Wednesday, November 3, 2010Volume 53, Issue 9

Budget cuts may leadto facilities managment

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Campus Voice

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Wednesday, November 3, 2010Volume 53, Issue 9

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Mother produces film to speak for the silent page 3 {A&F}

Former athlete cyclesinto new sportafter injury page 11

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The North Carolina General Ad-ministration, suffering from nearly $4 billion in budget cuts, called for N.C. schools to prepare proposals for at least 10 percent budget reductions next July.

“The state has a $19 billion bud-get, and the shortfall right now is, de-pending on who you ask, anywhere between $3.2 to $3.8 billion, the key components of that being $1.6 billion of federal stimulus money and rough-ly $1.3 billion of sales tax increase,” said John Pierce vice chancellor of finance for UNC Asheville.

According to Pierce, UNCA faces a roughly $4 million budget cut next year and university officials must find ways to cut spending.

“What we did was allocated that 4 million out across campus to various vice chancellors and we used some prioritization,” he said. “We wanted to strengthen the academic core, affirm the student education experience and reaffirm our accreditation.”

Outsourcing allows the university to cut spending in salaries, fringe benefits and extra personnel costs, according to Pierce.

Facilities management consists of housekeeping, groundskeepers, design and construction, maintenance, recy-cling and mail service.

“It’s always preferable to find alter-natives through preserving vacancies and doing that type of thing,” he said. “But there’s a sense of urgency to try-ing to figure out where we can save money. What would an outside vendor provide these services for?”

According to Pierce, the general ad-ministration is still determining what is needed from facilities management in relations to the budget.

“Those are possibilities, but no de-cisions have been made. We’re very early in the process,” he said.

Western Carolina University of-ficials planned last year for possible future budget reductions, according to Chuck Wooten, vice chancellor for administration and finance at

WCU.“We took some actions to go ahead

and put in place some budget reduc-tions that allowed us to address the budget reductions for the current year,” he said. “And we still had some addi-tional funds that were not part of the current reduction that we could pledge toward any future budget reductions.”

The proactive budget reductions at WCU allowed their departments to plan for the 10 percent cut only, since they already reduced the budget by 5 percent, according to Wooten.

“We want to protect the core, which is the instructional component of the university,” he said. “At the same time, we had to acknowledge that almost 75 to 80 percent of the institutional bud-

get is taken up in personnel costs?”Tuition increases, enrollment growth

funding, state budget and revenues and political shifts may all play a part in these budget cuts, according to Pierce.

“There are a lot of variables that are out there. It’s a real uncertain en-vironment,” he said. “The legislature will start meeting in January and will consider all of this throughout the spring.”

Last year, the university cut adjunct professor positions due to budget re-ductions but, according to Pierce, these cuts require more strenuous work.

“This is the deepest cut that we’ve had to face. We were able to do those cuts with preserving vacancies, reduc-ing travel and purchasing supplies in a

better form,” he said. According to a budget update Chan-

cellor Anne Ponder sent in an e-mail during the summer, the university plans to keep core values intact despite budget reductions and possible posi-tion eliminations.

“While we plan conservatively for the future, we will be faced with some difficult decisions. Our university re-mains committed to the crucial work of educating students and respond-ing to the issues facing our world and community,” she said.

WCU focused its budget cuts across the entire institution, attempting to mitigate the impact on students and employees, according to Wooten.

“We really didn’t highlight any par-ticular area, but rather we charged ev-ery division of the institution to look at their own areas and to try and de-termine where there were opportuni-ties for savings,” he said. “Not every-body was able to complete their entire evaluation before we had to respond to this request, so a lot of this is still ongoing.”

According to Wooten, budget reduc-tions of this magnitude make it dif-ficult for universities to avoid cutting personnel positions.

“There’s no way for us to get 5 per-cent or 10 percent reductions without impacting positions,” he said. “We’ve been focusing on vacant positions to try and eliminate the need to displace any employee that’s currently in a po-sition.”

According to Ponder’s e-mail, the coming financial issues continue to present new challenges to the univer-sity and planning will be difficult.

“It will take all of our creativity and resilience to remain focused on the reasons we are here,” she said. “Not only do our students deserve the very best from us, but our colleagues do as well.”

Pierce spoke with facilities manage-ment recently to inform them of the situation and ask them for input.

“There may be something coming out of that that are alternatives,” he said. “It would be best if we didn’t have to do this, but we have to come up with the budget cuts one way or an-other.”

Wednesday, November 3, 2010{T h e B l u e B a n n e r }

Katie Saylors/assistant photography editorVaughn Griffin collects trash outside of Karpen Hall. Griffin has been working with facilities management for 10 years.

NewsPage 2

Facilities management faces outsourcing due to budget cutsKendall Brooksksbrooks@unca.edu

investigative reporter

Wednesday, November 3, 2010 {T h e B l u e B a n n e r } Page 3

On the QuadWhat do you think of budget cuts this year?

Rebecca SalazarLiterature student

Duncan BarnesEnvironmental management

and policy student

Michael JonesHistory student

“They make budget cuts just because they can’t af-ford to keep everyone. It’s just a cycle. That’s how it is with jobs.”

“I also heard that they are going to start cutting extracurricular stuff, like P.E. programs and stuff. That seems important for our community.”

“We’re in a dumpster dive to the bottom. Even though I’m really opposed to it, I really don’t want to see the tuition bill go up.”

UNC Asheville sociology professor Bill Haas died Sunday night after he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in April.

“The department loses a major per-son in the department. He was here the longest. He had tremendous insti-tutional knowledge. We lose a great teacher and a great colleague. We’ll have to see how we can deal with that, but it is truly a tremendous loss to the department and the institution,” Volker Frank, chair of the sociology department, said.

According to Frank, Haas continued to teach classes this semester up until his death. He taught at UNCA for 30 years.

“He taught important courses, and he loved to teach (introduction to so-ciology). He really cared a lot for stu-dents, and that was actually what kept him going a little bit,” Frank said.

According to Frank, Haas wished to keep teaching through his chemother-apy, even though it was hard for him.

“I think being here with students gave him a different perspective and kept him going,” he said.

Frank said the chemotherapy might have triggered a pulmonary embo-lism, which is what is believed to have caused Haas’ death.

“He loved a good joke, and was very, sort of, irreverent and a fun person. He enjoyed life and he lived life. He will be profoundly missed, because he was very much present here,” sociology lecturer Keith Bramlett said.

According to Bramlett, Haas had a passion for sociology and was a great sociologist.

“Bill wanted to live his life on his own terms. He wanted to stay in-volved and continued to make plans. He maintained his hope in fighting his disease. I think the way in which he reacted to his diagnoses and the way in which he approached his treatment was a great lesson for all of us. He did it with zest, bravado and the most fan-tastic attitude,” Bramlett said.

Haas is survived by his wife Marilyn and two sons Kenneth and William.

“He was a devoted family person. He provided legitimacy and authentic-ity to the term ‘family values,’” Bram-lett said.

Katherine Walkerkpwalker@unca.edu

assistant news editor

photo courtesy sociology department Sociology department professor Bill Haas taught at UNCA for more than 30 years.

Sociology professor passes away Sunday

“He was a devoted family person. He

provided legitimacy and authenticity to

the term ‘family values.’”

– Keith Bramlett, sociology lecturer

Haas dies of pancreatic cancer

Wednesday, November 3, 2010{T h e B l u e B a n n e r }Page 4

Local radio depends on support of governmentTrevor Metcalfetometcal@unca.edu

staff writer

Public radio deserves the support of both local listeners and the federal gov-ernment, according to representatives of local stations and UNC Asheville students.

“The fundamental purpose of public media is to provide programs and ser-vices that inform, enlighten and enrich the public,” said Jody Evans, execu-tive director of the Asheville-based WCQS radio station.

Recently, NPR fired commentator Juan Williams for remarks he made on Fox News about Muslims. This scan-dal led several conservative figures, such as Sarah Palin and Jim DeMint, to call for federal funding to be cut from NPR.

“If NPR is unable to tolerate an hon-est debate about an issue as important as Islamic terrorism, then it’s time for ‘National Public Radio’ to become ‘National Private Radio,’” Palin said in a Facebook note. “It’s time for Con-gress to defund this organization.”

Evans said discussing the funding of public radio requires clarification.

“A reduction or elimination of feder-al funding for public broadcasting will hurt individual public radio stations,” Evans said. “NPR does not receive op-erating funds from the federal govern-ment.”

Evans reported about 13 percent of

her station’s funding is federal money from the Corporation for Public Broad-casting, an organization that primarily funds local public radio stations.

“Congress funds CPB, which in turn funds stations like ours. We decide how to use that money to support our programming and operations,” Evans said.

According to Evans, more than 81

percent of the station’s funding comes from the local community in the form of listener and business support.

“More than 75,000 people listen to WCQS each week in Western North Carolina,” she said. “We are consis-tently in the top two radio stations, in terms of listening, in this region.”

Mike Gavin, director of market-ing and community relations at Iso-

thermal Community College, said WNCW, a public radio station his col-lege operates, is 100 percent listener-supported. He also stressed the differ-ence between organizations like NPR and local stations.

“No one here ‘works’ for NPR,” Gavin said.

Dustin Stuart/staff photographerMAIN-FM 103.5 LP station manager Keith Zigher hosts a radio broadcast. The recent firing of Juan Williams has brought light to what is considered acceptable speech for radio broadcasters.

See RADIO Page 7

Chef stresses importance of eating locally grown foods

Megan Dombroski/photography editorLocal chef Laurey Masterton spoke to students about her recent trip to the White House to discuss an end to childhood obesity.

Jess Peetejdpeete@unca.edu

staff writer

Local chef Laurey Masterton spoke to UNC Asheville students about the importance of using local foods in school cafeterias for students of all ages.

