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Greenfest volunteers sort
through campus trash finding 44
pounds of rec\'clable waste
Campus • New biofecdback lab helps smdents manage stress • 8
Women’s soccer battles strong
winds to defeat Radford
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See Life io
See SfoR'I'S 4
Volume 43, Issue 7
Serving the University of North Carolina at Ashe\'ille since 1982
October 20, 2005
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By Sarah Schmidt
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The recent firing of a UNCA res-
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ibout the rights of student-
mployees in North Carolina.
Melanie Rhodarmer, student
ervices manager, notified former
lA Benjamin Walsh of the termi-
lation of his employment Sept. 12,
n the second year of Walsh’s
iraployment as an RA.
“Obviously, I was stunned, as it
and of came out of the blue,”
Valsh said. “I want to know the
asons that led to my termination
can learn from them and grow
a person. I want to improve
lyself if I have erred somewhere
my past.”
Despite repeated requests to
am why Housing fired him, he
ill does not know the reason for
le action, according to Walsh.
“I don’t think anybody has ever
St been told, ‘Oh, you know, I
St woke up today and think you
n’t lit with the program,”’ said
fancy Williams, director of hous-
g and residence life. “My bias is
lat it is very rare that nobody
lows, but I also believe a lot of
mes it’s better to just do what has
be done and move on, instead of
St continuing to belabor a deci-
iion that can’t be rescinded.”
According to Walsh, Rhodarmer
formed him Sept. 12 that
lousing had made the decision to
itminate his position as an RA.
'alsh said that he asked for the
easons behind the decision and
lid not receive any.
The only thing she would tell
ue was that I was not fitting in, or
hat they just didn’t think it was
ivorking out," Walsh said. "When I
asked about the reasoning, she
nformed me that she was not
going to tell me, and told me if I
tad a complaint, then I could write
a letter."
Walsh has no meetings with the
Office of Student Conduct in the
weeks prior to his firing, and does
not know of any misconduct that
would warrant his firing, accord
ing to Walsh.
Walsh’s signed agreement with
Housing states: “That if the staff
Member is to be dismissed after
periodic evaluation because
his/her performance is judged
inadequate by the associate direc
tor of housing and residence life
and the residence life coordinator,
Ihe staff member will be notified
of his/her dismissal at least two
weeks in advance. When the staff
Member has broken a university
Mgulation, deemed to be of harm
to the residence hall community,
nnd/or fails to meet the obhgations
®d conditions of this agreement,
he/she may be dismissed immedi
ately.”
Walsh wrote a formal letter of
Mquiry to Housing asking for the
Masons he was fired. Carol
Schramm, dean of student affairs.
Wrote back to Walsh telling him
^nt his firing was not subject to
Tpeal.
"The letter went very poorly,"
Walsh said. "Her response was two
hues saying that she believed it
Was an administrative decision
^at Wasn’t subject to appeal."
Doth Rhodarmer and Schramm
'Icclined interviews.
. Williams, who was not directly
fflvolved with Walsh’s firing, said
*hat employees do not always need
to go through a formal conduct
SEE Employee page 121
Rising above the call ncwunc
Contributed by Megan Gray
Elyse Fuller and Jennifer Nicolini, undeclared freshman, sort through donation boxes in Ocean Springs, Miss. They were among 19 stu
dents from UNCA and AB Tech who spent their fall break volunteering to clean up destruction left by Hurricane Katrina.
APO students spend fall break helping Hurricane Katrina victims
By Melissa Dean
Staff Writer
During fall break, while many
students went home to see their
families, Alpha Phi Omega
(APO) volunteered in Mississippi
to help clean up the destruction
that Hurricane Katrina left
behind.
“This trip has made me realize
that one person can make a differ
ence, despite the odds,” said
Megan Gray, president of APO.
“Seeing the destruction and see
ing the people going out there
day after day helping distribute
supplies, gear and necessities to
the families affected, who contin
ue to work and live out of tents
and campers, has shown me
human nature at its best.”
A total of 19 people from two
different schools volunteered to
help with the relief effort, accord
ing to Gray.
