March 28, 2017

READ WHAT PROFESSORS HAVE TO SAY ABOUT FAKE NEWS

CHECK OUT OUR COVERAGE OF A SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION EVENT

NEWS, PAGE A3

LIFE, PAGE B1

TTUESDAY, UESDAY, MARCH MARCH 228, 8, 22017 017 > W WESTERN ESTERN KKENTUCKY ENTUCKY UUNIVERSITY NIVERSITY > VVOLUME OLUME 992, 2, IISSUE SSUE 4422

AG intervenes in Herald lawsuit

BY EMMA AUSTIN HERALD.NEWS@WKU.EDU

tion plan to the Board.

Using the carry forward funds may reduce one-time purchases such as equipment, maintanence and computer purchases.

According to information provided by Mead, over 60 percent of the $4 million total came from Academic Affairs. The total also drew from carry forward amounts from Athletics, Student Affairs, Finance and Administration, Information Technology, Development and Alumni Relations, Public Affairs and General Counsel.

“There may be some unfairness in how this year’s budget is being settled, but next year it will be completely equitable in how the carry forward is used to balance next year’s budget,” Ransdell said.

During the meeting, Ransdell also presented Kentucky’s new performance-based method for funding

Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear filed a motion last Thursday to intervene in WKU’s lawsuit against the Herald and the Kentucky Kernel, the University of Kentucky’s student newspaper, to defend his ruling WKU violated Kentucky’s Open Records Act. WKU filed the lawsuit on Feb. 25 after Beshear’s opinion in January ruled WKU had violated open records laws by refusing to release Title IX records related to employee sexual misconduct as requested by the Herald and the Kernel.

After WKU refused to provide the records to the Herald in November, Beshear requested to review the withheld documents. WKU refused to provide the records to the Attorney General’s office, who then requested redacted copies of the records to protect the names of students, which WKU again refused to provide.

According to Beshear’s motion to intervene, WKU’s refusal to provide his office with the records “severely impaired the Attorney General’s ability to issue a reasoned open records decision in the matter.”

The motion stated “The Attorney General must protect the Commonwealth from the harm that the University’s unlawful actions will cause.”

“It’s a significant development,” Michael Abate, the attorney representing the Herald in the lawsuit, said. “The Attorney General almost never takes the step of intervening in a pending open records decision, so it’s a pretty big deal.”

In the lawsuit, WKU expressed its controversy is with the Attorney General’s decision ruling WKU violated the Open Records Act, not with the Herald or the Kernel.

According to a press release from the AG office, “An appeal by the Attorney General carries the force of law unless a decision by his office is challenged in circuit court. WKU is challenging Beshear’s decision by suing the student newspapers since a university cannot sue the Attorney General.”

In its response to the lawsuit, the Herald denied WKU’s allegations that disclosure of the requested records would “significantly stifle complainants from reporting sex and/or gender-based discrimination” and

SEE REGENTS PAGE A2

SEE INTERVENE PAGE A2

J. David Porter and John W. Ridley greet each other before the Board of Regents meeting on Friday. The meeting covered a solution to the 2017 revenue shortfall, and the Ogden college merger. President Gary Ransdell proposed Kentucky’s new performance-based method for funding public universities during the meeting. GRACE PRITCHETT/HERALD

Patched

Solution to budget shortfall shores up for another year

BY JAMIE WILLIAMS

HERALD.NEWS@WKU.EDU

T

he Board of Regents discussed a solution to the 2017 tuition revenue shortfall, Kentucky’s new performance-based funding for public universities and consolidation of several Ogden College departments during its meeting Friday.

The Board presented a budget reallocation plan in response to a projected tuition shortfall for the 2017 fiscal year. This shortfall is estimated to amount to $6.5 million and is likely due to declining enrollment of international and non-traditional students.

“If we would have had a $6.5 million shortfall to balance the budget — if that would have happened 10 or 15 or especially 20 years ago…we would not have had solutions,” President Gary Ransdell said.

To address the projected shortfall ($6.5 million): Approximately $1.7 million will be reallocated from one-time reserves of Division of Extended Learning and Outreach (DELO) and Health Services.

Another $767k will be allocated from various projected surpluses in scholarships, fellowships and other sources.

The bulk of the reallocation — approximately $4 million — will come from carry forward funds.

Two-thirds of $4 million was made up of carry forward funds departments had already been reserving in anticipation of the projected shortfall.

“That helped tremendously to be able to bring this forward for a balanced $6.5,” said Ann Mead, vice president for Finance and Administration, who presented the realloca-

Students adapt to construction of residence halls

BY ERIAN BRADLEY HERALD.NEWS@WKU.EDU Last December, construction began on both Southwest and Northeast Hall for international students and honors students residencies. The lobbies in both residence halls were torn down, and the construction has since been underway.

Brian Kuster, executive director of the Student Life Foundation, said the plan was to make the residence halls more commercial by creating three levels. He said a goal of the remodel of the lobbies is to make students more interactive.

“There will be more space in the buildings … more space for interaction between students,” Kuster said.

There are also plans for mass kitchens to be built in the dorms. Kuster said he anticipates the larger kitchens increasing the amount of students who cook in the residence halls. There will also be times for chefs to come in and teach a class or two, creating a program in the hall to help students learn how to cook on campus.

“We really envision students interacting more and cooking together in these kitchens,” Kuster said. “There will be tables where people can eat

and have group studying.”

The remodel in the residence halls will make it more accessible to students. Students were at first unable to get to the lobby without taking the stairs to the first floor to a small area.

Kuster said the first floor will be more accessible by connecting the west and south halls, allowing students to walk straight to the building on the other side. The second and third floors will consist of a kitchen, study rooms, and a theater for students to hang out in. He said that the study rooms will resemble the glass private study rooms in Downing Student Union.

“We needed to make more options for students,” Kuster said.

While some students may assume WKU will raise the rates on these residence halls. Kuster said there will be no extra increase other than the two percent increase already in place every year.

“The project will be funded by the Student Life Foundation,” he said.

“All students who live on campus pay a certain cost each year, and that won’t change.”

Some students are not as excited for the new remodel on the residence halls. They said the construction is a

Complete Construction of Kentucky employee, Danny Taylor, 64, works at on Monday at Northeast Hall. Taylor said he has been working at the site on and off for a few weeks. KATHRYN ZIESIG/HERALD distraction and makes the residence halls less diverse.

Other students said the project is just what the residence halls needed.

“I’m excited to see what the lobby will look like after the construction is done,” junior desk clerk Chelsea Denhard said. “Hopefully, it will be nice and the residents can finally enjoy

their stay.”

Kuster said the first-floor lobbies should be done by August 2017 and other floors will follow in September.

Reporter Erian Bradley can be reached at (270) 745-0655 and erian. bradley832@topper.wku.edu.

