The DA 4-29-2010

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THE DAILY ATHENAEUM “Little good is accomplished without controversy, and no civic evil is ever defeated without publicity.”

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THURSDAY APRIL 29, 2010

www www.THEDAONLINE.com

VOLUME 123, ISSUE 147

SGA pushes for budget increase President Lewallen proposing increase of $1.37 million for the 2011-2012 year BY TRAVIS CRUM CITY EDITOR

West Virginia University Student Government Association President Chris Lewallen announced a plan Wednesday to give the organization more power by increasing the annual budget.

power it has lacked in the past, During executive reports, he said. Lewallen said he plans to write “As of right now, we have no a referendum increasing SGA’s “As of right now we have budget to $1.4 million. control over absolutely nothno control over absolutely Currently, SGA’s budget is ing,” Lewallen said. nothing. With this, the $70,000, which is not enough “With this, the administrato fund all the projects and tion or students could come to administration or students student government and tell us events it wants to accomplish, could come to student he said. what they want, and we could government and tell us what The proposal would require fund it.” Lewallen said increasing the students to pay a $2 fee for evthey want, and we could budget would put WVU on the ery credit hour taken, which fund it.” would go toward a “capital insame level as their peer instivestment trust fund.” tutions who allow its student Chris Lewallen For example, if a student governments to make their own SGA president were to take 15 credit hours, purchasing decisions. they would pay $30 toward the For example, the University of SGA fund, Lewallen said. Central Florida’s Student GovThe fund would be under such as more adequate playing ernment built their own dentist SGA’s control and be used to- fields or a wellness facility. The office that offers low-cost serward things students desire, new budget would give SGA the vices for students, he said.

“The actual student government would hire a dentist to man this thing,” he said. “Students can get crowns for $200 and fillings for $40, which is unheard of prices in dentistry.” SGA Chief of Staff Daniel Brummage said he is in favor of the increase because it would give the organization more leverage in University decisionmaking. “For five years students have been coming to SGA asking for more field space, and we haven’t been able to do it because the University wasn’t willing to give up the funds,” Brummage said. “With this, the money we would have raised in those five

BY MELISSA CANDOLFI STAFF WRITER

CHELSI BAKER/THE DAILY ATHENAEUM

CHELSI BAKER/THE DAILY ATHENAEUM

A sign marks the beginning of the work being done to repair potholes on Falling Run Road. Efforts to better the condition of Morgantown’s roads are being made in multiple areas around town.

Dashed lines and arrows in the turning lane are freshly painted after Patteson Drive was repaved last month.

BY JOSH COOPER STAFF WRITER

President Barack Obama ordered federal aid to supplement West Virginia state and local recovery efforts April 23 for excessive damage to roadways caused by winter. The WV Office of Emergency Services requested federal funding from the emergency declaration for area repairs, said Brent Walker, West Virginia Department of Highways spokesman.

FOR MORE INFORMATION If you would like to report a pothole in the Morgantown area, not on a WVDOH maintained road, visit www.morgantown.com/ street_dept.htm. Monongalia County used approximately $1.3 million of the State’s snow removal budget. Road repair in Morgantown will continue throughout the summer, Walker said. “We’re distributing any money we received from the emergency declaration among the districts,” he said. “Areas that have been hit the hardest by the severe weather should receive those funds. We’ll disperse them proportionally” West Virginia’s budget for snow removal and ice control

for the 2009-10 winter was more than $54 million, Walker said. The State spent $67.4 million, approximately $13 million over budget, Walker said. “We hope that we’ll be able to recover some the expenses in every county,” he said. The majority of roads in Morgantown are maintained by the West Virginia Department of Highways. Most secondary roads, such as Beechurst Avenue, Patteson Drive, Willey Street and parts of High Street, are the responsibility of the Morgantown Public Works Department, according to the Department website. Major roads on campus are the responsibility of West Virginia University’s facilities management, including the main stretch of Evansdale, the

Health Sciences Center and the Coliseum. Approximately $2,500 has been spent on campus road repairs since winter, said Byron Smith, assistant director of Grounds and Labor at WVU. “There are a couple of small potholes around campus,” Smith said. “We try to take care of them as soon as they show up.” W.Va. Senator Robert C. Byrd welcomed the disaster declaration in a press release. “The damage is of such severity and magnitude that effective response is beyond the capabilities of the state and the resources of local governments, and that supplementary Federal assistance is required,” Byrd said.

