The Blue Banner

Volume 53, Issue 5

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

OPA!

Asheville Greek Festival celebrates heritage page 12 News

HOLA protest supports DREAM Act page 2

Sports

Alumni reunite on Greenwood Field page 18

Arts & Features

Environmental food fest promotes sustainability page 9

Photo by Sally Garner

News Page 2

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Wednesday, September 29, 2010

HOLA hosts silent protest in support of DREAM Act

Members rally in support of undocumented students’ right to education Teresa Linn

tclinn@unca.edu staff writer

UNC Asheville students support a bill that would provide citizenship and education for undocumented high school graduates.

“I think this is very important,” said undocumented transfer student Loida Ginocchio-Silva. “We cannot be a true community if members of our community aren’t free and are experiencing injustice. I think that’s very important for anyone to see.”

The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, or DREAM Act, was up for a vote in legislation last week. Volker Frank, chair of the sociology department, said the act is important because of the bill’s specific goals to help high school graduates who came to the United States before the age of 16.

“Minors are somewhat stuck,” Frank said. “That’s a problem because they go to school and they are, for all practical purposes, just like U.S. citizens.

They have the language and the culture. They could constitute a good group that could be useful for the United States as a country, as an economy and as a society.”

Ginnochio-Silva, a member of UNCA’s Hispanic Outreach for Learning Awareness, passed out information on campus to promote the act. She also organized a silent protest downtown last Tuesday.

“I saw the urgency in doing it that day because the whole bill was up for a vote,” she said. “It wasn’t just HOLA. There were other members from the community. I have helped organize similar marches, and I wanted to bring that here to Asheville as well.”

UNCA student and HOLA member Amanda Tesh said her experience in the protest was unique. She said she walked around downtown with other community members in caps and gowns and handed out papers rolled up

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Teresa Linn/staff writer

UNCA student and HOLA member Amanda Tesh, second from right, participates in a silent protest through downtown that supported the DREAM Act, which provides access to education for undocumented students. Below, the students hold signs supporting students who were not born in the U.S.

“We cannot be a true community if members of our community aren’t free.”

– Loida GinocchioSilva, undocumented transfer student

On the Quad

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

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What do you think about the DREAM Act?

Student opinion needed in reaffirmation process Kendall Brooks ksbrooks@unca.edu

“I don’t have a problem with it. They constitute a large portion of our work force and add diversity to the country.”

Alisha Goodman Environmental studies student

“If they’ve grown up

here and gone to school here, then they’re citizens. They should have the same basic rights as American citizens.”

Carson Funk Drama student

“Illegal aliens should go through the proper channels and be here legally to begin with.”

Brandon Newman Business management administration student

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investigative reporter

UNC Asheville faces reaffirmation of accreditation in 2012 and enlists student involvement in assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the university to begin the process.

“Assessment really is about learning, learning what you’re doing and learning how you might do what you’re doing better,” said Bruce Larson, professor of economics and head of the accreditation compliance aspect for UNCA. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools sets the criteria for reaffirmation, serving as the foundation for the Southeastern region of schools and ensuring academic excellence is achieved.

Reaffirmation occurs every 10 years, with a five-year check-in point to ensure universities remain in compliance with the guidelines.

“We don’t have national accreditation, we have regional accreditation in the United States, which means that we have peer groups of universities in each of the regions in the United States which basically set the standards,” Larson said. “The Southern Association is one of the more rigorous accrediting bodies and has a tradition for that.”

Different accrediting bodies orient themselves differently but ultimately point toward the same goals of excellence, according to Larson.

“Our reaffirmation of accreditation for UNC Asheville will mean that an expert group of our peers have endorsed most of the major aspects of our university,” said Provost Jane Fernandes, vice chancellor of academic affairs. “That will cover our curriculum, faculty credentials, finances, student affairs programing, budgeting and assessment, assuring students get a high quality education when they graduate.”

Various departments go through individual reaffirmation, including athletics, education, management and accountancy and chemistry.

Some of these departments recently completed their reaffirmation, and athletics is currently undergoing the process.

“It’s more specific to their disciplines. The rest of our departments

are not accredited individually,” Fernandes said.

Associate management and accounting professor Mary Lynn Manns leads the quality enhancement plan aspect of reaffirmation for UNCA. “It’s a fabulous opportunity for the university to move forward as opposed to only having a checklist, which is also important,” she said. “You don’t want to graduate from a non-accredited school. Accreditation makes your degree more valid.”

Universities participate in a two-part process for reaffirmation, compliance and the QEP. According to Larson, compliance involves four areas that look at the integrity of an institution, including its core requirements of policies and procedures, comprehensive standards of operations and student learning and federal requirements.

“The process that we’re going through at the present time in terms of locating the broad area of the QEP will help us to get a sense of the direction we want to go in regard of a narrower topic,” he said. “The place that you might want to do better might be a place you’re already doing well in.”

Larson participated in the last session of reaffirmation of accreditation for UNCA, when the university asked for student involvement voluntarily, an act that SACS now requires all universities fulfill.

“We thought it would be useful for us to look at an area that we wanted to perform more highly at,” he said.

“The additional study that we did in 2002 was enhancing the development of students.”

During the first round of QEP surveys, 30 percent of students responded, according to Manns. Officials dedicated the first survey to finding a broad area topic for the university to focus on for further discussions and improvements.

“We have to give a report in five years, so this has to be something we can make progress in five years on,” she said. “All of these things have to apply to our student learning outcomes, so things like parking and smoking on campus aren’t related. That’s a whole other ball game, and that wasn’t our choice, that was SACS.”

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Wednesday, September 29, 2010

NC secretary of state speaks to voters at meet and greet Trevor Metcalfe tometcal@unca.edu staff writer

Democratic Senate hopeful Elaine Marshall pledged to serve and represent the people of North Carolina and urged voters to cast their ballots in her favor.

“I am making one promise to the folks of North Carolina, and that is that I will remember who has sent me to represent them,” Marshall said.

The Buncombe County Young Democrats hosted the meet and greet event at the Merrimon Avenue Mountain Java coffee shop. The event drew a crowd that included members of UNC Asheville College Democrats as well as local politician Patsy Keever and Buncombe County Sheriff Van Duncan.

Marshall faces incumbent Richard Burr for his U.S. Senate seat this November.

“We’ve got to take this election very, very seriously,” Marshall said. “This is a real dividing line election.”

Marshall cited both the recent economic recession and the growing gap between the upper and middle classes as her reasons for entering the race.

The N.C. unemployment rate for August is still almost 10 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

“We’ve got to change Washington,” Marshall said. “When folks look at Washington, they see politicians more concerned with saving their jobs than saving your jobs.”

Marshall said several of her recent accomplishments prepared her for the race. As N.C. secretary of state, Marshall said she returned fraudulent Wall Street funds to state investors.

“We have restored over $500 million to North Carolina families and companies and churches and schools,” she said.

Marshall became the first woman in history to hold a N.C. executive office when she defeated former Nascar driver Richard Petty in 1996 for the position of secretary of state. Marshall also ran, unsuccessfully, as a potential Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in 2002, when Erskine Bowles defeated her for the nomination.

Marshall drew from personal experience in the area of education to appeal to voters.

“I’ve got the stories in my head and in my heart I learned from when I was a school teacher in Eastern North Carolina,” she said.

Trevor Metcalfe/staff writer

Democratic Senate hopeful Elaine Marshall met with local supporters at Mountain Java to discuss her plans if elected.

“When folks look at Washington, they see politicians more concerned with saving their jobs than saving your jobs.”

– Elaine Marshall, N.C. secretary of state Marshall supports fair pay for public school teachers, reforms to the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act and increased funding for Pell Grants.

“We’ve got to be investing in schools to restore quality education and good quality teachers, and we’ve got to make sure that these young people come out of college without the burden of crippling debt that they currently have,”

she said.

Marshall encouraged college students to vote for candidates who best represent their goals and future aspirations.

According to CIRCLE, a nonpartisan research group for youth in politics, youth voter turnout, ages 18 to 29, historically decreases in non-presidential elections. Only about 25 percent

of youths voted in the 2006 election, compared with the 51 percent in 2008.

“The future belongs to them, and they need to participate so that they can help shape that future,” Marshall said.

Katja Greeson, president of UNCA College Democrats, said her organization facilitated events to encourage student turnout.

“We have a Rock the Vote event coming up,” Greeson said. “We’re going to have bands and we’re going to have a lot of the candidates come out and speak and just meet people, so that’s going to be more accessible to students.”

Marshall heavily criticized incumbent Burr, who began his Senate term in 2004 after 10 years in the U.S. House of Representatives.

“Richard Burr, after 16 years, has forgotten who he was sent to represent, if he ever knew,” Marshall said.

Marshall accused Burr of repeatedly voting for trade deals, which sent American jobs overseas, and voting against a recent small business package in Congress. She also mentioned a recent poll Elon University conducted, which indicated only 29 percent of N.C. voters supported giving Burr another six years, while 49 percent wished to replace him.

“All we need is another 1 percent,” Marshall said.

Samantha Smith, spokeswoman for Burr’s campaign, discredited Marshall’s attacks.

“It is a shame that Secretary of State Marshall continues to attack Richard Burr instead of focusing on the important issues facing North Carolinians,” Smith said. “Richard Burr will continue to fight for North Carolina and work to create jobs and restart the economy.”

Elise Wingate, member of the UNCA College Democrats, said much of Burr’s political contributions come from big businesses. Burr’s top campaign contributors include health and pharmaceutical companies, insurance and banking firms and lobbyists, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

“He is completely supported by special interests,” Wingate said.

Marshall said she remains hopeful the United States will recover from hardships citing the end of the Great Depression and the civil rights movement.

“We’ve got to dig deep again,” Marshall said.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

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Foreign language department teaches students about culture Jessie Lovelace jlovelac@unca.edu staff writer

The foreign language department allows students to understand different cultures while they learn a new language.

Providing students with the basic communication skills needed in French, German, Portuguese or Spanish, the department is able to assist students in ascertaining a variety of careers.

The department offers majors in German, French and Spanish.

“The emphasis within the major is on culture, literature, linguistics, and more preparation for professions, such as Spanish for business or Spanish for health professions,” said Department Chair and Associate Professor Greta Trautmann.

