Coaches Corner: A Q&A with Head Wrestling Coach Paul Reid

By Hailey De La Vara, Transcript Reporter

 

 

 

Paul Reid has been named head coach of the wrestling team at Ohio Wesleyan. Reid will oversee the return of the team, which hasn’t been a varsity sport since 1984.  Reid has experience rebuilding programs: he transitioned Alfred State into a Division III program and completely revamped Iowa Western Community College into winning teams.

Q: Did OWU approach you about the job?

A: No, it was a really unique process. They announced the return of the sport last February and the hiring process took a little longer than expected because of the change of athletic directors.  But they had always been on my radar.

Q: How do you plan on rebuilding the wrestling team after not having it as a varsity sport since 1984?

A: We are starting from the ground up. The key is recruiting, recruiting, recruiting, but also recruiting the right type of kids. This first class we have 15 kids that are all the right type of kids to build a program.

Q: What are the expectations heading into the season?

A: Make it a great experience. Obviously wrestlers are very competitive and the expectation is to grow as a team all while making it a great experience.

Q: How do you think OWU wrestling ranks against other opponents on the schedule?

A: The schools in Ohio are traditionally tough, but the good thing about our schedule is that there is a good cluster of teams that we are going see throughout the year so we are going to be able to measure our progress throughout the year.

Q: Was it just you who went out and recruited?

A: Yep, I went everywhere.  My first day was Nov. 1 last year and by Nov. 2 I was already calling kids, compiling a list and going to tournaments every weekend.  

 

In Remembrance of John McCain

By Kienan O’Doherty, Editor-In-Chief

As the world watched an emotion-filled service yesterday for late U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Ohio Wesleyan University (OWU) remembers the passionate politician.

Sen. McCain came to OWU twice, both in 1997 and again in 2010, to serve as the keynote speaker for  commencement addresses.

McCain died on Aug. 25 after deciding not to continue medical treatment for glioblastoma, a form of brain tumor.

McCain will be remembered for his 22 years in the U.S. Navy and 36 years in both the U.S. House and Senate. McCain also made headlines as he ran for president twice.

His memorial service included two former presidents, Barack Obama and George W. Bush, as speakers. Two men who ideally conflicted with McCain’s political views, but had an ultimate of respect for the Arizona Republican.

“So much of our politics, our public life, our public discourse, can seem small and mean and petty, trafficking in bombast and insult, in phony controversies and manufactured outrage,” Obama said in an New York Times article. “It’s a politics that pretends to be brave, but in fact is born of fear. John called us to be bigger than that. He called us to be better than that.”

Many people watched as Obama and McCain went toe to toe in the 2008 presidential election, but it was McCain’s graciousness toward his opponent that wowed the country, defending Obama on multiple occasions.

That tone of graciousness and positivity carried over during his visits to OWU, encouraging students during the 2010 address to appreciate freedom and to make a positive difference in the world.

Attached below is the transcript of his 2010 commencement address, as OWU and the world remember Sen. John McCain:

U.S. Senator John McCain
May 9, 2010

“Thank you. It’s an honor to be here, to join in the chorus of congratulations to the Ohio Wesleyan Class of 2010, and to share your pride and celebration. This is a day to bask in praise. You’ve earned it. You have succeeded in a demanding course of instruction from a fine university. Life seems full of promise. Such is always the case when a passage of life is marked by significant accomplishment. Today, it must surely seem as if the world attends you.

But spare a moment for those who have truly attended you so well for so long, and whose pride in your accomplishments is even greater than your own – your parents. When the world was looking elsewhere, your parents’ attention was one of life’s certainties. And if tomorrow the world seems a little indifferent as it awaits new achievements from you, your families will still be your most unstinting source of encouragement, counsel and often—since the world can be a little stingy at first—financial support.

So, as I commend the Class of 2010, I offer equal praise to your parents for the sacrifices they made for you, for their confidence in you and their love. More than any other influence in your lives, they have helped make you the success you are today and might become tomorrow.

I thought I would show my gratitude for the privilege of addressing you by keeping my remarks brief. I suspect that some of you might have other plans for the day that you would prefer to commence sooner rather than later, and I will not to detain you too long.

