THE DAILY ATHENAEUM
“Little good is accomplished without controversy, and no civic evil is ever defeated without publicity.”
da
Thursday April 7, 2016
Volume 128, Issue 125
www.THEDAONLINE.com
2016-17 BOG appoints first executives by corey mcdonald staff writer @coreymacc
The 2016-17 Student Government Association administration held its first meeting last night, where it elected a new vice chair and held executive appointments that established the remainder of the board. Applications for executive appointments were distributed to the student body with Student Body President Julie Merow and Vice President Mac Mc-
Intyre picking appointees who were then confirmed or denied by the board. All five executive positions filled Wednesday went uncontested and the race for vice chair saw both Governor Erin Heeter and Governor Haley Quigley nominated for the position. Heeter was appointed, with Board members citing her prior experience as Chief of Staff to the previous administration, as well as Director of Student Organizations, as qualifications for her to assume the
role. “I think one of the biggest things we lack is communication between the executive and legislative branch,” said Heeter. “By having that experience (as Chief of Staff ) I can bring those branches together.” The position of Vice Chair is “meant to whip votes,” according to McIntyre. While it’s a secretarial role, it is also a leadership position within the organization, he said. Following the election of the Vice Chair was executive appointments, where
selected appointees made their case for why they should hold the position at hand. Trevor Kiess, a sophomore and former Governor of the Year for the 2015-16 SGA administration, was appointed as the Chief of Staff, telling the Board he would hold strong accountability for governors’ responsibilities. Elizabeth Barnhart, who sat on two previous SGA administrations and served as the organizations communications director, was appointed as the ex-
PAVING THE WAY Legendary speaker visits WVU, shares experiences as Native American leader by tessa iglesias
ecutive secretary. While she will be graduating in December 2016, Barnhart will be training her intern to act as an adequate replacement who will contend for executive appointment when she leaves. Roshan Daniels, who formerly sat on the Bureau of Finance and the Elections Committee, was appointed as the treasurer, with members of the board commending his skill on the BOF for the previous two years, along with his committed participation with SGA.
Charismatic, energetic, funny, witty, engaging and inspiring. These are just a few of the words that could be used to describe 80-yearold Ada Deer, former Chair of the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsinand, and the first woman to head the Federal Bureau of Indian Affairs. Wednesday evening, on behalf of the Native American Studies program, Deer gave a public presentation titled “From Reservation Cabin to the Corridors of Power: Changing Our World from Within”. Deer is a woman of many firsts, as well as an inspiring trailblazer. She was the first woman to be appointed Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs in the U.S. Department of the Interior, the first American woman in the U.S. to win a major party primary (the Wisconsin Congressional race), the First female Chair of the Menominee Tribe of Wisconsin, the first American Indian to earn a Master’s in social work from Columbia University, the first American Indian Woman to graduate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and she successfully advocated for the passage of the 1973 Menominee Tribal Restoration Act. “The ark of the universe is long, but it bends toward justice, so each of you can take part in the ark and make your effort to bend toward justice in your life”, Deer said to conclude her presentation, which highlighted her numerous accomplishments from her fight in the struggle for indigenous rights. Deer’s presentation began with her roots; a daughter of a Quaker mother and a Menominee father, Deer left her reservation to pursue education. She became a college graduate, a so-
Shelby Thoburn/THE DAILY ATHENAEUM
Ms. Ada Deer presents “From Reservation Cabin to the Corridors of Power: Changing Our World from Within.” She speaks about her time in office and expresses her ideas on creating social and political change. cial worker and a force to ically oppressed people and tion, she took questions be reckoned with in Wash- groups,” said Bonnie Brown, from the audience. ington D.C., inspiring many the Native American StudThere was a high numpeople along the way. ies program coordinator. ber of inquiries from cu“She’s a strong proponent “She has done this through rious and inspired guests. of women’s rights, Ameri- her professional role as a After the questions Brown can Indian rights, indige- social worker, but also as a and the Native American nous rightsand has dedi- successful political and gov- Studies Students presented cated an entire lifetime to ernmental leader.” see FIRST on PAGE 2 making life better for historAfter Deer’s presenta-
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HUSH play sheds light on sexual assault by rachel mcbride staff writer @rachelgmcb
staff writer @dailyathenaeum
Dakota Workman, former Republican SALA chair, was appointed as attorney general for the board. He was adamant about how he would conduct his responsibilities as Attorney General. “I’m sure the majority of you all know me, and know that I am very strong with my principles,” Workman said. “And as Attorney General, my goal would be to make sure governors are accountable. I would expect governor
Helping to bring attention to the complexities of date rape, the West Virginia University “It’s On Us” campaign will be hosting HUSH, a play by Laura Gagliano. In the play, Sara and John have noticed a drastic change in their friend, Kim. She not only refuses to talk about whatever is bothering her, she’s pushing everyone away as well. Despite this, Sara and John stick by her, and finally, she confides in Sara: Kim’s boyfriend, Rob, sexually assaulted her. After being given an assignment in a peer advocacy class, WVU students were told to be creative and collaborate on something they felt passionately about—raising awareness of sexual assault and power-based violence on campus. James Lockhart, sophomore business student and producer of the play, partnered with director, Corabeth Andujar and WVU theatre students to make HUSH a reality. HUSH, originally published in 1992, addresses a taboo topic Lockhart says is too often “overlooked, or met with indifference, inaction or judgement.” “It (the play) is a frank, and candid look at reality,” Lockhart said. “Sexual assault can happen to anyone.” Marianna Matthews, Title IX education peer advocate specialist for WVU, said by using art to talk about important cultural issues such as sexual assault, a wider demographic can be reached in a multitude of ways. “I think art is a self-expression everyone interprets differently,” Matthews said. “With art you can teach people to think about things differently.” Matthews said the freedom of expression found in art is the perfect platform to
