By Evelyn Greene
Carrboro Commons Writer

Photography isn’t just a hobby. For the employees of Southeastern Camera, the art and process of taking pictures has become their business.

A friendly smile and helpful information are just a few of the qualities that keep Chris Johnson (pictured) and Southeastern Camera distinct from Internet companies. With every wall and counter crammed with items for sale, a photo enthusiast is sure to find the accessory he or she needs.
Staff photo by Evelyn Greene

“We do a little bit of everything, basically anything related to photography,” said Chris Johnson, manager of the Carrboro store. From the crowded countertops, lined with rows of lenses ready for purchase or repair, to the walls shelved and stuffed with boxes of film and paper, “everything” seems like an understatement.

When the store first opened on East Rosemary Street in Chapel Hill in 1994, regulars needing supplies and accessories to support their film cameras frequented Southeastern Camera, which is the only store of its kind in Carrboro. In today’s market camera sales are mostly digital.

“We have definitely seen a change from the digital world,” said Johnson, of Mebane. He said that while it started out slow, as the quality of digital cameras improved and the prices dropped, the digital trend rapidly grew.

While the average customer enjoys photography as a hobby, there are many professionals that still come to the shop. This, however, is slowly declining as digital takes over.

“With film, there was more of a need for regular supplies: film, paper and chemistry,” Johnson said.

As digital has become the preferred way of shooting, there is less of a need to go to a professional shop. Photographers can buy a body and a lens with one big purchase and get by without other accessories.

Since 1997, when the store shifted to 205 W. Main Street, Johnson has credited the business’s success with the staff’s willingness to do more than just sell cameras.

“We have to sell ourselves to the customer,” he said. “A lot of it comes down to the personal service, the instruction and the information they can gather from us. All of us are huge photo enthusiasts so we know the cameras, and we can answer just about any question thrown at us,” Johnson said with a proud smile.

Although people do appreciate having a store they can actually walk into, camera stores are slowly closing down across the state, Johnson said.

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By Kate Searcy
Carrboro Commons Writer

Ten-year-old Lucas Griffin may not be a household name yet, but that hasn’t stopped him and other area youths from brushing up on their acting skills in a summer acting program that is the collaborative effort of Carrboro and Chapel Hill arts organizations.

While pianist Mark Lewis plays the keyboards, “Music Man” hopefuls, left to right, Chelsea Alston, Jabari Foust and Khalid Williams practice vocalizing during auditions for the musical. About 40 youths will be involved in this summer’s musical production.
Staff photo by Kate Searcy

“I [applied] to be in a movie with George Clooney,” Griffin said. “I didn’t make it, but he laughed a lot when he saw my video. He said it was funny.”

Griffin and about 40 other children and teenagers, mostly from the Triangle area, auditioned March 15 and 16 to take part in the Summer Youth Conservatory program, a summer workshop that runs from Jun. 23 to July 23 and allows young actors and actresses to rehearse and perform on the main PlayMakers stage at the Paul Green Theatre at UNC-Chapel Hill.

The workshop is put on by the Carrboro ArtsCenter and PlayMakers Repertory Company. The program is for ages 9-18, and the fee is $1,100, which pays for tuition and housing for the students over the summer.

This is the second summer that the program has been offered, according to Jeri Lynn Schulke, director of the Youth Drama Conservatory at the ArtsCenter.

This year’s performance will be the American classic “The Music Man.”

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By Shannon David
Carrboro Commons Writer

Hogan’s Magnolia View Farm, a family-owned farm since 1757, joined the 13^th Annual Piedmont Spring Farm Tour because of the tour’s emphasis on community-based, local production and the promotion of sustainable agriculture.

Hogan’s Magnolia View Farm has been the home of Rameses, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s mascot, since 1924. Rob Hogan, a 9th generation farmer and the current owner of Hogan’s Magnolia View Farm, shows off the current and future Rameses.
Staff photo by Shannon David

The tour will be held on Saturday, April 19, and Sunday, April 20, from 1 to 6 p.m. The price is $30 per car to visit all 35 farms on the tour, all of which are located in Orange, Alamance and Chatham Counties, or $10 per car per farm. Each car will receive a “Support Local Farms” button with the purchase of a ticket.

The goal of the tour, co-sponsored by the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association (CFSA) and Weaver Street Market, is to reconnect consumers with their food, promote sustainable agriculture and encourage consumers to buy local products.

According to the CFSA’s Web site, sustainable agriculture is “a food and fiber production and distribution system that is environmentally sound, economically viable and socially just.”

The tour also provides a way for Carrboro to celebrate Earth Day on Tuesday, April 22, just two days after the tour’s end.

According to the U.S. government’s Earth Day Web site, Earth Day is a “time to celebrate gains we have made and create new visions to accelerate environmental progress.”

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By Lindsay Ash
Carrboro Commons Writer

On March 7, the four district middle schools competed in the eighth annual Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Battle of the Books competition.