It’s difficult for commencement speakers to avoid resorting to clichés on these occasions. Given the great number of commencement addresses that are delivered every year by men and women of greater distinction, insights and eloquence than I possess, originality is an elusive quality.

One cliché that works its way into hundreds of addresses before graduating classes from junior high schools to universities is the salutation: “leaders of tomorrow.” Like most clichés, it represents an obvious truth. You and your generational cohort will be responsible for the future course of our civilization, and much of the course of human events in your time. But will you, with all the confidence and vitality you possess today, assume the obligations of professional, community, national or world leaders?

Many of you have already given your hearts and talents to causes greater than yourselves. I know it is a point of pride for this university and for many of you individually that Ohio Wesleyan received a Presidential Award for Excellence in General Community Service, one of just three schools to be so recognized. It’s an impressive distinction, and an encouraging one for those who hope your generation’s contributions to the progress of humanity will exceed the contributions of previous generations, and your leadership of causes and communities, our country and the world will surpass the achievements and correct the deficiencies of my generation’s leadership.

When you reach my age, experience with failure and a humbler appreciation of your achievements is as difficult to avoid as hardened arteries. When you’re young, or when I was young, anyway, it seems natural to doubt time’s great haste. But eventually most people come to understand how brief a moment a life is. That discovery does not, however, have to fill you with dread. You learn you can fill the moment with purpose and experiences that will make your life greater than the sum of its days. You learn to acknowledge your failings and to recognize opportunities for redemption.

No one expects you at your age to know precisely how you will lead accomplished lives or give your talents to the worthy causes of your time. You have time before these choices and challenges confront you. It’s been my experience that they reveal themselves over time to everyone. They are seldom choices that arrive just once, are resolved at one time, and, thus, permanently fix the course of your life. Many of the most important choices you will face emerge slowly, sometimes obscurely. Often, they are choices you must make again and again.

Once in a great while a person is confronted with a choice, the implications of which are so profound that its resolution affects your life forever. But that happens rarely and to relatively few people. For most people, life is long enough and varied enough to overcome occasional mistakes and failures.

You might think that I’m now going to advise you not to be afraid to fail. I’m not. Be afraid. Speaking from considerable experience, failing stinks. Just don’t be undone by it. Failure is no more a permanent condition than is success. “Defeat is never fatal,” Winston Churchill observed. “Victory is never final. It’s courage that counts.”

For twenty years a woman of astonishing courage and grace, Ang San Suu Kyi, has voluntarily endured imprisonment, threats to her health and life, the loss of loved ones, and all manner of cruelty at the hands of tyrants who resist her every effort to liberate her country from the iniquity of their rule. And the millions of Burmese people who love her, and who lawfully elected her their leader, have risen time and again in peaceful opposition to the regime, and to claim their natural rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. They have been imprisoned, tortured and murdered. When it isn’t looking the other way, the civilized world has often given them little more than rhetorical support, and the imposition of inadequate and porous sanctions against the regime that oppresses them.

When Ang San Suu Kyi’s husband was dying of cancer, the Burmese junta refused him permission to travel to Burma to bid his wife a last good-bye. Instead, they told Suu Kyi she could leave the country to visit him. But she knew that were she to leave, she would never be allowed back, and the inspiration she provides by sharing the struggle and suffering of her people would be lost to them. So she stayed under arrest, deprived of contact with her people and the world, and suffered her heartbreak alone.

But she and her people persist in their righteous cause. No defeat has undone them. No defeat ever will. The tyrants who try to silence and terrorize and destroy them will not outlive the moral courage that resists them. I have always believed, no matter how long it takes, how many setbacks are suffered, how resilient the forces of injustice, the righteous will prevail. I believe that for the people of Burma and Iran and Sudan and anywhere where darkness prevails for a time and inflicts its terrible miseries on the innocent, before the light of human conscience extinguishes it forever. We won’t all live to see it, but I cannot accept that the day won’t come eventually, when a blessed generation will see the triumph of good over evil in the last, dark corners of the world.

