February 20, 2018

Bowling Green native creates t-shirt business

Hilltoppers playing their best basketball

FEATURES • PAGE C1

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2018

SPORTS • PAGE B1

WESTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY

VOLUME 93, ISSUE 31

SIDE OF

FEES Contract with Aramark will increase student dining fee

BY EMILY DELETTER HERALD.NEWS@WKU.EDU

W

KU students in Bowling Green will see their food fee increase to $150 per semester next fall, and future increases will bring the fee to $350 a semester within the next decade.

Students choosing to opt out of WKU’s meal plan will see their $75 semester fee increase incrementally until the fall 2026 semester.

These per semester fees will rise to $150 fall of 2018. Beginning fall 2019, the cost will be $300 per semester until the fall of 2022, where it will rise to $325, staying at that cost until the fall of 2026, where the final raise in fees will cost students $350 a semester.

The meal plan decline balance fees, referred to as mandatory meal plan dollars or more commonly known as flex dollars, began after former-President Gary Ransdell signed a 20-year contract with food company Aramark. The fees were put in place to help fund major renovations to Garrett Conference Center.

WKU’s contract with Aramark, which was approved in June 2017, includes several renovations to already existing campus eateries and totals approximately $51 million.

WKU signaled its intent to enter into this contract with Aramark in March 2017. Under the contract, all full-time students not already on a meal plan are currently required to pay $75 per semester, which may be deducted from the cost if they choose to purchase a meal plan later.

The fee applies only to “face-to-face” students who take 12 hours or more at Bowling Green’s main campus. It applies to anyone on the Bowling Green campus who chooses to not buy a meal plan.

Under the university’s contract with Aramark, all first-year students under the age of 21, and living on campus, are required to purchase a meal plan. The lowest priced plan is $1,724 and includes $150 worth

of meal plan dollars.

Board of Regents Chair Phillip Bale said approving the contract was “not something the Board of Regents had any participation in.”

“It was a presidential decision,” Bale said.

Staff regent Tamela Smith reiterated this point, adding that although plenty of contracts don’t come before the Board of Regents, the Board may want to reconsider that policy.

“I do think the Board wants to have the opportunity to see certain contracts especially those that involve student fees,” Smith said.

Bale also said this policy in the bylaws “may be something we visit.”

When asked if he had concerns about the impact rising fees could have on students, Bale spoke for himself and other members of the Board.

“I think everyone does, yes,” Bale said.

“Absolutely.”

Vice President for Student Affairs Brian Kuster said while renovations to Garrett are badly needed, there is no current plan for what exactly will happen to the building in the near future. Part of that has to do with the “moving parts” in both the university and state budget, Kuster said.

“We have been working on a new design for a new building, but we haven’t decided if we’ll renovate Garrett or build a new building,” Kuster said. “We’re still gathering that information.”

He said he projected a decision would not be made for the next six months.

PHOTO BY BROOK JOYNER & NIC HUEY • HERALD

One option was to move Garrett to where the Industrial Complex Building currently sits, building a new building and adding space for academic areas.

“We’ve had discussions with Ogden College about that, but no discussion has been made,” Kuster said.

“It seems to be a constantly moving thing.”

If Garrett made the move to the current Industrial Complex Building, Kuster said a parking deck would also be involved.

SEE ARAMARK • PAGE A2

As enrollment changes, budgets don’t always follow

BY MONICA KAST HERALD.NEWS@WKU.EDU

This story is the second in a series about enrollment and budgets for the different colleges at WKU. To read part one from last week, visit our website.

In the last 10 years at WKU, enrollments have shifted between colleges, with more students pursuing degrees in the College of Health and Human Services. Other colleges, like the College of Education and Behavioral Sciences and Potter College of Arts and Letters, have seen their enrollments decrease since 2007.

Along with changes in enrollment, some colleges at WKU have seen changes in their budgets. Other colleges, despite changing enrollments, have seen little changes to their budgets.

The College of Health and Human

Services, which had the largest increase in enrollment, also had one of the largest increases in their budget.

According to the 20072008 Budget, CHHS had a budget of over $9.5 million set for that academic year.

Ten years later, with a nearly 32 percent increase in enrollment, CHHS has seen a budget increase of nearly Sam 80 percent to $17.2 Evans million.

The College of Edu- Dean of cation and Behavioral College of Sciences, the college Education & with the largest de- Behavioral crease in enrollment, Sciences is also the only college whose budget has decreased overall since the 2007-2008 academic year.

In that academic year, CEBS had a budget of $11.4 million. For the 20172018 academic year, CEBS had a bud-

get of nearly $9.6 million, according to the 2017-2018 budget. Enrollment in CEBS has decreased by more than 34 percent since 2007.

Sam Evans, dean of CEBS, said operating budgets for colleges have been relatively unchanged.

“Budgets have stayed pretty much the same, with the exception of staffing,” Evans said. “In other words, you’ve got two major components of your budget. You’ve got the operating, and you’ve got the personnel. Operating has been very stable.”

Evans said there has been a “decline in the number of positions in the college,” leading to a decline in the budget for staff. He said the “overall budget has reflected that.”

President Timothy Caboni, in a meeting with Herald editors in January, said “there are no easy choices left” when it comes to budget reductions for WKU. He said the university needs a more modern budget model.

“There is one large unit that shall

remain nameless that’s lost a third of its enrollment, and another large unit that’s doubled its enrollment during the past five to seven years,” Caboni said. “Both of those units’ budgets have stayed exactly the same. That’s not sustainable long-term. So, a new budget model will allow us to move resources to where we’re having success or reward for better performance.”

Caboni said the new budget model, being created by the budget council, will allow for more clarity about “how funds flow around the university.”

University College, a college which also has experienced a decrease in enrollment since 2007, experienced a large increase in budget.

Merrall Price, associate dean of University College, said the large change in budget comes from “administrative reorganization and personnel changes” within University College.

Price said “there’s been so much SEE BUDGETS • PAGE A2

A2 NEWS

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2018 WESTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY

Annual chocolate fest raises money for Hospice

BY SARAH YAACOUB & NATASHA BREU HERALD.FEATURES@WKU.EDU

Picture a large room filled with chocolate in all colors, shapes and sizes.

There’s fudge, cake pops and cookie dough available in nearly unlimited amounts, like something out of a childhood dream. That dream was a reality for attendees of the Hospice Chocolate Festival on Sunday at the Sloan Convention Center.

Now in its 31st year, the festival raises money through ticket sales and a silent auction for Hospice of Southern Kentucky, which provides end-of-life care to people of all ages. It’s a hotspot for local businesses and national chains alike, with familiar names like Chaney’s Dairy Barn and Chick-fil-A handing out free samples of sweet menu items and lesser-known vendors from around the region.

McKinsey Mudd, volunteer coordinator for Hospice, said the chocolate festival is an important fundraiser for Hospice of Southern Kentucky. She said it brings in money every year to benefit patients in their facility by making them comfortable.

“It has been extremely successful, and all the money raised goes to providing care to our patients who are unable to pay,” Mudd said. “We never turn anyone away because of their inability to pay.”

Michelle Wheeler, an attendee of the festival, said she’s been going to the festival for the last four years due to her personal connection with Hospice.

“My mom was in Hospice,” Wheeler said. “They were great to her.”

Kellie Hammer, marketing director for Hospice of Southern Kentucky,

BUDGETS CONTINUED FROM FRONT

administrative changes in University College” that comparing the 20072008 budget to the 2017-2018 budget would be like comparing two different things. Price noted that areas that used to fall under University College, like regional campuses, gender and women’s studies and some liberal arts and sciences departments, have since moved to different colleges, which might account for some of the budget changes.

Price also said that in 2007, there was a much smaller faculty for University College, which could also account for the changes.

As for the potential for future cuts, Price said “any cut is cause for concern,” but University College was “trying to be forward thinking” and prepare students to be workforce ready.

“I think performance-based funding is going to treat us quite well,” Price said of University College.

ARAMARK CONTINUED FROM FRONT

The University Senate passed a resolution last year “strongly against the contract,” University Senate chair Eric Kondratieff said at last week’s senate meeting, noting that the information that the Senate and the Board of Regents was given at the time was not complete.

Claus Ernst, faculty regent, at last week’s meeting, said there could be a problem renegotiating the contract if the board chooses because it is already signed. The Senate Executive Committee recommended that the budget finance committee look at the contract “sometime in the future.”

said about 40 booths set up camp at this year’s festival, and attendance fell somewhere between 1,200 and 1,600 people, although the exact number couldn’t be pinpointed until all at-thedoor sales had been counted up.

Among the booths offering samples was Raw, one of Bowling Green’s newest businesses. Raw is a student-operated shop specializing in edible, raw cookie dough located downtown.

Representing the store was co-owner Chloe Hohlbein of Paducah, a senior majoring in public relations. Hohlbein said the event had been good for business overall, citing the attendees who, after trying the dough portioned out on small plastic spoons, seemed inclined to stop by the shop and make purchases, and the publicity the cookie dough store got from the chocolate festival.

“A lot of people that didn’t know about us got to learn [about our business]...we got a lot of people who may not have come in to try us out hopefully got people to continue coming in,” Hohlbein said. “It was definitely a positive experience.”

This sentiment seemed a common one among vendors who found the festival an invaluable opportunity to get the word out about their products and services.

All net proceeds from that business benefit the Kentucky United Methodist Homes for Children and Youth, a nonprofit organization that seeks to provide residential care to young people suffering neglect, abuse and abandonment.

Aside from vendors and chocolate samples, activities and offerings included live music throughout the festival by local bands and performing youth, as well as the annual Oreo-eating contest, which Hammer said fea-

HANNAH VANOVER • HERALD

Lee and Rhonda Thomason sample one of the many chocolate treats available at the 2018 Hospice Chocolate Festival on Sunday, Feb. 18. Rhonda encouraged her husband to try the “amazing” bananas and chocolate sauce.

tured “local celebrities.”

This year’s roster featured WKU’s Big Red, Roscoe of Hot Rods and professional wrestler Seth “The Maple Leaf Monster” LeDuc, as well as two-time winner and reigning champ Travis Norton, among others. Norton emerged victorious, downing a stunning 26 cookies within the two-minute time limit and earning his third consecutive win.

