• Format
  • Publications (documents)
• Type
  • Text
• Source institution
  • Western Carolina University
• Identifier
  • HL_WesternCarolinian_2011-12-09_Vol77_No16_CampusLife_02

December 9th, 2011 WESTERN CAROLINIAN Page B-2 yee A Re TN REVIEW A look back at the years news and events around Cullowhee Justin Caudell, Editor-in-Chief From familiar faces at Western Carolina University leaving to take advantage of better opportunities to stu- dents excelling outside of the classroom, the Western Carolinian covered a lot of positive news and events in 2011. Over the past 12 months, the newspaper also shed light on many important is- sues on campus affecting Students and reported on other matters in and around Cullowhee for readers, from a radio station closure. to new laws and regulations taking affect. Highlights of what cov- ered the pages of the West- ern Carolinian from January to November-are below. January A group of Western Carolina University and WWCU-FM alumni began "a petition against the Com- munication Department and the College of Arts and Sci- ences at WCU to change the format of the radio sta- tion from primarily Clas- sic Rock to Top 40 and to have the station return to complete student control. Currently the station limits _ students to what they can air and when. For many years WWCU-FM operated under the Division of Students Af- fairs and the Student Media Department at WCU. A collection of short sto- ries by Ron Rash, the Par- ris. Distinguished Professor of Appalachian Culture at Western Carolina Univer- sity, made a list published - by Entertainment Weekly of must reads. Burning Bright, the third compila- tion by Rash, was included among the top five books of the year in a list submitted by mystery and crime fic- tion author Michael Koryta, who called the book ...a bleak and beautiful collec- tion of short stories set in the Appalachian Mountains, written with compassion for - the characters and language alike?) 4. FASS Due to adverse weather, campus construction on The Quad: at- WCU was delayed. Originally, the deadline for completion was for the middle or end of De- . -cember 2010. A new Java City opened at the old snack bar at WCU. Changes to the coffee shop included more sitting room for customers and a grab and go grocery store. Moonshine Mini Mart in Cullowhee opened its doors again after a meth lab was discovered on the prop- erty in December, 2010. Five store employees were charged with multiple felo- nies in connection with the meth operation. The conve- nience store had to undergo a facelift that included paint- ing and decontamination before it could be cleared by the State Health Office and the Jackson County Sher-' iffs Department. Fifty three new laws took effect in North Carolina, in- cluding texting while driv- ing carrying a $100 fine plus court costs and_ harassing someone online becoming a misdemeanor. Other new laws included placing cam- eras on the side of school buses to capture vehicles passing busses that are stopped to let children off and license plate frames are no longer allowed to block any important information, such as the inspection stick- er and the state name. The firm guiding the search for Western Carolina Universjtys next chancellor identified a pool of approxi- mately three dozen possible candidates for the position who already had indicated strong interest in serving as the institutions new chief executive officer. The newspapers . Arts and Entertainment staff produced a special section that contained pictures and articles that chronicled the Pride of the Mountains trip to California to march in the 2011 Rose Parade on New Years Day. A Western Carolina University _ alumnus _ that - climbed to the top of the Jackson. County Public School System announced her retirement on Tuesday, Jan. 25. Sue Nations, who had led local schools as su- perintendent since February 2004 and had worked for the school system for 37 years, broke the news during Janu- arys Jackson County Board of Education meeting. Families and children from all over the commu- nity ventured out to see laser beams, juggling, 3D effects, and a grand finale featur- ing toilet paper at the Mark: Nizer 3D Show in the Fine and Performing Arts Center on Friday, Jan. 28. With over an hour and a half of live, surprising entertainment, the. audience which included a number of young children was cackling with laughter throughout the show. State budget cuts and how Western Carolina Uni- versity is going to prepare for them were topics of dis- cussion at a forum led by Chancellor John W. Bardo at the Fine and Performing Arts Center on Jan. 31. February The Western Carolin- ian started a subscription service after many requests from parents and Western Carolina University alumni. The cost of a subscription was set at $30 yearly for North Carolina residents and $45 out-of-state residents. Three Western Carolina University Motion Picture and Television Production students began a mission to film a movie titled The Prospect. The three master- minds behind this operation Director Chris Read, Pro- ducer Mike Santoro, and Di- rector of Photography Zach Heaton were determined to raise money and make the film a booming success, even though most people had said that they couldnt do it. The film tells a story that correlates with todays economy, hardships, money, _and moral issues. Details of the film will be historically accurate, but the film will focus on the story of a man that may not have existed on paper, but in the realm of the Gold Rush could have existed in the same way the character does. The 16-member search committee tasked with help- ing select Western Carolina Universitys next chancel- lor met Tuesday, Feb. 15, to discuss the top candidates for the job and determine who would be invited to participate in off-campus interviews. The commit- tee, working with the Baker and Associates executive recruitment firm and with Ann Lemmon, associate vice president for human resources for the University of North Carolina system, met at the offices of Ad- vantage West in Asheville to evaluate the candidate pool. Mark A. Stoffan joined Hunter Library as head of digital, access, and tech- nology services, and Peter