@northernermediathenortherner.comThe Northerner NKU’s independent student-run newspaperWednesday, February 8, 2012Edition 49, Issue 5 Value: 75 cents

NKU to create “one-stop” center

Theatre season preview

Sports business majors find success

See NEWS, p.6 See A&L, p.10 See SPORTS, p.15

Students may have noticed some new noises echoing across campus as they drive into campus or await their turn to cross the street.

The recently added rumble strips at crosswalks are the campus’ newest additions to increase secu-rity for students. According to Jeff Baker, interim director of operations and maintenance, the strips went in for two reasons — to encourage drivers to slow down and for the sound effect to alert pedestri-ans about oncoming cars.

The rumble strips are the grooves in the concrete in front of and behind the main crosswalks; they are around about 11 of the campus’ main crosswalks. Some places, such as behind the Math, Education and Psychology building near the early childhood center, were specifically requested to for the safety of children, according to Baker.

Baker said the biggest reason for the new addi-tions is for pedestrian safety. “The biggest thing for us is to educate the students: it doesn’t matter what’s there--they need to look.”

“I think pedestrians always assume that someone is going to see them and that it’s safe to cross … you can’t assume, you always have to make sure that driver has eye contact with you before you cross the street,” he said.

Psychology major Rick Rothweiler agreed with Baker. He said the rumble strips are useful because of the noise to warn pedestrians.

“Pedestrians are on autopilot,” Rothweiler said about students being distracted by cell phones and iPods when crossing the street.

The strips were a “spur of the moment” addition to campus and inexpensive, Baker said. They were less expensive than adding more raised crosswalks, which was the university’s other option to increase

pedestrian and driver awareness.Some students, like Cody Reinhard, a senior in-

tegrative studies major, are worried about what the strips could do to their cars.

“I’m concerned because it might be bad for my tires,” Reinhard said. He also said although the noise emitted from driving over the strips might be effective, “it’s annoying.”

The university has been discussing ways to in-crease traffic security, and the rumble strips are one of many additions in place for the future.

Operations and maintenance is planning to add reflective, in-street pedestrian crosswalk signs so drivers can better see them at night. The signs are about 47” high and will be planted in the middle of a crosswalk.

The department also plans to add more speed lim-it signs as another way to increase security for both drivers and pedestrians.

Claire HigginsNews editor

Univ. takes new approach to pedestrian safetyRumble strips added for increased security, students unsure of effectiveness

The rumble strips, located at all crosswalks on campus, are one way the university is continuing to increase traffic safety. The vibrations are to make drivers slow down and the noise from driving over them is to alert pedestrians a car is coming. Operations and Maintenance encourage students to take more precautions. Future plans include more speed limit signs and in-street pedestrian crosswalk signs.

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Contagious flu: sign of outbreak, or aversion?Avian flu virus could be used as “biological warfare,” but information necessary for debate

A few months ago, I wrote an article about the controversy in academia surrounding the Black Death and the pathogen thought to be respon-sible. As one of the most catastrophic biological disasters in the history of our species, scholars have struggled for years to piece together an ac-

curate picture of the pan-demic for the benefit of our understanding. While this type of historical research into human patho-gens is fruitful and carries little to no risk, another methodology is generating a degree of alarm both on the internet and in sectors of the scientific com-munity.

The H5N1 avian flu, according to the World Health Organization, is one of the deadlier patho-gens humans can contract, with an estimated fatal-ity rate of around 50 percent; the upside (if there is one) being that heretofore only direct contract with

infected poultry has successfully spread the disease to humans. In an attempt to explore the possibil-ity that avian flu could mutate and spread readily amongst mammals, researchers made the decision to actively cultivate a strain capable of doing just that. They succeeded in mutating a form of avian flu that transmitted itself between ferrets relatively easily and documented the process of eliciting the desired genetic changes.

Presumably this kind of research, which seems incredibly dangerous to us non-scientists, could lead to the development of a preemptive vaccine. More importantly perhaps, this technique could take us from a reactionary to an aggressive position in combating diseases of this magnitude. Proactive developmental research on pathogens certainly isn’t new, but the manipulation of avian flu could be a new high in terms of risk. Regardless, we as a species have more to lose now than ever before, and while the risks inherent to actively cultivating a super-virus are great, a pandemic similar to the outbreak of Spanish flu in 1911 could topple the highly specialized technological society we’ve build up around us.

On the recommendation of the National Institute of Health, the research documenting the creation of the virus was delayed from publication in the

scientific journal Nature and parts were redacted in the interest of security. As an example of “dual-purpose” research, technical details of the project would obviously have potential military value in addition to the more altruistic preventative appli-cations of the data. The conflict here is obvious, as biological warfare could become the weapon of choice for rogue states provided the foundational research is done by legitimate academics.

While researchers are cognizant that their efforts can potentially be used for harm, dissemination of vital information is necessary for a consensus to develop from scientific debate. Almost no research goes uncontested to some degree, and for good reason, as the scientific model relies on respon-sible skepticism to hone theories into their best possible form. While it is obviously preferable that this activity go on unimpeded, it seems that new formal channels for information sharing might be necessary outside the journal publishing format. This, however, could vivisect scientific discourse into discrete channels and threaten the integrity of the foundation upon which our modern society has been built – the scientific method. This dilem-ma will ultimately be resolved in the details, and a panel was convened to discuss the significance of the findings and the wider security issues at stake.

Aaron SprinklesViewpoints editor

ViewsEdition 49, Issue 5 3

Kevin HolthausFreshman

Business and Marketing

“I feel like they overdid it.”

rnpCompiled by

Tara Derington

How do you feel about NKU’s crosswalks and the recent addition of

rumble strips?

norse poll responses

Ally WeimerSenior

Elementary Education

“There are too many of them. Nice to have them in the winter to help you

stop.”

