Vol.
fo. 5
The North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics
June 1,1996
Burma human rights ac
tivist speaks at NCSSM
Anne Fawcett
Editor in Chief
Recently, Omar Khin, a Bur
mese human rights activist, visited
NCSSM to remind students that
they can make a difference in the
world. As a student at a university
in Burma, she fought the harsh mili
tary rule of Burmese General Saw
Maung and is still fighting as a po
litical refugee in the United States.
“Burmese students have
always been involved in the search
for democracy,” said Khin. They led
the rebellion against the British in
1948 that produced the independent
and democratic nation of Burma.
Khin became involved in
the struggle for democracy when the
State Law and Order Restoration
Council (SLORC) took over the
Burmese government in 1988. The
coup’s first action was to bomb a
student union and break up a stu
dent demonstration with force.
Opposition to the new gov
ernment was led by Aung San Suu
Kyi, a Burmese woman who
founded the National League for
Democracy (NLD) and gave
speeches against SLORC. In re
sponse to Kyi’s popularity, SLORC
placed her under house arrest in
1989, where she stayed until 1995.
Khin and other students
have also worked in democratic re
sistance groups. Their protest has
been peaceful but “the only way our
government responded was with
violence,” Khin said.
“[The Burmese people] are
beaten, raped, and robbed,” said
Khin. Each family also had to con
tribute a man to the government to
do what was essentially slave labor
in order to beautify Burma for the
tourists SLORC was expecting in
1996. They are also being used to
build a pipeline across Burma into
Thailand to attract oil companies.
Khin and other Burmese
political refugees are asking Ameri
can students to boycott PepsiCo,
Texaco, Unocal, and other compa
nies which retain their ties with
Bunna even though they are aware
of the human rights abuses taking
place. The movement is spreading
rapidly over the internet and on col
lege campuses.
USA Today reported on
Apr. 29 that PepsiCo has decided to
pull out of Burma. This was
prompted in part by Pepsi contracts
being cancelled on major college
campuses such as Harvard and
Stanford and boycotts pending else
where.
Khin is asking for NCSSM
students to get involved as well by
writing letters to US government
officials such as the US ambassa
dor from Myanmar (SLORC’s re
naming of Burma), President
Clinton, Secretary of State Warren
Christopher, and the State Depart
ment, Bureau of Consular Affairs,
which issues travel information on
every country in the world. She also
urges letters to the companies that
are ignoring SLORC’s human rights
record.
“[The year of tourism] has
not gone as well as the government
had planned,” said Khin. SLORC
had hoped for 500,000 tourists, but
the rest of the world is finding out
about the government’s abusive ac
tions and people are deciding not to
come.
For more information
about SLORC’s abuses and how to
get involved, Khin can be reached
by e-mail at “freeburma@aol.com”.
The Free Burma homepages are lo
cated at http://sunsite.unc.edu/
freeburma/freeburma.html and
http: ://danenet. wicip.org/fbc/
freeburma.html.
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
•What’s Next? For many seniors this is the question.
Jody Smith delves the issue. -Page 2
♦ Sports Year in Review The Stentorian looks back at
sports at NCSSM this year. -Page 4
Year in Review:
What a long strange year it's been
Katie Mitlich
Alton Patrick
13
IfT
Features Editor/Staff Writer
1995-’96 will not be remem
bered as just another school year.
It has been a time of adjustment for
juniors and a final memory of high
school for seniors. The changes,
tragedies, and excitements of this
year were part of a special experi
ence for both groups.
One adjustment made this
year was the Hill-Bryan dorm
switch. At the beginning of the
school year. Hill became a male
dormitory and Bryan a female dor
mitory. This reverts the dorms back
to the status they held several years
ago. Students had many problems
with the switch at the end of last
year, but seemed to adapt well to
the change. The move created a seg
regated campus. Male students oc
cupy the Hill-Hunt area of campus,
while the Beall, Bryan, Reynolds
complex became all female.
Federal government
Seniors line up for the senior picture in front of Watts. For all it is the end of
over 12 years of hard schooling and a chance to look ahead.
Leonard Tran
shutdowns were another big story
early in the year. NCSSM students
were most directly affected by the
shutdowns through the financial aid
process. Government closures de
layed the processing of the FAFSA
for seniors at NCSSM and across
the country.
Another area of change
this school year was in discipline
procedures. Early in the fall, the
mugging of an NCSSM student on
his way to Revco after dark brought
up questions about the effectiveness
of the sign-out process, and led to
stricter controls on signing out, es
pecially after dark.
In March the expulsion of
three students in three days cast
continued on page 3
Students impressed with prom
Akua Asare
Manali Patel
Staff Writer/ Features Editor
Music, dancing, food,
excitement...What more could you
ask for from a prom?
On May 11, 1996, the Ar
mory was packed with over 150 stu
dents dancing the night away. From
REM selections to Unchained
Melody students were impressed
with the night’s music. ‘The vari
ety of music was good,” said Junior
Shilpa Gadani. ‘There was some
thing for everybody.”
Although the prom lasted
only four hours, a lot of time and
commitment went into preparing for
it. “A total of six hours were spent
the night before the prom to prepare
for the day’s activity along with
weeks of preparation before the ac
tual event,” said Senior Susan
Smith, a member of the Prom Com
mittee.
Many students were im
pressed with the hard work that was
put into prom this year. Senior
Marshall Blango said, “All I know
is that this year the decorations were
a lot nicer. Last year [prom com
mittee] had a piece of paper up that
had some ugly drawings that were
supposed to be the ‘Crystal Nile.’
This year Prom Committee actually
took their time.”
Students purchased tickets
this year for five dollars more than
last year’s. While part of the addi
tional cost was spent for better deco
rations, many complained about the
cost of prom tickets being five dol
lars more than last year’s. “The
decorations were not too bad,” said
Junior Brooke Kellas. “I only wish
they had cheaper prom tickets. They
were really expensive.”
Not only did many prom-
goers like the decorations, many
were pleased with the prom over
all. “Prom went really well this
year,” said Senior Paul Nystrom.
“Not only was the DJ great, but the
chocolate covered strawberries were
good, as well.”
Junior Tomika Wilson
commented on the success of the
prom. “I liked seeing everyone
dressed up, looking nice. I’ll prob
ably go next year because of the
quality of this year’s.”
While a lot of individuals
worked hard to make prom a suc
cess, an equal amount of effort went
into making after prom activities
successful.
“I thought After-Prom
went really well. We achieved the
goal we had set for it - keeping a
large number of students safe and
on-campus,” said Senior Gabriella
Allen, head of After-Prom Commit
tee. “We wanted to make After-
Prom a worthwhile experience and
had a greater turn-out than ex
pected.”
Many students decided to
stay off-campus after prom, how
ever. “A couple of friends and I
went to a friend’s nearby lake house.
1 can’t tell you how much we en
joyed ourselves - good, clean fun!”
said Senior Molly McNairy.
Prom proved to be a suc
cess for those who attended. “It was
great being with my friends. Any
excuse to get dressed up and dance
is a good idea,” said Allen.