Newspapers / University of North Carolina … / Sept. 29, 1994, edition 1 / Page 1
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INSIDE: SPORTS: Wom&i's soccer team on four gam wiming streak page 5 OPIHION: Hesponsibilily hlls on SGA, not candidates page 2 ’Hell, I never vote for anybody, I always vote against. " — W. C. Fields The Blue FEAJUmS: Hugh Masekela performs tonight page 4 COMICS: Chaos: Hell freezes over paged BANNER WEATHER: Cool fall-like weather will continue this week. Highs in the 70s. VOLUME 23 UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT ASHEVILLE NUMBER 5 STUDENT GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS DRAW LOW VOTER TURNOUT Janice Sitton Staff Writer Student Government Association (SGA) fresh- lan elections were held on campus last Thursday and Friday to fill the three open freshman senate j)Ositions. Seventy-eight freshman ballots were submitted from approximately 390 freshman stu dents. “I wish more freshmen would have voted,” said "ason Ledford, one of the new freshman senators. ‘The turnout was pretty low. They [the freshmen] eally didn’t know a lot about the election, and I uess that was the candidates fault for not explain- ng that the elections were coming up.” Conrad Shirk, a sophomore Senator for SGA, anned the polls in Karpen Hall on Friday morn- ng- “I’ve been here since nine o’clock, and I’ve taken one vote,” said Shirk around noon on Friday. “I walked by a table, and I saw the computer set up for SGA elections,” said freshman Jennifer Peterson. “I really don’t know much about it [SGA]. I’ve just heard various things. A friend is active in the SGA, and she was telling me to get involved because it makes a lot of difference on campus.” “I remember hearing something about it [the election] at orientation, and one of my friends is running. He reminded me about it,” said Sherri Greene, freshman. Also, Antwane came up and talked to us one day at lunch.” “I barely know anything about them,” said Julie Barett, freshman. “All I know is that they meet sometimes, that’s it.” The new freshmen senators are Ledford, with 29 votes; Antwane Turner, with 55 votes; and Jenni fer Weatherman, with 30 votes. Kenneth Corn, also a candidate, received 21 votes, and five other votes were received for write-in candidates. Both Ledford and Weatherman were involved with SGA at their high schools before coming to UNCA. J J plonco c^"cr A " H Studefits manning tfie polls last week for the freshman SGA elections found themselves with little to do because only Kleose see page 8 20 percent of the freshman class voted. ^ , f^oto by Randy Marrs Professor Shares Experience in South Africa Dan Clifton Staff Writer University of North Carolina at ^Asheville professor Kofi Apraku repre- Isented the United Nations (U.N.) last iDecember to help ensure fair and peace- Ifiil elections in South Africa. On Sep- Itember 20 in the Owen Confere nce I Center, Apraku addressed his involve- Jment in South Africa and,the events ,>? leading up to the process of the democ- ratization of South Africa. ■' Apraku’s initial involvement in Afri can politics occurred in his homeland of • Ghana where, in 1991, he was on a . sabbatical from UNCA. Upon his re turn to Ghana, Apraku became in volved with the politics of Ghana, and then decided to run for a Parliament position, but chose to take sides against , the ruling government. “At one point, my whole family had ■ guns to their heads. Even my, at the time, sixyear old daughter,” said Apraku. “And for what, because we spoke out against the government.” After Apraku lost in the election, he then returned to teach here at UNCA. The word apartheid has labeled South ' Africa for many years. It has meant horrible living conditions and extreme : poverty for most black South Africans, according to Apraku. Since 1948, when the National Party won the elections. Kofi Apraku Photo by Randy Marrs apartheid became a national policy, and legislative laws were put into affect to ensure the separate development of the races. Apraku also said that black South Af ricans were seen as too inferior to live in the same areas as the white people, so the government allotted them their own land. “Whites make up 14 percent of the population in South Africa and occupy 87 percent of the total land area,” said Apraku. “While blacks make up 74 percent of South Africa and occupy 13 percent of the total area.” According to Apraku, the segregation in South Africa was such that the closer you are to the white color, the better off you are. So, to enforce and institutionalize the ideas of apartheid, several acts were implemented by the South African gov ernment, according to Apraku. One such act was the Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act in 1949. As the act says, people were prohibited from marrying' outside of their race. There was also the Population Regis tration Act, which was designed to reg ister people of different races so that the individual races could be isolated. Also, the Group Areas Act, which said that people of certain races could only live in their designated areas, and they could not move around freely unless they were issued a pass. According to Apraku, the implemen tation of apartheid in South Africa was