Jasmine KillebrewJunior

Public Relations

“I don’t like them. I’m afraid it will do damage

to your tires.”

Ivan NiyongaboSophomore

Business and Marketing

“I feel like they should have put speed bumps

instead.”

SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVEAndrew Despotes[despotesa1@nku.edu]

COPY EDITOR Elizabeth Parsons[parsonse3@nku.edu]

VIEW POINTS EDITORAaron Sprinkles [sprinklesa1@nku.edu]

The NorthernerFounders Hall Rm 314Highland Heights, KY 41099Editor in Chief: (859) 572-6128Newsroom: (859) 572- 6677 or 5620Advertising: (859) 572-5232Fax: (859) 572-5772E-mail: northerner@nku.eduWeb site: www.thenortherner.com

contactinformation

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFKarli Wood[woodk3@nku.edu]

ADVISERJacque Day[dayj6@nku.edu]

northernerstaffSTAFF WRITERSCaitlin Centner[centnerc1@nku.edu]

Tara Derington[deringtont1@nku.edu]

Kevin Erpenbeck[erpenbeckk1@nku.edu]

Bo Oetjen[oetjeng1@nku.edu]

Zachary Rogers[rogersz1@nku.edu]

Heather Willoughby[willoughbh1@nku.edu]

NEWS EDITORClaire Higgins[higginsc1@nku.edu]

ARTS&LIFE EDITORBrandon Barb[barbb1@nku.edu]

ASSIGNMENT EDITORRoxanna Blevins[blevinsr1@mymail.nku.edu]

PRESENTATION EDITOREmily Lindeau[lindeaue1@nku.edu]

WEB EDITORBrittany Granville[granvilleb1@nku.edu]

furtherdetails Entire content is copyright of The Northerner and may not be reprinted without prior con-sent. Views expressed do not represent those of the administration, faculty or student body.The Northerner is considered a designated public forum. Student editors have authority to make all content decisions without censor-ship or advance approval. The Northerner staff respects the right to a free and open dialogue as allowed under the First Amendment.

VIDEOGRAPHERTravis Gibbons[gibbonsw1@nku.edu]

SPORTS FEATURES EDITORStephen Wilder[wilders3@nku.edu]

SPORTS NEWS EDITORJohn Minor[minorj1@nku.edu]

New website, new questionsNKU’s decision for a website facelift calls for student input

According to Chris Cole, di-rector of marketing and com-munications, Northern Ken-tucky University is getting a new website.

According to the email Cole sent to the campus commu-nity, the new design has al-ready been debuted with the College of Informatics site.

Naturally, we took a look. It’s snazzy, to say the least.

It seems better organized, as well. It’s easier to find staff, it’s easier to find what is housed in each department and there is better consisten-cy as far as formatting of each page.

However, we feel the need to ask ourselves: what is go-ing to happen during this transition? Currently, NKU’s

website often goes down un-expectedly, leaving students frustrated and unable to ac-cess important elements like student Webmail and Black-board.

So, if there is no transi-tion going on now, how much worse is the quality of the site going to be during transition? We’re hoping that Cole’s promise of better platform versatility will hold true once the website is unveiled.

With NKU making strides to grow and evolve, like join-ing Division I and the build-ing of Griffin Hall, it is no surprise that a new website was the next step. Hopefully now, students won’t have to dig through an unorganized and often-outdated series of pages to find information.

As a student, it is certainly

important to take part in the forums being offered and explain to the Office of Mar-keting and Communications what you want to see.

A slick new design means nothing if students still have the same basic issues of ac-cessibility and convenience. Perhaps this is a trend NKU is attempting to start by at-tempting to make processes more efficient as the student body grows. Who knows.

But, be sure that you give them your opinion. Students who use the site daily are much more in touch with the issues it creates than an of-fice of people deciding to re-design it. Make sure that the functionality you need is built into the new site, and not an afterthought.

Staff Editorial

Correction:In the Jan. 25 issue of The Northerner, in the story “Faculty Numbers Thinning Out,” we

had incorrectly defined the ranking of professors at Northern Kentucky University. Instead of distinguishing between “professor” and “associate professor,” there are three distinct

ranks at NKU. An “assistant professor” is the rank a professor receives before they achieve tenure. An “associate professor” is the title given once tenure is obtained, and a “full

professor,” is one that is already tenured, but repeats the tenure process to gain the “full professor” status. This is also independent of the academic degree they hold, but is rather

a product of the track they are on, i.e. tenure-track versus non-tenure track.

New business institute director namedThe Fifth Third Entrepreneurship Institute at Northern Kentucky Univer-

sity recently named Eileen Weisenbach Keller as the new director. Keller, who joined the institute in January, was a businesswoman for 14 years be-fore beginning her teaching career, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. She is a marketing professor at NKU. The institute, defined on its website, offers graduate and undergraduate academic and outreach programs in en-trepreneurship. The institute is a partnership between the Bank of Kentucky and NKU, which “acts as a bridge between the university and the region’s entrepreneurial community.”

Theatre and dance announces next season’s installmentsThe Northern Kentucky University Department of Theatre and Dance an-

nounced the lineup for the 2012-2013 season. “You Can’t Take It With You” (Sept. 27-Oct. 7) will start the season, followed by “Royal Gambit” (Oct. 25-Nov. 4). “110 In The Shade” (Nov. 29-Dec. 9) and a holiday show in Decem-ber that has yet to be named will also hit the stage. Finally, the spring will include “Legally Blonde” (Feb. 14-24) and “The YES Festival” (April 11-21) to round out the season.

