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(Eljf Saiiy ®ar Mrrl Survey Shows Candidates Divided on Voucher Issue All five N.C. gubernatorial candidates say they support increased school funding and extended school years. By Jennifer Hagin Staff Writer A recent education survey of Democrats and Republicans hoping to move into the N.C. governor’s mansion after November’s elections revealed similar stances on technology funding but not on school vouchers. I he N.C. Public School Forum sur vey asked five gubernatorial candidates several open-ended questions, including the educational initiatives they planned to pursue. All candidates supported an increase in school funding for technology, an extended school year and additional capital to underfunded schools. But using public money to support forms of private education, like a vouch er system, split the candidates along party lines. Republican gubernatorial candidate Leo Daughtry stated in the survey that he supported vouchers because they would reform the public school system. Jay Warshaw, Daughtry’s communi cations director, said, “The time for using competition to spur improvements is now.” School Budget Hammered Out By Erica Coleman Staff Writer Board members of the Chapel Hill- Carrboro City and the Orange County school systems discussed funding in schools with the Orange County Board of Commissioners in an annual joint meeting this week. The main focus of Monday night’s meeting was for education boards to keep the commissioners informed of what their major budgetary expenses will be for next year, said Neil Pedersen, superintendent for Chapel Hill- Carrboro City schools. “We’ll have a work session with them injune,” he said. “They will give us an appropriation, and we will have to decide our budget based on that.” The need to allocate funds for raising teachers’ salaries was one item dis cussed. Pedersen said next year would be the last of the four-year Excellent Schools Act, a N.C. program for boost ing teacher salaries to meet the 8 percent shortfall of the national average. “Some teachers are locally funded, and some are state-funded,” he said. “That means we will have to cover the expense of raising the locally funded salaries that 8 percent." Pedersen also said that in North Carolina there was a state schedule for teacher salaries and that was supple mented by local funds. I|||B|||ll nm Him AI1IRGIC???~ Children and Adult Allergy Studies If you have seasonal allergy symptoms you may be qualified to participate in a research study. Qualified participants may receive at no cost: ■■ north Carolina £ cimkai • Allergy skin testing research ■ • EKGs and Lab Tests Where patient care and the future of medicine come together. " • Studv related medications ~ Dr CraK J LaForce and Dr Karen Dunn. 9 m . Board Certified in Allergy and Immunology • Compensation for your time and travel Conveniently located in Raleigh and Chapel Hill @ Chapel Hill’s ORIGINAL Irish Pub & Restaurant Sun - Thurs 4pm-2am Fri - Sat 11:30am-2am W B- YEATS Come join usfor greatfood & beer specials! Mon “Open Mic” Acoustic Night - 9:3opm Tue Pub Quiz - Win Dinner for Two and pub paraphernalia WB* YEATS Wed college night • live dj • beer specials Chapel Hill’s THlir LIVE MUSIC • IMPORT SPECIALS home to watch all : f j DRINK SPECIALS rugby and soccer matches. Sat Whiskey Specials • English Premier League All Day Sun Live Irish Music - 9pm, NO COVER CHARGE Located behind Wicked Burrito 306-G West Franklin Street 960-8335 Richard Vinroot, one of three Republican gubernatorial can didates, stated that he supported giv ing parents alter natives to public education, like magnet and char ter schools. ELECTIONS m STATE Vinroot is the co-founder of one of the largest charter schools in the state. “I believe the system exists for the benefit of children,” he stated. “It shouldn’t exist for the benefit of a bureaucracy or a political apparatus.” Republican gubernatorial candidate Chuck Neely also stated that school choice would increase parental involve ment and the accountability of public schools. Mike Easley, one of two Democrat gubernatorial candidates, stated that he opposed vouchers but not magnet schools. “Magnet schools and other speciality public schools offer parents diversity and choice within the public school sys tem,” he stated. Democrat gubernatorial candidate Dennis Wicker stated that he favored charter and magnet schools but not vouchers or tax credits. “Vouchers and tax credits are a dis guised way to offer rich parents a break on their child’s tuition,” he stated. “We need to increase our supplement on teacher salaries in order to be com petitive with other counties,” he said. “We want to keep up with them. We’d really like to be better than them.” When the discussion moved to school-related construction, commis sioner Barry Jacobs expressed the need for environmental awareness in building anew elementary school. “I think we need to make sure that construction projects on our schools should be held up to the same standards that construction projects on private enterprises are held to, in terms of the protection of the natural environment,” he said. Steve Scroggs, interim superinten dent for Support Services for Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, said the sys tem had started off with 11 possible sites for the new elementary school, but this list had been narrowed down to three. He said the system needed to act as soon as possible, citing the example of a prospective site which had been taken off the market by the owner. “Our prospects are dropping quick ly,” he said. “We need to go ahead and purchase land.” Scroggs said a site of particular inter est was a 34-acre site off of Erwin Road. Part of this land, which was part of the New Hope Creek system, would be made into a park. Budgeting for improvements of Wicker also stated that he planned to create a program to