September 14,2000
The Blue Banner
Pdgell
news
affeci
Cornel
Pewewardy, a
national expert
on use of
American In
dian imagery in
sports mas
cots, will give
a lecture on
“Why educa
tors can’t ig
nore Indian
mascots” Sept.
25 at 7:30 p.m.
The event will
take place in
the Highsmith
Center.
For more in
formation, call
(828) 254-
9044.
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finding tho ways that work.
UNCA ranks high in guides
Kay Alton
Staff Writer
UNCA ranks high as a public
Uberal arts school for students seek
ing quality education at an eco
nomic price, according to “Fiske
Guide to Colleges 2001,” “The
Princeton Review’s The Best 331
Colleges” and U.S. News & World
Report’s America i Best College2001.
The ability “to get a liberal arts
education for such a low price quali
fies UNCA to be a best buy,"said
Mason Currey, a junior literature
major.
“For my personal rating, I would
give UNCA a seven on a one to 10
scale,” said Adam Harwood, a se
nior computer science and math
major. “UNCA does not offer
courses in depth that I would like in
computer science, because it is a
liberal arts school.”
Fiske ranks UNCA as the I4th
best buy in public colleges in
America. This is the 7th year UNCA
has had an entry in Fiske, according
to Weast. '
“Sometimes these guides- are not
the be-all and end-all,” said Philip
Weast, assistant vice-chancellor for
enrollment management. “It is just
that right now we are a hot institu
tion, and there is a lot of growing
interest in us.”
UNCA has a beautiful campus
that is safe and easy to get around
in, and the theatre department is
good. However, students do not
get along with the local commu
nity, have a number of cliques and
are un-religious, according to
Princeton’s review.
“There are definitely a lot of reli
gious groups on campus, so 1 would
Thefts
disagree” with the review, said
Currey.
Weast said these publications of
ten do not know the right questions
to ask of an institution. This fact
points to the misinformation some
feel about UNCA’s community
involvement rating in the guides.
“I do not agree that students don’t
get along with the community,”
Harwood.
The reviews ignore programs like
the retirement interest in College
for Seniors, the Key Center for Ser
vice Learning, the mentoring pro
grams for elementary-age students
conducted by UNCA students and
the new childcare plans, according
to Weast.
Also, at UNCA, intercollegiate
sports are unpopular or nonexist
ent, almost everyone smokes and
student publications are ignored,
according to Princeton’s review.
“I have noticed that a lot of resi
dent students smoke,” said Currey.
“I think that I agree that almost
everyone smokes, but it is impos
sible to tell just by looking around.”
Currey said he agreed that student
publications are ignored, because
he works with the literary magazine
“Headwaters” and observes little
student interest. He said he also
noticed students disregarding The
Blue Banner.
“I think that a lot of students
ignore The Blue Banner," said
Currey. “Some of the columnists
are not very good, because personal
opinion topics come out of left field
and give a weak opinion.”
The U.S. online publication
lists UNCA as 2nd in the 4th tier of
their college ratings, with colleges
in each category ranked against their
peers, based on their composite
weighted score. U.S. News pub
lishes the ranks of the top schools.
*' * A ■■■ .'V
s
PHOTO BY PATRICK BRASWELL
Jason Shope, a senior multimedia arts and sciences major,
reads the U.S. News News & World Report's America's Best
College 2001.
and the others are grouped into
tiers, according to the publication.
“The reason we wind up in the 4th
tier a lot of times is because we are
classified as a public liberal arts
college,” said Weast. “We are clas
sified on a national basis, which
means there are only a handful of
us, and we wind up automatically
in a very limited tier on a national
scale.”
According to Weast, student sat
isfaction with their education expe
rience and campus environment and
quality of instruction sums up the
good points that these guides in
clude.
These rankings in college guides
“continue to keep our name in front
of the public as a good buy, a good
quality education, and the more
often we have that name recogni
tion, the more often we appear on
the radar screen of prospective
students,” said Weast.
Another issue that could appear
as a result of the ratings is the size
of UNCA, according to Weast.
Some people are concerned that
the university might get too large
even though the mission state
ment said the student body will
never go over 3,500, according to
Weast.
“Even though we increased the
size of the freshman class, that
does not mean we are going to
increase the overall cap we have
placed on ourselves,” said Weast.
“We value the small size of the
institution and the experience that
comes along with it.”
continued from page 1
Some of the items stolen include
purses and book bags. A portable
stereo system in Zageir Hall and a
video cassette recorder from Karpen
Hall were both stolen last week.
One book bag has been recovered,
according to Adams.
“Anything they can do to make
the campus safer is good,” said Joe
Edwards, a sophomore atmospheric
science major. “I think it is really
good on a campus as small as this
that the police force is taking ac-
non.
Harris has not gotten any feed
back from the students that have
received the flyers. She hopes that
students will be more aware ofwhen
they are putting themselves in jeop
ardy.
“I was thinking somebody would
call and ask me about it, but no one
has,” said Harris. However, “that is
okay, as long as they get the hint
that all you have to do is go to the
bathroom, and someone could take
something or hide in your closet.”
One incident of theft involved a
WebMail
man who was arrested the first week
in September for possession of sto
len property. He had stolen two
bottles of wine from the Dining
Hall. He said that he had been
living in the woods around UN CA,
according to Adams.
“The campus and the greenery are
beautiful, but people jogging or
walking alone need to think about
what else is in the woods, too,” said
Harris. “There is no telling how
long this guy stayed out there.”
Vehicles are also targets for theft,
and Harris has been putting STOP
pamphlets in automobiles.
“Lock your cars,” said Harris. “I
went by two last week that had cell
phones sitting on the front seat and
the windows were (partially) rolled
down.”
Harris also said that propping open
dorm doors at night should be
stopped since it invites crime.