Outstanding teacher award presented to NKU alumLisa Lokesak, a Northern Kentucky University alumnus and third grade

teacher at New Haven Elementary was awarded the 2012 Northern Ken-tucky Outstanding Teacher Award Feb. 7. “For me, the most important

thing I can do to provide my students with a rich, innovative, fun and caring environment is to continue to grow as a learner myself,” Lokesak said. “I seek out the best mentors, align myself with the most enthusiastic colleagues and constantly search for effective methods of presenting information,” she said in an article on the College of Education and Human Services news webpage. The C3 Outstanding Teacher Awards are presented by NKU, the Cincinnatus Association and the University of Cincinnati.

NKU alum will put her comedic skills to the testNorthern Kentucky University alumnus Kelly Collette will be competing

for the title of “CMT’s Next Big Comic.” Collette is one of 12 selected contes-tants to appear on the competition show on CMT. Four comics will be elimi-nated every week, until the final four are chosen. Those four will be flown to Birmingham, Ala. to perform live at the Stardome.

News February 8, 20124

On-campus childcare benefits student parentsThe Early Childhood Center understands, provides for non-traditional students

Across the University

A purple and yellow papier-mâché butterfly floats from the ceiling, over-looking the children below. The bright walls support a long coat rack stuffed full of marshmallow-like winter coats with Disney-inspired backpacks and matching lunch boxes. The rooms are filled with children laughing and the undeniable smell of finger paint. Here, in the Early Childhood Center at Northern Kentucky University, NKU students can bring their children to ease the duties of being not just a stu-dent but also a parent.

It isn’t easy to pinpoint an NKU stu-dent parent. All students look similar rushing to and from class thinking, “I hope I make it to class on time,” or “I’m starving!” However, making it to class on time isn’t the biggest concern of a student parent. Finding childcare, un-derstanding and support are all impor-

tant factors facing a student parent. At the ECC, NKU student parents can

bring their children Monday through Friday depending on what slots are available. NKU student parents are giv-en a discount: A part-time student pays $185 per week while a full-time student pays $175 a week.

Melanie Caldwell, director of the ECC, said NKU student parents should take advantage of this childcare option, since the ECC not only understands the life of a parent but also the life of a stu-dent.

Currently, the ECC accepts 2 to 12-year-olds but will begin accepting children as young as 12-months-old in fall 2012.

Caldwell said the ECC had previously been unable to accept children younger than two, since infant care takes up a lot of space. However, Caldwell said if student parents are seeking childcare for an infant, they should contact 4C for Children, the designated childcare

referral agency for the region. Caldwell said 4C will arrange childcare options based on the location, price range and times of care needed by the parents.

Tara Farrar, sophomore geography major, understands the responsibility of being a student parent. Farrar is a mother of 12-year-old girl and a 2-year-old girl who juggles working full-time while attending classes.

“I stay busy and it’s tough,” Farrar said, “but in the end it will be worth it. I want to set a good example for my two girls.”

Farrar is not only a parent and stu-dent but is the president of the recently created student organization Parents Attending College. Currently the group has about 12 members, according to group member Mitzi Trentacoste, who is pursuing her master’s degree here at NKU. PAC began in fall 2011 to provide an environment for student parents.

“Our goal is to create a family away from family,” Trentacoste said. “We

are open to anyone who is interested in joining.”

Student parents can join PAC through their OrgSync account.

Along with PAC and the ECC, NKU offers a program for student par-ents who qualify through the Student Achievement Center called Learning Experience and Parenting. LEAP is for low-income, student parents who cannot or are not receiving child sup-port. Gail Messmer, director of LEAP, said students qualify for the program through the Kentucky Transitional Assistance Program, or K-Tap, which provides childcare assistance.

Messmer said the goal of LEAP is to help students balance their school and K-tap requirements and to also break patterns of poverty.

Even if a student parent is not eligible for K-tap, Messmer said any student or student parent can stop by the Student Achievement Center for assistance.

Casey BinderContributing writer

NewsEdition 49, Issue 5 5

University Police BeatJan. 31

6:25 p.m. An unknown person took a cell phone and cash from the basketball court at the Albright Health Center. The items were unattended.7:49 p.m. Two male subjects were cited for an alcohol violation in Norse Hall.

Feb. 11:46 a.m. A male was placed under arrest on Hidden Valley Drive for drinking and driving and possession of marijuana.8:52 a.m. A three-vehicle accident resulting in no injuries oc-curred in the intersection at Kenton Drive and University.11:59 a.m. A citation was issued for possession of marijuana in Norse Hall.

Feb. 24:27 p.m. A harassment complaint was filed by a subject receiv-ing phone calls from an ex-girlfriend’s father.7:07 p.m. A Northern Kentucky University employee found a lost bank card in the Kenton Garage and attempted to contact the owner.9:07 p.m. A complaint was filed by Norse Commons due to a student not paying for their chips.10:25 p.m. Two students were cited for underage drinking in the Commonwealth Hall Goldenrod Wing.

11:05 p.m. In Commonwealth Hall Goldenrod Wing students were informed of the laws and school regulations regarding alcohol on school premises.

Feb. 37:30 a.m. A female complained of a verbal altercation between her and a known male subject.

12:25 p.m. A subject in Kentucky Hall reported re-ceiving a threatening message on Facebook.

Feb. 612:34 a.m. An exterior window on Commonwealth Hall was broken by an unknown person.

1:06 a.m. An unattended laptop was taken by an unknown person in Commonwealth Hall and found and returned to the owner.

12:52 p.m. A female was receiving unwanted text messages and calls from an acquaintance while in the Bank of Kentucky Center.

5:23 p.m. A man was arrested near Johns Hill Road for public intoxication after being found staggering and unsteady on his feet. He was found to be a danger to him-self.

6:40 p.m. An unknown person took an unattended cell phone from the charging station in Steely Library.

News February 8, 20126

A purple and yellow papier-mâché butterfly floats from the ceiling, overlooking the children below. The bright walls support a long coat rack stuffed full of marshmallow-like winter coats with Disney-inspired backpacks and matching lunch boxes. The rooms are filled with children

Univ. Center to become a one-stop shop

Photos by Emily Lindeau

The east side of University Center on the first and second floors (pictured top left and above) will be renovated into a Student Success Center, a one-stop center to bring student services into one area to serve students in more efficiently.

