The Blue
Volume 38 Issue 9
NEWS
BRIEFS
By Erin Bereit
News Reporter
The University of North Carolina at Asheville
See BRIEFS on page 8
Campus takes part in French Week activities
UNCA
^ The General Education Review
Task Force at UNCA has been in
vestigating general education re
quirements for the past four years.
In the last year UNCA’s Academic
Policies Committee (APC) have
been reviewing the possible changes
that may be made in these require
ments. If the APC approves them,
they will then be forwarded to the
faculty senate to vote and give final
approval.
“Our goal is to provide the best
liberal arts education experience that
students can get,” said Ed Katz,
associate vice chancellor of academic
affairs.
If the changes are adopted, the
new requirements may begin to
phase into the university’s general
education in fall 2004 and will af
fect new freshman coming into the
university. It will not affect current
students, only those who enter the
university-under the updated course
catalog.
^ TheatreUNCA’s production of
“The Music Lesson” will run from
Nov. 19 through Nov. 23 in the
Carol Belk Theatre.
^ Sigma Nu fraternity invites every
one to participate in their 1" annual
5K Charity Run November 15 at 9
a.m. at the Justice Center. The cost
I is $15 and all proceeds will benefit
the American Red Cross.
CAMPUS CRIME
0 UNCA police have received two
theft reports since Nov 5. Astudent
had over $385 worth of clothing
stolen from the Mills Hall laundry
room. A scanner, valued at $400,
was stolen from the Sodexho Din
ing Hall. Campus police are also
still investigating both situations.
0 Two students from Founders
Hall were also charged with disor-
detly conduct after leaving harass
ing notes and messages to another
student in the residence hall.
ASHEVILLE
0 Buncombe County Police Chief
Will Annarino announced that he
will retire Jan. 2. This will be the
end of his 30-year career in local
law enforcement.
0 John Collins and David
Hammack were released from jail
and first-degree murder charges
Were dropped for the killing of 18-
year-old Mary Judd.
0 Buncombe County commission
ers announced that they do not
plan to question Sherriff Bobby
Medford for his handling of the
case in which the two men were
held in prison for two years without
trial, according to xkit Asheville Citi
zen Times.
NORTH CAROLINA
0 Governor Easley announced that
he plans to bring about 800 to
1>000 more jobs to North Caro
lina. He is working with R-J-
Reynolds Tobacco Holdings Inc.
to bring jobs that will average a
$56,500 base salary and total com
pensation of $100,000 with fringe
benefits.
By Suzanne Aubel
News Reporter
UNCA hosted a series of events on campus
to celebrate National French Week from
Nov. 3 to 7.
“We’ve worked with students and col
leagues from other universities to bring
people in and to organize a wide variety of
events for students, and staff and members
of the community to take part in,” said
Cathy Pons, associate professor and chair of
the department of foreign languages. “I’m
excited about bringing in colleagues from
the outside that have special areas of exper
tise that we can share with our students and
also about activities that involve (them).”
Several distinguished speakers presented
topics throughout the week, and all of the
events were free to anyone who wanted to
attend. The week kicked off Nov. 3 with a
presentation by William Kennedy, a profes
sor of comparative literature from Cornell
University and author of several books.
Kennedy spoke on “How the French Got to
be French,” and the event was very well
attended, according to Pons.
Qn Nov. 4, linguist Thomas Klingler gave
a talk entitled “You Are What You Speak:
Language, Ethnicity and Labels in
Francophone Louisiana.” Klingler, a profes
sor at Tulane University, discussed the rela
tionships between
the Cajun and cre
ole people in Loui
siana.
“I made it to
Klingler’s lecture on
the Cajun and cre
ole in Louisiana,”
said junior French
education major
Matthew Walsh.
“I thought it was
very interesting, es
pecially how there’s an identity crisis (there).
His lecture was what you are is what you
speak and vice versa, and there’s an identity
crisis between whites, blacks and mixed
people down there, and there has been for
along time. It’s like, how do you label this
“rm excited about bringing in
colleagues from the outside that
have special areas of expertise
(within French topics) that we
share with our students.”
' Cathy Pons
chair of the foreign languages department
person, and what do they call themselves.”
Nov. 5’s events included another talk by
Klingler, this time on French Louisiana s
linguistic landscape, and a lunch in the
Laurel Forum for those interested in speak
ing French. There was also a declamation
contest that afternoon.
“A declamation con
test is where people
read or recite a text,”
said Pons. “It might
be a poem or a speech
or an excerpt from a
play. It’s very French,
it’s very culturally au
thentic in that in the
schools, French stu
dents learn a lot of
poems, and there’s a
lot of emphasis placed
on speaking. It’s an opportunity for our
students to have that experience, and we get
to hear really great French texts.”
The contest was judged by Klingler and a
member of the Asheville community who is
a native speaker of French. Contestants were
judged on their pronunciation and the ex-
pre.ssion they used in their performance,
according to Pons. The winner in the first
year category was Erin Smith. Emily Cullen
won the second year category, and Christine
Hartman took first prize in the advanced
category.
