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News
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ITie Blue Banner — Serving the University' of North Carolina at Asheville since 1982
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Students come out to get down
A
By Neal Brown
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SWf WWTER
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The Alliance kicked off its annu
b
al Progressive Prom on Saturday
fe
with both professional and stu
at
dent-run drag shows, plenty of
food and good music.
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“Progressive Prom is one of our
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most well-attended events every
C
year,” said Joel Siegel, president of
P
Alliance and junior atmospheric
C
science student.
a
The night began around 8:30
a
p.m. in Alumni Hall with a drag
il
show performed by two profes
y
sional drag troops, the Country
V
Kings and the Ashevegas Outlaws,
f-
according to Siegel.
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The professional drag show cost
a
about $10 to attend. Both the drag
show and the Progressive Prom
a
were open to the pubic, according
t
to Siegel.
1
“However, all UNCA students
c
were free to the entire night’s
(
events,” Siegel said.
2
Chartwells provided food and
\
drinks for the prom, catering to
about 150 guests, according to
f
Siegel.
i
“We had chicken tenders, warm
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vegetables, pigs in a blanket and
about five or six dozen sodas and
1
waters,” Siegel said.
Though the dance featured many
1
different types of people from the
66
Progressive Pwm is one
of our most well-attended
events every year.
Joel Siegel
President of Alliance
UNC Asheville community, the
Progressive Prom did not really
have a theme and focused more on
providing students with a place to
have a good time, according to
Siegel.
“It is basically progressing
toward what we would like to see
in all of the schools,” Siegel said.
“We want the people to feel open
and safe and have as much fun at
our progressive prom as they
would in their actud proms in high
school.”
The goal of the prom is to have
an event that integrates both the
gay and straight communities,
according to A.J. Jessup, senior
creative writing student and vice
president of Alliance.
“It is just another chance to bring
out the whole community whether
they are gay, straight or whatever,”
Jessup said. “It is a chance to have
a good time, to dance and to just
let it out.”
The event drew a decent turnout
with diverse groups of people in
attendance, according to Jonathan
Barnes, junior envirorunental stud
ies and management student.
“I saw a lot of my straight
friends there that 1 maybe would
not have expected to see,” Barnes
said. “I think that straight people
know that when you want to get
down, you have to go to the gay
parties.”
There were a good number of
straight people there because peo
ple know that the night is all about
freedom of expression, according
to Siegel.
‘There were several UNCA
straight students there that defi
nitely came to show off their inner
queer,” Siegel said.
The drag show was the best part
of the night for some, according to
Siegel.
“My favorite part was probably
looking around during the student
drag show and seeing everybody
smiling.
“I liked dressing up and seeing
all of the different interesting
choices of dress. I also had a lot of
fun dancing,” Carsky said.
The music and the drag show
were the best parts for some as
well as showing support for stu
dent organizations, according to
Erica Little, junior atmospheric
science major.
“I am head of all of the student
organizations on campus, and so I
went to support Alliance and all of
their hard work. The student-run
drag show was my favorite part,
and the DJ played really good
music,” Little said.
Not only did the event bring out
a lot of students, there was also
plenty of faculty there showing
support with the likes of Bill
Haggard, vice chancellor for stu
dent affairs and Calvin Kelly,
director for campus life, according
to Jessup. Alliance advisors were
66
specifically during j
Bootsy Calderon’s performance. ■* dressing up and seeing
Bootsy always comes through for of the different interesting
us,” Siegel said. choices of dress.
For some, getting dressed up and
dancing was the best part of the
night, according to Havely Carsky,
sophomore environmental studies
student.
Havely Carsky
sophonjore environmental
.studies student
also
there,
and the
members of ^
Alliance are grate
ful for all of the sup
port from the faculty
and their advisors,
Jessup said.
The prom was fun,
worth going to and
an overall good
time, according to
Barnes.
“It was the best
attendance I have
ever seen at the
event, and this was |
my third year going,”
Barnes said. j
The event was
definitely a success,
according to Siegel.
