The University of North Carolina at Asheville
www.unca.edu/banncr
Volume 28 Issue 2
September 10, 1998
Campus left in the dark, squirrel blamed
By Nicole Miller
Copy Editor
Erin King
Editor-in-Chief
UNCA experienced power failure
on campus for approximately two
hours Monday night after a squirrel
shorted out a transformer. The
power outage, which lasted from
approximately 7:30-9:30 p.m.,
caused several night classes to be
cancelled.
Stephen Baxley, UNCA director
of facilities management and engi
neering, credited “an inquisitive
squirrel” as the reason for the cam
pus-wide power outage. “The elec
tricity comes up to the campus from
CP&L,” Baxley said. “They pro
vide all of the electricity for the
campus, and all of it, with the ex
ception of a few street lights, come
up the service drive by South Ridge.
“The substation starts down at the
bottom and goes up to the set of
switching cabinets right outside the
Physical Plant building. The squir
rel stood up on the top of the switch
gear, apparently touched the wire
at the same time, and shorted it
out.” Baxley said. “He was crispy.”
Senior management major Nilda
Gavidia was at the Justice Center
when the power went out.
“I was crossing the area over by the
pool when the lights went out, and
I thought, ‘Well, maybe they’re just
closing down the pool.’ Then I
started walking towards Governors
Village, and I saw one of my friends,
and she said, ‘We have no power.'
Then we heard the fire trucks, ”
Gavidia said.
All the dormitories except for
Governors Village have back-up
generators, allowing the emergency
exit signs to still be lit while the
power was out, but the generator at
Mills Hall failecf to operate prop
erly, according to Baxley. This was
due to an automatic transfer switch
that was not working.
“Mills Hall, without an effective
generator, was running without
electricity for a little while,” Baxley
said. The automatic transfer switch
that is supposed to automatically
transfer power to the generator
didn’t operate.” The generator was
repaired Monday night.
Governors Village was without any
power because of the abscence of an
emergency generator. Pete Will
iams, UNCA director of housing
and residence life, said that getting
Governors Village a generator in
the near future is not likely.
“The actual cost of putting in a
back-up generator, a big generator,
is quite substantial. And I think the
decision was made to emergency
exit lighting, but not necessarily an
emergency generator, that would
last two to three days. I think there
are other avenues,” Williams said.
“There is some discussion about
major renovation and demolition
of part of the Village.”
If a major power outage was to
occur during the winter for an ex
tended period of time, Baxley said
that those living in Governors Vil
lage would not have to worry about
not having an emergency genera
tor.
“We have the ability down at the
health and fitness center to provide
heat, lights, and hot showers as
well. So, if we had to, we would
grab mattresses and relocate stu
dents from Governors Village to
the health and fitness center,” Baxley
said. “1 wouldn’t worry about them
freezing to death.”
The Dining Hall also has an emer
gency generator, so students would
not have to miss meals due to a
power outage, said Baxley.
Resident Assistants are equipped
with flashlights for such emergen
cies, according to Williams.
“The R.A.s all have flashlights.
It’s primarily in Governors Village
where the problem is,” Williams
said. “We don’t have 206 flash
lights, but the R.A.s, I believe, do
have flashlights for themselves.”
Williams also said that the hous
ing office continues to recommend
that all resident students have flash
lights in their rooms for use, espe
cially in emergency situations like
Monday night.
Gavidia, who is an R.A. on 7th
floor north of Founders Hall and
sat duty in the Founders lobby
during the power outage, did not
have a flashlight supplied by the
housing office.
“1 didn’t have one (flashlight).
Now, 1 think we’re supposed to
have one. 1 think they’re going to
put it in the ‘Residential Times’
that not only R.A.s, but everybody
should have one on hand just in
case,” Gavidia said.
CP&L and UNCA electricians
were involved in resolving the power
outage. “The first order of business
was to get the power back on,”
Baxley said.
Electricians stayed later to check
all fire alarm panels to make sure
they reset properly, Baxley said.
When the power goes out, fire sys
tems go into a trouble alarm and are
supposed to reset when power is
restored. They also checked
Weizenblatt Health Center due to
the refrigerated medical ?oods. and
a few pieces ofscientific equipment
in Robinson Hall.
The two hours without power
passed without incident in the resi
dence halls, according to Gavidia.
“Around 7:30 p.m., it was stili day
light. People were just outside, do
ing homework,” she said.
Rolling out the greenway
By John Stanier
staff Writer
Plans are underway for the extension of
the greenway along W.T. Weaver Blvd.
This phase of the project will continue
from Barnard Ave. along the front of the
UNCA campus andj^nnect to Broad-
\^ay near the University Botanical Gar
dens. The existing phase of the greenway,
a trail in a park-like setting, opened
officially last fall. It stretches along W.T.
Weaver Blvd. from Merrimon Avenue
to Barnard Ave. and provides a safe
environment for walking, biking, and
relaxing along a busy street.
A1 Kopf a landscape architect with
Asheville’s Parks and Recreation De
partment and one of the project’s de
signers, said that initial work has begun.
“We just commenced with the design
phase last week. We’re going to be meet
ing again shortly with UNCA and Bo
tanical Garden staff to start talking
about refined concepts and planning,”
he said.
The goal now is to have the plans ready
by November and to put them out for
bids to construction companies this win
ter. Ifall goes according to plan, physical
construction of the second phase of the
W.T. Weaver Blvd. greenway should
begin early this coming spring and be .
finished during the summer.
UNCA and the city are working to
gether on the W.T. Weaver Blvd.
greenway project. UNCA is not provid
ing any funding for the greenway, but it
is actively participating in the planning
and development stages. One major as
pect of the cooperation between UNCA
and the city is the right to use the land.
