havt f of The Blue Banner Volume 35 Issue 2 UNCA holds conference about Israel ion Kristen Willett News Reporter 'hok^ The Center for Jewish Studies and H the Humanities Program co-hosted '05edH “Understanding Israel,” a confer- )pl£ ■ ence to help students learn more the ■I region, Feb. 2 through vernl : thm 'nfi-\ he nsini n wi\ ite. WALTER FYLER/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Kenneth Stein points to a map. Feb. 4. “This CO n fe r- encecame about as a desire to under- stand Is rael,” said Katie Pe ters, a vis iting pro fessor of history. “It was also, an opportu nity to learn about the ecosystems of Israel and the region in general.” “We want people to come away from the weekend with a greater understanding of a complex soci- [ ety,” said Peters. Experts on various cultures came to provide the students and com munity the opportunity to learn from them, according to Peters. Over the past two years, UNCA has sponsored conferences focus ing on non-Western societies such as China, India and Africa. At the end of World War I, the British promised the Arab people independent Arab States for their cooperation during the war. In 1917, the British government made a statement supporting the formation oflsraeli territory, a Jew ish homeland in Palestine. The Arabs believe this land was part of the land promised to them. The conflict arose from these land disputes, and has continued to plague the region to this day. “Both have legitimate claims to the land,” said Eric Meyers, profes sor of Judaic studiep at Duke Uni versity, during his lecture at the Sports The University Of North Carolina At Asheville “Bulldogs play hard, fall short” ■ see page 6 Also inside: Features “Understanding Israel” provides insight ■ see page 4 Opinions “Holding on to the holidays” by Sarah-Vance Goodman ■ see page 2 February 15, 2002 See CONFERENCE Page 8 Pegasus spending investimted Lana Coffey Investigative Reporter Stuart Gaines Investigative Reporter Robert F. Yeager, who recently retired from his position as a ten ured literature professor at UNCA, was removed from his position at Pegasus Press last fall amid a UNCA investigation into possible finan cial improprieties at Pegasus, ac cording to Bill Styres, UNCA’s di rector of internal audits. “The allegations against Dr. Yeager are a catalyst that triggered an un fortunate series of events and the university does have a debt owed to it by Pegasus,” said Rod Baird, chair man of the Pegasus Press board of directors. Styres’s report, entitled “Schedule of Questioned Costs,” which docu mented some financial spending in Pegasus Press’s records, showed the allegations against Yeager included double-billed travel expenses and the purchase/return of office sup plies. No charges have been filled against Yeager. The North Carolina State Bureau oflnvestigation is currently conducting further investigation of the finances of Pegasus Press. The SBI will report its findings to Bun combe County District Attorney R.L. Moore upon completion, ac cording to an e-mail from John Bason, public information officer of the North Carolina Department of Justice. Pegasus Press’s increasing and cu mulative debt to UNCA prompted Styres’s investigation beginning with the university’s request for a debt repayment plan, according to Wayne McDevitt, vice chancellor of financial affairs. Yeager, who had been employed by UNCA since the late 1980s, served as the executive director of Pegasus Press, according to Tom Cochran, interim vice chancellor of academic affairs and a volunteer member of the board of directors for Pegasus Press, a not-for-profit publisher ofRenaissance and medi eval texts that is loosely affiliated with UNCA. In his report, Styres wrote, “I have compiled relevant information cat egories where it appears that double billing took place. As the director, Dr. Yeager approved all these ex- RACHEL CRUMPLER/ NEWS EDITOR Loosely affiliated with UNCA, Pegasus Press publishes Renaissance and medieval texts. “It is my understanding, based on the documentation that I have, that Dr. Yeager was returning the items that he bought from the store for a credit on his credit card.” -Bill Styres UNCA’s director of internal audits penses. There was no board over sight for these items.” Yeager had control over most as pects of the press’s finances, ac cording to Styres. “He was the overall leader,” said Styres. “The signing of the checks, most of the time, was done by Dr. Yeager.” During his investigation, Styres said he found that the number of office supplies being purchased seemed excessive and incompatible with the supplies needed at Pegasus Press. Styres’s report of selected office supplies purchased by Yeager for Pegasus Press between March 3, 2000 and Sept. 22, 2001 showed that Yeager purchased three Jaz disks for $269.95 each. According to Styres, Pegasus did not have the equipment to use Jaz disks at the time of purchase. “It is my understanding, based on the documentation that I have, that Dr. Yeager was returning the items that he bought from the store for a credit on his credit card,” said Styres. The items were “purchased with his personal credit card originally and returned to the store, usually