6 ■ October 2003
ncssm-^.the stentorian
To: All Students; Subject: Summer Flames
Ashlie Canipe
T he human ability to take
advantage of an oppor
tunity to hit below the
belt is often exhibited pub-
licly-on televised wrestling
channels, in presidential
debates. However, this sum
mer I became most appalled at
the cheap shots my own peers
took at each other, which
could be viewed by all Science
and Math students through
school-issued email accoimts.
As soon as one all-student
email was sent, it seemed that
one or more responses accom
panied it-responses that were
not always accolades or even
tactful criticisms. An easy
solution to keeping out of the
strings of emails and responses
to them is to delete all of the
emails sent to all students that
are from students, choosing
not to read them and therefore
having no
stop myself from reading fur
ther.
These summer emails
have been a personal attack on
everyone at this school and
everyone
complaints.
I kept read
ing them,
for the same
reason that
you might
turn to page
9A in the
'What sort of institu
tion would our school
be without the free
sharing of ideas, know
ing that each individ
ual's differs?"
newspaper
to read a continuation of an
article from the day's headline.
While I was amazed at the cru
elties slung fiercely through
cyberspace for the humiliation
of one person in front of the
entire student body, I could not
who has ever
been a stu
dent here.
AVhy would a
group of tal
ented and
resourceful
intellectuals
choose to
battle in such
a way-through name-calling,
insults, and character attacks
which can be neither proved
nor disproved, and are there
fore not subject for response?
These students would not ordi
narily show such hatred.
Through email and mass mail
ings, the victims of these
vicious emails are depersonal
ized. The sort of bashing evi
denced this summer in all-stu
dent emails could make any
one feel that their assertion of
their own opinion or advice is
deficient. What sort of institu
tion would our school be with
out the fi^e sharing of ideas
and viewpoints, knowing that
each individual's differs?
I am aware that this is
not the first summer that flam
ing emails have heated up stu
dents' summer vacation, and
do not expect that this summer
was the conclusion. Those of
us who are seniors this year
will set the tone next June. Just
as some seniors graced this
summer with advice for our
senior ,year and memiories of
their own, we all can share
with each other in a civil man
ner. With the positive turn that
the string of sharing titles of
favorite books brought about,
as well as the more reader-
friendly emails that were
sprinkled throughout our two
months of summer vacation,
the tradition and tone of sum
mer all-student emails for next
year has the potential to
become one upon which stu
dents can happily reflect.
Heading Towards a Trimester
Kristoph Kleiner
A s most students know,
NCSSM will follow a
trimester schedule for
the 2004-2005 school year.
Recently, the administration
and the curriculum task force
committee decided the final
academic schedule for next
year. We, the Juniors, will have
our NCSSM career split
between the two schedule sys
tems. Splitting our year into
three parts lends certain
advantages to next year's
schedule; for example, classes
geared toward preparing stu
dents for the AP exam will be
taught in the last semester.
Those who do not want to take
the exam will not have to par
ticipate in the AP only por
tions.
Asking around, I heard a
variety of opinions about the
trimester schedule. Here are a
few of the student responses:
■
Galen
Andrew: "We
will not have
enough time
to do our
homework
and the class
es will not have enough time
to cover the material."
Janie Qu: "I am against it
because the semester system
we 01 have
now it
working
fine and I
don't see
any reason
to change."
■ .;0 ’ -i'. :'i !'J \'‘‘
Colin Lavery: "It's good
because will have more free
time since the classes won't be
year long."
Aden VanNoppen:"It
could be good because it will
cut down the workload and
will allow us to take more
classes."
Nick Knapp: "I have
heard that all the schools that
switch to the trimester go back
after a couple of years."
It seems that there are
conflicting opinions concern
ing the move to the trimester, 1
pefsonally Jhiqjc yve^wijl ^ye
to ' try Ih'is" new ' schedule'’tp
evaluate the pros and cons'.
Whatever your opinion, me
trimester will be implemented
next year, so be ready.
Do you'ah opinion
on the shift ’ towards a
trimester schedule? Let us
know!. Email your opinion to:
buckwalterr@ncssm. edu
“Justice”
from Page 3
society. How so many can sep
arate homophobia from any
other obviously baseless big
otry is completely beyond me.
The prejudice that may
have been put to work in this
case is present at all levels.
Most victims of anti-
lesbian/gay violence, more
than 80%, never report the
incidents due to the fear of
being
"outed." The
hostile cli
mate in this
country con-
c e r n i n g
alternative
lifestyles
makes gay
youth four
times as
likely as their straight peers to
commit suicide.
When you see someone
dressed in drag, what do you
think about them? What do
you assume about the way
they live, who they are? How
many times do you hear the
word "fag" every day?
How many times do you
hear the word "gay" in
place of "bad," "undesir
able," "wrong," "annoying"
in a sentence? Teachers,
how do you deal with
openly gay students in your
class
estimated 40% of
woman on death row
had an implication of
lesbianism used against
them, whether the
charge was true or
(and who they are), if differing
from the norm is?
Was justice served in this
case? I do not know, but I
think that justice is never truly
served when societal prejudice
**2
overwhelming climate of
homophobia in most of the US
is still pres
ent. When
reading
about this
I
inappropriate
rooms,
and what
kind of
example
do you set
about how
they should
be treated,
how appro
priate or
their behavior
Chiidr^
Bring Cifu, .
THEMf 1
www.cta-usa.
is unfairly applied to any per
son. Even with the hope gener
ated over recent Supreme
Court rulings on sodomy and
discussion on gay marriage in
Canada and elsewhere, an
awareness of the generally
case,
was
reminded
of a por
tion of
Michael
Bronski's "The Liberation
of Pleasure": "The fight to
gain equal rights for homo
sexuals is a vital one that
will not only make U.S.
democracy more just, but
org will help fulfill the idealis
tic dream of America as a land
of freedom for everyone... Just
as the repeal of Jim Crow laws
and the enactment of civil
rights legislation did not eradi
cate racism, the repeal of anti
gay laws and the passing of
Changing or enacting a
law will not change
heterosexuals' hearts
and minds or speak to
their deepest fears.
J
equal protection and nondis
crimination legislation for
homosexuals
will not
bring about
freedom for
gay people.
Changing or
enacting a
law will not
change het
erosexuals'
hearts and minds or speak to
their deepest fears."
We can only hope that our
legal system is not being used
to proliferate a new sense of
prejudice and intolerance in
our country, and we caimot
pretend to live in a free and
open society when ten percent
or more or our population
must live in fear of prejudice
both Irom private interactions
and from the legal system that
is supposed to protect them.