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north Carolina school of science and mathematics
V0I.XIX
1219 broad street, durhatn nc 27705
January 2000
An afterthought: Martin Luther
King, Jr.-remembering his dream We’re off
marc o. vinson
Martin Luther King
Day is a day of celebra
tion in honor of a great
man who fought for all
people. We all know this.
On a more personal level,
however, Monday’s MLK
Day Assembly united the
NCSSM community, to re
member the dream of Dr.
King.
“I’ve attended
about twelve MLK As
semblies in my lifetime, but
never have I been to one
where people actually fo
cused on defining King’s
dream through such
unique methods,” said
NCSSM Junior Anna
McMillan during a class
discussion.
MLK Day utilized a
variety of unique methods
to portray King’s vision.
It is necessary to give ap
preciation to the many
people .who joined to
gether to make this assem
bly successful.
“This year’s assem
bly was one that ad
equately embraced
Alrican American culture
while still specifically em
phasizing the exeellence
of Dr. King’s true dream,”
said Senior Michael Mar
tin.
These positive
comments not only made
the program participants
feel extremely proud of
their work, but strength
ened and unified the en
tire NCSSM community.
The assembly played the
enlightening role of inspir
ing a more in-depth rev
elation into King’s true
goal; realizing and accept
ing differences while fo
cusing on community
unity.
“The assembly set
an ideal tone for the day.
It was inclusive, student
based, and showed off
how far we have come and
how far we have to go,”
said Tom Clayton, Assis
tant Director of Academic
Programs.
Harambee looks
forward to a successful
program next year as well.
Harambee and all program
participants should be
commended for their hard
work,and efforts in striv
ing to accomplish the
theme of this year’s pro
gram: “Remembering His
Dream.”
Happy birthday?
kenneth gibbs, Jr.
Birthdays are sup
posed to be very special
times. Cake, presents, and
the feeling that, for one
day, you are the most spe
cial person in the world
make them, for
many, the most
memorable day
of the year. On
the male resi
dence halls of
NCSSM birth
days mean one
more thing:
“birthday beat
down.”
“Birth
day beat
downs,” as
many students
interviewed for
this article af
fectionately
called them,
can involve a
variety of ac
tions. On some
of the halls in
Hill House, the
birthday boy is
pushed to the
ground, then “dog-piled”
by his hallmates. In Hunt
Dormitory, the birthday
boy can either be thrown
in a cold shower and
sprayed with shaving
cream (known as a “polar
bear”) or have his head
flushed in the toilet (called
a“swirlie”). Junior Trent
Suggs, who recently cel
ebrated his first birhtday
at Seience and Math said.
“It can be constructive
because it can bring unity
and brotherhood to the
hall.”
However, D.J.
Dore’s birthday beat-
down on December 4,1999
ignited quite a stir
back stairs of Hunt and
through P'Hunt. 4* East
SLI Mike Charlton ex
plained that trying to es
cape a beat-down is
common because the fun
in this birthday tradition
comes in the pursuit and
treatment sounds harsh,
Dore said, “It wasn’t done
against my will.”
The beat-down
continued with Dore re
ceiving an unprecedented
17 swirlies and a polar
bear. But when it was all
U-
Avis'S'.' •
i
Is this hazing? '/? Senior David Angeles seems to be having Jim during the traditional Birthday
celihration.
amongst parents and capture of the birthday
school administration. boy.
After returning to After being
his hall, 4'*’ West, follow- ” dragged back on 4* West,
ing the winter semi-formal
dance, Dore knew his time
had arrived. He went in
his room and changed
into his running clothes.
After emerging, Dore. an
accomplished runner, led
ten pursuers on a game of
cat and mouse down the
D.J.’s beat-down was in
full force. He said he had
at least thirty students,
most of whom were his
fnends give him 17 “birth
day licks,” including one
hallmate who hit him with
a belt.
Although this
over, his hall mates sang
“Happy Birthday” to him
in the spirit of brother
hood.
As Dore said, “It
was no big deal.” In fact,
Dore neither filed an inci
dent report nor spoke to
an SLI about it until he was
approached by 3’** West
to see...
The Wiz
theresa anasti
-B-Day p4
Following in the
tradition of student-run
productions, NCSSM has
taken on yet another
project. This time, it is a
rendition of the musical
The Wiz. Tlie Wiz is a
published musical; the
music was written by
Charlie Smallss, and the
script was written by Wil
liam F. Brown. NCSSM
does not plan to change
any part of the play,
though the setting may be
modernized slightly. Pro
duced "by Barbara
Namkoong, the only
adult involved, the play
was decided upon by the
drama board.
“Since we had a
serious musical last year,
we wanted a more upbeat
musical this year. They
[the drama board] wanted
this play, and I agreed,”
said Mrs. Namkoong.
Rosie Stoertz
and Eric Karlsson are the
directors of the play, and
they help to decide who
received parts.
“I was very im
pressed with the turnout
for the audition; me and
Eric were sitting there
laughing because we did
not realize that the talent
would be this good. The
people who received the
parts were able to make
fools of themselves and
have good stage pres
ence; we had them sing a
Backstreet Boys or
Brandy song to test this,”
said Senior Rosie Stoertz.
Thirty-five people
auditioned for the play,
and even if they did not
receive a large role, each
person was asked to be
in the chorus. However,
participating in the audi
tions has caused anxiety
for several of the actors.
“I was nervous,
because I threw my voice
out a couple of days be
fore auditioning. Other
than that, I thought I did
okay; Rosie and Eric
were making me crack up
though because they
were acting tike
munchkins,” says Junior
Chelsea Armitage.
“A lot of the
people auditioning did
really well; I thought I did
pretty well too though,”
says Junior Elizabeth
Daniels.
“To prepare for
the play, 1 listened to the
_CD of the rnusical, and
Just practiced the part
that I wanted,” said Se
nior Dina Gerber, who re-
ceived the role of
Evitene.
Although the
drama department does
not have extensive
funds to put on its pro
duction, the members are
going to do the best with
what they have. Since a
nearby school also per
formed The Wiz earlier in
the year, the drama de
partment is hoping to
borrow some clothes
from them, and also see
what the actors are able
to use from their closets.
The play will be held in
the ETC, and much of the
setting will be in
dreamscape and multi-
media, to see what the
ETC is able to do with
technology. The play
will be held on Friday,
March 31"; Saturday,
April 1"‘; Sunday, April
2“*; Saturday, April 7"';
and Sunday April 8“’. On
Friday and Saturday the
play will begin at 7:30 p.
m., and on Sunday the
play will begin at 2:30 p.
m
“I think this is
going to be a good pro
duction; a lot of really tal
ented people are
involved,” said Junior
Elizabeth Currin.