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The Banner
May 6,1999
Opinions
The Banner
Editorial
Time bomb
Speakeasy
Take heart, ye of little faith, for the end is near. For graduating
seniors, the long road out of UNCA has just one formality left
before school is over - graduation itself.
For some, the graduation ceremony is symbolic of all they have
accomplished during their time at UNCA. For others, it is just a
ceremony, presented more for their family’s enjoyment than for
their own.
While there has been some groaning about attendance at
graduation being mandatory for all those graduating in May, as
well as the amount of the commencement fee, those who will
make up the class of 1999 still look forward to May 22 for
whatever reasons.
And the answer to the million-dollar question of who will
speak at this illustrious event? None other than our own Chan
cellor Patsy Reed. Since she’s retiring after this semester, the
administration thought it might be nice to have Reed leave
some parting words of wisdom for the graduating seniors.
Reed probably has much advice to give those who are prepar
ing to enter the world beyond UNCA, especially since she is
also about to embark on the same journey. Would it not be
more beneficial, though, to have a speaker who had lived away
from the confines of a campus community?
A speaker from the outside world would have a better under
standing of what exactly is going on there. This is not to say
that Reed is oblivious to what it takes to succeed (her track
record speaks to the contrary), her experiences have been in
dealing with issues that face universities.
An outside speaker would probably have different views to
share on the world that faces graduating seniors, and could offer
a perspective of one who’s experienced have not been based on
university politics.
Of course, the chances of Reed being ousted for another
speaker now are slim to none. We hope that Reed’s speech will
be one that inspires those waiting to receive their diplomas,
challenging thero to do^their best in their chosen fields. To, these
people, we wish you the best of luck in all your endeavors.
Recycled promises
When it comes to the question of whether or not the UNC-
system should purchase recycled paper products, the environ
ment finds itself battling the bottom line for importance. The
UNC-system is having to choose between what is consistent
with ideologies espoused on campuses and what is “economi
cally practicable.”
Given the system’s history, it is no big surprise that it has thus
far picked the bottom line, not the principle. Its members do
not argue that buying virgin paper is preferable for any reason
other than it is simply cheaper.
Could some of the change left over from our student fees,
which incidentally increase yearly, be spared to invest in preserv
ing our forests? Maybe it’s not ecnomically practicable, but it
seems this practicability test is a favorite with the UNC-system.
It can be a valid test until it is taken to an extreme.
We learn these values about preserving our forests, have active
environmental groups and programs on our campuses, but the
heart of our institution is preaching something quite different.
Do the right thing, the noble thing, but above all else, do the
cheap thing.
The “if it’s cheap” clause seems to be the most influential
governing rule in the system, ranking far above the “if it’s right”
principle. We see it sticking its ugly head up in moving house
keepers to third shift, cutting adjuncts, and delaying needed
building projects.
Yes, we are appreciative of the funding we do get and the
money the state has appropriated towards things like technol
ogy. But although it’s not flashy new technology and it’s not
the cheapest option, buying recycled paper should be a priority
for the UNC-system, especially since it places importance on
recycling. Let’s not justify hypocrisy with the dollar.
For the last time
If UNCA were a high school prom, the underpaid DJ would
be getting ready to play the last song of the night so that all the
lovebirds could grope each other under the dollar store disco
ball. We polled The Banner t6\x.on&\ board to see what their
request would be.
Erin King: “My Heart Will Go On” (Celine Dion)
Amelia Morrison: “Achy Breaky Heart” (Billy Ray Cyrus)
Samantha Hartmann: “Edelweiss” (The Von Trapp Family)
Diana Abbott: “U Can’t Touch This” (M.C. Hammer)
Andrew Pearson: “...Baby, One More Time” (Britney Spears)
Travis Barker: “The Humpty Dance” (Digital Underground)
Ben Weigand and Matt Hunt: “My Endless Love” (Lionel
Ritchie and Diana Ross)
Susan Johnson: “Everything I Do, I Do it Fo)" You” (Bryan
Adams)
Susan Crockett: “Can I Get A...” (Jay-Z)
Mark West:“The Old Rugged Cross”(The Banner Gospel Choir)
Murderers or freedom fighters?
Liam
Bryan
columnist
Our children are killing each other.
