The University of North Carolina at Asheville
Volume 26 Issue 5
September 25, 1997
UNC increases in-state tuition fee 4 percent
By Nancy Hayes
staff Writer
In-state UNCA students will pay $22
more in tuition for the 1997-98 school year
after the North Carolina state legislature
increased tuition 3 percent throughout the
16 schools in the state’s university system.
Out-of-state tuition costs at UNCA re
main unchanged.
UNCA student fees increased 4 percent,
a $21 hike for the year. Student fees for
1997-98 total $1,082, while in-state tu
ition is $752 per year.
“If it were up to the Board of Governors,
tuition would be free,” said Edward
Broadwell, UN C Board of Governors mem
ber.
“According to the North Carolina Con
stitution, we have a mandate to provide
higher public education at the lowest pos
sible cost,” said Broadwell.
The North Carolina Constitution, Ar
ticle 9, Section 9, states:
“The General Assembly shall provide that
the benefits of the University of North
Carolina and other public institutions of
higher education, as far as practicable, be
extended to the people of the state free of
expense.”
“While tuition obviously is not free, North
Carolina residents pay only approximately
15 cents per dollar of the actual cost of their
education,” said Sam Neill, a former chair
man of the Board of Governors.
“Only one other system in the country is
lower than ours, and that’s the University
of Texas. They struck oil on their campus
and have used the income from that to
offset tuition and other costs,” said Neill.
Another 2 percent tuition increase is sched
uled for the 1998-99 school year.
Housing
'crisis' felt
off campus
By Veronika Gunter
staff Writer
While many students prefer to live off campus, rising
rent costs, a shortage of affordable housing, and discrimi
nation by landlords can make the search for housing in
Asheville difficult.
“It is very challenging to find affordable housing in
Asheville. Expenses are high and availability is low,” said
graduate student Derek Chisholm.
There are no on-campus housing options for Chisholm,
28, who is married and has two dogs and a cat. If there
were options, he “would entertain the notion” of living
on campus.
For now, he and his wife rent a home ofFHillside Street,
about three miles from campus.
“I think there is a housing shortage for lower- and
moderate-income people. It definitely takes two in
comes to rent a decent home,’ Chisholm said.
Asheville’s Affordable Housing Coalition (AHC) con
firmed Chisholm’s suspicions.
“The lack of affordable housing in Asheville is practi
cally a crisis,” said Geraldine Melendez, Affordable
Housing Coalition (AHC) office manager. AHC assists
low- to moderate-income people in finding long-term
housing within their economic grasp and periodically
assesses the general housing situation in Buncombe
County.
“Cityandcivicleadershipareveryconcerned, Melendez
said.
Mayor Russ Martin could not be reached for comment.
UNCA’s Office of Admissions provides the guide “As
sorted Apartment Complexes” to students who request
Without
fidud
UH
ilies
$292
354
$355
2 Bedroom
$600
3 Bedroom
S482
$494
4Bdroom
648
See RENT on page 10
SOURCE: ASHEVILLE HOUSING AUTHORITY
PHOTO BY MAURIE HILL/GRAPHIC BY ROB HAMMONDS
Federal humanities cuts stir concern
By Catharine Sutherland
News Editor
Government cutbacks for the National
Endowment for the Humanities have raised
concern about grant-funded humanities
projects at the state and local levels follow
ing an estimated 40 percent cut in federal
NEH funding since 1994. UNCA faculty
claim that the NEH has funded valuable
programs at UNCA and in the Asheville
community.
“The NEH has had an enormous impact
on our campus,” said Merritt Moseley,
dean of faculty development and head of
the Asheville Institute on General Educa
tion (AIGE). Moseley received an NEH
grant to fiind the AIGE in 1993, and also
cited numerous research grants, summer
serninars, and summer stipends made avail
able to UNCA history, literature, and hu
manities professors by the NEH in the last
20
years.
I think they’re undoubtedly short-sighted
and mean-spirited (to cut funding for the
NEH) Moseley said. “Why don t we cut
back one stealth bomber and fund the
NEH until the end of time? The NEH can
actually operate when it’s raining, unlike
the stealth bomber.”
The state branch of the NEH, the North
Carolina Humanities Council (NCHC),
The NEH can
actually operate
when it’s raining,
unlike the stealth
bomber.
