The Blue
Banner
'(olume 38 Issue 6
NEWS
BRIEFS
Jason McGill
News Editor
UNCA.
UNCA and the Pisgah Astronomi-
.alResearch Institute (PARI) joined
rjbrts to create the University of
\'orth Carolina Pisgah Astronomi-
:al Research, Science and Educa-
1 Center (PARSEC). PARSEC
‘jcilities are located north of
teman, N.C. and include two 85-
loot radio telescopes, several smaller
optical and radio telescopes and 31
ouildings.'
UNCA will offer the program
Grim Reaper and Golf Cart with
ieer Goggles” as part of National
Collegiate Alcohol Awareness
Week. The event hopes to educate
people on alcohol statistics. The
ivent will take place Thursday, Oct.
i3 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the
ampus quadrangle.
ASHEVILLE
The Asheville Urban Trail Art
Festival will take place Oct. 25 and
K.Over 200 artisans from around
ie nation will exhibit their art-
vork for this weekend only. The
irea surrounding Pack Square will
)c closed during this weekend for
nusic and events.
NORTH CAROLINA
The state Department of Trans-
ottation will seek federal permis-
!on to,charge tolls on Interstate 95
B pay for a planned $3 billion
instruction effort. Officials pro
pose placing six tollbooths 30 miles
:patt and collecting $3 at each. It
ould take an estimated 30 years to
iver expenses for expanding Inter-
Mte 95 to eight lanes.
UNITED STATES
Te FBI and postal authorities are
investigating traces of the toxin ri-
unfound last week in a sealed enve-
' at an airport postal handling
Iscility in Greenville, S.C. The
Jeadly toxin occurs naturally in
nJstor beans. Less than a drop of it
nin prove deadly if inhaled, in
sisted or injected. There is no anti
dote.
WORLD
Utters printed in London’s Daily
■‘trror newspaper suggest a con-
T'racy in the death of Princess
ddiana. Sixyears following her death,
Idiana’s newly discovered writing
■■•tes that someone was planning
W accident in my car, brake fail-
'ittand serious head injury in order
® make the path clear for Charles
^omarry." Princess Diana’s brother
dismisses any conspiracy.
Ukistan showed mixed reactions
* India's offer of restored air links
•''d sporting ties as part of a new
?"3ce initiative.
r
Correction
caption for the Oct. 16,
'1003 article“Freshman writ-
compete in Gudger con
test,’’incorectly listed Caitlin
%nley as the 4th place fin-
‘sner in the LANG 101 writ-
'iig competition. In fact,
^nanley won 2nd place in
he LANG 101 competition.
J[^ apologize for the error.
The University of North Carolina at Asheville
Features
Southern craft fair highlights local
talent
■ see page 4
Sports
‘Dogs place at Gardner-Webb
■ see page 6
Campus
Kickback and relax, it’s Miller time
with Chancellor Mullen
■ see page 7
Lifestyle
Sex and the Campus
■ see page 9
October 23, 2003
Schwarzene^er wins California recall
Kristen Ruggeri
News Reporter
Arnold Schwarzenegger, who saved man
kind from mass destruction in “Terminator
2,” now takes on a mission to govern Califor
nia, saving it from financial disaster and
illegal immigration.
“Whether Schwarzenegger succeeds or fails,
and whether he has a political future or not,
is going to depend on what he does as gover
nor of California,” said Bill Sabo, political
science professor.
California is the nation’s most populated
state to reach the brink of financial disaster.
The state’s deficit is likely to exceed $12
billion by the time Schwarzenegger actually
gets into office, according to the Washington
Post Web site.
So far, Schwarzenegger has written a five
point plan to restore California’s economy.
The plan includes ideas to resolve the state’s
energy crisis, fix the current worker’s com
pensation system and develop a clear tax
structure that will encourage economic
growth and competitiveness, according to
Schwarzenegger’s official Web site,
JoinArnold.com
One of his main economic strategies is to
reduce Medicare and welfare payments made
to alleged illegal immigrants, which were
allowed under democratic legislation, ac
cording to Sabo. There are currently eight
million illegal immigrants in the United
States and 2.5 million of them live in Califor
nia, according to JoinArnold.com.
Schwarzenegger plans to seek reimburse
ment from the federal government for health
care and education costs related to illegal
immigration and also to organize a coalition
to lobby Washington to set a more respon
sible policy for dealing with immigrants,
according to JoinArnold.com.
“The issue really affected lots of Califor
nians,” said Sabo. “Schwarzenegger capital
ized on that issue immensely, and there will
be a lot of things to say when he cuts back on
• 5)
It.
Since illegal immigration is currently such a
big issue in California, Schwarzenegger prob
ably used his conservative views on this sub
ject to win a lot of Californian votes, accord
ing to Sabo.
Whatever Schwarzenegger used to win votes,
it worked. He won 48 percent of the votes,
despite accusations of sexual harassment and
his statement about admiring Hitler’s quali
ties, according to USAToday Web site. Al
though Schwarzenegger won the majority of
See ARNOLD Page 2
COURTESY OF GOOGLE.COM
Republican Governor-elect Arnold
Schwarzenegger takes the reins of a shaky
economy amidst many questions.
Supreme Court ruling greenlights Sodexho lawsuit
Erin Bereit
News Reporter
The U.S. Supreme Court recently
refused to block a class-action law
suit alleging racial discrimination
against Sodexho, UNCA’s food ser
vice provider. Nearly $1 billion
could be at stake for the company.