bring awareness to cultural issues on college campuses. “Posters are great,” she said, “but when you are using a different approach that’s as powerful as art is, I don’t think there’s a better way.” During the show, Lydia Owens, freshman advertising student and singer/ songwriter for the play, will perform an original song. Owens said she is constantly writing or singing in her head, but after seeing HUSH, she had to get her thoughts down on paper. For her, experiencing HUSH was an emotional experience and writing a song for the production was a primitive reaction to seeing the show. “Raw emotions splayed out on the human canvas,” Owens said. “I was already a part of this play, but I couldn’t help but contribute a little more.” It took Owens less than an hour to create the melody and words for the production’s original song. “Everything about this play is moving and understandable and just so crushing, so I incorporated that into the song,” Owens said. If anyone who sees the show can relate to any part of the performance, Owens hopes it’s the idea that no matter how many times someone has been hushed, they still have a voice and deserve to be heard. This is one of the main themes of the play. “It’s (the issues of sexual assault and violence) on us,” Owens said. “So, let’s listen.” HUSH will show at 7:30 p.m. April 7-9 at the Falbo Theatre in the Creative Arts Center. All showings are free and open to the public. The production contains information about sexual assault, power-based personal violence and other material which may be emotionally disturbing to some viewers. Advocates and resources will be avail-
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“It’s On Us” Week sparks campus conversations about sexual assault by jamie mason staff writer @dailyathenaeum
Twenty-three percent of college females report being sexually assaulted while in college, according to a survey from the Association of American Universities. West Virginia University is taking part in an effort to change that. In September 2014, President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden launched the “It’s On Us” campaign, an initiative to help put an end to sexual assault on college campuses. For the first time, WVU devoted an entire week to the awareness of sexual assault and provide students
with opportunities to learn more about safe sex, consent and the way people think and talk about sexual assault. “This week specifically… the White House has encouraged every institution that’s participating in the campaign to host events every day,” said Mariana Matthews, the Title IX education peer advocate specialist for WVU. Throughout the year, Matthews and the Peer Advocates worked with different student groups and offices within the University to promote sexual assault awareness and prevention, and educate students on the resources available to them. “It’s On Us” Week kicked
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LAND USE TALK
INSIDE
Matthew Coolidge to guest lecture at CAC A&E PAGE 4
RAIN
News: 1, 2 Opinion: 3 A&E: 4, 5, 6 Sports: 10, 11, 12 Campus Calendar: 8 Puzzles: 8 Classifieds: 7
off Monday, where students could utilize free resources, films and a blood drive table. The events on Tuesday and Wednesday were very similar, with the addition of a quilt creation table, bystander training and an open-forum discussion. “I think (the outcome) has been great,” Matthews said. “One of the things that was a lot bigger than we thought was the photo booth. The students basically had signs that encouraged students to get consent and then they were taking pictures with the signs.” The schedule for Thursday, Friday and Saturday includes many of the same events, with a few more
added each day, including drop-in open counseling, ‘Conversations with Cops,’ a ‘Walk of Change’ and a Title IX training session. The faculty and students sponsoring the week are pleased with the amount of feedback and help they’ve received from the WVU community members. University Police officers were present in the Mountainlair Tuesday talking with students that had questions about the legal aspects of sexual assault. “People need to know everyone plays a part in safety and when it comes to sexual assault, it’s on us,” said Officer Peggy Runyon. “We have to take care of each other… You have a responsibility…
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FEAUTRE-DETECTING TECHNOLOGY The disabled can offer new perspectives and innovations for the tech industry OPINION PAGE 3
It’s on all of us to pay attention and to help each other out.” As a result of this being the first ‘It’s On Us’ Week at WVU, there are no statistics available on the effects of this week, but Runyon believes this is a great initiative and it “can’t hurt.” She hopes the more WVU publicizes and promotes this initiative, the more people will join and take action in the right direction. Over the weekend, there was a report of a sexual assault at the Sigma Chi fraternity house. Although Runyon could not comment specifically on the alleged sexual assault incident, she feels any situation involving a possible sexual as-
sault should be treated seriously and this week is great because it gives victims of sexual assault the tools and knowledge they need. “We take all of that seriously… and are taking all of the precautions and doing all of the investigation type things we need to do to bring it to an end,” Runyon said. “We work with the Title IX office so we can get whoever the victim, that’s our biggest concern, is to get them back to somewhere near normalcy.” For more information on the “It’s On Us” Week, visit http://titleix.wvu.edu/ schedule-for-it-s-on-usweek. danewsroom@mail.wvu.edu
NO PITFALLS WVU avoids trap with 5-1 victory SPORTS PAGE 10