The Yellow Jacket | 2.14.19

I N S I D E STUDENT SENATE HOPES TO CONNECT MORE TO STUDENTS S E E A 2

@WUYELLOWJACKET

FEBRUARY 14, 2019 • VOL. 96 NO. 12 • EST. 1924

THEYELLOWJACKET.ORG REGION

OP-ED

SPORTS

ARTS & LIFE

Businesses on High St. collaborate to prepare for Valentine's Day.

President Donald Trump weighs in on the bipartisan agreement on border security.

Wrestling wins third consecutive conference championship.

Rhonda and Jim DePriest reflect on being married and co-workers.

SEE B1

SEE B3

SEE C1

SEE D1

Gathering dreams

Ray Hall fire ends in injury, $10K in estimated damage LUKE GOODLING Sports Editor

Photo courtesy of Paul Hicks

At the BIG Dream Gathering, students, staff, faculty, alumni and members of the community alike were invited to put their dreams out there to potentially make a connection or receive anonymous encouragement.

EDWARD BOICE Copy Desk Chief

After much preparation and advertising over the past year, the BIG Dream Gathering has come and gone in the span of two hours. Mitch Matthews and the BIG Dream Gathering came to speak at Waynesburg University’s Crosbie Lecture Series Feb. 12.

The gathering is meant to stir the minds of people to dream and aid each others’ dreams together, Melinda Walls, W. Robert Stover chair for entrepreneurship lead-

ership, said.

“It’s actually an interactive event where all of us, the entire campus community and the Waynesburg community,

you find connections or even just the will to move forward.”

Upon entering, each participant received a dream sheet to write

can think about their hopes, dreams, aspirations and passions, and spend time thinking about that and finding active ways to pursue those things,” Walls said.

“These dreams may help

their dreams upon.

These sheets were taped to the walls all around the Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse for others to view and write encouragement, suggestions and information. Mitch Mat-

More than 300 individuals attend the university's first BIG Dream Gathering

thews, creator of the BIG Dream Gathering, said during his speech at the start of the event writing down dreams has created crazy connections and made dreams possible.

“Looking around, at the time the wall is full and to know that some people, had they not come to this event and written a dream down, t h ey wo u l d p ro b a b ly never walk it out,” Matthews said. “But we have had so many people say ‘when I wrote it down, DREAM >> A3

The Waynesburg Franklin Township fire department responded to a fire in a Waynesburg University dormitory Tuesday evening.

The fire began in the “apartment kitchen” of Ray Hall around 6 p.m. when a woman was cooking. The sprinkler system turned on in the kitchen and put the fire out, according to Fire Chief Jeff Marshall. By the time the fire department dispatched two firetrucks to the scene, Marshall said students were properly evacuated from the building. One student, Marshall said, was taken to the hospital in an ambulance with “slight” burns on her face and the front of her body.

The fire was quickly contained, due to the efforts of the sprinkler system and firefighters. Because of this, Marshall said most of the damage to Ray Hall isn’t due to the fire itself.

“There is probably $10,000 [worth of ] damage,” Marshall said. “There is water damage and smoke damage—that kind of stuff.

But there isn’t a lot of actual fire damage.”

Once on scene, Marshall said the fire department shut off the water, replaced the sprinkler head and cleared the building of smoke. By the time the fire department left, Marshall said the alarms and suppression systems were back online.

“They are going to worry

about getting the building reoccupied and go from there,” Marshall said.

Chris Hardie, assistant Dean of Student Services, said the woman who was taken to the hospital returned to campus Tuesday evening, but he doesn’t know her current condition.

“Late last night she was doing OK,” Hardie said on Wednesday morning. “She was out of the hospital and back on campus, but the exact conditions I don’t know at this point.”

Matt Pioch, director of Housing, was at the scene of the fire and said students were readmitted into Ray Hall shortly after 7 p.m.

“We let Ray residents back in, and we just had them not using the main entrance simply because we were trying to clear out all of the water,” Pioch said. “Only the one sprinkler went off—it didn’t create a chain of sprinklers and that sort of thing, so, for the most part, the hall was pretty well maintained throughout the fire.”

Pioch said the extent of the damage caused by the fire isn’t entirely known yet, though water caused most of it.

“There is probably more water damage than there is fire damage because just whenever a sprinkler goes out it is a lot of water on the carpet and that sort of thing,” Pioch said. “But, I wouldn’t say it was extremely significant by any FIRE >> A3

Administration, Recycling issues still being sorted out students react to canceled classes MALARIE YODER For The Yellow Jacket

JOE SMELTZER

Senior Editorial Assistant

“ Wa y n e s b u r g U n i versity rarely cancels classes.”

These were the words of Stacey Brodak, vice president for Institutional Advancement and University Relations.

The evening of Tuesday, Jan. 28, students hoped the sub-zero wind chill would lead to one of those rare class cancellations. At 7:36 p.m., however, they received an email from the Rev. James Tinnemeyer, dean of students, saying that all classes for Wednesday, Jan. 29, would go on as scheduled.

“Safety is always our top concern, but it is always a priority to offer the courses for which our students have paid,” Brodak said.

After receiving a recommendation from an

e m e rge n cy re s p o n s e g r o u p , Wa y n e s b u r g eventually decided to cancel classes from 3 p.m. Wednesday through noon Thursday.

Between the two decisions, some students, such as junior biochemistry major Katie Jones, took to social media to express their displeasure.

Jones said she felt it was reasonable for students like herself to walk to classes, but she was shocked that a majority of the classes on Wednesday were held.

“I had to walk all the way across campus [to get to class], so I’m outside probably 7-8 minutes, and I know frostbite can happen in four minutes,” Jones said.

“So, I thought, ‘it’s kind of dangerous,’ but also, just dress warm, [and] CANCEL >> A3

Several years ago, Waynesburg University began to tackle the issue of recycling by placing some recycling bins in campus residence halls and in their buildings. Today, not much has changed.

Since 2014, Janet Paladino, a professor of biology, has tried to fight for more recycling education on campus.

S h e re fe re n ced t h e prior article and stated that in 2017 they had a plan to educate students, but facilities were overwhelmed. “[The recycling initiative] hasn’t changed since then; it probably has gotten worse,” Paladino said.

To determine which initiatives Waynesburg has aimed towards tackling the recycling concerns, Ryan Smith assistant director of Student Services, said the entire c a m p u s n ow h a s t wo workers committed to the recycling efforts.

These workers work

Mattie Winowitch, The Yellow Jacket

Recycling bins, like the one pictured above, were placed in campus buildings and residence halls in 2014. every Tuesday and Thursday from 2 to 4 p.m., so they work approximately four hours each.

Their duties include collecting all recycling in academic buildings, residence halls and two sheds on campus.

Smith said he is unaware if they have any more plans to add additional recycling recep-

tacles.

“Recycling has increased and the reason why I say that is just because how frequently it is filling,” Smith said. “At one point, the recyclers were only working once a week, and now the position has become twice a week.”

Paladino said she is quite optimistic and

believes strong ly that Waynesburg can do better with increased efforts by all.

In a study she conducted in 2017, she found that Waynesburg only recycles two percent of its waste, and she believes many students are getting discouraged after RECYCLE >> A3

FEBRUARY 14, 2019

PAGE A2

Connecting with student body a goal for Student Senate JACOB NICHOLAS For the Yellow Jacket

President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte once said, “No leader, however strong, can succeed at anything…unless he has the support and cooperation of the people he is tasked to lead and sworn to serve.”

Right now, within the Waynesburg University student senate, this is a topic of the utmost importance: forming a stronger connection with the student body.

“A lot of the students barely know we exist and don’t vote in the elections – and we want them to,” said executive secretary of the student senate Holly Ludvigsen. “We want all students to have a say in what is happening on their campus.”

The Waynesburg student senate is responsible for organizing many different activities and events that it does not necessarily always get credit for.

While many students associate the fun, studentoriented activities with the Student Activities Board (SAB), many are unaware of the events that the student senate is responsible for as well.

One event that the student senate is beginning to organize right now is along the lines of a “Family Feud” styled event.

The event would be similar to the “WU Idol” and “WU Voice” events SAB has planned in the past, with students being allowed to participate in the contest along with their friends.

“Student Senate does a lot of good work, but it is not public work, so we want

Grace Hutchison, The Yellow Jacket

During a recent Student Senate meeting, the senators discussed hosting different events to become more involved on campus. the students to see us being involved on campus more,” Ludvigsen said. “So, hosting a really fun event like a WU Family Feud type of thing would be really cool.”

The “WU Family Feud” is not the only thing the senate wants to do to connect more with students. Another idea proposed within the Senate is the idea of having a student sit-down chat.

This would be a “town hall” of sorts, where students would be able to talk directly to the student senators and ask them questions about who they are and what they do within the senate.

When asked about how he feels the senate is doing in connecting with students, executive president of the student senate, T.J.

yourself.”

Having an event like the student sit-down would provide a great opportunity for student senators

“We want the students to see us being involved on campus more.”

HOLLY LUDVIGSEN

Executive Secretary, Student Senate

DeNofrio said, “I think right now we’re doing a good job [of serving the students]. I think it’s just hard to rate

to receive feedback on how they are doing, and to learn what it is that students on campus would like to see

improved or changed, according to DeNofrio.

“The students on campus, they vote for me, so it’s my job to impress my boss, and my boss is the student body,” DeNofrio said. “I want to do work that is at least giving them something out of it… [The students] vote for us, so we have to do something that benefits them.”

In the current state of the student senate, DeNofrio believes that hearing feedback from the student body would be a great opportunity for the members of the student senate to reevaluate themselves and

determine if they are doing the best work they can to truly connect with the student body. “[The Student Senate] can only succeed if the people are willing to be involved and be a part of its success, because the people are the core element of the equation,” DeNofrio said.

“Our success is perfectly relevant to the input and care that the students are willing to give. If the students care enough, and want to see the senate succeed, we will work hard to see that our vision benefits them in the best way possible.”

Counseling Center starts ‘Create’ event Service leads

student to find calling in field

RACHEL PELLEGRINO Editorial Assistant

Paper, scissors, a journal and creativity are what brings a group of students together every Monday afternoon.

These students gather on the third floor of the Stover Campus Center from 2- 3 p.m. and from 4:30-5:30 p.m. as a part of the program dubbed “Create.”

Create began Jan. 21 and is led by West Virginia University Counseling Intern Ali Deem and Waynesburg University Counseling Intern Bethany Taylor.

“Each week, we give students a different prompt focusing on topics such as emotional intelligence, overcoming challenges [and] future goals,” said Taylor. “Then, we use art materials such as stamps, stickers, markers, paint, calligraphy pens, string, magazines etc., to create a page in a journal that reflects each student's interpretation of the prompt.”

Deem and Taylor are both graduate students and they started this program because of their interests in art based therapy. “[It] gives people an outlet aside from coming and sitting in a typical office setting. So, they can come in and explore, grow, change, and fill in a different way,” Deem said. “Usually hands on art is a really great way to do that.”

The group meets weekly throughout the semester and welcomes all students, no matter their art ability.

“You don’t have to be good at art and a lot of people have that misconception,” Deem said. “[This] gives them an outlet to not only put stuff down on paper, but to find out what they enjoy...it also lets people meet each other.”

Aside from connecting students, art journaling has a lot of mental health benefits.

DEANNA NAGEL

For The Yellow Jacket

Rachel Pelliegrino, The Yellow Jacket

With the new "Create" program students have a healthy outlet to explore the state of their mental heath as well as meet and connect with new people.

Deem explained art can be a way of self-care. It can be a good way for students to destress and relax before starting a busy week of classes.

Mental health is extremely important to college students because college is a period of both “self-discovery and growth.”

“By being aware of their own mental health, college students learn more about themselves, their needs and how to cope with stressors and other difficult life moments,” Taylor said.

“When college students learn how to effectively cope and reach out for support, it will continue to help them navigate life in the post-college world too.”

Students should consider attending this event because of the great benefits

this program offers and the positive effects it can have on mental health.

“If you’re mentally healthy, whatever that looks like for the person, it allows them to get the most out of their college experience. W here, if you’re struggling, it makes

it a little bit hard to really enjoy,” Deem said.

Because the Create Program is new to Waynesburg this year, it is still in the process of growing. The program is available all semester, but will conclude either finals week or the week before finals week.

Sometimes taking a trip is all you need to find what you really want to do. Freshman journalism major Sierra Medina can attest to this statement.

During the last week of winter break, the Department of Communication attended their yearly mission trip to Bonaire, an island located in the Caribbean.

“It’s not touristy, it’s almost like a desert,” Melinda Roeder Skrbin, instructor of communication and mission trip chaperone, said.

The attendees spent time with Trans World Radio Bonaire, an AM radio station,which is one of the largest religion-based radio stations in the world. They broadcast to Venezuela, Cuba, Colombia, Brazil and the Caribbean.

“We were able to help write scripts for the station, which was pretty neat,”Medina said. The radio station reaches about 50 to 100 million people.

Medina found her interest would lie in brand journalism while at the island.

“Bonaire def initely showed me which path I want to take,” Medina said.

The students also had downtime on the trip.Medina learned how to play badminton and interviewed a missionary family. The students also went snorkeling and ate gelato while on the island.

Non-communication students were also welcome on the trip. within the Department of Communication.

Although most of the projects done were communication-based, there was also some manual labor for the students to work on.

“Some students helped scrape rust off of a roof

and some students put up barbed wire to keep the donkeys out of the transmission site,” Roeder said.

Roeder said that non comm majors could also enjoy the projects centered around communication.

“If you’re not a communication major but may be interested in writing newsletters, helping to edit scripts or just want to do some physical labor, look into the Bonaire mission trip.”

Medina said she decided to attend the trip at the interest meeting in September. There are possible grants to assist students in paying for their trip. Medina

“Bonaire definitely showed me what path I want to take.”

SIERRA MEDINA

Freshman Journalism major

was applied for the grants and ended up receiving them to help her pay for the experience.

Assistant dean of student services Kelley Hardie, had a big part in planning the mission trip.

Hardie is also the director of the Center for Service Leadership. Roeder and Medina spoke highly of her work that went into this trip, “Kelley Hardie planned the trip,” Medina said. She bought the plane tickets, organized the fair, food, and budgets. She did really did a great job.”

Medina and Roeder both plan on attending the mission trip in the future “It was a great way to connect with the students and see them in a different setting,” Roeder said.

FEBRUARY 14, 2019

PAGE A3

Department of Education offers courses on mental health MALARIE YODER For the Yellow Jacket

Waynesburg University’s Department of Education has added mental health topics to the curriculum as a way to help support future teachers and to assist them in avoiding teacher burnout.

