The Chronicle at WVU Parkersburg Volume #45 No. 9

ChronicleThe

at WVU Parkersburg

March 5, 2014 Volume #45 No. 9

Inside this Issue

SGA Elections, Page: 2

Animal Production, Page: 3

Tammy O'Neal, Page: 5

Table Tennis, Page: 8

Game Review, Page: 10

by Kelly Matthews Canned vegetables, toiletries, rice and cereal are the few of the items that are available now at the Riverhawk Nest, WVU Parkersburg's new food pantry. The idea started last semester i n t h e P u b l i c R e l a t i o n s Campaign Management Class. Each year the class assesses a need in the community to create a campaign for. “We decided that having a food pantry for those here at the college is a need we want to help facilitate,” Public Relations major Justina Morris said. The mission of the Riverhawk Nest is to provide limited non perishable food and personal care products to members of the campus community who present a need for support. Each individual who requests services will go through a brief interview and complete a short application for eligibility. Financial information is not required. Individuals are also asked to provide student or employee I.D. Services are limited to one individual per houshold and are available twice a month. F o o d P a n t r y s t u d e n t volunteer, Lesa Meyers said

“I think this is a wonderful idea and is being done in a way that recipeints will not be embarresed about their situation.” Confidentiality is important for the Riverhawk Nest and individuals should expect that their personal information and use of services is supported with a reasonable expectation of privacy. The Riverhawk Nes t i s located on the third floor in room 3324. This d iscreet location also works to protect your privacy. Pamela Santer, Health and Wellness Coordinator, will be providing recipe cards available at the food pantry for easy meal ideas to make with the options that are available. Donations are always needed and appreciated. Blue barrels for non-perishable items are located accross campus. These locations are: the Office of Wellness Coordinator room (Room 1513), the Student Counse l ing & Disabl i l i ty Services Office (Room 1019) and the Journalism Lab (Room 2201). The Riverhawk Nest's hours of opera t ion a re Monday

through Thursday from 11a.m.- 12:15 p.m. and from 3 p.m. - 4 p.m. A n y o n e i n t e r e s t e d i n volunteering at the food pantry can contact Dr. Torie Jackson at [email protected]. Those who wish to take

WVU Parkersburgfood pantry is now open

adavantage of this resource can go to Room 3324. Volunteers will be available to assist during hours of operation.

The Riverhawk Nest is fully stocked and open to all students, faculty and staff.

The Chronicle at WVU Parkersburg March 5, 2015Page 2

ChronicleThe

at WVU Parkersburg

News Editors: Candice Hoalcraft Kyle Nichols

News Reporting/Photography Staff: Kelly MatthewsJames Liebau IIJohn ScritchfeldJason Ross

Layout Editor: Hannah Duffield

Layout Staff:Kelly MatthewsErika DavisJessica FieldsRachael GantShalee LatheyJames Liebau IICandice HoalcraftMegan NewlandKyle NicholsTessa McAtee

[email protected] find us on Facebook & Twitter

@wvupchronicle

Advisor: Torie JacksonAsst. Advisor: Olivia Reeder

Katelyn BunchRussell BunnerBrenna CatherChelsea ClarkAmber DeeterAmie LukasiakMackenzie NestorJohn Scritchfield Sheena ThornMegan Valentine

Sheena ThornShalee LatheyErika Davis

Volume 45Produced by students of WVU Parkersburg

SGA Open Elections: Urging Students to Get Involved

by James Liebau II Want to make a difference for WVU Parkersburg and the com-munity? By being a member of WVU Parkersburg’s Student Government Association, you can. SGA is holding elections open to all students, with the election filing period starting Feb. 23 and running until Mar. 9. This is where students interested in run-ning can submit an application to apply for a certain position. The application requires an applicant to write a short au-tobiography and why he/she is

running for office. Applications will be sent through the EFYI emails and are available in the SGA Office, Rm 1409. Once completed, they are to be turned in to the SGA Office. Every position within SGA is open for election. These posi-tions are: Senator, Student Safety and Facilities Director, Academic Services Director, Legislative Director, Community Service Director, Student Services Direc-tor, Vice President of Jackson County Center, Vice President of Finance, Vice President of Com-munications, and President. For

the President and Vice President positions, an applicant must be an SGA Senator for at least one semester. SGA President Bill Bell hopes for a massive increase in student participation for this year’s elec-tions. “Last year, 19 students voted in the elections last year,” Bell said, “which is obviously not enough, so we’re hoping for a higher number of voters this year.” In order to get the numbers up, SGA is working to better promote the elections and get

students to be involved in WVU Parkersburg’s student govern-ment. Some of the strategies to increase student involvement are having candidates post elec-tion posters and set up tables to promote their campaign, and

there is a planned debate where candidates running for the same position will present their opin-ions and views to the college community. Voting for the SGA elections will be held Apr. 13 and 14 through OLSIS.

The Chronicle at WVU ParkersburgMarch 5, 2015 Page 3

by Sheena Thorn Chicks, chicks, everywhere chicks! That is right folks, the chickens arrived and are alive and well on the WVU Parkers-burg farm. The chickens arrived two weeks ago and have already grown tremendously since their arrival. Most of the chickens, if not all, are to be used for meat purposes by the culinary pro-gram. Some of the larger chicks might be ready for butchering in as little as eight weeks. Others may go as long as 10 – 12 weeks. The life span for these types of chickens is so short because the legs of the chickens will not support the body weight of the chickens. One rooster and two types of hens are currently living in a large bucket in the basement of the house located on the farm. Though this is not where the chicks were originally supposed to be, due to weather and the electric hookups not being fin-ished, this is where the chickens will stay for another week or two. The larger of the two types of hens are going to be used for meat purposes. Students will learn how to weigh the chickens so they may best know how to price the chickens.

by Erika Davis The Environmental Action Group (EAG) is once again ready to start helping out the earth once again this semester with the Earth Expo. Dr. Rebec-ca Phillips, faculty advisor, is one of the main leaders of the group. EAG is a student group that works to promote awareness of environmental issues such as conservation and preservation.

