Angela Brenton memorial service this Thursday at WCU

June 20, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Dr. Angela Laird Brenton 1953 ‒ 2013

Dr. Angela Laird Brenton, Western Carolina University’s late provost and vice chancellor, will be honored this Thursday, June 20, with a special memorial service celebrating her life.

Brenton passed away on May 8 after a three-month battle with pancreatic cancer. Her community memorial service will take place at 2 p.m. Thursday in the Grand Room of the A.K. Hinds University Center. Chancellor David O. Belcher will host the ceremony.

The event is open to anyone and will include an opportunity for attendees to speak about their memories of Brenton and how she impacted them personally.

For more information on the life of Brenton and her contributions to WCU, see WCJ’s earlier coverage:
Angela Laird Brenton: 1953 ‒ 2013

Filed Under: Campus News, Community, Featured, Home, Navigation, News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

The worth of a WCU education

June 10, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Chancellor David O. Belcher. Photo taken by Jarrett Frazier

The Scorecard that Obama addressed in the State of he Union is already in effect for schools such as WCU.

President Obama targeted how this new initiative would be accessible to rising college students and parents on behalf of the Department of Education for determining the value, cost, and importance of each college. Each school can be searched by several categories which include school size, area, location, and etc.

The purpose of this program is to help future college students and parents of rising college students by providing them with the necessary information about colleges, and what certain colleges offer/don’t offer. Each scorecard provides: costs, graduation rate, loan default rate, median borrowing, and employment.

Chancellor Belcher believes this is a great tool to help potentials students realize that they are or are not compatible with WCU.

Western’s scorecard shows that our cost is around $9,128 per year and the average net price has decreased by 1.6% from 2007 to 2009. We have a 50.4% graduation rate of full-time students who received their bachelor’s degree within 6 years and 22.5% transferred to another institution. Chancellor Belcher commented on how the graduation rate has increased over the past couple of years, however he would like to work on the two classes in particular for better retention, the freshmen and the seniors.

The loan default rate is at 6% for WCU, way bellow the 13.4% nationally. The typical amount borrowed for a student’s undergraduate study on a national level is around $160.09 per month; families typically borrow around $13,911 in Federal loans for a student’s undergraduate study.

WCU's Scorecard provided by the Department of Education

“I believe that this tool can benefit students that are looking into Western because they will have all of the major information on a single page, and won’t have to dig for it. When I was researching colleges, I found it hard to find a website where everything was provided to me about that college on a single page. I would think that colleges would make this information more accessible so people won’t have to inquire about it. I came to the realization that if I couldn’t find it, maybe they didn’t want me to attend their institution,” explicated Nia Adams, WCU student who A WCU student who watched the presidents State of the Union and knew about the scorecard.

WCU's Scorecard provided by the Department of Education

North Carolina’s funding resources from the state have decreased, therefore the only funding comes from enrollment, and whether the school initiates external resources for funding. Although WCU is still one the the most affordable college, the increase still doesn’t change that fact said Belcher.

The chancellor realizes that current students are already struggling to pay for college, where parents are losing jobs, and students are forced to work and attend school at the same school.
“I’m optimistic that states will begin reinvesting in higher education again”

Chancellor Belcher would like to keep tuition costs down because he’s concerned that students won’t be able to afford the price as it increases, which will make some potential students not attempt to go to college. The state has provided a great deal of funding for NC but they have decreased their funding for all schools because the state hasn’t has doesn’t have as much money as they did prior to invest in higher education. WCU is looking for alternative sources, that aren’t funded by the state which won’t include tuition fees; this funding can bring in streams of money for example holding conferences on campus to raise money for the university.

“What I can pledge WCU is that we will invest those monies extremely carefully to get the best return on what we use that money for. The values of WCU are having outstanding faculty who are committed to the students which means you get a very rich connection and a real passion for making sure that students not only learn in the classroom but also get the real world learning experience. Professors are making sure that it’s applied in a real world setting. Our commitment to engaging in the external community,” said Chancellor Belcher.

See a spreadsheet on the latest financial information for the UNC schools 2013-14_UG_tuition_and_fees

Filed Under: Featured, Home, Navigation, News Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Concerts on the Creek returning this Friday in Sylva

May 27, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Concerts on the Creek will begin again Friday, May 31 at Bridge Park in Sylva.
Photo by Jessica Chester.

