The University of North Carolina at Asheville
Volume 25, Number 26
NEWS
BRIEFS
Board of Trust
ees meets
The UNCA Board of Trustees
delayed a final vote to approve the
university’s ten-year master plan at
its quarterly meeting on April 16.
The master plan, designed over the
last two years, was reviewed in a
public meeting on April 15 and will
be up for a vote at the Board’s next
meeting in July.
The master plan addresses all ar
eas of the campus and university
development over the next decade.
A central academic core of the cam
pus will be maintained within the
university loop, while residential
and athletic areas will be developed
on the southern and western edges
of the loop. UNCA’s top priorities
for development are the expansion
and renovation of Highsmith Cen
ter and the construction of a new
administrative and academic build
ing near the main campus entrance,
said Alyn Pruett of the consulting
firm Wallace, Roberts and Todd.
While the costs of the master plan
have been estimated at $ 10 million
a year over ten years. Chancellor
Patsy Reed argued that a large in
vestment was necessary to secure
UNCA’s future.
“While we do not have a defini
tive price tag for the proposed mas
ter plan, we know that the cost of its
implementation will be significant,”
Reed said. “We have not yet
achieved the sort of campus envi
ronment that supports the full real
ization of UNCA’s special mission
as the state’s public liberal arts uni
versity. ”
Charges against
Patch reduced
Dr. Steven Patch, associate pro
fessor of mathematics, pleaded
guilty to a misdemeanor marijuana
charge last week. Patch, who was
arrested on campus March 7, was
initially charged with a felony, but
will now receive a y&r’s probation
as part of a first offender’s program.
At the end of the probation period,
the misdemeanor will be cleared
from his record. Patch said.
“I really think that if this had gone
to trial, I would have been found
innocent,” Patch said. “Given the
university’s (drug) policy, even the
slight risk of being found guilty was
unacceptable.” Patch also cited the
strain of a trial on his family, col
leagues, and teaching duties as ad
ditional reasons for deciding to plea
bargain.
UNCA’s drug policy states that
employees can be suspended for at
least one semester if they are con
victed on a felony charge. With his
plea bargain, the conviction is de
ferred, Patch said.
Hazardous waste
workshops
UNCA’s environmental studies pro
gram and the N.C. State Industrial
Extension Service w^ill co-sponsor
workshops on hazardous waste man
agement from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on
Tuesday, April 22 and Monday, May
5, in the Owen Conference Center,
The one-day workshops will ad
dress hazardous waste management,
emergency planning, and pesticide
application for small businesses pro
ducing hazardous waste. The work-
shop will also review case studies of
smil businesses and changes in the
Superfund Amendments and Reau-
thorization Act.
Early registration is advised. The
$89 fee includes a manual with up
dated information on hazardous waste
law, management options, emergency
planning and notification, and com
munity right-to'know requirements.
For information, call Dr. Gary Miller
at 232-5184.
Greenfest
PHOTO BY ELISE FOX
Freshman Kirsten Byrd works to help landscape the
new Health and Fitness Center as part of Greenfest.
Greenfest is an annual event in which volunteers work
to beautify the campus with flowers, trees and shrubs.
Election discrepancy
Ballots and computer records differ by 15
By Catharine Sutherland
staff Writer
Allegations of voter fraud surfaced
in the wake of Student Govern
ment Association (SGA) elections
last week, following one senator’s
call for a ballot recount. Freshman
Senator Zach Petersen said the 15-
ballot discrepancy between the
number of ballots cast and the num
ber of student records tallied in poll
computers may have signified voter
fraud.,
“It was off by enough that it could
have affected the vice-presidential
race,” said Petersen.
The close race, in which junior
Tiffany Drummond defeated
sophomore Josh Littlejohn by eight
votes, has sparked concern among
students and SGA members as to
the security of the current voting
system.
“There has been no race in the last
two years except mine and Josh’s
that has been that close,” said
Drummond. However, she believes
the close vote proves that no one
tampered with its outcome.
