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Volume 39 Issue 3
NEWS
BRIEFS
By Lauren Abe
Stajf Reporter
UNCA
UNCA hosts its Homecoming
2004 Celebration Feb. 16-21. Nu
merous events held on campus will
accompany the dance, including a
parade, Mardi Gras night in the
dining hall and a reunion with the
'■ 1984 women’s basketball team.
I CAMPUS CRIME
Public safety towed a vehicle
parked in a tow-away zone in front
of the dumpsters by Founders Hall
Feb. 15. That marks the 12th car
towed in front of Founders Hall
this spring semester. Campus po
lice issued a student-conduct cita
tion for underage drinking Feb. 12.
ASHEVILLE
Recent layoffs and manufactur
ing firms’ shut downs continue to
affect local charities in Western
North Carolina. With the closing
of several plants in the area, less
people volunteer as
schoolchildren’s mentors, tutors,
youth sports league coaches and
scout leaders, according to the
Asheville Citizen Times.
rhe layoffs and shutdowns of
six companies affected two orga
nizations in particular; the United
Way and the American Red Cross.
With over 1,000 lost jobs, the
United Way of Asheville and Bun
combe County will lose almost
$400,000 in donations.
The American Red Cross will
lose more than 1,500 units of do
nated blood through the closings,
as the plants held regular blood
drives.
CHARLOHE
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg
police investigated whether re
cruits cheated on police academy
tests. The police department dis
covered that some recruits studied
parts from 20 out of the 32 tests,
according to Chief Darrel
Stephens.
The police department discov
ered a computer disk which con
tained the test questions Feb. 12.
The department is unsure as to
how many recruits had the ques
tions and answers.
IRAQ
Muhammad Zimam Abd al-
Razzaq al Sadun’s capture Sunday
in a Baghdad suburb brings the to
tal number of most wanted Iraqi
figures in custody to 42 out of the
list of 55.
Razzaq, the former regional
chairman of the Ba’ath Party was
number 41 on the coalitions most
wanted Iraqis list. A joint U.S.-
Iraqi investigation led to Al-
Razzad’s capture.
WASHINGTON, D C.
President Bush’s re-election
team plan to organize a more ag
gressive campaign over the next
few weeks. The theme of the cam
paign will be “steady leadership for
times of change.” The planned
campaign focuses on what Bush
officials believe are his positive
traits and on the Democratic
WWW. unca. edu/banner
Former resident assistant faces larceny charges
By Chris Cantos
Stajf Reporter
Campus Police charged Steven
McNeilly, a former UNCA resi
dent assistant and Campus Police
student employee, with larceny of
computer equipment from a stor
age area on campus last semester.
“On the 25* of November, we
got a report of a laptop computer
that was stolen from room 17 of
Robinson Hall, a computer stor
age area for the computer center,”
said Sergeant Jerry Adams, Cam
pus Police Investigator. “The com
puter center staff was able to trace
that computer, when it was being
used, to a particular location,
which was Mills Hall.
“During the investigation it
was also found out that the per
son in Mills Hall had the com
puter, who was Steven McNeilly.”
McNeilly, a former resident as
sistant in Mills Hall, also worked
for Campus Police as a student
employee, according to Adams.
“He has been employed by
Campus Police for the past two
years,” said Adams. “His position
was terminated immediately fol
lowing the investigation, which
means that we lost one student
employee position, and that has
not been refdled and probably
won’t be.”
Once Campus Police com
pleted the investigation, the de
partment charged him with two
felony counts, according to
Adams.
“He was charged with felony
breaking and entering, and with
felony larceny,” said Steve Lewis,
interim director of the Campus
Police department.
The stolen equipment also in
cluded a 40 gigabyte disk drive
and a Palm Pilot, totaling $2430
in equipment, according to the
Campus Police investigation re
port.
“They stole a laptop and a few
other incidental things,” said
Mike Honeycutt, Information
Center manager. “The laptop was
the most essential thing.
Although Campus Police re
ported property crimes as the
most numerous criminal incidents
on campus, this particular case
stood out, according to Adams.
MOLLY DRYMAN/staff photographer
UNCA offers free access to computers in residence hall labs.
“Normally, (larceny cases) do
not involve breaking and entering
into university-owned areas such
as the computer center,” said
Adams. “This particular case is
unique because a lock-picking set
was actually used to break and en-
ter.
Other than the lock-picking de
vice used to enter, the computer
See THEFT on page 14
The car boot;
movement
of the vehicle until removed.
