THE DAILY ATHENAEUM
“Little good is accomplished without controversy, and no civic evil is ever defeated without publicity.”
da
Wednesday September 11, 2013
Volume 126, Issue 18
www.THEDAONLINE.com
WVU hosts shale extraction seminar BY Jacob Bojesson Staff writer
West Virginia University hosted a two-day National Research Council workshop, in which the issues of producing natural gas from shale deposits were discussed. A wide variety of experts and professionals from across the country attended the workshop held at the Erickson Alumni Center Monday and Tuesday.
Developments in technology have seen the production of natural gas from shale deposit, escalate in recent years. While there are many positive aspects to the use of shale for this kind of production, the longterm impact on the environment is an area where opinions collide. “It is basically hydrocracking of shale to produce natural gas. We’ve been talking about the geology, impacts on water re-
serves and about impacts on water reserves at air,” said George Hornberger, director of the Institute for Energy and Environment at Vanderbilt University. “The issues are of course quite complex.” Producing natural gas is an inexpensive way to produce clean fuel without causing much impact on the atmosphere. “The positives are that people who are concerned about the atmosphere see it as an important bridge
for generating electricity,” Hornberger said. “It’s viewed of course on an economic basis as keeping energy prices in the U.S. low so that people can afford things.” The main issues are the consequences this method of harvesting natural gas will have on the ecosystem, especially in streams. “The water that comes back (after production) has a lot of things in it that were in the shale including a lot of salts,” Hornberger
HOME ON THE RANCH
said. “The water cannot just be disposed, because it is of low quality, so that has to be contained and then treated.” The effects of drilling the environment in the long run remain to be seen. Many of the attendees highlighted the lack of data that exists on the topic and asked for more collective efforts. “I think there needs to be more funding of data collecting efforts and more collaboration between in-
Correspondent
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Chestnut Mountain Ranch gives sense of family, home to local boys by daniel crow correspondent
Chestnut Mountain Ranch gives hope and a positive outlook to boys in need of a strong family-like relationship. The Ranch is a Christian-based safe haven for boys and families in crisis. According to its website, the Chestnut Mountain Ranch is a place for family restoration, where boys can recieve an quality education and experience positive family values. West Virginia is suffering from one of the highest rates of poverty, child abuse and neglect in the United States and Chestnut Mountain Ranch provides much-needed assistance. The Ranch was modeled after Eagle Ranch in Georgia, where co-founders of Chestnut Mountain Ranch Steve and Dawn Finn started their work with at-risk children. Steve, a former police officer, began his career working on a gang unit in Atlanta, where he first gained the inspiration for what is now Chestnut Mountain Ranch.
The Eberly College of Arts and Sciences is looking for names to add to the Outstanding Teacher plaque in Woodburn Hall. The college is currently accepting nominations for their annual Outstanding Teacher Awards. “We are looking for the best teachers in the college,” said associate dean of Eberly College Joan Gorham. “What makes an outstanding teacher varies depending on the type of class and the level of students in the class. There’s a lot of different ways to approach teaching.” “We don’t want to constrain that in anyway. We list things like mastering of the subject and success in inspiring the spirit of the subject.” Students, student organizations, committees, alumni
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INSIDE News: 1, 2 Opinion: 4 A&E: 3, 6 Sports:7, 8, 10 Campus Calendar: 5 Puzzles: 5 Classifieds: 9
Today marks the 12th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. OPINION PAGE 4
correspondent
Robotic Legos were donated to the ranch for the children to play with.
