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Volume 34 Issue 2
The University Of North Carolina At Asheville
McDevitt Appointed to State Board
Stuart Gaines
Staff Reporter
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UNCA alumnus and acting Vice
Chancellor for Administration and
Financial Affairs for the Univer
sity,, Wayne McDevitt, vjW
pointed to the North Carolina State
Board of Education by Governor
Mike Easley in May of this year.
Members of the 15-member board
oversee the state public school sys
tem and the money given to sup
port local education units.
“What a great opportunity to serve
inpubliceducation.aplaceinwh li
there is nothing more import;
right now,” said McDevitt. “There
will be kids in the second grade,
when I go off of the board, that
aren’t even born yet. That’s a lot to
think about.”
The Vice Chancellor’s appoint
ment to the board was approved by
the North Carolina House of Rep-
; resentatives and Senate during a
* joint session of those groups in June,
according to McDevitt. His eight-
year term officially began after be
ing sworn into office by Chief Jus-
ticel. Beverly LakeJr.,oftheNorth
Carolina Supreme Court.
“In North Carolina, I think that
we are headed in the right direction
in education, and are beginning to
establish clear standards of mea
surement,” said McDevitt. “Weare
IHAVE A RIGHT TO THE PRIVl^GE
OF, 'Sr.STATE TO GUA^^^D tl
COURTESY OF WAYNE MCDEVITT
I. Beverly Lake Jr., Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme
Court swears in Wayne McDevitt to the Board of Education.
beginning to equip our profes
sionals, teachers and others to be
successful. Then we are holding
them accountable, and reward
ing them for their success.”
McDevitt served in former Gov
ernor Jim Hunt’s administration
as Chief of Staff and as Secretary of
Environment and Natural Resources.
A Madison county native,
Mcdevitt’s extensive public service
record led xhsAsheville Citizen- Times
to recognize him as one of Western
North Carolina’s 50 most influential
people of the 20th century.
McDevitt has long been an active
participant in education at all lev
els, according to a press release
from the State Board of Educa
tion. He has been recognized by
UNCA with both the Distin
guished Alumnus Award in 1998,
and the Chancellor’s Medallion:
the University’s highest service
award.
“One of our most stubborn chal
lenges is to close the achievement
gap by the year 2010,” said
McDevitt. “There is a significant
gap between students who are do
ing well, and those who aren’t. It is
a nationwide problem that every
state has.”
The former Chief of Staff for
Governor Hunt played an active
role in creating the “First in
America” initiative for North Caro
lina. The “First in America” plan,
asoudinedin Hunt’s book by the
same name, calls for North Caro
lina to achieve the nation’s best
public school system by the year
2010.
‘“We have the best university sys
tem in the country,” said McDevitt.
“We have the best community col
lege system in the country. We are
the envy of the nation in our pre
school system.”
However, the newly appointed
McDevitt recognized the need for
progress in order to cope with the
many complex issues facing the
public education system in North
Carolina. Thousands of new teach
ers will be needed in the coming
years in North Carolina and those
jobs need to be filled with quality
profesionals.
“I believe that every kid deserves
a quality teacher in his or her class
room," said McDevitt.
McDevitt’s emphasis will be on
Western North Carolina schools,
as his position will take him to
Raleigh two days out ofeach month
for full meetings of the Board.
Locally, Mcdevitt meets with
teacher-and-parent groups regu
larly, and serves on the boards of
Western North Carolina Tomor
row, WNC Development Associa
tion and the Cherokee Preserva
tion Foundation.
“I’d like to see more university
involvement in the form of on-
campus programs with local pub
lic school kids,” said Lucious Wil
son, a senior Political Science ma
jor.
“I know that I would like to be
more directly involved with
mentoring kids in the area, and
ultimately helping to make a real
difference in the community.”
The “First in America” plan for
North Carolina’s public school
system includes an emphasis on
community involvement in the
See McDEVITT Page 12
Crime Watch
Lana Coffey
Staff Reporter
UNCA’s department of public
safety charged Buncombe County
resident Ryan Ricky Houston with
three misdemeanors after he alleg
edly stole a piece of equipment used
by UNCA dining services then
crashed it into the West Ridge park
ing deck.
“I hate they were stupid enough to
do it and get in trouble. It was just
stupidity,” said Ken Barefoot, gen
eral manager of UNCA dining
services.
UNCA public safety received a
phone call about people joyriding
on the mule, which is what the
caterers for the dining services use
to transport their food and equip
ment on.
Someone “found the mule
crashed into one of the brick col
umn there on the upper level” of
the parking deck, said Jerry Adams,
public safety investigator.
Houston caused approximately
$500 worth of damage to the mule
and about $600 dollars worth of
damage to the parking deck, ac
cording to the incident report.
Houston does not attend UNCA
but he may have been attending a
fraternity party held by a UNCA
fraternity that night, according to
Adams.
The student who called Public
Safety knew Houston and identified
him for the officers, said Adams.
During the incident a crowd gath
ered, creating a commotion, accord
ing to Adams.
