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The Blue
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Sports
‘UNCA tennis loses twice”
■ see page 6
Also inside:
Features
“’The Climb’ falls short of good filmmaking”
■ see page 4
/
>, V,
Opinions
Volume 35 Issue 5
Bumgarner
awarded for
FYE program
Kristen Willett
News Reporter
Sarah Bumgarner received the
Outstanding First-Year Student
Advocate Award for her work as
director of the First-Year Experi
ence program at UNCA during a
reception held Feb. 17 in
Kissimmee, Fla.
“My award represents the work of
the faculty who teach in the pro
gram more than anything else, ” said
Bumgarner, director of the first-
year experience program and an
economics lecturer. “In my opin
ion, it’s a university recognition,
not an acknowledgment of a single
individual.”
The 21st annual National Con
ference on First-Year Experience,
sponsored by the National Resource
Center for the First-Year Experi-
I ence & Students in Transition and
the Houghton Mifflin Company,
presented Bumgarner and nine
other individuals with Outstand
ing First-Year Student Advocate
awards.
Recipients of these awards share
the common goal of improving the
educational experience of first-year
students, yet their methods for do
ing so are uniquely responsive to
the particular institution settings
they work in.
Last fall, heads of universities
throughout the nation selected fac
ulty members who exemplified ex
cellence in working with first year
students. Chancellor James Mullen
nominated Bumgarner as a candi
date.
See FYE Page 8
The University Of North Carolina At Asheville
I “Preserving our right to freedom”
by Dearborn McCorkle
■ see page 2
March 7, 2002
^iieager indicted on eig^t counts
Rachel Grumpier
News Editor
A grand jury indicted Robert F.
Yeager March 4 with eight charges,
including three counts of embezzle
ment and five counts of obtaining
property under false pretense, ac
cording to Buncombe County Dis
trict Attorney Ron Moore. No date
has been set for a trial.
“It’s a very sad day for Bob himself
and also for UNCA,” said Merritt
Moseley, a literature and language
professor. “It’s sad because, what
ever the rights and wrongs of it,, it
makes UNCA look bad, and it
makes professors look bad. We are
a public university, and we have to
maintain the public perception that
we are good stewards of our money. ”
A former literature professor at
UNCA, Yeager, who was removed
as director of Pegasus Press in No
vember, was unavailable for com
ment.
Mario DiCesare, a former direc
tor of Pegasus Press, said the origi
nal allegations shocked him.
“It’s mind boggling,” said
DiCesare. “I don’t understand the
greed or the stupidity.”
Four of the five false pretense
charges concern travel expenses,
billed to both UNCA and Pegasus
Press, according to the Buncombe
County Superior Criminal Court
Clerk’s records.
Bill Styres, UNCA’s internal au
ditor, noted the double-billed travel
expenses in his report.
See YEAGER Page 8
COURTESY OF UNCA
Asbestos found in Carmichael
Lana Coffey
News Reporter
COURTESY OF UNCA
Carmichael Hall will be renovated
as part of the bond referendum
passed in 2000, according to Tom
Cochran, interim vice chancellor
of academic affairs. Part of the reno
vation will include the removal of
materials containing asbestos.
“We’re not going to work because
there’s asbestos in there, but we are
glad that we get to do the work and
take the asbestos out while we’re in
there,” said Steve Baxley, director
of facilities and management plan
ning.
There is no way to know for sure if
asbestos in Carmichael Hall has
caused any health problems for
anyone, but questions exist about
the safety of the building, accord
ing to Melissa Burchard, assistant
professor of philosophy who has
had an office in Carmichael for five
years.
“There are people in the building
who are very concerned that there
are environmental causes in the
building that are responsible for, or
at least linked to, a number of cases
of very serious illness that have
occurred over the years,” said
Burchard.
Burchard herself has been sick
recently, but said she has no evi
dence that her illness was linked to
any environmental toxins in
Carmichael.
“I don’t have any evidence at all
that this is linked to the building,”
said Burchard. “That’s one of the
problems, that we don’t have evi
dence.”
While there is asbestos in
Carmichael, Baxley says the asbes- ,
tos does not exceed dangerous lev
els.
There are two different types of
COURTESY OF UNCA
Carmichael Hall, which contains asbestos, will be renovated with money from the bond referendum.
asbestos, but the kind that exists in
Carmichael is the less harmful of
the two, according to Baxley.