I have seen a lot of things in my life—a lot of things, like the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of Cold War that I doubted I would ever witness in my lifetime. Though I see a lot of gathering storms on our horizon, I remain optimistic about the promise of our world, and the day of reckoning that will eventually come for those who sought worldly glory by denying the inherent dignity of others. And much of that optimism is based on my faith in your generation’s character.

I have faith that you understand that assaults on the dignity of others are assaults on the dignity of all humanity. You will not look upon tyranny and injustice in faraway places as the inevitable tragedy of mankind’s fallen nature. You will see them as a call to action – a summons to devote your time and talents to a just cause that is greater than yourself, the cause of human rights and dignity. Make this your legacy, and 20 years from now, maybe longer, you will be able to know that you made history, and made our country and world better. Not perfect, but better.

I believe American leadership in opposition to human rights abuses is the truest expression of our national character. The United States, since its founding, has embraced a set of moral duties, among which, I believe, is the obligation to respect the God-given dignity of every human being, and to experience assaults on anyone’s dignity as an assault on our own conscience.

It is surely right to say, first and foremost, the United States has an obligation to set a moral example in the world, and we failed that duty when we used torture to interrogate captured terrorists. That moral failure has made it harder for us to encourage other nations to respect the dignity of their citizens or to rally world support for the cause of the oppressed. But it hasn’t relieved us of the responsibility.

No, we are not a perfect nation. We did not act on reports of the Holocaust. We ignored the slaughter in Rwanda until it was too late. We have not made enough of an effort to stop the atrocities in Sudan and Burma and elsewhere. For too long, we refused to respect the full civil rights and dignity of Americans whose skin color was a shade darker than others. We mistreated enemies in our custody. But with each failure, our conscience is stung, and we resolve to do better. Each time, we say, never again, and fall short of that vow again. But whatever our flaws, whatever dangers we face, however sharp our debates, we must remain a country with a conscience. And we must feel ashamed when we ignore its demands.

All Americans share in the obligation to stand with those who are denied the rights we too often take for granted here. Even if you are never elected to any office or never meet a foreign policy professional, a responsibility remains. If the defense of human rights abroad is a concern of the American people, it will remain the concern of our elected officials. And if it is a concern of our government, the world will take notice.

It is your responsibility, your good fortune, to be expected to do better than your predecessors have done to advance our ideals; to live in your own time the authentic character of a country that was founded not to preserve tribal or class distinctions, but to defend human dignity. I envy your opportunities, and I regret the occasions when I failed to make the most of mine.

Twenty years, ago, I watched on television as the Berlin Wall came down, and it called to mind a quote from William Faulkner. “I decline to accept the end of man,” Faulkner said in his Nobel lecture. “I believe that man will not merely endure; he will prevail. He is immortal, not because he alone among creatures has an inexhaustible voice, but because he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and endurance.”

That faith has cost many lives, but liberated many more. It is the faith that tears down walls and builds bridges between peoples. It is the faith that made our nation the hope of mankind. And it is the faith we now rely on you to strengthen and advance. Take good care with it.

Not all of us will bear arms for our country. Few of us will ever rush into burning buildings to save the lives of strangers. Not many will devote their lives entirely to the well-being of others. But we do have an obligation to be worthy of our ideals, and the sacrifices made on their behalf. We have to love our freedom not just for the autonomy it guarantees us, but for the goodness it makes possible. We must love freedom for the right reasons, and on occasion our love will need courage to survive.

We are all afraid of something, whether it’s failure, or dispossession, or mortality, and the sacrifice of time that becomes so precious to us. But we should not let the sensation of fear convince us we are too weak to have courage. Fear is the opportunity for courage, not proof of cowardice. No one is born a coward. We were meant to love. And we were meant to have the courage for it.

Congratulations, again. Thank you for inviting me and for the privilege of addressing you, to whom history, and the dreams of mankind, will soon be entrusted.”

New seal provides new identity

By Kienan O’Doherty, Editor-In-Chief

With a new executive board comes a new seal.

The Wesleyan Council of Student Affairs (WCSA) officially approved their new seal at Monday’s full senate meeting, which occurred after the scheduled Town Hall. The approval came after weeks of voting and approval of language describing the seal.

