03.03.11 Yellow Jacket

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Vol. 88 No. 18

51 W. College St. Waynesburg, PA 15370

PELL GRANTS

‘Genuine’

Financial aid cuts ‘inevitable,’ Stokan says

Josh Malenke remembered for ability to make people laugh

By Natalie Bruzda Social Media Manager

By Cori Schipani He wanted to make movies, so he chased his dreams to Hollywood. Joshua Bruce Malenke, 22, who studied communication at Waynesburg University, died in a tragic motorcycle accident Wednesday, Feb. 23, in Los Angeles, Calif.

He was studying at the Los Angeles Film School at the time of his death.

Staff Writer

dispatches to officers.

Having the students work for the Department of Public Safety allows officers to concentrate on their duty to keep campus safe.

“My main job is simply

Next year, many students may receive less financial aid as the federal and state governments consider cutting grants for both schools and students to decrease deficits.

Among programs potentially affected is the Federal Pell Grant program, which awarded more than 640 Waynesburg students with $2.3 million this school year, according to Director of Financial Aid Matthew Stokan.

This program, which provides academic grants, may undergo a 15 percent decrease.

The ceiling for aid reduction is $845 for a Pell recipient, who could have his or her aid decreased by $845.

Current recipients could lose the grant altogether.

The University received more than

See STUDENTS on A2

See AID on A3

A dream “I remember that Josh had a very strong desire to be a movie maker,” said Rick Shepas, who had the opportunity to coach Malenke in football.

“I promised that we would be able to balance out his passion with his academic studies, the musicals and football. It’s something that I supported in him.”

Malenke approached Department of Communication Chair Richard Krause about his desire to attend the Best Semester Program in Los Angeles, but even before he made the 3,000-mile journey, Malenke was already making movies.

See MALENKE on A4 Photo courtesy of Hope Malenke Bennett

Students gain experience working with Public Safety

By Kyle Oland Staff Writer Daniel Czajkowski walks into the Public Safety office every Thursday night as he is one of four students who gain experience by working for the Department of Public

Safety this semester.

“What is cool is every single night is different,” said Czajkowski. “Some days there will be more calls, ranging from letting someone into a building, whereas other days there will not be many calls at all.”

Czajkowski, a sophomore criminal justice major, works for Michael Humiston.

“We have four students who work for Public Safety,” said Humiston, director of the Department of Public Safety. “They are on the federal work study

program, so they have to qualify. Our office is like many offices here at Waynesburg, where students are paid for their work.”

Humiston said the students assist the officers by answering phones, greeting people who come into the office and sending out

Passwords must be changed every 90 days

No trays available in Dining Hall after break, Senate says

By Brandon Reed Editorial Assistant Waynesburg University will go entirely trayless in just one week.

“The goal of going trayless is to waste less food, soap and water,” said Natalie George, Student Senate academic vice president and head of the Food Task Force. “This will also save the school a substantial amount of money that they won’t have to spend on extra cleaning supplies, and we will receive two guest passes to use in Benedum Dining Hall as we please.”

According to George, the final plan is to have only a certain number of trays available for people with disabilities who need

them when students return from spring break.

“The past couple of weeks have seen the most progress,” said George, “This week our goal is to have even less trays and hopefully go entirely trayless.”

George said there will be only 100 trays in Benedum Dining Hall during dining periods this week, meant only for those with disabilities and handicaps.

The student body is clearly in favor of going trayless, but there are still some that have lists of reasons why they want their trays.

“I like having my tray, that way I don’t feel like I’m holding a bunch of

By Rachel Davis Staff Writer

Photo by Cori Schipani

Students must change their passwords every 90 days as part of a feature that will be added to MyConnect.

See MYCONNECT in A3

Students warned to monitor online content

By Sarah Bell Editorial Assistant

Waynesburg University professors are trying to warn students to be careful of what they post online, especially after Natalie Munroe, a high school English teacher in Pennsylvania, was suspended on Feb. 9 for using See WAYNESBURG on A2 her blog to target her stu-

dents, co-workers and administrators.

Parents complained to Central Bucks School District officials about the posts that called students “disengaged, lazy whiners” and “out of control.”

Frank Pazzynski, associate professor of education at Waynesburg University, believes that par-

ents should know when their child is being targeted by their instructor.

“In the big picture parents should be notified,” Pazzynski said. “If the institution becomes bigger than the clients and the people who they are serving, it’s hopeless.”

According to Pazzynski, the biggest issue is that the Pennsylvania

Code of Ethics contains various domains and criteria on ethical behavior that teachers are expected to follow.

Munroe admitted to writing the posts and said that her posts were meant for herself and her friends, not a mass audience.

Central Bucks superinSee MONITOR in A4

SPORTS

REGION

ARTS & LIFE

Three wrestlers won regionals and qualified for the national tournament.

See Page C1

The Waynesburg Township Volunteer Fire Department received a $10,000 donation to help purchase a training simulator.

Nine couples competed in ‘Can WU Duet?’, held Monday night.

INSIDE Copyright © 2010 by Waynesburg University

Waynesburg University’s Department of Information Technology is adding a password protection program to myConnect. Students must reset their password every 90 days. MyConnect also

reminds the users when it is time to change their password. Pete Mahoney, executive director of Information Technology, realizes that myConnect users are going to be upset with changing their password so often.

Campus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A1-A4 Region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .B1, B4 Editorial/Op-Ed . . . . . . . . . . . . .B2, B3

Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .C1-C4 Arts & Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .D1-D3 Global . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .D4

See Page B1

See Page D1

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Thursday, March 3, 2011

Campus

CHAPEL

LIBRARY BUYS NEW EQUIPMENT

Device can transfer vinyl records to CDs Don’t take life for granted, Buss says

By Amanda Silay Staff Writer

Junior Business management major Carmen Adamson did not think that she would be able to find an on-campus job, let alone one that involved her passion of music.

After meeting with the Director of Eberly Library Rea Redd, her hopes were turned into reality.

At a request from a fellow professor, Redd began working on project that involves changing vinyl records and cassettes into

CDs. “Professor Powers came to me three weeks before his show said he had a vinyl record with music for his play that needed to converted to a CD in order for it to be used,” Redd said.

“We did not have anything that could do that, but I knew we could get it.”

After researching many options, Redd came up with three choices that were priced between $300 and $400.

He had to show these

options to some other staff members to make sure that it was an acceptable purchase for the library and University.

“We picked the device that we thought was the best for our needs and purchased it through Amazon.com,” Redd said.

“We placed it on next day delivery and it arrived on campus as ordered.”

Once the piece of equipment arrived, the challenge then began learning how to use the machine.

Adamson became

employed working the machine and the equipment.

“Ironically, Carmen came to me asking if there were any jobs available, and I told her about the new equipment we just purchased,” Redd said.

“She told me about her interest in music, and everything worked out.”

Adamson said she did not have experience with equipment like the conversion machine but was willing to learn because of See LIBRARY on A3

Senate advertises research symposium • Applications for executive positions on the Student Senate board are still being accepted and the campaign period has officially begun.

• All students received an e-mail on Tuesday about an undergraduate research symposium that will be held on April 16.

Attached in the email were the flyer which contains more information, an informational website and a registration website for the research symposium.

• Benedum Dining Hall will be going completely trayless follow-

Waynesburg goes trayless Continued from A1

plates; it’s easier,” said freshman communication major Steve Hullings.

“I pay 20-plus grand a year to go here—the least they can do is give me a tray.”

But like any controversial topic, there are always two sides to the issue and junior exercise science major Ken Rosenbauer supports going trayless.

“It’s a good idea to start saving money,” said Rosenbauer.

“I have only used a tray a few times since I have been here.”

The Food Task Force

Students work with officers Continued from A1 to assist the officers who work for dispatch,” said Czajkowski. “I work in the office and take calls.

When calls come in, I let the security guards know of incidents as they occur.”

Czajkowski feels that working for the Department of Public Safety is beneficial.

“By working for Public Safety, it lets me see how to serve the community and it’s preparing me for a broader spectrum,” said Czajkowski. “[All four of us] are there to get a feel for the field and serve the

ing spring break and will only have a few trays out for people with disabilities. This is the result of the online poll.

• At the end of the meeting, the American Chemical Society made a proposal for a trip to Anaheim, Calif., to go to a chemical society conference at which they are planning to present.

The Society has fundraised throughout the school year and requested that Senate give the four members going $300 per person.

The total cost of the trip will be $750 per person. ~ Brandon Reed

within Student Senate began to realize how unused the trays were becoming when they observed people during eating hours in Benedum.

“The task force came back with numbers of 75 percent not using trays versus those 25 percent that were using them,” said George.

According to George, they calculated the exact percentages by using the numbers of how many students’ cards were swiped.

During the first semester of this year, the Food Task Force and publicity worked together to begin promoting going trayless through an online poll and advertising on the radio and in the newspaper.

But due to an insuffi-

community.

According to Humiston the majority of students who work in the Public Safety office are majoring in criminal justice.

“Some of the officers have a background in law enforcement and they have many connections,” said Czajkowski. “Being around the officers allows me to hear their stories, which has given me a chance to hear what law enforcement is all about.”

Czajkowski said his experience with the Department of Public Safety is helping to prepare him for the future.

“I have a conditional offer with the Ocean City Police Department over the summer as a public safety aide,” said Czajkowski.

Photo by Gregory Reinhart

Academic Vice President Natalie George celebrates that the University will go trayless. cient number of votes in the online poll, they continued the online poll through the end of February.

This semester, there are advertisements on the tray racks as well as around campus, and the newspaper and radio ads continue.

The results of the online poll supported the

Food Task Force’s observations, as 75 percent voted for going trayless and 25 percent voted against going trayless.

The number of trays has been decreasing without much rejection from the student body.

Twenty percent of students were still using trays after the number decreased, said George.

By Eric Bost Staff Writer Chapel this week began with a performance by the Lamplighter Concert Choir and senior Jake Buss leading the congregation in song.

Buss then spoke about Josh Malenke’s death and its effect on Waynesburg University students.

“As college students, as youths and as human beings, we bank . . . tomorrow being there. We live in a mindset where everything is guaranteed to us,” said Buss.

“That’s one thing that I’ve learned through this past week with Josh’s passing . . . that we can’t do that because it’s not handed to you.”

He said that we do not always follow or simply just put off God’s plan.

“We say that, ‘I could listen to God’s word, or I could make this decision that He wants me to make, but I don’t want to do that today. I’ll do it tomorrow, next week, next year,’” said Buss.

“These things that Jesus tells us in the scriptures are commandments, not suggestions or proposed ideas. Jesus wasn’t a theorist, He was a Savior.”

Before he and the rest of the singers performed more songs, Buss gave everyone something to think about.

“As we’re singing, as we’re listening to the scriptures, more than anything, focus on the words we’re actually saying and what that means to us,” he said.

“If we’re going to genuinely sing those words: ‘Holiness, holiness is what I long for’, what do

we have to do, what kind of heart do we have to have, in order for those words to be truly genuine?”

After the songs and a few scripture readings, everyone was asked to anonymously write down on a note card an aspect of their lives that was holding them back from having a relationship with God. The participants then placed the cards in a basket. During this time Buss led another song to reflect on the message.

Buss said the process was like a popular story in the Bible.

“There’s the story about Jesus feeding the 5,000 people with five loaves and two fish. These aspects of our lives are the five loaves and two fish, and we’re asking the Lord to do something with them,” said Buss.

“That we give such a small offering to God and that He would multiply them and do something unimaginable with them was the idea behind the basket.”

Buss again mentioned Malenke’s death and said although, it is tough, it reminded him to not take anything for granted.

“This whole circumstance has taught me that we really need to embrace the day that we’re given and focus on what really matters, and that is pursuing God,” he said.

“Everything else is nice. It’s good to have when we’re here, but when we’re dead, what is it, other than dust? So it showed me to embrace the time that we have with our family, friends and with our Lord.”

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Thursday, March 3, 2011

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Campus

Group for highly sensitive persons meets weekly on campus

By Sierra Shafer Op/Ed Editor Hoping to provide an outlet for students who are considered highly sensitive persons, the Counseling Center is offering a new support group on campus.

The group, which meets weekly, is a channel for students living with SensoryProcessing Sensitivity to talk about what they are sensitive to and struggle with.

“In large part, this is an opportunity for people who are sensitive, those who have a sensi-

tive temperament, to come interact and meet new people,” said Brian Winkleblech, graduate assistant to the counseling office.

“It’s also a chance for individuals to learn more about themselves.”

Highly sensitive persons are described as having a more finetuned nervous system than the average person, which leads them to be easily overwhelmed by activity and noise.

For many of these students, a simple trip to a shopping mall can

be exhausting.

“In our society, sensitivity is not looked at favorably,” Winkleblech said. “This is an opportunity to embrace the trait and learn the positive aspects of it.”

