Tales of winter woes L
and wonders to come 1
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j
j Green applies for WCU position
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TheB
anner
Volume Xn, Number 3 Proudly serving the UNCA community since 1982. February 4, 1988
UNCA destined for new drug policy
By Sharon Joyce
Asst. News Editor
A new University of North Carolina system-
wide policy on illegal drug use will apply to
UNCA students and faculty alike, according to
Dr. Eric lovacchini, vice-chancellor for student
affairs
The UNC Board of Governors passed the policy
at their January meeting and designed it to be
modified to the specific needs of each of the 16
campuses in the system.
"We can change the policy, as long as we stay
within what they have passed," lovacchini said.
The basic requirements of the general drug
policy include a program of education, counseling
and rehabilitation for each campus, and a range
of minimum penalties for drug offenders.
The policy divides drug offenses into two cate
gories: trafficking and possession. There are
also two sections of illegal drugs: "hard drugs,”
including but not limited to, heroin, mescaline,
LSD, opium, cocaine, amphetamine and metha-
qualine, and "soft drugs," including but not limi
ted to, marijuana, pentobarbital, and codeine.
According to the general policy, the penalty
for traffic^g "hard drugs" will result in the
expulsion of students and the discharge of facul
ty or staff. Trafficking "soft drugs" involves a
minimum penalty of forfeiture of one semester of
academic credit for students and forfeiture of
eighteen weeks of pay for faculty and staff for
a first offense and expulsion or discharge for a
second offense.
Illegal possession of "hard drugs" results in a
loss of one semester of academic credit for stu
dents and eighteen weeks of pay for faculty and
staff members. In the case of illegal possession
According to the general policy,
the penalty for trafficking
"Hard drugs" will result in the
expulsion of students and the
discharge of faculty and staff.
of "soft drugs," the penalty is probation with the
time being determined on a case-by-case basis.
The policy also states that "a person on pro
bation must agree to participate in a drug edu
cation and counseling program, consent to regu
lar drug testing, and accept such other condi
tions and restrictions, including a program of
community service."
lovacchini, who says being coordinator of the
policy is "just part of my responsibilities as
vice-chancellor of student affairs," calls the po
licy itself, "workable."
Dr. Gene Rainey, secretary of the system-wide
Faculty Assembly and professor of political sci
ence, said that the Assembly has only two con
cerns with the policy as it now stands.
The first concern is that more emphasis should
be placed on education and rehabilitation rather
than on penalties. The Assembly also questions
when the policy actually takes effect. Their con
cern is that even if a person is innocent, he or
she can be suspended immediately — at the point
of offense, says Rainey.
The policy cannot be immediately enacted, how
ever. "Our goal is to have it reviewed and ap
proved by the Faculty Senate and Student Senate
and passed by the Board of Trustees meeting in
May," lovacchini says.
Enrollment
position
open again
By itnstin Wilte
Staff Writer
For the second time in less
than a year, UNCA is without
a vice-chancellor of enrollment
services.
Current administrator Kip
Howard announced his resigna
tion on Friday to take a posi
tion at Muskingum College in
Ohio. Howard was formerly
dean of enrollment at Muskin
gum for five years.
"Tin not leaving this position
for any negative reasons," said
Howard. Although originally
attracted to UNCA because of
the size and the location of
the university, Howard had
come to believe that a liberal
arts education was the best
possible learning experience,
but he found there were some
minor problems.
"It’s more regional than it is
a residential collegiate experi-
Please see HOWARD page 10
rf I %
Staff Photo—Sarah Gottfried
The Central American Resource Center recently gathered in City/County Plaza to protest
United States involvement in Nicaragua.
Rainey to run
for county seat
By Julie Bail
Editor
Dr. Gene Rainey, professor of
political science, recently an
nounced his candidacy for
chairman of the Buncombe
Board of County Commissioners.
On announcing his candidacy,
Rainey said. "We cannot be
content with the lack of pro
gress that this coimty h^ ex
perienced over the past several
years. We have drifted too long
without a vision of where we
are going. It is time for a
change."
Rainey said one of the major
issues of the campaign vrill be
a "professional way" to run the
county government.
"I’d like to see a county ma
nager, if we could find one
fi^om the local people, someone
who would know the area," said
Rainey.
A county manager would
make county government more
News In Brief
Hazardous chemical meeting
"The Community Right-to-Know-Act of 1986" concerning
hazardous chemicals is the topic of a Feb. 18 conference
sponsored by the Environmental Quality Institute at
UNCA.
The three-hour conference begins at 6:30 p.m. in
UNCA’s Owen Conference Center. A $10 donation is
requested.
The law enables citizens and public agencies to obtain
information about toxic diemicals used, stored or emitted
by industries in their communities.