Many people believed the old seal was too like the seal of Ohio Wesleyan.

“Although the old seal of WCSA was not the exact same as the seal of the University, many often confused the two. Therefore, this seal differentiates WCSA from the University,” senator, chair of the Student Inclusion Advocacy committee and seal designer, Cindy Huynh said. “In addition, as part of the Executive Board, we believed that we wanted to set a new tone for and improve the culture of WCSA and establishing a new seal was one of the ways to do that.”

In her design Huynh kept the “Wesleyan Council on Student Affairs” in a circle, which represents the circle of life–the past, present, and future–of WCSA. She also kept “1973” because she believed that our establishment of student government at OWU is very important. There is a “W” that is flanked by laurels, which represents achievement.

Senator Gretchen Weaver, who is also co-chair of the Public Relations committee, believes that students will see this seal solely as WCSA’s.

I believe the seal represents WCSA’s individuality as an organization committed to the student body, “Weaver said. “The seal is simple, yet strong that is easily recognizable from other seals or symbols to organizations on campus. r voice and bring about change.

China looking to change global order

By Tung Nguyen, Online Editor

The world, in the last 10 years, has witnessed the rise of China, which raises the question of whether
that country will challenge the hegemony of the United States.

Ji Young Choi, an Ohio Wesleyan University associate professor of international politics, addressed
the unstoppable growth of China in regard to its relationship with the United States at Friday’s Great
Decisions community series about foreign policy.

Global pundits have laid out three primary concerns about China’s ambition in which it wants to
preserve the current status quo: it wants to strive for the global hegemony but yet has no capabilities;
or it has all the resources to overthrow the reign of the United States.

“Personally, I agree more with the last scenario,” Choi said. “There are many signs that reveal China’s
willingness to change the existing order.”

Recently, China invested in and constantly increased its military budget. Even though border conflicts
remain a concern for China, there is no direct security threat serious enough to worry President Xi
Jinping. The development and purchase a massive amount of submarines, aircraft carriers and
battleships by China in the last five years have clearly raised many eyebrows, Choi said.

“Besides the popular thought of many experts that China wants to show her strong willingness for an
overturn,” Choi said. “China also wants to maintain her military superiority in the Asia-Pacific region for
further planning.”

On the other hand, China’s economic growth in the last 12 years has been both strong and stable
compared to other global superpowers, It’s GDP growth rate is 6 percent.

With such enhancements on hard power, China also joined, as well as created, international
organizations to legitimize herself as a rising challenger to the United States.

“China, besides cooperating with other major superpowers in BRICS [Brazil, Russia, India, China and
South Afrtica] also operated Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to expand her trade network or
influences,” Choi said. “For the record, many of the United States’ allies such as Germany, France and
the United Kingdom, became the members of AIIB.”

After the lecture, Dave Staats said, “I thought it was a very strong and sobering presentation
regarding to the recent trade wars between China and the United States. I also agree with Prof. Choi
that China clearly has the capabilities to challenge the global order with the United States.”

Along with the South China Sea disputes and conflicts with Taiwan in terms of the One China policy,
China also plays a big part behind the denuclearization process between the United States and North
Korea.

“Even though the relationship between China and North Korea became cold recently,” Choi said, “I
think that President Xi Jinping will likely side with North Korea in this matter because the collapse of
North Korea will definitely harm the well-being of China in some ways.”

Teresa Staats, besides agreeing with her husband, said, “The most dramatic thing I took from the
presentation is the relationship between the United States and North Korea and also what Prof. Choi
said about the goals of China pertaining to North Korea.”

Asked about the possibility of President Donald Trump using nuclear weapons to deal with North Korea,
Choi responded, “I do not think that he will push the button because after all, he is still a smart man in a
sense.”

Gifts given a plenty to largest campaign in history

By Reilly Wright, Managing Editor

Recent gifts and pledges have pushed the largest campaign in Ohio Wesleyan history, the $200 million “Connect Today, Create Tomorrow” campaign, forward for students.

The campaign has had the spotlight in recent university efforts and, according to President Rock Jones, gifts and pledges have totaled to more than $150 million to date. This puts the campaign a full year ahead of the projected schedule.