The group also focuses on edu-cating the college community. There are about 50 members on their email list and about five to 25 attend meetings and pro-grams. One of the events that the EAG is known for is the Earth Day Expo. The Expo provides information and inspiration so that people can become more aware of what is going on in the natural world, both good and bad.

This year the Expo has a variety of exhibitors, informa-tional materials, children’s craft activities, info on volunteer op-portunities, and possibly free seedlings. The Expo will take place on Wednesday, April 22 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. It is the 45th anni-versary of the original Earth Day. The group will be focusing on larger projects rather than month-ly informational sessions.

They will also be partnering with Phi Theta Kappa to research the needs of native pollinators. EAG partnered with the Di-versified Agriculture Program to begin preparing a site for a polli-nator habitat on college property. A subcommittee will be work-ing on creating a 5K event to raise money for environmental causes as well. Phillips would like to see more students in the group, as well as

more energy and more ideas. One of the main points stu-dents can learn is how to become effective leaders, how to ac-complish difficult tasks, and how people effect the environment and how it affects us in return.“This is a beautiful world, and we’re lucky to live in it,” Phillips said. To contact Phillips for any information you can email her at [email protected].

Environmental Action Group is Creating Awareness

The smaller chickens, or dual purpose chickens, will more than likely be used for the meat on them as well. The skeletons of these chickens is going to be studied. Since there are no seven-day workers to maintain eggs or future chicks, this project will only span through the end of the semester. Students in the animal pro-duction class, the class that is currently in charge of watching the chickens, have to go out to the farm and clean the pen, change the bedding and feed and water the chicks. A heat lamp is currently situ-ated over the pan because, as of right now, the chicks cannot regulate their own body tempera-ture. Eventually, as the chicks grow over the next two or three weeks, the lamp will be raised and the chicks will be moved. Half of the 57 chicks will be placed in an 8 x 8 pen and the other half will be placed in a mo-bile hen house. The project will see what environment best serves and determines the growth of the chickens. So far, one chick has died and hopefully no more will. In the future on the farm, it is planned to plant vegetables and fruit trees by the end of the month. Baby chicks getting a feeding under a heat lamp at the WVU Parkersburg Farm.

Animal Production Students are Utilizing the WVU Parkersburg Farm


By Kelly Matthews Donating your t ime as a volunteer at the Riverhawk Nest or donating your talent for the next event are a few of the ways of creating a Culture of Giving at WVU Parkersburg C r e a t i n g a C u l t u r e o f Giving among students is on the top of the list for WVU P a r k e r s b u r g F o u n d a t i o n Inc. director Senta Goudy. Once a student graduates, it is customary to give back to the school that gave them t h e i r e d u c a t i o n . G o u d y d i s c u s s e d w a y s s t u d e n t s

by Shalee Lathey Safety infrastructure improve-ments are critical to the campus environment. Upcoming projects are taking place to ensure, and expand safety. The Board of Governors has approved a request for capital ex-penditures at WVU Parkersburg. The expenditures help with projects to improve infrastructure and safety. Director of Facilities and Groups, Dave White, and Vice President of Finance and Admin-istration, Alice Harris proposed the rationale. Safety infrastructure improve-ments are critical to the campus. The improvement projects set in place are: main building door access control, main building

can g ive back whi le s t i l l attending college, not always involving monetary donations. A c c o r d i n g t o G o u d y , volunteering is a great way to give back to your college. Volunteering with fundraisers, watching sporting or theatre events supports fellow students and their programs. The Foundation at WVU Parkersburg helps to fund and manage over 100 scholarships and also manages funds for different programs and purposes. One of the ways to give to the college through the Foundation

is through the Memory Garden in the center of campus. Bricks can be bought in memory of a loved one and that money is then used to beautify the campus. G o u d y e x p l a i n s , " T h i s spring, the college is going to build a planter along the walkway outside of the doors between the library and the Veterans Resource Center." Creating an atmosphere at WVU Parkersburg that is based on making a difference and helping others is what many at the college have hopes for. This will lead to those students

who will still want to give back upon graduating. Joining the WVU Parkersburg Alumni Association later to get news and information about the college is the first way to stay in touch with the college after graduation. Once a student has a career established, giving monetarily to WVU at Parkersburg Foundation Inc. to help fund scholarships for students is one way to keep the culture of giving going. The Foundation at WVU Parkersburg helps to fund and manage over 100 scholarships and also manages funds for

different programs and purposes. Goudy and others have many ideas for students to get involved and to make a difference. Look for oppor tuni t ies to help clubs or causes around campus. Go to the next event you see posted. Give back! If interested in giving back to the college or if you are looking for a scholarship to help fund your college career, stop by the Foundation office or contact Senta Goudy at [email protected] o r by p h o n e a t 3 0 4 - 4 2 4 - 8 3 4 0 .

sprinkler expansion, and asbestos abatement. The main building door ac-cess control will be an estimated $557,785. The main building sprinkler system expansion is an estimated $240,715. This will allow the entire campus to have sprinklers installed. The asbestos abatement on the third and fourth floor is an esti-mated $71,500. The total estimated cost for the infrastructure improvement proj-ects is $870,000. “These projects are expand-ing safety around campus,” said White. The West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission (WVHEPC), will issue a grant

and a contract to get the projects up and running. The WVHEPC share is ap-proximately $522,000 for all projects. The WVU Parkersburg approximate share and net cost is $348,000. Safety infrastructure improve-ments that are out of the WVU Parkersburg budget comes from capital projects. Every fall and spring semes-ter, each full-time student has $100 taken out of tuition to pay for maintenance repairs and im-provements to the facilities. These specific improvement projects are set to start this year, and will take up to two years to complete. Each project is expected to be finished by December 31, 2016.

