Newspapers / North Carolina School of … / May 10, 1996, edition 1 / Page 5
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ich out to school MAY 10,1996 News PAGES big siblings try more to be the children’s friends. Also, tutors may work with different chil dren with each visit as well as different numbers of chil dren, anywhere from one in dividual to a whole class. Landry “think[s] [the program]’s been successful, but [tutors/siblings] don’t have much time to spend with the kids...because [theyj’re so busy here.” Nevertheless, they did have time to give their little siblings a tour of NCSSM on Sharing Day at the end of Special Projects Week. Holzwarth is happy with the program. “It’s definitely worth it...as long as the big siblings and tutors are enjoy ing it.” Originally, Holzwarth thought of getting an English as a Second Language (ESL) program underway, at which point Landry got involved. Later they “decided to do something for all of the kids,” Students sweep state wide competitions Erin Shaughnessy Staff Writer NCSSM had a great showing in re cent competitions, including the French language contest in Winston Salem, the NC Science Olympiad regionals in Greensboro and Olym piad state competition in Morganton. In the French language compe tition, four S&M students recited poetry and one participated in an improv story- telling competition. Two students won major awards at the competition. Junior Nora Wilson finished in tirst place while junior Katy Thalmann came in second in French IV poeUy reci tation. All of the recitations were judged on accuracy, accent, and in terpretation. NCSSM’s other three representatives, junior Alex Rosefielde and junior Millicent McClain and senior Katie Miltich, also gave a good showing. Wilson said of the Unicorns’ performance, “We were sort of forced into it by our French teacher. Mme. Sylvett Lau, but because she had been so picky with our pronun ciation [our hard work] really paid off.” NCSSM’s two Science Olym piad teams also fared well in com petition, by placing in second and third place in regional competition. Every one of the twenty-six team members managed to earn at least one medal in an excellent showing. Junior Jon Williams, junior Marcia Eaddy, senior Albert Whangbo, jun ior Stephanie Briggs, and senior Jeff Knight all won multiple awards. Although the team had lost first place to Chapel Hill High School in regionals, NCSSM came back with an impressive win in the state cham pionships. “It was a very intense experi ence but our work was worth it We came back and beat our big rivals [in states].” said junior Stephanie Briggs. The Science Olympiad team will travel to Atlanta for Nationals on May 17 at Georgia Tech. Judicial reforms move forward said Landry. Hagler thinks NCSSM stu dents have been “very consis tent in coming and great in the classroom,” and she “would like to see the program con tinue and grow.” However, there seems to be a dearth of big brothers and male tutors. “The boys need big broth ers. We need more men,” she said. She would also like to have more African-American helpers for the sixty to sixty- five percent minority popula tion, largely comprised of Af rican-Americans, at E.K. Powe. Holzwarth, who according to Hagler “has been dynamic and the spark plug of the pro gram,” has also been attempt ing to begin a drama/commu nity program, through which S&M students could go to a community center to play with children and put on drama pro ductions for and with the chil dren. Anne Fawcett Editor-in-Chief A new committee has been formed to address student discontent with NCSSM’s judicial system. The com mittee, comprised of student body and SGA members, is working to place stu dents on the hearing board for Level II. and Level III offenses. The committee took the proposal to hall meetings tO| gain student input. Sofar we've had a very The proposal was enthusiastic response from then submitted to ,, . j , l j • SGA. which ap- the Student body m our proved to send it on information-gathering to Dr. Barber, direc- sessions tor of Student Life for consideration. Tree Calloway So far we ve — “ had a very enthusiastic response from the student body in our information gathering sessions,” said member Tree Calloway. The eight member committee is proposing the addition of seven stu dents to the pool from which the hear ing boards are chosen. Two students, along with the traditional three faculty members, would hear each case brought before the panel. Student members would be cho sen in the spring of their junior year by the existing hearing board. The cri teria would be qualities such as objec tivity, communication skills, and com mitment. The application will consist of several hypothetical situations to which applicants will be asked to respond. This portion will remain completely anonymous, followed by personal in terviews of those making the first se lection. Grades