Dr. Kelley Solomon, assistant professor of education recently shared some of the advancements and additions in the program in order to tackle the growing concern of mental health in education.

“I’ve taught at Waynesburg University for eight years,” Solomon said, “and during that time developed a course [ECE 409] for the early childhood program that is entitled Health Methods, Pre-K to 4. As part of that course, we discuss mental health.”

Last semester, Solomon taught mainly in the secondary and middle program. In her secondary education psychology class, one of her students approached her relating to mental health, specifically teachers being burned out.

“She was concerned as a future teacher, about her own well-being with regards to mental health and teaching the students,” she said. “That’s what sparked this unit.”

After that conversation, Solomon said, the education department did not take long to implement change and begin to focus on alarming statistics.

A 2017 Educator Quality of Life Survey, results revealed; “Nearly two-thirds, or 61 percent, of educators find work ‘always’ or ‘often’ stressful, twice the rate of

other workers.”

Additionally, the survey concluded that “27 percent of educators said they have been threatened, bullied or harassed, versus 7 percent of employed adults in the general population.” With statistics such as these, it has been a drastic, yet meaningful change for the university to stress the importance of a healthy work-life balance and ways to keep mental health in check as a way to combat statistics.

Since the Department of Education started teaching this new curriculum, they have shared different techniques and suggested strategies to the students to do self-care and be vigilant their mental health. For Solomon, this is something that not just education majors but also something that most

college students could and should learn.

“This semester I am having the students build a self-care plan, and by doing this, it is my hope that they will develop lifelong self-care habits to support and sustain them on their journey as future teachers,” she said.

Solomon said that selfcare habits don’t come as easy as self-care plans.

[Students] just have to be aware because stress can have an impact on your performance in a classroom,” Solomon said.

If your stressors become great and as a teacher, you are not managing and dealing with all of these issues, it could be detrimental to the students and you.”

To help the students start their self-care journey, Solomon had them

pick an area of self-care they would like to improve, such as physical, mental, emotional, financial and more. Once the students picked one of the specialty areas, they were placed in support groups that meet every few weeks. Within these groups, students wrote letters to themselves to read once they reached a milestone in their self-care plans or for a time they may be struggling to achieve their goal.

“When they reach milestones throughout their journey this semester, whatever their goals are, they are going to open up the note for themselves and inside they were asked to write something positive,” she said. “These notes will remind them that they are making process. They also made one for a time that they are

Dream

Cancel

Continued from A1

Continued from A1

it seemed crazy, but I started to work on it and taking steps toward it, and I made it happen.’”

Over 100 people from southwestern Pennsylvania taped Dream Sheets to the walls. While attendees wrote and browsed, Dream Ambassadors aided in people’s dreams.

Junior international business major Chyanne Vanzant, helped as an ambassador to encourage others to communicate their ideas and goals.

“Expressing your dreams can be scar y and overwhelming, but to see other people do it kind of pushes us out of our comfort zone,” Vanzant said. “So, I am really happy that [people] came here.”

Some attendees came as far as Washington County, one of which being Jonathan Brodak.

Brodak wrote down seven dreams to tape to the wall. He wrote everything that came to mind, which “surprised himself.”

Now, he is invigorated to pursue his dreams, the biggest of which being to write a novel.

“Like for example, the dream about writing a story. [Matthews] told us that one example about it,” Brodak said. “I sort of gave up on it, to be honest. But after he said that, it really got me into it, and now I’m really wanting to start again.”

Matthews has seen the BIG Dream Gathering work wonders for dreamers who were willing to go for their aspirations. Before the dream becomes reality, Matthews said, the idea must be allowed and welcomed. “ The key is to g ive yourself permission to dream,” Matthews said.

you’ll get through it. I know there are people outside working all day.

So, it’s definitely doable, but also a little bit disappointing.”

Other schools in the area, such as the California Universi ty of Pennsylvania and Washington & Jefferson College, received full days off, and Brodak said the university “d o e s m o n i t o r s u c h activity regarding regional schools.” Brodak said that the intimate setup of Waynesburg’s campus makes it manageable for students to get to class as long as they are aware of the weather.

“Due to being a largely residential campus, the majority of our students have the ability to get to class safely by foot, given they dress appropriately for the weather,” Brodak said. “ S t u d e nt s , i n c l u d i n g those who commute, were not penalized for absences due to inclement weather.”

Junior history major Hannah Gatesman wasn’t personally affected by the schedule change, as none of her classes fell within the 3 p.m. Wednesday to noon Thursday window.

One of her friends, Rachel Lemay, started a petition on Change.org that was meant to be something small, Gatesman said, but ended up getting nearly 1,000 signatures. “ We thoug ht maybe 50 to 100 people would sign [the petition,] but it ended up going way bigger than we thought i t w o u l d ,” G a t e s m a n said. “Not that it really had any impact on the administration’s decis i o n , b u t i t wa s j u s t

Recycle Continued from A1 trying to fight for better recycling techniques and efforts around campus.

Smith said he believes students could potentially have the power to change the impact of recycling around campus.

“In general, if students are looking to get involved, or if students want the campus to be more environmentally friendly, it’s the voice of the students who do things and can make the big changes. It’s that grassroots initiative. If students come together

Photos courtesy of Paul Hicks

As those in attendance taped their "Dream Sheets" to the walls in the Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse, Mitch Matthews, the creator of the BIG Dream Gathering, was given an award on behalf of Glenn and Jane Crosby. The event was hosted through the Crosby Lecture Series, in partnership with the eHIVE and the NetVUE program on campus.

“For some, that’s dreaming again, maybe they had a dream that took

and want to see a change in that aspect; if they want to see improvements in that piece, the students should speak out and talk to Student Senate in order to move things forward,” Smith said.

For Paladino, it’s more than just recycling -- it’s helping to give back to the Earth.

“I guess its a way of feeling good about doing a service for your planet.

It’s a good way to promote and help the environment,” Paladino said.

“If you recycle you’re not just throwing your plastic in the trash; instead, you are contributing to saving resources, recycling resources, and reusing sources.”

some hits and got wiped out. Sometimes it’s being willing to dream for the

first time. But it starts with g iving yourself permission.”

struggling.”

Along with listening to her students and adding mental health into her course as a way to maintain a healthy lifestyle as they begin their career, Solomon does something else as a gentle and constant reminder. Above all else, Solomon wants to remind the students of Waynesburg and the staff to “always remember their passion and their purpose.”

“Let this be a lesson to not just the education majors but to all students preparing for their future,” Solomon said. “Be thinking about ways to maintain a healthy, balanced lifestyle, develop a self-care plan to use as a way to reduce stress, and know that there are resources to support you at all times when in need.”

kind of cool to see that many people signing something.”

For Gatesman, social media is a method for students to alert the administration of their thoughts, regardless of whether or not it leads to change.

“I think [social media is] a great way for the administration to hear what we’re saying, what w e ’ r e t h i n k i n g ,” s h e said. “Ultimately, i t’s their decision whether they listen or not, but it’s there for them to s ee … I t h i n k m ov i n g forward, there’s a definite potential for social media and the student voices to have a bigger impact on administrations decisions.”

While Brodak said social media is kept in mind, what the university reads online doesn’t have an impact in such a significant decision.

“As we always do, we monitored the activity on official Waynesburg University social media accounts during the Polar Vortex event,” she said. “A decision such as this which affects the entire Waynesburg University community is not made based on comments appearing on social media.”

Jones believes the best way for students to express their opinions on issues such as inclement weather isn’t behind a keyboard, but rather to speak with the university’s higher-ups in person.

“I feel like the best way to voice your opinion would be to actually go to the office of the president, and not just tweeting about it because I don’t know how effective that would be,” Jones said. “But I’m sure if there’s an overflow of students complaining, that [the administration] might think to [respond] to that.”

Fire Continued from A1 means.”

Facilities Services have begun renovating the damaged areas of Ray Hall. While Pioch said he doesn’t know when the building will be completely restored, it will most likely be complete in a week.

“Right now, they are just trying to get all that water out of the carpet,” Pioch said. “There is a drop ceiling in the kitchen, so that is all going to be ripped out and they are going to put new ceiling tiles in. Other than that, it’s probably just a lot of scrubbing and getting the ash out of things.”

Luke Goodling, The Yellow Jacket

The fire in Ray Hall was quickly contained by the sprinkler system and the help of local firefighters.

PAGE A4

FEBRUARY 14, 2019

Washington Center accepts first Waynesburg student Midei gets internship in U.S. capital RACHEL PELLEGRINO Editorial Assistant

Nicholas Midei, a junior criminal justice major, didn’t know what he was going to find on the third floor of the Stover Campus Center, as he looked through the study abroad opportunities.

Despite his initial expectations, something caught his eye that evening, while he was waiting for his roommate.

He knew that he wanted to study either internationally or domestically, but he wasn’t sure what program he wanted to go through.

That night, as he was waiting, he discovered the Washington Center Academic Internship Program.

“It just popped out to me,” Midei said. “It was just one of those f lyers that caught my eye and I didn’t know anything about it.”

This is the f irst year Waynesburg University has partnered with the Washington Center Program, which provides students the opportunity to study, intern and attend professional development workshops in Washington, D.C. for a semester of their choice – spring, summer or fall.

Midei applied for the program about two months ago and was notified through email that he was accepted.

Photo Courtesy of Nicholas Midei

Pictured above, Nicholas Midei, is the first student from Waynesburg University to be selected by the Washington Center Internship Program.

He is the first Waynesburg student to have been accepted into the program.

“I’m super excited. I’ve been to D.C. multiple times,” Midei said. “I’m super excited because I can actually be a local in the D.C. area instead of being a tourist.”

Midei is not only looking forward to being in Wash-

ington, but also meeting people from around the world and interacting with their different cultures.

“In the United States our beliefs in the workforce are different than other cultures. So, I’m interested to see how that all is going to come full circle,” he said.

The Washington Center program allows students

to earn twelve credits through an internship, night class, and other program activities.

Three credits are given for participating in the program workshops and taking a night class, while the remaining six credits are given for the internship.

The possible classes that Midei will be taking this

summer include classes on the First Amendment, the death penalty and domestic and foreign policy.

Besides night class, Midei will also be interning at a location in Washington, D.C. “I’m talking to my liaison about where I’m going to be,” Midei said.

His options right now are D.C. metro police, a

Washington law off ice, capital police, or an FBI facility.

Midei still has another month until he finds out where he will be placed.

The last part of the program is the professional development workshop called LEAD, which students have to attend on Fridays.

“There, we get to speak with other people from around the world and in our major about what we can do better, how can we do better in the workplace and how can we lead others to be better,” Midei said.

Even though Midei is a criminal justice major, this program can be tailored to any major for students with a wide variety of interests.

Blair Foreman, a Washington Center Admissions Counselor, said criminal justice is one of the main majors offered, however there are numerous opportunities for other majors as well.

“We have 600 plus internship placement opportunities. It’s a lot of internship placements so It covers a lot of different interests and fields. So, we can get any major,” said Foreman.

There are a lot of internship opportunities, but this program is more than just an internship.

“We exist to help students,” said Foreman. “We are bridging this gap between what students think about leaving college and after graduation and going into the career and the uncertainty about that.”

Upper Room worships during halftime Lucas-Hathaway

awards recognize WU professors

EMMA HERRLE

For The Yellow Jacket

Upper Room used the campus wide Super Bowl watching event to draw in students and promote their emphasis on community outreach Sunday, Feb. 3. During halftime of the Super Bowl, students headed upstairs from the Beehive to Stover’s third f loor where they gathered in a compact room for worship. Senior public relations major and Upper Room team member Olivia Kelley commented on the significance of the event’s untraditional location.

“Having it in Stover is an opportunity to get people to come to Upper Room who may not feel as comfortable,” Kelley said.

Unique from traditional Upper Rooms held in Roberts Chapel, this event lasted nearly two and a half hours and carried through halftime and the final two quarters of the game. It was a “come and go as you please” atmosphere, and some students stayed for just a partial time while others’ attendance persisted through the entire event. The band of seven stretched across the far wall of the room, and attendees were sporadically massed in a crowd of roughly fifty to sixty students. Senior biology major and Upper Room leader Nathan Blake said it was a somewhat challenging and unfamiliar environment, but nonetheless he considered it a success.

Compared to previous years, Blake said they noticed growth in the number of attendees as well as an increase in enthusiasm for the event. In the past, they have done about four or five worship songs but throughout the night , 21 songs were played. Kelley was pleased to notice some unfamiliar faces.

“It is important to do

JOSH HUGHES

For the Yellow Jacket

Emma Herrle, The Yellow Jacket

During halftime of the Super Bowl, a worship service was held by Upper Room. The service was on a come and go basis and students were not required to stay the whole time.

these types of events because often I just settle with knowing who comes to Upper Room and being comfortable with that, where as it is a ministry that is trying to reach everyone on campus,” Kelley said.

Community has been the focus this past semester as Upper Room has made some adjustments to their service layout in order to encourage student communion. Recently, the team has slightly cut the number of songs played at traditional Upper Room services on Sunday nights.

Blake noticed that “when we end on time or early people stay around and have community with one another.”

The team has also drawn students together through a variety of unique events the past two semesters, such as serving hot chocolate to students outside during the midst of the

winter months, encouraging students to gather for refreshments and fellowship after services, and gathering for outdoor worship in the Johnson Commons. Much of the significance of this growth can be attributed to the events coordinator, a position added to the Upper Room team within the past two years.

Auditions for next semester’s Upper Room team will take place within the next week. The application process is detailed and intentional as is the ministry. With a new team taking the stage, Upper Room would like to continue its focus on relationships

and are open for growth and change in the coming years. This semester they will be in the process of adding the position of a prayer coordinator whose job will be to work closely with Campus Ministry Assistants, coordinating and administering prayer during and after Upper Room.

Both Blake and Kelley will be graduating this May and have high hopes for growth in the future of the ministry.

“I’d love to see Upper Room fall away from its traditional structure. I’d love to see it change into something else but still maintain its mission,” said Blake.

Every spring, Waynesburg University hands out three prestigious awards to professors. The Lucas-Hathaway Teacher Excellence Awards are given annually to three professors who demonstrate consistency in teaching excellence. Students and faculty at Waynesburg nominate and vote on who they believe should win these awards.

The three awards recognize professors who demonstrate an extended history of teaching excellence, excellence in introductory subjects and part-time teaching excellence.

