THE BG NEWS ESTABLISHED 1920 | An independent student press serving the campus and surrounding community
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
VOLUME 94, ISSUE 94
WWW.BGNEWS.COM
STUDENTS GATHER to express solidarity for those who lost their lives to police brutality. The demonstration began at 7:30 p.m.
Solidarity
2,193 students to graduate 564 to receive honors, 1,687 undergraduates By Kendra Clark Campus Editor
U
niversity students, faculty and staff held a demonstration in the Union oval Tuesday night, expressing solidarity against police brutality. A vigil and moment of silence was observed to recognize lives lost this year to such brutality. “This meant everything to me,” said junior Ashley Robinson, who spoke to the crowd about her brother, who was killed by police. “Being able to go out in the space and really just share my story, my experience with police brutality and all of the love I received after - it does mean the world to me.” All photos by Alyssa N. Benes.
BELOW: Junior Ashley Robinson and Sophomore Bryce Davis. embrace at the demonstration Tuesday night.
RIGHT: Matt Murray discusses solidarity and his goddaughter at the demonstration.
Starting Friday, May 8, more than 2,000 students will walk with diplomas in their hands and will graduate into alumni of the University. Out of the 2,193 students graduating, 36 are receiving a Doctorate degree, 368 are receiving a Master’s degree, 93 are receiving Associate’s degrees and 1,687 are receiving a Bachelor’s degree. Also, 564 students will be graduating with honors. “This is always an exciting time at the University,” said University Spokesman Dave Kielmeyer. “This is what the students have worked for, to obtain their degrees.” Around this time is when students, parents, faculty and staff all become excited, said Dean of Students Jodi Webb. “The end of this semester is an exciting time for everyone,” Webb said. “This is where all of us are working for.” Commencement on Friday, May 8 at 7 p.m. will honor graduate students from the Graduate College. The speaker will be Seshadri Srinivasan Tangutur, who graduated from the University in 1987 with a Master’s degree in computer science. In 2014, he was at Google’s Motorola Mobility, where he was corporate vice president of software engineering. Recently, he has joined the engineering leadership team at Snapchat. On Saturday, May 9 at 9 a.m., the College of Arts and Science and Firelands will be holding their commencement.
See GRAD | Page 7
EDITOR’S NOTE
This is the first-part of a three-part series examining the Poe-Ditch Music Festival which will mark its 40th anniversary June 1. The largest outdoor concert held in Ohio of its time, the event rocked the campus and community like few other events in local history.
Poe Ditch Music Festival: The Greatest Rock Concert you Never Heard of PART 1 OF 3: The Lead-up By Michele Mathis Copy Chief
Society was distancing itself from Vietnam in the early 1970s, and it was also a time of social experimentation. Doors were opened culturally for music and art, combined with an encouragement of complete expression, and also combined with a new exploration in sex and drugs. While rebellion and unrest sometimes prevailed, it took a while to reach the campus of the University. Around this time, campus was
full of activity winding around antiwar protests and a shifting culture focusing heavily on the youth. To highlight this movement, the idea of a festival was presented. They called it Poe Ditch Music Festival. The stage began to be metaphorically set for a rock-n-roll concert that would rock the Bowling Green community for years to come. Introduced by a branch of the University’s Student Government Association [what would be today’s Undergraduate Student Government] in the beginning of
BASEBALL BEATS TOLEDO The BG Baseball team got a win in the Battle of I-75 in the first of two games. The Falcons started Trevor Blaylock at pitcher, allowing just four hits in seven innings of play. | PAGE 5
1974, PDMF was created after a call for ideas to build fundraising for the organization’s budget. The branch of SGA was called Cultural Boost and it’s functionality was to bring in the musical acts that were budding and on the rise to preform. Kim Jakeway, then leader of Cultural Boost, said that they wanted to “make something noteworthy for BGSU.” The musical culture at Bowling Green was strong. In the years leading up to 1974, the campus had seen
See POE DITCH | Page 8
POE DITCH FESTIVAL, PHOTOGRAPH NS-74-C-26-003 | BOWLING GREEN STATE UNIVERSITY
AN ARIAL shot of the Poe Ditch Music Festival. Roughly 40,000 people attended.
BALTIMORE RIOTS
Columnist Bryan Eberly talks about the Baltimore riots. He says the violence isn’t justified, even if the protesters’ anger is warranted | PAGE 4
WHAT WILL YOU BE THINKING WHEN YOUR DIPLOMA IS HANDED TO YOU? “Thank God it’s over.” Quiana Douglas Junior, Marine Biology