Catherine Quill - Business Affairs Beat

A new movie theater is tentatively scheduled to arrive on the campus of Appalachian State University in the fall of 2002.

The idea behind the theater originated with the Private Screening Series, a program that has continued throughout the academic year and presents the personal, 16-mm classic-film collection of John P. McElwee of North Wilkesboro. The films are shown in either I.G. Greer or Tradewinds.

"What we're trying to do is design a very special space for showing movies, which is something we don't really have," said McElwee.

McElwee said the plans include building a theater with a uniquely comfortable and relaxed atmosphere and will include chairs and sofas.

"It's going to be designed so there won't be a large seating capacity," said McElwee, who explained the ambiance of the theater will be perfect for a small audience.

The theater will serve as a venue for other films aside from McElwee's collection, which is "a mix of every kind of film," according to McElwee. The theater will also accommodate movies shown by academic departments and the latest technology will be utilized. A lobby area will be built to serve concessions.

"It will be like going out to the movies, except you'll be on campus," said McElwee.

According to Phil Arnold, associate director of Student Programs, "The virtue of this is when you see something on 16 mm, you're getting the true movie experience."

Arnold explained that regular 35 mm films shown in most movie theaters produce a picture that is more flat. He made the analogy that watching a film in its original 16 mm formatting is like seeing the "Mona Lisa" in person, rather than looking at a picture of the painting in a book.

The 16-mm films are "original production quality," said Arnold.

Since McElwee is donating funding for the project, "the university isn't raising student fees or asking taxpayers for money."

"For John, it's about the love of movies," said Arnold.

Although it is early in the project, cost estimates for the construction range from $500,000 to $1 million.

"We thought the least expensive thing would be to use an existing space," said Arnold.

Officials then decided that Plemmons Student Union would be a logical area for the theater, since Appalachian Popular Programming Society (A.P.P.S.) is involved with the Private Screening Series and is located in the union.

Arnold said the 2,300-square-foot Outdoor Programs Outing Center, which will eventually relocate to the new recreation center scheduled for construction in April of next year, is an ideal space.

Discussions with an architectural firm have already occurred. Next, a cost analysis and a plan will be drawn and discussed.

"This thing has been moving along incredibly fast," said Arnold.

Plans will be modified throughout the summer. "Hopefully by fall, we may be able to start construction," said Arnold.

Arnold said A.P.P.S. will not be sponsoring all of the films to be shown in the theater since other departments and programs will have access to the space.

"We've got so many films on this campus that nobody knows about," said Arnold. "(The theater will) create a central location where students can come to see films, in most cases, for free."

Both Arnold and McElwee think the theater will benefit the entire campus community.

"We want students to think, 'This is great. This is where I want to see a movie,'" said Arnold.

Elizabeth Frye - Multicultiral Beat

Bisexuals, Gays, Lesbians, and Allies Associated for Diversity (B-GLAAD) is an active group on the Appalachian State University campus that works to encourage tolerance of bisexuals, gays, and lesbians.

The purpose of B-GLAAD, according to B-GLAAD co-president Katy Medley, is "to provide education, emotional support, social interaction and awareness of diversity in order to promote understanding and acceptance of all sexual orientations."

B-GLAAD, Medley said, was founded several years ago by students, but has been through several name changes. The club's faculty advisor is Dr. Mary E. Ballard, associate professor of psychology.

No requirements exist for becoming a member of B-GLAAD, which meets every Thursday at 8 p.m. in room B-18 of East Hall. Medley said that 20 to 50 people are usually present at the meetings.

"B-GLAAD is open to all students. We encourage everyone to join and we don't have a set membership. There are no dues. The club is a forum for discussion of issues that affect the gay, lesbian and bisexual community. B-GLAAD is for anyone interested in diversity and equality," Medley stated.

