stentoriannorth carolina school of science and mathematics stentorian123@gmail.comvol. XXXIII, issue 1 august 2013

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NCSSM Alumna Sharon Letchworth will speak at NCSSM’s 34th Convocation on Aug. 13. Letchworth is the President of Letchworth Pharma Consulting, which advises start-up companies on scientific planning and development strategies.

Letchworth previously worked with Targacept, Inc. as Therapeutic Area Leader for the Movement Disorders pro-gram, focusing on symptomat-ic treatment and disease modi-fication in Parkinson’s disease.

She established and cham-pioned therapeutic area strate-gies based on unmet medical need, input from key opinion leaders, and market dynamics.

Letchworth led a cross-functional project team to advance programs on Parkin-son’s disease, essential tremor, tardive dyskinesias, and or-phan indications.

She also served as Preclini-cal Program Director for Tar-gacept’s collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK),

overseeing drug discovery and research in smoking cessation and other addictions, pain, obesity, and Parkinson’s dis-ease.

As director, she oversaw peclinical project team activi-ties pertaining to the programs within the GSK collaboration. Letchworth formerly involved herself in Targacept’s cogni-tion collaborations with Astra-Zeneca and Aventis, develop-ing research and budgets.

Working as a preclinical science liaison, she provided interface between the depart-ments of Preclinical Research and Business and Clinical De-velopment to position science and progress communication materials for partnering efforts.

She conducted a postdoc-toral fellowship at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

At the cancer center, Let-worth worked on pharmaco-logical, functional, and ana-tomical characterizations of the mu opioid receptor (MOR-1) and orphan opioid-like re-ceptor (ORL-1).

At Wake Forest, she analyzed opioid and dopamine systems in the non-human primate and studied the effects of drugs of abuse on these systems.

Letchworth graduated from NCSSM in 1988, received a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Wake Forest University in 1992, and a Ph.D. in Neu-roscience at Wake Forest Uni-versity School of Medicine in 1997.

Letchworth currently holds an Adjunct Faculty position in the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology in the Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

Sharon Letchworth to speak at Convocation

By Su Cho

With the start of a new school year, NCSSM is proud to welcome new teachers and SLI’s to its community.

This year’s new teachers include Michael Bruno in Chemistry; Sam Boyarsky and Mason Matthews in Computer Science; David Cantrell, Zach Lechner, Michael Mulvey, and David Rigsbee in Humanities; John Sheridan in Mathematics, and Sam Wheeler in Physics.

Bruno, the new AP Chemistry and biochemistry teacher, is from Connecticut and has been teaching at Guilford College in Greensboro for the last two years. He lives in the neighborhood and says, “If you’re up early enough, you’ll probably see me running by the school with my two huskies. They need a lot of exercise!”

Matthews is an NCSSM alumnus from the class of ’98. He will be teaching only one class, Databases, because he is also the president of a software company, “SciMed Solutions,” in Durham. Matthews took two of the three most valuable courses

for his current job, Genetics and Immunology, at NCSSM. He also still remembers the Leadership Seminar with Dr. Warshaw, which has helped him. Matthews looks forward to being able to teach college-level classes where “The art of teaching doesn’t take a back seat to research.”

Boyarsky, another alumnus of NCSSM from Durham, will be teaching AP Computer Science I and Data Structures I. He is excited to be working in such a cool place.

Lechner, the new American Studies and Latin America teacher, grew up in Missouri and completed his Ph.D. in history at Temple University. He is excited to work at NCSSM, explore the local culture, and live in the South after reading and writing about it for so long.

Mulvey was previously a visiting lecturer at UNC- Chapel Hill, teaching African, World, and European History. He specialized in modern

New faculty join NCSSM family

By Kanan Shah

Sharon Letchworth

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New Faculty continued on page 2

SGA President Parth Thakker, Senate President David Choi, Treasurer Jessica Lee

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Student Government sets agenda for year

PSAT off transcriptspage 2

Guide to Durham page 4

An Indian Adventure page 6

Club Listings page 8

By DaviD Choi

With the start of the 2013-2014 school year, Student Government would like to extend a warm welcome to all the students as they move on to campus.

With juniors starting their journeys here at NCSSM and seniors preparing for college applications and their last year of high school, SG would like to encourage students to remember that they are here to help students achieve their goals. SG is here to make sure students have an awesome NCSSM experience, whether it’s the beginning of the first year or the last.

The Executive Officers of the 33rd Session of SG are Student Body President Parth Thakker, Student Senate President David Choi, and Student Body Treasurer Jessica Lee. Feel free to contact them if you have any questions or

ideas for SG. There are 4 standing

committees in SG this year: Academic Affairs, Student Affairs, Programming, and Outreach.

The Academic Affairs committee works on items such as scheduling, grade transparency, and issues associated with classes,

grades, and test scores. The Student Affairs

Committee works on

improving student life on and around campus. This includes getting discounts from restaurants and stores around campus and leading projects to improve campus.

The Programming Committee leads the organization and execution of all the events that Student Government sponsors. Some

examples include Lock-Ins, the all-male beauty pageant Mr. Uni, and Senior Breakfast.

The Outreach Committee handles communications between the student body and Student Government, ensuring that students know what SG is working on, and that the student body’s ideas and concerns are being heard and addressed. They also head publicity for the events and initiatives sponsored by SG.

For more information about SG leaders, positions, and the Senate, please visit and

“like” the NCSSM Student Government Page.

Junior Senator elections are coming up soon this fall. Serving as a Junior Senator is the most direct way for juniors to work in SG and represent their class. Juniors interested in getting involved in Student Government should keep their heads up for an email with more specific information concerning nomination, petitions, and campaigning in upcoming weeks.

As the school year is just starting up, SG would like to encourage students to stop and enjoy these moments. Before the hectic pressure of classes or challenges of getting into college quite set in, take a moment to soak in the beauty of this new beginning. Once again welcome to campus, SG is looking forward to an amazing year here at NCCSM and to serving the students.

