4
MONDAY, APRIL 14, 2003
Conference unites
diversity, gender
Looks at current issues , politics
BY ALEX GRANADOS
STAFF WRITER
People of every age, shape and
gender identity came together this
weekend to discuss issues of diver
sity at the first-ever Unity
Conference.
IVevor Hoppe, director of the
Unity Conference and co-chair
man of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual,
Transgendered-Straight Alliance,
said there were about 40 presen
ters and 110 registered attendees at
the conference, held on campus.
Hoppe said he got the idea to
hold the Unity Conference after
attending the Creating Change
Conference in Portland, Ore., and
hopes to make it an annual event.
The conference kicked off
Friday with a speech from Debra
Davis, executive director of the
Gender Education Center.
Davis, a transgender person,
talked about diversity and gender
and the uncertainty of their mean
ings. She said blacks once were
considered the group that faced
the most discrimination, then gay
people. But now, she said trans
gender people are most in need of
recognition.
Davis w r as a librarian in a high
school in Minneapolis, Minn.,
when she made the move from liv
ing her life as a man at work and a
woman during her free time to liv
ing as only a woman five years ago.
“The school district was very
accepting. They had no idea,” she
said.
Freshman Michael Jerch said he
thought Davis' speech was inter
esting and informative. “I didn’t
really get one thing from it because
the point was that gender and sex
uality are part of one great, big
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nebulous cloud of roles,” he said.
Mandy Carter, development
coordinator of Southerners on
New Ground who spoke about
multiracial, multi-issue mobiliz
ing, said there is a need for LGBTQ
members to pursue issues relevant
to people outside their community.
“We should promote work that is
about equality for all,” Carter said.
“Are we about justice or just us?”
Graduate student Stephen
Whitlow said he didn’t know quite
what to expect from the conference
but was interested in seeing what
issues are important in the mod
ern-day world.
“I don’t have that many expecta
tions,” he said before attending his
first event. “I’m just trying to see
what is out there, what some of the
current issues that people are talk
ing about are.”
The keynote speaker Saturday
night, Urvashi Vaid, a board mem
ber of the American Civil Liberties
Union, talked about some of the
problems the LGBT movement
faces, including the new hurdles
that must be overcome in a nation
that is engaged in a war. “I believe
that the GLBT movement is a coali
tion and not a monolith,” she said.
In addition to the speeches,
there were workshops held
Saturday and Sunday, covering a
variety of topics such as war as a
queer issue and LGBT politics in
North Carolina.
Hoppe said that overall, he
thought the conference was a suc
cess.“lt was amazing,” he said. “I
got positive feedback from every
one."
Contact the University Editor
at udesk@unc.edu.
News
Achievement gap addressed
BY SARAH CORICA
STAFF WRITER
Minority students say they feel
discouraged by the system intend
ed to help them.
The need for more encourage
ment in school was emphasized at
the youth forum hosted by Youth
Creating Change on Saturday that
aimed to find possible solutions to
the achievement gap in local
schools.
The forum brought together a
small group of parents, town and
school officials to hear the chal
lenges students face.
The handful of middle and high
school students also offered possi
ble solutions that would help them
overcome obstacles and bridge the
achievement gap.
John French, a former teacher at
Estes Hills Elementary School and
Smith Middle School, said teachers
want students to achieve and stu
dents want to achieve, but the
problem is poor communication. “I
saw kids who were taking their
education for granted, and the sys
tem just rolled over them,” he said.
“I know there are teachers in the
system that stereotype. Black kids
think they don’t have a support
system,” he added.
Joal Broun, a member of the
Schools want outside expert for study
BY MARY McGUIRT
STAFF WRITER
The Orange County Board of
Commissioners recently asked the
local school boards to help it com
plete a study on the implications of
merging the two local school sys
tems by August.
But as August is quickly
approaching, city school officials
have expressed concerns over their
involvement in the study.
“We need to be involved in some
way but have limited time and
resources to devote to it,” said Neil
Pedersen, superintendent of
Chapel Hill Carrboro-City Schools.
The CHCCS board plans to
express these concerns at a semi
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Carrboro Board of Aldermen,
echoed French's statements.
“Starting in the third grade, there is
an assessment that black students
don’t achieve as well,” Broun said.
David Thompson, a junior at
Alamance Christian School, attend
ed Orange High School for his first
two years but found that the envi
ronment was not encouraging him
to be successful. “The system, to tell
you the truth, is not built to help us
it’s an obstacle,” he said.
He saw 30 people not all
minorities drop out his sopho
more year at Orange High School.
“People just disappear like that,” he
said. “They feel like the setting at
Orange High wasn’t for them and
just ended up dropping out.”
Kevin Cruz, a junior at Phoenix
Academy, faced similar problems
during the time he attended East
Chapel Hill High School. “They
want kids who go to the universi
ties, but not all kids are made to go
to universities,” Cruz said. “But I do
know I want to be successful.”
Thompson said he thinks it
would be helpful if students and
parents had a better understanding
of how the school system works. “If
you know about the system you’re
not as intimidated by it,” he said.
Latoshia Currie, a sophomore at
annual meeting between county
commissioners and both local
school boards tonight.
At a meeting Thursday, the
board discussed how it would pres
ent its concerns to the commis
sioners. Members agreed that they
should remain a part of the study
but said they would prefer for an
outside, impartial consultant to
perform the majority of it.
Commissioner Moses Carey
made a proposal in January to
merge city and county schools.
Although this proposal was met
with dissent from board members,
commissioners decided to further
study its implications.
They prepared a list of tasks
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The need for more encouragement for minorities in schools was
emphasized at the youth forum hosted by Youth Creating Change.
East Chapel Hill, expressed a need
for more teacher involvement.
“There are only a couple of people
you can go to for anything,” she said.
Currie said she thinks some
teachers care about their student
more than others. Some teachers
hold study groups after school and
during lunch, while “some put us
all in one category and that’s it,”
they hope will be accomplished in
the study that includes reviewing
the financial impacts, developing a
timetable, reviewing funding
opportunities and examining
potential changes.
After reviewing the list,
Pedersen said the board thought
these tasks would require compli
cated research and analysis that
could be best performed by an
expert outside of the district.
Libbie Hough, a member of the
Orange County Board of
Education, said she recognizes the
need for clarification from com
missioners on the issue of merger
but also said a merger study is
needed.
Hough said it has been 20 years
since a merger had been studied in
the area and added that the com
munity has experienced a lot of
growth and change since then.
While no decisions will be made
today, the meeting will allow the
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she said.
Discussion leader Sharron Reid
summed up the problem expressed
by the students at the forum.
“Unfortunately we’ve gotten away
from the time when a teacher will
come in early and stay late.”
Contact the City Editor
at citydesk@unc.edu.
commissioners and board mem
bers from each district to see
where each group stands on the
issue.
“It’s really an information
exchange as much as anything
else,” said Alice Gordon, vice chair
woman of the Orange County
Board of Commissioners.
“My understanding is that
(board members) are asking about
resources and what they’re expect
ed to do," she said.
Pedersen said that while deci
sions about the the study ultimate
ly are up to the commissioners, he
hopes they will consider the
boards concerns. “Hopefully they
will be receptive to some feedback
and we can come out of this with
an approach that will yield a high
quality study that will not overtax
any of the staff members.”
Contact the City Editor
at citydesk@unc.edu.