Wednesday, December, 1 2010Volume 53, Issue 12

Upcoming national banof alcoholic energy drinks

page 3present on UNCA campus

News

page 8

Arts & Features

phot

o by

Ste

ven

Hall

Local group offers supportfor Asheville’s homeless

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Local band Now You See Themplans December show at the Grey

page 9 Eagle with Holy Ghost Tent Revival

A recent partnership between UNC Asheville and local government helped create awareness and support for the millions of Americans without a place to call home.

“This city of Asheville, not that long ago, developed a partnership with UNCA, and this joint work on the homelessness and hunger awareness week is a perfect example of that part-nership in action,” said Amy Sawyer, coordinator of the Asheville Home-less Initiative, a program seeking long-term solutions for homelessness.

The UNCA Key Center for Service Learning, in collaboration with the Asheville Homeless Initiative, recently participated in National Homelessness and Hunger Awareness Week. Events included a week-long food drive and a reading and showing of The Soloist.

“Most of the people who came to the book discussion were either homeless or formerly homeless individuals,” said Laura Furey, associate director for the Key Center.

The center also set up a table in the Highsmith Union for the week, deliv-ering information about homelessness and issuing pledges to people who wished to help the cause.

“We had about 45 people sign the pledges, so that was great as well,” Furey said.

All food donations will go to the Emma Family Resource Center, a lo-cal food pantry and resource center for struggling families. Furey said the Key Center chose Emma due to its local-ized distribution rather than a larger organization such as the MANNA FoodBank.

“We’re keeping it local,” Furey said.

For the project, the Key Center col-laborated with the Asheville Homeless Initiative. Sawyer said it focuses on implementing a 10-year plan to end homelessness.

“Our basic goal is to implement the 10-year plan, which will end chronic homelessness and reduce all types of homelessness over the next decade by investing resources and a coordinat-

ed, sustained effort that addresses the underlying causes of homelessness,” Sawyer said.

Sawyer said the initiative attempts to find long-term solu-tions to the home-lessness problem, rather than short-

term fixes. According to a 2005 con-gressional research report, there are anywhere from half a million to 2.5 million homeless people in the United States.

“Our basic premise is that the best and only known solution to homeless-

ness is housing,” Sawyer said. “So, we focus on helping people access hous-ing and also the ser-vices that they may need to keep that housing.”

Sawyer said the project was a collab-orative effort and a

combination of federal, state, and lo-cals funds support the initiative.

“The project works with service providers, businesses, residents and people experiencing homelessness in a

Wednesday, December 1, 2010{T h e B l u e B a n n e r }

See HOMELESS Page 7

NewsPage 2

Steven Hall/contributing photographerA homeless man, Fred, sits under the I-240 overpass on Lexington Avenue. The Asheville Homeless Initia-tive collaborated with the UNCA Key Center on implementing a 10-year plan to end homelessness.

Key Center works with local initiative to end homelessnessTrevor Metcalfetometcal@unca.edu

staff writer

Laura Furey Eric Boyce

Kate Santos/staff photographer Mark Gibson, a homeless man, lives on the streets of Asheville.

Publicity concerning recent hospi-talizations of college students around the country led UNC Asheville admin-istrators to alter the alcohol and sub-stance policy, according to Melanie Rhodarmer, director of residential education.

“We haven’t had any incidents our-selves (with the substances), but it seems like nationwide every time I turned on my television in the morn-ing there were more and more inci-dents. As I did research, it just seems like there was a great opportunity for there to be some hospitalizations, and we just really wanted to head that off before anything negative happened,” she said.

The caffeinated alcohol beverage Four Loko is one of the substances that is now banned on UNCA’s cam-pus, according to Rhodarmer.

“One Four Loko is equivalent to four beers,” Rhodarmer said.

One Four Loko has 170 milligrams of caffeine while a normal cup of cof-fee has about 70 milligrams, according to Rhodarmer.

“When people drink that amount of alcohol without the caffeine, you can feel that you’re intoxicated,” she said. “With the caffeine, you can’t tell (you’re intoxicated), so people con-sume more than they would normally to an unhealthy amount, and so that seems to be the real problem with it.”

Another effect of drinking Four Loko is irritability and anxiety, which have caused some of the problems with the hospitalizations more than the alcohol intake, according to Rhodarmer.

“It causes people’s judgments to be effected greatly, and they might do things that they wouldn’t normally,” she said.

Synthetic marijuana substances like K2 and Spice Gold are also now banned on campus, according to Rho-darmer.

“With the K2 and the Spice, those are synthetic versions of marijuana and they really don’t know exactly what chemicals are in those,” she said.

UNCA student Mary White, 20, has smoked K2 in the past and said the synthetic chemicals are not healthy.

“I personally do not really like the

high I got from it,” the biology student said. “It only lasted for a short time, but it was really intense and I also had trouble sleeping. It freaked me out

that I was smoking something that had been sprayed with man-made chemi-cals.”

White, a Fairview native, said K2

comes in different types and different prices. She said smoking natural mari-juana is a better option than smoking the synthetic materials.

“I have read articles with doctors saying that K2 has none of the health benefits that we are recently seeing in weed,” she said. “It’s like the differ-ence between organic and processed food.”

Even though K2 has negative health benefits, it offers students a legal al-ternative to smoking marijuana, White said.

“I do not support K2 in general. However, I do not think it should be banned from campus because it is a legal option that students had as op-posed to smoking weed, which they would surely get in trouble for,” she said. “It seemed like a good option for students who did not want to risk smoking weed, but still wanted to have some fun.”

If a student is caught with either sub-stance, they will have to undergo what is known as a citizenship education process, according to Rhodarmer.

“We’ll probably send them through and give them the first-time substance violation, which is commonly going through an effective decision-making class and doing some community work hours, unless it was a serious offense and then there might be some more consequences associated with it,” she said.

Rhodarmer sent an e-mail to the campus community alerting them to the new policy change that became ef-fective Nov. 18.

“I’ve had about five responses to the e-mail I sent out,” she said. “Most of those were positive.”

Rhodarmer said she understands the policy is new and might be confusing to students.

“I encourage anybody who really has a problem to talk to me about it and let’s consider it as we move for-ward and see what happens with the substances permanately,” she said.

If a student is caught with a sub-stance off campus, the severity of the violation would determine how a stu-dent would be disciplined, Rhodarmer said.

“If it was minor and off campus, it may result in a warning. If it was major, then they would have to go through our process and do some more sanctions other than just a warning,” she said.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010 {T h e B l u e B a n n e r } Page 3

“I do not support K2 in general. However, I do not think it should be banned from cam-pus because it is a legal option that students

had as opposed to smoking weed.”– Mary White, UNCA student

Recent hospitalizations prompt policy changes Ashleigh Joyneramjoyner@unca.edu

news editor

Megan Dombroski/photography editorUNCA has recently banned Four Loko, a caffeinated alcoholic drink that contains 170 milligrams of caffeine. The campus has also banned synthetic marijuana substances like K2 and Spice Gold.

The Pages Opening People Project, a literacy advocacy nonprofit organi-zation, challenges all electronic book receivers to give back what they get, according to POP secretary and UNC Asheville graduate Sarah Giavedoni.

“It’s the paper-to-bytes program,” Giavedoni said. “We thought it would be far more creative and kind of re-mind people that as they update their libraries to think of others. With the growing popularity of e-books and all things digital, we are challenging people who get Kindles or other e-book devices to donate one real paper book to a charity this season for every e-book they receive.”

Project director and fellow UNCA graduate Jim MacKenzie said his re-search in e-book sales statistics led to the idea for the unconventional book promotion.

“I saw a lot of research and believable figures that the e-book and the Kindle are going to be some of the hottest selling items this Christmas season. I saw one estimate that they’re prob-ably going to sell well over $1 billion worth during the Christmas season. That’s a lot of money. We’ve crunched the numbers and figured that’s a lot of books,” MacKenzie said.

The POP Project began in 2009 and continues due to the help of UNCA graduates, including Giavedoni, MacKenzie and treasurer Alex Fisher.

MacKenzie said he originally got the idea for the organization from an issue in his personal life.

“I have a pen pal on death row in North Carolina, Melvin Hardy,” MacKenzie said. “He told me how much he loves to read and how much of a lack of books there were for him. I found that many people make it a very low priority to make sure that a lot of the inmates, especially those on death row, get books. I figured starting a nonprofit would be one of the best ways to facilitate getting books.”

POP delivered books to death row prisons in a few states and also distrib-uted books locally.

This October, they conducted a Span-ish language book drive with UNCA’s Hispanic student group HOLA.

“We took them one of our drop boxes and sent them some informational ma-terial about the drive itself and about

the need for Spanish language books. They helped us by trying to gather as many books as they could,” Giavedoni said.

According to Mackenzie, not only does the group want to make books available, they also want to promote reading as a hobby and an activity.

“We feel it’s also our job to advo-cate for books,” Mackenzie said. “For

years, study after study shows that children, adults, and senior citizens are all reading less and less. We want to let people know that it is OK to read. You shouldn’t be ashamed of reading. You should be proud of literacy.”

MacKenzie said POP will devote much of their holiday time to the bytes-for-books challenge, which be-gan on black Friday.

“We have a Facebook page which is easy to get to, and I’m going to be trying to raise as much awareness of it through interviews and appearances,” MacKenzie said.

MacKenzie said in spreading the gift of literature, it is also important to practice and promote the act of read-ing.

“Keep reading,” MacKenzie said. “You are not alone. Be proud of lit-eracy. Make sure that when you’re out reading, you hold your book high. Don’t sit in the corner and cover it up. Be proud, show people that reading and literacy is nothing to be ashamed of.”

According to Giavedoni, amid all the shoppers donating and giving gifts this season, it is important to remem-ber books.

“There’s a constant need for books in prisons, children’s programs, wom-en’s shelters, homeless shelters, even through churches. This is the season for donating, and books are definitely an item that shouldn’t be overlooked,” Giavedoni said.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010{T h e B l u e B a n n e r }Page 4

“With the growing popularity of e-books and all things digital, we are challenging people who get Kindles or other e-book

devices to donate one real paper book to charity this season.”

– Sarah Giavedoni, Pages Opening People Project member

Photo courtesy of Jim MacKenzie Jim MacKenzie, left center, and Sarah Giavedoni, right center, stand with other members of the Pages Opening People Project. The project aims to encourage people holiday shopping for e-books, like Kindles, to donate paper books to those who aren’t able to buy their own books.

