Inside
Letters
The Blue Banner
’’Where there is an open mind, there will always be a frontier.’’
Kettering
Volume XVIII Number 13
The University of North Carolina Asheville
April 25, 1991
Faculty resolution: Reopen chancellor search
Steve Peake
Staff Writer
UNCA faculty members passed
a resolution Monday asking C.D.
Spangler, president of the UNC
system, to reopen the search for a
new UNCA chancellor.
The vote came after several
weeks of controversy surrounding
the list of finalists recommended
by the chancellor search
committee, chaired by John FA.V.
Cecil. That list did not include the
name of Roy Carroll, interim
chancellor.
At the time of the faculty vote,
the search committee had already
forwarded a list of an unspecified
number of recommended
candidates to Spangler.
At a special meeting in the
Humanities Lecture Hall, faculty
members listened to short
speeches for and against the
resolution, according to William
Thurman, professor of classics and
ancient history, who attended the
meeting. Members of local media
remained outside the closed
meeting.
Thurman said the vote to pass
the resolution was decisive. "The
resolution to ask Dr. Spangler to
continue the search passed 96-26.
I believe there were seven
abstentions," said Thurman,
speaking minutes after the vote.
The faculty then decided by a
voice-vote to send the resolution
to Spangler, said Thurman.
As faculty members streamed
from the hall afterwards, only a
few were willing to comment on
the meeting or the resolution.
"We have a very reasonable
faculty," said Dcryl Howard,
professor of philosophy.
"I think the vote indicates a lot
of people are seriously concerned
and really want to work together
in a way that’s best for the
university," said Laurence Dorr,
professor of philosophy.
Dorr said he was happy at the
lack of hard feelings at the
meeting. "There was no irritation
and no anger," Dorr said. "People
really are interested in working
together. I don’t think it was any
crisis-thing at all."
UNCA student John Schoultz,
who sits on the search committee,
expressed dismay Tuesday at the
meeting’s outcome. "I’m
disappointed at the vote," said
Schoultz, "It hurt, considering I
had personally worked for the last
six or seven months on the
search."
Schoultz, who until this month
served as president of the Student
Government Association, said the
committee had logged long hours
in the search. "The entire
committee has literally put in
hundreds of hours (in the search),
all with the best interest of the
university at heart."
The faculty resolution is non
binding, meaning Spangler still has
the final say in recommending a
candidate to the UNC System
Board of Governors, said Larry
Wilson, vice chancellor for
academic affairs.
"This faculty does not have a
binding action or a responsibility
in the decision-making process of
finding a chancellor," said Wilson.
"This is private faculty business.
The president (Spangler) did not
ask us for this."
The meeting came after growing
faculty discontent over the list of
final candidates for the top post at
UNCA. At a meeting of the
faculty senate March 21, Dorr
said, "We have a real problem
here. The almost universal
response to the candidates has
been. These people don’t look
like what we need here’." Dorr
asked that the UNCA Board of
Trustees meet with members of
senior faculty to discuss the search
results.
At that meeting, Alan Comer,
who chairs the biology
department, disagreed with Dorr’s
assessment. "I would object to that
committee meeting with a group
that has appointed itself ‘senior
faculty’," said Comer. "It seems a
little late in the game for that."
Comer reportedly spoke against
the resolution at the special faculty
meeting Monday.
Wilson denied reports that the
special meeting was the first such
action on campus in 20 years, as
had been reported in local media
last week. "That’s absolutely
untrue," said Wilson. "There have
been many special meetings of the
faculty. The most recent was just
last year."
The current search began last
year, when David G. Brown
resigned as UNCA chancellor to
accept the position of provost at
Wake Forest University. Carroll
has served as interim chancellor
since that time.
The flap over the list of final
candidates has captured the
attention of local and state-wide
media in recent weeks. Articles
have appeared in the Asheville
Citizen, the Charlotte Observer,
and the Raleigh News and
Observer.
Job outlook for
graduates dim
Stacy Libby
Staff Writer
As graduation nears, the Career
Center is playing a key role in
many seniors’job searches. "Right
now, a student just getting out of
school is going to have a hard
time getting a job," said Elaine
Thompson, assistant director of
the Career Center. You need to
know how to get a job; you need
to know how to conduct a job
search. We can help with that
process, she said.
"It takes most folks about sbe
months to find a job. If you stay in
Asheville, it could take a year," she
said. "People get really upset
[about this], but if you stay in
Asheville, you are making the
choice of the geographic area over
the career."
"We are in the middle of a
recession and a lot of the larger
companies are laying off people.
