Western Kentucky University TopSCHOLAR® WKU Archives Records WKU Archives 3-4-2014 UA12/2/1 College Heights Herald, Vol. 89, No. 38 WKU Student Affairs Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/dlsc_ua_records Part of the African American Studies Commons, Higher Education Administration Commons, Journalism Studies Commons, Mass Communication Commons, and the Sports Studies Commons Recommended Citation WKU Student Affairs, "UA12/2/1 College Heights Herald, Vol. 89, No. 38" (2014). WKU Archives Records. Paper 6524. https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/dlsc_ua_records/6524 This Other is brought to you for free and open access by TopSCHOLAR®. It has been accepted for inclusion in WKU Archives Records by an authorized administrator of TopSCHOLAR®. For more information, please contact [email protected]. PHOTO SPORTS Fight Night Softball splits weekend PAGE A6 tournament PAGE B6 TUESDAY, MARCH 4, 2014 • WESTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY • WKUHERALD.COM • VOLUME 89 NO. 38 WKU updates Title IX policy BY SHELBY ROGERS [email protected] WKU’s sexual assault Title IX poli- cies are fi nally getting a facelift, be- coming more streamlined and eas- ier for victims of harassment and assault to fi nd the help they need. These policy adjustments come after the White House issued their report on rape and sexual assault this January. “Change still needs to come from many quarters: schools must adopt better policies and practices to prevent these crimes and to more effectively respond when they hap- pen,” the report said. Huda Melky, director of the Equal Opportunity Department, added “Ti- tle IX coordinator” to her list of respon- sibilities, a title she said she is ready to take on due to its importance. “The policies have always been Major changes to WKU parking coming next fall there, but now I’m just bringing all the pieces together,” she said. The new Title IX policies include BY TREY CRUMBIE the addition of an offi cial coordina- [email protected] tor who will oversee every aspect of Total amount of active an investigation. The coordinator will be assisted by several deputies, Parking at WKU is about to experience a major permits as of Feb. 26, who serve to bridge the gap be- shake-up starting next semester. 11,749 tween students and administrators. Jennifer Tougas, director of Parking and Trans- 2014: Melky is no stranger to dealing portation Services, said WKU will be losing an with sexual assault cases, having estimated 250 parking spots this fall. Approxi- done so at the university level for mately 70 of those parking spots belonged to the Top three groups: more than15 years. gravel lot on Normal Street, which closed on Feb. Passed in 1972, Title IX is a portion 24. The rest of the parking spaces belong to the of the Education Amendments. It gravel lot on Center Street. states that “no person in the United The leased lot has been bought by Trittenbach States shall, on the basis of sex, be Development, a construction company based excused from participation in, be in Missouri. Trittenbach plans to build housing denied the benefi ts of, or be sub- and retail space in the area. The parking lot will jected to discrimination under any remain available for use until May 31. education program or activity re- Dennis Cain, transportation analyst for PTS, ceiving federal fi nancial assistance.” said a survey was sent out last month to get feed- Typically, the policy is associ- back on how to handle the parking issue. ated with athletic departments and “In general, we recognize that there’s a crunch,” equality among men’s and women’s Cain said. “And instead of just going in and mak- sports. However, Melky empha- ing decisions on our own, the fi rst thing we did, sized Title IX covers much more we asked the campus, ‘What would you like to than sports. see?’” “Title IX is not just about athletics, Approximately 2,000 took the survey with a but people frequently hear about it majority of feedback coming from students. in the context of sports,” Melky said. “Parking is something people do feel passion- “These changes impact everyone.” ately about,” Cain said. Thirty-eight percent of female Cain said out of all of the parking permit rape victims experience assault be- groups that responded, commuters were the tween the ages of 18 to 24. Another most unhappy. Sixty percent of commuters said 14 percent of victims were aged 25 they cannot fi nd parking where they want it and to 34, according to the White House 76 percent are frustrated looking. report. One in fi ve women has been “So, we’re looking