Alumni project encourages community readingTeresa Linntclinn@unca.edu

staff writer

Despite a tough economy and state-wide budget cuts, Chris Miller said he hopes UNC Asheville employees continue to participate in the State Em-ployees Combined Campaign, which gives employees the opportunity to donate to charities straight out of their paychecks.

“Last year’s goal was based on a monetary amount,” said Miller, chair of the SECC. “With the economy the way it is, we decided this year to focus less on monetary donations and em-phasize general participation more.”

The SECC started in 1986, and since

that time, North Car-olina state employ-ees have raised more than $70 million in donations. Last year, UNCA raised almost $40,000 in the cam-paign.

This number was 4 percent lower than the amount donated

in 2008 and represents a larger trend across the state university system, ac-cording to the SECC.

UNCA was one of 12 state institu-tions that saw a drop in donations from 2008 to 2009. Of the remaining five state schools, only two saw increases in donations of more than 6 percent.

Brenda McKin-ney, director of business services, finance and opera-tions, said although the program focused on full-time employ-ees, any donation is welcome.

“Since the program involves monthly

payroll deduction as the means of do-nating, it’s primarily aimed at full-time faculty and staff, but if a temporary employee wanted to come in and write a check, we certainly wouldn’t refuse it,” she said.

The SECC gives employees the op-tion to allot a set amount to be taken

out of their paycheck every month. The campaign requires a minimum paycheck deduction of $5 per month, and all donations are tax-deductible.

Chrissy Wise, office assistant for the education department, said there are also several other ways to contrib-ute to the program.

“If you can’t do the monthly payroll deductions, there are other options,” she said. “You can do either a cash do-nation or check. We also except credit card payments, so there are plenty of ways people can get involved,” Wise said.

Apart from donation options, Miller said with more than 1,000 charities to choose from, employees were sure to

Wednesday, December 1, 2010 {T h e B l u e B a n n e r } Page 5

See CHARITY Page 7

Faculty members donate paychecks to charitiesJeremiah Reeedjjreed@unca.edu

staff writer

Chrissy WiseChris Miller

Kate Santos/staff photographerZach Samuels reads a selection of his work to family members, fac-ulty and his peers at the literature department’s final presentation.

Literature students showcase work at readingChris Kanecmkane@unca.edu

staff writer

Imgaine writing a prequel to one of the classic works of Western literature. Then imagine doing it in one semes-ter.

Eight graduating seniors read selec-tions from their work to an audience of family members, faculty and UNC Asheville students on Nov. 21. For some writers, such as Christina Ayers, a 31-year-old literature student with a concentration in creative writing, using personal topics in their work is therapeutic.

“Although I sometimes feel vulner-able about exposing my emotions, that’s how I function as a poet,” she said. “I have always been a bit of an exhibitionist with my emotions.”

This is not to say the readings were not without moments of levity or works that were less personal, such as Zach Samuels’ drama about the in-terrelationships between three room-mates. Three UNCA students, John Coggin, Sydney Hubbard and Thor Thobaissen staged and acted out the piece. The state’s poet laureate, Cathy Smith Bowers, inspired Sally Parish’s piece, and her work was grounded in a nature-centric setting and accompa-nied by music.

McCarter is a Miami native and literature student with a concentra-tion in creative writing. Her prequel to Milton’s epic poem was based on a thematic element in Paradise Lost, encapsulated by the angel Raphael’s assertion that Adam be “lowly wise” and stop asking questions.

Curiosity and Eve’s disobedience were the starting point for McCarter, who said her work was “an attempt to satiate that curiosity.”

Her use of free form poetry, as op-posed to the metered verse style Mil-ton used, was based on the fact that her work was a prequel to Paradise Lost.

“Milton and his contemporaries be-lieved that metered verse reflected the order and harmony of God’s universe. Because a number of my poems take place before God and his little universe had been created, as well as outside of the literary Christian paradigm of God’s character, an organic free form makes more sense to my narrative,” she said.

McCarter argued the gender inequal-ity and the archaic views of women represented in literature originating around the time of Paradise Lost are issues with which Milton struggled. She chose, in her work, to portray Eve in a positive light, dismissing the an-

See READINGS Page 7

Renee Bindewaldrmbindew@unca.edu

staff writer

A Thanksgiving break burglary at the Grove apartment complex near UNC Asheville robbed several students of video game systems, laptops, cameras and other valuables.

“When I walked into my room I saw clothes thrown everywhere, I saw glit-ter all over my bed,” said AB-Tech student Ricky Villatoro.

Several apartments in the 300 and 500 buildings were broken into during the break, according to residents.

UNCA senior Danny Baatz said the robbers most likely entered through windows on the ground level.

“The beginning of the school year, someone broke the window, and the Grove came and replaced it, and I

guess when they re-placed it they didn’t lock it, so we never looked at it,” Baatz said.

Baatz said thieves nabbed two gaming systems, a safe and an iPod. Villatoro reported two lap-tops, a GPS and a

camera missing.The Asheville police department

said they are currently investigating the break-ins, but had no other in-formation available. During the last 12 months, the police received eight reports of burglary and 24 reports of larceny at the apartments, according to the Asheville police crime mapper.

Baatz said he and his roommates talked to police and gave them se-

rial numbers to help them find stolen items.

“So, if stuff gets pawned, we can get it back,” Baatz said.

Villatoro said Grove administrators sent out an e-mail before Thanksgiv-ing warning students to lock windows, doors and to secure valuables before break.

“Just by sending out that e-mail, it basically says that they’re not respon-sible,” Villatoro said.

Baatz said the robbery was not an isolated incident.

“Right at the end of summer, some-one broke my car windows and stole my iPod and my GPS,” Baatz said.

Baatz thought the crimes followed a cyclical nature.

“It seems like it comes in waves. When my car window got broken out, there were two or three others out in

the parking lot that got busted out,” Baatz said.

When asked about the burglaries, Grove staff declined to comment.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010{T h e B l u e B a n n e r }Page 6

“When I walked into my room I saw

clothes thrown everywhere.”

– Ricky Villatoro, AB-Tech student

Presenting at the undergraduate re-search symposium is a nerve-wrack-ing experience, especially due to the schedule, according to many students.

“I will be able to attend one of my classes and go to work, but if my pre-sentation runs overtime I will not be able to attend my last class,” said Wil-la Smith, junior sociology student. “As far as finishing my paper and my reading while preparing for the panel discussion, well, I probably will not be sleeping the night or two before.”

The 20-year-old said she was not sure how she was going to balance her day between class and presenting.

Students who present in the fall have to balance their classes and any work they have to turn in that day in addition to preparing for their presentation.

Associate professor in psychology and director of the undergraduate research program Mark Harvey said, “Unfortunately, we always have classes during the fall symposium.

Only for the spring symposium are classes suspended.”

Many students who presented said they did not initially realize that class-es would be held the day of the sympo-sium because they remembered classes being canceled in the spring.

Senior interdisciplinary studies student Asha Purohit, 21, said she was upset because she did not know there would be classes on Tuesday un-til only a couple of days beforehand.

Until then, she said she was under the impression they would be canceled

for the day of the symposium.“I mean, it sucks because you want

your friends to be able to come,” Puro-hit said. “It’s a really important time.”

Purohit’s family came to Asheville from Charleston, S.C., to see her pre-sentation on human rights concerning the cultural myths and belief systems of developing countries for those born with cleft lips and cleft palates.

The undergraduate research pro-gram at UNC Asheville was founded in 1985.

There were 27 sessions with multi-

ple student presentations during Tues-day’s symposium between 12:15 and 6:25 p.m.

They were held in five different buildings, including Owen Hall and Highsmith Student Union.

According to the fall symposium program, research is a point of pride for the university that they encourage and celebrate.

Senior Kate Cubbler, 22, was a member of the integrating service learning panel with Smith.

She presented a separate project for her major on treatment options for Buncombe County children with autism whose families have financial struggles.

Cubbler said she was not really sure what to expect going into the sympo-sium.

Cubbler said she was unaware she would have to present a little more than an hour after her morning class.

“I didn’t really expect to have class on the fall symposium day,” Cubbler said. “I know for the spring sympo-sium they cancel classes, and I thought it would be the same for the fall.”

Thanksgiving break-ins shake Grove residentsTrevor Metcalfetometcal@unca.edu

staff writer

Ricky Villatoro

Research symposium schedule stresses students

Renee Bindewaldrmbindew@unca.edu

staff writer

“Unfortunately, we always have classes during the fall symposium. Only for the spring

symposium are classes suspended.”– Mark Harvey,

associate psychology professor and director of the undergraduate research program

Canceled classes could help student presenters

partnership together to address home-lessness,” she said.

Sawyer said so far, the project has experienced success.

“Our last point in time count has over 300 people accessing permanent supportive housing, which is great. We expect to continue to see that type of success,” Sawyer said.

UNCA Police Chief Eric Boyce said although there have been no re-cent reports of homeless persons resid-ing on campus grounds, the unit has responded to situations in the past.

“We have assisted them in finding a homeless shelter,” Boyce said.

The Key Center directed its attention toward the awareness of homelessness for one week, but Furey, who is also a representative for the volunteer group Americorps, said the center also spe-cializes in service learning.

“Service learning is incorporating service into your course work,” Furey said.

Furey said the Key Center works

with professors to create projects and classwork with a focus on service, such as volunteering at nonprofits or presenting at local schools.

“The great thing about it is you re-ally get some practical applications of what you’re learning in class, and I think it’s more marketable to employ-ers and graduate schools,” she said.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010 {T h e B l u e B a n n e r } Page 7

Readings C o n t i n u e d f r o m P a g e 5

CharityC o n t i n u e d f r o m P a g e 5

cient Christian view of the Biblical character.

This level of thought behind each student’s work is also reflected in Ay-ers’ poetry, in which she translated emotions from her life experiences into three segments of poetry collec-tions: “The Pagan and the Pentecost,” “The Water Bowl” and “Hours of a Sunday.”

“I’ve developed a lot as a writer this semester,” she said.

Ayers said she honed the process of redrafting to ensure her themes and concepts were well-defined with her choice of words.

Her first collection of poems, “The Pagan and the Pentecost,” was titled after a friend who initiated a Pentecos-tal prayer for Ayers’ husband, who is afflicted with a serious illness.

“She was speaking in tongues,” Ayers said. “The experience was in-tense.”

