Jennifer Miles - The Appalachian

Anna Emory ( left) and Chrissy Weber and other Sigma Kappa sorority members will be selling cards to benefit victims of Sept. 11.

Project offers support for victims

Carrie Baker - Greeks Beat

Sigma Kappa sorority plans to unite the entire Appalachian State University community in its Operation Love project for Homecoming 2001.

“[Operation Love] is a service project that not only affects ASU, but also many of the victims’ families in the Pentagon and the plane crashes that occurred on Sept. 11,” said Chrissy Weber, Homecoming chair for Sigma Kappa.

The sorority, in collaboration with the American Red Cross, will be selling cards that will be sent to the families of the victims of the Sept. 11 tragedies, said Weber.

An individual can have his or her name placed on a card, along with 10–15 other names, for $2. The cards would be sent before the holidays, she said.

Weber, along with Sigma Kappa member Anna Emory, created the project for its annual Homecoming service operation. “I wanted to have a way for the families to be recognized and shown support by the American people,” said Weber. “We began by contacting the Red Cross.”

After she was unable to get in touch with representatives of the Watauga County Red Cross, Weber called the national headquarters.

“We got in touch with Chase Keith with the national Red Cross,” said Weber. “She will be doing all the research for names and leg work. We can’t get them because of security reasons.”

“The operation will begin with the victims of the Pentagon and the three plane crashes because it will be easier for them to tackle,” she said. “If the operation is successful there, they will move on to recognize the many lost in the World Trade Center.”

An Appalachian student will design the card through a contest sponsored by the sorority. “The design will be chosen by a committee,” said Weber.

Weber and Emory also hope to enlist the aid of Lowes Hardware to provide seed packets for each card so the families may plant a tree in memory of their lost loved ones.

“I figure that by giving them a seed to plant in memory it would be easy enough for people to do or if they choose not to, they can just not use them,” said Weber. “But it would be a beautiful way to give their loved one a re-birth through a beautiful tree or plant.”

“This is a big undertaking and is already taking a lot of determination and hard work. I think once I can establish connections with these large companies, Operation Love will take off,” said Weber.

Tables will be set up in Plemmons Student Union this week and later in November for students wishing to gain information or purchase cards.

Liberty motion approved
Faculty Senate gives support to sever athletic ties with Va. institution

Anthony DeBetta - Faculty Senate Beat

Faculty Senate has approved a motion that recommends Appalachian State University sever ties with Liberty University as soon as the athletic contract between the two universities expires.

The decision comes on the heels of comments made by the
school’s chancellor, Rev. Dr. Jerry Falwell, on the Christian Broadcasting Network television show “The 700 Club.”
Three days after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Falwell appeared on the show and blamed the American Civil Liberties Union, feminists and homosexuals among others for enabling the attacks to occur.

Dr. Stephen Simon, professor of history and chair of the Academic Policy Committee, said continuing any sort of relationship with Liberty University once the athletic contract expires would contradict the promotion of diversity that Appalachian strives to advance.

“If we are promoting diversity, we should not have contact with a university that believes the contrary,” said Simon. “By playing them in football, we are recognizing them as a sister institution. It is indirectly supporting their position.”

Falwell’s comments were “inflammatory” and free speech is not absolute, he said. “We would not play the [Klu Klux] Klan if they had a football team.”

Dr. Paul Gates, assistant professor of communication and vice chair of Faculty Senate, agreed with Simon but noted censorship of Falwell’s comments is not involved.

“If someone is punished or a benefit is withheld based on the content of their speech, then that is a violation of their speech,” said Gates. “But in order to have a benefit, there must first be a right.”

There is a human right to free speech. There is not a human right to play football. Playing a game is not a benefit, nor a right, it’s merely a privilege, said Gates.

Because a benefit of a right is not withheld, not choosing to renew an athletic contract does not constitute censorship, said the professor.

Instead, Faculty Senate is trying to enact a “social sanction” against Liberty because the body does not approve of Falwell’s comments, explained Gates.

“Playing ASU in football is not a right [of Liberty] of any kind. This is sort of the adult equivalent of just saying, ‘We don’t like you, we don’t want to play with you,’” said Gates.

Dr. Steven Millsaps, professor of economics, was an outspoken critic of the motion to terminate ties with Liberty.

He was unavailable for comment at press time.

After three decades at ASU, Daye to retire

Kristin Davis - Academic Affairs Beat

Barbara Daye, dean of students and associate vice chancellor, asserts she has never met a stranger. True to the claim, she laughs about her only daughter chastising her for striking up conversations with metro passengers during a visit to Washington, D.C. With her ready smile, youthful energy and faultless sincerity, it is hard to imagine a stranger has ever met Daye.

Daye, whose greatest love for years has been her work, is retiring in May after 33 years of full-time service to Appalachian State University.

