2012 Xposure Award Winners

Darla Carter Memorial Journalism Scholarship
Rachel Harris, duPont Manual High School, Louisville

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Gary Hairlson Photojournalism Scholarship

Sophie Trent, Chamblee High School, Chamblee, Ga.

Best reporter
Long Adams, Signature High School, Evansville, Ind.

Best writer
Rachel Harris, duPont Manual High School, Louisville

MVP (top all-around)
James Ensor, Oldham County High School

Most improved writer
Katlan Bradley, Glasgow High School
Harrison Hill, duPont Manual High School, Louisville

Most improved photographer
Zach Mimms, Boone County High School

Best sports writer
Evan Browne, Boone County High School

Top initiative award
Megan Cantwell, Paducah Tilghman High School
Eliza Coleman, duPont Manual High School, Louisville
Natalie Cranfill, Oldham County High School

Most Creative award
Marissa Booker, duPont Manual High School, Louisville

Best profile writer
Sophie Trent, Chamblee High School, Chamblee, Ga.

Thank you Canon USA

A special thank you goes to Canon Representative Mary Mannix and Canon USA for supplying 2012 Xposure with camera gear. It would be next to impossible for us to visually accomplish what we do without their support.

For many of the students, this workshop is usually the first time most of them have used a DSLR camera.

Having gear for each student increases the learning curve and excites them to want to get back to their respective schools and execute what they have learned over our 8-day workshop.

To control the slideshow, mouse over the images and use the arrows to go forward or backward. It is a mixture of pictures they took with the gear and shots of them in action.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

2012 tee shirt

This is our 2012 Xposure tee sirt and it was designed by Marissa Booker. Great Job Marissa!

 

The 2012 Xposure Tee Shirt

Download the 2012 Limited Edition Newspaper

Click here to download the 2012 Xposure electronic editon of the Limited Edition

Matt Rice Interview By: Evan Browne

Matt Rice Interview By: Evan Browne

Only a second year player in the Minor Leagues, Matt Rice considers himself a leader. Rice sees himself as a veteran already, “I’m actually one of the older guys on the team.” Being a star player as well as a veteran around the community, Rice is a young, but definite leader.

Matt Rice is already a decorated baseball player. A graduate of Western Kentucky University, Rice finished his career as a Hilltopper as the hits and RBI leader in school history. Rice also earned the honor of being named the 2011 Capital One academic All American of the Year.

Rice’s latest have been the Midwest League All-Star honors, along with being selected as a reserve for the Eastern Division All-Star team in minor league “A” ball.

Rice said, “Our coach told us in the locker room and I was shocked.”

Rice was born and raised in Johnson City, Tenn. to Jim and Leigh. Rice credits his parents and his sister Jennie with supporting him through always attending games, driving me to tournaments, supporting me mentally and financially.

Rice attended Science Hill High School in Johnson City. There he sharpened his baseball skills as well as continuing to do well in school. Rice says his parents were supportive but didn’t apply serious pressure to his schoolwork. This led to Rice taking full responsibility for his grades and developing a true drive to succeed in school. Rice withheld a 4.0 grade point average during High School. This drive would carry over to WKU where he was eventually named the Academic All-American of 2011

Rice was looked at and pursued by other schools but was especially drawn to WKU. Rice visited Western while a senior at Science Hill and was sold. A mix between his interest in the baseball program and coaches as well as his interest in the “engineering program.” Rice also mentioned the people of WKU and the surrounding community drew him to Western in the recruiting process. Rice stated the kind and caring nature made him feel comfortable at WKU.

With so many minor league teams around the country chances are few that you can play in the same town you played baseball in. For Rice it’s a great experience and he even said he feels nostalgic being back in Bowling Green.

Rice considers himself a leader of the Hot Rods in two aspects. Being the starting catcher means you must direct the rest of the team in any game situation. Rice also considers himself a leader “Off the field” and in the locker room. He sees himself as somewhat of a vet after only two years due to new and younger players on the team. as well as someone who can provide a positive energy for everyone around him.

With his face lit up, Rice stated hitting was his favorite part about baseball. Rice is batting .282 this season with 37 hits, 3 Home Runs and 18 RBIs after 33 games. Rice especially enjoys it because he considers batting the, “Most difficult thing in sports to do consistently…. The challenge and rewards of hitting are fun.”

