TENTORIAN
Vol.
The North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics
Welcome Issue
A friendly word from the President of SGA
Prepare yourself. You are about
to enter a new world, a world we
like to call NCSSM. Science and
Math is a world full of three letter
acronyms, check, lab classes. Miller
Papers, and most of all, responsi
bility.
Right now, you are probably
sitting in your new room, having
just found this article on your mat
tress. You may be anxious to learn
about what NCSSM is really about.
Sure, you saw the campus on semi-
fmalist day, but the greatest thing
about NCSSM is that it cannot be
truly represented on paper, in a bro
chure, or even in a full day visit.
NCSSM is an experience.
One part of the NCSSM expe
rience is the people. In your first
few days on campus, you will go
through orientation. Talk to every
body you meet—both Juniors and
Seniors. Allow the Seniors to show
you the ropes. After all, we have
gone through the same thing you are
now, and we can probably answer
many of your questions.
All of the juniors should have
been assigned a dedicated (hope
fully) senior sibling. It may siem
cheesy, but the Junior/Senior.activi-
ties can really help you get to know
more people as well as get to know
the area.
Another part of the Science
And Math experience is getting in
volved. I represent the Student Gov-
Making friends at NCSSM is as easy
as giving away Nutri-Grain bars
~Pres Continued on
Page 6
S&M is what you make of it
COURTNEY TOLMIE
You are leaving home. Mom
and Dad, friends, the community
high school. Being thrown into a
hall with people of every race, reli
gion and ethnic background imag
inable. Going to class only to find
that the teacher is a doctor and has
just finished publishing. Sorry, Dor-
othy, you and
Toto seemed to
have left Kansas
behind in the
dust. Welcome
to NCSSM, that
little transition
that some of us
find between
life at home and
college.
Each junior
who accepts ad
mission to
NCSSM has
made a promise
to the school
that they will
‘accept the greater challenge’. A
little ambiguous? You can look
through the handbook for the next
two years, but you won’t find the
school’s favorite phrase clearly de
fined.
The greater challenge is not one
which the administration sets for
you; it is a challenge you must set
for yourself.
The job of the teacher at Sci
ence and Math is to make sure that
there is no such thing as an ‘easy A’
(or even an easy ‘B’) in any of their
classes, and even if a level of supe
rior preformance is achieved, the
greater challenge doesn’t end or
begin with other people’s
expectiations. True Science and
Mathers spend their time here try
Zhao Wei and Kathrine Tse man a booth at Asiafesl, a unique Science and Math celebration
ing to meet an academic challenge
which they place on themselves.
Free time at this school is al
most as hard to find as privacy, mak
ing it easy for a student to spend all
of their time outside of class sleep
ing. However, a part of accepting
the greater challenge is realizing
that we all must look for opportu
nities that do not involve grades or
JODYCEDZIDLO
academics or high school tran
scripts, even when it means giving
up some free time, or sleep time, to
do it. Try taking a Chinese seminar
or joining the ultimate frisbee club.
Get the most out of your Alt-Days.
Volunteer for the Powwow or the
Big Brother/Sister program. Talk to
an SLI about driving you to Franklin
Street or a play at Duke or a soccer
game at UNC.
There is plenty
to do at Science
and Math and in
the Triangle
area; it is just a
matter of keep
ing an open
mind and a will
ingness to try
something new.
The bottom line
is that your time
at the School of
Science and
Math is what
you make it.
From different
clubs to intelligent faculty to
Durham-area businesses and attrac
tions, there is an abundance of re
sources for a student interested in
just about anything. However, these
So there I wa.s—standing in the
parking lot of the Walnut Creek Am
phitheater in Raleigh. Surprisingly
enough, I wasn’t thinking about
Raleigh, or even about walnuts. I
was won-
d e r i n g
how I was
going to
dispose of
seven dol
lars worth
of food in
five min
utes. Nei
ther I nor
my two
friends
were even
hungry...
Several seniors meet and greet at
Director Dr. John Fredrick's house.
~ChalIenge Continued
on Page 3
I’d thought ahead, for the first
time since about 1992, and at
tempted to come to a show pre
pared. A gallon of water in my
hand, a bag of groceries on my back,
I was not going to pay an arm and
kneecap for a soft pretzel and a
Pepsi.
Or so 1 thought. Security
guards were searching bags and
folded blankets not for guns or re
cording devices but for food and
drink, and forcing concert-goers to
discard thier sustainance at the gate.
Blinking my eyes at a security
guard, I could only ask, “Um, can
we, like, just stand here and eat
some of this, instead of throwing it
away?” He finally consented, and
all three of us promptly stuffed
apples into our mouths and began
concentrating on such important is
sues as chewing time and efficient
swallowing. Growing sick, I real
ized that there was no way three
people could eat four apples, an en
tire box of Nutri-Grain bars, and a
bag of Goldfish (crackers, that is—
we’re vegetarians) in less than two
minutes.
It was at that point that my
great realization began to swim in
my head. This wasn’t just any great
realization, mind you. This was one
of those epiphanies—the kind that
you have to talk to your dog about,
because it doesn’t really seem co
herent at first. It occurred to me,
magnificently, to give the food
away. Saving other innocent young
people
from the
soft pret
zel plot, 1
could get
rid of my
food with
out wast
ing it, and
bring a
smile to
another’s
face. It
was beau
tiful. This
wasn’t the
epiphany, of course—that came
later. But my idea was the begin
ning.
The obvious problem with my
glorious plan was as follows: I’m
fairly shy, as a general rule. How
was 1 going to just waltz right up to
a huge group of strangers and start
yelling about Nutri-Grain bars and
goldfish? It seemed so
embarassing...
So are you ready? Set? Here’s
the epiphany: there is absolutely not
one thing to fear about talking to a
group of one’s pwers for the first
time. Two rea.sons...ril refer back
to my example, although this
epiphany, like other ones, is broader
than Nutri-Grain generosity. First
of all, I had something very impor
tant in common with every solitary
person in that parking lot: a love of
the same kind of music. With that
shared interest, we had to be at least
a little alike in other ways, right?
Second of all, even if some people
that saw me thought,
‘‘Ohmygoodness-she-is-such-a-mo-
ron...” it doesn’t matter. Chances
~Nutrigrain Continued
on Page 8
Coffeehouse is one
OF THE MANY ACTIVI
TIES STUDENTS ENJOY
AS A PART OF RESI
DENT! AI, T,IFF.
Ninth Street is one
Hangout in Durham
WHERE students GO
TO TAKE A BREAK
FROM STUDIES.
KRISTIN MASEL
KNOWS HOW TO
BUDGET HER TIME
WISELY AND STRIVE
ACADEMICALLY.
SEE Pages 2-3
See Pages 4-5
See Pages 6-7