The DA 07-01-2015

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THE DAILY ATHENAEUM

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

da

Wednesday July 1, 2015

Volume 127, Issue 143

www.THEDAONLINE.com

Greek Life Director job posted by corey mcdonald staff writer @dailyathenaeum

The West Virginia University Division of Student Life posted a job opening last week in hopes of recruiting an experienced individual to assume the new position of Greek Life Director. The appointed director will work within the Division of Student Life as an associate dean of students, as well as being the Direc-

tor of Greek Life, and will report directly to the Dean of Students. They will also work closely with the three Greek councils on campus – the Interfraternity Council, the Panhellenic Council and the National Pan-Hellenic council. The new position will assume the responsibility of providing overall advising to Greek life, training Greek leaders and supporting the recognized social fraternities and sororities

on campus. They will also facilitate relations with the community and work with key stakeholders such as alumni, parents, faculty and students. “This position we’re hiring to come in and really be that positive force for the Greek system,” said Dr. Bill Schafer, recently hired Vice President of the Student Life. While the position was posted last week, the search may continue throughout

the summer until the right candidate for the job is selected. Schafer says the candidate must have several years of experience working within comparable Greek systems, as well as working with national Greek councils. “We’re looking for experience, and so I’ve asked the search firm to really look for some of the best candidates they can find out there nationally for us and we’ll see what they come up with,”

THERE SHE GOES

Schafer said. Schafer hopes to have the position hired by the first day of classes for the upcoming fall semester, but says there is no guarantee on starting dates with candidates due to personal commitments. “Our goal would be to have (them) by the first day of school hired, but I don’t know whether that will happen yet,” Schafer said. “It depends on people’s circumstance.”

staff writer @dailyathenaeum

SHANNON MCKENNA/THE DAILY ATHENAEUM

The Metropolitan Theatre hosts Miss West Virginia pageant by kendall snee staff writer @dailyathenaeum

Since Sunday night, High Street’s own Metropolitan Theatre has been hosting the Miss West Virginia scholarship pageant. With the preliminary nights of competition over, it seems the girls are approaching the finals with eagerness, grace and perhaps a little sadness for leaving their new friends. The Miss West Virginia scholarship pageant is a preliminary competition for entrance into the Atlantic City Miss America pageant in early September. The pageant’s theme, ‘Heroes’, emphasized a side of pageantry many have overlooked. Executive Director Leah Summers explained the ways in which pageantry has evolved. “Miss America pageants first started in 1921 as a tourist gimmick for Atlantic City in an attempt to keep people at the beaches until after Labor Day weekend. It was originally just a bathing suit competition,” Summers said. “It was only some cities and some states.” Summers then went on to explain how Miss West Virginia cultivates young women into distinguished speakers with self confidence. “Miss America Pageants uniquely gives you this well -rounded personality. You can do community service without being in a Miss America pageant, you can be in preforming arts

see greek on PAGE 2

Local businesses get involved with annual “Touch-A-Truck” event held for Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center by kendall snee

Miss Wheeling and recent graduate of WVU, Chelsea Malone, sings during the talent portion Monday night.

This new position will oversee the Greek community, but will not necessarily be the disciplinarian in place, according to Schafer. Greek disciplinary actions were previously dealt with by the Office of Student Activities, however now all disciplinary actions will be moved to the Office of Student Conduct, which will deal with both individual student conduct

gown winners Lindsey Beane of Kanawha Valley and Meghan Scarano of Jefferson County are also recipients of scholarship awards. Between the ‘teen’ competition and the ‘miss’ competition it seemed that all the contestants felt a buzz of nerves and excitement, despite their varying ages. Kelsey Benson, a communications student at Fairmont State University, explained how she got her start in the Miss West Virginia pageant and how it has affected her life. “It started all because of Cali Young, who won Miss West Virginia a couple years ago,” Benson said. “I was actually buying a gown off of her and Cali told me I should reshannon mckenna/the daily athenaeum ally join the Miss AmerMiss Southern West Virginia and WVU journalism student, Hilary Kin-ica organization, and I’ve ney walks in the evening gown portion Monday night. been hooked ever since. It’s without being in a Miss America Pag- an amazing organization unlike any eant, and you can hone your inter- other, with its focuses on scholarship viewing skills without being in a Miss and success and it’s just all about emAmerica Pageant, but this is one of the powering young women all around few places where you have to master you.” all of those,” Summers said. When asked whether the swimsuit So far in the competition, Tess Hyre portion of the competition makes her of Jefferson County won the swim- nervous or feel uneasy, Benson’s reply suit prelim award and Braelynn Neely see misswv on PAGE 2 won the talent prelim award. Evening

