THE DAILY ATHENAEUM
“Little good is accomplished without controversy, and no civic evil is ever defeated without publicity.”
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Monday January 12, 2015
Volume 127, Issue 72
www.THEDAONLINE.com
Luck’s out, Lyons is in
Two dozen students forced out of University announces Shane Lyons as athletic director, Luck moving to NCAA by jacob bojesson apartments for U. Place construction editor-in-chief @dailyathenaeum
by jennifer skinner staff writer @DailyAthenaeum
As winter Break came to a close, West Virginia University students returned to their Morgantown residence halls, houses and apartments. However, for residents of Sunnyside Commons, an apartment building located on University Avenue directly across from University Place, coming back to campus was not so simple. During the last week of fall semester, approximately two dozen students in Sunnyside Commons learned they would have four weeks to move out before their apartments would be torn down. For the inconvenience, residents received free rent for the next semester in brand new apartments at University Place; plus, they could keep their convenient parking spots across the street. “We found out Dec. 17 that we had to be out of our house by Jan. 9, and that they were going to move us into UPlace. It was the last day of finals and we all had a sigh of relief, and then we got the ball dropped on us when we were told we had to move out of our house,” said Jade Broomfield, a senior graphic design student. “We were all going home Dec. 18, so it was pretty much a shock because we had to cut our break in half.” When Evan Aldridge, a senior finance student, learned that his move-out day bumped up from Jan. 10 to Jan. 8, stress ensued. “The Sunday before Christmas, my roommate got a text message along the lines of, ‘This is UPlace and we’re not yet ready to give tours but we’ll let you know when we are.’ We weren’t sure what that meant,” Aldridge said. “(Sunnyside) Commons weren’t the first people to contact us.” Aldridge’s landlord tried to talk to him and his two roommates on Dec. 17, the last day of finals, but he and his roommates were already out of the apartment for winter break. None of the three roommates talked to the landlord or received voicemails. “I don’t know where the lack of communication started exactly, but it was just stressful because for a couple of days, we had absolutely no idea where we were going to move to,” Broomfield said. “All we knew was that we had to be out of here.” Sunnyside Commons, owned by American Campus Communities, exchanged the three houses in the apartment complex with University Place, owned by WVU and its private developers, for a parking garage that will benefit the entire student body and specifically University Place and Sunnyside Commons residents. “This was not a decision made by University Place,
see MOVING on PAGE 2
Right as West Virginia University was wrapping up finals, Athletic Director Oliver Luck dropped the bomb of his resignation Dec. 17. But it didn’t take long until a replacement was found. Luck will become second-in-command for the National Collegiate Athletic Association under President Mark Emmert and will start his new job on Thursday. “It has been a tremendous honor to serve my alma mater as director of athletics for the past four and a half years,” Luck said in a statement. “As those who have spent time in West Virginia know, this is truly a special place.” Luck is widely regarded to be one of the most prominent athletic directors in collegiate sports. He served on the College Football Playoff Committee during its inaugural year this season and worked as a director with the NFL for several years before returning to WVU in 2010. In his four years in Morgantown, he has been part of a large transition for the athletic program – helping the University move to the Big 12, building a new $21 million baseball park and adding an 18th sport, golf, to the program along with bringing in millions of dollars through media rights. Luck was a standout quarterback at WVU where he served as a starter for three years, leading the Mountaineers to a 1981 Peach Bowl victory over Florida. He had a brief NFL career with the Houston Oilers, now the Tennessee Titans, after graduating from WVU. It is with mixed feelings that he now leaves, but he believes the future is bright for the University.
$1,109,041 $1,000,000 $900,000 $695,769 $600,000 $595,900 $537,500 $498,226 $450,000 SOURCE: ESPN, 2013
“As a member of the Big 12 Conference, the University is well-positioned for future success and I know great things lie ahead for WVU.” As the news of Luck’s
departure came out of the blue, few names emerged as front runners as his successor. WVU President E. Gordon Gee said the University would take its time to
evaluate candidates and stressed the importance of hiring a person with a broad understanding of the WVU culture. “We plan to move swiftly to find the best fit in a new
by courtney gatto
by jake jarvis managing editor @Dailyathenaeum
Editor’s Note: The Daily Athenaeum was not given access to voter demographic information included in this article from Tami Stalnaker but instead filed a Freedom of Information Act request through West Virginia University’s legal department. There are three groups who’ve already announced their intent to run for student body president and vice president and only seven weeks until we find out who wins. With the clock ticking, Josh Carpenter resigned Jan. 6 as the Student Government Association’s elections chair. Student Body President Chris Nyden has yet to name Carpenter’s successor, an individual charged with overseeing the entire election process. In an email, Carpenter said he resigned because of his “personal relationships with multiple candidates.”
