THE DAILY ATHENAEUM
“Little good is accomplished without controversy, and no civic evil is ever defeated without publicity.”
da
Friday April 19, 2013
Volume 125, Issue 137
www.THEDAONLINE.com
Law students, CCE support Boston By Ashley Tennant staff writer
In the middle of tragedy, a group of West Virginia University students are calling the Mountaineer family together to show support. WVU law students have collaborated with the Center for Civic Engagement to start “Mountaineers Tied to Boston,” a campaign created to help support victims from the recent Boston Marathon
explosions. The WVU community will have the opportunity to sign an official “Letter to Boston” that will include handwritten messages by students, faculty, staff and members of the community. Upon signing the letter, participants will receive a blue or gold ribbon bracelet provided by the President’s Office to wear to show support around campus. “Basically, we started
‘Mountaineers Tied to Boston,’ because we wanted to tie together the WVU community, as well as the citizens of West Virginia to show our support for all of those involved in the events of the 2013 Boston Marathon,” said Jamie Chapman, law student at WVU. “More importantly, we wanted to show our stance against the violent acts that terrorize communities around the world.
“It’s not just the Boston Marathon we are standing against and showing our support for; we are showing our support against these violent acts that are terrorizing people daily.” During Chapman’s time as a law student and recent undergrad at WVU she worked with the CCE, so she decided to meet with them to discuss a variety of ideas to help get the campaign started.
“We decided on the ‘Mountaineers Tied to Boston.’ Essentially, the idea behind that is we are tying our community to their community, and the CCE is wonderful to work with,” Chapman said. “They have been great with helping set up the booths and getting people to work them. It has worked out well so far.” Chapman also said that not only are Mountaineers interested in being a part
by bryan bumgardner associate city editor
Patrick Gorrell/THE DAILY ATHENAEUM
West Virginia University president James P. Clements (third from right) joins others in breaking ground on the WVU Solar House.
The WVU Solar Decathlon team broke ground on its solar house Thursday By Carlee Lammers City editor
This artist’s rendering shows what the WVU Solar Decathlon’s final product will look like. ers and faculty, into a multifaceted organization.” The competition is divided into 10 contests designed to measure the environmental impact and livability of each house. WVU’s team, Team PEAK, which stands for Preserving Energy through
submitted
Appalachian Knowledge, consists of students from four colleges within the University and entities from across the state and around the globe. “This is ultimately what makes this project unique, it’s collaborative
see SOLAR on PAGE 2
SGA to host community Think Tank event By Summer Ratcliff staff writer
The West Virginia University Student Government Association will host its first-ever Morgantown Think Tank tonight. The event is an open forum for all students to ask questions or to voice their concerns about issues facing the community of Morgantown. Randy Jones, SGA liaison to City Council, said he
believes it’s important for students to get involved in events like the Think Tank, because Morgantown is their home while they are students at WVU. “Morgantown becomes a student’s home while they are working for an education,” Jones said. “This is a great opportunity for them to speak on the issues our community faces.” Morgantown Mayor Jim Manilla, representatives from the County Com-
73° / 41°
BITE THE BILL
INSIDE
More senators should vote with their brains, not their political agendas. OPINION PAGE 4
RAIN/WIND
News: 1, 2 Opinion: 4 A&E: 3, 6 Sports: 7, 8, 10 Campus Calendar: 5 Puzzles: 5 Classifieds: 9
mission and various University officials will be in attendance to comment and answer questions presented by the students. Manilla said he is looking forward to listening to the students voice their concerns. “I appreciate SGA getting together to hold this Think Tank,” Manilla said. “I think it is really great, and I think that we need to sit and listen to what the students have to say.
“I am really interested in just listening, first and foremost, to what the student’s perspectives of the issues in the city of Morgantown are.” Manilla said he hopes the Think Tank can become a reoccurring event SGA will hold each semester. “I think this can perhaps become an ongoing thing where we can meet a
see sga on PAGE 2
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see boston on PAGE 2
Women pros to speak on sports, media, success
FUN WITH THE SUN
A group of West Virginia University students are working to bring a little Appalachian innovation to the West Coast. The WVU Solar Decathlon team celebrated its ceremonial groundbreaking Thursday. The team was selected by the U.S. Department of Energy as one of 20 teams across the globe to compete to design a home that is energy and cost efficient and attractive. This fall, the team will travel to Orange County Great Park in Irvine, Calif., where they will compete in the biannual competition. “In 2012, West Virginia University was the first-ever school from the state to be accepted into the competition,” said student project leader Branden Bellanca. “What started as an idea for a senior design project within the Lane Department of Computer Science and Computer Engineering has evolved, with the help of student lead-
of this campaign, a baseball league in Boston wants to wear them during their games to show their support. “We are actually sending 300 bracelets to a baseball league in Boston that wants to wear them to support the issue. They heard what we were doing, and they wanted to support it, so they asked if we would mail them bracelets that they could wear at
ON THE INSIDE The West Virginia baseball team will play a threegame series against Big 12 Conference foe Texas this weekend. SPORTS PAGE 7
West Virginia University will host an “Advice from the Pros” speaker event Saturday, which will focus on women in sports and media. The event, sponsored by the Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at WVU, is designed to give students an opportunity to learn from prominent women in media, sports and sports management, and according to moderator Marc Williams, this panel has the potential to be a game changer. “I think people are going to be inspired and empowered. This could be life changing for some people,” he said. “We want to take the resources we have and show young people the sky’s the limit.” Speaking at the event will be Kathy Killian, vice president of the Philadelphia Phillies, Jeanette Robertson, senior manager of women and kid’s footwear at Under Armour, Becky Clawson, professional competitor in the International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness and Jaclyn Vocell, a
life coach and coach on MTV’s “Made.” Marc Williams is the CEO of Williams Communications, a marketing corporation working with WVU and ESPN Sportscenter anchor Jay Harris. Williams believes all students, not just women, can gain from this event. “Every knows Under Armour, how powerful a brand it is,” he said. “But to meet a woman who is making decisions on what goes into the stores? Students haven’t met men or women like that because they don’t know how much opportunity is in these careers.” That’s one reason Williams helped organize this event – to show students what they can achieve if they follow their dreams. “It’s not just about these careers; it’s about empowering young people,” Williams said. “We want people to be the best they can be, to strive to be excellent.” Williams recalled an incident from a previous panel that inspired the focus on women for this event.
see panel on PAGE 2
PACE helps disabled find careers by alyssa pluchino staff writer
One in every four people in West Virginia suffers from a disability. Despite the fact this accounts for nearly 25 percent of the state’s population, adults with disabilities also have the highest unemployment rate. PACE Enterprises, Inc. is an organization created solely to fight this problem. “A lot of the people we employ are people who, without us, would not have employment. Rather than having to rely on a disability check every month, we give people who want to work the ability to take charge of their own destiny,” said Bob Pirner, director of PACE business development. “There are hundreds of success stories, and every one of them gets up and goes to work in the morning.”
Founded by a local group of parents in 1972, PACE offers a unique program to anyone old enough to work and has a documented disability. After examining each individual’s interests, strengths and weaknesses, the program provides appropriate training and job placement to those who are seeking employment. “We help people with physical, cognitive and emotional disabilities that make it hard to succeed in a competitive work environment,” Pirner said. The organization has recently enforced a contract with the Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory giving 70 PACE members meaningful employment. PACE also employed an additional 30 people by creating PACE
see pace on PAGE 2
SPRING GAME The West Virginia football team will play its annual Gold-Blue spring game Saturday at Milan Puskar Stadium. SPORTS PAGE 7