THE BG NEWS Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Volume 90, Issue 140
City pool updates could be on 2012 ballot If passed, renovations will
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dance the night away
be funded by tax levy By Alex Aspacher Reporter
Bowling Green residents may have to decide whether to support new swimming pools by voting for a tax increase. Two of the most expensive projects on the parks department’s master plan could be placed on the November 2012 ballot, depending on the recommendation from a committee formed to assess Bowling Green’s need for the new pools. One proposal would add a pool to the Bowling Green Community Center on Newton Road, and another would replace the pool at the City Park. The projects come with estimated price tags of $10.8 million and $4.8 million, respectively. Either facility would need to be funded by a property tax levy and an increase in the parks department’s share of income taxes, Parks and Recreation Director Michelle Grigore said. The department’s master plan suggests partners, sponsors, donations and state assistance and grants as additional sources of funding. “[Either project] would be a significant investment in the future,” Grigore said. “The question is whether the timing is right. Levies can be difficult to pass in the best of times, let alone in a struggling economy. People from the community should decide, not the parks department.” Grigore formed the Bowling Green Aquatic Commission to debate which proposal, if any, should be recommended to city council for ballot consideration, she said. The group includes Grigore, two other city employees and nine residents, who will hold their first meeting April 28, she said. Swimming has consistently been near the top of surveys the parks department sends out to gauge the community’s recreational wants and needs, Grigore said. Dissatisfaction with the pool at the park grew by nearly 50 percent since 2005 due to its deteriorating structures and cracked concrete walkways, which Grigore said are considerable safety hazards. Attendance dropped from 31,497 visits in 1997 to 17,649 in 2007, according to a summary of the parks department’s 2010 recreational needs survey. The aquatic facility at City Park, which opened in 1963, needs about $28,000 of maintenance before it can open this summer, Grigore
See POOL | Page 5
ANDREA FEHL | THE BG NEWS
SALSA: Sophomore Maria Santiago, political actions chair of the Latino Student Union, practices her salsa dancing with partner, senior Charles Dent. LSU is putting on a series of events for Latino Awareness Week. See more photos on page 3.
In a first, women surpass men in advanced degrees By Hope Yen The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — For the first time, American women have passed men in gaining advanced college degrees as well as bachelor’s degrees, part of a trend that is helping redefine who goes off to work and who stays home with the kids. Census figures released Tuesday highlight the latest education milestone for women, who began to exceed men in college enrollment in the early 1980s. The findings come amid record shares of women in the workplace and a steady decline in stayat-home mothers. The educational gains for women are giving them greater access to a wider range of jobs, contributing to a shift of traditional gender roles at home and work. Based on one demographer’s estimate, the number of stay-at-home dads who are the primary caregivers for their children reached nearly 2 million last year, or one in 15 fathers. The official census tally was 154,000, based on a narrower definition that excludes those working part-time or looking for jobs. “The gaps we’re seeing in bachelor’s and advanced degrees mean that women will be better protected against the next recession,” said Mark Perry, an economics professor at the University of MichiganFlint who is a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank. “Men now might be the ones more likely to be staying home, doing the more traditional child rearing,” he said.
WORLD Elections spark violence
Nigeria held legislative and presidential elections to much international approval, but they were quickly followed by ballot thefts and riots | Page 8
ANDREA FEHL| THE BG NEWS
DAUGHTER: Senior Lauryn Vargas, public relations chair of LSU, dances with her three-year-old daughter, Ilianah.
REACHING THE HOME STRETCH
“Men now might be the ones... doing the more traditional child rearing.” Mark Perry | Econ. Professor
Among adults 25 and older, 10.6 million U.S. women have master’s degrees or higher, compared to 10.5 million men. Measured by shares, about 10.2 percent of women have advanced degrees compared to 10.9 percent of men — a gap steadily narrowing in recent years. Women still trail men in professional subcategories such as business, science and engineering. When it comes to finishing college, roughly 20.1 million women have bachelor’s degrees, compared to nearly 18.7 million men — a gap of more than 1.4 million that has remained steady in recent years. Women first passed men in bachelor’s degrees in 1996. Some researchers including Perry have dubbed the current economic slump a “man-cession” because of the huge job losses in the male-dominated construction and manufacturing industries, which require less schooling. Measured by pay, women with fulltime jobs now make 78.2 percent of what men earn, up from about 64 percent in 2000. Unemployment for men currently stands at 9.3 percent compared to 8.3 percent for women,
See DEGREES | Page 5
FORUM Year of changes comes to an end Columnist Dylan Corp looks back on the myriad changes that occurred in the past school year and looks forward to what the next school year will hold | Page 4
ANDREA FEHL | THE BG NEWS
HOMEWORK: Sophomore Rosa Elrod and junior Ben Quaintance get ready for the end of the semester. Elrod was putting the final touches on her retail store design for ther interior design class and Quaintance studied for his physical chemistry exam tomorrow.
STATE BRIEFS
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Detective arrested in crime data case in Ohio
Ohio boy charged with killing mom’s boyfriend
DELAWARE, Ohio (AP) — A 12-year-old Ohio boy has been charged with murder in juvenile court, days after telling a 911 dispatcher he shot his mother’s boyfriend because the man threatened him. A complaint filed Tuesday alleges the boy used a .22-caliber revolver to shoot the man Saturday in Delaware County in central Ohio. The boy called 911 and calmly told a dispatcher about the shooting. His mother then took the phone and said between screams and sobs that she and her son had been threatened with a gun. The Delaware Gazette reports a defense attorney said in court that the child doesn’t have a history of violent behavior. Defense attorney Michael Cox declined to comment to The Associated Press on Tuesday. A judge has ruled to keep the boy in detention.
SPORTS Falcons finish spring practice
CLEVELAND (AP) — A Cleveland police detective has been arrested on charges of making personal use of information from a law-enforcement computer database. Chief Michael McGrath said 47-yearold Detective Morris Vowell was arrested Tuesday on a fifth-degree felony. He’s charged with making unauthorized inquiries through a police computer network and making personal use of the information. The nature of the information and personal use wasn’t specified. Vowell, a 20-year veteran who investigates domestic violence, faces an unpaid suspension while his case is resolved. No attorney for Vowell was listed in court records.
PEOPLE ON THE STREET What are you doing to prepare for finals?
The BG football team had its 15th and final practice of the Spring Tuesday morning as the Falcons addressed the mistakes it made in Friday’s spring game | Page 6
Lovell Revels Sophomore, Acting, Directing
“Eliminating all distractions, meaning girls.” | Page 4
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