See E1See B6See C1

SAYING SO-LONGSenior members of the Yellow Jacket executive staff reflect on theircareers at Waynesburg as part of our annual Spotlight section.

BASEBALL STILL ROLLINGAfter a 5-4 win Tuesday over Westminster, the Yellow Jackets are win-ners of three straight.

By NICK FARRELLExecutive Editor

More than 600 undergraduate and graduate stu-dents will receive degrees during Waynesburg Uni-versity’s 164th Commencement Exercises Sunday, May 3.

As is tradition, this year’s Commencement Day festivities include the baccalaureate service at 11 a.m. and the Commencement service at 2 p.m.

“This concludes an accomplishment they’ve worked on for a few years, particularly for under-grads,” said Kerry Purnell, assistant registrar. “I think it’s a fantastic time for families to come to-gether as well as graduates and have that celebra-tory day.”

All degree candidates are requested to arrive in the Marsh Center at 10 a.m., where they will robe and line up for the procession at 10:30 a.m. Students will not wear caps or hoods during the service.

The baccalaureate service will begin in Roberts Chapel at 11 a.m. with the Rev. Peter J. Paris, profes-

sor of Christian Social Ethics at Princeton Theologi-cal Seminary, delivering the address. The procession will begin 10 minutes before the beginning of the service.

Following the baccalaureate service, the gradu-

ate luncheon in Benedum Dining Hall will begin. Students may bring two guests to the luncheon, which begins at 11:30 a.m. All guests must pres-

APRIL 23, 2015 | VOL. 91 NO. 20 THEYELLOWJACKET.ORG

LOCAL LANDLORDS REACTThe university's new policy that will prevent off-campus living beginning in fall 2017 has some local landlords wondering how they'll fill rooms.

INSIDECommencement . . . . . . A1–A4 Spotlight . . . . . . . . . . . . B1–B12Campus . . . . . . . . . . . . . C1–C5, C8Editorial/Op-ed . . . . . . . C6–C7 Region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D1–D4 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . E1–E4

Copyright © 2015

Waynesburg University 51 W. College St. Waynesburg, Pa. 15370

Photo illustration by Brittany Semco; Photo by Sara Faiad, Yellow Jacket

Graduates toss their caps in jubilation at the end of last year's Commencement ceremony. More than 600 undergraduate and graduate students will have the same opportunity Sunday, May 3, during the university's 164th Commencement Exercises.

More than 600 students will celebrate achievements during Commencement

ABOUT OUR "NEW" NAMEPLATEEditor’s Note: This week, the Yellow Jacket is unveiling its new nameplate — but it's not altogether new.

The staff knew it wanted to return to the paper's roots and develop a traditional, gothic nameplate. After hours of testing new typefaces and designs, we ended up unable to find one that was an improvement of that original Yellow Jacket nameplate.

So in this, our 90th year as a student newspaper under this name, it seemed appropriate to adapt that original nameplate and make it our own with a modern touch.

The new nameplate which graces the top of this page is a twist on the original 1924 nameplate — it signifies our connection to our past and a reminder of our ongoing commitment to serving the campus through accurate, timely reporting.

Abby Wernert, Yellow Jacket

Members of the senior class gift committee presented a check to Douglas G. Lee, university president, Wednesday for $8,000. Money raised goes toward the Hanna Hall bell restoration project.

INSIDE THIS SECTION:COMMENCEMENT SPEAKER PREVIEW – A2BACCALAUREATE SPEAKER PREVIEW – A2CORD RULES FOR COMMENCEMENT – A4

602 STUDENTS — ONE GOAL

Student support leads to record senior giftFunding marks largest donation without analumni match

For undergraduate seniors, finals week serves as the last hurrah

J A C K E T L I F EAn occasional series

See GRADUATION on A3

By NICK FARRELLExecutive Editor

A month’s worth of fund-raising has set the framework for the completion of an his-toric senior gift. 

Josh Dains, Student Sen-ate president, presented a check for $8,000 to Douglas G. Lee, university president, at Wednesday’s senior class meeting. The check, which was presented on behalf of the senior class gift committee, includes donations provided by current seniors and their

xfamilies and alumni donors that will go toward the Hanna Hall bell restoration project. 

With the money in hand, the next step in the project is to complete the construction

of the Hanna bell pedestal in

See GIFT on A2

WAYNESBURG’S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1924

By JENNY SCHOUPPEConvergence Editor

Change is inevitable. As Commencement ap-proaches, seniors are taking notice of this fact of life.

During the past four years, most Waynesburg University seniors have spent many long nights studying, made plenty of late night Sheetz runs, and more importantly, have had valuable ex-

periences and made lifelong friendships. Soon enough, the Waynesburg University class of 2015 will graduate and enter into the “real world”.

“It’s scary,” said senior exercise science major Alexandra Sherman. “I’m excited as well, but there so many ‘what ifs’.”

According to Sherman, it seems like just yesterday when she was accepted into

See END on A3

S P E C I A L C O M M E N C E M E N T I S S U E

Page A2 CommenCement April 23, 2015

the courtyard between Miller Hall and Hanna Hall.

“I’m very impressed with the senior class and their re-sponse and being willing to donate their personal money and getting their parents on board,” said Dains, who also serves as a member of the senior class gift committee. “A lot of students have com-mented, ‘if it wasn’t this gift, I wouldn’t be donating,’ so that’s been a reminder as to how our fellow seniors can connect with the gift and they see the value in it. But even larger than that, I feel like the university – whether it’s alumni, administration, faculty, staff or underclass-men – all feel at least some sort of bond to it. Everyone is claiming ownership of the gift, which I wasn’t expect-ing.”

Vikki Beppler, assistant di-rector of Alumni Relations, echoed Dains’ praise of stu-dents who donated to the Hanna bell restoration proj-ect, saying this year’s senior gift has received more finan-cial support from students than any previous senior gift.

“I’m extremely proud and overwhelmed by how many seniors and their families have given. What we have seen, too, is not just seniors calling home and asking mom and dad to donate on their behalf, but we’ve seen a lot of student gifts given,” said Beppler. “I’m really proud of the seniors stepping up and raising the money on their own. It’s probably the most senior gift donations that we’ve ever had before. It’s the

most a senior class has raised on their own without a match gift.”

When plans for this se-nior gift were unveiled early this month, Dains and Terry Sattler, director of Facilities Planning and Management, promised the Hanna bell would be prominently dis-played by Commencement Sunday. According to Dains, May 3 still serves as the target date. 

“As of right now, it looks like we’re on track to be ring-ing the bell during Com-mencement,” said Dains.

The project is moving along as planned, according to both Dains and Sattler. The planter once situated in the courtyard has been removed and replaced with the base of the pedestal. Dains said the sandstone cap will be added soon, and after that, the bell will be installed in its new permanent location. 

As for the bell, Sattler said the refurbishing process has moved along smoothly. Vin-cent Allen Inc. Metal Resto-ration, which is overseeing the refurbishing process, has removed the graffiti on the bell and has returned it to its original state. 

According to Dains, one small crack on the back of the bell appears irreparable, but it shouldn’t impact the bell’s ability to ring. He added that no one will test the bell until Sunday, meaning the bell’s ac-tual sound will remain a mys-tery until Commencement. 

Dains is excited for that moment when the class of 2015 becomes the first class to have the Hanna bell mark their achievements in more than a century.

“Whenever we ring the bell, it’s not about having the best quality sound pos-sible. It’s about the reason behind why we’re ringing the bell,” said Dains. “So the fact that there’s a crack in it, if anything, adds more to it. It doesn’t take away from the significance of what’s hap-pening.”

He added that he’s grateful for the outpouring of sup-port from the many different channels that helped make this restoration project come into fruition.

“I want to give a big thank you to everybody who has helped make this possible,”

said Dains, who admired the work of the senior class gift committee members as well as contributions made by Heidi Szuminsky, execu-tive director of Institutional Advancement, and Beppler. “From Terry [Sattler] and the guys in maintenance, to President Lee for jumping on board and working with me through the process and largely the senior class for taking ownership of it, go-ing along with the vision and wanting to leave a legacy on campus that is unparalleled with anything else we’ve done in our four years here as un-dergraduate students.”

Gift: Hanna Bell project remains on scheduleContinued from A1

Commencement speaker brings diverse background, Christian leadership to campus

Career Services lends hand to seniors

Baccalaureate speakershares ‘commitment to broad Christian church’

Graduates included in Alumni Relations’ summertime plans

By JOHN LYDIC Multimedia Manger

Waynesburg University will once again have an es-teemed Christian leader give one final message to the graduating class of 2015.

One speaker that will ad-dress the undergraduate, graduate and doctoral stu-dents is The Most Rev. David A. Zubik, bishop of the Cath-olic Diocese of Pittsburgh. Zubik is set to be the speaker for the graduating students at the commencement cer-emony, which begins at 2 p.m on May 3.

The Rev. Jim Tinnemey-er, university chaplain and director of the Center for Leadership and Christian Ministry, thinks he is a great choice to deliver the depart-ing message to all the gradu-

ates because he has the background that matches the mission of being a strong faithful Christian leader.

“I think this is an excel lent choice for a whole lot of reasons,” said Tinnemeyer. “He is a wonderful Christian leader and he has a diverse background.”

The choice of Zubik and the other speaker for Com-mencement day, Rev. Peter J. Paris, professor of Chris-tian social ethics at Princ-eton Theological Seminary, were chosen to help give the students a send off speech that would leave a lasting impression of the mission of Waynesburg.

“These are two individu-

als whose lives are committed to their churches, to teaching and to the broad dialogue of t h e C h r i s t i a n faith,” said Tinne-meyer. “They will def initely have some interesting insights.”

O n e s e n i o r graduating is looking for the push and words to send the class off with what they have learned and apply it to their lives.

“I hope to get a message of encouragement and one final sending off,” said Kyle Digiandomenico, senior psychology major. “I hope to hear words of affirmation and truth. I hope to gather with those, one last time, all together, and know that we

are now family.”As the final moments of

Zubik’s speech rings around the campus Digiandomenico wants to just take in the mes-sage and notice the final piec-es of his time at Waynesburg.

“I am looking forward to looking. Looking back on the past four years in celebration with my colleagues,” said Di-giandomenico. “I’m looking forward to reminiscing on all that we’ve been through and everything we’ve done. I looking forward to celebrat-ing a rite of passage. I’m looking forward to to the next step. Although it may be ambiguous, if it’s anything like the past four years, I have nothing to worry about.”

Services for commence-ment begin at 11 a.m. with the baccalaureate service in Roberts Chapel.

Zubik

Paris

By MATT KOLLEditorial Assistant

As yet another academic year winds down, current se-niors are looking forward to graduation and life beyond Waynesburg Uni-versity. Waynes-b u r g ’s a n n u a l Baccalaureate and Commencement services will be held on Sunday, May 3, to honor approximately 730 undergraduate, graduate and doc-toral students, ac-cording to a press release on the Waynesburg University website.

Serving as the honorary speaker at the Baccalaureate service will be the Rev. Peter J. Paris, the Elmer G. Hom-righausen professor emeritus of Christian social ethics at Princeton Theological Semi-nary.

“Dr. Paris comes out of the Baptist tradition and I think it is a good example of our commitment to the broad Christian church here,” said the Rev. James Tinnemeyer, university chaplain. “We’re a Christian school and what that means is that we are re-ally centered around Jesus Christ and His church and all of its expressions.”

One of the seniors being honored at the Baccalaureate service, Jacob Fleegle, said he is looking forward to what Paris has to say.

“I am looking forward to seeing how [Paris] can take his message he has for us and relate it to our experiences at Waynesburg University,” said

Fleegle.Tinnemeyer believes that

both Paris and commence-ment speaker, Bishop David Zubik, are excellent choices to speak in front of the stu-dent body for graduation

services.“I think having

an esteemed man of the church, an individual who has committed his life to the church and to teaching, will add to the broad dialogue of the Christian faith,” said Tinnemeyer. “I think they will

certainly have some great insight and both are really down to earth people. They speak in a way that’s engag-ing and inspiring.”

Fleegle believes Paris will not only add to the Bacca-laureate service, but will be the perfect conclusion to his Waynesburg career.

“I think the Baccalaureate and Commencement servic-es will wrap up my time here as an undergrad at Waynes-burg by putting everything into perspective for me,” said Fleegle. “It helped me realize how blessed I’ve been here in my time as an undergrad.”

According to the press release, Paris has also been elected to several national of-fices, including the presiden-cies of the American Theo-logical Society, the Society of Christian Ethics and the Society for the Study of Black Religion and the American Academy of Religion.

The Baccalaureate service will be held in Roberts Cha-pel at 11 a.m.

Nika ANSCHUETZNews Multimedia Editor

Sixty seconds. A resume has approxi-

mately 60 seconds until it is pushed aside into a stack of other resumes.

Newly minted alumni are looking for one thing: a job.

A year after graduation, recent surveys show that 97 percent of Waynesburg Uni-versity graduates are either attending graduate school or pursuing a career related to their major.

Career Services, tucked away on the third floor of Stover, offers a variety of ser-vices to those who are still enrolled at Waynesburg and those who have graduated.

Marie Coffman, director of Career Services, helps students as well as alumni improve their resumes and cover letters.

Throughout the course of the year, Career Services hosts different job fairs spe-cializing in different fields or industries. Every Octo-ber, there is a nursing job fair, where senior and junior

nursing students can net-work for possible externships or career opportunities.

Coffman believes that students should get an early start to their job hunt.

“During fall and winter breaks, graduating seniors should be looking for jobs,” said Coffman.

In the fall, Theresa Butler, senior accounting major, took her resume up to Ca-reer Services. She had heard about the importance of hav-ing a professional resume and she wanted to make sure her resume looked the best.

“With the help of Marie Coffman and Career Ser-vices, I was able to restruc-ture my resume,” said Butler. “This allowed me to obtain many job interviews this year and it landed me a job right after graduation.”

According to experts, resumes are meant to help potential job candidates in interviews.

“An employer will look at a resume for maybe 60 sec-onds,” said Coffman. “Em-ployers are usually looking through dozens of resumes

so it’s important to grab the employer’s attention within a first glance at a resume.”

Networking is a key com-ponent during the job search.

“It’s all about network-ing,” said Coffman. “If there’s a place where you’d like to work, see if you know any-one that works there or has worked there.”

Waynesburg University professors can also be a helpful tool during a job or internship search.

Joshuah Dains, senior business management major, got his internship at Mylan through a professor.

“A business professor helped me secure an intern-ship with Mylan last year,” said Dains. “And it was through my internship that I locked in a job there after graduation.”

Soon-to-be graduates and alumni can look for careers on

www.collegecentral.com/waynesburg to find employ-ers or potential jobs.

On the website, employers post both part-time and full-time jobs – as well as intern-

ships – which are available to those who create an online profile. The online profile outlines the types of indus-tries as well as jobs an online candidate seeks.

Coffman believes that looking for a full-time job is a full-time job in itself. She also encourages students and alumni to remain in contact with Career Servic-es throughout their profes-sional career.

“If I ever decide to change jobs, I’ll make sure to send her a copy of my resume and cover letter to review first,” said Butler.

In addition to resumes, cover letters are another im-portant part of finding em-ployment. Career Services can help job seekers to write a strong cover letter.

“Although cover letters aren’t asked for as much, its still important to know how to write one,” said Coff-man. “Cover letters should be at least three paragraphs. The first paragraph should address why you’re apply-

Outgoing students encouraged to seek resume review, other services

See CAREERS on A4

By JENNY SCHOUPPEConvergence Editor

As May 3 approaches, students of the Waynesburg University class of 2015 re-alize that they will soon no longer be students, but alum-ni of the university.

As the class of 2015 pre-pares to move on, the Of-fice of Alumni Relations is working hard to make sure these soon-to-be-alumni stay connected to Waynesburg University.

The first event that the Of-fice of Alumni Relations has prepared is an All Alumni Pirates Night at PNC Park on June 12. All alumni are invited to come and enjoy the game. Those who attend receive a free t-shirt and small snacks and gifts from the Alumni Relations Office. This event is one of the few events that will cost some money.

A big event that the Office

of Alumni Relations holds every year is the Recent Grad Event in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Alumni from the classes of 2005-2015 can gather and network.

“This is a great event for recent graduates to attend,” said Victoria Beppler, As-sistant Director of Alumni Relations. “It will allow them to make connections with alumni in the Pittsburgh area that are in their industry.”

Though the Office of Alumni Relations has only a tentative schedule, there are plenty of other events that they hope to offer recent alumni.

During Homecoming weekend October 2-3, alum-ni are welcomed back to their Alma Mater to participate in numerous festivities.

On Nov. 19, there will be a Paint and Brew for recent grads. This free event will

See EVENTS on A3

April 23, 2015 CommenCement Page A3

ent tickets at the door, which were provided to students in their graduation packets.

Students may also obtain their honors cords and aca-demic excellence pins after the conclusion of the bacca-laureate service until shortly before 1 p.m. (The university regulates academic regalia adornments. For more on these policies, see AA4 .)

At 12:30 p.m., guest seating begins for the Commence-ment service on the Miller Hall lawn, with the Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse serving as the inclement weather site. According to the university’s website, guests who do not wish to sit outside during the ceremony may view a live stream remotely inside Miller Hall, Buhl Hall, the Goodwin Performing Arts Center and the Stover Cam-pus Center. Guests who do not have tickets to the Com-mencement seating inside the inclement weather site are asked to utilize these remote-viewing sites.

Graduates must arrive in the gymnasium at 1 p.m. to begin lining up for the Com-mencement procession. Ac-cording to instructions on the university website,

promptness is required; any student who arrives late to

the lineup will risk receiving his or her diploma at the end

of the granting of degrees portion of the ceremony and may not sit with other stu-dents in that specific degree category.

Dr. James Bush, assistant faculty marshal, will assist students during the lineup and procession. Graduates will line up in alphabetical order, double file, based on their degree.

Commencement exercises begin at 2 p.m. The Rev. Da-vid A. Zubik, bishop of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, will deliver the Commencement address.

According to instructions from the university, students are not to carry flowers dur-ing the procession, use their cell phones at any time or wear high-heeled shoes dur-ing the outdoor ceremony.

Caps are to be worn throughout Commence-ment, with exceptions dur-ing the invocation, National Anthem and benediction.

Student participation in Commencement exercises is a requirement. The Office of the Registrar requires any students wishing to opt out of the obligation to contact them and state their conflict.

The Commencement and baccalaureate services can be viewed live online at waynes-burg.edu.

Continued from A1

Graduation: More than 600 to walk May 3

Admissions readies for next incoming class Changes to curriculum proposed for new year

COMMENCEMENT DAYSCHEDULE

Sunday, May 3

10 a.m. Graduating students and faculty members report to the Marsh Center in Roberts Chapel

10:30 a.m. Procession line forms for baccalaureate service in Roberts Chapel; guests may begin entering chapel

10:50 a.m. Procession begins for baccalaureate service

11 a.m. Baccalaureate service begins11:30 a.m. Benedum Dining Hall opens for Graduate

Luncheon; graduates and up to two guests my provide luncheon tickets at the door

1 p.m. Deadline to pick up honor cords and academic excellence pins in the old gym; procession line for commencement ceremony begins to form in the old gym

1:55 p.m. Student procession for commencement ceremony begins

2 p.m. Commencement begins on the lawn of Miller Hall (inclement site: Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse)

APPROXIMATELY 4 p.m. Graduating students receive diplomas, become Waynesburg University alumni

WHAT TO WEAR

Baccalaureate: Students do not wear caps, hoods or gownsCommencement: Students wear full academic regalia, including gowns, caps and hoods; additionally, students are permitted to wear university-sanctioned cords granted by a� liated honors societies or by the university based on cumulative grade point average

WHERE TO WATCH

Baccalaureate: Service in Roberts Chapel; remote viewingsavailable in Alumni Hall and Goodwin Performing Arts CenterCommencement: Ceremony on the Miller Hall lawn (inclement weather site: Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse; tickets required); remote viewings available in Roberts Chapel, Alumni Hall and Goodwin Performing Arts Center

Waynesburg.“Getting accepted into

Waynesburg was so exciting and it’s crazy how fast these four years have gone,” said Sherman.

Though four years has gone quick for Sherman, she claims it has been filled with so many amazing memories and experiences.

“My mission trip to Roma-nia was one of the greatest experiences I’ve ever had,” said Sherman. “Sporting events, Relay for Life and making friends has also made college unforgettable.”

Sherman, a member of the university’s cross coun-try team, claims that she will take away so much from her four years here at Waynes-burg University.

“Through athletics and school work, I feel I have gained a lot of the basic skills necessary to make it in the real world,” said Sherman. “I credit my coaches Chris Hardie and Michelle Cross for always seeing the best in me and always believing in me. I’ll definitely miss having them around.”

Though Sherman has mixed feelings about gradu-ation, she is looking forward

to the future. She accepted a swimming coach position at Kids First Swim Schools. Sherman hopes that this po-sition will one day help her

achieve a position as a swim-ming coach at a high level.

Similar to Sherman, se-niors Devlin Coughlin and Shelby O’Brien have mixed

feelings about the changes ahead of them.

“Though I’m excited about the new adventures ahead, it’s bittersweet leaving this

place,” said Coughlin, an international culture studies and political science major. “I have grown so comfortable with the community here.”

Coughlin speaks fondly of her time spent on mission trips to Arizona, Costa Rica and Romania, as well as her time spent here on campus with friends and professors.

“I was so lucky to be taught by such amazing professors,” said Coughlin. “I definite-ly will keep in touch with them.”

According to Coughlin, Dr. Wadell and the Rev. Po-teet have impacted her life tremendously and she hopes that she will be able to con-tinue a relationship with them after graduation.

O’Brien agrees that the people here at Waynesburg University have left a lasting impact on her life.

“The professors in my de-partment have been one of my favorite parts about at-tending Waynesburg,” said psychology major O’Brien. “My friends have also made these past years an amazing experience. They have always been there for me and I’m go-ing to miss being able to just walk over to their dorm to hang out.”

B ot h C ou g h l i n and O’Brien plan on attending graduate school to further their education. They both feel that their experiences have prepared them for all their future endeavors.

End: For some seniors, it’s hard to believe the finish line is nearContinued from A1

Sara Faiad, Yellow Jacket

Jenna Dorazio, a member of the class of 2014, walks with her diploma at Commencement last year. That same experience awaits a new crop of Waynesburg graduates in just 10 days.

See CLASSES on A4

allow recent grads to relax and paint crafts and drink coffee, and catch up with other alumni.

Service is a huge aspect of Waynesburg University, and the alumni office tries to still offer service events for alumni.

All Waynesburg Univer-sity Alumni and friends are welcomed to register for the Alumni Mission Trip: Nash-ville Urban Farm from July 20-22, 2015.

The trip to Nashville, Ten-nessee will cost around $225 per person plus travel and lodging expenses. Registra-tion for the trip ends June 8.

This trip will be the alum-ni offices first-ever domes-tic Alumni Service Trip to Nashville, Tennessee in July. Those who participate will serve with Hands On Nash-ville at their Urban Farm. Produce harvest from the Farm is used in Hands on Nashville programs to give youth the opportunity to harvest, prepare and taste healthy foods.

Those recent alumni who do not plan on staying in the Greater Pittsburgh area will also have plenty of chances to stay connected and net-work with other alumni. The Alumni Relations team will be traveling to Detroit, Cleveland, Richmond, Las Vegas, Dallas, San Diego and New York City, just to name a few, in the fall to hold net-working events for alumni all across the United States.

“We are going to be in a lot of different places,” said Beppler. “So no matter where you are, you will be able to reconnect with Waynesburg University.”

For those students of the

Waynesburg University class of 2015 that want to get in-volved and stay connected, there are two simple steps to do so.

First, update your per-sonal information with the Alumni Relations Office be-fore graduating. Though this information was supposed to be updated during senior exit interviews, there are still other ways to update one’s information. Recent grads can update their contact in-formation by creating an ac-count on waynesburgunited.com or contacting the Uni-versity’s Alumni Relations Office.

By updating information, the Alumni Relations Office will be able to notify recent grads on upcoming events and provide useful resources for the work field.

It is also important to keep the Alumni Relations Office updated as well. Any change in career or personal life, the alumni office wants to help celebrate with the alumni.

“We like to send small gifts to alumni when they get a new job or get married,” said Beppler. “This allows us to stay connected and involved in the lives of recent grads.”

Secondly, recent grads should follow Waynesburg University Alumni on social media. The alumni relations team updates their LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter regularly with events that all alumni can attend.

“ I g r a d u a t e d f r o m Waynesburg in 2011 and so much has changed since then,” said Beppler. “Luckily, I’ve been able to stay on cam-pus and witness the changes. Most alumni do not get to experience the changes, so I feel it is so important for recent grads to try and stay connected.”

Events: New alumni invited to interactContinued from A3

By ABBY WERNERTChief Photographer

Every year, the curriculum throughout each department undergoes many changes.

In some cases, the changes are major; while in others, changes are much smaller.

Students returning to Waynesburg University for the 2015-16 school year, as well as students entering the university either as freshmen or transfers, will get to see the changes that will be in-stated for the following year.

“This year we had a lot of proposals from across the campus,” said Kristine Schiffbauer, instructor of vi-sual communication and the chair of the Curriculum and Educational Policy Commit-tee.

Every year, the committee as well as the Waynesburg University faculty must ap-prove proposals submitted for a change to the curricu-lum in full. Once approved, any programs will then be

By SAMANTHA PEEROp/Ed Editor

While seniors prepare to leave Waynesburg University behind, the 2015-16 incom-ing freshman class is prepar-ing to begin their journey at Waynesburg.

Currently, about 330 new students will arrive on cam-pus this fall, a number larger than those committed this time last year and in 2012.

Of the 330 new students, 60 percent are female while 40 percent are male, a statis-tical disproportion typical for this time of year; trends indicate that males decide what college they will attend later than females

Thus far, students will be coming from as far away as Alaska, Wyoming and Mon-tana, as well as Germany.

“I think the large enroll-ment for 2015-2016 is due to our push for the April 15 deadline and our implemen-tation of new communica-tion methods,” said Jessica Sumpter, director of admis-sions.

The Office of Admissions sent targeted emails and text messages to push a March 5 and April 15 deadline. Those

that adhered to the March 5th deadline now have their housing assignments.

“This year we implement-ed targeted emails and text messaging to push those dates and bring in deposits so that the incoming students are eligible to fill out their new student forms,” said Jac-quelin Palko, assistant direc-tor of admissions. “Because we stressed this deadline, we received deposits from 30 new students in just four days.”

The national deadline date for students to receive refunds for their enrollment deposits is May 1.

“We try to push the May 1 deadline, but we still have students that apply and are accepted throughout the summer,” said Palko.

The admissions office decided to implement new communication methods this year in an attempt to vary their methods, and not depend solely on one com-munication channel.

“We are trying to diversify our communication and not solely rely on a postcard,” said Sumpter. “Trying to hit every form of communica-tion, including texting which

was a new method, was a huge plus.”

Some of the ways admis-sions diversifies its methods is in advertising in specific college search magazines, Integrated Marketing digi-tal campaigns, open houses, campus visits, phone calls and emails, in addition to several other methods.

The admissions office also tries to incorporate human interaction in their outreach.

“We did a late call night in admissions recently,” said Palko. “As a team, we stayed until about 7 p.m. to make phone calls for students that have received their financial aid packages to make sure that they understand them. This ensures were not just communicating electronical-ly, but that we are including human interaction to help cultivate relationships with the prospective students.”

Efforts to attract students begin in the fall with travel.

“We visited over 200 high schools and around 150 college fairs,” said Sumpter. “Matt McNeil travels to Cali-fornia while Dave Floyd goes to Maine and New England. Matt McNeil traveled to Flor-ida for a Florida circuit fair as

well this year.” While recruitment efforts

start early, email workflows are utilized to ensure steady communication with pro-spective students.

“Email workflows is an automated process where emails are going out about once a week to people de-pending on what stage they are in the process,” said Sumpter. “It allows us to con-stantly reach out to people without setting it up on a weekly basis. That has been very helpful.”

Admissions finds that the key point in prospective stu-dents making a decision is in visiting the campus.

“We have a lot of students that visit more than once,” said Sumpter. “Recently, I spoke with a sophomore student that has already vis-ited three times. She said that Waynesburg is her choice and that it’s likely that she’ll come here. She said that she has visited other schools but she likes Waynesburg Uni-versity the most. I think that is a great example of how our campus community sells it-self. Once someone comes for a visit, that is one of the most critical points.”

Page A4 CommenCement April 23, 2015

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University-sanctioned cord policy remains consistent

Summer renovations await Buhl Hall; Phase 4 of Stewart project nears end

By REBECCA BURCHAMCopy Editor

The graduation ceremo-nies for the class of 2015 are a mere 10 days away; for some seniors, that day of graduation cannot come soon enough. As the days get busier in preparation for commencement, a ques-tion that arises every year has again made its way to the forefront of discussion: what is the policy regarding honor cords?

Ac c ord i ng t o w w w.w ay n e s bu r g . e du / c om -

mencement, a special link on the Waynesburg Univer-sity website – which con-tains all of the necessary information graduating se-niors need to know about commencement – academic honor cords are permissible to wear during the gradu-ation ceremony if certain criteria are met.

Waynesburg University wishes to preserve the digni-ty of the graduation ceremo-nies for all students while appropriately recognizing students who have earned academic honors, states the

website. To that end, in re-gards to honors recognition, the university holds the fol-lowing policy on acceptable honor cords for graduation ceremonies:

Honor cords may only be worn if they fit one of two criteria; the cords are issued by the Waynesburg Univer-sity Office of the Registrar, the Waynesburg University Honors Academy or an ap-proved national collegiate honorary society that has a local chapter on campus and a Waynesburg University faculty advisor, or the cords

have been awarded based on academic performance by the student wearing them.

In addition, the univer-sity provost must approve all national collegiate honor-ary societies – and any ex-ceptions to this policy – in advance of the graduation ceremonies.

According to Mary Cum-mings, vice president of Stu-dent Services, the protocol for wearing honor cords during the graduation cer-emonies has remained con-sistent for several years.

Due to the significance

of the commencement cer-emonies and their proce-dures, Cummings advises any seniors who are unsure to go straight to the source and look at the policy on the university website.

“There was some misun-derstanding at some point through some discussions,” said Cummings. “Usually the written policy is easier. With word of mouth, some-times someone misunder-stands and says something verbally [that is incorrect.]”

“If you’re hearing talk in different directions, bring it

back to looking at what’s in writing on the policy,” added Cummings.

In order to prevent as much confusion as pos-sible, information regard-ing academic honor cords – along with other impor-tant commencement-related procedures – was also ad-dressed during the manda-tory senior meeting on April 22, according to Cummings.

For more information regarding the graduation ceremonies, procedures and policies, visit www.waynes-burg.edu/commencement.

By NIKA ANSCHUETZNews Multimedia Editor

Looking back on his teach-ing career, Dr. Scott Tracy has no regrets.

Tracy, director of graduate counseling pro-grams at Waynes-burg University, will be retiring from the university at the end of the se-mester.

His teaching ca-reer has spanned decades and has been both prosper-ous and fulfilling.

Tracy started his job at Waynesburg in December of 2009.

He was instated as the di-rector of graduate counseling programs. At the time, the graduate counseling program was very small.

“I oversaw a program that really flourished in numbers and also added the Council for Accreditation of Coun-seling & Related Educational Programs accreditation, which is the national accred-itation for counseling,” said Tracy.

With the help of Tracy and his team of counseling faculty, in five short years Waynes-burg University acquired national accreditation, two specialized masters programs and a Ph.D. program.

Tracy believes that the three specialized counseling graduate programs really set Waynesburg apart from other universities.

“We really went from a pro-gram that was relatively small to one that’s now a player at the state level,” said Tracy. “I would consider us to be one of the best counseling schools in the region because of the specialization.”

Waynesburg has one of only three CACREP accred-ited addiction-counseling programs in the country.

The impact that Tracy has made can be felt around the country.

It was before Waynesburg that Tracy found his passion for teaching and counseling.

One of his earliest recol-lections was dressing up as a fireman. His love for helping others was an early passion of his.

For many years, Tracy was a paramedic. He worked in a stat-medevac, an emergen-cy helicopter, for UPMC as

well as a ground paramedic. He carries these experiences around with him.

“Some of the research and my area of service continues to be mental health emergen-cy work,” said Tracy.

Tracy attended California Univer-sity of Pennsylvania for an undergradu-ate degree in both counseling and sci-ence education.

He taught mid-dle and high school science in the Fay-ette County area for a number of years.

In addition to teaching at the University of Pittsburgh Johnstown, where he taught undergraduate students sci-ence education courses, he went on to teach graduate counseling classes at Chatham University in Oakland, Penn-sylvania.

At Waynesburg, he had the opportunity to blend two of his passions: teaching and counseling.

“I’m a counselor educator, so that’s the blend of the two of them,” said Tracy. “Even in session, I’m a teacher.”

Throughout his many years as a teacher, he has kept in contact with students from his first collegiate class.

“I’ve always been a con-structivist in my approach to teaching,” said Tracy. “I think I’ve always done a good job at keeping myself centered around the students. It’s not about the topic that I’m teach-ing but it’s about the student that I’m helping.”

In addition to working at Waynesburg, Tracy also runs a private practice in Union-town.

“It’s real low-key and it’s al-ways a way for me to practice my skill in counseling so that I was a better teacher,” said Tracy. “But I also enjoy the counseling piece. I enjoy be-ing a psychotherapist.”

After leaving Waynesburg, Tracy will continue to run his private practice.

One of the things about Waynesburg that Tracy cherishes the most are the relationships. He has created meaningful relationships with both the students and the fac-ulty.

It’s just the very deep rela-tionships that I’ve made with students, program and alum-ni,” said Tracy. “These will be lifelong relationships.”

Director of GAPS Counseling set to retire in June

Tracy

Continued from A2

Careers: Professional services offered to seniors before graduation

ing. The second paragraph should talk about the skills that you have that match the job description. And lastly, the third paragraph should thank the employer for read-ing the cover letter.”

Dains is thankful for the help that Coffman provided him through reworking his resume.

“She was instrumental in helping me create a resume

that accurately portrayed my skills and matched them up to a job,” said Dains. “It was great to have someone go over the details with me and help me along the process.”

Waynesburg University offers a variety of services to aid alumni. The Career Ser-vices office is another tool meant to be used by both current students and alumni.

For more information about Career Services, please contact Marie Coffman at mcoffman@waynesburg.edu.

By KIMMI BASTON and ANTHONY CONN

For the Yellow Jacket

While students are happily finishing their work as the school year comes to a close, some members of Waynes-burg’s staff are just getting started. Terry Sattler, direc-tor of facilities planning and management, says that much is planned for Waynesburg’s campus this summer, includ-ing repairs and upgrades.

The university has plans to complete a minor renovation of Buhl Hall’s fourth floor, which is home to the Depart-ment of Communication.

Sattler says there are plans to renovate the Mac Lab as well as room 416, a large room with the capacity to hold 50 people. If these ren-ovations occur, they would take place during the sum-mer.

Buhl’s first renovation site this summer, McCance au-ditorium, is most likely ex-pected get new carpet shortly after commencement.

Students have been fully aware of Stewart Hall’s reno-vation, with new improve-ments slowly showing the form of the designer’s master plan in what has become the university's largest all-time renovation investment

Sattler said that work in Stewart Hall is one-third of the way done on the third floor and students can ex-

pect it to be ready for classes this coming fall semester. This floor will be home to the computer science, math and physics programs, as well some shared classroom space, after the completion of phase four.

“The entire third floor was demoed completely,” said Sat-tler. “There was nothing left but the exterior walls and the steel structure holding the building up. Currently, the new wall framing is in-stalled, the electric has been completed and inspected and the rest of the mechani-cal, electrical and plumbing contractors are getting their interior work done.”

Work on the fourth floor is expected to start in May, with completion in time for the spring semester of 2016, putting the project slightly ahead of schedule. Once fin-ished, this floor will be home to the biology department. The current plan is for Stew-art Hall to be completely fin-ished in 2017.

