The Banner
Volume XIV, Number 6
Proudly serving the UNCA community since 1982 ,
March 2, 1989
Safe Sex Week to
promote awareness
by Michael Gouge
Assistant News Editor
Underdog Productions has
joined in the effort to
promote safe sex practices by
sponsoring ‘safe sex week’ at
UNCA.
In cooperation with the
Student Health Advisory
Council (SHAC), Underdog
is striving this week to
promote a greater awareness
of the need for condom use
and other safe sex practices,
according to Michelle Biddix
of Underdog Productions.
In spite of the growing need
for protection against sexually
transmitted diseases (STD’s),
Chancellor Brown has refused
to allow condom machines in
campus restrooms. Biddix
expressed, "I think its
ludicrous." Placing condom
machines on campus would,
Biddix said, "show that you
have someone in charge who
cares about the students."
Biddbc stated condom
machines are present at other
Universities and in many
respectable resturants and
pubs. "I think that before he
(Brown) says no vehemently,
he should look into it." "That
one little thing that
embarrasses people could
save people’s lives." said
Biddix.
Q^ithia Van Duesen, family
nurse practitioner at the
Weizenblatt Health Center
stated, "We probably treat
about 12-15 cases of STD’s
a month, with the number
one infection being
Chlamydia." Van Duesen
added, "We also see cases of
gonorrhea and herpes,but in
less numbers."
Van Duesen said the health
center provides pregnancy
and STD tests as well as
giving away free condoms.
Van Duesen stated.
"Condoms offer a 95 percent
protection from infection (of
STD’sV’
Biddbc said that Underdog
took up the safe sex
campaign because of the
alarming number of
pregnancies and ' cases of
STD’s on campus last
semester. "We have had a lot
of freshman girls become
pregnant." Biddix also refered
to the significant numbers of
Chlamydia cases among the
students.
Biddix feels the campaign
is important, "especially for
freshmen coming into the
university. Many of them
don’t know how to protect
themselves." Biddix added,
"It’s smart, there are too
many diseases out there."
Linda Greene of the SHAC
said, "We want to promote
awareness. We want to
emphasize that condoms are
available and to promote
safe sex." Greene said the
safe sex week will also
provide an opportunity for
students to meet with SHAC
members and become aware
of the organizations
membership and activities.
Milena Vari, co-chairperson
of the SHAC, said her
organization is providing
pamphlets and staffing a desk
in Highsmith during safe sex
week. "We’ve placed
pamphlets there for students
who are interested. We’ve
had a really good response
and a lot of questions."
According to Vari, many
students have questions
concerning birth control. Vari
said many of the students
that ask SHAC questions,
"have a minimum knowledge
of birth control. They see
only two options, condoms or
birth control pills. They don’t
see SAFE, page 12
Staff Photo-Stacey Higdon
The recent snowfall caused class cancellations
at UNCA.
Audio-visual equipment sits destroyed in the
University Media Center in Western Carolina
University’s Hunter Libraiy. Burned items in
WCU Photo-Mark Haskett
the racks above included projectors, recorders,
mixers and computer terminals.
WCU may use Ramsey Library
by Scarlet Bell
News Hditor
Ramsey Library may soon
become a haven for Western
Carolina University (WCU)
students who lost temporary
access to their library due to
a fire on Feb. 26 at the
facility.
A fire in Hunter Library at
WCU destroyed a service
area of the University Media
Center and caused smoke
damage to other sections of
the three-story library
building, according to a WCU
news release.
Mel Blowers, university
librarian at UNCA, said he
and WCU University
Librarian William Kirwan
had been discussing the
possibility of WCU students
using Ramsey Library until
their library was restored for
use.
'They’re still trying to
understand the magnitude of
their problem and how they
can most effectively address
it. These assessments are still
going on; and, probably by
the end of the week, they’ll
have some better idea how
long the problem is going to
last. There are probably
several options," Blowers said.
