In the News

Here is a selection of recent news stories about WKU:

May 23-25, 2012

Ashland Daily Independent
Best in the nation
           It may surprise many readers that Newsweek’s “best high school in America” is located right here in Kentucky and is open to selected students throughout the state, but then the Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science at WKU in Bowling Green is hardly your typical high school.

Huntington Herald-Dispatch
Kentucky boasts best high school in USA
           Kentucky took a bold step about five years ago with the establishment of a math and science high school for some of the state’s brightest students.

Daily News
Different cultures coming together
           This weekend, native-born Americans and others living in Bowling Green have an excellent opportunity to get to know their Bosnian neighbors during the 17th Convention of Bosniaks in North America, with events scheduled at WKU and the Sloan Convention Center. Bowling Green is home to more than 5,000 Bosnian immigrants and within a 10-hour drive of 150,000 Bosnians.

NWTN Today
KY school tops list of the best
           The best high school in the country, according to a national news magazine, opened five years ago and is in south-central Kentucky — the Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Kentucky at WKU in Bowling Green.

WHAS-TV Louisville
Bowling Green school receives honor of Best in the Country from Newsweek Magazine
           A Kentucky high school is being called the best in the country! Newsweek magazine gave the Gatton Academy of Math and Science in Bowling Green top honors. Gatton Academy has only been around five years. It’s integrated with WKU.

May 17-22, 2012

MSNBC
America’s best high schools: 1,000 that make the grade
           Seth Tooley has no problem talking up his alma mater — The Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Bowling Green, Ky.

Daily Beast
Newsweek Ranks Kentucky Academy as America’s Top High School
           To call the Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science a high school, you’d have to suspend an element of reality. You’ll find no football games, pep rallies, or dismissal bells on the Kentucky campus.

Kentucky News Network
Big Honor for a Southern Kentucky School
           A very big honor for a southern Kentucky high school, as it wins a national title. The Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Bowling Green has been recognized by Newsweek magazine as the nation’s top high school.

Daily News
Gatton named top high school in country
           Newsweek magazine on Sunday named the Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Kentucky the nation’s top high school.

Gatton grads finalists in science contest
           Two recent graduates of the Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Kentucky are finalists in a national science competition.

Inventors’ business ideas get awards
           When Ron Rizzo developed a small device to help officials inspect underwater bridges, search and rescue, and explore caves, he didn’t have the money to pursue the project the way he wanted to.

Nursing school could boost by-pass growth
           The look of Commonwealth Health Corp.’s proposed new building for WKU’s school of nursing should help spur development along that end of U.S. 31-W By-pass.

As many as 10,000, including one president, expected for convention
           One of Bosnia’s presidents will be in Bowling Green next week for the 17th Convention of Bosniaks in North America. As many as 10,000 people from within a 10-hour drive are expected to come to Bowling Green for the major cultural event, which includes a grand opening and dedication for the Bosnian Islamic Center.

Minton gets second term as Kentucky’s chief justice
           Kentucky Chief Justice John D. Minton Jr. of Bowling Green was unanimously elected to another four years as the head of the commonwealth’s court system this week.

Washington Post
Top-performing schools with elite students
           Juniors and seniors from across the state are selected by scores, grades and essays to live in their own WKU residence hall, earning college credit as well as completing high school.

WBKO-TV
Gatton Academy at WKU Ranks Number 1
           Newsweek Magazine lists the nation’s top high schools and Gatton Academy at WKU comes in as number one.

17th Convention of Bosniaks in North America Coming to Bowling Green
           Thursday morning, a press conference was held on WKU’s campus to discuss the events coming up on May 24th throughout the 27th.

Popular Mechanics
Why Does Everyone Climb Everest in May?
           Why is everyone ascending Everest in May? To find out, and to get other answers to our questions about Everest, we talked to John All, a geographer at WKU.

KyForward.com
Newsweek recognizes Gatton Academy at WKU as nation’s top high school
           The Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Kentucky at WKU has been recognized by Newsweek magazine as the nation’s top high school.

May 10-16, 2012

LINK: The Journal of Higher Education Web Professionals
Foursquare @ WKU: Using 4sqonCampus for event promotion
           Part of my challenge as the manager of Creative Web Services at WKU is to keep our web presences interactive and fun.  

Glasgow Daily Times
Chinese classes return to BC schools
           Through an agreement renewal with Superintendent Bo Matthews, the board of education and the Confucius Institute at WKU, the district will have a Chinese volunteer teacher for the upcoming 2012-13 school year, offering Mandarin Chinese to interested students at the high school.

WKYU-FM
Bosniak Convention Coming to Bowling Green
           WKU will be coordinating some educational activities in conjunction with the Bosniak Convention.

Rachel Hopkin Receives John D. Minton Award
           Folk Studies student Rachel Hopkin, a familiar voice to WKU Public Radio listeners, received the John D. Minton Award for outstanding graduate student Friday.

WKU Professor Seeks to Understand Why Some Have “Identification with All Humanity”
           WKU Psychology professor Sam McFarland has long been fascinated by individuals who put their lives–and the lives of loved ones–at risk in order to save people of a different race, ethnicity, or religious group.

Daily News
WKU nursing program looking at expansion
           WKU’s School of Nursing is about to get a big boost with a proposed expansion of Commonwealth Health Corp.’s campus.

Dad, daughter among WKU’s graduating class
           Rick Stiltner had a better view of his daughter’s graduation from WKU than most parents who gathered at E.A. Diddle Arena on Saturday.

Minton honored at annual Law Day
           Kentucky Chief Justice John Minton’s tenure as a Warren Circuit Court judge was commemorated Wednesday with the unveiling and dedication of a portrait that will hang in the courtroom where he once presided.

WBKO-TV
WKU Holds Three Commencement Ceremonies
           It was an exciting day at Diddle Arena as WKU’s undergraduate class of 2012 crossed the stage and received their diplomas.

May 4-9, 2012

WBKO-TV
WKU Students To Bike Across U.S. For Alzheimer’s
           11 WKU students are getting ready to take a bike trip across the United States to raise awareness for the Alzheimer’s Association.

WKU Dedicates New Music Facility
           WKU dedicated a new building on its campus.

Danville Advocate-Messenger
Boyle County schools expand language classes
           Through the Confucius Institute at WKU, students grades 3-12 will be able to learn Mandarin Chinese from certified teachers.

Daily News
Photojournalists document local lives in the REACH HIGHER Program
           Several hundred people turned out for the opening of the REACH HIGHER photo exhibit in the The SKyPAC Children’s Gallery. Students in Jeanie Adams-Smith’s Picture Stories class at WKU documented the lives of low income women and children in the REACH HIGHER Program and later held a photography workshop for the women.

Glasgow Daily Times
WKU-Glasgow honors grads
           Spring 2012 graduates were recognized Thursday night at the WKU-Glasgow Graduand Recognition ceremony at the Plaza Theatre.

April 27-May 3, 2012

Lane Report
WKU storm chasers prepare for annual forecast adventure
           During WKU’s May 2012 summer term, eight meteorology students in Dr. Josh Durkee’s annual Field Methods in Weather Analysis and Forecasting course will set out to forecast, analyze and document severe convective storms across the Great Plains.

Daily News
Chamber honors Simpson
          When Mike Simpson returned to Bowling Green in 1996, he was looking for a change of pace. His father had recently died, and he craved something different in his life. That’s when businessman David Chandler offered Simpson a position at his residential living business, Chandler Property Management. About 16 years later, Simpson is owner and president of the business, and today he was named the 2012 Small Business Person of the Year by the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce. Simpson, who grew up in Hancock and Ohio counties, graduated from WKU in 1985 and then returned for his master’s degree.

Duo’s musical gets professional boost
           For the past few months, life has been extraordinary for WKU students Isaac Middleton and Joseph Sturgill.

Pedal Power
           Seven members of a WKU fraternity are preparing to bike across America this summer to raise money and awareness about Alzheimer’s disease.

Henderson Gleaner
Mr. A: Longtime college newspaper adviser wraps it up
           Bob Adams was the newspaper adviser for The College Heights Herald, the national award-winning twice-a-week student newspaper at WKU.

WBKO-TV
WKU Mock Prisoners Raise Money For United Way
           Some students and faculty at WKU acted as prisoners Tuesday, but it was all for a good cause.

WKYU-FM
New Greenhouse to Boost Ag Research
           The recent opening of a new greenhouse/headhouse facility at the WKU farm is expected to strengthen the research partnership between the University and the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service.

Physical Therapy Program at WKU Expected to Start in June of 2013
           Officials at WKU say they currently plan to open the WKU Doctor of Physical Therapy Program in about fourteen months.

USA Today College
WKU student newspaper explores school, A to Z
A is for Ambassador.  B is for Band Member.  C is for Chess.  D is for Dubstep.  E is for Event Planner.  F is for Forensics.  G is for Guns. . . .

April 19-26, 2012

Daily News
School celebrates WKU at Spirit Day
           The scene in Richardsville Elementary School’s gym Wednesday morning could have been mistaken for one at E.A. Diddle Arena.

Evening of Dance
           Hannah Slattery has known she has wanted to dance her entire life.

‘We want to keep it safe’
            When WKU senior Kristen Mikulcik was walking back to McLean Hall after a late-night study session Monday, she noticed more campus police than what she typically sees.

WKU farm opens greenhouse
            A new greenhouse opened Tuesday on WKU’s farm as part of a partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

WKU group simulates life of homeless
           About a dozen WKU students began a 24-hour homeless simulation Friday night.

Grudzielanek’s service work noted
           Ray Grudzielanek remembers his first volunteer project. It was the 1970s, and he heard about a Special Olympics program at WKU. He decided to pitch in.

Komisar discusses journalism’s changes
           Award-winning journalist Lucy Komisar spoke Thursday night at WKU about the past and the future of investigative journalism.

Four Jefferson Award winners honored
           Like the other recipients, Martha Jenkins has been busy over the past few months volunteering her time. She has spent “hours and hours” arranging an exhibit at the Kentucky Museum celebrating 100 years of the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, in which she taught for 40 years.

WKYU-FM
WKU and USDA Ag Research Service Strengthen Partnership
           Officials at WKU say the opening of a new greenhouse/headhouse facility on the WKU farm will add to a strong partnership between the University and the Agricultural Research Service.

Amplifier
Beegie Adair Trio: The Real Thing – Live
           Best selling jazz pianist, Beegie Adair, will released her first ever live concert recording, The Real Thing – Live, on April 24, 2012.  Adair, who was born and raised in Cave City and studied piano at WKU is considered one of the world greatest jazz pianists.  

Lane Report
WKU, China’s Hebei University sign agreement
           In an effort to continue WKU’s expanding international reach, a delegation from WKU traveled to China’s Hebei province to finalize a five-year agreement creating a “2+2” program between Hebei University and WKU.

PurePOWER Technologies opens new facility at WKU
The new home for PurePOWER Technologies (PPT) means room for the company to grow and additional high-tech jobs for the Bowling Green area.

Enhanced Online News
SAS Recognizes Excellence in Teaching and the Use of Analytics
           Analytics is not only one of the hottest fields for new graduates, it is also used by educational institutions to improve administration, teaching and learning. In acknowledgement of the importance of analytics in education, SAS has recognized WKU with the first SAS Excellence in Education award.

April 13-18, 2012

WKYU-FM
4th Annual WKU Open Chess Tournament Set for This Weekend
           A Chess Grandmaster from Russia will deliver a lecture on “The Correlations between the Thinking Processes of Chess and Science” as part of this year’s WKU Open Chess Tournament.

Higher Education Leaders Looking for Efficiency in Classroom Use
           More than 80 education leaders from across Kentucky are expected to attend a statewide summit next week to learn more about “best practices” in scheduling classroom space.

Daily News
Real-world lessons
           Entrepreneurship students at WKU are acting as consultants to downtown businesses in an effort to help revitalize the area.

Inmates get help for life after jail
           One of the volunteers who works closely with Maj. William Baker on the Warren County Jail’s Inmate Reentry Program is WKU senior Karli Rutherford, who served last year as an intern at the jail and stayed on as a volunteer for the re-entry program.

Girls get to experiment with science
           About 150 girls from across the region gathered Saturday at WKU to take hands-on science classes during the annual Girls in Science Day.

WKU students memorialize friend with golf tournament
           Two friends have teamed up to start a golf tournament in honor of the late Bradley Boling.

WBKO-TV
WKU Among Nation’s “Green Colleges”
           As the nation and the community gear up to celebrate Earth Day, WKU has been ranked among the nation’s most environmentally responsible “green colleges” for the third consecutive year.

Cincinnati.com
Four Boone sophomores to attend Gatton Academy
           Four sophomores from Boone County are among the 50 Kentucky students selected to attend the Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science at WKU for the Class of 2014.

Danville Advocate-Messenger
Seventh Boyle student to attend Gatton Academy
           Boyle County High School now has the unique distinction of being the only school in the state to have a student accepted into the Gatton Academy every year since its inception.

Science Codex
Stoneflies mapped across Ohio, with implications for water quality and nature conservation
           Scientists at the University of Illinois and WKU, funded by the USA National Science Foundation, have completed the first ever statewide assessment of stonefly diversity in Ohio.

April 7-12, 2012

WBKR-FM, Owensboro
Three Area Students in Select Program at WKU
           The Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Kentucky at WKU has selected 50 students for its Class of 2014.

Henderson Gleaner
Three headed to WKU Gatton Academy
           Three Tri-county high school sophomores have been selected to attend the Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Kentucky at WKU.

Kentucky New Era, Hopkinsville
Local students to attend Gatton Academy
           Two students from Christian County and one from Trigg County were recently accepted into the Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science out of WKU for the 2014 school year.

WBKO-TV
WKU Officer to Participate in Charity Bicycle Race
           WKU Police Sgt. Craig Sutter will participate again in Law Enforcement United’s charity bicycle ride in May.

Start-up Businesses Thrive Across Kentucky And Bowling Green
              It’s no surprise to some locals that Kentucky is getting recognition for having a large number of start-up companies. WKU’s Small Business Development Center is currently working with nearly 20 start-up businesses.

Amplifier
Authors Carl Hiaasen and Patricia Reilly Giff to headline SOKY Book Fest 2012
           New York Times bestselling author and Newbery Honor award winner Carl Hiaasen will kick off the 14th annual Southern Kentucky Book Fest on April 21.

Daily News
Shange discusses growing up black during the 1950s
           Ntozake Shange, a poet, novelist and playwright, visited WKU’s Van Meter Hall on Monday night to talk about her experiences growing up as a black woman in the 1950s. Her lecture was the last Cultural Enhancement Series event of the school year.

Downtown getting set for more businesses
           Downtown Bowling Green is in line for a series of changes when WKU graduate and entrepreneur Dale Augenstein opens two businesses downtown.

WKU classroom named for Wassom
           Community members gathered at WKU’s South Campus on Friday to honor the late economics professor John Wassom during a dedication ceremony for the room named after him.

March 31-April 6, 2012

WKYU-FM
Iraq Veteran and Triple Amputee Shares His Story of Perseverance
           Former Army Sergeant Bryan Anderson was just 26 when his humvee struck a roadside bomb in Iraq, amputating both of his legs and his left hand.

Historians Reflect on the Impact of the Battle of Shiloh
           WKU Military Historian Jack Thacker and Dr. Glenn LaFantasie of the WKU Institute for Civil War Studies say Shiloh changed the way many military leaders and the general public viewed the war.

WKU Historian Working on Shiloh Research Project
           Dr. Glenn LaFantasie of the WKU Institute for Civil War Studies is involved in a software mapping project that could become very significant to future historians.

Daily News
Bank will offer free concert
           Independence Bank will ring in its new $6.5 million location, set to open this month on Scottsville Road, with a free concert by rocker John Mellencamp on May 19. The Court Yard Hounds – featuring sisters Martie Maguire and Emily Robison, who were previously members of the Dixie Chicks – will open for Mellencamp at WKU’s Houchens-Smith Stadium. The concert, dubbed “Sounds of Independence,” is from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Amputee vet stays positive
           Sgt. Bryan Anderson remembers the fiery blast that ripped his legs and left hand from his body, leaving them in the floorboard and passenger seat of the truck he was driving.

‘Zombies’ pitch advertising field
           Several WKU students dressed up as zombies Monday afternoon to promote the advertising and public relations majors.

Geography whizzes compete in bee
           Nikhil Krishna wasn’t sure he could win the statewide geography bee when he heard the final question Friday morning at the Carroll Knicely Conference Center.

Glasgow Daily Times
WKU-Glasgow adds programs
           Faculty members from WKU visited the WKU-Glasgow campus Wednesday to speak with students at the New Majors Fair regarding the six new programs the school will be offering in the fall.

WBKO-TV
Development and Students Trying to Boost Downtown Economy
           Santa Fe, New Mexico and Bowling Green don’t have much in common, but some WKU business students are using a business based model called Santa Fe to help business downtown.

WKU Kappa Delta’s Shamrock Shootout Benefits Family Enrichment Center
           People across Bowling Green came out to shoot hoops at the WKU campus and it was all for a good cause.

WWHR Pooch Pageant Benefits Animal Adoption Center
           WKU’s student run radio station, Revolution 97.1, hosted its third annual pooch pageant at H.P. Thomas Bark Park on Cave Mill Road in Bowling Green.

March 22-30, 2012

WKYU-FM
WKU Helps Restaurants Offer Information in High-Tech Fashion
           A group of WKU graduates has launched a smart phone application for restaurant patrons, and Bowling Green is the debut city.

Daily News
Habitat program teaching women construction skills
           WKU’s Habitat for Humanity chapter will look to get more women involved in home construction through the Women Build program.

Housing plentiful for students
           When WKU students return to campus in the fall, they will have a number of new housing opportunities.

New Greenways coordinator takes over next month
           Rachel Heltzer likes being outdoors, so applying to become the new Greenways coordinator was a natural step for the 25-year-old Ohio native. Heltzer, a graduate student in WKU’s geoscience program, said she has several goals when she takes over. Community outreach will be an important part of what she does.

Students given shot at downtown venture
           By May, WKU students could be running a business downtown thanks to WKU’s student business incubator.

Men walk in women’s shoes for sexual assault awareness
           WKU hosted the Walk a Mile in Her Shoes event Wednesday at the Chi Omega fraternity house on Normal Street.

Scientist calls for globe to cooperate on climate
           A renowned physicist and meteorologist spoke to college and high school students in Bowling Green this week about climate change. Kenrick Leslie, executive director of the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre in Belize, visited WKU on Tuesday and Bowling Green High School on Wednesday.

Examiner
Laura Kathleen opens up about life after, and the drama of, ‘Project Runway’
           Sewing since the age of 8, Laura Kathleen holds a degree in Design, Merchandising, and Textiles from WKU.

Poynter
Student portrait of Anthony Shadid catches widow’s eye on Twitter
           Ebony Marshman was so inspired by Anthony Shadid’s work that she painted a portrait of him that was soon discovered by his widow, who requested a copy from the artist. Instead, Marshman will give Nada Bakri the original.

March 16-21, 2012

Lane Report
One-On-One: Gary Ransdell
           President Gary Ransdell outlines how WKU partners with government and business to benefit the community.

Daily News
Ben & Jerry’s co-founder proud of business model
                 When Jerry Greenfield opened an ice cream shop more than 30 years ago, he and his business partner had no experience. Though they followed an unconventional path, they ended up founding a billion-dollar company, Ben & Jerry’s. Greenfield visited Van Meter Hall on Monday night as part of WKU’s Cultural Enhancement Series.

Students get scholarships as they GEAR UP for higher ed
           Several hundred high school juniors from across Kentucky received scholarships through the GEAR UP program Friday at the Carroll Knicely Conference Center.

Courier-Journal
Savoy magazine names Kentucky native one of the ‘Top 100 Most Influential Blacks in Corporate America’
           Kentucky native and WKU graduate George Nichols III has been named one of the “Top 100 Most Influential Blacks in Corporate America” by Savoy magazine.

Elizabethtown News-Enterprise
Clem Haskins blazed his own trail with basketball
At 68, Clem Haskins can look back on a successful life.

Conservation group acquires 115 acres
           Jeff Jones, executive director of SCC, said the upper Green River the organization plans to complement land protection work under way in the Green River watershed by The Nature Conservancy, WKU, Kentucky Wild Rivers program and others.

March 10-15, 2012

Elizabethtown News-Enterprise
Radcliff native takes command of 3/1 battalion
              Lt. Col. Glenn Robert Bollinger III shakes his head when he wakes up in the morning and realizes he is back home. Bollinger, a Special Forces officer and Radcliff native, took command of the Special Troops Battalion of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, on a bright and unseasonably warm Wednesday afternoon on Fort Knox’s Brooks Field. Bollinger graduated from North Hardin High School, obtained a Bachelor of Science degree from WKU and a Master of Arts from the School of Advanced Military Studies.

WKYU-FM
Author of Best Selling Book on Climate Change to Speak at WKU
           Dr. Brian Fagan, Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Santa Barbara, will give a “Reach Week” lecture on the WKU campus on March 21st.

NPR
WKU Surprises At NCAA Tournament
           They’re called the Hilltoppers. They’re from WKU. And they’re the only men’s basketball team with a losing record in the NCAA tournament. But they’re still playing and enjoying their new notoriety. Are they this year’s “Cinderella?”

Daily News
Downtown businesses, WKU’s Ransdell search for ‘cool factor’
           The relationship between downtown Bowling Green and WKU hasn’t been clearly defined, but that’s something downtown business owners and the university hope to change.

SKyPAC opens to rave reviews from crowd
           WKU President Gary Ransdell agreed. “What a great asset to southcentral Kentucky,” he said.

Assistant county attorney wins ATHENA Young Professional Award
           Assistant Warren County Attorney Jamie Spinks on Friday was named the ATHENA Young Professional Award winner. A WKU graduate who obtained a law degree from Louis D. Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville, Spinks has worked in public law in Allen and Warren counties since her graduation in 2007.

WBKO-TV
Hilltoppers NCAA Win Boosts Image of University and Bowling Green
           WKU’s NCAA win against Mississippi Valley State doing wonders for the University and the community.

Lexington Herald-Leader
Exile, Headhunters to be inducted into Kentucky Music Hall of Fame
The pioneer inductees are The Hilltoppers, a vocal group that formed at WKU; country musicians Linda Lou and Emory Martin; and comedian and banjoist Old Joe Clark.

Business First
D.D. Williamson, Yum executives to speak at WKU lecture series
           Mary Nixon and Ted Nixon are scheduled to speak about the risks and rewards of doing business around the globe as part of WKU’s Hays Watkins Visiting CEO Lecture Series.

March 2-9, 2012

Photo District News
Picture Story: A Question of Responsibility
           Thailand-based photographer Inge Kathleen Hooker was fretting recently over a Burmese family she documented for her senior project three years ago. Hooker did the project in 2009 for her photography degree at WKU.

Glasgow Daily Times
Students learn leadership, not just farming
           Students from 13 schools across the region came together Wednesday at WKU’s Glasgow campus to demonstrate their public speaking skills in the Regional FFA Day Finals and reunite with what many of them call their “family.”

Daily News
Hundreds greet Sun Belt Conference champion WKU Hilltoppers at welcome home celebration
           The Hilltopper tradition runs deep in the family of Laura Carson and her mother, Dorothy Hanes.

‘East Meets West’ at Van Meter Auditorium
           The Symphony at WKU Music Director Bill Scott has known that he wanted certain parts of the organization’s next concert to come for a long time.

WBKO-TV
2012 Buck$ for Bright Ideas
           The Central Region Innovation & Commercialization Center (Central Region ICC) is now accepting applications for the 2012 Buck$ for Bright Ideas Competition.

Evansville Courier & Press
‘Old Days’ brings Rosenbaum back to where it all began
Don’t get him wrong — Michael Rosenbaum is grateful for his seven years playing the villain Lex Luthor on WB’s “Smallville,” and for his scores of other acting roles in television, movies and plays over the past 15 years. At some point, the former Newburgh resident decided he wanted something more. At 39, Rosenbaum is doing all that, back where it all began, with “Old Days,” a feature film he wrote, will act in and direct in Newburgh and Evansville over the coming month. Rosenbaum took to the stage in play after play at WKU, where he graduated with a degree in theater and communications in 1994.

SurfKY News
Air Force Woodwind Quintet Performs at WKU
           Huffman Prairie Winds woodwind quintet, one of four classical chamber ensembles within the United States Air Force Band of Flight, will perform March 14 at WKU’s new Music Rehearsal Hall.

Feb. 24-March 1, 2012

SurfKY News
WKU Habitat for Humanity Chapter Plans Spring Break Trips
           WKU’s Habitat for Humanity campus chapter will be sending three volunteer groups to Missouri, North Carolina and Pennsylvania for spring break trips next week.

WBKO-TV
March Is Sexual Assault Awareness Month
           This month, several groups are raising awareness on sexual assault.

Salt Lake City Deseret News
Jeremy Evans comes out on top as slam dunk champ
           Second-year Utah Jazz player Jeremy Evans made the most of a last-minute opportunity to come out victorious at the Sprite Slam Dunk contest in Orlando, Fla., on Saturday night.

Amplifier
Ad+PR program launches Community Projects initiative to assist organizations
           WKU’s Advertising and Public Relations (Ad+PR) program has announced a community outreach effort designed to provide students the opportunity to gain first-hand experience in the field, while giving back to the local community in a truly significant way.

Feb. 17-23, 2012

Daily News
WKU crowd encouraged to dream big
           Actor and author Hill Harper told a crowd Tuesday at the Downing University Center theater about how to achieve their goals. Harper visited WKU as the keynote speaker for the university’s Black History Month events.

Dancer tells kids: Follow your passion
           WKU alumnus Jeremy Benton has had a nearly decade-long theater career that’s taken him around the world.

Danville Advocate Messenger
Danville native Larnelle Harris earns honor
           Hall of Fame singer and five-time Grammy winner Larnelle Harris will be honored by his hometown of Louisville as an Outstanding Community Leader and Citizen.

WKYU-FM
New Summer Scholarship Program Established at WKU
           The Administrative Council at WKU has approved a scholarship program that is expected to help more than seven hundred students reduce their costs for summer school this year.

WBKO-TV
WKU Confucius Institute co-sponsors Spring Festival
           WKU’s Confucius Institute hosted its annual Spring Festival on the University’s campus.

The Sky is The Limit
           The Center for Gifted Studies held their first “Aiming for the Sky” balloon release.

Franklin Favorite
Learning on the Equator
           Two Franklin-Simpson graduates recently visited Ecuador with a Study Abroad group from WKU during the winter term in January 2012.

Feb. 11-16, 2012

SurfKY News
Gatton Academy, AT&T Announce Gift for WKU Speaker Series
           Students at The Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Kentucky at WKU already enjoy unique opportunities for advanced study in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

Kentucky Mesonet Expanding to Muhlenberg
           The Kentucky Mesonet is expanding its weather and climate monitoring network to Muhlenberg County.

WBKO-TV
Big Red Accepts Ellen’s Dance Dare
           “Big Red” is accepting a big challenge from a TV talk show host.

LaRue County Herald News
LaRue native finds career path through FFA program
           Years of hard work and volunteerism are paying off for a LaRue County woman as she graduates with a specialized degree from WKU.

WKYU-FM
Gift Will Establish Speakers Series at Gatton Academy
           A twenty thousand dollar gift from AT&T will help to launch a speakers program at the Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science at WKU. 

Amplifier
Three inducted as fifth class in Kentucky Teacher Hall of Fame
           The members of the fifth class of the Gov. Louie B. Nunn Kentucky Teacher Hall of Fame were inducted Tuesday (Feb. 14) at the State Capitol.

Feb. 4-10, 2012

Daily News
The Dance Project showcases talents of student choreographers
           The Dance Project, a concert that features student choreographers and performers, will be at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday at WKU’s Gordon Wilson Lab Theatre.

WBKO-TV
Jonesville, Kentucky: A Community Gone, but Not Forgotten
           Jonesville, KY existed where the southern part of WKU’s campus is today including areas like the baseball and softball field.

Group Using Research to help Predict Disasters & Global Events
           Dr. Cari Bourette, a professor at WKU, with the help of her team have predicted such events as the tsunami that occurred in Japan last year.