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MARCH 28, 2017

COLLEGE HEIGHTS HERALD

New legislation affects students’ free speech

BY JAMIE WILLIAMS HERALD.NEWS@WKU.EDU Gov. Matt Bevin has signed a new bill that could affect students’ First Amendment rights on K-12 and college campuses.

Senate Bill 17 allows students to express any religious or political viewpoints free from discrimination. The bill also states student organizations can not be discriminated against in its internal affairs, meaning any student organization can deny a student entry based on a difference in political or religious beliefs.

SB 17 includes several other provisions for freedom of religious or political speech including ensuring prepared student remarks are not altered without consent, allowing religious and secular student organizations equal access to facilities and that students are free to wear clothing with printed religious messages.

The bill also includes protections for teachers using the Bible or other scripture in class, as long as they are not providing religious instruction. Students are also permitted to express political and religious viewpoints during class discussions and

REGENTS

Continued from front

public universities. Ransdell was the chair of the Postsecondary Education Working Group which submitted the proposal to state government.

In the new plan, 35 percent of allocable resources will be distributed to universities based on student success outcomes or the number of degrees awarded. Another 35 percent will be awarded based on total number of students’ earned credit hours.

The remaining 30 percent will be distributed among universities based

INTERVENE

Continued from front

the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, FERPA, protects the requested files from public disclosure.

The Herald’s response also denies the AG decision was “erroneous,” as stated in the lawsuit, and the AG

assignments free from discrimination.

“Senate Bill 17 is a free speech bill that some of our faculty are a little stressed over,” President Gary Ransdell said during the Board of Regents meeting Friday. “I don’t know that it will have a dramatic impact on us, but I expect this one will get tested at some point.”

SB 17 was authored in response to an incident where an elementary school cut Bible verses out of its performance of “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” While the elementary school did decide to cut the scripture from its play, federal law states the school had complete freedom to keep the verses in their entirety.

Legislators went on to author SB 17 amidst the controversy that Christians in Kentucky were victims of discrimination.

Advocacy groups such as the Human Rights Campaign have expressed concern this non-discrimination bill would actually incite more discrimination against political and religious minority groups. The Fairness Campaign said the bill is “redundant, unnecessary, [and] overly broad” since the protections it provides are already offered by the First

Amendment.

Student Government Association President Jay Todd Richey expressed concern with how the bill would affect discrimination policy among student organizations. During the Board of Regents meeting, Richey said he read the bill as protecting student organizations that would want to deny entry to students of certain races or religions.

WKU General Counsel Deborah Wilkins and Ransdell said they did not interpret the bill in this way.

“I think what this statute does is simply make what we had already been doing — WKU and other universities — statutory, because we’ve had non-discrimination policies in place for decades,” Wilkins said.

Wilkins gave the example that if a Jewish student organization wanted to limit its members to only members of the Jewish religion, that would be acceptable. However, if they wanted to limit their members to only white Jewish students, that would be a problem under WKU’s non-discrimination policy.

Richey also said the bill fails to define exactly what a political student organization would be. He gave the example that the WKU Student Co-

alition for Renters’ Rights advocate for students’ housing rights to lawmakers, but they don’t technically support a specific political affiliation.

For now, it seems unclear how the bill will affect groups like these.

Some members of the SGA have already begun working on a response to SB 17. If approved, the new bill would require student organizations to affirm a statement of non-discrimination before receiving any funding from the SGA. “It’s very simple,” Richey said.

“SGA is not going to subsidize discrimination.”

While WKU already has its own statement of non-discrimination, the SGA will have its own version to be signed by student organizations that apply for SGA funding. The SGA’s statement will include protections for students’ gender identity — a clause not included in university policy.

The SGA senate will vote on the new bill during its meeting tonight.

on campus facilities, campus administrative functions and academic support services such as libraries or computers.

The plan will include an adjustment for smaller institutions to minimize impact on smaller campuses.

Ransdell said since the plan has a set formula, it will eliminate the need for universities to advocate for funding. If the higher education budget receives more funding, it will continue to be distributed to schools using the same formula.

“For 20 years they’ve been dragging me to Frankfort to fight for this and fight for that come every budget

session,” Ransdell said. “This takes the politics out of the appropriation of higher education funding. No president needs to go and fight for funding within the higher ed budget.”

The Board also approved the consolidation of three departments of the Ogden College of Science and Engineering. The Engineering, Architectural and Manufacturing Sciences and Computer Science departments will be consolidated into the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

“We’re very excited about this,” Cheryl Stevens, dean of the Ogden College, said. “This is such a great

opportunity for Ogden College and for the disciplines of engineering, architecture and manufacturing and computer science.”

Students in these majors comprise almost half of those in the Ogden College. The consolidation will allow the departments to share resources to better serve students and allow them to work together on projects.

The Board of Regents’ next quarterly meeting will be on April 28.

decision is contrary to the Kentucky Open Records Act and FERPA. WKU’s lawsuit stated the case is “virtually identical” to the Fayette Circuit Court case in which the University of Kentucky appealed the AG decision that UK provide requested records to the Kernel, which the Herald’s response also denied.

When he visited WKU last month to speak about a sexual assault awareness campaign, Beshear told a Herald reporter he strongly disagrees with both WKU’s and UK’s claims that withholding the public records protects sexual assault victims.

“A bad actor could call anything a FERPA document,” Beshear said.

“I’d never be able to see it as Attorney General in our legally confidential process, and they could get away with hiding a lot of things.”

Reporter Jamie Williams can be reached at 270-745-6011 and jamie. williams539@topper.wku.edu.

Reporter Jamie Williams can be reached at 270-745-6011 and jamie. williams539@topper.wku.edu.

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

MARCH 28, 2017

A3

COLLEGE HEIGHTS HERALD

Featured watercolor artist to visit, teach class

BY SALLY WEGERT

HERALD.NEWS@WKU.EDU The International Year of South Korea is bringing watercolor artist Steve Cavallo to WKU on Wednesday and Thursday.

Cavallo’s work is currently on display in an exhibit titled “Breaking the Silence: Where Have You Been, My Daughter?” in the corridor gallery of the Fine Arts Center. The exhibit features visual portrayals of comfort women, a term referring to the thousands of Korean women displaced and forced into sex slavery during the Japanese military occupancy of their country in World War II. According to his artist statement, Cavallo’s artwork has often “gravitated towards the issues of the abused, the misguided and the oppressed.”

He thoroughly researched the topic of comfort women and spent time with surviving victims of human trafficking at the House of Sharing in Gwang Ju, South Korea while painting the Comfort Women series.

“A common thread throughout my work has been a focus on ‘the victim’

- the innocent person who had fallen prey to the cruelty of life, but has traveled on,” Cavallo said.

The topic of comfort women is particularly sensitive for Miwon Choe, a South Korean native, who is an associate professor of art education. Choe became interested in these women’s stories while she was a college student and said they were a main influence in her decision to be an educator as she came to an understanding of what she wanted to do.

