Students go on
civil rights trip
The 11 UNCA students and 15
isheville High students who trav-
lled to Birmingham, Ala., and At-
ita, Ga., last weekend got a chance
educate themselves about the
:nts of the civil rights struggle,
ccording to Bill Spellman, profes-
of history.
The students took a guided walk-
ng tour of Birmingham streets that,
1963, were the site of major civil
ights events.
“The commissioner of public
afety called in the police dogs and
hoses. Children and teenagers
e hosed down the street, dogs
e sicced on them,” said Dan
'ierce, professor of history.
" ’ 1963, Birmingham was widely
)wn for its stringent segregation,
ibama’s governor, George
Wlace, said, ‘Segregation today,
fgregation tomorrow, segregation
There was violent opposition to
ivil rights activity in the segregated
y, which had been called
imbingham’, according to Pierce.
The students got a first-hand re-
!on from-their tgur guide, who was
J years old when he participated
nthe Birmingham demonstrations,
as able to walk our students
By Susan McCord
staff Writer
to the very places where those events
took place,” Spellman said.
The guide took the students to the
16th Street Baptist Church, one of
the focuses of the Birmingham civil
rights movement.
The church was bombed right af
ter Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his
“I Have a Dream” speech in Wash
ington.
In Atlanta, the students toured
the Martin Luther King, Jr. na
tional historic site, as well as his
birthplace and gravesite.
“King, from I960 until his assas
sination, based his operations in
Atlanta. He was co-pastor, along
with his father, of the Ebenezer
Baptist Church,” Pierce said.
“The park service has built a really
nice facility to commemorate his
. life, which is run by the King fam
ily. The Center for Nonviolent
Social Change is there,” said Pierce.
The students also visited Under
ground Atlanta, a large restored
historic section of downtown.
On the bus trip to Birmingham,
the students watched two episodes
of the Public Broadcasting Service
documentary, “Eyes on the Prize,”
which was about the civil rights
movement. The students saw foot
age of the firehoses and attack dogs
before visiting the sites where the
events occurred.
See TRIP page 8
Ruiz awarded
national prize
By Alison Watson
Staff Writer
Michael Ruiz, chair of the physics
Icpartment, won the award given
or Outstanding Society of Physics
-hapter Advisor for 1998-1999 by
lieNational Society of Physics Stu-
lents. The award is given to only
advisor na-
ionwide each
Iiapter works
cry hard,” said
luiz.
■When the Soci-
tyof Physics Stu-
lents (SPS) re
vived their sec
ond award for out-
tanding chapter
1 three ye^rs,
^uiz was eligible
Or nomination.
According to
^uiz, there are ap-
Toximately 700 SPS groups in the
United States. The UNCA chapter
tas received the award for outstand-
"g chapter five times in the last 13
'ears.
There were two letters of recom-
netidation written in Ruiz’s be-
'alf. Katherine Whatley, professor
>f physics, and Charles Hudson, a
®^nior physics major and coordina-
“r of SPS, wrote the letters com-
'iending Ruiz on his achievements.
The physics majors as a group
'ave become more visible on cam-
during Ruiz’s tenure as SPS
advisor. With Ruiz’s leadership, the
UNCA chapter has been motivated
and productive,” said Whately in
her recommendation.
Ruiz received the award in
Kissimee, Florida in January. Along
with the award, Ruiz was given
$3,000 to be split up among the
department, the chapter and him
self
According to Ruiz, the money in
the department and chapter is usu
ally spent on new
equipment for
demonstrations
and other needs.
As advisor, Ruiz
helps the SPS in
many activities.
The chapter is
active in Super
Saturday, which
is a series of classes
taught at UNCA
to children. SPS
has also taken
demonstrations
,,,, into elementary,
PHOTO BY JASON GRAHAM
cate on the wall.
tivities include a connection with
the community. We are trying to
bring science to the general pub-
The group participates in nu
merous other service projects, in
cluding ones that benefit chari-
In 1984, Ruiz and John Stevens,
professor of chemistry, co-founded
the undergraduate research pro
gram at UNCA, which later
See RUIZ page f
Intruder attacks resident
COMPOSITION COURTESY OF PUBLIC SAFETY
Several students put together a composite of the sus
pect. He was described as being 5 feet 10 inches tall,
and weighing around 180 pounds.
By Kathryn Krouse
staff Writer
An unidentified male assaulted
a UNCA student when she came
back to her room after shower
ing the morning of Feb. 18 in
Ashe Hall, located in Governor’s
Village, according to Nancy Wil
liams, associate director of the
housing office.
“The man was in there waiting
for me, and (he) came out. I
immediately started screaming,
and he started touching me to
make me be quiet. He never said
anything to me. I just kept
screaming the whole time,” said
the victim, who asked to remain
anonymous.
The victim closed her door, but
did not lock it when she went
into the bathroom to shower.
When she returned to her room,
she went to put her laundry in the
hamper in her closet. Then the
suspect approached her, according
to the victim.
“I want j)eopie to realize that it
could have been much worse. He
could have had a weapon, or he
could have been a lot bigger than
me and gotten me to be quiet,” said
the victim.
