THE DAILY ATHENAEUM
“Little good is accomplished without controversy, and no civic evil is ever defeated without publicity.”
da
Wednesday October 29, 2014
City says roads need improved by kaitlyn wilson
US Senate RACE
Coal culture trumps water Natalie Tennant unable to make January chemical spill an issue by hilary kinney
correspondent @dailyathenaeum
Morgantown’s City Council discussed several roads that may see improvements in the near future at the Committee of the Whole meeting Tuesday evening. Bill Austin, of the Greater Morgantown Metropolitan Planning Organization, presented findings from three studies the MPO is currently conducting to examine traffic patterns throughout the city. Greenbag Road has been an area of concern for some time and may be getting renovations to improve the road quality for drivers of cars, commercial trucks, pedestrieans and bicycles. The MPO also saw a request for another access bridge to I-79. Austin said the current questions are whether or not there is truly a need for another river crossing and where to put it. Possibilities for the location of the bridge include Eighth Street and the West Virginia University Coliseum. The final area of concern for traffic issues is University Avenue. According to Austin, funds are available through the University and Sunnyside Up to improve areas for pedestrians and cyclists. The council also discussed the intersections of Third Street, Beverly Street and University Avenue as problematic areas for traffic. They are currently looking into solutions. The discussion of the Bond Authorization Ordinance for Sunnyside TIF District, in relation to these traffic issues, was added to the agenda for the next meeting. Morgantown Police Chief Ed Preston also joined the discussion at Tuesday’s meeting to update the council on the ongoing repair to the city from damages caused by riots following the Baylor Game and the police department’s plans for future home games. Preston said while many repairs have been completed, the city is still waiting on some materials in order to finish the jobs. While several people have already been prosecuted for events following the Baylor game, police are still working with other officials to sort through information and hold others accountable for their actions. There have also been a number of meetings revolving around pre-game planning between the police department, fire department, University Athletics and others, which will continue over the next few days to prepare for this week’s home game. According to Preston, secondary and tertiary venues for manpower have been set up to provide extra support this weekend. He expects that it will be a busy and trying week with several events including Halloween, trickor-treating and the football game. “We are expecting greater than normal nightlife activities,” he said. “From 6 a.m. until the bars close on Saturday night we will have all available manpower ready.” Preston said the police will not stop responding to emergency calls unrelated to these activities, but may have to prioritize based on emergency need. “Lives will always (come before) property,” he said. Any inappropriate activity can be reported by dialing 911 or using the new Safetown smartphone app. Safetown is designed to share any information or recent
see COUNCIL on PAGE 2
correspondent @dailyathenaeum
In January, a chemical leak in the Elk River in West Virginia polluted the drinking supply of more than 300,000 West Virginians, forcing them to buy bottled water, forego showers and washing dishes for up to two weeks. Nine months later, outrage over that disaster seems to have faded
WVU political science professor
the Elk River leak, agreed. He said politicians who attempt to regulate any kind of industry in West Virginia are automatically pegged as “anti-business.” “Nobody’s going to say, ‘Well, you know, we should have regulated this,’ because that reeks of Obama’s EPA coming after our jobs,” Humphreys said.
It all comes back to a culture that for decades has glorified coal and scorned anyone who tried to regulate the industry. The chemical that leaked into the Elk River from a Freedom Industries storage tank was used in coalcleaning processes.
see COAL on PAGE 2
Kenneth Redillas/THE DAILY ATHENAEUM
Charlotte Touboul with her service dog Mocha at lab class near the Animal Science Farm on Tuesday.
Trained service dogs draw public’s attention at WVU, ultimately rewarding for handlers by jennifer skinner staff writer @Dailyathenaeum
Chloe’s daily routine is similar to one of any college student: she wakes up early, gets on the PRT and goes to class. The only difference is that Chloe is a dog. Trained and fostered by Erin Barthelmess, a graduate pharmacy student, Chloe, the 9-month-old golden retriever is one of several dogs in West Virginia University’s Hearts of Gold, an organization that teaches students to train service dogs. Students in the program take a class that requires them to keep a service dog in training with them during several days of the week and teach them how to perform actions for their future handlers. Since the dogs are certified to be in public as part of their training, the student handlers bring their dogs everywhere they go during the day, including class, the Mountainlair, the Rec Center, the PRT and on buses.