Are You Prepared If An Earthquake Hits Bowling Green?
           Local geology professors at WKU and emergency responders want to make sure you know what to do after an earthquake strikes.

SurfKY News
WKU Confucius Institute Hosting Chinese Spring Gala
           The Confucius Institute at WKU will be hosting a Chinese Spring Gala at 6 p.m. Feb. 22 in the auditorium of Downing University Center located on the campus of WKU.

Glasgow Daily Times
Howard lauded for G/T work
           Glasgow Superintendent Sean Howard was presented the Kentucky Association for Gifted Education’s Michael Caudill Educator Award on Monday at the annual KAGE conference in Lexington. Howard was nominated for the award by Aileen Rose, a member of the Advisory Board for the Center for Gifted Studies at WKU, and Elaine Richardson, chairwoman of the Glasgow Board of Education.

Feb. 1-3, 2012

Elizabethtown News-Enterprise
WKU student’s work put him in star realm
           A local college student’s research on the brightness of a supernova led him to become a star at a recent astronomy conference.

Daily News
Concrete keeps WKU students afloat
           A break in rainy weather Wednesday afternoon provided an opportunity for a group of WKU students to practice navigating a concrete canoe for a couple of hours at Basil Griffin Park.

The Motown Sound
           Motownmadness will be at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday at WKU’s Van Meter Hall.

Soiree will be Feb. 11
           The Symphony at WKU conductor Bill Scott believes the Symphony Soiree would make a good outing just before Valentine’s Day.

WKYU-FM
Music Professor Emeritus Bennie Beach Reflects on His Career at WKU
           Bennie Beach, WKU Music Department Professor Emeritus, remembers his early days at the University, his association with famed composer Roy Harris, and he shares some his poetry.

Jan. 26-31, 2012

Daily News
Groups plan activities to recognize black history
           Several organizations and churches are planning Black History Month activities for February.

Rolling out the red carpet
           High school students and their parents wandered about the Downing University Center on Saturday as part of Spring Preview Day for minority students.

Logan’s Raby, two others will be enshrined
           A woman who taught in Logan County for more than 30 years will be one of three inductees into the Gov. Louie B. Nunn Kentucky Teacher Hall of Fame.

Work by WKU students, city provides computers to Ecuador community
                 Students living in a village in Ecuador are perusing Facebook today, thanks to help from the city of Bowling Green and WKU.

WBKO-TV
Purple Heart Recipient is a Hometown Hero
           A local military hero is awarded the Purple Heart for his service to his country, and now he is giving back closer to home.  He also wants to use his influence to start a scholarship fund at WKU for soldiers returning to school who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.

Miss Kentucky Returns From National Competition
            Ann-Blair Thornton, Miss Kentucky, has returned from the Miss America pageant. She now is busy fulfilling her Miss Kentucky duties, finishing school at WKU and working on her goal to attend law school.

Jan. 21-25, 2012

Daily News
It’s back to class on the Hill
                 A new semester began Monday at WKU – but for many students, the stress of school hadn’t yet started as they reunited with friends and took advantage of a mild winter afternoon.

Super Saturdays set
                 A semiannual program at WKU for grade-school students begins this weekend.

Courier-Journal
Maggie’s magazine: Louisville photojournalist starts new publication
                 Louisville photojournalist Maggie Huber was paying the bills as a freelancer. But when her jobs fell off because of the economic downturn, the enterprising shooter went into survival mode. Necessity proved the mother of invention as THIS … is Louisville, the free monthly picture magazine Huber started and edits, hit the stands this month. A photojournalism graduate of WKU, Huber also cited Life as an inspiration, saying, “One of the first photography books I ever got was a collection of Life classic photographs.

WLEX-TV Lexington
3 Educators Chosen For Teacher Hall Of Fame
                 Two teachers from Madison County and one from Logan County will be inducted into the Gov. Louie B. Nunn Kentucky Teacher Hall of Fame next month.

Lane Report
Kentucky high schooler presents medical research at world’s largest mathematics meeting
What began as an independent research project for a high-school student at WKU’s Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Kentucky recently led to a presentation at the largest annual mathematics meeting in the world.

WKU’s 26,000 sq. ft. Music Hall to open for spring semester
                 The sounds of construction equipment and furniture moving have been music to Dr. Mitzi Groom’s ears as WKU’s new Music Hall is nearing completion.

Jan. 14-20, 2012

WKYU-FM
WKU’s “Public Achievement”Program Earns National Recognition
                 A Civic Education program at WKU was recognized recently at a ceremony at the White House.

Bowling Green woman tells of chaotic scenes aboard capsizing ship in Italy
                 Bowling Green resident Lauren Moore saw first-hand the chaos aboard the Costa Concordia cruise liner after it slammed into the reef Friday off the tiny island of Giglio.

Daily News
Hometown support
                 The eyes of about a dozen women at Jan Lange’s house were glued to the television screen as they listened to the names of 15 semifinalists in the Miss America pageant Saturday night.

Iraq War veteran gets Purple Heart
                 Miki Padgett of Bowling Green received a prestigious military award Friday, just days before he returns to a war zone. Padgett was presented with a Purple Heart for injuries he suffered during a tour in Iraq in 2007. Padgett, who has bachelor’s degrees in economics and Spanish from WKU, hopes to finish his master’s degree in leadership dynamics when he returns from Afghanistan.

Glasgow Daily Times
Guthrie presents veteran with Purple Heart
                 U.S. Representative Brett Guthrie bestowed honors and played the role of diplomat at a town hall meeting Friday morning at Glasgow City Hall. Guthrie, R-Bowling Green, was there to present Miki Padgett with a Purple Heart for injuries sustained during combat in Iraq.

News-Democrat & Leader
Former Logan County teacher to be inducted into state hall of fame
                 Three outstanding educators – including a long-serving Logan County teacher – have been selected for the fifth class of the Gov. Louie B. Nunn Kentucky Teacher Hall of Fame.

Jan. 10-13, 2012

WKYU-FM
WKU “Student Services and Technology” Rank in Top Ten
                 U-S News and World Report this week listed WKU among the top ten schools in the nation for on-line student services and technology.

Lane Report
WKU announces 10-year contract with Coca-Cola
                 WKU and Coca-Cola have signed a 10-year partnership for beverage rights.

Daily News
Coke will be it on WKU campus
               Coca-Cola products are returning to WKU’s campus after a 15-year absence.

BG to host Miss Kentucky USA pageant
                The Miss Kentucky USA pageant will be coming to Bowling Green this month.

Courier-Journal
Kentucky Derby Festival names princesses
                 As part of a long-running Louisville tradition, the princesses for the 2012 Derby Festival Royal Court were selected Monday. They include Taylor Sang, of Louisville, a junior majoring in broadcast news at WKU.

Jan. 4-9, 2012

Glasgow Daily Times
Local veteran to receive Purple Heart
                 Miki Padgett remembers a childhood abroad when his parents were missionaries, which is part of how he knows how to relate to other cultures and heritages. This skill has brought him through war zones as he looked for improvised explosive devices and is one reason he is coming home to receive the Purple Heart at a ceremony at Glasgow City Hall. After he left the military, he finished his studies at WKU, where he majored in economic and Spanish.

Mesonet measures state’s wettest year
                 The statewide average precipitation exceeded 63 inches, placing 2011 with 1979 and 1950 as the wettest years in the state in more than a century, said Dr. Stuart Foster, state climatologist, who is also director of the Mesonet and the Kentucky Climate Center at WKU in Bowling Green.

Daily News
Thornton preparing for pageant 
                   Ann-Blair Thornton most misses going to Mariah’s restaurant in downtown Bowling Green. She couldn’t eat Christmas treats around the holidays, and her days generally begin at 3 a.m. with rigorous workout routines. It’s not an easy road to the ultimate beauty pageant, but it’s a journey the 22-year-old from Bowling Green embarked on after winning the title of Miss Kentucky over the summer. Thornton, a WKU senior, is preparing for the Miss America pageant in Las Vegas.

Good luck to Ann-Blair in her pageant
                 Bowling Green native Ann-Blair Thornton is living every girl’s dream. She was crowned Miss Kentucky and is about to contend in the Miss America pageant next week.

The $100 Solution
                 Many college students perform community service. But for 11 WKU students, their grade last semester depended on implementing their own service project.

Kentucky New Era
2011 was one of the wettest years on record in Kentucky
                 Although 2011 began with lingering concerns about drought, the year ended as one of the wettest on record in Kentucky, according to state climatologist Dr. Stuart Foster.

Inside Higher Ed
Confucius Says …
                 More than 300 colleges in more than 90 countries — including about 70 institutions in the United States — host Confucius Institutes, centers of Chinese language and culture education and research funded by China’s government.

Dec. 16, 2011-Jan. 3, 2012

Kentucky Ag Connection
Adams Honored with Farm Public Relations Award
                 Matt Adams, a Hardin County extension agent for agriculture and natural resources, is the recipient of Kentucky Farm Bureau’s 26th annual Farm Public Relations Award. Adams graduated from WKU with a bachelor’s degree in agriculture.

WBKO-TV
WKU Leading Confucius Institute
                 WKU is one out of about 350 Confucius Institutes world wide, one of 65 in the United States. President Gary Ransdell took a recent trip to China for the annual Confucius Institute Conference.

Courier-Journal
Reader Letter | Studying abroad thrives at WKU
                 In response to the Nov. 29 cover story, “Studying abroad declines in state,” the Commonwealth of Kentucky may be falling behind in international education statistically, but the study abroad opportunities for students in the Honors College at WKU tell a different story.

Daily News
BG High School junior to visit White House in January
                 Christian Crues, 16, a junior at Bowling Green High School, has served as a mentor for fifth-graders at Dishman-McGinnis Elementary School through the Public Achievement program, which also has help from WKU students, who will be on the trip with Crues.

Man paralyzed in shooting among graduates at WKU
                 Phillip Cole II was one of more than 1,000 students to graduate from WKU, but his journey to that milestone took longer than many of his fellow graduates.

Glasgow Daily Times
Neighbors network in effort to improve community
                 Nicole Breazeale, a sociology professor at WKU-Glasgow Campus, had students in her social problems class this semester collect information on local social issues and the kind of help that was available to meet the needs of those issues.

Dec. 9-15, 2011

BBC News Magazine
Charles Dickens: Six things he gave the modern world
                 Prof Theodore Hovet of WKU has argued that Dickens’s influence stretches further than just adaptations in modern cinema, actually providing themes and techniques that are still used today.

China Daily
Making a world of difference
                 “Though Spanish and French are popular second languages in many American schools, my 14-year-old daughter has shown a keen interest in Chinese culture,” said Amy Bingham DeCesare, who works as a broadcast coordinator at WKU.

Daily News
Religious inquiry: Many religious studies majors got hooked at WKU
                In the middle of the Bible Belt is a program that teaches students about an array of faiths from Christianity to Islam to Hinduism. WKU houses the only religious studies program among public universities in the state, and it’s expanding, professors say. It recently added a master’s program and is soon bringing in an Islamic expert, and the Asian, Religion and Cultures program is a new degree at WKU.

WKU dean set to retire following weekend graduation ceremonies
              This weekend’s graduation ceremonies at WKU will be the last for Blaine Ferrell as dean of the Ogden College of Science and Engineering. He is retiring after a 33-year career at WKU.

Dec. 2-8, 2011

Bradenton (Fla.) Herald
Taggart rewarded for WKU revival
               Raised by a poor Manatee County family that struggled to put food on the table, Willie Taggart was taught to believe that hard work eventually pays off. The second-year head football coach at WKU found that advice was more than just talk this week.

Daily News
Why Wait? Bowling Green pair create app that provides wait times at restaurants
                Eric Littleton and Jon Matar partnered on the creation of WhyWait, which people can download onto their smartphones beginning Dec. 21. Operating out of an office at the WKU Research and Development Center, Littleton and Matar have been reaching out to local restaurants about signing up for WhyWait.

Lane Report
WKU’s Office of Research recognizes faculty and staff at annual reception
                 A number of WKU faculty and staff were honored during an awards reception hosted by the Office of Research.

Elizabethtown News-Enterprise
Mountain Workshops collection complete
                 Hardin County residents soon will be able to hold a piece of local history in their hands. WKU’s Mountain Workshops has completed its work on a black-and-white coffee table book titled “At Home in the Heartland” that chronicles the lives of local residents through the lenses and pens of photojournalists.

Nov. 23-Dec. 1, 2011

Daily News
WKU building noted for energy efficiency
                 WKU achieved a milestone Tuesday – its newest building became another staple in the university’s energy efforts.

Students in county detention center learn culture from Chinese teachers
                 High school students at the Warren Regional Juvenile Detention Center had special visitors last week. Chinese teachers visiting the United States through WKU’s Confucius Institute taught students about their country’s language and culture.

Businesses gearing up for football title games
                 While footballs fly this weekend at Houchens Industries-L.T. Smith Stadium, business officials look for plenty of money handoffs to take place at cash registers throughout Bowling Green.

NewsChannel12
Eco Friendly Building at WKU
                 The newest addition to WKU’s campus is being recognized for its environmentally friendly features.

WDRB-TV Louisville
WKU prof traveling Kentucky to find best barbeque
                 Dr. Wes Berry is a man with a mission: he’s trying to find the best doggone barbeque the Bluegrass State has to offer.

WKYU-FM
A Conversation With Erika Brady
                 A conversation with Erika Brady, long-time co-host of Barren River Breakdown on WKU Public Radio.

Nov. 15-22, 2011

Science
An Unsung Carbon Sink
                 “If you think of the global carbon cycle like a bank account, we’re trying to keep track of all the deposits and withdrawals impacting the level of CO2 in the atmosphere,” says geologist Chris Groves, director of the Hoffman Environmental Research Institute at WKU in Bowling Green.

Courier-Journal
USA Cares gets $100,000 grant to help veterans
                USA Cares, a national military assistance non-profit organization based in Radcliff has received a $100,000 grant to help hundreds of the state’s post-9/11 veterans transition back into civilian life.The gift is from Terry Scariot, a Bowling Green businessman and philanthropist. The funds will specifically be used to assist veterans who are one year away from graduation at WKU or from one of the state’s 16 schools in the Kentucky Community and Technical College System.

Daily News
WKU vigil helps friends, family affected by suicide
                 WKU provided a safe environment Saturday for friends and relatives of those who have died by suicide to grieve, hosting the second annual Survivor of Suicide Remembrance Vigil.

Elizabethtown News-Enterprise
ECTC-WKU agreement offers new opportunity
                 A joint admissions agreement between Elizabethtown Community and Technical College and WKU offers benefits for both institutions and, more importantly, for local learners.

Kentucky Standard, Bardstown
WKU grad receives Rotary Ambassadorial scholarship
                 A Bardstown native and WKU graduate has received a 2012 Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship from the Rotary Foundation to travel to Africa to complete graduate coursework and engage in service.

Education Week
Data Driving College Preparation
                 Sam Evans, the dean of the college of education at WKU, was part of the group that sketched out how the new P-20 collaboration would work.

Clarksville Online
First Strike Fallen Honored at WKU
                 One of the fallen heroes, 1st Lt. Eric Yates, the company’s fire support officer and a 2008 WKU Reserve Officers’ Training Corps graduate, was killed on September 18th, 2010 and was honored by his alma mater for his heroic actions on the battlefield during a Veteran’s Day ceremony held at WKU, November 11th.

Nov. 10-14,2011

Daily News
Super sibs
                 Chaney Rose, 15, teared up as she talked Saturday among a group of other children her age who have siblings with special needs. She was one of many participants Saturday in Super Sib Day at the Suzanne Vitale Clinical Education Complex at WKU. The Family Resource Program at the complex and the Regional Child Development Clinics teamed up for the event, which the clinic hopes to hold once every academic semester to give siblings of special needs children a network of other kids to share similar life experiences.

Roll call mourns those who made ultimate sacrifice
                 As Kathy Yates leaned toward the microphone, tears filled her eyes and she could barely see the page she was reading from.

WKU honors fallen graduate
                 Ceremonies on WKU’s campus Friday honored 1st Lt. Eric Yates, a 2008 graduate from Rineyville who was killed in action in Afghanistan last year.

Book review: ‘The Poet’s Wife Speaks’ a special book
            Mary Ellen Miller’s stunning debut volume of poetry gathers the elements of a woman’s full experience in writing that is fierce, elegant and intelligent. In ode-like meditations, Miller takes us into the dark frolic of the family, the world, and a woman’s quest to secure the ascendancy and survival of the creative self … even as the world around her proves unsteady in its joys and sorrows.

Courier-Journal
Book review — ‘The Poet’s Wife Speaks’
            Mary Ellen Miller’s late husband, Jim Wayne Miller, was a terrific poet and teacher; the two of them have been pillars of the WKU community.

WKYU-FM
Some WKU students choosing to learn Arabic as a way of enhancing job prospects
                 For many Kentucky college students, choosing a foreign language class usually involves the usual suspects of Spanish, French, and possibly German.

WBKO-TV
WKU Sorority Participates in International Event
                 One WKU sorority participated in an International event to give young girls a chance to have fun.

Elizabethtown News-Enterprise
WKU to honor fallen Rineyville soldier
              A Rineyville soldier killed in Afghanistan last year will be honored by his alma mater. First Lt. Eric Yates, a 2008 graduate of Western Kentucky University, will be honored through the unveiling of a granite panel featuring his likeness on Guthrie Tower and will be inducted into the WKU ROTC Hall of Fame during a ceremony at the Kentucky Museum.

WKU-ECTC sign admission agreement
            Officials signed an agreement Thursday that allows students to apply to Elizabethtown Community and Technical College and WKU jointly.

Nov. 5-9, 2011

Cincinnati.com
WKU students contribute to genetic database
                 Gatton Academy students Elizabeth Farnsworth and Cynthia Tope, both of Burlington, and Samantha Hawtrey of Union contributed genomic research to the national DNA sequence database.

Daily News
City crews falling back into annual leaf pickup duties
                 Last year, crews collected an estimated 2 million pounds of leaves. Those leaves are taken to the WKU farm, where workers compost the leaves, turning them into mulch.

Chevy Volt a ‘cool’ new ride for Ransdell
                 WKU President Gary Ransdell has brought many green initiatives to campus, and now his car is energy efficient as well. On Friday, Ransdell became the first person in Bowling Green to lease a Chevrolet Volt.

Elizabethtown News-Enterprise
Hardin Countians chosen for WKU ad campaign
                 Three Hardin Countians will be lending their faces to WKU’s advertising efforts this fall.

Glasgow Daily Times
Lucas man turns trash into art
                 WKU employee Chris Radus doesn’t drive his pickup to work every day, but when he does it’s not uncommon for folks to put scrap metal in its bed they think he might use. Radus, of Lucas, is a 3-D artist who turns junk into works of art. Radus refers to himself as the “surplus guy.”

Community Press
Gatton students recognized by Siemens
                 Five second-year students at WKU’s Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Kentucky have been recognized by the Siemens Foundation as national semifinalists in the 2011 Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology.

WBKO-TV
First Chevy Volt In Bowling Green Leased By WKU President
                 The WKU President, Dr. Gary Ransdell drove Bowling Green’s first Chevy Volt off the Campbell Chevrolet lot Friday morning.

Oct. 26-Nov. 4, 2011

WKYU-FM
Postsecondary Education Leaders Focus on Student Retention
                 Leaders in the field of higher education say student retention will become an increasingly important factor in the years ahead.

Daily News
Vendors will offer local items at indoor winter market
                 WKU’s Innovation and Commercialization Center will be the site of an indoor winter market for the next seven Saturdays.

Duo hits the road with sustainable farm on truck
                 Nick Runkle and Justin Cutter are passionate about sustainable farming. So Runkle and Cutter started Compass Green, a mobile greenhouse project. On Wednesday, they stopped at WKU on the South Lawn. Their goal is to raise awareness about sustainability by teaching workshops about practical farming tools, focusing on the bio-intensive method, Runkle said.

Duo hoping social media site takes off
               An entrepreneurial spirit, an interest in making connections and inspiring would-be entrepreneurs have led two recent WKU graduates to create a social media site uniting all those concepts.

WKU’s growth sets a record
                 WKU has topped 21,000 students for the first time as the school’s enrollment increased for the 14th year in a row.

WLEX-TV Lexington
WKU Dance Program Earns National Accreditation
                 WKU’s dance program has earned accreditation from the National Association of Schools of Dance.

Oct. 21-25, 2011

WKYU-FM
Civil War Historians Comment on “Lateral Entry” to Command
                 WKU Historians Dr. Glenn LaFantasie and Dr. Jack Thacker say “lateral entry” made it possible for many people with political connections to receive leadership positions in the military in the early years of the Civil War.

Nelson County Gazette
Nelson Technology Center robotics team dominates WKU robot competition
                 The Nelson County Area Technology Center robotics team won top honors Saturday at a state competition in Bowling Green.

Daily News
‘It made you proud to be a Topper’
                 Clay Scott graduated from WKU in 1981, and he has seen many Hilltopper football games. But this one was special, he said.

Board of Regents approves bond sale for improvements at DUC
                 WKU’s Board of Regents voted Friday to approve $35 million in bonds for the renovation of Downing University Center.

Run for Autism not just racing
                 Kelly Autism Program Director Marty Boman is excited about the upcoming LifeSkills Run for Autism, but it’s not just because the program will benefit from the event.

Three join WKU alumni hall of fame
                 Three WKU graduates were inducted Friday into the Hall of Distinguished Alumni.

Oct. 15-20, 2011

Yellow Springs (Ohio) News
Strolger part of Nobel team
                 Lou Strolger has always loved the stars. As a teenager, he would stargaze with the astronomers and astrophiles at Antioch College. And he thought he might someday become an astronaut.

Glasgow Daily Times
WKU-Glasgow focuses on retention
                 New students at WKU-Glasgow Campus were treated to food, music and door prizes during the WKU freshmen assembly Monday afternoon, but that was just a small part of the activities campus director Sally Ray and her staff had prepared for them.

Daily News
WKU’s NOVA Center microscope one of a kind at U.S. universities
                 WKU officially opened its NOVA Center with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday.

Educator, author Harrison remembered as ‘academic giant’
                 When David Lee thinks of his former colleague Lowell Harrison, he remembers a witty, composed man who was dedicated to his profession and to WKU.

Elizabethtown News-Enterprise
Elizabethtown resident named WKU 2011 Young Alumnus
                 Brent Ditto of Elizabethtown remembers being a student ambassador at WKU in Bowling Green in the role of a “spirit master” for two years.

WBKO-TV
WKU Homecoming Week
WKU Homecoming has begun, and people are getting into the school spirit by participating in activities throughout the week.

Oct. 7-14, 2011

Daily News
WKU’s Roberts honored with Acorn Award
                 A WKU professor recently was one of two Kentucky faculty members to be honored with an Acorn Award this year.

Congratulations to Roberts for Acorn Award
                 WKU professor Julia Link Roberts is a wonderful educator, and people have definitely taken notice of her teaching skills.

WKU professor plays role in team’s Nobel Prize
                 A WKU professor found out last week that several members of a research team he’s a part of were awarded the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics.

Nappy Roots still plain talkin’ with new album
                 Nappy Roots has done a lot of growing and changing in the years since its platinum debut album “Watermelon, Chicken and Gritz.” But when it comes to the basics, the Bowling Green group remains the same.

Historian discusses Civil War
                 Michael Vorenberg, a Civil War historian from Brown University, gave a lecture about the influence of the Civil War on United States citizenship on WKU’s campus Thursday night.

WBKO-TV
WKU Professor is Part of Nobel Prize Winning Team
                 “This must be a joke, this must be one big cosmic joke,” said Dr. Louis-Gregory Strolger about being a part of winning a Nobel prize in Physics.

Christian Science Monitor
Charles Napier remembered for facial expressions in tough guy roles
                 Charles Napier benefited from a granite jaw, toothy grin and steely stare as he became one of the most recognizable actors movie and TV audiences never heard of. After earning a degree in art from WKU, he worked at various jobs, including art teacher and basketball coach.

Sept. 29-Oct. 6, 2011

Bakersfield Californian
Charles Napier, Bakersfield’s leading man, dies at 75
                 Veteran Hollywood actor Charles Napier, a 1961 WKU graduate, died Wednesday afternoon at Bakersfield Memorial Hospital, according to a family friend. The actor was 75.

Henderson Gleaner
Peckenpaugh proudest of school gains
                 As a former Henderson County and WKU football standout, Leo Peckenpaugh certainly knows the thrill of victory.

WKYU-FM
WKU Astonomer’s Colleagues Win Nobel Prize
                 An astonomer from WKU helped with a research project that has earned three scientists the Nobel Prize in Physics for this year.

WKU Center for Applied Economics Studies Gasoline Prices
                 In addition to the documented relationship between oil and gasoline prices, Dr. Brian Goff says a degree of “momentum” plays a role in what we pay at the gas pump.

Glasgow Daily Times
WKU-G offers students Ecuador trip
                 The WKU department of agriculture is offering students and possibly some community members opportunities to study abroad in Ecuador over the upcoming winter and spring breaks.

Daily News
Scottsville native, actor Napier dies in Calif.
Charles Napier, an Allen County native and WKU graduate who went on to forge a 40-year career as a noted character actor in television and film, died Wednesday at a hospital in Bakersfield, Calif. He was 75.

Miller Slaughter ready to begin new role
                 Miller Slaughter has been named director of the Small Business Development Center at WKU.

‘It’s like their prom’
                 About 50 area nursing home residents gathered Tuesday at Warren Central High School to discuss issues facing long-term care facilities. They were there as part of an annual conference sponsored by the Barren River Long Term Care Ombudsman Program.Dana Bradley, director of WKU’s Center for Gerontology, volunteers at the conference along with her students each year.

Regents study planned DUC renovations
                 Plans for the renovation of WKU’s Downing University Center were revealed for the first time Friday at Board of Regents committee meetings.

Solving problems on a budget
                 How far can $100 go in helping a community? That’s the question presented by The $100 Solution, an international nonprofit organization housed at WKU.

Draw a Stickman Web idea gains hits
                Phil Williams, who studied graphic design at WKU before switching his major to computer programming, said the opportunity for people to share what they create on the site and personalize it has been one of the most attractive aspects of Draw a Stickman.

Sept. 22-28, 2011

Lexington Herald-Leader
Marching Band championships are Oct. 29 at WKU
                 Tickets are available for the 2011 Kentucky Music Educators Association State Marching Band Championships, to be held Oct. 29 at WKU’s Houchens Industries-L.T. Smith Stadium.

Kentucky News Review: WKU Professor discusses most recent climb on Mt. Everest
                 A professor from WKU tells The Observer that rapid climate change could make Mount Everest an ice-free ascent. “When I climbed Mount Everest last year I climbed the majority of ice without crampons because there was so much bare rock,” said John All, an expert on Nepal glaciers from WKU.

Daily News
Water Science
                 Instead of learning about science at their desks, elementary school students performed experiments while wading in Trammel Creek last week as part of an annual program that continues this week. The program is a partnership between WKU’s Center for Environmental Education and Sustainability and the General Motors Bowling Green Assembly Plant.

WBKO-TV
WKU Professor Receives Award
                 A WKU professor was honored for his work in the community.

WKU’s Julia Roberts Honored with Acorn Award
                 Dr. Julia Link Roberts, Mahurin Professor of Gifted Studies at WKU, is one of two recipients of the Acorn Awards for teaching excellence, given annually to outstanding professors at Kentucky’s colleges and universities—one for a professor at a four-year college or university and one at a two-year institution.

WKYU-FM
WKU Experts Reflect on the History of Organized Labor
                 Questions about the role of public employee unions have prompted controversy in several states this year. State lawmakers in Indiana, Ohio, and Wisconsin have been involved in heated debates over a number of issues relating to union membership and the future of public employee unions.

Sept. 15-21, 2011

Daily News
Cage the Elephant to perform free show
                 The group, which has earned an international following in recent years, will perform a free concert at 8 p.m. Wednesday at WKU’s South Lawn next to Downing University Center.

Star Treatment
                 The Aviation Heritage Park will receive its third plane on Saturday morning, after it is loaded on two trailers and driven three miles from the Bowling Green-Warren County Regional Airport to its resting spot on Three Springs Road. The Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star tells the story of Gen. Russ Dougherty.