Winkleblech said that while highly sensitive persons may be overly affected by others, this can be a helpful trait because they are attentive and understanding of others.

“While it might be easier for [sensitive people] to get caught up in other peoples’ moods, they are also very aware of those

around them and tend to have a couple close friends and their relationships are very close,” he said.

However, it is the process of meeting the right people to form relationships with that can be challenging for highly sensitive persons. The group’s student founder hopes this will provide that opportunity.

According to students in the support group, only 15 to 20 percent of a population lives with these heightened sensitivity traits, and it is believed to be

hereditary.

The term “highly sensitive person” is relatively new and unfamiliar to most people.

Until roughly 1996, many highly sensitive persons were being misdiagnosed, according to one of the group’s founding students.

Students who initiated the support group are hoping to bring awareness to their sensitivity in hopes of eliminating any misconceptions about highly sensitive persons.

“Sometimes our society places a lot of

emphasis on assertiveness and being outgoing,” said Winkleblech.

“They are doers, but there are also thinkers.

They are more likely to put a toe in the water before going in and sometimes those people are undervalued. We can’t all be expected to jump right in. There is a benefit to sitting back and analyzing things a little more before you make decision.”

The support group meets at the Counseling Center at noon every Wednesday and is open to all interested students.

MyConnect feature added

Continued from A2

Continued from A1

her interest in music.

“I didn’t think I would find a job here at all, because when I went and asked if there were any jobs available there weren’t many,” Adamson said.

Because Adamson’s experience was limited, she knew she would need to read the whole manual, but it was not as difficult as she initially expected.

“The instructions were pretty self-explanatory, and I experimented with the first record and found there were some issues with the volume,” Adamson said.

“After the first

“It [the IT department] must make unpopular decisions to protect the integrity of the students,” he said. Because myConnect only needs the user to sign in once to access all the various programs, it would be easy for someone to access the personal information, which could result in false emails or registering for the wrong classes, Mahoney said.

The IT department decided on changing a password every 90 days or once a semester. However, if a student feels the need to change their password during those 90 days, they can. Another

characteristic of the new password system is the requirement to ask five security questions.

“We’ve been blessed with a very secure and safe environment, but it takes only one person to ruin it,” said Mahoney.

However, the program the vendor installed had a bug, which resulted in the program being pulled.

“Our myConnect portal vendor has encountered an unforeseen bug during our full implementation of the Password Management Suite,” Mahoney wrote in an email.

As a result, the password option and security questions were disabled.

Students should check their e-mails during the next few weeks to learn when the features will be reimplemented.

completely cut.

An additional 250 University students could be affected next year when the Academic Competitiveness Grant and the National Science Mathematics Access to Retain Talent Grant are completely eliminated.

The programs provide $300,000 to current University students.

“Will there be cuts?

It’s inevitable,” said Stokan.

In addition to the federal level, Pennsylvania state grants have been steadily declining, said Stokan.

The maximum state grant was $4,700 three years ago, and since then it has declined to $1,460.

“It’s not a question of how much it’s going down,” Stokan said . “It’s a question of how much it’s going down for next year.”

Despite these declining numbers, students receiving institutional aid should not see drastic changes in their aid.

“We don’t intend to cut ours if the federal government cuts theirs,” said Roy Barnhart, senior vice president for Finance and Administration.

“We’re not going to do that. We’ve already made the commitment to that.”

The University awarded more than $9 million this year in

institutional funds, and more is planned for next year, according to Stokan.

“We try to keep our prices low and stay efficient in how we operate so we don’t have to ask you for any more money than we have to,” said Barnhart.

The University administration is concerned about the aidcutting proposals.

“It is on the radar screen. We are watching and monitoring it,” said Barnhart.

From an admissions perspective, when people have less money available to them, they tend not to go to college.

“From a recruiting standpoint, that is negative, especially when we know they would be great Waynesburg University students, making a difference in our community and globally,” said Sarah Zwinger, director of Admissions.

Fear of these cuts is not Waynesburg exclusive. School presidents across the state have contacted senators to encourage them to vote against these proposals, said Stokan.

“By the time everybody gets their say, my guess is it won’t be as bad as what we fear,” said Barnhart.

“It won’t be as good as what we hoped, but it will be somewhere in the middle.”

Library buys device

Photo by Gregory Reinhart

Carmen Adamson works with the device that Eberly Library purchased to transfer information on vinyl records to CDs. attempt, I learned what to do and then it worked fine the next time I tried convert the record.”

Adamson said gaining an understanding of the equipment would be ben-

eficial in her future.

“I would like to own my own record label someday, so any experience I get with music will help,” Adamson said.

Adamson believes that

having this device and technology will be helpful to students and faculty.

“Books and music will be more accessible to student, especially for the music department.”

Aid to be reduced Continued from A1 $100,000 this year from the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant to help needy students, Stokan said.

Next year, however, that number could be zero if the program is

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Thursday, March 3, 2011

Campus

Malenke remembered Continued from A1 Last year he produced a documentary with junior Sarah Markwardt about Hekima Place, a girls’ orphanage located outside Nairobi, Kenya dedicated to serving children who lost their families to HIV and AIDS. “One of my best memories of Josh was when he approached me about showing his film to members of his [Print Journalism] class to create some type of audience for it,” Krause said.

“So I called him in during the last two weeks of class and we set up a premiere. He was so proud of that project. For me, that will be one of the enduring memories I have of Josh.”

A life Malenke was born Feb. 15, 1989 in Uniontown and is the son of Faith (Hopler) Malenke-Kaylor of Uniontown and the late Bruce R. Malenke, who died when Malenke was only four years old.

He attended Uniontown Area School District and even as a high school freshman, his vibrant personality was able to attract the attention of one of his classmates who would later become his best friend.

“We hit it off then and we’ve been friends ever since,” Waynesburg University junior Mike McCarty said.

“He had an impact on everyone he came in contact with; he made you

Photo by Dave Miller and Lisa Jaeger

(Above) Josh Malenke was a defensive end for the Waynesburg University football team, recording 33 solo tackles during his career. (Right) Malenke was a staple in the musical productions on campus as well. He performed in ‘Lil Abner,’ as pictured and ‘Thoroughly Modern Millie.’ He also performed with the improv group. feel like he was your best friend. It was awesome to get to spend that amount of time with someone as genuine as he was.”

Malenke was remembered by the Waynesburg University community as a free spirit; a young man who had the unique ability to cross over and get along with people from different backgrounds and with different interests.

His involvement in numerous school activities is evidence of this trait. He was a defensive end for the Waynesburg University football team, where he made 33 solo tackles and 47 tackles total career long.

He held a radio shift for 99.5 the Hive and wrote for the school

newspaper.

His creative and comedic side found an outlet with theater, where he performed in Lil’ Abner and Thoroughly Modern Millie.

According to Eddie Powers, in regard to Malenke’s involvement with the improv group and “WU’s Line is it Anyway?” the things he came up with were “hilarious.”

His involvement in so many activities exemplified Shepas’ wish for his players.

“We want our football players to be more than just football players,” Shepas said.

“Josh definitely exemplified that. Even though he was a great player, there was so much to

him as a young man.”

A loss Following the news of his death, students organized a memorial last Wednesday evening in Alumni Hall.

Sitting in a circle that continued to grow with each passing second, fellow classmates shared both smiles and tears as they exchanged stories about Malenke.

“With the loss of any student within the campus community it’s obviously a loss for the entire campus community,” said Richard “Skip” Noftzger, senior vice president for institutional planning, research and education services.

“For someone like Josh, who touched so many different people’s

Monitor online profile Continued from A1 tendent Robert Laws tells the Huffington Post that Munroe’s posts are likely to result in termination, but the district is still investigating her blog. “[In instances like this teachers need to think] about how many parents

lives, it’s felt even more.

Students, faculty and staff alike are going to feel the loss, and it’s in many ways a testimony to the kind of impact he had in just a short time.”

According to Noftzger, it’s normal to feel grief after the loss of a loved one, but if the struggle becomes too paralyzing, one should not only seek out the assistance of friends but also individuals who can offer more in terms of both listening and guidance.

“The Counseling Center and the University Chaplain [Tom Ribar] are on high alert and are readily available to help,” he said.

A legacy Fantastic. Passionate.

are going to be outraged,” Pazzynski said.

“That’s the issue, schools will listen to parents – she should have known better than to post those things.”

Dr. Maureen Mulvaney, professor of education and English, said that posts on social networking sites have caused issues for students in the Department of Education in the past as well.

“The whole Facebook

Special.

Vibrant.

Words from his coach, his professor, his friend; all words to describe a young man who was just chasing his dream.

“In terms of potential and in terms of things that he would accomplish, I had no doubt that he was going to accomplish a lot of great things,” Krause said.

“All of us will look back very fondly of the time we had with him, and you know that we will certainly wish that we had more. But I choose to look at it this way: I feel fortunate that he chose Waynesburg. It was just a wonderful opportunity to get to know him.”

thing has made student teaching very precarious.

I had to remove a student teacher from their student teaching experience because of information that they had on their Facebook,” Mulvaney said.

“And the situation wasn’t terribly different [to that of Munroe]; they had made derogatory comments about the students that they were teaching, and the students printed it out and showed it to the principal and it was bad.”

This was not the first time that social networking became a problem for students in the department, Mulvaney said.

“I think student teachers are often struggling with the fact that they have to be role models at this point in their lives,” Mulvaney said.

Students are also cautioned not to add their students on Facebook.

Mulvaney said that this can cause an unhealthy relationship between students and teachers.

“I think social networking sites destroy a teacher’s credibility with their students. It confuses their students more about whether they’re really teachers or whether they’re really adults,” she said.

“Teachers don’t want students to have that confusion; they want to be seen as an adult and not as someone who is in between.”

Guest columnist Tom Ribar talks about the difficulty of the past few months for the Waynesburg University and community.

Read more on B2

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Highway deaths increasing, study says

By Amanda Wishner Editorial Assistant The number of highway deaths in Pennsylvania is increasing, according to a recent news release from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

Acting PennDOT Secretary Barry J. Schoch says the total number of fatal crashes have climbed to 1,324 as of 2010.

The increase is especially disappointing following 2009’s record low of 1,256, which is the lowest number since 1928 when recordkeeping began. Unsafe drivRising floodwaters came dangerously close to spilling over the banks on Feb. 25. The Waynesburg area had expe- ing is proving to be the deadliest killer. rienced heavy heavy rainfall over the past few days.

The biggest increase in highway deaths comes from unbuckled fatalities. Although the seat-belt usage rate in Pennsylvania is at an

By Kaitlin Edwards equipment to meet the estimated 86 percent as training needs of their of last year, 2010’s total Managing Editor increased by 73 deaths. companies.

This is a worthy cause, and we are In order to assist in “This equipment has glad to have been able to contribute to it. paying off the loans for a made a big change in purchase of a Mobile the way training is done Roy Barnhart Live Fire Training Simufor the firefighters,” said Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration lator, Waynesburg UniJeff Marshall, Waynesversity recently donated burg Franklin Township $10,000 to the WaynesVolunteer Fire Compaburg Township VolunThree years ago, the them to make a differ- ny Chief. “It has helped teer Fire Department.

Waynesburg Franklin ence in the communi- us prepare everyone bet“The Volunteer Fire Township Volunteer ty,” said Barnhart. ter for the challenges Company provides fire Fire Company pur- “This impact is really they face and be able to By Stephanie Laing protection services for chased the Mobile Live important to everyone, handle emergency situa- Editorial Assistant students, so it was in Fire Training Simulator and we appreciate what tions as they occur.”

Try not to roll the best interest of the for $583,690. they do for us.”

Some training activiUniversity to support With this recent Several factors con- ties include fire attack, through stop signs or this organization,” said installment, the Univer- tributed to the decision fire search and rescue, run any red lights this Roy Barnhart, senior sity has paid $30,000 of purchasing the equip- ladder operations, roof month.

Until March 27, vice president for toward this equipment. ment. work, fire classificafinance and administra- The University promBefore the purchase, tions, flammable gas police are taking extra tion. ised a total of $50,000 no training facilities and liquid hazards, radio time to find aggressive “It is important for and plans of making the existed in the local area, procedures and operat- drivers all over Southfire companies to be two remaining pay- and the company also ing in a vision obscured western Pennsylvania.

“Police stations are well-equipped and well- ments in 2012 and 2013. wanted to improve their environments. prepared for anything “The fire company certifications.

Other “This piece of equip- partnering with the they might have to will be able to use the local fire departments Pennsylvania DepartSee WU on B4 ment of Transportation face.” money we donate to will be able to use the

Head for the Hills

University donates money to local fire department “

“I wish Pennsylvania had enough nerve to pass a strong seat-belt law,” said Waynesburg Borough Chief of Police Timothy M. Hawfield.

