the chronicle @ wvu parkersburg volume #44 no. 12

ChronicleThe

at WVU Parkersburg

May 1, 2014 Volume #44 No. 12

Inside this Issue

New SGA, Page: 3

Maggie Berdine, Page: 6-7

Bayou Blues, Page: 9

Reviews, Page: 10-11

Pie-in-the-FaceAuctionFaculty Senate and Staff Council joined efforts to put a pie in the face of 22 different individuals on campus. Vice President of Student Services Anthony Underwood (pied by Registrar

Leslie Sims) was the big ticket winner at $210. Dave White, director of facilities, took the

hardest hit and most chocolate with his $80 bid from President Marie Gnage. Outgoing SGA

President Tyler Ohrn raised quite a bit from his speech and debate advisor Kim Korscmarsos

at $160. Tyler then took his turn smashing the face of the newly-elected SGA President Ryan Garrett. Even the Riverhawk made an appearance, smashing Matthew Santer in the face. The faculty member garnering the most funds was Torie Jackson of journalism and

public relations. Her students pooled together $170. Watch for a dunking booth fund raiser

for faculty and staff in the fall semester.

The Goal — $1,200The Tally — $1,478

The Chronicle at WVU ParkersburgMay 1, 2013

ChronicleThe

at WVU Parkersburg

News Editor: Jeremy HarrisonAsst. News Editors: Justina Morris & Candice HoalcraftNews Reporting/Photography Staff: Kyle NicholsCora TiddShelby ThomasDaniel JacksonJason RossErika DavisRachael GantWhitney Liotti

Layout Editor: Corrissa WilliamsAsst. Layout Editor: Macie LynchLayout Staff: Shelby ThomasJeremy Harrison Jessica ThompsonTessa McAteeMacie LynchHannah DuffieldCandice HoalcraftCarle StewartMegan ValentineTia GoodrichAmanda HendricksTonya MarksBreyer White

[email protected] find us on Facebook & Twitter

@wvupchronicleAdvisor: Torie Jackson

Jacob AdkinsMegan NewlandAllison HilberKristiana HuntJason RossKyle NicholsJustina MorrisCora TiddJason WalkerKelly BozemanDaniel JacksonShalee Lathey

Tessa McAteeHannah DuffieldTia GoodrichMegan ValentineAllison HilberMegan NewlandAmanda Hendricks

Volume 44Produced by students of WVU Parkersburg

by Rachael Gant The Student Government Association is expected to make some changes in the upcoming year. With the former president stepping down and the new president taking over, some new ideas are in the works. “One of our goals for next year is to get the ball rolling in helping develop the two spaces in the downtown c e n t e r , ” C u r r e n t Vi c e President of Communication Brandon Cooper said. The downtown center currently holds the culinary ar ts program that only occupies one out of the three buildings owned by the college. The Student Government Association President-elect Ryan Garrett and Cooper are trying to help the administration decide on what to develop in the other two buildings. Apart from Garrett being the new president, SGA underwent some new changes in their positions on almost everyone. For 2014-15 the Vice President of Communications is Matthew Roberts, the Vice President of Finance is Brandon Cooper, the

A Changing of the Guard “This has been an exciting year to be

involved with Student Government. We've

seen a great increase in our membership

and tackled a number of important

policy issues. I've greatly enjoyed serving

as President and have full confidence in

Ryan's new administration.”

-Tyler OhrnVice President of JCC is Annette Bennett, Community Service Director is Nichole Milliren, and the Student Safety and Facilities Director is Gregory “Allen” Wood. Also, the new senators are Bill Bell, Jared Towner, William Victory, Chelsea Johnson, Megan Westbrook and Bayley McKay. For next year, Cooper ’s main goals are to reach out to students and get them to be more interactive with not only SGA, but also every other club on campus. He wants to incorporate more laid back small activities that students can attend at random. SGA does not hold activities, but the members help the clubs that do host activities. Through this, students can see the people from SGA and what they do to get a better idea of what SGA does. W h e n i t c o m e s t o t h e downtown buildings, Cooper would like to see them occupied in some way. “The idea of a business incubator or a retail business has been tossed around for the past year since we bought the property, but there’s no headway on it,” Cooper explained. Cooper believes that it has the potential to gain new students and progress in the next couple of years. “I actually see SGA being known and being something that

people know. When I came here, I didn’t know there was a student government. I expect us to double in size in the next couple of years.” Cooper wants the students to know that SGA is for both the students and the administration. He mentioned that some students are apprehensive to walk in the SGA office when they have a question, or that they have to act a certain way around members. He wants to make it known that this group is easy to talk to and not “scary.” They are just students who have business majors, nursing majors or other majors and join together just like any other organization on campus. SGA meetings are held every other Monday at 11 a.m. in the community room next to the theatre. They are open to all students who are interested in joining. For more information on when SGA is holding certain events, meetings, etc. go to their website www.wvup.edu/sga or visit their Facebook page. Also, names of the current members are located on the Facebook page to ask questions or anything students might want or need. SGA can be reached at 304-424-8308 or by email at [email protected].

N e w A d d i t i o n :Charles and Hiatt Wolfe,

Rhonda Tracy's daughter and son-in-law, welcomed

Vivian Simone Wolfe

into the world on Monday, April 28. She weighed 7 lbs. 11 oz.

and was 21 inches long.

