Paul Sherar - Chief Photographer

Wiggins warms up Tuesday afternoon at Kidd Brewer Stadium.

Sprinting toward an Olympic dream
Wiggins has eye on Olympic, pro stints
after tenure at ASU

Andy Morris - Staff Writer

Ernest Wiggins hopes his feet can carry him past the tracks of collegiate athletics.

Wiggins, a sophomore sprinter for Appalachian State University, dreams of making a career of his sprinting abilities after he finishes his time in Boone.

“I definitely want to try the Olympics and hopefully go into a professional track career,” said Wiggins.

Wiggins runs the 55-, 60- and 200-meter sprints for Appalachian’s indoor team and the 100- and 200-meter sprint and 4 x 1 during the outdoor season. He was named Southern Conference Indoor Track and Field Male Athlete of the Week for the week of Jan. 24 as he posted a time of 6.24 seconds in the 55-meter dash.

“The award was a big surprise,” said Wiggins. “It lets me know that my hard work is noticed and that people know Appalachian has a good track team.”

Wiggins’s time leads the Southern Conference in the event and is also a provisional NCAA qualifying mark. The NCAA sets standards to decide the 14 to 18 of the top sprinters in the nation for the championships. In the 55-meter dash, anyone who runs the time in 6.16 seconds is an automatic qualifier and anyone who runs at least a 6.26 is a provisional qualifier. The provisional qualifiers are ranked in order, according to their times.

“He is about eight or nine on the list right now, so he’s a possibility to go,” said Appalachian Track and Field coach John Weaver. “He knows he has to get faster, and he has about four more weeks to improve his time.”

Wiggins said he plans on improving his time in the event.

“I expect to improve, but along with that comes hard work,” he said.
Wiggins also spoke of his excitement for this season and the future of Appalachian track.

“We’re going to be a force to be reckoned with in the future,” said Wiggins. “We’re young, but we’re also very strong and very fast. I have talked to Appalachian track alumni who have told me they have never seen an Appalachian team this fast. That really gives us a lot of confidence.”

Weaver said Wiggins is an athlete who knows when he needs to bring his best performance.

“He understands that he needs to perform when it really counts,” he said. “His award should increase his confidence level.”

Wiggins started his track career at South Rowan High School in China Grove, where he also played football and Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball.

“I never really thought about running track in college until my senior year,” he said.

Wiggins received offers from East Carolina University, the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, North Carolina Agriculture and Technical State University and South Carolina State University, but chose Appalachian.

“Assistant Coach [Robert] Johnson talked to me almost every day, and we developed a real good relationship,” said Wiggins. “The conditions here are good and Appalachian has a very good business school.”

Wiggins’s major is business management, and he hopes to open up his own business someday.

But Wiggins is more than just a student and sprinter for Appalachian.
“He’s a good person and a good role model,” said Weaver. “He has done very well here at Appalachian.”

Chris Bohle - Staff Writer

A newly modified curriculum will greet communication majors returning to Appalachian State University in the fall.

These changes, just recently approved by university administrators, will be implemented in an attempt to ensure students get a well-rounded, up-to-date education.

“We want to make sure that our students get the background and training that they need to be competitive in the job market,” said Dr. Norman Clark, an assistant professor in his sixth year in the Department of Communication.

The modifications went through several stages before the university finally approved the new curriculum.

The process started last year when Department of Communication staff members met with alumni to hear their input on the effectiveness of the curriculum.

“Based on their advice, we tried to match up our curriculum with industry needs,” said Clark.

The proposed changes were then discussed at the department’s spring retreat, a gathering of most of the faculty from the different concentrations. The proposals then went through several committees during the fall before finally being approved by university officials last week.

Most of the changes involve the addition of new prerequisites, in an attempt to try to create a more natural progression of knowledge.

“These prerequisites will help avoid the problems students often face when they enter higher-level courses without the necessary knowledge and skills they would have had if they had taken lower-level classes first,” said Clark.