give tuition scholar ships to N.C. high school students who maintained a B average, Mark Stinneford, a spokesman for Wicker, said Wicker planned to use pro ceeds from a state lottery to fund a scholarship program similar to Georgia’s Hope Scholarship. Daughtry also has a special program for high school students called “Finish Smart.” This program would require all high school graduates to have a 12th grade reading and writing proficiency instead of the current Bth grade requirement. “If a student gets a diploma from North Carolina, we want to guarantee them a good job,” Warsaw said. UNC political science Professor Thad Beyle said education was a hot topic nationwide. Beyle said vouchers were controver sial because they were financed by siphoning money from public school systems. He said the similarity of the candi dates’ education plans was largely due to the success of Gov. Jim Hunt’s education programs. “Jim Hunt has pushed education hard,” he said. “No one wants to change much because there doesn’t seem any reason to change things.” The State & National Editor can be reached at stntdesk@unc.edu. school buildings was also discussed. Commissioner Alice Gordon expressed the need to ensure older buildings were not ignored. “You have these beautiful new build ings, but I think we should do something for the old buildings as well,” she said. “We need countywide minimum stan dards that all schools should meet, not just the new schools.” Orange County Board of Education member Keith Cook addressed con cerns of other board members that exceptional education programs in the county took up too much space in schools. He said additional classroom space would alleviate the crowded pro gram, which is nationally renowned. “A lady moved here all the way from California for her child to be in our spe cial education program,” he said. “Parents come from all over the state because they hear of our exceptional programs through word-of-mouth. These programs won't get smaller, they will only continue to grow.” Orange County board member Susan A. Halkiotis said the three groups could provide a model for other school systems statewide. “I hope that the way Orange County funds its schools will he an example for other counties to follow.” The City Editor can be reached at citydesk@unc.edu. News ' ‘lp • Jp*"' a, -J, mm DTH/MARTHA HOELZER Visiting Professor Bill C. Malone watches the bluegrass duo Alice Gerrard and Hazel Dickens perform in his American studies class. Malone is giving a speech titled "Take This Job and Shove It: Country Music and Work" at 7 p.m. today in the auditorium of theTate-Turner-Kuralt Building. Speaker Embraces Power of Women By Allison Ford Staff Writer The Rev. Marcia Dyson enlightened students Tuesday night on the power of the feminine spirit and the strength of a woman’s voice. Dyson,who has published two books and is about to publish three more, addressed “Women and Spirituality in the 21st Century” as part of the third annual Carolina Women’s Week. “She is an engaging speaker with great insight into women’s empower ment,” said Chimi Boyd, associate direc tor of Campus Y’. Dyson, wife of former UNC Professor Michael Dyson, a speaker dur ing Race Relations Week, opened her speech by citing the work of Nostradamus in 1503. He was a vision ary with great insight toward women, Dyson said. “He said women would be the most powerful force on this planet,” she said. “Along with patriarchy there must be a softer, gender side.” She continued by saying his prophe cy was true. “Women have shaken the You can make history here. Creating something special isn't easy. Fortunately, there are plenty of rewards along the way —from stock options to the satisfaction of making over 17 million customers very happy. 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Make history. Amazon.com is an Equal Opportunity Employer. GRASSROOTS foundations of the world,” Dyson said. She cited women such as Gloria Steinem, Harriet Tubman and Joan of Arc as those who had raised their voices and surpassed unbelievable odds to get women where they are today. Even after all this, Dyson said, “(Women) still sit upon a threshold of darkness.” Dyson used examples of atrocities against women such as spousal abuse in America, sexual slavery in China and genital mutilation in Africa to illustrate her point. “We must continue a vision of enlightenment, hope and inspiration,” Dyson said. “If we don’t speak up, how is the change ever going to take place?” Dyson also spoke about her belief that religious denominations could restrict women. “Christianity is a male dominated ideology,” she said. She enlightened students by using Premenstrual Syndrome as an example. “A greater PMS we all suffer from, including men, 365 days a year, 24 hours a day ... is patriarchy and misog yny,” Dyson said. “(Women) are the Midol in the patri amazon.com jj? Wednesday, March 29, 2000 archal society.” Dyson stated the women’s movement had been successful but women must be careful net to abuse the feminine spirit. Otherwise it is just “male power in drag,” she said. To avoid placing a dress on patri archy, Dyson said women must engage in social and political activism and express moral outrage for the atrocities in the world. “Feminine spirituality is not replacing patriarchy with matriarchy,” Dyson said. “It takes more than our biolog)' to identify our feminine spirit. What we are is energy, and energy causes friction and friction causes sparks and sparks cause light.” As she concluded her speech, Dyson passionately reinforced one point for the audience to think about for themselves. “Every place I stand is sacred and every thing I do is a ministry,” she said. “If men and women of the world are to be made comfortable, the women of the world must be made comfortable.” The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu. 5
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