NOW calls for revocation of KA 
Leslie Hitchcock Editor-In-Chief 

Campus NOW (the campus chapter of the National Organization for Women) has called for the revocation of Kappa Alpha Order’s charter at Appalachian State University. 

The petition follows on the heels of the university suspension of Kappa Alpha Order and Sigma Nu fraternity, and requests that the University “permanently revokes the charter of the Kappa Alpha Order.” 

“We don’t want that kind of organization at Appalachian State because women are unsafe at their parties,” said NOW advisor Eva Hyatt. “We want the University to make a statement.” 

Hyatt hopes to get several thousand signatures to bring to the university administration. 

NOW states in their petition they find KA an embarrassment to the Greek community at Appalachian State because of their violation of university rules. They also state in the petition they find the Interfraternity Council “not impartial” to KA in the hearing on the university violations. 

University spokesman Bob Schafer was not available for comment. 

NOW plans to present the petition to university officials on Thursday, March 9. 

KA and Sigma Nu were suspended by the university after they held a joint bid party on Feb. 4. The suspension came after it was reported the two fraternities had the party without a guest list and security. 
 

Slave owner letters enveiled 
Tiffany Fant Multicultural Beat 

On Monday, Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. and the Black Student Association (BSA) presented the Willie Lynch letters. 

Willie Lynch was a Caribbean slave owner who traveled the south teaching southern slave owners how to break their slaves. Lynch wanted to 
teach the southerners how to get “good sound economic and pleasure” from their slaves. 

Phi Beta Sigma and BSA focused on three major themes of the letters: the destruction of the black male image, role reversal of the male and female and the power of language. These three themes are what led to the destruction of the black family. 

Alphonso Basemore, member of Phi Beta Sigma, presented the destruction of the black male image. Basemore opened his presentation with poetry. “I believe that poetry is a powerful way to convey ideas,” said Basemore. 

The poem he opened with was an original and it was called “Yes I’m Distressed.”  Afterwards, he began to point out how Willie Lynch began the process of breaking the black male image.  

Lynch said in his letters, “take the most relentless n****r and...tie each part of his body to a horse in opposite directions.” Basemore pointed out that the quartering of the black male in front of “the other weak n****r males, the n****r female, and the n****r child” resulted in them feeling unprotected. 

The presentation also involved the audience through discussion. In the section on role reversal, the audience had a lot to contribute. 

“I feel that a balance needs to be shown...men don’t need to dominate all the time and women don’t either...they need to work together,” said Tyrone Brooks. 

Ideas of how to change the current phenomena of the Willie Lynch letters were discussed as well. The audience came to a consensus that the current generation needs to reach out towards the younger generation. 

The program wanted to bring to the light some of the current issues facing the African-American community today. 

It also wanted to motivate the African-American community to step into action and become world changers. 
 

Big things happen under the 'Big Top' 
Kathryn Booze Police Beat 

On Friday, Feb. 25, the Alan Zembini Circus came to Boone for two performances. The circus was held at the National Guard Armory on Hunting Hills Lane in Boone. 

The circus received some opposition from the ASU chapter of People for Animal Liberation, or PAL, as it is commonly referred to. PAL members distributed literature to circus-goers, held a sign reading “Circus: No fun for Animals” and chanted to cars going onto Hunting Hills Lane. 

At 1:15 a.m., Corporal Randy Brown was training and exercising the Boone police dog, Evita, when he observed three white males leading two camels and a miniature pony from the armory. Evita also sensed there was something strange going on and began chasing the three males. As she got closer, the boys dropped the lead ropes to the animals and ran towards Anne Marie Drive. 

As other officers arrived, the three suspects were apprehended and arrested. After their leaders left, the animals started back toward the armory and were returned to the circus unharmed. 

The perpetrators, Andrew Robert Natusch, 18; Jordan Adam Queen, 18 and Seth Patrick Miller, 17; were charged with one count each of larceny, trespassing and underage alcohol consumption. They were all released to parental custody by the Watauga County Magistrate. 

Their court date is set for April 12, 2000. 
 

Goodbye Welborn Hall 
John T. Bennett Administration Beat 

Out with the old, in with the new. 

As part of the administration’s 10-year Campus Master Plan, Welborn Cafeteria will be replaced by a new central dining hall to be built where Broome-Kirk Gymnasium currently stands. 

The 80,000 square-foot dining facility is currently slated for construction in 2003, but Director of Appalachian Food Services Ron Dubberly said, “we need the new facility now, because the administration plans not to begin construction until the new student recreation center is fully operational, so the project could be pushed back until 2004.” 

The likelihood of the beginning phases of construction being delayed could mean that the new dining hall will not open until the 2005-06 academic year. 

Welborn is the oldest building on the Appalachian State University campus, with the main portion built in 1925. Vice Chancellor for Business Affairs Jane Helm stressed the need for a new dining hall due to the age and poor condition of Welborn Hall. 

“The infrastructure of the building is shot,” said Dubberly in an interview Wednesday. 

The most pressing of a long list of problems facing Welborn are the poor conditions of the plumbing and electrical systems, as well as the presence of asbestos. 

Helm said the new dining hall will cost an estimated $16-$18 million, but warned that figure could change due to the unpredictable nature of construction costs over the next five to 10 years. 

It would have cost the university approximately $8 million to bring the inside of Welborn Hall up to code, and an additional $4-$5 million to renovate the outside of the building. 

Dubberly said after receiving that estimate from contractors, combined with the  realization that yet another costly renovation of Welborn would be necessary in five or six years, the university felt it would be financially wiser to move forward with the plans for the new central dining hall. 

The new dining hall will be the third step of a four-phase construction process that the administration hopes to have completed in the next 10 years. 

The sequence will begin with the construction of a new student recreation center that will serve as a replacement for Broome-Kirk Gym. That facility will be located between Trivette Hall and Kidd-Brewer Stadium. 

Demolition of Broome-Kirk will be the second step of the sequence and will clear the way for construction of the new central dining hall. The fourth and final phase will be the demolition of Welborn Hall, which was last renovated in 1988. 

Welborn will have to remain operational until the new dining hall is complete because it serves between 6,000-7,000 meals each day. 
 

National Nutrition Month promoted at ASU 
Zaneta Wood Organizations Beat 

The Appalachian Student Dietetic Association (ASDA) is promoting National Nutrition Month ® of March on March 6. 

National Nutrition Month ® is a nutrition education and information campaign sponsored annually by the American Dietetic Association Foundation. 

The campaign is designed to focus attention on the importance of making well-informed food choices and developing sound eating and physical activity habits. 

ASDA will have a contact table in the Student Union to inform students about mainstream fad diets, give diet assessments and calorie counts and serve fruits and vegetables. 

The slogan for this year is “Food & Fitness: Health for a Lifetime.” 

This slogan reinforces the importance of nutrition and physical activity as key components of a healthy lifestyle. 

Members of the Appalachian Student Dietetic Association are students pursuing a degree in nutrition to become registered dietitians. 

These students are affiliated with the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences and take enough sciences to be only two hours away from a degree in chemistry. 

They take courses in exercise science and learn the “science of nutrition.” 

“We don’t design diets or come up with little rules like the food pyramid,” said Amanda Sawyer, member of the ASDA, “we actually compile formulas of liquid nutrition for patients in hospitals or maybe help increase performance for sports teams with special diets.” 

Students earning a Bachelor of Science degree in nutrition must also participate in 900 hours of an internship in a clinical setting and take a licensing exam. 

For more information, you can visit their website at www.eatright.org, contact Amanda Sawyer at 266-5902 or e-mail her at AS23061@appstate.edu. 

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