April 04, 2017

CHECK OUT COVERAGE OF CAB’S WOMEN’S APPRECIATION DAY

READ ABOUT TRACK’S FLORIDA SUCCESS SPORTS, PAGE B4

NEWS, PAGE A2 TTUESDAY, UESDAY, APRIL APRIL 44,, 22017 017 > W WESTERN ESTERN KKENTUCKY ENTUCKY UUNIVERSITY NIVERSITY > VVOLUME OLUME 992, 2, IISSUE SSUE 4444

Ad, PR still to merge with Dept. of Comm.

BY MONICA KAST HERALD.NEWS@WKU.EDU The merger of the advertising, public relations and pop culture departments with the communication department will still occur this year, despite being removed from a recent Board of Regents meeting agenda, according to university administrators.

At the most recent Board of Regents committee meetings, “approval to create the School of Communication through merger of programs in Department of Communication with Advertising, Public Relations and Popular Culture” was listed as an action item.

A revised agenda was posted days before the committee meetings, removing the item from the academic affairs committee’s agenda.

At the meeting, David Lee, provost and vice president, briefly discussed the reason for the change to the agenda.

“We are withdrawing this for now,” Lee said. “We’ll have some further discussions, but are not bringing it to the Board at this time.”

According to Larry Snyder, dean of Potter College, this does not affect the timeline of the merger. Snyder said questions were raised about the proposal, and it was decided to revise the proposal.

“Talking with the Provost ahead of the Board meeting, we decided that we probably needed a little more conversation … and perhaps needed to revise our proposal in such a way as to give a little bit more detail about how not only this was going to affect the proposed School of Communication, but how it might affect the School of Journalism and Broadcasting,” Snyder said.

However, Snyder said the removal of the action item “doesn’t affect the proposed marriage of the programs.”

“The only thing that was pulled was the establishment of the new school,” Snyder said. “The programs moving are still moving.”

Snyder said as of now, a new school has not been created, and the advertising, public relations and pop culture departments will move into the department of communication.

According to Snyder, creating a new school is a “different way of labeling,” and determines things like fundrais-

SEE AD & PR PAGE A2

Katelin Carney of Lexington, and Mandy Johnson of Louisville lead a dance during Dance Big Red, a 12-hour dance fundraiser, on Friday at the Preston Fitness Center. The event raised money for pediatric cardiology and adolescent cancer care at the Norton’s Children Hospital. EVAN BOGGS/HERALD

‘JUST FOR KIDS’ Dance big red raises big cash for kids at norton children’s hospital

BY EMMA AUSTIN HERALD.FEATURES@WKU.EDU

N

early 700 students danced together on Friday night — for 12 hours straight. Dance Big Red participants remained standing all night at the third annual fundraising event for Norton Children’s Hospital, raising over $65,000.

Some participants set up fundraising pages before the event to collect donations from friends and family. Both Greek and non-Greek organizations created teams for the

night and competed to raise the highest number of donations.

Dance Big Red also held several events during the year to raise money leading up to Friday night. Dance Big Red Co-Chair Katelin Carney said the executive members have been planning for the night since May. “We set our goals really high,” Carney said. “We wanted to double everything this year.”

Dance Big Red saw its highest number of participants and raised the highest total this year; last year,

there were around 300 participants who raised $25,000.

Dana Matukas, WKU development and marketing coordinator for the Children’s Hospital Foundation and Norton Children’s Hospital, said she hopes the event continues to grow each year.

“It’s so meaningful if [participants] can come and see and hear who they’re impacting,” Matukas said. “To have these college students come and be a part of that — it’s that wow factor — it’s a memory they’re going to cherish forever being a part

SEE FULL COVERAGE AND PHOTOS OF DANCE BIG RED ON PAGE B1 CENTER

Professors share ‘flipped classroom’ experiences

BY BRYSON KELTNER HERALD.NEWS@WKU.EDU Several professors at WKU are adopting elements of a “flipped classroom” in their courses. A flipped classroom is the “exact opposite” of a traditional classroom model, meaning students listen to recorded lectures at home and participatein application learning in the classroom.

Jerry Daday, the executive director of the Center for Innovative Teaching & Learning & the Online Learning Research Office, explained the logistics of flipped classrooms and why he thinks they are effective.

“If you think of a stereotypical traditional class in higher education, you have a professor standing in front of the room lecturing and disseminating content to students,” Daday said. “Students are taking notes, and there’s the underlying assumption that students are retaining the information by listening. Students will then do some homework outside of class for application.”

Professors can currently use the program, MediaSite, for their flipped lectures. MediaSite allows them to record desktop lectures, audio and webcam videos, which they can upload directly onto a server and up-

load the video lectures to Blackboard.

Daday recalled his first experiences teaching sociology and said his class setup was vastly different from his current approach.

“When I first started teaching in 2000, I lectured all the time,” he said. “ … I didn’t have a lot of confidence in my knowledge of sociology. So, I built

content doesn’t mean the students learn anything,” he added. “So over time, I learned that just lecturing at students isn’t really appropriate. I needed to find ways to play with the terminology and play with the information.”

Daday now lectures for about 25 percent of his class time. He says his

I learned that just lecturing at students isn’t really appropriate. I needed to find ways to play with the terminology and play with the information.”

Associate professor Jerry Daday

all these power point presentations, and I would walk through them.”

Daday began implementing more in-class exercises, including more discussions and more “think/pair/ shares,” as he calls them. After a few years of initiating these activities, he began using Tegrity, a program that WKU utilized for recording lectures.

“Just because you disseminate

courses have a much more active learning environment.

“Building a flipped class takes a ton of effort, because you really have to think about, ‘How am I going to take my lectures and put them online, but what am I going to do in class that is going to have students applying the information?’” he said.

Daday also said there are not many

classes that are strictly “flipped” at WKU, but there are not many that are strictly traditional either. He said professors typically begin by flipping one or two lessons and keep build from there.

Kerrie McDaniel, an assistant biology professor, uses partial flipping strategies in her anatomy labs. She recently flipped her course section that covered the skeletal and muscular system.

“Students are briefly introduced to the bones and bone markings but do the majority of their learning outside of class time on their own using the resources that we have provided,” McDaniel said. “These resources include digital materials and assignments as well as actual bones that they can use in the reserve section of the library.”

McDaniel then assesess the students on the information they covered, who then build on that information in the next lab period by using the bones and bone markings as references for learning the muscles.

“It forces students to come to lab prepared for learning muscles,” she said. “It gives us time to do hands-on learning.”

McDaniel also gathered statistics

SEE CLASSROOM PAGE A2

A2

APRIL 4, 2017

COLLEGE HEIGHTS HERALD

Nashville sophomore Braxtyn McKinnie performs “Bright” by Kehlani during Women’s Appreciation Night on March 30 in Downing Student Union. BRENDAN OHERN/HERALD

Poets and signers celebrate female empowerment

BY EMMA AUSTIN HERALD.NEWS@WKU.EDU Blue lights lit the stage in DSU Nite Class on Thursday night, illuminating performers speaking and singing about female empowerment.

WKU Campus Activities Board hosted “This is for the Women: Women’s Appreciation Day at WKU” to celebrate Women’s History Month, which ended on Friday.

Ciara Futrell, concert committee chair of CAB, said she organized the event to take a day to appreciate women’s efforts and contributions to the world.

“I feel like women are always in competition, you know, we’re always striving to be better than men, to be better than the next woman,” Futrell said. “I want to make sure we had a day where women come together and celebrate each other.”

The night opened with WKU women performing songs including Alicia Keys’ “Girl on Fire” and “How Far I’ll Go” from the Disney movie “Moana” soundtrack.