“But in the mean time, give yourself plenty of time [while driving].

Take the time to buckle your seatbelt, and don’t rush.”

Other unsafe driving practices are responsible for 2010’s highest percentage of fatalities.

Speeding-related deaths totaled at 284.

Aggressive driving took a significant number of lives as well, jumping from 130 in 2009 to 168 last year. Greene County’s records, compiled by Drive Safe Pa., reflect this trend of unsafe driving. Out of the county’s reported traffic deaths in 2009, unrestrained and aggressive driving resulted in the largest number of See HIGHWAY on B4

”

State police crack down on rolling stops to crack down on aggressive driving,” said Chief of Police Timothy Hawfield of the Waynesburg Borough Police Department.

Aggressive driving will include speeding, weaving through traffic, tailgating and running red lights or stop signs.

Anything that puts other drivers or passengers at risk for injury or See POLICE on B4

Huffman Street to receive all new sidewalks, waterlines

By Kyle Edwards Region Editor This month, Huffman Street will receive a complete overhaul to its sidewalks, curbs and waterlines.

Waynesburg Borough Manager Bruce Wermlinger said that the street has been dug up and patched a multitude of times due to water breaks, and the sewer line needs to be replaced as well.

“The sidewalks and curbs are old, and we have had some problems with the streets holding water,” he said.

“It’s probably not the worst street in town, but we have to go through qualifying to get this street done, and it qualified so we’re going to go ahead and do it.”

Wermlinger said that

Photo by Amanda Rice

The Waynesburg Borough Council will be placing bids in March for the projects of replacing the sidewalks, waterlines and sewage lines up and down Huffman Street. the process for repairing the street will begin sometime this month.

“It [the program] is due to be bid in March, and the money needed will be awarded in April,” he said. “The way things are looking, we’ll have it completed by the time the World Series rolls around this

fall.”

According to Wermlinger, the street’s revitalization has been a long time coming.

“Twelve years ago we designated that the construction needed to be done,” he said. “I left for five years, and while I was gone it was dropped from the program.

When I came back I added it back.”

The project qualifies for the Community Development Block Grant, according to Wermlinger, which requires that at least 51 percent of the people affected by it meet lowto medium-income standards as defined by

the U.S. Department of Housing and Human Services.

“The construction will be paid for in part by CDBG funds,” Wermlinger said. “The borough gets approximately $90,000, and we’re estimating that this project will cost about $120,000 to $150,000. We’ll use all of the money given to us from 2009 from the grant and part of the money given to us from 2010 to complete this project.”

Southwestern Pennsylvania Water Authority has also agreed to replace the water line before the road is repaved, he said. While Huffman Street will be under construction for the majority of the project, Wermlinger said that the workers will try to keep detours to a

minimum.

“They’re going to try to keep Huffman open as much as they can,” he said. “But the other streets will be affected because of the parking problem that the construction will cause on Huffman. As far as construction goes, the streets in the surrounding area will remain unaffected.”

If not for the construction on Morgan Street, the project would be located somewhere else, Wermlinger said.

“The Morgan Street construction caused us to hold off on Morris Street,” he said. “The Council thought it would be better to do that street after the detour is lifted because the street could be damaged by the increase in truck traffic.”

YELLOW JACKET

Page B2

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Editorial

Sibs ‘N’ Kids Family weekend a success Anyone walking through campus this weekend saw an unfamiliar sight: kids.

Young kids.

And lots of them.

More than 70 children visited campus as part of the Sibs ‘N’ Kids program, hosted by the Student Activities Board. It was the first time in 10 years that the program was held.

And the effects could be seen instantaneously.

In the Benedum Dining Hall, young children were eating and being silly, bringing smiles to the college students sitting at their table and at the surrounding tables. Watching the children run around the dorms brought a new sense of community as residents on the floors bonded by creating different activities for the children.

Students had the opportunity to meet other college students as their siblings interacted.

Waynesburg students and their guests also strengthened their relationship and gave them memories to talk about for years to come.

The program also gave Waynesburg students the chance to watch a magician and other different and fun events on campus.

The return of Sibs ‘N’ Kids should definitely be considered a success. The presence of family, friends and especially children provided a much-needed break in the middle of a busy semester.

The Student Activities Board should be commended for their role in planning the event.

However, they should not pause too long to congratulate themselves as the next Sibs ‘N’ Kids event is only a year away.

Leaving a legacy Consider how you treat others “Don’t walk away without leaving your legacy.”

If you are a graduating senior, chances are you recognize this motto from the numerous fliers hanging around campus, e-mails and in your mailboxes.

Every year, the senior class gives a “gift” to some group or organization on campus.

This year, the committee decided to make their donation to the University’s mission trip scholarship fund.

The committee will be collecting money from the seniors to help this worthy organization. Although the general gist of giving this “gift” is raise money for a group, the cause is much more than that.

The question of leaving a legacy is more than just being remembered.

It’s about making a difference in the world, wherever you are.

Making a difference in your community is not that difficult – it just requires a little effort.

Whether it is through serving, donating money or making people laugh, the question is what will you be remembered for?

Consider this the next time you decide to take the easy way out or not make the extra effort to reach out to someone.

Whether you are a senior or a freshman, now is the time to make a difference.

What will be your legacy?

Be here now: stop rushing and regretting I was born two weeks late and I’m still running a little bit late. Consequently I’m usually rushing. I’ve been rushing through my entire life, fatally impatient and always in hurry to move on to what is next.

I was over kindergarten as soon as my first pack of crayons was dull.

No longer impressed and completely bored; I was ready for the next part of my life.

I was ready for first grade.

Half-days of spelling and story time were old news. I was looking forward to the next year

SIERRA SHAFER Columnist

where I would sit at a desk and learn cursive. I couldn’t wait to ride the bus with the big kids and eat hot lunch.

I knew that first grade would be better than kindergarten so the sooner I got there, the better.

First grade came but after a few clammy hot lunches during long, long seven hour school days I started to miss kindergarten.

Waging war against wacky winter weather The weather in Waynesburg has been completely ridiculous recently.

Short of a tornadoes and hurricanes, last week consisted of every type of weather known to man, as I’m sure you noticed.

Rain, sleet, snow, more rain, more snow, high winds, freezing rain. I’m pretty sure it hailed once or twice, and we even had

I wished myself back to kindergarten everyday. I missed the round tables and longer recess.

I hated riding the bus and I would have given anything to be driven to school again.

But I knew I couldn’t go back, so I turned my thoughts to next year, down the hall to the second grade. Second grade, I knew, would be better, smarter, cooler, faster.

Second grade was one year closer to the brand new Intermediate school building.

Once I breezed through there I’d be in middle school, which I

KYLE EDWARDS Columnist

the sunshine for an hour or two on a few days. And the weather hasn’t been the only thing changing.

I had to switch the clothes I was wearing several times last week, mostly because of the monsoon or blizzard that fell down on me as I left my dorm.

Now, I’m from the northwestern part of the state, about 45 minutes south of Erie.

Thanks to our close proximity to Lake Erie, we get a lot of

liked to call junior high because it reminded me that I was just three short years from being in high school.

High school came and went before I had the chance to say puberty.

And in eight weeks, college will be over.

So while I swore off making any countdowns for my New Year’s resolution, I can’t ignore that time is passing me by – very quickly.

And for once, I’m wishing it would slow down.

I’m not rushing to See RUSHING on B3

lake-effect snow. So I can handle snow. In fact, I love it. I can’t get enough of it. More snow equals better skiing conditions.

But that’s all it is.

Snow.

Not the mixture of all of the above that we’ve had the past few days.

This bipolar weather that we’ve been experiencing here is really throwing me for a loop.

I wake up in the morning, dress for one type of weather and then, when I get out of my first class, the weather has done a complete U-turn, leaving me high and dry.

See AVOIDING on B3

Discontent made holy by longing for God Some twenty odd years ago, a philosopher friend of mine, who was more than a few years my elder and soundly steeped in the Biblical narrative, commended the view that a Christian’s wrestling with sickness, disease and death, as new creation in Christ, is one way that she suffers for Christ.

Now that we are a new creation and have been raised with Christ, a reality that has in some fashion already taken place, the disso-

TOM RIBAR Guest Columnist

nance of death and loss is experienced as an opportunity to fill up what is lacking in Christ’s suffering.

The tragic death of Josh Malenke, one of our own, only accentuates what has been a difficult couple of months for our community.

In my prayer journal, I count no less than twelve students who

have lost father, brother or grandparent in the past two months.

Far from providing a trite, simplistic response to the loss that our community has experienced lately, suffering with Jesus in the very midst of our deepest loss puts us in the company of the psalmists and saints of ages past.

These saints candidly spoke heartfelt prayers of holy discontent with “the way things are.”

Joining those who have gone before us, we pray without hesitation,

“how long, oh Lord?”

If the death and resurrection of Jesus declare anything, taken together, they say this: there is nothing natural about death and nothing short of final victory through a share in Jesus’ resurrection will suffice in the face of our loss.

Try as our culture does to convince us of death’s logic, inevitability and even goodness, for those who have tasted restored glory, no substitute hope with do.

See GOD on B3

YELLOW JACKET

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Page B3

Op-Ed

Rushing through life Continued from B2

Legalization of marijuana is coming Marijuana should be legalized, regulated and taxed. The push to repeal federal prohibition should come from the states, and it should begin with the state of Washington.

In 1998, Washington was one of the earliest to vote for medical marijuana.

It was a leap of faith, and the right decision. In 2003, Seattle was one of the first places in America to vote to make simple marijuana possession the lowest police priority. That, too, was a leap of faith, and the right decision.

A year ago, City Attorney Pete Holmes stopped all prosecutions for simple possession: the right decision. It is time for the next step. It is a leap, yes, but not such a big one, now. Still, it is not an easy decision.

We have known children who changed from brilliant students to slackers by smoking marijuana at a young age. We have also known of many users who have gone on to have responsible and successful lives. One of them is president of the United States.

Like alcohol, most people can handle marijuana.

Some can’t.

There is a deep urge among parents to say: “No. Don’t allow it.

We don’t want it.” We understand the feeling. We have felt it ourselves.

effects on the human body that the costs of prohibition may be worth it.

Not marijuana.

The state of Washington’s experience with medical marijuana and Seattle’s tolerance policy suggest that with cannabis, legalization will work, and surprisingly well.

Not only will it work, but it is coming. You can feel it. On Feb. 8, a committee of the state House of Representatives held a public hearing on House Bill 1550.

The bill would legalize marijuana and sell it through the state liquor stores to customers over 21 who consume it in private.

The big issue at the hearing was the bill’s conflict with federal law: the prospect of Washington legalizing marijuana in defiance of federal authority.

What would that mean? There would be a legal and political fight.

In our view, such a fight is bound to happen. Some state is going to start it.

It might have been California, but the Golden State turned down a marijuana-legalization initiative Nov. 2, voting only 46 percent for it.

Continued from B2 Legalize cannabis, regulate it, tax it. It is radical, yet commonOr wet…whatever sensical.

This editorial originally the case may be. appeared in the Seattle Times.

But despite all of my grumbling, groaning and griping, I haven’t let this weird weather bring me down.

Quite the opposite, in fact. I’ve made the most out of all of it.

House bills being considered When the sun was An amendment to the Pennsylvania Farmland shining, I spent all the and Forest Land Assessment Act of 1974, further free-time I could outproviding the use of land for exploration or extracside. When it rained, I tion of gas, oil or coal bed methane took out my umbrella and boots and splashed Senate updates around in the puddles.

The Senate has one floor amendment for 2011, When I woke up in concerning transportation and logging of aircraft, the morning and saw furthering the authority of the Department of Transportation, according to Senate Bill No. 110. snow on my windowsill, I tossed on my coat, put on my gloves, pulled my hat down the night my hand is color and depth to resur- over my ears and tossed stretched out without rection hope. some snowballs at my wearying; my soul refusAs an expression of friends. es to be comforted. holy discontent, it is a When we had thunWhen I remember faithful cry that says in derstorms I did the senGod, I moan; when I no uncertain terms that sible thing and stayed meditate, my spirit there will be a time, one indoors for a movie faints,” we offer an alter- day, when all things will night with my neighnative vocabulary for be put right. expressing our experiOur discontent is ence of the frailty and made holy by our longbrokenness of creation ing for the God who and the transient nature breaks into this age to of our lives. share in our suffering When we cry out that we might share in “how long, oh Lord” His victory. with the psalmist we This side of the resurenter into different rection, we take comfort telling of the story of the knowing that when we world. weep before the tombs Such prayer recovers of our family and the practice of lamenta- friends, our tears are tion, as suggested by those of Jesus himself.

