A. Jarrod Jenkins puts it on the line…

It was minorities, not the violence, that was scary – Letters to the Editor

Excerpt:

“I am sick and tired of UNC students shopping in the supermarket of blackness; selectively taking what they want and leaving everything else on the shelves.

It is not uncommon to walk by W.B. Yeats and hear the newest hip-hop songs blaring in the background. However, when someone takes the music outside of the bar it becomes a problem…

Before considering Apple Chill a “gridlocked ghetto,” let us not forget UNC’s history as a zoo, according to Jesse Helms.

Since being here, I have witnessed people jumping over bonfires after a major victory, vomiting on the P2P and streaking during finals. So, like the Bible says, before telling our neighboring urban residents to remove the plank from their eye, trying removing your own first.”

A. Jarrod Jenkins puts it all on the line, in the above letter to the editor in today’s Daily Tar Heel, referencing Apple Chill and the commentary surrounding the events that took place, and it’s cancelling.

There has been many comments about Apple Chill, several of which have racist undertones. However, Mr. Jenkins has seen fit to let the cat out of the bag and say what he feels (and what I and a lot of others feel) is the truth. And I love it, and I love him for it.

I can’t wait to see what happens next…

Racist Dress Codes? No!

I was so excited to see this article in today’s Red and Black. Essentially, this article discusses something that most college students know exist: racist dress codes at local establishments. It was a problem with the downtown establishments in Chapel Hill, and I was sure that it would be a problem here in Athens. However, I didn’t expect people to write about it.

An excerpt from the article:

“Imagine this: Frat guys being turned away from a bar that has a dress code prohibiting bright pink polo shirts, Croakies and loafers.

Not in Athens, you say? But, it is happening — just the other way around. Downtown bars are using dress codes to discourage blacks from entering, leading me to ask — is
the downtown social scene thwarting the administration’s attempts to recruit more minority, particularly black, students to the University?

There is only hushed talk about bars’ attempts to reject black business, but the bars’ policies scream this prejudice.

The Classic City Saloon on Clayton Street hangs a “dress code” sign outside its doors, prohibiting “hats worn any other way than forward, t-shirts, sweat-material (including track and sweat suits), chains and doo rags.”…”

Apparently people disagree with what the author, Andrea Aseff, is saying. Just check out the list of comments at the bottom. What do y’all think? Is it racist or not? Do you think it’s causing issues with the recruitment of black students to UGA? Leave some comments…

Help OHS, please

From August 1997 until June 1999, I attended Orange High School in Hillsborough, North Carolina. In 1999, I, along with a few other people that I knew, transferred to the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics to complete our high school career. While I missed living at home, and hanging out with my friends that I had known for years, I never doubted if I made the right decision. NCSSM offered more academic resources, as well as an environment that, to me, was more conducive to learning.

Today, while reading the Durham Herald-Sun, I read this article about parents of OHS students saying that the facility is being neglected. Now, it wasn’t in great shape when I was there- there were overcrowding issues as they fit almost 1500-1700 students in a building built to accomodate 900 students. Additionally, the school is now 40+ years old, and that brings its own set of issues.

A few years ago, Cedar Ridge High School was opened in Hillsborough, and I’m sure that the new facility has alleviated some of the issues with overcrowding. However, having one high school in your school system that is new and “state-of-the-art”doesn’t give way to neglecting another school.

What message are we sending to our students when we send them to schools with ceilings that leak when it rains, lights that don’t work, and eroded countertops in their chem labs? Are we honestly saying that we feel that their education is important? Are we honestly saying that we feel that they deserve the best that life has to offer?

Who’s in Your Front Row?

Everyone Can’t Be in Your Front Row….

Life is a theatre – invite your audience carefully. Not everyone is holy enough and healthy enough to have a front row seat in our lives.

There are some people in your life that need to be loved from a distance. It’s amazing what you can accomplish when you let go, or at least minimize your time with draining, negative, incompatible, not-going-anywhere relationships, friendships, fellowships!

Observe the relationships around you. Pay attention to:

Which ones lift and which ones lean?
Which ones encourage and which ones discourage?
Which ones are on a path of growth up hill and which ones are going down hill?
When you leave certain people, do you feel better or feel worse?
Which ones always have drama or don’t really understand, know and appreciate you and the gift that lies within you?