Safety Infrastructure Projects Underway

How to Give Back to the CollegeAn Easy Guide to Lending a Helping Hand

The Chronicle at WVU Parkersburg Page 5March 5, 2015

by John Scritchfield Students taking classes at WVU Parkersburg Jackson County Center can now receive the same tutoring benefits as those at the Parkersburg Campus. AIM is a program started last semester on the main campus, but has since spread to the JCC in Ripley starting this semester. After using the Riverhawks Mentoring Program in the Fall, JCC has adopted the mentoring program used in Parkersburg. When asked what differed be-tween AIM at JCC and the Main Campus, April Philbrook, Direc-tor of AIM at JCC, said, “we’re trying to keep it basically the same.” Besides not having one skill session offered at the Main Cam-pus – Becoming More Organized – the program is nearly identical at JCC. AIM at JCC also gives stu-dents physical tools at skill sessions, such as flash drives, pens, etc. They have a chance to win a door prize just for showing

up. The big giveaway at the end of the semester is also in effect at JCC – a Google Chromebook. Philbrook said that reception to the program has been really positive. They started off with 4 students at the beginning of the semester, and are now up to 14. AIM at JCC has 3 full time mentors who are instructors at the center and are there most days of the week. Philbrook also said that some instructors at JCC have even sat in on skill sessions before. In addition to skill sessions and target circles, AIM is help-ing students in other areas. So far, they have helped students with scheduling issues, class problems, financial aid questions, tutoring, and what they want to major in. “We kind of help direct them with different programs of study they could get into based on some of the interests brought to me,” Philbrook said. “We haven’t really offered that many target circles down here yet, but it’s something that

by James Liebau II The semester may still be young, but the WVU Park-ersburg Student Government Association is hard at work making positive strides for the college. President Bill Bell, Vice President of Communications Jason Hall, Vice President of Finance Matt Roberts and the Student Government Association of WVU Parkersburg are hard at work this semester, fixing problems and discussing ways to improve the college. During the Feb. 9 meeting, the SGA Executive Cabinet an-nounced their revisions to the

in March and April that we’re going to concentrate on. We’re trying to find time to offer it to both those that are daytime (stu-dents), and then evening only (students).” Currently, three study sessions and two target circles are planned for April and March.

SGA Constitutions. “We felt that the old version of the constitution had many dead ends and loop-holes,” President Bell said, “so we took those out and corrected it.” The loop-holes President Bell took out dealt with the wording of the constitution. Some aspects of the constitution were writ-ten in a way that certain criteria could be interpreted differently depending on the reader. “The goal with our revisions was to make our constitution clear and concise.” President Bell said. Some of the changes to the

constitution were the abolition of the Senate Pro Tempore posi-tion, which had not been filled in years, and a new WVU Parkers-burg Club attendance policy. In the past, clubs were required to have one representative at every SGA meeting, and if they were absent for three meetings, the club could face being shut down. With the recent constitu-tion modifications, clubs are no longer pressured into attending every meeting, but they are still encouraged to attend and make their voice be heard. The last discussion topic for the meeting was the upcoming

Staff/Faculty/Adjunct of the Year voting. Nominations for the awards are being accepted and will be reviewed at upcoming SGA meetings. In the Feb. 23 SGA meeting, President Bell informed the rest of SGA that new WVU Park-ersburg President Dr. Fletcher Lamkin would like to attend an upcoming SGA meeting, which was joyously received by the SGA members. The majority of the meeting was commanded by Vice Presi-dent of Student Services Anthony Underwood. Underwood dis-cussed WVU Parkersburg’s

Strategic Plan, which includes ways to improve the college’s image, student success rate, and facilities. Feedback from SGA members was recorded and will be further discussed among col-lege administration. The last item of the meeting was the appointments of Cory Armstrong for the position of Senator and Ben Houghton for the position of Community Service Director. Both were unanimously voted into their respective positions. The next SGA meeting will take place Mar. 9 in the Com-munity Room at 11:00 AM.

Study sessions include Learn-ing Styles at 10:00 am on March 12 in Room 206, Time and Stress Management on March 24 at 10:00 am in Room 206, and Fi-nancial Aid Workshop on April 6 at 7:00 pm and again on April 9 at 10:00 am, both in Room 303. Target circles scheduled entail

Advising and Academic Decision Making, slated for some time between March 30 & April 3, and Career Services, planned for some time between April 13-17. Both will be held on either a Monday or Wednesday during the Reading Engagement hour at 11:00 am.

Jackson County Center AIMs for Success

Logo for the program that started in Parkersburg, but has since expanded to Ripley.

SGA Constitution Gets Spring Clean UpUpdated Club Attendance Policy, Position Changes Among New Business


by Tammy C. O’Neil En-ti-til-ment-i-dis is a non-surgical condition of the brain that affects millions of society members in their quest to expand their accountability, responsi-bility, professional development, and mutual respect for other human beings. What’s your perception of entitlement? Is entitle-ment as much an issue (or even evident) to others? Upon researching the definition, Wikipedia and Merriam-Webster offer the following definitions: Entitlement: “The fact of having a right to some-thing” A "right" is itself an entitlement associated with a moral or social principle, such that an "entitle-ment" is a provision made in accordance with a legal framework of a society. Typically, entitlements are based on concepts of principle ("rights") which are themselves based in concepts of social equality or enfranchisement. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Merriam-Webster.com defines Entitlement as: “the

condition of having a right to have, do, or get something..the feeling or belief that you deserve to be given something (such as special privileges) http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/entitlement As a non-traditional student and employee, I find this new age “attitude of entitlement” a disgrace to society. There is something to be said for a committed strong work ethic, loyalty, and respect for self, col-leagues and superiors. As a student and employee, teamwork is essential in order to obtain a goal. Teamwork is “a joint action by a group of people, in which each person subordinates his or her individ-ual interests...The process of working collaboratively with a group of people in order to achieve a goal.” En-ti-til-ment-i-dis reeks of victim mentality and is solely dependent upon an individual’s miscon-

by Sheena Thorn For over 40 years, Al Ed-wards’ influence on WVU Parkersburg students ranged from calculus to shop math. Edwards, professor of math and the department coordinator for math, is retiring at the end of the semester. Edwards completed his under-grad at Glenville State College and continued his education at WVU where he obtained his Master’s degree in math educa-tion. “The math was just always easy for me. It made sense, I was good at it and it was always fun and easy,” said Edwards.