Tom Ribar is the Lauren Winner in her book Mudhouse Sab- chaplain at Waynesburg bath. Lamentation lends University.

Certainly the life of a parent would be easier if everyone had no choice but to be straight and sober all the time.

But an intoxicant-free world is not the one we have, nor is it the one most adults want.

Marijuana is available now. If your child doesn’t smoke it, maybe it is because your parenting works.

But prohibition has not worked.

It does impose huge costs.

There has been: a cost to the people arrested and stigmatized as criminals, particularly to students who lose university scholarships because of a single conviction; a cost in wasted police time, wasted court time and wasted public resources in the building of jails and prisons; a cost in disrespect for the law and, in some U.S. cities, the corruption of police departments; a cost in lost civil liberties and lost privacy by such measures as the tapping of private telephones and invasion of private homes; a cost in the encouragement of criminal lifestyle among youth, and the consequent rise in theft, assault, intimidation, injury and murder, including multinational criminal gangs; and a cost in tax revenues lost by federal, state and local governments revenues that for this state might be on the order of $300 million a year.

Some drugs have such horrible

Regional Political Updates House Resolutions adopted on Feb. 28

Feb. 28 through March 4 was designated as “Communities in School Week,” honoring the work of the volunteers, staff and board members of the Pennsylvania network of Communities in Schools. March 30 of each year has been designated as “Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day.”

Upcoming sessions days March 7, 8 and 9 at 11 a.m.

God weeps with us Continued from B2 Musical artist Dave Matthews, in his persistent search for meaning in the face of loss, death and ending of life, sings, “Ah When the world ends…Collect your things, you’re comin' with me; When the world ends, You, tuckle up yourself with me; Watch it as the stars disappear to nothing…

You know love will be our wings, The passion rises up from the ashes, When the world ends” One can’t escape the

need to make sense of it all: life’s fleeting character, one’s vulnerability and frailty, the destiny of creation itself.

Matthews reveals his heart-felt commitment to romanticism and the hope found in the encounter with a lover.

Matthews isn’t alone.

Certainly his is not the only false hope held by the world at large.

Yet, I suspect his version of hope, in one form or another, resonates with a broad spectrum of our society.

So, when we pray with the psalmist, “I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and he will hear me.

In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord; in

make plans for the next stage of life and I’m starting to learn a little patience.

It may have taken me more than two decades, but I think I’m starting to get it.

We have to slow down.

It’s not a new idea by any account, but if we could finally learn to embrace it, it would be a revolutionary idea.

We all know to slow down and enjoy life before we miss it, to embrace the moment, to be present in the now – cliché after cliché, we know that we’re expected not to rush through life.

But then we get busy.

We get anxious. We get bored. And we can’t stop looking past the now and get focused on the next all over again.

We go on like this for a while until something halting catches our attention and causes us to stop what we’re doing at look around.

Often times, it’s something major, something tragic – the death of a family member, the loss of a friend, a breakup or a financial crisis – that causes us to snap out of the rush and sit down.

Sometimes we’re even slow to get back up.

But we do and eventually we’re back to the

Avoiding winter blues

rush. Again and again and again. Rushing, slamming on the breaks, pausing momentarily and then back to rushing.

I wish those momentary pauses weren’t always so abrupt or so dramatic. I wish they were a little less momentary.

We all know that pushing down on our break pedal will stop our car. And whenever we’re reading, we can start again. We rely on our breaks to slow down when we see a red light in the distance, but also when something unexpected jumps out in front of us. Yet how much easier is it to slowly roll to a stop, rather than slam on the breaks?

If we’re cruising along at slower speeds, it’s much easier to take in the scenery. And when the unexpected jumps out, it’s a much smoother stop.

Maybe we’d be better off if our lives just went a little slower and instead of rushing, we had the patience to enjoy where we are.

Sixteen school years later, I’m almost regretting rushing through kindergarten and recess.

But wishing them back won’t be very useful either.

And as I plan ahead for after graduation – which currently has very little plan – I need to be reminded to enjoy where I’m at. In struggle or joy; to be here now.

bors.

The point is, I didn’t let the weather get to me. I enjoyed every minute of this crazy weather.

And I’ll tell you one thing.

I’ve felt a lot happier lately because of it.

I’ve long since learned to not let the little things in life, like the weather, get to me.

It’s just not worth it.

Trust me.

Sure, I got pelted with rain, hail and snowballs, but I fought through it and still got to class or dinner on time. I got soaked once or twice, but I didn’t melt. I jumped once or twice because of the thunder and lightning, I’ll admit it, but I’m still here.

And through it all, I had a huge smile on my face, which in the end, is all that matters.

So, in my opinion, it’s Kyle: one, Mother Nature: zero.

I’ve won my battle against the elements.

What about you?

YELLOW JACKET

Page B4

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Region

Hatfield’s Ferry accused of polluting area; trial resumes March 9

By Sandor Mecs Staff Writer The sweeping complex of the Hatfield’s Ferry Power Station stretches to the vertical and horizontal limits of the eye.

Titanic rotating plumes of rapid steam gush into the sky, visible even from the Waynesburg University campus 17 miles away.

At full capacity, Allegheny Energy Inc. channels 1,710 megawatts of electricity into the tristate grid.

Environmental groups have attacked the power station for burning barges of coal every day and lagging behind 21st century ecological norms.

Infographic by Rachel Brown

Associate attorney Abigail Dillen representing Earthjustice, an environmental advocacy law firm, is currently involved with an ongoing lawsuit against the station for its handling of total dissolved solids.

Dillen said that TDS is a result of the cleaning procedure of the

smoke stacks that the coal is burned in.

“They generally cause a sludge,” she said.

“That sludge is going into a pond that is chemically treated.

That wastewater is dumped into the Monongahela River.”

According to Dillen, the water used to treat

the sludge on site becomes polluted itself and enters into the river, only three miles upstream from an intake providing residents with their drinking water. She said that the practice is primitive by green technological standards and that a little more effort on the part of the utili-

said.

“Distracted driving has shown a significant increase from five years Continued from B1 ago,” said Hawfield. “I myself have almost been fatalities. hit by a woman on her Both yielded a total of cell phone. I had a green three fatalities each. light, and she almost THawfield agrees that boned me. It turns out reckless driving, particu- she was texting.” larly what is being Young people, motorreferred to as distracted cyclists and bicyclists driving, is a considerable also suffered a high numdanger to drivers. ber of fatalities in the With cell phones same time period. becoming so much like Fatal crashes involvmini-computers, people ing a 16- or 17-year-old using them are forced to driver increased from 40 constantly have their to 57. Motorcyclist fataleyes on their phone, he ities increased by 20

deaths, while bicyclist deaths increased by a slightly smaller margin.

“Fatality statistics are not simply numbers; they represent the many families that suffered the loss of loved ones on Pennsylvania roads last year,” Schoch said in the PennDOT news release.

“Although there is nothing we can do or say to ease the pain of losing a loved one due to a crash, we will continue to look for the best ways to keep highway travelers safe.”

While 2010’s number of highway deaths has increased, the news is

not all bad. The numbers reported over recent years are significantly lower than figures posted 20 and 40 years ago.

Work zone fatalities have also dropped. To encourage additional decreases in highway deaths this year, Hawfield encourages drivers to practice safer driving techniques.

Wearing your seatbelt, turning on your headlights and finding a designated driver while drinking are easy ways to prevent fatalities, he said, “and stay off the cell phones.”

WU donates money

donors contributed to this project including Alpha Natural Resources, First Federal Bank and CNX Consol Gas. The fire company also received $180,000 from federal grants and $200,000 from state

grants.

“When we bought the equipment three years ago, we knew that help from the community is essential to pay for it,” said Marshall.

“Without the $50,000, none of this would be possible.”

Highway deaths rise

Continued from B1 ment seems to be a unique training simulator,” said Barnhart.

“It combines real

world environment and a taste of what it is like to be in a real fire in a controlled environment. This is a worthy cause, and we are glad to have been able to contribute to it.”

According to Marshall, three other major

ty company could avoid any problems.

“It’s not rocket science to control the discharge,” she said, further describing how the company could distill the waste into usable steam and a small amount of solid matter that is safe to dispose in a landfill.

As to whether or not any serious harm is currently being dealt, occupational medicine specialist Dr. Paul Vaughan M.D. does not suggest any major patterns are apparent in the area. Vaughan practices at Southwest Regional Medical Center and claims that his experience has been inconclusive in pointing out any problems

Police crack down Continued from B1 death is considered aggressive driving.

“They will target the areas where the most car crashes occur,” he said.

Although the Waynesburg Borough police are not participating in the crackdown, 19 municipal police departments and two state police troops will target 22 roadways, according to The Pittsburgh Channel online. Hawfield said the roadways were selected through an aggressive driving crash analysis.

“Route 21 has more crashes and fatal crashes than any other state highway in the county,” Hawfield said.

He assumes both state Route 88 and Route 19 will be monitored for aggressive driving.

PennDOT distributed $2.1 million in federal funds to police agencies to fund this crackdown on aggressive driving.

According to The Pittsburgh Channel online, the money will pay for

with the drinking water.

“Greene County has been a cancer cluster for a long time now.

We’re way above the average here,” he said.

“At the same time, I’ve seen no patients showing serious symptoms of molybdenum, chromium or arsenic, some of the chemicals of concern contained in the ‘scrubber’ sludge, poisoning here.”

Chemical consultants at the station were not available for comment, owing to the recent merger between Allegheny Energy Inc. and FirstEnergy Corp.

The TDS lawsuit filed

by Earthjustice is due to return to the courtroom on March 9.

overtime and any other costs the participating police departments will have when participating in this aggressive driving crackdown.

Near Waynesburg, the Pennsylvania State Police, Waynesburg Station in Greene County; Pennsylvania State Police, Washington Station; Washington City Police; Washington Township Police; Pennsylvania State Police, Uniontown Station and Perryopolis Borough Police in Fayette County are some of the police agencies cooperating with PennDOT. Police agencies and PennDOT feel that aggressive driving has become a problem.

Police departments participating in this initiative wrote 154,642 aggressive driving-related citations just last year, according to The Pittsburgh Channel online. Of those citations, the most common offense was speeding, followed by disobedience to traffic control devices and signs.

“This [crackdown on aggressive driving] is a good thing,” said Hawfield.

Lacrosse opened up its season Saturday at Hood.

Read more on C4

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Winter season winds down Dave Floyd Sports Editor

With the winter sports season winding down and the spring season getting underway, it’s about time to look both back and ahead at what was and is to come in Waynesburg University athletics.

Winter In the Nov. 11 issue of The Yellow Jacket, I pointed out four key storylines to watch for throughout the winter season. So, with March 1 behind us, here’s how those storylines played (or are still playing) out.

4. Christner in charge In his first year as head coach of the men’s basketball team, Mark Christner led his team to a 6-20 overall record, good for a fourwin improvement from the previous season.

The men’s hoopsters followed a path similar to that of the men’s soccer team this past fall under the direction of another first-year head coach, Sean McCarthy. Each squad came out of the gates quickly, surpassing the previous seasons’ win totals within a few weeks.

However, each team struggled to maintain that same pace and production decreased down the stretch.

Good news for the Yellow Jacket men’s basketball team: they scored a big road victory in their regular season finale and gave top-seeded Thiel all they could handle in the first round of the conference playoffs. That’s something to build off of as Christner begins piecing together that next recruiting class.

3. Wisconsin bound Not to be outdone by last season’s squad, which sent two wrestlers to nationals, this edition of the Waynesburg mat men qualified three grapplers for the national tournament.

In 2010, then junior 133-pounder Nick Garber and Corbin Semple won individual Midwest Regional titles to advance to nationals. This time around, sophomore Alex Crown (125 pounds), Garber (now a 141-pound senior) and freshman Brandon Fedorka (285 pounds) garnered individual regional gold and qualified for the 2011 national championships.

Check out the next

SAINT VINCENT - 70, JACKETS - 53

Women’s basketball bows out in PAC semifinals Despite defeat, Jackets earn top seed in ECACs

By Aaron Thompson Assistant Sports Editor When the Waynesburg University women’s basketball team traveled to Crestview Hills, Ky., for the Presidents’ Athletic Conference semifinals, it already had accomplished many of its season long goals. The next one on that list was to reach the conference championship

game. Unfortunately for the Yellow Jackets (18-9), the nationally ranked Saint Vincent Bearcats (24-4) all but ended those hopes just eight minutes into the game when they got out to a commanding 27-6 lead, following another two-point basket from Bearcats guard Melissa Mansur.

Saint Vincent demoralized Waynesburg by shooting 59 percent in the first half and close to 50 percent from the field for the game en route to a 7053 victory that advanced the Bearcats to the PAC

championship game.

“They threw a few things at us we hadn’t seen before, and obviously we didn’t adjust well right away,” Waynesburg head coach Sam Jones said.

