The 32 NFL franchises are not the only teams going through preseason right now. Donât let the lack of television coverage fool you.
The Battling Bishopâs 2015 fall seasons have begun like any season should: two-a-days, sprints, sweat, optimism and a clean slate. With the meat of schedules approaching, fall sports are set to battle, but not after going through preseason. Volleyball and football are picked to contend for North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) titles, while menâs soccer is seeking to defend its NCAC crown. âPreseason is always tough to get through, but itâs supposed to be,â menâs soccer senior captain Evan Lee said. âIt was a good one. One of the best since Iâve been here. Weâre all excited to start playing against people other than us and this team is capable of winning the conference again.â Ohio Wesleyan is quiet over the summer. To have teams and student-athletes back on campus makes Athletic Director Roger Ingles delighted. âItâs a fun time when everyone starts coming on campus,â Ingles said. âFirst, you have football and then all the other teams come in. To watch campus come alive is fun.â For the Battling Bishops, this season will begin with freshmen stand-outs and senior leaders. Â âWe have a great coaching staff and they do a great job of getting everyone ready,â Ingles said. âSeeing everyone compete and the improvement that happens is the best part.â Â Â
The OWU rugby logo for both the men’s and women’s teams. Photo courtesy of Facebook.
You donât have to wait for the Rugby World Cup this fall to get your fix of the majestically violent sport. The Ohio Wesleyan Rugby program is hosting tournaments, winning them and taking no mercy.
The inaugural Middleton Hopps Bishop Cup 7s Tournament took place Saturday, April 25. Both the menâs and womenâs team participated, and both hoisted the trophy.
OWU hosted teams from Ohio Northern University and Denison University. The tournament style was 7s, which is played with only 7-a-side and for a shorter period of time. As opposed to the typical fifteen per side.
Because of the smaller squads, the OWU menâs team was able to divide into two separate teams.
Captain Carlos Jackson, a sophomore, had high hopes for both teams entering tournament play.
âI expected both OWU teams to be in the finals, weâve been working hard in practice and it ended up being just like one in the end. I felt bad for the other teams because at the end it was just us playing each other,â Jackson said.
The event went very smoothly overall, despite the 40 degree and rainy weather. Some could say it was perfect rugby weather, others like the captain of the womenâs team, sophomore JT Knoble, would disagree.
âDespite the rain and the horrible weather, the tournament was a huge success. All of the teams involved had a good time. It was really awesome for both teams to bring home their own trophy.â
Thereâs more rugby to come and they used this tournament to help prepare for upcoming events, like the National Finals.
âOur goal was to play together as a team as we prepare for the National Finals at West Academy in NY this weekend.â
The hope is to have The Middleton Hopps Bishop 7s Tournament become a yearly event, increasing in size and participation each year.
Middleton Hopps helped out with setting up the womenâs rugby program at Ohio Wesleyan.
Fraternity composites are a timeless tradition that cannot be broken – unless theyâre stolen from the houses they belong to.
Sigma Chi, Phi Kappa Psi (Phi Psi) and Phi Delta Theta (Phi Delt) all had composites stolen from their houses, and no one really knows who did it, or how they did it. But pieces are being put together.
A grace period was set if the composites were returned. After two months of no action, a report was filed with Public Safety and the Delaware Police.
Brad Dotson, a junior and member of Phi Psi spoke about the confusion of the whole situation.
âAll we hear are a bunch of rumors of what may have happened,â Dotson said. âNo one really knows whatâs going on, I just hear stuff from other people who donât really know either.â
Another member of Phi Psi, junior Nate Goodhart, is confused why anyone would do such a thing.
âWhile I understand fraternities can sometimes play small pranks and jokes on each other in good fun, they took it way too far by stealing so many composites and keeping them with no intent to return them,â Goodhart said.
At this point in the development, there are plans to repay the fraternities in which the composites were stolen. Phi Delt received a check from Alpha Sigma Phi last week to replace the missing property.
âAll we are asking for is reimbursement and an apology, which we still havenât gotten,â Goodhart said. âComposites are pieces of history that are important to fraternities.â
Senior Connor Perkkio, former president of Phi Delt, was also pretty upset with how the situation played out.
âComposites go missing in the Greek community from time to time but it is usually a joke and they are returned within a few days or weeks,â Perkkio said. âI do believe there are further plans to reimburse the other two fraternities.â
I want to begin by congratulating the four members of the class of 2016 who were voted to the Senior Class Council. Juniors Shelli Reeves, Milagros Green, Kelly Johnson and Sean Roskamp will make up the council for next yearâs graduating class.
As most of you probably donât know, the process of electing the president and vice president was broken this year.