In thisissue:

august 2013 the stentorian | ncssmnews/opinion2

Here is a collection of helpful tips from current seniors to better your NCSSM experience. Keep in mind that if you ever have any questions, contact a trustworthy senior to ask.

1. Talk to people. It’s the best way to get help when you need it. Friends are what makes SMATH bearable.

2. Participate in hall activities. They provide fun ways to relieve stress, and you’ll grow closer to your hall mates.

3. Join a club. It’s a great way to make friends and have fun. When you first walk into the club fair, you might feel overwhelmed. Look for subjects that you are truly interested in and sign up. Just don’t try to sign up for everything and overextend yourself. Choose a few and be an active participant in them.

4. Get SOME exercise every day. It improves morale and general well-being. Consider participating in a sport or physical activity course. Get a group of friends together and go work-out, run, or play a game. Play in an IM game to help your hall win points toward the Chancellor’s cup; you get some points just for participating, and if your hall

wins, you get bragging rights and a free t-shirt. It can even just be taking ten minutes to walk around (not in class or anything.)

5. Don’t take out the trash for Sunday housekeeping after 10:30 check. Regardless of how good your intentions were, you will get stuck with a level II.

6. Do not wait until the end of the year to dust your room. Dust and vacuum regularly. If you don’t, you will regret it when you find dust bunnies the size of actual rabbits later on.

7. Don’t burn popcorn—especially on cold, rainy nights, unless you want to acquire a few enemies. The smoke detectors are exceptionally sensitive. Kettle corn is better anyway, and it does not require a microwave. This also helps conserve energy and makes us a more sustainable school. Save popcorn for the movie theater and eat kettle corn instead.

8. Do not wait until you are completely out of clean underwear to do your laundry.

9. Make sure you have money on your laundry card BEFORE you load the washing machine.

10. If you and your roommate have agreed to keep your room locked, make sure

you carry your key. If you get locked out, the security guards will laugh at you.

11. Keep an updated calendar in your planner, phone, or computer to keep up with events and deadlines. There are always a lot of things going on at NCSSM. Stay organized to be prepared and manage stress.

A special thanks to Paul Smith and Alice Li for their contributions to this article.

By Sarah ColBert

The science of surviving Science and Math

France and Francophone Africa. He is fascinated by intellectual, urban, environment, health and gender history.

Mulvey says, “NCSSM appeals to me because it is a place where a humanist can think with future leaders about how to put technologies into motion.” Mulvey is also interested in organizing a bowling league. He’d like to hold a bowling tournament over a few months, with the winning team having the honor of receiving a bowling award similar to the Stanley Cup.

Gibson will be teaching

continued from Page 1

As seniors are getting ready to apply to college and filling out the common application, they might notice that their transcripts look different.

Starting the 2013-2014 school year, NCSSM will no longer include PSAT scores on students’ transcripts.

Previously, PSAT scores were reported on NCSSM students’ transcripts sent to colleges. This was a problem because students went into the test thinking that their score would not be reported to colleges because it was stated in a document packet distributed to students taking the PSAT but later found out the NCSSM sent the PSAT scores regardless.

It might be argued that even if they are sent, colleges won’t pay much attention to them; however, most colleges evaluate transcripts holistically regardless of the format and the reported PSAT score can give a strong impression if it contrasts with actual SAT scores.

Due to these issues, Parth Thakker, President of SGA, contacted the counseling department to ask for PSAT scores to be taken off students’ transcripts with the CollegeBoard documentation

as proof. The counseling department

met to discuss this issue and provided support, however they could not change the current transcript and how the PSAT and other scores are reported.

The registrar and academic programs were then contacted to finalize the process.

After being approved by NCSSM Chancellor Todd Roberts, ITS has begun working on necessary coding changes to modify NCSSM transcripts so that beginning with the Class of 2014, PSAT scores will no longer be displayed on transcripts.

On this change, SGA President Parth Thakker said, “Personally, I think this change is a big step in the right direction. The administration was very receptive to our concerns and ultimately decided to remove PSAT scores from student transcripts - presumably thanks to the evidence that we presented, as well as the precedent that was set by the removal of SAT Subject Test scores a couple years ago.”

“The current policy of automatically including ACT/SAT test scores on transcripts makes it difficult for students to withhold scores from either

SG helps take PSAT off students’ transcripts

By JungSu hong

Pre-Calculus and AP Calculus AB. He grew up in Connecticut and completed a Masters of Education and Mathematics from the University of Georgia. He has previously taught in Georgia and Texas and is looking forward to NCSSM.

Sheridan grew up in Hershey, PA. “A very sweet childhood, indeed,” he says. For the past 14 years, Sheridan has lived in Chapel Hill with his wife and 6-year old daughter Maya. He will be teaching Pre-calculus and AP Calculus BC with Topics. He is excited to be a part of the NCSSM community as well.

NCSSM has changed a few policies for students during the upcoming school year.

Based on advice from Michael Delafield, the school’s Chief Legal Counsel, and changes in North Carolina state law that were passed during a recent session of the General Assembly, NCSSM is revising the Code of Student Conduct and some disciplinary procedures.

There have been some

changes in technology that students will have already noticed. All students’ emails have been migrated to Gmail accounts. This is where all school-related emails will come. Students an set it to forward to their own address if they please.

The website my.ncssm.edu is the new intranet for all students. It allows students a one-stop access to a variety of resources such as schedules and software downloads.

NCSSM has also changed the rule that requires a signature from a SLI to sign out after 6:00pm. Instead, students are now only required to get an SLI signature if they will be off-campus after sunset.

Another change in procedures that may be coming in the near future is being led by a student. Senior Allan Jiang has been helping to create an electronic sign out system that will hopefully be implemented this fall.

“The current paper trail sign-out system struck me as inefficient, so I thought it’d be nice to put everything online, so creating and searching for sign-out records would be unified and convenient,” says Jiang.

Also, this year Jennifer Ashe will serve as the new Title IX officer.

By Kanan Shah

New policies for a new year

or both exams in accordance with listed ‘Score Choice’ options. Many high schools have already eliminated standardized test scores from their transcripts in order to give students full control over that information; we hope that NCSSM will soon do the same.”