“There were two active APO
brothers and two pledges that
went,” said Landon Rogers, APO
vice president. “Eleven other
UNCA students and four AB-
Tech students went as well. We
stayed on the grounds of the
Hearts with Hands command post
in Ocean Springs, Mississippi.”
Once the volunteers reached
Ocean Springs, they were
assigned to help out with many
different aspects of the relief
effort, according to Rogers.
“We were assigned to sort
through all of the donations and
supplies to create food, water,
hygiene, baby and paper product
kits,” said Gray, senior enviom-
mental science student. “We also
had to sort through supplies that
it
It created an outlet and a
unique experience for those
that really want to do more
to help.
Megan Gray
APO president
had been left out when Hurricane
Rita came through and throw out
the destroyed cases of water and
various other donations. The sort
ing was done primarily in the
mornings until we started the dis
tribution line in the afternoon. We
had a line of cars come through
with survivors picking up the
supplies that they needed.”
Watching residents come back
to where their homes used to be
and finding what the hurricane
had left behind was very hard to
see, according to Gray.
“We had several people from
our group who referred to the
area as similar to a war zone,”
Gray said. “The houses that were
left ‘standing’ were ripped side
ways off their foundations.
FEMA or other searchers had
left spray-painted markings that
were looking for people or bod
ies.
“We saw several houses that
weren't searched until three
weeks after Katrina hit. We saw
some people who were just com
ing back to see what was left, and
the looks of bewilderment, sad
ness and shock on their faces
SEE Relief page 121
Judge snuffs arson charge, student left with conununity service
By Allie Haake
Staff Writer
thing started because of extreme
boredom.
A judge dismissed the felony
charge of arson against Eli
Banikazemi on Oct. 5. Police
arrested Banikazemi in February
for the arson of the Highsmith
University Union.
“I would have never come
close to doing anything remotely
similar to such an action if I knew
what was going to happen,” said
Eli Banikazemi, undeclared
sophomore student.
Banikazemi said he is incredi
bly reheved that the felony will
not go on his record.
“The important thing is the
felony charge was dropped, and I
can still vote,” Banikazemi said.
“I feel a whole lot better.
Felonies are really not good for
your record at all.”
There are a few reasons why
the completion of the verdict took
as much time as it did, according
to Banikazemi.
“We have been in and out of
court for nine months,”
Banikazemi said. “We’ve had at
least six or seven postponements
where we were waiting for a
more favorable district attorney
or judge. We were also waiting
for me to do more community
service hours.”
Banikazemi, received three
drinking citations before the
February arrest, said the whole
“Me and my
friend were in
our room by
ourselves
watching a
Woody Allen
movie where
Woody gets
arrested for
doing really
stupid stuff,”
Banikazemi
said. “We decided to do some
Banikazemi
thing really stupid and ended up
getting arrested like Woody
Allen.”
The reason he chose to start a
fire near the building was so the
wind would not put the fire out,
according to Banikazemi.
“We went out to the parking lot
with some napkins to set them on
fire,” Banikazemi said. “I admit
it was a very terrible idea. We
decided that the best place was
where the wind wouldn’t bother
it, next to the four-story brick
wall of Highsmith.”
One student said there was no
way Banikazemi would intention
ally try to bum down a building.
“Eli may have a knack for get
ting himself into stupid situations
sometimes, but anyone who
knows him also knows there was
no malice on his part in the inci
dent,” said Laura Eshelman,
undeclared junior student.
“Plenty of perfectly normal,
bored guys in college get into
mischief, and he just happened to
be one with bad luck.”
A campus safety patrol car
driving down Founders Drive
caught the two freshmen in the
act of burning the napkins.
“My friend got scared and start
ed running, so I followed him
into Mills and the cop lost us,”
Banikazemi said. “A day later
the cop came to my room and I
went down to the station.”
At first, it did not seem that he
was going to get in very much
trouble for starting the fire,
according to Banikazemi.
“I gave a confession, and my
friend gave one as well,”
Banikazemi said. “They told me
that they weren’t going to arrest
me, but it was pretty serious and I
would have a citation on cam-
After using his shoes as a pil
low for two nights, Banikazemi’s
bond was reduced from $4,000 to
nothing, and he was released. At
a UNCA conduct meeting three
weeks later, the group decided
not to expel the student.
