Volume 57, Issue 3 | Wednesday, September 12, 2012

THE BLUE BANNERThe student voice of UNC Asheville

DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION REFLECTS AMERICAPAGE 9

SECURITY CAMERAS INSTALLED ON CAMPUSPAGE 2

LONGWOOD DEFEATS BULLDOGSPAGE 8

UNCA STUDENTS OPEN VENUE

PAGE 4

BULLDOGS STRUGGLE IN CONFERENCE MATCH WWW.THEBLUEBANNER.NET

An increase in on campus lar-ceny and vandalism led to the recent addition of surveillance cameras at the entrance to most academic buildings and resi-dence halls at UNC Asheville, according to students.

Though campus crime re-ports show UNCA to be a more peaceful campus among schools in the system, there were sever-al incidents of larceny and van-dalism during the summer, and during the spring semester and fall semester of last year.

In July, three reported vehicle break-ins in the Zagier parking deck and Lot C, behind Carol Belk Theatre on University Heights were reported.

In April of last semester, eight incidents of larceny were reported either in the residence halls or in other buildings on campus. Most months average four or five reported incidents of larceny on campus, accord-ing to UNCA crime reports. The majority of cases occur in the residence halls, and occa-sionally take place in the edu-cational buildings and Sherrill Center.

“I feel like people would be less likely to steal from other’s

dorm rooms if they know they are on camera,” said Olivia Al-len, a freshman at UNCA.

According to crime reports, the items most frequently sto-len are high-end technologies such as laptops, phones, iPods and televisions.

“It would be devastating if someone came into my room and took anything,” said Han-nah Coulston, a freshman at UNCA. “Even if it’s not an ex-pensive item, they would still be taking my property and ma-jorly invading my privacy.”

The security cameras are placed outside the entrances, while none exist inside the actual buildings or residence halls.

“I do feel like the cameras will help prevent break-ins. However, I do think it would be more effective to have cameras in the halls instead of just at the entrance of the building,” Coul-ston said.

Students feel the security cameras do have the capacity to ensure their safety around campus, but that they are not necessarily the only effective measure.

Blue emergency towers are also located around campus, and students’ OneCards are checked in the lobby of each

residence hall after 8p.m. “I don’t necessarily feel the

cameras play a role in the safe-ty, but they don’t hurt,” said Maggie Booterbaugh, fresh-man. “I mostly feel that the lock down of doors to all stu-dents past 8 p.m. plays a larger role.”

Many students either already feel safe on campus, or feel as though the addition of cameras is of little significance.

“I don’t feel any safer with security cameras,” Allen said. “If someone was going to attack me, security cameras wouldn’t help immediately.”

Students said they do feel as though the cameras provide them with an extra level of safety.

“I have never felt that I was in any danger,” Coulston said. “I think cameras are always a great thing to have, especially on a college campus. I feel like the security cameras make me feel safer.”

Though students view the campus as relatively safe, they still acknowledge the ever-present risks.

“I always feel safe in groups, but at night if I am walking by myself, then it’s a different sto-ry,” Allen said.

Even though the cameras

have been installed outside of most buildings on campus, stu-dents like Madeleine Garcia-Johnson, a sophomore art his-tory student, were uninformed about the cameras’ existence.

“To be honest, I have not even

noticed or heard about the new cameras on campus,” Garcia-Johnson said.

Campus police were not available to comment on the nature of the new security cam-eras.

Sheldon Schenck sschenck@unca.edu - Staff Writer

2 9.12.12NEWS

Upcoming Events

Well-A-BrationFeaturing Speaker Dan Savage Thursday September 13Free for students

Galactic The Orange Peel9 p.m.$20

Found Footage Festival The Grey Eagle8 p.m.$10

The Unchained TourFeat. author Neil GaimanDiana Wortham Theatre$20For more information visit www.unchainedtour.org

Wednesday, Sep. 12

Thursday, Sep. 13

Campus larceny leads to surveillance camera installation

Photo by Ricky Emmons - Assistant Photography EditorSecurity cameras have been installed outside of many dorms and class buildings on campus, including Karpen Hall.

Sunday, Sep. 16

See HERRING on page 4

9.12.12 3

“Songs come to you sometimes, and you just start writing. I guess it’s the things in your subconscious that you love influenc-ing you that you don’t notice until you start writing.”