The three honorees last year were James Tanda, instructor of criminal justice, Dr. James Hepburn, program director for the master of arts in counseling and biblical ministries Reverend Christy Wise.

Tanda said the award makes it worth the time he and other professors put in for students.

“This award, in a way, validates the hard work and the individual effort that we all do here at the university” Tanda said.

Tanda, who spent 27 years with the Department of Justice, won the award for excellence in an introductory subject. He was completely unaware that he was nominated for this award and shocked when he won.

“I was elated” Tanda said.

“I was absolutely thrilled and honored to be part of a long list of recipients for this prestigious award.”

The Lucas-Hathaway Award means a great deal to Tanda. He has won many awards throughout his career in law enforcement including Special Agent of the Year and National Top Cop Award.

“This [award] ranks at the top because it was my first award in teaching, in my new profession” he said.

Hepburn won the award for his extended history of teaching excellence. He was shocked that he won this award because he teaches at Waynesburg’s Southpointe Graduate Center.

“I haven’t taught at the main campus for many years, so I was certainly not expecting it because in some ways I see those awards focused at the main campus community” Hepburn said.

Hepburn said he e was honored and humbled by the whole experience in receiving the award.

Over the past year Hepburn has felt inspired to keep up his work as aprofessor because of this award.

“It certainly helped me to continue to do the best that I can; to not rest on my laurels so to speak” Hepburn said.

Hepburn and Tanda left different pieces of advice for professors who want to better themselves and possibly win the Lucas-Hathaway Award.

“Teaching with integrity and authenticity is the most important [advice].”

Hepburn said. Tanda said that his mantra since he has been employed at Waynesburg University is to “Treat every student of mine like they were my own child,” Tanda said He also said that a professor needs to “take the extra care and attention, to find time to meet with them no matter what.”

The criteria for the LucasHathaway Teacher Excellence Awards are that the nominee must demonstration of consistency of teaching excellence and who have made a distinct difference in the teaching climate of Waynesburg.

region SECTION B

FEBRUARY 14, 2019 | WAYNESBURG UNIVERSITY | THEYELLOWJACKET.ORG

Valentine's Day helps shops ‘gain momentum’ Businesses collaborate to stay afloat TEGHAN SIMONTON Region Editor

Valentine’s Day on High Street is being celebrated in much the same way as always, but with a few exceptions.

The specialty sweets shop, 5 Kidz Kandy, will be hosting its annual Valentine’s Day Open House, featuring a chocolate fountain, fruit bouquets and other sugary gifts. The event also functions as an opportunity for collaboration among other businesses in Waynesburg. In addition to candy, 5 Kidz Kandy will be selling flowers from The Ivy Green, wine samples from Thistlethwaite Vineyards and cigars from Fischer Antiques.

“Valentine’s Day, for us, I guess is like other businesses’ Christmas,” said Kristy Vliet, owner of 5 Kidz Kandy.

The Valentine’s Day Open House has long acted as a catalyst of revenue for downtown shops. Vliet said the event offers a convenient way for shoppers to get all of their Valentine’s Day gifts in one place.

“It really helps all of us, and it helps the people who want to shop,” she said.

The Waynesburg Merchant’s Guild has long found ways for the businesses to cooperate, hosting the Valentine’s Day Open House and similar events on Fat Tuesday and Easter. But in the last year, several of the founding members—including Artbeat and Ruff Creek

Crafts—have closed down permanently. Vliet said this can be discouraging for the shops that remain, trying to carry on. “ You know, it’s your friends,” she said. “Because you do work together and you do network, and then when somebody closes and leaves, it breaks your heart.”

Vliet said 5 Kidz Kandy will be contributing some candy items, including chocolate-covered strawberries for a giveaway at one of downtown’s newest operations, High Street Hair.

Jason Renner started High Street Hair in June 2018, after a different salon in the plaza closed. Renner opened the new business

Grace Hutchison, The Yellow Jacket

5 Kidz Kandy Owner Kristy Vliet, above, said holiday and promotional events are a key element to keeping her business successful. so all the stylists could continue working together.

Since dedicating himself to a shop with a “hometown” feeling, Renner has labored on consistent collaborations with other High Street businesses--an initiative he calls Highlighting High Street.

“Though we had a good clientele following, we didn’t want to just stay that way,” Renner said.

“You don’t want to just

stay stagnant. You want to continue to grow, and that’s why these promotions and things we want

to continue throughout the year try to help new people hearing about us.”

The giveaway with 5 Kidz

Kandy is the first Highlighting High Street promotion, VDAY >> B4

App helps students reporting abuse Heritage Alliance pushes tourism in Greene County HOLLY HENDERSHOT Op/Ed Editor

It has been more than six years since the horrific shooting that killed 20 children in Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Out of this tragedy came a movement to take more action to keep children safe in the schools they attend--one that has been modernized to reach potential victims where they are.

Pennsylvania recently passed Act 44, statewide legislation to help students report threats and violence in schools.

Throug h the system, all public schools in the state are required to use “Safe2Say,” a mobile application that allows students and parents to send anonymous reports about situations they deem dangerous to the school or individual students.

The app is sponsored

by Sandy Hook Promise, a non-profit organization formed following the 2012 shooting as part of the movement for more safety in schools. The Pennsylvania attorney general’s office, along with Sandy Hook Promise, is operating the new reporting system.

Joseph Orr, superintendent of Jefferson-Morgan School District, said each district, in addition to the state, is required to have a team to monitor the reports that come through the app. The reports go to the contact team for that school district and may go to the 911 call center if the report is serious enough.

LUKE GOODLING Sports Editor

Teghan Simonton, The Yellow Jacket

Pennsylvania recently passed Act 44, statewide legislation to help students report threats and violence in schools through a mobile application, Safe2Say. Orr said he believes the app will provide a safe environment for students to come to every day.

“If they feel a student has made comments that

selves,” Orr said. “If they’ve witnessed harassment of another student and they want to report it, it just gives them a way to do that.”

“This gives them a vehicle to let someone know that they need help or that they know someone that needs help.”

JOE ORR

Superintendent, Jefferson-Morgan School District

are life-threatening in nature, a student that has made comments about wanting to hurt them-

Orr said the schools were informed a little about the app during the fall, as Act 44 was passed

several months ago. The app officially launched Jan. 14., said Brandon Robinson, principle of JeffersonMorgan, and the school started training their students the day after. Since they had not heard much about the app before January, Robinson said it was a very quick window to make sure all students’ parents were informed and everyone was trained.

After the short training period for high and middle school students, the app has been in practice for about a month.

Robinson said the reports go through three APP >> B4

To u r i s m h a b i t s a r e changing. Today, experiences are focused on interaction as opposed to passive participation.

This shift, along with other topical subjects, were addressed at the 2019 Heritage Tourism Summit this past Saturday.

The Washington County Heritage Alliance hosted the summit for a second time after the inaugural event in 2018. Donna Holdorf, executive director of the National Road Heritage Corridor, believes it’s important for local businesses to understand the change in tourism.

“The focus [of the summit was] how to create great, immersive experience—that’s really the trend in tourists,” Holdorf said. “What they are seeking when they go places: They aren’t really interested anymore in stopstand-stare. If they go to a winery, they want to, at the very least, see the process of the grape crushing or do it themselves.”

The summit began in the morning and had two different sessions, which were followed by networking opportunities in the afternoon. Each session offered different workshops registrants could attend.

The topics of these workshops ranged from build-

ing successful events to adequate marketing techniques.

The summitt’s main attraction, said Holdorf, was keynote speaker, Laury Ward. Ward is the president of the Finger Lakes Wine Country, an organization she’s been with since 2013. At the event, Holdorf said Ward presented on meeting tourist’s expectations and how to create unique experiences for visitors. In total, there were 15 other speakers at the event.

Another one of the event’s panelists was Lena Galing, owner of Lippencott Alpacas. At the summit, she spoke on a panel about local businesses. For Galing, being a successful business owner comes down to one specific aspect.

“It’s not for everyone, but basically for any job you have to have one word and that is ‘passion,’” Galing said. “That is the big word as far as I’m concerned.”

The decision to bring back the summit for the second year in a row was primarily due to the strong attendance from last year, Holdorf said. This year, the event achieved similar success, selling out completely.

“The decision was based on the interest we TOURISM >> B4

PAGE B2

FEBRUARY 14, 2019 S PJ B E S T A L L - A R O U N D N O N - D A I LY N E W S P A P E R

WINNER: 2004 2016 FINALIST: 2003 2013 2014

OPINION

The wage gap still exists in the U.S. TEGHAN SIMONTON Columnist

STAFF EXECUTIVE EDITOR REGION EDITOR SPORTS EDITOR ARTS & LIFE EDITOR OP-ED EDITOR NEWS EDITOR COPY DESK CHIEF SENIOR EDITORIAL ASST. ASST. SPORTS EDITOR ASST. SPORTS EDITOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS

ADVERTISING DIRECTOR

MATTIE WINOWITCH TEGHAN SIMONTON LUKE GOODLING GRACE HUTCHISON HOLLY HENDERSHOT MICHAEL CAPPELLI EDWARD BOICE JOE SMELTZER TYLER GODWIN DYLAN CLELAND CHEYENNE NESTER ELAINA SPAHMER COLIN MCLAUGHLIN ANDREW HREHA RACHEL PELLEGRINO BEN NORMAN

TECHNICAL/FACULTY ADVISORS: RICHARD KRAUSE SARAH BELL KRISTINE SCHIFFBAUER

EDITORIAL

The heat increases The world needs to act on global warming The average surface temperature of the planet has risen 1.6 degrees Fahrenheit since the late nineteenth century. Though the number may not seem alarming, this incremental increase in temperature could mean extinction for half of all animal and plant species in some of the world’s most important natural places, including the Amazon rainforest.

Five of the hottest years ever recorded have occurred since 2010. Due to this global increase in heat, the once bountiful golden toad no longer explores Costa Rica. The polar bears have turned to scavenging for food on land because the ice is melting.

Glacier National Park of Montana was named 119 years ago for its 150 ice formations. Now just 30 glaciers remain, and all that have survived the melt have reduced in size by two-thirds or greater.

One final fact. Global warming is real.

Environmental change and the fact that our planet is heating up is founded in numerous facts and indisputable research of countless credible sources including NASA, the Environmental Protection Agency and National Geographic.

It is nothing new for this data to be ignored. It’s natural for humans to push off more long-term tasks for what appears to be the more pressing day-to-day ones. This is no different in government. Building new roads and tax legislation seem important today, but they ignore the problems tomorrow will inevitably bring.

What is new, however, is that having concern for the increase in global temperature is now being labeled as controversial. It’s impossible for something to be controversial when there is no opposing side.

The planet is heating up. We need to do something about it. Plain and simple.

If we don’t take initiative and act immediately, the situation will only become more dire.

Older generations are to blame for senseless actions based in greed without any thought to environmental impacts. One could argue they didn’t know any better, as there wasn’t substantial information about how their practices were hurting the environment.

Now we have no excuse. We are more informed than ever; the information is blatant and screaming for attention. Based off of these staggering statistics, we are able to make educated decisions and live a more sustainable life.

Living a green life means more than just recycling.

It’s recognizing your contribution to the amount of non-biodegradable waste being produced daily, it’s carbon offset, it’s taking the time to research and purchase green products and services.

Our children might only ever see pictures of polar bears. They will never be able to grasp the true size and beauty of a glacier. The once-abundant coral reefs and all of their wildlife will disappear to skeletons.

The only way to change our fate is to demand action.

ABOUT OP/EDS

Editorials in the left-hand column represent the views of the Yellow Jacket. Letters from readers, columns, cartoons and other elements on the editorial page do not necessarily reflect the position of this newspaper and university.

NEWSPAPER POLICY

The Yellow Jacket is the student-operated newspaper of Waynesburg University funded by student fees and advertisements and is intended for the entire college community. The Yellow Jacket is produced by the student staff on a weekly basis during the academic year.

The office of the Yellow Jacket is located in room 400 of Buhl Hall. It is the right of the Yellow Jacket to print all material deemed newsworthy and gathered in a fair and unconditional manner. No advance copies of stories will be shown, and reporters' notes are considered confidential. No "off the record" information will be accepted.

ADVERTISING POLICY

Anyone wishing to advertise in the Yellow Jacket should email the advertising director at jacketads@waynesburg. edu. Ads must be submitted by the Monday before publication date and not conflict with the university mission.

Copyright © 2018 Waynesburg University 51 W. College St.Waynesburg, Pa. 15370

Last week, a friend of mine approached me, frazzled, and told me about a professor who had claimed there is no longer a gender pay gap in the United States. After doing some research, I learned that unfortunately, this kind of thinking is not so unusual: m a ny co m m e nt at o r s ,

including those representing reputable sources, have claimed that in today’s day and age, the wage gap between genders is a total myth.

While there is some misinformation regarding the gender pay gap, to say it does not exist at all is simply obtuse.

In reality, the issue is just more complex than many people are willing to consider.

Legally, companies in the U.S. are not allowed to charge women less

for performing the same job as their male counterpart; and for this reason, the simple response to the pay gap question would be to state “there is no such thing.”

Additionally, some of the statistics that have been f loating around about the real pay gap have been misinterpreted, thereby putting the concept’s entire existence into question.

For example, one columnist from Forbes pointed out, the U.S Bu-

reau of Labor Department states that the median earnings of full-time female workers is 77% of that of male workers, but full-time can mean lots of things. 40 hours?

35? The thing is, the fact that there would be this discrepancy bet ween hours worked by men and women is still indicative of discrimination – that part still seems lost on people.

There is plenty of eviWAGES >> B3

Maintaining healthy lifestyle habits TYLER GODWIN Columnist

Lifestyle changes are hard.

Oftentimes you commit yourself to eating healthier, or working out more, only to see it crumble after a few weeks because you lose the willpower or drive.

I’ve been there, more times than I can remember.

It’s an up and down struggle that I’ve battled with for the better part of my life, since high school. I’ve had stretches where I’ve been success-

ful, but way too many where I’ve slipped into unhealthy habits that have left me feeling worse than before.

However, I think I’ve finally figured out a few things about health and fitness that have changed my life for the better, and I don’t see myself slipping again.

I bought a Fitbit over the winter break as an attempt to finally break my bad habits, and I’ve turned my health journey into a fun game that keeps me accountable and has given me results. I’ve learned a lot about how the body works and the effect

of food on your body versus how active you are.

At first, I was alarmed because, right away, I realized my caloric intake was roughly 1,000 more than how much I burned in an average day, and it started making sense as to why I gained weight so easily.