The University Center on Northern Ken-tucky University’s Highland Heights campus will be partially redeveloped to accommo-date the new Student Success Center.

The new area, projected to occupy about 20,000 sq. ft. of space, will be located in the east side of the University Center on the first and second floors. It will function similarly to the University of Cincinnati’s One Stop Cen-ter, meaning that students will be able to eas-ily access NKU Student Services within one area, and will be directed to the appropriate department in a more efficient manner.

The plan is to create an area that will com-bine the offices of the bursar, career devel-opment center, financial aid, counseling, admissions, the IT help desk and student ad-visory, all for student convenience. The hope is that by being close to one another that the departments will be able to develop a level of synergy that would otherwise be unobtain-able when they were spread around campus in different buildings, according to Vice Pro-vost Patrick Moynahan.

“The idea is to not just be a help center, but a hub for student activity,” Moynahan said. “We want students to be able to gather and use the area to further their own education. We want them to feel comfortable coming to us with their problems while they are still manageable, rather than letting them grow and grow until they are almost impossible to fix.”

“It sucks to have to walk back and forth between my advisers in Founders and the

admissions office every semester when I’m scheduling,” sophomore Omar Alafisan said. “I’d rather just walk across the hall than to the other end of campus, so yeah, I can see this being a good plan.”

The Student Success Center will focus on providing services for everyone, but fresh-men and new students should plan on using the center to build on their knowledge of the available student services. The overall hope is that through these services, along with the ease of accessibility to said services, will en-courage the graduation rate at NKU to rise.

“We want to create a place where students can come to get any academic-related ques-tions answered, and that includes the finan-cial side of it as well,” said Director of Cam-pus Planning Mary Paula Schuh. “If someone wants to pay their bill or get a hold on their account removed, then they can just head to one place, instead of having to travel all around campus.”

While plans are still in their infant stages, planning for the project should be complete by the end of this spring semester. Once the design is complete and the overall cost es-timated, the university will have to decide whether or not to provide funding and to proceed with project. If everything goes ac-cording to schedule, NKU should see the new Student Success Center open by the end of next spring.

“I don’t know if it’s a good use of money or not,” junior Brittney Rowan said. “But if they do actually build a place that makes it simple to use all the services, then I may actually be-gin to use them.”

Zachary RogersStaff writer

Professor Michael Washington was removed as director of Black Studies last summer, a post he had served in since 1987. On Sept. 8, Debra Meyers, assis-tant chair to the history and geography department, announced via email that the department was considering elimi-nating the Black Studies and Women’s and Gender Studies minors and instead forming a joint major.

On Oct. 31, the pre-proposals were of-ficially withdrawn by Meyers, who cited “student and faculty opposition” as the reason. But, the issue of Washington’s removal has not yet been addressed.

A Jan. 31 meeting between Washing-ton and History and Geography Depart-ment Chair Paul Tenkotte discussed the Black Studies Director position. While Washington has not been offered his old job back, both he and Tenkotte think things are headed in a positive direction.

A Jan. 26 meeting was called by Col-lege of Arts and Sciences Dean Samuel Zachary “to discuss issues of collegial-ity” among himself, Washington, Ten-kotte and Diversity and Employee Rela-tions Director Leslie Pierce.

Washington called the meeting “an outstanding success.” In it, he said he agreed with Pierce’s request for intra-departmental mediation.

Washington was quick to point out that this is only his perspective, and “Dean Zachary disagrees with it.” But Zachary’s perspective is unclear because he has refused to comment.

“This is a departmental issue that the chair is working through with faculty, so its inappropriate for me to comment,” Zachary said.

The bad feelings between colleagues stems from Washington’s removal as Black Studies Director. He claims his removal as director was handled incor-rectly. According to the Department Chair’s Handbook, “Upon approval of

the dean and in consultation with de-partment faculty, chairs may appoint coordinators, directors, or others to whom certain specific administrative duties of the chair may be assigned. The duties of these individuals and their re-lationship to the chair should be con-tained in a written document for each such appointment.”

Washington said that there was never a written document that explained his duties, which he believes made it pos-sible for him to be removed from the position incorrectly.

“Before we can pursue any kind of major, we need to have a consensus and compromise and move forward in a positive direction for the sake of the stu-dents, faculty and staff,” Tenkotte said.

When asked to speak briefly about the recent meeting and happenings in the department, Debra Meyers responded, “I’m not really part of the Black Studies stuff, so there is nothing I can say.”

Debra Myers has previously met with

reporters to discuss the changes to the Black Studies and the Women’s and Gender Studies programs.

Pierce said she was not at liberty to discuss the matter because it involved personnel.

In late November, Washington’s of-fice was vandalized. A banner hanging outside was taken and his name plates were taken from his office door and mail slot. According to Washington, Lou Stuntz, an administrative assistant in the history and geography department, had to put a permanent name tag on his mail slot, because it was repeatedly re-moved.

Washington said that he believes col-legiality shows respect for both an indi-vidual and their position and that the mediation process will explore how the basic ethics of collegiality were violated. He said that “healing hurts and redevel-oping trust” needs to be priority.

News February 8, 20127

Meetings lead to decision of mediationTalks about ‘collegiality’ are catalyst for intra-departmental ‘healing’

Karli WoodEditor-in-chief

Students from Northern Kentucky University, University of Louisville, University of Kentucky and Eastern Kentucky University, among others, gathered at the capitol building in Frankfort, Ky. to fight for more state funding at the Rally for Higher Education Feb. 7. Approximately 100 NKU students attended the rally, where university SGA presidents spoke about why more funding is important for their education. NKU SGA stressed the importance of calling legislators directly.