Although PSAT scores will no longer be reported on transcripts, juniors are still encouraged to do their best on the PSAT as it offers an opportunity to qualify for scholarships through the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC).

The PSAT also serves as a firsthand practice for the SAT and gives access to NMSC college and career planning tools.

The PSAT measures critical reading, math problem solving, and writing skills and allows students to receive feedback on strengths and weaknesses in these areas which are necessary for college study. It is similar to the regular SAT, but shorter and without an essay component.

This year, the PSAT will be administered to all juniors Wednesday, Oct. 16. Seniors who scored high enough to qualify will be notified sometime in the fall.

Beginning the 2013-2014 school year, NCSSM will be implementing “I-Weeks” where regular class schedules are altered to operate on a special Innovation Week Timetable (see above).

The weeks are the following: Sept. 16-20, Jan. 20-23, April 28-May 2.

During these weeks, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursday will be open for extended innovation, collaboration, and creative academic activities that the normal schedule does not accommodate.

The Calendar/Schedule Working Group has provided some suggestions on what

students could do during I-week which include student interaction/collaboration, aca-demic/cultural field trips, film screenings, service learning activities, PSAT/AMC Math test, college/scholarship ap-plications, visiting Articula-tion Agreement schools, career fairs, and summer opportuni-ties fair.

These activities would allow students to have some time off from school and to catch up on extra work such as visiting colleges, planning for the future by exploring interests, and college applications.

Students should be on the lookout for further I-week information and thinking of ways to spend it.

“I-week” introduced for 2013-2014 year

I-week class schedule Photo courtesy of NCSSM

By JungSu hong

New Teachers

august 2013the stentorian | ncssm 3features/opinion

When I heard that there might be a sequel to the Monsters Inc franchise, I honestly was not looking forward to it. I feared another movie would sour my fond memories of my favorite Disney-Pixar characters, Mike and Sulley.

When I finally saw the previews and realized it was actually a prequel, I started to become a little less skeptical.

As a proud fan of Mike Wazowski, I made sure Monsters University was a blockbuster I would definitely be paying an overpriced ticket for this summer.

The movie started with little Mike and his big dream to become a Scare-er for the infamous Monsters Inc and go to the best scare school, Monsters University.

You watch little Mike (voiced by Billy Crystal) work throughout his childhood and adolescence to be the perfect candidate for his dream school and eventually is accepted.

He heads off to school where he is confident he will be best in his class. Unfortunately,

Mike is the farthest thing from scary and is constantly reminded by his teachers and fellow students, especially the

members of the Roar-Omega-Roar fraternity.

James Sullivan, aka Sulley (voiced by John Goodman), is the son of a famous scarer and believes working in college is useless since he is already naturally terrifying.

Both, however, are kicked out of the scare program after upsetting the President of the school and the only way to be readmitted is to win the Scare Games. They join the outcast “freaks and geeks” fraternity, Oozma Kappa, in order to compete.

They are definitely the underdog but Mike uses his scare knowledge to train them all to become the best

competitors. They only problem is, Mike still is not scary.

During the last challenge of the Scare Games, Sulley cheats by turning down the level of scariness needed to set off the stimulator. Their team wins but when Mike discovers what Sulley has done, he is determined to prove he really is scary.

He enters the Human World via the doors made at the University and soon finds out he does not have what it takes to be a true Scare-er. Sulley comes to the rescue but the two are officially kicked out of the University for breaking several serious rules.

By ava gruChaCz

A marvelous movie about monstersThe two then decide to

remain a team and work for Monsters Inc as janitors. They are promoted through several jobs and finally make it to the Scare Floor, Sulley as the Scare-er and Mike as the manager.

The movie exceed my expectations and I was very pleased with the creativity of the plot and the humorous script.

The film received great reviews from critics and Rotten Tomatoes reported 85% of audiences were pleased as well claiming it was “funny and thoughtful family entertainment”.

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The beloved Monsters Inc. characters go to college in this prequel.

This summer there was no ridiculous media scandal of stars cheating, eloping, or anything worthy of the cover of People. There were, however, two very famous, very exposed celebrities who gave birth to their firstborn. The first is Kim “Why is she famous again?” Kardashian and Princess Kate.

The media definitely scrutinized Kim these past few months such as comparing her pregnant body to a killer whale. Poor Kim. Recently divorced from her 72 day husband, Kris Humphries, Kim claimed her pregnancy with the rapper Kanye Wests baby was “tough at first but all worth it when I felt the baby kick”. Thank you for that very descriptive statement, Kim.

On June 15 she gave birth to a mere 4lb 15oz baby girl. Kim gave birth about 5 weeks early but the baby was born with no health concerns. Naturally the public was dying to hear the baby’s name. Rumor was that it would start with a “K” but the parents feared their family would be known as the “KKK”. Therefore, they decided to name the baby none other than...North West. Yes that’s right, the baby’s first name is North.

Honestly, I thought it was a joke at first and they wanted the media to look idiotic for

believing it. Sadly I was wrong. Baby North now lives with Kim in the Jenner household and they are allegedly moving to Paris to spend time with baby daddy Kanye.

The second and more significant birth this summer was “the Royal Baby”. The lovely Kate Middleton, wife of Prince William, gave birth to a beautiful baby boy on July 22.

I read several articles stating the people of the United Kingdom were so anxious to see the baby that they camped out in front of the hospital where the future king was born. Kate stated that she had a wonderful pregnancy and I think she looked fabulous doing so. Though I secretly hoped they would name the baby something modern and less traditional, the couple decided on George Alexander Louis. I don’t think it can get any classier than that.

Subject of the summer: Babies

By ava gruChaCz

RLAs spend week learning to be leaders, preparing for juniors

The RLAs of the 2013-2014 school year moved in on Sunday, Aug. 4, 2013 and have been having a busy and fun week preparing the residence halls for the new school year. The RLAs were selected from over 200 applicants based on maturity, knowledge, and responsibility. They have been participating in team building activities, leadership and diversity training, planning hall activities for the new year, and decorating their halls. As they have been working hard, they look forward to meeting their new juniors and being reunited with their beloved senior friends.

