YELLOW JACKET
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Page AA3
Commencement
Financial aid changes expected for fall semester By Chelsea Dicks Arts & Life Editor
his commitment to service through The Parish Project. Gardner was a 1934 graduate of Waynesburg College. After graduation he went on to study ministry at the Princeton Theological Seminary. Gardner joined the Waynesburg College faculty in 1936, where he was a professor and the college’s Chaplin. Waynesburg rewarded him the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity in 1954. Gardner’s career at Waynesburg College lasted until his death in 1972. The Parish Project, headed by Gardner, began within a year of his being hired by Waynesburg College. Under the project’s reign, Gardner and a group of students provided pulpit supply to local towns that were underprivileged, and lacked places of worship. The aim of The Parish Project, as described by Waynesburg College, was “to use our Christian groups in the student body to bring to the young people of our area the finest kind of scholastic, social and religious values.” The students involved in The Parish Project set up character building
schools, vacation bible schools, sunday schools, week day bible schools and young peoples’ associations in Waynesburg’s neighboring towns. During the project, two new churches were built with the financial aid of the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A. Towns affected by The Parish Project include Carmichaels, Stringtown, Nemacolin and Crucible. In his publication “The Waynesburg College Story,” William H. Dusenberry said, The Parish Project represented the beginning of a new spiritual frontier which should be extended to wider horizons.” Every year, two awards are given- one to an individual and one to an organization on campus. However, this year, because the panel could not choose between Wharrey and Paganelli, two individual awards were given. In the 21 years of distribution, two individual awards have been given on only two other occasions. The winners were judged by a panel of five, made up of Waynesburg See STUDENTS on AA5
Like many other small universities of higher education, Waynesburg University is undergoing some financial changes. In the past, when a student applied for financial aid, the verification process included verifying the accuracy of one’s Free Application for Federal Student Aid data, which was verified by the submission of signed copies of the IRS 1040. But starting this semester, future verification processes will look much different. Federal regulation through the United States Department of Education is calling for Waynesburg to change its verification process to make it more customizable. “What you are required to provide for verification will be different than someone else applying for verification,” said Matthew Stokan, director of financial aid. “Their goal, obviously, is to simplify the process.” From Stokan’s point of view, he is not sure that this idea will be simplifying the process. He said that the verification worksheet that used to be two pages long will now be five or six pages long. According to Waynesburg.edu, beginning in the 2012-13 academic year, an IRS transcript will be required for verification instead of a copy of the 1040. If selected for verification, students will need to contact the IRS and order a tax transcript by one of the following
Thyreen reflects
ing parts of his year. His favorite part of the ceremony is the processional and recessional. It is tradition at Waynesburg University that during the processional, students split in two groups as the faculty, staff and administrators walk through the two lines. This process shows that students are grateful for everything that the university employees have done for them during their four years at the university. After the graduation ceremony, the recessional has the opposite effect. The faculty and staff
line up and let the students walk through the lines. It is a symbol that their students are now their peers. “I think everybody loves that,” Thyreen said. “Hopefully it’ll be outside because it’s a beautiful walk through the park for both the faculty and the students. One of the things we try to maintain is that the tradition of the processional is really something special.” Thyreen also enjoys how beautiful the campus is now, in comparison to when he first stepped foot on campus. It has transformed
Photo by Angela Wadding
Junior English major Julia Paganelli and senior pre-med major Shawn Wharrey were awarded the Harry E. Gardner service award. The awards were given based off of years, commitment, creativity and impact to service.
Senior, junior receive service award By Megan Bayles Staff Writer Three years. More than $60,000. Both time and money can be included among the accomplishments of senior biology major Shawn Wharrey during his time at Waynesburg University. As co-chair of the university’s mini-Relay for Life for three years, Wharrey has spearheaded efforts to raise more than $60,000 for cancer research. His dedication to both the campus and community are two contributing reasons that Wharrey was one of the two students selected to receive the Harry E. Gardner service award. “I think that serving others is so important because not only do you have the opportunity to meet and learn from some amazing people, you learn a lot about yourself,” said Wharrey. “I can honestly say that Waynesburg University has truly taught me to integrate my faith, learning, and service on a day to day basis and there is nothing better than that.” In addition, Wharrey
has been a frequent volunteer at Good Shepard Veterinary Hospital. He has also participated in three mission trips during his four years at Waynesburg. Julia Paganelli, junior English major, was honored as well for her service efforts to eradicate the poverty and hunger in Greene County. She is now in the process of publishing a book based upon her past summer’s research on how poverty effects Greene County teens. In addition, Paganelli is a Bonner scholar and volunteered regularly at the Greene County Food Security Partnership, the Jefferson Baptist Church, the Corner Cupboard Food Bank, Bridge St. Commons and St. Ann’s Good Neighbor Dinner. She has also participated in two mission trips. “The top reason [to serve others] is to reflect on Christ and his coming kingdom,” said Paganelli. “This is what God wants the world to look like-people loving other people sincerely.” These service awards were named in honor of Rev. Harry E. Gardner and
Continued from AA1 Board of Trustees at Waynesburg College to serve as the university’s fourteenth president on Dec. 2, 1989. Since then, commencement has been one of the most reward-
methods: on-line, by phone or by mail. “What we have been told is that a large amount of people do file their tax returns on-line, so when you complete your FAFSA you can now use the IRS data retrieval tool, which will be faster,” said Stokan. “Which will eliminate the need to ask for copies of tax returns and wait for sometimes weeks for them to get there.” Stokan believes that this sounds good on paper, but, like everything, it is not perfect. He said that some loopholes, like divorced couples who file a joint tax return, might prevent students from using the IRS data retrieval system. Stokan said that the system changed due to overwhelming requests for tax returns and not enough hands to fill the requests. The process for students who are non-tax filers is still the same. One would need to send the school a copy of the IRS Form W-2 for each source of employment income received for tax year 2011. “The bugs are still being worked out,” said Stokan. “But with the Internet, things are bound to change and hopefully become easier.” Stokan began explaining about how much the financial aid process has changed over the last twenty years he has been working for Waynesburg University. He said that 12 years ago the school verified every student who went through the financial aid process, but now they only select a few due to unnecessary need.
since he began his presidency years ago. “All of those things that you take for granted as you walk through the park weren’t there back then,” Thyreen said. Thyreen wishes the Class of 2013 the best of luck on all of their future endeavors. He is confident that after being educated at Waynesburg, they will go into the world being prepared for any situation. He is also sure that his time was spent well surviving Waynesburg University for the past 23 years. “We have been given a wonderful opportunity to provide a model for Christian higher education; to be a beacon of light to a world that desperately needs a moral force that will help bring about peace and justice,” Thyreen said in a letter to alumni in The Lamp.