Student Elicia Tillis performed a poem she put together by combining lyrics from Beyonce’s “Pretty Hurts” and 90’s rap song “Black Girl Lost” by Nas. Tillis said she broke down the lyrics to what she thought the songs were trying to say based on what the lyrics meant to her.

“It’s pretty much a reflection of self and looking back at what I needed to work on within me to become who I’m actually supposed to be,” Tillis said.

Tillis said during her life she’s had people get on her for being different. She participated in Miss Omega pageant last year to build her self-esteem, but she still felt like people were trying to fit her into a particular mold.

“I thought about society and being

of topics on their experiences with womanhood and empowerment.

“I do this thing where I write odes to things I think I’m supposed to feel ashamed of,” Gatwood said before performing her first piece. “An ode is a praise poem. Shame is an interesting thing because we’re told we’re supposed to feel it, but it’s not an organic feeling. It’s something someone tells us we need to feel.”

Gatwood’s first piece was an “Ode to My Bitch Face.”“For those of you

I feel like women are always in competition, you know, we’re always striving to be better than men, to be better than the next woman.”

Concert Commitee chair of CAB Ciara Futrell a black woman in society, how people look at me and say I’m supposed to be this, I’m supposed to be that — just because I’m a black woman,” she said. “But when it comes down to it, the issues that we’re fighting, it’s because of what society [says].”

Award-winning slam poets Olivia Gatwood and Janae Johnson finished off the evening, performing their work and covering a broad range

that don’t know, a ‘resting bitch face’ is a phrase coined by someone who was just generally unhappy with the fact that women aren’t smiling literally all the time,” Gatwood said. “I got told that a lot growing up, and still do, and started feeling ashamed of it.”

“Resting bitch face, they call you,” she recited. “But there’s nothing restful about you.”

In her performance, Johnson told

a story of the time she got into a fight in sixth grade with a white girl who called her the n-word and how she hadn’t understood why her mother hadn’t been proud of the blood on her hands. She spoke about “the nuance of being queer and black” and her “thirst for justice.”

Johnson also performed her poem called “Black Girl Magic,” which she said was based on a skit from the television show “In Living Color” written from the perspective of a black stage mother whose daughter who gets rejected from every audition.

“So when they tell Magic ‘no’ for the fourth time, I tell her that she can eat all the pork chops she wants, but she bests not cry over no white man tongue. There are better things to die over,” Johnson narrated.

After their performances, Gatwood and Johnson said they hope people left feeling empowered.

“I hope people reflect the intersections within their own identities and kind of start to outline that, because it just helps the learning and growing process a little bit more,” Johnson said. “I feel like I wish that I heard this maybe 10, 15 years ago. Probably would make me a better person.”

Reporter Emma Austin can be reached at (270) 745-0655 and emma. austin177@topper.wku.edu.

Indian student group to host traditional celebration

BY SRIJITA CHATTOPADHYAY HERALD.NEWS@WKU.EDU The Festival of Color, holi hails from northern India and Nepal and is celebrated to mark the beginning of spring. Hence, in most parts of India, the festival is also referred to as Basaant Utsav (spring festival).

While the festival signals the start of spring, the use of colors to celebrate symbolizes the vibrancy of the season itself.

The Indian Student Association will host its annual celebration of the festival on Friday, April 9 at the Honors College International Center lawn from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The newly elected chair of the In-

AD & PR

Continued from Front ing and marketing for the school.

According to Helen Sterk, communication department head curriculum for the new school and merged departments will be written and revised this summer, then enter the university approval process.

Sterk said if approved, the new curriculum would be implemented for

CLASSROOM Continued from Front

while flipping her lessons and found that both students’ grades and students’ positive perceptions of the course improved.

Daday recently gave a presentation about flipped classrooms and McDaniel’s study at the March 24

dian Student Association, Abhishek Bose, 27, said the main idea of the event is integration.

“India is made up of north, south, east and west,” he said. “But Holi brings us and other students of WKU together, and everybody gets to enjoy as one.”

Founded in 2006 the Indian Student Association has celebrated Holi every yeah since. It was initially celebrated as an inter-association event to provide a slice of home for the Indian international students, Indian Student Association adviser Ajay Srivastava said.

“This would be our third Holi celebration on a large scale, with students of different cultures,” he said.

Unlike the last two years of

on-campus celebrations of Holi, this year the members of the Indian Student Association are planning something a little different, secretary Deekshita Madas said. The freshman computer science graduate student said the association intends to make it more interactive and culture friendly.

The committee has planned different games within the celebration to achieve the goal. The itinerary involves a game of musical chairs, water balloon fights, a possible flash mob performance by the Indian students and the color fight.

“To me, Holi is about spreading love,” she said. “It is about friends and family and a crowd that gathers to celebrate the festival with great

the Fall 2018 semester.

Sterk also said students “finish under the catalog of the calendar year in which they begin,” but incoming students can choose to follow the new curriculum.

“I think that this is going to be a great opportunity for WKU students,” Sterk said.

Sterk said the new school would have reduced hours and prerequisites for the majors.

“The intent was so that students could double major across the new college,” Sterk said.

According to Snyder, on July 1, faculty members from the advertising, public relations and pop culture departments will become faculty in the department of communication.

Snyder said a new proposal for approval of the school would go before the Board of Regents at one of its next two meetings.

Board of Regents Meeting.

He said Board of Regents member Phillip Bale recently wrote a book involving flipped classrooms. Bale approached Provost David Lee about having a presentation on flipped classrooms at the meeting, and Lee asked Daday to give the presentation.

“I was thrilled about it,” Daday said. “We have faculty on campus

that are doing some amazing things in their classrooms. A university is about academics, and it’s about the teaching and learning environment.

So, my hope is that we can establish something that’s more integrated.”

“I don’t think employers want to hire our graduates if all they can do is listen and regurgitate information,” Daday said. “Employers want gradu-

energy.”

In the latest association meeting held on last Wednesday to discuss the advances in the planning of the event, Srivastava told the Indian Student Association committee members the event should be able to engage a wider range of the university community.

“Western Kentucky University is a university with international reach,” he said. “Such events will help improve the world we live in. So come, let us make a splash with Holi.”

Reporter Srijita Chattopadhyay can be reached at (270) 745-0655 and srijita.chattopadhyay524@topper. wku.edu.

Snyder said he does not see the removal from the agenda or the revision of the proposal as “crisis,” and the timeline for the merger is not affected.

“We continue to feel very excited,” Snyder said of the merger.

Reporter Monica Kast can be reached at 270-745-0655 or monica. kast187@topper.wku.edu.

ates who, yes, know some things, but they also know how to apply it and synthesize it. If we don’t give our students the opportunity to do that in our classes, then they’re not going to be able to do it when they graduate.”

Reporter Bryson Keltner can be reached at 270-745-6011 and philip. keltner856@topper.wku.edu.

APRIL 4, 2017

A3

COLLEGE HEIGHTS HERALD

Grant funds training on trafficking investigation

BY NICOLE ZIEGE HERALD.NEWS@WKU.EDU Attorney General Andy Beshear will host Advanced Human Trafficking Investigation Training from April 19 to April 21 in Louisville after receiving a $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Justice last year, according to a news release from the Kentucky attorney general’s office.

The three-day training is designed for police officers, prosecutors and judges, with a special focus on task force members, Dennis Cusick said.

Cusick is an executive director for the Upper Midwest Community Policing Institute, course coordinator and training provider.

“For the past 10 years, the department has taken a primary responsibility of providing training to the task forces throughout the United States,” Cusick said.

The training is a one-time event and will be an intensive training on investigating human trafficking.

Around 65 people are planning to attend, Allyson Taylor, the director of the Office of Child Abuse and Ex-

ploitation Prevention, said.

