Historic election produces close races, landslide

Boone voters participate in closest presidential race in recent history

Jennifer Lancaster - Associate Editor

Elizabeth Frye - Multicultural Beat

Watauga County residents joined by Appalachian State University students turned out in what many hoped would be record numbers for election 2000.

On Tuesday, those at the polls felt students as well as local residents would cast their ballots. "We've had about as good a mix as you can get because we only have about 200 citizens like myself in this precinct, the rest are students. It's overwhelmingly students," said Carl Day, chief judge of the Democratic party for Watauga County.

Ryan Eller, an Appalachian State Student Government Association (SGA) senator said, "I've been really pleased with the voter turnout on campus. I think voter turnout in Watauga County is going to be really high."

Contributing to the expected high turnout were close battles at local and national levels. Area residents and students as well as political analysts forecasted a close race for weeks.

"We're not really going to know who our next president is going to be as well as who our local candidates are going to be until really late tonight and even possibly into the next couple of weeks," said Eller.

In a race expected to be close for months, precincts in Boone experienced what voters and volunteers at poling places thought to be a higher than average turnout on Tuesday.

According to Linda Steele, a Watauga County resident who handed out pamphlets near First Baptist Church on King Street, "My precinct, when my husband got there this morning, had 600 absentee ballots in one precinct. I really think that bodes well; not just for my party but the election in general." During the last presidential race, 18,553 people voted in Watauga County.

In spite of optimistic projections of a greatly increased turnout for this year's election, only 853 additional voters cast ballots this year. Issues such as the environment and land use were hot topics in the High Country. "There's a lot of people that are passionate about the issues.

Locally of course it's the environment. For me personally it's the drunk driving issue," said Steele. Steele also mentioned that social security and health insurance were important issues for older voters this year. A variety of issues coupled with close races across the state and country brought mixed results.

In Watauga County, some races lived up to expectations and were very close. Mike Easley edged out Richard Vinroot for governor 9,134 votes to 8,984 and went on to win the election.

Voters decided other offices by much greater margins at Watauga County polls, including the presidential race in which Bush ousted Gore 10,397 votes to 7,918. At press time, the presidential election was still undecided.

The organizers of Appalachian State University's Alcohol Awareness Week are taking the opportunity to make a statement. In addition to the planned activities, the members of the Awareness Week committee and the members of the AWARE committee, arranged for the Appalachian athletic van involved in the Oct. 1 accident to be parked on Sanford Mall for the duration of the week.

The original plan included a wrecked vehicle, but it was not until late last week that the committee was given permission to use the van involved in the wreck, said Dale Kirkley of the Wellness Center, one of the organizers behind Alcohol Awareness Week.

Kirkley said that the organizers treated the issue of using the Appalachian van with the utmost respect. "We were sure to receive permission from all the right authorities and most importantly from the students involved in the wreck," said Kirkley.

Given the nature of the accident, the van serves as a haunting reminder as to what can happen when alcohol is abused, said Kirkley.

Officials confirmed at the end of October that the man driving the other vehicle involved in the wreck, John Vincent White III, was intoxicated at the time of the accident. His blood-alcohol level was .20, more than twice the legal limit of .08.

Dr. Denise Lovin of the Appalachian counseling center, another Alcohol Awareness Week organizer, said, "Students really seem to appreciate the gravity of the event. Our hope is that they are taking it all in and understanding the seriousness of drinking and driving."

Kirkley said, "People seem to be reading the materials [placed on the van regarding the wreck and drunk-driving issues] and thinking about the incident. There has been a lot of attention paid to the van memorial."

Red ribbons are available for students to tie onto the van in memory of those that have lost their lives in drunk driving accidents.

Students are encouraged to visit Sanford Mall and see the van memorial by Belk Library, so that they can be impacted firsthand by the tragedy, said Kirkley.

"My hope is that people will see both sides of the issue. They need to understand that these things do happen to college students, but they also need to know that it is not normal to drink and drive.

The great majority of people are not drinking," said Kirkley. The focus of Alcohol Awareness Week is to make students aware via things such as the van memorial, but also to educate students about statistics, said Kirkley.

"We want to continue to show students that drinking is not the norm, hopefully reducing the pressure on students to drink," said Kirkley. Awareness Week organizers hope that the van memorial will have a positive impact on student decisions regarding alcohol abuse.

Adams dinner to benefit scholarship

Ian Hutchinson

The Appalachian State University Women's Center will host the Second Annual Abigail Adams Birthday Dinner, celebrating the life and accomplishments of Abigail Adams.

The dinner is tonight at 6:30 p.m. in the Grandfather Mountain Ballroom of Plemmons Student Union. Remaining tickets are $5 and all proceeds will go to the Women's Center Scholarship for Non-Traditional Students.

Abigail Adams (born Abigail Smith) was actually born on Nov. 11, 1744, but for the convenience of faculty and students, the celebration will be tonight. Volunteer cooks -- mostly comprised of Appalachian faculty and staff --will provide their best dishes for the evening meal.

Lee Williams, Women's Center advisor, hopes that the celebration will create "an opportunity for greater community on campus" and exposure for the center.

Williams also thinks that the scholarship is a tribute to the spirit of Adams, who had an active interest in education and read countless books to better herself. Adams was quite knowledgeable in history, and in the French and English languages.

Abigail married John Adams in 1964, who later became the second U.S. President. She was also a prolific writer who frequently wrote to her presidential husband, family and friends.

