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Volume 35 Issue 3
The University Of North Carolina At Asheville
Sports
“Men’s basketball determined to win”
■ see page 6
Also inside:
Features
“Our duty to death”
■ see page 4
Opinions
“To terrorists: we will win”
by Avi Mechanic
■ see page 2
February 21, 2002
Search for
new vice
chancellor
continues
Whitney Setser
News Reporter
UNCA is searching for a new Vice
hancellor of Academic Affairs to
eplace Thomas Cochran, the cur
rent acting VCAA.
“It is really important for students
to care (about the VCAA search)
because their whole curriculum
could change,” said Julie Shaddix, a
senior history major, president of
Student Government Association
and member of the VCAA search
committee.
Tom Cochran, who is the current
acting VCAA, is the chief academic
idvisor of the university. He is re
sponsible for the university in the
Aancellpr’s absence.
Being the primary steward of the
;urriculum, the role of VCAA is
:ritical to student experiences, ac-
ording to Tracy Brown, professor
of psychology and chair of the
VCAA search committee.
“We need a new VCAA with a
deep understanding of the liberal
arts and the knowledge and vision
to guide our continued develop
ment as a first-rate liberal arts uni
versity,” said Brown in an e-mail
“It is important that the new Vice
Chancellor keeps in mind the in
terests of the faculty, staff and stu
dents,” said Holly Georgalis, an
undeclared freshman.
Not only is this position impor-
:ant to students, but it is also im
portant to faculty and staff, accord-
ng to Brown and Shaddix.
“We need a VCAA who can lead
the faculty on important university
initiatives such as diversity, the gen-
ral education program, and ser-
i^ice learning,” said Brown in an e-
mail.
The VCAA is in charge of evalu
ating faculty for reappointment,
tenure, promotion and compensa
tion.
The VCAA also works with the
department chairs, program direc
tors and the committee of tenured
acuity, according to the position
description for VCAA, posted on
he UNCA Web site.
“The Vice Chancellor position is
ocused on faculty,” said Shaddix.
The 15-person search committee
consists of members of the faculty,
staff and student body. They are
focusing on finding a VCAA who
can work well with our Chancellor,
Inn order to keep fulfilling the liberal
arts vision and help UNCA move
forward, according to Brown.
“It's a critical hire for UNCA,”
said Brown in an e-mail. “Major
administrative searches require a
extraordinary level of care in find
ing, recruiting, electing, and screen
ing of candidates.”
The search has been going on
since advertisements were posted
or the position in October of the
fall 2001.
UNCAs capital campaign exceeds goal by $3 million
Elizabeth Moe
News Reporter
UNCA raised $11,140,625 in
Campaign UNC Asheville; Mov
ing to First in Our Class, UNCA’s
first comprehensive capital cam
paign. The campaign commitee
began the fundraiser about five years
ago with the goal of raising $8
million for the university.
The university celebrated its suc
cess with a concert by David Holt,
Grammy award-winning folk mu
sician and storyteller, at Thomas
Wolfe Auditorium Feb. 12.
“This was a thank you to every
body, a thank you to students, to
faculty, to donors, to the commu
nity (and) to everyone who partici
pated. That was the spirit that we
put into it,” said Linda Nelms, cam
paign executive committee mem
ber, celebration planner, associate
professor of management and di
rector of undergraduate research.
Campaign UNC Asheville; Mov
ing to First in Our Class, pioneered
by a team of 25 individuals from
the faculty, the UNCA Board of
Trustees and the UNCA founda
tion, began in 1997.
The campaign executive commit
tee, nicknamed the “A-team” for
campaign ‘architects,’ identified a
number of priorities for the cam-
paign.^^
The “A-team” wanted to raise $3
million for scholarships, $2 million
for faculty initiatives, $2 million
for enhanced technology, $500,000
for a center for service learning and
$500,000 for creative initiatives,
according to the campaign sum
mary. This was an $8 million total
goal, to be raised over five years.
See CAMPAIGN Page 8
See VCAA Page 8
UNCA celebrates the homecoming game
Students drive decorated cars around campt4sfor a parade
sr'l
ANTHONY GRECO/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Members of Theta Chi fraternity (left) and the International
Students Association (right) drove around University Heights in
honor of the basketball team’s last home game of the season Feb. 15.
UNCA plans to remodel science labs with Labs21 approach
Kristen Willett
News Reporter
UNCA will construct new labora
tories during the pilot phase of the
Laboratories for the 21st Century
program, a partnership developed
by the U.S. Environmental Protec
tion Agency and the U.S. Depart
ment of Energy.
“It’s an honor that we've been
selected and offered this opportu
nity,” said Paul Braese, project man
ager within the design and con
struction department and
sustainability office. “It will allow
us to provide a first-class facility
that everyone will appreciate once
it’s built.”
