Demolition of gym paves way for new cafeteria

Robyn Dailey Business Affairs Beat

Appalachian State University Food Services is currently planning for a new Welborn Hall to be built on the site of Broome-Kirk Gymnasium.

The new dining facility is tentatively scheduled to be completed in five to six years, according to Ron Dubberly, director of Food Services.

The estimated cost of the new building is between $15 million and $16 million. After the new recreation facility is built behind the Quinn Center, Broome-Kirk Gym will be demolished and the new cafeteria will be built on that site.

After the new building is constructed, Welborn Cafeteria will be knocked down and the land it is on will become part of Sanford Mall's green space, said Dubberly.

Varsity Gymnasium will stay intact through the process.

"We're in the process of actually designing the facility," said Dubberly.

"It will have a larger serving area than all the serving areas in the cafeteria."

The cafeteria will be L-shaped rather than having two separate dining rooms like it has now, said Dubberly.

He said it will be similar to the hallway at Trivette Hall with the cafeteria being on one end and the dining hall on the other.

"We'll definitely have a Chick-Fil-A in that facility," said Dubberly.

He said that the actual food choices will not be made until the last possible phase to keep pace with current trends.

Appalachian Food Services has been thinking about renovating the cafeteria for several years, but after inspecting the existing building, they decided that it would be better to build a new building for long-term use.

The east wing of Welborn was built in 1925 and the west wing was built in the 1960s. "The whole infrastructure of that building is shot," said Dubberly.

The project is in the initial phase of working with architects and developing concepts of the serving areas and seating.

The university has hired architects Wash, Hatem and Nelson out of Charlotte for the project. They are also using food service consultants Ceni-Little, from Maryland. Ceni-Little will offer input on equipment and food, said Dubberly.

Dubberly said there would be no fund-raising campaigns for the project. Food Services is a separately funded business that is run by the university, so all of their money comes from the student body, said Dubberly.

They have been saving money for the past eight years and will take out loans for the additional funding needed to complete the project, he said.

"We will be at least a year before we're ready to put the project out to bid," said Clyde Robbins, director of Design and Construction.

"The earliest we would start construction of the new dining hall is at least two years away right now."

He said they will replace the bridge behind Varsity Gym so that the dining hall can be reached from Rivers Street, which will cut down on traffic and large food trucks that have to go through campus in order to reach the cafeteria, said Robbins.

"It will be a really nice facility that the students will be very excited about," said Dubberly.

Chris Baucom Affairs Affairs Beat

The College of Fine and Applied Arts has recently moved to a new office in Varsity Gymnasium.

The college moved from its old office on the third floor of Herbert Wey Hall to its new home on the top floor of Varsity Gym earlier this month.

"The move came sooner than expected," said the college's associate dean Dr. Patton Reighard.

The move was originally planned for Spring Break, but was moved up a few weeks. Reighard has moved to a smaller office, but pointed out the importance of added space overall.

"We have counseling with students for graduation audits, and those used to be done in one room with only small panel walls separating them," said Reighard. "Here we will have more space."

The art department will be taking over the space vacated by the College of Fine and Applied Arts. The Department of Communication, which also uses Wey Hall, also has a need for more space.

The move is an improvement in location according to Reighard. The new office is in a more central part of campus and is easier to find.

This central location is important because the college has departmental offices spread throughout campus. Moving also gave Reighard and others the chance to do some reorganizing.

"I took the opportunity to do some housekeeping," said Reighard. The move was a smooth transition for the college. Nothing was lost and there was significant gain for the college.

"Having the good location Ñ that is important," said Reighard.

Resignation a difficult decision for former editor

Witt: Thank you for allowing me to lead newspaper, campus

I resigned. To answer the inevitable question "Why?" -- I am seeking a balance.

This resignation was not an easy decision, but in order to attain the sorely-needed balance, I need time and opportunity.

I implore all who read this to find their balance on their own terms, however necessary.

I am lucky to have the staff that, as individuals, plowed, floated or fell through the door of The Appalachian newsroom.

If anyone is responsible for the success this paper saw through my tenure, I would label not simply one person, but the team of individuals who wrote, edited, designed and carried The Appalachian with me, in perfect opposition to me and sometimes in lieu of me.

Those staffers are the ones responsible for all virtues of the newspaper as it stands today.

In my simple opinion, The Appalachian is the one organization that most closely resembles "the real world" in both operation and regulation.

The Appalachian prints twice per week through the fall and spring semesters, and in contrast to other campus organizations, there is no set of bylaws to work within, with exception of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.

I am certain that each individual on staff will be wildly successful if they approach the "real world" with the same dedication and passion poured into The Appalachian.