The new plan also adds several new courses, COM 2618 (Introduction to Media Publishing) and COM 4115 (Communication Training and Development).

One of the bigger changes the new curriculum will include is that all Communication majors will now be required to take a public speaking course.

“We decided that public speaking should have more emphasis since it is such a valuable tool to have in the real world,” said Dr. Stuart Towns, department chairperson.

Some communication majors have voiced concerns about the inevitable changes that will be made to their graduation checksheets.

“For students already majoring in the department, they can continue to use the current [2001] checksheets,” said Clark.

“Faculty will work with students to make sure they can graduate under the guidelines established by that checksheet.”

Starting next fall, however, all newcomers to the department will be following the new checksheet, and eventually all students will be on the new sheet, although Clark reminds students there are always minor changes in the curriculum.

“Curriculum changes are made all the time, and checksheets change very often,” said Clark.

“Almost every year we make minor changes, and periodically larger changes such as this, so the checksheet is always evolving.”

So far, besides the initial concern expressed by some students, feedback about the changes has been generally positive.

“Obviously the faculty are all for it since they are the ones who voted for the changes,” said Towns. “As for the students, I believe that they will have no problems with it as long as they understand the new requirements.”

Report: Crime at
ASU on decline over past several years

Becky DiVerniero - Staff Writer

The overall crime rate on the Appalachian State University campus is steadily declining, according to a report issued by the University Police.

The 2001 crime statistic report, comprised of statistics from 1999, 2000 and last year, shows a consistent drop over the past several years.

Crimes such as larceny and vandalism have decreased, according to the report.

“The numbers are certainly down,” said University Police Chief Gunther Doerr.

The cause of the decreased crime on campus may be due to the department’s proactive patrolling approach. “We’re out there more, being seen, [and] we’re interacting more with the students,” said Sgt. Stacy Sears.

The department has begun a community-policing program in which officers who are not on call stop by residence halls to familiarize themselves with the resident assistants and go on rounds with them.

Department officials also just finished their second year with the bike patrol, a program created to get officers closer to the student body and more accessible in case of an emergency, said Doerr.

Not all individual crimes decreased last year, however.

Of the crimes that showed an increased, alcohol violations made the largest jump. This may be in part because of the new zero-tolerance policy at football games this past season, said Sears.

Arrests involving drugs and alcohol have also gone up. “I’m not saying that’s good or bad,” said Doerr. “It’s showing there are consequences that are out there if you violate [these] laws.”

In a comparison of the surrounding universities with similar populations, Appalachian had the lowest crime rate. Appalachian was closely followed by Western Carolina University and East Carolina University, according to the “Crime in North Carolina” uniform crime
reports issued by the North Carolina Department of Justice.

Contributing to this low crime rate is the training of residence assistants in the fall to handle certain situations, such as sexual assault and drug-related incidents, said Doerr.

“It gives us an opportunity to share information with them,” said Doerr.

Also available to help the department’s efforts in crime prevention are the blue light alerts strategically placed around campus. There are 50 in total, allowing a student in danger to find one easily.

Although they are easily accessible, they are rarely used.

University Police have begun visiting freshman classes and residence halls in the fall to make them more aware of the alerts.

“I don’t know if students don’t know where they are, don’t feel comfortable using them, or there really isn’t a need for them,” said Sears.

Matt Besser, a junior insurance major, believes the blue light alerts are a good idea in an emergency. “If I was close enough, it would be the best thing to do,” said Besser.

Other students have trouble remembering they are available, however. “I wouldn’t think to find one if I was in trouble,” said freshman Katie Sayre.

A big problem on campus is students walking around at night, usually by themselves. “You see it all the time,” said Sears.

One solution for this problem has been the Mountaineer Escort Service. With around 150-200 calls a night, it has been very successful, said Barry Sauls, director of Parking and Traffic. “The demand is pretty constant,” said Sauls.

The University Police still face several challenges for the coming semester. One is trying to encourage students to call Crimestoppers.
Only one tip was received in 2001 and has yet to lead to an arrest.

