THE DAILY ATHENAEUM
“Little good is accomplished without controversy, and no civic evil is ever defeated without publicity.”
da
Tuesday August 25, 2015
Volume 128, Issue 6
www.THEDAONLINE.com
Alcohol amnesty still in workings by lauren caccamo staff writer @dailyathenaeum
West Virginia University students don’t think young people should have to choose between saving a friend’s life and staying out of trouble. During last year’s Student Government Association elections, 83 percent of students voted in favor of a Medical Amnesty Program that keeps students from ever having to make that choice. Medical Amnesty Programs, sometimes known as “Good Samaritan Laws,” al-
low an underage student who has been drinking to call for emergency services for someone in need of medical attention without risking an underage drinking charge for themselves. Similar programs have been implemented in several colleges across the country, including the University of Texas and Texas Tech in the Big 12. After the 2014-15 SGA members unanimously passed a medical amnesty policy bill, however, now former-Governor of SGA Evan McIntyre told The Daily Anth-
enaeum that the only hurdle left to implementing a medical amnesty policy at WVU is obtaining approval from the University’s attorneys. “Right now, the policy developed … is being reviewed by the legal team, which I believe is the only thing delaying it from being implemented at the University level,” McIntyre told The DA in a January interview. Despite an overwhelming favorable response from WVU students, little has been heard about the Medical Amnesty Program since the election. The ballot question was
only intended to measure students’ support of the program, according to Student Body President George Capel. “The vote didn’t carry any weight of law. It was really just to get students’ opinion and support of legislation advocacy,” Capel said. “It is really just an argumentative point and data that we have to back up our argument for the policy initiation.” In May, Vice President of Student Life William Schafer announced plans for the Medical Amnesty Policy to the WVU Faculty Senate, but the policy still hasn’t been fi-
nalized. The University was in the process of hiring a new director of student conduct during the summer to help implement the policy for this 2015-16 school year, according to a report from Morgantown Magazine. After Nolan Burch, a WVU freshman, died last year after consuming a lethal amount of alcohol, Student Advocates for Legislative Advancement Republican Co-Chair Dakota Workman said that programs such as this are “crucial.” “Like many others, I have heard the tragic stories like what happened to Nolan
Burch last year. Incidents such as this shouldn’t happen, and students who do the right thing and call for help shouldn’t be punished,” Workman said. “I hope to never hear another story like Nolan’s.” SALA Democratic co-chair, Cameron Thompson, said the policy’s implementation is an important aspect of the “culture change” members of SGA and University administrators have been pushing for. “We hear a lot about changing the culture on cam-
see alcohol on PAGE 2
‘Meet the Greeks’ campaign highlights individual chapters and leaders
ONE BRICK AT A TIME
by caity coyne
associate city editor @caitycoyne
KYLE MONROE/THE DAILY ATHENAEUM
Construction fencing lines the exterior of the Towers PRT Station Sunday evening as crews continue to re-pour the concrete sidewalks leading to the Student Rec Center.
Evansdale undergoes more construction following steam line failure by hollie greene staff writer @dailyathenaeum
A steam line connected to the Student Recreation Center failed recently. Now, crews have taped off the area and ripped up part of the road near the Towers PRT station’s entrance. The Rec, along with many buildings on the Evansdale campus, are connected to a steam infrastructure system responsible for heating their hot water tanks, according to Stephen Vozniak, facilities engineer and project manager for West Virginia University Facilities Management. Following the failure, Vozniak and his team turned off the steam completely and used a generator to power the hot water tank. Operations at the Rec were unaffected. According to Vozniak, the line failed simply because of its age. “They don’t last forever,” he said. Crews are working to replace and to reroute the line. “The previous line ran around the PRT track to the first set of bridges and down the road straight to the Rec Center,” Vozniak said. “Just because of the way that area is—there are so many utilities down there—it just really wasn’t conducive to a deep steam line.” The new steam line will run closer to the PRT track to avoid any underground utilities. Because of the technical details of this new route, some utilities have been temporarily removed until the project is complete. “The last few days (of the project) will be replacing the sidewalk that was torn up or damaged,” Vozniak said, “but we’re projecting to be done in the next week to two weeks.” The steam line project is just one of many developments to the Evansdale Campus. For the past several years, crews have worked hard
Kyle Monroe/THE DAILY ATHENAEUM
Fencing and construction equipment lines the sidewalks leading from the Towers PRT Station to the Student Rec Center Sunday evening. transforming the Evansdale Campus into a safer, more accessible location for students. In the past three years, Evansdale gained the new Health and Education Building, the new advanced Engineering Research Building, Evansdale Crossing and an art museum which officially opens today. In the future, there are also plans to tear down and replace the Agriculture Science Building. “With that many new buildings, you really have the opportunity to make the campus look nicer,” said John Thompson, WVU’s associate director of design and construction. “It’s also an opportunity to provide some connectivity to the campus.” Students can stay updated on Evansdale construction projects by following @WVUConstruction on Twitter, or by visiting http://construction.wvu.edu. danewsroom@mail.wvu.edu
