6
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2006
Officials address
clustering policy
BY EMILY GALLIMORE
STAFF WRITER
District officials and Asian-
American parents met Monday to
clarify a Chapel Hill-Carrboro City
Schools policy about clustering
practices.
The meeting was held to revisit
concerns raised by Asian-American
parents in July.
Superintendent Neil Pedersen
described the clustering strategy and
gave reasons for its practice. Placing
students of the same minority race
in the same classroom can help ease
feelings of isolation, he said.
Clustering also enables English
as-a-second-language teachers to
work with groups of children who
speak the same native language
without having to take them out of
the classroom, he added.
The board policy regarding clus
tering says heterogeneous group
ing usually is the best way to meet
educational goals, but allows for
homogenous grouping.
Pedersen said he doesn’t want
minority students to feel isolated
in the classroom.
“I’m thinking we’d like to see
maybe clusters of three to six,” he
said.
“We also don’t want to see nine,
10,11 because that sounds almost
like a homogenous classroom.”
But some parents questioned
the practice of racial clustering at
any number.
“I think we should just do ran
dom and do even numbers of Asians
in classrooms,” said Christine Lee,
a parent of two children at Smith
Middle School. Lee said there isn’t
a need to evenly distribute minor
ity students.
Parents expressed concerns that
clustering furthers racial biases.
“We have an image issue,” Phillips
Middle School parent Sarah Whang
said. “We’re going to be labeled for
ever foreigners because of the way
we 100 k.... The current policy just
adds fuel to that image.”
Whang said the process is “bla
tant racism.”
“Is it fair to put five Asian-
American children into one class
room when they want to assimi
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Parent Sandy Wong said cluster
ing practices cause Asian-American
students to associate only with each
other.
“I tell them, ‘Make some white
friends.’... I tell my husband, “Maybe
we shouldn’t have chosen Chapel
Hill (there’s) too many Asians.’”
Pedersen cited a racial breakdown
report that listed the number of stu
dents of each racial group per class,
showing a more even distribution
than some parents had expected.
“Perception may not match real
ity as to how numbers are breaking
down in classrooms,” school board
chairwoman Lisa Stuckey said.
Stuckey explained that racial
clustering is an option, not a
requirement.
“It says we should normally het
erogeneously group unless racial
isolation occurs,” she said.
District officials agreed to contin
ue to examine clustering practices to
ensure their alignment with policy.
Contact the City Editor
at citydesk@unc.edu.
ELECTION
FROM PAGE 1
Vacancies include one from mid
campus, two from South Campus,
one from the off-campus district and
nine graduate student seats.
The election also will mark the
first time the Board of Elections’
outreach division which consists
of about 100 volunteer members
will run voting stations.
“This will be the first time elec
tions will be manned by an orga
nized entity,” said Jim Brewer,
chairman of the elections board.
Regardless of who wins or loses,
Brewer said he just wants students
to show up at the polls.
“It is good to represent ourselves
in Student Congress,” he said. “I
think it’s important for people to
realize that these are big issues that
can affect everybody, and we can
have a say in it through voting.”
Contact the University Editor
at udesk@unc.edu.
RESEARCH.
FROM PAGE 1
Student opportunities extend
beyond fields such as neurosci
ence.
“Throughout the chemistry
department we have close to ahun
dred undergraduates working in
different labs,” said Holden Thorp,
chairman of the department of
chemistry.
Jeannie Loeb, director for
undergraduate research in psychol
ogy, said most professors are will
ing to involve interested students
in research.
“(Professors) are always inter
ested in collaborating with people
who are just as interested,” she said.
“One day (those students) will be
their colleagues.”
Evelyne Huber, chairwoman of
the political science department,
said she has supervised several hon
ors thesis projects. Seniors writing
honors theses conduct research on
a topic of their choice.
Students also can learn about
research in a course called “Special
Topics: Modes of Inquiry.”
The office’s Web site also includes
a database of opportunities, advice
from faculty and opportunities to
obtain financial support.
The old-fashioned method
of asking professors about their
research also is recommended.
“(Students) just need to find a
professor that’s willing to take them
into their lab,” Thorp said. “Do that
by going door to door.”
Officials said the benefits of par
ticipating in research projects as an
undergraduate extend into future
endeavors.
“For those that are going on
to chemistry grad school, that’s
probably the most important
thing that grad schools look at,”
Thorp said.
Huber said it is important to
learn research techniques that stu
dents can use in the workplace.
“You learn to think in terms of
how if you have an idea about
something, to find out if that idea
holds up.”
Pukkila said she wants all
students to get involved with
research.
“It’s a research University. You
might as well get your money’s
worth.”
Contact the University Editor
at udesk@unc.edu.
