INSIDE:
SPOUTS: Sweet Uberly p. 7
OPINIOH: Show your love in a
signifkantway p. 2
"We're not involved in censorship. We have
different values than the ones on MTV.
Ours are higher. "—Jim Broich, mayor of
Sleepy Eye, Minn., 1994
The Blue
FEAWRES: DuBois fo dims racism
p.4
BANNER
COMICS: SoapSumiiiary
p. 6
WEATHER: Variable cloudi
ness with showers possible on
Saturday. Mostly sunny and
cooler on Sunday. Highs in
upper 40s. Lows in lowere 30s.
VOLUME 23
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT ASHEVILLE
NUMBER 17
STUDENTS FEEL SNOWED UNDER BY UNIVERSITY POLICY
Andrea Lawson
Staff Writer
Last week’s winter weather left many students
angry and confused regarding UNCA’s snow
policy.
“It’s dangerous to drive, especially for a lot of
commuter students [who] come from Black Moun
tain and places like that, where they live on second
ary roads that aren’t going to be cleared,” said
Allison Landers, a major in atmospheric sciences.
“If the [school] buses aren’t running, then the
school should be closed, because commuters aren’t
going to be able to get by any easier.”
Larry Wilson, vice chancellor for academic af
fairs, is the person responsible for deciding if the
school will close due to bad weather.
“It’s not a lightly-made decision, I can assure
you,” said Wilson. “My basic premise is that we’re
open every day and only close when we have
adverse conditions, and I mean really serious con
ditions.”
Wilson said that he
determines whether
or not the university
will be open by driv
ing on local roads to
see if they are safe for
student travel.
“What I do is get up
very early in the morn
ing and drive around
on a route I have,”
said Wilson. “It’s
about 30 miles or so
of city streets, county
roads, and interstate.
Contrary to what
people think, I don’t
have a four-wheel
drive vehicle. I drive a
1982 Pontiac. I figure
if it’s safe for that car,
it’s safe for other ve
hicles.”
An unexpected snowfall caught students off guard lost week and left some cars stranded on
campus. Photo by Lot Ray
Wilson said that all state employees are required
to come to school on snow days, unless the state
offices in Raleigh close. However, Wilson said
that students who feel that roads are too dangerous
in their areas should call the department office and
explain their situation. According to Wilson,
university policy includes a forgiveness policy to
excuse those absences.
“We don’t want to threaten either students or
faculty,” said Wilson. “We have some students
who come from some pretty hard-to-get places.
You’re always worried if people are going to be in
a dangerous situation. That’s when they have to
utilize some of their own judgment. Students
should always call in to the department and let the
secretary know that their judgment for their par
ticular location is that it is too dangerous. Faculty
members should all know that it’s supposed to be
an excused absence.”
Last Tuesday night’s bad weather caught many
Please see "Snow," page 8
Open Door Brings Students Face To Face With Chancellor
Chris Small
Staff Writer
UNCA Chancellor Patsy B. Reed will
begin offering open office hours in
March for any students interested in
meeting with her to exchange ideas.
The suggestion for this idea came from
the UNCA Student Government Asso
ciation (SGA), and was agreed upon by
Reed.
“I’m very happy to respond to the
request for open office hours,” said Reed.
Reed said that she has always had an
open door policy for students, and she
will have no set agenda for her meetings
with students.
“I would assume that there will be
concerns, that there will be suggestions
and ideas for activities or changes, said
Reed. “It’s an open agenda. I have no
agenda. It’s just to listen to other people.”
Some students have specific concerns
they want addressed.
“I would like to sit down and ask her
[the chancellor] why our professors have
been instructed to only give a certain
number ofA’s, B’s, C’s, etc.," said Amy
Cannon, a mass communication major.
Cannon said she has had a Humanities
professor tell the class that if he did not
give a certain number of C’s, he could
lose his tenure.
“We, as students, have been told this
is because our grades are too high as a
student body, so I would like to ask her
why we are being punished for-being
good students,” said Cannon.
Another student, Angela Mahdi, a
political science major, already sched
ules appointments with Reed.
“I would definitely use it [the open
office hours] and take advantage of her
willingness to listen," said Mahdi.
“People in powerful positions, in gen
eral, are not always willing to listen to
the people who put them there.”
There is a state-wide movement
through the student organizations to be
sure that there are good communica
tions with the chancellors, said Reed.
The State Association of Student Gov
ernments is an organization made up of
representatives from all 16 universities
in the North Carolina University sys
tem. Its purpose is to try to represent
the problems of students in all the
schools.
