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  • Western Carolina University
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  • HL_WesternCarolinian_2009-05-01_Vol75_No06_02

April 24 - May 1, 2009 WESTERN CAROLINIAN Page 2 NEWS (Continued from Page 1) use the Cat Tran or the Jackson County Transit System to travel from. parking spaces to class rooms or dormitories, mentioning that he himself often uses the Cat Tran. We need to embrace the Cat Tran, Hinson said. Hinson also stated that as of now there are no plans to increase the number of new freshman from 1,500. This is largely due to housing constraints. With the demolition of Leatherwood Hall this spring and the addition of Balsam Hall, a new dormitory for Honors students, in the upcoming fall, the number of beds offered by campus housing in Fall 2009 remains even with Fall 2008s numbers at approximately 3,700. Since freshmen are required to live on campus, the university does not want to increase the freshmen class size beyond 1,500 so that campus housing does not become limited for upper classmen. Increased freshmen class size will also not correlate to an increase in tuition. Tuition increases are determined by the Legislature and the Board of Governors, and while tuition is increasing for fall 2009, Hinson stated that the increase is not related to the influx of new students. |. (Continued from Page 1) Smith is working to establish a chapter of NORML. The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws is an organization that seeks to promote cannabis education and fight for fair legislation. Other schools in North Carolina that already have university recognized chapters of NORMLare UNC Chapel Hill, UNC Pembroke, and Appalachian State. According to Smith, The current laws regarding cannabis are not only outdated, but are also ineffective. They were written by white upper class racist bureaucrats. We are in a, different time now. There have been _ millions of arrests since the 1960s for harmless crimes related to the . possession of cannabis. I could go to jail today for something that I do not feel hurts anyone. Smoking and possessing cannabis are victimless crimes. Who am [_ hurting? The Journal of Clinical Pharmacology and The National Institute on Drug abuse recently published a review on marijuana. They found that no one has ever died of THC poisoning. THC is the active ingredient in marijuana that produces the high. They also found that contrary to popular assumption, heavy cannabis smokers experience withdrawal symptoms reported that smoking cannabis makes you hungry and that those such as anxiety - when they try to stop smoking.- The American Medical Association. receiving chemotherapy can benefit from cannabis provided that they are nonresponsiye to other medications. So whathappens to WCU students if House Bill 1380 does eventually become a law in North Carolina? It is difficult to speculate how the University would respond says Walter Turner, the Director of Student Community Ethics. I encourage students to become active in the. political process in a civil and intellectual way so that they can impact society and our campus, regardless of how they feel about the issue. Anyone interested in helping to establish a chapter of NORML at WCU is encouraged to join their Facebook group. | hese states hiss late slowing people to use marijuana if recommended by their doctor. : Ilustration Courtesy of Metro Graphics Continuing Budgeting Concerns at WCU By A. N. Pope Staff Writer On April 9 a budget freeze went into effect at Western Carolina, placing a hold on state-issued funds. The state previously contributed funds to many sectors of the University, but now there will only be a weekly allotment for payroll, financial aid, and utilities. WCU will now depend on discretionary accounts and trust funds (which are minimal in comparison to past state appropriations) to cover all additional costs. The hold has created a domino effect, forcing the University to use already dwindling internal funds to cover operational costs. : This is only the latest in economic | woes for the University. Back in September, Chancellor John Bardo announced a possible 3-5% cut in state funds. That cut is already in effect, and has additionally called for the reversion of funds previously allotted, The result of all this is a time of economic concern that Western has not seen for possibly decades. As Dr. Angela Grube, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs explained, Ive heard a lot of people who have worked here 30 \ | years say that theyve never seen illustration Courtesy of The Chronicle, via the Associated Press - Aprilis National Child Abuse Prevention Month By Catherine Butterfield Staff Writer This month is National Child Abuse Prevention Month. The - goal of Child Abuse Prevention Month is to increase awareness andencourage community support of children and families. Jessica Banks, a WCU senior, feels that for her, ... prevention is about educating and providing resources to parents. A well educated, prepared parent with plenty of resources is less likely to abuse than parents with none of these attributes. Passage of the Child , Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act in 1974 provided states with federal funding to support, prevent, assess, investigate and prosecute child abuse. In 1982, there was an increase in child abuse and neglect cases which eventually lead to Child Abuse Prevention Week. In 1983, April was established as National Child Abuse Prevention Month. It Carolina, thinks that, Child abuse has a lasting effect on the child. We must advocate for the prevent child abuse and neglect also guided to the Keeping Children rights of children and provide and Families Safe Act of 2003. Ashley