Jimmy Herring, a North Carolina na-tive who throughout his almost 25 year career has played guitar for Aquarium Rescue Unit, the Allman Brothers and most recently, Widespread Panic, is em-barking on his own with his second solo album, Subject To Change Without Notice.

“In the past 10 or 12 years, I’ve been around a lot of singer-songwriters, what with all the people I’ve been graced to play with, and I guess it’s rubbed off. One thing I noticed when we started recording is that there are a lot of simple songs on the record, which I’ve been really attracted to for a while now.”

This is a contrast with his past work, which was typically very jam-oriented and more free flowing. He said he still uses those techniques in recording his own ma-

terial.“I still like to play open types of music,

but honestly at this point in my life, I’m very attracted to writing simple melodies. A simple melody over a simple set of chords inspires me, and being around such great singers in the past inspires me. These kinds of things are bound to rub off on you, and I guess I never expected it to manifest itself in this way.”

Herring is not flying solo though; he composed his own band to accompany him in the recording process and on stage. However, he does not consider himself to be a “leader” as much as he considers the band as another outlet for his music.

“I don’t consider myself a conductor or band leader in the sense that some would think. Of course, I put together the songs and I guess I’m technically the leader, the band still has room to be free live and play what they feel fits the songs, as long as it comes back to the original melody at hand. I’ve been playing with some of these guys for 20 years, so no one really tells anyone else what to play.”

One of his bandmates is John Keane, producer and musician from Athens, Ga., who has worked with bands like R.E.M., the Indigo Girls and Widespread Panic. Herring described him as “indispensable

Photo courtesy of Mason Jar MediaJimmy Herring will play two full sets at the Jomeokee Festival this weekend.

Legend Jimmy Herring returns to home state for festivalJonathan Dermidjbdermid@unca.edu - Staff Writer

ARTS AND FEATURES

“I guess it’s the things in your subconscious that you love influencing you that you don’t notice until you

start writing.”Jimmy Herring

Performer at Jomeokee Music & Arts Festival

Exclusive interview

THE BLUE BANNER4 9.12.12

Apothecary, a new mixed-use perfor-mance space downtown, aims to fill the void between large venues, such as the Orange Peel, and micro-venues, such as houses that host shows.

The venue’s founding was as alterna-tive as its mission: it’s paid for and run by a group of friends and UNC Asheville students.

“It started off as an idea among our group around February,” said Nick Sca-vo, an international studies and politi-cal science student. “We decided to go with it, and to fund it ourselves.”

The founding collective consists of UNCA students Scavo, Frank Meadows, Dave Grubba, Zach Smith and Aaron Dowdy, as well as their friend and room-mate Alex Cumming.

Most of them know each other from the Raleigh area; many of them are in bands together; almost all of them are room-mates.

“In our house, there’s always someone talking about Apothecary,” said 20-year-old Scavo. “At any given time, there will be two people talking about something on the business end or upcoming acts.”

Some of those upcoming acts include the Swedish synth-pop artist Molly Nill-son on Saturday, a show featuring local

acts Alligator Indian, Sin Kitty and Thai Food, a duo comprised of founders Cum-mings and Scavo. Next Wednesday, noise artist Rene Hill, as well as Memphis col-lective Cloudland Canyon and synth band Difference Clouds, will play.

Music technology student Meadows acts as the pseudo-business manager for the newly opened creative space.

“We don’t really have a hierarchy of jobs, though,” Meadows said. “It’s hard to pinpoint who has what role because we all do a bit of everything.”

The “everything” includes the concep-tion of the idea for the project, shopping around for realty, funding the project, scouting for acts and finally setting up the venue in the three and a half weeks be-tween the acquisition of the property and their first show on Labor Day weekend.

The space, located at the corner of Ea-gle and Market Streets near Pack Square, is a part of the historic YMI Cultural Cen-ter building.

“We were worried about being exclu-sive,” said 20-year-old Meadows, “but it seems like the reception in the neighbor-hood has been really positive.”

The reception of their neighbors has not been the only positive review of the new venue. Meadows said about 75 people at-tended the opening show, which featured Greensboro-based project Casual Curi-ous.

“It was really well-attended,” said 20-year-old classics student Laura Chasteen. “I think there’s a measurable and deserved excitement about Apoth-ecary.”

