Author: Phoebe Christine Bush

By Sara Schneider

Transcript Correspondent

The Course Connection Fair took place on Tuesday, September 10 from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00pm in Benes Room A in the Hamilton Williams Campus Center.

This fair occurs once a year on the Ohio Wesleyan campus to educate students about the Course Connection program and how these connections could be beneficial to them. This year’s event was not widely attended.

The Course Connection program was introduced to OWU about three years ago when changes to the curriculum were being discussed. Other ideas that were discussed at that time that are in effect today are Travel Learning Courses and the OWU Experience.

Course Connections are cross-divisional networks of courses organized around common themes. They offer an innovative way for students to fulfill the general distribution requirements while they examine a topic of interest in-depth. This program takes several semesters to complete.

Course Connection program director Erin Flynn described the Course Connections as thematic minors.

“This network allows you to study a topic or theme through a different perspective,” he said. “It also enables students to appreciate the different approaches toward a topic and their limitations.”

There are seven different course connections currently being offered at Ohio Wesleyan: American Landscape; Crime, Responsibility and Punishment; Food; Four Corners; Modern Life and its Discontents; Poverty, Equity and Social Justice; and Silk Road and Waters: Rites and Rights.

Flynn said the three most popular course connections are Modern Life and its Discontents, Poverty, Equity and Social Justice and Silk Road and Waters: Rites and Rights.

Course Connections include different extracurricular events, trips, movies and more. Some also have activities such as walking tours of Delaware and local field trips. Depending on the course connection, these events may or may not be mandatory.

The approach of course connections also helps students understand the complexity of big issues.

Sophomore Allie France said she enjoys taking classes with a common theme under the Course Connections. She will have completed the Food Course Connection after taking one more class.

“It’s nice being able to group mandatory classes by a similar theme and having it count towards another focus,” France said.

Sophomore Mariah Konrath, who is also in the process of completing the Food Course Connection, said she thinks the program is “a great way to expand your understanding of a topic.”

By Julianne Zala

Transcript Reporter

Sean Kay, professor of politics and government, is the new director of Ohio Wesleyan’s Arneson Institute for Practical Politics and Public Affairs.

As director, Kay plans to create new avenues to share information with students, faculty, staff, and the general public. He said he feels the position is “a very exciting opportunity.”

The institute has begun work on a new webpage, which Kay said will serve as a “place for non-partisan information, research, and other information for people who are interested in public policy at the local, state, national, and international level.”

Kay also plans to compose brochures that will outline the semester-long Wesleyan in Washington internship program for interested students.

Former director of the institute Dr. Joan McLean said she thinks the institute will grow with Kay’s guidance.

“Under Professor Kay’s directorship, students will be challenged to think more about how to fulfill this pledge internationally as well as domestically,” she said

Kay’s goals as director include “see(ing) the Arneson Institute focus on the opportunities for liberal arts in America and to take a lead role in demonstrating the value of the liberal arts educational experience in the United States and globally.”

Kay said he plans to continue the traditional directors’ practice of combining interests in theory and practice in programming, mentioning a possible travel-learning course that would investigate ways in which Washington D.C. operates.

Kay also wishes to expand interest in the Wesleyan in Washington program.

“While it’s nature for social scientists to gravitate towards this great experience, Washington, D.C., is rich for places like the National Endowment for the Arts, the Smithsonian, the Department of Education, the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Science Foundation, and NASA—to just name a few places where people with interests in the arts, humanities, and sciences might wish to expand their ability to shape the agenda of practical politics in America while building their professional resume at the same time,” he said.

The Arneson Institute was founded in 1947 by professor and chair of the politics and government department, Ben Arneson.

During his time at OWU, Arneson handed out pledge cards to students every year that read, “With a view to serving the public interest and regardless of the nature of my future vocations I pledge that, upon leaving college, I will devote a portion of my time to active and definite participation in public affairs.” Since then, the pledge has become a ritual among majors in the department.

“The institute has come to embody the university’s long-standing commitment to theory and practice in local, state, national, and international issues,” Kay said.

This is not the first honor Kay has received in relation to the university. Previously, he has been awarded the Bishop Francis Kearns award for exemplary teaching at OWU, and was the first recipient of OWU’s Libuse L. Reed Endowed Professorship.

In the 1960s, OWU had higher representation in the Peace Corps than any other college in the country. Today it is recognized that at least 68 percent of Ohio Wesleyan alumni have followed the pledge they made before graduation by continued participation in civic affairs.

On campus, the institute hosts guest speakers, facilitates the Mock Convention every four years and organizes the Wesleyan in Washington program.

Sean Kay is currently on sabbatical working on his new book, but he encourages any interested students in the program to attend the information meetings on Thursday, October 3rd at 12 noon and 4:10 in Elliot Hall 205. Kay also serves as the chair of the interdisciplinary international studies program.

By Brian Cook

Transcript Reporter

No matter what the class of 2017 ends up achieving, it has already made history at Ohio Wesleyan.

According to Rebecca Eckstein, vice-president of Enrollment and Strategic Communication, this year’s incoming class is more diverse than any of its predecessors.