Local teachers involved in national writing program
                 Peggy Otto, an assistant English professor and director of the Writing Project at WKU, and Lisa Cary, a seventh-grade science teacher at Drakes Creek Middle School, are representing Kentucky in the National Writing Project Common Core Initiative.

Landmark on the rebound
                During the next 18 months, motorists downtown will see the transformation of the old BB&T building to one that is reminiscent of the era in which its earliest predecessor, the Potter Opera House, was constructed. A lot of time has been spent exploring and designing what the space could be with the help of WKU professor and architect Neal Downing and students from WKU’s Architectural and Manufacturing Sciences Institute.

WBKO-TV
WKU Band Will March for the ALS Association
                 The marching band at WKU will soon be marching for a good cause!

WDRB-TV Louisville
WKU faculty, students documenting local history
                 The WKU Department of Folk Studies and Anthropology is using a grant to document the history and culture of Allen County in the southern part of the state.

Courier-Journal
Life Lessons: William Lynwood Montell, author
                 Professor emeritus of folk studies at WKU, William Lynwood Montell is the author of more than two dozen books, including his latest, “Tales From Kentucky Sheriffs.”

Slam
The Basketball Artist
                 The words “NBA” and “artist” don’t usually end up in the same sentence, save for the occasional baller’s misguided foray into hip-hop music. Then again, Jeremy Evans is far from usual.

Sept. 10-14, 2011

Lane Report
Arthur W. Perdue Foundation supports food processing and technology program at WKU- Owensboro
                 A $50,000 gift from Perdue, through the Arthur W. Perdue Foundation, will support the Food Processing and Technology program at WKU’s Owensboro Campus.

WKYU-FM
WKU-Owensboro Receives Major Gift
                 A $50,000 gift will help to support the Food Processing and Technology Program at WKU’s Owensboro campus.

WKU-Russell Athletic partnership provides company with “lab”, WKU with latest uniform technology
                 When the WKU football team wanted a new series of “old school” looking uniforms, they didn’t have to look far for a manufacturer.

WFIE-TV Evansville
Perdue Farms gives donation to WKU-Owensboro
                 WKU-Owensboro continues to grow each year. On Tuesday, a donation from Perdue Farms and some matching donations will allow the campus to educate more students in Owensboro.

WEHT-TV Evansville
WKU-Owensboro Food Processing Program Gets Big Donation
                 The food processing and technology program for WKU-Owensboro receives some big support Tuesday afternoon with a donation. The program is receiving nearly $200,000 for new lab equipment.

Daily Markets
Earth Force And GM Recognize Teachers For Environmental Education
                 Dr. Terry Wilson, Director of the Center for Environmental Education and Sustainability at WKU, has devoted the majority of his career to teacher and leadership training in environmental education.

Glasgow Daily Times
State Poet Laureate visits Glasgow library
                 Maureen Morehead, the 2011-2012 Kentucky Poet Laureate, spent about two hours at the Mary Wood Weldon Memorial Library Thursday night with 12 members of the community, reading from her books of poetry and discussing poetry as a form of literature as well as her role as the poet laureate. Morehead taught at Manual High School in Louisville, the University of Louisville and WKU.

WBKO-TV
Civil War Remembrance Celebration This Saturday
                 Civil War-related activities are being planned for this weekend at the Kentucky Museum at WKU as part of the “Remembering the Civil War” celebration.

Daily News
WKU honors military, Sept. 11 victims at football game
                 Tailgating on Saturday afternoon was about more than getting ready for the WKU-Navy football game.

Muslims still having to battle stereotypes about their religion
                 When Paul Fischer teaches religion courses at WKU, several students enter his class with wrong ideas about other religions, particularly Islam.

Sept. 3-9, 2011

WBKO-TV
WKU Honors College Senior Receives Award
                 Sara Moody, a senior in the Honors College at WKU, has received a Foundation for Global Scholars award that funded a social work internship in India this summer and complemented her earlier international experiences.

WKU’s Class of 2015 Urged to ‘Finish’ Their Undergraduate Degree
                 President Gary Ransdell urged the WKU Class of 2015 to “finish” as they gathered at Diddle Arena Tuesday evening for the annual Freshman Assembly.

Daily News
A degree of determination
                The message to incoming students was clear Tuesday night at WKU’s Freshman Assembly: finish your degree.

Task force to target retention at WKU
                 WKU is rallying for retention.

AME Info
Intelligent Partners announces visit of WKU to their Dubai and Abu Dhabi offices
                 Intelligent Partners announces the visit of WKU to their Dubai office on the 12th September and Abu Dhabi office on the 13th September 2011. WKU’s international representative shall be meeting students and parents at Intelligent Partners offices in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Aug. 31-Sept. 2, 2011

Eurekalert
Growth hormone helps repair the zebrafish ear
                 Researchers from WKU and the University of Louisville worked together to see which genes were switched on or off after acoustic trauma and found distinct patterns of gene expression.

Daily News
Businesses welcome WKU students, introduce services
                 Briana Webb asked her mom, Latonya, to come up from Nashville for the day Wednesday so she could attend the Welcome Back WKU festival on the South Lawn.

Homecoming event honors BG’s Miss Kentucky winner
                 “I hope I can have the same effect on children that Miss Kentucky had on me when she spoke at my school,” said Miss Kentucky 2011 Ann-Blair Thornton, a WKU senior and Bowling Green High School graduate.

Kentucky Living
Creativity+Learning=Fun
                 “FIRST, the organization that started this program along with LEGO, touts it as a sport for the mind,” says John Inman, a science outreach coordinator at WKU, which hosts the Kentucky FIRST LEGO League championships each year.

Aug. 25-30, 2011

Daily News
Thousands back for start of WKU
                 Danielle Clifford perched on her College Street porch, adjusting her backpack and preparing for the trek up the hill.

BG police Capt. Delaney receives diversity award
                 WKU recently recognized a Bowling Green Police Department captain for his leadership role in the community.

Looking for puzzle pieces
                Renee Pinkston, a recent WKU anthropology graduate from Leitchfield, was part of a team of seven current and former anthropology students, two professors and three state police troopers digging into the soil near the eastbound stretch of road, west of Glasgow near mile marker 8.

WBKO-TV
First Day of Classes at WKU
                 Bowling Green’s population just shot up, as people return to the hill!

Chronicle of Higher Education
Helping Kentucky Tell Its Tales
                 For 50 years, William Lynwood Montell, a professor emeritus in folklore studies at WKU, has recorded stories in the Bluegrass State from varied professions—doctors, lawyers, funeral-parlor operators, one-room school teachers.

WKYU-FM
WKU Historians Reflect on the Civil War and its Impact on the Formation of West Virginia
                 Historians Jack Thacker and Glenn LaFantasie of the WKU History Department say the military conflict which took place in western portions of Virginia 150 years ago contributed to the formation of the state of West Virginia.

The Vintage Sound Collections of Freeman Kitchens
                 A new exhibition at the Kentucky Museum on the WKU Campus in Bowling Green chronicles the work of Freeman Kitchens.

Aug. 19-24, 2011

WKYU-FM
WKU President Stresses “Retention” in Opening Remarks
                 WKU President Gary Ransdell says student retention is becoming an important measure of academic quality.

Daily News
Back to school for WKU
                 As students begin moving onto WKU’s campus, President Gary Ransdell wants to get them in, get them through, keep them around and get them out.

Group presents plans for African-American history museum
                 When Pam Johnson took to the podium Tuesday night during the Bowling Green Board of Commissioners meeting, she challenged the commissioners to a quiz.

Henderson Gleaner
Risks, rewards: Both inherent in recycling center proposal
                 A large, new recycling center — where materials could be sorted, baled and stored — would enhance their marketability, according to data collected by WKU grad student Chad Phillips.

WFIE-TV Evansville
New tech at WKU-O offers greater incentives to learn
                 The Owensboro campus of WKU has always offered a Master’s program online or through distance learning, but new technology and incentives will now allow students to earn a professional MBA in the classroom.

Aug. 12-18, 2011

USA Today
Lance Dunbar, Bobby Rainey ready to renew running feud
                 North Texas senior running back Lance Dunbar has made one thing clear. Despite averaging more than 1,300 yards each of the past two seasons for the Mean Green, he believes critics still show favoritism to WKU running back Bobby Rainey.

Glasgow Daily Times
WKU officials talk cooperation
                 Administrators from the main campus of WKU met with faculty and staff members at the Glasgow campus Saturday morning during a group assembly to talk about ways to increase collaboration between the two campuses.

Daily News
WKU, BGTC agreement worthwhile
                 The recent joint admissions agreement between WKU and Bowling Green Technical College will not only allow students to enroll jointly at both institutions, but it will also create a smoother transfer process for students.

Analysis to help chamber go after jobs for the region
                 WKU can play a role in helping develop those niche markets with its applied research capabilities. WKU President Gary Ransdell said he would like the university to be able to provide more applied or practical research but is somewhat limited because of state law.

Area officials working to build relationships in China
                 What started as an educational outreach for WKU has developed into business and personal relationships that could bring economic development opportunities to southcentral Kentucky.

Super computer at WKU a tool for researchers, firms
                 It’s one of the biggest, fastest computers in the state, and it’s sitting in a center in Bowling Green.

The Lane Report
Supercomputer added at WKU’s Center for Research and Development
                 The computing power available at WKU is getting supersized at the High Performance Computing Center.

St. Louis Beacon
Hometowner Laura Kathleen Planck struts her stuff on Project Runway
                 Planck graduated from MICDS, has a degree in design, merchandising and textiles from WKU and also studied at the Accademia Italiana in Florence, Italy, according to her website.

Aug. 4-11, 2011

Glasgow Daily Times
WKU, BGTC reach agreement
                 The leaders of two area postsecondary education institutions have signed an agreement that will make it easier for local students to take classes at both schools.

Daily News
WKU, BG Technical College sign joint admissions agreement
                 The presidents of WKU and Bowling Green Technical College signed a joint admissions agreement Tuesday that will allow students to enroll jointly at both institutions.

WKU grad competes on Lifetime TV’s ‘Project Runway’
                 When Laura Planck was taking design classes at WKU, Cindy Jones gave her a T-shirt, a pair of scissors, some safety pins and 20 minutes to create an outfit.

BG keeps title games
                 Football championship weekend is coming back to Bowling Green, and it’s here to stay for at least another four years.

WKYU-FM
CPE President Stresses the Importance of Preparing Students for College
                 Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education President Bob King says new Common Core State Standards and the “Stronger by Degrees” program are keys to improving student performance in the Commonwealth.

Meet the man who interprets Arabic in Kentucky’s courtrooms
                 Khaldoun Almousily is a busy man. When he’s not teaching Arabic language classes at WKU, he’s traveling the state, working as the only Arabic language interpreter and translator certified to appear in Kentucky’s courtrooms.

WBKO-TV
WKU and Bowling Green Tech Sign a Joint Admissions Agreement
                 Students attending Bowling Green Technical College, now have more options for furthering their education.

Local Experts Respond to Dip in Stock Market
                 WKU professor Dr. Brian Strow says what happens next depends on Congress.

Grayson County News-Gazette
The untold story of a local legend
                 Working with the children of Grayson County for the past 31 years has made Cleo Lowrey something of a local legend. After finishing her studies at WKU, Lowrey began teaching in a one-room schoolhouse in Grayson County.

July 26-Aug. 3, 2011

Daily News
WKU honors online student serving in Afghanistan
Army Command Sgt. Maj. John Brownwell stands as proof that a WKU distance learning student can work on earning a master’s degree almost anywhere.

WKU impact on BG area at $672M
                 WKU has an annual economic impact of $672 million on the community, according to a new study by WKU’s Center for Applied Economics.

WKU student spends summer completing global race
                 Most college students spend their summer break working, sleeping in late or hanging out with friends. WKU junior Blake Garrison spent his summer break traveling through Kazakhstan, Estonia and Lithuania, just to name a few places.

WKYU-FM
“Adopted” Soldier Project Gains Momentum
                 Command Sergeant Major John Brownell says care packages sent to the soldiers in his unit have meant a great deal in recent months. The WKU graduate student is taking Kinesiology, Recreation, and Sport Administration classes on-line while he’s serving in Afghanistan with the 6th Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division from Fort Knox. Members of the KRS Department, the Alive Center, and Extended Learning and Outreach have helped to coordinate the donations of the care package items.

New Study Released on WKU’s Economic Impact
                 Researchers studied 35 counties in twenty states with similar characteristics to determine how much impact universities of similar size can have on a local economy.

WBKO-TV
WKU Honors Adopted Soldier
                 WKU honors Command Sergeant Major John Brownell, a graduate student, whose squadron was adopted by the Kinesiology, Recreation and Sport Administration department throughout their deployment.

A Legacy of Literacy Makes Local Teacher a Hometown Hero
                 In 1986, Dr. John Hagaman and a colleague got together and started the WKU chapter of the National Writing Project.

Charleston City Paper
Nappy Roots keep their optimism and style alive
                 Nappy Roots weren’t a rap group so much as a group of friends attending WKU. It eventually grew into something bigger.

July 19-25, 2011

Daily News
New alumni center at WKU was needed
                 With WKU’s fast-growing alumni population, it simply makes sense for the institution to build a much larger and user-friendly alumni building.

Education for sustainability
                 Bill Hammond remembers what school was like when he was a child in New York City. Hardly a day went by without a field trip. Days were often spent on the rooftop, drawing maps of the neighborhood.

Professor helps in search for explosives, illegal substances
                 Bruce Kessler’s math research has never been a life saver – until now.

Lexington Herald-Leader
Lexington house offers clues into life of little-known yet acclaimed black trainer
                 Most of what is known about the Breckenridge Street home was pieced together by Sarah McCartt-Jackson, a WKU graduate student who wrote the National Register application.

Glasgow Daily Times
McCaslin moves up with Franklin-Simpson Center
                 A longtime WKU-Glasgow campus leader is moving on to a new position in the Kentucky higher education system.

WBKO-TV
WKU Prof Invents Program to Fight Crime
                 A WKU math professor has been working with a Bowling Green technology company, to develop a software product he hopes will help detect explosives in airports, drugs, and contraband, and help protect the military from explosive devices.

July 14-18, 2011

Lexington Herald-Leader
Bowling Green woman named Miss Kentucky
                 Ann-Blair Thornton, who is majoring in English and economics at WKU, will represent Kentucky in the Miss America Pageant on Jan. 14 at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.

WBKO-TV
Bowling Green Native Wins Miss Kentucky
                 Glitz, glamor, beauty, and 32 smiling faces all competing for the title of Miss Kentucky. Bowling Green’s own Ann-Blair Thornton brings home the crown.

Renshaw ECC Golf Scramble Benefit
                 Over $60,000 will be given to the Renshaw Early Childhood Center after a golf scramble fundraiser.

Daily News
A crowning moment
                 Ann-Blair Thornton doesn’t remember the crown being placed on her head or the sash being draped around her shoulders. The second the announcer named her Miss Kentucky, the 21-year-old from Bowling Green was in shock.

Prof uses Web to keep in touch from hospital
                 Matthew Basham doesn’t let anything keep him from communicating with his students. After all, he’s interacting with them from his hospital bed.

WKU breaks ground on alumni center
                 For now, it’s a gravel lot surrounded by a chain-link fence and a “Keep Out” sign. But it’s slated to become a home for about 97,000 people.

Renshaw center nets recognition
                 In an office at the Renshaw Early Childhood Center, three file boxes are filled with papers. They’re a reminder of the hard work it takes to get accredited.

NBC Sports
Harbaugh brothers still get help from their dad
                 It’s the least Jack Harbaugh can do, given that he credits his sons for saving college football at WKU.

Cincinnati.com
Warsaw native returns to roots with restaurant
                 When he was just a young boy, Justin Mylor would sit and watch his grandmother cook in her restaurant in downtown Warsaw. Even then, the culture of cooking was seeping into Mylor, grabbing him and setting him on his own path toward a career in cooking. He studied at WKU, then worked at the nearby Bowling Green Country Club.

July 1-13, 2011

WKYU-FM
WKU Historians Discuss the Impact of the Battle of Bull Run
                 WKU Historians Jack Thacker and Glenn LaFantasie say the first Battle of Bull Run helped to demonstrate how deadly and costly the Civil War would become.

WKU to Host Sustainability Institute
                 Educators and other interested individuals from across the region will attend the Education for Sustainability Institute at WKU later this month.

Daily News
Green living project reviewed
                 Now, it’s just an empty field. But, 10 years from now, Habitat for Humanity and WKU envision this more than 14-acre lot as a thriving residential community and the model for sustainable living.

Elizabethtown News-Enterprise
Teen uses sleuth skills for Gatton research
                 For a research project that sounds as if it’s straight out of an Agatha Christie novel, a Hardin County student is looking to become the local (and younger) Miss Marple, Christie’s observant sleuth.

Huntington (WV) Herald-Dispatch
Editorial: More math and science programs needed
                 About four years ago, the state launched the program at WKU in Bowling Green with a $4 million donation from businessman C.M. “Bill” Gatton and $2.8 million in annual funding from the Kentucky General Assembly.

Lesage native in Paris for journalism internship
                 Lesage native Mark Simpson, now an advertising professor at WKU, and his students are in the midst of a four-week trip in Paris, France, to work abroad with on client project.

June 16-30, 2011

Daily News
TVA gives WKU $106,000 for energy program
WKU already was spending money on projects to reduce energy use. So when the university learned it could receive additional incentives through the Tennessee Valley Authority, it was an added bonus.

Unveiling a star at Aviation Heritage Park’s annual Hangar Party
                 Six years ago, when a small group of aviation buffs set out to create an aviation park in Bowling Green, they barely even had a plan.

Gatton Academy students tackle codes in cold case
                 No one knew much about Ricky McCormick after his body was found decomposing in the middle of a St. Louis field. Authorities knew that he was a 41-year-old high school dropout who had a criminal record, had been living with his elderly mother and had fathered at least four children.

Among the best & brightest
                 This is no ordinary high school. The academy on WKU’s campus might resemble a typical small school – students are constantly entering and exiting the tall white building, toting backpacks or chatting with friends. But the Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science is an above-average school for exceptional students, and now it’s been named the fifth best high school in the nation.

WBKO-TV
General Russell Dougherty Honored
                 When Mark Dougherty looks at the T-33 shooting star he can’t help but think of his dad, General Russell Dougherty and his own past experiences with the plane.

June 10-15, 2011

Henderson Gleaner
Pam Vincent selected as new library director
                 A native of St. Louis, she graduated high school in Pensacola, Fla., then came to Bowling Green to study photojournalism at WKU, though she ultimately received her undergraduate degree in political science.

Daily News
WKU physical therapy program on move
                 Harvey Wallmann had never heard of physical therapy when he injured himself while playing sports in the late 1970s. Decades later, he’s bringing to life WKU’s new physical therapy program.

Elizabethtown News-Enterprise
Toppers on Tour stops at Freeman Lake
                 A countdown on the home page of WKU athletics tells fans the season-opening game with the University of Kentucky in Nashville, Tenn., is 79 days away.

June 7-9, 2011

Dover (Del.) Post
New DelDOT head confirmed by Senate
New DelDOT Secretary Shailen Bhatt is expected to be sworn in some time in the coming weeks. A native of Ontario, Canada, Bhatt graduated from WKU with an economics degree and was a deputy director in the Kentucky transportation department.

Daily News
Karst conference at WKU draws international experts
WKU is hosting an international conference dedicated to the study of a familiar local landscape.

WBKO-TV
Aviation Heritage Park Will Unveil New Plane
Soon, Aviation Heritage Park will unveil a new plane to go into its park. The park will debut a restored T-33 Shooting Star at this year’s Hanger Party, in honor of late General Russell Dougherty.

June 4-6, 2011

Columbus (IN) The Republic
Scientists from around the world head to Bowling Green, cave country for karst conference
Scientists from around the world are heading to Bowling Green’s and cave country this week to attend the 2011 International Conference on Karst Hydrogeology and Ecosystems.

Daily News
Leaders working to address issue of college readiness
Local school leaders are working to combat a problem that plagues colleges in Kentucky and across the nation: Too many college freshmen are not ready for college-level courses. Last fall, about 55 percent of students who entered WKU were not ready for college, meaning they had to take at least one remedial course to catch up. Of those students, about 18 percent needed to take three developmental courses, according to WKU data.

Out and About: Kentucky’s people help make up best of state
For all there is to see and do in Kentucky, the best thing is our people. It’s the people who live here that make us what we are. One of those was Dr. Dero Downing, the former president of WKU who died a couple of months back at the age of 89.

Q&A: WKU AD Bjork reflects on his first year
Ross Bjork’s first season as WKU athletic director was nothing if not interesting.

Washington Post
World Environment Day: The unusual ways you can participate
Some very creative students at WKU organized a flash mob to promote recycling on Earth Day. Charlie Harris, a student at WKU who helped organize the school’s Earth Day activities and uploaded video of the flash mob to YouTube, said the event was done to “make the idea of sustainability inescapable and accessible to everyone on campus for at least one day.”

May 26-June 3, 2011

San Antonio Express-News
Chasing NBA dream no longer Lanier graduate Mendez-Valdez’s primary goal
A first-generation American who overcame obstacles on and off the basketball court, Orlando Mendez-Valdez went on to an All-America career as a guard at WKU and earned a degree in exercise science in May 2009.

The Lane Report
WKU Small Business Development Center for 10-county Barren River Area relocates to WKU Center for Research and Development
Chris Bixler thinks the recent relocation of WKU’s Small Business Development Center will make it easier for clients to take advantage of their free assistance.

Lexington Herald-Leader
WKU’s ‘reset’ with McDonald will be worth watching
The most intriguing men’s college basketball decision made in the commonwealth so far in 2011 was made at WKU.

BusinessJournalism.org
New study shows 90% of journalists use Twitter, Facebook, blogs daily
The survey conducted by TEKGROUP International and Associate Professor Ken Payne of WKU indicates that journalists want corporate communicators to put more information online in an online newsroom.

WKYU-FM
Bowling Green’s Celebrated Gospel Singer John Edmonds
WKU Folk Studies graduate student Rachel Hopkin produced this preview of her upcoming radio documentary about this internationally-recognized musician.

May 21-25, 2011

American Profile
Caves in America
Modern cave exploration, which includes scientific and systematic mapping, started during the 1950s—relatively recently in the context of world exploration. “We’re still very much in a golden age of cave exploration,” says Patricia Kambesis, 58, an environmental researcher based in Cave City, Ky., who has mapped caves in 29 states and 17 other nations.

Daily News
Expanding international reach
Winny Lin didn’t come for the dancing dragon. She didn’t travel from Owensboro to see a kung fu artist break a steel rod over his head or to watch women in colorful costumes bounce across the stage. Lin, a retired teacher, ventured Friday to WKU to celebrate the opening of the Chinese Learning Center – a staple in WKU’s attempt to integrate Chinese language and culture into the university and the community.

Bat disease plan in place
Rick Toomey, director of Mammoth Cave International Center for Science and Learning – a partnership between Mammoth Cave National Park and WKU – said the bat populations at the park are continually monitored.

WBKO-TV
WKU Students Tracked Deadly Storm in Missouri
Members of a WKU meteorology class had been chasing the deadly storm that struck Joplin, Mo., on Sunday evening.

Gatton Academy Ranked Among The Public Elites
The Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Kentucky at WKU has been named to The Washington Post’s list of top-performing schools with elite students.

The Civil War: Forts, Hills, and the Railroad
“Bowling Green was significant during the Civil War because of the railroad,” said Nancy Baird, who is retired from the Kentucky Museum on the campus of WKU.

WKYT-TV Lexington
WKU students tracked deadly Missouri tornado
The group of students from WKU was chasing the storm as part of a class project.

Courier-Journal
Grant will help train nurse practitioners at stroke center
Ann Mead, WKU’s vice president for finance and administration, has made a donation to support the program, according to a release from the stroke center. Both of Mead’s parents died after suffering strokes.

Glasgow Daily Times
Big plans ahead for WKU-G
The new director and associate dean of WKU-Glasgow and the university’s president are discussing possibilities for a big future at WKU-Glasgow.

May 14-20, 2011

Daily News
Commuter saves by pedaling
Friday might be dubbed “Bike to Work Day” by the American League of Bicyclists, but for Forrest Halford, it’s no different from any other day. Halford, textbook manager at the bookstore on WKU’s campus, even has photos from a wintry day during which the temperature was minus 3 degrees, and he still rode to work.

Starting a new chapter
There were times when Clare Cherry got almost no sleep. Over the past six years, the single mom has juggled three children, odd jobs, college classes and heaps of homework to make it to Saturday.

Grads have hard work ahead in landing a job
As new college graduates enter the workforce, they may encounter a brighter job market compared to previous years.

Aviation Heritage Park gets NASA T-38
Officials at Aviation Heritage Park recently sent a letter to NASA indicating interest in honoring astronaut and Russellville native Terry Wilcutt with a plane at the park in Bowling Green.

Business Week
Beef boosters groom meat mavens on campus
At WKU, animal sciences professor Nevil Speer offers the Masters of Beef Advocacy curriculum as an extra-credit assignment for the mostly freshmen and sophomores in his introductory-level classes.

May 11-13, 2011

Lane Report
Marketplace of Degrees
The institution with the most approved programs on the list in those five years is WKU.

Daily News
Months of planning go into WKU graduation ceremonies
Four commencement ceremonies, 1,800 graduating students, 15,500 programs, 1,600 red towels marked Class of 2011 and about 20,000 guests. It’s no wonder planning for WKU’s spring commencement starts in January.

May 5-10, 2011

Daily News
WKU reaches $1 million goal for matching SKyTeach grant
A relatively new program at WKU had to reach for the sky in an attempt to get more funding. On Friday, the program announced it had reached that goal.

April’s rain sets record in the state
If April seemed unusually damp, that’s because it was the wettest April on record in Kentucky since 1895.  Stu Foster, director of the Kentucky Mesonet and Kentucky Climate Center at WKU, said that is based on preliminary data compiled by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

WBKO-TV
WKU Saving Money Through Energy Conservation Program
In a effort to save money on energy costs, WKU started its own energy savings program.

WKYU-FM
Creator of NPR’s All Things Considered comes to WKU Public Radio to discuss history of show, NPR
May 3rd marked the 40th anniversary of the NPR flagship news program, All Things Considered. The show’s creator, Bill Siemering, recently came to WKU Public Radio to speak with staff and listeners about the origins of NPR, how All Things Considered got off the ground, and what set and still sets the show apart from other network news programs.

WKU research looks into narcissism, use of social media sites
The widespread popularity of social networking sites and devices has some wondering if young people are becoming too self-involved and narcissistic. But research done at WKU indicates these sites don’t increase narcissism so much as they amplify the narcissism already present within the user.

Courier-Journal
Behind the mask, WKU’s Matt Rice shows a lot of brains
Matt Rice is hardly irrelevant.

May 3-4, 2011

Lexington Herald-Leader
WKU to award 1st independent doctoral degrees at ceremony this month
WKU is preparing to award its first independent doctoral degrees this month.

WBKO-TV
Local Military Specialist Speaks On bin Laden Kill Mission
Missions like the one that led to the death of Osama bin Laden are extremely dangerous. But a military specialist here in Bowling Green says for highly trained soldiers, they’re routine. Officer Scott Hutcheson teaches military science in the WKU ROTC program.

Reactions from WKU ROTC Commander on Osama Bin Laden’s Death
The death of Osama Bin Laden brings more reaction from an active duty service member at WKU.

Los Angeles Times
Osama bin Laden’s death removes a cloud that enveloped a generation
Because the Sept. 11 attacks occurred at such an impressionable age for the millennials, considered to be those born after 1980, many have had a lingering sense of worry, experts say. “They grew up with this constant pressure that something more was going to happen,” said Brian Van Brunt, director of counseling at WKU, where students celebrated after the news of Bin Laden’s death.

Columbia Missourian
Columbia photojournalist makes transition from Rock Bridge to Libya
Debbie Cacek, Ty Cacek’s mother, remembers clearly when she realized what path her son was taking. He was getting close to graduating from Rock Bridge and was in a meeting with the head of the photojournalism department at WKU on a college tour.

April 27-May 2, 2011

WKYU-FM
WKU Officials Dedicate New Ransdell Building
Officials at WKU officially dedicated the new Gary A. Ransdell Hall.