Johnson started as the new . Bardo. PHOTO BY MARK HASKETT Western Carolina Universitys Pride of the Mountains Marching Band marched in the 2011 Rose Parade in Pasadena, Calif: on New Years Day. The Western Carolinian produced a special section on the band in the Jan. 28 edition to chronicle the band trip. head of access services. Stoffan came to WCU from The Florida State Univer- . sity in Tallahassee, where he was associate director for li- brary technology at Strozier Library for the past three years. Johnson arrived to WCU after serving for five years as regional technology librarian for the Mountain Regional Library System of Young Harris, Ga. The Second City present- ed Fair and Unbalanced on Thursday, Feb. 17 in the Fine and Performing Arts Center. With only five actors and one pianist accompani- ment, the actors all literally glowed with talent during each small skit, which they referred to as a sketch com- edy. There were at least a dozen of these sketch com- edies amongst the unimagi- nable segments of improvi- sation that Second City is known for. The actors would ask for a topic from the audi- ence, ahd then literally take - it from there. March The search committee tasked with helping select Western Carolina Universi- tys next charicellor recom- mended a final slate of can- didates, and that list went to the president of the Univer- sity of North Carolina sys- tem. The search committee had been working since late October, 2010 to help iden- tify a successor for John W. After interviewing a number of top candidates during a series of airport in- terviews March 4-5 in At- lanta, the search committee provided a list of finalists to the WCU Board of Trustees for consideration. The WCU. board, during a special meet- ing March 15, agreed on a list of at least three final- ists to be forwarded to Tom Ross, UNC president, who makes th recommendation to the UNC Board of Gover- nors for final approval. Ten Western Carolina University employees re- ceived notification that their jobs would be eliminated at or before April 1 and 15 more would be cut in the upcoming months as_ part of the universitys efforts to deal with a projected loss of approximately $8.6 mil- lion in state funding for the - 2011-12 fiscal year. Among those let go in this first wave were eight staff employees (subject to the State Per- sonnel Act, or SPA) and two administrative employ- ees (exempt from the State Personnel Act, or EPA) and were employed in several divisions across the univer- sity. The positions that were eliminated ranged from a university mechanic to the director of the campus writ- ing center. Jim Costa, professor of biology at Western Carolina University and director of The Highlands Biologi- cal Station, was one of the 18 scientists, engineers, educa- tors and others profiled in a published science education sourcebook titled Real Life Science Mysteries. Written for fifth- through eighth- graders, the book by Colleen _ Kessler features people in science-related careers as a way to give kids a sense of the different paths people take to finding their careers, how science works, and the sense of wonder and. adven- ture that often is associated with scientific pursuits. The book also provides more than 30 hands-on projects related to each of the people and research areas profiled. A Western Carolina Uni- versity business student claimed second place among 122 competitors in a pres- tigious hational collegiate sales competition, while he and his WCU teammate placed seventh out of 61 schools in team competi- tion. Nathan Hunzaker, a senior majoring in sales and marketing and computer in- formation systems, finished second in individual com- petition at the 12th Annual National Collegiate Sales Competition (NCSC) hosted by Kennesaw State Univer- _ sity on March 4-7. Hunza- ker and Jena Weinstock, a senior majoring in entre- preneurship with a minor in marketing, took home the seventh-place trophy in the team event. The Western Carolina University Board of Trust- ees authorized the issuance of special obligation bonds to jumpstart _ renovations to a 38-year-old residence hall, including energy ef- ficiency improvements that would enable the building to qualify for LEED certifica- tion. Approval of the bonds . as a bridge loan came during the boards regular quarterly meeting Friday, March: 11. Work on improvements to Harrill Hall, a 400-bed facil- ity dedicated in April 1973, is expected to be completed in August, 2012. Western Carolina Uni- PHOTO BY SAMANTHA CROTTY versity students once again | ranked among the nations | leaders in the number of | their research projects that | had been accepted for pre- sentation at the countrys f most prestigious undergrad- uate research conference. | WCU students had a total of 69 project abstracts accepted by the National Conference on Undergraduate Research, an annual springtime gath- | ering where students from | across the nation present their best research. Among the 356 colleges and uni- | versities that sent students to this years conference, WCU ranked fourth in the total number of projects approved by the NCUR ab- stract review committee. WCU students have ranked in the top 10 in projects ac- cepted for the conference for six consecutive years. Manuel Concepcion, who had led the Lady Catamount volleyball team since 2009, turned in an immediate letter of resignation. According to Chip Smith, director of ath- letics, Concepcion resigned % due to personal reasons. WCU was 10-52 overall un- der Concepcion and 2-30 in the Southern Conference. The Western Carolin- ian was a finalist for a cov- eted golden apple at this springs College Media Ad- visers National College Me- dia Convention held in New York City from March 12- 15. The Western Carolinian received a third place award, piste needa in the best slideshow cat egory of the conventions David L. Adams Apple. Awards, which recognizes newspapers annually for their outstanding pe on- Fi

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: 2011-12-09
• Extent
  • Dimension: 22.75" x 11.5"
  • Pages: 12
• 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_2011-12-09_Vol77_No16
• Repository
  • Western Carolina University Hunter Library