The Chronicle at WVU Parkersburg May 1, 2014

by Hannah Duffield In a society where social me-dia is popular, it is important to understand what can help deter-mine who gets the desired job when it comes to an employer hiring new help. Several do’s and don’ts apply when it comes to an online pres-ence. From Facebook privacy settings to hourly tweets, every-thing counts when it comes down

by Carlē Stewart As warmer weather arrives, the children at the Early Learn-ing Center are taking part in various activities to end the se-mester. “There are lots of things going on,” Angela Davis, pro-gram coordinator for the center said. Last Thursday the children were able to see a puppet show as well as participate in events which fol lowed. “Created by Tammy O’Neil, a student at WVU Parkersburg who was working on a Service Learning Project through Jeff Byrd, the show was about a snake and frog who play together all day long and agree to do it again the next day but when they go back and tell their families about their new friends, their families tell them they can no longer play together. It is meant

to getting the job. Jennifer Randolph, Coordi-nator of Career Services and Cooperative Education, en-courages students to create a LinkedIn profile, “LinkedIn is basically a social media presence that you want an employer to find,” Randolph said. “LinkedIn is your resume and more,” Randolph said. “You add a professional picture, you add different… items you want to show up, like your experience and education. You can upload documents, things that you’ve done, to prove your abilities and your skills.” Then you start making con-nections with people you know. “LinkedIn is all about network-ing and making connections,” Randolph said. “Those connec-

tions are like giving someone your business card and saying we’ve worked together on some-thing.” Whether job seekers have a positive or negitave social media presence, “Employers are going to look anyway when you apply for a job,” Randolph said. “And the first thing that they are going to find is your social media pro-file.” This leads to cautions about Facebook accounts and how they can help or hinder the employers make the decisions of whether to hire a student or not. “The biggest thing for students who have Facebook is to check the privacy settings,” Randolph said. “There is a way under your settings to view your page as the

public, so you can see what ev-eryone else is seeing,” Randolph said. Because, once a profile pic-ture is posted it is visible to the public unless manually changed by the user. “So the picture stays in that album and if an employer is searching for you and they click on your picture, then they start clicking that next arrow,” Ran-dolph said, “and they start going back.” “You might have gotten smart and changed your profile picture, but if they keep going back and find one from your high school days that you had posted back when you weren’t quite as con-cerned about your professional image,” Randolph said. Another word of advice Ran-dolph shared is, “Don’t ever

share anything negative or rac-ist or against other religions. Because, there is free speech, but anything you put out there and share can and will be used against you, in your public im-age.” “Google yourself,” Randolph said. “Google your name and your city and put yourself in the shoes of an employer and what would they do to try to find you.” “If you have a record and that shows up, be prepared and know that it is going to be searchable and that they are going to find it,” Randolph said. Other job seeking tips can be found at the Career Services Department’s Facebook page at, facebook.com/WVUPca-reerservices and BlogSpot at, wvupcareers.blogspot.com.

to teach children that we are all different but that doesn’t mean we can’t be friends,” Davis said. On April 23, the children participated in the Earth Day Events at WVU Parkersburg by making bird feeders they were able to take home and they also planted seeds at the center. On the front lawn and play-ground at the Early Learning Center an Easter egg hunt took place for the children on April 17. “All of the stuffed eggs were donated by Ohio Valley Health Care. We have formed a partner-ship with them and will continue to come together each month and do different activities with their residents. The children had a great time hunting eggs and there were well over 70 eggs for each classroom to hunt,” Davis said. As part of their partner-ship with Ohio Valley Health

Care, the center is going to try something with music begin-ning in May. Davis explained that the nursing home staff w i l l p l a n t h e e v e n t s a n d the children will join them. Mentioned in a previous in-terview, Davis had explained that they were going to plan summer camps for the chil-dren. Davis tells that they are still in the planning stages for those at the moment. “We had hoped to create a safety town for the children during the sum-mer but there is one offered close by so we are trying to plan other things that the chil-dren would enjoy,” she said. Currently the children are working on Mother’s Day gifts to send home. “Once the se-mester is over we will transition into summer mode and begin our summer activities. We will

be outside as much as possible over the summer,” Davis said. Davis shares that the center is accepting enrollment for sum-mer and fall. “We are filling up very quickly. We are continuing

to grow more and more every day with enrollment,” she said. If students would like to enroll their child in our center please, or for more information, con-tact Davis at 304-424-8311.

Children socializing together in the Learning Center

Social Media Can prevent job hiring

The Early Learning Center PREPLANS FOR ACTIVITIES


by Kyle Nichols B u s t l i n g p e o p l e m o v -i n g t h r o u g h o u t e a c h presentation, unique almost o t h e r w o r l d l y s c u l p t u r e s dotting along the floor and spe-cialists gesturing happily about their cause: this was Earth Day at WVU Parkersburg. The Environmental Action Group (EAG) held an Earth Day Expo in the College Activities Center on April 23 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The room was filled with in-dividual presentations, and each table hosted an individual openly speaking about ways to improve the environment. Topics varied from ways to decrease trash dumps through

by Carlē Stewart W h o d o e s n ’ t l o v e L E G O s ? S p o n s o r e d b y Kappa Delta Pi and Our Com-munity’s Foundation, the third annual LEGO Literacy Alive event took place at the Boys and Girls Club of Parkersburg on April 12. Students from education courses also helped to make the day successful. “A great deal of planning was involved for this event,” said Dr. Missy Spivy. “KDP mem-bers had to work with faculty mentors to plan their sessions. Donations had to be collected. Set up at the Boys and Girls Club also involved planning.” At the event, KDP members provided a day of workshops for the children at the Boys and Girls Club. The workshops in-corporated LEGOs and were on the following topics: Stop Mo-tion Animation, LEGO Robotics,

