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www.dailytarheel.com
15IDC Counselors Ready for April Start Date
Bv Stephanie Horvath
Staff Writer
Students facing charges before the
Honor Court will soon have the free
dom to choose their defense counsels.
The Independent Defense Counsel, a
group that provides an alternative to the
student attorney general’s defense coun
sels, is expected to begin providing ser
Group Will Work
To Restructure
Students'Tests
Some local parents want to replace current
testing methods with tests that are more
diagnostic of what a student has learned.
By Carolyn Pearce
Staff Writer
Local parents who feel high-stakes testing procedures are
not indicative of their children’s abilities are organizing to pro
pose a different approach.
The group, Advocates for Testing Alternatives, has worked
with organizations like N.C. Citizens for Democratic Schools
to develop a multifaceted testing procedure platform. The
proposal would offer alternative means for determining stu
dents’ retention or promotion to the next grade level.
Kathie Guild, a member of the ATA, said the group’s main
problem is the exclusive use of end-of-grade test scores as cri
teria for evaluation. The group claims such tests are an inac
curate measure Of what students actually leam in school.
The ATA proposes a more varied approach to evaluation,
including a portfolio showing a student’s progress during the
school year and a restructured performance exam that would
better test a student’s creative abilities. The proposal would
maintain standardized testing but would make the tradition
al tests hold less weight. “We are all for proficiency and stan
dards, but we want to make sure it isn’t restrictive,” Guild said.
Presendy the state requires students in fifth grade to pass an
end-of-grade test before moving on to sixth grade. But Chapel
Hill-Carrboro City Schools and 64 other N.C. districts have
mandated these tests for promotion after third and eighth
grade as well. If a student does not pass the test, he or she can
retake it a week later and again after summer school if neces
sary. The student’s principal then decides whether to retain or
promote the student to the next grade level.
But Guild said having students retake the test is not a good
way of addressing the problem. “We need to see if they actu
ally understand the learning process,” she said.
School board member Teresa Williams said the board knows
the tests are a concern among some parents and teachers, but
added that the board does not have the authority to change the
standards. “North Carolina has accountability measures,” she
said. “We can’t move beyond what the state calls for.”
The Common Sense Foundation has also worked with the
ATA, providing them with research on the effects of stan
dardized testing. Daniella Cook, a fair testing organizer for
Common Sense, will present a report on national trends in
standardized testing and its impact on the state’s students at
the next ATA meeting. The meeting will be at 7 p.m. March
15 at the Chapel Hill Public Library. “One thing in educa
tional research that is solid is that retention doesn’t work.”
Cook also said that the process of changing the system won’t
be easy, but is possible. “Reforming public education is complex.
If there was a simple answer, we would have found it already.”
The City Editor can be reached
at citydesk@unc.edu.
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DTH/EMILY NETZEL
Dr. Robert Brooks speaks at Duke University on Monday about the
importance of faith-based health care for aging Americans.
■
He always gets picked on. He's scrawny, he's little. People think he's dumb.
Student Neil O'Grady, on the alleged Santana High School shooter
vices no later than April, said IDC
founder William Hashemi.
Hashemi said the organization, which
consists of about 15 members, has
received official recognition from the
University, requested office space in the
new Student Union and set up three
March training sessions for its counselors.
So far, the interaction between the
IDC and the student attorney general has
vy* m M Bk.
AP PHOTO/NICK UT
Cora Reeder, left, her father Joe Lynch, and her sister Tiffany Lynch, right, console each other near Santana High School in Santee,
Calif., after a student allegedly shot 15 people on the campus Monday, killing two. SWAT team members, below, search the grounds.
2 Dead ; 13 Injured
In School Shooting
The Associated Press
SANTEE, Calif. - A 15-year-old boy
who had been picked on and had talked
about shooting classmates allegedly
opened fire in a high school bathroom
Monday, killing two people and wound
ing 13 in the nation’s deadliest school
attack since Columbine.
One student said the boy had a smile
on his face as he fired away with a pistol
at Santana High School in this middle
class San Diego suburb.
The boy, a freshman whose name
was not released, surrendered in the
bathroom, dropped his gun and said he
acted alone, telling officers, “It’s just
me,” according to sheriffs officials.
They said he will be charged as an
Sweetie
A four-part series on the lives of
touring musicians begins with a
profile of Matthew Sweet. See Page 3
Serving the students and the University community since 1893
been limited. Former Student Attorney
General Taylor Lea said the IDC has not
tried to establish any kind of relationship
with the student attorney general.
Hashemi said he has gone to the attorney
general only to request training materials.
Hashemi said IDC will use the same
training materials as the student attorney
general’s office and that Dean of Students
Melissa Exum, Associate Dean of Student
adult with murder, assault with a deadly
weapon and gun possession.
Both of the dead were students,
Sheriff William Kolender said.
“I know in your minds is the overrid
ing question: ‘Why?’” District Attorney
Paul Pfingst said. “The suspect has made
statements. I will not share the contents
of the statements with you at this time,
but there is no real answer. I am not sure
in any real way we will ever know why.”
