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October 27, 2005
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By Paige Reinhard
Staff Writer
The Senior Class Board plans
vents and activities designed to
take “the senior experience” an
xceptional one.
“Our job is to make the senior
xperience as enjoyable as we
said Erin Trigonoplos, mem-
er of the Senior Class Board.
The Senior Class Board consists
f small group of about a dozen
enior students who are in charge
f planning events for the senior
lass.
‘They are volunteers who are
lining to offer their time for the
enior class,” said Kevan Frazier,
ssociate vice chancellor for alum-
The Senior Class Board starts
)day with the senior kick-off, a
ee picnic lunch open to graduat-
ig seniors outside Phillips Hall at
hrry Courtyard.
“It will be a time to introduce the
enior class board,” Frazier said.
All the seniors received an invita-
on.
itiots
ions,
trivi-
said,
oved
:om-
■e an
stu-
iStU-
While the university has accom-
lodated several similar groups,
razier said he hopes the Senior
'lass Board will take it one step
irther.
‘This is the first year of the
enior Class Board. There have
Seen what were called the senior
, [lommittee, the senior gift commit-
dj^fJee, the senior class committee,
hey changed it every year,”
'razier said. “The group was orig-
nally formed in 1998 to help with
vhat was then called the senior
:lass gift. That led to projects like
he bulldog in front of (the Justice
Center.) In recent years we have
teen more into expanding that, in
hat we think it is really important
hat seniors have ‘the senior expe-
ience.’”
Part of the senior experience is
getting to know your fellow sen
iors, according to Frazier.
“One of the challenges we find,
is that a lot of seniors do not know
who else are seniors when they are
graduating,” Frazier said. “So we
are going to do more social events
than we have done in the past.”
In addition to getting seniors to
know each other, one of the pur
poses of the Senior Class Board is
to make the shift from college to
the business world less harrow-
ing.
“We want seniors to have a great
last year at UNCA and to be
rewarded for their hard work, to
feel good and connected to the
institution,” Frazier said. “We
want to help with that transition to
hsing an alunmus or an alumni, so
•hat it does not seem like such a
harsh shift.”
Although the Senior Class Board
Erskine Bowles visits UNCA
financial
group causes
controversy
By Melissa Dean
Staff Writfr
Lauren Abe - Staff Photographer
Erskine Bowles, UNC system president elect, below, will visit all 16 schools In the UNC system before beginning his term as president Jan.
1. Will Farley, junior music student, Bowles and Chancellor Anne Ponder, above, discuss diversity, societal roles, gender equality and lead
ership techniques during an honors leadership class held in the Laurel Forum on Oct. 24.
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Bowles and Ponder discuss diversity issues with students
By Lisa Gillespie
Staff Writer
6i
99
geI
ided
SEE Seniors page 101
Erskine Bowles, new president
elect of the UNC system and
Chancellor Anne Ponder dis
cussed diversity, societal roles,
gender equality and leadership
approaches during an honors
leadership class Oct. 24.
“The most present element of
diversity at UNCA is economi
cally,” Ponder said. “You, as a
student body, come from families
of great wealth and some from
very little money. We neecl to
make sure there is a balance.”
The group discussed solutions
to a lack of diversity at UNCA.
“We tried to identify, within the
curriculum and within the faculty
and staff, things that would help
minorities picture themselves
(here,)” Ponder said. “Sometimes
they were scholarships, some
times faculty appointments.
When I started a decade ago,
there was no faculty of color.
When I left, there were five. That
was not a linear progression. We
made progression and then would
be set back.”
Members of the leadership
class shared their own opiiriions
on the state of diversity at
UNCA.
“I feel like our campus is
diverse,” said Aarika Converse,
undeclared sophomore student.
“We have our jocks, our nerds,
and our hippies, but not necessar
ily by race.”
The class, set up in a circle,
allowed for open dialogue.
“In my experience, I had a
Leadership really is about the
team, and not the individual. But,
as a politician, it is about you as a
person, and not so much about the
team. That was a hard transition.
Erskine Bowles
UNC system president eleet
friend in high school that was
Latino,” said Cassaundra Papaj,
sophomore chemistry student.
“As a minority, he said to me,
‘Why do you want to go to
UNCA? There is no diversity
there.’ The school that he ended
up going to had a program where
they showed minority groups that
they were welcome. If we had a
program here at UNCA like that,
I think diversity would increase.”
The class also addressed the
issue of equality for women in
the workplace.
“Your new chancellor is a
woman, and she has made it this
far,” Botyles said. “But I bet she
has had some fights along the
way. I have found that my previ
ous women partners have had a
tougher time than I had.
“I still think the ‘old boy’ net
work is still out there. But, it is
important to create a culture of
mutual respect. It seems that
diversity is something that
UNCA is lacking”
The leadership class, held in the
Laurel Forum, had six females
and one male in attendance.
“Even now we (women) have
to work harder to achieve,” said
Megan Tarrer, junior biology stu
dent. “We are not a minority. I
hate it when women are called
minorities, there are just as many
of us as there are males. If we are
always called the minority, we
always fulfill that role. We
should be able to be in roles of
power, and if we want to be
homemakers, we should be able
to do that too.”
Ponder also spoke about the
evolution of marriage and socie
ty-
“There are now dual expecta
tions within marriages,” Ponder
said. ‘There seems to be the atti
tude that there is not enough time
to do it all.”
Advertising in the media affects
gender roles in society, according
to Converse.
“The media plays a lot into it,”
Converse said. “You see com
mercials for girls with dolls and
for boys with trucks. My little
cousin likes to play with dolls
and his parents discourage him
from it.”