Poetry and LEGOs, Story Start-ers and Rotational Symmetry. The children were provided lunch and were given a bag with a LEGO book and small prizes. Numerous door prizes were given away at the end of the day provided by donations from Moe’s, Skate Country, Laser Tag, Emerson Lanes and Regal Theater. Food was donated by Little Caesar ’s, Bob Evans, Foodland and Sam’s Club. Spivy shares that every-one who attended the event seemed to really enjoy them-selves and the children at the club seemed very appreciative. “The best part of the day,” Spivy explained, “was see-ing the children so engaged in the learning process. They loved LEGOs and were inter-ested in learning more about other content areas through the use of LEGOs. The day

was very successful. All par-ticipants enjoyed the day and learned f rom each o ther.” Spivy tells that the only thing that hurt the event is that it was held as the same day as the Eas-ter parade. She says that they hope to pick a day next year that is not the same day. “We were thrilled by the support from local vendors and from Our Community’s Foundation of Parkersburg.” Spivy said. Another event inc luding LEGOs happened on March 7 by integrating STEM and the Arts into the curriculum. WVU Parkersburg hosted a workshop focused on using LEGO to incorporate Art and STEM across the curriculum. Funding for the event was provided through the Part-nership Project and a grant awarded by the Parkersburg Area Community Foundation.

Student teachers and co-o p e r a t i n g t e a c h e r s a l o n g with various students in the education program made up the over 80 participants at the event. Jeremy Metz, who was in charge of the event, explained how the day went. “The workshop consisted of five hands-on sessions where participants were able to use the various LEGO kits. The morn-ing sessions focused on using LEGO WeDo kits to make and program machines and using LEGO figures and bricks to create stop-motion animation films using iPads,” he said. One afternoon session fo-cused on implementing LEGO StoryStarter kits and the StoryVi-sualizer app to use LEGO bricks and figures as writing prompts. Another session focused on using LEGO BuildtoExpress k i t s to incorpora te LEGO

into the creation of poetry. The final session focused on ar t and math by using LEGO bricks to create a mo-saic using rotational symmetry. Students who attended the workshop are currently incor-porating the skills and strategies they learned into the classroom during their current placements. Feedback for the event has been excellent. Teachers indi-cated that this was one of the most interesting and enjoyable professional development ses-sions that they have attended. “We plan to continue to do more professional develop-ment with the LEGO kits for students and classroom teach-ers since we now have them available to us. We would like to thank all of the students and faculty that helped make the event a success,” he said.

incineration, affects of smok-ing, and games to see whether participants could match up plant species and fish with their names. The main focus of the event was clearly the personal interac-tions with the specialists at their presentations. The specialists were filled with various informa-tion and adamant about telling their cause to each individual who visited their table. A stand was also set up with various different ingredients spread out along it with two at-tendants talking about how to create environmentally friendly laundry detergent with instruc-tions and information. Another notable part of the entire event was the children’s

crafts. Set up in one side of the room was a mat which children were creating crafts out of recy-clable materials. Various sculptures were also set up along the floor that were created by local artists Zach Or-cutt and Megan Bumgardner. Right as people funneled into the room, one of the sculptures that looked like a huge red mis-sile with wheels attracted a lot of attention. People flocked around it and children touched it enthusi-astically. EAG also hosted a recycling pick up through the participation of WASPER (Waste Agency for Salvage, Pickup, and Environ-mental Recycling), a division of Hillbilly Engineering.

LEGOs Make Learning Fun For Local Kids

EAG Sponsors Earth Day Event

Kappa Delta Pi and Community Foundation Sponsor Literacy Event

Environmental Action Group Encourages Students to Improve the Environment

”“


by Tessa McAtee Maggie Berdine is saying farewell to her 43-year teaching career for a life of retirement where she hopes to discover new adventures through travel, geol-ogy and art. Berdine grew up in a small, worry-free town where she could jump on her bike and ride wher-ever she wanted. In Fairmont, W.Va., where her father worked at the First National Bank and her mother stayed at home to raise her and older sister Carole. “My favorite memory when I was growing up was just running around free. I always enjoyed be-ing outside just running around,” Berdine said. During the times before central air conditioning, Berdine would find herself on a quest to seek a cooler temperature while explor-ing everything she enjoyed. “I would sometimes, late at night, climb out the bathroom window just to go running around the neighborhood,” Berdine said. After graduating high school, Berdine went to Fairmont State College in 1964 with the intent to graduate with a Bachelor’s de-gree in Math. During 1964 IBM computers were just taking off.

She had plans of graduating col-lege and going to work for IBM. Everything was going according to plan until she had to take cal-culus. A close friend tutored her through calculus; as soon as it was over she had a meeting with her advisor regarding her switch-ing majors. The closest aligned degree was English to keep her graduating in four years. She completed her Bachelor’s in Eng-lish and decided it was time to get a master’s degree. “I had my heart set on Ohio University,” Berdine said. An advisor of hers told her that she needed to expand her mind on colleges. On a whim she applied to the University of Hawaii. The University of Hawaii paid for her airfare over; she received a graduate assistant position and a living stipend. She spent two and a half years in Hawaii and received her Master’s in English. In 1986 Berdine received her second Master’s at OU in Film Theory and Criticism During her time in Hawaii, Berdine and some friends went to visit some of the other Hawaiian Islands. While visiting Maui, she went to see the famous volcano,

