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begins drive 8
Weekend Weather: Another cool weekend. Check the weather on page 10.
The Blue
Volume 25, Number 10
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT ASHEVILLE
November 7, 1996
Campus Highlights
■ An excellent cultural event
approaches the UNCA campus this
weekend when visiting filmmaker
Richard Breyer will present his film
“Esta Esperanza (This Hope).”
Breyer, a professor fi:om Syracuse
University, made this hour-long
documentary about post war El Sal
vador after the nightmare of a twelve
year war, and will present it at 7:30
p.m. on Friday, Nov. 8 in the Hu
manities Lecture Hall. Afterwards,
Breyer will also talk about the mak
ing of the film, as well as answer
questions from the audience. Breyer
and his crew traveled to great legnths
to make the film, which is narrated
by actor Hector Elizondo. Tickets,
available at the door, are free to
students and $4 for general admis
sion. He will also conduct a brown
bag lunch discussion on “Becoming
a Documentarian” from noon-1:15
p.m. on Friday.
■ All sorts of sports involving
UNCA teams will be competing this
weekend. If you are a die-hard Bull
dog soccer fan, the men’s and
women’s teams will compete in the
Big South tournament in Greens
boro this weekend. This is a great
time for a road trip, and the teams
could use your support. But, if vari
ous circumstances will keep you in
Asheville, there’s plenty going on
here, especially hoops. The women’s
basketball team will have their first
exhibition on Friday, Nov. 8 at 7
p.m. against the Smoky Mountain
Swarm. On Saturday, Nov. 9 at
7:30 p.m., the men’s basketball team
will play the Bendigo Braves in an
exhibition game at the Justice Cen
ter. If you missed the Blue-White
exhibition, this will be a great op
portunity to see the new team and
coach. And, the women’s volleyball
team faces the University of Mary-
land-Baltimore County at 2 p.m.
on Sunday, Nov. 10. As usual, the
game is free to UNCA faculty, staff,
and students with ID.
■ It seems like just yesterday
that you went through the ritual of
registering for classes. But the spring
semester is quickly approaching and
early registration begins on Mon
day, Nov. 11 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
in Lipinsky Hall. This is early regis
tration, and there will be other op
portunities to register later. But with
60 people going for 25 slots, it is
definitely to your advantage to reg
ister early. If you haven’t recieved
an early registratiqp card yet, you
need to go to the admissions office
to get one. On a similar note, aca
demic advising ends on Friday, Nov.
8, and an advisor’s signature is nec
essary to register early.
■ Remember about a month
ago when UNCA was to appear on
ABC’s “Good Morning America?”
Well, if you were looking for your
self, friends, or family on Oct. 21
when it was supposed to air, it wasn t
there. The “wave” was actually
shown three days earlier, and be
cause of the unexpected change,
many people missed it. If this was
your 15 minutes (seven seconds) of
fame, and you would like to see the
spot, contact Merianne Epstein in
Public Information at 6526.
Meeting attempts to create racial understanding at UNCA
Alex Self
Staff Writer
Opening Doors, a cooperative pro
gram between UNCA and Asheville
community leaders, attempts to im
prove racial harmony through weekly
small group discussion. Some univer
sity students who attend the Monday
night sessions said the program was
an ineffective means to change prede
termined white racial biases.
“A lot of white people come here(to
UNCA) regardless of whether they
would admit it or not, because it’s
highly white,” said senior Kenneth
Harrell, a participant in Opening
Doors. “I don’t think that everybody
comes here for that reason, but a lot
of people do.”
Harrell said these attitudes are re
flected in conversations between white
and black members of the program
who claim to be racially aware.
Even among people who are think
ing about these issues, they’re not as
open as they’d like to think of them
selves,” Harrell said. “In the class, it
seems like people are afraid to say
what’s on their minds while we’re
(African-Americans) there.
“If the kind of people who are com
mitted to racial justice have a prob-
For many students, race relations are not a problem at UNCA.
Photo by Del DeLorm
lem communicating,” said Harrell,
“what about the majority of people
who refuse to address the issue?”
Edward J. Katz, chair of the plan
ning committee for Opening Doors,
said he looked at the program as a
learning experience and a means for
whites to become aware of issues
“from a minority perspective.”
“If you’ve never had the opportu
nity to talk to a person about what
it’s like to be black, then it’s not
surprising that we have misunder
standings,” said Katz.
Katz also said that Opening Doors,
offered as a class available to any
UNCA student for a pass/fail credit,
was helpful for African-American
students who receive less support from
the university than white students
because of a lack of black role models
on campus.
“We only have a handful of black
faculty on campus,” Katz said. “That
indicates a lot about what it is like to
be a black student (here).”
Don C. Locke, a guest speaker at
Opening Doors last Monday, said in
an interview that the program was
effective because It provided a safe
atmosphere to make racial issues
“overt” and “explicit,” without result
ing in violence.
“Race (and) gender are emotional
issues, which is why you have to talk
about them,” said Locke. “You can’t
just read about them.”
