The BanuCT
Volume XIV, Number 5
Proudly serving the UNCA community since 1982
February 23, 1989
Report questions
firearm policy
by Michael Gouge
Assistant News Editor
Officer Dennis Gregory
recently told The Banner, "I
feel the firearms issue is
dead." Gregory said UNCA
has no need for changing
the current firearms policy
prohibiting security officers
from (arrying guns on the day
shift, [n his view this polic)'
"is nc t an issue."
But many others, including
the Student Government
Association (SGA), feel
differently. "In order for our
security force to be effective,
we need to allow them a way
to defend themselves and
others," said the SGA in a
letter to Chancellor David
Brown.
In 1985, Robert E. Cansler
of the N.C. Attorney
General’s office offered his
personal views of UNCA’s
security force. Many of the
suggestions in his 44-page
report were acted upon, but
one that was not acted upon
was his position on the
firearms policy.
Cansler said in his report,
"This writer is well aware that
carrying of weapons by
campus officers was a topic
of extreme controversy during
the late sixties and early
seventies. This writer was
unaware of any controversy
of this type in existence
today. To the best of this
writer’s knowledge, UNC-
Asheville is the only
constituent institution of the
UNC system at which this
topic remains an issue."
Several area universities
were questioned about their
firearm policy. When asked
if A-B Tech has such a
firearm policy, Bruce Clyne,
director of security,
responded, "Absolutely not!"
Clyne added, "Our security
staff are armed 24 hours-a-
day. We are just like UNCA;
we have a public road
running though campus."
Clyne also said, "Being in the
city of Asheville, we are in a
high crime area."
Clyne said, "For the safety
of the officer and his duty to
protect the people on your
campus, firearms are
necessary equipment." Clyne
said possible criminal targets
such as the bookstore or
business office, open only
during the day shift, require
police protection.
According to a uniform
crime report of AsheviUe and
Buncombe County, Qyne said
the statistics indicate "a 42
percent increase in breaking
and entering" plus other
significant increases in
larceny and assault.
A-B Tech is not. the only
school that has a different
firearm policy than UNCA’s
firearm policy. Bill McClure,
assistant director of public
safety at Western Carolina
University, said, "We don’t
see FIREARM, page 12
National paper
recognizes UNCA
by Vicki McCoy
Staff Writer
UNCA received national
attention in a recent article
in USA Today. The article
focused on students who were
accepted by Ivy League
schools but chose to attend
smaller universities instead.
Michelle Zacks, a UNCA
student who was accepted by
Yale University, was one of
the students interviewed by
USA Today. According to the
article, Zacks said she did not
want Ivy League "elitism."
The article also said UNCA
had the third largest increase
of applications among smaller
universities for the 1988
school year.
John White, director of
admissions for UNCA, agrees
with the information in USA
Today. "Our applications are
up 20 and 30 percent ahead
of last year," White said.
White said there are several
reasons why UNCA is
increasing in popularity. "Size
and cost are major
considerations," White said.
' "At UNCA, we are small. We
can be more personal."
White also emphasized cost
as a contributing factor in
choosing UNCA. "It costs an
out-of-state student less than
$7000 to go here as
compared to $ 18,000-plus at
the Ivy League schools,"
White said. "Students are
much more consumer
oriented. They want a good
education but at a good cost."
Michelle Franklin, a double
major in mass communication
and sociology, said cost was
important in her decision to
attend UNCA. "It’s ridiculous
to pay over $18,000 at an Ivy
League school if you can get
an education that’s just as
good at a smaller, less
expensive school," Franklin
said.
According to White,
academics are also an
important part of the scope
of UNCA 'We allow students
time to explore and be
diversified. You can enroll
and be undecided about your
major," White said.
Franklin also said she liked
the emphasis placed on
academics at UNCA. "They.
really stressed academics
when I came to UNCA for
an interview. That really
impressed me," Franklin said.
