VOL. 100 – ISSUE 12
THE TRUMPET
FEBRUARY 11, 2021
WEST LIBERTY UNIVERSITY
WLU’s Student News Source
West Liberty adds two new health clinics to the fourth floor of Campbell Hall - pg. 3 West Liberty’s Men’s tennis set to begin 2021 season this weekend - pg. 15 @WLTrumpetOnline @thetrumpetwestliberty @thetrumpetwlu
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WEST LIBERTY UNIVERSITY
THE TRUMPET
NEWS
COVID-19 UPDATES pg. 6
COVER BY: MEDIA RELATIONS
CULTURE SPORTS
Chi Omega hosting first Hugs and Kisses Event - pg. 9
NFL: 2021 Super Bowl, Tampa Bay wins pg. 14
THE TRUMPET
The Student Voice of the Hilltop
The Trumpet’s mission is to provide WLU students of all majors an opportunity to learn how to gather and present news information to the campus community, and to serve the WLU community with fair and accurate reporting on matters of significance and interest.
EDITORIAL STAFF Editor-in-Chief Annalise Murphy Online Editor Creed Kidney News/Copy Editor Intern Lizzy Griffith Culture Editor Morgan Kafana Opinion Editor Haley Blakemore Sports Editor Intern Anna Johnston Graphic Designer Intern Kate Roberts Sports Writer Maxwell Fiedorczyk News/Culture Writer Emma Beatty Faculty Adviser Danielle Mehlman-Brightwell
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FEBRUARY 11, 2021
NEWS
NEWS
News/Copy Editor Intern: Lizzy Griffith
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- elgriffith@westliberty.edu
West Liberty adds two new health clinics to the fourth floor of Campbell Hall the direction of our highly qualified instructors, will prove to be a benefit to our community.”
West Liberty University released to the press on Jan. 13, 2020 the plans to expand the vacant fourth floor. A year previous to the announcement, West Liberty opened a Speech and Hearing Clinic that provides healthcare services to the public at reasonable costs. Over a year later, on Feb. 4, 2021, West Liberty cut the ribbon to the new home of two health clinics: A Behavioral Health Clinic and a larger Speech and Hearing Clinic, both of which are open to the public. The university worked with the same Pittsburgh architectural firm (PWWG) that built Campbell Hall (opened in 2014), and now with the completion of the clinics, students in the Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology are able to treat behavioral health clients that visit the clinic under the supervision of licensed faculty. In the “WLU OPENS NEW HEALTH CLINIC” release, President Dr. W. Franklin Evans said “We are so pleased to announce the opening of these much-needed clinics. It is our hope that the students, under
Dean of the College of Sciences, Dr. Karen Kettler, also said within the same release linked above that COVID-19 halted the completion of the project, so finally getting to cut the ribbon was nice. “The clinics will provide diagnostic and treatment rooms for patients, allowing students and faculty to be directly involved in patient care. This type of learning experience is invaluable for students, as it promotes critical thinking and problem-solving skills,” said Kettler. The clinic offers psychological assessment services including testing for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and teletherapy by virtual appointment. The release also included another quote said by Carol Zombotti, assistant professor of Speech Language Pathology, ““We began to offer hearing clinical services nearly two years ago to meet a community need and provide our students with more patient experience, right here on campus. Now we’ve added speech and language services to our clinic so that we have a complete communication disorders clinic.”
Offering comprehensive hearing, speech, and language treatments for patients of all ages, the new space offers Photo Credits: WLU Media Relations a more
Photo Credits: WLU Media Relations comfortable space to serve more clients. The students of the Hilltop have shown their excitement for the two health clinics being completed. Creed Kidney, freshman Visual Communications and Design and Creative Arts Therapy major, said “Not only is the universities strive to offer affordable health care to our surrounding community and student population an amazing thing to institute, but also the opportunities provided to the students of those majors, particularly those in the Master of Arts in Psychology, in relation to the new Behavioral Health Center, will be invaluable.” Adding onto Kidney’s statement, Rae Williams, junior English and Rhetoric, commented on the opportunities the clinics are going to produce for the students here on the Hilltop. “I think these clinics provide a great opportunity for students to get real
world experience with treating patients before they graduate,” said Williams. The Speech and Hearing Clinic is open Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. – 3 p.m. with evening hours by request. Low-cost fees vary depending on provided services. The Behavioral Health Clinic is also open Monday through Thursday; however, their hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The fees for behavioral health visits are offered on a sliding fee basis and capped at $25. For more information regarding the clinics or to make an appointment, please call 304.336.8199 or visit westliberty. edu/college-of-sciences. This article was cultivated by Annalise Murphy using the press release listed in the article above. For more information, please email anmurphy@westliberty.edu.
