The
„Blue
Banner
The Uniuerslty of north Carolind at fisheuille
Uolume 32 Issue 9
nouember2,2000
Carol Belk Theatre
transformed
for Halloween
See page 4
men and women’s
basketball prepare
for upcoming season
See page 7
“Higher education
bonds for uncr
by Ryan Southern
See page 2
The candidates’ platforms
Democrat, Qreen, Reform and Republican parties represented in election
Justin Ulolf
staff Writer
The 2000 presidential race
is very different than any
race America has seen in the
last 36 years, according to
William Sabo, associate pro
fessor of political science.
The current race offers a
wider difference in policies,
separating each candidate
from the rest in various ar
eas.
“Beginning in the 1830s,
the most important factor
for voters was what party the
candidate was in,” said Sabo.
“Now the candidates are as
sociating themseWes with
certain policies that will at
tract voters and help them
stand out.”
Most models developed by
political scientists and
economists have shown that
A1 Gore, the Democratic
presidential candidate.
should have a commanding
lead on the race, but for sev
eral reasons he does not, ac
cording to Joseph Sulock,
professor of economics.
“Gore should be kicking
(Republic presidential can
didate George W.) Bush’s
tail in all the models that
have been put together, but
he is not,” said Sulock. “In
that case, this is the most
interesting race we have seen
in a while.”
The reason that Gore does
not have the lead in early
polls is because of the value
placed on personal charac
teristics by the American
people, according to Sabo.
“If the race was based upon
the political issues, or the
state of the economy. Gore
would win,” said Sabo. “But
issues are not everything, and
people put great emphasis
on characteristics of the can
didates.”
Early polls show that Bush
is favored in qualities such as
leadership, trustworthiness
and likeability. Because of
the importance of these quali
ties, this year’s race has be
come very close, according
to Sabo.
Gore realizes that Bush is
favored in those categories,
and so he is attempting to
change the focus of the race,
according to Savbo.
“Gore is attempting to take
the emphasis away from is
sues of likeability and trust
worthiness and focus on the
economy and platform poli
cies,” said Sabo. “In a sense.
Gore wants families to vote
with their wallets, not their
minds.”
In most cases, people have
already made up their minds
about whom they are voting
for. The time period before
the Nov. 7 voting date is
where people attempt to jus
tify their choice by attaching
themselves to certain poli
cies of that candidate, ac
cording to Sabo.
“I have definitely decided
who I am voting for, and I
knew I was voting for him as
soon as he became the offi
cial candidate,” said Michael
Preston, an undeclared
sophomore. “Now I am just
helping my friends decide
by presenting the issues to
them.”
Bush may have an edge over
Gore in the fact that many
people in the country do not
know enough about the po
litical issues being debated,
but they can still make a
judgment about personality
issues, according to Sabo.
“People feel they are great
judges of other people,” said
Sabo. “They might not know
that much about the impor
tant issues, but they think
they can judge which candi
date is a better person. In
that case, I think Bush has
the upper hand.”
Pat Buchanan of the Re
form Party and Ralph Nader
of the Green Party may play
a very important role in the
race. While Buchanan or
Nader may not win the elec
tion, the votes they receive
will alter what happens with
Bush and Gore, according to
Sabo.
“Nader has 4 percent of the
votes in four different states,
and those votes could decide
the election,” said Sabo. “If
that four percent, plus
Buchanan’s following, went
to Gore, he would most likely
win the election. If that 4
percent went to Bush, he
would probably win the
race.”
Buchanan, Nader and their
respective parties have not
received the media attention
that the Republican and
Democratic parties have re
ceived, and several UNCA
students said that is unfair.
“It is very important that
the smaller parties receive the
same coverage as the larger
parties,” said Shelley Franklin,
a junior sociology major. “I
think if people from this area
knew the issues that Nader
was supporting, he would
have a higher following.”
Issues
Pat Buchanan
(Reform Party)
George W. Bush
(Republican)
A1 Gore
(Democrat)
Ralph Nader
(Green Party)
Abortion
Pro-life.
Pro-life.
Pro-choice.
Pro-choice.
Death Penalty
Supports.
Supports.
Supports.
Opposes.
Tax Reform
Favors flat tax of 16
percent of earnings.
Cut taxes by $1.3 trillion
over 10 years.
Cut taxes by $500 billion.
Expand social security and
similiar programs.
Global Warming
Does not believe global
warming will be as devastat
ing as people think.
Favors economic well-being
over reduction of green
house gas emissions.
Supports alternative forms
of energy.
Favors aggressive cut in
green-house gas emissions
and alternative forms of en-
ergy.
Minimum Wage
Increase by $1.
Increase by $1.
Increase by $1.
Increase by $ 10 per hour by
2007.
Gay and Lesbian Civil
Unions
Opposes civil unions.
Opposes, but feels each state
should decide.
Opposes same-sex marriage,
supports equal legal protec
tion.
