The University of North Carolina at Asheville
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Volume 28 Issue 12
December 3, 1998
Students punished in harassment case
By Samantha Hartmann
staff Writer
Nicole Miller
Copy Editor
The University Conduct Board has taken
disciplinary action against four students,
all members of the track team, who were
recently investigated for harassment.
Charles Schabel, a junior meteorology
major, filed an investigation report with
public safety on Sept. 26, stating that he
was assaulted, ridiculed, humiliated by jokes
of a sexual nature, and had his bookbag
defecated upon.
According to Ryan Hobday, the primary
offender in the investigation report, he and
David Jordan, who admitted in his state
ment to public safety that he defecated on
Schabel’s bookbag, have been required to
move off campus by the University Con
duct Board.
“As far as the track team, we are getting
different punishments from Stan
Rosenthal,” head men’s/women’s track
coach, said Hobday. “But as of right now,
everybody is still on the track team.”
Kurt Wilson and Matt Tatham, who were
listed as additional suspects in the investi
gation report, said they did not take part in
the harassment.
“Our names were not even mentioned in
this whole thing until we volunteered to let
Ryan submit our names as witnesses,” said
Tatham. “If we had known all of this stuff
was going to come down, I doubt we would
have let ourselves get involved.
“(Tatham and I) just got pulled into it,”
said Wilson. “They just associated us with”
Hobday and Jordan. “Because we’re on the
crosscountry team, (public safety) assumed
we were guilty with them.
“I would like to sit down face-to-face with
someone in a position of authority and
maybe Charles too, and just talk,” said
Wilson. “I really think we could resolve our
involvement in the matter. David obvi
ously messed up. He should have never
used the bathroom on Charles’ bag.”
“I think Ryan and David are the guilty
ones,” said Schabel. “I don’t think Kurt
and Matt deserve punishment.” Schabel
also said that he offered assistance to Tatham
and Wilson in their efforts to appeal their
punishments.
Wilson said his punishment consisted of
five hours of community service with pub
lic safety, a letter of apology to Schabel, and
a letter to his track coach explaining his
involvement.
“There was alcohol intervention that I
had to go to, but that got dropped,” said
Wilson, who was not drinking on the night
the incident occurred. “They are still stick
ing with the other stuff I am going to fight
it. I don’t think I deserve the punishment.”
Tatham said his punishment was similar
to Wilson’s, but he also has to participate in
alcohol intervention.
“1 was caught drinking, and 1 admitted to
drinking,” said Tatham. “If I have to go to
See HARASS page 10
Tuition faces
regulations
By Shauii Cashman
staff Writer
A Tuition Policy Task Force put
together by the Board of Governors
has released its report of sugges
tions to establish a more systematic
process for regulating tuition in the
UNC system.
Under the new policy, “it ought to
be a lot easier for students to fore
cast what their tuition is going to
be,” said professor of economics
Bruce Larson, who worked on the
Task Force. “Changes in tuition
will be more orderly.”
The report maintains the state’s
policy of an affordable, high-qual
ity education, but places the power
and responsibility of maintaining
tuition levels under the direction of
the Board of Governors.
Under the proposal, the Board
would approve tuition changes one
year in advance, and the 16 cam
puses would have to present budget
proposals outlining reasons for any
increases.
“I suspect there will not be a lot of
change in terms of tuition at
UNCA,” said Larson.
In the report, the Task Force de
termined that there should be
stricter controls on tuition rates in
North Carolina.
The Board of Governors approved
the new tintion policy on Nov. 1 3,
then sent it to the state Legislature
for final approval.
The study was a result of the 1997
North Carolina State Budget Act,
which directed the Board of Gover
nors to conduct a study to establish
firmer tuition policies.
The Task Force was composed of
representatives of the board, fac
ulty, staff, and students.
Among the current policies being
evaluated are increases in student
fees. UNCA has the highest fee rate
of all 16 UNC schools at $1,032,
with almost $400 going towards the
athletic fee. UNC Greensboro ranks
second with $1,003, of which about
$300 goes toward athletic fees.
If the tuition policy is approved
by the state Legislature, UNCA will
have to validate any increases in
fees.
Currently, the Legislature deter
mines tuition during the budget
process.
That system does not allow much
time for students and administra
tion to make informed plans con
cerning student payments, and fi
nancial aid offices are burdened
with assisting students in coping
with unexpected tuition increases.
In addition to not having suffi
cient time to plan for tuition in
creases, the Task Force found other
faults with the current system used
by the Legislature to determine tu
ition fees.
Tuition cost has increased an
average of 8.1 percent over the
past 10 years, which translates to
about 2.6 percent more than the
growth of per capita personal in
come in North Carolina over the
same period, according to the re
port.
In 1972, resident tuition and fees
averaged $486, and by 1998, that
has increased to about $1,791.
However, compared to other
states, UNC tuition increases rank
among the smallest in the nation,
according the report.
In the report, the Task Force con
cluded that current policies gov
erning tuition and fees could be
improved by adopting a policy
framework that:
- increases the role of the Board of
Governors in managing tuition and
makes them accountable for UNC
institution performance.
