Author: Adrienne D'Alewyn

Food points: deal or no deal?

The Marketplace is one of the on-campus dining options for students, where the food points markup doesn't exist. Photo by Alex Gross '18.
The Marketplace is one of the on-campus dining options available to students. There, they can use their food points with no additional markup. Photo by Alex Gross ’18.

Using Ohio Wesleyan food points to get an off-campus meal isn’t a bargain.

According to WCSA President Jerry Lherrison, students can be charged up to 44 percent extra by the establishment they visit. Furthermore, OWU takes 30 percent of all off-campus purchases, regardless of a mark-up, which encourages participating businesses to increase prices just to break even on those purchases.

In other words, the university and local business benefit when points are used off-campus, but it’s no deal for students. The 100 points students purchase through their meal plans each semester don’t go as far a students might think. And many students don’t use them, even though they’ve paid for them.

Students are given a degree of control over the program through a voting system that decides which restaurants will be included each year, but even that process has its flaws.

The largest problem with the voting system seems to be that many, if not most, students don’t know when or how to vote. In the fall of 2014, WCSA announced the process through a news release which also included a notice about the school’s activity fee increasing.

Last year, 426 of 1,830 students signed into a WCSA survey to vote. Out of those, 398 voted.

Hamilton Williams card office secretary Nancy Tumeo said most students seem to know very little, if anything, about the program and many students – particularly freshmen – don’t take advantage of their off-campus points at all.

The number of eateries that can participate is limited by the university, based on the number of card-scanning machines it has to distribute to the businesses.

Confusion exists on the other side of the program as well.

Richard Upton, owner of Delaware's J.Gumbo's, in his restaurant. Photo courtesy of youtube.com.
Richard Upton, owner of Delaware’s J.Gumbo’s, in his restaurant. Photo courtesy of youtube.com.

Richard Upton, owner of JGumbo’s, said, “I’m very happy to be in the program. I think it’s done well for business, but it’s hard to connect with the students about the restaurant and get them to vote.”

Upton said students who work for him suggested the best method for advertising would be flyers because other methods, such as including releases in the OWU Daily, are ignored by most students. Upton resorted to hanging signs in his establishment, encouraging students to vote in the election, which, he said, students don’t seem to know is occurring at all.

Once a restaurant makes it into the off-campus program, the restaurant’s part in profiting from the partnership is not done there. Restaurant owners who preferred not to be named voice similar struggles to quantify their benefit from the program as did Upton.

“My wife looks at the numbers sometimes and says, ‘I don’t see [the benefit].’ But I do,” Upton said. “I think about 20 percent of the business is OWU students and probably about 50 percent of those use off-campus points. This is the third year we’ve been able to take [food points]. The real bump comes from students getting used to coming, sitting down, having a good time even when they don’t have the extra cash.

“We do the max mark-up 42 percent, and that’s just to cover our costs and give the school its take. I’m not making 42 percent more money on each sale to students, not by a long shot.”

Overall, representatives of all the restaurants who commented for this story were positive about the program despite any difficulties they found with promotion, the election process or contracts they signed as part of their affiliation with the school.

Another point of frustration, however, was the perception that some long-standing restaurants seem to always be on the list at the detriment of newer establishments.

Also, two years ago students made an effort to help the Delaware Community Market, a non-profit, by voting it into the program. They succeed, but few students visited the establishment, according to Tumeo, who said she believes the Market – a 22-minute walk from campus – was just too far for students when many other options line Sandusky Street near campus.

Upton said the slot used by Community Market could have been given to an establishment that may have better benefited from the program.

Vaquero’s is another lightning rod for criticism from restaurateurs and students alike. Most troubling, according to multiple sources who didn’t want to be named for fear of getting in trouble with OWU administrators, is the practice of letting students purchase alcohol using their food points. The off-campus program does not allow the purchase of alcohol with food points, but Vaquero’s apparently has garnered a reputation for getting around the rule.

Multiple students recounted the process of making a joint food-drink purchase at Vaquero’s – including alcohol – and splitting the cost on their meal cards so the cashier submits the alcohol purchase as “miscellaneous.” Using that terminology makes it easier to get through the school’s validation system. The practice was cited as a reason students were more likely to vote for the restaurant despite those same students noting occasions where the food supposedly made them sick. More issues with Vaquero’s are borne out through their health inspection records.

