CD
stentorian
north Carolina school of science and mathematics
voLXXI
1219 broad street, durham nc 27705
may 2001
Breaking Out of the NCSSM Bubble:
Seniors are Off to College
Kitty Fromson and
Annafrancesca Fuchs
Oxford, MIT, UNC,
Cornell, or Duke? It is no won
der that the diverse seniors of
NCSSM have chosen an equally
diverse selection of colleges to
attend next fall. They retain their
unity, however, through their
desire to learn, love of math and
science, and excitement at not
having to sign 10:30 check ever
again. Featured here are a few
such seniors, who discuss the
decisions they made regarding
their choice of college, what
they will miss most about
NCSSM, what they are excited
about, and what their plans are
for the future.
Allison Osborne and
Snay Prajapati, along with what
seems to be half the senior
class, are going to UNC Chapel
Hill. So why is the university
SO popular? Although accepted
to many other schools, such as
Emory, Florida State, and Col
lege of Charleston, Allison be
lieves UNC to be the most
prestigious. She’s excited about
parties and freedom, but will
miss the close friendships she’s
formed at Science & Math.
She’s planning on double ma
joring in biology and psychol-
puter engineering. He’s look
ing forward to, “No check,”
“breaking out of the bubble,”
and eventually creating his own
computer company. He, too, will
miss the special relationships
fostered by the NCSSM commu
nity.
Lindsay Higgins was ac
cepted to Duke University and
Carolina, and chose the former.
She hasn’t decided on a major,
ogy and minoring in cognitive
science.
Snay chose Carolina be
cause “it’s a really good all-
around school,” making it
perfect for him, because he is
not yet sure what he will major
in. He is also confident that he
can get his money’s worth at
UNC* and likes its location: close
enough to home to be conve
nient, but not stiflingly so. He’ll
enjoy the
added liber
ties and
seeing
many of the
friends he
has made at
Science &
Math, but
will miss the
teachers
here. Snay
cites
NCSSM’s
instructors’
genuine in
terest in seniors announce the colleges they plan to attend.
teaching and their willingness but she’s looking forward to the
ent of the prestigious Robertson
scholarship, will also be attend
ing Duke, where he plans on ma
joring in environmental policy.
Chris originally thought he
wanted to go to a smaller school,
but after his mentorship experi
ence, he realized the benefits of
being at a research institution.
Chris says he’ll miss “the Unix
lab and small community, and
being close friends with stu
dents and
teachers.”
Chris de
scribes Duke
as “a crazy
place — just
big enough
that there are
people of all
types (aca
demics, ath
letes, all sorts
of mixes in
^ between),
.a and people
^ with many
different
to talk to students as fnends and
equals as special characteristics
that he does not expect to find
as readily at a large university.
Another common college
choice is North Carolina State
University, where Seth Nevwnan
is planning on majoring in corn-
continued academic stimulation
of fairly small classes and
Duke’s distinguished reputa
tion. Duke is another top choice
among this year’s seniors, and
Lindsay won’t be at a loss for
familiar faces.
Christopher Paul, recipi
ideas of how the world should
be.” Chris recommends getting
in applications as soon as pos
sible and keeping options open,
“because surprises, like my
scholarship, can most definitely
come up. Life’s what you make
ofit.”
Also choosing to stay in
North Carolina, Dawn Pickett
will live among the beautiful NC
mountains at UNC Asheville.
She’s looking forward to, “Be
ing in a town with a lower crime
rate than Durham, seeing more
trees and less concrete, hearing
more birds and fewer sirens, and
being able to pursue what I want
to do with the rest of my life [art],
which UNC Asheville is noted
for.” She intends to be a de
signer, interior or industrial, and
she plans on minoring in pho
tography. Her advice to juniors
is, “Don’t slack off! Start look
ing for scholarships early. Do
everything your senior year you
didn’t as a junior. And go to
Elmo’s at least once.”
