VOL. 61, ISSUE 8 I WEDNESDAY, OCT. 22, 2014 I THEBLUEBANNER.NET
SGA plans aid
for local homeless
SHANEE SIMHONI
ssimhoni@unca.edu -
Poiitical Correspondent
Keith Knox, executive
of multicultural affairs
in SGA, said he wants
to bring a campaign to
Asheville that aids the
homeless.
“It’s a pop-up store,”
Knox said. “You set these
little things up that are
like cardboard pieces and
you slide blankets and
socks through it.”
Knox said the structures
would be placed in the
downtown area and pro
vide the homeless with
necessities while still al
lowing them to keep their
pride.
“I know some people
who are just so full of
pride, even though you
may be in a certain situ
ation, you really can’t go
to a homeless shelter and
say, ‘Can I get this from
you?’ so this is a little eas
ier for them,” Knox said.
James Whalen, stu
dent body president,
said SGA plans to com
bine Think Before You
Drink week with their
sexual assault prevention
campaign this week.
“We’re really going to
really, push that next week
and in the weeks follow
ing, as pledging your sup
port being the first step
on ways that students can
get involved in stopping
sexual assault,” Whalen
said. “We need to really
think about what consent
means.”
SGA worked with
SpeakUP and other stu
dent organizations on var
ious activities, including
a task force meeting and a
consensual workshop.
Early voting begins
on Thursday and will be
open for approximately
two weeks. Whalen said
he and Eric Boyce are
meeting to discuss plans
for voting locations for
early voting and on Elec
tion Day.
Harper Spires said
she and Gardner Goodall,
co-executives of sustain
ability, had an informal
meeting on Friday with
members of the Student
Environmental Center
and Leigh Whittaker, se
nior vice present of the
UNC Association of Stu
dent Governments, on the
beginnings of coal divest
ment campaign in Ashe
ville.
Spires also said she
and Goodall are begin
ning plans for the spring
Greenfest.
Sen. Charlie White,
chair of the student af
fairs committee, said the
gender neutral bathroom
maps will be printed this
week.
Disability Week
challenges students
VALERIE McMURRAY
vrmcmurr@unca.edu -
Asst. News Editor
The Office of Academic
Accessibility offered stu
dents and faculty oppor
tunities to challenge their
perspectives around living
with disability during Dis
ability Awareness Week
last Monday - Friday.
“When you ask peo
ple with disabilities what
the number one obstacle
in their life is, it’s the at
titudes and perceptions
of other people,” said
Joshua Kaufman, UNC
Asheville’s assistant di
rector of disability and
learning support.
“What always surprises
me — or that I find inter
esting or odd — is that in
the general population,
there’s still some stigma
attached to disability,”
Kaufman said. “When
we look at the course of
the average person’s life
time, about 80 percent of
us will experience disabil
ity either personally or
in our nuclear family —
meaning our parents, our
siblings or our children.
Eighty percent — that
seems pretty mainstream
for there still to be a stig
ma associated with dis
ability.”
On Oct. 13, Regan
Brashear, producer and
filmmaker of Fixed, pre
sented the award-winning
documentary, released
last year, exploring the
social impact and ethical
dimensions of human en
hancement technology.
Fixed not only features
disability scholars, dis
abled-rights advocates
and artists with disabili
ties, but also bionics en
gineers, a futurist and a
transhumanist. Each per
son delivers a perspective
based on their own expe
rience with disability.
She said she intend
ed for the film to raise
SEE AWARENESS ON PAGE 2
Photo Illustration by Declan Lockheed - Contributor
Students use common platforms such as Facebook to cyberstalk and abuse other students on campus.
Officials combat cvber abuse
DECLAN LOCKHEED
dlockhee@unca.edu -
Contributor
With the increase of so
cial media and cyher abuse
reports, UNC Asheville
aims to crack down on cy
ber abuse without infring
ing upon the rights of the
student.
“There are two fun
damental issues that we
have to balance out. One
is freedom of speech and
the freedom of expression,
and as an administration I
would never want to take
that away from students,”
said Jill Moffitt, assistant
vice chancellor of student
life.
Moffitt said she casual
ly follows popular UNCA
Facebook pages, such as
UNCA Crushes and Over
heard, but there is no of
ficial administration pres
ence.
“Yes, I go and look on
those sites. Again, I do
that for the same reason I
would go to Yik Yak, it’s
really about what are the
students saying,” she said.
Moffitt said she main
tains this presence in or
der to protect students and
because she has received
many verbal complaints
about abuse.
“It’s common. It’s hap
pened enough times that
I have a procedure. In the
past year, we have had four
come and make a verbal
complaint directly to me,
that I am aware of,” she
said.
Moffitt said she does
not believe the increase of
Facebqpk groups and so
cial media apps increase
cyberstalking.
“It definitely increases
reporting of cyberstalking.
Now we are hyper aware
that these exist, and we are
hyper aware on how they
interface with each other.
So I definitely think we
see an increase of reports.
I don’t necessarily think
that means we had an in
crease of behavior. Sexual
assaults are underreported.
I think cyberstalking was
underreported until sites
like this,” Moffit said.
School administration
will only intervene with
students’ posts if they feel
there could be serious con
sequences, Moffitt said.
“It’s when they are not
helpful. They are discrim
inatory. They’re biased.
They’re hateful. They dis
close a crime. That’s when
we have to sit there and
make that balance. I ask
students to behave respon
sibly on these sites there’s a
difference about complain
ing about the food in the
cafe and completely anni
hilating someone through
an anonymous post,” Mof
fitt said.
Jeff Brown, chief in-
SEE CYBER ON PAGE 2
Residence halls help students, officials say
JUNE BUNCH
kbunch@unca.edu -
Contributor
Living on campus helps
new students access re
sources such as events and
programs, according to
UNC Asheville officials.
“You’re on your own,
probably for the first time,”
said Alison Heston, a
humanities professor at
UNCA. “It’s scai'y and
people feel pretty vulnera
ble, but there are resourc
es in the university and
community that are always
available, ego aside, will
ing to avail themselves.”
Heston said UNCA stu
dents learn to be critical
citizens by engaging in col
lege organizations. Clubs
and organized events are
posted on calendars within
residential halls, and Hes
ton said students can use
these opportunities to put
their critical thinking to
use within the university
Photo by June Bunch - Contributor
Students hang in hammocks on the UNCA quad.
•.k'
community.
“It’s welcoming. It’s all
about meeting people on
your hall and having a gi
ant group of students all
your age live close by. It
does not stay that way as
you get older,” said Jack
Derbyshire, 22, a former
UNCA resident assistant.
“You can literally leave
your door open and some
body will walk by and say,
‘What’s up?”’ Derbyshire
said.
Only in college can
someone find such a wide
variety of people sharing
such similar experiences,
Derbyshire said. Accord
ing to him, RAs give sup
port to the many students
in their hall, especially
when they are willing to
take worthwhile risks.
“There’s lots of room for
mistakes and you learn tons
by making them,” Heston
said. “If you stick to the
dorms and always the peo
ple you used to know, you
stunt your willingness to
grow.”
Heston said it takes risks
to successfully immerse
into the new world of col
lege.
“You need to accept con
sequences with those risks.
Accept that you may be
disappointed, that you may
be overwhelmed or you
may find that you’re not
very good at this thing you
SEE CAMPUS ON PAGE 2