Volume 50, Issue 6
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Thursday, March 19, 2009
www.thebluebanner.net
University of North Carolina Asheville
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lliance A g n i w e r B e l l i Ashev ut gets the word o
The Vagina Monologues comes to UNCA campus
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election guide
News Thursday, March 19, 2009
STI numbers increase to 65 million By Michelle Peck Staff Writer
mwpeck@unca.edu
As the number of U.S. citizens living with a viral sexually transmitted infection rises to 65 million, students are becoming more aware of sexual health through on-campus events. “We’re adopting more creative ways to get that information out to students, Lovefest being one of them. Our challenge, however, is getting students to adopt those safe behaviors. There are all sorts of resources for the safe sex facts, but that’s only one piece to the whole picture,” said Linda Pyeritz, a registered nurse certified with the Wellness Outreach Health & Counseling Center. Pyeritz clarified the terminology of STIs. “The correct term is now STIs. We can have an STI, sexually transmitted infection, before having symptoms of the disease STD,” Pyeritz said. Lovefest included events such as sticker-a-friend, rubber ducky pond, a speaker on the secret lives of college students,” the Naked Truth Panel and making a condom rose. “All of these programs prompted conversation between students about STIs and safe sex,” Pyeritz said. “Students who were knowledgeable about STIs and safe sex became the peer educators and that makes a win-win program. There were also flyers, handouts, etc. at various tables, but a student educating other students is the best way to get information out there.” Western North Carolina AIDS Project also answered questions about safe sex, and Intervarsity Christian Fellowship held a presentation called “God is ProSex.” Every year, there are at least 19 mil-
See STIs Page 6
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Campus police make heroin arrest By David Milton Staff Writer
demilton@unca.edu
UNC Asheville Campus Police made an arrest Jan. 6 for the possession of heroin, the only non-marijuana drug-related arrest made during January and February, according to the campus crime log. The majority of drug use and arrests at UNCA involve soft drugs like marijuana, according to campus police crime logs, but students should be informed about all narcotics and addiction potential, two local substance abuse counselors said. “Information is hardly sufficient, and most anti-drug campaigns use fear tactics, which have been proven not to work,” said Marie Nemerov, 25, a substance abuse counselor who works for ARP Phoenix, a substance abuse services group. Information and education about addiction and drug use are lacking in the educational environments, which adds to societal negligence, Nemorov said. The perception among most people is that marijuana is considered the gateway drug, but nicotine fits the description more accurately, Nemerov said. “If you look at the part of the brain that is involved with addiction, nicotine is now considered the gateway drug,” Nemerov said. “It is one of the most addictive substances, and it stimulates the part of the brain that all the other drugs stimulate. Once you have stimulated that part of the brain, it is like priming the pump.” An academic study published in April 1997 in the Journal of School Health titled “Psychosocial and pharmacologic explanation of nicotine’s ‘gateway drug’ function” concluded that nicotine is a gateway drug. Adolescent and young adult nicotine users develop learned behaviors, including that the drug alters moods, and users often use the drug as stress relief, according to the study. This sets a precedent for chemicals making them feel better. The fact that nicotine is legal for people older than 18 and easily available makes it an unsuspecting gateway drug, Nemerov said.
The Drug Enforcement Agency does not include nicotine on its list of drugs and chemical concerns, but does include cocaine and marijuana. “Pot is the most widely used drug in college, but I went to a private college so I saw a lot of powder cocaine, too,” said Nemerov. Cocaine possession arrests are not frequent in the campus police crime logs, unlike marijuana possession, but the drug is easier to hide and essentially odorless, Nemerov Marie Nemerov said. “We see mostly marijuana and underage drinking,” said Steve Lewis, UNCA chief of police, when asked what drug and alcohol problems are most frequent on campus. “And one or two recent cases of prescriptions being Matt Gannon in the possession of the person it wasn’t prescribed to.” Prescription drugs are some of the most addictive, especially benzodiazepine, said Matt Gannon, 25, a UNCA psychology graduate who works for the Western North Carolina Treatment Center. Benzodiazepines are a class of central nervous system depressants commonly used to treat insomnia and anxiety, according to the DEA. Pharmaceutical benzodiazepines include alprazolam, Xanax and clonazepam or Klonopin. Gannon works with patients addicted to opiates at the treatment center, which uses a methadone maintenance treatment plan. Opiates and benzodiazepines are the two most-abused classes of prescription pills, he said. Methadone is a synthetic drug used for detoxification from opiates. When used at the proper doses, methadone does not impair the user and can be effectively used to transition addicts off opiates, Gannon
said. “Basically, what I do right now is attempt to get people stable on their methadone doses and manage their cases,” Gannon said. “Statistics show that methadone is one of the best ways for opiate addicts to get their lives back.” Hyrdocodone, morphine, oxycodone, oxycontin and percodan are all pharmaceutical opioids, according to the DEA. Using these addictive drugs can quickly ruin lives, Gannon said. According to a 2005 study by the Harvard School of Public Health, the nonmedical use of prescription opioids represents a problem on college campuses, and one in every four colleges had a 10 percent prevalence rate for non-medical use of opioids. Gannon, who graduated in May 2007, said he did not encounter many prescription opiates while at UNCA. “In Asheville and at UNCA, you are going to see the hallucinogens,” Gannon said. “But marijuana is the most pervasive at UNCA.” Marijuana is not often used exclusively, Gannon said. Many of the patients he sees who are on methadone maintenance treatment plans to become independent from opiate addiction test positive for marijuana in their drug screens, he said. Marijuana can be habitually addictive, and patients continue to use marijuana despite risking their future in the treatment program, Gannon said. According to Gannon and Nemerov, the patients with whom they work are different from the general college populations. “The majority of the patients I work with are indigent,” Nemerov said. “They are homeless, below the poverty level and mainly addicted to alcohol and crack cocaine.” Nemerov said many of the patients she sees are artists, mainly musicians, and most of them have above-average intelligence. Nobody is too smart for addiction, and college students should continuously educate themselves, Nemerov said.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
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Lagers and tankards and brews! Oh, my!
Seven independent Asheville breweries band together, forming an alliance By Rhys Baker Staff Writer rdbaker@unca.edu
Six local breweries formed the Asheville Brewing Alliance to promote Asheville beer and provide information on beer and beer-related events. “The ABA is all of the microbreweries in the city of Asheville. There will be eight by the end of the summer,” said Mike Rangel, media spokesman for the ABA and president of Asheville Pizza & Brewing Company. “We’re looking to create more of a name brand market. Asheville is a destination with a lot of beer tourism.” The current members of the ABA are Highland, Green Man, Wedge, French Broad and Craggie. The Lobster Trap Brewery and the Lexington Avenue Brewery will open soon and join the alliance. There has always been an unoficial alliance between the Asheville breweries, according to Rangel. “We’re like a little country mafia. The idea is that if French Broad Brewery sells somewhere, it’s a success for all of us,” Rangel said. “We’ve doubled the numbers in the last two years from four to eight. Four breweries in a town is huge.” According to Rangel, Asheville has the most microbreweries, per capita, of any city in the United States. “The Asheville breweries have never torn each other down,” he said, remembering stories about times when the Highland Brewery let the APBC borrow grain when their shipments were late. According to Rangel, microbreweries are better than the “Big Guys.” “I definitely feel that there has to be a Budweiser in this world. Luckily for us they make a fairly bland, safe, easily drinkable product, and that’s great for a certain percentage of people. But for people that really enjoy beer, the micros can create hundreds of styles and there’s a dedication to microbrews as a master craftsman like a great chef. The microbreweries bring that sort of craftsmanship to the table,” he said. Rangel said the alliance allows for more educational and recreational opportunities for Asheville beer lovers. The ABA plans a yearly competition in which home brewers can compete with the local microbreweries. “We will elect a liaison from the ABA to work with the home brewers to give out yeast for educational purposes, to pick their brains, that sort of thing. We also want to create an event with the home brewers that once a year the home brewers and the microbreweries all
create the same kind of beer and kind of compete, just for fun, just a general love of beer type of thing,” Rangel said. UNC Asheville students, home brewers and roommates Kyle Romeo and Jonah Freedman are excited about the chance to pit their beer against local professionals.
“The microbrewers would have something to worry about. The home brewer has a serious advantage because his beer is his craft. He doesn’t do it for money. We brew it to drink it, and there is nothing better than a beer that was brewed just for you,” Freedman said. The roommates plan to become involved with the ABA. “We’re all brewing beer for our own enjoyment and appreciation of good taste. So why not enter a competition?” Romeo said. “It would just be for fun, and it would be a great way to get home brewers together to talk about beer, and maybe lead to the formation of new microbreweries.” Romeo and Freedman hope that the beer of choice was an oatmeal porter they brewed last month because, out of the ten beers that they’ve brewed in the last year, they both agree the oatmeal porter is their best. “The oatmeal porter was the most delicious porter I have ever had. I am usually not a fan of dark beers, but this porter had just the right balance of sweetness to the hoppy flavor. That burst of sweetness after the first swig was ecstasy. That defines a porter. It’s funny because the brew was left in the carboy for way too long, but perhaps it is the imperfections in a beer that make the taste appealing,” Freedman said. The short-term goal of the ABA is to create an interactive and user-friendly Web site and to create a process that will break down the barriers between home brewers, microbreweries and beer lovers, according to Rangel. “They’re two sides of it from a microbrewery perspective, to keep the communication, the friendship and camaraderie between the breweries alive,” Rangel said. According to Rangel, the ABA is a place where once a month the microbreweries can get together and share information. “We’re a baby organization,” Rangel said. “The feedback we have received from media, other businesses and other beer alliances has been very positive. A lot of it is ‘it’s about time,’ he said. Rangel said he hopes to see Asheville become a beer mecca. “We have Bruisin’ Ales, the beer store downtown that was voted one of the top five beer places in the world. We have Tony Kiss, the beer guy; Asheville actually has a beer columnist. It’s very much ahead of the curve as far as beer towns go.”
SG A Thursday, March 19, 2009
Cortland Mercer
Age: 21 Class Rank: Junior Major: Poli Sci Hometown: Charlotte
Running for:
president Reason for Running: “To serve the at-large student population by acting as a mediator to advocate for student interests while balancing administrative concerns to create the best college experience possible.”