FEBRUARY 11, 2021
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NEWS
Black History Month: Celebrating and honoring the Black community and culture February is Black History Month. These 28 days are dedicated to celebrating and honoring the Black community and culture in America and around the world. West Liberty University is playing its part in marking the event and paying tribute to notable figures in Black history. Black History Month originally began as a response to the lack of black history present in the American education system. The celebration, started by Carter G. Woodson and Jesse E. Moorland in 1926, was initially just a week long, rather than the whole month of February, and was timed to encompass the birthdays of both Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. The event was designed to, and continues to, bring the focus of attention to the influence and impact that black culture has had on society. “If a race has no history, it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world, and it stands in danger of being exterminated,” said Woodson in regards to the importance of studying black history.
Since its original conception in 1926, the designated slot for celebrating black history has expanded from a week to a month and has expanded in terms of impact as well. Education institutions, businesses, charity organizations, and public officials frequently show their support for the cause and spread the message of the importance of studying black history to millions of people in the United States and abroad. West Liberty’s Diversity Committee is participating in the National African American ReadIn event set up by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). According to the NCTE, “The National African American Read-In is a groundbreaking effort to encourage communities to read together, centering African American books and authors. It was established in 1990 by the Black Caucus of the National Council of Teachers of English to make literacy a significant part of Black History Month. This initiative has reached more than 6 million participants around the world.” This is the second year that WLU has participated in the event with more than a dozen people from the West Liberty community contributing in 2020.
Due to COVID-19 the Diversity Committee have elected to conduct the read-in in a virtual manner and have asked for students and faculty to get involved by submitting a video recording of themselves reading an excerpt from an African American writer that is meaningful to them. “The hopeful impact is to be able to put together a compilation of these recordings of African American authors… We want people to submit clips of emotional connections,” said Chris McPhersonfrom the Diversity Committee.
The deadline to submit Photo Credits: Google Creative Commons footage is Feb. 19, so there is still
Graphic By: Samantha Snyder plenty of time to get involved. Submissions should be entered through this link. The final compilation will be released on Topperstation on Feb. 25. For more information about the event or if you would like to be a part of the Diversity Committee’s future plans, email christopher.mcpherson@westlibertuy.edu. For more information regarding this article, please email the author, Anna Johnston, at acjohnston@westliberty.edu.
NEWS
FEBRUARY 11, 2021
Interested in the trumpet? For more information about joining our team, please email Danielle Mehlman Brightwell, advisor or Annalise Murphy, Editor-in-Chief
PAGE 5
West Liberty University welcomes Dr. Satzer to business program coach and program assistant for training. In addition, she taught at Waynesburg University as a business instructor and at St. Clairsville high school as a career technical teacher.
Students who are in the College of Business might have noticed a new face to their program this year. Dr. Neeley Satzer has joined the teaching staff as the assistant professor of entrepreneurship and the director of B.I.C.
Satzer chose to teach at West Liberty because she, “is from the area and it was a good fit to be closer to home.”
Satzer received her B.S.B.A in finance from West Virginia University and her masters of business administration (DBA) from Waynesburg University. She then attended Northcentral University where she obtained a doctorate of business administration (DBA) and organizational leadership. “I am passionate about Entrepreneurship and small businesses. I worked for the SBDC in the past and have several businesses of my own,” stated Satzer. This year, Satzer will be teaching business foundations I, business foundations II, retailing, principles of management, conflict resolution, organizational behavior, and personnel/ human resources management. Prior to West Liberty, Satzer has taught at the West Virginia Small Business Development Center where she was a business
She has adjunct experience at California University of Pennsylvania, West Virginia Northern Community College, Butler County Community College, Ohio University for the Eastern Campus, Waynesburg University and Wheeling University. Satzer is involved in the International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education and works at a site visitor. She also is a content reviewer for the Organizational Behavior and is a QM peer reviewer. In addition, she has a professional membership with the Society of Human Resource Management. “I think teaching has taught me that you can never have enough knowledge. Learning is a lifelong process,” said Satzer. Welcome to the Hilltop Dr. Satzer!
