December 2013

S U P M A C ER DECEMB

st r i F y t e f a S •

the cost? h t r o w e colleg pus • Is m a c n o Big guns

e ’t go hom n a c u o y When

2013

CONTENTS FROM THE EDITOR

Dear Readers, To be a college student is to be in a constant state of uncertainty. What classes should I take? What will I do when I graduate? How will I pay for all of this? Where can I keep my gun during class?

OK, I’ve never asked myself the last one, but the passage of House Resolution 937 means that gun-toting North Carolina college students now have an answer (page 11) — which is making some people in the community more certain of their security, and some less. Students are also uncertain about how to be activists in this political climate (8), whether or not to participate in Teach for America (13), and student loans (16).

It would be great to think the unrelenting uncertainty will end when we’re handed our diplomas, but adult life isn’t always clear, either -and, if you live in an area that’s being fracked, the same thing applies to your drinking water (24).

We hope that this issue of Campus BluePrint will give you at least some clarity on complex issues, ranging from domestic violence to your wacky Southern family (just in time for the holidays!).

Happy reading!

Grace Tatter Editor-in-Chief

2 DECEMBER 2013

BIG GUNS ON CAMPUS

11

IS COLLEGE WORTH THE COST?

16

WHEN YOU CAN’T GO HOME AGAIN

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From the Blogs A New Point to Point of View A Call for the Arts Anti-Apartheid, Activism, Apathy Big Guns on Campus Don’t Teach for America?

Is College Worth the Cost?

3 5 6 8 11 13 16

Lookaway, Dixieland 18 School Resource Officers 20 When You Can’t Go Home Again 22 Let’s Talk about the F-Word 24 The Facebook Newsroom 26 Military Sexual Assualt 28 Rouhani’s Promise 30

STAFF grace tatter editor-in-chief troy homesley executive editor lily clarke, ina kosova, nathan vail managing editors

kyle ann marie sebastian executive editor, campusblueprint.com

gayatri surendranathan managing editor, campusblueprint.com

sophie bergmann creative director carey hanlin, MORGAN BURKE public relations and social media director

hannah nemer photo editor carey hanlin, kyle ann marie sebastian, ina kosova, lily clarke, gayatri surendranathan, nathan vail, cole wilhelmi, joe calder, christopher phomprasetu, norman archer, matt keenan, anita simha, lindsey kellogg, claire peterman, layla quran, kyle villemain, tony liu, wilson sink, thomas gooding, faimA ramiirez-hirschauer, abby lantz staff writers sophie bergmann, christopher phompraseut, natalie curnes, grace tatter, carey hanlin, claire peterman designers tony liu, anisha padma, natalie curnes, ariana lutterman photographers aaron clayton treasurer

On the Cover: “Iris” by Lily Clarke

FROM THE

BLOG

Campus BluePrint publishes blog posts daily. Here are some of the best from the blog since our last print issue. To read the whole posts, visit us at campusblueprint.com.

Matt Keenan, Two Weeks After a Two Week Shutdown , Oct. 30

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Abby Lantz, The Consequence of Feral Personhood Laws, Oct. 29.

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Eventually, the Senate and House of Representatives adopted a bill to raise the debt ceiling, and the government reopened. The deal is only temporary, and Congress has yet to tackle the issues surrounding the Affordable Care Act. Don’t forget about that $24 billion, either! It’s important to remember what a suspended government costs this country. Congressman Pittenger said Washington has a spending problem. Washington doesn’t have a spending problem; Washington has a politics problem.

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The technique of treating substance abuse by pregnant women with arrest and incarceration is alarmingly common. The National Advocates for Pregnant Women (NAPW) released a study this year that 413 pregnant women were arrested or forced into treatment for substance abuse from 1995 to 2005. Nearly twice as many cases were recorded after 2005. ‘Our society will not reduce the prevalence of drug use by pregnant women by placing them in incarcerated situations. Substance use disorders are health problems that need to be treated as such,’ said Dr. Hendree Jones, the Executive Director of Horizons, a substance abuse program for pregnant women at UNC hospitals. Medical professionals agree that threatening women with incarceration or arrest as a treatment for substance abuse negatively impacts the number of women who sign up for prenatal care, and ultimately endangers the health of their babies.

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6 SUPREME COURT CASES YOU NEED TO KNOW With most of the federal government shutdown in October, one branch kept diligently shaping the lives of the American public: The Supreme Court. This fall, the Court will hear cases on a variety of controversial topics, promising yet another influential session. After widely publicized rulings in 2012 on the Affordable Care Act and on DOMA, Prop 8 and the Voting Rights Act in 2013, the Court is poised to address even more hot button issues, from affirmative action to abortion. Here are the six cases that you need to know.

1. SCHUETTE V. COALITION TO DEFEND AFFIRMATIVE ACTION Topic: Affirmative Action Issue: Whether a state amendment to ban race-based preferences in university admissions violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.

Facts: A constitutional amendment in Michigan, Proposal 2, banned all racial preferences, affirmative action, in admissions to the state’s public universities. However, The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the amendment restructured the political process in an unfair way. They argued that a minority student couldn’t petition for racially conscious policies if they are banned in the state. The law created “extraordinary” obstacles for minority groups to gain access to the benefit of federally condoned preferential admissions.

How it affects you: North Carolina, like Michigan, has a large public university system. If the Michigan amendment is upheld, a similar amendment could potentially be proposed here. When California universities stopped affirmative action policies in 1998, “56% fewer blacks and 49% fewer Latinos” were admitted than the previous year. For a UNC system that prides itself on diversity, this case could have serious implications for the makeup of student bodies to come.

2. MCCUTCHEON V. FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION Topic: Campaign Finance Issue: Whether limits on aggregate campaign donations by an individual violates the right to free speech.

Facts: Under current law, individuals are limited in the amount they can donate to candidates and to political parties. Individuals are also limited in the total amount that they can give to all candidates and parties within a two-year period, known as aggregate limits. McCutcheon argues specifically that these aggregate limits violate his right to free speech.

How it affects you: College kids do not have a lot of spare capital to throw at political campaigns.

Generally, the best way to express their political free speech is through activism and, of course, voting.

Campaign finance laws protect the equity of free speech for all, rich businessmen and college kids alike.

If the Court strikes down aggregate donation limits, the money of others might drown out the voice of the college student.

This was originally published in our blog on Nov. 5. To read the four other Supreme Court cases you need to know, visit us at campusblueprint.com 4 DECEMBER 2013

A NEW

POINT TO POINT OF VIEW

C

peers, like neighboring Raleigh and a voluntarily choice too. Of those its Capital Area Transit. Covering a who use CHT, 64% had other vehicles population nearly 10 times the size of available. “The high level of service CHT, the Raleigh system manages just and the attractive fare have stimulated 5.2 million riders annually. Clearly free ridership and support of the transit system,” Litchfield says. “Public transit has its advantages.

According to Dr. Daniel Rodriguez, an has made Chapel Hill truly a sustainable Associate Professor in the Department community in which people do not need of City and Regional Planning at UNC, to rely on the automobile.” Instead, this increased ridership has other workers and students alike share an environmentally benefits too. and socially “[S]ome [S]ome sociologists conscious mode sociologists view public transof transport. view public Despite transportation portation as a great transit’s social as a great equalizer. [It’s] one of stigma, the equalizer. [It’s] the few public spaces alphabet soup one of the few where low, medium of routes that public spaces and medium high confuse every where low, freshman and medium and incomes mix — and that pesky medium high that the mixing is public transit incomes mix important for social fee in student — and that inclusion...In some tuition, Chapel the mixing Hill Transit helps is important ways, bus transit can the community. for social be seen by some as a P u b l i c inclusion…In social service in the transportation is some ways, bus name of equity. more than just transit can be a social service, seen by some it is a system as a social - Daniel Rodriguez, d e s i g n e d service in the associate professor specifically to name of equity.” serve all of Chapel Hill’s ridership demographics back this up. society. Development may take time, While a third of riders had incomes but public transit is worth the wait. below $30,000, an almost equal 27% had an income of more than $50,000.

This socio-economic mixing is partially

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WILSON SINK AND NORMAN ARCHER ollege kids love free. Food, t-shirts, magnets, stickers, pens and more: a college student will take it if it’s free.

Unfortunately, many free trinkets simply end up cluttering an already cluttered and compact dorm room. Luckily, one aspect of the community is useful and free: Chapel Hill Transit (CHT).

It wasn’t always this way, explains Brian Litchfield, the Assistant Transit Director for Chapel Hill.

“As traffic congestion grew in the community, discussions were held regarding options to deal with congestion,” he said. “In response, [we] chose to encourage a fare free transit system.” But even free has its price.

The 2013-2014 budget for CHT is nearly $20 million. Unlike other transportation systems, though, there are no fares to help pay the bill. Instead, the local, state and federal governments pick up the tab, with the help of an approximately $7 million contribution from UNC. “The decision was made to forego the revenues in exchange for the trade off in higher ridership,” Litchfield says.

The gamble paid off. It turns out everyone, not just college kids, loves free.

Since the system was implemented in 2001, annual ridership has more than doubled, increasing from 3 million to 7 million passengers per year.

Litchfield says that makes Chapel Hill “the second largest transit system in North Carolina,” an impressive feat for a community of only 90,000. Servicing only Carrboro, Chapel Hill and the University, CHT stands out from its

DECEMBER 2013

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A CALL FOR THE ARTS UNC’s artistic legacy demonstrates the value of a robust arts scene

BY TONY LIU n a national, local, or individual scale, the arts play an integral role in the health of our communities. Here in North Carolina, the number of artists and art-based organizations is staggering: 586 galleries and museums, around 50,000 artist and crafts persons, more than 3,000 nonprofit arts organizations, 90 local arts councils, and various theatre, dance, and music organizations.

However, the rhetoric toward the arts has become increasingly antagonistic.

With education, focus is placed on what are proclaimed as economically viable majors. A sentiment has risen in which the arts are seen as extraneous, unproductive, and even wasteful.