Concerts on the Creek will present the Ryle Holler Boys this Friday, May 31 at 7:30 p.m. at the Bridge Park outdoor venue in downtown Sylva.

“I am excited for the concerts to start back this year,” said WCU student Lindsey Collier. “I went several times last summer and enjoyed it. I met a lot of great people and look forward to seeing them again this year.”

Concerts on the Creek is a collaboration between the town of Sylva and the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce & Tourism Authority, presenting a series of summer concerts every Friday night until Labor Day weekend. All concerts are free and open to the public.

“We recommend you come early and take a leisurely stroll through downtown Sylva before the concert. You’ll get the best parking this way, plus have time for a bite to eat or some shopping before the concert starts,” said a Sylva representative on the Concerts on the Creek Facebook page.

Photo by Jessica Chester

“It’s always something fun for the locals to do on Friday nights,” said Carolyn DeCourt, a Dillsboro native. “The bands are always awesome and it’s a great way to kick off the weekend with friends.”

To see the full schedule of bands, visit the town of Sylva’s official website.

Filed Under: Arts & Entertainment, Community, Featured, Home, Navigation Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Cadaver dog training at WCU

May 24, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Bridget picks up the scent of human decomposition and sets out to locate the source. Photo by Ben Haines.
Caption
Bridget picks up the scent of human decomposition and sets out to locate the source. Photo by Ben Haines.
Bridget gives her trained final response, sitting, after correctly determining that the source of human decomposition odor is beneath the bridge. Photo by Ben Haines.
Caption
Bridget gives her trained final response, sitting, after correctly determining that the source of human decomposition odor is beneath the bridge. Photo by Ben Haines.
Deputy Kathy Adamle takes her newest puppy, Bridget, on WCU's level two cadaver dog training program with instructor Greg Cole. Photo by Ben Haines.
Caption
Deputy Kathy Adamle takes her newest puppy, Bridget, on WCU's level two cadaver dog training program with instructor Greg Cole. Photo by Ben Haines.
Brad Dennis praises Gracie after she sniffed out the trash bag emanating human decomposition odor. Photo by Ben Haines.
Caption
Brad Dennis praises Gracie after she sniffed out the trash bag emanating human decomposition odor. Photo by Ben Haines.
Gracie, Brad Dennis' puppy. Photo by Ben Haines.
Caption
Gracie, Brad Dennis' puppy. Photo by Ben Haines.
Photo by Ben Haines
Caption
Photo by Ben Haines
Photo by Ben Haines
Caption
Photo by Ben Haines
Deputy Kathy Adamle and Jake. Photo by Ben Haines.
Caption
Deputy Kathy Adamle and Jake. Photo by Ben Haines.
Deputy Kathy Adamle and Bridget. Photo by Ben Haines.
Caption
Deputy Kathy Adamle and Bridget. Photo by Ben Haines.
Paul Martin hands out certificates at the conclusion of the level two course. Photo by Ben Haines.
Caption
Paul Martin hands out certificates at the conclusion of the level two course. Photo by Ben Haines.
Robin Moore smiles with her certificate after completing the level two cadaver dog training program at WCU. Photo by Ben Haines.
Caption
Robin Moore smiles with her certificate after completing the level two cadaver dog training program at WCU. Photo by Ben Haines.
PreviousNext

The Western Carolina University Forensic Anthropology Program, in conjunction with the Division of Educational Outreach and the Human Identification Lab, hosted their latest cadaver dog training program workshop May 15 – 22.

Participants experienced instructional lectures as well as in-field exercises giving them and their canine companions valuable practice in human decomposition odor tracking and analysis.

Deputy Kathy Adamle, a canine handler at the Geauga County Sheriff’s Office in Chardon, Ohio, began training dogs in 1994 and has worked with cadaver dogs since 2002. She participated in the workshop at WCU with her newest puppy, Bridget. The cream-colored golden retriever got to learn the difference between human and deer bone for the first time.

“She did a good job. She’s learning,” Adamle said. “It’s not an overnight thing. It’s constant reinforcement, two or three times a week, and I have to work my other three.”

