2 may 2005
news
the stentorian I ncssm
EAG Leads the Way to NCSSM’s Future
Connie Chu
The Ethical
Awareness Group (EAG) has
been one of the most active
clubs on campus this year,
having hosted a statewide
ethics conference this past fall,
sponsored numerous discus
sions throughout the year, and.
officially ratified a school
honor code.
“The significance of vot
ing in the school’s first honor
code is a milestone,” said
Danielle Mouw. “The fact that
ethics has been brought to the
table as a matter of signifi
cance among our student body
is promise for our future stu
dents. Working in any sense
towards a community that can
sustain one day, almost entire-
y off of trust, is not in a sense,
an ‘ideal’ or unattainable goal
now that the ball has gotten
rolling. The honor code is our
jlatform off of which to jump,
and the sky is our limit.”
Current EAG members
revised the honor code from
last year at a retreat held on
February 27. The changes
included making the pledge in
the present tense, saying “I
am” instead of “I will be” hon
est, etc., and adding a point
about being respectful toward
the campus environment.
Copies of the new honor code
were available outside the
PFM during the code’s ratifi-
Danielle Mouw
Dr. Reidy leads the EAG in discussion of ethics during the EAG retreat
cation by secret ballot on
March 8-9. Support was
shown by over two thirds of
the students and staff who
voted.
“[W]e have orchestrated
the proper backing that the
honor code is due and have set
the course for future activity,”
said Adam Preslar. “One of
the more interesting things on
the table is the idea to make
signing the honor code an
annual thing and to record the
signatures on a banner or in a
book for posterity’s sake. I
know that there were those
who were very strongly
opposed to the honor code, and
they had their reasons, but it
was imperative that the honor
code be ratified to show the
student body's support of us
and what we stand for.” .
“The Honor Code is a
document that is not just mere
ly words. It states what many
NCSSM students already
believe in,” added Yolanda
Fair.
Other issues discussed at
the EAG retreat included club
publicity, activities for next
year, and the eventual estab
lishment of an Honor Council.
On March 18, EAG members
presented their plan for the
Honor Council to the Board of
Trustees, who were very sup
portive of the idea. Currently,
the goal is to have a set-up of
seven members who would be
elected after an application
process, including an inter
view, at the end of their junior
year. Though not an official
leadership position (Honor
Council membership does not
fulfill a work service require
ment), training would be
New SGA, New Plans
Sara Wise
In May, the responsibili
ties of the NCSSM Student
Government Association were
passed to the five recently
elected members of the execu
tive committee, under the new
leadership of President
Thomas Christy. So far, the
transition has been smooth, as
the President has worked with
Vice President Victoria Park,
Secretary Sam Abumoussa,
Treasurer Haolan Cai, and
Parliamentarian Han Zhang to
end the year with a bang.
In the fall, expect strong
leadership and big changes
from the new SGA. Next year
will be the twenty-fifth year of
our school, and such an event
calls for celebration.
As the SGA plans for an
exciting start to the school
year, they’re also aware of the
long-term issues. One partic
ular priority of the executive
officers is the support of the
tuition grant.
“It’s not just about keep
ing students in state,” explains
Thomas Christy. “The issue is
getting quality education to
students who deserve it and
who have proven that they are
capable of overcoming obsta
cles.”
In addition to achieving
ideal long-term goals, there
are also several bread-and-
butter issues on the table. For
students who can’t seem to
stomach anything more than
the bread from the cafeteria,
there’s hope.
“If there’s so much
emphasis on the Sleep,
Nutrition, and Exercise
Initiative, I can’t understand
why there isn’t more pressure
to have decent food in the
cafeteria,” notes Thomas
Christy.
Other hungry NCSSM
students might also be satis
fied by the plan to create dis-
coimt cards to local food busi
nesses. Ideally, students
should be able to purchase the
discount cards for around $10
or $12. Although proceeds
will help raise funds for the
SGA, students who save
money using the cards will be
the ones benefiting in the long
run.
Similar fund raisers just
might spell success and popu
larity for the new SGA, since
profits could go to projects
such as replacing equipment
in the PEC and allotting more
money to clubs.
To connect with the stu
dent community and improve
communication, more fre
quent and current e-mails
regarding the developments
made by the SGA should
reach students faster, prevent
ing a repetition of something
like the amendment controver
sy, among other things. The
SGA also plans on utilizing
our school radio to increase
contact with the student body.
The executive officers
hope that students will take
advantage of the Student
Initiative Committees to get
directly involved in issues like
Internet, in-room policies, and
nutrition. Although these
committees have existed this
year, most students really
haven’t been aware of them.
