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the process can sometimes take far too long, and when it does, the pain of the change lingers. In July of 1968, a single judge mandated that the segregated school districts in western North Carolina would be merged when school began at the end of August. After 35 years, desegregation remains an uncomfortable subject for many. God left the Israelites in the wilderness far 4Q years until those whose minds were molded in the old ways had been replaced by a new generation. I think it will take us longer. In the past century, many laws and regulations have been enacted to discriminate against and curtail the rights of immigrants. The checks and balances of civil rights have resurfaced each time to countermand the abuses of the majority and even the government. Today, the U. S. Government has designed a dual set of civil liberties -one for citizens and another for immigrants. We wait to see how this plays out. In our education community, the minority are the parents of Orange County school children. We are dealing with a simple law that has deep roots in civil liberties. That law states that if a County has more than one school district, each must be funded equally on a per-pupil basis. If one is cognizant of American history, it takes little imagination to understand why this law in the genre of civil rights. Because this issue is about both children and taxes, it is unsurprising that emotions are running high. Unfortunately, the reaction of some Chapel Hill-Carrboro speakers and writers, once merely negligent of the problems the special district tax placed upon the County system, has escalated to intimidation, and sometimes abuse. Rising as a majority to flaunt numerical superiority has been an implied intimidation directed at both County parents and Commissioners. To imply that sharing a school system with County children would harm a Town child's academic future is insultingly abusive. This does not become our community. Thank you." H. Jiang: My family lives in this democratic country of Asian Americans. I first lived in Durham, and then I maned to Chapel Hill. They call this a free country; I can choose where I live. Careful planning and analysis will maximize the benefits and minimize the risks. Otherwise, it will hurt every student. In conclusion, you are elected to represent us. Please do not make a decision, which will hurt this area and the future of our students. Thank you. Julia Sendor: I am the Secretary for the East Chapel Hill High Student Government. Ashley Pendergrass: I'm the Treasurer for the East Chapel Hill High Student Government. Julia Sendor: And we want to make the East Chapel Hill High voice known. We're going to be presenting two things, and one is a survey. We passed out surveys to everyone in the school and we got about three-quarters of them back, but it's representative because each class was like a homeroom, so it's all different grades, all different types of people. Ashley Pendergrass: The survey found that 90.2% of the students who had an opinion about the proposed merger were opposed to it. And of all the students polled, 36.4°rb felt that they did not have enough information to make a decision. Julia Sendor: And then the student government also passed a bill to represent the entire school's feelings. It's not an incredibly specific bill. It's partially based on the fact that aver a third of the students did not have enough information to make an opinion, or felt they didn't. But the bill is as follows; it was passed on November 4cn