Photo by Zachary Rogers

It was brisk and seasonable the morning of Feb. 7, and around 100 Northern Kentucky University students took this time to gather outside the Stu-dent Union building. Each waited patiently to sign up, grab a box lunch and pile into the waiting buses for the forthcoming 90-mile journey that would take them to the State Capitol Building in Frank-fort, Ky.

They traveled to meet and collaborate with col-lege students from around the state in a collec-tive effort to proclaim in one unified voice that the legislators of Kentucky, their legislators, should invest in the state’s educational future, instead of reducing funding year after year.

The Student Government Association of NKU, along with the SGAs of several other colleges such as the University of Kentucky, University of Louis-ville and Eastern Kentucky University, promoted the event as the “Rally for Higher Education.”

As NKU students arrived at the capitol build-ing, they were met by Boone/Kenton County Rep. Alecia Webb-Edgington, who, with her fist proudly raised high, encouraged student protesters to “go in there and give ‘em hell!”

The main atrium of the capitol building filled with a sea of red, blue, yellow, green and maroon, each student wearing a T-shirt analogous to their respective school colors.

The number of rally participants was so great that some were asked to move upstairs and ob-

serve from the balconies overhead, as security was fearful that the combined weight could prove to be too much for the atrium floor and create a col-lapse. The turnout for the rally was so large that the structural integrity of the area was called into question.

The president of each SGA chapter took turns speaking to the group. Some focused on how the budget cuts were affecting their institutions, oth-ers focused on the future aspects of better educa-tion in Kentucky, but overall the theme was clear. Students have a voice and a desire to be heard, and only through contacting their legislators on a con-sistent basis will that voice ever be noticed.

“Twelve budget cuts in 12 years is not something we should be willing to accept,” said the University of Louisville’s SGA President Kurtis Frizzell. “It is not something that we should write off as a by-product of poor economic times.”

Frizzell went on to explain that the University of Louisville has been called upon to present itself as one of Kentucky’s, and therefore the nation’s, pre-mier research institutes. This is a high demand, considering UofL’s budget has seen many reduc-tions in the past couple of years.

“We need to recognize that our legislators are doing a great deal,” Frizzell said. “But they should be reminded, in a big way, how important educa-tion is, not only to the commonwealth, but to our nation as well.”

“We live in times where we can no longer speak about taxes without it being perceived as an attack on one’s citizenship,” Kentucky Rep. Kelly Flood

said. “And this is what’s gotten us into the mess we’re in. We can’t even recognize we need to take care of educating everybody.”

NKU SGA President Dustin Robinson empha-sized contacting your respective legislators, even going so far as to demonstrate to the crowd how quick and easy it was to do so. Dustin pulled out his cell phone, dialed the hotline at 1-800-372-3181, and asked the receptionist to relay his concerns to his representative, completing the call in just un-der two minutes.

“I am extremely pleased with the turnout ... ev-eryone was really energetic and we had a lot of peo-ple show up,” Robinson said. “Overall I think it was a really successful, incredible experience.”

NKU President James C. Votruba greeted the returning students with a congratulations and a short speech, concluding that if it were up to him every student who took the time to be involved with the welfare of their university should receive all A’s. This was an offer made in jest, but one that many students admitted they wish was true.

The battle for state funding is a constant one, and many considerations will be addressed before any progress can be attained. But many see educa-tion, especially higher education, as the source for the commonwealth’s growth and success.

“Last year Kentucky was ranked 34th in the na-tional education rankings, and this year we are 14th,” said Eastern Kentucky University SGA Presi-dent Rachel Mollozzi. “Now is not the time to move backwards. We have to keep moving forwards.”

The Rally for Higher Education brings state colleges together to speak out

Zachary RogersStaff writer

StudentsFIGHT FOR MORE FUNDING

at the capitol

Arts & Life February 8, 201210

Spring season previewNKU theater opens with television history

Reality check: Spring theater opens with dra-matic (semi-)truth, ends with realistic comedy.

February is ushering in a vast array of creative and performing arts events at Northern Kentucky University. One such event is the start of NKU’s spring theater season, kicking things off with “The Farnsworth Invention.”

“The Farnsworth Invention,” which opens Feb. 16, is a drama-filled story in the vein of “The So-cial Network”—and fittingly so, as the play was written by Aaron Sorkin, who also wrote “The So-cial Network.”

The play, which director Michael Hatton de-scribed as a “traditional David versus Goliath” story, follows Philo Farnsworth, who invented television as a young man, as he becomes em-broiled in a legal battle with RCA president Da-vid Sarnoff.

According to Hatton, Sorkin took artistic li-cense in his telling of the true events that form the basis of “The Farnsworth Invention.”

“It plays with the idea of ‘What is truth versus fiction?’ and ‘What is memory?’” Hatton said.

“The Farnsworth Invention” will be showing in Corbett Theatre through Feb. 26.

“Our Country’s Good,” another drama, will follow “The Farnsworth Invention.” It opens

March 22 in Robert and Rosemary Stauss Theatre and runs through April 1.

Written in 1988 by Timberlake Wertenbaker, this play, like “The Farnsworth Invention” is based on true events, this time hearkening back to the 1780s.

“Our Country’s Good” tells the story of the first fleet of settlers in Australia, who also happened to be Brit-ish convicts. In the play one of the Royal Marines sent to Australia decides to direct the convicts in the pro-duction “The Recruiting Officer.”

“At its core, it’s about the transformative quality of theatre,” said theatre professor Daryl Harris.

According to Harris, the production makes surpris-ing use of theatrical elements, which include sound, lighting and arena-style seating. Another unique ele-ment of the play is the number of roles Wertenbaker wrote into the play, in comparison with the number of actors the play was written for.