and chairpersons are allowed to vote. The college’s nominees are drawn along with the WVU Foundation Outstanding Teacher Awards. Individuals are only permitted nomination for one of the awards. Those have won the Foundation Awards are not allowed to be nominated until a seven-year grace period has passed, and teachers who have won the College Outstanding Teacher awards much wait until the fourth year for another nomination. Gorham said she believes that the most outstanding teachers take their lectures beyond the classroom. “Of course excellent communication skills would be part of excellent teaching but excellent teaching is more than simply what a person does in a lecture hall,” Gorham said. “It also has to do with the design of the course and curriculum, as well as ap-
REMEMBERING 9/11
by hilary kinney
Mel Moraes/THE DAILY ATHENAEUM
Eberly College seeks ‘Outstanding Teacher’ Staff Writer
Students who use smartphones on a daily basis often think up an ideal app that would simplify a portion of their lives. The College of Business & Economics at West Virginia University is giving students the chance to turn their ideas into reality. The college is hosting an App Challenge, open to all full-time or part-time students and will take place over the course of the next six months. The competition gives students with an app idea an opportunity to collaborate with other students who have the technical knowledge to make the app a reality. Throughout the challenge, students will participate in four workshops that will teach them to code and create their app for either Android or iPhone. Tara St. Clair, office administrator for the B&E Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, said these workshops can be a time commitment, but provide the participants useful skills the students can take with them after the challenge. “It is really a learning process,” St. Clair said. “By the end, students will have
an actual product they could sell and potentially make money from.” St. Clair said they are encouraging students from across the University to participate, no matter their level of technological skills. “We want to encourage participation,” she said. “All you need is a good idea.” Judging criteria will include, but is not limited to, creativity, marketability, simplicity, appeal and cost benefit for potential users. In 2012, Harry Strack, a junior management information systems student, entered his app idea in the contest and came away with $1,000 as the secondplace winner. “You’ve got nothing to lose, and it takes a minute to write up a one-page idea,” Strack said. “Go for it; I didn’t know how to code or write an app. It was completely worth it; I won $1,000.” The app Strack created with his partner Ray Zane is similar to iCalendar and was based on the need for an easier way for students to schedule their classes. A cash prize of $1,500 will be awarded to the first-place winner, a $1,000 prize to the second-place winner, and a $500 cash prize for the third-best app
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WELLWVU warns students of ‘club drug’ dangers
see RANCH on PAGE 2
by Caroline Peters
see SHALE on PAGE 2
B&E holds second App challenge BY Alexis Randolph
Chestnut Mountain Ranch is located on 264 acres of land just off of Ponderosa Ponds Road in Morgantown.
dustry, government and academia,” said geologist Ashley Douds. “You have to know what it was before any alteration occurred and in some cases it may be too late.” The subject is particularly relevant for the state of West Virginia, as it is one of the states in the country that has an abundance of shale deposits. Dr illing from the Marcellus Shale deposit,
propriate methods of grading that gives students feedback to learn from.” “Probably the most important teaching takes place outside of the classroom. Most of the learning that the students do needs to take place outside the classroom, as well,” she said. “However, what happens during lecture is an essential element, because it motivates everything else and organizes it.” After nominations, the Outstanding Teacher selection committee will request full documentation from the strongest candidates. From there, the committee will provide their list of final recommendations to Eberly College dean Robert Jones in December. According to Gorham, previous winners of the competition have displayed passion and commitment to their teaching.
“Without talking about the specific individuals, one of the characteristics common to the winners is that these are people who are passionate about teaching and have a deep interest in the success of their students,” Gorham said. “They express this passion in different ways depending on their course and their students.” “Everyone has a different method of teaching but what they all have in common is the commitment and passion of their teaching.” The winners of the awards receive $1,000 from the college, along with recognition during the Weekend of Honors. Nominations will be accepted until Friday, Oct. 4. Anyone interested in nominating should mail their suggestions to: Outstanding
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Last month, the club drug Molly was potentially inked to the deaths of four young people in eastern cities, according to WellWVU: The Student’s Center for Health. Molly, the purest form of ecstasy (methylenedioxy-methamphetamine or MDMA), has been reported in the past as being “safer” because it is pure. However, no one is able to know what is in the drug before choosing to ingest it and it is often mixed with ha rd e r drugs such as cocaine and methamphetamine. “We haven’t seen a lot of students who have come in for help for Molly, but I’ve heard some students talk about it,” said Missy Pforr, crew center counselor for WellWVU. “What we’d like to do is just get the word out there about how dangerous this drug is,” Pforr said. Although the use of Molly has not been reported as a critical issue on campus,
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ALWAYS A MOUNTAINEER Former West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith had his NFL debut, Sunday and lead the New York Jets to a narrow victory in their season opener. SPORTS PAGE 7
West Virginia University students should remain aware of the drug when going to parties or clubs. The nickname Molly is derived from the word “molecule”. The drug is illegal and a schedule one controlled substance, meaning that it has a high potential for abuse. “Molly is man-made and illegal, therefore it’s unregulated,” Pforr said. “It’s really hard to know what a ‘dose’ might be.” This might explain the occurrence of overdoses within the past few weeks. According to Pforr, MDMA causes confusion, anxiety, depression, paranoia, sleep problems and heat stroke. “When an individual begins to take it, they get more hyper, and maybe more alert,” Pforr said. “Then, while they are using it, they lose their sense of time and perception, and it enhances their sense of touch.” MDMA increases body temperature, which puts
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HOLGO-RECAP During his press conference Tuesday, West Virginia head coach Dana Holgorsen talked about the offense’s many challenges. SPORTS PAGE 7