INSIDE
10 artists with a bright 2015 ahead of them A&E PAGE 10
Campus Connection: 4 Puzzles: 4 Classifieds: 14, 15
DeLoss Dodds, Texas Joe Castiglione, Oklahoma Jamie Pollard, Iowa State Chris Del Conte, TCU Mike Holder, Oklahoma State Kirby Hocutt, Texas Tech John Currie, Kansas State Ian McCaw, Baylor Sheahon Zenger, Kansas
see LYons on PAGE 2
Carpenter resigns as elections chair Commencement ceremony adds alumni following extensive preparations
UP AND COMING
News: 1, 2, 3 Opinion: 5, 6 A&E: 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 Sports: 13, 14, 16
Big 12 Athletic Director Salaries (2013)
Student Government
40° / 21°
RAIN & SNOW MIX
crimsonredsports.com
athletic director to lead our programs, coaches and student-athletes into a new era of Mountaineer athletics,” Gee said in a press release on the day of Luck’s resignation. What we didn’t know was that he had a name in mind already. Gee met with Shane Lyons, the deputy director of athletics at the University of Alabama, the very same day. Following a few weeks of meetings and negotiations, WVU announced the hiring of Lyons last Monday. The Parkersburg, W.Va., native is returning to his alma mater and will assume office in February. “It is truly a dream come true for me to return to my home state and to WVU as director of intercollegiate athletics and associate vice
“I won’t answer any questions about my personal life,” Carpenter wrote in an email. “And I ask that you please respect my privacy and the privacy of the candidates on issues such as this.” Carpenter knew he would resign before finals and informed Nyden this on Dec. 9. Despite the short notice, the replacement won’t have his or her head under water. In the fall, Carpenter laid much of the groundwork for the election season. He selected voting locations and secured permission from the Monongalia County Clerk’s Office to use its official voting machines for the third year in a row. Josh Harrison, the elections chair for the 2012-13 and 2013-14 administrations, said he thought these machines increased voter turnout when they were first used in spring 2013. Prior to this, students voted online. Harrison said the novelty of these machines probably wore off in 2014, caus-
ing lower turnout. There were 913 fewer voters in 2014 than there were the year prior. “We did see a little bit of a decrease in voter participation, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing,” he said. “From my position, I’m not necessarily concerned with getting the most people out, but I want to give the opportunity to people who want to vote and be as informed as possible.” Harrison said it’s been a “very long time” since three tickets have campaigned against each other, which he suspects will increase turnout. “Voter turnout is a big issue that I wanted to address,” Carpenter said, “and I hope and expect this election to have the highest voter turnout in years.” In the fall, Carpenter and the elections committee oversaw the Homecoming Court election which he said increased by about 500
see ELECTION on PAGE 3
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LYONS, A GOOD FIT Our view on why Shane Lyons is a great selection for athletic director OPINION PAGE 5
staff writer @Dailyathenaeum
West Virginia University held its annual commencement ceremony, celebrating and honoring the hard work and accomplishments of many new graduates on Dec. 19. The ceremony awarded bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees from several different WVU schools and colleges. Guest speakers included WVU President E. Gordon Gee, Jennifer Knight from the School of Medicine and Joyce McConnell, provost and vice president of Academic Affairs. Each speech gave the graduates advice and warm wishes for the future. “Today, this very special day, I will confer your degrees, but you are taking away much more than a degree as you launch the next leg of your journey,” Gee said. The speakers excited the graduates about their future, but also made sure to congratulate them on their
past. “You have worked hard to reach this milestone,” Gee said. “If you add up all the steps you have climbed on our campus, you would be looking down on Mt. Everest. If you linked the miles of track you have covered in a PRT car, you could ride all the way to China, (provided) the car did not get stuck somewhere in the Pacific. On the way, you have discovered talents you never dreamed you’d have, you’ve solved problems that once seemed beyond your capability, (and) you have learned to think in whole new ways and not just about how to stretch a box of ramen noodles into three dinners and a breakfast.” The ceremony continued as each graduate took a commemorative “selfie” before walking to receive their diploma. After the new graduates were seated, they were able to listen to the singing of the Alma Mater and “Country Roads”
see GRADS on PAGE 2
JUST MISSED A WIN No. 14 WVU falls to No. 17 Iowa State, 74-72 SPORTS PAGE 16
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