north Carolina school of science and mathematics
XIX
1219 broad street, durham nc 27705
October 1999
You’ve seen him at lunch,
but do you really know
Phil Nelson?
rose ponton
Perched comfort
ably in a
rather un- |
comfort- j
able chair, i
Dr. Phil !
Nelson ex- |
udes the
notion
that he
would be
comfort
able in al
most any
situation
he is faced
with.
> ir.
tion who is able to work with chil
dren who work hard enough to
validate their potential is
blessed,” said Phil.
Originally from Minne
sota, Phil hails from Grinnell Col
lege in
Grindl,
Iowa.
A t
Grinndl
h e
was a
Ftb^
Scholar.
H e
com
pleted
h i s
Ph.D.
Nelson eating lunch v/iu
Cheng and Perry Sherause
“I have been fortu
nate enough to do a number
of different things over the
years,” he said. Now, as the
interim executive director at
Science and Math, Phil, as he
prefers to be called, can once
again do something new. In
volved in education almost
his entire life, he is an old
hand in intense academic en
vironments.
“Anyone in educa-
1 n
1958
and moved to New Haven, Con
necticut with his wife to teach at
Yale University. He and his fam
ily resided in New Haven for 20
years. He and. his wife have,
over the years been involved in
a number of educational envi
ronments. He has held adminis
trative and board positions at
schools such as UNC, Yale, and.
The North Carolina School for
~Nelson continued p2
To kill or not to kill?
0L|4
Patrick thompson
Twenty small black rib
bons formed a voice, a voice
that the state of North Caro
lina found itself denying
Harvey Lee Green.
Harvey Lee Green was
convicted on June 28,1984 of
beating to death Shelia
Marlene Bland and John
Michael Edmundson on De
cember 19,1983. He was sen
tenced to death by lethal
injection, and was executed
on September 24, 1999 at
2:01am.
In his final statement,
Harvey Lee Green said, “I’d
like to let the public know that
the wrong they’re doing now,
it compounded the wrong I
did years ago. It ain’t no jus
tification. Ain’t no fairness.
That’s all I got to say, and they
know it’s right.”
Amnesty International
is a global organization which
defends human rights. The
NCSSM chapter of Amnesty
International heard about this
execution and decided to
make the Science and Math
community aware of it.
Teresa Rainey and Rachel Van
Cleve designed a bulletin
board by the art studio with
information about Green’s
case and twenty black rib
bons for people to wear in
protest over the death of
Harvey Lee Green.
“At first only five or so
people picked up ribbons to
wear. Then people started
asking us questions and
asked-for more ribbons. Then
we got letters posted on the
board and we became very ex
cited,” said Van Cleve.
Five students posted let
ters for or against the death pen
alty. Junior David Prater posted
the first pro death penalty es
say on the board.
“ I saw the black ribbons
and how the death penalty pro
testers had an arena to voice
their opinions. I felt that it was
equally important to express the
views of those who think the
death penalty is warranted,”
said Prater.
Teresa Rainey, President
of Amnesty International, has
organized a debate with pro/con
stances on the death penalty
being represented.
“A lot of people are unde
cided and don’t care about the
death penalty. I guess, I want
people to come away from the
debate with an understanding
and an awareness of the factors
involved in making an informed
decision. We want people to pay
attention to the issue,” said
Rainey.
Both sides feel that silent
and vocal debate are healthy
ways for students to express
their views, form an opinion, and
become more knowledgeable of
the world in which they live.
Liz Shuford, Rachel Van
Cleve, and Tommy Robbins will
be arguing against the death
penalty at the debate.
“When I read the e-mail
~Death penalty
continued p9
tolerance
rose ponton
A great moral
injustice has been
served at this school.
Not only to a select
group of women or to
those with alternative
sexual preferences, but
to the Science and Math
community at large.
This is very diverse
community of people,
condensed onto one
campus in the same
classes, in the same
space, each and every
day of the week.
Though clashes be
tween this group or that
are unavoidable, what
happened on the morn
ing of October 7th is in
excusable. Early in the
morning, two sets of
signs were posted
anonymously around
the school. One set was
a “list,” ranking the cali
ber of a number of fe
male student’s features.
The other, was a sign
declaring the NCSSM
Coming Out day to be
NCSSM “Fag Day.”
Almost imme
diately, the signs were
ripped down and their
presence reported to an
SLI or another adult
staff member. Props
must be given to all the
students who took the
initiative to tear down
something that had the
ability to ruin so many
people’s day. And, yes
many a student’s day
was ruined, but like a
phoenix, the community
rose from the ashes of
this great moral atrocity
and emerge a more uni
fied and stronger com
munity.
And “commu
nity” is the word that
deserves the spotlight
in this situation. Not
only were a select group
of women offended by
the “list”, but many a
decent male was, as
well. Not only were gay
and bisexual students
offended, but many a
straight-but not nar
row-individual was as
well. Through the
Speakout held in the
Lecture Hall and stu
dents reactions as the
day wore on, the Sci
ence and Math commu
nity came together to
voice their opinions
against something that
is considered, almost
universally, wrong; ig
norance and intolerance
is a disease that plagues
even the healthiest of
societies.
The outpour
ing of positive re
sponse to this incident
by students, faculty
and staff must be com
mended. Though this
incident has the ability
to tarnish the school’s
reputation, the reaction
to it will color this event
in a much more flatter
ing hue for years to
come. People come to
Science and Math with
the expectation that
they will be able to ex
press themselves freely,
without fear of being
judged superficially or
unjustly. Through the
developments that fol
lowed this unfortunate
event, anyone’s wildest
expectations for their
acceptance within the
school community
were fulfilled. Science
and Math IS a commu
nity and you, as an in
dividual, ARE
accepted.