“Saint Vincent came out with a lot of emotion.

This season and this playoff run in particular mean a lot to them. I won’t say we came out flat, but we didn’t match their intensity at the start.”

After Mansur connected on a three pointer to start the game, WaynesSee JACKETS on C3

Photo courtesy of Saint Vincent College Sports Information

Sophomore Jessi Drayer (left) defends Saint Vincent’s Maria Baroffio (12) in the teams’ semifinal matchup.

WISCONSIN BOUND

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Jackets reflect on past season

By Jon Ledyard Assignments Editor

the Jackets on the board first in the bottom of the second inning when he launched a solo homerun over the left field fence to make it 1-0 Waynesburg.

The Bobcats quickly bounced back, answering with solo shots of their own in the third and fifth innings.

After the Bobcats took the 2-1 lead they would never get another hit the rest of the way. Longo

A Chinese philosopher once said, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”

For the Waynesburg University men’s basketball, that single step was a four-win improvement from the previous season’s 2-22 record and the team’s first Presidents’ Athletic Conference victory in 22 games.

Despite progressing this season, the Jackets only managed to notch the eight seed in the nineteam PAC Tournament, finishing the season 6-20 overall and 2-12 in league play.

“When I came in, I didn’t really know our guys or our ability very well, so I came in with a pretty open mind,” said first-year head coach Mark Christner.

“Throughout the year we definitely had guys get better who had struggled at the beginning of the season, and we kept working hard even when things weren’t going our way.”

The Jacket’s season included a dismal 0-10 record at the Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse, extending their losing record at home to 4-26 over the past three seasons.

“We had teams that came in and played very well against us at home,” said Christner. “It’s something we will emphasize through training for next season is taking teams off their game when they play us at our place.”

Seniors Erik Noone and Steve Iser concluded their

See BASEBALL on C2

See JACKET on C3

Photo by Dawn Yates

Senior Nick Garber executes a move on Manchester’s Charles Holmquest in his first match of Saturday’s regionals.

Garber scored a fall in just 1:43 and eventually won the 141-pound crown, qualifying him for nationals.

Three wrestlers win regionals; onto nationals

By Dave Floyd Sports Editor Ron Headlee has always stressed qualifying wrestlers for nationals as the “main goal” during his three-year tenure as Yellow Jacket head coach.

This past Saturday at the Midwest Regional, Waynesburg’s mat men had the opportunity to do just that.

Sophomore Alex Crown (125 pounds), sen-

ior Nick Garber (141) and freshman Brandon Fedorka (285) took advantage of that chance, winning individual regional titles and qualifying for this year’s national tournament.

“All in all, for us to get three qualifiers was [great],” Headlee said.

“All of our guys gave themselves a chance; they were just one or two points away from being [where they needed to be].

“I was happy about [our

GAME 1: WU - 3, UPG - 2

performance]. I thought we wrestled well,” Headlee added. “It was just like the PACs; I thought we had a good round every round.”

Waynesburg’s three individual champions were the most by any team at the Midwest Regional, hosted by Wabash College (Ind.).

That propelled them to a third-place team finish at the event. The Jackets ended the day with 112.5

points.

Olivet and Wabash finished one-two in the team standings with 155.5 and 144.5 points, respectively.

“I thought we were real good [as a team],” Headlee said. “I knew it was going to be real hard to beat Olivet, but I thought we might be able to creep in there with Wabash. We lost to a couple of their guys, but we also knocked See TRIO on C2

GAME 2: WU - 3, UPG - 2

Baseball team opens season with sweep Pair of walk-offs propel Jackets in 2011 debut

By Aaron Thompson Assistant Sports Editor

The last two seasons the Waynesburg University baseball team came up just short in its search for a berth in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference playoffs. With the entire seaSee WINTER on C4 son in front of them, the

Yellow Jackets are hoping this can be a breakthrough season despite losing several key players from last year’s team.

Waynesburg successfully started its season Tuesday when they swept Pitt-Greensburg in a nonconference doubleheader.

The Jackets (2-0) won both contests 3-2 in dramatic fashion.

It wasn’t unusual that the Jackets swept the doubleheader for the second straight season against the

Bobcats (0-2), but the way they did it was.

“Our pitching staff the last two to three years hasn’t been where it needs to be,” said Waynesburg head coach Mike Humiston. “I thought our pitching staff did a good job keeping us in it today.”

The key for Waynesburg in game one was the pitching performance by sophomore Anthony Longo.

Jackets shortstop Anthony DeFilippo put

YELLOW JACKET

Page C2

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Sports

2011 Jacket football schedule released

By Nate Regotti Staff Writer

File Photo

Senior pitcher/infielder Amanda Baughman returns for the Jackets after garnering All-PAC honors in 2010.

Softball strives for PAC playoff trip

By Brandon Reed Editorial Assistant In Lou Giachetti’s third season as head coach of the Yellow Jacket softball team, he hopes to get over the hump and finally get into the Presidents’ Athletic Conference playoff picture.

“Only four teams make the playoffs,” said Giachetti. “We finished fifth, and if we could have finished with one more win, we would have won the tiebreakers.”

Giachetti said that one thing he wants his team to focus on is the doubleheaders this season.

“Our problem last year was we couldn’t split a doubleheader,” said Gia-

Baseball wins two Continued from C1 kept Pitt-Greensburg at bay, retiring the final nine batters of the game and keeping his team in the game.

In the bottom of the seventh and final inning, Waynesburg finally gave Longo the much-needed run support to gain the victory. The Jackets came to plate in the bottom of the seventh down 2-1.

After one out, Jackets left fielder Mike Neckerman reached base after a pitch hit him. Junior designated hitter Noah Pust then doubled to the left field gap to put the game-tying and potential winning runs in scoring position.

That is when Humiston elected to send sophomore Ty Holderbaum to the plate to pinch-hit for freshman second baseman Andrew Rose. Holderbaum delivered a walk-off two-run single that plated Neckerman and Pust to give the Jackets the victory.

Humiston discussed the move to bring in Holderbaum in that situation.

“It worked out today,” Humiston said. “He hit the ball well in the fall and gives us a chance to get some runs or get on base in those situations.”

Longo earned the victory by pitching a complete game four-hitter. He allowed two earned runs while striking out nine and did not walk a batter.

“I knew last year that Longo would be better as a

chetti. “We got to get better at coming back and winning after a loss.”

Giachetti said that due to a solid lineup and a great team attitude, they could reach their goals of improving on their record from last season and making the PAC playoffs.

“Everyone has a chance to start any game; we have a really deep roster,” said Giachetti.

The team will be going to the Rebel Spring Games in Kissimmee, Fla., for their first games of the 2011 season. Giachetti went 4-6 his first year and 1-5 last year at the games.

“These games are a

The 2011 football schedule was released for the Waynesburg University Yellow Jackets this past week. The Jackets will face several familiar opponents, but a new matchup as been set in place.

On the opening weekend of the season, the team will travel to Newport News, Va., to take on the Christopher Newport University Captains.

CNU is a member of the NCAA Division III USA South Conference.

They finished with a 6-5 overall record in the 2010 season. The two teams have never met.

Waynesburg head coach Rick Shepas seemed excited about the new opponent.

“Opening up on the road is a great test for our guys,” Shepas said. “We need to get it done early on the road.”

On Sept. 10, Wilkes College will make a visit to John F. Wiley Stadium for the second annual PAC/MAC Football Challenge Series. The Jackets

Below is the Yellow Jackets’ 2011 football schedule, released just recently.

Sept. 3 Sept. 10 Sept. 17 Sept. 24 Oct. 1 Oct. 8 Oct. 15 Oct. 29 Nov. 5 Nov. 12

@ Christopher Newport (1 p.m.) vs. Wilkes (noon) vs. Thiel (1:30 p.m.) @ Grove City (2 p.m.) vs. Bethany (1:30 p.m.) vs. Geneva (1:30 p.m.) @ Westminster (1:30 p.m.) vs. Saint Vincent (1:30 p.m.) @ Thomas More (1 p.m.) @ W&J (1:30 p.m.)

will look to avenge a loss from last season.

Defensive captain Darryl Moore cannot wait to get back on the field against Wilkes.

“Our defense made a lot of mistakes that shouldn’t have been made last season,” Moore said.

While the Jackets returned only a few starters for that game at Wilkes in 2010, more than half of the starters will return to the team in 2011.

The following two weeks will feature the Jackets beginning Presidents’ Athletic Conference play by hosting Thiel and then traveling to Grove City.

Waynesburg will then return home to avenge a loss to the Bethany Bison.

The Bison defeated the Jackets 24-17 during the first weekend of October in 2010.

“They have a lot of returning starters,” More commented.

Bethany will return both their starting quarterback and running back from last season.

On the ensuing weekend, Waynesburg will try to give their fans another exciting Homecoming game as the Geneva Golden Tornadoes come to town. The past two matchups have been very high scoring. In 2009, Geneva left John F. Wiley

stadium with a 49-39 victory. Last season, Waynesburg brought home a 5542 victory.

The Jackets will then travel to Westminster before a bye week in midOctober. Shepas did not seem worried about the possibility of the bye affecting the team negatively.

“It depends on the mentality of our football team at that point,” he said. “Not having one didn’t hurt last year.”

Moore added: “I don’t like bye weeks. We’re sometimes flat for the next game. I’d rather not have one.”

Waynesburg will come off of the bye week to host Saint Vincent before two final road games.

The Jackets will travel to both Thomas More and Washington and Jefferson to round out the season.

Both teams edged Waynesburg by a total of just five points in 2010.

Overall, the team plans to take it one game at a time.

“The first games are just as important as the last,” Shepas said.

Trio wins regionals Continued from C1

See SOFTBALL on C3

sophomore,” Humiston said. “He has that kind of drive. He came out today and only made two bad pitches. He pitched very well. I was glad to see him do so well so early.

Waynesburg held a 2-0 lead in game two before the Bobcats rallied to tie the game with a pair of runs in the top of the fifth inning. The game went into extra innings tied 2-2.

After both teams squandered several opportunities, the Jackets finally earned victory in the bottom of the 10th inning.

Junior right fielder Ken Rosenbauer led off with a bunt single, outfielder Brandon Myers then was hit by a pitch and junior third baseman Tim Chilcote reached base on a bunt infield single to the load the bases. That is when DeFilippo ended the game and sent the Jackets to a 2-0 record. He took a 1-2 pitch and drove it through the left side of the infield for the game-winning walk-off single.

Junior pitcher Rob Baumgartel earned the victory in relief of senior starter Jesse Gonzalez.

Waynesburg is back in action March 7 as they travel to Davenport, Fla., for the RussMat Central Florida Invitational. The Jackets take on Wittenberg to open their full week of play.

Humiston said that it was important to get a few games in before the spring break trip.

“Anytime you get outside before a spring break trip it is beneficial,” he said. “Having those games under our belt and being 2-0 will give us a confidence boost.”

off a couple of their good ones too.

“All in all, I’d like to have won it, but like I always say, I’d rather have more guys going on to the national level, which we did.”

Crown became the first Jacket grappler to earn individual gold. Named the top seed in his fiveman bracket, the sophomore needed to win only one match to reach the championship bout. He did that easily, scoring a first period fall over Mount Saint Joseph’s Cory Clolinger in just 2:49.

In the finals, Crown and No. 3 seed Adam Wilson of Olivet wrestled one of the most dramatic matches of the day. Scoreless at the start of the third period, Waynesburg’s 125-pounder chose top position, which he considers his strongest position. Crown rode Wilson for the entire period, picking up the one possible point for riding team and squeaking out the 1-0 decision victory.

“My coaches had faith in me,” Crown said.

“They wanted me to take top. They had faith in me to ride him out for two minutes, which I ended up doing, but [it] wasn’t easy. “[Winning regionals and qualifying for nationals] means a lot to me,” Crown added. “It means I accomplished one of my goals individually.”

Garber was the next

Photo by Dawn Yates

Waynesburg’s three regional champions and national qualifiers pose with their three coaches after the Midwest Regional Saturday at Wabash College (Ind.).

Jacket afforded the opportunity to qualify for nationals. The Waynesburg native, also a top seed, used two first-period pins to cruise into the title match. There, he recorded a major decision victory, 13-3, over Washington and Jefferson’s Josh Etzel, a wrestler who had beaten Garber in the teams’ dual match earlier in the season.

“The kid we thought Nick was going to wrestle (2011 national qualifier Vince Tucker) got upset; Etzel beat him in the semifinals,” Headlee said.

“Then Nick just destroyed Etzel. He wrestled like we knew he could.”

The Jackets’ 141pounder was one of only two grapplers to score bonus points in each of his matches. Case Western Reserve’s Isaac Dukes, a returning national champion, was the other.

