August 2014
News
The Stentorian I NCSSM
New Fabrication Lab
construction begins
By Betty Liu
Editor-in-Chief
As many have no doubt
noticed, there is a large
construction project taking
place next to the Art Garden
by the Reynolds building. This
is to be the site of the new
fabrication lab, an engineering
lab that offers equipment for
students interested in pursuing
fields such as robotics and
other more hands-on fields of
The new lab will come
well-stocked, offering a
variety of tools ranging from
regular hand tools to computer
controlled cutting machines.
The lab also offers machines
such as a 3-D Printer and a
laser cutter, both of which can
be used by students after some
training.
The planning for the lab
began late in 2012, with
construction beginning during
*'.i
Construction on the Peter T. Houghton Fabrication
Lab began in mid-June and will finish mid-September.
science and engineering.
The concept of a fabrication
lab, or “fab lab” for short, is
well-suited for a STEM school
like NCSSM. Joe LoBuglio,
NCSSM instructor of
engineering, de.scribes the lab
as “a maker’s space for students
to bring creations to life.”
Indeed, the lab seems to be a
dream come true for engineers
and other visionaries.
June of this year. The build is
slated to end mid-September,
and will cost the school
an estimated $525,000 by
completion.
The Peter T. Haugh-
ton Fabrication Lab, as it is
officially called, was named
in honor of an NCSSM
alumnus. Haughton graduated
in the elass of 89 and was
awarded a full scholarship to
Duke University where he
earned a bachelor’s degree
in in mathematics and public
policy in 1993. Two years
later, Haughton also earned a
B.S. in engineering from North
Carolina State University.
After graduating from North
Carolina State University,
Haughton went on to work at
IBM in Hillsborough, NC, be
fore returning to his education.
In 2002, Haughton became a
part of the Massachusetts In
stitute Program, Leaders for
Manufacturing (LFM), and
graduated with a master’s de
gree in business from the Sloan
School of Business.
Throughout his life,
Houghton was a talented
woodworker and mechanieal
engineer, often designing
innovative furniture for his
friends and relatives. He also
harbored a lifelong love of
Legos, which he collected
Irom all over the world. After
his passing, a group of his
classmates from NCSSM
raised a significant amount
of money to contribute to the
construction of the fabrication
lab and suggested honoring
Houghton in the name.
A reunion for this class
will be held sometime in
October, where there will also
be a ribbon-cutting ceremony
celebrate the completion of the
new lab.
Immigration crisis
looms, Congress falters
By Adam Hudson
Staff Writer
Since 2012, increasing
numbers of unaccompanied
children from Central
American countries have
immigrated to the US. While
originally most of these
children were from Mexico, in
recent years, their origins have
been from other, more southern
countries such as Honduras,
Guatemala, and El Salvador.
More than 50,000 of these
children, most of whom are
unattended by adults, have
arrived at the c.ountry's borders
since October of 2013, ten
times more than the number
of immigrants from 2009. This
influx is thought to be caused
by violence and strife in
Central America, from which
the children are fleeing.
These children do not avoid
law enforcement, but rather
turn themselves in, hoping
to be allowed citizenship.
Unfortunately, due to a 2008
law that requires a court
hearing for all illegal underage
Central American immigrants
before they are deported,
these children may be forced
to stay in limbo for years
by the country's insufficient
processing facilities, awaiting
a hearing. Immigration courts
and other facilities have been
overwhelmed by the surge
of child immigrants and are
unable to give them trials
quickly.
In order to solve this
problem. President Obama
has called for nearly $4
billion of emergency funds
to be directed at processing
these immigrants, saying
that the crisis is an "urgent
humanitarian situation."
This money would
be spent setting up more
detention facilities and hiring
immigration judged and Border
Patrol agents, among other
things. Republican lawmakers
accuse the president of not
enforcing the immigration law
strictly enough and therefore
oppose the appropriation of
funds for this problem.
According to one member
of the House Appropriations
Committee, a Republican, the
president was irresponsible
and "is requesting a $3.7 billion
bailout from the taxpayers to
rectify his mistakes.”
