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/MArC£; PARTY, Entertainment 4 BLACK ASHEVILLE, News 3 GROVE RESIDENT SPEAKS OUT, Opinion 9
By Lisa Gillespie
Managing Editor
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Student wins
free tuition
Peanut butter
recalled to
Never-Never Land
Certain batches of Peter Pan
Peanut Butter may contain
food-borne bacteria salmonella.
Symptoms of salmonella are
similar to food poisoning.
Affected people will get diar
rhea, fever and lethargy.
Symptoms will appear within a
few days of ingestion, but fatal
cases are rare.
College bans
Wikipeidia
Vermont-based college
Middlebury College’s history
department banned Wikipeida,
the collaborative online ency
clopedia, from papers and
exams after students in a history
class obtained false information
for an exam. Middlebury has
not banned the use of Wikipeida
completely.
Senator supports
gay marriage
The Rhode Island attorney
general said same-sex marriages
performed in Massachusetts, the
only state where they are legal,
should be recognized in Rhode
Island yesterday.
The state currently prohibits
discrimination based on sexual
orientation and does not explic
itly prohibit same-sex marriage.
After three employees who
had same-sex marriages in
Massachusetts asked that their
personnel files be changed to
reflect that they were married,
the question went to the attorney
general. In September, a judge
in Massachusetts ruled that
Rhode Island couples could
marry in Massachusetts because
Rhode Island did not have a law
barring same-sex marriage.
Rape allegations
spark conflict
The United States plans to
investigate into the case of a
Sunni woman allegedly raped
by Iraqi policemen after the
Shia-run government dismissed
her claims as false.
U.S. chief of military
spokesman’s announcement
said Baghdad appeared aimed at
containing the growing political
storm over the case, which
strikes at the heart of Iraqi atti
tudes of dignity and the protec
tion of women.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri
al-Maliki’s exoneration of the
three officers after an investi
gation lasting less than a day
inflamed Sunni-Shiite tension.
Blue Banner
The News
in Brief
Laura Tamea, UNC Asheville
junior student, recently won
$5,000 from U.S. Cellular for
free tuition.
U.S. Cellular’s “Star Service”
Tuition Sweepstakes awarded
20 scholarships to students from
across the country. The Star
Service Initiative visited more
than 50 universities last year
and helped students move into
residence halls, provided free
rides from bars and restaurants
and delivered refreshments to
students. Tamea registered to
win free tuition at
www.getusc.com or via text
message from their mobile
phone.
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Adam Hii.i.bi-rry - ENniRiAiNMiiNT liDiroK
Chancellor Anne Ponder talks with students on the Quad after the walk-out yesterday, addressing concerns and answering questions alongside University General Coun.sel 'I’om
La^on. University administration is currently under fire from faculty, staff and students for recent decisions regarding faculty restructuring and, more specifically, the recent termi
nation of Maggie Weshner, director of the counseling center. Students organized the walk-out in hopes of reinstating Weshner to her position in the counseling center.
Restructuring tension boils over
Students organize walk-out in support of Weshner
By Aaron Dahlstrom & Lisa Gillespie
Staff Writer & Managing Editor
The termination of Maggie
Weshner 11 days after the first day
of spring classes continues to
eause eontroversy as faculty and
staff members passed a resolution
calling for the reversal of the
school’s decision and yesterday’s
student-organized walk-out.
“Whatever the new structuring is
going to be, there should be a place
in it for Maggie Weshner, who has
worked here for almost 30 years,”
said Gary Nallan, associate profes
sor of psychology and chair of the
faculty senate. “If we had been
consulted, this decision might not
have been reached.”
Weshner lost her job due .to a
restructuring process undertaken
by the school, according to
Chancellor Aime Ponder.
When a student asked Ponder if
it was a personal or professional
decision to fire Maggie Weshner,
Ponder paused. After consulting
with University Attorney Tom
Lawton, Ponder said,
“Professional.”
“This type of change has been
needed for years. We have been
working with a broken medical
system for students,” John Noor,
senior economics political science
student and student body presi
dent. “I am glad to see that the
vice chancellor is taking the right
steps for students and making this
difficult but necessary decision.”
The move combines the counsel
ing center and health center into
one unit, giving the school
increased effi
TiTranAiNMnfJrTSmiR
Students marched to the library steps during the walk-out yesterday. Chancellor Anne Ponder was in a meeting in the library at the time, and
students sat and chanted in the lobby for over an hour until her meeting ended. Ponder answered questions and responded to student concerns.
Maggie Weshner
ciency in the
face of growing
student
demand,
according to
Vice
Chancellor Bill
Haggard.
“Our student
psychological
and medical
issues have become more com
plex,” Haggard said. “These
issues cannot be easily compart
mentalized into different depart
ments, especially psychological
and medical.”
The restructuring of the counsel
ing and health services centers into
one unit will offer a continuum of
care that will have far reaching
benefits, according to Weshner’s
letter of dismissal from Haggard.
“A consultant came in January, I
told them to combine us with the
health center,” Weshner said. “I
just thought I would be a part of
it.”
A special gathering of the facul
ty senate met with university
administration Thursday, express
ing their disagreement with the
school’s decision to terminate
Weshner.
“I have never seen the faculty
and administration so split over an
issue,” said Marilyn Lonon, a for
mer applications programmer who
retired from UNC Asheville after
working at the university for 32
years.
Lonon said she retired because
the atmosphere at the school
changed for the worse.
“I had the luxury of retiring. I
loved my job, I loved the people I
worked with, loved working with
the students,” Lonon said. “I
believed in the mission of the
University, but in the last 15
months the atmosphere of the cam
pus for the staff had become so
threatening and so intimidating
that I just decided I did not have to
work in that kind of environment.”
The reaction to the firing of
Weshner may not have been as
strong if there wasn’t already a cli-
ii
99
If they are doing this for the
students, they ought to be
explaining how this will make
things better.
Jennifer Nicouni
Sophomore Psychology
Student
mate of fear, according to
Weshner.
“It is both her longevity here,
almost 30 years, but also she is the
most recent in a series of termina
tions of long-term employees,”
Nallan said.
Weshner was a catalyst to an
issue already occurring through a
series of events, according to
Weshner.
“Maggie was the one person so
far who had the most to do with
students. She was the most visible
person,” Lonon said.
In the three semesters prior to
Ponder’s arrival, 18 employees left
who were classified as executive,
administrative, managerial and
professional. Following her
arrival, 26 employees left, accord
ing to the department of human
resources.
“Maggie was the flashpoint. In
the last 15 months, according to
my research, I know of 25 staff
members who had been fired,
retired or who have left for other
jobs under duress,” Lonon said.
“Twenty-five people for a total of
nearly 450 years of staff experi
ence in 15 months. My question is,
‘Is there a pattern here?”’
The way the restructuring took
place concerns some students.
“If they are doing this for the
students, they ought to be explain
ing how this will make things bet
ter. You should be open about what
you are doing. 1 don’t accept
restructuring for an answer, and I
don’t think Maggie Weshner does,
either,” said Jennifer Nicolini, a
sophomore psychology student.
There have been 26 meetings on
restructuring, and
only one or two
meetings includ
ed students,
according to Greg
Goddard, junior
atmospheric sci
ence student and
organizer of the
walk-out.
“Restructuring
is sometimes necessary, but firing
an employee of 28 years is not the
way to do it,” Goddard said. “The
students that represent student
government are not representative
by the two members of student
government that she talks to, John
Noor and Tim Laughlin.”
In the faculty senate resolution
faculty advised Weshner to stay
Greg Goddard
until the end of the year to facil-
SEE Restructure page 31