West Virginia University at Parkersburg Chronicle

This was the online publication of the West Virginia University at Parkersburg Chronicle from the fall of 2005 through the spring of 2006. Google (the owner of Blogger) seems to have deleted the names of the editors, but the writers are named in the bylines to each story.

Tower Readied for Destruction

Jendoco Construction Prepares Stair Tower Facade for Destruction: The brick facade of the three-story stair tower on which West Virginia University at Parkersburg’s name had been displayed is readied to be torn down. (The stair tower has slowly been tearing itself off the building for years.) A long glass “curtain wall” facade will be mounted in its place, with the school name displayed above it, once the rest of building is stabilized.

Photos by Patrick Garvey

Library Displays Student Science

By Delano Farley
For National Library Month, Human Anatomy and Physiology students have made and placed on display in the WVUP library 3-D models for skin, muscles, spinal cord, bone, brain and body systems.

Pursuant to research conducted by Drs. Joyce Kronberg and Marshall Griffin published in the 2000 Journal of College Science Teaching, Dr. Kronberg has incorporated a plan that allows students to use artwork in class assignments. The unique form of assignment stems from the researched findings that many students are visual learners and enjoy having options and choices to earn part of their grade.

Some students created an exhibit on burns of the skin with photography while the non-artistic members were given an option of research through the internet, library, and textbook resources.

The artwork of these fourteen talented science students is on display through April.

A model of the respiratory system designed by James Dalrymple

Photo by Delano Farley

Underground Railroad Tour

Twenty members of the WVUP community participated in “Flight to Freedom: Ohio’s Underground Railroad Tour,” on Friday and Saturday April 7 and 8. The trip was sponsored by the WVUP Social Justice Program with funding from the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission.

Traveling by Park Tours chartered bus, the group stopped first on Friday in Ripley, Ohio, to visit the John Rankin House and the John P. Parker House, both former homes of active “conductors” on the Underground Railroad and now National Historical Landmarks.

John Rankin was a Presbyterian minister who from 1822 to 1865 assisted hundreds of escaped slaves in their trek to freedom. Many members of the tour group walked the 433 steps on the path that led freedom seekers up the steep hill to the Rankin House.

John Parker, a former slave who had purchased his freedom with money he had earned from an apprenticeship, assisted many slaves in the 1800s to escape from the Kentucky side of the Ohio River. The group’s tour of the Parker House Museum was given by Betty Campbell of the Ohio Historical Society.

While people in the Parkersburg area were being drenched with storms Friday and Saturday, the tour group enjoyed sunshine both days, with temperatures near 80 degrees on Friday. After the stops in Ripley, the group traveled on to Cincinnati, where they had the option of spending some leisure time at the Kenwood Town Centre Mall after checking in at the Quality Hotel and Suites.

Group members were surprised to run into Abraham Lincoln at the hotel – one at the entrance… several in the lobby….and yet more Abe’s emerging from the elevator! The Association of Lincoln Presenters happened to be staying at the hotel, so Abraham Lincoln was everywhere!

Saturday morning the group spent three and a half hours touring the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati. One of the highlights in the Freedom Center was the film “Brothers of the Borderland,” which had been produced in Ripley, Ohio, in 2003, with Oprah Winfrey serving as a documentary host. The “movie-quality” film portrayed the Rankin family’s role in rescuing a freedom seeker. Ironically, the Parkersburg group again ran into the multitude of Abraham Lincolns who were also touring the Freedom Center.

Debbie Richards, Executive Assistant to the President for Policy and Social Justice, served as the group leader. Special thanks go to Allen McNulty for taking numerous pictures during the tour and for providing each group member with a CD of his photographs.

Women Leaders in West Virginia

By Erika Westbrook
A “Women and Leadership” event will take place at WVUP on April 26. The half-day event will feature prominent female executives who will share inspiring stories of their accomplishments, and how they aspired to achieve their top-level positions in leadership.

Speakers scheduled for the event include Betty Ireland, Rabbi Helen Bar-Yaacov, Vivian Conly, Kathryn S. Decker, Lt. Mary A. Pfeifer, and Dr. Marie Foster Gnage.

West Virginia's 28th Secretary of State Betty Ireland (left) is the first woman to be elected to West Virginia’s executive branch.

Rabbi Helen Bar-Yaacov (right), of the Congregation B’nai Israel in Charleston, is the first full-time woman rabbi in West Virginia. She holds citizenship in both Israel and Australia. She immigrated to Israel in 1970, living on a kibbutz for two years before making Jerusalem her home. She was ordained in New York, where she earned a master’s in Hebrew Literature at Hebrew Union College's Jewish Institute of Religion.

