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| Sept. 16, 2004 | |||||||||
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Other sites of interest: Student Government Association Center for Student Involvement & Leadership Appalachian & the Community Together Multicultural Student Development |
Board of Elections denies Farthing The Watauga County Board of Elections turned down a request to move the Boone 3 Precinct polling location from the Agricultural Conference Center on Poplar Grove Road to Appalachian State University’s Farthing Auditorium Friday. The proposal was requested by the Watauga County Democratic Party.
“[The Board of Elections has] repeatedly turned down any place over [on campus] … [and] I’m not happy about it,” Pam P. Williamson said. Williamson is the chairperson of registration efforts for the county Democratic Party. The Board of Elections’ decision is the second refusal in two years. A similar request by Appalachian’s College Democrats and College Republicans was rejected in 2002, Williamson said. Boone is divided into three polling precincts. Boone 1 is located north of U.S. Highway 421 and King Street, Board of Elections Supervisor Jane A. Hodges said. Boone 2 includes the area south of King Street, north of Rivers Street and the east side of Water Street. Boone 3 is the area south of Rivers Street and the west side of Water Street, she said. “The Agricultural Center is far away,” College Democrats President Sosha S. Brecheen said. “The people who live in [Boone 3] are mainly students, and they have a hard time getting to the Agricultural Center. “[Students] should have a fair chance to vote,” Brecheen said. As of mid-July, there were 1,816 registered voters in the Boone 3 precinct, Williamson said. Of those, she said 1,460 (about 80 percent) are identifiably students. The Agricultural Conference Center is about a half mile from campus. If the weather is poor on Election Day, it could be a significant challenge for students to get to the polls, Williamson said. “Students … don’t really have very good access to vehicles during the week, and especially during the day,” she said. John S. Hovis is chairman of the Board of Elections. “[Farthing Auditorium] did not meet state and federal
laws,” Hovis said. The room was not secure because it had three entrances, Hovis said, but he noted that auditorium employees offered to block two of the entrances. “What we have [at the Agricultural Conference Center] is still much more accessible,” Hovis said.“I know it might be dangerous to walk up there, but how many people walk to vote?” Hovis said he was sure students could call someone to get transportation to the polls. If the campus Republicans and Democrats want their followers to vote, they will see to it that voters have transportation, Hovis said. “That’s up to the [political] parties to look after that; it’s not the Board of Elections’ job,” Hovis said. “To me, that says ‘We’re not interested in making voting convenient,’” Williamson said. “All [the Board of Elections’] actions indicate they want to make it inconvenient to vote in Boone 3.” Williamson said Farthing Auditorium did in fact meet all requirements for a polling location, including handicapped parking and access, adequate parking, a secure room for non-voters and a required number of square feet. The proposed space in Farthing is a large primary room, approximately 16 feet by 13 feet, with visible 10-feet-wide halls on either side, she said. One of the two entrances (in addition to the main entrance) leads only to a balcony, Williamson said. The other entrance stays locked, she said. As for lighting, Williamson said, the walls of the room are painted red, but “you can see just fine.” Any change in a polling location must be approved 45 days prior to an election, Williamson said. “I would encourage ASU students to demand an accessible polling place,” Williamson said. Williamson said the Watauga County Democratic Party will run shuttles to the Agricultural Conference Center on Election Day. Students may also take advantage of early voting Oct. 14-30. Early voters may cast their ballots at the Board of Elections office behind the courthouse, Williamson said. “I think it’s ridiculous,” Brecheen said. “The students mean so much to this community. The fact that they don’t want us to have a say in what goes on here … makes me sick.” Last Saturday, The DJ Dance Party held at Legends erupted into chaos just after midnight. Four or five fights took place inside Legends, Sgt. Thomas R. Black of the University Police said. In addition to these fights, a hectic situation evolved outside in the Legends Parking Lot. “There were approximately 100 people in the parking lot. There was only one person injured in the fight and he was hit in the face with a beer bottle. He refused to press charges or give the name of the individual who hit him.” Black said. James A. Barr of Miami, Fla., Franklin P. McCombs of Cullowhee, N.C., and Charlton T. Grant of Charlotte, N.C. were issued North Carolina state citations for alleged underage possession of alcohol that night at Legends, Chief Gunther E. Doerr of the University Police said. These non-students were also banned from the Appalachian campus. Following the Appalachian State University football game held on Sept. 11, Appalachian Popular Programming Society’s (APPS) Council for Cultural Awareness sponsored a post-game party open to all students from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. This event was granted permission by APPS to stay open half an hour later than most events held at Legends. “That was the first mistake, letting it go on 30 minutes past the time that everybody else at the university is required to have Legends closed,” Black said. Black, along with two other University Police Officers, worked the event that night. “The vast majority of people there were well behaved and there to have a good time. There were no other major incidents that we don’t normally have at Legends,” Black said. Appalachian State University is one of two institutions in N.C. that has an open bar on campus. Alcohol consumption was the main cause of the problems that occurred on Saturday night. “Alcohol leads to 95 percent of our problems easily. Most vandalism, virtually all fights, and injuries are result of alcohol.” Black said. Due to the large number of people crowded outside of Legends, the Watauga County Sheriff’s Office as well as Boone Police were called for back up, Doerr said. “As far as the fights, there was nobody charged,” Doerr said. “There was a group of people kicked out of the event. There was at least one call where we had all campus police officers [at Legends] trying to break up a fight and two or three people were escorted. There were also some alcohol charges that came out of this incident.” Watauga County Emergency Medical Services arrived at Legends, however, for an unrelated incident, Black said. There were no names given to identify the alleged perpetrators of the fights nor were any official charges made. According to Black, the situation is now a civil issue.