UNCA gives parking violators the boot
By Adam McMullin
Staff Reporter
UNCA cracks down on parking violations
by utilizing new car boots for those with out
standing fines. School officials apply the boot
to cars ticketed five times or whose owners
have $100 in fines.
“It is more of a deterrent for people not to
park illegally and if they get five tickets then
they have to cough the money up then,” said
Diane Williams, administrative assistant/
communication parking supervisor.
The owner of a booted vehicle must pay a
$25 removal charge, plus all outstanding fees.
One advantage to the boot is being able to
collect fines from visitors, according to Steve
Lewis, interim director of Campus Police at
UNCA.
There is no way UNCA can collect fines
from off campus, violators otherwise, accord
ing to Lewis.
“(Visitors) are not affiliated with campus,”
said Lewis. “You can’t get it through a payroll
deduction as you can with employees and you
can’t charge it to an account because they’re
not students.”
So far. Campus Police applied the car boot to
only one visitor’s car.
“We were trying to find a way to enforce
parking regulations without towing,” said Dr.
Carol Schramm, interim vice-chancellor for
student affairs. “I really dont want to tow cars
off campus. It is so hard for students to be
able to pay the money and retrieve (their
cars).”
Towing cars is such an inconvenience for
students that UNCA wanted to prevent do
ing it as much as possible, according to
See BOOTon page 14
The Bush administration insists
on a June 30 deadline for electing
an interim government, despite two
massive suicide bombings recently
in Baghdad, that introduced seri
ous doubts that the country is se
cure enough for elections.
“If elections are possible, the is
sues become the conditions for
those elections,” said Linda
Cornett, UNCA assistant professor
of political science.
The focus right now is on issues
such as who should carry out the
elections and an appropriate elec
tion timeline, according to Cornett.
“1 think it’s going to be a longer
hall than most people in the public
thought it would be. I think its
going to probably be about the
length the administration projected
as they became involved in the war,
said Sean Murphy, an undeclared
sophomore. “I think that in a situ
ation like Iraq, where you have such
disorganization, it’s hard to totally
eradicate certain threats. Once you
overthrow the government, there
are still small bands, just like we
have in Afghanistan. Right now
there are groups so small that they
slip through filters. There’s no way
to control that.”
Officially, the United States
main internal ally is the handpicked
Iraqi Governing Council.
However, as the deadline looms,
U.S. diplomats and military lead
ers continue searching for opinion
leaders within the various Iraqi
communities, according to
Cornett.
“Most negotiations are informal
because it’s hard to determine who
represents the Iraqi people. Its a
matter of canvassing,” said Cornett.
Establishing security remains the
key concern for U.S. led coalition
forces in Iraq.
Meanwhile, criticism of the
administration’s use of intelligence
forced President Bush to call for an
independent commission to study
possible intelligence failures, after
denying the need for weeks. One
issue is the CIA’s dependence on
Iraqi exiles for accounts of Saddam
Hussein’s weapons of mass destruc
tion, according to Cornett.
Science Olympiad offers learning experience for teens
TOMMY greenwood/staff photographer
High school and middle school students at the
Science Olympiad participate in the bottle rocket
competition on the quad. Students competed to
see whose bottle would stay in the air the longest.
By Amanda Edwards
Staff Reporter
Middle and high school
students from all over
Western North Carolina
came to participate in the
Science Olympiad Re
gional Tournament at
UNCA, Feb. 14.
“Science Olympiad is a
tournament with different
events in science, math,
technology and teamwork
that inspires middle and
high school students to
achieve and participate in
science,” said Judy Beck,
physics lecturer and co-di
rector of the event. “I think
it definitely encourages
them to further their sci
ence education and possi
bly pursue a career in sci
ence.”
Thirteen middle school
teams and eight high
school teams competed for
the chance to go to the state,
tournament in Raleigh and
possibly the national tour
nament in Pennsylvania.
Students get to consult
with their coaches, who are
usually their science teach
ers, and choose which
events they want to partici
pate in early in the school
year so they will have time
to build things and/or
practice for the competi
tion, according to Beck.
“They get to participate
in these hands-on sorts of
activities, like bottle rock
ets, cars and airplanes,”
said Carol Whitlock, math
professor and co-director.
“It allows them to have a
lot of fun with science and
work with other people as
opposed to memorizing
facts and taking tests.
They’re building things
and flying things.”
Science Olympiad is an
international, non-profit
organization devoted to
improving the quality of
science education, increas
ing student interest in sci
ence and providing recog
nition for outstanding
achievement in science
education by both students
See SCIENCE on page 14