IHSIDE:
SPOmS: Baseball season preview
p. 6
OPINIOH: Protect ihe children
P.2
"Certainly there are lots of things in life
that money won't buy, but it's very funny-
Have you ever tried to buy them without
money?”—Ogden Nash
The Blue
FEATUHES: Artwork depicts nature's
beauty p. 4
BANNER
CQA1IC5.' Jhree-piece chicken combo
p. 8
WEATHER: Mostly sunny
weekend. Highs in the 50s
Lows in the 30s.
VOLUME 23
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT ASHEVILLE
NUMBER 18
Appraiser; UNCAMade Mistake With Recent $450,000 Land Purchase
Will Rothschild
Staff Writer
While UNCA officials were pleased to announce
last month the purchase of 1.36 acres of land
earmarked for future university annexation, at
least one Asheville real estate appraiser says the
school might have gotten ripped off.
“I would not have thought that land would have
brought that (price)Mickey Foster, an Asheville-
based North Carolina state certified general ap
praiser, said Monday.
The state bought the 1.36 acres for UNCA for
ji450,00U, university trustees announced in Janu
ary.
“That comes out to $7.16 a square foot and that
is equal to some commercial property out on
Hendersonville Road, which is very high,” Foster
said. “Maybe that land is just something they
(UNCA) really needed. I haven’t seen it [the
property], but I would say that $7.16 a square foot
is very high.”
The new university land is bounded by Division
Street, Broadway and U.S. 19/23, and is contigu
ous with the campus.
North Asheville Baptist Church owned the land,
and still has a building on the site, which it will
continue to use for a year, after which the church
may move it or lease it for another year from the
state.
Foster also said nearby real estate has sold for
much less recently and said UNCA has made real
"The whole university messed up when they didn't buy the
Highland Hocpital. Thcro were dorms already there and a
cafeteria. They just screwed up when they didn't buy that —I've
never seen a mess-up worse in my whole life. "—Mickey Foster,
North Carolina state certified general appraiser.
estate mistakes before.
“A three-acre tract on the corner of Broadway
and (U. S.) 19/23 with highway frontage was bought
for $175,000 an acre recently, so that’s why I’m
surprised at what that piece of land brought,”
Foster said.
Those three acres, across the street from UNCA’s
recent pruchase, were bought for the construction
of a new state employees credit union and cost a
total of $425,000, compared to the $450,000 the
state paid for UNCA’s 1.36-acre addition, accord
ing to Foster.
Foster also said
UNCA should
have bought the
old Highland
Hospital complex
when it was on the
market a few years
ago.
“The whole uni
versity messed up
when they didn’t
buy the Highland Hospital,” Foster said. “There
were dorms already there and a cafeteria. They just
screwed up when they didn’t buy that...I’ve never
seen a mess-up worse than that in my whole life.”
Foster said the Highland Hospital property, which
sold for $2.5 million, would have paid for itself
because of the facility’s existing dormitory and
cafeteria, thus negating some future construction
projects. UNCA has opened a new residence hall
and cafeteria in the last year, and plans for another
residence hall are already underway.
Tom Byers, special assistant to the chancellor,
disagreed with Foster, saying the state did not pay
too much for the church property.
“I can assure you that the state of North Carolina
is quite cautious about land purchases,” Byers said.
“There is a skilled team of officers who specify in
this field for the state. When they undertake
something like this, they make an appraisal of
comparable tracts of land to arrive at a price. The
state will only acquire land at a fair-market value
and not any more.
“I do agree that may seem like a large sum
Please see "Land," page 10
Race Is On For SGA Offices
Andrea Lawson
Staff Writer
A preliminary list of candidates for the
Student Government Association (SGA)
elections was released Sunday. This list
includes only one commuter student
and no non-traditionally-aged students.
“[The campaign] is open for anyone
and everyone to run, as far as non-
traditional or traditional students are
concerned,” said Gerard Moses, presi
dent of SGA. “It’s not discriminatory
against non-traditional students. We
try to get them involved as much as
possible.”
Applications for student government
positions were turned in on Sunday,
and will be cleared through the registrar
concerning class standing and grade
point average this week, according to
Ryan DeSear, vice president of SGA.
“None [of the non-traditionally aged
students] have really been interested in
the past,” DeSear said.
Election events will begin Thursday
evening, when the candidates are offi
cially announced at a 9 p.m. meeting in
the old cafeteria.
“They can’t officially announce their
candidacy until [Thursday] according
to our by-laws,” said DeSear. “It might
be construed as illegal campaigning. It’s
just to make sure that people are prop
erly registered for classes.”
According to DeSear, the candidates
have one week to campaign and may
spend $50 of their own money for cam
paign purposes. This money can come
from the student or from donations.
After the week is up, candidates are
asked to turn in an expense sheet, which
is reviewed by the elections commis
sioner and staff. Then, the elections
take place.
DeSear said that 18 senate positions
are open for election, as well as the
offices of president and vice president.
The senate positions include three spaces
for each of the four class rankings, three
residential senate positions, and three
commuter senator positions. All other
government positions will be appointed
by the president.