As a result of the ongo-ing project, some biology classes will be moved into classroom space in the Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse, an area that several science classes are already utilizing. Biology faculty members would re-main in the office space at 74 Wayne Street, which they are currently using.

So far, Sattler has received positive feedback from those

who have observed the changes on the fifth floor.

“Everybody who’s gone and looked at the fifth floor has really liked it,” said Sattler. “It’s just kind of a sneak peak of what the building’s going to look like when it’s all done.”

Sattler believes the renova-tion is beneficial for not only current students and faculty, but for everyone who will be utilizing Stewart Hall in the future.

“It’s been a very positive impact, both from a pro-spective student and parent aspect and for our students who had to put up with a lot of disadvantages through the construction project,” said Sattler. “It’s a much needed renovation, and it’s going to be nothing but a positive for all the departments involved in Stewart Hall.”

In addition to academic buildings, Sattler said that the University looks to maintain quality on-campus living by inspecting student houses. Students currently live in only eight of eleven houses. There are also plans to work on some of the dorms. This work includes careful repair on infrastructure and drain lines, as well as improving hot water accessibility.

Sattler said that even though students will not be able to see these improve-ments with their eyes, the work will not go unnoticed.

“Being a small university,

we struggle with the types and ages of the buildings we have,” said Sattler. “We have buildings that go back into the 1960’s, like the under-classman dorms. Even the lit-tle things we do…they really pop and make a big impact on the student population as did the lounge renovations in Denny and Burns Halls that were completed last year.”

Sattler has been at Waynes-burg for two and a half years. He previously worked at Robert Morris University and Washington and Jeffer-son College. While at Wash-ington and Jefferson, he saw what improvements could be made with a strong line of support.

According to Sattler, there is a lot of input that goes into these campus projects at Waynesburg. Many opinions are honored when deciding what the greatest needs on campus are.

“Knowing that we can’t re-place a lot of our old build-ings, it’s good that we can reinvest in them and give something good to the stu-dents,” said Sattler.

Reflecting on past accom-plishments on campus, Sat-tler said that it is all worth the careful planning and work behind the scenes.

“I get a lot of satisfaction even from the small improve-ments that we’re capable of making to the campus,” said Sattler.

presented to the trustees.According to Schiffbauer,

there are curriculum changes made every year and every proposal for a new program has a different reason. Most of the time, proposals for change are made to keep up with the departments’ needs as well as the needs of the university.

“Curriculum changes happen for reasons,” said Schiffbauer. “The committee works hard to make sure the changes work into the overall curriculum so that there are no negatives.”

The programs approved for the 2015-16 school year include both minor and ma-jor changes.

The smaller changes are usually revisions made to the catalog that comes out for every year. As some ma-jors or classes are no longer used, they are taken out of the catalog or replaced with the updated curriculum and classes.

“Changes to the catalog are always under review,” said Schiffbauer.

According to Schiffbauer, the highlights of the curricu-lum proposals this year were the revision of the Honors Program, the creation of a

public relations minor and the creation of a financial mathematics minor through the Department of Business Administration.

Changes made to the cur-riculum, such as the creation of minors or an update to an already existing program, are undertaken to provide

students with the best edu-cation.

“I would certainly hope the curriculum changes are helpful to the students,” said Schiffbauer, who stated the changes and revisions made to the curriculum are meant to improve the learning ex-perience of students.

Classes: Major, minor curriculum changes approvedContinued from A3

By ReBecca BuRchamCopy Editor

Isaiah Cochran could eas-ily be called one of Waynes-burg University’s most in-volved students. Adding up his academics and extracur-ricular activities, he might just be the busiest too.

But, he still makes time to ‘pay it forward.’

Cochran, who is originally from Akron, Ohio, had sev-eral reasons behind his deci-sion to attend a small college in Waynesburg, Pennsylva-nia.

“I chose Waynesburg Uni-versity because of the faith-based aspect, as well as I had a full ride here and I could continue to play tennis,” said Cochran.

“So those three things definitely played a role in me coming to Waynesburg.”

Cochran earned an aca-demic, full-ride scholarship to attend Waynesburg, and he chose to major in biology and pre-med for two related reasons.

“I chose pre-med be-cause I’ve always wanted to be involved in science, but more specifically I’ve always wanted to be involved in the clinical side of science,” said Cochran.

“That’s why I knew I wanted to go into medicine, and also to continue to pay it forward.”

“Biology, I feel, is a more well-rounded degree,” added Cochran.

“I got to take a good amount of chemistry, I got to take some physics. If I would have chosen chemis-try [as a major], I would have only had a couple of classes in biology. Medicine if more of a biological field than a chemistry-based field, so that’s why I chose biology.”

In addition to being co-captain of the men’s varsity tennis team at Waynesburg, he also helped to initiate the American Medical Student Association (AMSA) on campus and is a current na-

tional board member of that organization; he was elected as a Global Health Chair of AMSA in February, and he will be starting medical school with that prestigious position.

Cochran was also the outreach events coordinator for Waynesburg University’s American Chemistry Soci-ety, and was treasurer for the Black Student Union when it was an organization on Waynesburg’s campus; how-ever, his favorite memories occurred over the course of the past year.

“The memories that stick out to me are the memories I have from senior year, both being a part of tennis and the American Medical Student Association both locally and

nationally,” said Cochran. “Now, being a senior and

being accepted to med school and having played tennis for four years, now I see even more than before. Students and other people look to me for advice, so I really feel like I can pay it forward in this position.”

“Next year, as a first-year med student, it’ll be a lot different. I’ll be starting over again,” he added.

“But I’m really enjoy-ing being able to help those who are underclassmen, on the tennis courts and in the classroom and in regard to AMSA.”

Cochran believes that his study habits in high school made the transition to col-lege life easier, but he still had

plenty to learn at Waynes-burg, both on his own and with help from faculty.

“If you are motivated, you will definitely find the help you need here at Waynes-burg, versus at a large school where you might not see your advisor but once a se-mester or even once a year,” he added.

Dr. Marietta Wright, as-sistant professor of biology, states that Cochran is a very accomplished individual.

“I have seen him grow and mature over the past four years, from learning how to navigate the sciences as a freshman to becoming a leader amongst his peers by forming the American Medical Student Association, excelling in tennis, and men-toring his fellow students,” said Wright.

“He is an inspiration for others to learn how to achieve their goals.”

Before heading out into the workforce, Cochran has one final assignment to complete for Waynesburg University.

“I have the honor of giving the Valedictorian speech, and I guess the synopsis of the speech is to pay it forward,” he said.

Cochran had the oppor-tunity to intern during two summers at prestigious, Ivy League schools.

The first internship, during the 2013 summer, Cochran was selected from a pool of thousands of students to par-ticipate in the Sackler/NSF REU: Integrated Research at the Frontiers of the Biologi-cal, Physical and Engineering Sciences at Yale University's Raymond and Beverly Sack-ler Institute.

The second internship, during the 2014 summer, Cochran interned as a Cata-lyst SCRPT at Harvard Uni-versity and gained research and hands-on experience.

As he goes on to medical school after graduation, Co-chran seeks to continue to ‘pay it forward’ through his future career.

By chelsea DicksManaging Editor

You have seen him every-where on campus.

He could be parking his motorcycle, attending a com-muter meeting, the first one in the cafeteria some morn-ings meeting with Dr. Strat-ton, walking up the stairs in Stover sporting a swanky suit on his way to lead the weekly Student Senate meet-ing or walking his ‘rat dog’ Motto around campus.

The man is everywhere. The man is involved in ev-erything.

And Josh Dains tries to be involved with everyone, be-cause in his opinion, people are most important.

“It is the people around me that have made the memories,” said senior busi-ness major Josh Dains as he remembers the highlights from his past four years at Waynesburg University.

Dains could have said be-ing a prominent figure with-in the RJ Tonks fundraiser that successfully raised over $8,000.

He could have said be-coming President of Student Senate.

He could have said creat-ing the first ever Kairos trip that was also a success.

He could have said so many things that would have shown all of his accomplish-ments while here at Waynes-burg University.

But instead, he takes cred-

it for nothing, because he knows these successes were much bigger than him.

“I’m really proud of what we have been able to do as a group together these last couple of years,” said Dains. “They have taught me a lot about myself.”

He says one of the larg-est things he learned while at Waynesburg University is how to work with other people of all kinds.

“You are surrounded by people your whole life, and I feel that is one of the things that has really had a big im-pact on me,” said Dains. “To work in cohesion rather than opposing forces is something I know I will take with me.”

He already has a job lined up after college, as well as a beautiful girlfriend, a house where he can mooch off his parents and a plan for his future.

Yet, he questions whether he is ready to leave a place where he knows the rou-tine, the way of life and the customs for a whole new environment filled with un-knowns.

“The one thing I am really going to miss is being able to walk around and smile, say hi, and high-five 100 people in one day,” said Dains. “As soon as you leave college, your stomping grounds no longer exist. You are sudden-ly alumni to this place. You are a figment of an imagina-tion to most people, or just a memory and then suddenly, it’s creating a familiarity with another place. It’s kind of scary but also exciting.”

Dains will be working as a Financial Analyst for Mylan Pharmaceuticals in Morgantown, West Virginia, where he interned last sum-mer, after he graduates from Waynesburg in May.

By BRittany semcoGraphic Design Editor

She wants to tell the stories of people who do not have the voice to tell it themselves.

However, for now, she plans on receiving all the profession-al experience that she can so that she will be prepared for her future endeavors.

Mary Spencer, senior Eng-lish major with a concentra-tion in professional writing, is from Allison Park, Pennsyl-vania.

She spends most of her time working toward her goals at Waynesburg University by be-ing a tutor in the University’s Writing Center.

She was a past editor for Muse and Stone and held the position as the non-fiction editor for a year.

Spencer was the Testimony

Coordinator for the univer-sity’s student-led worship service, Upper Room, for two years.

She enjoys reading, hanging out with friends and especially spending time with her new neice.

Through her passion in reading, she identifies her favorite author as Brennan Manning, who is a Christian author, because “he writes re-ally honestly,” said Spencer. “My favorite kind of writing is non-fiction and he embraces that by being very real with people.”

Spencer, also an aspiring Christian author, chose to at-tend Waynesburg because she “thought it was a good blend of academics and faith.”

However, Spencer’s college career did not start as one in English.

Although she considers herself to be an open book, Spencer said, “I actually want-ed to go into medical research. However, it wasn’t until I took three courses that I said “nope not for me.”

She considers her current career choice a great one be-cause, through it, she has had the opportunity to meet three of her role models.

Her spiritual mentor and boss as a Resident Assistant, Ashley Kelver, is someone who she has developed a good friendship with.

“She speaks the truth, even the hard truth,” said Spencer. “She has walked the last three years of my life, guiding me with a lot of wisdom.”

In addition to Kelver, Spen-cer identifies two professional mentors and role models.

“Jill Sunday, who is my boss

in the Writing Center, is very similar to Ashley because she knows me really well,” said Spencer.

“She knows how to make decisions and has given me a lot of opportunities such as working in the Writing Center and even allowing me to tutor graduate students in the RN-BSN major.”

Having enjoyed her col-lege career, Spencer’s favorite memory from Waynesburg University will be “building the friendships that I have here and watching how those have transformed over the last four years into friendships that will last.”

After graduation, Spencer plans on finding a job that will help her develop profession-ally as writer, something she will need to achieve her goals in her field.

By Danielle schuyleREditorial Assistant

Elise Kopas perches deli-cately on a tall chair on the bottom floor of Eberly Li-brary. She smiles across the circular table in front of her and shares about her experi-ence as a Waynesburg Univer-sity nursing student.

“I have always cared for people,” said Kopas. “Waynes-burg University is close to my home, so that also played a part in my selection of this school. Waynesburg’s 100 per-cent pass rate on the NCLEX exams was pretty impressive too.”

As impressed as Kopas was by the university, she impressed her instructors as well.

“Elise is an outstanding student in the classroom,” said Sara Clutter, associate profes-sor of nursing. “She presents to each class, [is] prepared for the content plan of the day, prepared to participate in classroom activities and prepared to ask intriguing questions that let me know she has good critical thinking skills that she will use to keep her patients safe.”

Kopas’ professional repu-tation continues to build up, reaching the executive offi-

cials in her department. “Elise has been an excep-

tional student, very profes-sional and dedicated to her studies,” said Nancy Mosser, chairperson and director for the nursing department.

“She has served as a tutor for several years, sharing her knowledge and skills with others. Elise was a presence in the department, staying late into the evening hours to tutor other students. She was available to those who asked for assistance, and she always had a smile on her face.”

Elise wore this smile throughout each challenge she faced over these past four

years, including when sopho-more year proved to be quite a test.

“When I was a sophomore, it was very overwhelming,” said Kopas. “I would recom-mend that the nursing depart-ment have juniors and seniors act as mentors to underclass-men, so that things may be easier for them.”

According to Elise’s instruc-tors, she embodies character-istics that will permit her to shine in the field of nursing.

“So tiny, yet so tall! In physical stature, Elise is a very petite young woman but her potential contributions to the profession of nursing and the

advancement of healthcare are 10 feet tall,” said Clutter.

“Elise is the ‘total package’ of a great nurse: compassion-ate, knowledgeable, patient-focused and approachable.”

Kopas reflected on some things she really appreciates from her time at Waynes-burg.

“My favorite thing about the nursing program was meeting other great students and the outstanding faculty,” said Kopas. “I feel more pre-pared and accomplished.”

Being no stranger to long nights of studying followed by early morning commutes to clinicals, Kopas shares some

advice to underclassmen.“In this program you need

to work and study hard,” said Kopas. “Make sure you stick with it. Get the support you need and make sure you ask for help when necessary. Also, do not be afraid to ask ques-tions.”

Kopas is applying to Ruby Memorial Hospital in Mor-gantown, West Virginia and she also has plans to pursue a master’s degree, which will allow her to teach nursing.

Her chapter will soon be closing at Waynesburg, but she will continue to make her school proud in her pro-fession.

Valedictorian’s message: ‘Pay it forward’ Student believes the people of WU make it outstanding

Kopas: ‘Make friends; that’s what gets you through’

Spencer to remember lasting relationships made at WU

Photo courtesy Isaiah Cochran

Biology and pre-med double major Isaiah Cochran was involved in clubs and athletics while earning Valedictorian of the Class of 2015.

Photo courtesy Mary Spencer

English major Mary Spencer hopes to use the knowledge gained at Waynesburg to become a Christian author.

“It is the people around me that have made the memories.”

Josh DainsBusiness major

section B aPRil 23, 2015 | waynesBuRg uniVeRsity | theyellowJacket.oRg

By ABBy WernertChief Photogrpher

There are two types of people that enter college: those who know what it is they want to do, and those who do not.

For senior criminal justice and psychology major Emma Emiliani she happened to fall into the former group.

Coming from Canton, Pennsylvania, located on the opposite side of the state, Emiliani happened upon Waynesburg University by chance.

“When I was researching different colleges, I knew I wanted to go into criminal justice,” said Emiliani.

“There weren’t a lot of criminal justice schools in Pennsylvania, actually. So when I did research criminal justice schools, Waynesburg was one of the first ones to come up.”

Since high school, Emil-iani knew she wanted to go into the criminal justice field.

According to Emiliani, crime shows played a small part in inspiring her to choose criminal justice, but it was personal experience that really solidified the idea.

After looking into the school more, Emiliani was impressed with the criminal justice program Waynesburg offered and knew it was the right university to attend to carry out her goal.

Throughout her four

years, or rather three and a half – she spent a semester studying abroad in Lithuania – Emiliani has made sure to get the most from her college experience at Waynesburg.

Both in and out of her major, Emiliani has taken

classes that she feels have helped prepare her for what is to come after graduation.

The class Criminal Inves-tigation helped Emiliani gain the hands-on experience she needed to prepare for life af-ter college.

Meanwhile, her favorite non-criminal justice class was the Forensics Psychol-ogy class.

“It’s tied in with my ma-jor a lot, but we got some of the specifics on different criminals and just an un-

derstanding of why certain people do what they do,” said Emiliani.

The time she has spent at Waynesburg and as a stu-dent in the criminal justice department made the college experience fun and interest-

ing, said Emiliani. Some of her most trea-

sured moments and expe-riences at Waynesburg in-clude volunteering with the criminal justice outreach programs, such as the mock crime scene, and spending time with her friends.

While Emiliani is consid-ering taking some time to figure out her exact plans for after graduation, she is considering going into the more legal side of the crimi-nal justice area rather than the field of policing.

Ideally, Emiliani said she would want to become a law-yer or paralegal, as she enjoys working to put facts and cas-es together that would allow her to bring about justice.

Although Emiliani said there were some things from her four years at Waynesburg she would like to redo, such as participating more in events, the time she spent at Waynesburg proved to be valuable.

“What I learned here is just to take opportunities. Waynesburg has an enor-mous amount of opportuni-ties to take, and I’ve gotten to do some like study abroad and that was a really great experience for me,” said Emiliani.

“For my major, I’ve learned to always believe in yourself and go with your gut. I think that’s really important in the criminal justice field – be-lieving in yourself that you can do it.”

Page B2 Spotlight April 23, 2015

By Kimmi BAstonManaging Editor

When Jesse Vihlidahl transferred to Waynesburg University in 2012, the tran-sition was difficult – as it is for many transfer students.

In Vihlidahl’s case, he came from the University of Pittsburgh, which has an enrollment of nearly 35,000 students.

He chose Waynesburg, with 1,400 students, because he had decided to change his major to education and knew of the education department at Waynesburg University.

During the transition, Vi-hlidahl found that he gained enjoyment from the new experiences and the support from new friends.

“My favorite memory was actually the first few weeks of my time at Waynesburg,” said Vihlidahl. “

After transferring, it was exciting to meet new friends and explore a new campus. Everyone was very welcom-ing.”

As a biology secondary education major, Vihlidahl felt that the Education De-partment provided the best education possible for him to have a successful, prosperous career.

He believes the professors

of the department have the best interests of their stu-dents in mind and do their jobs very well.

“The professors were eas-ily my favorite thing about the education department,” said Vihlidahl.

“They were all highly mo-tivated and were always avail-able if you needed help. The education department takes care of their students and ad-equately prepares them for the education field.”

Currently, Vihlidahl is working a temporary posi-tion in Jefferson-Morgan school district.

To prepare him for such a position, Vihlidahl com-pleted a semester of student teaching before he graduated in December 2014.

He feels that student teaching was the ultimate preparation for beginning to move toward a career in education.

“I think my greatest ac-complishment was success-fully completing my student teaching experience last se-mester,” said Vihlidahl.

“Student teaching was very demanding, but all the hard work was worth it. It was easily the greatest learning experience of my life.”

Further demonstrating his dedication to the education

department, Vihlidahl was heavily involved in Kappa Delta Pi, the education hon-orary society, which lends it-self to doing various types of service throughout the year.

Through KDP, Vihlidahl was involved in Relay for Life and Operation Christ-mas Child while he was at the university.

Because he graduated ear-ly, Vihlidahl is on his own as he works locally, while many of his friends continue pursu-ing their degrees at Waynes-burg.

“I really miss the commu-nity atmosphere created by the students at Waynesburg, as well as seeing my friends there on a regular basis,” said Vihlidahl.

He names his “amazing friends” as his absolute fa-vorite part of Waynesburg University, despite the fact that he attended the univer-sity for a far shorter time than most.

Now, Vihlidahl hopes to find a secondary position teaching biology, and he wants to remain in Pennsyl-vania.

So far, he has submitted several applications to dif-ferent schools.

“I’m excited to see where these opportunities take me,” said Vihlidahl.

By Jenny schouppeConvergence Editor

Philip Hurd’s journey started after graduating high school in 2010.

Originally from the small town of Prattsburgh, New York, Hurd graduated with a class of 27 students.

During his time in high school, he was heavily in-volved in the music depart-ment.

Upon graduating from high school, he was accepted at Roberts Wesleyan College in Rochester, New York, where he majored in Music Educa-tion.

After two years, Hurd could not see himself fitting in the program so he looked into transferring.

Steven Hullings, a member of the 2013 graduating class at Waynesburg University, suggested he come down to Waynesburg to be a Sports Broadcasting major.

“I did that for a year but spent more time in the mu-sic building being a part of so many ensembles that Dr. DePriest asked why I wasn’t a Fine Arts major,” said Hurd.

Hurd then made the switch to a Music Ministry major, which he claims is where he feels he belongs.

Since coming to Waynes-burg, Hurd has been involved in almost every musical en-semble: Symphonic Band (Percussion Section Leader for two years), Touring Choir (Tenor Section Leader for three years), Concert Choir (Tenor Section Leader for three years), Pep Band, Pipe and Drum Band, Jazz Band, Vocal Jazz, Percussion Ensem-ble and Barbershop Quartet.

He also spent a year doing radio shows for the radio sta-tion WCYJ-FM.

Due to Hurd’s involvement in the music department, he is leaving Waynesburg with many precious memories.

“I’ve enjoyed working with major recording artists like Michael W. Smith, Cello Fury and Manhattan Piano Trio,” said Hurd. “I have also fall-en in love with the Pipe and Drum band, of which I am a member, but I think my two favorite memories involve be-ing off campus. I was selected to be a part of the Pittsburgh POPS, so a group of four Waynesburg students and I performed at Heinz Hall as a part of a large choir featuring members from all the colleges in the area.”

Hurd claims that he’ll al-ways remember all the great opportunities he’s had at

Waynesburg University.“My favorite memory is

that for the past two years I’ve been selected as the principal timpanist for the Pennsylva-nia Intercollegiate Band,” said Hurd.

“This band features col-legiate instrumentalists from all over the state representing upwards of 15 schools. I was lucky enough to be selected to go.”

Through the opportuni-ties and experiences here at Waynesburg University, Hurd feels that he is ready to take on the music industry and maybe even teach one day.

“I think the Fine Arts De-partment here allowed me to grow into a leader, and the de-partment has adjusted to the new technologies that have become available to musicians like myself and helped me ex-pand my range of knowledge much more than possible five years ago,” said Hurd.

Hurd plans on moving to the Pittsburgh area to look for jobs in the theater district.

“I’ve spent a good amount of time there and like the area,” said Hurd.

“I’m also entertaining the idea of going to get another undergraduate degree in Mu-sic Education so that I can teach throughout the state.”

By John Lydic Multimedia Manger

As the final spring sports events come to a close, so do the final practice oppor-tunities for senior athletic training and exercise science major Hayden Giuliani. A Morgantown, West Virginia, native, Giuliani has been an involved student over her four years at Waynesburg University, not only with her major, but also as a part of the women’s basketball team, Fellowship of Chris-tian Athletes and the vice president of the Athletic Training Club.

With all the involvement in many activities around campus, Giuliani found her favorite moments when she was on the court at the Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse.

“My fondest memory of Waynesburg was being on the basketball team,” said

Giuliani. “Being on a team, meeting new girls and be-ing a part of a community within itself was nice.”

Her involvement within the activities and her major have been well seen by peers and faculty, such as Drue Stapleton, assistant profes-sor of athletic training.

“In the time I have been here, Hayden has brought such attention to detail in what she does and her com-mitment,” said Stapleton. “Her work ethic is probably her biggest thing. When there is a job to do, she gets it done. When there is work to do, she gets it done at a high level. She is very de-pendable.”

Stapleton has enjoyed see-ing Giuliani’s involvement and leadership as a member and officer of the Athletic Training Club.

“She has done a great job at organizing the rest of the

members of the club,” said Stapleton.

As Giuliani reflects back

on her time at Waynesburg and in her major, she be-lieves Waynesburg has pre-

pared her for future career endeavors.

“I think I’m more pre-

pared because with [ath-letic training], you’re always hands-on,” said Giuliani. “They have put me in the best opportunities to excel. They have always helped me along the way. I have had a lot of classmates push me, teachers push me and I have worked really hard to get to this level.”

When Giuliani thinks about what the true Waynes-burg experience is for her, she thinks of the small com-munity but great opportuni-ties.

“The Waynesburg experi-ence is a small school, but very interactive and very open,” said Giuliani. “It al-lows you to be open and be yourself. It gives you so many opportunities to net-work and meet new people and see many new ideas.”

After graduation, Giuliani is planning to attend gradu-ate school in Florida.

Photo courtesy Emma Emiliani

Criminal justice major Emma Emiliani will take her knowledge gained at Waynesburg and consider the legal side of the criminal justice field rather than pursuing a career in policing.

Emiliani: ‘Thousands of minutes, miles of memories’

Giuliani cherishes community at WU, women’s basketball team

Music ministry major ready to take on industry

Student’s transition from Pitt to WU difficult, but worthwhile

Rob Longo, Yellow Jacket

Excerise science major Hayden Giuliani will remember the small community but the great opportunities from her time at Waynesburg.

April 23, 2015 Spotlight Page B3

Dedication to athletics, academics leads to Hope’s success

Bloomster acquires love for enviornmental science from campus involvement

Tenenbaum looking to combine technology with missions trips

Nursing student leaves lasting impression on WU professors

By JacoB MeyerManaging Editor

Alexander Tenenbaum un-derstands the difficulty of try-ing to intertwine his faith with his studies.

As an information tech-nology major, combining his Christian faith into his field has not been easy, and he un-derstands it will be difficult going forward.

Tenenbaum is hopeful, though, that he will be able to incorporate his degree with his faith and service in the future.

He has started the process of combining his major and faith with his senior project, in which he tried to gain infor-mation on how to achieve his goal of combining technology and missions.

"[For] my senior project I surveyed 21 missionaries and I also contacted a couple of other sources, and I asked the missionaries, 'How is technol-ogy relevant to your mission field and how do you need it?’” Tenenbaum said.

"It gave me an inlet for my major and how to combine my faith and my studies."

Tenenbaum knows that technology is of high impor-tance and is one of the biggest needs in world missions.

Tenenbaum studied abroad in Italy for the 2014 spring se-mester. He also went to Papua, New Guinea for six weeks on a mission trip and traveled to Boston during college.

"I've always desired to incor-porate faith and my studies," Tenenbaum said. "In Boston I did some evangelism and I also did some IT work in their office. In Papua, New Guinea, I got to meet some missionaries and ask them about technol-ogy on their missions and I used some of that for my se-nior project."

During his time as a student at Waynesburg, Tenenbaum said his studies were very di-verse because of the course load as an information tech-nology major.

"With IT, there is a broad aspect compared to other ma-jors in computer science, like

I took a lot of communication classes like Web Design, Pho-tography and Public Speak-ing," Tenenbaum said. "Then I obviously got to take the com-puter science classes. So itís a broad field within computer science."

Tenenbaum worked for the IT Department on campus for approximately three semesters during his college career.

He also raised money by himself as well as getting assis-tance from others to have wells fixed and made in Africa.

Tenenbaum said he will remember the people from Waynesburg the most.

"The friends I made and the mentors Iíve had from faculty, Iíll definitely have the rest of my life," Tenenbaum said. "I mean my studies are good, but I think itís the connections you make that are way more important."

Tenenbaum is hoping to get into seminary for a two-year degree in missions, and afterwards try to combine his degree with a Christian orga-nization.

By reBecca BurchaMCopy Editor

When Lindsey Bloomster came to Waynesburg, she was initially unsure about where she should go for her college education. Now, as she prepares to graduate, she will be heading out into the world with a definitive goal.

What is that goal? She wants to help save the Earth.

Bloomster, from Erie, Pennsylvania, didn’t know where she wanted to go for college.

In the fall of her senior year, she was recruited by the Waynesburg lacrosse coach. She ultimately de-cided that Waynesburg would be a good fit for her,

although she never suited up for Waynesburg’s la-crosse team.

Originally a biology ma-jor, Bloomster made the switch to environmental science in her sophomore year.

“I took environmental science in my senior year of high school, and I real-ized I wanted more earth sciences,” said Bloomster. “I enjoy finding ways to help the earth, and there’s a lot or problems that I think should be dealt with.”

Bloomster added that the job security was appealing as well, as the field of en-vironmental science has a large scope of current job openings.

D u r i ng he r t i me at Waynesburg, Bloomster

climbed the ranks to be-come president of the Ecostewards club and a leader of the Recycling Task Force. Through her extracurriculars, classes and overall experiences on campus, Bloomster has grown in many ways – both academically and person-ally.

“I grew up a lot here, and I found myself,” said Bloomster. “I came out of my shell a lot more and I realized I wanted to make changes, not only for the campus but to lead [into] a future job.”

“I learned a lot here with it still being faith-based, which was nice,” added Bloomster.

Bloomster credits much of her success to the faculty

within the environmental science department.

“I love the one-on-one interaction,” said Bloom-ster. “I’ve had a ton of classes with Dr. Paladino, so we definitely developed a nice relationship with each other. She’s just helped me through and steered me in the right direction I needed to go.”

Dr. Janet Paladino, asso-ciate professor of biology and Bloomster’s academ-ic advisor, believes that Bloomster is an exception-al student and has a very bright future in the field of horticulture.

“Lindsey possesses a unique combination of aca-demic maturity and moti-vation that is rare among her peers, and is passion-

ate about leaving a legacy of Environmental Stewardship on campus,” said Paladino. “[She] is extremely well or-ganized, has a great outlook and is not afraid to take on new challenges which will expand the limits of her knowledge.”

Blo omster ack now l-edged having many positive memories from her time at Waynesburg, but one of her favorites came in the spring of 2014.

“Last Earth Day, we planted trees on campus,” said Bloomster. “I think we had like 15 trees, [and] all the Ecostewards went around campus and planted them … It was a nice sense of community, and actually helping the campus. We had a ton of fun doing it.”

According to Bloomster, the only regrets she has in-volve not diving into her chosen field sooner.

“I’d probably get more in-volved my freshman year, and I think I wish I would have changed my major earlier too,” said Bloomster, when asked if she would do anything differently. “And then just develop the friends that I made in my major sooner, rather than the end of my sophomore year.”

In regards to the future, Bloomster plans to travel before beginning her ca-reer.

She hopes to work out in the field in agriculture, and is currently looking at the Longwood Botanic Garden as a future opportunity.

By Danielle SchuylerEditorial Assistant

Who knew someone could be so excited about yogurt parfaits? Her energy is evident as she encourages people to come visit her ta-ble at the Waynesburg Uni-versity Health Fair. Danielle Rupert takes her major and future career seriously, but she also makes it fun.

“Danielle was the presi-dent of the Student Nurses Association of Pennsylva-nia and was in charge of many fundraising activities for the organization,” said Nancy Mosser, chairperson for the nursing department. “She was a leader, spending hours organizing events for her class.”

Rupert’s passion for edu-cating others about nursing has left a lasting impression on those who taught her.

“O n e m e m o r y e a s -ily stands out: Danielle has served as a tutor for several courses in the Nursing De-partment,” said Sara Clut-ter, assistant professor of nursing. “I recently had the privilege of watching her tu-toring skills in action. She was so respectful of her peer and so easily discussed study skills, how to break down an NCLEX style test question, and even offer some con-structive suggestions to her peer in a way that was both respectful and encouraging. Those qualities represent true gifts as an educator.”

Flashing back to when Rupert was first looking at places to go to collge, Waynesburg University made a positive impression on her.

“Waynesburg University had almost everything on my checklist,” said Rupert. “It was a top rated school for nursing and it had an excellent pass rate for the

NCLEX. In addition, it was a small Christian school ap-proximately an hour from my home.”

Rupert expressed how genuinely pleased she was with her education here at the university and why she believes others would be too.

“Waynesburg University’s nursing program is one of the best,” said Rupert. “If you are looking to learn a lot and be a well-prepared nurse, Waynesburg should be on the list of potential options.”

Rupert understands the value of hard work and con-tinues to exhibit an attitude of professionalism with all of her assignments.

“Danielle is a dedicated student,” said Clutter. “She has an unparalleled under-standing of classroom con-tent and a unique way of sharing that understanding with her classroom peers.”

“Danielle has been an exceptional student, with a high GPA and excellent critical thinking skills,” said Mosser.

When discussing her favorite part about the Waynesburg University nursing program and what she would change, Rupert maintained an enthusiastic nature.

“The simulation lab was my favorite addition to the Waynesburg University’s nursing program,” said Ru-pert.

“The lab provided excel-lent opportunities to prac-tice nursing skills without the fear of hurting a patient.

I would not change anything about the Waynesburg Uni-versity nursing program. The instructors are excel-lent and they make sure that we are prepared to take the NCLEX.”

Rupert shares encourage-ment for underclassmen and those preparing to come to Waynesburg University for nursing.

“Don’t give up,” said Ru-pert. “Nursing as a major and a profession is difficult, but also very rewarding.”

Rupert’s tenacity has paid off, and she now prepares for her post-graduate job.

“I recently accepted an RN position at Ruby Me-morial Hospital in Morgan-town, West Virginia,” said Rupert.

“I plan on working at Ruby for several years and eventually going back for a graduate degree in educa-tion.”

Her instructors have no doubt that she will do great things.

“She has so much to offer to others,” said Mosser.

“Danielle knows my one wish for her; we have dis-cussed it several times,” said Clutter.

“Danielle will be a fan-tastic nurse and an even better nurse educator. Her skills and patience as a tu-tor are outstanding. She has a promising future as a nurse educator; one who can touch the lives of hundreds who will then go forth and touch the lives of thousands of patients. I look forward to working with Danielle as a nurse educator colleague.”

By KiMMi BaStonManaging Editor

Like other students who choose Waynesburg Univer-sity, Casey Hope was look-ing for a small school during his college search.

“It’s a smaller school, so [I love] the community type feeling that you get to estab-lish over the four years,” said Hope.

“You know a lot of peo-ple that you see every day. It’s not like it’s a big school where you might know five people and you might never see them. You get to know different types of people.”

Hope was also searching for a school where he could play basketball, which he has done for four years while at Waynesburg University.

He balanced his love of the sport with his responsi-bilities as an early childhood education/special education major.

As an education major, Hope was an active member of Kappa Delta Pi, the edu-

cation honorary society. He also volunteered as a

Fiat Lux mentor for classes of freshmen completing the introductory Fiat Lux course, and he served on the Student Athletic Advisory Committee, which meets periodically to discuss dif-ferent issues and activities on campus regarding ath-letics.

Throughout his time with each of these activities, Hope remained dedicated to his academic career.

He’ll graduate in May with no grades lower than an A-, a feat he calls his greatest accomplishment while in college.

His dedication to aca-demic work stems partly from his love of the educa-tion department as a whole. He feels that the professors in the department make be-ing an education major an extremely valuable experi-ence.

“The variety of profes-sors that we have come from different educational back-

grounds, and they are able to present us with different teaching perspectives based on what they’ve experienced in their careers,” said Hope. “Those professors are kind of like your friends, espe-cially after spending four years with them.”

In particular, Hope built strong connections with professors Debra Clarke, assistant professor of edu-cation and chair of the edu-cation department; Frank Pazzynski, associate pro-fessor of education; and Charles Braden, an adjunct instructor of education.

Besides missing profes-sors he has become close to, Hope anticipates that leav-ing Waynesburg will bring a period of adjustment to a life with a less sure routine.

“The real world’s a lot different than college, you know,” said Hope. “You don’t really get to sleep in in the real world. I’ll miss that routine and knowing what to expect. You don’t really know what to expect once

you leave these walls.”After graduation, Hope

will continue to apply to

school districts in Virginia and western Pennsylvania. He hopes to land a teach-

ing job either near home in Pittsburgh or in Virginia, where his sister lives.

Photo courtesy Alexander Tenenbaum

Information technology major Alexander Tenenbaum hopes to use technology skills in the missionary field.

Photo courtesy Casey Hope

Education major Casey Hope will remember the many life lessons he learned as a student athlete at Waynesburg.

“Danielle will be a fantastic nurse and an even better nurse educator.”

Sara clutterAssistant Professor of nursing

April 23, 2015 Spotlight Page B4

The History Behind Academic RegaliaBy KARA BEMER

Advertising Director

Ever wonder why graduates have to wear those huge robes and where the specific colors originated? There is more to academic regalia than those black robes that will make graduates sweat under the hot Pennsylvania sun during the Commencement ceremony on the Miller Hall lawn. Here is a breakdown of the history of graduation attire and how academics have adapted it over time:

HistoryAcademic regalia dress dates back to the 12th century at

the early universities of Europe. Universities lacked campus buildings so many of the un-

dergraduates would conduct their studies at a nearby church. Historians believe that academic dress originated when scholars, who were largely clerics or aspiring clerics in the churches, wore long robes and hoods to keep warm in the unheated church buildings.

