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2 1 The Blue Banner I 1.26.11 Winter weather stresses school, city officials Jeremiah Reed jjreed@unca.edu - Staff Writer For most of the UNC Asheville community, the re cent winter snowstorm meant a day off, but for Roger Penley it meant a restless evening and an early wake-up call. “I just worried about it the night before,” said Penley, head of UNCA grounds crew. “I kept thinking to myself ‘Am I gonna have this beeper go off at five o’clock in the morning?’” For the second year in a row winter weather wreaked havoc on Western North Caro lina laying down almost 10 inches of snow in some areas of Asheville. The snowfall re sulted in serious headaches for both university and city offi cials. “At times it felt like we were fighting a losing battle,” said Steve Parrott, senior grounds supervisor for UNCA. “You’d work all day on an area and think, ‘I got this whipped,’ but you’d come in the next morn ing and it would be just as bad if not worse.” For Parrott and other mem bers of facilities management, there is rarely a day off. He, along with toee other mem bers of the grounds crew, even came in on Christmas Day to shovel and plow. . Rachael Fisher-Staff Photographer The Asheville Public Works crew mixes salt and sand at a facility near downtown in anticipa- tion of winter weather. UNCA spent around $500 during the recent storm on ice melt. According to Stephen Bax ley, director of facilities management for UNCA, the priorities for the grounds crew change depending on the cir cumstances. “If we know that classes are cancelled, we concentrate mostly on the main roads. We also concentrate on the side walks and steps around cam pus to allow resident students a safe path to get to and from the dining hall, the library and other important campus facili ties,” Baxley said. Baxley also said comments from the students and fac ulty members affect how the grounds crew uses their re sources. “Customer service is a big part of the snow removal ef fort. We’re constantly receiv ing feedback from the univer sity community and we use that to adjust our priorities during a snow event,” Baxley said. Parrott said there are many resources available to the grounds crew during snow re moval efforts. “The university has three snowplows as well as four tractors with blades and front- See SNOW on page 5 First steps taken on construction of new dorm Renovations present campus with sustainable options Trevor Metcalfe temetcai@unca.edu Asst. News Editor Construction crews recently rerouted electrical cables along Fields Drive, one of the first steps towards a new 300-room dorm and a more sustainable campus, according to UNC Asheville officials. “It made sense when-.the campus was moved here in the ’60s to bring the electricity in that location, so we’re relocat ing those utilities,” said Steve Baxley, director of UNCA facilities management and planning. According to Baxley, con struction crews started work on the project during winter break, so power outages and closings associated with the project would not affect stu dents and faculty. “We tried to do all the work that would make something totally off-limits here between the semesters,” Baxley said. Baxley said construction would continue off and on all semester, but most construc tion would be finished by spring break. The pedestrian path from the lower parking See DORM on page 5 Photographer Crews rerouted electrical cables during winter break. According to officials, pedestrian traffic will be effected. Group combats racism Ashley Felts anfetts@unca.edu - Staff Writer Racism in the community may be more prevalent than you think, even after the recent passing of Martin Luther King Jr. week. The meeting of the Ethical Society of Asheville on January 16, discussed how to’ eliminate racism and why it was important. “Guilt is the glue that holds prejudice in place,” Kathryn Liss said. “We can’t stay stuck in that guilt.” Beverly Kaiser Wedthoff and Liss, speakers at the meet ing, are members of Building Bridges of Asheville Inc. Their organization says rec ognizing and talking about rac ism is the way to move past it, which they said will lead to a better community. “You have got to stand up and take risks. Even if you make mistakes, you can still move forward,” Liss said. One topic discussed at the meeting was how guilt plays a role in racism. Liss and Wedthoff agreed guilt was one of the main reasons people have trouble moving past or talking about racism. “It’s hard for people to talk about racism,” Wedthoff said. Liss said she agreed talking about racism is hard, and said Building Bridges is a great place to talk about it. “People have suppressed talk ing about racism because it is not polite,” Liss said. “Build ing Bridges is a place where we get to talk about it. It’s OK we haven’t been able to, but it is time we start.” Liss said most Caucasians feel bad about their role in racism, and said the best way to move forward is to completely ignore people’s differences. However, Building Bridges disagrees. “Talking about racism makes us feel strange, and that’s See GARDENS on page 4
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