The Blue
‘Baseball season in full swing
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Also inside:
Features
’Master Harold and the Boys’ tackles
difficult subjects
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Banner
Opinions
Radio station will arrive in fall
by Jenny Bowen
see page 2
The University Of North Carolina At Asheville
March 21, 2002
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Volume 35 Issue 6
Yeager arrested, charged with eight counts
Lana Coffey
News Reporter
COURTESY OF UNCA
Police arrested former UNCA ht-
erature professor Robert F. Yeager
March 6.
Yeager was charged with three
felony counts of embezzlement and
four felony counts of obtaining
property under false pretense, ac
cording to the Buncombe County
Superior Criminal Court Clerk’s
records.
Yeager was released on $24,000
secured bond. No further court date
has been set.
“I am unable to comment, be
yond saying that this is a very com
plex story, and so far the media has
only presented one side,” said
Yeager, who was removed as direc
tor of Pegasus Press in November,
in an e-mail.
“I am grateful to the many dozens
of former students, colleagues,
friends and business associates who
have written and called to offer
support,” Yeager said in an e-mail.
“Their willingness to withhold
judgement in the face of such pub
licity is a source of strength to me
and my family in a difficult time.”
A grand jury indicted Yeager with
the eight charges March 4.
The three felony counts of em
bezzlement totaled $16,500 which
Yeager allegedly took from Pegasus
Press, according to the court clerk’s
records.
Four of the five felony counts of
obtaining property under false pre
tense concern Yeager’s travel ex
penses and total $4,088.21.
Allegedly, Yeager billed his travel
See YEAGER Page 8
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Unified Solar
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News Reporter
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Unified Solar wants to incorpo
rate more elaborate environmental
technology in the news science
building.
“Unified Solar is applying for
grants to help pay the initial costs
of technologies such as photovol
taic solar panels, geothermal wells,
a rooftop garden, composting toi
lets and the use of wind power,”
said Zev Friedman, a sophomore
human ecology major.
UNCA received $50 million when
North Carolina passed the bond
referendum to pay for basic build
ing costs around campus.
Unified Solar would like to see
more environmental technology
used in the new buildings.
“(Unified Solar) wants this build
ing to be the most energy-efficient
building in the United States,” said
Matt Raker, a junior environmen
tal economics and natural resource
management major.
Unified Solar spoke with several
foundations about possible fund
ing, and the group believes the
Lyndhurst Foundation and a few
others may contribute.
“We’re having a hard time getting
funding because the foundations
we’re approaching are educated
too,” said Raker.
“They tell us that the techniques
are cost-effective, so we should talk
to our state,” said Raker.
The proposed technologies would
save more money over the years
than the school would initially pay
for the equipment, according to
Raker.
However, if UNCA spent all the
money given to them by the state
and bought solar panels, reducing
the energy cost of the building to
zero, then the state would give
UNCA no money.
“There’s no incentive to be en
ergy-efficient,” said Raker. “We
Would lose that money.”
Unified Solar attended a design
meeting hosted by UNCA to dis
cuss building standards for the new
science and facilities management
buildings in September 2001.
Friedman said the group agreed
FCC orders WZLS 96.5 ofFthe air
Stuart Gaines
News Reporter
See SOLAR Page 8
Asheville’s locally-owned rock sta
tion WZLS 96.5 has been replaced
by an oldies-format station after
the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) ordered the
WZLS off the air Feb. 21.
The order represents the final de
feat for WZLS owners, the Lee
family of Asheville, in a legal battle
over the frequency 96.5 on the FM
dial, which has gone on for over 10
years.
“I don’t think anyone set out to
mistreat the Lees. They got caught
up in the bureaucracy that controls
these matters,” said Hal Green, an
employee of Asheville Radio Part
ners, which is putting the new sta
tion, WOXL, on the air.
The FCC originally awarded the
frequency to the Lee family in a
1989 hearing. Zeb Lee and his
family’s Orion Communications
were found to be the best suited
applicant for the new FM fre
quency, according to general man
ger Barry Lee of WZLS.
The hearing was part of the com
parative hearing process, which the
FCC had used to award frequen
cies to applicants for 30 years.
The decision was repeatedly ap
pealed by other applicants over the
next few years, but the original
decision, in favor of the Lees, was
upheld each time, according to a
June 1997 Wall Street Journal ar
ticle.
