June 17, 2016 | The Parthenon

FRIDAY, JUNE 17, 2016 | VOL. 119 NO. 110 | MARSHALL UNIVERSITY’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER | marshallparthenon.com | SINGLE COPY FREE

INSIDE: NEWS, 2:

>STUDENT SELECTED FOR GOV. ACADEMY >PROJECT PRE-MED

SPORTS, 3

>MEN’S SOCCER SCHEDULE >WOMEN’S SOCCER SCHEDULE

OPINION, 4 >EDITORIAL: KEEP YOUR PROMISE, WV >STATE EDITORIAL

LIFE!, 5

>DAY TRIPS IN W.VA. >GOOD READS FOR SUMMER BREAK

LEXI BROWNING | THE PARTHENON

Chuck Clements, M.D., was named the Jack B. McConnell M.D. Award recipient for Excellence in Volunteerism.

Clements receives national honor for volunteer efforts, heart of service

By DONYELLE MURRAY

THE PARTHENON Charles W. Clements, II, M.D., a professor at the Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine in the department of family and community health, received the Jack B. McConnell M.D. Award for Excellence in Volunteerism.

Clements has been in the School of Medicine since 1993. First, as student, later as a member of faculty in 1999.

During his time in the School of Medicine, he has been a dedicated advocate for those struggling in the dynamic

health care system.

In 2011, Clements became the faculty leader for Marshall Medical Outreach, a student-created program that delivers health care to the homeless and to those who are at risk of becoming homeless.

Marshall Medical Outreach, also known as MMO, has been recognized locally, regionally, and at the state level for its efforts.

“I call my work a success for varies reasons: One, not just because of the people we serve, but the students and other positions that are involved are learning how to do this sort of thing,”

Clements said. “When the students graduate and go to other cities they can take this concept and apply it to their new cities.”

Clements’ award was celebrated Saturday in Chicago at the national American Medical Association’s Foundation’s annual meeting where he received the prestigious honor.

“When I was notified that I was a recipient of this award I told the foundation and the others at the award ceremony that I was accepting the award on behalf of the people who have really been critical in helping me

do this,” he said. “There are too many people who have helped make this possible.”

Clements said this award is a great honor because it validated what the Marshall Medical Outreach continues to provide in the community and encourages people to stay involved.

“This award shows that what we are doing is important enough and I think that’s good for the students who spend so much time working on this outreach,” he said.

Donyelle Murray can be contacted at murray91@marshall.edu.

Authorities try to piece together Orlando killer’s movements

DAVID GOLDMAN | AP

Kathleen Kerr, of Orlando, Fla., holds flowers before placing them down at a makeshift memorial for the victims of the mass shooting at the Pulse Orlando nightclub Tuesday, June 14, 2016, in Orlando.

JAY REEVES and ERIC TUCKER

ASSOCIATED PRESS Omar Mateen drove around the Orlando area the night before the nightclub massacre, visiting several places, the mayor said Wednesday as investigators tried to piece together the killer’s movements and zeroed in on how much his wife may have known about the plot.

An official who was briefed on the case but insisted on anonymity to discuss a continuing

investigation said authorities believe the wife, Noor Salman, knew ahead of time about the attack that left 49 victims dead, but they are reluctant to charge her on that basis alone.

Investigators have spoken extensively with her and are working to establish whether she recently accompanied Mateen to the Pulse club, said a second official who was not authorized to discuss the case publicly. The official said investigators have not ruled out

charging others, including Salman.

The FBI has recovered Mateen’s phone and will use location data to verify whether he previously visited the club, the official said. Orlando is nearly a two-hour drive from Mateen’s home in Fort Pierce, Florida.

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said Mateen drove around on Saturday night before he opened fire at the gay nightclub about 2 a.m. Sunday in

an attack that ended with the 29-year-old American-born Muslim being killed by a SWAT team.

“What I know concretely is that he was driving around that evening and visited several locations,” Dyer said.

When asked exactly where Mateen visited, and whether the locations included theme parks as reported in news accounts, the mayor said: “I think it’s been pretty accurately depicted on the news.” He gave no further details.

