The Atlanta Constitution from Atlanta, Georgia • E6

events. de Mayo is a holiday that has consequence as far as the United States said Asa Hilliard, Georgia State Fuller E. Callaway professor of urban education. France, Spain and England invaded Mexico because the country stopped paying its debts. Spain and England eventually withdrew when they decided France was intent on building its empire in the hemisphere rather than collecting a debt.

U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, although sympathetic to the Mexican cause, could not help because the United States was fighting its own Civil War. But the Battle of Puebla delayed French victory in Mexico, ensuring that the European power could not get involved in the United internal conflict. The battle the U.S. Army from having to fight in that southern border and allowed them to concentrate their energies on the Civil Hilliard said.

The French eventually defeated the Mexicans, and Napoleon III installed Hapsburg Archduke Maximilian of Austria as ruler in 1864. The French occupation lasted until 1867, when the United States, its Civil War over, was able to send military aid. The Battle of Puebla and the eventual expulsion of France from Mexico further French in the Americas. events were pivotal events. They are not Hilliard said.

Often, though, what happens during designated months is that children get facts with very little sense of how they are connected, he said. Instead of Black History Month, for example, the role of Africa and African-Americans should be part of school curriculums across the board from math and science to art and literature, Hilliard said, that they can get beyond the songs and dances and the February list of Felix Matos Rodriguez suggested that events such as the Battle of Puebla and the French occupation of Mexico be taught by connecting the historical events to current affairs. Schools can take very local element to give a broader sense of Mexican said Matos Rodriguez, associate professor of Africana Puerto studies at Hunter College in New York. a comparison with issues associated with the war in Iraq. Make the students write about that.

It becomes very powerful and Still, interest in Hispanics in general and Mexican history in particular is welcome, said Luis J. Perez-Eguiarte, president of the Mexican American Business Chamber-Atlanta Inc. think it is opening up the horizon of kids to new cultures, new Perez-Eguiarte said. The lesson of the day should be it really meant and what really an approach that is gaining some acceptance in metro area schools. Gwinnett County schools, for example, asked Asian-American leaders for help when they were teaching about the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II, said Roger Ozaki, coordinator of testing for Georgia Perimeter College at the Gwinnett University Center.

The speaker, Margaret Nakano, who is in her 70s, was very well received, Ozaki said. was really interesting, and it brought the focus to something that they had read about or heard about. People read his- tory books not alive until they hear it Ozaki said. Making lessons real Some schools, such as Garden Hills Elementary School in Buckhead, weave disciplines together. For example, students using a reading program called Sequoyah are introduced to a historical person the man who invented the Cherokee alphabet, said Josef Nix, an interpreter and tutor at the school.

The lessons make Sequoyah real so that students have the image of an in a Nix said. The enrollment at Garden Hills is about 50 percent Hispanic, and it also has students from all over the world. It is not planning anything particularly special for Cinco de Mayo. But during Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15-Oct.

15), Garden Hills children learned about the Islamic influence on Spanish culture much of which later permeated Latin American culture, Nix said. Special events and hands-on activities help children retain what they are learning, said Blair Jordan, whose daughter is studying Mexico in her first- grade class at Dunwoody Springs. The school has nearly 700 children, and 36 countries are represented in the student body. think kids retain more than if you just lecture to them or if they are reading from a Jordan said. makes her become more aware of other culture and prompts her to ask questions about her own ON THE WEB: Department of Education has online lesson plans for various subjects with links to other sites on the Internet.

Visit: www.glc.k12.ga.us/news Continued from E1 Holiday: Schools delve into significance are of Mexican heritage, and their first mural was the history of Mexico from the Toltec and Olmec periods through the present day. wanted them to be Vinces said. want it to be Waldo the artist saying, kid, give me a I am there to help Not all of the students want to be artists, which is OK with Vinces. all need to care about their ideas. They can be whatever they want.

The only thing they need is to set he said. we can channel their energy in a positive way, we can steer them the way we want. And our future is Mexican immigrants have helped transform Dalton. They came in the 1990s to work in the carpet industry. Shopping centers have a Latin flavor, and the high school is nearly 46 percent Hispanic.

With that change came gangs, graffiti, drug dealing which some blamed on the newcomers. For this mural, teenagers Alfredo Guerrero and Yajaira Chairez walked around one afternoon with Regina Ragon, who teaches English to speakers of other languages and advises the International Club students. They were looking for a wall with graffiti on it, said Yajaira, 19, a senior. They asked property owner Benjamin Espinoza for permission to paint the wall. He agreed, mostly because they were with a teacher.

newspapers and news had said that Dalton had a lot of Yajaira said. decided to do it on a wall that had graffiti to show the community that not all Hispanics are the same. We can also do something Ragon said, believe that this project will bring more understanding our myriad cultures in Dalton. The idea is to try to involve all the cultures so that the city becomes more aware of cultural diversity and more accepting of KIMBERLY SMITH Staff Atlanta-based artist Waldo Vinces, a native of Venezuela, and wife Victoria Martin-Gilly launched the mural project. The couple wanted to expand on a brief career workshop they conducted with about 200 Hispanic students at Dalton High.