-Merritt Moseley,
Dean of Faculty
Development
has also provided numerous grants and
awards for UNCA professors, primarily
through NEH funding. The NCHC re
ceives nearly 80 percent of its funding from
the NEH, said Harlin Gradin of the
NCHC.
“This is the first year that the NCHC has
received any state funds, which I think
shows a certain amount of laggardness on
North Carolina’s (part in) support of the
humanities,” said Gwen Ashburn, associ
ate professor of literature, who completed
research funded by an NCHC grant in
1995.
U.S. Representative Charles Taylor, con
gressman for the Asheville area, continues
to oppose funding for the humanities. Tay-
lor recently voted in favor of a bill that
would strike $110 million from the NEH
budget in the 1998 fiscal year, in effect
“zeroing out” the NEH, said a Taylor staff
member in his Washington, D.C., office
who asked to remain nameless.
Though the bill ultimately failed, result
ing in a proposed $96.1 million-dollar bud
get for the NEH, the program’s budget has
decreased from $172 million dollars in
1995.
“On our end, we didn’t feel the cuts the
same way that the NEH as a whole did. The
NEH really got rocked by (the cuts),”
Gradin said, noting that most of the cuts
were absorbed internally by the NEH and
did not affect the state branches directly.
In terms of staff, the NEH was “deci
mated,” Gradin said. Prior to the funding
cuts, the NEH employed 10 to 12 people
to staff its office of state programs, which
deals with state branches such as the NCHC.
The office of state programs currently em
ploys two workers to handle all 50 states,
Gradin
said.
In order
for Ameri-
Campus
research
included
in NCHC
tribute,
page 8
cans to
continue
their
d e m o -
cratic tra
ditions,
the coun
try must
recognize
and sup
port the humanities, according to Gradin.
It is “the responsibility of our nation to
promote the analytical skills and critical
skills (that are) at the core of our ability to
function as a democratic society,” said
Gradin in support of the NEH and its state
branch. “It’s really important for people to
See NEH on page 10
Some UNCA students expressed little
concern over the increase in tuition, but
had stronger statements about student fees
in general, especially the distribution of the
fees.
Approximately 48 percent of student fees
is allocated to the athletic department.
“It’s a damn lot of money,” said Bray
See TUITION on page 10
Karpen
Hall's
top floor
to open
By Mandlsa Templeton
staff Writer
The North Carolina General Assem
bly recently appropriated money for
the completion of the third floor of
Karpen Hall, scheduled to open by Janu
ary 1999. The third fioorwill house the
mass communication department,
which is currently located on the sec
ond floor.
“We’ve been here for seven years in
our temporary quarters,” said Cathy
Mitchell, mass communication depart
ment chair. “So, in the department, we
had about given up any thought that
(the funding) would actually go through,
because it actually took appropriation
by the legislature. So, we’re all surprised
and amazed.”
The North Carolina General Assem
bly allotted $792,700 to finish con
structing the third floor of Karpen. This
figure includes the cost of architectural
engineering fees, construction costs,
equipment, and furnishings of the third
floor, said Ron Reagan, director of fa
cilities planning.
The third floor was not completed as
originally planned because the funding
allotted to build Karpen Hall was de
pleted prematurely, Reagan said. Of
fices for graduate programs through
other campuses were supposed to use
the second floor, but had to be com
pacted to allow room for the mass com
munication department.
Mass communication students work
ing on projects voiced frustrations due
to the crowded conditions.
“When I took broadcast journalism,
there were about three classes that
needed access to the (video editing)
room and the equipment, ” said senior
meteorology major Michael Slaughter.
“I think there is definitely a need for
separate editing labs,” said senior
Marissa Deblasio, a mass communica
tion major. “Getting the projects com
pleted already frustrates you, and the
other noise in the room (from over
crowding) just adds to your confusion
and frustration.”
The third floor will have a computer
lab with high-end equipment, a lab
assistant desk, five faculty offices, a sec
retary office, and three video editing
rooms.
Tentative plans also include digital
editing in the editing rooms.
Currently, mass communication ad
junct professors do not have offices, but
have to meet with students in the lobby
of Karpen. One of the five new faculty
offices will be used by these professors.
According to Mitchell, the comple
tion of the third floor should improve
the way the mass communication pro
fessors are able to teach their classes,
especially in the areas of video and the
mutimedia science arts minor.