The Carolinian [January 16, 1997]

              The Carolinian C'2
News I -4 / Arts and Leisure 5
Sports 6-7 / Calendar 8 / Classifieds 9
^^^^^^^^^ The University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Thursday,
January 16,1997
Hk r*%^S* X
New Rock in Rec:
See the Photograph, Page 5
Telephone- (910) 334-5752
Fax-(910)334-3518
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Calendar Page:
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Issued,-^
Volume 76
Technology,
tradition meet in
new computer lab
Steve Gilliam
Staff WritPr
You'd expect to find paint, can-vas,
easels, sketchpads and more
in a traditional art studio. But art
students at UNCG have a new
kind of studio with a different kind
of tool - the computer - for their
art and design projects.
UNCG has introduced com-puter
technology into its art and
design curriculum through the
new computer laboratory, located
in the Mclvcr Building. Situated
next door to a more traditional stu-dio,
the lab contains 20 Power
Macintosh computers, which run
the latest industry-standard ver-sions
of software for design, art
and desktop publishing.
The computer design studio
came about through a collabora-tion
of efforts at UNCG that in-volved
the Department of Art, the
College of Arts and Sciences and
Office of Computing and Informa-tion
Systems (CIS). While it is
heavily scheduled for use by art
and design students, it also func-tions
as a multi-purpose computer
lab for the rest of the University,
and is available to any UNCG stu-dent.
The lab had a price tag of
more than $125,000, but students
and faculty in the department say
the facility is invaluable.
Amy Lixl-Purcell, an assistant
professor in the Department of
Art, is coordinator of the classes
that utilize the computer in art and
design. She has been using the
computer in her own sculpture,
design and multi-media art for 10
years, but says that the available
software was limiting for many
artists until recently.
"The field of computer art and
design is finally taking off," said
Lixl-Purcell. "The software has
caught up with our dreams and
imaginations, in some cases even
surpassing our imaginations.
Right now, the tools are there to
imitate everything that's available
in other art disciplines. And then
the computer also offers a num-ber
of special properties all its
own."
Students working in the lab can
choose from any of the available
software programs. The flexibil-ity
is amazing, Lixl-Purcell said,
noting that a function within one
program allows students to adjust
the color levels for their work -
much the way an artist would mix
paints on a palette to get the cor-rect
shade. That program, she said,
allows students to create some 16
million colors by mixing and ad-justing
percentages of colors.
Among the programs used regu-larly
are Quark Xpress, Form-Z,
Dimensions, Fractal Painter, Di-rector,
Adobe Premiere, Adobe Il-lustrator
and Adobe Photoshop.
The computer lab came about
through the urging and planning
of K. Porter Aichele, head of the
See Lab, Page 3
Weather
Outlook
Thursday: f 40% Chance
for Rain
Friday:
Sunny
High in upper 30's
National Oceanic and
>lu i H Administration
Source:
AUnot
Fire spreads frenzy in campus dorm
Deanna McDonald
and Paula Nelson
News Editors
When Travis Allen was awak-ened
by a fire alarm in North
Spenser Hall yesterday morning
he thought it was just another
prank. But when he walked out of
his room, the entire hallway was
filled with smoke.
At 10:08 a.m.. University Po-lice
Officer R. L. Bailey re-sponded
to the alarm and found
the source of the fire to be room
111. The fire was believed to be
started when the resident dis-carded
a cigarette in his trashcan.
By the time the Greensboro Fire
Department arrived on campus,
the fire had spread from the
trashcan to an adjacent nightstand.
The fire was contained within a
small area of the room near the
window and firefighters had the
blaze under control within minutes
with the aid of a wall-mounted ex-tinguisher.
The nightstand was
tossed out the window and extin-guished.
Spenser Hall resident Pete
Wyckoff wandered down the first
floor hallway to get a drink of
water from the fountain. "The hall
smelled like plastic," he said. In
response, Wyckoff began to feel
for hot doorhandles that may have
revealed the source of the burn-ing
smell. Once he approached
room 111, he heard "crackles",
although the doorhandle was not
hot. Then he saw smoke roll out
from behind the door, so he im-mediately
pulled the fire alarm and
anxiously awaited emergency
crews.
Housing and Residence Life
representatives determined the
identity of room 11 l's occupant,
See Fire, Page 2
( ., nil r. v < ,.n In, r.'l III CAROLINIAN
Firefighters kept the bla/e contained to Room 111 of North Spencer Hall on
Wednesday morning. According to the Greensboro Fire Department, the fire
was ignited by a lit cigarette in the trash can.