Mural: Hispanic culture shared all need to care about their ideas. They can be whatever they want. The only thing they need is to set WALDO VINCES Atlanta artist Continued from E1 By RICHARD WHITT Benevolent interpretations of ambiguous laws are allowing at least 42 illegal immigrants, and perhaps more, to pay in-state tuition at Georgia colleges. Out-of-state students pay about four times as much as Georgians to attend Georgia colleges. But students who graduate from Georgia high schools may pay in-state tuition, even if they are in the country illegally.

College admissions officials say partly because they have no effective way to identify illegal immigrants. But officials at three Georgia colleges Dalton State College, Gainesville College and Southern Polytechnic State University give a few acknowledged illegal immigrants on out-of-state tuition fees. North Georgia College State University will soon begin doing so, a spokesman said. The amounts vary from college to college. At Dalton State, for example, in-state tuition is $666 per semester for a full-time student, compared with $2,664 for out-of-state students.

The Georgia Board of Regents issued a memorandum in September 2000 stating there is no legal barrier to illegal immigrants attending college if they or from Georgia high schools. At the time, system officials said students who were in the United States illegally would probably have to pay out-of-state tuition. But of-state tuition serves as a said James Burran, president of Dalton State. Burran and some other campus presidents soon began granting these students an exemption known as Board policy allows school presidents to waive out-of-state tuition for up to 2 percent of full-time enrollment for out-of-state students international Some groups opposed The policy written for illegal immigrants, said Dan Papp, senior vice chancellor for academics and fiscal affairs, but the board allows it. thinking is, the University System is not in a position of forbidding said Papp.

The rule is attracting criticism from some quarters. is just ridiculous for this to be happening when there are so few resources said Jane Russell, director of Georgians for Immigration Reduction. think the limited funds should be for people who are here David Ray, associate director of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), argues the practice citizens from other states as second-class citizens to people who are Jose Gonzalez, attorney for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, sees it differently. for many immigrant students, tuition cost is a prohibitive he said. qualify for federal or state aid.

They are products of the Georgia education He added that while the families may be in the country illegally, they pay taxes that support the education system. pay sales tax and gasoline tax, and many of them get tax ID numbers so they can file their federal income he said. are withheld from their The Board of policy and laws concerning illegal immigrants in state colleges are quirky and ambiguous. In 1982, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states must provide a free education through high school to children illegally in the country.

At the same time, the court held that all persons who have entered the United States unlawfully, these children are subject to In other words, the federal government may swoop in and remove them, but unless it does, the local community must treat them as any other U.S. citizen. Federal, state laws conflict Congress added a new wrinkle in 1996 by making it illegal for states to grant postsecondary education benefits, including in-state tuition, to noncitizens unless the same benefits were given to all U.S. citizens. This year, the Maryland Legislature voted to grant in-state tuition to illegal immigrants.

The General Assembly in Virginia went the other way, voting to bar people in the country illegally from qualifying for in-state tuition. Four states Texas, California, New York and Utah allow illegal immigrants to pay in-state college tuition if they have attended high school in the state for at least three years. At least five other states are considering similar legislation Legal experts differ on whether these state laws violate the 1996 federal act. Many educators, including the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, support repeal of the 1996 law. Gainesville College President Martha T.

Nesbitt said she has allowed nine students who are illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition. are students who came to this country as children and went to school Nesbitt said. just feel that in the long run better for society if they get a degree. Hopefully, they can become documented and contribute to At least three other illegal immigrants are paying full tuition, said Tim Buchanan, director of admissions at Gainesville College. These students may be given presidential waivers or scholarships, said Buchanan.

Dalton State College has about 30 such students paying in-state tuition, and Southern Polytechnic has at least three, school officials say. Focus on residency At most Georgia schools, illegal immigrants can get in-state tuition because admissions officials focus on residency, not immigration status, when deciding what students should pay. If these students voluntarily reveal their immigration status, college admissions officials say they are barred by the 1982 Supreme Court decision from asking. they put down that a U.S. citizen and are a high school graduate in Georgia, pretty much said Richard Beaubien, director of the international office of entry services at Georgia Perimeter College.

Besides, school administrators say they spend their time being immigration police. have a law enforcement said Arlethia Perry-Johnson, associate vice chancellor to the state Board of Regents. fact that they are illegal should not be something for the university systems to manage. If residents of the state and are trying to better their lives through education, I think we have a responsibility to provide that Immigration officials estimate there are 228,000 illegal immigrants in Georgia. Thousands of them are children of parents employed by local and national firms in fields and factories, according to the estimates think some thought that, for some of these students, their families have contributed to the state of Georgia in terms of helping build the North Georgia College State University admissions director Robert LaVerriere said.

through no fault of the students, they are here, and they have been good students. Now they are graduating, and maybe something should be done for them to recognize their Illegal immigrants get tuition break Photos by JOEY IVANSCO Staff An anchor on loan from the Navy stands on the campus of Gainesville College, symbolizing its sports teams, the Lakers. Gainesville College is among Georgia schools that waived out-of-state tuition for some illegal immigrants. Gainesville College President Martha T. Nesbitt said she waived out- of-state tuition for nine illegal immigrant students because just feel that in the long run better for society if they get a RWORL0430OE6FWORL0430OE6 MID RUN 6E 6E RR RR BlueRedYellowBlack Blue RedYellowBlack E6 Wednesday, April 30, 2003 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution 4.