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“A few alternatives to gun control,"
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Volume 34 Issue 6
The University Of North Carolina At Asheville
October 4, 2001
Students hold vigil to honor victims
Stu Gaines
Staff Reporter
Members of the UNCA commu
nity gathered on the Quad Sept.
25 to participate in a candlelight
vigil honoring victims of the ter
rorist attacks Sept. 11.
Despite a steady wind, the me
morial service went on, while stu
dents and faculty worked with reso
lution to keep many of the 5,000
candles lit.
“The wind was awful, anditwould
have been easy to say ‘forget it,’
and leave,” said Ashleigh Austin, a
junior mass communication ma
jor. “But, people scurried around
getting cups to shield the wind
and doing whatever they could to
keep as many lit as they could.”
“Everyone was working hard, and
it really showed that everyone
wanted to make it work,” said
Austin.
The candles were placed from
the steps of Ramsey Library to the
flagpole.
The UNCA Student Govern
ment Association and Underdog
Productions, who sponsored the
event, asked members of the
UNCA community to pledge 50
cents per candle. All proceeds went
to the American Red Cross Relief
Fund, according to a news release
about the vigil.
During the week prior to the
memorial service, members ofSGA
and Underdog Productions were
seen around campus encouraging
students to sponsor a candle for
the event.
“In this place, in this difficult
hour, let us be as light unto the
world, breaking through the dark
ness,” said Chancellor Jim Mullen,
in a brief address.
“I have always been proud to be
your chancellor, but never more-
so than during the past two weeks.
Your selflessness, your compassion,
your desire to give of your talents
and energy have inspired me, ” said
Mullen. “They have inspired this
entire community.”
In remembrance of the thousands
killed in the attacks in New York,
Washington D.C. and Pennsylva
nia, names of victims were read
aloud throughout the service.
WALTER FYLER/PHOTO EDITOR
Senior political science major Ben Philips and freshman biology major Natalie Morris light candles.
“It was good to do
something here
that made a
tfrerence.
-Katie Meindl
' junior, mass communication
major
“The students see the vigil as a
way to support e3ch other in this
time of tragedy, and to raise money
for the victims,” said Jenny Bowen,
SGA vice-president and event co
ordinator.
“It showed how much respect for
JAMES PRITCHITT/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
UNCA students design a tribute to the New York Fire Department.
human life everyone has (at UNCA),”
said Bowen. “People were able to
bond together in support of some
thing important.”
The memorial service was organized
in week through the hard work of the
sponsoring student organizations, ac
cording to Drew Walker, a junior
mass communication major and
vice president of Underdog Pro
ductions.
“It was great how everyone worked
so hard to get everything together
in such a short period of time,” said
Walker. “It showed that our stu
dent organizations can get some
thing accomplished in an impor
tant time.”
“It was a chance to serve the cam
pus community and the nation as
a whole,” said Walker.
Universities across the country
have held services similar to the
UNCA candlelight vigil, with
memorial services of 5000 and
10,000 at University of Califor
nia-Los Angeles and University of
North Carolina-Chapel Hill, re
spectively, according to their Uni
versity web pages.
Another candlelight vigil was
held recently at New York Uni
versity, just blocks away from the
disaster site of the former World
T rade Center twin-towers, accord
ing to the NYU Web page.
“Being so far away from New
York and Washington D.C., it
was good to do something here
that made a difference,” said Katie
Meindl, a junior mass communi
cation major. “It was beautiful to
watch everyone working to keep
the candles lit. It was like keeping
up hope. ”
Mullen called for the commu
nity to stand together in the diffi
cult time following the national
tragedy.
“Tonight we have broken the
darkness with your light,” said
Mullen. “We stick together as fam
ily. We are one with all who suffer
and with all who reach out in
service.”
“Let our solidarity as family en
dure through the tomorrows yet
to come. Let us be there for each
other and let there be no barriers
that divide us,” said Mullen.
A memorial service for Sept. 11,
2002 has already been announced,
according to Bowen. The service
is expected to become an annual
event, and will be sponsored by
UNCA student organizations.
