BGSU part of national show airing on PBS

BOWLING GREEN, O.—An October forum at Bowling Green State University gave northwest Ohio citizens a chance to have their say about higher education in the state. Portions of that discussion are now part of a PBS program focused on the need for civic engagement.

“By the People: Citizenship in the 21 st Century,” anchored by Jim Lehrer, will air on WBGU-PBS at 10 p.m. Tuesday (Jan. 8). About eight minutes into the national program, WBGU viewers will see a five-minute segment of footage recorded at the fall forum at Bowling Green, which included an interactive discussion with participants in a concurrent forum at Kent State University.

WBGU/BGSU was among 11 sites nationwide chosen to host “By the People: Dialogues in Democracy” by MacNeil-Lehrer Productions. The discussions brought together about 1,100 citizens to deliberate national issues such as health care, immigration, transportation, housing and the environment, as well as education.

At 8 p.m. Thursday (Jan. 10), WBGU will air a special one-hour edition of its weekly “NW Ohio Journal” featuring the BGSU-Kent State forum. Patrick Fitzgerald, general manager of WBGU, was one of the moderators, while panelists included Dr. Shirley Baugher, provost and vice president for academic affairs at BGSU, and Dr. M. Neil Browne, Distinguished Teaching Professor emeritus of economics. The program will be rebroadcast Jan. 13 at noon.

“NW Ohio Journal” will devote another hour to the topic of Ohio higher education at 8 p.m. Jan. 17, in a live follow-up program with guests Baugher and BGSU President Sidney Ribeau. Viewers may call in questions during the show, which will be hosted by Dr. Patrick Pauken, an associate professor of educational administration and leadership studies and chair of the Faculty Senate at BGSU.

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(Posted January 07, 2008)