tentorian
Vol. X\^I/No. 3
The North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics
March 1998
AROUND
THE
WORLD
...and back
COMPILED By Alex Mann
Somali Warlords Make Peace
Three prominent Somali war
lords joined hands on Feb. 1 and sang
the Somali national anthem to show
their new commitment to peace in
the war-ravaged African nation. Di
vided by civil violence since 1991,
the nation has suffered severe eco
nomic crises and famine while the
warlords fought for control of the
country. The warlords decided to
now turn their attention to correct
ing the problems that have resulted
from the fighting. Thousands of
people crowded the streets of the
capital city of Mogadishu in celebra
tion of the agreement.
Clinton Balances Budget
President Clinton submitted the
first balanced federal budget in 30
years to Congress on Feb. 2. The
$1.73 trillion budget covers the
government’s 1998-* 1999 fiscal
year, which will begin on Oct 1. The
proposal submitted by Clinton not
only balances the budget, but in
cludes a surplus of $9.5 billion,
which wiU grow over the next five
years.
Teen Violence Rises in Japan
After a rash of knife attacks by
teenagers in Japan, authorities are
now asking that sales of knives to
young people be limited. Repeated
incidences of violent stabbings by
young teenage boys have caused
crime statistics among Japanese
youth to rise dramatically. Although
the police cannot force stores not to
sell knives to youths, they hope to
reduce the violence, which has re
ceived much attention from the
Japanese media in recent months.
Australia May Dump Queen
A constitutional convention be
gan in Australia on Monday, Feb. 2
to determine whether Australia
would continue to recognize Queen
Elizabeth II as the nation’s official
head of state. The majority of del
egates attending feel the nation
should become a republic, but they
have not decided which political
structure would be best. Many feel
that since there are few problems
with the existing constitutional mon
archy, such change is unnecessary
ifonl^Jfor^^mbolicrcasonSj_____
Martin Luther King's message lives on
Patrick f. Byrnett
“1 can honestly say that was the
most uncomfortable 1 have ever felt
in my life,” said Senior Patrick
Brown on his portrayal of a young
racist as part of the Jan. 19 assem
bly to honor Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr. Brown and about 35 other
students and staff participated in the
assembly as speakers, performers
and" role players.
The organizers of the event set
up several goals for the event. “We
wanted to reflect back on the civil
rights era, the goals of Dr. King, and
see how we’ve progressed on those
goals through different time peri
ods,” said Director of Communica
tions David Stein.
“[The purpose of the assembly
is so] that people understand that
civil rights is not a dead issue, and
cannot just be kicked to the curb,”
said Senior Meshia Todd, a mem
ber of Harambee who initiated stu
dent involvement.
The assembly began with a
short narration by English teacher
Jon Miller, who was the MC for the
assembly. Throughout the assembly,
the narration would be broken by
reenactments of pivotal events of
the civil rights movement, includ
ing a lunch counter sit-in. King’s
burial, and the Bakke vs. University
of California trial. Brown was in
volved in the first of these, harass
ing the two black students (seniors
Dominique Boykin and Dwayne
Sellars) at the counter. He, like
Students and faculty re-enact a sit-in at the MLK Assembly.
many of the student participants, was
moved by his role.
“It was hard to imagine anyone hat
ing anyone else for such a trivial rea
son,” said Brown. “I think that [the
assembly] made civil rights a more
personal issue for the people that
participated and that were in the au
dience.”
Boykin agreed.
“Basically, it made me look
back on a lot of the things that I take
for granted; sitting at a lunch
counter, even being able to come to
this school,” he said, “It’s differertt
when you are actually sitting at the
counter, having stuff dumped on
you, and you realize the hardships
that our parents and grandparents
went through.”
Staff also participated in the as
sembly. Besides the narration by
Miller, Stein and Media Director
Russell Robinson worked together
to produce a video of various staff
members recalling experiences from
the civil rights era.
Nine men from staff sat as the
Supreme Court in the Bakke trial,
with Media Assistant Anthony
Myles acting as Justice Thurgood
Marshall, who wrote the decision for
the court. Chemistry teacher Tom
Trocano also participated, acting as
the counter tender for the sit-in re
enactment. They too were impacted
by their roles.