STAFF WRITER

FOR MORE INFORMATION

To join or for more information, contact the The West Virginia University 2010-11 WVU Red Cross Club President, Red Cross Club assembles cam- Sam Starlin, at sstarlin@mix.wvu.edu or pus volunteers to encourage stu- 740-310-3395. dents to donate at local blood drives. The group, however, is hoping to gain more members for the next academic year, because out of the 15 total members, 10 will graduate in May, said Maggie Hickey, Red Cross Club president and senior exercise physiology major. “For such a small club, we do make a huge impact, not only on campus but in the community as well,” Hickey said. The club coordinates two blood drives a year and volunteers at other blood drives around cam-

pus, she said. The club hosted a blood drive Wednesday at the Student Recreation Center where approximately 60 people donated, she said. “It is very important to have blood drives, because one pint of blood can save three lives,” Hickey said. Ashley Daniel, Red Cross Club community service chair and senior exercise physiology major, said she got involved because it “hits home.” “My father works in the coal

mines, and a kid my age who was working with him got injured and needed 13 pints of blood,” Daniel said. “It made me realize that if I would have donated earlier, I could have helped him.” In addition to blood drives, the club volunteers at the WVU Children’s Hospital and Friendship Manor, a retirement home in Morgantown and participates in the Relay for Life. The biggest event the club hosts is an annual bone marrow donor drive. The drive was started last year by Hickey after learning on the news that a girl in the Pittsburgh area needed a match. The club contacted the girl’s mother and asked how they could get involved, Hickey said.

Hickey set up a bone marrow drive so people could register on a donor list simply by getting the inside of their mouth swabbed with a cotton swab. The club is open to anyone who wants to volunteer and gain community service. “This is the perfect club for students whose majors require a certain amount of community service hours to graduate,” Hickey said. The Red Cross Club meets twice per month and no fees are required. “This club is more than just giving back to the community. You also meet a lot of great and interesting people,” Daniel said. katiann.marshall@mail.wvu.edu

EASTERN WALK

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he said. “It’s important for people to know about this because Mon(ongalia) County is relatively one of the largest urbanized developed areas of the state,” Hendryx said. “There are mining activities ... and that could be a contributing factor as well.” Hitt said the study cannot draw inferences for individual streams such as Deckers Creek but can show overall water quality within the counties. “Our work opens the door to further studies,” Hitt said. “It is the first study to evaluate the fundamental links between environmental quality and cancer.” Hitt believes the streams may not be the specific reason for the cancer, but the study did show the relation between areas with poor water quality and higher cancer rates. There are indirect effects and direct effects from the water, he said. “Direct (effects) being drinking the water that is

see STUDY on PAGE 2

Invisible Children event raises genocide, abduction awareness BY SARAH O’ROURKE

71° / 53°

MOSTLY SUNNY

A study published in April’s edition of The EcoHealth Journal found a relationship between stream water quality and cancer rates in coal mining areas. Conducted by researchers from West Virginia University and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, the study took water samples from each West Virginian county and rate on a sca’e of one to 100, one being the worst and 100 the best. Michael Hendryx, research director for the WVU Institute for Health Policy Research, and Nathaniel Hitt, a stream ecologist at Virginia Tech, conducted the study, which showed individuals living in urban development or coal mining areas have higher cancer rates. Monongalia County received a score of 53. The average score was 66, Hendryx said. The study used public data on counties’ cancer deaths and stream quality based on the bugs living in the streams,

CORRESPONDENT

joshua.cooper@mail.wvu.edu

Red Cross Club urges blood donations, members BY KATIANN MARSHALL

travis.crum@mail.wvu.edu

New study links mining towns and cancer rates

BEGIN ROAD WORK

Mon. County requests federal funding for roads

years would have more than doubled what it’s supposed to cost.” Lewallen said he hopes to write the referendum for a student vote during the fall homecoming elections. If students pass the increase, it would have to be approved by the University Board of Governors before going into effect the following spring semester. In other business, the BOG approved a resolution to add an oral speaking component to course curriculum at the discretion of the deans of each college.

Hundreds of West Virginia University students gathered Wednesday night in Eiesland Hall to see an Invisible Children presentation and to hear its mission to end the longest running war in Africa. The Invisible Children “Roadies,” a group of young adults, came to WVU to raise awareness about the child abductions by Joseph Kony and the Lord’s Resistance Army in East Africa. The Sudent Advocates for Invisible Children and Daniel Brewster, a sociology and anthropology professor, invited the Roadies to come speak about the conflict and events occurring in Africa. “It is imperative to get Americans involved,” Brewster said. “We have to realize that there is basically a genocide going on in this part of the world, and we pretty much are uneducated about it.”

LATER THIS WEEK The West Virginia football team will play in the Gold-Blue Spring Game Friday. Check out the preview of the game in the DA on Friday and an update from after the game that night.

“We have to realize that there is basically a genocide going on in this part of the world, and we pretty much are uneducated about it.” Daniel Brewster

sociology and anthropology professor

During the presentation, the Roadies showed two films. The first, “Together We Are Free,” is a documentary about a world-wide event titled “The Rescue,” in which participants reenacted abductions by the LRA. The participants waited to be rescued by politicians or celebrities endorsing their cause. Natalie Warne, a Roadies member and main character in the documentary, said they have a two-fold mission.

see CHILDREN on PAGE 2

GYORKO WINS BEST IN STATE West Virginia junior shortstop Jedd Gyorko was named the DA Sports Instate Player of the Year after continuing to succeed in the Old Gold and Blue. SPORTS PAGE 12


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