Harris said that the original play was written for 21 characters and 10 actors. The NKU production of “Our Country’s Good” will feature 14 actors portraying 25 characters total. Because some of the actors portray actors in the production, “The Recruiting Officer,” within the play, some of the actors in “Our Country’s Good,” are essentially playing up to three characters in one play.

“It’s a play within a play,” said senior integrated studies major Yunina Barbour-Payne.

In “Our Country’s Good,” Barbour-Payne plays con-vict Mary Brenham, who is one of the few convicts who can read and write. According to Barbour-Payne, Brenham “really believes in the play’s message” and uses her reading and writing skills to help the others understand the play.

The final show of the year, “My Favorite Year,” will open April 12 in Corbett Theatre, lifting the serious tone set by “The Farnsworth Invention” and “Our Country’s Good.”

“My Favorite Year,” which is set in the 1950s, is a co-medic musical which was adapted from the 1982 film of the same name. The musical, described by director Ken Jones as a “swashbuckler,” takes place on the set of the King Kaiser Comedy Hour. “My Favorite Year” follows sketch writer Benjy Stone, who is charged with the task of keeping washed-up actor Alan Swann out of trouble.

According to senior musical theatre major Suzanne Blunk, who plays a part of the writing staff, the musi-cal is “fresh and charming” and offers a realistic look at show business.

“It’s a really behind-the-scenes kind of show,” Blunk said.

The musical is the equivalent for NKU to a “big, Broadway-blowout musical,” featuring 32 actors and 15o costumes, according to Jones. Musical director Jamey Strawn said the musical will also feature a TV studio orchestra.

“The way Ahrens and Flaherty write, a lot of the comedy is in the timing,” Strawn said. “Sometimes the orchestration, or the music, is the punctuation for the joke.”

The play will conclude the theatre season with its final showing April 22. For box office and pricing in-formation, visit http://www.nku.edu/~theatre/box-office/index.php.

Roxanna BlevinsAssignment editor

The Activities Programming Board at Northern Kentucky University dove into spring semester events with their kickoff event Club Norse, which fea-tured comedian Jonny Loquasto on Feb. 2 in the Student Union Ballroom.

The 30-year-old native of Pennsyl-vania traveled to NKU from Los An-geles, Ca. With a forte in the comedy trade, Loquasto engaged the audience with his quirky jokes and tendency to employ conversation with the audi-ence members. His jests ranged from alcohol to Viagra to talking about taco

Tuesdays.His off-the-wall stories kept the au-

dience in tune and wondering what he was going to say next. Loquasto mixed history with humor by incorporating inquiries with the elder generations.

“You can’t top what your grandpar-ents have done,” Loquasto stated.

He referred to the fact that our grandfathers were part of a genera-tion that served in World War II and questions how our stories to our grandchildren will even compare.

Loquasto compared relationships to the show Law and Order, saying similarities are evident because in a relationship girls accuse guys of com-

mitting an act and then leave them to figure it out “cold turkey.” Whether his theory is true or not, he decided to test the waters and ask couples in the audience about their personal re-lationship.

“Don’t stop, get it, get it,” Loquasto said when a couple spoke of meeting each other on Facebook and how they remember approaching each other. Laughs were shared as Loquasto then decided to exhibit a dating game.

Loquasto’s match making game ended poorly as the girls decided none of the guys were eligible bachelors.

Junior public relations major and president of APB Ron Burse heard of

Loquasto at the regional conference held in Covington, Ky. Burse said you can access much of Loquasto’s hu-morous videos on Funnyordie.com.

Samantha Morris, a junior commu-nication major who serves as the APB vice president, said, “Comedians have started to become anticipated from APB and are a good break from the stresses of school life.”

Although this was the first event held by APB this semester, they have many other events coming up, includ-ing Valentine’s Day Balloon Art on the second floor of the Student Union Feb. 14 Morris said.

Arts & LifeEdition 49, Issue 5 11

RecycleMania 2012

Caitlin CentnerStaff writer

Bret LonakerContributing writer

Laugh out loud: Comedian humors audienceG

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Student orgs. compete to be the greenest

Northern Kentucky University will be one of the 524 collegiate schools participating in RecycleMania, a program that is taking place across America as well as parts of Canada. Beginning Feb. 5, 20 groups will compete in a recycling “war.” Four groups will compete each week, with the competition concluding March 31.

Groups will be accumulating glass and plas-tic bottles and aluminum cans. Recycling con-tainers will be found in the Student Union on the second floor lobby, near the information desk. Each will be marked with their respec-tive group. The total collected after each week will be weighed, and the results will be dis-played for all students to see who is leading the race. The winners from each set of groups will compete once more amongst themselves to see who can be the greenest group. Tro-phies will then be awarded to the winners.

“The idea is not just to recycle more, but to use less,” Campus Planning Coordinator, Jane Goode said. “It’s not just for today, recycling

and reuse of material really does affect the fu-ture. We all want to have a good one; we all want to have a green one.”

The Environmental Protection Agency re-ported that of the 250 million tons of trash generated by Americans in 2010, 34.1 per-cent was recycled, which is equivalent to 4.43 pounds of trash per person, per day. Goode hopes to raise this number by raising aware-ness of recycling.

Jillian Alig, a member of Alpha Phi Omega, is leading one of the competing groups. She said her group of 45 members has many op-portunities to provide materials for this event.

“We’d like to add to our list of accomplish-ments, while also promoting eco-friendly events. Sustainability is an important part of our growing community, and being knowl-edgeable about this topic allows us to better serve our community as volunteers,” Alig said.

SGA, Alpha Phi Omega, Pi Kappa Alpha and Sigma Phi Epsilon will kick off the competi-tion Feb. 6. There are currently still openings for groups that wish to compete. Applications can be found in the Office of Student Life in Student Union room 303.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 A B C D E

Arts & Life February 8, 201212

Growing up senior communication major Crystal Hudson was able to hear the food cooking on a stove. As the years progressed and a few unfortu-nate accidents happened the her sense of hearing faded and she wasn’t able to hear when the stove would alert to her food being cooked.

