UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA ASHEVILLE
Blue Banner
compiled by Sandy LaCode and Gina Douthat
Men’s Basketball
Bulldogs lock in a 6-1 record,
see page 4.
» ^ ik- Mi
Travelogue
Take a walk on the
Eastern side with a
student in Thailand.
see page 10.
THUR. 59 29 FRI. 51 29 SAT. 55 35 SUN. 53 10
Thursday, November 29, 2007
\v\\^’.unca.edu/hanner
\bl. 17, Issue 12
THE
NEWS
IN BRIEF
University
addresses
I human rights
UNC Asheville honors
^temational Human Rights Day
In Dec. 9 with a talk by renowned
human rights activist William
Schulz. A former Amnesty
^temational director, Schulz trav-
t|ed across the world pursuing
human rights in places like Sudan,
Darfur, Cuba and Northern Ireland.
The talk, entitled “Restoring
\merica's Credibility: Human
fkights in a Post-9/11 World,” takes
fclace at 7 p.m. and is free to the
Ldent body and public.
Asheville lands
$35 million
water bill
. The city of Asheville made plans
for a $35 million overhaul of the
city’s water system, of which
potions are more than a century
pld according to city officials. The
city expects accepted contractors
to begin work on the project with
in 90 to 100 days, with the project
lasting up to two years.
The changes mean fewer broken
pipes and better water pressure,
according to city officials.
Asheville expects spending $65
nillion in all for necessary water
lystem repairs, which Asheville
jlvater customers pay for with the
Capital improvement fee already
on the water bill.
Peace talks
resume
in Middle East
Israeli and Palestinian leaders
igreed Tuesday to resume nego
tiations regarding the creation
of an independent Palestinian
state. The decision marks the
first such negotiations to take
place in seven years.
The talks begin on Dec. 12
and will be held biweekly. The
United States will moderate the
discussions. So far, neither
Israeli or Palestinian officials
how any signs of backing
lown on the issues that halted
previous negotiations, such as
die borders of a Palestinian state
2nd the status of Jerusalem.
AIDS Quilt fashions connections with students
By Caroline Fry
Staff Writer
In honor of World AIDS day.
Western Carolina University will
display portions of the AIDS quilt,
made two decades ago in San
Francisco to memorialize victims
of the disease.
The WCU display, which runs
from Dec. 3 to Dec. 6 in
Cullowhee. comes in cooperation
with UNC Asheville’s chapter of
the Student Global AIDS cam
paign.
“By sponsoring this quilt at
WCU, SGAC is able to expose to
the UNC Asheville campus com
munity a visible, tangible result of
the pandemic,” said Maddie
Hayes, co-chair of SGAC. “When
you’re looking at this quilt, soak
ing in all of the history, the person
al importance, the result of AIDS,
you can’t escape the feeling that
there is so much to this world that
we cannot even fathom.”
More than 70 individual panels
of the quilt will be on di.splay at the
WCU campus. Along with the
quilt, WCU will sponsor speakers,
a theater piece and on-site AIDS
testing, according to Kerrie Joseph,
WCU wellness coordinator.
“We hope to have a moving
event that inspires people to
become active in the fight against
HIV and AIDS,” Joseph said.
“Students should come out to wit
ness and be a part of the world's
largest community art project.”
Joseph encourages UNC
Asheville students to come to the
WCU campus to view the quilt
and help their fellow mountain
students in volunteering.
“Anyone can volunteer to be a
quilt monitor, or to make and
donate a panel, bring a carload of
friends to view the quilt, or attend
one of the many events during
those four days,” Joseph said. “We
will also be collecting items for
donation to the people that the
Nantahala AIDS Consortium
serves."
The AIDS Memorial Quilt
began in 1987 in memory of those
who died of the disease, anil today
it contains 44,0(K) individual pan
els and covers six city blocks. It
was nominated in 1989 for the
Nobel Peace Prize, and is the
largest art project in the world,
according to the NAMHS Project
Foundation.
The AIDS quilt serves as a great
educational tool because it gives a
personal, living view of the dis
15 years of waiting
-A-’ • T
fv ••7
Glen Edward Chapman, left, at age 25 in 1992 and right, at age 38 in 2005. Chapman is on death row for the murder of two women
in Hickory in 1992 and has been granted a new trial after a court order. Chapman awaits trial at Central Prison in Raleigh.
One man’s journey through accusations, incarceration,
death row and now a new chance at freedom
By Lisa V. Gillespie
Editor-in-Chief
Despite omitted evidence, a faulty defense,
a withheld line-up and a 15-year proclama
tion of innocence, Glen Edward Chapman
may receive a new trial.
“It’s an unfortunate fact that law enforce
ment yields to the easiest solution. There is a
lot of pressure to find suspects because the
public wants results,” said Frank Goldsmith,
lead attorney to Chapman in a phone inter
view. “To have a man possibly sentenced to
death is inconceivable and it’s a compelling
case against the cause to speed up the death
penalty process and lessen appeal time. If
they had their way, he would have been exe
cuted a long time ago.”
During the past five years, Pamela
Laughon, psychology department chair and
mediation specialist, reinvestigated the case
alongside her students. This led to the court
order by Judge Robert C. Ervin saying
Tenene Yvette Conley may have died from an
overdose and someone else probably killed
Betty Jean Ramseur. This information was
discovered through false testimonies, with
held evidence by the Hickory Police
Department and ineffective assistance from
his original attorneys’, one of whom died and
the other whom became a judge.