I have always liked teaching in the community college system because

you can really see the change in students

Maggie as a toddler 1948

Maggie in Hawaii 1969

Song Fest 1968

Maggie’s Wedding 1986

Maggie reading with her stepson Sam 1977

Professor of English Berdine Uses


Haleakalā, and sparked an inter-est for Geology. During the year of the bicen-tennial, 1976, Berdine and a friend decided they were going to go camping across the United States for a month. They started out in Parkersburg then traveled through parts of Ohio; they had some friends in Minneapolis, then crossed the Dakotas, then went to the Badlands and the Black Hills, reached the coast in Northern California, then drove down the famous Highway 1 until making it to San Francisco. They only slept in a bed two nights in Yellowstone National Park. They arrived in San Fran-cisco on July 4. She then caught a plane back to Parkersburg. Life is an adventure. The same can be said of teaching in a com-munity college.“I have always liked teaching in the community college system because you can really see the change in stu-dents,” Berdine said. “Interacting with students has always been my favorite part of teaching.” When first starting at WVU Parkersburg, which at the time was Parkersburg Community College, she conducted the very first freshman English composi-

tion at the college. A short way through her jour-ney of teaching she found herself a bit unsatisfied. Berdine started looking for another job, while looking she was expressing to a friend her plan. “A good friend said to me, ‘Maggie if you’re going to make a big change like that, make sure you are not moving away from something but moving to some-thing.’ As a result of that search I didn’t find something I wanted to move to. The following March, I met the man that would be my husband.” Berdine met Steve during an event at the college, Heritage Days. “It seems that we just kept talking,” Berdine said. Steve Meyer, her husband, is a retired industrial engineer. Berdine also has a stepson named Sam who works for CNN. Sam is the video producer and editor for CNN and is a licensed tour guide of New York City. Berdine thanks her husband for an interest in astronomy and an interest in Blues and Jazz. They are both members of the Blues, Folk and Jazz Society. Every January there is an amateur blues competition in January. Steve is the tabulator and Maggie is the

timekeeper. In the summer they get to see their jazz friends at the Red White and Blues event at the Lafayette parking lot. The retirement agenda is full of travel, more life adventures and exploration. Berdine said, “I want to pursue my interest in geology, try my hand at drawing and travel.” Berdine plans on spending more time in her favor-ite town of Tobermory, Canada. Tobermory is at the tip of the Bruce Peninsula at Lake Heron from Georgian Bay. “It is the most amazing place,” Berdine said. Tobermory is full of nature and exploring with five prudential parks an international scuba diving center. When dis-cussing her love for exploring, Berdine said, “I could go out into the woods and just observe. I could be fascinated by mud daubers or toads or birds nests... after leaving Hawaii I had an interest in geology and going to Tobermory renewed my interest in geology.” Also on the retirement agenda she hopes to take a few classes at Marietta College to further her interest in geology and a few drawing classes at WVU Parkers-burg.

Maggie in Hawaii 1969 Maggie in the W.Va. Mountains 1985

Sorority Sisters at Myrtle Beach 1968

Super Bowl party with home-made cheeseheads 1998

Helium Singers 2005

Houseboat in Marietta, OH 1973Instructor at WVU Parkersburg

Life Travels to Educate Students


by Hannah Duffield Imagine. Job postings from all over the area collected in one place, plus a resume builder, job seeking tips and an interview scheduler all on the same soft-ware. These items plus many more are being prepared for WVU Parkersburg students in one integrative software. The program is being prepared by WVU Parkersburg’s Career Services Department and Col-lege Central Network, which will provide employers with a direct delivery system for jobs they have available to WVU Parkersburg’s graduating stu-dents. Tuesday, Apr i l 22 , sev-eral WVU Parkersburg staff members began training on the multiple facets that the new pro-gram “Career Services Central” has to offer. “We started researching a new

tool that would provide some sort of job postings,” said Jennifer Randolph, Coordinator of Career Services and Cooperative Educa-tion. The Career Services Depart-ment started looking Fall 2013 at the programs that other local col-leges used to assist their students in job seeking endeavors. And “Career Services Central” reoccurred in several of the insti-tutions, and that coupled with the many elements offered prompted the Career Services Department to select this specific job seeking software for WVU Parkersburg’s students. “The program is not just a job postings board,” Randolph said. “It will also let a student have an account; it has a resume builder, podcasts, career articles, and we-binars that students can take. So it is not just a job board.” “It is going to be a major ca-

reer services tool for us to use, but aside from that it is going to be great,” Randolph said. “They provide things like social media tips and resume building tips. They have articles prepared for us to access and use… we can tailor it for our use.” Once the program is com-pleted, students will be manually enrolled, and a mass e-mail sent to each student. The e-mail will explain what the program is, and how to set up an account. “They [the students] will have to go on and create their own password and things like that, be-cause that is private,” Randolph said. “But then they will be able to go in and work on their own account, their tool for job seek-ing.” Among many things, students will be able to integrate their so-cial media accounts (Facebook,

Twitter and LinkedIn) into their “Career Services Central” ac-count. “If they want to post resumes,” Randolph said, “it is going to be their account, their tool for jobs. Once students have their ac-counts set up and visible, the Career Services Department will work with local employers to create accounts where they can create job listings for students. WVU Parkersburg purchased the software and College Central Network is creating a tailored site for the institution. “The new program wi l l definitely be quicker and more visible than the current job post-ing method,” Randolph said. “Right now on the BlogSpot and Facebook, I manually post the job openings. But now every employer in our community can get a dozen jobs posted in one day,” Randolph said.

