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L mi VOL. 61, ISSUE 4 I WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 17, 2014 I THEBLUEBANNER.NET SGA finishes plans for Peace Day SHANEE SIMHONI ssimhoni@unca.edu - Political Correspondent SGA continues to work on sexual assault prevention as planning for Rights Week and Peace Day ends. “We’re going to work on educational campaigns,” said James Whalen, stu dent body president. “We’re going to help stu dents be part of the solu tion, and not just talk to them about what students do wrong,” Walen said. “We’re going to teach students to do things that can help prevent sexual assault.” Whalen said this effort includes informational pam phlets as well as encourag ing students, the adminis tration and government to increase awareness. Whalen said a focus of the senate is also voter engage ment through registration events including a voter reg istration drive currently held in Highsmith 249. Gardner Goodall and Harper Spires, co-execu tives of sustainability, said they continue their work on Greenfest. Keith Knox, executive of multicultural affairs, con tinues plans for MOSAIC in October. Austin Hanna, executive of external affairs, works with The Blue Banner, Blue Echo and other organiza tions on developing a bet ter communication network for students and the city of Asheville. Sen. Connor Siegmeister said his committee is work ing on legislature for a pe tition for in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants. Sen. Alex Perry, chair of academic affairs, said Rights Week, happening this week, will feature many speakers and events. He also said his committee con tinues promotional work for Peace Day on Sept. 21. Sen. Charlie White con tinues working on the “Did You Know?” campaign. Students address identity prejudice VALERIE MCMURRAY vrmcmurr@unca. edu Asst. News Editor Students discussed ex periencing subtle discrim ination and racial aggres sion on and off campus as part of the Multicultural Student Programs’ series “Lunch ‘N Learn: Micro aggressions” last Friday. Microaggression refers to a statement that may seem complimentary or in nocuous to the speaker, but is perceived as a put-down Jo a person from a different background. “It’s hurtful as an in structor to hear a microag gression,” said Tiece Ruf fin, assistant professor. In 2008, Deraid Wing Sue, a psychologist and professor at Columbia University, defined mi croaggressions as “brief, everyday exchanges that send denigrating messages to certain individuals be cause of their group mem bership .” Microaggressions extend to gender, sexual orienta tion, ability and economic class. For the first Lunch ‘N Learn event of the se mester, discussion focused on racial issues. Designed to get students talking to each other about tough subjects in a safe space, students used the Lunch ‘N Learn to voice concerns about how per sistent subtle racism inhib its their mental, emotional and physical health. Dahlia Hylton, director of the intercultural center and MSP, said she coordi nated the topic for a Lunch "N Learn discussion, be cause students increasingly told her they were dealing with slights and insults about their identities. During the discussion, students said they often don’t know how to respond to microaggressions in the moment. They fear oth ers will tell them they are overreacting or bringing up racial baggage better left unmentioned. Maya Newlin, a junior political science and so ciology student, said she changed her major at UNC Asheville in part because all the other biology stu dents — mostly white stu dents — in her classes ex cluded her every time they were told to pick a partner. As the only black female in the department at the time, she said she didn’t tell anyone. It’s something she’s used to experiencing. Newlin experienced a microaggression in the past, which inspired a scene within a short film that opened the event. In the film, a strange woman approached Newlin and said, “Your hair is so beautiful. It’s so wild.” “Not in a bad way,” the woman said as she returned to apologize a few minutes later. Ruffin facilitated the dis cussion and said microag gressions affect not only SEE IDENTITY ON PAGE 2 Photo Illustration by Brian Vu - Photo Editor Blue Echo, UNCA’s student-run campus radio station, ramps up for the new school year. Student radio makes waves CALLIE JENNINGS cjenning@unca.edu - Staff Writer Hosting events for more than 300 people, provid ing a creative outlet for students and preparing jam sessions, UNC Ashe ville’s radio station Blue Echo, serves as more than the community’s typi cal college radio station, according to students. “Blue Echo allows stu dents to express their cre ativity while sharing their interests with others. Es-, sentially we are able to become a stage for peo ple to share their ideas with the UNC Asheville community,” said Allison 'Widner, events director and co-station manager. Widner along with Drew Proctor, co-station man ager, and Ian Johnson, art director, as a group ensure the station runs smoothly. “I am in charge of plan ning all of our events such as Arcade Night, which happened a few weeks ago. We actually broke our record with 365 people in attendance this year. I also keep up with the paper work side of the organi zation as well as running meetings and helping with the budget,” Widner said. Blue Echo is a com pletely student run on line radio station for the university. According to staff. Blue Echo provides a voice for UNCA, but they are disheartened only a small percentage of stu dents tune in to listen. “It seems like only 30 people know we exist, but this is what we try and tell people: we do a lot of cool events. We do Arcade Night in the fall and spring, we do college radio day, Music Fest and we put on jam sessions throughout the year,” said Isabella Daniels, business director and disc jockey. Blue Echo staff said they hope to expand Ar cade Night, especially since they were close to reaching capacity in the Grotto. In honor of Ma rio Kart 8’s launch, Mario provided the theme for Arcade Night. Along with popcorn, pizza and snow cones as refreshments. “It was really cool. I was really excited. People were jumping around and having a good time. We always hope for more peo ple to attend. Once some thing is your best, then it’s no longer your best and you have to strive for a new best,” Daniels said. The second most suc cessful event Blue Echo hosts is Music Fest. Music Fest is a new event and only SEE RADIO ON PAGE 2 Alcohol policy aims for rehabilitation JAMES NEAL jneal@unca.edu - Contributor Students say college is a cocktail of alcohol and stress, especially for newly independent freshmen, but when diversion becomes addiction, UNC Asheville provides resources for as sistance, focusing on reha bilitation over punishment. “We’re trying to teach students how to modify their behavior, because we believe the behavior they develop here impacts their future decision making,” said Jackie McHargue, dean of students. “We don’t use the lens of punish- Crtmes repaned OR caiiwns ! Larceny Drug l28t-' ' m Aicctid (15%} '! ■ 0)h«f ;31 As of September 2014, alcohol violations made up 15 percent of all crimes reported on campus. ment. Every sanction that we designed has some ed ucational component in it.” Sanctions, accordingto campus administration, escalate on a three-lev el system, growing more involved with each viola tion and the campus’ al cohol policy is treated the same, whether citations are initiated by campus police or dormitory staff. “If campus police offi cers interact with students and discover that they have been drinking under age, the enforcement real ly depends on the number of times that students are caught,” said Eric Boyce, assistant vice chancel lor for public safety at UNCA. “Students get a student conduct citation and that student conduct citation refers them to residential education.” Resolution, according to McHargue, is by mu- SEE POLICY ON PAGE 2
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