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See Lifestyles page 5
See Knteitainmenr page 3
Volume 45, Issue 1
Serving the University of North Carolina at Asheville since 1982
August 31, 2006
Block
Party
jump starts
new year
By Courtney Metz
Staff Writer
The Student Government
I /Association hosted the Block
Party, a night of food, rides and
I fun, Friday with hopes of
I improving student life and pro
viding a safe and fun event on
I campus.
“I really enjoyed the Block
I Party,” said Whitney Abbott,
junior. “The food was great,
and it was really cool to play
with the therapy dogs. Overall,
I it was an awesome night.”
The event, hosted for the first
time by SGA, went through
some major changes since last
I year. Relocated from behind the
Health and Fitness Center to the
front of the Highsmith
University Union, the event fea
tured inflatable games, laser tag,
music, a fun slide, food, minia
ture golf and many other attrac-
I tions.
“The Block Party last year
was OK,” said Karen Moriarty,
sophomore. “I stayed for about
10 minutes. Then I left to go
I home and sleep. This year was
completely different. The new
location made it a lot easier for
residents to get to. The food
[was great. It was a definite
I improvement on a great event.”
Many students felt that the
I entire event had improved.
“There were a lot more
I things to do and a more vibrant
atmosphere,” said Barrett
Williams, sophomore.
“Altogether, it was a great
I improvement.”
SGA officials said they were
I very pleased with the outcome
1 of the event.
“1 think it went really well,”
I said John Noor, SGA president
[ and Block Party event planner.
j“We had almost 1,000 people
I turn out, and from what I heard,
I people really enjoyed it. I think
I starting out the year right will
I start a great rest of the year for
I us.”
Using contributions from
different campus departments
Md organizations, SGA was
able to put together $16,000 for
the event.
The event was a great way to
get involved in student life,
according to Noor.
Additionally, he said he hopes
the Block Party and similar
events will help to enrich stu
dent life and allow students to
*'ave a more enjoyable time
'vhile they are here.
‘Everyone that leaves here
Eaves because student life
Isucks,” Noor said. “It’s not
t*eeause the academics suck.”
Improving the student life
bvill improve the overall quality
the institution as well,
jaccording to Executive of
External Affairs for SGA Rob
Waskom.
Historically, we have had a
[teputation of being a suitcase or
commuter campus,” Waskom
aaid. “But, to increase our com-
j®ttment to student life, we need
recognize that students don’t
'oly study here. They live here.
can work to improve the
Campus environment, and that
enhances our academic experi
ence.”
SGA is also working to
otganize several other events for
E'c upcoming academic year,
"'ith which they hope to incor-
^tate student input. Among
®ese are a date auction and a
“ngerie party.
These will hopefully produce
®c Same outcome as the Block
®cly and improve student life,
According to Noor.
•• \
Contributed by Jonathan Barnes
Junior economics student Pierce Johnson plays with three babies at one of the New Life Homes orphanages in Kenya. Students from UNC
Asheville chapter of the Student Global AIDS Campaign and others volunteered their time this summer to help children of the area.
Students explore culture
Group travels to Kenya to learn about global HIV/AIDS
By Anna Lee
Staff Writer
Students traveled to Kenya this
summer to learn about the
HIV/AIDS crisis through the
Amani Scholars program.
“I feel like I’m going back there
at some point soon,” said
Jonathan Barnes, junior environ
mental science student . “I feel
like if I didn’t go back there, I
would lose part of myself because
it’s such an amazing country, and
I met so many wonderful people.
It really helped to put a face on all
of the statistics.”
UNC Asheville students organ
ized and attended a conference
with students from Nairobi
University, Kenya Medical
Training College and Kenya
Polytechnic University.
“I don’t think there’s any other
conference on HIV/AIDS entirely
organized, implemented and
attended to by students,” said
John Stephens, senior literature
student.
The conference gave Kenyans
and Americans the chance to
express their feelings about devel
opment policies, the World Bank
and the International Monetary
Fund, according to Barnes.
“Pierce (Johnson) had said that
after this hour-long session on
international politics, which he
moderated, he learned more in
that one hour than he did in one
semester, because you have so
many diverse perspectives,”
Barnes said.
Stephens coordinated the con
ference with the exchange
between American and Kenyan
students in mind.
“I think the highlight for a lot of
people was interacting with these
students from different Kenyan
universities,” Stephens said. “It’s
one of those really fulfilling expe
riences to find a like-minded per
son, kind of a soulmate on anoth
er continent or someone who you
really connect with on a really
personal and genuine level.”
Students spent much of their
time in Kenya volunteering at
SEE Kenya, page 21
Goombay Festival draws a diverse crowd
By Brenda Weigel
Staff Writer
Asheville came alive with the
sound of steel drums, exotic dances
and brightly colored costumes as
part of the Goombay Festival held
last weekend.
