September 2,2004
The Blue Banner
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COURTESY OF DAN MILLSPAUGH
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iuUdog participants help various organizations around town including, Vance Elementary, Harvest House, Hillcrest and Pisgah
/iew Head Start, Lewis Rathbun Center and Habitat for Humanity.
/Vnnual Bulldog Day helps students reach out
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COURTESY OF DAN MILLSPAUGH
COURTESY OF DAN MILLSPAUGH
BY Kimberly Barto
Stajf Reporter
Record numbers of UNCA
reshmen performed service activi-
ies on the morning of Aug. 16, as
lart of the university’s “Bulldog
lay: A Time of Service,” accord-
ng to Lloyd Weinberg, organizer of
le event.
“Bulldog Day is not just about
ervice, it’s about service learning.
The students not only get some
deas of what they will be learning
ibout in that class, they also get
deas about their futures,” said
Sfeinberg.
More than 700 freshmen and 85
itaff and faculty members per-
drmed nearly 1,600 hours of com-
nunity service, according to
Xtinberg.
“This is the largest freshmen class
n history, which obviously made it
nore challenging. The biggest road-
dock for Bulldog Day is not find-
sites to which people can go, it
> finding ways to
et them there,”
'bd Weinberg.
Students vol-
nteered at ap-
roximately 30
ocal schools and
-ommunity ser-
dce organiza-
lons, according
0 Weinberg.
Bulldog Day
groups were com
prised of colloquium classes, re-
juired for incoming freshmen. Pro-
6ssors of these classes chose the ser-
ice sites based on the topics of their
■nurses, according to Weinberg.
m
“I think we could do a lot
more. There was only a
day of it, but it was nice to
know that we were at least
doing a little bit.”
Ian Putnam
undeclared freshman
“What we try to do is to make
connections whenever possible. A
lot of teachers went to schools be
cause they can always make connec
tions between education and stu
dents,” said Weinberg.
An art history class that visited
the Asheville Art Museum down
town, and an environmental issues
class visited the Earthaven
Ecovillage.
“We went to the art history mu
seum, and I loved it,” said Jessika
Carney, an undeclared freshman. “I
want to be a teacher and hanging
out with kids and teaching them
about art was exciting.”
Carney’s service activity involved
accompanying a class of fifth-grad
ers to the museum and writing
evaluations of the museum guides,
according to Weinberg.
“It was very helpful to the mu
seum, fim for the kids and the art
students got to see the same exhib
its,” said Weinberg. “Then there
was a discussion to reflect on what
they had seen, and that was helpful
to the students to
learn how differ
ent people see an
art museum.”
Time limita
tions often af
fected the scope of
the service activi
ties, according to
Weinberg. Bull
dog Day started at
9 a.m. and ran un
til noon. How
ever, because of transportation, the
actual service time was more like
9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
“I think we could do a lot more,
said Ian Putnam, an undeclared
freshman. “There was only a day of
it, but it was nice to know that we
were at least doing a little bit.”
Putnam’s class visited a tetire-
ment home and interviewed resi
dents there. The group learned
about the resident’s experiences dur
ing World War II for their Native
American oral traditions class. Ac
cording to Putnam, the class learned
about storytelling.
“We did that for rhaybe an hour
and a half, and
then we went to the
YWCA and
mulched the entire
playground there.
It was tough, but it
was fun,” said
Putnam.
Bulldog Day
serves as an inspira
tion for some stu
dents to continue
volunteering, ac
cording to Megan
Westbrook, an un
declared fresbman.
“After Bulldog Day, I’m inter
ested in researching some more vol
unteer activities. I really had a lot
of fun,” said Westbrook.
Westbrook’s class spent time with
first-graders at Hall Fletcher El
ementary, according to Westbrook.
“I’m studying adolescence and
growing up, so spending time with
kids was beneficial for me,” said
Westbrook.
Older students accompanied the
freshman classes as mentors for the
first time this year, according to Liz
Laxague, senior French major.
“I went with the French collo
quium class for cultural misunder
standings, and we pulled a lot of
weeds and got a lot of trash off
Broadway,” said Laxague. “It didn’t
have anything to do with French
culture, but it was more of an ac
tivity to start the freshmen off get
ting to know each other and their
class. I’d say it was successful.”
Bulldog Day was started eight
years ago in order to introduce
freshmen into the community, ac
cording to Weinberg. It gives the
freshmen a chance to meet their
teachers arid
other faculty
members in an
informal atmo
sphere. The
event experi
enced a large
turnout of stu
dents this year.
“There were a
few who chose
not to partici
pate, but I know
that the majority
of the freshman
class was there. I
“After Bulldog Day, I’m
interested in research
ing some more volun
teer activities. I’m
studying adolescence
and growing up, so
spending time with kids
was beneficial for me.”
Megan Westbrook
undeclared freshaman
would say 90-95 percent of fresh
men participated,” said Weinberg.
“Some of the sites we had previ
ously visited just didn’t connect, so
we tried to find new ones. This was
the first time we went to the Cen
ter for Creative Retirement, for ex
ample,” said Weinberg.
Changes from previous years in
cluded the addition of several new
service sites, according to Weinberg.
Students went to Habitat for Hu
manity for the first time this year.
“We had been there [Habitat for
Humanity] a lot with individual
students, but it’s harder to organize
it with a larger group,” said
Weinberg.
Student Government Update...
