Newspapers / University of North Carolina … / April 19, 2007, edition 1 / Page 11
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Nation needs a third party Bv Emilv Pomeranz i ii_* By Emily Pomeranz PouncAL Science Student The 2008 presidential race is already heating up and not in a good way. Candidates and their supporters are hard at work, starting the mud- slinging a bit early this election cycle. The media attracts vulnera ble voters to the televisions, newspapers and internet by turn ing the race into a boxing itiatch. Party politics tosses out candi- jates who do not align themselves jirectly with party values, push- ng potential voters to vote itraight ticket without even look- ng at the issues. We need diversi- rcation of the election process, itarting out with a legitimate third jarty on the ballot. North Carolina has one of the jtrictest third-party laws of any itate in the nation. A party needs ilmost 70,000 signatures to get on he ballot. If a third party receives ess than 10 percent of votes for a iresident or gubernatorial race, he party is decertified and must tart over getting signatures again, ’eople on our campus have been Ivorking to get signatures for the [libertarian party because it has ^en decertified plenty of times hd prepares to hire professional petitioners to ensure it gets back on the ballot Third parties are beneficial because they attract citizens to the polls who usually have no interest in voting due to the fact that their views are not represented in the two-party system. Many N.C. leg islative candidates go uncontested because a third party does not exist on the ballot. If we claim to be a democracy, it does not often come across like that . Having a third party on the ballot will increase voter turnout and give citizens the ability to have all of their views represented. An active third party gives Republican or Democratic candi dates incentive to address issues they would not have otherwise looked at. Take the Green Party, for instance, who pushes environ mental issues and stresses the sig nificance of human impact on the environment. The support for the party has increase in the past four years, and now many candidates, mainly Democrats, are altering their platform to include issues such as global warming and sus tainability. The Republican Party played on the values of the Constitution Party of the United States, an ultra-conservative, mainly evan gelical Christian party that actual- Emily Pomeranz Political Science Student ly attracts a handful of voters. During the past two presidential elections, the Republican Party has gained the support of many evangelicals and other socially conservative leaders by adjusting their views. A third party brings issues to the mainstream that would not necessarily be there otherwise. The Libertarian Party is one of the more popular parties in the United States. In 2006, 53 percent of candidates running in the North Carolina Congressional races were unopposed. If a third party were allowed on the ballot, per haps a more competitive race would have occurred, bringing a wider variety of issues and inter ests. North Carolina seems to have the right atmosphere for a Libertarian party to flourish, con sidering it is one of the most pro gressive and liberal states in the South. Our current two-party system limits who is running and what is di.scussed during an election. The Democrats and Republicans have a mutual, monetary monopoly over elections, and the race in 2008 will be no different. A moderate candidate, such as Rudy Giuliani, who claims to be a republican, but clearly holds views outside the party, will not receive the nomination from his party because he is seen as too lib eral by party loyalists. So, even if he may represent the views and interests of many Americans, he will not be on the ballot because of party politics. Many voters may not go to the polls whatsoever because their beliefs and concerns are not repre sented by either of the two candi dates. A third party on the ballot is a step toward a real democracy. The Libertarians are working toward this goal. It will definitely be a long time before we see a third party elect a significant number of candidates. However, giving another party a legitimate chance to change poli cy is a step in the right direction. Administration needs to open up dialog with students By Trevor Worden I Staff Writer Our current administration is nder modifications. Under the sadership of our newly installed lhancellor Anne Ponder, UNC ^sheville has a multitude of new problems. (Continuing problems ate now worse than they were prior to the arrival of our new chancellor. In the next year, our administration I Jtill raise the cost to live in LArms on campus. Dorm pHce'S' ^ftuld increase by $500 or more. [■Convincing students to live on f^mpus is a huge problem for ^ ] pNC Asheville. Only a third of j all students live on campus, I 4:cording to the 2007 Student i Profile Survey. More students can find cheaper living arrange ments off campus, even if it Beans dealing with an inconven ient commute. (Affordable, comfortable and convenient living is what the campus should offer. Instead, our dbrms are out-of-date and over priced. It is obvious why so many students live off campus instead of dealing with less-than- djsirable conditions on campus. Now on-campus living will be more expensive? Perfect! In the past two semesters, tuition has increased $200 and is promised to increase even more next year. Is anyone receiving $200 more of an education? We are getting the same education we were last year, only now we Trevor Worden StafFWriter have to pay more for no apparent reason. We should at least know what is going on with our tuition prices, and that means it is the chancellor’s responsibility to explain all details. Once students enter an institu tion for a certain price, it is unfair to increase the cost of attending the university. School should remain affordable and available to those who return. This semester, students pro posed a new rock wall was pro posed for student life and promptly turned down. Ponder said school spirit is important for the student body, according to administration reports. We should support our athletic teams, and in doing so, build a new basketball court, according to Ponder. A third basketball court for the UNC Asheville campus was pro posed, and, when students rose to support the installation of a rock wall, administration turned their ideas down. A rock wall does not promote school spirit apparently, and student’s inter ests are ignored when it comes to Ponder’s agenda. Speaking of school spirit, many students and faculty showed up this semester to send the women’s basketball team off to the NCAA tournament. Guess who did not come to the game? Our very own school-spirited chancellor. If Ponder wants to generate a certain attitude among the student body, she must exem plify the attitude she wishes to