Vivian Conly (left) is president of the Carnegie Hall Foundation in Lewisburg. Kathryn S. Decker is vice president of Patient Care Services at Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital. Lt. Mary A. Pfeifer is post commander of the Marietta Post of the Ohio Highway Patrol.

Dr. Marie Foster Gnage, president of West Virginia University at Parkersburg (below), is the first woman president of WVUP, and the first African-American woman to be appointed president of a college or university in West Virginia. Prior to her presidency in 2004, she served as Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at Raritan Valley Community College in North Branch, NJ.

The symposium will begin with registration at 8:30 a.m., followed by the program at 9 a.m., in Rooms 2536-38. It is free and open to the public.

Advanced registration is required for the symposium, and may be accomplished by visiting the college’s website, or by calling Joe Badgley, executive dean of academic affairs, at 424-8242.

'Unauthorized' Americans

By John Hickey
The recent congressional focus on illegal immigration, and the resulting well-organized (peaceful) mass demonstrations by hundreds of thousands of Latinos across dozens of American cities, have brought attention to the collapse of U.S. immigration policy.

Official U.S. immigration policy is being made irrelevant by a rapid and massive increase in illegal immigration. Widely accepted research of the Pew Hispanic Center, a nonpartisan research organization supported by the Pew Charitable Trusts, indicates that since 2000 there has been a 40 percent increase in the number of illegal immigrants in the United States, while the U.S. population, by Census figures, has increased by only 6 percent. “Growth in the unauthorized population has averaged more than 500,000 per year,” the Pew Center says, estimating that there are now approximately 12 million illegal immigrants (“unauthorized migrants”) in the United States.

Most of these 12 million illegal immigrants, the Center says, come from Mexico (56 percent) and from other Latin American countries (22 percent). Nine million people from Latin America, in other words, are in this country illegally. The total population of the United States is a little less than 300 million. So, according to this respected research foundation, three out of every hundred people in the United States are illegal immigrants from Latin America. (The overall Hispanic population, documented and undocumented, as measured by the Census Bureau, grew by 60 percent in the 1990s and is now estimated to be 14 percent of the total U.S. population.)

From 1992 to 2004, says the Center, “The unauthorized share of immigration inflows increased and the share that was legal decreased. By the end of the period, more unauthorized migrants than authorized immigrants were entering the United States.” By 2005, says the Center, “unauthorized migrants” made up a greater proportion of the U.S.’s foreign-born population than legal permanent residents.

The Pew Center estimates that, between 2000 and 2005, the number of unauthorized migrants in the United States from Mexico and other Central American countries increased by about 2 million. From Mexico alone, the number of unauthorized migrants increased by 1.5 million in those five years. In other words, 400,000 undocumented immigrants per year are entering the United States from Central America, and 300,000 of those are coming from Mexico.

The Congressional Research Service, a branch of the Library of Congress, says that legal immigration is limited to a yearly worldwide cap of 675,000, not including refugees, with a yearly per-country ceiling of 25,620 immigrants per year.


Including refugees, U.S. policy authorizes about a million immigrants per year, and restricts legal immigration from any one nation to fewer than 26,000 people, but, illegally, 300,000 migrants a year are coming into the United States from the nation of Mexico alone.


The 9 million illegal immigrants who are in this country from Latin America have a great economic, cultural, and political impact on the United States, and will have a greater impact in the future.

Their children born in the United States are, by birthright, U.S. citizens, with special rights to sponsor the future legal immigration of spouses and other family members. U.S. citizens who are citizens by virtue of being born in this country to immigrant parents are, as a group, more likely than other citizens to be the sponsors of further immigration from their parents’ country of origin, so the 400,000 yearly undocumented immigrants coming from Central America and the 9 million undocumented Latin American immigrants they join here are likely to have a great effect, through their children, on legal immigration in the future.

Most legal immigrants to the United States are admitted, says the Congressional Research Service, “because of family relationship to a U.S. citizen or [legal] immigrant. Of the almost 800,000 legal immigrants [including refugees, in fiscal year 1997], 67 percent entered on the basis of family ties. Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens made up the single largest group of immigrants. Family preference immigrants - the spouses and children of immigrants, the adult children of U.S. citizens, and the siblings of adult U.S. citizens - were the second largest group.”

If the 12 million unauthorized migrants who are in this country are granted amnesty and citizenship, they will not have to wait for their children to become adults to sponsor new legal immigration. Those 12 million newly authorized citizens will themselves immediately have rights to sponsor immigration from their countries of origin. New legal immigrants from Latin America may be sponsored in numbers which are multiples of 9 million; or perhaps multiples of 10 million or more, if amnesty and citizenship is also eventually granted to the 500,000 unauthorized migrants currently entering the United States each year.

