THE BLUE BANNER
Stoppard
“A Secret War
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Within the
“Hamlet” as
U.S.,”
Farce
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By Josh Day
See Page 5
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See Page 2
Volume 34 Issue 4
The University Of North Carolina At Asheville
September 20, 2001
Students Stand Together
PHOTO COURTESY OF ANTHONY GRECO/ASHEVILLE CITIZEN-TIMES
UNCA students hold hands on the quad Sept. 12. The flag flew at half mast to honor the victims of the terrorist attacks Sept. 11.
UNCA Scores Well on Reviews
School Ranked Fifth in
U.S. News & World
Report College Study
Lori Brenner
Staff Reporter
UNCA tied for fifth place, as
one of the top fifty public liberal
arts universities in the country.
The ranking comes from U.S.
News & World Report's, best col
leges ranking, released Sept. 6.
“It just shows that little schools
can do big things,” said Audrey
Hope Rinehart, an undeclared
sophomore.
"Over the last month, all of us
have been very pleased that
UNCA has been noted promi
nently by three major guides -
The Fiske Guide, The Princeton
Guide and U.S. News & World
Report," said UNCA Chancellor
Jim Mullen.
“Each of them from different
perspectives recognizes the posi
tive trajectory that we are on as a
campus,” said Mullen.
"1 am excited that we are achiev
ing this national recognition as
we continue to fulfill our unique
mission in the University of
North Carolinasystem as its pub
lic liberal arts campus.”
U. S. News &WorldReport ranks
the nation’s best colleges in the
hope that it will help people find
the best college for their needs,
according to U.S. News &
World Report’s official web site,
http://www.usnews.com.
U.S. News dfWorld'ReportvmVs
schools in their fields, such as
national universities, liberal arts
colleges, comprehensive colleges,
and best values.
The site also gives information
on subjects such as academic repu
tation, student retention, faculty
resources, student selectivity, fi
nancial resources, graduation rate
and alumni contribution rate.
First, the magazine places col-
Tbp Public Eiber^ Arts Colleges:
1. Virginia Military Institute
2. St. Mary's College of Maryland
3;MaryWasMngton College (VA)
4.Evergreen State College (WA)
5. (tie) University of Minnesota-Morris
University of North Carolina-Asheville
(rankings from Sept. 6 issue of U.S. News & World Report)
“We are earning a
national reputa
tion as a university
community that
offers the liberal
arts experience at
itsbest.”
-Jim Mullen,
UNCA Chancellor
WALTER FYLER/PHOTO EDITOR
leges into their respective catego
ries; for example, UNCA is liberal
arts-bachelor’s.
Next, they look at sixteen vari
ables, each assigned its own total
score, and the colleges are ranked
according to their score.
UNCA made another ranking in
the magazine, a tie with six other
colleges for 38th place in diversity
with a 12 percent diversity rate,
according to U.S. News dr World
Report.
According to the editors of U.S.
News & World Report, the college
ranking provides a starting place in
searching for colleges.
The rankings are meant to open
possibilities to families that had not
considered other options.
“I think it’s good that we got ranked
fifth because it will give us more na
tional recognition when we get a de
gree from UNCA,” Alex Polzien, a
junior recording arts and computer
science major.
U.S. News & World Report has two
classifications for colleges and uni
versities, national universities—doc
toral and liberal arts colleees-
Princeton Review
Reveab Student Trends
Stuart Gaines
Staff Reporter
UNCA has again been named as
one of the nation's 331 best col
leges in the 2002 edition of The
Princeton Review, an annual publi
cation that ranks colleges in cat
egories ranging from student life
to academics and athletics.
“I am very pleased that The
Princeton Review and other guides
are recognizing the extraordinary
experience that UNCA provides,"
said UNCA Chancellor Jim
Mullen. "We are earnmg a na
tional reputation as a university
community that offers the liberal
arts experience at its best.”
UNCA students continually brag
about receiving a private-school-
quality education at a public school
price. The student/faculty ratio of
13:1 and an average class size be
tween 10 and 19 students are the
strongest academic features of
UNCA's liberal arts curriculum,
according to The Princeton Review.
“I think it is a good school,” said
Lindsey Kari, a junior computer
science major. “I also think it's
good that they're supposedly aim
ing to keep it a small school.”
