Research Spotlight on
Carter Growl; page 3
Girts Not Allowed on
Hunt Staircase: page 4
Students Discover Loco Pops as
After-school Treat: page 8
0
stentorian
the north Carolina school of science and mathematics 1219 broad street, durham nc 27705
vol. XXVI, issue 2 Stentorian@nCSSm.edu October 2005
RCRs cover
campus with
blue tape,
more rules
BY Anna Engelke
T he new school year ar
rived at NCSSM, and
with it came excited jun
iors, experienced seniors, and a
wave of new rules and regula
tions.
Room-condition-reports, or
RCRs, were one new change the
school has recently introduced.
Before school started, the RLAs
of each hall were required to
evaluate each room on tiheir hall,
labeling each piece of furniture
in that room and searching each
room for damages such as graf
fiti, scratches, or dents. They
checked the walls, doors, and
ceilings for tape marks and
holes and recorded all the in
formation onto green sheets
that were tacked onto every
one’s door. As RLA Melissa
Bragg remarked, “It was an ex
tremely tedious process.”
Though the administration
has declined to comment on the
official reason behind the RCRs,
Bragg believes that they are the
result of the high cost of repair
ing the damage in dorm rooms
each year. Duct tape and putty
have taken its toll on the walls,
leaving sticky residue and per
manent marks, and many piec
es of furniture are covered in
graffiti. The RLAs that evaluat
ed the rooms were not told much
about how punishments for
damage would be handled;
however, Bragg remarked that
monetary compensation was a
high probability.
Some students said that they
were worried about being
blamed for damage they didn’t
do. Junior Kaylah Roberson did
RGBs contliaeiionintBZ,
Doctoral Statistics
Employed doctoral
scientists:
77% male
23% female
Employed doctoral
computer
scientists:
87% male
13% female
Source: National
Science Foundation
The all-girl computer class begins in winter trimester.
All-girl computer class sparks debate
BY Mary Kohlmann
I n unprecedented step, ad
ministrators have scheduled
an all-female computer sci
ence class for Winter Trimes
ter.
The class is the brainchild of
President Gerald Boarman, who
two years ago began searching
for a way to combat the consis
tent disparity between the num
bers of men and women in com
puter science, both at NCSSM
and in the adult world. Only
thirty-three girls have taken
“Introduction to Computer Sci
ence and Programming” in the
past three years, as opposed to
one hundred and fifty-four
boys. Excellent SAT scores and
high levels of academic
achievement showed that the
intelligence and motivation of
junior and senior girls were on
a par with those of their male
classmates. Why were so few
of them taking computer sci
ence?
Boarman said that he went
to the girls themselves to find
reasons for the disparity. “I
asked them ‘Do you think that
computer science is important?’
and all ofthem said yes. 1 asked
‘Are you interested in taking
courses in computer science?’
and most of them said yes. And
then I asked, ‘Are you taking
those classes?’ Most of them
said no, and the reason they
gave was, ‘Because of the
boys,”’ he said.
However, neither students
nor faculty have met the idea
with unconditional support. Se
niors Alex Solomon and Bryn
McDonald, who are both
scheduled to take computer sci
ence this year, said that they
find the idea “insulting.” “It’s
sexist. It’s like not allowing
guys to go to any of the danc
ing clubs because ‘dancing is a
girls’ thing,”’ McDonald said.
Both girls plan to transfer to a
different section of the course
&rts cratinuMoBRaiiZ
High School Diplomats form bonds with Japanese
BY Connie Chu
AND James Winder
Jenna Hardison finds an
artistic use for painter's tape.
T his past summer, three
students participated in
the High School Diplo
mats (HSD) Program, a cultural
exchange at Princeton Univer
sity that selects 48 American
high school students and pairs
them with Japanese roommates.
“Before experiencing the
Program, I thought ‘the best 10
days of my life’ would be an
overstatement,” Senior James
Winder said. “1 had no idea how
much this program could mean
to me.”