Photo courtesy of NCSSMThe 2013-2014 RLAs during the RLA training week

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Glossary of NCSSM

NCSSM students have to learn a lot of acronyms fast in order to figure out campus. Here is a quick guide.

ASG = Association of Student Governments BBR = Bryan-Beall- ReynoldsETC = Educational Technology ComplexGRL = Ground Reynolds LabHHR = Hunt-Hill-Royall-MPC = Multi-Cultural Peer CounselorPCC = Peer College CounselorPDA = Public Displays of AffectionPEC = Physical Education CenterPFM = Perkins Food Management (Cafeteria)RLA = Residential Life AssistantSAB = Student Activities BoardSGA = Student Government Association SLI = Student Life InstructorSPL = Sustainability Project LeaderTA = Teacher AssistantTLA = Three (occasionally Two) Letter AcronymTTS = Third Tri Senior

guide to durhamaugust 2013 the stentorian | ncssm4

Welcome to Durham!Hopefully all you new

juniors are excited to be arriving at school, but it is important to remember you aren’t just coming to NCSSM-You are moving to Durham! It would be a grave mistake to not try and participate in all that the city has to offer during your time here.

Durham often gets a bad rap as a “dangerous city” but misguided stereotypes should not obscure your view of arguably one of the coolest cities in the South. Being smart and following school policies will ensure that you have an amazing adventure in the Bull City.

Allow the following guide to help you explore your new home.

9th Street DiStriCt (Map proviDeD)

NCSSM is fortunate to be located in one of the cool-est areas of Durham. Within walking distance of campus are numerous restaurants, shops and cultural opportunities. The map provided can serve as a guide to many of them.

Food:

1. Bali Hai- Do-it yourself Mongolian cuisine. You pick your ingredients and sauce and they cook it for you. Really close and a favorite of S&Mers.

2. Dale’s Indian Cuisine- Closest Indian food to campus. The Lunch buffet is a good deal for students.

3. Elmo’s Diner- Good old-fashioned diner food (lots of breakfast all day and burgers). Best for whenever you need some comfort food.

4. Vin Rouge- Fancy French food. Probably too expensive for most times except special occasions.

5. Blu Seafood and Bar- Lots of expensive seafood. Again, probably only or special occasions.

6. Banh’s Cuisine- Like a boring friend who goes nuts on weekends this restaurant is packed Wednesdays and Sun-days when its normally limited selection of Chinese food is replaced by delicious Vietnam-ese cuisine.

7. Chubby’s Tacos- Another favorite of S&Mers, this res-taurant offers cheap and tasty Mexican food in huge portions.

8. Devil’s Pizzeria- It’s piz-za. Big pieces of greasy, deli-cious pizza. Also responsible for the nightly pizza at Happy Half.

9. International Delights- Delicious Middle -Eastern food. Never ask for Ketchup if you order fries.

10. Ox and Rabbit- An eclectic, old-timey soda-shop with odd trinkets for sale as well. The milkshakes rival those of Cookout.

11. Blue Corn Cafe- reason-ably priced Latin-American food. Slightly more upscale than Chubby’s or Cosmic.

12. Bean Traders Coffee- Local coffeeshop. Excellent place to spend some serious time doing work away from campus.

13. Francesca’s- Italian style cafe with great gelato and coffee. Another good place to spend some time working.

14. Subway- 5 dollar foot longs. Pretty self-explana-tory.

15. Jimmy Johns- Sandwich shop with slightly higher qual-ity than Subway and good prices.

16 Breug-gers Bagels- Great Bagel place. Be on the lookout for spe-cial deals for free bagels.

17. Cosmic Cantina-Chubby’s chief rival for cheap Mexican food in large-quanti-ties. Be sure to try both.

18. Mad Hatter Cafe- Amazing bakery. A great place to do work off-campus.

19. Ben and Jerry’s- Ice Cream of course. Maybe you will be brave enough to take the Vermonster challenge.

20. Vine Sushi- Just opened this past year. Serves Thai food as well and has special deals often on Sushi Rolls.

21. Hummingbird Bak-ery- Run by the chef of Watts Grocery, this new place offers great locally-sourced food.

22. The Palace Internation-al- This restaurant is the talk of the school although you’d be hard-pressed to find a stu-dent who’s actually been there. Serves reasonably priced Ke-nyan food.

23. Joe Van Gogh’s- The closest coffeeshop to campus and a favorite of students.

24. Watts Grocery- North Carolina-inspired cuisine made with locally sourced in-gredients. Always packed and priced more for special occa-sions.

25. Locopops- Mexican-style popsicles with often un-usual but surprisingly good flavor combinations.

Shopping:

26. One World Mar-ket- A fair trade store that sells things made by people in underdeveloped countries. Cool gifts, jewelry and decor for a good cause.

2 7 . Harris Tee-ter- Coming soon. Cheaper than Whole Foods.

28. The Regulator- Inde-pendent bookstore. Interesting authors often come to speak about their books.

29. Vaguely Reminiscent- You can find all sorts of oddi-ties that serve as great gifts here for reasonable prices.

30. Native Threads- Funky clothes, gifts and decorations. It has a big frog statue in front of it.

31. Cozy- Cute store with helpful supplies for knitters and non-knitters alike

32. Whole Foods- Main grocery store used by NCSSM students, has sustainable and organic focus. Sometimes pricey.

33. Wells Fargo- This bank is good for students who have debit cards as the school’s ATM does not take deposits and often is out-of-order.

34. Dollar General- Conve-nience store however it is not a dollar store and things here are only generally a dollar.

35. Nice Price Books- Used bookstore with tons of inter-esting selection. Also sells re-

cords, casettes, and CDs.

Entertainment:

36. Oval Park- Great place to hangout on nice afternoons and evenings. Hosts Food Truck Rodeos 1st Thursday evenings from 5 to 8.