Phillips Middle School Media Specialist and Co-coach Carolyn Parker talks with students Lenny Rosen (left), Deborah Lawrence (center) and Anne Kelley (right), during the intermission after round eight. Parker has worked with these students at least once a week since October to prepare for the Battle of the Books.
Staff photo by Lindsay Ash

The competition took place in the auditorium of Culbreth Middle School. Parents and students attended the event and cheered in support of 56 students who competed to become the district champion.

Five months of hard work reading 26 books paid off for Phillips Middle School students who won the district competition. Phillips won the Battle of the Books after sixteen rounds with 130 points.

Though Phillips won the competition, event organizer Laura Williams said that all the participants were winners.

“Battle of the Books is a truly impressive feat,” Williams said. “The Battle is so much more than winning. It is about reading.”

Battle of the Books forces students to look beyond plot summary and delve into the details. The students were exposed to a wide variety of literature characterized by a range of plots, settings and styles.

The 26 books on the reading list range from classics to adventure to science fiction and more. The list aims to cover subjects that would appeal to both boys and girls. The State Battle of the Books Committee strives to select quality books that will stand the test of time and are suitable for middle school reading levels.

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By Ann Ansley
Carrboro Commons Writer

On March 18, Roger Clemens, Mia Hamm and Tyler Hansbrough visited Carrboro Elementary School.

Or, rather, the 4-feet-tall versions of these superstars.

Bryant Johnson, 8, poses as Michael Jordan at the annual Carrboro Elementary School Wax Museum project. On March 17 and 18, third graders dressed up as famous people in history and performed short skits about their characters’ lives for family, friends and visiting community members.
Staff photo by Ann Ansley

In one of the busiest events of the year for Carrboro Elementary, third graders participated in their annual Wax Museum project on March 17 and 18. Students dressed up as famous historical characters and performed short speeches about their characters’ lives for family members, friends and members of the community.

“I feel the main thing that is special is that the project incorporates the entire curriculum: social studies, writing, researching, theater,” said Amanda Crisp, vice principal at Carrboro Elementary. “I think it engages and energizes the students, but it also builds community by bringing in parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles. The home-school relationship is important.”

Parents also thought the Wax Museum was a very special event.

“Kids learn a lot,” said Rachel Ingham, mother of third grader Ben Ingham. “The people they pick come from all different backgrounds, and the project teaches them to work hard.”

The costumed third graders lined up along three long hallways. Whenever a visitor approached a student and stepped on the small laminated square in front of them, the student came alive and spoke of his or her character’s life and accomplishments.

The students’ choices of characters were as different as their favorite aspects of completing the project.

“I liked typing it up,” said 8-year-old Ben Ingham, who was dressed up as Christopher Columbus.

“He picked Christopher Columbus because they both liked maps,” added Ben’s mom.

Eight-year-old Bryant Johnson dressed up as Michael Jordan.

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By Allie Maupin
Carrboro Commons Writer

Randy Dodd has an idea to help soothe Carrboro citizens’ worries about increasing traffic congestion and rising gas prices: get rid of your car.

Dodd has plans to develop a community program aimed at helping the environment by reducing the need for personal vehicles. Though still in its early stages, Dodd‘s initiative, entitled Carrborrow, seeks to establish a car-sharing enterprise in Carrboro.

Carrborrow hopes to link people with forms of alternative transportation and if effective could help alleviate traffic in downtown Carrboro. .
Staff photo by Allie Maupin

“Car sharing is a very interesting trend,” Dodd said. “What I want to do is establish that here in Carrboro, but with a locally driven focus.”
Car sharing started in Europe, where a group of people would buy a car together and share its cost and usage. Unlike renting a car, sharing allows many members to use the same car by allowing them to rent a vehicle for hours, rather than days.

The idea is for people give up the use of a personal car in exchange for access to a full fleet of vehicles, parked in locations around a city. Dodd said his initiative will increase the energy efficiency of cars because one can pick the best mode of transportation for a given trip.

Dodd, originally from New England, has lived in central North Carolina for 40 years. He works as an environmental planner for the Town of Carrboro, a job that he said “constantly requires thinking of ways to make Carrboro better.” The origins of Carrborrow came from combining of Dodd’s love of cycling with his commitment to the environment.

“I was into recreational riding and bike touring, and all of that started my thinking about alternative transportation,” Dodd said.

Giles Blunden, Dodd’s neighbor, who has consulted on the project, thinks Carrboro is just the right place for a program like Carrborrow to work.

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By Lindsay Ash
Carrboro Commons Writer

The walls of one robber’s new jail cell will not be smashed through as easily as the walls of the Willow Creek Shopping Center.

A burglar ravaged the Willow Creek Shopping Center robbing several stores over a period of three nights beginning on Christmas Eve, entering through a vacant store and then burrowing through its walls to get into surrounding stores.

Theo Cokkinos, employee, stands next the last mark left by a burglar in Carolina Cleaners. The wall has been patched but is waiting for the final coat of paint. The robber crashed through two walls of Carolina Cleaners to pass through to the neighboring stores.
Staff photo by Lindsay Ash

During the robberies, the burglar made a mess in several of the stores even making time for a snack, leaving a Little Debbie wrapper and juice bottle behind.