“They told me they were ini
tially planning to expel me,” said
Banikazemi. “I had several letters
from two or three teachers, my
mom and some other people, and
they decided not to.”
The group decided on several
consequences for Banikazemi in
order to remain at the university.
“I have to do 300 hours of com
munity service, I was kicked out
and banned from the dorms. 1
have journal entries and papers to
write about my progress as a
criminal, and I have to go to a
counselor to determine whether 1
a menace to society,”
am
pus.
Two days later. Officer Douglas
Green arrested Banikazemi. He
said his time in jail was the worst
two days of his life.
“I got there around 2 a.m., and
I had to sleep next to a homeless
person who had peed himself and
had drank about five 40 ounces,”
Banikazemi said. “So it was the
worst smell ever, and I had to
sleep on the ground right next to
him because it was the only space
available.”
Banikazemi said. “My counselor
was actually really cool, and she
inunediately realized that I was
not a menace.”
The punishment was too harsh,
according to Eshelman.
“I think it’s a bit excessive for
$50 of damage to a brick wall,”
Eshelman said. “The community
service alone would be more than
enough to teach him his lesson.”
Almost everyone on campus
seems to remember the arrest in
some way or another, according
to Banikazemi.
president
named
By Rebecca Taylor
Students at UNCA affirmed their
confidence in Erskine Bowles and
his ability to make a valuable con
tribution as the president of the 16-
campus UNC system.
The UNC board voted unani
mously to recommend Bowles, 60,
as the next president of the UNC
system.
Bowles succeeds Molly Broad,
who led the system since 1997.
Bowles served in the Clinton
administration as director of the
small business administration and
White House chief of staff. Earlier
this year, Bowles assisted former
President Bill Clinton as U.N.
Deputy Special Envoy for tsuna
mi-affected countries in South
Asia.
“I think anyone who has held a
political position is a great person
to be the leader of the UNC uni
versity system,” said Emily
Pomeranz, undeclared sophomore
student.
The North Carolina University
system currently enrolls almost
196,000 students from its 16 cam
puses. Bowles was enthusiastic
upon his acceptance to take his
post as president. At a press con
ference Oct. 3 he said the past
UNC presidents all came from dif
ferent backgrounds, but each
served the state with honesty, dig
nity and a sense of purpose.
“I can’t imagine having another
opportunity to have such a positive
impact on the lives and livelihood
of the people of North Carolina,”
Bowles said. “You will never see
someone who is more excited to
be here than I am.”
The multimillionaire will earn
an annual salary of $425,000 a
year.
He plans to allocate $125,000 of
his salary throughout the UNC
system to scholarships and finan
cial aid for students.
“By giving money from his own
salary, people get a glimpse of the
type of things that he might want
to do while he serves as presi
dent,” said Holly Ohayon, unde
clared junior student. “This also
says a lot about his character and
that he really wants to make a dif
ference.”
In the next three months before
his term begins Jan. 1, Bowles
plans to visit each of the 16 cam
puses, talking to chancellors, fac
ulty and students. He also will
meet with state legislative mem
bers and leaders.
“I definitely think it’s going to
be beneficial for him to visit all of
the campuses because it will give
him the opportunity to see what
each one has to offer individually,”
Ohayon said. “He will be able to
gage what needs to be done at each
school.”
Bowles ran unsuccessfully for
the U.S. Senate in 2002 and 2004.
During his campaign for Senate, a
portion of his platform was devot
ed to aiding in the advancement of
minorities through education.
This will be beneficial to
improving the diversification of
the UNC system, according to
Pomeranz.
“I think since he worked on
minority issues a lot, he will look
for the distribution of minorities
on the campuses and try to
improve that aspect of the sys
tem,” Pomeranz said.
One of the issues the UNC sys
tem is currently dealing with is the
desire for some of the universities
to branch out on their own as an
independent institution. Bowles
might be able to take on this
dilemma effectively, according to
SEE Bowles page 12J