Newspapers / University of North Carolina … / April 12, 1990, edition 1 / Page 1
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Wlnt iiatintr Volume XVI, Number 10 Striving for Excellence April 12,1990 I*! W ■ Hourly blocks lower registration time J.!v' M By Angela Minor Staff Writer miri> m m? ^am Photo by Miranda Wyatt Cycle mania Danny Baines takes advantage of the warm weather to exercise on his bike. Returning students will find some changes in registration procedures next week, all meant to benefit the student and to increase the percentage of students in pre registration, according to Joanne Garrett, registrar. The registrar’s office has made provisions for time conflicts placed on students as well as making arrrmgements with the business office to avoid fmancial burdens, said Garrett. The main changes will be in the registration time schedule, said Garrett. As of last semester, the administration extended registration from three days to five. The registrar’s office has now instituted a system of hour blocks of time to decrease the number of students waiting in line, according to Garrett. "There should be no more than a ten minute waiting time," said Garrett. In addition to the hour blocks, the registrar’s office has extended the late registration hours in the evening to allow students with full time jobs or other time conflicts to pre-register, said Garrett. Garrett has also set-up a system where, if a student cannot come during any of the set registration times, he/she can bring their registration sheet, appointment card and student identification to the registrar’s office and leave their registration sheet. During the designated lime, one of the computer operators will enter their information. The student may pick up a;; of their information later. Garrett stresses that this option is only for emergency situations. Garrett, in cooperation with the business office, has also arranged a system of delayed payments for registration. For the first session of summer school, the final due date for fee payments is May 18 in Phillips Hall. Students will also be allowed to pay their fees in Lipinsky Hall on May 21. For the fall semester, students will have until the last Friday before classes begin to pay their fees for the fall, said Garrett. All of these steps, according to UNCA physicist researches cold fusion Garrett, are an attempt by the registrar’s office to increase the number of students participating in pre-registration. "More classes be open now than in the fall," said Garrett. "I don’t want anybody to miss getting their classes." Garrett believes many students- don’t pre-register because they are unsure if they will return to UNCA in the fall. According to Garrett, "It’s not an unbreakable situation." Garrett says if a student pre registers and then decides not to return, that student can easily call the registrar’s office over the summer and exit the classes with no financial obligations. She also said a student who decides not to return can just fail to pay his bill and be cancelled from his classes, though she asks students to choose the first option. The main reason Garrett encourages pre-registration is the change in time for the late registration in August. According to Garrett, late registration will be reduced to one day beginning P/ease see Registration, page 6. a* By Vicki McCoy News Editor In spite of the current controversy surrounding the concept of "cold fusion," UNCA physicist Chuck Bennett is stiU researching the possibility of nuclear fusion in a test tube. Bennett, who recently attended the first annual Conference on Cold Fusion at the National Cold Fusion Institute in Salt Lake City, Utah, says he is still unsure of the nature of an "unknown reaction" that he is studying with a group of researchers at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tenn. According to Bennett, however, the discovery could be a "cold" version of the traditional nuclear fusion. During nuclear fusion, the nuclei of deuterium atoms, which are a heavy form of hydrogen, fuse together to form helium. This process releases radiation and heat energy. In the process of hot fusion, the temperaturereachesapproximately 100 million degrees, the temperature of the center of the sun. In March of 1989, Stanley Pons, of the University of Utah, and Martin Fleischmann, of Britain’s University of Southampton, announced to the world that they had achieved nuclear fusion at room temperature, or "cold fusion." Scientific opinions on the discovery are mixed. According to a May 8, 1989, article in Time magazine, when Fleischmann and Pons released their results, a nine- member review panel said they felt cold fusion was a dead issue. "People’s opinions are polarized," Bennett said, "l^ots of folks are having a hard time remaining objective." Bennett and his team of researchers have been experimenting with the "cold fusion" process for over a year, and according to Bennett, they have measured a significant amount of heat from the experiment. "There is more heat coming out than is going in," he said. "We agree with Fleischmann and Pons. We’re just not so quick to call it fusion." Bennett also said the amount of energy they recorded was about Senior class of 90 proposes gift the same as the energy of "a half a dozen jelly doughnuts." Bennett said there is some type of reaction that makes the experiment take place, and there are only two explanations for Fleischmann’s and Pons’ results. "This could be a chemical process, or it could be a nuclear process," Bennett said. "But there is too much heat for this to be a chemical process." According to Bennett, there are anywhere from zero to 10 electron volts per atom in a typical chemical reaction, but in the process that Fleischmann and Pons are seeing, there are 500 to 1000 electron volts per atom. "We don’t see any evidence of a chemical process," he said. "We measured heat coming out of those cells, and we are fairly certain our measurements are accurate," he said. 