The Blue Banner

Wednesday, November 17 , 2010

Volume 53, Issue 11

Refurbished signs photo illustration by Anna Kiser / Carson Boyles

welcome

tourists page 4

News UNCA alumna’s farm provides local food page 2 options

Arts and Features Ugandan musician drums up interest page 7 on campus

Campus Voice Legislature proposes legal battle against cyber pirates page 20

News

Alumna provides to organic food landscape Page 2

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Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Work share program assists members of UNCA community Trevor Metcalfe tometcal@unca.edu staff writer

UNC Asheville alumna Tara Adinolfi sat in Carmichael Hall on Thursday among boxes and boxes of unusual organic vegetables.

“We do everything you can think of,” Adinolfi said. “This week we have broccoli and cabbage and kohrabi and kale, and we also have peppers and tomatoes.”

Adinolfi owns and operates Ostara Farm near Burnsville with her husband, Sean. The farm practices community shared agriculture, where members purchase shares of the farm and have fresh produce delivered weekly for the entire growing season.

They recently handed out their last crop of the season to UNCA shareholders.

“The members agree that they are bearing part of the risk along with the farmer,” Adinolfi said. “So, if my tomatoes fail, they don’t get any tomatoes. So, this year, we had a few failures, but mostly we had lots of abundance.”

Shares are divided into working and non-working shares, according to Adinolfi. Working shares require the members to work approximately one hour a week for the farm. Adinolfi said many jobs for the 2011 season will revolve around the new farmland she and her husband have purchased.

“We need people to help us build (soil) beds, we need people to help us build our barn. You can help work with the plants and come out and help us pick,” she said. “There’s lots of different things that need to be done.”

Working shares for the 2011 growing season cost around $500 for the entire season, while non-working shares run about $750. Adinolfi stressed the cost doesn’t have to be paid all at once.

“It averaged out to between $20 and $30 per week expenses,” Adinolfi said.

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Trevor Metcalfe/staff writer

Alumna Tara Adinolfi delivers produce to staff who take part in the work share program at her farm in Burnsville. Below, Adinolfi and her husband, Sean, deliver produce to physics professor Michael Ruiz.

“We go beyond the organic standard, so it’s like organically grown, but better.”

– Tara Adinolfi, UNCA alumna

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

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Campus website receives writing, design awards

Kendall Brooks ksbrooks@unca.edu

investigative reporter

UNC Asheville’s communications and marketing team won three awards, including one for best website.

“We were pleased to be recognized by our peers. It’s always nice to have people that are in your business, in the PR business, to say ‘Yeah, that was a good job you did,’ so that was nice,” said Debbie Griffith, director of communications and marketing.

UNCA won awards for best website design, best public relations writing and best recruitment tools.

According to Griffith, designing the website took eight months of planning and research before finalizing the design.

“The website is really our visibility to the world and the way that we attract a lot of students,” she said. “The first step a prospective student makes, we’ve heard, is they check the website out. So we wanted to really make a good impression.”

The Public Relations Association of Western North Carolina, representing all PR firms in the region, holds an annual contest for various categories of PR. Jill Yarnall, university writer and editor, won for the fourth time in a row for best public relations writing for her coverage of UNCA history professor Dan Pierce’s book on the history of car racing.

“After winning for three years, I really thought there was no way I could win for a fourth,” she said. “When they called my name, I was just stunned and really so proud to represent the university in that way.”

Yarnall said UNCA’s interesting atmosphere helps her produce the work she does.

“I think what made them great stories was not my skill necessarily but the subject matter. They were all about great things that were happening at the university,” she said. “What’s not to love? Fast cars, moonshine and folk heroes. It’s going to be hard to do a bad job at that.”

UNCA also submitted their website for review, a new category this year, and won due to the results of the new web design and the way it improved the university’s goals.

“We had to state our objective, who our target audience was, what we did in the process of organizing it and the

Kate Santos/staff photographer

Emmy Hunnicutt, 20, psychology student, looks at the campus website before class.

“The website is really our visibility to the world and the way that we attract a lot of students.”

– Debbie Griffith, director of communications and marketing budget, and they put a pretty good emphasis on showing results,” she said.

The association only awards deserving content, which leaves some categories without an award from time to time, according to Yarnall.

“This is the first time that PRAWNC gave an award in the website category,” she said.

According to Yarnall, UNCA competed against hospitals, ad agencies and city and county entries when they won the awards.

“It’s been really fun to work with a creative team that can help envision telling the story of the university,” she said.

Since the release of UNCA’s new website design, visits to the site increased, with the admissions page showing triple the amount of visits.

“The website was serving a good purpose before we redesigned it, but

the problem was that no one person was in charge of it, so it just got neglected a little bit,” she said. “So we have now hired a webmaster.”

UNCA alumnus Luke Withrow began working for the university four years ago and now works for ITS as the new webmaster. He graduated with a double major in computer science and multimedia arts and sciences, and served on the committee designing the new website.

“I think really a key thing to the website being successful is the content being fresh,” he said. “Capstrat, the company we worked with, did a great job at making it very easy for us to keep the content fresh.”

The committee, comprised of ITS, communications and stake holders such as alumni and admissions, took part in the design process. They worked with Capstrat, a public relations design firm

that recently designed the UNC Chapel Hill website, to create the new interface for UNCA, according to Griffith. The total cost of the project was $150,000.

“We tried to figure out how people navigate the site, what they want to find quickly, and really appeal to both an internal audience and an external audience,” she said. “It took us nearly a dozen different designs before we settled on the design we’re using.”

In designing the new website, the committee considered how people navigate the website and focused on making it easy to find topics such as cost of attendance and other student learning programs, according to Griffith.

Withrow said he maintains tech support for the website, offering help in terms of graphic design and content implementation.

“Of course, the real work is done

by Jill, the communications team,” he said. “No amount of technology is going to make a good website. You have to have good people writing it, good photography and good content,” he said.

Withrow currently focuses on teaching different departments how to use the new program and said he hopes to begin integrating them with the main website.

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Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Signs, kiosks provide ease in navigating Asheville Jeremiah Reeed jjreed@unca.edu staff writer

A recent facelift throughout Asheville will increase the city’s aesthetic value while making navigation easier for tourists.

The Asheville Area Wayfinding Program involves the replacement of more than 300 pedestrian and vehicular signs throughout the area in response to complaints from some visitors about the general difficulty they had navigating the downtown area.

“The initial project was based on feedback we got from visitors that certain downtown attractions were hard to find,” said Cate Marvill, tourism product development and community relations manager for the Asheville Chamber of Commerce.

Among other goals, the project hopes to move visitors through the area, decrease traffic congestion and improve the local economy.

Marvill said many visitors get lost in the downtown area, which can resemble a maze of side streets to those visiting Asheville for the first time.

“A lot of people Cate Marvill were confused by how our streets seem to change names for no reason and things like that,” she said.

Although the project was recently completed during the last few months, the city has been planning the details for several years.

According to Marvill, in early 2006, Asheville hired a destination expert to assess the city’s tourism industry. It was during that assessment the need for better signage throughout the area, particularly downtown, was highlighted.

According to Marvill, Asheville’s business community views the program as beneficial for visitors and local businesses alike.

Although a large part of the program consists of replacing more than 200 vehicular signs in the area, most of which need repair due to peeling paint, several initiatives specifically target downtown visitors.

Eight new informational kiosks have been placed in downtown Asheville.

The kiosks have three panels, one featuring a local map, one featuring a re-

Megan Dombroski/photography editor

More than 300 pedestrian and vehicular signs in the area had to be replaced due to peeling stickers.

The signs were installed to help visitors navigate confusing side streets in downtown Asheville.

“A lot of people were confused by how our streets seem to change names for no reason and things like that.”

– Cate Marvill, community relations manager for the Asheville Chamber of Commerce gional map and one featuring information about the specific location of the kiosk.

According to Marvill, the goal of the kiosks is to inform visitors of attractions outside of downtown Asheville and encourage people to explore the entire region.

“The kiosks are really designed to move people throughout the county as a whole. Obviously, downtown is a major attraction, but we want people to know about other attractions that may be just a few minutes’ drive from downtown,” she said.

Barbara Lowery, 47, and her family visit Asheville several times a year.

She said she found the new kiosks very beneficial in navigating the city.

“They really are a big help to those of us who don’t know the area so well,” the Georgia native said. “I just wish they would have been here when we started visiting years ago.”

The new sign faces are constructed of special order engineer grade reflective vinyl, which cannot be applied over existing sign faces. In all, 240 vehicular signs are being replaced.

The estimated cost of the Wayfinding program is more than $1.8 million, however, more than 90 percent of that total is funded internally.

“Funding for the project comes al-

most entirely from the occupancy tax, which is something we are really proud of,” Marvill said.

In 2001, the Buncombe County occupancy tax increased from three cents to four cents.

The original three cents continues to be dedicated to out-of-market advertising while the additional cent was dedicated to the county’s Tourism Product Development Fund.

The profits from the additional cent of tax is estimated at around $1.5 million per year. To date, the fund has collected more than $14 million and sponsored 14 community projects.

Although information was the main goal of the project, Asheville’s artistic values were not sacrificed during the process. Three local artists handcrafted finials, which will adorn each of the new vehicular signs.

Lowery praised the new vehicular signs and the artistic value they brought to the downtown area.

“Part of what makes Asheville unique is the artistic appreciation within the community,” she said. “So I see the new signs and the finials as a reflection of the artistic community.”

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

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RiverLink sets up spiritual labyrinth in Asheville

Teresa Linn

tclinn@unca.edu staff writer

Local nonprofit organization RiverLink’s new labyrinth is a wonderful addition and reflection of the Asheville community, according to one of the opening ceremony’s guest speakers and West Asheville Yoga owner Cat Matlock.

“It feels very Asheville to me. I’m newer to Asheville and it just feels like its very much part of the spirit of the religious pluralism in Asheville. It doesn’t have to be connected to any one religious tradition, so people from different walks of life can use it in different ways to center themselves,” said UNC Asheville assistant religious studies professor Katherine Zubko.

The opening included a variety of different clergy members from different religions who blessed the circular stone and gravel path. One of the speakers, Laura Collins, said the use of the labyrinth is a very broad and old tradition.

“Their origins are kind of mysterious,” Collins said. “They go back at least 4,500 years in history. There are different types of labyrinths in every part of the world. Just as there are many different labyrinth traditions around the world, we’re bringing many different local traditions here to bless this tradition.”