Photo Credits: WLU Media Relations
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FEBRUARY 11, 2021
NEWS
West Liberty campus and W. Va. COVID-19 Updates
While West Virginia continues to lead the nation in COVID-19 rollout and administration, and life here on the Hilltop remains relatively quiet among the ongoing whirlwind of the pandemic, Governor Jim Justice has announced our state’s entry into a partnership with the corporate pharmaceutical chain Walgreens to deliver weekly surpluses of thousands of more vaccines for the people of West Virginia. Dosage numbers are estimated to sit at around an additional 5,800 vaccines per week for residents of the state 65 years and older; these extra doses will also be used to continue vaccinating the current and growing field of health care workers and professionals. With 5.82 percent of the entire population of the state having been vaccinated, Gov. Justice was also proud to make known that some 100,286 first round doses have been administered and the amount of second round doses, 34,288, only contin-
ues to grow with time. In an interview with WSAZ News Channel 3, Gov. Justice illustrated further just how much success the mountain state continues to see with vaccine rollout thus far; “We finished last week’s allocations with 106.1 percent going into somebody’s arm,” said Gov. Justice. “You say how in the world are they getting over 100 percent? Ya know, well it’s just real simple we’re getting more doses out of the vials and we have an 87.2 percent administration rate of our second doses.” Vaccination clinics will once again be held throughout all 55 counties of West Virginia for residents 65 years and older, with most, specifically through ‘operation save our wisdom,’ utilizing pre-existing waitlists; as of Monday, Feb. 8, more than 216,000 West Virginia residents have already registered for the coming clinics. As a final note of hope to the community of the Hilltop and the greater state of West Virginia, it has been officially noted that for the twenty-third consecutive day COVID-19 cases have been on the steady decline. For more questions regarding COVID procedures, please email covid19@westliberty.edu.
Photo Credits: WLU Media Relations
CULTURE
CULTURE FEBRUARY 11, 2021
Culture Editor: Morgan Kafana
- mkafana@westliberty.edu
PAGE 7
Theater Students Honored at the Kennedy Center Festival more at WLU, was a finalist for the scholarship.
A few weeks ago, West Liberty University theater students and faculty attended the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF) in Washington, D.C. Over 100 students in the region, including seven WLU students, participated and attended the event, some of which were finalists in the competition. According to the KCACTF website, the purpose of the festival is to “encourage, recognize, and celebrate the finest and most diverse work produced in university and college theater programs.” Students had about a month to prepare for the event. Michael Aulick, a professor at West Liberty University, said, “There is a lot of prep work that goes into the initiatives. [Students and I] met on a regular basis but then were sent off to practice the things we worked on.” Students were recognized for their talent in performance, playwriting, management, and more. Participants had the ability to be awarded the Irene Acting Scholarship and win various contests.
Games explained what the process was like start to finish. He said, “Anyone in our region was allowed to send in a self-nomination tape consisting of two 60-90 second monologues that will be placed for consideration to enter the competition.” From there, judges chose who would proceed to the first round, and then from there the 32 semi-finalists were chosen. Games said, “When we made that cut, we were sent three scenes to choose from. We chose one character from those three scenes to read for in a virtual reading for the next round. Essentially, we had around 12 hours to prepare this character, so it was mainly spent, reading and trying to create as many bold and interesting choices for the character as we could.” Once Games made it past to the final round, he
had about 24 hours to prepare the same monologues from the previous round, but this time it was to a live audience via Zoom.
Grant VanCamp, WLU student and Irene Acting Scholarship finalist and winner, had similar experiences.
Games also shared what his experience was like while he attended the festival.
VanCamp originally sent in his nomination tapes in hopes to keep moving onto the next rounds. VanCamp said, “Basically I gathered a group of three people: Callia Byard, Merritt Craft, and myself. I’m friends with these two and I know Callia is bomb at improv. We went up against other teams playing improv games in a zoom call.” VanCamp and his friends were practicing for the competition.
“In the time I wasn’t working on preparing for Irene’s [Scholarship], I attended online workshops and lectures on different skills that may be useful in the future or that we can heighten now.” Games seemed to have an overall great experience and most importantly had fun. “Last year, I don’t really think I took full advantage of this festival, but this year, I did everything that I really wanted to. A few other students and I got on the same schedule most of the time and we were able to discuss what all we learned or found interesting on our time off. It was all around just a blast.”
