iO I
Eating disorders
screening 8
Ski trips offered at
low prices 5
Radiators ^zzle. Page 6
Tarheels defeat Bull
dogs 6
Weekend Weather: Chill/ and clear. Highs in the 30$, lows in the 20s.
The Blue
BANNER
Volume 24, Number 14 UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT ASHEVILLE
January 25, 1996
Suspended athlete charged with attempted
murder after shooting into student’s home
!
1
Andrea Lawson
News Editor
A UNCA student who was suspended
for communicating threats to a female
student in a dorm last semester was
charged with assault with a deadly
weapon and intent to kill by the Beau fort
police after he shot into the home of
the female student on Jan. 1.
Clayton R. Cochran was suspended
from school last semester after entering
the dorm room of a female student and
threatening to rape and kill her, ac
cording to university officials. War
rants were issued in Buncombe County
on Jan. 5 which charged Cochran with
communicating threats and the felony
charge of possession of a weapon on
educational property, said Dennis Gre
gory, investigation/crime prevention
officer for UNCA.
According to Steve Lewis, detective
with the Beaufort police department in
Carteret County, on Jan. 1 at approxi
mately 5:45 p.m., the female student
and three friends from UNCA were
eating dinner at the student’s home
when someone knocked on the door.
When the female student went to an
swer the door, she could see Cochran
standing outside. Lewis said the stu
dent was terrified by the look on
Cochran’s face, and as she turned to
run upstairs and warn her parents,
Cochran allegedly shot twice through
the door with a shotgun.
Lewis said one bullet went over the
heads of the girls sitting at the table and
hit a mirror behind them. Two of the
girls ran into the kitchen closet, and
one ran out the back door, according to
Lewis. The girls in the closet told Lewis
that they heard Cochran enter the
house, then flee after hearing police
sirens.
Lewis said officers found eight empty
shotgun shells on the doorstep of the
house and several others in the yard
and on the road that had not been
fired. After the investigation of the
crime scene, Lewis said he contacted
the Guilford County sheriffs office,
where Cochran had previously pled
guilty to burning of personal property.
Lewis said officers in Guilford were
taking a report from Cochran’s stepfa
ther of a stolen shotgun at roughly the
same time as the Beaufort incident was
taking place.
Cochran turned himself in to police
in Guilford County on Jan. 2, accord
ing to Lewis. He was brought to Beau
fort and charged with three counts of
assault with a deadly weapon and in
tent to kill, one count of attempted
murder, one count of first-degree bur
glary, and one count of shooting into
an occupied dwelling. Bond for
Cochran was set at $750,000, an
amount that is not unusual consider
ing the attempted murder charge, Lewis
said.
The incidents in Beaufort are a viola
tion of Cochran’s probation because
he committed a crime while on proba
tion, according to Bill Wood, Guilford
County district attorney. Wood said
Cochran pled guilty to felony charges
of burning personal property at the end
of November, 1995, after he burned
down the playhouse of a 15-year-old
girl in Greensboro in June of 1995.
Wood said Cochran received inten
sive probationand was ordered to pay
restitution of $250 to the girl, $2000
to the fire department, and was or
dered to receive mental health treat
ment. Also, Cochran received a sus
pended sentence of six to eight months.
Wood said the suspension on Cochran’s
sentence will probably be revoked be
cause of the violation.
Lewis said that Cochran was cur
rently being held in a hospital in Ra
leigh for psychiatric evaluation. After
his evaluation, Cochran will be re-
ATHLETE cont. on pg.8
Bulldogs battle Tarheels
I
mmS *!■
Senior William Coley pulls up to shoot a jumper during the UNCA-UNC basketball game Dec
Bulldogs lost 49-66. For more information, see story on page 6,
Photo by Iflt Ray
28. The
Cancellation of classes prompts student questions concerning snow policy
Jeannie Peek
Staff Writer
According to Margaret Downes, vice
chancellor for academic affairs,
UNCA’s snow policy has not changed,
but the recent bad weather prompted
her to cancel classes on Jan. 12, because
she believed road conditions would be
too dangerous for the majority of stu
dents to make it to their classes.
The university’s snow policy tries to
determine if weather conditions are so
bad that it makes it dangerous for a
large number of students to go to class,
said Downes. If such a situation is
present, then the policy is for the uni
versity to either adj ust the time of classes
or cancel them altogether, she said.
“The unpredictability of the weather
can make the policy look like it's chang
ing,” said Downes. The cancellation of
classes is something which has been a
rare occurrence in the past.
Thomas Cochran, vice chancellor for
academic affairs, usually makes the de
cision of whether or not to delay or
cancel classes but was unable to at the
time, and the decision rested upon her
shoulders, said Downes.
The start of UNCA’s spring semester
received a set back due to the effects of
two winter storms moving through
Western North Carohna during the
first part ofjanuary. The icy roads and
snow forced the university to cancel
night classes on Jan. 10 and 8:00 a.m.
classes on Jan. 11.
The cancellation of all classes on Jan.
12 was because of a second blanket of
snow covering the region. Classes were
cancelled Jan. 15 in honor of the Mar
tin Luther King, Jr. holiday. The regu
lar class schedule resumed on Jan. 16.
“What the experts said, what I saw
and heard convinced me that we were
going to get snow,” said Downes. Fore
casts from the Weather Channel and
the department of atmospheric sciences,
combined with the 100 percent chance
of the area getting some type of frozen
precipitation, persuaded Downes that
it was going to snow again.
