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Features
Art exhibits on campus by Eo Trueblood,
two other art majors
■ see page 5
Also inside:
Sports
The NBA comes to UNCA
■ see page 7
Opinions
‘Enemy’ of the United States,
by Brian Smith
■ see page 4
Volume 34 Issue 9
The University Of North Carolina At Asheville
November 1, 2001
Senate passes
new anti
terrorism biU
Lana Coffey
StafF Reporter
President George W. Bush signed
a new anti-terrorism bill Oct. 26,
designed to pursue terrorists and
bring them to justice.
“The new law that I sign today will
allow surveillance of all communi
cations used by terrorists, includ
ing e-mails, the Internet and cell
phones,” said Bush.
Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks
the creation of a new anti-terrorist
law has been in the works, accord
ing to the New York Times.
The Senate passed the new law
Oct. 25 by a final vote of 98 to one,
according to the New York Times.
“The changes,” which went into
effect immediately, “will help
counter a threat like no other our
nation has ever faced,” said Bush.
“We take an essential step in de
feating terrorism, while protecting
the constitutional rights of all
Americans.”
The new bill will allow expanded
wiretapping authority, expand the
government’s ability to conduct
electronic surveillance, detain im
migrants without charges and pen
etrate money-laundering banks,
according to officials.
The bill also allows the release of
grand jury information to deter
terrorism, and relaxes the condi
tions under which judges can au
thorize intelligence wiretaps, ac
cording to Bush.
“This bill has the possibility of
giving the government more power
than it should over the citizens,”
said senior art major Glenn Rob
erts.
While the majority of the Senate
supported the new legislation, Russ
Feingold, a Democrat from Wis
consin, voted against the bill.
Feingold said the bill would allow
unconstitutional searches and pun
ish people for “vague associations
with possible terrorists,” according
to the New York Times.
Feingold also criticized the bill for
allowing intelligence wiretaps that
would not require a judge to find
probably cause before allowing
them, according to the Times.
“Congress will fulfill its duty only
when it protects both the Ameri
can people and the freedoms at the
foundation of American society,”
said Feingold in the article.
“I think they’retaking it a litde too
far,” said Hilary Schoendorf, a jun
ior environmental science major.
She wondered if the new bill would
make much of a difference in
thwarting terrorism.
“There are enough protective mea
sures in our government. If it (the
bill) was enacted, it couldn’t inter
fere with our rights too much,
said Roberts.
Many lawmakers argued in favor
of the bill.
“It also provides that authority for
expanded surveillance of computer
and telephones would expire after
UNCA to replace Highsmith Center
JAMES PRITCHi riVSTAf F PHOTOGRAPHER
Flags adorn the ceiling of Highsmith Center, which will shut down after the weekend of Nov. 11.
New building expected to accomodate more student groups
See BILL Page 10
Alison McKone
Staff Reporter
UNCA is tearing down
Highsmith Center, which will be
replaced with a brand new stu
dent center. The building will be
officially shut down after the
weekend of November 10 and 11
to begin construction on the new
building which has a budget of
$11,900,000.
“Our hope is that we will get to
move in (to the new student cen
ter) the summer of 2004, that’s
the anticipated schedule. There
is some fudge time built into the
project for things like rain delays and
things like that,” said Kevan Frazier,
Director of Student Life at UNCA.
According to Randy Williams,
Director of the Highsmith Project,
the construction process is expected
to be about 700 days. The budget for
the new Highsmith Center comes
from bond money, given to the school
as a result of the voters’ decision from
a referendum in last year’s election.
“Some people have said (about
Chick-fil-A) as well, we just put that
in to' tear it down, but when all that
was done, we didn’t know ifwe would
ever have the money for the new
building,” Frazier said.
The occupants of office space in
Highsmith Center will be moved into
"Owr hope is that
we get to move in
(to the new stu
dent center) the
summer of2004”
-Kevan Frazier,
director, student life
the newly renovated second level of
the parking gaiage under the Din
ing Hall. In this temporary facility,
there is office space for all those
currendy in the
Highsmith Center as well as a small
LOU HORTON/STAFF
PHOTOGRAPHER
Rick Brophy, assistant director
of Student Life-Facilities, works
in his office.
game room and small conference
room, according to Frazier.
“We will not have a space that
replicates the coffeehouse/Dante’s
space, we will not have a space
anywhere near the size of the stu
dent lounge, we don’t have a space
to fill the old PDR (Private Dining
Room), and we don’t have a
space to replicate the Side Door.
We do have a space that will tran
sition things that are normally in
Highsmith 37 into that a room
about the size of the Side Door, we
have a small conference room that
don’t have a similar space to here
(the existing Highsmith Center)
for meetings. But those are our
only two public venues,” Frazier
said.
