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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2014 > WESTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY > VOLUME 90, ISSUE 17
WKU, state policies questioned after election BY KAE HOLLOWAY NEWS@WKUHERALD.COM
all-gender
Single-occupancy restrooms to be renamed BY LEAH BROWN
NEWS@WKUHERALD.COM
Over the next six months, 39 single-occupancy restrooms across campus will be transformed into all-gender restrooms. Chief Diversity Officer Richard Miller said the idea was suggested by a student to the administration. Chief Facilities Officer Bryan Russell said, “We are looking at signage to make some changes that would accommodate all users of these restrooms.” These restrooms are for anyone who needs privacy, Russell said. The restrooms are located in buildings such as the Honors College, Gatton Academy, the Music Rehearsal Hall and Downing Student Union. The restrooms themselves will remain the same, only their signs will change. “In the DSU facility…they had put an all-family designation (sign) on that restroom, but really was implying that anybody could use that restroom,” Russell said. “It has a changing table, a toilet, a sink, a mirror, but what’s
important is that it’s private and it’s a single-occupancy restroom.” Russell is reaching out to WKU’s professional architects for their opinion on how to provide signage for all of the restrooms. Before the restrooms change, WKU must get a recommendation from the architects and order new signs for the bathrooms. “The better question is, what is the right naming for the bathrooms? What would most people prefer?” Russell said. “It’s going to help all of us.” A survey will be sent out to students before the sign change about their preference for the name of the sign. The new signage will also include if the restroom is accessible to those with disabilities. The topic of gender-neutral bathrooms was briefly discussed during a Student Government Association meeting earlier this semester. Although the change was not specially pushed by SGA as a whole, SGA President Nicki Taylor said she was looking forward to the changes. “I personally am very excited about it,” she said. “I know this is something that has been talked about a lot."
Students get a taste of Ecuadorian culture BY AARON MUDD NEWS@WKUHERALD.COM The savory scent of South American food filled The Fresh Food Company in Downing Student Union Tuesday night. Aramark’s Executive Chef Gilbert Holts was one of many working to provide students with a taste of Ecuadorian culture. Holts described food as “kind of a universal language.” “You know, we all cook the same food,” Holts said. “It’s just different kinds of spices, different kinds of seasonings.” Students sampled exotic dishes such as seco de pollo, a dish featuring chicken, rice and plantains, and llapingachos, cheesy fried potatoes, at Choose Your Own Adventure: A Night in Ecuador. After dinner, attendees listened to a student’s Study Abroad story, tested their Ecuadorian knowledge in a trivia round and got the chance to win a Study Abroad scholar-
SEE ECUADOR PAGE A2
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JAKE POPE/HERALD
Danville junior Lauren Bailes signs the $150 Study Abroad application waiver that Clarksville, Tennessee freshman Mahesan Kumaravelu won at the Choose Your Own Adventure: A Night in Ecuador.
The Board of Regents will see a familiar face in the regent’s room at its meeting on Oct. 31. Barbara Burch will fill the seat left by former Faculty Regent Patti Minter at the end of this month. Minter is stepping down after serving seven years on the Board. Burch is currently the provost emerita and a professor in the School of Teacher Education. “I felt it was an honor to be asked by faculty to consider that position,” she said. “I hadn’t thought about doing it… I’m pleased with the opportunity to represent the faculty.” She ran unopposed in the election, which took place Oct. 15. Her election and the election process as a whole was met with debate after potential nominees declined nomination, but some faculty are saying the potential nominees were disqualified. Some who declined nominations did so on the basis that several policies, including state statute KRS 164.360 and WKU Human Resources Policy 4.2303, render them ineligible for the position as they have family, spouses or partners employed at WKU. KRS 164.360 states specifically in section two that “no person shall be employed at an institution where his relative serves on the board of regents for that institution.” Human Resources Policy 4.2303 states in the policy and procedure section, in part A, that “no person shall be employed at the university if his or her relative or domestic partner serves on the Board of Regents.” The purpose of Policy 4.2303, according to the policy itself, is to create and sustain a work environment with respected, fairly treated employees. It states that relationships between employees are prohibited from having one party of the relationship hold a position that can influence personnelrelated issues, such as salary, promotion and performance review. Jennifer Hanley, Faculty Senate vice chair, said the Senate Executive Committee followed the Human Resources policy, the State Statute and the election codes outlined in the Faculty Handbook “to the letter.”
SEE ELECTION PAGE A2
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