august 2005
juniors
the stentorian | ncssm
To date or to wait: the two-week rule
BY Katie Tygielski
A s a new junior, it won’t
take you long to realize
that there are many
unique and fascinating tradi
tions at NCSSM:
Happy Half, three
letter acronyms,
Koffehouse,
rVIZes, Hawaiian
Shirt Day, and so
many more. In
time you’ll learn
about, and hope
fully come to
love, each of
these. But the
two-week rule is
one tradition that
will apply to you
right away. But
wait. What is the
two-week rule?
Where did it
come from? What
happens if you
break it?
The two-week
rule, one of many
famous traditions
of unknown ori
gin handed down
through the
years, is the sug
gestion that jun
iors should wait
two weeks be
fore starting a ro
mantic relation
ship. Although
it’s not a real rule and there are
no punishments for breaking it,
seniors have been urging jun
iors to follow this rule for years.
I’ll never forget learning
about this tradition the first day
of my junior year. I had un
packed all of my boxes and had
just barely seen my parents off
when a senior from down the
hall came into my room and in
troduced herself ..and then in
troduced the two-week rule. She
solemnly admitted to breaking
the rule a year before. “What
happened?” my roommate
asked. The senior stabbed a fin
ger at the cover of my plaimer
and grimly looked up at us. “I
Grand-seniors at prom: did they follow the two-week rule?
dated that guy.”
After hearing the rest of the
heart-wrenching story of two
wasted months and a horrible
break-up, I was absolutely con
vinced and ready to follow the
two-week rule to the minute.
However, looking back on the
situation a year later, I realized
that I had not heard the other
point-of-view. After digging
deeper, I found both pros and
cons to the infamous two-week
rule.
The pros of the two-week
rule were easy enough to find.
Seniors and grand-seniors
have over
whelmingly
supported
the tradition
for several
solid rea
sons. Grand-
senior
A 1 y s s a
Heckman
fervently
warned,
“Obey the
two-week
rule! Every
story I’ve
ever heard
about people
breaking it
has ended
up badly, my
own includ
ed. In my
opinion, the
two-week
rule, al-
though
seemingly
innocuous,
is, in fact, a
way to pro
tect you.”
The first
argument in
favor of the
rule is that
everyone will be on his or her
best behavior for the first two
weeks. Personality flaws will
not shine through while intro
ductions are still being made.
If you’ve ever seen the The
Real World, you know that peo
ple in a new living situation
BuiBwaiQmm on iiage 3
NCSSM Campus Map
W
COMPOSED BY MaY LiU
Auditorium
Computer Labs
Woolworth Room
Music Department
Lecture Hall
Library
Hunt Classroom
Clinic
IM Field
I. Counseling
J. Assembly Hall
K. Academic Programs &
Registrar
L. Cafeteria
M. Computer Labs
N. Racquetball Court
O. PEC Classroom
P. Dance Studio
Q. Fitness Center
R. Admissions Office
Gym
1 Q 1
PEC
N
O P
West
Hunt
bio
pond
East
ETC
"^bike
rack
gerbil tunnel
/2nd ETC-Btyan
Hill
senior bench -
-hill tunnel
ETC
Courtyard
die
•pit"
■ swings
0
Watts
ITS
Alt
Studio
s
I M I
Reynolds
Bryan Lawn
to ninth
Beall
str
!Ct
c
N
hals
- Club Blvd ■
TLAs confuse at first,
prove helpful later to
NCSSM students
BY May Liu
A lthough we may be
smart here at Science
and Math, we can get
a little lazy sometimes with our
words. Instead of using a full
phrase, we usually refer to it with
a TLA, three-letter acronym. So
to clear up some confusion that
often surrounds them, here is a
glossary of frequently used
TLAs.
People:
RLA: Residential Life Assis
tant: These seniors on each hall
help plan hall activities, check
housekeeping, and take check.
PCC: Peer College Counselor:
These seniors help collect in
formation on scholarships,
summer opportunities, and col
leges to help out the student
body. They also arrange for
college representatives to visit
the school and talk with inter
ested students.
MPC: Multicultural Peer Coun
selor: By hosting multiple pro
grams, festivals, and discus
sions, these seniors serve to
emphasize and celebr^the di
versity of our CQjnkiu^^.
SGA: Student ^femment As
sociation: They meet every
Wednesday during common
lunch to plan activities and lob
by the administration for your
needs. There are both elected
officers as well as class and
dorm representatives, but any
one is welcome to attend the
meetings.
SLI: Student Life Assistant:
Each hall has one adult who
acts like the “parent” and lives
in an apartment either near or
on the hall. She/he holds hall
meetings, helps plan hall activ
ities, and counsels hall members
as needed.
Places:
BBR: Bryan Beall Reynolds: As
the largest building on campus,
it is home to three residence
PEC: Physical Education Cen
ter: Located behind the ETC,
this building contains our gym,
a dance studio, workout rooms,
a racquetball court, a rock-
climbing wall, and a classroom.
It is open for both students and
faculty and is also where school
dances and lock-ins are held.
PFM: Professional Food Man
agement: This is the name of the
previous food service provider
for our cafeteria and is current
ly used by students in reference
to our cafi^^a located below
Bryan Lobby-Q^
ITS: InformatidJ^echnology
Service: Located in P floor
Reynolds next to the art studio,
this is where you can run to with
computer-related problems.
Miscellaneous:
AAG: At-A-Glance: The heart
and soul of our student body,
this website (www.ncssm.edu/
ataglance) is where you can find
the latest news, the happenings
of the day, and your email. Over
your two years at NCSSM, you
will definitely come to love and
cherish the importance of this
site.
SAB: Student Activities Board:
This club meets weekly to plan
various student activities in
cluding school dances, field
day, and NCSSM-based game
shows.
ACC: Asian Cultures Club: As
one of the biggest clubs on
campus, ACC works to cele
brate the diversity of students
on campus and hosts multiple
events, including Asiafest in
April.
OIC: Oh, I See: This is the email
account (oic@ncssm.edu) to
which you can send pictures if
you would like them posted on
AAG
EAG: Ethical Awareness Group:
This club has worked to ratify
the school’s new honor code
and continues to increase the
ethical awareness on campus by
to broad
street
dorms, the library, cafeteria,^*- painting murals, holding lead-
studio, and many English ^d^^hip conferences, and work-
science classrooms and
labs.
ETC: Educational Tech
nology Center: As an in-
coming junior, you
have probably visited
this building multiple
times. It is home to
our auditorium, our
music department,
lecture hall, student
center, Woolworth
room, distance learn
ing offices and a few
classrooms (wet lab
and dry lab). And just as
in Hogwarts, the third
floor corridor of this build
ing is off limits to anyone who
does not wish to suffer a most
visitor's
cottage
Watts Lawn
painful death.
g towards creating an honor
council in future years.
SIG: School Improvement
Group: Containing faculty, par
ents, and selected senior stu
dents, this group works with the
administration to improve our
school from every aspect.
So I hope this glossary helps
lessen, and not add to, any con
fusion you may have around the
usage of TLAs. Maybe you’ll
see your RLA with an MPC in
the PFM talking about the next
SAB meeting in the ETC or find
your SLI walking through BBR
and past ITS with a PCC talking
about an ACC event they both
saw on AAG and want to go to.
Either way. I’m sure you’ll be a
TLA-pro in just a few short
weeks. Have fun and good luck!