Kelsey Ridenour Age: 19 Class Rank: Junior Major: Hist/Poli Sci Hometown: Mooresville
Running for:
president
Reason for Running:
“I feel that I am the most qualified individual for the job. Moreover, I believe that acting as the liaison between the students and the administration, I will be able to produce lasting and positive change at UNCA.”
Asha Purohit Age: 19 Class Rank: Junior Major: Int Studies Hometown: Mt. Pleasant, S.C.
Running for:
vice president Reason for Running: “I believe I am the most qualified candidate for this position. I love being in the senate and working to accomplish things for the student body.”
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U N C A S t u d e n t G o v e r n m e n t A ss o c i at i o n
election
guide
Three Major Issues “Campus Involvement. Two-thirds of our campus population live off-campus, and those students need better ways to interact with our community. I plan to achieve this integration by creating more on-campus outlets for participation.” “Diversity. Diversity is a critical component of the liberal arts education, and I will work to guarantee that UNCA moves forward in its efforts to seriously address our lack of diversity.” “Affordability. Our campus is recognized for being a ‘best buy’ in higher edu-
cation, and it should stay that way. As a voting member on the board of trustees, I will advocate that any increases in tuition and fees not exceed the levels mandated by law.”
Communication Style
portunity to become more involved. Senate meetings Wednesday at 9:00 p.m. are always open to the public, and my office will always be available to students.”
Previous Experience
president “Expect to see blue SGA comment boxes around campus in academic buildings, residence halls, and Highsmith Student Union. These are for student input of any kind. Also, my administration will periodically ‘table’ on the quad and in Highmith Student Union, talking to students directly and giving them the op-
“I spent fall of 2008 as a commuter senator for SGA, and currently work on the Student Body President’s staff as the executive of campus affairs. I have built relationships with student organizations and administrators, laying the groundwork for a successful 2009-10 administration!” fer student senator position to focus on the specific needs and concerns of our transfer student population.”
“SGA has made significant strides in the past year in our attempts to reach out to the student body and I would continue some of those initiatives. One of those initiatives
is our commitment to have a table on the quad, in Highsmith Student Union or in the dining hall for students to fill out contact reports about their concerns on campus and to talk to their SGA representatives. I also believe having an article in every issue of the Blue Banner to notify students of the work SGA is doing and address significant issues on campus has made SGA more accountable and improved our relationship with the students. I would like to continue this newly established tradition. Also, to increase involvement in student government, I would look into increasing the number of SGA senator positions and creating a trans-
Three Major Issues
Communication Style
Previous Experience
“As co-president of Asian Students in Asheville and a member of Hispanic Outreach for Learning Awareness, I have seen firsthand the different concerns of the multicultural students on this campus. Their voice is growing, but I believe more students and administration need to lend an ear. Improving communication and having SGA serve the students more effectively and in a manner that is more tailored to the student body is important. A third concern of mine is UNCA’s continued relationship with the UNC Association of Student Governments.”
“I plan to have an open-door policy as far as being in the office. Also, I would like to look into having the weekly Wednesday night senate meetings more publicized and put into a bigger room so that it would be a more welcoming atmosphere and students would feel like they could come into the meetings. Additionally, I would be interested in having meetings streamed online with a link from the home page so that students could listen to the meetings from the comfort of their rooms.”
“I served in both the legislative branch as a junior senator and in the executive branch as executive of external affairs. Additionally, I have been exposed to parliamentary procedure and Robert’s Rules since I was in high school, during which time I served as both a chair of an education committee and as a presider over the Senate for South Carolina Youth in Government. I am secretary of, and have presided over, the UNC Association of Student Governments.”
Three Major Issues “Increasing diversity on campus, promoting affordability and decreasing the financial burden to students without sacrificing quality. Also, promoting the long-term social and environmental sustainability of UNCA.”
Previous Experience
president
Communication Style
“I have served the students as a member of SGA for the past two years. I was a freshman senator during the 200708 school year, and I have served as a residential senator during the 2008-09 school year. I have also acted as Legislative Librarian since January 2008 and as chair of the Academic Affairs Committee since the fall of 2008.”
vice president
Thursday, March 19, 2009
{The Blue Banner}
really serve students in this role.”
James Price Age: 21 Class Rank: Junior Major: Undecided Hometown: Chapel Hill
Running for:
vice president Reason for Running: “I want to redefine the role of the vice president, to be more active in pursuing agendas supported or advocated by the student body. I want to give students a louder voice, and I think my talents can
Andrew Johnson Age: 20 Class Rank: Senior Major: Music/Bus Hometown: Mooresville
Running for:
senior senator
Reason for Running:
“Over the past three years, I have been involved in SGA, twice as a senator, and this previous year as the vice president. I am running because over those
Jonathan Griffin Age: 21 Class Rank: Senior Major: Classics Hometown: Winston-Salem
Running for:
senior senator
Reason for Running: “Interested in SGA.”
Cantrell Brown Age: 19 Class Rank: Soph Major: Int Studies Hometown: Raleigh
Running for:
junior senator
Reason for Running:
“To continue bettering the campus community by representing the student body as well as I can.”
Three Major Issues
an SGA project to educate students on their rights, and will advance free expression and free choice in the selection and endurance of classes, meals, and residence, and other college-sponsored events, always.” “Green initiatives. I’m a tree-hugger and not afraid to admit it, so anything to protect the environment or improve energy efficiency will practically glide in my administration.” “Student organization. I want students outside SGA to get involved and realize that our doors are not closed and our meetings are not closed. Nothing is closed off to outside input, help or deliberation.”
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Communication Style “We need to improve our electronic communication, make the SGA Web site relevant and continue to get our image out there on student projects we are so passionate about.”
vice president
Student rights. This incorporates a huge category, but it is the single most important issue to me. I have worked so hard to protect student rights across the board- smokers, non-smokers, freshmen, residential students, commuters, transfer students, LGBTQ, workers, buyers and any minority group. I will do my best to never let students be silenced (as they are, often, I admit) by those with a rigid definition of the status quo. I am the co-founder of Rights Week, three years, I have acquired a personal relationship with this school, its student body and with SGA. I understand the concerns of the students, and I also know how to fulfill them. As a senator, I will directly be acting as a voice of the student body and represent them boldly.”
ing judgment of this university. To choose three would serve as an injustice to those not yet heard, and to those that haven’t been voiced loud enough. I also want to continue a student health advisory board that voices the concerns of the student body about the importance of issues like the fact that 50 percent of students graduate in six years, according to the 2008-09 fact book.
Previous Experience
“Having been the president of Plus Five Theatre Company, co-leader of Students for Barack Obama on campus, and acting co-chair of the Student Affairs Committee in SGA as a senator, I have a lot of leadership experience.”
Communication Style “Being a senator does not only mean you know how to work, it also means that you have to be open, and be a ‘people person.’”
senior senator
Three Major Issues
“Every concern on this campus is a major concern. If students feel that they are in a position that makes them question this institution in any way, that is a concern. When I am approached by a student, I will treat their issue as if it is a defin-
Three Major Issues
“Textbook prices. I’d like to ask that professors make their textbook information for classes available to students earlier via their faculty Web pages and email further in advance of the classes so that students can take advantage of purchasing textbooks from outside sources in a timely fashion.” “Some student organizations on campus are currently struggling to attract new memberships and stage activities. I’d like to identify some of these clubs and societies that could use some help from SGA and try to allocate more funds
from the budget for them.” “In light of recent protests concerning Chartwells, I’d be interested in creating official channels of communication between SGA and Chartwells so that students won’t need to form their own organizations and can voice their concerns to SGA and have SGA seek answers.”
Previous Experience
“I was a senator freshman year and sophomore year. I was vice president my junior year. I have served on RSA its first year, Committee for Special and Cultural Events, among other committees SGA and the administration have asked me to serve on.”
Communication Style
“I plan to make myself available by e-mail and Facebook communications, as well as during office hours, to anyone with concerns.”
senior senator
Three Major Issues
Communication Style
Previous Experience “None.”
Previous Experience
JUNIOR senator
“Food. following up on efforts to provide accurate labels and nutritional information in the cafeteria. Holding members of the administration accountable for promises of availability of health and varied food.” “Environmental sustainability.” “Connecting our campus to the greater community.”
“Implementing student comment boxes around campus so students can submit their questions and concerns without having to go out of their way.”
“As a junior senator, I hope to continue efforts I have made in the previous two administrations, both as freshman and sophomore senator. As a sophomore senator, I served as parliamentarian and co-chair of the Aesthetics committee. I hope to continue working towards the betterment of the UNCA student body in terms of both long-term projects and individual concerns which arise.”
Thursday, March 19, 2009
J. Adam Caudill Age: 19 Class Rank: Fresh Major: Atmos Sci Hometown: Traphill
Running for:
sophomore senator
Reason for Running:
“I would like to create more levels of interaction between the student government and the student body.”
Rachel E. Lawless
{The Blue Banner}
Three Major Issues
“Make SGA known throughout campus by being among the students daily and receiving their thoughts and opinions. Possibly set up an Internet Web site and email account for student feedback.” “Putting lights in the Botanical Garden by taking the issue directly to the State Board of Education.” “Finding some sort of backup for Internet access when the system goes down by working with Information Technology Services and possibly Verizon Wireless.”
sophomore senator
Reason for Running:
“I want to be knowledgeable with the current issues that are important on our campus, as well as staying involved in SGA.”
Julian Sudler Age: 18 Class Rank: Fresh Major: Psychology Hometown: Penns Grove, N.J.
Running for:
sophomore senator
Reason for Running:
“I had a lot of fun helping the campus as a freshman senator and would love to continue to contribute.”
Dustin Nathaniel Williams Age: 18 Class Rank: Fresh Major: Lit/Lang Hometown: Hickory
Running for:
sophomore senator
Reason for Running: None stated.
“Via e-mail, Facebook group, instant messaging, and especially through face to face interactions.”
Previous Experience “I was formerly a senior public relations officer and flight commander in the Air Force JROTC.”
sophomore senator
Three Major Issues
Age: 20 “Creating a mental health group on Class Rank: Soph Major: Eco/Env Bio campus that spreads awareness to the stuHometown: dent body and gives support to those stuStaten Island, N.Y. dents that have a mental illness.”