Seeing this in numbers opened my eyes. It gave me a way of quantifying something that maybe I knew in the back of my head without the Fitbit, but now that I could keep track of everything, I had a new sense of accountability. I had a new

drive to work hard and make sure I was burning more than I was putting in consistently.

It’s not a perfect system by any means, but it was a huge jump to have the mentality of outworking myself. If I worked harder in the gym or went on an extra walk to get more steps, I burned more calories. Burning more calories meant I could eat more calories, so if I wanted to eat a lot, I just had to will myself to be more active to justify some eating habits.

As a self-proclaimed foodLIFESTYLE >> B3

VOICES OF WU

WU students choose Snapchat first HOLLY HENDERSHOT Op/Ed Editor

“I use Snapchat for its convenience.”

This was a common answer when half of 50 surveyed students on Wa y n e s b u r g U n i v e r sity’s campus explained why they prefer to use Snapchat over Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

28 percent of the surveyed students preferred Instagram, 12 percent preferred Facebook and only 10 percent preferred Twitter.

The other 50 percent said they used Snapchat more often, mainly because it was an easy option. On Snapchat, users don’t even need to include text with the pictures they send, so they can communicate in a quick and easy fashion. If they wish to include text, they have the option to use the application for texting as well.

One student said they think Snapchat is “much easier than opening up a texting app and typing out what you want to say.”

This trend isn’t limited to Waynesburg Uni-

versity, but is prevalent across the whole country as well.

In a 2018 survey of social media use in the United States, the Pew Research Center for Internet and Technology found that 78 percent of adults ages 18-24 used Snapchat and 71 percent used Instagram.

Two Waynesburg students said they use Instagram more often than Snapchat because they enjoy scrolling down the screen to see what their friends are posting.

“I prefer using Instagram because it gives me

a simple outlet to connect with friends of similar interest and makes it easy to see posts on a variety of topics,” sophomore Jacob Shaner said.

Dorissa Large, one of only six people who said

they preferred Facebook, said she wishes other social media had the same way of keeping memories, like Facebook does with its “memory” feature. “[I like] Facebook for the memories that I have from over the years I’m able to look back on,” Large said. “Most of my family, I’ve been able connect with [on Facebook], even if they live in other states.”

Large said Instagram is a close second for her, as it does a good job of “connecting with our generation.”

The students who said they liked to use Twitter more often said they mostly use it for news and updates, more than a way to connect with friends.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters to the editor are encouraged as a method to bring issues of concern into the public eye. Letters should be typed, limited to 300 words, signed and include a phone number for confirmation.

Letters may be submitted to 400 Buhl Hall, sent to the Yellow Jacket via campus mail or via email to jacket@waynesburg.edu. Letters may also be sent to Yellow Jacket, 400 Buhl Hall, Waynesburg University, 51 W. College St., Waynesburg, Pa. 15370. All letters must be received by 5 p.m. the Monday of any publication week.

FEBRUARY 14, 2019

PAGE B3 NEWS

Cheat Sheet: Virginia state leaders under fire for scandals EDITOR'S NOTE: The following is a synopsis of a recent topic trending in world or national news.

COLIN MCLAUGHLIN Editorial Assistant

Anyone who has followed what is going on in the state of Virginia, knows the state government is collapsing.

To start off, a picture of Virg inia Gov. Ralph Northam from his 1984 medical school yearbook shows possibly him wearing “black face” makeup.

At first, Northam admitted to being one of the people in the photo, but now he is denying it and refusing to resign as the governor. According to NBCNews, this is what Northam had to say. “ Well, it has been a difficult week,” Northam told CBS News' Gayle King in a clip of an interview which aired Monday on CBS’ “This Morning”.

“I'm a leader. I’ve been in some very difficult situations — life-and-death

situations, taking care of sick children,” he added in the clip, which aired on “Face the Nation” Sunday, referencing his career in medicine.

Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax, who would take over as Governor of Virginia if Northam resigns, would be the second black governor in the history of the state; Fairfax, however, is now under investigation for a possible sexual assault.

Dr. Vanessa Tyson, who is a professor at Scripps College, is accusing Fairfax of sexually assaulting her in 2004. Tyson said they were both working the Democratic National Convention and the two went back to his hotel room and started kissing, then that led to Fairfax pushing Tyson onto the hotel room’s bed where he sexually assaulted her, according to a Newsweek article by Jenni Fink.

“Utterly shocked and terrified, I tried to move my head away but could not because his hand was

Tribune News Service

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, with his wife Pam beside him, at a news conference in the Executive Mansion. holding down my neck and he was much stronger than me,” Tyson said.

This all has happened w i t h i n a wee k ’s t i m e frame, and now Northam is calling for Fairfax to resign “if the sexual assault accusation is true,” according to Fink’s article.

“The truth is impor-

tant,” Northam said. “If these accusations are determined to be true I don’t think he’s going to have any other option but to resign.”

The timing of the accusation against Fairfax is said to be the reason why Northam is still in office as the Governor of Virgin-

ia. According to a the New York Times article by Alan Blinder, a Virginia House of Delegates Democrat Mark L. Keam had this to say.

“The timing of the other scandals certainly helps him, because the spotlight is no longer solely on him, and he is not the only

story in town,” Keam said.

Hopefully this mess is resolved soon and the truth with come out about the sexual assault accusation against Fairfax and whether or not Northam was one of those people in the picture. Until then, neither of them are likely to resign.

In the News: Five headlines you need to know this week EDITOR'S NOTE: The following is a synopsis of a recent topic trending in ANDREW HREHA Editorial Assistant

1. Senate says no collusion between Trump campaign and Russia Both Democrats and Republicans on the senate committee investigating the 2016 Presidential Election have come out and said they have found no evidence of direct collusion between President Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia. As the investigation draws to an end, senators are stating there is no factual evidence to suggest the Trump campaign conspired with Russia during the election. Sources believe, along with the senate investigation, Special Counsel Robert Mueller is also getting ready to wrap up his investigation into the Trump campaign without much new evidence that points to the alleged Trump-Russia collusion.

-NBC News Feb. 12 2. President Trump “not happy” with border deal that doesn't fund the wall President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he is not happy about the bipartisan agree-

Lifestyle Continued from B2 ie, maintaining a healthy diet has always been a struggle for me because I love food, and I love a lot of it. The key, I’ve discovered, is honoring the cravings I do have in moderation and not completely cutting off “bad” or “unhealthy” foods. Another important part is limiting your portion sizes a little, you’ll be surprised how much of a difference that can make.

For the most part, I try to incorporate a fruit or vegetable into every meal and start with those when eating to fill up quicker on the healthier stuff. It’s also good to incorporate some kind of

Tribune News Service

Joaquin Guzman or "El Chapo" was found guilty of ten counts of drug trafficking after an extensive 11 week trial. ment that funds border securi ty, but not the wall. President Trump, however, did not indicate whether or not he would sign or veto the legislation before the government is set to shut down again Friday at midnight. The legislation provides 1.375 billion dollars for border fencing, which falls short of the 5.7 billion the president requested to build the wall. The president did mention he does not expect the government to shut down again over border security.

3. Senate to vote on “Green New Deal”

-New York Times Feb. 12

Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell (RKY) has said the senate will take a vote on the “Green New Deal” a progressive climate change bill that has been highly controversial since being brought to the forefront of political talk by new senator Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).

The vote will merely be a “sense of the senate” vote, as the legislation faces united opposition from senate republicans who hold 53 of the 100 seats in the senate.-The

protein into every meal, like some of the lower-calorie options, such as chicken, pork, fish or certain kinds of nuts to get that feeling of being full.

While most of my meals resemble something along the lines of what I mentioned above, there are usually one or two days a week where I will still get a high-calorie meal or something unhealthy because, well, life is about balance. It’s hard to go “cold-turkey” on old eating habits. So, get that pizza, that cupcake or those fries every once in a while, because you’ve probably earned it for eating well so many days in a row.

I realize that not everyone's the same, but I wanted to share what worked for me.

Quantifying my eating habits changed my view and gave

me a better idea of how to manage.

What I want you to take away from this is: it’s okay to not eat healthy all the time.

Satisfying cravings for desserts, fried goods or a soda every once in a while feels really rewarding, because you’ve earned it for working hard.

The biggest things I want readers to take away from this is to give yourself time.

It’s a process, and if you stick with it you will see results slowly, but surely. Maintain those habits you are developing as best you can by having fun with it and challenging yourself in increments.

You don’t have to eliminate everything immediately, but rather gradually, over time.

You will reach your goals.

Stay confident and stick with the process. You got this.

vote will, however, force senate Democrats to vote on the bill which may split the party heading towards the 2020 Presidential Election.

-The Hill Feb. 12 4. "El Chapo" found Guilty Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin Guzman, better known as “El Chapo”, was found guilty of ten counts of drug-trafficking. Guzman has yet to be sentenced, but the decision will most likely mean life in prison for the drug lord, who is be-

Wages Continued from B2 dence that proves the gender pay gap is in existence. In late 2018, the American Association of University published a report stating that women earn 80 cents for every dollar earned by men, on average, resulting in approximately $513 billion in lost wages each year.

While this may seem illegal at face value, companies are very savvy at finding ways around it: for instance, new employers will often set starting salary based upon an applicant’s earning history, which puts women at an

lieved to be the head of the Sinaloa drug cartel, the largest supplier of illegal drugs to the United States. The 11 week trial ended with Guzman, void of emotion, being found guilty by a unanimous jury. Guzman is the highest profile drug dealer to stand trial in the United States.

-BBC News Feb. 12 5. Arrests made after woman found dead in a suitcase A man was arrested in connection with the death of a Greenwich,

automatic disadvantage.

Mothers and fathers are also treated unequally, with men being more likely to earn a promotion after having a child.

Women, meanwhile, find their wages increasingly difficult to stabilize after becoming a parent, having to balance inflexible work and childcare schedules. These may seem like circumstantial factors, but they are actually proof that women have a ver y different set of challenges in the workplace – challenges they are not compensated for.

So, in reality, we aren’t just talking about a simple discrepancy in pay.

We’re talking about a lack of social supports that put working mothers

Connecticut woman who was found dead. Valerie Reyes, 24, went missing in late January. She was reported missing after she did not come into work at a Barnes & Noble book store. Her body was found stuffed in a suitcase beside a busy road, her arms and legs bound.

The arrested man, identified as Javier da Silva, of Queens, New York, was using the deceased woman’s ATM card and police believe he is responsible for her death.

Autopsy reports are still pending.

-CBS News Feb. 12

and females in general at a distinct disadvantage.

The good news is that states are actively seeking to remedy these issues through training seminars and pay equity laws.

The bad news is that claiming the gender pay gap is a myth sets back the entire process and is an insult to all of the women who sacrificed and worked for their equality.

While the wage gap is not as simplistic as it is made out to be, and great strides have been made for women in the workplace, discrimination and inequality is still very much in place. We can’t oversimplify or ignore the problem. So, stop saying it doesn’t exist.

PAGE B4

FEBRUARY 14, 2019

Girl Scouts and Catholic diocese closes four churches Goodwill partner for clothing drive

BY EDWARD BOICE Copy Desk Chief

GRACE HUTCHISON Arts & Life Editor

Goodwill of Southwestern Pennsylvania and the Girl Scouts of Western Pennsylvania are partnering to host a Give A Little Love Clothing Drive throughout the month of February. In this initiative, local Girl Scouts will be collecting clothing donations to donate to Goodwill stores in the area.

This drive comes in one of the organization’s biggest times of need, said David Tobiczyk, vice president of marketing and development at Goodwill of southwestern Pennsylvania.

“In the winter months our donations typically slow down,” Tobiczyk said.

Compared to past years, this season hasn’t been as dire in terms of donations to Goodwill, Tobiczyk said.

However, the influx of cold weather has had a significant impact on Goodwill’s inventory.

“Our donations reduce almost by 50 percent to the point where, during certain winter seasons, clothing goes right to the sales racks,” Tobiczyk said.

The drive assists Goodwill in their mission to provide employment opportunities and serve the communi ties in which they operate, said Tobiczyk. The gently used clothing the Girl Scouts are collecting over the month will be sent to local stores.

“Goodwill’s mission is to help people experience the power of work,” Tobiczyk said. “The dollars we are able to generate funds

App Continued from B1 levels: school authorities, police and “all hands-on deck.”

“If it is a high level of violence and they get that information, all of us will be contacted at once,” he said. “911 will get a call, I will get a call and the state police will get a call all at the same time if it’s on that level.”

Robinson said the contact team has only received three tips through the app so far in their school district. The reason for this, he believes, is that students feel comfortable enough to come directly to him, the assistant principal or the guidance counselor when they are concerned about anything going on. With this in mind, Robinson said he sees the app more as a safety net at the small school and to prevent incidents like Sandy Hook.

Tourism Continued from B1 had attend last year and the hope that we would do it once again,” he said. “ This group of people have really never been brought together before for any type of conversation.”

Holdorf said bringing together a unique group of business owners, created a networking atmosphere.

Due to this, a business from Scenery Hill w produce a second successful event last year. The themed evening was so successful it’s happening again this year, Holdorf said.

“Last year, [when] we did

our mission.”

The partnership between Goodwill of Southwestern Pennsylvania and the Girl Scouts of Western Pennsylvania began decades ago.

They first partnered to do the Give A Little Love Clothing Drive more than 20 years ago, though they haven’t done it consistently every year.

Even though the initiative lasts through February, Tobiczyk has yet to see any donations personally.

“We expect to see Girl Scouts delivering donations in the next weeks,” Tobiczyk said.

More 170 Girl Scouts in Southwestern Pennsylvania are participating in the clothing drive and taking the collection of gently used clothing very seriously, said Tobiczyk.

“The girls involved really do a successful job,” he said.

The Girl Scouts are learning about those who are benefitting from the clothing collection, and will earn a community service patch from Goodwill for their participation.

This partnership benefits both organizations said Tobiczyk. The Girl Scouts earn a badge and benefit a cause, which allows Goodwill of southwestern Pennsylvania to continue to execute their mission in local communities.

“We’re thrilled to work with the Girl Scouts, they’re a wonderful organization,” Tobiczyk said.

“We’re just so happy to work with them.”

“I know a lot of the students and the families, so they often feel more comfortable just coming to me to talk to me about [their concerns], but the app is there for them,” Robinson said.

Orr said the app will also benefit Jefferson-Morgan tips are left anonymously.

“I think that it will be most helpful especially if there is an issue where someone is not really comfortable or does not make connections with adults in a school district,” he said. “This gives them a vehicle to let someone know that they need help or that they know someone that needs help.”

