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Volume 36 Issue 4 The University Of North Carolina At Asheville September 26, 2002
Muslims face
challenges
Bioterrorism drill tests emergency officials
KINGSLEY FAIRBRIDGE/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
SWAT team officers move participants away from the mock contamination site at the bioterrorism
drill. Law enforcement and emergency crews from around Asheville participated in the excercise.
Successful training exercise helps improve groups readiness
KINGSLEY FAIRBRIDGE/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
HAZMAT officials participating in the bioterrorism practice drill
wore full biohazard protective suits, including breathing apparati.
Dearborn McCorkle
News Reporter
Local public health and safety of
ficials participated in a multi-agency
bioterrorism drill Sept. 18 at
Colbond, Inc. on in Enka, NC.
“What we are trying to do is make
sure everybody is on the same level
and knows what everybody else is
doing when we come together and
have to respond to an actual inci
dent,” said Jerry Vehaun, Bun
combe County homeland security
director.
Personnel from the police, fire
and sheriff departments, Buncombe
County Emergency Services, Re
gional Response HAZMAT (Haz
ardous Material) Team (RRT 6),
Buncombe County Health Center,
Mission St. Joseph’s hospital, State
Bureau of Investigation (SBI) and
Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI) practiced their response to a
major crisis in order to fine-tune
agency responsibilities and identify
the need for future training.
“The drill (will) determine the
readiness state the different agen
cies are in, and make sure we don’t
have any big holes in the overall
procedure,” said Vehaun. “We will
have about 10 different agencies
represented here by the time (the
scenario) plays out. Of course, if we
find any (problems), that is what it
is all about. ”
A steering committee designed the
drill to test local health and safety
agencies’ preparation procedures.
Only the committee members knew
the details of the scenario, in order
to encourage more realistic re
sponses.
“The drill is one component of a
$9,000 Federal Emergency Man
agement (FEMA) grant awarded
(to) the Buncombe County Emer
gency Services Department by the
North Carolina Division of Emer
gency Management, ” said Deborah
Welch, public information officer
for Buncombe County in a Sept. 16
press release.
The drill at Colbond, Inc. cost
approximately $4,000 to $5,000,
according to Vehaun.
The grant provided safety and
health agencies the opportunity to
identify local areas that are at a high
risk for terrorist activity, revise the
county’s emergency plan and facili
tate additional training.
“We actually started this grant
proposal before Sept. 11 to get bet
ter prepared for a major crisis,” said
Vehaun in a Sept. 16 press release.
“We are all good at what we do, and
practicing a coordinated effort can
only make us better.”
The first stage of the drill was a
joint effort by the Buncombe
County Sheriff Department and
Asheville City Police Department.
The fire department, EMS and
HAZMAT ran the second stage.
“What we are doing is playing in
a real-time scenario to find out how
long it would take,” said Vehaun.
“For example, law enforcement, if
they were to have an actual event, it
would take 20 to 30 minutes for
Special Weapons and Tactics
(SWAT) teams to get here. (The)
fire department and EMS are staged
at a different location waiting for
the SWAT team to get through, so
they can come in case we’ve got
injuries or contamination.”
“The majority of the command
are in the orange vests watching
what is going on,” said Robin Nix,
public information coordinator
with the city of Asheville. “The
second in command are the folks
actually doing the work, and they
don’t have as much experience. So,
it is really good for them to get the
experience of running (an emer
gency scenario).”
The drill began with a call to 911
from the security gate of the fac
tory.
“At 8:55 a.m., another call was
made by an unknown person from
a warehouse on Colbond property,"
said Nix. “This person said there
was a hostage situation taking place,
and an undetermined number of
hostages were being held.”
Three Asheville police units and
two sheriff units were the first to
arrive on the scene.
“We got an initial call there was
some type of biochemical released
in the (building), with a subject
holding people hostage,” said Ron
King, Fire District One Com
mander. “ (He) released some type
See EMERGENCY Page 12
Sarah Wilkins
Senior News Reporter
Many Muslim Americans endured
challenges to their rights from their
communities and governments
since Sept. 11, 2001. But for the
over 700 Muslim Americans who
live in the Asheville area, tolerance
for the Muslim faith continues to
“Sept. 11 almost gave people an
excuse to say it’s okay to discrimi
nate, and it’s okay to hate,” said
Jane Fesperman, a senior psychol
ogy major. “Inside the city of
Asheville, you may have a more
liberal population.”
Fesperman said Asheville and
UNCA may represent a safe haven
for Muslim Americans due to the
area’s liberal and tolerant reputa
tion.
“To many Muslims, there is more
support for their people,” said
Elmoiz Abunura, a UNCA politi
cal science lecturer and Muslim
American. “It has to do with the
development of Asheville itself ”
Abunura'believes the diverse ar
tistic and intellectual life of Asheville
is attractive to Muslim Americans.
