The parking meter initiative came one step closer to success during the Sept. 10 Wesleyan Counsel of Student Affairs meeting.
Public Safety Director Robert Wood said once WCSA had the funds, the meters would be ordered.
Sophomore Lauren Holler, co-chair of WCSA’s Residential Affairs committee, said they submitted a budget request for the funds during their full-body meeting on Sept. 11.
Wood said he hoped the meters would be installed within the next few months.
“We tried to get it done last year,” Wood said. “There were a lot of questions and concerns we needed to work through.”
Senior Anthony McGuire, president of WCSA, said the parking meter initiative is an uncompleted project from last year.
The parking meters were originally planned solely for Hamilton-William’s parking lot.
Since last winter, putting meters in dormitory parking lots has become part of the initiative’s goals.
Holler said Smith, Welch, Stuyvesant and Hayes resident halls are tentatively being considered as the lots that would receive meters.
Wood said these lots were the most congested.
Holler said her committee had received complaints from students last year who received tickets while only briefly parking in a lot without having the required permit.
“The idea is to give students a very easy, close place to park for a short time to drop something off or pick something up quickly,” said Wood.
The Department of Public Safety could have bought the meters itself, but Wood wanted the money deposited in the meters to go back to the student body.
He said he discussed this with Craig Ullom, vice president of Student Affairs, and together they came up with the idea of WCSA purchasing the meters instead.
“If WCSA would buy the meters they would get the money back,” Wood said.
He said this additional income could become an ongoing, though small, source of funding for WCSA.
Holler said a likely meter charge would be a quarter for 15 minutes, and the quarters would be collected and added to the Student Activity Fund.
According to WCSA minutes, the parking meters may also lead to more student jobs removing quarters from the meters; however this has yet to be decided.
“We figured only paying 25 cents to prevent getting a $20 ticket will help students,” Holler said.
By Carly Shields and
Liza Bennet
Transcript Reporters
Four Ohio Wesleyan professors chewed on the importance of food at “bite’s” first lecture.
The lecture, titled “Why is Food Important? Food Across the Disciplines at Ohio Wesleyan University: A Panel Discussion” was on Sept.13 in the Benes rooms.
Professors Mary Howard of anthropology, David Walker of geography, Shari Stone of philosophy and Chris Wolverton of microbiology and botany each gave their views and opinions of food through their academic disciplines.
Professor Christopher Fink, the director of “bite!” was the mediator of the lecture and directed the professor’s discussion of food and how it relates to a greater scheme of importance.
“As far as the lecture/panel discussion goes, I thought it went very well,” Fink said. “My goals for the event were to show how food as a topic could cross disciplines, and how there are so many issues from each that are relevant for those interested in food.”
He said he also wanted to demonstrate how our interest in food, even as academics, often starts from personal stories that offer insight into our lives.
Each professor gave a short description of how food is important in their own lives and why they became interested in food as an issue and as an enjoyable hobby.
Professor Howard grew up on her grandparent’s farm where she spent almost every weekend running around the property creating havoc and trying to help.
“When I was four years old I was found trying to milk a bull,” Howard said.
Professor Wolverton enjoyed food through cooking and gardening.
Professor Walker grew up in San Francisco with two parents who were food and wine experts.
Professor Stone-Mediatore grew up in the suburbs of Chicago eating meat, white bread and pop tarts. After she moved out of home she became a vegetarian. She learned how to cook and became aware of the amount of meat we eat as a country.
“I don’t find any hard and fast rules about how to eat, but eating more locally from small farms, and avoiding meat from industrial-agriculture, is healthier for us and our environment,”Stone-Mediatore said.
Stone-Mediatore also said there’s only so much we can do as individuals. “We need public policies that support small farmers and make local, sustainably-produced foods more accessible,”she said.
The professors discussed how their disciplines are intertwined with food and how their interaction with food changed through their work.
Howard demonstrated how food related to cultural anthropology by showing a short slideshow of her studies in Tanzania on malnutrition, poverty, famine and the food crises. The hardest part for Howard was to live in poverty in developing countries and then move back to Ohio to teach at OWU.
“I had a lot of exposure to on-the farm food production and had led a good life, which placed me in the privileged position of being a picky eater. When I witnessed a food crisis and became aware of the prevalence of hunger among so many fellow humans, I abandoned being demanding when it comes to food,” Howard said.
Walker described food as the “mobilizing of politics.” Cultural geography looks at cultures and cites around the world and food fits into that scheme as well. Walker said America even has its own different food practices, but they are overlooked.
Walker said we are what we eat and he also sees food as part of a foreign trade and global issue.
“Through traveling it has shown me where our food comes from,” Walker said. “We have coffee growers in Guatemala, Ethiopia and more. Its all blood stained coffee we bring into the U.S. We can and should change those food practices in the U.S.,” Walker said.
