Volume 39 Issue 6
NEWS
RiEFS
b(l BY Chris Cantos
oil Stajf Reporter
IPUS CRIME
iampus Police received a report
_ hit-and-run accident in lot 5
Front of Governor’s Village
Irch 5. On March 15, another
lent reported vehicle damage in
.ident parking deck.
^lampus Police believe this dam-
^occurred from another vehicle,
W could not be certain of a hit-
nd-run situation in that particu-
njcase. Also March 15, a student
ported a bike theft in Governor’s
lUage.
ItlA
R}n Feb. 23, Chancellor James
vlullen announced the establish-
^ nent of the National Environmen-
* alModeling and Analysis Center
l^MAC) at UNCA. Mullen an-
[O^nced that the center will receive
$1.28 million grant to fund its
major project, the largest grant
:ived by UNCA in its history.
^‘IjN'EMAC will focus on environ
mental and health issues relating
0 air, land and water interrelation-
® J^lullen hopes that the center
''‘*111 strengthen the economy of the
region, as well as enhance under-
"p^uate research in areas such as
‘ftmospheric sciences and environ-
^"mital studies.
"‘>ihe $1.28 million grant will
Md the infrastructure for the
^|«imercialization of current and
^‘^Oire environmental data held at
the National Climatic Data Cen-
“H(ncdc).
FH CAROLINA
jfXhshington and Beaufort coun-
'‘fe. along with three environmen-
"^»roups, filed lawsuits against the
‘pS. Navy in an attempt to stop
military branch from building
''hrunway for fighter pilots to prac-
Sce their landings.
"^^he proposed area for the run-
f w’ resides less than five miles away
-P^ni the heart of Pocosin Lakes
l^lational Wildlife Refuge, where
thousands of snow geese, tundra
II ^ns and other waterfowl migrate
pih year.
1 (Residents of the two counties
and members of the environmen
tal groups believe that having
%liter aircraft land on the pro-
Rsi'd runway and use airspace over
the refuge will not only cause harm
to the birds, but will unnecessarily
erjdanger the pilots of the aircraft
injthe event of striking a bird.
I Lnder federal law, the Navy
may buy the land through con
demnation, and protestors have
not convinced the Pentagon to stop
the production. The only way to
stop the project is through lawsuits.
■ESNO, CALIF.
I In Fresno, Calif, police charged
hlarcus D. Wesson with murder-
nine of his children March 12.
Police found the bodies of six of
'%ssons daughters and three of his
sqns in Wesson’s home in a Fresno
•tfighborhood.
1 hree of the children were one
y?ar old and four others were
younger than the age of nine. A 17-
old daughter and 24-year old
^ghter were also among the vic-
t^s found in piles in a small bed-
See briefs on page 12
Protesters
disrupt rally
Asheville police
arrest 11 at City Plaza
COURTESY OF JOE TACKETT
COURTESY OF JOE TACKETT
UNCA Student Neil Richie
(above) was among the 11
same-sex marriage activists
arrested at the Family Values
and Sanctions of Marriage
Rally March 6. Police
charged Richie with two
counts of trespassing. Police
said in a statement that they
arrested those who refused to
cooperate.
Police formed a barrier
between the opposing groups
of protesters in attempt to
control opposition protesters
(left).
Conservatives promoting
family values and current
marriage laws raise their
hands in protest to same-sex
marriage (below).
COURTESY OF JOE TACKETT
BY Terri Fisher
& Adam McMullin
Stajf Reporters
Asheville Police ar
rested 11 people at a
‘FamilyValues and Sanc
tity of Marriage’ rally at
Asheville’s City County
Plaza March 6.
Swannanoa Indepen
dent Missionary Church
organized and held the
Family Values Rally in
support of a constitu
tional amendment to
ban gay marriage.
Around 200 people
showed up at the rally to
pray, sing and listen to
local pastors and. West
ern North Carolina
Congressman Charles
Taylor speak out against
same-sex marriage.
“We are here to sup
port the sanctity of mar
riage . and what we be
lieve in the principles our
country was founded
on,” said Brian Powell a
UNCA alumni.
The purpose of the
rally offended many gay
rights activists who also
showed up to the rally.
“I felt angry because
I couldn’t understand
why people wanted to
have a rally against us,”
said Robert Platt, an un
declared sophomore.
“When the cops got
there, I was scared that
it was going to get crazy,
that someone was going
to get hurt, or someone
was going to go to jail.”
Tensions rose as
Asheville police began
moving the protesters
away from the Family
Values Rally.
Among the 11 pro
testers arrested was
UNCA student Neal
Richie, charged with sec
ond degree trespassing.
“We were originally
mingling with the crowd
when the cops set up a
line to separate the two
crowds,” said Richie.
The protesters reacted
passionately to topics
heard from speakers lo
cated on stage in the
middle of the plaza by
area speakers and repre
sentatives.
“Some chants were,
‘One, Two, Three, Four
open up the door! Five,
Six, Seven, Eight don’t
assume your kids are
straight!’ and ‘We’re
queer, we’re here, we
wont disappear,”’ said
Brian Davis, a UNCA
sophomore. “The chants
are my favorite.”
Fialfway into the
rally, Asheville police de
cided to take action on
the counter-protesters, as
they felt the rally was get
ting too loud.