"At some point, we likely
will work out some kind of
an arrangement with Western
to try to help them out. On
the other hand, I sense the
concern of UNCA students
that they may suffer if we
spread our resources too thin.
So, we’re going to be very
careful about that," he added.
Blowers said that, since
WCU students do not have
the Online computer system
in their library like the
system installed in Ramsey
Library, the UNCA library
staff might encounter some
difficulties in training WCU
students to use the system
and experience "tied-up"
terminals.
In addition, each time a
WCU student used the
library, the librarians would
have to go through a manual
process of entering the
student’s name, social security
number and other bits of
information, according to
Blowers.
"So, that itself is
problem," Blowers said.
"However, should we provide
in-library service to any great
extent, Western has already
agreed they will send some
of their staff over here to
see WCU, page 12
Snowfall causes class cancellations
Bell
Classes at UNCA were
cancelled three school days
in a row due to the recent
snowy weather in Western
North Carolina.
Students missed an entire
day of classes on Feb. 23,
arrived two hours late on
Feb. 24, and one hour late
on Feb. 27.
According to Larry Wilson,
vice chancellor for academic
affairs, UNCA is one of the
few colleges in the area that
cancels classes due to
inclement weather.
"We’re unusual that we
close at all. Most universities
do not close for snow. If
you’ve got a real serious ice
storm, you might. But, I was
flabbergasted to find that I
was not only supposed to
call snow closings, but the
people expected that we
would close," Wilson said.
Though the UNCA student
population has one-third
commuter students, Wilson
said he believed this high
number did not influence
class closings at UNCA.
"In the north, there are
schools that have a lot more
commuters than we do, and
they never close with bigger
snowstorms than this.
"It’s tricky here because of
the mountain roads, and the
fact that the weather patterns
vary so much from cove to
cove. It does make it a lot
more difficult to call, and it
does mean that some people
are going to have bad
conditions while others don’t,"
Wilson said.
Wilson said he had had no
experience in making
decisions about closing
classes before he came to
UNCA; however, Wilson said
he has employed some
"scientific" techniques to help
him make his decision.
"I get out my rabbit’s foot
and my crow’s beak and
make a guess. It’s clearly a
witchcraft call. You try your
best judgement and ask, ’Is
it reasonable that someone
can get to school safely?’
And then, I call it one way
or the other."
Wilson said that, contrary
to the method employed by
public schools in cancelling
classes, he does not make his
decision based on the
weather forecasts the night
before classes will be
cancelled.
Instead, Wilson said he gets
up early in the morning and
drives around Asheville to
see the condition of the roads
firsthand.
"I get up about 5:30 a.m. or
so, and get in my trusty car
and start d iving around both
city and county roads trying
to decide whether or not
they’re safe, all the while
listening to two or three
radios in my car to hear
various weather forecasts.
"I’ve got to get up and see
what the roads are like and,
understanding that faculty
and students and staff are
coming from a lot of different
places, and the conditions in
those places might be a lot
worse or a lot better than
they are around Asheville, I
simply try to use my best
judgement," Wilson said.
He said he drives on
Merrimon Avenue, highway
19-23 north to Weaverville,
Reems Creek Road, Patton
Avenue; and occasionally he
will drive to the Asheville
Mall and around the Haw
Creek area in east Asheville.
Wilson said he has usually
made his decision about
cancelling classes by 7 a.m.
However, he said that on
Feb. 27, he was a little late
in making the call because
weather forecasts had
predicted only rain in the
morning.
At 6:30 a.m., the forecasters
changed their predictions to
snow in the morning and rain
in the afternoon, according
to Wilson.
"I was reversing things like
cra^, and we didn’t get to
the radio stations in time for
them to get the
announcement on at 7 a.m.
For commuter students and
faculty, we really need to
make it (at 7 a.m.) because
they need to be counting on
an hour or so."