by Kyle Nichols Perhaps the threat of parking tickets at WVU Parkersburg seems like a veiled threat, but over 200 student accounts have been frozen before graduation. The threat is real. Around 40 student accounts have been frozen this semester and about 220 accounts have also been frozen throughout the year. The security department has

been flooded with calls pertain-ing to the frozen accounts. The students on the list will not be able to graduate or sign up for classes until the fees are paid. Normally student accounts are not frozen throughout the year because of small fees such as parking tickets, but as graduation nears, a larger freeze list is cre-ated that these fees fall under. Each student is given an op-portunity before each semester to

buy a $20 parking pass that lasts throughout each semester. At the beginning of the year, a grace period during which no tickets are given for a period of time is put in place so that new students have time to get a pass. All funds from parking fees are put into one special account for the parking lot. The funds in this account are earmarked to only be used for maintenance for the parking lot such as resurfacing,

painting new lines, security cam-eras, and other general upkeep of the parking lots. Parking at other universities is not nearly as inexpensive. At WVU, students must pay each time they choose to use the Mountaineer Station Garage. Marshall requires students to pay $155 for parking on their lots for the year. In perspective, full-time park-ing at WVU Parkersburg is $40

for the entire year without ad-ditional fees. Although accruing parking tickets seems as if it can just be pushed away, the security de-partment is definitely cracking down on this offense. Students should seriously consider paying their fees be-fore they suddenly realize that they cannot graduate or sign up for classes until the fees are completely paid.

Online Tool Opens New Career Doors for Students

STUDENTS ON NOTICE:PARKING TICKETS GETTING OUT OF HAND


by Candice Hoalcraft Whether it be the celebration of Mardi Gras or the Cajun-style food, New Orleans is a culturally rich city that is like none other. In order bring a taste of that culture to Parkersburg, W.Va., the Student Engagement Ac-tivities group sponsored “Blues on the Bayou,” an event that featured authentic New Orleans-style food and excellent blues and jazz-genre musicians for en-tertainment. The event took place at WVU Parkersburg’s Downtown Center which houses the Culinary Acad-emy with cuisine by Chef Gene Evans. The building by itself was ideal for this type of event. With the exposed brick and casual lighting, it was the epitome of modern and classy. Each table was equipped with white linens and a simple yet lovely candle centerpiece. A combination of the lighting and the building made the setting

perfect. A wide array of food was offered for each guest to experi-ence the tastes of different New Orleans dishes. From gumbo to jambalaya, the distinct flavors

were perfectly executed. It was presented in a buffet-style and each guest was welcome to as much food as they wanted. During the meal, the event fea-tured the music of David Wells, a

well-known jazz musician from Dallas, Texas. He began playing the trumpet and Flugelhorn at the age of nine. With his dad’s profession as a preacher, Wells began his profession by working as a music director at his father’s congregation. From that point, he began traveling full time to pursue his music. His immaculate talent not only resides in the music in-dustry. Wells also uses his positive words to be a motiva-tional speaker to schools around the area. Jazz music is something that isn’t represented as well in this area. Artists like David Wells help to bring that part of culture around the state. Over the span of his career, Wells released 13 albums and he plays around 150 shows per year. With the smooth sounds of the trumpet combined with the classic and melodious sounds of the piano, the music was a nice

break from the all of the main-stream music to which everyone is currently exposed. The most memorable part of the perfor-mance were the songs sang by the pianist from Athens. He has one of the best voices I had ever heard. The event overall was enjoy-able. It was something different other than the typical “dinner and a movie” Friday night. It was nice to have the opportunity to participate in something so culturally rich in our community.

Feeling the Blues on the Bayou

by Erika Davis The Veterans Resource Center gives back in more ways than one to veterans in need. Since Shawn Healy took over as the WVU Parkersburg vet-erans advocate, the center has been on a roll with getting things done, being noticed, and most importantly helping veterans. On March 2 the Veterans Re-source Center gave 25 bags to the homeless veterans around the community. The bags consisted of hygiene items donated by students, fac-

ulty, Wal-Mart, Wingate, the Criminal Justice program, the community of Vienna and the Law Firm of Jan Dills. They were donated to the Sal-vation Army, Old Man’s River, Westbrook Health and the Vet Center. Over $300 was raised by sell-ing raffle tickets for the band Old Crow Medicine Show, sell-ing smoothies, selling candy and generous donations. On April 21, the Veterans Re-source Center held their grand opening as a celebration of their new room. At the event, speakers included Anthony Underwood, Vice Presi-dent of Student Services, Chris Chiles on behalf of Senator Joe

Manchin, Healy and the presi-dent and vice president of the campus’ Veterans Corps. As the event began, Patriot Guards held flags as people en-tered and Justin Williamson opened with the Pledge of Alle-giance. Shawn Healy, Anthony Un-derwood, Chris Chiles, Justin Williamson, Jared Towner, the Marine Core League, VFW, the Patriot Guard Riders, Jan Dills, Military Recruiters, Military One Source, Veterans Service Officers and many others were in attendance. The Resource Center is grow-ing, doing more each day and receiving a lot more press. This is very beneficial to the center

because their name is getting out into the public. More and more people are noticing what the cen-ter is doing and accomplishing. The new center allows Vet-erans to study, to communicate with others and to help them deal with the stresses of life that they have went through or have over-come. Towner knows just what these Veterans go through. Towner served three tours in Iraq after attending WVU. Ac-cording to Towner, going back to school at WVU Parkersburg was a battle because he had been out of school for 10 years and was still struggling to adjust to life outside the military. According to Towner, through

the leaders at school, such as Healy, he made better decisions along the way. “I am honored to be able to work alongside such a passionate group of men and women who you can count on to help provide support for each other to succeed through the challenges of being a veteran student and a sense of camaraderie that they have been missing since leaving the mili-tary,” Healy said in his speech. Healy and the Resource Cen-ter staff would like to thank the students, faculty and everyone who helped with Homeless Vets. The donations of items and time is much appreciated in remind-ing area veterans that they are not forgotten in the local community.