Baseball is a superstitious sport and Rice is no exception. Before every game he goes through his own different routine. If the routine doesn’t feel right he can feel it during the game. If he has a bad game hitting, Rice will change up his approach to the plate next game until he feels comfortable again.

The Minor Leagues can be a trap for some players. Coming into the league with high hopes can at times be a tough situation for young men. The pressure of making it to the Majors doesn’t faze Rice. He lives every day to play hard and to the best of his ability so at the end of it all he can say, “no regrets.”

Matt Rice of the Bowling Green Hot Rods, relaxes on the bench before game time. Photo By: Evan Browne, Boone County High School

SKyPAC

By LONG ADAMS

Signature School

The joyous plays and musicals being staged at the Southern Kentucky Performing Arts Center in Bowling Green belie the lengthy struggle that led to the venue’s opening night in March.

The community overcame many obstacles to bring the 1,800-seat SKyPAC center to the city, with the help of a $6.7 million appropriation from the state and various kinds of tax revenue.

“I actually watched the progress as it was being created, and I thought, ‘I can’t believe this building is going in Bowling Green, Kentucky.’ It’s incredible!” said Tabitha Tharpe, a patron who attended a June 12 performance of Mamma Mia! at the new center. “Most people have to go to Louisville or Nashville to experience something like this, including the architecture. We have it here.”

The center at 601 College St., is attracting varied audiences, from children to senior citizens, to performances and infusing money into the Bowling Green economy.

The center “gives the older generation something to see,” said Karla Trowbridge, a representative of the SKyPAC members’ lounge.

“It has brought a lot of people from out of town into Bowling Green,” SKyPAC patron David Wiseman said. “Hopefully, they’re spending the night and buying gasoline (and) dining out.”

It took more than a decade for the center to become a reality.

The idea for it began when state legislator Jody Richards and others were looking for ways to make Bowling Green more attractive and decided that a performing arts center would be perfect.

The community needed a boost in its fine arts programs as well as its economy, supporters said.

“Mothers wanted it, too, for their children,” said Richards, a member of the SKyPAC Foundation, which operates the center.

A major step in the development of the center occurred 12 years ago when a group of community leaders created SKyPAC Inc., an agency that oversees the design, building and maintenance of the center and owns the building. The creation of the SKyPAC Foundation in 2010 also helped the center to go from a dream to a reality.

SKyPAC Inc. was created to receive a grant for $6.7 million from the state, but even with those millions, the project wasn’t financially ready.

First off, many of its leaders wanted to make sure the center would be able to hold 1,800 seats to attract top-rate performers, and that ran up the center’s price.

An early estimate put the cost of the center at $44 million, and “we just couldn’t do it,” Richards said. “But with the economy, over time, it came down to $25 million.”

In addition to the state appropriation, money was received from a hotel/motel tax, tax increments, tax credits from the federal government and the later sale of those tax credits.

But there were additional hurdles, including having to acquire land for the project and getting the design and redesign completed. The wait lasted about a decade.

“It sounds like a long time, but for these kinds of projects, 10 years is not unusual, ” said Tom Tomlinson, the center’s executive director.

“We felt a facility such as SKyPAC was essential for the economic development downtown and of the county.”

When walking into the SKyPAC building, the first thing in sight is a grand, flower-like light fixture perched 32 feet above on the ceiling. There is a second floor with a balcony overlooking the 5,563-square-foot main lobby.

From the second-floor balcony, there is an entrance to the member’s lobby, where donors and VIPs can mingle before shows.

The front of the SKyPAC building has multiple stone columns. Along the front wall are glass windows revealing the inside.

“It’s beautiful!” said Taylor Lawson-Jones, a student who recently saw the SKyPAC building for the first time.

On the first floor, the main art gallery is to the left of the main entrance and in the center are two large double-doors leading to the main hall and a stage of 3,000 sq. ft. To the right, the main lobby leads to the administrative offices and the Renshaw Education Center.

The Renshaw Education Center houses two rehearsal halls, a children’s art gallery and a 2,650-square-foot studio theater.