Immigration: Policy by Neglect

Opinion
By John Hickey
For the United States to allow illegal immigration from Latin America to continue unchecked at current levels amounts to setting, by neglect, an immigration policy which is changing America in ways we might not choose.

One of the goals of U.S. immigration policy is “to ensure diversity by providing admission to people from countries with historically low rates of immigration to the United States,” according to the congressional publication Immigration Policy in the United States.

But if new immigrants from European, African, and Asian nations are to have an influence on this country comparable to the new Latin American immigrant influence, the United States would have to increase the legal immigration from those nations to a level which would dwarf America’s existing population, or reduce the actual levels of Latin American illegal immigration.

Congressional attempts to grapple with illegal immigration have been beset by pressure from several directions. The 9 million undocumented Latino immigrants who make up 75 percent of the illegal immigrants in this country are exerting political pressure for amnesty which would give them legal status. Their cause is popular with many Latino citizens and is supported by Latino politicians and cultural leaders, including the Spanish-language radio talk-show hosts who are said to have brought out hundreds of thousands of demonstrators recently. Amnesty is also supported by the employers of illegal workers, who want low-wage, hard-working workers and want to avoid becoming the enforcers of national immigration laws. Some of these businesspeople make campaign contributions to Republican legislators, who have espoused their cause as a business issue.

Some Republicans, however, cannot justify to their constituents the support of amnesty. And some constituencies on the Democratic side are also opposed to amnesty. Many African-American and other politicians see illegal immigration as a threat to wages and jobs for their constituents.

Congress is trying to find a consensus. My sense is that amnesty will only fly if legislators and their constituents are convinced that future illegal immigration will be dramatically reduced. And that can only happen if we take measures we don’t yet seem to have the stomach for. Adequate enforcement will require every employer in the country to go through yet another layer of red tape in keeping records of every employee’s citizenship documentation. And we probably need a national photo identity card, which in states like West Virginia, where I live, evokes in some people fears of “the mark of the beast.”

Some, concerned that America remain an English-speaking country with roots in English history, culture, and law, fear the cultural shift that would result from legal status being granted to 12 million unauthorized migrants, more than 9 million of whom come from non-English-speaking countries.

Many from European or African or Asian backgrounds don’t want immigrants from their own cultures of origin blocked from immigration because someone else sneaked in first, especially if the people that got in will radically change the culture they live in.

Some have security concerns. We want people to be here legally and transparently because of the security risk inherent in the presence of large numbers of people who are hiding from the law and helping other people to hide from the law.

Across the spectrum, many are torn by genuine issues of fairness. We don’t want to use laws to punish hard-working immigrants who just want to help their families. On the other hand, we want immigration to be a fair and legal process that doesn’t just reward cheaters, but reflects a considered policy formulated by our elected representatives.

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Nasuruddin on Malay Theatre

By Anthony Sellers
Fulbright Scholar, Mohamed Ghouse Nasuruddin will be the featured presenter April 25 and 27 as part of the Humanities Division’s Speaker Series. He will be visiting Ohio University and the University of California at Riverside.

Nasuruddin was in residence at WVUP during the spring semester of 2003. He has earned a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Malaya in Malaysia, as well as a Master’s and Ph.D. in Drama and Theatre from Indiana University in Bloomington. Currently, Nasuruddin is a teacher at the Universiti Sains Malaysia (the Science University of Malaysia), located in Penang.

Nasuruddin’s presentation on April 25 will cover traditional Malay theatre in context of 21st Century Malaysia. He will discuss the forms of theatre, their general characteristics, and performance elements. Nasuruddin will discuss the threats to their existence, as well as give a brief historical background. The presentation is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m.

On April 27, Nasuruddin will present a lecture and demonstration on Malay dance that is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m.

Both presentations will be free of charge and open to the public. The presentations will be held in Rooms 2536-38.

Harris in Philadelphia

By Betsy Curry
Instructor of Speech Barbara Harris will be among six presenters discussing “Transforming Communication and Community: Forensics and Its Communities,” at the Eastern Communication Association’s 2006 annual meeting in Philadelphia.

Harris, coach of WVUP’s forensics team, has recognized over the years the transformation that occurs in students as they participate in forensic activities. During April 26-30, she will examine and share specific examples in which forensics and her forensic students have served to help transform the various communities in which they interact with – the squad, the forensic circuit, the campus community, and the communities where they live and work.

This marks the 97th annual meeting of the ECA. This year’s theme for the event is “Transforming Communication and Community,” which is brought about to encourage those involved to make a difference in their community and to help apply effective communication skills needed to create positive change.