Community ShowS VetS they are not ForgottenGrand Opening Celebration

of New Resource Center


by Candice Hoalcraft Mexican food is nothing short of happiness rolled up into a tortilla. From Taco Bell to local restaurants, Mexican cuisine is offered in several different vari-eties, whether it be fast food or sit-down service. Qdoba is a restaurant that of-fers the best of both worlds. It offers a nice atmosphere and higher quality options than fast food, but the service is quick. After winning over the hearts of customers in Huntington and Morgantown, the arrival of the restaurant in Marietta became quite the hype. With its location across the river, it is a bit of a drive to get there. However, if you are already in that area, it is well worth it to stop by and enjoy great food. The interior of the restaurant was simple and modern. It didn’t have a lot of in terms of décor or other decorations, but it was very nice. Simplicity speaks volumes. A common criticism with Mexican-type food is that it lacks variety. Qdoba offers several different options ranging from burritos, quesadillas, nachos and more. Breakfast burritos are also available. With each order, the customer has the option of creating their own concoction by choosing their ingredients. Chips and queso are also available and ac-

by Shelby Thomas Summer break is quickly approaching, and with it comes the extra time to grab a good book. A book I would recommend to read this summer is “The Longest Ride” by Nicholas Sparks. No spoilers, but I will give a preview of what is to come in this fabulous book. In the beginning, Ira Levinson drives up to his and his late wife’s favorite place in the world. At 91, he probably shouldn’t even be on the road. When it starts to snow and he loses control of the car, he crashes into an embankment. Sophia is a girl who is very far way from home and is in a sorority house at college. She has

by Erika Davis With summer slowly heating up, students are anxious to enjoy the sun, relax and even watch or re-watch an old time classic movie. A movie that would be ideal to pop in the DVD player and watch over and over would be the American classic “Forrest Gump.” The film was made in 1994 and based of the book. The mov-ie starred Robin Wright as Jenny Curran, Gary Sinise as Lieuten-ant Dan Taylor and Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump. The romantic comedy takes you through historic moments from Vietnam to JFK as Gump tells the story from his point of view and what he went through. Gump gets the chance to play football in college and after grad-uating, he joins the Army, where he meets Bubba Blue.

The two made plans to start their own shrimp boat business after they were discharged from the Army. That doesn’t happen as planned as Bubba dies. After Bubba dies, Gump starts the shrimp boat business anyway. Gump also helps out Bubba’s family by giving them money. Throughout the movie, Gump continually mentions the love of his life, Jenny. Gump talks about how much he loves Jenny and everything that they have done together as friends. Gump wants to marry Jenny, but she doesn’t accept his offer. That’s where one of the famous lines came from, “I’m not a smart man…but I know what love is.” Towards the end, Gump goes to visit Jenny and finds out that he has a son named Forrest. This is when Jenny tells Gump she is sick with a disease. Gump

says he will take care of her and little Forrest. In the end, they get married and raise little For-rest. Eventually Jenny’s disease claims her life. This is the perfect movie to watch over the summer. It has a little bit of everything. The classic has been watched by mil-lions of viewers and has won six Academy Awards including Best Picture. “Forrest Gump” is the type of movie that can be watched over and over and never get boring. This summer, if you haven’t had the chance to see “Forrest Gump” find a way to see it. If you have already seen it, then re-watch it. In my opinion, you will not be disappointed. Enjoy your summer with an American classic and don’t forget, “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.”

a crazy ex-boyfriend who stalks her and tries to make her jealous in every way. Luke is a bull rider and works on the farm with his mom. They work hard together to keep the farm afloat. When these three people meet they will change each other’s lives forever. I could not put this book down. I was mesmerized by the great story and the love those people share. I did cry when the book ended, and I would recommend grabbing a box of tissues towards the end of the story. The author is a well-known throughout the world. The book was written by Nicholas Sparks. He has had 17 books published, and eight of them have been turned into

movies on the big screen. Sparks was born December 31, 1965. He is married to Cathy Sparks, and together they have five children. “The Longest Ride” will be turned into a film and will be coming out next year. I was honestly very surprised that they are making the movie so soon because the book is still fairly new. I am very excited, nonetheless. Nicholas Sparks has written so many books and I have read most of them. He is very inspirational and very talented at what he does. Anyone who reads his books knows that it is hard to put the books down. Just grab the “The Longest Ride,” and enjoy the summer to come.

cording to the company website, they “make the perfect addition to any meal and yet are flavorful enough to enjoy on their own.” Qdoba also offers several a range of different salsas includ-ing pico de gallo and guacamole. A new promotion rolled out the “Quesobliss Showdown.” Cus-tomers have the option of voting for ‘Queso Diablo’ or ‘Queso Verde.’ The Diablo includes ja-lapenos and chipotles while the mild verde queso offers fresh cilantro and lime juice. My choice of nourishment was the grilled chicken quesadilla. With a perfectly grilled tortilla wrapped around fresh pico de gallo, cilantro and cheese, it was definitely satisfactory. Through-out the restaurant are stations equipped with different types of Tabasco sauce, which is a nice amenity. Although the prices are a bit high, it is worth it due to the higher quality of food. For a break in pricing every now and then, Qdoba offers a free rewards program. After receiving a cer-tain amount of points, customers can receive free entrees along with free chips and salsa when registering for the program. Overall, I was very pleased with Qdoba. However, I feel that it is almost too similar to Moe's Southwest Grill. It is a nice op-tion if you are already in the Marietta area.