The interior of Vaqueros. Photo courtesy of pacerinnandsuitesmotel.com.
The interior of Vaqueros. Photo courtesy of pacerinnandsuitesmotel.com.

The owner of Vaquero’s refused repeated requests for comment.

The restaurant consistently racks up health violations, according to an analysis of public records. During an investigation into five years of health records for all restaurants in the off-campus points program, Vaquero’s had the largest file – 60 pages. Opa’s Bar and Grill was next with 12 pages of health inspection reports during the same period.

For example, an inspection in February found three critical violations as defined by the Delaware General Health District. All involved keeping ready-made food improperly, such as leaving it near raw food. Hot and cold foods were not kept at proper temperatures. And refrigerated items were not marked to show when they were opened. An issue with cleanliness of food preparation surfaces has been a problem on and off since 2012.

In 2012, the restaurant was investigated for complaints of possible foodborne illness and cited for 11 violations. Over the past five years, the health district also noted employees have a history of failing to demonstrate knowledge about food safety.

The health district inspects restaurants at least twice a year for food safety issues, according to Karey Sanders, food safety sanitarian for the district.

Kim F. Eckart, administrative assistant to Dan Hitchel, OWU’s vice president for finance and administration, said the university weighs input from students about the off-campus points program when making decisions about it.

 

Brown-Smith is a 2015 graduate of OWU and wrote this story as part of course assignment in May.

Postel: Current water use unsustainable

Sandra Postel. Photo: OWU Libraries
Sandra Postel. Photo: OWU Libraries

Director and Founder of the Global Water Policy Project Sandra Postel urged communities and individuals to reconsider their relationship with water systems in their area.

The Freshwater Fellow of the National Geographic Society discussed several solutions to the ways human have mismanaged the water supply. Her talk on took place on Tuesday Sept. 23,  as part of the Sagan National Colloquium’s H2OWU: Water in Our World lecture series.

Postel began by addressing the difference between the amount of water covering the planet and the amount of fresh water available for humans to actually make use of.

“We are lucky to live on a water wealthy planet, but only 2.5 percent is freshwater and most of that is locked underground,” Postel said. “That is a finite supply for increasing worldwide demand.”

The raise in demand, Postel explained, is linked to emerging economies where more people are entering the middle class. Finite water sources are being stretched thin to meet the demands associated with the growing population, and not just for uses that are immediately apparent such as drinking.

The use of water for agriculture makes up about fifty percent of all consumption, and those plants are used for much more than eating.

“If we think about how many gallons of water it takes to make a simple cotton shirt,” Postel said. “It’s 700 gallons, most of that is to grow the cotton in the field. A typical hamburger takes about 600 gallons…the average American uses about 600 gallons a week.”

Postel described the way we use and manage water as “unsustainable”.  She noted groundwater depletion – the water most often used for drinking and other domestic consumption – has “more than doubled” since 1960. Many of the government’s choices in regards to their water supply have focused mainly on serving the needs of people, while the value of water left in its environment has been largely overlooked.

Postel used examples of governments who chose to disrupt water systems, most jarringly the case of the Aral Sea. The Aral Sea was once the fourth largest lake in the world, until Soviet planners in the 1960s diverted the two rivers which fed the body of water to aid crop irrigation efforts. Today, the lake is all but gone, its total volume decreased by roughly 80 percent according to Postel. Fisheries that used to line the Aral dried up as the lake did, leaving those communities with no livelihood, and pollution caused by fertilisers used in the irrigated farmlands polluted the sediment and caused disease among the people who stayed there.

Another example would be the missing 35 million acres of wetlands in the upper Mississippi River. The loss of this natural flood mitigating resource has led to erratic flooding and droughts along that stretch of the river, most notably in 2011 where the largest flood in a century took place followed by a summer of drought so severe that levy’s along the river had to be raised in order for commerce to continue as planned. According to Postel, a 3-5% restoration of those wetlands would have helped mitigate the floods and kept the water flow more normally the following summer.

To mitigate all of this, Postel said we have to make the most out of the water around us and leave as much in place as we can. Citing new agricultural innovations such as “Drip” or “Micro Irrigation” that delivers water directly to the roots of plants without wasting as much water as traditional irrigation, and sensors that can monitor soil saturation, Postel asserted that we can be smarter about the ways we use and manage water supplies.

Strategic removal of obsolete dams and investment of watershed services that use natural means such as incentivising farmers to keep runoff out of rivers to keep reservoirs clean in place of water treatment plants were other tested solutions that Postel offered.