Senior Connie Chu agreed.
“There’s an incredible thing
about meeting people from
around the state, but it’s even
more amazing to meet people
from around the world, no mat
ter what background you come
from,” she said. “My roommate
"The Japanese
were happy to
teach us many
of their pick-up
lines"
James
Winder
Tamana, like a lot of the other
Americans’ roommates, turned
out to be a Japanese version of
me.”
Senior Jon Courtney recalled
the tight bonds he formed with
Administration
tightens grip
on student
web access
BY Hattie Chung
if placed in the all-girls class.
“NCSSM’s motto is ‘accept the
greater challenge’, but with the
creation of this new class, the
school condones the behavior'
of those otherwise smart and
motivated young women who
allow themselves to be intimi
dated,” chief computer science
workservice student Chelsey
Cooley said.
“Creating an all-girls class is
like creating an all-guy class, or
an all-black one. People would
be up in arms about that,”
Solomon said.
“[Due to] Growing up in
south where segregation was
powerful way of keeping peo
ple down, ... I am concerned
that inherent to separation is an
assumption of built-in differ
ence in ability. To me, separat
ing by gender is wrong,” said
teacher Peggy Craft, who
worked in computer science for
his roommate Rasha and other
HSD participants. “Rasha was
like a brother to me,” he said. “I
didn’t really like the [activities],
but I liked hanging out with the
people.”
The program planned numer
ous theme days, including Ha
waiian Day, Heroes and Leg
ends Day, Rock Star Day, Coun
try Fair Day, Halloween Day,
Sports Day, and Bunka-no-hi
(the Japanese Day of Culture).
Japanese and Americans alike
donned cultural attire and
learned about each other’s tra
ditions and language.
“The Japanese were happy
to teach us many of their best
pick-up lines,” Winder said. “It
was great to see the reaction
J
I TS website restrictions
have placed a firmer grip on
students’ lives.
Dr. Richard Alston, Chief In
formation Officer of ITS, said,
“Online access is a privilege
here, and it should be controlled
by the state and the taxpayers
who pay for the students’ daily
life at this school.”
Dr. Gerald Boarman and oth
er members of the school admin
istration established that under
the Internet Child Protection
Act, the school must monitor the
contents of sites that are dis
played on students’ screens.
WebSense is the program used
to filter and limit the use of non-
academic websites. Every URL
is filed under a category; cate
gories include Gambling, Racism
and Hate, Chat Sites, and Per
sonal and Dating.
Sites like LiveJoumal and
other blogrings have quota
times that allow four 30 minute
sessions a ^ay, which allows
students to access the site for a
total of 120 minutes a day.
Some websites like Xanga,
which was blocked as of this
year, are filed under “Grey
Area.” According to Alston,
this category is for sites that do
not have a distinct characteris
tic that makes them inappropri
ate but still hinder the students’
study habits. But WebSense is
not always right. “Research
sites were filed under “Grey
Area” which was completely sil
ly,” senior Anna Engelke said.
The restriction of all websites
after midnight has also arisen as
an issue. Although some
NCSSM students may not get
enough sleep, websites such as
WebAssign are needed for
homework assignments, even if
they have to be done after mid
night. Alston said that the “con
cept is to shut down all digital
communications after midnight,
eventually. The barrier to reach
ing that goal is the expensive
software that we must purchase
to block AIM.”
Many students disagree
with this concept. Junior
Daphne Wang said, “We
shouldn’t be limited in our
website usage. I think that we
are mature enough to be here.”
This view seems to be popular
among the student body. “I can
understand part of the reason
[for cutting off sites after mid
night] but the excessive restric
tions just aren’t necessary,” se
nior 1^1 Bugica said.
The administration has its
faith in WebSense, despite stu
dents’ protests and concerns.
As far as the future of internet
usage, WebSense will stay.