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i ! I UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA ASHEVILLE Blue Banner compiled by Sandy LaCorte and Gina Doutfial Travelogue Junior spends a semester in Scotland, Men's Soccer See the Bulldogs play Clemson on Tuesday at home, / V / see page 10. see page 4. / . ■/ _ r / // / ! , 'i ’ ‘r''i / THUR. HO 58 FRI. 78 00 SAT. 78 01 SUN. 77 01 Thursday, October 4, 2007 WWW.unca.edu / banner THE NEWS IN BMEF Sigma Nu steps up Local chairman announces Republican Congress run UMC Asheville’s active fraternity to participate in rape prevention program By Courtney Metz Staff Writer The Henderson County Republican Party chairman Spence Campbell announced his candida cy for the 11th Congressional District, a seat currently held by Rep. Heath Shuler. Campbell, 63, is a retired Army colonel and Vietnam War vet who ran a local insurance and real estate office from 1997 to 2004. He accuses Shuler with being too aliened with the liberals on Capitol Hill. Also seeking the Republican nomination is Asheville City Council member Carl Mumpower, who announced his candidacy last week. House proposes to finance war with increased income tax House Democrats proposed Tuesday an increased income tax to finance the Iraq war. The plans supporters. Reps. David Obe, John Murtha and Jim McGovern, acknowledge the plan is unlikely to pass since it lacks support from top Democrats. The plan proposes a 2 percent increase in income tax for lower and middle class taxpayers, while wealthier individuals receive a 12 to 15 percent increase. Michael Vick plays nice in abuse classes Suspended Atlanta Falcon’s Quarterback Michael Vick attend ed an eight-hour animal cruelty class on Sept. 16, where People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals spokespeople spoke positively of his participation and progress. Vick, who pled guilty to federal charges related to dogfighting on his property, is scheduled for sen tencing on Dec. 10. - compiled by Aaron Dahlstrom Sigma Nu. the only active men’s fraternity on campus, has agreed to participate in a six- week rape prevention program this semester in corroboration with Our VOICE, the sexual abuse help agency for both Madison and Buncombe counties. “We’re learning some interesting and dis turbing stuff,” said Dietrich Rolfe, sopho more commander of Sigma Nu. “The classes are real. They are enjoyable. They’re intelli gent. They’re entertaining. There’s a lot of information to be gained off of these classes.” Students Together Against Rape will work with members of Sigma Nu to break down gender stereotypes, according to Elaine Dutton, the rape prevention coordinator for Our VOICE and coordinator for STAR. They will also talk about masculinity issues, homo phobia, sexual assault and intervention. “It’s really exciting,” Dutton said. “It’s going really well. The guys are responding really well. They’re a great group of guys. I really like them a lot.” Dutton already conducted two sessions, which received positive feedback from the members of Sigma Nu, according to Rolfe. “It’s really interesting because we’re look ing at stereotypes in society,” Rolfe said. “What the ideal guy is, what society thinks the ideal man is, the ideal female and how these stereotypes mislead people and can lead to bad overall impressions.” Dutton will meet at least once a week with Sigma Nu for the next six weeks for hour and a half sessions, according to Dutton. “With prevention, the goal is to work with one particular group over a longer period of time and really break down all the gender stereotypes and talk about as many topics as we can that connect to sexual assault, because there is so much,” Dutton said. Our VOICE received a federal grant con sisting of state funds and money from the Center for Disease Control to begin the pro gram, according to Dutton. Then they con tacted Sigma Nu to see if they wanted to be involved. “I think we’re lucky to have this particular group of men, and I think we’re lucky that they want to take this on,” said Linda Pyeritz, staff nurse and Wellness Outreach co-coordi nator of the program. “I’m very happy I’m allowed to be involved in this.” One in four females will be sexually assaulted on a college campus and one in five have already been sexually assaulted in their lives, according to information Our VOICE provided Sigma Nu. “We’re just really pushing awareness,” Rolfe said. “We’re going to be organizing programs later on.” Sigma Nu would also like to change some of the stereotypes surrounding fraternities, according to Rolfe. “We’re trying to approach the community and gain some respect for what we actually n • ikM* tM « HFC f ; «HKM *v« uthSO Phnnie Leas - Photxikai'HY [iditor Dietrich Rolfe, sophomore commander of Sigma Nu, hangs a poster sponsored hy the six- week rape prevention program his fraternity is participating in with Our VOICE, the sexual abuse help agency for Madison and Buncombe Counties. Fraternity members said they hoped their participation in the program would break down stereotypes and educate people. are as Sigma Nu,” Rolfe said. “Our three fundamental ideals are love, truth and honor. So, we’re not a frat, so to speak, so much as we are a brotherhood, and we’re trying to get that out there along with all the information that we are providing people about the new Our VOICE program.” Sigma Nu hopes to conduct programs in the future to share what they are learning, according to Rolfe. They are looking into conducting self-defense classes for women where the Sigma Nu members can serve as the “dummies” and possibly participate in a 5k run benefiting Our VOICE. “I really see a wonderful group of men in there,” Pyeritz said, “I think they’ve got some high standards. I think they’ve got some ideals in their lives that are well direct ed and I think they want to be an example. So, I think that’s why it’s good for Sigma Nu to be doing this. I think they can be impres sive enough to make an impact.” With very little extra training, the Sigma Nu members could become peer educators, according to