Bowling Green State University ScholarWorks@BGSU BG News (Student Newspaper) University Publications 10-7-1999 The BG News October 7, 1999 Bowling Green State University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/bg-news Recommended Citation Bowling Green State University, "The BG News October 7, 1999" (1999). BG News (Student Newspaper). 6539. https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/bg-news/6539 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License. This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the University Publications at ScholarWorks@BGSU. It has been accepted for inclusion in BG News (Student Newspaper) by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@BGSU. OPINION NOW 7 WORLD NI WS SPORTS ■ Columnist Jud Laipply Looks at the history ■ New technology In airbags will Falcon netters win encourages the student body to of the Elsewhere reduce deaths and injuries five game thriller think ibout the price of success. Theatre. through the use of velocity overwright state. sensors. Weather Today: Thursday sunny October 7. 1999 High 66, Low 44 Volume 87 & Issue 32 The BGA doily independent News student press Student representation questioned City ordinance on ward apportionment still being debated after three years This is the first part of a equal protection clause of the rounding areas. The people cuit Court of Appeals. four-part series looking into 14th Amendment to the U.S. most affected by this are stu- Steve Spitler, of Spitler, Mayoral candidates the representation of stu- Constitution. dents. Vogtsberger, and Huffman dents in Bowling Green City The students felt that the The 3rd Ward of Bowling Attorneys, is defending the Council. Today's article will division of the voting wards in Green has only 12 percent of case for the city. According to share views on charges Bowling Green did not allow focus on the legalities of the the population residing it is Spitler the city is "waiting for By JEFF HINDENACH look into this thing. I think the issue. Tomorrow's article them equal representation in boundaries. The 3rd Ward the ruling of the decision of the city council. The BG News legal process should just run its will present the difficulties has 3,499 people to the 1st Court of Appeals to reapportion course." According to the equal pro- that would be faced if the Ward's 12,674 people. the voting districts." With the mayoral race com- Although the wards may not city wards were reappor- tection clause there should "You can see how a person's Spitler said that if the court ing up, candidates are con- one vote per be divided equally based on tioned. vote from Ward 1 doesn't rules that the wards are uncon- cerned with dealing with the population, Kepke feels that person. If count as much as Ward stitutional, they will reexamine issues of the city. Included is the vot- the representation is very fair. By KATIE WOODS and 3's vote," said Flem- them. However, it is the city's the current tabled ordinance "Every ward in town ends up ing ing. opinion that the wards as they about the city's apportionment. with three representatives on JEFF HINDENACH being The BG News In 1996, are are constitutional According to democrat candi- the council," she said. "And done the Feder- Spitler points out that the date Joyce Kepke, the city's by there is one council member Exactly three years ago. Dis- population figures used are current position on the ordi- from each ward so everyone is Bowling Green City trict from the last census and that it nance is to keep the wards the represented equally." Council tabled an ordi- court is hard to rely on those. The way they are to keep confusion Quinn also points out the nance that would have rcappor- did city has grown in the last ten at a minimum. Kepke agrees problem that students arent tioned the city's voting dis- years. Also, the student popu- with the city's position. always involved in their repre- tricts. The city council has yet a representative than each lation is always changing. "These lines have been the sentative government. to vote on that ordinance. representative must have an According to B.J. Fischer, At- same since the beginning of the "A lot of students don't see equal number of constituents. Large council member, the U.S. ward system," she said. "That Bowling Green as their town," The ordinance was brought "What has happened in the census figures are based on is the way that we divide up the he said. "They don't get in front of the council in city of Bowling Green rule that Bowling where a person lives on the city services and how citizens involved in city government." response to the Toledo Federal is they are divid- Green's ward sys- arbitrary of April 1. If the cen- identify the city. People don't According to both candi- ed into four District Court's ruling involv- tem was unconsti- sus was taken on July 1 he want to change." dates, students have tradition- ing two University students. wards," Fleming said. "They tutional. Bowling Green was thinks that there would be ;i John Quinn, the republican ally not been involved in city In March of 1995 two univer- put 45 percent of the popula- told to reapportion the wards different problem. candidate, agrees that the government and voting for city sity students asked Rodney tion into the 1st Ward. Kit was and bring the reapportionment "We anticipate that the num- ward system is fair but sees officials. Quinn said that it is Fleming, managing attorney equal, the 1st Ward should only plan back to the courts for bers will be a lot closer in the room for improvement hard to keep track of which stu- for student legal services, to file consist of 25 percent of the pop- approval, according to Fleming. upcoming census," Fischer "I think that the whole thing dents vote and which don't. a lawsuit against the city for ulation." Since 1996 the case has been said. should be reviewed every once Therefore, it is hard to gauge what they felt was a violation of The 1st Ward is made up of appealed. The appeal is cur- in a while," she said. "But 1 their rights according to the the University and its sur- rently pending in the 6th Cir- • See ORDINANCE, page four. think the time has passed to • See CANDIDATE, page four. Social Phil. Theatre ventilation may Center not be up to safety code natural law By AMYJOL. BROWN formance. department has been assured conference The BG News The small theatre has held that some ventilation will be audiences of 80 members in put in place in time for the next scheduled Facing the possibility of clo- addition to the cast performing. scheduled performance, said sure, the Elsewhere theatre in Without mechanical or window Dachik. By ARIKI. CASTRO South Hall may be too hot for ventilation and with the addi- If that is not possible, the The BG News its actors and audiences. tion of stage lights, the room performance will be moved to The Social Philosophy and Because the air ventilation heats up quickly. another part of the campus system broke and has since "By code, it is illegal to per- Policy Center's annual confer- The University is also look- ence is set to take place this been torn out without being form in that space," said Jim ing at possibly renovating replaced, air has not been circu- week for faculty and students Dachik, scene shop supervisor. Elsewhere and the other the- lating adequately throughout who are interested in political According to Ron Shields, aters on campus, all of which the theatre. chair of the theater depart- and legal philosophy. are in need of repair. As a result, audience mem- ment, Elsewhere is still open, This year's conference, "Nat- ural Law and Modern Moral bers have had to leave perfor- but no shows are scheduled "We are very interested in mances because of the heat. getting state-of-the-art the- Philosophy," will take place at until later in the year. the McFall Center Assembly "Elsewhere is a very inti- "Air circulation is a prob- aters," said Linda Dobb, inter- mate space," said Matt Robin- im provost. "It's been a long Room through Saturday of this lem," Shields said. "The theater week. son a sophomore theater and department asked the Univer- time due to make changes. In creative writing major. "The years past, we've let the the- "The purpose of the confer- sity to check the air quality in ence is to elicit original theo- audience is right there in front Elsewhere and people have aters go." She said renovating the the- retical essays, which explore of you." been out to look at it." different aspects ofthe concept Photo Provided Elsewhere is located on the He expects a decision to be aters has moved up the priority chain, but is still in the talking of natural law and assess its fourth floor of South Hall in an made this week on the safety of significance for modern moral The Elsewhere Theatre provides an intimate setting for student stages. area the size of a small class- performing in the small the- philosophies," said Kory Swan- productions. The theater may however be unsafe for players room. A stage is set up in the ater. Renovations, if decided on, and audiences alike. son, executive manager of the center of the room, with the If it is determined that Else- would take place in the next Social Philosophy and Policy audience surrounding the per- where is not safe, the theater several years.