Finally, Postel introduced her “Changing the Course” program that seeks to unite businesses, conservation groups and the public in communities on the ground in an effort to shrink the water footprint and raise productivity. A big victory for the project, which also seeks to get universities involved in their efforts in the near future, came when the U.S. and Mexican governments negotiated a temporary amendment to an existing water usage treaty to allow water to flow back into the Colorado River Delta. The five year pilot program led the Colorado river reaching the Sea of Cortez for the first time since drying up.

Student Involvement sells art collection

The Student Involvement Office (SIO) will be selling artwork to raise money for student programs the week before homecoming weekend.

The artwork being sold has been collected in the office over the years and is now being removed after a recent renovation. Performers and presenters that have visited Ohio Wesleyan University have contributed to the collection, leading to the diversity of content that will be on sale. Framed class year shirts, signed posters and student artwork are just some of the subjects framed in the pieces that will be on sale.

“The money will go towards getting some kind of special programming for students,” SIO Office manager Mona Spalsbury said. “Some of these are from the 90’s when the building was first built…Everything was professionally framed and mounted…none of it will be more than 50 dollars.”

O.A.R., Bill Cosby, Counting Crows and Ben Folds are just some of the artists and autographs featured in the sale, alongside OWU memorabilia from the ages since. Pieces range from framed posters to larger compilations of signed shirts and other artwork in clean, twenty inch or larger frames.

“If nothing else, the frames are beautiful,” Spalsbury said. “They’re huge, you could frame just about anything in some of them.”

The sale, which is the second of its kind from the SIO this year, will take place the Friday before homecoming weekend in atrium of Hamilton-Williams from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Music historian talks life in the 1960s

Dennis McNally. Photo courtesy Dennis McNally
Dennis McNally. Photo courtesy Dennis McNally

Music historian and former publicist for The Grateful Dead, Dennis McNally, spoke on Tuesday about the power of music to unite and change cultures.

Hosted by Ohio Wesleyan University’s Arneson Institute for Practical Politics and Public Affairs, the talk was, in part, a promotion for McNally’s new book, Highway 61: Music, Race, and the Evolution of Cultural Freedom. McNally’s presentation mirrored his book, following the evolution of music from southern blues to rock n’ roll.  His presentation also showed the bridges made over cultural divisions during this journey.

All of this, McNally asserts, came to a head in the 60’s with anti-establishment movements against status quo concepts of sex, religion, politics–especially during the Vietnam war–and race in America.

McNally also took the time to relate the subject to the state of the music industry today. After admitting that he did not spend much time listening to contemporary music, he lamented that the modern industry does not allow the same room for creativity that allowed bands like The Grateful Dead to find their voice in the 60’s.

“It’s easy to forget, (The Grateful Dead) had two huge flops before they got big, y’know?” McNally said. “The label stuck with them back then, though you couldn’t blame them if they hadn’t, but today?… The business is just a horror. So commercialized, most guys get one shot and then they’re done.”

McNally went on to lament this turn in the music industry, especially as this age of technology has enhanced the ability for people with a message to send that message around the world.

Pointing to subjects like marriage equality and climate change as examples, McNally argued that a push from the musical community of today could affect greater social change than ever before if those gatekeepers and artists would allow the message to mature and escape in a form that was appealing to the public.

Independent bands both in America and abroad provide some sense of hope for that vision, at least to McNally.

“There’s this band in Mali called Tinariwen,” McNally said. “They’re using Malian music, sang in French, using american rock n’ roll instruments with modern rock modalities. They’re playing blue notes, because they invented them….and they’re a rock band. A hell of a rock band.”

To conclude, McNally warned about the potential for even these pockets of positive musical influence to become over commercialized and robbed of meaning, and the chorus of “noise” that the internet age has brought along with it has more positive benefits.

“(Positive messages losing their meaning) is a danger, I don’t think that’s reason enough to keep you from putting out a positive message,” McNally said. “You can only say what you feel and in as sincere and heart-felt a way as possible…That there’s always a risk that it’s going to get blurred with endless side noise.”

McNally’s book is available now in the campus bookstore. The next Arneson Institute speaker will be film director and poet Sini Anderson, who will be screening her documentary “The Punk Singer” on Wednesday, Oct. 8th.

Peru trips continue for a decade outside of spring break program

This story was updated on Sept. 26, 2014.

