The University of North Carolina at Asheville
Volume 26 Issue 8
October 23, 1997
Citizens protest KKK marcli
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PHOTO BY ANDREW HART
Protesters destroy a Confederate flag during the downtown march of the American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan on
Saturday. Klan members at the rally numbered 29, while protesters and spectators tallied nearly 1,000 persons.
By Catharine Sutherland
News Editor
Nearly 1,000 spectators lined
the streets of downtown
Asheville Saturday to witness,
protest against, or sympathize
with 29 members of the Ameri
can Knights of the Ku Klux Klan
(KKK) who turned out to march
in support of the organization.
The event began around 11
a.m. at the intersection of Col-
legeStreetandPattonAvenue. Klan
marchers, escorted by Asheville
police officers, proceeded up Col
lege Street to Haywood Street, then
returned to their starting point via
Patton Avenue. The rally ended
around 2 p.m.
While many UNCA students
stayed away or attended alternate,
peace-promoting rallies, some were
present at the march.
Freshman Mary Foust was work
ing in a coffee shop on Patton Av
enue when the procession passed
by the window. She and co-work
ers stepped outside to observe the
marchers.
“I started crying, and I’m not even
the kind of girl who cries at mov
ies,” Foust said. “It was like look
ing at the devil. It was a shocking
reminder that these people exist,
and that this kind of ignorance
exists.”
Foust acknowledged the First
Amendment right of the Klan to
assemble, but said the right offered
somewhat of a mixed blessing for
society.
“In a lot of ways it’s good that (the
KKK can march) in America,
and in a lot of ways it’s not
because it will just spread the
ignorance to other people, and
(Klan members will) pass on
the ignorance to their children,”
Foust said.
Senior mass communication
major Jack Walsh also attended
the march to assist a friend who
was filming the event for a hu
manities documentary project.
“They wanted a lot of atten-
See MARCH on page 8
Athletic budget
nears $2 million
for Division I
By Nancy Hayes
Staff Writer
UNCA students pay the highest
student fees in the University of
North Carolina System, with the
largest percentage of those fees allo
cated to support a $2 million Na
tional Collegiate Athletics Associa
tion (NCAA) Division I athletics
budget, according to university
sources. Some question the school’s
commitment to athletics at the ex
pense of academic and other stu
dent programs.
The proposed 1997-98 athletic
budget will approach $2 million
this year, according to Thomas
Cochran, assistant vice chancellor
of student affairs.
The bulk of the athletic expense
comes from meeting the NCAA
requirements to compete in the
Division I category, according to
Cochran. Fifty full scholarships in
nine sports must be awarded, plus
13 each in men’s and women’s bas
ketball, costing UNCA about
$700,000.
Approximately $1 million in rev
enue comes from student fees.
UNCA student fees, at $1,082 per
student for this school year, are the
highest of the 16 schools in the
UNC system. Student fees at
UNCA have risen 53 percent since
spring 1993.
“The Board of Trustees has desig
nated student fees as a particular
item ofconcern. They will be closely
monitored by the board,” said Jesse
Ray, chairman of the UNCA Board
of Trustees.
Another approximately $ 100,000
comes from NCAA grants, and
$500,000 from game guarantees
and other athletic revenues such as
season tickets, gate receipts, and
concession sales.
The remaining $300,000 to
$400,000 needed to cover athletic
expenses comes from the “overall
institutional” budget, according to
Cochran,
Tuition monies go into the state’s
general fund, while student fees
stay at UNCA.
UNCA’s student fees are $300
more than fees paid by students at
UNC-Chapel Hill, and $330 more
than those paid by students at Win-
ston-Salem State University, a sys
tem school with a similar student
population of 2,900.
Student fees cover the costs of
athletics, health services, student
activities, educational and technol
ogy services, and equipment. The
fees also cover debt service costs on
construction bonds.
Some faculty at UNCA feel the
distribution of student fees does
not represent the true goals of a
liberal arts university.
“Unfortunately, the size of the
athletic budget reflects the priori
ties of our society. It’s not really
what we (UNCA) are supposed to
be about. Athletics is a part of a
liberal arts education, but it should
not receive the lion’s share of re-
See BUDGET on page 10
Agreement lets transfers off humanities hook
By Veronika Gunter
staff Writer
A recent agreement intended to
make transferring from a North
Carolina community college to
UNCA simpler has merit, but goes
against the spirit of UNCA’s edu
cational ideals, according to some
faculty members and students.