The practices of wearing long graduation gowns became more widespread when gowns were established as the of-ficial dress of 1321. This was a time period when wearing revealing clothes was frowned upon, so wearing graduation gowns not only became a regal standard, but also served as a modest outfit.

The long gowns varied; hoods normally used for warmth were later used by universities to differentiate and recognize the various grades of scholars.

The official guidelines for dress at all institutions contin-ues to be diverse, since there is no true governing body of academic regalia. However, in 1895, representatives from the American Institution gathered and established a body known as the Intercollegiate Commission to standardize the practice of academic dress. These guidelines are often referred to as the Intercollegiate Code, with the most recent revision-taking place in 1986.

Patterns for gowns and hoods are decided based on ap-propriate degree color assignments for each area of study.

Robes and gownsThere are several different types of robes or gowns worn,

each signifying the highest level of academic degree held. The gown worn by someone earning a bachelor’s degree has pointed sleeves and is worn closed during the ceremony. The gown worn by someone who is obtaining a master’s degree has oblong sleeves, which are open at the wrist with the base hanging down; they can be worn open or closed with fasteners. Doctoral robes include velvet trimming down the front with three velvet bars on the sleeves. Traditionally, all robes are black, regardless of the degree. However, some universities and colleges elect to invest in robes in their school’s colors.

Cap and mortarboardFlat and four sided, the cap is worn on top of the

head. Caps come with a single button at the top where the tassel hangs, which is usually colored to signify the institution or type of degree.

At Waynesburg, undergraduates will sport one of a few different colored tassels May 3 depend-ing on their field of study. Students receiving a Bachelor of Arts will wear white tassels, students earning a Bachelor of Science will wear golden yellow tassels, students gradu-ating with a Bachelor of Science in Busi-ness Administration will wear drab (or brown) tassels and Bachelor of Science in Nursing graduates will wear apricot tassels.

Hoods Academic hoods are tradition-

ally black and made out of the same material as the robe or gown. The length of the hood varies based on degree; doctoral hoods are always the widest. Hoods are often lined on the inside with school colors. The edges are also often lined in vel-vet colored by the field of study.

Tams Signifying doctoral degrees, these are made of velvet with

ribbon over the fabric. The number of sides may vary, and they are “poofed” at the top. They generally come with tassels and one or two buttons.

Source: https://www.herftjones.com/regaliahistory

BA

BSBA

BS/BSMB

BSN

Tassel Colors

April 23, 2015 Spotlight Page B5

Local student Quincy Hathaway finds interest in sciences

Forsythe puts in work on and off field

A student searching for stability for her future finds it at WU

By JOHN LYDICMultimedia Manager

In the last few weeks of the college careers for many seniors, athletic training and exercise science major Jake Forsythe has covered a lot of ground, not only on the football field but in the classroom as well.

Since transferring to Waynesburg, the New Sa-lem native has been heavily involved with his major and athletics. Forsythe’s involve-ment with his major has al-lowed him to set up for the next step in his career, and he thinks Waynesburg has given him the tools to do so.

“The classes in general, there is so much work you have to do to get you ready for what you have to do after graduation,” said Forsythe. “It puts you in the mindset and track for what you have to do after graduation.”

The hands-on teaching provided in the classroom with instructors such as Drue Stapleton, assistant

professor of athletic train-ing, has brought the frame-work of what athletic train-ing students like Forsythe experience.

“The coursework has prepared them to take the

next step,” said Stapleton. “It has given them kind of the baseline information, a combination of that base-line foundation and his in-dividual attributes through internship experiences and

his desire to want to learn more, his ability to move on to the next level.”

Stapleton discussed that students such as Forsythe

By CHELSEA DICKSManaging Editor

Even before Alyssa Dan-iel came to college or chose her major, she kept stability in mind and knew what she wanted in a college experi-ence.

She ended up deciding on Waynesburg University for a couple of reasons. She liked the small size and the rural location in a small town.

The scholarships also at-tracted her here.

But sports played a huge role in her decision as well, and she liked that here, she had the ability to play tennis at a D-III level.

The idea of stability has always been in the forefront of her mind when picturing her future.

“I decided to major in fo-rensic accounting because I found the classes and subject matter interesting, and also

because of the job opportu-nities available in the field,” said Daniel.

“Stability has always been important to me, and the ac-counting field has many op-portunities.”

Since choosing Waynes-burg University, Daniel is proud of all of the things she was able to accomplish during her past four years here.

One thing she is most proud of is her ability to maintain a high grade point average during all four years.

This fact opened up many doors for her. Due to her high GPA, she was offered some great internship opportuni-ties, which later contributed to her job prospects.

Daniel also received a Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants [PICPA] scholarship due to all of her hard work.

“[The scholarship] has been a great blessing,” said Daniel.

Now that she is prepar-ing to step out into the real world, she says that the things she will miss the most are the everyday experiences with friends so close.

“From Pirates games, to movie night in the dorms, to tennis matches,” said Daniel, “I am lucky enough to be liv-ing near some of them next year, but I will miss the con-venience of having them near all the time.”

She quickly added that she

would also miss naps, because to her they are the best.

Daniel said that she has learned a lot while at Waynes-burg University, but among the highest and most promi-nent lessons for her was to learn the importance of figur-ing out what events and sub-ject she was most passionate about.

“I am someone who at times tries to do too many things at once,” said Daniel. “During my time here I have learned that there is a limit to the amount of time I have to do these things.”

Even though graduation is fast approaching, Daniel is ex-cited about her future. She has accepted a job working in the tax department at BDO USA in Pittsburgh, which is one of the biggest accounting firms in the city. She is also happily engaged to Aaron Anderson and is expecting to get mar-ried in June 2016.

By KARA BEMERAdvertising Director

“I love psychology because I love finding and knowing rea-sons to why we are the way we are,” said Sara Faiad.

Faiad, a psychology major and biology minor, not only shares a love for studying psy-chology, but also a passion for animals.

After four years at Waynes-burg University, involvement in mission trips and extracurricu-lar organization involvement in Mad Anthony Yearbook and Peer Education Club, Faiad is taking the next step in her ca-reer.

Faiad will pursue her masters – at Bucknell University located in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania – in animal behavior and will specifically be accompanied by some primates. While humans and primates share many physi-cal attributes like similar hands, broad shoulders and a rib cage, there is one major similarity that particularly interests Faiad.

Primates are comparable to

humans in how they choose to handle their emotions, even in how long it takes for two pri-mates to make up after a fight and the anxiety they experi-ence before, during and after the fight.

This is what Faiad will be do-ing in the upcoming years, as she will be in a primate lab.

Faiad shares an extreme ex-citement for experimental stud-ies of animals.

She will specifically study experimental and comparative social behaviors between differ-ent species, but mainly primates and humans.

“I wasn’t even sure I could ac-complish this career, but after pursuing both my love of ani-mals and psychology and with the help of Dr.[Jamie] Jellison [associate professor of psychol-ogy], I was able to get the help I needed in experimental psy-chology,” said Faiad. “All of my other professors really prepared me and are great, but Dr. Jellison helped me get to where I wanted

Photo courtesy Quincy Hathaway

Senior environmental science and biology major with a minor in chemistry Quincy Hathaway in his element. Hathaway has dedicated his last four years of college and his summers helping to advance the sciences.

Jenny Schouppe, Yellow Jacket

Senior athletic training and exercise science major, Jake Forsythe runs the hoping for a touchdown as a running back for the Yellow Jacket football team.

By REBECCA BURCHAMCopy Editor

If passion is equal to suc-cess, Quincy Hathaway has been destined to succeed for many years. What began as a high school interest has grown into larger passion and a future career through his experiences at Waynes-burg University.

Originally from Carmi-chaels, Pennsylvania, Ha-thaway came to Waynesburg University so he would be able to commute, and also because the price of tuition was fairly reasonable.

Hathaway will gradu-ate with a double major in environmental science and biology and a minor in chemistry.

These interests began with Hathaway’s high school learning experiences.

“I was interested in bi-ology, and specifically en-vironmental science, in high school. There is what’s known as the Envirothon; it’s a type of organization where you compete at the state and national level for wilderness knowledge, ba-sically,” said Hathaway in regards to a particular ex-perience that he credits for his interest in the field

At Waynesburg Univer-sity, Hathaway is involved in many extracurriculars, including the Ecostewards, the biology club and Habitat for Humanity service proj-ects.

These experiences, along with the academic environ-ment of the university, have helped him to grow as an individual.

Academically, Hathaway particularly enjoys the faith versus science debates that spark in the classroom.

“It’s just something that interests me, how faith has a different role in scientific knowledge,” said Hathaway.

“I’ve definitely grown,” added Hathaway. “I’ve been

pushed to excel at Waynes-burg, and there have been

ample opportunities to go out and find [openings] like internships. Personally, just through the experiences of college, through the aca-demic and social setting, I’ve changed as an indi-vidual.”

According to Hathaway, the Waynesburg faculty is one of the university’s great-est qualities.

“They are always looking to help the students, inside and outside the classroom,” said Hathaway.

According to Dr. Janet Paladino, associate pro-fessor of biology and Ha-thaway’s academic advisor, Hathaway is the highest academic achiever in the environmental science de-partment.

“It is exceptional under-graduate students like Quin-cy Hathaway that motivate college professors to make the extra effort to insure their students are provided with the most challenging academic experiences,” said Paladino. “I am extremely impressed with his motiva-tion, his interest in scien-tific research, his passion for molecular and cell biology, his superior written and oral communication skills and his ability work as a team player. I believe that he is destined to be a very successful scientist.”

Hathaway has few regrets when he looks back on his four years at Waynesburg.

“I’d say probably the two things I would change would be some of the courses that I’ve taken … and maybe at-tending more social events here,” he said.

These miniscule qualms will have no effect on his accomplishments, how-ever. Hathaway pursued his passion at Waynesburg University, and chasing that passion can only lead him to his future success.

“Stability has always been important to me, and the accounting field has many opportunities.”

ALYSSA DANIELSenior business major

“Finding your passion is finding success.” QUINCY HATHAWAY

Enviornmental Science and Biology Major

Dave Miller, ADM Photography

Senior business major, Alyssa Daniel plays the sport that she loves. She was part of the Waynesburg University tennis team for four years.

Faiad prepares for next step in careerAfter transfering, senior says WU has prepared him well

Hathaway’s love for environmental science while in high school turned into his future in college

See FORSYTHE on B8 See FAIAD on B8

When I was 13 years old, my life changed. Whether it was for better or for worse, I’ll never really know; but what I do know is that this one incredibly vivid mo-ment rocked my world and changed my perspective on life. 

When I was 13 years old, my mother and father sat my brothers and I down to tell us our best friend was gone. 

Our cousin Lou had been shot and killed at age 14. 

That one memory is far stronger than all the rest, permanently etched in my mind as if hot metal had branded my brain. It’s a dark memory, filled with rampag-ing storms and seemingly

endless sobs. It shook all my beliefs in life and made me question everything I had once known as truth. 

Why do bad things hap-pen to good people? If I’m faithful to God, won’t He reward me? 

Does God really, truly have a plan for me if He would let something like this happen to my family?

For better or for worse, I’ll never know, but Lou’s death changed my life.

Lou’s death made me stronger in my faith.

For one, it made me re-alize that an unshakable faith is nearly impossible to obtain, but an ever grow-ing, omnipresent faith is necessary in life. Though I questioned it in my grief, I knew God still loved my family. I knew he had work for me to do. I just needed to conquer the challenges that

faced me after Lou’s death, mold something new in my life and continue down that path God created for me. 

That path led me to Waynesburg. Here, I’ve continued to grow in faith and in knowledge. I know I’d never have had the opportu-nity to grow as immensely as I have in four years’ time if I had chosen a different college. 

Lou’s death made me real-ize the value of family. 

I’ve always appreciated my family, even at times when I’d question my par-ents’ rules or fight with my brothers, but over the last four years, I’ve learned what it means to love a family un-conditionally. My parents are still my biggest fans, and my brothers, Mitch and Jack, are still my very best friends in the world. I’m thankful that they’ve supported me

through many triumphs — and a few failures — in col-lege.

In the future, I hope to ex-tend those family values and unconditional love and share them with a family of my own. That starts with a girl named Kara, whom I never would have met if I didn’t go to school at Waynesburg. I know I’ve already used this term repeatedly, but Kara has become one of my best friends in life. No one else in the world has watched me go through incredible stresses and break down, and then help me recover by building me back up. She makes me a better, stronger man every single day. I hope that in the future, we can continue to grow together — no matter where life takes us. 

I wouldn’t have this hope

I really didn’t want to do this, because frankly I am no good at writing about myself. I could go ahead and ramble on about my hard times as a transfer student from Grove City College, how I always knew I wanted to be a journalist or how much the Department of Communi-cation here at Waynesburg University has impacted me. I guess I could do that, but more than likely most of you have no idea who I even am, so I have decided to take a different approach.

Here are some things that I learned throughout my three years here at WU that will make your college experi-ence better, and cheaper.

Number 1: I have the so-lution to the number one problem that everyone com-plains about at this school,

the parking problem.Actually, Brandon Szu-

minsky, a communication instructor and our newspa-per advisor, came up with it and I agree so I would like to share it with you (just in case someone actually has some initiative and makes a change happen). Parking spots should cost the student more or less in conjunction with how close the spot is to highly trafficked areas around campus. This means that when students apply for a parking pass, they choose a location spot on cam-pus. If they choose spots in front of Buhl or across from Hanna Hall the spot will cost more than spots down by Willison or down by the parks. Seniors and commut-ers would get first choice at spots. Smart, right? Someone do something about it.

Number 2: Do not buy a meal plan at any college if you don’t have to. I know that

Page B6 Spotlight April 23, 2015

Yellow Jacket Staff Seniors ReflectTake some advice: Be smart in school, never miss the fun

CHELSEA DICKS

Senior Columnist

NICK FARRELL

Senior Columnist

KARA BEMER

Senior Columnist

BRITTANYSEMCO

Senior Columnist

DANIELLE SCHUYLER

Senior Columnist

How one moment shaped a lifetime

A message from our Graphic Design Editor

Height is just a number; you always grow

‘Mistakes’ of the past don’t matter now

The futurebelongs to those who

believe

DREAMS

in the

of theirbeauty I was supposed to have

graduated by now. I was sup-posed to have graduated with honors from a state university or Ivy League school.

I was supposed to be in a blossoming career. I was supposed to have—by now—been in a serious relationship that is heading toward mar-riage.

At least at 17, that’s where I thought I would be a month before my 24th birthday. I

used to be very angry that I did not fulfill these dreams of my 17-year-old self. I would cry frustrated tears, mentally abusing myself for my “mis-takes.” When I was applying to college, I had an interview with a Princeton alumnus at his home.

He said that if I wrote a personal essay about how I was remaining competitive in my academics and extra-curricular activities despite my obstacles, it would tip the acceptance scales in my favor. So why did I not write the essay?

Since I am a writer, that es-say would have been cake. So

why did I throw that chance away?

When I got accepted into the University of Pittsburgh, which I was told was a hard school to get into, why did I leave after two years? Yes, I was really sad.

That was the time when three of my loved ones died over the course of four months. Why did I not stick it out, go to counseling, and just try to ignore the pain?

Why did I throw away that opportunity as well? Why did I think transferring to a school 10 hours away would be better?

Then when I came back to

Pennsylvania after one year, why did I take a semester off of school? Between spring se-mester 2011 and fall semes-ter 2012, I was internally in a very dark place.

However I am no longer allowing that to cripple me from moving forward. You know what is crazy? I would not change anything that had happened.

Every single day that I won-dered if I even had a purpose to live helped make me who I am. I am not being melo-dramatic, but rather speaking the truth. Each obstacle was

Growing up, I never hit a high point in my life – physi-cally, that is. I never grew past the mere height of 4 feet, 11 inches.

Entering Waynesburg University four years ago, I was undecided in my major, knew no one at the univer-sity, was unfamiliar with the area and felt extremely small.

I guess I felt physically small, but my vertical chal-lenges were not always my main concern.

In fact, being short has many perks; I can buy kids’ shoes, which saves me mon-

ey, crowd weaving is my art form and I am a great po-tential candidate for crowd surfing.

Anyway, what I really meant is that I felt small be-cause I didn’t feel like I had a plan entering college.

I soon found friends and got accustomed to the south-western Pennsylvania life-style after relocating from Cleveland, Ohio.

However, it took some time to find my career path, which created some uneasi-ness in me, as all of my class-mates knew exactly where they wanted to be.

My roommate was a busi-ness guru, the girl across the hall would tell me about her nursing tests that she was already having after the sec-

ond week of school and I was headed to my next class, ca-reer and life planning.

After a full year, I reaf-firmed that I still loved writing but I also loved com-municating and the idea of working with different peo-ple every day.

After a couple of person-ality and career tests, I was led to a major called public relations.

I took a couple of cours-es within the Department of Communication and it didn’t take a long time for me to realize that this was where I finally envisioned myself.

After an entire year of stressing over my career path and giving my parents an, “I don’t know what I want to do with my life, I’m only 18,”

answer, I was sure that public relations was my passion.

That covered year one of college for me, but then there were three years to follow.

These three years were filled with heavy dead-lines from my professors, late hours in the Mac Lab, part-time jobs that took too much time away from home-work and friends, finding classmates for support and friendships as well as plenty of Sheetz runs to put my bank account into the nega-tives.

Whether you’re a fan of being in college or not, you’re here now, and each day provides the opportuni-ty to gain relationships with

See WISDOM on B6

See LOU on B7

See HEIGHT on B7

See FAMILY on B7

Editor’s Note: Graphic Design Editor Brittany Semco chose not to write a senior column, but still has a message to share with readers.

April 23, 2015 Spotlight Page B7

Shon Meade, Yellow Jacket

Graduating executive staff members include (from left to right) Brittany Semco, Danielle Schuyler, Chelsea Dicks, Abby Wernert, Luke Campbell, Kara Bemer, Megan Potosky, Nick Farrell and Rob Longo. These nine staffers form one of the most decorated groups in Yellow Jacket history, having collectively earned 12 total awards over the last four years; six from the Society of Professional Journalists, three from the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association and three from the American Scholastic Press Association.

Leaving a legacy

LUKE CAMPBELL

Senior Columnist

ABBY WERNERT

Senior Columnist

If you love the grind, it’s never a bother at all

Stressful questions lead to many memories

grants and loans will pay for it but here is the math: There are around 16 weeks, give or take a few days, per semester. If you have a 19 meal plan, you pay around $14 for each meal here. I am a commuter without a meal plan and I pay around $3.50 for my lunch at the Beehive and $5.10 for a cafeteria meal that is the salad bar and stuff. Not only is $14 a lot, but also if you

add this into your financial package you will later be pay-ing interest on your meals while paying off your student loans.

Number 3: Students, you need to realize that com-plaining on social media and with one another will change nothing. Someone needs to take some initiative and actu-ally present issues such as the washer and dryer problem to the school so they become aware of the issue.

Number 4: I know this is

cheesy and very cliché but take time to have a college experience. I didn’t, and that will always be a regret of mine. Take time for the things you enjoy. If you are in to theater, be in a play; if you love to worship, join Up-per Room; if you love sports, play in the intramural games. Whatever it is you really en-joy, make time for it. Go to bingo and coffeehouses and concerts. Be a member of a Relay for Life team. I don’t know, just be a part of this

campus.I know that within five

years I will be nothing more than a name rarely, if ever, spoken on the fourth floor of Buhl Hall. I will not leave a legacy, or a name that will become timeless. I will be forgotten by most. But you know what? That’s okay, be-cause there are a few here that will remember me for more than just a name, but as a friend, mentor, co-worker and confidant. What more can I ask for?

Wisdom: Do what you enjoy while you can

if I didn’t attend Waynes-burg. 

Lou’s death certainly made me value just how pre-cious life is. 

It may sound conceited, but I don’t go to college for my own benefit — I do it for Lou, too. He was a fun-lov-ing young man who could brighten up any friend or stranger’s day. He seemed to take advantage of every chance to be a good friend and to simultaneously better his own life. 

I wear a necklace with the No. 6 — the number on his soccer jersey — as a daily reminder to impact others and to live my own life to the

fullest. It’s a reminder that I have the opportunity to do the earthly things he no longer can.

In his memory, I’ve chased my dream of becoming a sports broadcaster by learn-ing the trade from a great mentor and calling some of the most exciting moments in Waynesburg sports his-tory.

In his memory, I’ve pushed myself to my physical and mental limits by balancing schoolwork with being Ex-ecutive Editor and working multiple part-time jobs. That Farrell family work ethic has helped me to win numerous journalism awards (thanks in large part to another great mentor), land stints at WJPA Radio and KDKA-FM, earn

a GPA better than the one I sported in high school — which was based on a 5.0, mind you! — and now has me ready to embark on an exciting opportunity as a news reporter at WBOY in Clarksburg, West Virginia — the next destination on this path. When all that work be-gan to pile up and prospects seemed grim, I reminded myself to push through it for Lou. In that way, Lou still sees me through all my toughest challenges. 

In his memory, I’ve forged relationships at Waynesburg and new memories that will last a lifetime. 

Through these four years at Waynesburg, I’ve carried Lou with me. Because of that, I’ve been the benefi-

ciary of so much good for-tune and so many blessings.

My path, darkened by death, seemed lowly and directionless. What I didn’t realize was that two sources of light – Lou and the Lamp – would shine brighter than I ever could have imagined.

Without Lou in my life, and without all these ex-periences at Waynesburg, I wouldn’t feel as fulfilled as I am in this moment. 

No matter the challenges in your life, you have the ability to thrive, conquer and grow. You have the power to make a nightmare turn into a dream come true. I wish each of you reading this, graduating or returning, the very best as you continue down your own path.

Lou: How a mindset turns darkness into lightContinued from B6

Continued from B6

The great Carl Sagan once said, “For small creatures such as we, the vastness is bearable only through love.”

Throughout my four years at Waynesburg, I’ve often struggled with questions: am I in the right major, do I really belong here, who are the people that are going to have a lasting impact on my life? These questions have caused me way more stress over the past years than what could be considered healthy.

In high school, I must have changed my mind at least three times a year of what I wanted my major to be once I went to college.

Marine biology, English,

pre-med, pre-law, econom-ics, chemistry, international cultures, international rela-tions and linguistics. None of those fall under commu-nications.

In all honesty, I sort of fell into my majors of pub-lic relations and journalism. They sounded interesting and I knew I liked to talk to people and write.

While I realized through-out the past four years that public relations isn’t as glamorous as it originally seemed and journalism can be really, really stressful, I also learned to love my ma-jors.

I realized I didn’t have to be stuck or confined to the typical desk job — the possibilities of what I could do through journalism or public relations were pretty much limitless. If I wanted, I could write about science, or I could write about fashion; I

could plan events or I could work to make a difference.

Besides learning to love my major, I also learned to fall in love with Waynesburg and with Greene County. All my life, I wanted to live in a big city, and while I had applied and been accepted to city schools such as the University of Pittsburgh, I realized I might not have been as ready for something so drastically different than the small high school atmo-sphere I was used to.

So I ended up at Waynes-burg, and found myself in-credibly bored.

During my freshman year, I thought there was nothing to do and would go home nearly every weekend.

The more time I spent at the university though, the more things I found to do. I would go on the trips of-fered through the school or learn to make my own

fun by hanging out with friends. And really, there are more things to do in Greene County than one might think. You just have to know where to look.

Coming to find a love for both my majors and for the little town I’ve called home for the past four years have definitely made life in col-lege a lot easier.

However, what I’ve come to be the most apprecia-tive of are the people I’ve met. I’m so thankful for the friends that I’ve made, both old and new, both in the De-partment of Communica-tion and outside of it.

I’m thankful for all of the people I have been friends with for the past four years, for showing me kindness and for sticking by me through all of the good times and especially all of

As these past four years come to a conclusion over the next several days, it al-lows me to finally sit back and assess what all of that time means.

No, that doesn’t mean I get a break.

It just means that around the numerous final projects and upcoming exams, I now make time to keep myself paranoid as to where I might end up after May 3—a date that all seniors have looked forward to.

But as some things just begin in our life, others—thankfully—come to an end.

No more required research papers.

No more checking the grades, immediately ponder-ing the best strategy to pose to your parents that it’s only midterms.

No more walking into family events and getting bombarded by questions about each and every aspect of your life. From grades, sig-nificant others, classes and making sure that I have been at least somewhat behaved head those unavoidable, ex-tensive conversation.

We will now attend these sporadic birthday parties, holidays or get-togethers and will be another face in the crowd. Not that I am com-plaining or anything. It will be good transition to sepa-rate myself from a college student into a person making a living and providing.

Instead of how is college, we will receive the prototypi-cal inquiry, “How is work?”

Throughout my last four years of being dragged to a majority of these events, I have listened to that answer more than I have thought about the questions thrown my way.

But the answer that I want-ed desperately to hear never came.

Not once. Never.That symbolic, conver-

sation starter was always preceded with some form of negativity. I continue to listen as people continue to talk about that day-to-day struggle that is their job.

And then I wonder why.Why is it so awful?Why, instead of doing

something about it, complain about it?

But with each of these con-versations that I have listened to, it has hammered home the fact that I owe myself to never go through that.

The classic phrase, “If you love what you are doing, you will never work a day in your life,” is the motto I will always pride myself on.

I never want myself to say, “I have to go to work.” Instead, “I get to go to work.”

Never let somebody tell you that you can’t do some-thing. Never let other people get in the way of what you want to do.

With my resume being dispensed similarly to the rate of a popular vending machine, I can only hope to get that first opportunity. But I do know one thing: I am doing everything in my power to get that first chance. I am doing everything to hopefully one day achieve that dream.

And the best part about it is that I don’t have to do it—I want to do it.

friends, professors and staff on campus.

It also allots each of us an opportunity to continue to gain knowledge in our spe-cific interests and studies so we can be prepared for the next step after college: a grown up job.

I couldn’t have envisioned a more unique and powerful time as I have had these past four years and I will greatly miss being in college, mainly because I can’t sleep in any-more after Commencement.

Perhaps the most im-portant lesson I’ve learned

here is this: you don’t have to know everything or have your life pieced together while you’re in college; you just need to remember your passion, your dream and your framework (for me, that was Waynesburg) to really reach your big aspira-tions.

While I may have a tough time reaching things in a grocery store or finding a pair of jeans that don’t drag in the mud, I can say that Waynesburg has allowed me to have the platform to feel tall in my accomplishments, relationships and education and reach a milestone and a high point in my life thus far.

Height: Size doesn’t define you; reach for new peaks at WU

Family: Cherish those around you and live in every single moment

Continued from B6

instrumental in bringing me here to Waynesburg Univer-sity. Each “mistake” helped me find what I really want to do and who I am meant to be.

I am glad those things happened because I have discovered a field that I am truly passionate about. While I have met some really great friends in all of my schools, I was not able to have that feel-ing of ‘family’ with my fellow students until I became a member of the Yellow Jacket staff.

We are encouraged to re-flect in these senior columns. I am really going to miss hanging out in the “pub of-fice” with people that I have grown to see as my broth-ers and sisters. Monday and Tuesday nights are going to

feel weird for a little while. I am going to miss the con-flicting music tastes, banter, scribbling of pens, clicking of computers, rustling of papers and the sense of community.

Not every night was a good one, but our team worked through it together. Coming from someone who does not have much immediate family, this means a lot.

I want to encourage anyone reading this to take stock of the family you have here. It may not always be visible, but it is there.

Do not take the people around you for granted be-cause one day you will also graduate. Also, do not be so hard on yourself. The “mis-takes” you make are not al-ways mistakes. You may not be where you pictured your-self at 17, but you are where you are supposed to be.

See QUESTIONS on B8

Continued from B6

the bad.The past four years, I have

been able to meet so many great people that have had such a positive impact on my time here and made me love my time at Waynesburg.

This past year, however, I’ve had the opportunity to meet some truly wonderful people that I wish for all the world I could spend more time with. In the past year alone, I’ve met people who I now would consider some of my closest friends in life, who taught me how to live spontaneously and enjoy the little things, I’ve fallen in love with a boy that makes every day sunnier and the

stars at night brighter; and I’ve come to appreciate and love the world around me in ways that I never did before.

Above everything else, though, these past few years I’ve come to realize how im-portant it is to love yourself. It’s not something that’s easy and I still struggle every day to do so. I’ve learned to ig-nore the people that only work to bring me down, be-cause at the end of the day, they mean nothing to me. I’ve learned that I need to accept myself for who I am, flaws and all.

And through learning to love myself, and loving those around me and the places I call home, then I can truly succeed and find my place in this big world.

Continued from B6

Questions: Learning to love yourself is life’s most important lesson

Page B8 Spotlight April 23, 2015

By BRITTANY SEMCOGraphic Design Editor

Abigail Hancher, a senior English major with a focus in creative writing, is so in-volved on campus that no one experience sticks out in her mind as the most promi-nent.

Although a native of Washington, Pennsylvania, Hancher spends most of her time on campus.

She is heavily involved with the university’s Writing Center, where she has had the opportunity to work with undergraduate and graduate students.

Hancher also involves her-self by being the President of Sigma Tau Delta, a member of the Muse and Stone Board, playing in the Brass ensemble and acting in this semester’s musical, “Once Upon A Mat-tress.”

Some of her hobbies, other

than schoolwork and work-ing in the Writing Center, are reading and watching televi-sion series and shows.

Stemming from her expe-rience with the Writing Cen-ter, she has had the oppor-

tunity to visit classes such as Composition to help students with their writing, which makes her want to teach at the college level someday.

“I want to primarily be a writer in fiction, poetry

or creative non-fiction but, luckily, I enjoy the idea of be-ing a college professor,” said Hancher. “I’ve enjoyed the experience I’ve had working in the classroom with col-lege students and being able to teach would be a bonus to me, something that would supplement my writing.”

Although she has been extremely involved, Hanch-er did not originally start her college career at Waynesburg University.

She transferred from John Carroll University after her freshman year to Waynes-burg University, a place she describes as “a different at-mosphere. Coming here felt like coming home. People are really friendly.”

Hancher also applied to Gettysburg College, Dick-inson College and Susque-hanna University.

Waynesburg University stuck out in Hancher’s mind right away as the place she should be.

“I really enjoy all of my creative writing classes and I am going to miss classes the most with Amy Randolph,” said Hancher. “The students I had classes with and the professors really made those everyday experiences a time to look forward to.”

Hancher has made many friends on campus, but her role models are her profes-sors.

“One of my professors, Jill Sunday, as far as writing goes, is someone who I really ad-mire,” said Hancher. “She has the family, is a professor and is a writer, which is some-thing I admire.”

Hancher also admires pro-fessor Jamie Dessart because of the way she can raise a

family and still be a very re-spected scholar in her field.

“She is a great professor too. That’s what I want to do, watching those women do it everyday. It’s kind of inspir-ing,” said Hancher.

Having recently been ac-cepted to Eastern Washing-ton University’s Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.) program, Hancher’s goal for after grad-uation is to earn her M.F.A. and then go on to her Ph.D. with the hopes of teaching college students in the future.

She is someone who thrives when learning and embraces the opportunities that college can bring.

“I’m really driven and re-ally just love learning,” said Hancher. “College has been such a great experience for me, obviously I love it so much I don’t plan on leaving for a few years. I like a lot of things, but felt particularly called to write.”

A lot of her energy is in-volved in becoming a better writer and “learning all I can about writing so I can be the best that I can be.”

By CHELSEA DICKSManaging Editor

Zakk DeCarlo went to col-lege searching for THE col-lege experience. If you know Zakk, you know he is a guy who is up for anything, loves to have fun and is sometimes good at getting out of trou-ble. If you haven’t seen him in classes, you may have seen him on the soccer field, play-ing the sport that he loves.

Wherever DeCarlo is, you know a good time is going to follow.

“I chose [Waynesburg University] because of the size of the classes and the soccer program and also because I thought I could have a good time here,” said DeCarlo.

And a good last four years he has had.

From the soccer team de-feating Grove City College in 2013 to also passing all of his classes “so far,” DeCarlo looks back at his time here and can’t help but smile and laugh.

He came to Waynesburg knowing that he wanted to do something related to business, so choosing a ma-jor was no problem for him.

“Accounting was a good background to do most things related to business,” said DeCarlo.

Through his time here, he has learned a lot of life

lessons the easy -- and the hard way. The classes in the Department of Business re-ally helped him learn how to study, and what the best form of studying was for him, while the environment and the lifestyle he lived here taught him how to adapt to any situation.

As he gets ready to gradu-ate, he tries to prepare him-self for the work force.

“I got really good at scheduling my classes all on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays,” said DeCarlo. “So it is going to be hard for me to get used to doing stuff on Tuesdays and Thursdays.”

He also says that he is go-ing to miss all the free time and the many nights that he and his friends spent togeth-er doing who knows what.

Now with graduation only a few days away, De-Carlo plans on interning at Mylan Pharmaceuticals in Morgantown, West Virginia and living his life to the full-est.

“I know I will end up somewhere eventually, so that’s good enough for me,” said Decarlo.

Photo courtesy of Abigail Hancher

Abigail Hancher, senior English major with a focus in creative writing, plans to follow up her active Waynesburg career with graduate school at Eastern Washington University.

For Hancher, the transition to college was like coming home

DeCarlo prepares for future in business

Getting involved leads to desire to be a professor

After four years at Waynesburg, senior looks forward to career

“Coming here [to Waynesburg University] felt like coming home."

ABIGAL HANCHERSenoir English major

“I chose [Waynesburg University] because of the size of the classes and the soccer program.”

ZAKK DECARLOAccounting Major

Dave Miller, ADM Photography

DeCarlo playing the sport that he loves for the Waynesburg University Yellow Jacket soccer team. One of the reasons he chose Waynesburg.

stood out because of his willingness to add to the department.

“His work ethic has defi-nitely made him stand out among his peers, as well as his willingness to get in-volved professionally, his willingness to provide pro-fessional service while get-ting hands-on experience and opportunities to further his education and own pro-fessional development,” said Stapleton.

After Forsythe receives his diploma, he plans to work with the Belle Vernon School District as a part of their football team until the following semester, when he plans to attend graduate school at California Univer-sity of Pennsylvania.

The lasting image at

Waynesburg for Forsythe was getting to share the football field with a couple of his family members.

“My fondest memory was being on the football field with my older cousin that graduated last year, Ronnie Skinner, and then being able to play on the field this year, in my final year, with my younger cousin Tristan Sandrosky,” said Forsythe.

With these final days becoming an even smaller number, Forsythe thinks the bonds he created here at Waynesburg have made his experience so successful.

“The true Waynesburg experience for me is com-ing in and not knowing anybody, and as the years go by getting to know ev-erybody in your field and around campus and having a good relationship with ev-erybody.”

Forsythe: Student adds to department

to be and reach what I specifi-cally wanted to do.”

Jellison assisted Faiad with keeping her up to date with current animal labs and stud-ies.

Waynesburg University doesn’t have an animal lab on campus, but that didn’t slow Faiad’s education down, thanks to Jellison incorporat-ing a research class and inde-

pendent study for her.“When I applied to go to

Bucknell, I had to show that this is really what I wanted to go into. Jellison organizing my research class and indepen-dent study showed this,” said Faiad. “It also confirmed that these were my favorite classes and being around animals and studying them is what I wanted to do.”

Faiad gave many thanks to Jellison and spoke highly of her time at Waynesburg.

Faiad: Senior sure of future in psychology

Continued from B5

Continued from B5

Eberly LibraryEXTENDED FINALS WEEK HOURS

SUNDAY, APRIL 26Noon - 1 a.m.

MONDAY - THURSDAY, APRIL 27 - 307:30 a.m. - 1 a.m.

FRIDAY, MAY 17:30 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.

Week after finals week begins summer hours:MONDAY - FRIDAY8:30 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Have a great summer!*Resume regular semester hours on August 24, 2015

Good luck on your finals!

