r
■Willi
Ashe\ille quintet Toubab
Krew e brings a taste of Africa to
The Orange Peel Saturdat night
Life • Ingles eiits adt eitising tor April 4 release of Hrokebaek Mountain • 10
Men’s and \^ omen’s tennis
teams saire home court \ictories
o\ er North Carolina A ik 1'
fricana in Ashexille
acket Rack-up
The Bl
ue
B
anner
See EnTERTAIxNMENT 6
See SpoR'I'S 7
Volume 44, Issue 8
Tulane
student
petitions
congress
By Jim MacKenzIe
SEE Levees page 21
Serving the Univcrsitv' of North Carolina at Asheville since 1982
rroTr-
College students can change
the world, or at least some part
of it.
Dan Hyman, freshman politi
cal science student at Tulane
University in New Orleans, was
forced to evacuate his dorm on
move-in day due to Hurricane
Katrina. When Hyman heard
the levees would only be rebuilt
to withstand a Category 3 hurri
cane, he took action and started
Savebigeasy.org, an online peti- i
tion drive.
“I knew that Congress would
not mobilize unless popular
pressure was felt,” Hyman said.
‘Therefore, I started the organi- j
zation and the petition to con
vince Congress to pass a bill '
appropriating the proper funds
for a Category 5 levee system to
ensure that such a preventable
tragedy would never happen
again.”
In a March 6 Washington Post
article, Jim Taylor, spokesman
for the Army Corps of
Engineers, said the New I
Orleans levees will be rebuilt '
only to pre-Katrina standards.
“We were authorized to do
that and do it quickly,” Taylor I
said. “It’s up to Congress to |
decide to take it to a higher
level.” )
Hyman said returning to
Tulane was both hopeful, due to
some people’s persistence, and
sad.
“The sight of Tulane and New
Orleans evoked some feelings j
of sadness at the physical dam
age, but I came away feeling j
very positive about the experi
ence,” Hyman said. “I remem
ber thinking about how fragile ;
life truly is and realizing with
shock how quickly and utterly |
completely one’s life and situa- -
tion can change.”
Classes resumed at Tulane_
University in January, accord- ;
ing to Hyman.
‘The people of both the uni
versity and the city were
rebuilding and they were not
giving up,” Hyman said. “While
some spoke shamefully of aban
doning New Orleans to nature,
these people were hard at work
fixing their homes and cleaning
up the streets.
‘The city welcomed the start
of classes at Tulane, since the
university is such an integral
part of the city it felt good to be
back and be a part of the
rebuilding.”
Hyman said he believes that
college students have the
power to positively affect the
world.
“College students are among
Ihe most idealistic, motivated
people in the world,” Hyman
said. ‘They have proven that
fitey can make a difference.
“College smdents were at the
forefront of some of the great
social movements of our time.
The success of the Civil Rights
uiovement is a direct testament i
lo their effectiveness when
organized and determined.”
The petition drive began
slowly, but is gaining momen
tum, according to Hyman.
“College papers like yours
{The Blue Banner), from across
the country, from Indiana to
New York, are doing stories,
ujid I have reached out to other
T reatment options
How to control drug and alcohol abuse problems
By Jim MacKenzie
Staff Writer
Many treatment options exist
for students experiencing sub
stance problems, both on campus
and off.
OiT-campus treatment options
Addiction is a vastly treatable
illness and there are many options
to choose from, according to
Brack Jeffreys, executive director
of Substance Abuse Solutions of
North Carolina, Inc.
“If you have to ask yourself if
it’s a problem, that’s probably a
good indicator that it is a prob
lem,” Jeffreys said.
Confronting the person in a pos
itive way is a great tool for recov
ery, according to Jeffreys.
Jeffreys said even when inter
ventions do not work for the abus
er, they are cathartic for the fami
ly-
“It’s important to listen and not
have preconceived notions as to
what may really be going on,”
Jeffreys said. “Tell them, ‘I’m
here, if you want it.’”
More immediate measures than
a planned intervention are some
times necessary, according to
Jeffreys.
“If they are out of control and
getting ready to hurt themselves,
do whatever you have to do to
protect them,” Jeffreys said.
“That’s a little different than a
patterned behavior that has gotten
our attention.”
The first step is usually an
assessment of the patient by a
professional. Then the patient is
matched to appropriate treatments
of what they need and what they
are willing to do, according to
Jeffreys.
Twelve-step recovery and for
malized treatments by a doctor
compliment each other, according
to Jeffreys.
“Every night of the week, or
day of the week, you have a
bunch of meetings going on.
They’re all free and they work
really well,” Jeffreys said.
There are three levels of use
when it comes to drugs, according
to Jeffreys.
“Is it substance use, is it sub
stance abuse or is it chemical
dependency? Those are three sep
arate issues,” Jeffreys said.
“People can go back and forth
between use and abuse, but if they
go from use or abuse to depend
ency, they generally can’t go
back.”
Recovery is a sophisticated psy
chological and spiritual journey,
according to Jeffreys.
“It’s very important to delineate
between spirituality and reli
gion.” Jeffreys said. “Spirituality
is a universal experience that
involves a lot of things, such as
one’s culture or heritage and
one’s belief system of choice.”
There is a great range of recov
ery options available to substance
abusers. Patients are aided by
horses in their personal recovery
at Horse Sense of the Carolinas.
Equine-assisted psychotherapy is
Liquor Law Violations
-APP
-UNCA
Western
i6-
Statistics provided by UNCA factbook, Western Carolina University factbook and
Appalachian State University factbook.
If you have to ask yourself if
it’s a problem, that’s probably
a good indicator that it is a
problem.
