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The Blue
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Volume 24, Number 13 UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT ASHEVILLE December 7,1995
Students and faculty cry foul over athletic budget
Athletic fees rise 107 percent in five years,
director asks for another increase
Paul Buttles
Staff Writer
UNCA has announced it is under
taking a year-long review of its athlet
ics program as part of the new NCAA
Division I certification process, at a
time when questions have been raised
about the athletic department’s bud
get and the university’s ability to af
ford Division I status. ‘
“UNCA welcomes the opportunity
to do a detailed evaluation of all as
pects of our athletics program and its
place in the university community,”
said Patsy Reed, UNCA chancellor, in
n a news release issued by the public
information office.
According to Dhaval “Doc” Patel,
student body president and member
of the UNCA fees committee, one
area which should be examined is the
athletic department’s budget.
Records show Laura Johnson, assis
tant athletic director, is being paid
almost $20,000 a year from a housing
services account managed by Pete Wil-
n liams, director of housing and resi-
i dence life. When asked if he knew
why Johnson was being paid from his
account and not the athletics depart
ment account, Willimas replied, “No.
I’m trying to think. Out of housing
services? No, you’d have to ask Dr.
lovacchini on that.”
“Well, Pete (Williams) is in charge of
the housing account,” said Eric
lovacchini, vice chan&llor for student
affairs. “There shouldn’t be anyone in
that area (athletics) paid from the hous
ing budget. I think he would like to
know why it’s missing from his bud
get, but until I get up with (Arthur)
Foley (vice chancellor for financial af
fairs), I’m afraid I am not going to be
able to give you an answer that makes
any sense. I’m not so sure that I’m
going to be able to give you an answer
that makes any sense anyway, but be
fore I open my mouth I want to make
Sure what his thoughts are.”
Steve Mallonee, NCAA director of
legislative services, said that NCAA
guidelines say that the chief executive
officer at the university determines the
appropriate salaries and how money is
used. He also said that the issues were
ethical ones to be addressed by univer
sity administration, and he would not
comment on whether or not viola
tions have occurred.
Foley said he didn’t have time to look
into the matter. “I don’t think there’s
any urgency to make a correction on
it. We’d need to research it, and I’ve
got other things that I have to do.”
Tom Byers, special assistant to the
chancellor, said he would have noticed
if $20,000 was missing from his (own
department’s) budget. “My presump
tion in these cases is that there might
well be a valid reason for that. I do not
know off the top of my head what it
ATHLETICS conf. on pg. 10
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According to university budget records, the athletic department has paid eight coaches, two athletic
directors, and one secretary from the recreation budget. A total of $118,535 has been charged to the
recreation account. Dhaval "Doc" Patel, SGA president said that athletic fees have increased 107
percent in the last five years, and the department is asking for an $8.50 increase in athletic fees, and a
three-dollar increase in recreation fees.
Faculty reactions
vary on athletics
controversy
Paul Buttles
Staff Writer
Faculty members have expressed var
ied attitudes about the athletics de
partment and the amount of money
required to maintain Division 1 status.
“I have a lot of starving students over
here that are damn good, that I’d love
to see get that kind of money,” said
James Heimbach, chairman and asso
ciate professor of atmospheric sciences.
“Personally, I believe that we, as an
institution, cannot support Division 1
athletics,” said Gregg Kormanik, chair
of the biology department. “We’re not
big enough.”
“That may well be. That’s not for me
to say, but I don’t think it is,” said
Tom Hunnicutt, dircitor of athletics.
“It’s an enigma here isn’t it?” said
Gary Miller, director and professor of
environmental studies. “Here we are,
this broad-based, liberal arts institu
tion that spends most of its scholar
ship money on athletes.”
“I’ve always instinctively felt that an
awful lot of money seems to go (on
athletics) for not a whole lot of re
sults,” said Sophie Mills, chairman
and assistant professor of classics.
“One of the things that they’re trying
to do right now is build up the athletic
FACULTY conf. on pg. 10
Student Senate approves funds for members who have not completed work
James Hertsch
Staff Writer
Overriding two presidential
vetoes, the student senate voted
almost $6,300 in stipends for
the semester for Student Gov
ernment Association(SGA)
members, including those who
took office during the semes
ter, and those who have not
completed their office hours.