37. Duke East Campus- Run or walk around the 1.5 mile wall trail, use Lilly Li-brary, or attend a usually free show at the newly renovated Baldwin Auditorium. Having colleges near us is an asset.

Downtown

Downtown has really be-come the hub of Durham again in recent years. It is an exciting place that may take a while to explore. It is possible to walk or bike here although some may prefer to take ei-ther the number 1 DATA bus, which stops on campus, or the free Bull City Connector from Main Street.

Food:

Dame’s Chicken and Waf-fles- Although it may sound like a strange combination it

will be one of the best things you have ever eaten. Make reservations because it fills up fast.

El Rodeo- Mexican sit-down restaurant. Lo-cated in Brightleaf square. Moderately priced.

Toreros- Another Mexican sit-down restaurant located a block away from El Rodeo. Figure out which you like bet-ter.

Lilly’s Pizza- Great pizza and other Italian food. Good for special occasions or for eating out with the Senior Sibling.

Mellow Mushroom- Pizza place located in the American Tobacco complex. Serves interesting types of pizza for a good price.

Cuban Revolution- Cu-ban cuisine located in Amer-ican Tobacco. Funky setting and good food.

Bull City Burger & Brew-ery- Great burgers and good

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august 2013the stentorian | ncssmguide to durham 5

prices. Plus French Fries fried in duck fat!

Toast- Italian restaurant and Sand-wich shop. Great food at slightly high pric-es for the quantity.

Scratch- Artisan bakery with local in-gredients. Try a Doughnut Muffin or get a pie for Pi Day

(3/14)

Monuts Donuts- Hand-crafted bakery. Get a

Bacon Donut.

Parker and Otis-Good Breakfast and Lunch food for a reasonable price. Also has a store of specialty food items.

Geer Street Gar-den- Down-home food. Slightly more upscale and more expensive but good food.

King’s Sandwich Shop- A Durham staple since 1942. Serves Hot Dogs, Burgers, Fries and Shakes across from the historic old base-

ball stadium.

Mt. Fuji- Upscale Asian food located in Brightleaf Square. Good for special oc-casions.

Alivia’s- Good food and nice outdoor ambience. Slightly expensive.

Old Havana Sandwich Shop- Specializes in tradition-al Cuban Sandwiches. Awe-some pork at good prices.

Rue Cler- Fancy French food and bakery. Expensive so best for a special occasion or a field trip.

Shopping:

Morgan Imports- Interest-ing store with tons of variety of items for sale. Located in Brightleaf.

Offbeat Music- Music lovers will be able to spend a lot if time looking through this stores selection of CDs. Located in Brightleaf.

Entertainment:

DPAC- The largest the-ater between Washington and Atlanta. Plays host to world-

class Broadway shows and other acts. Student rates are often available.

Durham Bulls- Local mi-nor league baseball team.. Get cheap tickets to a game on a nice night in the fall or spring for a fun time.

Carolina Theater- Historic theater that shows live perfor-mances, independent and for-eign films.

Durham Arts Council- Stop by and look through a local art exhibition or small show. Classes are also offered in a variety of efforts.

Durham Farmer’s Market- Open Saturday mornings and Wednesday afternoons. Enjoy local produce, arts and crafts, and food trucks.

Durham Skate Park- Like to skateboard? This is the place for you. Features rails and bowls to practice tricks on. Free and open to the public.

other plaCeS

Unfortunately as a southern city, sprawl is the name of the game in Durham, meaning it is

not super-easy to get to some of Durham’s other exciting places. Thus creative trans-portation solutions often have to be arranged in order to ex-perience these locations.

Food:

Hog Heaven BBQ- Locat-ed fairly close to school, this BBQ joint consistently wins awards. Try the fried chicken!

Pelican’s Snoballs- Shaved ice with over 100 different fla-vors. Be sure to get it stuffed with ice cream. A great hall activity.

Hillsborough Road- Along this thoroughfare are numer-ous fast-food places. Great for a hall outing.

Only Burger- A food truck and also a a restaurant. Serves great burgers and fries with in-teresting toppings.

Shopping:

Northgate mall- Durham’s older mall. Walking distance from campus. A few inter-esting stores and convenient movie theater.

Southpoint mall- The main mall in town. Features all the stores one would expect to find in a mall plus a movie theater

(with IMAX) and lots of great restaurants.

Brier Creek- Not

technically in Durham

but very close. Lots of shops,

restaurants and a movie theater.

Scrap Exchange- A shop that sells cheap

recycled materials to as art supplies. Always some

strange oddity here. Hop on the Bull City Connector to get

here.

Entertainment:

Museum of Life and Sci-ence- The venue for prom but it’s fun at daytime too with cool outdoor exhibits and a butterfly house.

Edison Johnson- Indoor pool for a cheap admission price. Could be a fun thing to try in the winter.

Eno River- Numerous ac-cess points border this scenic State Park in northern Durham county.

Historic Sites- Durham is home to three State Historic Sites all of which provide in-teresting information about the way people lived long ago. Festivals occasionally happen at these sites.

American Tobacco Trail- 20-mile long paved trail that starts downtown and ends be-yond Southpoint mall. Great for biking, running or roller-blading.

Hayti Heritage Center- His-toric center of a famous Afri-can-American neighborhood. Hosts many cultural events and classes.

Duke West Campus- Gor-geous gothic architecture with all the educational opportuni-ties provided by a research university. Be sure to visit the Sarah P. Duke Gardens and Duke Chapel.

NCCU Cam-pus- Another

g r e a t uni-v e r -

s i t y in Dur-

h a m with more

educational opportunites

such as guest speakers and

performances.

This is not a complee list of

everywhere there is to go in Durham. Part

of having an awesome experience here is going

out and exploring the city yourself. I encourage you to get up and pop the bubble of NCSSM. Where will your adventure take you?

6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 29, 28, 11, 12, 30, 13

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3315

16

31 32 19 20

18

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Dame’s Chicken and Waffles

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Stairway to Cosmic Cantina

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Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

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, 25

experiencesaugust 2013 the stentorian | ncssm6

Hindustan. Bharat. The motherland. A long list of names that represent one place teeming with life, culture, and activities: India.