S t u d e n t D i s c u s s e s'having a right to something'

ception and frame of reference to the gift of making choices and accountability for them. As students, we have a responsibility to be active participants in our education regardless of how it is funded! Simply stated,that means we have a responsibility to be involved in class, ask questions and communicate with our instructors of any concerns we may have about the subject. The same principle applies to us as current and future employees – respect, accountability, and commitment! Education is a choice -one that is made with careful and selective analysis of an individual’s goals and dreams. In that selection pro-cess, we must also consider that education is freedom of choice, a gift. When we are admitted to an institution of higher learning, we are making a choice to accept a gift and therefore, with choices, we also have accountability and responsibility. Imagine that! Where then, is it written that we, as a society, as students, are “en-titled to receive certain grades, funding, etc. when we choose not to be held accountable for our actions? As students we juggle many roles: son, daughter, mother, father, wife, husband, caretaker, employee, etc. What happens when we adopt a careless, irresponsible, unprofes-sional non-committed attitude toward one of these roles? One by one, they begin tumbling and falling apart and an invasive attitude of “entitlement” permeates our whole being. I challenge every person to stand up and demand respect, account-ability for choices, and commitment to eradicate this pervasive En-ti-til-ment-i-dis attitude that is destroying our society.

In Jan. 1975, Edwards began his career at WVU Parkersburg teaching math and has not taught anywhere else since. As a teacher, Calculus is his favorite subject to teach. For the last 13 years, Edwards helped grade AP Calculus exams for the Educational Testing Service. Doing this allowed him to travel to Colorado, Kentucky and other places he would not have otherwise been able to see. The most memorable moment in Edwards’ teaching career took place in one of his calculus classes. “This class was extraor-dinarily gifted. The students

would have done the work even if I had not shown up to teach how to do it,” Edwards said. Seeing this class of his reach the goals that the students set made teaching them memorable. Overall, Edwards greatly en-joyed his teaching experiences. “The interaction with the stu-dents and seeing the students’ faces when they finally get it. I think that is the most enjoyable thing, that it is clear they under-stand,” Edwards said. Before taking the position of department coordinator, Edwards was the director of the co-op pro-gram that helped students obtain

workforce experience for college credit. Edwards traveled through a variety of states and in West Virginia in search of employers who wanted to participate in the co-op program. After teaching 20 years, taking on the co-op work position al-lowed a nice change of pace for Edwards. “It allowed me to go into the community and travel. It was enjoyable,” Edwards said. Edwards worked in co-op for quite some time before becoming the department coordinator. After he became the depart-ment coordinator, he did not have enough hours in the day to teach,

help with co-op and be the coordinator, so Edwards discon-tinued his work with co-op. In the last five or six years, Edwards took on the role of department coordinator. As de-partment coordinator, Edwards deals with teachers concerns for classes as well as students con-cerns about teachers. When Edwards retires at the end of the semester, he plans to spend some quality time with his wife, work on his farm and travel throughout the United States. He also plans to spend plenty of time with his three grandchildren.

Al Edwards Reflects on Teaching Exeperience Before Entering Retirement


by Kelly Matthews Forensics? What do you think of when you hear that word? What it means for the speech and debate team at WVU Park-ersburg may not be the same as you thought. Forensics comes from the idea of argumentation and persuasion. Forensics is anything that deals with public presentations. Participating in forensics re-fers to informative or persuasive speaking and all forms of debate. Prose and Poetry and dramatic interpretation are also areas of emphasis. West Virginia University at Parkersburg's Speech and debate team recently competed in the West Virginia intercollegiate

forensic association's State tour-nament. This tournament is the only time that West Virginia col-leges compete against each other. This state forensic tournament is also a qualifier for the national tournament, so if a participant does well, they can advance. The other colleges in atten-dance were Shepard University, Fairmont State university, Mar-shall University and Davis & Elkins. The tournament was held on Feb. 13th and 14th at WVU Parkersburg. According to Kim Korcs-maros, the Coach and team facilitator for WVU Parkersburg, “the team is in a rebuilding year. Many team members have re-

by Kelly Matthews Are you a single parent and a Student? Are you trying to com-plete your education and raise a child at the same time? WVU Parkersburg realizes the struggles that this can bring, both financially and mentally. This is why the BOSS Scholarship was created. Being a full time student and a full time parent comes with many challenges. This scholarship is designed to take some of those stresses away. Childcare expenses are often one of the biggest hardships for those with young ones. The BOSS scholarship gives as-

cently graduated.“ Due to the loss of members, only one student from WVU Parkersburg competed in the re-cent tournament. Korcsmaros also stated.“ We now have four members and we just need a core group. Success breads Success,“ Public speaking is a great qual-ity many professionals will need in future careers. The Forensic team at WVU Parkersburg can help to nurture those qualities. Contact Kim Korcsmaros by email at [email protected] if you think you may be interested in being a part of this team and competing in tournaments just like this one in semesters to come.

sistance in paying for this each semester. As a parent, one oftens puts the need of their child before their own, and the creators of this scholarship wanted to make sure your needs are taken care of as well. A $300 campus dining card is also given as a part of this pro-gram. Students who take part in this program must maintain a 3.0 GPA and continue to do so for six consecutive semesters to retain this scholarship but incen-tives are given to ensure success. An academic performance bonus of $250 for mid-term and finals is also awarded to each student.

Along with the many expens-es a single parent has for their child or children, many single parents have school related ex-penses such as textbooks. This scholarship covers that cost, as well. S c h o l a r s h i p r e c i p i e n t , Michelle Reck says, "This scholarship is helping me in all the areas I needed and takes alot of my stress away." To help keep the stress away, students also recieve required group worskhops on success and benefit access as mentoring for trying times. With ten possible scholar-ships available this semester,

only six were awarded. The hope of Anthony Un-derwood, Vice President of Academic Affairs and Boss scholarship director is to have more apply in coming semesters. Underwood states, "Emails with invitations to apply were sent and flyers put up, dont just ignore them, it could be to your own detriment." Each semester, the program is accepting new applicants. If you are a single parent and a student, take adavantage of this opportu-nity for your college to help you. To apply, complete the online application at www.wvup.edu/boss.