The Eastern Communication Association, established in 1910, lays claim to be the oldest professional communication association in the United States. The Association has a history of achievement in research, criticism, communication theory, and excellence in teaching. ECA welcomes anyone who shares in their goals and objectives to participate in state, regional and national activities.

New Sigma Beta Delta Members

By Betsy Curry
Sigma Beta Delta, WVUP’s business honor society, has inducted six new members. Chapter President Sy Sarkarat, chair of the college’s Business and Economics Division, welcomed the new members. Bob McCoy, chapter vice president and professor of business, conducted the national honorary society initiation ceremony held on campus.

New members of Sigma Beta Delta include Cynthia Lynn Allen, Mamye Kay Dunn, Rose Etta Kozak, Greg Osburn, Chad Sullivan and Paul A. Welch. Each student received certificates, pins and honor cords, which may be worn during graduation.

Sigma Beta Delta is an international honor society for Business, Management and Administration. The society serves institutions which offer baccalaureate and graduate degrees in business, management and administration. The honor society is open to college students who represent the top 15 percent of their class and are recommended by their academic advisors.

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Travel Class at CCCE

By Betsy Curry
WVUP’s Center for Corporate and Community Education, along with the WVUP Office of International Education and Travel, will hold a series of classes for area residents interested in international travel, specifically those traveling with an interest in art.

The classes are currently in session, but the third class in the series will be held at the Center for Corporate and Community Education April 24 at 7 p.m. Each class comes with a $10 fee.

Beth Sears-Cox, WVUP’s assistant professor of art, will instruct the class series. Cox will share her special insights along with considerations and introductions to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and The Louvre in Paris. Both exhibits are scheduled to be part of this summer’s study abroad experience.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is considered the most popular tourist site in New York City. The museum, according to the MMA homepage, receives more visitors than the Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, the Statue of Liberty, the Mets or the Yankees. The MMA is the largest museum in the Western Hemisphere.

The Louvre in Paris opened its doors in 1793, laying host to magnificent artwork for over 200 years. Louvre, the most famous museum appeals to nearly 6 million visitors every year according to the museum’s website. The museum is home to 35,000 works of art. The Louvre’s featured exhibit this summer, is Islamic Art, “Treasury of the World Jeweled Arts of India in the Age of the Mughals.”

Anyone interested in registering, contact Mary Beth Busch, director of Workforce and Community Education and coordinator of International Education and Travel at (304) 424- 8276.

Backdoor Comedy Club

By Delano Farley
The Backdoor Comedy Club returned to WVUP after a two-year hiatus with comedians Randy Riggle and Josh Wade performing before a diversified crowd of students, faculty, and community members. The event was a success – and it was funny, too.

Riggle, of Pittsburgh, has performed in the ABC sketch comedy show and America’s Funniest People, and has written acts for comedians Jay Leno and Joan Rivers. At WVUP, Riggle used a variety of formats, including background music with an imaginary typewriter and a six-string acoustic guitar for musical impersonations.

The Pennsylvania native and Penn State University graduate warmed the crowd up with an opening act of entertainment that included near-perfect impersonations of musicians Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan as well as the well-known cartoon characters Elmer Fudd and Bullwinkle the Moose. His act was clean and appropriate for nearly all in attendance in the audience and acted as a smooth beginning for the transition into the act of sarcastic standup comedian Josh Wade of New York.

Wade, a comedian who regularly entertains on the New York comedy circuit, entertained the crowd with a more aggressive approach of standup comedy that included some profanity in his act. The comedian aimed most of his performing criteria at himself and his own experiences, but also used the audience in attendance within his performance to create a laugh.

Alcohol Awareness Day

By Jasmine Delane
On April 6, Alcohol Awareness Day, students and faculty gained knowledge about the effects of alcohol on the human body. The activities started at 10 a.m. and lasted until 3:30 p.m.

Throughout most of the day in the Multipurpose Room, individuals were able to participate in various activities such as a sobriety check and walking around wearing drunk goggles. People had the opportunity to listen to heart-filled stories from students about how alcohol has influenced and affected their lives.

At noon, individuals were able to make up a team of cheerleaders to cheer on health, fitness, and wellness. Downstairs in the Math Lab, people were able to visit a virtual bar and find out what they did not know about alcohol. Alcohol Awareness Day was a great success. It helped many people learn things that they did not know about alcohol.

Textbooks Available for Summer

By Rachel Nowery
Textbooks will be available for summer classes beginning May 8 in the Campus Bookstore. Online ordering will also be available at that time for direct shipping to your home or instore pick-up at www.wvupbkstore.com.

Because of the short time-frame for financial aid disbursements, students will not be able to charge to their SFA loans and grants for summer textbooks. Other third-party financial aid recipients (i.e. WIA, TAA, Voc, Rehab, Worker’s Comp, etc.) will be allowed to charge books and supplies until July 6 as long as the Bookstore has received an official authorization from the organization.