The educational benefits of SKyPAC extend well beyond the education center, though.

The SKyPAC Foundation provides free and reduced-price tickets for children and transports children to the performance center during the day. The foundation also has fine arts programs in many schools around the area.

“We can give kids another tool to learn, and the arts being one of those tools,” Tomlinson said.

SKyPAC is a perfect fit for a college town, said Mary Jo Leake, who attended the Mamma Mia! performance.

“We’re all about education here,” and this will help kids to get a cultural education, Leake said.  “It’s important because art programs and music programs are getting cut from school itineraries.”

Tomlinson said these educational outreach programs are here to stay.

“We dedicated almost a quarter of our budget to our educational department, so it’s an enormous priority for us,” he said.

SKyPAC also has many college internship and employment opportunities and has teacher education programs for teachers of all subjects.

Non-university teachers can be part of the SKyPAC program.

“We train teachers that are not necessarily art teachers, but say a math teacher, to use the arts in the classroom,” said Tomlinson. “We teach them a variety of disciplines that help them teach their kids better.”

Richards said his dream for SKyPAC is to do what it has been doing: attracting people from out-of-town, educating kids in the fine arts, and sustaining the Bowling Green downtown in this time of economic trouble.

“It’s bound to have a very positive effect,” Wiseman said.

WKU works on turning green

JAMES ENSOR
Oldham County High School

The roof of the Preston Center is home to a solar thermal array used to help conserve energy by heating the pool.

Western Kentucky University is wearing new colors these days. In addition to sporting its traditional red, the campus is going green – green with sustainability.

“Sustainability has become more embedded in our culture,” said Christian Ryan-Downing, sustainability coordinator at WKU. “People understand we are trying to be a green university.”

Ryan-Downing became the sustainability coordinator in 2008 and has been working closely with the effort to go green since.

“I’ve done a lot of work to try to reduce the amount of waste that goes to the landfill,” Ryan-Downing said. “It’s about our impacts.”

The movement began when Johnson Controls, an energy savings company located in Milwaukee, Wis., audited WKU in 2009 and found ways to improve the environmental impact on campus.

“Johnson Controls told the university to do lots of things,” Ryan-Downing said.  “From upgrading lighting for efficiency, installing occupancy sensors, and upgrading boiler equipment and controls.”

A solar thermal array located on the roof of the university’s health and activities facility, the Preston Center, uses the sun’s heat to warm the indoor swimming pool without the use of electricity. Various tubes of glycol are heated and pumped through piping that runs up against the pool’s water filtration system. As a result, the water is heated.

“I think it’s a great idea,” said Ashley McCloughan, a PowerSave campus intern. “It’s such a simple system.”

In another effort to save electricity, Johnson Controls introduced indoor lighting fixtures that include motion-activated sensors designed to turn off lights when no one is in a room.

“A lot of times teachers won’t turn off the lights (in classrooms) because they assume someone has the class next,” McCloughan said. “You’re saving energy.”

Water saving fixtures and rainwater collection systems were also added to conserve water. The rainwater from the collection system irrigates the gardens throughout the campus.

“It catches the water from the roof, then you use it to water flowers,” said Roger Dennis, director of the Floral Design Training Center.

Recycling has also had a huge push throughout WKU. In previous years, different recycling bins were used to collect different types of recycled materials, such as paper, plastic and aluminum. But now, the recycling bins placed throughout campus will accept any type of recycled material. The process is known as single-stream collection.

“I was one of those people who was like ‘oh that’s stupid, why would I do that?” McCloughan said about recycling. “I really started to recycle when I came to Western.”

Students also participate in many other programs around campus that revolve around sustainability.

“There are a lot of student-oriented efforts,” Ryan-Downing said. “The Big Red Bikes program is a great example.”

The Big Red Bikes program was created as a way to recycle bikes and provide free transportation to any student, faculty or staff member.

“It’s free, you’re not using gas,” McCloughan said. “I think it’s a great system.”

The effort is now institutionalized and was originally created by GreenToppers, a group of students who raise awareness on environmental issues.

