News – Page 12 – The Transcript

Growing Global

By Erin Ross, Transcript Correspondent

Global studies and international perspectives will continue to flourish at Ohio Wesleyan University (OWU) as a result of the Global Scholars Program’s growth in presence, experience and participation since its inaugural year last fall.

Created for students who have an interest in global issues and are pursuing a major with an international focus, the Global Scholars Program admits a small number of students each year. Jeremy Baskes, director of the Global Scholars Program, created the program through the Global Studies Institute.

Baskes envisioned the program to bring together students with shared global interests and present them with unique learning and travel opportunities.

“We see it as a recruiting tool, Baskes said. “It is an opportunity for students who have those interests to come to Ohio Wesleyan and work closely with other students who have similar global interests or international interests.”

The program proved its recruiting power as the number of first-year global scholars increased from 11 in its inaugural year to 16 this fall.

“We made really good progress in increasing the number of students this year and I am hopeful that we will do the same for next year,” Baskes said.

Nathan Amador Rowley, assistant director of the Global Studies Program and assistant professor of geology and geography , said that an increase in the program’s presence allowed them to attract more students.

“When I talk to faculty members, they seem to understand what the Global Studies Institute is and that we have global scholars … I would say the presence is probably the big difference,” Rowley said.

The students admitted into the program must complete certain requirements in order to graduate as a global scholar. Such requirements include a first-year seminar, coursework in a major of international focus, competency in a foreign language, studying a semester abroad and the completion of a senior thesis, according to OWU’s website.

The evolvement of the required first-year seminar played a major role in the growth of the program’s dynamic. This year’s seminar, “Climate, Capital and Culture,” is co-taught by Rowley and Mary Anne Lewis Cusato, assistant professor of French.

In contrast to last year’s instructors, Rowley and Cusato are both members of the Global Scholars Institute. This led to growth in student-faculty relationships. The Institute faculty now see the global scholars for four hours a week rather than just in organized social circumstances.

“That develops a different relationship that allows us to advise students in a non-formal way,” Rowley said. “We didn’t make those kinds of deep connections with last year’s students as much.”

The first-year seminar is also a UC 160 course this year. This addition lessened the workload for first-year global scholars who, last year, would have been required to take a separate UC 160 course in addition to their first-year seminar.

Additionally, the freshman global scholars will be required to complete theory-to-practice grants by the end of their first-year seminar.

“Whether they actually submit it or not … leaving this class, they will know how to think through a problem, write it down, and propose some sort of travel,” Rowley said.

In addition to growth within the first-year seminar, the Global Scholars Program also expanded its staff by utilizing the experience of its, now sophomore, scholars. This year the program hired Paige Hunter, member of the Global Scholars inaugural class, as an intern.

“We really wanted to pick one of our global scholars. We want to start utilizing them more as mentors to the earlier classes,” Baskes said.

Within her position, Hunter worked on creating a variety of social media websites for the program and better advertised the many campus events that were global in nature. She will continue this work while also adding videos of the global scholars and other material to the program’s website.

“Even though my position is new, I think it adds to the program by increasing the level of communication and connection,” Hunter said.

The program has thus far met the expectations of the staff and displays potential for future improvement.

“As we are learning how to do things, little by little, we do new things. It is growing and evolving, and I think we are feeling really good about the Global Scholars Program as a whole.” Baskes said,

Although the program is new and is continuing to grow, the faculty expresses the need for future funding. At the start of the program The Global Scholars Institute received $200,000 from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation that was meant to last them four years. As the end of those four years approaches, the Institute must find more funds for the program to continue to grow.

“If we had more money … I could imagine bringing speakers, taking students on more local trips … Money would just help so much,” Rowley said.

Men’s basketball looking to make noise this season

By Nick Braydich, Transcript Correspondent

Despite graduating the 2018 Division III Player of the Year, the Ohio Wesleyan men’s basketball team has high hopes for the upcoming season.

“Our goals stay the same. We want to compete for an NCAC title and make it to the NCAA tournament,” junior captain Jaret Gerber said.