After Ben Miller and Brittany Spicer were elected to be president and vice president on March 27, they received congratulations from Rock Jones, the Presidentâs assistant, current Senior Class Council President Liz Fisher and friends around campus. Everything was peachy and it seemed like a normal election. Not so fast!
Soon after, they received an email from the post-graduate intern Hillary Fowler to notify them of the upcoming run-off election. Apparently, if candidates win without 50 percent of the vote, there must be a run-off election. These rules were never stated prior to the election.
With not even half the junior class voting and three candidates running for president and VP, gaining 50 percent is nearly impossible.
The run-off election took place this past week with even fewer people voting. Reeves and Green won even though they didnât receive as many votes as Miller and Spicer during the first election.
Now, at this point, Iâm not really mad, just disappointed. I canât help but feel bad for Miller and Spicer. According to the stated rules (or lack thereof), they won the spots fair and square the first go around.
Ohio Wesleyan blew it. This is pathetic. How hard is it to run a fair election? Many students, including myself, had the same response when hearing the news: chuckled and let out a big âthatâs bullshit.â No wonder the school is losing so much money. Yes, this is on a very small scale and no one will care in two weeks, but sometimes itâs the little things that matter most in life.
Keeping your word is a great quality to have. I like to think Iâm someone who keeps my word. Iâm sure you would like that reputation as well. And Iâm 100 percent certain OWU wants to be viewed as an esteemed institution. Why else would we hire a branding consultant and get a brand new tour bus?
Ohio Wesleyan, if youâre reading this, itâs too late. But for next time, communicate with the candidates a little more thoroughly. If potential students hear about the professionalism of the Senior Class Council election, maybe enrollment will go back up.
Sports editor Matt Cohen interviewed Drake Bell on Saturday, March 28 shortly before he went onstage in the Gordon Field House.
Transcript: Whatâs your go-to pick up line?
Drake Bell: Um, I donât know I donât have a favorite.
T:Who influenced you the most when going into music?
Bell: Elvis, The Beatles, Beach Boys, Lil Richard, Eddie Clarke, Stray Cats, a lot of old people.
T: Growing up, did you like music or acting more?
Bell: Thereâs nothing to compare to playing live on stage in front of a live audience. Itâs awesome being creative and being on a movie set, but thereâs a lot of sitting around, a lot of waiting until theyâre ready for you. Working on sitcoms is fun because itâs fast passed and you do have a live audience. But thereâs nothing to compare to live performing. Thatâs the best.
T: Whatâs the coolest venues youâve played at?
Bell: The coolest ones are actually in South America and Central America. Brazil, Mexico, the latin fans take âfanâ to the whole next level. Itâs the most intense and a lot of fun.
T: What were your first thoughts when hearing about the OWU concert?
Bell: That it would be awesome to come play. I love playing, seeing new places, meeting new people. Doing these colleges have been a lot of fun because all the people in the crowd are usually just a little younger than me. So itâs awesome I can do whatever I want, you know? I donât have to cater my performance toward the younger kids.
T: Have you played a lot of colleges during the tour?
Bell: Yeah a few, donât ask me which ones. Notre Dame, Berkeley was a lot of fun. Yeah the college thing has been a lot of fun.
T: Have you kept in touch with anyone on Drake and Josh?
Bell: Yeah I talk to Josh all the time and I just saw Miranda the other day we went to the Childrenâs Hospital together. We worked on a cartoon together not that long ago. Iâm actually working with the Dad from the show, Jonathan Goldstein, on a new project that Iâm producing and heâs directing. We were a pretty tight knit group.
T: Whatâs coming up next for you?
Bell: Touring and now Iâm doing the voice of the Flash. Now Iâm the Spiderman and the Flash, thatâs pretty cool.
Freshman Brooke Butterworth. Photo courtesy of battlingbishops.com.
After winning four out of five matches in Hilton Head, South Carolina, the Ohio Wesleyan womenâs tennis team looks to bring more than warm weather back from the adventure.
The spring break trip built a strong bond and prepared the players for the rest of the season of competition.
âIt was a really good way to get to know the team,â freshman Adrienne DâAlewyn said. âWe have a lot of new freshman playing high up, and with a van ride that long youâll get to know everyone. It was good for us.â
Itâs especially important as a doubles team to know the strengths and weaknesses of your partner. The team and coach Tom Drabczyk were able to try out some new partnerships during their time off.
âAs a doubles team it is so important to be able to work with your partner as one. What balls to take and to move to the net together is important,â DâAlewyn said.
Freshman Keisha Cummings. Photo courtesy of battlingbishops.com.
Coach Drabczyk helps with his players and the strategy behind the game, but in a different way than usual. Including 6am practices twice a week to keep the team going.