This past summer I spent time in India with a free scholarship program called National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLIY).

The purpose of this program is to teach languages that aren’t commonly taught in schools, in this case Hindi. Each one of the 17 of us students stayed with one host family.

What I didn’t know was that way more than just Hindi lessons would be happening. My eyes were opened to a

whole new culture. Things that seem so simple here become such challenges in a new world.

Food, or moreover food consumption, is a prime example of this. As you can imagine, Indian food is very different from food we eat here every day. It’s not just the typical spicy that everyone thinks (although don’t get me wrong, it’s hot. It’s something more.

The very first thing I noticed culturally when I arrived is how eating works in India. Everyone owns utensils, but they’re only for fancy occasions. The primary mode of delivering food to the mouth

is by the hands, no matter the consistency. It could be wet, dry, mushy, or hard, regardless you eat with your hands.

At first this was a little out of my comfort zone, as I usually use forks and knives, but I soon figured out that I just have to let my worries go and join in on the fun. Sure, it was different, but I loved it.

Now, let’s go to an uncomfortable topic for right now: the bathroom. First off, let me clarify how different an Indian bathroom is; primarily, the toilet.

The toilet is simply a hole in the ground that you can

flush by fill-ing a bucket with water and pouring it down that hole after use (what

a marvel of engi-neering, right?).

There’s a large list of questions that one wants to ask their host

The World As We Know ItMy Adventure in India

By DaviD Calvert

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family, but few have the courage. And yes, they are THOSE uncomfortable questions: How do I use this? Do I have to use an Indian toilet? Where’s the toilet paper?! These and more come up quite often.

Now there are two ways to approach this; you can either struggle through trying to figure out the dynamics of an Indian toilet, all the while desperately searching for toilet paper, or you can simply gain some courage and ask for things.

What’s different about this culture is that topics like the bathroom are not uncomfortable; they’re quite okay to mention, actually. So, in essence, it’s only awkward if

you make it so. You have to step outside

of your comfort zone and maybe ask for some toilet paper, eat with your hands, or do something that seems crazy. When trying new things or going new places it’s important to be unafraid of doing “awkward” things, and realizing that stepping outside of your comfort zone might not be all that bad.

If you never leave your comfort zone, you’ll never get to experience what you’re missing out on. I had an amazing time and I am forever changed by the lessons, both Hindi and life, India taught me. If you want to know more about the NSLIY program, feel free to ask me.

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A typical Indian Scene

The NSLI-Y Program offers summer, and academica year opportunities for immersion in Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, Hindi, Korean, Persian, Russian and Turkish. Visit www.nsliforyouth.com for info.

Students still active at NCSSM during SummerUnlike many schools,

NCSSM doesn’t shut down during the summer after the students leave for the year. Instead it plays host to numerous programs that further the learning of both NCSSM students and others from around the state.

During the month of June, the Summer Bridge program helped provide enrichment for new juniors coming to NCSSM. Rising seniors served as RLA’s and TA’s on the residence halls. “I was able to learn a lot of valuable leadership skills,” said Senior Ali Eakes, who served as a Humanities TA and RLA.

Another opportunity for Rising Seniors was Summer Research, which doubled in size this year, allowing 80 students from both the residential and online programs to stay on campus and work on projects here or with mentors at Duke, UNC, NCCU, NC State, and with companies in RTP.

At the culmination of their eight-week program, students particapated in a symposium for community members where they gave poster and oral presentations.

Several other programs including Labs for Learning, Step Up to STEM, and Summer Leadership and Research Experience (SLARE) met at NCSSM during the summer, all of which provide help getting younger and often

underrepresented minorities interested in STEM fields. Current NCSSM students assited these programs by living on hall with the students and acting as role models to them.

Green Hope High School in Cary even used NCSSM’s campus for their annual marching band camp one weekend.

Of course the atmosphere on campus over the summer was different without as much work and with fewer people.

“There were not many of us on campus, but we got closer to the people who were here,” said Senior Shraddha Rathod, who was on campus for research. “There were also lots of loops for us which was nice.”

Even though there were no regular courses and assignments for many of the students on campus, they still had valuable learning experiences.

“Research really is a new way of learning,” said Senior Vany Nguyen. “There are ups and downs as you try and solve problems that arise.”

Senior Evan Brooks, who was a counselor for Labs for Learning, felt he gained a lot from his experience: “Working with the younger students really was a rewarding experience. I felt like it prepared me for things I could expect to happen as an RLA and how to effectively deal with conflicts.”

By aDaM Beyer

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Students present their research July 26th to community members

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Summer Leadership and Research Experience students listen to an alumni panel

august 2013the stentorian | ncssm campus life 7

NCSSM’s sports teams will be competing in the Northern Carolina 2A Conference starting in 2013-2014, moving up from the Carolina 12 1A Conference the school was in last year.

What does this mean for NCSSM’s athletic teams and student athletes?

A 2A Conference is expected to have stronger competition and more scouting opportunities than a 1A Conference.

Certain individual acco-lades, such as all-conference team, may also be harder to come by. In addition to the ex-

pected increase in competition, this year’s conference has sev-en other teams, as compared to the five other 1A teams in last year’s conference.

The other schools in the Northern Carolina 2A Conference this year are Bunn High School, Durham School of the Arts, Franklinton High School, South Granville High

School, Southern Vance High School, Roanoke Rapids High School and Warren County High School.

While NCSSM is playing in a new conference, not everything will be new. Non-conference opponents are set

by the school itself. Given the limited number of available opponents within the region, NCSSM will face off with several of last year’s opponents again this year, including Raleigh Charter.

Additionally, since last year’s conference was a mix of 1A and 2A teams, NCSSM teams have prior experience against 2A competition.

The conference a school competes in is determined by the school’s student population size and geographic location.

The largest 25% of schools are given 4A classification, the second largest 25% are given 3A classification, and so on. Within the classifications, schools are then assigned conferences based on geographic location.