Lecturer Ellen Bailey teaches the beginning levels of both French and Spanish.

“I teach an immersion approach,” she said. “I teach the class primarily in French or primarily in Spanish so that it can mimic natural language acquisition, so that students are exposed to language as much as possible, and it really helps with listening skills.”

Even though these are basic level courses, Bailey said students are still able to participate in conversations outside the classroom.

“I’ve had students tell me that they’ve been working at Ingles, for example, and someone’s come in and they’ve been able to help them in Spanish be-

Top languages spoken in The uniTed sTaTes: English: 198 million Spanish: 17 million French: 1.7 million German: 1.5 million According to www.ethnicharvest.org

cause they’ve had some basic conversation skills, which is always nice to hear,” she said.

Currently, Bailey has her Spanish students participate in a project involving local Latino tiendas, or grocery stores.

“We’re working with Buncombe County on a survey that they prepared to evaluate healthy food sources in the community, but the survey is primarily made for typical American kind of grocery stores,” Bailey said. “So the Spanish 120 students are going into

the Latino tiendas and comparing it to see what the different cultural foods are that are in the tiendas and how we can change the survey and make it more culturally appropriate for the tiendas so they can be included, because right now that survey doesn’t apply to them.”

Bringing the experience of learning language outside of the classroom helps students to grasp the cultural aspects of a region, according to Bailey.

“Apart from the mechanical importance of struggling with the tools to express yourself in another language, I don’t think that you’re ever going to be able to appreciate or understand the cultural, historical or literary expressions of a place without having struggled with it somewhere else,” Trautmann said.

German professor Henry Stern said he sees a positive transformation in his students as they learn another language.

“It opens you up to the world, at least a big chunk of the world, and I think you start thinking globally a little bit more,” he said. “It is important that you expose yourself to a culture, to people who think differently, and people who express those thoughts differently.”

In order to expose students to other cultures and languages, the foreign language department often sponsors events that express this global sentiment. Trautmann said the first event of the semester was the production of

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Smokey Mountain Hollers project looks to boost local economy Jeremiah Reed jjreed@unca.edu staff writer

UNC Asheville students said they hope their involvement in creating a local currency will boost the economy and promote a self-sufficient community.

The Smokey Mountain Hollers project is a local effort to create an alternative currency for use in the Western North Carolina area. Founded on the concept of mutual credit, the project consists of an online bartering network as well as actual paper currency for everyday use.

Participating partners in the community will provide the assurance of goods and services, which will back the SMH currency, known as hollers. John Stevens, a UNCA chemistry John Stevens professor who teaches an interdisciplinary research class on sustainability, said the project was focused on keeping economic activity local as opposed to people traveling outside the region to buy goods.

“One of the challenges of the proj-

ect is making it so people spend their money in the community as opposed to other areas,” he said.

According to Stevens, local sustainability revolves around the idea of four E’s: economics, environment, energy and equity.

The SMH project fulfills those requirements because it utilizes local resources instead of relying on outside markets.

“It makes sense environmentally as well as energy wise if we focus our attention to use local products as opposed to those halfway around the world,” Stevens said.

This is the second semester Stevens’

students have been involved with the SMH project.

Tyler VanStron, a junior environmental studies student, is involved with the SMH project as part of Stevens’ class. He said since hollers can only be used locally, they promote spending among consumers.

“With hollers, since you can only spend them within the community, when you get them you feel inclined to go out and use them locally,” VanStron said.

According to SMH, the online bartering network is a tool primarily for

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Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Student Health Services now offer free STD testing Renee Bindewald mbindew@unca.edu staff writer

In addition to condoms, lubricant and dental dams, the Student Health Center offers free sexually transmitted disease testing.

“I did a little research and looked over our current testing, and with a modest increase to the health fee it was very feasible,” said Director of Student Health and Counseling Jay Cutspec.

However, many students are either not yet aware of or have not yet taken advantage of this service.

The free testing is available due to student action on campus. Last year, former Student Government Association president Cortland Mercer approached Cutspec about making STD testing free for all students through the health fee each student already pays.

Since their conversation, Mercer continued to work with Cutspec to get the service off the ground.

Cutspec said this year he is working closely with SGA President Courtney Galatioto to find ways to inform students about the service so all students can take full advantage of it.

Testing checks for the main STDs such as chlamydia, gonorrhea, human immunodeficiency virus, syphilis, herpes and human papilloma virus. All a student has to do is call and make an appointment.

The health center collects a health and sexual history, then determines which test or tests are most appropriate for each student.

“A lot of students come in and say, ‘I want to be tested for everything,’ but with their history we can rule out some of them,” Cutspec said.

Review

According to Larson, failing reaffirmation and losing accreditation is not an idea most institutions entertain.

“It is something that one doesn’t want to envision. However, schools are sometimes sanctioned and usually, when they are sanctioned, they work diligently to have that removed as soon as possible,” he said. “It’s only after a number of repeated efforts to repair deficiencies that a possibility of some public acknowledgement of shortfalls take place.”

“I did a little research and looked over our current testing, and with a modest increase to the health fee it was very feasible.”

– Jay Cutspec, director of student health and counseling The Centers for Disease Control provides testing guidelines the health center follows.

Tests for herpes, HIV and syphilis are performed by a blood sample.

Chlamydia and gonorrhea are tested through urine sample and HPV is done with a pap smear.

On Sept. 15, Get Real, Get Tested, a statewide program through the Department of Public Health that promotes STD education and testing, came to campus to help the health center.

It was the group’s first time in Western North Carolina, and it provided services at both UNC Asheville and Warren Wilson College.

During the event, the health center said it tested between 50 and 60 students. Freshman Nathan Davila was one of the students who took advantage of the event.

“It was my first time and it’s good to know that you’re clean,” Davila said.

Davila said being tested is generally a good idea for anyone who is sexually active.

He also said he thinks there is a big difference between someone thinking they are fine and the actual feeling of having paperwork and tests that prove someone is free of STDs.

“It is all about knowledge and prevention, and it’s confidential, which is an incentive to go,” Davila said.

Get Real, Get Tested was a one-day event, but the free testing is something all students can expect on campus from now on.

Thomas Sawyer, senior multimedia arts and sciences student, said he is happy UNCA offers this service to students.

“Having free STD testing for UNCA students is just as good of an idea as having free condoms available,” Sawyer said. “There is no such thing as being too cautious, since students are going to have sex anyway.”

“I will get tested for the sake of being reassured that I’m doing fine,” Sawyer said. “I can’t find anything wrong with being aware of the upkeep of your own person.”

He also said students who choose not to go could be cheating themselves out of a good opportunity.

“I believe factors that prevent students from getting tested run the gamut of being embarrassed to anxieties that they may have caught something and facing that reality,” Sawyer said.

He said the service is evidence this school and administration are in tune

with their students and understand they partake in certain activities. The least they can do to ensure the student’s safety is provide an opportunity to gauge their sexual health, he said.

“I encourage all sexually active students to get testing, for free mind you, as soon as an opportunity in their busy academic and social schedule arrives,” Sawyer said. “If you are absolutely sure you don’t have anything, then you have nothing to lose from the visit and, unfortunately, if you do, early detection is the best method to run with.

Not only are you taking those mature measures to take care of yourself like the blossoming adult that you are, but you are also protecting others, and that speaks volumes about one’s character.”

Resident Student Association President Ryan Ridenour also said he is happy free testing is available on campus.

“The service is especially useful for our campus’s residential student population,” Ridenour said. “In the past, when residential students had to go downtown to the health department to get free testing, that process was rather deterring.”

Junior history and political science student Ridenour said he thinks this will attract more residential students and remove the fear students may have felt toward going downtown to somewhere unfamiliar.

“I think getting tested is important because I believe everyone should protect themselves and those they involve themselves with,” Ridenour said. “I think our school offering this service says that we care about our students and are willing to provide them with helpful services to make their college experience a better and safer one.”

Continued

According to Fernandes, if UNCA lost accreditation, students would lose more than $17 million in federal financial aid.

“Students would lose the ability to easily transfer to graduate schools, because graduate schools look for graduation from accredited programs as a sign of quality,” she said.

According to Manns, UNCA plans to host world cafe sessions for students, similar to structured town hall meetings, beginning in early October. The

sessions will allow students to personally express their opinions.

“If a bunch of students, like a sorority, fraternity or club want one of these meetings, we’ll put a special one on just for them, as long as we can get like 15 people there,” she said.

According to Manns, the meetings allow students to play a part in the reaffirmation process, including how the university uses funding and focuses on different aspects of student learning.

“We have to provide our own fund-

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ing. So, this is really important for students, because they get a say-so in how we spend our big money,” she said.

According to Fernandes, reaffirmation tends to begin two years before the actual deadline, allowing the university to prepare to meet the criteria.

“We work on our reaffirmation of accreditation all the time, because we could go out of compliance anytime, and if we did, that would be a concern we would address immediately. We wouldn’t wait 10 years,” she said.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

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Active Aging Day encourages healthy habits in elderly Jess Peete

jdpeete@unca.edu staff writer

The North Carolina Center for Creative Retirement celebrated Active Aging Week with an all-day event promoting health and wellness for senior citizens.

“This event was started to get seniors moving and eating healthier,” event organizer Sally Mundt said.

According to Mundt, Active Aging Week is a national program that the International Council for Active Aging started in 1966.

Even though the program is more than 10 years old, Mundt said this was the first year the NCCCR hosted an event for Active Aging Week.

“We decided it only makes sense to have this event. If we (NCCCR) are not actively aging, who is?” she said.

Mundt said physical activity is very important for seniors’ physical and mental health.

“Physical activity increases circulation and helps the brain get the necessary oxygen it needs,” she said.

According to volunteer Fran Ross, turnout for the Sept. 25 event was good.

“A lot of people got here this morning, but people have been trickling in all day. It’s hard to tell when people are in class, but during the breaks, you can see there really are a lot of people here today,” she said.

The event was held in the Reuter Center on campus. There were classes and lectures and a healthy food court for participants.

A number of community partners set up booths that offered information and services for healthy living and active aging.

Virginia Eudy, an employee at the Spice and Tea Exchange, said the company was happy to participate in the event and had people stopping by the booth all day.