Each person’s leadership tech
niques vary, according to Bowles.
“As an investor, I look at com
panies that I want to put my
money in,” Bowles said.
“Everyone always says, ‘Well,
look what I did,’ and I do not
think that is right. All you need is
an idea, good or bad. I think you
all are the key to our future. I
have always believed that I have
certain strengths and weaknesses.
I believe in setting very high
standards. Good leaders have
good channels of communica
tion.
“Most problems come from a
lack of communication. This is
where I had the most trouble
becoming a politician.
Leadership really is about the
team, and not the individual. But,
as a politician, it is about you as a
person, and not so much about
the team. That was a hard transi
tion.”
Bowles asked if the honors
leadership class was representa
tive of the honors program.
“We are all intellectual, our
backgrounds are similar, we all
read the same books in high
school, and we all took the same
AP courses,” Converse said. “We
are able to have opportunities like
this to meet special people and do
special things.”
A new service providing finan
cial advice to women receives a lot
of criticism in the way they portray
women in their advertisements.
Women and Company is a serv
ice from Citigroup directed to
women who have questions about
banking and investing money.
Citigroup created the group to
address the needs of women who
face financial challenges.
“I don’t see the value of this,”
said Linda Nelms, professor of
management and accountancy. “I
do see the value of services tai
lored to people who might be very
financially unsophisticated, but
the implication that they are all
women is not complimentary and 1
don’t believe it is appropriate.”
The ad campaign attempts to use
language familiar to women and
feminine humor to make women
aware of the need to take care of
their finances. Critics of the ads
focus on the way that the advertis
ers are perceiving women.
“It says that they think that
women are stupid, that they don’t
have confidence and that they are
very concerned with their appear
ance,” said Lori Horvitz, partici
pating faculty member of women’s
studies. “It doesn’t give them a lot
of credit that they can figure things
out on their own.”
One of the advertisements states
that women cannot prevent worry
lines, but they can get a better
retirement plan. Some critics said
that advertising in this manner can
be considered a setback to women.
“I think that we live in a culture
where women are still considered
weak and submissive, and very
focused on the way that they
look,” Horvitz said. “This type of
advertising plays into every inse
curity that women have.
“It gives us the impression that
we are still living in Victorian
times. That women still are very
concerned with appearance and
this image is not going away.
“Everywhere you look in main
stream culture, there are just a lot
of insecurities. They say that 90
percent of women are on diets and
just don’t feel good about their
bodies, which makes them not feel
good about themselves in gener
al.”
Another advertisement states,
“Nothing makes you look like a
million bucks, like a million
bucks,” with a picture of diamonds
and pearls in the background. Only
in small print at the bottom does it
mention what the ad is for.
“I think that looking at this, it is
more likely to trigger that this a
jewelry ad, rather than a financial
SEE Finances page 101
Nationally renowned chemist finds importance in teaching non-science students
By Mike Bowers
Staff Writer
Noted chemist Catherine
Middlecamp led a discussion with
students and community members
un nuclear chemistry, its history
^d its uses in today’s society dur-
"tg two separate lectures in
f^obinson Hall on Oct. 20.
‘We are living in the nuclear
and we are faced with many
questions, both immediately and
^ We look into the future for our
•children and our children’s chil-
'^un,” said Middlecamp, professor
3t the University of Wisconsin at
Madison.
Middlecamp, the featured speak
er for UNCA’s
eighth annual S.
Dexter Squibb
Lecture Series,
agreed to come
to UNCA after
speaking with
Keith Krumpe,
chemistry
department
chair.
“I met
Middlecamp
Professor Krumpe at a conference,
and we chatted about it, and he
told me about the Squibb Lecture
Series,” Middlecamp said. “So we
talked about the Integrative
Liberal Studies program, and he
said, ‘I think you’d be a great
match to come and be our next
2005 speaker.’”
After talking to Krumpe more
about it, Middlecamp felt she
would be a good match for UNCA
and more importantly, for the
Squibb series, a symposium held
in honor of Professor Dexter
Squibb.
“It was because of what he
(Krumpe) told me about
(Squibb),” Middlecamp said. “He
(Krampe) told me how great a
teacher he had been, that he had
been a longtime chair of the
department, supported education
and was really interested in stu
dents teaching and learning.’
Middlecamp selected the sub
jects for her two talks, one about
the Firecracker Boys and Uranium
Girls of the early to mid-20th cen
tury and the other about uranium
and its byproducts, after being told
her audience would include some
students.
The Uranium Girls refer to a
group of girls in the 1920s who
painted radium paint on glow-in-
the-dark watches as well as mili
tary instruments, making it the
first nuclear industry. Many girls
eventually got radium poisoning
and approximately 100 died,
according to Middlecamp.
The Firecracker Boys refers to
people in the 1950s who wanted to
use nuclear weapons for peaceful
purposes. One better-known plan
involved dropping four hydrogen
bombs into the Alaska territory.
Eventually, however, officials
decided against the plan, accord
ing to Middlecamp.
The subjects, though originating
from events from over 80 years
ago, still held significance today,
according to Middlecamp.
“They both involve a lot of sci
ence,” Middlecamp said.
“Chemistry, but also biology, geol
ogy, physics, maybe even a little
political science, so that they’re
quite interdisciplinary topics, and I
think that is also being true to
Professor Squibb, who was inter
ested in teaching in its broadest
context.”
“The radium girls and . the fire
cracker boys are connected
through radioactivity and how we
as humans have chosen how to put
it to use or how not to put it to
use,” Middlecamp said.
Such important issues not only
currently affect people, but also
future generations, according to
Middlecamp.
“We are people who like to get
SEE Chemistry page 101
■ >