Moses Lake, Pearl, Lake Paducah,
Jonesboro, Springfield, and now
Littleton. Why? Violent video
games? Bad parenting? Manson
songs? Movies glorifying crimi
nals? No. Almost all of the blame
falls solely upon the killers them
selves. Almost all.
There is one single continuity be
tween all of these killings. One so
obvious and yet so frightening that
most people are not willing to rec
ognize it. It is the fact that every
single one of these horrendous acts
occurred in public schools.
Why pubhc schools? What is so
different in public schools that has
driven our young people to shoot
their fellows? Well, stay with me
here, because I say that these mur
derers believe that they were libera
tors of freedom. Yes, freedom.
When you walk through the doors
of a public school as a student, you
lose half your rights as an American
citizen, and at least three innate
human rights. These students-
turned-vigilantes were confused,
yes, but I believe that they thought
that they were fighting against this
blatant disregard for humanity.
In public schools, you lose your
freedom of speech. You cannot
speak with your own voice, you
must speak with the voice of what
underpaid teachers tell you to, they
themselves having lost their own
spark of independent speech long
ago. You cannot write that paper
on Machiavelli because he is too
controversial. You cannot perform
your dance solo because it is too
suggestive. You cannot choose to
wear that black trench coat which
is the only article your dead father
left you because a school adminis
trator made a hasty decision.
You lose your freedom of belief
It does not matter that your deity
created the world in 4004 B.C.E.,
because there will be a test on the
Precambrian period Monday. You
cannot choose to keep your head
covered because there is a dress
code. You cannot choose to not
fight your classmates because there
is dodgeball in gym class.
You lose the right to protect your
self and your property. I hate guns
as much as the liberals do, but I
believe that people have the right
to protect themselves by any means
they deem necessary, as long as it
does not violate any other person’s
natural rights. When you stop that
kid from taking your backpack,
you get in trouble for fighting.
When you tell the teacher that kid
stole your backpack, he beats you
up after school. When that other kid
pulls a knife on you in the locker
room, all you can do is whatever he
says because you are not allowed to
have a weapon to protect yourself
Those are the innate human
rights that you lose the moment you
walk through school doors as a stu
dent: speech; religion; and protec
tion. But you also lose rights guaran
teed to you by our government.
Freedom of press. Ha! The school
paper prints what the school faculty
tells it to print. That decision was
challenged up to the state courts and
it.still held. This means there is no
way to get information to every stu
dent. There is no way to reach the
masses.
Do you have the right to congre
gate in public schools? Of course
not. You try to make a statement by
gathering a group of your peers and
the faculty throw you in detention
for a week. It does not matter how
peaceful your protest is, nor does it
matter how correct your argument
is. Unless it is a pep rally or an anti
drug school rally, there is no way on
earth that you can group together
with your peers to make an orga
nized protest. Essentially, this is a
form of control. To keep the “lesser
citizens” in line, you cannot let them
come together. It worked before the
Civil War in the Confederacy, and it
now works in public schools.
There is no such thing as a trial by
a jury of peers in public schools.
Why? It would take too long. Stu
dents would defend each other based
on likes and dislikes. Those are the
reasons of the administration?! It
does not take long to get seven stu
dents together and ask them, “Did
Bobby hit Sue?” And the idea that
students would defend each other
against the faculty speaks volumes.
If they feel the need to defend each
other, that means that they feel they
have a common enemy. They feel
that it is us vs. them. How can we
expect our students to get along
with each other when they do not
even trust their own administra
tion to be fair to them?
The judicial part of our crime and
punishment system is the most
powerful, and the students that it
affects are the people that have no
say in it.
There is a reason why this hap
pens in public schools, but not in
colleges. It has nothing to do with
maturity. It has nothing to do with
later classes. It has nothing to do
with gym class. It does have some
thing to do with the fact that high
school students lose all these rights.
The main reason is that we make
a choice as to which college, if any,
we go to. We choose to give up our
rights in exchange for a useful edu
cation (or a theater degree, which
ever works for you). Our children
are required by law to give up their
innate rights for 10 years of their
lives.
Ageism is the last great prejudice
in our society. I speak from experi
ence. Racial, gender, societal, reli
gious, and cultural discrimination
are dying out quickly. Age discrimi
nation is not going to go away
because people honestly believe that
it is necessary. Our citizens get old,
and we stick them in retirement
homes. Our citizens may be intelli
gent, but they are so young that
they do not benefit from freedom
of speech.