The Bishops graduated a total of eight seniors last season, including Nate Axelrod (2018 NCAA Division III Player of the Year) and Seth Clark (first-team All-NCAC).

Junior Grant Gossard said playing well together is essential to replace the senior class.

“We plan to replace Nate and Seth by good team play and ball sharing,” Gossard said. “Our success will depend on old and new players stepping up and taking on larger roles.”

The team has added eight players to their roster this season. These players include six freshmen: Colin Kimbrough, Curtis White, Ethan Stanislawski, Gabe Johnson, Lucas Nathanson and Nick Carlson. The other two players are transfers: sophomore Grant Smith and junior Tristan Tillman.

Assistant coach Nate Conley mentioned the team has prepared differently than previous seasons.

“We have 17 members on our basketball team this year, and eight of them are new to the program,” Conley said. “As a coaching staff, we felt the need to talk and instruct more in practice while focusing on teaching some of the basics.”

Other than practice, the team played in a recent scrimmage. On Oct. 28, the Bishops played against Marietta College, who competed in the Division III NCAA Tournament last year, according to Conley.

The scrimmage was beneficial for the inexperienced team, Gerber said.

“Our first scrimmage could have been a lot better but it was a good wake up call for us,” Gerber said. “Most players don’t have much experience; that’s why you scrimmage.”

Men’s basketball wrapped up the preseason with another scrimmage against Ohio Dominican University (ODU) on Nov. 2. ODU were conference champions in the Great Midwest Conference last season.

Gossard said playing against elite competition in the preseason will provide confidence moving forward.

“Playing the top competition is the best way to get better and if we can compete with the best, then we can compete with anyone,” Gossard said.

Head coach Mike DeWitt usually challenges his team during the preseason stretch, according to Conley.

“He [DeWitt] has always scheduled the toughest non-conference schedule possible to prepare his teams for the rigorous schedule in the NCAC,” Conley said.

The Bishops will begin their season playing in the Midway Classic in Chicago, Illinois on Nov. 17 and 18. They will play Springfield College in their first game, who is ranked No. 3 in the Division III national preseason poll

Seasons ruined, endless rehab; ACL tears are affecting OWU student athletes more than ever

By Ashley Barno, Transcript Correspondent

Ohio Wesleyan student athletes are recovering after tearing their anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) this year, preventing them from playing for their full seasons.

Senior basketball player, Brady Roesch, recently tore his ACL during a preseason practice, “I was making a jump stop and came down on someone’s foot and my knee went inward and then popped,” he said. Roesch started playing for the men’s basketball team his junior year and has never had an injury this detrimental before, he said.

“The toughest thing about tearing my ACL is the mental aspect of it all,” Roesch said. “Since I started playing so late into college, I’ve only gotten to play one full season.”

The full recovery time for Roesch’s injury is estimated to be 9-12 months, making it impossible to be able to play during his final season.

Sophomore member of the women’s soccer team, Caroline Elliot, tore her ACL during a spring play day this past April, “I had a breakaway and when I shot the ball, I slid, and my right leg got stuck in grass,” she said. “My knee bent inward instead of outward which is why my ACL tore.”

Elliot said it was frustrating to sit back and watch her team play this fall while she focused on her recovery. “It’s been really hard watching the team, knowing I am not able to play, run, or even pass a ball,” she said.” “I felt like I didn’t contribute to the team this season.”

Being on a timeline is what matters most when recovering from a torn ACL, Elliot mentioned. “I couldn’t jog until four months into my recovery, even though my body felt strong enough,” she said. “I feel ready to be back, but it’s extremely important to not push myself so I can recover properly.”

OWU Athletic Trainer, Niki Budd, says torn ACLs are the most common season terminating injuries for athletes and are even more common, specifically, for female athletes.

“Females are hamstring dominant, which means their quads are weaker and its pulls on the ACL, making it easier to tear,” Budd said.

