QJ
'olume 30 Issue 10
November 11, 1999
Hurricanes lead
to funding cuts
By Breandan Dezendorf
staff Writer
UNCA will lose $250,000 out of
liisyear’s total budget due to mon-
relief from the state for flood-
ng damages across Eastern North
Carolina, including Eastern Caro-
la University (ECU), according
UNCA administration,
rhe state government of North
Carolina is calling in a 1 percent
:iding cut, effective immediately,
help pay for over flooding and
rricane damage, including $7
nillion in damage at ECU.
‘On the surface, it is not devastat-
said Tom Cochran, the dean
)f faculty. “We have only, in the
year, been given approval to
:eep all of our funds. Historically,
have reverted two percent of our
dget every year.”
Steve Honeycutt, university bud-
officer, said that the money
ng lost is approximately
S250,000 out of a roughly $2 mil-
budget.
All other state agencies, not just
ducation, are going through the
financial cutbacks due to the
looding.
Honeycutt warned that this might
be the Only cut coming. He said
hat he has heard nothing about
more cuts, but it does not rule
the possibility.
‘What we have to be careful of is
there is another cut coming.”
-loneycutt said. “I cannot tell you
f a larger cut would hurt students. ”
For the past few years, UNCA has
:n making a concerted effort to
:p all monies on campus, accord-
j to Cochran.
This would have been the first
all the money designated to
UNCA would stay on campus.
Chancellor Jim Mullen said that
the teaching of core classes comes
first, and it is the most important
priority of the school. He also said
that efforts would be made to make
sure that academic programs would
be hit last for money.
“We were fortunate that we took
a conservative line, and put the
money into reserve beforehand,”
said Cochran. “It never went out
into the budget, so we are not going
to have to ask for money back from
departments. On the other hand,
because we did put it in reserve, we
did not give out as much money.”
One area of the budget that will be
affected is the operational budget.
In UNCA’s operating budget,
$850,000 is usually spent, and due
to the cut backs, they will only have
approximately $800,000. However,
other projects that money had been
set aside for now have to be put on
hold. There is also the possibility of
an equipment shortage.
“A faculty member might say that
they cannot give out extra copies of
notes or outlines due to insufficient
funds,” Cochran said, “or, that a
oscilloscope or microscope might
sit on a shelf in disrepair until next
year’s budget.
“There have been some one-time
funds,” said Cochran. “For example,
the purchase of faculty computers.
Trying to cut people back from
that is a challenge.
“Some departments wonder if they
can sustain their plans for this year,”
said Cochran. “We have new fac
ulty coming in this year, over and
above what we had last year, and
they need computers.”
Cochran said that he did not see a
threat to the instructional side of
See FUNDING page 10
Free Speech: a different angle
I
PHOTO BY JASON GRAHAM
H. K. Edgerton, former President of Asheviile’s National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
(NAACP), salutes in front of the university entrance on W. T. Weaver Boulevard Nov. 8. Protesting the misuse of the
Confederate flag by hate groups such as the Klu Klux Klan and Nazi organizations, Edgerton said the flag has mean
ing to “southern African Americans, because many African Americans died for the Confederacy during the Civil War.
Greenway construction delayed
By Greg Sessoms
staff Writer
Construction on a long-awaited
section of the Greenway, intended
to safely accommodate pedestrians
along Weaver Boulevard, may not
begin until the end of next spring.
Project planners had intended to
begin work on the section connect
ing the existing Greenway from
Merrimon Avenue to Barnard Street
last spring, but changes made to
UNCA’s master plan for the cam
pus have delayed the project for
several months.
“Right now, things have been put
on hold because the university is
trying to get some assistance from
the N.C. Department of Transpor
tation (NCDOT) to build a new
entry road. The university master
plan was updated a couple of years
ago and calls for the possibility of a
new entrance road,” said Tom
Byers, special assistant to the chan-
The new entrance could possibly
cross paths with the planned
Greenway, necessitating changes in
its design that could be difficult to
carry out if it were constructed
before plans for the entrance are
finalized.
“Because it could result in a new
street connection (on Weaver Bou
levard), and because the city is talk
ing about some major changes to
the vehicular road, they said ‘Let’s
wait until we get the NCDOT rec
ommendation before we go ahead
and build the Greenway,” said
See GREENWAY page 9
Dante’s to become Chick-fil-A
PHOTO BY NAOMI RICHARD
Mark Case, a computer science major, buys a meal from Sheryl Edwards at
Dante’s, soon to be a Chick-fil-A fast-food restaraunt.
