Robyn Dailey - Business Affairs Beat

Construction around Appalachian State University will not slow down any time in the near future.

As a matter of fact, it will probably increase before it clears up all together.

Both Plemmons Student Union and University Bookstore have launched plans for extensive renovations and additions.

The blueprints have been designed and drawn and officials are headed into the phase of allowing contractors to bid for the job and eventually start construction, according to David Robertson, director of Student Programs.

While they are two separate projects, they will be joined as one effort, said Robertson.

The new facilities will include a new and larger bookstore and a solarium at the front of the student union.

The bookstore and union will be connected by an indoor hallway.

The bookstore will have a large two-story circular atrium (similar to Cascades), more retail and book space, tables and seating areas, and possibly a coffee bar and food sales area, said Robertson.

The bookstore's new facility will be in front of the existing bookstore.

After construction on the new facility is complete and they have moved into it, they will begin extensive renovation on the old building, said Robertson.

The student union's solarium will be a glass-front enclosed area facing Sanford Mall.

It will be in front of the meeting rooms and art gallery, Robertson said.

The solarium will be two-stories high, enclosed and will incorporate the existing balcony into the open atrium.

It will have a stage, several large indoor plantings and four cascading pools.

There will be tables and seating scattered around the solarium.

"I think it's going to be really neat, having that waterfall inside and all those plants," said Robertson. There will be two wall sculptures, with one of them being behind the stage.

There will be one scene of Grandfather Mountain with the Watauga River running through it and one of Linville Falls.

"We're hoping to start renovations probably no later than June," said Dr. Clyde Robbins, director of Design and Construction.

He said that the projects should be finished within 18 months of when they start.

Winston-Salem architecture firm Walter, Robbs, Callahan and Pierce has been hired, said Robertson.

The contractor has not yet been determined.

Robertson said that in a month or two the blueprints will be ready to be bid on by contractors.

"We will take public bids on the job in May," said Robbins.

The two projects will be priced differently, and are paid for differently.

Robbins said that the total price for both projects is around $9 million, with the bookstore being about $5.5 million and the solarium being about $3.5 million.

The bookstore is more because it has two parts and includes more square footage, he said. The renovations will come from each of the buildings' reserve funds.

"We are hopeful that we have enough money from our reserve fund plus the amount that we raise every year to not have to raise student fees," said Robertson.

According to Robertson, all bookstore profits are either put in reserve funds or used to enhance student scholarships.

None of them are used for individual profits, he said.

The construction on College Street will not clear up anytime soon either.

Robertson said that they are currently moving and replacing utility lines so that the new bookstore can be built.

Within the next two weeks, however, they will be creating a bus turn-around for the AppalCART, which will extend into the post office and Whitener parking lots, said Robertson.

Within the next three years, College Street will be converted to a pedestrian thoroughfare, with only service and emergency traffic allowed, according to Robbins.

"They're going to continue to tear that road up," said Robertson.

"They're going to do more than they're doing now."

Black Awareness Weekend provides glimpse of ASU life

Elizabeth Frye - Multicultural Beat

The offices of Multicultural Student Development and Admissions annually sponsor a series of events for prospective African American students to Appalachian State University and their families known as Black Awareness Weekend.

Black Awareness Weekend 2001 will be held April 6-7.

Tracey L. Wright, director of multicultural student development, said that the weekend not only shows potential students and their parents the opportunities offered by Appalachian State University, but also is "a celebration of black students already here and the community they have formed on campus."

Wright said, "Usually the families and students still have questions about Appalachian which the alumni, faculty and students are able to answer during the weekend. It's a chance for them to have a last glance at the school to make a final decision," Wright said.

"Black Awareness Weekend is a form of recruitment, but not in the traditional sense because the students that receive information about the weekend are those who have already applied to and been accepted by Appalachian State University.

"Three-fourths of the students that attend the weekend actually come to school here in the fall. On average about 15 students and their families come for Black Awareness Weekend, which is more than 10 percent of African American students accepted," she said.

A few events of the weekend are planned only for the prospective students, such as the "Sister to Sister/Brother to Brother" information session given by the Black Student Association with participants from the Order of Black and Gold service club.

However, other activities are open to the Appalachian community.

Some of the events of Black Awareness Weekend include a party sponsored by the Men's Service Club (MSC), the MSC Little Sisters, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity.

The party will be held Friday, April 6, at 9 p.m. at Legends.

A small concert will be given by the Appalachian State University Gospel Choir at 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 7, in I. G. Greer Auditorium.