WVU Parkersburg Hosted State Forensic Tournament

Single Parents WantedNew scholarship available to students raising children

The Chronicle at WVU ParkersburgPage 8 March 5, 2015

by John Scritchfield The WVU Parkersburg Riv-erhawks Mens Basketball Team finished their season Monday with the strongest campaign in the program’s 5-year history, at 14-15 overall. The Riverhawks were sched-uled to play 4 games to end the season, but only played 3; the game scheduled on Feb. 21 at The Ohio State Club Team was canceled. The ‘Hawks hit the road on Feb. 28, travelling to Montgom-ery, WV to face the Division II WVU Tech Golden Bears. They kept it relatively close, but could not pull off the upset, falling to the Golden Bears 95-80. Khylem Herring led scoring with 15 points, shooting 44% from the field and going 6-6 from the free throw line. The ‘Hawks had three players score in dou-ble-digits. They fared slightly better in their next contest. The Riverhawks played Wash-ington State Community College on March 1 at the Parkersburg High School Field House, thrash-ing the Bucks 131-93.

They jumped out to an early lead, 11-2, in just 1:57 of action in the first half. Point Guard Tevin Dixon contributed the early run to the team playing tight, smothering defense. “De-fensively, at the beginning (of the game), we had our hands up, tip-ping passes and we were making shots, so we got an early lead,” Dixon said. WSCC pulled within 7 points with 11:43 to go in the first half, but the Riverhawks turned on the burners and never looked back, going into halftime leading 64-43. The Bucks had problems deal-ing with the constant pressure of the full-court press, and were just outmatched by the ‘Hawks speed, talent, and depth. Curl Dixon led all scorers with 25 points, being 1 of 6 play-ers contributing double-digits to the offensive outburst. The other 5 players making up that group were Braeden Cabbill (19 points), Tevin Dixon (18 points), Jai Wright (17 points), Jeff Leftridge (15 points), and JT Thurmond (14 points). Every-body that saw action in the game

added to the offensive effort. After the game, Tevin Dixon said that he felt it was a great team effort, as well as a good performance personally. “I think I played well. I could’ve been smarter on some plays, but I was hitting my jump shots, so I al-ways like that.” He also felt that the team’s sec-ond semester success happened largely because of Coach Derek Fleming. “We started out a little rough. We won our first game and didn’t get too many wins after that. Coach just told us that we needed to keep working hard and keep grinding; we did, and started winning more games and got a better record out of it.” Fleming echoed Dixon’s re-marks regarding the Riverhawks’ performance against WSCC. “I think we did great today. We knew what we were getting into with this game. We knew if we came out and executed what we wanted to do on the press – create turnovers, go shoot layups – that would open up everything else for us, and that’s exactly what happened today. I’m ex-tremely proud of them.”

by James Liebau II WVU Parkersburg’s Table Tennis Team knew that it would be a challenge to succeed at the Ohio East/West Divisional Tour-nament, but they accepted the challenge and finished in third place. The tournament was held in Akron, Ohio on Feb. 7 and consisted of ten teams. WVU Parkersburg was the only team from West Virginia and the only team outside of Ohio playing in the tournament. The other nine schools participating were Ohio State University, Miami Uni-versity, Case Western Reserve University, University of Akron, University of Cincinnati, Bald-win Wallace University, College of Wooster, University of Toledo, and Oberlin College.

The tournament was split into two groups of five, and each team played the other four teams in their group once. WVU Parkersburg was put into a divi-sion with Case Western Reserve University, College of Wooster, Baldwin Wallace University, and University of Akron. WVU Parkersburg’s team consisted of James Liebau, Zach Echard, Jorge Meneses, and Team Captain Jason Workman. The players were seeded for the tournament 4 to 1 respectively. “We (the team) were placed into a difficult group,” Workman said, “but we knew could get results against a couple of the teams.” WVU Parkersburg defeated Wooster and Baldwin Wallace in playoff doubles matches, but

were beaten by Akron and Case Western. Coach Phil McClung told the team that Akron and Case Western were the two of the best teams going into the tournament, so he wanted the players to relax and have fun against them. “Akron and Case Western are always strong in tournaments,” McClung said, “so we had our sights on winning third in the group and that’s what we did. We won the games we were sup-posed to and we lost the games we were supposed to, so every-thing went according to plan.” The Table Tennis Team had fun at the tournament and gained great experience to improve for future competitions. Practices are every Tuesday and Thursday at 6 p.m. and are open to all.

Regarding the team’s perfor-mance over the past few games, Fleming said, “We’ve played really well. We’ve really come together at the end of the season, we added some players at the se-mester, and that allowed us to do a lot more. Having the extra guys and the depth allows us to go up and down the floor and press, and score a lot of points; and that’s an exciting brand of basketball for people to come watch. So being a start-up program and a little smaller, we want it to be exciting for people to come see, as well as fun for our players on the court.” Fleming also talked about the Riverhawks last game that would take place the next day at West Virginia Tech. “It’ll be another good experi-ence for us. It’ll be the last game of the season. Playing against Tech gives us the opportunity for some of our kids to get looked at by other (bigger) teams. Actu-ally, yesterday when we played there one of our players was offered a scholarship at West Virginia Tech. So that’s what we want to do; we want these guys that have the ability and (give

them a) chance to move on, and take their talent to the next level and see how far they can go.” The Riverhawks ended their season on March 2 at WV Tech. They fell to the Golden Bears, 89-58. They had two players adding double-digit point totals – Curl Dixon with 17, and Austin Cude with 11. Even though the ‘Hawks lost their final contest, they still end-ed the season on a positive note. After having a disappointing sea-son last year at 2-12, and starting this season on rocky ground at 5-10, finishing this season just a game shy of going .500 is an im-pressive achievement. Fleming discussed his plans for the team moving forward, saying “we’ll see how many people we have remaining after the school year’s over, and then we’ll start building towards next year – seeing how many guys we need to bring in.” He plans on getting the team into some local tournaments and to “stay active as much as possible.” He also added that they will host open gyms that will be available to anyone interested.

