THE BG NEWS Thursday April 30, 2009
Volume 103, Issue 149
CAMPUS
WWW.BGVIEWS.COM
Council keeps growing
Students in the Native American Unity Council try to conduct a dialogue about customs and have fun | Page 3
FORUM
In February, we decided to eat on a dollar a day. We got the idea after reading about Kerri and Christopher Pearson, two Social Justice teachers who cut back on their food costs in September of 2008. They ate on $1 a day to see why they were spending so much money on food and if they could live on the bare minimum. We decided to follow in the Pearsons’ footsteps to evaluate
Kent arrests could have been avoided
Forum editor Kyle Schmidlin thinks that the police got out of hand at Kent State’s “Campus Fest,” resulting in a riot | Page 4
NATION
A 2-year-old boy from Mexico City passed away Monday night in a Huston hospital after being admitted with “underlying health issues” | Page 12
STATE
Long drop
A student from Ohio University suffered a fall from the fourthfloor window of Weld House, and is now at Grant Medical Center in Columbus | Page 13
SPORTS PEOPLE ON THE STREET WEATHER
TODAY Rain/Thunder/Wind High: 70, Low: 60
TOMORROW Showers High: 67, Low: 45
DAY 1
DAY 2
milk—price per serving: 15 cents oatmeal—price oatmeal —price per serving: 6 cents peanut butter with two slices of bread—price per serving: 23 cents Mac ‘n cheese—price per serving: 16 cents one orange—price per serving: 48 cents
milk—price per serving: 15 cents raisin bran (off brand)—price brand)—price per serving: 18 cents tortilla with peanut butter—price per serving 18 cents ramen noodles—price per serving: 7 cents green beans—price per serving: 16 cents apple sauce—price per serving: 17 cents
Poor health linked to cheaper foods By Becky Tener and Hannah Sparling Reporters
Wright State beat the Falcon softball team in a double-header in their last stand at home this season | Page 6
“I’d go to McDonald’s and eat off the dollar menu.” | Page 4
our own food budget and find out how much it really does cost to eat well. According the United States Department of Agriculture, the average adult spends about $200 a month on food. In a 30-day-month, that is about $7 a day. We spent the 40 days of Lent (minus spring break but including Sundays) eating only $40 worth of food. The rules were simple, but a dollar only goes so far.
At the beginning of every week, we each spent $7 on groceries ($1 for each day). Below are two typical days of food, and the cost per serving. With little funds, our “meals” were all very similar to those listed below.
Swine flu claims toddler
TONIA KLINE Sophomore, Exercise Science
dollar A day
Two students try living in poverty
Reporters Becky Tener and Hannah Sparling ate on $1 a day, and had to sacrifice taste and favorite foods for affordable ones | Page 4
If you had to eat on a dollar a day, what would you eat?
INSIDE:In Focus explores the history and current state of student activism on campus. | Page 9
By Becky Tener and Hannah Sparling Reporters
Luxuries for necessities
Last loss at home for the season
ESTABLISHED 1920 A daily independent student press serving the campus and surrounding community
Some people spend up to $2 on a bottle of water from a vending machine. Some people spend that much on food for an entire day. According to globalissues.org, over half the people in the world live on $2 a day, and 385 million live on less than $1. It may be possible to live on these small dollar amounts, but Jane Crandall, University nutritionist, said it would probably not be healthy.
In hard times, more people turn to soup kitchens
Foods that are processed and high in fat and sugar generally cost less than healthy foods, Crandall said. A loaf of white bread costs 79 cents at ALDI grocery store while wheat bread costs $1.79. A lot of people will take the nutritional value into account when shopping for groceries, Crandall said, but for people living in poverty, cost might be the only factor. “You find that when you don’t have
By Becky Tener and Hannah Sparling Reporters
There is a starving child in Africa. He eats rice for every meal, and often doesn’t have drinkable water. There is also a college student in Toledo who runs out of food before the end of the month. He goes to a local soup kitchen to make up for the meals he can’t afford.
See POVERTY | Page 2
See NUTRITION | Page 2 INSIDE: Read about the personal thoughts and experiences of living below the poverty line | Page 4
The textbook game By Michelle Bosserman Reporter
Students looking to get the most money back for their textbooks need to know the answer to the question, ‘Which bookstore offers the best price?’ The answer is simple and yet complicated: it depends. No matter where students go, the highest price offered for new or used books at local bookstores is 50 percent off the retail price. In order to get 50 percent, the book must be chosen by faculty to be used next semester and it has to be in decent condition. Steve Overholt, University Bookstore course materials manager, defined that for a book to be in decent condition it can’t be over highlighted or too ripped. “There are some restrictions on the books we buy back, but we accept most if they look like they weren’t overused,” Overholt said. “Whether the book was new or used, or purchased here, we will buy them back with some exceptions.”
Poverty is not just an overseas problem — poverty is here. Yvette Hall, director of food service at Cherry Street Missions in Toledo, said at the end of every month, college students like the one from Toledo are common visitors. They buy their own meals
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY ALAINA BUZAS AND CARRIE CRANE | THE BG NEWS
Bowling Green residents face clean-up or fine By Lin Chafetz Reporter
Residents in Bowling Green could see a fee of $50 for littering — for anything from a cigarette butt to the cleanup of a party. However Lieutenant Tony Hetrick said while there is a
ALAINA BUZAS | THE BG NEWS
BUYBACK: As the semester comes to a close, students prepare to sell back their books. Alicia Thompson sells her books back and received $18 for which she believes cost $70.
The Student Book Exchange, located across from Founders near Subway, works just like the University Bookstore. Store Manager Steve Kokomoor said the biggest difference between the two bookstores is if the book isn’t being used next semester, SBX will still try to buy them back in most cases. “We use multiple buying guides and the campus store only uses
one or two,” Kokomoor said. “Especially if the books are not being used again next semester, students can get more for it here than anywhere else.” At the University Bookstore, if the book is not being used again for next semester, the book is
See BOOKS | Page 2
fine for littering, nobody has ever been fined for the littering of a cigarette butt in Bowling Green. Littering in Bowling Green is a fine of $50 and the second offense fine is $100, for a civil
See FINE | Page 2
CITY BRIEF
Fight breaks out at Enclave Apartments Bowling Green City Police are currently looking into the progress of a case in which two males assaulted two victims over an argument involving Time Warner Cable. According to police reports, the four men were sitting in the University shuttle 2-Ride last Saturday night at 4:24 A.M. when they began arguing with one another over cable television.
The shuttle driver of 2-Ride said he dropped the men off at building seven of the Enclave Apartment complex before the fight broke out. According to one of the victims, the two men began punching him as soon as they exited the vehicle, and he struck one of the attackers three times in selfdefense. Both victims were transported by ambulance to the Wood County Hospital.
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