THE BG NEWS
ESTABLISHED 1920 A daily independent student press serving the campus and surrounding community
Wednesday May 28, 2008 Volume 101, Issue 151
Summer is no vacation for the University police department
MEMORIAL DAY
WWW.BGNEWS.COM
Honoring those who served The city of Bowling Green honored its heroes with several celebrations such as parades and services at Oak Grove Cemetery | Page 2
By Angie Burdge Reporter
PULSE
Movies hit, miss with audiences While many movies have nailed the use of special effects, movies fail to create memorable characters | Page 6
BY IDED ROV TO P PHO INAL ORIG
Stars mourn the loss of Pollock Noted actor and filmmaker Sydney Pollock passed away Monday at age 73 | Page 8
FORUM
In a world where so many struggle to be individuals, columnist Levi Joseph Wonder ponders whether anyone can truly go beyond the mold | Page 4
SPORTS
Falcon baseball finishes season 16-8 in MAC play
PEOPLE ON THE STREET
See BGEX | Page 3
Summer course enrollment on Internships unpaid, the decline for several reasons students still charged By Alexandria Clark Reporter
Individuals are all the same
The Falcons finished their season with a loss to Ohio University in extra innings | Page 5
As of yesterday, summer registration is down 196 students compared to last year. According to Gary Swegan, director of Undergraduate Admissions, there are 7,625 students enrolled in courses this summer compared to 7,821 students registered last summer. Although summer admission is down, the numbers for new students and transferring students are up by 20 compared to last summer. “We are still expecting enrollment numbers to go up as we move through the summer,” Swegan said. Swegan said one of the reasons why the numbers are down for enrollment is because the entering class of 2004 has graduated. “The entering class of 2004 brought in the largest number of students,” he said. “And last summer the majority of that class were taking summer courses to graduate in August.” But even though numbers plan to increase, some students’ classes pay the price for the low enrollment. Junior Rhoda Payne was notified her French 201 course was
“The entering class of 2004 brought in the largest number ... last summer the majority of that class were taking summer courses.” Gary Swegan | Director of Undergraduate Admissions canceled by an e-mail sent two weeks before the end of spring semester. “A few of my classes were canceled that I really wanted to get out of the way,” Payne said. “I e-mailed the Romance department and they said only four people had registered for my French 201 class and therefore it was canceled,” she said. Payne has taken summer courses since 2006 and said there have never been a lot of students enrolled during the summer. “A lot of students go home for the summer, but it seems this summer nobody stayed to take summer classes,” she said. “In some of my classes you can count the students in two rows.” Another student, Ciara Wicker, a senior, said her EDIF 301 (Ed Psyc-Early Childhood) and American Sign Language I class was canceled because of low enrollment. “I was disappointed because
I needed my EDIF 301 to continue my course work in the fall in order to graduate on time in December,” Wicker said. Junior Danielle Nails said low enrollment may be down in the classrooms, but that’s not the case for online courses. “I had to go back home to work, but I still wanted to take classes offered by the school,” Nails said. “But when I went to register for a couple of online courses the majority of courses were full with no waiting lists.” Nail said a lot of friends chose not to attend school in the summer because of the high expenses to attend summer school, along with paying for school during the year. “A lot of my friends have scholarships, but don’t want to split their scholarship in three ways because of still not having enough to pay for August to May [classes],” she said. “I think enrollment would pick up when students can actually afford to go to school all year round.”
By Lori Weber Campus Editor
The tuition students pay for their internships may not be going to the University career centers that arranged or offered the internship, according to a recent study conducted by the University of MichiganDearborn. The study, which was published by the School of Management at UMD, included findings from 64 other institutions across the country. The research concluded “more than 90 percent of schools charge students tuition for [recouping] the cost of administrative and educational oversight.” The Univeristy is among those institutions, since it charges students for internships acquired either through the school or by the students’ own merit. Students are charged by the credit hour for any internship during a semester session, said Brian Martinez from the Bursars office. “Because they are getting credit for their internships, the University charges them for those credits,” Martinez said. “The Career Center’s Cooperative Education and Internship Program offers a
transcript notation for any internships / co-ops through [the] program,” said Annette Badik, the associate director of CEIP. Badik also said the academic departments are the ones who charge for credit hours. Willie Murphy, a first-year criminal justice graduate student, was a senior last summer when his unpaid internship cost him over $5,000. The internship was mandatory in order for Murphy to graduate. “It’s unfair,” Murphy said. “I lost a possible $10,000 from working over 40 hours a week unpaid, paying the University for my internship and not being able to earn money at the same time.” The 23-year-old said most internships he was looking at were unpaid, but offered the best experience. The paid internships were often reduced to clerical and coffee running duties. However, this scenario is not always true in every department on campus. Barry Piersol, director of the Cooperative Education and Internship Program for the College of Technology, said
See CREDITS | Page 3
University grad speaks in Saudi Arabia, invited for encore speech
What is your dream internship?