Wolverton is a plant and molecular biologist who is studying how plants like rice deal with draught. He also examines how plants take everything they need from soil and then control the use of the nutrients. Wolverton is especially focising on the flooding tolerance of rice. “If we can understand how that works then we can help cure malnutrition and other diseases with food,” Wolverton said. “It’s worth while to me.”
Wolverton also said molecular biologists are looking into genetic modification to help cure diseases and help cure malnutrition by helping women and children grow crops such as cassave, a starchy tuberous root.
Stone-Mediatore said food blurs the boundaries between nature and culture. “Our daily meals remind us of our dependence on the land as well as our immersion in the cultural traditions that shape how we eat,” Stone-Mediatore said.
According to Fink, the lecture and discussion with four diverse areas of study on the importance and effects of food was very successful.
“I thought that getting four professors who study food-related issues from a number of angles might show how solving these larger issues actually requires us to understand the intricacies of the various disciplines, and use expertise from each to inform the best solutions,” he said.
He also said he asked professors to take part because they represent a nice range of disciplines (though certainly not an exhaustive range), and they were also passionate about their areas of study.
“I think that came through very well during the panel,” he said.
Students were also engaged in the lecture.
“I really enjoyed hearing about the same topic from several different disciplines,” said junior Genevieve Watts. “It is amazing how people from the science world can find similar aspects to the people from the sociology world and how intertwined everything really is.”
The Sagan National Colloquium will continue to focus on the relationship between people and food throughout the remaining 12 lectures.
The next lecture will take place on Monday Sept. 24 and is titled, “Food Justice: At the Intersection of Food, Politics, Poverty, Public Health and the Environment”.” The lecture will feature author Bryant Terry.
Organizers of the fair say the fair has a long tradition of providing a place for people to exchange ideas, demonstrate skills and exhibit products, but is also a great source for recreation and entertainment as well. People of all ages are welcome and the fair tends to be an enjoyable family event for the residents of Delaware county.
Spectators enjoy the rides and activites featured at the Delaware County Fair. The fair began in 1883 to establish and encourage agricultural societies in the state of Ohio.
Visitors to the fair can see live animals, such as the goat, and other displays from hundreds of exhibitors along with a series of motor sports events. The Delaware County Fair features events including 4 days of the best in harness racing capped off by the Little Brown Jug on Sept. 20.
In 2011 and 2012, the amount of student loans crossed the $100 billion mark for the first time.
The total loans outstanding now exceed $1 trillion, which is far higher than either credit card or car loan debt.
Students finish college with an average debt of more than $25,000; in Ohio, it is $27,713. Some students owe more than $100,000.
Many start their adult life deep in debt and have no choice but to delay buying a car or a house, or getting married and having children.
Some are so saddled with debt that they can never dig their way out: Americans 60 or older still owe about $36 billion in student loans. In addition, many students default on their loans (Ohio’s delinquency rate is 8.5 percent) and may end up in bankruptcy.
Given the steep price tag of college, it also means that fewer students may opt to to go to college and graduate schools in the future.
The implications for the national economy and America’s international competitiveness are clear – college debt has ballooned to such unprecedented proportions that the country is now in the midst of a real crisis.
The problem of student debt is not “a side show,” as a commentator dismissively wrote earlier this week. It could well be the next economic bomb that sends the country in a tailspin.
There is no shame in having student debts. It is not a personal problem and burden, but a collective experience.
Also, student indebtedness is not an inevitable disaster and inexorable fate. There are solutions to the problem.
Colleges, private banks, and the federal government can and should do a much better job of disclosure and counseling before students take out loans.
All lenders, public and private, should cap their interest rates at no higher than 3.4 percent instead of charging exorbitant rates of 15 percent or higher.
And colleges and universities should do everything in their power to keep tuition as low and affordable as possible; in recent years, tuition increases have far exceeded inflation.
When students start paying back their student loans after graduation, their repayment should be tied to their income.
Income-based repayment (IBR) means that low earners and the unemployed pay less per month than high earners. This rule should become the norm for the entire nation.
Perhaps we should also have another look at bankruptcies. Currently, there are no statute of limitations on student loans, and declaring bankruptcy will not allow you to start with a clean slate.
Another idea is loan forgiveness.
If someone commits to working as an educator, physician, or soldier for a number of years (ten, let’s say), why not give the individual credit for his/her community service and waive the balance of the loan?
One such program is the Stafford Loan Forgiveness Program for Teachers, created with the intent to encourage individuals to enter and remain in the teaching profession.
Why not expand the program to include all public-service occupations, for example social workers, doctors, lawyers, and scientists?