Orr said that although the app has not been used much in the JeffersonMorgan School District as of yet, he believes it is already achieving its purpose and will continue to do so.

“If one student was to use it and identify a serious situation, that one incident would be enough to say it’s worked,” Orr said.

this, the folks from Scenery Hill came and were trying to create an experience related to the history of the area and they ended up doing a Great Gatsby evening, which was a huge success and sold out,” Holdorf said.

“People are already looking to buy their tickets for this upcoming year.”

Reflecting back on the summit, Galing said the diversity of presenters reminded her of the purpose she serves.

“At first, I felt out of place because I [thought] ‘what am I doing here?’” she said. “We are all professionals in our own businesses. It’s such a wide range of businesses that it added to the summit. I was thrilled to be there—to add my two cents.”

The Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh has decided to shut down four churches in the St. Katharine Drexel Parish in Southeastern Washington County.

St. Joseph in Roscoe, St. Michael the Archangel in East Bethlehem Township, St. Thomas Aquinas in California and Saints Mary & Ann in Marianna will close March 4. The two churches left in the parish are Ave Maria in Bentleyville and Saint Agnes in Centerville.

Stated in a press release published by the Pittsburgh diocese, the four churches were shut down due to St. Katharine Drexel Parish not having the financial resources to keep the churches open anymore.

The Rev. Nicholas S. Vaskov, executive director of communications for the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, said the churches were closed with good intentions. “[Father Edward Yuhas], the pastor of that parish, started a process of forming a committee that would look at what are the challenges, the situation there, and the needs; what would best serve the Catholic presence in that area,” Vaskov said. “So, that committee looked at what was all available and made a recommendation as to

VDay Continued from B1 Renner said, and he was pleased with its success.

After promoting the giveaway for one week, Renner said more than 150 people entered the drawing.

Vliet, who opened 5 Kidz Kandy in 2014, said her shop relies on events like these each year to bring in important revenue. This year, the Valentine’s Day Open House, specifically, is important.

“This has probably been our worst fiscal year, yet,”

Edward Boice, The Yellow Jacket

Four of the six church locations in the St. Katherine Drexel Parish are set to close March 4. what would be best for the parish.”

The Rev. Yuhas was unable to comment on the committee.

Another aspect the committee looked at was how to best use the income of the four churches.

“We could either use the resources they have for ministry or could use it to maintain buildings,” Vaskov said, “and the decision was to be able to put the resources they have towards ministry.”

Vaskov said the closures

were mainly a result of low attendance at those locations. The low numbers, Voskov said, is just an example of the widespread problem of declining attendance across the U.S. The closure of the four churches is the parish’s way of adapting to this problem, he said.

“You see less and less people coming to mass or coming to their churches,” Vaskov said. “So, [what] we are looking for was to be proactive in planning for the future.”

To Vaskov’s knowledge, the fate of the church buildings has not been decided.

According to the Diocese of Pittsburgh’s press release, the Rev. Yuhas presented the petition to close the churches Nov. 30, 2018, to the Most Rev. David Zubik, Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh. The diocesan Presbyteral Council and Vicars General reviewed the petition Jan. 14, and voted unanimously for the petition.

Vliet said. “It weighs heavy on you.”

With many of the nearby shops closing and with her storefront eat-

services. Right now, that is “up in the air.”

“Four and a half years later, is it really even worth it to keep the storefront

O p e n Ho u s e w i l l h e l p the store “gain momentum,” and she is hopeful, based on previous years’ sales. And despite Vliet’s thoughts of closing, both she and Renner said coll a b o rat i o n w i t h o t h e r businesses is still at the forefront.

“There are so many small, hometown places that you can go to on High Street,” Renner said. “It doesn’t all have to be something so commercialized, and I do hope that running some of these promotions and bringing in another business to do that with really helps to just promote each of us.”

“You do work together and you do network, and then when somebody closes and leaves, it breaks your heart.”

KRISTY VLIET

Owner, 5 Kidz Kandy

ing up overhead costs, Vliet said she is debating closing the physical location and focusing all her efforts on catering

open, or just go with what’s working?” Vliet said. “It’s hard on all of us.”

For now, Vliet is hoping the Valentine’s Day

Professional Portraits

open to all freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors

When?

Where?

February 22 11 am - 4 pm Photo Studio (bottom floor of library)

For just $5, you will receive a professional quality headshot. These photos are perfect for use on LinkedIn pages, résumés, senior portraits and more. No sign-ups necessary. All proceeds will benefit Design Club. Contact Ashley S. Hall (hal1021) with any questions.

sports SECTION C

WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIP EDITION

FEBRUARY 14, 2019 | WAYNESBURG UNIVERSITY | THEYELLOWJACKET.ORG

Evans clinches PAC Championship

Photo courtesy of Edward Mailiard

Jake Evans defeated Jake Walker with a pin 1:23 into the bout. Evans earned his second PAC Most Outstanding Wrestler of the Year award.

Jackets earn title with 5-point margin over W&J after heavyweight bout ends with pin BRANDON ROSSI For The Yellow Jacket

The team of the 2010’s.

Many people have given that label to the Waynesburg University wrestling program.

But out of the seven PAC team championships the wrestling team has collected since the turn of the decade, the most recent carries the highest historical significance.

Heading into the final bout of the evening, Waynesburg and Washington & Jefferson College were tied with 103.0 team points.

Waynesburg’s closer was waiting.

Senior Jake Evans pinned W&J freshman Jacob Walker in just 1:23 to not only win the team tournament for Waynesburg, but also eclipsed the NCAA all-time career wins mark.

The four-time PAC heavyweight champion didn’t even bother to celebrate the milestone because he had one goal in mind.

“[Winning] will feel a lot better once I win nationals,” said Evans. “To me, this is a stepping stone. [Winning nationals] is the ultimate goal.”

Getting to the national level is also on the mind of head coach Ron Headlee, but he was also very pleased with how his team fought back.

“To me, this is a stepping stone. [Winning nationals] is the ultimate goal.”

JAKE EVANS

Wrestler

“We did it the hard way,” Headlee said. “We had a terrible first round and it would have been easy for our guys to hang their heads. We had a team meeting and we said that [the championship hopes] aren’t over, just

keep believing.”

Waynesburg did not tally a point until the second phase of matches and trailed by 19 points heading into the consolations. However, when it was time to begin the PAC Championship round, Waynesburg only trailed by four points after some miscalculations.

With the Yellow Jackets trading blows with W&J, the 174-pound match was the one Waynesburg needed to win to stay alive. Freshman Tony Welsh, a transfer from the University of Pitt-Johnstown, battled with a pair of takedowns late in the final period to come away with an 8-3 triumph over Thiel’s Austin Bonacci.

“We knew we needed to have that one,” said Headlee. “[Welsh] is coming in and getting in better condition. His addition has been huge for us.”

Wi th the 184-and-197-pound matches featuring the Thiel and W&J CHAMPS >> C2

Evans sets national record for win total TYLER GODWIN

Assistant Sports Editor

It has been an eventful two weeks for sen i o r w r e s t l e r Ja k e Evans—one of triumph, confusion, then triumph again. One thing is certain now, however: the standout heavyweight has rewritten the NCAA history books.

With a pin against Wa s h i n g t o n & Je fferson freshman Jake Walker in the PAC

championship round this past Friday, Evans now has 175 career wins, putting him alone at the top of a win’s list that includes Division I, Division II and Division III wrestlers in the entire nation. The win allowed Evans to pass Wade Hug hes, a 126-pounder from George Washington, who finished his career with a 174-17 record from 1982-85.

EVANS >> C3

Headlee earns Coach of the Year award for seventh time LUKE GOODLING Sports Editor

W h e n Way n e s b u r g University wrestling head coach Ron Headlee entered collegiate coaching, winning Presidents’ Athletic Conference Coach of the Year was just a dream for him. Now, he’s won seven.

After Waynesburg won its third consecutive Presidents’ Athletic Conference Championship last weekend, Headlee was named PAC Coach of the Year.

Despite the role Headlee plays with the highly acclaimed wrestling program, he doesn’t see himself playing a major role.

“It’s just humbling to me, I just feel like I’m a small part in all of it,” Headlee

said. “I have great guys in our rooms. I think each of our coaches have a little special niche and I just feel like it’s my job as head coach to try and see all parts work together and that is what I enjoy doing.”

Winning the conference championship wasn’t easy this year for Headlee.

Throughout the season the team battled through injuries and didn’t have national-qualifier Ken Burrs for the PAC Championship.

In the ups and downs the team experienced, Headlee sees an unwavering resolve in his athletes.

“As a team, we had a lot of injuries and it is easy for the team to just fold,” Headlee said. “We had a rough first semester and each one contributed and

the way we won it we were down early and then came back. They just kept believing. So, as a coach its always gratifying to see.”

Next, the team will prepare for regionals before turning its eyes on the National Championships.

After senior Jake Evans became the first Jacket wrestler to ever become a national champion, Headlee wants to find a way to get a wrestler back on the national podium.

“You just say man that’s pretty fun getting up on that podium, i t would be nice to get somebody back there but you are just never sure,” Headlee said.

“When it happens, it’s just like a fairy tale—you don’t HEADLEE >> C3

Antonio Pelullo, The Yellow Jacket

Since joining the Yellow Jackets as a head coach for the 2008-09 season, Ron Headlee has won seven conference titles.

PAGE C1

FEBRUARY 14, 2019

Jones ‘disappointed’ after recent game MICHAEL CAPPELLI News Editor

The Waynesburg University women’s basketball team started its final three games of the regular season with an 80-57 loss at the hands of the St. Vincent Bearcats. The Bearcats currently rank f irst in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference and gave the Yellow Jackets their fair share of struggles throughout the game.

After a solid first four minutes of play followed by defensive struggles and miscommunications in the first quarter, head coach Sam Jones was not pleased with the effort of his team.

“We had our moments,” said Jones. “We have to come out and set a better tone in the first quarter.”

After the four-minute mark of the first passed, St. Vincent went on a 10-0 run that put them ahead 19-10.

In the second quarter, the Jackets cut the lead to just seven points before the Bearcats put out a strong finish to end the half.

One of the bright spots f o r Wa y n e s b u r g w a s sophomore Andrea Or-

Champs Continued from C1 wrestlers, Waynesburg sat by and watched a pair of Thiel wrestlers win their respective titles which set the stage for Evans’ history-making match.

“He’s just so humble,”

losky, who led the team in scoring with 15 points.

Despite her solid showing, she feels the team still has a lot to work on before the final week of PAC play.

“I think we had our moments,” said Orlosky. “I think it all comes down to our effort and our defense and that is something we need to set the tone in practice [for], so that we can set the tone in the game.”

Right behind Orlosky in scoring was junior guard Erin Joyce, who added 11 points. She accumulated nine of her 11 points from beyond the arc, going three-for-five on the day from 3-point range.

During the middle two quarters of play, Jones said it appeared to be closer than it actually was and again said that the performance was due to the lack of effort.

“We made some shots in the second and third quarter,” said Jones. “Which made it seem a little closer than it might have been, but pretty disappointed in our performance.”

In the fourth quarter, the struggles continued for the Jackets, and they were not able to cut into

the Bearcats lead.

In the final 10 minutes of play, St. Vincent outscored Waynesburg, 20-10.

Wi th t wo more PAC games remaining, Orlosky feels the team needs to

start working better as a unit if they want to compete in the PAC tournament.

“I think in the PAC every

Headlee said in regard to Evans. “He just goes out and does his work. He’s come so far, works so hard every day in the room.

Coming from where he was not knowing if this was what he wanted to do to, [breaking a national record] shows that all of the hard work has paid off.”

With the Presidents’ Athletic Conference season

complete, Headlee and his staff now turn to the NCAA Division III Southeast Regionals at Lycoming College starting Feb. 22.

With Evans returning as the reigning national champion and junior Ken Burrs getting healthy after suffering an injury over winter break, Headlee is looking forward to the next step.

“I want to be a top-10 team,” Headlee said. “If we can get there, we have to get guys to the national level and we can compete, I think.”

Headlee also picked up his seventh PAC Coach of the Year award with the memorable comeback and Evans won his second PAC Most Outstanding Wrestler of the Year award.

COMMENTARY

Standout athletes show excellence amidst mediocrity The football team hasn’t had a winning record since that 2014 campaign, sufColumnist fering through consecutive 2-8 seasons in ‘15 and ‘16.

The year before Jake Men’s basketball hasn’t Evans started wrestling at won a PAC tournament Waynesburg University, game since that nearYellow Jacket sports were championship season. flying.

The baseball team T h e f o o t b a l l t e a m hasn’t made the playoffs capped off a three-year in almost four years, and stretch in which it went although women’s bas25-8, culminating with ketball experienced a fair an over time win over amount of success led by Wa s h i n g t o n & one of the best Je f fe r s o n t h at overall athletes in will always be Waynesburg hisremembered tory (more on her as one of the later), it, like the greatest days rest of the PAC, in Waynesburg was largely backsports history. ground noise for The men’s basthe Thomas More ketball team was Saints, who ruled a force in the the league for Presidents’ AthEvans more than a deletic Conference, cade before demaking it to the champi- parting after last season. onship game and having a So, most people aslegitimate chance to win sume, with good reason, before falling six points that Yellow Jacket athletshort at St. Vincent. ics are suffering. Over the In baseball, the Jackets past three years, however, were led by Brian Resn- while the overall quality of ik, arguably the great- Waynesburg athletics has est pitcher in PAC his- slipped, there have still tory, fell one-run shy of been some fantastic team the title game, losing in and individual achieveextra innings to Thomas ments. Now, this is where More. So, while Waynes- Evans comes in. burg couldn’t quite close The two programs that the deal on a conference have risen to new heights title, all of its major sports over the past three years programs were among the are wrestling and women’s PAC’s elite. cross country teams. Ron Today, things don’t seem quite as glamorous.

OPINION >> C4

JOE SMELTZER

Ashley Hall, The Yellow Jacket

Sophomore guard Elena McDermott attempts a 3-point shot earlier this season.

WBB >> C4

PRESIDENTS’ ATHLETIC CONFERENCE ROUNDUP MEN'S BASKETBALL STANDINGS Saint Vincent Chatham Wesminster Grove City Wash. & Jeff.

Waynesburg Geneva Thiel Bethany

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

Conf. Overall 12-2 19-4 9-6 15-8 9-6 11-13 8-6 12-10 7-7 9-14 6-8 7-16 5-9 8-15 5-9 7-16

STANDINGS

3-11 4-19

Geneva

Saint Vincent Wash. & Jeff.

