The Blue Banner
"Only a dead man's got a reason not to care." -- Elvis Presley
Volume 22, Number 14
The University of North Carolina Asheville
Thurs., Jan. 27, 1994
Construction worker dies in accident on site of new dining hall
Rebekah Stivers
Staff Writer
Construction workers at the new UNCA dining hall declined to comment
Monday on the accidental death of a 20-year-old co-worker on Wednesday,
Ian, 5.
David Thomas Lingle, of Connelly Springs, was killed instantly when he was
pinned by a 20-ton counterweight on a crane at the site.
“He was pronounced dead on the scene of the 8:40 a.m. accident,” according
10 The News-Herald. of Morganton, NC.
The article reported that Asheville police Detective Judy Romick said Lingle
“was standing at the rear of the crane when it was set in motion by its operator”
and was pinned to the base of the crane.
Ice storm delays spring
orientation, registration
“Larry Miller, president of G.E.M. Constructors, Inc. of Marion, the general
contracting firm, said Lingle was an employee of subcontractor P.R.Y. Steel
Erectors of Hildebran,” according to (he Asheville Citizen-Times.
Miller said the “crane operator had no way of seeing Lingle at the rear of the
crane” and that.... ‘until somebody screamed at him or flagged him, [he’s] sure
[the operator] didn’t even realize (Lingle had been hit),”’ according to the
Citizen-Times.
Miller said that Lingle had been employed by the steel company since
October. According to The News-Herald, he had been an iron worker since his
uncle helped to train him for his first job three years ago.
Lingle is survived by his wife, Stacey Marie Shinn Lingle, and two children,
two-year-old Nathaniel Lee Shinn Lingle and eight-month-old Alea Marie
Lingle, said Ricky Ammons, his uncle.
“None of them are taking it real well,” he said. “He was a good boy, didn’t
cause any trouble. He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time," he told
Monisa Fisher
Staff V^riter
An ice storm that hit Western North
Carolina delayed spring orientation
and registration on Dec. 18.
Registration was scheduled for 10:30
ajn. Tuesday, but had to be postponed
until noon.
Orientation and registration activities
were combined as a result of the
Dstponement.
The weather did cause us tocombine
iverything and that’s not the way
registration normally runs,” said
(ristina Brantley, acting registtar.
Announcements were made on
m,OS, WBBO and KISS-FM that
(egisU'ation would begin at noon on
Tuesday on a first come, first serve
B,sis.
Registration lines at noon on Tuesday
»ere long because of the first come,
fat serve basis.
“Everyone came at noon which we
txpected, but lines were down within
in hour and a half,” said Brantley.
‘I was an orientation leader and things
lent pretty smoothly. It was a
madhouse at first but we got everyone
akcn care of,” said Jeremy Patton,
orientation leader and student
Jevelopment leadership assistant-
Due to the weather, the welcome
speech by the chancellor and small
group advising were canceled.
New students did not meet with small
group orientation leaders to receive
academic advising.
Advising was done differently than
usual. Usually, new students meet in
orientation groups and receiveadvising
from professors.
Since new students did not meet in
orientation groups, they did not receive
advising from professors, but instead
from a group of faculty members
stationed in Lipinsky Hall on Tuesday.
According to Brantley, students will
receive academic advisors when they
declare a major.
“Because new students were unable
to have group meetings with
orientation leaders, there could have
been some confusion for new students
in knowing what to present at
registration and knowing how
registfation works at UNCA,” said
Brantley.
“I’ve had to change my schedule
three times because I still don’t have
an academic advisor due to the delay,”
said Bryan Bradshaw, an incoming
sophomore transfer student.
“We want to assure new students
that in the future they will have
appointment times and registfation
won’t be so overwhelming,” said
See "Storm," on page 8
The News-Herald.
Jennibeth Kennedy, a spokesperson for the NC Department of Labor, said
G.E.M. had been inspected one time prior to the incident on Jan. 5.
In May 1989 the company was cited for three “serious” violations and was
fined a total of $670 in penalties. Subcontractor P.R.Y. Steel Erectors was
inspected twice before the incident.
In February 1986, the company was cited for one “serious” violation and was
fined $ 150 in penalties. An inspection in December of that year resulted in no
violations.
“The Labor Deparunent computer could not provide the nature of the
violations, but the amount of the fines indicated [that] they were relatively
minor,” according to the Citizen-Times.
Kennedy said the Occupational Safety and Health Administration will
probably investigate the situation. “Whenever there is a fatality we do investigate
it,” she said.
Economics professor joins
U.N. mission in South Africa
Robin Burris
Staff Writer
Staff Photo By Russ Reed
David Thomas Lingle, a construction worker at the new dining hall,
was accidentally killed while working at this crane on the morning of
Jan. 5.
Kofi Konadu Apraku, assistant
professor in economics, joined United
Nations delegates in South Africa in
December.
