THE BG NEWS
‘Tread lightly’ We dedicated a “Breaking Bad” theme in honor of the series finale. Check out PULSE on Page 6 for more.
ESTABLISHED 1920 | An independent student press serving the campus and surrounding community
Friday, September 27, 2013
Volume 93, Issue 16
KEEPING
in TOUCH
University installs touch screen in Offenhauer with stats on energy usage By Kathryne Rubright Reporter
If students ever want to know how many hamburgers worth of energy it takes to power a building, a new touch screen in Offenhauer tells them just that. There is a new interactive touch screen in Offenhauer’s lobby that displays real-time information about the building’s energy usage. Awareness and understanding of energy uses is an important goal of the installation of See TOUCH | Page 2 the screen, said Sustainability
Doctoral program cut Financial constraints lead History Department to eliminate doctoral program By Eric Lagatta Campus Editor
When Joe Faykosh completes his doctorate in the History Department, he will be among the last ever to do so. He, along with around five other doctoral students, were the final ones to be accepted into the program before the University suspended it in 2010. The University eliminated the program during the summer, following financial constraints. “We knew when we came back in the fall [2009] that we were the last to be admitted,” Faykosh said. “One of us will be the last Ph.D to come out of here.” The decline in funding for the University’s History Department doctoral program began in 1995, when the Ohio Board of Regents completely cut funding to many history doctoral programs in Ohio. With this constriction in state
Olscamp Hall - 4,604 kilowatts Offenhauer Towers - 8,512 kilowatts Union - 11,877 kilowatts
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*Numbers taken from the touch screen located in the Offenhauer lobby on Sept. 25
University ranks 181 in national standings University improves national and public rankings according to U.S. News and World Report
Since last year, the University rose from 184 to 181 in the U.S. News and World Report’s annual ranking of national universities. The University has also moved from 103 to 101 in the rankings of public universities. The list compares schools based on factors such as high school counselor rating, retention and graduation rates and cost. The University has made efforts to improve, but not for the purpose of gaining a higher ranking, said Rodney Rogers, provost and senior vice president of Academic Affairs. “What we’re most focused on is ensuring that we’re providing a quality education for our students and that each year we get better and better,” Rogers said. Rogers attributes the University’s jump on the list to a variety of factors, including higher selectivity of incoming freshman and an improvement in faculty resource ratings. These take into consideration ACT scores and high school class
■■ University of Miami- 47 ■■ Ohio University- 135 ■■ Bowling Green State
University- 181 ■■ Kent State University- 201 rankings of freshmen, faculty compensation and class size. “What we’re wanting to do is to make sure that we are bringing in students that we know can be successful here at Bowling Green and will strive here at Bowling Green,” he said. “We continue to do very well with our six year graduation rate relative to our predicted graduation rate and that continues to be a strong point for Bowling Green.” Vice Provost of Academic Affairs Sue Houston echoed a similar statement about the University’s priorities. “Fundamentally, what it’s trying to do is really look at the good qualities of universities, so I think that most universities, and certainly BGSU, want to focus on student suc-
ZIP-A-DEE-DO-DAH The BG football team takes on the University of Akron Zips Saturday, following its 48-7 win against the Murray State University Racers this past weekend. | PAGE 5
See HISTORY | Page 2
700 juniors and seniors see benefits in residence life By Amber Petkosek Social Media Editor
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How the four corner schools stack up in the 2013 U.S. News and World Report national rankings
funding, the University moved to a model in which graduate education must be revenue neutral, a difficult task for the humanities, said Scott Martin, chair of the History Department. “It’s next to impossible,” Martin said. In addition to a yearly allocation from the Graduate College, the bulk of the funding needed to come from tuition. But the program generated only a small amount of the tuition owed from their students because, as with many doctorate programs, the majority of this was paid from the program’s own scholarship allocation, said Michael Ogawa, dean of the Graduate College. The average graduate student in any department pays as much as 45 percent of tuition, while the rest is subsidized, Ogawa said. With the History Department’s doctoral program receiving no
Some upperclassmen choose on-campus housing
Energy usage on Campus:
By Jodi Abazoski Reporter
WWW.BGNEWS.COM
cess,” she said. “And those are also the things that are valued in this U.S News and World Report ranking.” However, Houston recognizes some problems in the report. “There are certainly some shortcomings to the rankings as well, and a lot of it is self reported data,” she said. While Rogers and Houston said that the University’s main concern is not in outside rankings, they recognize what impact they can have on admissions. “It is certainly something that we use in our recruitment material and we talk to parents and students about it,” Houston said. University sophomore Taylor Maibach has noticed the more obvious, positive changes around the University. “[McDonald Hall] is a lot newer, which is where I live so it’s nice,” he said. Maibach’s main focus, though, when choosing to attend the University, was on his intended major. “I didn’t even look at rankings, I just came because of the aviation program,” he said.
Some students view moving off campus as a rite of passage after living in the residence halls. However, other students choose to continue living on campus for a variety of reasons. Non-commuter students are required to live on campus for their freshmen and sophomore year. Junior Chad Brown said among the things he misses most about living on campus is having a meal plan, and being close to events on campus. “You hear a lot more of what’s going on,” he said. “[Events] are promoted more throughout the residence halls.” There are approximately 700 upperclassmen living on campus who are not required to be, including resident advisors, said Sarah Waters, the director of Residence Life. The number of students who reside
on campus that are not required stays near the same number each year, Waters said. “There are between 500 and 800 depending on how many Greeks we have on campus,” she said. Even with the demolition of the current Greek village being planned for the near future, Waters said she thinks the number of Greek upperclassmen will only decrease a small amount because of the lower “bed cap.” “The fraternities and sororities will have dedicated space inside the traditional residence halls,” she said. “They have certain bed caps they need to meet.” Waters said some of the sororities are going from a 36 bed cap to an 18 bed cap. The upperclassmen who still live on campus often look toward the resi-
See UPPER | Page 2
more spaghetti, please
Victoria Cella | THE BG NEWS
Sigma kappa hosts annual Sketti Dinner to pay for Megan Larkin, their sister’s hospital bill.
no censorship
Columnist Chance Stoodt talks about the freedom of speech on not just a college campus, but on many different levels, along with the various instances of speaking out. | PAGE 4
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