Grove City Chatham Bethany Westminster Waynesburg Thiel

Conf. Overall 13-1 19-4 11-3 16-7 9-5 14-9 8-7 12-12 7-7 12-11 6-9 8-16 5-9 7-16 4-10 6-17 1-13 3-19

SWIMMING & DIVING MEN RECENT RESULTS 2.2.19 PAC Conference Meets

Saturday's Box Score

STANDINGS Conf. Overall Waynesburg Wash. & Jeff.

Thiel

2-0 7-7 1-1 7-4 0-2 5-4

Mount Union 176, Westminster 116; Penn State Behrend 140, Saint Vincent 122.

MATCH RESULTS PAC Championships

UPCOMING EVENTS

Waynesburg 108.50 - 1st (3) W&J 103.50 - 2nd (3) Thiel 86.50 - 3rd (3)

Saturday, February 9 Saturday's Box Score

INDOOR TRACK & FIELD

WRESTLING

YSU National Mid-Major (2/1) MEN Top Waynesburg Performers 5,000 meter - Matt Durgin (26th) - 16:44.71, Jordan Payne (31st) - 17:21.86 High Jump - Kaleb McDiffitt (10th) - 1.75m

WOMEN Top Waynesburg Performers 5,000 meter - Aubrey Wingeart (5th) - 17:58.13, Teghan Simonton (27th) - 19:39.71, Gianna Pugliano (28th) - 19:40.07, Nicole Shelton (29th) - 19:40.14

Saint Vincent 80, Waynesburg 57 Saint Vincent 13 15 19 10 57 Waynesburg 16 15 21 20 80

Westminster Dive Invitational

WOMEN

Individual Yellow Jacket Placers

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RECENT RESULTS

Dylan Williams (125) - 1st

Waynesburg Top Scorers 1. Andrea Orlosky.........................385 2. Haley Porter...............................278

2.2.19 PAC Conference Meets

Josh Kuslock (133) - 1st

Waynesburg Top Scorers 1. Brennan Smith..........................324 2. Matt Popeck..............................322 Grove City Top Scorers 1. James Wells................................337 2. Justice Rice.................................251

Grove City Top Scorers 1. Kate Balcom.................................320 2. Jess Bowen...................................279

Bethany Top Scorers 1. Trey Shifflett................................214 2. Allayasa Bray...............................213

Bethany Top Scorers 1. Ashley Duthie...............................258 2. Sammie Weiss..............................248

UPCOMING EVENTS

200 Meter - JaWuan Jones (5th) - 23.43

Geneva Top Scorers 1. Callie Ford.....................................462 2. Lauren Tipton..............................200

Saturday, February 9

800 Meter - Silas Mays (14th) - 2:06.57

Geneva Top Scorers 1. Ethan Moose.................................360 2. Eric McGee.....................................220

Westminster Dive Invitational

1 Mile - Nathan Jecelin (15th) - 4:47.97

Thiel Top Scorers 1. Terrance Holloway .......................345 2. Alonzo Brown.................................261

Thiel Top Scorers 1. Jess Vormelker..............................463 2. Destiny Johnson..........................283

Chatham top Socrers 1. Isaiah Brown.................................360 2. Will Sandherr.................................325

Chatham top Scorers 1. Katie Sieg.....................................397 2. Ashley McClain..........................371

Westminster Top Scorers 1.Austin Armwood........................263 2. Dylan O' Hara..............................245

Westminster Top Scorers 1. Emily Fromknecht.......................264 2. Jackie Matthews..........................236

WOMEN

Wash & Jeff Top Scorers 1. Cameron Seemann.......................379 2. Primo Zini..........................................253

Wash & Jeff Top Scorers 1. Danielle Parker...........................352 2. Alie Seto........................................305

800 Meter - Rebecca Volz (12th) - 2:39.53, Kathryn Thompson (13th) - 2:39.66

Saint Vincent Top Scorers 1.David Stephen...............................367 2. Tom Kronka....................................339

Saint Vincent Top Scorers 1. Madison Kollar............................307 2. Maria Morgan.............................216

Saint Vincent 88, Waynesburg 60 Saint Vincent 50 38 88 Waynesburg 24 36 60

RECENT RESULTS Saturday 2.9.19 Chatham 75, Geneva 71.; Thiel 78, Grove City 63.; Westminster 79, Bethany 56.; Saint Vincent 88, Waynesburg 60.

Mount Union 177.50, Westminster 116.50; Saint Vincent 146, Penn State Behrend 107.

Anthony Welsh (174) - 1st Jake Evans (285) - 1st

Long Jump - Michael Trax (5th) - 6.34m Triple Jump - Dorian Hardy (4th) - 12.62m

UPCOMING GAMES Friday & Saturday 2.22-2.23.19 Waynesburg, W&J, and Thiel @ Dvision 3 Regional Championships

Weight Throw - Drew Schwab (20th) - 12.42m

3000 Meter - Gloria Reed (6th) - 11:19.37

YELLOW JACKET ATHLETES OF THE WEEK

60 Meter Hurdles - Katherine Fair (7th) - 9.76 Distance Medley - Nicole Shelton, Mary Beth Cunningham, Teghan Simonton, Aubrey Wingeart (2nd) - 13:23.42 Long Jump - Amber Yauch (7th) - 4.88m

MALE Jake Evans - Senior, Wrestling

Triple Jump - Amber Yauch (2nd) - 10.23m Shot Put - Jordan Simpson (10th) - 10.69m

Geneva 62, Chatham 61.; Grove City 59, Thiel 47.; Wash. & Jeff. 75, Kenyon 51.; Bethany 58, Westminster 50.; Saint Vincent 80, Waynesburg 57.

Jefferson-Morgan

Shot Put - Blake Feldner (16th) - 12.47m

400 Meter - Katherine Fair (19th) - 1:08.89

W&M UPCOMING MEETS:

HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL ROUNDUP Carmichaels

MEN 60 Meter - JaWuan Jones (7th) - 7.23

FEMALE Haley Porter - Freshman, Women's Basketball

RECENT RESULTS Saturday 2.9.19

Mount Union Jim Wuske Collegiate Invitational (2/2)

Matt Lascola (141) - 1st

Mapletown

Results Boy's Basketball Carmichaels 64, Chartiers Houston 57

Boy's Basketball JM 45, West Greene 67

Boy's Basketball Mapletown 23, Monessen 82

Girl's Basketball Carmichaels 40, Bentqorth 28

Girl's Basketball JM 33, California 47

Girl's Basketball Vs. WPIAL PLAYOFFS TBA

Waynesburg Central Boy's Basketball Waynesburg 57, South Park 58 Girl's Basketball Waynesburg 46, Brownsville 43

Saturday, Feb. 16 @ Kenyon College Classic - 12 p.m.

West Greene Boy's Basketball Vs. WPIAL PLAYOFFS TBA Girl's Basketball Vs. WPIAL PLAYOFFS TBA

FEBRUARY 14, 2019

PAGE C3

Jackets struggle, shoot 27 percent from the field in first half BRANDON ROSSI For The Yellow Jacket

After a big win over next-door neighbor Washington & Jefferson College, there were high hopes for the Waynesburg University men’s basketball team heading into its contest with the Saint Vincent College Bearcats, who dropped two straight games before hosting the Jackets.

That is, until Saturday’s opening tip.

Any hopes for an upset over the regular season PAC champion Bearcats quickly evaporated in an 88-60 defeat for the men’s basketball team.

Waynesburg quickly fell behind Saint Vincent thanks to abysmal shooting in the first half. The team shot just 27 percent from the field, which pales in comparison to the Bearcats 52 percent from the field.

“There is no shame in going [to Saint Vincent] and getting beat,” said Waynesburg University men’s basketball coach Mark Christner. “ They played well, and we didn’t.

We will continue to make some progress.”

In the second half, the hometown Bearcats came out firing. Sophomore David Stephen led all scorers with 17 points, earning 12 in the second half. Stephen also hit four of five triples in the final 20 minutes of play, and Saint Vincent ballooned its lead to as many as 38 points.

However, Christner did see some progress in his players, especially in the underclassmen.

“I’ll be honest,” Christner said. “I coached Saturday with an eye on the future. Bryce Washington had done a nice job, and younger players like Zach Ford and Andrew Clark stepped up. The fact of the matter is it was a blowout, so you don’t really assess that much.”

Ford was given the tall task of defending one of the favorites for 2019 PAC player of the year in Tom Kromka. Ford was able to frustrate Kromka in many instances and prevented him from doing any further damage. “[Ford] has done a good job coming to practice ev-

Ashley Hall, The Yellow Jacket

Matt Popeck currently leads the PAC in scoring average with 16.9 points per game. ery day,” said Christner.

“He’s an eager learner, I know that he wants to do it, and he’s a big kid.”

However, Waynesburg did not have a double-digit scorer for the first time all

season, with two players scoring nine points— sophomore Matt Popeck and junior Brennan Smith.

This is the first time that a Waynesburg men’s basketball player did not crack

double-digits in a game since Jan. 7, 2017. “ We didn’t play very well,” Christner said. “We prepared, I think we practiced well on Thursday and Friday, and this happens

Women end regular season at Bethany Headlee DYLAN CLELAND

Assistant Sports Editor

The Waynesburg women’s basketball team will hit the road Saturday and meet the Bethany Bison for one final regular season contest, with both squads looking to secure a higher seed heading into the Presidents’ Athletic Conference tournament next week.

The first meeting bet ween the t wo squads Jan. 16 ended with a 69-61 Waynesburg victory, but the Yellow Jackets allowed 30 Bison points in the final quarter. Jones believes the zone defense helped his team build the command-

Evans Continued from C1 “I think it’s just outstanding to know that Waynesburg will be mentioned with the names of some of some pretty good people,” head coach Ron Headlee said. “One thing that is neat is that back in the 50’s Waynesburg was dominant…it was a thriving place back then…my whole goal of coming back [to Waynesburg] is that we would get back some of those glory days back a little bit, and to me that just means a lot when one record helps Waynesburg get back in the record books.”

The Elizabeth native was believed to initially have broken the record Feb. 2 at the John Summa Invitational. However, after some discrepancies in his wins which may have been counted twice by trackwrestling.com or didn’t count because of other NCAA rules, the Waynesburg coaching staff and NCAA worked together to figure out that Evans had 173 official wins going into the PAC tournament last Friday, where he formally accomplished his 175th win.

“The way his career has been, he has always just worked really hard and it’s great that he has this accomplishment because he’s the hardest worker I’ve ever seen,” assistant coach Gennaro Bonaventura said.

“He deserves all the accolades and recognition that he gets because he earns it …he works so hard.”

Evans’ overall record

ing lead.

“That was the first game that we committed to do zone defense and so we played it the entire game, no questions asked,” said Jones. “I think that surprised them a little bit because it’s something you see hardly ever from us.

I thought we did a really good job of keeping them out of rhythm.”

Bethany presents a few scoring threats, including senior Sammie Weiss, who averages 11.8 points per game. Weiss had 10 points in the team’s first meeting back in January. Jones said that her scoring coupled with the Bison size on defense and around the bas-

ket will be an area of focus for his team.

“They play very tough, have some grit,” said Jones.

currently stands at 175-18 as of Feb. 12. Of those 175 wins, 89 are by pin-fall.

This season he has 21 pins which leads the nation across all collegiate levels.

The No. 1 heavyweight in DIII has lost just one match this season, which was to University of Pittsburgh junior Demetrius Thomas, who is 22-4 overall and is ranked 16th in D1 at heavyweight.

At 29 years old, 6’4” and 235 pounds, there are a lot of things about Evans

apart from other wrestlers, noting that he wins a lot of his matches in the third period because of his fitness level. Evans knows he has evolved a lot to get to this point since he first came to Waynesburg nearly four years ago.

“I would say I’ve developed, over time, my conditioning and my pace in the practice room,” Evans said. “I’ve also gotten a lot smarter with certain techniques and how to wrestle matches and stuff. I’ve improved the fundamentals too a lot more. I wasn’t pinning as many people earlier in my career, but now I do a lot more.”

Ever since Evans came in as a 26-year-old freshman, Headlee has seen him exceed his goals and aspirations nearly every time he sets them. Given that fact, he isn’t at all surprised to see him breaking a national record.

“From the very first day, he was driven. He wanted to make the lineup [as a freshman],” Headlee said.

“Each time he sets his goals he gets there. He wanted to make nationals, he wanted to make the lineup—each time he’s done it. I’ve never doubted him or what he wants to do. It’s just fun watching him and to have someone in your room that has his goals and they work that hard to get to them.”

What’s even more impressive, according to Bonaventura, has been Evans’ ability to stay healthy and consistent with roughly 50 matches in each of his four years.

“The other thing is too, injuries, little things here and there and just taking time off—Jake doesn’t want to,” Bonaventura said. “He

“The biggest thing is when he stepped in the room, he always fought. He fought hard every day.

You can't teach that.”

GENNARO BONAVENTURA

Assistant coach

and his wrestling that are unique, especially at the DIII level. For Bonaventura, what’s stood out the most about Evans and has led to his success is his mentality day-in and day-out.

“The biggest thing is when he stepped in the room he always fought. He fought hard every day. You can’t teach that,” Bonaventura said. “[His] mentality is just so much better. He doesn’t think he is going to lose. He isn’t afraid of anyone…he’s going out there to dominate.”

As he has progressed through college, Headlee and Bonaventura both said Evans’ stamina sets him

have some size inside which is something we don’t have a lot of, so we have to be cautious of that

Players to Watch Saturday @ 1 p.m.

Sammie Weiss 11.8 ppg - 6.0 rpg

Andrea Orlosky 16.7 ppg - 7.8 rpg

Ashley Duthie 11.2 ppg - 6.6 rpg

Haley Porter 12.1 ppg - 3.2 rpg

Statistics as of 2-12-19

“ O b v i o u s l y, [S a m m i e] Weiss is an elite scorer when she gets going, so you don’t want to let her get to the rim for some easy hoops. They [also]

and make sure our advantage on our end outweighs the advantage on theirs.”

Fundamentally, Jones PREVIEW >> C4

sometimes. We didn’t have a great start, had some foul issues, and we just didn’t knock down some shots.”

As Waynesburg looks to put Saturday’s 28-point loss to Saint Vincent behind them, it has just two conference games left before the PAC playoffs.

Waynesburg has qualified as one of the eight playoff teams, but to avoid playing Saint Vincent in the first round it has to win out. However, if the Yellow Jackets do win out they can be seeded as high as fourth in the playoff bracket. While it is unlikely that Waynesburg will host a men’s playoff game, it isn’t completely out of the question.

