TheTranscript – Page 21 – The Transcript

2,020 by 2020: Becoming a reality

By Leah Miza, Photo Editor

As of Friday, Sept. 2 the final numbers are in. Ohio Wesleyan’s first year class of 2016 sprung by 11.4 percent this fall, creating higher and more realistic chances of reachig a total of 2,020 students by the year 2020.

This increase in numbers went hand-in- hand with newly incorporated tactics by the university.

The idea was first passed by the Board of Trustees (BOT) at their February campus retreat, earlier this year. According to the campus retreat report, the board called for a 25 percent growth in total student body over the next five years.

There has been ongoing work since.

Susan Dileno, vice president of enrollment, said many measures influenced the increase in the first year class number, including a revamp of their open house formats and tours, and paying a lot more attention to branding.

“We had Rock [Jones] travel around the country,” she said. “We did around 15 guidance counselor receptions around the U.S.”

Dileno also said the boost in allocating more need-based aid rather than merit scholarships and the addition of a new business major could be other possible factors that contributed to the increase in the freshman class number.

President Rock Jones said that this is a “great first start,” but more needs to be done, including new academic programs and increasing the number of student athletes.

“We’re working to increase transfer student enrollment and we have a significant agenda for increasing international student enrollment,” Jones said. “All of which feeds into increasing the enrollment of 2,020 by 2020.”

Jones and Dileno both stressed the importance of retention rates and anticipate a rise this year.

“We need to continue work on the campus and in particular the residential facilities,” Jones said.

“We’re looking at an idea related to housing for first year students which would be part of our much more comprehensive first year initiatives that will help improve retention.”

Dwayne Todd, vice president for student engagement and success, said that one important step in the retention plan was hiring Brad Pulcini, assistant dean for student engagement and director of the first-year experience.

Todd also stressed the importance of altering the housing facilities for freshmen and continuing students, which has slowly started through the newly built SLUplexes.

“We will begin to expand our planning to improve the housing facilities that serve our other continuing students, including those who live in fraternity houses,” Todd said. “We are currently involved in intensive work to develop plans for a new first-year student housing complex.”

Executives are also working to improve infastructre around campus, which began during the summer with the paving of sidewalks outside Edgar and behind Merrick as well as big renovations in Slocum Hall to the Office of Admission.

According to Todd, they are working with the BOT to determine financial resources, and “look forward to sharing more with the OWU community as soon as we are able.”

New SLUs on the block

By David Fradkin, Transcript Correspondent

It has been almost a year since Ohio Wesleyan began constructing the new Small Living Units and it will not be long until they are all finished.

The first ‘SLUplex’ located at 118 Rowland Ave. is completed and occupied by members of both the Inter-Faith house (IF) and Sexuality and Gender Equality House (SAGE).

Senior Chase Smith, member and moderator of the IF house, said he will always miss and cherish the memories shared at 81 Oak Hill, but he is very thankful for their new one.

“The A.C. is wonderful, the natural lighting is wonderful and it’s located a lot closer which makes it feel like senior living,” Smith said. “I think it’s appropriate that I moved in here my senior year”.

Another complex is still under construction at 86 Rowland Ave., which will be occupied by members of the House of Peace and Justice (P&J) and the House of Linguistic Diversity (HOLD), which was formerly known as the Modern Foreign Language House.

Moderator of HOLD, junior Audrey Castaneda Walker, who established their SLU’s new name, said she is excited to move back to the house’s original location. While their new SLUplex is undergoing construction, they have been temporarily relocated to the old IF house.

“I’m never petty about a lot of things, but I am going to be petty about this: I just want my spot back,” Walker said. “I just want to be on the corner and that would be great.”

Walker was told their SLUplex should be done by Thanksgiving and they could move in at the beginning of the second semester.

Members of P&J currently reside at their 235 W. Williams St. location, but they said they are skeptical about the transition into the new SLUplex this winter.

“There is a little bit of a pushback in my house because [moving is] scary and we are very attached to our home,” said junior Rachel Scherrer, moderator of P&J.

Scherrer also said she feels like Residential Life is trying to push for a more residential campus, which might not be a bad thing, but some students did not seem to have much input on the decision for the SLU relocations.

“One thing that my house is trying to discuss right now … with ResLife is to get some transparency,” Scherrer said. “Just so they could tell us what’s happening so there could be an open line of communication.”

A third SLUplex is likely to be built between the other structures on Rowland Avenue, but the official plans have yet to be finalized.

