students are present.
Girls live in suites, with
three to four people per suite.
They even have the option of
changing roommates every few
weeks.
“That makes it seem like
there isn’t very much hall uni
ty,” Yim said.
For entertainment, many
students choose to hang out in
the Student Activities Center,
which contains a gym, pool
tables, ping-pong tables, and
televisions. However, students
have to pay for some amenities,
including the gym. Although
the school is still public, stu
dents also pay a small fee,
slightly over $1,000, to cover
fees and board.
Other differences include
the presence of lockers, a bell,
soft drinks in the cafeteria, and
cars on campus. Yes, students
with a certain GPA who have
performed community service
can drive their cars for a few
hours every Saturday.
Despite all of the differences,
Margaret jxrints out that at the
base level, the students connect,
just like those at NCSSM.
“There is the same closeness
among students. And they stay
up late studying, just like we do.
They have the same groups of
people, you know, the slackers,
the popular kids, and everyone
else, so that collectively they
are a very vibrant and dynamic
people,” Yim said.
Nevertheless, by the end of
the weekend, students aird SLIs
were ready to return to NCSSM,
the school they call home.
Most of the students who
journeyed to Louisiana felt that
they have become more appre
ciative of NCSSM.
“A lot of people at Science
and Math have started com
plaining about how the rules are
getting awfiil. But once you’ve
been to a school where the few
rales aren’t always followed
and the adults aren’t respected,
you leam to be more apprecia
tive of the rales that we have
here,” Currier said.