Ayers’ friend found solace through her religion, which helps her deal with

troubling and difficult circumstances. The poems touch on the ways in which people deal with a harsh and unforgiv-ing world.

The interrelationship between facul-ty and students in the creative writing department, according to the seniors, was an integral part of the writing pro-cess. Ayers said she enjoys the small class sizes, the demanding but pas-sionate professors and the incorpora-tion and study of literature.

find a cause that appealed to them.“There are charities that focus on

local work here in the Asheville Bun-combe County area, all the way up to charities that are on the national or in-ternational level, so there are numer-ous causes that employees can donate to,” he said.

Charitable donations can be applied to a multitude of different areas, from educational funding or low-cost hous-ing to domestic violence shelters or en-vironmental protection.

Last year’s biggest donations went to MANNA FoodBank, the United Way of Asheville and the UNC Asheville Foundation, all of which received more than $4,300.

McKinney said employees were no-tified in several ways about the oppor-tunity to participate in the SECC.

“Employees should have received forms in their mailboxes as well as brochures and letters about the pro-gram. There were also e-mails sent out to faculty letting them know where our donation drop-off locations are,” McKinney said.

UNCA set a goal of 40 percent par-ticipation among employees.

“Service learning is incorporating ser-

vice into your course work.”

– Laura Furey, associate director the

Key Center

Homeless C o n t i n u e d f r o m P a g e 2

“I’ve developed a lot as a writer this

semester.”– Christina Ayers, literature student

Wednesday, December 1, 2010{T h e B l u e B a n n e r }Page 8

Campus Events

Astronomy ClubReuter Center 206Thursday,6 p.m.

“A Jolly Life,” Christmas in a Muslim countryHumanities Lecture HallThursday,7 p.m.

Holiday Concert peformed by Studio 18 Jazz Ensemble Lipinsky Auditorium$5 admissionSunday,4 p.m.

Yoga and meditationclub meetingHighsmith Union 159Monday,4:30 p.m.

Chayon-Ryu martial arts club meetingHighsmith Union 159Monday,6 p.m.

For more campus activities, visit:

www.unca.edu/barker

Photo corner

Megan Dombroski/photography editor The wall located on Riverside Avenue allowed people to paint graffiti legally until last Wednesday. The police will is-sue trespassing citations to anyone caught on the property.

Owner posts no trespassing signs to local graffiti wall

Now You See Them, self-proclaimed as Asheville’s hardest working band, will play a show with Holy Ghost Tent Revival of Greensboro at the Grey Eagle.

“There aren’t a lot of bands that we are that close with, and I think it makes the show a lot more appealing because we are always playing together dur-ing the show,” said Shane Conerty of Now You See Them.

According to Conerty, the Grey Ea-gle is one of the band’s favorite venues to play.

“The hope for this show is that it’s our last local show of the year, it’s at the best venue in town to play a show, in our opinion, and it’s with our favor-ite band to play with. So, it will be fun for us, regardless. We’re just hoping people come out and join us for a spe-cial night,” he said.

Guitars in the corner, their promo-tional poster on the wall and an amp that doubles as a chair all adorn the

house of band members Dulci Ellen-berger, Jason Mencer and Conerty.

When the band moved to Asheville two years ago, they collectively de-cided to give up their jobs and focus solely on their music.

“There was doubt and it’s a risk, but it feels so much better than risking anything else,” said Ellenberger, who plays the acoustic guitar, melodica and sings vocals.

Ellenberger described her time in New York City, where she worked as a bartender, as unfulfilling.

“I got really good at bartending for six years in New York. That does not inspire me. That does not make me feel good,” she said.

While in New York City, Mencer also said he grew tired of his job at a restaurant.

“I was miserable, just working trying to support my dreams. I figured it’d be better to live my dreams to support life,” said the djembe drum and tam-bourine player.

Conerty said when he lived in Van-couver and Australia, he could make a living simply on busking, or street per-

forming, like many people in down-town Asheville.

“It was possible for me to just busk and roll up a bunch of change and get by at the end of the month,” he said.

According to Conerty, this period of his life taught him that he could do without working a real job.

“We can do what we love to do and make a living from it,” Conerty said.

Ellenberger said although it’s not a traditional job and not what most peo-ple do for a living, they work at least 40 hours a week.

“We’ve only been in town for 2 years, almost 2 and a half years, but we’ve done a lot of stuff that a lot of bands that have lived here for a long time haven’t done, because they’re working these jobs,” Conerty said.

The band members said their dedica-tion and lack of outside jobs helps their music careers in Asheville.

Not only does Now You See Them work hard and have positive attitudes, they also have honest ones.

“We’ve got this set up that, not forc-es you, but it makes you more inclined to listen to the words and meanings of

the songs, which is a huge part of our band,” Conerty said.

Conerty plays the acoustic guitar and ukulele, and the band said they prefer a stripped-down sound.

“We walk in with our instruments on our backs and that’s all we have,” Mencer said.

A bass or huge drum kit never drowns out the matter-of-fact lyrics.

“We don’t ever want to be showy. I think if any of us were faking it up on stage, we would hate that. So that’s im-portant, so long as the music is staying true,” Mercer said.

The members of Now You See Them said they all want to stay true to their art and that the lyrics are very impor-tant to them.

“There are bands that we love that are in a great position that haven’t compromised, and they’re popular be-cause their music is good. I think that should be how a band judges their suc-cess. Not by how big you get or how many gold records you have, but by staying true,” Conerty said.

Page 9{T h e B l u e B a n n e r }Wednesday, December 1, 2010Arts & Features

See SHOWPage 10

photo courtesy of Now You See Them

Now You See Them plays with Holy Ghost Tent Revival at Music on the Mountaintop in Boone during the summer.

Katherine Walkerkpwalker@unca.edu

assistant news editor

Asheville band returns to Grey Eagle with Holy Ghost Tent Revival

Math and poetry go together like peanut butter and chocolate, at least according to Patrick Bahls, a faculty member in the math department at UNC Asheville and one of the orga-nizers of the 2010 conference on con-strained poetry at UNCA.

“People are terrified of these ideas separated from each other, but when they’re put together, it really shows off the intimate relationship the two share with one another and allows for such great understanding, understanding poetry through math and math through poetry,” Bahls said. “So much is re-vealed by the two disciplines when they’re brought together.”

Bahls worked with Richard Chess, a professor in the literature and language department at UNCA, to organize the conference. Chess acknowledged the 50th anniversary of the founding of Oulipo, which consisted of a gathering of French-speaking mathematicians and writers who created works using constrained writing techniques.

Examples of constrained writing techniques used in Oulipo include li-pograms, which involve eliminating a letter or group of letters, anagrams and noun replacement. Oulipian works may be original creations or variations of preexisting texts.

Some writers still continue the founders’ formulaic methods, such as poet Lee Ann Brown, who opened the evening before the conference with a presentation and readings.

“I just love the playfulness of lan-guage,” Brown said. “I like to rewrite things that are already there, and the permission to replace, to cross-polli-nate and play.”

The concentration behind Oulipo,

Brown said, is on the process rather than the product.

Many of Brown’s poems are al-terations of preexisting texts, like the Pledge of Allegiance. Her works and the creations of other Oulipo artists often involve applying formulas and constraints to poems, like selecting new nouns from dictionaries to replace original words or using anagrams.

Brian Hart, a senior at UNCA, helped lead one of the conferences involving anagrams, or the rearrange-ment of the letters in words to create new words. This subject is also the topic for Hart’s undergraduate re-search.

“There can arise an art out of the processes and some really good stuff,” Hart said. “It’s a way to kind of turn your conscious mind off trying to make sense of something and just let-ting the imagination be artificial to a certain extent and letting something else take over. With regular, traditional poetry, magic doesn’t always happen either, and this is just another way of approaching a creative process.”

Hart said people still express them-selves through the choices they make as far as which poems and processes

to use.Some question the extent to which

personal art can be created when using automatic computer programs. During the opening presentation, Luke Han-kins, editor of the Asheville Poetry Review, asked Brown about the artis-tic value of purely computer-generated works.

“It can be dangerous to go around prescribing what is and isn’t art, but there are some criteria,” Hankins said. “From my perspective, art is some-thing that’s made and created with intentionality, and there’s an actual medium that the artist is manipulat-ing. You lose intentionality if you use a computer program.”

Only some Oulipo is created using computer programs, and each con-straint varies.

Hankins said the methods still seem reactionary and limited as they pro-duce philosophical or political state-ments rather than products stemming from the desire to create something beautiful and lasting.

“There seems to be a little bit of dif-ference in terms of purpose between the artist who’s writing haikus her whole life or a woman who’s making

beautiful sculptures her whole life, versus someone who’s just trying to come up with a system that reverses everything that comes before, that’s a reaction to what’s come before,” Han-kins said.

He said people who practice Oulipo likely have a different perspective and may experience new possibilities through formulas they would not have thought of before.

“I do write in traditional forms a lot, and I do think it’s true that with meter and rhyme you end up surprising your-self. You end up saying things that you might not have if you weren’t work-ing with form,” Hankins said. “Maybe that’s true to an even greater degree with these more intense experiments.”

Bahls, who often requires his math students to construct poetry as a math-ematical process, said he thinks nar-rowing people’s focus to a limited amount of words, phrases and possi-bilities can be freeing.

“In narrowing your focus, it’s almost like a microscope, because you’re not looking at anything else but what’s underneath the glass at that particular instant,” Bahls said. “You have the keenest, clearest perception as to what it is you’re looking at, and so all of a sudden it’s few words that are taking on such rich possibilities and dramatic new relationships between one another that you wouldn’t have seen before. The potential of these poems is incred-ibly heightened when that’s all you’re allowed to have.”

The conference included workshops and talks dealing with everything from generative art to lipograms to the his-tory of the use of poetry in mathemat-ics.

Participants also shared some of their own Oulipian works as they learned how math and poetry can go hand-in-hand.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010Page 10 {T h e B l u e B a n n e r } Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Constrained poetry does not limit creativity

Show C o n t i n u e d f r o m P a g e 9

“With regular, traditional poetry, magic doesn’t

always happen either, and this is just another way

of approaching a creative process.”

– Brian Hartsenior literature student

Sarah Hinsonsbhinson@unca.edu

staff writer

According to Conerty, Matt Wil-liams will join both bands on the violin and Melissa Hyman will join Now You See Them on the cello.

“We’ll be having a cello and violin sit in with us for our set too. So, that’s exciting for people who know our mu-sic,” Conerty said.