Locke said that discussions on race
should be in a “planned program,”
like Opening Doors, instead of people
merely “sitting around shooting the
bull about them (racial issues).”
Harrell said he did not think Open
ing Doors would improve racial rela
tions, but would help him personally
understand the world he lives in.
“This, for me, is a good thing be
cause it helps me get a good perspec
tive on the world I’m getting ready to
enter into,” said Harrell. “But, as far
RELATIONS cont. on pg.8
ElfOlON ENDS WITH FEW SURPRISES AS CUNTON WINS
Student reactions to results mixed, leave many disillusioned
Aimee Campbell
Staff Writer
After Tuesday’s elections, students had mixed
reactions to the results of their votes. Student
reactions to the election results at UNCA varied
from disappointment and surprise to anger and
frustration with the party system.
“Well, I don’t really know what to think one
way or another about this whole Bill or Bob
thing,” said creative writing major Nat Sternbergh.
“I guess I’d rather go with the devil I know than
the one I don’t.
As for the Gantt-Helms thing, well, I guess I’m
not surprised, but I am a little disappointed,”
Sternbergh said.
Other students agreed that they were not sur
prised with the results, but not necessarily happy
Photo by Michael Toyloi
Robin Werner explains a sample ballot to Carrie Howard at tfie Nortti Asheville Community Center
last Tuesday. Werner waited close to two hours to vote. Meg Purchase sits in the background
with them either.
“Neither the presidential nor the senatorial returns
surprised me,” said senior political science major
Stephen Gross. “I didn’t vote for either Clinton or
Helms, but I figured that they would both win.”
“From the way the polls were looking, they seemed
to be the best candidates for the job, according to the
average American,” Gross continued.
“I am very conservative, and I was hoping and
praying that Dole would win,” said sophomore Ashley
Morrow. “I’m not sure I expected him to, but I was
hoping he would. I am glad we kept with a Repub
lican Congress.”
Despite the presidential loss, conservative voters
said they were pleased with the outcome of some of
the races, especially the U.S. Senate race.
“Being that I’m a Republican and straight ticket, I
was really happy that Helms won,” said sophomore
Tommy Smathers. “I was very excited about that.
I also think it’s really cool that
Thurmond won,” said Smathers
and that people didn’t hold his
age against him.
And of course I’m happy that
the Republicans still control Con
gress,” Smathers continued.
Many student voters seemed dis
pleased with the candidates that
were running in this election.
“I knew that Harvey Gantt
wasn’t going to win because he is
too liberal,” said Gross. “I think
that he’s a better candidate than
J esse He) ms, but apparently most
people in North Carolina don’t
think so.
“I agree with Gantt on just about
everything,” Gross said. “I can’t
think of one thing about Gantt
that I don’t like. I did not vote for
him either, however, because I
was concerned about his poor
record as an administrator in
Charlotte.”
“It made me feel bad that Dole
lost because I don’t trust Presi
dent Clinton,” said Smathers. “I
also think it was rather surprising
that Hunt got re-elected after not
doing anything for twelve years,
just by saying he was going to do
ELECTION conf. on pg. 8
Rally in Asheville comes up short
as Gantt falls to Helms again
Monica Williams
Staff Writer
A group of UNCA students traveled by bus to the
Harvey Gantt rally held at the Asheville Airport on
Monday, Nov. 4. Despite a small turnout by UNCA
students, Gantt found time to speak with them and
acknowledge their questions.
However, Gantt was unable to convince voters
statewide, and lost to incumbent Republican Sena
tor Jesse Helms for the second time in a row. The
students that went to the event, though, were
excited about attending the rally.
“I am really looking forward to meeting Mr.
Gantt,” said junior Zach Brown before the rally. “I
am glad to be involved in the political process.”
Once off the bus, supporters greeted students and
handed out stickers and “Gantt for U.S. Senate”
posters.
Approximately 75 people attended the rally, and
organizers led applause in appreciation to the
Clinton/Gore campaign’s who provided shuttles to
the little publicized rally.
When Gantt finally arrived, there was a wave of
cheers and music. People rushed to the entrance
gate, shaking his hand and patting him on the back.
The color guard from Enka High School presented
the colors and three of their students played the
“Star Spangled Banner.”
After thanking his family and supporters, Gantt
spoke about his devotion to North Carolina, and
how he thinks it’stime for Helms to leave office.
“I want to support (North Carolina),” said Gantt.
“Jesse Helms has been in Washington too long, and
24 years has changed him.
I think that he shows his contempt for you by not
coming back here to debate me,” said Gantt. “More
importantly, (he doesn’t allow) you an opportu
nity to hear where he really stands on a lot of
issues.”
“I will never forget the teachings of my parents, ‘It
is ordinary folks who really make up this country’,”
said Gantt. “They are the ones that raise the fami
lies and go out every morning to put in a day’s
work. They are the ones who believe in this coun
try, and they too are the ones that can rise up. I
expect you to do that tomorrow.”
Gantt also stressed the importance of encourag
ing others to vote.
RALLY cont. on pg. 10