Unh ersit\' of Tennessee research
facilin helps soh e crimes by studying
human decomposition
eccxiing Decomposition
Entertainment • \\ cst\ ille Pub offers smokefree dining and unique aeti\ities • 4
Bulldogs sweep Radford
I'niNemin
lighlanders in
anner
three games
ulldog Haschall
Serving the Univ ersity' of North C^arolina at /Vshcville since 1982
SEESl'ORi'S 6
April 6, 2006
State welcomes education lottery
issue,]
ling
Wil
rai:]
By David Hodges
Staff Writer
Residents across the state
Ireceived their first taste of the
I North Carolina Education Lottery
[last week, with first-day sales
[reaching an estimated $8 million,
[according to the NCEL hotline.
Lottery officials expect the pro-
[gram to generate at least $400 mil-
[lion for education programs by the
[end of the fiscal year.
The first scratch-off tickets went
[on sale March 30, making North
[Carolina the final state along the
[East Coast to incorporate state-
[sponsored gambling, according to
|a NCEL news release.
Four different games were avail-
hable to customers, with prizes
[ranging from $1 to $100,000. A
[number-drawing game will be
[available later in the year, accord-
jing to the lottery hotline.
Many retailers in Asheville are
[participating in the lottery, with
[more expected to receive tickets
[soon. Most already notice the
[effect of the lottery on their busi-
jness.
“Our sales have gone up all
[around the store,” said Alan
lAustin, manager of the Kounty
[Line BP on Hendersonville Road.
]“lt seems like the lottery has
(lielped our sales on everything.”
Most retailers, expecting an
[acrease in business will hire addi-
rhnal employees to better manage
[ftiS flow of customers.
“We hired some new people, and
II have an extra person working on
I every shift now,” Austin said.
While retailers had high expec-
Itations, they are still surprised
I about how many tickets they sold.
“We have sold a lot more tickets
1 than I thought we would,” Austin
1 said. “People have been trading
I tickets for tickets a lot, too.”
Big winners appeared across the
state in the lottery’s first day. The
first grand prize winner, Richard
Garland of Newton, N.C., pur
chased a winning Carolina Cash
ticket in Conover and received a
check for $100,000. James
Greene, Army sergeant from Fort
Bragg, also won a grand prize of
$10,000 after purchasing a win
ning ticket in Fayetteville.
Locally, winnings have been
smaller, according to the lottery
hotline.
“1 know that we have sold a
$250 winner,” said April Vail,
employee of Exxon and 51 Grill.
“I have seen a lot of smaller ones.
L»l.'lL*.t-l
iMSsi
• St 'f
gifts
■ •'1?
Hi
Brian Davis - Photography Editor
Black Mountain resident Ashli Dennis, purchases a North Carolina Education Lottery ticket from employee Charles Gamble, 20, at the Exxon
on Merrimon Avenue. The first scratch-off tickets went on sale March 30 with first day sales reaching an estimated $8 millon.
66
Our sales have gone up all
around the store. It seems the
lottery has helped our sales
on everything.
Alan Austin
Kountry Line BP manager
though. A lot of $10 and $25 win
ners have come back.”
Retailers are still unsure about
whether the success will continue
or if the excitement will fade.
“It’s still a little too early to tell
if it will help in the long run, but
our sales since the first day have
been really good,” Austin said.
The General Assembly estab
lished the North Carolina State
Lottery in August 2005 after a
long debate about the need for
state-sponsored gambling in North
Carolina. Governor Mike Easley,
strong supporter of educational
funding, promoted the lottery
throughout its inception, accord
ing to the lottery news release.
“The lottery issue is not going
away,” Easley said in his 2005
State of the State address. “Only
the money for the education lot
tery is going away, from our state
to other states every single day.”
The lottery legislation requires
that 35 percent of total annual rev
enues benefit education programs.
This includes scholarships for stu
dents qualifying to receive federal
Pell Grants, reduction of class size
ratios in early grades, pre-kinder
garten programs and school con
struction, according to the lottery
news release.