“Based on everything
I could see, hear and take
See rally on page 12
Asheville serial tire-slasher on the loose
BY Lauren Abe
Staff Reporter
Asheville citizens and UNCA students
reported 72 incidents of tire slashing be
tween mid-February and mid-March, ac
cording to the Asheville Police Department.
“I was surprised by the number of cars
vandalized when I walked down to the park
ing lot,” said Andy Sharpe, an undeclared
freshman.
“I felt that Campus Police would have
had a better handle on issues like that. At a
small campus, I feel more secure about leav
ing my car out of sight. While I feel like it
was done by someone off campus, it still
makes me think twice about where I park
my car.”
Students reported 29 incidents of slashed
tires at the Founders Flail parking lot March
3 and seven incidents March 1 at UNCA
parking lots C and 7, according to Jerry
Adams, investigator/sergeant for the UNCA
Campus Police Department. Campus Po
lice are working with the Asheville Police
Department on the investigation.
“This is pretty rare,” said John Dankel,
public information and crime prevention
accreditation for the Asheville Police 'De
partment “I have only been at this depart-
MAX TAINTOR/photo editor
The tire-slasher left many cars in this
condition.
ment for three years, yet I have not seen
anything like this or remotely like this.
After talking to some of the guys who have
been here for a long time, I understand to
have an uprising of tire slashing of this
magnitude is very unusual.”
The tire slashing incidents occurred
along the north-south axis. The greatest
number of incidents appeared along the
Fiendersonville road area in South Asheville,
along Merrimon, in'Montford, and at
UNCA, according to Dankel.
“I think it’s childish,” said C. J. Walker,
an undeclared freshman. “I don’t feel safe
parking at the Founders Hall parking lot
anymore.”
Outside of UNCA, 37 people reported
incidents of tire slashing in Asheville. The
Asheville Police Department does not cur
rently have any solid leads on who is be
hind the vandalism or how many people
are involved, according to Dankel.
“There may be copycats, or there may
be a group of people,” said Dankel. “It’s re
ally hard to tell because when this kind of
event happens, generally, there aren’t any
witnesses. There’s no physical evidence to
deal with except the tire, which doesn’t tell
you anything other than the vandalism has
occurred. There’s very little to go on.”
To catch the people vandalizing the cars,
the police or general public will have to
catch the vandals in the act, unless some
one turns them in, according to Dankel.
However, the chance of a police officer
catching the person or people in action is
rare. It is a matter of being at the right place
at the right time.
It is almost going to take a witnessed
event before we’re able to bring this to a
conclusion of an arrest,” said Dankel.
That’s not to say that there is no investi
gation possible. For example, there may be
people out there who know who’s doing this
and decide to give them up. We may get a
lead on it that way. Even then, we need cor
roborating evidence before we can make any
See TIRE on page 12
Ralph Nader
fj^iSii1982y
■■■■.'J
March 18, 2004
Nader tries
again as
independent
BY James Richards
Staff Reporter
Ralph Nader’s second presidential cam
paign will only marginally affect the 2004
presidential race, according to William
Sabo, political science professor.
“People are just tired of him and they’re
not going to buy into it this time,” said
Emily MacMillan, a senior creative writ
ing major.
Running as an independent, Nader en
tered the current race Feb. 22. Without
the explicit support of the Green Party,
people question Nader’s decision to run
as well as his effec
tiveness as a candi
date.
“It’s a total mys-
tery,” said Richard
Maas, an environ
mental science pro
fessor. “The only
reasons 1 can think
of is one, he feels
very strongly that
the critical environ
mental issues of our time need to be put
on the table as part of the election cam-
paign.
“Secondly, since he has no support
from his party, this has got to partially be
some personal ego thing.”
Nader claims he is running to mobi
lize citizens who are dissatisfied with re
publicans and democrats.
As a third party candidate, Nader says
he can draw attention to issues he believes
the two parties ignore such as a living
wage, voter reform, and food hazards like
mad cow disease, according to his Web
site.
“I agree with Nader that, in practice,
there’s not much of a difference between
democrats and republicans.” said
MacMillan. “He wants to attract atten
tion to his policies, but he doesn’t see that
he’s also hurting his own cause and the
country.”
Some democrats believe Nader took
away the votes Gore needed to beat Bush
in the 2000 election.
Nader claims 250,000 registered demo
crats voted for Bush in 2000 and that
Gore’s mishandled campaign cost him
states like Tennessee and Arkansas, accord
ing to his campaign Web site.
“The core of Nader’s support (in 2000)
came from attracting people who felt
marginalized by the two party system,”
said Sabo.
“Three groups of people voted for
Nader: disaffected voters who wouldn’t
normally vote any way, democrats who
were disappointed with the direction of
their party and disaffected republicans
who refused to vote democratic on prin
cipal.”
This year however, many voters seem
to be uniting under the issue of ousting
President Bush.
Estranged republicans have returned to
the party and democrats believe that they
have a clear alternative to Bush with John
Kerry, according to Sabo.
I think if it does have any effect it will
be to raise real questions people want an
swered, said Aja ’Wright, a senior math
major. But in this kind of year, where
everyone I’ve talked to just wants anybody
to get George Bush out, they would never
think of voting for an independent.”
See NADER on page 12