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(04/28/06 4:00am)
Overcrowding, redistricting, two new schools and schedule changes have spun the local public school systems into a whirlwind of a year.
To combat overcrowding, both Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools and Orange County Schools are building new facilities -Gravelly Hill Middle School in the county and Carrboro High School in the city - and shuffling students around.
Libbie Hough, a member of the county school board, said she does not expect problems with the changes.
"It's always a challenge to get used to new changes, that's why we tried to minimize the number of people we moved around," Hough said.
The county plans to open Gravelly Hill in August amid concerns that the state would not issue a certificate of occupancy without a stabilized sewer system, said Anne D'Annunzio, spokeswoman for county schools.
"If we have water in there we can get the certificate with the pump and haul," she said.
Hough said the new middle school should have an immediate impact on overcrowding, disciplinary problems and maintenance.
She added that nearly 1,300 students could have been impacted by the new district lines, but many chose to be grandfathered - staying at their current school and providing their own transportation.
No eighth grade students are moving, so Gravelly Hill will only have grades six and seven, each with only about 150 students.
City schools are on track to open the new high school in 2007, said Stephanie Knott, assistant to the superintendent for community relations. Redistricting will not occur before the next school year.
"The redistricting process is currently going on," Knott said. "The committee's plan should go before the board in June and notification (of the students) will take place shortly after."
Lisa Stuckey, chairwoman of the city school board, said Carrboro High is designed to open with 800 students, instead of at maximum capacity. This will allow growth, lessening the likelihood of another shuffle.
"We have a school board policy that gives the school board guidance about how to make redistricting plans," she said. "Generally it's based on geography, but not entirely."
In addition to new schools, both systems also will change daily high school schedules. Next year, county high schools will have a four-block schedule, and city high schools will have a seven-period day.
"I think the reason Orange County chose to switch to block is to give students more opportunities," said Elizabeth Brown, county school board member. "You end up getting two extra classes each year."
Knott said city school students reported that they could not fulfill all graduation requirements on the six-block schedule. In the extra period, Knott said students will have opportunities such as SAT prep classes and tutorial services.
Knott said the transitions should not be a hassle, and that she hopes it gives students a greater chance for success.
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(04/25/06 4:00am)
As new episodes of "American Idol" and "Will and Grace" air this week, millions of people are expected to shut off the tubes and combat obesity as part of TV Turnoff Week.
Robert Kesten, executive director of TV Turnoff Network, the national organization promoting the week, said he thinks eight million to 10 million people will participate through Sunday in the effort to promote positive lifestyles.
"Twelve years ago, two young men who believed they were creating an environmental organization started this company," he said. "Soon enough they realized that this is also a health issue and a societal issue."
Tracy Weeks, director of instructional technology and media for Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, a participant in the national event, said the week is designed to make students think about how much time they spend watching TV.
"What we're hoping to get out of this week is for students to spend time with their families," she said.
"Hopefully they will become healthier by becoming more active."
Kesten said the week will help show that there are other things to do besides sitting in front of the screen.
Some alternatives he suggested include volunteering in the community, getting involved in sports, reading and taking a walk.
"Do all the things that you ever dreamed about doing that the screen sucked you away from," he said.
More information on the week and alternatives to watching television are available at tvturnoff.org.
Christine Shooter, a nurse at Estes Hill Elementary School, said this year the school is promoting an entirely TV-free week, including video games and computers.
Shooter said children watch an average of 900 hours each year.
"I think any more than two hours in front of a screen a day is unhealthy," she said.
Shooter added that TV-watching correlates with increases in childhood obesity, low reading ability and aggression.
Despite the downsides of watching TV, Weeks said the tube is not all bad news.
"There are certainly some very educational resources out there and there are some good things about TV, with educational programming, but I think the emphasis is on how much is being watched," she said.
"Nothing is bad in moderation, but when we as a society take it too far, that's when it becomes a problem."
Kesten said he has not heard any backlash from cable companies about schools across the country encouraging students to turn off the TVs this week.
He said he is excited about the opportunities the week presents, especially hearing the stories.
"Children report back and tell us how much fun they had with their families and how unbelievably easy it was to give up the TV," he said.
"People let us know that they've tried the week and hopefully it will make a change."
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(04/18/06 4:00am)
Pictures were worth a thousand words Monday night as parents and teachers from the Orange County Schools system spoke at a public hearing on the district's budget for fiscal year 2006-07.
