Borkowski expected to sign new integrity code

Chancellor to approve academic code this week

Chris Baucom Academic Affairs Beat

Appalachian State University will pass a new code for academic integrity this week, according to members of the Academic Integrity Committee.

Patrick Sullivan and Ashley Goad, members of the Academic Integrity Committee, met with Chancellor Francis T. Borkowski on Monday. Borkowski indicated to the group his intention to sign the code into policy later this week. The new code is intended to make the process of Judicial Affairs quicker in cases of student cheating. It has numerous changes from the current code which Sullivan and Goad both indicated to be too sluggish.

Changes include a 30-day time span for completion of the Judicial Affairs hearings and a resolution opportunity for the student and the faculty member involved. It also includes an XF addition to the grading scale according to Sullivan. This XF indicates the student failed because of cheating and would be put on the student's transcript.

The new code for academic integrity has been over four years in the making. It has just been passed by the faculty senate, a process that took almost three years according to Goad.

Some members of the committee have put much of their college careers into the writing of the new code and are very excited about its passing.

"We've worked really hard on it for a number of years and the goal is in sight," said Sullivan.

The code was written by the Academic Integrity Committee, which consists of 14 students. Six of those students will become half of the Academic Integrity Board that will oversee the judicial process.

The other half of the board will consist of faculty members chosen by the Council of Chairs.

The other members of the committee will be charged with educating as many students as possible on the new code.

Those members will be going to visit primarily freshmen classes to bring the changes in the code to light. "We want students to know the new code has passed," said Sullivan. "We also want students to know that it is their responsibility to read the code."

Both Goad and Sullivan say that the students involved take a great deal of pride in the fact that the code is entirely student written.

"We hope that it will increase student rapport," said Goad. Sullivan explained if the code is passed, as expected, it will give the university a student written code that will command respect. "It will increase the value of a degree from Appalachian State,"

Sullivan said. Sullivan and Goad both agree that it is likely the first code of its kind written by students and will definitely be an improvement for Appalachian.

Upcoming Health Fair covers wide range of topics

Wellness Center hopeful 500 students will attend

Robyn Dailey Business Affairs Beat

The Wellness Center is hosting a Health Fair to provide information, services, food and prizes to students. The fair is Wednesday, April 11, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Grandfather Mountain Ballroom of Plemmons Student Union.

The center has hosted the annual fair for 12-13 years, according to Wellness Center Coordinator Kit Olson. There will be 50 booths representing various organizations and local businesses, said Olson. "They'll range on topics from ÔHow to Choose a Spa' to ÔHealthy Eating,'" said Olson.

Many local businesses such as Bare Essentials and Westglow Spa will be at the fair.

They will have brochures of their services and free samples of products and food. "Everything is free," said Olson. OASIS will be exhibiting their new clothing line.

The line is composed of T-shirts designed by survivors of abuse. The Wellness Peer Educators, a student volunteer organization, will be serving "Mocktails," or alcohol-free cocktails.

This is to promote low-risk alcohol use, said Olson. Demonstrations of aerobics classes and Tai Chi will be performed at the fair. "We're having a group from the Jun Tao School of Classical Chinese Medicine," said Olson. "They may possibly demonstrate some acupuncture."

The Wellness Center is aiming for 500 students to come through the fair, according to Olson. "We have a growing interest from people in the community that want to come and have information booths," she said.

The fair is primarily targeted at college students. Its focuses are healthy tanning, low-risk alcohol use and safe sex.

The Human Performance Lab will conduct various body measurements including body fat and grip strength, said Olson.

There will also be a free blood-pressure screening available. The Wellness Center will host a drawing for Health Fair T-shirts. For full details contact the Wellness Center at 262-3148 or stop by the office.

L. Nicole Tallent SGA Beat

Editor's Note: Dustin Bayard, who resigned as a senator earlier this year, was reinstated by a majority vote of the body Tuesday evening.

Supporters of an effort to have the Student Government Association at Appalachian State voice its opposition to a 1998 amendment to the Higher Education Act denying financial aid to students convicted of drug offenses booed last Tuesday as they fell three votes short of victory.

"We had a tremendous amount of support coming from the students ... and, obviously, we were very disappointed with the outcome of the vote," said Ian Mance, co-president of the campus ACLU chapter.