Anna and Elsa from “Frozen” joined Big Red and Roscoe in greeting the children in attendance, and the younger population also enjoyed such perks as a free candy bag and a face-painting booth. The festival was billed as a family-friendly event, a claim evident by the guests’ ages, which ranged from

Potter College of Arts and Letters has seen a slight increase in funding, with a $19.1 million budget set for 2007-2008 and a $20.6 million budget set for 2017-2018.

Gordon Ford College of Business has also seen it’s budget increase, from $8.7 million in 20072008 to slightly over $10 million for 2017Merrall 2018.

Ogden College of Price Science and Engineering has seen an in- Associate crease of slightly more dean of than 31 percent, from a University $16.2 million budget in College 2007-2008 to a $21.3 million budget for 2017-2018.

David Lee, provost and vice president for academic affairs, said there may be more value looking at a “fourto-five-year snapshot” when it comes to budgets.

“It is fair to say that our budgeting

process over time has been pretty incremental, and we made percentage point changes in what’s already there,” Lee said.

Lee said the academic affairs office has more control over the staffing piece of the budget as opposed to the operating budget.

He said in recent years, less money has gone David back to colleges and Lee more money has been retained by the acaProvost and demic affairs office for vice president the “budget reduction for academic processes.” affairs Lee noted that some colleges, like CEBS, had seen “some decline in resources,” while other colleges had seen small growths in their budgets.

“Fundamentally, there hasn’t been dramatic change in the budgets for the various colleges,” Lee said.

With the potential for statewide

SGA Vice President Savannah Molyneaux said the fees associated with the contract with Aramark have been noted

by SGA President Andi Dahmer. She said the SGA executive board plans to bring it up during their next meeting with President Timothy Caboni.

“We do not want to see these fee increases for students,” Molyneaux said at the senate meeting. “We are not in favor of it, but we’re not sure whether it would be worth it for [Caboni] to try to go back on the signature and the implications that could have for any future contracts the president signs.”

The Herald reached out to Dahmer for comment, but she did not respond before print publication.

Although meal plan decline balance fees are new to WKU, other public uni-

versities in Kentucky have similar fees for students not on their meal plans.

Morehead State University requires freshmen and sophomores to have meal plans, and juniors and seniors not on their plan pay a $100 per-semester fee.

Eastern Kentucky University requires freshmen, sophomores and juniors on campus to have a meal plan, and students opting out pay for a $30 flex plan, similar to WKU. Northern Kentucky University and the University of Kentucky require all resident students to have some sort of meal plan.

WKU receives 8 percent commission from sales Aramark makes on campus. Kuster said WKU made around $780,000 last year from food sales.

infant to senior citizen.

Hammer estimated that the festival raised about $30,000 for Hospice of Southern Kentucky, which she said would be put toward the organization’s mission of providing a pain-free and dignified home environment in the final days of terminal illness, regardless of an individual’s ability to pay.

Features reporter Sarah Yaacoub can be reached at 270-745-6291 and sarah.yaacoub214@topper.wku.edu. Follow her on Twitter at @SarahYaacoub1.

News reporter Natasha Breu can be reached at 808-343-7632 and natasha. breu597@topper.wku.edu. budget cuts of 6.25 percent, or a loss of $4.6 million for WKU, Lee said colleges would likely have to face budget cuts.

“I think the colleges are going to experience some additional cuts,” Lee said.

Lee said he couldn’t say if there would be specific changes colleges would have to make if cuts happened, but he said they were “focused now on this new budget model, which will drive resources in a very different way.”

“I think there’s going to be a closer linkage between … student credit hour production and resources going to colleges,” Lee said. “The new budget model is going to be a dramatically different way of funding, not only colleges, but pretty much everything else we do, including [the Academic Affairs office].”

Print managing editor Monica Kast can be reached at 270-745-6011 or monica.kast187@topper.wku.edu.

Follow her on Twitter at @monica_kast.

Kuster said benefits give students using their meal plan or $75 flex dollars on campus an 11 percent discount, or one dollar off of a meal from Fresh Foods.

“I understand it’s a struggle paying for some students,” Kuster said. “But this is thinking in terms of the university’s future.”

Students felt differently towards the expected fee increase.

“Stop using my money to build things that we didn’t ask for, or at least tell us when you’re doing with it,” Nashville junior Ashley Brown said.

News reporter Emily DeLetter can be reached at 270-745-6011 and emily. deletter304@topper.wku.edu. Follow her on Twitter at @EmilyDeLetter.

GMAT REVIEW COURSE The Gordon Ford College of Business is AACSB accredited making your degree worth more.

DATES: TIME: PLACE: COST:

Starting on Tuesday, March 20th (5 meetings) 5:00 P.M. Grise Hall 530 On-Campus Only $400!

Opportunities to earn GMAT and Book Scholarships!

Contact for more details or visit wku.edu/mba

WKU MBA: Choose Online, One-Year On Campus, or Professional

MBA

PAY BY MARCH 13TH & GET $25 OFF

AT WESTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY

For more information email mba@wku.edu or call 270.745.5458

NEWS A3

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2018 WESTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY

Two school shootings start debate about firearms

BY LORA SPARKS HERALD.NEWS@WKU.EDU

Two high school shootings in the past month have left the country once again debating the nation’s gun laws.

Two 15-year-olds were killed and 18 people were injured at Marshall County High School in Benton on Jan. 23 when a fellow student opened fire inside the building, according to Kentucky State Police. A little over three weeks later on Feb. 14 in Parkland, Florida, a former student entered Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School with an AR-15 rifle, killing 17 people and leaving 16 injured, according to the Sun Sentinel.

Breanna Carter, 21, a resident of Bowling Green and a WKU student, said she is familiar with gun violence.

“My dad was shot and killed on accident,” she said. “For me, I know guns can bring death close to home. He’s gone because of another person’s actions. He won’t be able to walk me down the aisle.”

Greg Ellis, 71, a resident of Oakland, said he sees the value of owning a gun and supports Americans’ ability to own a gun.

“We have a right to defend ourselves

and own guns,” Ellis said. “I have about a dozen. It’s a part of our culture; my father was a hunter, and I was raised with it. When you’re living in a rural area, it’s someone’s livelihood.” ion huntThere are 13.7 million ers over the n age of 16 in the United States, according to the U.S. Fish e and Wildlife Service. r, Laura Miller, 21, a resident of Bowling Green and KU, said she thinks exa student at WKU, tra precautions should be used when o people who suffer selling guns to ess. from mental illness. ek someone close to “This past week ves,” she said, “I really me shot themselves,” ld be a mental health think there should check on anyone in the household of a gun owner … mental health isn’t e. There need to be something you see. over that.” evaluations to uncover aw, a person can be Under federal law, -background check flagged in a gun-background se of a firearm and denied purchase firearm due to mental illness but only if they are involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital or if a court or government

body declares them mentally incompetent, according to CNN. Maddie Pierce, 21, also a resident of Bowling Green and a student,, said she es about worries N BY USTRATIO PHOTO ILL RALD YNER • HE BROOK JO

children having access to guns.

“It’s so sad because it shows the gun problem we have in America—it’s getting in the hands of kids—it’s not stereotypical shootings anymore,” Pierce said.

According to the American Academy of Pediatric Pediatrics, 11.69 million h children age 18 and younger live in households with loaded, available, improperly stored firearms.

Rex Reid, 66, a resident of Alvaton

and a retired police officer, said obtaining a gun is not very difficult.

“There’s a false narrative that you can just buy a gun without backgro background checks—it’s not as o open and easy—but it’s not hard,” he said. “If you and an I went to a gun shop, it would probably take about ab an hour.”

David Stites, 29, a resident of Bow Bowling Green and a cashier aat Mellow Matt’s, said he believes be that ownership o of guns correlates with an inevitable outcome come. “ “Guns make it ve easy to do very a very perman nent thing,” he said. “It’s a mat matter of time befo someone before you kn know gets hurt and you’re p personally affected—it happen happened so close to u us iin Kentucky.”

News reporter Lora Sparks can be reached at 270-745-6011 and lora. sparks392@topper.wku.edu.

WKU researches potential sleep treatment for autism

BY OLIVIA EILER

HERALD.NEWS@WKU.EDU

WKU’s Suzanne Vitale Clinical Education Complex is conducting research on a potential sleep treatment for individuals on the autism spectrum.

Individuals on the autism spectrum between 6 and 27 years of age are eligible to participate in the study.

Participants will receive the Sound Pillow Sleep System, which plays 18 one-hour tracks of nature sounds, evolutionary music and noise files, according to the study’s webpage. Participants will rotate between sleeping with

the pillow for two weeks and sleeping without the pillow for two weeks for a total of eight weeks. Each morning, participants will fill out a sleep quality questionnaire.

Mary Lloyd Moore, executive director of the Clinical Education Complex, said sleep difficulties are a common concern for individuals on the autism spectrum.

“Lots of our younger children take melatonin,” Moore said. “Parents talk about the difficulties with sleeping.

Some of our older participants say they just cannot get to sleep.”

Moore said the study began over a year ago after the developer of the pil-

WKUHERALD.COM CONNECT WITH US ONLINE @WKUHERALD

low, Scott Armbruster, visited campus.

She said Armbruster saw the potential to expand the medical use of the Sound Pillow Sleep System.

“He has used it before with individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder,” Moore said. “But his thinking is that this might really help with autism.

He’s done a study before, and individuals on the spectrum and their families who have used this pillow before have anecdotally reported that it was helpful for them.”

Moore said she looks forward to completing the study and getting the results.

“We’re looking for solutions and

supports for individuals and families with autism spectrum,” Moore said.

“And so, to be able to engage in a research project with [Armbruster] is great. We’ve got so many research opportunities here at the CEC and to be able to actively engage in research is great.”

After the study concludes, the research team plans to submit their findings for publication.