Conerty said the band has been tour-ing more, which has brought them

closer together. They have also started to incorporate

new instruments.“We’ve got some new instruments,

like a keyboard and a high-hat, which have expanded the sound. We’ve been trying to write in different styles of music than we’re used to, and we’ve been playing with a lot more musi-cians, which has also changed things

for the better,” he said.According to Conerty, Holy Ghost

Tent Revival influenced their music and performance style.

“They’ve influenced us in a big way, and I’ve said openly that we’ve taken aspects of their live show and songwriting style and applied it to our band, and they’ve said the same thing about us. So it’s nice to have two bands

that are constantly inspiring each other share the stage whenever they can,” Conerty said.

Now You See Them will take the stage with Holy Ghost Tent Revival on Dec. 17 at the Grey Eagle. The 8 p.m. show is 18 and older and is $10

at the door.

A Swannanoa Solstice, a tradition in its eighth year, is a form of calm for everyone reeling from the shopping madness of the holiday season.

“It reminds people that it is a season to not get so caught up with the fran-tic pace and materialism, but with the beauty of the season,” said Doug Orr, founder of A Swannanoa Solstice.

Amy White, a musician for the event, said the tradition gets people in the mood for the season.

“It’s a time of meditation,” she said. “They get to sit back and listen to mu-sic in a beautiful old theater. It allows time to sit back and relax.”

Orr, who also serves as the emcee of the event, and his wife had the idea of starting a tradition for Asheville that was similar to The Revels, a holiday performance that caught on around the country. Once the couple looked into it, Orr said they realized it was very expensive.

“We decided to do something similar and better connected to local culture and music,” he said.

Their version combined Celtic mu-sic of Scotland and Ireland with Appa-lachian storytelling.

“This area has a definite Scottish bend to it,” said Al Petteway, a gui-tarist for the event. “We know a lot of people who have been here for seven generations or more, so for us to be here for eight years, that’s nothing.”

Petteway and White, his wife, moved to Asheville from Tacoma Park, Md., because of The Swannanoa Gathering.

“The Swannanoa Gathering brought us here. I’ve been coordinating guitar for them for 16 years. Every year, we fell in love with the surroundings.”

The Swannanoa Gathering is held every summer. It is a series of work-shops that allows musicians to come together to teach and learn. Petteway said the gathering sought to keep mu-sic in the community and keep it mov-ing forward.

Orr asked some performers from the workshops to perform in the solstice.

“The whole solstice is an off branch of the gathering,” Petteway said.

“The term comes from the Dec. 22 return of the sun. It is an ancient festiv-ity that encompasses all the traditions of the holiday season,” Orr said.

“It really is a celebration of the time

of year,” White said.Petteway said they try not to cater

specifically to Christians. “It’s interdenominational. That is

why we call it a solstice. All the differ-ent cultures have some sort of celebra-tion around the solstice,” the musician said.

A Swannanoa Solstice opened in 2002 to a nearly sold-out evening per-formance.

“The next year, we had a waiting list, so we opened a matinee performance,” Orr said.

The first shows featured perfor-mances by Petteway and White along with Robin Bullock.

Petteway said during the first show, they played in front of the curtain in Diana Wortham Theatre because “The Nutcracker” was also being performed that weekend, and they were not al-lowed to rearrange the set.

Eventually, they were allowed to open the curtain and use the show’s Christmas tree as part of their perfor-mance.

“Since we are no longer playing the same weekend as ‘The Nutcracker,’ some volunteers and sponsors come and decorate with fresh greenery. They have done a great job, really wonder-ful. It’s evolved into a big show, fam-ily event,” White said.

White and Petteway said they both have been surrounded by music since they were young. “I started playing music when I was 10,” Petteway said. “I started back when The Beatles were popular. I just wanted to be a Beatle.”

White said both her parents were professional classical musicians, but she did not become a musician until later in her life.

“When we got together, I already had a following. We already had a foot in the door,” Petteway said.

The pair plays a mix of Celtic and Appalachian-inspired music. “We mix a lot of instruments and get a lot of textures,” the Grammy winner said. He and his wife also said most of their music is instrumental with few vocals.

Petteway and White received a grant from Warren Wilson College to photo-graph Asheville’s mountains. The pho-tos are included in a slide show during A Swannanoa Solstice.

Petteway said his favorite parts of the show are the more contemplative moments.

“Amy and I do a short set in both halves. We play really ancient tunes

that are almost spooky but beautiful to listen to. They are neat arrangements that go back to the 15th century. I en-joy playing that more. The big happy dance numbers are great for the audi-ence,” he said.

White said her favorite moments change from year to year.

“Sometimes it’s the dancing or pip-ing. It’s fun to play with Robin, who we don’t see a lot,” she said.

“The idea is that it is a tapestry of

music, dance, storytelling, color and images of these mountains. I enjoy the whole picture of it,” Orr said. “We try to include a message about peace and that we are all connected in this world and it is a fragmented time, but we should reach across cultures and con-nect with each other.”

A Swannanoa Solstice takes place on Dec. 19 at the Diana Wortham

Theatre at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Page 11{T h e B l u e B a n n e r }Wednesday, December 1, 2010

photo courtesy of Irene Young

The husband and wife musical duo, Al Petteway and Amy White, will be one of the performing artists at this year’s A Swannanoa Solstice. Petteway is a Grammy-award winning artist. The event serves as a nondenominational seasonal celebration.

Swannanoa Solstice celebrates holiday seasonAnne Louise Bouchardalboucha@unca.edu

staff writer

Page 12 {T h e B l u e B a n n e r } Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Iron and Wine plays Peel

Music department performs holiday favorites

Trevor Metacalfe/staff writer Sam Beam, otherwise known as Iron and Wine, performs at the Orange Peel. Beam began his concert with his acoustic guitar, but by the second half of his show he showed his fans another side of himself as a musical artist with an electric guitar and a full band behind him.

Sam Beam is the rare sort of artist who inspires even when he changes his style mid-show.

“The campfire sing-a-long is over,” Beam said with a chuck-le while switching

styles. “Now it’s time to get nasty.”Beam, under his stage name Iron and

Wine, played an hour-and-a-half set to a sold-out crowd at The Orange Peel on Nov. 15.

Known for his mellow and melan-choly acoustic numbers, Beam has released four studio albums under the Iron and Wine moniker.

Beam’s Southern roots came through in both his music and stage banter. Originally from Chapin, S.C., Beam began making demos on a four-track recorder before signing to Sub Pop records to record his first album, The Creek Drank the Cradle. His populari-ty has grown steadily with each album released, along with use of his music in movies such as Garden State and Twilight.

“I can’t remember these words sometimes,” Beam joked after one number. “Sometimes you end up sing-ing these songs so many times that you’re like, ‘I don’t remember what’s coming next,’ but the way the words fall out is like, ‘Well, that’s cool.”’

Hannah Grace, an art student at UNC Asheville, applauded Beam’s stage presence and humorous interac-tions with the crowd.

“He’s hilarious and has that crazy Southern drawl and was obviously there to please his fans,” Grace said. “His jokes made the show more per-sonal, seeing as they were mostly re-sponses to comments and yells from the crowd.”

The 36-year-old performed the first half of the show alone with his acous-tic guitar, playing crowd favorites like the somber “Trapeze Swinger” and the hopeful “Naked as We Came.”

Trevor Metcalfetemetcal@unca.edu

staff writer

ConcertReview

See CONCERT Page 13

Page 13{T h e B l u e B a n n e r }Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Music department performs holiday favorites Wednesday, December 1, 2010

UNC Asheville’s music depart-ment’s seasonal favorites concert started the holiday season a little early, but audience members didn’t seem to mind.

The Nov. 20 afternoon concert in Lipinsky Auditorium featured works by the orchestra and choruses.

The orchestra started with classical pieces from the “Nutcracker Ballet,” “Greensleeves,” “Christmas Con-certo for Strings,” and a piece from “L’Arlesienne Suite.” The choir joined them after a brief intermission. The de-partment then performed 15 different selections from G. F. Handel’s “Mes-siah.”

Three educational generations repre-senting an array of local Asheville pro-fessionals, including retirees from the Reuter Center for Creative Retirement, UNCA’s chamber symphony and uni-versity singers, as well as Asheville High School students, performed other orchestral favorites.

Audience members with varying degrees of musical appreciation and

knowledge peppered the crowd. Darwin Gentile, from Greens-

boro, drove from Virginia to support 19-year-old sophomore Nikki Gentile during the show.

He was among many in the mostly full crowd who learned it’s custom to stand during the singing of the Halle-lujah Chorus.

When he asked why, his seat neigh-bor explained that at the original per-formance, the audience stood to show their appreciation. It remains a cultur-al tradition and a custom still observed today.

Several musical groups joined to create one show.

UNCA’s orchestra accompanied the choirs with help from the Blue Ridge Orchestra and other local professional groups. Sophomore Lindsey Woodie, a violinist, said she appreciated the sup-port.

According to the program distribut-ed prior to the performance, there were 45 participants in the orchestra.

“We only had 13 students participat-ing in the actual symphony this semes-ter, and the performance called for a bit more,” the multimedia arts and sci-ences student said.

Woodie said most of the perform-ers did not practice together until the Monday before the concert, during the orchestra’s scheduled rehearsal.

“I knew I was a bundle of nerves when I saw all the ink on the pages, especially in ‘Messiah,’” Woodie said. “The music wasn’t as difficult as it looked.”

Sabine Moses, a junior teaching fel-low, also expressed nervousness at the memory of the practice the week be-fore the show.

“I think since everyone was dis-ciplined and responsible enough to know their own material, when we were all together it was mainly prac-ticing cues and set changes,” the Sylva native said.

Woodie’s prior experience was with about 30 to 40 performers, so she said packing the stage with 61 additional singers was a new and exciting experi-ence.

“I loved the mixture between the vo-cals and the instruments in ‘Messiah,’” she said. “The audience really seemed to enjoy it, which is really all that we can ask for.”

Elizabeth Moore, 19, went to sup-port friends in the choir and orchestra,

as well as fulfill a Humanities 214 cul-tural event requirement.

“I typically don’t listen to choral or orchestral music, but I do find it really relaxing,” the French and history stu-dent said. “I like the idea of many indi-viduals and parts being able to produce one coherent piece.”

The sophomore said her favorite part was listening to the orchestra’s version of Georges Bizet’s composition for a theatrical piece “L’Arlesienne Suite,” “Farandole,” as well as the choir’s grand finale of the Hallelujah Chorus.

