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Volume 26 Issue 11
November 13, 1997
Rape remains unreported crisis on campus
By Veronika Gunter
staff Writer
National statistics report that women in
ihe 16-24 age group, which includes the
majority of college-aged women, are four
times more likely than women in any other
ge group to experience sexual assault.
The last forcible sexual assault reported
on UNCA’s campus came in 1993. How
ever, to staff and students, this does not
mean the crime of rape has not been re
peated.
“I have no doubt this crime is seriously
underreported on our campus,” Public
Safety Director Dennis Gregory said.
“Not only is rape (in general)
underreported, acquaintance rape is even
more often not reported,” Maggie Weshner
director of the counseling center said.
“There is the fear of not being believed,
the shame and embarrassment women feel,
and not wanting people to know,” Weshner
said.
Statistics also report that 1.75 women are
raped on average every hour. One in every
four women will be the victim of sexual
assault in her lifetime, statistics state.
Sophomore music major Maia Remick
said rape is a very real threat for women,
and though “it sucks” that women must
guard themselves against the crime, to be
safe, women must realize “that’s the way it
is.”
Remick, a member of the Rape Crisis
Center (RCC) Student Alliance, said she
knows women at UNCA who have been
sexually assaulted, and most did not turn to
counseling.
UNCA alumn Bob Carpenter organized
the RCC Student Alliance last year before
graduating in December and joining the
staff at the RCC. Carpenter now works as
the RCC fund developer and community
educator.
The RCC offers a 24-hour hotline, trained
counseling, and trained victims advocates.
RCC has 30 volunteers, half of whom are
college students; one full-time professional
counselor; and one full-time advocate who
performs crisis intervention, goes to the
hospital with victims, and fills many other
roles.
The organization provides no-cost coun
seling and advocacy, including trained vol
unteers who accompany victims to doctor
appointments, police stations, court ap
pearances, and mostotherplaces the woman
might need emotional support.
Of Remick s friends who were sexual
assault victims, some told no one for a long
time, others told friends.
“But friends don’t always know what to
say. The Rape Crisis Center is there to help
women,” Remick said.
RCC workers and volunteers served 300
See RAPE on page 10
Crime escalates in library
By Mandisa Templeton
Staff Writer
Theft and vandalization of
books and journals in Ramsey
Library has increased over the
past several weeks, according to
university and library officials.
The serious crime is not only
costly tor the library, but dam
aging to the general public, said
one librarian.
“Could you imagine that some
one would rip the pages out of
an encyclopedia?” said Librarian
Leith Tate. “Yes, it happens.”
According to Amy Justice, as
sistant director of student devel
opment, the year started out with
only two or three cases of library
theft and destruction. However,
in the last two to three weeks,
about 10 cases have been re
ported. Justice believes the in
crease is due to the time of the
semester, as more and more dead
lines arise for students.
“There are people who come in
here and they rip out a page of a
newspaper, and they don’t think
anything about it, like a want ad
or something, (or) a classified
ad,” said Tate.
“People say, ‘Oh, I’m tearing
out one classified. I’m going to
apply for this job. Big deal.’ But
it is a big deal when they con
sider the fact that those materials
are purchased by a state institu
tion for the use of the general
public, which potentially could
be -thousands of people. The
thoughtlessness of one person is
depriving the general public the
right to free access. It’s depriving
the public of that information,
regardless of how insignificant
the violator thinks it is,” Tate
said.
“If you were to do this (in a)
mall at Belk or Dillard or wher
ever, nobody would talk to (the
offender). They would call the
police immediately. There would
be nothing you could say,” she
added.
Tate believes students take
books and rip out pages because
they are “desperate.”
It 4k* -» jBK
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY SARAH HARNDEN/MODEL ALLY RANDLEMAN
Theft and vandalization of library materials, a serious crime that disadvantages stu
dents and costs the library time and money, is on the rise, according to librarians and
university officials.
“What a lot of people get desper
ate about is (that) they don’t have
enough money or that they don’t
have enough time,” said Tate. “The
copy machines might have lines
and people are waiting to use them.”
Junior Angela Bryant told of a
friend who ripped out pictures of
Maxine Waters, an African-Ameri-
can congresswoman, as well as ar
ticles from a newspaper, because of
financial strains. Bryant said there
was nothing wrong with stealing
the material, because the magazines
were not in high demand.
“The magazines that my friend
destroyed were primarily black
magazines like Essence, Jet, Ebony,
and Black Enterprises that most
of UNCA wouldn’t look at any
way,” said Bryant. “So, I feel
there is no harm done, actually,
because most of them are just
popular and do not have any
educational information.”
