The DA 09-02-2015

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THE DAILY ATHENAEUM

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

da

Wednesday September 2, 2015

Volume 128, Issue 12

www.THEDAONLINE.com

City endorses two new resolutions by jake jarvis city editor @newsroomjake

Students at West Virginia University took two steps forward and one step back in it’s relations with the city. At its regular meeting Tuesday, Morgantown City Council endorsed two of the Human Rights Commission’s resolutions. Billie Murray, the Student Government Association’s City Council liaison and Matt Blair, SGA’s attorney general, were ap-

pointed to this board about two weeks ago and were one of five commissioners to sign the resolution. But the Council confirmed Kenneth Weiss to the Metropolitan Theatre Commission instead of Ross Justice, a junior at WVU in the regency program. “I cannot, for the life of me, understand how being a student at West Virginia University would create a conflict of interest in serving on a community board,” SGA’s Chief of Staff Randy Jones told the council. “Es-

pecially when the subject in question had performed in this theater multiple times and had been a member of the community for a very long time.” Justice said during his interview, Councilor Nancy Ganz, 7th Ward, asked if he would have a conflict of interest since he’s a WVU student. Instead of Justice, the board appointed Robyn Hess and Kenneth Weiss. On Aug. 26, Weiss emailed city clerk Linda Tucker and asked that he

WVU Tech to move from Montgomery to Beckley by paige czyzewski correspondent @dailyathenaeum

After a unanimous vote Tuesday afternoon, the West Virginia University Board of Governors approved moving WVU Tech from its Montgomery campus to a new Beckley campus. West Virginia University acquired the former Mountain State University campus in Beckley earlier this summer for $8 million. Tech President Carolyn Long and select Tech faculty and staff outlined the proposal to move campuses during a private meeting at Long’s home on Monday afternoon. Freshman classes will be offered in Beckley starting Fall 2016, and academic and engineering Tech courses will move the following year. The new WVU Tech venture in Beckley will begin operating full-time by Fall 2017. “We evaluated facts and weighed merits, spent many, many hours discussing the impact of this recommendation,” said WVU Provost Joyce McConnell. “Even when understanding the tremendous decisions we are making and the impact that this could have on Tech in terms of thriving in the future and the kinds of issues you have heard raised today, we came to the conclusion that to fulfill our vision and to ensure that Tech not only continues to survive, but to thrive, we had to make the hard decision to seize this opportunity to relocate Tech to a new campus - to the Beckley campus - to find a new home for a fine institution of higher education in the state of West Virginia.” The West Virginia legislature found in a 2008 and 2009 audit that WVU Tech faced significant enrollment

not be considered for the position. “Had I known that the Metropolitan Theatre Commission’s only purpose was to oversee the property management for that building,” Weiss’ email reads, “I would not have applied to serve on that group.” The Commission was formed a number of years prior to restore the theater and ensure it was well maintained, according to a later email form Mayor Marti Shamberger, 5th Ward. Weiss put his

didn’t get on,” Justice said. “I hope to believe that it was because they saw something valuable in the other candidates.” Shamberger said that Weiss’ role on the commission might be different than others because of the skills he poses. Two previous fundraising campaigns in which Weiss took an “integral part” raised more than $10.5 million, according to his resume he submitted to the council.

name back in the hat after learning more about the role he might play as a commissioner. When Justice was a child, he remembers all of the holes in the theater’s walls and how no one ever wanted to go there. He’s been involved with multiple theatrical productions, and once, while a student at University High School, he performed on the Metropolitan Theatre stage. “I don’t think one question or one person is necessarily the reason why I

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CLICKING AHEAD

issues due to the quality of life on campus. Problems included isolation, student travel difficulties, inabilities to repair aging structures and a lack of amenities. In 2014, SIGHTLINES, a facility assets advisory group for higher education, reported there was an estimated $100 million worth of deferred maintenance on the WVU Tech campus at Montgomery. McConnell said that since 2005, WVU has invested $40.2 million from the main campus’ revenue for direct and indirect capital investments all while having the overall budget reduced by $24 million. In addition, McConnell estimates the state has invested $23 million. “The Beckley campus will allow us to (do) more than we’re doing currently on campus in Montgomery because of the limitations of the campus at Montgomery and the difficulty—not only of the financing of any capital improvements—but the difficulty of geography in terms of capital improvements,” McConnell said. WVU Tech in Beckley is expected to allow Tech to focus on strategic programs in local tourism and hospitality, culinary arts, health fields and adventure recreation, as well as information technology and engineering. Courses will consist of face-to-face teaching, online learning opportunities and select hybrid courses. The board wants to tailor the education for the students of southern West Virginia. In disagreement, West Virginia delegates and WVU Tech employees and community members also attended the special meeting to ask the board to devise a

Garrett Yurisko/THE DAILY ATHENAEUM

Will Crones waits for the results of his clicker question in class.

