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Davis Bowen and Austin Luton
examine the causes and effects of
the split.
Page 5
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stentorian
the north Carolina school of science and mathematics 1219 broad street, durham nc 27705
http: / / WWW, ncssm .ed u / stentoria n
fehruary 2003
Brian Phelps: Keeping Up the Good Work
John Abernethy
A lthough Brian Phelps
is our Student Body
President here at
NCSSM, many students do
not know exactly what he
does for the students and how
he interacts with other groups
at Science & Math. To find
out, I had to wait for him to
find time in his busy sched
ule, and then invited him into
my room where we talked a
bit about his role as SGA
President.
Brian says his main
responsibilities as President
are to attend SGA meetings
and to represent students'
views to the administration.
Concerning this year's SGA,
he says that every year's SGA
is different, and the first
semester has helped the mem
bers get to know each other
better and thus work together
more efficiently. He hopes
that, this semester, SGA will
be more active in their duties.
He frequently talks with
the School Council and the
Board of Trustees, and has
relationships with a number
of other influential people on
a personal basis.
Brian also attends many
of the Alumni Board meet
ings, and is good friends with
a number of the 2001 and
2002 alumni. Through these
and other alumni, many
whom he has met through
Therese Taxis, Coordinator of
Parent and Alumni Programs,
he finds out how the school
was when they attended and
how they see it changing as
time passes.
Brian's biggest challenge
is "trying to relate what's
gong on administration-wise
to the students." He feels that
communication up - from the
students to SGA, and from
SGA to the administration - is
great. However, communica
tion down-from the adminis
tration to the students through
SGA - is, well, not so great.
This is especially true when,
many times, "we don't neces
sarily know what's going on."
While Brian constantly tries
to improve this situation, his
efforts are often fruitless.
A prime example of this
is the school's decision to
begin a search for a deputy
executive director, essentially
an assistant to Dr. Boarman.
Brian wasn't notified
until after the search had
already begun. He explained
to the administration what he
thought most of the students
might think - that the school
needs to spend what money it
has on more faculty, new
equipment, etc., not on six
digit salaries for more admin
istration.
It's hard to please every
body, especially regarding all
student emails, Brian states.
Many people complain,
"Brian, we don't want to hear
this stuff. Stop sending all
student. emails," but if he
does, then the people who do
want to know what's going on
See “Brian Phelps”
Page 1
' Mi
Andrew Chen
Mr. Laird: In His Own Words Korea: History,
War, Tragedy
Ravi Raghuram
S cott Laird is one of two
music instructors at
NCSSM. He directs the
orchestra and chorale, teaches
courses in Recording
Technology, Advanced
Recording Technology, and
will be teaching a course next
year in Theory and Practice in
Guitar and Piano.
Where did you grow up?
I grew up in Indiana,
Pennsylvania, which is about
fifty miles northeast of
Pittsburgh.
Where did you go to school?
It's where I went to
school, too, at the Indiana
University of Pennsylvania. I
got a B.S. in Music Education.
I taught for three years, then
took a leave of absence from
my teaching position and went
back and got an M.A. in
Violin Performance. I also did
some graduate work at the
University of Maryland.
How did you choose your
career?
When I was making my
decisions about career, I was
n't really sure when I went to
college what I wanted to do. I
knew that I was good at
music, and my parents asked
me to look into music educa
tion because my parents were
both educators-my. dad was
superintendent of schools in
Indiana and my mother was an
English teacher. As a senior in
high school, when I envi
sioned what I was going to be,
I thought I would finish
school and sort of go on the
road, because I always loved
rock and pop music.
But during my sopho
more year of college, I had a
professor that really strongly
influenced me and he gave me
See “Mr. Laird”
Page 1
Andrew Chen
Bryan Butler
A pproaching the gates
of Yong-San U.S.
Army Base in Seoul, I
heard the shouts of a group of
young adults, probably col
lege students. I couldn't
understand what they were
saying at first, but when I had
gotten closer and could see the
posters they were holding,
their words became clear:
"Mi-gook sa-ram mul-loh ga-
ra!" — "Americans go home!"
This was during the sum
mer of 2001, and much has
changed since then. At the
same time, much has stayed
the same.
Before and during World
War II, Japan had ruled Korea
very harshly. When Japan
was defeated, the Allies split
Korea in half at an arbitrary
line, the 38th parallel, with the
north going to Russia and the
south going to the U.S. The
north became a communist
state and the south became a
capitalist country.
In 1950, the North invad
ed the South, starting the
Korean War. A stalemate
eventually resulted between
the American/U.N./South
Korean and North
Korean/Chinese sides, and the
conflict ended in 1953 with a
cease-fire agreement—no
treaty was ever signed, mean
ing that the two Koreas are
technically still at war.
The Demilitarized Zone-
(DMZ) is now the dividing
line, and coninuing conflicts
have made peace negotiations
difficult. In 1991, the
Reconciliation Agreement
stated that neither side would
produce nuclear weapons.
The situation looked even
See “Korea”
Page 1