Newspapers / University of North Carolina … / Oct. 19, 2006, edition 1 / Page 2
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
News 'Hie Blue Banner — Sening the University of North C'arolina at /Vshe\ille sinee 1982 North Korea tests bomb, provokes global reaction By Courtnay Metz SWf WWTCR North Korea’s announcement last week that it has successfully deto nated a nuclear device leaves many debating the direction the United States should take against this threat and pondering the overall effects North Korea’s nuclear test ing will have on our nation and the world. “We have basically no real rela tionship with, no real intelligence on and very little connection with the North Koreans,” said William Sabo, political science professor. “We are in no position really to put pressure and push, partly because two of our allies. South Korea and Japan, are so vulnerable.” North Korea announced it had a successful nuclear detonation last week, which was confirmed by U.S. officials Monday. North Korean officials said they will regard pressure on their gov ernment from the United States as an act of war. Many students said they wonder if North Korea poses any real threat to the United States at this time. “The realism theory is that no country that gets nuclear weapons is actually a threat,” said Jacob Tocman, freshman student. “It is really just a deterrent. There has never really been a war with nuclear weapons. That is why there was no real cold war with the Soviet Union. North Korea is get ting nuclear weapons because it just kind of wants to be on the level.” Many said they agree it is unlike ly for a nuclear attack against the United States to occur at this time because of North Korea’s limited technology. “A nuclear weapon is only part of the equation,” Sabo said. “What you need with it is a delivery sys tem. That was the testing of the missile a while ago. When you put the two together is when it becomes serious. But the question would be how many do they have and whether they are offensive or deter rent systems.” Sabo said that although there is a real threat to countries such as South Korea, Japan, Indonesia and China, the United States is unlikely to be a feasible target. “The limited striking distance of their delivery system is the key here,” Sabo said. “North Korea can’t hurt the United States. It can only hurt the allies of the United States.” Still, many said they believe the possibility of harm to the United States cannot be ignored. “I think North Korea’s dictator is the most dangerous man on the planet, and he is capable of more destruction and more general car nage with a nuclear weapon than anyone else,” said Samuel Powell, sophomore math and physics stu dent. “1 think North Korea is a seri ous threat and should be dealt with similarly to, if not exactly like, Iraq.” Sabo said even if North Korea poses no real threat, this situation will have a huge impact on upcom ing elections and in U.S. politics. “Right now, it is just there,” Sabo said. “It is just an event. What it is waiting on is the success of various jxtliticians to frame it one way or the other. The administration has a warning about the danger, but it is basically backing off and letting the United Nations take the lead on this. 1 don’t think that the adminis tration knows how to play it yet.” This can help either political party, according to Sabo. The Republicans can use it because they have traditionally been seen as the stronger party when it comes to issues of national defense, but the Democrats can claim that allowing North Korea to become a threat was a failure of the current administra tion. In response to the announcement, the United States, in cooperation with the United Nations, supported much stricter sanctions to control North Korea. “I find it interesting how all of the United Nations and the nations sur rounding North Korea are all coop erating to impose the sanctions that the United Nations put forth,” said Barrett Williams, sophomore stu dent. “That seems like an unusual occurrence for such cooperation. I think we have good chances of neu tralizing the conflict.” However, many students said they believe U.N. sanctions will not deter North Korea. “I think the United States is going to have to be really strong about getting the United Nations to come together and pose really harsh sanc tions,” said Mike Ackley, sopho more student. “This is because North Korea already has the sanc tions, and they aren’t going to work. They obviously haven’t worked in the past.” Powell said he maintains the United Nation’s power is declining and they will not be able to make any real progress with its sanctions. “I think that the United Nations is slowly becoming a useless entity and more of a figurehead instead of what it was designed to do,” Powell said. “I think that the sanctions are more empty threats and public rela tions, and I feel that China’s and Russia’s involvement is only going to cause us more