REEF Polling smartphone app gains positive feedback in comparison to iClicker by corey mcdonald staff writer @dailyathenaeum

Most students are aware of the iClicker—a device commonly used to mark attendance in large classes and also to give students the chance to actively participate during lectures. However, many students are unaware there is an app being implemented on campus, functioning as an iClicker right on your smartphone. Until recently, the app was called iClicker Go. iClicker updated and renamed its app to REEF Polling, a new mobile-optimized engagement system. “The app is still in a pilot test mode at WVU,” said Amy Kuhn, Associate Director of iTeach, a subdivision of the WVU Teaching and Learning Commons. “We used a very small pilot over the summer, and then expanded it for the fall.” Joshua Osbourn, an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry, began using the new app over the summer, and who continues to use it in his fall courses. “It actually went surprisingly well, there were very few technical issues. Students picked it up really easily... (The class) in the summer had about 70 students,” Osbourn said. “I have about 400 students right now; I’m still using the REEF app, and they’re all using it.”

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Garrett Yurisko/THE DAILY ATHENAEUM

Introduced to WVU in 2012, iClickers offer students a way to interact in class. Many professors and instructors are still unaware that an app may soon be available for wider use on campus. “I had just recently heard there was an app,” said Erin Goodykoontz, assistant professor of the mathematics department. “I’m open to using both, I would just be concerned about students who don’t have a smartphone.” Luckily, the app will be available on any device with

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Kimberly Weaver appointed, David Alvarez and Thomas Flaherty reappointed to BOG by corey mcdonald staff writer @dailyathenaeum

West Virginia Governor Earl Ray Tomblin appointed Kimberly Weaver and reappointed David Alvarez and Thomas Flaherty to the West Virginia University Board of Governors on August 27. Weaver—perhaps one of the University’s most successful alumna—has been a Mountaineer for much of her life. The Morgantown native earned her bachelor’s degree in physics from the

University in 1987. During her time at WVU, she served two seasons as field commander for the “The Pride of West Virginia,” the Mountaineer Marching Band, and was selected Ms. Mountaineer in 1986, according to a recent press release. “I grew up in Morgantown, and there’s a sense of family, achievement, and purpose,” Weaver said in an interview with The Daily Athenaeum. “The University was always something I strived to be a part of when I was a kid, and I was very happy to

88°/67°

APOCALYPSE ALERT

INSIDE

Max Brooks speaks at Festival of Ideas A&E PAGE 3

THUNDERSTORMS

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

be able to go to WVU and to be a part of student life there. It really set the course for my life.” “These things are part of the agreement I have with the government to allow me to serve on the Board of Governors,” Weaver said. After earning her degree at WVU, Weaver received her doctorate in astronomy from the University of Maryland in 1993 and did additional postgraduate work at Pennsylvania State University in State College, Pennsylvania, and Johns Hopkins University

in Baltimore, according to the release. More recently, Weaver was inducted into WVU’s Academy of Distinguished Alumni in 2011. She has also received the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences’ Alumni Recognition award, acknowledging scholars who have made significant strides in their field, the release said. Weaver is an astrophysicist currently working for NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. She is a noted international expert in the field of X-ray astronomy, according to the release. Her primary area

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SEXUAL ASSAULT The Owen Labrie case exemplifies harmful high school culture OPINION PAGE 4

of astronomy research is space-based observations of black holes and galaxies. She has published more than 80 professional s c i e n c e pu b l i cat i o n s throughout her career and has collaborated with scientists around the world. “I hope to be able to use the skills and experience that I gained being at West Virginia University to come back and help make the institution better in the sense of fulfilling its mission, helping students achieve more and helping the campus become a more internation-

ally known campus for excellence,” Weaver said. Weaver’s appointment went into effect Aug. 27, and her term will run through June 30, 2017. She replaced Rob Alsop, who decided in October 2014 to step down from the Board. After his decision to step down, Governor Tomblin appointed Alsop to vice president for legal and governmental affairs and entrepreneurial engagement for the University. Alsop was Tomblin’s former chief of staff.

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SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER Holgorsen, team ready for opening game SPORTS PAGE 7


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