THE DAILY ATHENAEUM
“Little good is accomplished without controversy, and no civic evil is ever defeated without publicity.”
da
Monday October 17, 2011
Volume 125, Issue 41
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Occupy Morgantown
fall family weekend
Students reconnect with families on the farm by jessica lear staff writer
sara wise/THE DAILY ATHENAEUM
A group of protestors march toward High Street Saturday for Occupy Morgantown.
Local protestors fight for economic equality by mackenzie mays city editor
Protestors marched through Morgantown Saturday afternoon chanting, “We are the 99 percent,” in support of national economic equality. Jerry Causby, a computer science student at West Virginia University, assembled the event to localize the international Occupy Wall Street protests in hopes of building more local support for what he feels is a necessary change for the country. “It’s important to make our voices heard. With the way the political system is and the amount of power that corporations have over our democracy, we aren’t having our voice as the general public heard,” Causby said. “It’s especially important for young people to go out there and let it be known that we’re part of the big movement, and we’re going to get the changes we want to see.” Causby said though the protest has received criticism for not having an effective central goal, he hopes people will continue to join together for the cause and take it seriously. “As a group, we can decide what changes would benefit the entirety. Instead of just the select few that use their power and influence to change, rise up and have decisions made that really benefit the people,” Causby said. “People say there’s no central focus, but that’s because there are so many goals that we represent. For me, it’s to cut the outrageous amount we’re putting into the defense budget and focus more toward domestic development.” By bringing the Occupy Wall Street events to Morgantown, he hopes more West Virginians will join the movement. “This is a movement where it’s not just Morgantown, it’s not just West Virginia, and it’s not
see occupy on PAGE 2
West Virginia University students had a chance to reconnect with their families on campus as part of Fall Family Weekend. The Davis College of Agriculture, Forestry and Consumer Sciences and WVU Extension Services, invited students and their families to enjoy an afternoon at the farm. “As the foundation college of WVU, the Davis College is having a celebration of what the college does, from cutting edge research in agriculture to forestry to agricultural economics and design,” said Dr. Matthew E. Wilson, the interim division director of Animal and Nutritional Sciences. The event was part of a celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Morrill Act, which declared WVU a land grant university. “In 1862, Congress passed a law that granted federal lands to the states,” Wilson said. “The states then sold that land and used the proceeds to establish colleges to teach branches of learning that are related to agriculture and the mechanic arts.’”
This land grant eventually turned into WVU. “Although The Agricultural College of West Virginia, later renamed WVU, was not established until 1867, WVU is the land grant college for West Virginia,” Wilson said. The farm that was on display this weekend was purchased in the early 1900s. Wilson hopes students, their families and the community enjoyed seeing what goes on at the founding college of WVU. To fully experience the grounds, visitors were allowed to walk around the farm and view different exhibitions that portrayed aspects of farm life. Attendees were allowed to pet pigs and cows as well as cockroaches and a tarantula. Those in attendance had the opportunity to learn more about nutrition and energy resources. “I think this is really a special opportunity to showcase that although the academic mission of the University has expanded tremendously, the core disciplines that have been here from the beginning are still very relevant,” Wilson said.
see farm on PAGE 2
Book project to accept donations for prisoners by joshua clark staff writer
sara wise/THE DAILY ATHENAEUM
A group of protestors march down North High Street Saturday for Occupy Morgantown.
sara wise/THE DAILY ATHENAEUM
Protestors Gale Simplicio, left, and Alison Isaacs made signs outside the Mountainlair Saturday before the Occupy Morgantown march began.
The West Virginia University Department of English is accepting donations for the Appalachian Prison Book Project, a program that supplies free books to the incarcerated in the Appalachian region. The work of APBP was supported by a WVU Public Service Grant. The organization recently lost its official funding, and it is supported through University and public donations. The APBP was created in 2004 and is made up of WVU undergraduates, graduate students service-learners from the Center for Civic Engagement, WVU faculty and staff, and community members who respond to individual requests for books. “Prison systems are designed to create better prisoners,” said Pamela Debarr, four-year volunteer and Mountainlair Administrative Secretary. “They don’t go in expected
to come out a better person. They go in and become less ready for society. My interest is trying to help the inmates to better themselves while they are in there to become more productive.” The largest request the project receives is for dictionaries, but inmates also ask for other topics: auto repair manuals, psychology books, textbooks and fiction novels. For security, everything that is sent has to be paperback, Debarr said. “We get close to 200 letters a month,” Debarr said. “Some inmates will give us their entire life story because they’re so excited they might get a book. They just want something to think about. It’s a wonderful service.” One prisoner wrote a letter saying, “Whether new or used books, I will fully accept them and be grateful that you have at least taken time out to mail me what you have.” Another said he was
see book on PAGE 2
Adrenaline junkies celebrate 32nd annual Bridge Day at New River Gorge by lydia nuzum & luke nesler
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DA STAFF
Tourists and extreme sports enthusiasts from around the country traveled to the New River Gorge Saturday to participate in West Virginia’s 32nd annual Bridge Day. The festival is held each year on the third Saturday in October. Events include demonstrations of ascending, repelling and BASE jumping, an extreme sport in which participants free fall from fixed objects with packed parachutes. The acronym BASE stands for Buildings, Antennas, Spans and Earth, which are the four most common objects from which BASE jumpers jump. “What we recommend is
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MOSTLY SUNNY
INSIDE News: 1, 2 Opinion: 4 A&E: 9, 10 Sports: 3, 11, 12 Campus Calendar: 5 Puzzles: 5 Classifieds: 7
Watch the video from Bridge Day on our website at www.thedaonline.com.
getting a bunch of sky dives under your belt before you start BASE jumping,” said Othar Lawrence, a Red Bull Air Force aerial athlete. “Get about 100 sky dives. Learn how to land the canopy really well. A lot of the BASE jumping isn’t the free fall; it’s landing safely.” Red Bull was one of the 2011 sponsors of Bridge Day, and athletes sponsored through Red Bull participated in the Bridge Day activities. “Bridge day is awesome,” Lawrence said. “It just shows
the attraction of watching BASE jumpers.” Lawrence said Bridge Day is the largest event in the state and it’s the largest extreme sport event in the world, according to its website. The New River Gorge Bridge is the world’s second longest single steel-arch bridge. “A small sport like BASE jumping, there’s a lot of people that want to watch these guys jumping off a bridge all day,” he said. “It’s great that they allow us to do it one day a year. It’s better than no days a year, so we’re fired up on this event.” The festival is held in Fayette Co. W.Va., less than 3 hours from Morgantown. More than
MOUNTAINEER MADNESS The West Virginia basketball teams opened their seasons with Mountaineer Madness Friday night in front of more than 6,000 fans. SPORTS PAGE 12
see bridge on PAGE 2
Matt Sunday/THE DAILY ATHENAEUM
A BASE jumper free falls from the New River Gorge Bridge before deploying his parachute Saturday afternoon. BASE jumpers attend Bridge Day in Fayetteville, W.Va. annually, traveling from around the globe to participate.
GOO GOO DOLLS
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The Goo Goo Dolls played at the Morgantown Event Center Sunday night. A&E PAGE 9
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ON THE INSIDE The No. 20 West Virginia women’s soccer team won two more Big East games this weekend to improve its conference record to 9-1. ON PAGE 11