Moses and Woodie both compli-mented the soloists’ performances, and expressed their excitement at the musical opportunity, which was unlike either had ever performed in before.

“I loved getting multiple groups of singers together. Having the Re-uter Center members and the Ashe-ville High singers join us on a piece like ‘Messiah’ made it so much more memorable, and it was so much fun getting to know people in addition to the class we’ve been in all semester,” Moses said.

“I hope to see that trend continue. I really loved getting to meet so many talented singers,” she said.

Caitlin Hallorancmhallor@unca.edu

staff writer

Sam Beam is the rare sort of artist who inspires even when he changes his style mid-show.

“The campfire sing-a-long is over,” Beam said with a chuckle while switching styles.

“Now it’s time to get nasty.”Beam, under his stage name Iron and

Wine, played an hour-and-a-half set to a sold-out crowd at The Orange Peel on Nov. 15.

Known for his mellow and melan-choly acoustic numbers, Beam has released four studio albums under the Iron and Wine moniker.

Beam’s Southern roots came through in both his music and stage banter. Originally from Chapin, S.C., Beam began making demos on a four-track recorder before signing to Sub Pop records to record his first album, The Creek Drank the Cradle. His populari-ty has grown steadily with each album released, along with use of his music in movies such as Garden State and Twilight.

“I can’t remember these words sometimes,” Beam joked after one number. “Sometimes you end up sing-ing these songs so many times that you’re like, ‘I don’t remember what’s coming next,’ but the way the words fall out is like, ‘Well, that’s cool.”’

Hannah Grace, an art student at UNC Asheville, applauded Beam’s stage presence and humorous interac-tions with the crowd.

“He’s hilarious and has that crazy Southern drawl and was obviously there to please his fans,” Grace said. “His jokes made the show more per-sonal, seeing as they were mostly re-sponses to comments and yells from the crowd.”

The 36-year-old performed the first half of the show alone with his acous-tic guitar, playing crowd favorites like the somber “Trapeze Swinger” and the hopeful “Naked as We Came.”

“It was pretty wicked,” Grace said. “I was beside myself for a few songs, but I managed not to scream like a schoolgirl.”

Beam’s vocals stood out, even among his impressive guitar-picking melodies. When he began to sing, silence filled the hall as he captivated the audience with his perfor-mance. His breathy vocals were practically angelic and provided several moments of musical catharsis throughout the set.

For the second half of the show, Beam brought out a band of five members, includ-ing a drummer, percussionist, guitarist, bassist and backup singer. He performed new ma-terial and reinvented several of his old songs with new ar-rangements.

Crowd reactions to the new tunes were mixed. Some

thought Beam was abandon-ing his old style for something less effective, while fans such as Grace said the shift was positive.

“His newer stuff was great

and kept me captivated the whole time,” she said. “It seems more like him evolving as a musician than simply ‘go-ing electric’ and leaving be-hind his older material. If that

stuff is on his next album, I’ll definitely keep listening.”

Beam’s newer material was indeed different and surpris-ing, but it still bore his signa-ture as a songwriter upon it. It

was refreshing to see an artist exploring new directions in sound and music and refusing to conform to audience expec-tations.

Though Beam is certainly most effective with just his voice and guitar, his new di-rection still managed to im-press.

In particular, his reinven-tions of older songs were very effective. The slow acous-tic number “The Sea and the Rhythm” benefited greatly from its new arrangement. Beam added a deep electronic rumble to the piece, which gave it a trip-hop sound. Other arrangements varied in feel from an Automatic for the People-era REM to early Paul Simon.

Beam proved to be one of the most exciting and refresh-ing artists performing today through his Asheville concert.

Trevor Metacalfel/staff writer Beam performs in his usual element, with an acoustic guitar, at The Orange Peel.

Concert C o n t i n u e d f r o m P a g e 1 2

Wednesday, December 1, 2010{T h e B l u e B a n n e r }Page 14

Photo courtesy of Alyssa Belcher Freshman Alyssa Belcher wears her Sugar Plum Fairy costume for her upcom-ing role in “The Nutcracker” with Asheville Ballet. Belcher said dance remained a large part of her life and it also influenced her decision to attend UNC Asheville. She has been a member of other ballet companies including Orlando Ballet in Florida and Kaatsbaan International Dance Center in New York .

Campus Spotlight

UNC Asheville freshman Alyssa Belcher is no stranger to rehearsals, dressing rooms, tutus and red blush. This year marks her 10th year as a bal-let dancer in the production of “The Nutcracker.”

“I’ve been involved in some pro-duction of ‘The Nutcracker’ since I was about 8 years old,” Belcher said. “Over those years, I’ve performed as a party girl, a rat, a soldier and a cook. ‘The Nutcracker’ definitely holds a very special place in my heart and could easily be considered one of my favorite ballets.”

Belcher, who performs with the Asheville Ballet, will portray the Sugar Plum Fairy and a snowflake in the show. She said she began danc-

ing when she was 3, and has since had the opportunity to dance with several companies.

“I’ve trained mainly in ballet danc-ing, en pointe, but I’ve had a fair amount of modern and jazz dance as well,” the Texas native said. “Over the years, I’ve gotten to perform with a professional company in Texas, Tex-as Ballet Theater, in ‘Dracula,’ ‘Cop-pelia,’ ‘The Nutcracker,’ ‘Sleeping Beauty’ and ‘Alice in Wonderland.’”

Other companies Belcher has danced with include Orlando Ballet in Florida and Kaatsbaan International Dance Center in New York.

Belcher said she found Asheville Ballet online after moving to North Carolina to attend college.

“I visited one class and it ended up fitting perfectly,” the psychology stu-dent said. “I’m able to continue getting professional-level training without the

competition I felt at my previous stu-dios. (Asheville Ballet) is much more relaxed and open to letting everyone push themselves as little or as much as they want to. That’s really freeing and exactly what I want.”

Transforming into the character she is dancing as is one of the most excit-ing aspects of performing, according to Belcher.

“The excitement that surrounds per-forming a show is intoxicating,” she said. “I love it when I get to put my costume on and dance in it for the first time. It really allows me to get completely absorbed in the world the dance is taking place in. The other day I tried on the tutu I’ll be wearing as Sugar Plum Fairy, and for the first time, I felt like a doll, not just a dancer performing a certain role.”

Belcher said the time she devotes to dance in the studio is rewarding, if

exhausting. She dances three hours weekly for class and an additional two hours for rehearsal for “The Nutcrack-er.”

“The amount of time that it takes to learn the dances, rehearse and spend time in the studio or the theater is quite exhausting,” she said. “All the time spent definitely pays off, though.”

According to Belcher, expressing herself through movement is her fa-vorite part of dance productions.

“It’s amazing all the different emo-tions that can be portrayed through movement,” she said. “Whenever I get the chance to really move across the stage and dance full out is when it is most rewarding.”

Asheville Ballet’s “The Nutcracker” takes place Dec. 10, Dec. 11 and Dec. 12 at Diana Wortham Theatre. For more information, visit www.ashevil-leballet.com.

Alyssa Spencerafspence@unca.edu

managing editor

Freshman dances and showcases abilities in Asheville Ballet

Dancer’s ballet

passion and

talents en pointe

Page 15{T h e B l u e B a n n e r }Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Hali Ledfordhdledfor@unca.edu

staff writer

Musician Mickey Hayes helps make wishes come true for children with life-threatening illnesses in West-ern North Carolina through the annual Asheville Make-A-Wish Benefit Con-cert.

“To me, the mind can do a lot of things, and if you put a kid in a good frame of mind and a family in a good frame of mind just for a week and grant their wish, it changes their whole per-spective on what’s going on,” Hayes said.

After spending years touring with musicians such as Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Warren Haynes, Hayes moved from Nashville, Tenn., to Asheville to raise his two sons, who were born with major medical prob-lems.

He said he found an abundance of support from the community and orga-nizations similar to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. He said Make-A-Wish was an organization he strongly be-lieved in because of his own experi-ences with his children, so he decided to become involved with the charity.

“I thought, ‘You know, if I’m going to do something for a charity, I want to do it for something I believe in, not just pick one out of the phonebook,’” Hayes said. “I researched Make-A-Wish and found out what they were all about, and it kind of struck home with me because I felt lucky after meeting some of the kids and some of the se-rious illnesses they have, life-threat-ening illnesses. It made me think that these guys are doing a great job, so I felt it was a natural thing for me.”

Hayes has promoted the show in Asheville for 10 years, but this year marks the event’s third year as the of-ficial Asheville Make-A-Wish Benefit Concert.

“I wanted to be more closely aligned so people would realize from the name of the show what we were doing,” Hayes said.

Since he took over the music jam, more than $80,000 have been raised for the charity. The Orange Peel will host the concert on Thursday night with 100 percent of the proceeds go-ing to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of WNC to grant wishes to children in the area.

“Without them, I don’t think I could have raised what I’ve raised. I knew

that I had to have a really top-notch venue to put on a show that will gener-ate enough excitement to bring in good crowds every year,” Hayes said.

Hayes began working on the show in September, contacting bands and lining up entertainment. This year, the show will include music from Matt Stillwell, the Rock Academy Kids, Avyntra, Contagious, the Sharkadel-ics, Ironside, Crocodile Smile and DJ Moto.

“I’ve been working for the last cou-ple of years trying to bring a national act in, and I finally succeeded this year with Matt Stillwell,” Hayes said. “He’s a fast, up-and-coming country star, originally from Sylva, so he’s a North Carolina boy.”

Sharkadelics guitar player Alton Eddins said the band is happy to play in the concert each year to give back to the community.

“It’s a great cause to raise money for the kids. We’ve been doing it 10 years and it’s really a good thing,” Eddins said. “We don’t play too many chari-ties, but this is one well worth playing for. Hopefully, every time we play it

affords each child an opportunity to get one of their wishes granted, and if we can be any part of that then we’re all about it. It’s just such a joy to see the look on their faces when they’re out there.”

The Make-A-Wish foundation of WNC has completed 40 wishes in the past year for children between the ages of 2 and 18 who have life-threatening medical conditions. On average, a sin-gle wish costs $6,000 to fulfill, accord-ing to Make-A-Wish Regional Direc-tor Carolyn Harrison.

“I would like everyone to know that we are a local charity and we’re hurt-ing too. Our funds are down $30,000 from last year,” Harrison said. “Wishes are funded through contributions. We don’t have any government assistance. It’s strictly companies, corporations and individuals that donate money.”

