27,2003
lys
,SYOFUNCA
Iter labs
I complete.
itly assign m;
:rs of impor
s that impaci
)up of peoplf
. UNCA stu
□ have ‘facili
:udent needs,
:ort as anyone
The Blue
Banner
Campus
Hanging Out with the Head Bulldog
■ see page 6
Features
Quizzo combines trivia and beer
Volume 37 Issue 8
The University of North Carolina at Asheville
UNCA students build houses for the needy
EWS EDITOR
ng of the
jat
agpole on tht
i)ur an officfl
aid we needed
I been a bomt
ned into the
s4ilaElmester
r the Under-
Office, who
longings and
[le fire depart-
me and checl
Slmester.
I right no'
d I hope the)
ecause they’
, public safet!
Dr, respondei
was unable to
; because it
states the vii
orth Carolini
t to its prop
wn where thi
m, that’s
Ginger McKnight
News Reporter
Eight UNCA students and two
campus ministers worked over
spring break to build a house in
Andrews, S.C. as a part of the Habi
tat for Humanity’s Collegiate Chal-
lenge.
“I don’t think a single person in
our group really felt that we were
sacrificing anything,” said Jessie
Shuman, a senior math and French
the most perfect weather. Eight
hours work and a couple at the
beach. It wasn’t like we were dread
ing it at all. It was pretty nice.”
Staff and students on the board of
UNCA’s Cooperative Campus
Ministry chose the program and
site for their spring break trip, which
was open to all the students on
campus.
The students on the trip repre
sented members from multiple cam
pus ministry groups, their advisors
and other students not affiliated
with campus ministry groups, ac
cording to Rev. Amy Rio-Ander-
son, the United Methodist campus
minister.
“The campus ministers work ev
ery year to get together with the
students and find out what kind of
trips they would be interested in
doing and start looking at different
programs and locations,” said Rio-
Anderson.
“We had a meeting with the cam
pus ministers and representatives
from the United Methodist Cam
pus Ministry, Presbyterian Church
Fellowship, Catholic Student As
sociation and Baptist Student
Union.”
When the UNCA group started
their work on the house, they
picked-up where another group had
OF REV. AMY RIO-ANDERSON
Bill Scharf works on the roof of the Habitat for Humanity house.
Students installed siding, shingled the roof and installed windows.
COURTESY OF REV. AMY RIO-ANDERSON
Jessie Shuman, senior math and French major, spent spring break
with seven other UNCA students helping build a house for the
Habitat for Humanity Collegiate Challenge in Andrews, S.C.
“They also have (retirees), who are a
crew and help out, that came and
worked with us everyday. They were a
lot of fun. One night we went out to
dinner with them and all their spouses
and had a big fish dinner.”
Rev. Amy Rio-Anderson,
United Methodist campus minister
left off at the end of their trip the
week before. The UNCA students
installed windows and doorways,
along with putting on siding and
shingling a roof, according to Rio-
Anderson.
“When we got there, the sheeting
had been put up on the walls out
side and the paper on the outside of
the walls,” said David Larkins, a
senior computer science major.
“Basically, we put on the roof
with the sheeting and the tar paper
and shingles. We went around and
did windows and doors, and we
started on siding.”
A regular work crew worked along
side the students. The work crew
included a paid Habitat for Hu
manity supervisor and retired voi-
“Habitat’s Collegiate Challenge
always has a paid supervisor so that
even people with no experience
know what to do,” said Rio-Ander-
“They also have (retirees), who are
a crew and help out, that came and
worked with us everyday. They were
a lot of fun. One night we went out
to dinner with them and all of their
spouses and had a big fish dinner.”
The crew and UNCA students
worked well together, according to
Shuman and Larkins.
“I think it was amazing, the amount
of camaraderie between the crew,
whose average age was like 5 5 or 60,
and us college students, who were
like 20-years old,” said Larkins.
“There was the obvious visible
generation gap, but when we were
standing there working with them
they treated us with the utmost
respect. They trusted us beyond
what we trusted ourselves in many
The group quickly started work
on the houses and were up on the
roof nailing in shingles by the sec
ond day of work.,
“Most of us had never done con
struction work before, but they put
hammers in our hands,” said
See HABITAT Page 10
Troops face resistance, close in on Baghdad
Becky Reese
News Reporter
As the war in Iraq continues, coa
lition troops press towards Baghdad
while taking controlling of other
Iraqi cities along the way.
“I think that the war is progress
ing the way its supposed to,” said
Erin Wood, a sophomore educa
tion major. “We all knew this
wouldn’t be done with overnight,
but I still think that the sooner this
is all over, the better.”
Troops have progressed slowly at
times, as U.S. ground forces have
yet to reach the Iraqi capital of
Coalition forces destroyed a key
Republican Guard unit protecting
Baghdad Wednesday morning, ac
cording to CNN.com.