Football team takes Texas

By Matt Maier, Transcript Reporter

The Ohio Wesleyan University men’s football team lost 0-56 in their game against University of Mary-Hardin Baylor (UMHB).

The Battling Bishops traveled to Belton, Texas to play against the Crusaders of UMHB.

“We [went] into this game exactly like we do for any other game,” Tom Watts, head coach, said. “We have a great group of players who have worked extremely hard to this point.”

Senior Mason Tomblin, captain of the football team, said the team’s coaches advised them not to let the defeat discourage them.

“[The team has to] practice harder than before … and stick together to make this thing pan out how we want,” Tomblin said.

A large group of seniors returned this year to lead the team during their first game.

“We [had] a lot of returning players, and along with that we have 24 seniors, which is a huge class for a school our size,” Watt said. “With so many returning players, it allows us to be more advanced at this point in the season.”

Returning player and senior Richard Poutier said, “The first game’s always really exciting for us. Whether we’re playing home or away, we’re just excited to finally line up against someone other than ourselves, and it’s always nice to play that first game against a top-ranked opponent in a great environment.”

The Bishops received funding to travel to Texas from university administrators and alumni.

“Tom Watts, our athletic and university administrators, former CFO Dan Hitchell and a large number of alumni led by Bob Morrill, Steve Dutton, Pat Huber and others helped put this together,” said Roger Ingles, athletic director at OWU. “Without our alumni support, we could not have made this happen.”

The Bishops’ next game will be against Wittenberg University at 7 p.m. on Sept. 17 in Selby Stadium.

WCSA selects Rowan Hannan as chairperson to its Committee on Racial and Cultural Diversity

By Transcript Staff

At the Sept. 5 meeting, Wesleyan Council on Student Affairs (WCSA) announced Rowan Hannan the chairperson to its Committee on Racial and Cultural Diversity.

According to an email sent to all students by WCSA sent on Aug. 30, this 8-member committee will work to identify and address issues faced by underrepresented students on campus.

Hannan said, “I haven’t been on WCSA before. I have led clubs (PRIDE, BOMI club) and am on my third year at SAGE, but I wanted to make change at a different level. I think WCSA really has the power to shape this university and provide a louder voice, especially for underrepresented platforms.”

“I’d like to push WCSA toward a more diverse senate, and encourage other committees to consider different backgrounds when planning their projects,” they added.

In the committee’s first report to the senate, Hannan announced that the committee would be working on sensitivity training for WCSA members, creating a buddy system for international students and providing incentives for making dean’s list, among other things.

Bob Wood, director of Public Safety, announced the starting date for Colum-Bus – an initiative by WCSA and Public Safety to provide cheap transportation to Columbus on a bi-weekly basis. The first bus ride is scheduled to depart from Roy Rike parking lot on Saturday, Sept. 10 at 6:30 p.m. The round trip will cost students $5 and will make multiple trips to Columbus University Gateway. The tickets can be purchased online through Columbus Coach’s website.

Wood also announced flashing lights were established at Rowland Avenue, earlier this month, and encouraged students to use them. In his report, he also mentioned changes in campus parking; particularly changing Selby parking lots from C parking to B parking.

Senators junior Ryan Bishop and sophomore Caroline Hamlin addressed the full senate on developments being made by the Sustainability Task Force.

Bishop said one of the task force’s main goal is to get the university to hire a new Sustainability Coordinator by 2018. He said the plan is to have the student activity fee will sponsor a part of the costs for the new position.

The Sustainability Task Force meets Wednesdays at noon on the second floor of Merrick Hall. Hamlin invited senators to come to the meetings, and said it is an open meeting.

Letter to the editor

Letter to the Editor

Ohio Wesleyan University Transcript

Monday, April 25, 2016

To Whom It May Concern:

As former Editor-in- Chief and Managing Editor of the Ohio Wesleyan University Transcript, we were dismayed by the recent decision to prohibit student journalists’ access to faculty meetings.

This is not the first time the faculty and administration has attempted to restrict access. During our tenure on the Transcript, then University President David Warren refused to speak to student reporters and would only speak to the Editor-in- Chief. So Tricia (we still call her Minnow) and others camped outside of his office daily to request interviews. Eventually, he relented. On our graduation day back in 1992, he said to Minnow, “I wish you well, but I will not miss you.”

We encourage the Transcript staff to continue to attempt access to faculty meetings, and report on each instance that you are denied entry. Do not let this story wither over summer break.