“I actually started
feeling tears well up in
the back of my eyes,”
Siegel said. “I was like,
‘I cannot believe that
this dream dance that I
have envisioned for the
past two weeks is finally
coming true.
''' Keiu;
Rosander,
senior drama
student, per.
forms in the
student drag
show at
Progressive
Prom.
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Conference
a graduate student from Emory
University who attended the con
ference.
One of the highlights of the con
ference was keynote speaker Kate
Bornstein, according to Mills.
Bornstein is a transgender writer,
scholar, activist and performance
artist based in New York City.
More than 250 people attended her
talk in the Humanities Lecture
Hail Friday night.
During her talk, Bornstein cele
brated the diversity of experiences
and manifestations of sex and sex
uality in society. Asheville has
more transgender people per thou
sand people than anywhere else in
the country, according to
Bornstein.
“Most people come to college
with two common misconceptions:
TTiere are two genders, male and
female, and there are two sexual
desires, homo and hetero,”
Bornstein said. ‘This binary is just
untrue.”
Bornstein’s talk drew much
laughter and cheers from the audi
ence, and at one point the speaker
solicited a round of applause for
UNC Asheville Chancellor Anne
Ponder, who introduced Bornstein.
“It is so cool to see a university
that is supporting this kind of con
ference and this type of important
dialogue,” Bornstein said.
The conference was an opportu
nity for Emma Remick, Warren
Wilson senior interdisciplinary
66
??
This conference reflects being
able to be academic about
these issues and make the
information accessible to peo
ple outside the academy.
Emma Remick
Warren Wilson Student
student, to have the second screen
ing of her documentary film enti
tled “Embodied Revolution.” The
film is a national look at gender-
based and body-conscious
activism, according to Remick.
The project started small and
continued growing, with footage
from New York, San Francisco,
Atlanta, Washington, Boston and
Asheville, according to Remick.
The film includes interviews with
leading thinkers, activists and
artists dealing with work related to
gender and sexuality.
“This conference reflects being
able to be academic about these
issues and making the information
accessible to people outside the
academy,” Remick said. “That’s
what I tried to show in my work as
well. All sorts of people are really
interested in talking about these
issues.”
The conference is a lot of work
to plan, but the results are very
rewarding, according to Mills.
Queer studies is important for any
university program that is really
looking to have a diverse curricu
lum, she said.
“Fundamentally, our society has
a puritanical background and
makes sex out to be dirty and
shameful,” Bornstein said in the
closing statement of her keynote
speech. “I believe there is a silent
majority of people in this country
who like sex. We are in a position
to shift the direction of American
culture.”
Queer conference participants converse in the Highsmith, where
UNC Asheville community gathered for a weekend of events and
Trey Bouvier - Staff PhotographbI
the conference took place. Members of the 1
speeches centered around queer studies
Elderly
Drive
ing to several reptorts.
Closer to home in Durham
County, government officials
repvort one in every five elderly cit
izens are victims of crime, which
can range from breaking and enter
ing, assault, fraud and abuse by
family members. Officials also cite
identity theft as one of the largest
growing categories of crime vic
timizing elderly citizens.
There is some apprehension in
the senior citizen community
toward their own victimization,
according to Joan Renton, 60, who
is actively involved with UNC
Asheville’s Reuter Center.
“1 think that Asheville is com
paratively safe. I am from New
Orleans, and there you have to
lock your doors when you are driv
ing around town. 1 don’t feel like I
have to lock my doors when 1 am
driving here,” Renton said. “I
wouldn’t be surprised if theft was
growing to be a big problem here
because the city is growing in
leaps and bounds. 1 just wish this
sort of thing was reported more.”
Eighty-year-old Richard
Krueger said victimization target
ed to his age group is a serious
problem.
“My wife’s purse was stolen
from her outside a grocery store,
and I believe that crime to be tar
geted toward senior citizens,”
Krueger said. “I also get all sorts
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
of spam phone calls that try to
trick me into buying or funding
some sort of scam.”
There are other scams targeted at
senior citizens besides pick pock
eting in Asheville, according to
West.
“One of the common things that
happen in the spring is we will
have a scam that focuses on elder
ly p>eople’s homes,” West said.
