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News
Campus master plan put in place,
officials begin long-term planning
Rob Nelson
Jeremiah Reed
jjreed@unca.edu - Staff Wrifer
After five years, UNC
Asheville is in the early phases
of a facelift as university ad
ministrators and officials begin
laying out a new campus mas
ter plan.
“The master plan is a guide
that helps us achieve our stra
tegic vision for the university,”
said Rob Nelson, consultant
and chair of the Working
Group, one half of the master
plan committee.
A campus master plan is a
long-range mission employed
by universi
ties to estab- ^
lish a stra
tegic vision
for the use of
land and oth
er facilities
to best serve
its students.
According
to Nelson,
campus mas
ter plans help
attain an aesthetic harmony
across campus as well as ensure
university facilities and proper
ty are used in the most efficient
manner.
“It’s a good rational way to
plan for the university’s future,
and I think it’s important to
find out if we’re using our cur
rent resources and facilities in
the best way possible,” Nelson
said.
The last master plan for
UNCA was completed in Janu
ary 2005. Nelson said he be
lieves the old plan did its job,
and now it’s time to forge a new
vision for the university mov
ing forward.
“I think the previous master
plan has served it’s purpose,”
Nelson said. “A lot of the proj
ects covered under that plan,
like the completion of Zeis and
the renovation to Rhodes, those
projects are near completion.
So, it’s time for a a new plan.”
The master plan consists of
two working committees, the
Steering Committee and the
Working Group. Currently, the
master plan is in the conception
phase. Members of the Work
ing Group are gathering ideas
and input from the university
"We're meeting with individual groups
within the university to hear what they
think about the university. We're trying
to gather as much information as we can
so people who will be affected by these
changes have a chance to voice
their opinions."
Don Gordon
Director of design and construction for UNCA
community to implement into
the new plan.
Nelson said it was important
to reach out to all sectors of the
university to ensure every voice
was heard during this early
phase of the process.
“One of the things a master
plan needs to be is inclusive as
well as comprehensive. We’re
doing our best to meet with all
stakeholders on campus,” he
said.
Don Gordon, director of
design and construction for
UNCA, is a member of the
Working Group. He said there
have been several meetings
since the master plan project
began in January. These meet
ings provide members of the
university the opportunity to
voice their ideas.
“We’re meeting with individ
ual groups within the university
to hear what they think about
the university. We’re trying to
gather as much information as
we can so people who will he
affected by these changes have
a chance to voice their opin
ions,” Gordon said.
Nelson said the panel over
seeing the master plan meets
monthly. An interim report
to the board of trustees is due
sometime in April with a final
report expected by July. The
results of the final report will
indicate whether additional re
search is needed or if the proj
ect is ready to continue on to
sending requests for proposals
to companies throughout the
state.
Nelson said he was glad the
master plan could be developed
without being pressed for time.
“One of the nice things about
this project is we don’t have to
be in a hurry. We don’t have
any buildings that need to get
finished or things like that. So,
we can really use the luxury of
time to work on creating the
best plan available,” he said.
Once approved. Nelson said
he expects it to be one or two
years before the plan is picked
up by a company willing to
carry out the project and prob
ably four or five years before
the plan is put to work.
While the projected costs of
the master plan are unknown,
Nelson expects the funding to
come from non-recurring funds,
funds which can only be used
one time, from the administra
tive budget.
Along with creating the best
plan possible, the master plan
will attempt to follow the stra
tegic plan initiated hy Chancel
lor Anne Ponder and adopted
by the imiversity in July 2008.
“There’s a lot of work going
into making sure the guiding
principals that are established
in the campus master plan fall
in line with the strategic plan
of the administration,” Gordon
said. “That’s something we’ve
really been conscious of during
this planning stage.”
Although the development of
the campus master plan is still
in its infhncy, those close to the
project said they have received
plenty of positive feedback so
far.
“Everybody we’ve talked to
has given us complete attention
and come in with good ideas.
We’re seeing some trends from
different stakeholders, so I
think we’re off to a great start,”
Nelson said.
lUniversity Police investigated the larceny of
Hwo televisions in Mills Hall. The case is still under investiga-
fTTfclHHfiMTilj? University Police investigated a hit-and-run
vehicle accident in Lot 1 behind Founders Hall. The complain
ant reported the left rear bumper of his vehicle was damaged
while parked in the lot. University Police also investigated a
vehicle accident in Lot 7. The driver of a Honda failed to secure
the parking brake, causing the vehicle to roll from the parking
space and collide with another parked vehicle.
.mim University Police investigated two
suspicious persons at Ramsey Library. After interviewing the
subjects, they were referred to the free speech area in front of
University Hall—
ft ''iii i 111 ii! 1' 1 i 1 >1 i L University Police responded to a
disturbance in Governors Hall. Upon arrival, officers located
a group of students on the roof outside of a room on the fourth
floor. ^
■El University Police responded to a medical
emergency in Founders Hall. The subject suffered injuries re
lated to a fall in the stairwell.
T Li University Police investigated a bur
glary and criminal damage to property incident in Founders
Hall. Subsequent investigation resulted in one subject being
arrested for criminal damage to property and second degree
burglary.
SEX
continued from page 3
Open Education, did a study
which proves this.
“Students who have taken a
pledge of virginity are not only
just as likely to have sex as
those who hadn’t pledged, but
they were more likely to have
unsafe sex,” Maness said.
One difficulty teens and
young adults may face while
trying to avoid sexual situ
ations is the hype the media
and advertisements have on
sex and the norm it creates to
participate in sexual activities,
according to Lanou.
“I would be really surprised
if there wasn’t a single human
being on earth, or at least in the
U.S., that hasn’t been affected
by the media in some way or
another on the idea of sex, or
the types of sexual activities
seen, or the types of bodies.
It is all connected to that want
for passion, commitment and
love,” Lanou said.
Maness said she agreed teens
and young adults will follow
the trends they see in adver
tisements and media, but it is
hard to escape those mediums.
“I think the media absolutely
has an effect on sexual activ
ity,” Maness said. “Ameri
cans on average are exposed
to 3,000 advertisements every
single day, and a great percent
age of them are entirely sexu-
alized. Sex is definitely more
visible and accessible to the
younger crowd. ”
Martin said the overuse of
sex in advertisements normal
izes sex before marriage.
“Coming into your sexual
ity, you have all these feelings,
you have all these urges and
you don’t have any idea what
to do with those things. But,
people say you shouldn’t have
these feelings. You’re abnor
mal. They’re ashamed to talk
about it, so everything is done
behind closed doors,” Martin
said.
According to Martin, if peo
ple try to be more honest, open
and communicate with each
other about sex, preventing
teen pregnancy and the trans
mission of sexually transmit
ted diseases will be easier and
more effective.