In other developments, Florida documents obtained

by The Associated Press under open-records laws show that Mateen passed a psychological evaluation in 2007 as part of his application to be a private security guard.

Mateen was determined to be mentally and emotionally stable so that he could work for Wackenhut Corp., later renamed G4S Secure Solutions.

The records say he took a written psychological test or was evaluated by a psychologist or psychiatrist.

He also stated in his 2007 firearm application that he had not been diagnosed a mental illness and had no history of alcohol or substance abuse.

On Tuesday, a survivor of the massacre, 20-year-old Patience Carter, shed more light on Mateen’s thinking, saying he

page designed and edited by LEXI BROWNING | browning168@marshall.edu

talked about wanting America to “stop bombing my country” — a possible reference to his father’s native Afghanistan.

A number of possible motives and explanations have emerged, with Mateen calling 911 to profess allegiance to the Islamic State group, his ex-wife saying he was mentally ill and his father suggesting he hated gays.

The picture grew more complex Tuesday when a U.S. official said the FBI was looking into a flurry of news reports quoting people as saying Mateen frequented the nightspot and reached out to men on gay dating apps. The official was not authorized to discuss the investigation and also spoke on condition of anonymity.

Some psychologists raised the possibility that Mateen was sexually conflicted and lashed out, or else was casing the nightclub and trying to find potential victims online.

Mateen’s father, Seddique Mateen, denied his son was gay and said that if he had been in the nightclub before, he may have been “scouting the place.”

Mateen’s ex-wife, Sitora Yusufiy, said earlier in the week that he was mentally ill and abusive. Amid the latest reports about his club-going, she told CNN: “Well, when we had gotten married, he confessed

to me about his past that was recent at that time and that he very much enjoyed going to clubs and the nightlife and there was a lot of pictures of him.”

“I feel like it’s a side of him or a part of him that he lived but probably didn’t want everybody to know about,” she said.

In the wake of the recent attack in Orlando, Marshall University’s Counseling Service Center will open its doors to any students who have been touched personally by the tragedy. Students are encouraged to visit the center on the first floor of Prichard Hall to speak with a member of the counseling staff to assist in processing the events.

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Marshall student chosen for “GEAR UP” leadership academy

By DONYELLE MURRAY

THE PARTHENON James “Ikie” Brooks, a College of Science student at Marshall University, was chosen to participate in the “GEAR UP Alumni leadership Academy” (GUALA).

GUALA is an initiative created by the National Council for Community and Education Partnerships (NCCEP) designed to strengthen leadership and advocacy skills of GEAR UP alumni.

NCCEP selects thirty alumni members, one of which was Brooks, each spring to participate in GUALA, a twelve-month program beginning in May. Brooks will participate in a weeklong training from June 12 until June 18 in Washington, D.C. “This program has allowed us to really harness our voices and tell our stories,” Brooks said. “We have been given the opportunity

to take these leadership qualities and take [them] back to our communities and try and change the college-going culture.”

Brooks said the training offered networking dinners with businesswomen and men, political leaders and philanthropists with whom he made lasting connections.

Brooks said his GEAR UP coach and local director, Elizabeth Manuel, had been an excellent mentor from his initial involvement in seventh grade through his training. Without Manuel, he said, this would not have been possible.

“I now believe that through everything this program has taught me, I can make a difference on a bigger scale by influencing policy change and really getting involved with the political process, Brooks said. “I am now so invested in politics that a career in that field seems like a

real possibility.”

Alumni commit to performing approximately ten hours of community service each month that benefits local, state, and national GEAR UP. The objectives of GUALA’s alumni leaders are to strengthen leadership, knowledge, and advocacy skills. The academy focuses on building awareness of and commitment to community service and civic engagement. The academy also encourages active participation in GEAR UP activities, particularly those that inspire younger peers.

Brooks is pursing a degree at in biology and plans to go to medical school upon graduation. He is currently a member of Red Cross Club, MedLife, and the Optometry Club.

Donyelle Murray can be contacted at murray91@marshall.edu.

‘Not the America we want’: Obama blasts Trump’s Muslim plans

By KATHLEEN HENNESSEY

ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is angrily denouncing Donald Trump’s anti-Muslim rhetoric, blasting the views of the presumptive Republican presidential nominee as a threat to American security and a menacing echo of some of the most shameful moments in U.S. history.

