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  • Western Carolina University
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  • HL_WesternCarolinian_2013-03-15_Vol78_No13_A01

geo eee THE WESTERN CAROLINIAN FRIDAY March 15, 2013 / WWW.weunews.com | Vol. 78, No. 13 + FREE Lex Menz Co-Editor-in- Chief Cullowhee and Western Carolina University often celebrate their Appala- chian heritage and cul- ture on a regular basis. Mountain Heritage _ Day is a huge event where community mem- bers and tourists can experience firsthand how mountain culture was shaped through crafts, music and more. Also, there are sev- eral musical acts that frequent campus with a blue grass or coun- try music feel that go hand-in-hand with the mountain atmosphere of Jackson County. However, few students realize the deeper his- tory of their University. Did you know the center of campus where Killian and Coulter sit used to be a Cherokee town? Jane Eastman, a professor of anthropol- ogy at WCU since 2001, has performed three archaeological digs on campus during the sum- mers from 2003 to 2005. During these digs, East- man and her team have uncovered year after year of history before the white folk settled in the mountains. That town was oc- cupied probably up until about 1650s or so, said Eastman. The town was prior to any sus- tained contact with any Logan Porter Staff Writer Here at Western Carolina University, there exists a student club or organization for nearly anything one could think up. There are the standard depart- mental clubs such as the chemistry club, the management club and the biology club. There is a society for the appre- ciation of Celtic culture, a pagan student asso- ciation and the Student Debate Association. In addition to more aca- demic or cultural clubs, students may also choose to become members of more recreational orga- nizations. For example, there is an anime club where students come together to watch and dis- cuss cartoons, or a gam- ing club, where members play a variety of video games with one another. With roughly 185 registered organizations, there is a such a wide variety that it may be- come difficult for a new organization to get word out or capture student interest that is already heavily divided up. Dr. Sam Miller, vice midalmound.. iconeeae. It was in the area around Killian. At the end of Killian An- nex, between the Annex and the road was where we worked the first summer. In the quad- rangle between Killian and Coulter and For- syth, that grassy area, is where we worked the last two years. Before initial con- struction of improve- ments to Killian Annex, Facilities Management gave Eastman permis- sion to quickly dig in the area. Ultimately, Facilities Management did not want to disturb any graves. The Facilities Man- agement had a backhoe and a backhoe driver that we did have to pay for it, but ... they helped us re-excavate what we had started the first year and refilled, so we didnt have to spend a lot of time re-excavat- ing. They supported it in the sense that they allowed it to happen, said Eastman. The reason why that has been the focus of at- tention is that there was a center of the Chero- kee town, continued Eastman. There was a mound where Killian building now stands. The mound would have been a platform, a pyra- . its lit- erally a mound of earth that has a flat top on it, and they would build chancellor of student af- fairs, said that he agrees most students are not aware of the full variety of student organizations. With all of todays so- cial media and constant information updates, its easy to lose track of the big picture sometimes, including all the other things happening all around us, said Miller. However, Miller argued that this is not indicative of a failure in spreading the word or having broad enough unifying interests. Its natural for student organizations to come and go, said Miller. The best tool is reaching out and making personal connections. Organizations must be wary of becoming too reliant on social media, as Miller pointed out. Its easy to ignore a Facebook posting but hard to ignore someone shaking your hand, said Miller, The nature of the or- ganization itself is also important to take into account. Some organi- zations may choose to expand while others might have different goals or values. the most important public building, which was the council house, on top of that mound. Eastman estimated - that the mound would have been 20 feet high. While the council house sat on top, the rest of the town stretched around it, making the mound the focal point. A plaza area would be directly in front of the mound where important activities and ceremo- nies would take place. Killian building, which houses departments like psychology, now sits di- rectly where the mound would have been. What happened to the town before WCUs campus was owned by a farmer later on in the 1800s remains a mystery. We dont know. There was a later community on campus that was dis- covered when they were first starting to prepare for the Ramsey Center .in 1972, said East- man. They uncovered a house from probably the 1740s that was a Cherokee house. I think that probably what happened, and you see this happening in other areas in Cherokee terri- tory, is that people, after European contact, they stopped living in these dense, nucleated com- munities where theyre clustering around a mound in a town cen- . ter. They spread outin . Miller noted enue most student organizations are built around a smaller group of students that share a connection. These are the clubs that tend to stay around for longer, as members who share a close connection are more likely to help the club survive and thrive. Visith