Running for:
Communication Style
Page 6
Communication Style “Tabling, handing out flyers, posting bulletins, surveying, or sending out campus-wide e-mails are just a few of the ways past senators have tried to stay in contact with the student body. However, I feel the best way to stay in touch with student needs is by word of mouth. Talking to other students is the best way to find out their concerns as well as staying involved in what is going on in student government.”
Previous Experience “I have been an executive for a semester as well as a senator in the Student Government Association this past year. I have also been a delegate in the Association of Student Government for the past two semesters. I have taken two leadership courses and been involved in the student health advisory board on campus.”
sophomore senator
“Continuing a student health advisory board that voices the concerns of the student body about the importance of issues, like the fact that 50 percent of students graduate in six years, according to the 2008-09 fact book.”
Three Major Issues
Previous Experience
if it falls under my jurisdiction.” “I want the washers and dryers addressed in the laundry rooms of the resi“I was a freshman senator, and I have dence halls. I will meet with housing as handled similar issues within the past often as needed to assure that the broken few months. I also have other forms of washers are fixed or removed.” leadership and responsibility under my belt, such as being an embark orientation leader.”
sophomore senator
“Wireless on campus. I worked with Nick Ladd before to push the campus in the right direction- an Ethernet cable-free direction. I will continue to check up on the process to assure things are going well and still moving.” “Maintaining order in the cafeteria (making sure the staff is being held accountable for what they say and do in front of students). I plan on meeting with Danny Dawkins often to go over the students’ likes and dislikes about the cafeteria and address any staff issues directly,
Three Major Issues
“Student smoking areas. While I cannot promise that I can leave the whole campus smoke-fee, I will try my best to increase the number of smoke areas or broaden the range of existing areas. I will pay particular attention to the Quad. I believe this is an area for relaxation in between classes and that the restriction on smoking in the area is confounded.” “Cafeteria food. While I personally have no problem with the meals served in the cafeteria, I have seen many people dissatisfied with the quality and variety of
Communication Style
“I will continue to just go out and randomly ask people what they would like changed about the school. It worked out pretty well this year, so I will continue doing that until I see that it does not work anymore.”
meals served in the establishment. While I cannot promise a larger array of dishes, I will work to let you be able to provide suggestions to the menus, as well as lobby with the heads of the dining hall for more variety and better cooking.” “Counseling hours. I have seen many students have to wait for several weeks in order to get an appointment for a counselor. I believe it is possible to correct this by extending hours the health center is open or by bringing in more counselors.”
Communication Style “I plan to use public forums, scheduled talks and social networking in order to hear what my fellow students’ issues are. It is direct conversation rather than broad addressing, I believe, that is more successful.”
sophomore senator
Previous Experience “Treasurer for Beta Club in high school. Wrote “Teen Issues” for the Hickory Daily Record.”
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Renee Bindewald Age: 19 Class Rank: Fresh Major: Undecided Hometown: Hendersonville
Running for:
residential senator
Reason for Running:
“I hope to improve the quality of life for on-campus students and to make sure they all feel at home when at UNCA.”
Emily Jones Age: 21 Class Rank: Senior Major: Health/Well Hometown: Irvington, N.Y.
Running for:
residential senator
Reason for Running:
“To continue to help address issues of resident students and make sure their concerns are addressed and taken care of.”
I. Lemar Newsome Age: 21 Class Rank: Junior Major: French/Mgt Hometown: None listed.
Running for:
residential senator
Reason for Running:
“Change in SGA- a specific, real voice for residents.”
Miranda Wilson Age: 19 Class Rank: Soph Major: Int/Poli sci Hometown: Tuscaloosa, Al.
Running for:
residential senator
Reason for Running:
“Seeking more voice for residents to voice concerns.”
{The Blue Banner}
Three Major Issues
“Flooding of dorms. I will work with housing to find a way to locate leaks before they become a major issue. I will also make sure that students have a clear understanding on what they can do to prevent their property from being damaged before a flood occurs.” “Weekend meals. I will try to extend the hours in Highsmith Student Union on the weekends; that way if a student runs out of cafeteria meals by the weekend they aren’t stranded waiting until 4 p.m. to eat breakfast.”
“Smoking areas. I will work with the school to ensure that the campus does not lose their designated smoking areas. Students pay to live on campus and if they choose to smoke, they should be allowed to, in the same way that if a students chooses not to smoke they will not have to be around it.”
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Communication Style “I plan to contact students through Facebook, one-on-one communication and through OnePort e-mail accounts.”
residential senator
Three Major Issues
“Campus dining. I plan to continue to work with the head of Dining Services, Danny Dawkins, on ways to improve the quality of on-campus food and to make sure all student concerns are addressed.” “OneCard swipe system. I plan to continue working with the administration to address campus security concerns, and to gain student input on the effectiveness of this new system.” “Citizenship Education and Residential Policies. I plan to help put on events, such as Rights Week, next year and in-
crease understanding and communication between Citizenship Education staff and the residential student population.”
Communication Style
Previous Experience
“I am currently an embark leader for this summer as well as an active member of RSA. So, not only do I understand what is needed in a leadership position, but I also see the value in working for a team towards a common goal.”
are interested and encourage participation in events that SGA puts on.”
Previous Experience
residential senator
Three Major Issues “Citizenship education process. Work with students and Residential Education to understand the difference in needs.” “Hours of operations for the convenience store and Ramsey library. Work with staff to look at budget and rearrange schedules to make operations convenient and monetarily beneficial.” “Freshman learning community changes and effects. Outline goals with the Dean of Students and make sure we are in line with our goals as a university.”
“I plan to continue working on student contact reports (reports SGA has where students list their comments, complaints and concerns they want SGA to work on) to keep in touch with student needs as well as talk to students at various events that are put on in the residential community. When I talk to these students, I will encourage and emphasize involvement in any projects we are working on if they
Communication Style “This year in student government, I have consistently invited people I represent to come to our meetings during times when important bills that will affect them are being voted on. I want them to have their chance to voice their concerns to the entire senate. I also will continue to do student surveys of bills, where I go to a randomly selected group of doors, knock, and ask the students to fill out a survey on the bill.”
“I am currently a senior senator in SGA. I was a residential senator for the 2007-08 academic year.”
Previous Experience “This would be my third time running for this position. I’ve been in student government all around. In high school in Virginia, I served as the first appointed senator at a brand new school. I feel I am easy to contact, and I invite conversation about our school’s issues. Not only that, I am, and have been, on the Resident Assistant staff since my freshman year.”
residential senator
Three Major Issues “The 10 p.m. stop on access to other residence halls for residential students and requirement that commuter students sign into residence halls. Residents have a right to access the residence halls, plain and simple. At the very least, the cut-off time should be extended.” “Malfunctioning fire alarm and sprinkler systems. We’ll work with housing and maintenance to fix the systems that are currently in place to prevent future false alarms and sprinkler malfunctions.”
“Carte Blanche protection. Many oncampus students rely on the carte blanche meal plan for absolutely all of their food. However, in the upcoming school year, the dining services plan to reduce the number of meals that are offered per week to include less than 21, so less than three meals a day. Although it is not my chosen meal plan, to those who use it the appeal of carte blanche is that they need never worry about purchasing food on their own. Even if 21 meals a week cannot be sustained, I will ensure that the plan is not cut to 15 meals a week (as the new plan to be put in place is speculated to be).
Communication Style “My hope would be to create an email system in which each resident assistant has the contact information for senators, so, in the event their residents have a concern, they could be immediately placed to a representative.”
residential senator Previous Experience
“I have held leadership positions such as National Society for Collegiate Scholars and Summit Orientation Leader, as well as others in high school.”
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Lorca Lechuga-Haeseler Age: 20 Class Rank: Junior Major: Poli Sci Hometown: Greensboro
Running for:
commuter senator
Reason for Running:
“SGA should be as diverse and progressive as possible. That’s me!”
Steven C. Quinn
Age: 21 Class Rank: Junior Major: Poli Sci Hometown: Havelock
Running for:
commuter senator
Reason for Running:
“Our student population consists mostly of commuter students, and I feel they are not represented effectively in the UNCA community. I feel that if elected
Raj Bowers-Racine
Age: 25 Class Rank: Senior Major: Undecided Hometown: Asheville
Running for:
commuter senator
Reason for Running: None listed.
{The Blue Banner}
Three Major Issues “UNCA is too isolated from the Asheville community. I want to incorporate non-traditional students and those unaffiliated with UNCA through more events and outreach programs.” “There should be more on-campus jobs for all students while also protecting the jobs of presently employed staff.” “The dining services at UNCA are a major concern of mine. I want to lower prices of food while also providing a greater variety of choices that are locally grown.”
no
se n Running for: o p s not re
provided
Reason for Running: Not provided. None provided.
Previous Experience
“Although I value e-mail, Facebook, and other means of communication, I think they can create many misunderstandings and barriers. I like to speak directly with people to better understand their needs.”
“I have been involved in several organizations which are directed towards improving people’s welfare (Food Not Bombs, Habitat for Humanity, etc).”
I know that they make up more than half of the student population, but the system is structured to mute nonresidential students, and I want to make sure that they have a voice.”
is important because the limited time they have on campus is crucial to building bridges between residential students and nonresidential students. I feel that understanding this bridge is a great way to build a solid connection with all the students.”
commuter senator
commuter senator, I will take the job with great honor to represent this population of students. I feel that SGA is the students’ voice and that we are the bridge between the administration and the student population. I feel that I can represent this population of students efficiently and effectively.”
commuter senator
Three Major Issues
“Making sure there is an adequate number of spaces for the commuter students that do park on campus. Also, continuing to facilitate and expand alternative methods of transportation. I don’t think commuter students are represented efficiently.
Three Major Issues
Communication Style
“I feel having a forum just for commuters would give us a chance to find out exactly what is on their minds and what students want to change in their system. I feeling connecting with these students
Communication Style
Previous Experience
“Freshmen senator, executive of Public Relations- Card–Ladd Admin; Executive of Public Relation- LaddJohnson Admin; member of College Democrats.”
Previous Experience
COMMU(TER senator
“Fending off Zombie Apocalypse.” “Free lobster hats for students.” “Dance parties for all! Good ones, not the lame crap that’s been passing for a party recently.”
James Phillips Age: Not provided Class Rank: Junior Major: Econ/Poli Sci Hometown: Not provided
Communication Style
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WHAT: SGA elections
“Facebook group, smoke signals, bullhorn, telegraph. I will learn Morse code for this election. Say I won’t (I dare you).”
