NEWS
iRIEFS
y Rheannoti Yokeley
Staff Reporter
IPUS CRIME
'anipus police received a report
landalism to a motor vehicle
ov 12, located on Ridge Drive
|nd South Ridge Hall, accord-
; to police. The case is still un-
ipiing investigation.
Students form academic bonds with teachers
Inceased class sizes may diminish
student and teacher relationships
lONAL
lolin Powell, U.S. Secretary of
resigned from his position
12 in a letter to President
U.S. officials named Con-
je/z.i Rice as his likely replace-
fcni according to the Associated
n West Memphis, Ark., a bus
bed, killing 15 and injuring over
)zcn passengers, Nov. 13. The
(e of the crash has not been de-
ned, according to the AP.
'he U.S. Interior Department
roved oil drilling in Alaska Nov.
The drilling is set to begin by
6. Drilling would take place on
north slope of the state and en-
moving power lines, and rais-
pipelines in the area, according
leuters.
’olice officers found $40,000
from Lucky Dollar Casino in
lenshurg. La. in a nearby creek
into a beaver dam. A lawyer
d officers the location of the
nped cash, as part of a plea bar-
lin agreement, according to the
jury found Scott Peterson
of first-degree murder for the
ing of his wife Laci in Decem-
2002. They also found him
n of second-degree murder for
It death of his unborn son,
Qniior. Peterson could face the
Sth penalty. The sentencing phase
We trial will begin Nov. 22 after
jne week break for the jury, ac-
Iditig to the AP.
^ohammed Alanssi', 52, handed
fttei to security officers outside
I White House Nov. 15. He asked
It guards to deliver the letter to
tCdent Bush and then lit himself
nlfire outside the northwest guard-
^se on Pennsylvania Avenue.
Ifiicers put out the fire and took
Inssi to a local hospital. Alanssi
Jn critical condition with burns
30% of his body. Alanssi claims
>e an FBI informant, according
leAP.
kapper Old Dirty Bastard
lissell Jones) died Nov. 13 in his
uth Florida recording studio.
Pts, 35, died after complaints of
pt pains and shortness of breath,
fdical examiners did not release
t cause of death. They are await-
6 results of toxicology and tissue
Its, according to the AP.
Police arrested Marie Robinson
iKent, Wash. Nov. 16 for second
pee murder of her 16 month and
pn-week-old sons. The children
tr found dead in her apartment
ipolice after their paternal grand-
Pther said she could not get in
jJch with Robinson, according to
by Angele Mainhart
Staff Reporter
Teacher involvement with stu
dents decreased over the years due
to more caution and a separation
of work and friendship, according
to a professor at UNCA.
“There’s suspicion and ickyness
that probably wasn’t there 10 or
15 years ago
when I was in -
school,” said
David Hopes,
professor of lit
erature. “It
seems to be that
UNCA is very,
‘when I’m at
school. I’m at
school. When
I’m not at
school, that’s a
different world.’
It seems to me
that people are
very careful here
that work is work.”
This sentiment does not stop
most students from visiting pro
fessors for both class related and
friendship reasons. Even former
students show up at times to visit
old professors.
“Well, I certainly meet with stu
dents quite a bit, individually,”
said Lorena Russell, assistant pro
fessor of literature and language at
UNCA. “Today, I guess I met in-
“I think that here, since
we do have a smaller
school, that most stu
dents have at least one
professor that they go to.
If it’s not their advisor, it’s
someone that they can
ask questions and kind of
talkto.”
Casey Colahan
senior crea'tive writing major
dividually — of course I’m doing
conferences with my composition
class - with five students in my
office. I consider it part of my
pedagogy, but it goes beyond that.
We chat individually. I had a
couple of students come by today,
who I’ve had in class two years ago,
who stopped by just to chat. So,
sure, there’s opportunity for
friendship as well.”
In some cases,
_________ student and
teacher involve
ment goes be
yond just talking
face to face in the
office. Technol
ogy enables
people to get in
contact in ways
that were not
possible years
ago.
“Dr. Russell
has an MSN
messenger thing,
and I think she
also has AOL instant messenger,”
said Chris Salt, undeclared fresh
man. “When it’s just a little ques
tion, and she’s there on the instant
messenger service, I can just write
her a quick little thing. She can
help me figure it out really fast over
the Internet. I think if every pro
fessor was in their office enough
that it would help a lot because you
could just ask them a quick ques
tion, and they’d be able to answer.”
BRIAN DAVIS/staff photographer
Lorena Russell, assistant professor of literature and langjuage
deptartment, meets with undeclared freshman Chris Salt.
Most people believe that an in
crease in involvement between stu
dents and professors leads to im
proved education. The reasons for
this vary.
“Well, people think that edu
cation is instruction in the class
room and that sort of thing,” said
Hopes. “I think that too, but I
think example is a better educator
because students should be able to
see in the life of their professors
some indication that the things
that they teach are worthwhile. If
I say that poetry makes you a bet
ter person, I should be able to ex-
SEE TEACHERS ON PAGE 12
Fuel-efficient vehicle visits UNCA campus
ats‘
See briefs on page 12
by Matthew Beardsley
Staff Reporter
A natural-gas-powered Honda
Civic is on campus for two weeks.
Yuri Kolsen, UNCA transporta
tion planner, hopes it is the first
of many.
