\Sports Baseball loses against See page 7 QJ Banner Features Student art on exhibit at Owen Gallery See page 5 J now I volume 31 Issue 11 April 20, 2000 bate-rape case goes unsolved By Sarah Wilkins News Editor By Emma Jones Editor-In-Chief J A female student was allegedly II date-raped on April 17, 1999 by a I male student in Founders Hall. The I alleged victim brought the story to I The Banner in April of 2000 after ■ bringing the case to the Student ||Conduct Board inNovember 1999. “If I was just going to forget II about it and move on, I wouldn’t jihave brought it to the board any- Iway,” said the student, who asked ■to remain anonymous. “I want ■something done.” J The case was closed without a ■ decision, citing an inability to de- Itermine the truth based upon the ■written and verbal testimony, ac- Icording to a letter from Eric llovacchini, vice chancellor of stu dent affairs, to the accused. “I wouldn’t close a case without ■ bowing the truth,” said the al- lleged victim. Since there were not any wit- esses “it was the alleged victim’s :rsus the accused person’s word,” _said lovacchini. “It’s been before the conduct jboard, it was a great ordeal and, as I’m concerned, it’s closed,” ■said the accused male student, who lalso asked to remain anonymous. I The incident allegedly occurred n the accused’s bedroom around i:30 a.m. They were lying on the ■bed making out when he began ■pulling down her pants. At that Ipoint, she said no. He then put on lacondom and she told him that she ■did not want him to penetrate her, liccbrding to the alleged victim in a Ifollow-up report written by Vicki iHarris, public safety victim/witness lofFicer. Before she realized what was hap pening, he had penetrated her and his hands were holding her down, according to the report. At this point, she began to cry. He asked her why she was crying and then tried to console her. She pushed him away and said that she felt ‘dirty and bad,’ according to the “He told me to get dressed,” she said. “I was clammed up into a little ball (and) I didn’t know what to do.” Once she reached her room she took a shower. The next week, the alleged victim went to the Rape Crisis Center in Asheville and filed a blind report, which states the crime and the ac cused, but does not include the victim’s name. This was sent to public safety in case anothef inci dent involving the same person occured on campus. She also went to the Buncombe County Health Department for medical attention and to the coun seling services at UNCA, according to the report by Harris. Taking a shower after the alleged incident erased any evidence that could have been used in the case, according to Harris. At the time of the alleged inci dent, she did not file a public safety incident report, because she felt that, with time, she would recover from the trauma, according to the student. However, after five months, she said that she had still not recovered from the alleged incident. In November of 1999, Sexual Crimes, Abuse and Rape Survivors (SCARS) pamphlets were being handed out around campus. After receiving a pamphlet, she attended a SCARS meeting to “see if it would help to try and talk to some people See CASE page 9 UNCA recognizes Nat. Poetry Month Campaign meets with success $5.1 million raised for scholarships and improvements PHOTO BY JUSTIN MECKES Michael Ruiz, chair of physics, entertains guests at the comprehensive campaign on April 12. The campaign has raised $5.1 million for student scholarships, faculty initiatives and technology improvements. By Devon Heath UNCA officials and supporters kicked off a comprehensive cam paign to raise $8 million for schol arships, technology improvements and faculty initiatives at the Grove Park Inn on April 12. “This campaign is about the future of this university, its stu dents and its community,” said Chancellor Jim Mullen in a press release. “The growing pressures on the state budget and our at tempt to control the level of tu ition increases are lirriiting our resources.” The campaign started in early 1998, with a goal of $8 million. The effort has already raised $5.1 million, according to Alex Com fort, assistant vice chancellor for development. “Interest in the university is at an all time high,” said Comfort. “(The campaign) has turned out to be a great success. I hope in two years we will have the whole $8 million.” “UNCA has unveiled an ambi tious plan for becoming the pre mier public liberal arts university in the nation,” according to the campaign objectives outline. “Our goal is bold, yet it is based on solid strengths and extraordi nary opportunities.” People were amazed that the campaign has already raised $5.1 million, according to Comfort. “We should be energized by the future that we have together,” said Mullen. “A future that will this university’s com- to academic excellence and create an intergenerational community