Contact sports are the most dangerous when examining the large amounts of injuries that occur in them, but ACLs can tear with or without contact. “Majority of the torn ACLs I have seen in my career have been non-contact, especially when dealing with girls,” Budd said.

Budd mentioned “prehab,” or preventive rehab, is the most impactful way to prevent detrimental injuries, like tearing an ACL.

Leading Greek mythology professor speaks at Ohio Wesleyan

By Seth Roberts, Transcript Correspondent

Not many people would consider professor Ruth Scodel to be one of the star speakers to visit Ohio Wesleyan University. However
Scodel is considered by many to be one of the leading voices in the field of Greek mythology.

Scodel, currently a professor at the University of Michigan, was invited to speak by Ohio Wesleyan professor Michael McOsker. Many people were encouraged by McOsker and others to attend the lecture with a crowd of 40 students and faculty attending the lecture. Scodel’s speech mostly focused on the works of Greek poet Hesiod, specifically his piece call

“Works and Days.” When asked why she specifically chose the “Works and Days” Scodel said:

“I’m writing a commentary about it, I’ve been spending a lot of time with this poem,” Scodel said. “For a while I was calling myself the all Hesiod channel, I’m not quite that right now because I have other projects. It’s something I do and Michael McOsker had suggest that there would be students that had read “Works and Days” and therefore would be something that I could actually be helpful about.”

It was clear during the lecture that Scodel had
done her homework, as she was able to speak clearly about the Hesiod poem and then confidently answer questions about it afterwards providing helpful insight to the students and faculty that attended.

Although the crowd of 40 at the lecture was
small, they were able to fill all the seats in
the room. Scodel herself actually praised the
crowd, “I was actually really impressed, there’s
always this nervous moment when you ask for
questions and no hands go up, but once it got
started there were questions and I enjoyed them,
I thought it was great.”

The feeling was mutual between speaker and audience members as they too also had nice things to say about Scodel. Michel McOsker, a professor of mythology at Ohio Wesleyan University and the man who invited Scodel to speak, enjoyed Scodel’s speech.

“I thought it was very interesting, a very challenging take against the usual interpretation of the “Works and Days”, this kind of chaotic mess of a poem without any real structure, it gave an overarching view about what Hesiod was trying to communicate”.

Students also appreciated Scodel’s talk, Ohio Wesleyan freshman Regina Campbell said “I thought it was interesting at times, and other times I didn’t really know what was happening”.

After the speech ended both Scodel and
McOsker showed interest in having her come
back for another lecture. “If anybody wanted
me to, sure why not?” Scodel said after being
asked if she would consider coming back to
speak again. McOsker, who originally invited
Scodel the first time said “I would be happy to
have her back.”

Hopefully this first talk is the beginning of
a long fruitful relationship between professor
Scodel and Ohio Wesleyan University.

Public Safety’s battle with drug use

By Minkyu Jung, Transcript Correspondent

Usage of drugs on Ohio Wesleyan University’s
grounds have been steady, but staff and public safety are doing everything they can to contain and limit the situation.

Interviews with Robert A. Wood, director of the university’s public safety, and Eli Reed, resident assistant of Stuyvesant Hall showed that while the usage of illegal drugs are still ongoing within the school grounds, both groups are doing what they can to inhibit such uses. The Ohio Wesleyan University annual security and fire safety report is also in sync with what the interviewees said.

Both Wood and Reed confirmed that there has been usage of illegal drugs in the university’s grounds. Eli recalled that he did notice occasional smell of marijuana on weekends even before he became resident assistant, and became more aware since he became one. Wood said that the usage rate of marijuana was second only to alcohol.

The report’s statistic also showed 13 arrests on drug law
violations alone in 2017.

“The number one drug we see most abused is alcohol…marijuana is number two,” Wood said.

Wood also showed the public safety’s stance toward
drug use inside the university campus.

“Obviously the illegal use of narcotics must be dealt
with according to both criminal law as well as student
conduct requirements,” Wood said.