At 3 p.m. on Saturday, African American alumni will speak at a program entitled "The Value of My Appalachian Degree and My Experience at Appalachian" in I.G. Greer Auditorium.

An old-fashioned fish-fry will be held at Sanford Mall Saturday at 4 p.m. The final event of the weekend is a step show and party given by the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) and Council for Cultural Awareness (CCA) at 8 p.m. on Saturday at Legends.

Tiffany M. Fant, a member of the Order of Black and Gold, said, "This weekend is a good experience for students of color to see what Appalachian is about, and to have an introduction to and foreknowledge of the campus and students here."

Sean Oakley - Features Beat

The Office of Admissions will be hosting its annual Spring Open House Saturday. Prospective students will be visiting Appalachian State University to get a feel for the campus.

The Spring Open House is an "opportunity for students to come up to Boone and get a comprehensive look at this school, " said Jenny Ruggieri, a recent alumna and university representative in the Office of Admissions.

The schedule of activities will begin at 9 a.m. in Farthing Auditorium.

Once there, prospective students and their parents will hear from Joseph Watts, director of admissions, and Chancellor Francis T. Borkowski.

After the opening session, students will move to the Varsity Gymnasium where a information fair will be held. At the fair, a variety of campus organizations and departments will be setting up tables to answer questions.

Every department on campus will have a table set up at the fair including the Office of Admissions, athletics and many clubs and other organizations, which will run from 9:30 a.m. to noon.

During this time, prospective students will also be able to take a campus tour or attend several mini-sessions being held in Rankin Science Building. The mini-sessions will cover topics of interest for incoming freshmen, such as financial aid.

The Office of Admissions is expecting anywhere from 1500 to 3000 students to show up for the Open House.

Unlike the Fall Open House, which is usually attended by 3000-4000 students, the Spring Open House will bring more juniors than seniors to Boone.

The reasoning behind this is that many seniors making final decisions attend in the fall, but many juniors just beginning their college search will attend in spring.

The residence halls will also be open for the prospective students so that they can have a chance to see their possible future living quarters.

According to Ruggieri, "all sessions are geared for students and parents" to handle the most commonly asked questions as well as give any individual help that prospective students might want.

Chris Baucom - Academic Affairs Beat

The Reich College of Education will be spending the month of April making its final preparations for national and state reviews.

The national assessment will be conducted by the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE).

A state review will also be conducted by the North Carolina Department of Instruction (DPI).

The reviews are carried out every five years by the NCATE and are intended to ensure that North Carolina's schools are using updated information and technology.

According to the NCATE's official Web site, a college of education that is accredited by NCATE is expected "to be dynamic -- that is, involved in ongoing planning, evaluation, and improvement."

Reich College of Education (RCOE) officials are excited about the visit and believe all is ready.

"When the NCATE and DPI teams arrive this month on campus, they will find a vibrant, dynamic program that is continuously striving to improve itself and its graduates," wrote Dr. Charles Duke, dean of RCOE, in the college's "Public School Partnership" newsletter.

The accreditation is very important to RCOE for many reasons. According to Duke a recent national public-opinion poll found that 82 percent of the public favors requiring teachers to graduate from a nationally accredited program.

Schools with national accreditation have checks on their teaching methods and material, which gives the program a basis for comparison with any other program in the nation.

The accreditation is also important since only about 500 of over 1000 teacher-preparation programs in the United States are accredited.

Reich College of Education sets itself apart by having its continued accreditation.

In a release from RCOE, Duke outlined positive characteristics graduates of accredited programs would have.

These characteristics include knowledge of subject matter and a variety of ways to teach it effectively, and ability to manage classrooms among other charcteristics.

The college also outlines many of these traits in their Professional Core Curriculum Goals. The goals stated are from the same line as the guidelines given by the NCATE.

The NCATE and DPI's accreditation visit will be the week of April 21-29.

If you have any questions, contact Reich College of Education or contact NCATE at: NCATE 2010 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Suite 500 Washington, D.C. 20036-1023.

L. Nicole Tallent - SGA Beat

A former Student Government Association (SGA) member and staunch supporter of the Senate bill supporting repealing 1998 federal reforms to Section 484 of the Higher Education Act (HEA) was reinstated to the body March 27.

Despite opposition from several Senators, Dustin Bayard was readmitted into SGA as a senator as a result of a roll-call vote. While 47 senators were in support of his reinstatement, 12 voted against it and four members abstained from voting.