“It feels a little like post-traumatic syndrome, even though it happened a long time ago,” Choe said. “These are young girls, and they weren’t as lucky as I was when I was in college.

The only fault of these girls is that they were poor.”

Choe said these women’s stories touched her profoundly, and she hopes students will be able to “see a little bit of their own reflection” in the women and their experiences represented in Cavallo’s watercolor paintings.

There will be an artist presentation at 5:30 p.m. in room 156 in FAC followed by an exhibition reception at 6:30 p.m. in the main gallery on

Steve Cavallo’s art exhibit in FAC on Monday. The exhibit portrays women who have been abused or mistreated. The name of the piece is “Breaking the Silence: Where Have You Been, My Daughter?” SILAS WALKER/HERALD Wednesday. The following day, Cavallo will be teaching a watercolor painting class from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in FAC room 425. The class is free and open to the campus community.

All materials necessary to participate will be provided, but it is asked that

participants bring a “memory piece,” such as a photograph, to inspire their watercolor painting for the session.

Reporter Sally Wegert can be reached at (270)745-0655 and sallywegert@ gmail.com.

Professors discuss facts, fake news

BY KACIE BROCKMAN

HERALD.NEWS@WKU.EDU Two professors teamed up last Thursday to teach students “how to spot fake news” at an event hosted by the Residence Hall Association.

Associate art professor Guy Jordan and journalism professor Mac McKerral led the discussion on how to avoid falling for click-bait schemes and fake news websites.

“Knowing things allows you to know the scope of your own ignorance, which is really important,” Jordan said.

Jordan’s main point of his portion of the lecture was “facts are not trivial.” He said building upon knowledge makes contextual associations which allows a student to make sense of those facts in relation to one another.

Based on the idea of how to avoid fake news, Jordan said one’s instinct, comprised of knowledge and expe-

rience, leads people to understand when they are being deceived by forms of fake news.

“In the age of Photoshop, take every image you see with a grain of salt,” Jordan said and gave an example of how to spot fake photographs.

He showed a picture that had showed up in multiple major newspapers of an Iranian missile launch in 2008. The photo showed four missiles being launched; however, evidence showed that Photoshop was used on the image to duplicate the real amount of missiles and created more than were actually present.

McKerral began by saying fake news is not a new thing and has been around since news began to circulate.

McKerral said in a way, the term “fake news” is being branded and is showing up in the vernacular that is used today in the news.

“I’ve not watched one television interview in the past three weeks

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where someone from the administration is being interviewed where they didn’t use the term fake news,” McKerral said.

McKerral provided a list of the types of fake news to be aware of: propaganda, sponsored content or advertising, video news releases, parody/comedy and “fake news” which is driven through social media.

Following that list, he provided a list of ways to reduce one’s risk of being duped by fake news. These included: don’t pass it on, find the primary documents, media literacy, “social media beware!”, fact-checking drills, use the tools, set aside the politics and “opinionists” are not necessarily journalists.

McKerral said more online information has been archived digitally in the last two years than ever before in the history of digitalization.

He said a factor that makes our society more prone to being duped by fake news is “the very polarized and

very political environment that we live in.”

“Everything that we do these days is either red or blue; everything is liberal or conservative,” McKerral said.

When asked if she had ever been duped by fake news before, Liz Vian, a member of the Residence Hall Association and attendee of the event, said, “I can’t think of a specific time when I have been, but people don’t realize it. They don’t go back and look at things.”

After both professors gave their speeches, they opened the floor to have a discussion with the audience members and took any questions.

The meeting lasted roughly an hour and a half.

“We create technology, but technology also creates us,” Jordan said during closing remarks.

Reporter Kacie Brockman can be reached at (270) 745-0655 and kacie. brockman271@topper.wku.edu.

MARCH 28, 2017> WESTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY

WKUHERALD.COM EDITORIAL

OPINION

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.

Money Model Performance-based funding would harm WKU

THE ISSUE: With the recent passage of Senate Bill 153, Kentucky will begin implementing a new model for higher education funding based around different metrics of performance and other criteria.

OUR STANCE: Not only will this model harm WKU, but in the long-run will have negative effects on higher education in Kentucky, and at a time when higher education has been continuously under attack.

S

ince last year, talk has surrounded a new model of funding for higher education in the state.

Kentucky has been looking towards changing state allocations to performance-based models under the vision of Gov. Matt Bevin.

At the last Board of Regents meeting, President Gary Ransdell laid out the blueprint for Kentucky’s new performance-based method for funding public universities.

Here’s an outline of the plan: Thirty-five percent of allocable resources are distributed to universities based on the number of degrees awarded.

Another 35 percent will be awarded based on the total number of students’ earned credit hours.

The remaining 30 percent of the pie will be distributed amongst universities based on campus facilities, campus administrative functions and academic support services, such as libraries.

The way the model would work is under the current state budget five percent of higher education base funding will be put into a pool. At WKU, this amounts to almost $4 million. So, when you think of the pool don’t think of a kiddie pool, but one with a gold plated slide, platinum encrusted diving board and a boat. Also, the boat has a crew who make $12.50 an hour.

Ransdell was appointed by Bevin as the chair of a workgroup charged with defining the funding model.

Ransdell said, in his 2016 August convocation, the workgroup had formed a model which would “accomodate historic performance, rather than a goals approach which only measures future performance.”

“And that’s good for us at WKU,” he said.

Except, performance-based funding isn’t only not good for WKU, and Kentucky, but there’s large disagreement as to whether or not it even benefits states such as Ohio or Tennessee, which Bevin’s plans have drawn comparisons from.

Starting with WKU, many of the criteria drawn under this plan deals with enrollment and retention. Which is to say, how many students can WKU get in the door and how many can WKU prevent from walking back out. Both are areas WKU has continually struggled with, especially within just the last decade.

Enrollment itself was given as a primary reason for the university’s recent $6.5 million budget shortfall.

Additional metrics underneath the new plan base funding around STEM+Health degree production.

Yet, WKU has always produced more undergraduate and graduate degrees outside of STEM fields, especially in comparison with the universities of Kentucky and Louisville.

While most states have started to restore higher education funding after the recession, Kentucky has continued to reduce funding, according to a 2015 report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Kentucky has continually reduced state funding for education, placing the financial burden on the backs of students, and now we’re expected to perform well on arbitrary metrics for money that’s hardly available.

Under the new model, there could also be unintended consequences which would have a negative impact on low-income, adult, minority and academically underprepared students, according to the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy.

“While the proposed model does indicate specific metrics for degree attainment for low-income and minority students, the bill does not specify what shares of the funding they will be,” Ashley Spalding writes in the KY Policy Blog.

Additionally, it’s not just Kentucky facing these consequences. States such as Ohio and Tennessee which have had these sort of performance driven models before Kentucky, have seen problems.

