The University of North Caroliaa at Asheville
^olutne 26 Issue 10
November 6, 1997
Students oppose $2 million
athletics budget in survey
By Nancy Hayes
staff Writer
While a student poll reveals
that 43 percent of the UNCA
student body oppose the $2
million budget funding Divi
sion I athletics, Chancellor Patsy
Reed has made the decision not
rn study the athletics program
now.
“It is not an inherent commit
ment to Division I as such. It is
giving athletics the opportunity
to build outside support. Hav
ing another study would hurt
that outside support,” said Reed.
Forty-eight percent of student
fees, the highest in the UNC
System, are allocated to athlet
ics. Six percent of the UNCA
student body participate in uni
versity athletics, accordingto the
Office oflnstitutional Research.
UNCA athletes compete in the
Division I-AAA category of the
National College Athletic Asso
ciation (NCAA). This is the
same division in which UNC-
Chapel Hill competes. The
NCAA requirements for a school
to compete on this level include
scholarships in 14 sports, which
cost UNCA approximately
S700,000 for the current school
year.
“It’s an obvious fact that if you
are Division I, you attract better
players. It’s great for the univer
sity to have athletes who are the
best at what they do, as well as
HOW DO UNCA STUDENTS FEEL ABOUT ATHLETICS?
308,®JCA stu«teiits were recently poiled at random to find out how Chey felt about the current athletics budget and iJitision i status for
ihe flMvesity. Here’s how they responded:
WbuW you rather have less mniiey allocated to sports in order
to possibly put more money toward acadeinic programs at ONCA?
IJo you tWnk the almost S2 million athletic budget i.s
appropriatrteUNCA?
I ^ ANSWER (.9%)
. . *
KNOW
(26.9%)
PJO ANSWER (6.2%)
YES
(25.9%) DON’T KNOW
NO, TOO MUCH
(43.2%)
NO
(26.6%)
NO, TOO
LITTLE
(2.9%)
Of the 308 respondents, 24% were freshmen, 26.3% sophomores, 22.7% juniors, 25.7% seniors, .9% non-degree seeking,
and .3% post-baccalaureate students. 56.8% of the respondents were female and 43.2% male.
being good students. The same is
true for the music department or
the physics department,” said Eddie
Biedenbach, men’s head basketball
coach.
“No, I would not have come to
UNCA if it wasn’t Division I,” said
Josh Pittman, senior sociology
major and a member of the men’s
basketball team. “I wanted to suc
ceed on the highest level, and Divi
sion I leads to a greater opportunity
to play basketball professionally.”
Schools like Mars Hill, Lenoir-
Rhyne, and Presbyterian colleges
compete at the Division II level
which requires a smaller scholar
ship commitment. Division III, a
non-scholarship category, consists
primarily of small, private schools
GRAPHIC BY MICHAEL TAYLOR
such as Guilford College in
Greensboro and Washington
and Lee in Lexington, according
to Hunnicutt.
“UNCA is a small, liberal arts
institution and so should not
support a huge athletic goal by
pretending to be Division I ma-
See POLL on page 10
Alcohol wall
provides place
to share stories
By Veronika Gunter
staff Writer
UNCA peer education students
erected an “Alcohol Wall” on the
quad this week to call campus at
tention to National Collegiate Al
cohol Awareness Week, Nov. 3-8.
Alcohol abuse is a societal problem
evident on UNCA’s campus, ac
cording to staff and students.
The wall solicits anonymous com
ments relating the dangers of alco
hol abuse, and will serve as a memo
rial for victims of the negative ef
fects of alcohol abuse, according to
Vicki Brunnick, substance abuse
counselor, who teaches the peer
education class.
“I found my brother passed out at
a party,” reads one message. “He
had alcohol poisoning” and “was
sick for three days.”
“People like you killed my mom,”
reads another.
Such negative responses are joined
by messages urging students to en
joy alcohol by drinking “responsi
bly. ”
Co-sponsored by the peer educa
tors and Underdog Productions,
the wall is one of the ways the peer
education class students are having
experiential learning on high risk
programs such as alcohol aware
ness.
If students choose to drink, they
should drink responsibly, without
endangering themselves or others,
or breaking laws, Brunnick said.
Binge drinking is the most com
mon type of alcohol abuse, and the
greatest problem on college cam
puses, according to numerous stud
ies, including a 1995 Harvard
School of Public Health survey of
17,600 students at 140 colleges and
universities of varying sizes across
Ainerica.
Binge drinking is defined as five
drinks in a row for men, often in as
short a time as an hour, but, techni
cally, for an evening or event, and
four drinks in a row for women in
the same time period.