The more you seek God and the things of God – the more You seek quality, the more you seek not just the hand of God, but the face of God, the more you seek things honorable — the more you seek growth, peace of mind, love and truth around you, the easier it will become for you to decide who gets to sit in the FRONT ROW and who should be moved to the balcony of your life.

You cannot change the people around you…but you can change the people you are around! Ask God for wisdom and discernment and choose wisely the people who sit in the front row of your life.

Maybe I’m Biased, But…

It’s no secret that I love UNC-Chapel Hill. Perhaps it’s because I’m a Chapel-Hill local, or maybe it’s because it’s my alma mater. It could be because of Michael Jordan, Raymond Felton, Mia Hamm, and Marion Jones. Whatever it is, there’s something special about it, and I love it.

Not to say that UNC doesn’t have its own set of issues. Construction on campus for the duration of my time there often made me yearn to see the place that they sold to me in the nicely printed brochures and admission packets I received. Sometimes I felt that the supposedly liberal zoo that I was at was swarming with institutional biases- racism, sexism, classism, etc. And I really begin to cringe when I think of the campaign season at UNC. Don’t get me wrong. I think that it’s great that students truly desire to make a change on their campus and to leave it better than they found it. It just gets to be so ugly, so personal, and so…just…ugh.

So, imagine my surprise when I discovered this article on CNN.com about Student Elections at Yale University. Now I know that in every presidential election since 1972 there has been an alumnus of this institution. But I have yet to understand why collegiate campaign violations at Yale constitute national news. I mean, maybe UNC hasn’t had someone in that political sphere like Yale, but we did have the 11th President of the United States James K. Polk (UNC Class of 1818) and Erskine Bowles, former Chief of Staff for President Clinton, and current President of the University of North Carolina System.

But, I digress. I suppose I’m just perplexed as to what makes student body/student government campaign violations at Yale more newsworthy than comparable violations at other institutions. Are they implying that, with the tradition of Yale alumni running for national office, that this is what we can expect for the future?

You tell me what you think. I’ll maintain that Carolina’s student body/student government races are a lot more intense than Yale. And we can still beat them at basketball.

I don’t think it could be said better…

In a brief conversation, a man asked a woman he was pursuing the question “What kind of man are you looking for?” She sat quietly for a moment before looking him in the eye and asking “Do you really want to know?” Reluctantly, he said, “Yes.” She began to expound…

As a woman in this day and age, I am in a position to ask a man what he can do for me that I can’t do for myself. I pay my own bills. I take care of my household without the help of any man…or woman for that matter. I am in the position to ask, “What can you bring to the table?”

The man looked at her. Clearly he thought that she was referring to money. She quickly corrected his thought and stated, “I am not referring to money. I need something more. ”

“I need a man who is striving for perfection in every aspect of life.” He sat back in his chair, folded his arms, and asked her to explain.

She said, “I am looking for someone who is striving for perfection mentally because I need conversation and mental stimulation. I don’t need a simple-minded man.”

I am looking for someone who is striving for perfection spiritually because I don’t need to be unequally yoked… believers mixed with unbelievers is a recipe for disaster.

I need a man who is striving for perfection financially because I don’t need a financial burden. I am looking for someone who is sensitive enough to understand what I go through as a woman, but strong enough to keep me grounded.

I am looking for someone who I can respect. In order to be submissive, I must respect him. I cannot be submissive to a man who isn’t taking care of his business. I have no problem being submissive…he just has to be worthy. God made woman to be a helpmate for man. I can’t help a man if he can’t help himself.

When she finished her spill, she looked at him. He sat there with a puzzled look on his face. And said, “You’re asking a lot.” She replied, “I’m worth a lot.”

Improvements for Black Athletes

I was excited to check MSNBC.com today and find this article that states that the black athlete graduation rate is up 24 points over 20 years (from 1984-2004) for all NCAA Division I Sports. At a time when black athletes are generally praised for their work on the field moreso than their work in the classroom, it’s good to see that the performance gap between blacks and whites is narrowing.

What I also found to be interesting was the statement in the article that black athletes tend to graduate at higher rates than black students in general. While we all know “those athletes” at our school who are more focused on their sport than their academics, it’s good to see that overall, athletes are contributing to the academic and athletic climates of universities.