If we add together grants, stipends, low-interest loans, principal reduction, loan forgiveness, income-based repayments, deferments of payments, and more, then perhaps higher education can remain affordable to all who qualify.
This fall, politicians need the help of students to be elected or reelected. Student indebtedness could be and should be a central bipartisan campaign issue. Students should make their voices heard and demand debt relief from those running for office.
The key demand is to keep colleges and universities within reach of not only the 1 percent, but of the 99 percent. The Pentagon has a defense budget of $690 billion, not counting many secret programs. Surely, higher education is as important to the national security and economy of our country as the military, and perhaps is even more important than the wars of choice in Afghanistan or Iraq, where the United States has so far spent over $1 trillion.
Because it is the foundation of the nation’s future, our education system deserves to be fully funded from top to bottom.
Editor’s Note: This article was written in Spring 2012 by Thomas Wolber, German professor and associate director of the Modern Foreign Languages Department.
Kimberlie GoldsberryDean of Students Kimberlie Goldsberry offered students a free lunch and a chance to voice their opinions at the first Dine with the Dean event of the new academic year.
Goldsberry said she started hosting students for lunch regularly during her first year at Ohio Wesleyan in the fall of 2009 to learn more about student experiences.
Sophomore Emma Goetz took the opportunity to make her concerns about handicap accessibility to campus buildings campus known.
Goetz said she felt Goldsberry was receptive to her opinions.
“I thought she was really interested and she was very focused on what we were saying,” she said.
“I thought she was really nice. I was very impressed with her.”
Goetz said she did not go into the meeting with specific issues to address with Goldsberry.
However, she did make her concerns about handicap accessibility to campus buildings known during the meal.
Goetz said she is aware the problem solution’s is complex, but has faith the administration will handle it.
“It is expensive, but I feel like it’s something that should be done,” she said. “But I understand that it’ll happen when it happens.”
Goldsberry said students have brought a myriad of issues to her attention since Dine with the Dean’s inception.
“There’s a whole variety of things that come up,” she said. “There’s no script, there’s no agenda, so you don’t always know what they’re going to bring up.”
According to Goldsberry, she has often referred students to other university or city authorities to help solve their problems.
In the past, she took student concerns about lighting on campus streets to the Delaware Police Department and other city leaders.
She also referred a student with questions about the sulfur spring at Phillips Hall to the person who controls its activity.
Goldsberry said she cannot be everywhere and control everything, but she does her best to understand what is going on so she can have influence over it.
Senior Kamila Goldin went to Dine with the Dean last year as an ally for her friends Brian Trubowitz (’12) and Lauren Leister (’12).
She said the experience was “intimidating,” but that she understands the difficulties Goldsberry faces when helping students make change.
“She’s working with a lot of constraints and demands that we can’t see, so even though she’s open to hearing our suggestions, she’s very aware of all the limitations and restrictions which can come off as a little bit daunting and hopeless sometimes,” she said.
Goetz said she thinks a common student conception of university administrators like Goldsberry is that they’re not open to hearing student ideas.
She said if students believe that, it is because they don’t know Goldsberry.
Goldin said she thinks change can sometimes be difficult because of the administration’s institutional nature.
“I think that unfortunately the institutions tend to be pretty conservative, not that they don’t want to try new things, but they just tend to conserve orders that work,” she said.
“So if every idea that every student had was honored, the school would just be changing every year or every four years.
“I think that there’s a lot of inertia inherently built into the system, like the Senate, or like the House of Representatives. I think that even though the administration is very open and friendly it is still hard to make change, by no fault of any of the administrators. I feel like it’s just part of the system.”
Goldin also said the even distribution of power among administrative departments requires students to be especially diligent when making their voices heard.
“Power is really distributed, and so if you want to make a change you have to tackle a lot of different aspects of the administration; it’s not a single person,” she said.
“So it takes a lot of energy and a lot of focus and a lot of desire to kind of follow through and check up on people, make sure that they are still hearing what you want to say and that they’re following through and talking to who they’re supposed to follow through (with). Basically you have to have the initiative and the energy to keep your cause on the administration’s agenda and all the administrators’ agendas, and I think that there’s hardly a student who has that kind of time.”
Goldsberry said she tries to be “approachable” for students, so she keeps Dine with the Dean meetings small to allow everyone a chance to speak.
“Sometimes it makes them feel like they’re in a special place because there’s a lot of schools where it would be difficult to have that opportunity,” she said.
“We’re the size of community where we should be able to do that and I enjoy doing it and I hope they enjoy the experience.”
Goldsberry said she enjoys hearing positive things from students about their university experience along with their concerns.
“The good part is I hear about good things that are going on for them, being with students in those happy moments,” she said.
“Sometimes I’m with them in not their happiest moments, so I enjoy having those times.”