Eudy said the store makes custom rubs for meats as well as herbal teas for customers that promote healthy eating.

“We love what we do. A person should be able to have good and healthy food, and we can make that happen for them. Because this fair is promoting health for seniors, we thought we’d be a good fit here today,” she said.

The event, which lasted from 8:30 a.m. to 3:45 p.m., offered mini classes that lasted about 45 minutes each.

Dustin Stuart/staff photographer

Joanna Evans, left, spoke to Laurey’s Catering owner, Laurey Masterton, during Saturday’s Active Aging Day at the Reuter Center. Below, Crayton Bedford, of Tai Chi Chuan of Asheville leads a Tai Chi group.

“We decided it only makes sense to have this event. If NCCCR are not actively aging, who is?”

–Sally Mundt, Active Aging Day organizer

During each section, there were three to four classes to choose from.

Each section offered two physical exercise classes, ranging from yoga and Pilates to Zumba and senior boot

camp. There were also classes in hiking and line dancing. According to Mundt, men often feel classes like Zumba are more directed toward women.

“Men will usually hike or walk.

They don’t necessarily want to go to the more ‘feminine’ classes. However, we now have three male instructors who are teaching some of the exercise classes,” she said.

There were also lectures that stressed the importance of mental and physical health for seniors.

“We wanted to offer a variety. We have different classes to fit different people’s interests,” she said.

Jane Abe, an NCCCR instructor, gave a lecture entitled, “The Kitchen Apothecary,” which encourages the use of herbs and spices to help with everyday ailments.

According to Abe, herbs and spices can treat a wide range of common problems, from toothaches and coughs to burns and cuts.

“Try to use your herbs more. You can put them in just about anything,” she said.

Abe said honey can be used to help with allergies as well as treat and disinfect minor cuts.

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Active

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“Honey is antibacterial. It tends to heal the cells at the bottom of a wound rather than the top, like some treatments. When wounds heal from the top down, there can be a greater risk of infection,” she said.

Some of the herbs and spices Abe advised using are traditional additions to cold-season favorites, such as chicken soup.

“Try to stay away from sugar, orange juice, wheat and dairy when you have a cold. Chicken soup is really the gold standard when it comes to cold season. If you add lots of herbs and garlic, you’ll have a great medicine,” she said.

However, Abe said most of the remedies are not cures for problems. One example is the use of clover to help with toothaches.

“It won’t heal the problem, but it will help with the pain. It’s still very important to see your dentist and doctors regularly,” she said.

NCCCR instructor Cappy Tosetti offered a class on brain aerobics, something she has taught for two semesters.

“I’m a person who is passionate about the brain – my brain and your brain. I want to dispel the myth that as we age, we can’t form new connections in the brain,” she said.

Tosetti spoke to a class of more than 20 people. She encouraged them to try different activities and look at things with a different perspective.

“Keep your brain active. Try doing things differently, but remain focused and in the moment,” she said.

According to Tosetti, it’s important for the brain to remain active in order to form new connections in later adulthood.

“There is new research coming out all of the time. People are no longer saying you can’t form new brain connections in old age. Your brain is very much like a tree. A stroke would be comparable to the limbs of a tree somehow being destroyed. If you make an active effort though, you can make new synaptic connections, just like the tree would, and eventually create new branches,” she said.

She also encouraged laughter in her students’ lives. Laughter can help with perspective, according to Tosetti.

“There is an old saying, ‘A change is as good as a rest.’ If you’re doing something that is tedious and boring, take a break to have a good laugh. It will really help you get through your work,” she said.

Currency

business-to-business interactions, while consumers can use the paper hollers at local retailers that are trading partners in the project. Currently, there is no exchange rate between dollars and hollers.

A major goal of the project is to promote local growth in small business and agriculture.

The availability of hollers as currency gives vendors the assurance of a market with capital that can only be spent locally, according to VanStron.

“We’re not only trying to make it so that more people buy locally, but that people produce more as well since they know they’ll be able to sell their goods,” VanStron said.

VanStron said SMH will even benefit retailers who don’t accept hollers, since consumers can spend them at participating locations and save their actual cash to spend elsewhere.

This helps reinforce SMH’s mission of promoting local economy.

According to Amy Hamilton, a cooperative member of SMH, the struggling economy has actually opened the door to ideas of local currency in areas

Dream

like diplomas, which had information about the DREAM Act. “I thought it was kind of cool that it was a silent protest because their dreams are silenced,” Tesh said. “There are a lot of kids who graduate and can’t do anything else with their lives. It was really encouraging when people were asking us about it.”

Mark Gibney, UNCA professor of political science, said he was disappointed in Tuesday’s political discussion of the bill’s outcome.

“I think the DREAM Act is absolutely necessary,” he said. “It looked as if there was going to be a vote. As part of the vote there was a Democratic proposal from the DREAM Act. They took the entire bill off the table. That was it. I am disappointed that we don’t seem capable of passing it.”

Ginnochio-Silva said despite Tuesday’s events, she will continue to fight for the act and for people like herself.

“Giving up is not an option for me,” she said. “The act means hope. It means the hope of one day being able to do the things that I want and not have to worry about the fact that I lack

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like Asheville.

“We’ve been helped by the current economic situation,” Hamilton said.

“People are very willing to think outside the box and try new things.”

Hamilton said the SMH project, which originated in the spring of 2009, will hopefully launch in the community within the next six months to a year.

Currently, SMH is trying to enlist local businesses to take part in the project. She said given the current economic landscape, a goal of SMH is to increase participation in the local economy.

“We’re really interested in using local currency to increase participation in the economy, especially among people who don’t have a lot of cash to spend right now,” Hamilton said.

Hamilton said a main concern of the SMH project is to create a more selfsufficient local economy that brings power back to the community retailers.

“Businesses are trying to do things to gain control over our local economy,” Hamilton said.

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a social security number. It’s not just something that is meaningful to me, but to thousands of others who are just like myself.”

According to Gibney, student awareness and involvement are important.

“It shows a sort of solidarity with people,” he said. “You would hope it wouldn’t be restricted to HOLA. To me, it’s something you would hope all college students would take an interest in because they have certain privileges that other people do not have.”

Frank said he thought any kind of awareness and discussion about the subject are important for the student body.

“I don’t think we’re talking enough about it,” Frank said. “Whether or not students are in favor of it or against it, the reality is that North Carolina is a tremendously growing state in terms of Hispanic and Latino population. We need to address that more, and that is certainly good if students debate that.”

According to Tesh, the DREAM Act is something that would benefit everyone.

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Soy.” The department is also currently sponsoring an African film festival and will co-sponsor an Ibero-American film festival in the spring.

The foreign language department also promotes the immersion of oneself into a new language and culture through study abroad. Stern said in the past, students could go through the whole curriculum without going abroad, but now, it is highly unusual for a student majoring in a language to not go abroad.

“We talk about diversity and how we prize it. That’s sort of the essence of a foreign language,” he said. “It is something that is very different. When our students come back they’re transformed. They never seem quite the same. You’ve taken on another manner of looking at things so you are critical in a positive sense, and I think that’s just great. You’ve just expanded your horizons.”

For students considering majoring in a foreign language, Bailey suggests starting early.

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Arts & Features {The Blue Banner}

Festival encourages community to eat local fruits and veggies Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Sarah Hinson

sbhinson@unca.edu staff writer

Sometimes it only takes a single voice to start a movement.

After coming from a long line of do-ityourselfers, farmers and foodies and living in Asheville for 15 years, Celeste Gray knew she wanted to do something more to show the community it still had plenty of room to grow by creating the Asheville Food & Environmental Film Festival.

Gray said increased food options have hindered people in making the best decisions for themselves and for the environment.

“When I was a child, we didn’t have all the stuff that’s available now,” she said.

“We didn’t have access to all the junk food that’s available now at the rate that it’s available now. Food was not as bad.”

Though some individuals and organizations are participating in a movement toward healthy foods, Gray said, most people fail to consider the origin and effects of what they purchase and consume.

She said many of the health issues people have, from diabetes to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, are food-related, and the choices people make can harm themselves as well as their environment.

“If people were living right and doing things well, we wouldn’t have many of the issues we have, but we as a species are altering nature,” Gray said. “We’re making changes that really aren’t in the long run beneficial to the planet as well as our health.”

For positive change to occur, she said, everyone needs to work together.

“I believe we really have to Jerimiah Jackson pull together as a community because in any ecosystem, and we see Asheville as our ecosystem, it takes everyone participating to make it work fully,” Gray said. “Every part is a sum of the whole, so every part has to be working.”

In order to show the people of Asheville solutions to environmental and sustainability issues and motivate them to work together toward a brighter future, the entrepreneur spread the word around the community and, in collaboration with the Dutch Environmental Film Festival,

Kate Santos/staff photographer

Assistant Chef Wilson Hawes prepares free samples of local corn salad with local apple cider vinaigrette in the Highsmith Union Grotto launched the four-day annual Asheville Food and Environmental Film Festival last week.

Gray said the response to the festival was great. A number of venues around town opened their doors to showcase the

17 films, including the UNC Asheville campus.

One of the films shown on campus, Fresh, was the first film Gray screened prior to the festival. The movie deals with the food industry as well as actions people

Page 9

are taking to lead healthier, more sustainable lives.

“I thought Fresh was a great film to start with, and it’s not just about the doom and gloom but about what people are doing to make a difference,” Gray said. “I chose some films that take a lighthearted approach, that are solution-based and not problem-based, and they’re funny. They use humor to get messages across, which I think is very important.”

Films were not the only attraction during the festival. Question-and-answer sessions were also included, and local foods, like fresh trout with corn succotash, were available for sampling on campus last Friday thanks to Executive Chef Jeremiah Jackson of Chartwells Dining Services.

Jackson said he was asked to do a demonstration as part of the event since he had held demonstrations before, including one with raw foods.

He said sustainability is one of the main reasons local, “slow” food is so important, and that if people choose to eat local foods, they can help the environment give back.

“To me it’s like a big circle,” Jackson said. “We’re lucky enough to live in an area where people love the environment, and if they can find a way to eat and sustain the environment at the same time, they’re killing two birds with one stone.”