WTiile all of this was going on Hous
ton allegedly ran over a wall to the
upper level of the parking deck then
fell and landed on the concrete. When
officers went to pick him up he was
gone.
Police charged Houston with resist
ing arrest, damage to real property
and injuryto personal property. The
damage to real property charge is a
result of the damage done to the
West Ridge parking deck and the
injury to personal property is the
damage done to the mule.
The arrest warrants have not been
served yet, said Adams.
4: K
See CART Page 12
LOU HORTON/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
A damaged service vehicle stands, which was stolen earlier this
week, stands outside the side door of The caferteria.
Cart Stolen After Fratemitj^ Party on Campus
“SGA TacUes
Problems at
UNCA,” by
Julie Shaddix
See Page 4
September 6, 2001
Study: More
Grads ofF to
Law School
Jennifer Babulsky
University of Connecticut
University Wire Service
A recent study conducted by the
test prep company Kaplan, Inc.
said that there has been a notice
able change in the number of col
lege graduates applying to differ
ent law schools across the country
in recent months. The study also
said that law school appears to be
on the top of students’ lists on
what to do after college.
According to the Kaplan study,
the economy has played a substan
tial part in why students are choos
ing to attend law school. Authors
of the study claimed that when the
economy is low, like it is presendy,
more students want to attend law
school. The study said that the low
economy gives students time to get
a higher education without feeling
like they are missing out on finan
cial opportunities.
Conversely, when the economy
has been high, business school was
a better option for students be
cause they had the opportunity to
do better financially, the study
added. With a higher economy,
there is a higher call for entrepre
neurs, with a lower economy, there
is not a large demand for entrepre
neurs; but rather there is a high
demand for lawyers, authors of the
study said.
The study also found that there
was an increase by 19 percent of
students taking the bar exam from
last year.
Albert Chen, executive director
of graduate programs for Kaplan,
Inc., said that the increase in stu
dents taking the exam and apply
ing to law school has to do with
graduates noticing the change in
the economy, and wanting to take
the opportunity to get a higher
education.
"Graduates wisiiiiig to go to law
school largely depends on the
economy,” Chen said, “and also
law schools are more stable then
business schools right now.”
Chen said that there have been
no substantial changes ii?'the bar
exam that would make college
graduates think that the tests were
easier than in recentyears. Accord
ing to Kaplan records, the average
See LAW Page 12
State Faces Impending Lawsuit from USC Student
s his
be-
sked
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Emma Rich
University of South Carolina
University Wire Service
A University of South Carolina
business student is suing the state of
North Carolina for $75 million over
a speeding ticket he believes he
shouldn’t have to pay.
Mark Schnee, a fourth-year stu
dent from Dalton, Ga., was driving
through Iredell County, N.C., on
his way to Columbia, S.C., about 4
a.m. on Dec. 28, when Officer R.
Smith pulled him over for driving
84.1 miles per hour in a 65-mph
zone.
“I know he’s completely lying,”
said Schnee. “I have a radar detec
tor in my vehicle.”
Schnee said he planned to dis
pute the ticket, but he didn’t at
tend his scheduled traffic-court
hearing because he couldn’t find
the courthouse.
“I called the clerk of court, the
district attorney, the police, the
attorney general and the gover
nor,” Schnee said. “But no one
could tell me the address of the
court.
On Wednesday, an Iredell County
deputy clerk was able to provide ex
act directions to the county’s two
courthouses.
The deputy clerk, who refused to
give her name, said, “The address of
the courthouse is located on the ticket
that the officer writes.”
“We have two courthouses in Iredell
County, one in Statesville and one in
Mooresville. Schnee failed to appear
at his scheduled court date or hire an
attorney to represent him, so on Feb.
23 [2001], we issued an order of
arrest.”
After Schnee missed his Feb. 7
court date, the fine increased to
$1,200, and the Georgia Depart
ment of Motor Vehicles has sus
pended his Georgia license until he
pays the fine.
Schnee also stands to be arrested if
he enters North Carolina.
“They violated my rights to due
process by denying me a trial,” he
said.
Schnee filed suit July 19,2001, in
the Northern Atlanta District
Court. The state of North Carolina
was then served with the papers
July 23.
“They had 60,days to respond,
but I haven’t heard anything yet,”
Schnee said.
Schnee says there was “no defi
nite reason” for seeking the $75
million figure in punitive dam
ages, but he mainly wants the state
ofNorth Carolina “to reinstate my
license, get rid of the warrant and
fire the police officer.”
Schnee added, “This is not some
obscure thing that happens to one
person. They’re just doing this to
get a lot of money. I don’t want this
to happen to other people.”
use law professor William
McAninch said most states have a
provision in which a person can be
tried in his or her absence.
If the offender has a significant
reason for missing the scheduled
trial date, it would be a violation of
due process to not reschedule a
meeting.
“These cases don’t happen every
day, but they’re not unheard of,”
McAninch said.
Schnee said, “This may not go to
court before I graduate, but I’m not
paying the fine. And until then. I’m
walking to the [business building]
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