Goetz said more students should take advantage of Dine with the Dean.
“You hear students complaining all the time on campus but they never make concerns known in a productive manner,” Goldin said meetings like Dine with the Dean help form a healthier relationship between students and the university.
“The more human a face that the administration has and the more human a face the student body has to the administration, I think, the more change will happen,” she said.
“Because more people will buy into each other’s ideas and buy into the idea that things can change.”
Ohio Wesleyan University Chaplain, Jon Powers, said the community of religious and spiritual organizations on campus are like colored stones within a kaleidoscope. With just a simple tap the entire composition of the kaleidoscope changes.
“All stones are valuable, but not all know it,” he said.
He said he sees patterns and layers in the religious and spiritual experiences of students. This is the “joy of his job.”
Powers said the “joys” he finds in his role on campus with an expression of utmost passion.
He said he realizes students’ needs as they explore the opportunities available to them at OWU are different. He said the chaplain’s staff needs to “be sensitive to that.”
Religious and spiritual organizations on campus cater to these different needs, providing both structured religious celebrations and venues through which students may understand concepts of spirituality and the ways in which their own religion and spirituality may collide with activism, culture or even the outdoors.
Powers said he places the religious organizations on campus into a series of layers, layers that some students peel back as they progress through their campus journey.
The First Layer
Such organizations as the Newman Catholic Community and the Tauheed Muslim Community offer structure to students attending school after experiencing a consistent religious upbringing or religious-based high school.
Junior Maria Jafri, president of Tauheed, was born a Muslim in Saudi Arabia.
“My whole life, my religion has played a big part of who I am,” Jafri said. “Coming here, I knew it would make me more comfortable so that’s why I got involved. I feel like I’m more a part of community discussion.”
Jafri said she attributes her experiences with Tauheed as a venue through which she learned to conduct herself on campus.
Tauheed offers her the opportunity to attend Muslim prayer services every Friday in Peale Chapel at noon.
The group also makes periodic visits to a nearby mosque, along with their more cultural celebrations.
She said she hopes these events educate members of the campus community about different religions other than their own, but she said she commonly sees the same attendees at every Tauheed event.
“There are very few people who come because they’re genuinely interested…but the few who do come are the best part,” she said. “I do feel that a lot of people think they can’t join if they’re not Muslim. Tauheed is very open to people of all faiths. That is something I would like to see more of.”
Senior Betsy Dible, president of the Newman Catholic community, was a member of a consistent Catholic community and youth group before attending OWU. These experiences informed her decision to stay involved in her religion on campus. She said she wishes more students would do the same.
“A fairly large percentage of students identify themselves as Catholic (at least on applications and such) but don’t attend our events,” Dible said.
“I personally feel like more and more students are losing their faith when they head away for college; their parents aren’t there making sure they go to church. That’s what saddens me the most. I know my own personal faith life has grown since I’ve been in college because I am making my own decisions when it comes to going to church…and I have become more invested in my choices.”
According to Powers, one third of the campus community is Catholic. This is around 600 students.
If all these students were to attend Newman events, organizing a place to meet would be problematic.
Powers said organizations like Newman are an ideal fit for some students, but other students have different needs to meet.
The Second Layer
These other students may find comfort and solace in such organizations as Jubilee, Spring Break Mission Trips, Freethinkers, Wilderness Treks and Common Texts.
Students involved in these groups may apply their past religious experiences to the pursuit of learning about other religions traditions or spiritual experiences.
“For students who have no religious experience or a negative religious experience growing up and want to sample or explore another faith, these organizations offer another way of looking at things,” Powers said.
He said he places these organizations within another layer of exploration of the religious and spiritual journey students may experience on campus.
Sophomore Avery Winston, co-president of Freethinkers, said he hopes students may find “a deviation from the norm” within Freethinkers.
The group meets every Friday at 12 p.m. to discuss a variety of issues in an open format. Those who attend Freethinkers come from a variety of backgrounds and experiences, according to Winston.
He said those who attend group discussions are “smart, open-minded students who aren’t able to have certain discussions.”
“We provide that,” he said.
Senior Hayley Figelstahler became involved in the Outdoor Ministry Team because she wanted a venue through which she could combine her love for faith and the outdoors.
She said she feels as though students come to college and “just let everything loose…and everything soft of slacks.”
She said she feels, however, that some students actually find religion in college, a strange dichotomy.
Outdoor Ministry Team plans weekly discussion and adventure events which alternate depending upon the week. The group also hosts larger outdoor events, which tend to attract more students.
“I feel religion is a touchy subject and it’s not something a lot of students just flaunt…asking people to come out for a religious event is completely different than a philanthropy event,” Figelstahler said.
