INSIDE:
SPOUTS: BulkJog baseball sweeps
A&T p. 6
OPINION: Cuts in university funding
not fhe answer p. 2
The Blue
March 9,
1995
FEAHJHiS: Coffee shop review
p.4
COIMCS: Soap Summary
p. 8
"When you steal from one author, it's
plagiarism; if you steal from many, it's
research. "—Attributed to Wilson Mizner
BANNER
WEA THER: Mostly sunny
skies with moderating tempera
tures. Highs in the low 60s.
Lows in the upper 30s.
VOLUME 23
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT ASHEVILLE
NUMBER 20
Governor Hunt Includes Major Education Cuts In New Budget Proposal
Will Rothschild
Staff Writer
North Carolina Gov. Jim Hunt proposed a $27
million cut in state university funding — some of
which might force a 3.1-percent tuition increase
— as part of his recent state budget proposal for
1995-97.
Most of these cuts would directly affect UNCA,
and that has university officials worried.
“Overall, this is cause for deep concern among
university administrators and trustees,” Tom Byers,
UNCA special assistant to the chancellor, said.
“The University of North Carolina, with ail its
campuses, has been a central element in North
Carolina’s economic progress in modern history.
It is cause of alarm if there are going to be cuts that
take away the quality edge which this great system
has enjoyed.”
In a letter that accompanied his budget proposal.
Hunt said: “This budget reflects my three priori
ties for the coming year: tax relief for working
families, cutting crime, and, most importantly,
helping children...It is a statement of priorities:
investing resources in areas that are most impor
tant to our taxpayers and in areas that will help to
build our state...This budget also recommends
shifting existing resources to high-priority areas
like education and children, while streamlining
and downsizing state government.”
Yet in addition to Hunt’s $27 million-reduction
proposal, Byers said the state legislature has an
additional $40 million in cuts it is considering,
brining the total to $67 million in budget cuts
targeted toward North Carolina’s university sys
tem, currently on the state government’s table.
Hunt’s cuts center on a 3.1-percent hike in
tuition for all students and a reduction in the
university system’s workforce.
If Hunt has his way, UNCA’s full-time in-state
students would see their tuition rise from 1994-
95’s $794 a semester to $818.61 a semester, while
'We are deeply concerned about any
proposed cuts in personnel because
we believe the administration here is
already stretched pretty thin. We've
been through tight budget times here
for a while, and at UNCA, we have
very little fat to cut. "—Tom Byers, spe
cial assistant to the chancellor
higher percentage of in
structional costs. This
would raise tuition by spe
cific amounts.”
fiill-timeout-of-statestudents would pay $3,773.46
per semester, compared to the $3,660 they cur
rently pay.
“The state believes it is subsidizing to some extent
the tuition out-of-state students pay, but not nearly
to the extent of in-state students” Byers said. “The
state believes out-of-state students should pay a
Hunt’s proposal calls for
out-of-state students to
pay 100 percent ofinstruc-
tional costs, meaning the
state would no longer sub
sidize out-of-state stu
dents’ tuition. Byers, how
ever, doubts this will hap
pen.
“I’m not confident in
saying that 100 percent (of out-of-state students’
instructional costs) would be paid (by out-of-state
students),” Byers said. “That may be, but it is not
clear from my information. What is clear is that a
higher proportion of the instructional costs would
Please see "Cuts," page 10
Library Contruction On Schedule
Renovation of Romsey Library is progressing on schedule, according to Malcolm E. Blowers, university
librarian. Blowers said some of tfie new areas will be occupied in earlv July. Plans are for the entire
building to be completed and open to users by the beginning of the fall semester, sdd Bbwers. ^
UNCA Neighbors' Complaints 5p
Speed Limit On Edgewood Road
ark Change In
Christin Hall
Staff Writer
In response to the complaints from a
number of residents in the neighbor
hood along Edgewood Road, authori
ties have lowered the speed limit from
30 to 25 miles per hour. Residents who
were concerned about cars speeding
through their neighborhood, including
many UNCA students who use
Edgewood Road, formed a community
group and petitioned to have the speed
limit lowered.
“I think getting the speed limit re
duced was a big step, and if it will be
monitored, that’ll make a big differ
ence,” said Laurie Moser, who has liyed
at 195 Edgewood Road for about three
and a half years. “We would Just like to
have a safer, quieter neighborhood.”
Edgewood is the road that runs into
University Heights on the northeast
side of UNCA’s campus and stretches
from the campus through a residential
section, across Merrimon Avenue, and
then continues on up to Kimberly Av
enue. The road is popular among
UNCA students as an alternate entrance
to the school’s main entrance off W.T.
Weaver Boulevard.
Moser said she wishes students would
not use her road to travel to and from
campus, because Edgewood Road is
supposed to be primarily a residential
street. There are other, more appropri
ate ways to get to UNCA, she said.
“I would like to see [authorities] push
students more over to W.T. Weaver,”
Moser said. “I mean, that’s a four-lane
road. I think that was designed to go
into campus.”