WBKO-TV
Building Dedication to President Dr. Gary A. Ransdell
WKU President Dr. Gary Ransdell has something to smile about.

Daily News
WKU’s tuition may increase
WKU students will dig a little deeper into their pockets next semester as tuition is expected to increase.

University officials approve capital plan
The final phase of a new WKU science campus is the top priority for university officials as they outline a capital plan for the next six years.

Evansville Courier & Press
Student intern uses art to uplift patients at St. Mary’s Warrick Hospital
St. Mary’s Serenity Unit treats geriatric psychiatric patients with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, dementia, depression, and similar conditions affecting behavior. Last summer, Amanda Goff and her co-workers at the Boonville location witnessed the mural’s creation by 23-year-old student intern, Gordon “Drew” Stinnett. Stinnett is pursuing a psychology degree at WKU and plans to further his studies to include the practice of art therapy.

Courier-Journal
Two sophomores from Oldham will participate in math academy
Two high school sophomores from Oldham County will leave for college early as they join about 70 other Kentucky students chosen for the 2013 class of the Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science.

April 22-26, 2011

WKYU-FM
Gardner House Restoration
This weekend, a historic Kentucky home will conduct an open house. Built in the early 19th Century, the Gardner House is located on the WKU Biological Preserve in Hart County. It’s become a restoration project for WKU’s Department of Folk Studies and Anthropology.

Lexington Herald-Leader
WKU Farm adds beehives
Some new housing has been built at the WKU Farm – for honeybees.

New York Times Blog
In Chaos, a Moment’s Repose
Philip Scott Andrews, 24, graduated from WKU in 2010. He has been an intern at The Associated Press and National Geographic, and is now at the Washington bureau of The New York Times.

Daily News
WKU Glasgow campus: Director ready for challenge
Sally Ray took over WKU’s communication department at the height of a WKU growth spurt. She was charged with managing enrollment growth and hiring new faculty members as students poured into the program.

Glasgow Daily Times
Ray should get chance to do good job at WKU-G
The announcement of Dr. Sally Ray as the new director of WKU-Glasgow campus opens a new era at the campus.

Teachers grapple with new standards
The Kentucky education system is in a bit of a turmoil, thanks to a piece of legislation called Senate Bill 1.

Huntington (WV) Herald-Dispatch
WKU academy helping teachers with math, technology
A program at WKU is helping some elementary school teachers enhance how they teach math and use more technology in the classroom.

WBKO-TV
Jefferson Award Winner: Dylan Beckham Started Anti-Bullying Campaign
Dylan’s campaign became two fold: first to stop bullying and second to raise money for WKU’s Kelly Autism Program.

WKU Students Make Plarn Rugs for Homeless
As a way to give back, students at WKU turned a reusable item into an essential for the homeless.

April 19-21, 2011

Elizabethtown News-Enterprise
WKU alumni library to be named after Owsleys
They may live in Cecilia, but Bob and Martha Jean Owsley’s names soon will be familiar to Bowling Green residents.

Glasgow Daily Times
Sally Ray named director at WKU-Glasgow
Starting May 9, WKU-Glasgow will have a new director and associate dean.

Daily News
Pop culture writer shares quirky views at WKU
For years, Chuck Klosterman didn’t sleep in a bed. Currently, his favorite band is a British group called Yuck. He has attracted acid users to a bookstore literary lecture, and his favorite town is Austin, Texas, because “their town is just filled with weirdos.”

Change in summer hours to help WKU save energy
As they try to cut energy consumption, WKU officials are tweaking their summer hours.

WBKO-TV
WKU Grads Start Grocery Delivery Business: “LettuceHelp”
When some recent graduates of WKU had a hard time in the job market, they decided to start up their own business, which saves you a trip to the grocery store.

April 13-18, 2011

Daily News
WKU baseball program to retire Glasser’s No. 14
When Dr. Jack Glasser’s WKU baseball career came to a close, he was faced with a difficult decision. He could either pursue a career in professional baseball, or give up his catcher’s mitt to focus on a future in medicine.

Hire Attire helps students dress for success
Looking through racks of skirts and dress slacks, Janesia Harlston was searching for the right outfit to make a good impression at an upcoming job interview. Instead of a store, however, Harlston was perusing clothes at WKU’s Career Services Center at Downing University Center.

Deadly disease for bats found in state
WKU biology professor Carl Dick said the disease attacks bats as they hibernate, and the visible symptoms include a white fungus layer growing on the muzzles, ears and wing membranes of bats.

More than 1,500 students get opportunity to meet authors at SOKY Book Fest
When Jennifer Bradbury was a student at WKU in the early 1990s, a history professor mentioned something about mummy unwrapping parties. The thought of that stuck with her through the years, eventually becoming the basis for her latest novel, “Wrapped.”

Glasgow Daily Times
WKU students learn about career options
A career fair on Wednesday at a local school gave students some insight into what jobs might be awaiting them after graduation and gave area employers a chance to identify potential employees.

Lexington Herald-Leader
WKU groups hoping to help Japan
WKU departments and groups are working together to put on a community yard sale to benefit disaster relief efforts in Japan.

Elizabethtown News-Enterprise
WKU partnership forum to be held at ECTC
WKU will host its first forum on community-based research this week in Elizabethtown.

WBKO-TV
Thousands Attend Southern Kentucky Bookfest
Nicholas Sparks attended the bookfest, signing copies of some of his latest novels.

Soap Opera Examiner
Soap Opera author weighs in on why soap operas are fading
Sam Ford is widely recognized in academic and entertainment worlds as an expert on the soaps industry. He is Director of Digital Strategy for Peppercorn Strategic Communications, a research affiliate with MITs Convergence Culture Consortium and an instructor at WKU’s Popular Cultures Studies program.

April 8-12, 2011

Daily News
DERO GOODMAN DOWNING: A life remembered
When Dero Downing was a college student, he constantly wrote letters to his parents. When he enlisted in the Navy and was sent overseas, he wrote to his wife, Harriet, every chance he got.

WKU program enhances math, tech education
When Emily Mills assigned a project to her first-graders, she was shocked by their response. After students turned in their math video assignment, they continued to make more videos on their own – something Mills had not asked them to do.

Wider reach in Ky. helping Gatton grow
There were times when Erin Walch didn’t feel she belonged in public high school. Too many people dreaded school while she craved an education.

Visions of the crucifixion
As the rain pounded the windows and wind whipped the trees against the glass, John Warren Oakes painted with a steady hand and watchful eye.

WBKO-TV
View from the Hill: Larnelle Harris
He’s performed all over the world, but Larnelle Harris gives lots of credit to the music education he received here at WKU in the late ’60′s, studying with his voice teacher Ohm Pauli.

Dr. Dero Downing Laid To Rest
Friday morning WKU and the community said good-bye to a legend at the funeral of Dr. Dero Downing.

NKY.com
Gatton Academy accepts five from Boone
Five of Boone County’s brightest sophomores will get a head start on their college careers.

April 6-7, 2011

Elizabethtown News-Enterprise
Dero Downing’s impact felt well beyond WKU
Dero Downing touched not only Bowling Green, where he served as president of WKU for 10 years, but a number of cities along a long stretch of Interstate 65.

Daily News
Ex-WKU president Dero G. Downing dies
Dero Goodman Downing passed away April 4, 2011.

One Day Without Shoes
WKU students were barefoot as part of One Day Without Shoes, an event sponsored by TOMS Shoes to raise awareness of people worldwide who can’t afford shoes.

WKU professor offers a workshop on fly casting
In Raymond Poff’s summer class, fishing rods are more important than textbooks. Flies and fishing line outweigh pens and notebooks.

Seattle Times
Yale students de-stress with campus canines
Brian Van Brunt, president of the American College Counseling Association, said universities and colleges are seeking creative ways to offer students relief during stressful times. The use of animals for stress relief or therapy is well-established, Van Brunt said. WKU, where he is director of the counseling and testing center, has brought in a therapy dog for “stress debriefing” sessions after a traumatic event, such as a suicide or a deadly car accident.

New York Times
To Tell the Story, Forget Perfection
Tyler Cacek, 20, is the first of three photographers who will be summer interns in The New York Times photo department to be featured on Turning Point. Mr. Cacek was raised in Columbia, Mo. After high school, he moved to Kampala. He is expected to earn his undergraduate degree from WKU in 2013.

Chronicle of Higher Education
Students Who Use Facebook More for Self-Promotion Show Less Concern for Others
When W. Pitt Derryberry, an associate professor of psychology at WKU, began to survey college students about their technology use, he expected to find technology responsible for declines in moral judgment among students.

April 2-5, 2011

WKYU-FM
University Community Mourns the Death of Dero Downing
Dr. Dero G. Downing passed away yesterday, at the age of 89.

WBKO-TV
WKU’s Fourth President Dr. Dero Downing Passes Away
WKU’s fourth president Dr. Dero Downing died yesterday.

Daily News
Dero Downing dies at age 89
When Elizabeth Downing and her siblings were searching for the perfect Christmas gift for their father a few years ago, they asked Dero Downing’s friends and former colleagues to write letters about him.

KHSAA hopeful title tilts stay in BG
The Kentucky High School Athletic Association is still hopeful it can work out a deal to bring the football and girls’ basketball state championships back to Bowling Green, according to Commissioner Julian Tackett.

Seigenthalers express their views on journalism
When John Seigenthaler traveled to Alabama during the civil rights movement, he didn’t expect to be severely beaten after trying to save a girl from a mob.

Amazing Tones started at WKU
In 1971, a group of African-American students at WKU got together for fellowship and, although it wasn’t planned, they started singing.

Glasgow Daily Times
Lord wants independent thinkers
The third candidate for the position of director and associate dean for WKU-Glasgow Campus visited the facility on Friday.

Courier-Journal
WKU was ‘up with all the big boys’ in 1971 Final Four
Forty years ago, when college basketball’s Final Four was closer to a canvas high-top than the Gucci loafer it is today, they played a Final Four that everyone should have seen.

WKYU-FM
WKU Baseball to Host Two Games in Bowling Green Ballpark
April 5th and April 19th are very important dates on the WKU baseball team’s schedule this year.

March 26-April 1, 2011

Glasgow Daily Times
McCaslin touts his experience
The second of four candidates for the position of associate dean and director of WKU-Glasgow Campus met with staff members of the school and people from the community Wednesday during an open forum at the facility. This candidate has a distinct advantage over the other three because he’s been doing the job for eight months.

Daily News
Bowling Green gas prices about average
WKU economics professor Brian Goff had heard the complaints and seen the letters to the editor in the Daily News. The perceived problem is that gas prices in Bowling Green are unusually high, and he wondered if that was true.

Comic Book Guy
A visitor might have thought these elementary school students were taking a break, or even goofing off. But for students at Cumberland Trace Elementary School, reading Operation Comics is a way to learn math. “The kids really seem to enjoy it,” said Bruce Kessler, associate dean of the Ogden College of Science and Engineering at WKU and the creator of the comic books that can be used in classrooms.

Seigenthalers speakers in Gaines series
As media changes and some journalism industries struggle, WKU professors are trying to keep students motivated and prepared. And they’re hoping that an upcoming lecture by two prominent journalists will encourage students. The seventh annual Gaines Lecture Series is bringing John Seigenthaler Sr. and John M. Seigenthaler Jr. to WKU at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Mass Media and Technology Hall auditorium. The event is free and open to the public.

Guys walk in women’s shoes to raise awareness
The WKU community hosted a “Walk a Mile in My Shoes” event Friday in an effort to raise awareness of sexual and domestic violence.

Family physician achieves dream of opening his own practice
Jack Glasser wasn’t solely interested in medicine, though. At WKU, he played catcher on the baseball team and became the first WKU baseball player to be named Baseball All-American and Athlete of the Year. He was inducted into WKU’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 1999.

WBKO-TV
WKU Graduate Working in Brazil on 2011-2012 Fulbright Grant
WKU graduate Dunja Zdero of Louisville is working in Brazil on a 2011-2012 Fulbright grant.

WKU Installs Natural Gas Boiler
Sustainability efforts at WKU are heating up with the installation of a second large natural gas boiler in as many years at the Central Heat Plant.

4 WKU Students Accepted to Prestigious Dance Program
Four WKU dance students have been accepted into the prestigious Ailey School’s Summer Intensive Program in New York City.

WKYU-FM
Statewide Summit Calls Attention to the Need for Health Literacy
Educators, government officials, and Health professionals met in Bowling Green to discuss ways to address the lack of health literacy in Kentucky and across the nation.

Cincinnati Enquirer
Scripps names marketing VP
Jessica Rappaport has been named vice president of marketing for The E.W. Scripps Company’s television division. She earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism and public relations from WKU.

WEHT-TV Evansville
High Tech Preparation For Job Interviews
WKU-Owensboro campus is giving students and graduates a chance to work on their job interview skills, and the campus is using technology to help prepare them better.

March 22-25, 2011

Glasgow Daily Times
Initial director candidate visits campus
The first candidate for the new associate dean and director of WKU’s Glasgow campus called WKU-Glasgow a “great success story” and emphasized his desire to learn more about the school so that he can help the school reach its full potential.

WKU-Glasgow dean search moves forward
The search for a new associate dean and director at WKU’s Glasgow campus has reached a new stage.

Daily News
‘Center Stage Series’ continues Sunday
The WKU Department of Music’s “Center Stage Series” will present Wayne Pope, baritone, and Julie Pride, piano, in their seventh concert in a series of themed recitals.

Students work to develop musical
A young woman struggles to figure out life by getting in touch with her “inner pirate” in WKU Department of Theatre and Dance’s “Before Broadway” series presentation of “Maggie the Pirate.”

‘Zing Zang Zoom’ tour a family affair for stunt motorcycle group and ‘thrillusionist’
People can see the performers and more at the circus at 7 p.m. Friday; 11 a.m., 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday; and 1 p.m. Sunday at E.A. Diddle Arena at WKU.

West Chester (Pa.) Daily Local News
The long road ahead
Matt Payton has never been the biggest or the fastest player on any baseball diamond on which he has set foot. A two sport star at Louisville Male High School in Kentucky, he knew that there was only so far a five-foot-nine, 185-pound athlete could go on the gridiron, so he turned his focus to America’s pastime as his high school career progressed. Even then, Payton was left sending letters to colleges across the country in hopes of pursuing his passion at the next level. Chris Finwood, head baseball coach at WKU was the first to write back, and Payton made sure he was rewarded for it.

March 19-21, 2011

WKYU-FM
WKU Hosts Fair Trade Conference
WKU hosted a national conference on “fair trade” this past weekend, and University President Gary Ransdell declared WKU a “Fair Trade University.”

Daily News
WKU deemed a leader in fair trade movement
WKU is becoming a leader in the fair trade movement as President Gary Ransdell signed a proclamation Saturday deeming WKU a fair trade university. It’s the fourth university in the nation and the first in Kentucky to officially back the movement.

2010 U.S. Census: Warren sees rise in blacks
Part of Warren County’s growth might be attributed to WKU’s efforts to recruit minority faculty members and students. WKU also has on its campus the Minority Teacher Recruitment Center to assist minority students interested in becoming teachers.

WKU spending cuts will cost jobs
WKU is cutting a few positions and reducing funds in an effort to cut spending by $2.3 million for fiscal year 2011-12.

WBKO-TV
WKU Becomes a Fair Trade University
WKU is the newest Fair Trade University, joining only four other schools in the nation.

March 17-18, 2011

Marlinton (WV) Pocahontas Times
One week and a camera
What story would you tell if you had a camera and one week in an unfamiliar place? That was the question a group of 11 students from WKU faced as they spent spring break in Pocahontas and Greenbrier counties.

Lexington Herald-Leader
Two Kentuckys: Cities grow while rural areas decline, Census shows
Warren County, for instance, which grew more than 21 percent, is home to WKU and is on Interstate 65 between Louisville and Nashville. Its county seat, Bowling Green, is now the state’s third largest city, behind Louisville and Lexington.

Daily News
Speaking Up and Speaking Out
WKU and Hope Harbor have organized events and activities to recognize March as Sexual Assault Awareness month.

Disney Music from the Movies
Five vocalists, along with Orchestra Kentucky and the Orchestra Kentucky Chorale, will bring the magic back with “Disney in Concert – Tale as Old as Time.” The show will be at 6 p.m. Saturday at WKUs Van Meter Hall. Tickets range from $10 to $25. The orchestra will provide free shuttle service from Mariah’s restaurant and the Adams Street parking lot.

Ventura County (CA) Star
Fair trade group’s conference in Ky. this weekend
WKU will be the site this weekend of the seventh annual National Convergence of United Students for Fair Trade.

Columbus (IN) Republic
Fair trade student group holding conference at WKU this weekend
WKU will be the site this weekend of the seventh annual National Convergence of United Students for Fair Trade.

Princeton Times-Leader
Hopkinsville Community Colllege, WKU sign transfer agreement
The presidents of Hopkinsville Community College and WKU Monday signed an agreement intended to make it easier for students to plan their transfer from the two-year college to WKU.

March 11-16, 2011

USA Today
Houston’s last Final Four: One dome, two asterisks, and UCLA
The WKU center remembers the unity of a homegrown team.

Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle
WKU, HCC sign joint admissions agreement
Students can now be jointly admitted to Hopkinsville Community College and WKU,, thanks to an agreement signed by the presidents of both schools.

Source 16 TV, Hopkinsville
HCC and WKU Sign Admissions Partnership
Area students will now have an easier time furthering their education thanks to a new partnership between Hopkinsville Community College and WKU.

Daily News
‘Buck$’ contest taking entries for ideas
Area residents with ideas that could lead to a business could win valuable assistance to help move their idea forward.

Bjork presses reset
After a tumultuous season and a week of limbo, WKU athletic director Ross Bjork decided to officially hit the reset button on coach Ken McDonald and the WKU basketball program Monday.

Indo-Kentucky chamber to be unveiled this week
After the location of one Indian-backed industry in Kentucky, southcentral Kentucky leaders were approached about the need for an Indian business chamber of commerce. Kirtley expects interest to be generated among some of WKU’s international students and professors.

Fiscal court accepts bid for Parks and Rec building
Arnie Franklin Jr. of the Aviation Heritage Park reported to fiscal court that the park is in negotiations with NASA to bring a T-38 to the park in honor of former astronaut Terry Wilcutt. Wilcutt is a Russellville native and graduated from WKU.

Tampa Bay Online
Ty Rogers’ shining NCAA moment came in Tampa
Not long ago, Ty Rogers, pharmaceutical salesman, husband, father and small-town hero, was sitting among strangers at a restaurant in Bowling Green, Ky.

Southeast Farm Press
Donald Ball recipient of 2010 Richard Deese Award
The Alabama Beef Cattle Improvement Association (BCIA) recently honored WKU graduate Donald Ball as the 2010 Richard Deese Award recipient during their Annual Meeting and Awards Program held in conjunction with the 68thAnnual Alabama Cattlemen’s Association Convention in Montgomery.

March 8-10, 2011

Daily News
Communication Disorders Clinic: WKU’s best-kept secret
When Allison Small turned 5 years old, she wasn’t yet able to speak. Her mother, Cari Small, heard that a child’s brain stops developing by age 5, and she was convinced that her daughter would never talk.

Symphony fundraiser ‘parties’ on
The Symphony at WKU is keeping the party rolling with four remaining events that are part of its Symphony Soiree “Parties of Note” fundraiser.

Green Bay Press Gazette
Experts suggest NFL, players union aren’t widely split on financial issue
The rhetoric on financial disclosure Wednesday suggested emotions are raw on both sides, but all three economists — Rodney Fort of the University of Michigan, Andrew Zimbalist of Smith College and Brian Goff of WKU — said the fundamental issue is how to split money in a profitable league. That suggests the sides aren’t as far apart as they might seem.

WDBJ-TV, Roanoke, VA
Students join disabled volunteers for Lynchburg construction project
“I’m happy to be able to make them happy,” says Eric Cavender, a student at WKU who spent part of his day working with a DePaul client.  ”It’s great to spend some time with them, talk with them, and make them feel like they’re wanted out here to help.”

March 5-7, 2011

Elizabethtown News-Enterprise
Al Rider named Distinguished Citizen
Al Rider prizes helping people achieve their dreams through education as president and CEO of North Central Education Foundation, but he never dreamed that he might receive an award for what he considers just doing his job.

Daily News
Garbage truck hits, kills student
A 20-year-old WKU student was killed early Saturday morning when he was struck by a garbage truck.

Salt Lake City Tribune
Jazz’s Evans assigned to Utah Flash
The Jazz have assigned rookie forward Jeremy Evans to the Utah Flash of the NBA Developmental League. Evans, a second-round draft pick out of WKU, will play in the Flash’s games Friday and Saturday nights against New Mexico.

Feb. 26-March 4, 2011

WKYU-FM
Colon Cancer Prevention Organizations Call on the Public to Wear Blue
Regular colon cancer screenings can frequently catch the disease while it is still in a treatable state, according to WKU Professors of Nursing Eve Main and Cathy Abell.

Historians Say Lincoln’s Inaugural Address is Still Timely
Two WKU historians say the remarks Abraham Lincoln delivered in his first inaugural address “resonate” today.

President of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Discusses Unemployment and the Economic Outlook
Dr. James Bullard, the President of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis visited WKU this week, and commented on sluggishness in the labor markets, as well as the general outlook for the region served by the Bank.

Daily News
Students: Texting and driving don’t mix
For the past two days, Savannah Pennington has stood on a street corner, yelling at passing motorists.

Aviation park restoring T-33 Shooting Star
The T-33 is in honor of Glasgow native and WKU graduate Gen. Russell Dougherty.

Tops vs. UK a highlight on 2011 football schedule
The 2011 WKU football schedule has been finalized and will feature seven official Hilltopper home games, with one in Nashville.

WKU students on spiritual search
When Steve Stovall and his wife, Teresa, started the Christian Student Fellowship in 1975, he never imagined they’d still be there 35 years later. And while some things have changed over the years, the reason for the ministry remains.

Black church’s challenges
The Rev. Curtis Johnson was discussing young people and the church Wednesday at a roundtable discussion at WKU with the Rev. Freddie Brown, pastor of State Street Baptist Church, and Monique Moultrie, assistant professor of religion and philosophy. The topic was “Is God Dead: Religion, the Black Church, and the African American Community.”

Ashland Daily Independent
Boyd teacher Hall of Fame inductee
An educator in the Boyd County School District was one of three inducted as the fourth class of the Gov. Louie B. Nunn Kentucky Teacher Hall of Fame on Tuesday.

WDRB-TV Louisville
Three inducted into Kentucky Teacher Hall of Fame
Three Kentucky teachers receive top grades.  On Tuesday Patricia Morris, Artie Hankins, and Deidra Hylton were inducted into the state’s Teacher Hall of Fame.

WBKO-TV
Arbor Day Foundation names WKU a Tree Campus USA University
WKU has earned Tree Campus USA recognition for 2010 for its dedication to campus forestry management and environmental stewardship, the nonprofit Arbor Day Foundation announced.

Students Urge Others to Not Text and Drive
The no texting while driving law has been in effect in Kentucky for exactly two months. On Tuesday, a group of WKU students took to the streets with a clear message.

“Prisoners” Raise Money for the United Way
Some WKU students had to report to jail on campus, but don’t worry, it was for a good cause.

WKU to participate in United Nations water project
A WKU geoscientist will help lead a new project titled IGCP 598: Environmental Change and Sustainability in Karst Systems under the auspices of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) International Geoscience Program.

Going Green In South Central Kentucky
WKU did that during it’s winter break during the 08-09 year and saved almost a $100,000.

Feb. 23-25, 2011

Elizabethtown News-Enterprise
1st Lt. Yates honored, remembered in Frankfort
The Kentucky State Senate on Wednesday adopted Sen. Dennis Parrett’s resolution honoring and remembering the life of 1st Lt. Eric D. Yates, who was killed in the line of duty. The House of Representatives adapted a similar resolution, sponsored by Rep. Jimmie Lee. A 2003 graduate of John Hardin High School, Yates participated in the ROTC program. He graduated with double majors in social studies and history from WKU in 2008.

Daily News
WKU professors with links to Middle East discuss protests
Tarek Elshayeb called his parents as often as possible during the recent uprising in Egypt. Elshayeb, an Egyptian native, wanted to make sure his parents were all right.

Celebrating art
The exhibit will be displayed Sunday through April 2 at the Kentucky Museum at WKU.

Songs of faith
When Larnelle Harris sang with other artists on a project called “Spirituals: Songs of the Soul,” he received a revelation of sorts. “It became a time of worship,” the Grammy and Dove award-winning artist and WKU graduate said.

Harbaugh enjoys his return to the Hill
On Tuesday, Jack Harbaugh came home. And he couldn’t have been more excited about it.

WBKO-TV
How Kentucky Mesonet Sites Work
Each Kentucky Mesonet site contains roughly $20,000 worth of weather monitoring equipment purchased from many different vendors.

Reuters
Fed’s Bullard says it’s time to debate completing QE2
“The natural debate now is whether to complete the program or to taper off to a somewhat lower level of assets,” St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard said at a Chamber of Commerce breakfast held at WKU.

Photo District News
Student Wins Multimedia Portfolio of the Year at POYi
Leslye Davis, a student at WKU, has won Multimedia Portfolio of the Year honors at the Pictures of the Year International contest, organizers announced last night. Davis’s projects, which can be viewed on vimeo.com, tell a variety of personal stories that underscore the passage of time and the strength of family bonds.

Tennessean
School celebrates return of only grad to reach NBA
Six decades after leaving Mt. Juliet, Tom Marshall was welcomed home by a crowd of cheering fans who wanted to honor the school’s only athlete to make it to the NBA.

Tehachapi (CA) News
Charles Napier to narrate for the Tehachapi Community Orchestra
Well-known actor Charles Napier will narrate Camille Saint Saens’ “Carnival of the Animals” at the Tehachapi Community Orchestra’s Feb. 27 concert. Napier attended WKU and graduated with a major in art and a minor in physical education.

Feb. 19-22, 2011

Daily News
Student studying in Dubai as WKU Arabic program grows
Michael Marcell has spent time with one of the most powerful women in the world. He hears more than a dozen languages on a daily basis, and he has befriended an unlikely, yet inspiring, person.

Proposed cuts threaten stations
The U.S. House of Representatives is considering spending cuts, including $86 million allocated to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. It’s money that helps keep stations, such as Bowling Green’s WKYU-PBS and WKU Public Radio, afloat.

Evansville Courier & Press
Lego competition set this month in Bowling Green
More than 100 middle school students from Kentucky and Tennessee will take part in the Lego Robotics Championship later this month in Bowling Green.

WBKO-TV
Habitat For Humanity Preparing For New Community
Land off of Glenn Lily road will be apart of something Kentucky has never seen before. An entire community built around ‘Green Infrastructure” that will filter polluted run off water. “So if we can slow the water and create opportunities for it to naturally filter and put in plants that are both high water absorbers and pollutant absorbers then when the water returns to our groundwater sources it is very much purified,” WKU’s Sustainability Programs Development Coordinator Nancy Givens said.

Amplifier
US Bank Celebration of the Arts Exhibit opens Feb. 27
The US Bank Celebration of the Arts exhibit begins Feb. 27 at the Kentucky Museum. The open art exhibition, which runs through April 2, is the largest of its kind in south central Kentucky.

Feb. 16-18, 2011

Lane Report
Owensboro: WKU & GOEDC Will Provide Expertise to Business Community
WKU and the Greater Owensboro Economic Development Corp. are teaming up to provide business expertise to existing Owensboro-area companies and help foster start-up businesses in the region.

Daily News
Inmate re-entry program in the works
Representatives from the Warren County Regional Jail and the Kentucky Department of Corrections met Wednesday in Bowling Green with organizations such as Another Chance to Succeed, Gateway Recovery Home, the WKU sociology department and others to discuss how services can be provided once the inmate re-entry program goes into effect.

Logan Aluminum gives $300K to create partnership program
For mechanical engineering students, actual experience in the field is an important part of their education.