see. The chancellor missed several integral events this year due to her supposedly busy schedule, but her job is to be active in the student body and to be aware of what is happening. Ponder has offered little to no assistance in the Student Government Association fiasco. Students floundered around for weeks seeking help on how to govern themselves. There was little help offered from the chan cellor. It appeared as though she simply did not care at all. The members of SGA are still striving to understand their own predicament, and most of UNC Asheville is tired of dealing with incompetent beaurocrats. The least Ponder could do is to offer some sort of guiding light. Restructuring proved to be yet another disappointing move by the chancellor. In an effort to consolidate and streamline UNC Asheville’s facilities. Ponder inadvertently dismissed 29-year employee Maggie Weishner from her position at the counsel ing center. If ever Ponder made a mistake, this was it. Students in need of Weishner’s counseling services raised a ruckus in an attempt to reinstate her. These poor students were attached to their counselor and became extremely distraught over her dismissal. Not only did students act on Weishner’s dismissal, but faculty began to grow anxious in fear they could be next. Dismissing a faculty member right before they receive tenure is a mistake. It seems our school has dealt with a lot of bologna that could have been avoided had the administration taken the proper actions. Now we simply have a disgruntled student body, an uneasy faculty and a discontent chancellor. It is time for the wrongs to be righted. Let the administration begin to take steps in the right direction, a direction in which our university will be able to grow in appeal and status. Let the students, faculty and administration all begin to face problems with the same knowl edge and understanding so things can actually get accom plished. It is time to evolve into a more efficient institution. Weekend Forecast The Big Day success shows effective student activism By Kristen Marshall News E»m* Never underestimate the deter mination of .student activists. When flyers started announcing April 14 as “The Big Day,” it was unclear just what the message was and just what this day would entail. All the students knew was UNC A.sheville’s chapter of the Student Global AIDS Campaign, one of the campus’s most well- known and active student organi zations, would co-host the event with the Hispanic Outreach for Learning and Awareness group. As The Big Day drew closer, weather conditions forced officials of the organizations to move all activities inside. Instead of having the Quad to spread out their rum mage and jewelry sales, games, bands and informational tables, they would have to cram them selves into the confines of the Highsmith Union. Here they were sure to draw considerably less attention. Because of word of mouth, the potential for amazing music and, especially, the active work of members of the involved student organizations, 1,000 people showed up during the course of the day. If there’s one thing people know about SGAC, it is that they certain ly know how to throw down and turn out attendance at their events, using good music, good food or a combination of both to draw in the crowds. Their purpose still stands strong behind the fun and games. All the money they raise at events goes toward the Amani Children’s Foundation, an organization in Kenya that provides shelter, healthcare and adoption opportuni ties for children orphaned by AIDS. They raised $2,(KX) at this event alone, which provides two children with food, water, health care and shelter for a year at the foundation. Small steps are still Kri.stcn Marshall News Editor steps forward, and with the unde niable success of The Big Day, SGAC and HOLA prove again that it is possible to have a well-attend ed event and still get people to care about the issues. With about 39.5 million pieople infected globally with HIV in 2006, according to UN AIDS, the issue .seems tot) big to fathom. But if it’s broken down, it becomes all the more real. HIV/AIDS is every- btxly’s problem, and students of the SGAC organization place the responsibility of this knowledge into the hands of their peers while akso taking it upon them.selves to try to change the world. The Big Day and its success are perfect examples of just what it means to be an active student on a college campus, fighting for a cau.se and winning over apathy. Saturday’s event should also be looked at as the mtxlel for how to organize, advertise for, and run an event. Not only did students show up, but members of the Asheville community came out as well, proving that you can never hang enough flyers around town. SGAC and HOLA proved that student organization events are not just about our campus, but about the community in which we live. Above all el.se, however, SGAC and HOLA proved Saturday that students don’t have to give up their entire worlds or paychecks to save a life or make a difference. They simply have to show up. Letter to the Editor Enjoyed reading “Students get it on” article in Bowers-Racine. It tends to be a Rebecca Taylor’s letter to the editor, “Sex article personally offends,” regarding Meredith Wagner-Hoehn’s article, “Students get it on, campus style” was well- written; however, every article does not need to thrive on the voice of an expert. It is essential sometimes to just allow students to be heard. For those who know him, Raj Bowers-Racine, junior sociology student quoted in the article, has some important things to say, as we all do. The risqu6 article evi dently pushed boundaries, but it was fun, and I enjoyed having my own boundaries pushed. An individual vehemently stand ing up for what he or she believes in always carries strength of char acter and integrity, which I admire common practice to put up bound aries separating us from others of different values, beliefs or prac tices, and it takes work and a con scious effort to refrain from being judgmental. It requires strength and disci pline to get over the “politician” in our minds. Refraining from being judgmen tal is a struggle that I face. I find, as I am judging, 1 am merely sewing with one hand while unstitching with the other. 1 wanted to judge Taylor because I thought, in her letter, she was judging the people that wrote the article, but then I realized then I would also be judging. Lia Mandelbaum Junior psychology student Thursday 64° ^-1/(1 Ifl Bain likely with isolated '/ / / thunderstorms. 60 pecent ^1^^ i chanee of rain. 40° ,7 /7 7 / /V '// I '' 1,11,1,1 , Rain early, then clearing North winds 5-10 mph. 60 percent chance of rain. Friday 65° Mostly sunny. 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University of North Carolina at Asheville Student Newspaper
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April 19, 2007, edition 1
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