THE BG NEWS ESTABLISHED 1920 | An independent student press serving the campus and surrounding community
THE MAINE EVENT Pulse Editor Amanda Matthews shares her experience of being a part of The Maine’s Street Team Page 3.
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
VOLUME 93, ISSUE 109
Stepping into Action The University works to make campus greener by reducing its carbon footprint
WWW.BGNEWS.COM
Day camp offers fun for kids and jobs for others Students use past experiences to counsel young children By Brittany Bauer
By Seth Weber Web Editor
The University is currently working on a Climate Action Plan, which will be drafted this fall and make changes to operations in an effort for carbon neutrality. President Mazey signed the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment in 2012, which promises the University will become carbon neutral. The Climate Action Plan was formed October 2013 to create a plan that ensures the University will be carbon neutral. While there is no set date for carbon neutrality, Sustainability Coordinator Nick Hennessey said 2035 is a date that has been “kicking around.” Although 2035 seems far away, some schools are setting dates as far away as 2050, senior Lance Kruse, a sustainability assistant for Hennessey, said. Hennessey said schools shooting for 2025 are considered “aggressive” in their carbon neutrality efforts. Several subcommittees are tasked with looking at different sources of emissions that the University produces, which will be tackled in the action plan. Electricity and power generation take up the “lion’s share” of emissions, Hennessey said. While the University does get its energy from American Municipal Power through coal, it does generate its own heat from natural
gas, which is cleaner than coal. While the University could look to alternative energy such as wind and solar, it could be a more difficult and expensive path. “[Electricity and power] make up a huge, huge part of our carbon footprint, but at the same time, the options available to us at this point are a little bit limited,” Hennessey said. “It’s fair to say we’re looking at what options are available to us.” Rather than looking to other sources of energy, Hennessey said doing simple things such as using more energy-efficient light bulbs and turning off lights that are not in use can make a big difference. He said things such as this can save “boatloads” of electricity and money. Another large emission is waste. Hennessey said while some may not think of waste as an emission in the traditional sense, it can be just as bad for the environment as burning coal. “In a classic landfill scenario … you’re sending ton after ton of trash to a landfill that generates methane gas, which is many, many times more potent than any other carbon compound,” he said. The University generates over 100 thousand pounds of waste every week, Hennessey said, and can increase during demolition and construction.
See ACTION | Page 2
Reporter
Children aged three-and-a-half to 12 are enjoying their summer at the City Park day camps that will be occurring until August 1. Recreation Coordinator Kristin Otley said there are two different day camps available for the summer. One camp is for preschoolers aged three-and-a-half to fiveand-a-half; the other day camp program is for children aged six to 12. The preschool day camp program is not offered every week, according to Otley. The amount of weeks that it occurs is all based off of the amount of parents or guardians who register their children. However, Otley said the preschool camp is being offered four weeks out of the eight weeks that the day camp season is running during the summer. There is a new theme each week during the day camp program. One theme that Otley claimed to be popular was a Wet-N-Wild week theme where children played dodgeball with wet sponges, went to the pool and zinged across a mixture of chocolate mix and Hershey’s chocolate syrup on a chocolate Slip N’ Slide. Students from the University also have the chance to be counselors for the summer day camp program. Most students who work at the camp attend the University and hear about the opportunity through word of mouth, according to Otley. Day camp positions are advertised right before the University’s spring break in places such as the BG News, The Bowling Green Sentinel Tribune and the city website. “We have great staff available to hire,” Otley said. “If a student has worked here and really liked it, they’ll talk to people in their classes about it.” A variety of students from different majors work at the day camp program, but the three most common majors are Education, Sport Management and Tourism and Event Planning. Some requirements to become a day camp counselor are experiences with children such as babysitting or working in another recreational environment and having a personality that will comply with children. Otley said about 10 to 12 counselors are hired each summer. CPR and First-Aid certifications are not required when applying, but the Red Cross trains workers one day for eight hours if they don’t already have them.
See DAY CAMP | Page 6
Archery shop comes to Bowling Green
DELICIOUS DELIGHTS
Local store offers shooting range and equipment for sale By Blake Howell Reporter
After 40 years as a mechanic, a former University student is now following his passion for shooting and teaching archery. Until recently, bow hunters, target shooters and archery fans of Wood County had to go elsewhere to find the supplies and services they needed to hone their craft. However, their search for supplies is now over thanks to Rock Vetell, owner and founder of Rock Solid Archery. “I worked on cars for 40 years and I just kind of had enough with cars, so this is kind of an early retirement thing to do for the next 10 to 15 years or so,” he said. Located at 17670 N. Dixie Highway, Rock Solid Archery is the only archery pro-shop in
Wood County and sells nearly anything one would expect, from bows, to arrows, to shafts and much more. The shop also special orders equipment, but customers looking for “homegrown” items need not wait for a delivery. According to Vetell, 99 percent of the items sold in his store are all American-made, something he is fairly adamant about when selling and advocating for a product he loves. He has done competition shooting in the past but Vetell’s love for archery stems from his hunting-oriented family. Although he started out with rifle hunting, Vetell found his passion for bow hunting when he was only 15 and still prefers it to this day. Vetell said his preference is for several reasons, including safety, less people, better tasting meat and above all, a sense of sportsmanship.
See ARCHERY | Page 2
SPORTS
Columnist Angela Hill takes a look at the gymnastics day camp hosted at BGSU | PAGE 5
SAM RAYBURN | THE BG NEWS
PINKBERRY CELEBRATED its grand reopening located nexts to The Oaks on Monday, July 20 by giving free yogurt between 6-8 pm.
FORUM
“WHAT ARE WAYS YOU STAY GREEN?”
Reporter Hannah Benson confesses why she’s eager for fall semester | PAGE 4
“Making a choice to walk around campus and to keep computer documents rather than printing.” Gina Deom Grad Student, Applied Statistics
has MOVED to a new location. Wood County Hospital’s ReadyCare service has moved to the Falcon Health Center, 838 E. Wooster Street.
To learn more, visit falconhealth.org, or call 419-372-2271.
EXTENDED HOURS for BGSU students, faculty and staff, and area residents (treating adults and children 6 months and older)
Monday–Friday 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday & Sunday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. CLOSED HOLIDAYS