august 2009
The Early Years:
1980 - 1994
We’ve all heard stories
of the pool behind Hill.
It was demolished
when the Hunt dorm
was built. The “New
Dorm ” was nicknamed
“Rome ”, because it
sure “wasn’t built in a
day either. ”
An ancient NCSSM
schedule is pictured
here. To the right of
that, evidence that
student attitudes about
cafeteria food have
not changed much
over the years. Nor
has the workservice
requirement...
A secret dormitory?
No, the Wyche House,
a boys ’dorm in the
eighties, is now called
Royall.
Below that, a scene
from Faculty Air band,
a tradition that
has now stopped.
According to Michael
Grant, class of ‘86: “ *
Well it seems one day
we had a faculty air
band contest, in which
each department was
expected to put on
a performance. Dr.
Kolena, the emcee,
made some comment
at the beginning
like 'We’ve decided
that, due to budget
cuts, we’re going
to have to ax one of
the departments, so
whoever finishes in last
place will have to go. ”’
While construction
work was going on,
students had to travel
to EK Powe (“Icky
Poo ’’) to eat their
meals.
Mid-Nineties: 1994-
1996
Alt Day later evolved
into a forum for student
life classes, assemblies,
and other activities.
They were removed
entirely with the switch
I to the trimester system.
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The first issue of the
1994 was devoted
almost entirely to Alt
Day, a new feature of
NCSSM’s calendar.
Once a month, students
had a “day off” to catch
up on homework or do
fun activities. In an
editorial titled “Time to
Explore, ” student John
Smith suggested that
students “go fishing on
the Eno river, see a play,
ballet, or orchestral
performance, take an
all-day hike trip around
Durham, [or] take a
class in martial arts. ”
r ■
the stentorian | ncssm
NCSSM THROUGH
reconstructing tl
Jennifer Zhu and Alex Lew take a trip back in time, recovering forgotten kjts of hist
pers dating back to 1994, the rich story of the School of Science and Matljjs reconst
(note: information and pictures before 1994 come from the writings of ah [jjuj pubij,
quotes are direct quotations from previc jg ■
The Bio Pond, previously
situated behind Hunt Hall,
“was removed over summer
break due to school officials ’
concerns that it was unsafe. ”
The article quotes Director of
Operations Ed McBride: “Last
winter people were walking out
on the pond when it was only
thinly iced over. ” Fish in the
Bio Pond had been found to be
parasite-ridden. The fish were
almost left to die, but in the end
were moved to another, newly
constructed pond off campus.
The events we now know as
IVIZes used to go by a different
name;'the word “Interviz”
occurs in old Stentorian
publications a number of times.
RLAs were previously DAs:
Dorm Assistants.
Smoking was permitted on
campus in 1994, making
NCSSM the only public school
in the state to allow it. “This
seems to be a bit anomolous, ”
student writer John Smith
points out. “Only the best and
brightest students are allowed
to inhale carcinogens ... Dr.
Barber, Director of Student
Life, has pointed out that the
policy of allowing limited
smoking has quite possibly
prevented students from having
to sneak off campus to smoke.
And because a student can ask
an SLI to let them outside to
smoke for a minute or two after
check, fire hazards are averted
inside dorms. ”
In 1995, Hill Dormitory was
still a girls ’hall and Bryan
belonged to the guys. The
school’s plan to switch the two
dormitories lead to a number
of student complaints, as males
would effectively be pushed to
one side of the campus, with
females on the other. “Science
& Math will turn into a fifth
grade dance with the girls on
one side of the campus and
the boys on the other, ” senior
Nikki Miller said. Girls also
expressedfears that “if the
boys move into Hill, they ’ll tear
the place apart, ” according to
junior Jenny Mclnerney. At the
time. Hill was air-conditioned
while Bryan was not.
On one Alt Day in 1995,
NCSSM held it’s first Women’s
Conference. To the left
(as originally captioned):
“Marilyn Monroe (English
teacher Ms. Elizabeth Moose)
struts her stuff to ‘Diamonds
are a Girl's Best Friend’at
the closing ceremony of the
Women’s Conference. ^Aretha
Franklin also did a number
with her back-up singers. ’
IS issues (