See THEFT on page 10
Money crunch
cuts adjuncts,
crowds classes
By Amanda Thorn
staff Writer
Last minute cuts in class sections
and adjunct professors due to an
unexpected budget crunch have
caught many students and adjuncts
off guard, leaving some confused
and frustrated.
Adjunct assistant professor of
Spanish Mary Kirby found out only
days before academic advising be
gan that she would not return to
teach Spanish 102 in the spring,
after five and a half years of teach
ing the Spanish 101 and 102 se
quence at UNCA.
“I was unprepared for it,” Kirby
said. The news “came out of the
blue” from her department chair
15 minutes before her class met,
she said.
“It was very upsetting to my stu
dents. It was a shock and a disap
pointment,” Kirby said. “The stu
dents were upset because it was
unexpected for them to have their
section cut.”
Most of the students were going
to be able to continue in the same
section of Spanish with Kirby, one
level higher, in the spring, she said.
Adjunct professors, or part-time
professors hired on "a semester-by-
semester basis, make up 39 percent
of the teaching faculty this semes
ter, according to Tom Cochran,
associate vice chancellor ofacademic
affairs.
The university currently employs
167 full-time faculty and 106 ad
junct professors. In terms of equal
teaching loads (full-time professors
teach three to four classes per se
mester, while adjuncts teach one to
two), adjuncts total about 43.5 full
time professors, Cochran said.
“I don’t know exactly the number
(of adjuncts who will be teaching
next semester), but I do know it will
be fewer because we (will) have
$60,000 less this spring than we
had last year,” Cochran said.
Cochran attributed the crunch to
this year’s delayed budget reports
by the legislature.
“There are real consequences when
the legislature goes well into the
academic year to finalize budgets
for institutions and universities.
This is one of those consequences,”
Cochran
said. “We
didn’t get
the formal
budget in
formation
from
General
Adminis
tration un-
James Pitts
til late Sep
tember-
two months
later than usual.”
However, he also said this year’s
total budget did not change, but
the university distributed its funds
differently this year than last, mean-
ingja shortage of faculty funding
will occur in the spring semester.
Because the university committed
more money to regular faculty in
the fall, only $230,000 is available
to pay faculty in the spring, as op
posed to the $290,000 available
last spring, said Cochran.
As a result, as many as 33 adjunct
professors may not return in the
spring, Cochran said.
“It’s not quite a correct statement
to say that (an adjunct) is fired,
because the decision to hire them is
semester-by-semester,” Vice Chan
cellor of Academic Affairs James
Pitts said.
Pitts considers the current budget
crunch relatively minor.
“Relative to September, there is a
bitofacrunch mid-year. We re not
in a situation of having to lay off
full-time faculty, and that’s what I
would call a (serious) crunch,” said
See CRUNCH on page 9
HOW week to show students how to help
By Catharine Sutherland
News Editor
Monday marks the start of Help Our
'^orld (HOWO week, an effort coordi
nated by UNCA students and campus lead-
•K to increase awareness of poverty,
'ornelessness, and hunger, and to show
itudents how they can do something about
"We’re so blessed here at UNCA. We
have food, we have homes, we have cloth-
ing.
“There are people living on the street
without food, homes, or clothing, and I
think it’s helpful for (students) to become
aware of what’s out there,” said Del^by
Zemek, co-chairperson of the HOW plan
ning committee and a member of many
student organizations.
A variety of campus organizations will
sponsor activities and speakers throughout
the week.
Activities will include scheduled volun
teer sessions at Manna Food Bank; cloth
ing, canned food, and book drives; a pov
erty simulation; skipping a meal in the
cafeteria to feed the hungry; an all day fast;
and cooking and serving food for the home
less.
Speakers will include Jim Turpin, founder
of Project Concern, a humanitarian orga
nization dedicated to helping children in
impoverished areas around the world; Rev
erend Scott Rogers, director of Asheville-
Buncombe Community Christian Minis
try; and Stephen Hearne, director of ad
missions at Gardner-Webb University
School of Divinity.
Zemek feels serving dinner to the home
less will be one of the best experiences
students can have during HOW week.
“It will be the biggest hands-on thing
there is, so it will help people become more
aware,” she said.
Unlike listening to a lecture about'
homelessness, “you’re actually feeding the
homeless, and sitting down and talking to
them,” Zemek said.
HOW week has occurred on campus
several years in the past, but this year’s
activities surpass the number of those held
in the past, according to Zemek.
“I’m glad and surprised at the feedback
we’ve gotten,” said freshman Lori Long,
co-chairperson of the HOW week plan
ning committee.
“I hope as the week goes on it gets even
better,” said Long.
Look for flyers and sign-up tables in
front of the cafeteria before and during
HOW week, or contact a sponsoring or
ganization to participate.