April 23, 2015 Spotlight Page B9

Rainelli leads WCYJ with playful attitude

By MITCHELL KENDRAFor the Yellow Jacket

“When I came in as a freshman, I can tell you I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I didn’t know if I should really be in college in all honesty; if that was the right choice to make,” said Brandon Rainelli.

Let’s face it, college is not for everyone.

During his senior year of high school, Rainelli was not sure if he was right for college.

After hearing that fellow classmate Ryan Legarsky would be attending Waynes-burg University, Rainelli told Legarsky he would ap-ply and the two could room together.

Although he never looked into the university, he came to the conclusion that at-tending Waynesburg was the best choice he has ever made.

“I never visited [Waynes-burg], never really did the research I probably should have and it just so hap-pened I ended up here,” said Rainelli. “I wouldn’t change that decision for anything because honestly, what I’ve got here in my four years, I don’t believe I could’ve got-ten anywhere else. It’s made me into the person that I am today.”

Rainelli knew that he was a hands-on learner, and his college experience was ex-actly that: what he learned both in the classroom and out in the radio station would be applicable to his sports broadcasting/sports information major.

The real life hands-on ex-perience gained at Waynes-burg is one of its most rec-ognized features and has been extremely important for Rainelli.

“You can only feel, in my opinion, so prepared for [life after] college – there has to be some level of uncertainty there, because that’s just how the human brain works – but I feel that Waynesburg has prepared me enough that I am confi-dent that if I get a job in the field of radio that I can re-ally show off my skills,” said

Rainelli. “And compared to somebody else just coming out of college, I am going to be just as good, if not better than them.”

After working in the ra-dio station since his second day on campus freshman year, Rainelli said one of his professors has particularly influenced his work.

“Doug Wilson has hon-estly made one of the big-gest impacts in my life,” said Rainelli. “Not only has he really taught me the ropes of radio, but he has really helped me find my passion for radio and he has become a close friend now with us working so close together. Anytime that I need him, he has really been there for me.”

Rainelli said that during his junior year, he was hav-ing doubts about the path he had chosen to follow.

The close relationships, with both his professors and his classmates, are what

have made Rainelli’s college experience essential to his life.

“Last year I made a con-nection with a friend – he was a senior, he graduated – whose name was Mack Pulkowski,” said Rainelli. “When I kind of had my rough time, I was kind of second guessing at one point why I was here, if I was here for the right reasons, and he kind of helped me get back on track. He was always a positive influence. It was almost like he was like the bigger brother that I was never able to have.”

At the time of his high school graduation, Rainelli was afraid of losing all of the close friendships that had

been developing year after year until the day of their graduation.

“I really wanted to keep contact with some of my friends back home, be-cause we came from a very tight group and we all went our own directions,” said Rainelli. “I went to college, I went out on a limb and I changed as a person, but I still kept the same friend-ships that I did in high school.”

While keeping his high school friends by his side, and creating new relation-ships for his other side, Rainelli said that his hap-piness at Waynesburg has

Chad Sherman, Waynesburg University

Brandon Rainelli, senior communication major, works on a project at Trans World Radio in Bonaire during a mission trip. He led the campus radio station for two years as student general manager.

May filled with guidance, support in four years at WU

By JENNY SCHOUPPEConvergence Editor

Four years ago, Samantha May visited Waynesburg University. During her visit, she immediately fell in love with the atmosphere of the school.

May, who is originally from Carmichaels, Penn-sylvania, attended Carmi-chaels Area High School and wanted to remain close to home in the move to col-lege..

For May, who majors in environmental science and minors in business manage-ment, Waynesburg was the school that stood out from all the others.

“It was close to home and had a friendly, home-like environment,” said May. “Everyone was helpful and friendly, making my tour here enjoyable.”

Throughout May’s time spent here at Waynesburg University, she has played for the women’s soccer team for one season, been a member of the EcoStewards Club and also been a musi-cian in the Symphonic Band

and multiple ensembles.The past four years

would not have been as memorable for May if it wasn’t for the friendships that she built. May said that her friends have been there and supported her since day one on campus.

“Making lifelong friend-ships has been my favor-ite part about attending Waynesburg,” said May. “I’ll never forget all the ad-ventures that we have had together over the years.”

The friendships are not the only thing that May has gained through her college experience.

According to May, she feels she has received the skills to be successful in life.

“All of the resources that are made readily available coupled with the excellent faculty and staff have made me more than prepared to go out in the real world,” said May.

May has recently accept-ed a full time position with her current employer for after she graduates in May and she’s excited to gradu-ate and start a career.

Senior leader finds home at Waynesburg

Job in admissions paves way for senior psychology major

By KARA BEMERAdvertising Director

“The psychology depart-ment is medium sized, pro-viding a unique experience; my classmates and I share many of our classes together,” said Kyle Digiandomenico, a senior psychology major and child development and biblical and ministries stud-ies minor. “It was four years of working on this degree together. We worked on research projects together, failed tests together, served together on mission trips outside of the department. I have become a family with my classmates, we know how we each work, strengths and weaknesses, and push each other. My classmates and professors hold each other accountable and push each of us to succeed.”

Digiandomenico wil l graduate Waynesburg Uni-versity in May, but will return to campus in the fall, as he will begin to pursue his mas-ters and serve as a graduate assistant.

Accepting the offer to complete his master’s degree at Waynesburg University was a “no-brainer,” as Di-giandomenico sensed his time was not yet finished at Waynesburg as he explained his passion for the institution and its mission of faith, learn-ing and service.

Digiandomenico not only enjoys working as a tour guide for the office of ad-missions but also has a deep appreciation for his profes-sors and their devotion to students.

“The professors truly care and put effort in wanting you to succeed. They always have their doors open and invite us to have a conversation about anything; life, friend prob-lems, a vent session, even going to see them when we are angry, they will listen,” said Digiandomenico.

“The professors have expe-rience and can tell me what works and what doesn’t and they encourage me constant-ly," said Digiandomenico. "I give tours and I always tell people that your advisors

nurture you and feed time into you here, and this is be-cause in the end it will be a success.”

Digiandomenico had the opportunity to intern at the Cleveland Clinic this past summer and work on re-search in a clinical center setting.

However, before complet-ing his internship, he had a hard time deciding if it was where he wanted to spend his summer.

“I had an opportunity to intern at Cleveland Clinic or to work at a summer camp. I didn’t know what to choose, so I consoled with Dr. [Ja-mie] Jellison [associate pro-fessor of psychology],” said Digiandomenico. “Jellison pushed me in the right di-rection, telling me that if I didn’t, it would be a mistake. Getting to work in a research and clinical center prepared me and opened my eyes to what physiologists do every-day. I finally took the oppor-tunity and it was because Jel-lison gave me the confidence and security to have this life changing opportunity.”

Ultimately, after complet-ing his masters, Digiando-menico wants to travel in-ternationally and serve as a therapist in an orphanage.

Digiandomenico has served on the Guatemala mission trip four times, each time knowing that the chil-dren of the South-American country give him inspiration and love in an inexplicable way.

His dream is to return the love and inspiration the children he interacted with in Guatemala gave him daily through serving as a thera-pist in an orphanage down the road in his life.

“I would like to recognize Jellison, Dr. Keith Reider [professor of psychology] and Dr. Michele Karpathian [professor of psychology] for being the foundation and rock to lean on when things got tough and when I needed them most, they were there,” said Digiandomenico. “That’s not something other people have at other universities and I cannot thank them enough.”

Athletics, friendships make senior’s years memorable

Digiandomenico set to return to Waynesburg after graduation

Senior hopes to pour heart into future sermons‘Rocked’ by faith, Ziegler hopes to do the same in future

By ANTHONY CONNFor the Yellow Jacket

Hailing from the small, humble town of Keystone, Pennsylvania, senior religion and philosophy major Dylan Ziegler is preparing for a big step in his life.

Yes, he is graduating, but unlike many of his classmates, Ziegler has his eyes on the pulpit.

Seminary may seem like a terribly intimidating aspira-tion to some, but Ziegler has been thinking about it for al-most four years.

He originally signed up for Waynesburg University’s youth ministry program ap-proaching his freshman year, but came to the realization that he had an interest in studying theology and com-plex ideas.

Ziegler enjoyed the reli-gion and philosophy classes he took at Waynesburg and appreciated the new ideas the professors brought his way.

His faith was “rocked,” and at first not in a good way.

He said that the Biblical Ministry Studies program was a bit difficult initially be-cause of his traditional Chris-tian upbringing.

However, he now knows

how to approach people with ideas extremely different from his.

“There’s so many different perspectives, so many differ-ent ways to look at the Bible and to look at God,” said Ziegler. “You have to be able to appreciate them without accepting them. You have to be able to respect them without agreeing with them. I think that’s the biggest way that my faith has grown.”

This major also aided him in preparation to go to semi-nary.

Ziegler’s been accepted to three seminary schools. He

is leaning toward Princeton at the moment, while Duke and Asbury are still respect-able options.

Choosing Princeton would allow him to pursue a doc-torate if he wants, but, in Ziegler’s opinion, that just may be too many classes for his enjoyment.

After four years of classes and work in the ministry at Waynesburg, Ziegler feels that he is ready to move on.

Above all else, he said he will miss the people and the sense of community on cam-pus.

Ziegler has also been able

to share his musical talents, playing drums numerous times on campus.

Most recently he was a part of the band “Nameless and Famous” that won second place at WU’s Got Talent.

He also has played in the chapel worship band.

At home, Zeigler is heavily involved in his church’s youth group, Engage.

Dylan Ziegler has poured his heart into everything he has done at Waynesburg, and if he pours that same pas-sion into his future sermons, maybe that church will be “rocked” just as he was.

Photo Courtesy Dylan Ziegler

Dylan Ziegler, a senior biblical ministries studies and philosophy major, has had his sights set on seminary for four years since arriving at Waynesburg.

See WCYJ on B11

“You have to be happy in what you do, and if you’re yourself, then you’re going to have fun no matter what you do”

BRANDON RAINELLISenior communication major

Page B10 Spotlight April 23, 2015

Petrone pursues path to help others

By ROB LONGOSports Editor

Senior chemistry and fo-rensic science major Cara Petrone knows how to stay busy.

As a freshman, she was eager to get to work help-ing others and becoming involved.

Not much changed dur-ing those few short months between high school and college for Petrone, an alumnae of nearby Canon-McMillan High School and Canonsburg, Pennsylvania native.

In high school, Petrone was involved as a majorette in the Big Mac Marching Band, while participating in theatre and being an ac-tive member of the National Honor Society. However, one thing did change when Petrone chose to further her education.

“I just wanted to get in-volved when I first came here,” she said. “I was re-ally shy when I was in high school, which is hard to be-lieve. I’ve always been really quiet and introverted, but when I got to college I want-ed to break out of my shell and get involved. I think I went a little overboard and got involved in too many things.”

When it came down to choosing the right school, there wasn’t much of a deci-sion to make once Petrone toured Waynesburg and previewed the forensics program.

She looked at Duquesne,

which was her “dream school for forever” for its forensic law program, but Waynesburg was too much of a perfect fit.

It also didn’t hurt that her and her twin sister, Rhian-na, wanted to go to different schools, as Rhianna elected to attend nearby Bethany College.

“We knew we wanted to separate and be our own person now and go to differ-ent schools,” said Petrone.

Petrone has quite a few fa-vorite memories and proud accomplishments from her time at Waynesburg, but her favorite by far is all of the work and dedication she put into the now-annual Har-vest Festival held in Johnson Commons each fall.

When Petrone was a freshman, the festival was still in its infancy, some-thing that she takes a lot

of pride for what it has be-come.

“I was a senator at the time,” she said. “I was able to develop it and it’s become my child, and now I have to give it up and it makes me sad.”

There may be a regret or two that each college stu-dent has during their four years.

For some, it’s as little as wishing they didn’t spend as much time studying to enjoy the company of their friends. For others, like Petrone, it was the choice of major.

“I would change my ma-jor to biochemistry instead of forensic science,” Petrone said. “It would help with the kind of jobs I’m looking into now. Most people see foren-sic science and don’t really know what it is. They think you’re more of an investiga-

tor instead of a scientist.”As far as career goals go,

Petrone still wants to help others as she did with her involvement in Student Sen-ate.

“I would love to work in molecular biology or bio-chemistry to help people, ideally with cancer or any other diseases,” she said. “That’s what I ultimately want to do.”

But as graduation closes in and the “real world” ap-proaches, Petrone is enthu-siastic to see what lies for her down the road.

“I’m excited to start a life now; now that I’m going to be graduating,” Petrone said. “I’ll have time to read now and I’ll have more time to see my family, friends and my boyfriend. I’m also re-ally thankful for all the pro-fessors that have put up with me for four years.”

Photo Courtesy Cara Petrone

Despite all of senior forensic science major Cara Petrone's accomplishments in her academic field, her biggest at Waynesburg was with Student Senate.

Sociology major places main focus on relationships

By ABBY WERNERTChief Photographer

Most seniors at Waynes-burg have called the university home for the past four years.

Sociology major Rachael Brown, however, only started at Waynesburg last year, after transferring from Community College of Allegheny County

“There are some ups and downs of transferring,” said Brown. “I definitely liked Waynesburg.”

Brown said what she liked most about Waynesburg was the community, the size of the school and the Christian mission.

“It’s a nice little school,” said Brown.

While at CCAC, Brown managed to get done with most of her general education requirements; it was not until she transferred to Waynesburg that she declared a major in sociology.

Although she originally wanted to major in human services, Brown said there was no way she could have fit in all of the credits if she wanted to graduate in two years.

With that in mind, Brown was considering either sociol-ogy or psychology.

“I’m super indecisive. I can’t make choices to save my life,” said Brown. “I knew I wanted to work with people.”

After meeting with Brian Carr, Brown was able to make a decision and declared her major as sociology.

Despite being in the major for only two years, Brown has come to enjoy both the people in her major and the classes she takes.

“It’s kind of interesting be-cause most of the sociology classes are taught by Ezekiel

[Olagoke] and he connects a lot of his classes,” said Brown. “What I really like about Eze-kiel and how he kind of views sociology is he really likes to take things from history and make them relevant to today in our lives.”

Brown said she best liked how her classes would take the topic being discussed and relate it to real life experienc-es rather than simply talking about the theories behind it.

In her classes, Brown ex-plained that most of the time, they would be required to read novels composed of people with real life experiences, and one book in particular, “Gang Leader for a Day,” hit Brown the hardest.

Besides her classes, Brown has also made many friends during her short time at Waynesburg.

“I just never really found my niche in things,” said Brown. “I guess what I just zoned in on was my relationships with people.”

Despite being a senior, a large majority of the friends she has gotten close to are only sophomores, which is some-thing she said is bittersweet.

Brown said that while she would be able to visit, she would be leaving most of her friends behind.

Although she would be leaving the majority of her friends behind, the time she spent with her friends is some of her most favorite moments from Waynesburg.

“I’ve had a lot of really good, just raw life conversa-tions where people have been open about themselves,” said Brown. “I really appreciate when people are honest about

Long wait turned blessing for Law

Photo courtesy Jimmy Law

Jimmy Law, senior children's and youth ministry major, was undecided until his final day of his freshman year. The wait turned out to be a blessing.

By ANTHONY CONNFor the Yellow Jacket

As the familiar proverb goes, “Good things come to those who wait.”

For senior Jimmy Law, this phrase has appeared to come true.

Law, a children’s and youth ministry major, was undecided until the final day of his freshman year.

The Erie, Pennsylvania native originally sought after Waynesburg’s ma-rine biology program, but quickly realized that he would rather step out of the water and make fishers of men.

Law found the Biblical and ministry studies pro-gram challenging and quite thought provoking.

“You really learn how to think about things,” said Law. “To deeply examine your faith, why you believe what you believe, who Je-sus is.”

Law was able to make up for his early indecision

and compete the necessary classes in three years.

In addition to his in-volvement in his major, Law has enjoyed his time spent with concert and touring choir.

Through these various activities, Law has made friendships that he admits will be hard to let go of.

“I don’t even consider them friends; they’re my family now,” Law said.

One of Law’s fondest memories that he will be leaving behind at Waynes-burg is the founding of the Christian fellowship group, Ekklesia, which meets reg-ularly on Saturday nights. Law, along with friend and housemate Dylan Ziegler, formed the group their sophomore year, during a time that they felt the stu-dents needed a spiritual uplifting.

Throughout the past few years, Ekklesia has been a haven for many students pursuing God on a personal level.

Law and other leaders of the group have also hosted holiday events and unique worship opportunities for those in attendance.

Ekklesia has still been going strong this year, but Law fears that it may see its end after graduation, unless someone steps up and takes the reigns.

“That’s the nature of min-istry,” said Law. “If there’s a need for it, it’ll exist.”

Law plans to take his de-sire for sharing the Word of God beyond commence-ment.

He applied for a camp counselor position, where he looks to take a step to-ward ministry.

He hopes to eventually go into full-time ministry as a youth group leader.

No matter where life takes him after graduation, Law knows that God has a plan for his life.

He believes that his min-istry will go to wherever it is needed and to whoever needs it the most.

Senior plans for career in ministry, youth leadership

Commitment to Relay, education reflects success

By KIMMI BASTONManaging Editor

Bethany Orndoff ’s time at Waynesburg University was paradoxical.

She was extremely in-volved in extracurricular activities and was a leader in one; she completed her education degree after years of observations and student teaching outside of regular class time; and she main-tained a 4.0 GPA through it all.

Her word to describe her college life? Carefree.

“Now that it’s almost over you think, it’s almost care-free in a sense where you always get to talk to your friends,” said Orndoff. “You have deadlines and you have tests, but at the same time, we’re still being able to have fun and enjoy each other’s company, and I’m realizing that this chapter’s going to close and a new one’s going to start.”

Before she can move on to the next chapter, Orndoff must say goodbye to all the people and things she loves about Waynesburg.

As a math secondary education major, Orndoff has been committed to the education department, and she believes it has given back to her hugely in the form of real world experience. The knowledge she gained came through when it was put to the test during her semester of student teaching.

“You really get to see how things work and in the class-room, and then once you’re student teaching, you think about ‘oh, I remember talk-ing about this,’ and you actu-ally get to implement things,” said Orndoff. “Just the pre-paredness that [the educa-tion professors] give you – I didn’t have problems student teaching; I thoroughly en-joyed it and I know that that’s

what I’m supposed to do.”Orndoff ’s solid career

goals made it a relief to find people at Waynesburg who shared her dreams and could identify with her tribula-tions.

“My favorite thing about Waynesburg is meeting peo-ple who have the same goals as you, career wise, and being able to work with them with the content,” said Orndoff. “It’s nice to be around people who have things in common and are there for each other no matter what’s going on.”

While Orndoff admits that she will probably miss her friends more than anything else about the university, she also knows that she will miss being involved in Relay for Life.

She got involved in Relay because her mother is a can-cer survivor, and the annual event quickly became one of her best memories while in college.

Her junior and senior year, she was a relay captain and online chair for Colleges Against Cancer.

Besides Relay, Orndoff is involved with Peer Educators and worked a part time job at least 20 hours a week for two years of her college career. As such, she feels that the fact she maintained a 4.0 GPA is something to be extremely proud of as she graduates.

“It’s something that I worked hard for, so I’m just excited to be able to have that achievement,” said Orndoff.

Orndoff originally chose Waynesburg University be-cause she wanted to remain close to home in Waynes-burg, and the same is true for her future plans.

She has interviewed for a teaching position in Waynes-burg and put applications in for several more around the state, and she hopes to have landed a full-time teaching job by the end of May.

Photo courtesy Bethany Orndoff

Bethany Orndoff hopes to land a full-time teaching job upon graduation and has put in applications in Waynesburg.

From Student Senate to major, senior wanted to be involved

See BROWN on B11

April 23, 2015 Spotlight Page B11

come from the close rela-tionships he has formed.

Rainelli said his personal legacy at Waynesburg is the combination of business and casual.

While he is a hard work-er, he is glad that he has had the opportunity to enjoy his college experience by having fun throughout the process.

“You have to be happy in what you do, and if you’re yourself, then you’re going

to have fun no matter what you do,” said Rainelli.

Lanny Frattare, Special Assistant to University Re-lations and Assistant Pro-fessor of Communication, spoke highly of Rainelli's leadership skills among other things as a "good leader" graduates.

“He’s a very dedicated and hard-working individ-ual who has every reason to be proud of the direction and leadership he’s given to the radio station," said Frat-tare. "Years from now when I look back and think about

Brandon, I’ll remember his positive attitude. He always goes around saying ‘it’s just another day in paradise.’”

Rainelli said that his time at Waynesburg has been im-perative to success he hopes to accomplish in his future.

“Thanks to all of the pro-fessors and all of the stu-dents that I got to deal with in my four years. Without them it would not have been the same experience. I have really met some great people here and I don’t know where I would be without them."

Snavely enjoyed numerous service trips and a semester studying abroad

By ANTHONY CONNFor the yellow jacket

By the time a Waynesburg University senior reaches graduation, it is pretty clear to them that their soon-to-be alma mater boasts a motto of “Faith, Learning and Ser-vice.” For Rachel Snavely, a senior Latin American stud-ies major, this motto has stayed close to her heart.

Snavely, originally from Manheim, Pennsylvania, has enjoyed a college career filled with numerous service trips outside of the United States and a semester study-ing abroad.

What is even more im-pressive is that Snavely has done all of this in just three years.

Snavely started her time at Waynesburg as a dual major of youth ministry and music ministry. Staying within the Biblical Ministry Studies pro-gram, she decided to switch to Latin American studies, and took a full course load over the summer to stay on track for graduation.

“My classes were very in-fluential in helping me decide what I was going to do with the rest of my life and helped me understand my faith a lot more,” Snavely said.

According to Snavely, this

better understanding of her faith has allowed spiritual growth during her time in college.

“Coming to Waynesburg definitely opened my eyes to see that there is more to faith than just what we are taught in Sunday school,” said Sna-vely. “Realizing that really transformed my faith.”

Snavely said that studying abroad also transformed her faith. She liked the uncon-ventional teaching methods used in Costa Rica as well as the idea of practicing her faith in another country.

She has been to Guatemala

four times, going twice with Waynesburg.

Snavely hopes that her life of service does not stop there.

After she graduates Sna-vely will spend the summer working at a camp, where she hopes to further develop her skills working with children. She ultimately hopes to go back to Guatemala and find a permanent job there.

It is safe to say that Ra-chel Snavely has the heart of a servant and truly wishes to make a lasting impact on others no matter where life will take her.

Photo courtesy Rachel Snavely

Senior Latin American studies major Rachel Snavely switched majors, taking on a massive summer workload to stay on track for graduation.

By KARA BEMERAdvertising Director

Kaelee Franko will be graduating in May as a psy-chology major with child-development and self-de-velopment minors.

Franko has utilized her time at Waynesburg Uni-versity to prepare her for life after graduation.

She plans to move back north and attend graduate school in pursuit of her masters in Clinical Men-tal Health at Waynesburg University’s Seven Fields campus.

Franko also plans to have a part-time job while in graduate school, but is still in the interview process for positions.

Franko has found that mental disabilities are the specific area of psychology

that she has a passion for in her field.

“I did an internship working with individuals with a mental disability who require living assis-tance,” said Franko.

“I would say it was a vital experience to preparing me for the future. I did a lot of research on the options in the area."

"My internship gave me hands-on experience in my field and was very useful in helping me through the interviewing process that I am now still refining for my after school career," said Franko.

Franko credits Waynes-burg University for her foundation of success for her internship, personal life and future career.

“Waynesburg has helped prepare me in both pro-fessional and personal as-pects,” said Franko. “With a lot of personal growth courses, I was able to ex-plore my own beliefs to become a more under-standing and competent individual. By developing

and refining my own goals in the environment here at Waynesburg, I gained a bet-ter understanding of others, which I believe has helped me understand all the op-tions that are available to work in this field.”

Franko favors the “small campus atmosphere,” and shares that she has found compassionate professors who find pride in their stu-dents’ achievements.

“Teachers want their stu-dents to succeed and offer advice and necessary tools for those who are willing to try,” said Franko. “It is en-couraging to work hard and have people there who are excited for us as students to succeed, and be looking forward to our future ac-complishments.”

Franko encourages fu-ture students to try to be organized, plan ahead and work hard while searching for whatever career path is meant for them.

“Despite all the stress that will occur, things gen-erally work out for the best,” said Franko.

Grad to continue WU educationGraduate to study masters in Clinical Mental Health

WCYJ: Senior makes lasting frienshipsContinued from B9

Dedication to communication leads Semco to career in design

their lives.”With graduation soon ap-

proaching, Brown said she really wants to get a dog and

to possibly find work with a non-profit organization in the Pittsburgh area.

“I want to be at a job where I am somehow making a dif-ference in someone’s life some-where,” said Brown. “I really

want to do my best to be lov-ing towards other people.”

Brown said a dream job is more about your attitude toward what you are doing than what it is you are actu-ally doing.

Brown: Planning to make a difference

By MITCHELL KENDRAFor the Yellow Jacket

The small town feel is something that influences students who plan on attend-ing college. Some will want to keep the small, close feel that they had at their high school, while others want to go out and attend a univer-sity with several thousand students in every year.

A small town was familiar, so to Brittany Semco, choos-ing a small college was ideal.

Growing up in Jamestown, Rhode Island, Semco was one of six total students in her graduating class in high school. Now Semco will join her several hundred Waynes-burg classmates on May 3 as Waynesburg holds its 164th Commencement ceremony.

A double major in digital design and public relations, Semco has interests in both fields.

Semco has taken her skills she has learned in her classes and has applied them outside of the classroom. Working as the public relations direc-tor for the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) chapter on campus, the graphic design editor for the campus newspaper and a graphic designer for Univer-sity Relations, Semco is gain-ing the real world experience that will benefit her after she graduates in the beginning of May.

Semco started working as a graphic designer for Uni-versity Relations during the second semester of her fresh-man year.

Semco credits the Senior Designer of University Re-lations, Carrie McAfee, as one of the most influential people during her time at Waynesburg. McAfee said Semco will be very success-ful in whatever she pursues after graduation.

“I think she will be very prepared,” said McAfee. “Over time we have been able to give her a little more responsibility on her proj-ects, which I think gives her new experiences each time. For the most part [with our supervision] on her projects lately, she has been able to go from start to completion.”

After completing her ju-nior year at Waynesburg, Semco interned at Hasbro, in the Graphic Design de-partment.

Semco would like to thank McAfee, all of the commu-nication professors and her friends for all of the support during her time at Waynes-burg.

“Very well, I believe,” said Semco on how Waynesburg has prepared her for the fu-ture. “I did my internship at Hasbro, the toy company, and I found that I knew how to do everything that they asked me to do and more.”

Semco said that Cori Schipani, a 2014 graduate, is someone who she wants to be like.

“[Cori] was the graphic design editor before me for the paper,” said Semco. “She did everything really, really well and with a lot of passion, so I wanted to aspire to be like her.”

During this past fall se-mester, Semco worked as the principle designer for the wall wrap that was put up in the fourth floor hallway of Buhl Hall as her practicum project. As the semester ended, which usually means the course materials will end, Semco continued to work on the project for several weeks after the spring semester be-gan until the wall wrap was completed.

Richard Krause, chair-person for the Department of Communication, noticed Semco’s hard work during her practicum course, but was not surprised when she kept working on it –he expected her dedication to keep her going until she had finished what she started.

Krause is one of the dif-ferent public relations pro-fessors who have had Semco throughout her four years at Waynesburg.

“The whole range of expe-riences that she’s had here are really reflected in her work; she is a really good design-er,” said Krause. “We’re very lucky to have had her here.”

Semco summed up her Waynesburg career by saying something that is reflective of all of the hard work she has done.

“Everything that I did, I tried to do my best at. I wanted to be the best at what I did. I don’t know if I got there, but that’s what I tried to do. To me, you can’t just do something; you have to do something to your best ability. So that’s what I try to do in and outside of classes.”

Jacket senior staffers move on, underclassmen move up

STAFF REPORT

Nine Yellow Jacket seniors are off to bigger and better things after graduation (we hope).

Nick Farrell, executive editor, will become a news reporter at WBOY in Clarks-burg, West Virginia. After serving two year-long terms as editor, Farrell will reside in Waynesburg as he works out of WBOY’s Morgantown bureau.

After serving three years on executive staff after trans-ferring from Grove City, Chelsea Dicks, managing editor, will continue working part-time at the Observer-Reporter in Washington, Pennsylvania. Dicks interned with the Observer-Reporter in 2013 and has worked as a stringer for that publication for two years.

Rob Longo, sports editor, will continue working as a news anchor at WJPA in Washington and in a season-al role with MLB Advanced Media, in addition to work-ing with the MSA Sports

Network and the Beaver County Times.

Abby Wernert, chief pho-tographer, plans to take the summer off or search for an internship in her field.

Her ultimate career goal is to pursue a journalism or writing career in the field of either science or fashion, where she can continue to tell the stories of others and make a difference with her work.

Luke Campbell, sports ed-itorial assistant, is returning to his hometown of Cabot, Pennsylvania for the time be-ing. He can’t wait to see what comes his way.

After a year as graphic de-sign editor, Brittany Semco plans to tour northern Eu-rope this summer.

Assistant graphic design editor Megan Potosky has ac-cepted a full-time marketing and design position at USG Insurance in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, where she has worked part-time since Oc-tober.

Kara Bemer, advertising director, accepted a position

as an account manager at ECRM in Solon, Ohio. There, she’ll be in charge of plan-ning events for clients near her native Cleveland.

Replacements for these nine executive staff members have been named. Kimmi Baston will serve as the pa-per’s leader in the executive editor role. Jacob Meyer will take over as sports editor. Other managing editors will include Anthony Conn, Shon Meade and Mitch Kendra.

In her third year as an ex-ecutive staff member, Jenny Schouppe will become chief photographer.

Whitney Waters will as-sume the role of graphic de-sign editor.

Adam Tapparo will head the Yellow Jacket’s business department as advertising director, with Autumn Foust and Casey Heimberger serv-ing as assistant advertising directors.

The complete executive staff for the 2015-16 school year will be unveiled in the first issue of Volume 92 next Fall.

Continued from B10

Page B12 Spotlight April 23, 2015

SECTION C APRIL 23, 2015 | WAYNESBURG UNIVERSITY | THEYELLOWJACKET.ORG

Undergrads plan for future, present at research symposiumBy ZACH DIBERADINFor the Yellow Jacket

On the beautiful and sun-filled weekends, typical col-lege students can be found outside enjoying the nice weather.

The parks throughout campus become a hub of activity by the majority of students.

There are a few students that were not able to enjoy the sunshine and beautiful weather this past Saturday; instead, they were advancing their careers.

A handful of students were presenting their re-search projects at the 5th annual Undergraduate Re-search Symposium, hosted in Alumni Hall.

The Undergraduate Re-search Symposium gives students a platform to share the research they have con-ducted.

A quick walk through Alumni Hall showed the stu-dents presenting and shar-ing their research on a wide variety of research topics as the sun shone through the stained glass. Many chose to

do a display board sharing their procedures and results and expanding upon their overall research in an oral manner. Others chose to give a podium presentation providing an in-depth look at their research and conclu-sions.

All of the students that participated worked with an advisor during their research projects.

This is very similar to working with an employer in the career field.

“Personally conducting re-search on my own was fan-

tastic,” said Kody Edwards, a senior chemistry major. “It let me understand how it will be working a job with having an advisor just for guidance and letting you conduct your own work and being able to validate yourself.”

The Undergraduate Re-search Symposium also allows students to gain ex-perience with hands-on lab work, leading the students to the possibilities of further research and putting them on the right career paths.

“I plan on continuing my research that I presented at

the symposium because it is interesting and I believe I have some great directions to head in to get validated results,” said Edwards. “I enjoyed my time doing this research because I would love my career to head in the direction of working in a lab and doing research.”

Rachel Lovely, a senior biology major with a minor in psychology, hopes that this experience will help her stand out in her future en-deavors in continuing her education.

“With the many volunteer

opportunities Waynesburg provides, having research on that resume really helps set you apart from the applicant pool with highly competitive residency programs,” said Lovely.

Getting involved in the Undergraduate Research Symposium is a great way to help connect classroom knowledge and apply it to a functional research proj-ect. If you are interested in participating in next year’s symposium, email Chad Sethman at csethman@waynesburg.edu.

Abby Wernert, Yellow Jacket

Students Addy Pazzynski, Abby Hancher, Amanda Stillings and Amber Lambing perform at the Mini Relay for Life Sunday, April 19. Their music was part of various entertainment provided for those who attended and donated at Relay.

Relay for Life: Campus takes on cancer

Colleges Against Cancer brings community together to raise money for researchBy KARA BEMER

Advertising Director

Despite the dreaded rain and strong winds, the Mini Relay for Life, held on campus Sunday, April 19, was a great success.

Waynesburg University’s Mini Re-lay for Life holds a special value to many students and faculty on cam-pus as a chance to gather together to help support a strong cause: the fight against cancer.

Student organizations and clubs fundraise together to donate proceeds

to the American Cancer Society. Before the day of the event, on-

line fundraising was made available through the American Cancer Soci-ety website as well as on the day of the fundraiser.

Clubs and organizations set up tables throughout Johnson Com-mons with different treats, games and goodies to help raise more money to donate.

Kelley Hardie, assistant dean of Student Services, serves as the liai-son between Waynesburg University and Colleges Against Cancer, where

her duties include organizing logis-tics and preparation for the day of the event.

Before the day of the event, there were many meetings and behind the scenes tasks.

Hardie has always been involved in planning Waynesburg University’s Mini Relay for Life as the American Cancer Society holds an important meaning in her life.

“When Chris [Hardie] and I were going through the church for prepa-ration for our marriage we wanted to dedicate our marriage to a charity,”

said Hardie. “We chose the American Cancer Society not only because can-cer has affected our family, but both of us had young friends in their early 20s who lost the battle to cancer. Now that we have Madison, our daughter, there is even a bigger reason to fight against cancer and one day ultimately win the battle.”

Aside from Hardie, Theresa Butler, senior accounting major, serves as the president of Colleges Against Cancer and the chair of Relay for Life.

Housing policy draws criticism

By ROB LONGOSports Editor

For the past couple of weeks, members of the class of 2018 at Waynesburg Uni-versity have been trying to piece together what their future will look like three years from now because of the university’s new policy change regarding off-campus housing.

For students that have matriculated after the fall of 2014, living off campus will no longer be an option for seniors.

Chris Hardie, assistant dean of Student Services, said the idea was discussed by members of the adminis-tration in December of 2013, based off trends from other Christian schools in higher education.

Hardie estimated that 80 to 90 percent of other Christian-affiliated schools have poli-cies where students — with the exception of commuters — are required to remain in on-campus housing for four years.

At the time the studies were conducted, Hardie was not affiliated with any hous-ing decisions.

“There was no real reason for it; we just did some re-

Alumni musicians return to the WU stageBy SHON MEADE

For the Yellow Jacket

Traditions have always been a part of Waynesburg’s promising outlook.

One of the things that Waynesburg has prided it-self on having since 1849 is a tradition of faith.

Events and activities be-come traditions with the school, too. One tradition that keeps bringing people back to campus is the annual performance of a rock band out of New Jersey.

The Gross National Prod-uct will be having its 45th anniversary concert in the Goodwin Performing Arts Center on April 25 starting at 7:30 p.m.

Admission is free.The group started out

during a time in which rock bands were forming left and right in New Jersey.

In the late 1960s, this was also the case with GNP, as a group of friends got together and formed a band.

Bill Molzon, professor of communication, was one of the founding members of GNP and plays guitar with the group.

Molzon brought the idea of bringing GNP to Waynes-

burg in the spring of his freshman year in 1970. Since then they have regularly per-formed here. The group has also performed at two Rain Day Festivals that are held in town.

As time progressed, com-munity members and stu-dents have been added to play with the original mem-bers. No one year will have

Military family members share advice, inspiration

By JACOB MEYERManaging Editor

Students gathered in the lecture hall in Stewart Hall on April 19 for the “Join-ing Forces- Recognizing the Military Family” event.

The event was led by two senior nursing students, T.J. Brownfield and Jackie Bindus, as part of a nursing course at Waynesburg.