This is false. The arts play an important role in facilitating higher education, personal health, and even economic growth.

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6 DECEMBER 2013

Putting the ‘Arts’ in Liberal Arts The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has a lengthy history with the performing arts, not just as a means of entertainment, but also as a component of intellectual growth. While various buildings serve the purpose of the arts, none other than Memorial Hall stands as the prominent symbol for the performing arts in Chapel Hill.

The current manifestation of Memorial Hall originally opened 82 years ago, on Oct. 12, 1931. It was presented to John Sprunt Hill, a main figure in the expansion of the University during the 20th century. Since then, it has enriched lives in our community by bringing in artists ranging from the Ballet Russe De Monte Carlo to Louis Armstrong to Yo-Yo Ma.

While Memorial Hall is most notably associated with the performing arts, it has also served as a space for prominent lecturers. Figures from Randolph Churchill, the son of Winston Churchill, American writer Gore Vidal, and popculture essayist Chuck Kolsterman have all lectured in Memorial Hall and its former representations.

Under the Carolina Performing Arts website, past lecturers are associated with “past performances.” If lectures can be both entertaining and didactic, than the same can be said for performances. They become a medium to entertain and teach, what Carolina Performing Arts calls “[enriching] lives by creating and presenting exceptional arts experiences and connecting them to the UNC community and beyond.”

In an interview with Emil Kang —

PHOTO BY TONY LIU

]

health would also be weakened.

As our legislators place greater and greater emphasis on STEM and economically productive majors, it is important to remember the power the performing arts have in promoting economic health and the general-well being of our communities. The arts are not only a means to regulate stress and promote happiness, but also an end to enrich a student’s own learning to make the unfamiliar familiar.

“There are thousands of students here who sleepwalk through college, where college is a bunch of classes and social life. What a shame. If there’s a way to get students to think beyond just classes and social life and become passionate about learning. I can just imagine what kind of place this could be,” Kang said.

This is the power of the arts. The arts catalyze learning, empower the individual to broaden his or her perspective, and strengthen community.

And this is why we need the arts now more than ever.

PHOTO BY TONY LIU

the University of North Carolina at life,” specifically its ability “to promote Chapel Hill’s Executive Director for the physical and psychological health and Arts and recently appointed member well-being.”

In one study reviewed, patients of the National Council for the Arts — exposed to Kang expressed music before his sentiments This is the power surgery had on the role of the arts. The arts lower cortisol and function of performing arts catalyze learning, em- and anxiety levels than in our community. power the individual those solely “The arts are to broaden his or her prescribed more than just anti-anxiety consumption and perspective, and medication. practice, the arts strengthen commuWhile Levitin are a modality of nity.

And this is why and Chanda learning,” Kang we need the arts now warn that said. more research “I’m not more than ever. needs to interested in be done forcing students to hear Beethoven, nor am I interested before any substantial results can be in getting students to like Beethoven… concluded, the study does move in the the question is, how can one become right step for showing the effects of a better human being through music on its ability to regulate anxiety.

Beethoven,” Kang said.

For Kang, the arts are more than just A Worthy Investment a function of entertainment, profit or The arts also have the capacity to extracurricular activity. The arts are “co- strengthen our economy. Here in North curricular.” The arts engage students Carolina, arts and cultural organizations and transform them; “the arts animate bring in over $62.3 million in revenue. learning, giving dimension and tex- Even more, a multiplier effect of $20 is ture to what one is reading and learn- seen for every $1 invested in the North ing, bringing [learning] to life,” Kang Carolina Arts Council. Whether the funds said. come from tourists or locals, people Whether walking on campus or spend money to see and participate in heading to class, students encounter the arts. the arts - most specifically music. Music However, under the recent North can function as a form of relief or a Carolina House of Representatives medium to happiness. In any case, its budget proposal, $730,000 would effects are felt on a palpable level. be cut from the North Carolina Arts While students attest to the impact Council’s administration and grantof music, recent scientific studies also funding resources. While the N.C. Arts show a correlation between music and Council appropriation is only a sliver its effects on health. In an article in the of the state’s budget - .03 percent Trends in Cognitive Sciences journal, their budget has decreased 37 percent Mona Lisa Chanda, professor at McGill since the cuts began in 2008. Without University and physician-author, Daniel significant funding, not only would J. Levitin, addressed the effects of mu- various arts-based organizations cease sic on “mood and arousal in everyday to exist, but North Carolina’s economic

Colombian rap group ChoqcQuib performed at Memorial Hall on Nov. 22. The group combines music with activism to promote unity in their home Choco, a province in northwest Colombia.

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ANTI-APARTHEID, ACTIVISM, APATHY The evolution of student activism on campus

PHOTOS BY HANNAH NEMER

INA KOSOVA

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n April 4, 1968, Mary Ellen Lane and Joe Shedd, co-chairs of the Campus Y, expressed the following in a memorandum to their members: “Many people are disturbed, but they are disturbed by the same basic problem. Individual energies are spent on individual issues. The search must begin to find common ground for common action.”

The sentiment expressed by Lane and Shedd in 1968 is just as applicable to 2013. In 1968, “the same basic problem” centered on the unilateral, often arbitrary decisions made by the administration on issues affecting student life. These included the speaker ban, a board created by the administration to handle drug violations that violated due process, and the unequal enforcement of liquor regulations where women 8 DECEMBER 2013

were concerned.

Today, with campus installments like the Pit Preacher, there is no speaker ban.

A student run Honor System now exists to protect a student’s basic rights. And, for the most part, alcohol regulation no longer discriminates based upon sex.

But campus today does face other issues. These include tuition hikes, abominably low rates of minority male retention and the underfunding of liberal arts, among others.

Nor have campus organizations historically dealt exclusively with campus issues. Student groups have dealt with local, state, federal, and global concerns, tackling the issue of segregation, the Vietnam War, and the draft. Today, student groups have focused their energies on Voter ID laws, contraception, gun laws, income

inequality, and the environment.

But while the availability of issues on which to focus is exhaustive, there seems to have been a perceptible shift in the effectiveness of student activism.

As the number of student organizations on campus has increased, the effectiveness of activism seems to have diminished. Historically, there exist two case studies for student activism: the Campus Y and the Anti-Apartheid Support Group.

Campus Y The Campus Y began as both the Young Women’s Christian Association and the Young Men’s Christian Association, two organizations that existed independently of each other. However, in 1953, the University administration called for the consolidation of the

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YM-YWCA in order to ensure that it Bound and the Carolina Talent Search. was “broad and wide enough for all The Y’s involvement in the Carolina students.” Within a decade, the newly Talent Search was an attempt to fill consolidated Campus Y was well on its the vacuum left by the university way towards a reputation for radical administration in encouraging African American enrollment in the University. action.

On Aug. 29, 1966, Campus Y presidents The Carolina Talent Search sought to Jonathan Gibson and Peggy Paul recruit black students to Carolina given posed the following question to their that “less than one percent of the student body at members: a state University “How shall is Negro is we deal This lack of effective illustrative of the with the activism is due to the need to make problems and sheer number of stu‘equal opportunity’ questions dent organizations a reality.” The Y of poverty, and subsequent lack then established war and a Racial Dialogue peace, civil of focus.

Committee in an rights, the effort to bring secularization

- Greg Gangi, white and African of religion, professor American students urbanization together for the a n d automation, domestic and local discussion of race relations. In May politics, higher education…?” The Y felt it 1968, it hosted Reverend Gladstone its role, if not to find solutions to these Ntlabati to speak on “The Black problems, then to support and provide Revolution in South Africa,” at a time students with the necessary tools to when apartheid was still the norm and University investments in South African actively search for solutions.

From 1968 to 1969, new committees companies had reached six million were formed within the Y that included dollars. those working with refugees from Resurrection City, a promotion of NSA Tide change Time-Out Day, organization of a debate The Campus Y today is no longer between a DOW chemical recruiter the flagship, umbrella organization and a political science professor, and for minority issues on campus and lectures on Saigon political prisoners. seems to have reverted back to its These new committees were created traditional purpose: service. Had other to complement the main focus areas organizations picked up where the Y of the Y: race relations and traditional left off, this would not pose a problem. service.

Unfortunately, that has not been the The Y took an especially active role case. in the area of race relations in the On Sept. 17, 2013, the UNC Office of 60’s and 70’s. The Y helped found Institutional Research and Assessment and then supported the Scholarship published a report that included a Information Center, a student group disturbing statistic: in the class of that focused on making scholarship 2017, 1,054 white males are enrolled information more widely available to as compared to the 98 black males minorities. It also supported Upward enrolled. This reinforced the alarm

raised by a 2010 study that placed UNC’s four-year graduation rate of black males at 49.2 percent. It is clear that action is needed. The question is, who is responsible for the activism?

Tafadzwa Matika, a UNC student researching male minority retention, explains that the University reaches minority students in two ways: “touch points” and “direct contact points.”

Touch points are broad-based and not specifically targeted at minority students; the University cannot keep track of the ways in which these touch points interact with minority students. Direct contact points, on other hand, are specifically targeted at minority students and monitored by the University. These include programs like the Carolina Millennial Scholars Program, which seeks to create a network of support for minority students.

While research and activism in minority retention does not appear to be lacking, Matika does recognize “the need for central coordination” in order to “avoid redundancy and to bring clarity to different organizations.”

An Anti-Aparteid Support Group In 1983, the Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) formed on campus in an attempt to unite UNC students around the issue of divestment. PIRG demanded that the University divest the endowment from U.S. companies operating in South Africa.

In February 1983, PIRG organized a campus-wide referendum, with students voting 3,313 to 1,891 for divestment. At the time the referendum was held, the University held investments in 12 U.S. corporations operating in South Africa, from Colgate-Palmolive Co. to General Motors Corp.

The Board of Trustees, under pressure, put the issue up for a vote, anDECEMBER 2013

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PHOTO BY HANNAH NEMER

Students attend a rally to protest Board of Trustees decisions.

dvoted against divestment on April 25, 1983 and John A. Tate, chairman of the Board of Trustees stated to the media: “the primary charge of the Endowment Trustees is to maximize risk-adjusted investment returns for the charitable purposes of the university community, and we do not think divestiture is consistent with that responsibility.”