According to Zubko, the labyrinth is a positive and inclusive addition to Asheville and fits well within the community.

“I think it’s important to have spaces within the community that are acces-

Jessica Mauney/staff photographer

Asheville resident Michelle Payton walks the spiritual labyrinth at RiverLink, which was put together with the help of 100 volunteers.

sible to the entire community that people can use in multiple ways,” Zubko

said. “Rather than designating it as a sacred space for a particular religious

community, this leaves it open. I actually think it’s a really nice way to not just have it for one religious community.”

According to Collins, the labyrinth is a metaphorical path that can be walked in many different ways.

“The labyrinth is not a maze,” Collins said. “There are no tricks. There are no dead ends. You can’t get lost.

Once you enter the path, it takes you to the center if you will stay on it, and once you get into the center it will carry you back into the world if you stay on it. By stepping inside this sacred space, you’re choosing to put your own feet on this sacred path.”

The labyrinth is located next to Cotton Mill Studios on Riverside Drive.

Karen Cragnolin, RiverLink executive director, said it was the product of a day project involving about 100 volunteers working with the outdoor industry.

“We were working with the executives from the outdoor recreation industry who were coming here to do their annual conference. They wanted to do a day project to leave something behind,” Cragnolin said. “One of the organizers had been very involved in a labyrinth project someplace else, and so we started talking about what we could do that would involve a lot of people and be a real team-building exercise.”

Matlock said she thinks there is something special about the unconventional placement of the labyrinth.

“To live in a community where we

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Depression common among college students Jessie Lovelace jlovelac@unca.edu staff writer

For many students, the end of the semester can be overwhelming with the amount of work due and finals approaching.

UNC Asheville’s counseling and health centers can help students overcome depression and anxiety that often occur this time of year.

“Depression is a major issue among college students,” said Associate Director of Student Health and

Counseling Center Beverly Savinksy.

“In general, depression and anxiety are the two most common presented issues that psychotherapists see.”

The Counseling Eric Pyeritz Center sees students with a variety of issues and can offer assistance when those issues are more severe.

“We see a broad spectrum of everything from roommate conflicts and re-

lationship break-ups to more chronic and severe mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety, alcoholism and coping with substance abuse,” Savinksy said. “Often Beverly Savinksy times bipolar, schizophrenia and other major depressive disorders manifest themselves in the late teens or early 20s. So because of the nature of many of the students here, we’re seeing both

ADHD and bipolar depression that were diagnosed before the students got here but also some of the first episodes as well.”

According to university physician Eric Pyeritz, students coming to the Health Center seem more tired and stressed this time of year.

He said students have been experiencing feelings of being overwhelmed, being behind, worrying about grades and not sleeping well or long enough.

Pyeritz also said there is a distinct

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Stress

difference between depression and anxiety.

“I don’t see an increase in depression because of finals. In fact, it’s mainly anxiety,” he said.

Many people experience anxiety, especially before tests, and the disorder causes many symptoms.

“Sleeplessness is one of them,” Pyeritz said. “Maybe folks that are prone to anxiety disorders anyway tend to maybe have increased feelings of panic. Sometimes they come in feeling very fatigued and run down.

They don’t know what they’re worried about, there’s nothing they can put their finger on.”

Pyreritz said students often feel like there’s not enough time to get everything done, and that many feel extremely tired and worried.

Freshman psychology student Emily Bryant said she is more stressed out now because of the amount of work she has due.

Bryant said anxiety is an issue for many students she knows.

“It’s caused by overload, and them not dealing with it, letting it just pile on,” she said.

She said students should take a more proactive approach to their studies to lessen the stresses of their workload.

“Just prepare yourself enough over time, and if it gets really bad, then talk to someone about it and let it out,” she

Farm

“They make payments, they don’t pay it all at once. Some people (can) pay at once to get a discount.”

UNCA biology professor Timothy Forrest purchased part of a working share for the 2010 season. He said his time spent helping out the farm was fun and manageable. t “I enjoyed working on the farm for a t day and helping Tara and Sean and acs tually seeing where our vegetables and chickens were,” Forrest said. n Forrest said he enjoyed participating e in the share program, and he said he d received much more produce than he would have been able to buy at a gro- cery store. , “The thing I really liked was that I s was introduced to a whole bunch of different vegetables that I had never t had before, and so it was a nice learning experience to see how to cook things that I had never eaten before,”

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Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Continued

“Depression is a major issue among college students.”

– Beverly Savinsky, associate director of student health and counseling center said.

The Counseling Center can help students understand their anxiety as well as find coping methods that work best for them.

“Often what is behind test anxiety can be a lot of irrational beliefs,” Savinsky said. “One somehow gets in their mind, ‘I’m not going to do well on this test, I haven’t studied enough, everybody else knows this better than I do, I’m really not smart enough to be here,’ and then without even realizing it, that becomes sort of a soundtrack in their mind. So what happens then is you have a lot of these negative thoughts going on in your mind, which cause you to feel anxious, and your

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body responds physiologically, which leads your mind to go blank.”

Though anxiety may cause students’ workloads to seem insurmountable, according to Savinsky, this may just be due to the mental routine a student has set for himself or herself.

“Often good strategies for test anxiety can include distracting oneself, and instead of getting caught up in this endless loop that we don’t realize we’re in, one can try changing the way they’re thinking,” she said. “You can easily go from ‘I am not feeling prepared for this test,’ to, ‘I’m going to be homeless and destitute for the rest of my life.’ Many of us do this without ever realizing the huge difference between the two.”

It is possible to overcome test anxiety, and, as Savinsky said, there are a number of ways to cope.

The first step is to change the negative thoughts that cause the anxiety, she said.

“Try and replace that by saying things like, ‘I’ve worked hard, I’ve attended class, I’ve prepared for this test and I’m going to do the best I can.’

That’s one way to look at the thoughts portion. For the behavior portion, distraction can be good. If you’re finding that your mind blanks, get up, go to the restroom, take a walk, just do something to get yourself out of that loop,” Savinsky said.

Continued

Forrest said.

Adinolfi, who graduated from UNCA with a degree in environmental studies, said Ostara Farm follows the organic standard for all of its produce. In the United States, the National Organic Program, part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, issues and regulates the guidelines for what can be considered organic food.

“We go beyond the organic standard, so its like organically grown, but better,” Adinolfi said.

Adinolfi also said her farm uses several ecologically focused farming techniques, such as no-till soil bedding.

“Whenever you till the soil, you release carbon in the atmosphere and so you contribute to global warming,” Adinolfi said. “But, if you don’t till, and you’re always putting things into the soil, then you are creating a carbon sink. You are sequestering carbon for

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the planet.”

UNCA physics professor Michael Ruiz said he liked the produce he received from his share, as well as learning and sharing recipes for the vegetables.

“It’s been great getting the fresh stuff and trying out some new things too,” Ruiz said.

Adinolfi said the farm is accepting student internships for the upcoming spring and summer semesters.

“We are looking for interns that are interested in doing this for their senior internships for class credit,” Adinolfi said.

In addition to internships, Adinolfi said she is looking to fund scholarships for low-income employees at UNCA in the future.

“It’s stuff that we would like to do to give back to the community,” she said.

Labyrinth Continued

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have a space where we can come and get out of the trappings of our minds so that we can come more into our hearts speaks volumes to the amazing people in this community where we live,” Matlock said.

Cragnolin said she hopes people take advantage of the new local and convenient escape from the day to day.

“We just hope that people will use it,” Cragnolin said. “We’re all on a crazy stressful schedule, and to have a place right here in an emerging transitional area, where it’s a place of peace and meditation and harmony, where you can take a break and sort of calm down, relax and refocus, I think that’s always a wonderful thing.”

Correction: The article “Tour displays efforts to prevent future flooding in Asheville” should have read that the floods occurred in Biltmore Village.

Arts & Features Ugandan musician shares world music Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Auburn Petty alpetty@unca.edu staff writer

Playing traditional African instruments such as the balaphon, kora and kalimba, Kinobe will perform at UNC Asheville this week.

“He’s a Ugandan multi-instrumentalist that performs kind of a fusion between jazz and world music on acoustic instruments,” said Margie Farmer, Kinobe’s manager and agent. “His music really fuses, not only music from traditional sources, but from all of these different people and places.

He’s been touring since he was 10, so he has in his brain music from the Netherlands and Asia, Canada and the Americas. It’s all in his heart, and he puts it all together in a very contemporary way.”

Kinobe, 27, said all the places he visited heavily influenced him.

He described his music as global music and said he brought influences from many places, but mostly Africa.

“It’s world music, global sounds, with a strong influence on Africa, so it’s African global music,” he said.

“It’s taking different traditional instruments from different parts of Africa and playing a lot of traditional songs, which are based on traditional stories.”

Kinobe said his music has changed throughout the years.

According to Bonnie Parker, director of Study Abroad/Study Away, Kinobe grew up with support and enthusiasm for music.

“He’s grown up with music,” Parker said. “He said although his family were not musicians, they supported him and his passion, so his passion really comes out in his music.”

Kinobe’s performance is part of International Education week, according to Parker.

Parker said the point of the week is to expose students to different cultures.

“It is a week of events that are happening all over campus,” Parker said.

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“It’s events that are student-led. Faculty are giving some presentations.

We’re having some music and dance, so it’s really to highlight the different cultures.”

She also said this week is meant to encourage students to study abroad.

“We wanted to cover all the regions of the world as well as touch on the different divisions and departments across campus,” Parker said. “We wanted to get as much of a diverse selection of events that would interest most people.”

Kinobe plays traditional African instruments, but he also makes his own, according to Parker.

“He has built some of his instruments, but a lot of his instruments are traditional instruments of Africa. He’s from Uganda, but he also has traditional instruments from other parts of Africa as well,” Parker said.

Parker said UNCA booked Kinobe because his music is rich with culture, and he performed on campus last spring.

Both Parker and Farmer emphasized the unique nature of Kinobe’s music.

“It’s an unusual opportunity to see someone who has grown up with his traditional music and traditional instruments and to be able to experience that if you’re not able to go to Uganda.

It’s a great experience to see that in person,” Parker said. “It’s going to be a small venue, so it’s a good intimate setting as well.”

Farmer said she enjoys Kinobe’s music because it is such a unique, contemporary sound.