Mance said SGA "failed to vote in the best interest of the student body."

According to Section 484 of congressional amendments to the HEA, "any student who has been convicted of any offense É involving the possession or sale of a controlled substance shall not be eligible to receive any grant, loan, or work assistance under this title."

At last week's Senate meeting, representatives from the NAACP, the ACLU and the Hemp Club not only showed their support for the bill, written by senators Patrick Cash, Paul Funderburk and Ryan Eller, but also vocalized their frustrations with the result. According to Ian Mance, HEA-484 is "a horrible piece of legislation ... it is discriminatory and counterproductive to the whole notion that education should be available to everybody."

In addition, the controversy of the night centered around concerns for rehabilitation for drug offenders. The 1998 amendments to the HEA specified that financial aid would not be given until drug offenders had successfully completed a "rehabilitation process."

"The ACLU does not support the current Ôwar on drugs' ... and rehab programs are often inaccessible or unavailable to those who need it most," said Mance.

However, Barron Monroe, vice president of the NAACP, commented that he felt the vote turned out better than it could have.

"It gave us the motivation to come back and work with the senators to fix the bill."

According to Monroe, the NAACP endorsed the bill mainly because many African Americans' chances at getting a higher education are directly affected by the legislation.

"We want to give people a second chance," he said. The frustrations of the crowd became apparent when Dustin Bayard told SGA that he had "lost faith in the democratic system at Appalachian."

Bayard had helped to organize a petition of support for the legislation that he said SGA ignored. As a financial-aid recipient himself, Bayard was "disappointed with SGA, mostly because they voted for their own self-interests, and not for the interests of their constituents."

Bayard continued to say that many Appalachian students "were misrepresented."

However, William Foster, SGA director of public affairs, asserts that Bayard need not complain of misrepresentation.

"He was a former SGA member himself. Instead of staying and representing the supporters of the argument ... Bayard ended up leaving SGA last semester," said Foster.

Also according to Foster, Jason Sutis, another protester in last Tuesday's crowd, is also a former SGA member. Both Sutis and Bayard left SGA because they "were not fulfilling their responsibilities."

Had Bayard and Sutis remained in SGA and voted in support of the bill, the vote would have been tied at last week's meeting.

Bayard maintains that he left SGA because he "was too busy ... and could only have contributed the bare minimum."

While Sutis stated that he resigned from SGA because of "personal reasons," he also said he "couldn't contribute 100 percent, which is necessary in SGA."

Despite public cries of misrepresentation and discrimination, SGA feels they "did what they had to do." Senator Matthew Clites said that instead of being misrepresented, many students were "misinformed."

"The petition gave some false information to students, and said that drug offenders could never get financial aid Ñ which is not true," he said.

Also according to Clites, the petition said nothing about drug rehabilitation for drug offenders, a key part of the HEA. Clites went on to say that he, along with Senator Sabrina Shaw, voted for his constituents in Frank Hall.

According to Mance, the ACLU has plans to introduce another bill soon.

Candidates square off in debate

Leslie Hitchcock SGA Election Corespondent

Before a panel of nine student leaders, the SGA Elections Committee and approximately 40 students, candidates for SGA president and vice president presented their views on issues of student concern.

ROUND ONE -Round one of the debate opened with general questions from each panelist, which were addressed by each ticket.

An issue concerning all students living in residence halls is that of the presence of undercover police officers patrolling in the halls.

A question relating to this matter was presented to the candidates by ACLU representative Chris Nelson.

"That's like them coming in my home disguised as my dog," said vice presidential candidate Matt Schriber, whose running mate is Matthew "Goose" Mounkes.

He continued to say students should be comfortable in their homes and they would not feel this way if an undercover law-enforcement agent was in the building.

"This is our time for experimentation and a lot of college students have a much greater fear of that cop behind us now than we ever will." Increasing campus diversity is often seen as a buzzword, but it is an ongoing goal of university officials.

It is also a concern of students and was voiced by Tyrone Brooks who represented the Black Student Association (BSA).

"We already know that diversity is a continual problem on campus and it always comes up every year," Amanda Privette, vice presidential candidate, said. "You can look around this room and tell that diversity is a definite issue." She continued to detail how she and presidential candidate Xan Harrington plan to help alleviate this problem.