For his efforts, Garber garnered the event’s Most Outstanding Wrestler award.

This year will mark the third in a row in which Garber has made the trip to the national tournament. Last season, he

became the school’s first All-American since Shawn Whyte in 2001.

For Fedorka, the Midwest Regional was his first competition since Feb. 5. He had missed the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Championships due to an illness.

In his initial match, Waynesburg’s heavyweight shook off the rust and defeated PAC foe Will Ringer of Thiel 3-2.

“I was a little bit worried because he drew Ringer,” Headlee said. “I knew [Ringer] wasn’t going to do anything; he was going to try to go into overtime.

“Brandon did a great job just riding him out to win that one.”

Fedorka, the No. 2 seed, then picked up a 9-4 decision victory over Wabash’s Patrick Clegg.

The win paired him up with top-seeded Logan Renes of Olivet in the championship bout. In that title match, Fedorka finished off the day for Waynesburg in style by executing what Headlee called a “beautiful double” leg takedown in overtime for a 3-1 triumph.

Junior 157-pounder

Garrett Johnston was the only Jacket wrestler to advance to the finals. He reached the title bout by upsetting top-seeded Steven Mena of Olivet.

However, in the championship match, Johnston fell by decision to Trine’s Elias Larson.

Waynesburg also posted three other top-six finishers. Freshman 149pounder Luke Lohr completed his impressive rookie campaign by going 2-2 on the day and ending up in fourth place. Fellow freshman Sam Lombardo (165 pounds) and junior Jared Roberts (174) each tallied fifth-place finishes.

Crown, Garber and Fedorka now begin preparations for the national championships March 1112 at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

“I thought our guys were well prepared for [this past] weekend,” Headlee said. “I thought they went in and didn’t seem burnt out. I thought they wrestled pretty hard.

I thought mentally they were there.

“So we’re not going to change anything [about our preparations from this [past] week to the next.”

YELLOW JACKET

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Page C3

Sports

Fedorka, Hunter honored as Athletes of the Week

By Jon Ledyard

Hunter was named to second-team All-PAC following a season in which she garnered an honorable mention spot. Hunter led

the Jackets to victory in the quarterfinals of the PAC Tournament over Washington & Jefferson, posting nine points and a

game-high seven assists to go with four rebounds.

The junior only turned the ball over twice despite playing the entire 40 minutes.

In the Jacket’s semifinal loss to St. Vincent, Hunter did everything she could to keep Waynesburg in the game, scoring a game-high 20 points and pulling down a team-high eight boards. Hunter’s importance to the team was obvious due to the fact that she played all but one minute of the entire postseason.

Waynesburg’s season isn’t over yet, as Hunter leads the top-seeded Jackets into the quarterfinals of the ECAC tournament this Wednesday against Moravian. Results were unavailable at press time.

Jackets now in ECACs

The Jackets never led and the closest they could cut the Bearcats lead to was 13 points late in the second half when sophomore forward Paige Pearce connected on the front end of a one-and-one free throw opportunity at the line to make it 64-51.

Saint Vincent answered with another run to make sure the Jackets could not creep any closer.

Saint Vincent went on to lose in the PAC championship game 66-55 to No. 1 Thomas More (28-0) on Saturday. The win made it five straight PAC titles for the Saints.

Both the Bearcats and the Saints will compete in the Division III National Tournament starting this Friday.

Meanwhile, the Jackets were chosen late Monday afternoon as the No. 1 seed for the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference South Tournament.

“I think our conference top to bottom is very strong,” Jones said. “We have the No. 1 ranked team (Thomas More) in the country, another national tournament team [Saint Vincent], and we’re No. 1 seed in the ECAC [South Tournament].

Coach Jones was thrilled with the opportunity to get back on the court in a postseason environment.

“It is great [to make the postseason],” he said.

“We’re really excited

about it. This puts a stamp on what we’ve tried to accomplish this year.”

The Jackets hosted No. 8 seed Moravian College at the Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse on Wednesday night.

The Greyhounds (1412) finished in third place in the regular season in the Landmark Conference. Moravian won the Landmark Conference last season and earned trips to the NCAA Tournament the previous two seasons.

This marks the 12th appearance for the Greyhounds in the ECAC tournament.

Results from the Jackets and Greyhounds contest were not available at press time.

Other first round matchups included No. 7 Wesley College taking on No. 2 Catholic University, No. 3 Gwynedd-Mercy hosting No. 6 Alvernia and No. 5 Marywood University traveling to Erie to take on No. 4 seed Penn State-Behrend.

The winners will advance to the semifinals that take place Saturday.

The championship game takes place on Sunday.

The highest remaining seed will host the final two rounds.

Should Waynesburg win in the first round, they would host the semifinals and championship games at the Marisa Fieldhouse.

Giachetti was really excited to have most of his starting lineup returning and to have seven seniors to help with leadership.

“Our seniors are not only great ball players, but great leaders on and off the field,” said Giachetti.

“The team attitude is fantastic.”

One of those seniors is pitcher/infielder Amanda Baughman, who’s excelled on the mound and at the plate in her first three years. Baughman started all 32 games last season and received second team All-PAC honors.

Baughman led the Jackets last season in ten offensive categories and

five pitching categories.

Baughman struck out 129 batters last year (second in the PAC) and was fourth in the PAC with a .402 batting average.

In addition to Baughman, pitchers senior Kristen Lautenschlager and junior Lauren Minor possess collegiate experience in the circle. Freshman Carrie Maier and sophomore Stacey Knox add even more depth to the rotation.

“If our pitchers develop nicely, we could have a very good rotation this season,” said Giachetti.

The Jackets will look to start their season off with a win against Emmanuel (Mass.) March 6 in Kissimmee, Fla.

Assignments Editor Freshman wrestler Brandon Fedorka and junior point guard Hannah Hunter have been named this edition’s Yellow Jacket Athletes of the Week.

Fedorka bounced back from an injury that held him out of the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Championships with an impressive performance this past Saturday. Fedorka defeated three straight opponents to earn a trip to the NCAA Division III Championships in Wisconsin.

Despite not wrestling since Feb. 5, Fedorka collected a narrow 3-2 victory over Thiel’s Will Ringer before handling Wabash’s Patrick Clegg 9-4 in the

Photos by Dawn Yates and Andrew Buda

(Above) Freshman heavyweight Brandon Fedorka (left) controls Thiel’s Will Ringer in his first bout Saturday.

(Right) Junior Hannah Hunter dribbles the ball in front of W&J’s Vanessa Rivera in the teams’ PAC quarterfinal. semifinals. The freshman finished off his impressive run to nationals by downing top seed Logan Renes of Olivet, 3-1.

The 285-pounder will take a run at All-American status after posting an 18-4 record during his debut season.

Jacket men look back Continued from C1

Continued from C1

collegiate careers by finishing second and third on the team in points per game with 8.7 and 8.3, respectively.

Junior Jeff Young led the team in both scoring and rebounding, averaging 10.3 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. Freshman point guard Nick Herman stepped up in place of last year’s starter Ben Altmeyer, who sat out the season with a knee injury. Herman started all 26 games for the Jackets and posted game averages of 5.7 points and 2.5 assists, which was tops on the team.

Perhaps Herman’s most impressive performances came in the team’s last two games of the season, which coincidentally may have also been the team’s best two performances. The West Allegheny product posted 19 points and zero turnovers in the Jacket’s 80-70 victory over Geneva in the regular season finale before adding 10 points in the Jacket’s playoff loss to Thiel.

“Working with the upperclassmen this season I was definitely nervous to do stuff coming in,” said Herman. “But my teammates, especially Erik [Noone] and Steve [Iser] were great, and at the end of the year I knew we were struggling to score, and I figured if I could get some shots to fall it would help.

“Once they started falling, it just gave me more confidence in

burg answered quickly with its first points of the game as sophomore guard Jessi Drayer connected on a layup to cut it to 3-2, but it was never really close after that.

Saint Vincent scored the next eight points unanswered to make it 11-2 after senior guard Maria Baroffio hit two free throws for the Bearcats.

Waynesburg senior Elisha Jones made a jumper to make it 11-4 before the Bearcats scored the next five points, capped by a three pointer by Baroffio.

After Jessi Drayer’s layup made it 16-6, the Bearcats scored 11 more unanswered points to make it 27-6 with 12:14 to go in the first half and pretty much seal the Jackets fate not even eight minutes into the contest.

According to Coach Jones, his message to the team after the hot start by Saint Vincent was to try to extend the defense a little bit and force tougher shots, but ultimately the lead had already swelled too much.

“Unfortunately, sometimes with the momentum of a game, once they hit a few shots, even if you fix your defense, they still keep hitting,” Jones said.

Photo by Dave Miller, ADM Photography

Senior Erik Noone has played his final game as a member of the Jacket men’s basketball team. knocking them down.”

According to Christner, Waynesburg’s goal was to be playing their best at the end of the season, something he and the team believes they achieved.

“If you look at our schedule we played three conference champions, so I definitely think the toughness of our schedule helped us become the best team we could be at the end of the year,” said Christner. “We don’t shy away from playing anyone and we won’t, as that will continue to be our philosophy.”

Despite the strong finish, Christner admitted not all the pieces are in place to reach the team’s full potential.

“We need to develop depth at that wing spot, especially in replacing Steve and Erik,” said Christner. “We need versatile guys who are able to score in a lot of different ways whether it’s getting to the rim or shooting the three or even posting up a little.”

Christner said that

some of these scorers are guys on the team that can continue to develop, while others will need to be brought in.

“Lou Galante is a guy who did a nice job this season being versatile as a wing guy and as a post player for us, as well as bringing energy off the bench,” said Christner.

“But we need to develop scorers and get competition in here. Competition will bring out the best in our players while reinforcing that iron sharpens iron mentality.”

As Iser moves on from the program, he does so with full confidence that the squad is in good hands.

“Coach Christner is a faith-based guy who knows who he is and knows he is not perfect,” said Iser.

“He’s there for us through thick and thin, and he knows it is going to take time to get better.

I have full confidence in Coach, and I have no doubt that he will turn this program around.”

Softball set for season Continued from C2 good proving ground,” said Giachetti. “I go down without a set lineup and hope to come back with one.”

Giachetti said there is a lot of talent in the PAC, it is pretty even conference and any team can win on any given day.

“It is all about consistency and turning it on when it counts,” said Giachetti.

“Last year, Bethany [finished first in the regular season], and we beat them twice at their place.”

YELLOW JACKET

Page C4

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Sports

HOOD - 19, JACKETS - 2

Lacrosse drops season opener at Hood

By Steve Hullings Staff Writer Senior midfielder Maria Shepas scored for the Waynesburg University lacrosse team just over five minutes into the game; however, it was a little too late for the Jackets. The Hood College Blazers had already scored two goals and went on to outscore the Yellow Jackets 17-1 for the rest of the game, resulting in a 19-2 loss.

“The score belies the good job that they did for their first outing,” said head coach Tom Zacoi.

The long trip to Frederick, Md., was the opening game for the Jackets. For the Blazers, however, this was their third game of the season, improving their record to 1-2.

“The game was an eyeopener, but I see it as the beginning of a new and improved team,” said Zacoi, the fourth head lacrosse coach for the Jackets in only four years of existence. “We came out being able to indentify what we need to work on, and that’s what we’re going to do.”

Zacoi went on to say that the Jackets, right now, need to improve on

Winter winds down Continued from C1 issue of the Jacket to find out the success of those wrestlers, who take to the mats March 11-12 at the University of WisconsinLa Crosse.

2. Time to turn the corner After two seasons of

“The game was an eyeopener, but I see it as the beginning of a new and improved team. We came out being able to identify what we need to work on, and that’s what we’re going to do.”

Tom Zacoi Head lacrosse coach

team speed, conditioning and the basics of hand-eye coordination.

As halftime came around, the Jackets had fallen too far behind as they trailed 10-1 and were being outshot by the Blazers 26-9 going into the break.

The Blazers went on to dominate shooting in the second half, 18-4. They put the ball into the back of the net nine more times, the first of which came only 10 seconds into the start of the second half.

“They had six women who just did a masterful job of ball movement, and it was just hard for us to keep up,” said Zacoi.

The second goal for the

mild improvement, the women’s basketball program took the next step in 2010-11. The Jackets turned in a winning regular season (overall and in league play), advanced past the first round in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference tournament and as of press time, were still playing.

Waynesburg snagged the top seed in this year’s ECAC South Tourna-

Jackets came again from Shepas with 3:50 left in the game, as she was the only Jacket to score in the game.

“She is a world class athlete,” said Zacoi. “And she never had the privilege to play lacrosse in high school. She has done an admirable job.”

Freshman attacker Liz Hollis recorded the assist on the score.

