LIFE SECTION
LADY TOPPERS RETURN HOME SPORTS, PAGE A8
TTHURSDAY, HURSDAY, SSEPTEMBER EPTEMBER 228, 8, 22017 017 > W WESTERN ESTERN KKENTUCKY ENTUCKY UUNIVERSITY NIVERSITY > VVOLUME OLUME 993, 3, IISSUE SSUE 1122
Students reflect on death of Fresh worker BY NOAH MOORE HERALD.FEATURES@WKU.EDU Students and faculty will notice something different about the Fresh Food Company front counter this week. The smiling face of Debra Wiley-Mitchell won’t be there to welcome them. Wiley-MItchell lost her battle to pancreatic cancer this past Sunday and passed away in St. Louis with her family at her side. You may have known her as the friendliest cafeteria employee, or simply the fastest swiper at the counter. However, you may have known her Wiley-Mitchell was a key component of many students’ days on campus. On Tuesday, a memoriam tweet was made by Hilltopper Nutrition. “Heaven gained special angel. Please keep this sweet lady’s family in your prayers! Her sassiness will sure be missed!” Replies flooded in from students and alumni remembering her sweet, unique personality which made eating at Fresh that much more memorable. Antonio Mouncil, WKU graduate in the class of 2016, tweeted “This one hurts @WKUDietitian she was such a nice lady. She always wanted to talk to me when I came thru fresh foods. RIP u will be missed” WKU student Allie Rumohr tweeted, “This lady always made my day!” Making the transition from home to college is never easy, but students could always count on Wiley-Mitchell to make home seem a little less far away. “We loved her. She was great at getting people into Fresh and having that loving attitude that reminded people of home,” WKU Dietitian Brandi Breden said. Breden recalls the many memorable encounters she had working beside Wiley-Mitchell. “She was a very honest, loving, tellit-how-it-is kind of lady. I remember that every time I hung out with her at the front, if a group walked in and a male walked before a female, she would say ‘ladies first’. She was all about teaching manners,” Breden said. “As a dietitian, she often called me out for getting a dessert,” Breden laughed. “She was so fun-loving, with some hilarious sass.”
SEE DEBRA MITCHELL PAGE A3
Junius Carpenter cuts a client’s hair Tuesday at JC’s Barbershop. Carpenter and his wife now plan to open a “barbershop college” to teach others the ways of barbering. “We look at it as our semi-retirement job,” he said. “This is like the pinnacle of our profession: to teach all the wisdom and knowledge we’ve learned over the years.” CHRIS KOHLEY/HERALD
Making cut the
Local barbershop to start barbering school
BY SPENCER HARSH HERALD.FEATURES@WKU.EDU
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air clippers buzz over the mumbling of a TV. Barbers make small talk with their customers. A small dog wanders around the waiting section with its small nails scratching across the floor as it greets customers. This is the typical setting at JC’s Barbershop, a locally-owned barber found on 1403 Adams St. in Bowling Green. While the business appears to be the picture-perfect idea of a barber shop, owners Junius and Jayne Carpenter believe that it can become more. JC’s Barber Shop will be starting a school for barbers in Bowling Green The Carpenters have decided to use their business as a platform on which to begin a barber’s school in Bowling Green. “They cannot go onto the floor until they learn the history and ethics of barbering,” Jayne Carpenter said. “The bottom line of ethics is being of good character.” The barbering school will run enrollment from Oct.
SEE BARBERSHOP PAGE A3
Junius Carpenter checks the symmetry of a haircut he gives to client Robert Wakefield of Bowling Green Tuesday at JC’s Barbershop. Carpenter has been the owner of JC’s Barbershop in Bowling Green since 1998 after taking it over from his father. CHRIS KOHLEY/HERALD
Campus commemorates banned books week BY GRIFFIN FLETCHER HERALD.FEATURES@WKU.EDU In commemoration of Banned Books Week, the fourth floor of Raymond Cravens Library is displaying a variety of controversial and previously banned books, encouraging students to take a look. Banned Books Week is an “annual celebration of the freedom to read,” according to the Banned Books Week Coalition. It lasts from Sept. 24 to Sept. 30. Athough students may know some books that are deemed controversial or have been banned in school sys-
tems before, many have likely never experienced book censorship in their own school system. Regardless, students are quick to disagree when asked whether or not certain books deserve to be banned. Houston, Texas, sophomore Nick Wartz views the banning of books as an attempt to unrightfully disguise the past by means of censorship and avoidance. He recalls “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” as a prime example. “That’s part of history,” Wartz said. “There’s no sense in banning a part of history.” Junior David Breidenich from Independence is largely of the same ac-
cord, believing that simply disliking a book’s message or content does not warrant censorship. “People should be free to read whatever they want,” Breidenich said. “Even if you don’t like them, I still don’t think they should be banned outright.” WKU journalism major coordinator and professor Mac McKerral commonly speaks about media censorship in his classes. In his time as a teacher at WKU, he’s happy to have never witnessed any book bannings. “I’ve been here a long time, and, to my knowledge, there’s never really been any kind of an effort on anybody’s part to keep things out of the
library,” McKerral said. With the presence of censorship in a learning environment, McKerral believes a student’s ability to learn and acquire knowledge is noticeably limited. “Clearly, controlling information and the flow of information is a powerful tool,” McKerral said. Versailles senior Slaid Leatherman is similarly concerned about censorship’s role in knowledge prevention. Leatherman believes those who ban books fear the idea of too much knowledge in too many hands. “That’s why people censor knowl-
SEE BOOKS PAGE A3