A friend of the founders, Chasteen said the people who are responsible for the space contribute to the do-it-yourself at-mosphere through their hands-on admin-istration and commitment to the project.

“The initiative is filling a void that I think a lot of people were becoming aware of,” Chasteen said. “This area and the people occupying it now wanted a serious, community-oriented space for what’s important to them.”

That commitment, and the lofty goals associated with it, were outlined in the projects’ mission statement, which de-fined Apothecary as “an organization dedicated to raising human consciousness by nurturing creativity.”

This goal, according to 20-year-old psychology and biology student Violet Tucker, is represented within the Apoth-ecary project as well as the burgeoning experimental art and music scene.

“To see this excellent, purely art-driven space in town indicates a potentially very important change in the underground art and music scene,” said Tucker, who is also a part of SWAMPING, a local ex-perimental art collective. “The leaders of Apothecary have big plans in mind.”

and a huge help” during the time when Herring first joined Wide-spread Panic and tried to learn the songs.

“He was tremendous back then, both in the studio and on the road, and I knew that one day, I wanted to make a record with this guy.”

This live ensemble will kick off the fall leg of their tour with a head-lining performance at the Jomeokee Festival..

“I love North Carolina and always have. I’ve been living in Georgia, and my wife and I were joking that we’ve lived in Georgia longer than we have in North Carolina, but we’re North Carolinians at heart.”

Playing his home state is not the only thing that has Herring excited, though. He is sharing the bill and the stage with the legendary Del Mc-Coury.

“I’m terrified honestly. The amount of respect I have for him, you can’t describe it. He’s a legend. You look at a guy like Del, and you look at a guy like me playing an electric guitar, and there’s definitely a difference. Sure, I play an acous-tic guitar, but these guys are playing instruments that can actually break your hand. They’re true bluegrass musicians, and I’m excited about it for sure.”

He is also very excited about the tour itself, because, as he said, “Something funny or interesting happens every day when you’re on tour. For instance, the last leg of the tour we were on, the bus driver got us pretty good. He had our drum-mer take over the wheel while the bus was still moving, and came to the rest of the band at the back of the bus. The people in the back didn’t know the drummer had taken over, and they all sat their with their mouths open, one guy started cry-ing, and the bus driver said, ‘Oh my God, the bus!’ It’s things like that that make touring interesting, and also, the people who support live music allow us to keep doing what we’re doing, and we’re always re-ally appreciative of that.”

The Jimmy Herring Band will play the Head Jamz stage on the first night of the festival, and Her-ring will accompany the Everyone Orchestra the following night.

For more information on the schedule, go to www.jomeokeef-est.com, and for more information on Herring’s album, tour dates and background, visit www.jimmyher-ring.net.

UNCA students open arts venue downtown

HERRINGcontinued from page 3

Noor Al-Sibainaalsiba@unca.edu - Staff Writer

Photo by Gabriel Ainslie - Photography EditorDave Grubba, left, and Frank Meadows, right, are two of the minds behind mixed-use art venue Apothecary.

UNC Asheville’s basketball profile con-tinues to grow after back-to-back appear-ances to the Big Dance, and now as hosts of the Charlotte Bobcats’ training camp.

In a few weeks, the Bobcats will arrive in Asheville to use UNCA’s athletic facili-ties to prepare for their 2012-2013 season. With the hindrance of the NBA lockout, the team was unable to host their training camp outside of their hometown of Char-lotte last year, but sought to makes changes this year.

“We went through a process looking for somewhere to train,” Rod Higgins, Presi-dent of Operations for the Charlotte Bobcats, said. “We were looking for some-where to get away because we knew getting away was important.”

Previously, UNCA Athletic Director Ja-net Cone proposed the Bobcats host their training camp on campus, but it did not work out. The Bobcats’ Chief Operating Officer Fred Whitfield telephoned UNCA

this year and Cone had confidence in their decision.

“This year Fred called, and I knew he wouldn’t turn me down again,” Cone said. “And that was the conversation that led to this.”

The Sherrill Center opened in November 2011, consisting of new classrooms, labs, fitness rooms and the Kimmel Arena, which seats up to 3,800 people. After a tour of the facility, Higgins and the Bobcats were set on Asheville as their temporary home this fall.

“From an organizational standpoint, it was two thumbs up for us,” Higgins said.