Take "The Longest Ride" Over Summer Break

Run, Forrest, Run!

Marietta Welcomes A New

Way to Have Chips and Guacamole


by Cora Tidd If you’ve been looking for a book full of inspiration and heart, you’re finally in luck. From the same author who brought you “The Five People You Meet in Heaven” and “Tues-days with Morrie,” Mitch Albom returns with a heartfelt novel about the relationship between a mother and son that goes beyond life itself. “For One More Day” is about the self-redemption of one man who must face the ghosts of his past. The book takes readers to a place somewhere in the midst

of the living and the dead. In the end, it leads everyone to the same conclusion: “Every Family is a Ghost Story.” In the beginning of the novel, Charley “Chick” Benetto was told by his father, “You can be a mama’s boy or a daddy’s boy, but you can’t be both.” Chick ends up picking his father, only to be abandoned by him a few short years later. Chick’s mother is left to care for him completely on her own, despite his constant resentment of not belonging to a “normal” family. As an adult Chick is a damaged man full of regret. He turns to

alcohol to ease the pain of los-ing his mother. By doing this, he loses his job, family and life. After learning his daughter left him out of her wedding and life, Chick decides to take his own. Chick goes back to his home-town, with only the thought of suicide. After several failed at-tempts, Chick wonders to his old house, where he is welcomed back by his mother. The s to ry goes be tween Chick’s childhood memories of times his mother stood up for him and times he did not stand up for her. He learns about his mother’s secrets and sacrifices.

She helps him let go of his past guilt and get his life back in or-der. “For One More Day” can relate to all readers because everyone holds on to memories of their past — good or bad. The book leads readers to think about what they would do if they could have one more day with a someone they’ve lost. Over the years, families become like ghost stories, only being brought to life through our own reminiscence. In the end, it is a story of self-redemption that focuses on the values of love, family and, most of all, forgiveness.

by Daniel Jackson If you enjoy reading thrilling novels about the military but you have not read “The Hunt For Red October,” then there is some-thing wrong with you. “Red October,” the late Tom Clancy’s debut novel, was pub-lished in 1984 through the Naval Institute Press, the publication arm of the United States Naval Institute. It remains as its most successful book 30 years after its release. The success of the book led to the 1990 action-thriller film of the same name, starring Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin, James Earl Jones, Scott Glenn, and Sam Neill. The book is considered a techno-thriller, as it contains a large amount of subject matter of a technical nature that makes up the majority of the story’s plot. One of main differences between the book and film is the amount of technical material in both. The film has enough to keep to the spirit and subject matter of

the novel, but the novel has a lot more technical material that makes it stand out from the film. The story is about the So-viet Unions newest experimental nuclear submarine named Red October, which is equipped with a revolutionary propulsion sys-tem that allows it to move quietly and almost invisible to sonar. Equipped with nuclear weap-ons, the Red October is more than capable to launch its mis-siles at the United States and wipe it out in a devastating first strike. The commander of the Red October, Captain Marko Ramius, recognizes the threat of such a weapon. Due to its implications as well as a personal vendetta against the Soviet Union, he de-cides to defect with his officers to the United States through a carefully executed plan. This plan is one of the novels most endearing points. Through-out the first part of novel, points are made by the main characters on both sides of the hunt to show

the skill and precision that Ra-mius takes to secure the safety of his ship and his men. His officers are in on his plan, but his enlisted personnel are completely in the dark. They believe that they are just performing tests and training exercises. Ramius uses everything at his disposal to keep things this way, using a combination of threats, brute force, blatant audacity, and even relying on the ideological aspirations of his men on both sides of the conspiracy to keep the farce going. The events on the Red Octo-ber are not the only compelling developments in the story. The Hunt For Red October is also the first novel with Tom Clancy’s signature character, Jack Ryan. Jack Ryan is a CIA analyst with an interest in Marko Ra-mius. Having studied the Captain extensively as well as some ma-terial regarding the Red October, he realizes what Ramius plans to do and goes above and beyond his regular duties to help him.

The character development of Jack Ryan is another great part of the novel. You can actually tell the changes he goes through in his mission which makes him a better character. He remains a strong and compelling character throughout the story. While the “Red October” sails for America and Ryan tries to convince the government to help Ramius, the American submarine the “USS Dallas” detects the Red October and its new propulsion system and develops a way to track it. Commanded by Bart Mancuso, the Dallas keeps track of the Red October and is instrumental in helping Ryan later in the novel. This is where a lot of the techni-cal material comes into play. In the novel, the tension among the crew is nominal. It is hard to judge if the crew is under the stress of tracking the sub, or if it is just business as usual. This is really the only problem with the novel. The movie makes up for this by recreating it with

the proper tension. The three characters ultimately intertwine toward the end of the story as the books climax comes to a head and it does not disap-point. Comparing the book to the movie is difficult because both of them are incredibly good. The movie has everything it needs to keep the suspense and thrills in good supply, but lacks some of what made the novel stand out, most notably the majority of the technical stuff. The book is perfect for sus-pense and thrills but has some events that can be considered cliché or just downright cheesy. However, novels are usually al-ways more detailed than movies. These are minor things that really don’t detract anything from the novel, as these events have no impact on the story. “The Hunt For Red October” helped launch the career of Tom Clancy as well as capture the in-terest of millions of readers to a new genre of novel.

