Gov. Steve Beshear announced a plan on Jan. 10 to allow Kentucky universities to issue agency bonds to fund campus improvement proj-ects with university funds. This plan could lead to WKU getting an Hon-ors College and International Cen-ter.

President Gary Ransdell said be-cause WKU is a state university, they need state approval before they ac-quire debt, even though they will be paying for it. WKU has used agency bonds to fund renovation projects such as Van Meter Hall, College High Hall and Diddle Arena.

“A lot of our renovation projects have been done with university funds,” he said.

The $22 million project is one of 11 from six different universities in-cluded in one agency bond package, Ransdell said. He said he expects the General Assembly to approve all the projects at once in the spring.

“It was a prudent strategy for us to all agree on our priority projects and submit one proposal for one ap-proval rather than each of us work-ing independently…this is the fi rst time that that’s occurred, so that’s a good sign that higher education is working well together,” he said.

Robbin Taylor, vice president of

Looking back over her years of struggling with depres-sion, Elyssa Carmony said the spring of 2012 was defi nitely the worst.

Between her extra-curricular activities and the pressure of keeping up with her classwork, the 19-year-old honors stu-dent from Independence, Ky., said she was starting to feel the strain.

“I have to be involved in ev-erything and the best at every-thing I’m involved in,” Carmo-ny said.

The stress of it all made her feel as if she didn’t have any friends, despite her strong connection with her sorority sisters of Alpha Gamma Delta and others. She isolated her-self by spending a lot of time alone in her room.

For Carmony, it’s harder for her to deal with stress than oth-ers because she has borderline personality disorder. People affected by this illness often deal with feelings of abandon-ment, depression and struggle with self-harm.

Carmony said people deal-ing with borderline personali-ty disorder are often described as the “third-degree burn pa-tients” of psychology. She said people with this disorder can make strides toward recovery, but the illness is never com-pletely gone.

“That’s really hard to get a grip on if you don’t come at it head strong and don’t come at it with support,” Carmony said.

Carmony has attempted sui-cide three times and thought about it countless others. She said her attempts were never

premeditated; they came on when she was feeling really low.

“There were days when ev-erything felt so wrong,” she said.

Lately, Carmony said she has been feeling better. She said she owes this to her friends, her sorority sisters and her faith in God.

“Every day is a struggle, I think. And you have to choose that day whether you’re going to rise above it or if you’re go-ing to let it get to you,” she said.

She’s tried medications and has seen counselors, but she said that being able to call upon her friends has been one of the most benefi cial things.

One of Carmony’s sorority sisters, Henderson junior Ari-ana DeLong, has also fought depression and thoughts of

TUESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2013 • WESTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY • WKUHERALD.COM • VOLUME 88 NO. 27

OPINION STUDENTS' TAKE ON THE PETRINO HIRE PAGE 4

NEWSMISS KENTUCKY CROWNED AT WKUPAGE 10

SPORTSWOMEN'S BASKETBALL OFF TO FAST STARTPAGE 14

WKU students open dialogue about suicide, depressionANNA ANDERSONDIVERSIONS@WKUHERALD.COM

SEE DIALOGUE PAGE 3

Independence sophomore Elyssa Carmony has struggled withdepression since her freshman year of high school and reachedan all-time low last spring when she attempted to take her own life. Carmony began taking medication in June and this past fall found solace in her Alpha Gamma Delta sisters after telling themabout her on-going battle with depression and attempted sui-cide. Currently, she is working toward living her life with a more positive outlook. KATIE MCLEAN/HERALD

Patrons wave fl ags at the National Mall as President Barack Obama was introduced at his ceremonial swearing-in at the U.S. Capitol during the 57th Presidential Inauguration in Washington, D.C. on Monday. JABIN BOTSFORD/HERALD

Percy Yeung, 17, of Jacksonville, Fla. falls asleep while waiting for the inauguration ceremony of President Obama to begin on Mon-day in Washington D.C. DOROTHY EDWARDS/HERALD

Being in Bowling Green didn’t stop a group of more than 40 students, professors and members of the community to board a charter bus and make the 14-hour drive to Alexandria, Va., to see President Barack Obama be inaugurat-ed into offi ce this past

weekend.Alexandria, a town

only a metro ride away from D.C., was where the group stayed for their three-day trip to D.C.

The trip was orga-nized and led by Po-litical Science Depart-ment Head Saundra Ardrey.

Ardrey has led a trip to the presidential

JOANNA WILLIAMSNEWS@WKUHERALD.COM

wku goes to washington

TAYLOR HARRISONNEWS@WKUHERALD.COM

SEE HONORS PAGE 2

Plans for

new Honors

College and

International

Center begin

Students attend inauguration

TUE 30°/17° WED 42°/30° THU 44°/32° FRI 38°/24°

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BG ICE RINK?STUDENTS ANTICIPATE THE POSSIBILITY OF A BOWLING GREEN ICE RINK.PAGE 9

A WINTER FOR

HUMANITYEIGHT STUDENTS WENT SOUTH FOR THE HOLIDAYS TO HELP FAMILY IN NEED.PAGE 11

WKUHERALD.com MLK DAY AT WKUTHE MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. PLANNING COMMITEE HOSTS EVENTS TO MARK MLK DAY.PAGE 10

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