Anyone who knows me, knows that I feel that we should encourage athletes to be academically successful also. There’s a book written by Dr. Billy Hawkins, a professor at UGA, entitled “The New Plantation: The Internal Colonization of Black Student-Athletes” that discusses the colonizer/colonized relationship between sport coaches/administrators and black student-athletes. It’s an interesting read, and Hawkins implies that the trend with predominantly white institutions is to give the black student-athletes superficial academic assistance with the goals of only keeping them eligible to play their respective sport; as opposed to academically preparing them for a life outside of the world of collegiate athletes.

At any rate, it’s good to hear some positive news about black student-athletes, and hopefully those graduation rates will continue to rise. There’s always room for improvement- it’s the biggest room in the house.

King Files- Released from Shelby County, TN

For those who were unaware, yesterday, April 4, 2006 marked 38 years since the assassination of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. While reading this article on msnbc.com I learned that in honor of Dr. King, the Shelby County, TN Register’s Office launched a website that allows viewers to see most of the public records surrounding the assassination of King.

The website allows you to look at crime scene photos, listen to different audio files, view court records, and many other things surrounding the King Assassination.

I encourage you all to check it out…

Jesus Loves the Porn Stars- but not enough for them to have their own bible…

I saw this article this morning on msnbc.com. Apparently the American Bible Society has refused to print a special New Testament with a porn star cover that says, “Jesus Loves Porn Stars” because the words are “misleading and inappropriate for a New Testament”.

For some reason, this is funny to me. What do y’all think?

Complete- Student Teaching

…I can think of a thousand reasons why I should quit. They make it hard on purpose… there are lives in our hands. There comes a moment when it’s more than just a game, and you either take that step forward or turn around and walk away. I could quit but here’s the thing, I love the playing field.” ~Grey’s Anatomy

It is with that thought that I completed my student-teaching last Thursday. For 11 weeks, I drove 50 miles a day to Winder-Barrow High School and did my student-teaching as part of the requirements for my teaching certification and my master’s degree.

I’ve taught before. During the summer of 2003, I worked with the Sunflower County Freedom Project in Sunflower, MS and I taught print journalism to rising 8th graders. However, as challenging as that was, I still wasn’t what I would consider to be adequately prepared for my experience at Winder-Barrow.

First of all, I taught economics. The only time I’ve ever taken an economics course was in the spring semester of my senior year of high school at The North Carolina School for Science and Mathematics. The class was challenging- and I did okay, but it was really more about the teacher and hanging out with my friends (who also all took the class). Fast forward to now- I wasn’t confident that I knew enough about economics for MYSELF…much less to be able to teach students, all of whom have to take an EOCT (end of course test) at the end of the year. You can imagine my apprehension.

Despite my apprehension, the 11 weeks went very well. There were definitely challenges, and that is to be expected when you deal with 10th-12th graders. However, there were some things that happened during the course of the semester that you can’t ever prepare for, despite your teaching education program. I was not prepared to come in one day and learn that one of my students had suddenly been withdrawn from school because he had been sent to jail. I was not prepared to have conversations about alternative possibilities for school and life with one of my pregnant students. I was aware of, but not prepared for students who are tired or sleeping in class because they must work until the wee hours of the morning to support their family.

Teaching students and being in the classroom is what I love. Despite all the frustrations and exhaustion that I felt during the course of the semester, I have never felt more alive or more fulfilled. Interacting with students, helping them set goals, watching them accomplish more than they thought they could- to me, there’s not anything else that I would want to do. What people don’t understand is the hours of preparation for a single lesson, the mental and physical exhaustion that comes with giving so much of yourself, the time spent grading and devoting yourself to extracurricular activities to support your students. Standing in front of a classroom is actually the last thing- it’s the presentation that comes after tons of preparation.

This semester has been one of the most challenging that I’ve ever had. I thought about quitting. I considered a change of career and academic programs. But I love what I do. Teaching is what I was made for, and despite all of the obstacles, I have been blessed to have an opportunity to practice and sharpen my craft. I hope that all of you are blessed to find what you are made to do- and to then have the opportunity to do it.

“True success does not consist in doing what we set forth to do, nor what we had hoped to do, not even in doing what we have struggled to do. True success consists in doing something that is worth doing.” ~Lawrence Lowell

“…But I dare pray for you that you will discover something in life that is worth doing, not simply something that you’re good at or something from which you make a large profit. That would be nice, too. But I pray that each of you will find something that is worth doing, a true and genuine vocation, which is – as Fred Buechner describes it – where your great joy meets the world’s great need. Oh, I pray for each of you that you will find such a meaning in your lives.” ~Dr. Peter Gomes, 2005 UNC Commencement Address