“It’s really a beautiful, unique kind of concert — very personal, very uplifting, very different. It’s a real opportunity to hear a master of these instruments perform,” she said. “I really think he’s the best kalimba player in the world. He’s remarkable.”

Kinobe said he is looking forward to his performance at UNCA. “Normally, I tour with my band, which just returned to Uganda yester-

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Photo courtesey of Steven Parke

Ugandan vocalist and musician Kinobe will perform at UNCA Nov. 18 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. as part of International Education Week. The week aims to expose students to different cultures.

day at the end of our American tour,” he said. “It’s the first solo performance I’m going to do this year. I’m very much looking forward to it. It’s also the launch of my new solo CD, which is my first solo CD.” Kinobe’s music ties together many

different cultures, according to Parker.

“His music is not just preserving the culture, it’s taking that culture and making it relevant today,” Farmer said.

Kinobe will perform at UNCA on Nov. 18 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in Alumni Hall.

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Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Musician keeps stories alive through song Sarah Hinson

sbhinson@unca.edu staff writer

Joe Penland is not your average musician, since performing some of his songs helps preserve 12 generations of oral tradition from his Scottish and English ancestries.

“If my family thought enough of it to keep doing it in this country for over 370 years, how could I not?” Penland said.

The 62-year-old performer and storyteller, who visited UNC Asheville Nov. 9 for “I’m the Old Man Now: Ballads and Stories from the Keepers of the ‘Love Songs,’” began learning traditional ballads from his aunts and singers in the Sodom Laurel community when he was 14, and he continues to hold on to the community’s tradition.

Penland’s interest dwindled briefly, but picked up again in 2002 when he battled cancer and realized the importance of passing on ballads.

“I wanted to make a record, recordings for my children and grandchildren, so that they would know the songs I had learned when I was young, and I’ve been singing them ever since,” Penland said. “Becoming seriously ill was the best thing that ever happened to me.”

Penland also writes his own music, often to keep memories of lost friends and family alive.

“As long as I tell these stories about these people, they’re living,” Penland said. “They’ll never be dead as long as I talk about them, but when people forget their stories and memories, it’s all over.”

Many of Penland’s stories concern the events of Madison County, where he was born and raised, and the inspiring people who lived there.

“I’ve tried to write more songs about events that happen in my home in Marshall and around the river,” Penland said. “There’s so much there, so many wonderful characters that I’ve known in my life, and they deserve to be immortalized.”

Ellen Pearson, the faculty member in the history department at UNCA who invited Penland to come perform, currently lives in a house in Madison County more than 100 years old. She said she treasures the area’s history and sense of community.

“We got this great house, which we continue to work on, and then we got

this great town, and it’s just a beautiful place to live and the people are just wonderful,” Pearson said. “You’ve got multi-generational Madison residents, but you’ve also got a lot of folks who came from elsewhere, but everyone fits right in. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of resentment against the new folks, and there’s a lot of appreciation because we appreciate the heritage.”

Pearson noted a magical quality about the old mountains of Madison County, and said she feels connected to the area’s past inhabitants, from the Native Americans to the town father who built her house.

She also said it is crucial to appreciate the area’s culture.

“If we didn’t appreciate the culture so much, we’d be miserable,” Pearson said. “We’re not common, but I know a lot of people like us who moved into the area and just appreciate and cherish the personality there.”

Penland said new people moving into the area help increase and sustain the popularity of ballads and storytelling.

“One of the biggest challenges is that the ballads and storytelling have lost a lot of popularity here locally, and if it weren’t for the influx of new people from other places who didn’t know that history, it would be much harder to sing,” Penland said.

During his performance, Penland sang several songs, sometimes accompanied by his guitar, and often paused to elaborate on stories.

He also displayed pictures of Madison County and the people who sang and had songs written in their honor.

The subject matter of love songs dealt with everything from infidelity to the death of loved ones.

Each song was full of emotion and description.

“I try to write songs that can give you a vivid image or at least transmit the emotion of the event, so that’s the thing that drives most of what I write,” Penland said.

The musician said he never experienced the kind of high or adrenaline rush he has after a good performance.

“One if the biggest rewards is having one or two people in any audience you can see you’re really communicating with,” Penland said. “There is nothing like having that contact and to be able to transport people somewhere.”

Penland’s ballads certainly seemed to resonate with audience members as

Kimala Boughaw-Burklow/staff photographer

Joe Penland sings an old ballad he learned as a teenager during his performance last week. Penland said his ballads revolve around people and events that happened in Madison County. Penland said singing ballads keeps stories alive.

“As long as I tell these stories about these people, they’re living.”

– Joe Penland, performer and storyteller listeners wiped away tears during sad moments and laughed at his humorous stories.

One of the attendees, Kelley Sharp, a junior history student at UNCA, said she enjoyed the performance and the ballads reminded her of her own home in the Ozark Mountains.

Sharp also said she thinks oral history is a special and important tradition.

“Most of our earliest history started as an oral history that was eventually written down, so it’s just a form of cultural and social history that is being preserved through people’s memories,” Sharp said. “That almost makes it more special than just writing it down.”

Pearson said people need to continue traditions like ballads and storytelling to preserve important parts of history.

“It’s part of the way that we’re programmed as humans to want to preserve our heritage,” Pearson said.

All families have a history that should be remembered, and Penland said he hopes different generations will learn their own stories from each other.

“I want people to realize that every family has a story,” Penland said. “It’s really important for each generation to talk to the other generation, because sometimes we have to question our parents and grandparents to find out what our story is.”

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

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Adjunct professor brings life to storytelling

Performer engages audience, students with oral tradition Caitlin Halloran cmhallor@unca.edu staff writer

Storytelling shapes many careers from camp counselor, guide, teacher and librarian. Bobbie Pell did all of the above.

Storyteller and UNC Asheville adjunct instructor Pell started as a wilderness guide and backpack leader, with a degree in outdoor education and an interest in literature.

“I was the one who got to read the stories and tell them by campfire,” said Pell, who noted heavy

books were imprudent on long hikes.

She continued to share stories in the woods until she decided to go back for her first master’s degree. Chasing a desire to write children’s books, Pell received her degree in library science.

During her 10 years as a librarian, she utilized the craft of stories to show children the benefits of reading and sharing. She developed her ability in guitar, the tsaltery, percussions, drums, wooden claw and vocal a cappella, all to keep children’s attention from wandering and to add depth to the story.

“I started hiring storytellers, and my kids would tell me, ‘Well, Miss Bobbie, you tell just as good as they do,’” she said. “When I found out you could actually have storytelling as a profession, I started attending mentoring workshops and asking questions about how to turn it into a business.”

She registered on artists’ rosters and became a visiting artist, traveling to different schools for storytelling, creative writing and music. She used storytelling to push her writing career and jumped into the genre.

She expanded her business, promoting herself at library tellings and schools, and sending out business fliers to build her bookings. She also did “living literature” fantasy courses for children.

Along with teaching Harry Potter, she also taught classes on The Chronicles of Narnia, Redwall and The Hobbit.

“We would simulate what went on in

the books and create our own characters using felt masks,” Pell said. “Each week we were in the stories. We were mountain trolls going down the hallway. We rode the Hogwarts Express.”

When Pell had surgery for a severe case of bronchitis, she had to be silent for six weeks and hope her voice recovered. During that time, Pell said she reached the point where she wanted to be a storyteller full time.

“I already made a choice. I wanted to teach the big kids because the discipline was too much,” she said. “I didn’t like who I had to be.”

She then enrolled at Western Carolina University for her second master’s degree, this time in English literature.

For a while, Pell juggled two community college teaching positions and a visiting artist rotation.

“I had a wacky schedule,” she said.

“One time I was in Aiken, South Carolina, for the week, taught from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., got in my car, taught from 6 to 10 p.m. and drove three hours back to Aiken.”

She said she would give her husband her performance schedule and say goodbye until the weekend, logging 10,000 miles a year in travels.

She participated in festivals, educational organizations, private parties and nature center programs, including Camp Merriwood for girls.

“I always kept my finger on the collegiate level,” she said.

Now, Pell teaches two Arts 310 courses, one about storytelling and one on Celtic arts.

“It’s a fun way to do it. We’re getting to read fairy tales instead of chemistry. It’s a break from the nonfiction, and yet it’s still a way to satisfy the requirement.”

James Gillespie, a junior, said he did not think the class would be as educational or practical as it became.

“It’s helped me build public speaking skills, and I really feel like the class is much more of a community than a random group of people filling an academic requirement,” the Charlotte native said. “Bobbie’s the best.”

On Nov. 8, the arts and ideas program gave a free telling of two international tellers, Barbara Freeman and David Novak. Both kept the crowd engaged and entertained with outrageous pantomimes, expressive facial enactments and falsetto voices.

As part of the storytelling class, Novak, a former UNCA adjunct, attended the Nov. 7 meeting of the class to share some story adaptations and talk about his personal style.

Novak shared a personal anecdote about a carnival near his home called Storyland. As he grew up, he forgot about the times he spent at Bo Peep’s petting zoo, and riding other storythemed rides, until one day he rediscovered the ruins.

“I vowed never again to lose the way to Storyland,” he said.

To engage the audience, he used a tied shoelace cats-cradle style to depict Jack and the Beanstalk. A string ladder became a beanstalk, a tied knot was a bag of beans, a woven triangle a giant’s beard and a knotted tangle was the wife’s mane.

Novak also expressed the importance of oral tradition.

“The story is different from the text,” he said. “They aren’t sacred texts. Stories are organic. It is an entity.”

To Novak, tellers are tradition bearers. They tell something of the culture and continue traditions.

“No matter what story you’re telling, you’re telling your own story,” he said.

Courtney Council, a senior management student, said she attended the event for fun.

She said she became interested in storytelling during North Carolina history in elementary school, and she especially loves Jack tales.

“I love the stories themselves, because they are simple tales that can be tweaked by different performers who tell them,” she said. “Storytelling is a fine art. Those who think that you can just get up and read from a book or recite a simple story do not understand the nuances and specialties of these cherished stories. The performance has to please everyone in the crowd, young and old. Good storytellers, like Bobbie, are very special.”

Pell said she hopes her students learn to take confidence from the stories they tell and relate it to reality, in whatever concentration they choose, and to make relationships and share stories about themselves.

“Part of what you will take from your UNCA experience, you’ve got to be able to present yourself somehow to somebody,” she said. “I want to be part of that foundation.”