Findings of a 2014 survey of college administrators in Indiana, Ohio and Tennessee conducted by the Community College Research Center found colleges may deal with these funding formulas by using grade inflation or admitting fewer at-risk students.

Weakened academic standards were cited as concerns by respondents as well as the costs of compliance with performance funding, lower morale, narrowing of institution mission and threats to faculty role in governance.

Some of these may already sound familiar here at WKU such as: weakened academic standards, lower morale and threats to faculty role in governance. We doubt implementing a model which has faculty concerned elsewhere about these issues will somehow improve the already existing issues here.

Nicholas Hillman, an assistant professor of education at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, argued in a report published by The Century Foundation that performance models should give schools incentive to support students, but rarely result in positive outcomes.

“While pay-for-performance is a compelling concept in theory, it has consistently failed to bear fruit in actual implementation, whether in the higher education context or in other public services,” Hillman writes.

However, this is now the new reality for higher education in the state. One we believe to be misguided. Our only hope is in three years time when they evaluate the model to ensure there are no unintended consequences that there are, in fact, none.

But our opinion is that not only will this adversely affect WKU, but Kentucky as well.

Ransdell will not be around by the time such evaluations are made, but we believe this decision will be a blemish on the legacy he leaves here.

SLICE TO SAVOR

Making your own, healthy knock-off slush

BY KELLY BURGESS HERALD.OPINON@WKU.EDU Senioritis, senior slump and spring slide are all affectionate nicknames seeking to explain the bliss, end-ofyear agony, warm weather and lack of motivation that blooms this time of year.

I think describing this all-too-familiar sensation needs to involve the word “slush.” Slushy feelings about how classes will turn out, and often slushing through ankle-deep puddles and rushing rivers that form in a matter of minutes on campus.

As the afternoon sun fades, and I sit outside trying to simultaneously enjoy the warm rays of sunshine while writing pages of endless papers, all I can really think about is another kind

of slush. A slush that takes me to the dreamy days of summer when I am running errands around town and have a sudden realization: it is sometime between the hours of 2–4 p.m., happy hour, and I am conveniently passing a Sonic Drive-In. One day, I got curious about the nutrient content of a Sonic Drive-In slush, and was taken aback by the amount of sugar they contain; most small size slushes have at least 50 grams of sugar, with large sizes containing slightly more than 100 grams of sugar!

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans suggests no more than 10 percent of daily calories should come from added sugars. This means that for an “average” person following a 2,000 calorie diet, 200 grams of sugar per day is the maximum amount. Having one

large slush packs in more than half of the daily recommendation of added sugar.

I am always trying to think of ways to still enjoy such foods, and out of this determination came a little experiment to create a “knock-off” slush.

You can use any kind of fruit you normally would order as a slush flavor, but a couple I have tried personally are strawberry and pineapple, or a combination of both. Both strawberry and pineapple are considered “spring fruits,” and are likely to be found on sale this time of year!

For the liquids, my personal favorite is to blend Vitamin Water Zero with regular water. This offers just enough flavor with no added sugar or artificial sweeteners.

This recipe creates a refreshing

Spring Slush

4 to 5 medium strawberries OR 5 chunks of pineapple 5 to 6 ice cubes Juice from 1/4 fresh lemon or lime 1 1/2 cups liquid (water, flavored water, sports drink or combination) Simply put all your ingredients in a blender, “bullet,” or food processor-type device, and blend away. drink to enjoy while packing in an extra serving of fruit instead of half a day’s worth of sugars.

Don’t get too busy with the slush of this season to forget to enjoy the best slush of them all!

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MARCH 28, 2017

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1. Which animal dives the farthest? (a) Sea Otter (b) Penguin (c) Sea Lion 2. What color are flamingos when they are born? (a) White (b) Pink (c) Gray 3. What determines the gender of a baby alligator? (a) Temperature of the nest (b) Season of the year (c) Diet of the mother 4. Why do llamas spit? (a) To chase away predators (b) To Sweat (c) To establish rank in the herd 5. If ingested, what is poisonous to Guinea Pigs? (a) Carrots (b) Potato peel (c) Beets 6. Gold fish originated in China. The gold color was a result of a genetic mutation. What color were they originally? (a) Silver (b) Red (c) White 7. What animal is known to eat with its head upside down? (a) Peacock (b) Ostrich (c) Flamingo 8. Most slugs have two pairs of feelers. The top one senses light.

What does the lower one do? (a) Provide sense of smell (b) Used to feel (c) Used to hear 9. What feature of the koala is greatly reduced in size compared to its ancestors? (a) Ears (b) Brain (c) Nose 10. Sheep have scent glands located in front of their eyes and on what other part of their body? (a) Backs (b) Ears (c) Feet

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MARCH 28, 2017 > WESTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY

WKUHERALD.COM

PHOTO

Participants in the 2017 Southern Roots Spring Fling line up their show cars for spectators to admire on Saturday at the National Corvette Museum Motorsports Park. JACK ATKERSON/HERALD

‘old with new’ Kentuckians prove their metal

S

outhern Roots kicked off 2017 with its spring fling event at the National Corvette Museum Motorsports Park on Saturday.

Southern Roots began in Louisville as a small car meet and progressed into large events for all groups of car enthusiasts to meet. Southern Roots have people attend the event from all over, having cars from classic hot rods to imports. Southern Roots has

three events throughout the year during the spring in Bowling Green, summer in Louisville, and fall in Florence. This year marks off the fifth year for Southern Roots. Ryan Miller of Bowling Green is one of the members in charge of the event this year.

“It’s about everything, we really want to involve everybody,” Miller said.

“Bring together the old with new.”

story by: Tyger Williams

Ashton Brown, 8 (left) and Spencer Brown, 5 sit behind the car of Justin Fairchild of Louisville. “It’s an excuse to see friends,” Fairchild said. “I’ve been racing since I was 15.” TYGER WILLIAMS/HERALD

Gary Carney, (right) owner of the blue RS Z28 ‘67 Camaro and Doc Croslin, (left) park there two cars next to each other at the Southern Roots spring fling on Saturday. Carney took three years to restore and complete his 67’ Camaro and has attended the event for three years. “I’ve always liked Camaros, I’ve had one since I was 16 years old,” Carney said. However this was Croslins first time attending the event.