The Irene Acting Scholarship is awarded to students in hopes to celebrate their work and to offer some financial assistance to help further students’ education. According to the website, “One nominee and partner from every region will be invited to the national festival and the nominee will receive a $500 scholarship. The runner-up in each region will receive a $500 scholarship, but will not attend the national festival to audition for the national scholarship.” Benjamin Games, a sopho-
VanCamp also shared how happy he was to be awarded the Irene Acting Scholarship. He said, “It felt great to win because out of all my years of going to KCACTF I had never seen my name on the awards slide show.” He also shared what his experience was like while attending the festival this year. “While attending the festival I joined quite a few workshops having to do with professionalism in theater, Zoom auditioning, and acting with the Meisner technique. So many skills that my notebook was almost halfway through by the end of the week. I also auditioned for a cold read contest and saw three plays.” The students at the event were kept busy while learning new skills and practicing for their auditions. To learn more about additional students, refer to the story Maureen Zambito released on the WLU website.
Editor’s Note: The six students featured in the cover photo on westlibert.edu/news are from left: (top) Mackenna Berka, Hayden Heiserman, Delaney Bird, (bottom) Grant VanCamp, Odessa Hores and Benjamin Games.
Photo Credits: WLU Media Relations
For any additional information about the event or the Theater Department, visit the College of Arts and Communications website, or call (304) 336-8006.
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FEBRUARY 11, 2021
CULTURE
Presidents Day: How the day began and why it’s celebrated nationwide not observe the federal holiday: Florida, Lowa, Kentucky, Delaware, Louisiana, Rhode Island, Kansas, and North Carolina, as recorded by Calendarlabs.com.
President’s Day falls on Feb. 15 this year, as it is the third Monday of February. The holiday began as a celebration of George Washington’s birthday which is Feb. 22 and officially became a holiday in 1885. In 1971, as told by The History Channel, the holiday evolved to create another three-day weekend for workers in America.
The United States has changed quite a bit since the first President’s Day, 136 years ago. Specifically, Americans have witnessed the first African American President, Barack Obama, and the first female African and Asian American Vice President, Kamala Harris. This topic is something to celebrate, especially during February which is Black History Month.
It is one of 11 holidays that Congress has created. President’s Day now represents and celebrates all the presidents that the United States has had and will have. There are a total of four notable American government officials who have birthdays in February: George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Ronald Reagan, and William Henry Harrison. There are a few states that do
President Barack Obama accomplished several things during his administration. Not only was he the first African American man elected, but he was also the first African American man to be reelected. During his eight years, these accomplishments included reversing the Great Recession, creating thousands of jobs, and legalizing gay marriage in all fifty states. Obama’s Vice President, Joseph Biden Jr., was recently
Photo Credits: Emma Beatty inaugurated as the 46th and current president of the United States of America. Those celebrated on President’s Day has never been a static list. With each new administration, Americans have a new person to add to the celebration. So far, there have been 45 presidents and 46 administrations with Grover Cleveland being the only president to not have two consecutive terms. A way to honor the holiday would be to find one interesting fact about each president. An example is that Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin were born on the same day! Other choices could be to eat a cherry pie (based on the infamous story) or to read Photo Credits: Emma Beatty
Washington’s farewell address. Happy President’s Day!
President’s Day Feb. 15, 2021 West Liberty University will not be closed on President’s Day. Offices will be open and classes (both in-seat and virtual) will run on their normal schedule.