Supports full-marriage ben
efits and equal rights.
Gun Control
Favors right to keep and bear
arms.
More gun laws.
More gun laws.
More gun laws.
Defense
Favors national missile de
fense system.
Raise pay for military per
sonnel by $1 billion per year.
Increase defense research by
$20 billion in four years.
Raise pay and benefits for
military personnel. Invest in
advance weaponry.
Favors cutting back defense
budget and using money on
domestic programs.
Prescription Drugs
Government pay 100 per
cent of insurance premiums.
Planned cost: $158 billion.
Government pay 100 per
cent of insurance premiums.
Planned cost: $253 billion.
Favors price control on all
drugs developed using tax
payer dollars.
Teacher Qualifications
Opposes federal mandates
on teaching standards.
Allocate a $2.4 billion fund
to set up teacher account
ability systems.
Require all new teachers to
pass rigorous tests of their
teaching skill and knowl
edge.
Favors tests of new teachers’
skill and knowledge.
Trade with China (because
of concerns about their la
bor and human rights ac
tions)
Opposes.
Supports.
Supports.
Opposes.
Logging in National For ests
Believes public lands cur
rently administered by fed
eral agencies should be given
to states with no strings at
tached.
Opposes President Bill
Clinton’s initiative to ban
new road building in 43 mil
lion acres of national for
ests. Favors increasing
amount of timber harvested
in national forests.
Supports the current mora
torium on building new
roads in 43 million acres of
national forest, advocates
expand ban to encompass
more forested areas.
Believes all commercial log
ging in national forests
should be eliminated.
SOURCE: WWW.VOTER.COM
See platforms for governor candidates on page 10, see voting locations on page 12
UNCA cancels
campus teach-in
Keith Cromuiell
staff Writer
UNCA faculty and staff op
position canceled a teach-in
that would have addressed is
sues of respect, safety and di
versity in response to several
incidences of anti-homosexual
graffiti. It was called off be
cause of a lack of support,
according to Marcia Ghidina,
assistant pro
fessor of soci
ology.
“Will this fo
rum teach stu
dents that it is
OK to be gay?
Would that be
tolerant of
everybody’s
views here at
UNCA?” said
Michael
Slaughter,
residential life
coordinator,
in an e-mail to
all faculty and
staff. “This is
a public uni
versity sup
ported by
public funds, and, as such, it
can not take a position on
homosexuality.”
The teach-in came in the
wake of several incidents of
vandalism aimed at primarily
gay and lesbian students. The
most recent incident was Oct.
12, in which the words “die.
“The problem is
more fundamen
tal than having a
little get together
and talking about
it, but (the teach-
in was) a step in
the right direc
tion.”
-Joe Wilde
Ramsing, a se
nior political
science and
Spanish major.
faggots, die” was written on
several places around
Founders Hall.
“Our students cannot learn
in (our) classes ifthey are afraid
in their dormitories,” said
Melissa Burchard, assistant
professor of philosophy, in an
e-mail. “This is a pernicious
attack on the safety of all our
students, and it is time for us
to respond.”
The teach-in would have
taken place Oct. 25. It was
organized by Burchard, and
would have
consisted of a
cancellation of
classes for a
period of two
hours. In that
time, stu
dents, faculty
andstaff could
have come to
gether to ad
dress issues
concerning
studentsafety,
according to
Burchard.
“We would
(have) liked to
(organize) a
program of
short speeches
by faculty,
staff and students, with open
mic time for anyone to speak,”
said Burchard. “This would
be followed by break-out ses
sions in which students and
See TEACH page 12
Violations for
alcohol go up
flnnle Crandall
staff Writer
Liquor law violations have
more than doubled on cam
pus from 1998 to 1999, ac
cording to public safety’s an
nual security
report. In
1998, there
were 28 per
sons referred
for campus
disciplinary
action and in
1999, there
were 57. In
1997, there
was one re
ported disci
plinary ac
tion.
“Over the
last two years
we have made
more of an ef
fort to enforce
the alcohol
policy on
campus and an effort to edu
cate the students,” said Jerry
Adams, public safety investi
gator.
Elizabeth Troutman, a jun
ior political science major, is
PHOTO BY WALTER FYLER
Alcohol violations have
doubled from 1998 to
1999.
aware of the policy, and has
had friends who have gone
through the process on cam
pus.
“I have known ofa few people
who have gotten tickets for
underage drinking, but on the
whole, I do not think it is a
huge problem on campus,”
said Troutman. “It does not
appear to be a
problem in
my dormi
tory.”
A
breathalyzer
test is not re
quired ifastu-
dent is found
in possession
of alcohol and
they are un
derage, ac
cording to
Adams.
“If someone
appears to be
drunk and
disorderly,
but not in
possession of
alcohol, we
may do a breathalyzer test,
but it is not required to make
an arrest,” said Adams.
See ALCOHOL page 12