Firecrackers set off PFT fire alarm

The fire alarm in Pearce-Ford Tower went off Sunday night at 11:06 when somebody set off firecrackers on the 26th floor, said Dan Brown, assistant chief of the Bowling Green Fire Department.

Justin Hogue, a sophomore from Cincinnati who lives on the 26th floor, said he was trying to go to sleep when he heard the fireworks.

Hogue said there was no fire, just a lot of smoke.

Capt. Mike Dowell of campus police said there will be an investigation. If a suspect is arrested, that person could face as many as six months in jail and a fine.

- Chris Byrne

String of south campus parking lot crimes worries police

A recent string of crimes reported in the south campus parking lot of the community college has campus police worried.

There were reports of shots fired Sept. 15 at the south campus rear parking lot.

Witnesses saw a large, older model Buick Electra four-door sedan speed out of the parking lot.

Officers found three 9mm shell casings at the scene, but found no damaged property.

Four days after the shooting, there was an attempted purse snatching in the south campus lot.

The assailant failed to steal the purse and fled in an unknown vehicle.

- Chris Byrne

Cotton airs its dirty laundry on South Lawn

It’s not unusual to see tents on DUC South Lawn. Unless there are also three washing machines set up there.

That’s exactly what was on display yesterday, when Cotton’s Dirty Laundry Tour stopped on campus.

The event focused on promoting cotton as a natural, renewable and recyclable resource, according to www.accesscotton.com.

A denim drive travelled with the tour, and collected old denim to be made into natural fiber insulation used for homes and buildings. Students can continue donating denim every Monday through November in DUC.

Featured activities were custom t-shirt designs, wheel of cotton game (modeled after wheel of fortune only with questions about cotton), a matching game to pair up types of cotton, and a label flying game.

The washing machines were set up as part of another game that involved throwing plastic balls into them. They had to be “sorted” into the right washing machine.

Anyone who mastered the games won an iPod.

Western was the second stop for the tour’s 11 campus visits this fall.

- Laurel Wilson

World premiere comes to Gordon Wilson

The theatre and dance department will present “Cairo Stories” Thursday through Oct. 2. The curtain goes up at 8 each night, except for the Sunday matinee at 3 p.m.

The production will take place in Gordon Wilson Lab Theatre. Admission is $10 for adults and $8 for students and senior citizens.

“Cairo Stories” is a trilogy of short, one-act plays by Tom Coash, an award winning American playwright.

The three plays are called “Khalass!”, “Ukimwi” and “Veils.” The production of “Veils” will be the world premiere of that play.

The setting of each play is Cairo, Egypt, and the plays focus on characters struggling to make personal, intercultural connections. Coash’s work was featured on campus in fall 2002 with his play “Cry Havoc.”

Post-production talk-back sessions with the playwright will take place Thursday through Saturday. A post talk-back reception will take place Saturday.

For additional information about “Cairo Stories,” visit the “in production” page of the theatre department Web site. For reservations, call 745-3121.

- Chris Byrne

ACT hearing postponed

The public hearing about a change in ACT standards for credit-bearing courses has been rescheduled for 10 a.m. on Oct. 9 in Room 149 in the Capitol Annex in Frankfort.

The hearing was originally scheduled for Sept. 11.

The hearing was postponed by Legislative Review Commission because members couldn’t thoroughly study the proposal before the Sept. 11 meeting, said Sherri Noxel, Counsel on Post-Secondary Education director of academic assessments.

Now that the commission has reviewed the proposal, Noxel said everyone is ready for the hearing and she said there’s no reason the hearing would be postponed again.

If approved, the proposal would require students to get a 19 on the math section of and a 21 on the reading to be guaranteed placement in credit courses.

Students applying to Kentucky state universities are currently required to score an 18 on the math and reading sections.

The change would take effect in fall 2009.

Raising the college readiness standard won’t automatically place students into remedial courses. Affected students might have to take additional placement tests or receive special attention.

The change won’t affect admission standards.

- Susie Laun