THE DAILY ATHENAEUM
“Little good is accomplished without controversy, and no civic evil is ever defeated without publicity.”
da
Friday March 4, 2011
VOLUME 124, ISSUE 113
www.THEDAONLINE.com
Few people at second smoking forum By Charles young and erin fitzwilliams da staff
Twenty-three audience members attended West Virginia University’s smoking task force second town hall meeting held Thursday. Five people spoke about policy changes or offered suggestions for the task force to consider, among them was Student Government Association Gov.
Allison Rollins who extended an invitation to members of the smoking task force to attend future SGA meetings. “We thank you for hard work, your dedication, and having these meetings and getting the community involved and really making an effort to make this University a better place,” Rollins said. Jonathan Bond, a public health graduate student and a task force student member, said
it was important for SGA members to be involved and represent the student body to take a stance on tobacco and its presence at the University. “It’s important to give people the opportunity to come speak; it might make you think of things you never thought of,” Bond said. Although no one in attendance spoke out against the ban, participants discussed health issues related to smoking, the effects of smoking while pregnant
and the compromises needed to be made in order to devise an effective, enforceable smoking policy. Some suggestions made by audience members included increasing an emphasis on smoking education, building smoking shelters and offering discounted smoking cessation products for students. C.B. Wilson, associate provost for Academic Personnel and task force chair, moderated
the discussion and fielded questions from participants while six members of the task force listened to those who spoke. Wilson said the task force, which was created in 2009 by WVU President James P. Clements, would take comments made by the audience into consideration when advising the president on what changes to the policy needed to be made. “Our organization has two goals,” Wilson said. “One is to
minimize the exposure of the University community while on campus tobacco smoke and tobacco products. Second is to foster an attitude of respect for the rights of others and all members of the University community.” Wilson said it is the intention of the task force to eventually make all of WVU smoke-free, but a time line has not yet been established. charles.young@mail.wvu.edu
Beech View construction continues Dean finalist’s
goal to include arts in planning By Devon Unger Staff Writer
Kristen Basham/THE DAILY ATHENAEUM
Construction workers continue working on Beech View Place apartments on Beechurst Avenue Wednesday.
Beech View Place Apartments to be completed by Fall semester BY MELIsSA CANDOLFI STAFF WRITER
The Beech View Place apartment complex is expected to be completed by December with six levels of residential living, a bottom floor for commercial use and a parking garage. The apartments, located on Beechurst Avenue, were scheduled to be finished by August of this year, but construction was pushed back due to weather conditions, said Tom Janidias, Beech View developer. Construction began in June 2010 as a $30 million development. “We will have 416 beds ready for August, but we have 540 people that have registered,” he said. Janidias said he is confident the apartments will be ready by the end of the year. “It is not an option to have it not completed,” he said. “We want the students to be able to move in immediately.” There are more than 100 peo-
ple who are not students looking to live in the complexes, he said. The bottom level of the complex will be used for commercial space and will consist of a food store, a nail salon, an ice cream place and restaurants. “Having these stores will be so convenient for the students who live in the apartments and around them,” he said. He said he hopes the apartments will also help the traffic and parking situation in Morgantown. “This is giving people a chance to walk to the food store or places they need to go,” he said. “And students who now park on the street can park in the garage.” John Kelly, public relations and marketing director for the apartments, said when picking the location for the apartment they wanted it to be close to campus.
see apartments on PAGE 2
correspondent
The West Virginia University College of Engineering and Mineral Resources has received a grant to help renovate power systems laboratories. An $8,333 grant from the University of Minnesota will help fund renovations. The money will be used to introduce next generation teaching of electric drives, which is essential for undergraduate curriculum. “Students can apply theory for hands-on learning and understanding computerized mo-
tor control without having to handle large scale machines,” said Dr. Sarika Khushalani-Solanki, the principal investigator and an assistant professor in the WVU Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering. The department conducts a broad program of research in the fields of electrical engineering, computer engineering, computer science and biometric systems. Khushalani-Solanki said most drives use digital control, and the grant will mainly be used for the set up of the electric drives lab,
58° / 42°
MARCHOWEEN
INSIDE
Mayday Dance Party brings Halloween to 123 Pleasant Street. A&E PAGE 5
FEW SHOWERS
News: 1, 2, 3 Opinion: 4 A&E: 5, 7 Sports: 8, 9, 10, 12 Campus Calendar: 6 Puzzles: 6 Classifieds: 11
see finalist on PAGE 2
WVU joins child abuse awareness campaign BY NICK ASHLEY STAFF WRITER
Kristen Basham/THE DAILY ATHENAEUM
Construction continues on Beech View Place apartments on Beechurst Avenue.
