Page 8
The Banner
March 2,200(1
News
NEWS
from the
Outside
World
Child killed in
elementary
school shooting
A 6-year-old girl was shot to death
by a 7-year-old classmate at a Michi
gan elementary school on Feb. 29
in Mount Morris Township, Michi
gan, authorities said. A single shot
was fired during a first-grade class
at Buell Elementary School with a
teacher and about 22 stu dents
present, said Mount Morris Town
ship Police Chief Eric King. It was
not immediately clear if the shoot
ing was accidental or intentional.
Study could
change Medicare
President Clinton released a new
state-by-state study on Feb. 28 that
he hopes will convince congres
sional republicans to back away
from a large tax cut and adopt his
plan to overhaul Medicare and add
a prescription drug benefit. The
study, largely an attempt to pull
together existing health, financing
and demographic data about Medi
care, was released to coincide with
Senate Finance Committee hear
ings on the program.
Federal agency
denies illegal
activies
Faced with a barrage of criticism
from European government offi
cials and some United States pri
vacy advocates, the National Secu
rity Agency (NSA) has assured Con
gress it is not breaking any laws.
“We want to assure you that NSA’s
activities are conducted in accor
dance with the highest constitu
tional, legal and ethical standards
and in compliance with statutes
and regulations designed to protect
the privacy rights of United States
persons,” said Kenneth Heath, of
the NSA Legislative Affairs Office
in a letter to members of Congress.
Fellow
continued from page 1
PHOTO CONTRIBUTED BY BETHANY JEWELL
Jewell performs while doing research for her Humanities Junior Fellow project.
travel opportunity in mind, and
they would like to use it (within the
Fellows Program).”
Some of the current student
projects include: learning about the
Cuban Revolution, civil rights in
Birmingljam and Atlanta, the his
tory of coal mining in England, the
Dead Sea Scroll caves, bi-lingualism
in Quebec, globalism in the ancient
Near East, archeology as a tool to
learn history and the Muslim femi
nist movement, according to
Downes.
“The humanities program is the
centerpiece of the university,” said
“This is an opportunity for stu
dents to think about things they
would like to see in the program,
and to help the faculty do their jobs
better,” said Konz.
“None of (the faculty) are experts
in humanities,” said Konz.
Bethany Jewell, a senior political
science major, traveled to Senegal
to study women and sustainable
development through drawing,
writing and photography.
“Traveling there has changed my
life,” said Jewell. “Anyone can read
about a subject, but it is often dry.
Traveling to Senegal gave me a re
ality I never knew (before).”
“Here at UNCA, we emphasize
students as part of the learning
process,” said Downes.
Amber Munger, a senior envi
ronmental science major, traveled
to Haiti and Belize.
“The program benefited from
the first two presentations,” said
Downes. “Because of the presenta
tions from Bethany Jewell and
Amber Munger, the faculty can stay
more informed.”
The faculty has been pleased with
the students’ work that has been
done thus far, according to Konz.
“The student can get course
credit,” said Downes. “The stu-
said Jewell. “The dent and the faculty mentor make
all very supportive and that arrangement. ”
“I would never trade the growth
the experience gave me,” said Jewell.
“Each step you take in life builds on
who you are as a person. I think
every American should (travel) out
side the United States. You will
never see life in the same way.”
The objectives of the program are
to enable students to develop re
search, writing, and presentation
skills, according to the Web page.
“Let us have the students teach the
faculty about something they have
researched; it is a whole different
dynamic,” said Downes.
The research done by the students
would add to the knowledge base of
the humanities faculty, thus pro
viding the faculty with an opportu
nity to improve their teaching in
humanities courses, according to
the Web page.
“After everything I saw and was a
part of this summer, nothing
timidates
faculty we
wanted to learn.
The program also creates a learn
ing community between the Hu
manities Junior Fellows and the
humanities faculty, and continues
to strengthen the campus conversa
tions of diversity and non-tradi-
tional materials and topics, accord
ing to the Web page.
“Presenting to the faculty gives
you a taste of what life truly is.
There are no roles you have to
assume,” said Jewell. “You quickly
realize that life is communicating
with other people.
Trip^
continued from page 1
Aqeel Rasheed, an undeclared
sophomore, gave a presentation
on the bus about the Birmingham
demonstrations.
His presentation was part of his
humanities student fellowship, a
special program which grants
funds to students to do research
on subjects in the humanities not
taught at UNCA, according to
Spellman.
“That program was started in
response to some critcisms last
year that the humanities program
was not doing enough nonwestern
history and minority issues,” said
Spellman
Organizers envisioned the civil
rights expedition as a capstone
event to African-American His
tory Month, and a way for UNCA
to reach out to the Asheville com
munity, according to Spellman.
“We wanted our students to be
able to interact with high school
students on a civil rights trip, and
the goal was to relive some of
those events,” Spellman said.
The trip organizers wanted stu
dents to participate who repre
sented varied academic back
grounds and minority groups. The
college students came from sev
eral different majors and served a
ambassadors for UNCA, accordinj
to Spellman.
Asheville High School teaches
helped to identify high school
dents who would profit most from
the trip, according to Spellman.
“The majority of the 15 students
who came from the high school
were African-American,”
Spellman.
The UNCA chancellor’s office
underwrote much of the trip, mak
ing costs minimal for the students
who participated. A fee of $60
ered two nights in hotels, tr
portation, tours and admissions
The students completed an anony
mous survey on the way back
N.C.
The only complaint was “that -
did not do enough to get the two
groups (of students) talking t
another,” said Spellman.
“What maybe we should do in the
future is have more on-campus in
teraction before we go on the trip,”
he said.
Spellman said, “I’d like to bring
the students back onto campus for
a follow-up discussion of how they
felt about the experience.”
The American Red Cross is offering
free blood pressure screenings at
Asheville fire stations until March 31.
There will also be CPR, first aid and
babysitting health and safety
courses. The costs range from $25
to $45. For more information call
(828) 258-3888, extension 230.
Ruiz
continued from page 1
prompted the National Under
graduate Research Conference
with the help of Merritt Moseley,
professor of literature.
Ruiz received the Distinguished
Teacher Award in 1995 from
UNCA. He also received the Di
visional Teacher Award in the
natural sciences in 1997.
Ruiz has been a professor at
UNCA for 22 years and has been
the SPS advisor for 20 years. Ruiz
teaches modern physics and gen
eral education courses in physics,
astronomy and humanities at
UNCA.
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