“It really cannot be a stuffed bal
lot box with 15 (extra) votes,”
Drummond said. If someone were
going to stuff the ballot box, he or
she would have probably stuffed
the box with at least 100 fraudu
lent votes, not a number as small as
15, said Drummond.
Most people involved with the
election considered the discrepancy
between the ballots and the com
puter records normal. SGA Elec
tion Commissioner Kenya Smith
said the numerical difference oc
curs during every election for a
specific reason.
When a student votes, explained
Smith, a poll worker must enter
the student’s social security num
ber into the computer to check his
or her student status and to record
his or her vote to prevent addi
tional voting under the same name.
The student may then deposit a
paper ballot in the ballot box.
The discrepancy between com
puter records and paper ballots,
comes from the votes of those stu
dents who wish to have their records
withheld from the computer sys
tem for reasons of privacy. Smith
said. She added that commuters
and nontraditional students com
prise the majority of this group.
“Their student status is not in the
computer records but is in the
registrar’s office,” said Smith. In
stead of recording these students’
voting status in the computer sys
tem, poll workers highlight their
names on a computer printout at
the poll.
Smith said she checked the print
outs throughout the two-day elec
tion to make sure that none of the
names had been marked at different
voting stations, which would have
meant that a student had voted more
than once. Nonetheless, the num
ber of paper ballots remains differ
ent from the number of records in
the computer system at the close of
the election.
“If everyone had their records in
the computer and there was a dis
crepancy, then that would be a big
problem, but everyone doesn’t,” said
Smith.
Smith said she believed Petersen
questioned the ballot discrepancy
solely because of its relation to the
vice-presidential race, in which
See SGA on page 8
First phase of fiber optic network begins
By Stephanie Hunter
staff Writer
The first phase of the campus fi
ber optic network will soon be
come a reality. Ifeverythinggoesas
scheduled, the bid for this project
will open on April 17, according to
the director of university comput
ing.
A fiber optic network and related
equipment will bring communica
tion and instructional capabilities
to the level expected of present-day
university campuses, said Kern
Parker.
Four phases are involved in com
pleting this project, and the instal
lation of the fiber optic cable is only
one of them. The expected total
cost of all four phases is $2.4 mil
lion. “The part that we’re getting
ready to bid, we hope, will be about
$350,000. The part that we’re get
ting ready to bid is the fiber-optic
cable,” said Parker.
UNCA has a firm that has come
up with the specifications on how
to complete this project of install
ing the fiber-optic cable, and com
panies can now give bids on how
much money it will take for them
to complete the project, said Parker.
“If the bids come in at a range that
we can afford, we’re hopeful that
we’ll be able to build this project
over the next six months and have it
really ready to go by the start of the
spring 1998 semester,” said Parker.
Fiber optic cable is made of glass,
and changes data into pulses of
light. This allows it to move at very
high speeds around the campus,
said Parker.
“Basically, fiber optic cable pro
vides a very high speed way to trans
fer computer data around the cam
pus,” said Parker. It gives very high
speed data conductivity everywhere,
even in the student dorm-room
computer hook-ups for every resi
dent, not just one per room.
“Faculty and staff desks and com
puter labs will all be hooked up to
this fiber optic network as well, so
they can receive very high speed
data communications and be able
to do lots of good things with infor
mation data and access,” said Parker.
With this network, communica
tion will be more than 100 times
faster than the kind of telephone
modem communication that stu
dents and faculty currently use, said
Parker.
ARTPARTS
Installing this network represents
an important step for UNCA,
Parker said. As one of the later
schools to get this system, UNCA
needs to maintain competitiveness
with other universities.
“It’s important for UNCA to re
main up-to-date in order to attract
the best students and the best fac
ulty to the campus,” said Parker.
Not only will this help UNCA
maintain its standards, but UNCA
also needs this in order to keep up
with the world, said Parker.
