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QJ
Barvner
Volume 28 Issue 10
November 12, 1998
Students investigated for harassment
By Samantha Hartmann
staff Writer
Two UNCA students are
under investigation for sexu
ally harassing another student
and damaging personal prop
erty. According to the inves
tigative report, complainant
Charles Shabel, a junior me
teorology major, was ‘as
saulted, ridiculed, and humili
ated by jokes of a sexual na
ture, and also had his bookbag
stolen.”
Schabel said he recovered the
stolen bookbag a few days later
from a locked bathroom on
the fourth floor of Mills Hall.
“The same guy who stole my
stuff also used the bathroom,
defecated, on my bag,” said
Schabel.
The incident was recently
brought before the University
Conduct Board to determine
if inappropriate behavior oc
curred, and to evaluate the
consequences of such behav
ior.
According to Ryan Hobday
of Founders Hall, who was
listed as the primary offender
in the report, appeals are be
ing processed this week and
the final decisions regarding
involvement have not been
made.
The investigation report
listed Davidjordan, Matthew
Tatham, and Kurtis Wilson
as additional suspects in the
incident.
“All four are on the cross
country team,” said Schabel.
Both Stan Rosenthal, head
men’s/women’s track coach,
and Mike Gore, associate di
rector of athletics, declined to
comment on the matter.
According to the report,
Schabel stated that, on the
evening the Incident occurred,
he was studying alone on the
fouth floor lounge of Mills
Hall.
“1 heard a knock and I saw
these two boys over at the
window,” said Schabel. “The
one said, ‘Hi, I’m Ryan
Hobday,’ and the other said,
‘Hi, I’m Matt.’
“I did not know who these
boys were, and they did not
know who I was,” said Schabel
in his statement. “We started
talking, but in a short amount
of time, Ryan started telling
me these‘ass-raping’jokes. He
tried to demonstrate on me
how he ass-rapes men, but I
pushed him off”
Hobday said in his statement
to public safety that he and his
friend, Tatham, began to get
bored in their conversation
with Schabel so they enter
tained themselves by talking
about “ass-raping” each other.
“We never directed the jokes
toward Charles, and he didn’t
seem to be offended, because
we thought he realized it was
a joke,” said Hobday in his
statement.
Schabel said he was annoyed
with the comments, but just
went along, hoping Hobday
would eventually stop.
“After a while, Ryan and
Matt invited me to come down
with them to see some girls
visiting from the University
See HARASS page 9
Committee
prepares for
chancellor
search
By Sara Jones
staff Writer
At three forums held last week,
students, faculty, and members of
the community told the
Chancellor’s Search Committee
which qualifications they felt were
most important for UNCA’s fu
ture chancellor.
“I want a chancellor who will ag
gressively pressure and seeks to in
tegrate student population, as vs^ell
as faculty. I don’t want someone
who gives superfluous rhetoric that
is meaningless without action to
back it up,” said John Gaither, se
nior political science major, at the
community meeting on Oct. 5.
Members of African-American
Student Association were present
at the meeting to express their con
cerns for the future of African-
American enrollment at UNCA,
and to discuss race issues involving
campus.
“I think we need to bring in a
chancellor that is concerned about
minority issues in a very wide range
if this is going to be a diverse cam
pus,” said Nikki Young, a sopho
more biology major.
“There are no campus-sponsored
activities to celebrate Black History
Month, and it’s pretty much a slap
in the face to me as a student, not
cnly as an African-American stu
dent, but (as) a student who is at a
university that is claiming diver
sity, and with the curriculum, the
tact that we’re not celebrating such
a large portion of history is very
important,” she said.
UNCA “cannot achieve its mis
sion if the color of its faculty is not
diverse, as well as the student popu
lation,” said Gaither. “If this school
is to have actions to back up its
rhetoric, then something must be
done,” he said.
The search committee for a new
chancellor is still debating the lo
gistics concerning the committee
itself and the search.
At a search committee meeting
held Tuesday, members discussed
the need for an African-American
faculty representative on the com
mittee. Though minority faculty
members were asked to be on the
committee, they declined for vari
ous reasons, said one committee
member. The committee will seek
to pursue others or ask faculty again.