Investigators said the boy used a .22-
caliber revolver, stopping once to
reload, and retreated after the shooting
into the bathroom.
The attack was the nation’s deadliest
school shooting since the April 1999
See SHOOTING, Page 2
Duke Hosts Talks About Faith-Based Aid
By Michael Davis
Staff Writer
DURHAM - Health care profession
als met Monday at Duke University’s
West Union to discuss ways that
President Bush’s controversial faith
based initiative could be put into action.
“Faith in the Future: Religion, Aging
and Healthcare in the 21st Century” was
held Sunday and Monday. Health issues
explored included those concerning the
elderly in America.
Bush’s faith-based initiative would
provide funds to religious groups to sub
sidize their charitable endeavors, includ
ing health care. Critics have claimed
Affairs \yinston Crisp and Committee on
Student Conduct Chairman Bob Adler
will aid in IDC’s training. “I’ve taken it as
my responsibility to make sure we have
the support of the necessary administra
tion to get us off the ground and make
sure IDC members are competent.”
Hashemi decided to form the IDC after
speaking to students convicted in the con
troversial Computer Science 120 cases, in
.. • ■ ■
that this violates the principle of sepa
rating church and state.
Participants discussed partnerships
between health care organizations and
churches to meet the medical needs of
the growing elderly community while
not breaching the church-state doctrine.
Florida Secretary of Health Robert
Brooks cited his state’s Shepard’s Hope
program, where clinics were formed by
professionals and volunteers determined
to provide free health care for the poor,
as a successful example of the type of
program needed.
“Asa nation we are going to have to
build on these early successes to meet
these needs (of the elderly population),”
<<2*>
which 24 students were accused of cheat
ing. Many of those convicted were later
exonerated by an appellate board. The
students’ complaints about their defense
counsels convinced Hashemi that an inde
pendent organization was necessary.
Members of the student attorney gen
eral’s office currendy can both investi-
See IDC, Page 2
AP PHOTO/DENIS POROY
he said.
Brooks said officials plan to encour
age these partnerships by holding semi
nars and conferences across the nation
to educate the interested parties about
the process of becoming involved with
faith-based programs.
Brooks responded to the criticisms
from civil libertarians by saying that
contracts forbidding the mixing of
health car e and church money will keep
the two separate.
He also said the country will have to
reconsider the barriers between church
and state.
Brooks added that faith-based orga
nizations will be increasingly important
Brrrrrr!
Today: Windy, 34
Wednesday: Rain, 46
Thursday: Cloudy, 53
Tuesday, March 6, 2001
UNC Hiring
Undergoes
Close Study
The arrest of former UNC
employee Dwayne Russell
Edwards prompted a review
of hiring policies and safety.
By Eric Meehan
Staff Writer
Tar Heel Temps is considering revamp
ing its hiring policy to increase security at
the University after the January arrest of
former UNC employee Dwayne Russell
Edwards for a variety of charges.
Edwards was placed in three different
University facilities from August until
the time of his arrest through Tar Heel
Temps. He was charged with seven
felonies by Chapel Hill police in con
nection with the rape of a UNC student
in January and
also was charged
with 33 felonies by
Carrboro police in
rplation to one
rape and one sex
ual assault late last
December.
Representatives
from Tar Heel
Temps, a division
of the Human
Resources
Department that
provides tempo
rary employees
for the University,
say background
&
Public Safety Director
Derek Poarch
said the committee
will review the
process for workers'
background checks.
checks are only run on employees who
are being hired for a position of trust.
Positions of trust are occupations, such
as housekeeping, in which the employee
has access to others’ personal property.
But a committee recently has been
formed to discuss the possibility of
chapging Tar Heel Temps’ hiring policy.
Although Edwards worked at
Student Health Service where he had
access to personal information of stu
dent callers, his position was not classi
fied as one of trust and his criminal past
was not discovered until after his arrest.
Prior to his arrest, Edwards had
served more than five months in jail in
1997 and 1998 in Illinois for burglary
and forgery. He also was arrested in
Cumberland County for breaking and
entering and felony larceny last year.
Drake Maynard, senior director of
human resources, said he felt his depart
ment was reacting in a proper manner
in regards to the hiring policy after
Edwards’ actions. “We’d like to think
we’re being responsible,” he said. “I
think the natural response is to say, ‘ls
what we have in place adequate?’”
Joe Hewitt, director of library academ
ic affairs, said he would like to see changes
made to the Tar Heel Temps’ hiring poli
cy. University libraries are often staffed by
Tar Heel Temps, and Hewitt discussed the
possibility of looking elsewhere for
employees if no changes are made. “(If
See POLICY, Page 2
in the future as the elderly population
continues to grow.
Harold Koenig, director of the Center
for the Study of Religion/ Spirituality
and Health at the Duke University
Medical Center, said that with 50 per
cent of church populations over the age
of 60, the elderly cannot be neglected.
“Most churches want to bring young
people into church, as opposed to meet
ing the needs of older adults,” he said.
Koenig added that faith-based pro
grams would try to educate younger
people in taking care of the elderly.
Koenig explained that federal money
See FAITH, Page 2