“Little kids are very malleable, shall we say. They’re easily influenced, which is good and bad. They can be influenced in a bad way by watching sugary cartoons being sponsored by cereal companies and then that’s what they eat, or they can be influenced by chefs who hopefully are healthy eaters and healthy cooks,” she said.

Masterson currently works with Is-sac Dixon Elementary School. Right now, 18 schools in the area are work-

ing with a chef. Masterton hopes all 30 schools in the Buncombe County School system will be paired with a chef.

Masterton’s goal is to have a project for students of all ages that involves healthy eating and education.

“What I wish that we would have would be little kids with gardens, with high school kids working with them and college kids working with them and it’s like a multi-generational team,” she said.

Masterton also stressed the impor-tance of locally grown food for schools and businesses.

“Local food is really the essence of it all,” she said.

She also said consumers play an im-See LOCAL Page 7

The UNC Asheville music de-partment welcomed two new fac-ulty members to its staff at the beginning of the school year.

Milton Crotts, concert band direc-tor for the music department, current-ly conducts UNCA’s wind ensemble.

“I love it here at UNC Asheville. It’s the perfect place, and the kids are so talented and willing,” Crotts said. “Their level of perfor-mance is amazing.”

Crotts said he has been experiment-ing with the use of African sounds, and he said his students

seem interested in the idea of think-ing outside of the box when it comes to performance techniques and styles.

“I really like the idea of working with our electronic music students and coming up with something really unique,” Crotts said.

A major concern for professors in the music department is the lack of non-mu-sic student support and involvement.

“I really think student involvement is where we need to focus. We don’t have nearly the turnout we should have. I don’t know whether or not we should change the times of the performances to more student-friend-ly schedules or what,” Crotts said.

One idea Crotts had was to hold per-formances during the free period that students have between 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Crotts said he would also like to reach out to non-music students who are in-terested in playing in an ensemble.

“I really wish that students from outside of the department would take advantage of the chance to be a part of an ensemble. Our groups are not lim-

Wednesday, November 3, 2010 {T h e B l u e B a n n e r } Page 5

Lyn Burkett

Botanical Gardens celebrates 50th anniversary

The Botanical Gardens at Asheville celebrates its 50th anniversary this year and takes pride in the connections it has formed with UNC Asheville, the community and the environment, according to manager Jay Kranyik.

“We’re really unique among botani-cal gardens in that we look at unmodi-fied nature as the model,” Kranyik said. “That’s the gold standard. I don’t try to design with plants. I try to let plants expose their own design. I want peo-ple to come through here and have an aesthetic experience, but I don’t want them to be able to tell me why exactly.”

According to Kranyik, the Bo-tanical Gardens formed three years before UNCA opened in re-sponse to growth in what was then Asheville Biltmore College.

“A lot of the local people were al-ready getting concerned about over-development in this area and about the loss of habitat and the loss of wildflowers and things,” Kranyik said. “They asked the board of re-gents of the incoming UNCA if they could put aside a part of campus as a botanical garden, and they agreed.”

Kranyik involved members of the UNCA staff in events celebrat-ing the Botanical Gardens’ anni-versary, including associate biol-ogy professor David Clarke and biology professor Jim Petranka.

“I put together a series of naturalist walks where I invited friends of mine, local people who are experts at what they do, to come and give a free class on their expertise,” Kranyik said. “I in-vited Kitty Reynolds, who is in the en-vironmental studies program. Her stu-dents adore her. She is a great birder, so I had her do a spring birding class.”

According to environmental stud-ies professor Kevin Moorhead, other UNCA staff members utilize the Botanical Gardens too, particu-larly those in the biology and en-vironmental studies departments. Moorhead incorporated the gardens into his freshman colloquium course.

“The course is titled, ‘Technology and the Environment,’” Moorhead said. “I have students record their ob-servations about the environment over a 30-minute time period and then write a paper about those observations in-corporating basic ecological concepts that we cover before the observations.”

Beyond classroom and general learn-ing, UNCA student Justine Travis said the Botanical Gardens lends itself easily to relaxation and recreation.

“My favorite thing about the Bot-ans would have to be its location in regard to campus,” Travis said. “It’s nice and convenient. I like to get some alone time there now and again, and when the weather was warm-er I would work out on the trails.”

Kranyik said he enjoys the students’ presence and company in the gardens.

“We get a lot of regular students,” Kranyik said. “I try to take inter-est in their lives just because I want them to know that the garden is here and that I appreciate how they largely

treat it with respect and I just recip-rocate. So far, it’s been fantastic. I’ve watched a lot of students grow up.”

The 600 plant species that are found in the gardens create easy and fascinating escapes for members of UNCA, according to Moorhead.

“The gardens can be used as a place within walking distance to meditate or get away from the human-built environment,” Moorhead said. “The focus of native plants at the gardens has several benefits. They have iden-tification signs up around many of the plants. Understanding what type of plants can be found in different habitats, and the opportunity to see when plants bloom, is important.”

Teresa Linntclinn@unca.edu

staff writer

Sally Garner/staff photographerCourtney Miller, a classics student, studies in the Botanical Gardens, which holds 600 different plant species.

Katherine Woodardkgwoodar@unca.edu

contributing writer

Milton Crotts

See MUSIC Page 7

Burkett, Crotts join music deparment

Wednesday, November 3, 2010{T h e B l u e B a n n e r }Page 6

Several thousand dollars could buy a lot of beer. Several thousand dollars 40 years ago could buy even more.

When the university opened this campus in the 1960s as the University of North Carolina-Asheville, students and professors gathered on the Quad and shared a drink every Friday.

“On Friday afternoons they would wheel the kegs out and they would throw back a pint or two to close out the week,” said Associate Vice Chan-cellor for Alumni Relations Kevan Frazier. “Whether you lived on cam-pus or off campus, it was free beer. Of course you were coming.”

UNCA alumnus Frazier admitted that while the idea of drinking with professors is foreign on campus today, it was the norm in the ’60s when the legal drinking age was 18.

“It isn’t the novelty of the alcohol component, the whole thing is about the camaraderie. The students, faculty and staff got together on a regular basis to not be at work together, to be social, acquaintances and friends,” he said.

When UNCA transferred to its cur-rent campus in 1962, the only build-ings were Phillips Hall and Rhodes Hall, which were offices and class-rooms, respectively.

In 1964, Lipinsky Hall became the first student union. Frazier said the unconventional building layout made more sense as a union. The cafeteria was downstairs, the top floor held or-ganization offices and the lobby acted as a lounge for students.

During the ’60s, Student Govern-ment Association also performed sev-eral duties. They were the legislative

body on campus and the programming board before Underdog Productions started. They utilized their budget of student fees to purchase UNCA’s alco-hol, and in the past, it was the way to socialize.

Today, however, using student fees

to purchase alcohol violates university law, but students transformed the orig-inal kegger into one more appropriate at UNCA.

Fastforward to 2010. Peers Advocat-ing Wellness Strategies brought back the “Kegger on the Quad” using local-

ly brewed root beer from Sylva-based Heinzelmännchen brewing company. As part of their Alcohol Awareness Week campaign, Kristen Englert, co-captain of PAWS, said Frazier ap-proached her about reviving the tradi-tion.

“He felt it would be a cool idea to do something similar, but make it healthi-er and more legal,” the junior said.

Frazier said while the notion of drinking with staff every week sounds fun, its example led to the National Minimum Drinking Act of 1984.

“There were grave concerns about the drinking they were doing. There was a keg pulled out anytime anybody did anything,” Frazier said.

PAWS created a safe alternative to beer keggers, and Englert said they are hoping to make it a tradition.

Englert said she was happy with the turnout in the first hour alone, and about 50 people arrived between 11 a.m. and noon.

Erin Punter Spence, director of corporate sales, marketing and pro-motions in the athletics department, said the idea of faculty and students sharing a drink sounded like a great idea.

“Obviously, the alcohol was an in-teresting component,” she said. “I feel like sometimes you have to go out of your way to meet the students. You have to reach out to faculty and staff on a personal level.”

Spence said it is hard for students and staff to converse and build rela-tionships in today’s academic environ-ment, but she always enjoys getting to know individuals.

Friday finished the campus Alcohol Awareness Week, and the National Collegiate Alcohol Awareness Week concluded Oct. 23.

Root Beer Kegger references past tradition at UNCACaitlin Hallorancmhallor@unca.edu

staff writer

Robin Singer/staff photographerSenior Anna Bernhardt serves root beer at the Root Beer Kegger. In the 1960s faculty held beer keggers for students every Friday.

Jeremiah Reedjjreed@unca.edu

staff writer

From vaudeville performers to rap stars, Karen Sotiropoulous examines the history of black theater and perfor-mance and the way these artists define black culture in an ever-changing so-cial landscape.

Sotiropoulous, associate professor of history at Cleveland State Universi-ty, is the author of Staging Race: Black Performers in Turn of the Century America, an analysis of the importance

theater held for early black performers, both socially and politically.

“Sotiropoulous is one of the leading cultural historians of African-Amer-ican theater and performance,” Sarah Judson, assosciate professor of history at UNC Asheville, said. “It was re-ally a great honor to have her speak at UNCA.”

Sotiropoulous’ lecture was titled “Hokum: A History of Black Popular Culture.” Hokum refers to the perfor-mance style of early black artists who used satirical observations of the cul-ture to create their own racial identity.

A major theme of the presentation was how black artists used such per-formances to demonstrate the com-plexity of their culture.

“It’s really very interesting to see how African-Americans consciously sought to control images of them-selves and their culture during this era,” Sotiropoulous said.

“I recognized the conversation about race on stage in that era really evolved over time to create the more popular movements of the ’20s. The Harlem Renaissance and its conversations about race really had its roots in the

performances of earlier artists,” she said.

Judson said it was important to rec-ognize the history and lineage of black performance and the power it held within the black community.