CULTURE
FEBRUARY 11, 2021
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Chi Omega sorority hosts first Hugs and Kisses for Wishes event Chi Omega is hosting their first Hugs and Kisses for Wishes event, on Thursday, Feb. 11 from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. in the ballroom inside the student union. The purpose of the event is to make Valentine’s Day cards for the Make-A-Wish children to show them some extra love this holiday. All students and staff are welcome to attend the event. Ivy Henderson, a member of Chi Omega, said, “This event is special to me because I wanted to find a different way to connect with the children, and what better way than letting them know they are loved on Valentine’s Day?” Henderson also coordinated this event and is hopeful for a great turnout so the sorority can make this an annual tradition. There will be colorful paper and utensils to make these cards, so all you have to do is write a sweet note to make the children feel loved. Henderson is a junior at WLU and is also the cam-
pus activities director. Henderson says any event for Make-A-Wish is special to her because of the impact it can have on the children. “Make-aWish has given me perspective on the actual impact we are capable of making for these children, and it is amazing to see.” Henderson also shared that being a part of Chi Omega has made her experience at WLU fun and memorable. For more information about this event, contact Henderson at ijhenderson@westliberty.edu or reach out to Chi Omega on their social media. Beta Rho Epsilon, a local sorority at WLU, is also taking part in celebrating Valentine’s Day. The virtual events started on Feb. 8 and continue through the week. In an Instagram post, the sorority shares a list of events. The sorority hopes to bring attention to and raise awareness about healthy relationships and dating abuse since it is Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month. Kendal Stanley, senior at WLU and president of Beta Rho Epsilon, said that anybody is welcome to participate in the virtual “Respect Week” events and encourages students to raise awareness of teen dating violence. Stanley explained, “We want people to be aware that teen dating violence is common, and nearly half of women in college experience dating violence of abusive behaviors.” With Valentine’s Day approaching, this is a good way to be aware about true love and abuse. For more information about Respect Week or Beta Rho Epsilon, reach out to the sorority on their social media. For further information regarding campus events, email Kate Billings at kate.billings@westliberty.edu.
Chi Omega presents...
Hugs and Kisses for Wishes Event When: Feb. 11, 2021 Where: Ballroom in Student Union Time: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
FEBRUARY 11, 2021
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CULTURE
Alexandria Black
Kaitlyn Bailey
Alexia Schmader
Madison Ging
SGA Senator Election Results 2020-21 Executive Board: - President: Isabella Yakivic - Vice President: Grace Dodson -Secretary: Taylor Newkirk - Treasurer: Max Fiedorczyk -Director of Programming: Trey Jack
Brenna Brummage
Madison Linzy
Emma Beatty
Omari Green
OPINION
FEBRUARY 11, 2021
OPINION
PAGE 11
Which is better: Zooming into your classes or taking the risk and attending in-seat? The last 11 months have forced us all to adapt to a different world and adopt a new version of normal. COVID-19 has pushed individuals into isolation to protect the health and safety of people everywhere.
more vulnerable, have the option to continue remote learning. It also means that individuals who get the virus or are contact traced will not miss out on material while they are unable to physically attend class. As a result, many classrooms now function with half of students
tures from home, when there is no valid reason not to physically attend can make learning more challenging. Apart from obvious issues like internet connection and poor camera quality having a split classroom population makes it difficult to have meaningful discussions and remain Photo Credits: Wikimedia Commons
Although restrictions on group gatherings have been necessary to help reduce the spread of the virus, it has not been an easy process.
In the first few months of the pandemic, as colleges moved to having strictly online tuition, the video chat service Zoom became a go-to option for many professors, seeing it as the best way to try and replicate meeting in person.
Since the start of the pandemic, universities and colleges have allowed students to return to campus. WLU has given students and faculty the option to continue learning online, offering a “hybrid” approach to education. This means that those with underlying conditions who might be more at risk to COVID-19, or have family members who may be
And finally, it is more difficult for students to get to know one another through Zoom and, therefore, I think this makes them more hesitant to engage in class discussions.” Even since the start of the pandemic last year, serious strides have been made in the way material is offered to students virtually, with attempts being made to replicate a classroom environment as much as possible. That being said, nothing can match the experience that comes from being in class with like-minded people. In a university like West Liberty, where small class sizes and cooperative, hands-on style learning is a key strength, getting people back in the classroom is high up on the agenda.
At West Liberty University, and other education institutions all over the world, students and faculty alike have had to become used to schooling remotely and conducting education away from a typical classroom setting.
Others opted to post course material online and allow students to learn at their own pace whilst being a contact option if support was needed.
person.