damage. It needs to be dealt with militantly.” However, China may be the most effective way to deter North Korea, according to Sabo. “I think that the real critical pres sure will come from China,” Sabo said. “I think that they are the key player here. The degree to which the Chinese put pressure on the North Koreans to change and adjust is important because North Korea is more dependent on China than any other country. Given the nature of that regime, I can’t see it backing down to U.N. sanctions.” Contributed by mapresources.com North Korea successfully detonated a nuclear bomb last week. Students and faculty question the gravity of this on the world and, specifically, the United States. North Korea, many miles away, does not pose an immediate threat to our nation, but could have an effect on U.S. allies South Korea and Japan. Homeless CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1, with HIV, according to Capland. More apartments are currently being built, according to Capland. “We’ve got another 15 units com ing online very soon in the Griffin apartments, all for chronically homeless people,” Capland said. In addition to 12 units provided by the WNCCHS Shelter Plus Care program, this is the extent of the Housing First activity since the implementation of the plan. However, the number of chroni cally homeless individuals in Asheville has dropped dramatical ly. Currently, there are approxi mately 480 temporarily homeless individuals and 130 chronically homeless, down from April 2004 statistics showing 689 temporary homeless and approximately 290 chronic homeless, according to the 10-year plan. “When the people who work with the homeless heard about the Housing First project, it was immediately greeted with a posi tive reaction,” Capland said. “There started to be much more empathy in finding housing for 66- 99 One thing good about this town is you won't go hungry. Jeff Dfliefde member of homeless network chronically homeless people.” Despite this success, the 10-year plan is not inherently without flaws. The nature of the plan specifies that Housing First apartments are given at a first-come-first-serve pol icy. There is no priority given to individuals who are more responsi ble and seemingly deserve aid more. This is a serious source of dis content for Deliefde and Debenedictis who await the birth of their first child in May, accord ing to Deliefde. “I thought at first, when we found out that she was pregnant, it would actually move us along a little bit,” Deliefde said. “You’d think that a pregnant homeless woman and a homeless crackhead would make us first in line. But it’s kind of weird. I’ve seen a lot of people get their check, go pay the rent and then go smoke the rest of it up.” Social workers at AHOPE, Asheville emergency shelter and aid to the homeless, which works directly with formerly homeless residents now living in the Woodfin Apartments, hopes that the new apartments will help their clients recover, according to Gary Covach,-AHOPE director.' “The individuals at the Woodfin Apartments will be receiving case management and whatever help i6 99 The individuals at the Woodfin Apartments will receive mental health aid so they can make a recovery. G/\ry Covach AHOPE director they need, including mental health aid so they can make a recovery,” said Covach. Ultimately, the biggest problem that the 10-year plan faces in Asheville is not the Housing First policy, but the inadequacies of facilities for mental health and drug and alcohol detoxification in Buncombe County. “The greatest threat to the chron ically disenfranchised is the major breakdown in the effectiveness of programs for mental health, and that is a state-driven responsibili ty,” Jackson said. New Vistas, a non-profit health care provider, which serves 10,500 individuals in eight counties in Western North Carolina and pro vides mental help to the homeless, will close on Oct. 31 with nearly $1.5 million in debt because of insufficient funding. “It is very difficult to get into a detox unit and the mental health system because of (recent prob lems concerning) New Vista," Capland said. “We’ve introduced this in a period in which, frankly, our mental health services have been in extreme disarray. We have; a very serious situation.” Currently there are only three detoxification centers in Asheville that treat people relying oil Medicaid payment rather than per sonal insurance. The Asheville VA H Medical Center also treats home less veterans. Ultimately, the most notable aid to the homeless comes from inde-! pendent agencies. “One thing I’ve found that’s good in this town about being homeless is you won’t go hungry," Deliefde said. “People take care of you here as far as agencies. Yoii get fed at least twice a day for free.”
University of North Carolina at Asheville Student Newspaper
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Oct. 19, 2006, edition 1
2
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75