“Sotiropoulous shows us that there is a whole world of black performance taking place before the Harlem Re-naissance,” she said.

Sotiropoulous said black artists of the era made conscious but subtle ef-forts to include cultural and political

Renowned historian discusses history of black culture and issues

See CULTURE Page 7

Wednesday, November 3, 2010 {T h e B l u e B a n n e r } Page 7

Photo corner

Gavin also said his station’s primary focus is music, and NPR news only makes up a fraction of their program-ming.

“Actually, we dropped NPR for a few years, but we had a lot of listen-ers who liked to have the news on the way to work and that sort of thing, so we started back with Morning Edition about a year and a half or two years ago,” Gavin said.

UNC Asheville sophomore and psychology student Sarah Cohen said she listened to WNCW constantly during her summer break.

“I like the music they play, and I like when they play NPR because I feel like I am learning something,” Cohen said.

Cohen said she believes public radio still deserves federal funding, but dis-agreed with their handling of the Wil-

liams situation.“I think firing him, that was a little

much,” Cohen said. “That was a slap to the face, I almost believe, because he was voicing his opinion.”

Evans said WCQS, which has been on air since 1979, aims to be a trusted news source for Western North Caro-lina.

“The vision for WCQS is to be the essential and trusted source for the exchange of ideas, information and culture – deepening our listeners’ un-derstanding of their community and the world,” Evans said. “This happens through the free and independent in-terchange of ideas and information as well as reflecting the cultural climate, heritage and traditions of our region and society through classical and other music and the arts.”

portant role in the production of food from local farmers.

“If nobody’s buying the food, (the local farmers) can’t afford to keep growing the food. If we want to keep land open here, which I do, I as a busi-ness owner have to buy their produce,” she said.

Although there has been an increas-ing awareness of organically grown foods, Masterton reminded students that “organic” is just a certification, it doesn’t always mean the food is local.

“If you buy from organic earth-bound farms, as sometimes I do, from California, what’s the carbon footprint versus buying not certified organic, but certified practices from ‘Let It Grow’ farms? There’s hardly any car-bon footprint,” she said.

Nan Kramer, who works for UNCA Dining Services, also spoke to the students about the role of locally grown food on college campuses.

Kramer is also the founder of the Slow Food UNCA chapter. She said through Slow Food Asheville’s FEAST program, students learn more about lo-cal foods.

“They go in and bring in kind of odd foods, like turnips or parsnips, some-thing the kids have probably never had, and teach them how to cook these foods and then they get to eat them,” she said.

According to Kramer, the food in the cafeteria has drastically changed dur-

ing the past couple of years.“We serve, I think, really great food.

We have a whole vegan-vegetarian section and local produce,” she said.

Kramer recently conducted surveys on campus and found students want foods like fried chicken and mashed potatoes. She said the results surprised her.

“I think we need to help each other, educate each other on how important it is to eat these local foods,” she said.

Allison Fearn, the new director of Dining Services, played a pivotal role in getting more local food offered in the cafeteria. She said Dining Ser-vices is now trying to get ingredients from farms that are within 50 miles of Asheville.

“The quality of the food is definitely much better when it comes from local growers,” Fearn said.

However, although more of the school’s food is coming from local farms, it would be hard to get every-thing served in the cafeteria from local producers for practicality issues, ac-cording to Fearn.

“We could do it, but it would mean a substantial cost increase for student meals,” she said.

Masterton encouraged students to make a conscious effort to know what they are buying and eating at school and in life.

“Buy your food from the farmer,” she said.

Radio C o n t i n u e d f r o m P a g e 4

CLICK IT • www.unca.edu/culturalarts • uncatickets.com

From the moment she heard the sounds of Charlie Parker, Sheila Jordan knew she wanted to dedicate her life to jazz. Singing now for over 75 years, Jordan lives and breathes jazz. Inspired by instruments and the sounds they make, the “Jazz Child” continues to invent new ways of uniquely showcasing her talent and breath.

8 p.m. Friday, November 5 • Lipinsky Auditorium

SHEILA JORDANaward-winning Jazz Vocalist

$5 UNC Asheville and all area students (limit one per OneCard)

$15 UNC Asheville faculty/staff/alumni/NCCCR/WCU (limit one per OneCard)

$20 General public

“There are a lot of lessons in freedom and wisdom

to be learned from a Sheila Jordan set.”

– Kurt Elling, jazz vocalist

Local C o n t i n u e d f r o m P a g e 4

ited to music majors. We welcome any and all performers,” he said.

Lyn Burkett, assistant pro-fessor of music, is also a new member of the music faculty.

“Music theory is what I liked to learn and it’s what I like to teach. It’s the fun-damentals, and every musician should be well versed in it,” Burkett said.

Previously employed at The State Uni-versity of NewYork at Potsdam, a lib-eral arts college in northern New York, Burkett’s background is not only in mu-sic, but also in subjects such as wom-en’s gender studies and girls’ studies.

“I’m doing research on music in Seventeen Magazine from 1944 to 1981. Back in those issues, there are tons of ads for jobs girls could get in music careers and articles on popular acts like Elvis or Simon and Garfun-kel, ” Burkett said. “It’s neat because you can see the evolution of music technology in those magazines, too.”

Burkett said she would like to bring some new courses to the department, such as a contemporary music course or a course related to rock ‘n’ roll.

motifs in their work, but the white audiences they performed for seldom understood their themes.

Holly Iglesias, UNCA master of liberal arts lecturer, said she felt these contrasting ideas of black rep-resentation in the press were the most interesting parts of the lecture.

Sotiropoulous said she sees many ex-amples in modern culture of the same kinds of struggles that black perform-ers of the hokum era endured.

“There are lots of similarities be-tween the two,” she said. “The inten-sity of the marketing of black culture creates an industry of gangster rap that finds itself building on stereotypes much like the early black stage per-formers.”

Robin Cape, a master of liberal arts student at UNCA, said she was amazed to learn about the efforts that early artists took to define their cul-tural identity.

“I found it very interesting to look at the structure of hokum as a satirical means of political and social speech.”

MusicC o n t i n u e d f r o m P a g e 5

CultureC o n t i n u e d f r o m P a g e 6

Wednesday, November 3, 2010{T h e B l u e B a n n e r }Page 8

Etc. . .Campus Events

Theatre UNCA auditionsNew Hall 103Today,6 - 9 p.m.

Percussion ensembleLipinsky Hall AuditoriumThursday,4 p.m.

Fab Friday, The Aging HeartReuter Center,Manheimer RoomFriday,11:30 a.m. - 1:15 p.m.

Yoga and Meditation ClubHighsmith Union 223Monday,4:30 p.m.

Traditional Tales: Fairy Tales & Appalachian FolkloreHumanities Lecture Hall Tuesday,7:00 p.m.

For more campus activities, visit:

www.unca.edu/barker

Photo Corner

Adam Gross / Staff PhotographerUNC Asheville’s Big Band and Studio 18 vocal ensemble, left, performed together for a crowd in Lipinsky Hall Halloween evening. Professional trom-bone player Rick Simerly also accom-panied the two groups.

On Halloween evening, UNC Asheville’s Jazz Big Band and Studio 18 vocal ensemble

treated their audience to a diverse performance. Students, jazz aficiona-dos and Asheville arts patrons gath-ered to see the coupling of the two music groups and featured guest Rick

Simerly, a professional trombone player.

“We had never worked with the vocal ensemble before tonight,” said 19-year-old percussionist Ben New. “We did really well, I think, especial-ly as we didn’t rehearse together.”

Range in music, from classical jazz pieces to more contemporary songs, augmented the diversity of sound.

From Molly Burch’s solo rendi-tion of “I Put a Spell on You” to the

band’s performance of “Oneida,” there was something for everybody.

Melodie Galloway, one of the band’s directors, said she was ex-cited about the opportunity for her students to work with Simerly, with whom UNCA’s band had a long working relationship.

“Playing with an instrumentalist of that caliber is great experience for the student, and a rare opportunity for the university,” she said.

Jazz concert showcases brassy sound

Chris Kanecmkane@unca.edu

staff writer

Sophomore standout Melanie Kulesz’s second consecutive all-conference placing highlighted UNC Asheville’s showing at the Big South Conference cross country meet held at Radford University last Sat-urday.

“It was not a surprise to me at all. I felt she could’ve been anywhere between eighth and 12th because she is so competi-tive,” Head Coach Jesse Norman said.

Determined to improve on her 10th place finish at last year’s conference meet, Kulesz said one of her season goals was to reach the top 10 finish needed to be All-Conference.

“I wanted so badly to get All-Confer-

ence, but I wasn’t on the radar or rankings, and I had no idea what to expect,” she said. “But it was on my mind the whole season. In the back of my mind, I was thinking about getting All-Conference, but you just don’t know sometimes.”

Kulesz finished ninth in the 5k with a time of 18:33.

“Coming into that race, I just knew I had to race as hard as I could with my heart and

execute the race strategy, which was to go out hard the first mile and be in place 10 to 15, and then keep going hard and racing,” she said.

Following Kulesz’s good form, the rest of the women’s side pushed the pace to grab the fifth team spot, one better than last year.

The UNC Asheville volleyball team kicked off their final six-game home stand with a trio of significant matches at the Justice Center.

After beating Mercer and Winthrop, the Bulldogs finished off their hat trick of vic-tories with a thrilling five-set showdown against Radford Saturday afternoon, net-ting Head Coach Julie Torbett her 300th career win at UNCA.

The Bulldogs, now 15-10 overall and 7-4 in Big South Conference play, began their home winning streak with a 3-0 shut-out against Mercer last Tuesday.

Junior Cindi Miller and seniors Kelsey Benorden and Rachel Guinane led the team, which dominated their Atlantic Sun Con-ference challenger from the start.

