april 2012
news/entertainment
the stentorian | ncssm
Boy bands increasing
in popularity
By: Rosalia Preiss
We all know the popular
boy bands of the 90s- N*SYNC,
the Backstreet Boys, Hanson,
Boyz II Men, New Kids On The
Block. Throughout this period,
boy bands were dominating the
charts of popular music.
However, for the past few
years, all male teen groups have
not been as plentiful as they
used to be. But don’t worry boy
band fans- 2012 has brought a
promising crop of new groups.
In the past year, many
new boy bands have risen to
stardom. Bands like TV’s Big
Time Rush, The Wanted, and
the X-Factor darlings One
monogrammed caps and red
and black outfits. One Direction
members Zayn Malik and
Harry Styles are well known
for their memorable hairdos.
The Wanted, also a product of
Britain, target a somewhat more
mature audience with both their
edgy style and music.
While boy bands are
often thought of as targeted
towards teenage girls, the new
generation is working towards
branching out to other groups
as well.
Though Big Time Rush is
a product of kid’s TV network
Nickelodeon, a fan at their
Durham show expressed
While boy bands may not
be popular with everyone, their
impact on popular music is
astounding. One Direction
was the first British group to
ever to go straight to the top
of US music charts with their
debut album, a record not even
held by internationally popular
group, the Beatles, spurring
many comparisons of the two
groups.
While it isn’t likely that
most of these groups will leave
a legacy as great as the Beatles,
it is impossible to deny their
talent. Every member of One
Direction, The Wanted, and
Big Time Rush had extensive
Direction have hopped up the
popular charts and blown up
Top 40 radio all across America.
Style is a huge part of boy
bands. Back in the 90s, groups
like the Backstreet Boys defined
fashion with color-coordinated
outfits and bleached, spiked,
highly styled hair.
The boy bands of today
are no different. During their
concert. Big Time Rush
wowed the crowd with their
happiness that she “wasn’t the
only 21 year old there!” Through
their more adult themes in their
music. The Wanted started out
with an older age group of fans.
And while One Direction’s
first album. Up All Night, was
a perfect example of pure pop,
a recent interview with Rolling
Stone magazine stated that the
boys were going for “more of
a rock n’ roll vibe” on their
upcoming album.
Courtesy of One Direction
training in vocal music before
being placed together in various
competitions.
Most of all, the boys are
just excited to be liked. “The
fans are a dream come true” said
Styles. Band mate Niall Horan
says he’s “over the moon” about
the band’s rising success in
America. And while the trend of
boy bands may not last forever,
their influence on modem pop
music certainly will.
The class of 2012, NCSSM’s 30th graduating class, will proudly
walk across Watts Lawn on June 2, about a month away. Not
only does NCSSM commencement feature a student speaker,
but a keynote speaker is chosen as well. Robert A. Ingram is
thisyear’s commencement keynote speaker. As the former CEO
of GlaxoSmithKline and a member of the Research Triangle
Foundation of North Carolina, he can draw many parallels
between his career and accomplishments with our experiences
at NCSSM. Ingram is also a member of the Boards for the James
B. Hunt Jr. Institute for Educational Leadership and Policy and
the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center. We look forward to welcoming
Ingram onto campus in the near future.
Student body president Krunal Amin remarked, "I think his
demonstrated passion for both seience and service to humanity
makes him an ideal speaker for our commencement. With the
generosity of him and GlaxoSmithKline, our school has been
able to offer lots of great opportunities: from the Glaxo lab we
have in the biology department to various summer programs
made possible with Glaxo s support. For an institution that
prides itself in producing students who become state, national,
and global leaders in STEM fields and innovators for the
betterment of humankind; he serves as an exemplary role model
because of all his accomplishments. ”
TEDxNCSSM brings Ideas
worth sharing’ to campus
By: Carl Yin
A hundred people gathered
at the Lecture Hall to attend
TEDxNCSSM on Saturday,
April 21. Four speakers from
a wide array of specialties
discussed their current research
and ideas worth sharing.
The audience was selected
to create a diverse atmosphere,
and present were NCSSM
students, students from local
Durham high schools, local
figures, NCSSM faculty and
administration, and alumni.
The event was run by
Dean of Science Amy Sheck
and a committee consisting of
NCSSM students.
The four speakers present
are all current professors at
Duke University, and have very
different areas of expertise.
The first speaker. Dr.
William “Billy” Pizer, is an
associate professor at the Duke
University Sanford School of
Public Policy, specializing in
environmental policy.
Pizer has worked
with the U.S. Treasury as
well as Resources for the
Future (RFFF), a nonprofit
organization dedicated to
researching environmental and
energy issues.
During his time at the
RFFF, he drafted reports for
the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC), which
was a co-recipient of the 2007
Nobel Peace Prize. Pizer is also
an NCSSM alumnus from the
Class of 1986.
Pizer’s TEDx talk focused
on combating climate change in
the future with environmental
policy, dubbed “Climate
Change: What Do We Do
Now?”
The next speaker was
Dr. Robert Jackson, who is a
professor of biology at Duke
University. His research focuses
on humankind’s impact on the
world, in regard to land and
energy use.
Jackson currently is the
Director of Duke’s Stable
Isotope Mass Spectrometry
Laboratory and National
Institute for Climate Change
Research for the southeastern
U.S. He gave a talk at TEDx
about “Fracking and the Future
of Gas”.
Afterwards spoke Dr. Amy
Schmid from the Duke Biology
department. She is currently an
assistant professor specializing
in genomics and cell biology.
Schmid’s research
centers on archaeabacteria
and their ability to survive
in extreme conditions.
Schmid is a past Fulbright
scholar, and was a senior
scientist at the Institute, before
becoming an assistant professor
at Duke University.
Schmid presented the talk
“Surviving the Outer Limits:
Life in Saturated Salt.”
The last speaker was Dr.
Arlie O. Betters, a professor
of mathematics, physics, and
business administration at Duke
University. Betters was bom
from a poor town in coastal
Belize, and emigrated to the
U.S. in his early teenage years.
Betters is a symbol of
educational success in Belize,
and is extremely involved in the
Belizean community.
A few years ago, he built
the Betters Research Institute
to help train young Belizeans
in science, mathematics, and
technology.
Betters’ research has
focused on the mathematical
theory of gravitational lensing,
and has won many awards for
his pioneering work in this field.
Betters gave the talk “Is
there a fifth dimension?”, which
explained the brane-world
theory which suggests a fifth
dimension.
Overall, the TEDx event
was a great success. The event
was the first TEDx event hosted
by a high school in North
Carolina. There is discussion
about these TEDx events
becoming an annual event for
the school, and it is widely
hoped that TEDxNCSSM will
continue on next year.