Inside
Donations collected for
homeless. Page 4.
MLA enrollment better than
ejqxjcted. Page 5.
BuUde^ tvin Grst home
game. Page 6.
Jones and Jools reviewed.
Page 8.
Life in Hell, Page 10.
Campus News
Illegal use of crates
Unauthorized possession of
plastic milk crates, used by
dairies to transport milk, will
be against the law in North
Carolina, effective Jan. 1, 1990.
The versatile cases are often
used by college students for
bookcases and other pieces of
furniture.
N.C. General statute GS14-
72.4 will make the
unauthorized use of the crates
a misdemeanor punishable by
a $300 fine and/or
imprisonment.
Nearly a million milk cases
were borrowed, stolen or
misappropriated from N.C. and
Virginia dairies during the past
year at a cost of $2 million to
the industry.
According to a national
survey, there are $250 million
worth of crates missing across
the country.
Phillip Holder of Pet dairy
said the law applies only to
milk crates bearing the name
of the owner, not the plastic
crates purchased in department
stores or elsewhere. However,
defacing or removing the
identification mark is also
illegal.
Cases should be returned to
a local dairy or neighborhood
grocery store. Holder said. No
questions will be asked through
Dec. 31, 1989.
Mt. Mitchell hike
The Ecology Club will hike
up the highest peak east of the
Mississippi on Sat. Sept. 30.
The public is invited to join
on this moderate hike on Mt.
Mitchell. The nature trails on
and around the summit provide
scenic views of Western North
Carolina and an introduction to
a somewhat fragile' ’ high
altitude ecosystem.
This will be the first of many
outings the club is planning.
Other day hikes, raft trips and
social gatherings will happen
throughout the year.
Those interested in the Mt.
Mitchell hike should contact
Verl at 253-7505 after 5 p.m.
The trip will leave from the
student center at 9 a.m. on
Sept. 30.
Schedule available
The fall schedule of Special
Academic Programs has been
published and is available by
calling the SAP office at 251-
6558.
The schedule features 24
non-credit courses on topics
including business, health,
computers, foreign languages,
culture and history and special
interest seminars.
Most of the short-courses
begin in late September or
early October and conclude in
late November and early
December.
The course titles range from
"African Drumming" and
"Advanced Word Perfect" to
"Tree Identification" and
"Understanding Poetry."
Foreign language instruction
includes beginning Chinese and
four levels of German, ranging
from beginning to advanced.
( Special interest seminars
include "Successful Advertising
and Marketing Alternatives,"
"The Taguchi Approach to
Parameter Design," and "Real
Estate Sales."
Weekend Weather
The extended forecast for
Friday through Sunday calls for
mostly cloudy with showers and
thunderstorms likely during the
entire weekend.
Rain could be heavy at times.
Highs will be in the 70s and
lows will dip into the 60s.
For the latest information on
Hurricane Hugo, call the
UNCA meteorology
department’s 24 hour
weatherlinc at 251-6435.
Jim Owen
Atmospheric Sciences
The Blue Banner
Volume XV, Number 4
. Serving the students and faculty of UNCA
September 21, 1989
Freshmen score
highest SATs
Cleaning up the roadside
Photo by Miranda Wyatt
Sigma Pi members Joe Frick, Joey Asbiey and William Allen clean up along
tbe side of 1-240 last weekend as part of tbe state-wide Adopt-A-Higbway
program.
by Vicki McCoy
Assistant News Editor
The freshman class of
1989-’90 has the highest
Scholastic Aptitude Test
(SAT) average in the
history of UNCA, according
to Caroline Miller, vice-
chancellor of enrollment
management.
The SAT average of this
year’s entering students was
988, which is 35 points
higher than last year’s
scores.
"They (the freshmen) are
a good group," Miller said.
"One-half of them was in
the top fifth of their
graduating class."
According to Miller,
UNCA now has the third
highest SAT average in the
16 school University of
North Carolina system. The
University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill has
the highest average with
North Carolina State
University in second place.
Miller said 35 percent of
the freshmen class are from
outside of western North
Carolina.
"12 percent of the
freshmen are out of state
students, mostly from
Georgia, Florida, Virginia
and South Carolina," Miller
said. "There are about 20
states represented overall."
However, Miller said the
university had experienced a
decrease in enrollment from
Buncombe County. Miller
said the drop was due to a
shift in the county
demographics this year.
"Our decrease in
enrollment from the local
area is because of a
See SATs, Page 5
UNCA addressing student attrition rate
by Pam Gutbrie
Staff Writer
Nationwide, student drop
out rates are on the rise. At
UNCA, administrators are
addressing the problem.
"Institutionally, we have
identified retention of
students as an area of focus
this year," said Dr. Caroline
Miller, the assistant vice-
chancellor for enrollment
management.