Public primary, secondary and
high schools receive the greatest
portion of benefits, with only
approximately 10 percent of rev
enue expected to fund college
scholarships.
Colleges and universities expect
66-
We do not expect to receive
any funding at UNCA from
the lottery itself.
Bill. Sttres
as.sfx;iate vice-chancellor
for bu.sines.s and finance
to receive no direct funding from
the lottery revenue, as benefits will
go directly to college-bound stu
dents, according to the lottery
news release.
“We do not expect to receive
any funding at UNCA from the
lottery itself,” said Bill Styres,
associate vice-chancellor for busi
ness and finance. “We will only
benefit from students receiving
scholarships who choose to come
here.”
While the lottery does not direct
ly benefit UNCA, some students
feel that the program gives bene
fits to students receiving these
scholarships by allowing them to
choose what school they wish to
attend.
“I don’t think that it’s a bad thing
that the schools don’t get the
money directly,” said Tara
Gillispie, a student at Asheville-
Buncomhe Technical College,
who plans to attend UNCA in the
fall. “If I was getting a scholar
ship, I would rather be able to
choose where I went to school
than having to choose what school
I went to based on if they could
give me a scholarship.”
The lottery is expected to benefit
many lower-income students
throughout the state.
“If the lottery brings in as much
as is expected, about $40 million is
expected to go to scholarships
statewide,” Styres said.
UNCA ‘best value’ among public colleges
By Anna Lee
Staff Writer
A new pub’ication by the
Princeton Review lists UNCA in
the top 10 “Best Value Public
Colleges” in the nation.
“Our low tuition costs and aca-
I demies are just phenomenal, so
I I’m not surprised,” said Tarik
Glenn, senior management stu
dent and Student Government
Association president. “I’m just
glad that publication and others
recognize us for what we do.”
Ratings like these may make
UNCA more competitive in the
future, according to Scot
Schaeffer, director of admissions
3nd financial aid.
“It raises the awareness of the
University, which helps us in our
recruiting process,” Schaeffer
said. “It helps us get the best and
the brightest students to apply to
our institution.”
When asked if there could be a
downside to becoming a more
Competitive school, Schaeffer
said North Carolina residents
®ight see one.
“We want to stay the size that
"'e are,” Schaeffer said. “It just
becomes more competitive to get
in, and the drawback is, for
North Carolinians, they might be
upset that they’re not getting in.”
The ranking is a measure of
what students get for their tuition
costs, not just of UNCA’s low
price when compared to other
schools, according to Schaeffer.
“It’s really taking a look at the
whole package that the universi
ty provides for a student: The
academic experience, the social
experience, financial aid just the
cost to even come to school
here,” Schaeffer said. “It takes a
look at everything, and we’re
very pleased for that.”
North Carolina State
University in Raleigh also
ranked on the top 10 list. It
came in second, whereas UNCA
ranked sixth.
“I think it says a lot about the
institution’s quality,” Schaeffer
said. “It also says a lot about how
the state of North Carolina feels
about trying to make higher edu
cation and keep it affordable for
all students from the state of
North Carolina.”
66
99
Our low tuition costs and aca
demics are just phenomenal, so
I’m not surprised
T/\rik Glenn
senior management student
and SGA president
UNCA is even a good price for
some out-of-state students,
according to Schaeffer.
“The public higher education
system across the state of North
Carolina is very affordable for
out-of-state students,” Schaeffer
said. “There are some public
institutions where even for their
own in-state constituencies, are
much higher than the cost that
our students pay here, so we are
a good value even for someone
who’s coming from out-of-
state.”
Junior literature student Dana
Henry said North Carolina pub
lic schools are a better option for
her than in her home state of
Pennsylvania.
“It’s even cheaper than
(Pennsylvania State
University),” Henry said about
UNCA.
Kristal Hess, sophomore multi-
media arts and sciences student,
said UNCA has good value.