Harrison said most young children wish for a trip to Disney World while older children choose shopping sprees, cruises, a computer, college tuition or a room makeover.

“We try to fulfill their wishes wheth-er they want to be a cheerleader at Car-

olina or the Cowboys or they want to become a model,” Harrison said.

According to Harrison, Make-A-Wish of WNC does not deny a wish as long as the child is eligible.

“They know upfront we do not do underground pools. That child just has to come up with another wish, but we will do a hot tub and we will do aboveground pools,” Harrison said.

The WNC native said she has thor-oughly enjoyed working for Make-A-Wish for the past seven years and looks forward to many more years with them.

“It’s always sad to lose a child, but it’s also so rewarding when you know you have given a memory to a family,” Harrison said. “It involves not just the child, it’s the whole family. It takes them away from thinking about doc-tors and shots and hospitals and treat-ments. We take care of the whole fam-ily, we don’t just take care of the child who has the illness.”

The Asheville Make-A-Wish Benefit Concert will begin Thursday at 7 p.m.

It is open to all ages and admission is $10.

Performers raise money for children to Make-A-Wish

photo courtesey of Micky Hayes Crowds cheer on performers at The Orange Peel during last year’s Make-A-Wish Benefit Concert. All money made during the concert goes to the Make-A-Wish foundation of WNC to fund wishes in the area.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010{T h e B l u e B a n n e r }Page 16

Photo corner

Asheville brewer offers locally made beer options

Steven Hall/contributing photographer Zack Lindsey, 28, prepares to leave Asheville Brewing Company on Coxe Avenue after a day of brewing. Left, Lindsey prepares a Randall filter with morels, shiitake and fresh mushrooms.

Every Thursday between 5 and 8 p.m. at Asheville Brewing Company on Coxe Avenue, beer enthusiasts can savor the brewery’s concoction of the week made possible by the Randall. The Randall, short for Randall the Enamel Animal, is a filter between the keg and tap that uses the beer’s alcohol to infuse the flavor of fruit, herbs or other ingredients into the brew. Delaware-based Dog-

fish Head brewery originally designed the device. Local residents who support their neighborhood breweries encourage diversity, creativity, local economic growth and a healthier envi-ronment through minimal shipping costs. It is important to support local breweries, and also be responsible. Please don’t drink and drive.

- Steven Hall, contributing writer

{T h e B l u e B a n n e r }

See SCARE Page 19

SportsPage 17Wednesday, December 1, 2010

See BULLDOGS Page 20

Photo courtesy of UNCA AthleticsJunior guard Matt Dickey takes firm control of the Auburn Tigers.

Amari Clementsaclement@unca.edu

staff writer

UNC Asheville men’s basketball team traveled to Chapel Hill last week and gave the No. 25 University of North Carolina a scare at the Dean Smith Center.

The Bulldogs, fresh off a monumental 116-58 win against Virginia Intermont last Saturday, went into Orange County Tues-day night looking to pull off an even big-ger upset than their regular season opener, a 70-69 overtime victory at Auburn on Nov. 12.

Adversely, Carolina went into the Nov. 23 contest with back-to-back losses hang-ing over their heads. The Tar Heels lost to the University of Minnesota Golden Go-phers and the Vanderbilt Commodores in the previous weekend’s Puerto Rico Tip-Off tournament. As a result, the Tar Heels plummeted 17 spots from the NCAA’s No. 8 rank just days later.

UNC looked to bounce back from their two straight losses in front of a raucous sky blue-clad home crowd, but the Bulldogs proved to be no cupcake for the traditional Atlantic Coast Conference powerhouse program.

Although UNCA rallied late to almost close what was a 22-point Tar Heel lead deep in the second half, Bulldog Head Coach Eddie Biedenbach and his squad fell to UNC skipper and Asheville native Roy Williams’ bunch, 69-80.

The Bulldogs trailed by only 13 at the half, and while standout performances from junior guards J.P. Primm and Matt Dickey led the way, some of UNCA’s bench play-ers stepped up in the final period to keep Carolina’s fast-paced offensive tempo at

bay.Both Primm and Dickey have scored

double figures every game this year. Primm, who entered the contest with an average of 15 points per game, posted a season-high 21 to go along with his three assists and four rebounds of the night. Dickey, who averages 20 points per game, dropped 15 points along with four rebounds and four assists.

UNCA’s guard tandem may have paced

the Bulldogs, but contributions from for-ward Jon Nwannunu and fellow sopho-more guard Jaron Lane helped keep the grudge match of UNC system schools very close in the late going.

Nwannunu, a junior college transfer from Indiana, registered eight points and five boards in 23 minutes of play off the bench. Although Lane shot only one-for-eight from the field, his five rebounds in 26 minutes of playing time proved key to

UNCA’s comeback efforts against the Tar Heels.

UNCA put up a good fight well into the game’s later stages, but they suffered a pro-longed scoring drought in the closing five minutes of the contest, which prevented them from overcoming the Tar Heels’ slim, single-digit lead.

“In the second half, I thought we were much better at limiting their fast breaks,” Biedenbach said. “They run the ball hard and they are going to come at us both ways, the offensive and defensive ends.”

UNC sported a team free throw percent-age of nearly 75 percent for the game, but the Bulldogs could not capitalize on the Tar Heels’ crucial missed attempts from the charity stripe in the second half. Although UNCA committed only 10 turnovers, a season low, they struggled from the floor and shot only 37 percent as a team.

The Bulldogs were forced to compete against a stout UNC interior without se-nior forward John Williams, who sat out the second half with a concussion. High-lighted by their highly touted junior center, 7-footer Tyler Zeller, the Tar Heels out-rebounded the Bulldogs 48 to 27.

“We weren’t on the offensive boards at all,” Biedenbach said. “They shot too many layups in the first half and got too many offensive rebounds and defensive rebounds.”

As Zeller exploited the Bulldogs’ inside game, the talented UNC big man went for a career-high 23 points. That mark broke his personal best, set just one game prior, where he scored 20 against Vanderbilt. Zeller also grabbed seven rebounds in last Tuesday’s in-state roundball rivalry.

Justin Stewartjastewar@unca.edu

staff writer

Men’s basketball scare nationally ranked UNC

Bulldogs spear the Spartans back to South Carolina

The UNC Asheville women’s basketball team is dominating the court at the start of the season, posting a 3-1 record after their win against USC Upstate.

The 95-76 victory against the Spartans ignited new momentum for the Bulldogs.

“I thought we came out with a great deal of energy,” Head Coach Betsy Blose said. “We were able to get out and run and get a

lot of easy baskets in transition. I thought we were pretty con-sistent throughout the game.”

The leading scorer was junior guard Lindsey Thompson, who scored a career-high 26 points in the Nov. 23 game.

“I didn’t know how many I had,” Thompson said. “I was shocked when they

told me.”Behind her was senior guard Kendall

Shepard, who contributed 19 points of her own. Both shot 100 percent from the free throw line.

“We’ve got contributions from a lot of different people. Kendall Shepard and Lindsey Thompson continue to play very, very well for us. They’ve been pretty con-sistent from the get-go,” Blose said.

Two other Bulldogs were in double fig-ures against the Spartanburg-based team.

Redshirt sophomore Kelli Riles had 12

points, and sophomore Breaira Barksdale had 15.

“Kelli Riles continues to do a great job on the defensive board, and we had a pretty solid play from Breaira Barksdale. She’s definitely one of the reasons we’re able to control the tempo,” Blose said.

To start off the game, Thompson made a layup that Upstate forward Madisen Webb immediately returned.

Upstate put up three shots from behind Betsy Blose

Wednesday, December 1, 2010{T h e B l u e B a n n e r }Page 18

Justin Greenwoodjsgreenw@unca.edu

staff writer

Sports Profile

“I try to lead them in the right direction and just take

them all under my wing by showing them the ropes on

an off the court.”

- J.P. Primm,

men’s basketball player

See PRIMM Page 19

Photo courtesy of UNCA AthleticsJunior guard J.P. Primm races past University of Kentucky players in their matchup early last year.

Bulldog guard Primm climbs up the record books

To help prepare for the 2010-11 basket-ball season, UNC Asheville’s men’s bas-ketball guard J.P. Primm did something that is unique compared to ordinary prac-tice drills.

“I made a summer challenge to make 100,000 shots in 84 days and I finished it in July,” Primm said. “That really helped my shot out a lot.”

Primm made some noise his freshman year on the court, most notably for his as-sists. He led the team in assists as a fresh-man with 139, and for the first month of the season, he led the nation for all freshmen.

Now in his third year as a Bulldog, Primm has become a versatile guard who can not only dish out assists, but he can also shoot the long ball and come up with steals.

Despite leading the team in three catego-ries last season, including assists, steals and points per game, Primm said he feels like there is always room for improvement.

“I could always play better and I think I need to take care of the ball a little more than I have been doing, but every night I try to lay it all on the court,” he said. “I’m never satisfied with how I play, and I think that’s what drives me.”

Primm had a team-high 116 turnovers last season in the 30 games that he started, but this season he is looking to decrease that number.

“I really want to improve on taking care of the ball and not forcing the issue all the time,” he said. “I also really want to get my teammates involved in the game early.”

Unselfish play led Primm to 172 assists last season, which was good enough to place him eighth on the Big South Confer-ence all-time list. Primm has 22 assists so far this season after five games.

The Bulldogs had a tough season last year, finishing 15-16 overall and 11-7 in conference play. As this is the last season the team will play in the Justice Center, Primm is hoping to go out on a high note.

“I want to lead my team to a winning sea-son this year with at least 20-plus wins,” Primm said. “I also want to lead the league in steals and assists and break the school record in assists in a single game, which I have tied twice but haven’t broken it.”

Primm focused on stepping up his game this summer by going to his home state of Tennessee to train with some profession-als.

“I traveled around working out and do-ing different drills with some older pro-fessional guys I know and playing in the

Rocky Top League, which is a summer league in Knoxville, and it helped me stay in shape,” Primm said.

As one of five juniors, Primm will be as-

suming a leadership role on the team this season. Since much of the team is fairly young, Primm will be looked to for his ex-perience and work ethic.

“I try to lead them in the right direction and just take them all under my wing by showing them the ropes on and off the court,” he said. “I tell them about basket-ball and still let them know that school is also a big factor.”