Patricio Plazolles is the Program Officer for the Woltemade Center for Economics, Business and Entrepreneurship and spends his summers building businesses and other opportunities for disadvantaged communities in Peru.

The effort began in 2001 as part of Ohio Wesleyan’s Spring Break Mission Week program where a group of students travel abroad to do charity work in other countries every March. Plazolles would travel to areas surrounding Lima, Peru, with 10 students to learn about the culture and do work for the betterment of those communities.

“The students used their backgrounds to contribute to the communities,” Plazolles said. “We had an arts major with us who taught welding to some students there, others taught English in the evenings. Then the students themselves would learn to milk cows and just get to know the people there…The point was to understand the conditions of those people.”

With more funding, Plazolles and the Peru program built classrooms in a school outside of the second largest city in Peru, including a new kitchen with industrial appliances where cooking staff had previously used a tin shack with a hot plate to prepare meals. As if the transformation weren’t enough, Plazolles explained how jump starts like these in the community could lead to fundamental changes in people’s lives.

“They started a soup kitchen in the new facility and charged very little, as much as the people there could afford,” Plazolles said. “Then they bought a DVD player…then a TV…and now they have movie nights.”

For Plazolles, the point of starting these businesses is not turning a profit; money and materials he donates to schools and startups are just that, not loans. Enabling people to work for themselves without having to worry about paying anyone back for giving them that second chance is at the center of his philosophy.

“Why would I take back something I gave you after you’ve built this for yourself?” Plazolles said. “It is sustainable, they will alway have this, and they don’t have to pay any interest or things like that.”

The last Peru trip took place in 2004 before the program was cancelled, but Plazolles has continued to travel to Peru and do work every summer. Most recently, Plazolles started a bakery in a school for developmentally disabled people that allowed the school to provide occupational opportunities for the students. With more funding, Plazolles would like to open the program to students who are too old for the school, rather than them having to return to homes with few opportunities.

In 2011, Plazolles was awarded the  Peruvian Pride Award for Peruvians abroad who have made great contributions in the U.S. and Peru. The money Plazolles collects for the equipment and other charitable efforts comes from individual donations. OWU alumni and students have all contributed and Plazolles keeps notes of the students and where they are from to show people in Peru where their donations come from.

Donations made are used to buy equipment before turning it over to communities in Peru, they do the work from there themselves. Donations can be left in the urn in Plazolles’ office that he calls the “Tree of Wishes” and any amount — pennies or dollars — is welcome.

When asked about the Peru trip making a return to Mission Week, Associate Chaplain Chad Johns, who is in charge of the Mission Week program, responded in a statement echoed by Chaplain Jon Powers.

“My assumption is that the Peru team hit a lull in interest and then faded from student consciousness. As far as I know, there have been no recent attempts to revive the team.” Johns said. “However, since I’ve been here, we have had teams to El Salvador, Nicaragua, Haiti and Belize.”

With enough interest and a formal proposal, the trip could make a return, and OWU students could once again accompany Plazolles on one of these trips to make a difference in the Peruvian community.

OWU’s donations by the numbers

Highlights of OWU’s largest donations from the 2013-2014 fiscal year contributing near $27.9 million of the total amount of $30.2 million. Graphic by Ellin Youse
Highlights of OWU’s largest donations from the 2013-2014 fiscal year contributing near $27.9 million of the total amount of $30.2 million. Graphic by Ellin Youse

55 percent of donations from 2013-2014 given to university in cash

Ohio Wesleyan collected $30.2 million in the last fiscal year of fundraising.

Alumni, parents and friends of the university made that amount in new gifts and commitments between July 1 of last year and June 30, 2014.

According to Vice President for University Advancement Colleen C. Garland, the amount includes a $5 million donation from alumni John F. and Kathryn Bradford Milligan for the OWU Connection curricular initiative, which aims to track and improve the effectiveness of various academic programs on campus by tracking new metrics related to them.

$3.8 million was donated separately for the Ohio Wesleyan Fund and $465,754 for the Team OWU initiative, which support campus operations and varsity sports respectively.

A boost of about $19 million in philanthropic support went toward various building projects in progress on campus. An $8 million donation from 1958 graduate Louis A. Simpson and his wife, Kimberly K. Querrey helped the university meet the $10 million funding goal to complete renovations on Edwards Gymnasium and the former Pfeiffer Natatorium, which will become the Simpson Querrey Fitness Center when it is completed in the fall of 2015.