Freshmen interested in running will be in front of the Cafe between
11 a,m. - 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. - 7
p.m. this Friday. In addition, there
is an open space for a commuter
and sophomore.
student senators need pick up a
TtubySept. 10. Students can pick
]P applications in Highsmith 237.
Studi
lent government representatives
Student Government
Executive Cabinet
President
Porscha Yount
’Yice President
Josh O’Conner
Office Manager
Brandon Alspaugh
Executive of Finances
Jennifer Watson
Executive of Affairs
Terik Glenn
A student s guide:
Life in Asheville
BY Stephen McIntyre
Staff Reporter
Hello and welcome all UNCA freshmen. Don’t panic, you have
endless entertainment opportunities in this city. Since living in Black
Mountain and Asheville for the past three years, I have discovered
Asheville and it’s surrounding areas contains numerous opportunities
for cultural enrichment.
Whenever I need to feel at one with nature, the Blue Ridge Parkway
contains numerous trails, natural attractions and breathi;aking views.
Sometimes, I drive endlessly. If you go north on the Parkway you will
encounter the Craggy
past the Craggy Gar-
Mitchell, the highest
Garolina. Going south
Gardens. Pushing on
dens, you will find Mt.
point in Western North
on the Parkway, you will
Asheville is home to an
extremely diverse arts
community. Within the
boundaries of the “Land
of the Skj^’you find many
local theater companies.
find The North Carolina Arboretum, Mt. Pisgah, and Graveyard Fields.
The Grove Arcade provides many shops and restaurants. The
Biltmore Estate holds many great works of art. The Grove Park Inn
contains one of the world’s best spas.
Within walking distance of UNGA are the Botanical Gardens of
Asheville. Around Asheville, you can go horseback riding or ride lla
mas through English Mountain Llama Treks. Some 300 miles of the
Appalachian Trail, voted America’s favorite National Park in 2003, run
through North Carolina.
Some popular outdoor sports in Western North Carolina include
rock climbing, white water rafting, hiking, kayaking, swimming, snow
skiing and water skiing. Skateboarders delight in the Food Lion park
downtown on Cherry Street. Sometimes I gaze at the climbing wall at
Climbmax Climbing Center on Wall Street. One day I will reach the
top.
Asheville is home to an extremely
diverse arts community. Within the
boundaries of the “Land of the Sky,”
you find many local theater compa
nies.
Woolworth Walk contains a
plethora of local art. My other favor
ites are the Blue Spiral I and the New
Morning Gallery. Wall Street follows
the Utban Trail, a path of outdoor art
work installations for the viewing pub
lic.
The Fine Arts Theatre shows independent films you would not see
anywhere else. Segrof Video contains interesting and diverse video se
lections, with lots of international and rare, hard-to-find videos. If you
like parody publications, the Asheville Disclaimer is fun to read.
Bookstores include Readers Corner, Downtown Books & News and
Malaprop’s Bookstore/CaH. Old Europe Coffee House, The Cyber
Cafe, and Malaprop’s Bookstore/Caft have beverages and sweets to
please the palate. The Cyber Cafe is a great place to go if you need
internet access.
Whenever I want great organic food, I shop at Green Life Grocery
or Earth Fare. Max and Rosie’s has great all-natural smoothies. Rosetta’s
Kitchen and The Laughing Seed offer organic food at a reasonable
price. For a great organic cuisine in Black Mountain, try the Green
Light Cafe.
Asiana Grand Buffet has a huge array of Asian food. Tupelo Honey
is open late for most of the week, and has exceptional classic Southern
food. Akumi on Wall Street serves late-night sushi. The Flying Frog
Caft is elegant, offering Cajun,
Creole, French and Caribbean
entrees. Oliver and Annabelle’s
serves sandwiches and has a
great lunch menu.
Offering a piano player,
Vincenzo’s is known as one of
the best Italian restaurants
around. Province 620 Restau
rant has delicious daily specials.
Apollo Flame offers gigantic
portions for extremely reason
able prices, in a relaxed atmo
sphere.
Asheville offers a diverse and
entertaining nightlife. Asheville
Pizza & Brewing Company has
great pizza and two dollar mov
ies. The Usual Suspects is a new,
cool restaurant drawing big
crowds. Where as, Gypsy Moon
is a bar, displaying plusb and
comfortable sofas.
Scandal’s has drag shows and
an excellent DJ on the weekend.
Club Hairspray boasts a solid
karaoke set, on Tuesdays and
Thursdays. Tressa’s Downtown
Jazz and Blues offers bands and
great dirty martinis. Broadway’s, is home to the legendary 80’s night
every Wednesday. Vincent’s Ear has live shows.
Lots of college kids like Fred’s Speakeasy. Jack of the Wood, an Irish
pub, has a lot of live bluegrass music. Hannah Flanagan’s, another
Irish pub, is another hangout of many college kids. If you like con
certs, check out events at the Civic Center and the Orange Peel.
Asheville is home to what some refer to as a New Age Mecca. Crys
tal Visions in Arden, and Essential Arts downtown offer information
about these subjects.
This city is a cultural melting pot for many different backgrounds.
Asheville and the surrounding areas contain many opportunities for
recreation, entertainment and leisure. This is a very active city and
there are always things you can find to do. Don’t forget UNCA and all
of the various amenities it offers.
PATRICK SQUIRE
STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Akumi on Wall Street offers
late-night sushi.