Jim Carrey captivates viewers with dramatic performance Cheer and dance teams go to nationals
features 2 Sports
T'f t 1 She’s baaaack! sex columnist Nippy Tassler returns
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Volume 39 Issue 10
NEWS
BRIEFS
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n)unn.unr/i.edulhanner April 15> 2004
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by Chris Cantos
Staff Reporter
CAMPUS CRIME
■ Campus Police received three
reports of larceny from vehicles in
lot 1 behind Founders Hall April 5.
■ Police received another report
regatding items stolen from a ve
hicle parked in lot 1 April 6. Of
these events, two of the vehicles
were left unlocked prior to the
theft, while windows were broken
on the other two vehicles. Cam
pus Police believe these events may
be related, although they have no
additional leads at this time.
■ Also April 6, Campus Police
arrested a student for driving with
a revoked license. Campus Police
received a report of damage to a
vehicle April 9, attributing the
damage to an impact from another
vehicle.
UNCA
■ Theatre UNCA will stage the
performance of “The Frankenstein
Project” in the Carol Belk Theatre
April 15-18 and April 21-25.
UNCA Drama students and fac
ulty composed this original script
based upon Mary Shelly’s novel,
“Frankenstein.” The project is un
der the direction of Scott Walters,
assistant professor of drama, with
a cast and crew composed of
UNCA students in the drama de
partment, as well as from other dis
ciplines. Tickets for all perfor
mances are $ 10 for general admis
sion, $8 for senior citizens and $5
fot students.
■ In honor of Holocaust edu
cation week, volunteers will read
out the names of Holocaust vic
tims April 15 and April 16 from 7
a.m. until 6 p.m. For more infor
mation, .contact Rich Chess at
251-6526.
I CHAPEL HILL
■ The University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill will break
new grounds April 16 when it
powets up a new world-class tele
scope in South America.
The telescope is positioned at
j Cerro Pachon, a mountain off the
coast of Chile where the atmo-
I sphere remains dry constantly and
[ where cloudy nights are rare, pro-
j viding excellent stargazing condi
tions for this new addition to the
UNC-CH physics department.
Michigan State University and the
nation of Brazil provided funds for
a partnership to control the use of
the device, which contains a 13-
foot wide mirror and cost $32 mil
lion to create. UNC-CH astrono
mers proposed the idea for the tele
scope in 1986. Chapel Hill scien
tists have control over the telescope
for roughly one-third of the year,
and can control it remotely from
their university.
I UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.
■ Residence Life staff members
at Penn State found 11 marijuana
I plants in a student’s closet during
a routine dorm inspections before
spring break. Residence Life per
sonnel discovered a light coming
from inside the closet after enter-
I mg the room. The student failed
to close the door completely, leav
ing several plants visible. The stu-
UNCA announces Craft Campus plans
TYLER BREAUX/staff photographer
Art students will likely work on sculptures
and other 3-D projects in the Craft
Campus building once it is complete.
BY Terri Fisher
Staff Reporter
UNCA announced the
beginning of a $5 million
fundraising campaign for
the creation of a Craft
Campus adjacent to the
Old Buncombe County
Landfill five miles from
the UNCA campus April
7 .
“The overall goal is to
create space for UNCA
students to work and to
learn, to benefit the com
munity through eco
nomic growth and to pro
vide a community with
the opportunity to see a
demonstration site for all
the different areas that we
hope to provide,” said
Dan Miilspaugh, the
project director for Craft
Campus and UNCA art
professor.
The first building
phase of the project in
cludes two methane-pow
ered buildings to house
the areas of ceramics and
sculpture, currently lo
cated in Owen Hall, ac
cording to Bill Massey, the
vice chancellor of alumni
and development.
“The official time pe
riod has the first phase
completed in five years,
which is two studios with
cetamics in each build
ing,” said Miilspaugh.
After the approval of
the initial grant, construc
tion of the building to
keep the facility modified
for green building stan
dards will require further
funding.