The raised money is aimed toward improvements campus wide; whether need-based scholarships, the OWU Connection or capital improvements, such as renovating Branch Rickey Arena.

Colleen Garland, vice president for University Advancement, says campaigns begin with a university strategic plan that resonates with donors and has the biggest impact at Ohio Wesleyan. The campaign’s progress is fueled through gifts by OWU alumni and friends.

“The largest single objective [of the campaign] is $50 million for student scholarships,” Garland said. “There’s the OWU Connection endowments, there’s capital improvements, like the new SLUs… all of those have been funded with gifts from the campaign.”

Earlier in March, Garland announced recent major gifts contributing to the campaign.

Dr. James F. Morris ’44 Endowed Scholarship: Estimated to be the second-largest scholarship at OWU, it is expected to total to more than $4 million with preference toward students with financial need. It is named after the late Dr. James F. Morris, an alumnus who received a full scholarship from OWU before becoming a pulmonologist.

The Sloan House, 94 Rowland Ave.: The currently unnamed Small Living Unit, the blue and brown building holding the House of Linguistic Diversity (HOLD) and House of Peace & Justice, will be named the Sloan House. Due to a $500,000 commitment from Tim and Lisa Sloan, members of the Campaign Leadership Committee, the Sloan House reception will be held during Reunion Weekend on Friday, May 18.

David P. Miller ’54 gift for online summer classes: After two successful summers of pilot online summer courses at OWU, Miller, who financially contributed for its launch, agreed to provide an additional $819,000 for the next three years of course development. Summer enrollment has increased due to the classes’ success and now the number of online courses has doubled each year. For information on the 2018 summer session, visit https://www.owu.edu/academics/summer-session/.

“Each and every gift is important to this campaign,” Jones said. “The gifts announced recently reflect the wide-ranging impact of this campaign…  Each of these gifts directly impacts our students and their experience here.”

Garland says campaign gifts are being closed almost every week and she plans to remain transparent in sharing these donor stories with the campus community.

“My intent is once every four to six weeks or so to send a similar update to the campus to highlight specific gifts because if we only talk about the dollars it’s hard to understand the donor story behind the dollar and what it’s actually going towards,” she said.

The University Advancement staff combined with the Campaign Leadership Committee, co-chaired by Kevin and Nancy McGinty and John and Kathie Milligan, has led campaign support. But Garland also says students and faculty help inspire alumni and friends to give as well.

“Whether that’s students writing thank you notes to donors if they receive a scholarship to faculty continuing to innovate and add new programs like the new majors, all of that gives us things that donors get excited about and want to invest in,” Garland said.

To view updated campaign progress, visit owu.edu/campaign.