Human trafficking reports to the Cabinet for Health and Family Services have increased from 51 victims in 2013 to 169 in 2015, an increase by more than 300 percent, according to the State Journal.

Although he has not received statistics from the attorney general, Cusick said he assumed the increased number of reports meant the awareness of the crime was increasing, rather than the crime.

“One of the reasons why we are seeing such an increase is because state departments have made it a serious mission to investigate human trafficking cases,” he said. “More importantly, because of all the media attention being made to this, the citizenry has become more aware. The commitment of law enforcement to do investigations is definitely increasing.”

Taylor said she does not think human trafficking has increased.

“I think it’s gotten to the point now where people are recognizing it and learning how to spot signs of human trafficking,” Taylor said.

Cusick said there is “no question” this kind of specialized training helps because human trafficking cases are “very complex.”

“It often involves several states almost simultaneously because it is so heavily driven by the Internet,” Cusick said.

The vast majority of cases Cusick sees involve young people, mostly girls, between 12 and 15 years old. He said human trafficking is “destroying the lives of our children.”

“They are lured into this on false promises and made to, by sometimes severe force, comply with their traffickers and engage in sex for money, up to as many as 40 customers a day,” he said.

Cusick said another reason why human trafficking cases are “very complex is that it takes “unusual partnerships” between the police, the prosecutor and those who are responsible for the victim.

“You need the victim to be healthy; you need the victim to recover, hopefully to resume a normal life and at the same time, do a criminal investigation that ends up in a criminal

prosecution without re-victimizing the victim,” he said.

Taylor, who has worked in her position since it was created in January 2016, expressed her enthusiasm for being a part of the training.

“I’m excited that we’re going to provide quality training for our local law enforcement,” Taylor said.

“Budgets being what they are, this is an opportunity to get top-of-the-line federal training for the prosecution and prevention of human trafficking.”

Cusick said he wants to commend Kentucky for creating the task force, which is called the Kentucky Human Trafficking Task Force, and for getting the training so the task force functions.

“Kentucky has a wonderful task force environment with the state police and the attorney general’s office,” Cusick said. “That’s exactly the model that we hope exists throughout the country.”

Reporter Nicole Ziege can be reached at (270) 745-0655 and nicole. ziege825@topper.wku.edu.

CRIME REPORTS • Burke, Virginia sophomore Tyler Arnold reported March 30 his property stolen from the Preston Center. The value of the theft was $35.

• Portland, Tennessee freshman Arrah Calvin III reported March 31 his television was stolen from his room in Barnes-Campbell Hall. The value of the theft is unknown.

• Dayton freshman Kayla M. Johnson was cited April 2 for possession of marijuana, after being caught smoking marijuana in her room in Bemis-Lawrence Hall.

Become Become A A Plasma Plasma Donor Donor Earn up to

$300 in your first 5 donations

Show up. Save a Life. Get Paid.

410 Old Morgantown Road Bowling Green, KY 42101

270-793-0425

APRIL 4, 2017> WESTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY

OPINION

WKUHERALD.COM WHOLLY HOVELL

Have an opinion? Tweet us @wkuherald or find us on Facebook at WKUHerald as well. Let us know your thoughts about the editorial, or write us with what is on your mind.

WALK IN THE LIFE

Controlling my time for other people

Illustration by Wesley Slaughter

BY GINA HATCHETT HERALD.OPINION@WKU.EDU

April Absurdity ‘Rick and Morty’ makes long-awaited return

BY NOLAN HOVELL HERALD.OPINION@WKU.EDU “Rick and Morty,” an adult cartoon comedy follows the misadventures of a mad scientist, Rick, and his naïve grandson, Morty, as they travel throughout multiverses meeting and battling all sorts of cosmic horrors, has returned for a long anticipated third season.

With its mix of animated humor and deeply scientific and philosophic themes such as purpose, “Rick and Morty” appeals to a wide range of viewers especially college-aged individuals. In college, much like in the show, there are moments when things can become too real, be scary and too complex.

Fans of the show’s absurd and existential nature were more than elated to find that after a year and a half since the cliff-hanger finale to season two, the third season premiered, without advertisement, on April 1, of all days, on Adult Swim.

Many believed this last second announcement was intended as an April Fool’s joke; the real punch-line was that after a highly anticipated wait the creators, Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon, released the premiere on a whim. This unexpected blessing fits the shows and its creators’ style of pre-

senting information in strange ways and often without warning.

Many others joined in the festivities as well, playing their own unique and hilarious hijinks. Netflix released a live stream featuring Will Arnett narrating what he sees. There is nothing special about the things Arnett sees or how he talks about them, but watching a well-known entertainer describe the process of a burrito being microwaved is so absurd it can be considered comedy or if nothing else a funny prank at our expense.

Fans of the show know it is silly to hold onto expectations when viewing “Rick and Morty.” The concept of cosmic horror present in the show asks us to view ourselves as the universe does; utterly insignificant. What is terrifying about this particular genre is it breaks the common way of thinking about human life as the center or purpose of the universe.

Where we place value and purpose in this world is greatly a result of the time and space in which we grew up and for that reason many struggle to go beyond themselves and imagine a reality that regards them with the same significance as a grain of sand or speck of dust.

Much like the announcement of the third season, the show toys with common conventions and beliefs to

break down what we think we know in a humbling and hilarious sequence of events. This concept is something the creators of “Rick and Morty” play with often and even reference “Cthulhu,” H.P. Lovecraft’s cosmic horror symbol of the genre, in the opening title sequence for the show.

Another interesting aspect of creating the show is that the dialogue is recorded without a final script leaving space for improvisation and natural speech tendencies like stuttering, which Morty often does, or burping, which Rick often does (mostly because he is an alcoholic). This imprecise dialogue makes for some interesting and honest scenes between characters.

For a day that is meant to celebrate the ridiculous and nonsensical nature of jokes, what better way to pay homage than to do something people will see as a joke only to have them fool themselves into not believing it when in reality they were telling the truth.

As Morty explains in the episode “Rixty Minutes,” “Nobody exists on purpose; nobody belongs anywhere; everybody’s gonna die. Come watch TV.” So, if you haven’t had the opportunity to watch the show, give it a go, and you might just find the appeal in such a strange, interesting and questionable show.

This past August, I received a call that my childhood best friend had unexpectedly passed away. She was a beautiful 21-year-old college student leaving two parents and her siblings.

Our families were best friends when I used to live in California. But, when I moved, communication between us dwindled and abruptly stopped.

While catching up with her mom over spring break, she said those who came to the funeral repeatedly described her daughter as “generous with her time.” No matter what she was doing, she would drop everything for a friend in need of comfort, advice or to unload about life. I fought back tears because a pang of instant conviction and sadness struck my heart.

Since that conversation, the idea of being generous with my time has been rolling around in my brain.

Earlier this semester, my Bible study and I read through one of the stories of two sisters named Mary and Martha in Luke 10:38-42. Jesus was coming over to their house and the two prepared for His coming in different ways. Martha was busy getting things set up and serving, while Mary opted to simply sit at His feet as He spoke.

Martha got all up in arms over her sister’s lack of service and complained to Jesus. “But the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.’” Disclaimer: serving and working hard, especially to glorify the Lord, are awesome things.

But, that is not the point of the passage. Mary chose to be present before Jesus because she knew that was the most important and edifying thing she could do at that moment.

As I scroll down my Facebook feed and see all memes that are accurate descriptions of my life, it is too easy to get overwhelmed with my schedule. But, life will always be a thing. Being present for loved ones will not always last.