“When I went back to re-investigate that
summer, the Hickory paper was describing it
as the summer of fear, because four girls were
killed in five months,” said Laughon, self-
proclaimed lifesaver working to change death
sentences to life sentences. “It was the sum
mer of fear, alright. Thank goodness for Ed
Continued on pai;k 3 |
ease instead ol coki facts and sta
tistics, according to Hayes. Some
panels commemorate people with
quotes, poems and even pieces of
victim’s favorite clothing.
“This quilt represents hope and
beauty.” Hayes said. “Instead of
watching a horrific, depressing
documentary or following the
increasing statistics ot mortality
rates due to AIDS, you're witness
ing a product that was made by the
hands of victims who want to
show the world that this disease
can be defeated with some action
si r Quil l i>a;k. 2 |
University
receives
$1 million
donation
By Neal Brown
Investigative Reporter
The Cliffs Communities, a pri
vate residential development
offering luxury homes and home
sites, donated $1 million to the
North Carolina Center for Health
and Wellness, scheduled to break
ground in the spring of 2008,
according to Keith Ray, chair and
associate professor of the health
and wellness department.
“Thus far this is the second
largest gift beyond the state
appropriation,” Ray said.
Joe Kimmel and Associates
gave the largest gift thus far of $2
million, which will help fund the
Kimmel arena, a multipurpose
convocation center and basket
ball arena.
The new Health and Wellness
Center is scheduled to break
ground in spring 2008 and take
about 18 to 24 months to build.
The total cost of the building is
estimated between $40 and $42
million. The university received
and appropriation amounting to
$35 million from the North
Carolina Board of Governors and
needs to raise a total of $5 to $7
million in private funds to com
plete the building.
The Cliffs Communities made
their gift public Nov. I at the
Owen Conference Center. The
ceremony included a variety of
foods to reinforce the depart
ments commitment to health and
wellness.
“The room was full, and we had
SF-F, Cliffs fa(;f. 21
Film Festival highlights Hispanic contributions to the arts
irti
By Clary Tedford
Staff Writer
Hispanic Outreach for Learning
Awareness hosted a Latin-themed
film festival in the Humanities
Lecture Hall on Nov. 14, 15 and
The festival showed Latin
Americas diversity, according to
Alexandra Ulrey, one of HOLA’s
Executives and sophomore
j'P^nish and environmental stud
ies student.
Many students might not know
ow much European influence
exists in these countries, or they
""ght be unaware of the Jewish
eommunities and other cultures
"'khin Latin America, Ulrey
said,
H s a melting pot like the rest
® the World,” she said. “Movies
® ten give a homogenized picture
the world,
movies
but these were
that weren’t main
stream.”
festival was open to UNC
as well as the greater
community, said
executive Caitlin
Asheville
Asheville
Hola
Nelligan, senior Spanish student.
“We had a solid 10 to 15 people
attend every night, which is
decent, although I was hoping for
more,” Nelligan said.
Nelligan said she agreed with
Ulrey that diversity was the core
motivator for the festival.
“The event was important
because it showcased a wide vari
ety of great Hispanic/Latin cine
ma that we are not normally
exposed to, proving there is more
to this cinema than the popular
‘Y Tu Mama Tambien’ or ‘El
Laberinto del Fauno (Pan’s
Labyrinth)’,” she said. “We
showed ‘Nada Mas,’ ‘Juchitan
Queer Paradise,’ and ‘El Abrazo
Partido.’”
Cuban director Juan Carlos
Cremata Malberti directed “Nada
Ma s,” which starred Thais Valde
s and Nacho Lugo among tts
Cuban cast. It was released in
2001. „
“Juchitan Queer Paradise , a
film by Mexican director Patricio
Henriquez, dealt with homosexu-
• Mexican town ot
a
99
Trey Bouvif.r - Staff Photographer
Caitlin Nelligan, HOI.A executive and .senior Spanish student, talks
with executive Alexandra Ulrey, sophomore Spanish and evironmental
studies student in the Student Organizations suite in Highsmith.
2003. In addition, the film won
the Award of Merit from the Latin
American Studies Association in
Juchitan. Since its release in
2002, it has played at the follow
ing festivals: Latin American
Studies Association, 2004;
Outfest, Los Angeles 2004; San
Francisco Gay Film Festival,
2004.
“It’s about this guy who’s liv
ing in Argentina and his family
Movies often give a homoge
nized picture of the world, hut
these were movies that
weren’t mainstream.
Alexandra Ulrey
I lOLA Kxccutivc
has Polish lineage,” Ulrey said.
“He’s basically trying to figure
out where he belongs.”
HOLA executive member
Sarah Chase preferred “Nada
Mas.”
“I liked the style of the film.
The plot centered around a postal
worker named Carla (Valdes)
who began writing fafse letters to
people. It was funny because she
almost got caught,” said Chase,
senior Spanish student.
For those who missed this
year’s film festival, the organiza
tion plan to show films on the
quad next year, according to
Ulrey.
“We want a larger scale thing
for next year, just to give UNC
Asheville’s campus a taste of
some works of art that aren’t
mainstream,” she said.
For other upcoming events,
HOLA will host a play in
December.
“Our next big event that will be
coming up is the Spanish play
‘El Arte que Hizo Pub,’ that we
help sponsor with the Spanish
theater group TELASH,”
Nelligan said.
“The play is made up of mem
bers of the community, two UNC
Asheville students, and is direct
ed by professors Greta
Trautmann and Lule Rosenbaun.
The dates of the show arc Nov.
30, and Dec. 1 and 2.” Nelligan
said. “HOLA and El Proyecto de
Estudiantes en la Comunidad
Hispana joined forces as one
group under the HOLA name in
2006. Since then, it’s been an
effort of a variety of students
and faculty, all dedicated to
bridging the gap between the
communities in the greater
Asheville area,” Nelligan said.
I