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Volume 42, Issue 1
Serving the University of North Carolina at Asheville sinee 1982
September 1,2005
Theft most
common
crime on
campus
By Paige Reinhard
Staff Writer
Despite many attempts by cam
pus police to improve the safety of
UNCA, the same crimes remain in
the forefront.
Assistant Professor of Drama
Danelle Smith has taught at many
different kinds of schools.
‘This is my second university,”
Smith said. “And I’ve also taught
at a middle school and an interme
diate school. Crime was an issue
at all of those schools.”
Sergeant Jerry Adams of campus
police said the crime that remains
most common at UNCA is theft.
“Theft is our number one crime,
basically because when people
leave stuff out in plain view and
leave things unattended, they can
be easily taken,” Adams said.
According to the Office of
Postsecondary Education’s
Campus Security Statistics, over
the past few years there have been
more reported incidents of rob
bery, burglary and motor vehicle
theft than any other criminal
offense.
From 2001 to 2003 there were
14 instances of burglary in the res
idence halls alone.
Smith said she knows all too
well about theft at school.
“We knew when we were just
running down the hall, to the
ladies room for example, we
should lock our doors or not leave
our purses,” Smith said. “That
fast, that kind of thing would hap
pen, money would go missing.”
Megan Williams, junior, also
has personal experience dealing
with theft.
“I lived in South Ridge last year,
on the first floor,” Williams said.
“Someone climbed in our window
and stole my jewelry.”
Williams said she and her room
mate had taken the normal precau
tions before leaving the room that
day.
“We weren’t there, but (the win
dow) was closed and, I think,
locked,” she said.
Williams said she called campus
police to report the break-in and
missing jewelry, but nothing came
of it.
“They looked around and asked
us and our neighbors a lot of ques
tions, but nothing really hap
pened,” Williams said.
Despite high numbers in theft,
Adams said there is not much
more campus police can do.
“We continue to do what we
have been doing all along,” he
said. “That’s more foot patrol in
these areas and more awareness of
those situations that took place.”
Neither Williams’ jewelry,
which included a pearl necklace,
or the person who stole it were
ever found.
“I guess most stuff like that is
random and we’ll never know
anyways,” Williams said.
While theft remains the most
prevalent crime on campus, the
most infamous recent crimes
involve flames. Ask any returning
UNCA student about the crimes
committed on campus next year
and you are likely to hear about
fire.
There were two criminal cases
involving fire last school year, the
latter of which occurred within a
residence hall.
Police said Dean Shaffer and
Steven Manuel cqnfessed to burn
ing several pieces of furniture and
parts an elevator in Governors
Hall.
These burnings were reported on
April 5th and cost the accused stu
dents $1,859 and their rights to
live on campus.
Disaster severs WNC oil supply
Gas stations
close shop as
fuel availability
drastically shrinks
By Sean David Robinson
News Editor
Gas prices soared and service
stations closed Wednesday in
Asheville as residents experi
enced the effects of a major short
age of gasoline and natural gas.
The shortage is a result of the
loss of electricity to oil pipelines
in Mississippi and Louisiana that
supply WNC.
According to Jerry Vehaun,
Buncombe county emergency
services director, power to these
pipelines may be restored in 24 to
48 hours, but the availability of
any gasoline to Asheville resi
dents in the coming days is uncer
tain, as many gas stations had
already closed by Wednesday
afternoon.
“There are probably going to be
localized problems (across the
U.S.) like there are here,” said
Robert C. Tatum, economics pro
fessor.
Tatum has taught in the eco
nomics department for one year,
and has a Ph.D. in economics
from Indiana University with a
specialization in international and
Macroeconomics. According to
Tatum, the shortage should be rel
atively short-lived and is not as
severe as it has potential to be.
“It’s going to be a problem,”
Tatum said. “I don’t think it’s
going to be a huge problem.
Relative to other goods and serv
ices, gas prices are no higher than
they were in the ‘70s.”
TTie difference between our cur
rent oil crisis and the rise in prices
the U.S. has experienced in recent
years is the abruptness of the rise
in cost, according to Tatum.
“What’s probably going to hurt
is, since this has been such an
unexpected jump, people who
were already kind of tight-budget
ed will feel it,” Tatum said.
“Companies who are on tight
profit margins will feel it. It’s a
negative shock that could be detri
mental.”
Our economy as a whole will
probably come out unscathed in
the long term, as other factors of
measuring success have been pos
itive as of late, according to
Tatum.
Brian Davis/Photo Editor
Enmark gas station attendant Jeff Overas bags a fuel pump nozzle Wednesday afternoon as the station runs completely out of
fuel and must close (above). More than 25 Asheville residents flock to the Merrimon Avenue Shell station at 11:30 p.m.
Wednesday night (below).
“Things in our economy have
been going fairly well otherwise,
despite these recent events,”
Tatum said. “Unemployment is
low. GDP growth is pretty good.
So, I don’t think (Hurricane
Katrina) is going to have an
impact on the long-term econo
my.”
According to Kimberly Drey,
senior literature student, the short
age may not be a completely bad
thing.
“Well, actually, it doesn’t really
suck that bad, because maybe
people will start looking for alter
native energy sources,” Drey said.
“Maybe people will eventually
realize that we are going to run
out of gas. It has to dry up some
time, and besides, it’s such a
waste.”
Tatum conferred this same sen
timent from an economic stand
point, citing that necessity is the
mother of invention.
“As prices go up, you might
start seeing more technology
coming out of that,” Tatum said.