John 15:13 reads, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” For me, choosing to invest in people instead of my deadlines is a way that I can shine not only for the Lord and the hope that I have found in Him, but also in remembrance of my sweet friend. The idea of laying down one’s needs and wants for those of a friend is a beautiful, tangible and unforgettable display of love.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Aramark contract isolates students with diet restrictions WKU signed a letter of intent for a 20-year contract with Aramark recently. The contract begins July 1 and is estimated to be worth $20 million a year, according to a press release. The contract includes a $75 fee for all full-time students who do not buy a meal plan.

Students deserve to make their own choice about purchasing a campus service. This measure would disproportionately impact those with food allergies and other dietary restrictions.

Students’ money and livelihoods should not be made pawns in WKU’s negotiations with a huge corporation.

As a marathoner, and a vegan, Sunday is both my meal-planning day and my long run day. After I finish my run, I make pasta or stir fry for lunch–– something with lots of carbs, veggies and protein for recovery. My favorite is mushroom stir fry with colorful bell peppers, tofu and fresh basil from my garden. For dinner, I make some kind

of soup, stew or black beans and rice.

The leftovers from my meals last me all week. Every week, I know I can rely on this simple but rewarding routine to clear my head. Think of your own routine. What you eat is important to you, right?

Last spring, my Sunday routine was quite different. On Sundays after I finished a long run, I usually went to lunch at the Fresh Food Company.

Lunch consisted of dry brown rice, some sort of soggy tofu dish, green beans and fruit––basically whatever vegan options I could find. For dinner, I ate half a Veggie Delight Subway sandwich and a small bag of apple slices. For the rest of my week, I ate the same three meals at Subway, Panda Express and Fresh Food.

Though I became an expert on campus vegan options, it simply wasn’t enough food. The vegetarian and vegan options were sparse, had

little nutritious variation and were usually low in protein. As I advanced in my training, I found myself eating at Fresh Food on an almost nightly basis just to get enough food. It might go without saying that my digestive tract didn’t love this new routine. Of course, my dietary restrictions were by choice for environmental sustainability reasons.

Last fall, I interviewed WKU students with food allergies for a Talisman article. These students did not have a choice. Some of them mentioned eating plain chicken breasts from Chik-fil-A or scraping cheese off of pizza at Papa John’s to avoid allergens. Like me, many of these students opted out of a meal plan their sophomore year. Simply put: a meal plan isn’t for everyone.

In fact, a meal plan can inhibit a student’s well-being. This is the heart of why fining students for not pur-

chasing meal plans is so unfair and, quite frankly, disrespectful. Students deserve the right to make their own choices about something as central as what they eat three times a day, especially whey they’re paying for it. The lack of benefit to students is the biggest point of contention with this fee.

Brian Kuster, vice president of student affairs, told the Herald the fee is a part of the effort to generate $35 million to renovate Garrett Conference Center. It isn’t fair to push the financial burden of renovating a campus facility onto students who don’t want or need a meal plan anyway and, therefore, will not benefit from the renovations.

While the promise of “expanding meal options” sounds great, I don’t want it. Honestly, I’m good. You can have your soggy salads, tiny portions and spongy tofu.

Letter by Hannah Good

Lashana Harney* Editor-in-chief

Alyse Young* Video Editor

Julie Hubbell Marketing Director

VOICE YOUR OPINION

CONTACT US

Opinion 270.745.4874 ||herald.opinion@wku.edu

Nicole Ares* Digital Managing Editor

Emma Austin* News Editor

Micayla Kelly Ad Creative Director

The Herald encourages readers to write letters and commentaries on topics of public interest. Here are a few guidelines: 1. Letters shouldn't exceed 250 words. Commentaries should be about 500 words and include a picture.

2. Originality counts. Please don't submit plagiarized work.

3. For verification, letters and commentaries MUST include your name, phone number, home town and classification or title.

4. Letters may not run in every edition due to space.

5. The Herald reserves the right to edit all letters for style, grammar, length and clarity. The Herald does NOT print libelous submissions.

6. Submissions must be received by 7 p.m. on Sunday and Wednesday.

Advertising: 270.745.2653 herald.advertising@wku.edu Newsroom: 270.745.6011 herald.news@wku.edu Address: 1906 College Heights Blvd. #11084, Bowling Green, KY 421011084

Craig Ostertag* Design Editor Jacob Dick* Print Managing Editor Spencer Harsh* Andrew Henderson* Copy Desk Chief Opinion Editor Mhari Shaw* Evan Heichelbech* Sports Editor Shaban Athuman* Photo Editor

Assist. Photo Editor

Will Hoagland Advertising adviser Carrie Pratt Herald adviser Chuck Clark

REPORT AN ERROR Editor: 270.745.5044 herald.editor@wku.edu

Director of Student

Andrew Critchelow* Publications Features Editor Sarah Cahill Ad Manager

DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed in this newspaper DO NOT reflect those of Western Kentucky University's employees or of its administration. *Denotes editorial board members. The Herald publishes on Tuesdays and Thursdays during the school year. The first copy is free, and additional copies are $1 each, available in the Student Publications Center on Normal Street.

COLLEGE HEIGHTS HERALD

APRIL 4, 2017

A5

THE FUN PAGE Across

CLASSIFIEDS Classified Advertising Manager: Will Hoagland

herald.advertising@wku.edu

FOR SALE BUY - SELL - TRADE: Games, DVDs, Records!

Also, comics, toys, CCGs, RPGs, more! The Great Escape Records & Comics. 2945 Scottsville Rd (near Greenwood Mall) (270)782-8092

ROOMATE WANTED Roommate wanted. Large bedrom with shower. Very negotiable. 3 miles from campus. Call Kiaku or Mike.

270-904-3857.

NOW HIRING Now Hiring!

For afternoon part-time counter clerks, M-F 2:30pm-6:30pm, SAT 8am-12pm, (approx. 25 hrs/week) Starting at $9/hr. Perfect for Students! Customer Service experience preferred. Apply in person at: Look Sharp Dry Cleaners, 830 Fairview Ave, BG, KY or Call (270)791-5363 for more information.

Note to Readers: The College Heights Herald screens ads for misleading or false claims but cannot guarantee any ad or claim. Please use caution when answering ads, especially when asked to send money or provide credit card information. The College Heights Herald is not responsible for the content or validity of these paid classified ads.

History of Fort Knox ©2017 PuzzleJunction.com

1. What president signed The Gold Act, making it illegal to own gold? (a) Calvin Coolidge (b) Warren Harding (c) Franklin Roosevelt 2. When did construction begin on the U.S. Depository at Fort Knox? (a) 1942 (b) 1936 (c) 1933 3. What was the cost to construct the building? (a) 560,000 (b) 825,000 (c) 640,000 4. Where is Fort Knox Located? (a) Tennessee (b) North Carolina (c) Kentucky 5. The vault door is 21" thick with seven layers of steel. How much does it weigh? (a) 20 tons (b) 5 tons (c) 10 tons 6. Who are the only two presidents to visit Fort Knox? (a) Eisenhower & Reagan (b) Kennedy & Ford (c) Truman & Franklin Roosevelt 7. As of January 2015, how much gold is stored at Fort Knox? (a) 490 Billion dollars (b) 380 Billion dollars (c) 250 billion dollars 8. Only once has the public been invited inside, when congressmen and journalists got to inspect the facility. What year? (a) 1974 (b) 1967 (c) 2000 9. What is the weight of a standard gold bar? (a) 32.4 lbs (b) 27.8 lbs (c) 16.12 lbs 10. Who was the original security contractor? (a) ADT (b) Pinkerton (c) Gatekeeper

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

7

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

3 2

6 5 4 8 5 3 3 8

9 6 8 7 9 4 5 2 9 1 2 4 Copyright ©2017 PuzzleJunction.com

5 3

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

15 16 14 1 Commercials 4 First TV show, at 17 18 19 times 22 23 20 21 9 Exorcist’s target 14 Calendar abbr.

