Learn about NCSSM's
Leadership Positions
Page 3
HoAfe/ o/ ieoret
d/dmAAre/rer?
LoxyhthrcnAjgh/fhe'
Umey to- find/ out!
A critique of NCSSM's
attitudes towards
learning
Page 9
stentorian
the north Carolina school of science and mathematics 1219 broad street, durham nc 27705
http://www.ncssin.edu/stentorian
februarv 2005
World
Caroune Jennings Saul
T
he Patron Saint of ;
the Internet
Hope in the Aftermath of the Tsunami
The Russian Orthodox
Church has narrowed its
choices for their patron saint
of the Internet down to Saint
John Chrysostom and Saint
Feofan the Hermit. The
Roman Catholic Church has
chosen St. Isidore, the
Bishop of Seville, for their
patron saint of the internet.
Some clergy believe that the
internet is a tool of Satan;
however, others hope to gar
ner its widespread use to
spread Christendom and
crate a large online library of
Christian Literature.
Bloei»«-^urrjrry
Penguins
This year's hatching of
Adelie penguins living on
Cape Ryods is in grave dan
ger. The B-15A iceberg,
what some scientists have
deemed the largest floating
object in the world, is block
ing the penguins' route to
food. The penguins now face
a 180 km round trip to their
food source. If parent pen
guins were to go get food,
they would have to use all
they could carry on their
long trip back. The iceberg
is a whopping three thousand
square kilometers. The ice
berg has the potential to pre
vent a penguin colony on
Cape Bird from getting food
as well as blocking access to
three science research sta
tions.
Australia Cracks Down on
Drugs
Police in the state of Victoria
in southern Australia will be
setting up road blocks to
screen drivers for drug
usage. The road checks are
primarily to screen for mari
juana and methamphetamine
u#age. The program was
instigated because one third
of the people who died in
automobile accidents in
Victoria were under the
influence of drugs other than
alcohol. The tests are meant
to target club goers and
truckers who take metham-
phetamincs to stay awake.
“World,” continued on
page 2
Aneesh Kulkarni
J ust like many of you will
never forget where you
were the morning of
September 11th, I will never
forget where I was on the
morning of December 26th. I
was just a few hundred kilo
meters away from the coast of
Tamil Nadu in India, which
was badly hit by the tsunami. I
am thankful I was not close
enough to be directly impacted
by the waves, but still close
enough to feel the pain and
suffering. In the aftermath of
the tsunami, almost no one had
any idea of the incredible mag
nitude of the destruction; the
initial projected death toll was
around 10 000. However,
thousands, more bodies were
discovered in the days that fol
lowed.
The Indonesian
province of Aceh, the Indian
state of Tamil Nadu, and the
entire island of Sri Lanka were
the hardest hit. When a disas
ter of this scale strikes, there is
very little that can be done.
However, the maimer in which
this tsunami was handled
underlines the need for greater
international communication,
and the installation of an early-
warning system. Take for
example the story of a village
in Kerala in southern India;
one of its residents had moved
to Singapore. When he heard
about the tsunami, he immedi
ately called the only phone in
the village. While the village
was destroyed by the waves,
not a life was lost. On the
other hand, the Indian govern
ment Home Ministry did not
came together after the disas
ter. Differences in nationality,
caste, gender, and age were
forgotten as humanity pulled
everyone together, much as it
did in the aftermath of the 9/11
attacks. The survival stories
are remarkable, and many are
nothing short of miracles. A
20-day old Malay baby was
found alive floating on a mat-
even hear about the tsunami
until the media reported that it
had hit the Indian coast. With
better communication, perhaps
thousands of lives could have
been spared, especially in Sri
Lanka and India, which were
farther away from the epicen
ter of the earthquake.
