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Volume 36 Issue 10
The University of North Carolina at Asheville
Features
Tool thrills crowd with passionate
performance
■ see page 4
Sports
Women’s volleyball upsets Liberty in
BSC Tournament
■ see page 6
Opinions
Bush and Dole challenge American
identity
November 14, 2002
Arizona shootings concern UNCA students
Christina Clayton
News Reporter
A senior nursing student killed
three professors from the Univer
sity of Arizona School of Nursing
before kiUing himself Oct. 28.
Robert Flores, 41, sent a 22-page
letter to the Arizona Daily Star that
arrived the day after he shot the
three professors and himself, ac
cording to CNN.com.
“I guess what it is about is that it is
a reckoning,” Flores wrote. “A set
tling of accounts. The university is
filled with too many people who
are filled with hubris. They feel
untouchable.”
Flores also complained about his
failed marriage, poor health and
poor treatment by the nursing
school. College transcripts, mili
tary evaluations, recommendations
from employers and two birthday
cards accompanied the letter, ac
cording to CNN.com.
Neighbors said Flores was “studi
ous and passionate about becom
ing a nurse.” While, “students and
faculty remembered Flores as disre
spectful and strange,” according to
the Arizona Daily Wildcat.
Some UNCA students believe that
the likelihood of a such a tragedy as
the one at the University of Arizona
experienced happening here is very
small.
“I feel safe here. I used to go to
COURTESY OF THE ARrZONA DAILY WILDCAT
Police at the University of Ariz ona leave the building whee a failing student murdered thiee professors befoe shooting himself.
UNC-Charlotte, and I didn’t feel
safe there,” said Jennifer Rich, a
senior political science major. “This
15 a smaller campus. It’s a lot more
quiet, and it seems more secluded.
The people that are here are here to
go to school, as opposed to being in
the middle of an urban area where
there are different types of (people)
moving in and out of campus.”
Investigator Sergeant Jerry Adams
feels students at UNCA know the
laws concerning weapon possession
on campus.
“We seem to have a good student
body that is knowledgeable of the
laws and trying their best to do
what they came here for, which is to
learn,” said Adams. “We try to get
the word out by doing a lot of
lectures, a lot of talks and stuff on
safety and crime prevention.”
charges a year. It’s usually because
they don’t know what the law is
Adams said public safety tr
educate students on the laws.
“We try to let students know what and don’t realize they
the violations are and how seriously them here.”
we take them,” said Adams. “We
have zero tolerance for weapons on
campus. Anytime we find a weapon,
especially a gun or firearm, whether
it is a student or visitor, they’re
going to get charged. We usually
0 weapon possession Stanley, a
The University of Arizona re
ported a student population of al
most 34,000 in 2001. UNCA re
ported approximately 3,200 stu
dents in the same year.
just the area,” said Emily
>r mathematics n
jor. “We’re not in a huge metropo
lis with high crime rates.”
Others are more skeptical.
“We’re not that safe. Look at the
open land (with) plenty of places
for people to set up,” said Nathan
Best, junior computer science ma
jor. “It’s not safe at all. I think we’re
lucky that nothing has happened.
With Asheville and Western North
Carolina growing the way (they
are), it’s just a matter of time.”
Last April, the University of Ari
zona Police Department received a
report saying Flores “seemed very
depressed and could possibly harm
someone,” said Chief Anthony
Daykin in t\\c Arizona Daily Wild-
Incidents like the shootings at the
University of Arizona are hard to
“I don’t think it’s the kind of
thing we can predict,” said Maggie
Weshner, director of the UNCA
counseling center. “I think if indi
vidual people are behaving in a
suspicious way, it could be spotted
early.”
To help prevent violence, students
should report anything unusual,
according to Weshner.
“Depending^on what the concern
is, a student could come to either us
or security,” said Weshner. “If
they’re worried about a student
because of a statement they made
or made a threat, or overheard some
one say they had a gun, they should
New space in H ighsmith to better ser ve students
Jessica Hensley
News Reporter
UNCA continues to explore sev
eral alternate uses for the newly
available space in the student cen
ter, scheduled to open in fall 2004.
“When we originally designed the
building, we wanted it to resemble
a town hall or community gather
ing center,” said Eric lovacchini,
vice chancellor of student affairs.
“Many college/university student
centers (have) post offices.”
The plan for Highsmith, and more
specifically the post office, has been
in design for over 10 years.
Prior to the recent proliferation of
e-mail, the planning team thought
a post office was a logical idea for
supplying students and faculty
with information, according to
lovacchini.
University officials originally
planned to include 5,000 mailboxes
for residential and commuter stu
dents and faculty.
As plans progressed, many com
muter students said they preferred
to receive their mail at their homes
and that they wouldn’t necessarily
want to check mail on campus,
according to lovacchini.
The number of planned mailboxes
was then decreased.
The area set aside for the post
oflFice is about 8,000 square feet.
Decreasing the number of esti
mated mailboxes will leave a large
amount of extra space, and the uni
versity will save money, as the cost
of installing mailboxes is high, ac
cording to Ivoacchini.
“The U.S. postal service is not as
excited about these little satellite
“I’m glad they have de
cided not to dedicate all
of the space for the post
office. I am a commuter
student and would rather
receive my mail at my
house instead of going
through all the hassle of
changing my address to
receive it at UNCA.”
Daniel Rowland
junior music
technology major
post offices as they used to be,” said
Ivoacchini. “It is hard to get the
license, so we’re looking at what
would be a contract service, which
is pretty common in malls and you
see them all over town.
University officials saw that the
space could be used differently.
“We thought, is there a better way
to utilize that space if we pull the
post office out now with the under
standing that we will need to do
something that will still allow you
to get stamps, mail packages, get
the postal services you need in a
much smaller space, like the size of
an office, but not provide the num
ber of mailboxes it would take for
residential students who already
have mailboxes in their residential
halls?” asked Ivoacchini.
Director of Student Life Kevan
Frazier is currently looking for ideas
See HIGHSMITH Page 12
KINGSLEY FAIRBRIDGE/ STAFF PHOTGRAPHER
Wolk continues on the new K^hsmith Center, scheduled to be completed )b fall 2004.
The new building will house a smaller post office than the dginal design entailed.
Student
assaults
roommate
Michelle Dean
News Reporter
The Asheville Police department
arrested UNCJA student Darrel
Butch Holloway Oct. 27 charging
him with simple assault against his
roommate Christopher Murphy.
UNCA public safety officer Bobby
Barcafer was the first to respond to
the incident in Founders Hall.
“I called the Asheville Police De
partment just in case [Holloway]
tried to resist,” said Barcafer. “I was
the only person on duty that night
so I called for backup just as a
precaution.”
“When I arrived I found Murphy
in the public restroom [of Founders
Hall] with a bloody face and he
stated that Holloway, his roomate,
had punched him,” wrote Barcafer
in an incident report.
Murphy looked stunned, accord
ing to Barcafer.
“I radioed for EMS to check Mr.
Murphy and then began to look for
Mr. Holloway but could not locate
him,” wrote Barcafer.
“Murphy explained to me that
Holloway was mad because he
thought Murphy was always mess
ing with his things in the room.
Murphy explained that Holloway
had called the room and was mad
that Murphy had picked up the
phone. Holloway said ‘I thought I
told you not to mess with my
things!”’
See ASSAULT Page 12
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