In the first set, the Bulldogs took a commanding 17-3 lead to cruise through the match’s opening stanza, 25-9.

Sophomore Chelsie Kenley also did work for the team, and chipped in with a career best nine kills totaling a hitting per-centage of .571.

“We went with a little bit of a different lineup,” Torbett said.

In addition to Kenley, other UNCA role players who found more playing time were freshman libero Alex Stewart and freshman middle blocker Meredith Foster. Stewart posted a game-high 20 digs, and Foster made her defensive presence felt with some crucial blocks late in the con-

test.“It was nice to play at home and it was

good to get a win,” Torbett said. “We played a little better tonight.”

The Bulldogs looked to keep the mo-

mentum going Friday night against the High Point Panthers.

Losing to High Point in a 3-0 shutout on Oct. 2, the Bulldogs were out for revenge.

Capitalizing on several High Point errors

early in the game, UNCA won the first set, 25-20.

Although the Panthers (14-12, 9-3) tried

{T h e B l u e B a n n e r }

See UNCA Page 14

SportsPage 9 Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Amari Clementsaclement@unca.edu

staff writer

See BIG SOUTH Page 10

UNCA volleyball scores victory hat trick at home Justin Stewartjastewar@unca.edu

staff writer

Frankie Camacho/ staff photographerThe women’s volleyball team line up ready to play in their game against Mercer at home last Tuesday.

Kulesz captures All-Conference in Big South cross country

Kelsey Benorden

Wednesday, November 3, 2010 {T h e B l u e B a n n e r } Page 10

Big SouthC o n t i n u e d f r o m P a g e 9

Brett Whitesell/ contributing photographerJay Barringer, left, Adam Schnapp, second from left, and Nick Summers, middle, race the pack at the Big South Conference meet last weekend.

They finished with 141 points behind Liberty, Coastal Carolina, Virginia Mili-tary Institute and High Point.

“Coach wouldn’t tell us anything he didn’t believe. He felt we could’ve gotten in the top three, but I’m happy to be in the top five. We weren’t far behind four, and we weren’t too close to six,” Kulesz said. “Our conference was good this year.”

Junior Emma Bussard finished 17th with 18:52, sophomore Claire Powell came in 33rd with a time of 19:40, freshman Ra-chel Carson had a time of 20:03 and took 38th, sophomore Alyska Kalmeijer fin-ished in 20:22 for 44th, junior Erin Putnam came in 47th with 20:50 and sophomore Jennifer Black rounded out the Bulldogs with 21:49.

Although pleased with the women’s per-formance, Norman said he knew the men could have performed better.

“I was a little disappointed on the men’s side. We didn’t have a frontrunner this year, which is something we normally have,” he said.

Falling short of the team’s expected top three finish, they came in sixth behind Liberty, High Point, VMI, Winthrop and Radford.

“We didn’t perform as well as we wanted to. We have been fifth these last few years and we were tired of being fifth, and Coach was tired of getting fifth. He thought we could’ve been anywhere from third to fifth, so being sixth surprised everybody,” fresh-man runner Nick Summers said.

Senior Jay Barringer was the first for UNCA to cross the finish line with a 25th place in the 8k. He clocked a time of 26:49.

“Well, this was my last 8k in college, so I was expecting to lay it on the line for my team. Personally, I felt like I let the team down. We really needed a frontrunner in the top 10 or top 20, and I was definitely in a position to get there. No matter how well others think I did, I’m always going to feel like I could have gone a little faster or done something differently that could have helped us place better,” Barringer said.

Summers was close behind him in 29th place and clocked in at 27:13.

“We weren’t 100 percent the entire year. The team performed well, but we could’ve done a lot better. Coach made workouts to help us run better on the course, but the race went out fast,” he said.

According to Barringer, the subpar result occured because they could not translate practices into competitions.

“Based on our workout results, we were strong enough to beat any of the teams out there on Saturday, but we just haven’t been able to translate workouts into a good race all season. As good as we are, there’s no excuse to place worse in conference than we have in the past,” Barringer said.

Completing the men’s side, Kent Rankin came in 33rd place at 27:23, Eliud Chirchir finished 36th and posted a time of 27:31, Sam Maynard had a time of 27:45 and took 39th, Carlos Lopez came in 44th at 28:04 and Adam Schnapp posted a time of 31:16.

Off of the cross country course, Schnapp

and Bussard made the Big South All-Aca-demic Team.

With Conference over, some runners will begin training for the NCAA regionals on Nov. 13 in Louisville, Ky.

“I am taking all the women that ran, but for the men, I am only taking Jay Barringer and Nick Summers,” Norman said.

More than 200 of the fastest runners will compete at NCAA Regionals in hopes of making it to the NCAA National Cross Country Championships.

“NCAA Regionals are the teams in the Southeast region. Regionals is always a huge meet with some of the best teams in the nation, and Regionals is how you qualify for Nationals. There’s a ton of great national runners, and it’s a huge meet and extremely hard to place in the top,” Kulesz said.

Regionals include a 10k for men and a 6k for women.

“As a freshman, I am excited to be run-ning, but I’ve never run a 10k, and I don’t know what to expect,” Summers said.

Former UNC Asheville athlete Tay-lor Little made his name on the track and cross country course before a career end-ing injury forced him to come screeching to a halt.

“In December, I competed in the U.S. Club Cross Country national meet. That was the beginning of pain in my right Achilles,” Little said. “I was able to run on it until the first indoor meet in January. At the 3k, I was pretty convinced I was going to tear it completely. I did finish the race, but with a subpar result.”

This was the beginning of the end of the UNCA alumnus’s career as a distance run-ner.

“In the end an MRI found a Haglund’s deformity, which is essentially a bone growth under the insertion point of the Achilles,” Little said.

However, he refused to despair, and what ended his time in one sport led to a start in another.

“I bought a bike, intending to train until I got surgery. Turns out biking is kind of fun,” he said.

Getting his first taste at running in mid-dle school, the Asheville native enjoyed a successful career in both cross country and track and field while he was a Bulldog, al-though his first sport of choice wasn’t run-ning.

“I started running because I was cut from the soccer team in the seventh grade. It turns out I have zero coordination,” he said.

But Little definitely had the coordina-tion to be an accomplished runner, setting records in multiple events and receiving awards for his efforts.

While under coach Dean Duncan, Little set the school records for the indoor 3k in February of 2007, with a time of 8:22:48, and the outdoor 5k with a time of 14:19. He also placed second in the Big South Conference in the 5k.

“During my last years at UNCA I was always happy when I could make an All- Conference team on the track, but I’m most proud of the school record in the 5,000 meters,” he said.

Despite racking up records, Little said his biggest achievement wasn’t to do with his personal triumphs.

“My biggest accomplishment at UNCA was being part of the team and working with the coach, Dean Duncan, who really cared about his athletes and was very in-vested with seeing them mature not only as athletes, but as people,” he said.

Little’s drive for success came during his last years at T.C. Roberson High School. During his senior year he was named MVP of both his cross country and track and

field teams.“I ran from the seventh grade until thi-

Wednesday, November 3, 2010{T h e B l u e B a n n e r }Page 11

Sports Profile

See FORMER Page 14

Former Bulldog runner shifts gearsJustin Greenwoodjsgreenw@unca.edu

staff writer

Photo courtesy of Taylor LittleUNCA alumnus Taylor Little participates in his new sport, cycling.

“I bought a bike, intending to train until I had

surgery. Turns out biking is kind of fun.”

– Taylor Little,

UNCA alumnus

Bulldog ScorecardMen’s soccer

Saturdayvs. Wofford

0-2 (L)

Women’s soccer Wednesdayvs. Liberty

3-6 (L)Saturday

vs. High Point1-2 (L)

VolleyballFriday

vs. High Point3-1 (W)Saturday

vs. Radford 3-2 (W)Tuesday

vs. Presbyterian 3-0 (W)

Alex Stewart

Freshman libero Alex Stewart was awarded Big South

Conference Defensive Player of the Week with a career-

high and conference-leading 40 digs against Winthrop.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010 {T h e B l u e B a n n e r } Page 13{T h e B l u e B a n n e r }Page 12

With wallets at least $150 lighter at the end of a three day heyday, thousands of people broke in to new musical territory last week-

end all over downtown.No one knew what would really happen

when thousands of people flooded in to down-town Asheville on Friday, hoping to attend a select few of Asheville’s venues.

“I got the same estimate as everyone, 7 to 8,000 a day, 20 to 25,000 total,” said Mike Adams, president of Moog Music.

Aside from the occasionally claustrophobic atmosphere and scattered trem-ors of panic throughout the shoulder-to-shoul-der crowds, an epic sort of madness unfolded, which, according to numerous attendees, was priceless.

Moogfest, the first of its kind in the region, was essentially an experiment that played out

beautifully. Robert Moog, the inspiration behind what

could become Asheville’s new hit festival, would have been proud to see his name on the wrists of so many enthusiasts.

Big Boi, the first headliner of Friday night, set the tone with trendsetting, onstage innova-tion. Each of Big Boi’s heavy bass notes re-verberating through the crowd brought people closer together, turning thousands of faces into a single unit of joyous revelry.

“If you didn’t come to get down, you had no place here,” said Adam Hill, a UNC Ashe-ville student who paid weeks in advance to be amid the all-night, weekend-long masses. Hill, referring to Big Boi’s performance, hit the mark entirely.

After Big Boi pumped up and condensed the masses, MGMT carried the crowd’s fervor to an almost lunatic pitch.

“The lighting was perfect, the sound was awesome and the performers had excellent stage presence,” said Lexington Avenue Brewery bartender Megan Silsbee. “It really

almost brought me to tears.”Within the rhythmic sea of faces and sweat,

a few people could not contain themselves. During rather intense looking moments of premature rapture, several of these starry-eyed fans broke down and lost control. On only the first night, they surrendered any sense of reserves or dignity to the peak of their expe-rience. Luckily, there was very little legal authority on the dance floor.