For instance IBM, who has always
seemed recession-proof, in the last
year has laid off 12,000 people,"
she said.
"The best opportunities are going
to be in small, fairly new
companies. Some large companies
have increased their employees,
like Wal-Mart, and others are
cutting back drastically," said
David Johnston, director of the
Career Center. "Government
hiring [on the state level] is just
about at a stand still. Teaching is
not going to be as readily available
in this state, as well as some
others."
"What we think is happening is
that everybody is streamlining.
They are trying to do as much as
they can with a lot less. The good
thing is that I don’t think the
recession is going to last," said
Thompson. "I don’t think that
those companies who have
streamlined will fill those positions
again after we come out of the
recession. So what is going to
happen is the job market will
remain very competitive and very
tight."
■M Ml W.fn Hi WM ■
Budget cuts to
affect Ramsey
Library
Julie Partin
Staff Writer
si'
Photo by Miranda Wyatt
Please see Jobs, page 10
Splash!
Brian Corbin braves the dunking booth outside Highsmith Center this
past Wednesday.
Ramsey Library received a cut of $100,000 for the
previous fiscal year and the 1991-92 year appears to
be as bad, said Mel Blowers, university librarian.
Blowers said that scholarly journals are being
affected by the cuts.
Blowers said the publications of scholarly journals
are mainly controlled by a few companies.
Combine the- monopoly of publication with the
relatively small circulation the journals receive and
the outcome is "a crisis in scholarly publications," said
Blowers.
Other areas besides journals are being affected by
the reduction in the budget.
"Almost $200,000 of book orders will not be sent out
until the next year’s budget goes into effect," said
Blowers.
Blowers said that with no additional orders the
1991-92 budget will barely cover the expenses of the
back orders and the current subscriptions of journals.
"The cost of scholarly journals produced
domestically has increased on the average 12 percent
per year," said Blowers.
Please see Library, page 10
Brunnick
discusses
loss and
depression
^ Plans underway to re-establish
\ WNC Environmental Council
Susan Woody
Staff Writer
Paul Folger
Staff Writer
On April 17, Vicki Brunnick,
UNCA’s substance abuse
coordinator, spoke on how to deal
with loss in one’s hfe.
"Loss is any situation in your life
where there is a change. That
change could be loss of a job, a
relationship, or a loved one," said
Brunnick.
Brunnick said that depression
can be a loss too. Brunnick said,
"This year we had an early spring.
It’s paradoxical because when
there is an early spring more
people are depressed."
"Seasonal Affect Disorder (SAD)
is an actual depressive disorder
that people experience," said
m
ilfjS’'-
Please bee Loss, page 10
Relaxation
Students take time out from studying before the stress
of finals week begins.
Charles Taylor plans to re
establish the Western North
Carolina (WNC) Environmental
Council, according to Doug
Bassett, press secretary for the
congressman.
"He feels it is important to keep
a variety of different people
talking to each other," said
Bassett.
The WNC Environmental
Council advises slate and local
governments on environmental
issues.
"The council was part of Martin’s
administration 18 months ago,"
said Bassett.
Bassett said state funds, allotted
for the council members, helped
pay for their travel expenses.
Because Governor Jim Martin
did not renew funds, the old
council ended, said Bassett.
"1 was disappointed the North
Carolina government disbanded
the old council," said Charles
Woodward, executive director of
the multiple use council.
A press release said Taylor
understood budget realities forced
the slate government to disband
the old council.
"But our work must continue,"
said Taylor.
Taylor wants to reactivate the
council "because we face
environmental issues in WNC that
are too important to ignore," said
the press release.
Taylor served as vice-chairman
of the old council, said the press
release.
The press release said his
executive commission ends May 1.
The council is still in the
planning stages, said Bassett.
"This will be made up of people
in WNC," said Bassett.
Taylor will ask all of the current
Eleventh District members to
participate in the new
Environmental Council, said the
press release.
Two members from the old
council, Woodward and Bill
Thomas, will serve on the new
council, said the press release.
Thomas is the former president
of the state chapter of the Sierra
Club, said the press release.
Taylor plans for the council to
"continue its role as an advisory
committee to the state and local
governments," said the press
release.
"The council will also provide a
balanced forum for the discussion
of environmental issues affecting
WNC," said Taylor.
Environmental issues facing
WNC include clean air, clean
water, and park land, said Bassett.
Bassett said one-third of the
district is under federal control.
The press release said the
council meeting location format
will stay the same.
Bassett said the format remained
unplanned.
"It moves throughout the
district," said Bassett.