The final highlight includes a $1.1 million estate gift, which will be added to the insurance-funded effort to repair and upgrade Elliot Hall’s infrastructure after a frozen pipe ruptured during last year’s “polar vortex,” causing the building to close for a semester.

Another notable donation comes from an anonymous donor, giving $8 million for the renovation of Merrick Hall.

Of the total amount, $22.2 million of the donations were made in cash, making for a 55 percent increase over a three-year average of $14.2 million.

“While we celebrate every gift commitment, we are especially gratified to have been able to deliver such a substantial amount of cash to put to work right away to address some of the university’s highest priorities,” Garland said.

President Rock Jones said the generosity and vision of Ohio Wesleyan’s many donors indicate their strong commitment to the university’s educational mission, students, and faculty.

Bishops break records at NCAC

Freshman Anne Edwards prepares to have another record breaking performance. Photo by NCAC
Freshman Anne Edwards prepares to have another record breaking
performance.
Photo by NCAC

The NCAC Swimming and Diving Championship took place last week at Denison University’s Trumbull Aquatic Center.

Ohio Wesleyan finished sixth overall with a score of 625.5 and record-breaking performances from student athletes. Denison won the meet with a score of 1898.5.

Freshman Anne Edwards managed to break her own school record on the third day of the competition by swimming the 1650 yard freestyle in 17:45.98; 30 seconds faster than her previous record.

The finish was Edwards’ second top-10 finish of the championships, following a ninth place finish in the 500 yard freestyle where she set another school record with a time of 5:11.10 in the preliminaries.

“I’m happy with the progress I’ve made so far but I hope to swim faster at conference,” Edwards said.

“I don’t expect to place in any event but I expect to beat my season best times and break the records I’ve already set.”

Senior Sean Anthony and Junior Marcus Ramirez had the men’s Battling Bishops’ best finishes of the championships on the final day of competition.

Anthony came in 11th in the 200 yard breaststroke with a time of 2:07.02. Ramirez improved on an 18th place finish in the preliminaries to come in 11th in the 200 yard butterfly with a time of 1:58.44.

Yoga mat material found in Subway bread

A recent petition put forth by blogger Vani Hari has revealed that Subway uses a plastic-based additive in their bread commonly used in yoga mats.

The additive, which is called azodicarbonamide, is described by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a “dough conditioner,” intended to strengthen dough and improve elasticity.

The FDA guidelines also say the chemical can be used as “an ageing and bleaching agent in cereal flour.”

Discussion of the additives use has principally focused on a 1999 study conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO) where a bi-product of the additive, biurea, resulted in the deaths of a number of rats during testing.

For the purposes of the study, the rats in question were treated with concentrated amounts of the additive to determine the effects.

Urethane, another byproduct of the addictive, is listed as a carcinogen by the FDA but has not been connected to it’s use as a dough conditioner.

“We are already in the process of removing azodicarbonamide as part of our bread improvement efforts despite the fact that it is a USDA and FDA approved ingredient,” said Subway, in a recent statement. “The complete conversion to have this product out of the bread will be done soon.”

Azodicarbonamide is also used in the buns at McDonald’s and Burger King however neither has incurred the same backlash as Subway.

“This is an interesting case, because Subway purports to make all of their bread fresh every day (thus no concerns about preserving or shelf life), but the speed and efficiency with which they do it is likely enhanced by this additive,” said Christopher Fink, assistant professor and chair of the Department of Health and Human Kinetics.

“It’s difficult to lump all kinds of additives together, however, it is interesting to consider why they are present.”

Fink also said the process followed by the FDA to approve such additives for use is “quite rigorous, generally speaking” and that “there isn’t any evidence for danger for humans” when asked about long-term health concerns.

Fink also urges students avoid knee-jerk reactions to being told about something being added to their food.

“All of that being said, I would urge people to consider again the reasons for these additives…” Fink said. “While it is certainly an oversimplification, (author Michael Pollan in his book ‘In Defense of Food’) provide(s) some good guidance. He says: ‘Eat Food (real food). Not too much. Mostly plants.’”

The manager of the local Subway on Sandusky declined to comment on this story, but Subway said all local franchises would follow the example set by corporate.

Externships: more than a pesky email

 

Ask the average Ohio Wesleyan student what the Bishop Externship Program is and the answer might be a blank stare.