within 48 hours.” “So, his credit card washes clean, yet he still has the original receipts which he submitted to Pegasus for reimbursement. Of course, he is in charge of writing checks himself,” said Styres. From December 1999 until Sep tember 2001, Yeager purchased approximately $12,500 worth of COURTESY OF UNCA’S PHOTO ARCHIVES Former UNCA professor Robert Yeager. office supplies. While being reim bursed by Pegasus for this full amount, Yeager returned $9,657.79 worth of those supplies for credit back to his credit card, according to Styres’s report. Travel expenses may have been billed to both the university and Pegasus Press, according to Styres’s report. On four business trips, in cluding one to Washington, D.C. See PEGASUS Page 8 Student charged with assault on a female Elizabeth Moe News Reporter A UNCA student was arrested on charges of second-degree trespass ing and assault on a female Jan. 28. The arraignment is scheduled for Feb. 18. “This is an extremely harsh and unjust ordeal to go through,” said Marcus Bethea, a senior sociology major and employee of UNCA public safety. “There is factual in formation to show that I am inno cent of these accusations, and the facts will definitely come clear in court. Everyone who knows me can understand that my dedication to my job, my academics and my friends has always been sincere.” According to the incident report, Bethea physically assaulted a woman Jan. 25. The victim called the Asheville police department at 3 a.m. the following morning. The Asheville Magistrate’s Office issued warrants for Bethea’s arrest. APD officers took him into cus tody two days later. Adams said the victim’s injuries are “very minor.” When pressed to answer more pecific questions, Adams declined to speak. “I’d rather not answer any ques tions directly relating; to this case,” said Adams. “It’s a personnel issue with us, since he was employed with us at the time.” However, Adams said Bethea’s duties within the department were minimal. He’s a student employee for us,” said Adams. “He’s not a public afety officer. He has no authority.” Bethea’s duties included answer ing the phone, providing fellow students with an escort, letting stu dents into their dorm rooms, jumpstarting cars and locking up buildings at night. See FEMALE Page 8 Student banned from campus after assaulting a public safety officer Whitney Setser News Reporter A UNCA student was arrested for underage drinking, assaulting an other student and assaulting a law enforcement officer Jan. 23. “UNCA takes assault on a staffer faculty member seriously,” said Jerry Adams, public safety investi gator. Sean Patrick Heffner, an unde clared sophomore who was un available for comment, was taken to the Asheville Magistrate’s Of fice after two UNCA officers re sponded to a call they received involving a fight in progress in Founders Hall. Steve Lewis, the public safety shift supervisor and one of the respond ing officers, tried unsuccessfiilly to calm Heffner, who claimed an other student stole his jacket, ac cording to the public safety inci dent report. “We do not expect that kind of behavior from students,” said Adams. Heffner, who was reported to have been intoxicated in the incident report, assaulted Lewis by pointing his finger, striking Lewis with his finger and pushing Lewis in the shoulder, according to the public safety report. This was not the first offense of this kind caused by Heffner, said Adams. “We had a report of a disturbance that (Heffner) was creating in the residence halls less than a week prior to this situation,” said Adams. Heffner accused Jason Isbanioly, a sophomore environmental science major, of stealing his jacket. Isbanioly was able to secure arrest warrants on Heffner for communi cating threats and assault, accord ing to the public safety incident report. Isbanioly declined to comment. “From what I know of Sean, he’s a decent and down-to-earth guy,” said Elizabeth Duquette, an unde clared sophomore. Assault is defined as “intention ally offering corporal injury to an other by force, under such circum stances as to create a well-founded fear of imminent peril, coupled with apparent ability to execute the attempt, if not prevented,” ac cording to UNCA student con duct policy found in the UNCA catalog. College students are not drinking as often or as much as people think, and underage drinking has actually been declining, according to the Web site for Underage Drinking and Alcohol Abuse. “I've never had a problem with people drinking in the dorms, ex cept sometimes,” said Amanda Bowman, an undeclared so pho- more. “People can be loud late at night.” Although underage drinking is slowly declining, aggression is still heavily linked to alcohol abuse, ac cording to the Underage Drinking and Alcohol Abuse Web site. “We have zero tolerance for alco hol violations. If we get called to a violation or observe a violation, we have to take one form of enforce ment, which could be sending some one to student conduct or issuing someone a state violation,” said Adams. Alcohol abuse occurs highest in See ASSAULT Page 8 Serving UNCA Since 1982 WWW. unca. edu!banner

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