“This car demonstrates
UNCA’s commitment to diver
sifying the fleet,” said Koslen.
“UNCA is definitely interested in
looking at alternate fuels.”
Honda loaned the car to the
Land of Sky Clean Vehicles Coa
lition as a demonstration project
for local fleet managers, accord
ing to a press release from the
campus operations department.
The coalition includes, among
others, the City
of Asheville,
Warren Wilson
College and
Mission Hospi
tal, all of whom
are considering
options to incor
porate more en
vironmentally
friendly vehicles
in their fleets.
Natural-gas-
powered cars
run with near
zero emissions
of nitrogen oxides and non-meth
ane organic gases, according to
Honda.
Students experienced first
hand how cleanly the car runs
BRIAN DAVIS/staff photographer
Timothy Putnam, senior environmental studies major, takes
a seat in the natural gas vehical during it’s visit to UNCA.
when Koslen invited several to
sniff its tailpipe. Students were
able to see the
clean-burning
Honda in front
of the
Highsmith Uni
versity Union
Nov. 12, and
many were ex
cited to see an
alternative to
gasoline power
be considered
for UNCA.
During the
car’s two weeks
at UNCA,
many students
and faculty took advantage of an
extra set of wheels, whatever the
engine.
“It’s kinda like a normal car,”
“They are available to
consumers, but fueling
the cars in Asheville will
be difficult until service
stations begin offering
compressed natural gas
alongside traditional
octane.”
Yuri Kolsen
UNCA transportation planner
said Ronald Sebilo-Tibbits, un
declared senior, who benefits
from using the car instead of his
usual scooter, according to
Koslen.
Erich
Melville, senior
political science
major, said he
does not have a
car of his own
but has been
able to use the
natural gas
Honda.
Although he
normally de
pends on
carpooling or his bicycle, he
hopes environmentally friendly
cars become more popular and
convenient for the public, accord
ing to the press release.
“This car demonstrates
UNCA’s commitment to
diversifying the fleet.
UNCA is definitely inter
ested in looking at alter
nate fuels.”
Yuri Kolsen
UNCA transportation planner
Others who will have turns
with the car include Diane
Williamson of Campus Police
and Anna Moyer, senior biology
major, who will be using the car
to return salamanders to their na
tive habitat, according to Koslen.
“They are available to con
sumers, but fueling the cars in
Asheville will be difficult until
service stations begin offering
compressed natural gas alongside
traditional octane,” said Koslen.
Although no convenient refu
eling options are yet available,
consumers can install a natural
gas refueling appliance in their
home. UNCA plans to begin re
ducing the emissions of its ve
hicles as soon as possible.
“Our first attempt is to make
the shuttles run on bio-diesel,”
said Koslen.
■ Natural-gas-
powered engines
emit fewer pol
lutants than
dual-source sys
tems that include
both gasoline
and electric
power.
Natural gas
consists mostly
of methane, al
though it can
contain ethane, propane, butane,
carbon dioxide, oxygen, and ni
trogen, according to Natural Gas
Supply Association. It is a color
less, odorless gas.
Professors
propose
new major
by Sarah Schmidt
Staff Reporter
UNCA administration and fac
ulty created a new field of study
for education majors and have
plans in the works for a religious
studies department due to changes
from outside and within.
“There was a lot of excitement
about the religious studies pro
gram, a lot of discussion about how
to make sure it is balanced, so it
represents the major religious tra
ditions of the world,” said Mark
Padilla, provost and vice chancel
lor for academic and student af
fairs. “This comes from the real
ization that a large college ought
to have expertise in this area, the
realization that religion is one of
the most important expressions of
the human condition, especially to
day in the early 21st century.
“It also comes from the recog
nition that there seems to be a lot
of student interest in this area, as
reflected through the minor and in
the way in which the courses that
feature religious topics are quickly
filled.”
UNCA currently offers a reli
gious studies minor to students,
but with the institution of a reli
gious studies program, students
would be able to major in it and
continue on to higher education
with a better grounding in their
field.
A group of UNCA faculty made
the recommendation of beginning
a religious studies program to
Padilla. A forum on religious stud
ies held, Nov. 15, approved the
program, the first step of many in
creating a new academic depart
ment.
“The outcome of yesterday’s
meeting to discuss the idea of cre
ating a religious studies major here
at UNCA ended with the consen
sus to create a task force to put to
gether a document called the ‘In
tent to Plan’ proposal,” said Padilla.
“This is the initiatory step that al
lows the next step to occur, which
is the establishment of the program
plan.”
The “Intent to Plan” proposal
will go through several faculty sen
ate meetings and receive the ap
proval of both the chancellor and
the office of the president before
UNCA can establish a religious
studies major. The lengthy process
of approving and instituting a reli
gious studies major could take over
a year, according to Padilla.
“I would say that the earliest
date for the department to be es
tablished is the fall semester of
2006,” said Padilla. “It would re
quire a search for someone with a
Ph.D. in religion, someone with
some experience who could build
a department and a program, and
it takes about a year to find such a
person, so we hope to be moving
through the first step of the ‘Intent
to Plan proposal this spring 2005
term, and then next year have per
mission to establish the program
and search for a department chair.”
An increased student interest in
religious studies led to the call for
See major on page 12