THE DAILY ATHENAEUM
“Little good is accomplished without controversy, and no civic evil is ever defeated without publicity.”
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Thursday November 1, 2012
Volume 126, Issue 54
www.THEDAONLINE.com
New student org eyes global reach by lacey palmer staff writer
Interested in helping developing countries around the world but not sure where to get started? A student organization on West Virginia University’s campus can help. Mountaineers for International Disease Awareness is an organization that allows WVU students to directly help developing countries suffering from diseases. According to current organization president Farah Famouri, her sister Leila
Famouri founded the group in 2009-10 after her trip to Ghana through Amizade. Although Farah was only in high school at the time, she helped her sister found the group, attended all the meetings and helped write the constitution. According to Famouri, the sisters found there was a lack of any similar organizations on WVU’s campus. At first, the group was called Mountaineers for Aids Awareness. “HIV/AIDS is not the only thing plaguing these developing countries,” Famouri said. “It’s things
like malaria, hepatitis, general hygiene and many others, so we expanded the title to Mountaineers for International Disease.” The connections Famouri made through the Ghana trip have remained intact. “We’ve maintained a really close connection with him. And by doing that, we’ve managed to do things that he wanted to do in Ghana such as build a school or create informational commercials,” Famouri said. A major benefit of the group, according to
Famouri, is members can be sure their efforts are received because of their connection with someone who can distribute aid. “You can conceptualize that you want to help people in a certain area, but these are actual people,” Famouri said. “If we send money to Ghana, we know where the money is going. We know he is using it in a community that truly needs it, and it is going to the right place.” Although the group has not begun the informational videos yet, they plan to play them in waiting
rooms at a clinic in Ghana. According to Famouri, the clinic has informational videos about diseases playing now, but they are extremely hard for those who don’t read or understand English well. “We want to have an informational series of videos on different diseases or general hygiene with translated subtitles that would make them easier to understand and make an actual impact on these people,” Famouri said. Once the student organization becomes a nonprofit, they plan on apply-
HAUNTED HOOPS
staff writer
Matthew Sunday/THE DAILY ATHENAEUM
The No. 17 West Virginia women’s basketball team returned to action Wednesday night in an exhibition match against Alderson-Broaddus. Read more from WVU’s 102-28 victory on SPORTS PAGE 7.
Students get physical in push-up competition correspondent
Eight males and five females fought a painful battle during the Mountaineer push-up contest Wednesday in the Mountainlair. The competitors had unlimited time to finished their sets of push-ups and were allowed to take a 30-second break, given they remained in their positions. With an even 100, prebusiness and economics student Jared Flynn was crowned champion of the men’s competition. “I just went for 100 and stopped,” Flynn said, commenting on his successful game plan. “My dad taught me. I guess I just worked out when I was younger.” Long after Flynn was done, bystanders cheered on Steve Sullivan, the last man competing. Sullivan screamed in pain
while attempting to match Flynn’s number but came up short and finished second with 94. “I could feel my muscles starting to shake,” Sullivan said. “I knew I had to get 101 to beat the frontrunner, and when I got to 90, I knew I could have. But I just hit a rock, couldn’t dig any deeper.” Despite finishing second, Sullivan was happy with his performance and believed he executed his strategy well. “It was a combination of resting wisely, maintaining steady pace and breathing,” Sullivan said. “I tried to be methodical about it, not worry what the other people were doing and just do my best.” Five girls were competing in the women’s competition won by Tanaysha Taylor, a pre-forensic student. Taylor hit her limit at 42
and watched as the runnerup fought to break her number – finishing just a single push-up behind. “My arms kind of gave up,” Taylor said. “I felt kind of bad because she actually ended after me, so I was like: ‘Crap, don’t let her pass me,’” Taylor does push-ups on a daily basis but admits that she is far from her glory days. “I’m going to the Air Force Reserve, so I do pushups every day,” Taylor said. “I used to be at like 63, but since I’ve been here I’ve been slacking.” Mountaineer mascot Jonathan Kimble was one of the judges for the competition. Kimble does a set of pushups after every Mountaineer touchdown during games, and he believes he has the best tactic for long-lasting sets. “I like to have my elbows in a little bit, about a good 45 memory angle as a mixture