The festival featured everything
from reggae and blues to vendors
selling African art, colorful cloth
ing and handmade crafts.
Twenty-four years ago,
JacqueUne King, one of the found
ing members of Friends of the
Young Men’s Institute Cultural
Center, helped bring the Goombay
Festival to Asheville.
The first time she attended a
Goombay Festival, she never
thought of bringing it to Asheville,
according to King.
“I had attended a national meet
ing down in Florida, and for part of
the entertainment they had a
Goombay Festival,” King said. “I
really didn’t think a lot about it,
because it was hot, there were mos
quitoes and they were running out
of food. It was just okay.”
“A few years after that, at one of
the (Friends of the YMI) meetings,
Gloria Free said to me, T know
what we can (do), we can have a
Goombay,’” King said.
She was not impressed by the
other Goombay Festival, but the
two decided to organize a better
Pennie Leas - Staff Photographer
The youngest member of the Community Jazz Band, Miss Jocelyn,
plays guitar and sang in many of the songs at the Goombay Festival.
event for Asheville, according to
King.
The first festival was organized
to raise funds and garner support
for the YMI Cultural Center.
People attended the Goombay
Festival because it provided a
break from everyday forms of
entertainment, according to King.
“People respond because of the
cultural aspect and the entertain
ment that’s different than what
they’re used to,” King said. “We
have stilt walkers, African dancers,
reggae-type music and steel drums.
We expect the number of people
who attend to be in the thousands.”
The success of the Asheville
Goombay Festival exceeded many
expectations because of the diver
sity of culture, according to Dan
Meela, a fourth-year vendor.
“(Goombay) is very cultural,”
Meela said. ‘There is a lot of diver
sity and a lot of different races not
usually seen in North Carolina.”
Asheville was a good host for the
Goombay festival, according to
Meela.
“I go to festivals all over the
United States,” Meela said. “This
is my fourth time, and if a festival
is not good, I don’t go back. Pretty
much all the vendors I see here I
see every year in the exact same
location. People here are very nice
and very supportive.”
New server
replaces
Pipeline
By Calty Pelliccia
Staff Writer
With the switch to OnePort, the
new campus server, the transition
back to school for many students
and faculty proved difficult, how
ever, the software has the ability
to do much more than was possi
ble before.
“The potential is much greater
in OnePort, and while we have
implemented a very stripped
down version, we have the capa
bility to grow OnePort beyond
what was possible in Campus
Pipeline,” said Robin Daugherty,
assistant director of information
technology
OnePort includes several serv
ices most students will use regu
larly.
“It is the portal through which
students will register for classes,
see their grades, view their tran
scripts and view and pay their
bills,” Daugherty said. “Faculty
will use OnePort to manage their
classes, grade students, commu
nicate with students and assist
their advisees.”
Without factoring in expenses
on labor, OnePort cost the school
practically nothing.
“The good news is that OnePort
is really a software upgrade of
Campus Pipeline, and that means
that we did not have to buy a new
product,” Daugherty said.
“We pay annual license main
tenance to our software vendor
and as a result, when a dramatic
new upgrade emerges, we can
acquire it without paying for the
license. The cost in staff time for
implementing is harder to quan
tify.”
Although OnePort is merely an
upgrade of the old Pipeline sys
tem students admit to having
troubles adjusting to the new pro
gram.
“The old one was a little easier
to operate because everything
was on the home page,” said
Royce Breckon, freshman stu
dent. “With OnePort, you have to
hunt around for services and fea
tures.”
Due to late funding and a
restricted work period, ITS said
they had no other choice.
“In the perfect world, the
changeover would have occurred
early in the summer.
Unfortunately, it could not be
finalized until early in the sum
mer, and this pushed the project
completion to the beginning of
the semester,” Daugherty said.
“Many on the ITS staff have
been working long hours ever
since to get the cut-over com
pleted.”
The switch to the new software
was a necessary change, accord
ing to Daugherty.
“Campus Pipeline was the first
portal product UNC Asheville
used,” Daugherty said. “If we had
not moved to OnePort, Campus
Pipeline would have eventually
quit woriring with the underlying
software.”
ITS has plans to upgrade the
current version of OnePort, leav
ing many possibilities for the new
system to grow.
Future plans for the server
include a program where students
may determine the required
courses remaining in their major,
according to Daugherty.
“We hope that UNC Asheville
will find benefit by using many of
the features of our OnePort,”
Daugherty said. “The possibili
ties are all encouraging.”
Students said they have not
adjusted to the new server.
“It might be a little faster than
Pipeline was, but I haven’t gotten
to use it enough to know if it
works better,” said chemistry stu
dent Robyn Fender.