24 25 26 27 15 Way to walk 16 Rust, e.g.

28 29 30 31 32 33 34 17 Mozart’s “L’___ 38 39 40 35 36 37 del Cairo” 18 Soup scoop 43 44 41 42 19 Election news 20 Pasta dish 46 47 48 45 22 Stamp 50 51 52 49 24 Regarded guardedly 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 25 Grazing ground 27 “___ alive!”

60 61 62 63 64 28 Big Apple inits.

66 67 68 30 They’re all in the 65 family 70 71 69 32 Hoedown participant 73 74 72 35 Young raptor Copyright ©2017 PuzzleJunction.com 38 Mongrel 40 A Beatle bride 66 Malice 37 Razzed 6 Gents’ dates 41 Ruffled 68 Overmodest 39 East Asian weight 7 Lubricate 43 Nuclear ___ unit 69 Close-knit group 8 Forest unit 45 Perfect rating 42 Quick swim 70 60’s protest 9 Question 46 Burrow 71 First mate 10 Fairs 44 Vise 48 Fill the gun again 72 Sacs 11 Hit alternative 47 Regret 49 Lose oomph 73 Synthetic silklike 12 Praiseful poems 51 Blue moon, e.g.

50 Cowboy boot fabric 13 Like some prices 53 Like helium attachment 74 Congeal 21 Tennyson poem 54 Dismantles 52 Drink from a dish 23 Title of respect 56 Sine or cosine 53 Intense anger Down 26 Aspiration 58 Spice rack item 55 Corn serving 29 Kind of phone 59 Heretofore 57 Isinglass 1 Dig deeply 31 Sticker 60 Picture of health?

60 Imaginary idyllic 2 Tooth trouble 32 Crumble 61 Gives a hand place 3 Vulture’s forte 33 Dwarf buffalo 62 Cold war inits.

63 Descends by rope 4 Sport with mallets 34 House member 64 Ivy League team 65 Common side 5 With everything 35 Small amphibians 65 TV monitor? order counted 36 Bailiwick 67 Actress Zadora

APRIL 4, 2017 > WESTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY

WKUHERALD.COM

PHOTO

Bowling Green senior Jacqueline Yunker performs a solo during dress rehearsal on March 29 at Van Meter. Yunker played the lead role and titular character in “Suor Angelica,” the first of two operas performed by the music and theatre departments.

Opera on the hill

The cast of “Gianni Schicchi” reads the will of a recently deceased ancestor during dress rehearsal on March 29. Composed by Giacomo Puccini, “Gianni Schicchi” was the comedic facet in a triptych of one act operas with contrasting themes.

T

he Department of Theatre and Dance and the Department of Music brought the drama of Italian opera to WKU for a three-day run of shows this weekend. The show featured one-act operas by Giacomo Puccini were originally written as part of a triptych.

The purpose of the shows was to show contrasting themes. “It’s the tragedy and comedy of theatre and we get to live it in one night,” Wayne Pope, professor of music and director of the show, said.

Photos by brook joyner

Heather Moore, of Louisville, Jacqueline Yunker and Nate Butler, both of Bowling Green, close “Suor Angelica” as the main character is greeted by her deceased son and the Virgin Mary. Apart from Butler, the entire cast for the opera was female.

The band and orchestra perform music for “Suor Angelica” on March 29 at Van Meter.

The operas were a co-production between the music and theatre departments, who come together each spring for either an opera or a musical.

WKUHERALD.COM

LIFE

APRIL 4, 2016 > WESTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY » Beer: Check out our coverage of the Red, White and Brew festival

Professor hones on human rights

BY KALEE CHISM HERALD.FEATURES@WKU.EDU

Sam McFarland, the Professor Emeritus at the Department of Psychology at WKU, is now working on American Psychological Association’s Task Force on Human Rights, but his passion for human rights can be traced back decades.

McFarland found his calling in human rights after reading “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich” by William Shirer.

“For some reason that really resonated with me, and I’ve had a lingering concern for human rights since that time,” McFarland said.

McFarland attended Lipscomb University for his undergraduate degree in Bible and Mathematics, following with Divinity School at Vanderbilt where he later earned his graduate degree in psychology. McFarland came into school wanting to be a minister but soon realized that wasn’t his calling.

“By the time I got through that [Divinity School], I didn’t fit at the pulpit, I knew I didn’t want to be in the position of upholding; my own thinking had migrated enough and I didn’t want to be in the position of upholding anyone’s theology,” McFarland said. “So psychology seemed a natural way to go after that.”

McFarland worked with street-level activism in his past, with one of his favorite memories being holding up flags for peace around the Pentagon.

In 1971, McFarland came to WKU to be an assistant professor, where he was faculty adviser for various organizations focused on human rights, such as Amnesty International.

McFarland saw a void in the education of human rights and took it upon himself to develop a course that would better educate undergrad students on the subject.

“I developed a course called ‘Understanding Human Rights’ for the honor’s courses and Honor’s College, just kind of an awareness of, part of it, in truthful self- education,” McFarland said.

McFarland saw this void in the lack of education and knowledge that undergrad students showed in human rights.

SEE PROFILE PAGE B2

Participants gather around a bull riding simulator during the annual 12-hour dance marathon, Dance Big Red on Friday in Preston Fitness Center. EVAN BOGGS/HERALD

‘Priceless’ FROM PAGE A1

of something so much bigger.”

Families from Norton Children’s Hospital came at the beginning of the night, some sharing their stories with the crowd. This year, funds went specifically towards the pediatric heart and cancer care at the hospital.

Nicole Pendinl came with her 10-year-old son, Clay, a heart patient at Norton Children’s Hospital. When he was born, the left side of his heart wasn’t fully developed, and since then, Clay has had five open heart surgeries at Norton.

“They’re our family,” Pendinl said about the hospital. “They’re family-oriented; they’re always there. I could call the nurses right now and talk to them, and they would help out any way that they could.”

Pendinl, a nursing student at WKU, said she was amazed to see so many

students show up in support of the hospital.

“I know it’s not easy to be a student and have to do other things like this, but everybody’s worked so hard, and we couldn’t do it without the support,” she said. “We just thank everybody.”

Elijah Marcum, 7, has received treatment at Norton for his brain tumor after his diagnosis two and a half years ago; he came with his family to Dance Big Red for the second year in a row.

Kara Marcum, Elijah’s mom, said the support they’ve received from the hospital has been phenomenal.

“Knowing what the hospital has done for our family … knowing there are so many college students that are invested to raise money, to help support such an awesome organization,

it’s honestly priceless,” Marcum said.

Carney said although the night had been exhausting, it was “very rewarding” to make a difference in people’s lives while making memories with best friends.

“Just having everyone come and stay 12 hours means a lot, because those kids don’t choose to go to the hospital; those doctors and nurses don’t have the choice to sit down during surgeries; some surgeries end up being 22 hours,” Carney said.

“The least we can do is stand for 12 hours and support those doctors and nurses at the hospital and support the kids that don’t have a choice to be there.”

Reporter Emma Austin can be reached at (270) 745-0655 and emma. austin177@topper.wku.edu.

New seed library opens in Bowling Green

BY OLIVIA MOHR HERALD.FEATURES@WKU.EDU On March 30, patrons and two speakers giving presentations gathered at the Bob Kirby Branch of the Warren County Public Library for the opening night of the branch’s seed library, a project initiated by Laura Beth Fox-Ezell. The main branch of Warren County Public Library located downtown also opened a seed library. Its official opening was Monday.

Fox-Ezell is the educational delivery services coordinator for the library, and she goes out into the community to schools and day cares to deliver books. She explained how the seed library would work. Patrons are free to visit the seed library during regular library hours. They are allowed to check out up to five seed packets per person per day by signing seeds out of the seed library.