Conservative politicians
also feel that this use of
funds does not address the
underlying cause of the crisis
with proper policy changes,
such as ensuring that illegal
immigrants show up at their
hearings. Senator McCain
went so far as to call for
the repeal of the 2008 law
requiring hearings, which was
implemented to fight human
trafficking, stating that all
illegal immigrants should be
immediately deported.
On the other end of the
political spectrum, Craig
Fugate, Administrator of
the Federal Emergency
Management Agency, under
the US Department of
Homeland Security, took a
more humanitarian approach,
reminding fellow politicians
that they were dealing with a
" large number of small chi Idren,
without their parents... hungry,
thirsty, exhausted, scared, and
vulnerable."
Possible policy changes
suggested by lawmakers
include making it easier for
illegal child immigrants to
become citizens, along with
the aforementioned proposed
repeal of the 2008 legislation.
In whatever way the
lawmakers choose to address
this crisis, it is imperative
that they remember to act
empathetically in favor of
all people, without the lens
of xenophobia coloring their
vision.
Students excel in
Summer Research
By Rebecca Liu
Opinions Editor
While many students were
vacationing, perusing Netflix,
doing their required summer
service learning, or even
going on college visits, about
90 of NCSSM’s residential
and online students decided
to sacrifice a vast swath of
their summer—every day
from 8 AM to 5 PM, June 13
to July 25—to participating in
NCSSM’s Summer Research
and Internship program.
Students conducted
research and internships
at a number of prestigious
institutions and companies,
such as Lenovo, the National
Institute of Environmental
Health Sciences (NIEHS),
Engineering World Health
(EWH), Duke University,
and UNC-CH, NC State, NC
Central University (NCCU),
Meredith College, and
NCSSM, to name a few.
Many of these opportunities
were found and arranged by
Sarah Shoemaker, the research
and mentorship coordinator.
She has expanded the program
from last year, when there were
approximately 70 students.
This year, many new
followed.
The students who
participated found their
experiences very rewarding.
Teresa Meng, a current senior
who studied DNA Polymerase
III of E. Coli at NIEHS,
stated that she enjoyed her
research, and that that it was
a “valuable experience.” She
continued, saying that during
her internship she “learned a
lot about biotech,” and that
she “starting thinking more
about grad school and medical
school” because of the seminar
programs NIEHS would
provide for their interns.
When asked about his
research experience, Auston
Li—who interned at Lenovo,
testing the power usage of
Next Generation Thinkstation
Computers—claimed that
“[his] time at Lenovo was
very impactful.” He elaborated
further, describing how he
was “exposed to a corporate
working environment, high
caliber computer technology,
as well as many skilled
Development Lab workers.”
He was very impressed by
the software and programs he
used, and concluded that “if
offered a similar opportunity, it
Seniors Alyanna Ridimann (left) and Nina Sannes (right)
pose in front of Duke University's Nuclear Reactor. Students
used similar facilities to conduct their summer research.
opportunities were added,
such as a chance to research at
NCCU, or at EWH.
Jonathan Bennett, physics
instructor, was the faculty
sponsor of the students
interested in conducting their
own research in the field of
physics on NCSSM’s very
own campus. Bennett also
helped sponsor the students
conducting research at NCCU.
Michael Bruno, chemistry
instructor, was the mentor
for Chemistry research on
NCSSM’s campus.
The students who
participated in the summer
research and internship
program shared their research
experiences at the Summer
Research Symposium on July
25.
Many parents, mentors,
NCSSM staff, and students
of the NCSSM Summer
Leadership program were in
attendance. The symposium
began with a poster session,
where 14 of the students
presented their research. A
series of concurrent talks
would be one that [he] would
take in a heartbeat.”
Michael An and Seth
Teague, two of the seniors who
had the fortune of researching
at NCCU under Dr. Marvin
Wu, researched the synthesis
of graphene. Michael An spoke
passionately about his research,
describing graphene, his
methods and goals for growing
it. He also emphasized how
much he learned at NCCU.
“I certainly learned some
lab and analytical techniques,
such as SEM and Raman
microscopy, in my time at
the lab,'’ An said. “I became
familiar with the process of
determining the sources of
error in these situations, and
I believe that such a skill
is useful for any i research
student.”
An also stated that he
is unfortunately unable to
continue this project during the
school year, but says: “I think
that the program is good for
people with little experience in
research who are interested in
physics.”