We also encourage the journalism faculty to guide these student journalists through this situation to learn how to build solid professional relationships in the midst of covering a controversial story. Out in the real world of news, relationships matter.

To the faculty, a warning: the student journalists that you brush aside today will quickly become the alumni from whom you will seek financial support tomorrow. The decision to ban access appears timed to take advantage of the end of the semester and its distractions. The only thing transparent here is your motive. What are you trying to hide? We recognize that as a private institution the faculty may have occasional need for closed-session discussion of select items, and an outlet exists already for this purpose in the executive session of faculty meetings. However, the strong preference ought to be toward transparency, and secrecy must be the exception.

The journalism alumni are hearing whispers of threats to both faculty and students in retribution for fighting this ridiculous and unnecessary policy. Shame on the administration if this is true. You have put the journalism alumni in the heart-wrenching position of evaluating how we support our beloved alma mater. Do we cut off our contributions and the matching gifts of our employers in a show of solidarity? Or do we designate our gifts specifically to the Transcript in order to continue to empower student journalists who follow in our footsteps?

In the 20-plus years that have elapsed since our departure from OWU and entry into the real world of journalism, we have witnessed first-hand the erosion of the public’s representation via the media through corporate ownership, staff cuts, consolidation and a steady march to the bottom in terms of quality and resources. We fear that this incident is a continuation of the same trend, and that the proponents of secrecy within the faculty are keenly aware of this and using it to their advantage.

Bear in mind, faculty members: you – even those who advocate against the transparency we seek – are the ones who taught us to think critically, to question authority, to effect positive change in our surroundings. The student journalists with whom you are in conflict are simply living up to that mandate – the single most significant element of a liberal arts education.

To the Transcript staff, we say congratulations on continuing the tradition of excellence for the oldest independent college student run newspaper in the history of our nation. We take great pride in the faded papers in our personal archives, our OWU journalism degrees on our office walls, and the war stories that came with them. It is truly thrilling for us to follow campus news through social media. When we began our journey in the JO Department we lugged electric typewriters to Slocum Hall. We used a wax roller and scissors to paste the layout together by hand in the wee morning hours in order to hand deliver the spec sheets to the printer on time.

To the graduating seniors, we wish you continued success as you enter the world of professional journalism. We hope you take this experience with you as a valuable lesson: Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. When someone in a position of power stands in your way or asks you to kill a story, it is a sign that you must dig deeper. You will encounter this daily. When you do, we hope your training from the OWU JO Department will serve you as well as it has served us.

Good luck!

Jason Cohen

Former Transcript Editor-in- Chief

Tricia “Minnow” Taylor-Lyphout, MPH, MBA

Former Transcript Managing Editor

Ohio Wesleyan University

Journalism Department

Class of 1992

Jason and Tricia also served on the Journalism Student Board during their time at OWU.

Letter to the Editor

To the members of the Ohio Wesleyan University community:

The April 18 action by the OWU faculty members should be reversed immediately. Although OWU, as a private institution, is well within its legal rights to be as secretive as it wishes, closing the doors of its faculty meetings is not only detrimental to the university community’s ability to function, it sends a message of elitism and paternalism to the students. The faculty’s action demonstrates that the university’s mission, as described on the website, is either hypocritical or out of touch with the mindset of those who purport to educate OWU students.

In part, the university website states:

Ohio Wesleyan provides them [the students] with a bounty of interconnected experiences—across disciplines, across cultures, even across continents. After our students graduate, we expect them to be insatiable problem solvers—and agents of change….

We are active and engaged with the world. We have thoughtful opinions, big ideas, and we share them in a rich campus conversation….

If the faculty members actually believe in providing a “bounty of interconnected experiences,” they cannot fail to note that their action demonstrates that they believe students do not understand the concept: The faculty members have shown that they believe students are incapable of synthesis, are incapable of understanding anything beyond the confines of the classroom, and therefore will not understand the implications of the faculty action. Faculty members apparently also believe that students are incapable of understanding what economics professor Bob Gitter means by a “chilling effect” on discussion. What Gitter means, of course, is that the students’ role models are too craven to express their opinions in an open forum – a lovely lesson in evading accountability.

“Rich campus conversation,” indeed.

Sincerely,

Arthur L. Ranney, Ph.D.

