2009-05-20

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THE BG NEWS Wednesday May 20, 2009

Volume 103, Issue 154

CAMPUS

WWW.BGVIEWS.COM

SRC gets a new look

Six new plasma TVs in the Student Recreation Center give exercisers an alternative viewpoint | Page 3

Fewer cars, fewer people, more relaxing

FORUM

Columnist Tyler Sworden talks about life in Bowling Green after most students have gone home |Page 4

Summer session not a breeze

Faculty columnist Phil Schurrer discusses the fast pace and daunting workload of summer sessions at the University | Page 4

Tears and trains During her last months in Austria, columnist Allison Kemp highlights her reluctance to leave mixed with the excitement of her experiences | Page 4

No. 1 in the MAC

WEATHER

PEOPLE ON THE STREET

SPORTS

The BGSU baseball team went on a winning streak to take the MAC championship and secure the No. 1 seed for the upcoming tournament | Page 6

High hopes for a new season

The Falcon softball season is over, but the team is looking forward to next year | Page 6

Group forms to restore Ice Arena By Andy Ouriel Campus Editor

Since starting the hockey program when he came to Bowling Green in 1967, Jack Vivian remembers many proud moments occurring at the University’s Ice Arena. Whether it was Olympic Gold Medalist Scott Hamilton first learning how to skate as a child, the University winning its first and only collegiate national championship in men’s hockey during the 1984 season or the countless community members participating in recreational events such as youth hockey or open skating, Vivian remembers them all. But the memories might stop there. After 42 years in existence, the Ice Arena, which hosts hundreds of events to thousands of people yearly, is in danger of shutting its doors. If money for renovations and the future upkeep of the arena is not raised through public funding or private donations, hockey games and open skates might become a thing of the past, Vivian said. “I can’t imagine that campus not having that ice arena,” he said.

Inducted into the BGSU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2008, Vivian was a pioneer to Bowling Green hockey from its inauguration to when he ended his four year varsity coaching duties in 1973. He was also one of the founding members of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association, the division Bowling Green currently plays in. Vivian is trying to add one more title to his resume -- savior to the Ice Arena and the hockey program. The Ice Arena project is special to Vivian because it hits home. It only makes matters worse for him seeing something he helped build and develop crumble. While University administrators in no way want to lose one of the most historic buildings on campus, along with the hockey program, they may be forced to do so. The Ice Arena needs costly repairs and renovations, but money for the project might not be available, Vivian said. Vivian estimates between $12-$14 million will be needed to make the necessary improvements, such as changing the ice and replacing the ice clamp, fixing

the roof and boilers, improving concessions and replacing much of the current infrastructure by upgrading facilities to modern day standards. But the University is not standing idle and crying poverty. Under President Carol Cartwright’s leadership, University officials, University alumni, community members and former hockey players have all come together to form an Ice Arena Working Group. The group is trying to come up with reasonable solutions to improve the building and benefit all parties using the facilities. Vivian, who was the University’s first hockey coach, has now returned to Bowling Green as chair of the Ice Arena Working Group to try to restore not only the facility itself, but also the greatness the arena once held. “The University, for whatever reason, has not taken care of the building and it is showing the effects of that,” he said. “We’re in a position where we need to fix it up.” As CEO of JRV Management, a company that consults and oversees the quality of ice arenas

Finding the history behind a family’s precious heirloom By Allison Borgelt Reporter

Buried deep inside a wooden trunk that traveled from Germany to McComb, Ohio, underneath photographs of generations gone by and other various yellowed items, was the Borgelt family’s greatest treasure: a newspaper. A newspaper may not seem like a treasure, but my family’s heirloom is far from ordinary. Dated July 2, 1863, the newspaper was supposedly written in Vicksburg, Miss. during the Civil War, and it is printed on wallpaper. Yes, wallpaper.

Preserved between two long sheets of glass, the one-page newspaper consists of four columns of text. The masthead reads The Daily Citizen, and printed below is the editor’s name, J.M. Swords. The wallpaper on the back is cream-colored, with red roses arranged inside a brown and white pattern, and it is taped from years of being handled. Questions about the piece have floated around the Borgelt family for years. Why was the newspaper printed on wallpaper? Where did it come from? Was my family’s copy really printed during the Civil War? Do other copies exist? Intrigued by the piece and the questions it provoked, I decided

What possesion does your family value most?

to search for answers to my family’s own “history mystery.” Scott Martin, chair of the Department of History at the University, explained that some Civil War newspapers were printed on wallpaper because the Union imposed a naval blockade on the South, cutting off supplies to its people. “This seems to have been a phenomenon of the Civil War, because newsprint was very scarce in the South,” he said. “They didn’t have facilities to make paper, so they had to use any substitutes they could … wallpaper was one of the things they could use.” Although my family’s copy was printed on ancient-looking wallpaper and is dated 1863, Mark Donaldson, an accessionist at the Hancock Historical Museum in Findlay, noticed something that changed my entire perspective on the piece. At the top of the newspaper, in fine print, is the phrase, “Facsimile of ‘The Vicksburg Daily Citizen’ of July 2, 1863.” My family’s copy is a fake. Donaldson gave me an article titled, “Famous Fakes 4: Vicksburg Daily Citizen Facsimiles,” which came from the Archival Chronicle, an online publication by the Center for Archival Collections in Jerome Library. The article reads: “Never would a newspaper printed on wallpaper be as collectible as the July 4, 1863 issue of the Vicksburg Daily Citizen. Its souvenir status has