“No company the size of Sodexho
is going to be absolutely perfect,”
said Leslie Aun, Sodexho spokes
woman. “We feel strongly that it is
not the type of company we are.
Issues of diversity and inclusion are
among our top priorities.”
Sodexho asked the court to re
move the class-action status of the
case. The Supreme Court’s refusal
to block this status was not a deci
sion based on any evidence of the
case and Sodexho has yet to go to
trial. The court receives thousands
of appeals and they based their de
cision to grant class-action status
primarily on procedural matters,
according to Aun.
“It’s important to remember that
this is not a suit about the merits of
the case,” said Aun. “We believe
that once the court and the jury
have an opportunity to review the
facts of the case it will become clear
that Sodexho does not take part in
systematic discrimination and they
will see that is not the type of com
pany we are.”
The case began in 2001 when a
group of 10 managers filed a racial
I’HO 1 OS BY J.ASON MCGll L/Nf WS EDI 1 (Mt
It remains unclear how the Supreme Court ruling will affect workers
like line server Jamil Pitts (left) or students like Kevin Skolnick (above)
since Sodexho Campus Services supply the UNCA cafeteria.
discrimination lawsuit against the
company for failing to promote
African American managers in the
Washington D.C. area. In 2002,
the U.S. district court for the Dis
trict of Colombia granted that the
lawsuit be given class-action status.
This means that the 10 employees
who originally filed suit now repre
sent about 2,600 current and former
African Americans employed by
Sodexho.
Sodexho denies the allegations and
emphasizes that the company strives
to provide a good environment for
their employees and that it is na
tionally known for its emphasis on
diversity.
“We have a strong record of pro
moting and hiring people of all
backgrounds without any discrimi
nation,” said Aun. “We very much
value all of our employees, and we
have programs and policies in place
to ensure that every employee has
an equal opportunity to be success
ful within our company.”
Employees at UNCA are surprised
at the discriminatory allegations and
also disappointed about the class-
action status of the case. They feel
that Sodexho is a good company to
work for.
At UNCA, Sodexho has wide di
versity at all levels of employment,
according to Dorsey. Local employ
ees and managers are also man
dated to go to classes to discuss
hiring and promotional procedures
to assure that they are in compli
ance with regulations.
“I feel very good about the com
pany,” said Mike Nagorka, man
ager of Sodexho food services at
UNCA. “But they are only as good
as their local management is. From
what I have seen in this area, and
from what I have worked with, I am
very comfortable with what we are
as a company.”
Sodexho employs over 110,000
people throughout the country at
over 10,000 locations and claims
that they have African Americans
at very high levels of employment,
according to Aun.
Sodexho does not feel that the
See SODEXHO Page 2
Unified Solar conference highlights environmental efforts
Adam Pollock
News Reporter
More than 50 students, along with
several student and faculty speakers
from across the state, gathered in
UNCA’s Owen Conference Cen
ter for the second annual North
Carolina College Conservation
Network Conference Sept. 27.
“It’s always really inspiring to me
to have people with a common vi
sion coming together and sharing
ideas and talking about what’s pos
sible,” said Molly Craven, sopho
more environmental science major
and speaker at the conference.
The conference, hosted by Uni
fied Solar, a UN CA student organi
zation dedicated to the pursuit of
environmental issues, lasted from 8
a.m. to 6 p.m. as students partici
pated in workshops,
panel disotssions
and other activities.
The conference’s
participants dis
cussed issues related
to campus and com-
munity environ
mentalism and
sustainability.
“We’ve come to
gether today to do a
bunch ofworkshops
on activist training,
race class and environmentalism,”
said Craven. “It’s gone in many
directions.”
Matt Raker, a UNCA graduate
“We as liberal arts
institution need to
lead the way and
continue to lead the
way in sustainability.”
and a speaker at the event, said he
saw the conference as a success.
Raker thinks events like this will lay
the groundwork
for future indi
vidual environ
mental movements
and the environ
mental movement
as a whole.
Molly Craven
sophomore environmental
science major
“Most people
here are going into
some sort of envi
ronmental career,
whether it’s Sierra
Club, Natural Re
sources Defense
Council or doing environmental
education in schools,” said Raker.
“There’s still a whole lot to be done.
That’s what this conference is about,
Serving UNCA Since 1982
studentgroupsworkingwith lotsof
issues, networking and lessons
learned.”
Rachel Grant, freshman biology
student at UNC Greensboro, said
she found the conference’s activi
ties extremely helpful. Grant plans
to use what she learned at the con
ference to spread environmental
awareness in her community.
“I’m totally excited, pumped up
and ready to go back to school and
put all these ideas into practice,”
said Grant.
Kim Yarbray, a junior biology and
environmental studies student from
Guilford College in Greensboro,
also found the conference helpful.
“Hearing what other people are
doing and knowing that people have
some very big projects going sue-
WWW. unca. edulbanner
cessfully, is very, very inspiring,”
said Yarbray. “I think a lot of ideas
are being generated and a lot of
sharing is going on. It’s been a good
day.”
Craven, who led a discussion on
“race, class and environmentalism,”
said that other important confer
ence objectives included campaign
planning issues and how to effec
tively work with campus adminis
trations on environmental issues.
Craven said that by “listening and
asking questions rather than just
coming out with lots of informa
tion,” she believes groups like Uni
fied Solar will find their audiences
more receptive and cooperative.
“Working with your campus ad-
See CONFERENCE Page 2
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