The
„Blue
Banner
The University of north Carolina at Usheville
Uolume 32 Issue 77
Rouember 16,2000
The Slip combines jazz
andfunlito create
a unique sound
See page 4
UoKegbatl defeats
6ardner-U!ebb Uniuersity
in final home game
See page 7
Student group looks at
uses for bond money.
By Candice Carr
See page 3
Students question U.S. race
Political science department holds presidential forum Nov. 14
Keith Cromwell
staff Writer
UNCA students, faculty
and staff discussed the cur
rent presidential contro
versy, the Electoral College
and its relationship to the
popular vote Nov. 14 at a
political science gathering.
The presential race was still
undecided Nov. 15.
“What should happen is
(Dem. candidate) Al Gore
should concede now,” said
Gene Rainey, professor of
political science. “I voted for
Gore. I think he is the best
man, but he is turning off
voters.”
Currently, Gore leads the
election in the popular vote
with some 49,261,654 votes,
leaving Republican candi
date Governer George W.
Bush with 49,044,716. In
terms ofelectoral votes. Bush
has 246 and Gore has 260,
both short ofthe270 needed
to win, according to Will
iam Sabo, professor of po
litical science.
“The candidate who gets
the most popular votes in
each state, gets all the elec
toral votes. There are only
two minor exceptions,
Maine and Nebraska, who
allocate electoral votes to
congressional districts,” said
Sabo. “(This system) was
designed because the
founders did not trust the
voters to figure out what was
going on, and, therefore,
make a right choice.”
PHOTO BY WALTER FIr LbR
Linda Cornett, instructor of political science, William Sabo, professor of political science, and Mark Gibney,
Belk professor of humanities, discuss the presidential stalemate.
While the election was been
over for more than a week,
the results in New Mexico,
Oregon and Florida are too
close to call, according to
Linda Cornett, instructor of
political science. In Iowa and
Wisconsin, fewer than 5,000
voters separate the two can
didates.
“While the race is too close
to call (in the three states).
It’s clear that Florida is the
pivitol state,” said Cornett.
“With New Mexico having
five electoral votes and Or
egon having seven, neither
candidates would be able to
pull it off (with just those
two states).”
Many students said they
did not understand the prin
ciples behind the Electoral
College, as well as the many
legal concepts involved in this
election. Students said this
discussion was very success
ful, and answered questions
they had about the election.
“I really enjoyed the meet
ing (and talking) about the
fine details in this election
that I did not know much
about,” said Mari Anne Th
ompson, a senior chemistry
major. “I really appreciated
some of the history offered
by Sabo.”
One of the points brought
up by students at the discus
sion was that they would like
to get rid of the Electoral
College. According to Mark
Gibney, professor of politi
cal science, that would re
quire an amendment to our
constitution, which is not a
very easy process to go about.
In order for the amend
ment to pass both halves of
Congress must, by a two-
thirds majority in each, have
to approve it. Once Con
gress passes the amendment,
it must be approved by three-
fourths of states, according
to Gibney.
“I would be in favor of get
ting rid of it,” said Gibney.
“When this dies down, I
would imagine all the inter
est (to get rid of the Electoral
College) would also die
down until a situation like
this comes up again.”
Apart from the difficulty of
amending the Constitution,
turning to a nationwide
popular vote to pick a presi
dent would leave people from
smaller states worried about
being ignored altogether by
candidates who choose to
campaign exclusively in the
populous regions, according
to The Associated Press.
“If we did away with the
Electoral College, an awful
lot of states would never get a
visit from a presidential can
didate,” said Sen. Mitch
McConnell, R-Ky.
President Bill Clinton said
he hopes the dispute does
not lead to a presidency
crippled by controversy.
“I think it is too soon to say
See FORUM page 10
Students call for change in teaching styles
PHOTO BY WALTER FYLER
several students and faculty said they want the overall teaching process enhanced
it UNCA.
iRachel Grumpier
ikaffUlriter
Different teaching styles
• should be used to improve the
; overall learning process at
:UNCA, according to Equal
Access, a group on campus
open to anyone interested in
physical or learning disabili
ties. However, some students
on campus feel classes should
not be changed, and build
ings should not be altered to
cater to disabled students.
Teachers should “not baby
the (disabled) students,” said
Travis Brown, a junior com-
puterscience major. “Thatwill
give them a false reality about
what the world is really like.”
Disabled students do not
want to be singled out, ac
cording to a member of Equal
Access who wishes to remain
unnamed. They believe new
teaching styles, such as group
assignments and videos, will
help the whole class, not just
students with learning disabili
ties.
