august 2001 ■ 3
Rude Awakenings
George Kachergis
T hey do a cursed but
crucial job. You will
depend on one almost
every day at school - two, if
you are prudent. It will be
your best friend and your
worst enemy. Its failures -
hopefully few and far between
- will allow you a few more
hours of blissful rest, but you
will afterwards be plagued by
irritated teachers, make-up
work, and delightful purple
absence sheets.
Each morning your alarm
clock will usher you into a day
where you are likely to have
two tests and to have a paper
due, and to be about eight cen
turies behind the rest of the
human race in physics com
prehension. In short: a day in
your life at Science and Math.
After many of us have
spent at least a third of our
somnolent summers in sound
slumber, the morning of
August 13 will find us bleary-
eyed, stabbing at the "Off'
buttons on our alarm clocks.
Should you not find your
self in this situation, you may
have fallen victim to one of
the inevitable mishaps inher
ent when dealing with alarm
clocks. Fine motor control
sometimes fails when operat
ing such awkward, delicate
machinery, especially under
conditions of fatigue, sleepi
ness, or simple carelessness.
Perhaps your failure, was
one of memory, as mine was
on the first day of school a
year ago. The first four classes
of the year were a dream for
me — literally. I awoke, quite
rested, in the middle of D
block, thinking how bright it
was for sometime before 7:30
and how odd that I had woken
without the cacophony of my
alarm.
George gets ready for a duel with
his alarm clock.
The human body is
indeed a remarkable thing.
Five minutes later I was tear
ing down Hunt stairwell,
ready to beg for my teachers'
forgiveness, hoping I hadn't
made an indelible bad impres
sion.
Tardiness because of a
failure to wake up is no longer
excusable. In a time where we
advocate independence and
self-reliance, where stress is
rampant and kindness almost
a luxury most don't seem to
have time for, perhaps a return
to a more forgiving, interde
pendent system is in order.
In contrast to its practical
ity, the use of alarm clocks
does perpetuate one particu
larly debilitating condition
that is widespread in the
NCSSM community: sleep
deprivation.
To be healthy, adolescents
need to sleep anywhere from
eight and a half hours to nine
hours and fifteen minutes.
However, many of us find that
we can function on five or six
hours each night. We are not
alone, for the average
American adolescent gets six
and a half hours of sleep per
night. Whether we realize it or
not, we suffer the conse
quences of sleep deprivation.
Sleep is necessary for our
brains to work properly: sleep
deprivation causes trouble
with memory (both recall and
memorization), creativity,
eoncentration, and is one
cause of the legitimate mental
disorder daytime sleepiness.
Yes, "mental disorder";
you should not always be nod
ding off in math class. Studies
have shown that people who
receive a healthy amount of
sleep become fidgety, rather
than sleepy, when faced with
dull lectures.
The language center of
the brain actually shuts down
after a night without sleep,
and its function is mimicked
(at reduced capacity, accord
ing to other studies) by a part
of the frontal lobe of the brain.
In addition, chronic sleep
deprivation has been linked
with depression, and in a
recent study, researchers
observed spontaneous death in
lab rats that were forcefully
kept awake for a long period
of time.
Similar - albeit much
shorter and less professional -
experiments with my room
mate last year resulted in an
increase in disagreeability,
irritability, and numerous
expletives.
How does all of this affect
us, practically? Only insofar
as we choose. As a student, I
feel the necessity to forego
some rest, instead spending
that time in pursuit of knowl
edge of all types.
I cannot bear to pass up
an opportunity to interact with
my peers or to pursue the
scholarly path for the sake of a
few minutes of rest quickly
forgotten. Our wakihg hours
are far more important, for
they will be what we come to
cherish as we look back on
fond memories of NCSSM.
Ishmael Review
Paul Smith
stentorian
the north Carolina school of science & mathematics
1219 broad street, durbam, nc 27705
http:/Avww.ncssm.edu/stentorian
£ditors-in-Chief: Julian Himes and Elysa Wan
Advisor; John Woodmansee
News and Features Editor: Emily Currin and Charlie Stone
Sports Editor: John Zhang
Opinions Editor: Paul Smith
Layout Editor: Sarnia llias
Photography Editor: Dhruti Patel
Website Editor: Judy He
Columnist: George Kachergis
Illustrator: Ashley Perryman
Staff Writers; Kate Milan, Will Turner
Photographers: Luke Misenhcimer, Elysa Wan
A book with nearly
nothing but a conver
sation between a
gorilla and a man? I admit, I
too was skeptical, but author
Daniel Quinn pulled it off
with ease.
This book, published in
1989, brought Quinn's ideas
onto the literary stage. In this
Turner Tomorrow Fellowship
winner, Quinn uses a format
very similar to that of the
Socratic method to guide us
on a journey with our teacher,
Ishmael.
Creating terms such as
'Taker' and 'Leaver' along the
way, Quinn delves into issues
regarding the general future of
humanity with ease. He pulls
together his observations on
issues such as environmental
destruction, overpopulation.
J \
and loss of cultural diversity
into an elegant and logical the
ory; a theory much unlike any
I had ever experienced.
The seemingly simple
concept of regarding humani
ty's problems in a way similar
to the problems of other
species has changed my per
spective of the world. This
book discusses issues critical
to today's world in a manner
based largely on logic and
unbiased observation.
I have already read two
more of his books, and every
day I find myself thinking
about the concepts he present
ed, and attempting to apply his
methods of thinking to various
issues.
I applaud the committee
of school leaders who picked
this as our summer reading, a
vast improvement over last
year's tedious selections. In in
making this our required read
ing the school has not only
broadened our horizons but
also fulfilled one of the great
est commands of this book- to
spread the word.
However, I do have one
major contemplation regard
ing the author: Graduation
Speaker?