Newspapers / University of North Carolina … / Sept. 23, 1993, edition 1 / Page 1
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The Blue Banner "Information's pretty thin stuff unless mixed with experience." -- Clarence Day Volume 22, Number 4 The University of North Carolina Asheville Thurs., Sept. 23, 1993 Administration considers mandatory freshman housing Kent Thompson Staff Writer The chancellor and vice chancellors at UNCA are considering a policy that would require all freshmen to live on campus, beginning next fall. The policy would require all freshman students to live in the residence halls for their first year of college. “What we’re trying to say, is that on-campus living provides a richness that you can’t get by living in an apartment,” said Larry Wilson, vice chancellor for academic affairs. “We think institutionally, it makes a strong programmatic statement,” said Wilson. “We feel out of class experience is a part of your education, just as is in class. It ought to be part of the college experience. People need to get involved in other ways.” According to Eric lovacchini, vice chancellor for student affairs, most liberal arts colleges across the country require freshmen to live on campus. “We think that it’s pretty important for people to experience, not only the academic component of the institution, but also the outside the classroom component of the institution,” said lovacchini. The terms "mandatory" and "required" raise a lot of flags, said Pete Williams, director of housing. “Basically, we’re going to be aware of those that are of nontraditional age, but there are exceptions to die rules.” Married students, single parents, and people who live wiUi their parents for financial reasons, would not be required to live in campus housing, said WilUams. “I think the difference will be for those people who want to have an apartment off campus, in their freshman year, as opposed to living in the residence halls," said Williams. According to Wilson, about 20 or 30 freshmen live off campus this year. “Most of the freshmen live on campus, live at home, or have a justifiable reason. There aren’t many freshmen who live in apartments with a friend, but there are some.” According to lovacchini, UNCA has not been able to require freshman housing in the past. “We have not had, up until next year, the physical capabilities of being able to do that,” said lovacchini. The policy would go into effect next fall with the completion of the new dorm. “This year, we didn’t figure that we had the space. We would have to displace somebody, and we didn’t want to kick out the upperclass students,” said lovacchini. The policy will have no effect on housing availability to upperclassmen. “We have always told students when they’ve come to register or to visit that we can guarantee four years of housing, if they so desire,” said Williams. “We guarantee because we give priority every year to returning students to sign up.” According to statistics from Uie office of institutional research, freshmen grade point averages are higher for traditional age resident students than for traditional age commuter students. Students who live on campus also tend to stay, said lovacchini. “The retention rates are higher for people who Uve on campus because they bond to the institution.” It is not projected that required freshman housing will have an impact on the campus parking problem. “We’re going to have new parking with the new dorm,” Wilson said. “The fact is, it’s probably less of a problem because these students drive on campus now, and here they would be parking at the dorm and walking.” The issue of mandatory freshman housing has been previously discussed at UNCA. “About Uiree years ago, we began to worry about how to create a stronger, more closely knit campus,” said Wilson. “One of the items that we’ve been concerned with is the number of students that live off campus and how much they really participate in campus life." Mandatory freshman housing would be one way to increase student involvement, according to Wilson. “This would be one way to mold some class unity, at least with the freshmen," Wilson said. Most of the universities in the UNC system will guarantee housing if you apply by a certain date, Wilson said. “I don’t know whether there are some that require freshmen to live on campus.” I Swayngim suffers heart attack Suzanne Edney Staff Writer Los Folkloristas, from Mexico City Auditorium on Sept. 21. Staff Photo By Lat Ray Mexico, presented a program for area school children in Lipinsly Bob Swayngim, administrative assistant at UNCA suffered a heart attack Sept. 9 at 7;30 a.m. near his office in PhiHips Hall, “He was taken immediately by the rescue squad to the emergency room at Mission Hospital. I think quick action by several UNCA employees probably saved his life,” said John Neuse, director of business services. At first, he was stable but critical, said Neuse. On Sept, 13 Swayngim was moved from the coronary care unit to a step down unit on the fifth floor. Neuse said Swayngim was hoping to be released Sept. 20. Swayngim says he’s fine. “The doctors are saying he can resume normal activity in six to eight weeks, unless there are further problems,” said Neuse. Swayngim has had previous heart ttouble. Several years ago he had a heart valve replacement, Swayngim arrived at work between 6 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. Sept, 9 he felt fine when he got to work. “He’d been to the gym and I was coming down the steps after I’d been upstairs taking the trash out," said Elva Edwards, ateam leader in housekeeping. "I’dpassedhimabout 7;00 right here at my closet. He said ‘Good morning’ and he’s always aggravating me about something because he’s a sweet thing, “I said, ‘Well good morning Bob, How are you,'and he said, ‘Tired,’and he kept going,” Neuse said that around 7:30 a.m. Swayngim went to the rest room. As he left he felt pain in his chest. He sal down at the lounge outside the rest room. When he saw Judy Waycaster, the UNCA receptionist who works the switchlward, he told her to call 911. Steve Peake, from University Publications, stayed with him while Waycaster called. Two other employees, Linda Franklin, university benefits manager, and Edwards arrived at the scene. “When 1 came down Linda Franklin was already talking to him,” said Edwards, “Bob at this time was sweating profusely and in great pain,” Neuse said, Edwards and Franklin