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The Blue
Banner
Volume 36 Issue 11
Life after 9/11
still uneasy for
some citizens
The University of North Carolina at Asheville
Features
Drag show offers
risque, naughty fiin
■ see page 3
Sports
Radford defeats UNCA ii
BSC tournament
■ see page 4
Opinions
Exam load makes the
holidays seems lighter
■ see page 6
November 21, 2002
Christina Clayton
News Reporter
Media coverage of the Sept. 11
terrorist attacks, anthrax scares and
the recent sniper shootings induce
fear and impact the way some
American citizens live, according
to a study conducted earlier in the
year by Carnegie Mellon Univer
sity.
The emotional responses of many
Americans “clearly influence every
thing from future support for mili
tary action to decisions to travel,”
said Jennifer Lerner, an assistant
professor of social and decision sci
ences at Carnegie Mellon and lead
author of the study.
Some UNCA students said the
Sept. 11 attacks changed the way
they feel about their security.
“I don’t walk around in fear, but
nowit’s in the back of all our heads,”
said Matthew Seale, a senior ac
counting major. “I think financial
security is the biggest fear.”
The terrorist attacks affected the
American economy, according
the Carnegie Mellon study.
“Feelings of fear likely fueled the
sense of pessimism that contrib
uted to the national economic
downturn after Sept. 11,” accord
ing to the study.
The recent sniper shootings in the
Washington D.C. area also raised
fears.
A week after the capture of the
alleged snipers, students at Cornell
University in Washington, D.C.
were still learning to cope with the
tragedy, acording to the Oct. 31
“Cornell Daily Sun.”
“Although most students tried not
to give in to fear, some were reluc
tant to go on with daily tasks such
as shopping or walking to work,
according to the “Cornell Daily
Sun” article.
For Seale, the sniper shootings
brought a more personal fear.
His cousin works at the Home
Depot where one sniper shooting
took place, and his mother and
brother were in the D.C. area dur
ing some of the shootings
“I was really scared for them,” said
Seale. “I was surprised at how scared
I was.”
Kate Hove, a senior studying cul
ture and development in Latin
America, fears terrorism on Ameri
can soil.
“America is trying to impose things
on other countries and other people,
and nothing is really being done
about it from America’s stand
point,” said Hove. “As long as the
U.S. keeps trying to impose things
and doesn’t lay off, then people are
going to keep being unhappy and
do things like the sniper did.”
Despite the recent anthrax scares,
Hove feels the threat of biochemi
cal warfare does not affect America
as much as it does other countries.
“I’m not as affected by it as people
like the Palestinians, people in the
Middle East, who are faced with
that every day,” said Hove. “We
may be faced with it toO;
reduced a lot.
“It doesn’t really affect
day to day basis. I’m not walking
around in fear like a lot of peoplf
other parts of the world.”
Republicans gain majority in elections
UNCA community responds to Congressional election results and the Bush agenda
Sara Miller
News Reporter
This month’s midterm elections
put President George W. Bush and
the Republican Party in position to
forward with party policy in
Congress.
“If you don’t like Bush’s policies,
you need to brace yourself, because
this is coming,” said Dolly J.
Mullen, an assistant political sci-
professor at UNCA. “He’s very
aggressive about doing what he is
going to do. He’s unrelenting in
pursuing his agendas.”
The Nov. 5 election included races
for seats in the. entire House of
Representatives and one third of
the Senate. The House is made up
of43 5 seats, with elections for them
every two years. There are 100 seats
in the Senate, with one third of the
Senate going through the election
process eveiy two years and each
Senator serving six-year terms.
The House of Representative’s
design should represent the public
mood of America, according to the
Canadian Broadcast Corporation
(CBC) Web site. CBC also de
scribes the Senate as a more stable
body than the .
Prior to the Nov. 5 elections, the
Senate was evenly split among
democrats and republicans with 49
3tes each. The Independent Party
;presented the other two positions.
After midterm elections, the repub
licans edged over the democrats
with a 51 to 47 lead, with one
independent senator, according to
The Green Papers, a non-partisan
Web site dedicated to giving facts
and numbers for elections.
“I think it’s historically very un
usual for the presidential party to
gain seats in the House and the
Senate during a midterm election,”
T/ie concern with Iraq is really quite
separate from the war on terrorism.
They are trying to be linked, but are
distinctively different types of things.
Voters aren’t even clear in their own
minds what the difference is, or if there
is a difference.”
-William Sabo
UNCA political science professor
COURTESY OF GOOGLE.COM
Experts say that the new reublican majority in both the Senate and
House of Representatives will move President Bush’s agenda forward.
said Derek Jones, senior environ
mental science major.
The republicans added six more
representatives to the House and
the democrats lost four. Republi
cans held 223 seats in the House
before Nov. 5, and now hold 229,
while democrats held 208 seats and
now hold 204. The remainder of
the House is held by the Indepen
dent Party, while some seats are still
undetermined, according to The
Green Papers.
