6/THE BLUE BANNER/December 11, 1986
Staff photo—Jonna McGrath
Fashion fever
A fashion show featuring styles from Asheville’s better known
boutiques took place in me Highsmith Center yesterday. Models
exhibited apparel from the past, present and future.
‘ •
Pregnant?
Need Help?
at
WESTERN CAROLINA MEDICAL CLINIC
WE CARE!
Free Pregnancy Testing—No Appointments Necessary
Call Us For More Information About
• Birth Control
• Counseling
• Abortion
• Blood Serum Pregnancy Testing
• Family Planning Clinic
(Including Complete Physical Exams • VD Testing and Treatment
Pelvic Exams • Treatment for Infections and Marriage Physicals)
HOURS: 8 am - 6 pm Mon - Fri; 8 am - 2 pm Sat.
I WESTERN CAROLINA MEDICAL CLINIC
900 Hendersonville Road • P.O. Box 5962
Asheville, NC 28813 • (704) 274-7460
Unioersity can reapply in 1988
t r
Honor society rejects
chapter at GNCA
By Julie Tilka
Staff Writer
The qualifications committee of
Phi Beta Kappa, considered the most
prestigious honor society in the na
tion, informed administrators this
semester that it had rejected
UNCA’s 1985 application for a cam
pus chapter earlier this year.
The committee also clarified its
reasoning for the rejection.
The assessment has helped the
administration to pinpoint problem
areas in our curriculum, said Dr.
Jeff Rackham, vice chancellor of
academic affairs.
Many faculty members were disap
pointed that the application was
turned down, he said, but a great
deal of good came out of it in terms
of suggestions.
"We could have made a good case
if we’d had the letter in advance—
if we had known the sort of things
they may object to. We were sort of
proceeding in the dark," said Dr.
Philip Walker, history professor and
one of the faculty members who
submitted an application to Phi Beta
Kappa.
Walker stressed the importance of
receiving a chapter of the honor
society. "If a college is given a
chapter it is a tremendous asset. It
is recognition of that institution as
a teacher of the liberal arts," he
said.
Phi Beta Kappa, the oldest of the
honor societies, was founded in 1776
at the College of William and Mary
in Virginia. Presently, there are 234
chapters in the United States.
The society grants charters to the
Phi Beta Kappa fraternity members
on a school’s faculty rather than to
the institution. Thus, the UNCA fra
ternity members submitted the ap
plication.
Walker said the two major reasons
for denial of a Phi Beta Kappa
charter are 1) what the committee
considers a school’s move away from
a liberal arts emphasis; and 2) UNCA
test scores, primarily on the SAT,
are comparatively lower than those
of students at schools which have
chapters.
The letter offering these reasons,
written by the society’s secretary,
Kenneth Greene, said that the
qualifications committee found that
nearly half the total degrees
received by UNCA graduates are in
three vocationally-oriented areas:
business and management, communi
cations, and computer science.
However, Rackham said that he
had always considered liberal arts at
the core of the university’s curric
ulum and that this was balanced
with equally important career-ori
ented programs.
"Our intention is to create a com
plementary balance. There is no rea
son why they are in conflict," he
said.
The youth of the university is one
possible reason for the fraternity’s
decision, because many of the pro
grams have not had sufficient time
to develop and prove themselves,
added Rackham. Walker said the
committee may have misinterpreted
some information in the application.
For example, transfer students’
SATsdo not figure in the application
process. Traditionally, only the
scores of entering freshman make up
campus average, he said.
About 70 percent of the gradu
ating students at UNCA are transfer
students, and their SAT scores are
generally very high, according to
Rackham.
The newly-formed undergraduate
research fellowships require an SAT
score of 1200, which "puts us in
competition with all major schools
for the best students," he said.
These scholarships will fund four
years of tuition, fees and books as
well as three summers of internships
or study opporunities for accepted
applicants. Also, the local honors
program, which was just recently
formed, will be a strong point for
UNCA when it applies again, Rack
ham said.
Lynch feels confident that within
a decade UNCA will gain Phi Beta
Kappa status.
He said he would like to work
again on the next application which
would stress "the enormous strength
of the humanities program and the
high caliber of UNCA students that
really carmot be documented by SAT
scores."
Since the qualifications committee
considers applications every three
years, UNCA can reapply for a
charter in 1988.
If the committee is impressed with
the application, it will visit the
campus for an inspection.
It is the policy of the committee
to select an applying institution for
intensive study only if the institu
tion is ready for immediate
consideration.
(