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NEWS, PAGE A3 TTUESDAY, UESDAY, APRIL APRIL 111,1, 22017 017 > W WESTERN ESTERN KKENTUCKY ENTUCKY UUNIVERSITY NIVERSITY > VVOLUME OLUME 992, 2, IISSUE SSUE 4466
Candidates prepare for SGA elections BY MONICA KAST & JAMIE WILLIAMS HERALD.NEWS@WKU.EDU Three students will be vying for the title of Student Government Association president and two for executive vice president during Spring elections on April 17 and 18. Andi Dahmer, a current senator in SGA, is one of the three presidential candidates. Now a sophomore, Dahmer has been involved in SGA since she came to WKU as a freshman. Dahmer is currently the committee chair for MyCampusToo, an SGA committee that strives to improve diversity on campus. During her time in the Senate, Dahmer has helped author 15 pieces of legislation including a resolution supporting the addition of an elevator to Gordon Wilson Hall and a resolution supporting diversity in on-campus housing. Dahmer also worked on legislation to create the Jonesville scholarship and to outline the recommended qualities for WKU’s 10th president. “Her track record in SGA of multiple pieces of legislation weekly in support of campus diversity and sustainability is astounding and shows her commitment to bettering our campus,” senator Conner Hounshell wrote on Facebook. Savannah Molyneaux will be running for the executive vice presidential position on Dahmer’s ticket. Molyneaux is currently the chair of the sustainability committee and has helped author eight pieces of legislation during her time in SGA. Many of the resolutions Molyneaux has worked on support sustainability initiatives on campus, such as the removal of styrofoam from dining locations and supporting vegetarian options in the Downing Student Union food court. Current SGA secretary Kara Lowry is also on Dahmer’s ticket and will be running unopposed for the administrative vice presidential position. “We strive to be dependable, accessible representatives for all WKU students,” Dahmer stated in her candidacy announcement on Facebook. Opposing Dahmer will be current senator and junior Lily Nellans. Nellans was appointed to the Senate near the beginning of this semester and helped author a bill to encourage inclusivity in student organiza-
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President Gary Ransdell watches the revealing of the new signs for the dedication of the Dixie and Peter Mahurin Honors College on Friday, April 7. Ransdell, who spoke at the event, said the Honors College has a “focus on intellectual ability, drive, determination—it’s not always about IQ.” GRACE PRITCHETT/HERALD
Dedicated Honors College receives a new name that represents excellence in education BY REBEKAH ALVEY HERALD.NEWS@WKU.EDU
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he Honors College received a new name Friday, representing a dedication and passion for learning. Students and faculty gathered outside the Honors College International Center for the dedication of the college to Dixie and Peter Mahurin. New signage on the building was unveiled at the ceremony. The previously named Honors College is now the Dixie and Peter Mahurin Honors College, matching other schools at WKU like Potter College and Gordon Ford School of Business. Craig Cobane, executive director of the Honors College, said any col-
lege has a higher status once named. In his opening remarks, President Gary Ransdell said the building is a way to elevate education. The Honors College consists of 1,300 students with faculty from across the globe. The building also houses offices and facilities reserved for international students. David Holland, owner of Signature Signs, the company that completes lettering across campus, said there were some barriers to putting up the lettering due to weather. He said they wanted the unveiling to be a big moment, so they had to wait until a day or two ahead of the event to start. The Mahurin family has been involved with WKU for a long time. President Ransdell said he has been
working with the family for 20 years. Both Dixie Mahurin and Peter Mahurin are WKU alumni and have established many programs making them vital to WKU, like the Mahurin Endowed Professorship in Gifted Studies. The family also gave a gift that helped move the headquarters of the World Council for Gifted and Talented Children to WKU. Peter Mahurin was a founding member of the WKU Foundation, and Dixie Mahurin is a founding member of the WKU Sisterhood. At the dedication, their daughter Sarah Jo Mahurin, dean of Timothy Dwight College at Yale University, gave remarks about what the Honors
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Samsung senior vice president speaks on Korean language BY MATT STAHL HERALD.NEWS@WKU.EDU Samsung’s senior vice president of electronics, Dochul Choi, spoke to a crowded room in Snell Hall on Friday, hosted by the engineering department in conjunction with the international year of South Korea. Choi’s presentation primarily focused on the Korean written language, including its history, ease of learning, and role in turning South Korea from a country ravaged by war and poverty into an information technology power. Choi was born in South Korea in 1950 and grew up in a country deeply affected by poverty caused by the Korean War. He has been with Samsung since 2004. Before joining Samsung, he worked with United Technologies Research Center. He received his Ph.D. and MS degrees from Pennsylvania State University. He spoke about Samsung’s success and how it would translate to an American company. The two cultures are so different, he said, that there is no point in trying to replicate Samsung’s success in the U.S. “There is no way you can use what Samsung used in the USA,” Choi
said. “So there is no point to talking about success DNA; it depends on who you are.” He spoke about Samsung’s rivalry with Apple. He then held up an iPhone. He said Samsung makes more money from iPhones than they do from its own devices. “This is a good phone. Steve Jobs did a wonderful job,” Choi said. “We make almost half of it at Samsung. If you open it up, there is a lot of Samsung-made chips.” After showing a video presentation on the creation and history of the Korean language, he went on to talk about the simplicity of the language, especially when compared to Chinese. “I usually can teach Korean alphabet within hours,” Choi said. “Knowing the meaning is very difficult, but I can teach you how to read and write.” Choi credited the simplicity of the Korean alphabet to the rise of South Korea as a technology power since 1985. He said because the Chinese alphabet was too complicated for early 8-bit processors, the Chinese and Japanese were forced into using much more expensive parts on their early personal computers. “Their PC became very expensive,” Choi said. “People could not afford to
Dochul Choi, VP of Samsung was the guest speaker on Friday, April 7 at Snell Hall in honor of WKU’s international year of South Korea. He talked to students about the importance of culture and language. “Its good to know the bases of every language. It gives you a better understanding to why someone speaks a certain way and what values they hold to themselves.” Choi said. REMI MAYS/HERALD buy it. In Korea, our system became very inexpensive.” After his presentation, he answered questions from members of the audience. He responded to a question from a student about Samsung’s failed Galaxy Note 7 smart-
phone, which suffered from exploding batteries. He compared the issues to those of Sony Laptops and Boing Dreamliner airplanes. “That was a big mistake by Sam-
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