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Lifestyle
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Life lessons from the Fab 5
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folume 38 Issue 5
The University of North Carolina at Asheville
Ryan Sniatecki
News Reporter
UNCA
friters Aly Goodwin and Naomi
ohnson will continue UNCA’s
iriters at Home fall series with
adings at Malaprop’s Bookstore/
jfeonSunday. Goodwin, a North
irolina Native, won a James
arkin Pearson Award from the
oetry Council of N.C. Johnson
teived a Pillsbury Foundation
teative Writing Grant, and a
ivenna Foundation Fellowship,
k works of both writers have
ppeared in several publications.
CAMPUS CRIME
,\man reported that the rear win-
| )w of his vehicle had been shot
irough by pellet guns while parked
icampus. Officers discovered in-
ividuals with pellet guns in the
ont yatd of a nearby house. The
fficcrs received permission to
arch the house and discovered
larijuana and drug paraphernalia.
Two non-student, white males,
had Benjamin Deaton and
lichael Shane Jones, are both
larged with one count each of
larijuana possession, possession of
rug paraphernalia and damage to
ttsonal property. Both reside at
9A Lookout Road.
ASHEVILLE
Brownie Newman led the
sheville City Council primary elec-
on last week with 4,446 votes, or
9.06 percent of the total votes
Bt. The next five winners were
erry Bellamy (4,189 votes), Jan
hvis (3,115), Jim Ellis (2,510),
odA. Whiteside (1,967) and Chris
% (1,747). These six candidates
ill now run for three council seats
1 the Nov. 4 general election.
NORTH CAROLINA
The state Division of Alcohol Law
nforcement won a $300,000 grant
tun the Governor’s Crime Com-
iission to combat underage drink
's- The division will train and
ittify sellers and servers to avoid
lling alcohol to people under the
jEof 21 and to patrons who are
teady intoxicated
Certified servers may have better
itk in the job market, because
®ployers will want to hire those
ko can keep them from facing
®lations or lawsuits, according to
1-E director Mike Robertson. The
i'ision will also use $100,000
'^ed front drug dealers to fund the
'“gram.
UNITED STATES
'Workers at 44 Kroger grocery
in West Virginia, Kentucky
’''i Ohio went on strike Monday
'fr rejecting a contract offer from
Cincinnati-based chain. The
Workers join 70,000 union
“tkers in southern California who
'gan striking on Sunday after a
’’•’tract dispute with three major
"’'•ery chains.
1^^ aren’t asking for all of it, just
I'air shake,” said Randy Atkins,
J t) Works at a Kroger in Charles-
kw.v.
I fete Williams, president of
See BRIEFS Page 2
S',
7C
HILARY MCVICKER/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Overlooks, like the one above, serve as focal points in a research poll geared towards assigning a value to the historic Blue Ridge Parkway.
Researchers scrutini2e Blue Ridge Parkway aesthetics
Surveyed visitors plaee price of nature at $240per person
Cindy Steele
News Reporter
The Blue Ridge Parkway Scenic Experience
Study is allowing researchers to place a dollar
value on the aesthetic quality of the park’s
natural beauty.
“This study is a good example of research that
helps citizens and communities better under
stand the value of their natural environment,”
said Leah Greden Mathews, assistant professor
of economics and research participant.
The project evaluated areas along the south
west Virginia section of the parkway and is
continuing to evaluate the results of the survey
along the northern North Carolina section of
the parkway.
Research found that V.A. visitors value the
quality of existing roadside views at an average of
$240 per person. Multiplied by the estimated 7
billion parkway visitors per year, that places the
total value of scenic experiences at $1.7 billion
to $2.5 billion per year, according to zn Associ
ated Press article.
“I think of it as a means to an end,” said Chad
Morgan, assistant director of recreation for out
doors and sports clubs at UNCA. “If placing an
economic value on the scenery creates a need to
protect that scenery and those views more than
they are doing now, I think it’s a great idea.”
Rising concern about residential development
,within view of the parkway is one issue the study
will attempt to address.
“The park is 469 miles long and on average
only 800 feet wide. As a result, much of what
visitors see when they’re on the parkway is not
owned or controlled by the park,” said Mathews.
“In some parts of the parkway, there have been
noticeable land use change in the last several
decades.”
Many residents, tourists and students place a
high personal value on the natural beauty the
parkway provides.
“The whole reason for the
parkway is the scenery,” said
Bryan Robbins, a junior mar
keting major. “If you don’t
have that, then what’s the
point?”
UNCA Outdoors had
1,300-1,500 students par
ticipate in its activities last
year. Although most of their
activities are more adventur
ous than what the parkway
offers, Morgan said the park
way is an important outlet
for many people.
“I think the parkway serves
a very unique purpose for a
lot of folks who want to get
outdoors, even if they only
want to get three steps out
side their vehicle,” said Mor
gan, who is currently working on a master’s
degree in parks recreation and tourism manage
ment. “It gives them an opportunity to appreci
ate some of the natural resources out there.”
The results of the study show just how much
the visitors value these natural resources.