“This one big, fat and shirtless teenage guy, whose pupils were as big as his fore-head, started rubbing on his chest and kind of greasing himself up. It was gross,” said John Molnar Jr., an Asheville local with a week-end pass and a sturdier composure than the sweaty teen.

“It looked like he was rubbing butter all over his chest. He was like 16,” Molnar fin-ished, chuckling at the image burned into his memory.

Outside, a separate mob of thousands formed a four-block line from Pack Square to the Orange Peel’s packed RJD2 performance.

Unfortunately, for the majority of those in line, the Orange Peel remained at capacity throughout the night. Of those who made it in, apparently no one wanted to leave.

By Caribou’s high-energy set on Saturday, many more had abandoned their reservations and, at least for the remainder of their adven-ture, courageously sacrificed themselves to the mercy of the crowd.

The crowd, however, handled its burden well, according to attendees.

“There was a really good vibe throughout. I feel like everyone was really respectful of

each other,” Silsbee said.“Caribou was really good,” Tina Councell

said. “It was performance art.”The sound, lights, staging and even some of

the attendees’ costumes contributed to what she described as the beginning of both a beau-tiful and moving evening.

“Tomorrow is going to hurt so good,” Mol-nar said as Saturday’s final curtains fell.

He was, of course, referring to Sunday’s fi-nal lineup featuring another huge set of bands he said he never thought he’d see play on the same stage.

According to Molnar, the cost of his week-end pass was a negligible expense to see such a grand collection of his musical heroes.

After the 48 hours of musical madness pre-ceding Sunday’s lineup, many attendees found refuge in comfortable darkness of the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium.

Hours before the day’s first show, the first few rows were filled with sleeping Marios, vampires, clowns and scantily clad women.

By the time Sleigh Bells played, the die-

hard audience had rubbed away sleepy stares, shrugged off yawns and forgotten their seats as the musical excellence brought the inex-haustible crowd around for the festivals’ final dance parties.

According to almost everyone lucky enough to get through Moogfest’s impressively tight gates, those who missed it missed out.

This Halloween weekend, there really was nothing better to do.

Moogfest required a tolerance, dedication and resilience that some might find abnormal, but one that any former patrons of Woodstock, Burning Man, Bonnaroo or other legendary festivals would easily recognize.

Marking the beginning of an epic annual adventure, Asheville’s first Moogfest was a hit success and unforgettable experience for all.

“I’ve talked to no one who thought anything other than it was a smashing success,” Adams said after the festival’s conclusion. “Next year, we will be doing it.”

That, at the end of a long Halloween week-end, is what folks can take home.

Jacob Yanceyjayancey@unca.edu

campus voice editor

Asheville journeys to the heart of Moogfest

FestivalReview

“Tomorrow is going to hurt so good.”

– John Molnar Jr.

Asheville local

Asheville locals and tourists celebrate Halloween weekend at Moogfest 2010 with performers Caribou, left, Shout Out Out Out Out and Four Tet, right. Logan Kelly/contributing photographer

Wednesday, November 3, 2010 {T h e B l u e B a n n e r } Page 14

UNCA C o n t i n u e d f r o m P a g e 9

to make it a match late, UNCA proved to be too much for them.

Miller provided 13 kills, which brought her UNCA career mark to 985. Averaging double-digit tallies in kills every match, the junior should easily eclipse the 1,000 kill threshold by this season’s end.

Benorden obtained a double-double in the conference grudge match with 11 kills and 10 digs. The outside hitter from Knox-ville, Tenn., helped solidify the Bulldogs’ second set assault, and UNCA escaped the competitive frame, 25-23.

Not only did UNCA have three players reach double figures in kills, freshman de-fensive specialist Rachel Wells notched a career-high 21 digs in the match.

After falling in the third set, 14-25, the Bulldogs rallied back to win an exciting fourth set, 25-19, putting down the visiting Panthers for good.

“Our middles did a great job tonight against a very good High Point team,” Torbett said. “I thought our defense was tremendous. This is a huge win for us this year.”

Looking to continue their good form, UNCA volleyball stormed the Justice Cen-ter once again on Saturday as they hosted

the Radford Highlanders (8-18, 2-9). Although winning a comfortable 3-1

game against the Highlanders earlier on in the season, the Bulldogs started off slow, losing the first two sets, 23-25, 23-25.

However, the Bulldogs bounced back in the third set and took the period, 25-18.

The excitement continued in the fourth when UNCA came up big late in the frame to win a thrilling set, 27-25.

From out of nowhere, the Bulldogs tied up the match, 2-2, and notions of Torbett’s 300th win had suddenly reappeared.

Gaining momentum, UNCA came back from being down to take the fifth and final set, 15-13, and the monumental match for Torbett, 3-2.

“I’ll remember this victory, that’s for sure,” Torbett said of the career milestone. “I’m really proud of our team to come back like we did. What a win.”

Benorden finished the game with a ca-reer-high 33 digs, and Stewart put together a career-best, and Big South Conference-leading, 40 digs, which was also a game-high mark.

UNCA volleyball continues its six-game homestand Friday against the Eagles of Winthrop University.

January, but I wouldn’t really say I start-ed competing until I was a junior in high school,” Little said. “I had competed pre-viously, but didn’t take the next step in my training and racing until that point. These jumps made me able to actually compete with other runners, instead of being a mid-dle-of-the-pack runner.”

Competing, Little enjoyed much success as the leader of the group. In a meet at Ap-palachian State University, he finished the mile run eight seconds in front of the sec-ond place competitor.

Now, although those days are over for Little, he has the chance to be successful in his new sport of choice, cycling.

First, Little will have to adjust to the dif-ferences between running and cycling.

“A lot of cycling and running are the same. If you have an engine and work ethic, you’ll be fine,” Little said. “The dif-ferences are huge though – lots of tactics, team tactics, drafting, speed and gear. I have no idea what I’m doing, I just show up and pedal.”

Although he may not know what he is doing, he has found a way to be just as suc-cessful in biking as he was in running.

“I just recently committed to riding with

Chainheart Cycling Studio for next year, an elite cycling team,” Little said. “I really like the feel of the team. The guys all seem real laid-back and hard workers.”

Chainheart Cycling Studio is located off Riverside Drive in Asheville and has been open for a little more than a year.

“It seemed like the best fit for me. There’s a lot of very fast guys that I feel like they’ve got a lot of knowledge that’ll hopefully make me a better rider,” Little said.

Aside from cycling, Little has been busy after college, not only with cycling, but with all the other things that come up in life.

“Between working at the Asheville Board of Realtors and Just Runnin’, and cycling, I don’t have a lot of spare time,” Little said. “Summertime, I’m all about the swimming holes. Through the winter it’s limited to hiking and as much music as I can get my hands on.”

However, Little manages to find time for everything, and after having a successful career at UNCA, Little is on his way to an-other great career in a sport that may be different, but requires just as much deter-mination.

Former C o n t i n u e d f r o m P a g e 11

It is no secret the U.S. economy is still suffering from the recession that began in 2006.

It is possible, however, that many students whose lives are centered around their education have not felt how this economy is affecting them.

A lot of focus has been put on recent college graduates who are entering the workforce and how the economy has made finding work hard for them. The fact is, it has affected everyone, including UNC Asheville.

On June 30, the state legislature passed the 2010-11 budget with a $70 million permanent cut to the UNC system budget.

Chancellor Anne Ponder sent a bud-get update to the campus community on July 14, and she explained how the

cut to the system’s budget affected UNCA. Ponder stressed that all cuts were made in ways that would affect students the least.

Vice Chancellor for Student Af-fairs Bill Haggard spoke to the Stu-dent Government Association at their general senate meeting on Oct. 20.

Vice Chancellor for Finance and Campus Operations John Pierce and Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Jane Fer-nandes also attended.

UNCA’s administration was asked to present what a 5 and a 10 percent budget cut would look like, both with and without tuition increases. They will have to present this to the Board of Governors in November and to the governor in January.

This does not mean the school will have a 5 or 10 percent budget cut, only that they were asked to look at what their options would be if another

cut were to be implemented for the next fiscal year. A 10 percent budget cut at UNCA would be equivalent to $4 million.

The administration was very open with the organization and answered all of the representatives’ questions. They clearly explained the context in which future cuts would fall into with the school’s budget history.

“This is our third year of significant cuts,” Haggard said. “Our first year, we tried to make those as invisible to our students as possible. The second year we tried again, but we lost an ad-junct or two in that process, and this third year it is going to be that much harder.”

Pierce said this causes them to have to ask some very difficult questions.

“We are just in the discovery phase at this point so we can make the most budgetary decisions as we can,”

The monotone voices of NPR are up against Sarah Palin’s folksy charm.

Palin, Mike Huckabee and Newt Gingrich are urging the government to cut federal funding for NPR in response to NPR firing Juan Williams, a longtime contributor, due to racially charged comments he made on “The O’Reilly Factor.”

“But when I get on the plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb, and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous,” Williams said in a response to a question about prejudice toward Muslims in the

United States.Even explaining that he knew this

fear was irrational could not save his job at NPR.

NPR explained they decided to fire Williams because his comments were “inconsistent with our editorial standards and practices, and undermined his credibility as a news analyst with NPR,” but some say it was an act of censorship.

Cutting NPR’s funding because of an attempt to stay neutral would be an insult to the profession of

journalism.NPR wants to avoid potential bias

from their employees revealing personal opinions. It wouldn’t even allow staff members to attend Jon Stewart’s rally in Washington last weekend.

Listeners and other journalists should appreciate NPR’s commitment to remove any appearance of bias. Instead, Republicans are going after its funding.

