Newspapers / The stentorian. / Dec. 1, 2011, edition 1 / Page 2
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december 2011 features the stentorian i ncssm Controversial works in AmStud-What is their place? By: Noah Lieberman “I saw the best minds of my generation, destroyed by madness, starving, hysterical, naked.” Thus begins the poem “Howl” by Allen Ginsberg, one the most influential and controversial American poems of the twentieth century. The direct references to and such a large scope, where do teachers draw the line between including important works and avoiding possibly controversial material? Elizabeth Moose, American Studies instructor and Dean of Humanities, said that she includes Ginsberg in her class Allen Ginsberg drug use and discussion of sex and sexuality have caused several schools and districts to ban the poem ip the classroom, despite its immense impact on American culture and literature. The poem is taught in some American Studies classes at NCSSM, but the treatment of the poem raises a question about the class; In a class with so many possibilities Courtesy of American Poems but recognizes that each teacher has their own preferences. “There are no rules guiding what teachers can or cannot teach,” said Moose, “I trust the teachers to make the best decisions in their classrooms to respect different points of view.” Ms. Moose’s class includes a reading of another Ginsberg work, “America”, which contains strong language and sexual themes. Moose says that if students don’t want to read aloud a certain section they have the right to pass it along to another classmate. She recognizes that some things are controversial. Moose feels fine about having certain classes or students not examine certain works because the themes in those works are present throughout the period. She pointed to the common themes in Ginsberg’s works and the classic novel Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. Moose said that the diversity of works studied in American Studies means that students have the ability to learn about the material in some way without making them extremely uncomfortable. The important thing says Moose, “is that students come face to face with the material and discuss it in the classroom.” The last thing she wants is for students to “take a controversial piece that is a satire of society and be seduced into thinking it is a positive thing instead of a negative example.” American Studies covers a wide range of topics; so many that teachers can’t possibly fit all the material they want to teach into the class. In the end this may mean that some controversial material gets left out for a more conventional piece of literature. But Moose feels that it’s not the classes’ place to show the students all of American literature. “AmStud is like being a kid in a candy store. There’s no way to eat it all... but we’ll give you enough goodies to make you want to eat more. Our job is to open the door for the students who want to explore future humanities.” Senioritis sweeps through the class of 2012 By: Wynter Wolff The beginning of January marks a lot of milestones for seniors at NCSSM. Halfway through the last year of high school, graduation starts to become more than just an inevitable day known about all one’s life. All of the college applications are finished and sent in. Unfortunately, looking forward to the end of the year sometimes leads to a serious lack of motivation in the mean time. This, along with a series of other debilitating symptoms, make up the common ailment common among high school seniors in their final stretch, Senioritis. We have all been hearing about senioritis for a long time. We have watched multiple classes claim to be stricken by the “sickness” as graduation day approaches, exhibiting many of the symptoms that the Urban Dictionary definition sets forth. However, while the “dismissive attitude” that is described seems to hold no major consequences, one has to be careful of letting Senioritis affect our performance in class. “It’s hard to make myself do work at all. Sometimes I find myself not starting my homework until midnight,” says senior Coraline Badgett, “1 know that it’s bad, but I feel like it won’t matter if I get bad grades now, because colleges won’t see them.” While much of the class of 2012 has succumbed to at least a mild case of senioritis, some students are working just as hard as before. Hannah IMSAand NCSSM: sister schools across the country By: Joy Hill NCSSM is not the only residential high school with a focus in science and mathematies. Among many across the country is NCSSM’s ‘sister school,’ IMS A, the Illinois Math and Science Academy located in Aurora, IL, that was founded the year after NCSSM. IMSA and NCSSM are very similar, with only a few minor differences. Just like the NCSSM cur riculum, IMSA students are required to take a mini mum of five core classes, though per semester rather than trimester. In addition, IMSA has a wellness requirement and a fine arts requirement that most students fulfill senior year. The fine arts requirement entails taking a semester of band, painting, photography, or another arts course. IMSA students attend classes only four days a week, with Wednesday being set aside to pursue research and mentorship opportunities. Students conduct research at universities, which includes the University of Chicago and Northwestern University. A large part of senior year consists of college and scholarship applications, and just like here, there is no set class time to work on these. Students at IMSA, according to current IMSA senior Yusuf Aktan, “feel even more stressed because the workload tends to be larger senior year, especially with the addition of the application process.” Speaking of applications, IMSA prospective students apply during freshmen year, because the academy is three years long. In fact, 17% of their newest accepted class entered IMSA after completion of their eighth grade year. From each NCSSM graduating class, a majority of the graduates attend either UNC or NC State. Similarly, a majority of IMSA graduates attend the University of Illinois Courtesy of IMSA Courtesy of NCSSM at Urbana-Champagne. However, not all of IMSA attendees m^e it to graduation. About 1 in 5 students do not complete their three years at IMSA, just as some NCSSM students cannot handle the intense workload and stress that come with being a student in these types of settings. Sheffield, who was accepted to Wake Forest University in August, isn’t letting her assurance into college allow her to slack off in school. She’s using the absence of college stress to get a jump- start on her next year’s courses. “A lot of the courses I’m taking next year are dependent on the ones I’m taking this year. Doing well in the classes that I’m taking now will just help me later when I have to take similar ones in college.” As the school year comes to an end, more and more of the class of 2012 may begin to contract this illness. However, with five more months until the end of the year, it’s important to keep in mind that grades are still important and we shouldn’t give up just quite yet. Senioritis NOUN. A CRIPPLING DISEASE THAT STRIKES HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS. Symptoms include; LAZINESS,AND FEATURES A LACK OF STUDYING , REPEATED ABSENCES, AND A GENERALLY DISMISSIVE ATTITUDE. The only known cure is A PHENOMENON KNOWN AS Graduation.
Dec. 1, 2011, edition 1
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