The Stentorian
Are the students at NCSSM Suffering from Cafeteria Woes?
by Nikki Miller
Since my arrival at NCSSM, I've learned to put up
with many things: elevators taking forever, teachers disprov
ing every statement I make, even an occasional "bad bathroom
smell." But I don't think I will ever adjust to the cafeteria. It is
one aspect of dorm life that we all share, yet we, the students of
NCSSM, just haven't given it enough thought, so I wiU now
share wi^ you the wonders of the NCSSM cafeteria.
Every morning I awake and stumble down the stairs
of First Beall to start my day with a nutritious, state-funded
breakfast. I pull out my trusty student ID and enter the estab
lishment. Ahh, the NCSSM cafeteria, dedicated to nourishing
the brightest minds in the state. Somehow, at 7:30, in the
morning this "bright mind" can't quite identify the food that is
being served. Come to think of it, I can't identify it at lunch or
dinner, either.
Once in a blue moon, something will actually be fit for
human consumption (biscuits are always good—BISCUITS
ROCK!!), and I will stand in line for three years (Okay, thirty
minutes) to get a taste. I get my apple juice (sugar with a little
food coloring—I love it!!) and journey to the dining room. The
7:30 rush at breakfast isn't aU that bad, but the lunch and dinner
seatings are inexcusable. I want to know why someone who
plans on sitting alone has to pick the largest table in the dining
room. And why do millions crowd aroimd a table meant for six
persons? This certainly can't be good for digestion.
I know that our work service students work dili
gently to provide an atmosphere that truly is good for one's
digestion, but our dining room is slowly falling below par. For
instance, what's the deal with the salt shakers? The first few
days of school there were so many—now salt shakers are an
endangered species. You would think that people would
appreciate the limited supply of shakers we have, but NO—
pulling practical jokes is far more important than making your
food palatable. That's a real entertaining hobby you've got
there—poking out the tops of the salt and pepper shakers. Yeah,
boy—we are havin'fun now!! But it doesn't stop there. Every
once and a while someone will bestow upon the future occu
pants of a particular table something that is truly their owm: a
half-drunken glass of orange juice, a bowl of salad, maybe a few
used napkins. It means so much to me when someone leaves a
little bit of their dinner behind. It's so nice of them to share.
CLEAN UP AFTER YOURSELVES, YOU PIGS!!!
The tables are not the only spot in the limchroom with
which I have a problem. What is the deal with the lines? We
have a line for salads that nms relatively smoothly for the
majority of the time, but that main line has a tendency to reach
the security desk. I'm no scientist or anything, but perhaps what
we need is another line.
I do have a positive side to the cafeteria crisis—It's
cheap. Right next to nothing. In fact, it is nothing. It's FREE.
In a world where it cost $1.50 to wash and dry a load of clothes,
you learn that you can't always have money for Mickey D's. The
cafeteria is in a nice location for us lazy people. It's right under
most of our noses, and I mean that literally for thpse of us in
Bryan and Beall. It sure beats walking through some bad
neighborhood for the sake of ice cream.
I guess what it boils down to is you have a choice;
eating out every night, or dining in at the cafeteria. Eating out
is going to get pretty expensive after a while, so it's not a viable
solution. So just grin and bear the brown lettuce, the watered-
down Kool-Aid, and the ice-cream machine from Hell, or we do
something about the state of the cafeteria.
We Should Reconsider the Enforcement of Rules by the SLI’s
by Chris Sidi
Laws and rules are ideally set up so as to allow a
person to have the greatest amount of freedom without hinder
ing someone else's rights. I do not thirvk there is such a thing as
a victimless crime.
The residential rules here sometimes are enforced in
a strict, by the book fashion. Other times, warnings are given
out or nothing is done. I feel the latter is better. The rules and
the light enforcement of them means students generally follow
the rules, especially to the extent that others are not imposed on.
Study/Quiet hours and rounds by SLI's keep the halls quiet, but
why give students the third degree for being two minutes late
for check?
And as for some of these rules. Why can't students
study out of their room after 2 AM with a study pass? Why
should we even have to get a study pass? Why must we be on
our own hall from 8:00-8:30? Who is being hurt if we don't
follow these rules?
What big problems do you have at a normal high
school? Gims, drugs, fights. Here, the most common problems
seem to be being out of one's room after midnight or being late
for check. What's the big deal?
No rules or no enforcement make for chaos and
victims. Strict rules and enforcement make for a prison. There
is a balance, and that is light enforcement and warnings for
small things that hurt no-one. Save punishment and levels for
students who do disturb other students or who really break the
rules by drinking, using drugs, and illegally intervizing.
The Stentorian '94
Editor-in-Chief
Robert Anderson
News Editor
Danny Siegle
Editorial Editor
Joe Farr
Entertainment Editor
Malinda Todd
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Heidi Lennartz
Layout Editor
Steve Schklone
Photography Editor
Matt Nash
Faculty Advisor
Lane Wright
Thanks to all of the writers who contributed to the first edition of
The Stentorian
The ideas and viewpoints of the stories and editorials in The Stentorian do not
reflect the views of the entire NCSSM Community or the entire Staff of
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