“Respondents were not willing to pay much to
improve scenic quality, but identified they would
face significant loss in value if scenic quality was
degraded,” said Mathews. “In addition, we were
HILARY MCVICKER/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Signs guide visitors to scenic views.
able to estimate specific changes in visitation
that would occur if scenic quality changed and
aw»bined this with the expenditures that local
communities could experience as a result of
scenic quality changes.”
The study surveyed visitors in southwest V.A.
in the summer and fall of
2000 and in N.C. during
summer and fall of 2002.
“We sampled visitors at
various sites on the park
way including Mabry Mill,
Moses Cone Manor and the
Folk Art Center,” said
Mathews. “In each phase
we hired several students to
help implement the study.
In the end there were about
800 visitors sampled in each
phase.”
Mathews and two other
economists from Warren
Wilson College and the
University of Tennessee at
Knoxville shared the re
sponsibility for conducting
the research.
“Because of the strong
preference for existing scenic quality along the
parkway that visitors revealed in this study, the
parkway plans to communicate the results to
communities along the parkway,” said Mathews.
“These communities will thus be empowered
with information that they didn’t otherwise
have about the impact of scenic quality on their
See PARKWAY Page 2
UNCA shows links to recent political candidates
Ryan Sniatecki
News Reporter
With the Asheville city council
general election nearing, a look back
at the recent political season saw
several UNCA alumni, family and
even students throw their hats into
the race.
Bryan Freeborn juggled his cam
paign with taking classes, working
full-time and raising two children
with his wife. Freeborn takes
evening classes at UNCA as a post
baccalaureate student to earn a
teacher’s certification in social stud
ies
Freeborn finished with 425 votes
or 1.82% of the 23,323 voter turn
out.
Matt Raker, a recent UNCA
graduate, worked on communica
tions for Brownie Newman s cam
paign. Raker graduated in May
2003 with a double major in eco
nomics and environmental studies.
Newman’s camp collected the most
votes in the Oct. 7 primary elec
tion.
“At school I headed up Unified
Solar,” said Raker. “We worked a
lot with the group that Brownie
heads up. Western North Carolina
Alliance, so I got to know him
pretty well.”
Raker collaborated with Brownie
on a series of public meetings in
cluding how to improve local mass
“Your humanities
program was cre
ated on my porch.”
Jan Howard
former candidate for eity council
on her role in UNCA’s history
transit last year.
“We just sort of made the transi
tion that I would help him out on
his city council campaign,” said
Raker. “He’s definitely the most
connected with the youth voice in
Asheville, including students and
other young professionals in town.”
Raker maintains the campaign’s
database ofsupporters, coordinates
direct mailings and put together
Newman’s campaign Web site,
among other things.
“We coordinate a lot of the efforts
of putting up yard signs around
town, which you might have seen,”
said Raker.
Raker partbered with Active Stu
dents for a Healthy Environment
(ASHE) to stump for Newman
and register people to vote in
Asheville.
“One thing that’s important is
your local vote is the most impor
tant vote that you have. It’s where
See CAMPUS TIES Page 2
Serving UNCA Since 1982
October 16, 2003
Pres. Bush
squares off
with United
Nations
Kristen Ruggeri
News Reporter
The Bush Administration’s pleas
for help with the reconstruction of
Iraq met skeptical .responses from
the U.S. Congress and the United
Nations.
“I think the United States thought
it was bigger than it is,” said Liz
Laxague, a junior French major.
“But now it realizes it can’t recon
struct Iraq on its own.”
President Bush proposed $87 bil
lion for new spending in the U.S.
war on terrorism last month. Of
this, $20 billion will go to the re
construction of Iraq.
The rest will go to military opera
tions in Iraq and Afghanistan. If
approved by Congress, the U.S.
will spend more on Iraqi aid than it
does on aid to the rest of the world
combined, according to
Forbes.com.
“I think we have a responsibility as
well as a political imperative to con
tinue with the reconstruction of
Iraq,” said Jeff Konz, associate pro
fessor of Economics.
Democrats criticize the govern
ment for taking away from educa
tion and social security money in
the U.S. in order to reconstruct
Iraq, according to nytimes.com.
Some people have misconceptions
of the government’s spending, ac
cording to Konz.
“There’s a sense that if we choose
not to spend $87 billion on Iraq
that we’ll have $87 billion just sit
ting around, waiting to go some
where else,” said Konz. “It’s not as
if there’s a fixed fund out there and
we’re choosing how to allocate it.
“It’s not when we spend a dollar
on Iraq we’re taking away from
something else. It doesn’t really
work that way.”
However, Republicans still cringe
at Bush’s proposal that would add
to America’s record deficit, already
exceeding $400 billion this year,
according to the USA Today Web
site.
The Bush Administration needs
to help the U.S. get out of debt
instead of putting it more into debt,
according to Laxague.
“The problem is not the spending
of the money,” said Konz. “The
money can be found as long as
financial markets are willing to lend
to us. It’s basically unlimited.”
Senate Republicans said they are
currently working on a negotiation
with Iraq that would require the
country to pay at least some of the
$20 billion the administration
wants to spend in reconstruction
aid, according to nytimes.com.
“I don’t think the United States
should be paying so much,” said
Drue Fillmon, a junior psychology
major. “I think other countries need
to help, too.”
The Bush administration is call-
See BUSH Page 3
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