News reporter Olivia Eiler can be reached at 270-745-6011 and olivia.eiler789@topper.wku.edu. Follow Olivia on Twitter at @oliviaeiler16.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2018 WESTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY

A4

OPINION RESTAURANT REVIEW

Raw: The uncut, uncooked cookie dough experience

EDITORIAL

FEE FRENZY Student financial burdens expand along with facilities

BY CHRIS DIMEO HERALD.OPINION@WKU.EDU

All those years of being told not to eat your raw cookie dough are over!

At the newly opened Raw, located at 432 E. Main Ave. on Fountain Square, customers can find a unique experience eating uncooked—but safe— cookie dough out of a cup.

Owned and operated by WKU students, the shop offers eight flavors, like peanut butter, Oreo and chocolate chunk, which you can choose to pair with chocolate or vanilla ice cream.

Reasonably, some people have voiced concern over the idea of eating raw cookie dough, as it has become common knowledge that the raw eggs and flour may carry bacteria like e. coli and salmonella. However, as Raw owner Bailey Dahlquist and collaborator Chloe Hohlbein told the Herald earlier this month, they consulted the Barren River Health Department on multiple occasions to make sure that their eggless recipe is safe for consumption.

The critical question, then, is whether they had to sacrifice taste for their raw-friendly recipes. After trying both the chocolate chip and cake batter flavors, I feel confident in saying that if they did, it was minimal. Both flavors tasted just like actual dough, although I would say the cake batter tasted almost spot-on like a sugar cookie instead of its namesake.

If anything, I felt as though the removal of raw eggs from the mixture affected the texture the most. The cake batter had a thin, slightly gritty texture of actual sugar cookie dough, bringing up all the classic memories of making Christmas cookies with the family.

The chocolate chip, on the other hand, largely evoked my childhood dream of eating Play-Doh that tastes delicious and doesn’t make you sick.

In terms of price, though, there is nothing to complain about at Raw. A small cup, which comes loaded with about one cup of dough, costs just $3, while a slightly larger cup costs $5. It may not seem like a lot for the price, but when you consider how many cookies you can make with one cup of dough, probably a half dozen at least, it’s actually quite the bargain.

This is also a great size for treating a family or group of friends, letting everyone choose their favorite flavor without having to buy a ridiculous amount of food or breaking the bank.

However, the doughy goodness isn’t just for friends and families.

For those with romance still on their minds after Valentine’s Day, a visit to Raw would make for an excellent date night. Spring is on its way, which means the shop’s location on the Square is perfect for grabbing a little treat with your sweetheart while listening to the sounds of the downtown nightlife.

As delightful and innovative as one would imagine it to be, Raw serves up a unique and delicious experience that everyone needs to try at least once in their life, no oven required!

WKUHERALD.COM CONNECT WITH US ONLINE @WKUHERALD

ILLUSTRATION BY EMILY VOGLER • HERALD

BY HERALD EDITORIAL BOARD HERALD.OPINION@WKU.EDU

The Issue: In a University Senate meeting last Thursday, Feb. 15, members discussed a cost increase to the $75 mandatory meal plan balance fee for students. Claus Ernst, faculty regent ,said that per-semester fees could rise to $150 for the fall 2018 semester, and $300 by the following fall.

Our Stance: The current $75 meal plan fee, commonly known as “flex dollars,” is a direct result of a 20-year contract with food service company Aramark former university president Gary Ransdell signed.

The intention of the fee was to help aid in funding renovations to Garrett Conference Center. The university is in the midst of a $40 million dollar buget deficit and students should not have to bear the costs of upgrades while the university is “reducing [its]workforce” and program budgets are being torn apart.

SYNTHESIS

MTurk program reveals the legal grey areas of capitalism

BY DAVID HORMELL HERALD.OPINION@WKU.EDU

AUTOMATION NATION Amazon’s Mechanical Turk program is curiously named after an automated machine capable of playing chess. Or at least, that’s what Benjamin Franklin thought. It wasn’t an artificial intelligence at all, just illusory sleight of hand.

The mechanical chess player appeared to respond to opponents, but was secretly controlled by an anonymous chess player, out of view.

Now, 235 years later, Amazon championed this spirit of anonymity and created the Mechanical Turk service, or MTurk for short. MTurk is a self-described “marketplace for work that requires human intelligence.”

According to Amazon, human intelligence means “thousands of high quality, global, on-demand workers.” The MTurk program may seem innovative or even profitable on the surface. It isn’t.

It’s a legal and moral grey area revealing the colder side of capitalism.

WORK’S WORTH The crowd-sourced nature of MTurk maintains a sweeping scope, which translates to low wages. Some academics and Silicon Valley nerds use the platform as quick means to collect data. Gone are

CONTACT US

Former university President Gary Ransdell left a legacy of heavy campus expansion and an emphasis on international reach. But that’s not all he left behind. In his final semester as president, Ransdell signed a contract with Aramark food service to be the university’s primary provider of dining and catering services for the next 20 years.

One of the provisions provided in the contract was a plan to generate enough revenue to conduct renovations worth $35 million on Garrett Conference Center, a building which hasn’t undergone any major updates since it was first built in 1951.

The question each person who hears of costly renovations to a university during a time where higher education has become a huge target for budget reductions under Gov. Matt Bevin’s administration is this: who’s going to pay for this?

In this situation, the cost-bearers are “face-to-face” students who take 12 or more hours at Bowling Green’s main campus who don’t pay for a meal plan.

The original $75 mandatory fee isn’t much in the grand scheme of things when you consider the total cost of what

we’ll pay in the long run for a college degree. However, along the same lines of a previous editorial published in the College Heights Herald warning against raising student athletic fees for scoreboard renovations, an issue of ethics arises when the administration sees its students as financial scapegoats for its often far too lofty expansion goals.

What’s even more alarming is that the University Senate passed a resolution last year “strongly against the [Aramark] contract” while the information received by the Senate and the Board of Regents was not complete during the time the Aramark letter of intent was originally signed.

While it is currently legal for the university president to make decisions concerning contracts with multi-million dollar corporations, the Herald agrees with the Board of Regents in that this by-law should be changed so that one figure does not hold this great amount of power.

In addition to the ethical implications of this contract, a student who does not purchase meal plans most likely means he or she is eating on campus less to avoid shelling out thousands of dollars for one of the university’s preferred meal plans. Essentially, these students are paying for not having a meal plan, implying that the university doesn’t make enough money off of us as it is.

While the contract has already proven to be unpopular in the University Senate, the consequences of current university President Timothy Caboni going back on the contract signature and the implications it would hold for any future contracts is pure speculation at this point.

This editorial is not against necessary improvements and renovations to WKU. We at the Herald understand the importance of competing against other universities in the state to attract students who will be successful and that includes improving facilities in a fiscally responsible manner.

The primary issue is that students, who are often already going into debt to be able to go to college, are being burdened with even more fees to fund improvements some of them won’t even get to experience, all while their program budgets are getting cut and the university continues to reduce its workforce.

recruitment costs associated with promotional campaigns designed to attract participants. The participants are here.

The MTurk user interface looks like a plain forum, filled with generalized descriptions of tasks (i.e. take survey, translate document, categorize items, etc.) posted by a requester (the person posting the task) and the reward for completing the task. The instant reward is linked through Amazon Pay and typically hovers anywhere from a penny to a couple of dollars.

At the time of writing, there are 867 jobs posted. One job suggests 2 hours, but only offers a penny in return. One job named “Object Bounding Boxes” requires the worker to draw a box around an indicated object in 50 different pictures. It’s 2018, but artificial intelligence and search engines still struggle to understand what pots and pans or trees and general shrubbery look like.

The suggested time for this task was one hour. The reward was $0.08.

NON CENTS I surveyed friends and family. Most were baffled by the prospect. A common question followed: why would anyone agree to sign up to work for such a platform? The answer is complex, due to the hypothetical nature of wage speculation.

Some workers hold multiple jobs and use MTurk on the side to make spare change. Some workers may be geographically limited in some way. Whatever the

case, the implications presented are insidious and far-reaching.

In “How Crowdworkers Became the Ghosts in the Digital Machine”, Moshe Z. Marvit said a worker’s experience with MTurk is an addiction. After stumbling on the program, she completed a few tasks and saw the instantaneous transfer.

It was a few pennies, but it was something.

Marvit writes, “Computers are very good at certain sorts of tasks … however, they are less able to perform others, such as detecting a positive or negative bias in an article, recognizing irony, accurately reading the text off a photograph.”

The good news here is that computers and AI won’t take over the world (yet). But Amazon’s cleanly consolidated micro-labor experiment calls upon wordsmiths, copy editors and graphic designers. Jobs are being completed for pennies, and that’s a terrifying prospect for college graduates.

The anonymous nature of both employers and employees makes the lofty thought of unionizing nearly impossible.

MTurk is a sweeping example of unseen worker exploitation. It’s a conduit of cheap labor.

I don’t think things will change unless Amazon levels the playing field. But as CEO Jeff Bezos’ net worth swells to over 121 billion, I have trouble believing that the MTurk experiment will even be on his radar. It’s an unseen problem, one Amazon automatically assumes distance from.

DISCLOSURES

OUR TEAM

Advertising: 270.745.2653 Editor: 270.745.5044 Opinion: 270.745.4874 Newsroom: 270.745.6011

REPORT AN ERROR herald.editor@wku.edu 270.745.5044

Andrew Henderson* Editor-in-chief

Taylor Huff* Opinion Editor

Monica Kast* Print Managing Editor

Jeremy Chisenhall* Sports Editor

herald.advertising@wku.edu herald.news@wku.edu herald.opinion@wku.edu

Opinions expressed in this newspaper DO NOT reflect those of Western Kentucky University’s employees or of its administration.

Evan Heichelbech* Brook Joyner* Digital Managing Editor Multimedia Editor

1906 College Heights Blvd #11084 Bowling Green, KY, 42101-1084 www.wkuherald.com

*Denotes editorial board members. The Herald publishes on Tuesdays during the school year.

The first copy is free, and additional copies are $1 each, available in the Student Publications Center on Normal Street.