classified by many world communities as a crime against humanity, and a threat to peace in South Africa. The U.N. and many countries, including the United States, brought sanctions against South Africa. The U.S. imposed economic sanctions against South Africa in 1985, and Apraku believes that this was one of the events that started the process of democratizing South Africa. Apraku points to the worker strikes, boycotts, and the arms race that took place during that same year as other contributing factors. Please see "Apraku," page 8 UNCA Gets High Ranking Kemberly V. Graham Staff Writer Over 48,000 students across the coun try ranked colleges and universities for the 1995 edition of The Princeton Re view. This review ranked UNCA as being one of the best schools in the nation because of the its strong teach ing, accessibility of professors, small classes and an atmosphere where stu dents call the faculty and staff by their first name. UNCA received high scores in several areas. On a scale based from 0 - 100, UNCA scored an 87 on the quality of life, an 87 on academics, an 88 on professor accessibility, an 88 on profes sors being interesting, an 80 on com petitiveness, and an 86 on financial aid. The Princeton Review, a college guide based on student comments and sur veys, says that UNCA students speak highly of the university’s orientation program, the literature department, and its environmental studies and creative writing programs. “My orientation leader helped me to plan out my schedule and pick the classes I needed for my major and to fulfill my general requirements,” said Shelly Stone, a freshman. “I thought it was kind of boring, and I felt that half of it was unnecessary,” said freshman Teshania Wiley. “I think they had too many small group meetings.” Gerard Moses, a senior and an orien tation leader, said that the orientation program focuses on familiarizing new students with the services and organiza tions on campus. “My orientation leader had a big affect on me,” said Moses. “She pushed get ting involved with campus activities.” “I think the orientation program is helpful,”saidsophomoreNiles Jefferson. “It familiarizes people with the cam pus.” Moses agreed that strengths of UNCA include the personal interaction with professors Jn the classroom, a small class size, and the accessibility of professors. ■ Stone said the strengths of UNCA include the small student population and the small number of students in the classroom. Although many students agreed that UNCA has an excellent academic pro gram, some said that the institution needs to work on the social and cultural atmosphere. “UNCA is a good school as far as academics, but not as far as student life is concerned,” said sophomore Imari Adams. “Campus life here, socially, is a big part of how, academically, you’re going to perform,” said Adams. According to Adams, worrying about parking tickets, receiving a good meal in the cafeteria, dealing with racism, and dealing with professional and social in eptitude has a direct affect on a student’s academic performance. UNmSlIY RKOGNIZH) FOR ITS FOCUS ON UNDERGimjArE EDUCMION Greg Deal Staff Writer I UNCA has recently been reclassified by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching from a Comprehensive II university to a Baccalaureate (Liberal Arts) I college. “That puts us with the so-called national liberal arts colleges now,” said Larry Wilson, UNCA vice chancellor for academic affairs. UNCA has been a liberal arts college for a long time. We’re finally getting the recognition for what we are doing here.” Carnegie’s system sets the national standard for classification of higher education institutions. It is also the basis for national ranking studies, such as [/.S. News & World Report's annual “best colleges” rankings. “I think the most positive aspect [of the reclassi fication] is that we are now included in a group of the very best, most widely recognized colleges,” said Wilson. The main difference between Comprehensive II and Baccalaureate I colleges is the commitment they have to undergraduate education, according to Wilson. He said that some Comprehensive II institutions do not have as broad of a range of "Foundations are more inclined to give their monies to those institutions that are best known for undergradu ate education." — Larry Wilson, vice chancellor for academic affairs. studies as Baccalaureate I institutions. “It’s symbolic that we’re an institution that cares about our undergraduate students first and fore most,” said Wilson. “We assume that every gradu ate of UNCA has a strong background in humani ties, arts, sciences, and the social sciences.” Wilson said that there are two criteria for being classified as a Baccalaureate I university. “First, at least half of the graduates have to have majors in liberal arts. We are at about 60 percent,” said Wilson. “Second, is that it be a selective college.” Wilson said that UNCA was analyzed under those criteria, and judged to be an institution which is strongly committed to liberal, high-qual ity education. “Since it’s inception, UNCA has dedicated itself to the liberal arts, with the overriding goal of Please see "Carnegie," page 8
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