âHe always makes us laugh and cheery on the court,â DâAlewyn said. âHeâs a character and a fun coach to have.â
The team is led by four seniors and crop of freshman scattered in the lineup. Senior leadership is key for the team moving forward and keeping the attitude positive according to Sophomore Harriet Watson.
âThey have so much experience and know how to handle other players, motivate and bring us up when weâre down,â Watson said. âTheyâre all very talented and can step up for us.â
The team has a streak of nine matches at OWU coming up next on their schedule before the end of the season NCAC tournament in Gambier, Ohio.
Coach Drabczyk was unavailable for comment at press time.
A three percent increase in next yearâs tuition recently made an impact on Ohio Wesleyan students, and their bank accounts.
Total tuition will be approximately $55,000 next year. This is comparative to the rates of DePauw University and Denison University, but less than both Oberlin College and Kenyon College, which are around $61,000.
âNo one likes to see costs for students increase year after year,â said Director of Residential Life Wendy Piper. âEspecially when so many of our students already find it challenging to fund their education.â
A portion of the increase is due to the cost of living. For individuals living in a standard room, room and board costs $11,540. Residency in Stuyvesant Hall, 35 Williams Dr., 23 Williams Dr., 4 Williams Dr. and 123 Oak Hill Ave. will cost extra. These facilities are seeing a 10% increase in fees.
The extra revenue created will be reinvested into the buildings for further improvements.
âThis is not something that has historically been done at OWU,â said Piper. âWe recognize that our residential facilities need that revenue stream for improvements.â
Piper also said the increase in price had not affected the choices students are making when it comes to next yearâs housing selection. As usual, 4 Williams Drive and Stuyvesant Hall were still almost completely full after the first round of senior selections.
âIt didnât matter when I picked to live in Stuy that it cost more because I know that it has nicer conditions than some of the other places to live,â said junior Michael McDermott. âEspecially if you know OWU will be putting the money back into the building, it kind of makes sense.â
Other students were not as optimistic as McDermott. For sophomore Isabella Flibotte, a visible change would be appreciated for next year.
âFor me, if Iâm able to see improvements to the buildings and living conditions, Iâll feel a lot better about it,â Flibotte said.
Senior Nick Felhaber. Photo courtesy of battlingbishops.com.
Coming from a family of college basketball players, an Ohio Wesleyan senior was destined to continue on the tradition.
Nick Felhaber, the only senior on the team, has been through a lot in his time wearing the black and red jersey, including injuries, conference championships and NCAA tournament runs.
However, he did not have OWU on his college radar until an assistant coach saw him play at one of his high school games at Toledo St. Johns.
âI had a pretty good game the day he was there and afterwards we talked,â Felhaber said. âI ended up applying, liking the school and wanted to play basketball four more years.â
Halfway through his sophomore year, Felhaber broke his foot. And just two weeks after his junior season ended, he broke it again.
During that time, he chose to focus on improving different aspects of his game he could control.
âI had to be a little smarter and focus on things I knew I could do. Like ball handling, watching film and shooting,â said Felhaber.
Shooting cannot be emphasized enough. Felhaber made 95 three pointers this season, including breaking a single-game OWU record of nine against Calvin on November 22. However, the record would not stand for long. He increased it to 10 two months later against Oberlin College.
To put 95 three pointers in perspective, thatâs only 12 shy of the amount made by the whole Kenyon squad this season.
Felhaber playing against DePauw in February. Photo courtesy of battlingbishops.com.
As Felhaber enjoyed individual success, the team also prospered. Although being picked to finish fourth in the pre-season poll and were thought to be not much of a threat, the Bishops, led by Felhaber, started the season 7-0.
âIt was one of those years where we came out of nowhere,â Felhaber said. âEveryone said we were going to be rebuilding and we came out in the first week of the season and beat the sixth ranked team in the country.â
The team won the NCAC regular season, finishing with a 21-5 record entering postseason play. After fighting back from injuries and leading the team during his last year, the title will always stick out for Felhaber.
âThat was a huge moment for us. And that was one of the big ones for me personally.â
âIt was just a great year and a lot of fun. I was very fortunate to have some great teammates and coaches.â
His teammates were fortunate to have him as well. Junior Joey Kinsely has been a part of the team the last three years with Felhaber.
âWe all look toward (Felhaber) during practice, in games and in the classroom, and heâs always giving it his all and going 100 percent,â Kinsley said. âEveryone wants to be on a team with people like that, heâs a great guy and will be missed.â
My favorite time of the year is finally here. While some prefer the summer months, and others like fall or December, I prefer March for one simple reason: the Madness.
The moment that every basketball and sports fan has been waiting for is upon us. The NCAA Division 1 basketball tournament tips off this week, and fans of college athletics can rejoice in the biggest event of the year.
As a testament to the enormity of the Madness, last yearâs revenues were over $1 billion – more than the entirety of the NFL playoffs.