“We need a three-way tie to get a home playoff game,” Christner said. “I don’t know all of the different scenarios and different factors. I know that we can’t catch Chatham and Westminster, but we have Grove City and Washington & Jefferson right in front of us and Geneva and Thiel right behind us. All that we can do is just let the chips fall where they may.”

think it could happen to you.”

At this point, it seems like Headlee has accomplished everything a coach could aim for at the collegiate level with seven PAC Coach of the Year awards, seven conference titles and a National Champion.

However, there’s still more Headlee wants to accomplish.

“I think we have four or five guys who have the potential to make it to nationals and I would like to be a top-15 team or top10 team [in Division III],” Headlee said.

As the team prepares to

go into regionals, Headlee said no major changes need to be made to the team. Instead, he’s focused on small adjustments.

“Now it’s just a lot of fine tuning,” Headlee said.

“I don’t ever like to change much before you go into regionals or anything like that, so you just want to do what you do best.”

Regardless of how the Jackets perform at regionals, Headlee has already proven his team is at the top of the Presidents’ Athletic Conference. While the PAC Coach of the Year award was only presented to Headlee, he said all his coaches should have their name on the trophy.

“The award goes to me, but it’s to all of them,” Headlee said. “It should have all their names on it.”

to extend his new record, Evans remains locked into his main goal: repeating as the DIII heavyweight champion.

“I think it’s kind of cool, but I don’t feel that much emotion towards it yet [because] I’m more focused on nationals and repeating.

I’m nervous about that. I’m excited…I’ll probably look back on it later,” Evans said. “I’m pretty confident.

I train pretty much to my capabilities. It’s out of my control how good the other people are, but I’m pretty confident that I can repeat again at this level.”

Continued from C1

Photos courtesy of Gennaro Bonaventura

Not only does Jake Evans now hold the most wins in all of the NCAA, but also the most pins this season of any wrestler. wants to wrestle every day.

If we could compete every day in a tournament, he would. Even guys on our team, we have to manage them…Jake always goes.”

One goal that Evans said he had, but will not reach, is 200 career wins, because there are just not enough matches left in his senior campaign. With, as of Feb. 12, a dual meet, the regional tournament and the national tournament still left to go this season, Evans can max out around 184 wins if he remains undefeated the rest of the way and wins the national title.

Despite breaking the NCAA wins record across all divisions and looking

PAGE C4

FEBRUARY 14, 2019

Track & field views final regular season meet as practice COLIN MCLAUGHLIN Editorial Assistant

The Waynesburg indoor track & field teams will travel to Gambier, Ohio for the Kenyon College Classic this Saturday, Feb. 16. It’s the final meet before the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Championships which are set for Feb. 21 in Youngstown, Ohio.

“So, we picked Kenyon really specif ically because it was a lower-key meet and we like to do that right before going into PAC’s because, at this point, it’s kind of a points chess game where you are looking at what the other teams have scored so far, their talents and where you’re at and you are finally just are trying to get as many points possible,” said head coach Michelle Cross. “Everyone that can compete will be there to compete.”

The biggest reason she said that they need a “lowkey” meet is because the men and women’s team is very young—13 upperclassmen on the men’s team and six on the women’s team. Even though it is a meet, they can still treat it like a practice.

“So, meets are very important to us because even

Photo courtesy of Patty Kaczynski Scott

Both teams are now one meet away from the Presidents' Athletic Conference Championship, where the women have the opportunity to defend their title for a third year in a row. though they are as much competitions a lot of the times they are also a practice for us because it is our first chance to get a full run with it,” said Cross. “If we have the opportunity, you are healthy and you can go to the meet then

you are going because as much as it is a competition it is also just good practice getting in and getting the reps and getting access to a pit or a facility.”

This isn’t just for this year Cross said, every season the indoor track &

field teams have to practice in the gymnasium and do weightlifting. For Cross, she said it’s tough for her and the other coaches to convince the team that doing weightlifting and practicing the small things will help them

when it comes time to compete.

“So, a lot of what we do in indoor is just like battling that, especially with the athletes who get anxious and are like ‘I just feel like they want to be able to see it all come to-

Jackets travel to Bethany before tourny Opinion

Logan Wolverton leads the Bison in three-point success, shooting 46 percent from beyond the arc.

A s fo r Way n e s b u rg , sophomore guard Matt Popeck leads both the team and the conference in scoring average at 16.9 points per game. Junior forward Brennan Smith follows Popeck with 14.1 points per game and leads the 3-point scoring shooting 46 percent from beyond the arc.

As a senior, Gearhart recognizes the importance of games late in the season.

“The anticipation of a playoff game is very special, it is do or die in the playoffs and the best team wins,” he said. “Every moment with my team is special to me, and I’m thankful for every single one of them.”

Headlee’s squad, led by Evans, won its third straight PAC championship Friday, Feb. 8, and the women’s cross country team did the same this past October under the direction of Michelle Cross.

Waynesburg, in particular, has a long-standing tradition that Headlee has resurrected over the past decade, and with all due respect to other great wrestlers Headlee has coached, without question, Evans has been the most successful.

Since arriving at Waynesburg as a 26-yearold, Evans has placed himself among the elite in school history and that says a lot, as the university and Greene County, in general, have a rich tradition in wrestling. He’s won four PAC championships in the heavyweight class and last March became the school’s first NCA A National Champion, a feat he could very well repeat next month.

In cross country, Julie Gerber became Waynesburg’s first national qualifier in 2015, and the Jackets sent two more to nationals the next year with the Latimer twins, Katie and Emily, both qualifying.

All three of those members were part of the 2016 team that ended Grove City’s 27-year run as PAC champions.

Like Evans, Addy Knetzer established herself as one of the best in Waynesburg history, picking up 1,000 points and

1,000 rebounds for the women’s basketball team, and placing fourth in nationals for track in shotput in 2017. It’s hard to think of an athlete in recent memory that has excelled in multiple sports the way Knetzer did, and most of her success came at a time where Waynesburg sports, overall, were going down.

In men’s basketball, a player who saw just 22 minutes of playing time on the team that nearly went to the NCAA tournament turned into a 1,000-point scorer; Jon Knab’s work ethic got him into the Waynesburg history books.

Thinking about my almost three and a half years at Waynesburg University, I do feel cheated in a sense because I missed out on some pretty good teams and pretty electric moments.

I would have loved to have been at John F. Wiley Stadium when Scott Lewis’ field goal beat W&J. I’ll never know how loud the Rudy Marisa Field House was when BJ Durham’s floater at the buzzer upset St. Vincent, and it would have been a blast to overtake SVC’s Cary Center with my classmates when the PAC title game conveniently fell on St. Vincent’s spring break.

Instead, all I know of those moments are videos and stories from my friends who are now graduated.

In life, however, it’s always better to look at the glass as half-full, not halfempty, and Waynesburg students have seen a lot of fantastic achievements from their peers. That is worth being thankful for.

moves in the PAC standings in hopes of securing a higher seed for the tournament which begins next week. Jones, however, just wants his team to take care of what they can control.

“We’re in that unfortunate zone where we need help, we need a couple other teams to get a loss here or there to help us out in our quest of getting a little higher up the food chain,” said Jones. “So, really because of that we try not to look at it, but really we need to focus on taking care of our side of business. It’s all meaningless

if we don’t do our side of business, it makes it simpler.”

With the regular season coming to a close, Jones ref lected on the regular season and how the team didn’t form its identity until halfway through due to some issues the Yellow Jackets faced.

“It’s been an interesting year,” said Jones. “The roster’s been paired down by injury and people leaving and stuff like that, but really once all the dust settled from that stuff the season started. I feel that just now or two-three weeks ago we started to

gel and figure out who we were with the nine of us that we have.”

Waynesburg will take the court for the f inal time during the regular season Saturday at 1 p.m. at Bethany College. The PAC tournament field will be set after the conclusion of the final game Saturday evening.

“We’re trying to continue to grow and we rely heavily with five of the nine being sophomores or younger,” Jones said. “I’m excited about the growth and that we’ve seen in ourselves how good we can be on any particular night.”

Continued from C2

COREY FISCHER

For the Yellow Jackets

With the Presidents’ Athletic Conference basketball season beginning to wrap up, the playoff bracket is slowly filling itself out.

St. Vincent continues to lead the conference, while Washington & Jefferson sits in fifth, and Waynesburg University jumped to sixth following its big win over W&J Wednesday, Feb. 6. The Jackets defeated the Presidents 85-67, before falling to the Saint Vincent Bearcats by a score of 88-60.

Waynesburg has a tough task this Saturday when it travels down south to Bethany, W.Va. to take on the last-place Bison.

Despite where it is in the standings, Bethany upset St. Vincent 68-63 last Wednesday, giving them hope Bison hope going into their last few conference games.

Bethany [4-19, 3-11] is led by junior guard Trey Shifflett. Shifflett averages 15.3 points per game for the Bison and leads the offense in assists. Last time the Bison met the Jackets at Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse, Bethany, led by freshman guard Derek White Jr., defeated Waynesburg by a final score of 73-72. Junior Brennan Smith and sophomore Matt Popeck led the Jackets with 21 and 19 points, respectively, in the losing effort. Waynesburg struggled to take care of the basketball, turning it over 13 times, five more than the Bison.

WBB Continued from C2 team is going to put their best effort,” said Orlosky.

“We need to go harder, we need to really want it and we need to really start working as a team. And the way we play in practice is the way we are going to play in a game.”

With wins against Thiel and Bethany the Jackets would secure home court advantage in the PAC tournament, but Jones is not concerned at the moment

Ashley Hall, The Yellow Jacket

Bethany defeated Waynesburg earlier this season 73-72. Despite sitting in last place, Bethany also recently defeated first place Saint Vincent 68-63.

“We came out flat and it affected the rest of the game,” senior wing Nate Gearhart said. “If we can come out with energy and focus then we can win this game.”

Despite the loss, The Jackets triumphed in some of the statistical catego-

nadoes, who Waynesburg defeated two weeks ago, sit closely behind the Jackets with five conference wins. As of this publication, Waynesburg, with a win over Thiel and Bethany, can secure a playoff spot in the middle of the PAC, ultimately avoiding

Players to Watch Saturday @ 3 p.m.

Trey Shifflett 15.3 ppg - 3.4 rpg

Matt Popeck 16.9 ppg - 3.2 rpg

Allayasa Bray 10.3 ppg - 4.3 rpg

Brennan Smith 14.1 ppg - 5.5 rpg

Statistics as of 2-12-19

ries, out rebounding the Bison 44-36, and making 11 three pointers to Bethany’s seven.

The Geneva Golden Tor-

where the Yellow Jackets play their playoff basketball games.

“Home playoff games are nice,” said Jones. “But I couldn’t care less about where we play. I want to get those wins so that we start playing better basketball and start being more of who we should be.”

On Wednesday, Waynesburg hosted Thiel but the result of the game was too late for print, but Jones promised that the team will be ready for the final two games.

“We’ll be better,” said Jones. “Because we need to be.”

Saint Vincent, who handled Waynesburg 88-60 this past weekend. In addition to Shifflett’s prolific scoring, sophomore guard

Preview Continued from C3 said the Yellow Jackets must make sure they are crisp on both offense and defense.

“The attention to detail on offense, with spacing and screen setting,” said Jones. “If you don’t do it right, it looks pretty jumbled. And then defensively, rotations and communication, and just remembering to do those things.”

Heading into the weekend, some teams can make

gether in one piece, but I keep practicing these small little parts of it,’” said Cross. “That’s always a huge frustration that is not new or unique, it happens every year, but it is definitely something that is always characterized by indoor.”

Cross combined one of the three main views of Waynesburg University with her indoor track & field teams. That view is “faith”.

“I told them the other day actually that you have to put in a lot of faith into the process because a lot of times, we usually just think as faith purely as a response to the Lord, but you are practicing very, very small parts of each aspect of your event,” said Cross. “You aren’t getting to see how you are going to perform on a track because we don’t have access to a track the way that we would like. So, because of that, you just have to have the faith that working the small particular jump techniques or the small particular aspect of the hurdle or running or whatever will ultimately pay off and come together when you actually go to do it. But you never get to see it done the whole way through.”

arts & life SECTION D

FEBRUARY 14, 2019 | WAYNESBURG UNIVERSITY | THEYELLOWJACKET.ORG

COWORKERS, BEST FRIENDS & MARRIED Campus couple reflects on love GRACE HUTCHISON Arts & Life Editor

At first glance, it’s hard to know what exactly the relationship is between Ronda and James DePriest.

As old friends, they laugh and share stories. As coworkers, they nonchalantly coordinate upcoming band events. And, when James speaks, Ronda looks at him with eyes of admiration and a smitten smile only an infatuated woman could have.

Though the balance of being spouses, co-workers and best friends seems overwhelming, the two switch between the roles effortlessly.

After just minutes in their presence, it’s easy to identify the one common

feeling that undisputedly radiates from them: love. *** Ronda DePriest’s slight southern twang indicates how she and her spouse met. In the late 90’s, she did a band concert where James DePriest worked in event coordination.

Then, while working in Tennessee as a high school band director, she interviewed her future husband for a position to write the drill for her band.

Their connection began with her appreciation of James DePriest’s interest in music and his well-done resume, Ronda DePriest said with a smile.

“It blew everyone else out of the water,” she reminisced.

From that first interview, their professional relationship quickly blossomed into a true friendship.

Over time while working through the high school, through their laughs and chats, Ronda and James DePriest built a connection between each other.

“The beauty of it has been we’ve

time, James DePriest was completing his degree in criminal justice and

“The beauty of it has been we've been friends since we've known each other.

That's the foundation.”

RONDA DEPRIEST

Director of the Music Program

been friends since we’ve known each other,” Ronda DePriest said. “That’s the foundation.”

During this

public administration as a nontraditional university student in Tennessee.

The friendship between them was strong, thus it still thrived even after Ronda DePriest moved to Colorado to obtain her master’s degree.

While in Colorado, Ronda DePriest began to realize how she relied on James.

“He’s who I called to talk over important life decisions,” Ronda DePriest said.

Though they knew that they had a special relationship, Ronda DePriest only realized her romantic feelings for James after a colleague prodded her about him.

“She said ‘Who’s this James guy you keep talking about?’ and I said ‘I keep talking about him?,’” Ronda DePriest said. “I didn’t know I was thinking about him all the time.”

After, Ronda and James began dating and they maintained their relationship for three years while being long distance.

“It was right-” Ronda DePriest said. “It was just right.”

While she was earning her doctorate, the couple got engaged while Ronda was still in Colorado.

