Also inside:
Features
Mums Raps of Ghetto
■ See Page 4
“War Against Terrorism is
Futile,” by Dearborn McCorkJe
■ See Page 3
Volume 34 Issue 5
The University Of North Carolina At Asheville
UNCA to Spend $80 Million
Funding Expected to
Bring New Buildings,
Improvements
Rae Stephens
Staff Reporter
Ed Fickle
Staff Reporter
Over the next five years, an esti
mated $80 million will be spent
on construction projects on the
UNCA campus, according to
Steve Baxley, the director of fa
cilities management at UNCA.
“Eighty million dollars is a lot of
money, but I feel good about
UNCA spending it," said Kat
Kearney, a senior environmental
science major. "UNCA really
needs to make improvements to
continue giving us the education
that we need and the school wants
to give. I am looking forward to
icoming back in five years to see all
the construction results.”
The university received $49.9
million from the Michael J.
Hooker Higher Education bond
which passed last year, according
to Baxley.
Most of the remaining moiiey
will come from a state loan which
will be paid back with UNCA
room and board charges.
The construction will bring to
UNCA a new science building
and improvements to the
Highsmith Center, Carmichael,
and Zaiger buildings.
UNCA plans to build a new
physical plant and put a parking
area in its place. The internet con
nections around campus will be
quicker and a new Governor’s
Village dormitory is planned.
New roads, sidewalks and paint
ing around campus will also be
idded, according to Baxley.
It would be nice to have a better
looking school, because our school
looks like it’s from the ‘70s,” said
irin Lesley, a junior literature
ind psychology major.
We aren’t up to date. We are a
;reat school and nobody has heard
ofus,” said Lesley. “We need to be
)roud of our school, as well as our
ampus.”
i
^3^
«
7 am looking for
ward to coming
hack in five years
to see all the con
struction results.”
-Kat Kearney
Senior, Environmental
Science major
V-.:-
' • V
JAMES PRITCHETT/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
A worker moves dirt near the Justice Center. UNCA’s campus is expected to undergo several renovations.
Parking has been a major com
plaint by students at UNCA.
The number of parking spaces
available to commuter and resi
dential students alike has been a
topic worthy of discussion and
improvement, according to some
students.
“It’s about time we got more
parking, even if it is for residents,”
said Lesley. “We have so many de
cals and not enough parking spots.
The parking situation is a joke.
More parking is a must.”
Students from many different de
partments are looking forward to
the new science building, but they
also wishing for a new Justice Cen
ter. Students recognize the need for
an improvement on the Rhoades
and Robinson buildings, as well as on
the current athletic teams’ facilities.
“As an environmental science ma
jor, I really appreciate the new science
building," said Kearney. “There is so
much needed in the science building
that isn’t there.”
“I think they should have spent some
of the money on a new and improved
athletic facility^,” said Mike Calbaugh,
a senior sociology major. “The Jus
tice Center needs to be totally redone
or at least expanded and improved.
It’s too old.”
Most students interviewed agreed
that something must be done with
the Highsmith Center. Despite re
cent renovations, the building needs
to be drastically updated, according
to students.
“I think it is ridiculous that they
just redid the Highsmith Center,
and now they are gutting it again,”
said Calbaugh. “I think the first
construction was a total waste. The
new construction sounds good, as
long as it lasts.”
“Highsmith would be nice if it
was redone, because we are kind of
behind in comparison with other
state schools,” said Lesley. “The
students would use it more if it was
updated. The money for the new
H ighsmith Center is a great choice. ”
Postal service on campus should
improve with construction ofa new
Highsmith Center, according to
Lesley.
“I am so excited about the new
post office planned for the future
Highsmith, it would be really nice
for residential students,” said
Lesley. “Mail would be faster and
simpler. That would be a great
idea for the new Highsmith.”
However, improvements in the
curriculum and additional majors
would be more useful than new
buildings, according to some stu
dents.
“We really need an extension of
the foreign languages that are be
ing offered,” said Jeremiah
Jacques, a senior business admin
istration major. “We need to
branch out with the foreign lan
guages at UNCA. Right now, we
only have the basics that are of
fered at any high school. Maybe
UNCAshould spend some money
on the curriculum.”
Some students feel the money
should go to new equipment for
different departments.
“I would love to get new equip
ment for a photo journalism ma
jor,” said Katie Campbell, a sopho
more literature major. “I know so
many people who would be inter
ested in that field.”
“I think the money should go for
better equipment for the students
in a bunch of the departments,”
said Lesley. “1 like the idea of the
new buildings, and they are a great
idea as long as we get what we
need.”