To the Appalachian Family whom I often referred to in editorials, many of which I penned (for better or worse), thank you for allowing me to lead what is arguably the primary source of Appalachian State University news.

I plan not to fade out, but rather to seek the aforementioned balance. I am thankful for the opportunity to lead an organization and a campus. With regards, Gerald A. Witt

Leslie Hitchcock SGA Election Corespondent

Campaigning for the 2001 Student Government Association (SGA) election kicked off Thursday with a CRSA-sponsored forum.

Candidates Xan Harrington and Amanda Privette (whose campaign slogan is "Serving, Leading, Excelling") and Jeff Tew and Richard Wheelahan (who are running under the theme "Because Appalachian Deserves the Best") answered questions presented to both tickets, as well as some specifically for one ticket.

Candidates Matthew "Goose" Mounkes and Matt Schriber were not present. Chris Merrick, CRSA president and member of the SGA Election Committee, said there was an open invitation for all three tickets to attend, but the organization, "did not receive any indication that (Mounkes and Schriber) would like to come."

While the duo was absent at Thursday's forum, Merrick said Wednesday Mounkes and Schriber have an open invitation to address CRSA at any point during the campaign period.

University of North Carolina System officials are pressuring the university to raise enrollment from the current 12,500 to 14,400 in the next seven years.

This change affects students who like the smaller community atmosphere of Appalachian, and concern was expressed to the tickets. Campus expansion is inevitable, Wheelahan said. "It will be like a cell phone. It seems annoying now, but in a few years, you'll wonder how you ever got along without it," he said.

Harrington-Privette support the Appalachian campus "staying the size we are, but if (expansion is) what we have to do, then we will (support that)," Harrington said.

CRSA represents 19 residence halls and SGA represents the student body. Together, they serve many aspects of student life.

When asked what role SGA will play with CRSA next year, Harrington said, "The experience in the residence halls is the most valuable. The leadership (of Resident Assistants) serves to help students."

Currently, SGA sponsors an on-campus safety walk to test the effectiveness of blue lights. If elected, Harrington-Privette want to implement a safety walk through residence halls, which would bring SGA and CRSA together, Harrington said.

Tew cited the position SGA created in its cabinet last year to link Student Government with CRSA. "We've started a good relationship (with CRSA), we're not divided."

Increasing campus diversity is a concern among university officials and students. "We've talked with admissions to try to figure out new recruiting methods," Tew said.

Many platform goals will not be completed during one year, Wheelahan added.

Increasing campus diversity is a goal that is only achieved over a span of years, he said.

There are also goals that will be accomplished in one year. Harrington-Privette's main plan for next year is to encourage senators to "assume their responsibility," Privette said.

"We want a higher level of communication between senators and their constituents," she said.

Tew-Wheelahan want to begin even earlier than that. "We are focusing on senator recruitment," Tew said.

"We want to bring in the best 77 senators possible." "We want it to be competitive," Wheelahan said.

An SGA-sponsored debate will be held Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Grandfather Mountain Ballroom in Plemmons Student Union.

ASU News Bureau

Ming H. Land, dean of the College of Fine and Applied Arts at Appalachian State University, has received a Distinguished Alumni Award from Utah State University's College of Engineering.

He was one of five graduates receiving the award. Others were the executive director of the National Institute of Water Resources in the Dominican Republic; a founder and president of a civil engineering consulting firm in Oregon; a division manager of Agilent Technologies in California; and the chief of the space technology division of the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory in New Mexico.

Land joined Appalachian in 1983 as a professor and chair of the Department of Technology. He was a faculty member in the departments of industrial education and architecture at Miami University in Ohio for 12 years.

He taught as a Fulbright scholar in the College of Engineering at Chungnam National University in South Korea in the fall of 1980.

In 1986 he was named an honorary professor at Northeastern University in Shenyang, China.

Land has co-authored two engineering graphics textbooks, contributed numerous chapters for books and is the author of more than 50 journal articles. He is a member of the Engineering Design Graphics Journal board of review.

He also has presented papers at international conferences in Taiwan, China, South Korea, Japan, Spain and Austria.

Land received the Lockette/Monroe Humanitarian Award in 1998 and a Special Recognition Award in 1990 from the International Technology Education Association; the President's Award in 1998 and the Outstanding Regional Director Award in 1995 from the National Association of Industrial Technology; a Laureate Citation in 1987 and a Distinguished Service Citation in 1998 from Epsilon Pi Tau; and a Certificate of Appreciation for Patriotic Civilian Service in 1996 from the U.S. Department of the Army.

In September 2000 he was appointed to a three-year term as an advisor to Taiwan's overseas affairs ministry.