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UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA ASHEVILLE Blue Banner Arts, Etc Bonnaroo draws thousands for good times and good music, see page 9 Sports Intramurals gear up for a new season, see page 4. .rf-.. * •' '\k - . THUR. 86 61 FRI. 81 64 SAT. 81 65 SUN. 82 61 Thursday, August 30, 2007 www.unca.edu/banner Vol. 47, Issue THE IN ]^WEF Goombay Festival showcases African culture LIFESTYLES By Aaron Dahlstrom Assistant News Editoi Asheville plans French Broad cleanup Progress Energy plans to donate land around the French Broad River to the city of Asheville, allowing for the city to move in and maintain the land, a task formcTly left in the hands of private citizens. Legal ownership of more than three acres transfers later this week, according to officials. Environmental laws force Progress Energy to perform cleanup of the site before the shift takes place. University praised as a ‘best buy’ For the 14th consecutive year, “The Fiske Guide to Colleges” named UNC Asheville as a best buy among universities. According to the report, the school’s academics, small class sizes, dedicated professors and residential life make it one of Vcfi top universities for its size and relative cost. UNC Asheville, along with UNC Chapel Hill, comprise the short list of two public universities in North Carolina named as best buys. Gallery honors students, recent graduates An art exhibit featuring the works of UNC Asheville stu dents and recent graduates takes place in the gallery of Highsmith University Union. The artwork features drawing, painting, sculpture, ceramics, mixed media and photography. The event runs through Sept. 8. Ex-astronaut pleas insanity in love triangle Attorneys for Lisa Nowak, former NASA astronaut on trial for allegedly stalking Air Force Captain Colleen Shipman in Febmary, plan to use an insanity defense to keep their client out of jail. Her mental health diag noses includes obsessive-com pulsive disorder and depression, according^to court papers. SPORTS By Courtney Willis Staff W riter African dancers clad in vibrant colors danced to the rhythm of African drums down the streets of downtown Asheville. Vendors yelled out prices of carvings, fabrics and jewelry, and the aroma of fried fish, BBQ and funnel cake dominated the air. The Young Man Institute Cultural Center presented the annual Goombay Festival in downtown Asheville last week end. “Goombay gives Asheville an opportunity to celebrate different cultures and allows the communi ty to see how the African and Caribbean cultures have been woven into American fabric,” said Harry Herrison, executive director of YMl Cultural Center. People of all races come togeth er in the streets of Asheville to lis ten to live music ranging from gospel and R&B to jazz and reg gae. Participants go to watch drummers and dancers, enjoy beautiful, unique crafts and to cat food inspired by African and Caribbean culture. The worldwide centuries-old Goombay celebration originated in Bermuda during the days of slavery. The word Goombay translates to rhythm, according to the YMl Cultural Center, “Seeing the real African drum mers dressed up and dancing down the street was exciting and fun," said Lindsay Mosley, 22, Asheville resident. "1 was Housing: No Vacancy Trey Bouvier - Stafe Photcxirapher Residents Andrew Kirk, sophomore, Luke Newbold, junior, Adam Edwards, Jake Francis and Kipling Gillespie, freshmen, sit in their con verted lounge room in Mills Hall with Summit Leaders Brittny Pritchard and Abby Rayfield, sophomores. While these spaces are temporary, many residents said they would not mind staying in the larger rooms, like this one or the bottom floor lounges m Governors Village. Admissions overflow forces Residential Education to improvise . " .• .1 1 I 11.1 l-WYy-l '714 By Betty Longhaven Staff W riter The demand for on-campus housing swelled this year, leaving new students in temporary spaces they feared would be little more than renovated closets. “When I first heard about temporary hous ing, I thought I was going to live in like a mod ular room or something that would be pretty thrown together, but this seems pretty nice,” said Jake Francis, freshman student and one of five new students living in what was once the third floor lounge area for Mills Hall. The university converted lounges anU single rooms into temporary housing units that, in some instances, currently house as many as five students. Also, many residential assistants (RAs) took on roommates, a characteristic set ting UNC Asheville apart from other universi ties. “At some schools, if the RA was going to get a roommate, the RA would be really hostile or upset,” said Jackie McHargue, dean of stu dents. “Our RAs were really welcoming. Part of what it means to be an RA is to be welcom ing to students.” Francis and his roommates help comprise a group of roughly 700 new residential students living on campus this year, according to Vollie Barnwell, director of housing operations. “That number is up from last year by proba bly about 60 to 80 students,” Barnwell said. “We originally had 85 