TUESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2018 WESTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY
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OPINION EDITORIAL
WKU is no exception to hate crimes. Help us track them.
BY ANDREW HENDERSON
HERALD.OPINION@WKU.EDU
“Hate crimes do happen in small towns like Bowling Green.” That’s what Emani Boards, a joint enrollment student from Bowling Green, told me towards the end of an interview when feces were smeared and a racially charged note was posted on the door and windows of her apartment unit. Her sentiments should ring true. Bowling Green and WKU are not immune to hate crimes and bias-related incidents, which is why the Herald is focusing more of our attention on these kinds of incidents. We’re partnering with the investigative reporting non-profit ProPublica as part of their Documenting Hate project to document instances of hate crimes and bias-related incidents on WKU’s campus and in the Bowling Green community. The FBI defines a hate crime as a criminal offense “motivated, in whole or in part, by the offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender or gender identity.” A bias incident is an offense motivated in whole or in part by the offender’s animosity toward the victim’s race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability or other protected status. Every time something like this occurs, it seems we’re surprised that hate could exist in this year, in our town or on our campus - but it does. During the fall 2016 semester, a student had the n-word carved into her car, a professor had threatening notes containing racist language slid under her office door and there were several instances of students receiving anonymous notes containing hate speech referring to race, religion and sexuality following the election of Donald Trump. These are just some of the examples which come to mind, but they cannot begin to even account for the crimes which go unreported altogether. Information submitted through the Documenting Hate form will not be shared with the university, and victims can remain anonymous on published articles if they so choose. The Southern Poverty Law Center, a legal advocacy non-profit that tracks hate groups and extremism, recommends that victims and witnesses of hate crimes contact law enforcement first. If you have experienced or witnessed any instances of hate or bias on campus, tell your story to the Herald using the form on our website, or contact herald. editor@wku.edu for additional information on the project.
ILLUSTRATION BY EMILY VOGLER • HERALD
MESO-DEBT
Kentucky cannot afford to lose the Mesonet program BY THE HERALD EDITORIAL BOARD HERALD.OPINION@WKU.EDU
ISSUE: Gov. Matt Bevin’s proposed budget for the state of Kentucky would eliminate 70 programs while cutting spending by 6.25 percent. One program in particular, the Kentucky Mesonet, is a statewide weather monitoring network being developed at WKU. OUR STANCE: The Mesonet program cannot support its infrastructure of 69 weather monitoring systems without the aid of the state government. While funding the state pension system should rightly be a priority, the data the Mesonet records is used by the weather service’s warning operations during extreme weather conditions. The Mesonet is a service whose benefits the state of Kentucky cannot afford to lose. Kentucky is currently in the middle of a pension crisis. In an article published by the College Heights Herald last September, our state has over $64 billion in unfunded pension liability which translates to over $15,000 for each individual Kentuckian. We all knew severe budget cuts were forthcoming so that teachers, government employees and other individuals who positively impact their communities could be rewarded with benefits they were promised after years of dedicated service. Therefore, it was no surprise that Governor Matt Bevin proposed to analyze the
effectiveness of 70 programs throughout the state in order for the Kentucky legislature to decide if eliminating any of these programs was possible. It’s the financially sensible thing to do. One of these 70 programs, the Kentucky Mesonet, is a vast weather monitoring network spread throughout the state which has the ability to collect data during extreme weather conditions (i.e. tornadoes, flash floods and heat waves). The network was created in 2006 after current Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was able to allocate $3 million in federal funding to sustain the program. While it is a fiscally responsible move to make cuts to support Kentucky’s massively underfunded pension system, dismantling the Mesonet, which partners with the state weather service, could potentially do more harm than good. John Gordon, director of the weather service’s office in Louisville, told US News“The Mesonet is critical to [the weather service’s] day to day operations. We use it in our forecasting, and most importantly we use it in our warning operations.” Joe Sullivan, the warning coordination meteorologist in Louisville, went on to say, in a Courier-Journal interview, “Warnings based on [Mesonet] data are more accurate and give people longer lead times to seek protection from [extreme weather]. Critics of Bevin’s proposed dismantling of the Mesonet system cite his consistent denial that climate change is a direct result of human activity. Extreme weather data collected by Mesonet could further support the scientific claim that climate