Brack Jeffreys
executive director of
Substance Abuse Solutions
of North Carolina, Inc
counseling combined with eques
trian activities, according to
employee Laura Anthony.
“The first session is just a histo
ry of the patient. There’s a lot of
information gathering. After that,
the sessions take place in the
arena with the horses,” Anthony
said “You break through all these
barriers in one or two sessions.”
The horse is nature’s lie detec
tor, according to Anthony.
“The whole concept is based on
the fact that horses are animals of.
prey,” Anthony said. “Because of
that, they are super sensitive to
their surroundings. Not just phys
ical, but they’re sensitive to peo
ple’s emotions they’re carrying
with them, or whether or not a
person is cohesive with what they
say and what they’re really think
ing.
“We can tell from how the horse
responds to the client whether or
not the client is being honest.”
The therapist absorbs the
horse’s reaction to the client,
according to Anthony.
“Clients come up with their
own information. It’s their own
personal discovery they make as a
result,” Anthony said. “Then, we
ask questions to help them to go
in a little deeper with that infor
mation.”
Employee Josie Saxton said
horses need to know if everything
is safe in their immediate envi
ronment.
“They are basically big bunny
rabbits, and we are predators,”
Saxton said. “They’re already
suspicious of us. And, if we have
an extra layer going on of dishon
esty, then we are just not fit to be
around and they won’t stay
around us.”
Employee Rob Jacoby said the
horses also bring out all sorts of
University Treatment Options
ii
99
We can tell from how the
horse responds to the client
whether or not the client is
being honest.
LauR/\ Anthony
Horse Sense of the
Clarolinas employee
human emotions.
“We see frustration and anger,
communication skills and rela
tionship skills,” Jacoby said. “All
that comes out in moments. It’s
then that we see the truth and
Photo illustration by Shanna Arney - Staff Photographer
Addiction is an on-going issue on most college campuses. At UNCA, students can meet with the substance abuse counselor at tbe Counseling
Center to discuss possible treatment options. Campus officials are taking steps to evaluate whether drug and alcohol abuse is rising at UNCA.
we’ll be talking to each other
while the person is out doing their
thing and deciding where we want
to go with them.”
Saxton said clients end up with
a lot of useful insight they can
take home with them.
“Everything is very immediate
and it’s in the moment and it’s all
about what works for you in that
moment,” Saxton said.
Dale Kirkley, counselor at the
Student Wellness Center at
Western Carolina University, said
there are certain behaviors that
may indicate a friend is having a
substance problem.
“There is probably a long list of
things that might be symptomatic.
For instance, frequent, heavy
alcohol use, priorities changing,
more time gravitating toward that
lifestyle, decreasing interest in
priorities in other areas, decreased
school attendance, seeing friends
less and less, having blackouts
and personality changes,” Kirkley
said.
Kirkley said despite what some
say, he believes college students
are not apathetic toward drugs.
“That’s not true of the majori
ty,” Kirkley said. “I think it’s a
misrepresentation of how stu
dents feel.”
SEE TREATMENT PAGE 21
March 30, 2006
AZD
assists
cancer
patients
By Paige Reinhard
Staff Writer
Alpha Xi Delta members
invites people to shave their
heads to help raise money for
children with cancer at their
upcoming Haircut Party.
“We sit there and we tell
them, ‘You’re beautiful with or
without hair.’ But yet we say, ‘I
could never cut mine.’ So, what
kind of double standard is that?”
said Michael Chapman, creator
of Haircut Party For Kids With
Cancer.
Giving up his or her hair is a
minor sacrifice for a person to
make, according to Chapman.
“It’s not like sacrificing your
life. It’s a piece that will grow
back,” Chapman said.
This is not the first time Alpha
Xi Delta hosted a similar event,
but this year is slightly different.
“We had our own Haircut
Party two years in a row, but
this year we are given an oppor
tunity to work with more people'
and be on a bigger scale,” said
Rachel Blake, chapter vice pres
ident and junior drama student.
Alpha Xi Delta takes a very
active role in getting the word
out about the fundraiser, accord
ing to Blake.
“We are helping with adver
tisement, and we will be at a
bunch of different locations
around Asheville the last week
of April promoting it,” Blake
said.
This year Alpha Xi Delta
hopes to double or triple the
amount they raised in the past,
according to Blake.
“In the past, on our own, we
have raised over $10,000, but
this year the goal is somewhere
around $20,000 to $30,000,”
Blake said.
Chapman said a young girl
named Hannah especially
moved him. She was diagnosed
with acute leukemia lymphoma
at the age of five and had to
undergo 108 weeks of
chemotherapy, according to
Chapman.
“Hair grows back for us,”
Chapman said. “Hannah didn’t
have hair for two years. She
didn’t have a choice in that. We
do have a choice. And that
choice is to sacrifice one little
part of us.”
Anyone is welcome to partici
pate in the event.
“And if that means someone
with waist-length hair saying,
‘Look, I will shave my head if
we can raise $5,000, then we are
going to go out there and raise
$5,000 for that girl,” Chapman
said.
It is important for us to take
responsibility for helping chil
dren who have cancer, accord
ing to Chapman.
“We have to take possession
of these children in our hearts,”
Chapman said. “They are just
regular children that have a dis
ease. They are forced into it,
and they have to face it.”
Being involved in fundraising
of this kind is more than just
about raising money, according
to Blake.
“In doing all of our philan
thropies I think that the most
important thing is learning from
other people,” Blake said.
It is important for organiza
tions to give back to their com-
SEE Cancer page 21
•'
4 .
4
■'1*
V
IA ♦
If
;•! ft.