The general idea is schools with larger populations tend to have larger talent pools, and thus by dividing schools according to population size, schools will be able to compete against schools with similar talent levels.

Whether this change is for the better or the worse, NCSSM’s student athletes are surely prepared to do what they do best: accept the greater challenge.

By Steven liao

NCSSM moves up to 2A conference

Courtesy of NCSSM

NCSSM is known for is high academic standards, hard working students, qualified teachers, and the unique connections and opportunities it gives every students. There are many events at NCSSM that extend beyond the realm of academics, giving juniors the opportunities to explore Durham and meet their classmates.

1) T-shirt Signing Dance - One of the most highly anticipated events at the beginning of the year, the T-shirt signing dance is the only excuse we have all year to write on someone’s clothing and meet someone new. The T-shirt Signing Dance is one of the great icebreakers in the beginning of the year. It is a unique NCSSM experience that everyone enjoys.

2) Ice Cream Social - After struggling to move all of their possessions, Seniors and Juniors look forward to the first social event of the year. The entire student body gathers to share cold and tasty bowls of ice cream while meeting their new classmates. The Ice Cream Social is one of the few events where everyone comes together to eat, laugh, dance, and socialize after Move-In Day.

3) Clubs and Extracur-riculars - NCSSM’S clubs and extracurricular activities give NCSSM students a much need-ed break from the academics. Students have the opportunity to explore new and unique opportunities that are only of-fered at NCSSM. Students can become active through com-munity service, academic com-petitions, recreational clubs, and sports. NCSSM’s clubs and extracurricular activities offers every student the chance to be active in the school, a team, or the community.

4) Spirit Week- Every year, Student Government hosts a week of fun, goofy activities. Students have been known to go all out, sporting some embarrassing outfits throughout the week. From wearing ridiculous hats to being unrecognizable in their new get-ups, students never fail to disappoint to show their school spirit. Among the days of ridiculous dressing, there is the famous “Hawaiian Shirt Day,” where every Senior and Junior sets aside a day to “appreciate the other side of the spectrum.”

Spirit Week is one of the most memorable events of the year, and it creates some of the most embarrassing photos of your high school experience.

5) Semiformal - One of the most highly anticipated events of the year, Semiformal is the first NCSSM dance any junior will experience. It gives every student the opportunity to dance and celebrate before

welcoming in the New Year. After the elaborate and over the top proposals that range from woven Christmas lights to large banners and body paint, couples gather to hear the famous reading of the Christmas Carol by Dr. Miller.

6) Mr. Uni - Not many schools have the honor of hosting a Male Beauty Pageant. Watching your classmates compete for Mr. Uni and Baby Uni gives every male the opportunity to show their talents while entertaining their fellow Unicorns. After the laughs, tears, and unforgettable moments, the celebrity judges will decide who will be “Mr. Unicorn.”

7) Durham - Loops give students a chance to get off campus and explore Durham. They can go to Southpoint for movies and shopping or Brier Creek for restaurants. They can explore 9th street or Downtown Durham. Catch a show or stroll through the historic Tobacco District while munching on M e l l o w Mushroom Pizza. Durham has many excellent restaurants and shopping districts to distract even the most focused student away from their schoolwork.

8) Culture Fests - NCSSM’s students hosts some of the most entertaining and unique cultural experiences in the community. Latin America Fest has wonderful dances and costumes from Central America. Asia Fest is one of the largest productions at NCSSM, including fantastic dances, amazing musical performances, and unforgettable experiences. Africa Fest highlights the NCSSM’s Culture Fests give the Student Body the chance to explore different cultures and experience learn about their fellow classmates.

9) Sporting Events - Every week, crowds gather to cheer on the Unicorns. Tons of Students come to cheer on our soccer and basketball team. Unique and overzealous cheers can be heard coming from the soccer field during every game as the students cheer on the Unicorns.

10) Classes - Among all of the social events and extracurricular activities, students still face enormous and rewarding academic challenges. NCSSM offers classes that cannot be taken anywhere else. Everyone enjoys the academic opportunities, no matter how frustrating they can be. Classes give us the chance to meet our classmates, learn from teachers, and explore our curiosities. The classes at NCSSM give every student the chance to be great. Enjoy them, explore your passions, and take advantage of this exciting opportunity.

Events to look forward to

By anDrew peterSon

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NCSSM Bhangra closes out the 2013 AsiaFest with dance.

Q: I am super excited for the academics, friendships, and life at NCSSM but I am really nervous about living with a roommate; how should I get closer with my room-mate and have a successful year living with her?

-Nervous Nellie

A: Dear Nellie, Living at NCSSM away from home is an extremely different ex-perience as we share our living spaces with our hall mates and our rooms with a roommate(s).

Don’t worry too much though! Through the room-mate survey, roommates are

paired based on lifestyles, interests, habits, and person-alities which help with pairing successful roommates. Going into it, don’t expect too much from your roommate; your roommate does not have to be your new best friend; she is just someone you must be able to live in harmony with during the school year.

Of course, you and your roommate may click right away and be the best of friends for life. However, start out slowly and get to know their interests and any requests they may have while living togeth-er.

From the get-go, establish rules or expectations of each

other to ensure that you guys have clear understanding of each other and learn to com-municate.

If you go into learning to live with your roommate with a positive mindset and are willing to work together and communicate, you should have a successful year living with her. Good luck and have fun!-Tori

If you have a question that

you think Tori could help you with, please submit it by email to stentorian123@gmail.com. It may appear in a future issue!

Ask Tori!

the backpageaugust 2013 the stentorian | ncssm8

the stentorian the north carolina school of science and mathematics 1219 broad street, durham, nc 27705

stentorian123@gmail.com

Editors-in-Chief: Adam Beyer, Su Cho, Jungsu HongNews Editor: Kanan Shah

Features Editor: Sarah ColbertEntertainment Editor: Ava Gruchacz

Opinion Editor: Andrew PetersonSports Editor: Steven Liao

Photography Editor: Zihui YangAdvisor: John Kirk

Welcome to the Stentorian!