Using some of the money from
last November’s bond referendum,
UNCA plans to build a new science
buildingwiththeLabs21 approach.
Labs21 will provide consultants to
assist throughout the building pro-
;s.
The Labs for the 21st Century
Program is committed to the build
ing of energy-efficient and sustain
able labs,” according to the EPA
Web site. “The Lab 21 approach
strives to minimize overall environ
mental impacts, protect occupant
safety, optimize whole building ef
ficiency on a lifecycle basis and
establish goals, track performance
and share results for continuous
improvement.
“Optimization of central plant,
supply and exhaust distribution,
energy recovery,
lighting design and
water are all energy
and water efficient
strategies available
to partners, ” accord
ing to the EPA Web
site.
The UN CA Board
of Trustees ap
proved the parking
lot between
Carmichael Hall
and Rhoades-
Robinson Hall for
the new building.
Plans for the build
ing are still in the design stage, but
Braese said the buildings should be
complete by December 2003.
“Good long-term planning is just
beginning to take place,” said
Braese. “The goal of the building
project is to produce first class labo
ratories for the students and de
partments.”
The chemistry and biology de
partments will move into the new
“The goal of
the building
project is to
produce first
class laborato
ries for the stu
dents”
-Paul Braese
project manager
building. The rest of the depart
ments will expand into the remain
ing space in Rhoades-Robinson
Hall. The expansion of departments
will accompany renovations to
Rhoades Hall, according to Bert
Holmes, chair of the chemistry de
partment.
The new science
building will have
more spacious labs
built to facilitate the
new teaching ap
proach, which empha
sizes group work and
multi-week projects,
adopted by the chem
istry department.
“We don’t need labo
ratories that isolate
each student to their
own station, instead
(we) need labs that are
designed differently,”
said Holmes. “(We) need more
space because many of these projects
are multi-week, and (we) want to
have an arrangement that encour
ages collaborative work.”
Following with the standards of
Labs21 and the wishes of UNCA
students, faculty and community,
the new science building will incor
porate more environmentally-
friendly techniques, such as a pas
sive solar design, daylighting and
good insulation.
Daylighting is a technique that
uses mirrors and windows to' light
the inside of buildings with indi
rect sunlight, instead of using elec
tricity and lightbulbs.
“Everything you can do that re
duces the demand for fossil fuels
will have an impact every year that
the building is there,” said Holmes.
When the EPA applied the Labs21
approach to a laboratory in Anne
Arbor, Michigan, its annual elec
tric demand was reduced by almost
70 percent.
Its utility costs were also reduced
by about 70 percent, according to
the EPA Web site.
Using natural light not only re
duces electricity costs, but natural
light may improve student
attendence, according to Richard
Maas, chairman of environmental
studies.
In studies done across the state in
grade schools and high schools, they
actually find that when you have a
building lit with this natural light
that your attendance is better,” said
Maas. “Kids and teachers aren’t out
sick as often, so they’re learning
more, are more focused and in a
Remains of
191 bodies
discovered at
crematorium
Lana Coffey
News Reporter
Investigators discovered the re
mains of 191 bodies at a cremato
rium in Noble, Ga., and they be
lieve more bodies will be found in
the days to come, according to The
New York Times.
“It’s just horrible,” said Dorothy
Floyd, a resident of Tryon, Ga.,
told The Washington Post. “It’s like
they took your loved ones and threw
them out like a dog.”
A dog-walker found the first skull
Feb. 15 and notified authorities,
according to The New York Times.
Ray Brent Marsh, 28, has oper
ated the Tri-State Crematory since
he took control of it from his par
ents in 1996, according to The New
York Times.
Some corpses had been on the site
for nearly 20 years, according to
Kris Sperry, the states chief medical
examiner and The New York Times.
As of Feb. 20, Marsh is being held
without bond on 16 counts of theft
by deception for allegedly taking
payments for cremations he did not
perform, according to The New York
Times.
Some of the families are filing
lawsuits alleging fraud against the
crematorium.
No laws currendy exist in Georgia
prohibiting inappropriate treatment
of corpses, according to the Yahoo
News Web site.
So far, the parents of Marsh have
not been charged with anything.
However, authorities obtained a
search warrant for the elders' home,
according to The New York Times.
Officials have not determined what
the motive was for hiding the bod
ies instead of cremating them, ac
cording to The New York Times.
Shiela Horton, the niece of Ray
Marsh, said greed was to blame.
They did not want to spend money
to make proper repairs on the cre
matorium, according to Horton.
The incinerator used for the cre
mations may not have been work
ing for a number ofyears, according
to The Washington Post.
“I wish we had a good answer for
this, but there is no logical explana
tion for having vaults filled with
human remains and caskets dumped
See LABS21 Page 8
See BODIES Page 8
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