The bikes can be checked-out for one week and be renewed for one additional week. The Department of Facilities Management is in charge of the bike rentals, and the bikes are located outside of Parking Structure 1.
“I’ve only heard great things about it,” McCloughan said.

Other programs include the Lighten Your Load and Reduce Your Use programs.

The Lighten Your Load program was created to give slightly used items to those in need through the Bowling Green Housing Authority. The organization helps individuals and families who face challenges relating to the cost of housing, healthcare, transportation and education.

“I think the students really like it,” McCloughan said. “I’m really glad they started it.”

At the end of every semester, collection bins are placed in housing hallways to help collect items that students choose not to take with them when they move out. Items collected include clothing, household goods, electronics, and non-perishable food.

“All they have to do is take it to their dorm lobby and put it in this box,” McCloughan said.

Prior to the program’s implementation, many of the items abandoned by students were tossed into trash bins.

“We decided that if we could grab that stuff before it gets to the dumpsters, then we could save it from the landfill and could put it in the hands that needed it,” Ryan-Downing said.

The Reduce Your Use program is a competition among housing buildings based on the amount of energy each structure uses. The energy usage of each building is calculated and tracked on the university’s Building Dashboard website.

“We saved 5,000 kilowatt hours in the residence halls this past year,” McCloughan said. “I think we had an impact.”

Another sustainability project is organized by the GreenToppers. It’s called Earth Day Festival Week, and it occurs the whole week of Earth Day. Most of the week’s events take place at the Centennial Mall. During Earth Day Festival Week 2011, more than 4,683 pledges were made by students who stated they would make an effort for a sustainable future.  

“It’s more about global citizenry,” McCloughan said. “It’s really cool and fun.”

Various products were handed out during this time when people pledged for a certain cause. For those who pledged to cut down on the use of disposable water bottles, they were given a free reusable water bottle.

“In the past, the event has drawn a lot of people,” said Sophia Sterlin, a PowerSave campus intern.

With many campus-wide events taking place, the awareness of sustainability has increased throughout the student body. This increase in awareness has resulted in more educational opportunities revolving around sustainability.

“People are interested, but they don’t know everything,” said Sterlin, a Bowling Green junior.

Within the past few years, sustainability programs at the master’s level have emerged because of the green movement. WKU is the only college in the state that offers a sustainability master’s program.

“I think that students are eager to learn,” said Jane Olmsted, coordinator of Social Responsibility and Sustainable Communities.

The master’s program revolves around the themes of environmental sustainability, social justice, and community involvement.

“Students are usually interested in one of the three especially, but they are interested in all of those and really like the fact that we are trying to integrate those issues,” Olmsted said.

Initially, 22 students enrolled in the program. In the upcoming school year, enrollment has increased to 35.

“Sustainability is one of the most important topics and issues that we face,” Olmsted said. “I’m interested in it because I think we’ve been on a long and dangerous path to destruction.”

To be on the right path, WKU has made improvements to make the campus greener, but university officials have more plans for the future.

“We hope to continue on with our efforts,” Ryan-Downing said. “We’ve looked at some cool ideas.”

One idea is the creation of a preferred products and vendors guide for anyone involved with purchasing products for WKU. This guide would help the university purchase more sustainable items and work with vendors that practice sustainability.

Another idea is getting more faculty involved by having faculty members who practice sustainability teach the faculty who don’t practice it as much.

“To teach sustainability,” Ryan-Downing said, “you have to demonstrate sustainability.”

Gatton Academy Leads the Way

RACHEL HARRIS

duPont Manual High School
When Emily Gordon realized she was running out of math classes to take at Lone Oak High School, she began frantically searching for other options. Her efforts led her to what has become the nation’s top high school – the Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science.
“It just felt perfect. I’m very passionate about math and science, and I wanted to be part of a community with the same passions,” Gordon said.

Ranked No. 1 by Newsweek magazine in 2012, The Gatton Academy is a residential school located on the campus of Western Kentucky University. It attracts high-achieving students from throughout Kentucky, including Chiraag Kapadia.

“I just liked the opportunity it offered, and I knew it would help further my career more than a regular high school would,” the senior said.

Kapadia said he plans to major in biology in college and go through a pre-med program. Last year, he conducted research relating to genome discovery and exploration.