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Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Photo Corner

Katie Saylors/assistant photography editor

Anna Blair Publow, owner of Canvas Paint and Mingle in Asheville, walks through Curve studios with her husband, Andrew, and daughter Milly during the River Arts District Stroll. The event features more than 140 artist studios and galleries.

Katie Saylors/assistant photogarphy editor

The River Arts District Studio Stroll hosts more than 140 working artist studios and galleries. These sculptures were some of many on display at the studio stroll.

Katie Saylors/assistant photography editor

Artist Fleta Monaghan, a UNC Asheville alumna, works on an Encaustic painting, also known as hot wax painting.

O

n Nov. 13 and 14, many local artists opened up their studios to the public for the biannual River Arts District Studio Stroll. The stroll included artist demonstrations and a meditation labyrinth dedication ceremony.

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Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Page 11

Campus Spotlight

Lecturer reflects on days with Disney and Pee-wee Alyssa Spencer

Robin Singer/staff photogapher

afspence@unca.edu

Left, Christopher Oakley’s frame from a storyboard for his pitch to create an animated version of Sweeney Todd.

The multimedia arts and sciences lecturer tweaks an animation in his office. Oakley has worked in the film and television industry for 25 years and recently began teaching full time at UNCA.

managing editor

Most students get jobs waiting tables or working in retail to help pay for their college education. UNC Asheville multimedia arts and sciences lecturer Christopher Oakley animated “Pee-wee’s Playhouse” to pay for graduate school.

Oakley has been in the film and television industry for 25 years. During this time, he animated for Disney, directed numerous commercials, worked on a world tour for Madonna and collaborated with the mastermind behind Pee-wee Herman, Paul Reubens.

“I wanted to be a Renaissance man,” Oakley said. “I wanted to be a screenwriter and a director. After college, the jobs just kept coming, and I had to be forced to take vacations. I’ve never been bored in my life.”

While studying at Columbia University, Oakley worked on several stop-motion animation projects, which culminated into directing and animating the Penny cartoons for “Pee-wee’s Playhouse.”

Oakley said creating the Penny cartoons involved interviewing little girls for an hour and condensing what they said into a minute.

Oakley formed linear narratives out of these interviews.

“It was a wonderfully creative time,” the lecturer said. “Paul gave me tremendous, tremendous artistic freedom, which I had never had before and I’ve never had since. I remember reading the first script that I was going to be working on and thinking, ‘Oh my God, they’re never going to get this on the air.’ It was so overdone with innuendo. But Paul got it. He got most everything on the air.”

After his stint working on “Pee-wee’s Playhouse,” Oakley directed commercials in New York City and San Fransisco. He worked on Alka- Seltzer and Hershey Kisses commercials and was one of the animators who brought the Pillsbury dough boy to life.

Then, Oakley got a phone call from Disney.

“They said, ‘We’re making this computer-animated film and we want to move you to Los Angeles, pay you a lot of money and have you work on this movie with us. Would that be

OK?’” Oakley said with a laugh. “I was like, ‘I’ll pay you.’”

According to Oakley, at that time training in computer animation was very difficult to obtain because it was brand new.

“Jurassic Park was supposed to be stop-motion animation, which is what I’d been doing for 10 years,” he said.

“It was supposed to be moving puppets around, frame by frame. I went to see Jurassic Park and had a complete meltdown because I saw my career flash before my eyes. I thought, ‘OK, I’m done. Computers are taking over.’

So I decided I needed to evolve or turn to stone.”

Oakley said working for Disney on the computer-animated film Dinosaur was one of the most important projects of his career.

“Dinosaur was bleeding edge,” he said. “We were creating something that didn’t exist. It was a great time because it was a challenge. At Disney, I felt like my creative side was valued and that I was contributing to the whole.”

Oakley said some of the best people in the business were working at Disney studios when he began work on Dinosaur.

“Roy Disney, Walt Disney’s nephew, was around, and he looked just like Walt,” Oakley said. “I pitched a story to Disney for the next Fantasia, and Roy Disney liked it and bought it. I still sleep in the bedroom set that I bought with the money from them buying that idea.”

More recently, Oakley was recruited

to create visual entertainment for Madonna’s Sticky and Sweet world tour.

“I didn’t know a whole lot about flash animation at the time; I thought it was dry,” he said. “I got a call from a producer asking me if I knew how to do it, and I said, ‘Who wants to know?’

He told me it was Madonna. So I crammed an entire book over a weekend and learned just what I needed to learn to get the job done.”

Oakley created animated visuals for the stage based off dance movements Madonna’s team sent him.

In addition to closing out his first full-time semester at UNCA, Oakley said he is completing a series of 40 to 60 painted portraits entitled “Faces of Change.”

The portraits feature leaders in the movement of equality for gay and lesbian people.

“It will be a traveling exhibit all over the country, and so far, about 30 people have posed for it,” he said. “I hold photo sessions with the participants — politicians, actors, singers — and then I work from the photos and paint them.”

Among the people who have posed for Oakley include his old friends Anthony Rapp of the musical Rent and Judith Light of TV shows such as “Ugly Betty” and “Who’s the Boss?”

“I try to pay tribute to these people who are doing what they can to advance equality,” Oakley said. “It’s my way of saying, ‘Thank you.’”

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Wednesday, November 17, 2010

‘Everybody Can-Can’ support MANNA Concert feeds souls and the hungry through art and food Megan Dombroski mkdombro@unca.edu photography editor

Rabia Forman dances in “Can you feel it?” at the 13th annual Everybody Can-Can last Friday.

Performing in the Everybody Can-Can show at UNC Asheville is exhausting and freeing all at the same time, according to junior psychology student Toff Ylanan.

“My legs are sore as hell, and my blisters on my feet are about to pop, but it was all worth it,” Ylanan said.

This year was the 13th annual Everybody Can-Can. The Can-Can is the largest dance performance of every semester and showcases the work of multiple dance classes.

“Over the years this event has just become immensely popular,” said Constance Schrader, director of the dance program. “I met a family in the lobby when I was closing up. (They told me) ‘We didn’t think these could get any better, but this one was the best yet. We’ve been coming to these since he was in school here 10 years ago.’”

Admission to the show was either four cans of food for MANNA FoodBank or $5 for the dance department.

“Both are needy and worthy causes,” Schrader said. “We are all glad to be able to feed bodies through MANNA and souls through dance.”

Schrader said the auditorium was so crowded they had to worry about fitting everyone in safely. People sat in the floor of the aisles and stood in the back.

“It’s clear we are going to need to con-

trol the ticket sales more closely if we are able to do the show again next year,” Schrader said. “We were pushing a capacity crowd all night. At several points we had to hold people in the lobby until some people left and we could be sure that there were safe levels of occupancy.”

The performance was a culmination of about a month of work in classes, but according to Schrader, they put the show together in a few hours.

“What’s pretty amazing about this show is that it is essentially mounted in six hours,” Schrader said. “That’s pretty remarkable since there were about 130 performers. Everybody knows we have to do this together and it is really amazing to see everyone working for a common goal. (This was) no place for divas and primas.”

Schrader is unsure of the exact amount of food they collected, but she said although she anticipated a big crowd, they still couldn’t contain all of the canned goods.

“We usually raise right at a ton of food,” Schrader said. “This year, we overfilled six bins and had food stacked up on the floor.

I would guess a ton and a quarter.”

Even though Schrader said she originally planned to focus on dance as an experience in the dance department, Everybody CanCan introduced the performance aspect of the art.

“Thirteen year ago, Mary LaBianca, one of our first minors, asked me if we could do

a concert. Since 1986, I’d been at UNCA slowly building a dance program that was more about the experience of dance than the production of dance, but Mary helped me see that we were ready to put our work on stage and share it,” she said.

Although the dance program is part of the health and wellness department, it is entirely self-supporting.

“In the old days, the department paid for the printing costs, but even those are now (part) of productions expenses,” Schrader said. “After production costs, we cleared $200.”

Junior drama student Hannah Roseman performed in five different pieces for the Can-Can. Although dance can seem intimidating to beginners, Roseman said the dance program at UNCA welcomes students of all experience levels.

“The dance program benefits people at UNCA by letting them do something they’ve never done before,” Roseman said. “The beginner classes are open to everyone at the school and catered to fit all skill levels. People can experience dancing and performing with no pressure from anyone.”

Roseman said she has been dancing for 15 years. For her, dance is not just an exercise but also a therapy.

“Dancing enriches my life in so many ways. It keeps me healthy, for one, but mainly, I’ve always used it as stress relief,” Roseman said. “It is my emotional, physi-

cal, and creative outlet. I also just feel happy and beautiful when I dance.”

Ylanan created the cho- reography and costume designs for a solo piece entitled “Strings” to a song by Yo-Yo Ma. He has been dancing for two years.

“My choreography is usually the result of some sort of turmoil or indiscretion that I have faced, and though my experience may not be the same as yours or the next person, the emotions are just the same,” Ylanan said.

Ylanan said he doesn’t perform just for himself.

“I perform to enrich the lives as others as well,” Ylanan said. “I hope that the passion and stories that I display will inspire someone else to create something beautiful of their own.”

UNCA’s liberal arts focus emphasizes the importance of a well-rounded education. Schrader said the dance program helps students meet this expectation. “(The performers) learned what they were made of,” Schrader said. “They rose to the occasion with a generosity of spirit and a faith in themselves that will be a resource to them in any other pursuit. This kind of opportunity is the core of liberal education.”

Photos by Megan Dombroski/photography editor

Toff Ylanan performs his solo piece “Strings.”

Bobby Abrahamson and Hannah Roseman do the “Charleston Charley.”

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Alumna incorporates dance into her busy life Page 14

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Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Movement serves as an energizing force for dancers in Boom Chix Anne Louise Bouchard alboucha@unca.edu staff writer

Sarah Yancey balances her time between dance and her tempeh business.

Yancey is a member of Belle Afrique and Boom Chix, and she recently started her own company, Smiling Hara Tempeh, with her partner Chad.

With a seven-and–a-half-month old son, it is not hard to see that Yancey’s life is a little busy.

Yancey has been with Boom Chix for the past three years, and in the last year and a half, her business has taken off. Yancey said it is rewarding to see her business thrive.

An Asheville native, Yancey said one reason she decided to stay here is the mountains.

“There is diversity, creativity and a level of consciousness around the environment,” she said of the city.

Dancing entranced the 27-year-old in middle school when she was on the cheerleading team.

“I was really interested by how black women moved their bodies,” she said.“Personally, it’s just to have fun.