“Know always that in the simple
acts of daily life, every one of you
can make a difference for the
good,” said Mullen.
“In whatever way you seek and
find your god, may you find faith
and blessings. And may you find
the strength to set those blessings
to the service ofyour community,
your nation and your world,” said
Mullen.
MIRIAM BARLOW/
STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Senior environmental science
major Heidi Plowe examines a
map at the meeting.
UNCA designs
new building
AlisOii McKone
Staff Reporter
Meetings were held Sept. 27 and
28 in the Highsmith Center lounge
to inform people ofwhich environ
mental issues are being discussed in
the planning process for the new
science building at UNCA.
“What’s exciting about this pro
gram is the opportunity to inte
grate sustainable design with the
project, and we’ve invited folks from
the community and the North
Carolina Department of Energy,”
said Steve Baxley, director of facili
ties management and engineering
at UNCA. “Nowwe can start form
ing some partnerships with people
to do this in the most environmen
tally sustainable way possible.”
This workshop featured a num
ber of speakers talking about envi
ronmental factors which have been
addressed in the planning of the
new building on campus.
Several different locations have
been considered as sites for the new
science lab building.
“The primary focus that I can’t
lose sight of is that we need to build
a science building and we need to
build it in a timely fashion. The
longer we delay construction, the
more money we lose to inflation
See BUILDING Page 8
UNCA graduate to receive 2001 Distinguished Alumnus award
Ed Fickle
Staff Reporter
Zollie Stevenson Jr., a 1975
graduate of UNCA, will be pre
sented with the 2001 Distin
guished Alumnus award at the
Founder’s Day Dinner Sept. 4.
“When I was contacted by Kevan
Frazier, I had no idea I was being
considered for the award,” said
Stevenson. “It is quite an honor.”
After graduating from UNCA,
Stevenson worked for several years
for the counseling and advising
departments at UNCA.
Stevenson attributed much of
his interest in education and work
ing with the community to his
time in the advising and counsel
ing programs at UNCA.
Still heavily involved with educa
tional research and development,
Stevenson is now a senior program
specialist in the Office of Elemen
tary and Secondary Education at
the U.S. Department of Education
in Washington D.C.
His current work focuses on the
Federal Title I program, working
with states to establish their stan
dards and assessment systems for
the program.
“The Federal Title I program is a
compensatory education program
that provides additional funds to
the states to support the lowest
performing students in the lowest
performing schools,” said
Stevenson.
“It provides them with additional
resources, teachers, materials, and
programs for low-performing kids so
that they can reach the same stan
dards as all the other kids in their
district and state,” said Stevenson.
He remembers his time at UNCA as
a challenge, since he was a minority
on a white-dominated campus, and
he considers the experience very posi
tive for the strength and experience
he gained here.
“At that time, in a lot of people’s
minds, there was only one school to
go to in North Carolina, and that was
UNC-Chapel Hill,” said Stevenson.
“I chose not to go where everyone I
knew was going. I wanted to go some
where new and learn to live with a
new group of folks.”
While working on his Ph.D. at
PHOTOS COURTESY OF ZOLLIE STEVENSON JR.
Zollie Stevenson Jr. at UNCA in 1975 (left), and today (right).
UNC-Chapel Hill, Stevenson be
came increasingly interested in
identifying effective and non-ef
fective educational techniques.
“When I went to graduate school
at UNC Chapel Hill, I went into
educational psychology,” said
Stevenson. “I guess that got me fo
cused on the practical things that can
be done in education to improve the
way instruction is delivered.”
While at UNC-CH, Stevenson
became a graduate brother of Alpha
Phi Alpha fraternity, the first Greek-
letter fraternity for male African-
American students.
“Alpha plays a major role in my
life,” said Stevenson. “I am still in
volved in the mentoring programs,
helping other Alpha Brothers move
toward their professional goals.”
Alpha Phi Alpha was established in
1906 by seven African-American stu
dents enrolled at Cornell University.
See ALUMNUS Page 8
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