The University of North Carolina at Asheville
I Volume 26 Issue 13
December 4, 1997
Student fee committee proposes increase for 1998-99
By Nancy Hayes
staff Writer
The student fee committee will recom-
Ijiend a 4 percent increase in fees for school
r 1998-99 to the Board of Trustees at
liheir January meeting, according to Board
of Trustee representative to the student fee
committee, Robert Cranford.
Thirteen percent of the proposed increase
is in the recreation area of the budget, and
will go toward staffing the new Justice
Center facility, according to Cranford. The
recreation budget also includes portions of
coaches’ salaries.
Education and technology’s share of the
proposed increase, slated for classroom and
lab materials, will be 8.5 percent. Athletics
will receive slightly more than 2 percent of
the proposed increase.
Student fees at UNCA are the highest in
the 16-school UNC system, with a large
portion going to support Division I athlet
ics.
“The Board of Trustees is concerned over
student fees in general, and the athletic
impact is of great concern to the board,”
said Board of Trustee Chairman Jesse Ray,
“Academically, we have reached a level
we’re very proud of Hopefully, we’ll achieve
that same level athletically. A solid, suc
cessful athletics program is one that is able
to garner financial support. But we have to
build a foundation, and, as with anything
in Hfe, there has to be a sacrifice.”
Eric lovacchini, vice chancellor for stu
dent affairs, admits that student fees will
continue to rise.
“State-mandated salary increases for cer
tain employees must come out of student
fees. Our only other choice is to cut ser
vices,” said lovacchini.
SGA debates
pills in Senate
iFootivear policy, Banner
Icirculation cuts, and free
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By Catharine Sutherland
News Editor
Student Government Association
(SGA) senators presented legisla
tion on the Senate floor Nov. 12,
and have been debating the pro
posed bills for the past two weeks.
The following bills have been pro-
,psed and voted upon so far:
Mils Passed:
Bill Number 45 initiated by Resi
dential Senator Doug Jones, sub
mitted by Jones, resolves to form a
committee of faculty, staff, and stu-
|iients to review the feasibility of a
campus-wide program enabling stu
dents to buy personal computers
through the university.
Bill Number 46 initiated by Jones,
submitted by Jones, aims to extend
the open hours of computer labs in
Robinson 006 and 223, and Zageir
025, all with free laser printing ser
vices, during peak hours of student
use.
Bill Number 47 initiated by Jones,
submitted by Sophomore Senator
Eric Winters, proposes to decrease
The Banner circulation by 10 per
cent to decrease waste and divert
revenue towards a university child
care facility.
Bill Number 49 initiated by Leg
islative Librarian and Sophomore
Senator Jessica Weiss, submitted
by Weiss, resolves that SGA sup
ports the regular maintenance of
Founders Hall bathtubs, which are
currently being used as cleaning
supply closets by the housekeeping
staff.
Bill Number 51 initiated by
Sophomore Amy Douglas, submit
ted by Sophomore Senator Eric
Winters, resolves to protect stu
dent health by requiring footwear
in every university building, ex
cluding the residence halls. The bill
also legislates signage outlining this
policy on entrance to affected build
ings.
Bill Number 56 initiated by Resi
dential Senator Derek Edwards,
submitted by Edwards, suggests a
student be appointed each year by
the SGA president to sit on the
teacher awards committee and rep
resent the student body.
Bills Failed:
Bill Number 48 initiated by Jones,
submitted by Sophomore Senator
Zach Peterson, aimed to eliminate
Campus Commission funding of
The Banner, as it is not properly
recognized by SGA and does not
fulfill paperwork requirements. The
bill failed by unanimous vote.
Student and senator commentary
about the legislation follows.
In response to bill number 47,
legislation to cut Banner circula
tion by 10 percent, commuter stu
dent Mischa Irsch said he “got very
upset” when he heard about it.
“As a commuter. The Banner right
now is very available to me. I would
not bother having to go to a com
puter lab and look it up (on-line),”
said Irsch, a junior biology and
German major. “Being off campus
now, I really read the whole thing.”
“Cutting down would just hurt
the commuter community. I think
the school needs to do whatever it
can to offer commuters the chance
to know what’s going on on cam
pus.”
“I know people read it. I’ve seen
people read it. I don’t think it’s
right (to cut circulation),” Irsch
said.
Senior environmental studies
major Leland Davis also opposed
the bill.
“It seems like lately people have
been reading {The Banner) a lot
more thaii they did when I first
came to school here. If readership is
going up, it would be strange to cut
the production back,” Davis said.
The bill, which originally aimed
to cut circulation by 30 percent,
was not written from a budgetary
perspective, but an environmental
one, Jones said. The goal of the bill
was to reduce waste caused by over
circulation.