Andy Lee Ad Manager Micayla Kelly Ad Creative Director

Mason Davis* Engagement Editor

Nic Huey* Will Hoagland Assist. Multimedia Editor Advertising adviser

Emma Collins* News Editor

Craig Ostertag* Design Editor

Carrie Pratt Herald adviser

Olivia Mohr* Features Editor

Spencer Harsh* Copy Desk Chief

Chuck Clark Director of Student Publications

FUN A5

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2017 WESTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY

FUN PAGE Across

CLASSIFIEDS Classified Advertising Manager: Will Hoagland

herald.advertising@wku.edu

FOR SALE The Great Escape Records & Comics.

BUY - SELL - TRADE: Games, Records, Comics! Also, Dvds, Toys, CDs, CCGs, RPGs, more. 2945 Scottsville Rd (near Greenwood Mall) (270)782-8092. Open 7 days since 1987.

South Park ©2018 PuzzleJunction.com

1. What is Cartman's first name? (a) Craig (b) Eric (c) Allan 2. What two characters play the drums? (a) Stan & Kyle (b) Cartman & Butters (c) Kenny & Butters 3. Who is the school mascot? (a) Cow (b) Donkey (c) Rooster 4. What member of the school staff speaks Spanish? (a) Mr Garrison (b) Principal Victoria (c) Mr Mackey 5. What literary work does Cartman plagiarize? (a) Leaves of Grass (b) Walden (c) Red Badge of Courage 6. What is the name of Stan's sister? (a) Shelly (b) Sandy (c) Sally 7. What is Chef's full name? (a) Jeremy McCray (b) Jason McCoy (c) Jerome McElroy 8. What is the name of Stan's dog? (a) Sparky (b) Rocky (c) Bruno 9. What character was taken by aliens? (a) Shelly (b) Ike (c) Butters 10. What cartoon is the gang's favorite? (a) Tom & Jerry (b) Itchy & Scratchy (c) Terrance & Phillip

Solution 1.b 2.c 3.a 4.c 5.b

4 6 8 7 1 9

6.a 7.c 8.a 9.b 10.c

5 5

8 9 3 6

6 2

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

15 16 14 1 Taro root 5 Absorbs, with 19 17 18 “up” 21 22 20 9 Iraqi city 14 Discomfit 23 24 25 15 Samoan cash 16 Ordinary 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 17 Chick warmer 37 38 36 19 Durable fabric 20 Rubicon crosser 40 41 39 21 Floppy 23 Drops on blades 44 42 43 25 Mark of 46 47 45 perfection 26 Angler’s basket 48 49 50 30 Black ink item 33 Educ. group 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 36 Robust 62 63 61 37 Ranch, maybe 39 Pocketbook 65 66 64 40 Support person 41 Shamu, for one 68 69 67 42 Fabricated Copyright ©2018 PuzzleJunction.com 44 Sag Down 45 Juicer 18 How Junior 44 Introduction 46 High point behaved 48 Weighed down 1 “Beowulf,” for one 47 Surrealist Max 22 Have the helm 50 Bay window 2 Comedian Carvey 48 Court do-over 24 Maori “woman” 51 God in Vedic 3 Backgammon 49 Weep 26 ___ salad mythology equipment 51 Computer list 27 Sine or cosine 52 With, in Paris 4 Cross to bear 56 Mess up 28 Expel 53 2004 Queen 5 It may be fixed 61 Circumvent 29 Modify Latifah movie 6 Cheerios grain 62 Looking to get 31 Bubbly drinks 54 Hotel convenience 7 Trudge ahead 32 Refines, as ore 55 Give off, as light 8 Rani’s wear 64 Teaser 33 Evita, for one 57 Isinglass 9 Pails 65 Send packing 34 Fiesta fare 58 Decant 10 Pallid 66 Juncture 35 Show flexibility 59 Craving 67 Breezing through 11 Legal action 38 Unit of pressure 60 Catch sight of 12 Diatribe 68 List abbr.

40 Blood carrier 63 Victoria’s Secret 13 Lily family member 43 Shipping hazard 69 Bohemian item

PREVIOUS SOLUTION

5

9 7

1

5 7

9 8 4 8 1

Copyright ©2018 PuzzleJunction.com

7

6 3 9 5 3 4 2 9 8 1 6 4 4 2 9 7 1 4 7 3 7 5 4 1 5 Copyright ©2018 PuzzleJunction.com

Looking for sales experience?

Want to gain relevant skills for the workplace?

Join the wku herald adve rtis ing team ! apply online at wkuhe rald.c om or email william .hoagla nd@wk u.edu

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2018 WESTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY

A6

PHOTO

WITTNEY HARDIN • HERALD

Griffen Beckner looks out onto the crowd taking in the scene after dancing with his date, Rebecca Perfetto. Beckner danced with Perfetto for the whole night.

ALL OF US TOGETHER Hillvue Heights Church hosts Jesus Prom

BY WITTNEY HARDIN HERALD.PHOTO@WKU.EDU

Hillvue Heights Church. The night started with a walk on the red carpet. Volunteers were on hand to do hair, makeup and “For just a moment we get to nails for anyone who wanted see what heaven looks like, let it. Unlike typical high school me tell you what heaven looks proms, everyone was crowned a like,” said Steve Ayers, lead pas- king or queen.

“Lord, may we continue to tor at Hillvue Heights Church.

“It’s all of us together with God.” dance, and make a wonderful Jesus Prom is an annual event noise, enjoy each other as we that takes place each spring at enjoy you, in the name of Jesus, dance on!” Ayers said.

“This is definitely the best turn out we have ever had,” Ben Brewster, coordinator for Jesus Prom, said.

Some have made Jesus Prom a tradition over the years while others attended for the first time. Lucas Mcmanaway, 22, is no stranger to Jesus prom, having attended for four years.

“Two years ago he was walking, and he went right up to Rebecca Perfetto and kissed her!”

Ginny Meadows, Mcmanaway’s mother, said.

Meadows said that every year since then, they have met up at Jesus Prom. This event is more than just a dance, it’s an opportunity for memories.

“We want everyone in this house to know one thing, Jesus made you, and the way he made you is wonderful, and we want everyone to be connected with Jesus,” Ayers said.

WITTNEY HARDIN • HERALD

Ross Hudson dances to the last song of the night with his date Courtney Morton on Friday. “We’re all just having such a great time,” said Morton.

HANNAH VANOVER • HERALD

HANNAH VANOVER • HERALD

David Jones and his date Jenny Proffitt share an embrace while slow dancing to Soon after prom began, people on the dance floor formed a conga line and danced “Thinking out Loud” by Ed Sheeran at Hillvue Heights Church’s annual Jesus Prom around the room to multiple songs.

Friday. “I had a great time with him,” Proffitt said.

B1

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2018 WESTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY

SPORTS Basketball programs achieve success and parity

BY JEREMY CHISENHALL HERALD.SPORTS@WKU.EDU

SILAS WALKER • HERALD

WKU men's basketball coach Rick Stansbury reacts during WKU's game vs. Florida Atlantic in E.A. Diddle Arena on Thursday Feb. 8, 2018. WKU beat Florida Atlantic 75-63.

AT THEIR BEST

Stansbury pleased with play after tweak

BY TYLER EATON HERALD.SPORTS@WKU.EDU

With just four games left in the regular season, WKU men’s basketball head coach Rick Stansbury feels like his team is coming together at the right time. The Hilltoppers are coming off an 85-66 victory over Rice University, their second largest margin of victory over a Conference USA opponent this season. Just two days prior, the Hilltoppers erased an eight point halftime deficit to defeat University of North Texas 102-94 in overtime.

The two wins improve WKU to 20-7 (12-2 C-USA), placing the Hilltoppers in a tie for second place with Old Dominion University in the conference standings. The two

wins come just two weeks after the Hilltoppers struggled in their initial road trip to Texas, where they had to fight in a win over University of Texas-El Paso before losing to University of Texas San-Antonio by double digits.

“I think the most pleasing thing is we went on the road in both of these games, and I felt we were ready to go,” Stansbury said. “We all remember happened last Thursday and Saturday swing in Texas. There was zero letdown this time. I felt it from Friday night’s practice. We were ready to go Friday night. Saturday morning shootaround, one thing I knew, I didn’t know if we were going to win the game, but we were ready.

“When this team is ready with some focus, with that little tweak we’ve made, I think we’re playing our best basketball right now, and

these kids feel it.”

That tweak Stansbury is referring to is the transition of junior guard Lamonte Bearden to the point guard position. The move came over a week ago after graduate transfer guard Darius Thompson, the team’s leading scorer, didn’t score in double figures for three games straight. The tweak put the University of Virginia transfer in better scoring position.

Stansbury said it was just a matter of getting Bearden under control for the move to be successful. Since the transition, Bearden has turned the ball over just four times while engineering a WKU offense that has scored more than 80 points in each of the past three games.

“It’s really good for Darius, but you see what it’s done for Monte,” senior SEE MBB • PAGE B2

A 20-win season is a goal of every college basketball team in America. No matter the conference or the strength of schedule, a 20-win season generally means something was going right for most of the year. This season, both the men’s and women’s WKU basketball teams reached 20 wins, on the same day. For the Lady Toppers, a successful 20-win season has been business as usual lately.

But for the men’s team, 20 wins is a good sign of big things to come.

WKU women’s basketball has become a regular member of the 20wins club. WKU has won 20 games or more in all six of Michelle ClarkHeard’s seasons as head coach. This is more continuity than anything for a program that’s won the Conference USA Tournament and made the NCAA Tournament two of the last three seasons.

But whether they’re used to it or not, the Lady Toppers acknowledge that 20 wins this year is a big deal.

“It’s pretty special; it’s definitely not a piece of cake,” Clark-Heard said. “There’s a lot of teams that are not in the position that you’re in right now and have a chance to say ‘now we’ve won 20 games, now we’re in first place’ … there’s not a lot of teams that can say that.”

And Clark-Heard has a desire to continue coaching WKU teams that put themselves in good position.

“As we keep adding wins to the column, our program keeps adding those wins,” Clark-Heard said. “And what that means is one day, hopefully, we’ll be ninth all-time winning program in the country, eighth alltime winning, and if I’m not sitting here I know someone else will be, and that’s what it’s all about, leaving the place better than you found it.”

