■ stentorian
vol. XXXV, issue 4
north Carolina school of science and mathematics
January 2016
stentorianl23@gmail.com
Asia Fest 2016 performances
captivate sold-out audience
By Cheryl Wang
Editor-in-Chief
As the curtains drew back
in the auditorium, the animated
conversations and excited
laughter of the audience
turned into a hushed silence.
In the center of the stage,
participants of Asia Fest took
to the spotlight.
On Jan. 16 2016, NCSSM
hosted its annual Asia Fest
in the ETC auditorium. With
about 150 performers and over
650 NCSSM students, parents,
and faculty in the audience,
Asia Fest is considered one
of the most highly anticipated
and attended events of the
school year.
Presented by Asian Cultures
Club, Asia Fest celebrates the
diverse culture of the NCSSM
community by showcasing a
variety of Asian music, dance,
and cuisine.
Every winter, students,
parents, and faculty members
gather in the auditorium for
this amazing show.
This year, Asia Fest featured
19 acts. From Bollywood
skits to piano .i
battles, the w
performers as •“
well as the crew j
members
and 1
celebration.
Asia
committees put ”
on an incredible £
£
Fest ”
began with the ™
March of the 
Flags. Students °
in colorful 2
clothes repre- 1
senting a vari- 8
ety of different •§
cultures and ■§.
nations opened
the show with
a presentation
of the flags of
many Asian countries.
Then, led by NCSSM cur
rent seniors Kunal Lodaya
and Riroa Patel, members of
NCSSM Raas dance team
performed a traditional Indian
folk dance.
The show then presented
“Veena: A Voyage” by Gay-
athri Raghavendra, a martial
arts performance, and Ti-
nikling, a traditional Filipino
NCSSM’s Raas dance team opens Asia Fest in traditional dress.
dance.
The variety of talents at the
show was highlighted next by
an entertaining Bollywood skit,
a piano battle, and Tasneem
Essader’s spoken word
presentation.
NCSSM’s a capella group,
the Unichords, then followed
with an exciting mash-up of
Heartless by Kanye West and
Khabi Khabi, a song sung in
Hindi.
More dance performances
continued with ICIDIC (I
Came, I Danced, 1 Conquered),
Bollywood dancing, Kwave’s
Korean pop choreography and
Fusion.
Other acts such as Vinitha
Ravindran’s Carnatic Violin, the
Asian Pop Band and Multicul
tural skits, and Youngmin Shin’s
Crayon also lit up the stage.
The showing of the
“What are You” video
also wrapped up the
show by addressing
the often derogatory
questions Asians are
asked in the U.S.,
and highlighting the
unique characteristics
of individuals and
their backgrounds.
Ending the show,
members of the NC
SSM Bhangra team
delivered an exhila
rating performance
of a Punjab Indian
dance.
“Asia Fest was an
amazing experience.
Watching it during
my junior year made me want
to participate; 1 then decided
to join four dance groups. It
was crazy trying to remember
all the choreography but it
was so much fun to be able
to do it this year,” says senior
Jackie Warren who was in
Tinikling, Raas, ICIDIC, and
Bhangra.
The acts of this year’s
continued on page 2 »
TEDxNCSSM hosts fifth annual conference
By Max Schlenker
Editor-in-Chief
Along with offering a
one-of-a-kind experience
to students, faculty, and
Durham community members,
TEDxNCSSM 2016 made
history in more ways than one.
Months before the
conference, students competed
in the first ever TEDxNCSSM
Student Speaker Competition,
sharing their personal stories
with the conference theme of
“Resistance.”
After a difficult decision
process, two talented NCSSM
students, seniors Kimberly
Andreassen and Jessica Yao,
were chosen to speak, joining
three other esteemed guests:
Anku Madan, Tania Katan,
and Dr. Vanessa Woods.
In honoring the
TEDxNCSSM tradition of
having an alumni speaker
at every conference, Madan
inspired the audience with his
experience starting Undercover
Colors, a company that has
received national recognition
for creating nail polish that
changes color when in contact
with common date rape drugs.
As an NCSSM alumnus,
he connected with many
of our current students in
conversations after his talk.
Travelling from Arizona
to speak at TEDxNCSSM,
Katan shared with the audi
ence her exciting new cam
paign, #ItWasNeverADress,
intended to encourage wom
en to work against common
gender stereotypes.
Her feminist message
resounded with many of the
audience members, and she
stayed after the conference to
talk and answer questions.
Last but not least. Woods
ended the conference with
her take on the popular evo
lutionary theory “survival of
the fittest.” An anthropologist
and best-selling author from
Duke University, Woods ex
plained that through study
ing the behavior of primates
- particularly bonobos - she
determined that sometimes,
“survival of the friendliest”
is a more accurate statement.
Audience member senior
Aijun Bhatt found her talk to
be quite impressive, saying
“[Woods] got me thinking
about friendliness, and how
staying friendly can be
important for a population
to survive and thrive.
Sometimes the smartest thing
to do is to simply be nice.”
In addition to the two
student speakers, even more
NCSSM talent was put on
NCSSM students welcom^uest^n^peaker^nh^^^fthe
conference by checking in visitors.
display during the event, the
annual TEDxNCSSM Art and
Music Competitions produced
incredible student artwork and
compositions.
Senior Karly Andreassen
and junior Nishma Vias were
selected to showcase their
painting and photograph
respectively, Andreassen’s titled
“Get Bent” and Vias’ titled
“Silver Lining.” The musical
work of senior Simon Marland
titled “Guidelines” provided
the audience with comforting
bumper music, and will be
featured in all of the official
TEDx videos released in the
coming weeks.
In the groundbreaking spirit
of TEDx, the 2016 conference
was also unique due to its
partnership with UNC-TV.
Videographers are typically
hired from the local Durham
area, but UNC-TV graciously
offered to film the entire event
free of charge, and to handle
the videos in postproduction
to ensure that TEDxNCSSM
reaches as many viewers as
possible.
Organizing an event like
TEDxNCSSM is no easy
task, but Amy Sheck, Dean of
Science, and her team of almost
20 students volunteered their
time and hard work to make
the 2016 conference the most
exciting TEDx event yet. “It
took the time and talents of a
lot of people,” said Executive
Committee member senior
Alisa Cui, “But all of that
energy spent definitely
paid off on the day of the
conference.”
While certainly a com
munity event, TEDxNCSSM
is designed to help spread
new ideas and conversations
throughout the student body.
Current Unicorns made up
almost half of the distin
guished audience, and a had
a lot to say about the confer
ence after having some time
to reflect.
Junior Joshua Zhou,
said that “There is a great
difference between hearing
TEDx talks and being
present at one. Through
TEDxNCSSM, I fully sensed
the excitement and passion
driving each speaker, making
it an inspiring experience for
me.”
With TEDxNCSSM 2016
in the past. Unicorns may
be anxious for more TEDx
talks and videos. Luckily,
now there are only eleven
more months to wait for
TEDxNCSSM 2017.