THE BG NEWS
20 YEARS OF MIRACLES ZiggyThon celebrates their 20th anniversary. Learn about how they raised their highest amount yet and the lives they have changed on Page 3.
ESTABLISHED 1920 | An independent student press serving the campus and surrounding community
Monday, April 20, 2015
VOLUME 94, ISSUE 90
Raising The Bar
WWW.BGNEWS.COM
Dance Marathon raises highest amount in history, over $340,000 given to Miracle Children By Natasha Ivery Reporter
After 32 hours of dancing, fundraising and smiles, this year’s culmination of Dance Marathon ended at 6 p.m. on Sunday evening and they raised $341, 749.34. This was the highest amount raised in the event’s history. ZiggyThon celebrated 20 years of working with Miracle Children and Mercy Children’s Hospital in Toledo, Ohio. The closing ceremony began with a few awards for participants and dancers with congratulations from a few special speakers. Mayor of Bowling Green Richard Edwards said a few remarks about the event. “I sense good news in the air, keep it going,” Edwards said. Coordinators also announced the new executive board for the 2016 Dance Marathon and congratulated them on stage. Renee Erskine, parent of Miracle Child Regan Erskine, who has Carnitine Deficiency, Immune Deficiency and Ulcerative Colitis, said that Dance Marathon and the people involved in it make it better. “The support and love that Regan is shown is amazing,” Erskine said. “We’ve been to this event for a few years now and PHOTOS BY ERIC BURGASSER | THE BG NEWS
See ZIGGYTHON | Page 10
Nick Jonas to perform in Stroh
LOST BOY SURVIVOR
University Activities Organization hosts artist, looked through others like Paramore, Fall Out Boys before choosing Nick Jonas By Kendra Clark Campus Editor
SHEILA HOEGLER | THE BG NEWS
BOL AWENG, former Lost Boy of Sudan, talks to the University about his experiences and how to give back.
WALKOFF WIN
NIck Glanzman ended the weekend with a walkoff RBI-single for the Bowling Green baseball ream. The Falcons won two of the three for their third straight MAC series win. | PAGE 7
Friends from other schools may get jealous, because Nick Jonas will be visiting the University to perform. He will be at the Stroh on Tuesday, April 21 and doors will open for students and the public at 6 p.m. The show will start at 7 p.m. University Activities Organization was in charge with picking the artist and hosting the show. Co-Director for UAO’s entertainment programming team Alysson Tharrett said she is really excited for Nick Jonas to perform. “I hope everyone loves it and has a lot of fun,” she said. Jasmine Buxton, advisor for UAO, helped the students plan the event and make sure things run smoothly. UAO chose two people to perform before Nick Jonas, Buxton said. They will be Emily Hearn and Levi Stephens. “They were chosen because they are similar in sound and play the guitar,” Buxton said. “They both are very good. They are young and have the sound of soul and folkish.” They went through many people before
RETIREMENT OPPORTUNITY Columnist Geoff Howes talks about his retirement from the University. He says that retiring is an opportunity to make a career change. | PAGE 5
their final choice of Nick Jonas. “We had some options then we made it to the top three,” Tharrett said. “We then looked at who would do well with BG and our students.” Buxton said they try to choose people with different styles every year. “We want a different sound every year that is also family friendly,” she said. “Hopefully, for students who have been here for four years, they will see different artists every year. They should see someone from rap, country, pop and rock.” In order to pick someone for the concert, UAO looks at many different factors for the artists. “We look at who’s popular, who is on the top 40 music, YouTube hits and more,” she said. Before they narrowed it down to Nick Jonas, they were looking at artists like Fall Out Boy and Paramore, Buxton said. They chose Nick because the others had scheduling conflicts and he was very open. “He was really eager to come,” she said. “He even moved some things around on his tour to make it here.” Although tickets for the floor are sold out, tickets for the bowl seats are still available for the public.
ARE YOU GOING TO THE NICK JONAS CONCERT? “Yes, because I’ve always been a fan of him even before he became famous.” Emily Graff Sophomore, Middle Childhood Education