February 10, 2000
The Banner
Page 3
Perspectives
Hard work for the 1999-2000 administration
Student
Government
Association
projects ai
The following is taken from
iStudent Issues interview with
SGA President Wiley Cash
nFeb. 1,2000.
SI: SGA’s 1999-2000 ad
ministration is about to close.
Do you think the year has
been a successful one?
WC: I think this year has
een ten times more success-
fiJ than I could have ever asked
ot just with SGA, but
with the university in general.
SI: What do you mean?
WC: This year has been an
excellent one for SGA. Fol
lowing in the footsteps of Al
Donaldson’s administration,
By Wiley Cash
we have continued to not be a
stereotypical student govern
ment. We have tackled much
greater issues and made dif
ferences in things we origi
nally set out to change.
SI: Are you speaking about
original platform issues?
WC: To an extent, but it
goes much farther than that.
It’s amazing. Once you start
to knock on a door, a million
other doors need to be
knocked on as well. Platform
issues become broader, spill
over into other things and
before you know it, you’re
working on 10 different
; have worked with the
office of multicultural affairs
where Octavia Wright, coor
dinator of multici^ltual stu
dent programs, is doing an
unbelievable job, as is the in
tern, Rita Martin, a senior
psychology major. Rita and I
have a few more events in the
works for the spring. We have
also been working with the
admissions office, since they
have invited us on many re
cruitment efforts this spring.
SI: Will the recruitment ef
forts be geared toward minor
ity enrollment?
WC: Yes, of course. How
ever, the admissions office has
greatly increased the staff who
are working solely on minor
ity recruitment. Our minor
ity admissions are higher at
this time than they were last
year, and our overall admis
sions numbers are up around
70 percent.
SI: To what do you attribute
this?
WC: First, UNCA has al
lowed online admissions this
year. However, this success
can most directly be attrib
uted to the handiwork of a
few people: John Byers, Phil
Weast, John White, Al
Donaldson, Mike Matthews
and the Reverend Carl
Arrington, who is working on
minority recruitment in Char
lotte.
SI: So why is their such em
phasis finally put on minority
enrollment?
WC: Because the emphasis
should be there. It should have
been there years ago. It’s sim
ply the right thing to do.
SI: What else has SGA been
working on?
WC: This semester, I’ve been
working hard on getting to
gether an honor code and an
honor policy for UNCA. We
are one of a handful of schools
in the country without an aca
demic honor code. Currently,
there is no correct system of
guidelines to follow if a stu
dent or professor is suspected
of academic dishonesty. We’ve
also had senators hard at work
on issues such as childcare,
meal plan adjustment, recy
cling and other things to bet
ter the student environment.
SI: Speaking of bettering the
student environment, why
were fees raised again this year?
WC: Historically, students
have had this overwhelming
fear that fees were being raised
to support the athletic depart
ment. This year we were very
meticulous in deciding exactly
where fee increases were go
ing and athletics received one
of the lowest increases.
SI: Then what did the in
crease pay for?
WC: This year the highest
increase went to technology.
UNCA desperately needs
more funding for computer
labs and library resources. We
could have increased the fee
ten times and it still wouldn’t
have been enough. Another
of the highest increases went
to culturi and special events.
This new account will help to
alleviate some of the burden
off groups like AASA or UP in
order to get “big name” speak
ers and performers to visit this
campus. UNCA’s outdoor life
program also got a substantial
increase, in hopes that UNCA
can begm a program compa
rable to that of other Western
Carolina universities. We
didn’t mind raising fees as long
as we could point out that
they were going to fill a glar
ing need on this campus.
SI: Do you think the changes
on this campus can be attrib
uted to the chancellor?
WC: Most definitely. The
morale of this campus is ex
tremely high, and much of
that is because of the vision
that Dr. Mullen has for
UNCA.
SI: What do you mean by
WC: He thinks that UNCA
has the potential to be the best
liberal arts school in the coun;
try. The first step he has taken
has been the forming of three
committees: minority affairs,
retention and community
partnerships. These three
groups have been working all
year and will present their
findings to the chancellor and
the board of trustees in March.
