Voliime 4 Number 3
The North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics
June
1985
AN OPENLETTEB FROMBOPDENMACE
REFLECTIONS AFTER SIX YEARS
Standing in the shadow
of Thomas Sayre's
magnificant and towering
GNOMON, as the massive
slabs of concrete were
hoisted into place in the
center of the N.C.S.S.M.
campus, I had time to
reflect on where we as
Individuals and as a
community are, where we
came from, and where we are
gJing.
first, the sheer beauty
and symbolism of this work
of art and science by a
native of Hi^gpljon onl^ a ^
few years :, oJqer than ’
students at N.C.S.S.M. is
overwhelmip£ to me.. It is
a product of imagination
and technology, both of
which /',are creative aspects
of people, as opposed to
laws of natural or physical
science. GNOMON, weighing
43,000 pounds and precisely
aligned with the dally
motion of the sun,
symbolizes man's
preoccupation with time and
^ace.
The Greek word ’’gnomon"
can be translated to also
mean "one who examines",
and "gnomia" as "a
combining form meaning art
or science of judging or
determining." How would it
be possible to have a more
appropriate symbol or
statement at this time and
this place to represent the
vision and the dream of
' %.C.S.S.M.'s founders and
the hundreds of young men
and women who risked two
years of life away frcm
tome to "examine"
themselves and their world?
From the shadows we see
a multi~million dollar
(brmitory, new classrooms
and laboratories.
PLANS SET FOR FINALE
by Eric Jones
Graduation. An event
that simultaneously
climaxes and ends twelve
years of education. Being
that our education has been
so...well...Unusual,
Graduation holds a special
meaning for S+M ers. It
means the end of two years
of nightmarish work. It's
also the end of Senioritis
and the beginning of
Freshmanitis. Comments on
the fateful day range from
"I can't wait" to "Not yet!
I'm not ready!" It's a
once-ln-a-llfetime event,
and our seniors have worked
for it (most of them,
anyway).
On June 8, 1985, one
hundred, and seventy Seniors
will march at Northern High
School here in Durham. Two
of these seniors (Geoff
Davis and Kenro Kusuml)
left NCSSM at the end of
their junior year to enter
Duke and Harvard,
respectively. Yet they
will return to march with
their classmates.
Events actually start on
June .7. All Seniors and
junior escorts are expected
to attend a rehearsal at
10:30 A.M. at Northern.
At 2 P.M., the required
awards ceremony will be
held at Rogers/Herr Middle
School in Durham.
At 8:30 A.M. on June 8,
vans will start making
loops to Northern High.
Everyone will be expected
to be in line by 10.,' At
See Page 8
sdministrative offices, and
a potentially beautiful
me.
a
lake--excuse
biological research
pond—being completed on a
former hospital site that
in its day had been a
pioneer in serving the
people of the entire state.
I asked Ross Baker if the
first students working in
makeshift basement
"laboratories" learned as
much biology as students
using the new multi-million
dollar laboratories. "I
can't honestly say they
learned any less, but life
for teachers today is one
hell of a lot better." Of
course, a biological
research pond on campus is
a major plus as are two
electron microscopes, an
observatory, and computers
galore spread across the
campus. Three cheers,
ruffles and flourishes!
Our graduates are in the
far flung corners of the
United States with a
handful of adventurous
souls abroad. We have some
of the world's best and
brightest teachers at the
secondary level living and
learning in an
ever-increasingly inviting
campus located in the
intellectually and
culturally invigorating
Research Triangle area.
Much has been
accomplished but not
enough. This is the time
for - re-examination and
renewal. Theodore
Roosevelt wrote a marvelous
essay called "Latitude and
Longitude Among Reformers."
He quotes a fictional
would-be leader of reform:
"I don't know that I think
they are so much above us
as too far to one side.
Sometimes it is longitude
and sometimes it is
latitnde that separate^
people." Teddy Roosevelt
believed this . to be true,
and "the philosophy it
teaches applies quite as
much to those who would
reform the politics of a
large city, or, for that
matter, of the whole
country, as to those who
would reform the society of
a hamlet" or, I might add,
a small residential public
high school in Durham.
There are on each side,
unhealthy extremists who
like to take half of any
statement and twist it into
an argument in favor of
themselves or against their
opponents. They are types
of such ingrained cynicism,
that they do not believe in
the possibility of making
anything better. Others
champion reform to
emphasize their own
righteousness or
"superiority." There
remains the great body of
the people though,
Roosevelt says "including
the entire body of those
through whom the salvation
of the people must
ultimately be worked out."
He was worried about the
unhealthy and undesirable
tendency to deify mere
"smartness", unaccompanied
by a sense of moral
accountability.
Our students, present
and past, and our faculty
are speaking, as are
administrators, trustees,
staff, parents, university
representatives and
legislators. But are we
hearing each other?
The excellence of any
school lies in how its
internal processes work
constantly to improve its
performance. I personally
would like to see less
focus on institutional
SEE PAGE 2