“NPR defends 1st Amendment

Wednesday, November 3, 2010 {T h e B l u e B a n n e r } Page 15

Campus Voice

See LAW Page 16

On-air generalization costs NPR employee Increase in age of adult prosecutions proposed

Juveniles may get some slack when it comes to criminal court.

A panel in North Carolina met Oct. 23 to discuss the possibility of chang-ing the maximum age for admittance to the juvenile court system from 16 to 18. If this change takes effect, crim-inal offenders younger than 18 will be tried in juvenile court instead of the adult criminal court.

The juvenile court system exists to try criminals who are not considered adults, and primarily focuses on re-habilitation of these individuals. Ju-veniles who commit heinous crimes, such as murder, are usually referred to adult court.

According to a report from the Of-fice of Juvenile Justice and Preven-tion, law enforcement agencies are more likely to clear crimes juveniles commit than those adults commit.

The report also said juveniles ac-counted for one in 10 arrests for mur-der and four in 10 arrests for robbery, burglary, larceny-theft and motor ve-hicle theft in 2008.

These statistics raise the question: Why should the maximum age be in-creased?

Juveniles ages 16 and 17 who are currently tried in adult court do not re-ceive the same assistance and access to education as younger offenders tried in juvenile court. So by raising the age, 16- and 17-year-old criminal offenders would have more access to education and rehabilitation services.

On the other hand, at the age of 16, these offenders should know the dif-ference between right and wrong. Re-gardless if a criminal offender is 16 or 18, they know that what they are do-

Megan Dombroskimkdombro@unca.edu

photography editor

See NPR Page 22

See BUDGET Page 16

Alicia Adcoxaradcox@unca.edu

opinion writer

Statewide budget cut discussions continueRenee Bindewaldrmbindewa@unca.edu

opinion writer

Cutting NPR’s funding because of an attempt to

stay neutral would be an insult to the

profession of journalism.

Page 16 {T h e B l u e B a n n e r } Wednesday, November 3, 2010

ing is a crime. However unfortunate it may be for a young person to commit a crime and be prosecuted for it, they should have to pay the consequences for their actions.

At 16, kids are allowed to drive a car, drop out of school and get a job. So why shouldn’t they also be held responsible for their actions? The sad fact is, changing the age for juvenile courts is not going to diminish the crimes committed by juveniles. Pay-ing the consequences of their crimes will be a hard lesson for them to learn, but it’s a lesson they need.

The Blue Banner Editorial Board

Lawcontinued from from page 15

Pierce said.Since they were asked to begin

these preparations, administration has been going over all of their expenses and quantifying their options.

The administration has deemed the academic core and students’ educa-tional experience as the top two areas to remain untouched as far as possible cuts, followed by the school’s reac-creditation process, avenues for addi-tional revenue and the school’s public responsibilities that support the city of Asheville and the region.

This list of the school’s top priori-ties will serve as a guide to the ad-ministration when looking at possible cuts.

If the school has to implement a 10 percent budget cut in addition to the cuts it has already made, there is a possibility they will have to cut into those five areas since the cut as a whole would be so severe.

Fernandes shared with SGA an ad-age she said she lives by, “Prepare for the worst and hope for the best.”

It is easy to become overwhelmed and worried about the possibility of more cuts, but none of them are guar-anteed.

It is also just as easy for a student to go about their day, if not their entire

college experience, and not realize or even consider all of the hard questions administrators have to ask themselves on a daily basis.

To help administration try and answer these questions, they have reached out to students through SGA, Tuesday’s open budget forum and the Student Advisory Committee.

Once a month, Haggard meets with student leaders at this committee and informs them of what the university is working on and listens to their con-cerns related to student life on this campus.

“The potential outcome I am most worried about is where the student experience is negatively impacted,” Haggard said. “So far, in this particu-lar economic climate, we have really been able to protect the student expe-rience without negative impact. So we are working diligently so we don’t have to cut in so much to the academ-ic core.”

The administration is not only working to protect the student experi-ence at UNCA, but also to stay true to UNCA’s identity that sets it apart from other schools.

“We’re working diligently to find ways that we can be a more efficient organization so that we may admin-

ister any future budget cuts without drastically changing who we are as a university,” Haggard said.

For larger schools, increasing en-rollment rates can be done fairly eas-ily and helps offset budget cuts.

Part of what sets UNCA apart from other schools is its small class sizes and close faculty-student relation-ships.

Pierce said UNCA is planning con-servatively for any enrollment in-crease.

“I don’t want finance to drive us,” Pierce said. “The quality of the educa-tion and strategic plan are important to us.”

The reality is, as a nation, the Unit-ed States is suffering financially.

It is important for students to re-member that budget cuts are just one of the many results of a bad economy.

The ways in which these cuts are handled is most important.

Being informed of how cuts affect students is something students’ owe themselves so they can continue to get the most out of their educational experience.

“A 10 percent cut is not possible for us to have without pain, but students will always be our top priority,” Fer-nandes said.

NPR continued from from page 15

Right, but will fire u if u exercise it,” Palin said on her Twitter page. “Juan Williams: u got taste of Left’s hypocrisy, they screwed up firing you.”

It seems Palin still cannot identify what “fair and balanced” means.

The nation is $1.42 trillion in debt, an almost incomprehensibly large number.

Maybe it is time to adjust federal spending, but NPR is one of the most reliable news sources in the country. It is a convenient method for nonbiased, in-depth news reports.

Television news is typically manipulated to fit the agenda of whichever station it is on and crammed into 30-second news briefs to appease their audience’s shortening attention spans. Print news can be inconvenient, since people have to take time out of their

day to seek it either online or via newspapers.

People can listen to NPR during car rides to or from work.

Keep in mind, NPR receives most of its funding from private sources. Even during a difficult economy, contributions from listeners and members are reliable. According to NPR, only about $3.3 million of their $166 million budget comes from federal grants, which is less than 2 percent.

This $3.3 million probably isn’t breaking the government’s bank. Although NPR may not need the government’s money to survive, it seems like an insult to take it away.

U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint is trying to introduce legislation to stop taxpayer subsidies of NPR, because “there’s simply no reason to force taxpayers to subsidize liberal programming

they disagree with.”With this logic, he should also

move legislation to stop taxpayer funding of the war in Iraq.

A 2008 poll from ABC News and the Washington Post found 64 percent of Americans believed the war in Iraq was not worth fighting.

However, taxes are still used to fund the war. According to the National Priorities Project, the individual cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan averages about $7,334 per American.

It would be lovely to opt out of these costs because of personal disagreements, but it seems the American government believes taxes should pay for things that benefit the whole nation.

If a war deserves money for the good of our nation, NPR does too, even if their hosts’ voices are a little dull.

Budget continued from from page 15

Wednesday, November 3, 2010 {T h e B l u e B a n n e r }

The Blue Banner’s View

The Blue Banner is UNC Asheville’s student newspaper. We publish each Wednesday except during summer sessions, finals week and holiday breaks. 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. Letters and articles should be e-mailed to the editor-in-chief or the appropriate section editor.

Letters should include the writer’s name, year in school, and major or other relationship to UNCA. Include a telephone number to aid in verification. All articles are subject to editing.

The Blue Banner Editorial BoardKarpen Hall 019 (828) 251-6586 www.thebluebanner.net

Erin McWhorter, Editor-in-Chief emmcwhor@unca.edu

Alyssa Spencer, Managing Editorafspence@unca.edu

Ashleigh Joyner, News Editoramjoyner@unca.edu

Caitlin Byrd, Arts & Features Editormcbyrd@unca.edu

Natalie Pearson, Sports Editorngpearso@unca.edu

Jacob Yancey, Campus Voice Editorjayancey@unca.edu

Megan Dombroski, Photography Editormkdombro@unca.edu

Isabel Maxwell, Advertising Directorinmaxwel@unca.edu

Anna Kiser, Design Editor, Business Manager

aekiser@unca.edu

Nicolas Robinson, Web Editor

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

Carson Boyles, Assistant Design Editor

Tiffany Narron, The Blue Banner’s View

Michael Gouge Faculty Adviser

Have a news tip?send to emmcwhor@unca.edu

Anonymous online student critics could mislead peers The time has come for the titillating

moment that decides the fate of the next half year of one’s life: spring enrollment. While every student uses their own process to pick the next semester’s instructors, from word-of-mouth to how many classes they’re teaching or even who has the funkiest last name, many prefer the ultimate online database of teacher gossip, RateMyProfessor.com.

“RateMyProfessor.com is the Internet’s largest listing of collegiate professor ratings with more than 11 million student-generated ratings of over one million professors,” boasts the online teacher tell-all forum. “Each year, millions of college students use this site to help plan their class schedules and rate current and past professors on attributes such as helpfulness and clarity.”

UNC Asheville is in their database with current ratings of 332 professors and an overall quality ranking of 3.62 out of 5. Each faculty member is scored subjectively on how the student graders perceived each course. This grade considers how easy or difficult the coursework was and how helpful

the faculty member was outside of class, which determines their overall quality rank.

In certain cases, students also assess the faculty member’s style, and this is not referring to whether they use computer slideshows or old-fashioned projection slides. This style ranking is based on a teacher’s “hotness factor,” earning swoon-worthy teachers a red chili pepper on their student-based report card.

In 2007, two Maine professors decided to take a look into RMP and compare its professors ratings with those of traditional student evaluations universities utilize. Their study included 426 Maine professors and found a significant correlation between the rankings on RMP and the

traditional evaluations. The matchup was highest with popular professors on RMP, singing the same songs of praise as those given to the school on tiny slips of paper at the end of each semester. The two researchers found no significant matches between the ultimate chili pepper award online and praise on traditional teacher report cards. In fact, they said the chili pepper rating was “a frivolous distraction that compromises the credibility of RMP.”

Of the 332 UNCA faculty rankings, 107 received the hot tamale, meaning one-third of UNCA students using RMP rated their teachers as attractive. But hopefully, this is not the star on which most students base their educational decisions.