Of course, health and safety is the priority for colleges like WLU and legitimate reasons to opt for remote learning remain valid. “I think students should look at the facts and make their own decision. present in-person and half present virtually, via Zoom. Although in theory this is a good idea, and in practicality is likely the best way to keep people safe in such difficult circumstances, there is no doubt that students can abuse the use of Zoom as an option. With the option of staying in bed for class, rather than going out in the snow and freezing temperatures to physically attend, it’s no surprise that students are opting for the first choice. However, staying in bed, or attending lec-
engaged in the topic at hand. Dr. Brian Fitzpatrick, a political science professor at WLU, said that teaching in person is easier for several reasons. “First, it is easier for students joining through Zoom to get distracted. Second, it is more difficult to tell when students are confused through Zoom, especially if they have their cameras off. Third, I do a lot of simulations in my courses and, while these can be adapted to Zoom, they work much better in
From my experience students who join courses remotely tend to do worse in the course and not learn as much. On the other hand, a student might have a legitimate fear of catching the virus, especially if they are at high risk and/ or they live with someone who is high risk. Part of being in college is learning how to make these types of decisions,” said Fitzpatrick.
FEBRUARY 11, 2021
PAGE 12
OPINION
U.S. Stimulus Checks disappointing many Americans sional Research Service, “
US Stimulus Checks are disappointing. For our suffering, Biden has proposed a total of 2,000 dollars per check and some other money for vaccines. Canada has given out 2,000 dollars a month every month since the start of the pandemic. In comparison, we are slacking as a country.
In April, every state and the District of Columbia reached unemployment rates greater than their highest unemployment rates during the Great Depression.” Meanwhile, Canada had a debt strategy. They increased borrowing and the checks
received, stabilizing numbers and jobs. When comparing Covid deaths, it becomes clear that our government is too slow in their actions. Canada’s deaths are about 20,800, while America’s death toll has reached 462,000. Having these checks allowed Canadian’s to stay at home and avoid the virus.
Not only that, but it wasn’t a problem according to our former President, Donald Trump. As Trump told us that the number of cases were going to get better, they got worse. So, why would we get checks when it was supposedly supposed to get better? It was supposed to get worse and it was obvious to everyone who didn’t try to ignore it by denying it. Of course, America’s debt before the pandemic isn’t something to brag about.
Canadians receive 2,000 dollars in three days directly into their bank account after filing out an online form on a monthly basis, while Americans have only gotten two checks so far. College kids are not included. We have put ourselves in debt. According to the Congres-
Concurrently, America had no clear plan.
Photo Credits: Google Creative Commons
We simply cannot receive as much aid as Canadians. 2,000 dollars doesn’t cut it, but we aren’t going to get back on our feet as fast as Canadians. We need a plan now, not later.
Malcolm & Marie: A Toxic Relationship Netflix has released a new original on Friday, Feb. 5, 2021. This Netflix original shows the life of Malcolm & Marie, a relationship dealing with all their issues in the span of one single night. It doesn’t show different days, except the night after Malcolm’s movie premiere. This night is filled with the couple going back and forth from fighting to loving each other. If someone were to ask me what I thought a toxic relationship was, I would show them this movie. Malcolm wrote a movie about Marie’s life. Her addiction and her recovery. Marie gets angry after the premiere for
the simple fact that Malcolm didn’t thank her in his speech and cast another girl as her part. These issues don’t come up at first, they are just being passive-aggressive towards each other. They are loving towards one another, and then the next second they are screaming and throwing hurtful things at one another.
The movie is also purely black and white, and it sets the vibe of the movie. The director and writer was Sam Levinson. With the movie only being out for a few days, Zendaya is already nominated for Best Actress for the Critics Choice Award for the movie. This movie
shows how a movie being filmed during COVID-19 can work. There is one place of filming, with only two characters. This is filmed very safely and without needing to be pushed back because of the pandemic.
This made me nervous as I thought the movie would end with Marie falling back into her addiction. However, it ends on a cliff hanger sort of. The couple is shown standing in the yard together as the movie ends. You don’t get to see if they continue to fight, or if they have worked out their issues completely. Malcolm is played by John David Washington. Marie is played by Zendaya. These are the only two characters throughout the movie.
Photo Credits: Wikimedia Commons
OPINION
FEBRUARY 11, 2021
PAGE 13
Why Don’t We listen to a new album? of the iTunes chart the night it was released. “This album means everything to me. So much life wrapped up in this album..” said Seavey.
To start off the year, American boyband “Why Don’t We” have released their second album. Why Don’t We is a band created by five friends in Sept. 2016. They slowly began releasing EPs along with their first album in 2018.
As an active member of WDW’s fanbase, I could tell how much this album meant to the band and how important this was to everyone. Corbyn Besson, another member of the band, said the title of the album is to represent the good times in their lives, along with their bad moments.