The Bobcats made the announcement in Kimmel Arena at a press conference last Wednesday with nothing but positive ac-clamations toward the city of Asheville and high regards for the school.

“They (UNCA Athletics) have a family atmosphere with everyone working togeth-er,” Whitfield said. “We hope to bring a lot of visibility to the schools and want to earn some fans here.”

The Bobcats training camp is Oct. 2-6. There is a possibility of the Bobcats play-

ing a scrimmage open to students in Kim-mel Arena, but is still undecided, according to Higgins.

“(UNCA Athletics) have a family atmosphere with everyone working together. We hope to bring a lot of visibility to the schools and want to earn some

fans here.”Fred Whitfield

Bobcats’ chief operating officer

see SOCCER on page 7

Beckett Bathanti sbathant@unca.edu -

Sports Editor

Tyler Sprinkletsprinkl@unca.edu - Asst. Sports Editor

9.12.12 5SPORTS

NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats headed to AshevilleTeam picks UNC Asheville to host training camp

The UNC Asheville men’s soccer team came up short against Big South Confer-ence newcomers Longwood as the Lancers escaped with a 1-0 win Sunday afternoon at Greenwood Field.

Longwood’s only goal came in minute 74 when Devin Pierce blew a penalty kick by goalie Dan Jackson.

A very clean first half gave way to an increasingly chip-py second half, with the first of six second-half yellow cards coming just three sec-onds after play had resumed.

Several of the calls against the Bulldogs had the coaching staff on their feet voicing their displeasure.

After the game, however, Head Coach Matt Kern was tight-lipped about the referee-ing.

“You focus on what you can control. We can not control that, so I won’t comment on that,” said Kern, who drew a yellow card for arguing with a referee about the spot of a foul.

Sophomore goalie Dan Jackson said he barely saw the infraction that set up the game-winning penalty kick.

“He was kind of hidden from my view. Everyone said it was clean, but I don’t really know,” Jackson said with a shrug.

Jackson was not dwelling on the goal.

“I play the position where I need to come up big. You just have to keep your head up and move on,” Jackson said.

Offensively, the Bulldogs had co-captain Rob May back on the field after he missed a game with a quad injury.

May said he had no linger-ing discomfort.

Longwood slips past Bulldogs

Photo by Beckett Bathanti- Sports Editor City of Asheville Mayor Terry Bellamy and members of the Bobcats front office pose for pictures.

THE BLUE BANNER6 9.12.12 9.12.12

The UNC Asheville women’s soccer team finished managed an even record for the week after recording their first shut out of the season Sunday afternoon.Thursday night the Bulldogs were shutout for the sec-ond time this season by Furman, 6-0. “The result from Furman was not an indicator of how well we possessed the ball,” Head Coach Michelle Demko said after the loss. “We made six mistakes in our own 18-yard box, and the result was six goals in the net for Furman. Outside our own 18-yard box, that was our most complete game to date. We moved the ball well, had great runs off the ball and the speed of play was very good.”

The Bulldogs were outshot by Furman 25 to 10 in the game, while UNCA goalkeeper Heather Muller recorded seven saves.

UNCA gave up all six of their goals in the first 45 minutes of the game.

Jamie Alexander of Furman scored two goals, lead-ing the Paladins to a 5-1 record on the season.

After the loss, UNCA was eager to get back onto the field and prove they are a much better team than the Furman game showed.

UNCA blanked Wofford 4-0 Sunday afternoon to im-prove their record to 2-5 on the season.

“We had multiple goals from multiple players,” said Demko. “Our speed of play was dangerous from the get-go. We cleaned up a few things tactically. This was another good and complete game from start to finish for us.”

Ferriss Roberts sent the ball in from the corner to Kaitlyn Eckert for a six yard header goal in minute 4 of the game to set the tone.

Muller was the star of the game. Not only did she have seven saves, she also recorded an assist to Aman-da Knapp in minute 27.

“I’ve always been able to get the ball down there, but I’ve just never had anyone finish it,” said Muller. “I saw open space down there, and Amanda was able to finish it.”

At halftime, the Bulldogs led 2-0. They came out in the second half with the same attack mentality.

“I think we did really well defensively,” freshman

Paige Trent said. “There were a lot of shots, and we were communicating really well.”

In minute 49, Kelsey Palmer sent a corner kick in, and Trent finished with an eight yard header of her own to add to the lead.