The overall quality factor is a far

more accurate descriptor of whether students will spend the next semester with a boring drone or with someone who is truly engaged in the material they teach.

One of the largest criticisms of the site, other than the controversial “hot factor,” is that comments are posted with little screening. Anyone can post their thoughts without fear of censorship or regard to appropriateness, which is turning RMP into an online teacher-bashing party.

“The site does track IP addresses to minimize a user’s ability to review the same person multiple times,” the site’s owner stated in a 2006 interview with ABC News. “Also, each school’s page has a student administrator who reviews all submissions so professors or anyone else who disputes a review can flag it and the administrator will take a second look to see it if should be edited or deleted.”

While the site is a useful tool for getting a sense of others’ perceptions regarding university faculty, it is important to keep in mind that everyone has an opinion.

Of the 332 UNCA faculty rankings,107 received the hot tamale, meaning one-third of UNCA students using RMP rated their

teachers as attractive.

Page 17

The three Ortiz brothers are quintes-sential rock ‘n’ roll traveling in a white van from gig to gig in the last week of their two-week tour, but they said they couldn’t imagine doing anything else.

“Music is all we live for,” said lead guitarist and vocalist Jim Ortiz of Amplified Heat. “We aren’t good at anything else.”

The band members spend their nights playing shows and either sleeping at a friend’s house or going straight to the next city on their list.

The band, all natives of Austin, Tex-as, is on tour promoting their new al-bum On the Hunt.

“We had never heard of Asheville before,” drummer Chris Ortiz said.

The band first tried to score a gig at The Orange Peel, one of Asheville’s most well-known venues, but they were unsuccessful.

A friend then suggested the band look into performing at The Get Down, a small bar in West Asheville.

“We like to play as long as we know for sure people will like us there,” Jim Ortiz said.

The members said before their Tues-day night performance they already had a good vibe from the place.

A local band named Enoch opened for the brothers. Their hour-long set prepared the crowd for Amplified Heat to take the stage around 11 p.m.

“You never know what’s going to happen. We never go by a set list, so it’s different songs every night,” Chris Ortiz said of their live shows.

They had the audience bouncing up and down in a matter of minutes. The intimate setting in The Get Down meant there was no barrier between the

Page 1 {A&F} {T h e B l u e B a n n e r } Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Arts & Features

See BROTHERS Page 2 {a&F}

Rock band of brothers plays Asheville area

Jessica Mauney/staff photographer Jim Ortiz of Amplified Heat tunes up his guitar before performing at The Get Down in Asheville. The band, composed of the three Ortiz brothers, is in the last week of its two-week tour.

Anne Louise Bouchardalboucha@unca.edu

staff writer

Instead of dropping children off at the movie theater or allowing them to entertain themselves on the Inter-net, parents can take their children to see diverse films at the largest chil-dren’s film festival in the Southeast, the Asheville International Children’s Film Festival from Nov. 1 to Nov. 14.

“Some of these movies are so inspir-ing, it’s just incredible,” said Jon Me-nick, one of the filmmakers involved in the festival. “When parents take their kids to see these, they get a wide variety of positive thrills instead of the opposite.”

According to Menick, the films fea-tured during AICFF come from loca-tions all over the world and each one conveys a strong, positive message.

Tim Arem, creator and artistic di-rector of AICFF, said he started the festival in 2009 after he recognized the need for a family film festival in West-ern North Carolina.

“The mission of the festival is to provide children and families with value-affirming, culturally diverse cin-ema,” Arem said. “By using media as a tool, the goal is to stimulate critical thinking and to promote intelligent di-alogue through the introduction of in-spiring stories, exhilarating adventures and pure cinematic joy.”

Menick said his film, titled Magic in the Forest, aims to inspire children to form a relationship with nature and do their part in taking care of the environ-ment.

The film idea came to Menick, who is also one of the creative partners of Story Point Media, as a request from

the Cradle of Forestry Interpretive As-sociation.

“At Story Point we don’t do docu-mentaries or narration,” Menick said. “We do narratives. A movie can be a metaphor or allegory to an idea or theme, but it has to be a story with real characters. I started to look at what kind of movie I wanted to film, and I

looked at their mission statement first, which was, ‘Try to interest students in being good stewards of the land, of the forest.’”

Menick decided to use their mission statement as a prevailing theme in his film. He and his partner at Story Point Media liked the story more as it devel-oped, and they ended up funding 90

percent of the film due to the amount of special effects.

The film’s narrative features a young mall rat who attempts to escape from a school field trip to a forest. She ends up being taken back in time and must save a magical seed in order to pre-serve the forest and the planet.

“It’s really about doing your part, and you can’t do your part if you don’t know anything about, in this case, the forest,” Menick said. “How can you advocate for public land or protection of the environment if you don’t know anything about it? It’s really about connecting and then caring and doing your part.”

Between showings of the film, which will air at 12:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. on Nov. 14 at Posana Café, the star of the movie, Victory Van Tuyl, will lead children in planting bulbs around the Vance Monument.

“There are places in the urban areas full of special, natural places, wild places. Even though Pack Square doesn’t have a lot of trees yet, it still is a place that’s natural,” Menick said. “My thinking was, ‘Let’s start a trend where children plant a spring garden in winter, and they can watch their plants grow, and that’s starting a rela-tionship with nature.’”

Curator Elizabeth Shepard, ac-cording to Arem, selected each of the films after screening 250 of them and chose 100 for the festival. The films are one-of-a-kind and cannot be found on DVD.

“These films are full of adventures, surprises, belly laughs and stories that are sure to make kids think and see the world in a brand new way,” Arem said.

Admission for most events is $6 for children and $8 for adults.

Page 2 {A&F}{T h e B l u e B a n n e r }Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Brothers C o n t i n u e d f r o m P a g e 1 { a & f }

“These films are full of adventures surprises, belly

laughs and stories that are sure to make kids think

and see the world in a brand new way.”

– Tim Arem, creator and artistic director of AICFF

Sarah Hinsonsbhinson@unca.edu

staff writer

Asheville International Children’s Film Festival expands children’s views

band and the crowd.Hannah Baker, a sophomore psy-

chology student at UNC Asheville, said she loved the performance.

“I thought they had good stage pres-ence, and I liked the banter they had going between songs,” Baker said.

Baker also commented on the feel-ing of the performance.

“Overall, I thought their perfor-mance was exhilarating. I’ve never been to such a close, small show, so that was new for me,” she said. “I thought they used the proximity to the crowd to their advantage.”

The band kicked off the show with songs from their new vinyl release. This is the band’s fourth album.

“We used to be on a small record la-bel, but not anymore. We released the vinyl on our own,” Jim Ortiz said.

Chris Ortiz said the music industry is a very difficult business.

“It’s easy to miss details. It’s better to be with a professional label than do-ing it on your own,” he said.

The group released their first three albums with their previous label, Ar-clight Records. The band then decided to release their next album indepen-

dently.With the decline in CD sales, Jim

Ortiz said that vinyl is the not-so-new way to release music, and that vinyl is always cool.

The trio said the fact that they are brothers makes being in a band easier.

“Growing up together led us to this style. We like the same music,” Gian Ortiz, bassist and back-up vocalist, said.

Their songwriting process starts with the music, not the lyrics.

“We have the music first, then we flesh it out,” Chris Ortiz said. “The

lyrics come out later.”Jim Ortiz described the way they

write songs as a collective process.The band’s genre has a mixture of

influences.“We play heavy, fast stuff and the

blues,” Chris Ortiz said.Jim Ortiz said, “We play loud rock

n’ roll.”However, while they have been in

the business for around 10 years, Am-plified Heat said they hardly ever play covers in their live show.

Amplified Heat’s music is available on iTunes and on their MySpace page.

photo courtesy of AICFF

Alma, a short film from Spain, follows the story of a girl named Alma who sees a doll that bears an uncanny resemblenace to herself. It will be shown at the Asheville International Children’s Film Festival.

Hali Ledfordhdledfor@unca.edu

assistant arts and features editor

Page 3 {A&F} {T h e B l u e B a n n e r } Wednesday, November 3, 2010

A mother’s voice

Polly Medlicott wears a button on her shirt that reads “Speechless does not equal mindless,” representing the struggle she faced when her son, who could not speak or walk, was diag-nosed with cerebral palsy.

“He had no way to communicate the simplest thought or request,” Medli-cott said of her son. “He had no way to express anger other than crying.”

Medlicott said even though he could not speak, he did understand language.

“It was very difficult, and it always is difficult for people who are non-speaking. Speech is very fragile, but the ability to understand language is almost indestructible. It’s very strong, and it’s almost always there. It is very rare to have a condition where a person doesn’t understand speech,” Medlicott said.

Medlicott said she chooses to use the term nonspeaking instead of nonverbal for a person who does not speak be-cause nonverbal implies a person can-not understand language.

“It’s a physical problem to not be able to make speech. It has nothing to do with the way you understand or what you’re thinking about,” she said.

In early 2005, Medlicott and her son received an invitation to join an inclu-sive theater group in Durham. Accord-ing to Medlicott, the term “inclusive,”

in this context, means people with and without disabilities coming together to create an arts project.

After much deliberation, and after she exhausted all other options to help her son at the time, Medlicott agreed to take part in the group. The theater group worked together for a year and co-created a performance piece.

Through the theater group, her son built relationships with other people, which he had been craving his entire life. He also gained a voice as he be-gan communicating with a supported typing method, using a computer to type and contribute to the theater proj-ect, according to Medlicott.

Before the third performance of the show, however, he died suddenly from a very deadly, fast-acting form of pneumonia, according to Medlicott.

“This whole experience turned out to be the last year of his life, and it was also just a profound experience for us together, and also for him in terms of making relationships, communicating and expressing himself, which was most important to him,” Medlicott said.