Adamle also brought Jake, who, at a nine years old, is already an experienced cadaver dog. “I brought him along so that he could work a couple scenarios just to keep him sharp,” Adamle said.

For centuries, law enforcement agencies and militaries around the world have utilized dogs to track scents because of their profound sense of smell, with approximately 220 million olfactory receptors in their noses compared to 5 million in those of humans. Dogs can determine the direction from which a scent is traveling thanks to highly sensitive skin receptors that allow them to feel the moisture on their noses being evaporated by air currents.

“It doesn’t matter what scent you teach the dog; cadaver, narcotics, bomb work, it doesn’t matter,” said Adamle. “It’s all a game to them. They don’t get depressed. All they want is their reward. They work for a paycheck.”

Paul Martin, a graduate of WCU’s forensic anthropology program, founded the university’s cadaver dog training program in 2011 and currently serves as its program coordinator. After handling his first dog in 1997, Martin has specialized in human remains detection and recovery with canines since 2000. He is currently working with his third, fourth and fifth cadaver dogs.

The WCU cadaver dog training program holds workshops every fall and spring, with each workshop divided into two courses. The level one course ran from May 15 – 17 with a $399 enrollment fee while the level two course took place May 20 – 22 at a cost of $449.

While open to anyone, the program is not intended for casual hobbyists but for professionals. Any dogs participating in the level one course must have had a minimum of six months prior training and must know their trained final response, what their handlers have trained them to do when they smell human decomposition and locate its strongest source. A cadaver dog’s trained final response is typically to bark, sit or lie down.

The level one course is designed to introduce handlers and their dogs to large sources of human decomposition odor that they may not have been exposed to before, such as a full body, as well as help them understand the decomposition process and scent movement throughout an environment.

The level two course involves a number of outdoor search scenarios designed to reinforce the dog’s trained final response to large sources of human decomposition odors. One of these involves the dogs locating graves in a cemetery along the Tuckaseegee River, where the handlers are also exposed to ground-penetrating radar technology.

Another scenario was set up by Brad Dennis, the director of search operations for the KlaasKIDS Foundation’s Search Center for Missing and Trafficked Children based out of Pensacola, Florida.

In Dennis’ real-world scenario, handlers and their dogs must traverse unfamiliar woodland terrain near the WCU campus, searching for hidden items that are imbued with the scent of human decomposition. While the dogs can detect the scents from far away, the goal of the course is for them to locate the source of the odors and grow accustomed to zeroing in on the largest quantity

“It’s really amazing to watch the progression that the dogs working that area make throughout the day,” Martin said, “from being a little bit hesitant and not wanting to give its full trained final response to, by the end of the day, offering those trained final responses without any prompting by the handler.”

Since offering the first cadaver dog training course at WCU in May 2011, Martin has received many letters from handlers who went on to conduct searches for human remains and make successful recoveries with their dogs.

“One handler in particular,” Martin recalled, “everybody on her team, the law enforcement that she worked with, they were just amazed how the dog actually took them all the way to the remains and gave that trained final response there at the remains.”

Greg Cole, a retired captain of the Gulf County Sheriff’s Office in Port St. Joe, Florida, has trained dogs for military and law enforcement since 1976. He began working with cadaver dogs about 13 years ago and served as an instructor in the WCU workshop this past week.

“I was honored to come out here and help at Western Carolina University,” said Cole. “Best cadaver dog training program in the country.”

Filed Under: Community, Featured, Home, Multimedia Projects, Navigation, News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Marine and plant farming merge in aquaponics

