Oetober-November 2016
FEATURES
The Stentorian | NCSSM
Newly-Elected Junior Senators Roll
Up Sleeves and Get to Work
By ELIZABETH BEYER
This September, six juniors
were elected as senators to
represent their class. Since
then, the new senators have
transitioned from ardent
campaigning, to assuming their
new role in NCSSM’s Student
Government Association
(SGA). Stephanie Yao, Giovani
Leone, Aman Singh, Wesley
Block, Shiv Patel, and Lu Cao
have begun work to improve
the academic programs and
community at NCSSM to best
serve the junior class.
The junior senators were
not met with a formal induction
ceremony, but with a job to do.
The first steps of rising to the
challenge involved sorting the
senators into committees. For
Yao, this was the Academic
Calendar and Schedule
committee.
Stephanie Yao.
Her position on this
committee allows her to
meet with faculty and talk
about changes the SGA wants
to make in the academic
calendar. Additionally, she has
already set plans in motion
for delivering on one of the
promises of her platform at
the time of this publication,
SmathTalks, similar to TED
talks but tailored to the NCSSM
community, is planned to be
chartered soon by Yao, who
will start recruitment shortly.
Other candidates are making
efforts to show the community
who they are and what they
plan to accomplish. Leone,
for instance, had set plans
in motion even prior to his
election to create a school alma
mater, or song. He has initiated
discussions with band director
Phillip Riggs about holding a
contest for students and alumni
to submit their proposed alma
maters. Leone plans to set a
due date for submissions near
the start of 2017.
“I’m really trying to build
on community and communal
pride. We already have this
fantastic community; I really
just want to wrap it together,”
Leone said, regarding his
motivations for creating the
alma mater and becoming a
junior senator. He wants to
use support from the SGA to
promote communal pride with
ideas such as having themed
nights for athletic events.
Furthermore, Leone wants
to expand the way in which
students are kept healthy by
having supportive and open
discussions about mental
health.
Giovani Leone.
Leone is part of the
Student Activities committee
and Governmental Affairs
committee. Through Student
Activities, Leone works to
upkeep and improve the
campus and other aspects of life
which students encounter on a
daily basis. The Governmental
Affairs community allows
Leone to explore and revise
older bills and laws of SGA.
Between the junior
senators, there is some overlap
in committees. Aman Singh
is also a member of the
Governmental Affairs, helping
to make sure the senate is
following the proper laws in
its conduct. Singh is involved
with the Academic Affairs
committee, which is currently
working towards increasing
grade transparency.
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Aman Singh.
Student Affairs committee,
which falls in line with his
original goal of getting longer
hours in the PEC and library.
Although he has yet to set
these times. Block is working
on achieving the same effect
in other ways. For example,
he wants the basketball hoop
outside of the cafeteria fixed
for students to play. Block is
outgoing and passionate about
meeting people, and he believe
this will help him “advocate for
students” as a junior senator.
He understands the consensus
of the general population,
making him an effective leader
for the school.
Wesley Block.
Unlike other candidates,
Singh did not have specific
goals for how he would use
his position as junior senator
to improve the school. Not
wanting to promise something
he could not deliver, Singh
maintained the broad idea of
strengthening the community.
“1 want to make sure that if
any junior has an opinion
about something that they
want to share, they can tell
me and I will be able to voice
their opinions at the senate
meetings,” Singh said. Now,
with a better idea of his
capabilities as a junior senator,
he wants to collaborate with
the Programming committee to
plan events that bring students
together.
One SGA member Singh
may be working closely
with in that goal is Block.
Block has been working on
a variety of events as part of
the Programming committee,
including October’s Fall
Festiv-ALL and SGA Lock-
In. He is also a member of the
Each senator brings
something new to the table.
Patel, like Block, wants to
advocate for students, but
also stresses that he has
his own ideas he wants to
implement. Patel was assigned
to the Academic Affairs and
Outreach committees, in the
hopes that those committees
would allow him to achieve his
goals.
Through the Academic
Affairs committee, Patel
wants to enhance the course
registration system. The
Outreach committee, on the
other hand, lets Patel make the
SGA more accessible to the
student population. Recently,
a bill has been passed to grant
the members of SGA laptop
stickers. When a student sees
this sticker, they can reach out
the the member and discuss
their opinions of issues in the
school.
Shiv Patel.
This is just one example of
the efficiency and authority
of SGA in comparison to
other schools. The junior
senators each remarked on the
differences of SGA at NCSSM.
“It’s more flexible. We’re able
to do a lot more things than
we could at my old school.
We have more capabilities,”
Patel said. Funding and lack
of interest are not a problem
for NCSSM’s SGA, and the
junior senators have seen that
they have the potential to
make some real change in the
community.
Cao has also seen this
change. With his experience
in SGA in the past, Cao knows
what it is like to have limited
power and authority in a
school.
Lu Cao.
This year, Cao is excited to
be on the Programming and
Student Affairs committee to
further his original platform.
Part of this platform was to
create the NCSSM Human
Library, where students can
“check out” a fellow student
to learn about their stories.
Cao is hoping his work ethic,
organizational skills, and level
headedness will help make him
a good leader for his class.
Since their election, the
class of 2018’s junior senators
have been hard at work,
transforming the school and
acting upon the goals they
have set for the school year.
With plans already set in place,
students can look towards Yao,
Leone, Singh, Block, Patel,
and Cao for guidance and
advocacy at NCSSM. To voice
your opinion, contact any one
of the junior senators through
Facebook, email, or in person.
All photography courtesy of
Elizabeth Beyer.
SNAPSHOTS: NCSSM and Duke Wind
Ensembles Play Joint Concert
By AVRA JANZ
Members of the NCSSM
Wind Ensemble traveled to
Duke University’s Baldwin
Auditorium to join the Duke
Wind Symphony in playing
music by renowned composer
John Mackey on Oct. 17.
Mackey was present for the
Duke-NCSSM event, a version
of which takes place every
other year, and he introduced
each of his pieces that were
played. Mackey also assisted
the two groups in rehearsing
his pieces on the Tuesday prior
to the concert.
At the concert, students also
played the piece Nothing Gold
Can Stay by Durham composer
Stephen Bryant. Bryant was
also present at the concert, and
students were able to meet both
him and Mackey at its end.
RKl) DUTTA
NCSSM and Duke students join together to play John Mackey s
Undertow, inspired by videogame Legend of Zelda under Duke
Wind Symphony conductor Verena Mdsenbichler-Bryant.
KATHKKINK BARNKS
Christian DeSimone, Katherine Bennett, Savannah Cary, Katie
Barnes and Nick Turecky Join John Mackey after the concert.