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ra success
SGA elections com
ing up 8
Review of the Oscars-
best and worst 4
Tennis team loses to
Winthrop 7
The Blue
BANNER
Volume 24, Number 22 UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT ASHEVILLE
March 28, 1996 [
Civil Rights
complaint filed
against UNCA
Jennifer Thurston
Staff Writer
A complaint was filed against UNCA
with the Office of Civil Rights on
Feb. 6.
The complaint alleged discrimina
tion and a violation of the Title IX
statute that requires educational in
stitutions to speijd equal amounts of
money on men’s and women’s pro
grams.
I The complaint alleged discrimina
tion in the assignment and training of
coaches as well as a difference in the
amount of funding for travel and per
diem rates for male and female ath
letes within UNCA’s department of
athletics.
The identity of the person who ini
tiated the complaint is sealed.
“We have had a complaint that has
been lodged,” Chancellor Patsy Reed
said.
“It has been communicated to me,
and we have been asked to gather
information that we will submit to
them. Their process, as I understand
it, is to assemble data and then make
a decision as to whether or not the
complaint is a valid one for a contin
ued investigation,” she said.
Reed stated that the fact that a com
plaint had been lodged did not neces
sarily mean there would be an investi
gation.
UNCA has also hired a consultant,
Lamar Daniel, to help the administra
tion respond to the complaint.
“We have asked (Daniel), who is
knowledgeable in civil rights and Title
IX, which is a very complex issue in
tke interpretations as made by the
courts, to help us in interpreting it
and compiling the data,” Reed said.
Daniel worked for the Office of Civil
Rights out of Atlanta before becom
ing a private consultant.
When asked about the athletic
program’s compliance with gender-
equlty standards, Tom Hunnicutt,
director of athletics said, “I can say
categorically that we are not know
ingly in violation of any Title IX laws.
We have hired (Daniel) to assist us in
evaluating our entire program and if
we have deficiencies, he will design us
1 plan to where we can become in
compliance.”
I don’t think you need to whip up
the campus into a frenzy over this,”
Hunnicutt said.
“We are required to have 25 full
men’s scholarships and 25 full
Women’s scholarships and we are in
the process of working them out. We
do that every year,” he said.
Hunnicutt stated that because three
Women athletes either withdrew from
the university last semester or took a
leave from school, there was now an
excess of scholarship funds for women
that had to be awarded to other ath
letes.
We’re in the process of doing that.
re on target,” Hunnicutt said.
We’re 99%. But you see the NCAA
tules permit us to go back and add to
^3ch student-athlete who is not under
Wl scholarship to bring up our num-
“ers.”
UNCA budgeted $294,876 in schol
arships for 84 male athletes and
*271,702 for 62 female athletes in the
J595-96 school year, according to a
^raft by a faculty subcommittee of the
'^AA certification process. The re
port is unrelated to the complaint.
Track athletes question padded roster in light of NCAA probation
Jennifer Thurston
Staff Writer
Present and former track team mem
bers cite the athletic department’s need
for ‘ ‘warm bodies,” in order to meet
the track team’s required NCAA par
ticipation numbers, as justification
for offering scholarships to students.
“He needs warm bodies,” said Travis
Rudnick, men’s track team captain.
“He knows he’s on a sinking ship. I
feel badly about going to the chancel
lor and everything, but I’m team cap
tain and I was asked to.
The UNCA athletic department
awarded a $200 scholarship to a stu
dent who is not required to practice
with the team or compete in more
than two meets, according to a letter
written to three administrators by
former track team member Kim
Shankle. Director of Athletics Tom
Hunnicutt admitted awarding the
scholarship to the student, but denied
that there were special circumstances
surrounding the offer.
“We have offered scholarship money
to people who are currently receiving
money such as the person in our train
ing room and also Kim Shankle,” said
Tom Hunnicutt, UNCA’s director of
athletics. “We gave her money which
we would give to anybody in order to
bring our numbers up. She goes to the
track team as a member of our train
ing staff. I do not (see that as an
ethical problem.)”
“What we’re trying to do here is
make sure we meet Division I require
ments,” said Mike Gore, UNCA’s
sports information director. “And by
not doing that, we might lose our
Division I status. We think it’s a tough
situation, but that’s what we’re do-
»
mg.
UNCA is currently under a ten year
probation period dating back to the
1992 season when the track team did
not meet the full requirements for
participants in each meet. By NCAA
rules, both the men’s and women’s
track teams must have fourteen par
ticipants each at five separate meets.