UNCA was also involved with the festival through the launching of a UNCA Slow Food chapter, a place where students can get involved in the community food system and learn about the importance of local, fresh food. The festival began with a kickoff dinner at the Eyes of Blue farm to celebrate the start of the event and the UNCA Slow Food chapter.

“It was a great event, and quite a few students interested in the chapter and the films showed up,” said Nan Kramer, a UNCA alumna who started the chapter.

She said she is very passionate about making changes and excited to get more UNCA students involved in the community food system.

Kramer also attended several of the film screenings and said she found them powerful and influential.

“I think that this festival has already made a big impact on our town and on individuals who have attended,” Kramer said. “All of the films are very inspiring.”

Gray said the filmmakers are part of a movement in the right direction.

“There are lots of people like filmmakers out there trying to spread the word, and that’s what this festival is about,” she said.

“It’s a showcase for them to share their solutions and to share the way things could be done differently.”

Page 10

{The Blue Banner}

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

photo courtesy of Allen Smith

Members of Common Foundation belt a final chord during one of their high-energy and fast-paced local performances in Asheville.

Student ska band exhausts locals with energetic performances Auburn Petty alpetty@unca.edu staff writer

Founded last fall, local ska band Common Foundation presents Asheville natives with ska and reggae- influenced music.

“The best part of being in this band is the community and the family aspect that comes with it. We make dinner together a lot. Every time we practice, we all get together and make a meal, and then we’ll play music together,” J.P. Furnas said.

Furnas, 21, said the band formed last fall at UNC Asheville, and since then, the band has grown tremendously.

“The band kind of started as an amoeba,” he said. “There were 10 or 11 people coming in and out of the band. Eventually, we worked it down to our nine-piece core group, but we’re still looking for a keyboard player.”

Common Foundation is a ska band, according to Andrew Krepelka, but they pull from many other genres for inspiration.

“Our music is a blend of reggae and ska music, mainly, but we incorporate jazz and funk fusion as well,” 21-year-old Kre-

pelka said.

Furnas said the band has so many influences because it is pretty large.

“Because of the fact that we have nine people in the band, and the fact that we’re all music majors of one sort or another, we draw from a bunch of different artists. Personally, I pull from a lot of traditional reggae,” he said. “It could easily branch out into other genres.”

Lead vocalist Ave Rosen, 20, said she pulls from a more mainstream artist.

“One of my biggest vocal influences happens to be Christina Aguilera. That’s not a joke. She’s the bomb,” she said. “I also really love KT Tunstall.”

Furnas said all of the band members have many different influences, and that affects their overall sound.

“Our bass player is a big funk guitar player, so he brings a big funk element to it. He keeps it groovy,” he said.

The large size of the band presents some complications, according to Furnas.

“It’s difficult to have nine people in the band,” Furnas said. “It’s hard to get everyone in the same place at the same time, even just to practice. Playing a show can be hard because it’s hard to get everyone

motivated without the right setting, without knowing if there’s going to be a good crowd turnout or whatever else.”

Rosen and Furnas said their live shows are very fast paced and entertaining.

“To explain it to someone who has never been to a Common Foundation show before, they should come expecting to leave with a positive experience and having exhausted all of their physical energy,” Furnas said.

Rosen had her own way to describe Common Foundation’s live performances.

“It’s a booty-shaking good time,” she said. “Our shows are really high energy. I don’t stop dancing at all during the show.

Our songs are easy to dance to.”

Ben Falcon, 26, said he brings a lot of energy to every live performance.

“I look at Common Foundation as sort of an aerobic thing,” he said. “If everybody would come to the show and just wear their sweatsuit and everything, we could just work it out together because that’s what I do at our shows.”

During the past year, the band played seven shows and even recorded an EP, according to Krepelka.

“A lot of us are music tech students, so

we’ve recorded a few tracks down in the music department. We’re really shooting for something bigger, like an album or a real demo, to give to people,” he said.

As far as the future goes, Furnas said he hopes the band can play bigger shows and even festivals.

“In our future gigs, our goal is to become a festival band, where we’re playing for much larger crowds in a setting where there’s music playing all day. It’s not as much as a show as it is an event,” he said.

Although he recognizes room for growth, Furnas said the band grew a lot duing the past year, and the band members are closer friends because of it.

“The band has grown not only musically, but as a family,” he said. “We like to make meals out of our practices, and we go on band trips just to go have time together and not play music. That’s almost as important as getting time to play together.

That helps just being comfortable with your bandmates on a personal, intimate level.”

Common Foundation has two shows coming up. The first is tentatively scheduled for Oct. 16 at the Garage, and the second is at Mo Daddy’s on Nov. 27.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

{The Blue Banner}

Page 11

Fashioning Asheville Dressing for the workplace does not need to be a job Chris Kane

cmkane@unca.edu staff writer

College students can usually get by with hooded sweatshirts, denim, T-shirts and sweatpants for four years.

What to do, then, when they interview at Merrill Lynch or Skadden Arps, the highly esteemed New York City law firm?

It is often difficult to build a wardrobe for work, especially on a limited budget.

For many students, it means starting with nothing, determining the dress code of the position for which they are applying or for the field of work they are entering, and finally, shopping for work wear. These tasks are not easy.

It can be said that the majority of students would have to do some shopping before an important interview.

“I had to go to a fraternity meeting, for which the dress code was business professional,” said UNC Asheville junior Tom Rees. “I had to go out and buy a tie. I didn’t expect to need one when I left for college.”

The goal should be to overdress, especially for an interview. A well-dressed person gets noticed for good reasons, is perceived to be more serious about the position and will be expected to act accordingly.

Model and style icon Kate Moss said people should always dress more formally or less formally than their peers at a given event. In this context, it’s definitely better to overdress.

“If you like your job, you will want to dress up,” said Eileen Buecher, director of UNCA’s Career Center.

A mistake that young people often make is following the trends.

Robin Singer/staff photographer “Many students copy what they Junior David Kaufman-Moore exemplifies how students should dress see in fashion sharp for the workplace in a blue button-down shirt and suit jacket. and in pop culture,” Buecher unacceptable. there are varied standards of dress. But the said. “Girls need Buecher said women are encouraged to Career Center puts a lot of emphasis on to know that they avoid heels higher than two inches. This ensuring students are prepared to impress Eileen Buecher can’t show up is difficult because designers adopted a employers through their clothing. to an interview six-inch minimum that has become the “It changes the playing field and conwearing a miniskirt like Ally McBeal.” standard in retailers from Aldo to White veys respect,” she said.

For the past several seasons, fashion House Black Market. But sky-high platOf course, a visual artist doesn’t have to designers attempted to incorporate dressy form heels should be relegated to cocktail worry much about what he or she wears, shorts into men’s formal wear, pairing hour, as should strappy sandals, brightly but it is important that graduates research them with a shirt, sport coat, tie and wing- colored shoes and anything flashy. what their prospective job dictates as far tips. With the exception of a few career At UNCA, Buecher said graduates go as dress is concerned. fields, fashion being one of them, this is into a wide variety of fields for which Mainstream careers, though, have

slightly varied but rather standard codes of dress.

However, there are many little-known and nuanced guidelines that should be considered.

For example, a skirt suit is more professional for women than a pantsuit. And men should wear lace-up shoes instead of loafers, even formal ones.

There are many available resources online to help recent graduates shop for a work wardrobe. An exceptionally thorough one is Florida State University’s “dress to impress” page, found on the university’s webpage.

While building a work wardrobe, Buecher said many men and women often need to determine which colors best compliment their skin tones and which brands have the most flattering silhouettes.

This is a good starting point, because people usually have a few go-to labels that make shopping quicker and easier.

Another good general rule is to blend in rather than stand out. Young professionals should not be noticed due to what they wear, unless, as previously stated, they are slightly overdressed.

An important consideration is also the price range for suits and formal clothing, which is usually pretty high. Most recent college graduates don’t have $2,500 to spend on a Prada suit.

Buecher said she encourages students to go shopping between seasons, when major department stores hold annual sales.

Consignment stores and Goodwill, she said, are also good ways to find affordable work wear, but they involve a lot of time and energy.

Downtown Asheville’s Christine’s Consignment boutique and Ragtime Vintage are good places to hunt for a work wardrobe.

Hiring, promotion and overall success at work are partially contingent upon dressing well. Colleagues, superiors and everyone else students encounter will perceive and treat them differently.

“I get treated better in a bank when I’m wearing a suit and heels,” Buecher said.

It also has an internal effect.

Buecher said people have better posture and carry themselves more professionally and less sloppily when they are wearing a suit. She also said she even makes students dress up for telephone interviews.

On Nov. 11, Student Activities for Integrated Learning will present a “Dress for Success” event, which Alumni Director Kevan Frazier will lead. The event will take place from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Country singer shares life stories and songs Page 12

{The Blue Banner}

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Anne Louise Bouchard alboucha@unca.edu staff writer

Ashley McBryde, a singer-songwriter hailing from Nashville, Tenn., crooned into a bra-decorated microphone stand.

“My songs aren’t so much about falling in love, but getting your Braveheart DVD back when it’s over,” she said.

McBryde’s performance at the Firestorm Café last Thursday night was her second visit to Asheville and she performed without her usual band, Whiskey Business. She said it was daunting to perform alone but that she was able to connect with the audience.

McBryde began playing music when she was 19. She grew up playing bluegrass music and then turned into a self-proclaimed rebel playing country music. Her genre then shifted yet again to Americana.

McBryde said she is excited to announce that she is now making a living off only music.

Audience member Moira Hassler, had never heard of McBryde before. The new fan first heard of McBryde through her mother but said she now loves her music.

Hendorsonville resident Hassler is moving to Arkansas in a couple of weeks. She was able to talk one-on-one with McBryde about what to expect in Arkansas. Hassler said she is already planning to see McBryde perform the next time she is in Arkansas.

McBryde’s songwriting process varies.

“I write in my truck while I drive,” she said. McBryde said she gets bored with the radio because it is the same thing over and over again. When she is not writing songs in her car, McBryde sits down with her guitar, which she calls Hug. Sometimes her songs come from a small idea, but not always.

Although McBryde writes her own songs, she has a few covers in her repertoire. She covers some Beyonce, T-Pain and Johnny Cash.