Thepphasone, sophomore and presi- dent of the Asian Stu- dent Association (ASA), was happy to share how his club spreads the word of their organiza- tion and activities. We take advantage of events on campus such as the International Festival, Valley Balleyhoo, Cat Fair and others. These events are where we recruit most of our new members, said Thepphasone. He also noted that word of mouth was a big factor in recruitment and getting the word out. Often we have friends of friends that will join up and take part in the activities we have going on, said Thepphasone. Some clubs are thought to purposefully keep their numbers low, either because the na- ture of the club requires exclusivity or because WCUs hidden Cherokee heritage Photo by Ceillie Simkiss/STAFF A sacred mound in a Cherokee town used to sit in the exact location of Killian building before it was leveled out during construction. these little homesteads along Cullowhee Creek, and theres one of those at the Ramsey Center. Those are the people that still lived around Cullowhee Creek that would come back and still do business at that council house here in the center of campus. Eventually, the land came under the owner- ship of farmer Daniel Rogers. In the 1880s, aman named James Osborne, who worked for two brothers opening a museum in Virginia, ar- rived, asking to excavate the mound on Rogers land, explained Eastman. Rogers refusedinthe _ leaders of the club may think it beneficial to the clubs social cohesion to keep it small. Thepphasone said that is not the case under his leadership. T honestly think it doesnt matter how many you have so long as you have a good beginning but struck a deal with Osborne that if he were to level the mound enough to plough it, he would allow Os- borne to excavate it as well. Because of this, the mound became ignored and neglected. There was this idea that it had been exca- vated in the past and it was no longer impor- tant, said Eastman. When the University purchased this land from Daniel Rogers in the middle of the 20th century, the idea was that the mound has already been excavated. When they expanded an began const amount of core com- munity that participates and helps out with events, this allows any number to participate, said Thepphasone. Perry Widemon, president of the Evolu- tion Modeling Troupe, a dance and modeling club, was also willing to page AB in this part of the val- ley, they said, We dont need to do anything be- cause its already been excavated, which was areally not good deci- sion, obviously. When construction con- tinued on the University in the 1950s, a road grater arrived to completely level out the mound. They actually adver- tised the week before in The Sylva Herald that this event was going to happen...andif you wanted to come by and gather relics, it was going to happen at 10 o'clock. See CHEROKEE LAND, Photo by Chris Ward/STAFF Clubs like Last Minute Productions receive much attention. What about the others? share how his group gets the word out. We just started out, but we'll be putting out a promotional video that will be uploaded onto YouTube. We also attend Cat Fair and Valley Bal- lyhoo in order to adver- See WHO, page A2 Nursing program Brandy Carl Staff Writer Starting in the fall of 2013, Western Carolina University will offer a Doctor of Nursing Prac- tice (DNP) program. The DNP program will be available as a post-_ masters program, which requires students to have first obtained their masters degree. Direc- tor of the Nursing Pro- gram Judy Neubrander said that by 2016 the program hopes to have a post-baccalaureate branch as well, though the curriculum has not yet been outlined. Students wishing to participate in the DNP program will be a part of a rigorous curricu- lum in conjunction with the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. T think it will defi- nitely increase the inter- est in WCUs School of Nursing as a whole as well as get WCUs name out there. It will draw in a lot of positive publicity through North Caro- lina and the nation as a whole, said WCU junior Kara Blankenship, who is part of the bachelor of science in nursing program. The DNP major has been in the works for almost 10 years with planning beginning in 2004. Directors from both schools, includ- ing UNCCs anesthesia program director, came together to design the program. The program was cre- ated as part of a national trend. The program is what is known as an advanced terminal degree, or a degree that is the highest in its field. Following suit in the trend are doctoral de- grees in physical therapy and pharmacy. WCU also offers a doctorate program for physical therapy. Students can choose from one of three tracks within the major. Stu- dents can either go into the anesthesia, nurse administration or fam- ily nurse practitioner fields. Students will be required to complete a scholarly project for publication and 500 hours of clinical practi- cum hours, according to programs homepage. We've got a moderate demand and because its changing nationwide, we expect to see a change, to offer Doctorate of Nursing Practice said Neubrander. The program will be a consortium, or joint venture, with UNCCs nursing program. Each of the two schools will admit six students, total- ing 12 in all. The first se- mester classes are taken through UNCC, the second semester classes will be taken at Biltmore Park. Neubrander said the students will have an intensive three-day- See NURSING, page A2

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)
  • Text
• Type
  • Text
• Date
  • Date original: 2013-03-15
• 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_2013-03-15_Vol78_No13
• Repository
  • Western Carolina University Hunter Library