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Leaving a Legacy?
Page 6
Rattle of the
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fages & "y
Republicans Pick
Bush page 7
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vol. XXXIX
stentorian
the north Carolina school of science and mathematics 1219 broad street, durham nc 27705
http://www.ncssm.edu/stentorian
October 2004
Aroimd the World
Caroline Saul
Rise in Hippo Death Rate
O ne hundred hippos
have died in the past
month in Queen Elizabeth
National Park in Uganda.
Twenty-five died the month
before. The rise in deaths is
presently being attributed to
rinderpest which entered the
park with eattle seeking graz
ing land; however, tests are
being done to find the exact
cause. Efforts are being made
to immunize all of the cattle in
the surrounding area.
Grecian Secondary School
Opens in North Cyprus
I n 1974 Turks invaded the
northern portion of the pri
marily Grecian island
nation of Cyprus. The Greek
Cypriot secondary school in
the isolated town of
Rizokarpasso in the north has
recently reopened; it was shut
down upon the invasion in an
effort to force the Grecians
residents south. The self-
declared Turkish Republic of
Northern Cyprus allowed the
school to reopen for humani
tarian reasons. Formerly,
when a child was ready to
attend secondary school the
family either had to send the
child to the south alone or
uproot and move to govern
ment housing in the south.
Indonesian Magazine Faces
Criminal Lawsuit
T he Indonesian maga
zine Tempo, which is
comparable to Time
Magazine, is facing another
obstacle. It has been taken out
of the shelves in the past, but
has always found alternate
means of publication, such as
the creation of daily online
editions. In 1999 the Press
Law was enacted to prevent
the government from banning
publications and created a
council to mediate disagree
ments between the press and
the community. Bambang
Harymurti, Tempo’s head edi
tor, has been accused of crim
inal libel by businessman
Tomy Winata. Many human
rights groups see the charges
as a curtailment of the free
dom of the press'.
continued on page 2
NCSSM: In the Words of Dr. Miller
Jasmine Rowe
J on Miller has a command
ing presence. While this
reporter waited outside his
office for an interview, his
powerful voice could be heard
ringing down the entire
Ground Beall hallway. He sat
in his office, advising one of
his students on an assignment,
asking questions and was
always quick with a response.
As Dr. Miller’s student began
to describe the story the class
was discussing, another stu
dent, unsuspecting, began to
walk down the opposite end of
the hallway. At this moment.
Dr. Miller, having heard the
student describe a crucial part
of the story’s plot, firmly said,
“Stop right there!” to his sm-
dent; the other student, inci
dentally, at the other end of the
hall, stopped walking,
whirling around in bewilder
ment. When finally he real
ized that the powerful, seem
ingly disembodied voice was
not directed at him, the student
glanced around sheepishly and
shrugged, as if to say, “It’s
Miller. What can I say?”
Renowned as a diffi
cult yet undeniably charismat
ic teacher. Dr. Miller has been
at the North Carolina School
of Science and Math since the
day it opened. He has wit
nessed every change the stu
dent body and the school has
endured, from the least signif
icant to the grandest. “The
nature of organizations is to
change; that’s simply what
happens,” he said, and Science
and Math is no exception.
With so many
changes having transpired
within the past twenty-four
years. Dr. Miller has had to
make a few alterations in his
teaching method, though the
necessary tailoring of his
teaching has been minimal.
He feels that his current stu
dents are far too similar,
whether one speaks academi
cally or socially, to the stu
dents he had in 1980 for there
to be a drastic change in his
methods. “The student body
has changed because it’s got
ten bigger. Looking at the
SAT scores and grade distribu
tions, these things have not
changed much.” It strikes Dr.
Miller that students remain, as
a whole, so unchanged.
“When I help students get set
tled during the move-in days
every year, it’s always 1980
for me. All of the new stu
dents are excited and terrified
and proud, just like they were
on that very first move-in
day.” At heart, each student
feels the same when first arriv
ing here, regardless of the
year.
However,
there are a
few differ-
e n c e s
between the
classes in
the 1980s
and the
present.