“This event was put on as part of the Community Health Nursing course,” said Melanie Chrash, As-sistant Professor of nurs-

ing. “We have a partner-ship with the White House called Joining Forces.”

This Joining Forces pro-gram is the sixth one to be held at Waynesburg.

“The purpose of the Join-ing Forces program is to connect military families with the resources available to them, and rallying our country to do even more,” Chrash said.

After an introduction by Brownfield about the topic of the military family, he in-troduced the panel, which consisted of four members who had different perspec-tives about their personal experiences.

The members of the panel were Deven Schei, Heather Steele, Amy Boyles

See GNP on C5

See RELAY on C4

See JOIN on C2

Photo Courtesy of Bill Molzon

The members of Gross National Product rotate, but the original founders are still involved. Above is Bruce Johnson, an original member who recently passed away.

See HOUSING on C4

‘Joining Forces’ program brings military persons to campus

Students and local landlords affected by change

Page C2 Campus April 23, 2015

Semester’s final coffeehouse features all original musicBy SHON MEADE

For the Yellow Jacket

With the end of the spring semester coming to a close and finals rapidly approach-ing, the Student Activities Board has not slowed down with the events for students to participate in. Christian artist Seth Abram came out to Waynesburg for a per-formance in the Beehive on April 15.

He was the last performer for this year’s collection of Coffeehouse acts. It was not his first time on campus, as Abram performed back Au-gust of last year at Waynes-burg.

“I love the small campus and town” said Abram.

While the music was play-ing, SAB provided mugs and Starbuck’s coffee for those listeners in the audience. A variety of cookies and snacks were also provided to go along with the coffee.

“I really love coffee, and that’s the main essence of a Coffeehouse,” said Ashley Farber, a junior computer science major.

Over 50 students came out for the event in the Beehive

to see Abram perform.Abram was not the only

Seth up on stage however: Seth Creekmore accompa-nied Abram while he was on stage. Both artists pro-vided a collection of humor while they continued playing

throughout the evening. The first song that the duo

played was the song “Fight-ers,” and it got the crowd moving. Abram performed all original songs he has writ-ten on his own.

Other original pieces that

he has written are “Grace is Leading You”, “I Remember You” and “Talking Moun-tains.”

“Talking Mountains” was given away as a free down-load to all those that came out for the Coffeehouse.

These songs and more can be found on Amazon, iTunes and Bandcamp.

Also, Abram finished recording his new album the day before coming to Waynesburg, which meant he played a lot of new, un-

heard material.“It’s nice to come to a late

night dinner and sit down to some quality entertainment” said Hayes Salancy, sopho-more athletic training major.

Abram mentioned how he has a ten month old at home in Tennessee and that is made it a new experience for him in life. By the end of the night, students were either clapping or snapping their fingers along to the mu-sic by both of the Seth’s that were up on stage.

Abram is an independent artist who has been an artist for all of his life. His musical career finally took off thanks to a kickstarter campaign and was able to produce his first album because of it.

“Keeping truth in front of me at all times,” is what Abram said helps him keep his faith in his everyday life. “Thinking about friends, family and the bible help me make the right choices.”

This was the last Cof-feehouse for the spring se-mester. There will for sure be more to come in the fall semester to bring entertain-ment and fun for students to enjoy.

Roomel Reese, Yellow Jacket

Tennessee artist Seth Abram (right) performed with peer Seth Creekmore on Wednesday, April 15. The performance consisted of exclusively original music.

Tyler Wolfe, Yellow Jacket

On Thursday, April 16 at noon, several of Waynesburg University's band ensembles performed at the final Chamberworks exhibition of the year.

CHAMBERWORKS

Venturing Crew to travel to West Virginia, New Mexico

By KYLE DAWSONEditorial Assistant

Waynesburg Universi-ty’s Venturing Crew, Crew 1849, will take two trips this summer as it continues to make its presence known on campus since its estab-lishment in 2013.

The first trip will take place from June 14-20 in Glen Jean, West Virginia at the Marksman event at the Summit Bechtel Reserve.

The second, from August 16-22, will be a bit further from campus as members of the university faculty, as well as crew members, will head to Cimarron, New Mexico and the Philmont Scout Ranch for the Wood Badge 114 leadership train-ing course.

Before the crew embarks on their two journeys, it is looking for more awareness for the group, as it is still looking for membership since becoming an official group in 2013.

“We are a very high-ad-venture based group,” said Parker Kantos, a junior member and co-founder of Venturing Crew. “It is less of the educational side of Boy Scouts and more of the fun, camping and hik-ing part.”

The Venturing Crew tried to go on a trip dur-ing spring break, but it fell through as a result of a lack of interest.

“I don’t know if it was a lack of interest for the actu-al trip or if it was just about the fundraising and funds

for it,” said Kantos. “This high-adventure stuff isn’t exactly cheap, so that may have been an issue.”

The first trip for the sum-mer is the one to Summit Bechtel Reserve.

The cost for interested students, according to the crew advisor and univer-sity provost Dr. Jacquelyn Core, is $900, but it is all-inclusive.

The Marksman program, according to the summit-bsa.org, is a seven-day/six-night program running Sunday through Saturday.

It consists of three days of shooting and archery ac-tivities, which may include trap, five-stand, steel chal-lenge, pistol, long distance rifle, 3D archery, long dis-tance archery and sporting arrows.

According to Summit’s website, “As a bonus, each member of your crew will also be able to select three additional elective activities at other Summit adventure venues. A half-day service project and a ride on the Big Zip – our 3⁄4 mile zip line – round out your week.”

There are a lot of differ-ent sports and adventure-based events that students can try their hand at on the trip, including others outside of the zip line and

archery activities, accord-ing to Core.

The second trip, a leader-ship course in New Mexico that Crew 1849 will take in August, involves the Wood-badge 114 course.

“We took the trip last year and we basically spent a week in the mountains learning all kinds of things about leadership,” said Kan-tos.

Crew members who at-tend the trip receive a cowboy hat that they are required to wear all week.

“I would recommend wearing it all the time,” said Kantos. “They keep the sun out of your eyes. But, the trip is a great experience and a lot of fun. Philmont is the adventure-base camp.”

Several students and adults will be taking part in the trip, including freshmen communication majors Zach Medovic and Shon Meade along with profes-sors Dr. Karen Younger and Dr. James Bush.

The cost for the Philmont trip is also all-inclusive and is $500.

There are still spots open for both trips.

In t e r e s t e d s t u d e nt s should contact Dr. Core in her office in Miller Hall or by email at jcore@waynes-burg.edu.

this fall!

Join: Students learn from insight shared by former service people

and Mandy Eddy. Schei, who served over-

seas in Afghanistan in the Army, is from the Wounded Warriors Project and flew from Houston, Texas to be at the program.

Both Steele and Boyles both work for Veterans Af-fairs, while Eddy is a former military spouse and a nurs-ing student at Waynesburg.

Schei told his stor y, which started with his brother who nearly lost his life overseas in the military, and ended with his experi-ence in a military family.

During his brother’s mi-raculous recovery from a gunshot wound to the head, Schei decided to join the Army as a combat engineer.

After his platoon was hit by an improvised explosive device, in which a pas-senger lost a leg but came away without severe physi-cal injury, Schei developed PTSD.

The PTSD nearly led to his death by several suicide attempts. After refusing to get help for his illness for fear of being ostracized by the military, Schei finally received counseling and therapy.

Now, Schei tells his story as part of the Wounded Warrior Project to raise awareness about PTSD.

Eddy told her story about the changes her and her family experienced while her husband was on his two tours overseas.

She was very emotional while telling the story about her husband, who could not adjust to life at home after being overseas.

It affected the relation-ship between the two of them and their two chil-dren.

It then led to him becom-ing abusive towards Eddy, which led her to pursue a divorce.

“The importance of this entire project here was rec-ognition for professionals or soon-to-be professionals to be able to recognize or be able to witness the indi-viduals’ military members and family members who have gone through trau-matic events related to the military,” said Brownfield. “To be able to recognize these individuals and get them to seek the care that is available [is important].”

Brownfield thought the information provided by the panel was very valid to what the students need to know for their future pro-fessions.

“The information was very important related to this topic,” Brownfield said. “We had two people from VA and a member of the military and a spouse col-lectively who were able to

bring together a decisive opinion that we need to engage the military mem-ber and their families to the appropriate resources.”

Kaleb Williams, sopho-more psychology major, attended the event and be-lieved it was influential be-cause of the effects the mil-itary can have on families and what they go through along with the soldiers.

“It’s very important be-cause the family member who goes to the army isn’t going to talk about it right away—or ever—if the fam-ily doesn’t act first,” Wil-liams said. “It’s important for the family to realize that the person who went off to the military isn’t the same person when they come back.”

Williams said the topic of PTSD that was a theme brought up by the panel is vital to be discussed.

“In the Army you learn not to be weak at all,” Wil-liams said. “In the Army, people think if you have PTSD you’re done right away; that means you’re weak and you can’t do any-thing else. So I think it’s im-portant for them to realize that it is okay and that it’s not their fault and they can get help.”

Continued from C1“It is less of the educational side of Boy Scouts and more of the fun, camping and hik-ing part.”

PARKER KANTOSCo-founder of Venture Crew

“In the Army, you learn not to be weak at all. In the Army, people think if you have PTSD you're done right away; that means you're weak and you can't do anything else.”

KALEB WILLIAMSSophomore psychology major

April 23, 2015 Campus Page C3

Graduate students to be inducted into counseling honorary

By JACOB MEYERManaging Editor

The Waynesburg Univer-sity counseling graduate program will celebrate its honors society induction and graduate recognition on Friday.

Counseling Intern at Waynesburg, Laura Smith, said the honors society will be inducting twice as many graduate students Friday than in previous years with 40 students, which is about 75 percent of the students in the program.

“I would love to say, which I think is true, that we structure CSI so that the ex-ecutive board is represented at each of our four campus locations,” Smith said. “So we have one student at each campus location [Main Campus, South Point, Mon-roeville and North Hills] on the executive board and task those people on disseminat-ing information from the main graduate society.”

In order to be inducted in the honors society, called Chi Sigma Iota, students must go through at least one semester of graduate classes and have higher than a 3.5 GPA.

According to the CSI website, “CSI is an inter-national honor society that values academic and professional excellence in counseling. We promote a

strong professional identity through members (profes-sional counselors, counselor educators, and students) who contribute to the real-ization of a healthy society by fostering wellness and human dignity.”

Smith said the mission of CSI is for students to pro-mote scholarship, research, professionalism, leadership and advocacy as counseling students.

Smith believes graduate students being a part of CSI is a way to practice the mis-sion in pursuit of a career.

“CSI members try to advocate in the local com-munity for mental health awareness, and it offers a community for counselors to come together,” Smith said. “Once you’re in CSI, you kind of never leave CSI and you can network with other professionals in the area who are involved in CSI. It’s a way to connect younger students with pro-fessionals.”

As part of CSI, students do service projects in the greater Pittsburgh commu-nity. Smith said students in CSI have walked for the National Alliance on Mental Illness, raising $1,000. The keynote address at the Fri-day ceremony will be given by Dr. JoLynn Carney, pro-fessor at Penn State. Smith

See HONOR on C4

WU Players perform student-directed playsBy SAMANTHA PEER

Op/Ed Editor

On Thursday, April 16 the theater department hosted the biannual “A Night of One Acts”.

The One Acts featured two student directed mini shows, “Who Am I This Time?” and “A Simple Twist of Fate”.

Larissa Bray, senior math major, directed the show “Who Am I This Time?” which is about a theater group putting on a play. The lead actor in the show is ex-tremely talented, but lacks personality when it comes to real life. The actress who plays the lead female role is similar to the lead actor when it comes to personality; however, the two have great chemistry when it comes to their acting.

Renee Watts, junior el-ementary education major, enjoyed playing a role in “Who Am I This Time?”

“Participating in the One Acts is a blast,” said Watts. “I get to sharpen my acting skills without committing as much time as I would in getting involved in a larger production. It’s also a good and rewarding experience to work with and under the di-rection of my peers. It is great to see a show come together with the sole contributions to the show coming from students.”

“A Simple Twist of Fate” was written and directed by senior business management major Olivia Long. Long’s show is about “a character in a show that’s tired of liv-ing the same story over and

over again every time it’s per-formed.”

Wanting something new to experience, the character jumps out of the show and throws

somebody from the real world into the show in his place. The two characters must then try and make sense of how to best survive each other’s worlds.

This is the second one act that Long has written and di-rected while at Waynesburg. Long expressed that writing and directing a one act was a great way to bring her college career to a close.

“I wouldn’t have chose to end my college career anoth-er way,” said Long. “I loved my cast and how hard they worked and how much fun we all had together putting this show on stage.”

Long hopes to continue to write shows in the future.

“I hope this isn’t my last show I write,” said Long. “I’m thinking about editing “A Simple Twist of Fate” and maybe even trying to get it published.”

Amanda Stillings, junior arts administration major, found her experience acting in “A Simple Twist of Fate” to be rewarding.

“With the end of the se-mester approaching, prepar-ing for the One Acts came at a very crazy time in the se-mester, but seeing our efforts come together and hearing the reactions of the audience made our struggles worth it,” said Stillings.

Kelli Rodgers, junior el-ementary education major, greatly enjoyed watching the One Acts and was impressed

by the talent of her peers. “Seeing the talent of the

students on campus and what they are capable of pro-ducing without anyone’s help or direction was remarkable,” said Rodgers. “To see that a college student was able to write a play that captivated an audience and had a great plot was very impressive.”

Rodgers attended the One Acts to support the arts and the work of her peers.

“Participating in the One Acts and the musicals on campus in the past, I know firsthand how much work goes into a production and how much of themselves the actors give to entertain the audience,” said Rodgers. “Be-cause of this, I always make an effort to attend shows and support the hardworking and talented actors on campus.”

Roomel Reese, Yellow Jacket

Emily Haywood and Jake Restanio perform in the One Act plays Thursday, April 16. The plays were directed by senior math major Larissa Bray.

Senior Stover Scholars sent off with series of guest speakersBy MITCHELL KENDRAFor the Yellow Jacket

“The Stover experience: you’re not going to find it at other institutions,” said se-nior political science major Colin Phillips.

On April 17, what was the last Stover event for the year for some was the very last Stover event for three students. Their last day, was one of remembering.

Not only did the Stover Scholars get to hear from several significant speak-ers, but the day concluded with the Senior Recognition Dinner. The last event every

year – listening to significant speakers throughout the day followed by the senior din-ner – is an annual event, this being the fifth year.

“The great benefit of [the day] was that it brought a spectacular year to a close with a big bang – like the grand finale of a fireworks show,” said Dr. Lawrence Stratton, Director of the Sto-ver Center for Constitutional Studies and Moral Leader-ship.

The day started out as the Stover Scholars trav-eled to Pittsburgh to listen to different guest speakers: Bruce Kraus, Pittsburgh City

Council President and Wil-liam Hernandez, Director of Black Box Corporation and Former CFO of PPG Cor-poration, amongst others, took time out of their day to speak to the Stover Scholars. Hon. Thomas E. Flaherty of the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County was the keynote speaker at the banquet that recognized the seniors.

Phillips, senior English literature major Gina Rob-inson and senior forensic accounting major Jeremy Hinkle – along with junior communications major Nika Anschuetz, who will be grad-

uating in December – spoke to their fellow Stover Schol-ars during the dinner. The dinner focused on the cur-rent seniors’ last four years as Stover Scholars, and was a time of remembering all of the different opportunities they have been given.

During the dinner, Strat-ton briefly spoke about Phil-lips, Robinson, Hinkle and Anschuetz individually and his experiences with them over their time in the Stover Program.

As the seniors each had the opportunity to speak at the dinner, Phillips shared a few words of wisdom to the

returning Stover Scholars.“The advice I gave during

my senior speech was to not take the Stover program for granted and to really use the people we meet with to create or expand their networks,” said Phillips.

Not only have the Stover Scholars made relationships with the government officials and attorneys they have met, but the close connection that the students make with one another in the Stover Pro-gram is something that Strat-ton said improves their ex-perience with the program.

Stratton said that this will later impact their lives.

“There was a common theme of the importance of nurturing and building strong relationships,” said Stratton. “The City Council President said that is what political success is dependent upon.”

Phillips, who is a double major in political science and history, said that because of the people he has talked with at Stover Program events, he will be attending the Univer-sity of Georgia next year to get a doctorate in political science.

“We have met with law-

See STOVER on C5

Page C4 Campus April 23, 2015

Relay: Donations collected at campus-wide charity event

Abby Wernert, Yellow Jacket

(Above) DeRon Scott and James Glisan sell deep-fried oreos for the Multicultural Club at the Mini Relay for Life. (Right) Entertainment at the event included music, games and stilt walkers.

Butler was in charge of planning the events for Relay as well as keeping the organi-zations and clubs on a sched-ule with their fundraisers and responsibilities.

Butler not only worked to finish her degree this year, but also took on responsi-bility of planning the Mini Relay for Life, which was a stressful but rewarding op-portunity.

“I didn’t think it would affect me as much as it did,” said Butler. “But during my final Survivorship Hour I bawled. The stress and anxi-ety throughout the year is worth every bit of every emo-tion I felt on Sunday. Seeing the joy in the eyes of children and hearing the stories of survivors. It gives me a hope for tomorrow and future Re-lays to come.” 

Butler plans to stay in-volved with the American Cancer Society post gradu-ation and would like to be involved in a team at her fu-ture workplace, but for now Butler is considering staying close to Greene County with her volunteer work.

“Greene County is actually looking for an event leader for the 2016 Relay,” said But-ler. “Despite moving to Pitts-burgh post graduation I am considering it.” 

Hardie and Butler were nervous about the rain on the day of the event, but many of the clubs and organiza-tions remained in attendance

through the unfortunate weather conditions, not hin-dering student’s passion and dedication to fighting against cancer.

Many of the relay activi-ties were moved inside to the Goodwin Performing Arts Center.

“I think the rain was a blessing because the Survi-vorship Hour was moved to the GPAC and it was a much more intimate setting and al-lowed all of us to really hear the survivors stories,” said Hardie. “There was no typical noise that usually surrounds

the commons; it was only the survivors and the students. We all really appreciated this moment.”

Hardie and Butler espe-cially thank all of the teams, participants and officers who served to make this year’s Re-lay such a success.

The Mini Relay for Life is just $2,000 short of reach-ing their targeted goal for this year’s event; there is still time to donate online or to turn in your donation to Kel-ley Hardie. The tentative date for next year’s Mini Relay for Life is April 17, 2016.

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Housing: Students, community react to end of off-campus housing

search on it,” said Hardie. “It comes down to that we

can offer a little more service on campus than someone that’s living in an apartment downtown. The four-year policy works for more col-leges and universities than it did in the past and that’s why a lot more are coming on board. When we saw that we thought, ‘maybe we were a little bit behind here; let’s kind of see what it looks like.’”

With policy changes comes displeasure.

Even though, according to Hardie, only 50 seniors on av-erage elect to live off campus, current Waynesburg fresh-men are disgruntled with the policy change.

“I think this deprives dis-cipline from the students,” said Micah Hotz, freshman history major.

“If we have our own place, we have to teach ourselves discipline. I just think it sucks. It kind of [makes me think about transferring]. I think this is going to create more competition for Wil-lison, and I don’t want to end up in a quad my senior year. I like my space.”

“I feel that it is a bad de-cision,” said Seth Kunkle, freshman exercise science major. “Why does it matter if students are living off cam-pus? If they are doing their school work and getting good grades, then it shouldn’t mat-ter where they are living.”

Even if the policy impacts a small fraction of each class, the loss of those going off-campus to live affects some landlords around the bor-ough.

“There’s not much I can say,” said Phil Armstrong, who manages rental proper-ties at nearby Victoria Square. “It’s going to affect my busi-ness because I house about 20 kids. We’ll just have to deal with that when it comes.”

Not all landlords will be af-fected, but some don’t quite understand the decision.

“I have 13 rentals and only one with college students that’s been filled since 2009,” said Heather Gilbert.

“They’ve never bothered anyone. I don’t see how a college can do that. I have a daughter that will be going to college to next year. As a parent, I’m not paying for her to live in the dorms. I’m 38-years-old, and I’m also

going to college. Say I lived an hour-and-a-half away; are they going to expect me to live on campus? I know college-aged kids that are married. Are they supposed to live in the dorms?”

After working for Greene County’s economic develop-ment sector for eight years and working with housing plans for the entire county, Hardie is assured those apart-ments will be filled rather quickly.

“I think those apartments will be filled,” Hardie said. “We have a lot of available tenants that if our students move out, members of the oil and gas industry will move in.”

“Right now, yes; but I don’t know how long that’s going to last,” said Armstrong. “The frackers are about a seven-year life, and they’re in the third year. After that, it’s not that worker intensive. I’ll have to change direction I guess. That’ll change things.”

The other biggest concern is that some freshmen say they were never told about the policy change until just a few weeks ago.

Hardie, however, said the students were notified well before they enrolled at Waynesburg.

“All of the classes [after the fall of 2014] were made aware of the policy and that’s when it took effect,” Hardie said. “When we’re out recruit-ing at events and students are sending their deposits, we make that aware. It’s on the website; it’s in every tour that admissions would give. It’s just a policy that came in this matriculating class, and it’s conveyed in many differ-ent ways.”

“I was told they wanted to implement the policy a few weeks ago,” said Kunkle. I would have definitely looked more into other schools that allowed their students to go off campus. It makes me wonder what else they are going to take away from stu-dents.”

“I didn’t know anything about it,” Hotz echoed.

Both Hotz and Kunkle also expressed concern for living in the lone upperclassman dorm that is available to male students, and how Willison Hall — in recent years — has seen a requirement for rooms to have at least three students; sometimes even four.

“It’s hard enough already to get into Willison without

all the juniors and seniors liv-ing off campus,” said Hotz. “If they do get rid of the off campus housing, then they need to build a new upper-classman dorm. They will have no choice because they wouldn’t be able to house ev-eryone.”

A new dormitory has been in the works for the past cou-ple of years, following then-President Timothy Thyreen’s annual press conference and his vision to complete reno-vations to Stewart Hall before tackling another construc-tion project on campus.

Thyreen’s idea was to erect the dorm near the mainte-nance building behind the Goodwin Performing Arts Center, where the univer-sity owns the entire block of houses behind the building.

“I haven’t played the num-bers out in Willison to see how legitimate that claim would be, Hardie said.

“As far as I know, we haven’t had extensive discus-sion with new residence hall construction. I don’t think it’s been put on the backburner, but if you look at numbers, we had a really big class two years ago some medium sized classes since. We still have a lot of room for students the way we’re currently set up. That could change with the housing policy, but I don’t think we’re going to have a need for a new building. Not

to say it’s not in the works, but we’re not at capacity. We’re at a number we can handle right now.”

Hotz and Kunkle feel like with the policy change, stu-dents will be too sheltered and will hurt students after they graduate with the lack of “real world” experience from budgeting money, pay-ing rent and living indecent-ly, something Hardie really wants to address.

“I definitely think there are things we can do on campus to, maybe in programming and some other different cre-ative ways, we can assist the students with those kinds of things,” he said. “We’ve al-ready started thinking about that. We can do some cre-ative programming in the residents halls for our stu-dents that will help them ad-just when they graduate and move on. I wouldn’t say it’s a concern of mine. I think that proactively, we can get in front and plan around because we have a couple of years to work that; but I think, as a college students, there’s some of those things you do on a daily basis.”

With the national trend of college enrollment declin-ing, it seems like colleges are doing anything they can to keep their income steady, or increasing.

Hardie dismissed all claims that this is a way for Waynes-

burg to drive its income up.“I think the ultimate goal

is to provide a safe, comfort-able living environment for our students,” Hardie said. “That’s kind of my mission statement. I feel like we do that more effectively when the students are on campus. To say that it won’t bring in a financial pickup, that would

be wrong of me. When you bring 50 more students on campus, it helps financially. But I can tell you, honestly, that’s not why the decision wasn’t made. It was made to provide more safety and comfort. Maybe the univer-sity will see a little influx of money, but that’s not why the decision was made.”

Continued from C1

Continued from C1

Honor: Society aims to create leadersContinued from C3

said Carney, who was the in-ternational president of CSI when the Waynesburg chap-ter was chartered, will speak about preventing violence and bullying in schools.

Along with the CSI in-duction ceremony, the counseling graduate pro-gram will also recognize the 38 second-year students who are graduating from the master’s program.

“[CSI is about] sending Waynesburg counselors out into the community to begin their service back to the community and to help others with mental illness,” Smith said.

As April is counseling awareness month, Smith believes there is an unfor-tunate negative stigma as-sociated with seeking help for mental health.

“The purpose of counsel-ing awareness month is to unite counselors together to help them better serve the community,” Smith said. “But it’s also to allow peo-ple who might be in need of services know what’s avail-able and there are people out there who can help even if they feel stigmatized.”

April 23, 2015 Campus Page C5

By DANIELLE SCHUYLER Editorial Assistant

In the United States, 1,500 plastic bottles are wasted by people every second. This fact drove an Introduction to Environmental Biology lab here at Waynesburg Univer-sity to make a statement in Johnson Commons on Tues-day, April 21.

“We all use plastic,” said Michelle Dunseath, digital design and public relations double major and member of the biology lab group. “There is no way to totally eliminate this concern. But students just need to be aware of the amount of plastic they are using.”

Led by Janet Paladino, as-sociate professor of biology, these students collected bot-tles in their dorms, campus houses and Eberly Library for at least half of the spring semester. The class goal was to collect 1,500 plastic bot-tles to represent the amount Americans waste every sec-ond.

The students showed the rest of the campus how much waste that is by stringing bot-tles around the trees, hand rails, benches and lampposts in Johnson Commons. Start-ing around 8 a.m., Paladino’s environmental biology class-es tied the rest of the bottles they collected in their class-room and carried the long strands towards the center of campus. Strategically positioning the tied bottles around Waynesburg Univer-sity’s epicenter, this class of environmentally aware indi-viduals began to pronounce their statement to the rest of the student body.

“I was excited to see what would happen and how the event would work,” said Re-becca Shindelar, senior hu-man services major. “I was not sure what to expect as I had never done anything quite like this before. We were hoping to educate people and get their atten-tion with the startling facts about the use of plastics, but we also wanted the project to be fun. I think it is im-portant to be more aware of the large amount of plastics and other items that we so easily use and dispose of without considering why we use something once and then throw it away. I learned today

from the Ecostewards that it takes bottles 450 years to biodegrade, and that is not even healthy for the earth in comparison to, say, a banana peel decomposing. If even we could just get people to stop using bottled water and use reusable water bottles instead, that would be a suc-cess in my book.”

While Tuesday was a little chilly and noticeably windy, that did not deter the stu-dents ready to share news with anyone who walked by and inquired.

“I saw a lot of my friends and they were a bit confused, asking about why there were bottles,” said Shindelar. “It

was a great point of conver-sation, and it was also cool to see students from the university learning about the sad truth of America’s con-sumption trends. I know that it was certainly not meaning-ful to all, though, and we still have great room for improve-ment in our understanding and desire to take care of the earth that God gave us.”

This environmental biol-ogy lab group grabbed the at-tention of not only students, but a particularly prominent Waynesburg University ex-ecutive.

“The efforts clearly rep-resent the hard work of the students,” said Waynes-

burg University’s President Douglas Lee, who ventured down to Johnson Commons, talking with Paladino and some students involved in the Earth Day celebratory efforts. “The display really shows the significant impact that plastic has on the envi-ronment.”

The recycling statement, coined “Plastic Not So Fan-tastic” was one of a hand-ful of efforts presented in Johnson Commons that af-ternoon, including Student Services – who served ice-cold, freshly squeezed lem-onade – and some students sharing information about wind energy.

“The university is com-mitted to reducing its carbon footprint,” said Lee. “Stewart Hall, the Chapel and the re-placement of Hanna Hall’s windows are all examples of how we are working toward being more environmentally conscious.”

At the conclusion of “Plas-tic Not So Fantastic,” stu-dents reflected on their time and remarked on the future of environmental biology class service projects.

“I think that I would en-courage them to find more ways to make it meaning-ful to them, so that they are invested in the project and adding their personal knowledge and creativity to the project,” said Shindelar. “Perhaps it would also be helpful for individuals to ap-ply their personal expertise through their majors, and find ways to relate the proj-ect to what they are learn-ing in their other classes. Finding ways to take better care of our earth relates to all aspects of life and school. I think that I would add participation from a larger group of students for Earth Week in general, but not spe-cifically within the class that Dr. Paladino does her project with. In general, it would just be nice to see a larger group of clubs and organizations in the community getting involved with Earth Week.”

“I think plastic awareness should be a monthly thing, not just on Earth Day,” said Dunseath. “We need to take better care of the Earth. Even if we change one small habit in our lives, we can have a large impact to bettering our environment.”

Abby Wernert, Yellow Jacket

On Tuesday, April 21, Dr. Janet Paladino's biology students partnered with the recycling task force to string up hundreds of plastic bottles in Johnson Commons. The event was meant to recognize how much plastic Americans waste each day.

Biology class, recycling task force proclaim ‘plastic not so fantastic’

GNP: Alumni present varied musical stylings

the same people performing because the group alternates people.

Something that doesn’t happen often with artists that come to Waynesburg is that they lack a variety of musi-cal taste. That isn’t the case with GNP.

“You may not like one song on the set, but you may very well like the next,” said Molzon.

Classic rock, blue grass and jazz are just some of the musical stylings which will be played.

Junior sports broadcast-ing major Creg Milko will be playing trumpet with GNP.

“It’s a really great experi-ence,” said Milko. “Playing in GNP is the only thing we all have in common and it’s great to learn from them all.”

GNP has something most acts that come to Waynes-burg don’t have; a recurring fan base and community support that people look for-ward to every year.

They only perform once a year and it brings the current students, community and alumni together for a night of reminiscing.

Along with the students participating on stage, there are students from the De-partment of Communication who will be running a pro-duction of the show as well.

Students will be working audio, cameras and directing the show from a television

standpoint. Students spend the weeks

prior to the show setting up the GPAC for the show.

Seven of the original members of the band will be performing onstage, travel-ing from all corners of the country such as Texas, Flor-ida, New Jersey, New York and North Carolina.

As much as the concert is a tradition here at Waynes-burg, it is also a big reunion for old time friends. Mol-zon, Bob Christian, Scott Buttfield, Tom Minson, Linc Davis, Charlie Behrend and Jeannie Fisher are the origi-nal members who get togeth-

er for this event. “It’s a word of mouth fac-

tor, ” said Molzon. “Someone may have come to the first show, then they told their neighbor about it. Now they’ve all been coming ever since.”

Recently Bruce Johnson, one of the original members of the group that first start-ed playing at Waynesburg, passed away on April 6.

Johnson graduated from Waynesburg College in 1977. He directed the horn section for GNP and also played the saxophone.

Over the past 39 years, he has performed with the show

starting out in his spring se-mester of 1974.

According to GNP’s Face-book group, “Bruce loved listening to and perform-ing music. He loved making music with his GNP family members. It might be cor-rect to say the biggest piece of GNP’s heart was in Bruce’s chest. He will be missed im-mensely.”

With the group only per-forming once a year, this is a show that shouldn’t be missed.

“The audience is very ded-icated,” said Molzon. “And we want to put a good show on for them.”

Photo Courtesy of Bill Molzon

Members of GNP hang out together before their 4th annual concert in 1974. This year's show at Waynesburg University will be their 45th annual concert.

Continued from C1

Campus to celebrate end of classes with Waynestock festivitiesBy MATT KOLL

Editorial Assistant

After a several year hiatus, Waynestock is making its way back to the Waynesburg University campus on Friday, April 24, starting at 4:30 p.m.

No, Waynestock does not include all of what you may be thinking it does, but this year’s event has Associate Dean of Students Pat Bristor thinking big things.

“If they want to eat, they have to come,” said Bristor jokingly. “But we are hop-ing for over 500 people to be there.”

The festivities will be tak-ing place in the parking lot between Denny Hall and Roberts Chapel, as security will be clearing out the lot starting Thursday night to ensure no vehicles remain.

A picnic dinner, featuring a pig roast, will be held out-side, and students on a meal plan can swipe their cards and commuters or students that do not have a meal plan will have the cost of their meals covered by Student Activities Board.

There will also be a stage for live music at the event, which will be located on the

far end of the parking lot near Burns Hall.

Human iPod Gary John-son, who sings top 40 music and takes song requests, will be making his second trip to Waynesburg this year – per-forming at 5:00 p.m. – and later, local country band Ruff Creek will be onstage.

Theresa Butler worked with Bristor to coordinate this event, and both wanted it to have a country feel. So, along with country band Ruff Creek, this year’s Wayne-stock will feature a mechani-cal bull.

“We wanted to have a

country theme for this event, so we worked with a local contract agency to bring the mechanical bull in,” said Butler.

“I also thought Ruff Creek, since they are a local band country band, would tie in nicely.”

Along with the pig roast and mechanical bull, Wayne-stock will also provide an op-portunity for some pictures with friends at an old time photo booth.

This year’s event conve-niently takes place on the last day of regularly sched-uled classes as well, which

will serve to celebrate yet another academic year.

“It’s a time during the last day of classes to have a good time before finals week,” said Bristor. “We noticed that as we get closer to the end of the year, too many students have more work to do in get-ting projects done. So, we moved our events around and pushed this to the last day of classes as an end of the year celebration.”

Bristor hopes the weather will be warm enough for this event to take place outside, and may have to make a de-cision on whether the event

should remain outdoors or be sent inside by Thursday night.

She will also be in contact with the musical performers to determine what tempera-tures they would feel com-fortable playing in.

Regardless of the condi-tions and the venue, Bristor believes Waynestock will be a relaxing time for students before each go their separate ways for the summer.

“I hope this will be a great opportunity for the students to come together and begin to say their goodbyes before settling down for finals.”

Stover: Seniors discuss future career plans

yers, attorneys, politicians, whatever field it may be; so really I could take advice from everyone we’ve met with,” said Phillips. “Real-izing a lot of people we’ve met with went to graduate school or went to law school on their path to where they are now, that really moti-vated me to attend graduate school.”

Stratton said that it is im-portant for the seniors to remember their experiences with the speakers.

“It was remarkable to con-sider that each of the seniors have met Justices of the Su-preme Court, Senators, Gov-ernors, business leaders, ju-dicial leaders, as well as the academic program in the Stover Center,” said Stratton. “Most importantly, it is the knowledge that they are go-ing fourth from Waynesburg to positively transform the polis – the political sphere – which is our objective, our motto.”

Phillips believes the Sto-ver Scholars will benefit from having these speakers on campus.

“Sure, I could’ve gone to those other schools and been with friends, but I would not have met nearly the amount of figures that I’ve met here through the Stover program,” said Phillips. “[Anschuetz]

said it the other night, ‘When you go home and tell your friends and families who you meet with through this pro-gram, they’re just in shock because someone our age, as young as us meeting those figures is unheard of in in-stitutions around the United States.’”

Stratton said that he agrees with Phillips' remarks on how the Stover Program will put Waynesburg on the map.

“I think [the Senior Rec-ognition Dinner] demon-strated the depth and the breadth of the Stover Pro-gram because we met with people who didn’t all agree with one another when you sit them down in a room, but they were able to share their stories with the Stover Schol-ars and their visions."

Anschuetz said that she is grateful for having the opportunities she has at Waynesburg and for Strat-ton’s influence in her life.

“I’m speechless,” said An-schuetz. “It’s been absolutely amazing. I can’t thank Dr. Stratton enough for accept-ing me into the program. The Stover Program is one of the reasons that I came to Waynesburg and I haven’t regretted my decision. I’ve learned so much from our guest speakers as well as Dr. Stratton. Dr. Stratton is an incredible man of God. He encourages us to think deeply and critically.”

Continued from C3

LETTERS TO THE EDITORLetters to the editor are encouraged as a method to

bring issues of concern into the public eye. Letters should be typed, limited to 300 words, signed and include a phone number for confirmation. Letters may be submitted to 400 Buhl Hall, sent to the Yellow Jacket via campus mail or via email to jacket@waynesburg.edu. Letters may also be sent to Yellow Jacket, 400 Buhl Hall, Waynesburg University, 51 W. College St., Waynesburg, Pa. 15370. All letters must be received by 5 p.m. the Monday of any publication week.

