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Check out PULSE to read about Bowling Green Hats and Apparel downtown as this week’s Explore BG series| PAGE 6
SAT
SUMMER WEDNESDAY, July 3, 2013
ESTABLISHED 1920
Volume 92, Issue 105
A daily independent student press serving the campus and surrounding community
www.bgnews.com
Officers on bikes patrol University, connect with students By Lindsey Gebhart Reporter
THE OAKS rooftop garden is home to herbs and spices used in the food prepared there.
STEVEN W. ECHARD | THE BG NEWS
The roof top garden at The Oaks provides fresh herbs and spices for the University By Abby Welsh Managing Editor
STEVEN W. ECHARD | THE BG NEWS
The Oaks not only provides a place for students to eat, but also to grow food. The dining hall, which was opened in fall 2011, has a vegetable, herb, spice and fruit garden on the roof of the building. It is intended to help dining services with cooking as well as an opportunity for students and faculty to help out with the garden. This garden is a part of the Green Roof Project, which is a pool of money for students who are part of a committee to utilize for on-campus projects to help the campus become environment friendly. The Green Roof Project is part of the green initiative fund, an optional $5 charge tacked onto students’ tuition fees. The money then goes into the fund and the students decide what they think is the best way to spend the money.
Nick Hennessy, sustainability coordinator in the Office of Campus Sustainability, explained the primary reason for planting the garden was to demonstrate and create an opportunity for students and faculty members to get involved with the green roof. Dining services, the green fund and campus sustainability came together and worked as a joint operation when building the garden. Hennessy said no one knows about the garden so tours were established. Tour dates were released through campus update last week. The garden is sectioned off into roof panels for the food, but also includes a deck made out of re-purposed wood, recycled plastic tables, umbrellas and solar power water features. “We wanted everything that went into the project to be recycled and
See GARDEN | Page 8
With summer in full swing, people around town are taking full advantage of the sunny weather days, including the University Bicycle Patrol Force. Lieutenant Dennis Ehlers works for the University police department and is a former member of the bicycle patrol force. “We do a bike patrol training program that is a week long,” he said. “Officers learn how to mount and dismount the bike properly, how to ride in pairs and how to stop the bike if you must use your firearm. It’s a pretty intense program.” Being on a bicycle allows a police officer to be closer to the people, and to see more of their surroundings and what is occurring, Ehlers said. A bicycle patrol division also helps boost morale, fitness, and lets the officers interact with the community on a more personal level. Some University students have taken notice of the force while some have never spotted them before. Junior Rebecca Whitesel said she was not aware the University had bike police. While graduate student Udita Datta, said she has seen police officers on bikes before. “I’ve seen the bike police and every time I’ve seen them it has indicated which houses have been partying too hard,” she said. “If the bike police are outside, that’s a party house.” Ehlers also said some of the benefits of being on a bicycle as opposed to being in a car as well as the amount of student interaction, which has improved toward the bike police. “The students often talk to the cops on bikes as opposed to walking up to a cop car, it relates to them [more],” Ehlers said. “People don’t know you’re out there on bikes too often, so you can ride up on situations where they don’t even know you are there.” Masters student Margo Coniam said she believes having a bicycle patrol force is useful. “From far away, you can’t really tell if it’s a cop or just a bicyclist, as opposed to when you see a cop car you immediately know,” Coniam said. Ehlers said being on a bike makes him more approachable towards students, which is something he enjoys. “They’re still police officers, but I think it’s the persona making them a little easier to get in contact with. Not too many students want to approach a police car,” he said. While some students have conflicting opinions about the force, sophomore Alexcea Frye summarized her positive feelings towards the bicycle police in four simple words. “Bicycle cops are rad,” Frye said.
Rec Center renovations may JULY FOURTH WEEKEND inconvenience students, faculty By Zach Knapp Senior Reporter
The Student Recreational Center will remain fully functional until renovation preparations are scheduled to begin in early August. The $13.4 million in renovations will include a new Ryan front-entrance, mezzanine Miller expansion, stairs f looring, Recreational locker rooms, restrooms and a larger parking lot. Center Senior Nick Pharo liked Renovation the idea of all of the renovaProject tions when he first heard Manager about them during the spring semester, but worried that he would never get the chance to enjoy them. “These projects always seem to take up so much time,” Pharo said. “I do not understand why they have to wait the
DESPICABLE ME 2 Check out PULSE to read a review of the new Pixar movie Despicable Me 2. | PAGE 6
majority of summer before they get the project moving.” The tentative dates for the recreational center being closed for renovation preparations are set to take place August 3-11. Following the preparation period, renovations are scheduled to take place through August 2014, according to the Department of Recreation and Wellness’s construction plan. A large project, like the recreational center renovations, requires extensive planning, and while there have been lastminute maintenance issues, the project is still on track for its completion date, Ryan Miller, recreational center renovation project manager, said. “With a facility that operates pretty much year round, there isn’t a ‘good time’ to make renovations to this degree,” Miller said. “There was a conscious decision
See REC | Page 2 JULY FOURTH fireworks commemorate Independence Day.
GOING FOR THE WIN Read SPORTS to see how a Falcon hockey player made it to the Latvian National team and ow the ROTC won a memorial marathon. | PAGE 5
ALYSSA BENES | THE BG NEWS
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE STARBUCKS DRINK? “I like the strawberries and cream drink because it’s super fruity. ” Cayd Burton Freshman, Nursing