“We are not asking for spe
cial treatment. We are asking
to reach our potential as indi
viduals,” said the member.
“Not all students learn the
same way. When teachers have
the mindset to work with dis
abled students, they are actu
ally enhancing education for
everyone in that classroom.”
For example, not all students
learn orally. According to the
member, teachers should use
visual aids to add to their les
sons.
“Some people understand
concepts much more easily if
they are in visual form rather
than written or spoken form,”
the member said. “Ifsomeone
lectures (and teaches) with all
words, then those of us who
learn visually are lost.”
Catherine Whitlock, lecturer
in mathematics, said she rec
ognized that students all have
different learning styles. She
tries to accommodate students
as long as she completes the
allotted amount of material
per semester.
“In my class, I try to mix up
different teaching styles, but I
am required to cover a certain
amount of material by the end
of the semester,” said
Whitlock. “I think students
with disabilities may need ex
tra tutoring or time in the
professor’s office. I cannot
slow the whole class down.”
Physically disabled students
also struggle on UNCA’s cam
pus, according to the anony
mous member of Equal Ac
cess. Some buildings are diffi
cult to enter.
“There is the whole issue of
access on campus,” said the
member. “We have had stu
dents who have had real chal
lenges getting into (Rhoades-
Robinson Hall) from the back.
They have repeatedly asked
for handicap doors.
Several disabled students
were disappointed they could
not attend the school dance
that took place on the gymna
sium floor, which is not acces
sible to students in wheel
chairs, according to the mem-
UNCA creates
child care site
Sanna Raza
staff UJriter
Students, faculty and staff in
need of child care can now
contact the Babysitter Con
nection, a Web site that is part
of a long-term process to have
on-campus child care .
“There is defi
nitely a need,”
said Alison
Penland, a se
nior literature
major. “A lot of
(students) have
to leave their kid
with a parent
when they go to
class. It is hard
to get schooling
if you have to
juggle with
that.”
The BC is pri
marily a list of
25 e-mail ad
dresses and
available times
of students who
are willing to
baby-sit, accord-
ing to Data
Jones, an undeclared sopho
more.
“We match up the child-care
list with people who need child
care and come to the Web
site. Most of us will hook up
with parents who want child
care, meet them and start
working for them,” said Jones.
“Then, you get a few parents
who you are comfortable with
(and stay with them).”
The students will be trained
in babysitting so parents know
their children are in good care,
according to Maggie Smith,
UNCA director of child and
family services.
“There is a
standard child
care training
that folks in the
community
can go through
to become sub
stitutes in
child-care
agencies in
Asheville,” said
Smith. “It is a
seven-hour
training. They
also check fin
gerprints (and
give) tubercu
losis shots. We
are actually
looking to con
dense (training)
to four or five
hours for
UNCA stu
dents, and Cardiopulmonary
PHOTO BY JUSTIN MECKES
Maggie Smith,
director of child
and family services,
gives students
informtion.
See CHILD page 10
Union organizer
addresses rights
Kay Rlton
staff lUriter
See ACCESS page 11
Around 25 people gathered
to learn the effects of global
ization on Southern workers
from Saladin Muhammad, an
organizer for the
United Electri
cal Workers’
Union 150 Pub
lic Service
Workers Union
and Black
Workers for Jus
tice.
“I was im
pressed and in
spired by
Muhammad’s
talk, because
unions not only
empower work
ers in the work
place, but also
serve to educate
the workforce
on issues that
affect their lives
and the world
around them,” said Candice
Carr, a junior ecology major,
and co-chair of Active Stu
dents for a Healthy Environ
ment.
A union drive is going on at
all 16 N.C. public universi
ties, according to Sachie
Godwin, a senior mass com-
PHU i D
Saladin Muhammad,
a union organizer,
tells students about
globalization.
munication major and mem
ber of Student Labor Action
Coalition, a student group at
UNCA supporting workers’
rights to unionize.
“Workers in the UNCA sys
tem are saying we need a
union. Our union’s position
is that there are some damn
laws we are not
going to honor
anyway, and
this should be
the role of the
working class,”
said
Muhammad.
Workers at
UNCA will
have to decide
to either suc
cumb to the
laws or chal
lenge them as a
statement of
power, with
workers pro
viding that
power. This is
the goal of the
UE 150 union
on campuses,
according to
Mohammad.
“It is difficult because N.C.
has legislation which prohib
its state employees from col
lective bargaining, which is
one of the most instrumental
See UNION page 10
YLER