These committees are not
groups that were formed sim
ply to sit around and talk.
These people are identifying
problems and deciding on so
lutions.
SI: Since you are a member
of the board of trustees, what
is your general impression of
them?
WC: I cannot count how
many times this year I have
been sitting in a meeting and
heard one of the Trustees say,
“But that’s not in keeping with
our Mission Statement.”
UNCA would be hard press
ing to find another group of
people who are more con
cerned about this university
and its success.
SI: What is the one thing
you have learned this year
through your experience?
WC: It is a hard thing for an
organization to keep itself to
gether. It is even harder for
that organization to be suc
cessful. I am so thankful for
everyone that I have worked
with this year because every
small success that SGA has
had can be directly attributed
to the extremely hard work of
some individual.
Wiley Cash is SGA president.
Letters to the Editor
Dangerous
Dear Editor,
How convenient it is for white
people on this campus to blame
minorities for their disposition in
life, and at UNCA, on what Jaimie
Park calls their “addict(ion) to the
joys ofvictimhood.” However, this
explanation for racism and human
disharmony is rooted in ignorance,
and it is dangerous.
Culture is not defined by geogra
phy, but by shared experience. Al
though blacks and whites have
shared the same southern Ameri-
geography, we have not shared
the same experiences. Blacks and
other minorities have been the vic-
of unfathomable cruelties of
slavery and racism. Minorities to
day are still- the victims of racism
and a “justice” system that is bor
derline genocidal.
To ignore the past and wish for
assimilation into one geographically
defined culture is to ignore the past
and present inferior status of all
men and women that don’t fit com
fortably into the white, hetero
sexual, male category. If we choose
to ignore the inequality and blind
ing discrepancies between cultures,
we set ourselves up to repeat horri
fying mistakes of the past.
I am in awe of the minorities that
choose to come to UNCA. What
Jaimie Park conveniently describes
as their “aura of exclusiveness,” I
choose to interpret as an unwilling
ness to assimilate. We all come from
different walks of life, and to learn
about and celebrate these differ
ences would be true diversification.
Assimilation into one culture based
on geography, although the easiest
solution for the historically cultur
ally elite, abandons what makes us
human: our differences. I encour
age everyone at UNCA to talk hon-
esdy about our differences as well as
out prejudices. Although it is more
confronting to our personal world
views, we will learn much more
about others and ourselves. If we
really care about diversification at
UNCA, we first have to stop ignor
ing the differences and inequality
of cultures.
Rae LeGrone
Support
Dear Editor,
Jaimie Clark’s letter, “Skin Deep,”
(Feb. 3) was misguided, poorly ex
ecuted and insulting. Distinct mi
nority groups do exist, Ms. Clark.
The majority of power in this coun
try is held by an exclusive group of
white, Christian, heterosexual men.
If this sounds like liberal propa
ganda to you, take a look at Capitol
Hill or the Fortune 300. Any indi
vidual that is not part of this group
is therefore a member of a power
holding minority.
As minorities are unwelcome in
the culture of the power holding
group, they create their own culr
tural identities. Geography does not
create culture-if it is not obvious to
you here, Ms. Clark, consider the
geographical areas of Kosovo,
Northern Ireland or Rawanda.
These cultural modes, degradingly
labeled “subcultures” by the major
ity power, are the source of cultural
diversity, contrary to' Ms. Clark’s
conflising notion that monocultures
create diversity.
Minority groups “addicted to the
joys of victimhood” are NOT the
source of division in this country.
America’s history of discrimination
and violence against non-whites,
lesbians, gays, bisexuals, non-Chris-
tians and women is. Blaming vic
tims for their suffering is just an
other form of this violence.
Nicolas Holt
Adding up
Dear Editor,
(In response to Jaimie Park’s letter
0 the editor in the Feb. 3 issue of the
Banner:)
‘If the ‘minorities’ on this campus
'ere not so addicted to the joys of
victimhood...”