The issue persisted and in 1985, divestiture activism was united under the Anti-Apartheid Support Group (AASG), which became a University-recognized student organization. The efforts of AASG peaked in 1986, after the Endowment Board rejected another proposal in April to divest. Immediately following this vote, members of AASG and other Carolina students staged a two-hour sit in in South building. Six shacks were also built on the main quad, between Wilson library and South Building, and remained standing for three weeks. The shacks were meant to mimic a shanty10 DECEMBER 2013

town and included the sign: “Oppose Apartheid, Welcome to Soweto, N.C.” After a series of rallies, sit-ins, and speeches, the AASG disbanded in 1987, having completed its mission once the Board of Trustees voted in Oct. 1987 to divest all of its holdings from companies operating in South Africa.

Today?

It is difficult to point to campus organizations today that have mobilized enough students to prompt action by the administration. However, while this certainly does pose a concern, perhaps the relative ineffectiveness of recent activism has more to do with the context in which it is taking place. AASG’s divestment movement fed into a movement that was already taking place on campuses across the United States, such as at UPenn and Yale. It fed into a sentiment that had already been expressed, often strongly, by students and

activists around the country.

The most relevant parallel to be drawn to the Divest from Apartheid movement is the Divest from Coal movement on UNC’s campus, led by the Beyond Coal Campaign. On Sept. 25, 2013, members of the Beyond Coal campaign presented to UNC’s Board of Trustees Finance and Infrastructure Committee, urging the university to divest its holdings from coal. The Committee rejected Beyond Coal’s recommendation for an exploratory working committee whose role would be to develop divestment strategies.

It took the University four years, prompted by the Anti-Apartheid Support Group, to divest from apartheid; the rejection by the Board of Trustees of the proposal to divest from coal is simply the beginning of this campaign.

BIG GUNS

ON CAMPUS The NC General Assembly decision to allow concealed carry on campus

ABBY LANTZ

H

ave a concealed carry permit? As of Oct. 1 you can now have a gun on campus — but only in a very specific location.

House Resolution 937, passed on July 29 by the North Carolina state legislature, allows permit holders who own handguns to store their weapons in closed compartments of locked vehicles on campus. The National Rifle Association called HR 937 “the most comprehensive pro-gun reform bill...since 1995.” Firearms will now be allowed in previously prohibited locations including concerts, movies, sporting events, bars, restaurants, public parks, and during parades, protests, and funerals. The law passed in the face of significant opposition from UNC system officials and campus police. Eleven of 17 UNC student governments signed a petition opposing the law in July and the Lambden Administration is vocally opposed to the bill, arguing that it jeopardizes student safety.

While HR 937 expands the limits of concealed carry, it is supposedly designed to be specific enough to avoid threatening campus safety. Unlike other public North Carolina universities, as a dry campus, UNC does not allow open containers or alcohol consumption while tailgating, preventing a large tail-

gating atmosphere that could threaten campus safety under the new law.

State Senator Dan Blue was reportedly “incredulous” that the bill would allow firearms at “hotly contested athletic events,” which could include tailgating before a game. UNC Department of Public Safety’s Randy Young agrees that UNC’s dry tailgating restrictions might mitigate a potentially dangerous situation, but stated “We don’t see how the introduction of firearms into any alcoholic environment is a good idea.”

Local bars and restaurants can prohibit firearms on their premises and the use of a firearm while under the influence is still illegal in North Carolina.

DPS plans to introduce signage on campus to remind students that concealed handguns become illegal as soon as they are removed from locked vehicles.

While UNC has not yet updated their website to reflect the new law, DPS sent out an Alert Carolina message and conducted interviews with local publications to raise student awareness about the implications of the new law.

According to Young, HR 937 makes it difficult for campus police, who are trained in less lethal defense techniques, such as the use of nightsticks, to act in a shooter situation. In a statement released in April, Chief Jeff B. Mc-

Cracken, Director of Public Safety argued that the law could increase the frequency of break-ins and “would actually make colleges and universities less safe.” Shelby Hudspeth, UNC Student Body Executive Director of State and External Affairs said that student government feels that the law is not in the interests of the greater student body despite the fact that some students on campus safely and responsibly register for permits.

“I don’t think it will have a significant impact on the student body at UNC — I just can’t imagine many students here being permit holders,” said Stephanie Milam, Vice President of the Tar Heel Rifle and Pistol Club. Milam maintains that the law makes life easier for those students who have permits by allowing them to cross University property while legally carrying a gun. She argues that there are misconceptions about those who exercise their 2nd amendment rights and that going through the permit process is not easy (see figure on page 12).

Though significant attention has been drawn to the law’s expansion of concealed carry, HR 937 also streamlines the permit process and limits the ability of the state to deny permits to potential applicants. In June, pro-gun legislators failed in their attempt to revoke the requirement of any permit to purchase a handgun, but passed revisions making the permit process easier for applicants. The new law, as outlined by the NRA Institute for Legislative Action, demands stringent revocation requirements for permit holders who are later prohibited from purchasing a firearm, a new reporting process for records of those denied permits to the FBI’s National Instant Background Check System, and confidentiality for permit applicants. Applicants may now apply for an unlimited number of permits, each only for a $5 fee. “I personal DECEMBER 2013

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Obtaining a Concealed Carry Permit 1. Qualifications:

a) Be 21 or older

b) Valid Driver’s License

c) US citizenship and proof of residency

in county where you’re applying for a permit.

2. Pass the Firearms Safety and Training Course 3. Pass a criminal background check.

This takes up to 48 hours. You must provide your full name, recent addresses, and social security number.

PHOTO BY HANNAH NEMER

4. Pass a physical and mental disabilities test.

5. Go to county sheriff’s office or clerk of superior court in your county to fill out an application.

A North Carolinian holds her gun permit.

ly feel that it is an individual’s personal prerogative to decide whether or not they try to obtain a concealed carry permit,” Hudspeth said. “However, in light of recent events, I think that easing the [obtainment process] of concealed carry permits, though it will increase the number of people legally carrying guns, is a risky move.”

The law reduces the penalty on permit holders carrying firearms on posted property or while under the influence from a Class 2 to a Class 1 misdemeanor. The law also changes the standards of mental health assessment for people previously denied permits on the grounds of mental incapacity or illness who attempt to re apply and improves 12 DECEMBER 2013

the report of records to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System from 90 days to within 48 hours.

However, anti-gun advocates will be happy to note that the law does establish a new method to revoke carry permits for those who fail to meet permit requirements.

“I generally feel safe on UNC’s campus, but I’m sure students at Virginia Tech felt safe as well,” Milam said. “[Permit holders] never want to need their guns or face the possibility of shooting another human being to protect oneself or a loved one, but it’s a responsibility they accept when they decide to own a firearm.”

Whether HR 937 will have an impact

on student safety is unclear, and DPS reports that so far there have been no enforcement problems. Across the nation, the concept of concealed carry carries strong emotional responses to the idea of personal protection, especially in a decade of too-numerous school shootings. While many argue that laws like HR 937 could prevent such tragedies, a 2012 Mother Jones study showed that only 1.6 percent of mass shootings were ended by armed civilians, and the few that did involved off duty police officers. “I don’t believe if a shooter were to come on campus [students and faculty] having guns in their cars is going to deter them,” said Young.

DON’T TEACH FOR AMERICA? TFA and UNC have been partners for years, but should UNC students stay away?

KYLE ANN SEBASTIAN

T

he University of North Carolina at the larger national organization. The Chapel Hill prides itself on its rela- Charlotte region currently has 230 corp tionship with Teach for America. UNC members placed in 40 schools. Eastwas the sixth largest contributor of ern North Carolina has 285 corp memcorp members in 2013, with 57 gradu- bers in fifteen school districts, accordates joining TFA. While this is a de- ing to Fehrman. According to a study by the Carolina crease from its Institute for 2012 rank of At best, corp memPublic Policy, third with 75 TFA corp memgraduates joinbers are being sent in bers made up ing the proas teachers with only 0.5 percent of gram, enthusi40 hours of teaching North Carolina asm, at least on experience ­­-- a little public school the University’s teachers during side, doesn’t apover a week. the 2009-2010 pear to be dwinschool year. dling. Seven Since its founding in 1990 Teach for percent of the class of 2013 applied to Teach for America, compared to eight America has garnered praise and support as an effective solution to the edpercent the year prior.

Robyn Fehrman, executive director ucational inequalities that continue to of TFA Eastern North Carolina, notes plague the United States. The Obama that UNC has a strong “culture...around administration awarded TFA a $50 milpublic service and a deep commitment lion grant in 2010. Service as a memto the state of North Carolina” which ber of the TFA corps is looked upon may draw students to TFA, and vice favorably by most employers and graduate programs. However with success versa.

Teach for America operates in forty- comes backlash. As TFA has grown in six regions, two of which are located scope and power, so have the criticisms in North Carolina: Charlotte, and East- of the program.

As TFA’s star has risen, some have ern North Carolina. Each region is locally managed and funded, although voiced concern about what TFA will ultimately attached and responsible to use its newfound power for. TFA re-

cently won the fight to renew federal legislation defining teachers in training, including TFA corps members a “highly qualified,” despite the opposition of the NAACP, the National PTA and the National Education Association. It bears mentioning that this legislation was pushed through the government shutdown.

TFA has recently developed several fellowships aimed at placing TFA alumni in advisory government positions and in positions of power within school districts, as superintendent. These programs are clearly intended to increase the program’s political influence.

There are concerns that this political influence could be used to promote an agenda of privatizing American education. TFA receives financial support from individuals and organizations that advocate for the expansion of charter schools and school voucher programs such as Arthur Rock, the Robertson Foundation, the Walton Family Foundation, all of whom have donated at least $5 million to TFA. Many challenges to the TFA model come from former corps members. Olivia Blanchard cites feeling underprepared and under-supported as the reasons she broke her TFA contract and quit her job in the Atlanta DECEMBER 2013

13

and methods, as well as months of supervised student teaching. Some argue that to give such a brief training and then send corp members to lowincome and low-achieving schools disrespects the education and years of experience of veteran teachers, and puts students at risk.

