September 13, 2012 Online Edition

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Christian rock band to headline Keith-Albee| More on Life!

VOL. 116 NO. 8 |

THURSDAY

September 13, 2012

Marshall men’s golf standout looks to stay strong | More on Sports

MARSHALL UNIVERSITY’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER | MARSHALLPARTHENON.COM

War over coal key focus in W.Va. politics THE PARTHENON With less than two months until polling booths open, the war over coal is on the forefront of the minds of voters. Eric Anderson, local attorney and democrat, said the issue would decide whom voters cast their ballots for on the state and national level. “Very important,” Anderson said. “It’s the major deciding factor for whom people are going to vote for

in West Virginia.” The controversy over regulation of coal production in the Mountain State has had politicians and people in the industry on pins and needles. There have been several mine shut downs in the last year. In June, Alpha Natural Resources shut down operations in Boone and Fayette Counties, laying off 60 workers. In Logan County, 2 mines were completely shut down, and 30 workers laid off.

Dale Hamilton was a contract worker at a coal preparation plant in Omar, Logan County. Hamilton said regulation from Washington is killing coal in West Virginia. “It’s devastating,” Hamilton said. “The bureaucrats in Washington D.C. don’t come down here, they don’t know what we do, they don’t know what’s going.” The state of the coal industry has politicians fired

up. David Tyson, republican electoral delegate, said Democrats at the national level are to blame. “Clearly there is a war on coal in the Obama administration,” Tyson said. “The EPA and regulation are putting miners out of work.” Coal regulation from the national level has put West Virginia democrats in a tough spot. Both Sen. Joe Manchin and Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin have gone against President

Obama’s stance on coal regulation. Tyson said Manchin’s choice not to attend the Democratic National Convention spoke volumes. “It’s a tough spot for him,” Tyson said. “If he comes out and supports a president that has a war on coal, it jeopardizes him politically.” Tyson said West Virginia Democrats who are distancing themselves from the president are doing the right thing from a political

Council discusses education

Fall research award deadline set for Oct. 1

By SUZANN AL-QAWASMI

THE PARTHENON The West Virginia Higher Education Assessment Council met on Friday to discuss plans to improve teaching and learning at the state’s public higher education institutions. Mary Beth Reynolds, chair of the council and director of academic assessment at Marshall University, said the council’s long-term goal is to create an academic system for institutions in West Virginia that will make students more competent in areas the council deems necessary for success. Since the council includes representatives from both two-year and four-year institutions, they focused less on specific outcomes and more on broad areas of learning. “We started this whole process by first asking every institution to provide a list of things they believe are important for their students, regardless of majors,” Reynolds said. “We then looked for convergences to see where expectations overlapped and divided the lists into four major categories.” Reynolds said the broad areas of learning include communication, critical thinking and analytic inquiry, qualitative literacy and citizenship. She said the council will more narrowly define the categories during future meetings. “We divided the group into four subcommittees, one for each category, and the task for each of the subcommittees is to develop a definition for their broad area of learning and to suggest the essential traits that make up that area,” Reynolds said. She also said the council will meet again in early November to approve the definitions. The next step for each subcommittee will be to develop outcomes and performance level descriptions, which will differ for two-year institutions compared to four-year institutions.

See COUNCIL | Page 5

standpoint. This spring, Obama lost 41 percent of the West Virginia primary vote to Keith Judd, a convicted felon incarcerated in Texas. While Tyson said coal is a touchy subject for West Virginia Democrats, Anderson said coal is important to him, but he will consider the overall picture when he casts his ballot in November. The Parthenon can be contacted at parthenon@ marshall.edu.

By KATIE WISE

Campus ministry empowers students to change the world By SAMUEL SPECIALE

THE PARTHENON Baptist Campus Ministries is a campus ministry at Marshall University that meets at 9:15 p.m. each Wednesday in the Campus Christian Center. Adam Goodwin, the director of BCM, said he wants new students to feel welcomed and encourages students, regardless of denomination, to attend the weekly service. “We want people to know that BCM is open to any Marshall student and is more about Jesus and less about being Baptist,” Goodwin said. He also said that his mission is to create an environment that motivates students to make positive impacts in the world around them. “At BCM, we hope to create an authentic place of worship that will empower students to change the world,” Goodwin said.

TOP: Students gather in the overflow room for Baptist Campus Minsitry inside Marshall University’s Campus Christian Center, Sept. 12. BCM meets every Wednesday night at 9:15 p.m. BOTTOM: Students perform during BCM on Wednesday.

See MINISTRY | Page 5

PHOTOS BY ANDREA STEELE | THE PARTHENON

THE PARTHENON Undergraduate students interested in receiving funding for their capstone project have a little more than three weeks to submit their applications. The Research Scholars Award, which is sponsored by Marshall University’s Research Committee, allows students to receive up to $250 in assistance per semester. Vicki Stroeher, Chair of Faculty Senate Research Committee, said the scholarship aids in capstone expenditures such as travel, materials, photocopying and equipment. “Some things we look for when deciding on a scholarship recipient include: feasibility of the capstone project, ability of the student to get the project done, the students academic record as well as how realistic their budget is and how the scholarship will be used,” Stroeher said. Students may access the application by going to the Marshall Senate webpage and clicking the Research Scholars Award under student grant application. “Anywhere from 10 to 20 students may receive funding for their capstone project, depending on how many applications we receive,” Stroeher said. In addition to filling out the physical application form, students must also provide an outline of the project and

See DEADLINE | Page 5

Survey says Americans for more mass transit, if it is free By PAUL NUSSBAUM

THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER (MCT) PHILADELPHIA - Americans would love to have more public transit. Unless they have to pay for it. A survey released Wednesday by the Natural Resources Defense Council, or NRDC, a Washington environmental-advocacy group that is pro-transit, found Americans favored more local government spending on buses, trains, and light rail

by a wide ratio: 68 percent to 25 percent. The support was even higher in the Philadelphia suburbs: Pollsters found Bucks and Montgomery County respondents favored more local spending on transit by a ratio of 82 percent to 13 percent. But when asked how to pay for improvements in transit and highways, Americans said no to higher gas and sales taxes.

They supported having developers and commercial land owners foot the bill for new rail lines or stations, and they were OK with highway tolls to make users pay. “They back systems that would require others to pay,” the NRDC researchers reported, “but are leery of a broad-based approach like a sales tax.” In Bucks and Montgomery Counties, where public transit use is higher than the

INSIDE > NEWS, 2 |SPORTS, 3 |OPINION, 4 |LIFE!, 6 HI 85°

national average, resistance was lower to paying higher taxes for public transit. Respondents there were split 49-48 on a five-cent-a-gallon gas-tax hike. They also supported a one-half-cent increase in the sales tax for transportation improvements, by a ratio of 55 percent to 41 percent. The NRDC survey of 800 likely voters nationwide and 150 likely voters in Bucks and Montgomery Counties found wide support for

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253062 BCC CAFE INC, SOUTHERN X-POSUR

increasing public transit rather than building more roads to relieve congestion and reduce pollution. But the survey also found many people resistant to using public transit because they liked driving or because they have found transit inconvenient. There was a partisan cast to the findings: Democrats were far more likely than Republicans to support an increase in local public-transit spending.

page designed and edited by SHANE ARRINGTON arrington16@marshall.edu


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September 13, 2012 Online Edition by Marshall Parthenon - Issuu