The Blue
Banner
Sports
“Bulldog volleyball set for success”
■ see page 5
Also inside:
Features
“Student photographer bucks conventions”
■ see page 3
Opinions
“Dear Mr. President: why war with Iraq?”
by Dearborn McCbrkle
■ see page 2
Volume 36 Issue 1
The University Of North Carolina At Asheville
UNCA student discovers pipe bomb near campus
Michelle Dean
News Reporter
UNCA student Kenneth Bogert
discovered an undetonated pipe
bomb near campus on Friday, Aug.
23 while walking home from class.
“I was walking my bike up the
path and I stubbed my toe on it,”
said Bogert. “I, looked down and
the end of it was sticking out of the
dirt. I kicked it pretty hard a couple
of times and it kind of rolled. When
it finally popped out of the hole I
saw it was a bomb and I pretty
much ran. It’s not everyday you
find a bomb when you’re coming
back from class.”
Bogert described the bomb as a
steel pipe with two caps on the
ends. It was about six inches long
total and it had two wires coming
out of it to a nine-volt battery,
according to Bogert.
“I called 911 as'soon as I got
home,” said Bogert.
The path where Bogert discovered
the bomb was cleared about a year
ago for students living in University
Place Apartments. It begins beside
the Covenant Reformed Presbyte
rian Church on Edgewood Rd. and
connects directly to the University
Place living complex on Barnard ave.
A 911 operator notified the
Asheville Police Department (APD)
ofthe bomb at approximately 12:30
p.m. Within minutes, the APD
notified UNCA Public Safety who
dispatched officers Littrell and
Harris to the scene.
“We share a mutual aid agree
ment with the city,” said Public
Safety Chief Lou Caliendo. “If we
need help we contact them and
vice-versa,” said Caliendo.
The Asheville City Bomb Squad
was also dispatched to the scene
where they used robotics to deto
nate the bomb by remote.
“It sounded like a shotgun,” said
Bogert.
After detonation, the squad used
metal detectors to comb the area
for harmful debris.
See BOMB Page 8
Campus construction projects continue
UNCA architects and officials plan to erect a new residence hall, student activity center and the Reuter
Center. Student fees, private and state bonds will pay for the building projects, and construction will
continue on campus until 2003. Later, Carmichael and Zageir Halls may be renovated, and a new
physical plant, science building and chemistry departments might be designed.
Architect incorporates classic Asheville design elements into new residence hall
Sara Miller
News Reporter
Jessica Hensley
News Reporter
The UNCA campus continues to
change as construction plans give a
facelift to Governor’s Village,
Highsmith Center and the Reuter
Center.
“It takes time to go through the
design process and gear up for these
projects, so now, with the jobs start-,
ing to bid, you start to see the
construction on campus,” said Pe
ter L. Nielsen, campus architect
and director of design and con
struction.
With the budget woes that plaque
UNCA, many worry about the pro
gression of the construction.
“The annual budget really affects
operating the day to day things that
happen on campus, not the capital
construction at this point,” said
Nielsen.
The Higher Education Board ap
propriated $49.9 million, which
will fund much of the upcoming
construction oh campus. With the
exception of the Highsmith Cen
ter, other facilities, such as the new
residence hall or parking decks are
funded by private bonds and money
generated by students, according to
Nielsen.
In the past year, students have
seen both construction and destruc
tion on campus. One of the current
projects underway is the construc
tion of a new residence hall in
Governor’s Village. This is the first
actual building structure of a group
that will eventually replace all the
Village dorms.,
According to Nielsen, there are 80
fewer beds due to the demolition of
Craig, Swain and Aycock Halls,
which were built in the 1960s. The
first of the new structures houses
180 beds configured in single,
double and possibly larger suite-
style rooms.
The new hall will take on the
architectural design of Asheville
landmarks, like the Grove Park Inn
and the Biltmore Estate, to incor
porate the different genres of cam
pus style.
“The campus was originally done
in the sixties, and as more and more
buildings were added, so were dif
ferent styles of architecture. Being
such a young campus, we have no
real focus on design,” Nielsen, a 25-
year licensed architect said. “We
felt like a real liberal arts university,
dabbling in everything, (so) we
would have a diverse scope of archi
tectural style.”
The housing department’s goal is
for at least half of UNCA’s 3,000
students to live on campus. Now,
only 1,000 occupy resident dorms,
according to Nielsen. Privatebonds
and student fees entirely fund this
project.
In close distance to the new resi
dence hall construction, the gutted
exteribr of the Highsmith Center
still stands.