UNCA follows the
state optional guidelines
for green building on all
new construction, and
will continue that prece
dent with this new
project.
“The first grant we’re
writing is a planning grant
from an unnamed source.
Once that is received there
is an opportunity to write
more grants and start with
the building process,” said
Miilspaugh. “The plan
ning grant would be to
survey the land, test the
soil and hire an architect.”
In a Buncombe
County Board of Com
missioners meeting April
6, members voted to be
gin the negotiation of a
150-acre lease between
the county manager and
UNCA.
The site would be
leased for $1 a year per
year for 50 years, with the
possibility of renewal for
an additional 50 years.
After 'the lease’s ap
proval, UNCA’s develop
ment office, the office of
sponsored programs and
the art department will all
be responsible for writing
grants and finding further
funding for the project.
Three sources promi
nently spurred the idea for
the project, according to
Massey.
One source was the art
department’s need for
space.
SeeCAMPUS on page 10
Athletic Director search nears end
UNCA to decide between four possible replacements
BY Adam McMullin
Staff Reporter
UNCA officials plan to
name a new athletic director by
the end of April.
“Four candidates have vis
ited campus and we hope to
have an announcement by the
end of this month,” said
Merianne Epstein, UNCA’s
public information director.
The athletic director posi
tion remained open since
former director Joni Comstock
resigned and left the post in
early December, according to
Mike Gore, associate athletic
director who is serving as in
terim-athletic director.
Mike Gore
Comstock is
now director of
athletics at Ameri
can University in
Washington D.C.
“It’s been a little
more hectic, but
thankfully we’ve
got a good depart
ment,” said Gore.
“Joni Comstock
did a great job hiring good
people so the athletic depart
ment has pretty much run itself
and yeah, it’s been a little more
hectic for me. I’ve gone to a few
more meetings, but it’s been
fine.”
Gore said he looks forward to
the naming of a new director.
“If 11 be good to have some
body but everything is
going fine,” said Gore.
“Thankfully, we
haven’t had any crises
and everybody has
done a great job in the
period since Joni left.”
The new athletic
director will be one of
the four possibilities,
according to the
Asheville Citizen- Times.
One possible replacement for
UNCA’s interim director is Janet
Cone, assistant athletic director
at Samford (Ala.) University.
Cone was head women’s bas
ketball coach at Mars Hill and
Western Carolina University.
Tim Downes, director of ath
letics, physical education and
recreation at California Insti
tute of Technology is another
possibility.
Sean Frazier, director of ath
letics and recreation at
Clarkson (N.Y.) University and
Howard Gauthier, president of
Gauthier Sports Consulting in
Idaho and former athletic di
rector at Idaho State are the
other two possible replace
ments.
In addition to a new athletic
director, UNCA is also search
ing for a Campus Police chief
to replace the current interim,
Billy Dawson.
“We have started a search for
a new chief and we hope to
have one in place by mid-sum
mer,” said Epstein.
Candidate credibility questioned
BY Amanda Edwards
Staff Reporter
See BRIEFS on page 10
Dips in the credibility of both
President George W. Bush and
presumed Democratic nominee
John Kerry leave many voters con
cerned if either is suitable to fill
the next presidential term.
“I think we probably have two
of the worst choices for president
that we’ve had in my lifetime,” said
Golin Ley, a senior computer sci
ence major.
Bush leads Kerry in the polls by
four points for the first time since
February, according to the latest
USA TodkyCNN/Gallup poll.
Bush’s recent campaign ads
claimed that Kerry proved to be
indecisive on issues while he served
in the Senate, according to the
Poll. In the poll prior to the ads’
airing, Kerry had an eight point
lead over Bush. The poll found
that 60 percent rated Kerry favor
ably and 26 percent unfavorably
before the ads ran. Now, after the
ads ran, 53 percent view Kerry fa
vorably and 36 percent unfavor
ably.
