Newspapers / University of North Carolina … / Oct. 18, 2001, edition 1 / Page 8
Part of University of North Carolina at Asheville Student Newspaper / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
Page 8 The Blue Banner October 18,2001 NEWS from the Outside World Sprint drops employees Sprint Corp. announced on Oct. 17 it would cut 6,000 employees, or 7 percent of its work force, as it posted lower third-quarter profits amid weak calling rates. The No. 3 U.S. long-distance tele phone company also said it would scrap ION, a cosdy high-speed net work project. Sprint said profits in its main local and long-distance telephone and data operations, or FON Group, dropped to $244 million, or 28 cents a share, down from $384 million, or 43 cents a share, a year ago. I'otal revenues rose 11 percent to $6.72 billion. The company em ploys about 14,500 in the Kansas City area and 84,000 worldwide. Sprint also said it will restructure elements of the company's various divisions, including Global Mar kets Group and the company's fixed wireless services. Air travel numbers fall The number of air travelers in the United States declined 34.2 per cent last month and the Sept. 11 attacks are to blame, an airline in dustry trade group reported Oct. 15. U.S. airlines carried 30.3 million passengers last month, compared to 46 million in September 2000, according to the Air Transport As sociation. The number of domestic passengers declined 34.9 percent, while international dropped 28.1 percent, the group said. “The economic impact from the tragic events of Sept. 11 continues to be unparalleled in the history of commercial aviation,” theATAsaid in a prepared statement. “Make no mistake-we are grateful for the lead ership of President Bush and the Congress in providing emergency economic stabilization assistance. However, this will be a slow recov ery.” Politician tries to suppress evidence U.S. Rep. James Traficant (Ohio- Democrat) asked a federal judge Oct. 15 to suppress hundreds of pages of evidence the government plans to use against him in his up coming trial on bribery and rack eteering charges. Traficant filed a motion saying the evidence is protected under a congressional “speech and debate clause privilege” in the Constitu tion. He argued that it allows mem bers of Congress to speak freely while acting in their official capac ity without fear of prosecution. The documents all “occurred in the regular and customary course of the legislative process,” the motion said. Traficant faces trial February 4 on charges he accepted cash, meals and work on his farm in exchange for political favors. Most of the documents are letters and e-mail about his dealings with Youngstown businessman J.J. Cafaro and Cafaro's company, U.S. Aerospace Group. News Mayoral candidates face off on local issues Rae Stephens Staff Reporter I Brian Peterson and Charles Worley, the two remaining may- oral candidates for the city of Asheville, differ on issues that will have a major impact on Asheville and UNCA. The Asheville Civic Center is one of the issues dividing both the candidates and the voters. Worley is a member of the Task Force for the Future of the Civic Center. He is pushing for multimillion-dollar renovations to be done to improve the existing arena. Worley thinks “rebuilding in the existing (Civic Center) shell” would keep cost down compared to building a new one in a differ ent location. Worley also pushed for a National Basketball Associa tion Developmental League team to call Asheville home. Peterson was the only City Coun cil member to vote against both the renovations and the NBADL team. Peterson said that he spoke to roughly 200 people about bring ing in the new team. Only two of those people were in support of the idea. “I’m skeptical, and I think most of Asheville is skeptical,” said Peterson. Peterson also does not see improve ments on the old Civic Center as the best use of Asheville’s money. He said UNCA should fit into the plans for a new arena. Peterson is pushing for a new arena to be built near UNCA instead of improving the old one. He also ques tioned the architectural estimates of $25 million for a new arena and $27 million for a new performing arts center on the east side of the facility. Peterson also voted against a $1 increase in price for ticket sales at the existing center, and a 50 cent in crease on trade show tickets. Those increases would bring in an esti mated $200,000 each year. Peterson wants to reduce the subsidy that the taxpayers pay for the Civic Center and reduce the number of outside consultants. “I think improving the old Civic Center might help the downtown economy, but I am a student first,” said Leigh Nichols, a UNCA gradu ate student. “A new arena at LINCA would bring in a lot of money for the school, as well as provide UNCA athletics with a great place to play. It would be easier for students to get tickets for events, and people would come from out of town to go to UNCA for special events.” Affordable housing is another issue that Worley and Peterson have vary ing ideas on, which could affect PHOTO COURTESY OF PHOTO COURTESY OF RAE STEPHENS RAE STEPHENS Charles Worley wants to have Brian Peterson advocates new the Asheville Civic Center rebuilt apartments on Haywood Road near the UNCA campus . and Charlotte