'We’ve spent a lot of time checking and checking again." Bennett said if cold fusion were ever a reality, the new technology could have a significant impact on the world’s power supply. "This is non-radioactive power," he said. "It is a very clean source of energy, and it has less waste than fission." According to Bennett, the process could be generated from sea water, and a "cold" nuclear reactor will not meltdown. "One gallon of sea water could produce the same amount of energy that 300 gallons of gasoline will produce now," Bennett said. "It has the ability to give a large power reactor to a city." Bennett said a major problem with the experiments is receiving funds from the federal government to continue the research. "The United States has yet to devote a whole lot of money to it, and Japan will get it first if we don’t," Bennett said. "It could be that this could all be a mistake, but there’s enough people measuring something." Bennett also said the financial benefits for the group that can patent the experiment will be substantial, saying the wealth of Donald Trump would not even come close to the monetary gain. "If you figure out the key to making this work on demand, you could clearly solve the world’s energy problem, and the financial potential will be enormous," he said. “It costs how much?” Photo by Miranda Wyatt Sean Helfrich browses in the UNCA Bookstore between classes. By Jamie Steele Staff Writer The graduating class of 1990 has shown an interest in giving "a senior gift" to the university, according to Chris Brown, SGA vice president. "Tl^ is a way for students to give something tangible back to the university in exchange for something intangible, the education they have received," said Alex Miller, director of development. Both Brown and Miller said that to their knowledge, nothing like this has been done in recent years at UNCA. This is something very positive for UNCA," said MUler. "I am pleased to know that the senior class has recognized the type of quality education they have received and has now shown an interest in givii^ something back." In March, Bfown sent a letter to May graduates, explaining the concept of senior ^fts. He sent a survey along with the letter, which would help determine the actual interest in the project and allow for additional input from the class. "Of the 342 graduating seniors, approximately 20 percent have responded so far," said Brown. "A few have been negative responses, but the overall picture is positive." "The positive response says a lot for the class," added Miller. "This expresses a high level of maturity on behalf of the class." In the survey. Brown asked students to choose from a list of possible gifts. This list included: landscaping and benches, new furniture for Carmichael Hall, a monitor to announce campus activities, degree banners for graduation, and a campus map to be posted at the UNCA entrance. "At this point, it seems that the number one request is for landscaping and benches between the new library addition and Carol Belk Theater, where the parking lot is now," said Brown. Please see Gift, page 5 Inside Smoking policies 2 Activists protest carriage rides 4 Healthbeat 5 Waste Management 6 ACC All Stars 7 Four players signed 8 Robert Plant’s Manic Nirvana 9 Life in Hell 10 UNCA campus celebrate Earth By Sandra Wilkerson Guest Writer UNCA, the city of Asheville and Buncombe County will join the nation and the world next week for the 20th annual celebration of Earth Day. On April 22, 1970, 20 million people celebrated the first Earth Day, and according to local organizers, approximately 100 million people worldwide will celebrate this year’s event. According to UNCA student Hara Sitnick, next week is "Earth Week," and in honor of the occasion, the Ecology Club is planning several activities on the UNCA campus. Students will participate in games of environmental jeopardy, a game modeled after the television show with a similar name. Participants will play during lunchtime in Highsmith Center on April 16-19. On Friday, April 20, the Ecology Club will sponsor a "Party for the Planet." The championship round of environmental jeopardy will take place during the party. In addition to her environmental activities on the UNCA campus, Sitnick also coordinates the Asheville-Buncombe Earth Day Committee. "Earth Day is an international grass roots movement," she said. "We are attempting to educate people about the environmental crisis which we are all facing. "We want to show people that they can make a difference and can have an impact on the earth, each in their own small way," she said. Buncombe County residents will have plenty of opportunities to participate in this year’s celebration. The Earth Day committee is planning activities ranging from educational activities in the public schools to an Earth Day parade. The group sold over 1000 red leaf maple seedlings for community-wide tree plantings. According to Sitnick, the trees sold much faster that the committee had expected. "We sold 750 trees the first day," she said, adding some businesses purchased bulk amounts of the tree to give to their environmentally conscious customers. "We really want to bring everyone in the community into this movement," Sitnick said. "We are going to have an impact on the environment simply because we’re living on this planet, but people need to know that they can lessen the impact by becoming more conscious of their world." Sitnick said Earth Day 1990 will -Iso begin an important period "April 22 is the beginning of the decade of the environment," she said. "We won’t let this movement end when the day passes. We have got to be committed for the rest of our lives."
University of North Carolina at Asheville Student Newspaper
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April 12, 1990, edition 1
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