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A Student News Publication Since 1924

E D I T O R I A L S

Page C6 Op/Ed April 23, 2015

Prepare over breakIt's never too early to begin professional development

Enjoy nowMake sure to focus on the present

It has been a constant theme throughout the past several weeks. All we need to do is get through the remaining days of the semester, and then we can begin to enjoy our lives again.There is certainly nothing wrong with looking forward to the days off of school during summer vacation; however, we must put more focus on enjoy-ing the present, or at the very least, making the best of it. As many of us likely have great times waiting during the sum-mer months between beaches, parties, concerts and baseball games, we often forget to enjoy the remaining time we have at school.

Bill Watterson, cartoonist responsible for Calvin and Hobbes, once said, “We’re so busy watching out for what’s just ahead of us that we don’t take time to enjoy where we are.”While it may be difficult to imagine liking our school work, the attitude we complete it with can make all the differ-

ence in our overall happiness over the next week and a half. We know that our work needs to be completed; we all have extremely busy schedules and everyone may seem to be in our way, but remember that the college experience only comes around once, so let’s make the best of it.

A study done by Harvard showed that humans spend about 47 percent of their time doing one thing while think-ing about another. The study also found that this sort of day-dreaming makes people more unhappy as opposed to when they are simply focused on one activity.

We should look to the rest of the school year with this in mind. The next week will not be enjoyable for us if our mind is off wandering about all of the cooler things that we could be doing. So, let us make an effort to be consciously aware of our surroundings as we finish the semester.

There are many different opportunities that students have on campus. The Student Activities Board, theater pro-ductions and sports teams, amongst many others, are how many students spend their free time – compared to simply staying in their rooms all night watching Netflix.

But students on this cam-pus are given more opportu-nities than just the extracur-ricular events that happen around campus; students at Waynesburg are given the op-portunity that is vital to our future success: a hands-on learning experience.

The nursing majors gain hands-on experiences from things such as the SimMan simulator and the opportu-nity to go out into their field and gain an involvement doing what their major will

consist of. As the university’s website

states, “Waynesburg Uni-versity educates students to make connections between faith, learning and serving so they might faithfully trans-form their communities and the world.”

If we apply what we learn both in and out of the class-room to our Christian faith, then our local communities will benefit from this.

Countless upperclassman have said that the hands-on experience they gained either improved or disproved their love of their major, and they cannot stress just how impor-tant these realizations are.

With our learning experi-ence that we have gained at a small liberal arts college, it is truly amazing to see what our students can do.

Imagine working in a large corporation. You’ve worked there really hard for the first five years. You’ve consistently excelled in all of the aspects of your job and your stellar performance leads to good yearly reviews.

Imagine after five or six years your company believes that you have earned ”immu-nity.” This immunity bars you from being fired from your job, regardless if your per-formance drops. You think: great, I can basically perform at any level and still have job security. In academia, this really frightening immunity exists; it’s called tenure.

Tenure exists to protect teachers and professors from being fired without a just cause, which in theory sounds like a great idea. It protects them from getting fired because of a disconnect between administration and a professor’s teaching style. It also allows them to do re-search that will benefit the university through different

sort of grants. Tenure, in its original purpose, makes sense. However, I know there are too many poor professors that have been teaching the same courses with the same lesson plans for over 20 years. Tenure doesn’t need to be abolished, but perhaps it needs to be re-worked.

At Florida Polytechnic Institute they have gotten rid of tenure, at least in the traditional sense. They now offer faculty “fixed term, multi-year contracts that will be renewed based on perfor-mance.” They want to reward professors for good perfor-mance both in research as well as the classroom. Ac-cording to InsideHigherEd, “The faculty contracts will last for one, three or five years, and will be renewed based on merit rather than on a set rule within the boundaries of tenure.”

I remember attending a visitation day for Messiah College, and they boasted that their professor tenure-track was unique. They mentioned that every five years all of their professors get reviewed. The review serves a crucial part in de-termining which professors

should be rewarded for their hard work. There are plenty of hard-working professors and teachers that deserve to be rewarded for their perfor-mance; however, there are professors who have seemed to stumble upon tenure that really don’t seem to care any-more.

Tenure makes professors really good researchers, not really good teachers. Accord-ing to a 2005 study published in the Journal of Higher Edu-cation, the more time college professors spend in the class-room, the less they get paid. The study found that it was true in both larger research universities and small liberal arts colleges.

A different study per-formed by Northwestern University showed that non-tenure tracked lectur-ers seemed to cause first year students to want to study deeper about a subject than those professors who were tenured. Although, it’s im-portant to take into account that non-tenure tracked lec-turers don’t usually have as many outside obligations as tenured professors do.

Tenure is a controversial topic argued by educators,

parents and students all across the country. Unfor-tunately, it always seems to be the students that bear the brunt of the consequences from the systematic changes in tenure.

We fill out the SUMMAs at the end of every semester to show the university how we think a particular professor is doing. It’s important that we let the university know about professors who maybe aren’t teaching at the qual-ity we want them to. Am I saying that all tenured pro-fessors across the board are bad? No.

I simply want there to be more accountability for said tenured professors. Yes, it a lengthy process to become a tenured professor. But it’s also important that administra-tions know that the students know which professors are “good” and which professors you should “avoid.” Students can really learn more from good professors. We want to learn from professors who are passionate and knowl-edgeable about their field. Their passion is infectious and often causes students to think critically about an issue.

Tenure: keep the intent, iron out the bugs NIKA

ANSCHUETZColumnist

For the Yellow Jacket’s faithful readers, you are ac-customed to editorials and columns urging you to de-vote time to professional de-velopment over break.

It is a topic we stress con-stantly, and with good reason, as our education should not stop simply because classes are over.

In fact, because classes are over, this is the perfect op-portunity to do some inde-pendent learning and spend time on things that you may not have had the time to do while consumed with home-

work and extra-curricular activities.

Before your eyes glaze over, stay with me. Profes-sional development sounds awful. This I know. But it def-initely doesn’t have to be.

Professional development can mean exploration, not the continuation of boring assignments.For example, this summer I challenge you to volunteer, shadow, “in-tern” and read.

Volunteer. I have heard from countless professionals whose volunteering has led them on a path to discovery of their calling or vocation.

Perhaps you are an ac-counting major, but when you spend some time volun-teering at a summer camp, you discover your niche may

be working with children in-stead.

If nothing else, volunteer-ing can be an outlet for some passions that your profession doesn’t provide.

Shadow. While many of the courses and activities offered here at WU are very hands-on, one opportunity we aren’t necessarily afforded is to spend time with profes-sionals at their workplace, learning from what they do.

Reach out to a local pro-fessional in the line of work that you are considering and ask to spend a few hours with them one day this summer to see what life is like in their shoes.

You could fall deeper in love with your future profes-sion or decide that it is not

your cup of tea. Either way, a valuable lesson is sure to be learned.

“Intern.” Notice the quota-tions.

Fortunately, I have landed a PR internship right here at WU for the summer, but last summer I worked at my local Dairy Queen.

However, this didn’t stop me from building my own unofficial internship.

As a PR student, social media is a needed skill set, so I made and managed a Fa-cebook page for my father’s CPA business.

Writing is also a needed skill set in my major, so I started a blog to keep my

Professional development essential over summerSAMANTHA

PEERColumnist

Editor's Note: The follow-ing is an interview with Barbara Kirby, director for center for research and economic development and project director for the teaching with primary sources program, as part of a series of weekly con-versations with members of the campus com-munity about living out vocational faith.

By SAMANTHA PEEROp/Ed Editor

Q. When did you first come to Waynesburg and what led you here?

A. I moved to Waynesburg as a college senior in doing my internship at Catholic Charities. I really fell in love with the college town that it is, so I stayed after I gradu-ated.

My internship was a com-munity development intern-ship with Catholic Charities,

so then I went on to work in community and workforce development in adult educa-tion. I started with Waynes-burg University through a grant program that is now called Innovation Works and is based out of Pittsburgh.

We established a Center for Education and Technology at Waynesburg University. I worked with then-President Thyreen and Waynesburg University took the lead in providing professional de-velopment for teachers and students around technology in education.

This was in the early 90s, so you have to remember that technology in education was a brand new thing, so it was really an exciting job for me to get.

The position has evolved over time to be different things, but it has always been an amazing position. One of my very first projects was to write a grant to get the Internet. It was a $10,000

grant and it was a fun time in which we were figuring out how the Internet would en-hance education. We would have a lot of conversations as to whether the World Wide Web could sustain itself and if people could make money off of it.

To think back now and see how everything has changed in terms of education, its huge, but Waynesburg Uni-versity has been there with the community the whole way through.

Q. How do you live out your faith in your position

at Waynesburg?

A. Probably the most tan-gible way is with the Newman club. I’ve been privileged to serve as one of the advisers for around 15 years. But I like supporting our students in learning and connecting with their faith.

It is really kind of a criti-cal time when you talk about faith formation.

It’s pretty easy to fall away from your faith when you are in college. I think Waynes-burg has a great environment

Walking by Faith: Barbara Kirby

See FAITH on B3

EDITORIALExecutive Editor Nick FarrellManaging Editors Chelsea Dicks Kimmi Baston Jacob MeyerSports Editor Rob Longo Asst. Sports Editor Carson FoxOp/Ed Editor Samantha PeerCopy Editors Rebecca Burcham Luisa SingletaryEditorial Assistants Lucas Campbell Matt Koll Kyle Dawson Danielle Schuyler Yurika Blevins Mitchell Kendra Multimedia Manager J.D. LydicMultimedia Team Nika Anschuetz Creg MilkoGraphic Design Editor Brittany SemcoAsst. Design Editor Megan PotoskyChief Photographer Abby WernertConvergence Editor Jenny SchouppeAdvertising Director Kara BemerAsst. Advertising Director Adam Tapparo

ADVISORSRichard KrauseBrandon Szuminsky

Editorials in the left-hand column represent the views of the Yellow Jacket. Letters from readers, columns, cartoons and other elements on the editorial page do not necessarily reflect the position of this newspaper and university.

BEST ALL-AROUND NON-DAILY STUDENT NEWSPAPER2003, 2004, 2013, 2014

See DEVELOPMENT on B3

April 23, 2015 Op/Ed Page C7

Editor's Note: The following is a synopsis of a recent topic trending in world or national news.

Its off to the races for both Democrats and Republicans alike as candidates are of-ficially entering, testing the waters, or publically stating interest in running for Presi-dent of the United States in the upcoming 2016 election.

Sen. Ted Cruz, Republi-can, of Texas kicked off the campaign season on March 23 declaring to an audience of college students at Liber-ty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, that he was running for President.

Next to officially announce was Sen. Rand Paul, Repub-lican, of Kentucky, the son of the former congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul. With his slogan of “Defeat the Washington Ma-chine,” Paul entered the race on April 7 and immediately got to work on campaign-ing, going to events in New Hampshire and challenging Democratic leaders in Con-gress with policy questions as CNN explains.

According to Fox News, many pundits say Paul has both a slight advantage and

disadvantage going into the race as he will most likely carry over some of the sup-porters from his father’s pre-vious campaigns for presi-dent, but Paul will still be associated with his father, who is not always viewed most favorably.

A week later, while it was highly speculated and almost presumed since President Obama won re-election in

2012, former Senator and First Lady Hillary Clinton officially announced that she would run for the Demo-cratic nomination for Presi-dent. She made her formal announcement on April 12 in a web video saying that “Everyday Americans need a champion. And I want to be that champion.”

The latest person to for-mally announce was Marco

Rubio, a Republican Senator from Florida who made it known he was running on April 13. Elected in 2010 as part of the Tea Party wave, Rubio has been character-ized as the type of candidate Republicans need to run for higher office. He not only hails from the important swing state of Florida, but also due to the fact that he is of Cuban decent, some

Republicans think he may appeal more to the growing Hispanic population of the United States.

According to the New York Times, on the Republican side, imminent announce-ments are expected from former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Wisconsin Gover-nor Scott Walker, New Jer-sey Governor Chris Christie, former Arkansas Governor

and 2008 presidential can-didate Mike Huckabee, and famed retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson. Former Penn-sylvania Senator and 2012 candidate Rick Santorum is also said to be considering a run, along with former Texas governor and 2012 candidate Rick Perry, current Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal, cur-rent South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, and former HP CEO Carly Fiorina.

On the Democratic side, the New York Times also re-ports that former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, former Virginia Senator Jim Webb, and former Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee are all taking the necessary steps to explore or declare a run. Vice Presi-dent Joe Biden has not made an announcement if he will run, but according to USA Today, he is in no rush to make a decision. Welcome. The campaign for 2016 has officially begun.

-CNN-Fox News

April 20, 2015

Information curated by RYAN SCHWERTFEGER For the Yellow Jacket

Cheat Sheet: 2016 presidential campaign is heating up

Courtesy of MCT Campus

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) announces his candidacy for President of the United States alongside his family on Monday April 13 at the Freedom Tower in Miami.

Editor's Note: The follow-ing is a summary of the 10 stories from last week that a college student needs to know.

1. 93-year-old Nazi faces wartime trial

According to CBS News, a Nazi war trial like no other began on Tuesday in Germa-ny. The man facing charges said he did not kill anyone, but Oskar Groening, now 93 years old, holds a dark past. CBS said he was the accoun-tant at the Nazi’s Auschwitz concentration camp in Po-land.

During the war, he was a part of Hitler’s paramilitary organization. Groening’s job was not to decide who lived and who died, but he did con-fiscate their valuables. A Ger-man court will decide if he is guilty of accessory to murder.

– CBS News, April 21

2. Teva offers to buy Mylan

According to the Observ-er-Reporter, Teva has offered to buy Mylan for about $40.1 billion in cash and stock in a deal that would create a powerhouse of generic drug development. Teva is a phar-maceutical industry. If My-lan accepts the offer, this will allow Teva to secure a more dominant position as it would be taking Mylan off a growing list of competitors.

The Observer Reporter also mentioned that Mylan, based in the Netherlands, already announced Friday – as a speculation was swirling about a possible Teva bid –

that it doubted that regulators would approve such a deal and said it is committed to its current strategy as a stand-alone company.

It is said the deal probably would not be approved be-cause the businesses overlap in major ways. Teva offered to pay $82 per share, a 21 percent premium to Mylan’s closing price, on Monday, said the Observer Reporter. Mylan’s buyout is more at-tractive to Teva.

– Observer Reporter, April 21

3. Reclamation of Mather coal refuse moves forward

The Observer-Reporter stated that reclamation of the Mather coal refuse dump using soil from the dry lake bed of Duke Lake at Ryerson Station State Park is moving ahead well and is now about one-quarter of the way com-pleted, a state Department of Environmental Protection spokesman said Monday.

DEP has proposed truck-ing about 250,000 cubic yards of soil from Ryerson to Mather, which is enough to cover the 70-acre coal waste site’s rocky surface with two to three feet of clean soil. DEP spokesman John Poister said about 77,000 cubic yards of soil have been delivered to the Mather site.

The work began in late fall by Berner Construction Co., which was hired by DEP. The Observer Reporter said that the contract to Berner totaled $1.59 million and that DEP is also providing about $2 mil-lion to truck the soil from Ryerson to Mather. The soil

removal is being completed with the money DCNR re-ceived from Consol Energy.

– Observer Reporter, April 21

4. Man caught jumping White House fence

On Monday, April 20, CBS said Jerome Hunt of Sacramento, California was charged with unlawful entry after he was arrested for try-ing to climb the White House fence Sunday evening. The 54-year-old man went to court at the Washington D.C. Superior Court on Monday. Unlawful entry can lead to six months in jail and/or a $1,000 fine.

According to CBS News, the judge released him under certain conditions, includ-ing a requirement that he get a mental health assess-ment. Sunday’s incident was the 16th time someone had tried jumping the fence at the White House in five years.

– CBS News, April 21

5. St. Louis City Hall evacuated

On Tuesday, April 21, the St. Louis City Hall was evacu-ated after two suspicious cyl-inders and a bag were found at three entrances, said CBS News. There was an oxygen tank with wires coming out of it at one entrance.

Police Chief Sam Dotson said there were no known written or verbal threats, but the suspicious items were clear evidence of a threat. It is said that police checked other buildings to make sure there were no other items left.

– CBS News, April 21

6. Abortion restrictions go to state government.

According to ABC News, legislation that would place licensing restrictions on all seven of Tennessee’s abortion clinics is headed to the gov-ernor for his consideration. ABC also said the House ap-proved the measure 79-17 on Tuesday and the Senate passed it 28-14 last week. Facilities or physician offices would have to be licensed as ambulatory surgical treat-ment centers if they give more than 50 abortions a year.

– ABC News, April 21

7. Tulsa deputy pleads not guilty

A 73-year-old Oklahoma deputy who fatally shot a sus-pect who was pinned down by officers has pleaded not guilty to a second-degree manslaughter charge, CBS says. It is said that the deputy shot Eric Harris on April 2 after confusing his stun gun and handgun. Harris died af-ter running from a sting op-eration involving gun sales. CBS states that Harris’ family lawyer said on Monday that Bates was using an unauthor-ized weapon when he fired the fatal shot.

The lawyer for Harris’ fam-ily said Bates violated a num-ber of policies, one being car-rying his personal handgun after training at the range on a different weapon. Records were released and it showed that Bates trained on a .45, but the weapon he killed Har-

ris with was a .357 Smith and Wesson.

– CBS News, April 21

8. Man crosses Boston Marathon finish line after 20 hours

On Tuesday morning, Apr. 21, the final runner of the 2015 Boston Marathon crossed the finish line af-ter battling downpours and thunderstorms for the last couple miles.

According to CBS News, the 39-year-old Venezuelan athlete with muscular dys-trophy overcame incredible odds and finished the mara-thon after walking for about 20 hours.

The runner has not let his disease get in the way of his last five marathons in which he competed. FOX25 said he races for charity and to edu-cate and inspire Venezuelan youth. He is also a university professor and motivational speaker.

– WPXI, April 21

9. Dock to Lock 5k set for May 9

The Greene County De-partment of Recreation will host the 2015 Dock to Lock 5K Run/Walk along the Greene River Trail on May 9 starting at 9 a.m. Con-tributors can sign up for the race with a pre-registration rate of $18 by Friday, April 24, or pay a $20 registration fee the day of the race, said the Observer Reporter. The race’s registration and packet pick-up begins at 7:15 a.m. at Rices Landing fire hall, and

at 8:30 a.m. participants will be taken to the starting line by bus. There will be a recep-tion after the race at the Rices Landing fire hall. At the re-ception, awards will be given to the top three male and fe-male runners/walkers, along with the top three male and female participants in various age categories, according to the Observer Reporter.

The 5K is a fundraiser that benefits the department’s programs like the summer Day Camp program that of-fers free activities for county children ages 5 to 15 years old.

– Observer Reporter, April 21

10. American E agle distribution center closing

According to WPXI, the American Eagle Distribution Center located in the north of Pittsburgh will be closing at the end of July. Currently, 200 people work there. The com-pany mentioned their plan to close two years back, and now it’s officially happening.

The company is giving the workers a chance to transfer to another distribution cen-ter in eastern Pennsylvania or other facilities in the com-pany, WPXI said. The center opened back in 2007, and they are closing because more people are shopping online and the center could not be changed enough in demand.

– WPXI, April 21

Information curated by YURIKA BLEVINS

For the Yellow Jacket

In the news: Ten headlines you need to know this week

for not letting that happen, but that’s not the same in a lot of universities.

It’s nice to watch them come in as freshman and go to church with them on the first Sunday and then watch them graduate and know that they have both grown as stu-dents and young profession-als in their faith.

It’s really nothing that I have done, it’s just support-ing them and helping them do all that themselves.

It’s really special, you see them come in and go out. It’s a unique blessing.

I also teach a Service Learning class, but in the past I taught computer science and introductory computer courses.

In the past I have done the service trips section of Ser-vice Learning, but this semes-

ter I am starting to do general again and it has been a good experience to work with a diverse group of students instead of just mission trips. I’ve led SLR Mission Trip sections because I’ve been to Guatemala with students three times now.

At that time, we were just kind of figuring out how it was going to work.

Our first trip included 10 students, myself and a repre-sentative from St. Ann’s who had gone to Guatemala for many years.

Then after I left for a few years, Pat Bristor took over and she has done a really good job just rolling with the ball and really adopting the mission as her place.

Q. Have any moments, whether in interacting with students or faculty, touched you spiritually or affirmed your faith?

A. Absolutely, both in times of trouble and thanks-giving. I think that is when people feel faith the most present, in those instances.

Just this semester, two stu-dents undertook a festival of praise and a time of adora-tion, and they developed this worship event as their class assignment.

It was an amazing thing to watch unfold and to see the students develop the event.

They did a fantastic job and the event will most likely sustain itself after they gradu-ate.

For someone to be able to say that they started some-thing on campus that would continue to grow after they graduate is truly amazing.

People from St. Ann’s and students from Cal U came to the event; it got to be a community-oriented event. It was nice to see the inter-action between the St. Ann’s

community and the campus community.

Q. What do you find yourself needing to be re-minded of?

A. A lot of things, but it comes down to relying on God first. Because it is easy to rely on your faith when you have worries and troubles, but to start with faith first and set the course is what I think I need to be reminded of.

Q. Do you feel you are where God needs you to be?

A. Absolutely, I feel blessed to be working with the best and the brightest, both in terms of my colleagues and the faculty and then the young adults, who are just so full of potential. Being in a work place where we can celebrate our Christianity, is a great place to be.

Faith: Kirby devoted to student growthContinued from B2

writing skills sharp and po-tentially market my skills to future employers. There are tons of ways to build your own internship and/or build and strengthen skills that will be needed for your future. Read.

Some say it doesn’t matter what you read as long as you are reading, which is true, but I am talking about more specialized reading.

I am a public relations student, and I am very much interested in helping com-panies give back to their lo-cal and global communities through corporate initiatives, which is called Corporate Social Responsibility.

Therefore, I plan to spend my summer reading about

what companies are doing to give back. I suggest you fol-low suit in terms of your re-spective interests. Hopefully this advice was not what you thought it was going to be or was something you have been advised of previously, as when I think of professional development, I think of pol-ishing my LinkedIn page and resume.

These are not bad ideas, ei-ther. You never know when an opportunity for an in-ternship or employment will present itself, so its good to be prepared with the proper credentials and the summer is a great time to clean these things up as you will have the free time to do so.

In conclusion, no matter what year you are: spend time on professional devel-opment this summer.

Development: Grow this summer Continued from B2

Page C8 Campus April 23, 2015

T H E B A C K P A G E

A Tradition of

Nameplates Since 1924

As the Yellow Jacket closes its 90th year of publication, we went back into our archives to reprint iconic nameplates from our past in advance of the unveiling of a new nameplate in this week’s Commencement Issue.

Below is a collection of nameplates used over the 90 years of the Yellow Jacket’s circulation. Each has its own history and stories surrounding the issues it was used for. Enjoy browsing through the old designs and reading the interesting facts each one carries in its legacy.

About this nameplate: This nameplate dates back to the first issue of the 1924 Yellow Jacket, which was originally a 36-page magazine published quarterly. The new Yellow Jacket nameplate featured in this issue was created from this design.

About this nameplate: This nameplate dates back to 1957, when a then unprecedented 768 students were enrolled at Waynesburg College. This prompted the construction of a new dormitory: Thayer Hall. In addition, the Yellow Jacket profiled “Freshman Days,” where new students were required to complete various tasks between Matriculation and Homecoming.

About this nameplate: The newest addition to Waynesburg College in 1968 was Buhl Hall. As noted in the first Yellow Jacket of the 1968-69 school year, a “modern aspect” of Buhl Hall’s decor were its blackboards. Burns Hall also earned its name in 1968. In an era before cell phones, writers also noted student gripings about a new phone system that required dimes for every three minutes of usage.

About this nameplate: As students returned to campus in the fall of 1975, the dining hall’s new management promised to offer “different types of foreign cuisines and exotic new foods.” On a national scale, the Yellow Jacket published a story explaining that Congress appeared close to passing a bill that would authorize $10 million to educate students on the use of the metric system.

About this nameplate: This nameplate is from the Jan. 23, 1976 issue of the Yellow Jacket. In that issue, the United Presbyterian Church U.S.A. announced its new grant program, the Appalachain Scholarship Program, which Waynesburg students were invited to apply for. Waynesburg College also announced receipt of funds from a U.S. Steel Foundation Grant.

About this nameplate: About a decade ago, the Yellow Jacket began a tradition that will continue next week. That’s when the Jacket published a double issue on April 29 - the first modern Commencement Issue. The paper also grew from a 12-page weekly during the 2004-05 academic year. Under this nameplate, the Yellow Jacket earned its first regional awards from the Society of Professional Journalists. In 2004, SPJ named the Yellow Jacket the top paper in the Region. In total, the Jacket has received nine SPJ awards since 2003.

About this nameplate: This nameplate dates back to 1967. During the week of Sept. 29 that year, the Yellow Jacket began publishing issues weekly, instead of biweekly. The football team also began its season that year with two victories in a row, inspiring athletes and students alike. The Sept. 29 issue announced the Danford Foundation Fellowship, a prestigious award for students, and President and Mrs. Bennett M. Rich hosted a reception in their home.

About this nameplate: This nameplate returns to Dr. W. Robert Stover’s era as a student at Waynesburg College. In the 1940s, the Yellow Jacket offered previews of its top stories each week to the left and right of this nameplate, something that’s been replicated here. The Commencement issue in 1940 offered this blurb in the nameplate: “Fifty-six seniors to receive degrees.” The issue also contained a story about an aviation class to be offered in the summer.

WAYNESBURG’S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1924

WAYNESBURG COLLEGEWAYNESBURG, PA. 15370

WEEKLY NEWS PUBLICATIONWEEKLY NEWS PUBLICATION

WAYNESBURG COLLEGEWAYNESBURG COLLEGE

Design by: Brittany Semco

Written by: Nick Farrell

University preparesfor annual

Assessment Day

Campus recountslife of

successful donor

SECTION D APRIL 23, 2015 | WAYNESBURG UNIVERSITY | THEYELLOWJACKET.ORG

Alligator spotted in Monongahela River yet to be foundBy CARSON FOX

Assistant Sports Editor

According to Southwest Regional Police Chief John Hartman, there has been no update in regards to the re-cent spotting of an alligator in the Monongahela River near Belle Vernon, Pennsyl-vania.

Hartman said that there have been nine reports, with two claiming to be eye wit-nesses – one man saw it on his boat, while another man witnessed a duck get sucked down into the river without resurfacing.

Once the reports were released, Hartman said two boats were put into the water

– one of them from the Coast Guard – but neither found anything.

The reasoning behind the

decision to release the report was due in part to reports of alligator sightings in the Monongahela and Yough-

iogheny rivers in 2007, as well as a sighting in 2013 in Fairmont, West Virginia, which confirmed the possi-bility of alligators being spot-ted in the region.

“The fact remains that the animal could survive in these waters at the time that we’ve found it,” said Hartman.

In regards to any rea-

sons how an alligator could have found its way into the Monongahela River, Hart-man has three leads.

First, it could have been released recently by an exotic pet owner.

Second, it could have swam up on a traveling

By JENNY SCHOUPPEConvergence Editor

The Southwest Regional Medical Center [SRMC] hosted its eighth annual Duck Race on April 19.

The event was held at the Greene County Fairgrounds in Waynesburg, PA from 1:00-3:00 p.m.

All the proceeds from the event benefitted the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life of Greene County.

The event was filled with games, face painting, plenty of prizes and finished with the duck race.

Those who participated had the option of buying rubber ducks for $5.00 each before and at the event for the competition.

Towards the end of the event, all ducks were collected and then dumped from the bucket of a Waynesburg Volunteer Fire De-partment fire truck.

Prizes were then rewarded to those who ducks landed closest and then furthest to the bulls-eye.

On your mark, get set, drop from a firetruck!

Local businesses share struggles after graduation

By KIMMI BASTONManaging Editor

In a town of just over 4,000 people, every customer that visits the downtown shops is vital. The merchants in downtown Waynesburg re-alize this, and as such, they’re preparing for a summer without college students to boost their business.

5 Kidz Kandy co-owner Pansy McConnell estimates that during the fall, winter and spring months, college students make up some 50 percent of the business her store receives. Jim Winegar, co-owner of Artbeat Gallery, also said a good portion of his sales during in-school months comes from college students.

The students of Waynes-burg University have de-veloped relationships with many of the businesses in downtown Waynesburg. Some organizations welcome students who complete ser-vice hours there, and some simply accept happily the purchases students make at their stores or businesses. Regardless of the nature of the relationship, most of the downtown organizations agree that summer, with the absence of students, brings a definite drop in customer traffic.

“Any kind of downturn or lack of activity is some-thing that a business person doesn’t look forward to,” said Winegar.

During the school year, Winegar and the Artbeat Gallery partner with the uni-versity for a number of events and promotions. Classes from the art department visit the gallery on a fairly regular basis, according to Winegar, to view the art and talk to the owners about techniques and methods. Winegar also puts out a newsletter that always mentions artistic events hap-

pening at the university. In the fall, the university

students will create an exhib-it at the gallery with art from Italy that they will share with local high school students.

Additionally, though they don’t always buy “big ticket items,” students contribute to the gallery in the form of purchases. So, when stu-dents are gone during sum-mer months, the gallery must find a way to make up for any loss in sales.

“We’re planning a sum-mer open house on June 19, and certainly the Rain

Day activities are something that we try to do something interesting and special for that,” said Winegar. “It’s all sort of gearing up for access-ing additional traffic interest by doing activities that will hopefully be of interest to the public.”

5 Kidz Kandy has also be-gun planning events for the summer in the hopes of in-creasing sales that drop when college students return to their homes.

“We’re trying to do some kind of promotion every month to bring people into our store,” said McConnell. “We have something for Mothers’ Day, Fathers’ Day and of course Rain Day.”

The sweet shop has been in Waynesburg for less than a year, but already McConnell can tell the difference college students make for the busi-

See BUSINESS on D4

Special Olympics hold meet and greet event

Jenny Schouppe, Yellow Jacket

See ALLIGATOR on D4

“Any kind of down-turn or lack of activity is something that a business person doesn't look forward to.”

JIM WINEGARCo-owner of the Artbeat Gallery

By DANIELLE SCHUYLEREditorial Assistant

Basketballs do more than just bounce. Volleyballs are meant for more than just spiking. These athletic tools, along with others, may be used to change lives.

On Saturday, April 18, Waynesburg University’s old gymnasium became a center for dreams to be re-born. After more than two years of questions, answers, hits and misses, the Special Olympics of Greene County struck gold with a meet and greet event for prospective athletes and their families, volunteers and coaches. With help from the Waynesburg University criminal justice club, led by criminal justice instructor James Tanda, some university athletes and a public relations campaign

management team from the Department of Communi-cation, the Special Olympics of Greene County executive

board was able to get the ball rolling once again. Special Olympics of Greene County caught the attention of a man

very much involved with the Special Olympics of Penn-sylvania.

“I lived in Buffalo, New

York, and was looking for a chance to work in nonprofit,” said James Binz, western re-gion field director at Special

Olympics of Pennsylvania,” said Binz. “Previously I had 10 years of experience work-ing with Boy Scouts of Amer-ica. I grew up in Pennsylva-nia and wanted to get back to the area. In October it will be three years since I started at my position with the Special Olympics of Pennsylvania.”

He has been in atten-dance at Special Olympics of Greene County board meet-ings and was instrumental in getting the meet and greet together.

“They have a very success-ful leadership team here,” said Penny Coup, senior di-rector of local program de-velopment for Special Olym-pics of Pennsylvania.

Coup observed the day’s events and expressed her wishes for Special Olympics

Photo Courtesy Gracious Shaver

Future competitors in the Special Olympics take a day to meet one another along with coaches and volunteers. They also practice some of the athletics they will be competing in this coming fall.

See GAMES on D4

“I don't think the alligator in Belle Vernon poses a threat to Greene County [residents].”

JANET PALADINOAssociate Professor of Science

The search continues in Belle Vernon for alligator; professor of science informs locals not to worry

April 23, 2015 Region Page D2

By TAYLOR WHITEFor the Yellow Jacket

When walking into a li-brary, the last thing you ex-pect to here is “tag, you’re it!” At the Eva K. Bowlby Public Library in Waynesburg, this is a common phrase.

'Tag, You’re It' is not just a common game played by children in the backyard, but it is also a teen advisory group that meets weekly at the Eva K. Bowlby Library. Teens from all over Greene

County meet every Wednes-day for about two hours to socialize with each other, plan events for the children’s department, work on com-munity service activities and, most importantly, laugh and enjoy each other’s company.

'Tag, You’re It’s' mission is to provide a safe and fun environment where teens can socialize, learn different things, help to implement programming for teens and assist volunteering to help in the area and also to give back

to the Greene County com-munity. Some activities the teen group has completed are decorating the Greene Coun-ty library system window on High Street during national library week; repairing and implementing story time for

the children’s department; and competing in the Greene County reading competition.

They also created a cen-terpiece design, which won the people’s choice award at the Off The Shelf Fundrais-er, which assists the libraries

of Washington, Greene and Fayette counties. The teens produce a public service an-nouncement to bring aware-ness of teen dating violence in Greene County.

In addition to carrying out these community ser-vice projects, they make time for enjoyable activities like movie night, roller skating and going to Seven Springs Ski Resort. 'Tag, You’re It' is a great opportunity for teens to connect with each other and to make lasting bonds.

“Friends, this is where my friends are,” said Trista Ruffner, a frequent partici-pant in the program. “I enjoy coming every week, and just hanging out and socializing with them.”

'Tag, You’re It' has not only impacted the ones benefit-ing from the various service projects, but has greatly af-fected the development of the teen’s leadership skills.

“My communication skills

Greene County teens unite in public library for service

See TEENS on D3

By COLE LONGFor the Yellow Jacket

Children can be impacted by books even before they are capable of reading the words.

Most young parents think that daycare is the right cat-alyst for them to help jump-start their child’s education.

Another option parents have in Greene County is the Eva K. Bowlby Library Chil-dren’s Department which offers a wide variety of pro-grams for children up to the age of six.

Eva K. Bowlby expressed a desire in her will for the li-brary to nurture the children of Greene County.

Because of this, the Chil-dren’s Department is now what the library is most known for in the community.

Some of the programs of-

fered include preschool, Tod-dler Share and Stories under the Moon.

All programs are free and last roughly about an hour.

Involvement in the li-brary’s programs could very well be a child’s first experi-ence with literacy and edu-cation.

With this in mind, the workers of the department like to keep in mind the typ-ical developmental patterns of each age.

Each week brings a dif-ferent theme, but the de-partment always features the same itinerary which includes readings, songs, snacks and crafts.

Not only does it help the children develop liter-acy skills, but it also assists them in developing their so-cial skills with other young children.

As expected, some of these children in any age group, may experience separation

anxiety when having to tem-porarily leave the comfort of their caregivers.

“There was one girl who came in that was shy and cried,” said Kerry McClure, staff member of the children’s department.

“The more she came to the library, the more she started to settle in and become com-fortable with the people and her surroundings.”

The children are not the only ones who grow from the programs, but the instruc-tors who plant these initial educational seeds are also rewarded.

“Fifteen years ago, I wouldn’t expect myself to still be here today, but I really love it,” said McClure.

“The fact that I am the first person who gives liter-acy and educational compo-

nents to these children is my biggest reward from it all.”

By BRENDAN KEANYStaff Writer

The Waynesburg Bon-ner Scholars are working to fight the hunger problem in Greene County.

This past Sunday marked the second annual Empty Bowls event, which took place at the fairgrounds, as the scholars looked to revive a hunger campaign that was created in 1990.

The Bonner Scholars have been working since last se-mester to make this aware-ness event a success through raising money and creating ceramic bowls to represent the hunger that still affects Greene County.

The scholarship group raised funds for the event by selling luncheon tickets at

$15 a piece. Together, the group sold

around 150 tickets, which was an encouraging sign for the leadership of the pro-gram. Senior Bonner Scholar Rebecca Shindelar described the event and everything that went into making the expe-rience positive for everyone involved.