The Bookstore will be open late June 6 and June 8 until 7 p.m. to accommodate night class students. In addition, the Bookstore will be buying back some selected textbook titles at the end of each summer session June 30 and July 28.

Buyback Time

By Rachel Nowery
The end of the spring semester is soon approaching and that means it is buyback time once again in the Campus Bookstore. When students are finished with textbooks after semester exams, they can stop by the Bookstore and sell their textbooks back for cash!

The bookstore will pay 50 percent of the selling price back to the student if it meets certain requirements. Buyback guidelines are as follows: the book will be used again in the upcoming summer or fall semesters, the book is in good condition, without excessive highlighting, no water damage, and including all components (i.e. CDs), and quantities are needed for the upcoming class enrollment.

The bookstore will also pay wholesale prices everyday for books not being used on our campus. Wholesale price is determined by supply and demand of the title in a national used book market. Please remember that old editions, out of print titles, and some workbooks have no value.

Bookstore hours will be extended the week of finals May 1 through May 4 from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Regular hours will be observed May 5 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Throw Away Your Books!

By Jessica Milhoan
With summer approaching, the weather is getting warmer, days are getting longer, and school is getting harder. Individuals attending college and working themselves through their responsibilities are becoming victims of stress. School is a full time job in itself. Having to pick what a person wants to do with his life and trying to make the right choices is no easy task for anyone. Most students have a job outside of school as well, making things that much more difficult. The ability to perform at work and make good grades could eventually suffer. What happened to the times when people had the summer months to do as they pleased and their entire life did not ride on one midterm exam score?

Stress is a frightening and unhealthy thing for people. Taking on so many tasks and responsibilities is robbing us of our light-hearted disposition. Will it ever stop? Why should a person be in such a hurry to grow up? There are plenty of jobs out there. The school is here and will be for a long time. This summer should be full of making the best out of life and not over doing it.

Seeing people 20-years-old and even younger with no time for themselves and no personal lives due to work and school has long been a concern. It has been proven that an education will get people a long way in life. However, if one is not happy with his schedule and the way things go, he will not have the energy to put into one or the other. They will lose momentum and eventually everything will suffer.

College students, young or not, should have enough time outside of work and school to do normal things for themselves. So this summer, throw away your books and notebooks, plan stress-free outings, and leave the worries of school behind until next semester.

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Final Fantasy VII Movie

By Chris Carez
Since its release in June 1997, fans of the hit Playstation game Final Fantasy VII have grown in vast numbers. When word spread that Square -now Square Enix - which developed the game, was planning to make a movie, the reaction was mixed. Many fans wondered if the company should even touch something that many felt was perfect as it was. The game mixed a stellar story with, at that time, amazing visuals. It is still considered one of the best Final Fantasy games to date.

Final Fantasy VII follows the story of ex-Soldier Cloud Strife as he struggles with faulty memories of his past. On his journey to discover the truth about the past he makes quite a few friends that help him in the many battles that follow. The game itself is a RPG, a Role-Playing Game, as many of the Final Fantasy games are. The player assembles a party of three characters out of Cloud and his friends. The game’s main villain is a dark character, who is also part of Cloud’s past, Sephiroth. Sephiroth, like Cloud, is an ex-Soldier. Since the game’s release, Sephiroth has become one of the most popular character from any of the Final Fantasy series.

The film, titled Final Fantasy: Advent Children, has already been released in Japan and many American fans either downloaded or imported the film to America so they could watch it. After months of worrying about what the film was going to be like, the fans had their answer. Some liked it and some did not. Those that liked it claimed the story was lacking. Fans of the game were spoiled by its powerful story. While the story is hard to follow at times, it helps if the viewer recently played the game.

The American version will be released April 25, on DVD and UMD. The English-voice cast is sporting quite a few familiar names from Hollywood. Cloud is voiced by Steve Burton. Burton has a recurring role on the soap opera General Hospital. (He plays Jason Morgan.) Burton has also voiced Cloud in the highly successful Kingdom Hearts games. Other familiar celebrities lending their vocal talents are Mena Suvari, voice of Aeris Gainsborough, and Rachael Leigh Cook, voice of Tifa Lockhart. The movie is an excellent Final Fantasy experience and the visuals will blow viewers away.

Ice Age 2 Fun for All Ages

By Rachel Nowery
Being a big kid at heart, I love children’s movies. From the creation of Mickey Mouse and Snow White by Walt Disney to DreamWorks creation of the loveable ogre, Shrek, kid’s movies are just awesome for not only kids, but also kids of all ages. “Ice Age 2: The Meltdown” is no exception. The movie is right on par with the 2002 original, brisk, pleasant and loaded with slapstick that should keep audiences laughing.