Life after College
Jennifer Kiefer remembers what school was like for her little brother. After transferring from a private school to an inner-city school in Louisville, he was suddenly lost in a crowd of children. That’s what prompted Kiefer to join Teach for America – a competitive, prestigious program that sends college graduates into impoverished schools to teach. About 20 percent of applicants are offered teaching positions. Kiefer is one of several WKU students who are leaning toward service-based programs post graduation.

WKU student launches social networking site dedicated to music
Daniel Stone noticed a trend among many of his friends’ Facebook pages – many of them were posting music videos or lyrics to songs they liked. So Stone, a musician and college student from Bowling Green, decided to launch a social networking site, soundlion.com, that’s totally dedicated to music.

Lexington Herald-Leader
WKU department adopts deployed student’s squadron
Some students at WKU are collecting items to send to Afghanistan.

WBKO-TV
WKU Helping Out Special Graduate Student
Dr. Randy Deere has a bunch of different students in his online classes but there is one quite different from the rest.

Students from China perform at WKU
Students from China performed on the campus of WKU Tuesday night.

WKYU-FM
WKU partnership with Logan Aluminum will benefit engineering students
WKU has announced a new program designed to increase learning opportunities for engineering students.

Feb. 8-15, 2011

Evansville Courier & Press
Rosenbaum returns to ‘Smallville’ for series finale
After seven years and 160 episodes, WKU graduate Michael Rosenbaum thought he was finished portraying diabolical villain Lex Luthor on “Smallville.” Even though that was three years ago, the fans had been clamoring for his return ever since.Rosenbaum finally relented, agreeing to appear in the two-hour CW series finale on May 13.

Daily News
Baker, Natcher named to JA Hall of Fame
Two Bowling Green businessmen were held up as examples of people who embody Junior Achievement’s principles. Jerry Baker and Joe Natcher were named to JA’s Business Hall of Fame during a breakfast ceremony at the Sloan Convention Center.

Cornett enjoys family-friendly atmosphere at SKY Rehab
Suzanne Cornett has worked at SKY Rehab for 13 years. Her job as human resources director includes overseeing payroll and personnel and employee relationships. It wasn’t a career she planned to enter. As a student at WKU, she earned a bachelor’s degree in political science. A job in human resources changed all that.

New foundation dreams of riverfront recreation
Nearly six years ago, WKU professor Steve Spencer and then-Greenways Coordinator Helen Siewers made a presentation at a Downtown Redevelopment Authority meeting proposing a 1,400-foot, six-drop whitewater park on the Barren River.

Racial awareness
As a packed auditorium of WKU students gathered Tuesday for the Black History Month keynote address, an elderly black man hobbled into the auditorium, talking loudly to a few people sitting near the back.

Soap Operas 101
Over-dramatic. Never-ending. Addictive. Those are some common adjectives students use in Sam Ford’s class at WKU. After all, they’re discussing one of America’s favorite train wrecks: the soap opera.

WKYU-FM
Journalist Juan Williams Comments on Civilty and Changes in Journalism
Journalist Juan Williams says news consumers need to use their eyes and ears to support news talk programs that are civil. Speaking at Western Kentucky University, Williams said viewers, listeners, and readers are the ones who will ultimately decide what types of news information they will receive in the future.

WFIE-TV Evansville
WKU-O to offer nursing degree program
WKU’s Owensboro campus will start offering a bachelor’s degree in nursing starting the upcoming school year.

FanHouse
WKU Sells Recruits on Opportunity Rather Than Victories
WKU coach Willie Taggart is peddling opportunity.

Feb. 5-8, 2011

WKYU-FM
Civil War Experts Reflect on the Issue of Slavery
Civil War Historians Dr. Jack Thacker and Dr. Glen LaFantasie say President Lincoln looked at the state of Kentucky as a key pivotal area as he tried to address slavery issues in the days leading up to the start of the Civil War. Lincoln considered Kentucky to be a key strategic location, in part because of its access to the Ohio River.

Daily News
Dragon a draw at reptile expo
Ella Mosgrove, a vendor from Sellersburg, Ind., stood with a leatherback bearded dragon on her shoulder Saturday at the Kentucky Reptile Expo at the Carroll Knicely Conference Center.

World renowned conductor to lead master class Feb. 18
Orchestra Kentucky will host a conducting master class led by internationally acclaimed conductor Hugh Wolff. The master class will be from 1 p.m. to 3:20 p.m. Feb. 18 at WKU’s Van Meter Hall.

Nurse practitioner enjoys patient interaction
Stacia Washer didn’t know that her destiny lay in the medical field until she started working in it. Washer has associate’s, bachelor’s and master’s degrees from WKU.

Hilltoppers introduce DC Guidry
Lance Guidry made a name for himself nationally on YouTube last month.

Evansville Courier & Press
WKU analysis center to shine during conference
WKU’s Nondestructive Analysis Center’s impact as a national research facility will be on display during a conference in March.

Feb. 1-4, 2011

WKYU-FM
WKU Political Scientist Analyzes Egyptian Uprising
Middle East expert Dr. Soleiman Kiasatpour of the WKU political science department says the causes of the recent demonstrations in Cairo have been simmering for decades in the Arab world and the effects could be felt in this country soon.

Assistive Technology to be on Display
Some significant advancements in technology are creating new opportunities for blind individuals and those who have suffered varying degrees of vision loss. A meeting to be held at the ALIVE Center in Bowling Green on the evening of Feb. 8 will give the public and opportunity to learn more about the new equipment.

WTVW-TV Evansville
WKU-Owensboro Offers Nursing Courses
WKU-Owensboro will soon offer local nurses a higher level of education.

Daily News
WKU shows progress on sustainability
Christian Ryan-Downing sits in a dimly lit office as she discusses the many ways WKU is becoming a more environmentally friendly campus.

Students’ community role lauded
The event featured presentations from Nadia DeLeon, community engagement coordinator at WKU’s ALIVE Center for Community Partnerships, and Terry Shoemaker, program coordinator for the WKU Institute for Citizenship and Social Responsibility.

Schoolchildren help spread the red
Helen Chyle has attended Lady Topper basketball games for 29 years, but she’d never seen anything like this.

People gather at WKU for Chinese New Year
More than 50 people gathered Wednesday at the Baptist Campus Ministry at WKU to celebrate the Chinese New Year.

Side by Side connects kids with artists
The annual exhibit, which includes individual artwork by the student and artist, as well as a collaborative piece by the two, is displayed at The Kentucky Library and Museum at WKU.

Elizabethtown News-Enterprise
Elizabethtown’s Henry now a Hilltopper
Keeping Kentucky players in state for their college careers was little more than an afterthought for WKU’s former coaching staff.

Bradenton Herald
Southeast trio hits WKU trifecta
Boe Brand, Terran Williams and Dyron Speight looked like they had just won the lottery.

TMCnews
Six Honored as 2011 Outstanding Alumni
William Pitt Rew Derryberry College of Education M.A. ’95, educational psychology and counselor education Ed.S. ’97, educational psychology As a professor of psychology at WKU, Pitt Derryberry concentrates on the research and teaching of moral development, specifically moral judgment and self-understanding.

Courier-Journal
WKU lands 26, making it ‘a great day’
With a little more time to assembly this year’s recruiting class, second-year WKU coach football Willie Taggart landed a bumper crop.

Jan. 26-31, 2011

WBKO-TV
College Goal Sunday
The old saying the early bird catches the worm, applied to those who went to a certain seminar at WKU.

Local Reaction to Crisis in Egypt
Just two days after WKU student Katherine Meredith left from studying abroad, things went south in Egypt.

Washington Post
Harbaughs are close competitors
The house in Ann Arbor, Mich., had a tiny front yard, with a strip of grass perhaps five feet wide, Jack Harbaugh remembers. The back yard was another matter entirely. It was expansive, and mowing the lawn on that side of the home was an assignment that required quite a bit more time and effort. Harbaugh’s sons John and Jim, separated in age by 15 months, took turns cutting the backyard grass. Or at least that was how it was supposed to work.

Daily News
Bowl for Kids’ Sake kicks off
Friday’s gathering served as the kickoff to the event, which begins Feb. 22 with College Bowl for Kids’ Sake from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Downing University Center.

Ogden (UT) Standard-Examiner
Evans keeps working hard despite limited minutes
At 6-foot-9, Jeremy Evans is a good-sized fellow, even by NBA standards.

USA Today
After Tucson, schools seek aid to track trouble
At WKU, where Brian Van Brunt is director of counseling, staffers “are looking at what would we do if we had a similar case,” he says.

Wall Street Journal
Decline Found in Freshmen’s Mental Health
“We’ve known for some time that first-year college women are coming to college with more distress and at a much greater risk for depression than college men,” says Karl Laves, a director of counseling at WKU.

New York Times
Record Level of Stress Found in College Freshmen
“This fits with what we’re all seeing,” said Brian Van Brunt, director of counseling at WKU and president of the American College Counseling Association.

Jan. 13-25, 2011

Daily News
Mother finishes book ailing son began
Todd Gibbs had hoped to write a book about a lung transplant. Instead, 15 years later, his mother, LaRecea Gibbs, has fulfilled her son’s dream by writing “Not a Wasted Breath: Living Fearlessly with Cystic Fibrosis.”After graduating from high school, Todd continued his quest to pack as much life as possible into every day. He bought a house and worked at WVLE radio in Scottsville and earned the nickname “Scoop.” He was a referee for high school basketball games, running up and down the court even though he had only 30 percent lung capacity, and he served as director of the Lady Invitational of the South, a well-known girls’ high school basketball tournament. Todd also graduated from WKU and served on the Scottsville City Council.

Regents give OK to new degrees
Some new programs are coming to WKU as administrators expand the types of degrees available to students.

WKU grad starts interactive fitness site
Before she became a mother, Dawn Bland did a lot of things to stay in shape.

WKU leaders prepare for next 5 years
WKU’s growth has been well-documented over the last 10 years. Capital campaign projects have given way to new buildings and renovations. The brick-and-mortar projects have been apparent. WKU has also aimed to become a national brand through research and international study. Enrollment has steadily increased. Now leaders will begin developing a strategic plan through 2017.

Accreditation council has WKU ties
NCATE, which accredits teacher education programs, departments and colleges, has worked with WKU for years, approving its teacher programs. NCATE representatives will travel to Bowling Green in March, conducting a visit to determine whether those programs will keep accreditation.

New director at WKU dons ‘lots of hats’
The faces of some college programs are changing as WKU welcomes new leaders. Doug Rohrer of Bowling Green recently was named director of WKU’s Central Region Innovation and Commercialization Center. He took over the position on Jan. 3.

Donor looks to get other alumni involved in new center
When talking about WKU’s new Augenstein Alumni Center, it would be easy to focus on money. After all, the price tag comes in at an impressive $5 million.

WKYU-FM
WKU and Leaders in Owensboro Announce Business Accelerator Partnership
WKU faculty will focus on plant biotechnology and food science in the laboratory space that will be available at the Centre for Business and Research in Owensboro.

Athens (AL) News Courier
Kentucky students help build Habitat house
The students, all members of the campus chapter of HFH at WKU, had signed on at Thanksgiving to spend their winter break working for Habitat through the Collegiate Challenge program.

Decatur (AL) Daily
Hilltopper home builders
The students from WKU have spent this week working on Habitat for Humanity’s 36th house in the county.

New York Times
Positives With Roots In Tragedy On Campus
There’s a pattern here. Some of the best university programs — at Virginia Tech, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, WKU — have been spurred by some of the worst tragedies.

Coal Geology
Engineers design sustainable technology for developing countries
Recently, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) created a Web-based open-source project hosted by WKU, in which engineers and engineering students collaborated on the design of a human-powered water purifier for use in remote regions of the developing world and locations affected by natural disasters and other catastrophes.

Glasgow Daily Times
Scholarships named for Juanita Bayless
A local organization has chosen to honor a community member who died recently by awarding club scholarships in her name. Dr. Juanita Bayless, former WKU-Glasgow director and member of the Glasgow Rotary Club, died Dec. 21 after losing her battle with cancer.

The Guardian, Belize
Dental Department Enhances services to Rural Areas through Contribution by WKU
The Dental Department, Ministry of Health, recently conducted a workshop for its dental staff in partnership with WKU.

WFIE-TV Evansville
New research programs coming to Owensboro
The Owensboro Greater Economic Development Corporation and WKU officials announce the launch of two new research programs in Owensboro.

Jan. 8-12, 2011

USA Today
Second-guessing red flags, action taken in Tucson case
The shooting on Saturday, which gravely wounded Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and killed a federal judge and five others, nonetheless raises questions about whether anything more should have been done. “It’s not illegal to be mentally ill and ranting and raving,” says Brian Van Brunt, president of the American College Counseling Association and counseling director at WKU. It “only becomes illegal when there’s behavior attached to it that is criminally threatening. As long as they’re not imminently suicidal, we don’t have the right to commit them to a hospital.”

Penalties, scandals highlight irregular college season
WKU’s Gary Ransdell calls for a bigger BCS: expansion from four affiliated bowls to seven, accommodating every conference champ and three at-large entries. He’d place the four top-ranked teams in a plus-one bracket.

Campus Technology
Live@edu Gaining Higher Ed Traction
Microsoft’s Live@edu software has gained 4 million new student users over the last three months around the world. WKU deployed the suite for 42,000 students and alumni. According to Robert Owen, vice president of IT, the efficiencies gained from moving to Live@edu will save the university $50,000 a year in hardware and software costs.

WBKO-TV
Real World Learning In The Woods
Students with WKU’s outdoor leadership program got some real world practice at the McChesney field campus.

Daily News
More than 5,000 students invited to Lady Tops game
Several local classrooms will be empty on Feb. 2 when more than 5,000 elementary and middle school students spill into E.A. Diddle Arena at WKU.

Aviation Heritage Park secures T-33 for display
It’s another aircraft and another story for Aviation Heritage Park at Basil Griffin Park in Bowling Green.

Jan. 4-7, 2011

Newsweek
Colleges look to a wider network to address student mental health
It took a crisis to introduce Jennifer to WKU’s campus counseling center, but these days the center is trying to prevent just that: it’s looking to head off emergencies before they begin by reaching students like Jennifer where they spend most of their time—in classrooms and in dorm rooms.

Daily News
State to consider physical therapy program at WKU
A shortage of physical therapists in this area might not get much attention, but it’s a problem that needs to be addressed. So says Tom Pennington, a physical therapist and CEO of Integrity Rehab Group in Bowling Green, who has worked in this area for more than 20 years.

Some WKU students get a head start
While most WKU students are still enjoying their winter break, about 2,400 of them are already hitting the books again.

Lane Report
Business Briefs
The World Council for Gifted and Talented Children is relocating its international headquarters to WKU from the University of Winnipeg in Canada.

Kalamazoo Gazette
Portage native earns top academic honor at WKU
Shannon Smith, of Portage, Mich., earned WKU’s top academic honor during the commencement ceremony on Dec. 18.

Dec. 16, 2010-Jan. 3, 2011

Glasgow Daily Times
Dr. Juanita Bayless, 1939-2010
The life of Juanita Bayless was spent tirelessly working to improve her community and the educational opportunities for students at the WKU-Glasgow campus.

WBKO-TV
New Dean Announced For WKU’s Business College
WKU welcomes a new staff member to the hilltopper family.

Daily News
WKU grads commence new phase of their lives
With a degree in elementary education in hand, new WKU graduate Chelsea Scott hopes that doors will open for her as she embarks on a teaching career.

Dec. 4-15, 2010

Los Angeles Times
Laser tag, karaoke keep finals from being a test of nerves
Brian Van Brunt, president of the American College Counseling Assn., compared the pre-finals yoga and snacks to the bicycle helmets students were urged to wear in childhood. “It helps make a safer, easier journey,” he said. And current college students do expect more services, he said: “The word I’m tempted to use is ‘entitled.’ ” Still, campuses should be genuinely concerned about student stress and offer good care with “some fun attached to it,” said Van Brunt, director of counseling and testing at WKU.

Boston Globe
Dogs show students: Exams’ bark is worse than bite
“College students are very stressed at this point of the year, and some are playing catch-up,” said Brian Van Brunt, also director of counseling and testing at Western Kentucky University. “Going to events like these allows students to clear the brain and press the reset button.”

San Antonio Express-News
Ex-POW ‘found the good’ in people
Somehow, five years and three months of captivity that included starvation and torture in North Vietnam did not change Ken Fleenor. He was the same man his wife, Anne, met long before, when she was a high school senior and he was a junior majoring in biology and agriculture at WKU.

Lane Report
Business Briefs
The World Council for Gifted and Talented Children  is relocating its international headquarters to WKU from the University of Winnipeg in Canada.

Daily News
New uses for old buildings
A group of nine WKU seniors met Wednesday with Mayor Elaine Walker and a small group of city officials to discuss possible renovations at two locations in downtown Bowling Green.

Career Counseling
A new program at WKU is designed to help area counselors better educate students about careers and college choices in a daunting job market.

Henderson Gleaner
Dr. Dero: We didn’t need a classroom to learn a worthwhile lesson
It was a cold December night more than 30 years ago, and we were college kids with more time on our hands than wisdom in our heads. We were at WKU, and our thoughts turned that frosty evening to WKU’s then-president, Dero Downing.

President’s letter: Downing responds with forgiveness, inspiration
One never knows, when confessing to a misdemeanor from many years ago, how it will be received by the intended victim. In the case of retired WKU President Dero Downing, it was received very graciously.

Salt Lake City Desert News
Utah Jazz: Rookie Jeremy Evans brings energy to team and the crowd
As a seldom-used rookie coming off the bench, it’s Jeremy Evans’ job to bring the Jazz some energy when he gets a chance to play. Evans did just that, but didn’t limit his energy boost to the other four Jazz players he shared the floor with on Monday night. He sent waves of excitement to about 19,000 fans in EnergySolutions Arena on four different occasions.

Bradenton (Fla.) Herald
Dowling commits to WKU
The Manatee County-WKU pipeline just got a whole lot bigger and a bit more famous.

Commentary: Taggart can’t be measured by dollars
Willie Taggart is the best coach money can buy. He might be earning a Wal-Mart type salary, but he is producing Neimus Marcus results.

Elizabethtown News-Enterprise
Elizabethtown tight end Henry commits to WKU
Elizabethtown senior tight end Mitchell Henry is carrying on a family tradition. Henry’s grandfather and parents all have ties to WKU and soon Henry will as well as he gave a verbal commitment to the Hilltoppers on Friday prior to the Panthers’ basketball game.

Dec. 1-3, 2010

WKYU-FM
Filmmaker in Bowling Green to showcase Burmese refugees
More than 1,000 refugees from Burma have arrived in Bowling Green in recent years. For more than 60 years, Burma’s military regime has persecuted ethnic minorities, prompting many to flee their country for refugee camps in Thailand. From there, some have made it to the US. Documentary filmmaker Paco Beltran is in Bowling Green to see how some of these refugees have settled into life in southern Kentucky.

Daily News
Encouraging Responsibilty
Chad Beswick, an organizer of the candlelight vigil at WKU’s Centennial Mall in observance of World AIDS Day, wandered the crowd as people began to arrive, handing out red ribbons and small white candles.

Immigrants from Myanmar tell of struggles as refugees
The event, “Forced from Our Villages: The Karenni Community Journey from Burma to Bowling Green,” drew many from the refugee community to the auditorium at WKU’s Mass Media and Technology Hall.

WKU group pushing Fair Trade products
Holiday shoppers seeking unique gifts that benefit third-world farmers and artisans might want to check out fair trade items available locally, and a Western Kentucky University student group is pushing to boost the sale of such products on campus.

Nov. 20-30, 2010

Daily News
Plans set for traffic, fan influx
WKU is hosting the KHSAA Commonwealth Gridiron Bowl football championships Friday and Saturday, and the games will alter traffic and parking plans in the area, according to officials.

International students will share their cultures at Cumberland Trace
This week, students at a local school will travel the globe without leaving their classrooms.

Fee hike to go toward DUC renovation
WKU officials are moving forward with preliminary plans for a major renovation to the Downing University Center that will be funded in part by a $140 increase in annual student fees over the next 20 years.

University gets $1.75M gift for endowed chair
WKU announced it has received a $1.75 million pledge to create an endowed chair in physiology in the Ogden College of Science and Engineering.

Stringing kids along
Seven years after its launch, the WKU Pre-College Strings Development Program has become the fastest-growing strings program in the state.

WIT is helping women succeed
Four years ago, Robin Felix began taking classes at WKU, making the 80-mile round trip from Caneyville to work toward a degree in public health. She has put a lot of miles behind her, as well as 66 credit hours with a solid grade-point average.

WKU sees growth at regional campuses
WKU has seen dramatic growth in the past four years at its regional campuses at Elizabethtown/Radcliff/Fort Knox, Owensboro and Glasgow.

Aerial experiments
WKU astronomy students hope to have some practical applications for a stratosphere balloon that they launched Saturday.

WKYU-FM
WKU Historians Reflect on the Election of Abraham Lincoln
November marks the 150th anniversary of the election of President Abraham Lincoln. Although the nation’s 16th President was a native of Kentucky, he received relatively little support from the state in the Presidential election of 1860. Dan Modlin talks with historians Dr. Jack Thacker and Dr. Glenn Lafantasie of the WKU History Department.

Kansas City Star
Son of a military man, Crennel’s no drill sergeant
Romeo Crennel first walked the sidelines at WKU, where he had been a walk-on defensive and offensive lineman, and things were a certain way there.

Courier-Journal
Universities encouraging study abroad to enrich students
And at WKU — which has branded itself a Leading American University with International Reach — the number of students studying abroad has jumped from 210 in 2005-06, to 486 in the 2009-10 school year.

Kentucky universities see increase in international students
Encouraging U.S. students to go abroad is only one strategy schools are using to make their campuses more global. They also are recruiting international students from abroad.

Nov. 12-19, 2010

Daily News
Investigation continues in slaying of WKU professor Martha ‘Bettina’ Richmond
Almost a year after her death, police are actively investigating the slaying of WKU mathematics professor Martha “Bettina” Richmond.

Students showcase tech projects
About 1,300 students spilled into WKU’s E.A. Diddle Arena on Wednesday as part of the Student Technology Leadership Program fall showcase.

Council for gifted kids moving headquarters to WKU
The World Council for Gifted and Talented Children is relocating its international headquarters from the University of Winnipeg in Canada to the campus of WKU.

Image overhaul
Four years after Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity at WKU made national headlines over an embarrassing hazing incident, the band of brothers – suspended from WKU for three years as a result – is still working hard to polish its tarnished public image.

WKYU-FM
WKU Students and Faculty Advisors Complete Work on Hazardous Materials Study
Students and Faculty advisors from the WKU Department of Public Health have completed a study on the flow of hazardous materials being transported through the region.

Winnipeg Free Press
Experts iffy on swamp gas explanation of hotel explosion
WKU geologist Lee Florea said gases can accumulate in underground pockets because of contaminants such as petroleum that attach themselves in sediment in cave walls. When these break down, they can produce gases.

Nov. 6-11, 2010

News 24, Johannesburg, South Africa
Astronaut describes experience
Their visit, together with a professor from WKU, Charles McGruder, comes at a time when Africa is bidding to host the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) radio telescope.

Eyewitness News, Johannesburg, South Africa
SA economy in line for huge benefits from SKA project
WKU Professor Charles McGruder said the SKA will drive South Africa into the future.

Daily News
The dark side of being bright
“Gifted” is a label most parents don’t mind having applied to their child. But for a child or adolescent, being bright can have a dark side and giftedness can often be a burden as well as an asset.

WKU’s Bjork speaks to visitors bureau
WKU Athletic Director Ross Bjork wants to extend partnerships in the community to include the Bowling Green Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Groves’ work benefits humanity
Distinguished Professor Chris Groves is one of the best-known members of the WKU faculty, and his reputation and work extend far beyond the Hill.

‘Grilled cheese girl’ organizes bone marrow drive
WKU junior Alex Kimura – also known on campus as “the grilled cheese girl” for her fundraising efforts to feed the hungry – has organized a bone marrow drive Nov. 16, 17 and 18 at WKU’s Preston Center.

WKU prof gains attention for elephant study in Africa
WKU biology professor Bruce Schulte is making news around the world for work he is doing in South Africa that has important implications for habitat and wildlife management.

Peace Corps, WKU join for graduate credit
WKU has announced a new partnership with the Peace Corps to give students an opportunity to volunteer while they earn graduate degree credit, the first such agreement with a university in Kentucky.

Courier-Journal
WKU basketball still seeking winning combination
Sergio Kerusch sees the WKU basketball team as a work in progress.

How college basketball recruiting became a national obsession
Evan Daniels’ job barely existed back when he was mulling a career as a sports reporter. A student at Male High School, he played football for the Bulldogs before realizing that his future lay on the sideline, not the playing field. So he studied broadcast journalism at WKU, where he read the news on the student TV station and set out to befriend veteran sports journalists who could help him land a gig at ESPN.

Oct. 30-Nov. 5, 2010

MSNBC.com
At home in the heartland
At the end of October, more than 100 journalists from across the United States descended upon Elizabethtown, Ky., just south of Louisville.What was the big story? There wasn’t any.The journalists were simply doing the same thing they’ve done for so many years: getting together to document daily life in a town as a means to cultivate their story-telling skills. This week-long summit, called Mountain Workshops, is run by WKU, a school known for its photojournalism program.

Kentucky Living
Researchers and students at WKU test technology to solve problems for electric utilities
Experts at the Institute for Combustion Science and Environmental Technology at WKU work with a stunning array of high-tech gadgets to find solutions to today’s energy problems. For these dedicated men and women, “putting research into practice” is more than a clever slogan—it’s why they come to work every day.

Lexington Herald-Leader
Photojournalism project finds stories wherever it goes
The Mountain Workshops is an annual documentary photojournalism project run by WKU. Each fall, participants spend a week documenting everyday life in a small town in Kentucky or Tennessee.

Daily News
WKU recognized for success in Fulbright program
WKU for the second year is one of the country’s top 10 master’s degree granting institutions to produce Fulbright scholars.

Ransdell’s wife plays key role at WKU
Julie Ransdell may well be WKU’s biggest unsung hero – or heroine.

Education led Rahim to distinction
WKU Distinguished Professor of management Afzalur Rahim is a leaders’ leader.

1981 WKU grad donates $1M for alumni center
WKU has received a $1 million gift from 1981 alumnus Dale Augenstein, a Hilton Head Island, S.C., restaurant owner, for its future alumni center in Block 12 of Bowling Green’s Tax Increment Financing district.

WKU enrollment up by 1 percent
WKU continues to be the fastest growing institution of higher education in the state, according to final fall 2010 enrollment numbers released Friday by the university.

WKU kicks off ‘Spread the Red’ campaign
WKU Hilltoppers want to channel the spirit of famed former coach E.A. Diddle to help “Spread the Red” for this basketball season.

WKYU-FM
WKU Announces Major Gift for Alumni Center
The new Alumni Center at WKU will be named in honor of Owensboro native Dale Augenstein.

New Vice-President for Development and Alumni Relations Emphasizes Alumni Giving
Kathryn Costello, WKU’s new Vice-President for Development says alumni play a key role in the University’s plans for private giving in the future.

Cincinnati Enquirer
School district, WKU to partner
Fort Thomas Independent Schools will announce a new partnership between Highlands High School and WKU at an event today.

Oct. 22-29, 2010

WKYU-FM
Months of Planning Heighten the Impact of Homecoming
Officials at WKU say the long list of events taking place at this year’s Homecoming have been in the planning stages for nearly a year.

Daily News
Thrill on the Hill
WKU is ready for a “Thrill on the Hill” as it’s set to welcome alumni and the community for Homecoming 2010.

WKU to induct three into Hall of Distinguished Alumni
The late artist Joe Dudley Downing, the late health pioneer Josephine Cherry Lowman and current University of Louisville President James Ramsey will be inducted into WKU’s Hall of Distinguished Alumni during this weekend’s homecoming festivities.

Program through Coleman Foundation helps students develop business skills
WKU’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation is in the business of moving creative ideas from the brain to the marketplace. Now the center will extend its mission to students of all disciplines.

Psychology professor ‘star’ aging researcher
WKU Distinguished Professor and cognitive psychologist Sharon Mutter once thought she’d have an office with an East Coast urban view, complete with the cliched Freudian couch.