“That was my first real research,” Kapadia said. “And in the first semester after the research was done, I realized what an amazing opportunity it had been.”

Because Gatton is funded by the Kentucky General Assembly and an endowment from Carol Martin “Bill” Gatton, students are offered free tuition, housing, meals and scholarships for study abroad and research programs.
The Gatton Academy focuses on science, technology, engineering and mathematics, referred to as STEM. Besides Gatton, there are 14 other schools across the nation considered STEM schools. The program is open to junior and senior students in high school from the state of Kentucky.
“We offer a science and math focused curriculum to any student who is really capable and make it available to them without cost being a hindrance,” Academy Director Tim Gott said.
Before Gordon arrived at Gatton, she attended Lone Oak High School in Paducah, Ky., and often found herself in classes with students who were a year or two older because she was advanced in math.

“I never would have dreamed of being able to take classes like this at my home high school, since the highest they offer is AP Calculus,” she said.

Each year, up to 126 students are accepted into the academy.
“Our restricting piece is that we only have 126 beds, so (we) have to be selective as to who comes, and that is determined by a person’s readiness to be here,” Gott said.

Admissions at Gatton are based on SAT and ACT composite scores (math scores are viewed individually), responses to four personal essays, transcripts of grades from ninth and 10th grade, letters of recommendation, honors, and awards and other recognition, Gott said.

The deadline for prospective students to apply to Gatton is Feb. 1 of their freshman year, and only students from Kentucky are considered.

“We want to make sure we have students (from) eastern Kentucky, western Kentucky, northern Kentucky and central Kentucky,” Gott said. “Our biggest focus is trying to make this a possibility for everyone who needs it.”

The academy building, Florence Schneider Hall, serves as a residence hall for the Gatton students. The building, which had been built in 1928, originally had served as a residence hall for WKU. But it had fallen into disrepair in the late 20th century and was renovated between 2004 and 2006 to serve as home for the Academy.

“It’s really great because it’s a new building,” Kapadia said. “The rooms are suite style and the common area is really nice. Plus the classes are close.”

Unlike typical public or private high schools, there are no dismissal bells, lockers and school buses. Yet, the students find commonality in the experiences they go through at Gatton.

“There’s a really community commonality and a good spirit of ‘We want to be here so we can get the best education,’” Gott said.

Gatton students take college classes on the WKU campus, and, as Gordon explained, they find support when they return to their home in Schneider Hall.

“There is support for every student, from all of the staff, not just academic advice, but emotional support,” Gordon said. “Academy students have all the same problems as normal high-schoolers. We just have to balance them with the rigorous academic load we all chose to take on.”

Gordon has gotten involved in WKU’s flute choir and concert band, as well as chamber music.
“I haven’t lost touch with my artsy side at all. I often spend time in the fine arts center practicing,” she said. “I find music to be a great stress reliever. If you don’t have something else you love besides math and science, you’ll go crazy.”
At Gatton, besides music, other extracurricular activities include intramural sports such as ultimate Frisbee, soccer and tennis. Kapadia said he is involved in ultimate Frisbee.

Gott’s room is filled with pictures of various places throughout the world that he has visited. Some of those trips were with Gatton students.

“We try to give everyone a partial scholarship to apply for a trip. Each trip is different depending on length of time and airfare,” Gott said.

After receiving a partial scholarship, Kapadia, a senior at Gatton, was able to travel to Costa Rica with 15 other students, along with the director, for about $800.

“It was really cool to be able to tour the cloud forest and the mountains,” Kapadia said.

The distance that Gatton students have traveled is only one measure of how far the academy itself has come. Gott has seen it firsthand.

“We were amazed that in five years that we went from basically having a couple of old boxes and a dusty old building to start a school from scratch and in five years, to a number one school on someone’s rankings.”

Kentucky Down Under

Eliza Coleman, duPont Manual High School

Henry the baby kangaroo spends more time with humans and an Australian shepherd than he does with other kangaroos.

That’s because Henry is being hand-raised by humans at Kentucky Down Under, an Australian-themed animal park in Horse Cave, Ky. Henry was born on Dec. 10 and was pulled from the pouch of his mother, Mathilda, on May 11.

