The town of Boone and the Academic Integrity Code were topics of concern at Tuesday night’s meeting of the Student Government Association (SGA). 

Mayor Velma Burnley addressed the SGA about issues such as town parking and Appalachian State’s relationship with the town of Boone. 

Mayor Burnley opened her speech talking about the coming of the International Special Olympics to Boone next year.  On Tuesday, it was announced that ASU will provide housing for the Olympians in the campus residence halls. 

Aside from the Special Olympics, Mayor Burnley addressed the issue of Boone’s growing population, due to the university and the migration of private citizens to Boone.  Boone’s town council recently passed a resolution in support of limiting the growth of the ASU, said Burnley. 

Because of the development Boone has undergone from the population increase, a great deal of water runoff has caused flooding throughout the town.  Mayor Burnley offered several solutions to the problem. 

One residential area located near the armory is frequently flooded. The residents of these homes are being relocated, and the land is going to be used for a park.  “Sometimes a problem can turn into an opportunity”, said Burnley. 

The park will be built on 13 acres of land that cannot be developed due to the floods. 

It will focus on entertaining all age groups and will create an opportunity for those with low incomes to have a place for entertainment. 

There are also plans to move the nursing home from its current location.  It, too, is experiencing problems due to flooding. 

Along with the nursing home and park projects, there is some hillside property on Rivers Street that will be dedicated to use for hiking trails and other outdoor projects. 

The mayor also plans to renovate Howard Street. There are plans to install more lighting and benches and to plant more trees.  Burnley said that she wanted Howard Street to be a link between the town and the university. 

This project will cost an estimated $770,000. 

One of the largest projects being taken on is the widening of Highway 321. It will be widened to five lanes at the intersection with Highway 421 and will have sidewalks and bike lanes on either side. 

Hully Gully Music and the BP station on the corner of 321 and 421 will be moved due to the widening. 

There are planned crosswalks to be located at the Daniel Boone Inn, Plymouth Trace Apartments and at the completed Convocation Center. 

Burnley made it very clear that these problems around the town and the university need to be fixed.  “Students may not even want to come here if we cannot address the problems,” she said in reference to the importance of ASU to the town of Boone. “Appalachian really is the lifeblood and is the biggest advantage that the town of Boone has.” 

Chairperson of the Student Academic Integrity Committee Jake Parker spoke after Mayor Burnley. He addressed the SGA about the proposed revision of the Academic Integrity Code. 

Parker referred to  a 1993 poll in which 74 percent of ASU students said that they had witnessed cheating at school. 

The Academic Integrity Committee is comprised of students and faculty. 

The faculty committee is dedicated to taking away opportunities for students to cheat, such as changing tests every semester. 

The student committee is responsible for coming up with a student academic integrity pledge and revising the Academic Integrity Code. 

According to Parker, during the presidential election, 80 percent of the students that did vote, voted “yes” on a referendum requiring that students sign an academic integrity pledge with each test, quiz, and homework assignment. 

Parker also said that there are three major changes to the proposed Academic Integrity Code. 

Primarily, the code will be easier to understand. The code will also be worded in a manner that  will be defensible in court. 

The third goal in the change of the code is to make ASU a leader in academic integrity. 

One suggestion is to have all applicants sign an academic integrity pledge with their applications. 

“It’s foolish to expect this code to eradicate every instance of cheating at Appalachian,” said Parker.  “Instead, the code is designed to make a climate change.” 

The pledge is intended to serve the purpose of having students think twice about cheating when the opportunity arises.