That figure is merely nominal, since everyone knows how big March Madness is. Everyone also knows that the first four days of the tournament in the middle of March are the greatest four days of the year.
An extravaganza of basketball begins this week, as games will be on 24/7 starting today and lasting until Sunday. Legends are made, hearts are crushed and unimaginable stories become reality. During these four days, the first two rounds of the 64-team single-elimination frenzy will take place.
Youâve been filling out NCAA Division I basketball tournament brackets since youâve been able to write. Fortunes are made and mortgages are lost. Brackets are everything this month, evidenced by the $1 million prize for whoever manages the impossible task of predicting the perfect bracket, the most elusive item in all of athletics. According to Bleacher Report, you have better odds of getting attacked by a shark, struck by lightning or being an NBA player.
The atmosphere of each game is always stunning, and somehow the next game is somehow even better. The ever-amusing David verses Goliath matchups litter the first round.
Yet, more importantly than the revenues, the bets, and the brackets, are the memories of each NCAA tournament. Those last for a lifetime, whether players and fans like it or not.
Kentucky fans still wear shirts that say, âI hate Christian Laettnerâ across the chest after what became known as âThe Shotâ made by Dukeâs Laettner in the 1992 semifinals to beat the Wildcats by one.
In the category of improbable villains, Michiganâs star Chris Webber is the first that comes to mind. As a member of the iconic Fab 5 Wolverines team in the 1990s, Webber mistakenly called a timeout when his team had none left, which cost Michigan the national championship.
Or if youâre feeling especially nostalgic on this throwback Thursday, another famous improbable villain is Georgetownâs Eric âSleepyâ Floyd, who accidentally passed the ball to North Carolinaâs James Worthy, helping the Tar Heels seal the 1982 championship.
While the villains are remembered, the heroes are ultimately celebrated. Who can forget the NC State âalley-oopâ to win the 1983 national championship against Houston that sent coach Jim Valvano running around the court in shock?
If weâre talking about shock, George Masonâs Cinderella run to the Final Four as an 11 seed definitely comes to mind. As does Mario Chalmersâ game-tying three-pointer with just over two seconds left in regulation. Propelling the Kansas Jayhawks to the championship, shocking not only the then Memphis Tigers coach John Calipari and future NBA MVP Derrick Rose, but a whole nation.
Whether youâre watching to root on the alma mater, to win the bracket pool at work or just out of shear enjoyment; sit back, relax and enjoy the spectacle that is March Madness. Thatâs what Iâll be doing.
An uprising three years ago against the government of Bashar al-Assad in Syria dramatically increased the number of Syrian refugees and exposed an Ohio Wesleyan University student to a growing crisis.
OWU senior Brenda Gable talked about her study-abroad program and recalled her internship at the Syrian-American Medical Society as part of the 2015 Great Decisions Community Discussion series on Friday.
Gable traveled to Jordan last spring studying health and community development where she was able to see the refugee crisis first hand.
âWe were able to go to a make-shift hospital and see how the government was responding to this influx of refugees. Thatâs when my interest increased in this crisis,â Gable said.
Nearly half of Syrianâs population has fled or lost their homes altogether, many of them crossing the borders of Turkey and Jordan.
âThe infrastructure in the surrounding countries canât really support this large influx. It was really interesting to see how Jordanians reacted to the movement into their country.â
The massive influx of refugees is straining the resources of host countries and the United Nations has about half of the amount of the money it needs to help. The lack of jobs, education and water has created conflict and competition between the refugees and host citizens.
Gable is a pre-medicine major and interested in studying global public health. She said she hopes to work in that field.
âThereâs a lot that needs to be done, so I guess Iâm attracted to that,â Gable said.
In front of a crowd of about 60, Gable dove into the history of Syria, what led to the uprising and the causes of the war.
âSyrians started protesting for basic rights, and the Syrian government wasnât willing to negotiate at all,â Gable said. âPeople believed it was going to be a simple thing that was over in a couple months.â
Robert Tannehill, who attended Gableâs presentation, said there is a solution for individuals to help.
âItâs a whole mess, but individuals can contribute to organizations to help refugees that have fled from Syria.â Tannehill said.
OWU junior Lizzy Wynne, who came to support Gable, said she was jealous of Gableâs experience.
âI thought she did a great, she was calm and you could really tell that she knew her stuff,â Wynne said. âI wish I could go on a trip like that and see it first hand and try to help.â
âIf all the violence stopped tomorrow,â Gable concluded, âit would still take around 30 years for the Syrian government to rebuild it itself.â
A three-member panel will discuss human trafficking in the 21st century at the next lecture of the Great Decisions series at William Street United Methodist Church on March 13 at noon.