During summer training, approximately half of the allocated teaching time is spent with a small group of students, typically four to five. This small student to teacher ratio is a far cry from the experience corp members will have in low income public schools, which are generally overcrowded and understaffed. The five lowest ranked Charlotte public high schools average twenty-two students a class, although some schools have class averages as large as thirty.

Critics have also charged that TFA corps members may cost veteran teachers their jobs. Gary Rubinstein, a TFA alum and critic, argues that while the program was beneficial when lowincome schools faced teacher shortages, many areas now have a surplus of teachers, who are being laid off to fulfill obligations to hire TFA teachers. The Chicago Public School System laid off over 600 teachers in 2010, only to turn around and hire teachers from TFA. School systems in Las Vegas and Boston have seem similar practices, with veteran teachers being replaced

by TFA corp members with little experience. Teacher unions in these areas have strongly opposed TFA, and often blame the program for lay-offs.

Evidence of this in North Carolina has been mixed. The Eastern North

PHOTOS BY NATALIE CURNES

public schools system in her piece “ I Quit Teach for America” for The Atlantic. Blanchard states that the five week training left her woefully unprepared to manage a large classroom of often rowdy students.

TFA’s training ranges from five to six weeks the summer before corp members are placed. Four of these weeks include hands on experience teaching summer school for two hours each day, although reports of time spent teaching vary. Blanchard writes that she taught only three hours a week. At best, corp members are being sent in as teachers with only 40 hours of teaching experience--a little over a week. This is substantially less than the training and education undertaken by conventional teachers, which includes formal education in pedagogy

14 DECEMBER 2013

Carolina branch receives requests for bers. Students taught by corps memmore teachers than they can provide, bers are some of their strongest supaccording to Fehrman. However, Char- porters. Flare Brown, a sophomore lotte-Mecklenburg schools laid off History and Communications mahundreds of teachers in 2009, with the jor at UNC, accredits her academic exception of TFA members who were achievement to exposure to TFA teachspared due to the district’s commit- ers. Brown and her older brothers atment to the program, according to the tended Garinger High School in Charlotte, a school she describes as plagued superintendent. by drugs, gangs, This comand low acamitment is In a 2012 study The demic performore than vermance. “With bal. Schools Carolina Institute for my other teachsign a contract Public Policy rated ers it felt like with TFA and pay TFA the “most effecI was just ex$3000 to $5000 isting in their per teacher per tive source of earlyclasses, bareyear to hire TFA career teachers in ly learning, members. This North Carolina Public didn’t seem raises the cost Schools” and found like there was of TFA teachers much meaning above the startTFA teachers to be to it. I would ing salary paid more effective than really just exby the district. other teachers in 94 ist for attenHowever, the dance” Brown investment may areas of comparison, says. She debe worthwhile; and no different in 35. scribes her while the first teachers as just year of teaching is universally acknowledged to be teaching to the test. College attena difficult learning process but once dance was not expected. Career fairs they settle in, TFA teachers produce re- were visited by community colleges sults. A 2013 study of secondary math and the army. Brown’s brothers both teachers by the Department of Educa- dropped out of high school at sixteen.

Brown estimates that she has had tion found that students of TFA teachers scored higher on year-end exams, and two or three TFA teachers. The two TFA teachers’ “impact is equivalent to that stand out in her memory are an an additional 2.6 months of school for eighth grade teacher that first showed the average student nationwide.” In her the University of North Carolina a 2012 study The Carolina Institute for at Chapel Hill, and her senior year Public Policy rated TFA the “most ef- Chemistry teacher. “That was the only fective source of early-career teachers class I learned in senior year,” Brown in North Carolina Public Schools” and says. Brown also grew close to TFA found TFA teachers to be more effective teachers through her participation in than other teachers in 94 areas of com- the extracurricular Wake Up, run by TFA parison, and no different in 35. They corps members.

“They became like my family. I was were not found to be less effective in never on a roster a day in their lives but any area.

The case for TFA is more than num- they would be after school with me,

they would drive me home, they would take me to dinner...they would make sure I was doing okay,” Brown says. “I would go to [them] for resources and support.”

Brown says that TFA teachers high expectations of students become self fulfilling prophecies. “Teach for America teachers instill this hope that you can go to college, you can do it. I guess try to build that confidence. Their high expectations make you meet those and you start to build confidence and expectations, high expectations of yourself.”

Brown benefitted from interacting with second or third year corp members, teachers that had survived the trials of the first year. “Their first year is their worst year,” Brown notes. “They have no idea. They’re thrown into the worst schools...it’s a culture shock.” By time these teachers adjust, they are often half way through their contract. “To know that your teacher’s leaving. It kind of hurts students to see them go,” Brown says.

Few teachers stay beyond the original two year. A UNC study found that TFA teachers have the lowers retention rate, with less than 10% of TFA teachers staying at North Carolina public schools for five year. Brown is pursuing a minor in education and is interested in teaching, but currently has no plans to apply to TFA, in part because of the short commitment time.

The fierce debate over TFA reveals the common ground between the two sides: a strong desire to fix a broken education system and ensure that all American children are given an equal shot at a quality education. While questions of efficacy and fairness are being discussed, the answer for students like Flare Brown seems clear: “For you to really get a way out is for someone like a Teach for America teacher [to] tell you, ‘you can go to college, you can do it.’”

DECEMBER 2013

15

Tuition costs have risen, but there remian too few grants to help offset the costs.

IS COLLEGE

PHOTOS BY HANNAH NEMER

WORTH IT?

THOMAS GOODING

K

nowledge is expensive.

Most college students can attest— and the financial burden of a university education affects students even long after graduation.

Sixty-seven percent of college students in the United States graduate with debt, and more than seven million, on estimate, are in default. In fact, the total amount of unpaid student loans is approaching $1 trillion. Nonetheless, student borrowing is expected to rise, and the discussion surrounding college loans continues to attract increased attention.

But why?

“First, college costs are going up and grant opportunities are not,” said Shirley Ort, associate provost and director of the Office of Scholarships and Student Aid at UNC. “Second, it’s more challenging to find a well-paying job out of college than it was 10 years

16 DECEMBER 2013

ago.”

Indeed, the problem of student loans seems to extend beyond the decade or so it takes to become debt-free. In fact, most student loans impose burdens on graduates that can even follow them to retirement. As a direct consequence of high student debt, a majority of university graduates in the United States will not be able to retire until age 73, according to NerdWallet, an online finance and investment site. Because most college students choose a 10-year repayment plan, they spend the first decade of their careers chipping away at student debt instead of contributing to a retirement plan.

Let’s consider the national median student debt—$23,300. If an individual must repay her debt in 10 years, she would dedicate about $2,858 per year to loan repayment due to interest.

However, if she were able to contribute

the same amount of money to a retirement plan, her nearly $3,000— per year for 10 years—would earn a compounded rate of return.

“At the projected retirement age of 73, the lost savings directly attributable to student debt is $115,096, nearly 28 percent of total retirement savings,” according to Joseph Egoian, of NerdWallet.

But many university administrators would disagree with Egoian’s negativity toward student loans.

“Borrowing should be considered a privilege,” Ort said, “because students are able to use someone else’s money to accomplish, in the short run, what is ultimately important to them.”

Ort suggests that, before accepting a loan, every student should ask himself three questions: “Is it necessary? Is it reasonable? What is the long-term value?”

At UNC, students are lucky to attend aid without student loans. In addition, one of the most affordable universities Covenant Scholars are able to meet in the country. In fact, North Carolina with an advisor to address any financial state universities in general have low- challenges that may arise. This fall, UNC to-moderate tuition rates, according selected 669 new Covenant Scholars.

In addition, work-study programs to the National Association of Student reduce students’ Financial Aid need to borrow Administrators. and help make At UNC, about At UNC, about 37 college more 37 percent of percent of students affordable. students have have student loans David McDonald, student loans and borrow a total of a sophomore and borrow a history and total of $16,983 $16,983 on average p o l i t i c a l on average — excellent numbers science major, —excellent relative to the national participated in n u m b e r s a work-study relative to average. program last the national year as an average.

In addition, UNC’s default rate, the elementary school educator at the percentage of students unable to repay Morehead Planetarium and Science their loans, is one of the lowest in the Center. He considered the experience a valuable opportunity and ultimately United States at 1.7 percent.

However, a low percentage in no earned a part-time job with the way reduces the gravity of default or planetarium’s afterschool program.

“It was something I enjoyed doing,” financial hardship. Indeed, it is generally impossible to refinance a college loan he said, “so I didn’t feel like work-study or declare bankruptcy if a student is was taking away from my college in financial trouble. If students do not experience.”

Of the universities to which McDonald repay the entirety of their loans, the government is authorized to seize tax applied, UNC offered the most beneficial refunds and social security payments financial aid package. “That was a major or hold wages. Professionals who are factor in my choice to come here,” he unable to repay student loans may lose said.

Although alternative forms of financial their licenses, creating an even greater aid were helpful, McDonald considers challenge to satisfy remaining debt.

“Students get into trouble if they student loans equally beneficial. borrow unnecessarily,” Ort said. “One Without college loans, students may has to be reasonable.” In addition, not have an opportunity to attend a students should be aware of alternative university in the first place, McDonald forms of financial aid—those that do said.

“I think when handled responsibly, not require student borrowing.

For example, the Carolina Covenant student loans are very important,” he is a unique program that promises said. “But students need to do a lot of low-income students an opportunity research before taking out a loan.”

Although UNC deserves to be proud to graduate from UNC completely debtfree. The Covenant covers 100 percent of its devotion to affordability and of a scholar’s need through financial accessibility, the university should not

ignore the fact that costs are rising and the need for student loans is increasing. Between 2001 and 2002, the percentage of UNC students with college loans rose sharply from 23 to 31 percent and has continued to rise throughout the past decade. With increasing university costs, tuition will presumably rise. As a result, UNC should expect more borrowing from students in the future, Ort said.