Faithful fans rejoice as Hilltoppers break their 26-game losing streak
Bowling Green’s Lisa King had attended every WKU football game this season – home and away – supporting her son, senior lineman Preston King.

10K Classic draws 2,400
Hundreds of people lined the sidewalks of WKU’s campus, clapping and cheering for walkers and runners as they neared the finish line next to the football stadium.

Finally over
After 763 days, countless close calls and an unlimited amount of frustration, the streak is finally over for WKU.

Building named after Ransdell
WKU’s first green building – the $35 million College of Education and Behavioral Sciences – will be named for WKU President Gary Ransdell.

WBKO-TV
New College Building Named After WKU President
WKU’s President, Gary Ransdell will leave his mark on campus in a more permanent way. The building is named in his honor.

Chili and Cheese Pep Rally for WKU Football
Here’s a taste of what happened during the Homecoming kick-off festivities.

BBC
Elephant ecological engineering ‘benefits amphibians’
“Elephants, along with a number of other species, are considered to be ecological engineers because their activities modify the habitat in a way that affects many other species,” explained WKU’s Bruce Schulte.

Courier-Journal
Scare Tactics: 2 collections tell tales from beyond Kentucky graves
Nearly one-third of Americans believe in ghosts, according to a Gallup poll, and a CBS News poll counted one-in-five respondents who claimed they had seen one. Lynwood Montell, professor emeritus of folk studies at WKU and author or editor of several books on paranormal experiences, describes himself as “neither a believer nor a disbeliever.”

WKU sheds ‘King Kong’ be ending 26-game skid
When Willie Taggart got on the bus Saturday in Lafayette, La., he already had 59 text messages.

WKU has athletic forward in Juan Pattillo
The WKU men’s basketball program has produced terrific athletes in recent years. Courtney Lee showed electric moves. Elgrace Wilborn was a highlight film waiting to happen. Juan Pattillo, a transfer from Oklahoma, might wow Diddle Arena crowds, as well.

Elon University Pendulum
Finding humanity amidst disaster: Loomis shares experiences as photographer in challenging times
Rick Loomis’s interest in photography started in high school when he landed an internship in the field of photojournalism. He knew he had found his career path and pursued a major in photojournalism at WKU.

Glasgow Daily Times
Barren Mesonet Station will get new equipment
Barren County producers will be able to access more weather-related data soon, thanks to a grant that will fund the installation of additional equipment at the county’s Mesonet Station.

Lafayette Daily Advertiser
Embarrassing: WKU ends 26-game losing streak with blowout of Cajuns
WKU ended more than two years of frustration Saturday by snapping the nation’s longest-active losing streak.

Oct. 14-21, 2010

Daily News
Banks and students to aid BRASS
BRASS, which primarily serves 11 surrounding counties, is losing about $6,000 a year due to cuts. But the local banking community and students at WKU are stepping in to try to offset the loss.

Williams helps put folklore on the map
Distinguished Professor Michael Ann Williams is out there. Whether she is exploring log cabins in Appalachia, pondering the origins of country music or literally putting Bowling Green’s historic Shake Rag district on the map, the head of WKU’s department of folk studies – one of only a few in the country – does not believe in hiding away in ivory academic towers.

Participants in Run for Autism set a record
Saturday morning’s activities, which included a four-mile run and a one-mile walk, raised money for the Kelly Autism Program at WKU through registration fees and donations.

WBKO-TV
“Finish” Program at WKU Help Students Complete Degree
Over 180 non-traditional students at WKU have graduated so far this year, with the help of a program called, “Finish WKU.”

Elizabethtown News-Enterprise
WKU photo students set to invade Hardin County
The WKU Mountain Workshops, weeklong workshops for photojournalism, multimedia and picture-editing, will be stationed in Elizabethtown this week.

WKYU-FM
Documentary explores lost part of Bowling Green history
The documentary film “Rovers, Wrestlers and Stars” tells the story of a vanished piece of Bowling Green history. The Quonset Auditorim stage was shared by the likes of Ray Charles, Bill Monroe, Tina Turner and revival preachers in the years following World War II. Rachel Hopkin, a student in the WKU Folk Studies department, prepared this report.

Sports Illustrated
Beat, Play, Love
Ravens coach John Harbaugh and his younger brother, Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh, grew up competing at just about everything, but they are each other’s staunchest supporters.

CNN
11-year-old speaks out against bullying
CNN’s Joe Johns meets a young man who is standing up for his peers against bullying.

RV News Service
RV Safety Foundation announces 2011 conference dates
The program will be held at the Carroll Knicely Conference Center at WKU.

Oct. 2-13, 2010

Courier-Journal
WKU’s Chris Bullard is one Hilltopper on a winning streak
Chris Bullard said he has plenty of reason to smile.

Daily News
Flagship program prepares students for careers in China
From zero to superior in four years. That’s the goal of the WKU Chinese Flagship Pilot Program.

Developmental psychologist has passion for research
WKU Distinguished University Professor Elizabeth Lemerise is serious about having fun.

Grumman F9F-5 Panther gets new home
The bold blue jet commemorates and tells the story of Lt. Cmdr. John Magda, a Camp Taylor native and WKU graduate who became a flying ace in World War II, serving in the U.S. Navy and flying in the Battle of the Midway.

Coach saves team from I-65 disaster
Travis Hudson has been a head collegiate volleyball coach for 16 seasons. But no amount of experience on the court prepared him for the disaster he and his WKU volleyball team encountered Thursday.

Bullying message gets boy on CNN
When Dylan Beckham stood up for a friend who was being bullied, he didn’t anticipate his actions would lead to a countywide movement.

The Mane Event teaches about caring for horses
The event will be from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Oct. 16 at WKU’s L.D. Brown Agricultural Exposition Center.

Costello replaces Hiles at WKU
Kathryn Costello, vice president of development at the University at Buffalo, has been named vice president for development and alumni relations at WKU.

Educator known for ‘Electric Operas’
WKU Distinguished Professor Michael Kallstrom’s life is a work of spontaneous creativity, and that’s just the way he likes it.

CNN
With driver dying, coach guides team bus to safety
A college volleyball coach is being hailed as a hero for guiding a bus to a stop Thursday after the bus driver collapsed.

Evansville Courier & Press
WKU homecoming Oct. 29 billed as community event
WKU’s 2010 Homecoming festivities, billed as a community event, will get under way Oct. 29 as the “Thrill on the Hill” parade makes its way from campus to Fountain Square Park in downtown Bowling Green.

Sept. 25-Oct. 1, 2010

WKYU-FM
WKU President Emphasizes Need for Planning
WKU President Gary Ransdell says planning and setting priorities will be keys at the University, as the institution faces tough decisions in the future.

Elizabethtown News-Enterprise
Bluegrass Middle School hires new principal
Bluegrass Middle School has selected a new principal after spending the beginning of the school year without permanent leadership. Michael Elmore, principal of Butler County High School, will take over at Bluegrass Middle School on Oct. 11. Elmore has a bachelor’s degree in business education from WKU, a master’s degree in secondary school counseling from WKU, and level one and level two principal certifications.

Pride and tears
Hardin County started the week by bidding farewell to another fallen soldier, who was remembered for his wit, modesty and thirst for knowledge.

Daily News
Students head to Shantytown
WKU students left the comfort of their dorm rooms for a few hours Wednesday night to experience life in a “Shantytown” and to raise awareness about homelessness.

WKU to stage Disney favorite
The story of “Beauty and the Beast” has been a favorite of WKU student Hannah Hall for a long time.

Hill House
The name is slightly different, but the founding principle behind WKU’s Hill House in Bowling Green is the same. And as the program marks its first year of existence, its student residents are gearing up for their first major project.

Students respect ‘B-maker’ methods
WKU Distinguished Professor Cheryl Davis – also known as “the B-maker” among pre-med students – might have a reputation as tough teacher, but she has also made her mark at WKU as one of its best teachers and most highly regarded scholars.

More taking online classes
WKU students just a decade ago walked along shaded tree-lined streets and picturesque rolling hills to get to class. Today, with just the click of a mouse, they can attend courses in their pajamas without leaving the sofa.

Afghanistan fatality: War hero, WKU grad honored at Bell Tower
1st Lt. Eric David Yates, a 2008 WKU ROTC graduate from Rineyville, was honored at a memorial service Thursday afternoon on campus.

Marlboro (NJ) News-Transcript
Marlboro basketball coach joins staff at WKU
Andrew Theokas, who guided the Marlboro High School boys basketball team to its best season in school history last winter, is the new director of men’s basketball operations at WKU.

Sept. 18-24, 2010

WAVE-TV (Louisville)
WKU honors soldier killed in action
WKU held a memorial September 23 to honor a graduate of the university killed in action.

Lexington Herald-Leader
Loss of a scholar
First Lt. Eric D. Yates of Rineyville in Hardin County is remembered by one of his professors at WKU as “a very interesting person” — an ROTC cadet whose senior seminar paper was a scholarly examination of Ghandi’s years in South Africa.

WBKO-TV
Friends and Family Pay tribute to Fallen Soldier
Today friends and family paid respects to a fallen soldier at WKU’s Guthrie Tower.

AG Safety Week
Today at WKU’s agricultural farm, fourth graders from around the area learned about tractor safety, horse safety and electrical safety.

Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Taggart relies on area talent to resurrect the Hilltoppers
Willie Taggart led the Manatee High Hurricanes to a state football championship in 1992, and he still chats a few times a week with his old coach, Joe Kinnan.

Bradenton Herald
McNeal defying odds at WKU
WKU is struggling, but Willie McNeal is putting fright into opposing coaches.

Courier-Journal
Campus memorial service to be held at WKU for fallen Kentucky solider
A campus memorial service will be held Thursday at WKU for a graduate of the school’s ROTC program who died in Afghanistan.

Soldier from Kentucky dies after attack in Afghanistan
Army 1st Lt. Eric Yates, 26, of Rineyville, Ky., died Saturday from wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his combat unit on Friday with an improvised explosive device, according to the U.S. Department of Defense. He joined the Army through the ROTC program at WKU his junior year, said Lt. Col. Jason Caldwell, head of the military science and leadership department and the ROTC program at the school.

South Florida game end of brutal stretch for WKU
Willie Taggart said one word when he first viewed the WKU football team’s schedule for his first season as head coach.

Elizabethtown News-Enterprise
Funeral Monday for soldier killed in Afghanistan
Yates also was a 2008 graduate of the ROTC program at WKU. He served in the U.S. Army’s 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division from Fort Campbell.

Rineyville soldier dies in Afghanistan
Eric Yates was considered quiet and likeable with a soft sense of humor by some who knew him as a John Hardin High School student. Yates graduated from WKU in 2008 and was a double major in social studies and history. He received his commission through WKU’s Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program.

Ag agent joins Extension Service
The newest ag agent for the Hardin County Extension Service won’t have to waste any time acclimating himself to the area. Matt Adams — who graduated from WKU this past spring with a major in agriculture and business administration — grew up in Upton.

Daily News
Maximizing Potential
The Gifted Education in Math and Science program, or GEMS, is nearing its second year in Warren County Public Schools. Selected students spend a few hours a week taking advanced, problem-based math and science classes. It’s funded for five years through a $2 million grant from WKU.

Weigel staple in role on Hill
When WKU Distinguished Professor of history Richard Weigel speaks, people tend to listen.

WKU’s diversity plan to get an update
WKU, along with all of Kentucky’s four-year higher education institutions, has begun crafting a new diversity plan that will have far-reaching fiscal, recruitment and hiring practice implications for years to come.

Sept. 12-17, 2010

WKYU-FM
Mammoth Cave Documentary to be Viewed in Other States
An award-winning public television documentary about Mammoth Cave will be available to TV stations across the country, starting in October. “Mammoth Cave; A Way to Wonder” recently won four regional Emmy Awards.

Historians Urge the Public to Understand the History of the Fourteenth Amendment
Some WKU historians say its very important for the American people to be familiar with the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution.

Daily News
Trammel Creek field trip gives kids real-life lesson
About 90 fourth- and fifth-grade students traveled to Trammel Creek, where they studied bugs and animals and tested the water. They’ve been learning about water quality and freshwater organisms in science class. Students got a real-life lesson at the creek after General Motors gave the school a grant to fund the field trip. The GM Bowling Green Assembly Plant and the WKU Center for Environmental Education and Sustainability sponsored the trip.

WKU dedicates week to U.S. Constitution
As colleges across the country this week observe Constitution Day and Citizenship Day, WKU professors and instructors are using the occasion as a forum for students to debate political issues surrounding the upcoming elections, such as immigration.

Making a difference: WKU’s Center for Gifted Studies turns 30, broadens its mission
Ask Julia Roberts what she wants for her birthday and she will tell you – dedicated gifts – lots of them. As the Center for Gifted Studies at WKU – one of about a dozen such nationally prominent centers – prepares to celebrate its 30th birthday, founding Executive Director Roberts, an internationally recognized expert on gifted children, sees a need for gifted educational opportunities that is greater than ever.

Educator has wide range of expertise
WKU Distinguished Professor Zubair M. Mohamed takes multi-tasking to a whole new level – a global level.

Ending world hunger focus of WKU’s FeelGood group
Battling world hunger one grilled cheese sandwich at a time might seem like a tall order. But not for Alex Kimura. The 20-year-old WKU junior each Thursday heads to the Big Red statue near Downing University Center armed with two George Foreman Grills and a lot of moxie. Her mission is to empower classmates by selling them sandwiches to benefit the thousands of people who die each day from hunger.

Courier-Journal
Taggart wants full house for WKU-IU game
Willie Taggart doesn’t recall much about his final football game as a quarterback at WKU. He vividly remembers his first.

Forecast: Rainey for WKU football
When the WKU football offense breaks the huddle, everybody knows what to watch for.

Yahoo Sports
‘He Hate Me’ is finding that he loves acting
Rod Smart knows a thing or two about making a name for himself. No, really.

Business First of Louisville
WKU sets record for fall enrollment
WKU has set a record for fall semester enrollment, with 20,855 students enrolled this year.

Cambridge Who’s Who
Donald W. Swoboda Honored for 42 Years of Dedication to Higher Education
Donald W. Swoboda, Dean of the Division of Extended Learning and Outreach at WKU, has been recognized by Cambridge Who’s Who for demonstrating dedication, leadership and excellence in higher education.

Sept. 3-10, 2010

Courier-Journal
WKU football’s West Coast system pleases tailback Bobby Rainey
When Willie Taggart came to the WKU football team with a new offense, perhaps no one was happier than tailback Bobby Rainey.

Daily News
McConnell speaks to students at Gatton Academy
U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell knows how he feels about the new health care legislation.

Center honors writer’s local roots
The Robert Penn Warren Center and Library at WKU has not only become a destination for serious scholars, but a research resource that is gaining international prestige.

Area played ‘incalculable’ role in Warren’s writing
Rosanna Warren, the daughter of Robert Penn Warren and writer Eleanor Clark, is a highly acclaimed poet in her own right.

Orchestra visits ‘The Planets,’ music with visuals, Monday
Orchestra Kentucky hopes to put on an “out of this world” performance and give patrons the feeling of traveling through space with Gustav Holtst’s “The Planets.” The 45-minute concert begins at 7:30 p.m. Monday at Van Meter Auditorium.

Symphony begins season with ‘Broadway’
Tickets are still available for “Broadway Today,” The Symphony at WKU’s season opener.

WKU interim director Wagner honored for innovation, leadership
Chris Wagner, interim director of the Department of Educational Administration, Leadership and Research at WKU, is the recipient of the Kentucky Association of School Administrators’ 2010 William T. Nallia Award.

WKU ‘in a period of uncertainty’
Amid expiring federal stimulus money, shrinking state revenues and steadily growing enrollment, WKU began this academic year in a climate of fiscal uncertainty and caution.

WKU, E’town college join in chemistry study
A $250,000 National Science Foundation grant has been awarded to WKU and Elizabethtown Community and Technical College to purchase powerful equipment for a chemistry study between the two schools.

McDonald: Strong schedule will have Hilltoppers ready for March
Ken McDonald didn’t do himself any favors when constructing WKU’s 2009-10 men’s basketball schedule. On Tuesday, it was revealed that the third-year Hilltopper coach repeated that process again this season.

New tailgating policies set to debut Sept. 18
WKU’s revamped tailgating policy is set to make its debut Sept. 18 when the WKU football team has its home-opener against Indiana at Houchens-Smith Stadium.

WBKO-TV
McConnell Speaks with WKU Students
U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell made a stop in Bowling Green Tuesday to speak with students at WKU’s Gatton Academy.

WKU Football Tailgating Areas Expanding
Last season, WKU made the decision to restrict where people could tailgate before football games. Now the university is making some changes to that policy, and adding more space for pre-game celebrations.

National Parks Traveler
Teaching Students In the Underground Maze of Mammoth Cave National Park
Students from WKU have been learning that at Mammoth Cave National Park, where underground studies are aimed at making them better above-ground teachers.

Aug. 29-Sept. 2, 2010

Daily News
Study Away
Study abroad courses have become popular for offering new perspectives on the world, but a new program under development at WKU strives to meet that goal without the need for a passport.

Navitas program students arrive at WKU
The first students enrolled in WKU’s new international recruitment program are arriving on campus to begin fall classes.

Language lessons
Liu is one of five teachers who traveled from China to Bowling Green to bring a dose of their language to the area. It’s part of a program through WKU, which seeks to strengthen the university’s ties with China.

WKU will double Chinese teachers in area next year
WKU will double the number of Chinese teachers it is bringing to area schools next year in response to a growing demand for more instructors.

Courier-Journal
WKU’s Willie Taggart game-planned for this a long time
Willie Taggart wears a perpetual smile and unwavering confidence. He has been preparing to be a football coach since he played at WKU from 1995-98. He has been preparing to be a head coach since 2003.

Omaha World-Herald
Hilltoppers job is a labor of love
A different coach might not have thought this to be a good move.

Aug. 22-26, 2010

Daily News
Big Red Bike Tour
WKU freshmen this week are getting a head start on their college careers and learning their way around campus and Bowling Green through the Making Academic and Social Transitions Educationally Rewarding Plan, a transition program for first-year students.

Ransdell addresses faculty, staff during Opening Convocation
WKU will continue its aggressive – though temporarily scaled-back – agenda of construction, improving scholarship and expanding international ties, President Gary Ransdell told staff and faculty Monday during Opening Convocation.

Group tours green buildings|
Architects, academics and policymakers came to Bowling Green on Saturday to see for themselves why the city is gaining a reputation for green building.

WKYU-FM
WKU Leaders Emphasize Attitude as the New Academic Year Starts
President Gary Ransdell says its a “New Day” at WKU.

Glasgow Daily Times
GHS students learn Chinese
Students at Glasgow High School are learning about a whole bunch of new characters – Chinese characters, that is.Yao Wang, a teacher from Chongqing, China, in the southwest part of that country, arrived in the United States three weeks ago by way of Beijing, Chicago, Nashville and Bowling Green. She will spend a year in Glasgow teaching students conversational Chinese. Wang and 10 other Chinese nationals are in the state teaching in several counties through a WKU program.

Aug. 15-20, 2010

Courier-Journal
Ex-Hilltoppers star Courtney Lee ‘excited’ to be a Rocket
In just two seasons, Courtney Lee has already experienced the extreme highs and absolute lows of the NBA.

Houston Chronicle
What’s in a number? Quite a lot to the newest Rocket
So Courtney Lee, the newest Rocket — picked up in a trade for Trevor Ariza last week — had no chance at getting the double-1s. But he asked anyway.

Bowling Green Daily News
SKyTeach
WKU’s new SKyTeach program is expanding the horizon for Kentucky educators and students.

Building projects ongoing at WKU
When WKU students return to campus later this month, they will see a number of construction projects under way – including construction of a new $9.2 million music hall.

Gatton seniors beat Ky. Average
While ACT scores for most local graduating classes of 2010 remained close to the state average, scores for one Bowling Green class soared above the rest. The Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science posted a composite score of 31 out of 36 possible points for 12th-graders. That’s 11.6 points above the state average of 19.4.

Kentucky New Era (Hopkinsville)
Eyes on the future
Just five months after his hire, WKU Director of Athletics Ross Bjork made the hour-long trip from Bowling Green to have lunch Tuesday with the Hopkinsville Rotary Club.

Gatton Academy grads outpace state on ACT
The 2010 graduating class of WKU’s Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science outpaced their peers for the third year in a row on the ACT.

Elizabethtown News-Enterprise
New provost visits Hardin County
The new provost at WKU has made the university’s other campuses a priority.

Glasgow Daily Times
New WKU provost in Glasgow to learn more about campus
A former Glaswegian spent the day touring the city on Thursday, but he wasn’t returning home to Barren County.

Grayson County Record
Local book cooks up funds for education
A cookbook compiled by a retired nurse in Grayson County may hold the recipe for success for WKU students.

Bradenton Herald
Former Hurricane looks to reboot Hilltoppers program
WKU coach Willie Taggart’s favorite catchphrase is “chase greatness and you’ll catch excellence.”

Aug. 11-13, 2010

Daily News
WKU drawing more top students
WKU is attracting more top academic students through its honors college, putting it on a more competitive level with Kentucky’s top private colleges, Centre College and Transylvania University.

Glasgow Daily Times
Bayless given key to the city
Glasgow City Council members adopted a resolution Monday night recognizing the work Dr. Juanita Bayless has done for the community during her more than 20 years at WKU.

New York Times Lens Blog
The Capital was his classroom
Luke Sharrett’s portfolio speaks for itself. Since he arrived at the Washington bureau in August 2009 as a one-semester intern from WKU — an internship that just kept getting extended — Mr. Sharrett has had more than 400 photographs published in The Times.

Aug. 3-10, 2010

Bradenton Herald
Williams joins Manatee crew at WKU
Eric Williams says he wants to change the area code at WKU to 941. If that doesn’t work, he can always call the school Manatee West.

Courier-Journal
WKU recruit Derrick Gordon is star in own right
As a junior, WKU commitment Derrick Gordon was a first-team All-County player but was considered only the third-best player at Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick.

Daily News
WKU prof featured on Nat Geo series
WKU marine biology teacher Steve Huskey is making waves on the National Geographic Channel.

Ransdell Q&A: Rebuild a major focus at WKU
It’s halftime for WKU President Gary Ransdell.

Floating Classroom
Each year, more WKU students take advantage of a growing number of opportunities to study abroad.

Elizabethtown News-Enterprise
Students complete Alzheimer’s bike ride
Tyler Jury, a junior at WKU and a graduate of Elizabethtown High School, planned the cross country bike trip because his grandfather was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, a deadly form of dementia that destroys brain cells, leading to memory and behavior impairment.

Somerset Commonwealth-Journal
SHS alum Brinkley takes home 7 Emmys
David Brinkley, a 1986 graduate of the city school system, recently won three Emmy Awards for his work on a pair of PBS informational programs about what is surely Kentucky’s most majestic natural wonder, Mammoth Cave.

July 30-Aug. 2, 2010

Bowling Green Daily News
WKU adding a fifth grad ceremony
WKU continues its unprecedented growth, prompting school administrators to add a fifth annual commencement ceremony to accommodate the number of degrees the school is now awarding.

Mead aims to join open water elite
Deadly predators or not, on Aug. 9, Mallory Mead – a former swimmer at WKU – will attempt to become just the 37th person in the world to complete what is known as the “Triple Crown” of open water swimming.

WKU approves property purchase
The WKU Board of Regents on Friday approved the purchase of property on Regents Avenue for a new floral design training center.

Hedges named specialty hospital’s Nurse of the Year
Tiffany Hedges, a registered nurse at Commonwealth Regional Specialty Hospital, a long-term acute care hospital within The Medical Center,  was recently recognized for helping patients by being named the specialty hospital’s Nurse of the Year.  She earned an associate’s degree in nursing from WKU.

Geography prof Groves to be WKU distinguished professor
Chris Groves, professor of geography and director of the Hoffman Environmental Research Institute, was appointed distinguished professor by the WKU Board of Regents during its third quarter meeting.

Glasgow Daily Times
Program helps woman become teacher
Angela Aaron knew at an early age she wanted to be a teacher. She has been able to pursue her dream to become a teacher due to her participation in the Family Self Sufficiency Program, which is available to all families living in public housing.

July 23-28, 2010

WKYU-FM
Tom Hiles reflects on time at WKU before taking job in Ohio
WKU Vice President for Institutional Advancement Tom Hiles will officially leave that job at the end of the week.

Marshall County Tribune-Courier
Athletic Hall of Fame announced
The 2010 Marshall County Athletic Hall of Fame inductees were announced by the Athletic Foundation in a press conference at Marshall County High School. Inductees include Lady Topper coach Mary Taylor Cowles, who was named Miss Basketball in 1987 scoring 1,947 points that season.

Bowling Green Daily News
WKU bio preserve adds land
WKU’s Upper Green River Biological Preserve has grown to 1,200 acres, with just more than 400 acres added in the last 18 months.

Taggart: Tops can’t make excuses
When the Willie Taggart era at WKU officially begins, the first-year coach and his extremely youthful squad will run out of a tunnel into a “Sea of Red.”

July 17-22, 2010

Indianapolis Star
Baseball or broadcasting?
Friends and family who watched J.B. Paxson grow up in Johnson County will remind you that one thing matched his fairly prodigious athletic talent. That was his ability to talk. And talk. And talk. So it isn’t a huge surprise that while the WKU product spends this season pitching for the Great Lakes Loons, the Class-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Midwest League, he is getting a jump on a potential broadcasting career.

Elizabethtown News-Enterprise
Mullins named Administrator of the Year
Paul Mullins, principal of LaRue County High School, was named the school-level Administrator of the Year by the Kentucky Association of School Administrators. Mullins graduated from Elizabethtown High School and received  bachelor’s, master’s and Rank 1 degrees from WKU.

Coaches, players gather to roast Johnson
Some of Kentucky’s past hoops stars got to relive some of those memories Wednesday night as Charlie Thurman held a surprise roast for Wally Johnson. Bobby Rascoe, who played against Johnson at Daviess County and WKU, said he hopes Thurman keeps hosting these events.

Courier-Journal
WKU football wants to end box-office troubles
WKU athletic director Ross Bjork wants to win on the field and in the stands.

Bowling Green Daily News
WKU brings in $19M in cash gifts
A 50 percent increase in corporate donations helped WKU set a record for cash gifts for the recent fiscal year.

From blue to red
Allen Edwards has had less than a month to get used to his new surroundings at WKU.

WKU students spend month in Argentine culture
Two students and their professor in the WKU geography department have successfully completed a 4,200-mile tour into remote areas of northern Argentina, an excursion that is the first of its kind for the university.

WKU ALIVE Center helps speakers share knowledge
Some 100 WKU faculty, staff and Bowling Green area community leaders are now available to share their knowledge and skills with area organizations, classes and schools through a new speakers bureau through the WKU ALIVE Center for Community Partnerships.

Words to the Wise
On a Friday morning, about 100 children from across the nation stood in a circle at WKU, clapping, chanting and dancing.

Union County Advocate
A legislative perspective
Other universities are playing critical roles as well when it comes to energy production. WKU, for example, is regularly out in the field helping power companies measure and control pollutants. Isolating mercury is especially tough, since it represents just one part per billion of a power plant’s emissions.

WKYU-FM
Cash Gifts Reach New Levels at WKU
WKU Officials say significant increases in alumni giving played a key role in boosting overall cash gifts to the nineteen million dollar mark.

Glasgow Daily Times
Taggart talks football to Rotary members
Willie Taggart’s talk with the Glasgow Rotary Club had just ended, and already he was receiving ticket requests on the spot from the audience.

July 10-16, 2010

Bradenton (Fla.) Herald
Taggart confident he can turn around WKU
The one thing Willie Taggart has learned since becoming a head football coach is that there is no down time.

WVIR-TV Charlottesville, VA
College Students Riding For Alzheimer’s
Members of FIJIs Across America are aiming to raise $75,000 for the Alzheimer’s Association.

WKYU-FM
WKU Athletics Director Stresses the Importance of Effective Marketing
Administrators in the WKU Athletics Department are urging sports fans in the region to order tickets for upcoming games.

McCreary County Record
WKU installs weather monitor at Barren Fork
McCreary County marks the halfway point in the installation of a statewide weather and climate monitoring network.