Barthelmess frequently gets curious stares, whispers, secret Snapchatting and requests to pet Chloe when she brings her training service dog with her in public. She reminds people to always ask before petting service dogs because it can distract the dogs. Dogs in public places draw a lot of attention and interest from those who are interested in training dogs and students who are simply interested in bringing their own dogs with them anywhere they go. “Mostly people who ask me questions are just curious about the class, but some ask about how to make their dogs service dogs,” Barthelmess said. “Having your dog everywhere you go is really fun but it’s really stressful whenever you have a dog in public and you always have to be on the lookout.” According to the Americans with Disabilities Act, service dogs are defined as animals that actively perform some type of task for their handlers, such as turn-
online companies to send customers a fake dog vest and a “fancy-sounding letter” that claims the dog as an emotional support animal, according to Barthelmess. Emotional support animals do not have the same rights as service dogs because they do not perform the same specific services for their handlers. “Anytime you do that, it sort of discredits a service dog who has gone through years of training and their handler who has maybe gone their whole life with their disability,” Barthelmess said. “I don’t think that people realize that when they take their pets into public, it makes it that much harder for someone with a real disability and a real service animal to go Kenneth Redillas/THE DAILY ATHENAEUM into public.” Erin Walbaugh’s service dog, Jessie, gives a smile during lab class near the AniBarthelmess said she mal Science Farm on Tuesday. thinks if most people step ing on and off light switches ing seizures or checking the back and look at the situaand opening refrigera- safety of rooms for handlers tion that way, most probtor doors. Dogs can also be with hallucinations. lems relating to fake service trained to perform psychiatOne way people can ille- dogs would be solved. She ric services such as alerting gitimately certify their dogs epileptic handlers of oncom- as service dogs is by paying see SERVICE on PAGE 2
Fancred makes memories easier Senate elections right around the corner by courtney gatto staff writer @dailyathenaeum
For many sports fans, keeping pictures and memorabilia from games is a crucial part of the overall experience. As the Mountaineers continue to make a name for themselves in the Big 12 with their current winning streak and upcoming College GameDay coverage, many fans may wish for an easier way to store keepsakes. Kash Razzaghi, founder and CEO of an app called Fancred, has made an effort to solve this problem.
INSIDE
Pigeons Playing Ping Pong return to Morgantown A&E PAGE 6
Campus Connection: 5 Puzzles: 5 Classifieds: 9
She is trapped by what’s developed as the dominant culture of the state, which is somehow, ‘Government hurts you.’ Jeffery Worsham
MAN’S BEST FRIEND
FLYING INTO 123
News: 1, 2 Opinion: 4 A&E: 3, 6 Sports: 7, 8, 9, 10
from the public discourse surrounding the heated senate race between Secretary of State Natalie Tennant (D) and Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va. With less than a week left until the Nov. 4 midterm election, some say Tennant has been unable to make the chemical spill an issue in the current campaign because of the state’s pro-coal and anti-regulatory culture. Tennant has
also been struggling because, as secretary of state, she belongs to a state administration whose lax attitude toward regulation was largely to blame for the chemical spill. “She is trapped by what’s developed as the dominant culture of the state, which is somehow, ‘Government hurts you,’” said Jeffrey Worsham, a political science professor at West Virginia University. David Humphreys, a civil engineer in Huntington, W.Va., who worked to coordinate and carry out recovery efforts following
“People who think it’s fun to take your dog into Kroger probably haven’t cleaned up poop in the middle of Kroger”
60° / 41°
CLOUDY
Volume 127, Issue 51
www.THEDAONLINE.com
“Growing up, I was always a really big sports fan. Whenever I’d go to games, I would always save everything associated with that game in the form of ticket stubs, programs, pictures and pom poms- I would always have this sports collection,” Razzaghi said. “Over the years I would save all those things in this shoe box and I grew a large collection of shoe boxes. So what we’re doing at Fancred is giving fans a better way of saving things that are meaningful to them.” Fancred is an app for smart phones that is designed to give sports fans the opportunity to save and share photos, videos and ar-
ticles regarding their favorite teams, all while being able to follow and communicate with other fans- without ever having to pick up a shoe box. “When you’re at a game, you take pictures and you can communicate with other people and save all those moments,” Razzaghi said. “Fancred is a great way to build a digital scrapbook of your life as a sports fan.” In order for users to view content for specific teams or sports in general, that they are interested in, Fancred has created what they call “Team Feeds”. The Team Feeds are an
see FANCRED on PAGE 2
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COSTUM CONTEST Have a killer Halloween costume? Tweet us a picture over the weekend and you could end up on our front page!
by corey mcdonald correspondent @dailyathenaeum
With the midterm elections less than a week away, the two nominees competing for a seat in the U.S. Senate have the chance to make history in West Virginia by becoming the first woman to serve as a Senator for the state. Both have very similar goals in mind for their home state but disagree on how to implement them. Running for the Republican Party is Shelley Moore Capito. Capito has already made her stance in the state’s
history, having been the first Republican woman elected to the U.S. Congress from West Virginia. She has a very good chance of making history for another reason as well, by becoming the first Republican senator representing the state since 1956. Capito has had plenty of experience in congressional politics. She was elected to the 30th District of the West Virginia House of Delegates in 1996 and served two terms. She has been the U.S. Representative for West Virginia’s 2nd Congressio-
see SENATE on PAGE 2
STARTING OVER WVU Women’s Basketball team looks to build on success from 2013-14 season SPORTS PAGE 8