THE DAILY ATHENAEUM
“Little good is accomplished without controversy, and no civic evil is ever defeated without publicity.”
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Monday February 7, 2011
Volume 124, Issue 94
www.THEDAONLINE.com
Clements’ contract sent for approval WVU president must have contract renewed by HEPC BY TRAVIS CRUm CITY EDITOR
A new contract for West Virginia University President James P. Clements has been sent to the West Vir-
ginia Higher Education Policy Commission for approval, said Carolyn Long, chair of the Board of Governors. The BOG announced Jan. 13 it was holding meetings to discuss a new contract for Clements five months before his current contract expires on June 30. During Friday’s BOG meeting, Clements gave Long permission to announce his contract was sent to HEPC for approval. Long said she could
not comment on specifics of the contract. “President Clements gave his permission to say it was his contract that was going, anything after that will be inappropriate because it is still a personnel matter,” Long said. “It (the contract) can’t be approved until signed by the president, and before that happens, it has to be signed by HEPC.” Long said the HEPC will hold a meeting to discuss and
approve Clement’s contract. Once the contract is signed and approved, the BOG will release it to the public, Long said. Clements signed a twoyear contract in March 2009 at a salary of $450,000 annually. He took office on June 30, 2009, after previously serving as provost at Towson University in Maryland. Clements’ salary was $150,000 more than Interim President C. Peter Magrath and $195,000
more than his predecessor, Mike Garrison. Clements was not at Friday’s meeting because he was visiting his sick mother, who died Friday. Also during the meeting, the BOG unanimously approved a request for state funds matching more than $7.5 million in gifts from the WVU Research Trust Fund on Friday. The state will match more than $16 million in pledges
and gifts certified by the WVU Foundation. The Research Trust Fund, known as the “Bucks for Brains” program, provides up to $35 million from the state to fund research in energy, nanotechnology, biosciences and biometrics. The funds come from 12 sources, said WVU Provost Michele Wheatly, who presented the gifts and pledges
see BOG on PAGE 2
Community reacts to crisis in Egypt Homeopathic meds protested during ‘mass overdose’ BY CHARLES YOUNG STAFF WRITER
Community members hold a protest in honor of the troubles in Egypt across from the Mountainlair on Friday afternoon.
Mallory Bracken/THE DAILY ATHENAEUM
Protesters support Egypt’s fight against its current regime; WVU expert lends knowledge on US involvement in Egypt BY JOEL MORAELS STAFF WRITER
More than 30 people stood outside the Mountainlair at West Virginia University Friday during a peaceful protest supporting Egypt’s fight against its current regime by chanting “Hey Obama, stop supporting the dictator!” The demonstration coincides with Egyptian protests that began on Jan. 25 in Cairo, Suez and Ismailia that have since grown to over 500,000 people in Cairo alone. The protestors in Egypt have taken to the streets to demand President Hosni Mubarak step down from his position. Friday’s protest was lead by the Egyptian Student Association at WVU, said Asem Othman, president of the group. Othman said the demonstration was a peaceful protest for the need for democracy in Egypt. The group held signs and banners to receive support from students and cars passing by the Mountainlair. Mubarak assumed the presidency 29 years ago after the assassination of Anwar El Sadat. He has issued a statement saying he would not seek re-election in September. “We do not want to see Mubarak leave in September,” said a graduate student who wished to remain anonymous. “We want to see him leave right now, and millions of people are in downtown Egypt making sure this happens.” Mubarak claims that his immediate departure will
end in extreme chaos, leaving the Egyptians to fend for themselves. “There has been a great deal of unrest,” said Scott Crichlow, associate professor of political science at WVU and Egyptian expert. “These riots and protests against the regime are the likes of which have never been seen before.” The protests have turned more dangerous as they grew in number, taking more than 100 lives and injuring more than 3,000. The U.S. government has been in constant contact with Egyptian officials, attempting to monitor the situation so that the transition is as smooth as possible. “There have been phone calls from major U.S. political figures to the Egyptian political figures making it clear that they want to see a more democratic Egypt with elections,” Crichlow said. “There has already been a tradition of protest in Egypt because their elections have a history of being, from our point of view, rigged.” The Egyptian people feel like they are being taken advantage of with a false pretence that they have free and fair elections. “Nobody wanted him to be elected,” said one protester. “He was elected because his officials put him there.” Billions of dollars in U.S. foreign aid dollars have supported the Egyptian military in the last 30 years. “The U.S. will be extremely invested,” Crichlow said. “Egypt is usually the number two country in U.S. foreign