With more communication,
the SGA hopes that student
involvement will increase.
But the new SGA won’t
be serious all of the time.
New exciting activities are
being considered for next
year, such as school-wide cap
ture the flag games and other
outdoor activities.
As the new leaders of the
SGA start planning the future
of the school, Thomas Christy
believes that the executive
officers will make a successful
team.
“Although we all have
our different priorities, I
believe that we can all reach a
consensus to determine what
is best for the NCSSM com
munity.”
required and take place a week
prior to the start of school.
The Honor Council would be
composed of students with no
favoritism shown to those
already part of EAG.
However, as noted by many
cuurrent EAG members, “Our
hopes are that this Council will
be able to be headed by an
EAG member and maintain
partnerships with the faculty
who sponsor us.”
The Honor Council would
work with the hearing board,
which serves at the Level
hearings, to decide sanctions
and would join with the MFCs
to, do peer mediation. It is
intended to deal with smaller
level infractions and aid in
addressing problems with stu
dents who have broken the
honor code. The Council
would “serve as a resource ...
to help reconcile the student
with the community,” say
EAG members. “We want to
stress that this is about peer to
peer accountability, ‘media
tion and reconciliation,’ and
simply stressing awareness
and establishing stronger part
nerships through direct out
reach to students and by form
ing working relationships with
staff.”
“People can get involved
[with EAG] by taking initia
tive,” said -Danielle Mouw.
“Anyone can simply come to
our meetings. We Hope to
Puppy,” contihiiod from
Page 1
also spending more time
working in the evenings and
on the weekends. Teachers
have also noticed that the
number of sleep-deprived stu
dents has gone down; howev
er, the range of students not
doing homework has
increased, even though the
mean has not. With all that
free time, why is homework
not being done?
However, the most strik
ing thing found in this survey
is that even with more time
and other beneficial statistics
about the trimester, mean sat
isfaction of teachers has gone
from 80% overall to 62% with
the trimester. This difference
is even more obvious in the
Science Department, which
now shows a 32% satisfaction
rating. This begs the question,
why aren’t the survey ques
tions reflecting this attitude?
Why are there no questions
concerning class size compar
isons or the amount of materi
al covered under the trimester
as opposed to the semester?
At a meeting on May 9th,
the math faculty met to discuss
the objectives of the trimester,
and whether or not these
objectives have been met. The
faculty outlined two primary
problems from this year: (1)
the absence of new courses,
and (2) changes in graduation
requirements.
Originally, trimesters
were supposed to offer stu-
have by then end of the year a
set meeting time and place
posted on AtAGlance so that
those who are interested can
simply come, but if you ever
have interest, feel free to con
tact us. Also, by simply partic
ipating in our open discus
sions, or posting comments on
the Forum, you take part in
what our club stands for, and
that is ultimately what we are
aiming for in the future: a
more active student body.”
“Working with EAG
makes me feel like I am part of
something important, some
thing big,” said Eva Panjwani.
“In the future, I hope to see
EAG have a positive presence
on campus - similar to that of
MFCs or RLAs.”
“[EAG] is a club that has
created something that could
affect NCSSM forever,”
agreed Yolanda Fair. “[T]he
group is able to bring up ethi
cal issues and get the students
thinking.”
“I hope that our club will
continue to make ethical
awareness an underlying sup
port to the NCSSM communi
ty,” added Adam Preslar.
“Why wouldn't you want to be
involved in a group that is and
will be shaping NCSSM in ter
rific ways with the ideas and
programs that we are pursu
ing'
?’’
dents more course opportuni
ties; however, in the words of
a long standing faculty mem
ber at Science and Math, “this
hasn’t happened.” Instead,
many courses have just been
given new names or been
modified slightly, and students
have been forced to take class
es they don’t want to take
because there is nothing left
open. The reason for these
problems is the need for more
teachers and the strict over
load policy, which often stops
students from taking the
courses that interest them.
Secondly, the changes in
the graduation requirements
have made it easier for stu
dents to graduate with fewer
courses in science and math.
According to one faculty
member, “students are taking
classes again in college
because they only took 2/3 of
the course here, [making it]
hard to meld with the college
program.” For instance, stu
dents are no longer required to
take the last trimester of chem
istry or calculus to graduate,
and many classes like Discrete
Math have had sections cut to
fit into a trimester. Another
teacher added, “All these side
effects add up.”
So, does the trimester sys
tem kill puppies? Clearly the
literal answer is no, but the
jury is still out on its effects on
the health of NCSSM.