To limit the cost of college, the university can either maintain low tuition rates or provide adequate sources of grant aid and student loans.

In the past fifteen years, administrators have begun to emphasize the latter.

Students who could not otherwise afford to pay for college will benefit because loans and grants offset the total cost of higher education, not just tuition. Although costs are increasing and student loans may become more prevalent, administrators remain optimistic.

“The future is uncertain,” Ort said, “but it has been uncertain in the past and we have done fine because the university has made sure that student aid is a priority.”

If students have questions regarding federal student loans, they should contact Kristin Anthony, an assistant director of the Office of Scholarships and Student Aid. In addition, there are many online resources with information about provisions that protect students with hardships, such as The Project on Student Debt. The North Carolina State Education Assistance Authority (NCSEAA) is a financial aid agency that is collaborating with the state university system to develop a counseling program for students with college loans.

DECEMBER 2013

17

LOOKAWAY, DIXIELAND

Local author explores unsettling truths about the South in bestselling novel

WILSON SINK

“T

here’s something fatal from what the slave trade fostered, a kind of barbarism side by side with the civility,” Duke Johnston, the patriarch of Wilton Barnhardt’s Lookaway, Lookaway, proclaimed about the South. For more than three hundred pages, Barnhardt’s novel investigates the region’s “central conundrum” through the tragedy of a declining Charlotte family, the Johnston clan. In this tale of dysfunction, prominence and wasted promise, the fading grandeur of the Old South makes way for the New, leaving a culture grasping for the last vestiges of “exclusivity, gentility” and the “old courtesies.” Through stinging satire, the author implies that the New South has not yet escaped its checkered past.

Barnhardt grew up in Winston-Salem, a two-hour ride north of the novel’s center stage. The son of teacher and a cigarette company employee, he vowed earnestly to escape “the backwater that was North Carolina.” For a few decades, Barnhardt did, but returned to teach fiction writing at North Carolina State University, home to four generations of Barnhardt’s. Once back, the author could finally write his own Southern novel, lamenting Dixie’s dichotomy of tradition against progress.

The Johnston’s are a family mired in the past. Living in a hundred-yearold family home in Charlotte’s most 18 DECEMBER 2013

privileged neighborhood, Myers Park, son to meth addiction. Meanwhile, Unthey hang on to a reputation of Civil cle Gaston is the alcoholic, millionaire War generals, art trusts and past writer who produces wit and bitterness successes. In the first decade of the 21st in equal measure.And of course the century, the family hasn’t done much shadow of Faulknerian violent, alcoholic fathers and enabling, judgmental but make for a rich cast of characters. mothers haunts Duke Johnston, both Duke and the head of the The New South is a Jerene constantfamily, is the better place in many ly. classic Southern Like the rest Gentleman: star ways, but old prejuof the South, college quardices die hard. Barnthe past sulterback, lawyer, hardt may exaggerate lies every future and city-counJohnston encilman; handthe conflicts of the deavor. Jerilyn’s some, popular new century in his date rape, Anand shadowed oversized characters nie’s failed marby unfulfilled and clearly fictional riages, Duke’s promise. Jerene, affair and lost his steely wife, plot, but he sheds a potential, Gasthe matriarch, light on the issues ton’s selling out, is the proper, many Southerners and the pile of p u t- t o g e t h e r, other problems cruel, exacting would rather just igprevent the famand determined nore. ily from forging controller. Their a future. Like children range across the social spectrum from Jerilyn, the South too, the Johnston’s hide from the sorority girl at Chapel Hill, to Annie, their past transgressions.

“There is no room in my life for the the rebellious, unhappy liberal, to Bo, the Presbyterian minister, to Joshua, the past,” Jerene claims “not for years now.”

For her, it is much easier to ignore her gay son. Beyond the core family, Aunt Dillard is the spinster who married young father’s violence (and potential incest), following an unexpected pregnancy, her daughter born out of wedlock, her only to lose her husband to divorce and cruel mother, her husband’s affair and

Barnhardt’s book was published in July, and was well reviewd by the New York Times and NPR.

Slavery: “UNC would not have been possible without slavery,” Josh writes in his English essay. “[E]very abuse and cruelty and outrage of slavery, every brand, shackle, and lash of the whip” haunted the family history of Josh’s close black friend, Dorrie. There were 3,950,546 slaves in the United States in 1860. Yet, the Civil War was only about “State’s Rights,” according to Duke, Gaston and many other Southerners.

Class: “Class matters,” Jerene tells her then teenage troublemaker Annie. Despite the American dream, though, 65 percent of the poorest economic quintile will stay in the poorest two-fifths.

Sexual Assault: Jerilyn is raped in a UNC fraternity house. The family covers it up. Jerene’s father might have impregnated her. No one, not even the reader, ever knows for sure. An average of 237, 868 victims suffer from rape and sexual assault each year in the US, and 60 percent of those assaults are never reported to law officials.

PHOTO FROM HARPER-COLLINS

her family’s slow decline.For the South, it is easier to ignore the dark blot of slavery, the motives for the Civil War, segregation and Jim Crow, the privileges of class and the disparity that still exists today.The past and the truth only come out in hushed secrets or loud family feuds.

Fortunately for the reader, Barnhardt exposes all the miscues and taboo topics of the Johnston’s and the South: Alcohol and drugs at college: Within 25 pages, young, innocent Jerilyn is snorting cocaine in a sorority. In real life, 21.4 percent of young adults aged 18-25 have used illicit drugs in the past month. 39.1 percent of college students are classified as binge drinkers. Yet, Jerene and the rest of society seem to ignore those “youthful indiscretions.” Barnhardt, instead, dedicates his first chapter to an overstated image of the Greek system at UNC. In this self-described “love letter to Carolina,” the NC State professor paints an unflattering image of hazing, beastiality, rape, and drug use by the privileged children of the Southern elite.

Religion: God was “the Mean Old Man in the Sky” according the atheist Annie. Even the preacher Bo doubted in the face of all the Earthly suffering. Yet, faith plays an important role in the lives of millions in the South and around the world.

Homosexuality: Josh was gay “and that had meant exile from the comfortable currents of high school and university.” He came out of the closet one Christmas dinner, and it was simply “not discussed.”

North Carolina constitutionally banned homosexual marriage through Amendment One. It is easier to ignore or fight change than to accept it.

Unwanted Pregnancy: At the same Christmas dinner, three Johnston women admitted to abortions. Dillard became pregnant too young. Jerene put her unwanted daughter up for adoption. Three in 10 American women will have had an abortion by age 45. Yet, the Johnston’s “don’t believe in abortion.” They are “active in family values politics.”

This hypocrisy is at the core of the Southern condition. There is “such brutality and wickedness in this place of church and good intentions.” Perhaps, though, that is the point of Barnhardt’s fine work. Even in this brightly imagined New South, even in the “great up-

and-coming” Charlotte, the hypocrisy, conflicts and denials of the past haunt the future. Through mismanagement and scandal, the Johnston’s lose their land, money and reputation. The South cannot afford to do the same.

Dixie has to acknowledge the problems of the past and the present and face them. The New South is a better place in many ways, but old prejudices die hard. Barnhardt may exaggerate the conflicts of the new century in his oversized characters and clearly fictional plot, but he sheds a light on the issues many Southerners would rather just ignore. But even without the politics, Lookaway, Lookaway is a worthwhile and entertaining read.

Wilson Sink is a first-year staff writer who spent his first 18 years growing up in the Myers Park neighborhood of Charlotte. Despite their inherent oddities, he loves his Southern family very much.

DECEMBER 2013

19

SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICERS AND THE

SCHOOL TO PRISON PIPELINE Balancing secure schools and educational atmospheres TROY HOMESLEY orth Carolina is on the front lines and students of color are finding themin the ongoing battle against the selves funneled into the prison system School-to-Prison pipeline.

But the at a strikingly elevated rate.

In response to the SRO dilemma, varrecent call for increased police presence in schools might slow reform ef- ious organizations across the country forts,and perhaps even erase strides have mobilized to combat the specter of police overreach in schools. In already taken.

As school shootings across the coun- 2009, the ACLU drafted a detailed White try have increased, parents and school Paper with recommendations for a naadministrators alike are calling for in- tionwide guidance document for SROs. This document creased school aimed to prosecurity in the form of School [A]rrests within school tect the rights of students and Resource Ofhave skyrocketed and delineate where ficers. SROs are students of color are final authority in armed police ofschools should ficers who work finding themselves full-time jobs funneled into the pris- lie.

At the same within schools. on system at a striktime, various Originally, they ingly elevated rate.

North Caroliwere created to na-based organprotect students izations began and administrators in the case that violence breaks to mobilize in an attempt to clarify the role of SROs in public schools. Projects out.

However, recent revelations have such as Dignity in Schools and Polfound that the guidelines delineating ished Souls gathered their resources to the exact duties of SROs are rather identify schools that were feeding the vague. This ambiguity has led to myriad school-to-prison pipeline in North Carexamples of overreach within schools. olina and began organizing advocacy Arrests within school have skyrocketed programs in these various districts.

N

20 DECEMBER 2013

Leading the charge against the schoolto-prison pipeline in North Carolina has been Legal Aid of North Carolina’s Advocates for Children’s Services division.

Their research has revealed how the school-to-prison pipeline in North Carolina operates, and has shown racial and economic disparities in the application of discipline and adjudication in schools.

Legal Aid of NC released a fact sheet that revealed the extent and magnitude of the school-to-prison pipeline.

Their studies revealed that short-term suspension rates for Black students were 3.64 times greater than those of White students in North Carolina. Additionally, 43 percent of all delinquency complaints in North Carolina originated from within schools. This figure does not include students age 16 and older.

In 2011, the study reveals that 72 percent of juvenile prison commitments were Black juveniles.

