The DA 04-24-2014

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THE DAILY ATHENAEUM

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

da

Thursday April 24, 2014

Volume 126, Issue 135

www.THEDAONLINE.com

SGA hosts final meeting of semester by sam bosserman staff writer @dailyathenaeum

The West Virginia University Student Government Association voted on 23 executive nominations Wednesday night during its last regular meeting of the 2013-14 academic year. Twenty-two of the nominees were confirmed by the Board of Governors, with only the nomination of former BOG member Afsheen Misaghi for the position of Chief of Staff being turned down.

SGA President Christopher Nyden said while he respected the BOG’s decision, he would still like to know why Misaghi’s nomination was rejected. “I respect the (BOG’s) decision, and I hope they will make it known to me why they did not approve Afsheen,” Nyden said. Despite Mi s a g h i ’s nomination being rejected, Nyden said he was happy everyone else was confirmed. “I’d like to congratulate everyone who got appointed tonight, and I

Misaghi was one of three nominees who were rejected by the BOG at the April 16 meeting. Out of the other two previously rejected nominees, Syed Akhtar was confirmed for attorney general this week, and the other nominee did not have his name put forward again for the BOG’s consideration. In a similar manner to the previous meeting, the BOG gave no indication it would vote down Misaghi’s nomination, leaving no negative comments during the BOG discussion.

thought we had a lot of very qualified, passionate people up for nomination,” he said. “I think it will be good going into the summer that we have all these people in positions.” Joy Wang, a BOG member, said she thought the back-and-forth between the executive and the legislature should be expected, given the split BOG. “I feel as if the student body wanted a BOG of one voting mind, they would have elected a straight ticket,” Wang said. Wang echoed Nyden’s

comments and said she thought the executives who were confirmed will do a great job on behalf of the student body. SGA Vice President Jacob Evans said a special BOG session would likely occur in order to resolve the issues surrounding the position of Chief of Staff. The BOG used its last meeting of the academic year to pass two resolutions, one supporting the creation of accessibility seating within the student section at Milan Puskar Stadium.

THE PERKS OF SGA

By Caroline Peters Staff WRITER @Daily Athenaeum

WVU SGA leaders receive more perks than some Big 12, regional counterparts

Tuition waiver

As the spring semester comes to an end at West Virginia University, students who are considering taking summer courses should be aware of the changes and flexibility offered in the summer class format. Lynn Reinke, the director of Communications of Academic Innovation, said the University offers a wide range of course options. “It’s not the traditional ‘all classes start here and all classes end here’ format. We took into consideration the students that (are) going on vacation or plan on working throughout the summer,” she said. “Our summer class format is purposely flexible for students to work with. The online classes have become more popular through the years because it enables students to go home, hold their jobs and still finish their required courses.” In recent years, WVU has offered more online classes during the summer according to the demand for particular courses. Many students take GEC-required or major-required courses during the summer to graduate on time. “It was the different colleges of schools that decided to offer more online classes for students,” Reinke said. “There was a demand for the summer classes, so the colleges decided it would be beneficial for students to be able to take required courses throughout the summer. In the last few years, we have seen an increased endorsement for online classes.” Most summer courses are online, but some do meet at a physical location for students who learn better in a traditional setting. “Many of these students take one traditional or face-to-face class and the rest online,” Reinke said. From a few short weeks to a full 12 weeks, students will be able to choose which summer classes and sections they wish to enroll in this summer. The summer classes vary in duration, depending on difficulty or class size, and not all courses are online only. “The different formats that we offer are not just for online learning,” Reinke said. “Some of our sessions are three weeks long, some are six weeks long, and some of the more challenging classes are 12 weeks long.” To look up summer courses, visit http://courses. wvu.edu and select the 2014 summmer session. Students who plan to stay in Morgantown this summer can attend the University’s Summer KickOff Party on May 28 in the Mountainlair.

by jacob bojesson

$1,100 stipend/ per month while school is in session. No pay in the summer. No tuition waiver $6,840 stipend

No tuition waiver $3,000 stipend No tuition waiver

No stipend Tuition waiver * All numbers are based on the 2013-14 academic year. ** Oklahoma, TCU and Baylor, Kansas and Kansas State Universities were unavailble to provide information by press.