By Scott Recker City Editor
MIRANDA VOLLMER, Senior, Political Science
“To work as a legal advisor for a congressman in Washington, D.C.” | Page 4
TOMORROW Sunny High: 74, Low: 51
BGeXperience Director George Agich said he is keeping an open mind about the changes made with the BGeX program due to the new move-in date for incoming freshmen. “We are going to try and make this work and see what happens,” Agich said. The BGeXperience program is designed to help first-year students make the crucial transition from high school to college in order to be academically successful. BGeX also focuses on helping students identify and examine their own individual values. In past years, incoming freshmen would start their BGeX sessions on the Thursday before the start of classes. This coming fall, students will move in on Saturday,
.HU
Travel columnist Alison Kemp reaches her destinaton of Brooklyn, N.Y., and looks forward to what is next for her on the horizon | Page 4
TODAY Sunny High: 65, Low: 44
See POLICE | Page 3
By Tony Hunter Reporter
C W.SX WW
Bright lights, big city
WEATHER
While most University students and faculty are relaxing during the summer months, the University police are as busy as ever. “To be perfectly honest, there’s no down time,” said Chief of Police James Wiegand. Even though there are fewer students on campus, the campus police have to deal with other issues during the summer. Besides general duties, such as unlocking buildings for faculty and “all the things we normally do during the academic school year,” Wiegand said campus police are involved with various athletic camps and Buckeye Boys State throughout the summer. The recent tragedies at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois have the police planning to conduct mock “active shooter” training sometime over winter break. “We’re in the preparation stages now,” Wiegand said. “The actual training is not until January.”
Lieutenant David Weekley of University police said city demonstration and disturbance training is also scheduled for the first part of August, though the plans are subject to change. Weekley said the civil disturbance training keeps both city and campus police up to date on training. “It’s a good idea because it gets everybody there together,” he said. The upcoming presidential election this fall could mean added responsibilities for the campus police as well. Wiegand said the candidates could travel to Wood County in late summer once the conventions are over. On such visits, the campus police would work with the Secret Service along with city and county law enforcement to provide assistance and protection for the dignitaries. Associate Dean of Students Michael
University continues to adjust BGeX
When a local professor traveled to Saudi Arabia to speak on his respective field, he not only lectured on the trends in American journalism, but also learned about a different culture. John Hartman, a University graduate and Central Michigan journalism professor, learned that American and Saudi Arabian culture is not as different as some may believe. “The Saudis know very little about us and we know very little about them,” he said. “Yet we have far more in common with them than we have differences.” When Hartman received an “out of the blue” e-mail from a Saudi Arabian journalism professor encouraging him to apply to speak at King Saud University, he was immediately interested. After receiving the e-mail, Hartman engaged in a formal application process and was contacted a few days later, inviting him to Saudi Arabia for three weeks, but problems ensued.
“We found out it was a much more complicated process than we thought and, basically, we sat for two weeks waiting to get our Visas,” Hartman said. “They are very careful about how you get into the country,” his wife, Kay, added, who is a part time University instructor and also attended the trip. Their travel difficulties cut their trip short, only allowing them to stay 12 days, but the Hartmans were well liked by their Saudi hosts and invited back for an additional two weeks in the fall. The Hartmans said they were shown great hospitality. “Everything they said they would do, they did,” Hartman said. During their trip, the Hartmans noticed many similar values between American and Saudi Arabian culture. “They care about their families, and they care about their professions,” Hartman said. The Saudis also have different cultural norms. The role of Saudi women is very different from the role of
women in American culture. Men and women are extremely segregated, and women often work from home, the Hartmans said. Women are generally fully covered in public and are not allowed to go to certain places, such as the mall, without a male relative present. Even places like Starbucks are segregated, with different lines and dining areas for men, women and families. At King Saud University there is a campus for men and a separate one for women about three miles away. Kay Hartman said the women possess much more freedom while at their secluded university and many of the women do not wear the traditional Saudi garments. “In that setting they were very much the same as any American women,” she said. The Hartmans said they are looking forward to visiting PHOTO PROVIDED BY JOHN HARTMAN Saudi Arabia again in the fall, NOT SO DIFFERENT: Alumnus John Hartman, pictured here with his Saudi hosts, was invited as well as teaching and learning to speak at King Saud University. Hartman noted more cultural similarities than differences. more about the culture.
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