Street. UNCA students. Peterson would like to see more apartments built on both Haywood Road and Char lotte Street. “I'd like to see us work with pri vate developers and nonprofit de velopers to build some midsize apartments and condos along some of our major thoroughfares, such as Haywood Road [and] Charlotte Street,” said Peterson. “The first floor can have retail or offices and apartments above,” said Peterson. “The infrastructure is al ready there. The bus lines are there. Shopping centers are there, and there are jobs that are close by.” Worley wants to build more down town, and believes that boosting the economy would help to make hous ing more affordable overall. “We clearly want to attract high- paying jobs. That has an effect on affordable housing,” said Worley. “We can also encourage affordable housing downtown through incen tives [such as] density bonuses in our zoning ordinances.” Although both candidates reject the titles, Worley has been labeled! “pro-business” and Peterson has' been labeled “pro-neighborhood.” According to Bill Sabo, a UNCA political science professor, the neighborhoods around the Haywood Road corridor are in a transient stage from residential to development. People in these neighborhoods who would like businesses elsewhere tend to sup port Peterson over Worley. “They’re [the Haywood Road neighbors] feeling crushed, and they feel they’re fighting for theit lives,” said Sabo. “They support (Peterson) as a protector.” They might find that protector in Worley although he dislikes the “pro-business” label. He said that Asheville needs a strong economy before they can have strong neighborhoods. “I think the pro-business label gets on me because neighborhood activists are trying to come up with a reason why I don’t support neigh borhoods 100 percent of the time,’ Worley said. “I have consistently said that you cannot have a strong neighborhood without a strong economy,” said Worley. Diversity there were approximately 140 black students. “We’ve seen a few more Hispanic students brought in this year and a few more Asian-Americans, and maybe a couple more Native Americans, as examples, but the African-American population is pretty much stagnant,” said Mullen. Mullen said she hoped this year that Greene will be able to work with administration to come up with more solutions. While blacks that come to UNCA do not have trouble going to a predominately white institution, “what is going on is that they do expect there to be a larger number of black students for them to so cialize with,” said Mullen. “Not that they only socialize with black students.” The critical issue, the fact that in a given class there is only one or maybe two black students, may contribute to the lack of retainment of these minority students, according to Mullen. While it is not the commissions specific job to recruit students, it does address the issue and Mullen said she helps with recruitment when she can. “We’re not recruiters, but we do address that as an issue and if there’s a chance to help construct some policy, that would see to the increase in minority student populations then, yeah, the commission would certainly be concerned with doing that,” said Mullen. Going around to different high schools throughout the county is a viable option, according to Mullen. While Mullen occasionally goes to different high schools talking to minority students about college options, it is hard to do for her and others in the commission because they are all currently faculty mem bers. “It’s not as if, for the faculty work ing, all of us are teaching also and so it’s highly unlikely that we can run into admissions regularly enough to see this happen,” said Mullen. If recruiting at high schools seems like a good strategy, Greene could put something together, accord ing to Mullen. “I’m aware of the advantages that some of these schools (in the sys tem) have, but we’re talking about a very heavily populated black state,” said Mullen. Some students are also working on recruiting other minority students, but “they’re not ultimately respon sible for admitting and all that,” said Mullen. It is somewhat unclear why the numbers of black students at UNCA has gone down in the past years, said Mullen. Sam Williams, director for multicultural student affairs said it could be that UNCA is not paying enough attention to student con cerns, or not taking student needs seriously. There may also be a lack of culture on campus and in the Asheville area. continued from page 1 according to Williams. “People who define diversity in ways that say we’re already diverse are just hyping the issues,” said Dwight Mullen from the politica science department. “The issue is black and white in this state and it’s been black and white since the 1600s.” Williams is currently talking to Hispanic students to see if they may be interested in forming student group or organization on campus. He also said he plans on talking with the gay and lesbian students as well. “As of right now I’m trying to figure out what it is that’s not keeping them here so I’m talking to the admissions department,” said Williams. Anthrax continuedfrom page 1 were used in a limited manner, and since then multiple nations around the world have pursued further development for use as a biological weapon. The