Newspapers / North Carolina School of … / Dec. 1, 2009, edition 1 / Page 5
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the stentorian 1 ncssm news december 2009 Students Teach Eyes To Read Hearts Vendors Add Flavor to Happy Half By Jaehee Yoo For the first time at NCSSM, students this year have had the chance to participate in a number of Electrocardiography 101 sessions designed to familiarize students with cardiology, the study of the heart. Shaivya Pathak and Sandy Kim, seniors, created this course to help students learn the basic concepts of electrocardiography. Throughout their junior year, summer and the beginning of their senior year, Pathak and Kim carefully designed this project and thoroughly learned all of the materials. Electrocardiography, also called ECG or the EKG, is a machine-recorded interpreta tion of the electrical activity of the heart captured over time. The course was an experi ment: cardiologists are typical ly trained to read electrocardio grams by memorizing different images and the symptoms they most likely correspond to, but Pathak and Kim attempted to teach students to read the imag es by helping them understand the real meanings of every part of the electrocardiograms. “Sandy stresses the impor tance of comprehending the By Peter McNeary material; she encourages ques tions, even when they keep her 30 minutes over, and continu ally tries to find new ways to explain concepts that we strug gle with,” said junior Lillian Kang. Pathak and Kim wanted to know if their students, taught to understand the messages conveyed by the electrocardio grams, pinpoint abnormalities on an image as accurately as a cardiologist would? Electrocardiography 101 had limited space; there was a total of eight students en rolled in the sessions. The stu dents learned about the heart in depth as well as reading the ECGs (Electrocardiograms) throughout the course’s three- week period of time. Even though the Electrocar diography course did not count as a credit, students were ex pected to spend betw een one to three hours outside of school, contributing to their studies. Over the course of three weeks, students were exposed to hand models and heart models, also everyday items such as chalk boards and projectors. See “Hearts” Page 8 Student Government has been working to widen the student body’s food options on campus in recent weeks. Although unable to realistically alter the cafeteria’s performance, SG is exploring' the idea ofbusinesses appearing at Happy Half Student body president Saumil Jariwala is taking the initiative in the effort to attract local eateries to Happy Half In the winter, students who are not in the mood for food Ifom the cafeteria will be able to buy food on campus at night and have a diverse number of choices. “It serves as a nice alternative to the PFM without competing directly. I think it’s the future of food options on campus,” said Jariwala. Optimistic for Happy Half’s potential role in presenting students with food options, SG has already arranged for Devil’s Pizzeria, located on Ninth Street, to sell pizza during the half hour. Ziad Lobbad, the owner of Devil’s Pizzeria, agreed to sell pizza on campus Sunday through Thursday as well as take orders for Stromboli, calzones, subs, Buffalo wings, and pasta as long as orders are placed an hour in advance. Before Devil’s Pizzeria I started coming to Happy Half Randy’s Pizzeria vendor. Randy’s feedback Students enjoy slices from Devil’s Pizzeria at Happy Half. had been the only The pizza from has drawn negative from the student body. According to Lobbad, Randy’s has been selling second-rate pizza. “Randy’s is giving you leftover pizza. They close at ten, and whatever leftover pizza they have, they box it up and bring it [to students here],” said Lobbad. All of the food brought to Happy Half from Devil’s is made directly beforehand. Students’ visible preference for pizza from Devil’s has already forced Randy’s to sell more pizza per box for the same price as before. For the first time a few nights ago, Ricky’s Pizza appeared at Happy Half as well. When asked about the possibility of more vendors coming to sell •Photo by Dustin Burleson food, Lobbad threatened to stop attending Happy Half “Why do you need 20 vendors out there? It’s silly. If that happens, I will not do it,” Lobbad said. While competition between vendors is healthy, SG must assess whether or not there is enough demand to support more than the current number of vendors. Only a certain percentage of students choose to buy food each night, and if that percentage is split between three or more vendors, there will not be an incentive for vendors to attend Happy Half As most students run tight budgets, there is probably not enough money in circulation on campus to keep options open. As SG continues negotiations with vendors, students can look forward to what might be in store for Happy Half School Welcomes New Faculty and Staff By Lanair Lett Despite budget cuts and a freeze on new hires, the school has welcomed several new faculty and staff members this year. Ashton Powell is a new AP Biology and anatomy instructor at NCSSM. He attended Colorado College, a small liberal arts college in Colorado Springs, where he majored in Neuroscience. Powell planned to go to medical school; however, he enjoyed neuroscience so much that he instead took a position at the Yale Multiple Sclerosis Research Center where he worked in clinical trials. Eventually, he attended UNC- Chapel Hill where he pursued his Ph.D. in Neurobiology. Towards the end of graduate school, Powell became interested in the interactions between science, society, and law, an interest he hopes to continue here by offering classes that focus on this subject. He actually intends to offer a seminar this year and is teaching the Mini-Term course “Neuroscience.” “After teaching medical and graduate students, high school students are the most engaged and interested, and ask the most challenging questions, so they keep me on my toes,” Powell said. Powell said that this is exactly why he enjoys high school students so much: it is because they are so open to learning. He concluded that in actuality the most difficult thing was being separated from his newborn son. Ershela Sims joined the Applied Sciences Program as a Principles of Engineering instructor. Sims holds a PhD as well as undergraduate and graduate degrees in Biomedical Engineering. She is also currently teaching at Duke’s medical school. Being new at NCSSM has certainly not held Sims back from getting involved outside the classroom. Sims has not only agreed to help with the salsa dance for Latin America fest but is teaching a Medical Instrumentation seminar this trimester. New Student Life Instructors outnumbered new faculty members this year. Seven of the twenty Student Life Instructors on campus, or approximately one third, are new SLIs this year. These SLIs are David Buff of Second East, Gabe Barrientez of Second West, Matt Boemer of Third West, Juan Bums of Fourth East, Fran Peters of Ground Royall, Emmie Corl of First Royall, Linsey Morrison of Third Bryan. Last year, when Director of Student Services Kevin Cromwell led the interv iews for new Student Life Instmctors, students were asked to have lunch with the candidates. iff ^si ft ^ On the far left, new SLI Emmie Corl dresses up as a nerd with her hall. First Royall, on spirit day. • Photo by Rachel Pollard The new SLIs have a variety of interesting backgrounds. Linsey Morrison is an NCSSM alumna, and several of the new SLIs have served as Residential Assistants. Barrientez’s previous work experience includes working for two years at a Methodist children’s home for troubled teenagers. There, he worked as the recreational coordinator, basketball coach, and math teacher. In comparison with his previous positions, Barrientez really enjoys being an SLI because he has a smaller number of residents so he is able to develop a closer relationship with them. The new SLIs have stepped up in their roles. As a new SLI, Peters served as SLI of both Ground Royall and L' Royall until Corl became the new SLI of 1“ Royall a few weeks into the school year. Though she is a latecomer, Corl showed her dedication to being a SLI by coming out in full nerd apparel to the Nerd Day competition. Buff and Bums also regularly participate in basketball games with their halls, gaining admiration from the boys on hall. “He got skills,” commented Antavious Ashe. Bums is also serving as the Assistant Coach of Boys’ Basketball this year. Though they are new on campus, these recent additions to the faculty and staff have already immersed themselves in NCSSM life.
North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics Student Newspaper
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Dec. 1, 2009, edition 1
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