They are stored in an old-fashioned card catalog organized by seed type.

Patrons are encouraged to plant the seeds, so they cannot return the original seeds to the library. Because of this, they are encouraged to save the seeds from the plants they harvest and return them to the library.

“We hope to encourage and inspire them to start growing on their own, and we also hope to encourage the idea of seed saving,” She said. FoxEzell hopes the seed library will encourage people in the community to start doing their own gardening and adopt more sustainable practices.

Fox-Ezell received her undergraduate degree in history and social studies from WKU and is working to receive her master’s degree in library science at the University of Kentucky.

She is interested in gardening, but that’s not why she decided to start the seed library.

“I wanted to increase people’s access to new things through library services in the community, so this is another expansion of a new way for a library to serve its community, and I felt we had a need for that here,” she said.

She and the group who helped her set up the seed library received three seed grants from large companies who donated a lot of seeds to help them get started, and they received seed donations from members of the community.

“The input has been wonderful and unexpected, and it’s very cool to see all the people who want to be part of this project and want to contribute their seeds,” Fox-Ezell said.

Fox-Ezell’s sister Mary Anne Fox presented at the Bob Kirby branch’s opening night with Thomas Murphy.

Fox and Murphy are both WKU seniors majoring in horticulture. Fox is from Bowling Green and Murphy is from Louisville. They presented on the basic ways seeds work, the growing and germination process and information on seed starting. They also helped patrons make biodegradable paper pots in which to start their seeds to transfer into their gardens.

“My goal in speaking was to help people feel more comfortable when it comes to planting seeds,” Fox said.

“It can be a really overwhelming thought, starting a garden or starting to plant, so I was hoping to help them realize that it can actually be a really simple process, especially if they start small, with only a few vegetables.”

Fox feels it is important that peo-

Mary Anne Fox teachers members of the community how to make plant pots from newspapers during the opening of the county’s first seed library at the Kirby Branch Library on March 30. Organized and started by Laura Beth Fox-Ezell, people can come to the library and check out up to five different types of seeds to try and grow and are encouraged to donate seeds for others to use. KENDALL WARNER/HERALD ple learn to grow their own food.

“I think it’s really important for people to have experience growing things,” she said. “I think it adds a healthy perspective on their lives. If you’re taking care of plants, it can be refreshing and rejuvenating to have a living thing to care for. I think it’s especially awesome if people are growing their own food.”

Hannah Loyd lives in Bowling Green, and she attended the Bob Kirby branch’s opening night of the seed library. She feels the seed library will have a large impact on the community.

“I think it’s just so important to really get to know your food and know where your food is coming from, and if you have the opportunity to

get seeds locally for free and start growing your own food, I think that can make one of the greatest impacts here in Bowling Green when it comes to sustaining ourselves,” she said.

She thought the opening night went well.

“I thought it was so wonderful,” Loyd said. “The presentation was amazing, and Laura did an amazing job organizing the whole event, and I thought it went super well. It’s a very amazing source, incredible source to be able to go to a public library and take seeds to start your own garden for free.”

Reporter Olivia Mohr can be reached at 270-745-6288 and olivia. mohr564@topper.wku.edu

APRIL 4, 2017

B2

COLLEGE HEIGHTS HERALD

Beer festival brings Bowling Green community to WKU

BY ANNA LAWSON HERALD.FEATURES@WKU.EDU

The Alumni Center was filled with the smell of burgers, the sound of live music and the sights of people from all over the Bowling Green community on Saturday afternoon. The second annual Red, White and Brew festival was in full swing, and everyone seemed to be enjoying the many different Kentucky beers that were featured.

Red, White and Brew is the main fundraising event for the Young Alumni Council. This year there were ten different beers from local breweries such as White Squirrel Brewery and West Sixth Brewing. The ticket for the festival also included a complimentary meal.

The fundraising event benefited the Young Alumni Council Scholarship Fund, which provides scholarships for upperclassmen at WKU. The event was sponsored by White Squir-

PROFILE

Continued from B1 “Even our really, really bright, undergraduate students don’t know any of it, they don’t know what the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is, they’ve never read it or heard of it,” said McFarland. “I wanted to develop that course simply because I saw it as such a void, that students really did not have a grip of understanding. They may be activists in a certain area but in terms of having a broad view, very, very few students had that. I only gained it by filling my library with books on human rights, reading tons, and saying ‘okay, let’s organize this into a course.’”

While teaching the class, McFarland wanted the students to look beyond themselves and into other marginalized groups in order to get a broader awareness.

“I wanted to be sure [the course] focused them on a broader world, and did not have a kind of self-focus,” McFarland said. “So that was my general philosophy of teaching that course, and teaching in general frankly. And that was just a manifestation of the kind of philosophy I had.”

Now, McFarland is focused on writing about these issues, publishing an accessible overview of human rights that he updates every 18 months on the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s Science and

rel Brewery and Alltech Lexington Brewing and Distilling Co. Aimee Bettersworth, who has been on the council for about a year, said each person on the council works hard to make the event a success.

Some members don’t who don’t live in Bowling Green, but each member does what they can to make the event happen.

Bettersworth said the event was a success, and she’s excited to keep it around in the future.

“It’s good to see a lot of alumni coming back as well as new faces and meeting their significant others for some of them,” she said. “Just having those conversations with people that we probably wouldn’t have been able to meet had this event not happened is great.”

Big Red could even be seen among the crowd, posing for pictures and livening up the crowd. Many different booths and red balloons lined the street as people sipped on their favorite drinks. Guests could enter raffles, Human Rights Coalition titled “Human Rights 101: A Brief College-Level Overview.”

“When I finished teaching in 2013, I said ‘what is needed is an easy to read download that anyone can download for a one or two day reading over human rights, that gives an overview,” McFarland said.

The idea behind the document is to allow free, easy access to more updated information regarding human rights.

“There are positives and negatives, but those kind of need to be updated periodically,” McFarland said. “The idea is that anybody can download this and use it but let’s keep it in one basic place where everybody links to the latest, updated version.”

McFarland believes students at WKU can have an impact on the world if they have a broader understanding of the big picture.

“I’m more interested in how students at WKU can affect human rights,” McFarland said. “WKU students, if you look at the world, are a very privileged group of people, and I want them to understand that. In comparison to the rest of the world, I want them to understand the plight of the Syrian refugees.”

Today, much of McFarland’s activism is focused on supporting organizations dedicated to human rights, and writing to bring more awareness to the issue.

“I think my activism today is more

play corn hole or head over to the photo booth as well.

Allie Sharp, the coordinator of Student and Young Alumni Engagement, said they hope to continue the festival for years to come due to its success this year and last year. Sharp has been involved with the Young Alumni Council for nearly two years.

Zach Wedding, who is the president-elect for the Young Alumni Council, said he loves the event and thinks it is an excellent way to get money for the scholarship fund. Wedding also received the young alumni of the year award this year.

Wedding said Sharp has helped to make the event special this year.

“She has really made the biggest difference,” he said.

He said this year they added promotional items with different vendors from around the Bowling Green area.

“I think people have really liked being able to have other little shops and things around Bowling Green that

they can learn more about.”

Wedding said there is quite a bit of planning that goes on behind the scenes for the event. The members of the council are divided into subcommittees based on different things such as vendors and beers. He also said there is a lot of effort put into the registration process as well as the design and promotional items.

Dana Myers, who attended the event with her parents said she enjoyed the festivities. Myers attended the University of Kentucky, but currently lives in Bowling Green.

“It’s nice to try a little bit of everything to see what kind of beer you like; I know everyone has different tastes,” she said. “It’s just a nice, sunny day to be outside.”

