VatUMT"L» , NUMaER 37
SGA Elections
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Four new CAA teams to join conference
ate imoact on several of UNCW’s teams
Ben JC3NE5
Sports Editor
RICHMOND, Va. - UNC Wilmington
will have four new conference oppo
nents this fall.
Colonial Athletic Association Com
missioner Thomas E. Yeager announced
Wednesday that the University of Dela
ware. Drexel University. Hofstra Uni
versity and Towson University will be
come CAA members effective July I.
The quartet will join George Mason
University, James Madison University,
the College of William and Mary, Old
Dominion University, Virginia Com
monwealth University and UNCW to
form a 10-team conference.
“We are thrilled to be able to expe
dite the process and incorporate these
schools sooner than originally an
nounced,” Yeager said. “The CAA is
looking forward to their contributions,
and we are excited about the future of
the conference as this group moves for
ward.”
Due to the timing of the transition,
the four newcomers, who are all cur-
members of the America East
TOWSON
Conference, will remain as associate
members. They will compete in the
America East in the fall of 2001 in men s
and women’s soccer, field hockey and
volleyball. Delaware and Hofstra will
compete in CAA volleyball this fall.
Beginning with the winter sports, in
cluding the 2001-02 basketball season,
the four schools will compete as full
CAA members, playing full CAA sched
ules.
The new teams will have an immedi-
ate impact on several of UNCW’s teams,
including basketball. Mike Capaccio,
administrative assistant for both the
men’s and women’s programs, will be
highly involved with scheduling the new
opponents. He indicated the expansion
is a positive step for all involved.
“I think it’s great for the conference,”
Capaccio said.
One of Capaccio’s duties will be to
arrange transportation to the Seahawks
away games.
“I know the conference will take into
consideration we are the southern-most
university in the conference when put
ting the schedule together,” he said.
“Hopefully, they will combine some of
our trips with multiple road games.
The expansion to the north means far
ther conference road trips for all athletic
teams at UNCW, which means the travel
expenses will rise extensively. Never
theless, many see the future benefits
outweighing the costs.
One of the advantages Capaccio ap
preciates is the higher level of competi
tion in basketball.
SEE CAA, Page 3
Check out the Azalea Festival photo
spread/12
Softball
takes
weekend
series
UNCW beat UNCG two out of
rently members of the America feast me new icauia w... — —
Death penalty moratorium advocated
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Dan Guy
NEWS Editor
INDEX 1
ODwn
7
Classifieds.».....
pAatiiroc
9
Sports...............
Dr. James Megivern, professor emeri
tus of philosophy and religion, lectured
on “the Death Penalty in Christian His
tory” to students and members of the
community last Wednesday evening.
Megivern focused on the different at
titudes toward capital punishment that
Christianity has held during history. He
also focused on the current role capital
punishment plays in society and the
problems associated with it.
“For the first two Christian eras (1“
century thru lO'" century), there still was
this great reservation about the death
penalty,” Megivern said. “Then for the
third and forth periods (11"' century thru
mid-20"’ century), it was put on this ped
estal. There were no limits on what it
was applied to.”
According to Megivern, the issue ot
capital punishment had not been ad
dressed because Christians thought it
had always been applied. Since the is
sue has been confronted, the church has
again changed its focus.
“What happened was an unfortunate
contemporary perspective, and the one
thing that you have to do about it is get
rid of it, and go back to the earlier Chris
tian restraint,” Megivern said. “There
is still a conflict going on in Christian
theology. There are those who think it
can be used in extreme cases, and those
that say it can never be used.”
According to Megivern, the main ar
guments against the death penalty are
dignity and decency. He said that the
real reason for executions is revenge.
“It [the lecture] was pretty informa
tive as far as the history of the death
penalty as how it relates to the Chris
tian society in particular,” said senior
Collin Hubble. “It went from being
banned to being re-instituted later on by
one of the Popes.”
Megivern said the death penalty is
unfair because racial bias still exists in
the capital punishment system. Studies
have shown that a defendant who kills a
white person is four times more likely
to be sentenced to death that one who
kills a non-white.
Dr. James Megivern
“I think [Megivern] had a lot of things
that made me realize this doesn’t work,
said Keri Lloyd, student. “The fact that
the inequalities and injustices that the
death penalty has, that it’s a race issue,
a class issue - that bugs me.”
According to Megivern, 108 of 190
SEE LECTURE, PAGE 4