THE DAILY ANTHENEUM
“I’ve been drinking, I’ve been drinking. I get filthy when that liquor get into me.”
da
Wednesday April 1, 2015
www.CHRISTIANMINGLE.com
Volume 127, Issue 120
Rec parking now costs $1 an hour by evie langan staff writer @dailyathenaeum
Beginning next Wednesday, April 8, going to the gym and burning those extra weekend calories is going to come at a cost, literally. Parking at the West Virginia University Student Recreation Center will now cost $1 per hour and a pay stub will need to be displayed in the car window
as proof of payment. The WVU Parking Authority Board’s decision comes after evaluating the parking situation at the Rec, claiming they think it will help deter students from parking there who only do so to walk to their classes in other University buildings. “We do realize this will upset many students, but we feel that this fee will encourage those unfairly uti-
lizing Rec Center parking spaces to park elsewhere, leaving more room for those who want to actually use the facility,” said Frank Gardner, a member of the board. “It’s really a small cost, and it’s ultimately the best decision to help the parking conditions due to the construction going on.” Gardner added that the board graciously decided to implement the fee after Spring Break, even though
he and the board believed it needed to come at an earlier time. “Let’s face the facts, when Spring Break is over, the Rec Center mostly clears out because the majority of students stop caring about working out. By applying this fee after break, we are doing the students who normally don’t come a huge favor.” The machines students will use to pay for the pay
GEE’S PLAN TO GROW WVU
stub will be identical to the ones in the Mountainlair. Students can pay for the stubs with credit/debit cards, cash or quarters. Students seem to be less than pleased by the announcement of the new fee. “I think it’s absolutely ridiculous. The University claims they want us to maintain healthy lifestyles and stay in shape, yet they force us to pay to park at
staff writer @dailyathenaeum
BRIDGE TO NEW CAMPUS
Jake Jarvis/THE DAILY ATHENAEUM
This is a rough design West Virginia University has to expand its buildings.
Gee said University will purchase more land, provide housing by SAM WATSON staff writer @dailyathenaeum
The West Virginia University President’s Office released a statement yesterday laying out the plan to expand the University to 100,000 students. President E. Gordon Gee said last fall that he would like to expand the University to 40,000. As the planning process went along, the University administration was surprised to found Morgantown is able to house just over 100,000 students. “Size matters. Bigger is better,” the press release reads. “More students means more revenue from tuition.” Gee previously served as
president of the Ohio State University, which has the largest campus in the country with over 60,000 students, and recognized the huge benefits that comes with a larger institution, according to assistant vice president of University Affairs Bob Saccamano. “It brings in jobs, it brings in money and we will be able to excel in every way,” Saccamano said. “We want to become a center for research and academics in the world.” To accommodate 100,000 students, the University will tear down all the houses in Sunnyside and replace them with larger apartment complexes similar to University Place. The University has also purchased 96 acres in
Westover, which will connect to the Downtown Campus through a walking bridge across the Monongahela River. The PRT will also operate on the bridge. “We obviously need to purchase much more land to handle an expansion of over 300 percent, but the City is being very helpful with the process and I’m sure we’ll figure it out,” Saccamano said. The University will begin to accept more students starting in 2016 and will lower its already low admissions requirements to make place for more students. The minimum GPA for admission will be 1.5 and high school students with a GPA higher than 3.0 will be eligible to receive full-ride
scholarships. “To start off we just need to get as many students in as possible,” Saccamano said. “A lot of the revenue we make from tuition is from freshmen that can’t handle the workload and drop out after first or second semester. We’ve been relying on them for years to keep our operations going, and by lowering our requirements further we’ll see more students enroll for a shorter period of time, which in return lowers our expenditures per student.” The announcement was quickly met with opposition from the Morgantown community. Eunice Parker, 76, has lived in Westover her
see GROWING on PAGE 2
see PARKING on PAGE 2
City: ‘We are going to fix every single pothole’ by kat gato
NEW HOUSING COMPLEX
our own Rec Center? Guess what? Not happening,” said Grace Curran, a junior psychology student. Scott Wilson, a senior engineering student, said he feels this is just another way the University has found to take students’ money. “We pay hundreds of dollars for five months use of textbooks. We pay for
When snow melts away for the winter, many familiar aspects of spring begin to appear in Morgantown. Birds return from their journey south, yellow daffodils sprout from the ground and crater sized potholes span the width of city roads. Potholes have been disrupting the streets of Morgantown since the city was founded. What once destroyed the wheels of horse drawn carriages is still damaging vehicles today. After countless complaints from students and other city inhabitants, Morgantown City Council has decided to work with the Division of Highways to combat this problem. “Starting in the beginning of April, we are going to team up with the Division of Highways to really strengthen up our street repair teams,” said Jerry Pikorsky, city manager. “On the first through the third of the month, these teams will go around Morgantown and fill every pothole. Nothing will be left unfilled.” This road maintenance will not be a one-time deal. Pikorsky assures that this change will allow Morgantown to always be a pothole free community. “We will also be changing the code we use to determine if and when we send the maintenance crews,” Pikorsky said. “Before these new rules, we would only fix the street if we received a minimum of ten reports about a specific pothole causing flat tires or other vehicular damages. Now, we will send crews within twenty four hours after we receive just one call of complaint.” Although many citizens of Morgantown expressed relief about the new mandate, the question still lin-