Powers said he sees the combination of religion and spirituality with activism as an impressive aspect of such organizations as the Small Living Units (SLUs) on campus. He said he commends students who apply their religious beliefs to causes they feel strongly about. He said he sees this application as another layer.
The Third Layer
Gretchen Curry ‘12, a former member of the Peace and Justice House, said she grew up with religion as an immensely important aspect of her life.
“I grew up in the church,” she said. “Almost literally. My dad was an Episcopal Priest in Connecticut for the first nine years of my life so I lived in the parish house right next door to our church.
“For the past 11 or so years my dad has been one of three Episcopal Bishops in Connecticut. Though I no longer live next door to the church where I grew up, church itself remains an important part of my life when I go home.”
Curry said she is using this time in her life to sort out her feelings concerning religion. She said she is unsure of what role the church will play in her future.
“I’ve attended countless events throughout my life,” she said. “I was in my youth group, have gone on many trips in and out of the country through the church, and still tag along with my dad to different events throughout Connecticut when I go home.”
But Curry is not directly involved with any religious organizations on campus.
Curry said she feels students, should in no way be pressured to attend religious events or be involved in any religious or spiritual communities on campus. She also feels as though there is not enough honest discussion about religious and spiritual issues on campus.
“I think (religious organizations) have to deal with a lot of crap sometimes,” she said. “That’s unfortunate. However, I find myself turned away from specific religious organizations on campus simply because my moral framework does not always align with those of the group. But will I respect their presence on campus as long as they respect the OWU population at large? Absolutely.”
Abigail Docker ‘12, said she is very involved in religious organizations on campus. She said she is passionate and excited about her involvement, but doesn’t feel as though all students should be.
“I think faith and religion is like any other aspect of the college experience–it plays as small or large a role as you want it to,” she said. “There are things we could do to make it easier for students to worship and lead religious lives, but overall I think there is a good network of students, faculty and staff that make living your faith possible in college.”
Docker said she is satisfied with the work done by religious organizations on campus to promote religious and spiritual events and the opportunities these events hold.
“There is some anti-religious sentiment on this campus, but for the most part discussions tend to be heated but not hostile,” she said. “I think the faith-related organizations do a decent job of working together and providing a place for people to have these conversations. Preserving and improving this environment is going to take effort from students.”
According to Powers, any involvement in religious and spiritual life is positive, and it should be different for any student.
OWU offers the opportunity for students to apply their own religious and spiritual experiences with the “cafeteria options” of organizations and opportunities on campus. The chaplain’s office strives to work with students to meet all of their needs, whatever these may be.
Editor’s Note: This article was written in the spring of 2012. All class standings have been updated to reflect the fall of 2012.
Through the program Beyond Study Abroad, four OWU student athletes visited Costa Rica this summer, immersing themselves in the culture while taking classes, volunteering and training for their sport. Senior Marshall Morris (right) pauses with Savannah Pingree and Mike Wade of Willamette University before going ziplining in Costa Rica where they particpated in the Beyond Study Abroad program.
Beyond Study Abroad is a program designed specifically for student athletes to have the opportunity to study abroad while continuing off-season training for their sport. Although participants do not have to be varsity athletes, a passion for athletics and a drive to connect the globe through sports is necessary, according to the program’s mission statement.
Former student athletes from Willamette University in Oregon developed the program. All of the directors played sports there and said they understand the need for a program for athletes that builds training into their daily schedules instead of having to fit it in on their own.
While in Costa Rica, students could take classes at either Veritos University or the University of Costa Rica and had a trainer who would help them with specialized sports workouts. Participants stayed with a host family and traveled the country on weekends. Over the summer, a total of 25 students stayed in Costa Rica.
Senior Erika Reese participated in the program this summer for the second consecutive time. She said last year she received an E-mail from her softball coach that initially drew her to the program. This year, she said she wanted to intern in Costa Rica and experience more of everyday Costa Rican life.
“Coming to Costa Rica the second time, I was not as culture-shocked,” Reese said. “The first time I was in awe of this incredible, new place and it was a hard, but good experience.
“Last year I went with my best friend, but this year I was more on my own. I was able to experience what living there would really be like since the novelty had time to wear off. I realized I could do it; I could live in a developing Latin American country.”
Reese interned this summer as a student faculty member, acting as a liaison between students and faculty in the program. She said she was students’ first resource in case any problems arose and was in charge of planning weekend excursions around the country.
Junior Erin Vassar also returned to Costa Rica for the second time this summer. She said she heard about the program from her swim coach, who sent out an e-mail about the opportunity. She said she wanted to study abroad and train while in another country and the program would allow her to do so for a little over a month.