According to Miller, about
10 percent of freshmen have
dropped out before
Christmas in the past few
years, while another five to
10 percent have dropped
out during or after the
second semester. After
that, the attrition rate tends
to decrease until after the
sophomore year, when many
students transfer.
UNCA’s attrition rate
does not compare favorably
to most of the other
predominantly white
universities in the state.
Miller thinks there are
many reasons for this, the
first being that our
curriculum is more stringent
than those of nearby
universities.
Many of the freshmen
who withdraw are not ready
for the socio-cultural
adjustment required by
college life. Miller said. "We
hear a lot of ’I missed my
home, my family, my
friends. I just had no idea
what college was all about.’"
Miller thinks the large
proportion of first-
generation college students
at UNCA is another reason
for the high attrition rate.
First-generation college
students often lack the
support network of
understanding, sympathetic
family members when they
call home, Miller said.
Many of the students who
withdraw simply do not
realize the full implications,
of a liberal arts education
when choosing UNCA, he
said. "They thought they
were going to get
immediately translatable job
skills instead of conceptually
translatable job skills,"
Miller said.
AB-Technical College is
the place where the
See Attrition, Page 12
Confusing intersection
blamed for accident
by Benny Smith
Staff Writer
Confusing road signs
leading to the highrise
dormitory entrance on the
UNCA campus may have
caused an on-campus
accident last Sunday at 7:35
p.m.
The accident happened
when Darrin Germany, a
resident student, collided
into the car of Lori
Goodman with his
motorcycle due to
misjudgement.
"I was coming down from
the hill next to the highrise
entrance when I saw the car
coming up the hill," said
Germany. I decreased my
speed,thinking that she was
going to turn into the
highrise parking lot," said
Germany.
"She slowed down also,
thinking that I was going to
go on. So I speeded up.
close to 20 m.p.h. to turn in,
and she proceeded to turn
at the same time," said
Germany.
"Then I slid off my
motorcycle into her vehicle,
resulting in a temporary
black-out," said Germany.
In future references, "to
deter future accidents, a
stop sign needs to be placed
somewhere on either side of
the lane," said Goodman.
"I am just glad that he is
not badly injured by the
accident," said Goodman.
According to the police
report, Germany suffered
from abrasions on the knee,
a swollen ankle, a swollen
back plus a sore rib cage.
"It is really hard to see
cars coming from the other
direction because of the
"blind spot" and the absence
of a stop sign," said
Goodman.
According to Kevan
Miller named asst
vice chancellor
Frazier, residential senator
of the Student Government
Association and chairman of
the aesthetics committee,
there is a definite problem
with the intersection.
At the end of last
semester, the aesthetics
committee met with Robin
Grooms, safety manager of
the campus, and discussed
different safety problems at
UNCA.
"The intersection leading
to the highrise entrance was
among the proposed
problems," said Frazier.
"The main complaint
about the intersection
leading to the highrise
entrance is that it has too
many lanes," said Frazier.
In fact, "this makes it
difficult for a driver coming
up the secondary entrance
road to determine which
lane they are to turn in,"
said Frazier.
See Intersection, Page 12
by Benny .Smith
Staff Writer
On Aug. 1, Caroline
Miller was named assistant
vice chancellor of
enrollment services at
UNCA.
The Special Search
Committee of UNCA, made
up of faculty, staff and
administrators, selected
Miller for the position last
summer. "There were three
other contenders for the
position of assistant vice
chancellor of enrollment
services," said Miller.
"One reason why I think
the committee selected me
for the position is because I
am familiar with UNCA
and the department of
enrollment services," said
Miller.
Last January, Miller
worked part-time as
assistant vice chancellor of
enrollment services while
_ ... Photo by Paul Adams
Broadway construction
The widening of Broadway begins to take shape,
hopefully easing the traffic problem for many
commuter students.
False fire alarms
plague dorm
Caroline Miller
also serving as the director
of personnel at UNCA.
According to Miller, the
position had been open
since March of 1988. "In
See Miller, Page 12
by Vicki McCoy
Assistant News Editor
The fire alarm system has
caused problems recently
for the approximately 300
'tudents who live in the
H ghrise residence hall,
according to Pete Williams,
director of housing and
residence life,
Tt (the fire alarm) has
gone off a lot,” Williams
said, "but there are several
things we are doing about
it."
According to Williams, on
Sept. 11, a malfunction of
one of the smokeheads
activated the alarm system
three or four times. Also,
on Sept. 18, students
evacuated the building three
times during the night due
to the fire alarms.
Williams said th-e
malfunction of the alarms
was responsible only for the
Sept. 11 incident, but
pranks, vandalism, or
See Alarms, Page 12