the stentorian I ncssm
february 2006
Students give back to state through
summer service iearning requirement
BY Jamie Winslow
A s a graduation require
ment, students are re
quired to eomplete a
minimum of sixty hours of
community service at an agency
of their choice. Although, as
Conununity Service Coordina
tor Kevin Cromwell pointed
out, “60% of students exceeded
the minimum requirement of
hours.”
A fairly new requirement
is that students must maintain
a journal that reflects their
thoughts on the position that
they held. Are you enjoying
your tasks? Have you learned
any new skills? Why did you
choose this agency? At the
completion of your project,
you are required to make a
poster and encouraged to take
pictures to share with others.
At a poster sharing session in
the fall, students are evaluated
by the faculty as to whether
they completed the community
service project satisfactorily.
Students are not allowed to
receive monetaiy compensation
for the service, and tlK agency
they choose to volunteer with
must be non-profit. One has the
choice to complete his hours the
.summer before junior year or
the summer before senior year.
Students in the past have
shared their time in many agen
cies, including group homes,
nursing homes, pubhc Hbraries,
and hospitals. You can choose
any agency that you are inter
ested in and it does not have
to correlate with your intended
college major,' though usually
should be something you are
interested in.
In the future, NCSSM staff
is hoping to gear the commu
nity service requirement more
towards service learning and
break students into smaller
groups for a reflection session
on their experience, but no ma
jor changes are foreseen for the
next few years. Cromwell said,
“I am excited that NCSSM stu
dents served over 200 agencies
this summer and provided North
Carolina with over 23,000 hours
of conununity service.”
While sixty hours might seem
like a big chunk out of your
summer. Senior Arm Mast said,
“It was very rewarding!”
Volunteering Facts
•From September 2003 to September 2004, 64.5 million
people in America volunteered their time for some sort of
work. This is 5 million more than In 2001.
•Women volunteer more often than men.
•People between 35 and 44 are more likely to volunteer.
•The top volunteers are those who are religiously affiliated,
coming into a close second are those Involved with education
or youth services.
•40% of people volunteer on their own accord, while 42%
were asked or required to volunteer.
Source: http://www.mttomhervice,gov/abotttAx>lunteertng,-mjhe_us.asp
Students write novels
for 2005 NaNoWrlMo
BY Mary Kohlmann
O kay, you need to write
more than fifteen hun
dred words a day for the
next four weeks. Go.
No, it’s not an American
Studies project, nor is related
to WECS. This particular as-
sigrunent is none other thanNa-
tional Novel Writing Month, or
NaNoWriMo, as its thousands
of enthusiastic participants have
"I enjoyed
working on
something and
calling it an
actual novel."
-Kathleen
Hebert
dubbed it.
NaNoWriMo defines itself
as “a fun, seat-of-your-pants ap
proach to novel writing. Partici
pants begin writing November
1. The goal is to write a 175-
page (50,000-word) novel by
midnight, November 30.” Im
possible? So it would seem.
However, the sheer insanity
of the deadline is what, elaims
founder Chris Baty, makes
the process so much fun. The
need for quantitative output is
designed to free writers from
the self-criticism that leaves so
many opening chapters stuffed
into dusty drawers. A frenzied
NaNoWriMo-er is less likely,
according to the logic of Baty
and the 42,000 others who
participated in 2004, than other
novice novelists to lose heart at
his or her less-than-stellar new
bie prose and more likely to just
keep writing.
Several NC
SSM students took
the challenge. Said
Whitney Baker,
“I’ve never actually
gotten beyond seven
hundred and fifty
words, but I really
enjoy the idea. I’ll
definitely do it next
year.” Junior Kath
leen Hebert agrees.
“It’s really helpful to
have a specific goal
for your writing, and
I enjoyed working
on something and
calling it an actual
novel. But then ex
ams happened, and I
kind of stopped,” she said.
This seems to have been
something of a pattern for stu
dents here, and even in places
that do not give major tests in
the middle of November. The
website states that out of the
42,000 who started novels in
2004, only 6,000 got to 50,000
words. But as the website says,
“That’s ok. Nothing ventured,
nothing gained, right?”