The law requires the establishment of local and state
committees to inventory hazardous chemicals and to create
emergency response plans.
The conference — which is designed for community
organizations, emergency responders, interested citizens,
and industry — will review the law’s provisions and 1988
deadlines for compliance.
For more information, call UNCA’s Environmental
Quality Institute at 251-6441.
Weather
Friday: Partly cloudy, windy and cold. Morning lows in
the upper 20s, afternoon highs around 40.
Saturday; A chance of some snow. Windy and very cold.
Morning lows around 20, afternoon hi^s in the 20s.
Simday: A chance of some morning snow. Gradual
clearing by evening. Windy and cold. Morning lows 10-15
and afternoon highs in die 20s.
The UNCA Atmospheric Sciences department provides
this information to the campus community weekly in The
Banner. The 24-hour weatherline is also available at 251-
6435.
professional, Rainey added,
noting that Buncombe is one of
two counties in North Carolina
that do not have a coimty ma
nager. The North Carolina
Legislature did pass a law re
quiring the county to hire a
county manager, but a North
Carolina court struck down the
law, ruling the legislature could
not mandate a county manager
for Buncombe County.
Currently, Chairman of the
Board of County Commissioners
R. Curtis Ratcliff performs the
functions of chairman and
county manager. Rainey said a
professional county administra
tor would "take the administra
tion of the county out of poli
tics."
Rainey, a Democrat, previ
ously served for two terms on
Asheville City Council.
Rainey said he sees education
and economic development as
other issues that will be ad-
Please see RAINEY page 10
Adult student committee formed
By Joy Flafley
Staff Writer
All across America, the aver
age age of the college student
is inaeasing.
UNCA is no exception. With
approximately 39 percent of the
student population over the age
of 25, there is a growing need
for the university to examine
the needs of the "non-tradi-
tional" student, which might
have more problems to deal
with than those students who
begin college after high school.
As a result, Anita Rose, di
rector of adult and commuter
student services, and seven
others have formed a commit
tee that will discuss the unique
problems of the non-traditional
student.
Although the committee has
yet to develop a method for
the study. Rose said that she
and the other committee mem
bers must first explain the spe
cial needs of the non-tradi-
tional students to the various
administrative departments.
"Besides the obvious personal
barriers they have, non-tradi
tional students have institu
tional barriers that traditional
students do not have," Rose
said.
In particular. Rose said that
they run into the most pro
blems in the admissions office
and the financial aid office.
"It is hard to tell if a person
is admissable or not if they
haven’t taken the SAT or ff
they graduated from high
school five or 10 years earlier,"
Rose said.
"What w^ hope to do as a
committee is to nail down what
criteria we should look at when
these type of people seek ad
mission to UNCA."
The committee consists of six
staff members at UNCA: Fran
Jones, Joanne Garrett, Maggie
Weshner, Mike Stuart, Charles
James and Rose. In addition,
Cathie Thomas and Carol King,
students at UNCA, will be in
volved.
Rose made it clear that the
committee is not looking for
preferential treatment for the
non-traditional students but
rather wants to balance the
scales so that they will have
the same opportunity to gain
entrance to UNCA as those
students who have their aca
demic records in order.
Non-traditional students
often face problems in getting
financial aid, Rose said. Often
older students own homes,
which means they can’t get
money to go to school because
the state feels they can afford
to pay for an education.
Please see GROUP page 10
Award honors noteworthy teacher
By Julie ball
Editor
Almost all students have a
favorite teacher — a teacher
who helped them through a
difficult class or who made a
seemingly dull subject interes
ting or who was never too
busy to answer a question.
Tlianks to the Distinguished
Teaching Award, students at
UNCA have a chance to recog
nize those favorite teachers.
Students, alumni and faculty
can write letters nominating a
teacher who they feel deserves
the award.
A five member committee,
which includes two past recipi
ents of the award, makes the
selection based on the quality
of the letters received and the
achievements of students who
have had that particular tea
cher, according to Dr. Dexter
Squibb, professor of chemistry
and 1983 recipient of the
award.
"Sometimes, the committee
will go beyond the nomination
and seek out additional infor
mation about the nominee," said
Squibb. This includes talking to
alumni, other students who
have had the teacher and other
faculty.
Patience, humor and class
room presence are all important
to teaching, according to
Squibb.
"You have to put your wants
and desires for personal ad
vancement and research in se
cond place, and you put the
students’ needs in first place,"
said Squibb.
Another qualification of a
distinguished teacher is caring,
according to Dorothy Sulock,
lecturer in mathematics and
last year’s recipient of the
award.
"You have to care about stu
dents in a sound educational
Please see AWARD page 10