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 UNC CHAPEL HILL ECONOMICS CLUB, THE CATO INSTITUTE, AND THE INSTITUTE FOR HUMANE STUDIES PRESENT: The Benefits and Challenges of Globalization A TALK by Dr. Thomas G. Palmer ID Phil.. Oxford University! SENIOR FELLOW AT THE CATO INSTITUTE, fcjSAlliLUj WASHINGTON, DC; AND DIRECTOR OF THE CATO UNIVERSITY H. B. Earhart Fellow, Hertford College, Oxford University. He received his B.A. in liberal arts from St. Johns College in Annapolis, Maryland, his M.A. in philosophy from The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC, and his D. Phil, in politics from Oxford University. kf Less than 5 minutes kjV from campus! ® CCUfM 968-3377 lomutf 'lnc. open7da,,, " 6k Buy 5 for 525 [~ Sunless Airbrush ! and get 2 free I I Tanning $5 Off tSdifM j r^ e 7 ed days|l Sdipj\ 139 Rams Plaza Shopping Center | Lexmark Built for Success LEXMARK Z 65 I LEXMARK XSISO Color letprr'ter Key Features Key Features jfHf ■ True 4800 dpi High Performance m • Fast! Up to 21 ppm black, • Up to 4800 dpi ” ii | 15 ppm color photo quality printing 'I--?', . --v'-jl’.fr. • Protessional quality prints • 48 bit flatbed color scanning /Li n , . easily handles books, / • Dual paper trays ’ . """■■*MMMftNiMMiNBM. / ** reports and more / • Automatic media _. . .... .„„ —***&*■*(■ ’ \ • Prints Fast! 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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 MON • $1.50 Domestic Microbrews TUE/WED - 2 for 1 Pizza & Appetizers from lOpm-lam THU - $2.50 Imports on Tap J . Hirtw'xY brings people together. Chapel Hill's best brick oven pizza with 24 beers on tap and late night dining. 919.929.1942 • brixxpizza.com Located at 501 Meadowmont Village Circle off NC HWY 54 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 Bf m 4 B , n w H f Y\ 19H - mu DTH/LAURA MORTON 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 ® Monday All you can eat spaghetti! $4.95 includes salad, bread & tea 157'/z East Franklin Street • open 11 am—9pm OJlip SoUg (Tar HM 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.

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