Inside Higher Ed
Academic Outcomes of Study Abroad
Don Rubin and Richard C. Sutton, director of the GLOSSARI project, executive director of international programs at WKU and formerly assistant vice chancellor for international programs at the University System of Georgia, presented these and other findings in a “final report” on the GLOSSARI project at the recent NAFSA: Association of International Educators conference in Kansas City.

Bowling Green Daily News
Emslie discusses goals for WKU
Gordon Emslie began his new position as provost and vice president for academic affairs at WKU on July 1, replacing Barbara Burch, who left June 30 after 14 years to devote time to working with WKU’s doctoral program in education leadership, civic engagement, internationalization, research and other areas.

A fighting chance
Barbara Deeb and her brother, Frank Dubczak, have always been close. Now WKYU-TV producer/host Deeb and Dubczak, who lives in Crown Point, Ind., are closer than ever. She recently donated stem cells to help him fight leukemia.

WKU creates study program for Rome
WKU is creating an opportunity for international study in Italy through a new direct exchange program with the American University of Rome.

June 25-July 8, 2010

WYMT-TV Hazard
Group biking across America for Alzheimer’s
Seven students from the Fiji Fraternity House at WKU are making the more than three thousand mile journey to raise money for treatment and research.

Bowling Green Daily News
Fantastic Science Fridays
The teachers at each class are recent college graduates from across the state who have come here to practice for a career in teaching through a WKU program called GSKyTeach.

Forensic director to step down
After 20 years as director of WKU’s Forensic Team and nine national championships, Judy Woodring is retiring Thursday and will be replaced by associate director Jace Lux, the university announced.

Knoxville News-Sentinel
Roberts awarded internship
Meteorology majors in WKU’s Department of Geography and Geology have been awarded 2010 Student Career Experience Program internships from the National Weather Service. Senior meteorology major Sam Roberts of Corryton will intern at the Morristown, Tenn., office.

June 22-23, 2010

Pittsburg (Kan.) Morning Sun
Riding for research: Group fights Alzheimer’s with ride
When Tyler Jury’s grandfather, Barrett Cummings, died of Alzheimer’s Disease last July, he sought a spiritual way to honor the man that he said had been an integral part of his life.

Bowling Green Daily News
Tops hit the town
New WKU athletic director Ross Bjork has spent the past month reacquainting himself with the commonwealth of Kentucky.

Glasgow Daily Times
Descending from the Hill
Ken McDonald doesn’t get many chances to meet his fans face to face.

American Chronicle
Tour touts Toppers: School intends to push WKU as its brand
Athletics on the Hill was a hot topic on a steamy Tuesday night at the WKU-Owensboro campus.

June 18-21, 2010

Bowling Green Daily News
Blue Angels flying into BG for celebration
The Blue Angels will be flying into town this week to honor Navy Lt. Cmdr. Johnny Magda, but the big party to celebrate the Aviation Heritage Park’s restoration of a plane in Magda’s honor is Saturday. Magda is a member of WKU’s Hall of Distinguished Alumni.

Area sees unusually hot temps
Just in case it didn’t register: It’s been considerably hotter than normal for this time of year in southcentral Kentucky. And those higher than normal temperatures are expected to continue during the next few weeks, thanks to a high-pressure system settled over the area, according to Stu Foster, state climatologist and professor at WKU.

GEAR UP puts students on campus
High school kids from regional school districts – most of them first-generation college-bound students – gathered Thursday and Friday on the campus of WKU to get a taste of college life.

June 15-17, 2010

Bowling Green Daily News
Ski boot featured on PBS show
Growing up in Pittsburgh in the 1960s, Chris Radus, an employee of WKU’s facilities and operations department, knew there was something different about his brilliant, quirky father, Raymond J. Radus, a research engineer at Westinghouse, which played a role in the space program.

BGHS, Gatton make Newsweek list
Bowling Green High School and the Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Kentucky have been recognized by Newsweek’s 2010 America’s Best High Schools list.

June 12-14, 2010

Bowling Green Daily News
WKU prof scales Everest
WKU geography professor John All, who is working in Nepal on a Fulbright scholarship to study climate change, has summited Mount Everest.

Planetarium offers summer program, ‘Amazing Night Sky’
The Hardin Planetarium is offering a new summer presentation titled “The Amazing Night Sky.”

Bjork: Tops in strong position
If the conference changes ultimately prove as sweeping as this week’s developments and speculation suggest – resulting perhaps in a 16-team Pac-10 Conference, a significantly beefed-up Big Ten Conference and a decimated Big 12 Conference – the wave could eventually reach the Southeast, possibly affecting WKU and the Sun Belt Conference.

Glasgow Daily Times
Davis lands dream job
Three months into her job, the new manager of Barren River Lake State Resort Park said the work is a labor of love. Lisa Davis, 52, began her tenure in the top position at the local state park on March 16. Davis has a long personal history with the local resort park. She grew up in neighboring Warren County where she graduated from Warren East High School and attended WKU.

June 9-11, 2010

Major League Baseball.com
Last player drafted at the top in school
In the tradition of saving the best for last, 2010′s winner of MLB.com’s “Mr. Don’t Count Him Out” award, Matt Rice, could very well someday be the best mechanical engineer of the 1,525 players selected in the recently completed First-Year Player Draft. The junior catcher from WKU, who was taken by the defending World Series champion Yankees, brings some impressive numbers to the table. Scouts like the .369 batting average, 10 home runs and 65 RBIs he put up this season. Job recruiters outside the hardball realm are sure to dig the 4.0 GPA. Either way, Mr. Don’t Count Him Out looks like a can’t-miss kid.

Louisville Courier-Journal
Beshear makes higher education appointments
Gov. Steve Beshear announced a number of higher education appointments Wednesday, including several to university and college boards. Melissa B. Dennison, a Glasgow pediatrician, and Laurence J. Zielke, a Louisville attorney, were reappointed to the WKU Board of Regents.

Kentucky, Indiana colleges avoid NCAA penalties on Academic Progress Rates
Nearly all NCAA Division I teams throughout Kentucky and at Indiana University made the grade in the NCAA Academic Progress Rates released on Wednesday. All varsity sports at the University of Louisville, University of Kentucky and WKU scored above the 925 minimum in APR, which tracks the retention and eligibility of student-athletes over a four-year span.

Bowling Green Daily News
BRADD meeting speakers exemplify can-do attitude
WKU football coach Willie Taggart told Butch Lumpkin he had an observation to make.

Can you dig it?
WKU’s new McChesney Field Campus on the Green River is giving archaeology students an opportunity to dig into the past, and what they are finding has them fascinated.

University works to increase sustainability
As an environmental disaster unfolds in the Gulf of Mexico, WKU faculty and staff met this week to look at ways to integrate improvements in sustainability into the social, cultural and educational fabric of the university and the community.

Lexington Herald-Leader
Two new grads didn’t let cerebral palsy limit their dreams
He can’t walk or speak; she uses a wheelchair and has little use of her right side. Though Nick Gibson, 18, and Jasmine Spencer, 17, faced challenges during their school tenure, both reached one of their goals last week, graduating from high school. Nick plans to attend WKU.

June 5-8, 2010

Daily Finance
College Students Beat Wall Street in TVA Investment Challenge
College students in TVA’s Investment Challenge Program once again outperformed the experts on Wall Street in 2009 and, at the same time, earned money for their schools. The three top schools for 2009, based on performance, are: Lipscomb University, 62.29 percent return; WKU, 45.62 percent return; East Tennessee State University, 43.83 percent return. WKU also earned a monetary award of $6,106.

Bowling Green Daily News
‘Lighten Your Load’ boosts local charities
More than 4,000 articles of clothing, 1,000 miscellaneous items and two truckloads of food were collected and donated to local charities, shelters and flood victims when WKU’s Housing and Residence Life, Sustainability and Recycling partnered again on the third annual “Lighten Your Load” move-out collection drive.

Photos: Horse Power
The Bluegrass Draft Horse and Mule Championship brings mules, ponies, light horses and heavy horses to compete in pulling weights at WKU’s L.D. Brown Ag Expo Center.

Lexington Herald-Leader
Be like Joker? Taggart’s wish is granted
When he was a young assistant down in Bowling Green at then-Football Championship Subdivision WKU, his alma mater, making the transition from player to coach, starting his way up the career ladder, Willie Taggart wanted to be like another coach.

Ashland Daily Independent
3 area students chosen for Gatton Academy
The Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Kentucky at WKU has selected 61 students for its Class of 2012, including three from northeastern Kentucky.

May 28-June 4, 2010

Bowling Green Daily News
WKYU installs ‘green’ lights
WKU television station WKYU is the first PBS station in the country – and only the second TV station in the country – to switch to a new, cutting-edge sustainable lighting technology that will reduce its energy consumption by 97 percent.

Bjork: Tour aims to expand footprint
The WKU athletic department is hitting the road this month.

Radio Ink
Dick Taylor Takes Professor Post
New Jersey Broadcaster Association First Vice Chairman and Clear Channel/Tri-State Market Manager Dick Taylor has taken a new post as assistant professor at the School of Broadcasting and Journalism at WKU in Bowling Green.

WBKO-TV
View From the Hill: Toppers on Tour
It’s called “Toppers on Tour”. This summer WKU coaches are hitting the road to build support for all the Hilltopper teams. It will be a chance for the public to meet some new faces including athletic director Ross Bjork who’s only been on the job for six weeks.

Tennessean
WKU team finishes third in bass tournament
WKU finished third in the 2010 BoatU.S. Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship at Lake Lewisville in Texas last week.

Smithville (Mo.) Herald
Corner tactics receive attention
Jerid Gunter was fed up with traditional job seeking. So the WKU graduate stood on the corner of Broadway Boulevard and Sixth Street in Kansas City, wearing a sign that read, “This college grad can’t get experience without an opportunity. Hire me!” His sign included his e-mail address, and he handed out resumes to anyone who’d take one.

Project Syndicate
Space, South Africa’s New Frontier
By hosting the World Cup this month, South Africa is set to defy Africa’s image as too poor and trouble-ridden to stage one of the world’s great spectacles. With its pursuit of research into the farthest reaches of the universe – deep space – South Africa hopes to provide further proof that Africans can compete at all levels. “South Africa is the jewel of African astronomy,” says Charles McGruder, a professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at WKU.

May 25-27, 2010

Kentucky Living
Kenny Perry: Golf’s Class Act
James Kenneth Perry skipped right over the childhood fantasy jobs of cowboy, policeman, and astronaut when asked what he wanted to be when he grew up. At age 7, the serious, determined child told his father precisely what he was going to do. “I am going to play on the PGA Tour,” not a whisper of doubt in his voice. And against steep odds, Kenny Perry is doing precisely what he said he would.

Tennessean
WKU pitcher won’t let injury cost him shot at pros
Matt Ridings was on the cusp of becoming the winningest pitcher in Sun Belt Conference history.

Bowling Green Daily News
Work should start soon on parking garage
Construction on a parking garage just north of WKU on Kentucky Street should start soon, according to David Butler, of the construction firm Alliance Corp.

May 21-24, 2010

Bowling Green Daily News
Christians on The Hill
This week at WKU, a high school student might find a life’s calling. About 2,500 students and their sponsors from Christian schools worldwide are gathering this week at WKU for Accelerated Christian Education’s annual International Student Conference.

WKU confers a record number of degrees in 2010
More Kentuckians are earning college degrees, with that number statewide up an average of 9 percent from last year while the number of WKU graduates grew by a whopping 24 percent.

‘Weather weenies?’ Hardly
WKU meteorology professor Dr. Josh Durkee affectionately refers to his students as “weather weenies,” but there is nothing geeky about these storm chasers.

Elizabethtown News-Enterprise
Local students hit the road to cure Alzheimer’s disease
A summer-long fundraising project started by local students takes off this week. Tyler Jury, a junior at WKU and a graduate of  Elizabethtown High School, planned the trip because his grandfather was diagnosed with Alizheimer’s disease which robs its sufferers of their memories.

Lexington Herald-Leader
Kentucky university grads up 9.3%, but UK, Morehead, Murray down
The Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education’s preliminary count of 2010 graduates from the state’s public universities on Friday showed that the number of all degree holders increased 9.3 percent in the state over the previous year. WKU was one that had reason to brag about its progress, while others are developing strategies to increase the number of graduates under the state’s Double the Number program, which aims to double the number of college graduates living in Kentucky by 2020.

Circle of Blue Water News
Q&A: Chris Groves – Exploring Underground Water Systems in Mammoth Cave
Renowned cave explorer Dr. Chris Groves goes deep into Mammoth Cave to see how torrential rainfall above affects underground rivers and ancient passages.

May 17-20, 2010

Lafayette (La.) Daily Advertiser
Ridings goes for record
One week after a dominant outing against UL, WKU right-hander Matt Ridings looks to set himself apart in the Sun Belt Conference record books.

Albany (Ga.) Herald
The Nett Reed Show heads to WKU
Nett, who signed a letter-of-intent with WKU, where she will play basketball and run track, said goodbye Tuesday morning amid family and friends and a bouquet of warm embraces from just about everyone.

Cincinnati Enquirer
Academy challenges gifted high-schoolers
By the start of her sophomore year in high school, Anna Walter was bored.”High school was ridiculously easy for me,” the 18-year-old from Burlington said. “I was sitting in class asking myself ‘Why am I here?’ I needed something more challenging.” She found it at the Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science at WKU.

May 11-14, 2010

Bowling Green Daily News
Family, friends, co-workers gather at WKU to remember beloved Bettina Richmond
The WKU community came together along with family and friends of Bettina Zoeller Richmond on Wednesday afternoon for a remembrance celebration of the slain professor, whose murder last November remains under investigation.

Special session set for May 24
Gov. Steve Beshear has called a special session to begin May 24 and has offered a compromise budget proposal he said contains many of the features the House and Senate already had agreed upon.

WKU awarded more than $455K in grant funding
WKU has been awarded a research grant of $455,856 from the first collaborative funding program shared by the National Science Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Veterans Upward Bound
Former U.S. Marine Marisa Duarte teaches English to special needs kids at Bowling Green High School. It’s a job she loves and is proud to do every day.

Bradenton (Fla.) Herald
Woodie making an impression at WKU
Less than six months on the job and Raymond Woodie is fast becoming the rock star of the college football recruiting wars. He is the assistant coach considered most responsible for giving WKU the best recruiting class in the Sun Belt Conference where it is the league’s newest football school and is coming off a winless season.

WKYU-FM
Toyota gift to advance technology learning at WKU
The Toyota USA Foundation recently announced that WKU will receive a $500,000 grant to help fund the new Academy for Math and Technology Leadership.

ESPN
Relationships drive recruiting success
Like any successful coach, Raymond Woodie is armed with a slogan. This one puts a premium on the work he does before he even gets to work. “If you don’t prepare,” said Woodie, the WKU defensive ends coach, “you prepare to fail.”

Kentucky New Era, Hopkinsville
The history of fashion: Homemakers get lesson on Ky. Style
Sandra Staebell, the registrar and collections curator of Kentucky Library & Museum at WKU, shared facts about Kentucky fashion in the last 150 years during a luncheon Thursday at the Christian County Extension Office.

Amplifier
The Women and Kids Learning Together Camp
The camp takes place primarily on WKU’s campus and incorporates the arts, education and wellness, and practical living issues.

May 6-10, 2010

Louisville Courier-Journal
Cantankerous young author Alex Taylor is poised for success
WKU English faculty member Alex Taylor is finding it difficult these days to be smart on demand. When asked about his work, he feels compelled to be profound, yet admits with a sly grin, “I don’t have access to profundity very often.” Talking to strangers about your cultural influences and artistic process is an occupational hazard for successful writers, and if you’re very talented and very lucky, it’s a skill you’re forced to learn sooner rather than later. Ohio County, Ky., native Taylor, 28, has just seen his first book of short stories published by Sarabande Books. Now he’s stepping into the spotlight to talk about his writing, the only thing he ever felt he needed to do with his life.

Bowling Green Daily News
College High Hall rededicated
As WKU officials, alumni and friends gathered Saturday to rededicate and rename a renovated College High Hall – one of the original buildings on campus – many recalled old school memories while others looked to the university’s future.

Building hope: WKU’s Habitat for Humanity chapter sponsors Women Build
The sounds of hammers banging nails and saws tearing into wood floated up from the corner of Clay Street and 14th Avenue on Saturday morning. More than 100 people were working on building two houses as part of Habitat for Humanity’s National Women Build Week.

At-risk students to get academic boost via grant
WKU announced Wednesday that it has received a $500,000 grant from the Toyota USA Foundation to improve the abilities of area teachers and at-risk students in math and technology.

Christian education conference will be at WKU this month
About 2,500 middle school and high school students from the United States and five continents will be at WKU this month for the 38th annual International Student Convention of Accelerated Christian Education.

May 1-4, 2010

Bowling Green Daily News
WKU’s endowment recovers
Despite the tough economy, WKU’s endowment has surpassed the level it was at before the stock market meltdown, and its capital campaign is tracking ahead of any third-quarter numbers in the school’s history.

Aviation Heritage Park’s Hangar Party will return
This year, the party will serve as the debut of the restored F9F Panther, one similar to that flown by the late Lt. Cmdr. Johnny Magda, a WKU graduate.

Selig looks back on decade at WKU
On Wednesday, Wood Selig will walk the halls at E.A. Diddle Arena for the final time as the man in charge of the entire WKU athletic department.

Rains a history maker
The weekend’s rainfall total was the highest ever recorded for a single rain event in Bowling Green, according to state Climatologist Stu Foster.

Louisville Courier-Journal
Bjork easing into athletic director role at WKU
The Ross Bjork era of WKU athletics officially is underway.

McDonald calls schedule ‘exciting’
WKU coach Ken McDonald wants to be “aggressive” with his scheduling.

WBKO-TV
Special Report Quakes: Making Headlines
“We don’t make predictions of earthquakes in one area, but I will make a prediction, today there will be a 100-percent chance of an earthquake somewhere on the globe,” said Dr. Michael May, a Geography and Geology Professor at WKU. “Certainly.”

April 24-28, 2010

CNN
Can laughing give you a workout?
Studies have shown that mirthful laughter, the kind that stems from real joy, relieves stress, lightens mood and confers health benefits. Since the concept of laughing for health surfaced in the 1970s, studies have indicated it can decrease cortisol and epinephrine (the hormones that regulate stress), help reduce blood vessel constriction and boost immune function.One small new study takes that notion further by suggesting laughter could be as beneficial as exercise. But the study has limitations, said Mary Bennett, director of WKU’s School of Nursing, who has published papers on laughter.

Bowling Green Daily News
The business of biking
Jennifer Tougas, an avid bicyclist and director of Parking Services at WKU, spoke Monday to the Barren River Area Development District about how members can take advantage of some of the millions of dollars spent each year by bicyclists.

Fungus could threaten Kentucky bats
With Earth Day serving last week as a reminder of the fragility of the planet and massive die-offs of bat populations in the Northeast, research on a fungus that threatens Kentucky bats has taken on a new urgency for WKU researchers.

Earth Day: Community celebrates green thinking
Picking up trash at WKU was second nature to Alex Downing when his father, Dero Downing, was president there.

April 18-22, 2010

Elizabethtown News-Enterprise
‘A wonderful college-looking building’
While the hill on ECTC’s campus separates buildings and academic programs from technical programs, the school’s newest facility is designed to bring the two sides together. Phase II of the Regional Post-secondary Education Center at Elizabethtown Community and Technical College will be dedicated at 1:30 p.m. today (April 22) with a ceremony in the building’s lecture hall.

Bowling Green Daily News
Activities for 40th Earth Day set throughout the region
Community Action of Southern Kentucky’s GO bg transit will offer free bus rides all day and GO Pass specials. The transit will also participate in WKU’s annual Earth Day Festival, which is hosted by the WKU Office of Sustainability and WKU Recycling.

Losing fundamental freedoms
Sometimes you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone, and when it comes to First Amendment rights, that is not a good thing – even when free pizza is involved.

Brown accepts interim position
Former Warren County Public Schools Superintendent Dale Brown has been named interim associate vice president for enrollment management in WKU’s Office of Academic Affairs.

WBKO-TV
WKU Celebrates “W” Day
WKU’s College Republicans celebrated W-day to honor the 43rd president, George W. Bush.

WKU Names Dale Brown Interim Assoc. VP
Dale Brown has been named Interim Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management in WKU’s Office of Academic Affairs, Provost Barbara Burch announced Monday.

WKU Psychologist Pfohl Receives Lifetime Achievement Award
WKU psychology professor William “Bill” Pfohl has been named the recipient of National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) 2010 Lifetime Achievement Award.

WKU Announces New Exchange Program
WKU is offering a new student exchange program with a university in Taiwan.

April 14-16, 2010

Bowling Green Daily News
WKU commended for graduation rate
WKU was among 15 public colleges and universities in the nation to be prominently featured for its initiatives to retain and graduate students in a Southern Regional Education Board report released Wednesday.

12th annual Southern Kentucky Book Fest will feature 135 authors
135 authors will be featured at the 12th annual Southern Kentucky Book Fest, which will be from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Carroll Knicely Conference Center.

Free workshops offered at seventh annual Kentucky Writers Conference
The Kentucky Writers Conference is an opportunity to bring 12 authors coming for the Southern Kentucky Book Fest together the day before, and provide free workshops so that area writers can benefit from the knowledge of published authors, said Kristie Lowry, community outreach assistant for WKU Libraries.

WBKO-TV
Lady Toppers’ Brown Expected Back for 2010-11 Season
The spring signing period’s been quiet so far for the WKU Lady Topper basketball program, but the program expects to have a surprise returnee on its roster for the 2010-11 season.

WKU Coach Willie Taggart Prepares for Debut
When the WKU football team plays its annual “Spring Red/White Game” Saturday night, it will mark the debut of head coach Willie Taggart.

Chronicle of Higher Education
Improving College Completion in the South, One Student at a Time
Colleges that have succeeded in improving their students’ retention and graduation rates tend to have two things in common, says a new report on promising practices for increasing college completion. The report draws attention to institutions like WKU, which has an Academic Advising and Retention Center that provides tutoring and advising.

Courier-Journal
Community college transfers eased by new bill
A measure that would make it easier for community college students to transfer to four-year public universities was signed into law by Gov. Steve Beshear Wednesday.

South Oldham High School sophomore chosen for WKU program
The South Oldham High School marching band will be marching without sophomore Paul Fleischmann when the fall football season starts. Instead Paul and his trombone skills will be marching to college two years early as he joins 60 other Kentucky students accepted into the 2012 class of the Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Kentucky.

Bullitt East sophomores heading to WKU in fall
Years of schooling are ahead for Bullitt East High School twins who plan to be surgeons someday and a classmate who wants to be an astronomer for NASA.

April 7-14, 2010

WBKO-TV
WKU Student Enrollment Expands Another Year
WKU continues to expand its student enrollment for another year.

Dartmouth News
Dartmouth Professor of English to be presented prestigious award for literary criticism April 16
Peter W. Travis, the Henry Winkley Professor of Anglo-Saxon and English Language and Literature at Dartmouth, is the winner the 2009 Warren-Brooks Award for Outstanding Literary Criticism, for his book Disseminal Chaucer: Rereading the Nun’s Priest’s Tale. Given by the Robert Penn Warren Center at WKU, the award will be presented April 16 during the annual Robert Penn Warren Symposium.

Bowling Green Daily News
WKU, community embrace Earth Day
WKU’s celebration of the 40th anniversary of Earth Day on April 22 has grown into a major community festival packed with fun and inspirational green events for everyone, including Warren County’s first environmental stewardship award and a candlelight vigil at Fountain Square Park.

Cultural historian to lecture at WKU
WKU’s Department of History welcomes Paul Boyer, Merle Curti Professor of History Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, as the 2010 Harrison Distinguished Lecturer on Wednesday.

Ex-poet laureate will speak Tuesday
The 2009-10 Cultural Enhancement Series at WKU concludes Tuesday with a presentation by former U.S. poet laureate Billy Collins.

Emslie is a great choice for provost
A. Gordon Emslie seems like a fitting choice as WKU’s next provost and vice president for Academic Affairs.

Clinton County News
Shelley selected for prestigious WKU program focusing on math, science
Clinton County is one of several schools across the State of Kentucky that will have a student participating in the Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science next year.

April 3-6, 2010

Evansville Courier & Press
Rosenbaum ‘Zeros’ in on conventional wisdom for SyFy
Actor Michael Rosenbaum, a WKU graduate, is in the developmental stage of creating a new show for the SyFy network. Rosenbaum incorporated personal experiences from the set of “Smallville” and various sci-fi/comic book conventions into “Saved by Zeros,” a show that dives into the unexplored world of what he calls the “non-terouge” — the world of an actor outside of the business.

Bowling Green Daily News
Emslie named provost at WKU
A. Gordon Emslie will be WKU’s next provost and vice president for Academic Affairs, replacing Barbara Burch.

WKU reaching out through new app
WKUstudents and others can now find information about the Bowling Green school through mobile devices such as iPhones and BlackBerrys.

McConnell on hand for dedication of robotics lab at WKU
U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell and WKU President Gary Ransdell on Friday dedicated a new state-of-the-art robotics laboratory they hailed as “cutting-edge” and key to regional education, research and work force development.

Business Wire
Taco Bell & Pizza Hut to go Head-to-Head at WKU
Fugate Enterprises, one of the top 10 franchisees of Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, announced the launch of its mobile voting promotion in which the students of WKUhave a say regarding whether a Taco Bell or Pizza Hut will be built near campus.

WBKO-TV
College Seniors Looking For Jobs
It’s tough enough to get a job–but watch out–you may have even more competition next month. College seniors are hitting up employers for jobs, before they graduate in May. Robert Unseld with WKU career services says confidence in your skills are key to landing a job.

WKYU-FM
McConnell: don’t forget about smalls banks during financial reforms
A plan to change financial regulation is expected to come before Congress in the coming weeks. Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell says the interests of small banks need to be remembered. The Republican Minority Leader recently visited the studios of WKU Public Radio, and spoke with Dan Modlin.

Courier-Journal
Kentucky program shoots for the heavens
Kentucky Space is a nonprofit enterprise created in early 2006 and is involved in designing and developing educational, research and development and entrepreneurial space platforms. This consortium involves students and the combined resources and capacity of the University of Kentucky, Morehead State University, University of Louisville, WKU, Murray State University, Kentucky Community and Technical College System, Kentucky Space Grant Consortium and Belcan, with support from the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education.

March 31-April 2, 2010

WVTW-TV Evansville
New Building Dedicated on WKU Owensboro Campus
WKU has been offering classes in Owensboro since 1969, but now the school has its own facility in Daviess County.

WFIE-TV Evansville
WKU-O ribbon cutting draws big crowds
A ribbon cutting at the new Owensboro campus of WKU drew big crowds on Thursday.

WBKO-TV
View From the Hill
It was a day of celebration for WKU’s Owensboro campus for the first time in history WKU-O has it’s very own facility.

The Logan Journal
Logan County Felts Log House a fixture of Kentucky Museum
The Felts Log House sits next to the Kentucky Library & Museum on WKU’s campus and provides visitors with an opportunity to step back into the past.

March 27-30, 2010

Louisville Business First
Mitch McConnell to help WKU dedicate robotics lab
U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, will join officials with WKU in Bowling Green on Friday, April 2, for the dedication of the university’s new Advanced Manufacturing and Robotics Lab.

Bowling Green Daily News
WKU celebrates ICSR’s official open
WKU on Thursday celebrated the official opening of its Institute for Citizenship and Social Responsibility, an initiative of faculty, students and staff to promote civic engagement and social change.

March 24,-26, 2010

Elizabethtown News-Enterprise
Local college students ride for Alzheimer’s cure
Tyler Jury and his friends will give new meaning to the phrase “road trip” during their summer break. Jury, a junior at WKU and an Elizabethtown High School graduate, is biking across the country this summer with a group of college students to raise money for Alzheimer’s research.

Bowling Green Daily News
WKU’s ‘Before Broadway’ series returns
Following in the footsteps of last year’s one-night only stage reading of “Greenbrier Ghost,” the WKU Musical Theater Department is again set to present another not-yet-full-production as part of its ongoing “Before Broadway” series.