May 16, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Randy Reinke built this aquaponics system in the WCU campus greenhouse. Photo by Ben Haines.
Caption
Randy Reinke built this aquaponics system in the WCU campus greenhouse. Photo by Ben Haines.
The aquaponics system consists of a gravel bed containing plants and a water tank filled with fish. Photo by Ben Haines.
Caption
The aquaponics system consists of a gravel bed containing plants and a water tank filled with fish. Photo by Ben Haines.
The fish tank is populated by koi and goldfish. Photo by Ben Haines.
Caption
The fish tank is populated by koi and goldfish. Photo by Ben Haines.
Before the water even enters the fish tank, this machine dechlorinates it. Photo by Ben Haines.
Caption
Before the water even enters the fish tank, this machine dechlorinates it. Photo by Ben Haines.
As the fish live and eat in the tank, the waste-filled water is transferred through this hose into the gravel bed, where bacteria break down the nitrogen byproducts in the water and leave the waste nutrients behind for the plants to consume. Photo by Ben Haines.
Caption
As the fish live and eat in the tank, the waste-filled water is transferred through this hose into the gravel bed, where bacteria break down the nitrogen byproducts in the water and leave the waste nutrients behind for the plants to consume. Photo by Ben Haines.
This filter cleans the water in the gravel bed so it can be recirculated into the fish tank. Photo by Ben Haines.
Caption
This filter cleans the water in the gravel bed so it can be recirculated into the fish tank. Photo by Ben Haines.
The freshly cleaned water drains back into the fish tank through this pipe. Photo by Ben Haines.
Caption
The freshly cleaned water drains back into the fish tank through this pipe. Photo by Ben Haines.
This device feeds the fish. Photo by Ben Haines.
Caption
This device feeds the fish. Photo by Ben Haines.
Cullowhee lilies. Photo by Ben Haines.
Caption
Cullowhee lilies. Photo by Ben Haines.
Zinnia. Photo by Ben Haines.
Caption
Zinnia. Photo by Ben Haines.
Young cucumber plants. Photo by Ben Haines.
Caption
Young cucumber plants. Photo by Ben Haines.
This mysterious flower was retrieved from a discarded Easter bouquet in the trash at Scott Residence Hall. It was initially red and tightly packed but it bloomed when planted. Photo by Ben Haines.
Caption
This mysterious flower was retrieved from a discarded Easter bouquet in the trash at Scott Residence Hall. It was initially red and tightly packed but it bloomed when planted. Photo by Ben Haines.
PreviousNext

Randy Reinke is a new graduate of Western Carolina University with a bachelor of science degree in natural resource conservation and management. He spent his senior year developing a fully functional aquaponic farming system in the WCU campus greenhouse.

What is aquaponics? It is a hybrid of two different farming techniques.

The cultivation of plant life in water is called hydroponics, while the raising of aquatic animals in tanks is known as aquaculture. Aquaponics combines both of these practices to create a symbiotic food production system.

An aquaponic system consists of a water-filled tank containing marine organisms and a bed of growing plant life, with machines that keep the two groups sustained by each other’s biological processes. It allows farmers to grow healthy fish, prawns or crayfish together with vegetation in a very efficient, interconnected setup.

As the aquatic animals live and eat in the water, waste and other effluents accumulate over time. The waste-filled water is transferred through a hose into a bed of soil or gravel.

Bacteria in the bed act as a biofilter by breaking down the harmful nitrogen byproducts in the water while leaving behind the waste nutrients which feed the plants. The water is then siphoned through a filter, cleaned and redistributed back into the marine tank.

Because the plants use marine animal waste as food, there is no need for fertilizers, which can cause dead zones when they enter streams, lakes and oceans. The entire process is designed to have as minimal of a lasting impact on the environment as possible.

“Our current farming practices are destroying our land and our water, so it’s very important that we begin to explore new and more efficient ways to grow our food without the destruction to the environment,” Reinke said.

Reinke first got involved with aquaponics when his neighbor asked for help to build an outdoor aquaponic system. “It captured my interest because while we were building the system, most of the country was experiencing a drought,” Reinke said. “Aquaponics has been recorded as using as little as 10 percent of the water that traditional field crops require.”

After helping his neighbor, Reinke built his own aquaponic system in his apartment. He then asked his university advisor, Dr. Brian Kloeppel, about making a school project out of it. Kloeppel suggested that Reinke build another system in the campus greenhouse.

“I wasn’t sure at first,” Reinke said, “but then I realized it would be a good opportunity for me to use the system as a model for a small business plan and would allow students to see a non-traditional food production method that, if done right, can be much less harmful to our water and soil.”

Reinke got permission to use the greenhouse from Dr. Kathy Mathews, who was more than happy to allot him the space. He then submitted proposals for grants to the Honors College, the Natural Resources Conservation Management Department (NRCM) and the Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP).

Kloeppel proofread the proposals and wrote letters of endorsement saying that he believed the funds would be put to good use and the project would be completed. “I couldn’t have built this system without him,” Reinke said.