Eckert had another play on the ball as she assisted Shenny Lenhart’s goal in the minute 55.

This was a great team win in the eyes of everyone. Each player played for a significant portion of the game and stayed active around the net to help preserve the shutout throughout the game, according to Demko.

“We just really needed this win,” Eckert said. “It puts us on the right path before conference begins.”

Demko really feels this team is coming together at the right time. At one point in the game, there were eight freshmen on the field for the Bulldogs.

“This gives good momentum,” Demko said. “It’s the right time going from the tail end of non-conference and coming into conference play. It’s the right time that we want things to be falling into place.”

The Bulldogs finish their non-conference schedule Friday night at Greenwood field as they take on Ap-palachian State.

Stephen Case scase@unca.edu - Staff Writer

Photo by Marine Raynard - Contributing Photographer Ferriss Roberts (22) defends against Wofford’s Amanda Morris (4).

Women’s soccer rebounds with win over Wofford TerriersLady Bulldogs earn first shutout of the season, second victory

SPORTS 79.12.12

“I think my quad held up pretty good. It will take a little getting used to since I haven’t practiced much this week,” May said.

Having May back adds another scoring threat for the Bulldogs, said Kern.

“He can run really well with the ball out of the midfield,” said Kern, whose Bulldogs have lost four straight matches with Sunday’s loss.

After scoring five goals in a shut-out thrashing of Brevard to open the season, UNCA was outscored 10-0 in the past four games, includ-ing a 5-0 rout at the hands of UNC Greensboro.

“I think we played good soc-cer today. We were able to create chances,” Kern said. “We need to do a better job training on finishing and having quality services.”

May feels that more work in prac-tice will lead to better execution on scoring opportunities.

“We need to keep working hard in practice and get more repetitions up top,” May said.

The Bulldogs played in front of another healthy crowd of students and locals on a sunny late summer afternoon.

“It’s great,” Kern said. “We’ve made a conscious effort to reach out to the community and create a friendly environment that will ap-peal to families. It’s great to see other students coming out to sup-port their team. I know the players love it.”

Many of Kern’s players are active in the community.

“These are good kids off the field, and I think the community recog-nizes that,” Kern said.

The Bulldogs will take on Mar-shall University and MArist Univer-sity at the Radford Invitational over the weekend.

SOCCERcontinued from page 5

Photo by Ricky Emmons- Asst. Photography Editor UNC Asheville men’s soccer team has lost four straight games and are 0-1 in conference play since their win over Brevard.

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Swim team returns to UNCA

Photo by Ricky Emmons - Asst. Phtography EditorJunior Liz Acker swims the back stroke during practice. UNCA’s women’s swimming team is preparing for its first meet at Mars Hill on September 22.

THE BLUE BANNER8 9.12.12 8.29.12

Men’s SoccerPhoto Corner:

Photo by Ricky Emmons- Asst. Photography Editor Men’s soccer lost a difficult match against Longwood last Sunday 1-0. Above: Longwood goalie Carl Carpenter saves a penalty kick attempt.

Photo by Ricky Emmons- Asst. Photography EditorThe match against Longwood was the Bulldogs’ first game of the season in conference play. Above: Asheville’s Erik Casterline defends against Long-wood’s Aidan McGovern. Left: Bobby Castro and Longwood’s Rhys Cairns scramble after the ball.

There are those who utilize Twitter to get through revolutions and Internet bans in third world countries, and then there are those who utilize Twitter to play the

modern day Plato.On Sept. 2, Kanye West, infamously known for

always speaking his mind, pondered one controversial term unfortunately associated with today’s rap music – bitch.

In an open Twitter discussion, West asked his 8 million followers to help him explore the degrading word usually used to describe women.

West reflected on a term that created the hype of rap music for quite some time in the following tweets:

“I usually never tweet questions but I struggle with this so here goes…is the word bitch acceptable?”

One would think the obvious answer is no, hell no, but he went on to question:

“Is it acceptable for a man to call a woman a bitch even if it’s endearing?”

Usually skeptical of anyone who does not agree with West’s ideas, he continued his Twitter revelation:

“Is it okay to use bitch as long as you put BAD in front of it? Like you a BAD bitch. I will admit that I sometimes go back and omit cursing from my records.