Engineering receives grant to renovate power labs by alex dufour
A candidate for the dean position for the College of Creative Arts at West Virginia University addressed faculty and students during an open forum Thursday. Paul K. Kreider, current dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communication at Western Illinois University, answered questions about his leadership style, fundraising experience, and how he hopes to promote a diverse and inclusive environment at WVU. Kreider said inclusion, transparency and communication are primary tenets of his leadership style, and building trust is a primary leadership goal. “I basically operate from the standpoint that I always have my integrity; that is the most important thing to me,” Kreider said. “Also, that people are invested in the institution. The institution has made an investment in the people they hire and also the people that come here.” He said he would like to help bring all departments together to help establish collective goals throughout the college.
“When I say common goals, I mean those goals are arrived at collectively through a process,” he said. “Regardless of what those goals might be, the process of getting there is actually more important than the goals sometimes. Because if the process has been a good one, then the outcome is usually equally as good.” Kreider said he has a particular way of fundraising that involves building on and seeking out new partnerships with various entities to help bring in support. He said he reached 76 percent of his college’s fundraising goal at WIU, which led all colleges at the University. “It’s really connecting people to people, and who has an affinity with this potential donor or this potential corporation. So my job is to help put those connections in place,” Kreider said. “I ask faculty, when appropriate, to be a connection. I ask other administrators, I ask people in the community, whatever it takes.” Professor of music history Christopher Wilkinson expressed concerns to Kreider that University administration had made commitments
which will enable digital control of machines used by undergraduate and graduate students. “The goal of this project is to make the electric machines course interesting to students as the labs give visualization while making it easier for students to grasp difficult concepts,” Khushalani-Solanki said. The researchers will buy the equipment with this grant and make precise connections to perform the lab experiments, he said. Results using the new equipment will be verified and the creation of new lab manuals will begin.
“The long-term goal is to incorporate this lab in teaching by making it a part of a course and in research by renewable energy integration analysis,” Khushalani-Solanki said. Approximately $4.5 million of externally sponsored research is conducted each year, and more than 100 WVU LDCSEE graduate students are employed as graduate research assistants. “In reality, it is a new way to train future undergrad and graduate electrical engineers,” said Dr. Muhammad Choudhry,
see grant on PAGE 2
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INSIDE THIS EDITION The West Virginia football team’s defense has a significant number of players to replace this spring. SPORTS PAGE 9
Each year more than 1,000 reports are filed to the Monongalia County Child Advocacy Center in Morgantown regarding child abuse and neglect. This week the nonprofit agency formed a partnership with West Virginia University’s Center for Civic Engagement to create an awareness campaign for the work they do. “Our agency works together with law enforcement, child protective services and mental health services to make sure that the children are receiving the necessary help they may need,” said Laura Capage, executive director of the Monongalia County Child Advocacy Center. West Virginia has the third highest rate of child abuse in the country, she said. Each year the center has increased in the amount of victims who are recommended for their services. They hope to expand their outreach by joining with the CCE. “This organization is a really big support to the children and families in the commu-
nity,” said Kristi Wood-Turner, interim program director of the CCE. “We hope that more students will want to get more involved in the many great things the center provides.” The CCE helps students at the University who are looking for volunteer work by placing them into organizations they feel best fits the individual. “I’ve been here since 2006 when we first built a relationship with the child center,” Wood-Turner said. “They are a very unique nonprofit organization, and our partnership is very specific to fit their program.” Capage said the center is currently serving 192 people, half of which are over 18 years old and the others are minors. The child center offers many services to families such as clinical evaluations, forensic interviews, prevention programs that focus on parent training and individual or family therapy. The center includes eight rooms and a living room area for children to play “I have been here for one year now. The best part of
see child on PAGE 2
WVU BATTLES CARDINALS The West Virginia men’s basketball team looks to win its third game in four tries Saturday against Louisville. It’s senior day for six players. SPORTS PAGE 8