• Format
  • Publications (documents)
• Type
  • Text
• Source institution
  • Western Carolina University
• Identifier
  • HL_WesternCarolinian_1996-09-26_Vol62_No07_08

8 Thursday, September 2619% Campus Life ST-ie Mr-stern (Earolmian Celebrating Mountain Heritage The 22nd annual Mountain Heritage Day will be celebrated Saturday, September 28. The festivities will begin around 8 a.m. and conclude with the WCU vs. East Tennessee State football game at 6 p.m. Mountain Heritage Day is a celebration of traditional mountain life and offers many activities featuring music, dance, crafts, contests, and lots of food. There will be three performance stages to exhibit the talents of traditional musicians and dancers. Special musical guest Sacred Heart will perform religious music at 11 a.m. on the Robinson Building stage. Christian Harmony will perform at 1:30 p.m. on the same stage. The Belk Building stage will also feature musicians on fiddle and banjo. Dancing will take place on the Belk stage. Activities on the Belk stage begin at 9:30 a.m. The midway booths will display the crafts of over 200 vendors, offering handmade crafts such as woodwork, pottery, paintings, clocks, quilts, and stained glass. Special exhibits will give demonstrations of the work of local wood carvers, basket makers, blacksmiths, quilters, weaver's, and needlecrafters. Food will also be plentiful at the celebration. Organizers warn that soft drinks and fast food will not be available, but participants can enjoy ham biscuits, Cherokee fry bread, beans, cornbread, lemonade, cider, and other traditional mountain edibles. The WCU Heritage Center will also be open for Mountain Heritage Day. The Heritage Center offers a special exhibit entitled "Migration of the Scotch- Irish People." Other exhibits feature Southern Appalachian heritage and life. Mountain Heritage Day also offers many just-for-fun competitions. Competition begins at 9 a.m. with a chainsaw competition, cat show, dog show, and a Fun Run. Other competive events of the day will be a 5K footrace, old truck and tractor show, baked goods contest, and men and women's horseshoe pitching. Those interested in competing in the chainsaw contest, 5K footrace, and the Fun Run should register for those events on the corner of Belk intramural field at 8 a.m. Saturday's main celebration will begin a little early with a Mountain Heritage Spotlight on Friday, September 27. The program will feature traditional mountain and folk music. The performance will be held in the Coulter Recital Hall and is free to the public. For additional information on Mountain Heritage Day events, contact Don Wood at 7272. WCU Forms HIV/ AIDS Committee ANN WRIGHT FEATURES EDITOR WCU HIV STD AIDS Committee: sounds like another bunch of letters meant to stand for something but that actually mean nothing. These letters are very different, though. The purpose of this newly-formed committee, composed of members of the WCU community, is the exploration and prevention of the incidence of sexually transmitted diseases at WCU. Two members of the committee, a local doctor and an HIV survivor, facilitated an informal discussion on HIV on Thursday, September 18. The discussion didn't follow the usual "HIV=death" format. Instead, living with the disease was a main topic. Dr. Steve Queen pointed out that some HIV patients have now lived as long as seventeen years after being diagnosed with the disease. Life with HIV can also be lived with quality. The panel's HIV survivor was a living example of this. He works, has a lot of friends, and is an avid cyclist. He admitted that before he was diagnosed, he lived his life to please others. After diagnosis, he took another look at his life and realized that he had to make the most of it for himself. He has now found a happy medium between his own wants and the wants of those he cares about, and is quite content. New drugs developed to treat HIV were also a topic of discussion. Better drugs are being tested and are on the market. These drugs, when combined with AZT, have been effective in treating symptoms of AIDS. However, a cure is still not in sight. Also, there is little hope of the development of a vaccine in the near future. The clear message was that prevention is the best method of defense. There are three methods of preventing HIV infection. The first is to not use intravenous drugs, to avoid coming in contact with possibly contaminated needles. The second is to engage "safe" sex, that is, using a latex condom without an oil-based lubricant. However, correctly used condoms have been known to break or leak. One panel member pointed out the third and PHOTO SETH SAMS/WC Michelle Mazzucco and John Williams, members of the new committee. most foolproof method of HIV prevention: abstinence. Another concern of the discussion group was that people perceive HIV as a "gay" disease. Dr. Queen pointed out that one of the fastest-growing groups of people infected with AIDS in the U.S. is comprised of heterosexual Southern women in their 20's. While anal sex is still the easiest method of transmitting the disease, a woman can easily contract HIV from vaginal intercourse with a man because of microscopic tears in the vagina. Heterosexual men can also contract HIV from sexual contact. An HIV support group exists in Sylva for both people with HIV and people who are interested in the disease and want to help those who live with it. Meetings are held every other Tuesday night at 7:30 in Harris Regional Hospital. You can find out more about this support group by contacting the hospital at 586-7000 and asking for Julie Niehause in the department of social work. PEER Educators Sponsor Rape Awareness Week MARCUS DEMAAIJER STAFF WRITER Rape Awareness Week, sponsored by the PEER Educators Program under direction of Jennifer Jones-Goodwin, is an event that is committed to raising the awareness of WCU students about the scope of the acquaintance/date rape problem. This event was previously sponsored by Student Coalition Against Acquaintance Rape (SCAAR). Due to the lack of student interest, both SCAAR and BACCHUS have now been integrated into the PEER Educators Program. This program is run by student volunteers who, by way of lectures, presentations, and discussion panels, educate their peers about current student issues. Rape Awareness Week kicked off Monday, Sept. 23, with Purple Day. Students were encouraged to wear purple in observance of Rape Awareness. On Tuesday, Sept. 24, a video presentation, followed by student interaction with a discussion panel, was held on Walker Hall's 9th