More recently, Legal Aid of NC conducted another study within the Wake County Public School System. The results were astounding. Their report found vast disparities in the rate at which Black students received long- and short-term suspension when compared

The WCPSS report by Legal Aid of NC to their White peers within WCPSS. The report also found that there is a provides only one detailed example lack of due process for students who of the effects that extensive security receive disciplinary suspension and apparatus’ might have on the ability that this suspension carries very little of students to learn in a non-adversaracademic or personal value for the stu- ial and comfortable environment. In dents who face it. Additionally, the re- agreement with various other reports, the WCPSS report notes that port recognizes SROs and secu[S]tudies revealed that the importance rity personnel short-term suspension of school safein schools lack ty. However, the proper guiderates for Black stureport clarifies lines, training dents were 3.64 times that this security and accountagreater than those system should bility. The report be held accountnotes that stuof White students in able and follow dents in WCPSS North Carolina. Adstrict and clear have been seriditionally, 43 perguidelines if it ously injured by cent of all deliquency is to be successexcessive force ful in protecting at the hands complaints in North the rights and of law enforceCarolina originated educational enment and SROs. from within schools. vironment of The report students. details various This figure does not Many within examples of include students age the law enforceexcessive force 16 and older. In 2011, ment commuin WCPSS, inthe study reveals that nity are coming cluding overuse to recognize of TASERs and 72 percent of juvenile the importance Pepper Spray prison commitments of increased on students. were Black juveniles. restrictions on In one case, a SROs.The NaTASER was used tional Associaon a student after they refused to answer questions tion of School Resource Officers was during an interrogation and reacted to created in order to provide high-quality being grabbed by a police officer. In an- education for SROs across the country. other case, a TASER was used on a stu- NASRO prepares law enforcement ofdent and the student was subsequently ficers to fulfill a triad of roles: Teacher, Counselor and Law Enforcement Officer. arrested for profanity.

“Our training program is not about inThe report also found that WCPSS sets aside millions of dollars to pay for its creasing arrest rates, it is our hope that security apparatus, despite little evi- SROs will decrease those (arrests),” Mo dence that such costs are effective in Canady, Executive Director of NASRO, improving school security. This securi- said in a phone interview.

“SROs should be more than just law ty apparatus is rarely reviewed, unlike teachers and administrators, who are enforcement officers, the goal of SROs is to bridge the gap between law enevaluated rigorously and regularly.

forcement and youth,” Canady said. Mr. Canady says that there has been a recent surge in SROs trained through his program, from about 1,000 SROs a year to over 2,000 in the most recent year, an increase that he attributes directly to the increase in school shootings.

Mr. Canady believes that SROs are the best form of community-based policing because they create better relations between police and communities, build mustual respect and build relationships with students from an early age.

Mr. Canady clarified that a standardized set of guidelines and training is key to this end.

School is a public space that is meant to be the safest and most comfortable of places for a child.It is where they can learn, grow and discover their future.

SROs, on one hand, reassure students and parents that they will be safe in the case that serious violence breaks out.

As Mr. Canady pointed out, a good SRO is a well-trained SRO with useful guidelines to follow.

However, some SROs are just another obstacle to free and public education in the eyes of students of color, poor students and students without strong and available parental advocates. Due to limited oversight and accountability, some SROs are merely an extension of law enforcement and police targeting.

Such a role creates distrust, chaos and antagonism within schools.

As SROs become more commonplace, it is crucial that leaders develop strict guidelines for these officers to guarantee that ensuring security does not discount or disrupt the important educational processes in our public schools.

Education and security are certainly not mutually exclusive.

DECEMBER 2013

21

Local

WHEN YOU CAN’T GO HOME AGAIN

Orange County doesn’t have a battered women’s shelter. And that could put more than just victims of domestic violence at risk

F

Why Do We Need a Battered Women’s Shelter?

Domestic violence affects every community — according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, one in four women will experience intimate partner violence during her lifetime — and Chapel Hill is no exception.

In May 2012, a woman was shot by

22 DECEMBER 2013

Between December 2012 and July, the her ex-boyfriend while she was picking up her children at Scroggs Elementary. Compass Center helped place 220 women Mere months later, UNC-Chapel Hill stu- in shelters in Durham, Alamance County, dent Faith Hedgepeth was murdered in and Raleigh. But sometimes those shelher apartment. Although that homicide re- ters just don’t have the room, said Ann mains unsolved, a lead is that Hedgepeth Gerhardt, director of the Compass Center, was murdered bcause she helped a friend in an e-mail. In that case, victims have to make do with an leave an abusive alternative safety relationship plan, usually inAnd yet, the [W]omen who were volving friends community has isolated by an abusive or family. Home no designated partner might ot have Start, the local safe haven for someone they trust homeless shelwomen seeking enough to move in ter for women, refuge from viodoes not take in lent family memwith. women who are bers or partners. under an immeCounselors at the

- Sabrina Garcia, diate threat of Compass Cencrisis counselor, violence. “This ter instead have Chapel Hill Police leaves out many to help women of the people find shelter with who need emerfriends or family, or a shelter in another county. But Sabrina gency assistance,” Gerhardt said. Gerhardt Garcia, a crisis counselor at the Chapel Hill said that the Compass Center creates a police department who specializes in do- safety plan for every client that takes into mestic violence, says women who were consideration their unique circumstances, isolated by an abusive partner might not including work, children, and pets and have someone they trust enough to move available resources.

Even if there is space in a shelter in with. Even if they do, the location of a friend’s home is not safeguarded like the especially for domestic violence victims, location of a battered women’s shelter, in- a family already undergoing the trauma creasing the number of people put at risk. of domestic violence is even further “Wherever that victim goes, terror follows disrupted by the move to another county.

“It makes it very difficult for families who them,” Garcia says.

“

“

GRACE TATTER rom the outside, the Wilson Street loccation of the Compass Center for Women and Families exudes home: patioed and nestled by a community garden on a leafy street by campus.

But people who come to the Compass Center, which is the result of a recent merger between The Women’s Center and Family Violence Prevention Center, know that home is about far more than appearances. The Compass Center helps about 700 people a year recover from the ravages of domestic violence. Within the peaceful exteriors of its two Chapel Hill locations, a staff of thirteen struggles to use limitedto-non-existent government funds and private donations to help people leaving violent situations start totally anew.

And they frequently have to tell their clients to return to homes that are the antithesis of the peaceful Compass Center, because Orange County does not have a battered women’s shelter.

The Compass Center for Women and Families has two Chapel Hill locations. Below, the office on Wilson Street, above three blocks from campus.

have school age children, because if they are placed out of county, they must then provide transportation for their children to attend school,” Gerhardt said in an e-mail.

North Carolina has been a leader in legislation protecting victims of domestic violence, says Beth Marocco, a professor at UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health who researches intimate partner violence. In 1973, Chapel Hill police department became one of the first in the nation to establish a crisis unit that connects the community with counselors like Garcia, who specialize in domestic violence. In 1998, Governor James B. Hunt created the Domestic Violence Task Force, which hoped to create policy increasing victim safety and offender accountability, raising awareness, and ensuring a shelter in every county.

But there are still no laws on the books requiring communities to provide services for victims of domestic violence, and state funding for the services that do exist is low.

Domestic violence services are provided by non-profit, private organizations like the Compass Center. The North Carolina Council for Women allocates state funds, largely raised from marriage license fees, to 105 such organizations around the state; approximately $4 million a year. But that hardly covers all such non-profits need to do. For the rest, nonprofits rely on private donations which often aren’t enough.

Many of the federal and state government agencies that provide funding for domestic violence protection and prevention services have been affected by staffing cuts, and were further burned by the government shutdown in October, Gerhardt said. “The net result may not be any difference in funding this year, but agency providers are still waiting for contracts and payment for services already delivered,” she says. The Compass Center is fortunate to have financial reserves to pay for services as they wait for contracts and

PHOTO BY ANITA SIMHA

Why Don’t We Have One?

funding to become available, she added.

Either Way, A Costly Situation Garcia says that every few years, a group of community members will become impassioned about building a women’s shelter for the community. The most recent push was in 2010, when the Orange County Commission for Women presented a report to the Board of County Commissioners about the need for a battered women’s shelter. But ultimately, the local government is too cash-strapped for the start-up costs of a shelter.

Bernetta Thigpen oversees services of the North Carolina Council of Women for the Northern Piedmont region. She says that the decision to build a women’s shelter is more complicated than basic need.

“You definitely want to have the private dollars, and you want to make sure that this is going to benefit families, the folks that will utilize those,” she said.

But as expensive as building a shelter would be, not having one is expensive, too. The Center for Disease Control estimates that the direct costs of medical and mental health care services related to intimate partner violence are more than 4 billion dollars a year; economic productivity is also affected — a 1996 study estimated that adult domestic violence resulted in

$67 billion lost a year. And Orange County is probably hit especially hard — not having a safe home base for victims probably translates to higher rates of absenteeism, Marocco says.

And a strain on services is a public safety threat, as well. According to a study Marocco and her colleagues are conducting, about a third of domestic violence protection order cases are dismissed in Orange County, an above-average rate. That means that cases against an abuser are dismissed because the plaintiff does not show up to court. Marocco says the difference between someone getting an protective order that keeps them safe and remaining in danger can be someone from a non-profit giving her a ride to a courthouse, providing childcare, or helping them take off time from work.

Without the legal protections that come with a domestic violence protection order, abusers are more likely to show up in public spaces and incur violence.

Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a violence prevention advocacy organization, analyzed mass shootings (where four or more people are killed with a gun) over four-year period starting in 2009. They found that 57 percent were domestic violence related. Having services that keep direct victims safe keeps everyone safe.

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State

LET’S TALK ABOUT THE

F-WORD Fracking in North Carolina is on the rise.

What does that mean for your drinking water?

ANITA SIMHA he hotly debated issue of hydraulic fracturing, also called fracking, is becoming more relevant to North Carolinians as recent changes bring us closer to building wells within our own state’s borders.