Nine students are running for election
this year, according to Lesa Trey, elec
tions commissioner. The records of
these students will be cleared through
the registrar and announced at
Thursday’s meeting. Denise Tomlinson
and Matthew Guinn will be running for
president. Vice presidential candidates
are Dhaval [Doc] Patel and Beth Daniels.
Roger Keever, Mark Dann, and Robbie
Combs will be running for senior sena
tor. Adrian Tatum will be running for
Please see "Race," page
UNCA Blood Drive Misses Its Mark
Todd Hagans
Staff Writer
Despite collecting 49 units of usable
blood, the Red Cross blood drive fell
short of its goal of collecting 80 pints
last Wednesday on the UNCA campus.
Organizers believe the decrease was
caused by people not being aware of the
bloodmobile in Highsmith Center.
“Normally, it hasn’t been a problem to
get people to sign up, and we [had] a
problem getting people just-to sign up
this time,” said Tomlinson. “People
don’t travel through the Highsmith
Center as frequently now from other
parts of the campus.”
Jo Peterson, an SGA residential sena
tor and a senior majoring in history, said
that she believes that the decline in
participants was because people were
sick, and that the dining hall is no
longer located in the Highsmith Cen
ter.
“It seems like it’s [the number of do
nors] a little down compared to usual,
which I think might be partly due to the
fact that the cafeteria is no longer in the
building,” said Peterson. “We have
always gotten [donors] as people come
out of Humanities, or going to4unch, or
leaving lunch.”
Tomlinson said that 69 people regis
tered to give blood, and that 10 people
Karen Engelke, a UNCA sophomore biology major, donated blood last week.
By Tanya Melton
were not allowed to give blood due to
illness or immunization requirements.
Dianne Hcrrick, head nurse during
the bloodmobile, said that the number
of donors increased as the day pro
gressed, and that there have been several
first-time donors.
“It picked up a few hours into the
draw,” said Herrick. “We have had a lot
of people who are first-time donors.
which is wonderfiil.”
The Red Cross issues a list of which
blood types are in greatest demand on a
daily basis, and there is currently a short
age of blood, according to Herrick.
“We are low in everything right now,
so we appreciate everybody that comes,”
said Herrick.
Please see "Blood,"page TO
Visiting Speaker Says Black Americans Face Impending Crisis
Chris Small
Staff Writer
David G. DuBois, son of NAACP Founder
W.E.B. DuBois, told an audience gathered in
Lipinski Auditorium last week that separatism is
rampant, and he accused the media for perpetrat
ing racism. DuBois was appearing on campus as
part of African-American Heritage Month.
“There is an impending crisis facing Black Ameri
cans in America today,” said DuBois. Tempers
flare and rationality fades at the very mention of
white racism.”
The struggle against white racism was at the very
core of the long life, scholarship, and activism of
W.E.B. DuBois, said DuBois. DuBois likened his
father’s struggle to those of Martin Luther King,
Jr. and Malcome X.
“His life was totally devoted to research and
study, writing and teaching, organizing and pro
pagandizing the truth about Africa and its peoples,
said DuBois. “What it did, rather, was bring down
on his head the wrath of those he
exposed as liars, hypocrites, and
thieves among the politicians,
the academicians, and the giants
of industry arid commerce.”
DuBois related a story featured
in the New York Times on Feb.
13, about a former police officer
serving a prison term for the
beating of Rodney King. As
much as $4.7 million has been
raised in his support, said
DuBois.
“To me, this suggests that there
is an enormous force in this
country who are determined to
keep the ‘Negro’ in his place,”
said DuBois. “How is it that so soon after the
National Civil Rights upheavals of the 1960s we
are today witnessing a steady increase in the inci
dents of violent racist attacks against peoples of
color?”
[)avid G. DuBois
DuBois pointed to the mass me
dia as a perpetrator of racism, and
said that endlessly a finger is being
pointed at the black community,
the black family, black crime, and
black immorality. This reinforces
the belief that “there is something
inherent in black people that is
responsible for our status in soci
ety,” said DuBois.
The nation continues to move
towards an unequal separatism of
two societies; one black, one white,
according to a four-year Washing
ton, D.C. National Research
Council Study.
DuBois described his father as relentless in the
task of documenting the truth of Africa, and the
superiority of European control over Africans and
"colored people". W.E.B. DuBois’ books include
titles such zs: The Gift of Black Folk, Dark Princess,
Africa:! ts Place in Modern History, and The Souls of
Black Folk.
“Africa, Africans, and peoples of African decent
have been historically, and are today, the most
ravaged victims of white racism,” said DuBois.
“The lack of information, the misinformation,
and the distortions about Africa, Africans, and
peoples of African decent are legend. It is this that
makes possible the continuing cancer of white
racism.”
“Today, white supremacy is viewed as an inher
ent right that whites possess, and we witness the
limited rights gained through the struggles of the
Civil Rights Movement,” said DuBois.
“[It is] the unchallenged beliefs, attitudes, and
convictions of white superiority at home, and
globally, that are pushing our two peoples apart
into two nations, more separate, more hostile,
more unequal,” said DuBois.
Please see "Crisis," page 10