Policy group’s forum will gather info on recession
WKU will host a forum from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday at the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce, which will gather public comment on the economy and how it has affected community members.

McDonald disappointed but ready to move forward
It was an emotional five months inside E.A. Diddle arena this season for the WKU Hilltoppers. In what was a mixed bag of high optimism, immense frustration and hard-charging redemption – the one emotion that will probably be most remembered about the 2009-10 WKU basketball campaign is disappointment. No one seems to understand that more than Hilltopper coach Ken McDonald.

Randsell: SBC must improve
In recent months, basketball has been a source of frustration for WKU President Gary Ransdell. But Ransdell’s frustrations haven’t sprung entirely from the Hilltoppers’ disappointing 21-13 campaign that ended without a third straight trip to the NCAA Tournament. Instead, the Sun Belt Conference as a whole has raised Ransdell’s ire.

WBKO-TV
WKU Advertising Agency Celebrates Success
The only student run advertising and public relations agency in the nation celebrated its sixth anniversary.

WKU Robot Wins First Place
WKU electrical engineering students won at this past weekend’s I.E.E.E. competition in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Food Accepted in Place of Library Fines
WKU’s libraries are accepting food items from students in exchange for overdue library fines.

March 20-23, 2010

Bowling Green Daily News
Girls + science
Pouring liquid nitrogen into a plastic bottle sandwiched between two bricks and wrapped in duct tape, WKU geology and geography professor Margaret Crowder sealed the bottle and dropped the contraption into a trash can filled with water. The explosion that occurred seconds later sent gallons of water – and the trash can – into the air, to the delight of the girls who had gathered to watch. Nearly 150 other girls from the region visited WKU Saturday for the university’s annual Girls in Science Day.

Junior attains PSAT perfection
Sarah Schrader, a student at the Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science, scored a 240 on the 2009-10 Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test, an achievement that only one Kentucky student out of nearly 11,000 received last year, according to Corey Alderdice, assistant director for admissions and public relations.

Taggart opens spring with confidence
If first-year WKU coach Willie Taggart is nervous about his on-field debut as the Hilltoppers’ football leader, he’s hiding it well.

Women in community honored at banquet
WKU women’s basketball coach Mary Taylor Cowles was honored with the Woman of the Year award, though was unable to accept the award in person because her team played Illinois in the WNIT on Friday night.

Indianapolis Star
Zionsville schools operations director leaving for Ky. Job
Zionsville Schools director of operations Charles Jones said he is eager for a fresh challenge. Jones, who has spend the last 35 years in Zionsville Schools, is taking a job as director of facilities at WKU.

WBKO-TV
Former WKU Coach Elson Lands at Indiana
Former WKU head football coach David Elson has a new job.

March 17-19, 2010

Bowling Green Daily News
WKU production turns into benefit
WKU’s Department of Theatre and Dance had not planned to do a benefit for earthquake victims when it chose to produce “Once on This Island,” which is set in Haiti.

Report: Recycling increases at WKU
Big Red is going green in a big way.

WKU astronomers join Hubble project
WKU is joining some of the nation’s elite scientists to try to help understand “dark energy” and other mysteries of the universe.

Courier-Journal
Bill to ease college transfers advances
A bill to make it easier for community college students to transfer to four-year public universities cleared the Senate Education Committee on Thursday in a weaker — but satisfactory — form, the bill’s original sponsor said.

WKYU-FM
WKU small business expert says have a plan before starting out on your own
High unemployment rates in Kentucky are leading some people to consider starting their own businesses. Adam Brownlee, director of the WKU Small Business Development Center, says it’s very important to create a specific business plan before starting out on your own.

March 12-16, 2010

WFIE-TV Evansville
WKU part of project to study history of universe
Faculty and students from WKU’s Department of Physics and Astronomy will participate in a new project utilizing the Hubble Space Telescope to document the early history of star formation and galaxy evolution.

WKYU-FM
WKU lecture guest says total elimination of nuclear weapons not realistic
A political scientist who will be speaking at WKU next week says world leaders should focus on managing nuclear weapons, rather than trying to abolish them.

WBKO-TV
WKU Begins Plans for Confucius Institute
A new program at WKU could soon have some area K-12 students learning the Chinese language. We now bring you more about the Confucius Institute.

Elizabethtown News-Enterprise
Local students win awards in Mark of Excellence
Students at Elizabethtown High School, North Hardin High School and with Hardin County Educational Community Television brought home multiple awards from the WKU Mark of Excellence journalism awards, which were given out earlier this month.

Lane Report
$24M Facility at WKU Promotes Technology and Science
WKU has officially dedicated a $24 million facility that is the latest piece in the transformation of the university’s science campus.

Bowling Green Daily News
Fulbright sends WKU grad to Argentina
Two years after applying and a year after notification, 2007 WKU graduate Katherine Hale will finally reap the rewards of a prestigious grant.

Registered dietician enjoys teaching those in the community
Amy Meador wanted to be a secondary education teacher, but a health class she took at WKU changed that.

WKU introduces Bjork
Ross Bjork has come full circle. After beginning his career as an assistant development coordinator at WKU in 1996, Bjork – currently a senior associate athletic director at UCLA – was officially introduced as WKU’s new athletic director at the Topper Club at Houchens-Smith Stadium.

Bjork excited to lead growing program
When Ross Bjork first returned to WKU earlier this week to refamiliarize himself with the campus, he nearly got lost. WKU has come a long way since Bjork worked here in 1996 for $600 a month as an assistant development coordinator. But odds are the 37-year-old native of Dodge City, Kan., won’t have trouble navigating too much longer.

March 6-10, 2010

KFGO-AM Fargo, ND
Fargo’s Sandbag Efforts get help from Kentucky
Flood fight coordinators have been hard pressed to drum up volunteers to fill the one million sandbags needed ahead of high water. But the thin ranks of workers has been bolstered by students on spring break from WKU.

Lexington Herald-Leader
House panel OKs $17.5B budget
State universities face a 1.5 percent trim in the first year of the budget, which begins July 1, and a 1 percent cut in the second year. They’ll also have to come up with about $63 million to operate and maintain buildings that will open over the next two years.

Bowling Green Daily News
Warren schools gives support to WKU program on Chinese
The Warren County Board of Education on Monday expressed general support for a partnership with WKU for the addition of Chinese classes to the curriculum.

Schools to offer Chinese courses
WKU’s new Confucius Institute, which will extend Chinese language courses to local schools beginning this fall, will not only broaden the language offerings at city and county schools but will help area students become more competitive in the global economy, educators say.

WBKO-TV
Professor Puts Earthquakes into Perspective
With the recent major earthquakes all over the globe, the Rotary Club in Horse Cave invited a WKU professor to educate them on seismic activity.

Courier-Journal
House budget trims education, adds $2 billion for projects
The House budget committee approved a budget bill Tuesday night that trims education funding but adds more than $2 billion in bonded debt for new schools, roads, water lines and other projects.

Elizabethtown News-Enterprise
Elizabethtown in WKU’s focus
Elizabethtown is the likely site of the next Mountain Workshops, a five-day excursion into the heart of a Kentucky community that is headed by WKU’s photojournalism department.

March 1-5, 2010

Lexington Herald-Leader
Kentucky makes first cut in national Race to the Top grant program
Kentucky is a finalist in the federal Race to the Top grant program, which will dole out $4 billion to help bolster teaching and student performance in a handful of states.

Courier-Journal
Kentucky among final runners in Race to the Top
Kentucky was named one of 16 finalists in the U.S. Department of Education’s Race to the Top competition on Thursday, moving one step closer to securing up to $200 million in federal grants intended to improve schools.

Bowling Green Daily News
WKU students, faculty volunteer during their break
Nearly 30 students and faculty from WKU’s Habitat for Humanity campus chapter will be hitting the volunteer ranks rather than the beaches for spring break next week as part of the nonprofit’s Collegiate Challenge, an alternative academic break program.

Plan for new Greenways path goes forward
The Greenways Commission is moving ahead with plans to connect WKU’s South Campus on Nashville Road to Bowling Green Junior High School on Campbell Lane.

Feb. 26-March 1, 2010

WFIE-TV Evansville
Beshear: Funding needed for OCTC tech center
Governor Steve Beshear said getting funding to complete OCTC’s Advanced Technology Center is necessary to move educational opportunities in the Commonwealth forward. If approved, OCTC and WKU-Owensboro campus will split $14 million.

Bowling Green Daily News
McDaniels reclaims a piece of his WKU history
More than 40 years ago, WKU basketball legend Jim McDaniels pulled off the red jersey he wore as a member of the Hilltoppers’ freshman team for the last time. The jersey hadn’t crossed McDaniels’ mind for decades. As far as he knew, the thing was long gone. Shuffled around, stored away, perhaps even thrown out in the passage of time. Actually, though, the jersey was safely in the possession of a former WKU baseball player who idolized McDaniels, and who happened upon the No. 44 garment in a campus equipment room 38 years ago.

Feb. 24-26, 2010

Bowling Green Daily News
Celebration of the Arts kicks off Saturday
A wide mix of artwork and artists will soon grace the Kentucky Library and Museum in the U.S. Bank Celebration of the Arts.

At WKU, speaker preaches diversity
Lani Guinier, an award-winning Harvard Law School professor, on Wednesday delivered the keynote address for WKUs 2010 Black History Month Celebration, where she simply told students the goal is to think outside the box.

WBKO-TV
Making Your Dream of a Business… a Reality
If the fear of the recession is stopping you from pursuing your dreams of starting your own business, there’s help right here in South Central Kentucky. “We’re all about supporting the creation and growth of companies,” said Jeff Hook, the Director of Operations for the Central Region Innovation and Commercialization Center.

Courier-Journal
Prospect/Goshen Rotary club recruits students to make a difference
What can $100 do to improve lives? That’s the question the Prospect/Goshen Rotary Club has been posing to college students, and the answer, it turns out, is quite a lot.The Rotary Club gives $100 to a student or class of students, who are told to find people with a need and use the money to improve their quality of life. The project, called the $100 Solution, started five years ago and has grown to include students at WKU.

ESPN
Taggart aims to bring WKU back
WKU coach Willie Taggart is no stranger to rebuilding.

Feb. 21-23, 2010

Lexington Herald-Leader
Kentucky’s new football coaches have a history
Joker Phillips and Charlie Strong were glad to see young up-and-comer Willie Taggart get his shot as the head coach at WKU in November. The three coaches, who spoke to the Kentucky Administrative Office of the Courts on Monday as part of Black History Month, have history together and maintain good relationships.

National Parks Traveler
Mammoth Cave National Park Extends “Sister” Agreements To Slovenia
During ceremonies at Mammoth Cave earlier this month officials from the national park, WKU, and the Karst Research Institute of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts established a cooperative arrangement to share scientific research.

Bowling Green Daily News
WKU wants to boost ag farms by making cheese
WKU wants to start a cheese-making program to give its students experience in the food science industry and to give farmers a chance to add value to something they already produce.

WKU planning, hoping for an ‘epic’ Earth Day
WKU faculty, staff and students are gearing up for the 40th anniversary of Earth Day on April 22 local planners say is likely to be a celebration of “epic” proportions compared to years past.

WKYU-FM
WKU historian says bibles often provide clues about the history of black Americans
A WKU historian says an old bible can be an important resource for some people trying to trace their family history. Dr. John Hardin says many slaves didn’t have last names, and notes written in family bibles can sometimes provide helpful clues about their past.

WBKO-TV
Congressman Guthrie Hosts Seniors Info Fair
Over 50 organizations set up at the WKU Center for Research and Development on Monday.

WLKY-TV Louisville
Black Coaches Have Big Dreams For Football
This year’s college football season will make history. There will be more African-American head coaches than ever before.Monday morning at a black history event in Frankfort, three of them celebrated the accomplishment. Charlie Strong, Joker Phillips and Willie Taggart are the head football coaches at the University of Louisville, University of Kentucky and Western Kentucky University.

Feb. 18-21, 2010

Bowling Green Daily News
Cooperation among faiths focus of Earth Care conference
A conference on environmental stewardship Saturday in Bowling Green attracted a strong cross section of educators, spiritual leaders, conservationists and concerned citizens. The Interfaith Dialogue on Earth Care, part of WKU’s Community Religious Literacy Project, was hosted by the university, area churches and community organizations to examine four world faiths – Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Buddhism – in the context of how they relate to care of the Earth’s ecosystems.

Event brings awareness to link between faith, planet
The Interfaith Dialogue on Earth Care opened Friday night at WKU with a keynote address from speaker and author Dr. Matthew Sleeth, who told the audience that the nation’s diverse congregations must bridge barriers, overcome biases and take action to achieve environmental and spiritual sustainability on a dying planet Earth.

Women build construction skills
Hammering echoed throughout Lowe’s on Saturday as dozens of women tried their hand at framing a storage shed. The work is in preparation for a Women Build project, sponsored by WKU’s Habitat for Humanity chapter.

Wilcutt gives insights into space travel in WKU speech
Did you know that when you fall asleep in space, your forearms raise to a 90 degree angle? Terry Wilcutt does. He also knows the answer to the question every astronaut seems to get – how do you go to bathroom in space?

Virginian-Pilot
Selig’s return, guided by fate and family, is ODU’s fortune
Old Dominion University’s new director of athletics is recognized as a skilled fundraiser and successful salesman and marketer. What else is Wood Selig?

Courier-Journal
Selig to leave WKU for AD job in hometown
Athletic director Wood Selig, who helped elevate WKU’s profile, resigned on Friday to take over the same position at Old Dominion University.

Spurs.com
A Spurs Youth Athletic League Success Story: Orlando Mendez-Valdez
Today, Orlando Mendez-Valdez is a made-for-Hollywood story – a professional basketball player who rose from poverty to become a tournament MVP his first season.

Feb. 13-16, 2010

WBKO-TV
WKU Hopes for Funds from Kentucky Budget
WKU will look to funding from lawmakers to help pay for a number of buildings on its campus.

WKU Dedicates Snell Hall
The new Snell Hall, the latest piece of the transformation of WKU’s science campus, was dedicated Monday afternoon, February 15.

Glasgow Daily Times
Snowfall above average, but far from record
Barren County and the surrounding area may be experiencing a once in a decade year in terms of snow and ice, but the conditions are far from a record, according to Stuart Foster, Kentucky State climatologist located at WKU.

Feb. 9-11, 2010

Princeton Times-Leader
Tiger Family loses former Butler coach
Howard “Tip” Downing, 94, died Saturday, Jan. 30. He was football coach at Butler in the 1946 and ’47 seasons and also helped coach the basketball teams here.  Downing, who lived on Hawthorne Street, came to Princeton after a sterling basketball and football career at WKU.

Bowling Green Daily News
Former WKU players remember Pope
Former Lady Topper Cacie Pope lost her lengthy battle with brain cancer Sunday at her home in Lakewood, Calif.

Feb. 7-9, 2010

Louisville Courier-Journal
WKU gets its spirit back with Sergio Kerusch’s return
WKU didn’t just lose a player when Sergio Kerusch went down — it lost its heartbeat.

Fijis Across America are two-wheelin’ for the cause
Five WKU students are planning to cycle across the nation this summer in an effort to raise funds and awareness for Alzheimer’s disease research.

Bowling Green Daily News
‘Smitty’ takes reins at WKU’s Van Meter
For the past 10 years, Jeff “Smitty” Smith has been a fixture at the Capitol Arts Alliance in Bowling Green. Community members honored the technical director Sunday as he leaves the theater for a similar job at Van Meter Hall, a newly renovated performance center at WKU.

Feb. 3-5, 2010

Bowling Green Daily News

Van Meter makeover advancing
Scheduled to be completed by June, WKU’s Van Meter Hall is ahead of schedule and will see a flurry of activity in preparation for its grand opening in September.

‘The program is Paul Sanderford’
For 15 years, Paul Sanderford roamed the sidelines as the head coach of the WKU Lady Toppers. In that span, he won 365 games, guided 12 teams to the NCAA Tournament and took three squads to the Final Four – including an appearance in the NCAA title game in 1992. Considering such success, it was only a matter of time before Sanderford’s name hung from the rafters at E.A. Diddle Arena. That time comes Saturday, when a jersey honoring Sanderford will be retired at halftime of the Lady Toppers’ 4 p.m. game against Troy.

Faith and the Earth at center of summit
WKU’s Community Religious Literacy Project is partnering with area churches and community organizations to sponsor an interfaith conference designed to create dialogue and foster awareness of spirituality as it relates to the green movement and sustainability of the Earth – the first of its kind here, according to event organizers.

Cajun music group playing at Capitol
The mission of the Cultural Enhancement Series at WKU is to bring anything that will stretch people’s imagination and concepts a bit.

Lafayette (La.) Daily Advertiser
WKU mops up in Sun Belt recruiting wars
Willie Taggart earned his first win as WKU’s new head coach away from the football field on National Signing Day. Taggart officially announced his first recruiting class on Wednesday, a collection of 16 signees that was rated No. 1 in the Sun Belt Conference according to Rivals.com’s point system.

Louisville Courier-Journal
Taggart has high hopes for recruits
When you inherit a football team that didn’t win a game, no one’s job is safe. Rookie coach Willie Taggart brought in a 16-man recruiting class to WKU that he believes will compete for early playing time.

Elizabethtown News-Enterprise
Pearman named EIS ExCEL winner
Gary Pearman has been selected as the 2009-2010 winner of the ExCEL award for Elizabethtown Independent Schools. Pearman is an English teacher at T.K. Stone Middle School. Pearman received a teaching degree, and a master’s degree in counseling, from Western Kentucky University. He also is National Board certified.

Boston Herald
Long shot: ‘Deep End’ star knows success is on case-by-case basis
WKU graduate Matt Long got a crash course in how fickle Hollywood can be five years ago.

Science Magazine
African Physicists Set Their Sights on Mammoth Scope
Charles McGruder, an astronomer from WKU  and a past president of the U.S. National Society of Black Physicists (NSBP), called on the scientists to show a united front in Africa’s bid to host what would be the world’s largest scientific instrument, the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) radio telescope.

WBKO-TV
Local Mother Speaks out About Autism and the MMR Vaccine
At least 1 in 110 children have autism, and while several factors could be to blame, one local mother is outraged about the ground-breaking article being retracted. “We have a couple of parents that work with our program that have already feel very strongly that the mmr shots have had an impact on their child’s life,” said Dr. Marty Boman, the director of WKU’s Kelly Autism Program says there’s an ongoing dispute over the effect of heavy metal poisoning from immunizations, and autism.

Feb. 1-2, 2010

Waterloo-Cedar Falls (Iowa) Courier
Ice climbers tackle silo’s slippery slope
Adrenaline and stamina faced off against a frozen 80-foot tower as collegiate ice climbing returned to the Cedar Valley Saturday.Climbers from as far away as Kentucky and Arkansas strapped spiked crampons to their feet and swung sickle-shaped axes to see who would make it to the top of a grain silo sheathed in ice in the shortest time. Seven students and staff from WKU took part. Coming from an area that gets snow once a year at most, the frozen temperatures and the climb were something new for them, said Julia Thomas, a student with WKU’s Outdoor Recreation Adventure Center.

Louisville Courier-Journal
WKU could get forward Kerusch back
Struggling Western Kentucky University could get some good news this week. WKU coach Ken McDonald said Sergio Kerusch may play in Thursday’s game at Louisiana-Monroe after being sidelined for over a month with a broken right foot.

Jan. 25-27, 2010

Bowling Green Daily News
WKU $12.5M closer to its target
WKU experienced record-breaking cash gifts for the last six months of 2009.

WFIE-TV Evansville
Classes officially start at new WKU-Owensboro campus
Monday was the first day of classes for students at the new WKU-Owensboro campus.

WBKO-TV
First Day Of Classes In WKU’s Owensboro Facility
For the past 25 years, if you were a WKU student living in Daviess County, that meant you were usually taking your classes at the community college or local high school in Owensboro. Now that’s all a thing of the past.

Jan. 23-25, 2010

Bowling Green Daily News
Economic center sought at WKU
The economy has been a hot topic for the past two years, and a local professor is trying to bridge the gap between economic experts and local residents. Brian Goff, economics professor at WKU, is spearheading a project that would create an economics research center at WKU.

Parents urged to get more involved
Common sense and research show that one of the keys to student success is increasing parent involvement at schools. Schools from around the region, including in Warren County, are doing what they can to increase that involvement. “I can tell you that when parents get involved in their student’s education, it’s a real plus for their kids,” said Fred Carter, director of Teacher Services and School Relations at WKU.

Winter round-up at L.D. Brown Agricultural Exposition Center
The Southern Kentucky Ranch Horse Association Winter Round-up Show drew horse lovers from across the Southeast and even Canada for the two-day event at WKU’s L.D. Brown Agricultural Exposition Center.

Working Side by Side
An exhibit at the Kentucky Museum is giving disabled children from southcentral Kentucky the chance to collaborate with professional artists, share their creations with the public and learn new creative and social skills that open doors to new opportunities in the arts.

Jan. 21-22, 2010

Alexandria (La.) Town Talk
Hope for the future: WKU students use vacation to help Alexandria Habitat project
Several college students from Kentucky are giving up a week of their winter break to build a house in Alexandria for Habitat for Humanity. But don’t feel too bad for them. They’re actually having fun. The students from WKU arrived in town Sunday and will leave Saturday. They are helping to build a house on Faith Way in Alexandria.

Courier-Journal
Taggart to coordinate Hilltoppers’ offense
As a former WKU quarterback, Willie Taggart is used to running an offense, and that will continue now that he’s the head coach at his alma mater.

WBKO-TV
Earthquake Draws Attention to Fault Lines Near Kentucky
With some places in Kentucky near two major fault lines, what could those in the Bluegrass could face when a quake hits? Dr. Michael May, a geology professor at WKU, offers some insights.

Jan. 20, 2010

Circle of Blue
Connecting Caves, Karst Landscapes and Climate Around the World
Chris Groves, director of the China Environmental Health Project of the Hoffman Environmental Research Institute at WKU, explains how caves and karst landscapes hold clues about earth’s climate.

Lexington Herald-Leader
Winchester native/WKU grad stars in new show
The hot new attorney at one of Los Angeles’ most prestigious law firms is a WKU graduate who hails from Winchester. Well, the attorney doesn’t. Dylan Hewitt grew up in a working-class New England family and went to Yale and Columbia universities. But Matt Long, the actor who plays Dylan on ABC’s new drama, The Deep End, hails from Clark County.

Beshear’s education choice: some pain or big cuts
The state’s public universities could suffer minimal pain or double-digit cuts in 2012 depending on the fate of Gov. Steve Beshear’s long-shot proposal for gambling. University leaders didn’t immediately leap Tuesday to support the governor’s expanded-gambling plan, which faces a skeptical General Assembly.

Courier-Journal
Kentucky universities face 2 percent spending cuts
Higher education was spared deep cuts in Gov. Steve Beshear’s proposed two-year budget, but still faces a 2 percent decline in general fund spending in 2012. However, universities could face far more drastic cuts if the state legislature does not pass expanded gaming legislation that would raise an estimated $780 million in revenue, the administration says. Without that additional revenue, Beshear said higher-education cuts could be as much as 14 percent in 2011 and 34 percent in 2012.

From Jan. 16-19, 2010

Bowling Green Daily News
WKU chooses provost finalists
One of the six finalists for WKU provost comes from within its ranks. A selection is expected to be made by the beginning of May regarding a replacement for Barbara Burch, who will retire from her post at the end of the school year. Burch will remain on WKU’s faculty.

Emergency room director enjoys pace, variety of the job
WKU graduate Karen Ellis has been emergency room director at Greenview Regional Hospital since September. She is responsible for nursing care, hiring staff, staff development, looking for ways to improve patient satisfaction and budgeting.

Book Fest’s latest chapter puts event in new setting
The 2010 Southern Kentucky Book Fest is moving to a new location this year. The 12th annual book festival will be from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 17 at the Carroll Knicely Conference Center.

Courier-Journal
More storm spotters wanted
The problem of insufficient weather spotting was the subject of a two-day conference in Bowling Green that ended Saturday, sponsored by the Kentucky Division of Emergency Management and the Kentucky Climate Center at WKU.

Elizabethtown News-Enterprise
The Facebook phenomenon
If you know what Farmville is, know what it means to be poked, have a flair board or have friended anyone lately, odds are you are one of more than 350 million users who have been sucked into the online world of Facebook. Although he hasn’t researched Facebook, Dr. Anthony Harkins of the Popular Culture Studies department at WKU has noticed its influence.

WBKO-TV
Harlem Globetrotters Make History with Help of Our Community
The Harlem Globetrotters tipped off their 2010 “Magical Memories” World Tour by breaking 17 box office records through its first two weeks of touring, including their visit to WKU’s Diddle Arena.

From Jan. 12-14, 2010

Science Insider
Can Africa Topple Australia in the Contest To Build the World’s Biggest Telescope?
Physicists from across Africa gathered this week in Dakar, Senegal, for a conference focused on lasers and optics. But radio astronomy dominated the chatter in the hallways. Africa has a shot at hosting what would be the world’s largest scientific instrument, the Square Kilometer Array radio telescope. WKU astronomer Charles McGruder laid out a battle plan for winning the bid. McGruder is a past president of the U.S. National Society of Black Physicists and a National Science Foundation–funded promoter of African astronomy.

WBKO-TV
WKU Student and Parents Found Safe In Haiti
WKU student Sophia Sterlin and her family, missing after the quake in Haiti, have been found safe.

WKU Announces New Partnership with Global Education Provider
WKU bills itself as a leading American university with international reach. A new program hopes to expand that reach even further.

Organic Alchemy Looks to Turn Waste into Energy
It’s an experiment that could potentially turn cow waste into energy, and it’s gaining the attention of those in the ag community and WKU.

Bowling Green Daily News
WKU journalism, broadcasting leader plans to step down
After seven years at the helm, Pam Johnson will step down as head of the WKU School of Journalism and Broadcasting at the end of the school year.

Raiders in the rafters
Warren East High School retired the basketball numbers of former stars (and WKU alums) Johnny Britt and Kami Thomas Howard on Tuesday night, the first such honors bestowed upon WEHS alumni in school history.

WKU extends international reach
WKU is set to increase its international enrollment. The university announced Monday a partnership with Navitas, a global education services provider with a home base in Australia, to create a University Pathways Program. The university and Navitas signed a 10-year contract that will allow the campus to grow its international base.

Kansas City Star
With Crennel, Chiefs add more New England flavor
The Patriots football dynasty may be crumbling in New England, but it’s enjoying a renaissance in Kansas City with the Chiefs. The final piece was put in place Wednesday with the hiring of WKU Hall of Famer Romeo Crennel to take over a beleaguered defense.

Washington Post
Redskins offensive line coach Joe Bugel retires
After 32 years, on his final day as a football coach and as the Redskins’ offensive line coach, WKU alum Joe Bugel touched on the same themes he preached to his players every day: passion, loyalty, friendship.

Sarasota (Fla.) Herald-Tribune
Palmetto’s Scott chooses WKU
Ty Scott had his sights set high. Then he realized that’s not always the best view. The Palmetto High defensive back was contemplating scholarship offers from big-time schools, including Louisville, Michigan State, Iowa State, Purdue and Indiana. Then along came Willie Taggart, the former Manatee High quarterback great, who became WKU’s head coach last November.

WKYU-FM
WKU partnering with company to increase number of international students
Officials at WKU have entered a new partnership to enhance the quality of international student experiences at the school.

WKU alum says patients need to reach out to their healthcare providers
The author of a new book about becoming a better healthcare consumer says too many people are afraid to ask their doctors questions. And WKU alum Jeff Knott believes patients have a responsibility to give accurate descriptions of symptoms to their physicians.

Finance News Network
Navitas Ltd (ASX:NVT) partners with WKU
Global education provider Navitas Ltd (ASX:NVT) has announced it is to partner with WKU in the US to establish a university pathway college at the university’s main campus due to open in September 2010.

Business Spectator
Navitas announces US expansion agreement
Navitas Ltd has announced a partnership with WKU to set up its first US-based college, to be established at the university’s main campus.

The West Australian
Navitas establishes first US college
Navitas has made its first foray into the United States after sealing a partnership deal with Western Kentucky University to establish its first college in the country.