Besides Chris Paul, many
other students will be able to at
tend the school of their dreams
free of charge. Kenneth Gibbs,
our SGA president, is heading
off to University of Maryland
at Baltimore County. He chose
UMBC because he received the
prestigious Meyerhoff scholar
ship, which pays for any gradu
ate degrees he wishes to pursue
as well as his entire undergradu
ate education. Kenny plans to
major in either biology or chem
istry, but is unsure about his
See “Colllege,” Page 4
The Watershed Years: The New NCSSM
Alex Dadok
When walking around
this campus, most students
don’t think of it as anything
more than a prestigious board
ing school. We, the students,
learn here; we, the students,
sleep here. But if one ventures
down to P‘ floor Watts to Dr.
Boarman’s office, a whole new
attitude towards the school
makes itself felt. The wood pan
eling, waiting room, and orna
ments give the impression of
more than a school; one can feel
authority, like when walking into
a government building...
Or at least this is what
I felt as I walked in and was
asked to sit for a brief period. I
knew that ultimately it is here
that the decisions are made; here
is the connection to the outside
world. What this school is and
what it will become depends
very much on what opinions
float around this wood-paneled
office. Dr. Boarman has a pro
gram for Science and Math that
is not a rigid agenda, and it is
important for the students here
to know what this school is now
and what it might become in the
future.
Dr. Boarman explained
to me his general philosophy on
running NCSSM. He recognizes
he is new here and is willing to
try many things, ultimately to
find out what is best for the stu
dents. When he finds that, he
pushes for it to become a reality
here. Dr. Boarman believes in
an “upward-spiral” doctrine: as
Science and Math gets better,
more people will want to be here.
When more people want to be
here, the school will be able to
choose more individuals who
will contribute more to the
school... you can see where this
is going. This policy makes
sense for everybody; obvi
ously, Dr. Boarman will become
successful himself if the school
becomes successful. So what
defines successful? That ques
tion is always the catch, but here
is the best a busy student can
do to give you an idea of what
the “main man” wants.
Dr. Boarman believes
that his first year hear has been
a successful one. He has tried
to improve life for the students
here in both residential and non
residential areas. For example,
the school made sure the halls
were in good order for our year
here, and added the picnic
tables outside the cafeteria. The
meadow in back of Hunt has
been turned into another field,
the internet connections are
faster, and the list goes on. Ev
eryone has seen the changes
around. The preceding are not
major operating changes, and it
is those major changes that are
the mainstay of Dr. Boarman’s
future plans. Changes in the
assessment and broadcasting to
colleges, changes in admis
sions, changes in the structure,
and changes in the community
and student life are the pillars
of the new NCSSM.
One area that could
stand some major changes here,
Dr. Boarman feels, commonly
called “the Grade question”,
deals with how this school can
more accurately show colleges
the amount of work the students
do here. Dr. Boarman believes
the answer for this lies some
where in the weighted GPA. He
is at the moment working with
the GRADE committee, headed
by Ms. Hudson and Mr.
Trocano to find the best pos
sible solution to this. Students
here are not getting into the col
leges they deserve. Dr. Boarman
believes, and he wants that to
change soon. He is not consid
ering class rank or any kind of
honors GPA comparison.
Improving how
NCSSM appears to colleges is
an effective way to increase the
amount of people who apply to
this school, another very impor
tant goal of Dr. Boarman’s. This
year we had 102 more applicants
than last year. In some areas
the admission cutoff on the
math test was a perfect score.
The school is also hiring seven
new teachers next year. This
goes back to the “upward spi
ral” idea. More applicants
means Science and Math can
afford to be more selective,
which is definitely better for it.
How can NCSSM attract more
applicants? According to Dr.
Boarman, the school can do this
by making it a more attractive
place to be.
Dr. Boarman believes
that a way to make NCSSM more
attractive is to try to get stu
dents more involved in it. He
believes that right now, “one
thing missing at school is com
munity.” By community he
means community between the
administration, the faculty, and
the students. Next year, he
says, we may have an extra pe
riod on Monday and have all
Monday classes five minutes
shorter. This would allow for a
Monday meeting between the
See “New NCSSM,” Page 2