Current considered frack sites include shale rock formations found in the Dan River and Deep River Basins in Sanford, Lee, Chatham, and Durham Counties.

In July 2012, North Carolina’s Mining Commission became the Mining and Energy Commission and was charged with developing standards for the exploration of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. Last month, the commission decided to relax the standard for testing local well water for chemical contamination due to fracking. Commissioners claim that chemicals seepage into underground water sources is an impossible situation despite outcries from environmentalists.

This comes at the same time as the Department of Energy and Natural Resources (DENR) is deciding to cut 70 employees in the Division of Water Resources. The merge of water

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quality staff with water resources staff is expected to save DENR $4 million a year.

But because of this cut, North Carolina became the first state in the Southeast to reject EPA funding.

The new head of DENR John Skvarla turned down two grants totaling over $580,000 to monitor wetlands and collect data on water quality in streams. Because the water quality unit in DENR that originally applied for the funding no longer exists, the grant was not accepted. Division of Water Resources director Tom Reeder said scientists would conduct research at a later date when more is known about which pollutants are important and where and when fracking would occur in North Carolina.

L’eau du gaz?

While the Mining and Energy Commission doubts that fracking can cause any measurable effects to underground drinking water, not everyone agrees. Hydraulic fracturing releases natural gas by injecting a highly pressurized liquid into a shale rock formation. In fact, A DENR

report from 2012 cited water supply, groundwater contamination, water storage and disposal, air quality, and earthquakes as “potential environmental impacts.”

A working group of academic researchers formed by the University of Pennsylvania’s Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology – with representation from UNC along with Columbia, Johns Hopkins – also formed early this year to investigate reports of illness related to water in fracking areas of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Donald Hornstein,a professor at the UNC School of Law and member of the Institute for the Environment at UNC, notes that three major environmental issues can arise from fracking. The first is a question of supply: fracking requires a certain amount of freshwater to send down in order to force the natural gas out.

The source of that water, which North Carolinians also need to drink, becomes contentious. Frack fluid can be recycled, which would solve the first issue, but which would cause a second problem.

This second issue stems from water

be measured.”

North Carolinians might need to make use of this baseline sooner than they thought. A panel of state officials passed a recent recommendation by the Compulsory Pooling Study Group; the legislature is expected to approve it this fall. According to the recommendation, if a drilling unit covers multiple land sites, drilling should occur if the majority of affected landowners support it.

This could force landowners to sell the rights to natural gas under their properties if their neighbors in the same drilling unit support fracking.

The chairman of the Mining and Energy Commission James Womack sat on the panel. He stated that the potential of compulsory pooling was “abhorrent,” but voted in favor of it to support other justifications for it.

Many unanswered questions remain about the effects of fracking. When asked about research on fracking at UNC, Dr. Hornstein said, “The short answer is absolutely not enough.”

PHOTO FROM WUNC

the frack fluid – contamination. materials from Some of the Fluid composition is sand to diesel pressurized a sort of ‘trade secret’ fuel – that keep frack fluid the well boards returns to he with fracking compaclean.

Fluid surface and nies, so there is concomposition sits in lined cern over the possibil- is a sort of pits along ity that the state might ‘trade secret’ the top of the with fracking frack sites. not prevent compacompanies, so This resurfaced nies from using certhere is concern frack fluid tain harmful chemicals over the b r i n g s possibility that chemicals not like benzene or diesel the state might originally in fuel. not prevent the solution, companies including heavy concentrations of salt that from using certain harmful chemicals could disturb ecological systems like benzene or diesel fuel. when rain and other natural processes move contaminated fluids in these Abhorrent but Inevitable pits. In addition, there is concern that We cannot be sure how likely it is poorly constructed well boards could that these potential negative impacts allow frack fluid to seep out of the would occur. Recognizing this, Dr. well and into aquifers.

Hornstein said, “It is good that North A lot of controversy also comes from Carolina is having testing of nearby the small percentage of materials wells to create a baseline against besides freshwater that make up which claims of contamination can

North Carolina’s Mining Commission is considering fracking in many of the counties surrouding Orange County. Fracking might cause water contamination in the area.

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THE FACEBOOK NEWSROOM

The ability to share stories through social media is revolutionizing the production and consumption of news.

MATT KEENAN he story is well known: Facebook was created by a bunch of guys in a Harvard dorm room in 2004. The website took off, gradually opening its doors to anyone 13 years or older with a valid email address. The uniformity of Facebook made it an instant success; it quickly ousted its primary competitor, Myspace.

Facebook has come under fire recently, as sources claim the website is losing popularity amongst young people. More and more, people are saying things like: “I have a Facebook, but I never use it.”

The data suggests otherwise.

As of October of 2013, Facebook has over 1.5 billion active users, which is almost one in every five people on earth. More people use Facebook today than were alive in 1890. With that, more information is being shared amongst people than ever before.

Mobile phones now enable millions of people worldwide to access Facebook wirelessly from the comfort of their own beds. 50 percent of 18-24 year-olds open Facebook first thing when they wake up. As soon as the day starts, we are ingesting news from Facebook and other media outlets.

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Personalized News That was what a respondent to a survey released by the Pew Research Center said of getting news on Facebook. The social media website has become, unintentionally, a hub for sharing news. Of the people who get 26 DECEMBER 2013

news from Facebook, only about 22 percent think of Facebook as a primary source for news. Seventy-eight percent of people are exposed to news through their friends’ activities.

Gary Kayye, founder of rAVe Publications, and adjunct professor of journalism at the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill suggests that Facebook has purposely allowed this to happen. “Facebook wants to become the homepage of the Internet; they want to be like the page your parents encountered when they first logged onto the Internet- you know, ‘You’ve got mail!’”

The Pew Research Center reported that one-third of news consumers on Facebook were people aged 1829. Traditionally, young adults were known to be less interested in news than their parents. On Facebook, young adults are more active than any other age demographic when it comes to consuming news. Young people now come across the same topics of news their parents do, but in a way that resonates more clearly with them.

In the same study released by the Pew Research Center, 65 percent of people who were exposed to news came across three to eight different topics of news. Almost three-fourths of respondents saw news pertaining to entertainment, while the next-highest category was news pertaining to local communities at 65 percent. There were three other categories of news that over 50 percent of respondents had been

regularly exposed to: sports, national government and politics, and crime.

Facebook allows users to consume news pertaining to a variety of topics that interest them.Traditionally, all stories were presented together in the same place: the newspaper. A reader could see all the headlines of the day, and read stories that caught their attention. Facebook allows a reader to glance at headline, then instantly choose to read it or not. He or she would never have to pick up a newspaper. By sharing news on Facebook, users can selectively choose what stories they share with their friends.

Journalism, however, is not accustomed to such personalization.

As Pew reported, 70 percent of people click on a news story because they are interested in the topic. The costs of this trend to the journalism industry are not known, but the effects could be widespread. If advertisers only choose to advertise on the more popular stories on Facebook, a large number of journalists could be out of work.

A Thriving Business From a business perspective, Facebook seems to be thriving off of personal shares of news stories. Facebook’s stock has eclipsed 50 dollars per share, which is more than where the stock opened. Even through a rocky opening, Facebook has proven that it is indeed making money, and maintaining relevance among social media users.

Kayye went on to say: “Facebook goes

PHOTO BY ARIANA LUTTERMAN

More users are turning to Facebook for news.

for ‘soft openings.’ Instead of publicly more an advertiser is willing to pay for debuting ten things at once, they’ll advertising on that site. Facebook takes ‘soft open’ them so they can say five of full advantage of this idea by tailoring these ideas worked, without having to ads to users based on their activity on say that five didn’t.” This idea is exactly the website. Thus, Facebook is able to how Facebook has approached the make a substantial amount of money development of news sharing on the through advertising on its website.

Twenty minutes is a large portion of site. The company never announced a project devoted to just news, they time to deliver news. Local television simply let the users develop the trend, news broadcasts usually run about 20 minutes withand then reaped out advertising the benefits.

Now, along with inbreaks, so that Infodocket formation about how is essentially reported that what Facebook the average great their job is, or has replaced. Intime spent on how great their kids stead of watchFacebook per are, people can share ing the local visit is about 20 television news, minutes. This is some useful informaor reading the a wide window tion too. local newspafor the average per, people are user to be exposed to news, as well as advertising. turning to Facebook to gather news in The longer a user spends on a site, the a community with their friends. Users

can see what news their friends found interesting, and in turn can make the choice of whether or not to read that article; it’s like a news buffet.

Almost five billion pieces of content are shared on Facebook every day.

Coupled with 1.5 billion active users, every user shares more than three pieces of content per day. As Kayye put it: “Now, along with information about how great their job is, or how great their kids are, people can share some useful information, too.”

Facebook is now a source of news and information for millions of people across the globe. An event such as the Arab Spring protests gained global attention through the use of Facebook; that is the power of social media, and 1.5 billion people joining together in a single community.

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MILITARY SEXUAL ASSAULT: Both campus and national U.S. Army leaders aim for progress LINDSEY KELLOGG he issue of sexual assault in the vices Committee, soon went with military became prominent in the other like-minded politicians to disnews earlier this year with the re- cuss ways to prevent military sexual lease of a Pentagon survey that esti- assault with President Obama in a mated that 26,000 people serving in White House meeting on May 9.

Some steps the armed forctowards reform es were sexuwere soon takally assaulted Our servicemen and en, such as in 2012, up women should not the creation of from 19,000 have to worry about congressional two years betheir personal safety investigations fore. According on bases in the U.S. and of the Deto the same partment of survey, only and around the world Defense’s Re13 percent of while they are bravely sponse Systhe estimated serving to protect our tems to Adult cases were renation.

Sexual Assault ported. Of the Crimes Panel, politicians who a nine-person hastened to

- Kay Hagan (D) committee address this isdedicated to sue, North Carolina Senator Kay Hagan (D) was one investigating the judicial systems of the most adamant and forceful used in prosecuting reported cases of voices in speaking out against mili- sexual assault. Military courts used tary sexual assault and the systems for such prosecutions have been criticized as victim-blaming, lacking in place to address it.