It makes me feel really strong.”

Yancey said she did some jazz and swing, but she is mostly into African dancing.

“I went to UNCA to take an African dance class before I studied in Africa,” she said.

She also said she is interested in trying new types of dance.

Yancey said Belle Afrique uses more of a traditional African performance.

This group contains men and women, and the men play most of the music while the women dance.

She said dance is a total release.

“Anything in my life that isn’t positive transforms after 30 minutes of dancing,” Yancey said.

Boom Chix, a group of five women, spread their message through drums and dance.

The group began when Jessie Lehman put together an all-female dance group for a women’s conference.

Lehman took five of her favorite dancers and turned them into drummers as well.

Boom Chix’s performances last Friday and Saturday at the Bebe Theater included different skits and performances.

“The first half of the show was all

Photo courtesy of Sarah Yancey

Boom Chix performs at the Lexington Avenue Arts and Fun Festival in 2009. Yancey, left, joined the group three years ago after taking dance classes at UNCA. The alumna said she enjoys being a part of the group and performing traditional African dances with the four other members.

new material,” said Jessica Telfair, a member of Boom Chix. “It’s amazing how much time goes into a new piece.”

The performance began with the five women on stage.

Three of the five dance in the center while the two others played the drums.

The night also featured sketches from members of the comedy group The Feral Chihuahuas.

Their three sketches poked fun at women of different ages.

One centered around women who have a tendency to one up each other.

Another showed the joys of aging, where two old women tried to have a conversation while doing water aerobics.

Yancey said, on average, Boom Chix performs six to seven times a year.

Typically, they do nonprofit or benefit performances.

“It’s very rewarding whenever we get paid for a gig,” she said.

Telfair said in today’s society there are not many women who dance and also play the music.

“I think they’re great and high energy,” said Spyce, a local performer and host of The Spicy Buzz on AshevilleFM.org.

Spyce has seen the group twice, and said the show had good variety.

After a brief intermission, giving audience members time to get wine or Tshirts, Boom Chix came back for more dancing.

The second half of the Boom Chix performance included their greatest hits from past shows.

The women dressed in polka dots and had fun with their dancing.

“It was explosive,” said crowd member Amy Meier. “I haven’t seen them before. It makes me want to take up African dance.”

Meier said she wished there was a dance space in the theater so people could join in with the performers.

The host of the show encouraged the audience to interact with the performers.

Audience members showed their support through cheers and claps.

Asheville is the only city Boom Chix has performed in so far.

However, Telfair said if the opportunity comes, they are interested in going elsewhere and sharing their unique dance style with other communities.

Etc. . .

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

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International Education Week schedule of events Wednesday

Africana Studies

by Agya Boakye-Boaten 10-10:30 a.m.

Ghana

by Agya Boakye-Boaten, Shamsideen Yusuf, Teresa Lange and Emily Rhyne 10:30-11:30 a.m.

Thursday

Writing in a land of writers: a summer poetry workshop in Ireland

by Daniel Resner 10-10:30 a.m.

World camp for kids

by Elizabeth Smith 11:30 a.m.-Noon

Around the world in 80 minutes Meal in the Dining Hall Noon

Extra! Extra! READ all about it!

by Lucas Reyes Noon-1 p.m.

Traveling without a map

by Ashley Hinceman 1-1:30 p.m.

Math and science abroad

by Greg Boudreaux 1:30-2 p.m.

Germany

by Marcus Southern 1:30-2 p.m.

International studies and Asian studies opportunities at UNC Asheville

by Surian Subramaniam, 2-2:30 p.m.

Self-discovery through study abroad

by Alyssa Strazanac 2 - 2:30 p.m.

International studies and Asian studies opportunities at UNC Asheville

by Surain Subramaniam 2:30-3 p.m.

Why study in India?

by Keya Maitra and Katherine Zubko 4-4:30 p.m.

Indian/Middle Eastern dance

by Lisa Zahiya and her class 7:30-9:30 p.m.

Grotto, Highsmith Union

Me, Korea and the result

by Matthew Collins 3:30-4 p.m.

Traditional African music

by Kinobe 7-9 p.m.

Alumni Hall, Highsmith Union

Friday

Cultural differences between France and the United States

by Casey Sellarole and Marion Gaborieau 10-10:30 a.m.

Rotary International’s Ambassadorial Scholarship opportunities

by Shirley Browning 10:30-11 a.m.

Friday continued

Teaching, learning and living in Chile

by Judy Beck 11-11:30 a.m.

Globalization This will serve as the humanities lecture for HUM 414

by Surain Subramaniam 11:25 a.m.

Humanities Lecture Hall A UNCA Odyssey

by Sophie Mills 11:30 a.m.-Noon Africana studies

by Agya Boakye-Boaten 1:30-2 p.m.

International studies and Asian studies opportunities at UNC Asheville

by Surain Subramaniam 2-2:30 p.m.

The stories of photos

by Glenn Yoder 2:30-3 p.m.

Peace Corps: “Life is calling. How far will you go?”

by Isaiah Mosteller and Jackson Allison 4:30-5:30 p.m.

2 Million Minutes documentary film 7-9 p.m.

Grotto, Highsmith Union ***All events will be held in Highsmith Union 104 unless otherwise noted

For more information visit: http://www2.unca.edu/studyabroad

Page 15

Campus Events BFA Senior Exhibition Sculpture John Seefeldt Highsmith Union Gallery Wednesday-Tuesday ANSO 2nd Annual Graduate School/Career Options Panel Highsmith Union 222 Thursday, 5 - 6 p.m.

Earth Hour Highsmith Union Thursday, 7 - 8 p.m.

James J. Brittain book review Highsmith Union 235 Thursday, 8 p.m.

Short plays

by Tennessee Williams Carol Belk Theatre Thursday-Saturday, 8 p.m.

For more campus activities, visit: www.unca.edu/barker

Sports Wait, Auburn who?

Page 16

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Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Photo courtesy of UNCA Athletics

Jaron Lane, left middle, and Matt Dickey celebrate the miracle overtime victory against Auburn in the Tigers brand new arena, the Auburn Arena.

UNCA men’s basketball shocks Auburn with a huge overtime victory

Natalie Pearson &Amari Clements ngpearso@unca.edu, aclement@unca.edu

Sports editor, staff writer

The men’s basketball team ripped open their 2010-11 season with a powerful win against the Auburn Tigers Friday night.

The Bulldogs entered the game as the

underdogs, but the 70-69 result showed the Tigers that UNCA means business.

The win against the Southeastern Conference basketball powerhouse is the first time the Bulldogs have won their opening game on the road since 1978. It also snapped a 14-game non-conference losing streak on the road since the 2007-08 sea-

son.

“We usually play a big team like Auburn, and it’s very difficult to win on the road,” Head Coach Eddie Biedenbach said.

The dynamic duo of guards Matt Dickey and J.P. Primm led the team and had 18 and 16 points, respectively.

“I feel like we play well together,” Dick-

ey said.

More than 9,000 Tigers witnessed the Asheville Bulldogs claim their one-point overtime victory, spoiling Auburn’s inauguration celebrations for the new Auburn Arena.

See BASKETBALL Page 19

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

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Page 17

High Point Panthers get the better of the Bulldogs Natalie Pearson ngpearso@unca.edu sports editor

Photo courtesy of UNCA Athletics

Bulldog libero Alex Stewart makes one of her 26 digs against Big South Conference rival Liberty University.

Volleyball team finishes season in third

Justin Stewart jastewar@unca.edu staff writer

The UNC Asheville volleyball team clinched third place in the Big South Conference regular season as they wrapped up their schedule against top-ranked Liberty.

Entering the match, UNCA had won their last seven contests and looked to keep the streak alive Saturday afternoon versus the Flames at the Vines Center. In the teams’ clash at the Justice Center last month, Liberty defeated UNCA in four sets, 23-25, 26-24, 25-20, 25-19.

Despite a strong showing from the Bulldogs, Liberty proved to be too much for Head Coach Julie Torbett’s squad, and the BSC regular season champs took the match in five sets.

Although the Flames (23-8, 14-2 BSC) took control early and won the opening frame, 25-14, the Bulldogs (19-11, 11-5 BSC) put up a good fight in the second set and seemed determined to pull off the upset against their conference powerhouse rivals.

Upperclassmen outside hitters Cindi Miller and Kelsey Benorden led the UNCA

attack, which yielded a comeback effort that sealed the second set win, 25-22. After several lead changes and ties throughout the set, the Bulldogs kept pace with the Flames and looked to harness the momentum going into the match’s third stanza.

Contributions from UNCA freshman defensive specialist Rachel Wells also helped the Bulldogs keep it close in the early stages of the match. Wells came up big on the service line, with a pair of serving aces to complement her 12 total digs on the afternoon.

UNCA’s Holly Shelton continued her fine sophomore campaign in the conference grudge match. The former Brevard High School standout middle blocker logged a quartet of kills en route to a 7.5 point outing. Shelton’s .667 hitting percentage during the second frame helped UNCA claim that set.

Unfortunately, the Flames’ exceptional defense thwarted the Bulldogs’ arsenal during the third set. Liberty held UNCA in negative percentages for the frame, as they rolled on to a 25-17 third set victory.

Although the fourth set was the most competitive of the match, with 11 ties and six lead changes, the Bulldogs capitalized

on several Liberty mistakes and took the set, 25-19. Key kills from seniors Benorden and Jenna Dover helped UNCA rally from a 13-13 tie midway through the set.

Dover finished the match with six kills, while Benorden posted 10 kills and 10 digs.

“Jenna hit .385 for the match and had five blocks, so that was a pretty good performance from her,” Torbett said. “Kelsey’s double-double led our hitters, so she also had a good match.”

The flames won the fifth set with highpowered offense, which put up 27 total attacks on the Bulldogs during the final period. According to Torbett, Saturday’s five-set loss was a bit of a disappointment, but the match also provided a high level of competition for the team and should help prepare the women for the upcoming Big South Conference Tournament.

“We just wanted to get some momentum and consistency going into the conference tournament next week,” Torbett said. “We also wanted to fortify our lineup and bring a good match.”

UNCA completes the regular season

See VOLLEYBALL Page 18

Men’s soccer’s Big South Conference dreams dissolved quickly with a first round elimination by High Point University last Thursday.

“I was proud of our effort versus a very talented and well coached High Point team,” Head Coach Matt Kern said. “2-0 to High Point was a fair result.”