“I feel it’s unfair on our part to
allocate full stipend to people
who didn’t earn it,” said SGA
president Dhaval “Doc” Patel
in his veto notice on the origi
nal bill. “Missing work for half
the semester, in my mind, is not
earning the full stipend. We are
being unfair with Student Fees,
if we allocate full stipend to
these senators.”
Members of SGA taking of
fice during the semester include
the three freshman senators,
SGA parliamentarian Stephen
Gross, senior senator Rebecca
Barraclough, commuter sena
tors Matt Guinn and Lisa Ridge,
and student senator Eric
Felman.
One of the senators in ques
tion, Carlos Valencia, has had
some personal problems this
semester. Combs said. Accord
ing to SGA officials, Valencia
has returned to Spain at this
time, having been called for
service in the Spanish army.
The original bill, initiated by
SGA officc manager Jeff Greer,
did not include full stipends for
all SGA members, but was
amended to include full sti
pends for most SGA members,
Greer said. After Patel’s initial
veto, the student senate failed
to override the veto and went
into executive session, Patel
said. After this session, the sen
ate reconsidered his veto and
overturned it, splitting a group
of names from the main list,
Patel said.
After this, the senate voted on
stipends for other SGA mem
bers. According to Mark Dann,
senior senator, the student sen
ate passed this bill with full
stipends for all SGA members.
Patel vetoed this bill, and the
student senate overrode Patel’s
veto in the course of the same
meeting, Dann said.
Dann said the student senate
should not have paid full sti
pends to all SGA members. He
cited a lack of required office
hours on the parts of several
SGA members. The student
senate is required to consider
average office hours in deciding
the amount of money individual
SGA members receive. Addi
tionally, Dann said he did not
believe that those who entered
SGA midway through the se
mester should have received
full stipends. Dann said overall,
SGA had not done its job this
year.
“The essence of this is the fact
that student fees are being paid
by students to have student gov
ernment work for them, and
that work’s not being done,”
Dann said. “And, the student
government senate was voting
to pay students for not doing
that work.”
According to Combs, not all
members of SGA have been
maintaining the required num
ber of office hours. Several SGA
members missed hours at the
SENATE cont. on pg. 8
Kathy Whatley and Phyllis Lang welcome a visitor during open house
Open house provides
information for
prospective students
Renee Slaydon
Staff Writer
UNCA held an open house to inform
prospective students and their parents
about the university on Dec. 2. A panel of
administrators, as well as students, spoke
to the guests visiting campus in Lipinsky
Auditorium at 11 a.m.
Before the presentation in the audito
rium, the visiting students were given a
chance to speak with faculty members
representing each academic department.
Coffee, juice, and muffins were set up on
tables in the lobby of Lipinsky Audito
rium, which was full to capacity with the
OPEN conf. on pg. 10
Speaker commemorates World AIDS Day
Tracy Singleton
Staff Writer
A speaker who is HIV positive and a
Western North Carolina AIDS project
case manager spoke on campus Dec. 1 in
acknowledgment of World AIDS Day.
“It (living with HIV) has been a very
good learning experience for me,” said
Steve Guyton, an HIV-positive AIDS
activist. “The disease has done some pro
gressing. I now have lesions on my face.”
Guyton said the visibility of his disease
prompted him to take responsibility for
his health. He said this process involves
more than “just learning about AIDS,
how we get AIDS, and what do we do to
combat the disease.”
“The disease itself, is a very individual
thing,” said Guyton. “Every individual
responds to the disease differently be
cause everybody is different.”
Guyton said when he contracted the
disease in 1991 he felt “fine.”
“I was just going along, doing my
thing, but then I developed the lesions
which are a very rare form of skin can
cer,” said Guyton.
Guyton said the skin cancer used to
only show up in elderly Jewish Mediter
ranean men. He said his immune sys
tem is so low that the cells were not
fighting off the tumors that .have devel
oped cancer cells.
“Having talked with doctors, we are
(working) very hard to bring my im
mune system back up,” said Guyton.
Guyton said the lesions would disap
pear as his immune system recovers.
After having been diagnosed with the
disease, Guyton said one of the first
SPEAKER conf. on pg. 8