However, in 2021 they began working with a whole new look. “The Good Times and The Bad Ones” was released Jan. 15, 2021. This album was released after a 10 month hiatus the band went on for the year of 2020. This 10 song album was a brand new sound for the band as they played their own instruments, and wrote and produced the whole thing themselves. Singer Daniel Seavey, one-fifth of the band, made his
“We’ve waited for this moment since we started Why Don’t We,” he said on Twitter. own studio over the 2020 year. This space helped him produce the entire album himself. Songwriting was another skill he conquered along with the other bandmates, Jonah Marais, Corbyn Besson, Zach Herron and Jack Av-
ery. The band completely changed their look and sound for this second album, and fans are loving it! Before the album was dropped, the band released three singles that were featured on the album. The first single, “Fallin’ (Adrenaline)” was a shock to the whole world as the single completely changed the direction of the band. The ten track album is a phenomenal listen. Every song tells a story and shows the heartfeltness in each one. For example, “Be Myself ” is a song written by Seavey about Avery’s anxiety. This song is a tearjerker as it speaks about the problems that Avery has gone through. There are some more pumped up songs though, including my favorite “For You” and “I’ll Be Okay” that are songs that feel like they’d be on the radio. Every song on the album is good and there are no skips! The album sold 38,000 copies in the US its first week. This was the band’s first Billboard Number One. It also reached the top
They have done performances on The Late Late Show, Good Morning America, and The Kelly Clarkson Show to promote the album. Promotion during COVID-19 is a strange thing, but the band has pulled through and made it work. If you’re looking for a new listen, whether it be the whole band or just the album, Why Don’t We “The Good Times And The Bad Ones” is a great one. This album has touched countless people and is continuing to do so. The band deserves all of the support given on this album. The band is hoping to release even more music within the next six months and hopefully tour as soon as possible! The album is available for streaming on Apple Music, Spotify, and Youtube. Physical copies are also sold at Target or their own website, whydontwemusic. com. For more information about Why Don’t We or this article, please email the author, Kate Roberts, at kmroberts1@westliberty. edu.
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SPORTS FEBRUARY 11, 2021
Sports Editor: Anna Johnston
SPORTS
- acjohnston@westliberty.edu
NFL Super Bowl: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers reign supreme 2021 NFL SUPER BOWL
Tom Brady. Patrick Mahomes. A Super Bowl matchup for the ages. Will Tom Brady pass the torch off to Patrick Mahomes and drive off into the sunset? No, at least not yet. Super Bowl fifty-five kicked off Sunday night as Brady captured his seventh title en route to bringing home a second championship to the City of Tampa Bay. This Super Bowl in particular was the first time a host city had their home team participate. It was a very strong season for Tampa Bay, as they finished with a record of 11-5. What made this championship so special and unique for the Bucs, but specifically for Brady, was the surprise turn around this team had from just a season ago. Brady bet against himself that he could be the face of the franchise elsewhere from
SUNDAY, FEB. 7
Tampa Bay vs. Kansas City New England, and it is safe to say that the bet was paid in full. With key additions like Brady, Lenoard Fournette, Antonio Brown, and rookie tackle Tristian Wirfs, the Buccaneers seemingly went from zero to hero. The touchdown game opened up rather slowly for both
Photo Credits: WikiMedia Commons teams, until Rob Gronkowski, yet another free agent addition, found the endzone. In fact, Gronk would do it for a second time, which is when the flood gates began opening up. For the casual viewer, there was some speculation regarding the amount of penalties being thrown towards Kansas City. Admittingly, they did seem quite suspect (are we shocked about any suspect calls in a Brady Super Bowl, though). However, games are not entirely won on ticky tacky calls, and Brady and the Buccaneers proved just that. The Bucs easily cruised to victory from there, capturing a 31-9 victory over the Chiefs, as Brady won yet another Super Bowl MVP. With seven Super Bowl victories for his career, Brady has more Super Bowl victories than any other franchise in the NFL, which is quite the feat for most.
Final Score: Tampa Bay: 31 Kansas City: 9
SPORTS
FEBRUARY 11, 2021
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West Liberty’s Men’s tennis set to begin 2021 season this weekend ing, we’re out there practicing a lot,” said Hulewicz. The work ethic combined with raw talent on the squad set the team up nicely to have a positive season this spring.