Erin Vassar ‘13 zooms down a zipline in La Fortuna, Costa Rica as part of the Beyond Study Abroad program.Vassar said she had gone to Costa Rica in March with her tropical biology class and explored the rainforest. She said it was this experience that made her want to return and embrace the cultural aspect of Costa Rica, which she felt she missed out on the first time.
“This time I was a lot more interested in the culture, “ Vassar said. “I was never confident in Spanish class, but I spoke the language with my host family. The thing is, you can go there and not connect with your host family or you can make mistakes and learn and embrace the experience and it’s fun. They helped me conjugate verbs or movie subtitles and vocabulary and I helped them with their English.”
Senior Marshall Morris visited Costa Rica for the first time through the program. He said he also heard about the program through Reese, a friend of his since freshman year. He said she told him the experience was amazing and that he should consider the program.
“I have always wanted to go abroad, but never was able to because basketball season spans spring and fall, which only leaves summer and I never wanted to sacrifice a month of off-season training,” Morris said. “Once I learned I could be abroad, experience culture, train for basketball and take a Spanish course, I realized the program was everything I wanted.”
Morris said his typical day in Costa Rica consisted of his intermediate Spanish class, a workout with an individual basketball program and group lifting and circuit training with a personal trainer.
Erin Vassar “13 rides a mule in La Fortuna, Costa Rica.Morris said he was even able to practice with Costa Rican club basketball teams that, after he left, won the national championship equivalent to the NBA finals. The best part, however, he said was going to the barrios, which are smaller, economically disadvantaged neighborhoods, and playing with the children that live there.
“The kids came to associate our group with playing and having fun,” Morris said. “Their eyes would light up when they saw us walking down the street to play with them or to coach them in their sports.”
The student athletes all said they had wonderful experiences with their host families in Costa Rica.
Vassar said she came to love her host family and her host mom would do anything for her: she cooked, did laundry, made her bed and accepted her whole-heartedly.
Vassar said the program gave her host family an allowance to feed her breakfast and dinner, but they told her, “you are our sister, this is our family and what is ours is yours. We will feed you. Be comfortable. Eat if you are hungry; drink if you are thirsty.”
She said it was difficult to adjust, but once she did she felt comfortable and at home.
“It is hard to get used to not asking to shower in their home and just doing it because it’s your home, too,” Vassar said. “It was hard for me not to constantly say thank you or I’m sorry. My family always told me ‘tranquila,’ which means relax.”
“Their catch phrase was pura vida, which means pure life. It is more than that, though. It is a way of life.”
“In Costa Rica, there is no need to rush,” Vassar said. “Being a minute late is nothing there. You have to allow the connection and once that happens they literally became your family.”
Vassar said she formed a close bond with her family and could barely stand to leave them when the time came for her to return to the States.
“I was there for a month and was tired and missed home, but leaving was incredibly hard,” Vassar said.” I cried the day I was supposed to leave. My host family sat me down and said, ‘we love you. It is ok. You have to go. Life goes on.’ Everyone was bawling and it was really emotional. I love them. When there was an earthquake on Sept. 5, I talked to my family to make sure they were okay.”
Reese said she lived with her host family from last year, whom she never thought she would see again. Her host family consisted of a single mother, Maribel, an older brother named Josue and a younger sister named Carla.
“My host mom runs her own business and life is tough,” Reese said. “Carla wants to have her own job like her mom and not rely on a man, which is not common in Costa Rica. My host mom has received a lot of criticism because it is not typical to have a working single mom, but I admire her for it and loved getting to see the family again.”
Reese said, for her, the people in Costa Rica were the most enjoyable aspect of the trip.
Murals, such as this, fill many empty walls in San Ramon, Costa Rica.“My favorite thing was getting to know the people of Costa Rica,” Reese said. “I will never forget my host mom. She has impacted my life so much. The people there are so economically disadvantaged, but they are so happy. Denmark and Costa Rica go back and forth between being the happiest countries in the world.”
In addition to seeing the good side of people, Reese said she was able to experience first-hand what being a minority in a country felt like. She said she thinks it was a good experience everyone should have.
“It is challenging to be a not well liked minority,” Reese said. “Costa Ricans have some animosity toward the States. Our wastefulness bothers them. They use everything and don’t throw anything away. They have tiny trashcans. At the same time, they know that America helps them out; the economic gap is so huge, though.”
Morris agreed, saying that the people are nice, but they want to know that Americans understand their way of life.
“The people in general were a lot nicer than you could imagine,” Morris said. “They are a little skeptical of the States and tend to think Americans are just tourists who do not understand them, but once they realize you are there to learn, they are the nicest people in the world. You really become a part of the Beyond Study Abroad family, your host family and of Costa Rica itself.”
