I N S I D E 'OUT OF THE DARKNESS' WALK AIMS TO PREVENT SUICIDE. S E E A 2
@WUYELLOWJACKET
MARCH 21, 2019 • VOL. 96 NO. 15 • EST. 1924
THEYELLOWJACKET.ORG REGION
OP-ED
SPORTS
ARTS & LIFE
Data shows increase in drug overdose deaths in Pennsylvania.
A look at food insecurity on college campuses and why Waynesburg should address it.
Alumni reflect on Final Four appearance of basketball team in 1988.
RDs focus on building relationships with students and ensuring safety in residence halls.
SEE B1
SEE B2
SEE C1
SEE D1
Wabtec CEO speaks at 169th Charter Day service CRJ
program receives ranking
TEGHAN SIMONTON Region Editor
What makes each Charter Day unique, said Waynesburg University President Douglas Lee, is the variety of speakers that visit each year to connect with the campus community. “ T h e u n i q u e n e s s of Charter Day lies in the array of guests that we have that are the speakers,” Lee said. “And this year, we have a really exceptional individual.” The university celebrated the 169th anniversary of its official charter Tuesday, March 19. The day’s festivities included the traditional “Charter Day Chicken” meal, and a special chapel convocation featuring Raymond T. Betler, chief executive officer of Wabtec, Inc., a company that manufactures transportation materials. Betler’s speech centered around the idea of “love in the workplace,” how a person can incorporate faith into their daily life as a professional. “Really, what i t’s all about is to be a vessel of the Lord’s love in everything you do,” Betler said. Betler said he relates strongly to Waynesburg’s mission of faith, learning and service, which further motivated him to speak this Charter Day, after being approached by the Rev. James Tinnemeyer at the Pittsburgh Prayer Breakfast in October. “Service is really the mission we’re called for,” he said. Betler began his career
JOE SMELTZER Copy Desk Chief
Photo courtesy of Ashley Hall
Raymond Betler, CEO of Wabtec, Inc., spoke during the Chapel service held to commemorate the university's 169th anniversary of its official charter, otherwise known as Charter Day. working for Westinghouse, advancing through the company and eventually becoming the youngest president and CEO in its history. He worked at Westinghouse for more than 30 years, through numerous structural and leadership changes, before joining Wabtec in 2008. There, Betler held many titles, including group executive, chief operating officer, president and now, CEO. Wabtec, Inc. recently came under fire from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who challenged the company’s treatment of union workers at a plant in Erie.
The plant, which Wabtec had acquired after a recent merger with General Electric Transportation, received national attention when Sanders sent a letter to Betler, throwing his support to union workers and demanding the company negotiate better working compensation. “Wabtec is not a poor company,” the letter reads. “It is not going broke.” The narrative Sanders established goes against what Betler preached in his sermon, though. While he is CEO, Betler said he sees himself less as a superior and more as a servant to the company and
its workers. “I have a responsibility to serve the people in our organization,” he said. “I don’t like hierarchical organizations, bureaucratic approaches. My approach is always to look for opportunities to serve other people.” Moreover, Betler said the incident simply negated any capitalist business approach—Sanders is notorious for touting “democratic socialism”—and that it was “degrading” to suggest workers at the plant needed such “handouts.” Politics aside, Lee said Betler gave a fabulous message about servant
leadership and faith. “What I’m interested in him sharing is his perspective of faith and how you bring that into the workplace,” Lee said. “When you are in a very high position, there will always be things people will criticize you for. It’s how you respond to those things I think are important, but also, again, how you live out your life and your faith.” Though universities often invite celebrities and political leaders to speak at convocations, Lee said Waynesburg takes a different approach. Often CHARTER >> A3
Over the past few years, Waynesburg University’s Department of Criminal Justice and Social Services has received national acclaim for its value. That trend continued late last month when College Factual ranked Waynesburg sixth out of 387 “Best for the Money” programs. This was good for second in the state of Pennsylvania. “The main things people look at when they come to Waynesburg University for a major is ‘am I getting what I paid for?,’” Adam Jack, chairperson for the Criminal Justice and Social Sciences department, said, “and this is validation. The ranking is for value education, which is a great thing to have.” Along with the program’s high national standing, legitimizing the criminal justice program at Waynesburg is worth the price of tuition, and Jack is proud of what alumni have been doing since graduating from the department. Jack said the Office of Institutional Advancement told him Waynesburg has a 99 percent job placement rate for criminal justice graduates within a year of leaving the university. “Almost everybody is
HOUSING
Traditional residence halls Suite-style double rooms renovated over spring break to increase for 2019-20 EDWARD BOICE Op/Ed Editor
Students returned from spring break to find some of the traditional residence halls received renovations. Thayer, Ray and Martin halls had their temporary dorms in the common areas removed to open up space for students to use. Other halls are receiving improvements as well. Pat Bristor, associate dean of students, said the Stover Campus Center renovations from the fall 2018 semester inspired the current hall renovations. “After President [Douglas Lee] saw the changes that were made in Stover, he asked Rev. Tinnemeyer and I to lead up some renovations in the common areas in the residence halls,” Bristor said. The temporary housing was built before the university built Pollock Hall. Waynesburg had a larger attendance of resident students coming in, and they
did not have enough room for them. Now, the rooms are used for storage and are no longer needed for housing, Bristor said. “The first thing I said was ‘we need to give this space back to the students. We’ll have to find another storage unit,’” Bristor said. “If we are going to renovate and make this a usable space for students first thing we need to do is take away this temporary housing and give it back to the students.” With the demolitions complete, the university is planning what will fill the new spaces. Matt Pioch, director of housing, said “the ideas we have change based on different budgetary concerns that might be present,” so the items are not confirmed yet. A definite addition is furniture. “There were pieces of furniture here and there, and a lot did not match,” Bristor said. “Some was in good shape, some was in bad shape. Some was in
very good shape. I wanted to gather from the resident directors’ photos of the furnishings in each of the buildings so that those that are in good or very good shape are going to be used. They are going to be put into a lounge area that match, and get rid of all the mismatch and broken [furniture].” Other considered changes are new carpeting, paint and item movement. Pioch said the television in the Thayer Hall lounge will be moved to the common area. Some Thayer residents had inquiries on the fireplace that was revealed when the dorms were taken down. “The fireplace will remain there, but will not be up for use,” Pioch said. “It will be more for an aesthetic gathering place.” The television in the Denny Hall common area may be moved and the purple painted walls might be changed to a different
MATTIE WINOWITCH Executive Editor
There will be more suitestyle doubles available in SWEP and Willison for the 2019-20 school year, according to an email sent out to students March 11 by Matt Pioch, director of housing. Pioch said this decision was largely based on student responses he received after last year’s shift to increase the number of suitestyle triple and quad rooms. This change, which was meant to help satisfy the increased number of incoming students and to provide less expensive housing, left students upset. To fight this change, several students on campus in last spring circulated a housing regulations petition that received more than 400 signatures, nearly 30 percent of the then-student population. Additional information regarding the petition can be read in an HALLS >> A3 article published in the
Mitchell Kendra, The Yellow Jacket
The decision to increase the availability of this housing option was made in part after a petition circulated last year when the number of suite-style doubles doubles was suddenly lowered. March 22 issue of The Yellow Jacket titled “Students demand change to housing regulations.” Pioch said this petition
and the opinions of students were both taken into consideration when deciding HOUSING >> A3