“Our servicemen and women transparency, and too ingrained in should not have to worry about their the units they are supposed to be personal safety on bases in the U.S. judging to be impartial.

However, reforms to prevent future and around the world while they are bravely serving to protect our na- military sexual assaults and revamp tion’s safety,” Hagan said in a state- the military justice system have ment the week the Pentagon survey stalled. Bipartisan bills signed onto was released in early May. Hagan, by Hagan, such as the Combatting a member of the Senate Armed Ser- Military Sexual Assault Act of 2013,

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have become stuck in the congressional morass. Since the government shutdown in early October, Hagan and other members of Congress who were actively supporting military sexual assault reforms have moved their political focus elsewhere and haven’t recently spoken publicly on the issue.

Cases of sexual assault in the armed forces still continue to come to light, and now receive more news attention than ever. Over the summer, a case of alleged rape by three midshipmen of a female midshipman at the United States Naval Academy (USNA) brought together the issues of sexual assault in the military and sexual assault on college campuses. The female midshipman reported that she was raped by her fellow midshipmen while unconsciously drunk at an off-campus party in 2012, a situation that seems familiar to students constantly warned to about the dangers of alcohol and sexual violence if they choose to party during their college years.

While political reform of military sexual assault issues stagnates in DC, a new generation of officers graduating from ROTC programs may have a positive effect on changing military sexual assault culture.

Students at Carolina who are in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps

PHOTO PROVIDED BY WIKIPEDIA COMMONS

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin E. Dempsey testifies on sexual assault in the military before the US Senate Arms Services Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on June 4, 2013.

(ROTC), the college military program whose graduates become commissioned officers, are educated about sexual assault prevention and assistance from the moment they arrive at college, according to Lieutenant Colonel Megan B. Stallings, a professor of military science in the Army ROTC program. The Army’s Sexual Assault/ Harassment Response and Prevention (SHARP) program “teaches sexual harassment and assault scenarios all four years the students/cadets are enrolled,” Stallings said, noting the program’s focus on prevention and discussion. “ They get training involving both scenarios from college life and military scenarios,” she added.

Air Force and Navy ROTC do not use SHARP but have similar educational programs.

Stallings emphasized how important sexual assault prevention training is to the Army overall, and how important it is for students in the ROTC program, as they will soon be officers in charge of approximately forty enlisted soldiers. SHARP training covers how to deal with and report sexual assault suspected among troops, as well as aiding victims. “A

large part of the SHARP program is not just preventing sexual assault but taking care of the victims of the crimes, whether they be in or outside of the ROTC system,” Stallings said. SHARP exists in all college Army ROTC programs.

Despite all of the good done by ROTC programs to educate their students, some women still feel apprehensive about joining the military due to the sexual assault issue. “I was worried at first when joining ROTC because I saw the Invisible War documentary which is really bad press for the military when it comes to how they treat sexual assault,” said a female UNC junior in the Air Force ROTC program**, referring to a 2012 documentary exploring the prevalence of sexual assault among the armed forces.

“I don’t know for sure how they treated sexual assault before I joined [Air Force] ROTC a year ago, but we have lectures on it all the time.”

“By the third year, we have two in depth classes with various scenarios on the topic and we talk about our resources if it should happen and the consequences of these actions,” she said. “On top of the lessons we have

in class, we have briefings throughout the year and lectures by guest speakers skilled in sexual assault prevention. Trust me, they really beat it into us before we even enter the active duty.” The junior, like Stallings, also emphasized how important it is for future officers who will be leading enlisted members to be knowledgeable and in control when it comes to suspected sexual assaults.

No ROTC students have been involved with any alleged sexual crimes in Carolina’s recent history, and, as Stallings mentioned, may be among the most qualified to help victims of such crimes. Stallings underscored how students in the ROTC system aren’t officially part of the military yet, and so if they were to commit crimes or transgressions, such things would be dealt with through the university and the civilian justice systems.

As capable students graduate from ROTC with full sexual assault prevention training and officially enter the military as officers, the military programs’ goals of changing military culture regarding sexual assault might just come to fruition.

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ROUHANI’S PROMISE: Iran’s possible reemergence in the international community COLE WILHELMI he polarizing regime of Iran’s 6th president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has finally come to an end.

From his controversial nuclear policy to alleged human rights violations, Ahmadinejad had attracted international attention and inflamed the passions of U.S. foreign policymakers consistently over the past eight years. But now, American relations with Iran may be on the verge of a dramatic turnaround, and the international community may finally breathe a sigh of relief. The newly elected Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, has shown great promise as a president willing to break a 30-year tradition of hostility toward the United States and solve some of the problems that have rattled the Middle East in recent years.

Simply looking at Iran’s list of previous presidents and their political platforms, one would never have expected Rouhani to even

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have a chance at election. Since the overthrow of the Shah and establishment of the Republic in 1979, Iranian presidents have maintained a standard of hardline conservatism, isolationism, and extreme anti-Western sentiment. They were able to draw on the rage that many Iranians had felt toward the United States and translate it into domestic and foreign policies aimed directly against secularism and “Western imperialism”.

But by the end of Ahmadinejad’s second term, it was clear that Iranian voters were ready for some major change. Peaceful demonstrations were held following his election over possible voting fraud and corruption, and reformists and conservatives alike attempted to impeach him. Al Arabiya reported that by 2012, his 70% approval rating had plummeted to the lowest of any president in Iranian history.

UN-sponsored economic sanctions had reduced Iran’s economic growth to a mere 0.8%, making Ahmadinejad’s isolationist rhetoric difficult for Iranian people to swallow.

Recent dissatisfaction with the traditionalist government and their inability to adapt their policies has helped swing the political pendulum back to center. Hassan Rouhani, Iran’s former chief nuclear negotiator, ran for president on a platform of pragmatism, economic reform, and the release of political prisoners and dissidents. Most importantly, he promised that he would end hostility with the United States and open Iran to negotiations regarding its nuclear program. His words were well-received among voters- he won the presidency in the first round of elections and defeated the second place candidate by a full 34 percent.

Rouhani’s commanding victory gives him the mandate to begin

PHOTO PROVIDED BY WIKIPEDIA COMMONS

A mural outside of the former U.S. Embassy in Tehran.

Iran’s potential development implementation of his reformist of nuclear weapons is a fear often policies, but will U.S.-Iran relations actually improve after so many years repeated by both the United States and Israel. Given that former Presiof animosity? So far, the diplomatic dent Ahmadinejad had threatened climate between Iran and the west to “wipe them off the face of the has warmed considerably. In SepEarth” (just one tember 2013, example of Rouhani visited New Hassan Rouhani, Iran’s Iran’s historic anti-Semitic vitYork to speak former chief nuclear riol), Israel has at the United negotiator, ran for particular cause Nations Genpresident on a platfor concern eral Assemover a possible bly, and later form of pragmatism, that month, economic reform, and nuclear weapons program, conducted the release of politiwhile the United a telephone States fears that conversation cal prisoners and disa nuclear Iran with Presisidents. Most imporcould disrupt dent Obama. tantly, he promised the balance of It was the that he would end power in the first time in 30 years that hostility with the Unit- Middle East and provide Iran the Iranian ed States and open with unwarrantand American Iran to negotiations ed negotiating presidents leverage. The had comregarding its nuclear international municated program. community directly with is especially each other. concerned that Iran could reach These are, of course, mostly symbol“breakout capability”, where Iran has ic gestures, but shows that Rouhani enough nuclear material and sciis not afraid to open negotiations entific capacity to rapidly construct with the international community. a nuclear weapon. Sources in the Rouhani says that he is especially Rouhani administration stated that willing to cooperate with the UN on Iran’s controversial nuclear program. Iran may be willing to limit future uranium enrichment to 5 percent He set a timetable of 3 months for and prevent further increase of resolving nuclear talks with the Iran’s nuclear stockpile. If Rouhani international community, after Ahcan follow up on his promises to remadinejad had stalled out for years. solve the nuclear situation, it’s quite In recent interviews, he said that likely that Iran’s relationship with “We [Iran] have never sought, nor the U.S. will improve considerably in will ever seek, nuclear weapons. We coming years. solely seek peaceful nuclear techIsrael remains unconvinced that nology and … we want the world to any real change is coming to Iraniknow that nuclear weapons neither an foreign policy. Citing Iran’s past have, nor will have, any place in our transgressions against international doctrine.”

law, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Rouhani a “wolf in sheep’s clothing”, nothing more than a politician just trying to gain favor with his people and with the United States. “Distrust, dismantle and verify” is the motto that Netanyahu has urged the U.S. to follow as they continue negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program. Despite Rouhani’s verbal commitment to resolve the conflict, Israel refuses to acknowledge that Iran may not be the same threat they were a year ago.

President Rouhani has certainly shown more promise for reform than any other preceding Iranian president, but Israel’s skepticism is not entirely unfounded. Only two months have passed since his inauguration, so it’s nearly impossible to tell whether Rouhani will follow up on his campaign promises. It must also be noted that while many Iranians applauded Rouhani’s visit to the United States and communications with Obama, a large number of hardliners held protests upon his return. Their chants of “Death to America” serve as a reminder that anti-Western sentiment is, and has been for 30 years, a key component of Iranian foreign policy. If Rouhani is forced to compromise with conservative factions to maintain power, his ability to continue building favorable relationships with the international community may be jeopardized.

The next round of nuclear talks will be held in Geneva on November 8th and 9th. President Rouhani has shown the commitment and the pragmatism to enable real diplomatic change to take place, but only time will determine whether the promises of his “Prudence and Hope” campaign will be kept.

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Published with support from: Generation Progress, a division of the Center for American Progress.

Generation Progress works to help young people — advocates, activists, journalists, artists — make their voices heard on issues that matter.

Learn more at GenerationProgress.org Also paid for in part by student fees.

Campus BluePrint is a non-partisan student publication that aims to provide a forum for open

dialogue on progressive ideals at UNC-Chapel Hill and in the greater community.

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