TYGER WILLIAMS/HERALD

Cody Brinck of Louisville cleans his car one last time before judges begin to inspect the show cars at the Southern Roots Spring Fling at the National Corvette Museum Motorsport Park on Saturday. Contestants entered show cars to display to spectators and be judged by a panel of judges based on appearance and performance. Winners were chosen in categories based on the manufacturer of the car as well as other categories such as best classic or best interior. JACK ATKERSON/HERALD

MARCH 28, 2017 > WESTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY

WKUHERALD.COM

LIFE

Melody Evans, coordinator for judicial affairs, Gary Ransdell, and Student Government Association president Jay Todd Richey, listen as attorney general Andy Beshear gives a speech at the sexual assault prevention month event on Monday in Downing Student Union. This event was held to kick off the month full of events that raise awareness for sexual assault, and for Ransdell and Beshear to speak out about the prevention of sexual assault and the actions they are taking to help with that. HANNAH LEBOUF/HERALD

Author discusses honored book

BY OLIVIA MOHR HERALD.FEATURES@WKU.EDU

Raising notice Event raises awareness of sexual assualt

BY ANDREW CRITCHELOW HERALD.FEATURES@WKU.EDU

On Christmas Day in 2016, Vidyan Ravinthiran received an email informing him that he won the Robert Penn Warren-Cleanth Brooks Award for literary criticism with his book, “Elizabeth Bishop’s Prosaic.” He was ecstatic, and described the news as “like an extra present.”

The Robert Penn Warren-Cleanth Brooks Award honors literary criticism that exemplifies the method of “close reading” of texts. The Center for Robert Penn Warren Studies at WKU collaborates with the Robert Penn Warren Circle, which includes the committee that chooses a winner for the award each year. The competition is open to any book that criticizes any genre, including poetry, prose, essays and drama. University presses are invited to submit work.

Ravinthiran, 32, is an English literature and creative writing professor at Durham University, which is his first full-time teaching position. This is his third year teaching at Durham.

Ravinthiran grew up in Leeds, England. He studied English at the

SEE AWARD PAGE B2

President Gary Ransdell and Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear signed a proclamation Tuesday in Downing Student Union declaring April Sexual Assault Prevention Month at WKU. The event was a way for WKU to kick off a series of various events and activities throughout the month to raise awareness of sexual assault prevention in the community.

The events will be coordinated by a planning committee which consists of Hope Harbor Sexual Trauma Recovery Center, WKU Counseling and Testing, WKU Student Wellness, Gender and Women’s Studies, Barren River Area Safe Space, WKU Housing & Residence Life, WKU Student Activities, WKU Public Affairs and WKU Wellness.

“This is what should be the beginning of an amazing career and time of growth for you, let’s make sure that it’s safe for every single student here at WKU,” Beshear said during the event. “It’s the right thing to do; it’s the moral thing to do. Let’s commit

to it; let’s get it done.”

The kickoff also included booths where students could be informed about the upcoming Sexual Assault Prevention Month events. Students could spin a wheel that informed them about sexual assault facts and statistics and were given prizes for spinning the wheel. The booths also included free shirts and buttons.

Sexual Assault Prevention Month is a nationally-recognized event started by the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC).

Though it wasn’t until 2001 that the event was recognized nationally, activists for NSVRS have advocated for using April as a month for sexual assault awareness and prevention since the 1990s.

According to the NSVRC website, this year’s campaign will be focused on “engaging new voices.”

“The focus will be on involving coaches, faith leaders, parents, Greek Life, and bystanders with preventing sexual assault,” the website states.

“Many groups know about sexual assault and believe it is a problem, but they don’t know how they can help.”

Alayna Milby, Hope Harbor crisis intervention specialist, said Hope

Harbor is aiming to engage new voices through events such as the kickoff.

“We hope that through events that we’ve been doing on campus, that it will bring awareness to what everyone can do,” Milby said. “We can talk about what Hope Harbor services are all day.”

On April 4, WKU will participate in the Walk a Mile in Her Shoes march at the Centennial Mall, in which WKU men will march in red high heels throughout campus to raise awareness of sexual assault in the community. Registration for the event is $25, and all proceeds will go towards Hope Harbor.

On April 20, WKU will take part in Take Back the Night, an internationally-recognized rally and march originally held to empower women who feel afraid to walk at night due to the threat of sexual assault. The event will begin at First Christian Church at 6 p.m. and marching will continue throughout downtown Bowling Green.

The march will be followed by an art and music benefit show at the FFOYA House, featuring music by Nashville-based musician Emma

SEE RAISING NOTICE PAGE B2

Q&A with human rights painter Steven Cavallo

BY OLIVIA MOHR HERALD.FEATURES@WKU.EDU Steven Cavallo’s exhibit “Breaking the Silence: Where Have You Been, My Daughter?” has been on display in WKU’s FAC Corridor Gallery since Feb. 1 and will be on display until April 5.

Many of the displayed works are part of his “Comfort Women” series, which focuses on the tragedies women face. Many of the women in his work are Korean women who were forced into sexual slavery during World War II. Cavallo explores human rights issues and the individual voices behind the issues. He will speak about his exhibition at WKU at 5:30 p.m. in FAC 156.

Cavallo has also worked with individuals interned at Manzanar Relocation Camp, a Japanese prison camp in Independence, California, and will exhibit there in May. He has worked with World War II veterans and Holocaust survivors and has interviewed, photographed and painted them.

Cavallo lives in Westwood, New Jersey. He works primarily with watercolors and frequently uses quotes in his large portraits. Cavallo teaches life drawing from the model and watercolor painting at Manhattan’s School of Visual Arts and some private schools. He graduated from Manhattan’s School of Visual Arts in 1979.

What do you hope to communicate with your artwork?

I was raised in the 1960s’ when there was a large focus on human rights. I listened to a lot of political-themed music such as Bob Dylan and Phil Ochs. This sparked an interest in human rights. There was always something inside me that was drawn to subjects like this. In my work, I hope to tell the story of human suffering that might just disappear in time, but I feel the need to record it in some way. I have more of the need to talk about the stories that aren’t in the history books. What interests me is to paint is the stories that will vanish when a particular generation passes away.

What is your knowledge like on the topic of human rights, women’s rights in particular, that you explore through your work?

The human rights work started with the Japanese Internment Camps set up during World War II in the West. Executive Order 9066 had all people of Japanese ancestry imprisoned in 10 camps in the western

states. They lost all they had and not one was ever convicted of a crime.

Their only crime was that they were Japanese.

From there I began a series on war, and a neighbor told me that I should include comfort women. It was a new subject to me. I began reading a book called “Silence Broken” by Dai Sil Kim-Gibson. I began this as just a project, but after my first exhibit where I had four or five comfort women paintings, I was invited to Korea to meet the survivors. After we met and I got to know them personally, everything changed.

I spent a week with nine of the survivors and went to a protest in Seoul with them. When I returned to the States, Mayor James Rotundo and I worked on the first memorial dedicated to these women. It is in Palisades Park, New Jersey. Since then, many other memorials around the world have been made and it is very special to me that Mayor Rotundo and I had the opportunity to do the first one.

Since the unveiling in October 2010, several of the women came to Palisades Park to see the memorial and I have spent time with the aged survivors of forced sexual slavery each year since our first meeting in Korea in September 2009. I was also honored to join with the group from Glendale, California, and exhibit there one year prior to their memo-

rial. They are a wonderful group of people and I am still so touched that they included me in this project.

How would you describe your artistic style?