With their 20th win, the Lady Toppers have moved back into first place in the C-USA standings, thanks in part to a loss SEE DOWN TO THE WIRE • PAGE B2

Defensive intensity key to recent Lady Topper success

BY ALEC JESSIE HERALD.SPORTS@WKU.EDU

After a blowout loss at Rice a couple weeks ago, the Lady Toppers needed a different mentality. The answer was simple: defensive intensity.

WKU women's basketball head coach Michelle Clark-Heard wanted to emphasize that defense should be the forefront of her team’s focus, regardless of if they’re lighting up the scoreboard.

“We were focusing on defense and rebounding,” Clark-Heard said after Saturday’s win over Marshall University. “That’s something we have to make sure we continue to do because that’s the type of team we are.”

“I think we went back to the drawing board and just really focused back on defense,” junior guard Dee Givens said. “We let the way we played on offense dictate how we played on defense the past couple games. So we went back and tried to focus on defense.”

The results have been quite telling.

During the Lady Toppers’ back-to-back wins over rival Middle Tennessee State University and Marshall, The Lady Toppers have held their opponents to just 55 points per game and 37 percent shooting from the field. The Lady Toppers also forced 20 turnovers in each game and notched 10+ steals per game. They only gave up nine 3-point makes over the two game span.

Clark-Heard also noticed this positive trend and was very pleased with her players’ effort.

“I think we picked it up,” Clark-Heard said. “We came off of playing really good defense at Middle, and there were moments where I thought we could’ve had a little more pressure, but I was really proud of my defense.”

Part of the Lady Toppers’ strong defensive play was their ability to change how they defended their opponents during the games.

“Sometimes in that zone it’s hard to be aggressive,” Clark-Heard said. “We changed up a little bit and went man-to-

man and tried to do some more things.”

A key part of the Lady Toppers’ recent success of defense has been senior forward Ivy Brown. She has cleaned up the glass for the Lady Toppers, grabbing double-digit rebounds in back-to-back games. She’s also averaged fours steals a game.

Both Clark-Heard and Givens gave their endorsement for Conference USA defensive player of the year to Brown after Saturday’s victory.

“She’s really locked in to doing whatever needs to be done,” Clark-Heard said.

“She’s aggressive. She does it all for us.

I challenge them every game to take a charge, and she is always one of the ones that takes a charge. Her game has evolved and grown so much. She’s a student of the game and wants to be great.”

“She can guard both a guard and a post,” Givens said of Ivy Brown. “I don’t think a lot of post players in the league can guard both a guard and a post. She gets a lot of hands on balls and gets a lot steals.”

Even though the Lady Toppers have found their identity as a team, it only gets

Order now at donatos.com or

with the Donatos app

harder from here. The Lady Toppers finish the year against Charlotte and then play two crucial road games at University of Southern Mississippi and at University of Texas-El Paso.

With UNC Charlotte’s win over University of Alabama-Birmingham on Saturday, the Lady Toppers control their own destiny to a regular season conference title.

Clark-Heard is very happy with how her team got in this position.

“To be sitting in the position we’re in right now with three games left says a lot about who they are and their character,” Clark-Heard said of her players. “I’m blessed to be able to coach players like Ivy and Tashia and the rest of these young ladies.”

Friday, Feb. 23, will be senior night for Ivy and Tashia Brown. The Lady Toppers will take on Charlotte with the game is slated to tip off at 7 p.m.

Sports reporter Alec Jessie can be reached at 502-648-7190 and alec.jessie226@topper.wku.edu. Follow Alec on Twitter at @ Alec_Jessie.

PROMO CODE: 2 4 3

10% OFF WITH WKU ID

WE ACCEPT BIG RED DOLL ARS

WE DELIVER!

BOWLING GREEN 270-715-5111 E AT- I N , P I C K - U P O R D E L I V E R Y

861 Fairview Ave. Bowling Green, KY

Tax and Delivery extra. Not Valid on any other offer or catering.

Mention offer when calling. SHOW AT TIME OF PURCHASE.

B2 SPORTS

MBB CONTINUED FROM PAGE B1 even if they score down there and you get the ball out of bounds, Monte’s gone.”

WKU hosts UNC Charlotte, the current last place team in C-USA, on Thursday night. The Hilltoppers de-

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2018 WESTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY

GRAPHIC BY ALEXUS SMITH • HERALD

feated the 49ers 73-63 earlier this season. WKU will then host ODU on Saturday for the final home game of the season. The Hilltoppers also already defeated the Monarchs by a score of 7568 earlier this season. WKU and ODU are both 12-2 in C-USA play, meaning the winner will likely be in sole possession of second place behind Middle Tennessee State University.

“There are two home games left,” Stansbury said. “I know everybody’s talking about Old Dominion, but we’ve got Charlotte first. We need Diddle Arena packed Thursday night. There’s two more opportunities to watch this basketball team at home. Our crowds have been great, and to come out there Thursday night with a packed crowd hanging out of the rafters, we’ll be

DOWN TO THE WIRE CONTINUED FROM PAGE B1

by Alabama-Birmingham. With a halfgame lead over UAB, WKU once again has a chance to win the regular season conference title outright and go into the conference tournament with the No. 1 seed.

On the men’s side, a 20-win season is a bigger deal, relatively speaking.

While this is the 44th 20-win season for the Hilltoppers in program history, it’s the first since the 2013-2014 season, and it’s only the fourth time they’ve reached that milestone in the last decade.

But it’s nothing new for head coach Rick Stansbury, who has won 20 or more games in 11 of his 16 seasons as a head coach. But this is his first 20-win season with WKU, as the Hilltoppers went 15-17 last year in his first year as head coach of the program.

This season has been a sudden turnaround. And as the Hilltoppers continue to exceed expectations (they were picked to finish sixth in the conference in the C-USA preseason poll), they continue to give themselves a

ready Thursday night. We need that place packed.”

Reporter Sam Porter can be reached at 270-745-6291 and sam.porter270@ gmail.com Follow him on Twitter at @ SammyP14.

real chance at winning the conference.

The Hilltoppers are currently tied for second in the conference with Old Dominion University and they trail Middle Tennessee State University by one and a half games. They play both of those teams in the last four games, so they control their own destiny in a sense of grabbing at least a share of the conference title.

The men’s team has four games remaining, while the women’s team has just three. Following those final games, both teams will head to Frisco, Texas for the C-USA tournaments, where it’s looking more and more likely that they’ll both be highly-seeded teams with a good chance to win their respective tournament.

Sports editor Jeremy Chisenhall can be reached at 859-760-0198 and jeremy.chisenhall921@topper.wku.edu.

Follow him on Twitter at @JSChisenhall.

City of Bowling Green: Now Hiring

SPORTS B3

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2018 WESTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY

Hilltoppers get quality pitching but drop first series

BY MATT STAHL

HERALD.SPORTS@WKU.EDU WKU’s baseball team dropped its first series of the season at University of Memphis, falling to 1-2 despite encouraging performances from several players.

In the first game of the series on Saturday, the Hilltoppers lost 4-0 despite a strong start from senior pitcher Ryan Thurston, who struck out seven batters through five innings.

Thurston allowed just one run, which came in the third inning, but Memphis added some cushion to its lead when the Tigers pushed across three runs in the seventh.

In Sunday’s doubleheader, WKU started out strong with a 3-1 win in the first game.

Junior pitcher Colby Taylor got his first win as a Hilltopper in 5.1 innings pitched, giving up two hits and zero earned runs.

“That’s got to be the formula,” head coach John Pawlowski said in a radio interview.

“We’ve got to be able to pitch and play defense.”

Senior second baseman Tyler Robertson started off the scoring for WKU with a single up the middle that brought home junior outfielder Jacob Rhinesmith. Both teams were held scoreless until the seventh inning, when junior catcher Colin Butkiewicz brought home two runs with a double down the left field line. Memphis scored one run in the bottom of the seventh, but senior pitcher Ben Morrison shut the door for his first save of the season.

Pawlowski said he was encouraged by the win and was happy with how his pitchers played.

“Colby Taylor went out there, with the exception of a few walks I thought he did a really good job,” Pawlowski said. “Our bullpen - you know Michael Martin, Austin Tibbs did a really good job, Ben Morrison, you know those guys, they came in and they executed pitches when they need to in a tough situation.”

Taylor, a transfer from Georgia Highlands College, was also encouraged by his WKU debut.

“Memphis is a really good team,” Taylor said. “It’s good to see where we are as a team and what we need to get better on.”

The second game of the doubleheader

BROOK JOYNER • HERALD

Junior right-handed pitcher Conner Boyd (43) looks to pitch during the Hilltoppers 3-1 loss against Charlotte on April 15, 2017 at Nick Denes Field. WKU will take on Belmont today at home.

didn’t go the Hilltoppers’ way as they lost 7-1. Junior Troy Newell surrendered four earned runs in less than one inning and was tagged with the loss.

Memphis scored all of its runs in the first three innings. Following the four-run barrage in the first, the Tigers put up three more in the third thanks in part to a two-run home run.

WKU scored its only run in the fourth inning on the team’s first home run of the season from Rhinesmith. Both teams went scoreless the rest of the way.

Pawlowski spoke of the challenges facing his team as they work 19 new players into the lineup.

“The difference between this level and,

you know, junior college and high school is the learning curve that’s taking place,” Pawlowski said. “If guys figure out something that they can throw or they have a way, they’re going to keep doing it regardless of the score.”

Pawlowksi said he was happy with how his team had responded to the challenge presented by Memphis.

“It was a challenge right out of the gate and we knew that, but that’s why we scheduled it,” Pawlowski said. “We need to learn some stuff about our club and, you know, to do what we need to do and to make the Conference USA tournament and to do things that we want to do with this program we need to make sure, you can’t get swept.”

The Hilltoppers’ home opener will be today against Belmont University at 3 p.m. at Nick Denes Field. They will continue at home later with a weekend series against Northern Illinois University.

Pawlowski said he was looking forward to playing at home for the first time.

“I’m excited about our players,” Pawlowski said. “Like I said, they’ve got great work ethic and they come with a lot of energy and they’re gonna keep playing hard and love to see some folks out there on Tuesday and then obviously on the weekend.”

