GRAND VALLEY
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POLICE
DOWNTOWN
DeVos Center wedding construction kept under wraps BY MCKENNA PEARISO ASSOCIATE@LANTHORN.COM
Fire at Copper Beech Townhomes deemed accidental, no serious injuries reported TORCHED TOWNHOME: Firefighters from three local fire departments pack up equipment following an initial investigation of a fire at Copper Beech Townhomes. Fire Lt. Scott Harkef initially deemed the fire an accident, with the cause being a small propane torch being left on before catching the room on fire. GVL | NICK MORAN BY NICK MORAN & KELLEN VOSS NEWS@LANTHORN.COM
Fire departments from Allendale, Georgetown and Blendon townships responded to an apartment unit on fire shortly after 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 17 in GVSU off-campus apartment Copper Beech Townhomes. The team arrived to flames coming from the third floor of a middle housing unit before putting out the flames within 30 minutes, according to witnesses.
Fire Lt. Scott Harkef said that the fire was quickly contained, only damaging one unit. No serious injuries were reported, but residents of the complex were kept outside for nearly two hours while the scene was cleared. “Residents were home at the time of the fire,” Harkef said. “They were alerted by smoke detectors. They tried to extinguish it themselves, but once they realized it was too big, they got out and started alerting tenants of the building next door.”
Harkef said the cause of the fire seemed to be a small propane torch used to light candles. The resident failed to turn off the flame before it caught the room on fire. An investigation is still pending, which aims to be completed within a week. Harkef said that while the department still needs to conduct an investigation, he is confident that the situation was accidental. Ryan Hein, a building resident, said that he wasn’t aware of the fire until other residents alerted him and
his roommates — a trend that other displaced residents attested to. “I heard this loud shattering noise and I didn’t really think anything of it – I thought something fell and broke,” Hein said. “My girlfriend called me because her and her roommate saw the smoke and said to come outside. So, I came out and (the) room was engulfed in flames. It was kind of crazy.” SEE FIRE | A2
Grand Valley State University is host to many events and receptions each year, including weddings, as its various campuses offer exclusive settings and exquisite backdrops for significant occasions. On Saturday Jan. 19, an anonymous GVSU alum was married on the Grand Rapids Pew Campus. The large amount of construction for the event calls into question what limits the university will go to provide a special space for a campus wedding. For three weeks, a secret construction project, which has been kept under wraps in the courtyard of the DeVos Center, had students and faculty alike questioning its purpose. The construction began before the new year and takes up a majority of the courtyard of DeVos Center. The evidence as to what the the construction was for remained unclear to many members of the community. “The only thing I know is it is a private event taking place this weekend,” said GVSU Security Supervisor Kathleen Barcom. “No other details are known.” Many university officials were tactful in keeping the construction and its event quiet. “The construction on DeVos Center is for an external private event,” said Associate Vice President of Facilities Services Grand Rapids and Regional Centers Lisa Haynes. This private event was eventually disclosed to be a wedding reception for a GVSU alum. However, the magnitude and time frame for the reception’s construction, which included a temporary glass building with hung curtains and lights, sparked the curiosity of who could be holding such a grand event. SEE DEVOS | A2
JOURNALISM
Inside GV’s shortage of student media funding BY JAMES KILBORN JKILBORN@LANTHORN.COM
Concerns regarding student media funding on campus have been raised in recent weeks, as funding for Grand Valley media programs pales in comparison to other universities within the state. Multimedia Journalism Professor Len O’Kelly spoke to Student Senate regarding the issue, stating that among 15 state-funded universities, GVSU’s student media funding ranks 14th. O’Kelly emphasized that this discrepancy in funding as notable, as GVSU offers communications courses that are often unavailable to students at other universities, all while receiving less funding for student media-related purposes. “University of Michigan has student media, but it’s not related to their curriculum in any way, shape or form,” O’Kelly said. “A couple of years ago, I visited their radio station and they were shocked to learn that students at Grand Valley can take a class and learn how to use the radio station because at University of Michigan there is no such thing.” These concerns over student media funding come as changes are occurring in the manner of distributing news.
Newspapers, television stations and radio broadcasts are adapting, and these changes often require investments to ensure they remain viable methods of transmitting information to students. For example, O’Kelly said an emphasis with newspapers on digital formats is becoming increasingly common and outlets are adapting to meet these demands. “With newspapers, we’re going to have to wrestle with digitization, which is getting content in a digital form and online along with print,” O’Kelly said. “These things cost money. Unless you’re lucky and get a group of students who are good at coding or are app-developers, you’re going to have to pay someone to do that. The app for our radio station for example, we spend $895 a year to make sure our platform runs, that way we don’t have to do anything except make sure it has content.” Additional funding could also be directed toward securing an FM radio channel, an action that would boost the university’s ability to reach listeners across the region. O’Kelly said that the ability to increase listeners also provides more support for advertisement opportunities. SEE FUNDS | A2
TELEVISION TALK: Sharing a conversation, two Grand Valley Television students are filmed on the set of “Late Night Brew.” GVSU’s student media ranks 14th out of the 15 state-funded universities throughout Michigan in terms of funding their student media outlets. GVL | LEAH KERR
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