Reporter Anna Lawson can be reached at 270-745-2655 and anna. lawson850@topper.wku.edu

Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Human Rights for Honors College, Sam McFarland, is currently working on an American Psychological Association Task Report that will go to the American Psychological Association to inform individuals about human rights. EBONY COX/HERALD through support of organizations than it is through street-level activism, or protest activism, although I have been involved in quite a bit of that,” McFarland said. “It’s not a kind of on the street activism, it’s kind of a supporting of organizations, and writing, and trying to be more aware and alert with regard to human rights.”

McFarland is active in the American Psychological Association’s Task Force on Human Rights, and gives

occasional lectures at WKU, while most of his time is filled with writing. McFarland is also currently working on a book that he hopes will outline some of the most influential figures in human rights. He plans to move to Georgia and finish this book shortly.

Reporter Kalee Chism can be reached at 270-745-2655 and kalee. chism704@topper.wku.edu.

Shyamrock

LIQUORS

6-10

ONLY $15.99

OLIVER

April

FIREBALL

NOW SELLING CIGARS!

ONLY $6.99

Receive $50-$200 Trek Gift Card 12 month 0% interest on Trek Credit Card qualifying purchase!

JIM BEAM

with qualifying purchase!

ONLY $15.99 ASK ABOUT BEER SPECIALS UPON ARRIVAL!

APRIL 4, 2017

B3

Hilltoppers embracing new techniques in spring practice

Redshirt sophomore wide receiver Lucky Jackson (11) runs through an obstacle during practice on Tuesday, March 28 at L.T. Smith Stadium. SHABAN ATHUMAN/HERALD

BY JOHN REECER HERALD.SPORTS@WKU.EDU The WKU football team has been sharpening up in spring practice for the past two weeks as they get ready for the upcoming season, and new Head Coach Mike Sanford has been employing some new techniques with his new squad.

One such strategy is lessening focus on keeping the practice scripted as it has been in the past at WKU. Instead, Sanford and company let the Hilltoppers simply “play football” as they let different situations come up organi-

JOHNSON

Continued from SPORTS impressed by the basketball player’s performance during drills.

“Justin [Haddix] would have scouts come in, and he would bring me down,” Johnson said. “I would work for the scouts. That’s when Neal [Brown] said you have a spot to play at Kentucky. They wanted me to come there even without any high school experience.”

Johnson passed on the offer and accepted a basketball scholarship to WKU where he’s been the Hilltopper’s leading scorer the past two seasons.

First-year WKU head football coach Mike Sanford said he first met Johnson in February at Sigma Chi fraternity’s philanthropy event, “Fight Night” when Johnson first mentioned his interest in playing football.

“I had watched him play basketball and was a huge fan of how he plays,” Sanford told the BG Daily News. “He

BASEBALL

Continued from SPORTS Game three was an offensive onslaught for Southern Miss, and an exercise in futility for WKU. The Golden Eagles hit five home runs and scored 13 in a 13-1 blowout.

The USM home run derby started early, as both Storme Cooper and Daniel Keating homered in the second inning. Keating’s was a three-run bomb to give the Golden Eagles a 4-0

is the early usage of headsets in practice by coaches to better prepare the Hilltoppers for game-like situations.

“We just want to get our communication to a season-like level sooner than the season,” Sanford said. “It just allows us to communicate with one voice. We want to create that excitement and chaos at practice because players are going to have to respond to those environments to beat Illinois and Vanderbilt. We have to put them in those tense situations early on and get our communication from our coaching staff and from a play-calling standpoint where it needs to be.”

Last Friday’s practice was the Hilltoppers’ first practice of the spring in full pads, and Sanford was very pleased with what he saw on the field.

“Today was a great day,” Sanford said. “It was the first-day doing live football. Today we got a chance to see and evaluate who are our best blockers and who are our best playmakers when it’s a live, move the ball situation. We also wanted to see what kind of physicality we have on both sides of the football.”

In the session, Sanford said the defense came out strong and was able to limit what the offense was able to do.

However, that other side of the ball would finish practice on a very high note.

“It was good to see the offense bounce back and have three touchdown-scoring drives to even things out towards the end of the day,” Sanford said of the offense. “I like where we are at as a team. Practices are extremely energetic and competitive. This is a group that loves playing football.”

cally.

“Sometimes as coaches, we want to just have periods that are segmented,” Sanford said after practice on Friday.

“But when you play the game and actually move the ball, a lot of those situations come up naturally, and players start to condition themselves mentally for those situations.”

Sanford said he got this technique from University of Oklahoma Head Coach Bob Stoops during Sanford’s time as an assistant at the University of Notre Dame.

“One thing they do in their practices is that they just play football,” Sanford

said of Stoops’ team. “Whether it’s a live period or a tag-off period, they just allow those situations to come up organically.”

Sanford added that University of Michigan Head Coach Jim Harbaugh also uses this technique to keep practices fresh for his players.

“One time there was a practice early on in spring ball, and he was tired of scripting all the plays,” Sanford said of Harbaugh. “He didn’t want to follow it, so he tore it up, put the ball on the 20 and said let’s play ball.”

Another technique the team is using

mentioned something about how he has a history of playing football, and it was something he had interest in doing down the road. Of course, I said to him, ‘Hey, this is something for a later day. You’re in the middle of basketball season. If you have the urge to do it, you have to communicate with coach [Rick] Stansbury before we really go forward with anything.”

Johnson began practicing with the Hilltoppers last Tuesday and is adapting to a system that is new to every player on the roster.

Johnson said he and senior quarterback Mike White are good friends.

Chemistry could be important between the two considering the forward could end up being one White’s favorite targets in the future. During last Thursday’s practice, White found his new tight end on a seam route. Johnson caught the pass and found his way into the end zone, dunking the football over the goalpost in a fashion WKU fans saw throughout the basketball

season.

“That was my first touchdown of spring, so they made a big deal out of it,” Johnson said. “Coach Sanford said there’s only two rules: First ever touchdown, dunk it through the goal posts and take the penalty. The second one, get the rest of your arm tatted, so you look mean.”

Unlike Fant, Johnson may not have as much trouble finding playing time at the tight end position.

As of now, redshirt senior Deon Yelder and redshirt freshman Kyle Fourtenbary are the only other tight ends listed on WKU’s roster for the spring.

Neither of those two caught a pass last season.

Elder made his impact primarily on special teams while Fourtenbary redshirted his first season on the Hill.

“Any time you get a third confident body, it’s going to help that entire group,” tight ends coach Ryan Mahaffey said. “Early on, I think he has a bet-

ter grasp of the offense than I’ve given him credit for. We’re just making sure he’s being put in a position to go out there and be successful. We’re making sure we’re getting him to where he needs to be so the other 10 guys can go out there and operate. He’s doing a nice job in terms of his knowledge of the offense.”

Johnson and the Hilltoppers will continue to practice through spring ball up until the Red-White Spring game on April 22. Johnson says he still plans on playing basketball next season.

“I’m just taking it one day at a time, and we’ll see how it goes,” Johnson said.

“We’ll see where it leads me. I just want to try it. What happens, happens.”

lead.

Keating homered again in the fourth, and that was followed up by a home run from Bryant Bowen in the fifth and a bomb by Matt Wallner in the sixth.

Fittingly, WKU’s only run of game three came on a Thomas Peter home run, his sixth of the season. That was also their only hit.

USM’s J.C. Keys shut WKU down, pitching a complete game, and giving up just one hit, which was Peter’s

home run.

After the sweep, Pawlowski was sure to find positives, even though there weren’t many.

“One positive is I thought we pitched very well,” Pawlowski said.