Construction takes hiatus after Frances Some on-campus buildings and construction projects suffered from leaks last week during Hurricane Frances. “We had some leaks that reappeared that we thought had been previously corrected,” W. Kelley Ingram, project manager for the Solarium and University Bookstore addition, said. “Apparently, with the amount of rain we had, we found that they had not been totally corrected.” A few ceiling tiles and some of the dry wall work were damaged by the storm, Ingram said. It will take probably three or four days to make repairs. “It’s not going to set the job back,” Ingram said. He said the Solarium and the bookstore are set to open in October. Ingram said the problem might not have been with the roof but some of the windows. Director of Student Programs David L. Robertson said a lack of quality work by the previous contractor opened the door for water to get into the building. “I’m really confident in the Office of Design & Construction, and Bovis Lend Lease; between those two, they will get this right,” Robertson said. “They’re just having to go back and cover for some really incompetent work done on the roof.” Crossley Construction Corporation was responsible for the completion of the bookstore addition and the Solarium. The contractor was declared in default this summer after failing to fulfill their obligations. Ingram said Bovis had been hired to finish Phase I of the bookstore. Phase II involves renovating the current bookstore after the new addition opens. Bovis Lend Lease is the same contractor working on the Library & Information Commons. Patrick A. Beville, project manager for the Library & Information Commons, said the rain actually worked in the university’s favor because the contractors have seen which spots in construction projects are weak and can go back and fix them. “It allowed us to double-check our work,” Beville said. “Like in the bookstore, it showed up a few minor problems that can be corrected before we actually occupy the building, so there won’t be any future problems, or hopefully not.” Ingram said there was leaking in Walker Hall and Sanford Hall. Beville said Rankin Hall had some leaking as well. Dr. Monica Pombo, an associate professor in the department of communication, said she had to move her class in Walker Hall around due to water in the ceiling. It had leaked down from the second floor but was held by one of the ceiling tiles. The water also went into the light fixture. “The classroom that we had … there was water in the roof, so I checked with the secretary to make sure it was safe, and none of the students sat near the problematic area,” Pombo said. Tracy L. Chavis, a freshman computer science major from Laurinburg, said her room in Gardner Residence Hall got wet but nothing was damaged. “There was a crack in the bottom of the baseboard or whatever, and it flooded my room,” Chavis said. Students 'Speak Out' on Sanford Appalachian State University’s Student Government Association (SGA) provided students and community members with an opportunity to “Speak Out” on Sanford Mall Monday from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. Miriam N. Makhyoun, president of SGA, and vice president Nick V. Albu helped to expand the University’s unscheduled free speech zones after asking administration to reconsider the policy in July. Zones were expanded to include all of Sanford Mall and Durham Park, in addition to Duck Pond Field and the Amphitheatre outside Plemmons Student Union. “I worked over the summer to augment the unscheduled public speaking areas and I knew that we actually had to come up with a way to get people to use that because what’s the point of getting more area if people don’t know about it,” Makhyoun said. The event had a “flexible theme du jour” on censorship and, Makhyoun said it went over schedule by nearly two hours. Numerous students, faculty and Democratic candidates, such as Jim Cain (N.C. Senate) and Cullie Tarleton (N.C. House) took advantage of the microphone to voice their opinions and beliefs on various issues. One student even used it as an opportunity to advertise his techno show and played a sample from his iPod. “The opportunity you have here is outstanding.” Cain,
who was wearing a friendly smile and a button proclaiming, “I am
a progressive candidate,” said. “I want your ideas,” Cain said. “I don’t want to be the guy that talks all the time. I don’t want to determine where your future is going to be. If you guys don’t get involved, what you’re doing is letting old farts like me determine how you’re going to live the next four to eight years. You need to be involved in your future.” Participants spoke out about upcoming events, upcoming elections, the current Bush administration, the Patriot Act, the War on Terrorism, the advantages of industrial hemp and women’s issues, among others. Those who were not comfortable speaking into a microphone could write freely on a large wooden display wall. “This event today, I think, is a very good thing. It is a step in the right direction. We need more of these: open forums, political discussion, debate and just exchange of ideas. That’s what the American university system is based on,” David W. Cline, a senior advertising major from Salisbury said. “Working on things, being able to talk about these things and work out the solutions because that’s what we’ve lost with this generation of Americans. We don’t care,” Cline said. “Even if I disagree with you, we need to talk about these things, talk about anything. Big, small. I love this. This is what America was founded on.” SGA plans to hold future “Speak Out” events spontaneously throughout the semester, hopefully once a week. Those interested can e-mail Makhyoun with ideas for future themes at mm46438@appstate.edu. “With talk comes change and with change comes revolution,” Makhyoun