In an unrelated but significant
case, a 1993 U.S. Court of Appeals
decision found part of the com
parative hearing process to be un
just. The Bechtel decision ordered
ED FICKLE/ PHOTO EDITOR
Former general manager of WZLS, Barry Lee (left) and Jeff Allan (right), a former deejay for the
station, stand inside their old studio.
the FCC to formulate new rules
governing the selection process,
according to a June 1997Mediaweek
article about the Lee case.
The Lee case was put into limbo
due to the 1993 court decision, but
in April 1993, the FCC granted a
building permit for the FM station,
and WZLS finally went on the air
in July 1994, according to the
Mediaweek article.
The station stayed on the air until
it was ordered to cease broadcasting
by the FCC in June 1997. The
operating license was temporarily
awarded to the remaining appli
cants.
A December 1997 decision by the
U.S. court of appeals found in Lee’s
favor and the operating license was
restored. The decision sharply re
buked the FCC’s actions, saying
that the commission, “abused its
discretion and acted arbitrarily and
capriciously,” according to a De
cember 1997 Wall Street Journal
article.
Over 6,000 people signed peti
tions to have WZLS restored dur
ing the interim period in 1997, and
they were hand delivered to the
See 96.5 Page 8
Elizabeth Moe
News Reporter
Kevin Lee Johnson, a junior envi
ronmental studies major, was ar
rested and charged Feb. 21 with
four felonies: two counts of break
ing and entering, assault on a fe
male and a second-degree sex of
fense.
Johnson posted bail and was re
leased into the custody of his father.
He appeared for his first court date
March 18 and will reappear in court
April 16.
A Buncombe County Magistrate
set the bond for each offense as
$10,000 for the second-degree sex
offense, $5,000 for the correspond
ing breaking and entering, $1,000
for assault on a female and $2,000
for the corresponding breaking and
entering charge.
According to the public safety in
cident reports, Johnson broke into
the first victim’s room at approxi
mately 1:00 a.m. and assaulted her.
Approximately half an hour later he
broke into the second victim’s room
and sexually assaulted her.
Both girls reported the incident
to public safety within two hours.
Public safety officer Jerry Adams
accompanied them downtown to
report the incident to the
magistrate’s office.
“It is a horrible thing to happen to
anyone,” said one of the victims in
an e-mail. “If anyone is ever in this
situation, just know you are the
victim and that it is okay to go
forward with it. It isn't your fault.”
Being charged with a second de
gree sex offense means there is prob
able cause to believe Johnson “en
gaged in a sex offense with the
victim by force and against (the
victims) will,” according to one war
rant issued for Johnson's arrest.
Johnson was released into the cus
tody of his father Feb. 26 after
agreeing to these conditions: “Do
not go on or about UNCA campus.
Have no contact with states wit
nesses (withheld witnesses names).
Reside with father and follow his
rules,” according to the supervised
pretrial release agreement.
Civil rigjits lecture ofiers ways to figjit discrimination on campus
Whitney Setser
News Reporter
UNCA hosted a civil rights lec
ture in the Humanities Lecture Hall
March 4.
“Our goal is to make (UNCA) a
place where students of every race,
ethnicity, faith, gender and sexual
identity can find respect and dig
nity,” said Chancellor Jim Mullen
in an e-mail.
Joe Feagin, a civil rights expert
and graduate research professor of
sociology at the University of
Florida, gave the lecture. The lec
ture was based on Feagin’s study of
African American students’ experi
ences on predominately white col
lege campuses, published in his
book, The Agony of Education: Black
Students at White Colleges and Uni
versities.
“Racism is still a fundamental is
sue (in America),” said Feagin. “Al
though it is declining, it’s still ap
parent in society.”
The lecture centered on the re
search statistics from college sur
veys concerning racism. Feagin and
his graduate students conducted the
research.
“(Our research) revealed that most
white people who were polled held
stereotypical views of people of (cer
tain ethnical backgrounds),” said
Feagin.
Discrimination is widespread and
systematic, according to Feagin.
“In 3,800 test audits in 25 cities,
African American people trying to
rent (homes) faced discrimination
50 percent of the time, and black
home-seekers faced discrimination
59 percent of the time,” said Feagin.
Feagin presented other surveys he
and his students have conducted
that showed how African, Latin
and Asian Americans encountered
workplace discrimination, accord
ing to Feagin’s lecture.
“In Los Angeles, a survey of 1,000
black workers found six in 10 en
countered workplace discrimina
tion, and eight in 10 with college
degrees faced discrimination,” said
See DIVERSITY Page 8
COURTESY OF UNCA
Serving UNCA Since 1982
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