According to Wood and Reed, the university’s staff and public safety are doing everything they can to re-
strain the usage of drugs. There are multi-office cooperation, regular patrols, and even room searches for pin-
pointed rooms.

“Yes, many offices play a part in helping (…) counseling, student conduct, dean’s office almost all play some part in helping to control the drug problem on campus,”
Wood said.

“Our duty as RAs is, if we can pinpoint odor to a
specific room during rounds, or even outside of rounds…
then you are to call public safety right away, and they
take care of it,” Reed said.

OWU’s department of politics and government encouraging voter participation among students

By Garrick Bostwick, Transcript Correspondent

The Ohio Wesleyan University (OWU) department of politics and government offer to help students vote early in the 2018 mid-terms despite historically low turnout among young voters.

OWU’s Arneson Institute for Practical Politics and Public Affairs will offer students transportation to voting locations in Delaware by way of shuttle service. This comes during a critical point in American politics as Congress could tip either way after this year’s mid-terms. Many political analysts believe that if more Americans aged 18-25 voted then Democrats would gain a significant advantage in Congress.

The manager of the Institute’s student involvement initiative for the 2018 mid-terms, Franchesca Nestor, hopes students will take advantage of the opportunity provided. According to Nestor, the Institute was not started due to the low turnout of young voters in previous elections.

“One of us takes steps to make sure students are involved in politics” Nestor said when asked about other times the Institute was involved in getting students to the polls. This is in accordance with the Institute’s politically unbiased goal of encouraging students to vote, started by its founder, Professor Micheal Esler of OWU’s politics and government department.

“We aim to give as many people as possible the opportunity to vote and help those with absentee ballots” Nestor said.

Students such as Joe Antal are taking advantage of this opportunity as he is using an absentee ballot and will take a shuttle to deposit his ballot.

“I don’t have a car so if not for these shuttles I wouldn’t have voted like many people my age” Antal said.

While Nestor is concerned about the low turnout of younger voters in previous elections, she is more so concerned about voting on a national level. She claims that the introduction of voter identification cards and other such requirements for voting deterred people from it and hopes that early voting can counteract this.

Only in the past few years has early voting been offered in Ohio and Nestor hopes more students will go to the polls because of this. According to her, early voting opens the opportunity to vote as it is easier to fit in more peoples’ schedules.

That said, there are still requirements for voting in Ohio beyond registration to vote. At the polls one must provide a form of state-issued identification such as a driver’s license or an identification card issued by the state of Ohio. If either of those can’t be provided a copy of a utility bill from OWU can be used as well.

All of this was detailed in an e-mail sent out by Nestor to the student body, informing them the time when shuttles leave for the polls and what must be done with absentee ballots. The remaining shuttles will leave Nov. 6 at 8:10 a.m, 2:10 p.m and 4:10 p.m

One game shy of a tournament appearance

By Hailey De La Vara, Transcript Reporter

Regardless of the struggles faced by the Ohio Wesleyan University (OWU) women’s soccer team, they only fell one game short of the NCAC tournament.

The Bishops completed their season with a 7-9-1 overall record, with a 3-5 record in conference play.

Halfway through the season the Bishops lost their top scorer,Maggie Morse, to an ACL tear. Head coach Nicole Ross acknowledged Morse’s role as a leader on and off the field and expressed the extent of how it affected the season.

“We played a different formation without her and it was a little risky.
We played with less defenders and we had to move a lot of people
around, but Maggie still stayed a big part of our program”, Ross said.

After suffering a four game losing streak during the middle of the
season, the Bishops quickly recovered with a three game win streak, including a win against Kenyon to keep their season alive.
The win streak was enough to get some recognition, but not enough for the Battling Bishops.

Senior captain and goalkeeper Mackenzie Brunke, shared her
excitement about the Kenyon game and how it sparked a flame for the Bishop’s success.

“We were a different team this game, we came out with a chip on our shoulder and willing to do the work to prove the conference wrong”, Brunke said. “This win and shutout was the beginning of us having a chance to make it to the NCAC tournament for the first time in three years.”