TRACK conf. on pg. 8
Forum on Sexual Harassment held
Ptioto by Michael Taylor
In celebration of Women s History Month, a faculty forum called "Sexual Harassment: Building Awareness on Campus" was he[d last Friday in
the Laurel Forum. Presenters at the forum includea Catherine Mitchell, chair of the mass communication department. Keith Bramlett (above),
lecturer in sociology, attended the forum, which was open to the entire campus community.
SGA chairperson
says passage of
stipends is illegal
Marissa DeBlasio/William Davis
Staff Writer/Features Editor
On March 6, the student senate presented a
bill calling for the passing of stipends for
members of SGA. This presentation of Bill
130 was illegal according to Article I Section
7 Subsection lof SGA constitutional by-laws.
Members of Senate were informed of this
prior to the bill’s presentation, said Rules
Committee Chair Rebecca Barraclough. It
was also mentioned by Senior Senator Mark
Dann that acts committed by SGA President
Dhaval “Doc” Patel were impeachable.
“My job is to know the rules and serve as a
reference for senate. I explained the situation
to Doc and told him that it (the bill) could not
be presented. My impression was that he was
not going to present it at that time. He under
stood that it was against the rules and that it
could not be presented at that point,” said
Barraclough.
According to Barraclough, she informed
Patel, Dann, Mike Welch, who serves as leg
islative librarian, legislative committee chair,
and residential senator, and several other
senators that presenting the bill was in viola
tion of the by-laws. The by-laws stipulate that
stipends cannot be presented more than one
month before the end of the current adminis
tration. Since this administration will end on
April 24, the bill was presented seven weeks
prior to the end of the administration.
According to Barraclough, who opposed
the presentation of the bill, she was out of
SGA cont. on pg. 10
Faculty pay raises a priority at meeting wirii legislators, community leaders
Michael Taylor
Staff Writer
The University of North Carolina
Board of Governors held a meeting
with local legislators at UNCA on
March 18 to discuss issues of interest
to the university system. The meeting
was the first of six held between mem
bers of the 16-campus university sys
tem.
“I thought that the meeting pro
vided ample opportunity for mem
bers of the (UNC) general assembly
to ask questions about the university
system,” said Bob Snead, executive
assistant to the chancellor at Appala
chian State University. “I though it
was very worthwhile.”
The meeting provided an opportu
nity for the chancellors of local schools
to discuss issues with both the Board
of Governors and local legislators who
are currently between sessions.
“We had 10 to 11 representatives
from this area at the meeting,” said
Snead. “We were able to discuss issues
that we felt were important.”
The meetings were designed to let
the UNC general assembly hear from
the individual campuses about issues
of concern of the university and allow
for interaction between the two.
“There are priorities to keep the
university system strong,” said Tom
Byers, special assistant to the chancel
lor. “We have to have enough funding
to remain at the front of public uni
versity systems in the country.”
One of the priorities at the first
meeting was pay increases for the fac
ulty of the l6-mernber university sys
tem.
“Forty to 60 percent of faculty at
public universities in the United States
are being paid better than those fac-
MEETING conf. on pg.8
VCAA candidates to interact with campus community during upcoming visits.
Kenneth Corn
Staff Writer
The four candidates for the Vice
Chancellor for Academic Affairs
(VCAA) position will visit the UNCA
campus between April 1 and April 12.
They will nieet with a wide range of
campus groups, including faculty, staff
and students.
“Often times in the past, the stu
dents have not come out to the inter
view sessions with candidates,” said
Angela Mahdi, student representative
of the VCAA Search Committee. “I
strongly encourage everyone to come
to the sessions and voice their con
cerns and opinions so they can create
the future of our school.”
Mahdi said the student sessions will
be on the second day of each
candidate’s visit, from 2:30 p.m. to
3:15 p.m.. There will be a VCAA
Search Committee member at each
meeting. They will be watching the
reactions of the students.
Mahdi said students should ask the
candidates what their vision of UNCA
would be in the next ten years. She
also said the students should question
the candidates about what direction
they plan to take the school and to
what extent they plan to get involved
with the students on an individual
level.
Mahdi said whatever concerns the
students have should be asked in the
sessions. “If the students hate them,
then they will not be here,” said
Mahdi.
The first candidate to visit the cam
pus will be Ann Ferren, senior fellow
of The Association of American Col
leges. She will visit April 1.
The second candidate, who will be
on campus April 4 and 5, is J. William
Moncrief Currently he holds the po-
VCAA cont. on pg. 8