Her writings helped capture a vivid portrait of America in its earliest stages of democracy and diplomacy. If you would like more information on the birthday celebration, the Women's Center is located in the Nolichucky River Room on the first floor of the student union.

North Carolinians overwhelimingly approve higher education bond

John T. Bennett - Associate Editor

In what turned out to be one of the most captivating and bizarre election nights in recent political history, there was no need for exit polls or network television projections in deciding one North Carolina ballot initiative.

For the second time in less than a decade, voters in North Carolina approved a higher education bond referendum Tuesday.

Unlike in 1993, when a funding proposal passed by a slim margin, North Carolinians gave overwhelming support to a $3.1 billion bond.

With 99 percent of precincts reporting at press time, 1,785,159 (73 percent) voters cast their ballot in favor of the higher education bond, with 648,240 (27 percent) voting in opposition to the funding package.

Now approved, the bondÕs $3.1 billion sum will be divided among the 16 University of North Carolina system institutions and 59 state-supported community colleges for construction and renovation projects.

The UNC system schools will divide $2.5 billion, while the North Carolina Community College System institutions receive a total of $600 million. According to the bond breakdown, Appalachian State University will be allotted $82.3 million.

The largest portion ($47.6 million) of the Appalachian sum will be directed toward the construction of a new library/information commons.

The remaining $34.7 million will be used for building renovations and modernizations to campus structures that were found to be in the greatest state of disrepair by the University of North Carolina Capital Equity/Adequacy Study. According to the study, the building on the Appalachian State bond breakdown in the greatest need of a major overhaul is the Rankin Science Building.

Appalachian State officials plan to pour some $11.2 million into a comprehensive renovation of that structure.

The bond also generated another $5.8 million for an already approved annex to Rankin Science that will primarily house the Appalachian State Department of Biology. Along with those projects, North Carolina voters gave the green light Tuesday to renovations to Walker, Smith-Wright, and Founders Halls, as well as the B.B. Dougherty Administration Building.

The Appalachian breakdown also reveals that university officials plan to pump $4.6 million toward improvements to the campusÕ technology infrastructure.

According to Jane Helm, Appalachian State vice chancellor for Business Affairs, that sum will be used to modernize the wiring that links institutionÕs computer network.

The higher education community can breathe a collective sigh of relief after a year that has seen it endure an epic battle in its quest for funding with such foes as a hefty hurricane-relief package, a deadlocked legislature, and six months of questions between the time the North Carolina General Assembly handed the fate of the bond to voters in late May.

Holmes Center safety ensured

Catherine Quill - Business Affairs Beat

The George M. Holmes Convocation Center will be safe and structurally sound for people attending the sold-out Nov. 17 Appalachian State University versus the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill basketball game, according to Clyde Robbins, director of design and construction.

"The systems that protect the public will be tested and retested several times to make sure they're functional," said Robbins.

One of the chief reasons for the delays in the opening of the Holmes Center was the completion of safety features, and although some felt that the building would not be ready to accommodate a large number of people, Robbins is confident that the installed systems are intact and working properly.

Robbins said the speaker, sprinkler, fire-alarm and smoke-detector systems are all reliable. The smoke-detector system would activate another system that actually pulls smoke out of the building in the event of a fire, and the speaker would make a public announcement informing people of an emergency.

"There are adequate exits that are fire raided," said Robbins. In addition, the walls of the Holmes Center are also fire resistant for two hours, allowing enough time for everyone inside to evacuate the building. An emergency generator would operate power and lighting systems if the building were to lose power.

"They are running through the systems time and again," said Robbins. Another test of the emergency systems will take place today with the state inspectors. Robbins also said that the necessary concrete repairs are minor and do not deal with the building itself.

The work will be completed on the steps leading up to the building for primarily aesthetic purposes. "There are no concrete repairs that affect the structure," said Robbins. Subcontractors will be on hand at the Nov. 17 game to immediately fix any problems that arise.

Robbins said the primary problems will be those dealing with seating "because we will be operating those seats fully loaded for the first time." Robbins also denounced rumors that the Holmes Center is sinking into the ground, although the building is constructed partly on a flood plain.

"We raised the site two feet above the 100-year flood plain. In addition, we added a major storm drainage system,Ó said Robbins.

The feet of the Holmes Center touch rock, which acts as an anchor for the building -- a situation that is not unique to campus buildings. "Almost every building we build hits rock," said Robbins. Although the major features will be ready for the Nov. 17 game, detail work still remains to be completed.

"We were left with a fairly extensive list of items," said Robbins. The list included paint work, touch-ups and landscaping. "We still have some tile-work we added to the project. The big job is going to be the landscaping," he said.

The contractor will have 30 days after today to complete the unfinished items. Eddie Crawford, director of the Holmes Center, also agreed that the building will be ready to accommodate a large crowd. "We wouldn't open it if it wasn't safe," he said.

According to Crawford, the only work that needs completion are minor details, "small things the public won't notice," he said. "Structurally, there's no problems." Crawford said the on-hand subcontractors will be a precautionary measure.

"With a new building, it's always a good idea to have them here," he said. Although minor details may not be finished for the Nov. 17 game, administrators are certain there will be no safety hazards.

"We're scheduled for a rehearsal Friday with our staff and Campus Safety to form a safety plan," said Crawford. Crawford is anticipating the Holmes Center's first event and hopes the public will be impressed with the newest addition to the Appalachian State campus. "We want everyone to walk in and fall in love with the place," he said.