WVU Parkersburg Table Tennis Team Excels at Akron Tournament

Men's Basketball Ends Successful Season on a High NoteTeam Members from left to right: Zach Echard, Jason Workman, James Liebau, and Jorge Meneses


by Sheena Thorn Weight Watchers, Atkins, Jenny Craig and NutriSystem are just a few of the latest and most popular diet trends. The success stories of Jennifer Hudson, Sha-ron Osborne and Mariah Carey flood TV and radio stations nationwide persuading the audi-ence that this is the diet for them. Sure, maybe it is the diet that someone has been looking for all along. It may be just the ticket and motivation that person needs in order to take a leap of faith and try to lose weight. Or maybe, as some in soci-ety notice, it will aid in losing weight for a short period of time until one day that person forgets that they are on a diet, begin to eat normally again and then they wind up looking like Kirstie Al-ley after her 150lb weight gain – not so good. The idea behind these diets is to get someone who wants to lose weight to only buy the food the diet company makes. Some foods in the supermarket are Weight Watchers approved, or “that diet” approved. The gim-mick is let the customer think what they are eating and putting into their bodies is helping them lose weight. Supposedly, the diet will show the customer how to eat healthy and make good choices for their diet in order to keep the weight off. As good of a thought as this is, we are all human. We give into temptation and sacrifice counting calories for one day as we proceed to eat bacon cheese fries with ranch dressing and

three pieces of chocolate cake, no shame. Aside from wasting hundreds of dollars on the exclusive food that must be eaten with said diet, it is also a waste of time. Having tried multiple diets of this, that and the other, along with exercis-ing regularly (at least 30 minutes a day) I could not lose weight. I gave up. It is not even that I need to lose a significant amount of weight, or any at all for that matter. Honest-ly I think I am adorable just the way that I am. However, some of the foods I put into my body are not the greatest and that is the problem I want to fix. I do not want to count calories. I do not want to track points. I do not want to eat food that tastes like cardboard for the sake of having a flatter stomach. I can try as I might to make health and diet conscious deci-sions when it comes to what I put in my body, but as it turns out, everything I thought I was doing right turned out to be wrong. So with all the latest and great-est diet trends out there, how am I supposed to know which is the best one? Arguably, since every-one is different, there is no right answer to this question. But, be-ing the investigative reporter that I am, I am determined to find out. Over the past year or two, I have been seeing countless ad-vertisements and Pinterest boards dedicated to the Paleo diet. For those who do not know what the Paleo diet is, it is a diet based on the types of food presumed to have been eaten by early humans. The diet consists mainly of

eating meat, fish, vegetables and fruit, while excluding dairy, grain products and processed food, ac-cording to google definitions. In other words, eating like a cave-man. PaleoLeap.com has 15 rules for those just starting their Paleo journey, like myself, and assures that if the rules are followed 100% I am “eating the best food for my body and greatly investing in my long term health and well-being.” Okay, so it sounds simple enough. One element about this website and its steps to going Paleo that I like, is that it tells you calorie counting and portion control are not encouraged and to eat when you are hungry. Say what now? I can eat when I want, I do not have to count calories and I can eat however much of any Paleo food I want? Sign me up! It is recommend that anyone wanting to do the Paleo diet jump right in and stick with it for 30 days, with no cheating. For me, that means no cake, no potato chips and no coffee. Yikes!! I downloaded the app Paleo Central for .99 cents and it pro-vides me with a list of foods that are acceptable to eat while on the Paleo diet, along with a few reci-pes. Thanks to Pinterest, I now have a board dedicated to Paleo reci-pes and foods that I can eat while on this diet. Today is Feb. 23, 2015 and I am going Paleo for 30 days. Stay tuned, readers, as I tell of my journey and whether or not this may be the diet we can all get along with.

by Shalee Lathey Planet Fitness is the most hap-penin’ place in town! Individuals of all ages, shapes and sizes are welcome to join the “Judgement Free Zone” in Parkersburg. Walking into a gym can be in-timidating for most, especially if the gym has not been a priority in awhile. The mission of this gym is to have members feel comfortable, and avoid, “gymtimidation” in a judgment free environment. Planet Fitness recognizes that each individual's workout goal is different. There is something for ev-eryone at this gym, with a wide array of workout machines and equipment. What is great about Planet Fit-ness is that it is affordable. I feel that being a member of this gym, I am getting more for my buck as opposed to other gyms in the area. Members have the option be-tween two membership types: the $10 per month package, and the Black Card $20 per month pack-age. This hot spot offers much more than just working on a favorable physique. The Black Card member-ship involves everything Planet Fitness has to offer. Tanning, hydromassage chairs, half priced drinks, unlimited guest privi-leges, haircuts and use of the total body enhancement booth. I would recommend purchas-ing the Black Card membership, because it is worth the extra cash. I purchased the Black Card two years ago, and it has been a great

investment for my body and health. I can use my card at any Planet Fitness location, which comes in handy when traveling. Both memberships have a variety of perks. Each member-ship receives unlimited fitness training by professionals for mo-tivation and setting goals, and a free Planet Fitness T-shirt. Staff members at this gym are always there to help ac-commodate to members needs, especially for those that are unaware of how to use the equip-ment. The only disagreement I have with this gym are the incentives. Planet Fitness offers free pizza on the first Monday of every month and free bagels the second Tuesday of every month. I know this is supposed to be a judgement free zone, but I do not feel carb incentives at a gym is the way to go. Also, there are Tootsie Rolls at the front desk for members when exiting and entering the building. I bel ieve that something healthier would go over better for members. Perhaps fruit and yo-gurt could be better alternatives to pizza and bagels. Despite the incentives, Planet Fitness stands out from the rest. This gym has a friendly staff, and a wide array of exercise equip-ment along with several perks and activities. Become a member at Planet F i tness in Parkersburg by logging onto http://www.plan-etfitness.com or by visiting the location at 104 Gihon Village Parkersburg, WV.