“The incentive, from an econom
ics perspective, to come up with
alternate resources usually comes
out of need rather than just some
idea.”
The shortage may serve as a
wake-up call to oil happy
American auto owners, according
to Will Troxler, junior.
“It’s flashing lights for people to
start being more conscious of how
they consume,” Troxler said. “I’d
say going over $3.00 makes start
being more aware, or considering
getting my bike back out. I’d quit
driving at $5.00 per gallon.”
Junior sociology student
Maggie Ulrich did not echo this
sentiment of optimism entirely,
though she did say she expects the
situation to improve in the short
term.
“Well, I’m sure it’s going to get
worse before it gets better, but it’ll
get better,” Ulrich said.
“Americans are stubborn. It does
n’t really matter if there’s a gas
crisis going on. They’re still
going to want to buy their
and
Sean David Robinson/News Editor
drive them sion of American consumer men
tality.
“They’ll put their Hummers in
Hummers
around.”
According to Ulrich, not even
an absence of oil from the planet neutral and let gravity take its
altogether could stop the aggres- course.”
Earthquake shakes Western North Carolina
f^cirthniiaWp inpliiHina sittinff nn a hphinH at that summer e.amn in miakes It’s alwavs nossihlf
By Allie Haake
Staff Writer
A minor earthquake shook the
ground and buildings of Asheville
on August 24.
According to the U.S.
Geological Survey, the earthquake
occurred at 11:09 p.m. and had a
3.7 magnitude.
With a depth of five miles at its
base in Hot Springs, environmen
tal science professor Bill Miller
said although the earthquake was
not major, it was still significant
for our area.
“I asked the students in my geol
ogy class, and at least ninety per
cent said they felt it,” Miller said.
Miller said he was asleep when
the earthquake occurred, but is
glad that most of his students were
able to feel it.
“What an awesome experience,”
Miller said. “That’s one of the top
ics we talk about in class, so to
actually feel one is great. Some
said they noticed the walls shaking
back and forth. A few others even
said they saw things fall off the
shelves.”
Many students said they were
not sure what was happening at
first.
“All of a sudden my fiiend told
me that my building was moving,”
said Andrew Link, sophomore
environmental science student. “It
sounded like thunder, but it was
really slow and distant. It lasted
for about eight seconds.”
Link said as soon as he knew it
was an earthquake, he wanted
details.
“I was wondering where most of
the earthquake had gone down,
and how devastating it was,” Link
said. “I wanted to know the over
all outcome.”
Miller said he is thankful there
were not any reported injuries.
“No one was hurt, but they got to
feel it,” Miller said. “That is the
best situation.”
There were all sorts of reactions
from his geology class, according
to Miller.
“Some of them said it sounded
like an explosion,” Miller said.
“Others said it sounded like a vehi
cle hitting the building, and a few
said it sounded Uke someone run
ning in an upstairs apartment.”
Miller said there are certain posi
tions that are optimal for feeling an
earthquake, including sitting on a
couch or lying in a bed.
“Let’s say you were sitting there
on the couch, wide awake and
quiet. You’re likely to wonder
why you’re sitting there shaking,”
Miller said. “That is what you
would call an advantageous posi
tion.”
Miller said while there was no
warning that this was going to hap
pen, small earthquakes should be
expected in our area.
“We have small earthquakes that
happen all the time, we just don’t
feel them,” Miller said. “This one
was on the higher end of seismic
activity that we have.”
One student said the building
started shaking as he was watching
television with some friends.
“We weren’t sure what was
going on,” said Scott Sherman,
senior psychology major. We
switched to the Asheville news,
but they didn’t say anything about
it. The next morning we found out
it was an earthquake.”
Sherman said that it was an
exciting night.
“It was kind of cool,” Sherman
said. “I thought I left earthquakes
behind at that sununer camp in
California.”
Sherman said that he does not
expect more earthquakes in the
near future.
“This is not necessarily the
warning of more severe earth
quakes to come, so I guess things
will probably go on as usual,”
Sherman said.
California experiences so many
major earthquakes because of its
location on the San Andreas fault
system, according to Miller.
“Those earthquakes tend to be
more vigorous,” Miller said. “The
Geological Survey thinks there’s
going to be a big earthquake that
will occur there in the next few
decades. We just have no idea of
exactly when.”
Miller said that unlike
California, our area is not predict
ed to be greatly affected by earth
quakes because we’re not on a
plate boundary.
“We’re on what is known as a
passive continental margin,”
Miller said. “Unless something
happens that defies science, we
probably won’t see any major
earth changes because of earth
quakes. It’s always possible
though.”
Miller said that man-made struc
tures are the main danger. He sug
gested building a house with an
earthquake-resistant structure.
“Large earthquakes can be dev
astating,” Miller said. “As Charles
Richter said, ‘earthquakes don’t
kill people, buildings do.’ So if
you are in a building that is not
earthquake resistant, you could be
injured or killed pretty easily.”
Although not major in our area.
Miller said that earthquakes are
not rare. He said that he has expe
rienced two or three earthquakes
since he moved here in 1989.
“The biggest one ever recorded
was a five-point-something in
Waynesville a long time ago,”
Miller said. “We could have a
gigantic earthquake under us
tomorrow, but the chances of that
are very, very small.”
Miller said that we have used
earthquakes to tell us where plate
boundaries do exist.
“The earth is divided into mosa
ic plates,” Miller said. “When
they scrape by each other, the rock '
is actually breaking.”