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Theta Chi participates in
19-mile relay to benefit victims
of Hurricane Katrina
of the OXes
Entertainment • Jump Little Children performs farewell tour in Ashe\ille* 2
Oar accident destroys
Merrimon Avenue building but
results in no major injuries.
The Bl
ue
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anner
See Campus 4
See Nkws 10
Volume 42, Issue 4
Serving the University of North Carolina at Asheville since 1982
September 22, 2005
UNCA family answers the call
Drive collects
groceries, cash
to help victims
By Paige Reinhard
Staff Writer
The UNCA community is bond-
ling together to aid the victims of
[Hurricane Katrina. The manage-
jment and accounting department
[put together a drive to collect
[money and goods for local organ-
[izations.
“What they wanted to do was
I try to fill a tractor-trailer truck
[with collected goods on campus,”
[said Tammy Huffman, assistant
[professor of management. “In
[addition, they are also collecting
[money for the Red Cross.”
According to Huffman, the
[management and accounting stu-
[ dents chose to set up the drive for
[the service project they are
[required to do every semester.
“It is actually the senior seminar
[community service project that
[we do every semester,” Huffman
[said. “So they are sort of taking
[this on as their project to try to get
[donations for the truck.”
Each of the branches of the
lanagement and accounting
department has a different role to
Iplay in the drive.
“The marketing classes have
Iried a marketing campaign,”
fuffman said. “They are the ones
vho’ve put up a lot of the signs
[around campus and put boxes in
[all the buildings around campus,
[including the dorms.”
“The management students
[went around to all the businesses
[in town to see if they would help
[sponsor it and they tried to partner
[ap with some of the businesses in
I town.”
Ingles donated the truck, and the
[items in it will go to Hearts with
Hands, while the money that is
I collected will go to the Red Cross.
Hearts with Hands is a non-
I profit Christian organization.
They were founded in response to
Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and
I have helped send aid after nearly
every natural disaster since.
Huffman said although the
department would like to have the
track full by Monday, it is difficult
to tell how full the truck is now.
“Instead of just letting people
throw stuff in the truck, we have
Chris Bubenik - Staff Photographer
Rebecca Cashion, senior management and accounting student, organizes a few of the goods donated to help the victims of
Hurricane Katrina. Ingles donated the truck to store the goods, which UNCA will then give to Hearts with Hands.
been sorting it and loading it and
packing it until it’s packed in there
really tight,” Huffman said.
Huffman said the drive will
most likely end on Wednesday.
“Ingles is probably going to
come and get the trailer on
Wednesday,” Huffman said. “We
are also partnering with the
Asheville School and they are
coming over on Wednesday
because they have some things
that they are going to put into the
truck.”
According to Huffman, other
individuals and groups were more
than willing to help out.
“There are a couple of church
groups, I wish I could tell you
their names, but I do not know
them. They are just people on
campus who called me and said.
‘My church would like to bring
some things,’” Huffman said.
“Creative Solutions, who is a sign
company in Fletcher, made the
sign we put on the side of the
truck and did not charge us any
thing for it.”
Huffman said the UNCA com
munity has been extremely chari
table as well.
“This program was really open
to the entire campus,” Huffman
said. “We sort of did the promo
tion of it, but people have brought
things from all over campus.”
“The housing staff on campus
has been tremendously generous,”
Huffman said.
According to Huffman, some
UNCA students and staff mem
bers have been willing to give
more than canned goods.
“I believe we’ve collected over
a thousand dollars in cash for the
Red Cross,” Huffman said.
For those who missed the drive,
Huffman said there are other ways
people can help out.
“I think everybody is helping
out in any way they can. I have
noticed there have been a lot of
fraternities and sororities that
have their own drives to try to
help the Red Cross,” Huffman
said.
“I know, for example, several of
my students have talked to me,
they are interested in fostering the
dogs that are coming up from the
Gulf Coast.
“I have had people calling me
and asking me what to do because
they have clothing and things that
Hearts with Hands is not taking.”
This is not the first time the
management and accounting stu
dents have used course work to
better the community.
“Well, last semester we actually
went and worked in a public hous
ing community on a Saturday,
helping them clean it up,”
Huffman said. “Last year was
the first year we started the serv
ice-learning component of the
course and it worked out really
well. It has been a great experi
ence for the kids.”
Huffman said the effort has
been a success.
“Even though it was a manage
ment and accountancy project, the
project was really to get the cam
pus involved and I think they have
done a really good job,” Huffman
said.
Program lets new writers hone their craft
By Rebecca Taylor
Staff Writer
The Great Smokies Writing
Program gives aspiring authors
the chance to improve upon their
talent as writers and learn more
about themselves as individuals.
The GSWP is designed for
writers who would like the
Opportunity to learn how to
express themselves effectively
through written word.
The program offers a series of
Workshops on poetry, prose,
nonfiction, and freelance writ
ing.
“The experience I’ve had with
the Great Smokies program has
changed my life,” said Hollie
i^cKinney, a UNCA creative
Writing graduate. “I’ve learned
not only about writing, but also
about dedication, discipline, and
life.”
The executive director of the
GSWP is Tommy Hays. Hays
teaches a workshop on prose,
nnd helps students learn more
about themselves in the process
of becoming a successful writer
necording to McKinney.
“When I first started the class,
I was amazed at Tommy’s
insight and comments on my
work,” McKinney said. “He can
find the strength of a story even
when it’s buried in a pile of
problems and inconsistencies.”