Obama’s rebuke Tuesday was his most searing yet of the man seeking to take his seat in the Oval Office. While the president has frequently dismissed Trump as a buffoon or a huckster, this time he challenged the former reality television star as a “dangerous” threat to the nation’s safety, religious freedom and diversity.

“That’s not the America we want. It does not reflect our democratic ideals,” Obama declared in remarks that had been scheduled to simply update the public on the counter-Islamic State campaign.

Obama walked listeners through a familiar litany of battlefield successes, but then came another message. Growing more animated as he spoke, Obama said Trump’s “loose talk and sloppiness” could lead to discrimination and targeting of ethnic and religious minorities.

“We’ve gone through moments in our history before when we acted out of fear and we came to regret it,” Obama said. “We’ve seen our government mistreat our fellow citizens and it has been a

shameful part of our history.”

Trump responded by suggesting that Obama is too solicitous of enemies.

“President Obama claims to know our enemy, and yet he continues to prioritize our enemy over our allies, and for that matter, the American people,” the candidate said in a statement. “When I am president, it will always be America first.”

At a fiery rally hours later in Greensboro, North Carolina, Trump said the president appeared angrier at him than he was at the Orlando gunman. “That’s the kind of anger he should have for the shooter and these killers that shouldn’t be here,” Trump told the crowd.

Sunday’s mass shooting in Orlando, Florida, has set off a new round of debate over counterterrorism, gun control and immigration — one that has exposed the political parties’ starkly different approaches to national security. The presumed gunman was an American-born citizen whose parents came to the U.S. from Afghanistan more than 30 years ago.

Trump has used the carnage to renew his call to temporarily ban foreign Muslims from entering the country, and added a new element: a suspension of immigration from areas of the world with a proven history of terrorism against the U.S. and its allies.

The Democrats’ presumptive presidential nominee, Hillary

Clinton, also responded to Trump on Tuesday.

“We don’t need conspiracy theories and pathological selfcongratulations,” Clinton said in a speech that closely tracked Obama’s. “We need leadership and concrete plans because we are facing a brutal enemy.”

Both Clinton and Obama turned up the heat on Republicans, some of whom have squirmed with discomfort this week at the first glimpses of how their new leader handles national crises.

“Where does this stop?” Obama said. “Are we going to start treating all Muslim-Americans differently? Are we going to start subjecting them to special surveillance? Are we going to start discriminating against them because of their faith? ... Do Republican officials actually agree with this?”

For some, the answer was plainly no. House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the highestranking elected GOP official, said he did not think such a ban was “in our country’s interest” or “reflective of our principles not just as a party, but as a country.”

Republicans have instead hoped to focus on a broader criticism of the president’s counter-terrorism strategy as unfocused, ineffective and too soft of Islamic institutions and governments that support terrorism.

Obama directly addressed that argument, specifically taking on the Trump charge that his policies

have been hampered by his refusal to use the phrase “radical Islam” when describing the forces urging attacks like the one in Orlando.

Republicans have said the careful parsing is a sign of over-caution and political correctness that demonstrates denial about the groups responsible for the extremist view.

Trump said Sunday the president should resign if he does not use the phrase.

Obama dismissed the criticism as a “political talking point” and “not a strategy,” and he pointed to his success in tracking Osama bin Laden and other extremist leaders.

“There is no magic to the phrase ‘radical Islam,’” he said. “Someone seriously thinks that we don’t know who we are fighting? If there is anyone out there who thinks we are confused about who our enemies are — that would come as a surprise to the thousands of terrorists who we have taken off the battlefield.”

Obama struck a more bipartisan tone in speaking to members of Congress and their families during a picnic Tuesday evening on the South Lawn.

“Obviously this has been a difficult week for America because all of us are still grieving for those who were lost in Orlando,” he told the several hundred people in attendance.

In the end, he said, the “things that really matter in our lives, they can’t be captured by a party label.”