Voting Guide
HOW: When the election is RESULTS: Visit www.the-
live, noticeable “Vote now” links will appear on the site. Voters should click these links, sign in WHERE: Students can access using their OnePort username the election site directly at www. and vote in the elections. SGA unca.edu/sga/elections, the Web will post a link inside of OnePpage for all student elections. ort, but it is not necessary for voters to sign into OnePort to gain access.
WHEN: March 24-25
“I was on student council in fourth grade. Let’s be honest, fourth graders and college students are not that different.” “I’m awesome.” “UNCA’s commuters deserve an awesome 25-year-old with the attitude of a fourth grader.”
bluebanner.net following the election to view results, which will be available soon after, barring any election problems.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
{The Blue Banner}
Several services offer tax advice By Heide Penner Staff Writer
hmpenner@unca.edu
With April 15 fast approaching, firsttime tax filers must wade through the complicated web of Internal Revenue Service requirements and restrictions. “Filing taxes is complicated because the Internal Revenue Code is so complicated,” said Betsy Mayes, lecturer of management and accountancy at UNC Asheville. “It is very difficult for the average person to read the rules and to know how to follow the rules when they file their tax returns. We desperately need tax simplification.” Excessive rules and wordy terminology are what confuse people, said Mary Anne Craver, a UNCA senior accounting and management major. “I would say the hardest part is understanding all the terminology, what extra worksheets to use and knowing what receipts to keep for your return,” she said. The average college student has little trouble filing their taxes because of the general lack of paperwork, according to Craver. “Most college students do not have complicated returns unless they claim dependents or have special medical expenses they can itemize,” Craver said. “The average student will just need to report all their income and deduct the standard deduction and personal exemption.” Needing to keep every single receipt is a myth, according to David Ingle, a senior tax adviser and H&R Block office coordinator. “Just keep the receipts for things you’re claiming (on your tax return). Keep your records for at least 7 years,” he said. Claiming comes in with itemization, a deduction from a person’s annual gross income for such expenses as mortgage interest, property taxes and charitable contributions. Keeping receipts for these expenses helps aid in providing information to the IRS of these deductions, according to Ingle. The first step in filing taxes for the first time is to keep all of the needed paperwork in one place. “You’ll need all of the W-2s from all places of employment during 2008. Other income items to consider are interest income from savings and investment income from investments,” Mayes said. Filing requirements differ from student to student. “The filing requirements depend on the
Ian Shannon - Staff Photographer
Senior tax adviser David Ingle reviews H&R Block’s online tax support site.
filing status of the student,” she said. “I recommend that the first thing a student does is talk to their parents about their (the student’s) filing status.” People can file either as dependent or independent. To be considered a dependent, one must be a “qualifying child” or “qualifying relative,” according to Mayes. “To be a dependent you cannot be claimed as a dependent by another person, you can’t file a joint return with a spouse, and you have to be a U.S. citizen, U.S. resident alien, U.S. national or a resident of Canada or Mexico. That is the easy, straightforward part,” she said. The requirement to file taxes generally depends on marital status and income. “The basic rule is if you are single and not claimed by your parents then you must file a return if your gross income was at least $8, 950,” Mayes said. Refunds come into the equation when there is more money withheld on a paycheck than the calculated tax bill; how-
ever, if a tax bill is more than the amount withheld or paid in, then taxes must be paid. “Withholding is what the employer withholds from your paycheck to help pay for state and federal taxes,” Ingle said. There are many differences to filing taxes – whether it be filing the old fashioned way or electronically, not everyone’s tax situation is the same, Mayes said. “Many times in tax there is not one single answer that fits everybody. Many times the answer is ‘it depends’ because everyone has a different tax situation,” she said. It is important to understand the concepts of tax because of constantly changing rules, Craver said. “There are so many loopholes, exceptions and phase outs that you really need software to help you find them all,” she said. “There is a lot of online, free support and electronic filing you can use to help you.”
STIs
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lion new cases of STIs in the US, according to American Social Health Association. “Practice what you will say and ask of your partner. I call it role-playing with yourself or a friend,” Pyeritz. “You can offer to both be tested at the same time, do it as a couple.” Students also said it is important to have a conversation with your partner whether you are comfortable about it or not. “I would feel comfortable asking someone to get tested if I were in a relationship,” said sophomore Tiffany Espin. “ I feel we would talk about our past relationships, and if I felt they should be tested I would probably ask, because it is important.” Student Health in the Weizenblatt Building keeps free condoms and sexual health information in stock. “Student Health offers all STI testing,” Pyeritz said. “WNCAP, Western North Carolina AIDS Project and WNC Community Health offer testing.”
Thursday, March 19, 2009
{The Blue Banner}
IHOP gives up more than pancakes for Lent Page 10
By Lorin Mallorie Staff Writer
lmmallor@unca.edu
Hot, sticky and smothered in butter: a sinful recipe for children’s charity as The International House of Pancakes celebrates the commencement of Lent with Fat Tuesday’s colossal buttermilk pancake giveaway promotion. “You want to try to give something up, or give a part of yourself away during Lent. It’s kind of like renewing your faith for those 40 days,” said senior Katie Goodman, president of UNC Asheville’s Catholic Student Association (CSA). The tradition of Lent, Goodman said, is comprised of three ingredients: alms giving, sacrifice and prayer. “A lot of people think of it as just giving something up, but I think that’s a very cliché way of looking at it, because it’s a lot more than that,” Goodman said. According to Reverend John Schneider of the Parish of St. Eugene, Lent is a time to prepare one’s self for celebration of Easter, Jesus’ death and resurrection. “It is to help us focus in our lives on God’s dealing with us through prayer, fasting and almsgiving.” he said. This year National Pancake Day raised $1.3 million for Children’s Miracle Network and other local charities, according to IHOP Corporation statistics. IHOP began celebrating National Pancake Day in 2006, but the corporation said the custom is centuries old. The tradition originated in English preparations for fasting during Lent; because of strict dairy prohibition, pancakes were made to use up supplies of milk, butter and eggs, said Wilcox. According to Tammy Wilcox, general manager at the Smokey Park Highway IHOP, this is IHOP’s third National Pancake Day in collaboration with the nonprofit. Receiving free pancakes made people generous at the Children’s Miracle Network donation stand posted by the doorway on Tuesday, she said IHOP always does their short-stack give-away the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, because of pancakes’ traditional relationship to the pre-fasting ritual, Wilcox said. “It’s been pretty steady, considering how the economy is; we are very, very pleased,” she said. With many generous donations, Wilcox
Brittany Derlath, a senior, cuts into her free pancake from IHOP on Fat Tuesday.
Sukiro Song - Staff Photographer
IHOP serves a free stack of pancakes on Fat Tuesday and National Pancake Day.
said, her IHOP location beat last year’s figures in the amount of donations collected. The Children’s Miracle Network is a nonprofit organization comprised of 170 hospitals which provide medical care, research and preventative education, according to officials. Each year, the hospitals treat around 17 million children. There are three pancakes in an IHOP short-stack, Wilcox said. Not everyone got free pancakes on Tuesday, she said, but the store gave away several hundred short-stacks before the end of the promotion, which lasted from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Historically, the Catholic tradition of Lent comes from the Bible, when Jesus went into the desert for 40 days and fasted despite numerous temptations, Goodman said. That is where we get 40 days from, she said, although Lent actually lasts longer, starting Ash Wednesday and lasting until Easter. In the Catholic faith, there are two special seasons distinct from the regular calendar: Lent, leading up to Easter, and Advent, leading to Christmas. “What I’m giving up for Lent is, it’s kind of silly but, time that I waste on the Internet. I have to get on the Internet for
express purpose: homework, e-mail, communication and that’s it -- no just fiddling around,” Goodman said. “So, with the time that I am not fiddling around, I’m trying to read more and study about my faith more, maybe some time for prayer.” According to Goodman, CSA is a smaller group on campus that comes together every Thursday. In her second year of involvement, Goodman said between 10 and 15 students attend each week. “We get together and have a Bible study of some of the readings they are going to talk about at church that Sunday,” she said. Goodman said typically CSA members attend either St. Eugene’s on Merrimon Avenue or St. Lawrence downtown. Also the group practices what Goodman called “faith sharing,” an activity where students read a Bible passage, talk about what stood out to them individually and then connect that teaching to their everyday lives. Going to a Catholic High School, Goodman said, actually really turned her away from Catholicism. Entering college, Goodwin said she drifted from her faith. “The first two years of college I was kind of in a spiritual vacuum,” she said. “It was just the feeling that I was missing something in my life. It was kind of a spiritual searching for me.” Eventually, Goodwin said, she came out the other end of her searching, and realized she really liked Catholicism, just not in the way her high school teachers taught it. “I just realized that I was most comfortable being Catholic. And, that being Catholic doesn’t just mean what I learned in high school,” she said. Now, Goodwin said she views her faith in a more personal, less institutionalized way. “Going into a humanities class, everyone talks about Catholicism as history,” Goodman said. “I always want to be like ‘no, it’s still very much a part of people’s lives’ -- it’s still very much alive.” “So, I think my faith influences my classes, more than my classes influence my faith,” she said. According to Wilcox, IHOP is the perfect restaurant for college students, offering dinner, lunch and early bird specials daily. In her 18th year at the company, Wilcox said she is consistently pleased with IHOP’s commitment to their clientele.