The reason our children are becom
ing murderers is because we require
them, all of them, to relinquish their
natural human rights in return for
nothing.
These killers were simply people
who valued their own freedom and
fought back the only way that people
would listen. If you were in high
school again, would you value your
rights that much?
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'Goodbyes are supposed to be corny'
Christian
Nimsch
columnist
Now that I have pretended for
the last couple of weeks (months)
to graduate, I am actually pretty
close to finishing this seemingly
endless chapter. With only four
days to go, everything seems to be
bearable.
Well...almost everything. It might
take a concerted effort to survive
the final days, but the fact that
those are the “real” final days helps
to lift the spirits. Finishing up here
in Asheville, it feels that it is time to
pay tribute to the school, the town
and the people.
Someone once told me that
“Asheville does this to you.” There
are probably not too many folks
around here who have not some
thing to say about what Asheville
can do to you.
And, yes, there is more to Asheville
than allergies and a bunch of weird
people. No offense, I myself have
been classified as having a “general
disorder” (for lackofa better word).
For one, there is UNCA. Many
of us students get a rush out of
harassing our alma mater (for the
lucky ones among us).
Among the brightest targets is
the humanities program. Uh,yeah,
it was/still is of great relief to un
load emotional distress with a few
nice words about this beloved pro
gram.
Nevertheless, those 16 credits of
fun-loaded knowledge have some
good sides to
them. Who
can deny
having at
least gotten
some new
ways of
thinking
about the
world and
ourselves out
of them? Af
ter all, we are
a liberal arts
university (a
concept I
still have not
fully under
stood yet).
Other tar
gets of our
opinionated critics are the majors
we have to declare, at least every
now and then. Having just given
my wisdom during the senior in
terview in economics, I have to
agree that here, too, are problems.
However, those problems are usu-
Getting a degree
from here does
come along with,
if not a notion of
pride, at least a
feeling of accom
plishment and
some certainty of
getting the job we
might want.
ally closely related to the size of the
school. At least for myself. I’d rather
not take a class that was closed due
to a lack of student interest, than to
share the classroom with several hun
dred students.
The small student population
makes it a little tricky sometimes to
get away with skipping classes and
other things we do, but it also allows
for close interactions with the fac
ulty. Having been here in Asheville,
it will be quite a change to move on
to a school where the professor might
know your name only from a test
you flunked.
Having come here from a different
culture and with limited language
skills, it was partially the help of the
faculty that allowed me to become
comfortable and to make it through
the first couple of semesters.
We might not always realize it, but
the support
most of us
get from the
staff and fac
ulty goes be
yond was is
expected.
This make
UNCA
unique and
must not be
allowed to
weaken.
Needless
to say, get
ting a degree
from here
does come
along with, if
find
not a notion
of pride, at
least a feeling of accomplishment
and some certainty of getting the job
we might want.
Of course, there are several nega
tive issues I could address concern
ing UNCA. This, however, I want
to leave to others (I am way too
happy about graduating to let my
mood drop over that). 1 hope that
future generations of students do
recognize the weaknesses and
change at least some of them for
the better.
What about Asheville? Well,
coming from the proximity of Ber
lin, the new capital of Germany, it
was a somewhat difficult adjust
ment to the so-called “small” town
life. This attitude prevented me
from enjoying many of the things
Asheville has to offer. It took me a
good while to discover what
Asheville has to offer. To be hon
est, I have lived here for the past
three years, and I am still surprised
every now and then by things I had
not seen before or just closed my
eyes to.
I do not try to imply that Asheville
has everything metropolitan areas
have to offer, but one can
things here that would not be ex
pected in just any small town.
So what is it that Asheville does
to you? For me, it has been a home
for the past three years. It has also
been the place where I got to grow
up a little (some might argue that).
After all, it has been my experience
during the first year that made me
stay.
The plan was to come here foi
one year and then retreat to Ger
many. The friends I made, the edu
cation I anticipated receiving, the
people and Asheville made me
change my mind. Without the help
of all of my friends, sorrie of whom
have become family, I would prob
ably not have stayed. Without the
help and support of my family I
could not have stayed. Thank you
all!
This almost sounds a little corny,
but as a friend told me, “Goodbyes
are always a little corny.” I already
know that I will leave happy, but
not happily.
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