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Clarke, Democrats sweep elections
James McClure Clarke (D)
James McClure Clarke won the
close race for the 11th district con
gressional seat. The race was “too
close to call” throughout the night
because neither candidate held a
comfortable leading margin. The
final tally showed Clarke having
22,939 votes and Hendon trailing
with 21,598 votes.
In Buncombe County in the state
legislation races the Democrats
dominated the elections. All the in
cumbent North Carolina state
representatives maintained their
seats. Democrats Marie Colton, Gor
don Greenwood and Jim Crawford
swept the polls.
Sheriff Tom Morrissey (D) sound
ly defeated republican hopeful, Ken
Durham in the race for Buncombe
County Sheriff. J. Ray Elingburg
(D) won the race for Buncombe
County Clerk of Court defeating
Betty Budd (R) by a wide margin.
The consolidation issue was
defeated outside the city by a vote of
20,883 to 12,642. The issue passed
inside the city of Asheville, but did
not pass outside the city. The bill
had to pass both in the city and in
the county and surrounding
municipalities before consolidation
could occur.
In the national tallies the
Democrats won control of the house
by 24 seats. The Democrats now
have 265 seats to the Republican
166 seats. This will cause the House
to be slightly more liberal. Experts
are predicting a tough time for the
President in the ramaining years of
his administration. The Senate re
mains having a Republican majority
with 54 seats. The Democrats have
46 seats in the Senate.
serving the students of the University of North Carolina at Asheville
Volume 1, Number 9
Thursday, November 4, 1982
Questionable construction?
By Jonathan Austin
Buncombe Construction Com
pany began repairs on UNCA’s stu
dent center Monday, just four
months after completion of the $5
million project.
Workers for Buncombe Construc
tion, the general contractor for the
structure, began to remove portions
of the student center’s concrete
walkway after numerous complaints
from UNCA officials.
According to Sam Millar, UNCA’s
plant engineer, “He [the contractor]
has not done his concrete levels
properly, so you have low spots
where water would just lie and pud
dle. It was a hazard,” Millar said,
“and in the winter, when it freezes,
it would have been a real concern.”
Dr. Erik lovacchini, vice-
chancellor of student affairs, com
mented on the situation, saying,
“They |the contractor] thought the
work was alright. We didn’t ”
The school’s major complaint was
that the concrete slabs at the front
doors of the student center did not
slope enough to allow water
drainage.
“This is a correction,” said Millar,
“of something that has been
discussed for three or four months.
This has bee^an ongoing thing.”
Millar said; “If we hadn’t gotten
the job done now, we would have
been stuck with it for the life of the
building.”
“We don’t have to pay for it;
that's part of the construction,”
Millar said. He added, “The
Chancellor has withheld some funds
from their payment until they [the
contractor] get the work done.”
Ben Treece, president of Bun
combe Construction doesn’t com
pletely agree with Millar.
Concerning the payment with-
Student center requires repairs
holding, which totalled $10,000,
Treece said, “I think that’s a strong
arm tactic and they didn’t need to
do that.” He continued, “It’s just a
matter of lack of faith on their
part.”
Treece doesn’t believe that the
work was done incorrectly. He
agrees that there should have been
more slope to the concrete, and that
there should have been a drain in
stalled. But he was quick to defend
the way his company did the work.
“Sure there should have been a
drain in the sidewalk, but it wasn’t
in the blueprints!” he said. “We
took steps to solve the problem. We
sandblasted the area, trying to
smooth it so the water would run off.
We even sawed little joints through
the concrete to let the puddles
drain,” he said.
“I agree,” Treece continued, “that
the slabs would not drain properly.
But in my opinion, the digging
didn’t need to be done.”
Possible ice formations in the
winter were the major reasons to in
stall a drain.
The installation, though, was a
definite distraction to the students.
One student, when asked about the
work, replied, “I don’t mind the
short detour that much, but I do
mind the noise.”
The noise of the work was loud,
due to the use of a jackhammer to
remove the concrete. The thickness
of the concrete, along with the
presence of steel reinforcing rods in
the walkway, caused the work to
last more than five hours Monday.
When asked why the work wasn’t
done earlier in the year, before
school, Treece replied, “Well, the
building ws just barely completed
continued on page 8
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Work began Monday on reconstruction of the sidewalk in front of the new
student center. The student center was completed only four months ago.