The student hearing about the program for the first time might not know anything about the program, except that it is a reoccurring subject line found in his or her Bishop email account.

The school website describes an externship program as “a short (1-5 days) practical experience which allows OWU students to explore a potential career path, gain valuable job experience and engage with OWU alumni working in various career fields and industries.”

The Bishop Externship program offers students a unique job shadowing opportunity by exploring possible career interests, in a program that takes place over spring break by connecting the students with alumni located in various parts of the country.

 

Origins of the program

According to senior Martin Clark, Marketing and Public Relations Intern for the Offices of Career Services, “An Externship provides an opportunity to be exposed to a work environment without long term commitment.

“You don’t dig quite as deeply into a career as with an internship, you just get your foot in the door to see if you’d be interested in it.”

Clark said economics majors might benefit more from the program because of the number of alumni work in economic related fields.

“Ultimately we’re limited in what we can offer by what alumni get involved in the program,” he said. “There is no program without the alumni.”

To widen that pool of experiences, Clark said the Internship Coordinator, Melissa Bogner, is always reaching out to alumni from all backgrounds to attract a wider variety of students with different majors.

The official Bishop Externship program launched last year with externships being offered over spring break in various locations including New York City, Columbus and Atlanta,” Bogner said.

“We have witnessed an increase in alumni involvement this fall, which allowed for more externship opportunities for OWU students.”

Additionally, Bogner said alumni have been impressed with the caliber of OWU students and she has seen students return to campus with a new eagerness and energy to pursue their careers.

Both Bogner and Clark point to the alumni as being the key factor that differentiates the program from other, more traditional, internship programs.

 

Students reflect on their experiences 

 

Senior Lauren Holler voiced a similar opinion.

Holler participated in a fall break Externship and shadowed alumna Megan Ellis and some of her colleagues at Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Franklin County.

“My sponsor, Megan Ellis, was very kind and welcoming along with the entire staff at CASA,” Holler said.

“The Bishop Externship Program really gives students an opportunity to connect with alumni in intimate settings, which I find very valuable,” Holler said.

“All of the alumni I met throughout the experience were very eager to meet with us and talk to us.”

Senior Kelsey King, who also participated in an externship program, said she would recommend the program.

“If you’re entertaining the idea of entering a certain field, sign up,” she said.

“You may discover that the industry isn’t what you imagined, or find that the industry is a fantastic fit for your interests and skills. Take a chance in the application and have fun.”

Atheists seek space

Atheist and agnostic students now have access to campus resources provided by junior Avery Winston and senior Maddy Leader, with help from staff of the Chaplain’s and Service Learning Offices.

Currently, these resources are limited to a collection of books on the fourth floor of Hamilton-Williams Campus Center.

Last spring, Winston proposed a resource center for atheist and agnostic students, but the proposal was turned down due to a lack of funds, space and demand. Instead, Winston decided to set up the bookcase for interested students.

“It’s not just about religion; it’s about creating a safe zone for (atheist and agnostic) students,” he said. “There are books here about losing faith, about how to come out (as an atheist), about getting harmed by faith, living well and positively without faith.

“It’s just about showing people they’re not alone…I’m not worried about what’s taught in classrooms or anything.”

The books currently available are mostly from Winston’s personal collection and others donated by friends and alumni.

Winston said he is also seeking $500 from WCSA to get enough books to fill the case, a request that is still under review.

“We deserve something on campus that caters to people of our mindset,” he said.

Leader said her motivation comes in part from a perceived prejudice against agnostic and atheist students that she has encountered as a member of Freethinkers, a campus club that includes diverse views on faith and promotes open discussion of philosophical issues.

After becoming a cabinet member for Freethinkers, Leader and others posted calendars around campus outlining secular holidays.

“The next day, most had been torn down,” Leader said. “…One had been vandalized — scratched up with black marker so you couldn’t tell what was on it.”

Despite this, both say they have found an abundance of support from faith-based organizations on campus. In particular, Winston and Leader point to chaplains Jon Powers and William Hayes, the adviser for Freethinkers, as sources of support for their cause.

They also said Sally Leber, director of the Community Service Learning Office, helped them get permission to use the bookcase in HWCC to make these materials available to students.

Both students wanted to be clear they are merely trying to show support for atheist or agnostic students on campus.

According to Winston, while the materials may espouse a view that is not religious, they are not “proselytizing against faith.”

He said the effort is merely to contribute to the “diversity of thought” on campus and hopes others will understand that.