"If elected, we would like to create a diversity roundtable É so that multicultural groups, both racial and ethnic groups, are able to come to student government and voice their opinions and tell us what their concerns and needs are."

Appalachian State is nestled in the center of Boone, but there is not a close relationship between the town and the school simply because they are in such close proximity. Andrew Green, representing WASU 90.5 FM, asked the candidates how they would foster better relations between the two.

"A couple of years ago, Appalachian State had an undergraduate on the Boone Town Council. É It only takes a few thousand votes," said Richard Wheelahan, vice presidential candidate running with Jeff Tew. "That's one easy way to have a voice in the Boone Town Council."

"We need to come together behind something," Tew said. While the Student Government Senate is a representative body that passes legislation on to university officials, the body has no implementation power over amendments to campus policies.

Often, after the Senate passes a recommendation, the administration only takes it under advisement, so it does not change policy.

John T. Bennett, from The Appalachian, asked the candidates how they plan to ensure legislation becomes policy.

"Persistence is the key word," Schriber said. He stressed a telephone call or two a day to the administration to make them realize how important the legislation is to students. "A good idea is only as strong as the willpower you put behind it," he said.

Privette, agreeing with Mounkes-Schriber, said persistence is good, but SGA needs to take it further. "The buck stops on the chancellor's desk," she said.

Tew and Wheelahan agreed with that stance, but want to take it to another level. "The buck does not stop at the administration's doorstep. The board of trustees is another excellent place to take our ideas," Wheelahan said.

ROUND TWO- Panelists directed questions toward one specific ticket during round two of the debate.

ACLU representative Nelson directed a question toward the Harrington-Privette ticket on Section 484 of the Higher Education Act of 1965. "What is your exact position on this issue?"

"I'm very pleased you asked that," Privette said. "This issue has been at the pinnacle of controversy in Senate." She went on to say she and Harrington believe every student should be allowed to qualify for financial aid.

"If a student has paid their debt to society and they've gone through rehabilitation, they do not need to pay that debt again to a university," Privette said.

Conservation of campus green-space is a concern among students, said Bennett. However, the university's 10-year master plan already has plans for that side of campus. "How do you plan on altering the master plan (to suit your platform)?"

Bennett asked the Tew-Wheelahan ticket. "It isn't so much a question of altering the master plan É It's more of an issue of long-term vision," Wheelahan said. "I think we might have to cut our losses when dealing with the master plan."

Tew-Wheelahan's campaign slogan is "Because Appalachian Deserves the Best," said panelist Zak Giebner, who represented Phi Eta Sigma. "I'd like to see how you respond to them being Ôthe best'," he asked the Mounkes-Schriber ticket. "

They very well could be Ôthe best,'" Schiber said sarcastically. "God, I hope they're Ôthe best.' I don't know if I could handle being Ôthe best.' I mean, if you're Ôthe best,' then who do you look up to?"

ROUND THREE- Round three opened the floor to questions from students in attendance.

Students could ask one question to any ticket, but if they had follow-up questions, then they had to go to the back of the line.

Because Harrington-Privette and Tew-Wheelahan outlined their extensive SGA experience in their campaign brochures, and Mounkes-Schriber have not, a student raised a question about their qualifications for president and vice president.

Schriber plans to use earlier government experience to help him with SGA.

For four years, he attended the Youth Legislative Assembly in Raleigh, serving two years as chair for a substance abuse committee and as tri-chairperson presiding over the entire Senate.

"I'm very, very well versed in Robert's Rules of Order."

Mounkes referenced his SGA experience to the political experience of former presidential candidate Ross Perot.

"He had very little governmental experience, but he wanted to make a difference and that's where ... we're coming from."

Dean of Students Barbara Daye moderated the debate, which was sponsored by the SGA Elections Committee.

Amateur film festival visits I.G. Greer

Elizabeth Frye Multicultural Beat

The Banff Mountain Film Festival will stop in Boone on its 25th annual world tour.

Banff, as the festival is commonly referred to, is a compilation of movies on outdoor adventure, culture and nature sponsored locally by Appalachian State University's Outdoor Programs, Footsloggers, the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, and radio station WNCW.

The films will be shown tonight and Friday starting at 7:30 p.m. in I. G. Greer Auditorium.