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Tim Nelms said “goodbye, cruel world,” just before he and other members of the West Virginia Skeptics group took an overdose of homeopathic medicine at the Blue Moose Cafe Saturday night. The event was part of the “10:23 Campaign,” a protest movement that began in England in response to outdated homeopathic medicines being covered by the national heath care system. Twenty-three cities in 10 countries participated in simultaneous protests, according to the campaign’s website. “Our main goal is to show that there’s nothing in it,” Nelms said. Members of the group took homeopathic remedies for sleep in pill and liquid form, which were 1 million times the strength of a recom-
mended dose. “We are doing this as a show of solidarity with our friends in England who are outraged that they have to pay for this stuff. It has no medical basis whatsoever,” Nelms said. The group filmed the protest and plans to post the video on the campaign’s website. Homeopathy, which was created in 1796 by German physician Samuel Hahnemann, is considered a pseudoscience. Proponents of homeopathy claim that water retains “the spirt” of herbal substances. By diluting herbs in water hundreds of times, homeopaths claim to be increasing their strength. “One of the common misconceptions with this is that homeopathy and herbal medicine are the same,” said
see HOMEOPATHY on PAGE 2
Chelsi Baker/THE DAILY ATHENAEUM
The West Virginia Skeptics group take large doses of homeopathic medicines at the Blue Moose Saturday as a protest of the drugs being used to treat illnesses.
WVU professor, students begin prison book project BY Alicia Elkin CORRESPONDENT
Mallory Bracken/THE DAILY ATHENAEUM
A local woman holds a sign and chants during a protest by community members over the current troubles in Egypt. aid dollars,” Crichlow said. “Egypt is an incredibly important part of the world, and the U.S. has been closely monitoring Egypt for a long time.” Although many U.S. citizens are concerned about what the protests may mean for U.S. military activity, Crichlow does not see military involvement as an issue. “The U.S. won’t have much faith in their ability to secure an outcome that would merit the action,” he said. “I don’t think either side would want the U.S. as their proponent because the mass movement
wants to present itself as the Egyptians.” Crichlow believes military involvement will destroy the Egyptian government’s chance at legitimacy, leading to more distrust between the people of Egypt and their government. “What the future of the Egyptian political organizational landscape is (is) a mystery at this point,” he said. “The world needs to just sit and watch what happens.” danewsroom@mail.wvu.edu
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
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INSIDE THIS EDITION The West Virginia women’s basketball team was defeated by Pittsburgh 60-53 on Saturday. SPORTS PAGE 10
More than 8,000 letters requesting books were submitted to a prison literacy project started by a West Virginia University professor and her students. Kathleen Ryan, associate English professor, taught a graduate class on prison literature during the fall of 2004. While researching about prison authors, former prisoners and people who have imagined the experience of imprisonment, her class discovered West Virginia does not have a prison book project. Fundraising for the project started two years ago to promote literacy for prisoners by providing them books to read. The letters have been sent to the project from prisoners requesting books since 2004 from prisons in West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Ohio,
Kentucky and Tennessee. “It was the initiative and drive of those students along with some great colleagues in the English Department that got the project off the ground,” Ryan said. The project has enough money now to begin purchasing requested books for the inmates, helping inmates and sending them the books they requested. “Funding is always a problem,” said Zachary Cromie, president of the Appalachian Prison Book Project. “Certain books, like legal dictionaries, and business books, are difficult to find because they’re asked for so often.” Once APBP receives the letter, it works to fulfill the order even if it sends a similar book to what the inmate requested. “Sometimes it’s clear that they have no more than a
see prison on PAGE 2
IT’S TIME TO BRAWL The West Virginia men’s basketball team takes on No. 4 Pittsburgh tonight in the Backyard Brawl at the WVU Coliseum. Check out the game preview. SPORTS PAGE 10