The vocal trio of the original, two thirds droll and dour with Ray Ramano (Manny the Mammoth) and Denis Leary (Diego the Sabbortooth tiger), and one third babbling whirlwind, John Leguizamo (Sid the Sloth), is smartly enlivened through the newest addition of Queen Latifah (Ellie the Mammoth).

But it’s those moments with Scrat, whose bleats, grunts, howls, and yelps are voiced with inarticulate glee by “Ice Age” director Chris Wedge, that are the most memorable, just as they are in the original flick.

Scrat stars in the opening sequence and was greeted with laughter and applause from the audience. This little part-squirrel, part-rodent creature is the Darth Vader of this franchise; the supporting player who upstages the top-billed talent with his manic antics to secure his precious acorn.

Ice Age 2, in most people’s and critic’s opinion was better than the first film. Granted, in the movie there is more use of profanity than in the first one. The movie is a basic “feel good” movie. This is a wonderful movie to spend a Saturday and take the whole family to see.

Rascal Flatts Release

By Rachel Nowery
Rascal Flatts, country’s hottest singing group, released their fourth album April 4. This much-awaited CD, titled Me and My Gang, includes thirteen new songs, including their latest release that is topping the charts:‘What Hurts The Most.’

The CD also includes a “silly” song along with the more serious ones. The song ‘Backwards’ recycles the old joke of “what happens when you play a country music record backwards? The punch line being “Ya get your house back/Ya get your dog back/You get your first and second wife back”

To this writer and loyal fan’s surprise, Me and My Gang does not include the song ‘Skin (for Sara Beth)’. This song portrays a girl who is diagnosed with cancer and as she deals with all the pain, chemotherapy, and turmoil, she still dreams and wishes to find true love. This song was a huge hit for the band and was expected to be on the album. Evidently, either the band or the record company disagreed with this and therefore, it was not placed on this CD.

Rascal Flatts’ third album, Feels Like Today, was labeled triple platinum by October 2005. Me and My Gang has high expectations to meet, but with the band’s success, this is not a far off stretch. Rascal Flatts still continues to deliver exactly what their fans have come to love and expect and that is a virtue. This solid-as-a-rock album proves the band is here for the long haul.

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Lebron Lifts Cavs; MVP in Sight

By Heath Bloxton
The Cleveland Cavaliers have already locked up a spot in the 2006 NBA playoffs. The Cavaliers incredible season would not have been made possible without their star youngster, Lebron James.

Lebron James is currently playing in his third year as an NBA player. The 21-year-old superstar is averaging around 32 points per game on a team that was not supposed to be that great. James is not only being recognized for his team’s success; James has vaulted himself into the chase for the NBA’s MVP award.

James has also shown his durability this season by leading the NBA in most games played and is second in minutes played per game. Lebron has also stepped up for the Cavaliers when they needed it most. He has hit several game-winning jumpers that led to the team being very confident in giving him the ball.

Despite his individual success, James has clearly stated that, until his team has won an NBA championship, his personal success does not mean anything. James is a very classy player who plays in a league that lacks that particular quality.

Penguin Phenom Shines

By Heath Bloxton
An 18-year-old kid named Sidney Crosby has given Pittsburgh Penguin fans a reason to be optimistic. Despite another losing season by the Pens, Crosby has emerged into a rookie sensation for the young club.

Coming into the season, Crosby was expected to do well because he was the first pick for the Penguins in the draft. However, he has exceeded those expectations by compiling one of the greatest seasons by arookie in the history of the franchise. Crosby has seemed to fit right in with the top players in the league. He is a scoring machine from the center position and plays very aggressive defense.

Crosby probably will not win the rookie scoring title this year because another great rookie, Alexander Ovechkin, has matched him step-for-step. Ovechkin is two years older than Crosby is and has taken almost 130 more shots than the Pittsburgh rookie has.

While Penguin fans say goodbye to the retired Mario Lemieux, they have adopted a new star that will have plenty of time to evolve into another hockey great.

Nehlen Receives Recognition

By Delano Farley
Don Nehlen, WVU’s winningest football coach, was recently elected into the West Virginia Sports Hall of Fame, and fittingly so. The man not only earned the credit he deserves, he earned it the old-fashioned way.

Nehlen’s philosophy of having solid linemen and keeping a stable of running backs was as clear in technique as his approach to the game. The old fashioned “keep it on the ground” and the “three yards and a cloud of dust” theories were witnessed nearly every game day. However, that style of play earned him his dues as it proved to be successful for him and the teams he coached.