gers as to how the roads had gotten so destructive. Brett Runner, communications director for the West Virginia Department of Transportations said there are many reasons behind these road conditions and why they were left seemingly unattended for so long. “For starters, potholes are created when the roads expand and contract after winter storms when the ice continually freezes and thaws,” Runner said. “Why they haven’t been fixed though, is another story.” Runner explained that often when people call and complain about the roads, they are calling the wrong people. “People usually call the City of Morgantown to discuss potholes and dilapidated streets, when they should be calling us in many cases,” Runner said. “Although the City of Morgantown is in charge of a few streets around town, some major ones are actually State Routes and those are our responsibility. Places like Beechurst Avenue, Willey Street, College Avenue and South University Avenue are all State Routes. We usually don’t fix these because people aren’t complaining to us, they’re complaining to Morgantown.” Now, however, the peoples’ voices have finally been heard and many are very pleased about the situation. “Just a few weeks ago I was driving down the street and blew both of the tires on the front of my car because of a massive pothole,” said Selena Robinson, a sophomore women’s and gender studies student. “I swear it looked like that pothole could have led straight down to China. It is about time this town does something about this, it is so desperately needed.” no-one-emails-us@aim.com
Greek life in trouble again, Frat suspended Sheetz in Uplace to close, Sunnyside Superette to replace by jenyrd Skynyrd staff writer @dailyathenaeum
Last night, administrators at West Virginia University unanimously voted on the end of all Greek life due to the actions of one fraternity this past week. According to the University, fraternity Sigma Sigma was caught performing too much community service this past year, leading to the suspension of not just Sigma Sigma, but all fraternities and sororities at WVU. “The actions of this fraternity are simply against the rules and could result in even more student members of Greek organizations to break the rules by giving way more back to the community than what is allowed,” said Dean of Students Moriarty Harris. Sigma Sigma’s constitution states that each member of the fraternity “shall complete five hours of com-
munity service each semester,” but during the Fall 2014 semester, members of Sigma Sigma logged an average of ten service hours. “After much contemplation throughout the semester, my brothers and I all agreed that going above the suggested amount of service hours would just be a nice thing to do,” stated Johnny Smith, president of Sigma Sigma. “I’m deeply sorry for the harm our actions have caused.” Each member of Sigma Sigma spent the five extra service hours planting flowers around Morgantown, visiting pediatric cancer patients at Ruby Memorial Hospital and sending letters to local nursing homes. “The Interfraternity Council does not condone the actions of Sigma Sigma, but we will stand behind all Greek life at WVU to ensure that fraternities and sororities are more respectful to rules,” IFC
65° / 23°
PITT EATS IT
INSIDE
But how much do they eat exactly? A&E PAGE 5
HEAVY BREATHING
News: 1, 2 Opinion: 4 A&E: 3, 5 Sports: 6, 7, 8 Real paper: 9 Campus Calendar: 3 Puzzles: 17
president Ron Hurston wrote in a letter. “We will continue to work with the University so that problems like these do not arise again and hopefully we can bring Greek life back as soon as possible.” While the University’s decision to suspend all fraternities and sororities did not surprise most people, several outraged students took to the streets in protest late last night. Jack Dogood, Richard Helper and Suzanne Riveter, all current students and former members of Greek organizations, spent the entire night cleaning downtown roads of litter. “When I found out about the University’s ruling, I was so appalled. I mean, are you serious? How can anyone think that doing too much good around a community is a bad thing? What in the world was the University thinking?” exclaimed Dogood, a sophomore biology student and previously
a member of Sigma Sigma. Riveter, who was a member of sorority Chi Phi Pi before its suspension and is currently a senior history student, felt so strongly opposed to the University’s decision that she refused to stop picking up cigarette butts on High Street with her bare hands for 12 hours overnight. “I honestly just can’t believe this. I would rather touch a thousand disgusting cigarettes on the street than be okay with the idea that fraternities and sororities can only legally do a maximum of five community service hours a semester,” she said. “I’ve never heard a more stupid thing come from the school.” Nevertheless, fraternities and sororities will remain suspended until the University deems it appropriate to allow Greek life to continue. danewsroom@mail.wvu.edu
by howard beal staff writer @Dailyathenaeum
The Sunnyside Superette will move into University Place after the Sheetz grocery store experiment failed. West Virginia University decided to end its Public-Private Partnership with the national chain and go in a different direction, citing the astronomical operating costs and less-than-stellar sales. “This is a victory, not only for Superette, but for Sunnyside, and all of Morgantown really,” said Peter B. Johnson, owner of the Sunnyside Superette. “We have
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GEE SHOULD RESIGN We don’t like him anymore. The bowties grew old really fast. UNINFORMED OPINIONS PAGE 4
been here for 75 years, I’ve been here myself for almost 15 years. They tried to change the entire neighborhood – I guess they did do that, which I understand. But if you try to screw the little guy because you want the big guy to succeed, you’ll get burned worse than a couch after game day.” The Superette was at risk of closing after the announcement of Sheetz moving next door to University Place. Sheetz offered many of the same amenities, but at a mostly lower cost as well as hot, ready made food. “Sure, they had lower
see SHEETZ on PAGE 2
ENTICING PHRASE Something that makes the reader want to read more about the story about Huggins SPORTS PAGE 6