McBryde sites John Mellencamp, Trisha Yearwood, Dolly Parton and Lucinda Williams as some of her musical influences.

She also said that personality wise, she looks up to Jim Morrison.

“I look up to anyone who is seriously defiant for no good reason,” she said.

The crowd responded well to McBryde’s performance.

“You can never assume that you can entertain everyone,”she said.

Sally Garner/staff photographer

Young dancers at the Greek Festival entertain crowds and express their culture through movement.

It’s all Greek to Asheville during festival Auburn Petty alpetty@unca.edu staff writer

Upon first mention of Greece, most people think of delicious food and ancient mythology, but according to priest Demetrios Iliou, the annual Greek festival in Asheville seeks to flaunt all aspects of Greek culture.

“The church organizes the event every year to share our ethnicity and our culture,” Iliou said. “But, most importantly, it’s not just to share our food and our culture here, it’s also to share our faith.”

The Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church organizes a Greek festival every year. According to the event’s organizer, Dino Zourzoukis, the festival has been around for 24 years.

“The festival is one of our major fundraisers for our church,” Zourzoukis said.

“Through this, we’re able to make money and give back to the community through charities.”

Julie Guy, a vendor and a newcomer at the festival, said the staff members are dedicated to this culturally enriching event.

“The purpose of holding an event like this is to promote the culture and to support the church,” she said. “The people of the church are lovely and so gracious. They worked very hard to make this a wonderful experience for the entire community.”

UNC Asheville’s director of special programs, Mary Chakales, also attended the festival.

She said one of the major reasons the

church holds the festival is to spread Greek culture to the community.

“We’re so proud of our heritage that we want to share it with everybody,” she said.

The festival provides live music, traditional food, activities and some semblance of a marketplace, where people can buy Greek goods.

Eva Kantanas and Guy set up shop at the festival.

“We were invited to attend to show our wares. There are only a few vendors that are invited each year,” Guy said. “This is the first time we’ve been to this festival in particular. We’ve been to others. If invited back, we will absolutely come back.”

Kantanas and Guy sold pashminas — a scarf made of silk and cashmere — and leather bags imported from Greece.

Other items for sale in the marketplace were jewelry and, of course, food.

“The food is the most important thing,” Zourzoukis said, laughing. “Everyone comes for the food.”

Kantanas said the first thing to sell out at the festival was the moussaka, a famous Greek dish made with eggplant.

Despite the well-established tradition, this year marked some changes for the festival. This was the first year it actually took place on church property.

Before, it was held in parks in the downtown area.

“The benefit we having being here (at the church) is that we can give tours of a church, which has been a big attraction this year,” Zourzoukis said. “It’s just another way to show people our beliefs, culture and tradition.”

Zourzoukis said the change of location definitely affected the turnout.

“Compared to last year, there has probably been four times more people. We had rain for two days of the festival last year and we were downtown. This year has been a lot better,” he said. “Everybody has had a lot of good things to say about the location this year. A lot of people have asked why we never held it here in the first place.”

Zourzoukis said a lot of planning went into the event.

“You can’t put this on in a month,” Zourzoukis said. “It pretty much takes a whole year of organizing. We were planning from the year before for the next year. This festival isn’t even over, and we’re already talking about what we can improve next year.”

Zourzoukis said in the years to come, the festival will most likely be held at the church since it went so well this year.

Looking past all the food, the music and the overall success of the festival, at the heart of it all is the Greek culture and faith, according to Iliou.

The church’s spiritual father, Iliou, is originally from Athens, Greece. He said coming to America and sharing his Greek faith with everyone is a high honor.

“It’s a privilege to be able to share who we are as a people with everyone and show them how we contribute to America,” he said. “We Greeks here in Asheville came here because it reminds us of our own country, with the mountains, the beautiful trees and the wonderful people. We’re thankful to have the opportunity to come to a land where we can flourish and be a part of the fabric of America,” he said.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

{The Blue Banner}

Page 13

Photo Corner

One-woman show puts a new spin on an old story

U

Photography by Jessica Mauney/staff photographer

NC Asheville Cultural and Special Events started the campus event season with “Nearly Lear.” Susanna Hamnett co-created and starred in the one-woman show on Friday in Lipinsky Auditorium. The perfomance retold the tragic story of Shakespeare’s “King Lear” through the eyes of his Fool. “Nearly Lear” debuted in Toronto in 2008 and has been hailed by critics for its humor as well as being “gripping and compelling.”­ —Hali Ledford, assistant arts and features editor

One-acts require more effort than memorizing scripts Page 14

{The Blue Banner}

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Caitlin Halloran cmhallor@unca.edu staff writer

Inception, design, practice, execution, hours of rehearsal, lost sleep and forgotten social lives eventually lead to a seamless production.

Although an audience only saw a snapshot in the lives of the characters during Theatre UNCA’s September showcase of Tennessee Williams, weeks of preparation went into the three one-act plays.

“It’s a tapestry,” said Bridget Patterson, the lady in question of “Lady of Larkspur Lotion,” comparing a production to delicate sewing. “A cross stitch takes years, and every stitch is deliberate. There are delicate mistakes made that must be hidden or covered up, or make a glaring distraction that ruins the whole piece.”

Director Laura Bond explained the preliminary decisions of creating a production, starting with reading and choosing this semester’s plays. Once she decided on the showcase, they had to pick the specific plays. Bond and a group of students held three readings that lasted two and a half hours, where they went through all the one-act plays they could. Bond said they probably only made it through oneeighth of Williams’ plays.

Bond then auditioned 60 actors in UNC Asheville’s Carol Belk Theatre, while stage manager Kaylee Greenberg ran auditions in the lobby. They filled 22 parts in three nights of auditions and callbacks and prepared for rehearsals.

Simultaneously, they held weekly production meeting reports to bring lighting, costume and set designers together so they could communicate their designs.

After auditions, Greenburg used the audition forms of the selected actors to create a preliminary schedule of rehearsal times. The junior said she arrived at the theater at 5:30 p.m. to prepare for rehearsals every night from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Meanwhile, the selected actors also had much to do such as creating characters and doing actor homework.

“Acting is like sex,” said Kirby Gibson, a 20-year-old junior from Chapel Hill. “Everybody knows the mechanics of it. You have to perform, but it’s different for each person, and the experience is different.”

Patterson, on her 25th production since high school, starts to create every character with a beat sheet to narrate the movement of a piece.

A beat happens when characters’ motivations or actions change, or the topic switches to a different theme or conversation.

Actors differentiate between beats using summarizing action, emotional or tactic words. Patterson said she uses the beats as a palette while simultaneously learning lines.

Vanessa Holbert/staff photographer

Brad Mercier and John Lewis take a serious beat during “The Long Goodbye,” one of three one-act plays performed as part of Theatre UNCA’s September Showcase of Tennessee Williams plays last week.

“Whether I was advancing on Mrs. Wire, or retreating from her, or trying to trick her, these words really show in your body if you really take these words mentally and emotionally to heart,” Patterson said.

John Lewis, who played Joe in “The Long Goodbye,” used an internal feeling rather than an external reaction. “I can’t put it into one or two words, I don’t think that way. I don’t think, I feel,” the 19-year-old said.

Besides dialogue, actors must understand the history and motivations of the character. Rachel Gordon, a senior who played Bertha in “Hello from Bertha,” only knew that Bertha, a prostitute living in a brothel, was sick and loved somebody named Charlie.

“You work with what’s given, but you have to fill in the gaps,” Gordon said. “I started with the illness, because everything was affected by that.”

She researched symptoms of neurosyphilis and used these findings onstage.

Gordon said she did jumping jacks backstage to sound out of breath during the scene.

The research is important, Gordon said, because without an understanding of the

motivations, the audience is confused.

Gordon also had to understand what little was left of Bertha’s coherent mind.

The story they decided on influenced her characters.

Gordon also planned the costumes for “A Long Goodbye.”

“Somebody told me if I wasn’t exhausted by the end, I wasn’t doing it right,” she said.

Besides planning and shopping for the costumes on a $100 budget, Gordon created from scratch the gauzy purple-feathered robe, and the long white evening gown with a bow for the character Mira.

Gordon said she relied on those assisting her in the costuming department.

She admitted more work went into costuming than acting. She said she did well balancing, but it was hard.

“It wasn’t perfect. I have to compromise my time sometimes to do both things,” Godron said.

The week before opening, Greenberg ran a cohesive rehearsal, incorporating all aspects of production, bringing together sound, costume, lights and set for the first time.

They had a “dry tech” rehearsal, with no actors, just the cues and scene changes,

and then a “wet tech” including the actors, all to create a flow between departments and to cement the timing necessary. They then had a dress rehearsal, with no stops for mistakes.

Gordon said backstage people asked her questions when she needed to be preparing for the stage.

“I need to be actor Rachel right now, not designer Rachel,” Gordon said.

Bond said she felt the same panic during rehearsal week and described herself as captain of a ship where everybody has a question.

“This week was a slow crescendo of panic, up to production week. I’ll be racing past people on the Quad, not saying, ‘Hi,’ looking like a ragamuffin, saying, ‘It’s production week, I cannot talk to you.’ I’m incredibly busy. I haven’t slept and am having dreams about the show,” Patterson said, giving insight into the life of an actor during production.

The plays ran Sept. 23 to 25. The next round of plays in the Tennessee Williams showcase opens October 21 to 23.

Those involved in Theatre UNCA productions said they participate because they love it, despite its time-consuming nature.

{The Blue Banner}

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Page 15

Campus Spotlight

Adam Gross/staff photographer

Daniel Kairoff uses his laptop to produce original electronic music during Don Winsley’s performance at the Garage last week.

UNCA student infuses music with technology and design Alyssa Spencer afspence@unca.edu managing editor

Friends and family know Daniel Kairoff as a UNC Asheville multimedia arts and sciences student by day. By night, they know him as one half of the electronic band Don Winsley.

“I first started playing music in middle school. I started messing around with this computer program called Fruity Loops, and I made weird sounds and tried to see what the strangest thing I could possibly do was,” Kairoff said. “I gradually simplified that down to making beats and melodies.”

Don Winsley consists of Kairoff and his friend Glenn Yoder, who plays drums.

