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Western Carolinian Volume 65 (66) Number 19

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  • February 07,2001 EDITORIALS WESTERN CAROLINIAN Education in a Double-Wide To say that the Western Carolina University community needs the repairs that the bond money will subsidize is a gross understatement. This campus is in dire need of some serious work. Roofs are caving in, heaters aren't heating, and several classrooms are bereft of much needed equipment. The money will help to alleviate the stress that so many students and faculty on this campus are plagued by everyday. Too bad we will have to lose some parking spaces. On a campus already short on parking spaces the thought of losing some precious spots does not sit well. Better plan ahead, Western, because parking is going to become scarce starting very soon. Some of you may be asking yourself, "But why will we have to lose parking spaces because of the construction?" The answer is logical: When the buildings are in the process of being gutted, the classrooms will have to become mobile. Homes, that is.And you thought double-wide education stopped when you were in high school. Think about it. Stillwell building is proposed to have over $15 million worth of repairs and improvements done in the not too distant future. Unless the construction takes less than two days—something I seriously doubt—then many of the classrooms will be non-operational for quite awhile. This means one of three things: move the classes to open rooms in other buildings, cancel the classes all together until the space is open again, or buy some lovely mobile classrooms. We all know where the mobile classrooms would have to go. There are only so many open spots on campus that could accommodate them, and those are the parking lots. I can see it now: the hillside behind the Baptist Church covered in light blue mobile homes, all with those eyecatching window unit air-conditioners and green plastic porches. Nothing could be finer. I suppose this could be the chance for Western to blend into the scenic surrounding communities. Now would be the time for Western's hierarchy to act. I saw a dealership offering a $1000 Wal-Mart gift certificate and free Direct TV hookup with the purchase of a three bedroom, two bath model. Hot damn. Maybe the University will lease out one from the near by mobile home parks and use the already existing structures. We could call it "WCU II." One has to wonder if when the initial numbers for the bond came through if they included costs for construction and the roving classrooms. One has to wonder if the numbers were anymore than random guesses. Perhaps, they will do something along the lines of expanding the times they offer certain classes. Maybe those hallowed Saturday mornings and late Friday evenings would become prime time for some college algebra! Sorry, babe, I can't see you tonight. I have to make a coil pot. I wonder if these possible events will affect student retention. I can definitely see how classes being moved to a double-wide or offered at horrible times would cause campus residents to consider relocation. But imagine if they don't buy those extra classrooms, and they don't offer other times, and they wind up canceling some classes all together. THAT would be a real stroke of genius. "Yes, I need to take your class to graduate." "Oh, I'm sorry, that class was canceled due to lack of space." You may think I am totally off base. So be it. We'll just see how off base I am when your chemistry lab is being taught in the third unit on the left behind the green port-a-potty. By Alex Esmon Managing Editor LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Sports Fans? Dear Editor, I will have to say that on Monday night down at the Ramsey Center, not the RAC, I was impressed. For the most part it was a college basketball atmosphere, and everyone was treated to a good game between the mountain rivals, Appalachian State and Western Carolina. However, something didn't seem quite right. There were over 3,100 people in the Ramsey Center that night, but I wonder how many of those were actual FANS? Several times during the game, I saw the people in the so-called student section just sitting in their seats not cheering at all. Sounded kinda quiet on that side of the arena. Why do you come to the game and sit there instead of cheer and get loud? It's college basketball, enough said! Granted a lot of you didn't grow up fans of Western Carolina, but you are here now. Take pride in the school you chose to attend. Want to know what you can do? Go to the games, cheer on the team, gets chants started, and raise havoc. It is not that hard to do. There were several groups represented at the game Monday night and some actually made their name known. There were "The" Fans, who tried to get the Ramsey Crowd into the ball game. We tried our best. Some of the football players dressed up and even walked around the arena trying to get the fans up and cheering. Good try fellas, but thanks for doing your part and getting loud. However, what's up with the Greeks? Yes, they showed up in mass quantities and even cheered. But, the only time you actually heard them cheer was when the candy bar was coming around. Let's see you cheer for more than food at our next home game. This newly formed group "The" Fans have been getting criticized since Monday night. My only question is why? Some people said we are a disgrace to WCU and embarrassing ourselves. I don't think so. Yes, we get loud and yes we start chants and got behind our Catamounts. Lord help us from supporting our own team and showing school spirit. There hasn't been much of that prior to the App. game. Does that sound like a disgrace? FYI... Just to drop a little knowledge... Casey Rogers - Team Captain... and Kim Cherry cheerleader captain.... they thanked us after the game... Shurina and his coaching staff thanked us after the game. Good to know that people appreciate us for being there. We may not be the Cameron Crazies, but it's nice to something coming from the Ramsey Center other than the lights buzzing. Are their many sports fans on this campus? It's hard to tell. Do they even care about Catamount athletics? Good question. I hope these questions will be answered at our last three home games. Get out and support the CATS! William Knight Dear Editor, Kudos to the WESTERN CAROLINIAN on their new website! As Western advances into the realm of education coupled with technology, there becomes a need to reflect our performance in the University's websites. Many of you will notice a new design on Western's homepage (www.wcu.edu) very shortly—and much thanks goes to Bob Orr and Jed Tate, along with their support, who have worked hard to make an impressive design. I believe it will better reflect what our campus is about. Some may be wondering, "Who cares how our website looks! I mean, who'd look US up anyway?" Well, believe it or not, there are hundreds of folks who visit our cyber spaces every day. I have had the wonderful opportunity to design two websites on the University servers (with a third on the way), and have seen visitors to our web pages from China, France, Germany, Bermuda, Denmark, and the United Kingdom. That's not to mention people from various other educational institutions around the state and nation who have taken a peek at what we do. Indeed, there are lots of people looking at what we do here at Western. And many of our web pages do not reflect the professionalism that is available in person on Western's campus. I hope that both the CAROLINIAN and Western homepages inspire other organizations on campus to bring their websites up to par with the excellence reflected at Western. Again, great job, CAROLINIAN! Regards, James Hogan
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