READ TODAY’S LETTER TO THE EDITOR
CHECK OUT FIVE THINGS TO DO THIS FALL
OPINION, PAGE A4
LIFE, PAGE B1 TTUESDAY, UESDAY, OCTOBER OCTOBER 111,1, 22016 016 > W WESTERN ESTERN KKENTUCKY ENTUCKY UUNIVERSITY NIVERSITY > VVOLUME OLUME 992, 2, IISSUE SSUE 1133
University questioned in new legal protest BY JACOB DICK HERALD.NEWS@WKU.EDU A second legal protest was filed Friday concerning WKU’s proposed sports medicine complex, claiming the process for bids unfairly favors Med Center Health, which owns The Medical Center at Bowling Green. The latest protest from Western Kentucky Orthopedics and Neurological Associates claims the bidding process for the project –– which includes the sport medicine complex project and long-term deal for medical services at the university –– was a copy of the previous deal between Med Center Health and WKU with the time frame of bids and requirements favoring one particular bidder. “With most of the same terms as the [Letter of Intent] –– as well as a vague scoring system that provides WKU broad discretion on selecting a winner –– the new process appears to use the guise of competitive procedures to legitimize an agreement already made by and between WKU and Medical Center: a 99-year, $22 million deal consummated behind closed doors without using legally-required open competitive processes,” WKONA’s representatives state in the protest. WKONA is affiliated with Graves-Gilbert Clinic, a large medical practice in Bowling Green which currently operates the on-campus health clinic at WKU. This is the second legal protest from WKONA WKU’s partnership with The Medical Center. Both protests were filed to the state Finance and Administration Cabinet on behalf of WKONA by Frost Brown Todd LLC. The protest also states WKONA doesn’t wish to block or delay construction of a sports facility, but is concerned with the deal’s compliance with federal laws against the benefit of private businesses with taxpayers’ money and a potential monopoly that may affect health care customers in Bowling Green. Jonathan Miller, government relations specialist at Frost Brown Todd, said his clients are not objecting to WKU receiving a facility but are concerned with the process so far. “We’re really hopeful this doesn’t
SEE PROTEST PAGE A2
Jineth Bedoya Lima, a Colombian journalist who was abducted in May 2000 and August 2003, receiveed the Fleischaker Greene Award for Courageous International Reporting on Tuesday, Oct. 4, at Ransdell Hall. EVAN BOGGS/HERALD
pain for peace Colombian jOURNALIST receives award for courage BY EMMA COLLINS HERLALD.NEWS@WKU.EDU
A
n award-winning Colombian journalist and Nobel Peace Prize nominee visited WKU last Tuesday, Oct. 4, to receive an award for her courageous reporting in war-torn Colombia. Jineth Bedoya Lima, a journalist from Bogotá, Colombia, was the first recipient of the Fleischaker/Greene Award for Courageous International Reporting. She has spent decades covering the 52-year long war between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, one of the country’s largest rebel groups. This award is one of several awards, including the International Women of Courage Award presented by the United States Department of Defense, that Bedoya has won in the past several years. During her speech Tuesday, she said awards such as the Fleischaker/Greene Award provide motivation for her to continue her work as a journalist and an activist.
“There is no greater award than one that we receive from those who will carry on with our arduous work of informing and communicating,” Bedoya said. Bedoya said her career as a journalist began nearly 20 years ago when narco trafficking was very prevalent in Colombia. One of her first experiences was in Bogota’s La Modelo prison which housed members of the country’s various paramilitary and guerrilla groups. She was the first journalist to provide the prisoners with a chance to discuss the human rights violations they experienced in the prison, and Bedoya said it was the experience with La Modelo’s prisoners that persuaded her to combine journalism with social activism. “I supported campaigns to teach [the prisoners] to read and write; I helped them produce a newspaper for the jail,” Bedoya said. “When I wasn’t in the combat zone covering the war, I went to the prison to give them writing, composition and photography classes.”
During her time at the prison, Bedoya said she discovered that members of the police and the army were working with prisoners in La Modelo to run the country’s largest illegal network of kidnapping and arms trafficking. Bedoya publicly criticized the illegal network in Bogota’s newspaper El Espectador, and members of the network retaliated. While visiting the prison on May 25, 2000, Bedoya was kidnapped from the prison entrance and driven two hours outside of the city where she was tortured and raped by three of her captors. Bedoya said she survived the attack, but it was difficult for her to continue to live. “I had two options: exile, the alternative that the Colombian state gave me, and suicide, which is what I wanted,” Bedoya said. “ A deep love led me to choose what saved my life: journalism.” After the kidnapping, Bedoya said she refused to view herself as a victim. Instead, she continued to place herself in danger as a journalist, and
SEE JOURNALISM PAGE A2
Election caravan from ONE nonprofit visits WKU BY MONICA KAST HERALD.NEWS@WKU.EDU
An election caravan, encouraging students to contact presidential and congressional candidates about ending extreme poverty, visited campus on Monday. At the ONE VOTE 16’ Caravan, students were able to register to vote, view virtual reality films about women living in extreme poverty and jump in an adult-sized bounce house. The caravan is part of a campaign put on by ONE, a nonprofit organization focused on “taking action to end extreme poverty and preventable diseases, particularly in Africa,” according to a press release from ONE. The ONE Vote ’16 campaign hopes to “engage students on issues of extreme poverty ahead of November’s election,” according to the press release. To enter the White House shaped bounce house, the ONE campaign asked students to fill out “ballots” outlining issues that were important to them. These ballots will be shared with the Trump and Clinton presidential campaigns. Maggie Bridges, the ONE Vote ‘16 campaign representative, said she felt the White House shaped bounce
house attracted many students to the election caravan, but also represented how citizens can get involved with issues important to them. “We want the next president to have a plan when he or she enters the White House,” Bridges said. “Therefore, we’re giving you the opportunity to fill out a postcard or ballot, as we’re calling it and prioritize the issues that are important to you. Then you’re able to enter the White House after you cast your ballot.” The election caravan was hosted in partnership with WKU’s chapter for Americans for Informed Democracy, or WKUAID, the Honors College and the Office of Scholar Development. Charlie Harris, a ONE representative and WKU graduate, said the campaign is asking constituents to get involved, and “write to candidates to end extreme poverty.” Harris said many students had stopped by to learn more and fill out ballots about issues important to them. “It’s good to see Hilltoppers taking action to end world poverty,” Harris said. Louisville freshman Chase Schnell said he was walking through the South Lawn area and decided to stop. While visiting the election caravan, Schnell registered to vote.
Senior Parker Smith watches a virtual reality video on Monday, Oct. 10 at South Lawn. The video shows what a day in the life of a woman living in extreme poverty experiences. Members of the group one.org are collecting signatures and engaging with voters to petition the presidential candidates to help people in extreme poverty. MATT LUNSFORD/HERALD “There’s a pretty low voting percentage, so I think it’s important for everyone to vote,” Schnell said. The election caravan, which began at the Republican National Convention and the Democratic National Convention, has been traveling since
then. Harris said it was at Vanderbilt University in Nashville on Friday, and would be traveling to Virginia next. Bridges said the campaign began by focusing on the presidential election, but also focuses on states that
SEE ONE VOTE PAGE A2