THE BLUE BANNER/December 11, 1986/3
Opinion
We’d better look before we leap
By Chuck Spanbauer
Advertising Manager
I recently read in the "Banner"
about "Red Carpet Day," which is an
attempt to attract new students to
campus next fall. I must express my
reservations on such a move. The
campus is now experiencing several
deficiencies which I feel must be
addressed before UNCA can accomo
date 300 additional students.
First and foremost, campus health
services must be made av^able 24
hours a day. Under the present
system, after 6 p.m. students must
have their RA (resident assistant) call
an answering service and a doctor may
(or may not) call back within 30
minutes. During that time, someone
seriously injured could die!
Currently, there are about 550
students living on campus, and adding
300 more would demand that around-
the-clock health care be made
available. In my opinion, it’s quite
possible that a lawsuit could arise out
of the death or permanent disablement
of a student resulting firom the
inadequacies of the present system.
And where are those additional
people going to eat? Sure, the patio
next to the cafeteria could be
enclosed, but that would only add
about 50 or 60 seats. Even if fimding
is obtained for food service expansion,
such work will not be completed imtil
1988!
Those aren’t the only problems.
Where are all those additional students
going to attend classes? Presently,
classes are overcrowded and classroom
space is at a premium. The Asheville
Graduate Center classroom building
will eventually ease the problem, but
it won’t be built for several years.
And if all these problems weren’t
enough, there’s the issue of campus
security. This campus is far too large
for one patrol car to adequately cover,
as is evidenced by frequent car break-
ins. And earlier this semester, a rapist
was assaulting female students in
broad daylight!
Yet the administration plans to build
yet another road onto campus,
permitting even easier access to an
area with an understaffed security
force.
In my opinion, the administration
needs to take a long, hard look at
these problems before shooting for the
stars.
Paranoid sources worry too much
By Angela Pickelsimer
Staff Writer
I have worked on the "Blue Banner"
for the past two semesters. It’s a lot
of work for one credit, but it is
challenging and has certain rewards.
There are people on this campus who
have made my job a lot easier, and
some who have made it more difficult.
I want to thank those people who
have been cooperative, who have, in
some instances, gone out of their way
to help me get a story together.
I especially appreciate people like
Tom Byers, special assistant to the
chancellor. He is a very busy man, but
he has always taken time to answer
my questions and thoroughly explain
the issues I’ve had to deal with while
writing for the paper. I am sure he
has many other things to do, but he
has always made me feel like a
priority whenever I have interviewed
him.
On the other hand, there are people
on this campus who have refused to
speak to me because they feel, in
some way, they have been harmed by
the "Blue Banner." They’ve told me
they have been misqqot^d^^d |icj^ like ^ ^
their job is at stake because of it.
I do not thmk these people realize
that even though the "Banner" is a
legitimate publication, it is also a
learning experience. It is a workshop
situation that is required of all
Communications majors. Most of us
have had one class in newswriting, and
then we write for the paper. Because
of this, we are still learning, and we
do make some mistakes.
We are eiuolled in a required class
and are trying to do the best we can
with it as well as serve the UNCA
community. We are not out to
intentionally misquote people, make
them look bad, or get them fired from
their job. I wish that some of the
paranoid people on this campus would
realize this.
If you have had a problem with a
reporter or with an article in the
paper, why don’t you call the editor
and mention it to him? Tell him what
the problem is. The editor is always
open to suggestions.
Otherwise, the next time a "Banner"
reporter ask^ to interview you, give
him or her a chance. Go slowly and
make sure you are understood. This
could help avoid mistakes in the
COILEGE PRESS SERVICE
Is this the first time he*s ever
received an A on a final exam?
Christmas shopping craziness
denies real holiday spirit
By Libby Ramsey
Staff Writer
future.
i t i t
What if it doesn’t fit, doesn’t match,
they don’t like it, they’ve already got
one, they can tell how much I paid
for it? Hate to go to the mall anyway
(it’s like trying to find a parking
space on campus), then there are the
crowds, gotta talk to everybody, long
lines, limited selections, can’t believe
I go through this every year. So hard
to please everybody. Was Christmas
really meant to be like this? Am I the
only one who feels this way?
I enjoy giving—all year long.
Christmas always reminds me of the
little drummer boy who wanted so
desperately to give Baby Jesus
something special.
The little fellow never talked about
what he didn’t have or what he
couldn’t afford, nor did he fret about
what he couldn’t do. He immediately
set out to find Baby Jesus and to give
him the greatest and only gift he was
capable of giving—he played on his
drum.
It would truly be a blessed, year
long gift if everyone gave his best to
everything he did. This would require
knowing one’s self: strengths and
weaknesses, vulnerable areas, positives
and negatives. If everyone knew
himself and gave of himself, he could
better relate to other people.,
Satisfying other people would no
longer be a chore. Those who are
truly our friends would relate to our
situations and respect our decisions to
do what we felt worked best for us in
any given situation.
It is important for me to know
myself, to develop myself to my fullest
potential, to explore and push myself
to the limits.
In the final analysis it is we
ourselves who are judged for what we
have made of ourselves—sort of a
daily gift—to look in the mirror and
see a friend; to drift into sleep
content that we have made a
contribution that day. WeTiave been
true to. ourselves, we have helped
others. That’s the true spirit of
Christmas, all year long.
Two meaningful sayings come to
mind when I think of how I want to
grow and to be remembered as a
person, at Christmas and always. One
is a prayet by Rev. Peter Marshall:
"May we, God helping us, be part of
the answer, not part of the problem."
The second, my favorite, is
attributed to Bernard Baruch, adviser
to Franklin D. Roosevelt: "The
greatest blessing of our democracy is
fi^eedom, but in the last analysis our
only fi-eedom is the fireedom to
discipline ourselves."
So merry giftgiving...of your richest
, potentid.,.y9yjs^If, _ _ , ^.
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