of learning that will be the standard against which all universities are measured.” Part of determining which areas would be targeted came when we sat down with a lot of faculty members and tried to figure out exactly what we needed, accord ing to Comfort. The campaign objectives are to raise $3 million for student schol arships, especially endowed schol arships. An additional $2 million Two million would be used for technology, including multimedia classrooms, upgraded computer laboratories, expanded distance learning and fiber optics. The re maining $ 1 million would be split. There will be $500,000 used to enrich educational experience through service-learning and com munity partnerships and the other $500,000 would be used to accel erate creative initiatives, according to the campaign objectives outline. “The core of our vision for the future rests on that which is already our greatest strength, our outstand ing faculty and staff and our na- for faculty initiatives, including tional reputation for academic ex named university professorships, cellence,” said Mullen. curriculum renewal and faculty development endowment, ac cording to the campaign objec tives outline. Dozens of faculty, staff and si See CAMPAIGN page 9 By Kathryn Krouse staff Writerr J UNCA’s literary arts magazine, ■ “Headwaters,” sent poems to cam- Ipus e-mail addresses for National BPoetry Month, BaccordingtoRick ■Chess, associate |professoroflitera- _ “ Headwaters’ is iBleading thewayto Hdo things for Na- Mtional Poetry BMonth here on iBcampus,” said ■Chess. I “Headwaters” is n annual publi- Bcation which fea- ■tures literary and Bvisual arts con- Btributed from iUNCA students, during April, IBfaculty and some Bmembers of the Asheville commu- |nity, according to Monica Fauble, la junior literature major. I “We haven’t made a big deal out lof National Poetry Month until ^Headwaters” came up with this Binnovative idea, though I m realiz- Nmionai PHOTO BY JASON GRAHAM National Poetry Month is being celebrated at UNCA ing now' that we need to do some thing bigger to draw attention and take advantage of the opportunity to share poetry,” said Chess. “Headwaters” will hold their pub lication reception in the Laurel Fo rum on April 30 as part of poetry month, according to Fauble. “It will be a good chance to hear poetry, and also see some of the visual arts that will be featured in the magazine,” said Fauble. UNCA’s first literary arts maga zine was pub lished in 1929, according to Fauble. Also linked to the celebration is the Writers at Home series pre sented by the Great Smokies Students protest campus plan By Alison Watson staff Writerr Wri gram, according to Chess. On April 30, Scott Lattimore, whose work appeared in The Char lotte Poetry Review and the See POETRY page 10 The plan for UNCA’s new en trance has yielded concerns from students, faculty and members of the Asheville community. “People are expressing concerns about the environmental impact of a new entrance. We are trying to listen very carefully to these con cerns,” said Tom Byers, special as sistant to the chancellor. Active Students for a Healthy Environment (ASHE) met with the Chancellor on April 13 and pre sented him with a petition of over 600 names opposed to the new entrance. They will meet again on April 21. The proposed new entrance would cross the stream that runs alongside W.T. Weaver Boulevard. ASHE believes the proposed road would cause considerable harm to the stream and the habitat surrounding “So many different groups have spent their time and money to remediate the stream and the exist ing urban wild-spaces used as an outdoor classroom. I feel it would be a detriment to educational qual ity,” said Beth Fogleman. a senior chemistry and environmental science major and leader of ASHE. UNCA does not have a definite entry that allows a visitor to know they have arrived at the university, according to Byers. “There is no place that says, ‘Wel come. You are here,”’ said Byers. The new entrance would aestheti cally create a more distinct entry. It would also help with the flew of traffic and address future growth issues, according to Byers. UNCA is expecting the Depart ment of Transportation (DOT) to pay for the entrance, according to Byers. The DOT offered four alterna tives to the master plan. According to Byers, three of the alternatives would actually work. Students from ASHE believe that remedying the existing entrance would havea less detrimental effect the environment, according to PHOTO COURTESY OF ARTHUR VONLEHE — Part of the site for the proposed new entrance to UNCA See ENTRANCE page 10 involves the creek along W.T. Weaver Boulevard.

Page Text

This is the computer-generated OCR text representation of this newspaper page. It may be empty, if no text could be automatically recognized. This data is also available in Plain Text and XML formats.

Return to page view