The DA 11-19-2010

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THE DAILY ATHENAEUM

“Little good is accomplished without controversy, and no civic evil is ever defeated without publicity.”

da

Friday November 19, 2010

VOLUME 124, ISSUE 64

www.THEDAONLINE.com

New governors to take over BOG seats by erin fitzwilliams associate city editor

Omar Wazir, senior biology major, and Aman McWilliams, sophomore economics major, said they will accept two vacant seats on the Student Government Association’s Board of Governors. Gov. Ahmad Alashi and Gov. Garrett Robinson resigned from their positions on the BOG Wednesday due to “personal matters.” Wazir said he will continue Robinson’s platform of health and wellness, and McWilliams said he would continue Alashi’s platform of diversity and international students.

During SGA elections in February, Wazir received 1,964 of the student vote, and McWilliams received 1,939, putting them in the 17th and 18th seats of the 15-member BOG. The sixteenth seat was held by Gov. Joe Harmon who took office after Madison Andreini, a junior industrial engineering major, resigned from her position. “I think it will be hard work to catch up since I haven’t been with the BOG yet this year,” Wazir said. Wazir has been serving as SGA’s health and wellness chair and said he would continue Robinson’s initiative of promoting health on campus.

“They have been executives, so no training wheels for them, they’re going to have to start right away.” Ron Cheng

Student Government Association Vice President

McWilliams, who has been serving as SGA’s director of diversity, said he would like to make the transition to the BOG as “normalized” as possible. “My platform will be diver-

sity. There is a lack of valuable discussion about diversity at this University,” McWilliams said. McWilliams said he has been lecturing about diversity in University 101 classes this semester. McWilliams said he does not plan on focusing only on international students but wants to do something “entirely different.” “I’m excited to be a different kind of governor. Most of the governors on SGA do much of the work themselves,” he said. “I want to give students the incentive to get truly involved and want to do the work.” The vacant seats will be filled

WHAT A COMEBACK

at the Dec. 1 SGA meeting, said SGA Vice President Ron Cheng. Cheng said he and SGA President Chris Lewallen will discuss what they expect of the two new governors by meeting with them privately. “If they don’t think they can meet them (expectations) then I hope they do not accept,” he said. “They have been executives, so no training wheels for them, they’re going to have to start right away.” Robinson resigned Wednesday when news reports released details of a DUI arrest in October. He refused to take a preliminary breath test during a police stop, according to police reports.

da staff

WVU scores four unanswered goals against Xavier

BROOKE CASSIDY/THE DAILY ATHENAEUM

West Virginia trailed 2-0 within the first five minutes of Thursday’s first round NCAA Tournament game against Xavier. That’s when the Mountaineers turned up the pressure. Junior Franck Tayou scored three-consecutive goals for his first career hat-trick in the 4-2 victory over the Musketeers. Sophomore Uwem Etuk added another goal later to seal the victory. The Mountaineers move on to face Akron in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Check out more from Thursday’s game against Xavier on PAGE 10.

Nearly $1M awarded to safety and health extension by Emily Spickler Correspondent

The Occupational Safety and Hazard Administration, a branch of the U.S. Department of Labor, has granted West Virginia University’s Safety and Health Extension $880,000 to help educate small business workers in identifying and preventing work-related hazards. OSHA chose WVU to receive this grant due to a previously successful grant history and because it is one of OSHA’s 29 education centers nationwide. “WVU Safety and Health Extension possesses faculty with expertise that covers the entire

spectrum of health and safety,” said Brandon Takacs, principal investigator and writer of the grant and Extension clinical assistant professor at WVU, in an e-mail. “Over the past couple of years, there have been the additions of new standards and new safety and health programming and training requirements within existing standards,” Takacs said. These hazards exist in fields like logging, mining, construction, oil and petroleum industries. “(OSHA) is not connected to any one industry, but focuses on small business and high

risk,” said Mark Fullen, coinvestigator of the grant and director of WVU’s Safety and Health Extension. OSHA Region III will utilize the grant. The region includes West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Washington, DC and Delaware. There are 10 regions total. The hazard prevention and identification training will run from Oct. 1, 2010 to Sept. 31, 2011. “OSHA issues its annual inspection plan under the SiteSpecific Targeting program, which helps the agency direct enforcement resources to high-hazard workplaces

where the highest rates of injuries and illnesses occur,” Takacs said. The main goal of the training is to prevent hazards on site, especially using tools available. “About one-third of the class time is spent doing hands-on activities,” Fullen said. This training has existed before the grant’s existence and the methods are the same, but the approaches used now are much more financially feasible for small businesses, which WVU Safety and Health Extension defines as less than

see safety on PAGE 2

52° / 40°

HARRY POTTER

NEXT EDITION BACK NOV. 30

INSIDE

Check out the recaps of everything that’s happened so far. A&E PAGE 5

The Daily Athenaeum will be updating its website at www.thedaonline.com. Follow us on Twitter for breaking news and sports updates.

