Departments declare fall test plans By Ramona Huggins Senior comprehensive examinations begin next week at UNCA, giving graduating seniors the opportunity to demon strate the knowledge gained and skills devel oped during their col lege experience. Underclassmen, also eager to display their expertise, need not dis- pair for lack of a chance however, for UNCA will have a final exam ination week this year, Dec. 12 to 16. Not all departments are giving seniors comps, but all say they are planning to give finals, most of which will cover aU material studied (or at least assigned!) during this fall semester. Dr. Laurence Dorr, UNCA vice-chancellor for student affairs, said there is no written uni versity policy regarding final exams. "Everyone is not re quired to give a final exam, but such exams provide a good feedback system," said Dorr. Dorr also said depart ments are not required to give senior comps. "Not ail departments give comprehensive exams because there are better ways, or differ ent methods, of testing students," he said. Dorr explained that some departments have graduating seniors do a broad research paper while other departments require the students to Continued on page 8 Serving The Students Of The University of North Carolina at Asheville sinoe 1982 Volume 3, Number 13 Thursday, November 17, 1983 Road blocks blocked: Sgt. Geter Wiles of the Traffic Safety Division of the N.C. Highway Pa trol, told UNCA students that his state commander ordered all patrolmen under his jurisdiction to not use road blocks to check passing cars for drunk drivers even though the law permits them. Speaking in the Highrise dorm conference room last Thursday, Wiles said that N.C. now has "the toughest drunk driving laws in the United States." He also told students: .to "never refuse to take a breathalyzer test or your license wiU be taken away for 12 months by the Department of Motor Vehicles. .to not ask for a blood alcohol test "unless you are absolutely sure you are not legally drunk." Even though it is more accurate than a breathalyzer test, the blood alcohol test is not paid fox by the state and costs the taker $22. .to not think beer is safer than mixed drinks. He said "a 12 ounce can of beer has more alcohol content (one-and-a-half ounces) than a mixed drink at a bar (one ounce)." Photo by David LaPour Writer Wicker advises rewarding honesty By Alan Riddle The neo-conservative attitude is that to decrease crime in the U.S.,the cost of crime must be increased. "1 say we turn that proposition on its head: increase instead the reward to the per son not committing a crime!" said Tom Wick er , newspaper colum nist, associate editor of the New York Times and former reporter for the Wnston-Salem Jour nal. Wicker is author of A 1 Time to Die, a personal account of negotiations with the 1971 Attica prison rebels, which reflects his concern with crime and prisons. He spoke at a recent "Justice and the Com munity" conference of the Western Carolinians for Criminal Justice held at the Central United Methodist Church in Asheville. " Ten U .S. males died by violence in 1977 for every one Swede, Ger man, Austrian or Japan ese male who died by violence," said Wicker. Wicker blamed televi sion in part for this statistic. "The contrast between poverty and affluence is greater in America, and TV bears witness to it," he said. Wicker said people who commit crimes are people with low self esteem. "Jobs are fundamental to self-respect," he said, adding that a return to a full-em ployment economy would restore general self esteem and thus reduce crime. Prison populations have risen 60 percent over the last 10 years, said Wicker. He said much of the increase is due to man datory sentencing; to criticism of due pro cess as a "technical ity :" and to longer sentences enacted in an epidemic of fear." "Americans have a greater problem with the fear of crime than they do with crime," said Wicker. In A Time to Die Wicker blames news papers for creating a lot of this fear with out posing any solu tions. In the same book he says that there is an "unadmitted class war" going on in America, which likes to think of itself as a "classless society," but isn't. He says "one third of all children born in 1981 will live in pov erty before they are 18," and he calls this poverty a major cause of American crime. Wicker was asked about his opinion of present prison poli cies . "Nobody wants another Attica," he said. (The 1971 Attica prison revolt in New York re sulted in the death of dozens of prison guards and rebellious in mates.) He said prison life today is basically no different than it was in 1971, "but some of our iiuiiatives to have Continued on j)age 8 Weather Partly cloudy for today and Friday. Rain Saturday and Sunday. Highs in the 40's to 50's and lows in the 20's. Forecast courtesy of tlie Atmospheric Science Program. INSIDE E Jitorial.............2 I eatures 3 Sports 4 8 5 Entertainment....6 8 7

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