THE BG NEWS ESTABLISHED 1920 | An independent student press serving the campus and surrounding community
CANDIDATE Q&A The BG News did a Q & A with the candidates for city council elections on Tuesday to help your decision at the polls read more on Page 2.
Monday, November 4, 2013
Volume 93, Issue 31
WWW.BGNEWS.COM
Kidnapping survivor to speak at University By Danae King Editor-in-Chief
Elizabeth Smart is coming to the University on Tuesday as the first speaker in the University Libraries’ “Ordinary People, Extraordinary Stories” series. The series will fundraise money through ticket sales and Smart will tell her story of moving on from her 9-month kidnapping in 2002 when she was 14 years old. The event will raise money for the library and Smart will be speaking at two Elizabeth different events. Smart will be speaking at 2:30 p.m. in Smart Olscamp 101, just for students, and then Kidnapping there will be an event later in the evening, survivor for which people have to pay for tickets. Paul Stiffler, chairman of the event host on the University Libraries Advocates Board, hopes the event is more than a fundraiser; he hopes it’s also a learning experience for students and for audience members. “[It’s] being able to provide a venue for speakers to be able to emphasize information available to the public through the library,” Stiffler said. “There’s help in the library to find these subjects, read about it, learn about it.” Elizabeth Smart was chosen because a few library staff members had seen her speak and she sets a good example. “We felt Elizabeth Smart was a very good example of a situation that was dreadful when it happened but there was almost a happy ending ... she was saved,” Stiffler said. Janet Parks, a member of the advocates board, said the board likes to have “events that draw attention to this wonderful library we have.” “I want people to know their library is keeping up with the times and providing information to a broad constituency,” Parks said. “I think Elizabeth Smart’s message in and of itself is an important message.” Stiffler said he hopes Smart talks about moving on from her experience. Kari Johnson, manager of Administrative Services at the University Library, went to see Smart speak in Michigan in March. “Her story is great. It’s very motivational to see the adversity she’s overcome, how she’s moved past that and become an advocate,” Johnson said. “I think she’s going to be great. I think she has a great message for students here.” The money will go to the University Library. The advocates board decided to allocate the money to digitize The BG News and Key Yearbook/Magazine in honor of two University alumni. The project will be called the David and Judy Miller Digitization Project and is being done partly in honor of David Miller, who died this summer, Parks said.
ANTHONY MALINAK | THE BG NEWS
A TASTE OF CULTURE
SRI LANKAN dancers perform at the International Dinner in the Union Ballroom on Sunday.
Annual dinner brings students, cultures together By Dominic Binkley Reporter
The World Student Organization’s annual International Dinner brought more than 60 cultures together on Sunday night in the Union Ballroom. The dinner featured six ethnic performances and a fashion show with clothing from around the world for the students and community members in attendance. Kobe Huynh, president of the World Student Organization, and his Vietnamese lion dance group gave the first performance of the evening. “I feel really good about showing my culture to the community because I’ve been here for three years and we’ve never had lion dancing before so I wanted to bring a new thing to the community for the community to celebrate,” Huynh said. Junior Kasie Durkit said the performance gave a great look at Vietnamese culture. “I really like the color and the energy of the lion and I thought that the drumming in the background really added something to the whole performance,” she said. Among the other performances was a Sri Lankan dance, an African drum performance and an Irish dancer. Huynh said the theme of the dinner was global friendship because everyone’s differences need to be celebrated. “We believe that nothing can bring peace to this world except friendship,” he said. “We have to understand each other and celebrate each other’s differences and the biggest way for that to happen is to have the common factor of friendship.” President Mary Ellen Mazey said the dinner is one of the University’s most popular ways to celebrate diversity.
See SMART | Page 2
See DINNER | Page 2
ANTHONY MALINAK | THE BG NEWS
TWO PEOPLE perform traditional African drum techniques.
ANTHONY MALINAK | THE BG NEWS
DRUMMERS PERFORM traditional tiger dance music at the International Dinner.
City charter campaigns bolster as election nears
TRICK OR TREAT
Social media interaction, student outreach could sway vote for either side By Alex Alusheff
member of Protect BG, which petitioned to get the amendment on the ballot. “It’s not just about environmental damage but human health, economics, industry and government; they’re all tied together.” Protect BG has hosted speakers every Tuesday for nearly two months to educate people on the dangers of fracking, Kochhieser said. The city has taken a similar strategy to promote voting against the amendment, which it argues has nothing to do with the charter. “It’s been more of an effort to inform people, to enlighten people and heighten awareness,” said Mayor Richard Edwards, who started the coalition against the charter amendment. “I can’t believe the number of
Managing Editor
The fate of a fracking ban rests in the hands of the community as they decide whether to amend the Bowling Green city charter on Tuesday. A Yes vote will add the fracking ban, while a No vote will keep the charter the same. As election day approaches, both petitioners who started the amendment and coalitioners against it are taking their debate to the public to sway the votes. “One of the most important things about any action is letting people know why they need to be concerned,” said Lisa Kochheiser, a
EMILY REITH | THE BG NEWS
A RESIDENTS hands out candy to a trick or treater on Sunday night. The tradition was moved due to weather.
ANOTHER FALCON STEP FORWARD
MENDING HEARTS
S P R I N G
2 0 1 4
Go to: mybgsu.edu
O
W
L
I
S TA R T D AT E S
N
“What election?” Charlie Sheehan Junior, Music Education
U
R E G I S T R AT I O N
1. SELECT > student center 2. SELECT > enroll 3. SELECT > add B
See FRACKING | Page 6
ARE YOU VOTING IN THIS ELECTION? WHY?
Columnist Ian Zulick talks about the challenges one faces after a break up and the ways to cope, even if the reasons aren’t right and the feelings and emotion aren’t there. | PAGE 4
The BG hockey team swept the University of Alaska Anchorage Seawolves in a pair of games during the weekend. This marked the first game as a member of the WCHA. | PAGE 3
people coming up to me or calling me saying, ‘I understand your concern’ once they’ve read the charter.” The city charter is a document that outlines how the government should function, whereas the amendment takes a stance on fracking. City council passed an ordinance to ban fracking in September to try to appease the petitioners. However, Kochheiser argues that the state can preempt city ordinance but has yet to overturn a city charter. Regardless of discrepancies, a key to winning any election is getting the word out to get votes, particularly with students, said Andrew Kear, assistant professor in
G
G
R
E
E
N
Oct. 21 Oct. 22 Oct. 24 Nov. 5 Nov. 6 S
Questions? 419.372.4444
Graduate Students Seniors Juniors Sophomores Freshmen T
A
T
E
ENROLL
Office of Registration and Records 110 Administration Building
U
N
I
V
E
R
S
I
T
Y