The
„Blue
Banner
Uolume 33 Issue 3
February 15,200J
“The nuegents, Close
to Home” exhibit
at Owen gallery
See page 3
men’s basketball
tied for first
in BSC
See page 5
“flduentures of Ferret
and Squirrel,” by
Shaun Cashman
See page 8
The Umuersity of north Carolina at nsheuille
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State to cut education spending
The UNC'School system may have to give $32 million hack to North Carolina
Keith Cromwell
staff Ulriter
UNCA may have to cut
around $500,000 from this
year’s budget due to an esti
mated $791 miUion state-
budget deficit. Some stu
dents said they are concerned
that cuts in funding could
hurt the quality of education
at UNCA.
“Ifyou cut the budget, qual
ity goes down,” said Daniel
Mahffey, a senior creative
writing major. “Getting
teachers that are worthwhile
will be harder because we
can’t pay them enough. It
won’t be good for morale at
all.”
State universities will have
to cut spending due to a fis
cal emergency recently de
clared by North Carolina
Gov. Mike Easley. He plans
to set up an account to cover
the budget shortfall, accord
ing a Herald-Sun article.
“Budget cuts are a reality,”
said University of North
Carolina Board of Gover
nors Chairman Ben Ruffin
in the article. “If you are on
the team, you have to play.
How can we complain?”
UNCA could cut salaries,
initiate a hiring freeze and
delay some construction
projects. Building repair and
renovation funds may also
have to be cut, according to
Wayne McDevitt, vice chan
cellor of financial affairs.
“We will have to buckle
down,” said McDevitt.
UNCA will not let the cuts
affect classroom teaching, ac
cording to Chancellor Jim
Mullen.
Funding for “academic de
partments will not be cut,”
said McDevitt.
UNCA, Western Carolina
University, Appalachian
State University, and the 13
other UNC-system public
campuses are facing a 1.9
percent budget reduction.
The UNC system will give
back $32 million of its $1.7
billion budget to the state,
according to UNC-system
officials.
The $32 million in cuts
across the 16 campuses
should not endanger class
room programs, and chan
cellors will be given flexibil
ity in how to make the cuts,
said Broad.
This flexibility “is abso
lutely vital,” said Mullen.
“We understand what is hap
pening at the campus level
more clearly than anyone.”
In cutting the UNC-sys-
tem budgets, “our philoso
phy has been to keep aca
demic programs, student ser
vices and student financial
aid intact,” said Jeff Davies,
the UNC system’s vice presi
dent for finance, in the
Proposed 2000-2001 Public University Budgets
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$324.80
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$106.10 $99.05
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UNCA UNC-CH UNCG UNCW
App. Western N.C.
State Carolina State
KEITH CROMWELL/GRAPHIC DESIGNER
For the proposed 2000-2001 budgets, UNCA receives 27.5 million in funding.
article.
Other state agencies, not
just universities, will also
have to cut funds from their
budget and do their part in
this crisis, according to UNC
President Molly Broad in the
article.
“The governor has assured
me that, if not all of it is
spent, it will be returned to
our campuses,” said Broad.
Budget cuts already under
way include $248 million
from state agencies and uni
versities, according to the As
sociated Press.
Another $48 million is be
ing taken from a reserve ac
count set aside by state law
makers last year to meet ris
ing costs in the state employ
ees health-care plan. Easley
also plans to take $39.5 mil
lion from a fund used to
repairstate buildings, accord
ing to an Associated Press ar
ticle.
Other planned cuts include
taking $151 million that
would have gone into the
state employees retirement
fund to help pay off the re
mainder of the debt. Another
$95 million, which was set
aside for local governments
to make up for lost revenue
when a state-wide inventory
tax was eliminated several
years ago, will also be cut,
according to the AP.
Easley also plans to pull the
remaining $157 million
from the state’s emergency
reserve, or Rainy Day Fund,
according to the AP.
The governor has ordered a
hiring freeze and told state
agencies to “curtail travel and
stop non-essential pur
chases.”
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UNCA gives more funding to sciences
Keith Cromwell
staff Writer
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Biology, drama and chemis
try departments received the
most money out of all UNCA
artments from UNCA’s
1998-1999 budget, with each
section receiving amounts
around $40,000. In compari
son, $3,000 was given to the
classics departrnent, accord
ing to the UNCA budget of
fice.
“Being a liberal arts univer
sity, you would think depart
ments such as art, humanities
and English would receive
higher funding then the sci
ences,” said Laura Price, a
sophomore Spanish major.
For the sciences, most of the
money went toward scientific
equipment and chemicals.
Those departments require
more funding than depart
ments such as political science
and humanities, according to
the office.
Other budgets include
$11,000 for the atmospheric
sciences department and
$21,000 for the art depart
ment, according to the office.