According to Bayard, after completing a petition to the Senate, a process that is required when joining SGA after Senate elections in the fall, he was told he "could not simply complete a petition to rejoin SGA."

"(Vice President) Preston Powell asked to speak with me about my petition, and he told me that it was not Ôtradition' to reinstate former SGA members," said Bayard.

Bayard contends that his petition (which included the signatures of some 100 students) was turned in to SGA before the Friday, March 23, deadline.

According to Powell, "The decision of reinstatement into Student Government is ultimately up to the discretion of the Vice President of SGA, who is also the president of the Senate. In the past, there has been an Ôunwritten rule,' a tradition, where we usually do not reinstate any former members."

Bayard said he "protested tradition, because it (tradition) is not a part of the constitutional by-laws of Student Government."

After a long meeting with Bayard, Powell finally allowed Bayard to formally address the Senate body at the SGA meeting last Tuesday. Bayard was instructed to tell the senators why he should be allowed to rejoin SGA.

While most senators were in favor of Bayard's reinstatement, some members of SGA were opposed to it.

Senator Marsha Moore, a member of the Rules Committee and the Chairperson Pro-Tempore of the Elections Committee, was opposed to the reinstatement. "I just feel like exceptions should not be made," she said.

Moore continued, "Dustin is a great guy, and I like him a lot, but I just think that he should have waited until next semester so that he could be officially voted in by the students."

In his address to the Senate, Bayard assured the senators that "Student Government is something that I really want to do again. ... It is it something that I have more time to devote to now."

Powell also indicated "this is the first time that anything like this has ever happened in Student Government."

However, Powell himself was against Bayard's reinstatement because "he has already been in the Senate once this year and should wait until fall semester to rejoin."

Bayard insisted that he was not rejoining SGA just to vote in support of an upcoming, revised version of the Section 484 bill.

"I do have goals for the remainder of this semester," he said. "I am working to try to get Styrofoam use banned in Appalachian Food Services.

"While Styrofoam is not environmentally biodegradable, post-consumer paper products are and Food Services should use it instead of Styrofoam," Bayard said.

Bayard has been reassigned to the SGA Research Committee for the remainder of the semester.

Hospice of Watauga County

What started out as a class project for six Appalachian State University students turned into a heartfelt commitment to the goals of the Hospice organization.

Public relations practices, an upper-level communication course taught by Joan McGregor, requires students to create a public relations campaign for a non-profit organization.

Beth Castelda, Amanda Price, Julia Roberson, Becky Rondinone, Skip Watts and Sarah Whittington chose Hospice of Watauga County as their group's organization.

Hospice is a non-profit organization that targets care for patients with life-limiting illnesses and their loved ones.

It is care provided by a team of professionals in the homes of those patients who have decided that supportive, not curative, care is appropriate for them. The goal of Hospice is not to hasten dying, nor to prolong life. Rather, it affirms life and regards dying as a normal process.

"After working with Hospice on another class project, I thought it would be an ideal organization to target, because they can always use increased community awareness," said Watts, a senior communication major.

The group met with Hospice of Watauga County director Trinja Merit and decided that the focus of the campaign should be to increase early referrals from doctors in Watauga County, and to create community awareness of Hospice's needs.

"Hospice receives only $95 per patient per day," said Merit.

"In many cases, that doesn't come close to the patient's day-to-day medical needs. The cost can be decreased for Hospice if patients are referred to us in the early stages of their illness, so we can provide the maximum benefits possible," she said.

Price, a student from Ashe County, came up with the idea to make ribbons in Hospice's colors for an awareness campaign.

"We decided to deliver baskets of baked goods as a thank you to doctors that refer patients to Hospice. In the baskets, we are also including brochures with ribbons attached, in an effort to explain the services offered by Hospice, and raise awareness of the organization," said Price.

"The ribbons are a way for doctors, nurses and other members of the community to show their support for Hospice and what it contributes to patients and their loved ones," said Whittington.

The Appalachian students put in over 40 hours on this campaign, making nearly 600 ribbons and brochures, which were passed out to 21 doctors' offices around Boone. There were enough ribbons left over for Hospice to use in future campaigns.

"I have done many group projects in my four years at Appalachian, but this was the most worthwhile and rewarding experience of my college career," said Roberson, a senior public relations major. "Hospice is an amazing organization, and this campaign has definitely helped make a difference."

For more information on Hospice, contact Trinja Merit at Hospice of Watauga County, 265-3926, or at http://hospice.boone.net .