"Banff is kind of an amateur film festival. Amateurs from all over the world submit films which are juried by a committee in Banff, Canada, at the Banff Centre for Mountain Culture," said Mike Boone, general manager of Footsloggers.

According to information obtained from a news release from the Appalachian State University News Bureau, 138 film applications from 22 different nations were sent to the Banff Film Festival for consideration. The films being shown in I. G. Greer come from Canada, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, France, South Africa, the United States and Germany, according to Boone.

Approximately seven movies are being exhibited for a total of about three hours with a 15-20 minute intermission each night. Some film topics include mountain biking, bouldering and skiing.

"The films cover everything from hang gliding to climbing to a discussion on the destruction of a set of rapids in a river out West," Boone said.

An addition to the showing of these films is the distributing of door prizes. Items like a tent and a travel pack from national sponsors such as Eagle Creek were given out at last year's Banff Film Festival. "The people that have been to the Banff Film Festival before are the people that go again," Boone said.

"They enjoy it so much that 80 to 90 percent of those who bought tickets are people coming both nights. That says much about the quality of the filmmaking and content. A lot of it is cultural and focuses on extreme sports."

Leah A. Perkins, a senior who works in Outdoor Programs, attended the Banff Film Festival last year. "It's a great film festival with a huge variety of films. The atmosphere is awesome because everyone is into outdoor adventures and there's good discussion, movie-watching and prizes."

For more information on the Banff Centre for Mountain Culture and the Banff Mountain Film Festival, visit www.banffcentre.ab.ca/CMC. Editor's Note: As of press time tickets to the festival were sold out.

Readings from English-Russian Poetry Anthology on April 7

ASU News Bureau

Boone poet and editor Sharon A. Sharp and Appalachian State University Russian professor Grigorv Roytman will host a bilingual reading from the newly released book "Earth and Soul: An Anthology at North Carolina Poetry" on April 7 from 4-5 p.m. at the Watauga County Library.

The event is one of 10 statewide readings to promote the anthology, which resulted from a decade of cooperative projects between the Kostroma Writers Organization in Russia and the Kostroma Committee of Sister Cities of Durham.

Roytman and several of his students will read poems in their Russian translations and then present selected works by Russian poets that relate to the earth-and-soul theme.

Others reading their poems from the anthology are Barbara Presnell from Lexington and Betsy Humphreys from Granite Falls.

Artwork by Boone's Richard Tumbleston, who has explored many High Country landscapes, will be on display. The organization Friends of the Watauga County Library is sponsoring the event. Copies of "Earth and Soul" will be available for purchase.

Judy Hogan, a North Carolina wtiter and founding editor of Carolina Wren Press, is the project director for North Carolina. Mikhail Bazankov, an editor and the president of the Kostroma Writers Organization, is the project director in Kostroma. The anthology's 96 poems by 69 poets were selected by Alexandria, Va., poet and editor Sharon Ewing.

Bazankov has planned citywide and regional celebrations of "Earth and Soul" in Russia. Six hundred copies of the anthology will be distributed free to Kostroma Region libraries, schools and universities and will reach several thousand people. "Earth and Soul" was translated, typeset, designed and printed in Kostroma, near Moscow.

Selling books is very difficult in the current Russian economy, although Russians are avid poetry readers. In his afterward to the book, Bazankov wrote, "Our (Russian) readers will be able to travel imaginatively to a different continent, to visit people of different cultures, to learn about and wonder at the similarity of our feelings, and to rejoice at how like each other our ideas on nature and human beings are.

Poetic vision can break down many barriers besides language. " The North Carolina Arts Council awarded a $2,500 matching grant to the Kostroma Committee of the Sister Cities of Durham to help fund the publication of "Earth and Soul."

Book sales and donations will help match the NCAC grant. Sister Cities of Durham is a nonprofit organization officially authorized by the City of Durham and affiliated with Sister Cities International, the premier organization for citizen diplomacy.

"Earth and Soul" donations or book orders may be sent to Judy Hogan, PO Box 253, Moncure, NC 27559. The soft-cover, 288-page book costs $20 ($18, plus $2 postage and handling).

Contact Hogan at (919) 545-9932 or judyhogan@mindspring.com. Checks should be made payable to Sister Cities of Durham.

For more information about the April 7 reading, call Sharp at 264-6870 or e-mail sharpsa @ boone.net.