About 10 people spoke at Monday's hearing, most of whom brought concerns forward about the conditions of Orange High School.
Representing the school was the president of the parent-teacher-student organization, Schatzie Crowther, who showed a slide show presentation of "sub-standard" facilities at the high school.
"We're here to make a plea for Orange High School," Crowther said.
"Cosmetic repairs are no longer needed. It's a waste of time and money," she added.
"Our first area of concern is the substandard conditions of the science labs. These conditions are unsafe. . Our students should not have to spend another day in this lab."
Concerned parents were present in the auditorium as Crowther displayed pictures of the science labs, which had broken tile floors, lab benches and sinks.
She also described poor light fixtures and ventilation as creating an unsafe environment for the students.
"How much more money will be wasted before Orange High is taken care of?" she asked.
Randy Copeland, chairman of the school board, said he was surprised at some of the pictures.
Superintendent Shirley Carraway said many of the concerns that Crowther expressed are being addressed.
"Some of the things we saw tonight are already in the work for this year's budget," Carraway said.
"We just need to let the staff and parents know the status of many of their concerns. Some of them were already in the (capital investment plans)."
On April 3, the school board approved a $23.4 million budget for 2006-07, which is a 19.6 percent more than the funding for last year.
Carraway said the increase looks large, but if the district had been given the funding it asked for last year, they wouldn't need so much money.
"I know that that's big bucks, but we're asking for the things we need," she said.
Included in the budget request is $5.2 million in startup costs for Gravelly Hill Middle School, which is planned to open in the fall.
"We have to be able to start them with the critical staff that they need to be able to start and operate," Carraway said.
Crowther said that instead of building new facilities, the board should focus on fixing existing problems.
"Before new schools are taken care of, Orange High needs to be taken care of," she said.
Another concern of parents was the proposal to cut English as a Second Language classes.
"With the ESL classes, we have to look at the proportion of students we have in those classes," Carraway said.
"The teachers for those classes are appropriated according to our needs in those areas."
The county school board must send its budget on to the Orange County Board of Commissioners on May 1 for approval.
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(04/11/06 4:00am)
Smith Middle School administrators are willing to distribute copies of their student newspaper - but with a few strings attached.
Assistant Principal David Lyons confiscated the March issue of "The Cyclone Scoop" due to a story that identified a 14-year-old student who is being charged with assault on a school bus.
If the staff, students in a Smith journalism class, replace the controversial story, the paper will be distributed, said Stephanie Knott, assistant to the superintendent for community relations.
The decision was handed down following a Thursday morning meeting of Smith administrators, she said.
When the new content for the newspaper is chosen and printed, the newspaper will be distributed, Knott said.
Valerie Reinhardt, the principal at Smith, wasn't at school when Lyons took the papers on March 24, but she said she would have done the same thing.
"We're investigating whether the people were informed that their names would be used in the paper and if confidentiality would be breached," Reinhardt said.
Becky Burke, the journalism teacher in charge of the newspaper, said the student named in the story is a staff member at The Cyclone Scoop and agreed to the story.
"He actually wanted to do the article himself, but we asked someone else to do it for objectivity," she said.
She also is eager for the students' hard work to be displayed.
"It seems like every time I read something, they're bringing up a different issue," she said. "The kids just wanted the paper distributed, and I do, too.
The situation has encouraged advisers at other Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools to think twice when printing their own school newspapers.
Chris Harkey, adviser of "The Mustang Roundup" at McDougle Middle School said the case will make other schools more cautious when printing names.
"Whether to print the name of someone who has committed a crime never has come up in my school," she said.
"That would be one where I would go ask my principal as a backup. I don't think it will ever hurt to get advice."
Knott said identifying students younger than age 16 who have been charged with a crime was a major argument for halting distribution.
She said there is no law that says someone younger than 16 cannot have his or her name printed, but she questions whether the 14-year-old student knew he was talking to a reporter.
Burke said she believes the student was aware he was speaking on the record because she tells her writers to introduce themselves and acknowledge what they are doing before each interview.
"The kids wear lanyards with a reporter's identification tags, they take notes in a reporter's notebook, and they're taught that they have to present themselves accordingly," she said.
Knott said that because the investigation isn't as cut and dry as it seems, the administration sought advice from the Student Press Law Center in Virginia.