said.
Democratic Party headquarters on King Street The Watauga Democratic Party opened its campaign headquarters three weeks ago in anticipation of the upcoming election, and its official opening took place Sept. 6. Volunteers at the headquarters promote Democratic candidates, both local and national, inform people about the candidates and encourage people to volunteer. Although volunteers are encouraging people to vote Democrat in November, they are encouraging people to vote in general, volunteer Carole Hatch said. As part of the headquarters’ “Get Out and Vote” campaign, volunteer Donna Duke said volunteers are registering citizens to vote, contacting potential voters through letters to encourage them to vote on election day and will be calling voters on Election Day to make sure they’ve voted. Hatch said on Election Day, volunteers will also be providing rides to people who need to get to the polls. Hatch said Appalachian State University students have come by the headquarters, but many are unaware they can register to vote in Watauga County. Hatch said she wants to make sure Appalachian State students know they can vote in Watauga County or by absentee ballot and that they know of the different ways and places to vote. A big part of getting people to vote is making sure they feel comfortable and not overwhelmed, Duke said. The headquarters has seen many young people come to get information. “I’m thrilled to see that,” Duke said. Another aspect of the headquarters is clearing things up about politics. Duke said many people have a negative opinion about politicians. She said they want to inform people that this is not always the case. “It’s all about solving problems,” Duke said. The headquarters is also planning some events leading up to the election. Duke said the college Democrats at Appalachian State have done a lot of work for the events. Hatch said the headquarters being located on King Street is nice because it is so close to campus. She said the location helps them serve the campus and have campus activities. Hatch said she is volunteering at the headquarters because she has always been interested in politics and cares about the future of her country. “I feel very grateful to be an American,” she said. “I think people ought to care about the future of our country,” volunteer Rebecca Saunders said. Saunders said she feels that people should vote because people in other parts of the world cannot. “It’s their responsibility to vote and play an active part,” Hatch said. “The very least you can do is vote.” Duke said she feels sorry for people who do not think they play a part. For more information on the Democrat headquarters, visit the Watauga County Democrats Web site. Peacock holds 'Town Hall' to hear students Appalachian State University Chancellor Kenneth E. Peacock gives his time to listen to the concerns of students at a Town Hall Meeting this Monday from noon to 1:30 p.m. in the Linville Falls Room of Plemmons Student Union. “What we are hoping is that students will grab some lunch, bring a sandwich and have a brown-bag talk with Ken,” Associate Vice Chancellor of Public Affairs Lynn E. Drury said. “It will be a chance for the students to speak directly with the Chancellor about the issues that are affecting them.” Two microphones will be set up for students to voice their views on a variety of topics. “The bigger the turnout the better the discussion, so we really encourage students to come,” Drury said. “For students wanting to have a voice, well there is the man,” Vice Chancellor for Student Development Cindy A. Wallace said. “We want them to take advantage of it.” Students who are worried about speaking and sharing their views in front of others can write down their questions and concerns at a table set up by the Student Government Association. Although it will be an open discussion, Peacock plans to talk about issues such as core curriculum, strengthening the relationship between the University and the town, ideas on how to reduce the University’s energy consumption and how the University is supporting a climate of well being throughout the campus. “He has said from the very beginning, since he became chancellor, that one of his most important goals is to stay in touch with the campus and the people on campus and obviously students are one of the most important groups on campus,” Drury said. At the Sept. 3 Board of Trustees meeting, Peacock explained the town meetings and said that he is going to listen more than he is going talk and that he did not come in with the expectation that he could fix every issue or address every problem. However, he wants to hear what is on the minds of the people he cares about and if there are things he can do differently or ways he can help then he will definitely pursue that. “The chancellor has gone leaps and bounds ahead of prior administration, as far as I am concerned, in actually reaching out to community, staff, faculty and students. His philosophy is that he will listen to any idea and until he finds a reason why it just couldn’t work he is completely open-minded about it,” Student Government Association President Miriam N. Makhyoun said. “Personally I think that is our chancellor’s
number one quality.” “This is another way to create dialogue and generate conversation between the president of our university and the people he is working to serve,” Makhyoun said. In an e-mail sent out to all students inviting them to the meeting Peacock said “I look forward to an energetic and fruitful discussion.”