“Ryan Thurston pitched very well Friday night, I thought Paul Kirkpatrick pitched very well [Saturday]. I think those guys need to continue to solidify their spots in the rotation. I thought in spots we played good defense, but when you lose three games

in a weekend, a lot of negatives overshadow the positives so we’re going to keep drawing out those positives, learn from out negatives and move forward.”

WKU will hold their next game at Nick Denes Field on Tuesday against the Murray State Racers at 5 p.m.

Reporter John Reecer can be reached at 270-427-8320 and john.reecer104@ topper.wku.edu. Follow him on Twitter at @Reece_12_Falcon.

Reporter Sam Porter can be reached at 270-799-8247and sam.porter270@ gmail.com Follow him on Twitter at @ SammyP14.

Reporter Jeremy Chisenhall can be reached at 859-760-0198 and jeremy. chisenhall921@topper.wku.edu. Follow him on Twitter at @JSChisenhall.

Wkuherald.com WKu's no. 1 source for campus news MINOR IN Gender & Women’s

FOLLOW US

STUDIES

wkuherald

@wkuherald

@wkuherald

A program of the Department of Diversity and Community Studies For more information, go to www.wku.edu/gws

APRIL 4, 2017 > WESTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY

WKUHERALD.COM

SPORTS

» Football: Hilltoppers adjusting to new style under Mike Sanford.

WKU records five top-10 finishes in Florida Relays

BY JEREMY CHISENHALL HERALD.SPORTS@WKU.EDU

The WKU Track and Field team produced solid results in the Pepsi Florida Relays this past weekend, recording five top-10 finishes.

Three of the top-10 finishes were in the top five finishing spots. Ninety other schools were competing, 12 of which were ranked in the top 25.

WKU was also the only non-power five school to have a top-25 team at the meet, as the men’s team entered competition ranked No. 23.

“I thought we had a good meet,” Head Coach Erik Jenkins said, per release. “It’s a really good start as we faced premier teams, world-class athletes and performed well at a high-profile track and field meet.”

Emmanuel Dasor, Julius Morris, Ventavius Sears and Eli Minor teamed up in the 4x100 meter race to record a fifth-place finish, running a time of 38.91. Dasor also recorded a top-five finish on his own, running a 45.93 in the 400-meter dash and finishing in fourth. Morgan McIntyre also had a top-five finish in the triple jump, clearing a height of 3.85 meters to finish in fourth.

Sears recorded his second top-10 finish of the day with a 7.09-meter jump in the long jump, which was good enough for 10th.

Jenessa Jackson also finished 10th in the shot put, with a throw of 14.20 meters. Jackson also competed in the discus event, throwing 41.37 meters, as well as the hammer throw, recording a distance of 52.35 meters and placing 23rd.

Maor Seged fell just outside of the top-10 in the 400-meter hurdles, running a time of 52.33 and finishing 11th. Jonathan Hayden also ran in the 400-meter hurdles, running a 53.49 and finishing 16th. He also finished 16th in the 110-meter hurdles, with a time of 14.12. Both were personal bests for Hayden.

Kaila Smith finished just inside the top-15 in the women’s 400-meter hurdles, running a 1:00.21 to finish 15th.

That was a personal best for her.

The women’s 4x200m team featured Ariel Terrell, Peli Alzola, Khadijah Valentine and Jadzia Beasley, and they ran a 1:38.09 to finish 24th.

Beasley also competed in the 100-meter dash, running a time of 11.80 to finish 32nd.

Valentine competed in the 400-meter, running a time of 57.22 and finishing 51st.

WKU’s next meet will be at home.

They’ll be hosting the annual Hilltopper Relays at the Charles M. Reuter Track and Field Complex at WKU on April 7 and 8.

Reporter Jeremy Chisenhall can be reached at 859-760-0198 and jeremy. chisenhall921@topper.wku.edu. Follow him on Twitter at @JSChisenhall.

Junior tight end Justin Johnson, left, works out with red shirt freshmen Kyle Fourtenbary on Tuesday March 28 at L.T. Smith Stadium. SHABAN ATHUMAN/HERALD

hardwood to the

Gridiron Justin Johnson’s transition to football shouldn’t come as a surprise

BY SAM PORTER

HERALD.SPORTS@WKU.EDU

Many people were shocked when they found out the leading scorer for the WKU basketball team, Justin Johnson, decided to participate in spring football with one year of basketball eligibility left.

But others weren’t shocked considering the decision comes just one year after former Hilltopper George Fant made the transition from basketball to football as well. Fant’s decision worked out well for him, as he started

10 games at left tackle for the Seattle Seahawks during his rookie season.

“To be honest, it had nothing to do with George,” Johnson said. “It’s always been in the back of my mind.

You can ask George. My freshman year, I told him ‘Maybe if basketball doesn’t work out, I might try football.’

That was before he even played football. It’s always been in the back of my mind and something I thought I should try.”

However, Fant’s successful transition shouldn’t be why fans aren’t surprised by Johnson’s decision.

This isn’t the first time Johnson has been scouted to play football.

Justin Haddix, a former WKU quarterback, was the head football coach at Johnson’s high school Perry County Central High when Johnson was enrolled there. Despite not playing football since middle school, Johnson said he still participated in 7 on 7, and Haddix would bring him down when scouts visited.

Neal Brown, a former University of Kentucky offensive coordinator, was one of those scouts and was

SEE JOHNSON PAGE B3

WKU offense goes cold in series loss to Southern Miss

Jeff Jones shaves WKU junior Devon Loomis’ head after WKU’s loss to Southern Miss on Saturday at Nick Denis Field. Jones along with his teammates shaved their heads in support of those battling cancer. SILAS WALKER/HERALD

BY JEREMY CHISENHALL HERALD.SPORTS@WKU.EDU Due to some major offensive struggles, the WKU baseball team lost its weekend

series with the top-25 ranked Southern Miss Golden Eagles, getting swept 3-0.

Over the course of the series, WKU had just 14 hits and two runs and left 22 runners

on base.

“They’re a championship level ball team,” Head Coach John Pawlowski said of Southern Miss. “They can pitch it they can hit it, they can play

defense, that’s a very good quality team. We certainly were not at that level, certainly [Sunday]. I thought Friday and Saturday we had some opportunities, but not many.

They certainly deserved to win, that’s a very good ball club over there.”

Game one was a 6-1 loss for WKU, as the Hilltoppers couldn’t come through with guys on, leaving 10 runners on base. Both teams had nine hits, but moving runners over and in was a much different story for each side.

Southern Miss got out to a quick lead, scoring two runs in the first inning with a double from center fielder Matt Wallner. The Golden Eagles didn’t look back, as they scored the game’s next five runs after that, including a solo home run from Wallner in the eighth.

WKU wasn’t able to muster a fight until the ninth inning when Paul Murray scored a run on a ground-out by Nathan Methvin.

Southern Miss starting pitcher Kirk McCarty was dominant, going 8.0 innings and giving up no runs on six

hits. He struck out 11 batters.

Ryan Thurston pitched well for WKU, but couldn’t get the win without run support. He went 7.0 innings, giving up four hits and three runs.

Game two was much of the same story, as WKU fell 5-0 in a game where they just couldn’t drive in runs.

The Hilltoppers left eight runners on base, including once leaving the bases loaded.

They went 0-6 with runners in scoring position.

The scoring didn’t start for USM until the fourth inning when LeeMarcus Boyd singled to right field to score Cole Donaldson. They scored again in the seventh when Taylor Braley hit a two-run home run, and then capped off their lead with a two-run eighth.

USM’s Hayden Roberts only went 5.1 innings as the starter but shut WKU down.

He gave up just four hits and didn’t allow a run. WKU’s Paul Kirkpatrick had a decent outing, giving up 10 hits and three runs in 6.1 innings, but again the Hilltoppers couldn’t provide run support.

SEE BASEBALL PAGE B3