Mark Goodman, executive director of the center, said he thinks it is important to recognize that the students did not break a law and that the administrators overstepped their bounds.
"They really didn't legally have a need to engage in this type of censorship," Goodman said.
"One of the things that would have been much more appropriate is sitting down and having a conversation with the students before confiscating the paper."
Burke said she realizes the administration was trying to protect the confidentiality of the students, but she thinks the paper should be redistributed.
"I hope they continue to act in the best interests of the kids and distribute the paper."
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(03/29/06 5:00am)
Orange County Schools just finished a reassignment process set to funnel students to a new middle school, but now it has one problem - Gravelly Hill Middle School might not open in the fall.
Paul Thames, Orange County engineer, said the building will not have a sewer system hooked up by August.
Without a sewer system in place, the school will not open on schedule, said Randy Copeland, chairman of the Orange County Board of Education, adding that he hopes this isn't the case.
"The opening of the school will be dependent on having all of the facilities in place, including the sewer system," he said.
Copeland said if Gravelly Hill does not open on time, students will stay in their respective schools until January and then will be moved according to the reassignment plan.
Thames said that while the sewer will not be complete in August, there are other strategies that can be used until the system is ready.
"On the site itself there is a network of sewer sites that hooks everything together," he said.
"There's a possibility that we can plug the last manhole before it goes into the new pumping station. That would allow the sewer network to fill up with sewer and pump it out every day."
He said that strategy often is used for a large facility, and it does not represent any hazard to the students, staff or the environment.
Even with an alternative plan in place, Thames said the final decision on when to open is left to the school board.
He said the delay in installing the sewer is because of the time it took to get the system approved.
"We've lost a lot of time in the review process," Thames said.
Sewer plans must be approved at both the state and federal levels and by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Copeland said the delay was a problem that the county could not have avoided.
"We're dealing with several government entities, local, state and federal, and we're having to get approval on several different levels," Copeland said.
"It's nothing the district could have done, but now we're back on schedule."
Despite the long review process, some still place the blame for the delay on the school board.
Jamie Daniel, a candidate for the Orange County Board of Commissioners who has children in the district, said the school board should have had a committee in charge of making sure all of the school facilities would be available by the school's opening date.
He continually has expressed his concern about the process used for redistricting and other issues pertaining to the new school.
"It showed a total lack of project management on the part of the elected members, the school board."
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(03/23/06 5:00am)
Students from the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools are hitting the road this weekend with one group heading to Gulfport, Miss., to help victims of Hurricane Katrina and with another off to Europe to visit pen pals.
Twenty high school students in the Youth Leadership Institute, part of the Blue Ribbon Mentor-Advocate program, will leave Sunday and spend their Spring Break in the Gulf Coast.
"We had been talking about going to Mississippi as far back as last Spring Break," said Graig Meyer, coordinator of the mentor program.
"We've heard from people who are down there that it's still a crisis situation. They still have not dug themselves out of the hole."
The group plans to help revitalize Turkey Creek, a historically black town.
Meyer said the group will cover most of the cost through its fundraisers and donations, collecting almost $7,000.
"We wanted to flip the tables and have them be people who helped out and not always be the recipients," Meyer said. "That way they can feel empowered and feel like they can make a difference in the world."
While high school students are helping out in Gulfport, 22 Smith Middle School students will join their French teacher, Robin McMahon, for three nights in Paris and five days in Belgium to visit pen pals.
The students have been corresponding with their Belgian friends for nine months.
McMahon said four of the students are economically disadvantaged and not able to afford the trip, but they received sponsorship through DonorsChoose, a national group that provides funds for public school projects.
"I went on the Web site and asked for some kids to be funded, and it was like magic when someone picked them up," she said.
"I cried and they cried, and that is the best feeling. Everybody needs to see the world, and you shouldn't be held back because of finances."
Stephanie Knott, assistant to the superintendent for community relations, said she is excited about the students being able to see the "charming little country."
The students are scheduled to return on April 3, and they will bring with them some of their pen pals. While here, the Belgian students will visit Charleston, S.C.; Washington, D.C.; and St. Joseph Christian Methodist Episcopal Church in Chapel Hill.
McMahon said the most important thing of the trip will be the international connections the students make.
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(02/27/06 5:00am)
"Alakazam" and other magical words were uttered by fifth-grader Tristan Martin on Saturday morning as he waved his hand over the bag of letters, hoping to pick the right letter combinations to make words in a game of Scrabble.