Manchester City stronger than ever

By Tung Nguyen, Online Editor

Ten years ago, no one would ever believe that Manchester City, the abandoned son of Manchester, is
dominating the English Premier League (EPL)
This season, they’re sixteen points ahead of the second-place team, Manchester United.
As a Manchester United fan, I must reluctantly admit that this is the beginning of an era, and for the
next ten years, Manchester will be blue.
To understand the sudden success of Manchester City in only five years, we have to pay attention to the
changes in the executive board and its result in the drastic shift of the team’s vision as well as playing
styles.
With star players such as Sergio Agüero, Raheem Sterling, and Kevin De Bruyne, anyone of them could
be considered the most influential. But that title belongs to director of football Txiki Berigistain, who is
considered the most influential individual. Being the former director of football for FC Barcelona (Spain),
his bringing in manager Pep Guardiola made his vision clear: to build a Barcelona 2.0 in the EPL.
Begiristain, as the new director of football, is responsible for keeping the consistency in Manchester
City’s transfer strategy. When Guardiola was still managing Bayern Munich (Germany), Begiristain
created a “magical spine” in Manchester City’s line-up with Vincent Kompany, Fernandinho, Kevin De
Bruyne, David Silva and Sergio Agüero. These players are responsible for shaping the playing styles of
Manchester City. Guardiola comes and only has to hone the chemistry of this spine as well as adds
wingers, the least important roles in building up the club’s playing styles, to the line-up with the
purchases of Leroy Sané and Bernando Silva.
With this line-up, Guardiola sets up a “high-frequency pressing” attacking style, which brought him
massive successes in Barcelona and Bayern Munich. Unlike Roberto Mancini and Manuel Pellegrini, the
two former managers, Guardiola prefers taking the game at a much slower pace rather than rushing the
ball to the front line and blindly searching for opportunities. Uncertain threats to the opponents’ goals
will result in the ball being delivered back to the midfield. This strategy, of course, strictly requires a
midfielder with good-vision and superhuman passing ability. While Xavi Hernandez, (Barcelona), and
Toni Kroos, (Bayern Munich), individually dictated the playing styles of their teams, Manchester City’s
David Silva works his spells in the midfield. With the physical support of Fernandinho and the flexibility
of De Bruyne, who can easily attract the opponents’ defenders to create spaces, Silva is much freer to
manipulate the plays.
In terms of specific tactics, Manchester City tends to keep possession by passing the ball continuously in
the midfield and waiting for off-the- ball movements from wingers to create threats. Sané, Sterling and
Agüero, with their sharp finishing and fabulous dribbling abilities, will likely to make these threats even
scarier. When the players lose possession, the whole team will exert a high-pressure attack to the
opponents in order to immediately retake possession. This is reminiscent of Barcelona at its peak during
the late 2000s and the beginning of 2010s.

With such tactics and philosophy, Manchester City can easily strangle the second-tier teams because of
their simple, strength-oriented plays. At some points during the season, building a bus in front of the
goal seems to be opponents’ only option when facing Manchester City. However, this overly defensive
play cannot fill the huge gap of the line-up’s qualities when Manchester City has more than one player
who can shine individually.
On the other hand, honor and prestige force the first-tier teams to join the game, to attack and to
accept any consequence afterwards. However, none of the first-tier teams’ midfielders can reach the
level and the chemistry of Manchester City’s trio (Silva, De Bruyne, and Fernandinho) in order to make
an equal play. Therefore, after a while, they cannot stand the countless attacks and pressures, which
eventually rip them apart.
With the first team’s average age 25 and the well-developed youth academy, Manchester City seems
likely to uphold its success in the next ten years. On contrary, Manchester United is having a much
tougher path with a conservative-minded manager, Jose Mourinho, who has turned his billion-dollar
club into a defensive second-tier team. If Mourinho will not take a different approach to catch up the
rise of Manchester City, Manchester, or even the whole Premier League, will be blue.

OWU discusses anniversary of Armenian Genocide through guest lecture

By Maddie Matos, A&E Editor

A horrific and overlooked event was honored in Ohio Wesleyan University’s biennial Kragalott lecture.

Ronald Suny, professor at the University of Michigan, discussed the Armenian genocide, an event that happened over one hundred years ago. The genocide is regarded as the first mass killing of the twentieth century.

The genocide is not as widely known compared to other events in history, most famously the Holocaust during World War II. Through Suny’s lecture, students gained a new perspective on what causes a genocide and the human nature behind it.

“It is very easy for people to blame their fears or problems on other groups of people who are different from them and cause mass violence and terror,” said sophomore Amanda Hays, an OWU history board member.

Over 30 people attended the lecture held in the R.W. Corns Building, including people of Armenian descent.

Suny, an expert on the genocide, has published multiple works on the historical event. Suny is of Armenian descent, making the subject one more personal and essential to share.

The genocide occurred during World War I by the Turkish government. According to Suny, the new government felt threatened by the rise of Armenians in society. Many Armenians held higher positions of power, which challenged the social order in Turkey and starting the genocide.

“This rise created resentment in Turkish society, as they felt that the Armenians had caused a status flip, now with Armenians on top and Turks on the bottom,” Suny said.

The genocide killed between 600,000 and 1 million people, making it the first genocide and documented crime against humanity in the 20th century. Various world leaders later used the event as a model for their own killings, including Adolf Hitler.

Suny explained the Turkish government also started the genocide through affective disposition. This idea of constructing a person off what they believed was a key argument in the presentation.