“It is the strong desire of this com
mittee that we diversify ... for the
best search possible,” said Bill Orr,
a member of the UNCA Board of
Trustees. He said that, although it
is a sacrifice of their time, the com
mittee needed to ask for an African-
American faculty member’s time to
construct a diversified search.
See SEARCH page 9
Housing
denies stall
ing on lights
By Mat Peery
staff Writer
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY TRAVIS BARKER/ MODEL TEJASH PATEL
When the power fails in Governors Village, there are no emergency lights, and stu
dents have to use flashlights to see.
UNCA may install emergency
lighting in Governors Village, the
only dorms that have no backup
power system or lights during
power failures.
“There is a proposal in the works,
and the money has been allocated
to do emergency access lighting”
for the Village “with an expecta
tion that by January” the lighting
will be installed, said Pete Will
iams, director of housing and resi
dence life.
He said that the total cost of the
project would be approximately
$15,000.
Some parents worry that a power
failure in the Village caused by a
fire could lead to the injury or
death of residents in the Village.
J udy Williams, a parent of a Vil
lage resident, wrote a letter to Mack
Salley, a fire marshall with the cit}?
of Asheville, expressing her con
cern about the lack of emergency
lighting in the Village.
In her letter, J. Williams said,
“whether or not they are planning
to tear down Governors Village
should have no bearing on our
children’s safety,’ and that the
school appeared to be “stalhiig,
hoping to get by until demolition
takes place” by not considering a
generator or other backup light
ing system.
“That is not true,” said P. Will
iams. “The fact that we’re in the
process of trying to get” emer
gency lights shows the university
wants to act. He also said that the
funds are not available for a gen
erator in the Village.
Mike McCrain, a state fire
marshall who lives in Asheville
and received J. Williams’ letter
from Salley, said that UNCA does
not violate the state building code
by not providing backup lighting
for the Village.
The Governors Village “dorms
accommodate less than 100
people,” he said. According to the
state building code, buildings of
that size are not required to pro
vide backup lighting for emer
gency purposes, said McCrain.
“In terms of code,” said P. Will
iams, “we meet code. In terms of
‘Do we want to have some emer
gency lighting?’ the answer is‘yes.’”
J. Williams said that her daugh
ter, a third-floor resident of a Vil
lage building, brought the Village’s
lack of emergency lighting to her
attention. Williams said she read a
story in The Banner Online about
a power oiuage (“C’.iinpii.s Ich in
dark, squirrel blamcii, Sept. 10,
1998).
See LIGHTS page 10
State budgets $1 million for Highsmith
By Shaun Cashman
staff Writer
UNCA will receive $1 million of
the $12 million it requested from
the state for renovations to the
Highsmith University Center .
The North Carolina General
Assembly’s home page on the
Internet said the budget plan in
cludes $1 million for the
“Highsmith Center renovation and
addition,”
The $ 1 million in funding leaves
$ 11 million more to raise before the
, project can be completed.
“$1 million sounds like a lot of
money, but there isn’t a whole lot
we can do toward that $12 million
’ said Ron Reagan, director
project, c,
for the office of university architect.
“We are a small university in the
western part ofNorth Carolina. We
are far-removed from the legisla
tors,” said Reagan. “There’s a basic
feeling around that we don’t get
our fair share.”
UNC-Chapel Hill, N.C. State,
and UNC-Greensboro are bigger
schools and may have more needs,
but most of the money seems to go
in that direction, said Reagan.
The budget plan also said that
$2.5 million might be diverted from
the funds for the Blue Ridge Re
gional Destination Center to go
towards Highsmith. That would
provide $3.5 million for reconstruc
tion of Highsmith, $8.5 million
short of the original request.
“Everyone will work diligently to
secure that funding,” said Arthur
Foley, vice chancellor for financial
affairs. “The chancellor, the Board
of Trustees, the Board of Gover
nors, and our local legislators see
this as the highest capital priority
for UNC-Asheville. This will be
submitted to legislature when it
See HIGHSMITH page 9
PHOTO BY CARRIE ENDERS
The Highsmith University Center will receive $1 million of the $12 million requested from
the state for renovations.