I like to use profanity as a tool not a crutch.”Since West denounced the word bitch, many of his

minions have decided the word may actually have a negative connotation to it - shocker.

There was no sigh of relief from women across the world. While West may believe women should applaud his new discovery, here is food for thought: someone who is not a woman should not have the ability to create a right or wrong sense of the word bitch.

A man’s judgment of feminine products best used during a female’s menstrual cycle would be ridiculous to ask, so why would a man have the liberty to define the word bitch and its connotations be any different? A man cannot create the atmosphere that surrounds the word when it is associated with a “her” not “him.”

Calling yourself a “bad bitch” for empowerment may be permissible with you and your girlfriends, but once you let it off the leash you cannot have double standards as to who is allowed to use it. The same goes for historically derogatory words, such as the n-word.

West also tweeted:“Do we love this word (bitch) as we love the word

NI**GA in an endearing way? Correction, here’s the age old question, would we refer to our mothers as bitches. Would we call out fathers ni**ers or better yet ni**AS? If ni**a is such a positive word, why do we

feel so uncomfortable for white people to say it, even with a hall pass? ….perhaps the word BITCH and NI**GA are now either positive or negative. They are just potent and it depends on how (they) are used and by whom? #FREETHOUGHT”

Although West’s point may have a sliver of validity, it still does not justify his past lyric endeavors.

Have women lost their sense of respect and have we just accepted that the word just does not have the same meaning anymore? Why is it when a man we do not know calls us a bitch it is harmful? At the end, there is no differentiation.

If you say a word that only benefits you in one certain context and it fails to match in another context, then the word and meaning is faulty. A word should be universal; it can not just be used at your leisure.

West continued his twit-a-thon:“What if there is no profanity…what If we decided

to legalize profanity in a sense? In France they play songs with cursing on the radio. I was recently ques-tioned about the use of the word BITCH in my music and initially was offended by anyone questioning anything in my music,” he wrote.

“Steve Wonder never had to use the word to get his point across. I’m not tweeting to say what we need and what we don’t….I just want to think about

The Democratic Na-tional Convention held in Charlotte last week looked more like actual America than the Repub-

lican National Convention held a week earlier in Tampa, Fla.

While the RNC lacked diversity, the DNC was a mesh of a real America; an America home to many different nationalities, religions, races and sexual identities. But like the RNC, the DNC had good and bad moments.

Kicking off the convention, Charlotte hosted Carolina Fest; a festival de-signed for those living in the Charlotte area and those who had traveled from far away to basically party prior to the convention. James Taylor and Jeff Bridges took the stage in front of fans,

while others sampled food vendors and collected DNC 2012 pins. Unfortunate-ly for so many, Charlotte brought what it could only bring on a hot, humid summer afternoon: rain.

Democrats may have joked about the Republicans cancelling the first day of the RNC due to Hurricane Isaac, but it was Republicans who had the last laugh as rain poured everyday except Wednesday. The Democrats moved Thursday’s closing speeches - includ-ing the acceptance speech by President Obama - from the Bank of American Stadium back to the Time Warner Cable Arena, an arena that holds around 20,000 compared with a stadium that can hold close to 65,000. Thousands of Obama supporters were disappointed as holders of the public ticket were told their tickets were officially void.

The best of the DNC came in the firepower and stamina of speakers such as San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro,

women’s rights activist Sandra Fluke, first lady Michelle Obama, former President Bill Clinton, Vice President Joe Biden and the real, not empty chair form, Barack Obama.

Mayor Castro, who predicts Obama will win close to 70 percent of the Hispanic vote, delivered one of the best speeches of the first night. He pointed at the crowd in assertion, “Ours is a nation like no other, a place where great journeys can be made in a single generation. No matter who you are or where you come from, the path is

always forward.” Following Castro’s speech, Michelle Obama stepped out looking gorgeous as always, as she humanized her husband, but made clear love like her’s and her husband’s can be found in same sex couples as well.