change exists and could prove to be devastating to the human race. Bevin has never been one to shy away from a tough position on climate change. In an article from US News Bevin was quoted as saying “this idea that we all need to be held hostage to a handful of people … in order to make us jump through various regulatory hoops, as if somehow, we, mankind is solely responsible and is solely going to be the solution, is ludicrous.” Regardless of the governor’s personal political agenda, the Mesonet saves lives by keeping a detailed record of data when Kentucky faces extreme weather conditions. If our stance isn’t enough to convince you that the Mesonet deserves to stay, lawmakers from Bevin’s own party are taking action to try and keep the Mesonet. Republican lawmaker Rob Rothenburger was quoted as saying “[The Mesonet] is very vital to the state. I hope to work with the governor’s office and other legislators to find either substitute funding for it or some other revenue source.” One important industry in particular could prove to be vulnerable without the presence of Mesonet: agriculture. In the past, these weather stations have allowed scientists to monitor drought conditions and help gain federal disaster aid for farmers that need it. The services that the Mesonet program provides to the state far outweigh the money it would save for the pension system. It is our hope at the College Heights Herald that funding can be secured to sustain the Mesonet.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Cutting the Mesonet deprives everyone of knowledge
BY JESSICA BYRD
HERALD.OPINION@WKU.EDU
As a recent graduate from WKU’s Geography and Geology Department whose concentration was in climate sciences, I am saddened by the possibility of funding being cut for the Kentucky Mesonet program. Kentucky is one of a handful of states that has a statewide mesonet program to help collect, monitor and interpret real-time meteorological data and further use it for climatological analysis. Losing funding for this program would not only impact the students whose research interests lie in weather and climate. The impact would reach far beyond the borders of WKU, the city and even the state. As an undergraduate, the Mesonet was a key tool in my studies and was often a great resource for in-class exercises and examples. The Mesonet allows professors to expand on teaching concepts while offering students a chance to study impacts right here in Kentucky where they
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live, work and study. Their office is easily accessible to any student who ventures down the hallways of the Environmental Sciences and Technology Building, and many of my fellow students were employed by the Mesonet to help them gain knowledgeable and rewarding experience in their fields. By cutting funding to this program, the Kentucky Mesonet would have to reconsider these student positions, taking away impactful experiences and accessibility provided to students throughout their time at WKU. By removing funding to the Kentucky Mesonet, the governor’s budget would also be removing a valuable resource to those in other states. As recently as the past snow events of Jan. 12 and 22, states like Tennessee used road temperature data from Kentucky Mesonet sites to determine road conditions as temperatures dropped before and during the snow and ice events. The availability of data allows for businesses, administrations and individuals to obtain this data without the need for their own complex instruments and sta-
tions. For example, those employed in fields such as recreation and agriculture can access mesonet data to better plan for upcoming seasons, events and operations. As a native Tennessean, WKU offered me the chance to pursue my interest in weather and climate, as it is the only Bachelor of Science program in Meteorology in either Kentucky or Tennessee to offer a meteorology degree which meets the Federal Civil Service guidelines for employment with the National Weather Service. Attributes such as this, as well as the Kentucky Mesonet availability, are major influences on prospective students from the states surrounding Kentucky. I studied alongside Ohioans, Illinoians, Hoosiers and fellow Tennesseans to name a few. The impact of cutting funding to the Kentucky Mesonet would not only affect our current students but could additionally deter future ones as well. It is my hope that, going forward, the Kentucky Mesonet will be recognized for the extreme value and influence that the organization provides to students, faculty and the average person. The Com-
monwealth of Kentucky has become my second home because it has provided me with resources such as this to expand my knowledge of weather and climate while pursuing a college degree. This knowledge and experience will continue to impact students as they carry it into the workforce and help share their understanding of the Earth’s processes and the changes in these processes that continue to be recorded. My fellow students and I pursued these fields to help improve ourselves not only as individuals, but as scientists who will help lead the shift in our world’s mindset and influence the change that needs to happen in order to better understand our Earth’s atmosphere, geography, geology and social impacts. The Kentucky Mesonet is not just a resource for us, it is a resource that provides a better knowledge for everyone. I urge the governor and other governments around the country and the world to reconsider their approaches to meteorology, climate and the collection of data that is beneficial to our well-being as humans.
DISCLOSURES
OUR TEAM
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