students in temporary housing, but with cancellations and things like that, 1 believe we actually had 65-70 students in temporary housing. By the time move-in day got here, we didn’t have anybody that did n’t have housing, which we were very happy about.” With so many new students, finding places to put them created a challenge for the univer sity, according to Barnwell. “Our goal was to impact as few students as possible. So we didn’t want to give every stu dent in Founders an extra person in their room,” he said. “Yeah, that would have solved the problem, but then you are impacting every student that lives over there.” The larger the overage, the more time the process requires, according to Barnwell. see Housing page 2 ^ New coach plans to go the distance jl II I* ur iMu «. *Oksana Kukharets - Staff Photographer Jesse Norman, UNC Asheville’s new head track and field coach, observes his team last week on the track. Norman, 26, joined the stait this summer after assistant coaching for several years at Western •t By Meagan Rawls Staff W riter This year Jesse Norman will take over as head track and field coach at UNC Asheville. “Since we hired him, he has hit the ground running,” said Janet Cone, UNC Asheville Athletics director. “So far, his boss is very pleased.” Norman, 26, joined the UNC Asheville athletic staff this sum mer after several years as the assis tant track and field coach at Western Carolina University. After coaching for a year at Robbinsville High School, he took time off to attend graduate school. “I didn’t really want to be a col lege coach or a track coach until I started teaching at Robbinsville,” Norman said. “During that whole process I decided I wanted to be a college coach.” While growing up he participat ed in track and field, which sparked his interest in coaching. Norman said he has several pri orities as the new head coach. “The biggest thing is I just want it to be like a family atmosphere, for people to be dedicated to help ing the team,” he said. Another focus will be new recruits. Norman said he hopes for more students to join track and field, aiming for a total of 60 ath letes over the next few years. see Coach page see Goombay page 6 I Campus preps for changes in health care “We’re going to try to be one of the biggest teams on campus,” he said. This year provides a harder training schedule for the athletes, meeting most everyday and run ning twice a week according to Norman. “They’ll be better than they were last year,” he said. The men’s and women’s cross country teams are scheduled for six meets this season. For the first time UNC Asheville will host this year’s Big South Conference meet for cross country. According to Norman, By Jon Walczak Staff W run. UNC Asheville students face changes in the campus health system, including the combina tion of the Student Health Center and Counseling Center and the possibility of mandatory health insurance for all students. “It is really about more advanced communication tak-' ing place amongst providers,”' said Calvin Kelly, assistant vice, chancellor for student affairs. The changes administration implemented include adding more medications to the on- campus pharmacy, ensuring any student who seeks counseling can meet with a counselor on the same day and increased cooperation between staff mem bers. The administration hired a new drug and sub.stance abuse counselor, and is currently look ing to fill the positions of both a multicultural counselor and a permanent director for the Student Health and Counseling Center. “We have diverse needs, and we wanted to be proactive in terms of being able to addresS those needs,” Kelly said. While many students believe, the changes implemented are a start, some would like adminis-' tration go even further to' improve the campus health sys tem, according to Carrie Jordan, senior history student. “It’s ridiculous that the uni versity is spending money on colored and flavored condoms when they should be providing for basic necessities, such as free ice packs and a wider vari ety of basic antibiotics,” Jordan said. Admini'tration will also con sider mai;da1ory health insur ance with a hard waver. Under the proposed plan, students tak ing 12 or more credit hours must declare whether or not they have health insurance at the beginning of the year. Those who do not have insurance must purchase it through Pearce & Pearce, Inc., a company based' out of South Carolina. The, annual cost, ranging from $550^' to $625, would be added to each uninsured student’s bill. “There has been a big push over the years with rising health care costs to make sure all stu dents are covered,” said Dr. Eric Pyeritz, campus physician. The policy is already in place at almost every public universi ty in North Carolina except UNC Asheville, UNC Chapel Hill, North Carolina State University and Appalachian State University. While administration has not undertaken an official study to determine exactly how many UNC Asheville students are uninsured, campus health offi cials have a general idea of the see Health page 2 I i:
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