“If Bush remains in office, we
are looking at the continuation and
intensification of a series of socially
restrictive, ecologically devastating,
violence promulgating policies,”
said Zev Friedman, a senior envi
ronmental science major. “We
should all cry, begin praying and
consider a forcible takeover of the
U.S. government.”
The poll also found that al
though 53 percent believe the Bush
administration covered up infor
mation about its usage of intelli
gence before September 11,67 per
cent say it could not have prevented
the attacks. In contrast, 54 percent
of the people polled said Bush still
could have done more ahead of
time. National Security Adviser
Condoleezza Rice defended Bush
with her statements to the Septem
ber 11 Commission April 8, vow
ing that Bush was unaware of such
a threat.
“I don’t really think that Bush
could have stopped it. After all,
how do you defend against some
one who is perfectly willing to give
their life to take yours?” said Ley.
Even though no one could re
ally know that the September 11
attacks were going to happen.
Bush consistently ignored issues
of safety and security, according
to Friedman.
“If Bush had been directing
attention towards international
peace making, realistic national
security and domestic social issues
instead of corporate welfare, the
attacks probably could have been
prevented,” said Friedman.
John Kerry’s campaign released
a report April 5 alleging $6 tril
lion of hidden spending in Bush’s
budget proposal for the next presi
dential term.
Meanwhile, the Bush admin
istration put out another ad at-
P
%■ J
John Kerry
UNC teacher
singles out
student for
hate speech
BY Lauren Abe
Staff' Reporter
A UNC Chapel Hill instructor set
ofFa federal discrimination investigation
after singling out a conservative student
in an e-mail Feb. 6 for calling homo
sexuality “disgusting,” according to the
Associated Press.
“While all opinions should be al
lowed to be voiced in an open discus
sion, such settings should be safe so that
no one walks away feeling threatened,”
said Noelle Avina, a junior creative writ
ing major. “You have to consider that
you wouldn’t be able to get away with
calling any other minority group ‘dis
gusting.’”
Tim Mertes, a sophomore at UNC-
CH, called homosexuality “impure,”
“dirty” and “disgusting” during an En
glish class discussion in February.
The instructor of the class, Elyse
Crystall, sent an e-mail to the 33 stu
dents in the class to set boundaries in
the classroom.
In her e-mail, Crystall said Mertes’
comments constituted “hate speech,”
according to the Associated Press.
“What we heard Thursday at the end
of class constitutes ‘hate speech’ and is
completely unacceptable,” wrote
Crystall in her e-mail according to the
Associated Press. “It has created a hos
tile environment.”
Crystall called Mertes a “white, het
erosexual, Christian male” who “can feel
entitled to make violent, heterosexist
comments and not feel marked or
threatened or vulnerable,” according to
the Associated Press. Under pressure
from the English department, Crystall
apologized in an e-mail noting that her
previous message crossed the line and
repressed free speech.
“I think people find it uncomfort
able to talk about sexuality in any way,
even just broadly,” said Lorena Russell,
an assistant professor for the literature
and language department.
“Sexuality is something that is always
an issue. How do you allow for the free
pursuit of knowledge within a class
room, but at the same time keep the
space non-hostile, safe and appropri
ate?”
The investigation will analyze
whether the teacher and school acted
appropriately in the situation. Univer
sity officials are examining the class to
guarantee free speech.
UNC-CH faculty resolved the mat
ter by committing themselves to “intel
lectual independence, nondiscrimina
tion on the basis of, among others, pace,
sex and sexual orientation, free speech
and expression,” according to the Asso
ciated Press.
“I feel like it’s important to express
all sides of an issue and give any opin
ions relevant to discussion, but I don’t
think it’s relevant to cut down a minor
ity group or say an opinion that can dis
rupt a person’s feelings,” said Lindsey
Stack, a junior Spanish major.
The U. S. Department of Education
Office for Civil Rights subsequently
asked UNC-CH to supply documents
See CANDIDATES on page 10
President Bush
See CHAPEL HILL on page 10