“They (UNCA) are gracious enough to
let us have an easement across the prop
erty, a permanent easement. It will en
able us to do this, because we don’t have
enough right of way along the street
edge as it is now,” said Kopf
The greenway extension will continue
with the park-like setting established in
the initial phase of the project. Designs
for the greenway will take into consider
ation anticipated changes to the UNCA
campus.
“We want to make it perfectly com
patible for [UNCA] so it will only en
hance what they are trj'ing to do,” Kopf
said.
Mike Madison, an urban planner for
the city of Asheville, said the greenway is
an asset to UNCA. Its design provides
for a multi-use trail for biking and walk-
ing-
“It is certainly a needed link,” Madison
said. “A lot of UNCA students go to
Merrimon Ave. for Boston Pizza and
other services, and until the greenway
was developed, they either had to take
their lives in their own hands walking
■
PHOTO BY TRAVIS BARKER
The greenway along W.T. Weaver Blvd. will soon be extended to
connect with Broadway. The trail is meant to provide a safe place
for cyclists and walkers
along the street, or drive.”
When completed, the W.T. Weaver
Blvd. greenway will tie into a greenway
planned to run along the west side of
Broadway all the way down to Chest
nut Street. “Before too long you’ll be
able to walk or ride a bike all the way
from Merrimon Avenue, by the uni
versity and the botanical gardens, to
downtown,” Madison said.
The W.T. Weaver Blvd. greenway
project is part of a larger urban initia
tive in the city of Asheville. Madison is
currently working on a master plan for
aseriesofgreenways, similar to the one
along W.T. Weaver Blvd., through
out Asheville. “The city is really com-
mitted to the development of
greenways,” he said. “We see them
having numerous benefits to the city
in everything from recreation to eco
nomics.”
Kopf said the concept for the W.T.
Weaver Blvd. greenway began almost a
decade ago.
Madison said research indicates that
Asheville is now ready for greenways.
“Basically, there is not a long history
of greenways in Asheville except, obvi
ously, the Blue Ridge Parkway,” said
Madison. With growing concerns about
pollution, traffic, and quality of life,
people are now more open to the idea.
“Studies have shown that a good per
centage of the people in the Asheville
community would use the greenway
regularly,” he said. The same studies
indicate that “people are willing to walk
up to a half a mile or ride their bikes two
miles.”
, Greenways, a growing trend in city
planning across the country, help to cut
down on automobile usage, and there
fore help to promote cleaner air. They
also provide additional recreational
space and safe alternatives to narrow
sidewalks along busy streets.
Madison says greenways will provide
benefits not only to UNCA, but to the
city of Asheville as well.
See GREENWAY page 10
Funding for Highsmith
Center still uncertain
By Susan Crockett
staff Writer
Construction cannot start on the pro
posed $12 million Highsmith University
Center renovation until legislators in Ra
leigh can pass the state budget. “We still
don’t know what the outcome of the bud
get negotiations between the chambers will
be,” saidTom Byers, special assistant to the
chancellor.
Earlier this year, the House and the Sen
ate proposed to give UNCA $1 million to
start the project. “That is not unusual with
capital projects,” Byers said. A capital project
is one in which funds are not budgeted year
after year. Instead, a large sum of money is
allocated once and is used over a period of
several years.
The $12.4 million price tag is calculated
to reflect the amount of total square foot
age needed to complete the project. Plans
call for the renovation of an existing 37,785
square feet and the addition of 46,229
square feet, according a fact sheet provided
by the university on the center.
After two years of planning for the new
center, UNCA engaged in extensive efforts
to inform elected officials of the financial
needs for the renovation work, said Byers.
The University of North Carolina Board of
Governors approved the project, then sent
the proposal to the legislature. Although
the House and the Senate have allocated $ 1
million to UNCA for the center, Byers
noted that the university does not yet have
the money.
The budget impasse in Raleigh is caused
in part because the Republican-controlled
House and the Democrat-controlled Sen
ate cannot agree on key tax issues, Byers
said.
Also, the state had to pay back $1 billion
in taxation benefits for retirees, causing
further delay in resolving the budget. “This
really damaged our prospects,” said Byers.
Most of the capital projects sent to the
legislature by the Board of Governors are
viewed as multi-stage projects. “In our
case, we really need to have all the money
before we start because it’s not really fea
sible to do the building in pieces,” Byers
said.
Sharyn McDonald-Groh, director of stu
dent affairs, said her offices have told the
contractors that the center needs to be able
to operate fully while construction is in
progress.
“It would be a safety factor for us to stay
in the building, and it costs more money to
move us around,” said McDonald-Groh.
She added that student services may be
temporarily housed in trailers during con
struction of the building.
“We’re hearing the Senate and the House
allocated $1 million for planning and de
velopment,” said Groh. Regarding the re
maining needed funds, she added, “You
would ho^e that they would follow it up
pretty quickly with more monies, because
the longer you wait, the more expensive the
building becomes. Construction costs go
up.”
The proposed center will serve as a meet
ing place for the greater UNCA commu
nity which includes 630 Asheville Gradu
ate Center students and 900 members of
the College for Seniors. The center will
house a post office, a child play area, and
the student newspaper office. The plan also
provides for additional office and retail
spaces.
Mcdonald-Groh, who serves as chair of
the Highsmith planning committee, said
that the two-year planning process involved
surveying students, meeting with archi
tects, and comparing the student centers
on other college campuses.
PHOTO BY CARRIE ENDERS
UNCA is seeking funding to more than double the size of Highsmith.