The Bulldogs recently fought a very hard battle against the No. 25-ranked UNC Cha-pel Hill. To the surprise of many, the Tar Heels had only a six-point lead with less than five minutes remaining in the game. The Bulldogs would eventually fall 80-69, with Primm’s 21 points leading the way.

“At that point, I was thinking that if we really play our game, we can play with anybody in the country,” Primm said. “I told (Matt) Dickey that we have to be up-

Wednesday, December 1, 2010 {T h e B l u e B a n n e r } Page 19

PrimmC o n t i n u e d f r o m P a g e 1 8

Other Tar Heels who enjoyed a produc-tive night included sensational freshman forward Harrison Barnes, who had 13 points and seven rebounds, and forward John Henson, who recorded a double-double in only 22 minutes with 10 points and 11 boards. Senior forward Justin Knox also chipped in for the Tar Heels, as he pro-vided 10 points and eight rebounds.

When it was all said and done in Cha-pel Hill, Zeller’s highlight-laden evening proved to be too much for UNCA sopho-more center D.J. Cunningham and compa-ny. Although the Bulldogs outscored UNC in the second half, they failed to shrink the

gap on the scoreboard and let the Tar Heels slip away with the non-conference win.

Biedenbach said his team needed to maintain consistency as well as execute better on both ends of the court in their battle with the top 25 opponent.

“North Carolina is a better team than we are, but I am pleased with the game we played,” he said. “Overall, I thought we made good adjustments. If we had made a couple of free throws and made a couple of shots, we might have had fun at the end, but it didn’t turn out that way. Our guys are good players, they respond to the chal-lenges and we came in here wanting to win

this game.”Carolina’s head coach of eight years,

Williams, has steep ties to Buncombe County and is no stranger to the school and his old stomping grounds.

According to Biedenbach, a rivalry has developed between the schools during the teams’ past meetings, despite UNC’s 7-0 sweep of the series.

“I really appreciate that Roy Williams has played us four times over the past six years,” Biedenbach said. “It’s nice he’s from Asheville and we can get a chance to come here and see how we fare against a team with the prestige of Chapel Hill.”

Bulldog Scorecard

Women’s basketball

Nov. 23USC Upstate

95-76 (W) Monday

vs. Brevard61-71 (L)

Men’s basketball

Nov. 23 North Carolina

69-80 (L)Nov. 27

Georgetown72-87 (L)Monday

vs. USC Upstate91-93 (L)

Lindsey Thompson

Junior guard Lindsey Thomp-son had a career-high 26

points against non-confer-ence foe USC Upstate last

Tuesday.

perclassmen and lead the team to victory, but we came up a little short.”

Before and during the game, Primm tries to motivate the team to play their best each game, despite who their opponent may be.

“Before every game, I tell the guys things and some laugh when I say it, but it goes a long way, and I also tell them that as a team we succeed more,” Primm said. “When we are down, I just try to bring them together and tell them we are not a

young team anymore and we have been here before.”

In practice, Head Coach Eddie Bieden-bach emphasizes two of the most impor-tant factors of the game.

“We have to learn to improve on our defense this year, as well as playing for 40 minutes and not just half the game,” Primm said.

With teams like the University of North Carolina, Georgetown and Ohio State on their schedule, Primm said the team has to

play one game at a time.“I look forward to playing our next op-

ponent,” he said. “It’s important to never look past the next game, and that is truly how I see it.”

Primm is making his mark in UNCA basketball history, and he only has good things to say about the Bulldog program.

“I love just being a part of great team-mates,” Primm said. “We also have a re-ally good student section, and all the sup-porters and boosters are great.”

ScareC o n t i n u e d f r o m P a g e 1 7

Photo courtesy of UNCA AthleticsJunior guard Chris Stephenson protects the ball in a game against the High Point Panthers last year.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010Wednesday, December 1, 2010{T h e B l u e B a n n e r }Page 20

Photo Courtesy of UNCA AthleticsJunior guard Lindsey Thompson currently leads the Big South this season in scoring due to her incredible shooting against USC Upstate.

BulldogsC o n t i n u e d f r o m P a g e 1 8

the arc to tie the game at 16 with a little more than 13 minutes left in the first half.

That was the last time the game was tied.

Thompson made her first 3-pointer in 8 minutes, putting the Bulldogs up 23-18.

“She plays very, very well,” Blose said. “She’s a great shooter with tremendous range. She’s in the gym every day. It’s important to her. She’s becoming better at putting the ball on the floor, and she’s a great free throw shooter. If no one guards her, she will knock it down. I can guaran-tee that.”

After being down 14 points with less than six minutes left in the first half, Webb’s free throws sparked a 6-0 run for Upstate, but it was not enough to inch past the Bulldogs.

“They made a couple of little runs, but we seemed to be able to get back on track and be able to maintain the lead we had and build on it,” Blose said.

At the end of the first half, the Bulldogs had an 11-point lead. Thompson and Shep-ard were already in double figures, with 21 points and 10 points, respectively.

The second half began with a layup from Upstate forward Chelsea McMillan, followed by another layup from Webb. However, the Spartans’ run came to an end when Shepard scored the Bulldogs’ first points post intermission.

“We played a 2-3 zone most of the game to prevent them from driving and getting to the basket. We knew that most of the team wanted to penetrate, so we wanted to take them out of their game,” Thompson said.

With 10 minutes left in the game, the Bulldogs were up 79-59. Riles, who had eight rebounds for the game, made both of her free throw shots after the Spartans committed yet another turnover. Riles then made a layup off an assist from Shepard, which brought the game to 85-62.

“Our team wants to attack in transition and get easy baskets. We’ve done a good job with that so far,” Thompson said.

With five minutes left in regulation, two foul shots from Shepard led to a 25-point lead, the Bulldogs’ largest lead of the night.

However, the Spartans went down fight-ing, putting up 12 more points including a shot from downtown in the last 30 seconds. The buzzer sounded at 95-76, Bulldogs.

“We’re going to outwork our opponent.

We want to have fun. We really do. We want to have a good time competing,” Blose said.

Upstate suffered from 13 turnovers in the first half and nine in the second. UNCA had 18 turnovers overall.

“We decided prior to the game to pres-sure the ball as much as possible to see if their guards could handle pressure, and it ended up working out well for us,” Assis-tant Coach Tiffany Gwynn said.

Asheville was 11-25 from behind the arc, while Upstate was only 5-26. The Bulldogs also hit 14 of their 18 foul shots.

The Bulldogs will head to Boone tomor-row to face the Appalachian Mountain-eers. Their next home game will be against Furman at the Justice Center Dec. 11 at 2 p.m.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010{T h e B l u e B a n n e r }Page 21

Campus VoiceAlicia Adcoxaradcox@unca.edu

opinion writer

See JETER Page 22

Another trend among high school and college students will soon meet its end. A few weeks ago, the Food and Drug Administration and the North Carolina Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission passed new regulations on beer products, specifically on those that combine alcohol with caffeine.

These beverages came under close scrutiny after stories reached the news about college students consuming dangerous amounts of enhanced malt beverages.

According the N.C. ABC Commission, the decision came Nov. 18 to allow retailers to return caffeine-enhanced alcoholic beverages to their manufacturers for credit.

The commission also said they would recommend new regulations to ABC that require beer manufacturers to list any added stimulants on the label.

“The federal action Wednesday effectively acts as a ban on these products that were found not to be safe in their review. The N.C. ABC Commission’s action today will make the rapid and orderly withdrawal of alcohol energy drinks from North Carolina shelves a reality,” according to Jon Williams, chairman of the N.C. ABC Commission, in the press release.

Since the FDA already passed the federal ban on these products, the N.C. ABC Commission did not need to take action in banning them. Rather, the November meeting sped up the process of removing the products from shelves in North Carolina.

Although it’s encouraging to know

the government is taking steps to save Americans from the dangers of overconsumption, this ban will not solve the problems mixing alcohol with caffeine create.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the mixture of alcohol with energy drinks can mask the alcohol’s depressant effects. This masked effect allows the drinker to consume more of the alcoholic beverage without feeling of extreme intoxication, thus increasing the drinker’s chances of alcohol poisoning.

Several colleges have taken steps to protect their students from these beverages, including UNC Asheville.

“We placed a ban based on all the reports we were receiving across the country regarding the hospitalizations and deaths related to Four Loko, as well as some of the dangers that have been indicated by the mixture of the amount of alcohol in one can, in addition to the caffeine that’s about 170 milligrams. There have been other universities across the country that have been banning the substance, and we wanted to take

action prior to there being any kind of problems with our student body,” said Melanie Rhodarmer, the director of residential education at UNCA.

Rhodarmer also said although details of the ban she e-mailed to students only listed Four Loko, the ban extends to any alcoholic beverage mixed with caffeine.

Store-bought mixtures, like Four Loko, are not the only way drinkers can achieve this effect. Mixed drinks such as vodka and Red Bull and jagerbombs have existed for years, and these beverages will be more difficult for officials to control.

As with any controlled substance, it will be impossible to entirely eliminate the dangers of consuming alcohol combined with caffeine. It is more important for students to be aware of the dangers.

The idea of being able to consume more alcohol without most of the negative symptoms of over-intoxication will probably always appeal to college students.

Students have to be educated, however. Just because they do not feel intoxicated does not mean they are

When Derek Jeter isn’t satisfied with a $45 million dollar paycheck and people camp outside stores hours before they open to save a few bucks, something’s wrong.

People sometimes forget what’s important, so it’s necessary to send out a reminder every now and then.

As a nation, Americans love their sports now more than ever.

The problem is, somehow it was decided people who play a game for a living need to make millions upon millions of dollars, while the men and women who perform vital services for the nation and its citizens, such as police officers, firefighters and teachers, should only get enough to survive.

Hal Steinbrenner, the Yankees’ co-chairman and son of the late George Steinbrenner, told The Associated Press, “As much as we want to keep everybody, we’ve already made these guys very, very rich, and I don’t feel we owe anybody anything monetarily.”

This comes after Jeter’s agent, Casey Close, said, “There’s a reason the Yankees themselves have stated Derek Jeter is their modern-day Babe Ruth. Derek’s significance to the team is much more than just stats.”

However true that may be, the Yankees did away with Ruth when his numbers started falling. Jeter is coming off a career-worst

Americans are stuck on money

Josh Robinsonjrrobins@unca.edu

opinion writer

Photo by Megan DombroskiRecent legal changes remove Four Loko from the list of alcoholic options for UNCA students.

Four Loko deemed too dangerous to drink

Reubens built his performance persona from the ground up — a

testament to his creative mind and performing talent.