Pump Up at Planet FitnessLet's go Paleo!A Brief Overview of the Paleo Diet

The Chronicle at WVU ParkersburgPage 10 March 5, 2015

by John Scritchfield I wanted to return The Order: 1886 within the first 10 minutes of playing the game. I didn’t though, because some-times first impressions aren’t indicative of the final product. Knowing what I know now, that’s just laughable. Having said that, The Order: 1886 does a grand total of one thing really well – graphically, the game is just gorgeous. It has the best graphics of a con-sole game I’ve ever seen. Little things like clothing blowing in the wind, fabric on a blimp giv-ing in when being stepped on, and incredibly detailed things like rainwater on lamps really set The Order apart in the visuals department. While visually this game is great, it suffers from not know-ing if it wants to be a movie or a video game; it employs the use of widescreen letterboxing and artificial film grain. I know that the developers at Ready at Dawn wanted The Order to be a cinematic game, but using those things in this game were honestly just distracting. Even though it’s never been officially confirmed, it’s believed that the letterboxing is just an excuse to get the game to look better. When there’s not as much real estate being used on the screen, it makes it easier to ren-der a better quality picture. It seemed like Ready at Dawn did not take the letterboxing into consideration when determining how close the camera is to the main character. This isn’t some-thing that can be adjusted in the settings, and makes it tough to tell where exactly your character is, among numerous other issues. However, transitioning be-

tween cut scenes and gameplay is often seamless. A couple of times early in the game, I didn’t even realize that the cut scene had ended and the gameplay be-gan. A major issue I have with The Order: 1886 is that the game can be beat in roughly 6 hours. This would be alright if the game didn’t retail at $60, or if it had some kind of replay value, such as multiplayer or collectables to obtain; it does neither. I didn’t time myself when I played, but I would estimate that somewhere between one third and one half of the 6ish hours were spent watching cut scenes. They aren’t skippable either, so if you’re a trophy hunter and missed something the first time playing, you have to go through the whole 6 hours again. It is a linear game in design, and it’s pretty obvious. Alleys and hallways clearly lead you where to go, with no reason or even ability to explore this beau-tifully created world. If The Order has an actual story, I wasn’t made aware of it. No, but seriously, it doesn’t take the time to inform you of what's going on most of the time. The game takes place in a high-tech alternate reality Victo-rian London where King Arthur’s Knights of the Round Table still thrive – mixing history and myth. While this may sound like an innovative and exciting idea, it leaves a lot to be desired. Most of the time you are being told to go somewhere to kill ly-cans (werewolf/human hybrids) or a group of rebels, with no ex-planation as to why. If there was one, it was presented in the most sleep-inducing way possible. The ending of The Order:

1886 was intentionally left wide open to be able to create a sequel that probably won’t be made af-ter the mess that is this game. The lack of enemy character models is incredibly frustrating. In the band of rebels, there are 3, maybe 4 different models in their group. Seeing the same person multiple times in the same room gets old really fast, and is just lazy on the developer’s end. Shooting is serviceable but not great by any means. Movement is a bit awkward and clunky, and never gets any better. There are some really unique weapons that you are given throughout the game, and are actually kind of fun to use; that is, until they are taken or traded for a different weapon in a cut scene for no ap-parent reason. The characters are largely un-interesting and never really see much development. Their voice acting is not great, but it’s okay.

The main character sounds like a poor man’s Liam Neeson, so if that’s your thing, you’re in luck. Another big issue is the mas-sive abundance and overuse of quick-time events, or QTE’s. There are two boss fights with oversized lycans – beside the fact that the fights are identical, they both rely entirely on using QTE’s, as does a large portion of the game. This includes far too many instances of just walking down a hallway, when a QTE will appear seemingly just to make sure you’re not asleep. Button prompts will regularly pop up on the screen and have no reason to be there, especially when it could have just been done in a cut scene or by more traditional methods. QTE’s are not a bad thing in some games, and some games feature them exclusively – but they are used correctly, and lead to dialog choices and decisions

that greatly affect the outcome of the game; i.e. Telltale's The Walking Dead series. Ready at Dawn apparently doesn’t under-stand this concept. Regardless of being an abso-lutely remarkable looking game, it is either incredibly average or just awful in basically every other facet, despite being in development for 5 years. Even though it is so short, it took me multiple days to beat it. Not be-cause it was tough, but because it just wasn’t fun or engaging, and I had to take breaks from play-ing/watching this movie/game. It’s really nothing more than a tech demo (to show off what the PS4 is capable of graphically) that came out 15 months after the PS4 was released. Don’t buy this game - either wait until the price drops drastically, rent it, or just watch it on YouTube. The Order: 1886 gets a 2 out of 5.

An in-game screenshot showcasing the graphics and landscape of The Order: 1886.

The Order: 1886 ReviewFirst PS4 Exclusive of 2015 Bombs


by Erika Davis On rare occasions, we can find ourselves in situations in which we feel trapped. For one man, he finds himself trapped in his own body. “The Ghost Boy” is based on the true story of Martin Pisto-rius who became a quadriplegic by his 14th birthday. What started out as a sore throat quickly turned and left him as nothing but a shell. One day, Pistorius’s mind comes up for air after four years. The book starts out with Pis-torius telling how he faces the day, by counting every minute, every second that passed. He also gives details about his life and the things he used to do before he became ill. Pistorius had a love for elec-tronics and was able to do quite a bit with his talent.