He will be inducted on Sunday, May 7, at the West Virginia Sports Writers Association’s 60th annual Victory Awards dinner. Nehlen’s tenure as head coach of the Mountaineer football team was highlighted by two undefeated seasons (1988, 1993) and a national championship game appearance versus Notre Dame in January 1989. In 1982, Nehlen took an underrated Mountaineer football squad to Oklahoma University to play the highly ranked Sooners. The Mountaineers were not supposed to win that game. But they did, and in convincing fashion. That was not only the beginning of what WVU football is today, but also it was a stepping-stone in Nehlen’s career.

Nehlen recorded 53 wins at Bowling Green University in nine years, and then served a three-year assistantship as recruiting coordinator and quarterback coach at Michigan University under the legendary Bo Schembechler.

The Canton, Ohio, native posted 149 wins during his 21 years at WVU. He guided WVU teams to 17 winning seasons and 13 bowls. His career record of 202 wins over 30 years ranked him fifth among active coaches when he retired in 2001.

Nehlen had 15 All American first-team selections of which six made Academic All American first teams. Eighty-three of his student athletes went on to play professional football. This past December, Nehlen was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in New York City. He is also a member of the WVU; Bowling Green; Gator Bowl; MAC; and Canton, Ohio, Baseball Old-Timers halls of fame.

Football Change up to WVBOE

By Delano Farley
There could be a new format of operation in the high school football system of the West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission (WVSSAC) in 2007.

The Commission’s Board of Control accepted a proposal by Christine Carder, the principal at Wheeling Park High School, Tuesday, April 4, when the state’s high school principals passed a plan to change the nearly 50-year old format that has been in place since 1958.

If the proposal passes the vote of the State Board of Education, a new class AAAA will be created for football; private schools like Parkersburg Catholic will be moved to a private class (the new “AP” division); and every high school football team in the state will participate in post-season play.

Wheeling Park Athletic Director Bernie Dolan appeared to be in support of the proposal. Dolan was quoted by the Associated Press as stating, “That’s an advantage West Virginia has over everybody else. We are small enough to do things other states can’t.”

Currently the system has three class specifications in A, AA and AAA. Class A represents the small schools, the big schools make up AAA, and the rest fall into the AA section. The class any school participates in is determined through the school’s enrollment.

The proposal is aimed at tightening the gap in school size within each classification of the sport. It would also allow each school an opportunity to earn more revenue from the sport with an additional playoff game for everyone.

The proposal at first did not pass the Secondary School Activities Commission’s Board of Control, failing by a 73-72 vote, but a recount of votes garnered an 84-69 count in favor of the proposal. The West Virginia State Board of Education will have the final say as to whether or not the scope of Mountain State high school football will take a new form starting in 2007.

Faces Change at PSHS

By Delano Farley
Parkersburg South High School Patriots athletics has made leaps and bounds from the past to the present. A school once dominated in nearly every sport by its cross-town rival Parkersburg High School has come full circle to become fully respected statewide in nearly every sport.

But the situation at the Patriots fort is changing again and resignations are the reason. With resignations from athletic director John Flint, football coach Mike DeVol, wrestling coach Tim McCartney, and volleyball coach Tammy Fisher, it is pretty obvious there will be a different look to Parkersburg South athletics, at least on the sidelines if not on the field.

Championships in sports like wrestling and football, including the inner-city championships, have come from the long and stressful efforts of many in the position of athletic director and coach. They have been the leaders to success. They have expended blood, sweat and tears to help build their athletic powerhouses.

With many new faces entering the athletic program, there may be reason to wonder if their successors can achieve as much as the present group has. In the meantime, whether it is a slow transition or fast transition for the new faces, the outgoing group deserves a lot of the credit for what Parkersburg South is today – an athletic high school program respected throughout the state of West Virginia.

Each individual deserves credit from everyone interested in high school sports, Patriot fan or not. They have helped build Cinderella teams into what every sports fanatic hopes for: blue chip programs.

Golf Tourney April 20

By Rachel Nowery
Student Activities will host a Golf Tourney April 20 at 1 p.m. at the Golf Club of West Virginia. The cost is $10 for nine holes and cart. For more information or to sign up see Tom in Office 1535A or call 424-8309.

Fly Fishing Class

By Rachel Nowery
Introduction to Fly Fishing, a class that started on April 6, will run through May 25. Classes start at 7 p.m. and last until 10 p.m. There is a $115 registration fee. The fee includes textbook and first year membership to the Blennerhassett Chapter of Trout Unlimited (a $35 value). The class meets in the Center for Corporate and Community Education, Room B. For more information or to register, contact Becky at 424-8275.

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WVU Session April 24

By Katy Full
The West Virginia University Extended Learning Office will host the annual Spring Information Session on April 24 in the Multipurpose Room. If interested in earning a degree with a national reputation, individuals should go to the three-hour session beginning at 3:30 p.m.