In addition, there are many types
of individuals living in the area,
including hippies, yuppies, retired
people and Rastafarians.
“Lots of gays and lesbians (moved
in) within the past 10 years, so 1
guess Muslims came because of the
same reasons,” said Abunura. “It’s
a tolerant place.”
The general reaction of Muslim
Americans in Asheville to the Sept.
11 attacks is similar ti tne feelings
of Americans with different faiths.
“They couldn’t comprehend the
evil that would have conjured such
terrorist acts in New York City and
Washington, D.C.,” said Abunura.
“While some Americans blame all
Muslims for Sept. 11, Muslim
Americans understahc that the
people who committed these acts
of terror are not representative ol
Muslims.”
Fesperman asserts that Americans
should accept that “ different people
have different opinions, and differ
ent people have different goals. We
need to accept and embrace diver
sity.”
Many individuals are not exposed
to a tolerant view of Islam in the
mass media. Abunura said when he
recently visited Europe, he noticed
international media organizations
do a better job of portraying Mus
lims.
“I think there is a regression to the
understanding of Islam” through
the mass media, said Abunura.
People “used to think Islam was in
the same family as Christianity be
fore Sept. 11. But now, preachers,
like the Rev. Franklin Graham, are
stressing the issues of the differ
ences between Islam and other re
ligions.”
In order to combat this under
standing, Abunura has given over
30 presentations since Sept. 11 be
cause he felt Muslims needed to
make their opinions heard.
“The response of the audience
may start to differentiate between
the hijackers and the mainstream
Muslims,” said Abunura.
UNC-CH resists lawsuits, upholds academic freedom
Sara Miller
News Reporter
The UNC system board of gover-
rs approved a resolution Sept. 16
supporting academic freedom, af
ter several months of controversy
concerning the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill’s summer
reading selection, “Approaching the
Qur’an: The Early Revelations,”
written by Michael Sells.
“I don’t believe the notion that we
e forbidden to read or discuss
religious materials,” said Merritt
Moseley, professor of literature and
director of the UNCA honors pro
gram. “A large part of the history of
the world is built on religion. We
read parts of the Bible and
Bhagavad-Gita in Humanities 124,
and parts of the Qur’an in (Hu
manities) 214.”
Since May 8, when the campus
press announced that Sells’s book
was selected, UNC- CH has been
dodging lawsuits and clinging to
academic freedom. The university
believes academic freedom gives
them the right to explore all areas of
knowledge, including religion,
without violating any rights.
The university asked all new stu
dents, freshmen and transfers to
read the selection, write a one-page
paper and attend a discussion group.
According to their Website, UNC-
CH expects about 3,500 freshmen
and 800 transfers each fall.
The Family Policy Network
(FPN), a conservative Christian
group, filed a lawsuit following this
announcement, and the House of
Appropriations Committee denied
funding for the program unless it
taught all known religions, accord
ing to Jennifer Samuels, assistant
state and national editor.
“It is possible to teach almost any
book from the point of view of
advocacy, so that you are persuad
ing students to change their convic
tions, membership or allegiance,
but I don’t think anybody has taught
it that way, ” said Moseley.
When the house denied funding,
the university believed their aca
demic freedom was violated.
“Academic freedom is threatened
when the members of the legisla
ture begin to tell the faculty of a
■great university what they can and
can’t teach,” said Moseley.
At their Aug. 9 meeting, the UNC
board of governors did not approve
a resolution supporting the univer
sity and its right to academic free-
However, a week later, a federal
judge said the assignment was
strictly academic and allowed the
university to hold the discussion
groups.
“I have no patience with the idea
that it is an indoctrination into
Islam,” said Moseley. “If it were,
then we’d already be hearing of
reports of mass conversion.”
The university’s selection put them
in national spotlight. On Aug. 27,
UNC-CH Chancellor James
Moeser appeared on “Good Morn
ing America” and “Nightline” with
Ted Koppel.
The UNC-CH summer reading
program is now in its fourth year.
The school officials thought the
projects of the past summers, as
well as Sells’s book helped the stu
dents.
Moseley said UNCA also has a
summer reading program that has
been in place for two years. Moseley
is a member of the committee that
chose the past two selections.
“The reason we have summer read
ing is to engage students in some
sort of academic or intellectual ex
ercise during their summer before
they come in as freshmen,” said
Moseley.
Fred Chappell’s “I Am One of
You Forever” was the 2001 sum
mer reading selection at UNCA,
and this year, the committee se
lected James McBride’s “The Color
of Water.” “The Color of Water”
had a fairly strong Christian per
spective, according to Mosely.
“A summer reading assignment
tries to get students involved in the
kind of work you do in college, and
to me, the most important thing is
to give them a common experi
ence,” said Moseley. “So, I think
the selection of the text is less im-
See READING Page 12
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