“I had such a natural ability with them that my mother trusted me to fix a plug socket when I was eleven because I’d been making electronics circuits for years.” Pistorius said. After thinking all hope was lost one of Pistorius’s nurse saw something in him. She encouraged for Pistorius to have tests done to see if he was showing any signs that his mind was improving. Some time after tests were ran he was able to communicate with others through a computer where he would control what was said by using switches. I was intrigued at the way he learned how to speak through a computer. For the long amount of time his mind was unconscious, I was surprised at how quickly he was able to learn the technology he had.

Truthfully the amount of prog-ress he made in the short amount of time was a miracle in and of itself. As time went on, Pistorius’s mind grew stronger and was able to land a job working one day a week fixing computers. At one point in the book, Pis-torius gave description of some of the way he was treated when he was at the care center. I was completely disgusted by how he was treated. One caregiver would shove food into his mouth, pulled his hair, slap him in the face, and even fed him food that he vom-ited in. In my opinion, this woman was beyond disrespectful, she was just plain heartless. It is just so appalling at how this woman could treat a man so poorly when he has no control over certain things.

At one point , caregivers would torment him while others laughed, he would be pinched or slapped, and left outside in the heat or left freezing after a bath. No one deserves to be treated like this and personally, I hope after the book was published, those caregivers were fired and never allowed to work in any-thing that dealt with health and well being of others. Further in the book, Pistorius finds love and gets married. The rest of the book is about his love life. I thought that it was really ro-mantic that the end of the book was the beginning of his new life as a husband. I really enjoyed “Ghost Boy” and wasn’t bored reading it like I thought I would be. This book is definitely a good read, especially on a cold night because Pistorius’s story of tri-

umph will warm your heart. Pistorius’s life story shows the reader that even though most of his life he was a shell, he never let the ghost boy control his life. Through his life Pistorius found faith, hope, and love. Of the greatest he found love.

by Erika Davis Everybody seems to have at least one bad day in his or her life. For one family that only seems to be true for the youngest boy. “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day” is a comedy about a fam-ily who tries to survive their first horrible day. Alexander’s family seems normal at first. His dad is a stay at home dad, his mom is a big executive at a publishing company, his brother is dating the hottest girl in school, and his sister is playing Peter Pan in her school play. Alexander (Ed Oxenbould) feels like no one else knows what it is like to have a bad day, so he decides to make a wish that his family will know what it

is like to have a bad day. I enjoyed the beginning. I thought it was a different way to start a movie. The film got really interesting when the family starts to experi-ence their horrible day. That morning is when it all starts. First, Emily (Kerris Dorsey) wakes up with a cold on the day of her play. Next, Anthony (Dylan Min-nette) discovers a zit, not what he hopes for on the morning of prom with the perfect date, Celia (Bella Thorne). When disaster strikes at school and Anthony destroys the tro-phy case, he is suspended from school. Then Alexander’s parents get a little bit of action. Kelly’s (Jennifer Gardner)

book is mis-print and is causing havoc at the publishing company. Ben (Steve Carell) is left to take care of everything else, as he gets ready for the biggest in-terview of his life. Even baby Trevor has a hor-rible day when his favorite bumblebee binky is destroyed in the garbage disposal. Honestly I couldn’t stop laugh-ing at all their mishaps. Ironically while Alexander’s family is having a bad day, he manages to pull out a decent day. I thought it was cool that Al-exander finally had a good day while his family struggles. Even though Alexander’s day is getting better, somehow his sibling’s day is getting even worse. Anthony completely failed his drivers test and can no longer

take Celia to prom while Kelly drank an entire bottle of cough syrup and is completely out of her mind. There were so many hilarious parts that I could not stop laugh-ing. An example would be when Kelly completely makes a fool out of herself in the play or when Ben gets kicked in the face by a kangaroo. Even after the terrible events, some positivity was able to find its way to the Cooper family. Ben is able to land a second interview, Kelly’s book somehow became a hit, and Alexanders birthday party was able to end on a high note. The entire family came to real-ize that no matter how bad their day is, if they sail on the ship to positivity then even the worst

day can turn into a good one. I absolutely loved this movie. Carell and Gardner were abso-lutely hilarious. “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day” is a perfect movie for the family to enjoy. I would definitely recom-mend this movie for any family movie night. I was highly im-pressed with the cast members. There was never a dull mo-ment in the film. It seemed as if anything that could go wrong did. Even though the Cooper’s day was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day they were still able to make the best of it. Like Alexander said, “You got to have the bad days so you can enjoy the good days even more.”

Man Lives Life as a Ghost For 11 Years

A Very Good Review For a Very Bad Day


How will you celebrate St. Patrick's Day

this year?

Erica Peck “I'm probably going to

head to the Polo Club and celebrate with my friends

and family.”

Katie Somerville “I will spend it with my

friends, and be sure to wear lots of green to celebrate.”

Jordan Fluharty “By not doing anything

but homework. I have a lot of school work to catch up on. I may try to wear some

green.”

Erica Reynolds “My kids and I always

make a craft for St. Patrick's Day. We usually make green cookies, or paint and cut out sham-

rocks.”

Bridgette Schoppe “I'm going to take my son out to dinner, and prob-

ably wear my 'Kiss me I'm Irish' shirt.”

Why Theatre Matters

The Humanities Speakers Series and the College Theatre at West Virginia University at

Parkersburg are co-hosting a Spring 2015 series of events entitled, “Why Theatre Matters.”

As part of this series, on Monday, March 9, there will be a guest presentation by Mr. Jeffrey Cordell on “Connecting Theatre with the Drama

of Daily Life.” Cordell is a theatre artist and faculty member at Marietta College.

His talk will be presented

March 9, from 12:30-1:30 p.m., in the College Theatre, room 1305. He will also have a drama

workshop “The Challenge of Creating Theatre in the 21st Century” from 4:00 p.m.-5:30 p.m.

These events are free and open to the public.

If you have any questions about these events, please contact Mr. Jason Halbeib at 304-424-8480,

or by e-mail at [email protected], or Dr. Nancy Nanney at 304-424-8361,

or by e-mail at [email protected].

Documents

The Chronicle at WVU Parkersburg Volume #45 No. 9