The community fundraiser “Touch-A-Truck” held its sixth annual festivities in front of the West Virginia University Coliseum on June 27. All proceeds from the event were donated to the Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center. The event, supported locally by Mountaineers both young and old, was a success despite the spotty downpour. With large trucks, games and the promise of meeting Batman, those in attendance didn’t mind facing the rain to raise money for cancer. “My daughter had actually seen one of these ‘Touch-A-Trucks’ things in Pittsburgh, so we decided to brainstorm our own,” said group leader Sheila Powell. Powell said within the first two years the fundraiser gave the proceeds to varying charity groups dealing with cancer research. “Now what we do is we continue to save the money to endow it in a fund that is actually in honor of my father who died of prostate cancer,” Powell said. Powell’s daughter, Katie Martin, and niece, Leah Darr, are very much involved in the Touch-A-Truck tradition. The Morgantown Roller Vixens, a local roller derby league, has continued to show support for their past member, Martin, by attending the function each year. Martin is also accredited for having started the Roller Vixens. “Katie started the Vixens, and started Touch-A-Truck. She really made us who we are, because of her we are actually the first college affiliated roller derby team in America,” said Morgantown Roller Vixens member Rachel Mackey, nicknamed “Trauma Kaze.” “The Roller Vixens have been here since the beginning, they’re pretty cool and the kids always get a kick out of them,” Powell said.

Powell, Martin and Darr run the fundraiser’s Facebook group and were quick to assure patrons via the page that Touch-A-Truck was still a go despite inclement weather. Junior Alexa Goldberg, an athletic coaching education student, was impressed by the families who showed up despite the rain. “Even in the rain you can tell the kids are still enjoying themselves,” Goldberg said. “They love all of the big cars and I think they’re even enjoying the rain. You can see that just all of the families are having a lot of fun.” Touch-A-Truck’s title is very explanatory for the event. Throughout the day, children are allowed to sit in, climb onto and into many different kinds of service vehicles. Not only are there fire trucks and police cars, but also cranes and helicopters as well. Local businesses STICK Tattoo and High Strung Racing were on the forefront for helping the community as always. High Strung Racing even paid in advance for a Batman impersonator to appear at Touch-A-Truck for the next couple of years. With community involvement so prevalent in festivities such as Touch-ATruck, it is amazing to see both the end financial result as well as the differences these events make in the lives of those involved. According to Powell, the fundraiser tends to bring in $6,000 to $7,000 annually and she could only hope the attendance didn’t change too drastically due to the rain. “We have lots of helpers as you can see, people are bringing their boots and their umbrellas,” Powell said. “It’s truly a wonderful event that affects all of us.” For more information on Morgantown’s To u c h -A-T r u c k visit the Facebook page at https ://facebook.com/ events/815440975238536/. danewsroom@mail.wvu.edu

Masters wins big at West Virginia Collegiate Business Competition by john mark shaver staff writer @dailyathenaeum

Jordon Masters has had a busy year. In addition to working toward his bachelor’s degree in horticulture, Masters coowns an upstart local agricultural company with his brother. His company, Al-

legheny Genesis, helped Masters win this year’s West Virginia Statewide Collegiate Business Plan Competition, a feat that awarded him a $10,000 prize. While it seems now Masters’ life revolves around agriculture, the fifth generation farmer did not always want to carry on the family tradition.

82° / 59°

Fare Thee Well

INSIDE

Grateful Dead’s final tour A&E PAGE 3

AM clouds/PM sun

News: 1, 2, Opinion: 4 A&E: 3, 5 Sports: 7, 8, 10 Campus Calendar: 6 Puzzles: 6 Classifieds: 9

“To be completely honest with you, I hated it as a kid,” Masters said with a laugh. “It was definitely something I never thought that I’d be into, but the older I got, I was more appreciative.” Masters, 24, said he realized his love for farming when he began to miss being at his farm after moving to Fairmont to study bi-

ology. He left school, took a few years off and is now studying horticulture at West Virginia University. Masters now co-owns Allegheny Genesis, a business focused on the use of localized sustainability and alternative crops, with his brother Jared. While it started as a monthly food blog, it soon became a full-

fledged business. “The short history of Allegheny Genesis is this,” Masters said. “Last summer, my brother and I started working on (it) and it was all about seasonal sustainability with a big emphasis on alternative crops based off what we could grow here in West Virginia with ease. Things that occur nat-

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see masters on PAGE 2

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urally have all this potential with food that nobody ever utilizes. “It’s about working with nature instead of against it and trying to find alternative crops that grow naturally. You’d still have to plant them, but it wouldn’t take as much effort to really get the

CYBER COMPLAINING Editorial: A range of events in the past month have shown people’s true colors online but not in action. OPINION PAGE 4

World Cup run ends for Buchanan and Lawrence SPORTS PAGE 7

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