On Nov. 6, students and community mem
bers had the opportunity to hear a presenta
tion in French by Miriam Barlow, a senior
French major who conducted research last
summer on an abbey in Saumur, France.
Barlow received a grant from UNCA that
allowed her to spend over a month living
with a host family and doing research on the
topic of her choice.
“I went for five weeks and lived with a
family in Saumur, Asheville’s sister city,”
said Barlow. “(I) was free to pick a topic that
interested me, and art history is my minor,
so the abbey is what 1 wrote on. I was able to
go to the abbey, do tours, talk to people
(and) spend time in the library over there,
See FRENCH on page 8
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JAY ADKINS/staff photographer
Processing assistant Ruth Watson (above) and registrar Rebecca Sensabaugh (below), seen helping Katelyn Semon, a
sophomore psychology major, will see big changes in Lipinsky Hall.
Marilyn Lonon takes over
as interim registrar while
Lipinsl^r offices re-organize
By Ryan Sniatecki
News Reporter
Several changes are on the horizon as
the university shuffles offices and the
faculty prepares to possibly update the
general education requirements for the
first time in 20 years.
The registrar’s office will
split up and combine with
the academic advising of
fice in Lipinsky Hall.
Some of the two offices’
responsibilities will com
bine in the space currently
occupied by the registrar
staff on the first floor of
Lipinski, while the bulk
of the registrar staff will
move upstairs.
Registrar Rebecca Sensabaugh will be
come the university’s administrative cur
riculum coordinator to help implement
any changes to the core curriculum.
Marilyn Lonon, coordinator of student
data services, will take her place as in
terim registrar beginning Dec. 1.
The academic advising and registrar’s
\taril\n I ouoii
tt
better serve students’ needs. Part of the
registrar staff will move to the second
floor of Lipinsky Hall, while the advis
ing staff will relocate to the current
registrar’s office.
“We are trying to delineate between
the registrar’s office and the advising
office,” said Patricia McClellan, assis
tant vice chancellor for
academic support. “Stu
dents have been confused
as to which office handles
which issues. We’re also
trying to make it acces
sible.”
“Eve never really had a
problem dealing with the
registrar’s office,” said
Christine Hinman, a jun
ior accounting major. “In
comparison to dealing
with problems at previous schools I’ve
gone to, theUNCA registrar’s office was
very easy to deal with.”
“What we’re trying to do is make the
whole operation a little more student-
friendly,” said Lonon, who served as
assistant registrar in the 1970s.
“I get a lot of students in this office, and
H1L\R\ .MOK KER/
STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
HILARY MCVICKER/staff phoiographer
help me, because I have been to so many
people,’ and Td like to stop that,” said
McClellan.
“The change might be beneficial for
easier access, and for other students who
have had problems,” said Hinman.
The registrar’s office staff tracks stu
dents’ academic records, but isn’t trained
to answer every question students may
ask, according to McClellan.
“The advisement office has the people
that are knowledgeable about the stu
dents’ progress through the curriculum,
and they’re upstairs though, sort of
tucked away,” said McClellan. “I think
that the location of the registrar’s office
has been sort of the prime spot. A lot of
the time, students go there because it is
the handiest.”
“I haven’t really has any issues with the
registrar’s office in the time that I’ve
been here, ” said Adam Cook, a junior
accounting major.
“I would like to
months just
registrar’s office is doing now, before I
try and say, well could we do it this way
Bolivian upheaval
symptomatic of
world order and
economic gaps
By Adam Pollock
News Reporter
Bolivian president Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada left
office Oct. 18 after his government faced a month of
protests throughout the country by citizens calling
for his resignation.
“Bolivia is still not a country of equals. We must
understand our peoples,” said Bolivian Vice Presi
dent Carlos Mesa according to a BBC News report.
The protests in Bolivia, which lasted over a month
and left 70 people dead, began after the Bolivian
president announced plans to export natural gas to
the United States. Evo Morales, Sanchez de Lozada’s
political opponent in the 2002 presidential election
in Bolivia, led the protests. President Sanchez de
Lozada announced his resignation in a letter to the
country’s congress.
Bolivia possesses large caches of natural gas, which
the nation’s former president said could help to
strengthen Bolivia’s economy. The president also
said that one percent of the country’s natural gas
reserves would adequately serve the needs of Bolivia’s
population.
Opponents of the plan, however, believe that only
multinational energy corporations would benefit from
the proceeds of any natural gas exports. They also
believe that any benefits Bolivia did receive would
“be frittered away or lost to corruption,” according to
a BBC News report.
See BOLIVIA on page 8
spend a couple of
seeing exactly what the
Bolivia:
A sign of
86%L the times
0%
13%
To read the
chart, start at
0% and scan
clockwise for
each nation’s
poverty rate.
25%
^39%
50%
..a .hey ..y a h.pe y.„ See REGISTRAR „„ page 8
Serving UNCA Since 1982
Percentage of population living under the poverty
line. Namibia ranks the highest in the world at 86%.
Source: CIA World Factbook 2002
WWW. unca. edufbanner
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