"Please let there be something," the Estes Hills Elementary School student said.
"Oh, no," he mumbled when his spell did not work and he pulled out Q, Z, F and T tiles - and was unable to use any of them.
Tristan was one of 44 students who participated in the fourth annual Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Scrabble tournament, a five-round contest held at Smith Middle School.
Students, ranging from grades four to eight, were competing on two-person teams for small prizes, trophies and a chance to compete in the National School Scrabble Championship in Boston.
"I let any kids that wanted to compete come here," said David Klionsky, tournament director and coach of the Seawell Elementary School Scrabble Club.
Though all district schools were invited to compete, only Seawell and Smith will send a team to nationals. The schools used Saturday's tournament to select the members of the nationals team.
"Since we had to register for the national tournament in October, we had to decide then whether to send a team," Klionsky said.
"So, the team that does the best from Smith and Seawell Elementary School, the highest of their classmates, will compete in nationals."
The first-place winners were Ranjitha Ananthan and Norman Archer, both fifth-grade students at Seawell. The two won all five of their games and finished with 647 more points than their opponents.
Jessica Hennen and Zaynah Alam, both sixth-grade students at Smith, came in second place, and Chase Douglas and Michael Prazenica of Ravenscroft School took third.
The first and second place winners will head to nationals in April.
"This was anybody's game, not just the team with the biggest vocabulary," said parent Will Lee of Chapel Hill, whose 10-year-old daughter Isabelle entered the contest.
"It's a combination of word skill, math and strategy with teamwork," he said. "I think it's great."
Lee added that the tournament director, "Mr. K," was supportive of the students, helping them with the word skills and strategy of the game.
Lee said that Isabelle soon might be good enough to beat him in Scrabble, especially if they play with a timer.
"What's scary to me is I play against her every once in a while, but they play against the clock," he said.
"I can't play against the clock, and she knows all of these two- or three-letter words that use X's and Q's. She might can beat me."
Klionsky said he hopes the tournament will reach young students such as Isabelle.
"The first year, it was around 16 students from two schools," he said.
"Each year, it has grown. Eventually we hope to start a countywide championship."
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(02/21/06 5:00am)
The fate of what some residents say is North Carolina's second largest white oak tree lies in the hands of Hillsborough officials.
The town's planning board members soon will decide whether to uproot the tree to make room for a 12-lot subdivision off U.S. 70 Business and Tuscarora Drive.
At 204 centimeters in circumference, the white oak is 28 centimeters smaller than North Carolina's largest white oak, which is located in Davidson County, according to North Carolina's database of the state's largest trees.
Diane Steltz, a forest supervisor of Jordan Lake Educational State Forest, said having a white oak of this size is not rare to the area and other parts of the piedmont region.
"At a lot of old homesteads, you'll find trees that are that large because people usually care for it better, watch over it and help it grow," she said.
"They grow it in their yards and care for it. It's not unusual to have big trees, especially in populated areas."
Hillsborough planning board member Eric Oliver said he favored leaving the tree in place because of its significance for the town. Although there are not many people who know about the tree, he said that for the people who are aware of the situation, saving the tree is important.
"At first blush, we try to make sure that we can do everything we can to save the tree," Oliver said.
"It's estimated to be about 300 years old, and that's why we asked for someone to come in and make sure that's how old it is and if the tree is healthy.
"If it's not healthy, it needs to be taken down, and there wouldn't be much opposition to that. But if it's healthy, then we'll do all that we can do to save it."
After surveyors examine its health, the tree's fate will be left up to the board.
Steltz said she would understand if the tree had to be uprooted in this situation, especially because it would be unhealthy and environmentally dangerous if it housed small animals or fungus.
Tom Campanella, professor of city and regional development at the University and planning board member, said he favors keeping the tree.
"I love trees," Campanella said. "I would much rather not see it come down, but I'm a realist."
He said there is no legal protection for the tree, just good faith.
"The interesting thing is there's no protection for trees like this," Campanella said. "If the tree has to be removed, they usually agree to plant more in another part of town so it's not the end of the world."
According to Hillsborough's tree policy, the tree board can remove trees for public improvements.
"The thing is, this tree is sitting in the middle of where they want to develop," Campanella said.