West Liberty Men’s Tennis will get their 2021 season underway this weekend with a scrimmage in Charleston, West Virginia before hitting competitive action at the University of Findlay in Ohio on Feb. 20 and Ashland University in Ohio on Feb. 21.
This weekend’s scrimmage in Charleston will be an important checkpoint for the Toppers before their opening fixture of the competitive season in just nine days in Ohio. WLU’s first home fixture is on March 5 where the Toppers will go head-to-head with West Virginia State University where West Liberty will try and maintain their unbeaten record against the Yellow Jackets.
This is the first full season the Toppers will have with Ronald Hulewicz as Head Coach after his initial season in charge ended abruptly due to COVID-19. With more than half of the squad coming from countries other than the United States, getting in team practices has been difficult over the past year. “We still actually have a couple players not here,” said Hulewicz. “We have one in Uzbekistan and one in Venezuela.” This means that players have had to be particularly careful in the current climate to stay fit and healthy to make sure the team has enough players to enter into competition.
Although the pandemic has undoubtedly made training more difficult, like all of WLU’s athletes, the tennis team has learned to adapt to the new regulations and have made the most of the facilities that are available to them. “It’s been a challenge, especially at first, but little by little we are adapting,” said Hulewicz. Despite the difficulties that Hulewicz’s Toppers have faced over the last 11 months, the atmosphere
The full tennis schedule can be found on Hilltoppersports. com. Check back with the TrumPhoto Credits: Ronald Hulewicz pet over the coming weeks for more tennis updates. in the team remains positive with the players raring to go in what is predicted to be a highly competitive season. “The morale is very high, they’re itching to play… the desire to play is at an all time high after being bottled up for so long,” said Hulewicz. The enthusiasm and energy amongst the players is significant, with every effort being made to train despite the recent adverse weather conditions which have made outdoor practices all the more challenging. Hopes are high for WLU Tennis this year with a strong squad featuring notable returners including senior standout Anton Schulz from Menden, Germany, as well as some highly anticipated incoming players such as Isfandiyor Makhumudov from Tashkent, Uzbekistan. “We’re practicing our tails off right now. We’re putting in a lot of time conditioning and train-
Photo Credits: Ronald Hulewicz
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FEBRUARY 11, 2021
West Liberty’s Cross Country teams preparing for return to competition Contributing Writer: Mark Donnely West Liberty’s Cross Country teams are raring to go for the return of competition. After a long break in competitive action, WLU’s Men’s and Women’s Cross Country teams are ready to get their season underway and put their months of practice into motion. Both teams had their seasons canceled due to the pandemic in early March 2020 and have spent the last 6 months preparing for their upcoming seasons, which start in under a week. Although their last season was a very disruptive one, the Cross Country teams at West Liberty still brought success to the Hilltop with various athletes breaking school records and placing highly at the MEC Indoor Championships last spring, Graphic By: Annalise Murphy
SPORTS
The Hilltop’s Athlete of the Week
Audrey Tingle
resulting in the men’s team finishing third overall. The Hilltoppers will be hoping to build on both their individual and collective performances to break more records this coming spring. Although this season will be a unique experience for both teams, athletes are eager to start competing in their respective events. “It is an odd season but I still expect to perform at a high level and I know my other teammates are ready to go out and compete as well.” said junior distance and cross country runner, Danah Phillips. “I am just ready to lace up and start destroying the competition again. It has been too long. I can not complain about the cross country and track hybrid season because as this past year has shown us, nothing is guaranteed.” said Phillips. The Cross Country season gets underway with both teams competing at the North Carolina Wesleyan Invitational this Saturday, Feb. 13. They then travel to both the University of Charleston and the University of Toledo for meets before the MEC Cross Country Championship in Wheeling on March 20. Both teams did not allow the COVID-19 pandemic to halt their preparations for the upcoming competitions and, while taking the appropriate safety measures, they had a very busy off-season. Head Coach Justin Simpson will be hoping that all the hard work that both teams have put in since their last outings will pay off and result in more records and success for his runners.
Women’s Basketball - Point Guard Year: Senior Hometown: West Lafayette, Ohio About Tingle:
Tingle was selected as the MEC Player of the week after
posting the fourth triple-double of the season by a woman across the whole NCAA DII. She followed up in her next game with a double-double, just one assist short of hitting another triple-double.