Junior midfielder Julia Banks and sophomore midfielder Caitlin Lawrence led the scoring effort for the Blazers, scoring four points a piece.

Eight of the 12 starters for the Blazers scored in the game.

Waynesburg senior defender Miranda Thorn-

ment. They were set to take on Moravian Wednesday at the Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse, but the result of that contest was unavailable at press time.

1. Repeat Simply said, they did it again.

After finally breaking Thiel’s string of 10 straight PAC team crowns in 2010, the Jacket wrestling team started a

ton recorded a team-high five groundballs.

“She has taken to this defense like nothing I’ve ever seen,” said Zacoi.

Freshman Kelsey Schlieper made her collegiate debut, starting in the goal for the Jackets. She recorded 10 stops in the game.

“She is a phenomenally talented young woman,” said Zacoi. “She’s also very coachable, very eager to please and picks stuff up very easily.”

Schlieper won the team’s “Lax Diva Player of the Game Award” and was given the game ball and t-shirt.

“We need to practice,” Zacoi said. “Practicing is what distinguishes the good players from the great players. You will excel where your heart is and where you take the time to practice.”

The Jackets played their second game of the year this past Wednesday at West Virginia Wesleyan College. Results were unavailable at press time.

The Jackets are now set to take on the Tiffin University Dragons March 11. This will be the first home game of the year for Waynesburg. Game time is set for 6 p.m.

streak of their own in 2011. Waynesburg repeated as PAC team champs by winning six of the ten individual titles, giving them the team title by nearly 40 points over the second-place Tomcats.

Spring Check out the March 24 issue of the Yellow Jacket to find out what storylines to watch for the rest of the spring season.

PAC awards - Though the Waynesburg University women’s basketball team had its run for a Presidents’ Athletic Conference title end on Friday, the Yellow Jackets still got a nice consolation prize.

Three different Jackets were named to the All-PAC Women’s Basketball Jones Teams on Friday, which was the highest total for the program since the 2005-06 season when there were also three awardees. Leading the trio was senior forward Elisha Jones, who was the team’s first first-team honoree since Katie Lewandowski accomplished the feat following the 2006-07 campaign.

Hunter Jones, who is a four-time all-conference selection, picked up her first firstteam All-PAC nod following an outstanding season. The Russell, Pa., native is currently third in the conference in scoring (15.1 ppg), fifth in rebounding (7.4 rpg) and fourth in blocked shots (1.4 bpg). Jones piled up six double-doubles for the season and Spencer was a PAC Player of the Week.

Junior point guard Hannah Hunter earned secondteam All-PAC laurels after picking up an honorable mention nod last year. The third-year standout has averaged 12.4 points per game, which currently ranks her seventh in the conference. She also ranked second in the conference in assists (4.8 apg) and ninth in steals (1.89 spg).

Waynesburg added an honorable mention selection in sophomore guard Brittany Spencer, who is a firsttime honoree. Spencer currently ranks 13th in the PAC in scoring (10.9 ppg), seventh in rebounding (7.1 rpg) and 11th in steals (1.74 spg). Her 30-point performance at Hiram was not only the top scoring output for the team this season, it was the programs’ biggest individual offensive effort since 2007.

Saint Vincent junior forward Brittany Sedlock was named PAC Player of the Year. No.1 Thomas More’s Brian Neal was named PAC Coach of the Year.

-For the second straight season, junior forward Jeff Young was named an honorable mention selection to the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball All-Conference Teams.

Young led Waynesburg, which went 6-20 overall and 2-12 in PAC play, in scoring (10.3 ppg), rebounding (6.2 rpg), Young steals (1.4 spg) and blocks (0.8 bpg).

The Washington, D.C. native recorded four doubledoubles, including a 27-point, 10-rebound performance during a memorable 116-108 win over Mt. Aloysius. It was the highest individual single-game scoring performance for a Waynesburg player this season.

Sophomore Thiel guard Blair Rozenblad was named PAC Player of the Year and Thiel head coach Tim Loomis was named PAC Coach of the Year.

Leaked exam questions lead to investigations in Japan.

Read more on D4

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Pop duo set to perform March 17

Five missions planned for break

Double

treble

By Rob Griffith

By Jason Logan

Staff Writer

Staff Writer Waynesburg University students will have the opportunity to see an energetic acoustic pop duo, Life In General, as they tour a series of colleges.

The band will perform in Alumni Hall on March 17 at 8 p.m. Admission is free, and the public is cordially invited to attend.

Life In General is comprised of Jason Levasseur and Jerry Chapman, who have previously performed at Waynesburg both separately and together.

According to their website, the band has been touring and performing across the United States for almost two decades.

They have opened for acts such as Ben Folds Five, Bryan Adams, The Wallflowers and Dave Matthews Band.

Since 1994, the band has released seven albums, including their latest, “Introducing” released in 2008.

Pat Bristor, associate dean of students and director of student activities, is an avowed fan of the band.

“I like the band, and Jason and his style,” Bristor said. “I remember students really enjoyed it when they were here in the past.”

Bristor said she personally chose to bring the band back to campus.

“The student activities board picks the majority of musicians that come to campus, but this band I did pick because I’ve worked with them in the past,” Bristor said. “It’s been probably six or seven years since we’ve had the band here, so I thought it

The stage is a change of pace from the soccer field, which surprises Hite. “I never in a million years imagined myself playing music,” he said.

However, the change of plans has not stopped Hite from seeing success; He’s been on tour for the past month pro-

Waynesburg University is reaching out to people in need in the local community, nationwide and throughout the entire world, all while giving students life-changing experiences.

Five mission service trips are planned for this year’s spring break. Students and staff will travel to various areas, including Pittsburgh, Nassau, Ecuador, North Carolina and Belize.

The University established the mission service trips in the late 1990s, and since then, the trips have become a very popular method in fulfilling the University’s Service Learning Requirement. “[These trips] provide intensive experience,” said Richard “Skip” Noftzger, senior vice president for Institutional Planning, Research and Educational Services.

“They get students engaged in service and culture.”

Noftzger is leading the Belize trip.

This is the third year Waynesburg University will send students and staff to the Central American country.

During the Belize trip, students will work with Unity Presbyterian Church in Belize and the school associated with it.

“The church is in a very troubled area,” said Noftzger.

The area had been struck by a hurricane and left in complete disarray, according to Noftzger.

The church, with the help of Waynesburg University, has been working

See HITE on D3

See MISSION on D3

Photos by Amanda Rice

(Above) Grant Paxton and Julie Collins won th e first “Can WU Duet?” competition held on Feb. 28.

(Left) Natalie and Katlin George performed the song “Sisters” during the event.

Nine groups perform in premier ‘Can WU Duet?’ performance

By Carrie Maier Staff Writer A few forgotten verses and a mistimed chorus launched the audience into a near standing ovation.

As the instrumental track of the Black Eyed Peas’ “Where is the Love” faded out and the audience died down, performers Bertrand Ngampa and Erika Stafford turned to face the judges.

With Ngampa still clutching his microphone, he summed up

one of the night’s memorable performances: “I forgot the words,” he said to the judges, who could only say that the pair had “made the song their own.”

An audience member shouted back, “It happens,” and led the second wave of applause for the duet.

The two were participants in Monday night’s Can WU Duet, a singing competition featuring pairs of students.

Maintaining a humorous atmosphere throughSee STUDENTS on D2

Coffeehouse performance held Tuesday

By Hope Frick Staff Writer

While he may now be promoting a career on the stage, Brett Hite grew up on the soccer field. A self-described “jock,” Hite grew up in Seattle, Washington playing as much soccer as he could.

“I had no social life in See POP on D2 high school,” Hite said.

“I spent all my free time playing soccer.”

Hite’s passion for the game landed him a forward position on the University of Washington’s soccer team, a spot he filled until a torn ACL kept him from playing the sport his senior year.

It was then that Hite’s focus shifted from a soccer ball and arena to a guitar and microphone.

The shift led him to release his first album, Beyond Myself, in 2006.

“I’ve been interested in music since I was a kid,” Hite said. “I played soccer during the day, then would spend the whole evening playing guitar in my bedroom.”

Hite also said he started playing the drums and piano in junior high school.

Children-friendly program returns to campus last weekend

By Megan Campbell Staff Writer After a decade long hiatus, Waynesburg University revived Sibs N’ Kids, a weekend-long event targeted to the siblings of University students.

“This event was planned to invite the younger siblings of our WU students for the weekend and share in activities specifically planned for them,” said Kelley Hardie, director of

housing and assistant director of student activities.

From Feb. 25 to 26, family members bonded by participating in a wide range of activities sponsored by the Student Activities Board.

Sibs N’ Kids began on Friday with arts and crafts and ended on Saturday with an ice cream social.

Other activities included a pizza party, a magician, breakfast with Waynesburg University mas-

cot Sting, a ‘go green’ arts and crafts presentation and a reptile show.

Sara McCormick, a Waynesburg University sophomore, invited her younger cousin Matthew for the weekend event. ”My favorite part was the magician,” McCormick said.

“My cousin really enjoyed it, too. His favorite was also the magician, considering he See SIBS on D3

Photo by Greg Reinhart

Throughout the weekend, children were able to participate in various activities including Arts and Crafts, ice cream social and pizza party.

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Arts & Life

Professor-written play premieres last Friday after 26 years

By Kyle Cogar Staff Writer “Glenside” made its premiere on Friday, Feb. 25. It was a project 26 years in the making.

“It started out as an assignment in grad school,” said Eddie Powers, associate professor of theater and author of “Glenside.”

A visiting writer suggested that Powers submit the play to a publisher based in New York.

However, after rejection and many rewrites, “Glenside” was shelved for over 20 years.

Recently, Powers brought the play back to be performed on stage at the Goodwin Performing Arts Center.

The play, set in 1924, is a one-act drama set in a cemetery with personal connections to each of the four main characters.

Although it was originally meant to be a comedy, Powers eventually rewrote it to be a drama

Photo by Lisa Jaeger

“Glenside” premiered Friday, Feb. 25 in the Goodwin Performing Arts Center. The play was performed again on Feb. 26. Eddie Powers wrote the play and performed a leading role during the performance. while retaining some comedic elements.

“Glenside” is about an interaction between two men and their sons at the cemetery. However, they find themselves connected, as both men are distanced from their sons,

are widowers and buried their wives in the same cemetery.

The play begins with one man paying respects to his wife. After an argument with his son, the man thinks he is alone in the cemetery until he

notices another man is watching him.

The stranger is a widower himself and is also paying respects to his wife. The two men begin a conversation discussing their lives, and what starts out with comedic

dialogue quickly descends into a conversation that cuts deeply into both men.

The men both went through great tragedies only to come out with emotional wounds that may never heal.

Students perform Continued from D1

Photo by Kyle Edwards

Get some wings Representatives from Red Bull gave students cans of their product on Wednesday as part of a promotion.

Pop duo to perform Continued from D1 was time to bring them back.”

Katie Smith, president of the student activities board, detailed the process for selecting performing artists at the National Association for Campus Activities.

“We go to a conference

in the fall and in the spring, and we watch all these performances go on,” Smith said.

“After the performances, we go to their booths and talk to them, to make sure that they have the same kind of morals that we want our students to have.”

Smith said the artist selection process largely comes down to the artist’s morals and their performing schedule.

“If they’re going over

the line constantly, we don’t book them,” Smith said.

“But if they give us the impression that they’re what we want our students to see, we’ll give them a call.”

Life In General has been promoted at the conference, and they are a five-time winner of the NACA Campus Entertainment Award for Contemporary Music Artist of the Year.

out, nine couples sang in front of a crowd packed into the Goodwin Performing Arts Center.

Following the drum roll effect of 150 audience members patting their laps, winners Grant Paxton and Julie Collins were announced.

“We just wanted to do something together,” said Paxton, a sophomore secondary science education major. “We sing together all the time.”

Paxton strummed a ukulele to Ingrid Michaelson’s “You and I” after only knowing the instrument for six months.

“We were actually surprised to win,” said Collins, a freshman secondary math education major.

As first-place finishers, they received a $100 prize, which Paxton jokingly said would go toward “you know, world peace or something diplomatic.”

Collins disagreed, however.

“It’s going toward the

“Glenside” ends with a surprise; however, some audience members already had some experience with the play.

“The script was given to the class to read,” said Dave Call, a senior arts and administration major and student of Powers. “I thought it worked really well with Eddie as a main character.”

Students helped bring the play to life. Sable Griedel, a junior Secondary Education major, served as the associate director of “Glenside.”

Her job was to reinforce the director’s duties, such as setting up rehearsal times and going over lines with the actors.

“I was asked by Eddie to help with the play and, after reading the script, I said yes,” she said.

The play was brought to life onstage by four characters played by Powers, Dr. James Bush, a professor of math, and two alumni: Matt London and Dan Wozniak.

poor college kid fund,” she said.