High Point, who entered the tournament as the No.1 seed, scored one goal in each half to clinch the victory.

“They have four very dynamic attacking players that we were concerned about containing,” Kern said. “We did a decent job of limiting their quality chances. However, High Point ultimately scored two goals that were of the highest order.”

The first Panther point came in the 18th minute from Big South Player of the Year Karo Okiomah. Okiomah slipped the ball past the fingers of Bulldog goalkeeper Lassi Hurskainen with a superbly placed header to find the back of the net for the 12th time this season.

“The guy just jumped so high the ball went straight to the upper-90,” Hurskainen said. “I couldn’t get a hand to it at all.”

The Bulldogs answered back with solid defense that shut the Panthers out for the rest of the half. Junior forward Bryan Bartels narrowly missed making it a tied game, with a solid shot 20 seconds before the halftime whistle.

“The keeper bobbled it,” freshman defender Bobby Castro said. “It nearly went in.”

Although Hurskainen finished the game with a respectable five saves under his belt, the Bulldogs’ defense didn’t help him stop a rebounded shot creeping across the goal line from Panther player Shane Malcolm, which gave HPU a two-point advantage.

“We just did horrible work defending as a team for the second goal, ” Hurskainen said. “We weren’t communicating.”

Although the Bulldogs’ conference challenge came to an early end, three players received Big South honors. Hurskainen made second team all-conference, Kenneth Lingerfelt made all-freshmen team and junior Jake Sides clinched a spot on the BSC all-academic team.

Kern also said the team’s final result gave the Bulldogs things to work on.

“Our collective defending improved,” he said. “We have some very good things to build on.”

Page 18

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Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Sports Profile

Former volleyball All-American spikes her way to success Justin Greenwood jsgreenw@unca.edu staff writer

Many consider Elif Unlu one of the greatest volleyball players in UNC Asheville history, but she said her biggest accomplishments are more personal.

“I think I got to know myself better, my strengths and weaknesses as a person and as an athlete,” Unlu said. “But I also have to say, first team all-region and honorable mention All-American were not so bad either.”

Unlu played for the Bulldogs from 2003 and 2007 and graduated with a degree in economics. The Big South Conference named her UNCA’s woman of the year two years in a row, in 2006 and 2007.

In addition to an already an impressive resume, Unlu was selected for all-conference three times, and the American Volleyball Coaches Association named her an honorable mention All-American in 2005.

Originally from Izmir, Turkey, Unlu began her career as a volleyball player at a young age. She got involved in volleyball as a result of sibling rivalry.

“I started playing in the fourth grade, after my brother lobbied my parents to stop me from going to swimming practice with him,” Unlu said.

Trading swimming for volleyball ended up working out for Unlu and the Bulldogs.

Her successes did not just exist on the court, but also in the classroom.

She was a part of the athletics’ 3.0 club all four years she attended UNCA, and she received the David Reiner Outstanding Achievement in Economics award.

Unlu played volleyball for 13 years, and even though she has a lot to look back on, there is still an important thing that she is currently without.

Photo Courtesy of UNCA Athletics

Elif Unlu digs in one of her games as a Bulldog. She graduated in 2007.

“Unfortunately, I no longer participate in competitive athletics,” she said. “I think it’s the biggest part that’s missing in my life right now. Although, who knows, I may get competitive in surfing or windsurfing. After all, I do live in California.”

Even though she had professional success after graduation, like most athletes, Unlu has thought about returning to the game she was a part of for so long.

“There was a brief few days where I considered going back to Europe to play pro,” she said. “But after 13 years of volleyball, I think I was ready for my life to take another route.”

They say that practice makes perfect, but Unlu believes it takes more than practice to be successful as an athlete.

“Can anyone say this one thing is why they were successful?” she asked. “It’s the combination of a bunch of factors. I loved the game. I kept learning from my coaches every single day that I was on the court and tried to better myself.”

Unlu made noise early in her college career, eventually being named to the allfreshmen team for the BSC in 2003. She finished her career in the top 10 in UNCA history in five different categories, including kills, digs, attempts, service aces and

Volleyball third in the BSC standings, behind Liberty and the High Point Panthers (19-12, 13-3 BSC). According to Torbett, the path to the Big South finish line was hotly contested, but UNCA is poised to make a good showing in the tournament, having locked down the bracket’s No. 3 seed.

“We’re pretty confident going into the tournament in third place,” Torbett said.

“We were picked to be fifth in the standings, so we were really just a game off second place and two games off finishing first.

It was a very close race.”

In anticipation of UNCA’s first round

attack percentage.

Even with all of those accomplishments attached to her name, what she misses the most about playing volleyball are the moments that matter most during a match.

“I most miss the matches where you are at the very end of the game and it’s a tie,” she said. “It’s time to take responsibility and call for that ball. I miss the total determination and confidence I feel at those moments. And I miss serving, that moment you have with yourself right before you start another rally, another battle.”

In addition to playing volleyball in one of the toughest divisions in college athletics and being successful in the classroom, Unlu also found time to participate in extracurricular activities, including the economics club, the Student Athlete Advisory Commitee and student government.

After graduation, she moved to New York to work at a global logistics company, and she now lives in San Francisco and works with a Fortune 500 company.

However, no matter how successful an individual’s career may be, they all have those moments where they wish they could go back and do something differently, and Unlu is no different.

“If I could go back to my senior year, I would try to relate better to the freshmen,” she said.

Now that she is able to reflect upon all of her experiences as an athlete, Unlu has some advice for current Bulldog volleyball players.

“If you are playing Division I volleyball, then you should know all the people you compete with have similar talents,” she said. “It is not your talent that will set you apart, but your ability to step up to the plate. Your character as an athlete will make you memorable, even inspirational.”

Continued

opponent, sixth-seeded Charleston Southern (12-19, 6-10 BSC), Torbett said her squad is prepared for the opening round matchup with CSU. “We beat Charleston Southern twice,” Torbett said. “We beat them in five sets at their place, and then we beat them at our place in four. They have the best player in the conference on their team, but their supporting cast is not as strong. They don’t really have six solid players on the floor.”

When asked about UNCA’s seeding and opening round foe, Torbett said the Bulldogs dodged a major bullet because they

avoided the tournament’s host team, Winthrop.

“We feel like it’s a good matchup for us, and we’re happy about it,” Torbett said. “It also prevents us from having to play the host team, unless we happen to meet them in the finals. That was one of our goals, to not have to play Winthrop.”

Torbett said the host school usually has an advantage in the tournament, which starts in Rock Hill, S.C., on Thursday afternoon.

“Winthrop is very strong at home, just like we are at home, and just like Liberty

from

Page 17

is at home,” Torbett said. “When it’s your home court, there’s definitely a home-field advantage.”

Torbett said she intends to maintain more of the same lineup and personnel packages the Bulldogs have employed recently.

“We’ve been rotating a lot of players,” Torbett said. “A lot of players have gotten court time with us running two centers. We’ve made some adjustments with our middles too. We’ll just go with what’s working during the match. We’re definitely, player for player, better than their team as far as matchups go.”

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Basketball “Auburn is a Division I team and an SEC team. They’re a very powerful athletic program,” Biedenbach said. “We felt all night that we were a good enough team to win. We couldn’t get all the points at one time. We had to work and work and work, and the team did that.”

The victory didn’t come easy. The Tigers led the Bulldogs 37-21 at the half due to a commanding performance from guard Andre Malone, who went three for four from behind the arc in the first period.

However, the Bulldogs came back from intermission with a revived energy.

“We got out of sync a little bit, but in the second half we started to grind it out. We played better defense and we rebounded.

That was the difference between the first half and the second,” Biedenbach said.

After being down 18 points, the Bulldogs went on a 9-0 run to inch the score up to 39-30.

In regulation, they were 20 of 30 from the free throw line, which helped them stay in the game.

“We showed how resilient and resourceful we are. Being down by 18 and coming back from that deficit, we showed our character,” senior forward John Williams said.

Then the game came alive.

With 1:43 left before the final buzzer, Primm hit a 3-pointer off an assist from Dickey to make the score 62-57. Dickey was then fouled and made both of his free throws to bring the game within three points with 1:07 left.

To answer the high tempo, Williams rebounded Primm’s missed free throw to tie the game 63-63 with 28 seconds left on the clock.

The Bulldogs, John Williams who had been trailing since the first eight minutes, were back in the game.

“We knew we were going to have to make sure we rebounded the ball,” Dickey said.

The game then went into overtime, where the Bulldogs quickly raced to a 7065 lead with three minutes to go. Although UNCA didn’t score any more points, huge defensive plays shut the majority of Auburn’s offensive attempts, and the buzzer sounded with a one-point victory for the Bulldogs.

“It felt like we had won a championship,” sophomore guard Jaron Lane said. “We came together and pulled it out.

We were down the whole game, but we knew what we were capable of.”

Although the Bulldogs had four players in double-digits for the matchup, Lane and Williams were the only Bulldogs to score during overtime.

Page 19

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Continued

from

Page 16

Bulldog Scorecard Men’s soccer Thursday vs. High Point 0-2 (L)

Women’s basketball Saturday vs. Montreat 78-65 (W)

Men’s basketball Friday vs. Auburn 70-69 (W)

Volleyball

Nov. 9 vs. Gardner Webb 3-0 (W) Saturday vs. Liberty 2-3 (L)

Megan Dombroski/ photography editor

J.P. Primm celebrates back at UNCA for practice later that weekend.

“We just needed a spark off the bench,” Lane said. “I just went out there and tried to help any way I could.”

Williams’ defensive rebound off Auburn’s Josh Wallace’s missed layup resulted in Williams being fouled and going to the line for two free throws. With the score 68-65 Asheville, Williams’ jumper was the last shot the Bulldogs made that night.

“I took the opportunity and ran with it,” Williams said.

Lane also made an impact during regulation, scoring 14 points all in the second half, including six for six from the free throw line.

“He had a tremendous game, perhaps his best game since he’s been here in Asheville,” Biedenbach said. “I expect that from him. Without his plays we couldn’t have won. With a win by one point, without anybody’s good plays, we couldn’t have won.”

The commanding victory also gave the Bulldogs some optimism for the unfolding season.

“Our goal for the rest of this season is to carry on from this win and use it as momentum,” Williams said.

The Bulldogs’ next home game is Saturday against Virginia Intermont at 2 p.m.