1 he study estimates binge drink
ing is the most serious problem on
college catnpuses, with 44% ofover-
all students engaged in binge drink
ing during the two weeks prior to
the study.
“On average, people drink 10 to
20 drinks in a binge,” Brunnick
said. This is because once a person
drinks a certain amount, they often
lose a sense of responsibility regard
ing how much they are drinking.
A drink is defined as 12 ounces of
beer, 12ouncesofwinecooler, four
ounces of wine, or one and a half
ounces of liquor.
Peer education student Sarah
Braswell said the wall is an interest
ing way of getting information to
students.
“It’s not obtrusive. It is a subtle
See WALL on page 8
Humanities faculty to update curriculum
Students propose improvements
By Amanda Thorn
staff Writer
Humanities faculty have addressed a need
or change in the university’s core curricu-
um that may result in new textbooks,
xpanded course content, and restructur-
ng of the courses.
Many students have also voiced concerns
ibout humanities courses, offering input
in what changes should be made.
“I think students should be offered a
:tioice within the program. It gets to a
loint that humanities is so generalized that
'ou never get into the details,” said Jonathan
reeze, junior classics major.
An increased focus on details will occur
''’ith a change of textbooks and reading of
'rimary sources, said Peg Downes, hu-
fnanities chair.
“It won’t just be a Jeopardy kind of knowl
edge. We want to get people to look at the
prirrary source readings,” said Downes.
“One option to improve the humanities
courses would be to offer students an op
tion at some point in the series to focus on
African history and literature, Asian his
tory and literature, or just focus on certain
parts of Western civilization,” Freeze said.
The humanities department is also taking
the world’s increasingly global climate into
consideration in the course renovations.
“We are very much tied to the interna
tional community, and we are looking at
ways in which the humanities is tied into
the international community,” Downes
said.
The speed with which the courses discuss
world history also needs attention, accord
ing to several students.
“I would change how we cover such a
broad area of history so fast. We don’t
concentrate enough on important issues,”
said Alison Winzeler, sophomore literature
major.
Other students echo this concern.
“I would like to focus on individual is
sues. It is interesting when you go in depth
about the Greeks, the Romans, and the
Indians, but when you are flying through
the material so fast it is hard to catch
anything,” said Brad Bucklad, sophomore
literature major.
“I wish that humanities classes would not
cover so much material in a single class
period.
“I wish that we would go more in depth
into a time period,” said Tiffany
Drummond, junior environmental studies
major.
The humanities faculty members have
decided they would like to create their own
See HUM on page 8
PHOTO BY ROB HAMMONDS
Humanities professor Dorothy Dvosrky-Rohner lectures about Eastern
art and architecture in the humanities lecture hall Monday. Many stu
dents advocate a more global focus in the humanities curriculum.
Zageir construction disrupts class, tests
By Mandisa Templeton
staff Writer
Students and faculty in Zageir Hall
'ave found it difficult to concen-
'ste in class recently because of
“nstruction on the building’s roof
One day, the noise was so disrup-
■''e that I cut short one class,” said
*^cne Rainey, political science pro
fessor. “I would estimate that we
lost 30 minutes of class time.”
“It’s pretty annoying,” said Tracy
Beggs, a student in the teacher cer
tification program.
“It gives me a headache every day,”
said Kari Russell, a math education
major.
“It’s a pain having to (walk) around
it also.”
Construction to Zageir Hall’s roof
was supposed to be completed this
summer, but the school could not
find a contractor in time to finish
the construction before the Fall se
mester began.
Ann Weber, a psychology profes
sor, believes the disturbance could
have been avoided.
“If the original contract bids had
gone out earlier, the work could
have been completed over the sum
mer,” said Weber.
“But blaming is time-wasting un
less we learn from this experience
and prevent such delays from hurt
ing other people in other buildings
in the future.”
On the other hand, professors feel
the problem probably could not
have been avoided.
“Perhaps a summertime job would
have been less disruptive, but roof
ers are very much in demand, and
you get them when (they are avail
able),” said Rainey.
Professors complaining about the
noise said it has been so loud that it
distracts students trying to concen
trate.
“The worst part is when there is
hammering and banging during a
test session,” said Weber.
“I’m sure it’s difficult for the stu
dents to concentrate during a test
when there is so much racket over
head.”
Weber said she told her students
the class could move if the noise got
too loud.
However, no one has asked her to
relocate.
Adrian Tatum, a senior political
science major, said the construc
tion bothers his class with Dolly
Mullen.
Small pieces of plaster from the
ceiling fall down during classes be-
See ROOF on page 10
y