The remaining audience members, who filtered out as the event went on, decided the winners. Those left after the nine performances put tickets into the jars of the participants they found most deserving.

Third-place finishers Sarah Madden and Ellen Louttit serenaded an audience waving cell phones like lighters at a concert to their performance of “When You Believe” by Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey.

“Ellen’s never done anything on stage,” said Madden. “We were just doing it to do it.”

Emily Dubberke and Linzy Smith finished in second place with their performance of the country song “Only Prettier”

by Miranda Lambert.

The event set its casual tone early on, as the competition debuted with a rap performance of Will Smith’s “Men In Black” by the two hosts while contestants performed an out-of-step choreographed dance behind them.

“It was really fun, it really was,” said Collins.

Student Senate sponsored the event.

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Arts & Life

Hite performs Continued from D1 moting his most recent album, Visible.

Hite’s current tour features small college venues, similar to Waynesburg University’s coffeehouse. While the venues may be a different scene than those in his native Seattle, Hite says he doesn’t mind the small towns.

“I love the big cities like Seattle and Los Angeles, but I really enjoy visiting smaller towns,” Hite said. “I find the small towns like Waynesburg refreshing.

Sibs N’ Kids event held Continued from D1 got to go on stage with him.”

The children experienced the magic of Las Vegas based performer Jeff Civillico, and a reptile show offered a wide variety of live animals and enabled participants to interact closely with reptiles.

They also learned the different ways to be environmentally friendly around their own homes with a “Sting Green” activity that included topics on recycling and organic food.

Although there were

Their simplicity is beautiful.”

During his stop in Waynesburg, Hite serenaded the coffeehouse audience with original music of his own, along with acoustic covers of popular songs.

“I enjoy playing covers because I can strip them down and play them in a way that people aren’t used to hearing,” he said.

Hite substituted the synthesized beats of songs like T-Pain’s “Buy You a Drank” and OneRepublic’s “Apologize” with guitar hooks.

Hite’s covers were popular with the crowd, sparking much approval from the audience.

“I really liked how Hite took out the syn-

thesizers and made the songs his own,” junior interdisciplinary studies major Hilary Hollets said. “His style was different than the other coffeehouses we’ve had on campus; I really enjoyed it.”

“I liked the acoustic sound,” Elise Lane, a senior psychology major said. “It really gave the night a true coffeehouse feel.”

Hite will continue his tour throughout March, playing venues in New York and Pennsylvania before heading back to his hometown of Spokane, Wa. More information on Brett Hite can be found on his myspace and facebook.

many fun activities planned for the weekend, McCormick thought there was room for improvement.

“We were somewhat disappointed with the reptile show,” she said.

“The guy was fun, but he only had about five animals and it was only 20 minutes long. That was the thing we were most excited for, so it was just a little bit of a letdown. But overall, we both had a lot of fun this past weekend.”

Despite the event’s 10year hiatus, 72 relatives of University students registered for the weekend.

“If Waynesburg University had this event again Matthew and I would definitely take part in it,” McCormick said.

Mission trips set to leave Continued from D1 to re-develop this area in need.

The church has reached out to the local community and hosts five grades for its school.

According to Noftzger, Waynesburg students will be giving instruction and tutoring to the local children at the school, as well as performing maintenance to the building and surrounding area.

“These trips are critical because they permit the students to become involved, learn in different settings and apply their learning from the

Photo by Amanda Rice

Brett Hite performed at the Coffeehouse held on Tuesday night in the Beehive. He sang a variety of songs including several cover songs and a few original ones.

classroom in the real world,” said Noftzger.

Pat Bristor, associate dean of students and director of Student Activities, is heading the mission service trip to North Carolina.

The trip is affiliated with the Cabarrus County Habitat for Humanity group in North Carolina.

The students participating in the trip will work toward building a new home for a family in need.

According to Bristor, they will be framing up a house, closing in the interior walls and possibly adding trusses, a roof and siding.

“It is an amazing opportunity and a humbling, life-changing experience,” said Bristor. “You

show up and see a slab of cement, and you leave with a house, and you see your accomplishments.”

The students will be spending six days in North Carolina, working to build said house for a family who would otherwise not be able to provide themselves with an appropriate home.

“Meeting with the children of the families, and to see their excitement to know that this will be their own room, is a great experience,” said Bristor.

“It makes it all worth it to bring a family, and especially a child, one step closer to a dream. It really touches my heart.”

All of these trips help to serve others throughout the world through the love of Jesus Christ in dif-

ferent ways.

Dorothy Rurak, a senior environmental science major participating in the trip to Ecuador, said, “It’s a matter of teaching others how we’re going to work together to solve a problem rather than telling others how to live.”

The Ecuador trip is one of the school’s environmental stewards trips. It covers environmental issues and is labor and work intensive.

Dave Calvario, dean of Students and director of the Center for Service Leadership said: “These trips can really change your view on life.

Through the work done in these experiences, we are planting seeds for the kingdom of God.”

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Japanese police investigate leaked exam questions The Yomiuri Shimbun TOKYO — Police have launched an investigation into an incident in which Kyoto University entrance examination questions were leaked onto the Internet as a possible criminal offense after the university submitted a complaint to the Kyoto prefectural police Monday.

Rikkyo and Waseda universities were also set to submit similar complaints to the Metropolitan Police Department on the day, while Doshisha University plans to submit a criminal report to the prefectural police, the universities’ officials said.

Meanwhile, the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry decided Monday to ask universities to ban applicants from bringing cell phones to exam sites.

“It’s necessary to make a decision on whether applicants can bring cell phones into the test sites,” education minister Yoshiaki Takaki said Monday morning.

The ministry asked all universities around the nation to check whether there have been similar leaks during their recent entrance exams. The ministry will also ask the universities to implement the cell phone ban as early as the intermediate and final rounds of the second stage of the exams for national and public universities.

The leaked questions discovered so far were all posted on Yahoo Japan’s Chiebukuro (pearls of wisdom) site, a free question-

and-answer bulletin board, during the time the entrance exams were going on. In most cases, the posts received quick responses.

“This deed has greatly damaged the credibility of university entrance exams, which should be fair and just. It is truly regrettable,” Takaki said.

He said the ministry would do its best to prevent future incidents, while studying how the university entrance examination system can catch up with advances in cell phones and other devices.

The questions that the posts concerned came from English exams at Doshisha, Rikkyo, Waseda and Kyoto universities, and questions from a Kyoto University mathematics exam. Waseda and Rikkyo universities are conducting their own investigations separately from those of the police, the officials said.

If they identify the culprit behind the postings, they may refuse to admit the person if he or she has passed the exams.

The charge can be applied to the posting of entrance exam questions on the Internet, which would amount to interference with the university’s business through unlawful means.

“It would be much easier to establish a case if the university had clearly suffered damage. For instance, if it had to increase the number of people monitoring the exam due to the posting,” a senior prefectural police officer said.

NEWS IN BRIEF

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Anonymous Tweeter revealed to be journalist Bidding war ensures over Islamic center lot CHICAGO - The anonymous Tweeter known as "MayorEmanuel" is anonymous no more: He's Dan Sinker, a 36-year-old Columbia College journalism assistant professor.

Among the classes Sinker teaches is Online Journalism.

Following months of speculation, including a recent offer from the actual Emanuel to donate $2,500 or $5,000 to a charity of the Tweeter's choice if he revealed his identity post-election, Sinker decided to release his name.

Launched last September, the "MayorEmanuel" account took off online as the mayoral campaign heated up and the anonymous Tweeter provided an alternative narrative that was far more colorful, foul-mouthed and humorous than the strictly functional Tweets offered by the actual Emanuel campaign.

At an event Monday night, the mayor-elect expressed pleasure that the mystery was over.

LOS ANGELES – Life expectancy in the United States is not rising as fast as it once was. National Research Council experts describe U.S. life expectancy as a “poor performance” compared with many other countries in light of the fact that the U.S. spends more on healthcare than any other country.

About half of the gap between U.S. life expectancy and countries with higher life expectancy is due to heart-disease, smoking among women and obesity rates in the United States.

Though the U.S. health-care system prolongs life, it’s not nearly as effective when it comes to prevention.

4 Many bodies still unidentified after quake

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand – Local police in Christchurch, New Zealand, met Saturday with the families of foreign nationals still unaccounted for after Tuesday’s earthquake, and asked them for patience as the process of identifying the victims could take time.

Facebook changing privacy applications During the meeting New Zealand Police asked people to understand that the identificaWASHINGTON - Facebook said it was tion process could be lengthy and requested "actively considering" whether to again allow cooperation with requests for information such third-party applications to request mobile phone as medical and dental records. numbers and home addresses from users younger than 18.

Facebook has said some users might want to share their cell phone number with an applica- SunChips releases quieter ‘green’ package tion to get text message alerts on special deals, or allow an Internet shopping site to have access DALLAS – Less than six months after pulling to their home addresses to make the checkout their compostable bags due to consumer comprocess faster. plaints over the noisy packaging, SunChips In a letter to lawmakers released Monday, today shouted from the rooftops that it has creFacebook said it was working to "re-enable" the ated a new version. feature, but with changes.It could, for example, The company found that by changing the continue to disable the feature for minors. adhesive used in separating the inside of the bag Facebook also could revise the permission from the outside, it created a kind of noise barriscreen to let users see more clearly what infor- er. mation they are making available when they The new compostable bags are making their approve requests for personal information from way into stores but will only be available in origthird parties. inal flavor for now.

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United States dispatches aircraft carrier to waters near Libya

By Nancy A. Youssef, Jonathan S. Landay and Warren P. Strobel McClatchy Newspapers BENGHAZI, Libya — The United States is moving naval and air forces, including an aircraft carrier, into the Mediterranean Sea near Libya, U.S. officials said Monday, as the Obama administration and its allies consider how to respond to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi’s brutal efforts to suppress a widespread rebellion among civilians and army troops.

The U.S. decision comes as Gadhafi appeared to be making a concerted effort to retake control of Zawiya, a town about 30 miles west of Tripoli that has been in rebel hands since last week.

Two people reached separately by phone said heavy fighting had broken out in the early evening Monday as militias loyal to Gadhafi attacked from both the east and the west.

U.S. officials said no decision had been made

Photo by Rick Loomis/Los Angeles Times/MCT

Youths loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi demonstrate in the Green Square in Tripoli, Libya, Monday, Feb. 28. on how the U.S. forces would be used, but that one option under consideration is the imposition of a no-fly zone designed to prevent Gadhafi from using aircraft as he fought the rebels.

“We have planners working and various contingency plans, and I think it’s safe to say as part of that we’re repositioning forces to be able to provide for that flexibility once decisions are made,” Marine Col. David Lapan, a Pentagon spokesman,

told reporters.

Another official, who requested anonymity to discuss the issue, said the pre-positioning of military assets “doesn’t mean to suggest that there will be military intervention.”

At the same time, he said, consideration of imposing a no-fly zone “has picked up a little speed.”

Gadhafi opponents in Libya’s second-largest city, Benghazi, have said they oppose foreign military intervention, a mes-

sage they reiterated in comments on Twitter after the Pentagon moves became public.

A no-fly zone would seek to prevent Gadhafi from using aircraft to attack protesters, move equipment and personnel, or ferry in foreign mercenaries who have been killing Gadhafi’s opponents.

The White House, which has called on Gadhafi to leave power, said Monday that “exile is certainly one option” for the

Libyan dictator.

It was not immediately clear which countries would be willing to take Gadhafi in or whether the United States had made efforts to arrange asylum.

Gadhafi and his family have publicly declared they would not leave Libya. White House press secretary Jay Carney said implementing a no-fly zone over Libyan airspace is “an option we are actively considering.”

Carney spoke as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton conferred with colleagues in Geneva, Switzerland.

President Barack Obama and U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice were to meet Monday afternoon in Washington with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Kimoon.

The administration officials could not say which U.S. aircraft carrier will be dispatched as part of the international response, as there currently are none in the Mediterranean.

Carney declined to describe the level of contact been the U.S. govern-

ment and Libyan opposition forces.

He said it is “premature to make decisions about recognizing one group or the other,” but that the administration has “a variety” of channels through which to communicate with opposition forces.

In Geneva, Clinton joined foreign ministers from around the world in an extraordinary session of the U.N. Human Rights Council to discuss the upheaval in Libya.

In her address, Clinton repeated a U.S. call for Gadhafi to step down.

“We have seen Colonel Gaddafi’s security forces open fire on peaceful protesters. They have used heavy weapons on unarmed civilians.” Mercenaries and thugs have been turned loose to attack demonstrators,” Clinton said. “Through their actions, they have lost the legitimacy to govern. And the people of Libya have made themselves clear: It is time for Gaddafi to go. Now. Without further violence or delay.”