The convention did not always go smoothly. In complete and total igno-rant taste, the Chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party compared his state’s Republican Gov. Nikki Haley to Hitler’s mistress Eva Braun.

see RAPPER on page 10

see DEMOCRATS on page 10

Maayan Schechtermschect@unca.edu Staff Writer

99.12.12 CAMPUS VOICE

Democracts take heed, represent real America

Rapper Kanye West enlightens Twitter followers Twitter conversation helps re-evaluate touchy word

Amarra Ghaniaghani@unca.edu -Campus Voice Editor

While the RNC lacked diversity, the DNC was a mesh of a real America; an America home to many

different nationalities, religions, races and sexual identities. “

RAPPERcontinued from page 9

10 9.12.12THE BLUE BANNER

loud with you guys today…#THEWORDBITCH”

West had not come to a sincere conclusion, prob-ably because his new album “Mercy” has many other words he should probably ponder before spurting out in his music.

If West claims he does not use profanity as a clutch, then why do his lyrics start and finish with so many misogy-nistic words and phrases?

West does not care what others have to say about his work, but through his 20 tweet dissertation, he revealed something even the egotistical rapper thought he needed to hear.

After Missouri Rep. Todd Akin made his legitimate rape comments a week before, Democrats should have learned statements lacking good taste have no place within political parties. Nazi analogies should never be used in any circumstance.

On the second day of the Democratic convention, chaos ensued when Jewish do-nors and pro-Israel groups objected to the removal of a line from the party’s platform identifying Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, as well as the absence of a reference of God in the document. The issue on the convention floor was clumsy and badly handled. But it could not overshadow Clin-ton’s sermon. In typical Clinton style, his speech lasted longer than the alloted time, yet few on the convention floor seemed to care as he spoke with a style and candor unlike any other former president. He used humor, waved his finger and spoke to a

response from the party faithful that might make the GOP nervous, telling the crowd that they were here to nominate a “cool on the outside” president, of course he had one in mind. Clinton was the speaker of the night, and most likely the speaker of the entire DNC.

Biden spoke, letting the crowd know he and the President have sat together on many occasions, that they have and will continue to have a strong partnership. Obama said what he had to do, laid out his outline on how to help the economy, fix the national debt, create jobs and provide a better life for future generations.

Aside from the big speeches, there were also touching moments that will be continually remembered. Former Arizona congresswoman Gabby Giffords, who survived an assassination attempt in Janu-ary 2011, spoke the words of the Pledge of Allegiance beautifully.

A rare moment of genuine emotion, attendants shared a brief moment of tears. Then there was Marc Anthony who sang

the national anthem, James Taylor and The Foo Fighters belting out songs and Mary J. Blige bringing the crowd together with her song, “One.”

Television audiences and attendants were left with one-liners like Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer and his “that dog hunt” line, and former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland joking, “If Mitt was Santa Claus, he’d have fired the reindeer and out-sourced the elves.” But the most animated speech was former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s loud, theatrical performance Thursday night. Looking similar to an Evangelical church saving, Granholm flew her arms in the air and screamed at the crowd, revving up their excitement.

The National Convention should have left Republicans worried. The speakers were better and crowd represented the true melting pot that the United States is and will continue to be.

Now, for both parties, on to the Presi-dential debates beginning Oct. 3rd, when the real fun begins.

DEMOCRATcontinued from page 9

Illustration by Erich Reinhard - Contributing Cartoonist

8.29.12 11CAMPUS VOICE9.12.12

The most recent Federal Reserve financial report has many college students afraid of perusing a degree that might not get them a job. Student loan debt has increased to more than $1 trillion since 2008.

Higher education is a necessity in today’s tough economy. It is apparent many college student’s concerns revolve around the mentality of “take the money and figure out how to pay it back later.” The Federal Reserve reports student loan debt continues to increase, while the average household debt maintains a steady decline.

The job market is extremely competitive, and students must understand after graduation there is an even bigger battle to face: finding a job that will pay back that monstrous student loan debt, enabling the student to balance the debt as quickly and responsibly as possible.

Several companies have developed over the last decade with the intention of helping students manage their debt from student loans. However, many students are unaware there are options available that offer help to students to effectively monitor and manage debt now.

Students must first determine the actual cost of their education. Net Price Calculators are mandatory for all university websites and are a valuable tool in estimat-ing the cost of a student’s college education.

After answering a few simple questions, students can estimate their education costs, also factoring in the support of federal grants and scholarships. Complet-ing the Net Price Calculator can prevent students from creating a larger loan debt than necessary.

UNC Asheville’s Net Price Calculator can be found by searching for “Net Price Calculator” on the univer-sity’s website.

Students attending public universities are leaving school with the highest debt, the Federal Reserve reports. Public universities also return the most col-lege graduates, so it is up to the student to determine effective ways to manage their expenses.