stayed, cooling him with wet cloths, “The main thing they did, Elva and Linda, was to try to talk to Bob and tell him, ‘Bobby,helpisontheway,You’ll be OK. Don’t worry everything will be all right,’” said Neuse, “I was just glad I could do something. You just feel better if you can do something to help somebody when they’re in need,” said Edwards. “The key to it was the ambulance getting here as fast as what it did,” Waycaster said. N»use hiredSwayngim26or27 years ago. “He’s really a big teddy bear. He may sound rough and tough and give a few orders, but he really has the best interest of the students at heart,” said Neuse. Swayngim works with student accounts, making sure they are credited with their financial aid. He makes changes on student accounts for drop/ add and wiihdrawls. He also makes changes in room and board and meal plans. He’s married, has two grown children and two grandchildren, Neuse said, “I think the people that know Bob understand Bob and respect and appreciate him.” “Bob’s just a very friendly, very outgoing person that anybody couldn’t help but like,” said Waycaster. Janice Brinkley, a cashier at UNCA, says she misses his singing in the office. She said his favorite songs are “How Great Thou Art” and “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels.” Inside Opinions 2 Mandatory housing S.E. Peake Perspectives 3 SGA Ecology Club activities Features 4 OutUoor art exhibit "A Cure for Dreams" Sports 5 Men's soccer team wins Volleyball team victorious Comics 6 Calvin and Hobbes The Far Side Announcements 7 Job opportunities Events Weather Report Friday will be breezy with a high of 79 and a low of 47. Saturday will be pleasant, the high will be 75, the low will be 50. Weather Report courtesy of the NationaJ Weather Service UNCA Atmospheric Science Department offers updated forecasts through the 24 hour Weatherlirw...251-6435 Student Court to hold first session Teri Smith Staff Writer The Student Government Association (SGA) made its appointments to the 1993-94 student court last week. Student court is a board of peers to which students answer to accusations ranging from a noise violation to an assault. Appointees, who were interviewed by ajoint committee of student senators and student executives, will begin hearing cases on Sept. 26. The process of appointing the court should have been completed several weeks ago, according to Eric lovacchini, vice chancellor for student affairs. “Student court is an operation that needs to be functional certainly from day one of the semester," said lovacchini. "Issues involving discipline and due process happen 365 days a year," he said. “For the past couple of years, student court has not functioned until late September or early October,” said lovacchini, “My opinion is a lot of these things should be done in die spring, so the court is ready to function immediately when school starts.” lovacchini said he began working with SGA as early as February 1993 to ensure that appointments would be made early. In a memo to the SGA, lovacchini recommended that “the selection process for justices begin before the new president is inaugurated” and that the fust court date be scheduled for Aug. 29. An administrative hearing board has been acting in place of student court since August, according toMarkDann, executive for judicial relations. “If an incident were to occur in the library, the library faculty and staff would hear the incident from the student and deal with it,” said Dann, “If the incident occurred on the road, where it wasn’t any particular department, the case would go before the administrative hearing board.” Questions about how and when the court should be appointed, student complaints about the court, and issues concerning due process prompted a decision last spring to evaluate the court processes. Greg Newhall, a student who resides in Scott Hall, said he thinks the evaluation is needed. “I thought the students were fair and did a good job,” said Newhall. “But, the whole system is absurd because you spend too much time answering petty accusations.” According to Newhall, students should be able to admit their guilt when a rule is broken and receive a set punishment, raUier than spend an hour or two in student court. “Often it feels like the school is treating you like a convict instead of putting things in proper perspective,” said Newhall. “I think the whole system is anal retentive. I spent so much time in student court that it should have been on my schedule.” Mary Bullmki, SGA president, said that there have been some complaints from students. “We’ve decided to evaluate the processes of student court while it is operational,” said Bullman. “We will set up an evaluation team to evaluate the processes and review how [court] works. “We will be using other schools’ student court systems that deal with violation of student law as models,” saidBullman. “We’renotsaying we’re going to change anything, but we’re not saying we won’t either. We want- to make sure students’ rights are being protected and that diey are getting due process. If there is any way we can better our system, that’s what we want to do,” said Bullman, There are three major documents, the constitution, the judicial code and the by-laws by which the student government works. According to Dann, the judicial code and the by laws are empowered by the constitution. “A new constitution was approved 2 years ago,” said Dann. “And we began work last year to revised the judicial- code.” The revised judicial code passed the senate at the Sept. 15 meeting of the SGA, The new code was sent to lovacchini this week for approval and will then be forwarded to the chancellor for his signature, “The judicial code is important because it defines the procedures and processes of student court,” said Bulhnan. “It also defines student law and possible sanctioning for violation of the student law. “The court is very educational- minded,” said Bullman. “We are allowed to be very creative. In the past, we’ve given papers to be written, had people do research or interview people and do a paper. “We don’t want to punish anybody for doing what they did,” said B ulhnan, “We want to help them move to a higher plane by teaching them ways they can change their behavior.” f Staff Photo By Chan Carter Randy Wiel, coach of the men's basketball team, spoke at a reception held for international students on Sept. 16.
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