"If it wasn't for that, the tree wouldn't even be an issue right now."
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(02/21/06 5:00am)
Fifteen years after his death, the murder of Internationalist Books and Community Center founder Bob Sheldon remains unsolved, but his legacy lives on.
Internationalist Books will honor Sheldon's life and death today, on what the town has proclaimed "Bob Sheldon Day," which will be recognized with a speech from Chapel Hill Mayor Kevin Foy and a vigil.
The vigil will move from the store's current location, at 405 W. Franklin St., to the original location at 408 Rosemary St.
On Feb. 21, 1991, Sheldon was found lying unconscious on the floor of Internationalist Books, bleeding from an apparent gunshot wound to the left side of his head.
The murder was believed to be politically motivated as Sheldon was a strong critic of the first Gulf War.
"He had gone on the 6 o'clock news talking about how we should not be involved in the war, and he had organized strikes," said Biff Hollingsworth, a volunteer and member of the Internationalist Books board of directors.
"A lot of people feel that if it were some sort of political thing it would be somebody who had an argument about the war. That's one myth. Some people just think he was at the wrong place at the wrong time."
The murder was never solved, and Chapel Hill police spokeswoman Jane Cousins said the case no longer is active.
After Sheldon's death, former manager and volunteer Maria Rowan said she focused on reopening the store.
"I will never forget Feb. 21, but I believe that history is important." she said.
"What we learned from Bob Sheldon's life is one person could make a huge difference."
Rowan described Sheldon as a warm, respectful and passionate person.
When the store reopened April 1, 1991, it was run by volunteers.
Rowan said during the transition the store went from having a single charismatic activist personify the store to incorporating a wide range of ideals.
"There could be radical differences because we were very diversified, and we were really a forum for all kinds of ideas and beliefs," she said. "That's the way Bob envisioned it, and that's the way we carried it out."
Store manager Sarah Mosbacher said that she never met Sheldon, but that she believes the store is continuing his goal of being a central area for political action.
"We offer a political resource to people that they wouldn't readily find anywhere else," she said.
Mosbacher said that during the 10 years Sheldon ran the store, it became a cultural resource for the area.
She added that despite its role in the community, keeping the store open wasn't always easy.
"Running a small bookstore is very hard to compete with the larger stores," she said.
As for the future of the store, Mosbacher said, "As long as the community needs this type of place, we're not going anywhere. People need a place to meet and discuss ideas and hopefully we'll always be able to offer that."
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(02/13/06 5:00am)
As soon as Hector's opened Saturday morning, customers were coming in to order food. The store owners predicted that it would be a busy day.
And after a 37-year stay at 201 E. Franklin St. it should have been - Saturday was the last day in business for Hector's at that location.
"Yesterday it was crazy, and today it will be the same," co-owner Juan Bautista said.
"With it raining right now, I don't know if they'll come out for the day, but we'll have lots of people for the night."
Bautista's prediction held true as the late-night eatery filled with customers Saturday night.
"It was so packed around 2 (a.m.) that I couldn't even order," said Richie Price, a Chapel Hill resident and a regular at Hector's.
"I was going to just wait and come back later, but then I found out there wouldn't be a later, at least not here."
Bautista said Saturday was a bittersweet day for him because he has been at the restaurant since 1989, first as a worker and then as co-owner with his brother-in-law Jos
(01/30/06 5:00am)
Young environmental activists gathered at Chapel Hill High School Saturday night for "A celebration of earth and sky," dedicated to the memory of a 2003 Chapel Hill High graduate.
Students United for a Responsible Global Environment hosted the event in honor of Ben Goldstein, who died in December.
Members of the group remembered Goldstein as someone who was devoted to their goals.
"Ben was very involved in animal protection and promoting the environment," said Clare Connolly, a sophomore at Chapel Hill High and a member of SURGE. "He was never actually a member of SURGE, but he helped on projects and tried to make a difference."
Calling the night's program a "test flight for future events," Rob Greenberg, event organizer and faculty advisor of SURGE, began the evening with a slide show presentation of pictures of the environment.
After spoken-word performances by students, William Schlesinger, Dean of Nicholas School for the Environment at Duke University, informed the audience about global warming and climate change.
He said that there is a positive correlation between warmer ocean temperatures and that the intensity of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita were consistent with what is expected with the global warming conditions.
He said scientists are doing research to find ways to fix the problem but encouraged everyone to do their part.