Students have also expressed
concern for the construction that
the upcoming renovations and ad
ditions will bring to UNCA.
“I am not looking forward to
the mess that will be all over cam
pus, but I think it will be worth it
when they are done,” said Bru
Rodriguez, an environmental sci
ence sophomore.
September 27, 2001
UNCA Groups
OfFer Help
Lana Coffey
Staff Reporter
In the aftermath of the terrorist
attacks on the World Trade Center
in New York and the Pentagon in
Washington, D.C., many UNCA
students, organizations and employ
ees have come together to raise money
for the relief efforts.
“In lieu of all the stuff going on, it’s
really affected a lot of our girls,” said
Kathryn Bolton, a junior marketing
major and member of the sorority
Gamma Phi Beta. “It’s therapeutic
to know that even though we’re here,
and we can’t leave and go there to
help, we can send the money to
help.”
Several fraternities and sororities,
the Student Government Associa
tion, Underdog Productions and
UNCA dining services have all con
tributed to the relief effort.
Gamma Phi Beta held a 12-hour
rock-a-thon Sept. 20. All the dona
tions the sorority received for this
benefit went to the Firefighter’s
Fund, according to senior Faith
Boyd, chair of philanthropy for
Gamma Phi Beta.
The donations for the rock-a-thon
usually go to a local organization set
up to help battered women and chil
dren, but the sorority said there was
more of an immediate need to help
the victims of the terrorist attacks,
according to Bolton.
The girls also wrote letters to the
victims, firefighters and police, ac
cording to Bolton, who addressed
her letter as “Heroes.”
Several of the fraternities organized
blood drives, including Kappa Delta
Rho and Theta Chi.
Kappa Delta Rho has already orga
nized one blood drive, and helped
out with benefit car washes, accord-
; to junior marketing major
Jonathan Roper, a member of the
fraternity.
They will also hold a dinner in
November to raise money for the
victims, according to Roper.
The majority of the money will go
to the American Red Cross, accord
ing to Roper. To donate money,
students can contact Casey May at
252-1115.
See AID Page 8
Professors Express Views
Abunura, Omer Offer World Perspective on Tragedy
department at UNCA. “I feel that
people should understand that the
terrorists who have committed these
barbaric acts do not represent main
stream Islamic faith.”
“They are a marginal group whose
actions are very similar to the ter
rorist acts of Timothy
Stuart Gaines
Staff Reporter
rwo UNCA faculty members,
Wth originally from the Middle
'ast nation of Sudan, were inter-
iewed last week about
heir reaction to the ter-
orist attacks that oc-
urred in New York
-ity and Washington
3.C.
“My concern now is
he political impact to
he American-Muslim
ommunity,” said
-Irnoiz Abunura, Di-
Ktor of Africana Studies and a
■cturer in the political science
WALitKi\LEK/
PHOTO EDITOR
Elmoiz Abunura.
McVeigh, or people like
Jim Jones and David
Koresh. Those individu
als do not represent the
mainstream Christian
faith of Americans,”
said Abunura.
There are six to seven
million Muslim Ameri
cans in the United States
See PROFESSORS Page 8
Stream Restoration Project Ready to Begin
Ed Fickle
Staff Reporter
A joint project between UNCA
and the Botanical Gardens to restore
Glenn and Reed Creeks will soon get
fully underway because of a $ 100,000
grant from the N.C. Clean Water
Management Trust fund.
“These improvements will be a
major asset to the campus and to
Asheville as a whole,” said T om Byers,
executive assistant to the Chancel
lor.
The UNCA grounds department,
using the university’s $40,000 por
tion of the grant, will complete three
of the five projects included in the
project.
«
m
LEAH 1EDRICK-MOUTZ/STAFF PHO l OGRAPHER
Randy Burroughs, garden manager of the Botanical Gardens,
discusses erosion with recent landscape architect graduates
Rachael Klecker and Sabra Kelley.
The main purpose of the project
is to improve the quality of water
feeding into Glenn Creek from the
UNCA grounds, before it reaches
the Botanical Gardens and even
tually the French Broad River.
The Botanical Garden’s $60,000
portion of the grant will be split into
two parts, and will focus on improv
ing the condition of Reed Creek.
“This is one of the prettiest spots in
the gardens and people treasure it.
We are very pleased to be able to save
it,” said Randy Burroughs, garden
manager of Botanical Gardens at
UNCA, in reference to the area
around Reed Creek where it enters
Glenn Creek.
Much of the push for these projects
came from Melissa Acker, landscape
director at UNCA, who sees the im
provements as mandatory to deal
with current water conditions and
foreseen problems related to campus
See STREAM Page 8
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