“I came here as a freshman and wanted to stay forever,” said the Forest City native. Her professional career at Appalachian began in 1968 as a graduate assistant and then an instructor of health, leisure and exercise science.

She was approached about her interest in student development. “It appealed to me,” she said.

And so began the official commencement of Daye’s many notable accomplishments as dean.

Students are the best part of her job, said Daye. She said she loves working with African-American students, facilitating the strength of their voice. “Of course, I’m not the only one,” Daye said. “I’ve always felt like [African American students] needed someone to go to in administration.”

Anwar Cruter, assistant director of multicultural student development, considers Daye an excellent resource for his work. “She has heart. She’s an awesome lady. [Her retirement] will be a very big loss to Appalachian. There will be very big shoes to fill,” said Cruter.

Daye will most miss something new and different happening every day after her May retirement. “I have no idea what I’m going to do with my time,” she said. Of course, there will be more reading and lots of baseball games with her three grandsons, she added.

Daye said she just purchased a house at the beach. “That’s my big, expensive hobby.” She plans to split her time between the coast and the mountains. “It’s the best of both worlds.”

It is hard to pinpoint the one greatest accomplishment in her career, said Daye. Among others, she founded the Appalachian Child Care Development Center, the Walk for Awareness, Parent Orientation and Family Weekend.

“It’s the small things for people that have made the biggest difference,” said Daye.

She is an innovative woman who loves to initiate excitement over new ideas. “The projects were accomplished because of all the people who wanted to help. I may have had an idea, but it was all of Appalachian who chose to make a difference.”

“She is the best person I’ve ever worked with, and I’ve worked with quite a few in the past 25 years,” said Rita Wells, Daye’s administrative secretary since 1995. Wells said she admires Daye’s genuine care for students, her integrity and her ability to get things done above all else.

“We all work well together,” said Daye of the people who comprise the Student Development office.

Daye said she has donated money to the advancement office to establish two scholarships for Appalachian students during the past 10 years, and the interest from the money ensures they will be awarded annually.

True to her pioneering spirit, Daye looked for a way to help victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. She has contacted the widow of a New York fireman for Appalachian to “adopt.”
Daye, whose own father, a police officer, was killed in the line of duty, feels a kinship with the widow’s children, ages six, five and three.

Dino Dibernardi, director of the Center for Student Involvement and Leadership, has known Daye since 1977. “She embodies what Appalachian is about in terms of care.
She’s a bridge-builder, a person who works well with a lot of different people.”

Daye will be impossible to replace, said Dibernardi. “She’s helped Appalachian evolve into what it is today. It wouldn’t be as good a place if it wasn’t for people like Barbara Daye.”

Paul Sherar - Chief Photographer

The renovation of a new Communication Disorders Clinic in the former Alliance Bible Fellowship Building is postponed indefinitely.

Repair, renovation projects frozen as state tackles budget woes
Clinic joins sidewalk, roofing, ventilation upgrades on list of ASU projects on hold

Robyn Dailey - Business Affairs Beat

The Easley administration has placed a freeze on all repair and renovation projects in the University of North Carolina system because of the ongoing state budget crisis, said Vice Chancellor for Business Affairs Jane Helm.

She said the projects are repairs and renovations in areas such as roofing, air-conditioning and heating systems, handicap accessibility, sidewalks and replacement of windows.

“They’re not small, price-wise,” said Helm. “They could be $100,000.”

She said the state has not put holds on any projects funded by student fees or last November’s $82.3 million Higher Education Bond Referendum, which means construction on buildings such as University Bookstore, Belk Library, Rankin Science Building and the new recreation facility will continue as planned.

Any repair and renovation projects that started before the Easley administration-initiated freeze will be completed, said Helm.

“It always hurts when you don’t continue ongoing maintenance of old buildings,” said Helm.

She said Appalachian State University will feel a very negative impact without these projects being completed.

She said pending projects such as a new ventilation system in Wey Hall and the construction of a new Communication Disorders clinic in the Annex (a building formerly occupied by Alliance Bible Fellowship) are postponed indefinitely.

Dr. Charles Duke, dean of Reich College of Education, said he was very disappointed to hear the clinic’s construction was frozen.

“Our dilemma is that we don’t know when or if there will be state money to help us with this,” said Duke.

He said there is no prospect of being able to do anything to the building until the freeze is lifted because the college lacks the needed monies to undertake the project.

While there are currently a few classes and some counseling held in the building, it is not yet equipped to handle the clinic.

“It’s not set up to do what we need it to do,” said Duke.
When it is completed, the clinic will double in size and will be able to offer more services and be more accessible to the community, he said.

“The problem is that we have that facility and we are using it … but it needs to be completely renovated,” he said.
The proposed annex is slated to encompass some 10,000 square feet, while the clinic is currently occupying a 4,400-square-foot space in Edwin Duncan Hall, said Duke.

