2 Tuesday, December 3,1996 Center helps foreign students adjust to UNC ■ The International Center eases students into social and academic life. BY SARA YAWN STAFF WRITER International students experience both American culture and academic life at UNC, and the University’s International Center works to bring these students the best of both worlds. “One of the major issues when they first come is adjusting to American cul ture,” said Jean Hughes, associate direc tor of the International Center. International students often face a very different academic structure and teach Towns prepare for seasonal celebrations, events ■ Local groups and towns are planning Christmas and Hanukkah events. BY JULIA WOOD STAFF WRITER With Christmas and Hanukkah ap proaching, local churches and organiza tions are busy preparing for the holidays with special programs and ceremonies. The towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro will be holding events to usher in the holiday season. The Chapel Hill Downtown Commis sion will hold a holiday tree-lighting cer emony Friday from 7 p.m. until 8 p.m. on top of the Rosemary Street parking deck. Bull’s Head Bookshop invites you to a reading of Children from Australia to Zimbabwe Wednesday, Dec. 4 at 4:oopm Bull’s Head Bookshop UNC Student Stores • 962-5060 ONE WORLD. ONE HOPE. —____________________—,— Unite in hope and show your support for those World UDgwtf* 1996 M December 3 LiaiiiUUJAllii “If Not Us, Then Who?” Resource Day campus and local organizations will provide information on World AIDS Day and HIV/AIDS in the pit from 1 0am-2pm. Confidential HIV Testing • walk-in testing will be available for individuals and groups from 5-Bpm in the Wellness Center. j j “One World, One Hope” Multicultural Extravaganza keynote speaker Laurie Aaronson will discuss living with HIV and the Loreleis, CHispA, OPEYO, BSM Gospel Choir, Sangam, Harmonics, Unheard Voices, Vietnamese Students Association, and others will perform. A candlelight vigil will follow this event. S fi A section of the AIDS Memorial Quilt will be displayed at residential halls Nov. 25 - Dec. 6. Call 962-9701 for details. UNC-Chapel Hill World AIDS Week T-shirts will be available at the week’s events for only SB. For more info about World AIDS Week events, please call Student Health Services, Health Education at 966-6586. Work! AIDS Week is organized by the World AIDS Week Planning Committee & funded in pad by the Chancellor's Task Force on AIDS. ing style, said Jiffer Bourguignon, presi dent of the International Student Asso ciation. “A lot of students come here, and they’re not used to the workload,” she said. Hughes said homesickness and fi nances were further concerns for interna tional students. The International Center offers sev eral programs to help international stu dents in their transition to UNC. The center helps to familiarize inter national students with the University and the community through an extensive ori entation, Hughes said. “(The orientation) includes some ad justment issues as well as some informa tion about academics,” she said. The orientation also acquaints stu dents with some of the fun things to do at Robert Humphreys, executive direc tor of the Downtown Commission, said the event had been held annually for about 10 years. “The Downtown Commission created the tree-lighting and singing event to be a kickoff for the parade,” he said. Humphreys said the event would start off with an hour of entertainment by church choirs and high school marching bands and culminate with the lighting of the community holiday tree, which will stay lit throughout the holiday season. The Hillsborough Area Chamber of Commerce will be holding its Tenth Annual Christmas Candlelight Tour on Sunday from 1 p.m. until 8 p.m. Amy Westbrook, Communications Specialist for the Chapel Hill-Orange County Visitors Bureau, said the tour UNIVERSITY & CITY UNC and possible activities the students might like to participate in, Hughes said. Volunteer programs at the Interna tional Center pair international students with American students or members of the community for interaction. Two additional programs, the English Conversation Partners Program and the International Women’s Conversation Group, help to improve participants’ English skills and introduce them to American culture, Hughes said. The Speakers Bureau encourages stu dents to share their culture as speakers for various