Although the losses
were immense, we can take
heart from the way people
tress in the Indian Ocean two
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/image:wave.jpg days after the
tsunami
struck. An
Air Force
; officer on the
Nicobar
'^Islands
noticed his
tea cup shak
ing as he sat
jin a cafe, so
he quickly led
his family to
higher ground for safety. A
tribe living in the Andaman
Islands noticed the sea recede,
so they fled to safety inside
their temple on a mountain-
top, while the other tribes on
the island rushed out to sea to
collect the dead fish that had
washed ashore only to be
caught unaware by the tsunami
that came just two hours later.
So while we mourn the losses.
we can take heart from the
miracles and the amazing sur
vival stories.
The world has come
together to raise money for the
victims of this disaster. The
American government has
donated hundreds of millions
of dollars, and sports stars and
celebrities worldwide have
chipped in. No doubt this
money will be of tremendous
benefit as thousands of people
try to rebuild their lives. But,
in the long term, the greatest
contribution we can give is our
awareness of what is going on
in places around the world.
Our help will be of limited use
in the long run if people
watching the media coverage
don’t know where Sri Lanka
is, or if TV viewers don’t
understand that corruption and
lack of infrastructure often
prevent a quick recovery in the
tsunami-affected areas. It
undermines the efforts of the
global community to unite for
a cause. The biggest present
we can give to other nations is
an understanding, if not an
appreciation, of their unique
culture. And hopefully we can
take this occasion to learn
about and help our fellow peo
ples across the world.
S&M Responds
Dan Applegate
O n December 26, 2004,
an earthquake measur
ing 9.0 on the Richter
scale formed a tsunami which
devastated large regions of
Oceania and Southeast Asia.
Even parts of Africa felt
effects of this disaster,
although located thousands of
miles away.
As of this writing, the
death toll stands at over
220,000 people, spread out
over countries such as
Indonesia, Thailand, Sri
Lanka, and India. Thousands
more are missing and feared
deceased. Efforts aimed at
reuniting families or identify
ing bodies are still in motion
all over the affected area.
Countless homeless are now
living in refugee camps, where
they are in danger of outbreaks
of diseases such as malaria or
tetanus due to poor sanitation
and lack of clean water.
“It didn’t really sink
in initially,” said junior Peggy
McKay. “At first, I took it like
I had heard about a hurricane,
like ‘Oh, there’s another one.’
It was really sad. It makes you
wonder why it happened.”
Among the dead and
missing are tourists from at
least 24 countries around the
world. 18 Americans were
killed by the tsunami, and 16
more are missing and pre
sumed dead.
Over $5 billion in
international aid has already
been pledged by countries all
over the world, with about
another $1.6 billion given in
private donations. The United
States alone has pledged $350
million.
Although it hap
pened halfway around the
world, the tsunami has struck
“Responds,” continued on
page 2
The Real Impact
Priya Desai
T he tsunanii destroyed
the home and lives of
thousands of people
around the Indian Ocean, but it
also had an effect on the poli
tics of the international world.
More than ten countries have
been hit by this disastrous
storm, ranging in populations
of a couple of hundred thou
sands to one billion. What
repercussions did the tsunami
have? Enough time has passed
to estimate the global and
locaT damage that the tsunami
has caused. For those that
want a quick synopsis of what
happened and the effects of the
tsunami, here it is.
The first thing that
comes to mind is that the
economies of these nations
have changed drastically due
to the chaotic effect of the
tsunami. Surprisingly,
Indonesia, having lost the
most lives out of any Indian
Ocean nation, has not suffered
as greatly economically as Sri
Lanka has. The economies as
a whole will suffer because of
the decrease in labor force and
the cost of reconstruction.
India has refused foreign aid
because of its non-aligned pol
icy similar to the Monroe
Doctrine, thus making the
nation rely on itself for all
costs to damages caused by
the tsunami. Other countries
like Bangladesh and Somalia
do not have any significant
economic repercussions.
However, the countries affect
ed by the tsunami have a com
bined debt of about $390 bil
lion. The most obvious lost in
revenue in all of the nations
affected is the tourism indus
try and since whole fishing
villages have been wiped out,
a chunk of the fishing industry
"Real Impact,” continued on
page 3
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