Arts & Features Thursday, March 19, 2009
{The Blue Banner}
Page 11
UNCA hosts benefit performance of ‘Vagina Monologues’ By Meredi Wagner-Hoehn Contributing Writer savvy_mer@yahoo.com
A woman learns how to give herself an orgasm. Transsexuals discuss their harsh gender transitions. An enthusiastic language-lover reconstructs a derogatory female term. This outlines a few of the plots in Eve Ensler’s production The Vagina Monologues, opening at UNC Asheville on Friday and Saturday. “The audience gets the idea of openness, the willingness to communicate about all the issues addressed in the show and a continued wish to change, to progress in the way women are viewed in society,” said sophomore Kate Kastelberg, a cast member. “There’s still inequality in a lot of aspects of life, and it’s inspiring to want to change that on a personal and societal level.” The proceeds benefit Helpmate, a local domestic violence agency, and Our VOICE, a center assisting victims of sexual assault and abuse. Both agencies intend to place a representative at the event to answer any questions. The monologues encompass a wide variety of topics, ranging from birth to sexuality, from pubic hair to tampons. “The one that I think is the most poignant is ‘I Was There in the Room.’ There’s a line in it: ‘We forget the vagina. All of us. What else would explain our lack of awe, lack of reverence?’ You realize every person has been intimately connected to at least one vagina in their life because they were born,” said Lauren Pickel, the event organizer and a post-baccalaureate student. Kastelberg considered the angriest monologue one of the most effective through its unabashed, proud speech. “‘My Angry Vagina’ was humorous but also betrayed a lot of repressed anger that a lot of women have about their sexuality or the inability to express it – simple things, like being able to talk about your menstruation,” Kastelberg said. “It’s taboo to talk about in casual conversation even though it’s perfectly natural.” The monologues’ power lies partially in its pertinence to every woman, according to the cast members. Meghan Johnson performs “The Woman Who Loved To Make Vaginas Happy,” a monologue outlining a woman’s career move from lawyer to sex worker. Johnson said the first time she heard the promiscuous talk as a 13-year-old, she identified with the character’s eagerness for sexuality. “I’d never had sex. I wasn’t even having periods. Nothing about me was explicitly ‘woman’ by that point. I wasn’t in touch with my vagina; I wasn’t in touch with a feminist
Meredi Wagner-Hoehn - Contributing Writer
Meghan Johnson, top, performs “The Woman Who Loved to Make Vaginas Happy.” Kate Kastleberg, left, performs “They Beat the Girl Out of My Boy... or so They Tried.” Jennie Burrows performs “I Was There in the Room.” movement. There was no reason why the monologues should affect me that much. But when I saw that monologue, I felt sexy,” the 22-year-old said. “If something that far removed from a sex worker, a little virgin girl with no breasts, can relate to that, anyone can
relate to that.” Many women empathize with the bleak topics as well, such as rape and abuse. In 2007, North Carolina Crime Statistics Annual Summary Report revealed 2,312 instances of rape in the state.
This number remains underreported considering law enforcement only receives reports of one in three sexual assaults, according to a 1997 survey from the U.S. Department of Justice. Victims commonly respond to domestic abuse with feelings of self-blame, restraining them from pointing a legal finger at a perpetrator, according to Jane Robinson, Helpmate’s counseling coordinator. “The victims of abuse tend to take ownership of what happened. As women, we are socialized to take ownership of how a relationship takes place, so I think that’s part of it,” said Robinson. Victims also often get stuck in a cycle by returning to an abusive partner or continuing the pattern of abusive relationships, according to Robinson. The inconsistency traps them, according to Pamela Laughon, an associate professor and chair of the psychology department. “Most women would leave a relationship where they knew it was going to occur every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 1 o’clock. The unpredictable nature of it is what leaves some women in that relationship,” Laughon said. Although a few institutions help abusers overcome their behavior, more centers exist for the victims because they often sincerely want to change their lifestyle. The abusers frequently do not, according to Laughon. “You’re talking about changing almost a basic part of their character. It’s something you’re learning from the time you’re born,” Laughon said. “You’re talking about 20 or 30 years of history. How do you fix that? That’s how they grew up, thinking of women as lessthan.” Abusive partners tend to be male and maintain strict gender stereotypes, according to Laughon. As a step toward the solution, Pickel encourages men and women alike to open their minds by taking advantage of the Helpmate and Our VOICE representatives at the show. “Men can stop violence against women – the way they treat women, the way they think about women and how they interact with their friends towards women. It’s important to let them know that they have a role in changing this as well,” Pickel said. At this juncture of the fight for equality, Johnson said everyone, no matter gender, station or age, needs to advance to a healthy mentality on gender relations. “Men are armed with knowing about their counterparts, their other half of the world,” Johnson said. “If you don’t know where we’re coming from and where we’re going, nothing’s ever going to happen. Men have as much a part of that as women do; everyone has a part in that.”
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Campus Events “Spring Into Spring” Slinky Giveaway (Slinky decoration/ giveaway) UNCA Quad Table Area 1 Friday, noon
Movie Night
Saawariya Highsmith 104 Friday, 7 & 9 p.m. Saturday, 7 & 9 p.m.
The Hot 8 Brass Band Lipinsky Auditorium Friday, 8 p.m. $5 student tickets available at uncatickets.com
Multicultural Event
MOVIE: NO! (discussion after movie) Highsmith 104 March 26, 8 p.m.
Kickball Tournament Sign up your team on Facebook Sponsored by SAIL Tuesday, 4-6 p.m.
For more campus activities, visit: www.unca.edu/ barker/
{The Blue Banner}
survives bad economy Page 12
By Alyssa Spencer Staff Writer
afspence@unca.edu
Despite the current economic crisis, Asheville residents are still spending money on live shows. The Orange Peel, a favorite music venue among UNC Asheville students, did not see a decrease in sales between last February and now. In recent months the venue saw an increase in the number of sold out shows in comparison to last year. “We’ve had an average of three to four sold out shows a month the past three months,” said Liz Whalen, The Orange Peel’s marketing and special events manager. “February in particular was a great month for us.” While Ben Folds drew a large crowd out on Feb. 23, Whalen said the highest-grossing musicians to play recently were The Avett Brothers. “The Avett Brothers did a three night run in December, and those definitely were some of our best shows in ‘08,” Whalen said. “Other big successes were Iron and Wine and Method Man/Red Man, which were both in November.” UNCA junior China Whiteside is a frequent concert-goer and said that The Orange Peel is the best venue in Asheville for live music. “Especially now, when money is tight for most, when people go out they expect the best possible time for what they pay. The Orange Peel always delivers that,” Whiteside said. Whalen said one of the primary reasons people continue to go out to The Orange Peel
Celeste Shadoan - Staff Photographer
Liz Whalen, the Orange Peel’s marketing and special events manager, stands at the Orange Peel bar. is because of its reasonable prices. “I think people still want an outlet to get out and do something fun and relaxing - especially when times at work or in the market are stressful. I think that as long as ticket prices remain reasonable and we try to keep most shows between $15 and $25, people will continue to see great live acts,” Whalen said. Another facet of The Orange Peel is the venue’s ability to host well-known names. “Ben Folds coming to Asheville was huge
for me,” said UNCA junior Drew Ratliff. “Some friends of mine came from Tennessee and we all went to that show; I bet a lot of people in that audience came from different states. Folds is a musical giant and was phenomenal in concert.” Whalen hopes that performers with big names will help draw tourists to Asheville and boost the local economy.
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Obesity rate climbs, causes U.S. health crisis By Rachel Letcher Contributing Writer reletcher@gmail.com
The growing trend of obesity in the U.S. leads to unhealthy lifestyles and chronic disease, according to the Center for Disease Control’s annual reports. “This is now known not as just an obesity epidemic, but as a crisis,” said J. NelsonWeaver, executive director of WNC Health Partners, a nonprofit organization. Almost one-third of North Carolina’s population is obese, according to the CDCís 2007 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. North Carolina’s health system implements a statewide health and fitness movement, Eat Smart Move More NC, aiming to reduce obesity. The report shows an outbreak of obese Americans, especially in the Southern states. Colorado is the only state in the U.S. that has an obesity rate less than 20 percent. Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee have obesity rates
that are equal to or greater than one-third of the states’ populations, according to the 2007 CDC report. “The big picture is that we have changed our lifestyle in America,” Nelson-Weaver said. “We move less and are less active than we used to be, but we eat more and we eat more unhealthy food.” Eat Smart Move More encourages community members to maintain a healthy lifestyle despite busy work schedules. More than 50 different initiatives coordinated by the state aim to reduce obesity. “We are teaching people to learn how to cook again and we are working with churches and trade communities to get them to offer healthy snacks, instead of doughnuts and coffee,” Nelson-Weaver said. Education is one piece of solving the obesity puzzle, according to Nelson-Weaver, but many others need to come into place. “A person can have all of the education in the world, but if you don’t have support in community to be healthy, it is really hard to
maintain a healthy lifestyle,” she said. Eat Smart Move More works with local farmers and schools to provide healthier alternatives for children. Introducing community gardens in neighborhoods and low-income housing also contributes to access to fresh produce, what many people lack in their diets, according to Lynn Greer, nutritionist at Bruce Bristol Regional Hospital. “If kids grow radishes, pick radishes, they are going to eat radishes,” said Terri Zimmerman March, Health Promotion Program and Healthy Buncombe program coordinator at the Buncombe County Health Center. “There is a huge shift with local produce from farmers or by ourselves.” Pisgah View Apartments in West Asheville provides an active community garden for residents. Community members receive boxes of the fresh produce along with quick and easy recipes, March said. “It’s a great way for families to teach each
See OBESITY Page 14
Thursday, March 19, 2009
{The Blue Banner}
Gallery displays abstract photography
Page 13
Sprinkler floods Governor’s Hall dorm By Nick Robinson Staff Writer
nhrobins@unca.edu
Sulkiro Song - Staff Photographer
Byron Browne stands by his artwork at S. Tucker Cooke Gallery in Owen Hall. Melanie Carrick, top, looks at Browne’s displayed photographs. Rob Jeremy and Lindsey McAlreath, bottom, observe the artist’s work.
Senior Byron Browne showcases experimental photography at S. Tucker Cooke Gallery By Erin McWhorter Staff Writer emmcwhor@unca.edu
Students gathered in S. Tucker Cooke Gallery on Feb. 27 for the opening of “Growing Together,” a photography exhibit of abstract and representational pieces by UNC Asheville senior Byron Browne. “I always think of it as doing homework to go to these,” said UNCA art major Melanie Carrick. “It’s nice to be able to see people’s work, see what other people are doing and try to get some techniques from them. Maybe they’re doing something that you don’t know about.” James Stickney, another senior UNCA art major, said he appreciated Browne’s experimentation with a medium that is normally associated with documentary style. “I think it’s fantastic. Some interesting experimental techniques are being used,” Stickney said. “I like the experimental use of photography, since it’s being used as more than just documentary.” Browne’s father, Dave Browne, came from Virginia Beach to congratulate his son and provide the catering services for the opening reception. “The framing execution is just really perfect,” Dave Browne said.