American Writer Makes A ComebackF O R O N E M O R E D A Y

“The Hunt For Red October”i s a M u s t - r e a d


by Hannah Duffield The large digital numbers slowly counted down. Three. Two. One. The buzzer rang, alerting the students that it was time to rotate to the next station. WVU Parkersburg’s Office of Career Services hosted an event on April 9, from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Circuit to Success was a job seeking skills event that taught 30 students essential concepts for interviews, social media, resume constructions and more. The event was set up in a circular fashion. The circle was made up of six different booths, which included a: Linkedin pho-to booth, resume review, mock interviews, dress for success, dining etiquette and networking. 14 local business employers were in attendance and helped run each booth. Every 20 min-utes a buzzer would sound signaling that it was time to rotate to the next booth. The rota-tion method ensured that every student had the opportunity to learn the information presented at each station. The participants gathered in the center of the circle for the last half hour of the event to par-ticipate in question and answer session between the employers and students. Answers and ad-ditional advice was freely given from the local business members. “We thought it [the event] went really well,” Coordinator of Career Services and Coopera-tive Education Jennifer Randolph

said Wednesday after the event. “It went really good for a pi-lot event. We learned a lot of things.” “I think we have laid the groundwork for an annual event like this. Now people kind of understand the concept and see the vision,” Randolph said. The event showed Office of Career Services some of the areas that needed tweaked for future events. “We’ve learned a few things. But all in all it was really suc-cessful,” Randolph said. “What I wanted everybody to do was engage individually, and I think that happened. People networked and interconnected all around the board. ” “Every student surveyed and they all said that they feel more prepared in their job seeking ef-forts,” Randolph said, “And they also selected that they would suggest it to their friends. That was the same across the board.” “We asked on the survey what they would like to see in the future, so we will take that infor-mation and see if we can tailor some of the booths,” Randolph said. “We asked for feedback and got some interesting ideas for some different stations in the future.” “One of our community busi-ness members was [at the event] and participated in part of the interview process said that she would rather have small numbers of people who are interested and want help than large numbers

by Kyle Nichols “Bumgardner” can be translat-ed to “tree grower.” An unusual sculpture stands at one of the entrances of WVU Parkersburg and is made of what seems to be discarded materials. Megan Bumgardner “grew” this strange tree along with the message at-tached to it. Megan Bumgardner i s a student at WVU Parkersburg who will be graduating with a Bachelor of the Arts in Multi-Disciplinary studies which allows her to choose three mi-nors. The three minors that she chose were Sociology, Commu-nication and Art. She created a sculpture of a large tree for her final project entirely made of trash with the ground, bark, roots, and branches all being made out of trash and even pieces of actual plant mat-ter such as bamboo and old branches, however, the message is greater than just what can be deciphered from first view. Although Bumgardner created the original idea, she said that a fellow artist Jen Battin became a partner with her for the sculp-ture. “We bounced ideas off one another, brainstormed a million different ideas, and supported each other. It started as mine but became ours,” she said. Bumgardner said that she has always been fascinated with trees, and that it was one reason she chose to design a tree sculp-ture. It's actual meaning though is more complex. “The sculpture is supposed to

symbolize multiple things. It is a tree from debris. The bottom is supposed to represent a landfill. It goes along the premise ‘just because you can't see it, doesn't mean it's not there.’ Out of sight out of mind, right?“ she said. “Another theme is the simple aspect of using what already exists. Other people’s junk was my treasure for this project. Re-purposing and reusing found or donated objects is what the ma-jority of the sculpture was made from.” All throughout the semester, Bumgardner collected random trash and debris for her project. She said that towards the last month and a half, the stress of completing the project got much more intense. An appreciation and enjoyment for art has always been a part of Bumgardner's life, and her fami-ly shares the same passion. “This project that I created for myself gave me the wonderful oppor-tunity to pour all of my passion about the environment into an art form,” she said. Bumgardner has an affinity for the environment that goes back before she joined EAG. “Be-ing outside is generally the only thing that can put things into perspective and put me back in balance when things are crazy,” she said. Although Bumgardner's time at WVU Parkersburg is coming to an end as well as her involve-ment in EAG, she said that she will always stay active in envi-ronmental protection.

of students who are attending just for extra credit. And in her opinion it was a wonderful op-portunity and she felt that she left having helped students,” Director of Non-Traditional Programs, Robin Ambrozy said. Randolph hopes to replicate this event again in the future, “We want to continue to host the big job fair. Right now it is set up for fall and spring,” Randolph said. “The possibility of switch-ing the two events is still an option.” “We not only want to provide the recruiters, we want to provide students with the tools so that they can do their best in the inter-views,” Randolph said. “Because in the real world our students have to compete against each other, and against students from other universities, so we want to give our students the best fight-ing chance.” “We want to extend thanks to the Journalism Department and to all the local business employ-ers,” Ambrozy said. “This event reminds us of the importance of the community.” “WVUP Faculty embraces our student body, in no matter what realm,” Ambrozy said. “There is not an office that was not there helping in some way. A big thank you and hats off to everyone who helped with the event.”

Growing the Old into the NewSay Yes to Success

Jennifer Randolph

the chronicle @ wvu parkersburg volume #44 no. 12

Documents

new president

vice president of finance

president marie gnage

new changes

issue new sga

new ideas

downtown c e n t e r

ryans new admini