Textbooks can cost students anywhere from $600 to more than $1,500 each semester, causing many bargain hunters to search elsewhere.

Executing a “buy textbooks” search on Google.com provided a list of thousands of w ebsites offering students extreme discounts on college textbooks. De-termining costs that can be cut now will help students avoid the pressures of a looming debt in the future.

One of the leading questions students face after graduation is when to begin paying off their student loans. For those fortunate enough to land a decent paying job after graduation, recent college graduates should avoid the temptation to splurge on their dream house.

On average, college graduates owe nearly $25,000 in student loans. Those paying the minimum balance often find it will take years before a dent is made on the total amount due.

Students are often confused by the extremely low interest rates offered with federal student loans. Many students believe they have plenty of time to pay off student loans, allowing interest charges to substan-tially increase the total amount due.

The fact remains even a low interest rate will add to the student’s total debt, and making the minimum pay-ment often only pays up the interest that is charged.

The most frequent advice financial advisers give to college students is to avoid financial waste. Eliminate as many unnecessary expenses as possible. Cancel subscriptions to magazines you no longer read. Can-cel the membership to that gym you swore you were going to attend. End your cable television contract; everything is available online, anyway.

Saving money and cutting costs now will allow graduates to quickly eliminate debt accumulated from loans.

Students invest in their futures just by attending college. That does not mean graduates must spend their entire lives paying for the education.

- Heidi Krick

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 desig-nated 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

Ashleigh Joyner, Editor-in-Chief amjoyner@unca.edu

Caitlin Byrd, Managing Editormcbyrd@unca.edu

Katherine Walker, News Editorkpwalker@unca.edu

Hali Ledford, Arts & Features Editorhdledfor@unca.edu

Natalie Pearson, Sports Editorngpearso@unca.edu

Megan Dombroski, Campus Voice Editormkdombro@unca.edu

Katie Saylors, Photography Editor

ksaylors@unca.edu

Jacob Yancey, Business Managerjayancey@unca.edu

Jordan Paris, Design & Web Editor aparis@unca.edu

Alex Hammond, Copy Desk Chiefrahammond@unca.edu

Trevor Metcalfe, Assistant News Editortemetcal@unca.edu

Auburn Petty, Assistant Arts & Features Editoralpetty@unca.edu

Dustin Stuart, Assistant Photography Editordestuart@unca.edu

Alicia Adcox, Assistant Campus Voice Editoraradcox@unca.edu

Michael Gouge, Faculty Advisermgouge@unca.edu

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

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 desig-nated forum for free speech and welcomes letters to the editor, considering them on basis of interest, space and timeliness. Letters and articles should be emailed 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

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

Auburn Petty, Editor-in-Chief alpetty@unca.edu

Tim Barrett, Business Manager

tbarrett @unca.edu

Jackie Starkey, News Editor

jstarkey@unca.edu

Maisey Cooley, Arts & Features Editormdcooley@unca.edu

Amarra Ghani, Campus Voice Editoraghani@unca.edu

Beckett Bathanti, Sports Editorsbathant@unca.edu

Gabriel Ainslie, Photography Editorgainslie@unca.edu

Trevor Metcalfe, Managing Editor

temetcal@unca.edu

Morgan Nirenstein, Copy Desk Chief manirens@unca.edu

Becca Morello, Copy Desk Assistant

rmorello@unca.edu

Tyler Sprinkle, Assistant Sports Editortsprinkl@unca.edu

Mayaan Schec ter, Assistant Campus Voice Editormschecht@unca.edu

Ricky Emmons, Assistant Photography Editorrcemmons@unca.edu

Michael Gouge, Faculty Advisermgouge@unca.edu

Student loan debts intimidate degree-seeking students

The blast of theirtrumpets brought us all back to life in a way only a brass band can.” — Catherine Lyons, nola.com

“...

Lagniappe Brass BandTWIST ON A NEW ORLEANS TRADITION

U N C A S H E V I L L E C U L T U R A L E V E N T S & S P E C I A L A C A D E M I C P R O G R A M S

8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 14 • UNC Asheville Quad*

Free AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

cesap .unca .edu/cultura l -events

Plan to dance or bring a lawn chair or picnic blanket. Seating will not be provided. *Rain location: Lipinsky Auditorium