L
VOL. 62, ISSUE 6 I WEDNESDAY, FEB. 25, 201 5 I THEBLUEBANNER.NET
Photo by Luke Howe - Contributor
Students prepare for the race at the starting line of the Nearly Naked Mile.
UNGA students race a mile, nearly naked
MICHAEL O’HEARN
michael. ohearnW @gmail.
com - Sports Staff Writer
Students and alumni at
UNC Asheville dodged
the frigid cold tempera
tures Thursday evening
to race each other in the
Student Alumni Associa
tion’s fourth annual Nearly
Naked Mile on the indoor
Kimmel Arena Concourse
as part of this year’s
Homecoming festivities.
Zak Carroll, sopho
more, is a SAA member
who volunteered to oper
ate the check-in table pri
or to the race. Carroll said
there are two main goals
beyond promoting Home
coming that SAA hopes
to accomplish through
the Nearly Naked Mile.
“I am part of the SAA, so
we’re here to sponsor the
event. I've never been able
to participate in the Near
ly Naked Mile for the two
years that I’ve been here at
UNCA,” Carroll said. “Do
nating clothes to the Ashe
ville Buncombe Commu
nity Christian Ministry
and promoting health and
wellness where people can
come out, take their clothes
off and have fun running
a mile is what the Near
ly Naked Mile achieves.”
Luke Howe, seltior, is
president of the Sigma
Nu fraternity on cam
pus that volunteered to
help organize the event.
According to Howe, the
Nearly Naked Mile not
only kicks off Homecom
ing weekend, but also
serves as a donation event
for the Asheville commu
nity through ABCCM.
“This is the first event
that we have for Home
coming so it’s all about
pumping everyone up for
Homecoming and get
ting everyone excited,”
Howe said. “It’s also a
clothing fundraiser for the
ABCCM. which is a non
profit organization that
caters to homeless peo
ple and those people who
need clothing in general.”
Participants who want
ed to compete in the race
donated clothes to the
foundation upon checking
into the event, Howe said.
According to tallies taken
by the Student Activities,
Involvement and Leader
ship committee on campus,
following the race, more
than 500 pieces of clothing
were donated by runners.
“Each year, we have an
increase in the number of
participants at the event.”
Howe said. “For instance,
last year we had 193 run
ners in the event. It’s kind
of like a curse where,
each year we do this,
there’s been cold weath
er or it’s been raining.”
Due to cold weather, the
Nearly Naked Mile was
moved indoors this year.
According to the data from
Howe following the event,
only 150 runners partici
pated Thursday evening,
down 23 percent from last
year. Howe said he and
the SAA were happy with
the number considering
the change of location.
Louie Edelstein, soph
omore member of the
Sigma Nu fraternity, said
that he and his group enjoy
helping with communi
ty events both on campus
and in the Asheville area.
“This is one of the most
popular events here at
UNCA during the spring
semester, and Sigma Nu
loves volunteering here
and have done so since it
began three years ago,”
Edelstein said. “We also go
out to the Children’s Mis
sion Hospital on the first
Tuesday of every month as
part of our required com
munity service each year.
We like being involved
on campus and the cam
pus events as it gives us a
good campus presence.”
Participants in the race
had to run seven laps around
the concourse, according
to Howe. Brandon Wat
son, jnnior, was warming
up in the Student Recre
ation Center gymnasium
SEE NAKED ON PAGE 6
Sex talks break awkward silence
TIMBI SHEPHERD
jshephe3@unca.edu -
A&FAsst. Editor
Attendees kept mostly
quiet as Michael Harney,
prevention educator
at the Western North
Carolina AIDS Project,
opened the floor for group
discussion at Queer Sex
Ed.
The event, hosted by
Alliance Feb. 10, was
the first of two sex talks
at UNC Asheville this
month.
Harney noted the im
portance of conversations
such as these in a culture
that, he said, does not
Photo by Timbi Shepherd- Asst. A&F Editor
Michael Harney of WNCAP talks sex with UNCA students,
foster openness and aware- speak up, share experienc-
ness when it comes to the
subject of sex. He said
he understood people’s
reticence, but encouraged
audience members to
es and ask questions.
“It really is about the
fact that we are human
beings, we have bodily
fluids, and we can transmit
things through these bodi
ly fluids no matter what
you do,” Harney said. “I
don’t care how vanilla it
is. I don’t care how kinky
it is. I don’t care how
rough it is. All those kinds
of things - people are
into different things. They
don’t always want to admit
it. They don’t always like
to be open about things
like that, and that’s OK
as long as you’re making
informed decisions.”
People must accept the
responsibility to seek out
and share information so
that they may fulfill anoth-
SEE SEX ON PAGE 9
Suicide rates
enerate call to
urther research
SHANE JENKINS
sjenkins@unca.edu -
Contributor
Appalachian State
University received a
$192,000 grant from the
U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services’ Sub
stance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Admin
istration to implement a
comprehensive approach
to preventing suicide in
light of recent deaths, ac
cording to a statement
released by the university.
“We welcome this op
portunity to strengthen
the support of students in
this critical area and look
forward to involving the
campus community in
this important initiative
during the coming year
and beyond,” said Dr. De
nise Lovin, a psycholo
gist in the university’s
Counseling and Psycho
logical Services Center.
SEE DEPRESSION ON PAGE 6