After his death, a filmmaker who had been filming the rehearsals of the theater group approached Medlicott about creating a documentary about her son’s life and the theater group. Medlicott agreed, and with no back-ground experience in creating a film, she became producer of A New Kind of Listening.

“It’s called A New Kind of Listening because that’s one of the things my son said. ‘You need a new kind of listening to learn from me,’” Medlicott said.

Medlicott now shows the documen-tary at different places to inspire inclu-sive arts projects in communities.

On Thursday, the Center for Diver-sity Education at UNC Asheville host-ed a viewing of the documentary with Medlicott as the guest speaker.

“The whole idea is that in any com-munity, people with or without dis-abilities or people who are interested in learning about each other can come together and start an inclusive arts project,” Medlicott said.

Lise Kloeppel, an assistant drama professor, met Medlicott during the summer and decided after watching the documentary for the first time that UNCA’s campus could benefit from a screening of the film.

Deborah Miles, executive director of the Center for Diversity Educa-tion, said providing space to view the documentary was important to the community.

“I think the concept of providing this opportunity is that a lot of times, those of us who are temporarily able-bodied begin to feel very confident about our ability to communicate and our ability to move around,” Miles said. “Many times, we separate ourselves from the concept that that could ever change, but it could change for any of us at any time.”

Miles said during the recent campus climate survey given in the spring, people responded that one of the things they are most uncomfortable discussing is disability. She said the documentary is an effort to try to find a way to make it more comfortable to talk about disability.

Kloeppel said it was hard to watch certain parts of the documentary again. She said teachers need to see the film to better understand inclusion consists of more than allowing a child with disabilities to sit in the classroom, and when a teacher or student fails to include a child with disabilities in activities, they are limiting their own chances to grow and learn.

“It’s not about helping them, it’s about what we can learn from them,” Kloeppel said of children with dis-abilities.

Medlicott, who recently moved to Asheville, has created an inclusive arts project called Interweave Asheville.

“I feel like I’m carrying on the work that my son would have wanted me to,” Medlicott said. “It’s about realizing people in a community can do some-thing without having a whole program or a huge amount of funding, and that people with and without disabilities have a lot to learn from each other. It’s not necessarily about great art, but it’s about interesting, expressive art made by people in a community and people learning from each other and forming friendships with each other.”

Hali Ledfordhdledfor@unca.edu

assistant arts and features editor

speaks out for the silent“It’s a physical problem to not be able to make

speech. It has nothing to do with the way you

understand or what you’re thinking about.”

– Polly Medilcott, co-producer of A New Kind of Listening

Producer voices personal struggle to create an inclusive community for all

Kimala Boughaw-Burklow/staff pho-tographer Polly Medlicott discusses social stigmas surrounding persons with disabilities while talking about the film she co-produced about these issues. She wears the pin, above, to advocate awareness.

Junior sociology student Brittany Bell became president of the Anthro-pology and Sociology Society at UNC Asheville the first semester she got in-volved with the group.

“I got involved by e-mailing the ad-visor of the club, Heidi Kelley, and asking if the club was active this year,” Bell said. “She then recommended that I take the reins. I wanted to initi-ate new interest in ANSO and make it a priority of mine.”

Bell said ANSO is important to her because club membership allows her to network and socialize with other students in her field of study. The club’s focus is to encourage students

to become involved with social work and to provide information about in-ternships, classes and graduate school opportunities relating to sociology.

“We are participat-ing in the Western North Carolina AIDS Project AIDS Walk this coming Saturday, and we have several films and panel dis-cussions scheduled for next spring,” Bell said.

Extracurricular ac-tivities shape students into well-round-ed people, according to Bell, who is also a member of Peers Advocating Wellness Strategies and the UNCA Leadership Program. As the president of ANSO, Bell said she encourages

club members to give input regarding scheduled activities and events.

“As the president, I organize the events, do the marketing for the events, run the Facebook page and e-mail account and lead the meetings,” she said. “We have a consistent 15 to 20 people so far, and we are hoping to recruit more next semester.”

Bell’s passion for sociology extends to the internship she is completing this year. She interns at Eliada Homes, a center that provides services to abused and neglected children.

“I work in the Therapeutic Animal Stewardship Cooperative program, which involves taking care of the horses and assisting with the therapeu-tic classes. The horses are there to be therapeutic for the kids,” Bell said.

According to Bell, the children at-

tending the program gain self-confi-dence when they learn how to take care of the horses.

“These classes teach kids of all ages responsibility, how to follow direc-tions, how to work as a team and the importance of goal setting,” Bell said.

In addition to her class load, extra-curricular activity involvement and in-ternship hours, Bell works part time as a sales associate at Rue 21.

“It can be overwhelming to juggle everything, but after a while, you get the hang of it,” she said.

Bell said she wants to continue her interest in sociology once she gradu-ates.

“I plan to attend graduate school for my mater’s in social work,”she said. “I would love to work with some type of at-risk youth therapy program.”

Page 4 {A&F}{T h e B l u e B a n n e r }Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Campus Spotlight

Alyssa Spencerafspence@unca.edu

managing editor

Sociology student pursues social work in everyday lifeBrittany Bell combines extracurricular activities with her passion for people

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Sociology student pursues social work in everyday lifeBrittany Bell combines extracurricular activities with her passion for people

The jugglers’ knives sliced through the air, the aerial dancer transformed a piece of

fabric and the smile of director and producer Brian Sneeden never left as Asheville Vaudeville returned to the stage with a Halloween special.

“It was a celebration. It was all a celebration of our ability to laugh and to perform these amazing feats,” said Sneeden, who also appeared in Ashe-ville Vaudeville’s first show since May as its witty master of ceremonies, Bar-on Von Sneeden.

The show was a celebration of how far the troupe has come since it began as a free outdoor variety show with Asheville’s Scapegoat Theatre Collec-tive.

In the past year, Asheville Vaude-

ville moved its performance location from the 70-seat Bebe Theatre to the 400-seat venue of Asheville Commu-nity Theatre.

“We kind of outgrew the Bebe The-atre,” vocalist and performer Valerie Meiss said. “We would sell out almost every show and we’d try and sneak people in if we ran out of seats.”

Sneeden, a UNC Asheville alumnus, credits the success of the show to its strong following in the Asheville com-munity.

“We just won best live show of WNC in the Mountain Xpress and we feel very supported by doing a Halloween special of this scope,” Sneeden said. “It aligns with our performers and the kind of circus feel that generally ac-companies our shows.”

The Halloween special included a total of 15 different acts, ranging from the juggling talents of Forty Fingers and a Missing Tooth to slapstick com-

edy sketches.The eclectic nature of Asheville

Vaudeville translates to the unique feeling of the show, according to dancer and performer Erik Moel-lering.

“In its nature, vaudeville is extem-poraneous, and that translates into the kind of energy of the entire show,” he said. “It’s as though the energy of each act just builds and you just have to ride it out, even though it’s sort of explod-ing into a number of different acts and directions.”

Moellering said he has been acting and performing for about 11 years. He performed with various professional theater companies in New York and Washington and recently moved to Asheville.

Though very different from other theater, Moellering said the show challenges and inspires him as an art-ist since everything on the Asheville

Vaudeville stage will be its first and only appearance.

“Because of the show’s multifaceted nature, it’s great because I get inspira-tion from watching the other acts per-form,” he said.

Even though Asheville Vaudeville, by its nature, may seem like a ran-dom mix of performances, Meiss said the show carried its own distinct flow from act to act.

“The acts either blend and transition, or they snap straight to another act re-ally well,” she said.

Meiss started and ended the show with two vocal performances. The Halloween special was not the first time she performed with Asheville Vaudeville.

Meiss said she remembered the days of performing in Pritchard Park and

Page 5 {A&F} {T h e B l u e B a n n e r } Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Caitlin Byrdmcbyrd@unca.edu

arts and features editor

AshevilleVaudeville returns

Megan Dombroski/photography editorBrian Sneeden takes a bow with performers of Asheville Vaudeville after their Halloween Special. It was their first performance since May.

Asheville’s favorite live show finds a new home and adds more local performers

See VAUDEVILLE Page 6 {a&F}

Wednesday, November 3, 2010 {T h e B l u e B a n n e r } Page 6 {A&F}

also in the smaller Bebe Theatre.Sneeden said he first became in-

volved with Asheville Vaudeville when he wrote a skit for the show. The next year he directed it, and he even-tually created the Asheville Vaudeville audiences see today.

Last year, the troupe performed monthly. However, constantly com-ing up with new material each month was not only exciting but exhausting, Sneeden said.

“It certainly was creatively challeng-ing, but it was also creatively deplet-ing,” he said. “We were a little burned out, but we had gathered enough sup-port that we could start to do a quar-terly show and make it a bigger show. This is our first try at that at Asheville Community Theatre and doing a quar-terly show.”

However, Asheville Vaudeville does more than put on an eclectic show. One-third of the money made from performances will go directly to MANNA FoodBank.

“We have been so proud to raise money for MANNA because it is go-ing to help a basic need, hunger. That’s a pretty basic type of poverty. If you’re hungry, you don’t have energy to do other things that you may want to do. You are creatively, mentally and physi-cally less able,” Sneeden said.

Sneeden said they chose MANNA FoodBank based on need and influence on the people of Western North Caro-lina. He also said he hopes the partner-ship between Asheville Vaudeville and local charities will continue in the fu-ture. Their next show is scheduled ten-tatively for sometime in March.

Vaudeville C o n t i n u e d f r o m P a g e 5 { a & f }

Megan Dombroski/photography editorSophie the Wonder Dog jumps through the double hoop. Below, The Vendetta Creme Moonlight Revue performs a song.

Megan Dombroski/photography editorFive Ball Jim juggles. Below, Keith Campbell of Five Fingers and a MIssing Tooth performs a guitar solo with his juggling pins.