Morris said he had to bring back materials from his class in Costa Rica for the department board to review and decide if the course was extensive enough to receive credit. He said he should know by mid-semester if he will be receiving credit or not.
Summer study abroad programs are not part of the eight semesters of the regular undergraduate year and financial aid does not transfer. It entails different procedures becasue nonterm additional courses need to be pre-approved and then transferred in and handled by the registrar.
Morris said he is currently trying to talk with OWU’s international affairs office and modern foreign language department to make the program recognized by the school. If this were to happen, the process of receiving class credit would be drastically shortened.
“It is hard because other programs have agreements with OWU for Spanish programs that are encouraged by the school to students,” Morris said.
“Regardless, the most important thing is speaking the language. I want to second major in Spanish, but I would be happy without a major because I am now very confident in my speaking skills, which is so much more valuable than receiving credit.”
Vassar said she agrees with Morris that her Spanish has improved much more than it ever would have if she had not gone to Costa Rica.
“I learned more by immersing myself in the culture than I ever could by being in class,” Vassar said. “When we traveled on the weekends, I asked basic questions in Spanish. I am more comfortable trying and speaking and making mistakes. The biggest advice I got from people in the program was not to just hangout in the office with a TV and Internet. They said you could make yourself not learn. You have to want to immerse yourself and learn. I can honestly say I went into the experience whole-heartedly.”
Morris said he could not be happier with his abroad experience and thinks he did everything the way it was supposed to be done.
“I’d like to think I did the program the way it was meant to be done,” Morris said. “I exhausted every opportunity I had while I was there. I did all the silly events like taking free dance classes and learned to salsa dance with the people there, eliminating barriers. The experience was everything I could have wanted.”
“I never understood peoples’ infatuation with the country they came back from studying abroad in, but now I completely understand it. I understand why people fall in love with other countries. It is truly eye opening to see from the inside out rather than from the outside in of another country.”
Morris said he would like to go back to Costa Rica after this year to refine his Spanish abilities.
“I will graduate with a major, but I would love to continue learning and possibly work with new students coming into the program,” Morris said. “I am so excited about the time I had and ready to talk about it because I know anyone else who goes will have the same great time as I did.”
Reese said she hopes to recruit more people from OWU to participate in Beyond Study Abroad and to make OWU a bigger part of the program each year.
The Wesleyan Council on Student Affairs approved a revised Ohio Wesleyan sexual misconduct policy on Sept. 3 after a lengthy review process by university administrators, faculty, staff and students.
According to Mike Esler, Coordinator of Student Conduct, the proposed policy uses more inclusive language—for instance, the term “sexual misconduct” has replaced “sexual assault.”
Additionally, information about where victims can get help has been moved to the top of the policy to make it more visible.
Esler said the policy also creates a third category of offenses called “Sexual Exploitation,” which the current policy does not have.
“(B)y comparing the definitions of Second Degree Sexual Assault under the current policy and Sexual Exploitation under the proposed policy some of what was covered by the former was shifted to the latter,” he said. “Sexual Exploitation also includes behaviors that are not covered by current policy.”
The proposed revisions also include changes to the procedures for appointing the authorities that hear sexual misconduct cases and appeals in the university judicial system and modify informal modes of resolution.
Senior Matt Swaim, chair of the Wesleyan Council on Student Affairs Student Conduct Committee, said the changes make the policy easier to understand and provides greater specificity.
“Basically, we’re going to make the punishment fit the crime,” he said.
The revision committee also created a flowchart “as a tool (to) assist in breaking down the policy into a visual representation,” according to Dean of Students Kimberlie Goldsberry.
According to Esler, the revisions were made following a “Dear Colleague Letter” issued by the federal Department of Education to all institutions receiving Title IX funds.
He said the letter didn’t create any new policies for handling sexual misconduct, but summarized the Department’s standards and “encouraged colleges to use the document to evaluate their own policies.”
Esler said the current policy was mostly in compliance, but there was room for improvement. According to Swaim, the revisions were based on the University of Virginia’s policy.
“The relatively modest changes we made were both the result of the DCL (Dear Colleague Letter) and changes that we thought would improve our policy after we started reviewing it,” he said.
Goldsberry said she and Esler did “research, benchmarking and discussions” to aid the review process.
According to Swaim, representatives from the Student Conduct Committee, Counseling Services, the Women’s Resource Center, Public Safety and the Committee on Women and Gender, all helped craft the new policy.
The full OWU faculty will review the policy Sept. 10. According to Goldsberry, the faculty can either make it official OWU policy, or can remand it to the committee for further review if it finds it problematic.
Goldsberry said she thinks the latter is unlikely to happen.
“Policy revisions processes have become so thorough over the past years and involved legal counsel that confidence in the work done has been fairly high and support has been offered by faculty,” she said.
