Volume VII, Number 2
The North Carolina School of Science and Mathematlca
December 18,1987.
v.4ij
Holidays at S&M
The Art Department shows the spirit of the season with
Its decorated tree
ISP To Begin Next Term
by Pete Eisenhauer
The Independent Scho
lars Program (ISP), which
starts second semester, will
allow seniors to compose
new Interdisciplinary inde
pendent study programs, com
plete graduation requirements
for English, and earn ad
vanced credit In science and
mathematics.
Seniors who wished to
be considered for the pro
gram were required to dev
elop detailed proposals of
studies to be completed in
their second semester. The
ISP Selection Committee re
viewed the proposals. The
criteria for selection include
attendance record, the qual
ities of the study plan pro
posed, and the interdlsclpll-
Koreans Rock S&M
by Bo W allace
Six Korean educators vis
ited NCSSM for two weeks
last month to investigate crea
tive American teaching
methods.
Visiting several classes en
compassing a wide variety
of disciplines, the Koreans ex
amined the teaching techni
ques responsible for the
creativity they believe to be
unique to American students,
Korean classes are usually lec
tures in which the students
memorize material and feed
it back to the instructor
on tests, Though this may
be less creative than
American teaching methods,
it consistently results in
higher standardized
test scores. As a result, the
Koreans have been uneasy
about implementing the teach
ing techniques they have ob
served in the United States.
This marks the third
year that Korean educators
have visited NCSSM. For
two out of three years, biol
ogy teacher Ross Baker has
been their host. Of the ex
perience, Mrs, Baker said,
"I enjoy doing this because
1 think we have so many in
teresting things going on at
this school, and I think that
there are so many wonder
ful opportunities for our stu-,
dents."
The Koreans saw several
things at NCSSM which in
terested them. An example
of this was found in Dr.
McNamara's lab. Students in
the lab performed skits ac
ting out the Krebs cycle.
Unfortunately, the Koreans
understood little English
without the aid of a trans
lator and had limited interac
tion with NCSSM students.
The educators also visited
classes at Chapel Hill High
School and East Guilford
High School,
Casual Killings Run Rampant
by Jayashri Ghate
Two seniors developed a
new game this fall at
NCSSM. Called "Assassin,"
the game has pitted as
many as fifty-six students
against each other in a com
petition of stealth, deception,
and aggressiveness.
Each player contributes
twenty-five cents to receive
the name of the person
who is his or her "assign
ment." It is the task of the
player to "kill" that person
with his choice of weapon,
limited to a set of weapon
guidelines. Weapons have
included water guns, dart
guns, and wads of paper
larger than a racquet ball
Upon elimination, the
player’s target becomes the
new target of his or her as
sassin. The last person left
alive receives the money col
lected at the outset of the
game.
Assassin, received with
huge enthusiasm from the
student body, was the
brainchild of seniors Long
Bui and David Hsu who
were interested in aeatlng
"something new to do at
school" The game has been
played twice this fall
Wedad Emalghraby was the
last left of the twenty-six
who competed in the first
round, and in the second
round, Theresa Cannon was
the last of fifty-six.
For those interested in
taking part in further
bloodthirstiness and paranoia,
another round is tentatively
planned for the second
semester.
nary extent of the studies.
The Introduction to Col
lege Math and basic physics
courses cannot be exempted,
because there is no physics
teacher on the ISP staff
and because ICM is a grad
uation requirement. Students
also cannot redesign an exist
ing course without giving it
an interdisciplinary angle.
The ISP is similar to
Project Excel, a former inde
pendent study program
which was made defunct
when students abused the
program. The structure of
the new program will
prohibit such abuses and
will provide an opportunity
for interested seniors.
Eleven seniors have ap
plied fn: fifteen projects and
all have been tentatively ap
proved. The students def
ended their proposals before
the ISP selection board on
December first and second.
Chosen finalists and their
parents will meet with the
ISP faculty.
Most students, when
creating their proposals,
began to realize that it may
be more work than they
are presently Involved in.
One senior applying for the
program stated, "It looks like
it would be a lot of fun-
and a lot of work." She es
timated a combined total of
over twenty-four hours a
week of ISP projects while
most students take between
15 to 20 hours of classes a
week
Clubs Stay Busy With Activities
by Hui Sun Kim and
Eugene Yen
DRAMA GUILD
(Tamara Caspary): Plans are
being made to produce a
series of pre-written scenes
in January for the student
body. "Words from V/ithin",
a student-driven production,
is slated for the spring,
FOCUS (Renee Collins):
A January 29 fashion show
U planned to feature various
spring fashions. Another
show, planned for March
26, will feature prom attire.
Monthly workshops are held
by professionals to prepare
the club for these shows.
FORENSICS (Howard
Weeks): The club practiced
Its oratory skills at its first
tournament December 4 8
5 at High Point, Mykeko
Bryant advanced to the seml-
flnallst round.
FRENCH CLUB
(Wedad Elmaghraby): After
the holiday break, the dub
plans to visit the Museum
of Arts in Raleigh. Also
planned ate a variety of
fund raisers during "a week
of activities" when the New
Dorm will see a frenzy of
French foods, money, jells,
and possibly flying balloons.
HISTORY CLUB
(Moreland Smith) The club
plans to sponsor a current
events table during ■ Tuesday
and Thursday dinners to dis-
cuss major news events
around the world. Plans are
being made to tour old
Salem in late January or
early February.
MATH CLUB (Danny
Corey) The club is current
ly partidpatlng In the New ,
York City. Math Contest in
which they are only one
point away from first place.
The team is now holding
the national championship In
the Atlantic and Pacific
Math Contest. However, com
petition is tough, and the
standards are high. The
junior team placed first at a
competition at Duke; the
senior team placed second to
Chapel Hill High School
RUSSIAN CLUB
(Paul Fulbright) The dub
has sponsored a film and a
guest speaker this. year and
has been invited by the
Bridges for Peace organiza
tion to attend a party for ,
twelve foreign exchange stu-’
dents from the Soviet Union.
WORLD CON
CERNS (Linda Sherif) The
club is currently involved
with a letter drive for Am
nesty International to request
the release of Haralambos
Koumbenas. a conscientious
objector who was jailed in
Greece. Their next project 1*
to gather school suppii«» lot
black children in SouthAfrlca.j