stentonan
vol. XXXIII, Issue 5
north Carolina school of science and mathematics
World prepares for 2014 Olympics
By Su Cho
From Feb. 7-23, himdreds
of talented, skilled winter
sport athletes will represent
their respective coimtries and
compete for gold in the 2014
Winter Olympic games at
Sochi, Russia.
an Olympic medal to his
accomplishments, which
include three world titles.
This year Olympic hockey
is returning to its roots with
a standard 200-by-100 foot
international ice surface,
compared to the extremely
large NFlL-sized rink at
Athletes from a record
number of 88 nations will
participate in different
events. The most popular
and anticipated events
this year are figure
skating, ice hockey, ski
jumping, snowboarding,
and alpine skiing.
Figure skating, an
event that plays a lead role
in every Olympics, will
be under an even larger
spotlight. For the ladies’ figure
skating, both South Korea’s
Kim Yu-na and Japan’s Mao
Asada have high expectations
from their respective countries
for the gold medal.
For the men, Canada’s
Patrick Chan hopes to add
ice to recover. There’s too
much space to move the puck
through you. With that much
room to operate, it becomes
a very tactical game rather
than an emotional game.” Ken
Hitchcock, Team Canada’s
assistant coach, says.
This year. Team Russia
sochi
Vancouver in 2010.
This will affect much of
the geometry of the game,
including shooting angles and
positioning of the players.
“You can’t take the risks
that you can on a small
surface. There’s too much
hopes to win gold with , their
country behind them.
“If Russia plays for gold,
it will be the biggest game in
Russian hockey history. More
pressure than Game 8 (against
Canada in the 1972 Summit
Series),” Igor Kuperman says.
In Sochi, history will be
made in ski jumping. Since the
Winter Olympics in 1924, ski
jumping was solely a men’s
sport. This year, women will
be able to compete for the first
time.
Japan’s Sara Takanashi is
the fan favorite to become
the first female Olympic gold
medalist in the event.
Over the last ten years,
snowboarding has become
more widespread and well
known. This year, Shaun White
hopes to add another medal in
the men’s half-pipe.
White has won back-to-
back medals in this event for
the last two Olympic games.
The Sochi Olympics seems
to be the most controversial and
tense of the Olympic games,
due to the anti-gay legislation
of Russia and the numerous
terror threats received.
Despite international outcry,
Russia’s law that restricts
Ofyihftks ML ■
s new single, XO, causes
NASA controversy
By Caroline Liu
to Beyonce’s usage of the
recording in the pop song.
June Scobee Rodgers, the
widow of Challenger space
shuttle commander Dick
Scobee, told ABC, “We were
disappointed to learn that an
audio clip from the day we lost
our heroic Challenger crew
In Beyonce Knowles newly
released single, XO, from
her latest album, Beyonce,
the singer/song writer has
caused a heated debate after
incorporating audio recordings
of the 1986 Challenger shuttle
disaster.
The tragic ac
cident resulted in
the death of all
seven crewmem
bers aboard the
space shuttle. In
the opening of
the song, NASA
public affairs of
ficer Steve Nes
bitt is sampled
saying “Flight
controllers here
looking very
carefully at the
situation. Obvi
ously a major
malfunction.”
In response,-
Worley, NAS^As An image from Beyonce’s single, XO.
saying that “the choice is
little different than taking
Walter Cronkite’s words to
viewers announcing the death
of President Kennedy or 911
calls from the World Trade
Center attack and using them
for shock value in a pop tune.”
Beyonce and her
Courtesy of digitalspy.com
press secretary, released this
statement: “The Challenger
accident is an important part of
our history; a tragic reminder
that space exploration is
risky and should never be
trivialized. NASA works every
day to honor the legacy of our
fallen astronauts as we cany
out our mission to reach for
new heights and explore the
universe.”
Many NASA • astronaut
families are also objecting
was used in the song 'XO'. The
moment included in this song
is an emotionally difficult one
for the Challenger families,
colleagues and friends. We
have always chosen to focus
not on how our loved ones
were lost, but rather on how
they lived and how their legacy
lives on today.”
Keith Cowing, a former
NASA worker who operates
the website NASA Watch,
also criticized the sample.
management however have
come out defending Beyonce’s
artistic choices. “My heart
goes out to the families of
those lost in the Challenger
disaster. The song 'XO' was
recorded with the sineerest
intention to help heal those
who have lost loved ones and
to remind us that unexpected
things happen, so love and
appreciate every minute that
you have with those who mean
the most to you,” Beyoned said
in a statement to ABC. “The
songwriters included the audio
in tribute to the unselfish work
of the Challenger crew with
hope that they will never be
forgotten.”
At NCSSM, it is well known
that Instructor of Chemistry
Myra Halpin has many con
nections with
NASA. Having
flown her stu
dents experiment
aboard NASA’s
Reduced Gravity
Plane and been
named NASA’s
Teacher in Space
Finalist, Halpin
is also friends
with many
NASA astro
nauts, ineluding
those who were
on the flight.
“I was there
fbr the launch
at the time and
I knew most
of the crew. So
when I heard
the countdown, it definitely
brought back strong emotions,
just listening to the verbiage.”
When asked about whether
or not she thought the recording
was appropriate in the song,
Halpin responded “I don’t see
that it was a tribute to the tragic
incident. I think it just evoked
emotion, leaving the listeners
confused. I think it would have
been more fitting if the actual
song had been related to the
loss of the great Heroes.”
january/february 2014
stentorianl23@gmail.com
SG
update
By Kim Ngo
This month SG has been
collaborating with Mr. Brown,
the new head of the PFM,
and Director of Residential
Life Michael Newbauer about
issues students were concerned
about with the PFM food as
well as participating in the
ASG conferenee.
Many students complained
that dirmer lines were being
closed before 7:30 so less
options were available to
students who eame into the
PFM later to eat dinner. SG
emphasized this issue to
Brown, since it is a violation
of the PFM contract, and it has
been fixed.
Another significant focus
is menu modifications. Since
there are some menu items that
are very popular with students
(such as chicken parmesan and
Mexican “build-your-own”
tacos), SG wants to increase
the frequency of those dishes
and decrease the frequency of
less popular food items.
Vegetarian options were
another major concern for
students. While therfe is
generally pasta, steamed
vegetables, and rice, there is a
significant lack of vegetarian
protein. Tofu has been added
now to the stir fiy line (in
addition to the meat option)/
The PFM staff is working to
incorporate other sources of
vegetarian protein into the
menu as weft.
SG also wants to encourage
more healthy and nutritious
options, which will allow
students to maintain a healthful
diet and optimal \yell-being.
One thing that has already
been done is having fruit
salad available at the salad bar
during lunch and dinner. (It
was previously only available
at breakfast). SG wants to
make sure this is continued,
and has advocated for fresh,
seasonal fruits and vegeables.
Over extended, four SG
delegates attended the January
meeting of the Association of
Student Govememens hosted
by UNC-Greensboro and North
Carolina A&T. Two funding
grants were approved at the
meeting, one to support Junior
Anli Zhang’s Multicultural
Fashion Show and another to
purchase a camera for SG.
Delegates also discussed
a resolution to encourage the
UNC system to procure only
electronies made from conflict-
free materials and approved
a program encouraging
Student Governments to
conduct financial literacy
training workshops for their
constituents.