“He was a very gutsy man,” said Robbie Miller, owner of Daytona Rays. “He seemed to show no fear coming back to our stores three times.”
Carrboro Police Department arrested and charged Fernice Anderson Lowry with breaking and entering. Lowry was tried and found guilty of the charges in Orange County Superior Court on Feb. 4. and sentenced to 9-11 months active time.

According to the Carrboro Police Department’s Web site, 61 more burglaries were reported in 2007 than in 2006. Not all were as dramatic at the Lowry robberies, but the increased number of burglaries is something to take into account.

There are many elements and degrees to burglaries that the police evaluate. “The first thing we want to do is protect citizens, and the second thing we want to do is catch bad people,” said Captain J.G. Booker of the Carrboro Police Department.

Crime is not an easy thing to measure. Its many elements and situational circumstances make generalizations too broad to capture in one measurement. Booker emphasized that the Carrboro Police Department continually focused on crimes of opportunity.

“I can’t say that the police department is the only factor that affects the level of crime that occurs each year,” said Booker. “Certainly the police department is a factor, but the overall crime levels in Carrboro depend on many outside elements.”

Miller believes the Carrboro Police Department did all they could to protect her store and the Willow Creek Shopping Center in general.

“I give the police so much credit,” said Miller. “They did everything they could to capture him quickly so I could have back my peace of mind.”

Miller said, “When the finally got (him) I felt relieved. But I think overall I can speak for most of Carrboro when I say that people feel safe here.”

In English

Por Allison McNeill
Carrboro Commons Reportera
Traducido por Kennedy Carruthers

Una organización local dirigida por estudiantes de UNC-CH espera ayudar a los hombres que hablan en español en Carrboro y Chapel Hill pero se hay enfrentado con obstáculos mientras tratando de cumplir su misión de establecer oportunidades por aumentar aptitudes de comprender y hablar en inglés.

J.D. Brannock, de en medio, un estudiante en UNC-CH y un tutor con BOLD por un año, tutora a Enrique Cadeña y ose Aryza, a la derecha, durante un clase de BOLD en la semana atrás en Carrboro Elementary School.
Foto por Allison McNeill

Co-Presidente Derek Paylor tiene confianza en BOLD y si otros crecen en su “cuando encuentras una buena cosa, no quieres guardarla para tú mismo” perspectiva, BOLD no tendrá problemas en el alcance de sus objetivos.

BOLD empezó en 2005, siguiendo en los pasos de MANO (Mujeres Avanzando hacia Nuevas Oportunidades), la cual es un programa de tutorar sólo para mujeres.

BOLD tiene clases las lunes y miércoles desde las 7:00 hasta las 8:30 de la noche en Carrboro Elementary School. “Su éxito de tener clases aquí fue facilitado a causa de que MANO ya está establecido en la escuela,” dijo Taylor.

El local de la escuela también es práctico par los estudiantes—la escuela es accesible por bus. Además, a causa de que ambas organizaciones tienen clases en el mismo local y al mismo tiempo, es posible que familias y parejas puedan asistir a las clases.

Paylor, una júnior de Roxboro concentrando en estudios internacionales y estudios asiáticos, dijo que la idea de BOLD es proveer sesiones individuales de tutorar—no importa el nível de aptitud. Los tutores y los estudiantes su reúnen baseado en sus niveles de necesidad. Aunque los voluntarios sólo vienen de UNC-CH, Paylor espera extender la oportunidad a los miembros de la comunidad también.
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In English

Por Morgan Siem
Carrboro Commons Reportera
Traducido por Kennedy Carruthers

Superando su miedo de micrófono, un niño preescolar dijo, “A mi me gusta hablar en Español.” Él fue entre los mas aficionados apasionantes del programa de doble idioma que fueron a la reunión de la administración de educación de las escuelas de Chapel Hill y Carrboro en el 17 de enero.

Jennifer Gonzalez, un estudiante de jardín de infantil, escribe en su cuaderno de ejercicios con Luzma Henao, una asistente de cátedra de Colombia.
Foto por Morgan Siem

Los programas de doble idioma empezaron seis años atrás en dos escuelas en el distrito de Carrboro y Chapel Hill: Carrboro Elementary y Glenwood Elementary. Desde entonces, un gran apoyo y demando provocó a la administración de educación a considerar a extender el programa de doble idioma a las escuelas elementarías de Scroggs, McDougle y Frank Porter Graham.

El programa requiere que los estudiantes usan señales visuales, trabajan juntos y que piden ayuda, dijo José Nambo, coordinador del programa de doble idioma del distrito.

“Este programa anima a los estudiantes a pensar de una manera diferente,” él dijo. “Les da la capacidad de buscar otras maneras de completar un trabajo.”

Las clases están formateadas de modo que 50 por ciento de los estudiantes son aprendedores de inglés y la otra mitad habla inglés como su idioma principal. Por una mitad del día, los maestros hablan en inglés; por la otra porción, hablan en el idioma secundario.

En Glenwood Elementary, el lenguaje secundario es Mandarin mientras que en Carrboro Elementary es español. Si Frank Porter Graham, Scroggs y McDougle adopten el programa de doble idioma, van a enfocar en el español.
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