Cody, a junior at Western resources to families. Resources such as stress management ~ ee A training can enable parents to work through their problems, instead of hurting their children. A major component of. Child Abuse Prevention Month is the Blue Ribbon Campaign. It was started in the mid 1980s by a grandmother whose grandson died as a result of abuse. The goal of the Blue Ribbon out little blue ribbons that can be pinned onto clothing and outerwear with the intention of someone asking the question, What is the blue ribbon for? There are also blue ribbon magnets and stickers available for cars. The message of todays Child Abuse Prevention Month is that a strong family will produce happy secure children who will be productive members of society as adults. Society is making progress in the area of preventing child abuse and neglect. The more that society knows about child abuse and neglect, the better the prevention efforts work. Education is the key to prevention, states Dr. Tonya Westbrook, Associate Professor in the Social Work Department at Wwcu. for an additional Campaign is to pass anything this bad. Western Carolina is already exercising budget restraint in order to deal with these issues. All requests for funds that fall outside of classroom instruction must be denied. Field . trips, research presentations, and fine arts performances have been cancelled. New shipments of office supplies cannot be ordered unless there is a campus-wide need. Faculty members have also suffered the effects of the budget strain. Many one-year contracts could not be renewed for the next academic year. As a result of this, caps on the number of students per class have been raised slightly. In an interview on Wednesday, Apr. 21, Dr. Grube explained the quality of education here at Western would not be compromised as a result of budget cuts. She also explained that students should not be concerned if they see new faces next semester; the University will not use cuts to offer new positions. Any new faculty will be added to fill existing open positions. When asked how budget cuts would affect Westerns Quality Enhancement Program (QEP), Dr. Grube stressed that although the QEP is primarily funded by the frozen state funds, Western will continue its commitment to the program. ( The current state Huieet freeze is temporary and will most likely be in effect until the beginning of . the fiscal year. Although cuts will still be a concern, tensions will be lessened by the addition of state funds. Until then, students can be supportive of Western by conserving utilities, staying informed, and engaging administration in open dialogue, Dr. Grube emphasized that administration would be open to hearing students voices concerning cuts, and would react if possible. She expressed gratitude to the student body for being tremendously supportive and involved. She urges students to ask questions of the administration, read updates from the Chancellor and Provost, and to continue to have classroom discussions about these issues. . News From Washington: Obama Approves 17,000 New Troops to Afghanistan By Adam Crisp WC Intern . On Tuesday, April 21, President Barack Obama approved an increase m the number of troops in Afghanistan, which will allow 17,000 US. military personnel, around 8,000 of which will be coming from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. This increase is necessary to stabilize a deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, which has not received the strategic attention, direction and resources it urgently requires, said President Obama at a press conference announcing the measure, At the moment. around 36,000 U.S. troops are on the ground, almost 28,000 more than January 2003. A Washington insider said that all of the troops will be deployed around the Afghani Pakistan border and will be used to stop foreign insurgents and to train Afghan troops. The United Nations has also pledged that it will send an additional 5,000 troops to help with the efforts as well as the upcoming elections, If we set ourselveas the objective of creating some sort of central Asian Valhalla over. there, we will lose, because nobody in the world has that kind of time, patience and money, said Defense Secretary Robert Gates following President Obamas speech. The new deployment numbers are on the heels of an increase of rapes in Afghanistan, some girls as young as seven, a resurging opium trade, and a controversial new law that states that if a married woman refuses to have sex with her husband, he can refuse to feed her. . Meanwhile, in the United States, President Obama is still facing challenges with the economy. On Earth Day, April 22, President Obama announced a plan to build offshore energy projects that can harvest wave and wind energy, as well as cutting carbon emissions by easing into our dependence on more traditional energy plants, such as coal. He said that the projects would create 250,000 jobs. ; President Obama also continued to push his stimulus package during a speech at Georgetown University on April 14 saying, -.-we will hold accountable those who are responsible, will force necessary adjustments, we provide the support to clean up those bank balance sheets, and we'll assure continuity of a strong and viable institution that can serve our people and economy. As of press time, the Bureau _ of Labor. Statistics reported 46 states as having over-the-month unemployment rate increases as well as payroll decreases for the month of March.

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: 2009-05-01
• Extent
  • Dimension: 14" x 11.5"
  • Pages: 16
• 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_2009-05-01_Vol75_No06
• Repository
  • Western Carolina University Hunter Library