UNCG Gets a Taste of Winter
Jennifer Schnabel/THF CAROLINIAN
Geoffrey Gartner/TIIK CAROLINIAN
Winter weather took its hold on UNCG. While
the freezing rain iced bridges and trees, most
roads were safe for travel. The freezing rain
was followed by two inches of snow early Sat-urday
morning.
Rivenbark ends hunt for safety chief
Deanna McDonald
News Editor
The lengthy search for a highly
profiled and.interactive position
ended with the fall semester when
university officials announced
Captain Ted Rivenbark of Talla-hassee,
Florida as UNCG's new
Director of Public Safety and Po-lice,
effective February 3, 1997.
The decision was reached
shortly after a six-month process
brought Rivenbark to campus for
an intensive interviewing and ob-servation
period. Rivenbark met
with student leaders, administra-tors,
University officials and
members of a search committee
during his two-day visit.
Phil Richman, Vice Chancellor
ourtesy
Captain Ted Rivenbark
for Business Affairs, stated, "This
was a very thorough process. A
lot of people got to meet the
candidates and express their
views."
Although Richman made the
final selection for director, he
said, "This was not just my
choice, but the choice of a great
majority." Richman explained
that the search committee's
summary of comments and
evaluations of the candidates
was important in choosing
Rivenbark.
Approval of the future direc-tor
has been expressed by sev-eral
departments that will work
closely with him. According to
Lieutenant J.M. Walker.
Rivenbark has already begun to
establish relationships with mem-bers
of the University Police.
"He's talked with several offic-ers
in the department. He has
touched base and is gathering in-formation
so we expect to hear
more and form stronger ties in the
next few weeks." said Walker.
Walker continued by showing
his support of the decision to ap-point
Rivenbark: "He's a
policeman's policeman, meaning
he's got excellent credentials and
background experience. His offic-ers
(at FSU) are very supportive
... he is wanting to get involved
and I know he's very interested in
the officers and ihe students."
The voice of concern comes
mostly from students who feel that
See Rivenbark. Page 2
Community assistant
contract changes
lead to controversy
Natalie Watson
Senior News Writer
Changes in the 1996-97 aca-demic
year contract and work
agreement for Community Assis-tants,
have raised questions con-cerning
the position, leaving a few
students in the residence halls ad-justing
to new C.A.'s after a rash
of firings and resignations.
According to Guy Sanders, As-sociate
Director of Administrative
Services for the Office of Hous-ing
and Residence Life, the sti-pend
for Community Assistants
increased from $1900 to $3200
last year, therefore increasing the
time commitment and responsi-bilities
associated with the posi-tion.
The major changes involve
duty agreements, requiring ca's to
spend more time in the dorms and
to keep in closer contact with the
Office of Housing and Residence
Life in case of emergencies. For
some students, these changes
mean loss of social life, and a
"domination" by the Office of
Housing and Residence Life.
"They need a 24 hour notice when
we are going out for the evening.
My social life is minimal; being a
C.A. is my social life," says one
C.A., who wishes to remain
anonymous.
According to Charlene Gaines,
Coordinator fot Upperclass Pro-grams
for the Office of Housing
and Residence life, hall duty has
always been important and that
priority was only restated in the
1996-97 work agreement. "We ask
basically for a maximum of three
nights a week when the C.A. has
to be in and on duty. [These are]
times when we ask them to just
be around the dorm, and [require]
notification when they will not be
in or around, so that in case of an
emergency, such as a fire or some-thing,
we are aware that there is
no one there and can put someone
from the staff on as coordinator-on-
call. We need to know at all
times if dorms are covered in case
of emergencies."
The contract was revised in the
Spring of 1996, when Residence
Life began interviewing for posi-tions
for the 1996-97 school year.
According to Gaines, revisions
were made after comparing the
way UNCG was handling Resi-dence
Hall issues with other com-parable
schools on the nation. It
was found that as far as wages
were concerned, UNCG was on
the low end, and so the stipend
was increased, subsequently in-creasing
residence hall responsi-bilities.
"We are not doing any-thing,
or asking more than any
other colleges across the country,"
says Gaines.
The changes were made, and
copies of the new work agreement
were sent to everyone, with little
feedback being received. A meet-ing
with all Community Assistants
was held to make changes and dis-cuss
problems, and things were
handled accordingly. According to
Sanders, all C.A.'s were aware of
the changes. "I met with every
single C.A. in a group setting to
discuss the changes, and answer
their questions," says Gaines.
"The contract was written, defi-nite,
and set in stone by March..."
The one thing that has always been
in place, and always been a policy,
was that not being present when
on duty results in termination,
with no second chance.
See Contract, Page 3