“We are proud that this freshman class has the highest percentage of ethnic domestic diversity in the history of the university and we have increased our international enrollment over last year,” Eckstein said. “However, to us, diversity extends beyond race.”

Eckstein said the freshman class ranks near the previous class academically, although one statistic for evaluating an incoming class was not provided due to its decreasing popularity among high schools.

“Since the majority of high schools no longer rank its students, GPA is a better measurement,” Eckstein said. “This class average is a 3.4 while the previous class average was a 3.5, while the average ACT of 25 remained unchanged.”

In the Sept. 16 faculty meeting, University President Rock Jones said the current freshman class’s academic profile is less competitive overall than that of the current sophomore class. In addition to a lower average GPA, the former has a lower average SAT score than the latter.

In terms of enrollment, Eckstein said OWU has set itself up well for the future financially and educationally.

“The target number for all U.S. and international freshman as well as transfer students was 590,” she said. “We have enrolled 572, which is the second consecutive year that OWU has enrolled a class with an increase in net revenue, which enhances the budget for all educational purposes.”

However, Eckstein said OWU isn’t looking to drastically increase its enrollment because of its desire to educate students in a small-school environment.

“OWU is committed to providing a liberal arts education in a small, residential community,” she said. “Residence Life is currently at 99% occupancy so I expect the size of future classes to remain approximately the same.”

Eckstein said the freshman class “carries the same philanthropic spirit and desire for service as previous classes,” but acknowledged there is no official way to quantify this because the Common Application does not require students to record a specific number of service hours.

Freshman Liam Keller said he enjoys the diversity in culture, something he didn’t experience much in high school.

“Coming to OWU was a breath of fresh air because I can experience so many different cultures and lifestyles,” he said.

Freshman Ashley McAdam said OWU is much more diverse than her high school even though the two have the same number of students.

Keller said he also appreciates the “family sense” that’s present at OWU.

“In my high school everybody stuck to their group and didn’t stray from that path,” he said. “At OWU there are so many groups and clubs to be a part of that you end up meeting a variety of people and get to immerse yourself in different groups and activities no matter what your background is.”

Keller said the programs set up to help students succeed at the university could use some improvement.

“There was a lot of information that had been given in our groups by our Orientation Leaders that was then given again at unnecessary information sessions,” he said. “I think that the Orientation Leaders did a fantastic job giving us strategies to help us succeed, but many people were driven away from the meetings because they were long and repetitive.”

McAdam, however, said she felt the university did a good job of preparing incoming students during Orientation and StART to handle the OWU experience.

“I have friends back home that didn’t have the same kind of programs and as soon as classes started they were totally stressed out,” she said.

McAdam said coming to OWU was not something she wanted to do initially, but eventually came to appreciate what the university had to offer.

“Well, my mom wanted me to go here, but I was pretty against it for the longest time, and then I found out they offered a major in genetics and we came up to visit and I fell in love with it,” she said.“I just kind of knew it was the right place for me.”

By Philippe Chauveau

Ohio Wesleyan welcomed Dr. Martin J. Eisenberg as the new Dean of Academic Affairs this summer.

Eisenberg earned a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in economics is joining the OWU administration after working at Truman University for 12 years. At Truman he served as interim dean of the School of Arts and Letters, associate provost and associate professor of economics. Prior to his work at Truman, Eisenberg was at Knox College for 13 years.

With a background rich in experience from working at a number of different liberal arts colleges, Eisenberg said he is hoping “to hit the ground running” at OWU.

“I believe deeply in the liberal arts education system,” he said.

While at Truman, Eisenberg was part of a team that developed an empirical model for identifying students who had a higher possibility of needing tutoring and extra help.

Although it wasn’t exact, Eisenberg said it gave administrators “some further understanding” on the subject.

According to Eisenberg, it is “too early to tell” whether he will develop a similar system for Ohio Wesleyan, but shared what he believes are the strengths and weaknesses of the current system.

“I really appreciate the student-faculty interaction, and the working environment is great,” he said. “But of course the first thing people talk about is the accomplishments and skills that OWU alums have.”

Eisenberg said one of his biggest challenges in the future is the retention rate of students.

“The retention rate is what we would like to improve on,” he said. “It isn’t bad, we would just like it to be higher.”

Eisenberg said he thinks interaction and communication will help him do his job to the best of his abilities. He said he is planning on working with the faculty to adapt the curriculum, among other things, such as academic space issues and conflicts over university policies.

“I play a major role in Academic Affairs, and work with faculty and students,” said Eisenberg. “There are a lot of logistics involved.”

According to Eisenberg, his initial plan is to “primarily listen, learn and meet people.”

By Sadie Slager

A string of on-campus bike thefts has left several students without their preferred mode of transportation or sense of security.

Senior Erika Kazi said she knows of at least 10 bike thefts that have occurred on campus recently.

“The bike owners could have been inside a house or out of town,” she said. “Both have happened.”

Kazi said some bikes were locked up at the time they were stolen, but others were not. She said many bike thefts she has heard of occurred behind the Tree House, Citizens of the World House and The House of Peace and Justice.

