LA students’ sketches persuaded Gov. Caperton
While many might not know it, our communities have benefited from the efforts of the WVU Landscape Architecture program.
After the 1985 flood, an LA design team provided sketches of what a rebuilt Rowlesburg could look like. The West Virginia Housing Development Fund put a new housing development in the town while the area along the Cheat was reserved for recreation. The LA design gave the Rowlesburg community newfound hope and a willingness to reinvest in the town.
Around 1990, Morgantown Mayor Ken Randolph and I took a trip to Charleston to meet with Gov. Caperton about a sanitary sewer issue. We took with us a redesign of South University Avenue, which Chamber CEO Terry Jones had LA students develop.
The mayor and I knew that road funds were scarce, so we decided to present the sketches to the governor but to only ask for access to the state right-of-way in order to extend the rail-trail. Our hope was that the governor would take ownership of the road improvements.
The governor said that he knew the south entrance to the city was a “crappy” entrance. He peppered us with questions and then made a phone call. Ten minutes later, the highway commissioner walked in.
Caperton asked the commissioner if what was in the sketches could be done. He said yes, if the funds were available.
I would like to think that it was Ken Randolph’s wit or my charming personality that convinced the governor to have the road built. But we both knew it was the sketches provided by the WVU students that allowed Caperton to take ownership of the project.
Over the years, many West Virginia communities have benefited from the work of the LA design teams. It only makes sense to keep this academic program alive.
Denny Poluga
Morgantown
WVU missed chance to lead on work bullying
I am a retired, 33-year veteran WVU staff member. The Staff Council met monthly with the WVU president. When the council proposed a campus workplace bullying policy, which I co-authored with a law student, President Clements and Chief of Staff Jay Cole supported it. Human Resources and the legal department opposed it.
There’s a demonstrable connection between current problems at WVU and the ongoing prevalence of abusive conduct, aka, workplace bullying. Though K-12 bullying is better known and discriminatory misconduct is legally actionable, bullying is the more prevalent problem (30% of adult Americans are directly bullied at work, according to a national scientific survey). A burgeoning science documents the economic and health harm caused by abusive conduct.
Unlike other industrialized nations, the U.S. ignores workers’ psychological safety. International health and safety regulations address psychosocial hazards posed by toxic social relationships — just not in the U.S.
Since 2011, as a citizen lobbyist, I’ve had the West Virginia Legislature repeatedly introduce the bill I helped write that prohibits harmful abusive workplace conduct. Similar bills have been introduced in 30 other states. No state has enacted any of the bills into law.
A great many of WVU’s problems can be traced to its failure to face its abusive conduct problem. Its prevention and correction won’t happen spontaneously. Deliberate steps to prevent and correct the misconduct must be taken. Protections for junior faculty and support staff require courage. WVU should have listened to Clements, who sought a culture of respect for everyone.
The campus has an opportunity now to reverse course. It might restore WVU’s reputation and foster loyalty from the thousands of employees who would benefit from a healthy and safe workplace. Why protect the minority of perpetrators?
I love WVU. The current situation is sad but preventable.
Lana Cooke
Morgantown