When the clinic is moved, it will also free up much-needed space for offices, he said.

Reich College of Education also has begun to formulate plans
to look for private donors for the project, said Duke.

He said the college is currently looking to solicit alumni, foundations, grants and community members. “It will take us a year or two probably,” said Duke.

He said the unsteady economy will probably cause potential donors to be more cautious in pledging to the project.

While the current economic downturn may lead some to limit donations for projects such as the clinic, Helm said the
university must also limit its financial expenditures.

“We have to really cut back on our spending dramatically.”

Paul Sherar - Chief Photographer

A miniature liquor bottle lingers in Kidd Brewer Stadium.

ABC officials deny game day request
Stores will not limit sales of miniature bottles

Kristina Egger - Chancellor/Student Development Beat

Members of the local Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) Board decided at an Oct. 8 meeting that Watauga County ABC stores will not change their policies concerning the sale of mini-bottles, said Appalachian State University Police Chief Gunther Doerr.

The decision was made following a request to stifle the sale of miniature liquor bottles on game days by Chancellor Francis T. Borkowski and other Appalachian State University officials, Doerr said after receiving notification from the board.

“The board reviewed the university’s request and after much discussion decided that it was not their job to infringe upon a person’s right to purchase alcohol,” said Doerr.

Michael C. Herring, administrator of the North Carolina Alcohol Beverage Control Commission, said he respects the concerns of the university but does not believe reducing the sale of mini-bottles is the solution to its problem.

“If we stopped selling miniatures, people would smuggle glass bottles into the game and that would be dangerous,” said Herring. “Heightened security and education are the only real solutions.”

Herring said members of the commission agree the abuse of alcohol is a problem on university campuses and is the reason they recently formed the Education Commission.

“We have been at this for about a year,” said Herring. “We are trying to make a difference and promote positive sales, service and consumption.”

Herring said there is no one left for the university to appeal to because liquor distribution is a local, not state, matter.
“North Carolina is what we call a ‘local option’ state,” said Herring. “One hundred and fifty three local ABC systems set their own policies and guidelines.”

The local ABC board is composed of three members who are appointed by the Boone Town Council. The board sets the rules for Watauga County.

Politics can play a role in the decisions that are made by the local ABC board, said Herring. Some North Carolina ABC systems choose not to sell mini bottles at all, and Wake County only sells miniatures by the pack, he said.

“Some of the same people that want to restrict the sale of minis are probably pouring out a half-gallon in the back of their cars,” said Herring, referring to the politics that often influence such decisions.

Watts: minority recruitment biggest challenge, priority at ASU

Chris Bohle - Multicultural Beat

With this year’s sharp decline in minority students, the lowest percentage since 1996, questions have risen concerning the ability of the Office of Admissions to successfully recruit under-represented students to Appalachian State University.

Admissions, however, has placed the problem at the top of its priority list and is working to create a balanced student environment, said Joe Watts, associate vice chancellor for Enrollment, who spearheads the recruitment of minorities.

“[Minority recruitment] is our biggest challenge, as well as our highest priority here in Admissions,” said Watts.

Watts’ primary concern is not percentage numbers. “When you look at the big picture, you see that last year we had the largest [real] number of minorities that we have ever had by far,” said Watts. “And when you look at the overall growth of the last 10 years or so, then we are definitely making progress.”

“The geographical location does not help, especially being near no big cities, which would certainly increase the minority applicant pool,” said Watts about possible deterrents for minorities.

The lack of scholarship money put aside for minorities is also a constant problem for Admissions.

“Oftentimes, we will have a large applicant pool, but we just can’t supply them with the money they need to come here,” said Watts.

To rectify the problem, the Admissions Diversity Council was established this year, which is a group equally comprised of students and faculty of all races. The group works together to more efficiently plan recruitment strategies.

“[The council] is really a great new thing we have this year,” said Watts. “We do all sorts of things, including sometimes sending members back to their old high schools to talk to their peers and tell them Appalachian is a good place.”

Admissions has big plans for solving the constant problem of lack of scholarship money for minorities, he said.

“We are hoping to engage in a major fund-raising campaign soon that will bring in more money for minorities,” said Watts. “We feel the time is right because everyone is beginning to get interested in this — the kind of interest needed for a major campaign.”

In addition, Watts said Admissions also has two weekends during the year for prospective minority students. These weekends provide the potential student and his or her family with an opportunity to see the campus through the eyes of another minority student.

All in all, Watts said Admissions staffers are very confident with the progress they are making and feels Appalachian is going to experience an increase in minorities soon.

“The TIME magazine article will definitely help,” said Watts. “That’s exactly what we need — some publicity that will show everyone that this is a good place to be.”