A social media campaign that launched last month is helping those in Greek Life promote their organizations while shaping the image they want prospective students to see before rushing this fall, according to Channing Hall, vice president of community outreach for the Interfraternity Council. The campaign, “Meet the Greeks,” took to Facebook and Instagram at the end of July to feature individuals and chapters in West Virginia University’s Greek system that exemplify the characteristics of what a Greek leader should be. “Essentially, it was just a kind of way to highlight the chapters within the WVU community and highlight some individuals who are maybe doing more than people really know about,” said Jessica Li, student program advisor in the Office of Student Engagement and Leadership and the founder of the campaign. While Li launched the campaign, students are the ones controlling it now. “I was just thinking of ways to engage more on social media,” Li said. There is an anonymous online form where students or faculty can submit someone they believe deserves to be featured as a part of “Meet the Greeks.” From there, students sift through the submissions before posting them on the Meet the Greeks Facebook page or the WVUGreekLife Instagram account. “This is a multi-faceted campaign,” Hall said. “It
focuses on reaching out to students while also reaching out to community members who may not ever get this information and letting them know of the great things Greek members can do.” Li said she didn’t start the campaign as part of WVU’s culture change initiative, but she believes the two movements play into each other. “I think it’s a great way to draw attention to the great things especially individuals are doing,” Li said. “I definitely think there’s a lot (here) that has to do with the culture change movement… I know that there has been a lot of negative attention on Greek life, but there are good things going on, as well.” According to Hall, the “Meet the Greeks” is an example of how Greek members are embracing the culture change. “It goes hand in hand,” Hall said. “You can say you want to change the culture here and do all these things, but the first step is actually physically doing something.” Hall believes “Meet the Greeks” proves that chapters and individuals on campus are doing things, and he thinks this will have a direct effect on the students interested in rushing next month. He hopes this semester will feature a pledge class more interested in boasting values instead of reputations. “I think (the Greek system) is focusing more on the positive side of things this year,” Hall said. “While we do work hard and play hard, we’re here to work harder.” crcoyne@mail.wvu.edu
Freshman student gets in car accident on way to orientation by laura haight
social media & Campus Connection Editor @laurahaight_
Victor Williams never imagined that first tour of Morgantown would be from inside of an ambulance, but that’s exactly what happened after his family’s car was struck by a motorcycle on their way to orientation. After arriving from Rochester, New York, Williams’ sister was driving along West Run Road, about to make a turn when a motorcycle slammed into the passenger side of her rented Chevy Equinox. “I remember looking at the guy in the eyes—he
was really close to me,” Williams, now a freshman, said. “Luckily I didn’t get hit that bad, but it hit my dad and he flew to the other side of the car.” Using skills he learned in a class he took in high school, Williams got out and checked on the motorcyclist who wasn’t responding or moving. Thankfully, Williams said, an off-duty EMT got out of his vehicle and helped the motorcyclist so Williams could help his dad. To make matters worse, when Williams called 9-1-1 for help, they hung up on him after he vaguely described his initial location as “outside of West
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Virginia University.” The EMT at the scene was able to call the police and get two ambulances to the scene. His dad had been hit the hardest and couldn’t feel his legs after the impact. Williams was frightened. A nurse, who also happened to be at the scene of the accident, helped calm down Williams’ sister. “My sister was a lot worse off than I was,” he said. “She was really out of it, and (the nurse) helped calm her down a lot.” Then, seeing the car filled with all of Williams’ belongings for freshman move-in, the nurse moved all his things to her car.
Unwilling to leave his father, Williams hopped in the passenger seat of the ambulance, and the driver gave him his first official tour of Morgantown on their way to Ruby Memorial Hospital. “The lady that drove the ambulance—she was really cool. She showed me around on the way there because it was the first time I’d ever been here,” Williams said. The generous nurse, although already late for work, drove Williams’ sister to the hospital to be checked out. The nurse brought all of Williams’ belongings to Towers, and helped move his stuff later that day.
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A POOR ALTERNATIVE TO SMOKING E-cigarettes are still harmful to health OPINION PAGE 4
Askar Salikhov/THE DAILY ATHENAEUM
Victor Williams, a freshman interested in economics and international relations, shares his accident story and the moments that followed at New Student Orientation. “I forget her name,” he the hospital with his fasaid. “I wish I knew it so ther, he recalled one of the I could talk to her and say firefighters turning toward him and saying, “Welcome thank you.” When Williams first entered the trauma unit of see accident on PAGE 2
NEVER BETTER Izzo-Brown enters 20th year as WVU coach SPORTS PAGE 9