Newspapers / University of North Carolina … / Oct. 7, 1993, edition 1 / Page 1
Part of University of North Carolina at Asheville Student Newspaper / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
The Blue Banner "Rare is the person who can weigh the faults of others without putting his thumb on the scales." -- Byron J. Langenfield Diume 22, Number 6 The University of North Carolina Asheville Thurs., Oct. 7, 1993 an|)i U.S. News" ranks UNCA 15th among southern regional colleges nt Thompson iff Writer m to asi may noj Oct. 4 issue of U.S. News & World Report ranked UNCA as one of the t universities in the South. UNCA ranlced 15th among southern regional eges and universities. ‘In general, it’s a reaffirmation of our national high-rate reputation,” said ICA Chancellor Samuel Schuman. r Studeijl very year, U.S. iVewjranks colleges and universities in it’s “America’s Best illeges” issue. ntpeopH^e rank the nation’s accredited four-year colleges and universities, which le by heifa ihave done every year since 1987, using both objective data and an exclusive >et to tallL -vey,” said an editorial in this month’s edition of the magazine, ng thesS [October 1989,17.5. Newj called UNCA one of America’s “up and coming” 1 they caiC iversities. In 1991, U.S. News ranked UNCA in the top 15. m how l|* ^ast year, [UNC] Charlotte was in their top 15 and we were something like B th or 18th. This year, Charlotte has gone out of the top 15 and we’ve gone in,” lent musL i Schuman. u'ollmeir; don’t think that a place or two on this list is really very significant, but it’s nsky Halpb to appear in the list of the top 15 rather than be 16th or 17th,” said Schuman. takes thM gives you a lot of national visibility.” mber fo(lach year, the 1,371 accredited schools are divided into categories using guidelines established by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, said Robert!. Morse, in the explanation accompanying the rankings. “To simplify the groupings, several categories were combined and some larger categories were subdivided regionally," said Morse. There are four primary categories in the survey: national universities and national liberal arts colleges, regional colleges and universities, regional liberal arts colleges, and specialized institutions. UNCA is ranked in the regional colleges and universities category. “The schools in this group generally award more than half their bachelor’s degrees in two or more professional disciplines,” Morse explained. “'Die 559 institutions in this category are subdivided by region: North, South, Midwest, and West.” Included in the category with UNCA are Wake Forest University, ranked first among southern regional colleges and universities, and Appalachian State University, ranked 11th. “The schools were ranked by combining a survey of academic reputation among college presidents, deans, and admissions directors with statistical data on faculty and financial resources, student selectivity, graduation rate, and alumni satisfaction,” said Merianne Epstein, UNCA public information director. Schuman said he projects UNCA’s ranking to increase in the future. “Next year, we’ll be a little higher because our academic standards have gone up,” he said. “We’re actually in better shape this year, which will be what’s reflected in next year’s survey, than we were last year. So, we’ 11 go up another notch or two.” According to the rankings, statistical data shows one area of improvement for UNCA is in the graduation rate and student retention category. UNCA received a rating of 94 in graduation rate, compared to Wake Forest’s ranking of two. “In the academic factors, we tend to rate in the top 10, but some of the other ones, social life and retention, we lag behind a little bit,” said Schuman. Although mandatory freshman housing will not make a huge change, Schuman believes it is a step in the right direction toward increasing student retention and social life on campus. In the past, UNCA has received recognition in other national publications, including the Fiske Guide to Colleges and Changing Times, a consumer magazine. “UNCA has been rated one of the 10 best public liberal arts schools in the nation, in the 1993 edition of the Fiske Guide to Colleges,” said Epstein, in a September 1992 press release. “This is the fu'st time the annual guide has included a special section rating public liberal arts colleges and universities," Epstein said. In 1988, UNCA was called one of the nation’s “best values” in higher education, in an article in Changing Times magazine. U.S. News also produces an expanded guidebook, America’s Best Colleges. “That guidebook, on newsstands this week, includes expanded versions of the rankings, additional articles, and a directory filled with vital information about 1,371 colleges and universities,” according to an article by the editors in this month’s U.S. News. Chancellor search committe formed Dan Gilmore Staff Writer 0 Greek The annual Greek Festival was held last weekend at Asheville's CIty-Couty Plaza Staff Photo By Ryan Jones James A. Banks, chairman of the UNCA Board of Trustees, announced the formation of a 15-member chancellor’s search committee on Sept. 17. The purpose of the search committee is to find a successor to the present UNCA chancellor, Samuel Schuman. Schuman will step down from his position as chancellor in December t)ecause of differences between him and UNC system President C.D. Spangler. A national search for a new chancellor will begin sometime in the “next few weeks” after a meeting with Spangler, said Banks. The search will last from this fall through winter. There are several stages in the search process. Those steps include “establishing candidate criteria and qualifications, soliciting and recruiting applicants, reviewing and interviewing prospective candidates, and presenting finalists to the campus community,” said Banks. The committee consists of UNCA trustees, faculty, an adminisU'ation member, a student and an alumnus, said Banks. “We are pleased with the composition of the committee, it is an important responsibility and each person has pledged to devote their best effort to the search,” said Banks. The committee then presents its recommendations for candidates to the UNCA Board of Trustees. The tx)ard then provide the names of “two or three” candidates to the president of the UNC system, said Banks. The UNC president nominates a new candidate for chancellor. The UNC Board of Governors then elects the new UNCA chancellor. The UNCA Chancellor’s Search Committee