Photo by Zach Mimms

 

“As soon as we saw his head sticking out at the beginning of May, we pulled him out so he had a chance to live,” said Candace Forsythe, the park’s group coordinator and “resident kangaroo mother.”

Two of Mathilda’s joeys, or baby kangaroos, from separate births died in their mother’s pouch prior to Henry’s birth. The causes of their deaths remain unknown.

In order to protect Henry, the third of Mathilda’s joeys, Henry was taken out of Mathilda’s pouch five months after birth, and Forsythe has been caring for the joey ever since.

“It’s been amazing to see the changes within just a month,” Forsythe said. “When we pulled him, his eyes weren’t even open, and now his eyes are open wide. He watches my dogs whenever they come in the room. His ears weren’t open then either, and now his ears are and you can see all the way into the ear canal.”

Joeys are usually kept within their mothers’ pouches for about eight months after they are born. To simulate that environment, Forsythe keeps Henry in a blue cloth man-made pouch, which Forsythe carries on her shoulder like a cross-body bag. Forsythe must care for him in other ways as well.

“I have to make sure he doesn’t get too cold, stimulate him to go to the bathroom, and make sure he eats every three to four hours so he doesn’t get hypoglycemic,” she said.

Forsythe is no stranger to this procedure; Henry is the eighth joey she has raised. Two of her other success stories are Arana and Delora, who are now fully grown and living in the Outback Walkabout exhibit at the park.

Although she has experience, caring for a baby kangaroo is still challenging.

“He [Henry] has a blue pouch liner, so one time he saw my blue shirt and thought it was his pouch. He jumped inside my shirt, then tried to climb out the sleeve. I had to call someone over to help me get him out,” Forsythe said.

The staff will return Henry to the Outback Walkabout in about six months, when he is old enough to hop around by himself. Until then, he lives with Forsythe in her home. He has had contact with humans and with Forsyth’s dogs, who largely ignore him. However, he has not had contact with his mother or the other kangaroos since he was taken from Mathilda’s pouch.

“When kangaroos who I’ve raised return to the Outback, they give no special treatment to their mothers,” said Forsythe. By that time, they have seen Forsythe as their mother.

Recycling Revolution

By RACHEL HARRIS

duPont Manual High School

Some students at Western Kentucky University are so passionate about recycling they have begun to collect the recycling around campus themselves.

“This is the only job I thought was meaningful,” said Andrew Rolett, a Surplus and Recycling associate. “When I had another student job on campus I really didn’t feel like I was making a difference.”

The amount of recycled waste on WKU’s campus has increased by 10 percent in the past five years.
“Fourteen percent of Western Kentucky’s waste is recycled right now,” Sara Hutchinson, Recycling Coordinator said.
“We collect a lot of surplus things people throw out at the end of the year such as toasters and blenders and donate those to a local nonprofit or recycle what we can,” Hutchinson said.

According to the 2009 Sustainability Report, 35 percent of WKU’s total waste is easily recyclable. These items include paper, plastic bottles, glass, cardboard and even some office and computer supplies. Hutchinson estimates there are more than 600 exterior bins throughout the campus.
“We try to put a little blue desk-side bin in every classroom and office,” Hutchinson said.
The recycling is collected and put in compact trucks daily by a group of about seven students, and the recycled material ends up at the Quality Recycling Solutions in Nashville.
“We have an account that is specific to recycling, and at the end of the year whatever we are not able to pay for with our revenue from surplus, the Solid Waste Department covers,” Hutchinson said.
In 2009 Facilities Management invested more than $30,000 in new recycling bins. In that year alone, 565,000 pounds of plastic, aluminum, cardboard and other recyclable material were collected.
Hutchinson said there is still progress to be made in the area of recycling.
“There is still a lot that needs to be done in dining halls, but they are kind of set in their ways so it’s pretty difficult,” Hutchinson said.
Another obstacle to overcome is changing students’ mentality. And that takes time, Hutchinson said.

Despite the increase in the percentage of waste recycled on campus, Eric Bain Selbo, head of the philosophy and religion department, said many people don’t realize the convenience of recycling.
“We have the campus so well covered with recycling it’s not like you have to change who you are,” Bain-Selbo said.