With a total undergraduate en
rollment of over 3000, and ap
proximately one-third of those stu
dents residing in campus housing,
UNCA students report a high level
of satisfaction with their extracur
ricular lives.
A variety of on-campus activities,
such as concerts and guest speaker
appearances, give students a vari
ety of leisure-time activities. Most
students spoke highly of the abun
dant outdoor opportunities to be
found in the area, as well as the rich
nightlife scene in downtown
Asheville, according to the review.
The Princeton Review did, how-
Tuition Increases
By 5 Percent
Lana Coffey
Staff Reporter
See FIFTH Page 8 See PRINCETON Page 8
Tuition will increase starting
this semester for all students
within the UNC school system,
according to Philip Weast, assis
tant vice chancellor for enroll
ment management.
“The legislature reached an
agreement that they were going
to raise tuition,” said Weast.
Once the legislature did that, it
went back to the board of gover
nors of the UNC system for ap
proval.
“As part of the
public system we
have no choice
but to follow
what’s been es
tablished,” said
Weast.
“In addition to
our $300 per year
increase which
we initiated, it
looked as though
we were going to
go up $32. The
general assembly said you have
to go up more than that,” said
Weast.
In-state students will pay an ad
ditional $21 per semester and
out-of-state students will pay an
extra $329 per semester, accord
ing to Weast.
“These funds were approved by
the General Assembly as a 5 per
cent increase across the board
and a modification of the Board
of Governor’s requested in
crease,” said Steve Honeycutt,
budget officer for UNCA.
While it is hard to know how
long this increase will last it will
probably remain in effect indefi
nitely, said Weast. “Nine times
out of 10, when an increase goes
“We have
choice but to fol
no
there it stays there and they just
build on top of it.”
“One of the things we’re suggesting
to students, particularly out-of-state
students, is to, if they’re getting fi
nancial aid, to work with the office
of financial aid and see whether or
not any of their awards can be ad
justed or changed,” said Weast.
“I think it’s a shame because educa
tion should be as cheap as possible,”
said junior literature major Valerie
Hastie.
Letters will be sent out to every
student’s home address outlining the
situation. The letters will explain
how much more students will have
to pay based on
their classifica
tion as in-state
or out-of-state,
according to
Weast.
“It’s a really
tough thing to
happen, and I
think a student
ought to know
what they’re
paying when
they get here.
Our legislators
don’t know what it’s like for a stu
dent to have to budget every penny
and make it count,” said Weast.
“For the in-state tuition students
every bit of money counts. Twenty
dollars is two pizzas right before a
test and that’s very important, and I
think it’s sad that the price of educa
tion continues to rise,” said Hastie.
UNCA’s administration, including
Chancellor Jim Mullen, does not
have any say in this tuition increase,
according to Weast.
“I think if UNCA had its choice it
wouldn’t raise tuition for the semes
ter, but it s not our choice,” Weast
said.
See TUITON Page 8
low what’s been
established”
-Phillip Weast
UNCA Vice Chancellor
For Student Enrollment
UNCA Student
Catches Suspects
Ed Fickle
Staff Reporter
A string of home robberies in
Asheville which occurred over sev
eral weeks in late August have
been solved, thanks to
UNCA student and
Asheville native Ben
Colburn, a junior Bi
ology major.
"I knew several houses
had been robbed in the
area, and I was just in
the right place at the
right time," said Colburn.
Colburn noticed some suspicious
activity in the trails near his house
while he was out walking his dogs
around 5:00 p.m. on Aug. 20.
“I know lots of people walk their
dogs up there, but I saw a car up
Crime Watch
there, sporty and raced out with a
kid sitting in it. It just looked out of
place,” said Colburn.
As Colburn proceeded up the trail
he saw someone hustling down to
wards him carrying a duffel bag.
“I said something to him, like nice
day,’ and it kind of surprised him,”
said Colburn. “He
seemed really nervous to
see someone else up
there.”
Colburn continued up
the trail, taking a fork that
headed off towards Carter
Cove subdivision, one of
the nearby neighbor
hoods that the trails con
nect to.
“I heard him go back up the other
fork of the trail and on the way back
down he passed me with a rifle bag.
See ROBBERIES Page 8
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