OWU Visiting Professor (1989-1990)

Professor Emeritus, University of Wisconsin-Platteville

Contact: 608.330.1950 (mobile, preferred)

ranneya@uwplatt.edu

Car service driven by women, for women

Hope Walls, Transcript Correspondent

No men allowed: that’s the idea behind SafeHer, a new ridesharing service with only female drivers for women and children passengers.

Though highly popular, other ridesharing services such as Uber have been dangerous for women.

Uber reported five claims of rape and 170 claims of sexual assault from December 2012 to August 2015, according to Uber’s recent statement to BuzzFeed News.

SafeHer founder Michael Pelletz drove for Uber where he would pick up college girls from clubs late at night and worry about their safety with other drivers. He decided that women needed a safer option.

Due to an overwhelming response, SafeHer postponed their April 19 launch date in Boston to do one major launch across the country.

“We are going to be in every city because we realize that this is so important to so many people,” Pelletz said. “We are just getting our technology ready to handle it and will be in every city and town in the fall.”

Without having launched yet, SafeHer has already made international news.

The company has received over 50,000 emails from women interested in becoming drivers and passengers, Pelletz said.

“I never would have dreamed of this,” he said. “I’m honored to be able to share my ideas with the world.”

The service will have a unique safety feature. Drivers and passengers will be given a code word that the driver must say before the ride begins.

Similar to other ridesharing services, riders will be able to see a picture of their driver, the car model, license number and use real time GPS tracking on the app.

Drivers will also go through a more comprehensive background check than other services, according to SafeHer’s website.

“The SafeHer idea makes me feel a lot more comfortable with considering to get a ride unaccompanied,” senior Gina Groseclose said. “I think that women will feel safe being driven by other women who understand the concerns that come along with being driven by a stranger.”

Only nineteen percent of Uber drivers were women in November 2015, according to a driver report released by Uber.

“I think SafeHer will open up the job market for women as the potential of dangerous male passengers has prevented women from pursuing the good work opportunity of driving for a car service,” Groseclose said.

To encourage college students to become drivers, the company plans to work with the work-study programs at universities, Pelletz said.

There is no word yet as to whether Ohio Wesleyan will be working with SafeHer.

Pricing will be competitive with Uber. Unlike Uber, there will not be a minimum charge for a ride. The rate per mile for a standard vehicle will be 6 cents less than Uber at $1.18. The rate per minute will be 2 cents less than Uber at 18 cents.

SafeHer will also have 2 percent of each fare donated to the rider’s choice of 10 women-based charities. Customers can suggest charities on SafeHer’s website.

SafeHer changed its name from Chariot for Women on April 20 after posting a naming contest on their website.

“Because of the amazing response that we had, we realized that it’s the world’s company,” Pelletz said. “We wanted the world to name us.”

Although SafeHer isn’t available yet, OWU students are able to access safe transportation in other ways. Public Safety always has officers on duty that students can call for a ride if they feel unsafe.

FireDogz hit the Jay

Ela Mazumdar, Transcript Reporter

Ohio Wesleyan’s Public Safety (PS) is working on promoting the JAYwalk to entice students to walk on campus instead of choosing Spring Street.

Former PS officer Jay McCann’s FireDogz food truck, as well as Dan’s Deli, will be strategically placed on the JAYwalk rather than on the corner of Spring Street so that students won’t walk that direction.

“Campus and student safety are not a sudden priority, but a constant 24/7 top priority,” said Bob Wood, director of PS. “I’m not sure anyone has set a goal of eliminating the use of Spring Street, but we do like the idea of students being on campus at night where there’s no traffic and no neighbors to disturb.”

He also said vendors were approached previously about making an arrangement like this, but the attempts were not successful.

McCann, FireDogz’s owner, said he was excited to participate in a trial period to have food vendors on the JAYwalk.

“It is a very nice and safe setting for FireDogz to offer OWU students some late night munchies while at the 24-hour library, Slocum Hall or just a quick walk from the residential side of campus for some good food,” McCann said.

Since Trattoria is no longer available and the Library Café closed, this project serves as a solution for students who might want food late at night.

“I have received some great feedback from students about the food and atmosphere,” McCann said. “The added $5 coupon off is also nice for folks short on cash at the end of the academic year. I look forward to the next few weekends and hope more folks give this a try.”

The project is still just in the trial period, but those involved are enthusiastic about the opportunities this could bring.

Kurt Holmes, interim vice president for student affair and dean of students, said he thought the arrangement is an experiment.

“We might find that there is little interest in this idea and we will try other ideas,” Holmes said. “Or we might find that the [JAYwalk] can become a center of late-night activities like many urban pedestrian walkways. We might even motivate some students to propose ideas.”