Someone else called it “dramatic realism.” I liked that phrase. I hope it is thought-provoking work, something that calls the viewer in to hear the story of the people I am painting.

They are paintings that have often been taken from several models, put together to show an underlying beauty as well as suffering and pain that mankind has heaped upon them.

How do you feel WKU students will benefit from hearing you speak?

I think any artist talk can benefit others in the arts. Whether it is music, film, painting or writing, I hope the students can take something back with them that will encourage them and help them to develop their artistic expression. I hope I can help them to dig deeper inside themselves and make a statement worth telling.

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

MARCH 28, 2017

B2 RAISING NOTICE Continued from b1

Crane, along with a gallery featuring the works of nine local artists including Victoria Lane, Shai Riney and Chloe Lee. All proceeds of the benefit will Hope Harbor, and information on the organization’s services will be available at the event.

Other events include a Clothesline Display at the Healthy Days event this Wednesday at the Preston Center, a Facebook Live Q & A on April 3, a Poster Making Night at the Warren

AWARD

Continued from b1 gland. He studied English at the University of Oxford and went to the University of Cambridge to get his master’s degree in eighteenth century and romantic literature. He was also a research fellow in Cambridge.

He went back to Oxford to earn his doctorate. It took him three years, from 2007-2010, to work on his doctorate.

He wrote his book on Elizabeth Bishop for his doctorate. because she is his favorite poet. He writes poetry, prose, and other works of his own and helps edit a website called Prac Crit, which specializes in interviews with poets and close reading of poetry.

During his years as an undergraduate at Oxford, he learned about Bishop and read her work. He then discovered more twentieth century American poetry through reading Bishop’s work.

Ravinthiran said he feels privileged to have won the award.

“I understand how much work it represents on behalf of the commit-

COLLEGE HEIGHTS HERALD

County Public Library on April 4, a performance of the Vagina Monologues on April 10 at the DSU Auditorium and an Exercise for Empowerment event at Southcentral Kentucky Community & Technical College on April 11.

Local restaurants will also take part by donating portions of their sales to Hope Harbor during dates in March and April. Wild Eggs will participate on Wednesday from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., Griff’s Deli on April 3 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., Buffalo Wild Wings on April 5 from 11 a.m. to 12 a.m. and Blaze Piz-

za on April 18 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Milby said the Bowling Green community has been instrumental in furthering the goals of Hope Harbor.

“The Bowling Green community has been really amazing, not only helping with these dine-outs, but donating food for our volunteer training, donating products, having donation drives at their businesses, even just letting us put up a poster about our events,” Milby said. “So, it really is amazing what the community has been able to do.”

Milby said through these events,

Hope Harbor wishes to expand awareness of sexual assault resources beyond the month of April.

“Obviously sexual assault doesn’t only happen in April,” Milby said.

“So, we are trying to expand our resources. Using volunteers and our advocates can definitely make that happen.”

tee and all the books they had to read, and it’s very – I think, in a way, it’s sort of a privilege to spend so much time working on something and then to have people who care about what you care about really give your work that sort of attention and really pay attention to it,” Ravinthiran said.

Elizabeth Bishop’s Prosaic was published in 2015. Ravinthiran intended the word “prosaic” to be a play on the word “mosaic.” Also, because “prosaic” can mean “like prose,” Ravinthiran found it suitable because a lot of Bishop’s poetry is a lot like prose due to its length and style.

Ravinthiran said Bishop describes things in a somewhat casual way, “Then suddenly, these details become something marvelous and unexpected and beautiful, and somehow she’s able to put together these extended descriptions that don’t become tedious,” Ravinthiran said. “So it’s the kind of poem that, when you look at it, it seems like just about anyone should be able to do it, but when you actually try to do it, it’s incredibly, incredibly hard. So with a bit of that fascination with what didn’t seem to

be possible for me, that made me really interested in her art.”

At first, Ravinthiran didn’t think his background impacted his book much, but he came to realize his background played a role in how he developed his book. As a child, he had a speech impediment, so his parents sent him to speech lessons. At the lessons, he started taking part in drama competitions and had to read poems.

This required a close focus on sound. Rhythm and pauses interested him in college because of his upbringing. In that way, his background is incorporated into his book because he talks about Bishop’s pauses and rhythms and how sounds come together.

On April 21, Ravinthiran will address WKU through Skype. He was invited to present a lecture at WKU but is unable to come in person due to travel and expenses.

Nicolette Bruner is a Robert Penn Warren fellow, so she is affiliated with The Center for Robert Penn Warren Studies. She is also a postdoctoral fellow in the English department. She is

originally from Baltimore, Maryland.

She described what the committee looks for in choosing a winner for the award.

“We look in general for criticism that exemplifies the kind of rigorous creative criticism that Robert Penn Warren and his associate and collaborator Cleanth Brooks performed,” she said. “In particular, we look for books that are vivid, relatable, loosedly-written and using close reading.”

Bruner feels the award honors the writers’ hard work.

“I think it honors that kind of painstaking care and attention to detail in the author’s work, because we’re truly honoring careful, thoughtful process,” Bruner said.

Bruner said, she and the committee felt Ravinthiran met their standards “brilliantly well.”

Reporter Andrew Critchelow can be reached at 270-745-6288 and andrew. critchelow121@topper.wku.edu.

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

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MARCH 28, 2017

B3

COLLEGE HEIGHTS HERALD

Pro Day sees several different types of prospects perform

BY SAM PORTER HERALD.SPORTS@WKU.EDU A new program high of 26 NFL Scouts attended WKU’s Pro Day on Monday to get a glance of the talent leaving the Hilltopper program. Former WKU offensive lineman Forest Lamp and wide receiver Taywan Taylor highlighted the talent as both are projected to be drafted in the early rounds. However, 26 scouts didn’t come just to watch two players perform. Several other players such as linebacker Keith Brown also worked out hoping to prove to the NFL scouts that they can play at the next level. Here are some takeaways from WKU’s pro day.

Forest Lamp could play any position on the line There’s no question that Forest Lamp will get his shot at the next level. The Venice, Florida, native worked out at center, guard and tackle during his pro day. While at

WKU, Lamp actually started at guard before moving to left tackle for the rest of his career.

Although he’s never played center, NFL scouts still worked him out at the position “Center is very different,” Lamp said following the Pro Day. “People have told me the hardest thing for an offensive lineman to do is snap the ball and step at the same time.

It’s definitely one of the hardest things I’ve done. The more versatile you are, the more you can work in different systems.”

Lamp started 51 games during his time on the Hill and earned first team All-Conference USA in 2015 and 2016.

Lamp is one of the top rated offensive lineman according to almost every draft board.

He was part of a select group of players invited to the NFL Draft, but because he can only bring six guests, Lamp said he will likely watch the draft with his family. If Lamp is picked 73rd or better as expected, he will become the highest drafted player in WKU history.