Kairoff’s instrument is a little less conventional.

When on stage, he attaches his keyboard to his computer and produces sounds with the use of a synthesizer.

“Using just my computer as an instru-

ment on stage is very new to me,” the 20-year-old junior said. “It’s tough to describe exactly what I’m doing when I get up on stage with a Macbook Pro, because for all the audience knows, I could be playing solitare up there. The way I look at it is the computer becomes my band or my orchestra, and I’m conducting it and telling it when to go and what to do. It’s not really a musicianship, per se, but more of a craft.”

Kairoff said he started playing bass guitar in high school and has since learned several instruments, including guitar and drums. He writes all of his own music.

“I always grew up with music in the house,” he said. “My father is a classical pianist, and so music came really easy to me. I’m just now learning piano, interestingly enough.”

Playing in bands is nothing new to Kairoff, who created funk bands in high school with his friends. He said Don Winsley is a newly formed band.

“We’ve had two or three shows in Ashe-

ville with this project,” Kairoff said. “I’ve played a little bit in Winston-Salem, and somewhat in Greensboro. Before this (Don Winsley), I was in a band called Gold Bricks, and we did a good bit of shows in Asheville.”

Although he enjoys performing multiple shows per month, Kairoff said he is wary of playing in the same city too often.

He recently played in Asheville at the Garage with fellow UNCA student Ian Galdy and performed at Signal Fest, a musical festival in Chapel Hill, last weekend. Funk and disco are among Kairoff’s favorite genres of music, although he said classical composers influence him the most.

“From a compositional standpoint, I’m influenced a lot by Stravinsky,” the Winston-Salem native said. “I used to listen to him as I would fall asleep as a little kid. I also love the complexity of Bach. I don’t want to compare myself to anything that lofty or incredible, but if I could combine the energy I feel when I listen to Stravin-

sky with the intricacy of Bach, and a lot of Baroque composers, then I think that’s what I would hope to do.”

Kairoff, who is pursuing a concentration in animation, said he chose to study MMAS in part because the field has many similarities to music.

“Composing music is design, in a basic sense,” he said. “I’m designing a space, especially with music production. It’s not a visual space, but it’s a space nonetheless.”

Kairoff’s talent in art extends beyond music and graphic design. He said in his spare time he draws. Additionally, during the summer, he taught guitar lessons to children in the south of Haiti for a month.

“I love to do everything with a high level of energy,” he said. “That’s very important to me. I want to continue with music after college, whether it’s promotion or performance related.”

Don Winsley’s next performance takes place on Halloween night at the MoogFest afterparty.

Etc. . .

Page 16

{The Blue Banner}

Photo Corner

Watch video coverage of ASHE’s fall equinox celebration at thebluebanner.net

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Campus Events Exploring majors and internship fair Highsmith Union Thursday, 1-3 p.m.

Diversity action council Highsmith Union 235 Thursday, 12:30 p.m.

Students celebrate the fall equinox on the Quad

Oral history interview with Dee James Ramsey Library 100 Red Oak Room Friday, 9-11a.m.

Yoga and meditation club meeting Highsmith Union 223 Monay, 4:30 p.m.

Photography by Sally Garner/staff photographer

Author talk with Nan Chase Ramsey Library Special Collections Reading Room Tuesday, Noon-1 p.m.

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

Sports Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Page 17

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Brett Whitesell / contributing photographer

Cross country places fourth at Big South preview meet UNC Asheville’s top three women’s runners Rachel Carson, Emma Bussard and Alyska Kalmeijer start the 5k race at Radford on Saturday.

The men’s and women’s cross country teams finish strong in preparation for the Big South Conference meet Rush Masten

ramasten@unca.edu staff writer

UNC Asheville’s cross country team earned a fourth place finish in the Big South preview at Radford University Friday.

The course, which will be the same course they will race on for the Big South Conference meet next month, presents a good opportunity to practice on it.

After a solid fourth place for both sides of the team, cross country women’s team captain Ginger Buchanan said the women’s team exceeded her expectations.

Kent Rankin “My expectations for the Radford meet were for the girls to finish in the top five

and for there to be a couple of personal records broke,” she said.

On the men’s side, team captain Kent Rankin said he had similar goals.

“We really wanted to show up to Radford and compete to the best of our ability because after this meet, it will be clear where we stand in the conference,” he said. “Although, it has been a trend that we always place better at conference than preconference.”

Rankin also said good teamwork was vi-

tal for a good showing.

“The team really needed to work together to get our top five across the line in a good position,” he said.

Tyler Michael, a freshman from Asheville, highlighted the men’s performances with an 11th place finish in the 8k course. He ran a time of 27:27.03. Juniors Eli Chirchir and Carlos Lopez were the next Bulldogs to cross the line. They post-

See BIG

SOUTH Page 20

Page 18

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Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Alumni baseball game brings back more than 30 players Justin Stewart jastewar@unca.edu staff writer

UNC Asheville’s annual alumni baseball weekend batted its way on to Greenwood Field last weekend and involved more than 30 former Bulldog players.

Making the weekend an event to remember, about two dozen of the former players attended a golf outing at Grove Park Inn Friday morning, where they were divided into groups of four in order to battle for the captain’s choice tournament.

“The golf tournament was a blast, even though my team didn’t win, which we should have,” said former Bulldog turned minor league pitcher Alan DeRatt.

Afterward, all visiting alumni had dinner with baseball Head Coach Tom Smith at Pack’s Tavern downtown.

“This is just a great opportunity for our current team to meet up with many of our former players,” he said. “While we’ve been doing this for the past couple of years, this is only the second year that we’ve played an alumni game. Usually, we’ve just done the round of golf.”

On Saturday, the returning players kicked off the day with a brief but action-packed home run derby.

Former Bulldog first baseman Tony Wall was crowned the long ball derby’s champion. The 2007 graduate put on a show for many of his former teammates and coaches as he belted several bombs before ending his run with a bunt, the same play that won them the 2006 Big South Conference Championships.

Now a physical education teacher and football coach at Chase High School in Forest City, the former UNCA slugger said there are many enjoyable aspects of the yearly alumni gathering and the return to campus has allowed him to keep up with Bulldog baseball.

“I think it’s great to come back here and see how the baseball program has changed and how they’re doing nowadays,” he

Frankie Camaco/ staff photographer

Alumnus Chris Nigro threw his left-handed pitch at the Alumni game. said.

The alumni then scrimmaged in a friendly split-squad contest. A grand slam home run from former Bulldog second baseman Kyle Smith highlighted the game.

“It was a lot of fun playing with all the guys again,” Smith said. “And it was pretty awesome to be the only one to hit a grand slam.”

Judd Ballard, who graduated in 2003, said the group would have had fun even if the second annual scrimmage was not a success.

“I think the best part about this weekend is the fact that we have so many guys from so many different states and parts of the country coming back to Asheville,” he said.

ditioning coach for the USA canoe and kayak Slalom team in July of 2010,” DeWeese said. “Discussion concerning the position began in April.”

The United States has won five gold, Brad DeWeese five silver and six bronze medals in the previous canoe and kayak Olympic games.

Representatives will have a chance to add

to those totals at the 2012 Olympic games in London.

“My primary responsibility is to provide a multifaceted training program that will improve our team’s podium potential at the 2012 Olympic games in London, England,” DeWeese said. “In this capacity, I will be providing individualized strength, speed and nutrition programs to each of the national team athletes.”

Although he never worked with a waterbased sport before, DeWeese said he thinks his method of training will work for the team.

UNCA professor named strength coach for U.S. kayak team

Justin Greenwood jsgreenw@unca.edu staff writer

Already the home to the country’s only sports performance program, UNC Asheville boasts the U.S. Olympic canoe and kayak strength and conditioning coach, Brad DeWeese.

DeWeese, UNCA’s strength and conditioning coach and health and wellness professor, began his new role during the summer.

“I was named the head strength and con-

S

Ballard, a former right-handed pitcher for the Bulldogs, is now a certified public accountant for a small firm in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.

“We’re all still pretty young, and I think we’ve had just a great turnout for this,” Ballard said. “I enjoy being on the field again, but it would be just as much fun to come out here and sit around and talk trash with each other.”

Another Ohio player, former UNCA infielder Steve Burnich, said the weekend’s gathering, and alumni game in particular, allowed old teammates to catch up.

“There are a lot of old teammates, roommates, and just good, good friends out here,” Burnich said. “It’s just a good group of guys that we’ve all bonded with over the years.”

Additionally, the 2007 graduate said the campus and facilities at UNCA presented an ideal platform for the baseball program’s annual reunion.

“I don’t know if we would have the opportunity for this without the college providing such a good venue for everybody to come out and see each other,” Burnich said. “We’re lucky to have it.”

Former left-handed pitcher Chris Nigro said he has kept in touch with many of his old baseball buddies since he graduated in 2007. However, the alumni weekend’s functions are a fantastic outlet for former players to reminisce face-to-face.

“I talk to a lot of these guys, but it’s usually over the phone or through text messages. To get back here and see each other and go out with these guys again is a lot of fun,” he said.

Nigro is now in the Master of Business Administration program at Appalachian State University, continuing his studies in sustainable business. He said he credits UNCA’s coaching staff for the overall success of the alumni weekend.

“Coach Aaron Rembert, who I played with, and Coach Smith are great. I’m glad they do this,” Nigro said. “It’s just been a glorious weekend.”

“With regard to training, my belief is that these athletes need to take part in training regimens that will improve their overall power output,” he said. “In order for this to happen, I am actually advocating that the paddlers spend less time in the boat and do more dry-land training, such as speed work, Olympic lifting and an increased amount of pressing movements, such as squats.”

DeWeese won’t just contribute his knowledge and skills to help the athletes.

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Wednesday, September 29, 2010

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Sports Profile

Soccer midfielder makes plays for UNCA Amari Clements

Bulldog Scorecard Men’s soccer

aclement@unca.edu staff writer

Simliar to what Kobe Bryant is to the Lakers, Leilani Halkiotis is an important component to UNC Asheville’s women’s soccer team when it comes to making key plays.

“She is a great player, an excellent player,” said best friend and teammate Carolyn O’Brien. “She has improved consistently since freshman year. She is probably one of our best center mids.”