Neighbor David WTiitley, of 210
Edgewood Road, said he agrees with
Moser that it would be preferable for
students to make greater use of W.T.
Weaver Boulevard. He said that road,
with a speed limit of 35 miles per hour
and four lanes, is much better equipped
to handle the traffic load that has been
forced onto Edgewood.
Moser and Whitley agreed that, al
though many people travel the road
unnecessarily, using it as a short-cut,
students comprise well over half of the
extraneous traffic on Edgewood.
“It’s not all students, but I think the
majority are students,” said Moser.
In fact, according to Sergeant Steve
Oxner, supervisor of the Asheville Po
lice Department’s (APD’s) STEP (Se
lective Traffic Enforcement Program)
unit, UNCA students have been, and
still are, the biggest offenders of violat
ing the speed limit on Edgewood Road.
Oxner said the decrease in the speed
limit came about as a result of “mul
tiple, multiple complaints” from area
residents. He said that, for now, officers
are primarily giving warnings to speed
ers until people get used to the new
speed limit.
Once a reasonable grace period has
passed, however, Oxner said the police
will begin issuing tickets for exceeding
the speed limit.
“Folks have to get into the habit of
obeying the speed limit,” said Oxner.
He said APD has increased its patrols
during peak travel times and will con
tinue to do so as long as it is necessary.
Moser said she hopes the police de
partment will follow throtigh on its
word and patrol the area more heavily
than it has in previous years.
“I don’t see a lot of monitoring,” said
Moser. “I’ve seen, in the past year, just
a handful of police monitoring, but it’s
just not something you see on a real
regular basis. I hope that they will
monitor it more than they have in the
past.”
JeffVan Slyke, director of public safety
on campus, said he knows APD patrols
the road more thoroughly now and
stations officers in certain places where
Please see "Complaints," page 10
UNCA Student Says Some Marriott Dining Hall Employees Are Racist
Todd Hagans
Staff Writer
A UNCA student said that an employee of
Marriott Dining Services talked to her in a de
grading manner” because she is an African-Ameri-
can student after she entered the university dining
hall on Sunday, February 26.
Tarasai Samuels, a senior majoring in education
and Spanish, said that she did not have her iden
tification card upon entering the dining hall on
Sunday evening, and was told by the cashier,
Leland Davis, to obtain a temporary identification
card from the student manager. Samuels said that
she picked up a tray and silverware as she went to
talk to the student manger, Quentin Cavanagh.
“He [the cashier] started talking to me in a
degrading manner, and told me to put it [the tray
and silverware] down,” said Samuels. I told him
[that] he needed to respect me. I just feel that his
problem was biased, and that he wouldn t have
done it [talked to Samuels in a degrading man
ner”] if I weren’t black. I’m just not going to
tolerate being talked to like that by anyone.’
“He [Davis] told her [Samuels] that if she entered
the cafeteria without coming to find me first [to
obtain a temporary identification card], that he
was going to call security,” said Cavanagh.
Cavanagh said that he got Samuels a temporary
identification card, and that she supplied the ap
propriate information to complete the transac
tion. Samuels was allowed to eat in the dining hall
that evening.
"As a black woman, I deserved respect from him,”
said Samuels. “If he [Davis] wanted me to put the
tray down, all he had to do was say, ‘Put the tray
down,’ in a nice way.”
Leland Davis declined to comment on the inci
dent.
"Ms. Samuels came up to me while I was serving
students. She told me that I was threatened by
educated black women. She asserted that I had a
guilty look on my face. I told her the look was
anger," said Beth Palien, the dining hall service
manager, in a written statement.
Palien said that she told Samuels that she would
talk to her about the incident when the dining hall
closed for the evening.
Cavanagh said that the cashier was told Sunday
evening to make sure that students had their
identification cards. If a student did not have his
or her identification card, he or she had to obtain
a temporary identification card from a Marriott
employee.
Samuels said that some cashiers will allow stu
dents to manually enter their social security num
ber into the machine when they do not have their
identification card.
“I have experienced racism since I’ve been here,”
said Samuels.
Palien said that she and Cavanagh were in the
dining hall office later that evening, and that
Samuels asked her who she needed to speak to
concerning racism in Marriott. Palien said that
Samuels could contact the Director of Human
Resources in Charlotte, or talk to Ken Barefoot,
the director of dining services.
Palien said that Samuels asked for Barefoot’s
home telephone number, and that she told Samuels
that she could not give employee’s home tele
phone numbers out to anyone.
"She [Samuels] then asked me if I had been a
racist all my life. Ms. Samuels also asked me if I
belonged to the [Ku Klux] Klan. I answered in the
negative," said Palien in her statement.
“She [Palien] does things to African-American
students all of the time,” said Samuels. “I want
Beth [Palien] out. Beth [Palien] needs to go.”
Samuels said that other students have been in
volved in incidents with Palien.
Palien said that she has had incidents with stu
dents before, but they were not racial incidents.
Palien said that the incidents involve students not
agreeing with dining hall policies such as the hours
of the dining hall, needing identification cards to
enter the dining hall, ana taking food out of the
dining hall.
Please see "Racist," page 5