According to Elizabeth
Lutyens, a creative writing grad
uate, Hays plays an important
role in shaping each of his stu
dents into accomplished writers.
“With the help of Tommy and
the other workshop members,
my writing has become deeper
and truer,” Lutyens said- “I love
it when, commenting on some
passage or other in our writing
Tommy will say just one word,
“Nah.” We know this has noth
ing to do with his being nega
tive, and everything to do with
his insisting on the truth.”
One of the goals of the GSWP
is to get people involved from
the community. The participants
in workshops are often non-tra-
ditional students, and people
that live all over Western North
Carolina. The workshops are
held at The Asheville School,
((
99
When I first started the class, I
was amazed at Tommy’s insight
and comments on my work.
Hollie McKinney
UNCA creative
writing graduate
and First Presbyterian Church of
Asheville.
“The object is to not meet on
campus, but to meet around
town and be accessible,” Hays
said.
It may seem hard to believe
that you would be able to teach
creative writing using structured
methods, but that is the very
objective for teachers that
instruct workshops through the
program.
“If you’re in an environment
that forces you to sit down and
write, that’s a good thing; cre-
ative'writing classes provide that
(environment),” said Lori
Horvitz, assistant professor of
English at UNCA.
Opportunities for publication
become available to students
that join the program. Many of
the participants have their work
published, and have become part
of an even bigger community of
writers.
“Once I graduated I began a
novel that had been in my head
for a long time. I’d hoped the
Great Smokies workshop would
keep me motivated, and it did,”
Lutyens said.
The instructors that teach in
the program all have experience
in the writing field. They have
published works and make con
tributions to magazines and
newspapers across the country.
“Work that I wrote in Great
Smokies classes was published
both in literary journals, and in
my first book ‘Better Homes
and Husbands’,” said Valerie
Leff, co-director of the GSWP.
According to McKinney, if
someone decides to take part in
the workshops provided by the
GSWP, they are entering into a
community of writers that are
willing to give insight into each
other’s work.
“Throughout fall and spring, I
began to recognize that the
members of our class are equal
ly as important,” McKinney
said. “The sincere way they
approach another writer’s work
is powerful. Their dedication is
invaluable.”
Courses provided by the
GSWP are designed to help stu
dents reach beyond their poten
tial as a good writer, and go
deeper into the art of creative
writing, according to Lutyens.
“He (Hays) gets us to do the
best writing we can, and so
much of best means digging
deeply and not just skating on
the surface of our stories. At the
same time, our workshops are
relaxed and convivial,” Lutyens
said.
There is a free reading series
that features local writers called
Writers at Home, it showcases
writers that have taken classes
through the GSWP. The series
takes place at Malaprop’s
Bookstore/caK.
“It (Writers at Home) has been
well attended,” said Hays.
Women’s
groups
wary of
Roberts
' By Allie Haake
Staff Writer
Many organizations for
women’s rights have said the chief
justice nominee’s involvement
with former administrations
shows where he stands on abor
tion, while others have argued this
does not reflect how he will act in
office.
For three days, chief justice can
didate John Roberts answered
questions from senators of both
parties. Roberts gave no indica
tion that he would protect the
holdings of Roe v. Wade, a feder
al law that legalized all abortions
during the first trimester, accord
ing to The National Organization
for Women.
“Women deserve to know
whether this judge will protect our
most basic rights,” said NOW
President Kim Gandy. “If John
Roberts cannot support Roe v.
Wade, he must be rejected.”
By not commenting, the nomi
nee was doing the right thing,
according to John Noor, a junior
economics political science stu
dent currently working as an
intern in Washington, D.C.
“John Roberts, just like any
other justice, is not allowed to
comment on how he will stand on
an issue, case, or any pending
matter before the court,” Noor
said. “Their personal opinions on
any issue have no place in the
courtroom.”
Women’s organizations do not
think John Roberts will protect
their right to have an abortion,
according to Alliance Co-Vice
President Joel Siegel.
“I would imagine that NOW
does not want Roberts to become
chief justice because they’re
afraid that Roe v. Wade will go out
the window if he gets voted in,”
said Siegel. “Their rights as
women would be limited again.
They don’t want to go back to the
alleyways of abortion,”
Siegel said that he would not be
surprised if lawmakers made
changes to the current laws of
abortion.
“I definitely think that the Roe
V. Wade decision could be over
turned easily enough with the way
we have our administration right
now,” said Siegel.
Noor said he does not think
there is much of a chance they
will vote to overturn the decision.
“Roe V. Wade has been consid
ered a super precedent,” Noor
said. “Because society has
become so used to the right to
have an abortion, the Roe v. Wade
decision, which has been upheld
38 different times, is not some
thing that can be easily struck
down.”
Senators will raise questions
about abortion in the upcoming
session, according to Noor.
“There is a case that is coming
up that has to do with Roe v.
Wade,” said Noor. “It’s not com
pletely about Roe v. Wade and
striking down abortion, but it’s
talking about what point during
pregnancy an abortion is legal to
perform.”
It is unclear if Roberts endorsed
his personal beliefs in his argue-
ments, according to Siegel.
“When he was representing the
first President Bush, he signed a
document saying that the Roe v.
Wade decision should be over
turned,” Siegel said. “We don’t
know if he was just representing
his client or if that was his person
al view.”