There’s a fight at South Campus. Police get a call that shots are fired. A fight erupts at Pearce-Ford Tower about 30 minutes later. Then another report of gunfire.
What does Western do?
In a post-Virginia Tech society, it opts to err on the side of extreme caution.

Athletics Director Wood Selig and President Gary Ransdell appear to have reneged this month on their promise that the football team will not play more than one “guarantee game” per season. Western is scheduled to play four guarantee games in the 2008-09 season, Selig said.

Western escaped the brunt of severe storms which ravaged the southeast Tuesday night and early Wednesday and left at least seven dead in Kentucky. Lightning-bearing clouds and rough winds passed through Bowling Green, but Western reported no damage to its main campus, said Gene Tice, vice president of student affairs and campus services.

FRANKFORT — Athletics Director Wood Selig told the Board of Regents on Friday that he was “very pleased” with the football team’s transitional season into the Football Bowl Subdivision, formerly called Division I-A. “I would say this first year of transition has been extremely successful, and we’ll use this first year as a springboard for success this coming season as well,” he told the board during its meeting.

The Board of Regents approved the purchase of 513 Regents Ave. to be used as lodging for visiting scholars after meeting at 8:30 Saturday morning to discuss the purchase.

The number of beds for visiting scholars has dropped from 18 to seven because of houses removed during the construction on the College of Education building, President Gary Ransdell said at the meeting.

For tight end Chris Brunemann, the pressure came because only three games were left. A Northern Iowa player clocked Brunemann, a spring graduate who also played special teams, as Western returned a kickoff during a game in the 2006 season. The Panther player’s helmet connected with Brunemann’s at the earhole.

Along with hard hits come the hard tasks of identifying concussions and deciding when to clear players for returning to normal routines.

Gary Solomon, the consulting neuropsychologist for the Tennessee Titans and team neuropsychologist for the Nashville Predators, puts this into perspective.

Seven games into the season, diagnosed concussions among Western’s football players were triple the total number diagnosed last season, according to records provided by Head Athletic Trainer Bill Edwards on Oct. 22. The number of cases rose from four diagnosed last season to 12 diagnosed this season.

The Toppers faced a big game – their first as a team in the Football Bowl Subdivision – against the defending national champion, the University of Florida.
Junior David Wolke faced a big challenge – his first collegiate start, and his first game as Western’s quarterback.

SPRINGFIELD, Tenn. – Somewhere in the middle of her father’s 1,200-acre farm, out in the heat and covered in dirt, Ashley Pearson hacked at a tobacco plant. It was still green, but about a half-foot shorter than it should be. The parched crop was burning in the sun, so Ashley spent the weekend cutting it early to help her family salvage profits.