Eilber Enthusiasts rally Unicorn basketball fans
AS TOLD TO Alex Solomon
W ho are those people in
the stands at all home
basketball games?
And why are they wearing
skirts and dress coats? Well,
my friends, those fanatics are
the latest craze to hit Uni-sports:
The Eilber Enthusiasts. The
ring leader himself, 2nd Bryan-
er. Doc Dougherty explains.
How did this come about?
The “culf ’ of the Eilber en
thusiasts, like all great things,
began on night in the 2B lounge.
Zach Hackney and I (John
James Dougherty Jr.) were
discussing the possibility of
getting a large group together to
cheer at basketball games. Until
that point, the crowd had been
filled with tlie familiar regulars,
but was never anything more
than students at a game. We
wanted something more. That
night he and I sent an to email
any and everyone we thought
interested. Tliis is a draft of the
original email;
Hey Eilber Enthusiasts,
This is the beginning of out-
new cheering section distri
bution list. The purpose of this
list is to UNI-fy our cheering
efforts. This -will be the greatest
season in NCSSM basketball
cheering history! Thefirst order
of business is to ensure that we
have the greatest number of
people to support our unicorns
at every game. Please spread
the word of this distribution
list. Also, pro-vide me -with the
names of people to add, our aim
is for an entire reserved section
next to the pep band. Next, we
have to guarantee that we
are the best fans possible.
The first suggestion is that
everyone brings their own
personal noisemakers to
the Thursday game. (Irwin,
grab that horn!) In upcoming
mailings we will create new
and inventive cheers. Please
stay in correspondence by
proposing such cheers. In
addition, we need a name for
this gang! Suggest uniforms
and new seating foimations
(i.e. distracting colors). -Doc
& Zackney
So, how was the response?
From then oa it spread like
wildfire. By our first game
together against Emerson
Waldorf, we had T-shirts and
signs made, noisemakers.
clieers and cliants. aixl even
a reporter from the Durham
news. Needless to say. we
won that game in blowout
fashion. That would be the
first of several home M ins
to come.
How do you think this has af
fected the school?
The impact of E 2 is nearly
immeasurable. The group was
modeled after the Cameron
Crazies of Duke University’s
Cameron Indoor Stadium (the
most hostile arena in all of
college sports). There is not an
John 'Doc' Dougherty showing his Uni spirit
Eilber Enthusiast who doesn’t
believe that we affect the game.
Whether it is with our patented
spirit-fingers to ensure made
free-throws, or our tactical dis
tractions to create mistakes by
the opposition, our presence is
felt. I believe we empower our
team to succeed while strik
ing fear in
the hearts of
visitors.
We are
no average
fans. Any
one who
has been
to a home
game this
year knows
that E 2
holds noth
ing back.
Most fans
of sport
ing events
would be
hesitant
to cross-
dress, but
not us.
Have you
seen the
banana
suit? E 2
does every
thing and
anything
to ensure
that we give our unis the best
chance to win and make the Ei
lber PEC hell on the hardwood
for visiting teams.
Why you, Doc?
I’m not a real athletic guy, but I
tmly love sports. E 2 is a way
that I can participate in NCSSM
athletics without the being an
athlete. Don’t get me vvrong- we
still suffer our share of injuries:
strained larynx, sore feet, but
it’s all part of the job.
How do you see E 2 in the
future?
As for the future, I sincerely
hope that the legaey of E 2 is
passed on through the genera
tions of Science and Mathers.
We’ve had a great start this
year and made some really big
strides. I’m excited about the
prospect of my junior class
taking the ball and miming with
it. My dream is that in 10 or
20 years I can pick up a sports
illustrated and see pictures of
Eilber Enthusiasts in action.
When I come back for alumni
night at the Eilber PEC. I expect
not to be the only male painted
and wearing a skirt. E 2 is just
the first step in turning NCSSM
basketball from a team of nerds
into one of the most elite bas
ketball dynasties in liigh school
sports history.