From walk-ons to prospects One of Lamp’s workout partners on Pro Day was the man that played center alongside him at WKU. Max Halpin came to WKU at the same time as Lamp; however, Halpin came to campus as a walk-on and earned a scholarship and a spot in the starting lineup after redshirting in his first year at WKU. Halpin anchored one of the best offensive lines in the nation last season. Although he’s not projected anywhere near as high as Lamp is, Halpin still hopes an NFL team will give him a chance.

“When I first came here as a walk-on, my primary goal was to play,” Halpin said.

“As the years went on I started so many games and I thought I’d give it a shot at the next level. I’m happy I’m out here today at pro day.

It’s a goal of mine that I’ve achieved.”

Another former walk-on hoping to earn a spot on an NFL roster is former Hilltop-

per long snapper Nolan Dowling. Dowling was named all C-USA Honorable mention in 2014 and 2015 after snapping the ball 290 times with just one blocked kick. He worked out with several scouts during WKU’s Pro Day hoping one of them will take notice and give him a shot.

“I was here last year watching them,” Dowling said of the Hilltoppers’ Pro Day in 2016.

“I was watching Schwetty [former WKU kicker Garrett Schwettman] and I tweaked a few things based on what he did and just focused on actually wanting to participate in all the drills because not a lot of the long snappers do all of the drills and I was just like, ‘I’m gonna do every single one of them.’ I gotta be able to show that I’m athletic enough to be at the next level. Hopefully someone liked what they saw.

“For long snappers, it’s high school all over again. We’re the last ones to get recruited and we’re the last ones to get looked at.”

Several players could go late or in free aWWWWgency Lamp and Taylor seem to be the only two Hilltoppers that are guaranteed to hear their names called during April’s NFL Draft, but there are plenty of players that could wind up going in the sixth or seventh rounds or get picked up in free agency. Some of these names that could be drafted late or picked up in free agency are Ace Wales, Nicholas Norris and Keith Brown.

“I think it’s grown a lot,” Lamp said about the attention from NFL scouts.

“I remember my freshman year there were maybe 10 or 12 scouts. Today there were close to 30. We had just as good players back then, our program just wasn’t as known yet. Obviously, when your team wins, you get more attention.”

Reporter Sam Porter can be reached at 270-799-8247 and sam.porter270@gmail.com.

Follow him on Twitter at @ sammyp14.

Hilltoppers still adjusting to new system in spring practice

BY SAM PORTER HERALD.SPORTS@WKU.EDU During their first spring practice of 2017, senior quarterback Mike White nailed redshirt sophomore wide receiver Lucky Jackson for a deep touchdown. The fight song played over the stadium after the touchdown, a new tradition Head Coach Mike Sanford said would happen after every offensive touchdown during spring practice.

Sanford was the first to greet Jackson in the end zone, outpacing sophomore running back Quinton Baker and several other offensive players to celebrate the big play.

The touchdown was just one of several big plays Sanford and his staff saw during their opening practice.

“It was a great day,” San-

PRO DAY Continued from SPORTS and he can play guard, tackle and even center if he wants to.”

Lamp was one of the selected players to participate in the NFL Combine earlier this month, and he received another exclusive invitation when he was asked to attend the NFL Draft last week.

Lamp said he hasn’t decided yet, but is likely to stay home and watch the draft with family, friends and some former coaches, including former WKU head coach Jeff Brohm.

ford said. “It was great to be back on the grass in an unbelievable environment to do it in with great weather.

This was the very first time they’ve gone through our practices with that style and tempo. I don’t know what the practices were like before, but they were certainly pretty good because these guys came out, bought in and flew around.”

Last spring, White beat out fellow quarterbacks Drew Eckels and Tyler Ferguson for the starting job after Nelson Fishback went down with a season ending injury. White proved he was the worthy candidate in 2016, throwing for 4,363 yards and 37 touchdowns compared to just seven interceptions in his redshirt junior campaign.

His passing efficiency of

181.3 ranked third in the nation and set a single season school record. After proving himself as the right guy, White will look to take on more of a leader role as the offense adjusts to learning a new system.

“That’s the role I want to take on. I want to be a leader,” White said. “I want to be able to help the guys around me.

I definitely have to take care of my business first. It doesn’t look good when the starting quarterback doesn’t take care of his stuff. I’ve been in the meeting room with Coach Sanford and Coach [Junior] Adams trying to learn this offense as much as possible so I can go out there and speak their language to our guys.”

On the defensive side of the ball, Sanford put an emphasis on turnovers on day

one. Every practice, Sanford said three is the “quota” for the defense in terms of turnovers. The defense hit their quota on day one, taking away the football four times from White and the offense.

Senior defensive backs Joe Brown and Leverick Johnson anchor the WKU secondary returning in 2017. Brown led WKU with 10 pass breakups and was named All-Conference USA second team last season. Johnson served as the Hilltopper’s primary nickleback and will look to improve in 2017 after recording two interceptions, including one pick six, in his junior campaign. Every time the defense forces a turnover, the horns go off.

“Day one was great. There was a lot of energy from the defense,” redshirt junior

The other former Hilltopper headlining WKU’s 2017 potential draft class at Pro Day was the program’s all-time leading receiver, Taywan Taylor.

Taylor also participated in the NFL Combine with Lamp, so the experience wasn’t necessarily new, instead more comfortable.

“It’s way more comfortable, very relaxing,” Taylor said.

“I’m with my guys, very good camaraderie, so we all motivate each other and there’s not much tension and we’re not worked up as it is like the combine was. I think it was good for us to be out here back

at home in BG. It felt really comfortable.”

Both Lamp and Taylor have been drawing national attention from media and scouts for some time now, and the praise from their former teammates remains extensive and genuine.

“Why wouldn’t you take him in the first round? He’s a great kid, the best guy I know,” Halpin said. “I could call him up 10 years from now asking him to help me out and he’d do it.”

Other notable names that participated on Monday include former linebacker Keith

Brown, former running back Ace Wales, former offensive lineman Darrell Williams and former wide receiver Nicholas Norris.

A year after the Hilltoppers’ Pro Day consisted of interesting storylines from names like Brandon Doughty and Tyler Higbee, Monday’s rendition was interesting in its own respect with a lot of different players potentially improving their stocks significantly.

“You’ve got Lamp, Taywan, we all showed out. I know someone will take a chance,” Brown said.

With the Draft almost exact-

linebacker Joel Iwiegbuniwe said. “I think we had four or five turnovers so that was big for us. Coach wanted us to come out and have some energy. Other than the new plays, there’s not too much difference. We still have the energy, play fast and move to the ball.”

Sanford and company will continue to practice every Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 4:15-6:15 p.m. through April 21. The Hilltoppers will continue on this schedule leading up to the annual Red vs. White Spring Game on April 22. All practices are open to the public.

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

ly one month out, there is a lot of work left for the former Hilltoppers, and Monday was just another step.