Apraku was named “a member of a
United Nations Observer Mission to
South Africa,” according to a press
release.
Apraku said that the delegation will
be observing the election in South
Africa, according to the press release.
11 be joining other members of the
U.N. Delegation to ensure that the
proper modalities, structures and
appropriate facilities are in place for a
free ^d fair election in South Africa,”
Apraku said.
“The delegation will work with all
political forces, including the
government and the various opposition
groups, toensureapeacefulandorderly
ttansition from the current apartheid
regime to a pluralistic democracy,"
said Apraku.
Shirley Browning, chairman of the
economics department, received a
letter from Apraku this month.
“He has been assigned to the port city
of Port Elizabeth in eastern Cape
Province,” said Browning.
“Our primary objective is to ensure.
monitor, and help enforce the national
peace accord signed by the political
groflps in south Africa to ensure a
peaceful, fair election,” Apraku said
in the letter to Browning.
Apraku has been assigned as a
member of the Social Economic
Reconsttuction and Development
Agency.
Its purpose is to identify development
projects and set development priori ties
for a post-apartheid S outh Africa, said
Browning.
“It’s been challenging, but I feel safe
and secure”, said Apraku.
Apraku returned to his homeland of
Ghana in 1992 as a candidate in the
elections, according to the press
release.
“I believe this will be my contribution
to a nation that has fought and paid
such a great price for freedom,” Apraku
said in a press release.
“I believe that all South Africans
deserve a peaceful and orderly
transition and 1 will do my best to
facilitate that.
"I want to make sure other people do
not experience what we in Ghana
experienced—we were robbed in that
election,” Apraku said in a press
release.
Apraku “endured death threats and
break-ins to his home during the
campaign,” stated the press release.
Apraku has been a professor at UNCA
since 1987, according to Browning.
Inside
Opinions 2
Harding should be out
S.E. Peake
Perspectives 3
Have faith
Blue Banner deadlines
Features 4
"Intersection"
Jerome the juggler
Sports 6
While You Were Away
On Deck
Comics 8
The Far Side
Wild Kingdom
Announcements 9
Job opportunities
Events
Weather Report
The weekend forecast calls
lor cloudy skies with
showers on Friday with a
ligh of 56 and low of 38.
Saturday will be less cloudy
Jnd cooler. High will be 52,
Weather Report courtesy of the National
'sather Service
UNCA Atmospheric Science Department
flers updated forecasts through the 24 hour
''ealherline...251-6435
Feeling Better
ban rnoio ay RuSs Reed
Bob Swayngim returned to work this semester after
suffering a heart attack last semester. Swayngim Is an
administrative assistant In the UNCA Business Office.
UNCA to
host MLK
celebration
Georgia attorney
to deliver speech
Annemarle Riley
Staff Writer
UNCA’s tenth annual Martin
Luther King Jr. Celebration will
feature speaker PaU'icia Russell-
McCloud at 7 p.m. Friday, January
28 in Lipinsky Auditorium.
The program is free and open to
the public.
Russell-McCloud’s talk,
“America; A Dream Deferred,” is
sponsored by the UNCA Office of
Multicultural Student Affairs, the
UNCA African American Student
Association and the Social Life Task
Force.
“Russell-McCloud has been
speaking nationally since the age of
eight and has been featured in Ebony
and Essence Magazines,” said David
Miles, President of the UNCA
African American Student
Association.
A Howard University Law School
graduate, Russell-McCloud served
as an attorney with the Federal
Communications Commission
broadcast complaint bureau,
according to Appalachian State
Photo Courtesy of UNCA Office of Public Information
Patricia Russell-McCloud
University’s publication,
“Harambee.”
“Harambee” also says, Russell -
McCloud has spoken before groups
ranging from the Girl Scouts of
American to the Central Intelligence
Agency.
A life-long member of the National
Association for the Advancement
of Colored People, Russell-
McCloud said, in “Harambee,”
“Martin Luther King has been
important in my life. His courage
and vision helped to mold and shape
and encourage my journey.”
Carolyn Briggs, Coordinator of
UNCA’s Office of Muticultural
Affairs says, “Anyone who comes
to hear Patricia will leave feeling
motivated, focused and inspired.”
Russell-McCloud’s delivery,
according to a press release, has
been described as rooted in a basis
of statistical data and research
which gives her listeners more
than just correct information.
She has the ability to analyze,
identify and address issues, while
motivating audiences to make
positive differences in colleges,
universities, school districts,
civic and community
organizations, corporations and
government in the United States,
Great Britain, West Africa and
the Caribbean, according to the
press release.
“Her presentation, stressing the
importance of ethical leadership
in our schools, riveted my
attenUon from that first ring of
the school bell,” said the
executive director of theNational
Association of Elementary
School Principles, Samuel G.
Sava.