“Why are we tearing down a build
ing that was built in the eighties?”
asked Nielsen. “You look around
campus, and you figure out really
quickly that there is just no other
place to put a student or university
center.”
Stephen Baxley, director of facili
ties, management and planning,
said the new Highsmith Center
would double in size. It will go
from approximately 30,000 square
feet to 75,000 upon completion.
This expansion will provide better
access to student services and ac
tivities.
“The old Highsmith,was replaced
because of the great location,” said
Baxley. “It is close to the dining
hall, close to residence halls and
close to the rest of the campus We
didn’t have an opportunity to du
plicate that kind of close proximity
anywhere else.”
The new facility will house a post
office, larger bookstore, food court
and extra areas for student activi
ties, according to Baxley.
Unlike the other current projects,
the Highsmith Center reconstruc
tion uses money from the state
The last current undergoing
project is the Reuter Center. This
new building will house the Center
for Creative Retirement. “A Home
to Call Their Own” has been the
retired students’ campaign for a
new facility. The retired students
have raised a little over $3 million
dollars to fund this project, accord
ing to Baxley.
“These people are very commit
ted to their program,” said Baxley.
The new 19,188 square foot build
ing is located at the top of Campus
Drive.
Future campus construction
plans include renovation of
Carmichael and Zageir Halls, a
new science building for the biol
ogy and chemistry departments
and a new physical plant. Also, an
electrical distribution upgrade and
information technology can be
anticipated, according to the
UNCA Web site.
“Not only the biggest challenge,
but the most fun, is to work the
projects to where the contractors
are doing what they need to do and
the physical plant folks are sup
porting that effort and are com
fortable that what they end up
with is something they can main
tain for the next 50 years,” said
Baxley. “Construction is not a
three-year effort. It’s a 60-year in
vestment.”
Completion of the Reuter Center
is expected around March 2003.
The new residence hall will open by
fall 2003. The Highsmith Center
should be finished sometime next
school year, according to Nielsen
and Baxley.
September 5, 2002
Yeager convicted
of three felony
charges in trial
Dearborn McCorkle
News Reporter
Robert F. Yeager was convicted of
three felony charges and sentenced
on July 12 in Buncombe County
Superior Court.
“I do not feel that I should offer
what would be a personal opinion
as to the appropriateness of Dr.
Yeager’s sentence. He did wrong
and I respect the court’s prerogative
to determine the appropriate pen
alty for that wrong,” said Chancel
lor James Mullen in an email.
The retired literature professor and
former director of Pegasus Press
was charged with three felony counts
of embezzlement and five felony
counts of obtaining property under
false pretense.
Yeager plead guilty to all charges,
which were consolidated into three
convictions for sentencing.
Yeager’s sentencing included an
active term of 30 days in the Bun
combe County Jail from 6 p.m.
July 23 to 6 p.m. Aug. 23.
The court gave Yeager a suspended
sentence (a minimum of 18 months
and maximum of 24 months) con
tingent upon his satisfactory
completion of a 36 month super
vised probationary period.
In addition to the $ 12,240 Yeager
paid back during the internal audit
and State Bureau of Investigation’s
criminal investigation in March
2002, Yeager was required to make
$31,649.87 in additional restitu
tion payments to Pegasus Press,
according to Clerk of Superior
Court Records.
Court documents show Yeager
made this payment on July 12.
“It is my understanding that Dr.
Yeager retired,” said Bill Styres,
UNCA’s director of internal au
dits.
According to Lisa Honeycutt, ben
efits manager in UNCA’s human
resources department, Yeager was
eligible to retire under the UNC
Optional Retirement Program. Af
ter five years of service and contrib
uting to the plan, faculty can draw
a retirement benefit based on the
amount of money in their account
when they begin the withdrawal.
Pegasus Press and UNCA suffered
$43,889.87 in direct loss as a result
of Yeager’s actions, according to
Clerk of Superior Court records.
Of that total, $40,844.87 was a
direct loss to Pegasus Press alone.
UNCA suffered a direct loss of
$3,045.
“The University expressed its views
that restitution was an important
part of all this,” said Styres.
“Yeager did make restitution dur
ing the trial of the direct losses as
documented in the repon to the
University and Pegasus Press. Pe
gasus Press by far and away was the
bigger victim of the two,” said
Styres.
Mario DiCesare, founder and
former director of Pegasus Press,
See YEAGER Page i
Serving UNCA Since 1982
WWW. unca. edu/banner