According to Frazier, events, such
as Open Mic and other events typi
cally held in Highsmith will con
tinue through the construction pro
cess. These events will be held in
different areas across campus in
places such as the Humanities Lec
ture Hall, Lipinsky Hall, and even
some in the Dining Hall.
Chick-fil-A will be closed during
the time that Highsmith is under
construction. However, accord
ing to Frazier, an agreement has
been worked out by Sodexho with
the Asheville Pizza and Brewing
Company.
“We went with Asheville Pizza
Company because not only do they
deliver pizza, but they deliver their
whole menu, all their sandwiches
and burgers and whatnot. They’ll
bring Coca-Colas over and bread
and diapers, they have a whole
delivery list. Students can do that
with their Munch Money, even if
they are off-campus students as
See HIGHSMITH Page 10
School budget
takes a cut
Two apprehended in investigation of thefts
Lori Brenner
Staff Reporter
Two arrests were made in con
nection with the recent sets of
vehicle break-ins on campus.
One student and a local resident
were arrested on campus for break
ing and entering of a motor ve
hicle.
“I sat down and the door was
unlocked. The seat belt was undone,”
said Shawn Westin, a resident assis
tant in Founders Hall. “I thought
some one has been in my car.”
The amplifier from Westin’s speak
ers had been stolen. The amp has
been found, but is being kept as evi
dence at the moment, according to
UNCA public safety.
Jonathan Marbois-Segall, an unde
clared freshman, and Jonathan Sharp
an Asheville resident, were served with
warrants on Oct. 23.
Three suspects are being ques
tioned in contention with this case.
One has been interviewed; one is
in jail; and the other has not been
reached, according to Sergeant
Adams, a public safety investigator
on campus.
No items have been recovered
from the break-ins in the past week,
but several items were found in a
local pawnshop prior to that.
“I am appreciative of the work
that public safety has done in the
interest of the students,” said
Westin.
The break-ins occurred from Oct.
17-21.
Eight cars have been broken in to
overall. Four of the break-ins oc
curred in the Founder's Hall park
ing lot; one was in the Zageir Hall
parking lot; two occurred in the
parking lot below South Ridge Resi
dence Hall; and one was in the
West Ridge Residence Hall park
ing deck.
Stuart Gaines
Staff Reporter
UNCA’s annual budget will be
cut an additional four percent this
year, in addition to a permanent
budget cut of $523,189.
This reallocation of about $1 mil
lion is due to a revenue shortfall of
almost $ 160 million during the first
quarter of the state’s fiscal year, and
a lagging economy.
“This decline, the first in decades
for North Carolina, is in all likeli
hood, partly due to the events of
Sept. 11, and reflects similar situa
tions in other states,” said Univer
sity budget officer Steve Honeycutt
in an e-mail about this latest cut.
In addition to the reallocation of
state funds. North Carolina Gover
nor Mike Easley has put all state
repair and renovation monies on
hold. This is equal to $1.5 million
for UNCA, according to the e-mail.
“The greatest challenge we all face
is that we need to keep our momen
tum going forward. We can’t allow
this budget situation to undermine
the progress we have made,” said
Chancellor Jim Mullen. “We have
to manage through this challenge as
we keep our vision on where we will
be when it is over.”
State funds make up about 49
percent of UNCA’s total annual
budget, and cuts must come from
areas for which those fund are allo
cated, according to Wayne
McDevitt, Vice Chancellor for
Administration and Financial Af
fairs.
“No faculty or administrative
travel is being authorized between
now and Nov. 8. An/ previously
authorized travel is being honored,”
said Tom Cochran, Vice Chancel
lor of Academic Affairs. “We have
also stopped all equipment pur
chases for the next two weeks. Fur
ther, we have suspended all book
purchases by the library.”
While this latest cut will affect all
aspects of life at UNCA, university
administrators are working hard to
identify areas of campus life which
can be controlled financially.
One of the main areas of potential
improvement is in campus utility
costs, which have risen consider
ably in recent years, according to
McDevitt.
There is also currently a hiring
freeze, which could go on for sev
eral months, according to
McDevitt.
“We are currently reviewing our
energy policy and will soon be com
municating on a variety of volun
tary, and some non-voluntary, strat
egies for conserving energy and our
scarce financial resources,” said
Stephen Baxley, Director of Facili
ties, Management and Planning, in
another e-mail about the new bud-
get.
“We are partnering with public
safety to make sure windows are
closed and lights are turned off- but
to protect our UNCA budgets, we
need your support,” said Baxley.
“We need to show our commit
ment to energy savings and face this
fiscal situation together.”
See BUDGET Page 10
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