SUNNY

News: 1, 2, 3 Opinion: 4 A&E: 5, 7 Sports: 8, 10 Campus Calendar: 6 Puzzles: 6 Classifieds: 9

CONTACT US Newsroom 304-293-5092 or DAnewsroom@mail.wvu.edu Advertising 304-293-4141 or DA-Ads@mail.wvu.edu Fax 304-293-6857

COMING NEXT WEEK The West Virginia men’s soccer team opened the NCAA Tournament play Thursday night. Check out the results. SPORTS PAGE 10

erin.fitzwilliams@mail.wvu.edu

Full enrollment increases from fall 2009 by melanie hoffman and jessica leppar

BROOKE CASSIDY/THE DAILY ATHENAEUM

Alashi resigned Wednesday due to his involvement in an alleged hazing Monday morning. Alashi was alledgedly slapping pledges of the Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity who were blindfolded and covered in food, according to police reports. Alashi was once impeached from the BOG in March for using a University-sponsored email to solicit votes, which is in violation of SGA’s elections code. During an appeals process, Alashi’s e-mail was determined to not have influenced the election by SGA’s Judicial Board of Appeals and he was reinstated.

Approximately 399 more students are enrolled at West Virginia University’s main campus in fall 2010 than fall 2009, increasing all three campus’ total to 32,351. Noted increases lie within freshmen, transfer students, international students and students of color, said Brenda Thompson associate vice president for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management and Services. This is the largest first-time freshman class to enter WVU, with more than 6,000 students, a 7-percent increase. In the future, Thompson said the University wants to target a freshmen class of between 4,900 and 5,000 students to comfortably accommodate students in residence halls and classrooms. “We are formulating new

work groups across campus who will begin developing plans that will address student success and how we can help more of our students complete their degree,” she said via e-mail. Students were forced to find off-campus housing at the beginning of this semester because residence halls, which hold approximately 5,858 mostly freshmen and transfer students, were full. Thompson said the academic programs attract prospective students and their families to WVU first. “Once they’ve visited campus, the complete package of a first-class academic institution coupled with our warm, and welcoming environment, often wins them over and WVU becomes their first choice,” she wrote. Transfer students increased by 144, which totals 1,104

see enrollment on PAGE 2

SGA releases governors’ platform evaluations BY TRAVIS CRUM CITY EDITOR

Ron Cheng, West Virginia University Student Government Association vice president, said he is making good on his promise to release public evaluations holding the Board of Governors accountable for the work on their platforms. Each of the 15 BOG members and the two Athletic Council members received an evaluation last week based on eight criteria, such as the ability to start a project, the ability to follow through a project and the ability to work with other members of SGA. Cheng gave each member scores ranging from a high “excellent” to a low “satisfactory,” which spans their work from August to October. No member received a “poor” rating because they have been working since March and had time to complete the initial goals of their platforms, Cheng said. The next public evaluation will be released in January and will be graded more harshly because the members know what is expected of them now, he said. “If they don’t show me they are working by the next evaluation, then they will be given a poor rating,” Cheng said. During a meeting earlier this month, Cheng announced the three governors

who scored the highest on the evaluations as Gov. Ryan Campione, Gov. Rashad Bates and Gov. Jason Bailey. Bates said he was surprised when Cheng identified him for his work on reforming the WVUp All Night program. “I feel very, very humbled by it,” Bates said. “I just look at individual accolades as a goal of being a governor.” Bailey, whose platform is student organizations, said he appreciates the evaluation process because it keeps him and his colleagues focused on their mission of representing the students. “I know so many of the other governors are working hard,” Bailey said. “At times, some are working harder than me, and at other times, I’m working harder than them. It’s good to see our work doesn’t go unnoticed.” Cheng said each round of evaluations will encompass that particular period. He is considering releasing an evaluation near the end of the administration’s term on the work they completed all year. Evaluation criteria: Initiative: The ability to start a project and do so independently. Commitment: The ability to follow through with a project. Cooperativeness: The ability to work with other

see evaluations on PAGE 2

WVU WINS IN PUERTO RICO The West Virginia men’s basketball team advanced to the winner’s bracket of the Puerto Rico Tip Off after defeating Davidson. They face Vanderbilt today. SPORTS PAGE 10


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