“We invited members of the community to partake in the luncheon,” said Shindelar.

“We also invited artisans to help in making ceramic bowls, and with the bowls that the Bonners made, we had about 250 ceramic bowls from artisans, students and high schools from the sur-rounding areas.”

Each person who pur-chased a luncheon ticket was served lunch and one of

the ceramic bowls that the different organizations took the time to make.

The bowls are not neces-sarily for practical purposes, but according to Shindelar, they are used as a symbol for the pressing need for food, even in Greene County.

“The ceramic bowl is a reminder of hunger in the area,” said Shindelar. “It’s an empty bowl so that we re-member.”

The turnout for the event was solid, and it even includ-ed some high profile names.

As well as many commu-nity members coming out to support the event, two of the county commissioners were there to show their support, and this was seen in more ways than one.

They donated the space

for the program so that the fees for the event were taken care of.

Furthermore, the presi-dent of Waynesburg Univer-sity, Doug Lee, and his wife, went to the fairgrounds to encourage the strides being taken to eliminate hunger from Greene County and surrounding areas.

However, the Empty Bowls campaign is not an official organization, but simply a fundraising program created by university students.

Therefore, all money raised by the fundraiser was donated to an organization that has the ability to fend off hunger.

The organization that the scholars chose was the Week-end Food Program.

“Basically, it’s a program

for every elementary school in Greene County,” said Shin-delar.

“It’s for kids who need an extra hand; kids that teach-ers, social workers and other adults in the school system recognize as being food in-secure. Which means they’re like stuffing food in their pockets or they’re a little antsy and what not.”

Most of these kids are already on a reduced cost lunch program, which means that they get much of their food taken care of during the school week, but the week-ends can still be a time of insecurity when it comes to hunger.

“This program makes sure that these kids get food over

Waynesburg's Bonner scholars lead empty bowls outreach to end hunger

Bowlby Library offers educational children's program

By DANIELLE SCHUYLEREditorial Assistant

What was once a location home to a great tragedy has potential to be reborn into a place that Greene County community members may treasure for years to come.

The Mather Mine brings to memory for many county residents an explosion that caused the community to lose many brave men on May 19, 1928.

Almost 87 years later, however, the mine site may see vibrant life once again.

Langan Engineering and Environmental Services Inc. are conducting a study to determine just what may be done to make the Mather Mine site usable again.

“The first phases were completed in 2005,” said Crystal Simmons, manager of the Greene County In-dustrial Development Au-thority.

“We are looking to find with the study the level of contamination. It is also important that we find out what needs to be done to re-mediate the contamination. In addition, we would like to see if the contamination levels are even manageable. We cannot say what will be developed. It could be recreational, residential, or industrial. The results will help us to know what di-rection to go to develop the Mather Coal Mines.”

Simmons also expressed what the Greene County Industrial Development Authority considers to be a vital priority.

“We want residents to be satisfied with how we deal with the environmental is-sues,” said Simmons.

“They have been patient. Our concerns are what the residents are concerned about.”

Earlier in the semester Waynesburg University's environmental biology classes visited the Mather Mine site.

One member of the class posed a serious question in regards to the safety of the mines.

“What if the mines col-lapsed?” said Rebecca Shindelar, senior human services major. “If the coal is still burning down in the mines, how safe will it be to

Mine to undergo studies for future

See BOWLS on D3

See BOWLBY on D3

“Fifteen years ago, I wouldn’t expect myself to still be here today, but I really love it. The fact that I am the first person who gives literacy and educa-tional components to these children is my biggest reward from it all.”

Kerry McClure Bowlby Library staff member

See MINE on D3

'Tag You're It' program offers professional work experience for local high school students“My communication skills are better. I am also more informed of things that are happening in the community.”

DESIREE TEDROW'Tag You're It' member

Jenny Schouppe, Yellow Jacket

BUCKIN' BULLS AT LOCAL FAIRGROUNDThe Greene County Fairgrounds hosted a bull riding competition this past weekend, during which many cowboys showed off their skills in front of a large crowd.

Page D3 Region April 23, 2015

put recreation fields above them?”

When that question was later brought up to Sim-mons, she responded with assurance and positivity.

“The Bureau of Aban-doned Mine Reclamation has this project in its grasp,” said Simmons.

“I have confidence that they have done and are doing what is necessary to make sure that the Mather Coal Mines are going to be safe.”

It is no question that local community mem-bers love their athletics. The possibility that recre-ational fields for sports like soccer and baseball could be built on the Mather Mine pile opens up even more chances for the community to come together.

“With success of this proj-ect there will be a 70 acre-wide site that will be devel-opable,” said Simmons.

“It will be environmental-ly safe, benefitting the com-munity. The environmental concern would be eliminat-ed.”

Students expressed how important it is that efforts are being made to make the Mather Mine site safe and useful.

“What happened at the Mather Mines on that day in 1928 was tragic,” said

Michelle Dunseath, senior digital design and pub-lic relations double major. “The Greene County In-dustrial Developmental Au-thority is doing a lot to create new and positive memories with the mining site. This will help not only the people that could use the sites, but the county as a whole. New life on the Mather Coal Mine site will bring even more positive morale to the area.”

the weekend,” said Shindelar. “They send the kids home with a backpack or a package of food with them.”

The total figures from the weekend fundraiser are not completed yet, but the last time Shindelar checked, they had raised about $2,600 for the program. She expects that figure to climb once results from the silent auction come back. All in all, Shindelar believes the total amount will be near the $3,000 mark. If anyone would like to get involved and continue the progress already made by the Bonner Scholars, there are several ways in which to do so.

First, the remaining bowls from the fundraiser are being sold at the Center for Service Leadership office, which is right next to the security office in the Stover building on Waynesburg University’s campus. The sales are dona-tion based, so the bowls do not have a specific price.

Furthermore, anyone can write a check to the Commu-nity Foundation of Greene County, with the check made out to “Empty Bowls.” The foundation accepts do-nations and funding year round, and they are always looking for help in that re-gard.

McClure is just as impact-ful in these children’s lives as any educational experience they will receive at their young age.

The children in the de-partment absolutely adore her and it is quite notice-able when she interacts with them.

Often times there are chants from the children saying, “Miss Kerry, Miss Kerry” just trying to gain her attention.

There is no limit to how many children may partici-pate in the programs as reg-istration is not required.

There are no deadlines, so parents may bring their children in when the time is best for them.

The Children’s Depart-ment is always accepting of new young children to join in their learning endeavors.

As Albert Einstein once said, “Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind.”

Staff members at Eva K. Bowlby Library’s Children’s Department continue to excel in training the minds of their young patrons in a fun, friendly and engaging manner.

Continued from D2

Continued from D2

By ANTHONY CONNFor the Yellow Jacket

Anyone traveling through downtown Waynesburg at any given hour throughout the day has most likely seen firsthand the construction that has been taking place in town.

A simple trip to Walmart can take close to twenty-five minutes because of bottle-neck traffic that greets driv-ers after leaving campus; or

a simple drive home from work can turn into a maze of orange and white and a headache caused by the ex-haust fumes from the line of cars in front.

While this construction has been in progress for quite a while, those in Waynes-burg can rest assured that the work is coming along according to plan.

Mike Simms, Waynesburg borough manager, is pleased with how the construction

has gone so far.“The progress has been

great,” said Simms.Quite possibly the most

noticeable project in town is the lane expansion work done on Route 19 by Mc-Donald’s.

Work is being done to create more space for traffic underneath the bridge.

Simms said that that the southern end of the bridge is done, but more work is still needed on the rest of

the bridge. Traffic has been backed up

in this area during the con-struction, but traffic lanes have not and will continue to not be affected.

According to PennDot, this project is estimated to be completed by October 2017.

Some other projects in-clude pavement preservation on Route 21 and several safe-ty improvements on Route 19. The pavement work on Route 21 includes resurfac-

ing and implementing guide-rail updates between Gwynn Road and Rolling Meadows Road.

The street paving and guardrail installation is al-ready underway and will be completed by May 29th.

For now, those living in Waynesburg must deal with the construction at hand.

PennDot and others are working to make Waynes-burg much easier to navigate in the future.

Waynesburg construction making strides

are better,” said Desiree Tedrow. “I am also more informed of things that are happening in the commu-nity.”

One of the many benefits to participating in Tag,

You’re It is that every teen in Greene County between the ages of 13-18 is welcome.

There is no official regis-tration or binding service commitment contract, mak-ing the community involve-ment easier and even more appealing.

Tag, You’re It is always welcoming young adults with various personalities and skills to share a similar

passion of learning, teaching and creating.

When asked how she would describe Tag, You’re It, Ruffner said, “it’s a wonderful atmosphere to meet teens in the community, to socialize, brainstorm and most impor-tantly laugh with.”

Just as a library has a dif-ferent variety of books, Tag, You’re It has a melting pot of young people on differ-ent pages of their stories. Some are in their first chap-ter, while others are closing the first edition of their series. Regardless of where they place their bookmarks, the teens all have one thing in common: they have been tagged as future impactful citizens of Greene County.

Tyler Wolfe, Yellow Jacket

An example of some of the roadwork that needs to be done in the Greene County area. Cones like the one shown above can be seen creating lanes throughout downtown Waynesburg and leading traffic throughout all of the construction.

Continued from D2

Continued from D2

Courtesy of Adrienne Tharpe

(Above) The Empty Bowls event gave students a hands-on pottery experience, where the bowls were given out to exemplify the hunger present in Greene County.

(Right) Gracious Shaver creates and designs her own bowl.

Bowls: Students spread awareness in community

Bowlby: Children, staff see benefits at library

Mine: New future awaits Mather Coal Mine site after historic tragedy

Teens: Library program enriches social lives

“I have confidence that they have done and are doing what is necessary to make sure that the Mather Coal Mines are going to be safe.”

CRYSTAL SIMMONS Greene County Industrial

Development Authory Manager

Pennsylvania ground is ready for planting and gardening

Page D4 Region April 23, 2015

barge from the south along the Mississippi River.

Third, the Pittsburgh Zoo was called and according to Hartman, has been extreme-ly helpful in the case that a transported alligator never made it to its destination.

Besides Southwest Re-gional Police, the Fishing Boat Commission, the Pitts-burgh Zoo and the Coast Guard have all aided in the attempt to find the alligator. This comes as a concern to Hartman as civilians ap-

proach the summer months on the Monongahela.

“As the weather warms, that increases traffic, espe-cially recreational traffic on the river,” said Hartman. “As a police force, I felt it was our responsibility to make noti-fication.”

Waynesburg University Associate Professor of Biol-ogy and instructor of En-vironmental Science Janet Paladino, believes that this alligator could not have pad-dled upstream from South-eastern United States rivers or coastlands, but rather someone dropped it off be-

cause he or she did not want to care for it anymore.

Additionally she said that alligators are more likely to stay in one area instead of traveling, but they have been reported as swimming up-wards of 20 miles.

“I don’t think that the al-ligator in Belle Vernon poses a threat to Greene County [residents],” said Paladino.

Though, she does note that the American alligator can survive subfreezing tempera-tures because of its ability to slow its metabolic rate and become dormant.

“I am not sure that it

would survive the water temperature in Southwest-ern Pennsylvania, but they are pretty tolerant to cold,” said Paladino.

With there being only one alligator reported, unless said alligator was pregnant dur-ing the time of its release, this may be an isolated, random occurrence, rather than an invasive species infestation.

Officers suspect it to be a one time occurence.

Hartman advises anyone with information or anyone who sees suspicious, alliga-tor-like activity to call their local police force.

ness by purchasing coffee, ice cream and candy.

Together with nearly 15 businesses, 5 Kidz Kandy has become part of the Down-town Waynesburg Mer-chants’ Guild, to which the Artbeat Gallery also belongs. Winegar said the group col-laborates regularly to or-

ganize events for the com-munity and keep awareness up for the various smaller businesses.

In the end, downtown Waynesburg businesses be-lieve they’ll make it through the summer. They deal each year with the departure of college students, and while it often hits their business hard, with a little planning, they can make up the difference.

of Greene County. “There was a good turnout

today. I am really hoping that a team of athletes will be in place by the fall season.”

The Special Olympics of Greene County team man-ager echoed this sentiment.

“There was an incredible response from potential ath-letes,” said Randi Chambers, who is also a mother of one of the athletes. “I looked for a program like this 12 years ago. Greene County used to compete in bowling.”

Chambers explained that when the local bowling alley was put out of commission, they had to stop competing.

In S eptemb er 2014 , Chambers was approached by Waynesburg University education major Brianna Watt, who wanted to know if Chambers was interested in getting involved with Special Olympics of Greene County.

As a Waynesburg Univer-sity alumna with a master’s degree in counseling, bach-elor’s degree in psychology and pre-law and a minor in sociology, Chambers was enthusiastic to hear from a student at her alma mater. Understanding the univer-sity's mission of service, she exclaimed how perfect of an opportunity it would be for students to work with the organization.

“It is very hands-on,” said Chambers. “Also, the orga-nization is close so students do not have to worry about

commuting. A big thing is that volunteers do not need to fundraise to participate. Going on mission’s trips is very popular at Waynesburg University and it is a very good way to serve people. However, you can also serve right in your own town.”

Coup explained how get-ting involved would not only fulfill service requirements but could build the student volunteer’s resume.

“The Special Olympics has great name recognition worldwide,” said Coup. “In-volvement with this organi-zation helps the athletes and the volunteers alike. Greene County is one of two coun-ties in Pennsylvania that does not have a currently working Special Olympics program. It needs people with a passion for helping other people to become leaders. Even if you are just remotely consider-ing getting involved, go to an event in a nearby county. You will not regret it.”

Binz added that the Waynesburg University com-munity held a major influ-ence on the outcome of Sat-urday’s meet and greet.

“The momentum came from Waynesburg Univer-sity and its people choosing to get involved.”

Looking toward the fu-ture, Binz has high hopes for Special Olympics of Greene County.

“I believe the Greene County Special Olympics will have national and world level athletes five years from now,” said Binz.

595 East High St., Waynesburg, PA 15370724-627-5454 or 724-627-6823

Fax: 724-627-5429www.mccrackenrx.com

McCracken Pharmacy since 1961

Store Hours:Monday-Friday: 9 am to 8 pm

Saturday: 9 am to 4 pmSunday - Closed

By CHELSEA DICKSManaging Editor

Everyone has heard the cliché phrase ‘April showers bring May flowers.’

During this time of year, we hear it a lot more.

This is because in Penn-sylvania, now is the time to start planting.

Here are some tips and facts about gardening in Pennsylvania:

1. According to the Men’s Gardening Club in Pitts-burgh, the last hard frost average for Pittsburgh is around April 20. For outly-ing areas, the last hard frost is averaged around April 30.

2. Now is the time to start weeding. As it may be a couple days early to actually start planting, you can get a head start on the garden by taking care of all the weeds

right now. The ground in the area should be soft enough that a hoe or small hand spade should be able to do the job if your hands have trouble, according to the calendar for Pennsylvania Gardening.

3. Technically, according to the calendar, people liv-ing in this area should have started mulching back in March, but if this step has yet to be taken, now is the time to start. Make sure to remember where your pe-rennials or fruit trees were planted to make sure those areas receive the fertilizer and mulch that they need.

4. If you are interested in planting roses, herbs or perennial flowers, April is the best month to do it. If you are planting a vegetable garden, you can start plant-ing carrots, beets and other

rooted vegetables, according to the calendar.

5. There are a lot of seeds that take much longer sea-sons to grow than Pennsyl-vania has to offer. But there is an easy solution. Start to sow your seeds within your house and place them near a window. According to thompson-morgan.com, this will help plants such as geraniums and begonias get to their peak along with the rest of your plants within your garden.

6. Another t ip from thompson-morgan.com is to get rid of the bugs and pests from the ground in your garden.

“Hunting down and re-moving hibernating pests now can save a lot of trou-ble,” said the website.

Due to the ground being cold, some bugs will still

be in hibernation, making them easier to catch and re-move.

7. The lawn that you choose to place your gar-den within is important too and can be taken care of now. The ground in this area is covered in leaves and debris at this time. To get a head start on the lawn, rake the leaves and debris off the ground. Make sure to seed the lawn designated for the garden area so the ground is ready to produce the plants you will later plant.

No matter what kind of garden you are planning to plant – vegetable, shrubs or flowers – April is not too early to begin working on your outdoor oasis.

So have fun planting a garden that you know will thrive and earn that ‘greene’ thumb.

PLANTS THAT GIVE YOU "BANG FOR YOUR BUCK"

1. Lavender- $6-$102. Annuals: Snapdragon- $63. Annuals: Cleome- $1 - $44. Annuals: Caladium- from $85. Perennials: Black-Eyed

Susan- from $86. Perennials: Maiden Grass- $9 - $127. Perennials: Daylily- from $48. Shrubs: Yaupon Holly- $12 - $309. Shrubs: Spiraea- $7 - $4010. Shrubs: Clethra- $10 - $2511. Trees: Sourwood- $15 - $7512. Trees: Apple- $10 - $2013. Trees: Swamp White Oak- $25

Roomel Reese, Yellow Jacket

PLANTS MAKING THEIR DEBUTTake a walk through downtown Waynesburg and next to the roads will be sprouts of colors. Local yards and flower beds have started to show the signs of life that spring awakens. Colorful tulips and daylilys are common species that can be seen in the wild and within planted gardens during this time of year. With spring finally here, the grass has become much greener and yards are filled with more color.

Alligator: Officers continue search in local riverContinued from D1

Games: Olympics hope to attract many athletesContinued from D1

Business: Local stores prepare for summer loss

Continued from D1

Gracious Shavers

Tori Kramer with a Special Olympic athlete.

By JEFF CHAMPFor the Yellow Jacket

The Waynesburg women’s lacrosse team finished its record-setting year with a thrilling 9-8 win against the Franklin College Grizzlies thanks to a last second goal from a first-year player.

Junior Lauren Blair, who joined the team after finish-ing her third year as a mem-ber of the women’s basket-ball team, was the hero for Waynesburg and allowed the team to set a single-season program record for wins (five).

Blair had possession in the offensive zone in the waning seconds and the whistle blew. The refs called an illegal block on Franklin, which set up a potential game-winning free position shot for Blair with one second remaining on the clock.

The Ohio native came through with the game-winning shot , best ing sophomore goalie Kayanna Wolter to clinch the victory for Waynesburg. Known for being a team player both on the field and the court, Blair was quick to commend her teammates.

“It felt great to end the sea-son with a win,” said Blair. “Honestly, I think this was a team effort.”

Head coach Maria Shepas acknowledged the effort Blair has given to the team dur-ing her first year as a Jacket lacrosse player.

“Blair is an athlete”, said Shepas. “She’s a fighter, she wills things to happen and that is a testament to her work ethic.”

With the win, the Yellow Jackets finished with a 5-9 overall record and 3-6 in Ohio River Lacrosse Con-ference action. Previously, the highest win total for the program was three wins, which was set last season. Women’s lacrosse became a varsity sport at Waynesburg University in 2008, spanning eight seasons.

“It’s awesome what we ac-complished,” said Shepas.

The 2015 season was the inaugural one for the ORLC, and Franklin College head women’s lacrosse coach Stephanie Eft sees a bright future ahead for all of the teams that are a part of the conference.

“I think, in the future, this conference is going to be competitive,” said Eft.

Waynesburg was led on offense by sophomore midfielder Jess Rains, who accounted for three of the goals, but it was the two timely goals by Blair that stole the show for the Jackets.

The score at halftime was 4-4, and shortly after the sec-ond half started, the game was delayed due to lightning in the area.

After a half hour delay, the teams returned to the field and play resumed. After play resumed, Blair found the back of the net rather quickly to break the tie. The teams would then battle back and forth for the majority of the second half, before Blair’s game-winner.

The 2015 season might be over, but the future of

the women’s lacrosse team is looking rather bright. Two of the top-three play-ers in points on the team just completed their respective sophomore seasons. Those players include sophomore forward Holly Bachman and Rains.

Waynesburg will be gradu-ating five seniors this year, but the team appears to be in good hands for the upcom-ing years, according to Blair.

“I think the program is going up,” said Blair. “It has been going up for the past few years.”

Shepas challenged the team, as it now looks ahead to 2016, after failing to quali-fy for the ORLC’s first Cham-pionship Tournament.

“They can only go up if they want it,” said Shepas. “It’s all going to be about commitment and effort.”

SECTION E APRIL 23, 2015 | WAYNESBURG UNIVERSITY | WWW.THEYELLOWJACKET.ORG

Maybe I came to Waynes-burg for the wrong reasons.

Maybe I came to this school, some 71 miles away from my hometown of Bea-ver, Pennsylvania, because I thought it would whisk me away from the proclaimed “Beaver Bubble,” which would never let you go once inside, keeping you there forever. Or maybe it was the pressure of others, along with

my high aspirations, of con-tinuing my football career after high school. I’m not re-ally sure what it was, to be honest.

But what I can tell you is, four years later, not much shaped out the way I thought – or hoped – it would.

In all honesty, I suppose the whole reason why I did choose to attend a small, Christian school in the heart of Greene County was a man who many people saw on their living room televisions and listened to on their back porch radios for over three decades calling Pittsburgh

Pirates baseball – Lanny Frattare.

I’ve always loved sports. Since the day I was old enough to play organized sports, I was there. Bas-ketball, football in middle school, soccer and especially baseball – a game I fell in love with at a very young age.

I’m not sure why I became obsessed with baseball. I didn’t spend very much time with my father growing up, and maybe it was the fact that the only time we really spent together involved the quirky sport. Whether he was coaching me, playing

catch together or heading to Pittsburgh on Sunday af-ternoons to catch a couple innings at Three Rivers Sta-dium, then heading to Mc-Donald’s on the way home to split a 20-piece McNugget, it was always about baseball. Baseball was something his father instilled in him at a young age as well. Either way, the sport connected with me.

The lure to learn from a man that spent 33 sea-sons behind a microphone broadcasting Major League Baseball drew me in right away. Just like many oth-ers my age and even older,

Lanny was a second father to them, a babysitter, a friend that they would spend a few hours with on warm summer nights.

With that said, I had an epiphany. Long story short, why waste what some say is the best four years of your life doing something that, in the long run, will destroy your body, when you can work just as hard to better your-self career-wise after college? To me, the choice was a no-brainer. Regardless, some did frown upon that decision.

Looking back on it, it was the best decision I’ve ever

made. I was able to accom-plish everything I wanted to at Waynesburg, and then some. Four years ago, I would have rolled my eyes and laughed if someone told me that I would be in the po-sition I am now. Covering a Division I basketball game as a freelance journalist and broadcasting one as a free-lancer before the age of 21 is something I feel that very few can say.

In the eight semesters that I have written for this news-paper and the seven that I

All in all, it's been a roller coaster ride at WaynesburgROB LONGOSports Editor

See LONGO on E3

Lacrosse wins on wild last-second goal

Rob Longo, Yellow Jacket

Waynesburg's Jess Rains (right), pictured here in a game earlier this season, had a game-high three goals in Saturday's 9-8 win over Franklin College.

Jackets end season on high note

Bachman finishes top 10 in ORLC in scoring

By LUKE CAMPBELLSports Editorial Assistant

The women’s lacrosse program, started a mere seven years ago, is still considered to be up-and-coming.

However, an 11-62 re-cord coming into this sea-son doesn’t scream success to the potential recruits that step foot on the southwest-ern Pennsylvania campus.

But on sophomore Holly Bachman’s visit, she didn’t look at that. She was all too familiar to youthful pro-grams. Bachman, a gradu-ate of Knoch High School in Butler, Penn-sylvania, took up lacrosse for the first time during her ninth-grade year with a pro-gram that was only four years in the making.

“ It w a s s t i l l pretty new,” said Bachman. “They were still in the building process, trying to attract girls to play and expand the sport within the area.”

However, the allegiance that was formed in her freshman year resulted in having the most wins in school history, allowing the Knights to make their first ever WPIAL playoff appearance.

But what Bachman didn’t know at that time was that she would be a part of something similar nearly three years later.

After a position change from defense to forward coming out of high school, she has continued to terror-

ize Waynesburg opponents with her lethal scoring abil-ity.

“The game itself is played at a faster pace,” noted Bachman, on the transi-tion from high school to college. “My high school team was short on defend-ers. I wanted to be a good player all-around player, so I liked being able to get the opportunity to play both positions. When I got to Waynesburg, I was imme-diately put on attack, and have loved it ever since.”

In Bachman’s f resh-men campaign, she tallied 22 goals, which was good

for s e cond on the team behind then-senior Vic-toria Shepherd. Those tallies were also accompanied by five helpers.

However, af-ter it was recog-nized that she was Waynesburg’s main of fensive

threat, teams were bound to handle her differently on defense.

“A lot of teams know going into the game who to watch out for just from statistics and film,” said Bachman. “It’s a compli-ment that other teams are putting their best defender on you or are constantly double teaming you. But it makes me want to work that much harder.”

She erased all doubt of any sophomore slump with 11 goals in her first three games to open up the sea-son.

See BACHMAN on E2

Baseball picks up season sweep of Westminster with 5-4 winBy KYLE DAWSONEditorial Assistant

After Tuesday’s home win against the Westminster Ti-tans by a score of 5-4, the Waynesburg baseball team swept its second series in Presidents’ Athletic Confer-ence play this season.

Before that, the team won its series against Bethany this past weekend by win-ning twice in Bethany, West Virginia, after losing the home game Friday.

With the two series wins, the Jackets still have not lost a series in PAC action and continued what has been a string of success since a tie against Pitt-Greensburg a while back.

“As we enter every series in our conference our in-tention is to win the series,” said head coach Mike Hum-iston. “I think the guys have bought into the ‘win the se-ries’ mentality. So we went into Saturday’s doubleheader with that mentality after the

loss Friday and were able to come out with two wins.”

Having already won the series with a doubleheader sweep of the Westminster Titans back on April 14, the Jackets weren’t looking to enact that win the series mentality. They were looking

to break out the brooms and finish the job.

Waynesburg did just that behind key offensive perfor-mances by sophomores Ben Miller, Jonathon Kletzli and Cameron Bernhardt, as well as junior Matt Bensinger.

But the story of Tues-

day’s game aside from what turned out to be a come-from-behind win, was the first collegiate start of a freshman well known for pitching in Greene County, Brandon Lawless.

The Carmichaels native was “the guy” on a team that went all the way to the PIAA Tournament last season. On Tuesday, he pitched six scoreless innings, before the wheels fell off in the seventh inning for Waynesburg’s de-fense, in a situation that saw Lawless chased from the contest. Lawless’ final line on the hill included six innings and change, four runs, none of which were earned, off a mere two hits. The freshman walked five and struck out four.

“[Lawless] had to make an adjustment,” said assistant coach Scott Van Sickle, who served as the skipper for the Mighty Mikes while Law-less was there. “He’s worked very hard to get to the point where he could start for us

this year, because he’s nev-er had to do that, because he’s been the man. College baseball is a big difference and he showed he could go out there and throw all his pitches.”

“I just went out today like I did in high school and tried to pitch well,” said Lawless. “I’ve been working on some things mechanically with Pete [Stofcheck, an assistant coach with the Jackets]. But these kids can hit a lot better than what I’m used to, so I’m just working hard.”

The reason Lawless came out of the game wasn’t exact-ly his fault. Three defensive errors by Bernhardt allowed runners on base, and Lawless hit his spots on the mound; he just wasn’t able to get an out. Junior ace Brian Resnik came in to clean things up and ended up earning his seventh win on the season.

If Bernhardt could have made up for those errors in any way, he certainly did at the plate. In his first at-bat,

the Connellsville, Pennsyl-vania native got a first-pitch fastball and hit his second home run of the season to put the Jackets ahead 1-0.

“I went up to the plate say-ing to myself ‘if I get a first-pitch fastball and it’s a strike, I’m going to hit it,’” said Ber-nhardt. “Sure enough, I got it, and I just swung as hard as I could, and it went out.”

A batter later, Miller launched his third homer of the season to put the Jackets ahead 2-0. A few in-nings later, a double play ball scored Waynesburg’s third run. Then after the four runs came across for Westminster in the seventh, Waynesburg found itself behind 4-3 in the eighth with two outs.

Bensinger doubled for his second two-base hit of the day and then scored on Kletzli’s single to right field. Senior Kyle Weyand came in to run for Kletzli, stole sec-ond base and then scored on

Dave Miller, ADM Photography

Cameron Bernhardt, seen here in a game earlier this year, drove in a pair of runs and went 3-for-4 Tuesday.

See BASEBALL on E2

Bachman

Page E2 SportS April 23, 2015

MEN’S TENNIS

MENRECENT RESULTSTeamSaturday, April 18DAVE LABOR INVITATIONALThis was an Unscored PAC Event

POLAR BEAR INVITATIONAL11. Thomas More, 18 pts.

IndividualDAVE LABOR INVITATIONALMEN 100 METER DASH1. Carl Zallow, Youngstown ST., 10.51; 2. Leighton Antonio, Youngstown St., 10.60; 10. Chirstopher Jones, Thiel, 10.86MEN 200 METER DASH1. Carl Zallow, Youngstown St, 21.42; 2. Leighton Antonio, Youngstown St, 21.43; 8. Christopher Jones, Thiel, 21.93MEN 400 METER DASH1. Kyle Minger, Bethany, 48.73; 2. Mote Chapman, Slippery Rock, 49.41MEN 800 METER DASH1. Ryan Thompson, Slippery Rock, 1:55.16; 2. Dy;in Wilhoite, Youngstown St, 1:57.14; 13. Steve Morgan, Thiel, 2:09.62MEN 1500 METER DASH1. Austin McLean, Youngstown St, 3:51.59; 2. Tyler Palenchark, Slippery Rock, 3:59.14; 11. Steve Morgan, Thiel, 4:19.12MEN 5000 METER RUN1. Austin McLean, Youngstown St, 15:06.46; 2. Paul Fleming, Carnegie Mellon, 16:06.75MEN 110 METER HURDLES1. Matt Bernadowski, UNA, 14.74; 2. Noah Bostick, Slippery Rock, 14.85; MEN 400 METER HURDLES1. Savon Salter, California, 53.67; 2. Jacob VanHouten, Slippery Rock, 53.92; 8. Taran Sifon-tes-Lavine, Westminster, 57.02MEN 3000 METER STEEPLECHASE1. Stewart Jones, UNA, 9:20.61; 2. John Hutnyan, Youngstown St, 9:39.39MEN POLE VAULT1. Cam Daughtery, UNA, 5.01m; 2. Jordan Pacheco, Slippery Rock, 4.96m; 8. Andrew Brannen, Westminster, 4.26mMEN HIGH JUMP1. Aaron Morgan, California, 2.04m; 2. Arnaldo Morales, Youngstown St, 2.04m; 3. Nic Jones, Thiel, 2.00mMEN LONG JUMP1. Umar Moore, Bethany, 7.28m; 2. Nic Jones, Thiel, 7.25mMEN TRIPLE JUMP1. Caleb Smithco, Slippery Rock, 14.70m; 2. Umar Moore, Bethany, 14.33mMEN SHOT PUT1. Trevor Milller, Slippery Rock, 16.54m; 2. Ryan Booth, Youngstown St, 16.36m; 6. R.J. Malson, Thiel, 14.22mMEN DISCUS1. Connor Neu, Youngstown St, 46.53m; 2. Ryan Booth, Youngstown St, 44.75m; 16. Evan Wagner, W&J, 38.55mMEN HAMMER THROW1. Connor Neu, Youngstown St, 61.60m; 2. Nick Garuccio, Slippery Rock, 51.71m; 15. R.J. Malson, Thiel, 36.02mMEN’S JAVELIN THROW1. Chris Carper, UNA, 67.35m; 2. Ryan Sherwood,

PRESIDENTS’ ATHLETIC CONFERENCE ROUNDUP

Jonathon Kletzli, BaseballAddy Knetzer, Women’s Track and Field

MEN’S/WOMEN’S OUTDOOR TRACK

WAYNESBURGATHLETES OF THE WEEK

Waynesburg at Wash & Jeff DH - 1 p.m.99.5 The Hive WCYJ-FM

PAC BASEBALL LEADERSBatting Average: Pogue, .465, TMC; Kilkeary, .462, SVC; Malone, .459, SVC

RBI: Pogue, 40, TMC; Kenning, 35, TMC; Kletzli, 33, WAY

Home Runs: Kilkeary, 6, SVC; Pogue, 5, TMC; Waugman, 5, GRO

Stolen Bases: Rooney, 14, W&J; Fox, 11, SVC; Santana, 11, GEN

STANDINGS Conf. OverallGrove City 7-0 7-6W&J 6-1 9-9Waynesburg 5-2 6-7Thomas More 4-3 7-8Saint Vincent 2-4 4-5Westminster 2-4 2-7Bethany 1-6 5-11Thiel 0-7 0-10

Tuesday’s RecapSinglesAbbot (WES) def. Cochran (WAY) 2-0, retiredHArris (WAY) def. Matisi (WES), 6-4, 7-5May (WES) def. Littlejohn (WAY) 3-6, 6-2, 8-5Brunnette (WAY) def. Andino (WES) 6-1, 6-0Foremski (WES) def. Phillips (WAY) 7-5, 2-6, 10-6McKnight (WAY) def. McCarthy (WES) 6-2, 6-1

DoublesCochran/Harris (WAY) def. Abbot/Matisi(WES) 9-8, 7-5Littlejohn/Brunnette (WAY) def. Andino/Foremski (WES) 9-7Phillips/McKnight (WAY) def. McCarthy/May (WES) 9-7

RECENT RESULTSFriday, April 17Grove City 9, Wash & Jeff 0; Thomas More 7, Berea 2

Saturday, April 18Thomas More 5, Bethany 4; Grove City 9, Waynesburg 0; Wash & Jeff 8, Westminster 1

Sunday, April 19Bethany 8, Muskingum 1

UPCOMING EVENTSFriday, April 24-Saturday, April 252015 PAC CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT - 8:30 a.m.