floor lobby, which was attended by 38 students. On the third day, Sept. 25, students were invited to gather the facts and fiction about acquaintance rape at Rape Awareness Information Booths, located in Brown and Dodson. Three programs are in the works for Thursday, Sept. 26. First, a self-defense workshop will be conducted by Asheville's Brenda Carleton at 7 p.m. in Scott Blue Lobby. A rape awareness presentation entitled "Against Her Will" is scheduled at 8 p.m. in Scott Blue Lobby. Finally, students are invited to attend the closing of Rape Awareness Week with a candlelight vigil for sexual assault victims and survivors, held at the bell tower at 9 p.m. Friday does not necessarily mark the end of rape awareness programs on WCU's campus. More events will be coordinated by the PEER Educators Program this semester. Other programs will be co- ordinated and co-hosted by WCU's Department of Counseling and Psychological Services. Dr. John Ritchie, director of Counseling and Psychological Services, said, "Our staff is often requested to do presentations and lectures for various WCU student organizations on topics such as sexual assault, rape, and sexual harassment. We are willing to do this for any student organization as long as they give us at least two weeks' notice." Counseling and Psychological Services also coordinates a Rape Response Program. Whenever a student reports a rape to campus police, a female senior staff member provides the victim with a Rape Kit and gives the student emotional support. Men can do something positive, too, by joining the student organization called Men Who Care, which is headed by Derrick Chisolm, a graduate student in counseling and human services. PEER Educators invites students, faculty, and staff to participate in the remaining Rape Awareness Events. COMPILED BY STAFF A campus-wide discussion, "Hate or Heritage," will be held to discuss the Confederate flag issue. Dr. Philyaw, history professor, and Ceasar Hunt, admissions officer, will facilitate the discussion on October 10 in Reynolds Lobby at 8 p.m. Discussion organizers want participants to know that the discussion will not be a racial debate. The Department of University Housing is seeking donations for N.C. hurricane victims. Students can make donations to RAs, Head Residents, or any member of the Office of Housing through September 30th. All proceeds will be sent to the Salvation Army. For more inf orma- tion, contact Jenny Jones- Goodwin at 7303. The Resident Student Association will present Chancellor Bardo in its October 1st meeting. The meeting will be held at 6 p.m. in Scott Blue Lobby. Students are invited to address their concerns and direct their questions to Chancellor Bardo. Women's Celebration '96 will be held on October 5 on the square in Franklin, N.C. The celebration begins at 9 a.m. and concludes at 4 p.m. It features special lunch speaker Jeanne Robertson, former Miss N.C. and author of Humor- The Magic of Jeanne and Mayberry Humor Across the U.S. Mature Educational Experience Team (MEET) invites new members to join. MEET seeks students that were born before 1972 to share information, resources, experiences, and have fun. The group will meet on Wednesday, October 2 at 12:00 p.m. and Thursday, October 3 at 12:30 p.m. Both meetings will be held in McKee room 213. Participants are asked to bring a bag lunch. For more information, contact Allison or Claire at 227- 7127 or e-mail AA2364 ©WCU.edu or Marsh@WCU edu. The Social Work Club wil hold its first meeting of the fali semester on October 1 at 3:3C p.m. in McKee Room 171. Students are asked to fill out a membership form to bring to the meeting with them, or place it in the Social Work Club Mail Box prior to the meeting. Membership forms are available outside of the Social Work/Sociology Department Office in McKee Building. WCU students interested in a Non-Sexist Society are invited to the group's October 1st meeting in McKee Room 170 at 4 p.m. Alpha Xi Delta Sorority will sponsor a blood drive for the areas affected by Hurricane Fran. The blood drive will be held October 1-3 from 12:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. in Coulter Lobby. Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. is collecting clothes, non-perishable food items, toiletries, and bottled water for victims of Hurricane Fran. For more in formation or to make a donation, contact Michelle Knoell at 4603 or any other Zeta Phi Beta member. Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. will conduct a voter registration drive on September 30. Non-registered voters can register in Dodson Cafeteria from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. The Organization of Ebony Students (OES) will sponsor its Dream Date Auction on October 10inNiggliTheaterat9p.m. For more information, contact Jermaine Baxter at 4322. The University Players' production "1776" will continue through Sunday, September 29. Performances will be held at 7:30 p.m. in Hoey Auditorium. The September 29 performance will begin at 2 p.m. Tickets are available at the theater office for $5 and are also available at the box office the day of the show. Auditions for the production "Fences" will be held October 9-10 in Hoey Auditorium. Interested participants should be prepared with two one-minute pieces. One piece should be dramatic and the other comedy. Auditioners should also have a resume of theater experience and a headshot, if available. The audition hours have not yet been determined. For additional information, contact AI Wiggins in the Communications and Theatre Arts Department at 7491 or Black Theater Ensemble President Venus Miller at 6977.

The Western Carolinian is Western Carolina University's student-run newspaper. The paper was published as the Cullowhee Yodel from 1924 to 1931 before changing its name to The Western Carolinian in 1933.

• Creator
  • Western Carolina University
• Format
  • Publications (documents)
• Type
  • Text
• Date
  • Date original: 1996-09-26
  • Date digitized: 2019-12-04
• Extent
  • Dimension: 22.5" x 14"
  • Pages: 14 pages
• Subject - Topic
  • College student newspapers and periodicals
  • Cullowhee (N.C.) -- Newspapers
  • Universities and colleges -- North Carolina -- Cullowhee -- Newspapers
  • Western Carolina University -- Periodicals
• Location
  • Jackson County (N.C.)
  • Cullowhee (N.C.)
• Source institution
  • Western Carolina University
• Source Collection
  • WCU Students Newspapers Collection
• Identifier
  • HL_WesternCarolinian_1996-09-26_Vol62_No07
• Repository
  • Western Carolina University Hunter Library