“All departments could al
ways benefit from more
funds,” said Derek Coulson, a
freshman health and wellness
promotion major.
Total state funding given to
the university totaled $23.9
million. In comparison,
UNCA received $5.1 million
from student tuition and fees.
The school also received
$10.3 million from sales and
service. This includes money
from campus bookstore sales
and Highsmith Center ticket
sales.
Other income sources for the
university included $1.6 mil
lion from federal grants and
contracts, $403,000 from state
grants and contracts, and $1.1
million from private gifts and
grants, according to the 1999
budget.
In contrast to other 16 pub
lic universities in the system,
UNCA ranks 13* in total
funding. For the proposed fis
cal year 2000-2001, UNCA is
one of the lower-funded
schools. The UNC Board of
Governors requested $1.4 bil
lion from the state, out of
which UNCA would receive
$27 million.
The University of North
Carolina at Chapel H ill would
receive the most money, with
total state funds requested at
$477.6 million. Following
that, N.C. State would receive
the second-largest amount,
with $324.8 million in state
Total UNCA Expenses
■ 1998-1999 ■ 1997-1998
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KEITH CROMWELL/GRAPH DESIGNER
UNCA’s budgets show the majority of expenses go towards instruction.
funds. East Carolina Univer
sity was ranked third in state
money requested, with funds
totaling $188.4 million, fol
lowed by the University of
Charlotte with $116.2 mil
lion in requested funds.
The North Carolina School
of the Arts was the lowest state
funded school at $21 million.
Universities like UNC-CH
and N.C. State receive more
money because state funding
is based on total enrollment of
each school, according to the
office.
Total 2000 enrollment for
UNC-CH was 24,892 stu
dents, for N.C. State, it was
28,619 students and ECU had
18,750 students. Total en-
See UNCA page 10
Requirements
may decrease
Angela Brock
staff Writer
UNCA’s faculty senate
agenda discussed possible cur
riculum changes, such as re
quirements for majors to be
reduced to allow students to
take more electives.
“There are many classes I
want to take that I am unable
to,” said Derek Jones, ajunior
ecology and biology major.
“If you want to get through
school in four years, you have
to take all required courses
and cannot take many elec
tives.”
The board discussed differ
ent alternatives for students
to be able to take more classes
that will be counted toward
graduation, regardless of their
major.
“Do we try to look at every
major and think about ways
to shrink the number of re
quirements, or shrink the
number of general-education
requirements, so students have
more free electives,” said Pe
ter Caulfield, chair of the sen
ate and associate professor of
literature. “That is just get
ting started, so it will not get
decided this year.”
The following curriculum
changes were approved at the
meeting, and will be listed in
"There are
many classes I
want to take
that I am un
able to.”
'Derek Jones
Junior, Ecology and
Biology
the 2001-2002 Student Cata
log, such as addition of Earth
Science with teacher licensure.
Education 315 to count for
the General Education Arts
Lab requirement, Education
319 to count as both hours of
required Health and Fitness
credit and catalog changes in
mathematics and economics.
There will also be an addi
tion of undergraduate-re-
search courses, modifications
of curriculum revision in bi
ology, as well as other course-
description changes.
Students will have input on
curriculum changes through
an SGA report given every
month, according to
Caulfield.
Curriculum changes have to
go through the Academic Poli
cies Committee, and a catalog
change will typically come out
See AGENDA page 10
UNCA issues
alcohol citations
Keith Cromupell
staff Writer
illachel Grumpier
staff UJriter
Several students were
charged with underage drink
ing at a keg party in Mills Hall
Dec. 1. Public
safety officers
found a beer
keg, a bottle of
vodka and a
bottle of whis
key in the stu
dents’ dorm
room.
“We knew we
were going to
get caught,
(but) we hoped
that it was later
in tiie night,”
said Chris
Pittman, a
sophomore
computer science major. “It
was worth the effort, and I
would do it again.”
Pittman and his roommate,
Brian Smith, a sophomore lit
erature and language major,
were among seven students
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION
BY WALTER FYLER
Several students issued
citations for drinking.
issued citations for underage
drinking after public safety
officers broke up a party in
their room in Mills Hall.
Pittman and Smith decided
to throw a Christmas party
for their friends. No one was
charged money to attend the
party, according to Pittman.
“We had anywhere from 30
to 40 people in our room at
the party at any
given time,”
said Pittman.
Pittman and
Smith thought
no one noticed
them entering
Mills with the
keg.
“It was simple
to do,” said
Pittman. “We
pulled our car
around the
back of Mills
(Hall) and
brought the
keg in. No
body noticed anything.”
Bringing and having a keg in
the residence halls “would
tend to get someone’s atten-
See KEG page 10
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