“At the end of the day it’s what we’ve been doing all of our lives,” Wales said. “We’ve been training for this day for the last three months. I kind of had the jitters, I couldn’t wait for this day to come. This is what we live for.”

Reporter Evan Heichelbech can be reached at 502-4151817 and evan.heichelbech059@topper.wku.edu.

Follow him on Twitter at @ evanheich.

SET the

STAGE MINOR IN

Citizenship &

SOCIAL JUSTICE

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

Kaelin Grimes WKU Senior Tyler Chandler, Senior Musical Theatre Major Louisville, Kentucky Little Shop of Horrors

MARCH 28, 2017 > WESTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY

WKUHERALD.COM

SPORTS

Offensive lineman Forest Lamp runs a drill with offensive lineman Darrell Williams Jr. during WKU’s Pro Day on Monday at L.T. Smith Stadium. KATHRYN ZIESIG/HERALD

professional

Former WKU senior running back Anthony Wales stretches to touch the line in a cone drill at WKU Football Pro Day on Monday in L.T. Smith Stadium. KATHRYN ZIESIG/HERALD

affair 21 Former Hilltoppers participate in WKU’s annual Pro Day

BY EVAN HEICHELBECH

HERALD.SPORTS@WKU.EDU

NFL scouts look at their timers as a prospective player finishes a drill at WKU Football Pro Day on Monday in L.T. Smith Stadium.

SILAS WALKER/HERALD

Former WKU offensive lineman Darrell Williams Jr. is interviewed after participating in WKU Football’s Pro Day on Monday at L.T. Smith Stadium. BROOK JOYNER/HERALD

With all but six NFL teams represented, 21 former Hilltopper football players worked out in front of professional scouts and coaches on Monday in WKU’s annual Pro Day. For one final time, the winningest class in the FBS era at WKU trotted out on Feix Field in L.T. Smith Stadium to perform individually in efforts to launch their professional careers forward.

“It’s a little bittersweet. But it’s a good way to go out,” former offensive lineman Max Halpin said.

Halpin acknowledged there was a definite adrenaline rush when he got up on Monday morning, but it wasn’t a familiar one.

“The adrenaline before a game, you’re all pumped up and excited about to go out in front of the crowd, but this is nervous energy, nervous adrenaline,” he said. “It was quiet in the weight room and there were a bunch of scouts standing around you. But it was good.

Once I got the bench over with and moved on to the vertical it smoothed out.”

Halpin did more than just “get the bench over with.” The anchor of a dominant offensive line in 2016, Halpin put up 35 repetitions on the bench press which would’ve ranked first at the NFL Combine had he been invited.

While Monday’s Pro Day was an event centered around individual performance, it was apparent that this senior class still acts very

much as a team.

“It’s so special we have a great bond,” Halpin said. “We came in all from different states, didn’t know anything about each other and we’re best friends now. Me and Forrest [Lamp], we’re definitely best friends and me and Darrell [Williams] are great friends. We played together on the O-line since our redshirt freshman year and we’re brothers. It’s great to be out here one last time working together. It was awesome.”

Among the players that worked out on Monday, Lamp drew more professional eyeballs than any other prospect. A consensus first round pick among NFL Draft analysts, the former WKU left tackle said he has had 14 workouts with NFL teams thus far, and has been pushed to play as many positions possible.

“I’ve gotten some feedback saying I may have to be able to play all five positions,” Lamp said.

“Some teams are trying to work me at center, some teams are playing me at guard, some are playing me at tackle.”

A center himself, Halpin was quick to testify to Lamp’s versatility on Monday when prodded.

“We would have times last year where we would have certain plays where I would have to make calls to him, but we’d be on the same page,” Halpin said. “Sometimes the backers would start to blitz and we’d look at each other and we’d know what to do. So, he’s very smart

SEE PRO DAY PAGE B4

WKU baseball wins weekend series at MTSU

BY TYLER MANSFIELD HERALD.SPORTS@WKU.EDU The WKU baseball team claimed its first Conference USA series victory of the season after winning two out of the three games at Middle Tennessee this past weekend.

Entering the weekend with a threegame losing streak – most recently a tough 4-3 setback to No. 19 Kentucky at Bowling Green Ballpark last Tuesday -- the Hilltoppers (9-16 overall, 3-3 C-USA) wanted to keep their same mentality and take it one game at a time.

Behind stellar offensive performances and solid pitching throughout the series, WKU continued to play its style of baseball and recorded a momentum-boosting series win.

The Toppers opened the slate with a 10-3 win on Friday before just dropping the second matchup, 10-9, in 11

innings. WKU regrouped and posted a 4-2 victory to close things on Sunday.

Saturday’s game was postponed while tied 9-9 in the 10th inning due to lighting in the area. It resumed and was completed prior to the finale – one in which WKU head coach John Pawlowski was very proud of his team for.

“After the first one today, I told our team we need to flush this and move ahead,” Pawlowski said. “In the final game they were up 2-1 for a large part of it but we caught a couple breaks and we were able to come through with three runs in an inning.

“And that ended up being enough to win a very, very hard-fought threegame set.”

WKU’s series-opening win on Friday marked its first road victory of the season. The Toppers and MTSU (9-13, 1-5 C-USA) couldn’t get the bats going in the first inning, but a three-run homerun to left field by Thomas Peter

in the second put Western up 6-0 and it never looked back.

The Tops had four multi-hit and three multi-RBI outings from six different players throughout the lineup.

Left handed pitcher Ryan Thurston, who has emerged as the Friday starter, allowed three runs on eight hits while striking out six batters in 6.1 innings.

Kevin Elder closed for WKU, recording the final eight outs.

In Saturday’s Game 2 that was completed on Sunday, the two sides went back and forth. After the 10 innings on Saturday, there had been five lead changes and six tied scores, as WKU and the Blue Raiders had combined for 18 runs on 22 hits.

Down 4-3 to begin the sixth, Cole Currie homered to tie things before back-to-back RBI from Leiff Clarkson and Kaleb Duckworth gave the Toppers a 5-4 lead. MTSU went on to outscore WKU 6-4 throughout the remainder of the affair to claim the sec-

ond contest.

Behind a career-best pitching performance by Evan Acosta and hot hitting from Thomas Peter, WKU claimed the series victory on Sunday. Trailing 2-1 after six innings, three Hilltoppers loaded the bases and Peter hit a twoout, two-run RBI single before a bad throw by MTSU’s catcher scored another Topper and put WKU up for the remainder of the affair.

On the mound for WKU, Acosta finished with three strikeouts and no walks while giving up eight hits in 7.2 innings thrown. Of his 87 total pitches, 65 were strikes.

WKU will travel to Louisville next for a midweek matchup with the No. 2 ranked Cardinals on Tuesday. First pitch is set for 5 p.m.

Reporter Tyler Mansfield can be reached at (270) 935-0007 and tyler. wkuherald@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter at @CallMeMansfield.