Much of our
education
has been),
technologi-*
cally based,
and beeause
of this, tra-
d i t i o n a 1
book learn- jjj. pushed off a wall
mg IS not as by his class
prominent a
factor, in our education as it
was in the 1980s. “Students in
1980 knew more about history
and how to curl up with a good
book,” Dr. Miller said, no
stranger to history or good
books himself. Learning so
much about tedinology means
other sacrifices must be made
in our educational process.
“Now, I do not have to read as
many hand-written papers as I
did in the past; however, if I
speak of an historical figure, I
must go into depth describing
who he was, whereas in the
past everyone knew without so
much elaboration.” More
effort is necessary in describ
ing historical and religious fig
ures than in the past, simply
because that aspect of recent
studepts’ education is not
emphasized as heavily as it
was in the past. The sacrifices
are not all negative, however.
“People [in 1980] were not
dumber than they are now, nor
are people now dumber than
they; they simply know more
about different things.”
Most of the changes
made in the school itself seem
to be positive in Dr. Miller’s
mind. In the past, there was no
library for the students to con
gregate in for study groups, or
even to do research in. “I
remember when the library
was a closet,” he said, describ
ing it as no larger than a Hunt
closet single, filled with donat
ed books, as well as strange
medical, texts left from the
buildings Watts Hospital days.
A library would have helped
the students in the 1980s, as
would have
other ameni
ties that we
take for
granted.
“They could
t^have used
better air-con
ditioning, like
you have, and
they would
have appreci
ated less
flooding, on
the ground
floors, as
well.” In
1980, there
was no audi
torium to
meet in. Our
beloved Assembly Hall, now
used for Koffeehaus perform
ances, was constructed for a
sole purpose: so the school
could assemble for meetings.
“When the Assembly Hall was
finally built, everyone was so"
excited about it. So we assem
bled there and we didn’t fit.
We had to hold meetings in the
Pit until the auditorium was
finally built.” Yawning over
lunchtime meetings in the
auditorium, we students do not
realize how much worse it
could be to endure those meet
ings outside in the not-so-con-
sistent North Carolina weath
er.
Despite the multitude
of buildings recent classes
have had the luxury of having,
classes in the 1980s had some
benefits we do not have.
“There was a swimming pool,
and it made teaching impossi
ble. Imagine trying to teach a
class of students, all of them
wearing bathing suits under
their clothes, while they stare
out at the pool. It was so close
to Hill you could almost reach
out the window and grab the
ankles of someone about to
dive in.” The pool was later
removed due to “safety haz
ards” and leaking that posed
problems during the construc
tion of Hunt.
There are less tangi
ble differences in the old class
es and the new, as well: the
change in the atmosphere in
the school. When the school
was first established, the com
munity functioned almost in
the manner that a family
would, with fewer staff and
students; most teachers knew
the names of all of the other
teachers and students, and in
turn, the students knew every
one as well. “We had one hun
dred fifty students, sixteen or
seventeen teachers, six RAs,
(now referred to as SLIs,) and
that was it.” Dr. Miller recalls
a time when the entire staff of
the school could meet in a con
ference room and fit around a
single table. Everyone was
close, and the school seemed
to be a stronger community.
However, the necessity for
growth in the school was
undeniable, and as a result,
classes grew every year;
inversely, the more students
there were, the less teachers
and students knew each other.
“I knew about ninety-five per
cent of the student body, ini
tially, and knew about seventy-
five percent of their home
towns. As the classes grew, I
knew fewer student names,
and less about the students I
did know.” The smaller class
es of the past allowed students
to know each other more inti
mately, thus leaving them
more comfortable with each
other in their classes; students’
realizing others’ strengths and
weaknesses is as imperative as
realizing their own. With the
growth of the school, however,
this is no longer a possibility.
Though there are
more students, making it more
difficult to maintain relation
ships with students. Dr. Miller
continues to realize the impor
tance of conversing with his
students outside of class.
“Important connections with
students are made outside the
classroom, and the connec
tions made there return in the
classroom.” Dr. Miller
believes knowing the students
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