“It seems like either we’re not getting the word out or college students are reluctant to report,” said Doerr.

Another problem the police have is creating crime prevention awareness in a constantly changing population. Freshman students tend to have a greater likelihood of becoming a victim to crime because simple prevention tactics, such as locking their door, don’t occur to them until something gets stolen, said Doerr. “Most of the time students don’t really think about security or the police until something happens,” said Doerr.

The department’s main goal for the spring semester is to further raise awareness and continue the downward trend of crime on campus.
“Most crime prevention techniques and tips are common sense,” said Doerr. “You just have to take an extra minute to think about it.”

Sean Oakley - Staff Writer

Differences in interpretation between faculty and administrators on the issue of academic freedom have generated a proposed revision to the faculty handbook, said Dr. Gayle Weitz, chairperson of Faculty Senate, who headed a forum discussing the issue last Friday.

“Because of the way the current administration interprets ‘academic freedom,’ the faculty and administration are at odds on this subject,” said Weitz. She stressed “there is no malicious intent; everyone is simply trying to do the best they can.”

One piece of the academic freedom puzzle is the difference in protection between tenured and non-tenured faculty members.

Existing language in the handbook states “Appalachian State University will not penalize or discipline members of the faculty because of the exercise of academic freedom in the lawful pursuit of their respective areas of scholarly and professional interest and responsibility.”

The participants in Friday’s forum decided to recommend an addition to this statement which would read, “All members of the faculty, whether tenured, untenured or non-tenure-track enjoy the protection of academic freedom.”

This, as well as other proposed revisions to the faculty handbook, will be brought in front of the Faculty Senate at its February meeting. The senate will vote whether or not to finalize the recommendations and offer them to administration.

“Our purpose, which is to seek and spread truth and knowledge, depends upon a broad interpretation of academic freedom,” said Weitz.

Because of recent developments in the courts and because of current ambiguous policies at Appalachian State University, some members of the faculty were growing concerned over the academic freedom extended to Appalachian professors.

The United States Court of Appeals recently ruled “to the extent the Constitution recognizes any right of ‘academic freedom’ above and beyond the First Amendment rights to which every citizen is entitled, the right inheres in the university, not in individual professors.”

This significant ruling basically says while the institution has academic freedom from government intrusions, individual professors do not have the same academic freedom from administrative interference.

Weitz also pointed out the rights of employees at public institutions exceed those extended to private school employees.

“Public employees have advantage of more freedom of speech,” said Weitz. “Private institutions have more power to restrict. Any sort of speech that seeks truth should be encouraged.”

Winter Folk Festival, Benefit set for tonight

David Forbes - Staff Writer

The Winter Folk Festival and Benefit Concert, presented by the Appalachian State University Department of English, will be held tonight at 7 p.m. in Rosen Concert Hall. Proceeds from the concert will go to fund faculty research, with many members of the English Department scheduled to perform at the event.

“The rich cultural resources of Appalachia, especially mountain music, have achieved increasing regional and national recognition, and faculty and students at Appalachian State University have done important work to contribute to this appreciation,” according to a press release issued for the event.

“We’ve never done anything like this before. It will showcase for the talents connected with the English Department,” said Dr. David Haney, department chairperson, who will be performing at the festival as part of the bluegrass band Dirt Road. Haney was guitarist and lead singer for Boston’s Joe Val and the New England Bluegrass Boys in the early 1980s. He recorded two albums as part of that group and performed on the radio program “A Prairie Home Companion.”

Some of the featured performers include Alex Hooker’s Fever City Boys, who have played at Todd General Store, local venues and statewide fiddlers’ conventions.

Hooker teaches an advanced traditional music class in the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies. “It’s not as much about being smooth as being rough,” said Hooker about the style of music.

Other performers at the concert will include Jon Hill on bluegrass mandolin and guitar, Tricia Kilby, the Laurel Creek String Band, The Lost Faculties and more. Ticket prices are $10 for adults and $5 for students.