The administration has told the
faculty members with offices in
Carmichael that the kind of asbes
tos in the building is relatively harm
less at low levels, according to
Burchard.
While a number of faculty mem
bers in Carmichael have had quite
serious illnesses, Burchard said there
is really no way of knowing if toxins
in the building caused these ili-
“It may be coincidental that so
many have gotten sick, not just
because we live in this building, but
because we live in this world,”
Burchard said. “There’s no reason
to think that we have high levels of
asbestos.”
Carmichael Hall, which was built
in 1966, is probably the biggest
project for remodeling, according
to Cochran. It may even be torn
down and rebuilt. However, the
future of the building is still being
discussed.
The other buildings being reno
vated, other than Carmichael, in
clude Zageir Hall, the Physical Plant
and Highsmith Center. Several of
those buildings contain asbestos,
according to Baxley.
The physical plant and the floor
tile of Highsmith Center are among
the places where low levels of asbes
tos exist.
“We don’t know of any health
See ASBESTOS Page 8
Benefactor to
UNCA dies
Rachel Grumpier
News Editor
Morris Karpen, a generous con
tributor to UNCA, died March 3.
“Morris was a modest man who
respected each and every person for
who they are and for the potential
inside them,” said Beverly Modlin,
vice chancellor for university rela
tions, in an e-mail. “We shall all
miss him.”
Morris Karpen and his wife Leah
made considerable donations to
UNCA.
They provided UNCA with two
unrestricted endowments allocated
for classroom enrichment, estab
lished an employee loan fund and
provided the money needed to up
date the equipment in the mass
communication department.
“It’s just aboutimpossible to sum
marize all they have done,” said
Modlin in an e-mail.
Karpen also be lefited many insti
tutions in Buncombe County. He
donated land to the county to use
for soccer fields, and provided start
up funds for a homeless shelter and
battered women’s shelter.
“He knew life was not always easy
for others, and wanted to do what
he could to help people, so they
could, in turn, do more for them
selves and for others,” said Modlin
in an e-mail.
Karpen founded Karpen Steel
Products in NY, and in Asheville,
he founded a new company called
Laser Precision, which produced
computer-generated metal parts.
“He is an incredible example of a
person who has learned to use his
mind to enrich his life and the lives
of those around him,” Modlin said
in an e-mail. “He was a splendid
example of‘learning for a lifetime.’”
Wbodlin police chief fired, sexual behavior leaked to media
Stuart Gaines
News Reporter
Protected state reports about
former Woodfin Police Chief Pete
Bradley’s sexual behavior leaked
into the media for political pur
poses during the scandal surround
ing Bradley’s dismissal. The scan
dal also includes allegations that
Woodfin Mayor Homer Honeycutt
illegally “fixed” traffic tickets.
“It’s a typical situation,” said
Lucious Wilson, a senior political
science major. “The mudslinging
going on between these Woodfin
officials is not surprising, and I’ll be
interested in seeing the outcome of
these events.”
The Woodfin Board of Aldermen
fired Bradley in a 5-1 decision Feb.
25, according to an Asheville Citi-
zen-Times article from Feb. 25.
Bradley is the second police chief
Woodfin hired within the past two
years.
Former police chief Chris Fay said
that he quit the same post last year
because of professional disagree
ments with Honeycutt, according
to an Asheville Citizen-Times article
from Feb. 20.
Leonard Clark made the motion
to dismiss Bradley in the closed-
door meeting.
“Well I guess Mr. Mayor, I’ll have
to be the one to do it,” said Clark.
“It’s a bad decision, but I make a
motion that we relieve the chief of
his duties.”
The decision came following the
release of portions of a State Bureau
of Investigation report, which de
tailed Bradley’s attendance at par
ties where men wore diapers as part
of their sexual behavior, according
to the Feb. 25 Citizen-Times ar
ticle.
“I don’t understand how anyone
who wears diapers could make it all
the way to police chief in any town,”
said Erik Perkins, an undeclared
sophomore.
Bradley announced his intention
to sue both town and state officials,
including Honeycutt, following the
announcement of his termination.
“When you’re voted out, you’ve
got to walk out with your head held
high knowing you did the right
thing,” Bradley said after receiving
news of his dismissal. “There’s other
places for the battle to continue,
not here. That’s what courtrooms
are made for all across the country,”
said an Asheville Citizen-Times ar
ticle from Feb. 25.
The report was first released about
seven months ago by the office of
See WOODFIN Page 8
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