“The low (voter) turnout and the
general apathy demonstrate that
nobody was really clear on what to
do regarding the war on terrorism,”
said William A. Sabo, a political
science professor at UNCA. “Since
the invasion of Afghanistan,
nothing’s been done, there have
been no major wars, no American
accomplishments. So as an issue, it
just sits there looming.
“There’s no progress on it but
there are no failures on it either.
Voters aren’t sure what to make of
that issue.”
Gross failure from democrats was
obvious in the November 5 elec
tions, according to Sabo.
“The democrats couldn’t come
up with any alternatives. They
didn’t know how to deal with the
situation,” said Sabo. “They
couldn’t get voters motivated or
concerned about something other
than this war on terrorism or an
alternative approach to that war.”
Bush refuted attempts by demo
crats to say that main issues were
more domestic, like Social Security
and Medicare.
“The administration will be far
better oflf if it realizes that the demo
crats lost this election,” said Sabo.
“If they think they were victorious,
it could lead them to take some
risks on policy that might back
fire.”
Winning candidates perceive their
victories as a sign that their agendas
reflect public opinion.
“When a candidate wins office, it
doesn’t matter if it is by one half of
a percentage point, he or she takes
that as a sign that what the people
want to have happen is what was he
or she articulated,” said Mullen.
With republicans cushioning Bush
in both the House and the Senate,
there are worries about tyranny of
the majority, according to the CNN
Web site.
“Majority rule implies that there
is a coherent majority, that there is
a clear-cut united coalition,” said
Sabo. “The republicans have divi
sions within their party just like
democrats. They’re just not as deep
or as bad. They’ve been able to
paper over them.”
There are certain defenses for the
minority parry in Congress. The
minority party can go along with
the majority, hoping the incum
bents will fail. Or they can argue,
hoping to make some changes, ac
cording to Sabo. They can also take
a more aggressive stance, the fili
buster, a tactic that usep prolonged
speech making to purposely delay
legislative action.
“I can’t see democrats following
that kind of combative strategy for
foreign policy issues, although they
See REPUBLICANS Page 8
‘Buy Nothing Day aims to curb consumption
Melissa Doyle
News Reporter
The magazine “Adbusters,” an
independent publication noted for
its complete refusal to run adver
tisements, is sponsoring the annual
Buy Nothing Day, Nov. 29, in an
effort to curb the over-commercial
ization of Christmas.
Buy Nothing Day occurs the day
after Thanksgiving, the busiest
shopping day of the year, and the
kick-off to the Christmas shopping
season.
“I think Buy Nothing Day is a
good idea,” said Rebekah Andrews,
a sophomore mass communication
major. “People start thinking, ‘Oh
it’s Christmastime. I have to buy
everything for everybody,’ instead
of thinking about the meaning of
This sentiment prompted BCalle
Lasn to start the campaign 11 years
ago, challenging people to buy noth
ing for one day, according to the
“Adbusters” Web site adbusters.org.
“I am in debt because of Christ
mases in the past,” said Jennifer
COURTESY OF ADBUSTERS.ORG
Buy Nothing Day, sponsored by “Adbusters Magazine,’’asks consumers worldwide not to spend any
money the day after Thanksgiving, traditionally one of the biggest shopping days of the year.
Whittenauer, a junior education
major.
Alerting the public of Buy Noth
ing Day has been difficult for Lasn,
according to the Web site. Major
television networks have not coop
erated with attempted advertising
for the day. The only major net
work that agreed to sell Lasn a time
slot was CNN, and is still the only
major network to have run com
mercials advertising Buy Nothing
Day.
A rejection letter for the commer
cial from Westinghouse Electric
Corporation’s CBS read that Buy
Nothing Day “is in opposition of
the current economic policy in the
United States,” according to the
Web site.
“I think we do need to be out
shopping and supporting the
economy,” said Whittenauer. “I
don’t think that one day is going to
affect the economy in any way.”
Some students felt Buy Nothing
Day would hurt the nation’s
economy.
“I think it might (hurt the
economy) because the day after
Thanksgiving is the biggest shop
ping day of the year,” said Melissa
Ward, an undeclared freshman. “I
also know that is the day that sales
start, which is really good.”
James Groom, a junior psychol
ogy major, agrees with Ward.
“I think it will hurt the economy.
During Thanksgiving, every one of
my family members stay at the same
house,” said Groom. “And the next
day, they all go shopping, and each
individual spends hundreds of dol
lars on Christmas gifts.”
Major Buy Nothing Day support
ers often stand outside of large de
partment stores handing out gift
exemption certificates, advising
shoppers to spend time with their
families instead of shopping, ac
cording to the Web site.
Buy Nothing Day started in the
Oregon area, but now garners in
ternational support.
Lasn runs Media Foundation, a
company that offers alternative ad
vertising to student and environ
mental groups.
This company also produces the
quarterly magazine Adbusters, a
magazine examining, among other
progressive issues, the, effects of
advertising on society.
The Adbusters Web site provides
information about how to organize
local groups supporting But Noth
ing Day.
Some students disagree with the
whole concept of Buy Nothing Day.
“I don’t think that they should do
it,” said Ward. “Most people prob
ably won’t listen to it anyway. I am
not going to listen to it.”
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