see sga on PAGE 2

Summer courses offer variety for WVU students

How does the WVU Student Government Association President and Vice President compensation measure up to some of their Big 12 Conference counterparts’? $6,500 stipend

BOG member Amanda Hutchinson sponsored the resolution and said all students should be able to participate in the display of school spirit within the student section. According to Hutchinson, accessibility seating is currently not close enough for handicapped students to feel they are an equal part of the student fan base. She said one seating area for handicapped fans is located behind the away team’s fan section.

city editor @dialyathenaeum

The student body president and vice president at West Virginia University receive far greater benefits for their service than some of their counterparts in the Big 12 conference. On top of getting their tuition paid for in full, they receive a $6,500 stipend for the current academic year. The stipend is part of the budget that the student body presidents propose at the beginning of each year and the Board of Governors has to approve. “I think it’s really unethical (that I picked my own salary) which is why I decided to decrease the salary,” said Ryan Campione, student body president for the 2013-14 year. “The salary for the president and vice president got down significantly from what it was to just barely paying for room.” The total value of the compensation for serving one year as student body president or vice president at WVU is about $12,000 if the elected official is charged instate tuition. If an out-of-state student were to serve as student body president and keep the current salary, the compensation would exceed $22,000. Out of the schools in the Big 10 and Big 12 conferences with available data on compensations, The Ohio State University was the only

see perks on PAGE 2

danewsroom@mail.wvu.edu

Alumni Assoc. offers football kickoff packages for Alabama game BY MEAGAN Carpenter Staff Writer @DailyAthenaeum

The West Virginia University football team will go to Atlanta to take on the Alabama Crimson Tide in the 2014 Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game Aug. 30. The WVU Alumni Association is offering a few different options for Mountaineer fans traveling to the game. The first option is the land-only package, which

64° / 50°

MOSTLY SUNNY

INSIDE News: 1, 2, 3, 5 Opinion: 4 A&E: 7, 8, 9, 10 Sports: 11, 12, 13, 14 Campus Calendar: 6 Puzzles: 6 Classifieds: 15

does not provide transportation to Atlanta. The fan will receive hotel accommodations for two nights at the Renaissance Atlanta Waverly Hotel & Convention Center and access to pregame activities including live music and a cash bar at the Georgia World Congress Center. The package also includes special souvenirs and travel to and from the hotel to the Georgia Dome.

‘LIKE’ IT OR NOT

While Facebook’s popularity has been decreasing, other sites have seen an increase in popularity. A&E PAGE 10

The Deluxe Motorcoach package includes all of the same benefits as the land-only package but will travel from Morgantown to Atlanta in a Motorcoach leaving Morgantown with pick-ups in Clarksburg and Charleston. The price for the landonly package starts at $455 per person, and the Deluxe Motorcoach package starts at $755 per person. Tickets are not included in the cost of the trip, but the

number of tickets and revenue gained is evenly divided between the participating schools. Tara Curtis, a spokeswoman for the WVU Alumni Association, has helped plan the event and make it an exciting weekend for all Mountaineer fans. She said because of the large number of WVU fans in the Eastern part of the United States, the Alumni Association wants to pro-

vide easy and fun options for traveling to the game. The packages are open to WVU alumni, students and fans. “Atlanta is already booked up for that weekend, and that’s another reason why this trip is so enticing for people,” Curtis said. “Now people (will) not have to worry about how they will be getting to the game. We try to take care of the Mountaineers and make sure

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CONTACT US Newsroom 304-293-5092 or DAnewsroom@mail.wvu.edu Advertising 304-293-4141 or DA-Ads@mail.wvu.edu Classifieds 304-293-4141 or DA-Classifieds@mail.wvu.edu Fax 304-293-6857

EDITORIAL All SGA members deserve to be reasonabbly compensated for their hard work. OPINION PAGE 4

A P P LY O N L I N E T O DAY

NEW ON-CAMPUS STUDENT HOUSING C O L L E G E PA R K .W V U . E D U

opening fall 2014

everyone is having a good time.” The Peach State Chapter of WVU Alumni has been active in making this trip possible, and Curtis said they love helping to bring the Mountaineers together. If fans choose to go with the land-only package, they can choose to stay as long as they would like, because there are

see game on PAGE 2

WE ARE WVU WVU defeated Marshall 10-3 Wednesday at Hawley Field. SPORTS PAGE 11


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