According to West, a lot of
home improvement occurs in
Asheville during the spring and
thieves take advantage of renova
tions.
“A lot of times we will have a
scam where the bad guys will
come in and put a coat of black
paint or tar and put it on p>eople’s
driveways. They will then charge
them exorbitant amounts of money
for the repaving and head out
before the owners are even
aware,” West said.
These groups are present all
across the East coast and citizens
should be aware of what could
happen to them. West said.
“We have already had a few inci
dents of this in Asheville,” West
said.
Senior citizens are at a higher
risk to all of these scams because
they are too polite, Dankel said.
“Senior citizens were raised in a
time where they were taught not to
be rude and some folks have a
really hard time doing just that,”
Dankel said. ‘They need to be
taught to hang up the phone when
scam artists call and to walk away
when someone starts hassling
them for information or conversa
tion.”
The Federal Bureau of
Investigation backs this up.
My wife’s purse was stolen
from her outside a grocery
store, and I believe that crime
to be targeted towards senior
citizens.
Richmid Krueger
Asheville Citizen, 8o
reporting the most common rea
sons senior citizens are victims
of crime are because they are
more likely to have been raised
to be polite and trusting, they are
most likely to have a “nest egg,”
to own their home and have
excellent credit. Elderly citizens
are also less likely to report
fraud because they don’t know
who to report it to, according to
the FBI.
It is imp>ossible to know just how
badly senior citizens are affected
by pick-pockets or fraud, accord
ing to Dankel.
“Some people are afraid to come
forward with their case because
they are embarrassed of their vul
nerability to it. It is impossible to
know how many people are affect
ed by these crimes,” Dankel said.
“It is hard to say numbers. We
know it happens, but we just don’t
know how badly.”
Renton said she would like to
see classes educate senior citizens
on these problems at the Reuter
Center or in the community.
“If this sort of crime is growing
to be a big problem, then we
should be instructed on how to
deal with these types of people.
Women started classes when phys
ical abuse became a problem. They
learned how to defend themselves
in bad situations and so should
we,” Renton said.
Krueger disagreed saying that
some elderly people will not be
able to absorb self-defense infor
mation
“There are some people who
aren’t capable of absorbing a lot of
information and that leaves them
more suspect,” Krueger said.
APD is attempting to combat
this sort of crime, according to
Dankel.
“We have a problem just like any
city does with being defrauded and
because of that we have an investi
gator who works on these things
all the time,” Dankel said.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1_
ride my bike and walk to school
whenever possible.”
The film festival will feature
the competing short films as well
as some of the 30-second PSAs.
In addition to the film contest,
the public has the opportunity to
compete for prizes by participat
ing in the Strive Not to Drive
pledge drive taking place April
20-29.
Participants are to commit to
use alternative transportation
during the allotted time period
and record their ways and means
of getting around during that
time.
A variety of prizes are available
to winners, such as a $250
Liberty Bicycles gift card, two
tickets to the Biltmore Estate, gift
certificates to local businesses
such as the Asheville Pizza and
Brewing Company, Malaprops
and many more. A full list of
prizes is available at www.gettin-
garound-wnc.com and partici
pants can expect an announce
ment of winners on May 16.
There are many other events to
participate in, including the
Strive Not to Drive day on April
20, offering 25 cent bus rides all
day on the Asheville Transit
System.
There is a free bike commuter
workshop from 9 a.m. until 1
66
■
In a time when we are con
sidering the effects of
human impact on the earth,
this type of event is very
important.
Yuri Koslen
Tran^itation Planner
UNC Asheville
p.m. on April 21 at the Buncombe
County Training Room located al
199 College St.
There will also be the annual
Earth Day Festival at the
Cathedral of All Souls
Biltmore Village and the BeatinS
the Bounds Bicycle Ride at Paul
Square in downtown Asheville
on April 22.
A wealth of opportunities to
get involved in this event are
accessible to the public and those
involved are encouraging others
to participate in any way they
can, according to Koslen, who
worked previously with eveats
like this in Boulder, Colo.
“In a time when we are consid'
oring the effects of hurnaa
m