Reporter Matt Stahl can be reached at 270745-6291 and matthew.stahl551@topper. wku.edu Follow him on Twitter at @matt-

Aikey’s no-hitter highlights Lady Toppers weekend

BY CASEY MCCARTHY HERALD.SPORTS@WKU.EDU

WKU softball (7-3) powered through the Chattanooga Challenge this past weekend with a no-hitter from Kelsey Aikey and strong offensive displays.

Offensive barrages, which included 30 hits, 23 runs and 22 RBI across a pair of victories on Saturday, have been frequent in the early part of the Lady Toppers’ season. Nine players have batting averages above .260 on the year, with eight over .330. Aikey’s no-hitter on Friday was the program’s 12th all-time.

“What a day we had offensively,” head coach Amy Tudor said in a press release.

“We set the tone early and continued to hit from top to bottom of our lineup all day. We stayed mentally focused and didn’t let rain or field conditions bother us and delivered great results. I’m proud of how we fought today and I’ll take that from our players any day.”

Both Aikey and freshman Shelby Nunn have been impressive in the circle so far this season. Aikey (2-1) has an ERA of 2.23 with 16 strikeouts, including her weekend ERA of 1.66. Nunn (5-2) has an ERA of 3.5 with a team-high 27 strikeouts.

WKU fell to Tennessee Tech University 9-5 in the team’s opening game on Thurs-

BROOK JOYNER • HERALD

Junior outfielder Jordan Vorbrink catches the ball to prevent Tennessee State runner Emma Colegrave from making it to first base during the Chattanooga Challenge Saturday, Feb. 17 at Frost Stadium. The Lady Toppers beat the Tigers 16-4.

Need tutoring?

day after being put in a deep hole early.

TTU had a 7-0 lead in the fourth inning.

WKU was able to find production from its offense in the top of the fifth, with a fourrun inning to cut the lead to three runs.

TTU responded in the bottom of the inning with two more runs to put the game out of reach. Freshman Jordan Thomas was able to cross the plate for the Lady Toppers’ final run in the seventh inning on sophomore Paige Carter’s second hit of the day, her second multi-hit game of the season thus far.

Nunn started and got the decision after 2.1 innings pitched with one strikeout and six runs allowed. Sophomore Haylee Towers relieved her, pitching three innings with three strikeouts and three runs allowed before Aikey came in to close out the game.

Aikey’s no-hitter, which featured seven strikeouts, led WKU to a 1-0 walk-off victory over Sacred Heart University in game two.

Sophomore Morgan McElroy began the eighth inning on second base as part of the international-tiebreaker rule. Thomas sent a standing double to left-center field to bring McElroy home for the victory. It was the only extra-base hit of the game.

WKU defeated Tennessee State University 10-0 in five innings in the first of two games on Friday.

Going into the third inning scoreless, the Lady Toppers were able to break through, as Thomas scored on a double from freshman Maddie Bowlds, giving the team a lead that would never be challenged.

Senior Brittany Vaughn and Jordan Vorbrink both hit their first home runs of the year, Vorbrink’s being the walk-off winner in the fifth inning, securing the run-rule victory.

Nunn pitched her third career complete game, earning her fourth win of the season. WKU scored its ten runs on six hits.

WKU couldn’t complete a comeback in its second game against TTU, losing 7-6.

Down 5-0 in the bottom of the third

Located on WKU

tutoring in:

South Campus

•Math 055, 096, 109, 115, 116

in room C234!

•English 055, 099, 100, 200

Come visit the Alice Rowe Learning Assistance Center (LAC)!

•Chemistry 109 •Microsoft Office •Blackboard •TopNet •Email

inning, the Lady Toppers were able to respond with a two-out single from Carter and Vaughn’s second home run of the day to cut the lead to 5-2.

The Golden Eagles added two runs in the fourth before junior Kelsey McGuffin was able to help send Thomas home to bring the margin to 7-3. WKU was in position to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh.

With the tying run on first, TTU held off the late surge and escaped with a win.

Aikey took the loss after allowing three runs without recording an out. Towers pitched four innings in relief, with three runs allowed and two strikeouts. Nunn closed the game, pitching the final three innings, allowing just three hits and no runs.

WKU rode a huge offensive showing in 16-4 win over Tennessee State. Scoring runs in all but one inning, including a huge seven-run fourth, WKU secured its fourth run-rule victory on the year.

Three WKU players hit home runs, including Vaughn’s third of the weekend.

Carter secured her first of the year and Engelhardt secured her second.

Aikey pitched the final four innings of the game, receiving the decision, moving her record to 2-1.

WKU defeated host University of Chattanooga 7-2 in a rain-shortened weekend finale on Saturday.

Falling behind 2-0 after three innings, the Lady Toppers were able to respond in the fourth. WKU went up 6-2 after freshman Kendall Smith’s home run in the fifth.

Thomas brought home Engelhardt in the top of the sixth for the final run.

Nunn went the distance in the circle, moving to 5-2 on the year, with three strikeouts in the game.

The Lady Toppers will make their home debut this Friday in against University of Green Bay.

Reporter Casey McCarthy can be reached at 270-745-6291 and casey.mccarthy573@ topper.wku.edu.

No appointment required!

270-780-2536 or 270-745-0480

Monday-Thursday: 7:45 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Friday 7:45 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Select Saturdays: 2/10, 2/17, 3/3, 3/24, 4/7, 4/14, 4/21, 4/28 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

B4

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2018 WESTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY

BROOK JOYNER • HERALD

Redshirt senior Brittany Vaughn slides into third base during the game against Tennessee State at the Chattanooga Challenge Saturday at Frost Stadium. Vaughn scored three runs including one home run against the Tigers.

BROOK JOYNER • HERALD

BROOK JOYNER • HERALD

Head coach Amy Tudor talks to the Lady Toppers in between games at the Chattanooga Challenge at University of Tennesee atChattanooga on Saturday. WKU finished out Saturday’s games with a total of 30 hits, 23 runs and 22 RBI.

The Lady Toppers crowd around home plate to meet Rebekah Engelhardt after she hit a home run in the game against Tennessee State on Saturday. Engelhardt walked away from the game with four RBIs, three hits, one double and one triple.

BROOK JOYNER• HERALD

BROOK JOYNER • HERALD

Junior Kelsey McGuffin sings along to Journey’s “Faithfully” in between games at the Chattanooga Challenge Saturday. WKU went 4-2 for the weekend tournament.

Junior Jordan Vorbrink warms up before the game against University of Tennesee at Chattanooga at the Chattanooga Challenge Saturday. WKU went on to beat UTC with a final score of 7-2 before the game was called early in the seventh inning due to rain.

C1 LIFE

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2018 WESTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY

LIFE

DRUN AMERI Bowling Green native creates online business empire

BY DRAKE KIZER HERALD.FEATURES@WKU.EDU

Nashville entrepreneur and former WKU student Tyler Webster, 25, has faced quite a bit of controversy, but after a lot trial and error, he feels like he has found his niche.

Webster was born in Bowling Green, and after moving around during his middle school years, he settled into the district for Greenwood High School.

During his freshman year, Webster, 14 years old at the time, began doing graphic design on MySpace.

“I started out making MySpace layouts,” Webster said. “I had some MySpace layout websites, and I have always been making websites and doing design since then.”

Today, Webster still finds himself working in the realm of design, and he’s had rather large, commercial success.

While at WKU, Webster changed courses of study on multiple occasions, starting out with graphic design and marketing before switching to criminology. Though his majors changed, his passion for creating did not. During his third semester of college in 2012, he started what is now his largest company, DrunkAmerica.com.

It was just a political Twitter page then, but eventually it expanded into selling clothing that capitalized on the popularity of now President Donald Trump and right-wing ideologies.

“I started doing shirts through a company called Teespring a few years ago,” Webster said. “The actual store really got established and took off in September 2016.”

You can trace Webster’s design roots back to his time at Greenwood.

He took on design assignments that would have been challenging for seasoned designers, much less a completely self-taught young person.

Around that point, he began to feel like he had stumbled upon a skill he could utilize in the future.

“The T-shirt company Gildan gave out around 100,000 shirts I designed at Panama City Spring Break in 2011,” Webster said. “It was around then that I realized I could probably just do this

NIC HUEY • HERALD

Tyler Webster founded the website DrunkAmerica.com in 2011, selling t-shirts and other merchandise. The site took off in 2016, selling Donald Trump and right-wing apparel.

for a living.”

Webster graduated from high school in 2011 and planned on attending WKU that fall. However, just before the start of his freshman year, he was prohibited from setting foot on university grounds. According to an August 2011 Herald article, Webster was “banned from WKU for planking and promoting his website plankresponsibly.com with stickers around campus.” Webster was in the news quite frequently for a while, but he was eventually allowed to re-enroll in classes.

“I remember NewsChannel 5 came up to Bowling Green and interviewed me, and I was their top story,” Webster said. “It was one of my first websites that started to kind of take off. We started selling shirts and having users sign up and post pictures. After all that happened to me, it fell off and planking died out.”

Dustin Meherg, a WKU graduate and lifelong friend of Webster, said he never knew how much Drunk America was going to blow up when it first started.

He is not surprised though, since he

said Webster has always been skilled in graphic design and marketing.

“I helped him with different things, whatever he asked me to honestly,” Meherg said. “I majored in marketing so we swapped ideas with how to market his company. We were going to try and market it to local businesses, but he decided it would be best to hit the social media platform, and it worked out for him.”

Drunk America has gotten a lot of publicity since its inception for being very Trump-centric, but Webster said he is trying to expand into a broader direction that includes more than just that, at least until the next presidential election. Funny shirts are what is popular, and in trying to come up with clever ideas, he has gotten into trouble with copyright a few different times.

“Usually you just get a cease and desist or they will send a notification by email, and you just work it out that way,” Webster said when asked about his legal issues.

For example, he said he had a Tom Brady shirt with him wearing a “Make

America Great Again” hat when the New England Patriots won the Super Bowl in 2017, and a company that handles copyright for the NFL got his ad account taken down on Facebook and banned.