His father said he is proud of Browne’s pursuit of higher education at UNCA and impressed with his son’s hard work and dedication. Byron Browne began dabbling in photography upwards of 6 years ago, according to his father, who thought his son’s required gallery show was professionally done. “One of a lot of things that is stressed on us is professionalism,” Carrick said. “We work really hard to get to this stage and the thing you don’t think about is how much frames cost. Getting a piece framed and matted costs about $50, and being able to afford that is a really big thing. It’s really important that people come out to support the artists because we need it.” According to both Carrick and senior art major Megan Vandeosen, the UNCA art department requires that each student hosts an exhibit of their own before completing their degree. “I think it’s really good that UNCA actually requires its art students to have an exhibit in order to get their degree,” Vandeosen said. “It’s one of those things that not every art program requires, and it definitely gives students an upper hand when they get out of school.” Browne’s exhibit houses over 30 pieces of original work, all of which are silver gelatin prints and vary between representational and
abstract photography. “I know Byron mostly because we live in this building together,” Vandeosen said. “It’s very interesting. You don’t see a lot of abstract stuff happening with photography.” With a wide variety of representational pieces presented as well, one of the exhibit’s crowd pleasers included the five photograph series titled “Band Practice.” Another series of representational photographs included a collection of male and female midriffs with corresponding titles ranging from “Leaving Las Vegas” to “River Rapids.” “I like it. It’s nice to see the mix, and also how, even in the abstract ones and the representational ones, it has the same overall aesthetic,” Vandeosen said. “It’s nice to see the gallery so full of so many diverse yet unified photographs.” According to Vandeosen, gallery shows are a great place for socializing and making connections while displaying your work. “Once you’ve had experience in making a show, having to put together a uniform body of work, and having to be able to write about it and articulate it definitely gives students here an upper hand,” Vandeosen said. The Cooke Gallery, located in Owen Hall, will house Browne’s “Growing Together” exhibit until March 10. The gallery is open for viewing from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Zach Maye was about to go to bed when the sprinkler in his room began pouring water all over him and his belongings. “I had just shut my computer and went to stand up. As I was standing up the sprinkler went off and began spraying black water all over the room,” said Maye, a junior at UNC Asheville. The incident, which occurred at 2:31 a.m. on February 17th in Governors Hall, remains unexplained. “Officially, it’s still listed as ‘unknown / unable to be determined’,” said Vollie Barnwell, the director of housing operations at UNC Asheville. “I’ve been here for nine years. Since I’ve been here, there have been other sprinkler discharges that have happened. “Most of the time when they’ve happened, there’s been a cause like students hung something from them, students hit them, or the weather, something like that. This is the first one that I can remember ever happening where it supposedly just went off.” Maye left the room immediately after the discharge began, but didn’t escape unscathed. “I was covered with black when I made it out of my room because of the stuff in the sprinkler. It was cold out that night and I still had gym shorts and a t-shirt on from earlier that night, so I had ice all over me when I got back into Governors,” he said. Maye was told that the water discharged by the sprinklers was black because of the firesuppressing chemicals in it. “The guys on the first floor were impacted actually the longest,” Barnwell said. “Other than Zach, the guys up on the second floor just had water on the floor. The guys on the first floor had water on their ceiling too, and down their walls. Their mattresses and carpet had to be replaced, and their ceilings had to be repainted.” Mike Szymczyk, another junior at UNCA, was one of those students. According to Szymczyk, when he returned to his room with his suitemates, there was over a foot of water in it. “I think between the four of us, we lost about $1000 to $2000 worth of stuff,” Szymczyk said. According to Barnwell, the sprinklers are very intense, but for a very good reason. “Sprinklers are not really sprinklers,” Barnwell said. “You’d think it would be just kind of a nice sprinkle of water, but it’s not. It’s like
See SPRINKLER Page 14
Orange Peel Thursday, March 19, 2009
Sprinkler
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a gusher. It’s a lot of water coming out very fast. Which is the way fire suppression is supposed to work.” Barnwell said that campus police and the fire department were able to shut the sprinkler off within approximately six minutes. “Six minutes doesn’t seem that long of a time, but when you’ve got that much water coming out, six minutes is a long time. It pretty much soaked everything in room 208, in that suite, and then it went through the floor into the rooms and suites below,” Barnwell said. This is not the first time the sprinklers have partially flooded a residence hall. Barnwell remembered one incident in particular. “We had a situation in South Ridge many years ago where a student on commencement morning hung his cap and gown from the sprinkler head not realizing it. Obviously, it caused a lot of damage,” Barnwell said. Maye says that others on campus were extremely helpful in the time after the flood. Celeste Shadoan - Staff Photographer “When I got back into Governors, I had to Liz Whalen poses in front of a wall of fliers inside the Orange Peel. immediately take a shower. When I got out, it was unbelievable at how many people were “As Asheville continues to grow, both with said. “I love that it is a non-smoking venue. carrying stuff out of my room, drying it off, people moving here and with more tourists It fits right in with Asheville. I think because and helping me move it,” Maye said. visiting, we’ve seen a corresponding increase Asheville is such a creative and art-focused Barnwell also was impressed by the way in traffic to shows. We believe that by bringcity, people are more music-centric here than people united to help the sprinkler victims. ing in great, well-known names, we will conin other cities that are more conservative,” “I would like to commend the people from tinue to help the tourism industry in Asheville Whiteside said. by attracting out-of-towners to Asheville Recent artists that have played to a sold-out to see a show. Hopefully, they will make a Orange Peel include Ani DiFranco and Sound weekend out of it, thereby stimulating the loTribe Sector 9, who sold out two consecutive cal economy,” Whalen said. nights on Tuesday and Wednesday. Tickets Whiteside said she prefers The Orange Peel are still on sale for David Allen Coe on Friday to other local venues because of its comfortand Gomez with Josh Ritter on Monday. able atmosphere. “The Orange Peel always has my business,” “It’s such a big open place where you’re Ratliff said. “It’s the best place for miles to not packed on top of one another,” Whiteside take in a really good show.”
Obesity
other about different types of fruits and vegetables,” March said. “Not everyone knows how to cook with kale, so we give them recipes to make cooking at home more accessible.” Building neighborhoods with wider streets and fewer sidewalks prohibits children and families from walking and biking. America is a car-centric society and exercise needs to be an important factor in everyday activities, according to March. “We have to create some structure that allows for people to make the right choices,” she said. “The concept of Eat Smart Move More is a very simple message and we are trying to get as many sectors of the state to use the same language and set the same goals.” Lower income neighborhoods usually have more fast food restaurants and fewer grocery stores with fresh produce, but with the initiatives starting by Eat Smart Move More, they hope to incorporate more healthy alternatives, March said. N.C. school lunch programs usually act as an independent business, receiving no state funding, which often causes them to buy less healthy options for children. “It’s a perfect storm with all of these issues
Continued
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coming together: our car-centric community, our kids aren’t free-range kids, unhealthy foods, media marketing, schools have focused on testing, that PE and recess have been squeezed out,” March said. As the rate of obesity increases, so does the amount of chronic disease, according to Nelson-Weaver. “Chronic disease is tremendously expensive,” she said. Heart disease, diabetes and more strokes cost our health care system billions and billions of dollars.” Children diagnosed with type 2 diabetes becomes more common with the combination of unhealthy eating and lack of exercise, according to Suzette Bartlett, nutrition director at the Buncombe County Health Center. “Kids that are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes are now seeing the effects sooner of organ failure and the risk of getting chronic diseases,” Bartlett said. Parents acting as healthier eating role models encourage their children to choose healthy foods, according to Nelson-Weaver. “If a child sees Mom snacking on a carrot rather than potato chips, they will usually pick up a carrot,” she said.
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Susan Terry - Staff Photographer
Mike Szymczyk sits in his Governor’s Hall dorm, which survived the flood.
facilities management and the housing operations staff,” Barnwell said. “There were a lot of people out there from 3 in the morning to 10 or 11 the next morning working straight through.” Szymczyk agreed. “Whether it was moving stuff out the night it all happened, to sorting through our stuff when it was in the lounge, to giving or offering us a place to stay, there were a lot of people that helped and were willing to help us,” Szymczyk said. “It was a really great thing to see.”
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Sports Thursday,
March 19, 2009
Men’s and women’s basketball season wrap-up Next week’s issue {The Blue Banner}
Page 15
Intramurals offers students outlet for stress UNC Asheville’s Intramural program is a great way for students to find a release from the stress they encounter during a typical academic-laden day. While the program may not compare to schools that are a part of the Atlantic Coast Conference, it does offer the two most essential things: recreation and fun. Not only does the program offer a great getaway and activity for those who choose to participate, but it also draws in some degree of spectators. You’re probably more likely to find students watching intramural sporting events than UNCA women’s basketball games, as harsh as that may be. The intramurals program has not only continued to steadily grow in participation, but also tries to add to current experiences and create new ones. “All of the conferences I go to, the discussions and meetings I have with other intramural directors are about what works for other programs,” said Joel Collier, assistant director of campus recreation, intramurals and sports clubs. “In every program you’re going to have your competitive athletes, those who have stopped
Commentary By Ryan Burtner Staff Writer
rrburtne@unca.edu
playing collegiate sports or who were really good athletes in high school, but then decided they wanted to focus more on their studies and continue playing with a competitive aspect. However, in intramurals we want to focus on the people that just want to have fun.” They even offer a flexible schedule for students. Instead of having to work your schedule around the events in order to participate, they’re willing to work their schedule around the students’. “We would definitely defer any intramural planned event if something came up academically,” Collier said. “We don’t say, ‘Oh hey, you need to come to intramurals and not focus on your studies.’ That’s not the way it is. Intramurals is an additional component to your on-campus experience
that we want you to enjoy in conjunction with your academics.” Though UNCA’s intramural program is not as big or as heavily funded as others, it does a good job of providing a wide variety of sports. There’s something for everybody, even one-day events for those students who can’t commit themselves for an entire season. “We’re going to do more things in conjunction with other departments on campus, to try to put together one or two events in order to let people come out and see what campus recreation and intramurals are all about,” Collier said. “We’re trying to increase the students’ experience other than just ‘come out and play.” Because of their dedication to variety, there’s something for everyone to enjoy. Don’t let competitive teams who are out for the championship T-shirt scare you away. Let them go all out for that 100 percent piece of cotton that will eventually be too small to fit. Focus on what you came to do and what intramurals are really about: having fun while being active.