"You need to realize that we live on one planet, with one biosphere and one people," Schlesinger said.
Connolly said she is happy to be a part of SURGE because it can help make the changes that Schlesinger advocated.
"We live in an environmentally conscious area already, but there's still a lot we can do and programs like SURGE can help out," Connolly said.
Daniel Reichart, a professor of physics and astronomy at the University, also was a keynote speaker. He discussed his scientific project in Chile and gamma ray bursts.
Friends of Bolin Creek attended the event, as well as other student environmental groups.
Senior Rio Tazwell, a member of SURGE said he was happy with the way the event turned out.
"This is our first year having SURGE here at Chapel Hill High School, but I think there are others across the country," Tazwell said. "We've been brainstorming this all year."
Members of SURGE also are involved in another project - creation of a biodiesel reactor.
Since August, the students have been working on a reactor that will change renewable sources such as vegetable and soybean oil into petroleum-based fuel.
Thursday, biodiesel project members Tazwell, Rhys Baker and Julian Bach received news that the Chapel Hill High senior class, will give them the money they need to start their project as this year's senior class gift.
Senior class vice president Valerie Weiseman said Thursday that they are ready to give a sizeable amount to support the biodiesel project.
"We felt like it was a good cause," she said. "There are so many problems with fuel right now, and we really wanted to make a difference."
With their biodiesel project, the students are working in conjunction with Pittsboro co-op Piedmont Biofuels, which will help them build their reactor.
Baker said the group will start work on the project next week.
He said that once the project is complete, he and his group members hope to travel to surrounding schools to teach them about biodiesel fuels as a renewable fuel source.
Using a donated vehicle Greenberg said they "want to put fuel in the vehicle, take it on the road and show them what biodiesel looks like."
Securing funding for the biodiesel project has been a long process for Baker and the team, but Baker said he is thrilled that the senior class has decided to support their project as the senior class gift.
"It represents how environmentally conscious we are," he said. "We are trying to make our own difference in our county; we're hoping that it spreads."
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(01/25/06 5:00am)
Twenty-five years after its opening and 15 years after the death of its founder, Internationalist Books and Community Center still is recognized in the community for its political and social activism.
The store's board of directors and members of the community gathered at the 405 W. Franklin St. shop Tuesday night to plan festivities for the center's 25th year.
The eight-person group plans to kick off the celebration Feb. 21 with a vigil to the store's founder, Bob Sheldon.
"I'm putting together an idea to make the bookstore more inviting to the community and as a memorial to him," said Biff Hollingsworth, a member of the Internationalist Books board of directors.
An outlet for community action and involvement, the store's history is full of controversy.
In 1991, Sheldon vocally protested the Persian Gulf War and sought the community's help in publicizing his stance. In February 1991, Sheldon was murdered in what Al McSurely, a member of the anniversary planning committee and a local civil rights lawyer, said he believes was a politically motivated crime.
"I was the lawyer for the Sheldon family and a very close friend of Bob's," McSurely said. "Bob was the only son, and it was a very devastating task to meet with them after he was killed. It's still an open case."
In 1995, the store moved from Rosemary Street to Franklin Street, where it continued to be a forum for political discussion and grassroots organizing.
"This has served as a focal point for politics, both national and international," said Ethan Clauset, chairman of the board.
"We carry a lot of publications, books and magazines, that are not generally available in stores. It's information that's selected collectively by people who are the sum of the interests by real people. It's important because this is real literature."
In addition to books and magazines, Internationalist sells T-shirts, postcards, bumper stickers and spoken word CDs. The store also hosts poetry readings and discussions about different topics that concern the community.
"We are a focal point for organizing protests," Clauset said. "We house groups outside of the mainstream. This is more than a place to buy information. It's a place to get involved."
It is this type of activism that attracts volunteer Leanne Simon to the store.
One of more than 40 volunteers who devote at least three hours each week to tending the shop, Simon said Monday that Internationalist is "the perfect place for community action."
"I have a two-year-old son and after I had him, I wanted to get connected with issues that I cared about, and this is a good place to begin that," Simon said.
Planning for the anniversary events will continue with a meeting at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 7. at the store. The tentative schedule includes the vigil in honor of Sheldon on Feb. 21, a citywide event to bring attention to workers' rights on May 1 and a benefit concert and community celebration party on Sept. 15.
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.