COURTESY PHOTO

Project P.R.E.M.E.D program dates released

By DONYELLE MURRAY

THE PARTHENON Marshall University School of Medicine Project P.R.E.M.E.D (Providing Real World Experiences for future Marshall Educated Doctors) is scheduled to take place July 26 through July 31. The Marshall University Joan C. Edward School of Medicine, the Office of Diversity, and the Marshall University Office of Intercultural Affairs sponsor this project.

Project P.R.E.M.E.D is a medical school information and exploration program that focuses on exposing, recruiting, retaining and supporting ethnic minorities who are college freshman, sophomore, junior, and seniors. This program is geared towards historically disadvantaged and underrepresented backgrounds.

The program gives an exposure opportunity to the health professions and the medical school opportunities at Marshall University.

Students who are selected to participate in the program will be exposed to life as a medical student and life in medical school.

Students that are apart of Project P.R.E.M.E.D will engage in a five-day visit on the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine campus. Participants will have the opportunity to tour the School of Medicine, attend medical school classes, meet faculty, participate in hands-on activities with physicians, and receive a medical student mentor.

Eligible students must have an average 3.0 grade point average, an official transcript, a resume, personal statement and proof of US citizenship or permanent residency.

Donyelle Murray can be contacted at murray91@marshall.edu.

Hillary Clinton wins DC primary, as she meets with Sanders

By KEN THOMAS

ASSOCIATED PRESS Hillary Clinton brought a close to the presidential primary season with a win Tuesday in the nation’s capital and a meeting with dispatched rival Bernie Sanders, hoping to set a tone of Democratic unity heading into next month’s party convention in Philadelphia.

Clinton’s win in the District of Columbia, the final primary of 2016, had no bearing on her role as the presumptive nominee, but it nevertheless marked a transition in the lengthy primary fight between the two rivals.

In virtually identical statements released after meeting for more than 90 minutes, the Clinton and Sanders campaigns said the two rivals discussed their primary campaign, “unifying the party and ... the dangerous threat that Donald Trump poses to our nation.” Neither spoke to reporters after the session at a Washington, D.C., hotel a few blocks from the White House.

Clinton told Sanders she appreciated his commitment to stopping Trump in the general election and the two discussed issues in which they share common goals, including “raising wages for working families, eliminating undisclosed money in politics and reducing the cost of college for students and their families.” Both candidates agreed to work together on the development of the platform at the upcoming Democratic National Convention.

Before polls closed in Washington, where Clinton won with nearly 80 percent of the vote, Sanders vowed again to do all he can to prevent Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, from reaching the White House — but he declined to endorse Clinton.

The Vermont senator had said the private meeting would help him determine how committed Clinton will be to the policy issues he has staked out during his 13-month campaign.

“Our goal must not be to allow politicians, Donald Trump or anyone else, to divide us,” Sanders said outside his Washington headquarters, telling reporters he will continue to “fight as hard as we can” to transform the Democratic Party.

Sanders said he would push for new leadership in the Democratic National Committee — his campaign has sparred with Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the party’s chair — along with a progressive platform in the summer convention and electoral changes, such as primaries that allow independents to participate and the elimination of superdelegates.

“We need major, major changes in the Democratic Party,” he said.

Yet in Sanders’ statement from spokesman Michael Briggs, the senator does not refer to Clinton as the presumptive nominee but instead congratulates her “on the campaign she has run.”

Sanders was warmly received Tuesday by

Senate Democrats at their weekly luncheon, where he offered an update about his campaign and some of the lessons he had learned during the past year. Lawmakers in attendance said Sanders did not indicate his future plans.

“He had an opportunity to talk to us about his campaign and how it has changed him and what he has learned,” said Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo. “I think we all listened intently because we are anxious to always do better and grow as a party and be more inclusive.”

Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., who leads the Senate Democrats’ campaign arm, said Sanders “absolutely will” support fellow Senate Democrats in the fall elections. “It was productive, it was good, it was vintage Bernie,” Tester said.

Sanders met last week with President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, who both later endorsed Clinton, and signaled to Democrats that he hopes to play a constructive role in helping the party regain control of the Senate in the 2016 elections.

The self-described democratic socialist says he will take his campaign to the convention in July and advocate for his policy issues in the platform while urging Democrats to be more inclusive of independents, young people and working-class voters, all of whom were pivotal in his victories in 22 states. But what that will look like still remains unclear, and Sanders has been soliciting advice from supporters on how he should take his campaign forward.