Melanie Kulesz

Sophomore cross country runner Melanie Kulesz came 98th at the NCAA regional meet on Saturday in a time of 22:33.69.

Campus Voice

Legislature seeks combat against online pirating Page 20

Jacob Yancey jayancey@unca.edu

campus voice editor

In addition to the U.S. government’s already blundered crusade against terrorism, legislators hope to declare war against both domestic and overseas Internet pirates.

Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont proposed The Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act, which aims to globally eradicate online privacy in the name of lost corporate profits.

“The Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act will give the Department of Justice an expedited process for cracking down on these rogue websites, regardless of whether the website’s owner is located inside or outside of the United

{The Blue Banner}

States,” Leahy said as he introduced the bill last month.

This bill, if passed, provides the attorney general the power to censor content, delete domains, shut down services and providers and prosecute anyone for illicit online activity.

This power, according to the bill, could often be exercised without prior court approval.

Nine senators backed Leahy’s aggressive proposal, including Orrin Hatch, R–Utah.

“In today’s global economy, the Internet has become the glue of international commerce – connecting consumers with a wide array of products and services worldwide. But it’s also become a tool for online thieves to sell counterfeit and pirated goods, making hundreds of millions of dollars off of stolen American intellectual property,” Hatch stated.

The “online thieves” Hatch referred

to are often just anti-conventional children living with their parents or adults who never really grew up.

Although some think living in grandma’s basement at 30 or staring at a screen for hours or days on end deprives one of a life or culture, many targets of this legislation could easily contend they never deprived themselves of life or culture, just of contemporary American life and culture.

For whatever reason, the twobedroom two-bath, fenced-in-yard and Sunday football reality did not fit their bill for an ideal environment or existence.

Instead, they quietly retreated to unused corners of society and built a world tailored to their own desires, interests and aspirations.

Rather than playing for a football team or chasing around the homecoming queen, these kids went home

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

and built websites such as PirateBay, Demonoid, Limewire, Napster, Bearshare, Youtube, Myspace, Facebook and most other virtual terrain.

Now, almost predictably, it seems those who chose reality can’t abide, or afford, the power or popularity of this virtual alternative.

But, no one would ever suggest shutting down the Internet.

They would rather just attack, overwhelm and confiscate it.

Essentially, Leahy and his team think the virtual world, which they had absolutely no part in creating, is just a little too powerful to leave in the hands of its creators.

“If passed, this law will allow the government, under the command of the media companies, to censor the Internet as they see fit, like China and Iran do, with the difference that the sites they decide to censor will

See PIRATING Page 22

New health care may provide emergency contraceptives Alicia Adcox

aradcox@unca.edu opinion writer

The United States could soon be taking measures to prevent pregnancies, or at least unplanned pregnancies.

Due to the health care overhaul recently passed by President Obama, a panel of experts will begin advising the government this month on just what the new health care system will cover. The new system will now cover medical expenses identified as preventive care, and this is where the controversy begins.

The debate involves whether family planning should be considered preventive care.

This means that, if family planning is covered under this reform, contraceptives will be provided to women for free as part of their insurance

coverage.

“Family Research Council is not in support of having contraception included in the list of preventive services receiving no co-pays for a variety of reasons,” said Jeanne Monahan, the director of the Center for Human Dignity of the Family Research Council.

“The first reason is that, within the realm of contraceptives, the emergency contraceptives would be included in that definition and depending on how you define the beginning of life, if you define it at fertilization, which is when we would define it, the emergency contraceptive can act as abortication by preventing implantation,” Monahan said.

Some people, such as Family Research Council, are against the inclusion of birth control as preventive health care for women for religious and moral reasons. Others, however, are strongly supportive of it.

“Planned Parenthood, in terms

of the health care reform that was passed last year, overall is incredibly supportive, and Planned Parenthood was a big piece in making sure the healt care reform package (would protect) women’s health,” said Deirdre Schifeling, the political and organizing director of Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

There are some arguments that if family planning is included as part of the health care reform, then some doctors should be allowed to deny providing this service out of ‘moral conscience.’

This would mean that if their beliefs are against the use of birth control as preventive health care then they should not have to provide it.

“Family Research Council would be against any public mandate that would lack a conscience exemption, and there hasn’t been any conversation about conscience exemption. So, in other words, Americans who have ethical qualms with contraception,

not even considering the abortion question, shouldn’t be forced to pay for something that they don’t morally agree with through their insurance premium,” Monahan said.

Should questions about ethics and morals have an effect on the country’s new health care system?

This is a reform that will effect millions of people, and the contraceptive plan will have a major impact on women.

“Right now, within the US government, over a billion dollars annually goes to cover contraceptive services.

So we don’t think anything additional needs to happen. We would hope that neither abortion nor contraceptives should be included in this list of preventive services,” Monahan said.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the United States had an abortion rate of 16.1 per 1,000 women between the ages of 15

See HEALTH Page 22

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

{The Blue Banner}

Page 21

Student fees used for additional campus services High school teachers offer Distribution of student fees Student activities: $683 false reality $ Atheletics: $620 Renee Bindewald rmbindew@unca.edu opinion writer

The additional $4.49 UNC Asheville students pay in health services fees this year allows the health and counseling center on campus to provide free STD testing to all students.

Projects like free STD testing have stemmed from conversations that began after concerns were raised at last year’s student fees forum. The forums are a way students can voice their opinion on how their money is spent.

Student Body President Courtney Galatioto worked with Student Government Association and the fees committee to help allocate funds for the wireless project last year.

“We asked the people over in E and T how much it would cost to get campus wireless, then divided that by the number of students, which once again was only a few dollars,” Galatioto said.

SGA hosts an open fees forum annually. Representatives from each department who receive student fee money explain to students where and how those funds are used. Galatioto said it is important for students to know where their student fees go.

“It covers things like Campus Recreation, student organizations,

$$

wireless, the shuttle – the services that we as students use all of the time,” Galatioto said.

After the fees forum, SGA takes student suggestions and creates a proposal for the coming year’s fees. They then present it to the fees committee, which almost always accepts the proposal with very minimal changes.

“As students, it is our responsibility to take note of the services that we value and use on campus, as well as being mindful of services that are not yet provided that we’d like to see,” Galatioto said. “Through the fees forum, we can then ensure that our input is heard.”

Andrew Johnson, SGA’s executive

of internal affairs, 22, said he feels very strongly about the importance of the fees forums and all of the work that goes into their existence.

“There is no excuse for any student on this campus to complain ignorantly about where their tuition and fees go,” Johnson said.

Any student who ever wondered where their fees go should make time for the fees forum. It can be a little overwhelming to process all of what is being presented, but presenters in the forum are always willing to explain anything students do not understand.

Student athlete Jay Barringer, 22, said he plans to attend this year’s forum to help represent athletics.

“Many students feel that it’s unfair that athletics receive so much funding but fail to realize that the program is unsubsidized by the state – leaving fundraising entirely to the athletics department.”

Just because non-athletes do not actively participate does not mean paying an athletics fee is pointless, according to Barringer.

“The thing that students need to realize is that we’re all in this together,” Barringer said. “By that, I mean that we’re all facing financial difficulties, some more than others, and we need to support each other now more than ever.”

This year, each student spent $2,146.10 in fees.

to sawdust.

Oh, and one more thing. Human beings are killed. Adults and children alike have drowned due to the acidic water runoff, suffocated by the fine, black coal dust and reduced to cinder from accidental, yet deadly, explosions in and around the mines.

And what does society do about it?

They ignore it. Nothing illustrates this dark, dirty smudge on humanity better than the Chilean mining disaster.

Due to lapse safety measures in the San José copper and gold mine, such as not bothering to finish escape routes and not providing energy or ventilation underground, 33 miners were trapped 120 feet underground, surviving off nutrients and medicine sent down straws for 69 days. That’s 33 human lives held hostage in a subterranean prison due to human negligence.

Instead of recognizing this embarrassment to the face of humanity, the

media responded with reports about how the miners enjoyed the food.

There is nothing positive about the horrific conditions these poor men have been forced to survive in. Society is only doing one thing – ignoring the real issues. Time and time again, coal mining disasters not only strip the land of natural resources, but they slowly strip away the bare essence of what makes humans humane.

Coal company headquarters, situated hundreds of miles away from the mines they own, are letting greed and selfishness override basic safety checks and precautions.

So, although they are racking up million dollar profits, they are destroying the natural environment, peoples’ lives and any hope for humanity Here’s another joke. How many mining disasters will it take before it’s one too many?

Society may never find out.

$

$

Education and technology: $284 Health services: $244 Debt service: $220 Matriculation fee: $50 Parking safety: $43 SGA: $1

$

$

According to UNCA Financial Affairs

Coal mining operations threaten locals Natalie Pearson ngpearso@unca.edu sports editor

Want to hear a joke?

What is it called when people use thousands of tons of explosives to destroy ancient mountains, one of the most biologically diverse forests in the world and entire hollers?

Mining.

Since the turn of the century, caol mining has victimized regions of Appalachia, an environment literally sitting on Asheville’s doorsteps.

And coal mining companies stop at nothing to get what they want.

Mountains have been scraped clean and cut in half, water sources have been polluted and dried up, and forests that have been standing for thousands of years have been savagely bulldozed

Megan Dombroski mkdombro@unca.edu photography editor

Failure is just a chance to succeed at West Potamic High School.

The Virginian school decided to replace the classic F failing grade with a more hopeful I. The I stands for incomplete and gives students a month to learn the material and improve their grade, according to the Washington Post.

The less discouraging grade is supposed to allow the students who learn at a slower pace to catch up to their peers.

More likely, it creates some fantasy world where deadlines don’t matter.

In reality, employees are fired for not completing their work. Their bosses will not take pity on them because they don’t work as fast as other employees, but fire them and hire someone who can get the job done.

High school should prepare students for the reality of the work force and college, not pretend the world is full of handholding, sprinkles and sunshine.

The grade assumes people only fail because they cannot keep up.

Some students are perfectly capable and intelligent, but fail because they are apathetic or don’t manage their time well. Neither of these traits will get them far in college or the work force.

A big, red F scribbled at the top of an assignment keeps students from allnight Xbox binges and blowing off their homework.

The F is a teacher’s most effective scare tactic. Why would anyone want to do his work or learn the material if failing isn’t an option?

The failures have the opportunity to improve their grades up to an A. The people who spend hours surfing the Internet or hanging out with their friends instead of studying have the opportunity to get the same grade as those who applied themselves and respected due dates.