groups. The goal is “to en courage students to go out into the com munity,” Hughes said. An American family or individual helps to teach an international student about American culture in The Host Fam highlights historic homes, churches, inns and public buildings. Westbrook said tickets are available at local businesses. On the day of the tour, ticket holders are to go by the tour head quarters at the Old Orange County Court house to pick up a program. “With the program, they can visit the sites in any order they wish,” she said. “The tour is meant for people to enjoy and see the historic area at their leisure. ” Mike Scheinberg, Program Director for N.C. Hillel, said the Hillel Founda tion will be holding several events cel ebrating Hanukkah, which takes place from Thursday to Dec. 13. He said a Hanukkah menorah lighting will be held in the Pit at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, the first night of Hanukkah. On Saturday, the group will hold a spe cial Hanukkah dance from 9 p.m. to 1 p.m. Hillel foundations from around the state have been invited to participate in this event. “Hanukkah is a time of miracles, so it is also a time of celebration,” Scheinberg !. 1 *' j*- Announces: Essay Exam Workshop Presented by Allison Boylan Thurs., December 5 from 2-4 pm • Greenlaw 101 (For more information call the Writing Center at 962-7710) Your* Nod AhJ your u tklht is NO CASH! Donate Livesaving Plasma! Make SSO this week! Immediate Payment! New and returning donors, tw Jjk those who have not donated in the past 60 days. \&**^^** CALL 942-0251 OR STOP 8Y... SERA-TEC BIOLOGICALS 1091/2E. FRANKUN ST.-HI-THIO-6, MO-4-Ptoase Present Ad-Exp. 12-6-96 ily/Intemational Friendship Program. The American participants bring the stu dents into their houses for dinner or other events or take them on excursions in the community, Hughes said. “For American and for international students, the host family program and the English Conversation Partners Pro gram seem to be the most used,” Hughes said. The center’s programs and the sup port of the community are very helpful to international students, Bourguignon said. “The people are very friendly,” she said. There are currently 952 international students at UNC. The highest percent age of students comes from mainland China, followed by India and Taiwan, Hughes said. said. Local churches will be holding ser vices to celebrate Christmas in the com ing weeks. University United Methodist Church will hold a Moravian Love Feast on Dec. 15 at 7 p.m. Sheila Woods, an office worker at the church, said tea and a pastry are served at the feast, and hymns are sung. “It grew out of a Moravian tradi tion,” she said. “It’s a little unusual and very beautiful.” Bob Dunham, pastor at University Presbyterian Church, said his church is doing several service projects during the holiday season. “We are collecting mer chandise for families we have adopted,” he said. Other churches are celebrating the sea son through music. The Chancel Choir at University Baptist Church will be pre senting Sleepers, Wake! by J.S. Bach on Sunday at 11 a.m. All three churches will be holding candlelight Christmas Eve services at various times. Bizarro (Vo Sou kuow wmat Would gc - T>lF ftPFECT END To TMiS J —— (inedible Evening?... J sg§§ /7! Tf Sou left ki&ht mowanpm j IM Rec Sports presents., Nike Hot Hoops 96 TODAY! December 3 at 6:oopm Woollen Gym Enter One Contest or All Four! (Men’s & Women’s Division) # Free Throw Contest # 3 pt Contest # Dribbling Contest ♦ 1-on-1 Contest Event winners get tee’s! One overall winner gets a Nike Windbreaker! Open to all students, faculty, & staff. No pre-registration necessary. Extra precautions needed before leaving for holiday ■ Most campus break-ins occur the night before students leave for break. BY CHERRIECE WRIGHT STAFF WRITER Your exams are over, you’ve packed up your things and you’re ready to go home for some rest and relaxation over Winter Break. You do one final check of your worldly possessions and discover that someone made off with your prized walkman and No Doubt CD while you were packing your car. “Christmas seems to be the biggest problem for people because it’s the long est break,” said Jane Cousins, spokes woman for the Chapel Hill police depart ment. Lt. Angela Cannon, crime prevention officer for University Police, said most on-campus burglaries occurred the night before a break. Every year, University