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EDITORIALS
MARCH 1998
Stop complaining;
get involved
No school is perfect; all leave plenty of room for complaints. NCSSM
is no exception. Students protest the school’s restrictions on walking to
Northgate Mall. We gripe that Chartwells food, while it is improving, leaves
much to be desired. Though the Weekend Update is informative, some
weekends bring few interesting activities. These more specific grievances
lead to broad generalizations. As a result, we claim that SGA does not do
anything, or that the administration is unresponsive to student concerns.
These complaints, repeated without any suggestions for improving the
school, accomplish nothing. NCSSM offers a unique opportunity for stu
dents to take responsibility for their own educational and social experi
ence. There are many .opportunities to participate in the way the school is
run, promoting positive changes. NCSSM is “student-centered” for those
students who choose to get involved. A little less complaining and more
involvement would benefit every student at this school.
The opportunities for involvement are many. We elect SGA so we can
have a voice in governing NCSSM. Too often, though, students do not
know or care what happens at SGA meetings. SGA takes the time to post
their minutes after each meeting, but few students read them. Our SGA
representatives and officers are valuable resources. We should feel free to
go to them with problems and suggestions.
Speak-outs provide another opportunity to offer concerns and sugges
tions. Often these events are poorly attended. Even when we do attend, we
express too many complaints and too few solutions.
Other groups, such as the jCurriculum Council and the Parent’s Coun
cil, address our concerns. Both groups open their meetings to students, but
few attend. Students who do attend these meetings are often able to add a
new perspective to the discussion.
When we are dissatisfied, we criticize NCSSM’s administration. We
say that the administration is unresponsive, that it has no idea what life at
NCSSM is like. Unfortunately, these claims seldom lead us to talk directly
with the administration. If we did, we might find that administrators are
responsive. They care about the well-being of students. If they do not
know what we experience here, it is because we have not told them. As we
talk to the administration, we must keep in mind that specific suggestions
are most helpful and most likely to lead to action.
Change does not come only through official channels. We have an
impact on the quality of life here through our daily interactions with class
mates and teachers. Simply by meeting new people and getting involved,
we can make NCSSM a more enjoyable place to live.
In all areas this school allows students to take responsibility for their
experiences. Just as we can choose to shut ourselves in our rooms rather
than venture out to meet our peers, we can choose to complain rather than
seek real changes. 'The most beneficial choice, though, is involvement.
After all, NCSSM is what we make it. When we actively work to improve
our school, we can create a better place to live and learn.
North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics
1219 Broad Street Durham, NC 27705
-http://iluvatar.ncssm.edu/stentorian
Editors-in-Chief: Becca Booi, Peter McKnight
Layout Editors; Belinda Borelli, L. Whimey Duff
Opinions Editor: John Bowman
Features Editors: Eric Huang, Lucy Melvin
News Editors: Jennifer Li, Alex Mann Sports Editor: Anna Morrison
Photography Editor: Quyen Nguyen Advertising Manager: Jenna Rose
Web Editor; Rick Bolkey
Advisor; Kevin de Miranda
Staff Writers: Anthony Anagnostou, Roshan Baliga, Smriti Bhotika,
Audrey Bottjen, Patrick Byrnett, Steve Carpenter, Saurabh Desai, Justin
Doshi, Alison Goss, Carrie Hamby, Nicole Kleinstreuer, Diana Movius,
Sara Nataraja, Joan Park, Russel Sequeira, Aaron Stoertz, Jesse Wharton,
Mimi Wu, Heidi Yoon, Kristen Young
Layout Staff: Daniel Adams, Daniel Chun, Shilpa Khatri,
Heather Messera, Frankye Riley
Photographers: Justin Chan, Cindy Lee, Gretchen Scronce
Advertising Staff: John Berwick, Aaron Freeman
Art/Design Staff: Jackson Brown, Juanita Evans
Web Staff: Chunghau Lee
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2
Letter to the Editor:
DR. Hugh Haskell
I would like to comment on
Saurabh Desai’s article on the
death penalty that appeared in the
October Stentorian.
