4
Tuesday, August 27, 2002
Sciences INSPIRE Student Initiative
Sophomore to place
students in schools
By Joelle Ruben
Staff Writer
When Rohit Prakash began contem
plating a program to supplement the sci
ence curriculum at nearby schools last
April, he didn’t anticipate much interest.
“I was expecting maybe 15, 20 e
mails from hopeful volunteers," he said.
But Prakash, now a sophomore, said he
has received more than 500 e-mail
responses to join INSPIRE, his initiative
to improve science education by pairing
UNC students with area teachers.
In an e-mail sent to recmit volunteers,
Prakash wrote that participants will enter
the classroom weekly to “teach a science
mini-lesson, help with field trips or assist
the teacher in teaching science to kids."
The name INSPIRE is not an
acronym but a reminder of the pro
gram’s mission to “inspire students to
want to do science,” he said.
Prakash said the program, which
Carolina union activities board Work with a great group of
a student programming organization Students to make good ideas
■ m ■ happen. This year's committees are
■ II I Underground Arts, Film, Creative
I II lA WIL p Outlet, Permanent Art Collection,
% Social, Advertising, Arts Festival,
m W Mayhem in the Pit, Gallery,
(t Wondering Wanderers, Heelarious
&& HOT andcn FIRE ft) Forum '
{mr , O Music, and Public Relations.
Meet us at the
Tuesday, August 27, 7:3opm
Room 3514 E, Carolina Union
campus recreation update
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If you are unable to attend
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includes elementary and high school
classrooms, is designed to actively engage
local students in a specific subject matter.
“Most students are learning facts from
books, but they’re not really seeing any
thing," he said. “You can’t have a passion
for something if you can’t see it.”
He emphasized that INSPIRE is dif
ferent from other volunteer organizations
because it allows participants to take ini
tiative, whether conducting an experi
ment or planning a lesson for 25 students.
Jennifer Allred, a pre-kindergarten
teacher at Carrboro Elementary School,
hopes to use an INSPIRE volunteer to
nfn her classroom’s weekly science center.
She said college-aged students can devise
basic experiments and explain things sim
ply enough for the youngest students.
“My students are 4 and 5 years old,
but it’s important for them to learn
about basic processes and the environ
ment to gain awareness,” she said.
Although she has hosted student
teachers and APPLES students during
previous years, she has never had a vol
unteer who focused solely on science.
“We have a great science program at
Carrboro Elementary,” she said. “This
www.unc.edu/depts/camprec
University
program will take that to another level.”
University students participating in
INSPIRE will receive one hour of
course credit, but Prakash said he
expects volunteers to spend two to three
hours per week in the classroom.
Students will receive their assignments
Thursday and then will set their own
schedules. Participation will be verified
through teacher evaluations, sign-in sheets
and volunteer journal entries, he said.
Undergraduate and graduate students
from all majors filled the 50 “course”
spots on a first-come, first-served basis.
Prakash said the course credit is
important during INSPIRE’s first year
because it will encourage volunteers to
meet all program requirements.
Still, he hopes to run the program on
a stricdy volunteer basis in the future. He
added that students reacted favorably to
this potential change when he men
tioned it at a recent interest meeting.
“That says something about our student
body and the idea of community service
here as a whole,” he said. “I’m amazed.”
The University Editor can be reached
at udesk@unc.edu.
Construction Limits Space
For Theater Productions
By Brook Corwin
Staff Writer
Campus construction has sent some
student theater groups in search of per
formance sites for the upcoming semes
ter, with several popular venues unavail
able because of renovations.
As the Student Union prepares to begin
Phases II and 111 of its three-phase reno
vation project, its underground Cabaret is
closed for use. The Union’s Great Hall is
scheduled to close next semester.
Ryan Donahoe, director of events
planning for the Union, said the closing
of the two sites has put a strain on student
theater groups, which often have used
both venues to stage their performances.
“(Theater groups) are scrambling to
find performance venues,” Donahoe
said. “There’s not much space right now
because all the renovations fell at the
same time.”