of both triceps and chest,” Kimble said. When the Mountaineer offense is on fire, Kimble can get quite a workout and has a personal record that matches Flynn’s winning number. “The most I’ve done during a football game was the Baylor game: 385 that day,” Kimble said. “I’ve done (a set of ) a hundred before. I try to do around 70 – I think that’s a good amount.” Kimble spent the summer in the gym preparing for a high-scoring season that he’s hoping will get back on track Saturday. “When I became the Mountaineer, I knew we would score a lot of points,” Kimble said. “This entire summer, I was in the gym lifting weights, (and) doing push-ups and tire flips to get in shape.” danewsroom@mail.wvu.edu
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INSIDE
The DA editorial staff makes another endorsement for Congress. OPINION PAGE 4
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see club on PAGE 2
SGA talks Gold Rush, grants at meeting by lacey palmer
by jacob bojesson
ing for Bill & Melina Gates Foundation grants to get the video production up and running. MIDA also partners with a Pittsburgh nonprofit called Resolution Hope, which focuses on stopping human trafficking within the US. Although the cause is not directly related to MIDA, Famouri said it was an opportunity she could not pass up. “It’s definitely in the neighborhood of our purpose especially when you think about how many
ON THE INSIDE The No. 21 West Virginia football team will look to its defense to force TCU freshman quarterback Trevone Boykin to make mistakes Saturday. SPORTS PAGE 7
A representative from the Center for Civic Engagement at West Virginia University spoke at the Student Government Association meeting Wednesday evening on behalf of the Gold Rush T-shirt sale. All proceeds from the Tshirt sales go directly to the United Way, which then distributes the proceeds to nonprofit organizations such as Girl Scouts, Boys & Girls Club of America, The Shack Neighborhood House and the Rape and Domestic Violence Information Center, along with many others. The local United Way supports 29 health and human service organizations in this region alone. The Gold Rush campaign will wrap up Nov. 17 when the West Virginia football team hosts Oklahoma. According to CCE representative Emily Field, the campaign needs student support. “This is not just a Tshirt,” Field said. “You’re really touching lives in your community.” WVU is the biggest contributor in the state to the United Way – largely in
part because of this campaign. Last year, $337,100 was raised by WVU for the United Way, and this year’s goal is set for $330,000. According to Field, last year, SGA sold the majority of the 5,400 shirts. “If you look at the comparison between where we were last year and this year, we have a lot of shirts to sell – that’s where you guys come in,” Field said, addressing the governors. “You know where to reach people, and you know what’s going on on campus where you can easily take these sheets and get people to buy them.” Field provided SGA members with sheets to take to student organizations, friends, family or dorms and sell the Gold Rush T-shirts – which can be delivered to the student placing the order. Short-sleeve shirts are $10, and long-sleeve styles, new to the sale this year, are $15. “These organizations really rely on this money, much the same way that the student organizations here rely on the money that SGA awards through grants to implement their
see sga on PAGE 1
Beard growing contest crowns champion by shelby toompas staff writer
West Virginia University concluded its 24th annual Beard-Growing contest yesterday in the Mountainlair as part of WVU’s Mountaineer Week. The contest welcomed 32 participants – which included students, faculty and staff – to a group shave on Oct. 5 to kick off the Beard-Growing competition. Since then, contestants have had about 4 weeks to grow their beards. Sophomore industrial engineering student Nathan Vehse grew his beard for the competition but only considers himself a casual grower. “I’ve always been kind of hairy, but when it comes to growing a beard, I don’t really have a technique,” Vehse said. Out of all 32 beards, Vehse’s placed him in the top five and ultimately won him second place. The first-place winner
received $100 dollars, second place received $75, and third place received $50, with all received plaques sponsored by West Run Apartments. Gretchen Hoover, judge and senior special event coordinator for the office of University Events, said she was excited to be one of the judges. “I haven’t been a judge for a very long time, but I saw a lot of variety yesterday,” she said. Her personal beard preference leaned towards fuller, well-grown beards. “I would say we’re looking for fullness, good coverage and smoothness of one’s beard,” she said. Other judges were looking for the quality and color of the beards, as well as the energy of the participant. Former Mountaineer Rebecca Durst asked participants if they did anything special to grow their beard. Some said they did
see beards on PAGE 2
UPSET IN SAN ANTONIO The No. 13 West Virginia women’s soccer team lost 2-0 to TCU in the quarterfinal round of the Big 12 Conference tournament. SPORTS PAGE 10