This construction project requires
that cables be installed under
ground and connected to all of the
buildings on campus. “Robinson
Hall is the main part of the net
work and everything kind of ema
nates from there. Then, there’s a
big loop of cable that goes around
the campus,” said Parker.
Robinson Hall, Ramsey Library,
and Karpen Hall represent the three
main hubs for this system on cam
pus. The cable will run under
ground, through conduit (under
ground pipe to run cables through).
Then it will be hooked up in these
buildings in a special way, and then
all the occupants at that building
can get the right kind of interior
wiring in order to start using the
high speed data, said Parker.
A lot of building will not accom
pany this project. However, a lot
of digging trenches and putting in
underground pipe will be seen on
campus, said Parker.
There are three other phases to be
funded: internal wiringofthe build
ings from the communication
rooms to the desktops, installation
of the network electronics, and buy
ing network-ready computers for
all faculty and staff who need them.
So far, the chancellor has only
said that the installation of the fiber
optic cable will take place. How
ever, efforts are being made to find
money to fund the other three parts.
“Hopefully, we can find the money
to pursue two of the other three
parts. We’re not so hopeful about
getting every faculty and staff mem
ber a new desktop computer,” said
Parker.
“To build the network completely,
you have to do four things. The part
that we re doing now is only one of
the four things. You have to put
fiber optic cable in between the
buildings—that’s the first part.
That’s what we’re putting the bid in
for,” said Parker.
The second part requires re-wir
ing the buildings internally. Wires
have to be brought down from all of
the rooms in each building and con
nected with the fiber optic cable so
See OPTICS on page 8
Some students choose safety over parking fines
By Shelley Eller
staff Writer
UNCA Public Safety has taken in
over $66,000 in parking fines in
the 1996-97 academic year and
considers the fines to be the liveli
hood of the public safety budget,
according to the interim public
safety director.
“Paid parking fines go into the
public safety budget,” said Dennis
Gregory. “With this money the
public safety oifice is maintained.”
Gregory said parking ticket in
come pays for everything from
cleaning supplies to vehicle and
maintenance repair. The income
also aids in paying for public safety
vehicles as well as the salaries of
public safety employees.
“Fines also go toward student
wages. We have a couple of stu
dents who are employed at the pub
lic safety office,” said Gregory. I
think this is a great return to the
university. I also think that stu
dents should know where their
money goes when they pay their
fines.”
The money students and faculty/
staff pay in parking fines also goes
toward officer uniforms, office sup
plies, psychological and drug test
ing for officers, office furniture,
printing services, and hand-held ra
dios.
“The expense charged for decals
are added to student fees,” said
Gregory. “This money goes toward
a fund that provides parking. It is
not a part of the public safety bud
get. Paid parking ticket fines go
into the budget instead.”
Many students on campus feel
the fines they are expected to pay
are sometimes unjust. Some com
muter students feel it is unfair that
there are no designated spaces avail
able near the bookstore located in
the Highsmith Center.
“I think that there should be
some closer spots available near the
bookstore,” said Patrick Gladys, a
post-baccalaureate student in edu
cation. “I have been ticketed in the
visitor’s section because I went into
the bookstore. Those tickets are the
most expensive aside from a ticket
for parking in a handicapped space.”
“Students have a right to com
plain about the lack of parking
spaces near the bookstore,” said
Gregory. “Sometimes these prob
lems are overlooked. A good way
for students to get something done
about it is to present suggestions to
SGA.”
Issues of safety also prompt stu
dents to park in non-designated
areas.
“I have parking tickets from park
ing in the spaces in front of the
soccer field because I will not walk
up from the lower Southridge after
dark by myself,” said Jennifer
Peterson, a junior psychology ma
jor. “It is unsafe to walk that road
late at night alone because no one
would hear you scream if some-
See FINES on page 8
PHOTO BY BONNER BUTLER
Public safety officer Steve Pressley writes a ticket for a
parking violation. The fines maintain the bulk of the
office’s budget.