“I was working on my dissertation proposal while he was working on a

different kind of proposal,” Ronda DePriest joked.

After Ronda DePriest finished her doctorate, the pair seemed to try to condense three years of longdistance dating in just a few weeks.

“She graduated in May and we got married in July,” James DePriest said.

That same summer, a day after returning from their honeymoon in August, Waynesburg University interviewed Ronda DePriest for a position as director of the music program.

“Then we moved here the next week,” Ronda DePriest said.

Ronda and James DePriest now laugh about the hectic time, though she admits it was chaotic.

“I think I moved three times in about three weeks,” Ronda said with a chuckle. *** While Ronda DePriest first began working for the university, James DePriest worked as a security officer in Pittsburgh.

He would quietly leave the house at 4 a.m. every LOVE >> D2

Musicians perform covers, worship songs at Coffeehouse SIERRA MEDINA

For The Yellow Jacket

The music notes lifted above the buzz of laughter and friendly conversation.

The core of Soldiers and Sons, brothers Andrew and Matthew Stewart, played a medley of original, secular and worship songs in the Beehive Thursday, Feb. 7.

Coffeehouses are generally routine gatherings to consume late-night caffeine and relax with other students.

The Coffeehouse event is also typically hosted by the Student Activities Board and feature musical artists as well as both hot and iced coffee.

During the musical performances, students typically chat amongst each other casually as they sip their free beverages.

Some type on laptops working on last-minute papers, and others high-

Sierra Medina, The Yellow Jacket

Soldiers and Sons performed well-known covers that they hoped 'people could sing along to' in the Beehive Feb. 7. light textbooks and create notecards.

Few students though, make the seemingly bold

choice to interact with the performers.

The Stewar t brothers, however, desired to

provide a different atmosphere.

“We love playing covers, we knew this was an envi-

ronment where we played a lot of stuff that people knew and could sing along to,” Andrew Stewart said.

“But we wanted to make sure we mentioned the core and the motive of why we do what we do.”

This sing-along atmosphere allowed students to participate in the performance instead of sitting idly and just listening, as is typical.

Their focus wasn't entirely on their friendly atmosphere and combined performance wi th the students, but also making sure that those in attendance were able to hear their story and the true motivation behind their music.

“We love playing music for people, but we’re more interested in the chance to share Christ even if it’s just in-between a couple of songs, because that’s what we’re more about,” Matthew Stewart said. “ We don’t def ine ourselves as COFFEE >> D2

FEBRUARY 14, 2019

PAGE D2

STUDENTS PREPARE TO SHOW THEIR

DYLAN CLELAND

Assistant Sports Editor

The stage is set for this semester’s edition of WU’s Got Talent, an event hosted by the Student Activities Board to showcase the many talents of Waynesburg University students.

After two days of auditions in early February, Assistant Director of Student Activities Ryan Smith said the panel of judges selected nine acts to move on.

“Within those there is people singing, playing the guitar and piano, playing the violin, baton twirling and some skits throughout,” Smith said.

Freshman exercise science major Alexis Beauregard will be singing at the event and said her decision to sing for the event was natural due to her interest in music.

“I wanted to perform in “The Voice” competition last semester but decided not to, due to other commitments such as volleyball,” said Beauregard. “I love singing. I naturally decided to sing for the talent show, since it was less of a time commitment, yet still a way for me to showcase my singing.”

Smith said the acts were selected on a few criteria, but the judges were look-

ing for unique acts that would bring diversity to the show.

“Uniqueness -- things

ents, so they are two more distinct events. Basically, [it’s] to showcase student talents and having as much

“Sometimes on campus, we don't share what we can do or our talent, so this is an opportunity for those people to bring that to light.”

RYAN SMITH

Assistant Director of Student Activities

that are different,” said Smith. “We have the WU’s Voice and so that is really about singing and that selection, but in this we try to incorporate other tal-

diversity as possible during that showcase.”

Beauregard agrees with Smith and sees this as an opportunity to give her peers something from her

talent, but also make her late grandfather proud.

“I want people to not only hear my voice but take something meaningful away from what I sing,” Beauregard said.

“That could be a message, or simply just a fun time.

My grandpa and I used to watch the Voice together before he passed away, and I know he’d be proud of me to see me perform.”

The top two finishers will take home a monetary prize with $100 to the first-place winner and $50 to second place.

Smith said it’s a great chance for talented students to come out and

Coffee Continued from D1 musicians. We define ourselves in the identity of Christ, that’s what we’re more excited to share, more than just playing music for people.”

Their song list featured several worship songs to fulfill audience members spiritu-

show the students, staff and community of Waynesburg what they can do.

“Sometimes on campus we don’t share what we can do or our talent, so this is an opportunity for those people to bring that to light,” Smith said. “So, some of the acts or performances you might not have known that this person can baton twirl or sing or play the violin, so it’s a time for them to showcase this with the Waynesburg community.”

Curtains will draw on this year’s WU’s Got Talent at 8 p.m. on Feb. 22 at the GPAC.

vices and Upper Room.

After growing up in this communnity, both have a connection to their hometown. Thoug h they have experienced a my r i a d of p l a ce s , both confidently call Waynesburg home.

“There’s just something about Waynesburg, it has an effect on you,” Matthew Stewart said. “The community just has a pull, the people are what makes it remarkable. There’s

“Our dad was a huge inspiration to our music; he believed in us before we believed in ourselves.”

Grace Hutchison, The Yellow Jacket

MATTHEW STEWART

NOON TUNES ARTISTS PERFORM

Musician

The Noon Tunes performance held Feb. 12 combined with the Beehive's weekly Taco Tuesday. Students filled the tables to hear the band Oferle's mix of country and pop as they did both original music and covers of popular music. The three-person band, originally from Nashville, Tennesee covered Maroon 5's "Sunday Morning" as well as played their latest single, "Cool With That."

Love Continued from D1 day to arrive to his location by 6 a.m., and would then have to drive as a part of his job’s responsibilities.

“I was driving 500-600 miles a day,” he said.

When a past faculty member notified James DePriest that there was an opening for a multimedia specialist position at Waynesburg University that fit his qualifications from a job he maintained while in college, his wife encouraged him to apply. To her, it seemed normal to work with her loved one.

“We’ve worked together since we’ve known each other,” Ronda DePriest said.

Now, with James DePriest having been in his position for years, the pair has settled into a routine during their busy work days.

“We always try to have lunch together,” Ronda DePriest said.

Though they’ve traveled far from their original home of Tennessee, Ronda DePriest said that her position at Waynesburg allowed their relationship to grow.

“Moving up here gave us a chance to figure out who we are together,” Ronda DePriest said. “We figured out how to be a couple together.”

They share a passion for music, which, she says, acts as a center point in their

Photos courtesy of Paul Hicks

James and Ronda DePriest pose following a musical performance. Ronda says that their shared passion for music acts as a 'center point' for their relationship. relationship. Their deep friendship, she says, allows them to avoid conflict.

“We really don’t get angry with each other. If we really don’t understand what’s going on with the other we talk it out,” Ronda DePriest said. “I don’t think we’ve ever raised our voices in the 20 years we’ve known each other. ” Their past, though it placed distance between

them, led them back together on the same path once again.

“We feel really blessed to

both be working here,” Ronda DePriest said. “Things worked like they were supposed to.”

ally through their music. In between songs, they mentioned their core intention of incorporating biblical messages into their performances.

The Stewart brothers said the impact their father had on their current ministry was essential to their growth as a band.

“Our dad was a huge inspiration to our music; he believed in us before we believed in ourselves,” Matthew Stewart said. “He always was trying to motivate us to pursue it because he saw something we couldn’t see, coming through the tragedy of burying our father, music has helped us cope with that.”

Matthew and Andrew Stewart were born and raised in Waynesburg, and par ticipated as members of the worship team for weekly Tuesday church ser-

just this sense of coming back home.”

Andrew Stewart attended Waynesburg Universi ty and now works in the IT Department.

His brother was accepted to Waynesburg University but decided to pursue his associates degree at the Community College of Allegheny County.

Both agreed that music was their calling.

“Music is our outlet for sharing our story, we try to leave that with people wherever we go,” Andrew Stewart said. “Not just playing for people, we want it to be a two-way street, we want to connect.”

Matthew Stewart volunteers as the worship leader at the Way n e s b u rg Bi b l e Chapel, and holds a weekly bible study on Tuesday nights at 7:30 at 64 E Wayne St in Waynesburg.

Sporting Goods Customized Sporting Apparel Screen Printing Embroidery 121 East High Street 724-627-8900

PAGE D3

FEBRUARY 14,2019

Across

WEEKLY CROSSWORD PUZZLE

1 Identical 5 "Mountain" soft drinks 9 Burn the midnight oil at college 13 Urgent request 14 Forgo the church ceremony 16 Lo-cal 17 Concern after heavy rain 19 Inflated ones often clash 20 Kinda 21 Airport near Tel Aviv 22 Isn't feeling up to par 23 Like G-rated movies 27 Natural soother 28 Salon jobs 29 Singer Jimmy or actor James 32 Litter member or user 34 Sewn connections 38 Bruins legend 39 Shore dinner 42 "Not happenin'" 43 Pace for Paganini 45 Noon on a garden dial 46 Like Godiva 47 Choir voice 50 Tool for a duel 52 American Revolution leader 58 Woman's name often spelled without its "e" 59 Progressive

spokeswoman 60 Airport concern 62 Multi-platinum Diamond 63 Very loud, musically ... its symbol hints at four puzzle answers 66 Boarding site 67 Cosmologist Carl 68 Chicago commuter system, familiarly 69 Snow conveyance 70 Earns after taxes 71 Doomed

Down

1 Sun protection nos.

2 __ a sudden 3 Stiller's partner

4 __ Kodak 5 Bit of OED info 6 Building add-on 7 Literary Virginia 8 Clues for a bloodhound 9 Detox diet 10 Unbending 11 Coral island 12 Having lots of loose ends 15 Vedder of Pearl Jam 18 Flag down, as a cab 24 Focuses of activity 25 Passing words?

26 Website for handmade art 29 Morse code unit 30 Palindromic "before"

er

31 Drew Brees' asset 33 Texter's gratitude 35 Gasteyer of "SNL" 36 Draw graffiti on, say 37 Noted seashell sell-

39 Decide not to call, in poker 40 Feudal holding 41 Seacrest morning

54 Bring together 55 New York's Ausable Chasm, e.g.

56 Yale founder Yale 57 Budget noodle dish 61 Egg-white omelet's lack 64 Bit of body ink 65 Shoo-__: easy winners

LAST WEEK'S SOLUTION

VALENTINE'S DAY

SUDOKU

JARS

co-host 44 Like some den walls 46 Directives 48 Spats 49 Borrowed, as a library book 51 Predicted takeoff hrs.

52 Dracula's canines 53 Tatum or Ryan

By MASON KLOPP

LOVE

FLOWERS

ROMANCE

COUPLES

CUPID

CHOCOLATE

KISS

DINNER

HEARTS

DATE

HOLIDAY

BOUQUET

CARDS

SWEETS

SWEETHEART

PINK

THE STUDENTS

of Waynesburg

As graduation day draws closer, I find myself reflecting upon my time here at WU. Originally from Greensburg Pennsylvania, a small-town east of Pittsburgh, I graduated from Greensburg-Salem High School. Currently, I’m a senior biology major, but it took some trial and error. When I first arrived as a wide-eyed freshman, I was a chemistry major. After yet another major change, in the spring semester of my sophomore year, I found my home as a biology major.

At larger universities, performing undergraduate research as a sophomore is rare and hard to do. But, thanks to the smaller size of WU, I was able to get my hands dirty.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The following is part of a series that highlights the experiences of Waynesburg students.

Photo courtesy of Theodore Clayton

Two years later, I’m currently engaged in my own research project for my senior capstone project, investigating

possible relationships between magnetotactic bacteria and migratory eukaryotes.

Thinking back to when I

was younger, the question I always had was “how does this work?”. The more unique and alien the subject of interest, the more I wanted to find the answer. To fulfill this desire, I’m searching for a job that enables me to explore strange and unknown creatures. After I gain more experience researching exotic life here on Earth, I dream that one day I will search for life on other planets as an astrobiologist. At NOAA, I can hopefully begin my career as a professional scientist and theory-driven adventurer, on my way to becoming the man I pictured when adults asked the younger me, “what do you want to be when you grow up?”

CONTACT GRACE INTERESTED HUTCHISON IN HAVING AT HUT1575@STUDENT.WAYNESBURG.EDU YOUR WORK PUBLISHED? CONTACTINTERESTED GRACE HUTCHISON IN HAVING AT HUT1575@STUDENT.WAYNESBURG.EDU YOUR ARTWORK PUBLISHED?

PAGE D4

FEBRUARY 14, 2019

Modern Romance

Written by: Tyler Godwin Designed by: Elaina Spahmer

As the internet continues to evolve, things have become a lot more personal with the growth of social media sites and dating sites. Any person of any background can join these websites and interact with any one they please, even if they haven’t met them face-toface. Especially in regard to dating sites, meeting someone online allows for people to get to know each other a little bit before meeting in person, and in some cases can help break the ice for when two people eventually do meet.

With an ever-rising divorce rate over the past 25 years and the trend of younger generations waiting longer to become married to focus on their education and financial stability first, it’s no wonder that dating sites have become a popular means for which to meet other people. In this busy society, people often aren’t making much time outside of their occupations to go out and meet others, so dating websites have soared in popularity because of their convenience. Likewise, the growing popular of dating online may be because some feel traditional dating methods are not working like they used to. So, people turn to their cell phones in order to try and meet the love of their life, or their Valentine.

Here are some statistics on how online dating has blown up over the past few years:

Online Dating

• 40 percent of Americans use online dating • Men make up 52.4 % of online dating users compared to 47.6% who are women.

• 20 percent of current, committed relationships began online • Match.com is the most popular site with 23.5 million users • eHarmony is responsible for 4 percent of US marriages • More than 7,500 dating sites exist worldwide • Over 49 million people have tried online dating • 27 percent of online daters are 18-24 years old.

• Online Dating is a $1.8 Billion industry • 57 million Tinder users worldwide • Over 20 billion matches made since its launch date

References Another website to use for more info: https://www.datingnews.com/industry-trends/onlinedating-statistics-what-they-mean-for-future/ EHarmony : https://www.eharmony.com/online-dating-statistics/ Datingadvice.com: https://www.datingadvice.com/online-dating/online-dating-statistics Tinder: http://www.businessofapps.com/data/tinder-statistics/