See NEWSPAPER | Page 2

“[My family’s] Civil War pistols” | Page 4

TODAY Sunny High: 81, Low: 57

TOMORROW Mostly Sunny High: 83, Low: 59

Local police apply for grant By Steve Kunkler Reporter

The city police department recently applied to receive national funds to purchase new equipment. The police submitted a grant last week for funding through the U.S. Bureau of Justice Assistance Recovery Act. The grant’s official title is the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Formula Program, and the request is for about $20,900. If the grant is approved, the

funds will go toward replacing older models of Smith and Western firearms, which need to be repaired but are no longer in manufacture, said Deputy Chief Brad Conner. The request includes funding for 48 guns, 43 off-duty holsters and 32 gun-mounting tactical lights, which will be used by officers who go into poorly lit areas, Conner said. The total cost of the equipment is around $38,000, although that won’t be the cost to the city, Conner said. Along with the possible

ENOCH WU | THE BG NEWS

RENOVATION: The Ice Arena in Anderson was built 42 years ago. Today it is in major need of rennovation.

around the country, Vivian said the University’s Ice Arena is in a poor state. Out of the 150 buildings he has worked on with JRV, Vivian said the University’s Ice Arena is in one of the worst conditions due to age and poor maintenance. “It’s been executed and is on death row,” Vivian said about the Ice Arena’s potential fate. “We have been given some time and unless we can turn [the Ice Arena] around both as a building and as a varsity hockey program and everyone else that benefits from it, it’s subject to be done away with and that would be a tragedy for

$20,900 grant, the city police will trade in their curent equipment for about $16,755. The rest of the $38,000 cost for the new equipment will be picked up by the city. “When all is said and done, the city of Bowling Green will have to come up with $164.32,” Conner said. The city police department worked with both local and state officials to help secure the money. Money had already been

See GRANT | Page 2

Bowling Green.” But Vivian’s group is not alone in trying to save the Ice Arena. There is already a foundation started to help raise money to renovate the arena. Last week, Ohio Representative Randy Gardner and State Senator Mark Wagoner visited the Ice Arena with Vivian. Gardner and Wagoner said they will try to convince Ohio to allocate $1.5 million out of the state capital budget toward renovating the Ice Arena. But $1.5 million is still less than 10

See ICE | Page 2

University connects through Facebook By Allison Borgelt Reporter

In addition to becoming “friends” with people from around the world, adding personal videos and photos to their pages and even throwing livestock at people, Facebook users can now access University news from campus blogs, Campus Update and The BG News through a new Facebook application: The BGSU RSS Reader. Designed by Anthony Fontana, the learning technologies consultant for the Office of the CIO, and written by Chris Wammes, the Web applications developer for Information Technology Services, the Facebook application was created to improve communication on campus by making campus news available where the University com-

munity spends time online, Fontana said. “If someone is a Facebook user, this application allows [him or her] to stay within Facebook and see all of the top headlines from BGSU blogs, The BG News, and Campus Update,” he said. “It's the one-stop-shop for any sort of news and blog-related news coming … [from] any of the centers or departments that are blogging on campus.” The application consists of a box of links to Campus Update, the University Strategic Plan, and other University RSS feeds. The links are under the following headings: BG News, Business, Education, Sports, and Technology. Application users can place checkmarks next to the feed links they want posted on their pages. See FACEBOOK Page 2

LIN CHAFEZ | THE BG NEWS

CYCLING: Two Bowling Green residents enjoy the sun on a downtown bike ride.

Cyclists rewarded for ‘green’ effort By Lin Chafetz Reporter

THE HUNT: The treasured Borgelt heirloom, pictured above, is a Civil War newspaper printed on wallpaper. In the end, the paper was found to be a facsimile, a fake.

Raymund King Senior, Interpersonal Communication

ESTABLISHED 1920 A daily independent student press serving the campus and surrounding community

After the streets of Bowling Green emptied due to the end of finals and the departure of students, National Bike month gave them a reason to fill up again — with bikes. Friday, May 15 was Bowling Green’s bike-or-walk-to-work day, which is part of National Bike month. The League of American Bicyclists started biketo-work day in 1956 on the third Friday of May, according to their Web site. They wanted to create a new healthy and safe alternative to driving for commuters. Part of bike-to-work day in Bowling Green involved Grounds for Thought cafe giving free coffee and doughnuts to people who commuted to work on Friday via bike or foot. Nick Wray, a worker at Grounds for Thought, said there were var-

ious people in the cafe throughout the day for the promotion. But he said he thinks most of them already bike or walk, and did not ditch the car just for the free coffee and donuts. “The people in here [for the promotion] were people that probably walk or bike to work every day,” Wray said. Grounds for Thought has been doing this promotion for many years, Wray said. “I think it’s a good idea for the obvious reasons, just being healthier and being better for the environment,” he said. According to Thomas Vanden Eynden, a Bicycle Safety Commission member, biking to work 50 percent of the time can burn up to 60,000 more calories and save $1,200 in automobile transportation expenses every year. “I think it’s just in general a smart thing to do,” Wray said.

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