Why is the term minorities put in
quotation marks? Is it to indicate
that we are not, in fact, a true
minority? Let’s see, should we look
at the presence of full-time non
white faculty members? No, that
would DEFINITELY make us a
true minority. Should we look at
the representation on non-white
influences in our curriculum? No,
because the diversity in the curricu
lum MAY be coming but has not
yet arrived. What about consider
ing the long-term preservation of
on campus minority organizations?
Don’t even try it.
Within the next three years (maybe
sooner), if the current enrollment
and retention trends continue, there
will not be a sufficient number of
non-whites to support all of these
organizations. So, no, looking at
on-campus non-white organiza
tions would only SUPPORT the
fact that I am a true minority.
Last attempt — what if we looked
at the sheer number of non-white
students, on and off campus?
Hmmph! That destroys Ms. Park’s
entire implied argument that we
are not ‘minorities.’
Parks also mentioned “the joys of
victimhood.”
Since when did being violated and
discriminated come in style? Since
when does the person living in the
slums voluntarily stay there because
they “like the view?” In order for
there to be victims, there must be
victors, there must be oppressors
and perpetrators. This refutes her
statement “the approach here is
inclusiveness instead of the age-old
us versus them mentality.” And
since she didn’t identify herself as
one of us, the ‘minorities,’ I assume
she’s willing take on the role of
perpetrator.
I know she does not speak for the
entire white population of UNCA,
but that does not weaken the sting
ofher comments. I will continue to
fight for diversity. When you hear
me speak about this issue and you
detect a tone of anger, frustration
and, yes, bitterness, do not think
you heard me wrong. You will hear
all of this and more.
Tuesda S. Roberts
Junior, Spanish
Editorial Board
Emma Jones
Sarah Wilkins
Meghan Cummings
Krystel Lucas
Jason Graham
■Lauren Deal
Matt Himt
Zach Dill
Editor-in-Chief
News Editor
Features Editor
Sports Editor
Photo Editor
Copy Editor
Online Editor
i\sst. Online Editor
Staff
Kay Alton, Lena Burns, Jennifer Crowl,
Walter Fyler, Anthony Greco,
Davon Heath, Kathryn Krouse, Susan McCord,
Melissa Starnes, Alison Watson, Teshania Wiley
Managei
Rebecca Cook
Eric Porter
Business Manager
Circulation Manager
Columnists
Jason Allen, Wiley Cash,
Matthew Rossi
Mark West, faculty advisor
Letters to the editor may be submitted to The Banner at One
University Heights, 208A Carmichael Hall, Asheville, NC
28804, e-mailed to banner@unca.edu, or submitted via The
BannerOnline. Letters should be typed, single-spaced, and
limited to 300 words or less. Submissions may be edited for
space and content. Letters to the editor must be signed and
include the author’s classification and major or other rela
tionship to UNCA. No anonymous letters will xbe published.
The Banner is the student newspaper of the University of North
Carolina at Asheville. We publish each Thursday except during
summer sessions, final exam weeks and holiday breaks. Our
offices are located in Carmichael Hall, Room 208-A.
Our telephone number is (828) 251-6586. Our campus e-mail
address is banner@unca.edu. An on-line version oiThe Banner, is
also available at http://www.unca.edu/banner
Nothing in our editorial or opinions sections necessarily reflects
the opinion of the entire Banner staff, the faculty advisor, or the
university faculty, administration or staff.
Unsigned editorials reflect the opinion of a majority of The
editorial board. Letters, columns, cartoons and reviews
represent only the opinions of their respective authors.
The welcomes submissions of letters and articles for
publication. All submissions are subject to editing for clarity,
content and length and are considered on the basis of interest,
space, taste, and timeliness.
Letters-should be typed, single-spaced, and should not ex
ceed 300 words. Letters for publication should also contain
the author's signature, classification, major or other relation
ship with UNCA. The deadline for letters is noon on Tuesday.
If you have a submission, you can send it to The Banner, 208A
Carmichael Hall, One University Heights, Asheville NC
28804.
The deadline for display ads and the FYI calendar is Monday
at 2 p.m. Classified ads are due at 5 p.m. on Monday.