“If I had not locked the door to
the bathroom, he could have got
ten into the shower with me, and
maybe then my neighbors would
not have heard me screaming,” said
the victim.
The victim’s neighbors heard the
screams and called public safety,
who responded to the call in min
utes. They began to act immedi
ately.
“My steps were to contact her and
make sure she was okay, (then) talk
to her (and) security. We immedi
ately wanted to notify the other
students in the Village,” said Will-
In response to the incident, all of
the Village dormitories became
locked 24 hours a day and the com
binations to the outside doors were
changed.
Public safety believes that the sus
pect is a man who had previously
been reported walking around the
Village and West Ridge Hall, ac
cording to Jerry Adams, public
safety investigator.
“At first I was not sure if it was the
same person, but I talked to each of
the people who had had encounters
with him and asked them to go to
public safety and give a description.
It was really scary how much they
were alike,” said the victim.
Although public safety has not
determined how the suspect gained
entrance to the building, he could
have followed another student into
the dormitory that night, accord
ing to Williams.
“It is hard for us to determine
right now, but we did find an area
under the stairwell where some re
cycling bins had been pushed out.
It may have been possible for some
one to be hiding under there,” said
Adams.
However, “we cannot confirm that
he had been there prior to the inci
dent,” said Adams.
Soon after the incident, a memo
was released to students reminding
them to be careful, and also giving
a general description of the suspect,
according to Williams.
The suspect is believed to be in his
fate 20s or early 30s and has a
medium build, according to a pub
lic safety memo.
“I do not feel he was targeting me.
It could have happened to any of
the girls who lived on my hall. One
of them had slept the whole night
with her door open,” said the vic-
“It definitely was not my fault. I
think it was completely random. I
did not do anything to bring it on
myself,” said the victim.
Students at UNCA generally feel
safe on campus, according to Wil-
“We tell them all the time to lock
their doors. They consider this their
home, but they have to lock their
doors,” said Williams,
“Students have to be our partners
in safety. They are the ones who
prop the (outside) doors; they
are the ones who do not lock the
room doors,” said Williams. “In
cidents like this really raise
everybody’s awareness to what
To accompany the 24 hour
locks in the Village, public safety
is also increasing their rounds.
“We have been walking
through the halls during the day
time, and there are still people
leaving their doors unlocked,”
said Vicki Harris, a victim advo
cate public safety officer.
“We urge the students to take
more precautions to protect
themselves,” said Adams.
An open meeting was held Feb.
20 for residents to share ideas
and concerns about how safety
can be improved on campus,
according to Williams.
“They say that resident assis-
people are still being careless,”
said the victim. “It did not hap
pen to them, so people still think
they are invincible.
The victim returned to UNCA
on Feb. 21.
“I could not imagine going to
another school where everyone
looks unfamiliar and scary. It is
still not easy to sleep and (I am)
always looking at people, think
ing to (my)self, ‘That could be
him,’” said the victim.
Two days prior to the incident,
a women’s self-defense class had
been offered. However, only six
people attended.
Public safety is putting together
another self-defense class for
March, according to Harris.
“We are also working on a
whistle defense program. Every
female on campus will have a
brass whistle, one that you can
put on your key chain and have
with you,” said Harris.
“The whistles have been or
dered and they should be here
soon,” said Harris.
The housing office, public
safety and the victim urge stu
dents to be more protective of
themselves and each other.
“It could ^e a lot worse for
people if they do not think about
what they do,” said the victim.
Humanities offers opportunity
By Davon Heath
staff Writer
The Humanities Junior
Fellows Program has begun
funding students interested
in learning about subjects
n greater depth by doing
ndividual research, accord-
_ o a representative of
the humanities department.
“The Humanities Junior
Fellows Program started as
a response to students talk
ing about subjects in the
humanities curriculum that
either weren’t covered or
weren’t covered particularly
well,” said Margaret
Downes, director of the
humanities program and
professor of literature.
Each Humanities Junior
Fellow will work with a fac
ulty member on the research
project of his or her choos
ing. Each Fellow will for
mally share their research
results to the humanities fac
ulty. Fellows are also en
couraged to present their
work at an Undergraduate
PHOTO CONTRIBUTION BY BETHANY JEWELL
Bethany Jewell, a senior political science major, participates in a ritual dance with the na
tives of Senegal.
Research Symposium and another context in which
to submit it for publication they can undertake inde
in the “Journal of Under- pendent research,” said Jef-
graduate Research,” accord- frey Konz, director of the
ing to the humanities Web Humanities Junior Fellows
page. Program and assistant pro-
“Our attempt is to allow fessor of economics,
students to thinkabout ways “We can offer students
of diversifying the curricu- some funding to help them
lum, and to ^low students in their research, with travel
or supplies expenses,” said
Downes. “It depends on
much how is in the bud-
get.”
Currently, funding is com
ing out of the humanities
budget, but there is a need
for more funding, accord
ing to Downes.
“The program doesn’t nec
essarily involve travel,” said
Konz. “We have one stu
dent who’s working on is
sues to do with ethno-
botany with the Cherokee.-
That involves minimal
travel. Some students have
See FELLOW page 8