Volume 29 Issue 12
April 29, 1999
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Day classes canceled for day of learning
By Mike Bryant
staff Writer
The Learning as Liberation
conference held Wednesday
at UNCA featured many pro
grams for students and fac
ulty, but students questioned
the conference’s timing.
“This was not a good time
to hold this event,” said
Candice Heald, a senior lit
erature major. “There is al
ways a lot of work for stu-
• •
dents to complete near the
end of a semester. In addi
tion, exams are- just around
the corner. It would have
made a lot more sense to
schedule this type of event at
the beginning of the semes
ter.
The Learning as Liberation
conference was held on April
28. A committee of faculty
members created the event’s
inaugural celebration for the
purpose of exploring and cel
ebrating teaching excellence
on the UNCA campus, ac
cording to a committee
spokesperson.
“A number of faculty mem
bers wanted to have a campus
event that would highlight and
promote innovations in cur
riculum and instruction at
UNCA,” said Charles
Bennett, a professor of phys
ics. “Hopefully, it will be the
first of many such annual cel
ebrations involving both fac
ulty and students.”
“Since the university can
celled classes, I used the time
to finish some assignments,”
Heald said. “I did not really
have any interest in the cel
ebration. I used the day as an
opportunity to'prepare for the
remaining two weeks of the
semester.”
Some students expressed
support for the event, but
many were puzzled with the
date chosen by faculty and
administrators.
“I think the event is a pretty
good idea,” said Michelle
Hicks, a junior fine arts ma
jor. “But I have a number of
papers due in the next couple
ofdays, and I just cannot be as
involved as I would have liked.
I hope the university holds
the event again next year, but
I would like to see it sched
uled earlier in the semester.”
“I was not aware of the event
until just a few days ago,” said
Gerald Kidd, a graduate stu
dent. “I think it would have
helped if the university had
promoted the event more ag
gressively. Also, student par
ticipation would have in
creased if it had not occurred
so late in the term.”
The university’s decision to
cancel classes for the event
was endorsed by both students
and committee members.
“The committee members
felt very strongly in urging
university administrators to
cancel classes for the celebra
tion,” Bennett said. “It would
have been a logistical night
mare to schedule the day’s
events around classes. Plus,
the committee and other fac
ulty members wanted to en-
couragestudent participation.
A remaining, but unattrac
tive alternative, was a week
end scheduling of the event.”
“I am glad the university can
celled classes,” said Hicks. “It
gave me a chance to work on
some class papers, and par
ticipate in the celebration.”
“It is nice to have a day off
from classes,” Kiddsaid. “Un
fortunately, the missed class
time and work is going to
have to be crammed into the
remaining few days of the term
See LEARN page 10
Parbdpation
low in recent
SGA elections
Forging ahead
By Dm Martin
staff Writer
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Only 17 percent of the student
body turned out for the Student
Government Association (SGA)
elections this year.
Although this is a small percent
age, it is ail improvement from last
year’s turn out of only 13 percent,
according to SGA.
“People just don’t care some
times,” said Kenya Smith, a junior
management major. “I think we
need a newsletter for commuters to
provide them with more informa
tion. If a student isn’t interested in
politics, then they probably won’t
like SGA because it is political by
nature.”
The commuters are a large con
cern, according to Wiley Cash, a
junior creative writing major and
SGA president.
“I think the on-campus students
turned out more than the com
muters by far,” said Cash. “I think
the minorities turned out the most
because they’re the ones who real
ize issues and explore more than
your average student. I think the
best way to get in touch with com
muters is by talking to them and
taking the issues to heart.”
“As far as low voter turn out goes,
1 think there’s just a lack of inter
est,” said Avery Smart, a senior
Spanish and political science ma
jor and SGA senior senator. “It’s
very hard to get people to vote.”
“There are a lot of things that
need to change for commuters, like
all-night computer labs,” said Cash.
“The library should also be open
later. We need to work on things
that we can change.”
“I think Wiley will do fine,” said
■Smith. “He’ll take the tasks at hand.
and do the best he can with them.”
“Personally, I think Wiley’s cam
paign was kind of a waste of paper,”
said Dan Ryan, a senior environ
mental studies major. “I kind of
doubt that he’ll be able to do any
thing about the parking for com
muters.”
“I support Wiley and what he’s
doing,” said Christina Rinas, an
undelcared freshman. “However,
from my own personal experiences.
I’ve found that people say they can
make big changes but it doesn’t
always happen.”
The lack of information doesn’t
just apply to the commuters, ac
cording to Adam Chacon, an un
declared freshman.
“I didn’t vote because I didn’t
find out when the election was until
the day after it took place,” said
Chacon. “I didn’t know who was
running. I’d suggest the campaign
ing should be stronger. I don’t know
how they could do that, but it
needs to be more informative.”
“There were only two places to
vote, as far as I know,” said Smart.
“There was one in Highsmith (Uni
versity Ceiiter) and one in Karpen
(Hall). Those are the only two
buildings. SGA really needs to pull
people in. I think the people in
charge of the polls should send
more SGA members out to heighten
the awareness of the situation at
hand.”