“That area seems to be the prime area for bike theft,” she said. “It also is a main location of people who use bikes most frequently.”

Kazi said she thinks peoples’ motives for stealing students’ bikes are probably “to make a quick buck.”

According to Kazi looking for stolen bikes is “hopeless” and said those who have had their bikes stolen have not found any evidence leading them toward the perpetrator, so they are opting to buy new bikes instead.

“Occasionally people are lucky and will see young members of the Delaware community in town with a stolen bike,” she said. “But from my knowledge that has only happened once.”

One victim of recent on-campus bike theft is junior Kristen Krak. Her bike was stolen from outside COW House while she was sleeping. While her bike wasn’t new, Krak said it was special to her.

“It was my grandpa’s, so it holds much more of a sentimental value than a monetary one,” she said.

Krak said she didn’t have her bike locked up as securely as it should have been.

“It was locked up, but only to itself by the front wheel,” she said. “I absolutely know it should have been locked to something else, and I should have been using a thicker lock. I thought I was going to use it later that night, so that’s why I locked it to itself.”

Krak said she was “incredibly sad” to find her bike had been stolen.

“I was shocked,” she said. “I looked around the house to see if I had put it somewhere else, or if someone moved it to get their car in the driveway.”

According to Krak, every person she knows who has had a bike on campus has had it stolen within the last year, “especially during the spring and summer.”

Being an “incredibly busy person,” Krak said her bike made it easier for her to get around.

“My bike helped me get to where I needed to be on time, especially on days where it’s just one thing after another,” she said.

Krak said although these thefts have occurred, the OWU community is a “wonderful place” where she feels safe.

“We have to keep in mind that we’re not in a bubble,” she said. “We do live in a populated town, so that’s important to remember.”

Kazi said she thinks differently about OWU’s campus safety after the string of bike thefts.

“It’s unfortunate that I can’t trust that my private property will be safe in my home away from home,” she said. “I don’t think members of our campus are stealing the bikes either, which makes me a little more concerned. We love our bikes. We use them. Our lifestyles depend on them.”

Junior Colleen Bodee uses her bike to get around campus every day and said she was not aware of recent bike thefts on campus, but she always takes precautions in locking it up.

“I almost always lock it unless I know I’ll be back in a couple of minutes,” she said. “I think now I’ll probably be more careful about locking it up all the time.”

Bodee said she is not really surprised by recent bike thefts.

“I’m really paranoid about my bike getting stolen, so sometimes I almost expect it to be gone once I’ve left it somewhere for a while,” she said.

Bodee, who spends many hours in Haycock Hall on the easternmost side of campus, agreed that it would affect her lifestyle if her bike were stolen.

“I use it to get almost everywhere so when planning my day I’d have to start taking into account the fact that I would have to walk,” she said. “I also have to spend a lot of time in the art studios at night and I feel a lot safer taking my bike at night than I do walking.”

By Jija Dutt

Thirty-three percent of women on campus are in a Greek organization, and after recruitment this fall, even more women will become part of the Greek community.

Informal recruitment, which takes place in the fall semester of every year, consists of the five on-campus sororities hosting continuous open bidding (COB) events that are open to all unaffiliated women. These events serve as an opportunity for those who wish to join a sorority to get to know current members of each house.

Senior Maddy Mavec, president of Delta Gamma, said her group’s goal each year is to host events that are enjoyable for both sisters and their guests.

“We hold three events, two of which we usually keep the same and one that changes every year,” she said. “This year we decided to have cookie decorating.”

The common goal for all of the sororities is to be able to recruit more women. Senior Kelsey Ullom, president of Kappa Alpha Theta, said “no matter the house they choose, if we are generating interest and enthusiasm in joining the Greek community, we are doing something right.”

For the past week, several COB events with various themes have taken place, including “Sweets with Delta Delta Delta,” “Cookies with Kappa Kappa Gamma,” “Summer Cool Down with Delta Zeta,” “Brunch with Kappa Alpha Theta” and “Tropical Bliss with Delta Gamma.”

Junior Megan Dill, recruitment director for Delta Delta Delta, said she attempted to make the themes more creative this year.

“When it comes down to it, the themes are not that important and are really there just to entice women to attend the events,” she said. “It’s really more about having great conversation and making connections with women who you may one day call your sisters.”

Senior Mahnoor Wali, who is currently going through the recruitment process, said she believes there are many benefits to being a part of the Greek system.

“It allows you to branch out and put yourself out there so you can meet new people and learn from your interactions and experiences with them,” she said. “It also lays important emphasis on giving back to the community through multiple events and philanthropies.”

Dana Behum, assistant director of Student Involvement for fraternity and sorority life, said each house can have a maximum of 56 members by the end of fall, so the number of bids, or invitations to join, given out will depend on the current occupancy of the sorority.

Behum added the National Panhellenic Council, the umbrella organization for the sororities on campus, is going to increase the number of bids to be given out among sororities with the maximum number of women per house increasing to 60 in the spring.

“Greek life is not for everyone,” she said. “Our goal is to help any woman who is unaffiliated to learn about Greek life and find a fit among an organization.”