Bearing number 12 on her back, Halkiotis is in her third year as a midfielder for the Bulldogs.

“I literally play in the center of the field.

A lot of the balls come through me, so I’m kind of like the playmaker,” she said.

Born in the small town of Brookeville, Md., Halkiotis’ soccer career started at the young age of 8.

“The feeling I get playing games, before, during and after is what I love about soccer.

You win some, you lose some, but it definitely has its rewards. I am very competitive, so losing is tough for me, but when you play your heart out, and you know you play your heart out, you feel good even if you lose,” she said.

She said her older sister was her inspiration to enter into the game.

“To be honest, I wanted to be just like my sister,” she said. “Besides soccer, I was really serious about gymnastics. I also played coed volleyball in high school. That was really fun. I just knew soccer was the sport I wanted to play in college, and that’s what I focused on.”

While a student at Sherwood High School, Halkiotis scored five goals during her senior year. She also played for the Bethesda Rapids and helped them reach the 2007 Maryland State Cup Championship and Jefferson Cup Finals.

Halkiotis is at UNCA on an athletic scholarship, but she said her goals after graduation may not include soccer.

“I plan on going to physician assistant school, and hopefully that will be a good move. If there is an opportunity for soccer, I will definitely consider it, but I am trying to focus on my studies.”

Last season for the Bulldogs, Halkiotis started in 15 matches and played in 16 games. She kicked 22 shots, which was the fourth most on the team.

“I’m not sure what the records stand as, but I would love to break one. That would be awesome,” she said.

In 2008, her freshman year, she started in 18 of the 19 matches. She was also the fifth-leading scorer, with two goals and five points.

It was also the same year she had her

Page 19

Wednesday vs. USC Upstate 0-1 (L) Saturday vs. ETSU 1-2 (L)

Women’s soccer Sunday vs. S.C. State CANCELLED

Volleyball

Saturday vs. Coastal Carolina 3-2 (W) Tuesday vs. Mercer 3-0 (W) Photo courtesy of UNCA Athletics

Leilani Halkiotis holds off a rival player from East Tennessee State University last month.

“The feeling I get playing a game is what I love about soccer.”

– Leilani Halkiotis,

junior soccer player

most memorable experience, she said.

“My first freshman goal versus Furman was unforgettable. There was six minutes

left, and my goal tied the game and led us to overtime. I was one-on-one with the keeper, and she knocked the wind out of me. I couldn’t even celebrate, but it was really exciting,” Halkiotis said.

According to Head Coach Michelle Demko, it does not take long to notice Halkiotis’ potential. Demko said she has realized her talent and knows there is more to it.

“I think she is dynamic and strong to watch,” Demko said. “She is a big piece of the puzzle that is strong, technical, and smart.”

Demko said she is also impressed with Halkiotis’ work ethic.

“She is one of the hardest working players on the team,” Demko said. “She is the reason why we can be successful on the field and has a ton of potential that we can tap into.”

Cindi Miller

Junior Cindi Miller recorded a career-high 24 kills against Conference rivals Coastal Carolina, earning her Big South player of the week.

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Big South

Continued

Emma Bussard/ contribuing photographer

Junior Carlos Lopez holds off a rival from High Point University in the men’s 8k race at Radford University.

Professor He will also try to educate the coaches in training methods.

“I will be assisting the director of high performance in coming up with an improved method of educating coaches at the grassroots level of the sport with regard to training theory and program design,” DeWeese said. “It is vital that a pipeline of knowledge is created so that our country’s chances of medal attainment are improved for Olympiads to come.”

DeWeese will try to balance his responsibilities to the student athletes of UNCA with his new duty, which brings a whole different level of responsibility.

DeWeese said these new responsibilities include traveling to where the team performs.

“At this point, I am unsure how much traveling I will do with the team,” he said.

“I must be mindful of how my time is allocated. I need to make sure I am available for my students and athletes here at UNC Asheville in my already tight schedule.”

With the Olympics a little less than two years away, training for the U.S. representatives will begin soon.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

multifaceted training program that will improve our team’s podium potential at the 2012 Olympic games.”

– Brad DeWeese,

UNCA strength and conditioning coach “As far as I know, the first training camp will be in late November at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs,” DeWeese said. “I do know that I will be leading training sessions, performance testing and nutrition education seminars for the team at key training camps throughout the two years leading up to the Olympic games.”

There are a total of 12 kayaking events in the Olympics, nine men’s and three women’s. In preparation, the paddlers will continue competing until training camps start.

“Members of the national team just wrapped up their international competition season at the World Championships just a couple of weeks ago,” DeWeese said.

Page 17

ed times of 27:34.59 and 27:45.82. Juniors Sam Maynard and Adam Schnapp were the other two scoring runners for UNCA. In the women’s 5k race, junior runner Emma Bussard headed the pack for the Bulldogs. She ran a time of 20:03.71 to finish 13th. Hot on her heels, sophomore Alyska Kalmeijer finished the race in 19th with a time of 20:20.97. Only 10 seconds later, freshman Rachel Carson came in 23rd with a time of 20:30.66. Sophomores Claire Powell and Jennifer Black and junior Erin Putnum were the other Bulldogs to score for the team.

Head Coach Jesse Norman said that the team can use the meet as a guide for what needs to be improved in preparation for the larger competitions at the end of the semester.

“The season is geared toward the Conference and Regional meets,” he said.

To get ready for the meets, the team participates in a grueling six-day-a-week practice schedule.

“On the hard days, we do workouts with weights and long runs,” Norman said.

“Practice starts with medicine ball exercises, then jumping hurdles, and finally, the team goes out for their run.”

Despite the hard work, Rankin said he likes the training.

“Practices are really fun. Sunday runs are the greatest. After the meets we get a day to relax and run up to 20 miles. The distances people run depend on where we are at in the season,” Rankin said.

Continued

“My primary responsibility is to provide a

from

from

Page 18

“While some are beginning their offseason now, some have elected to take part in the National Championships on Sept. 25.”

One of the athletes DeWeese is training is currently balancing kayaking and his education studying abroad in France.

Austin Kieffer is a student at Davidson College when he isn’t training at the U.S. national whitewater center near Charlotte, but for now, his home is France.

“France is absolutely the mecca of slalom kayaking,” Kieffer said. “Almost any city with any source of water has a whitewater course and gates for practicing slalom kayaking. It is a huge sport in France and training opportunities are endless.”

Kieffer began kayaking nine years ago and has been doing it ever since. He already excels in kayaking, but he said he is hoping to get even better with the help of DeWeese.

“I am extremely excited about Brad becoming the strength and conditioning coach. He is a tremendous asset to the team,” Kieffer said. “I think the U.S. team will have a unique opportunity to develop a competitive edge internationally.”

Campus Voice Condoms approved for classrooms Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Megan Dombroski & Alicia Adcox MKDOMBRO@UNCA.EDU, ARADCOX@UNCA.EDU

PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR, STAFF WRITER

Teachers in the United States need to roll more condoms on bananas.

One-third of teenagers who have had formal sex education still don’t know about methods of contraception, or even how to use a condom, according to a study from the Centers for Disease Control.

If teens are never taught how to use contraception, their condoms wind up like our sex education system – broken.

The study showed that of the topics on the survey, teenagers were the least educated about contraception. Only 62 percent of males and 70 percent of females reported receiving a formal education about birth control. However, 92 percent of males and 93 percent of females received an education about sexually transmitted diseases.

States that still have abstinence-only sex education programs may contribute to these teenagers’ ignorance. They teach that abstinence is the only way to prevent unwanted pregnancies and STDs, and downplay the success rates of condoms and other forms of contraception.

It seems teachers are using scare tactics to prevent teenagers from having sex. They focus on horrifying diseases teens can contract and less on how to have safe sex.

In an ideal world, teenagers could learn about HIV/AIDS, chlamydia, herpes and other STDs and decide if abstinence is their best option. In reality, teens do have sex, so it is best to teach them about safe sex and how to prevent unwanted pregnancies.

“I feel teenagers need to be educated more on birth control methods because, in this day and age, teens will have sex.

Providing ways not to get pregnant will benefit them more,” said UNC Asheville freshman Melanie Bonds.

One in four teenage American girls have an STD, according to a study the CDC conducted in 2008. Most STDs are permanent. Some are treatable, but unfortunately, only a few are curable. Not knowing how to use a condom properly could be a mistake that haunts someone

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Page 21

John Stewart proposes ‘Rally to STD and teen pregnancy facts Restore Sanity’

• • • • •

One in four females between 14 and 19 have a STD One in five females between 14 and 19 have HPV One in six persons between 14 and 49 have genital herpes 50 percent of sexually active people contract HPV An estimated 2.3 million people contracted chlamydia last year According to the Centers for Disease Control

• 4.5 million teenage females gave birth in 2007 • 60,000 of the 4.5 million were between the ages of 10 and 14 According to the U.S. Statistical Abstract

for the rest of his or her life.

“Sex is fun, and birth control isn’t,” said UNCA student Robert Sidden.

“While your teenager may one day just give in to their sexual desires unexpectedly, it’s doubtful they will conveniently decide to use the birth control their school forgot to educate them about.”

North Carolina was an abstinence-only state until last week, when legislation passed to start integrating comprehensive sex education for the 2010 school year.

The state allows parents to opt their children out of the comprehensive education if they are uncomfortable with the material. If parents are unwilling to let the school do it, hopefully they are willing to have that talk with their children themselves.

“We teach people how to wash their hands, how to sneeze correctly, how to eat right, exercise enough, stretch before we exercise, wear seatbelts, and wear helmets,” said Dr. Amy Lanou, associate professor of health and wellness.

“Let’s talk about how we can be safe in our intimate relationships as well. It doesn’t make any sense that (sex) is any different from a health promoter’s standpoint.”

Keeping teens in the dark about contraception only leads to increased pregnancies and STDs. After years of decline, the rate of teen pregnancies rose between 2005 and 2007, according to the CDC.

According to the National Center of Health Statistics, roughly 4 percent of teenagers become pregnant before they reach their 20s. That is nearly half a million babies born to mothers who cannot even gamble legally.