Since exploding in popularity during late 2016, Drunk America’s store has expanded to include hats, tumblers and other items. Webster said he is extremely careful not to post or sell anything he does not personally believe in or agree with. However, some of the ideas promoted on Drunk America’s items have been deemed offensive by certain groups, which has caused him to receive a lot of backlash.

“I get hate messages all the time,” Webster said. “All day, every day.”

WKU sophomore Logan Trimmer doesn’t think it’s right Webster gets rude remarks just for trying to make a living selling products online. He said he believes the general public has become too easily offended by controversial thoughts and ideas.

SEE TYLER WEBSTER • PAGE C2

‘Just old Lee’ Robertson dedicates himself to WKU

BY LAUREL DEPPEN HERALD.FEATURES@WKU.EDU

In the Augenstein Alumni Center, Lee Robertson’s image permanently stands tall, smiling and waving. Robertson refers to his statue as “just Old Lee.” Lee Robertson, 95, has made his mark on the university in more ways than just being commemorated in a statue. His love for WKU spans across decades and still persists today.

Born and raised in Calhoun, Kentucky, Robertson never expected to go to college. After serving in World War II, one of his friends approached him and asked him to go to school with him. This sudden interest in attending college was based on the 1944 passing of the GI Bill that provided education benefits to World War II veterans.

“I had never thought of that,” Roberston said. “When I graduated from

high school, people didn’t go to college. In our class of 32 people, one person went to college. The GI Bill was the greatest thing that ever happened.

It took college away from the elite select few and into the masses.”

Robertson didn’t know much about Western Kentucky University, called Western Kentucky State Teachers College at the time, but he began classes there in 1946. He graduated in the summer of 1950 with a major in physical education and minors in biology and English.

“What I decided, somewhere along the line, [was] that I’d like to coach,” he said.

He credits his interest in coaching to E.A. Diddle, former athletic director and basketball coach. Diddle saw Robertson playing baseball with a Sunday league. Diddle approached him and asked him to play for WKU’s team.

“Mr. Diddle — I loved that guy,” Roberston said. “He was so unique. He was not a schooled psychologist, but he was

a born psychologist. He could make you better than you were just by talking to you.”

After graduating from WKU, Robertson spent time in several Kentucky cities working coaching and teaching jobs, even serving as a principal and as an interim superintendent. During these years, he met his wife Joyce Robertson who he has been married to for 64 years.

In 1960, Robertson was offered a job at WKU. He returned to his home on the Hill working as the director of alumni affairs, a position he held for 25 years. He retired and went to work in Florida for a friend he’d met on the baseball team. During this time, Gary Ransdell had become president of the university. Ransdell contacted him asking him to come back to work. “[Ransdell] and I one time worked together,” Robertson said. “I was the director of alumni affairs, and he was my assistant. I told him all the time when he was president that I taught him all

he knew.”

Despite numerous awards and recognitions from WKU and being widely known amongst alumni, Robertson remains humble.

“I feel very honored and humbled— feel like maybe I don’t deserve it,” he said. “But I accept it and appreciate it and enjoy it.”

Now, Robertson works as assistant to the vice president for development and alumni relations, John Paul Blair.

“Any WKU alumni gathering Lee is unable to attend, our staff is prepared to answer the question, ‘Where’s Lee?’” Blair said. “Through his career, he founded virtually all WKU alumni chapters and maintains many close [alumni] relationships to this day,” Blair explained.

Blair went on to comment on alumni’s relationship with Robertson.

“The best example of how people feel about Lee is the bronze statue of SEE LEE ROBERTSON • PAGE C2

C2 LIFE

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2018 WESTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY

LEE ROBERTSON CONTINUED FROM PAGE C1 him by the entrance of the ‘Robertson Ballroom’ in the Augenstein Alumni Center,” he said. “When the private support became great enough for the building to become a reality, many alumni and friends gave to assure he would be honored there forever for the lifelong support he had given to them.

I often see friends of Lee posing for a picture with his image.”

Robertson was able to accomplish all of these things because of his strong devotion to WKU and to its faculty, staff and alumni.

“I think they see a guy who’s loyal and not selfish,” Robertson said. “What I’m doing is promoting Western; I’m not promoting myself.”

Robertson’s history with WKU spans over several decades. He commented on how this passion for WKU keeps him going.

“You think about, ‘Why is a guy at 95 still at work?’” he said. “I really believe that if I were to retire completely and sit at the house and twiddle my thumbs I’d be gone. I think being here, being around young people, being active and having something to do keeps me going.”

Robertson said he takes one of WKU’s ideals, “the spirit makes the master,” to heart.

“It means if you’ve got a passionate feeling about a person or an institu-

TYLER WEBSTER CONTINUED FROM PAGE C1 “It is pretty sad to send someone hate mail over a product,” Trimmer said.

He said people don’t have to buy Webster’s merchandise and if they don’t agree with the messages Drunk America puts forth “they should just ignore them and not send equally offensive messages.”

Despite negativity, Webster has not become discouraged. He runs nu-

CHRIS KOHLEY • HERALD

Lee Robertson, 95, has earned the title “Mr. Western” due to his lifelong involvement with the university. As a 1950 graduate, Robertson went on to become the superintendent of Barron Country Schools, WKU alumni director, director of WKU-Glasgow campus and now serves as Special Assistant to VP in the development & alumni relations office.

tion and you love it,” he said. “Your spirit for that institution makes your life meaningful and makes you proud and makes you want to do good.”

For Lee Robertson, that passion is Western Kentucky University.

“No question about it,” he said.

Features reporter Laurel Deppen can be reached at 270-745-6291 and laurel.deppen774@topper.wku.edu.

merous websites in addition to Drunk America, and he said he recently launched another company called RagingPatriots.com. He is excited about the project’s prospects since he enlisted internet sensation Billy Buck Roscoe as one of his business partners in the endeavor. He said he believes Raging Patriots will end up being big too, likely as big as Drunk America.

However, he said he anticipates the new website being different from Drunk America.

“We are going to make it more college-oriented,” he said. “It will be like

Old Row or Barstool Sports but for patriotism.”

Though he stopped attending school when his business became successful, he said he will likely end up getting his criminology degree online since he does not have much left to finish.

However, his current focus is on coming up with new ideas that can grow his businesses and keep him ahead of the curve.

“The good thing about being a graphic designer is I do not have to pay somebody to do the designs, I can go make them right when I think of

them,” Webster said about what he believes continues to set him apart from his competition. “Sometimes coming up with ideas is the hardest part, but that is pretty much how I have gotten to where I am in this business, just staying on top of [current events] and whatever is hot at the time.”

Features reporter Drake Kizer can be reached at 270-745-2653 and clinton. kizer287@topper.wku.edu.

Follow Drake on Twitter at @drakekizer_.

Eat anywhere on campus–any time.

Reload your Dining Dollars today!

For terms and conditions visit www.wku.edu/wkurg

CONNECT WITH US

LIFE C3

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2018 WESTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY

Review: Newly opened Hideout is forgettable at best

BY DAVID HORMELL

HERALD.FEATURES@WKU.EDU High Tops had a short, bright life before it fizzled out like a half-spent firecracker, closing its doors abruptly at the end of 2017.

Hideout – the dining experience formerly known as High Tops – seems like an intentionally subtle shift in branding, but it instead marks an unfortunate turn for the generic.

Bill Sullivan, director of Hideout’s food services, touted a list of ostensible changes to the facility in prior Herald coverage. Hideout kept High Tops’ dining arrangements and décor.

Gone are the pools and drink menus.

By all appearances, the area is largely unchanged.

Regarding food, Hideout outshines its predecessor. However, High Tops wasn’t a particularly hard act to upstage, as most of the focus was centered around drinks.

Hideout’s menu offers up conventional bar food – burgers, wings, American-style tacos. I didn’t get to try every item on the surprisingly vast menu.

I did try the fries, the exceedingly rich macaroni and cheese and the gentrified tacos. The generous serving of fries was tasty.

I would be remiss not to mention other staff members’ experiences. Herald reporter Noah Moore lauded the $1 burger special on Sundays. Marketing Manager Graham Goins said he’d recommend Hideout to a friend.

Hideout’s atmosphere constantly

struggles from inconsistency.

During Hideout’s grand opening, local weather curiously played on five of the televisions.

Hideout played a continuous mix of Motown. Motown is a nice gesture towards a more family-friendly eating establishment, but Berry Gordy is a vegan, and I’m not sure he could order anything off Hideout’s menu.

I bought four or five drinks. Hideout never carded me, which is oddly flattering. I’m 22, but I have a baby face.

Most people mistake me for a high school student (I’m not).

I ordered a couple of gin and tonics, which tasted like tonic water sans gin.

I also ordered a common drink – Bird Dog Whiskey with Red Bull, what High Tops affectionately referred to as a Bowling Green Bomb.

“Do you mean a Vegas bomb?” My waitress seemed a bit incredulous at the request.

“Yes, that’s what I meant.”

Don’t worry, you’ll get them next time, champ, I told myself. After pretending to watch the local weather for ten minutes or so, she returned and set a Vegas Bomb on my table.

“Here’s your ‘Bowling Green Bomb,’” she said using air quotes. I’ve never felt attacked by air quotes before, but Hideout sets precedents.

On my second visit, the noise was near deafening. Conversation was an impossible and lofty prospect. There’s still no drink menu or desserts.

After finishing my meal, it took 30 minutes for my waiter to bring the check on a seemingly slow night.

MICHAEL BLACKSHIRE • HERALD

Bowling Green’s newest bar, Hideout, opened two weeks ago in the space that previously held High Tops. The new manager, Matthew Ruth hopes to bring college kids and the downtown crowd in to the bar. “Bringing both crowds together is our ultimate goal,” Ruth said. “And providing cheap food at good prices.”

This night is a bit different than my first visit. This time around, the soulfully sleek sound of Motown’s greatest hits is replaced by more trendy cotton candy sweet pop music. Halsey’s “New Americana” (alternatively titled, “Only 90’s kids will remember this!”) plays in the background. Taylor Swift’s older material follows.