- announces changes in tuition
and fees in advance.
- refines student financial aid pro
grams.
- improves communication be
tween the board and the public
concerning cost of education.
- refines the procedures for cam
puses to initiate and justify tu
ition and fee changes for board
consideration.
See TUITION page 9
Going substance-free
8SS»*»
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY TRAVIS BARKER/MOD^ BEN ERLANDSON
UNCA decided to designate Soutli Ridge Residence Hall a substance-free dormitory starting in the Fall 1999 semester.
SGA tackles suhstance-free housing, other issues
By Mat Peery
staff Writer
The Student Government Asso
ciation continues to pursue several
bi 11s a n d i n i t ia t i ves tha t have passed
this semester and cover a wide range
of issues, including substance-free
housing, childcare, student fees,
and the proposed academic honor
policy.
The creation of a substance-free
housing program was initiated in
SGA after learning that South
Ridge Residence Hall will become
a substance-free living area next
fall, said Alphonso Donaldson,
SGA president.
“The university is moving for
ward with an initiative to make
South Ridge a substance-free resi
dence hall. What we think is that
might not be prudent at this point,
and what we need to do is make a
substance-free hall in South
Ridge,” said Donaldson.
The SGA resolution affirms a
student’s right to live in a sub
stance-free area, but on a “per
hallway” and “voluntary ” basis,
according to the bill.
Pete Williams, director of hous
ing and residence life, said that
South Ridge will be a completely
substance-free dorm beginning in
the Fall 1999 semester.
“There is a task force that is
working on some of the details.
Basically^ it will be an alcohol and
smoke-free living facility,” said
Williams. In addition, there are
other “wellness” components that
are being discussed, Williams said.
The Housing Office anticipates
that it has enough student inter
est in such an environment to fill
the 112-bed facility, Williams
said.
SGA is also trying to convince
the administration to refund the
$10 that some students paid in
order to stay in the dorms during
Thanksgiving break. Housing can
shut down dorms during any
breaks when the school is closed.
Doug Jones, commuter senator,
said that he has discussed with the
administration a possible refund
of that charge to students who
can demonstrate that they had no
alternative other than staying in
the dorms. An appeals process
will begin in the near future that
will allow students' to file those
requests.
“I don’t believe there was enough
prior notice” about the charge.
said Jones. “It wasn’t in the resi
dential handbook.
“I don’t have a problem if they
rede? the policy for next year so
that it is more fair to the stu
dents,' said Jones.
In addition to housingconcerns,
SGA is reorganizing a student
referendum on the proposed aca
demic honor code that was sched
uled for Nov. 30, but was can
celed. Jones said that he lacked
sufficient information from fac
ulty members about the proper
course for implementation for the
proposed honor policy.
“We’re not going to do anything
without student consent, and
that’s why we’re waiting,” Jones
said.
See SGA page 10
Voice mail conflict resolved, call waiting returns
By John Stanier
staff Writer
On-campus telephones will have the call
waiting feature returned due to complaints
and pressure from students. Students will
have both call waiting and voice mail avail
able at the same time.
Mike Small, director of university tele
communications, said that a new system
has been chosen, and BellSouth is in the
process of installing necessary software
to enable the campus telephone system
to handle both features.
“As soon as they let us know it is installed,
we’ll be up and running again,” Small said.
“Ifyou’re on the phone and a call comes in,
you’ll get the tone that you have an incom
ing call,” said Small. “You can either go to
that call right away as you normally would,
or you can ignore it. If you ignore it, after
four rings it will go into the voice mailbox.
“It’s a no-brainer as far as I’m concerned,”
said Small. “I wish someone had pointed
this out before we changed the system.”
Kenya Smith, a junior management ma
jor and resident assistant (R.A.) in Mills
Hall, has been working with Small to get
call waiting reactivated. Smith organized a
student petition to have call waiting along
with voice mail on campus telephones.
“They made me the sponsor person,” said
Smith.
“I was already working on the problem
before the petition came in,” Small said.
“That made me try a little harder, I guess.
I knew how valuable the students thought
call waiting was.”
Small said students’ concerns were taken
into consideration, and that it reinforced
the need to get call waiting back quickly.
Smith said she was initially bothered by
the change in telephone service features
because students were not informed. She
felt that the change was made without
students’ priorities in mind. “They were
just going to cut it off and not tell any
body,” said Smith.
Small said that this was not the case. He
said there was never a decision to remove
the call waiting feature from students’
phones in favor of the voice mail option.
“The reason we had to stumble into this, so
to speak, is because no one told us this was
going to be a problem,” he said.
Small said that when the university de
cided to add voice mail, BellSouth did not
mention any potential conflicts in the cur
rent system that would have disabled call
waiting. “We kept call waiting because we
knew the students like it,” he said.
Small said the problem was a lack of
software from BellSouth. “It was aBellSouth
enhancement that had to be on our system
that hadn’t been installed when we got our
basic phone system,” he said.
Smith said she circulated her petition as
students began to have problems with the
services.
Small said he looked at other schools to
See CALL WAITING page 9