Swaim said the changes have a good chance of getting faculty approval.
“I think that the policy’s pretty complete and that we’ll be able to answer all the questions that the faculty have, so I would hope that it would pass, but I’m not really sure what to expect,” he said.
Goldsberry said policy reviews like these happen “fairly often,” but do not always result in changes.
In this case, she said, “there were only a limited number of administrative practices that needed modifications and all were manageable.”
According to Goldsberry, the Office of Student Conduct would be most affected by the changes, “but they work with other offices such as Public Safety, Residential Life, Counseling Services, and countless others to make it all come together.”
Editor’s Update: On Sept. 10, the OWU faculty did not contest WCSA’s decision to pass the revised exual misconduct policy. The revision is now part of university policy.
On Aug. 31, Ohio became the 36th state to ban texting while driving.
The law states it illegal to send, write or read a text message, talk on a cell phone, use Bluetooth, or other hands free devices, or handle a GPS (it must be hands free), while driving, even if the driver is stopped.
Law enforcement stated they will pay more attention to drivers and will watch for those violating the new law.
They will issue warnings to those who are caught using a cell phone or wireless device while driving for the next six months. Offenders caught after the six months or over will be fined and will have a license suspension placed.
Drivers under the age of 18 found using any electronic device will be fined $150 and receive a 60 day suspension of their license for a primary offense.
Minors caught a second time will then be charged $300 and have their license suspended for a year. Adult drivers caught using any electronic devices will be pulled over for a secondary offense and will be fined $150 for a misdemeanor.
The ban was enacted to make roads safer. But some students said the punishment for texting while driving is harsh.
“I think it is harsh because just looking at your phone and getting pulled over is still considered texting while driving even if you hadn’t sent a message,” junior Brad Ingles said.
Technology continues to advance and its consumers cannot keep their hands off electronic devices.
“Phones have changed so much that it is easier to text while driving,” Ingles said. “Also, people are so addicted to their phones and technological devices we have to know everything exactly when it happens.”
However, students said they are pleased with this new law to make the roads a safer place. Senior David Soohoo said he avoids cell phone use while driving.
“I think we’re crazy to trust people to drive cars going 60 to 70 miles (while texting). The chances of crashing are pretty high. I typically try not to text while I drive, I think it’s dumb to put my life and others at risk because I want to respond to a message that was probably only two words,” Soohoo said.
9/4/12 5:37 p.m. – Public Safety and Delaware Fire Department EMS were dispatched to Selby Stadium on a report of an injured student. Student was treated on site and did not require transport.
9/4/12 9:05 p.m. – Public Safety and Delaware City Police officers were dispatched to Welch Hall on a report of two suspicious persons in the Belt Fitness Center. The individuals, who were not affiliated with OWU, were cited for trespassing.
9/5/12 1:53 p.m. – Public Safety and DFD EMS units were dispatched to Sanborn Hall on a report of an unconscious person. The individual was transported to Grady Hospital for further evaluation and treatment.
9/5/12 6:36 p.m. – Public Safety responded to Bashford Hall on a report of telephone harassment of an OWU female student.
9/5/12 7:47 p.m. – Public Safety responded to an elevator entrapment in Smith Hall West. Maintenance personnel were called and the elevator was restored to fully operable status.
9/5/12 11:35 p.m. – Public Safety and DPD officers responded to a suspicious person at 10 Williams Drive. The suspect was charged with criminal trespass by DPD. The individual was later found outside Smith Hall and placed under arrest for trespassing.
9/6/12 1:45 p.m. – A report was filed on damage to an OWU student’s vehicle while parked in the Welch lot.
9/6/12 5:28 p.m. – a Bashford Hall resident was transported to Grady ER by Public Safety.
9/6/12 11:30 p.m. – a Stuyvesant Hall resident reported the theft of prescription medication from their room.
9/7/12 11:05 a.m. – Public Safety dispatched to Bashford Hall on a fire alarm. Cause of alarm was burnt food.
9/8/12 12:13 a.m. – Public Safety officers were dispatched to Bashford Hall on a report of a broken window on the ground floor. Witnesses reported seeing an individual kick out the window. An OWU student contacted PS and accepted responsibility for the damage.
9/8/12 2:42 a.m. – Public Safety and the Delaware Fire Department responded to a fire alarm and building evacuation at 30 Williams Drive. The alarm was caused by a closed flue in the fireplace chimney.
9/8/12 8:23 p.m. – Public Safety and the Delaware Fire Department responded to a fire alarm at Hayes Hall. Cause of alarm was burnt food.
9/9/12 8:35 a.m. – a report was filed with Public Safety and the Delaware City Police Department after dining services reported the theft of a cash box from the Smith Hall dining area. Investigation is ongoing.