Turner gives advice for diversifying ASU Through presentation, Dr. Caroline S.V. Turner tried to illustrate to Appalachian State University how to retain and recruit a diversified faculty and staff Monday. Visiting from Arizona State University, Turner developed the steps to hiring diversified faculty through research presented in her co-authored book, “Faculty of Color in Academic: Bittersweet Success.” To many on campus, a diversified staff is an important aspect of this university. Director of the Equity Office Dr. Linda K. Robinson, through her introduction of Dr. Turner, expressed this importance when she said diversity must be a part of Appalachian State University’s fabric. Brought by the Office of Diversity, the Office of Academic Affairs, the Equity Office and the Office of Multicultural Student Development, Turner’s hypothesis for her research is threefold. Turner said her hypothesis is that at a predominantly white
institution most faculty hires of persons of color will occur when at
least one of the three conditions is met: a diverse search committee,
a job description written to expressly enhance the candidate and an institutional
intervention strategy. “Outside, we want to know what are the steps we can do legally to impact diversity and Turner exposed us to those best practices. Keeping in mind, fairness and that we are not doing anything that is going to discriminate from anyone. We are going to recruit the best here at Appalachian regardless of race, which is going to be our focus,” Associate Vice Chancellor of Diversity and Enrollment Services Dr. Harry L. Williams said Tuesday. Williams said the Office of Diversity felt the need to invite Turner because of the commitment they have to diversity here at Appalachian. “We really wanted to have a national expert to come and share with us the information out there in terms of what are the best practices to recruiting for diversity. Caroline Turner is perceived in some circles as a leading expert in this area, so we wanted to bring the best out there and I found the best,” Williams said. Williams said Turner’s presence on campus Monday helped heighten awareness and created positive conversations on campus that would not have normally taken place. “She had a meeting with the chancellor and the provost,
then she had a meeting with all of our deans and more than 25 of our
departmental chairs showed up for a presentation. That right there is
very encouraging, to have that type of support and willingness to learn
about diversity,” Williams said. “If we look at the diversity plan, we indicated we wanted to be at 10 percent by 2008 and we are at 7.5 percent now,” Williams said. “So, therefore, no we are not where we need to be, but we will get there. There is no question in my mind we are going to exceed the goal and expectations of this because it’s just the right thing to do. We are going to do it willingly and its not going to be a forced thing.” Williams said the conscious effort by the faculty and staff in bringing diversity to Appalachian State will help expose students to people with different viewpoints and different racial, economic and social backgrounds and a better learning experience. “Learning is about creating an environment to learn things that are different, that is why you’re here. Part of learning is creating a little discomfort and change,” Williams said. Williams said part of the university’s responsibility is to prepare students for a diversified environment. “Turner talked about fertile ground and having the foundation there, so when you plant the seed it’s going to grow. I feel the fertile ground is here, we’ve planted the seeds and we have people there who are ready for the harvest,” Williams said. “We are very fortunate here at Appalachian that the climate is open to this change and there is not a false sense of resistance. There is a sincere openness to change for diversity, I think that is very, very positive,” Williams said. |
© 2004 ASU Student Publications