Traditional letter grades also come in handy for college applications. An A on a transcript typically implies the student is studious.If high schools start handing out A’s, the value depreciates. The letter no longer signifies the same amount of work and dedication. The marketplace will be flooded with A’s.

Some people must fail to keep the whole grade system in balance. Failure can’t masquerade as success.

Page 22

Pirating be completely removed from the Internet and not just in the U.S.,” stated moderators of the torrent site Demonoid, who hold near legendary status among pirates.

One of the primary allies surrounding Internet pirates in their time of need, The Electronic Frontier Foundation, stated “the list of targets could conceivably include hosting websites such as Dropbox, MediaFire and Rapidshare; MP3 blogs and mashup/ remix music sites like SoundCloud, MashupTown and Hype Machine; and sites that discuss and make the controversial political and intellectual case for piracy, like pirate-party. us, p2pnet, InfoAnarchy, Slyck and ZeroPaid.”

Additionally, the EFF stated they oppose this bill due to predictions of its abuse and ability to limit or censor non-infringing sites and material.

“Indeed, had this bill been passed five or ten years ago, YouTube might not exist today. In other words, the collateral damage from this legislation would be enormous,” according to the EFF. However, any lawmakers who assume targeted online identities will simply roll over without a fight are completely delusional.

In many cases, the people behind these websites worked diligently for years to create and protect their online habitats.

Health

and 44 in 2006. This was a 3 percent increase from the previous year.

So, despite the billions of dollars the government spends on birth control, the country obviously needs a new plan to deal with family planning and unwanted pregnancies, and this reform just might be it.

Providing contraceptives as part of public health care would result in a decrease of unwanted pregnancies, meaning less teen pregnancies and less abortions. So how is it that a health care reform that would result in this could be seen as having a negative impact on society?

“In terms of the Birth Control Matters campaign, one exciting piece that came out of the health care reform work last year was the ability to

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

{The Blue Banner}

continued from from page 20

To date, they mastered protecting themselves from each other for lack of a common enemy, but now these senators have boldly painted cross hairs on the White House steps.

In turn, many of the geniuses responsible for the endless amenities of the Internet have little option other than to retaliate.

After all, they made the Internet what it is, so why should they bow or submit to invaders on their home turf?

This is where Leahy and his cohorts are incredibly shortsighted.

Even in times of peace, there is not, nor has there ever been, a single anti-virus program available that offers comprehensive protection from the pet projects emerging from grandmothers’ basements across the country.

What these would-be big brothers might stop to consider is that online entities and individuals dedicated endless hours mastering the Internet before anyone even threatened them or their community.

Do these senators or their supporters know what these “online thieves” or their communities are capable of if they feel threatened enough to strike back?

Maybe these volunteer pirates don’t pose that big of a threat after all, or maybe big brother will hire even bigger and badder online bullies to

protect their dirty work.

Then again, maybe even just one of the more experienced of these pirates could unleash crippling Internet voodoo like never before.

Already, it seems clear the latter scenario is most likely.

Shortly after Leahy proposed the bill, Stuxnet, a new species of computer virus, emerged from anonymous online depths.

“This is a weaponized virus, it’s not some worm designed to steal information or money. It was designed to destroy and is the first of its kind. It’s pretty amazing stuff,” said Genya Fridlyand, a 25-year-old software developer for Wachovia/Wells Fargo and computer engineering graduate student at UNC Charlotte.

“This is the first real cyberweapon.

Stuxnet is a work of art and a small hint of what future wars will look like,” he said.

As with any war, familiarity with the battleground is essential to victory.

Should legislators succeed in declaring war on virtual pirates, they will fight not just on pirates home turf, but in a world literally designed by their enemies.

After picking a fight with savvy pirates on the high seas of the internet, government officials might discover they are outsmarted, outgunned and undermanned.

continued from from page 20

have women’s preventive health care covered under health care reform and the definition of what constitutes women’s preventive health care is up to the Health and Human Services department,” Schifeling said.

“So we are pushing for that definition to include birth control. Birth control is by nature preventive and an essential part of good health for women.”

Birth control and other methods of family planning are necessary to combat the rising numbers of abortions and unwanted pregnancies in the United States.

The solution is simple. If women are provided contraceptives, then pregnancies will become situations that are planned and prepared for, and

not accidents that happen because of a lack of birth control.

To those that still oppose a mandated health care system that provides women with proper birth control, consider this: Is it worse for women to take birth control and not become pregnant or to go without birth control and end up getting an abortion or having a child they are not ready for?

If the answer is not clear, then check the statistics.

According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, the United States still ranks higher than most European countries for abortion rates.

The United States competes with Europe to be the best at pretty much everything, and healthcare should be no different.

2010-2011 SEASON

Daniel Meyer, Music Director

A Midsummer Night’s Dream with NC Stage Co.

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 20

Student Rush Tickets

$6

available 15 minutes before the concert

Mendelssohn: Midsummer Night’s Dream Suite Finzi: For St. Cecilia Borodin: Polovtsian Dances 828.254.7046

www.ashevillesymphony.org

{The Blue Banner}

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Page 23

The Blue Banner’s View

Millennials are less employed but more educated

It is interesting to hear about today’s generation as if they have already come and gone and are cataloged as the technologically savvy, image-oriented children of the baby boomers.

Today’s generation of 18- to 29-yearolds is classified, however, as the Millennials, and studies are fairly conclusive as to what is expected from them, where they fit in and how they are expected to ride out their time.

“It’s a very consequential generation,” Paul Taylor of the Pew Research Center said to USA Today.

“It has made its mark in some fairly dramatic ways.”

According to the Pew Research Center, 38 percent of the Millennial generation sport tattoos. Half of those with tattoos have two to five, and 18 percent have six or more. However, Pew Research data shows 71 percent cover them up. This might be in large part to the counter-rebel within the radical liberal, as 64 percent professed a belief in God and four-fifths found successful marriage of the utmost importance.

The Pew Research Center founded its research based on 2,020 phone interviews, 830 of which were

Millennials and the rest were split between baby boomers, ages 65 and older, and the 30- to 45-year-old members of Generation X. Obviously, there are general stereotypical flaws that come with the lump classification of an entire generation.

Not all hipster baby boomers of the 1970s were sex-crazed, anarchist, potsmoking hippies. But generations are assigned larger personality traits given the social and political commentary of the day.

This simply allows previous generations to effectively deal with this new breed of radical minds. Since policy reform will reshape everything they worked so hard to maintain, older generations rely on these forecasts for peace of mind. Obviously, they hope their ideals are not lost to a new bunch of starry-eyed, overtly liberal, potsmoking hippies.

“The ‘generation gap’ endures as a staple of American political and social analysis. The notion that the special circumstances and experiences of each succeeding cohort imbue it with different perceptions, beliefs and values seems intuitively reasonable and appealing. It’s also flattering. In

a mass-market culture, belonging to a distinct subgroup, even if it numbers many millions, contributes to a sense of identity,” said Washington Post writer Robert Samuelson in response to the Pew’s research.

The Millennial generation definitely has a distinct identity. Even with the setback of today’s recession, Millennial babies, oddly enough, are said to be more optimistic about their future economic well-being and the overall state of the nation, according to the Pew study.

The Pew Center found that although 37 percent of today’s 20-year-olds are unemployed, they are in the running to become the most educated generation in American history.

Millennials showed their savvy in the political arena in 2008, with 66 percent supporting the liberal, groundbreaking agenda of President Barack Obama.

Although the quick fix regime change wore off in 2009, slowly rubbing the new into the same old, the political values of today’s young hipsters are still found to be significantly liberal.

In fact, half of Millennials favor gay marriage, as opposed to onethird of baby boomers and one-fourth

The Blue Banner Editorial Board Karpen Hall 019

(828) 251-6586

Erin McWhorter, Editor-in-Chief emmcwhor@unca.edu

Alyssa Spencer, Managing Editor afspence@unca.edu

Ashleigh Joyner, News Editor amjoyner@unca.edu

Caitlin Byrd, Arts & Features Editor mcbyrd@unca.edu

www.thebluebanner.net

Anna Kiser, Design Editor, Business Manager aekiser@unca.edu Nicolas Robinson, Web Editor Kendall Brooks, Investigative Reporter Jessica Yee, Copy Desk Chief Katherine Walker, Assistant News Editor

Natalie Pearson, Sports Editor

Hali Ledford, Assistant Arts & Features Editor

Jacob Yancey, Campus Voice Editor

Jordan Paris, Assistant Web Editor

ngpearso@unca.edu jayancey@unca.edu

Megan Dombroski, Photography Editor mkdombro@unca.edu

Isabel Maxwell, Advertising Director inmaxwel@unca.edu

Katie Saylors, Assistant Photography Editor

Carson Boyles, Assistant Design Editor Tiffany Narron, The Blue Banner’s View Michael Gouge Faculty Adviser

of Generation X members. The Pew Center also found that 95 percent of Millennials support interracial marriage, with only 74 percent support from the older squad.

The economy has hit today’s youth pretty hard, pushing nearly half into unemployment but leaving them optimistic, liberal and well-educated.

This all is sounding pretty good until the real red flag is raised. How well are Millennials expected to fare as baby boomers retire and tax money is needed to fuel the Social Security and Medicaid machine? The Pew Center found three of Millennials’ top priorities included being a good parent, having a successful marriage and helping others in need, but they will undoubtedly be difficult to achieve, especially for a generation that hurdled out of economic devastation into an equally forecasted tight federal budget.

That is a question that will have to remain. But with record-breaking numbers of today’s youth politically involved combined with an equally impressive stance as the most educated generation thus far, it is safe to say they have a pretty good chance of figuring this mess out.

Have a news tip?

send to emmcwhor@unca.edu The Blue Banner is UNC Asheville’s student newspaper.

We publish each Wednesday except during summer sessions, finals week and holiday breaks.

Our office is located in Karpen Hall 019.

The Blue Banner is a designated forum for free speech and welcomes letters to the editor, considering them on basis of interest, space and timeliness.

Letters and articles should be e-mailed to the editor-in-chief or the appropriate section editor.

Letters should include the writer’s name, year in school, and major or other relationship to UNCA. Include a telephone number to aid in verification. All articles are subject to editing.

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Mon: 7-5 Tues: 7-6 Wed: 7-5 Thur: 7-6 Fri: 7-5 Sat: 8-2 Sun: Closed