Faculty: 1, The Transcript: 0

Matt Cohen, Editor-in-Chief

Areena Arora, Managing Editor

After more than 35 years, faculty meetings will no longer be open to reporters.

On April 18, Ohio Wesleyan faculty members voted to disallow The Transcript, the school’s independent student newspaper, from attending future faculty meetings.

Bob Gitter, professor of economics and a member of the faculty’s Executive Committee, presented the motion. Faculty asked the Executive Committee to reconsider the issue of banning The Transcript’s attendance, according to the faculty meeting agenda.

Gitter read the agenda and said, “Faculty meetings will not be open to reporters and a new mechanism in the form of a faculty meeting summary will be made available to the public within 24 hours after the end of the faculty meeting.”

Gitter then called for executive session, which was supported.

The vote was 47-21 in favor of the motion.

“It has a chilling effect on what people are willing to say if they feel the comments are going to be published in the newspaper,” he said.

The length of the meetings was also one of Gitter’s concerns.

“The fact is, too often, going into executive session, the meetings are lasting much too long,” Gitter said. “Here it is 7:30 p.m. I had to stay and count balance, but the meeting didn’t get over until just a few minutes ago.”

“There’s a number of reasons, but not everybody that supports a motion supports it for the same reasons.”

Paul Kostyu, chair of the journalism department and associate professor of journalism at OWU, opposed the motion.

“I had a lot more questions and I wasn’t allowed to ask them,” Kostyu said. “I would not call it a debate. It was a series of questions and statements from various faculty.”

Thomas Wolber, chair of the Executive Committee and associate professor of modern foreign language, said he agreed with Kostyu.

“Kostyu was the first one to stand up and ask a number of questions. which were not satisfactorily answered,” Wolber said.

He also said there was inadequate discussion during the meeting.

“I was not given a chance to speak and to voice my opinion,” Wolber said. “The discussion was truncated and that I found unfortunate.”

Kostyu also said he believes OWU is being ironic.

“Nationally, there is more of effort in higher education to be more transparent. It’s ironic we’re going the other direction.”

“We are restricting freedom,” Kostyu said. “It’s ironic and hypocritical that our speaker for commencement is Greg Moore, who opposed this policy. But yet, we’re inviting him, who may have actually covered these meetings as a student.”

Moore is the former editor of The Denver Post and a 1976 graduate of OWU. He will speak at commencement this year on May 8.

Previously, The Transcript was denied access to a faculty meeting on Nov. 16, 2015.

OWU closes Phi Kappa Psi fraternity

Transcript Staff

As of April 13, Phi Kappa Psi (Phi Psi) fraternity no longer has a chapter on Ohio Wesleyan’s campus, according to Kurt Holmes, interim vice president for student affairs and dean of students.

“Following a thorough investigation and hearing, the Student Conduct Board has ruled that Ohio Wesleyan’s Phi Kappa Psi chapter violated significant university rules, and after a careful consideration of these violations and the chapter’s conduct history, we have notified Phi Kappa Psi members that the chapter is being closed,” Holmes said in an April 13 email to the OWU community.

Members of Phi Psi will remain in their house until the end of the spring semester, but are working with residential life to coordinate housing for next semester.

Earlier this year, a new pledge of the fraternity, freshman Luke Gabbert was found dead in the Delaware run, a creek close to campus.

Holmes said the review [by the conduct board] on a specific charge is only the current [Gabbert] case. “We do take recent history into account.” He also said a response from the fraternity’s nationals is anticipated, but has not been received.

President Rock Jones said, “We set high expectations for our campus community, including student organizations. It is our responsibility to hold organizations accountable when they fail to meet expectations, including the conduct guidelines spelled out in our Student Handbook.”

Susie Long, the interim director of Greek Life, said she currently has nothing to add to the statement Holmes made.

Doug Dodridge, president of the fraternity, declined to comment.

Phi Psi can either appeal the ruling or, according to Chief Communications Officer Will Kopp, request to be reinstated on campus. The request can be filed no sooner than fall of 2020.

On Nov. 11, 2015, Sigma Chi fraternity also was disbanded. But in his email announcement, Holmes said the university remains supportive of Greek Life on OWU’s campus for its positive development of leadership skills, philanthropic efforts as well as its significant alumni support.

The Ohio Alpha chapter of Phi Psi was founded at OWU in 1861.

*This story will be updated as more information becomes available.