members are James Banks, committee chairman; Malcolm Blowers, UNCA university librarian; Shirley Browning, UNCA professor, chair of the UNCA economics department and chair of the UNCA Faculty Senate; Mary Bulhnan, UNCA Student Government Association presidentandUNCABoardofTrustees member; Margaret Downes, UNCA Associate professor and chair of the UNCA literature and language department; Tom Habor, member of UNCA txiard of trustees and Galaxo, Inc. senior vice president. Research Triangle Park; Allison Hal tom, UNCA Board of Trustees^member and university secretary, Duke University, Durham; Gwendolyn Henderson, UNCA education profe.s.sor; Duane McKibben, UNCA board of trustees member and Hendersonville Oil Co. president, Hendersonville; Alfred O. Monk, a Hendersonville attorney and member of the UNCA board of trustees; Jesse Ray, Jr., UNCA Board of Trustees member and Carolina Power & Light Sky land business office areamanagenJamesStickneylV, 1978 UNCA graduate, former UNCA Alumni Association president and Insurance Services of Asheville insurance executive; Pamela Mills Turner, Mills Manufacturing Coip. board chairman, Asheville; Arnold Wengrow, UNCA drama professor; and Julienije Winner, UNCA board of trustees member and and area civic leader. Inside Ipinions 2 hve pride in UNCA i.E. Peale perspectives 3 fchuman speais \ga 'eatures 4 ■ast Forward" \The Good Son" •ports 5 'olieyball team wins \bove the Rim Comics 6 Viid Kingdom 'he Far Side Announcements 7 'ob opportunities -.vents leather Report he weekend forecast calls r variable cloudiness and chance of showers on iday. Friday's high will be 2, low will be 56. Saturday reach 78, the low will be 0. Weather Report courtesy of the National eather Sefvice •^^4CA Atrrx>sph6ric Science Department ers ufxlated forecasts through the 24 hour eather1ine...251-6435 Local author speaks to student group Brenda Webster Staff Writer Aloe alcomputer author and publisher spoke to the UNCA chapter of the Data Processing Management Association (DPMA) on Sept. 30. During his speech, he explained the impact of computer viruses on today’s society and stressed the importance of computer literacy. “In 1988, as luck would have it, my book was reviewed by the New York Times three days before the Internet was shut down,” said Ralph Rotierts, author of Computer Viruses and president of World Comm publishing company. “It was the first U.S. book on computer viruses.” The Internet system included most of the more important academic, military and commercial computers of the world. When the system became infected by a computer virus, Roberts’ expertise became vital to finding a quick and effective solution, said Rotierts. “Computer viruses, today, are less of a threat than they were in 1988,” said Roberts. “A lot of personal computer manufactures, and Uie people who did software decided they’d better protect the public from computer viruses.” Today software and personal computer packages come with internal protection, as well as tips on manual precautions to avoid viruses, said Roberts The term “computer virus” refers to a small program that will reproduce itself, and move from computer to computer. Usually, this happens through the process of infecting a disk in one computer, and placing that disk into another computer, Roberts said. Even after the disk is removed from a computer, the computer remains infected and passes the virus on to ali other disks that may loaded onto that computer. Then, at a preprogrammed time and dale, the program will go into action. It will desU'oy the data, or whatever task has t)een programmed onto the disk, said Rotierts. “Everyone knows it happens because of people,” said Roberts. “A lot of young people in college, or who are first learning computers, become fascinatedbycomputerviruses. They infect their local college computer, and it spreads from there.” If a computer virus destroys company records or irreplaceable data, the person responsible for the virus can be held liable in civil and criminal court, said Roberts. In his presentation, Roberts also highlighted the need for every individual in society to become computer literate. “We are becoming an information based society," said Roberts. “Computers are spreading out of schools and business into the homes. Everything from your microwave oven to your remote control will have computers in it.” More than a box with a keyboard attached, computers come in many shapes and sizes. The ability to manipulate any type of computer system, based on a basic knowledge of how computers work, will enable aperson to become computer literate, said Roberts. “Computer literacy is the ability to read a computer like a book, it is not learning a particular program like WordPerfect,” said Roberts. “Being able to use computers determines both the quality of your life and how good of a job you can get.” Virtual reality will have a profound impact on the computer society and will make it easier for many software packages to tiecome more user friendly, said Roberts. “A good example is if you want to retrieve data, and you put on a pair of glasses that puts an image directly on the retina of the eye,” said Roberts. “You will see a file cabinet, open the cabinet, pull out a file, open the file, and there is a piece of paper. “All of that does not really exist, except ' in the virtual reality that you are seeing,” said Roberts. “This is an easy way of finding information, because you are not manipulating a computer. You are doing something which you have done a thousand times before, and you know exactly how to do it.” Roberts has written 39 other books and over 1000 articles, mostly on computer topics. His current projects include research for an upcoming virtual reality book, a book on how to get published, and a computer game on MS IX)S ewMeiLeisure Suit, said Roberts. He writes approximately six books per year, and his publishing company has published over 50 books, said Roberts. Roberts has been associated with the UNCA community for many years and a guest lecturer of the computer department on several occasions. He has also taken a few classes at UNCA, and uses Ramsey Library for ^.search when writing for publication, Rolierts said. Staff Photo By Amy Eddins Local author Ralph Roberts spoke to the UNCA chapter of the Data Processing Management Association on Sept. 30.
University of North Carolina at Asheville Student Newspaper
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Oct. 7, 1993, edition 1
1
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75