B-GLAAD sponsors and participates in several events across campus. B-GLAAD hosts a semi-annual drag show, which is a big fundraiser for the club because it is not funded by the university). B-GLAAD also holds an annual rave to raise money for the fight against AIDS. This year's rave will take place Friday, April 20 at Legends. The club co-sponsors the Queer Film Series and "is involved in the multicultural community as much as possible," said Medley.

Another event in which members of B-GLAAD participate is panels in classrooms. Medley explained that a teacher contacts the club and asks members to speak in front of his/her classes. Medley said the club likes doing these panels because the panels help the club "actively educate the Appalachian community." Medley said faculty members can get in touch with B-GLAAD anytime about holding these panels.

"I have found people to be relatively accepting of B-GLAAD on campus. We've had no problems with active homophobia. Last year people defaced the tunnel paintings B-GLAAD did for National Coming Out Day, but they don't even really deface those anymore. A few minor incidents have occurred, but we usually have good reception of the club," said Medley.

B-GLAAD encourages heterosexual people to participate in the club as allies to the gay, lesbian and bisexual community.

"We're always looking for ways to get people interested and involved," said Medley. A lot of people have supported the club's events, Medley said, but she would like to see more allies come to the regular meetings.

"I think this past year we've had a lot of progress within the club. We've done a lot of things we haven't been able to do before. We've increased awareness across campus with the help of other organizations like the Center for Multicultural Student Development, the Women's Studies Program and the Philosophy/Religion Department. We are looking forward to continuing the progress and to developing a more active membership," said Kevin Perkins, the other co-president of B-GLAAD.

On Thursday, March 8, the B-GLAAD meeting will include a discussion on "Club Safety and Gay-Friendly Travel Spots." Anyone interested is welcome to attend.

L. Nicole Tallent - SGA Beat

Every year the Student Government Association (SGA) hosts a Faculty and Staff Appreciation Breakfast to honor outstanding staff members.

The SGA Academic Affairs Committee is in charge of coordinating this event, and begins the process by getting students' votes on outstanding staff members. According to the Academic Affairs Committee Director Jeff Tew, every club and all students should receive a ballot in their mailbox this week.

Students may nominate one professor from each of the five colleges, as well as any academic advisor and one staff member.

All nominated faculty and staff will be notified of their nomination, and the top teachers will submit a personal information packet for review to the Academic Affairs Committee.

The professors, advisor and staff member receiving the highest number of votes within each category will be awarded a plaque in their honor.

The Staff Appreciation Breakfast will take place in mid-April in the I.G. Greer Conference Room. Deans from the five colleges will be present, as well as the Provosts and Chancellor Francis T. Borkowski. All staff and students are invited to attend.

According to Tew, this breakfast will be a time of recognition and fellowship with the faculty, staff and students.

"Students are given a positive chance to recognize good professors," said Tew.

Funding for this event comes from the money raised at the SGA Date Auction. Also, donations of food and other decorative items will be accepted.

Last year's event was a success, said Tew. Faculty and Staff Appreciation winners were Dr. Duanne D. Daggett (College of Business), Dr. Sara Zimmerman (College of Education), Mr. David Larry (College of Arts and Sciences), Dr. James Toub (College of Fine and Applied Arts) and Ms. Elizabeth Jordan (School of Music).

"I enjoy this breakfast because it allows people to become more engaged with each other. When we work together to get things accomplished, we end up getting an even bigger reward," Tew said.

Catherine Quill - Business Affairs Beat

The Appalachian Cultural Museum, along with the W.L. Eury Appalachian Collection and the Center for Appalachian Studies, will get $1.6 million over the next three years.

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) awarded Appalachian State University the National Endowment for the Humanities Challenge Grant in December of 2000.

This challenge grant promises to match money raised by the school 3 to 1.

Therefore, Appalachian plans to raise $1.2 million and NEH will meet this with $400,000.

The money will go to help enhance the Appalachian Studies program on campus, said Dr. Mary Reichel, the university librarian.

"Our end goal is to have available to students a stronger Appalachian Studies Program," she said.

The Cultural Museum, located off campus on 321 near Staples, plans to use their allotted money from the grant in two specific ways, according to Dr. Chuck Watkins, the museum's director.