The deciding game that would advance the women’s team into the
NCAC tournament was against Wittenberg. After a hard fought game the Bishops fell 0-1 in overtime.

Despite the loss, the Bishops had one last conference game to play. The contest ended in another loss, however it gave the opportunity for senior captain Megan Price to reflect on the team’s emotional final game.

“We may not have gotten the results we wanted but in the end I was surrounded by my teammates and family. Being a captain made me grow, mature and be way more responsible. In the end I became a much better person and player,” Price said.

Ross expressed that the ultimate goal for next year is to continue
building as a program and remain hungry for an NCAC tournament
appearance.

The top scorer for the Bishops was Ashley Smiley with 8 goals and
Brunke finished the season with 97 saves.

Student’s business powered by recyclable phone cases

By Will Anton, Transcript Correspondent

A freshman at Ohio Wesleyan University is turning heads
with a new recyclable phone case, which is only the start to
his brilliant ideas.

Jack Foley, a freshman at OWU, is trying to change the
way people protect their phones with a special twist to it.
He has created a phone case that is entirely made out of
recycled plastic from the streets of Haiti. ReYuze is the
company’s name, and it focuses on transforming recycled
plastic into phone cases. Foley originally thought of the idea
after making fun of his sister for constantly changing her
phone case.

Foley grew up around the Chesapeake area in Baltimore,
MD, and was always surrounded by water. Foley has always
been passionate about the environment, and this product
could decrease the waste in oceans around the world. The
recycled plastic Foley uses come from a small town in Haiti,
named Menelas. Every time it rains, the Haitian people must
evacuate to high ground because the streets flood with all
types of garbage. This is the main location where the plastic
is gathered before it is taken to a collection bank, which
eventually sends it to the manufacturer of the phone cases in
Maryland.

One of Foley’s long term goals is to expand the business by making more high quality phone cases and helping the people of Haiti. Foley stated that he “wants to save the
world one case at a time.”

Out of the many trash filled locations around the globe,
Foley selected Haiti because of its corrupt government
which does not prioritize cleaning the streets. Foley wanted
to make an impact. Another benefit of the company is that it
is giving jobs to Haitians and Americans.

Foley donates a dollar of every sale to the First Mile Coalition, which is the top charity in Menelas, whose mission is to educate Haitians about child labor and poverty.

Junior Lucas Smith has been using the ReYuze case for
several weeks.

“I always drop my phone, and I was worried about cracking another one. I love the feeling of the case in my hand, and it has done the job protecting my phone,” Smith said.
“There is also a place to store my cards and OWU ID. I plan
on buying another one soon.”

ReYuze has earned some great reviews and is on the
rise. Foley’s ReYuze phone cases cost only $10, and they
are available for the IPhone 6, 6s, 7, and 8. His next idea is
to make the case a “lifeproof version,” or even expand his
products beyond phone cases.

Foley has an office in the new Delaware Entrepreneurial
Center at Ohio Wesleyan University. His main goal is to
make a real impact on the amount of plastic that enters the
oceans. He also wants to stop the “garbage patches,” which
can get as large as the state of Texas.

Let there be light, and a good place to sit

WCSA approved a 44,000 dollar project request to supply and install lights and bleachers to the practice fields across from Meek Aquatic Center.

The initiative, put forth by club sports captains as well as members of marching band, highlighted concerns faced due to lack of lighting on the practice fields as well as a safe place to sit while viewing the games. It also pointed out the greater benefits it would provide to club sports as well as the greater Ohio Wesleyan University (OWU) community.

Lighting the fields and placing bleachers there will not only make it a more welcoming space for OWU’s club and intramural sports, but it also opens up the space to be used for night programming by other clubs, campus groups, or even off-campus organizations.

“Without lights, we start losing a lot of rehearsal time as the sun starts to set earlier and earlier. While we currently have a temporary fix that’s getting us through to the end of the year, we are looking forward to having lighting that produces the kind of visibility needed for a marching band rehearsal.” said marching band director Mary Kate McNally.