The new snow on top of what had
already fallen made for bad road condi
tions, said Downes. She said condi
tions on campus were snowy and icy
bur that the physical plant did a tre
mendous job in trying to clear the
walkways and roads.
“Its' a judgment call,” said Downes,
“because such a decision cannot be
based upon exact predictions.” Downes
said she tries to determine if it is a wise
request to ask people to come to class.
Downes said the semester got off to a
rocky start and described the situation
as a glass which can be looked upon as
half empty or half full.
“Ifwe had gone ahead with classes, they
would not have been half full,” said
Downes. Then because of the Monday
holiday, Downes thought it would be
best to start “clean” on Tuesday. Thus
it was a predicament that did have both
its good and bad points.
Because of the rocky start, offices in
volved with orientation, housing, reg
istration, and drop/add tried to accom
modate students as much as possible.
Dorm rooms opened on Jan. 8 so that
new students could start moving in and
an information booth was set up in
Rhodes-Robinson so they could check
in and get information, said Rebecca
Sensabaugh, registrar.
“Registration went as we had planned
on Jan. 1C? but we requested that the
Business Office not cantel the sched
ules of those students who had not paid
and that they should not be charged a
late fee,” said Sensabaugh. It was a
critical point in the semester and
Sensabaugh said students should al
ways call if they are unsure the univer
sity is open.
“It set us back one more day and I
know it is frustrating for teachers and
SNOW cont. on pg.8
Undergraduate research conference gives student groups volunteer opportunities
Renee Slaydon
Staff Writer
UNCA will host the tenth anniver
sary of the National Conference for
Undergraduate Research (NCUR 10)
on April 18-20. The conference, which
will give students from all over the
United States the opportunity to present
their undergraduate research and re
sults, will allow UNCA students to fill
volunteer positions, according to the
chair of the student participation com
mittee.
“Our task is to find UNCA students
who are willing to help with the confer
ence. We need about 200 student vol
unteers to do a whole variety of tasks,
said Phyllis Lang, director of the hon
ors program and a lecturer in mass
communication. Volunteers will be
needed to sell compact disks and take
tickets at the David Holt concert sched
uled for the Thursday night of the
conference, said Lang.
Other possible tasks for the students
will be to help out with registration in
Justice Gym, work information tables
at the hotels where conference partici
pants \\^11 be staying, and to check and
straighten rooms after presentations.
Also, volunteers will be needed at the
refreshment center and outside all of
the classrooms being used for oral pre
sentations, said Lang.
“We thought the best way to solicit
volunteers would be to ask campus
groups to talk to their members,” said
Lang.
Some of the campus groups already
involved include Habitat for Human
ity, North Carolina Teaching Fellows,
Undergraduate Fellows and Scholars,
Presbyterian Campus Fellowship,
North Carolina Student Legislature,
and Alpha Xi Delta.
According to AlHson Jordan, presi
dent of Alpha Xi Delta, the sorority
decided to get involved with the con
ference because one of their members
was already an active part of it. The
sorority always tries to support the
activities of each of their members, as
well as help out the university in any
way that they can, Jordan said. Jordan
also said about halfof the organization’s
members are currently planning to work
for the conference.
Lang said the current schedule is to
solicit volunteers from UNCA through
the month of February, begin making
task assignments in March, and hold
training sessions in early April.
In addition to campus organizations,
individual volunteers are also welcome.
Currently, NCUR 10 has about 60 to
65 volunteers already signed up.
Most of the campus organizations in
volved are using the conference as a
philanthropy project, said Lang.
UNCA will not hold classes on the
Thursday and Friday of the confer
ence. There will be about 35 to 40
sessions taking place simultaneously
on campus in the different classrooms
of Owen Conference Center, Karpen
Hall, Zagier Hall, Rhodes Hall, and
Robinson Hall.
“The actual conference sessions are
Thursday, Friday, and Saturday morn
ing. And then there are various kinds of
special activities scheduled for Satur
day afternoon, like trips to the Biltmore
House and Mount Mitchell,” said Lang.
The National Conference for Under
graduate Research began in 1987, and
the first two conferences were held at
UNCA, said Lang.
Lang is working with Pam Laughon,
co-chair of the event and an assistant
professor of psychology, and Holly
Beveridge, conference coordinator.
“The thing that’s unique about this is
that professional conferences seem to
be around one subject area. What we’re
doing here is bringing together people
from all disciphnes. There will be pa
pers in mass communication, art, and
biology. So we really are an interdisci
plinary conference,” said Lang.
Lang also said the second thing that
makes NCUR 10 unique is that it will
draw undergraduate students as well as
graduate students and faculty mem
bers. “This is one of the biggest confer
ences that’s ever come to Asheville,”
said Lang.
Lang said she hopes to have some of
the volunteer organizations make wel
coming banners to post up around the
campus for the conference participants.
“One of the things that makes us very
different from the University of Min
nesota or the University of Utah, where
we’ve been before, is that we’re small
and friendly and congenial,” said Lang.
Lang believes that the conference will
draw an audience made up of many
different members of the Asheville com
munity.
“People in this community who are
just interested I think will prob.ably be
attending too because its such a diverse
collection of research. And our stu
dents are welcome to attend all of the
sessions at no charge,” said Lang.
Lang also said that right now more
organizations need to look at their cal
endars and decide if they will be able to
help out with the conference.