“Do not prop these doors open,”
said Harris. “We make several
checks throughout the night, and
last week I found three or four of
them open at three o’clock in the
morning. That is not good.”
Some students said they agree with
public safety.
“We are all too trusting. Students
should not give out the codes as
often as they do,” said Dintsch.
“You always have that idea that it is
not going to happen to me.”
If students are expecting a late
night visitor they should go down
and open the door, instead of prop
ping open the door or giving out
the door code, according to Harris.
“We have very low (crime) statis
tics. That does not mean that we
do not have any crime here,” said
Harris.
Harris said that along with stu
dents’ other responsibilities of
studying and going to class, per
sonal safety is their responsibility as
well. Students who have been liv
ing at home, where parents prob
ably took care of things like locking
up the house, need to learn that
these tasks are important.
“There are only so many of us,”
said Harris. “Public safety cannot
be everywhere every minute of the
day. Students need to take respon
sibility for their personal safety.”
Although there have been no re
ported incidents of assault this se
mester, Harris stressed several
things students can do to protect
themselves, such as walking in pairs
and using the safety officers as es
corts.
“Walk with a buddy,” said Harris.
“If you have got to park far away
and you have a cell phone, call us,
we will come pick you up. We
have escorted students all over the
place.”
Harris also encouraged male stu
dents to use the campus safety es
cort service.
“It does not make him any less of
a man to call us at three in the
morning if he needs a ride to a lot
that is far away,” said Harris. “I
would rather escort somebody than
have to do a report on something
else later.
continued from page 1
makes processing of attachments
very easy,” said Parker. “We are
very excited about the benefits that
this will offer UNCA and the stu
dents who decide to use it.”
The benefits of WebMail include
the increased accessibility ofattach-
ments, the ability to access the ac
count outside of campus, and the
use of the campus e-mail as a tool
for faculty to reach students and
vice versa. The new WebMail ser
vice cost the university $5,000, ac
cording to Parker.
“It is important that the students
in a college, who probably know
more about computers than me,
have the newest technology,” said
Lewis.
If students, faculty or staff are
confused on how to start an ac
count or use it, the computer center
will help, according to Parker.
“We are having some workshops
for staff members on how to use
WebMail to the best of its abilities,
and we are thinking about having
some student sessions as well,” said
Parker. “It is not a difficult pro
gram to use and we hope that stu
dents give it a try.”
What made it difficult for the
Pine e-mail to compete with the
other free e-mail services is that it
did not offer the same performance
and accessibility that programs such
as Hotmail does, according to
Parker.
“We need to provide the func
tionality that other free services do
and with such an educated group of
students, they know that we were
lacking these benefits before,” said
Parker.
The idea that students can get
these services from their campus e-
mail can be a strong selling point
for the computer center.
“It is probably too late for me to
change now, but if I was a freshman
or sophomore, I would definitely
change just to make things easier,”
said Davis. “Right now I have to
run two e-mail accounts into one
using a program, and it can be
confusing at times.”
Other students agreed with
Davis and said that to change
over now would probably be a
waste of time.
“I am about to graduate soon, so I
think I am just going to stick with
Hotmail,” said Jeremiah Neilson,
a senior environmental science
major. “It is great that UNCA de
cided to upgrade to this new system
though, because it is very important
that the students have the newest
capabilities at their fingers.”
UNCA is hoping to use the new
Bulldog account as a means of com
munication with perspective stu
dents and committed incoming stu
dents, according to Parker.
"There is no reason why interested
students, or students who have re
cently been accepted, should not be
given an account before the school
year begins," said Parker. "These new
students can immediately start using
the account to receive communica
tions from current students, (and) it
can give students a sense of identity
before they even show up."
NEWS
from the
Outside
World
Polls show Gore
and Bush close
Three polls by Time magazine,
NBC, and Gallup show that presi
dential candidates George W. Bush
and Al Gore are currently around
the same level in potential voters’
eyes. The polls showed Gore as
being seven points ahead .
Knight fired for
negative actions
Bob Knight, former University of
Indiana coach, was fired after more
than 20 years of coaching. He was
“defiant and hostile” to students,
and he violated the school’s zero-
tolerance policy by grabbing a fresh
man by the arm last week to lecture
him about manners. The student
said, “Hey, what’s up, Knight?”
His dismissal is a result of several
weeks of negative behavior.
OPEC to increase
oil production
The Organization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries (OPEC) will
raise oil production by 3 percent
starting in October. They will pro
duce 800,000 more barrels of oil a
day, so that they can reduce the $35
a barrel price that the U.S. cur
rently pays.
Scientist reaches
plea agreement
The fired Los Alamos nuclear sci
entist, Wen Ho Lee, who has re
portedly downloaded confidential
materials onto a non-secure com
puter, reached a plea agreement
that will resolve federal charges re
garding the way he handled private
government information. Lee will
plead guilty to one count of unlaw-
fiilly gathering defense information,
according to the associated press.
Italian flood kills
10 people
Floods killed at least 10 people
and injured many more in the south
ern Italian region of Calabria early
Sept. 10. Five people are still miss
ing at the Le Giare campground
where the flood occurred.
Clinton shakes
hands with Castro
Cuban leader Fidel Castro at
tended the United Nations summit
in New York last week. He shook
hands with President Clinton, and
also defended his communist revo
lution in a four-hour talk to 2,400
supporters.
$1.6 billion asked
for wildfire relief
President Bill Clinton wants to
double the amount of funding to
help fight wildfires in the West. He
asked for $1.6 billion from Con
gress so that communities affected
by the fires could be restored.
Palestine delays
statehood
The main Palestinian policy mak
ers decided to delay statehood for at
least two months, so that they could
continue peace talks with Israel.