The mass shooting at a nightclub in

page designed and edited by DONYELLE MURRAY| murray91@marshall.edu

Orlando, Florida, has commanded the attention of both campaigns and prompted Democrats to point to Trump’s call for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the U.S., an issue they view as a key contrast in the general election.

Without mentioning Trump by name, Clinton warned during a speech in Cleveland on Monday that demonizing Muslims would only empower extremist groups. “We should be intensifying contacts in those communities, not scapegoating or isolating them,” she said.

Sanders attended a vigil in his hometown of Burlington, Vermont, on Monday night to show solidarity with the victims. Pointing to Trump’s comments about Muslims, Sanders said the shooting was conducted by “one hateful person” and not committed by the Muslim people.

Looking forward, Sanders has begun helping Democrats preparing for congressional races and the battle to regain control of the Senate.

An early test of his clout came Tuesday in Nevada, where a Sanders-backed congressional candidate, Lucy Flores, was defeated in a three-way primary.

Sanders has opened up his campaign’s massive email donor list to several Democratic candidates, hauling in more than $2.4 million for his allies. Flores has been the top recipient of those appeals, collecting about $390,000 from an email Sanders sent in April on behalf of her and two other candidates.

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Thundering Herd home soccer schedule August 16 August 20 Men Rio Grande (Exh.) Radford (Exh.) 4 p.m.

4 p.m.

August 26 Western Michigan 7 p.m.

August 28 Detroit 1 p.m.

September 10 Appalachian St. 7 p.m.

September 21 Northern Kentucky 7 p.m.

September 25 Florida Atlantic 1 p.m.

October 8 Liberty 1 p.m.

October 16 FIU 1 p.m.

October 26 Old Dominion 7 p.m.

November 4 Charlotte 7 p.m.

Tournament

November 9-13 Hoop Family Field at Veterans Memorial Soccer Complex

Women August 12 Dayton (Exh.) 5 p.m.

September 2 IUPUI 7 p.m.

September 15 Western Kentucky 7 p.m.

October 9 Middle Tennessee 2 p.m.

September 4 ETSU 4 p.m.

October 7 UAB 7 p.m.

October 20 UTEP 7 p.m.

page designed and edited by ADAM ROGERS| rogers112@marshall.edu

October 28 Charlotte 7 p.m.

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Opinion

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The Parthenon, Marshall University’s student newspaper, is published by students Monday through Friday during the regular semester and Thursday during the summer. The editorial staff is responsible for news and editorial content.

LEXI BROWNING

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EDITORIAL

Keep your PROMISE, W.Va.

EXECUTIVE EDITOR browning168@marshall.edu

CLARA MAYNARD MANAGING EDITOR maynard294@marshall.edu

ADAM ROGERS SPORTS EDITOR rogers112@marshall.edu

DONYELLE MURRAY NEWS EDITOR murray91@marshall.edu

KARIMA NEGHMOUCHE LIFE! EDITOR neghmouche2@marshall.edu

SANDY YORK FACULTY ADVISER sandy.york@marshall.edu

CONTACT US: 109 Communications Bldg.|Marshall University|One John Marshall Drive Huntington, West Virginia 25755|parthenon@marshall.edu|@MUParthenon

THE FIRST AMENDMENT

The Constitution of the United States of America

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people to peaceably assemble; and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

BE HERD: GUIDELINES FOR SENDING LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Please keep letters to the editor at 300 words or fewer.

They must be saved in Microsoft Word and sent as an attachment. Longer letters may be used as guest columns at the editor’s discretion. Guest column status will not be given at the author’s request. All letters must be signed and include an address or phone number for confirmation. Letters may be edited for grammar, libelous statements, available space or factual errors. Compelling

letters that are posted on The Parthenon website, www. marshallparthenon.com, can be printed at the discretion of the editors.

The opinions expressed in the columns and letters do not necessarily represent the views of The Parthenon staff.

Please send news releases to the editors at parthenon@marshall.edu. Please keep in mind, letters are printed based on timeliness, newsworthiness and space.