at ways to make the com- sexually assaulted while in college. muters’ life a little bit better,” Cain said. Deborah Wilkins, general counsel One of these changes includes the leasing of and Chief of Staff, is enlisted as a the entire Alumni Square Garage, which con- deputy for the Title IX revamp. tains around 450 parking spaces. However, Tou- “The deputy coordinators are gas said the garage will also be used by those there so if anyone needs help, they SEE PARKING PAGE A3 SEE TITLE IX PAGE A3 ‘E-Cigs’ off er alternative WKUHERALD.com to cigarettes Snow daze BY JACOB PARKER [email protected] For the past few centuries, the process hasn't really varied— strik- GALLERY ing a fl ame, holding it to the tip, and inhaling burning tobacco to feed VISIT OUR WEBSITE a craving for nicotine. However, in FOR MORE COVERAGE the past few years a new alternative OF FIGHT NIGHT has presented itself for people to get their fi x. Vaporizers, or “e-cigarettes,” have begun to enter the mainstream culture as either an alternative to cigarettes or a way to transition TUE 39°/19° away from tobacco and nicotine altogether. Consumers inhale a WED 43°/34° fl avored vapor of their choice, and have the option to adjust the amount of nicotine in each dose. THU 45°/23° Compared to a product that causes more than 480,000 deaths Glasgow junior Molly Shercliff slides down the stairs outside Helm Library on annually according to the Centers Monday morning. All WKU campuses were closed Monday due to inclement FRI 57°/37° for Disease Control and Prevention, weather. A winter storm warning was in eff ect until noon Monday. KREABLE the tar-less, smokeless vaporizer YOUNG/HERALD SEE VAPORIZERS PAGE A2 A2 MARCH 4, 2014 COLLEGE HEIGHTS HERALD VAPORIZERS and not just smoking a little bit, but a lot,” she said. “I haven't had a cigarette CONTINUED FROM FRONT since. We both kind of quit cold turkey.” In the two months since Spiller has seems to have a certain appeal. smoked a cigarette, she said she feels For Henderson freshman Tirsa Spiller, her body rejuvenating. who had smoked cigarettes for roughly “I feel a lot better. It was getting to the a year, it was the latter. point it was hard for me to breathe." she “Before my e-cig, I smoked about a said. "When I went to bed or when I woke pack a day for about a year,” she said. up I was coughing up really bad phlegm.” Spiller, whose mother smoked, was no Currently, Spiller is “vaping” a fl avor stranger to cigarettes. Things changed called “mango twist” with 18 milli- two years ago, however, when Spiller's grams of nicotine, but she anticipates a mother was diagnosed with bladder time in the future where she won’t need cancer caused by smoking. even that. Cancer is only one of the possible re- “As time goes along I tend to forget sults of smoking cigarettes consistently about it, so I tend not to feel the need to over time— yellowing of teeth, birth smoke as much,” she said. “But when I defi ciencies and coronary heart disease have it around me when it’s not on the are among them as well. According to charger, I'm so attached to it I practi- the Center for Disease Control and Pre- cally cuddle with it.” vention, smoking is the leading cause Sam Freeman, the owner of the local of preventable death with the capacity vaporizer shop Remedy Vapor, said he to harm nearly every organ in the body. was able to stop smoking after a decade Spiller said her mother’s cancer in- of using an e-cigarette. spired her not to smoke, but the stress After catching the fl u and not being from life changes only encouraged her able to recover properly due to his ciga- smoking. rette addiction, a friend recommended “With her having the cancer and me that he try vaping. starting college, graduating high school “I quit smoking right away. Within and trying to fi gure out what I wanted three or four days I started feeling ten to do with my life— it really stressed me times better and said ‘this is it for me, out,” she said. no more cigarettes’ and now I couldn’t “When I came to college, I really con- even imagine smoking a cigarette,” he nected to people who were also smok- said, adding that he has “vaped” for ers and it kind of increased the habit three years now. that I already had.” The term “e-cigarette” is not one that Spiller and her peers weren't alone. Freeman uses to describe his product. An estimated 18.1 percent of all adults, “Most people say ‘e-cig,’ but us in or 42.1 million people aged 18 and the industry use ‘vaporizer,’” he said. older are current cigarette smokers “There's a negative connotation with according to a 2012 CDC report.