We hope you have enjoyed this issue so far. The Stentorian is a student-run and created newspaper that expresses the opinions and interests of NCSSM students. We try and feature a variety of articles to keep our readers informed and entertained. We will offer a seminar during first trimester to help prepare writers and future Stentorian editor-in-chiefs. Even though participation in this seminar is not required, it is recommended to people new to journalism. If you have ideas, suggestions, or contributions to the Stentorian please contact us at stentorian123@gmail.com. Thank you and we look forward to a great year!

Sincerely,The Editors-in-Chief

Group Student LeaderAccept the Greener Challenge Lily Zhang, Brooke Huang,

Madden BrewsterArchers in da Hood Seraphina Wong, Lindsey

Locklear, Max TuckerAsian Cultures Club Vany Nyugen, Brooke Huang,

Kyung-Seok Oh, Mona AminBadminton Club Lawrence Bacudio, Ryan WestBlue Mirror Layla Namak, Jessica Lee, Alice

WangBody Beautiful Club Su ChoBreakdance Tim Qi, Ga Kay Gao, Anushri

Adhia, Kieran Valakuzhy, Dallin YostCatholic Students’ Association John Bell, Caroline Conrad, Isabel

ReidChess Club Allan Jiang, Shouri Gottiparthi,

Derek ZhangComputer Science Allan Jiang, Michael Gao, Mitch

Rees-Jones, Josh Rees-JonesDance Ensemble Catherine Farmer, Katelyn JohnsonDance Marathon Mona Amin, Shraddha RathodDECA Grace Guo, Erin RymiszewskiDoctor Who Club Ayano AnnisDrama Board Jesse Hansen,Dungeons and Dragons Club Philip Zendels, Maddie HefnerDurham Area Rocketry Team Karia Dibert, Sam Christensen Eating Local Foods Zach Bradshaw, Tomas RomeroEmily K Tutoring Club Alexandria Thompson, David

CalvertEsports Club Tim Qi, Ethan AndersonFBLA Kanan Shah, Samuel Lee, Mallory

Lowe, Shraddha Rathod, Laura Goodman, Anushri Adhia

FIRST Robotics Competition Team 900: Zebracorns

John Bell, Chase Mansell, Bailey Blankenship, Carey Dunn

Flag Football Club Derek Zhang, Vishesh Verma, Chris Yu, Evan Miles

Group for Left Wing Students Philip WilsonHOSA Shraddha Rathod, Mona Amin,

Kavi Jain, Shouri Gottiparthi Hospice Arts Club Jeffrey ZhangICIDIC Shraddha Rathod, Priya DesaiKey Club Andrew Peterson, Brooke Huang,

Vany NyugenLegacy Jeremy Nortey, Evan BrooksLevel 7 Elliott HollidayMAFIA David Calvert, Parth Patel, Niraja

PancholyMath Club Kavi Jain, Sammy Luo, Michael

Gao

Group Student LeaderMeasures for the Future Nathan Kwon, Holly SlangMartial Arts Club Emily Nicholson, Sam Christensen Model United Nations Will Duncan, Laura GoodmanMock Trial Laura Goodman, Saurin KantesariaMountain Cultures Club Eli Jordon, Madden BrewsterNASA HUNCH Max TuckerNCSSM Dance Ensemble Catherine FarmerNCSSM Economics Club Holly Slang, Philip Wilson, Zihui

YangNCSSM FCS Chase Hicks, Sammy Luo, Paul

SmithNCSSM Lacrosse Club Hannah WestNCSSM Rock Climbing Club Kevin Parham, Stuart WellsNCSSM Unifilms Lukas O’DanielNo One Likes A Bully Bryon SpellsNSBE Michael Kearney, Evan Brooks,

Marlisha Blakeney, Angel Chukwu, Sidney Lisanza

Ocean Science Bowl Jeffrey Zhang, Kyung-Seok Oh, Nirmala Shivakumar

Odyssey Yearbook Club Layla Namak, Stephen YangPokémon Club Philip Zendels, Mia Bxley, Marcus

Ramos-Pearson, Dylan FreedleQuiz Bowl Urvi Sinha, Adam BeyerRaas Niraja Pancholy, Bina AminRandom Acts of Kindness Mengmeng Fany, Vany Nyugen,

Nirmala ShivakumarRed Cross Club Priya Desai, Laura Goodman,

Andrew PetersonRugby Club Kevin Parham, Billy GottenstraterScience and Math Ultimate Frisbee Elisabeth Parker, Nathan KwonScience Bowl Sammy Luo, Kavi JainScience Olympiad Margaret Tian, Julia Hu, Parth

Thakker, Jennifer WuScienceDays Jennifer Wu, Nirmala ShivakumarSpectrum Matthew Kornberg, Mallory LoweSpeech and Debate Shouri Gottiparthi, Christopher

Yuan, Ethan Anderson, Madeleine Gonzalez

Stentorian Su Cho, Adam Beyer, Jungsu HongStudent Humanist Society Philip WilsonSwing Dance Club Meredith Dorminey, Mallory

Lowe, Bradley KingTennis Club Vishesh Verma, Danny OhThe Group for Liberal Students Philip WilsonTSA Vishesh Verma, Josh Jiang, Trace

BirchfieldUHOO Ali Eakes, Rachel DangoUNI’s Fighting Hunger Club Vany NguyenUniboys Eli JordonUnichefs Kerri Smetana, Karl WidneyUnichords Simon Wolf, Josie Daniel, Annie

Jo Buchanan, Chatham EllwangerUniPaws Will DuncanVegetarian Society Mona Amin, Shraddha RathodWomen in Science and Engineering Alice Li, Tessa JonesYoung Life Sheridan Earnhardt, Harrison

Rashley, Ava Grucharcz

Clubs!There is an organization for everyone here at NCSSM. This list of clubs and their

student leaders was compiled from Student Government records and listings on the NCSSM Classes of 2014 and 2015 page. It is not necessarily a complete list of every organization at NCSSM. If you would like to start a club, contact Student Body Treasurer, Jessica Lee for information.