In the past, UNC system schools
provided transfer credit agreements
with state community colleges, ar
ticulating acceptable transfer guide
lines in an effort to reduce hassle
and assist timely graduation for stu
dents.
The new articulation agreement
between the 16 UNC schools and
the state’s 58 community colleges,
in effect as of this semester, also
offers simplified guidelines for trans
fers. As it pertains to UNCA, the
agreement permits limiting the
humanities course load of transfers
to UNCA’s liberal arts capstone
courses. Humanities 414 and Arts
310.
Some students feel that by allow
ing transfers to take only the final
humanities course, the new agree
ment could actually disadvantage
students.
“All students should have to take
the humanities courses,” transfer
student David Wilson said. Though
he has suggestions for improving
the curriculum, “it’s certainly im
portant to have a humanities per
spective, and the courses we have
now are really the only ones in
which it is presented” at UNCA,
Wilson said.
A junior who attended a private
four-year college the past three years,
will complete all four of the hu
manities requirements, as well as
meeting other graduation require
ments. “It is somewhat awkward,”
Humanities Director Peg Downes
said.
“They are taking a very nice oc
tagonal peg and placing it in a very
nice hexagonal hole,” Downes said,
making an analogy for thrusting
otherwise-educated students into
UNCA’s liberal arts curriculum.
Downes was among professors
from around the state who took
part in a series of extensive meet
ings to determine how to simplify
the transfer process, as mandated
by a-1995 state senate bill.
Following the new agreement,
students receiving their associates
degree from an accredited N.C.
community college will be eligible
for admission to UNCA as juniors,
with up to 60 hours of transfer
See HOOK on page 10
Israel becomes latest option for summers abroad
New program brings Eastern variety to study abroad opportunities
By Amanda Thorn
staff Writer
A new, first-of-its-kind study abroad pro
gram in Israel is set to begin next summer,
adding Eastern variety to the exchange
possibilities currently available through
UNCA. Rick Chess, associate professor of
literature and director of the Center for
Jewish Studies, spearheaded the program
during a trip to Israel last semester.
“I went to Israel last spring, and part of my
mission was to explore the possibility of
relations between UNCA and another aca
demic institution in Israel,” Chess said. I
Was interested in seeing if we could set up
a study abroad program that is locally
housed at UNCA, and ifwe could cultivate
the possibility for faculty and student ex
changes for the semester or academic year.
The six-week study abroad program will
he headquartered on the campus of Ben
Gurion University in Beer Sheva, a major
city in Israel, Chess said.
“Recently, UNCA faculty has been tak
ing tremendous initiative in developing
study abroad programs in the summer.
Director of International Programs Heidi
Kelley said. Exchange programs currently
available at UNCA include opportunities
in England, Spain, and Germany.
The Israel summer exchange program
will take place from June 16 to July 28, and
is currently estimated to cost around
$3,200.
“That doesn’t include airfare. It is expen
sive, but it is a long trip. Chess said.
Students from the entire state of North
Carolina will be recruited for the trip.
“We may recruit nationally, but we are
primarily focusing on North Carolina,
Chess said. The program needs 20 stu
dents, but will accept no more than 30,
Chess said.
The Israel summer program will be
structured around three major compo-
JL
PHOTO BY TRISH JOHNSON
Rick Chess, director of the Center
for Jewish Studies, spearheaded
the Israel study abroad program.
nents: the Israel experience, the writing
track, and the art track.
“The first component (of the program)
will be the Israel experience component.
Students will learn about the ancient and
modern history of Israel. They will learn
about the cultures of the people living in
the past and present,” Chess said.
Students will visit ruins and sites of his
torical significance, and will learn about
the politics and religion of Israel. In addi
tion, students will tour Israel, visit Jerusa
lem, and spend time studying the desert.
Chess said.
“All students who participate in the pro
gram will take this portion of the Israel
experience. Students will receive several
credit hours for this part of the trip,” Chess
said.
Students enrolled in the Israel program
can choose to follow a writing or an arts
track. In the writing track, students will
See ISRAEL on page 10
EXCHANGE PROGRAMS
CURRENTLY AT UNCA
Semester in Chester, England
Semester in Spain
Exchange between Germany
and North Carolina
Teaching Fellows summers in
Cambridge and Oxford
Other opportunities through the
North Carolina Consortium for
Study Abroad (NCCSA)
Source: Heidi Kelley, director of international programs
GRAPHIC BY JEANETTE WEBB