Tatum initially vetoed the bill,
but repealed his veto on Tuesday,
saying it was more trouble to veto
the bill, since senators could easily
overturn his ruling.
“I looked at this way: The Banner
circulation is not going to be af
fected by 10 percent. 10 percent is
See BILLS on page 8
Student documents life in Western North Carolina
PHOTO BY SARA HARNDEN
Photos by senior Sara Hamden are now on display in Ramsey Library. Her collection, “Postmodern Hyperspace,”
captures the increasingly multi-cultural life of Western North Carolina near her home in Leicester.
Book co-op starts on-line version
By Veronika Gunter
staff Writer
The Student Government Asso
ciation (SGA) Book Co-op is now
on-line, making the service more
accessible to students who want an
alternative to selling textbooks back
to the UNCA bookstore.
“This will definitely increase par
ticipation,” said Tiffany
Drummond, co-op co-founder and
SGA vice-president.
Formerly, co-op book-shoppers
had to go to a room in Highsmith
Center and wade through stacks of
books to see if what they needed
was available.
Now, students connecting to
www.unca.edu/banner/books will
be able to search for the textbooks
they need by entering the depart
ment, class number and title, book
title, author, or price range of the
books they need. Co-op prices are
set by textbook owners.
Drummond estimates $2,000 in
book sales were handled by the
book co-op since it began in the
spring.
The co-op will begin collecting
books from sellers on Monday.
The co-op will offer books for sale
Jan. 12-16 on a first-come, first-
served basis, Drummond said.
Electronic Editor and se
nior Nate Conroy suggested the
idea of an on-line co-op to
Drummond earlier in the year,
Drummond said.
“I was 100 percent receptive. I was
overjoyed that he volunteered'’ to
create the site, Drummond said.
“From what I’ve seen so far, it
looks like he’s done a fantastic job.”
“Il sounds good to me,” Eliza
Pemberton, a sophomore environ
mental science major, said of the
co-op.
She generally relies on sharing
books among friends or buying from
people she knows, and has not used
See BOOKS on page 8
Public safety to use radar guns to
curb speeding in ‘trouble spots’
By Amanda Thorn
staff Writer
As early as next semester, drivers
on campus will know immediately
whether or not they are breaking
the university’s 20 mile-per-hour
speed limit. A $3,000 radar system
purchased by Public Safety will aim
radar guns at passing vehicles and
display the driver’s speed on a large
screen.
“This system allows drivers to see
the speed they are traveling at, and
allow them to be more aware of
their speed and their speed limit,”
said Dennis Gregory, interim pub
lic safety director.
“I think this is a great idea. Stu
dents do drive at high speeds, and
there is a potential for a pedestrian
to be harmed. It is an agreeable idea
to educate students to go slower,”
said Zach Brown, senior computer
science major.
The radar gun and display signs
will be used in two “trouble spots”
on University Heights, in front of
Rhodes-Robinson and Zageir Halls,
Gregory said.
The new system will also enable
Public Safety officers to issue speed
ing tickets to drivers, a task which
has been almost impossible to do in
the past because the officers had no
way of documenting a driver’s
speed.
“We have no way of issuing a
ticket, and it is hard to win in court
without having a device to monitor
speed,” Gregory said. Public Safety
typically issues one or two speeding
tickets a year.
Writing speeding tickets is not the
See RADAR on page 10
Computers become mandatory for WCU freshmen
By Mandisa Templeton
staff Writer
In accordance with one of Western Caro
lina University’s newest requirements,
tiembers of next year’s incoming freshman
class will have to purchase their own com
puters.
The new rule leads many to question
whether such a requirement may soon ap
pear at other state colleges, particularly
UNCA.
“There is no doubt,” said Frank Prochaska,
associate vice chancellor of academic affairs
at WCU, “a trend has begun with colleges
(requiring computers) the next few years.”
The question of mandatory computers
has come up at UNCA, but administrators
feel that computers are still too costly for
the average student to purchase, said Vice
Chancellor of Student Affairs Eric
lovacchini.
However, lovacchini did not rule out the
idea that required computers may become
a reality in the future.
“There may be a day in higher education
where students are required to have com
puters everywhere,” lovacchini said.
The price of computers may have dropped
by that time, making it more affordable for
the average student to purchase his or her
own computer, lovacchini said.
While WCU’s Student Government As
sociation and its Faculty Senate voted to
support making computers a mandatory
item for each student, many UNCA stu
dents claim the additional cost of personal
computers would be excessive, considering
the amount of computer labs available on
campus.
“I think (requiring computers) is a bit
See WCU on page 10
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