Pyeritz. “It wouldn’t take much more,” Pyeritz said. “They can then take it out into our campus community and be representative of this par ticular topic.” If they became peer educators, the fraterni- SF'E Sigma Nu pac;e 2 SPORTS Season cut short for some players after scuffle By Devon Dow Sports Editor After a fight during a flag foot ball game on Sept. 24, Campus Recreation banned the McLovins’ and Sigma Nu flag football teams from intramurals for the remain der of the season. “Sigma Nu actually jumped me for talking trash, and I got pun ished along with them. How does this happen? I didn’t even throw a punch. I was completely shocked they would do this,” said Joe May, sophomore tennis player and member of McLovins’. “I think since it was the first time some thing like this happened in intra murals in a while they are trying to make an example out of us.” May and his team. The McLovins’, were holding on to a strong 14-0 lead at the half. After the half, the fight broke out in the third quarter, according to Sigma Nu captain Justin Newhart. “Joe started talking trash to me in the third quarter, and I lost it,” Newhart said. Justin Newhart Sophomore Joe Mav Sophomore Evan F(X)te-I ludson Sophomore- After several profane comments from May, Newhart wrestled him to the ground. Sophomore Sigma Nu player Evan Foote-Hudson and several Sigma Nu members ran to assist their teammate in the scuffle, surrounding May. Members from the McLovins’ ran out on the field to restore order. They threw no punches, accord ing to Newhart. “It was crazy for all of those guys to clear the bench and come after me,” May said. a It was crazy for all of those guys to clear the bench and come after me. Joe May Sophomore May received no serious injuries after the fight, which he said surprised him. “There was no blood, no bruis es, I wasn’t hurt at all. Fortunately for me and for them, I wasn’t hurt,” May said. Officials suspended May twice from intramurals. In his freshman year he was suspended for the sea.son after an altercation during the flag football season. His sus pension has not affected his stand ing on the men’s tennis team. “After knowing May’s past in intramurals and how he likes to run off at the mouth, he can only get away with so much,” said Foote-Hudson, a member of Sigma Nu. “A person can only take so much, too.” John Bucher, Director of Campus Recreation and the Highsmith University Union met with the referees and the individu als involved in the assault to determine a resolution. “There were a few important factors contributing to my deci sion to remove both teams,” Bucher said. “First, while there were a few players who were more involved than others, sever al members of each team partici pated in some form. Second, flag football is a team sport and teams are responsible for the behavior of their members. Third, intramural sports, while a competitive outlet for some, are intended to be fun. All students, regardless of skill level and degree of competitive ness should feel comfortable and safe when playing intramural SEE Intramurals pace 5 \bl. 47, l.ssiK- () Test prep courses offered, spurs debate By Clary IVilfurd Siam Wrihr Although some believe stan dardized tests like the SATs, GREs and LSATs are biased, many believe preparatory courses, like the ones open for registration now through UNC Asheville’s Professional Education Program, give disadvantaged students a chance to do better. “As Lanie Guinier at Harvard Law School has pointed out, the LSAT has nearly a 100 percent correlation with parents’ income,” said Mark Gibney, political sci ence professor. “She suggested, half in jest, 1 suppose, applicants should merely submit their tamily income and do away with the LSAT altogether. I would agree with this sentiment.” UNC Asheville offers competi tive rates with many of the prep courses running around $300, according to Nancy Williams, coordinator of prolessional educa tion programs. This may help stu dents who could not afford to take the classes at other locations. “Our goal is to offer an alterna tive to the high-priecd test prep programs which, in most cases, do help a student’s performance,” Williams said. Many criticize standardized tests for their inability to take the whole person into consideration. Others believe the tests are cultur ally biased. “Obviously, it eliminates all the subjectivity when you do a stan dardized test but you run into problems, or I’ve heard studies about things where the tests tend to be biased toward certain groups,” said Adam Schenck, sen ior economics student. Others believe the tests fail to measure what students know rather focusing solely on their test-taking skills. “Standardized testing as a whole, to me, doesn’t really ade quately obtain and demonstrate the knowledge you know. A lot of it has to do with knowing how to take the test,” said Sarah Boyette, a junior management student. Boyette believes test anxiety could also alter results. However, many students might be surprised to know how accom modating test administrators can be. Especially for students who have disabilities such as Attention Deficit Disorder, according to Katherine Meiburg Whatley, interim vice chancellor for aca demic affairs. “Students can apply for longer testing periods and isolated test ing sites so they don’t have to sit in the room with other people,» she said. Still, many test takers see stan dardized tests as a money-making industry. “You get the feeling right away this is just a really good business for somebody,” said Lule Rosenbaum-Bodie, a lecturer in the Spanish department. Although Rosenbaum-Bodie is a native Spanish speaker, she encountered few language barriers when she took the GRE. Chris deBeer, Western Carolina University social work student, also took the GRE to get into graduate school. “I think it did an okay job at testing vocabulary, but it’s kind of hard to know how well it tests essays.” “It’s hard to know what the rubric is and how they score those things. It’s not a very open sys- SF.E Testing page i\
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