Gen. Vincent Brooks said U.S.
forces had defeated the Republican
Guard Baghdad division in the town
of A1 Kut, which is approximately
100 miles southeast of Baghdad,
according to CNN.com.
“The Baghdad Division has been
destroyed,” said Brooks in an ar
ticle on CNN.com. “The dagger is
clearly pointed at the heart of the
Bob Arnot, an embedded
MSNBC reporter with the 1“ Ma
rine Expeditionary Force, reported
from near A1 Kut that U.S. forces
are driving towards Baghdad.
“They are on Route 6, and they
are heading north toward Baghdad,”
said Arnot in an article on
MSNBC.com. “Even more impor
tant, they encountered the Baghdad
Division of the Republican Guard
and basically made this a completely
ineffective fighting force.”
The U.S. Army also reported that
the P‘ and 3"^ brigades of the 3"^
infantry easily captured Karbala, a
city approximately 50 miles south
of Baghdad, according to
CNN.com.
The Army’s 3'‘* infantry division
pushed through Karbala after a
night of bombardments, according
to MSNBC.com.
At least 20 Iraqis died and an
unknown number of soldiers taken
COURTESY OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
U.S. army infantrymen discuss plans in the desert near Karbalah.
captive according to field reports, said Brooks in reference to the other
No U.S. casualties were reported. Republican Guard units, accord-
according to MSNBC.com. ing to MSNBC.com.
“They’re in serious trouble, and “The goal is to punch here, punch
they remain in contact now with there and then go get [Baghdad],”
the most powerful force on Earth,” said a senior military official Tues-
day, not long before another U.S.
offensive began, according to
CNN.com.
However, Iraqi Information Min
ister Mohammed Saeed Sahaf
claims that the U.S. has lied about
their progress in the war, according
to the BBC Web site.
“They lie every day,” Sahef told a
press briefing. “Therefore, what
they say or allege about success and
advances in Najaf and Karbala are
illusions,” according to the BBC
Web site.
The British military views the war
with Iraq as a very decisive engage-
“It’s probably fair to say that the
battle for Baghdad began the mo
ment we crossed the start line, but
this is certainly a decisive engage
ment,” said U.K. Commander
Brian Burridge, according to the
BBC Web site.
UNCA students have varying
opinions on the progress of the war
with Iraq, and many have concern
over the troops fighting against
See TROOPS Page 10
April3, 2003
Military
deployments
affect UNCA
Kristen Ruggeri
News Reporter
America’s war with Iraq has af
fected many UNCA students who
share their stories of how the war is
affecting them and their loved ones.
Bryan Greene
“Everybody is really worried about
me being deployed,” said Bryan
Greene, a sophomore history ma
jor who is currently on call as a
National Guard. “But I tell them
they don’t have anything to worry
Greene carries a phone with him
whenever he goes out. He is waiting
for a call from the military who will
assign him mobilization orders, giv
ing him eight days to report to his
armory or home station.
It’s difficult to decide whether to
support peace or support the
country’s decision to go to war,
according to Greene.
“It’s not necessarily that I agree
with what’s going on, but since it’s
my job and it’s what I have to do,
I’m going to do it,” said Greene.
“I got accepted to UNCA, but I
wasn’t a real good student in high
school, so I didn’t get any type of
scholarship. I come from a pretty
modest income family, and since I
didn’t want to take out any loans, I
joined the National Guard. They
pay for about 55 percent of every-
“When I joined in August of2000,
a lot of people^ w ere joining the
Reserve and National Guard be
cause they thought they would get
all the benefits and not have to do
anything except for their weekend
drills,” said Greene.
The Sept. 11 attacks acted as a
wake up call for Greene.
“I knew that if something happened
I would probably have to go over
seas, but it didn’t really hit me until
Sept. 11,” said Greene.
Zack Giles
“My best friend from home, Blake
Johnson, is in the Marine reserves
and got activated about two months
ago,” said Zack Giles, a junior
multimedia major.
“I just want to see Blake alive
again. I know it’s going to be weird
when he gets back because he’s prob
ably going to be an entirely differ-
After Johnson graduated from
high school he didn’t know what he
wanted to do with his life so he
decided to join the reserve because
of the pay. The next thing he knew
he was sent off to the Middle East,
according to Giles.
When Johnson found out about
his deployment he was not scared
or excited, according to Giles.
“He knew what he was getting
into when he signed up for the
reserves, but he wasn’t very happy
about it,” said Giles. “He said he is
perfectly willing to fight for his
country if it’s for a good cause, but
he did not necessarily feel this was a
good cause.”
Johnson knew he would have to
go to war some time ago. The mili
tary told him to be ready to leave at
anytime, according to Giles.
“First they said it was going to be
See DEPLOYMENT Page 10
Serving UNCA Since 1982
WWW. unca. edu!banner