The Turks felt five emotions towards the Armenians at the time of the genocide, which were fear, anger, resentment, anxiety and hatred,” Suny said.

 The genocide is not acknowledged by the current Turkish government, along with other nations. The genocide, recognized or not, still destroyed thousands of lives, Suny explained.

Throughout the lecture, active audience members asked questions and engaged with Suny. Some were impressed by Suny’s presentation.

“The speaker had a lot to say and was obviously very impassioned by the subject,” Hays said.

The Armenian genocide lecture provided an insight to a historical event often overlooked, but left an impact felt throughout the world.

OWU Alumni gives presentation on new research idea

By Tung Nguyen, Online Editor

Dr. Brady Porter, a faculty member of Duquesne University and also an Ohio Wesleyan University alumnus, made a return and presented his recent research on Friday, Feb. 9.

In collaboration with the National Aviary and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Dr. Porter focuses his research on the applications of DNA metabarcoding to dietary analyses and environmental DNA surveys.

“The problem is that bird diets are difficult to study,” Dr. Porter said.

By watching the behaviors and the surrounding habitats of    Louisiana Waterthrush, a breed of warblers in eastern North America, Dr. Porter finds a different approach to study its dietary.

“We also want to see what insects it feed its young nestlings and observe the digestive process,” Dr. Porter said.

Later on, Dr. Porter dissects the defecation of these nestlings and provides accurate data about the types of prey items that these bird are eating.

Dr. Dustin Reichard, an OWU professor of zoology, said: “I was not aware how much dietary data could be extracted from avian fecal samples. Dr. Porter’s technique is also much less invasive than the traditional ones and it represents the future of studying food webs.”

Besides working as a faculty member at Duquesne University, Dr. Porter still regularly returns and contributes his findings to the Natural Museum of OWU as well as helps to train the students.

“Dr. Jed Burtt spent a lot of time training and inspiring me when I was here at OWU during the 90s,” Dr. Porter said. “So my motivation to make a return to OWU is to give something back.”

According to Dr. Porter, one of his many experiences with Dr. Burtt that helped him to make a breakthrough in Zoology was attending a scientific meeting in the University of Pittsburgh in 1987.

“Dr. Burtt introduced me to one of the collection manager of the Carnegie Museum along with many other legendary scientists,” Dr. Porter said. “They trained me how to do the museum’s works and skills that allowed me to complete hundreds of findings for my job.”

Speaking of Dr. Porter’s contributions to OWU, Dr. Reichard said: “Dr. Porter trained the next generation of students to prepare both bird and mammal study skins for our museum. He is also a very important source of knowledge to keep the continuity of our museum as well.”

Seminar and exhibit gives students space to discuss inner struggles

By Jesse Sailer, Sports Editor

The What’s Your Big Lie? (WYBL) pop-up exhibit and seminar allowed students to share their inner struggles with their peers and start open conversation about mental health.

The point of the exhibit and program was to bring to light the fact that everyone is living a lie whether it be big or small, in their work life or personal life and that although sometimes we can’t admit it, it’s okay to be living with that lie.

The pop-up exhibit was featured in the atrium of Hamilton-Williams Campus Center (HWCC) throughout the entire day and consisted of a collection of answers to thought provoking questions about mental health. The responses were then projected on the walls, floors and ceiling in the atrium for all to see.

Jordan Axani, the creator of WYBL, led the seminar by telling us how he came to realize the lie he had been living with. After years of being bullied in elementary school, dealing with family issues as well as handling his mental stress, he admitted that, “For 20 years, I hated myself immensely and I was afraid to admit it to anyone, especially myself.”

Junior and Panhellenic President Mackenzie Brunke said, “Axani was enthusiastic about a hard to discuss topic and took it with grace.”

Axani turned to social media as a cathartic release. He started to write and post what he was going through on Instagram. The more he shared, the more people contacted him with their stories and what they were going through. He realized then that he wasn’t alone in his battle.

This WYBL program was developed in collaboration with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and a team of mental health experts in 2016, and has been praised as life-changing by numerous audiences.

“I have the incredible privilege to work with students, employees and everyday people on helping them kill their inner imposter and embrace who they really are,” Axani said.