Police puts out a list advising students on what they can do to avoid being burglarized, Cannon said. She suggested that students have a friend help them when making repeated trips from rooms to cars and that they not AARONSON FROM PAGE 1 HIV undoubtedly has changed Aaronson’s life in some ways. Her body has undergone drastic physical transfor mations in the past two years. She has lost 50 to 60 pounds. But what she hasn’t lost is her sense of humor. She jokes with friends that HTV is a great diet. Sensitive to medication, Aaronson now focuses on spiritual healing. She said she was putting a lot more personal time into exploring the concept of faith. Campus Calendar Tuesday 12:15 p.m. to 1:15 p.m. —A free informational program for faculty, staff and students titled “The ABCs of In-home Child Care” will be held in the Toy Lounge of Dey Hall. UNC parents and parents-to-be will have an opportunity to leam about different home-based child care options, including nannies and au pairs, from representatives of community and private child care agen cies. The session is sponsored by the Employment Services Depart ment. For more information call 962-1483. 4p.m. —New York filmmaker Su Friedrich will presenthernew film “Hide and Seek” at the Carolina Theater. The presentation is free and open to the public. The event is sponsored b-yhe German Department. 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Meredith College will present an information sessiononthe evening degree program for adult women titled "Meredith After 5” at the Kresge B. Park Center on Meredith campus. 7 p.m. The UNC Young Republicans will present guest speaker Tom Joyner, of the “Tom Joyner Show,” in 209 Manning Hall. All students are welcome to attend. 8 p.m. North Carolina State University will present “First Tuesday Jazz,” featuring Bobby Hinton and the Shades of Blue, at the African-American Cultural Center on the N.C. State campus. Tickets are $5 for general admission, $3 for students. items of Interest Triangle Hospice ’ s Unicom Bereavement Center will present “Liv ing with Grief Through the Hobdays, ’’ a workshop for grieving persons who want to leam more about coping with their grief in an educational setting, on Thursday, Dec. 5 from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Unicom Bereavement Center. $2 OFF!S4 OFF Exam i Semester g Pack j Pack C Gloss Notts "SSr Your Upcoming Suite 102 Nations Bank Plaza • 933-8222 Exams! tEljr laihj (Tar Hrrl leave their rooms unsecured. She also said students should securely lock their possessions in the trunks of their cars while returning to their rooms for more luggage. Cousins advised off-campus students not to leave valuables in their apartments. She also said these students should get timers for their lights, radios and televi sions. Off-campus students should have someone pick up their mail, and they should cancel their newspaper delivery, Cousins said. “Students should try to make it look like they’re at home as much as pos sible, ” she said. Cousins said thieves had a tendency to target apartments where they knew students live. While students are being urged to take precautions for the long break, the sea son has been safe for students’ posses sions so far Both Carmon and Cousins said very few burglaries were reported over the Thanksgiving break. Cousins said there was no increase over the weekend. “This weekend was no different from any other weekend as far as burglaries are concerned, ” she said. Carmon said, “The only burglary I know of was someone trying to break in to a vending machine in the Student Union.” “I was really stressed about time and how much I have left,” she said. “I’ve become much more of an optimist. To day is today and I’ll make what I can of today.” Aaronson still wrestles with her plans for the future, whether to pursue a doc torate degree or to find a job at a commu nity college. Regardless, her goal is to teach. Some would say she already is. “I see Laurie as very passionate about issues,” Thompson said. “She has a real desire to make a difference. She’s willing to take risks to educate others.” ®§B^ Grill O Pub) fomar m WHIG BMf! Stop in tonight and pick up some bw-3 Gift Certificates! They make great Holiday Gifts! Plan Your Holiday Party at bw-31 933-9453 Delivery Available! 206 W. Franklin St. Aero** from Granville Tower* [ r /t Pound Burner, ! onWECKSI.39 i | Toppings extra. Not valid with any I