Attending students will be presented with a list of online and off-campus programs offered through WVU Morgantown, with many of the courses available at WVUP. Particular existing classes lead towards graduate and undergraduate degrees, as well as Continuing and Professional Education. The class schedule will be available to students on April 24.

Students may be curious as to why the Spring Information Session “is for you.” An important point is that excellent programs are being made available to WVU Parkersburg students. WVU Morgantown’s degrees are nationally recognized. What’s more, the North Central Association of School and Colleges accredit WVU for having many degree programs holding specialized accreditation.

Another “plus” is the engaging faculty. Many professors in the distance learning programs have won university, state, and national teaching awards.

Honors College

By Chris Carez
The WVUP Honors College is a serious step towards improving students learning. The Honors College provides enhanced learning to students who are interested in the program. Admission is easy. Any student with a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or better is automatically a member of the Honors College. Students who are members can request honor credit that their professors designate for Honor Faculty members. Students doing so must have this done in the first week of their classes. Anyone with a grade point average between 3.2 and 3.5 may apply for provisional admittance to the Honors College.

When students qualify for honors credit, they enter into a special arrangement with the faculty member they are attaining the credit from. This arrangement requires the student to complete a project related to the course they are taking. Students must complete a minimum of 15 hours of honors credit; three of these hours must be outside the student’s major. Students must also submit an honors portfolio to the Honors Council and complete the Honors Capstone Experience. Students must also maintain a 3.2 grade point average.

There are five Academic Honors Societies here at WVUP: Alpha Upsilon Alpha, a national reading/language arts society; Delta Psi Omega, an honorary dramatic society; Kappa Delta Pi, an international honorary society in education; Phi Theta Kappa, a national honorary society for students in two-year colleges; and Sigma Beta Delta, a national honor society in business. Each offers a broad variety of opportunities for students and have each their own requirements for admittance.

A great source of information for those interested in the program is the Honors College web site. On the web site, students can learn about many other aspects of the Honors College, such as which instructors are part of the Honors Faculty. There is also a list of the Honors Council. For more information, contact Professor Gregg Busch, Director of the Honors College, in Room 1025B.

Higher ACT Requirements

By Anthony Sellers
The West Virginia Council for Community and Technical College Education approved a change that will raise the minimum ACT Composite score for those applying to the Nursing Department.

For applicants coming out of high school who have maintained a high school GPA of 2.5 or higher and have taken and completed Chemistry 111 with a grade of “C” or higher, a minimum ACT composite score of 23 must be earned. The previous minimum score was 21.

For college students applying, a GPA of 2.5, as well as a GPA of 2.5 in English 101, Psychology 101, Sociology 101, and Chemistry 111, a minimum score of 19 must be earned. The previous minimum score was 18.

Nursing Pinning Ceremony

By Anthony Sellers
The Nursing Program’s Pinning Ceremony will be held May 12 at 7:00 p.m. in the Multipurpose Room. The ceremony is being held for those students who are graduating from the program.

In addition, Cheryl Robinson will be holding CPR classes for nursing students on June 6, 7, and 21-23 at 9 a.m. in Room 2536. The public is permitted to join, providing there are extra openings.

On May 3, the Nursing program will hold an information session at 2 p.m. for new nursing students. Students who attend this meeting are also required to attend the orientation meeting on Aug. 16 at 8:30 a.m. For more information, contact the Health Sciences Division at 424-8300.

Children’s Author Visits

By Jasmine Delane
Sarah Sullivan, children’s book author, will be coming to the West Virginia University at Parkersburg campus on the morning of Tuesday April 25. She will be visiting Professor Dottie Bibbee’s Children’s Literature class to speak about publication and writing for children. Anyone who would like to see her is welcome. This will be from 9:30 – 10:45 a.m. in Rooms 2536 - 2538.

Sullivan has had two children’s books published this year: Root Beer and Banana, with illustrations by Greg Shed, and Dear Baby: Letters from Your Big Brother, with illustrations done by Paul Meisel. Candlewick Press published both of these books. For more information on this author, you can visit her, at www.sarahsullivanbooks.com.

Register Now for Childcare

By Diana Williams
Sue Burge, an employee of The Children’s Room at WVUP, says “the children had a really good time this semester. They really enjoyed singing at the Multicultural Festival.” The children participated in the event with guest leader Hannah Williams. They sang a song called the Tooty Ta Song.

The Children’s Room will be open for summer from 7:30 a.m. through 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Register now for childcare during the summer sessions.

Fall registration for childcare will begin the week before classes resume. Information can be obtained by contacting the Children’s Room at 424-8311.