WYBL has been presented to over 150,000 students, teachers, parents, entrepreneurs and professionals across North America with hundreds of institutions using WYBL as a way to build a “culture of openness, empathy and belonging.” (https://www.shiftcollab.com/programs/wybl/)

“It was a great approach to reducing the stigma that follows issues like mental health, you were able to feel safe talking about it with your peers,” junior Tessa Coleman said.

Once Axani was through with his story he invited the audience to participate in

Using phones and an anonymous platform, students submitted their ‘big lies’ and other insecurities secretly. Their responses are filtered almost immediately and are then projected at the front of the room.

Just moments after the first confessions showed up on the screen, there was both a moment of relief and recognition on everyone’s faces. Nobody was alone in what they were feeling. Axani, as well as students from the audience, offered words of affirmation and hope to those that bravely sent in their submissions.

Axani took the seminar a step further and asked if students would like to stand up and share their stories without the cover of anonymity that their phone provided. It took a few seconds and a room full of wandering eyes before the first hand bravely went up.

House of Black Culture construction approved

By Alameina White, Transcript Reporter

On Friday, Feb. 9, the Ohio Wesleyan Board of Trustees approved a $1.25 million budget for the construction of the new House of Black Culture.

Last year, Dwayne Todd, vice president for student engagement and success, announced that the House of Black Culture was no longer suitable for students to live in due to its unstable foundation and maintenance issues. The plan was to move its residents to the former Honors House at 123 Oak Hill Ave., but after numerous objections from students, the decision was to raise money to build a new House of Black Culture.

According to Todd, the fundraising for construction began in late spring 2017 when the Haddock Family Foundation provided a lead gift. Additional funding came from fundraising efforts  and the sale of existing OWU properties.

“As with this property, we’ve been fortunate to have had generous donors step forward to make these recent housing projects happen,” Todd said. “This particular project is so important because the House of Black Culture holds a very special place in the history of our university and in the current life of campus.”

For over a year now, students, faculty and alumni have been raising money for the house’s construction and their efforts have paid off.

“We’ve had to try a lot harder than other SLUs to get money for our house,” said Ornella Bisamaza, House of Black Culture resident. “I like that they put forth the effort; minorities should be an important factor on campus.”

Raising the money for the house’s construction was an important goal for the Board of Trustees due to its role on campus.

“The House of Black Culture is an important space on campus, both for the students who live in the house and for the larger number of students who visit the house and participate in programs hosted by the house. It is important to secure funding to replace the building and continue the vital presence of the House of Black Culture,” said President Rock Jones. 

According to Todd, the new home will feature a large front porch, large common rooms including a kitchen and a dinette, as well as a residential area to house 12 students.

“I truly cannot wait until the doors open on the new house and we see students turning it into their new home,” Todd said. “This will become an even better gathering space for students and I’m excited to see it used to bring students together.”

The house will be rebuilt in the same location, 65 Oak Hill Ave., which was one of the students’ primary requests.

“Our biggest request was for the house to not be moved. They fought for that land and that house, so we have to keep it,” said Bisamaza.

The location of the house is considered to be in the heart of campus, allowing better accessibility to students in other residential halls.

“It looks across to The Cave in Stuyvesant Hall which also is an important gathering place for multi-cultural student organizations and, in particular, organizations related to black culture,” Jones said.

According to Bisamaza, they also plan to keep some of the same aspects of the old house, such as the doors, to preserve the house’s memories.

The House of Black Culture has been an important landmark on campus and the new house will not change its meaning. However, its residents hope the new house will be more inviting to students and more people will want to live there.

“The House of Black Culture will continue to be an important place on campus, providing important programming space as well as a gathering place. It is important to our campus in many ways,” Jones said.

Although the Board of Trustees is still working to secure the funds, they hope to start construction this May and have the house ready for students by Jan. 2019. Once funds have been secured and designs finalized, a formal announcement will be made for the house’s construction in the coming weeks.

“This has been an engaging and exciting process and we have worked together to identify the needs for the House of Black Culture, the right location for a new house, and the resources necessary to fulfill this vision,” Jones said.