Construction on the Union is sched
uled to resume this winter, and the final
two phases of the project are expected to
Lack of Space to Hurt Shows, Budgets
Groups anticipate
smaller audiences
By Harmony Johnson
Senior Writer
Student-run theater companies will
be scaling down their productions and
bracing for tighter budgets this year as
campus construction projects shrink
available stage space.
Theatergoers can expect to see small
er casts, simpler scenery and possibly
higher ticket prices as UNC acting
groups vie for performance sites.
Pauper Players and Company
Carolina are both dealing with the tem
porary loss of the Cabaret, now off-lim
its as the Student Union prepares for fur
ther renovations, scheduled for comple
tion in late 2003.
Leigh Conaway, a producer for
Company Carolina, said the group used
to rely on the Cabaret when its usual
venue, Swain Hall* .was booked.
take 10 months to finish.
Donahoe said his department has pro
vided student theater groups with lists of
alternative venues such as Gerrard Hall
and the Union Auditorium, which will
not close for renovations.
But Leigh Conaway, producer for the
student theater group Company Carolina,
said weekend dates for those venues and
the Great Hall already have been booked
for this semester. Conaway said her group
is now looking at scheduling fall perfor
mances in large classroom spaces, which
she said would limit the types of shows
the company could perform.
Student theater producers said the
closing of Memorial Hall for renovation
has worsened the space crunch, forcing
big-name acts to be scheduled in the sec
ondary venues normally open for the
ater groups.
“It’s sort of like a domino effect,” said
Carolyn Shook, producer for Lab!
Theatre. “All the groups are being indi
rectly or direcdy affected by each of the
closings.”
Departmental issues in Swain, which
arose last spring, compounded the loss
of the Union space. The company was
left with only one guaranteed perfor
mance in Swain Hall this year.
The group has few options. Venues
such as the Great Hall, Gerrard Hall and
the Union Auditorium have already
been claimed by events that would nor
mally book Memorial Hall. Company
Carolina found venues for most of its
planned spring shows, but sites for its
fall performances are still up in the air.
The group might have to compro
mise on show dates, moving them later
in the semester and reducing the num
ber and size of shows.
While smaller shows need less
money than more elaborate produc
tions, they’ll likely draw smaller audi
ences as well.
The group also will perform fewer
musicals than usual because musicals
require twice as many actors as plays,
she said. “We usually do a big musical in
the fall and that’s just not going to hap
pen,” Conaway said.
(The Saily (Tar Ibri
Donahoe said some theater groups are
looking into the possibility of scheduling
performances in the Union Auditorium
or Playmakers Theatre on weekdays
instead of Friday and Saturday nights.
One group that did have success
reserving Gerrard Hall this semester is
the Pauper Players, which moved its
annual Winter Revue from the Cabaret
to Gerrard this coming February.
But Jean Kerley, an administrator with
Pauper Players, said the venues’ crowded
schedules will force the group to cut back
on the number of shows or rehearsal time.
Kerley also said that with not enough
performance room to go around, even
groups that are able to schedule perfor
mance dates are feeling the negative
effects of the space crunch.
“The groups on campus shouldn’t
have to compete to foster the growth of
the UNC arts community,” she said. “It
feels like we have to beat each other out.”
The Arts & Entertainment Editor can
be reached at artsdesk@unc.edu.
For the Pauper Players, the biggest
hardship has been the loss of its storage
space, said Adam Kuykendai, head
administrator for the group. The group
had housed costumes and props in the
basement of Cobb Residence Hall for
the last 10 years. Building renovations
forced them out in May.
“We had to throw away years of sets
and costumes,” he said. “That was real
ly sad to see go.”
Salvaged items went to Company
Carolina or were dispersed among the
group’s members for storage in apart
ments, closets and car trunks, he said.
The group will depend more on cast
members for costumes and use fewer
props to maintain its operations. The
group’s tightened budget might even
result in higher ticket prices for students
and faculty, Kuykendai said.
“It’s not something we want to do
now,” he said. “It’s possible that we’ll
have to consider that.”
The Arts & Entertainment Editor can
be reached at artsdesk@unc.edu.