“It’s got really small class
sizes, so you can get individual
attention,” Hess said. “We have
nice programs, and we have all
kinds of different clubs and
activities, so there’s always
something to do. When it comes
down to it, I think it’s a pretty
decent value.”
Henry said she also likes that
UNCA is small and liberal arts-
based.
“They have more decent public
institutions in North Carolina
than in Pennsylvania,” Henry
said. “In Pennsylvania, there’s
only one, Penn. State, and it’s
huge and in the middle of
nowhere.”
Sometimes we take the perks
of attending a small school for
granted, according to Henry.
Henry said a friend at the
University of Pennsylvania (a
private school) complained to
her that lecture halls were so
crowded she had to sit on the
floor if she was late to class.
Rather than sit on the floor wear
ing a skirt, she would skip class
if she was not wearing pants.
“I have never had an experi
ence like that at UNCA,” Henry
said.
Hess is not pleased with
UNCA’s policies, though.
“I would like decent parking,
and the fact that they’re building
a building over there in the com
muter parking lot and three-
fourths of our campus is com
muter doesn’t help matters,”
Hess said.
Nonetheless, UNCA will take
advantage of the ranking,
according to Schaeffer.
“We will make sure that people
know about this, and the univer
sity will definitely reap some
benefits both in the state of
North Carolina and the whole
country, as students are looking
for quality institutions at a good
value,” Schaeffer said.
NCUR
returns
to UNCA
By Paige Reinhard
Staff Writer
Students from all over the coun
try get a chance to show off their
work at the 2()th anniversary of the
National Conference of
Undergraduate Research starting
today at UNCA.
“Students are turning a corner
from being in a regular classroom
experience learning this material,
showing your knowledge on tests,
writing papers, to being a produc
er of knowledge a creator of
knowledge,” said Mark Harvey,
associate psychology professor
and chair of NCUR.
UNCA organized and hosted the
first NCUR in 1986.
“UNCA has been and continues
to be a leader in undergraduate
research,” Harvey said. “There’s
just a tradition of having a strong
undergraduate research program,
and this is a chance for us to
demonstrate that.”
This year NCUR will host 1,919
presentations with representatives
from around 280 schools, accord
ing to Holly Beveridge, NCUR
event planner.
“There are probably about 2,300
students presenting those 1,900
abstracts because some of them
have two or three presenters on the
same piece,” Beveridge said.
NCUR is an important opportu
nity for students to take advantage
of, according to Harvey.
“One, the practical reason, it’s a
resume-builder for students,”
Harvey said. “It’s something dis
tinctive that a student can do that
can set them apart from other
applicants for jobs or graduate
schools.”
NCUR provides college students
a rare chance to showcase their
work, according to Beveridge.
“It’s not very often that under
graduates get to present their
research,” Beveridge said. “Most
of the conferences out there are for
graduates.”
UNCA students who are pre
senting have a chance to get a lot
out of the conference, according to
Harvey.
“I hope that they find out that
they can hang tough with the best
students in the country,” Harvey
said. “1 guess the No. 1 thing is
that they find that it’s a confidence
booster. They do good work, that
they communicate it well and that
their work can be respected in the
broad academic community.”
Not only is it important for stu
dents to present, but for students
who are not presenting to attend,
according to Harvey.
“So that they can see for them
selves, especially the freshman
and the sophomores, what kind of
work they may do in the time to
come in their college experience,”
Harvey said.
Presentations by the students
may be the main draw of the con
ference, but it isn’t the only one.
Presentations by professional
scholars are planned as part of the
conference as well.
Author Ilan Stavans, conceptu
al artist Mel Chin and chemist
Geraldine Richmond are sched
uled to give plenary addresses,
according to the UNCA Web
site.
Student presentations and plena
ry addresses are free and open to
the public.
Having the 20th anniversary of
NCUR at UNCA is fitting, accord
ing to Harvey.
“We very much not only support
the whole undergraduate research
movement, as it’s been recently
called, but we’ve been doing it for
a long time,” Harvey said. “We
know a few things about it, and we
do it well.”