Finishing high school is stressful enough, between exams, pop quizzes and Wuthering Heights. Throwing motherhood into the equation seems to stack the odds almost impossibly against teenage mothers. Many teens who become pregnant are unable to graduate from high school, and even fewer make it to college.

Hormone-crazed teenagers are bombarded with images of sex in the media.

Then, they walk into a health classroom where a teacher, often the P.E. coach, tells them to wait until marriage.

“The whole notion that telling young people not to do something and not giving any good reasons in a culture that is constantly pushing young people to be sexual just doesn’t make sense,” Lanou said. “How could we even think that would be possible? The data is enormously clear that it’s not, but why did we ever think that it might be?”

For some, sex is now an act of rebellion as much as it is lust or love. It is just another way to resist authority, like smoking, cursing or speeding.

So, instead of making sex a forbidden fruit, both teachers and parents should pick up the phallic fruit and teach teens to protect themselves.

Josh Robinson JRROBINS@UNCA.EDU STAFF WRITER

Partisan politics are intrinsic to American culture, but that doesn’t mean everyone should embrace them.

Like most people, popular comedian and political commentator Jon Stewart has had enough of the incessant bickering.

At the beginning of “The Daily Show” on Sept. 16, Stewart announced his upcoming “Rally to Restore Sanity,” which is no doubt a response to Glenn Beck’s “Rally to Restore Honor.”

Stewart is known for his liberal leaning, but that doesn’t mean he’s unwilling to get along with those of differing views.

“We live in troubled times, with real people who have real problems, problems that have real but imperfect solutions that I believe 70 to 80 percent of our population could agree to try and ultimately live with,” Stewart said during his announcement of the rally. “Unfortunately, the conversation and the process is controlled by the other 15 to 20 percent.”

Being the jokester he is, Stewart made his point using humor.

“You may know them as the people who believe that Obama is a secret Muslim planning a socialist takeover of America, or that George Bush let 9/11 happen to help pad Dick Cheney’s Halliburton stock portfolio,” Stewart said.

He continued, “You’ve seen their signs.

‘Obama is Hitler,’ ‘Bush is Hitler,’ but why don’t we hear from the 70 to 80 percenters? Well, most likely because you have shit to do.”

Those who don’t define themselves through their politics are usually busy doing other things, like going to work or going to class.

Just a quick flip by MSNBC or Fox News would lead people to believe the nation is in the midst of another Civil War. The talking heads always claim to know “what’s ruining America.”

It’s as if the media only focuses on the fringe loudmouths from either party, while in reality, most people are only somewhere in between.

UNC Asheville literatue lecturer, Jim Driggers, said he plans to attend the rally

SEE RALLY PAGE 22

Burned woman Rally sues ‘Combat Gynecologist’ Page 22

Kimala Boughan-Burklow KLBOUGHA@UNCA.EDU

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

When a “Combat Gynecologist” tries his hand at graffiti, everyone gets burned.

Ingrid Paulacivic, a 47-year-old hairdresser, went to see her gynecologist for a hysterectomy, a surgical procedure in which the uterus is removed.

After receiving burns to her legs during the surgery, Paulacivic asked to see photographs of the procedure and discovered the doctor’s vandalism of her extracted uterus.

Dr. Red Alinsod, a California gynecologist, decided to employ a new organizational technique by writing his patient’s name on her removed uterus using an electrocautery device.

Alinsod has practiced gynecology for 20 years, including time spent practicing for the U.S. Air Force where he earned the pet name “Combat Gynecologist,” which is not exactly a title women seek out when trying to schedule a hysterectomy.

In an article on the CNN website, Alinsod said he felt comfortable enough to brand the uterus because he considered Paulacivic to be a friend.

He argued that it was a “friendly gesture.” Paulacivic said she had not met Alinsod prior to the procedure and responded to Alinsod’s “gesture” with a lawsuit.

According to the article on the CNN website, Alinsod was looking at images of the procedure on his computer when Paulacivic and her husband asked for copies of the pictures due to the injuries Paulacivic received on her legs.

Alinsod claimed to not know how to make copies of the photographs. The couple then showed him how to make copies of the images. Paulacivic took the copies home and found that Alinsod had a little too much fun removing her uterus. One image showed Alinsod smiling with her branded uterus.

According to the Smoking Gun website, Alinsod carved “Ingrid” in 1-inch block letters so the uterus would be easily distinguishable. Apparently, they have not yet discovered pen and paper over there at South Coast Urogynecology.

Someone get this guy a label maker, a crayon or some sticky pads, but his privilege to use flesh-burning tools should be revoked.

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in Washington, D.C., next month.

“I have been a fan of Jon Stewart’s show for many years – I like that he looks at issues in a common sense way and cuts through a great deal of the nonsense and spin that comes from both sides,” Driggers said. “I have been amazed, saddened, and frightened how over the last year or two, the 24-hour news cycles and cable news outlets seem to have substituted opinion for fact.”

The opinion-as-fact stance no doubt comes from the obnoxious minority Stewart speaks of. And it’s all most news outlets can pay attention to. If everyone just ignored them, wouldn’t they probably just go away?

But then again, certain media groups wouldn’t benefit from that. After all, what would MSNBC and Fox News do if they didn’t always focus on controversy?

People are naturally drawn to controversy. And networks have to guarantee themselves high ratings and an audience to stay in business, right? That doesn’t really help anyone else, though.

It should be reiterated that this is not a rally for one political leaning or another.

While there is no doubt Stewart is a registered Democrat, his intent is not to drum up support for his party. It is to merely say, even if people disagree, they can be

Need a Kilo?

W. e caN help. .

CONTINUED

respectful and not scream at one another.

“We’re looking for the people who think shouting is annoying, counterproductive, and terrible for your throat; who feel that the loudest voices shouldn’t be the only ones that get heard; and who believe that the only time it’s appropriate to draw a Hitler mustache on someone is when that person is actually Hitler. Or Charlie Chaplin in certain roles,” he said on his website.

Stewart’s humor helps point out the legitimately crazy people in both parties who appear to have nothing to do except stand around with misspelled signs and chant crappy slogans.

Perhaps Stewart should have commissioned a self-portrait dressed as Uncle Sam, pointing his finger at the levelheaded public, with the caption, “I want you.”

“Ours is a rally for the people who’ve been too busy to go to rallies, who actually have lives and families and jobs (or are looking for jobs) -- not so much the Silent Majority as the Busy Majority. If we had to sum up the political view of our participants in a single sentence, we couldn’t.

That’s sort of the point,” Stewart said on the rally’s website.

“I decided to attend the rally to be a part of something that shows our real strength is in our diversity and focuses our ability to work together to find reasonable solu-

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PAGE 21

tions to the problems that confront our country,” Driggers said.

According to a Pew Research Poll, the number of Americans registering as independent voters is increasing, while fewer people are aligning themselves with an “R” or a “D.” And it’s been a growing trend throughout the past seven years.

The number of people who consider themselves independents is at its highest level in 70 years, according to the Pew Research Poll.

This should act as a signal to the government, as well as the media: Americans do not want crooks representing them.

Americans speak for themselves.

Most of the time, ideologues attend and coordinate rallies, but Stewart is calling for just the opposite. If everyone who agreed with his sentiments showed up, the numbers would no doubt dwarf those of the fringe rallies.

Of course, there is also one other big difference between this rally and most others. Typically, rallies send a message to politicians about how that group of people feels about a certain social issue. This rally, on the other hand, seems to be aimed at the media.

The big question is, will they be listening?

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Page 23

The Blue Banner’s View Obama betrays his own campaign promises

It may be hard for many Americans to remember the good old days of an oppositional Senator Barack Obama in 2005 when he declared, “We do not have to settle for a Patriot Act that sacrifices our liberties or our safety. We can have one that secures both.”

Still, many Americans may recall these words, as they not only urged them to vote for him but also remained intact after his official election.

In fact, throughout his entire presidential compaign until earlier this year, Obama strictly enforced these beliefs, criticizing time and again the Bush administration’s authorization of such threatening invasions into U.S. citizens’ privacy.

Obama pledged to implement the so-called “robust” checks and balances on the act, warranting government peek-a-boos into the private lives of its commonplace, law-abiding citizens.

In February, Obama had an obvious change of heart when he and the administration pushed for an unchanged extension of that very same act, preserving the tenets he once so sincerely opposed.

One can only hope that Democrats at the roundtable remind Obama of his old oppositional feelings toward these policies and pray that the progressive agenda he proposed once upon a time returns.

In case anyone has forgotten, these include: the “roving wiretap” provision, which allows the governement to eavesdrop on anyone without the unnecessary and messy trouble of having a warrant; the “lone wolf” provision, which was incidentally re-clarified to include anyone, regardless of an established link to a terrorist organization or foreign government; and the requirement that businesses produce “any tangible things” at the FBI’s re-

quest, including e-mail, phone, library and bookstore records.

Essentially, this extension means American citizens have little or no right to privacy should police, military or any other government agency decide they want to look around. People’s homes, cars, phones, computers and Internet activity are subject to inspection and submissable in court at any given time.

When Bush first limited these priva-

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Erin McWhorter, Editor-in-Chief

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nrrobins@unca.edu

Kendall Brooks, Investigative Reporter Jessica Yee, Copy Desk Chief Katherine Walker, Assistant News Editor Hali Ledford, Assistant Arts & Features Editor Katie Saylors, Assistant Photography Editor Jordan Paris, Assistant Web Editor Michael Gouge, Faculty Adviser mgouge@unca.edu

cies and others with the Patriot Act, many people felt the already intrusive hand of the government was reaching too far. These same people were likely the ones supporting this aspect of Obama’s campaign platform. However, it seems that personal politics change as fast as the times.

The enduring battle here is the Republicans’ need to stay hard-nosed on terrorism and the Democrats’ desire to stay true to implementing change on face value, yet dutifully following conservative policy so they are ultimately not seen as soft.

In a letter to lawmakers last week, justice department officials said the administation supports extending these three provisions of the law for an additional year and are willing to consider additional privacy protections as long as they do not weaken the effectiveness of the law.

One can only hope that Democrats at the roundtable remind Obama of his old oppositional feelings toward these policies and pray that the progressive agenda he proposed once upon a time returns.

Have a news tip?

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

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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.

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