Mr. Desai argues for in
creased use of the death penalty
as a punishment for murder. In
favor of his position he offers two
arguments: 1) it would be a con
venient way to reduce prison
population; and 2) it would be an
effective deterrent.
Furthermore, he suggests that
execution the same day as convic
tion would eliminate the expense
of all those messy and time con
suming appeals. To counter those
who argue that this would effec
tively end the right of appeal for
convicted murderers, he responds,
’’you can’t please everybody.” Pre
sumably those most displeased
would be the recipients of this
swift punishment. Really.
In rebuttal to Mr. Desai’s sug
gestion, study after study has
shown that capital punishment is no
deterrent to murder. The over
whelming majority of murders are
committed either by people who are
temporarily or permanently de
ranged or “in the heat of passion,”
with little or no thought of the con
sequences. If this is so, knowledge
of the consequences of the act will
have almost no effect on the
criminal’s actions.
Furthermore, executing every
one of the death row inmates in the
country would have a minuscule ef
fect on the total prison population.
The fact that people are being
wrongfully convicted now is no ar
gument for executing convicts even
faster. The American judicial sys
tem was built on the premise that it
is better to let some escape punish
ment than to wrongly convict any
one. When convicts are imprisoned
and later exonerated, which hap
pens more frequently than anyone
would like, they can be released and
some amends made. An innocent
person who has been executed is
dead forever.
Not only is capital punishment
not universally applied, even when
mandated, but it is also manifest that
it is unevenly applied, especially ac
cording to race or economic status.
In general any black person is more
likely to be executed than any .white...,
person, any poor person more likely
than any wealthy person, and by ex
tension, the most likely to be ex
ecuted is a poor black person. Hardly
the even hand of justice.
Finally, I would aigue than in a
civilized society, which we believe
ourselves to be, the imposition of
capital punishment should be con
sidered cruel and unusual in itself.
In order to call itself civilized, soci
ety should be able to forego ritual
killings, no matter how they may be
justified.
Creating the ideal teacher
Ideal teachers have many qualities. These quali
ties can be seen in their dedication to their work and to
their students. This dedication is shown by attempts to
provide the best learning environment possible inside
and outside of the classroom.
Inside the classroom ideal teachers have a vivid,
energetic teaching style. Their strong, animated
speeches keep students focused and interested. They
look for the best way to teach each individual student.
Various teaching methods are utilized in the classroom
at NCSSM. For example, some teachers use group pre
sentations to help students learn from each other.Class
discussions and debates are begun to encourage stu
dents to share their opinions on subjects. This makes
learning not only interesting, but fun.
Outside of the classroom, ideal teachers invest per
sonal time to ensure that their students are meeting the
challenge. Ideal teachers can be found after school hours
helping students with problems that range from under
standing a concept to preparing for a major test. They
are also willing to work one-on-one with students for
individualized learning. These teachers hold tutorials
to give the extra help students might need. These teach
ers go to workshops to gain more knowledge that will
improve the course that they teach. For example a
chemistry teacher might take the time to get the latest
information on research equipment from a workshop.
Furthermore, ideal teachers place a genuine inter
est in their students and what is affecting their lives.
They care about how students are adjusting in their
personal lives as well as their academic courses. These
teachers take the time to inquire about and help a stu
dent who is having difficulties.
This concern allows teachers to make sure students
are reaching their highest potentials. Many of the teach
ers at NCSSM possess some of these qualities. They
are the ones who uphold the high academic standards
NCSSM is known for. They make it their priority to
make sure each student is reaching his goals.
All of their hard work should not go to waste.
Numerous opportunities are open for us to use and
learn. We must use these various resources to our ad
vantage and support the great strides many of our teach
ers make to create the best learning environment pos
sible. Just by experiencing the dedication of many of
our teachers and their commitment to higher level learn
ing, we can see what makes the teachers at NCSSM
some of the best to be found.