PAC SOFTBALL LEADERSBatting Average: Duerr, .519, SVC; Noel, .438, SVC; Shirey, .438, GRO

RBI: Noel, 29, SVC; Duerr, 28, SVC; Fee, 27, GEN

Home Runs: Lineberger, 6, SVC; Payne, 4, WAY; Stewart, 4, TMC

Stolen Bases: Kelly, 11, BET; Hicks, 9, GEN; Finke, 8, TMC

UNA, 64.43m; 8. Chris Casagrande, W&J, 48.60m

WOMENRECENT RESULTSIndividualDAVE LABOR INVITATIONALWOMEN 100 METER DASH1. Nina Grambling, Youngstown St, 11.81; 2. Jasmine Bailey, Slippery Rock, 12.14; 21. Brittany Traynor, W&J, 12.94WOMEN 200 METER DASH1. Jasmine Bailey, Slippery Rock, 24.70; 2. Jen Shiley, Youngstown St, 25.08; 23. Brittany Traynor, W&J, 26.86WOMEN 400 METER DASH1. Jen Shiley, Youngstown St, 55.92; 2. Allison Gib-bens, Edinboro, 57.07; 12. Alex Hall, Thiel, 1:00.48WOMEN 800 METER1. Jada Wilson, Indiana, 2:19.47; 2. Chelsia Poole, Seton Hill, 2:20.65; 12. Meredith Steinmetz, Thiel, 2:28.41WOMEN 1500 METER DASH1. Janine Powis, Slippery Rock, 4:45.26; 2. Anna Hosl, Edinboro, 4:50.80; 11. Summer Walker, Thiel, 5:37.78WOMEN 3000 METER RUN1. Jackie Kleinschrodt, Seton Hill, 11:26.99; 2. Katie Guarnaccia, Point PArk, 18:32.06WOMEN 5000 METER RUN1. Meagan Carter, Seton Hill, 18:05.57; 2. Katie Guarniccia, Point Park, 18:32.06WOMEN 100 METER HURDLES1. Kennedy Evans, Slippery Rock, 14.43; 2. Hilari Noris, Edinboro, 14.70; 6. Morgan Berg, Thiel, 15.03WOMEN 400 METER HURDLES1. Taylor McDonald, Youngstown St, 1:02.77; 2. Tatiana, Clarion, 1:03.60; 3. Marisa Toensing, Westminster, 1:03.84WOMEN 3000 METER STEEPLECHASE1. Chelsia Poole, Seton Hill, 11:07.25; 2. Kaylee Haberkam, Sippery Rock, 12:05.66WOMEN HIGH JUMP1. Ashley West, Slippery Rock, 1.68m; 2. Sabrina Anderson, Slippery Rock, 1.68mWOMEN POLE VAULT1. Marissa Kalsey, Westminster, 4.01m; 2. Courtney McQuaide, Slippery Rock, 3.71mWOMEN LONG JUMP1. Brianne Dietrich, Edinboro, 6.07m; 2. Savannah Osborne, Youngstown St, 5.55m; 15. Tatiana Ruzzini, W&J, 4.83mWOMEN TRIPLE JUMP1. Ieisha Jackson, California, 11.60m; 2. Kailah Holmes, California, 11.52m; 16. Morgan Berg, Thiel, 10.09mWOMEN SHOT PUT1. Jenifer Neider, Youngstown St, 13.59m; 2. Victoria Miller, Seton Hill, 12.39m; 18. Taylor Ketler, Thiel, 9.44mWOMEN DISCUS1. Victoria Miller, Seton Hill, 38.84m; 2. Ciera Trybend, Youngstown St, 37.79m; 5. Taylor Ketler, Thiel, 36.60mWOMEN HAMMER THROW1. Brittany, Christiansen, Slippery Rock, 51.78m; 2. Jenifer Neider, Youngstown St, 489.62m; 8. Devon Dobbs, W&J, 38.50mWOMEN JAVELIN THROW1. Samantha Taylor, Slippery Rock, 48.41m; 2. Mallory Sanner, Seton Hill, 48.34m; 8. Erin DeFalco, Thiel, 31.50m

BASEBALL

STANDINGS Conf. OverallThomas More 14-3 22-7Waynesburg 13-4 15-13-1Thiel 12-5 23-8W&J 10-7 18-10Saint Vincent 8-9 16-15Westminster 9-11 15-19Grove City 6-12 10-18Geneva 4-12 10-18Bethany 2-15 6-21

Saturday’s Box ScoreWAYNESBURG 10, GENEVA 0Waynesburg 1 1 4 1 0 2 0 0 9Bethany 0 0 2 5 0 0 1 x 8WP: Meyer LP: Hoffman S: N/A

Top PerformersBatting

1. Ben Shorthouse 3-4, 3 RBI, 2R2. Johnathan Kletzli 3-4, 2 R, 2 RBI3. Matt Bensinger 3-5, 2 RPitching

Luke Carter.......................3 in, 5 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 0 KJacob Meyer.....................4 in, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

RECENT RESULTSFriday, April 17Bethany 10, Waynesburg 9; Saint Vincent 7, Geneva 6 (10 inn); Westminster 14, Grove City 5; Thiel 11 Penn State Behrend 4

Saturday, April 18Waynesburg 4, Bethany 2; Waynesburg 9, Bethany 8; Sain Vincent 13, Geneva 1; Saint Vincent 16, Geneva 4; Westminster 9, Grove City 3; Grove City 17, Westminster 10; Thomas More 4, Wash & Jeff 3; Thomas More 1, Wash & Jeff 0; Thomas More 5, Wash & Jeff 4

Sunday, April 19Saint Vincent 8, Penn State Altoona 7 (8 inn); Saint Vincent 16, Penn State Altoona 10

UPCOMING GAMESFriday, April 24Bethany at Thiel - 1 p.m.; Westminster ta Geneva - 4 :30 p.m.; Wash & Jeff at Waynesburg - 4 :30 p.m.

Saturday, April 25Thiel at Bethany DH - 1 p.m.; Geneva at Westminster DH - 1 p.m.; Grove City at Penn State Behrend DH - 1 p.m.; Saint Vincent at Thomas More DH - 1 p.m.; Waynesburg at Wash & Jeff DH - 1 p.m.

Sunday, April 26Saint Vincent at Thomas More - 12 p.m.; Wash & Jeff at La Roche DH - 1 p.m.

PAC PLAYERS OF THE WEEKHitter: BenShorthouse, Senior, WaynesburgPitcher: Brian Resnik, Junior, Waynesburg

SOFTBALLSTANDINGS Conf. OverallSaint Vincent 10-4 22-6W&J 10-4 17-9Thomas More 10-4 20-14Westminster 9-5 19-11Bethany 7-5 16-14Geneva 8-6 18-16Grove City 6-6 14-9Thiel 5-9 12-16Waynesburg 3-11 9-25Chatham 0-14 3-19

Saturday’s Box ScoreSAINT VINCENT 2, WAYNESBURG 1Waynesburg 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1Saint Vincent 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 2WP: Grimes LP: Flynn S: N/A

Top PerformersBatting

1. Theresa Soknich 2-3, 1 RBI2. Cameron Grimes 1-2, 1 R3. Katty Potopenko 1-3

PitchingLyndi Gareis.........................6in, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 KCameron Grimes..............0.2 in, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

RECENT RESULTSFriday, April 17Geneva 2, Grove City 1; Anderson 5, Thomas More 3; Thomas More 2, Anderson 1; Pitt-Greensburg 4, Waynesburg 2; Pitt-Greensburg 6, Waynesburg 2

Saturday, April 18Thomas More 6, Bethany 0; Bethany 6, Thomas More 4; Geneva 9, Chatham 0 (6 inn); Geneva 10, Chatham 1 (5 inn); Grove City 5, Westminster 4; Grove City 4, Westminster 0; Saint Vincent 2, Waynesburg 0; Saint Vincent 2, Waynesburg 1; Wash & Jeff 9, Thiel 1 (5 inn); Wash & Jeff 1, Thiel 0

Sunday, April 19Bethany 11, Franciscan 3 (5 inn); Bethany 21, Francis-can 3 (5 inn); Case Wester Reserve 9, Thiel 1 (5 inn); Case Western Reserve 15, Thiel 7 (6 inn)

UPCOMING GAMESThursday, April 23Bethany at Grove City DH - 3:30 p.m.; Wash & Jeff at Muskingum DH - 3 :30 p.m.; Penn State Beaver at Thiel DH - 4 p.m.

Friday, April24Thomas More at Anderson DH - 3:30 p.m.; Geneva at Grove City - 5 p.m.

Saturday, April 25Wash & Jeff at Bethany DH - 1 p.m.; Waynesburg at Chatham DH - 1 p.m.; Westminster at Geneva DH - 1 p.m.; Thiel at Grove City DH - 1 p.m.; Thomas More at Saint Vincent DH - 1 p.m.

PAC PLAYERS OF THE WEEKHitter: Emily Watson, Junior, Washington & JeffersonPitcher: Smantha Emert, Sophomore, Saint Vincent

The only time she has failed to score in the team’s 14 contests this year was on March 24, where the team could only muster three shots in the 21-1 trouncing.

Bachman’s 42 goals on the season easily lead the team and are good for seventh in the Ohio River Lacrosse Conference, but most importantly, shredded the record at Waynesburg, which was previously held by Shepherd with 35.

Those 42 goals also ex-ceeded more than the en-tire team in three of the six years prior to Bachman becoming a Yellow Jacket.

“I just want to be some-one that the team can look up to, count on and re-spect,” she said. “This is so rewarding to me because it’s a way for me to know that all my hard work and drive is worth it. I want to be the best I can be -- not just for myself, but for the team.”

Bachman, along with the rest of the junior and sophomore-heavy squad, is

looking to change that mold from a “new” team to that of a “competitive” team.

With the most wins in school histor y coming this year at five, Bachman knows that this team has the ability to continue to improve.

“Continuing to recruit is the biggest thing,” said

Bachman. “We need to be getting girls with more ex-perience so that when they are coming in, they already have passing, catching, cra-dling and the concepts of the game down.”

She notes that stick skills and handling are something what the team lacks due to the inexperience of a ma-

jority of the team. However, she said that

their hard work and will-ingness to learn has ex-ceeded any faults that the team has.

“I love our team,” she said. “Everyone has their own personality and inter-ests, but we all have the love of the sport in common.”

Rob Longo, Yellow Jacket

Bachman, pictured here in a game earlier this season, led the team in goals with 42, which was good for seventh in the Ohio River Lacrosse Conference.

Continued from E1

Men's track looks to surprise at PAC'sBy ZACK ZEIGLEREditorial Assistant

With spring in the air, the Waynesburg University men’s track team, looks to turn a couple of heads at the event that it has been waiting for – the arrival of the Presi-dents’ Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships.

For the rather youthful men’s squad, including up-start first-year sprinter Mark Minjock, it is a chance to go out and show what they can do on the conference’s big-gest stage.

“It’s a good feeling to be competing here,” said Min-jock. “I am determined to do the best I can to score points for the team.”

For some of the veterans on the team, it will be one of the last time they take to the track with their Jacket

teammates.“It has slowly been eat-

ing at me more and more as the season progressed,” said senior thrower Travis Schubert. “I’m sure it’s go-ing to be an emotional day when I have to throw my last implement.”

This past week, the Jackets competed in the PAC South Quad Tournament, in which they took first place, beating out three of their PAC rivals: Bethany, Saint Vincent, and Washington & Jefferson. This event, along with a lot of hard work, has prepared the Jackets for the big event, according to Minjock and Schubert.

“I feel that the whole sea-son has helped us prepare for this meet,” said Minjock. “We are all coming into place and have worked our way to get to the point we are at now.”

“Its always a good feel-ing to get a victory in any-thing you do,” said Schubert. “However, we went about it with more intensity at prac-tice. We had a bunch of great performances [at Bethany] and we hope to take the momentum we have and get the same results in the PAC Championships.”

In the last few PAC Cham-pionships, the Yellow Jackets have come close to winning it all, but fell just short. In the last three seasons, they have come in third, second and fourth place, respectively. Seniors like Schubert are looking to finally get over the hump and bring home a first place trophy for Waynesburg University.

“I can say from being around the throwers that we seemed to be more dis-ciplined and focused,” said

Schubert. “The team, as a whole, has been putting in crazy amounts of work and practice, which is how you get the positive results we want in the end.”

The Jackets will look to its senior leaders to help guide them through the Outdoor Championships and achieve the goals that were set at the beginning of the season.

The PAC Championship tournament starts this Friday and runs through Saturday. It will feature all nine of the PAC teams competing for the top spot and all the glory.

Last season, Grove City was able to take the PAC Outdoor Championships; however, the Jackets had some standouts on the field. Then-junior hurdler By-rum Louco took home the

See TRACK on E4

Bernhardt’s base hit to left field.

“I was not going to let the guys down,” said Bernhardt. “I made those errors in the seventh inning, and I wanted the chance to get us a run back. I got it and just tried to get the job done.”

The Jackets were sched-uled to battle with Pitt-

Greensburg today in a doubleheader, weather per-mitting. The Jackets will re-turn to action this weekend in a series against 1-79 rival Washington & Jefferson.

First pitch for Friday’s nine-inning contest is sched-uled for 4 p.m., weather per-mitting. Then, the two teams square off Saturday in a dou-bleheader on the road. First pitch for Saturday's double-header is slated for 1 p.m.

Continued from E1

Baseball: Jackets rattle off three-straight wins

Bachman: Sophomore finds scoring touch at WU

By CHELSEY WITHERS For the Yellow Jacket

After an upsetting fall season, the Waynesburg University golf program looks to have more success this spring at the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Cham-pionships, which will be held this weekend in Belle Ver-non, Pennsylvania.

During the fall, senior Ty-ler Tracey led the team, but he will not be participating in the Championships this weekend. Therefore, the team will look to others for lead-ership. 

“Without our best golfer being there, I still believe we have three golfers that can pull in good scores,” said head coach Sam Jones. “Ja-cob Fleegle, Josh Henning, and Tyler Miller – these guys have all pulled in good rounds, and I am look-ing forward to seeing their scores.”

The men’s side was fortu-nate to sneak in two com-petitions this past week. Members of the team were able get to out and practice on their new home course, South Pointe in Washington County, as well as participate in a tournament on Monday.

“Even though it was a short amount of time, we have had a pretty decent, in-tense preparation in the last couple of weeks leading up to

the PAC’s,” said Jones. This past fall, the men

finished in last place at the PAC Fall Championships, but hope to continue to im-prove that score this spring. The women finished just like the men, falling in last place (seventh) in the fall.  

The women will be partici-pating this weekend, along with the men at the PAC Championships. The team is compiled of six members, three of which are seniors. 

The team is led by senior Kelly Mehal, who has been a part of the team for the last three seasons. However, Mehal has had touble getting in swings with golf sticks, which have been replaced recently with another stick.

“I haven’t been able to get out on the course too much recently, but I hope to get a few practice rounds in before Friday,” said Mehal. “I have had lacrosse practices and work that have interfered with getting out to play. I look forward to getting out and playing. It’s one of my favorite sports to play, and I hope to finish my college athletic career with success.” 

Unlike the men’s team, the women’s team hasn’t been as successful in getting out onto the links, but despite the lack of practice, the women’s team looks to be successful this weekend, just as the men’s team does. 

Golf teams ready for spring championships

April 23, 2015 SportS Page E3

Weekly AwardsThis week’s pair of

standout athletes cer-tainly deserve the hon-ors, as they were able to step up their per-formances and guide their respective teams to victories. to earn this week's Athletes's of the Week awards.

On the men’s side of things, junior pitcher Brian Resnik continued his dominance on the mound this season fol-lowing a 2-0 effort this past week. Resnik is now 7-1 on the season, and he his tied for the Presidents’ Athletic Conference lead in wins.

During Saturday's game, Resnik wowed the oppos-ing team as he threw a complete game against Bethany while allowing just two unearned runs on four hits and two walks. The 12 strikeouts that he registered put him alone atop the PAC in that category. He finished off his impressive week with a 1.93 earned-run average and 23 total strikeouts. After Tuesday's 5-4 win over Westminster, the Jackets battle Washington & Jefferson at home Friday.

On the women’s side of Waynesburg athletics, the la-crosse team received positive attention for their thrilling 9-8 victory over Franklin in the season finale that took place Saturday at John F. Wiley Stadium.

However, it was first-year player and junior Lauren Blair who stole the show, as she scored a last-second goal on a free-position shot, which propelled the Jackets to victory.

The Granville, Ohio native gave her team the victory with just over one second remaining on the clock, which allowed the women to see a program record in wins with five this season. The goal gave the women a 3-6 record in the inagural season of Ohio River Lacrosse Confer-ence action.

With the win, the Waynesburg lacrosse team closes out the season on a high note with the win. The Jackets did not qualify for the ORLC playoffs, which take only the top four teams.

BlairResnik

have been on the execu-tive staff for, I have learned a great deal. I’ve stayed up until the early hours of the morning, writing on dead-line to cover stories such as the 2012 election night and the Boston Marathon bomb-ings. I’ve written opinion pieces that didn’t quite sit well with some members of the administration that re-side in Miller Hall. I’ve even had some strong thoughts on athletic teams on cam-pus that felt like I was at-tacking them, instead of me simply being critical, since that’s what journalists do. At any rate, I’ve learned that this business can be a glori-fied hell, even if you’re right, wrong or indifferent.

As I look back at every-thing that has transpired the last four years, I really don’t know what to think. Like every other college student, it was a roller coaster ride. There were smiles and jubila-tion, tears and heartaches, all sandwiched between a mul-tiple senses of accomplish-ment. I am the first in my family to move away from home and go to college.All I’ve ever wanted to accom-plish in my life is to make my parents proud of the person I’ve become, and all I can do is hope I’ve done an OK job of that to this point.

But there’s another thing I discovered here at Waynes-burg, other than one heck of a sunset on cool spring eve-nings. I stumbled upon a sec-ond home for four years. I’ve made some good friends and

even a couple of enemies, but support I have received chas-ing this wild and crazy dream of mine has been outstand-ing.From the support of the faculty around Waynesburg; especially in the department of communication, from my newly created friends and my old high school ones I remain in contact with today, to of course my wonderful family and my girlfriend, Kather-ine. Without their support, I would be nothing. But above all, I have to thank the man upstairs to leading me to this place with wonderful people.

Once again, all of this would be nonexistent if it wasn’t for that man who intrigued me with baseball throughout the majority of my childhood, keeping me on the edge of my seat, even if the team he watched 162

times each summer had 21-straight losing seasons (side note, I feel like I’m partially to be blamed for that, considering I was born on Opening Day of the 1993 season). From the bottom of my heart, I cannot thank Mr. Frattare enough for taking me under his wing and look-ing out for me. It’s a debt that I don’t think I can ever repay.

As far as my college choice goes, I was a little skeptical in my first semester or two at Waynesburg. I wasn’t sure if I belonged here or not. But as time went on, I knew this is where I belonged. So, if someone asked me if Waynesburg was the right decision, I can happily sum up my thoughts in one, brief statement.

There was no doubt about it.

Continued from E1

Longo: In the end, everything works out

By BRENDAN KEANYStaff Writer

After six months of prep-aration, the culmination of the track season begins Friday.

The women’s track team will head to Grove City, Pennsylvania to compete in the Presidents’ Ath-letic Conference Championship for its two-day event.

Despite the ex-citement for championship weekend, head coach Jason Falvo wants to temper expec-tations for the team heading into the meet.

“I think we are still in a re-building stage with the girl’s team,” said Falvo. “I believe we are two years away from a championship run. A top-

four finish is realis-tic for them.”

The coach notes that his team is strong in several areas, but the lack of depth across the entire team will likely not be enough to win a title this season.

“I believe we are strong across the board for the throws, jumps and dis-tance,” said Falvo. “We do

Saturday's women's track performance could help end rebuilding phase

See WOMEN on E4

Knetzer

Catching platoon keeps baseball freshContrasting styles of Rubasky, Miller give Jackets balance

By CARSON FOXAssistant Sports Editor

Ever since everyday start-er and one of the best catch-ers in Waynesburg baseball history, Brendan Scioscia, graduated in 2012, head coach Mike Humiston has opted for a platoon approach for his backstops.

In 2013, then-junior Marc Timmons split time with then-freshman Der-rick Zavatsky, and last year, the platoon increased to a three-man position, with Timmons, then-sophomore Tyler Rubasky and then-freshman Josh Hausler all seeing time.

This year, Hausler made the move to the outfield af-ter he and Humiston talked during the fall season about utilizing his speed in a dif-ferent role.

As the season unfolded, it’s been a two-man gig be-tween Rubasky and sopho-more Ben Miller, a transfer from Susquehanna Univer-sity, along with sophomore Scott Hefty working in the bullpen. According to Hum-iston, he platoons his catch-ers to maximize their poten-tial without wearing them out behind the plate.

“Because we’re playing so many games back-to-back-to-back, what we’re trying to do is keep guys fresh,” said Humiston. “That’s part of our philosophy. The other thing is to give our oppo-nents a different look.”

Miller, at 6'0," 205 pounds and Rubasky at 5’9” and 145 pounds shows there is an obvious difference in each players’ frame. Hum-iston said both add a differ-ent dimension for the ball club. He called Miller a great

addition to the team because of his arm strength, quick release, throwing accuracy and power at the plate. On the other hand, Rubasky is a spray hitter who is “baseball-

Tyler Wolfe, Yellow Jacket

After making four starts behind the plate in 2014, Tyler Rubasky, seen here in a game earlier this season, has started 17 of Waynesburg's 30 games.

See CATCHERS on E4

Tennis prepares for conference championships after rough final matchJackets look for redemption after 9-0 loss at Grove City

By AUSTIN ANDERSONFor the Yellow Jacket

The Waynesburg men’s tennis team will travel to Erie, Pennsylvania this week-end with high expectations, as it takes part in the Presi-dents’ Athletic Conference tournament.

The Jackets find them-selves in third place with a 5-2 conference record. They only trail the undefeated Grove City Wolverines (6-0) and Washington & Jefferson Presidents (6-1).

Waynesburg head coach Ron Christman believes that Waynesburg has an opportu-nity in all nine of the singles and doubles competitions, which are spread throughout different times on Friday and Saturday.

“I really have that kind of confidence in our team,” said Christman. “We have the talent. Everybody gets a little nervous, but we have to handle our own nerves. In some cases, we have lost some matches where we did not lose to the opponent, but we lost because of ourselves.”

The Jackets suffered their second conference loss to Grove City on Saturday. De-spite the Wolverines taking all nine singles and double matches, Christman was encouraged by his team’s ef-forts.

“Even though some of the scores do not show it, we

learned a lot,” he said. “We are are going to get a couple days of practice in to work on specific things for each player and each doubles team.”

The one match that caught the eye of Christman was the number-two doubles match, as Waynesburg freshman Andrew Brunette and se-nior Phillip Littlejohn fell to Grove City’s Dan Schafhaus-er and Zack Sprunger, 9-8.

“They were down 1-4 and made a match out of it, and then lost in the tiebreak,” said Christman. “Grove City was nervous. The coach and the players were nervous. They didn’t know whether if they were going to pull that out or not.”

Christman felt that this particular doubles match was in Waynesburg’s grasp.

“It probably was a little bit of freshman nerves in Andy’s case on that last point when he made an error,” he said. “If he makes a good volley in that case, then they’re still in the match. He’s one of the ones that learned some-thing.”

The Jackets are led by se-nior Isaiah Cochran, who finished 3-4 in conference play and 4-8 overall in the number one-singles position and feels that the majority of the losses were due to nag-ging injury.

“I am putting an asterisk next to three of my losses,

so really the only one I am taking ownership of is the one against Grove City,” Co-chran said. “Peter [Riley] is a strong player, and there’s some things I’ve needed to do better that the score does not indicate how I played. It will be different this weekend when we play.”

Christman understands

the ups and downs of Co-chran’s injury, and how he fares against the rest of the pack.

“He’s kind of messed up the seedings because he’s beat players that should be higher-seeded. He retired against Westminster, but he should have retired against Thiel as well,” said Christ-

man. Brunette has fared well in the fourth-singles posi-tion. He is 4-3 in conference play and 5-7 overall in his first season.

“I played soccer in high school, so I am used to run-ning around a lot. A lot of people in the four position are usually well-rounded athletes, instead of solely ten-

nis players,” said Brunette. “There are players who are going to run down the ball and get the ball like crazy. It’s a good matchup for me.”

The Pennbriar Athletic Club in Erie will once again host the two-day event.

The first matches begin at 8:30 a.m. Friday, with the finals set for Saturday.

Dave Miller, ADM Photography

Senior Isaiah Cochran, pictured here in a match earlier this season, is set to make some noise at Saturday's PAC Championships at first singles. Cochran has battled injuries since his freshmen year.

Page E4 SportS April 23, 2015

PAC Track MVP, as well as the PAC Track and Field MVP. He placed first in the 400-meter dash and the 400-meter hurdles.

Also being recognized at last year’s PAC Outdoor Championships was then-junior jumper Jason Propst, who finished as an Honor-able Mention All-PAC selec-tion in the high jump.

This year’s crop of athletes is confident that they can get it done and follow it the foot-steps of their successors.

“Our keys to success are us performing the way we have been performing all year

long,” said Minjock. “We have the potential to do great things. We just need to fulfill our roles.”

“Quite honestly, we just got to do what we do best – perform,” added Schubert. “We have everything it takes to win. We have a strong team overall, and we just have to go out and perform our best and we will come out on top.”

As head coach Jason Falvo always says, “you are either all in or all out,” and this year’s team is definitely buy-ing in to this team’s success.

“Our team is locked and loaded,” said Minjock. “We are going to make a surprise at the PAC Championships."

Continued from E2

Track: Jackets to compete at PAC Championships

not have enough depth in the sprints at this time.”

A top-four finish at a con-ference championship meet is always the goal for both the men and women’s pro-grams, according to Falvo. If those goals are met from a team standpoint, Falvo will be pleased with the results.

However, there are several individuals who look to per-form well at the meet. Falvo called out a few members of the team who could piece together solid days. Fresh-man standout thrower Addy Knetzer was the first name that came to his mind.

“Addy Knetzer in shot put,

discus and the javelin,” said Falvo. “She is an MVP can-didate, for sure.”

Knetzer certainly has put together a solid season, es-pecially since much of the training season for her was occupied by her participa-tion in basketball.

Despite her late arrival to the track scene because of basketball season, Knetzer has already won the shot put event at the Indoor PAC Championship meet, and she has been a steady thrower throughout every invitation-al since the outdoor season began.

Falvo also mentioned that standout freshman Julie Gerber and senior Annette Aho should be forces in both

the 5,000-meter run and the 10,000-meter run, respec-tively.

With so many underclass-men looking to make an impact on the biggest stage of the season, Falvo places importance on the captains to make sure that everyone stays calm.

“I look for great leader-ship,” said Falvo. “The cap-tains need to smooth out the high emotions that happen at this meet. We cannot get too high or too low. We need to stay focused and grind it out. They need to set that tone.”

Furthermore, Falvo looks at the experience gained from competing at the in-door championship meet as a positive for the younger

track and field athletes who lack the experience.

“I believe it’s all an experi-ence thing,” said Falvo. “In-door PAC’s helped in a ma-jor way with this. We have been in this situation before. The pressure has been there. They handled it, and they did some great things.”

Although a victory at the championship meet this weekend appears rather unlikely, Falvo still believes that his team will still com-pete hard and perform well for, if anything, personal pride.

“I believe they are ready,” said Falvo. “They have worked very hard all year and are going to peak at the right time."

Continued from E3

Women: Jackets look to snap expectations

By CARSON FOXAssistant Sports Editor

With spring practices now over for the Waynesburg Uni-versity football team, head coach Rick Shepas was most impressed with the improve-ments made among the mem-bers of the defensive second-ary during spring practice.

Last year, the Jackets fin-ished last in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference in the pass defense statistical cat-egory, allowing teams to pass for an average of 250 yards a game.

Shepas noted the team made what he called a “bold” move of moving starting quarterback contender and current-freshman Christian Breisinger to safety to bolster the core in the secondary.

Now, Shepas believes he has a competitive group in the secondary with current-sophomores: Roomel Reese, Tevin Odom, Eli Hargis, Josh Mundell, Zach Sniadach and current-junior Dontae Gib-son, as well as Breisinger.

“I think the secondary,

which was not a strength for our team last year, will defi-nitely be a defensive strength coming back,” said Shepas.

The most concerning posi-tion for Waynesburg heading into 2015 is quarterback with three-year starter Carter Hill graduating. Though, Shepas noted that spring ball isn’t exactly the time for a depth chart to be formed without players going full throttle in pads, he noted that the quarterback competition has become a two-man race between sophomore Chris Shortley and freshman trans-fer Cage Galupi from Mariet-ta College. Shepas mentioned Shortley had the best finish of the spring, while Galupi said he spent most of the spring learning the playbook, his new receivers and the calls.

Galupi transferred from Marietta because he believed the program wasn’t doing the things necessary to be a win-ning program like Waynes-burg, since he came from western Pennsylvania Inter-scholastic Athletic League powerhouse North Allegheny.

Heading into the summer, Galupi plans on improving his strength and condition-ing, as well as working with his new receivers so he can compete for the starting quar-terback job.

“That’s the number-one goal,” said Galupi. “That’s why I’m here. I wanted to come in, and I wanted to play, so that’s definitely the focus this sum-mer – to do everything I can and make sure that happens.”

Addressing the offensive skill positions, Shepas con-firmed that running back Willie Leavell will return for another season since he has another year of eligibility. Behind Leavell, Shepas noted current-freshman Blake Roar as someone who has made the most out of spring practice with current-junior running back Jerry Lawman in Ger-many due to an internship. He said Roar will be used both out of the slot and in the backfield in 2015.

Shepas said current-soph-omore tight end Dan Davis had an excellent offseason, and current-freshman Jon

Babos will be used as both a tight end and a back. On the outside, look for current-sophomores Kevin Barnes Jr. and Tim Cooper to have big seasons in 2015.

“We gotta find a way to get Tim Cooper and Kevin Barnes the ball as much as we can,” said Shepas.

Along the offensive front, Shepas said the team experi-mented with using current-junior Tyler Powell at tackle, with three-year starter and current-junior Nik Sappie solidifying the line at center. They will be counted on most as leaders, as Shepas noted he will play a number of younger guys along the line early on in the season.

“[Sappie] will definitely lead that group,” said Shepas. “Along with Tyler Powell. I like the way we look up front.”

On the defensive line, Waynesburg has had a strong recent track record at defen-sive end with playmakers Matt Krause, Brandon Fe-dorka and Josh Tolliver all be-ing counted on as playmaking pass rushers.

Shepas said current-juniors Kurt Detwiler and Jordan Voitus will solidify that po-sition, but current-freshman Brad Grinnen will be the next “guy.” In six games played last season, the six foot, 225 pound Grinnen recorded five tackles, but showed explosion off the line of scrimmage.

“He played a lot as a fresh-man, like Fedorka did,” said Shepas. “He was a playmaker and got better.”

At linebacker, current-ju-nior and second leading tack-ler from 2014 Aaron Palmer will be counted on to lead the charge, as Waynesburg will be looking to replace reliable graduating starters John Siko-ra and Kyle Richey. Shepas mentioned current-junior Jon Carlier and current-sopho-more Tyler Givens as poten-tial starters, but they will be pushed by a slew of incoming players to the position.

“We got some great new-comers,” said Shepas. “We have Michael Heasley – a lo-cal newcomer, Bo Hampson in the secondary. Both are going to be significant play-

ers; and Tristan Sandrosky. Sandrosky was a linebacker in high school, but I wanted to put him at safety since I knew we were going to have depth problems in the secondary. He’s more comfortable down low.”

Shepas said the team had a particularly early spring season to allow the players to finish the school year in the weight room, as the focus now turns to strength and conditioning heading into summer.

He noted that the team has five weeks of training before the team competes in a scrim-mage Aug. 28 against Carn-egie Mellon, but the team may need two additional scrim-mages, as well as the first two weeks of the non-conference season to figure out the quar-terback position.

“Every year, we look at our roster and make sure that we make the best moves defensively first, to solidify, because you need to be a great defensive football team to win games in this league,” said Shepas. “We did that.”

Waynesburg Football: Secondary sees biggest improvement in spring

minded” in the way that he can control a game because of his familiarity with the pitching staff and blocking ability.

“Both have done very well,” said Humiston. “We’re fortunate to have two guys that we feel comfortable throwing in at any given time.”

After going through a frustrating freshman season, both behind the plate and at the dish for Susquehanna, Miller said he has acclimated to Waynesburg thanks to his teammates accepting him as a friend, not just as another person in a uniform.

He said that he’s been focused on working on his receiving and blocking, since his former school consid-ered him a defensive liabil-ity. As of the Bethany series this past weekend, Miller’s thrown out six runners try-ing to steal a base and hasn’t allowed a ball get past him in three weeks.

“My throwing has always been my strongest ability be-hind the plate,” said Miller. “I have the tendency to throw a lot of runners out.”

At the plate, Miller has been one of the power hit-ters for Waynesburg’s of-fensive attack that is in the upper half of the Presidents’ Athletic Conference.

As of Wednesday, he owns a .589 slugging percentage, leads the team in home runs with three and has recorded five doubles with 13 RBIs.

Despite splitting time with Rubasky, Miller said he gets along well with his coun-terpart and appreciates that there is another catcher on the team that he can rely on when he’s not in the game.

Though, like Rubasky, Miller is a competitor, but doesn’t see the competition for play-ing time as adversarial.

“In high school, I caught pretty much every game during my junior and se-nior years,” said Miller. “So I am used to catching every game. But with college hav-ing a 40-game schedule, no catcher is going to be able to be 100 percent. [Rubasky] is a really good catcher, so it’s nice knowing we’re still solid behind the plate.”

After seeing sparing playing time as a freshman and starting a handful of games behind the place as a sophomore, Rubasky has made major strides, specifi-cally at the plate this season. As of Wednesday's action, Rubasky owns a .477 on-base percentage, while pac-ing Miller in hits and runs batted in. But it has been at-tention to minor details this season that he attributes to his improvements – control-ling the game, glove work, blocking and getting bigger in the weight room.

“At this point, my me-chanics are there at the plate and behind the plate,” said Rubasky. “It’s all just the little things.”

When asked who would get the start behind the plate in a high-pressure situ-ational game, such as a PAC Championship clinching game, Humiston had to take a deep breath and think it over as if it was the million-dollar question on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire," before ultimately deciding on starting Rubasky at catch-er and Miller at designated hitter. One could tell it was a difficult decision to make.

“Miller can hit the long ball,” said Humiston. “It’s not that I don’t have confidence

in Miller, but [Rubasky] has a better grasp of kind of what we’re doing, how we’re do-ing things and working the pitching staff. He’s been here for three years, so he knows these guys.”

Speaking as if he was drawing up the lineup card for a possible playoff game, Humiston likes the pairing of Rubasky with starting ju-nior pitcher Brian Resnik, but it is subject to change in Humiston’s eyes.

“Just to know that the coaching staff and my team-mates have confidence in me makes all the difference, especially from a pitching standpoint,” said Rubasky. “If my center fielder doesn’t have confidence in me be-hind the plate but my pitcher does, and the coaching staff, that’s all that matters."

Though Miller feels as if he can contribute better behind the plate than at the designated hitter spot, he’s accepting of the way that Humiston draws up the lineup card in that type of a situation.

“No coach wants a player that is satisfied with not playing,” said Miller. “I’ve always tried my best on the field to perform, so it doesn’t add any extra fuel to the fire, but it just confirms the rea-son why I need to show what I can do every single day.”

Because of the battle for starting time at the catching position due to each player’s differences in skill sets, one would wonder whether it is seen as a strength or weak-ness for the Waynesburg University baseball team.

But when asked if the catching posit ion is a strength on the team, Hum-iston summed it up in one, profound word.

“Absolutely.”

By RJ LEISIEStaff Writer

After getting swept this past weekend, while continu-ing its six-game losing streak, the Waynesburg University softball team was looking for something good to end the regular season home portion of the schedule. Unfortunate-ly, the Washington & Jeffer-son Presidents, who were tied for the lead in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference heading into Tuesday, were coming to town.

The first game of the dou-bleheader featured back-and-forth action with the Jackets striking first. Junior infielder Jess Dorazio, who was moved up from her normal ninth po-sition in the lineup to the sec-ond spot, had a one out, triple in her first at-bat. Sophomore Demi Lewin drove in Dorazio with an RBI single to left field.

“[Lewin] has been a steady

presence in our lineup,” said head coach Richele Hall. “She went cold for a little in the sea-son, but all hitters do it. She’s back in the groove and hitting in the three spot and driving in RBIs, which are huge for our team.”

W&J couldn't answer until the third inning when third basemen Sadie Marak drove in a run on a single to second base. The Presidents added another run in that inning and one in the top of the fifth.

Trailing 3-1 heading into the bottom of the fifth, the Jackets turned to the top of the lineup, looking for some offense, and they got just what they were looking for. Senior outfielder Theresa Soknich lead off the inning with a single, and then advanced to second on a base hit by Dora-zio. Lewin dug in and looked to do some damage.

“I just went up to bat with an open mind and was fo-

cused on getting the ball in play,” said Lewin. “I knew on a 3-2 count, she was going to put the ball in the strike zone, and I was able to drive it.”

And drive it, she did. Lewin hit a bases clearing triple, driv-ing in her second and third RBIs, respectively, and tied the game at three apiece with the Presidents. Senior infielder Haley Payne followed with a sacrifice fly to centerfield, and Lewin tagged up and gave the Jackets a 4-3 lead.

Junior Stephanie Kotom-ski, who started the day on the rubber for Waynesburg, looked to finish out the game, not just for her, but also for the team, as a whole. She went the full seven innings, while only giving up those three runs on 10 total hits.

“I just wanted to end the season on a good note,” said Kotomski. “Especially since W&J is a big rival. We just wanted to get a win.”

Continued from E3

Catchers: Rotation leads to success behind the plate

Softball splits doubleheader with second-place Presidents

Solid offense, Kotomski's complete game lead Jackets to win over W&J

Rob Longo, Yellow Jacket

Sophomore Demi Lewin, pictured here in a game earlier this season, drove in three runs to pace the Jackets to a 4-3 in game one of Tuesday's doubleheader.