WHERE WILL YOU BE WHEN SOMETHING HAPPENS ON CAMPUS? PROBABLY ON TWITTER.

@MUParthenon For the latest in campus news

JAKE MAY | MLIVE.COM THE FLINT JOURNAL

Family members and friends shouts out as they catch a first glimpse of Flint Southwestern Classical Academy graduates walking to their seats to join about 266 graduates from Flint Community Schools during a commencement ceremony at The Whiting Auditorium near downtown Flint, Mich., on Tuesday, June 7.

When I first sat down to write this editorial, the socalled West Virginia budget crisis originated after legislators spent 11 days in a special session. A budget using money from the state’s Rainy Day Fund had passed through the house and senate but was vetoed by Governor Tomblin.

With each passing day I worried more and more. As a first generation, low-income college student I knew if the WV Higher Education Grant and PROMISE were eliminated it would be hard for myself and many others to obtain our degrees.

On June 15, the 17-day special session ended with a new budget for Fiscal Year 201617 approved. This budget included a 65-cent-per-pack tobacco tax among other

amendments.

During the special session we were assured many times that our legislators did not want to cut funding for education. In a press release House Speaker Tim Armstead assured citizens the first proposed budget would fund priorities such as PROMISE and state employee’s health insurance program.

The proposed budget may not be a perfect one, but I have to wonder why it took 17 days to come to in the first place.

If higher education is truly a priority to our leaders and there are several options (as shown by the different proposed budgets) then why were the PROMISE scholarship and WV Higher Education Grant ever placed on the chopping block?

It’s simple: higher education isn’t a priority to our leaders.

The special session has cost tax payers around $510,000 to date. That’s enough money to fund 107 students with the PROMISE scholarship.

Growing up in Logan County, I knew that if I ever wanted to make a better life for myself I would need to attend college.

As the first generation student I also knew that I could not afford college on my own. If I did not receive scholarships, federal and state grants I would not be attending Marshall University today.

This is the reality for countless young people in West Virginia. Whether it is the high school senior depending on PROMISE to make their dreams a reality, or the recent college graduate facing the

#TheStruggleToStay.

One thing holds true: we need our leaders to stop putting education on the back burner.

Our leaders can only blame so much on coal’s decline— and this is coming from a former coal miner’s daughter and granddaughter—before they dust themselves off and come up with a real solution.

That solution is prioritizing education so no matter the fate of the coal industry, or any other factor, our young people have a fighting chance to stay in the state they grew up in.

The talent, ambition and drive is all here. I see it every day in my fellow peers at Marshall.

All is missing is our leaders to keep their PROMISE and see the future of West Virginia depends on higher education.

STATE COLUMN

It isn’t what a leader says, it is what they do

By GREG KOZERA

We all know the person.

They tell you about all the great things they have done and all they will do for you and your organization. When it is time to show up and work they are nowhere to be found. They always have an excuse. Talk is cheap. It is actions that count.

I teach the leaders on my high school soccer team, “When it comes to leadership, example isn’t the main thing, it is the only thing. If you want your people to be on time you need to be on time. If you want your people to work hard you need to work hard.” We can never expect our people to work any harder than we work. We need to watch our attitude because our people will reflect our attitude whether it is positive or negative.

One thing that all great leaders have in common is they won’t ask their people to do anything they haven’t done or wouldn’t do. We respect this kind of person. At work they are not a boss they are a leader and we will not only do what they ask, we will do a little extra because we respect them personally, not just their title or position.

We should apply this same

principal to politics and our potential leaders. They all have a great story to tell about what they will do for us. We have all seen how quickly some politicians forget the promises they made after they are elected. This shouldn’t be a big surprise.

They most likely have a history of big talk and no action.

If a person has a history of cheating on their spouse(s) and remarries, we aren’t surprised when they cheat on their new spouse. Our past leaves clues about our real values and our future actions.

When it comes to the elections this year (national and local) we need to think about the type of leaders we are electing. There are a lot of national issues but for me energy is the big issue.

The availability and cost of energy, particularly petroleum, will determine our life style and even our freedom.

You can’t fly a fighter jet on wind power or run a tank on solar power. They run on petroleum.