First, the museum will fund larger and more complex exhibits than they are currently able to do with the resources they have.

They will also package smaller versions of these exhibits and send them around the region.

NEH is very concerned with the regional spreading of information, said Watkins.

"They want to see these things get out and about," he said.

They expect the federal money they are giving to be largely put to use to ensure the developed information doesn't stay within the walls of the university, he said.

They want to see the information that is taken from the study applied throughout the region and the country.

The second priority for the museum is to publish catalogs of exhibits. "By being able to publish catalogs, we are able to preserve the research we've done for future scholars to use," said Watkins.

He said the research that is done for exhibits by faculty and students is lost after the exhibit is disassembled if it is not documented.

This means that for any future interest in the subject, research would have to be done all over again.

The grant will fund the museum with approximately $20,000 a year, said Watkins.

According to Watkins, there will be a fairly quiet fundraising process.

"A lot of this will probably not involve a lot of hoopla," he said.

Fundraising efforts include plans for extensive letter-writing and personal discussions with friends of the organization, and a lecture on July 12 with an invitational reception following for supporters.

Both private and public foundations will be approached.

All money must be raised by July 31, 2004, according to Reichel.

There are other monetary deadlines to be met each year and NEH is not required to grant the matching funds for that year if they are not met.

"It's a long-term process to raise the match," said Watkins.

"We will have to employ a variety of strategies."

He said a full campaign effort has not been launched yet.

Watkins does not believe the fundraising process for the endowment will have any competition with or adverse affects on the university's Capital Campaign.

He thinks it will help the fundraising process because the university's general fundraising project will let people know that Appalachian is raising money for worthwhile things. "This will encourage people to give more freely to their campaign,' he said.

The museum wants to approve its program in order to be able to better use students and provide them with a practical education by helping out with exhibits, according to Watkins.

All three organizations are working equally on the process.

"It's really exciting because it is a collaborative effort," said Reichel.

Catherine Quill - Business Affairs Beat

The Appalachian State University Police Department is expressing concern for a growing problem on Rivers Street. University police officers have recently noticed several cars passing stopped school buses on the four-lane street, said Sergeant Stacy Sears.

"I honestly think this is a matter of drivers not knowing the law," said Sears. Rivers Street is not a divided highway. Therefore, all vehicles in both lanes must come to a complete stop for a stopped school bus.

The law concerning the matter says in Article 7, section 20-217, that "the driver of any vehicle, upon approaching from any direction on the same street, highway or public vehicular area any school bus ... while the bus is displaying its mechanical stop-signal or flashing red stoplights, and is stopped for the purpose of receiving or discharging passengers, shall bring the vehicle to a full stop before passing or attempting to pass the bus, and shall remain stopped until the mechanical stop sign has been withdrawn, the flashing red stoplight has been turned off and the bus has moved on."

The law also clarifies that the school bus must have the words "school bus" on the front and back of the bus in letters no less than eight inches tall.

Another provision is made in subsection C of section 20-217 that vehicles are not required to stop if the highway or road is divided by a median or other physical barrier.

The final subsection of Article 7, section 20-217, says that anyone found in violation of the above stated laws may face charges of a Class 2 misdemeanor.

The Appalachian Police Department has not ticketed the vehicles that have been pulled for this type of violation. Instead, the Department has been giving out warnings in an effort to educate the public about the traffic laws concerning stopped school buses, said Major Larry Foster of the University Police Department.

Another similar concern involves pedestrians' rights-of-way at crosswalks.The Appalachian State University campus has a number of crosswalks, both with and without accompanying traffic lights.

The police department encourages drivers to take caution at these areas and to understand that the pedestrian has the right-of-way if they are "within any marked crosswalk or within any unmarked crosswalk at or near an intersection" (Article 11, section 20-173).

Anybody with questions concerning traffic laws that are applicable to campus driving may contact the Appalachian State University Police Department at 262-2150.