Men’s tennis suffers setback with injuries, battles through season By Dan Weller Staff Writer
djweller@unca.edu
Hampered by injuries, the UNC Asheville men’s tennis team is battling through matches midway through the season. “We’re obviously struggling, but we’ve had some bizarre injuries that you hate to have,” Head Coach Lise Gregory said. “We’re not winning the close matches we should win and we haven’t handled the pressure like we need to. They’ve been as close as the women’s team in a lot of the matches, but we’re just not handling the pressure well.” While those injuries hold the Bulldogs back, Gregory indicated that things should be getting back on track soon. “We’re starting to get a little healthier
now as we progress, and I’m seeing improvements,” Gregory said. The Bulldogs (1-7) began their season on Jan. 24 with a loss to 26th ranked Wake Forest. UNCA lost the match 7-0 but picked up a doubles win from senior Mauricio Correa and freshman Jonas Brobeck. Freshman Nicolai Nonnebroich played strong, and won his first set 6-3 against WFU’s Jon Wolff. Wolff eventually proved too strong for Nonnebroich, as he went on to win the next two sets 6-2 and 6-0. The Bulldogs saw similar results in their next two meetings against East Carolina and Appalachian State on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1, respectively. UNCA lost 0-7 in both matchups and fell to 0-3 on the season. UNCA turned their game around on
Feb. 7 and grabbed their first win of the season against Kennesaw State at the Asheville School. The Bulldogs picked up the doubles point by winning all three doubles matches. UNCA then received single match wins from Correa and junior Joe May. With the match tied 3-3, sophomore Alexander Greer faced off in the last singles match against KSU freshman Justin Suesserman. Suesserman won the first set 6-4, but Greer battled back and won a close second set 7-5. The third set was cut short due to darkness, and Greer won the tiebreaker 11-9, which gave the Bulldogs the winning margin. On Feb. 8, the Bulldogs traveled to Furman to try to continue their success but
were stopped cold and lost 0-7. The men fought tough in the next match at Lees-McRae but came up short, losing 3-4. The Bulldogs were swept in the doubles matches and split their singles matches. May came close to winning it for UNCA by winning his first set 6-4 against LMC’s Alek Mojski, but then losing the last two sets 1-6 and 7-6. The team yielded the same results in its next two matchups against UNC Greensboro and UT-Martin, losing 0-7 and 3-4. The Bulldogs play at 2 p.m. Thursday on the road against Winston-Salem State. “We’ve been working hard, we’re working on strategy, but what it comes down to is winning the close ones,” Gregory said. “We’re capable of winning them, but we just have to get over that hump.”
Thursday, November 6, 2008
{The Blue Banner}
Page 2
Thursday, November 6, 2008
{The Blue Banner}
Page 2
Comics, Etc... Thursday, March 19, 2009
{The Blue Banner}
What Killed the Dinosaurs by Sandy Igel
Page 16
Sudoku
The rules to play Sudoku are quite simple. Fill in the blanks so that each row, each column, and each of the nine 3x3 grids contain one instance of each of the numbers 1 through 9.
Melvin & mah
Puzzle answers published in the
Comics, Etc
online section weekly at
thebluebanner.net
Campus Voice Thursday, March 19, 2009
{The Blue Banner}
Binge drinking shows immaturity of some students With spring break behind us, some students might remember a nice vacation while others simply won’t remember the break at all. In 2005, two-thirds of students said they drank in the last month, while around 40 percent binge drank, according to Wasting the Best and Brightest: Substance Abuse at America’s Colleges and Universities. Binge drinking means drinking enough alcohol to raise the blood-alcohol concentration to 0.08 percent or more within two hours, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. They define binge drinking as a type of drinking behavior averaging four or more drinks for women and five or more drinks for men within the time frame. Wasting the Best further reported the rates of students frequently binge drinking increased by nearly 16 percent. Sure, people drink on campus and obviously people binge drink, too, but just because something may be commonplace doesn’t excuse it. We need to know why people binge drink in order to address it. Wasting the Best reported that nearly half of all students drinking on campus drank for relaxation and to forget about their problems. The publication also said students want social acceptance. But wait a minute. You already know this stuff. You know people binge drink, you know the reasons why and you know the dangers. “Binge drinking is deadly,” said Jackie McHargue, dean of students, in an e-mail interview. “Across the country, more than 1,000 students die every year in alcohol related deaths.” But if students know this, then why talk about it? For one thing, binge drinking sits high on the list of idiotic behaviors. Just think about the next morning. If you’re cringing right now, then you know how the story goes. There might be a reason for such a high prevalence on college campuses. We know most parents don’t hover around students at college, but if students wait until they get to college and out of their sight, then binge drinking takes on a childish aura. Of course, students justify their juvenile behavior. Wasting the Best listed several occasions when students engage in heavy
By Tom McLean Staff Writer
tjmclean@unca.edu
drinking. These include freshman year, spring break and the 21st birthday. In other words, college made drinking a rite of passage. Right, and maybe we should make the first STD or failed course a rite of passage also. However inane binge drinking may be, serious consequences exist when the drinking goes too far. “Binge drinking can cause blackouts and place a student in a dangerous situation which can lead to sexual assault and other acts of violence,” McHargue said. “Binge drinking also has a cumulative effect on the body – and mixing alcohol with other drugs (both prescribed and illegal) can be a deadly combination.” So while we know this information, and students know the risks involved, many continue to engage in the behavior. Certainly colleges have an interest in curbing binge drinking. Students’ safety remains one of the top priorities. However, this problem doesn’t resolve itself easily. Increasing the alcohol tax might be a way to end binge drinking. The Task Force on Community Preventive Services expects that if the price of beer increased by 1 percent, then consumption would drop by 0.5 percent. Wine consumption would drop 0.64 percent for the same increase. In reality, more taxes do little to curb drinking. Binge drinking involves quite a bit of alcohol, so to stop it prices must rise significantly. However, that’s not really fair to the rest of society. People who want a six-pack at the end of the day shouldn’t pay exorbitant prices just because of college students. And let’s not forget Prohibition and all the drinking it didn’t stop. The Task Force also discusses decreasing the number of days alcohol can be sold. They cite a study which found a correlation between alcohol consumption and the number of days it can be sold. So if we decrease the number of days
alcohol may be sold, then we’ll see a decrease in consumption. This might work, but students could stock up for the weekend party, and this also keeps the regular drinker from getting alcohol because of college students. These options do little to nothing to stop binge drinking and potentially upset the rest of society. However, one solution exists, and it looks promising. Wasting the Best reported on a survey which showed some college professors holding exams or classes on Saturday morning. This looks like a good deterrent to binge drinking because it forces students to choose between staying up late partying or studying for exams. This keeps society out of the picture because this only affects college campuses. This solution even shows the selfishness and immaturity of binge drinking. By choosing to attend college, students must understand college as a privilege. Many people want to get a higher education, but find they cannot because they lack the means, background or grades. Such a privilege remains a luxury in our society. When students binge drink, they not only violate this privilege, but also slap others in the face who cannot attend college. Sure, plenty of students justify binge drinking as a part of the college experience, but this complacency removes the irresponsibility of binge drinking, which shows the immaturity of some. By having exams on Saturday morning professors put responsibility on their students to choose between studying and partying. “Education on responsible decisionmaking occurs inside and outside the classroom,” McHargue said. “We need to continue to hold students accountable when they violate our alcohol policies and utilize those opportunities to truly engage students in authentic conversation about their behavior.” Just because we can do something doesn’t mean we should. And just because binge drinking remains commonplace on campus doesn’t make it a justifiable act. Until students get their priorities straight about why they came to college, binge drinking remains a childish and selfish act that lowers and hurts the value of college.
Page 17
Movie review: Last House on the Left By Aaron Dahlstrom Editor-in-Chief
ardahlst@unca.edu
You’ll need a strong stomach to make it all the way through The Last House on the Left. And should you finish the movie and actually enjoy it, you might need a psychiatrist. The remake of the 1972 slasher classic by horror guru Wes Craven bares more similarities to a snuff film than it does the original. Gone is the corny B-movie dialogue and charming minimalism that helped the original film raise the bar on what a horror film could, and could not, be. Instead, the filmmakers (including Craven as co-producer) chose to go with brutal realism rather than actual suspense, the current trend in horror-flick remakes. Where the original film made up for its technical shortcomings with inventive storytelling, the 2009 version simply places a head inside a microwave because they have the special effects to show what might happen. Last House follows on the heels of another Craven remake, The Hills Have Eyes. That film worked because, for all of its violence, it kept audiences on the edge of their seats wondering who would die next, and how. Last House fails miserably in this department. The movie follows the familiar plot of seemingly every horror movie. An attractive family (dad Tony Goldwyn, mom Monica Potter and daughter Sara Paxton) take a normal family vacation to their lake house. When Paxton goes off with a friend (Michael Cera’s Superbad crush Martha Maclsaac) to buy some pot from a strange teenager (Spencer Treat Clark), the two run into the dealer’s family, a gang of brutal wanted criminals.