By Phoebe Hicks
staff Writer
Renovations will begin in the
Highsmith University Center
make Dante’s a Chick-fil-
A restaurant over Christmas
break, according to dining
“Our goal is to open, if all
goes well, for the spring se-
rnester in January,” said Ken
Barefoot, director of the din
ing services office.
The decision to renovate
Dante’s into a fast-food res
taurant came during the 1998
food service bid.
The food service committee
conducted a survey of students
to find out what fast-food res
taurant students would most
like to have on campus, ac
cording to Barefoot.
“Chick-fil-A just blew ev
erybody out of the water,”
said Barefoot.
The decision to put a fast-
food restaurant in Highsmith
Center was just a part of the
proposal that called for reno
vations to all of Highsmith.
“When we found out the
Highsmith Center wasn’t go
ing to happen as quickly as we
had hoped, we decided to go
ahead, and do something to
Dantes,” said Barefoot. “The
students need a new alterna
tive. We’re hoping to have
Chick-fil-A done by January
just so that the students will
see something going on.”
Barefoot said he was unsure
of the total cost to the univer
sity for putting in the Chick-
fil-A.
The equipment package,
which includes the appliances,
shelves and cup dispensers,
will cost UNCA just over
$42,000, before any real con
struction goes on to renovate
the space into what looks like
a Chick-fil-A restaurant, ac
cording to Barefoot.
“It’s going to be fairly ex
pensive, but I think in the end
for the students, it’s going to
be money well spent,” said
Barefoot.
The money for the new res
taurant is not coming out of
the funds given to UNCA for
the renovation of Highsmith
by the General Administra
tion, according to Sharyn
McDonald Groh, student ac
tivities.
“There is a food service ac
count, and there is money in
that account to do renova
tions to food service spaces,”
said McDonald Groh.
The restaurant is designed
to be a Chick-fil-A Express,
which means that it will be
self-service.
“To start with, we’re going
to do the chargrilled chicken
sandwich, the Chick-fil-A
UNCA fires officer
UNCA administration
fired. Officer Darrell
Rathburn Nov. 5 just prior
to the end of his two-week
suspension. Rathburn is no
longer a UNCA employee,
and has been “separated
from the university,” accord
ing to a press release.
Rathburn was suspended
Oct. 25 following his fed
eral indictment on eight
charges of assault and one
count of illegal possession
of a fijrearm.
Hired in May 1998 as a
Police Officer One, con
ducting routine campus
patrols, Rathburn did not
receive any complaints while
employed at UNCA.
No other information is
available in reference to his
dismissal, in accordance with
North Carolina general stat
utes prohibiting disclosure of
personnel information.
Heritage event lacks
student attendance
By Johanna Luks
staff Writer
See DANTE'S page 9
The first event of
November’s “Share the Spirit:
Native American Heritage
Month” (NAHM) at UNCA
drew only a small group of
students and staff, despite ad
vertising, according to an
event organizer.
“I honestly was a little bit
frustrated about (student at
tendance). I expected at least
twice those numbers,” said
Octavia Wright, coordinator
of multicultural student pro
grams and an organizer of
NAHM.
Most of the people who at
tended this event were minor
ity students.
“These activities are not held
to educate one particular au
dience, it’s meant to educate
everyone,” said Wright. “All
minds, regardless of color,
should be broadened by at
tending and participating in
the events and discussions af
terwards.”
The small student atten
dance may have been due to a
shorter than usual advertising
period, according to Wright.
“There’s a variety of factors,
but one thing we’re doing to
try and help student atten
dance is broaden the advertis
ing so more people are aware
of it,” said Wright.
“I don’t really know why
most students don’t attend
events like this,” said Sarah
Willis, a sophomore psychol
ogy major. “There doesn’t
seem to be a lot of student
involvement here, especially
with commuter students be
cause it’s harder for us to find
out about stuff.”
“We want the programs we
offer to be reflective of the .
environment we’re in, not
only the campus, but the gen
eral environment of Western
North Carolina,” said Wright.
“There’s not a lot of diver
sity at UNCA. It’s not reflec
tive of the rest of the world. If
we don’t have exposure to
other cultures like this, we’re
never going to be completely
educated people,” said Willis.
“I think that UNCA stu
dents will benefit in terms of
challenging their boundaries,”
said Wright. “These events
provide students the oppor
tunity to step outside of their
See HERITAGE page 10