Denise Tomlinson, executive for ex
ternal relations and a vice president for
SGA, returned from the state meeting
in RaleigK, where she presented her idea
for an open office hour policy.
Tomlinson said that a round table
discussion, within the SGA, led to
talking about a resolution to have one
office hour a week for students to meet
with the chancellor.
“I wanted to make it easier for students
to discuss their concerns with the chan-
cdl6f,'‘'said Tohilinson.
“Chancellor Reed was completely open
and optimistic about the idea, and she
set up times right away.”
Reed hopes the exchange of ideas and
personal contact with students will in
crease her awareness of students' needs.
“I think it’s important that a university
be a place where people are comfortable
being with one another," said Reed.
“Being a liberal arts institution, and a
public institution, we need to be able to
exchange ideas readily. Certainly, that
exists across campus in many places and
perhaps, this policy is just an extension
of that.”
Except for times when Reed is out of
town or unavailable, she thinks that this
program will be ongoing.
“My interest in students is ongoing ,so
I suspect that my interest in talking with
students will be ongoing, “ said Reed.
“Typically, what I will do if a problem
is brought to me, will be to try to involve
those close to the problem to work it
out," said Reed.
“If there is something that is a major
concern, and it can be worked out oth
erwise, I would encourage students to
do that, but I would be very happy to
talk with them too, if they need to.”
Bears offered as gifts.
Two rare Scottish Highland Teddy Bears were offered as gifts on St, Valentine's Day. The two bears
old ii
were abducted from an Three Stooges' film festival and sold into slavery.
Photo by Christy King
Proposed Student Surveys Give University's "Customers" A Voice
Will Rotfischild
Staff Writer
Spurred by student complaints, a UNCA student
government ofFicer is leading an effort to develop
a system of student surveys of university offices.
Denise Tomlinson, the executive for external
relations for the UNCA Student Government
Association [SGA], said the survey system, which
would give students a chance to critique every
university student-service office, could be in place
as early as next fall.
“What this does is gives the student the opportu
nity to complete a survey on any department that
is a student-service department, like Financial Aid,
Business, Health Services, Counseling Center, and
the Career Center,” Tomlinson, a junior, said.
Tomlinson, who is also director of pubic rela
tions for the state association of student govern
ments, said she originally heard of a similar pro
gram from a UNC-Greensboro (UNCG) student
government officer. A survey system is already in
place at UNCG.
Tomlinson also said she hopes the system, when
in place, will give the average, everyday UNCA
student a louder voice.
“I really thought we could use this [survey sys
tem] after all the complaints I’d heard about
financial aid,” Tomlinson said. “I have heard
similar stories from students across the state at
different schools.
“At ECU (East Carolina University), the student
government president walked into the business
office one day and asked if he could use the phone,
and they said, ‘No, students aren’t allowed to use
the phone.’ But, another lady walked in and knew
who he was and told him that he could use the
phone."
“What happens to the normal, everyday students
without a title, who are just as, if not more,
important? They should have a voice and be able
to say they were not treated well.”
Tomlinson said Chancellor Patsy Reed supports
the idea.
“Chancellor Reed is all for it,” Tomlinson said.
“Like Chancellor Reed has said, she wants this
school to be customer-friendly. In essence, we [the
students] are the customers, and if we are not
happy, we need to do something about it. If
students see a problem, we have to be able to get it
fixed.”
Reed said in a December interview the adminis
tration would be looking for ways UNCA can be
a “more customer-friendly campus,” as the new
master plan is developed in 1995.
Tomlinson said academic advisors could also be
one of the student services critiqued in this pro
gram.
Tomlinson, a Southern Guilford High graduate,
also made it clear that the program would not be
intended for the sole purpose of student com
plaints.
“Ideally, this system would end up rewarding
people and offices that are doing a good job, but
they can also be told if they are not doing a good
job,” Tomlinson said. She did not say what the
possible rewards or reprimands might be.
Assistant Vice Chancellor Caroline Miller said a
survey of all administrative offices by students,
faculty and administrators was conducted in 1987
and 1990.
“Those were pretty comprehensive surveys,”
Miller said. “It gave us all (university administra
tors) a lot of feedback, and most of it was pretty
helpful. ^
“I think if we do it (student-only surveys), we
need to look carefully at the questions we ask so we
get helpful responses back. For example, if you ask
questions like, ‘What do you think about registra
tion?’ you get ‘good,’ ‘wonderful,’ ‘terrible,’ for
responses, and you don’t know what exactly that
Please see "Voice," page 8