will be considered only to make sure that the students will be invited back for their senior year. The placement of students on the hearing board is expected to have a three-fold effect. The committee hopes that the revised hearing board will bring students’ insights and into the ju dicial process, increase the leadership opportunities for students, and raise student respect for the system. First, students would bring unique perspectives to the board that come from living in the same situation as the offender. “This will, in turn, benefit the whole community by enhancing Board decisions to better suit the community’s needs,” the committee’s proposal states. Positions on the hearing board would also enhance the leadership skills of selected seniors, enabling them to be better prepared for life out side NCSSM. Ultimately, the committee be lieves that placing students on the hearing board would increase the credibility of the judiciary system to students. This has been a matter of contention to students this year who find seeming incon sistencies and irregu larities in recent de cisions of the board. Although the pro ceedings would still remain strictly confi dential, it is believed that students would find it easier to have faith in the process if they knew that their interests and experiences were being represented. Early in the second semester. Executive Director John Friedrick held a meeting with students to dis cuss their discontent and suspicion of the procdss. Students had questions about their lack of involvement in judiciaiy proceedings, the inconsistencies therein, and the lack of objectivity they viewed in the decision making. “We feel that you will shrug our questions off and ignore them, even though we are supposed to be some of the brightest and most intelligent students in the United States of America,” said junior Shelby Gull, a member of the committee. Friedrick’s suggestion to the^^^^^^^^" students was to contact the SGA with ideas for in volvement. He To challenge [administrators'] objectivity is something saw merit in stu- you have a right to do, but dents’ involve- my self-esteem is based on ment up to the ex- jjeing objective and fair, pul,i™ proceed- yecauseifl'mnot.whu ings.Theeommit- , ,. , . ^ tee, however, else would 1 be here? would like to have students involved in all decisions made by the hearing board. “You are not entitled to a trial by your peers unless it is a civil or crimi nal case outside,” Friedrick said. “It’s not a civil or criminal case [here], so it’s not formally a jury. We don’t need 18-year-olds or 21 -year-olds to serve on a jury. We’re looking for a pro cess that works.” Committee members took the ini tiative to gain involvement in the ju dicial process so they could try to cor rect the problems they saw in incon sistency. The committee intends to address these concerns in its plans by raising students’ awareness of the rules and consequences. “Having carefully studied the handbook, I now have greater respect for the rule system at this school,” said committee member Chloe Palenchar. “A lot of this committee’s job is go ing to be PR—to raise awareness and get [the rules] out to the student body.” The committee would like to hold an alt-day session in the fall to intro duce students to the rules, in addition to their SLIs’ instructions. They also think it would be to students’ advan tages to construct a rulebook listing general crimes and appropriate pun ishments gathered from teachers and SLIs. The committee does not propose the elimination of mitigating circum stances, however. It admits that situa tions surrounding offenses will be var ied and prompt different responses from the hearing board, an idea that currently has some students troubled. The hearing board does use pre cedents in its decisions on Level II and Level III cases, however, to attempt to eliminate as many inconsistencies as possible, said a member of the board. Friedrick, on the other hand, rarely uses precedents in his review of the board’s expulsion recommenda tions since each case is different. “I will never know the nuances of another case that caused par ticular sanctions nor could you, and that’s one of the things I hope that you will give us the benefit of the doubt about,” Friedrick told students at the meet ing. The administration John Friedrick also keeps files closed as a privacy matter whenever staff or students are in volved. As for questions of objectivity, Friedrick commented, ‘To challenge [ad ministrators’] objectivity is something you have a right to do, but my self-esteem is based on being objective and fair, because if I’m not, why else would I be here?’ Please Recycle this^ewspaperi
North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics Student Newspaper
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May 10, 1996, edition 1
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