{T h e B l u e B a n n e r } Wednesday, December 1, 2010

2010-2011 SEASON Daniel Meyer, Music Director

828.254.7046www.ashevillesymphony.org

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

with NC Stage Co.SATURDAY NOVEMBER 20

Student Rush Tickets $6 available 15 minutes before the concert

Mendelssohn: Midsummer Night’s Dream Suite

Finzi: For St. CeciliaBorodin: Polovtsian Dances

Page 22

The Blue Banner Editorial Board

season and is not expected to get any better. This point is amplified when the Yankee captain’s age is taken into account. The man is 36 years old. That’s not old, but in baseball years, it’s time to start looking into retirement homes.

At the rate of $15 million per season, on a three-year contract, the Yankees are already willing to overpay a now less-than-average player nearing the end of his career.

As citizens of a developed nation and benefactors of an advanced society, Americans are entitled to live

well. But, it’s the gross excess some exemplify that borders on disgusting, and sometimes far surpasses it.

So what does it say about New York’s “good guy,” when $45 million just isn’t enough?

Everyone’s got their own idea, but it goes to show that no one is immune to greed.

Whether it’s people camping outside of Best Buy hoping to save 50 bucks on an LCD TV they don’t really need, or Jeter scoffing at the notion of a measly $45 million paycheck, every single person is a victim of the human

impulse known as selfishness.Yes, money is nice. It generally

makes living a whole lot easier, but it’s not the thing that will ultimately make anyone happy at the end of the day.

Could professional athletes live off a couple hundred thousand a year? Sure they could. In fact, that might still be overpaying them.

Could most people survive without the things on their Christmas lists? Yes. Everyone enjoys gifts, but the Christmas season has become an annual corporate heyday.

If Lady Gaga is allowed to parade around in public in nothing but a meat suit, society should have no qualms about letting a 58-year-old man perform in a skinny gray suit, red bow tie, white platforms and lipstick.

Pee-wee Herman is back after an almost 20-year hiatus, and he should be welcomed back wholeheartedly.

Paul Reubens, the creative mastermind behind the classic ’80s man-child, is reviving his career by bringing his playful alter ego to Broadway.

Though reviews have generally been positive, some people are still too wrapped up in Gaga-esque artificiality to truly appreciate an innovative performer of Reuben’s caliber.

As The New York Times laments, “The stage show featured little in the way of adventure, which is to say plot. A string of unrelated diversions can be perfectly pleasing in a half-hour dose, but after 90 minutes I began to feel like a fidgety kid in need of an Adderall fix.”

And yet people find a Madonna wannabe who dresses in bubbles and latex entertaining? At least Reubens created a world his fans could become lost in. Pee-wee invites his audiences into a world so completely and uniquely his own that they forget their real grown-up problems and catch

themselves mimicking his playful mannerisms. Pee-wee is endearing, has charm and a unique brand of wit.

Lady Gaga has gravity-defying shoes, the speaking voice of an 80-year-old chain smoker, immeasurable feigned European pretension and the uncanny ability to copy artistic performers of the past.

So why does society drool over Lady Gaga and underappreciate Pee-wee Herman?

In interviews, the people behind these infamous personas admit to being self-proclaimed oddballs during adolescence.

Gaga told everyone from Barbara Walters to Ellen DeGeneres that she felt “like a freak” during high school, and Reubens said he felt like a misfit during his childhood. Gaga makes no secrets about her drug use and the fact that she used cocaine as songwriting inspiration. Reubens was arrested after exposing himself in an adult movie theater.

And yet, despite these illegal activities, the public largely sees one of these people as a brilliant entertainer and the other one as a

creep or a pedophile. The fact of the matter is that the public is applauding the wrong performer.

Lady Gaga’s entire schtick is unoriginal, down to her name, which was extracted from the Queen song “Radio Gaga.” She wears outlandish costumes, makes outrageous statements and uses publicity to further her career.

Does nobody remember when Madonna, David Bowie and Elton John did the same things mere decades ago, before Lady Gaga was even born?

By stark contrast, Reubens built his performance persona from the ground up — a testament to his creative mind and performing talent.

He had no model to refer back to in creating Pee-wee, because the character of Pee-wee had never been done before.

Should Reubens and Gaga ever meet face to face, Reubens should stand proud knowing he has built a legacy.

The person on the other end of the handshake achieved inauthenticity before her 25th birthday.

Jeter continued from from page 21

Everyone should go Gaga for Pee-weeAlyssa SpencerAfspence@uncA.edu

MAnAging editor

Wednesday, December 1, 2010 {T h e B l u e B a n n e r }

The Blue Banner’s View

The Blue Banner is UNC Asheville’s student newspaper. We publish each Wednesday except during summer sessions, finals week and holiday breaks. Our office is located in Karpen Hall 019.

The Blue Banner is a designated forum for free speech and welcomes letters to the editor, considering them on basis of interest, space and timeliness. Letters and articles should be e-mailed to the editor-in-chief or the appropriate section editor.

Letters should include the writer’s name, year in school, and major or other relationship to UNCA. Include a telephone number to aid in verification. All articles are subject to editing.

The Blue Banner Editorial BoardKarpen Hall 019 (828) 251-6586 www.thebluebanner.net

Erin McWhorter, Editor-in-Chief emmcwhor@unca.edu

Alyssa Spencer, Managing Editorafspence@unca.edu

Ashleigh Joyner, News Editoramjoyner@unca.edu

Caitlin Byrd, Arts & Features Editormcbyrd@unca.edu

Natalie Pearson, Sports Editorngpearso@unca.edu

Jacob Yancey, Campus Voice Editorjayancey@unca.edu

Megan Dombroski, Photography Editormkdombro@unca.edu

Isabel Maxwell, Advertising Directorinmaxwel@unca.edu

Anna Kiser, Design Editor, Business Manager

aekiser@unca.edu

Nicolas Robinson, Web Editor

Kendall Brooks, Investigative Reporter

Jessica Yee, Copy Desk Chief

Katherine Walker, Assistant News Editor

Hali Ledford, Assistant Arts & Features Editor

Katie Saylors, Assistant Photography Editor

Jordan Paris, Assistant Web Editor

Carson Boyles, Assistant Design Editor

Tiffany Narron, The Blue Banner’s View

Michael Gouge Faculty Adviser

Have a news tip?send to emmcwhor@unca.edu

Page 23

In Asheville, alternatives to the corporate system of mass production are everywhere. Residents have the ability to locally source everything, from food and beer to clothing, art and movies. This cannot and should not be taken for granted as these alter-native systems of production are not easily sustained.

The days of mom-and-pops are largely nonexistent in today’s global-ized mass-marketed culture because they run against the cheap, quick access large conglomerates provide. An ethic of care thrives in Asheville, especially in regards to food.

“I think relationships have been damaged and destroyed,” said Grace Campbell, lecturer at UNCA, in response to the industrialized food system. “We don’t have a very hospi-table environment for affiliative ties. I don’t think we’re affiliated with Archer Daniels Midland for example. We don’t know who is making deci-sions in these large companies. And so we can say one of the costs is los-ing care and the ethics of care.

We don’t care about one another because we don’t have a chance to experience our interdependence. And the food system isn’t the only way this is true, but it is one major way that it is true.”

Even if people don’t participate in buying locally produced food, they know that it is a largely a system other locals support. At least every other car one passes beams “Locally Produced Food: Thousands of Miles Fresher” on its bumper.

With more than 12,000 family farms in Western North Carolina, the supply of locally grown food is more than sufficient. Although Whole Foods may have cornered the market in buying out one of the largest al-ternative grocery stores, there are 13 tailgate markets in Buncombe County alone that are open every Saturday in various parts of town.

Even during the winter, the ability to purchase local products will remain because numerous restaurants around town support the local food economy and carry various meats and whole

foods on their menu. “People that value local food and

have the awareness to understand the sustainability issues are very highly principled people that are willing to pay more, is what it boils down to,” said former owner of Greenlife John Swann. “Another person is just going to say, ‘Who cares, I can get it for less at Wal-Mart.’”

Budgets and the economy are large factors in the ethical dilemma of buy-ing local for a few more cents on the dollar or rushing through Target in a hurried daze. It is the price and avail-ability that ultimately decide the fate of consumers’ almighty dollars.

But if people knew that the winter coat they decided to buy their child actually cost the life of another child overseas, would the $5 price differ-ence persuade the consumer to find a locally made one or one that ensures fair trade standards? Ethical issues such as child slavery in apparel fac-tories and chemical pesticides in the food industry have pushed demand to local markets.

The local clothing industry is bolstered with trendy and conserva-tive styles made locally or without the use of sweatshops. These in-clude Honeypot, Hip Replacements, Push, Virtue and The Old North State Clothing Company.

“The potential that Asheville has to grow in unique and more diverse ways is delightfully exciting. The opportunity to become involved in the community and create real connec-tions with creative people striving for quality of life is inspiring,” according to Franzi Charin, co-owner of Hip Replacements.

So whether people are shopping for knee-high stockings or simply buying groceries for the week, an important ideal f or them to keep in mind is how they feel about this alternative, progressive and largely self-sufficient town. It runs on consumer dollars and needs the support of its people in order to fight corporate domina-tion. Local is the new black as the cute new slogan says, and Asheville should keep it that way.

Shopping locally increases Asheville’s sustainability

 

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Back to School! Ready for a hot new look? Head to Plato's Closet

Asheville. We buy and sell gently used guys and girls clothing, shoes and accessories from all your favorite

brands. Stop by for a new you for the new school year!

Plato's Closet Asheville 26 West Gate Pkwy

828-255-8622 Just down from Earth Fare

www. platosclosetasheville.com

Back to School! Ready for a hot new look? Head to Plato's Closet

Asheville. We buy and sell gently used guys and girls clothing, shoes and accessories from all your favorite

brands. Stop by for a new you for the new school year!

Plato's Closet Asheville 26 West Gate Pkwy

828-255-8622 Just down from Earth Fare

www. platosclosetasheville.com

Now looking for

sales associates!

The savingsare gonna move ya!

www.amazingsavingsmarkets.com

SHOP HERE FIRST! DOWNTOWN ASHEVILLE • 45 S. French Broad StreetBLACK MOUNTAIN • 3018 US 70 | ASHEVILLE • 121 Sweeten Creek Road

30-50% Savings on all organic and conventional fresh produce, bulk items, local honey & jellies, health & beauty and much more!

EBT