Dr. J. Michael Gillum,
professor of literature at
UNCA, said the general
education requirements at
UNCA were different than
at other schools. "Our general
education program is one of
the good things about
UNCA," Gillum said.
According to Gillum, most
schools allow students to
select courses from the
beginning levels without
sec UNCA, page 12
1
m
A 75 ton crane (top) moves a column of
Ramsey Library for storage. Brant Ussery
(lower left) and Steve Olin (right) stand on
Staff Photos- Susan Dryman
the 25,000 ton columns. The library
construction (lower right) is scheduled for
completion hy May, 19%.
Columns preserved for new library
by Scarlet Bell
News liditor
If a student walks past the
Ramsey Library construction
site, he or she might notice
a stack of white columns
assembled on a plateau of
dirt next to the building.
These 20 columns are being
stored until they are
reattached to the new library
addition, so that a part of the
old library will be a part of
the new, according to Steve
Olin, the on-site architectural
representative of Boney
Architects.
"It’s an unusual project.
We’re taking an old building
that was built in the early
60’s...and we’re taking off the
skin, saving it, duplicating and
reproducing the panels, and
putting them back on a new
addition which is larger than
the original building," Olin
said.
"It’s part of the philosophy
of not having to destroy
something in order to create
something new."
Olin said that approximately
40 percent of the "skin" of
Ramsey Library was being
salvaged by preserving the
white columns. Brant Ussery,
the on-site contractor of L.P.
Cox Company, said that
saving a part of the old
building would help preserve
the "character" of Ramsey
Library, also.
"The use of pre-cast panels
as a cosmetic skin for a
building is something that’s
just come about in the last
50 years," .Ussery said. "It’s
become more and more
prevalent now in new designs
than ever.
"The original character of
the building has been
preserved by using the same
techniques, and the same
materials, just to make it
larger," he added.
In order to remove the
white columns from the
library, Ussery said the
weight of the columns was
mathematically calculated,
the crane size and manpower
needed to move the columns
were determined, and the
original contractors were
contacted so that he and his
see LIBRARY, page 12
Student elections computerized
by Melissa Church
Staff Writer
UNCA students will be
voting for student government
candidates on computers
during the upcoming
elections. This is the first
time in election history that
the voting has been
computerized.
"The voting will be just like
what they are doing in most
major cities now," Chris
Brown, vice-presidental
candidate, said.
The elections will be held
on March 6 and 7 for the
offices of president, vice-
president, secretary, treasurer,
and senators.
"The main reason we’re
doing this is for accuracy,"
Kevan Frazier, freshman
senator, said. "We also feel
that it will provide a more
professional and respectable
way to vote."
"Also, it will provide much
faster results," Frazier said.
The votes will be tallied by
the VAX machine, which will
be more accurate than a
person counting paper ballots,
Frazier said. He added they
will still have the Scantron
sheets to back up the
computer’s count if there is
any dispute.
Frazier explained that there
will be two parts to the
voting. "First, the person
running the booth will enter
the student’s I.D. numbers
into a computer. It will come
up on the screen whether or
not the student is a legitimate
student at UNCA and
whether or not they have
already voted."
After the student is
checked off by the computer,
he will be given a Scantron
sheet that has been modified
for voting, Frazier explained.
There will be four
locations on campus where
students may vote. There will
be a voting booth in the
Carmichael Hall lobby, the
Rhoades Hall lobby, the
library and the Highsmith
Center lobby.
The elections are being run
by the Student Government
Assocation Elections
Commission, which is headed
by Doima Hudgins.
Because the voting booths
will be spread on campus, the
candidates are going to have
to divide their time. Brown
said.
"I think it will make a much
more fair race because you
are not concentrating in one
particular area," Brown said.
"You are really going to have
to be spread out all over the
place to cover your people."
Brown also said that this
new voting process should
open the elections to
commuters. He said he felt
in past years the commuters
did not really know there
were elections going on
unless they went through the
Highsmith Center.
Hudgins, elections
commissioner, also said she
see ELECTIONS, page 12