“As I was at the podium speak
ing, 1 was sometimes thinking ‘Are
we being heard? Are we making an
impression?’ But even as a partici
pant, 1 found parts of it to be pro
vocative, some powerful, and some
even a little disconcerting,” said
Miller.
Students who attended felt that
the assembly had been a success. “I
felt that after this assembly, I could
understand the emotions behind the
civil rights movement,” said Junior
Purvesh Patel.
After the assembly, the
Multicultural Peer Counselors took
g the opportunity to survey the student
U body about diversity in the school.
The survey would be used to seek a
£ grant for more multicultural media
^ materials at NCSSM. The results
showed that students were strongly
in favor of more multicultural items,
and that many people had sugges
tions to help the MPCs with the grant
proposal.
Overall, the assembly was con
sidered tb be a success by those who
participated it and by those who
watched it.
“Dr. King understood that civil
rights was not about divisions, as we
often discuss it, but rather about uni
fying those divisions, and I think that-
by continuing our education through
these events, we carry on his mes
sage,” said Miller.
“We are the new generation. We
can still change things. We are the
ones that must carry on Dr. King’s
dream,” said Todd.
School finds solutions to safety issues
Carrie Hamby
In the past few months, the
myths and misconceptions sur
rounding safety and transportation
issues at NCSSM have become
many and varied. Ten different stu
dents will rattle off ten different
versions of the school policy con
cerning routes to Northgate Mall.
Several students said they thought
the punishment for walking through
Walltown was two days suspension,
a level three or nonexistent. Such
rumors are a symptom of the many
safety issues that surround NCSSM
and its students.
The confusion is rooted in an
incident that happened on Dec. 16.
Members of the security staff ob
served nine students walking
through Walltown on a trip to the
mall. The administration gave the
students a warning, and notified
their parents of the situation. The
students were told that if they were
caught going to the mall by any
route other than Guess Road again,
they would receive a three-day sus
pension.
Many students are confused. “I
don’t understand how they can en
force a new rule in the middle of
the year,” said Junior Jody Cedzidlo
in reference to the Walltown policy
enforced in mid-December.
Much of the confusion about
official procedures is an effect of the
short period of time that students
spend at NCSSM. No violent acts
involving Science and Math stu
dents occurred last year. Therefore,
this situation and the discipline
policy attached to it, are unfamiliar
to seniors and new SLIs.
In an attempt to keep the
student body informed, the Com
mittee on Public Safety (COPS), a
student organization, formed in re
sponse to communication problems
on this issue. The organization
posted signs around campus bear
ing a paraphrase of the policy for
dealing with students who are caught
walking through, into or out of
Walltown.
The COPS sign presented a
false piece of information by stating
that changes had been made in the
official discipline policy. In actual
ity, no policies were added or
changed. The procedure used in the
Walltown situation was a combina
tion of a warning step and a punish
ment step, both previously used.
Since walking through Walltown is
considered self-endangerment, the
three-day suspension is consistent
with other school regulations.
Some students are not con
cerned with the specifics of the poli
cies, but with their validity. ‘The
administration has no right to tell me
where I cannot walk while I am at
this school,” said Junior Ashley
Mauldin. “We are not allowed to
have so many things here; our legs
should not be one of them.”
In response. Director of Student
Life Dr. Joan Barber and Executive
Director Dr. John Friedrick said they
do not want this to be a topic of con
troversy for students.
“We want students to see walk
ing through Walltown as a personal
safety issue, not as something they
can be punished for,” said Barber.
Because some students ex
pressed concerns about walking on
Guess Road and possibly getting
harassed, or walking around campus
at all, the school has begun taking
several proactive steps to address
their concerns.
A large-scale campaign is un
der way to make Durham’s DATA
bus system more accessible to stu
dents. An existing route that cen
ters around Duke would be ex
panded to include NCSSM. This
route includes Duke, Southsquare,
Northgate, Brightleaf Square, 9th
Please see Safety, page 12