See LAST HOUSE Page 18
Thursday, March 19, 2009
{The Blue Banner}
Page 18
Assisted suicide relieves unbearable suffering Only patients deserve the right to decide whether to keep living The national debate over euthanasia is back in the news with the arrest of four members of an apparent assisted suicide group based in Georgia. The four members belong to the Final Exit Network and are charged with helping a 58-year-old man with throat and mouth cancer suffocate himself with helium. Assisted suicide, or voluntary euthanasia, first gained major national prominence in 1998 when the television news journal“60 Minutes” famously aired a homemade video of Dr. Jack Kevorkian administering a lethal injection to Thomas Youk. Youk, 52, had advanced Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease), a fatal neurological disease. While the “60 Minutes” piece is not the first instance of assisted suicide to gain national media attention, it may be the most influential example. At the time of the video, Kevorkian had lost his license to practice medicine due to performing physician-assisted suicides in the early 1990s. Partly due to Kevorkian, Michigan banned physician-assisted suicide in 1992. Due to the Michigan ban and the fact that Kevorkian had no license to practice medicine, a jury convicted him of second-degree murder in 1999, and he served eight years of a 10-25-year sentence. The Final Exit Network is only one example of voluntary euthanasia in the news today. In the 2008 election, Washington became the second state to legalize physician-assisted suicide. Washington Initiative 1000 passed by a 58-42 mar-
Last house
By Patrick Zarcone Staff Writer
pwzarcon@unca.edu
gin. It is now legal for adults over 18 with less than six months to live to request a lethal medication prescribed by a doctor for self-administration. Patients must make two verbal requests and one written request, and there are waiting periods between each request. Patients receive other options such as hospice care, and they must get two witnesses to sign a statement. Oregon was the first state to legalize physicianassisted suicide when Oregon Measure 16 (Death with Dignity Act) became law in 1994 by a 51-49 margin. Initiative 1000 is nearly identical to the Death with Dignity Act. In 1997, an attempt to repeal the Death with Dignity Act came to a vote. Over 60 percent of voters rejected the new measure to repeal the act. The Bush administration also attempted to repeal the act in 2005. The administration argued that the Death with Dignity Act could not be legal because the drugs given to patients were federally controlled substances. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled
6-3 in favor of the state of Oregon in the case Gonzales v. Oregon. On Feb. 24, a memoir by John West came to stores. His book, The Last Goodnights: Assisting My Parents with Their Suicides, is an account of the events that took place more than 10 years ago when his father, a doctor, and mother, a clinical psychologist, asked if he would help them kill themselves. West’s father had an aggressive form of cancer and his mother had mid-stage Alzheimer’s coupled with emphysema and osteoporosis. West never told his family about what really happened to his parents until he wrote the book. The memoir recounts the conversations he had with his parents and the experience of what it is like to help your parents kill themselves. The terminally ill deserve to make their own decisions when it comes to their death. There’s no reason why someone should have a say when it comes to voluntary suicide unless you are the person who is going to be taking the lethal prescription. Right now, the only legal form of voluntary suicide outside of Washington and Oregon is simply the right that families have to remove their loved one from life support if they have a living will that says such actions are allowed. That is hardly voluntary suicide. It is
“Not everyone is a fighter, and not everyone should have to be.”
violence for their own sakes. The original film was probably even more brutal and C o n t i n u e d f r o m P a g e 1 7 shocking, especially for the time. It took the confusion and drug-fueled haze that The girls are beaten, raped and left for was the early ’70s and turned them into a dead following a car wreck. The killers twisted freak show of a movie. then find their way to the family’s cabin, But today’s audiences expect more. Afwhere Goldwyn and Potter invite them ter five Saws, two Hostels and god-knows in and even treat their wounds from the how many Friday the 13ths, moviegoers wreck. When Paxton shows up in the mid- need to see actors die in ways that are indle of the night bloody and bruised after creasingly painful and prolonged. And surviving the assault, the parents realize movie studios are more than happy to who their guests really are and the body comply because, apparently, buckets of parts go flying. blood are easier to come by than an origiLast House might make a decent horror nal script. flick if it existed for any other reason than providing gratuitous amounts of gore and
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simply a right that we have as determined by the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1990 case Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health, and it really has nothing to do with suicide since no one is making an active decision in their own death. I can only imagine what West and others like him go through when they’re told by their loved ones that they wish to kill themselves to avoid further pain. While a situation such as West’s may be difficult to come to terms with, who are we to say that people can’t make their own decisions? When it comes to just about everything else in life, people are allowed to choose things for themselves. When we are adults nobody tells us what to think, feel, eat, wear, do, etc., so why should things be different when faced with an aggressive terminal illness that nothing can be done about? Like many others, I have seen what terminal cancer can do to someone, and it isn’t nice. When my grandmother was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1999 she decided to fight it. She knew her chances weren’t good, but she did chemotherapy and radiation anyway. She died a relatively quick but extremely painful death. Not everyone is a fighter, and not everyone should have to be. Sometimes the prognosis isn’t good, and all that is left is to suffer until the disease runs its course. It shouldn’t be that way, though. Much like other controversial medical issues, our body is our body and no one else’s, and, therefore, the decisions need to be ours.
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Thursday, March 19, 2009
{The Blue Banner}
Page 19
A Word From Student Government
d 0 o n
Increased participation and input revitalize SGA 0010110110100101111010010010101
Reader comments from thebluebanner.net
-Ramsey worker deserved terdmination for leaving her post l This employee should have been fired yfor their actions. This is not an emotional ebut a business and operational issue. The nemployee should have at least checked with ther supervisor about closing early and aldlowed him/her to make the decision. The eemployee stepped way outside of their job ,description by making this decision. d — Posted by Anonymous, March 6 n
Black History Month necessary
into a post-race society, but it is still a necessary institution for now. Education is key in moving past racial prejudice, and as little as BHM does, it does at least this. Maybe we should be focusing on making black history relevant in our teachings. Instead of telling kids about what happened back then, we should explain how what happened back then got us to where we are now. Gilbert King, who is writing a book about Thurgood Marshall, made a short video about how we need to think about those that have come before us. He proposes that Barack Obama is standing on Thurgood Marshall’s shoulders.
tfor racial equality — Posted by Anonymous, Feb. 20 d s Black History Month still brings up the To post your own comments on articles, eissue of race, preventing us from moving visit www.thebluebanner.net. s y -
e s t
l e o
The
Blue Banner Editorial Board
Karpen Hall 019 (828) 251-6586 banner@unca.edu www.thebluebanner.net Aaron Dahlstrom, Editor-in-Chief
Emily Gray, Business Manager
Jonathan Walczak, Managing Editor
Cassidy Culbertson, Photo Editor
Pam Stringer, News Editor
Cassady Sharp, Assistant News Editor
Dylan Schepps, Arts&Features Editor Sam Hunt, Assistant Arts&Features Editor Greg Hicks, Sports Editor
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Jason Herring, Design&Web Editor
Michael Gouge, Faculty Adviser
The Blue Banner is UNC Asheville’s student newspaper. We publish each Thursday except during summer sessions, finals week and holiday breaks. Our office is located in Karpen Hall 019. The Blue Banner is a designated forum for free speech and welcomes letters to the editor, considering them on basis of interest, space and timeliness. Letters and articles should be e-mailed to banner@unca.edu. They should be signed with the writer’s name, followed by year in school, major or other relationship to UNCA. Include a telephone number to aid in verification. All articles are subject to editing.
With the Student Government Association elections approaching and all the candidates busy campaigning, how many of us will really notice or care? What has SGA even done to make us want to notice? Last year’s elections, into the LaddJohnson administration, had only one contested seat, that of vice president. That can make one worry about the validity of this association; if nobody cares enough to run, then why bother even caring about what SGA does? However, this year saw a boom in applicants. As it looks now, there will be no empty seats for the next administration, and only two senate positions barely run uncontested. This is a great sign for SGA and for the student body. More people have noticed, and more people care. Why though? What has caused this sudden interest? Unfortunately, I cannot take the credit. It deserves to be given to the great senators putting their time into this association. They are the ones who tackled the projects, talked to the administration, created the events and voiced student opinions that make the students aware. There are a plethora of projects SGA pursued and is still pursuing. Most of the student body may not be aware that SGA is the reason these projects are moving forward. Many of us remember when Rocky’s Convenience Store removed cigarettes last year, and no matter how loudly we voiced, and how much we moved to get them back, they are now permanently gone. The transition to an almost smoke-free campus occurred. The idea was to ban smoking within University Heights. Long story short, SGA passed legislation creating a compromise to the smoking ban, creating areas within the ring of University Heights that allow smoking. We can all make our judgments and critique the compromise, but, with the assistance of SGA, what was once a total ban is no longer. Among many other issues, SGA senators have, and still are, looked many issues, including: the humanities program, transfer credits between UNC system schools, the residence hall card swipe system, free expression structure, bookstore policies, alternative clothes drying, tuition and fees, next year’s budget cuts, unisex
By Andrew Johnson Student Body Vice President aajohnso@unca.edu
bathrooms, G-mail as campus e-mail, library hours, dining hall facilities and food options, furthering a sustainable campus, campus diversity and transportation. Beyond those more intricate situations, the senators this year have handled smaller questions and concerns that were resolved in a day via e-mails, phone calls and faceto-face conversations. SGA also took a large step in becoming more involved in the Association of Student Governments, which encompasses all UNC system schools. I can easily say that UNCA was the most productive and well-received school in ASG. Within ASG, we fought for tuition and fee proposals, textbook policies, opendoor policy for community colleges allowing undocumented students, and shared ideas and experiences with other UNC system schools. SGA also held more noticeable events this year, including Love Fest, Know Your Rights Week and, soon, Green Fest. With guests including Chancellor Ponder, Provost Jane Fernandes, Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Bill Haggard, University Librarian Jim Kuhlman and Dean of Students Jacquelyn McHarque asked to speak to SGA, and to receive senators’ opinions, there is proof that SGA has now become a respected voice of the student body. With a small senator turnover rate, there has been the time and drive for SGA to get out and hear what your concerns are. As with any organization working in large or small groups, there is bickering and disagreements, but that only proves that SGA is a diverse working force. When every student is represented there will be disagreements and debates, but that means that somebody’s voice is being heard. The great administration coming to an end has raised a high bar for future administrations, and I can say that, with the current trend, it can only become better.
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*Our Surcharges (incl. Fed. Univ. Svc. of 9.5% of interstate & int’l telecom charges (varies quarterly), 7¢ Regulatory & 85¢ Administrative/line/mo. & others by area) are not taxes (details: 1-888-684-1888); gov’t taxes & our surcharges could add 6%–26% to your bill. Activation fee/line: $35 ($25 for secondary Family SharePlan lines w/ 2-yr. Agmts). IMPORTANT CONSUMER INFORMATION: Subject to Cust. Agmt, Calling Plan, rebate form & credit approval. Up to $175 early termination fee/line, up to 40¢/min after allowance & add’l charges apply for data sent or received. Friends & Family: Only domestic landline or wireless numbers (other than directory assistance, 900 numbers or customer’s own wireless or Voice Mail access numbers) included; all eligible lines on an account share the same Friends & Family numbers, up to account’s eligibility limits; set up & manage on My Verizon. Offers & coverage, varying by svc., not available everywhere. Network details & coverage maps at vzw.com. Limited-time offers. While supplies last. Rebate debit card takes up to 6 wks & exp. in 12 mos. © 2009 Verizon Wireless. FFOU1