Being “late deaf” means acquiring deafness after adolescence due to an accident, illness or some other cause. A late-deafened adult has to use the aid of lip reading, sign language or a computer translator.

Hudson is late deaf and binaural, meaning she has to wear two hear-ing aids. She has been using sign lan-guage since 2004 and now uses it in her day-to-day life. Her signing has become a habit that she does in a nor-mal conversation.

Hudson tutors other students at Northern Kentucky University how to sign through the Learning Assistance Program. But she has been showing those wanting to learn before being hired by Learning Assistance.

When Hudson came to NKU in 2009 as a transfer student from West-ern Kentucky University, she didn’t have the opportunity to take sign lan-guage courses, because NKU does not offer them. Due to the lack of sign lan-guage support Hudson began to teach students herself. Anyone that wanted to learn how to sign she gladly showed them.

“Many people for a period of time approached me with an interest in learning sign language. People would share with me their goal, purpose or reason for wanting to learn,” Hudson said. “People shared with me their in-terest of and frustration with a true fact, that NKU does not offer any

classes on campus.”There is no degree or concentration

at NKU, Hudson said.While there are no official courses

offered by NKU, instead the NKU Connect Center has two courses in American Sign Language. The first course covers the basics in the lan-guage, while the second builds upon that. These courses are not for credit and are open to the community.

The NKU Connect Center focuses more on community and offers lan-guage courses in French, Spanish, Italian and American Sign Language.

Hudson began tutoring last semes-ter for the Learning Assistance Pro-

grams after both Hudson and the LAP showed interest in having sign lan-guage offered through the center. She became frustrated for the people that wanted to learn sign language but had no where to turn to.

“I became frustrated for them, for everyone, and decided to go into the tutoring center, where I have been helped myself and asked where can they learn,” Hudson said. “I was told they agreed and was asked if I was willing to teach.”

Hudson created a schedule that was put into the Learning Assistance Pro-gram’s TutorTrac system.

The turn out for sign language tutor-ing was a mystery to not only Hudson but to Academic Tutoring Coordinator

Paul Ellis as well.“I was a bit apprehensive about who

would actually show up if I put myself out there to help,” Hudson said.

Ellis echoed those worries, saying he was just pleased people are interested in the tutoring.

There are eight students who Hud-son has tutored since she started. The students who wish to learn sign language have different reasons why. According to Hudson, people come to her with reasons such as family mem-bers having a hearing impairment, have wanted to learn but do not have a place to do so or just have an interest in the language.

junior English major Jordan Hold-en went to Hudson after seeing an announcement in the N3 stating sign language tutoring was now offered. Holden wanted to learn how to sign because she is a campus tour guide and wanted to be prepared if a person who is deaf was in one of her groups.

“It’s been wonderful. She started out as a teacher but she’s grown more into a friend,” Holden said.

Holden’s sessions include learn-ing how to sign the different campus buildings. Other times the two just talk while Holden watches the signs being made by Hudson. “She’s really patient and willing to learn and that’s really comforting,” Holden said.

Each session is different with Hud-

son. She leaves what will be gone over up to the student and then goes from there. “I basically begin asking what the student knows and their interest or reason behind learning,” Hudson said. The student is Hudson’s focus, each student is their own teacher. Hudson crafts what she knows to best help each student to better “benefit their curiosity or learning experience.”

“I am there for [students],” Hudson said.

Teaching is a huge passion of Hud-son’s that makes her very happy, ac-cording to her boyfriend Jeremy Gibbs.

“She loves to teach kids and people sign language,” Gibbs said. “Its some-thing she has a huge passion for. When we go for periods of time where we haven’t signed a lot she’ll even say ‘I really miss doing it.’”

Gibbs was intimidated at first about learning how to sign, but it eventually became fun and helped the couple’s communication. If they can’t sign in person, Jeremy and Crystal will use FaceTime on their phones to sign back and forth.

According to Hudson, learning how to sign varies from person to person. One person may have a hard time with a certain letter or word, while anoth-er knows the whole alphabet without having any trouble. “One goal of mine is to help students see themselves as no better or worse than another,” Hudson said. “It is about patience and being willing.”

When a student she is tutoring gets a certain phrase or word a certain “ah ha moment” comes across their face. After stringing a few signs together a student has a “look on their face like ‘oh, I did it!’”

“I enjoy watching and experiencing those moments, it makes it all worth it,” Hudson said.

Brandon BarbA&L editor

“I enjoy watching and experiencing those moments,

it makes it all worth it.”

in a unique waySign Courseoffered

Arts & LifeEdition 49, Issue 5 13

Date auction just in time for Valentine’s DayNKU’s national honorary band fraternity auctions off dates for a good cause

Laughter and applause floated through the hall-ways of the Fine Arts building as the Kappa Kappa Psi’s Date Auction preceded in the choir room. Dressed in rolled up pants, a sweater vest, bow tie and complimentary taped glasses, Ryan Downey, Kappa Kappa Psi treasurer and junior chemistry and music education major, was the elected auctioneer for the evening’s fundraiser.

Members of Kappa Kappa Psi and music majors alike were auctioned off as dates to help raise money for the band program at Northern Kentucky Univer-sity.

“It was very successful so we decided to have it again this year near Valentine’s Day,” said Katharine Tokosh, senior business management major and president of the organization.

Downey persuaded the audience with his comedic personality and tall socks to bid on dates of both sex-

es. By the end of the night, the bids ranged anywhere from a meekly four dollars to a whopping 60 dollars.

“The most important thing is that people have fun,” Downey said.