U.S. started developing an thrax weapons in 1943, but was stopped by President Nixon in 1969. A vaccine for anthrax was ap proved in 1970 by the Food and Drug Administration, and later used to vaccinate troops during the Gulf War. In 1995, Iraq admitted produc ing 8,500 liters of anthrax as a part of their biological weapons devel opment program. The World Federation for Cul ture Collection knows of 472 members in 61 countries of where labs store anthrax. In the US, over 500 labs store anthrax in varying quantity for educational and scientific research. “It seems to me that a dedicated individual could enroll, become a student and obtain feed material or perhaps just break in and steal it,” said Spertzel. In the early 1990’s, a Japanese terrorist group, tried and failed to develop a strain of anthrax capable of killing, and as such no one was injured in their attack. The most serious cases of an thrax recently occurred in Florida at the offices of American Media Inc., a tabloid newspaper. The Blue Banner Weather Seven Day Forecast THURSDAY c Sunny High: 63 Low: 31 FRIDAY if Sunny High: 67 Low: 35 SATURDAY £ Sunny High: 68 Low: 41 V SUNDAY Partly Cloudy High: 67 Low: 40 MONDAY Scattered Showers High: 69 Low: 44 TUESDAY \is. Scattered Showers High: 67 Low: 45 WEDNESDAY Scattered Showers High: 68 Low: 46 Local Almanac Last Week Day Hieh Low Normals Precip Wednesday 64 36 70/45 0.00" Thursday 68 55 70/45 Trace Friday 69 60 69/45 0.11" Saturday 70 61 69/44 0.03" Sunday 75 53 69/44 0.38" Monday 68 45 69/43 0.00" Tuesday 64 40 68/43 0.00" Precipitation for the week 0.52" Normal precipitation for the week .... 0.79" Departure from normal for the week . . -0.27" Precipitation for the year 30.67" Normal precipitation for year to date . 38.76" Departure from normal for the year . . . -8.09" * Precipitation includes snow converted to rainfall Oct. 18, 2001 Temps Last Week Local High / Low Temps Last Week Tut WeJ Thu Fri Sal Sun Mon North Carolina Recreational Forecast A cool end of the week is expected under the influence of a strong area of I high pressure. Northerly winds will keep temperatures 5 to 15 degrees below normal today and Friday. Clouds will increase late this weekend as a southerly wind flow will draw in moisture from the Atlantic. A warm front will lift northward and be close enough to the stale Monday to produce scattered showers. A cold front will move in from the west by the middle of next week, triggering mostly cloudy skies and scattered showers. Highs temperatures will top out in the 60s and 70s. Low tem peratures at night will fall into the 30s to the 50s. Sun/Moon Chart This Week Weather Trivia What city should be the easiest for which to fore cast the weather? ? 1st Qtr 10/23 Lst Qtr 11/8 New 11/15 All forecasts, data and graphics provided by Accessweather.com, Inc. © 2001. All rights reserved. H’M'W’. accessweather com Sunrise Sunset Moonrise Moonset 7:39 a.m. 6:51p.m. 9:34 a.m. 8:25 p.m. 7:40 a.m. 6:50 p.m. 10:42 a.m. 9:06 p.m. 7:41a.m. 6:48p.m. ll:46a.m. 9:51p.m. 7:42 a.m. 6:47 p.m. 12:47 p.m. 10:40 p.m. 7:43 a.m. 6:46 p.m. 1:41p.m. 11:32 p.m. 7:44 a.m. 6:45 p.m. 2:29 p.m. 7:45 a.m. 6:44 p.m. 3:11p.m. 12:28 a.m. National Weather Summary This Week , A cold front will move through the Great Lakes states to end this week, ■ producing mostly cloudy skies and scattered precipitation. A stubborn ‘ stationary front will undulate across the peninsula of Florida throughout this weekend, creating breezy conditions along with showers. A cold front will push into the northern tier of states to begin next week, result ing in scattered showers and unseasonably cool temperatures. An area of low pressure will develop along this front over the Central Plains. As we move into the middle of next week, this low will intensify and bring widespread precipitation and breezy condi tions across the Midwest and the Ohio River Valley states. To find out the answer, log onto http://www.accessweather.com/theblue- bannerhtml to find today's trivia answer and previous Weather Trivia answers. - Weather History Oct. 20. 1987 - Cold arctic air invaded the Midwest, and squalls in the Lake Superior snowbelt produced heavy snow in parts of Wisconsin. Snowfall totals ranged up to 18 inches at Mellen, Wise. In the western United States, a record high of 69 degrees was set at Seattle, their twenty-fifth of the year. Oct. 21. 1957 - The second in a series of unusual October storms hit Southem California, causing widespread thunderstorms. Santa Maria, Calif was drenched with 1-13 inches of rain in two hours. Hail drifts up to 18 inches were recorded in parts of east Los Angeles. Waterspouts were spot ted off the coastline. UN( lent ' mts ; lefts One I eing ith Si ccurr 7-2 L Appi ems ides us. w ar IS 1 aid L no re I hre( ertibi ut th ehicli am errar oath; f the be ve Foul the nder the: iccuri outh me w lence “Wal afe, I )f the aid R Radii )hont aken Afe )een t IS evi urnec To a xpen: ides El UNC 'tate 1 saign, lumai lave c >ept. Last es do otal c setwe “Our md[l ion [ aid E !tUN ire go ;oing ligh. ay, andc lirnec As o: Serving UNCA Since 1982 WWW.unca.edu/banner
University of North Carolina at Asheville Student Newspaper
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Oct. 18, 2001, edition 1
8
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75