There have been instances in the past where both men’s and women’s rugby, as well as ultimate frisbee, have had to cancel practice or move it to a later time due to varsity sports using the field.

Regardless of whether frisbee or rugby have reserved the field in advance, varsity sports take precedence.

There is constant competition for field space and grass areas that are suited for sports such as ultimate frisbee and rugby. The limited outdoor space has varsity, club and intramural teams volleying for places to practice on.

Lighting has begun to become an issue as the days are getting shorter and it starts getting darker earlier. As we enter the colder months, weather starts to become an issue as well.

Captain of the women’s ultimate frisbee team Karli Bigler voiced that, “Having bleachers and lights on the fields will allow our team to hold tournaments at OWU, to have late night practices, to have more spectators, and to have pick up games throughout the year.”

WCSA met the request with enthusiasm and approved the 44,000 dollars requested, come to find, the quotes that were received from buildings and grounds were two thirds less than what was needed in order to complete the project.

In order to move forward a capital project request was submitted to attain the rest of the money needed to complete the project.

Vice President for Finance and Administration Lauri Strimkovsky explained that WCSA had approved the 44,000 without taking a look at all that would need to be done before the project could move forward.

“We’re going to have to do some backtracking, usually you do all that work before you approve a project and it came to us without any of that being done,” said Strimkovsky, “If you light a field and don’t do so properly and somebody gets hurts, it can be a liability issue. We don’t have any problem doing the project we just have to make sure to do it right.”

Remembering the legacy of former Provost David Robbins

By Spencer Pauley, Managing Editor

sgpauley@owu.edu

Former Provost David Robbins’ death came on Sept. 30, but despite his departure from this world, Robbins left a legacy at Ohio Wesleyan.

Robbins’ death came at the age of 75 due to pancreatic cancer. He was at the Grady Memorial Hospital at the time of his death.

Robbins was a part of the psychology department since 1973. During his time at OWU, Robbins received a few awards, including the Sherwood Dodge Shankland Award for Encouragement of Teachers in 1980 and the Bishop Herbert Welch Meritorious Teaching Award in 1994. He was also awarded an Honorary Alumnus from Ohio Wesleyan in 2008. Professor of Physics and Astronomy Barbara Andereck worked with Robbins for many years and remembered how much the honorary degree meant to Robbins.

“It’s not a common thing for faculty members to be named [honorary alumnus] but it was because he contributed so much to the institution,” Andereck said. “And I know that meant a lot to him, he valued that because he felt strongly about this institution.”

Robbins helped develop the neuroscience program at OWU which was named after him in 2011 as the “David O. Robbins Neuroscience Program.”

Robbins was provost of OWU from 2005 to 2011. He started off as interim provost for a year because of his experience in the University Governance Committee. Andereck was a part of the Governance Committee along with Robbins. She remembers Robbins specifically saying that he would be Provost for a year, but that was it. But after some persuasion, Robbins became the provost.

The current provost of OWU, Dr. Chuck Stinemetz, remembers Robbins’ advice to him as he took over the position.

“I remember David [Robbins] telling me ‘every decision I make is in the best interest of the students,” Stinemetz said.

Stinemetz believed Robbins was always looking out for others. “He had a very long and deep understanding of the institution,” Stinemetz said. “A real commitment to the students.”

Robbins became interim president of OWU after Mark Huddleston’s departure from that role in 2007. His time in that role lasted only till the following year but major donations came in that time span.

“He was a very effective interim president because we had money that was given to the university under his leadership, which is quite unusual [for an interim president],” Andereck said.

President Rock Jones said that Robbins had an enormous impact on him when he was hired and during his first years as president.

“He always was honest and trustworthy, and he was especially helpful in my early years in orienting me to OWU and to the values and customs of this university,” Jones said. “I benefited from his candor and from his wise counsel as well as his sense of humor and his great love for OWU.”

The memorial service for Robbins was held on Oct. 4 in Delaware. Robbins is survived by his wife, Janice Robbins and his two daughters Cynthia and Karen Robbins.