Reinke received the grant from the Honors College but was denied the QEP grant. However, the NRCM Department not only approved him for the NRCM enrichment funds but also allocated some of the QEP funds that the department had received this year. Additionally, Dr. Jerry Miller provided money from the Blanton Whitmire Endowment to buy gravel.

Anna Thompson of the Department of Geosciences and Natural Resources and Bonnie Beam of the Honors College helped out by using the grant money to make all of the purchases for Reinke’s system with university credit cards and purchase orders.

Since Reinke did not get the total amount of money he had requested in grants, he got creative and redesigned his aquaponic system to be more cost-effective. He built the fish tank out of reclaimed lumber instead of buying a new one.

When it came time to select fish for his system, Reinke applied for an aquaculture permit for tilapia with the N.C. Department of Agriculture. Though he was approved, Reinke had a difficult time obtaining the fish so he tried to get catfish instead.

Unfortunately, the truck transporting the catfish broke down in transit and it would have been another month before the next delivery, so Reinke opted to go with koi and goldfish. “Although they are not edible, they produce a ton of waste and are great for aquaponic systems,” Reinke said.

Reinke planted vegetables including cucumbers, bell peppers, Cherokee purple tomatoes, peas and lettuce, as well as several wildflowers such as morning glories and Cullowhee lilies. Reinke selected Cullowhee lilies because he hoped it would help draw interest and possibly provide a way to breed them so people can plant them around Cullowhee.

Now that Reinke has graduated, the fate of his aquaponic system in the WCU greenhouse is up in the air. Anja Nothdurft, president of the Campus Kitchen Garden Club, will maintain the system throughout the summer but will not be able to continue with it in the fall.

“I think it would be awesome for students, faculty and the community to get involved,” Reinke said. “I put a lot of hard work into that system and it would be a shame for it to be forgotten about when I leave.”

If you would like to help carry on the legacy of Randy Reinke’s aquaponics endeavor at WCU, send him an email at rareinke1@catamount.wcu.edu.

“I would love to show anyone interested and answer any questions they have,” Reinke said.

Filed Under: Community, Environment, Featured, Home, Navigation Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Affirmative action at WCU

May 10, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Dr. David Belcher

There has been a lot of controversy regarding whether college institutions should be allowed to regulate college admission by factoring race, and using race to fill in necessary slots in the school’s freshman class.

The affirmative action has been challenged in several instances and institution in the past year. The Supreme Court in March decided to hear a case from University of Michigan under the same challenge as the Fisher v. University of Texas case. The cases are arguing different legal issues but essentially both are connected to using race as a factor in college admission.

Western Carolina University had not faced a challenge of its enrolment policy like in Michigan and Texas, but it is an issue on the minds of the students and the leaders. Chancellor Belcher said that they would like to implement a new admission process in the near future.

On WCU affirmative action is not clearly stated in the admission process. The admissions office uses the following criteria for accepting undergraduate students: whether the student meets the minimum North Carolina requirements, honors classes taken, advanced placement classes taken, IB courses, coursework that shows strong academics, weighted and unweighted grade point average, class rank, grade trends, and to see if they have taken interest by coming to an open house or campus tour. According to the University of North Carolina Academic Affairs requires that college applicants have four units of English, three units of mathematics, three units of science, three units of social studies at least two units of a foreign language other than English, one unit of health and physical education, and two to six electives or other requirements. Nowhere is race used as a factor for accepting undergraduate students.

“Recent studies show that strictly using SAT/ACT scores for college admissions doesn’t and shouldn’t determine whether a student could be successful in higher learning institutions; rather than SAT/ACT scores, the clearest indication of seeing whether a student is capable is determining their high school GPA and their character,” said Belcher.

According to the 2012 WCU enrollment for undergraduate and graduate, there are: African American 6.4%, Hispanic 1.2%, International 2.9%, Multiple Race/Ethnicity 4.5% American Indian or Alaskan Native 1%, and Asian or Pacific Islander 1% making a total of 17.7%. WCU has also more females (53%) then male (47%) student population. Chancellor Belcher said that these numbers don’t represent a well-diversified campus, even though the numbers have increased over the years.’

Debating affirmative action [Read more...]

Filed Under: Community, Featured, Home, Navigation Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
« Older Posts

Switch to our mobile site