THE BG NEWS
DANCE THE WEEKEND AWAY Dance Marathon will host the 32-hour Ziggython this weekend. An estimated 300 students are expected to participate. Read more on Page 2.
ESTABLISHED 1920 | An independent student press serving the campus and surrounding community
Friday, April 4, 2014
Volume 93, Issue 83
Police chief sends confidential email to student Victim’s harassment report accidentally revealed
By Danae King Editor-in-Chief
Monica Moll
When a sophomore was sexually harassed in February, an email containing details of the harassment was sent to a person not involved in the case. Chief of University Police Monica Moll meant to send a simple “thank you” to her colleagues, but instead, sent the private report to a random student, whose name was similar to an officer’s. “What I’ve learned from this is check, check and double check,” Moll said.
University Police Chief The report was filed by the victim, a student, in an online system called Maxient, which is used for student conduct reports. Anyone can report something unofficially to the University through the system and it is sent immediately to Student Affairs officials through email. The case was a sexual harassment, so Moll’s role was finding out if the
alleged perpetrator had any prior offenses. She was emailing a few University administrators and some of her own employees about prior offenses and her role in the process was just about to end, when she sent the email to the wrong person. “A lot of things get handled over email,” Moll said. “We also got to be careful because things like this could happen.” The BG News obtained the email when it was sent to a reporter from the student who received the email
See EMAIL | Page 8
WWW.BGNEWS.COM
Potential Republican House budget to reduce Pell Grants by $90 million If passed, budget would effect roughly 30,000 Ohio students By Eric Lagatta Campus Editor
More than 5,000 University students may see a reduction in their federal aid for higher education if a U.S. House of Representatives’ budget is successful. Republican Congressman Paul Ryan’s budget proposal would reduce funding for Pell Grants by $90 million as a means of balancing the federal budget. In fall 2013, 34.5 percent of students at the University received those Pell Grants, according to numbers provided by the University. State-wide, 31,000 college students
benefit from the grants. These proposed cuts are part of the House Republican’s budget, which would reduce federal spending by $5.1 trillion. It was passed the House Budget Committee on Wednesday, and will now move to the Republican-controlled House of Representatives next week. Ultimately, it will need Senate and United States President Barack Obama’s approval before becoming law. The Federal Pell Grant Program provides need-based grants to lowincome, undergraduate students
See GRANTS | Page 2
SMOKE alarm
Hookah poses more health risks than cigarettes; users inhale 150 times more smoke in 1-hour hookah session than smoking one cigarette By Dylanne Petros Copy Chief
Places like Blo and Café Havana are gaining popularity by the minute in Bowling Green because of the fact that hookah is gaining popularity. Hookah is a type of tobacco that is burned and smoked through a hose, said Faith Yingling, director of Wellness. There are many different flavors of hookah including apple, chocolate, mango and sex on the beach. “If you have flavors like that, people are enticed by that,” Yingling said. While hookah may be more social than cigarettes, it is by no means safer. “The problem is people think it’s less harmful, but it has many of the same health risks as cigarette smoking,” Yingling said. The charcoal that is used to burn hookah is not safe for the user either. “The charcoal used to heat the tobacco can raise the health risks because that has high levels of carbon monoxide, metals and the cancer-causing chemicals,” Yingling said. “The tobacco in hookahs is burned because it is exposed to high heat and the smoke is at least as toxic as cigarette smoke.” Some of the health risks include lung, bladder and oral cancers as well as heart disease, she said. Even though there are some health risks, “it’s gaining popularity,” she said. One of the popular hookah bars in Bowling Green is Blo, which opened in September. “Weekends are very busy,” said Hookah Manager Tyler Callahan. “We are the only other hookah café in the town, and we are closer to students so I think that is the reason they choose to come here.” Blo is also the only hookah bar in Bowling Green that has indoor smoking, Callahan said. “We want to be a lounge where people can do homework, drink, smoke and eat food,” Callahan said. Hookah, while popular with college students, is also gaining popularity with high school students. “In 2010 … a survey found that among high school students, one in five boys and one in six girls had tried hookah. That’s pretty significant,” Yingling said. Junior Emma Boylan is one of the six girls the study found to have tried hookah in high school. “I got into hookah because when I was younger I wanted to go out but I was too young to drink and didn’t want just stand around at a bar and not participate,” she said. For Boylan, hookah bars were “the next best thing” to spend time with friends and feel like an adult.
Within the last 30 days, how often do you think the typical student in your school used hookah?
Never used: 5.4 percent Have used but not in last 30 days: 11.8 percent 1-2 days: 18.2 percent 3-5 days: 20.7 percent 6-9 days: 14.9 percent 10-19 days: 13.8 percent 20-29 days: 5.6 percent Used daily: 9.6 percent
Within the last 30 days, how often did students actually use hookah?
Never used: 64.5 percent Have used but not in last 30 days: 20.8 percent 1-2 days: 7.0 percent 3-5 days: 3.4 percent 6-9 days: 2.1 percent 10-19 days: 1.5 percent 20-29 days: 0.3 percent Used daily: 0.4 percent Data provided by Faith Yingling, director of Wellness. Data collected from the University in 2012.
See HOOKAH | Page 2
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION
Kochheiser, Neely run unopposed for USG STUDENT GOVERNMENT Platform includes expansion of Ziggy Points, Support of Multicultural Affairs Program By Kendra Clark In Focus Editor
For the second year in a row, the presidential and vice presidential candidates for Undergraduate Student Government will be running unopposed for the next academic year. “We were both surprised,” said Presidential Candidate Brian Kochheiser. “We thought there were at least one or two other tickets going up against us.” Outgoing USG President Alex Solis and Vice President David Neely ran unopposed in the last
ESCAPE OF HER OWN
round of elections. Kochheiser is a junior, majoring in sport management with a minor in general business. He is currently on the cabinet for USG as chief of staff. Nicole Neely is on the same ticket as vice president. She is a junior and majoring in business with marketing specialization. She is currently on the cabinet for USG for strategic planning. While many expressed their support for Kochheiser and Neely, they also talked about the dis-
Track and Field thrower Brooke Pleger uses hammer throwing as an escape from everything. Read more about how her improvement in 2013 ranks her among BG’s best on PAGE 6.
See ELECTIONS | Page 2
Elections for new Undergraduate Student Government members are next week from April 7 to April 10. Read The BG News and www. bgnews.com for a question and answer series this week so you know what the candidates are about.
What role will social media play in your administration? Is it an accurate way to gauge the student voice? How will you use it? Brian Kochheiser Presidential Candidate
“Social media is huge. Students use Facebook and Twitter all the time. We are going to utilize USG’s accounts and our own as well. It will be a way to have the students heard and we will be asking questions and giving updates about the school and what USG is doing.”
Sparking conversation Paramount Pictures gave tickets to Cru at the University to take students to see “Noah” to start conversations about the biblical story. Read the full story in Pulse on PAGE 3.
Nicole Neely
Vice Presidential Candidate
“It has a huge one. One of our flaws is not being able to communicate what we are working on. We need to find a way to increase interactions and tell people what we are working on and what we can do to help.”
WHAT WOULD YOU DANCE TO FOR 32 HOURS STRAIGHT? “Dark Horse by Katy Perry, because I love it and I love the beat.” Mackenzie Hayes Freshman, Early Childhood Education