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VOL. 61, ISSUE 7 I WEDNESDAY, OCT. 15, 2014 I THEBLUEBANNER.NET
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New anonymous app gets students on campus yakking
SARAH COFFELT
scoffett@unca.edu -
Contributor
It’s the scribbles on the
bathroom stall of social
media.
Difference is, you’re us
ing your phone instead of
the pen in your back pock
et.
College students across
the United States are using
a new application, Yik Yak,
which recently became a
huge hit at UNC Asheville.
Its anonymity can be
enticing, but Sam Groes-
beck, senior management
student, says sometimes,
the effects aren’t reward
ing.
“The anonymity is also
bad because people just
kind of feel that it’s a
no-consequences thing and
say whatever they want,”
Groesbeck says. “They’re
not really thinking about
how it affects other peo
ple.”
Yik Yak is a free app cre
ated by two Kappa Alpha
fraternity brothers from
Furman University. It was
initially made for Greek
organizations on college
campuses, so people could
post anonymous messages
read by others within a 1.5
mile radius, according to
Business Insider.
The app can be used to
post or scroll through mes
sages. but for Zack Mar
tin, mechatronics stu
dent, and Eric Edelstein,
a psychology student,
the application provides a
means of fun competition.
“I just got to the point
where I wanted to be at the
top of the board,” Martin
says.
Martin says he posted at
most 76 times in one day,
trying to make it to the top
of the board.
Photo Illustration by Brian Vu - Photography Editor
A new social app, Yik YaKi fllows users to post anonymously to a hyper-localized forum.
And he succeeded.
“The weird thing is that
of those 76, about 20 of
them were at the top of the
board.” Martin says. “The
first 20 were all mine.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa - I
was in there that day too,”
Edelstein says, intenripting
Martin. “I had like three or
four posts.”
Other students, like
Keenan Devaney, soph
omore Spanish student,
rarely use the application
for posting. Devaney says
he spends most of his time
on Yik Yak reading posts.
“Unless I come up with
something really clever.
I’m just going to continue
reading and staying on that
side of things.”
But what makes this ap
plication so controversial?
Yik Yak can be used as a
cloak for people to express
their opinions without fear
of retribution. But ano
nymity is a double-edged
sword.
The application can be
used to bully different peo
ple, according to Adweek.
“People can take shots
at other people, and then
have no backlash because
no one knows who it is,”
Devaney says. “So they
can really take advantage
of the whole anonymous
posting without as many
consequences.”
Yik Yak does have a
self-regulating policy.
If students see a post that
is negative or inappropri
ate, they can down vote it.
“We’re in Asheville and
Asheville seems to be pret
ty accepting,” Martin says.
“Whenever there is any
sort of lash out that I’ve
seen, it instantly gets five
downvotes, or people com
ment.”
As for UNCA, the Yik
Yak posts are more posi
tive than negative and peo
ple on campus enjoy the
application because of this,
Martin says.
Devaney, Edelstein and
Martin all have one thing
in common: the belief
that Yik Yak’s existence at
UNCA is funny, uplifting,
and for the most part, pos
itive.
But that belief can differ
elsewhere.
According to an AP Re
gional State Report from
Mississippi, a student at
the University of Southern
Mississippi was arrested
and charged for posting a
threat to cause injury on
Yik Yak.
Luckily, Asheville tells a
different story.
“The most negative posts
I’ve seen have actually
been about depression and
feeling lonely.” Devaney
says. “Which if I went to
read the comments, all of
the comments were posi
tive afterwards.”
Local authorities crack down on property crimes
BLAKE WILLIS
bwillis2@unca.edu -
contributor
Asheville residents have
numerous tools, such as
locking doors and report
ing suspicious behavior,
at their disposal to harden
themselves against proper
ty crimes, according to the
Buncombe County Sher
iff’s Office.
“I felt relieved that noth
ing was taken. I knew
the area itself wasn’t the
greatest,” said Sebastian
Gurrola, a 22-year-old
junior at UNC Asheville,
as he recalls his mom’s ex
perience with a property
crime. “My mom was up
set for obviously financial
reasons, but also because
someone broke into the
car.”
In 2013, there were 1,300
cases assigned to the prop
erty crimes division, which
was a 27.6 percent increase
from 2012, according to
the sheriff’s office.
Authorities cleared 599
cases, resulting in a 46.08
percent clearance rate.
“Typically most of the
crimes that we deal with
are property crimes, break
ing and entering and things
of that nature,” said Na
talie Bailey, the public in
formation officer at Bun
combe County Sheriff’s
Office.
She said most of the
time people commit these
crimes looking for valu
able items to trade for
drugs or to get money for
drugs.
“Most of what we’ve
found is that at the heart
of all those crimes is some
kind of dependence on
some type of controlled
substance,” Bailey said.
She said thieves com
monly check door handles
for unlocked vehicles. If
they come across an un
locked door, they easily
gain access to the vehicle’s
contents.
Detective Sarah
Hofecker, former employ
ee at the property crimes
division of the Buncombe
County Sheriff’s Office,
said locking your doors
hardens residents against
theft. Some people say
they have the right to not
lock their doors, but others
may gain entry to their car
and valuables as a result.
“All it takes is five min
utes,” Hofecker said.
Hofecker said some peo
ple use a lost dog as an ex
cuse to check out potential
targets.
They will knock on the
door and if nobody an
swers or they don’t hear a
dog barking, they'll see the
residence as an easy target.
She said if someone an
swers the door, they would
just say they’re looking for
their lost dog.
“They work in teams of
two, sometimes utilizing
a female because people
are more inclined to hold a
conversation with a female
than a male,” Bailey said.
Bailey said residents
should call 911 if they
see anyone suspicious. An
officer will come out and
SEE CRIME ON PAGE 2