“I didn’t see the voting dates any
where,” said Rinas. Someone put
a flyer on my door that had the
candidates viewpoints, but I didn t
see when to vote.
Many of the commuters aren’t
affected by SGA, according to Ryan.
“I never voted because I feel like it
doesn’t influence me,” said Ryan.
See ELECTIONS page 10
•m
PHOTO BY VICTOR GIARRUSO
Some of the activities for the Learning as Liberation day took students and faculty out of the conventional class
room and into the outdoors, such as the iron pour presentation by the art department.
Gay and Lesbian Conference held
By Krystel Lucas
staff Writer
The second annual Gay and Les
bian Studies Conference, “Forging
Change/Crafting Identity,” will be
held April 30-May 2, on the UN CA
campus, according to the news re
lease.
The conference will feature guest
speakers and. scholarly presenta
tions, and is sponsored by academic
affairs, humanities and the women’s
studies program.
“The main purpose of this confer
ence is to get people thinking,” said
Ashley Fleetwood, a sophomore
political science major and mem
ber of UNCA Out, an on-campus
support group for gay, lesbian and
bisexual students. “It is a good place
to learn about the gay and lesbian
culture. You don’t have to be gay,
lesbian, or bisexual to be a part of
it.”
The conference offers the oppoi-
tunity for faculty, students, and
community members to gather with
scholars and students from across
the nation to investigate the latest
scholarship in gay and lesbian cul
ture, according to the news release.
“People in an academic discipline
want to get together and talk about
the kinds of research they are do
ing,” said Melissa Burchard, assis
tant professor of philosophy and
conference organizer. “We want to
get feedback from peers in the pro
fessional academic arena in the same
way we would do for a conference
on any other subject matter.”
Members of the gay commu
nity on the UNCA campus are
concerned about the vandalism of
signs that designate safe spaces for
homosexual students and faculty,
according to Burchard.
“One of things that has been re
ally disturbing this year is that signs
on our doors that say this is a safe
space for gays, lesbians and bisexu
als have been defaced, not j ust once,
but repeatedly,” said Burchard.
“That is a disturbing thing to have
happen on a liberal arts campus,
and it constitutes in some ways a
threat.”
“Safe space signs are a project that
UNCA Out did for coming out
day,” said Fleetwood.
“The idea behind it was for
students and professors to put
them up on their doors to let gays,
lesbians and bisexuals know that
this is a place where they will not be
ridiculed for who they are and what
they are,” Fleetwood said.
“I’ve known several students in
the dorms who have had their signs
ripped down, torn up, or had yucky
stuff written on them,” said
Fleetwood.
The people responsible need to
think real long and hard about
what it is within that causes them
to be so disturbed by someone hav
ing a sign that says it’s okay. This is
a safe space,” Fleetwood said.
See CONFERENCE page 9
Student group prohibited from painting letters on road
By Emma Jones
staff Writer
A lack of written documents specifying
which organizations are allowed to paint
their letters on the road to Founders Hall
led to conflict between the administration
and Brothers Unified and Achieving
(BUA), according to members of BUA.
'(Eric) lovacchini (vice chancellor of stu
dent affairs) said we couldn t paint be
cause we are not a fraternal organization
and there was no guarantee that we’d be
here,” said Marquis McGee, a senior psy
chology major and member of BUA. “There
was not a written agreement that we
couldn’t put our letters down. It was just
oral power.”
“lovacchini was trying to enforce a law
that doesn’t exist,” said John Gaither, a
senior political science major and BUA
member. “The university had no legal
standing in the matter.”
Although not written, a general under
standing existed among the administra
tion that only Greek organizations were
allowed to paint their letters on the road,
according to lovacchini.
“We felt at the time that it made the most
sense to restrict the painting to groups that
would last longer than one generation of
students,” said lovacchini. “This made it
primarily Greek, since we hold their char
ters. Also, for a long period of time they
were the only groups that expressed any
interest in putting their letters out there.”
The unwritten restriction came into be
ing in the early 1990s when the city of
Asheville asked that organizational letters
be removed from University Heights Road,
one of the only city-owned roads on cam
pus, according to lovacchini. A new place
for organizations to display their letters
had to be found.
“We decided on the service road to
Highs mith (University Center)and
Founders (Hall),” said lovacchini. “It is a
student residential area. It seemed like the
most appropriate area. At that point in
time, we probably had four or five signs on
the University Heights Road. We decided
with the move to restrict painting to groups
that are going to be ongoing and have
some sort of permanent relationship with
the university.”
“Any fraternity can get kicked off this
campus for doing something stupid, so
that doesn’t mean they’re going to last,”
said Coties Cuthbertson, a sophomore po
litical science major and BUA member.
According to BUA, the confusion arose
from miscommunication between the stu
dent development office, the student af
fairs office, and BUA. The painting was
approved through Student Development
in December of 1998.
“We had to get campus security to sign
See BUA page 9