I’m suddenly nostalgic for a different time – before “Reputation” was released, when High Tops was the glimmer of good still in my life. Perhaps I’m overly harsh – Hideout is by no means bad. It’s forgettable – it isn’t

somewhere I would go on my own volition.

There’s the widespread myth of Bowling Green holding the most restaurants per capita. It’s an unproven claim. But what’s true is Bowling Green’s sprawling selection of restaurants. There’s no shortage of options. Which begs the question: with all these options, what makes Hideout different?

Features reporter David Hormell can be reached at 270-745-6291 and david. hormell140@topper.wku.edu. Follow David on Twitter at @davidjhormell.

Annual Chili Cookoff to benefit senior programs

BY DRAKE KIZER HERALD.FEATURES@WKU.EDU

If bad weather and freezing temperatures have soured your mood, Community Action of Southern Kentucky’s Annual Chili Cook-off on March 2 may brighten your spirits.

This year will mark the ninth consecutive event, and for the first time, the event will feature two separate cookoffs. Due to high demand, one cook-off with 25 teams will take place at 11 a.m. and another featuring 25 more teams will begin at 4 p.m.

Two five-judge panels, each made up of notable figures from the Bowling Green community, will vote on their favorites from each session and award trophies in three categories: spicy, traditional and anything goes. Locals who attend each session will also vote for their favorite cooks in a special fourth category by placing money in tip jars located beside each participant’s pot.

Skip Wirth, a self-employed motivational speaker and trainer, has served as a judge each year since the cookoff’s inception. Wirth formerly served on the Community Action of Southern Kentucky (CASOKY) advisory council, and he said has been invited back annually even after his retirement from the board.

“It really comes down to the taste,”

Wilson said about what sets each chili apart for him personally. “We don’t even know what we are tasting at the time or who made it, we just know the classification. [Each judge] gets to mark their own scorecard and we don’t discuss favorites.”

Between the two cook-off sessions, there will be a silent auction featuring items donated by members of the community. CASOKY advisory council member Debbie Harwood said some

tion takes place each year, but this year is the first time that local artists will contribute their work to it as well.”

Tim Wilson, a retired police officer currently working for the Kentucky State Police as a criminal intelligence analyst, is one of the local artists sharing his work in this year’s auction. Wilson took up photography as a retirement hobby, and a photo he took on his cell phone of the College Street Bridge will be his first piece sold publicly, he

“The reason I donated that particular picture was because it’s a very known area around Bowling Green. It’s always good to give if you can.

Retired police officer TIM WILSON

of the items up for grabs will include tickets to WKU sporting events, Bowling Green Hot Rods games and Holiday World.

“We really try to highlight things in our 10-county area so [winners] can visit places they have never been before,” Harwood said. “The silent auc-

TVVFTEBZ- FEB 4:00 P.M. GRISE HALL 439

BY FEB TH FOR 2 ENTRIES FOR DOOR PRIZES

Receive gmat prep discount for attending

said.

“The reason I donated that particular picture was because it’s a very known area around Bowling Green,” Wilson said. “It’s always good to give if you can. What it cost me to get a print made is nothing when you’re talking about helping some people out.”

Proceeds from the event will benefit the Foster Grandparent Program, Retired Senior Volunteer Program and the Senior Center Program, Foster Grandparent Program Director Sandi Knight said. Artwork senior citizens colored with children with disabilities will be displayed alongside silent auction items to bring attention to the populations that are served by the three programs, Knight said.

“It’s obvious that we serve senior adults, but we also serve children through them,” Knight said. “A lot of people in the community do not realize how they tie together, but [Foster Grandparent Program volunteers] receive a small stipend per hour for working specifically with children who have special and exceptional needs.”

The cook-off will take place at First Baptist Church in Bowling Green.

Admission to each session is $5 and participants will get to sample all of the different chilis before selecting a full bowl of their favorite. Those who attend will also receive a sandwich, a dessert and a drink to complete their meals.

The deadline to enter a recipe in this year’s chili cook-off is Feb. 27.

Features reporter Drake Kizer can be reached at 270-745-2653 and clinton. kizer287@topper.wku.edu.

Follow Drake on Twitter at @drakekizer_.

LIFE C4

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2018 WESTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY

Professor reflects on toilet dedicated in his honor

BY JULIE SISLER

HERALD.FEATURES@WKU.EDU

Leaning back in his chair and laughing softly at himself, Carl Kell, professor emeritus of communication, seems completely comfortable. He sits in the back corner of the office he shares with Larry Winn, tucked between a computer and a table that displays the books he’s published and some flyers for an upcoming speech series.

“If you can’t laugh at yourself, you’re in big trouble,” he said with a smile.

With his quick wit, easygoing nature and ability to laugh at himself, it doesn’t take much time with Kell to see him as the type of person that had a toilet dedicated in his honor.

As of Feb. 9 around noon, a plaque that reads “Dr. Carl L. Kell Chair of Rhetoric” now hangs above the toilet in one of the men’s restrooms in the Fine Arts Center.

Kell said the idea started as an inside joke among some professors and students. The joke was taken to a new level when it was discovered that someone had written the title in magic marker in the stall.

Long after the marker had been cleared away by custodial staff, the story lived on. The tale of the chair of rhetoric continued to circulate among

staff and students. This continued until Helen Sterk, head of the communication department, decided to reinstate the chair, more formally this time.

“Larry Winn and Carl told the story about the chair of rhetoric and they were just laughing and laughing,” Sterk said. “And I thought it was very funny too, so I went to the office and said that we should make a plaque and put it up.”

The ceremony took place outside the bathroom on Feb. 9 in FAC. The event was attended by faculty, students, friends and dignitaries from various departments at WKU. Multiple dignitaries, like Sterk, Larry Winn, professor emeritus, Larry Snyder, Dean of the Potter College of Arts and Letters and Derek Hull of the advisory council gave speeches.

The speeches left the audience full of laughter and bad puns.

“I think our event showed that he doesn’t take himself too seriously,” Sterk said. “He’s willing to laugh at himself.”

According to those around him, Kell is much more than just a fun, lighthearted man.

“Anybody who knows him would think of him as the idea of a southern gentleman,” Sterk said. “He’s such a gracious and charming person.”

After a short while with Kell, this be-

HANNAH VANOVER • HERALD

Carl Kell has been a Communication professor at WKU for over 30 years. What started as a joke has led to the naming of a toilet on the first floor of Fine Arts Center in his honor.

comes apparent. He is the type of man to hold open doors for others, who listens intently while others are speaking and someone who smiles a lot.

Kell, who has been teaching at WKU since the summer of 1972, is also an author and has published four books about the Southern Baptist Convention.

In addition to teaching and writing, Kell put multiple programs into action around WKU, including the Spirit Mas-

ters, an ambassadorial program, and a needs-based summer internship program.

“He was the living witness of the value and roots of this department and school,” Sterk said. “He is the living history of the department.”

Features reporter Julie Sisler can be reached at 270-745-6291 and julie.sisler389@topper.wku.edu. Follow Julie on Twitter at @julie_sisler.

Exhibit features work from talented students in region

BY SARAH YAACOUB HERALD.FEATURES@WKU.EDU

The Southern Kentucky Performing Arts Center will display award-winning artwork by local students in grades seven through 12 in its Scholastic Arts and Writing Awards display throughout the months of February and March.

These pieces, submitted by teens from 22 counties, have been recognized in the regional contest by the contest judges, a team of professional jurors.

The exhibit is open in the Wedge Gallery and features winners of regional Silver and Gold Key awards in the visual arts categories, which include photography, mixed media and drawing and illustration. Public viewing is available from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Monday through Friday, in addition to performance times.

“For those visiting the exhibit … they will see originality and technical skill, but more than that, they will see the personal voice of each young artist,” said Andee Rudloff, a former award recipient herself, and a self-described artist-educator who is overseeing this year’s Scholastic exhibit at SKyPAC. Of the 600 submissions to the re-

gional competition this year, 122 artistic and literary works by middle and high school students in the south-central Kentucky region received awards of some kind. The awardees will be honored during a ceremony at noon Saturday, March 3, at the Laura Goad Turner Foundation Lobby. The ceremony is open to the public.

According to the South Central Kentucky Regional Affiliate press release, “nearly 350,000 works of art and writ-

There are three levels of recognition available for outstanding works: an honorable mention, received by 61 pieces of art and writing; Silver Key, received by 36 submissions; and the highest regional award, the Gold Key. Twenty-five Gold Keys were issued at the regional competition this year, and these awardees advanced to the national level of judging, which will issue results March 13.

The students designated as National

“As a former Gold Key recipient and Scholastic alumna, I enthusiastically accepted the position to serve as administrator and curator of the program for SKyPAC this year,” Self-described artist-educator ANDEE RUDLOFF

ing were submitted to more than 100 affiliate partners across the country,” of which SKyPAC served as one.

Students in the designated region can submit as many pieces as they wish to with an application fee and an educator’s signature for each submission.

Gold Medalists will be invited to attend an awards reception at Carnegie Hall in New York City this summer and will gain access to a number of opportunities, including the possibility of participation in a touring exhibit and consideration for the prestigious National Student Poets Program for students

with National Gold Medals in the poetry category of the writing competition.

The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, founded in 1923 and now celebrating its 95th year in operation, boasts a handful of illustrious alumni, among whom are Andy Warhol, Lena Dunham and Sylvia Plath. It is administered by the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers, a nonprofit organization based in New York City and dedicated to “providing opportunities for recognition, exhibition, publication and scholarships” to American youth.

“As a former Gold Key recipient and Scholastic alumna, I enthusiastically accepted the position to serve as administrator and curator of the program for SKyPAC this year,” Rudloff, who coordinated the regional Scholastic Awards exhibit, said. “Scholastic Art and Writing Awards are the country’s longest-running and most prestigious scholarship and recognition program for creative students in grades seven through twelve, and SKyPAC is proud to serve as the South Central Kentucky affiliate.”

Features reporter Sarah Yaacoub can be reached at 270-745-6291 and sarah. yaacoub214@topper.wku.edu. Follow her on Twitter at @SarahYaacoub1.

WKUHERALD.COM CONNECT WITH US ONLINE @WKUHERALD