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DROP DEADLINE
FROM PAGE 1
said.
Barbara Stenross, assistant
dean for academic advising, said
students often wait to find out
their test grades before coming
to academic advising to drop a
course.
“There’s always an increase
toward the end of the drop period
because students are waiting to get
grades back,” Stenross said.
Stenross said numerous advis
ers will hold walk-in hours today
to assist students who wish to drop
a course.
Despite the delayed deadline,
Owen said she does not expect
the two-week extension to sig
nificantly increase the number of
drops.
“I’ll be really surprised if
there are more overall drops this
year than a year ago,” she said.
“Students still need 12 hours a
semester.”
Numerous students said Monday
that they were pleased with the
new deadline.
“I think it’s great,” said Sarah
Norris, a junior biology major from
Wilson.
“The six weeks are good if you
have a grade in the class, but it’s
really hard if there’s only a midterm
and a final,” she said. “If you get a
bad grade on the midterm, you
can’t drop it.”
Lauren Bruton, a junior psy
chology major from Rocky Mount,
said she is considering taking
advantage of the new drop dead
line.
Bruton said she is considering
dropping her APPLES Service-
Learning course because she is
unsure whether she will be able
to complete the required service
hours.
APPLES is a service-learning
program that introduces students
to service opportunities in the
surrounding community as well
as offers classes.
“I have to get 30 hours, and it’s
already halfway through the semes
ter,” she said.
Undergraduate and graduate
students who wish to take a class
pass/D+/D/fail also must sub
mit those declarations by 5 p.m.
today.
Contact the University Editor
at udesk@unc.edu.
Gregg Found
TRYOUT
FROM PAGE 1
It’s a constantly shifting relation
ship, and the dynamic got shaken
up at the start of Monday’s tryout.
JV coach C.B. McGrath
announced that there would be a
round of cuts after day two and that
only those who made it past the cut
would return for day three.
The names of the 25 to 30 guys
who made it will be posted on the
Smith Center door today at 10 a.m.
So by the time you read this,
my hopes for JV glory might have
vanished.
So how do I feel?
I was upbeat after sinking a left
handed layup on a fast-break drill,
but I was humbled seconds later
when I looked the other way and
collided into the next guy in line.
My team’s record during the
scrimmages won’t qualify me for
any squad, but I think I proved I
can mesh well with teammates and
snag some big rebounds.
Regardless, the look-good-or-go
home mentality pervaded Mondays
tryout, which was all scrimmages
after a brief warm-up.
Guys argued with each other
during scrimmages about a touchy
foul but cheered others during the
FAIR
FROM PAGE 1
she said, gesturing to the milk cows
in their stalls.
The fair also can teach the pub
lic about rising trends in the agri
cultural industry.
This year, for the first time in
N.C. history, fair generators are
running off of biodiesel derived
from local soybeans.
Parker said that biodiesel could
be the next big thing in N.C. agri
culture, and that the fair provides
the kind of promotion needed for
the industry to grow.
“Any opportunity we have to
promote biodiesel is always a plus,
because people are interested in
it,” he said. “We’re at a very excit
ing point in North Carolina with
regard to biodiesel.”
Contact the State National
Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
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end-of-tryout sprints.
Some guys chat with everyone.
Some guys know no one. We shake
hands and exchange names, but all
we really want to know is “Can you
make a three if I dish it out to you?”
and “Are you going to box out your
guy so he doesn’t get a rebound and
make our team look stupid?”
Tbammates from Sunday’s scrim
mage were Monday’s opponents.
Someone you elbowed in the jaw
now might be your point guard.
We shared looks of frustration
after our team lost the only way to
get seen is to be on the court and the
way to get on the court is to win.
You lose and you’re relegated to
shoot jump shots on the side courts
where only the janitors watch.
Teammates bickered with each
other and fewer people shook
hands after each game.
But no one tried to tear another
player down. On the contrary, most
of the dialogue was basketball busi
ness banter or a compliment on a
nice play.
After all, if you can’t make the
JV team, you want to rest assured
that those who did are better, not
just the least ridiculed.
Contact the Features Editor
atfeatures@unc.edu.
Overheard
at the fair
Wife: “John, that there is the
petting zoo!"
Husband: "Great! Wanna eat
first?"
Announcer for "Turkey
Shootout": "We got real shot
guns right in here! Come on in!
You can win a turkey! *
Man describing fried
Coca-Cola: ‘lt makes you lose
weight and lower cholesterol.*
Announcer: "The tiny lady
from Haiti! Tiny Tina is so small,
you can actually pick her up and
carry her in your aims as you
would a small child! She’s here!
She’s real! She’s alive!"
Crying child: "I wanna ride
on that one, Momma!"
Mother: ‘Shut up."