Two long-lasting relationships grew from the very first Date Night Auction held three years ago. Unfor-tunately the couples were unavailable to attend last night’s festivities. “It actually has proven to be reli-able,” said Rachael Gasser, sophomore music educa-tion major and vice president of Kappa Kappa Psi.

Kappa Kappa Psi is the national honorary band fraternity on NKU’s campus. Gasser explained that Kappa Kappa Psi members all perform with an en-semble and travel with the sports teams. The money raised goes to the different bands, including concert and pep bands.

If you have any questions about Kappa Kappa Psi and their involvement on campus, contact Katharine Tokosh at tokoshk1@nku.edu or the fraternity’s ad-visor, Brant Karrick at karrickb@nku.edu.

Tara DeringtonStaff writer

Host Ryan Downey (left) acts as auctioneer at Kappa Kappa Psi’s an-nual date auction. The money raised goes to the NKU band program.

SportsEdition 49, Issue 5 15

Northern Kentucky University will offer a minor in sports business starting in the fall of 2012 add-ing onto the program. The major for sports busi-ness has been offered since the fall of 2002, and some students have taken advantage of it in its early years.

Matthew Wagner, a 2006 NKU graduate, is now the finance coordinator for the community fund of

the Cincinnati Reds. He started at NKU in 2001 as a math and a science ma-jor but wanted to pursue a different path. According to Wagner, sports busi-ness adviser Tom Gamble mentored him when the program was in its infan-cy.

The Reds Community Fund reaches out to the

local area to complete projects, such as building a ballpark for youth baseball and working with Re-viving Baseball in Inner Cities, a youth outreach program designed to increase interest in baseball and softball. The Reds Community Fund can be supported by fans purchasing their “Split the Pot” tickets at home games during the season.

Another NKU sports business major works with the Cincinnati Bengals. Jamie DeLong, a 2007 graduate, is the client services manager for the Bengals, which entails managing accounts with companies to make sure they are satisfied with their investments.

One factor that will keep the local customers pleased is that the Bengals will move training camp from Georgetown College to Paul Brown Stadium.

“I think it’s going to be awesome for local folks, for people who might not have had the time to head down to Georgetown,” DeLong said.

DeLong is currently in her fifth season with the

Bengals. She said she saw a sign on the wall while at NKU for a marketing club meeting and noticed that the speaker was a female from the Cincinnati Ben-gals.

“I was intrigued and made sure I stopped by, and instantly said I need to meet her,” DeLong said.

She then did an internship with the Bengals. At the end of her internship, a position opened up, and she applied. DeLong is looking forward to im-plementing some marketing ideas when training camp arrives.

Another NKU alumna works in college athlet-ics. Becky Jackson, a 2003 graduate, is the direc-tor of athletic development at Xavier University. She is responsible for programs that grow annual philanthropic support emphasizing on the All For One Fund that provides financial support to Xavi-er athletic programs. Her role is to make sure all the sports are balanced and supported the same amount.

Jackson likes the social aspect of her job.

“You really get to know people a little bit more,” Jackson

said. “I see them all the time at games and we get to go out to lunch. It’s the relationship building that I like the best.”

She recently has received her master’s degree in sports administration from Xavier University and travels with the team.

Katie Pavel, a 2009 graduate, is the assistant director of athletics development at the Univer-sity of Cincinnati. According to Pavel, one of her most important days of the year is National Sign-ing Day, which includes football players to sign a letter of intent to play football for a certain colle-giate program. The event was Feb. 1, and accord-ing to Pavel, there was a dinner for 250 people at the Kingsgate Marriott to get a behind-the-scenes look at all of the recruits.

Pavel is currently enjoying her career and is transitioning into a new role. She would like to work more with fundraising to sports donors.

Andrew Despotes Staff writer

Matthew Wagner

Jamie DeLong

Becky Jackson

NKU graduates work with collegiate and professional sports teams

paying offSportsbusiness

degreePhoto courtesy of MCT Campus

Sports February 8, 201216

The Northern Kentucky University men’s and wom-en’s track and field teams competed in their first event of the indoor track season.

The Norse competed in the Division II Challenge hosted by SPIRE on Feb. 4 in Geneva, Ohio.

According to Head Coach Steve Kruse, this was the first time the distance run-ners had competed since November and the first time for the throwers (shot put and weight throw) this school year.

“Being the first time out, they did about what I ex-pected them to do,” Kruse said.

S o p h o m o r e . . F r a n n i e

Schultz had the best finish for the women in any event with her performance in the shot put. She finished 14th out of the 31 competi-tors in the event. She barely missed qualifying for the fi-nal round, which was for the top nine finishers in the pre-liminaries.

Sophomore Kelly Johnson finished 18th out of 26 in the 5,000 meter run with a time of 19:06.33. The time was her best ever in the event.

The best finish for the men was by senior Adam Gloyeske, who finished 11th out of the 27 runners in the 5,000 meter run with a time of 15:31.14. Junior Ricky Harm finished 14th in the race with a time of 15:51.67.

Junior Brendan Chwalek finished 13th out of 35 in the

3,000 meter run with a time of 8:52.19. In the one mile run, freshman Josh Makin finished 18th out of 43 with a time of 4:26.54.

There will be two com-petitions Norse athletes will compete in this com-ing weekend. Junior Kayla Justice and Chwalek will compete at the Grand Valley Big Meet in Allendale, Mich. on Feb. 10-11. According to Kruse, the event will have athletes from the Division I, II and III levels. Both run-ners qualified for the event based on previous times.

“Grand Valley has a great track and great competition to run against,” Kruse said.

The teams will compete at the DePauw Open in Green-castle, Ind. on Feb. 11.

John MinorSports news editor

Track and field teams open indoor season

Sophomore Kelly Johnson, shown here running in an event last year, competed in the 5,000 meter run in the Division II Challenge. She finished 18th out of 26 runners.

Archived photo courtesy of Tim Downer