Looking at just this one important issue, we have Hillary and Bernie promising to ban or regulate fracking out of existence in the USA. We have fracked almost every well we have drilled in

page designed and edited by CLARA MAYNARD | maynard294@marshall.edu

the last 60 years. Fracking is like putting tires on a car. If a well can’t be fracked it isn’t drilled. We have done over 2 million fracks in the USA with few problems. The process is safer and has less environmental impact than driving a car or flying an airplane. Horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing have actually improved the environment in the USA by lowering CO2 emissions through the expanded use of natural gas, by bringing industry back to the USA to operate under our environmental laws and by creating wildlife habitat for deer, birds and other animals.

If Hillary and Bernie really believe that fracking should be banned in the USA then they need to be true leaders and set the example by not using the products of fracking. They need to park their private jet plane, their campaign buses and even limos.

These all use petroleum and petrochemicals from wells that have been fracked. We won’t see them on Twitter anymore because they need to ban their cell phones and computers. (Plastic again) Abraham Lincoln didn’t need a microphone. They won’t be able to use one either.

(Plastic from petrochemicals again) This is a start but it would send a message to the voters that they will do what they say.

Maybe they don’t understand energy and how important fracking is to the US economy and our freedom. I suggest that they educate themselves and then have the courage as a true leader to change their position. On the other hand maybe their plan is to ban fracking here and to buy our oil and petrochemicals from OPEC and Russia, who will still be fracking. This will put OPEC back in control of world oil prices and our gasoline prices. Maybe ISIS will sell us oil to finance their war effort. If that is the plan then Bernie and Hillary should at least tell us to plan on paying $5 per gallon or more for gasoline, more for utilities and for everything else we buy. That would be showing integrity and leadership.

The absolute power is in our hands as voters. We need to understand the truth about our energy and true leadership. Only then can we make the wise decisions that will ensure a positive future for our children and grandchildren.

LIFE!

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MARSHALLPARTHENON.COM

EXPLORE

WES T V IR G I N I A

PHOTOS BY LEXI BROWNING

BY KARIMA NEGHMOUCHE

THE PARTHENON Fayetteville, W.V., is a place like no other: It’s a small town atmosphere with big town tourist attractions. It’s less than a two-hour drive from Marshall University’s campus, and it’s the home to The New River Gorge Bridge, one of the symbols of West Virginia.

The New River Gorge is 876 feet tall, over the New River and 3,030 feet in length. It is the highest vehicle carrying bridge in the United States. It’s also home to one of the largest extreme sports events in the world, Bridge Day. The things to do in Fayetteville are endless, whether you’re feeling an easy hike or a white-water rafting adventure. Some of the things to do include whitewater rafting, zip line & aerial adventures, fishing, paintball, mountain biking and kayaking.

Two former Marshall students, Grant Matthews and Andrew Sudikoff, moved to Fayetteville after receiving their undergraduate degrees, and they’ve both fallen in love with the town and atmosphere.

Matthews said his favorite part of Fayetteville is the people and how environmentally conscious they all are.

“Like, everyone is looking at the Earth. People are constantly checking the water levels of the river for rafting, checking the ground to see how or what to mountain bike and glancing at the ground water levels to see what best climb to do that day,” Matthews said. “People here study the nature in front of them so that they can be one with it in their preferred fashion. The environmental understanding and love for adventure and activity separates us from the others, I think.”

Sudikoff agreed that the people are also his favorite part

“The tourism, the outdoors and how open minded people are there are my favorite part of Fayetteville, along with the scenery that is everywhere you go."

— Andrew Sudikoff

of the small town.

“The tourism, the outdoors and how open minded people are there are my favorite part of Fayetteville, along with the scenery that is everywhere you go,” Sudikoff said.

Matthews said his favorite trail is Endless Wall Trail, a 2.4 mile moderate trail that passes through rich forest and crosses Fern Creek. Sudikoff ’s is Long Point Trail, a 1.6 mile moderate trail with panoramic views of The New River Gorge Bridge.

Karima Neghmouche can be contacted at neghmouche2@marshall.edu.

editors' summer reads page designed and edited by KARIMA NEGHMOUCHE | neghmouche2ww@marshall.edu