The Ohio Wesleyan Department of Mathematics and Computer Science has received a $1 million donation from the
Beatrice K. McDowell. Photo courtesy of legacy.com.
estate of the only female from the class of 1940 with a math degree.
Beatrice K. McDowell of Akron, Ohio, died Sept. 25, 2011, according to the Connect2OWU press release.
OWU president Rock Jones said because of legal problems with the estate, the donation wasn’t available to the university until now, four years after her death.
“The provision to [McDowell’s] last will and testament was made 15 years ago,” Jones said.
The donation will establish an endowed chair position within the math/CS department, Jones said. However, Jones said endowed chair positions have no power or authority.
“It’s essentially just an honor to receive the title of endowed chair,” said Jones. “They possess no power or authority. In the future, I’d like to make it so that these chairs have more power, however, right now, this is how it is.”
Jones explained that endowed chair positions are selected by the Faculty Personnel Committee (FPC), and by the Provost each spring.
Mark Schwartz, chair of the math/CS department, and professor of math at OWU, said there are plenty of things the money can be put toward.
The money, which Jones said will be 5 percent each year out of the $1 million, could be allocated to a number of different programs.
“We have several new programs, such as the travel learning course which goes to Alaska to study climate modeling, and this money will guarantee its future,” Schwartz said.
Some of the other programs the money will likely go toward, Schwartz said, include the Summer Science Research Program (SSRP), which is put on by the National Science Foundation.
OWU Provost Chuck Stinemetz said endowed chair positions are selected each spring, but declined to comment on whether or not this meant that this particular endowed chair position will be chosen this spring, as well.
Information Services (InfoSys) has bought a new innovative system which turns any wall into an interactive whiteboard.
This new system works with Mac or PC, and hooks up to almost any projector or HDTV, up to about 100 inches diameter.
OWU instructional technologist David Soliday said, “Interactive presentations promote more engaged learning. Using an interactive system, the instructor’s hands are on the display, rather than a computer or tablet. It also empowers collaboration, as students can come up and interact with the display in response to prompts or questions, or as part of group collaboration.”
Along with the interactive system is a pen that is used as a computer cursor to annotate and draw on the screen, which will be projected on the wall. These units cost about $149 each and can be used by professors and faculty on campus by contacting InfoSys.
These systems can be useful in the classroom to invigorate lessons, presentations or meetings.
According to the technologies website, “your drawings, gestures and highlights will all appear on the live image in real time. IS-01 is even compatible with a wide variety of software programs, meaning you’ll be able to control what’s on screen, just as if you were at the computer.”
Soliday said, the IPEVO IS-01 is more beneficial than Smart Board systems because, “the IPEVO IS-01 costs $149, whereas Smart Board systems can cost ten times that much. It’s also portable, so a department could have a unit that floats among the faculty. In fact, the Media Center is planning to purchase a couple to make available for borrowing.”
The education department is planning on purchasing a device for permanent installation in room 208.
“I am excited that this technology will be available for the university. It’s important that we keep up with the new systems that will improve the learning experience in the classrooms,” junior Mira Singhal said,
Soliday said he saw the IPEVO IS-01 being demonstrated at the Ohio Educational Technology Conference in February and was impressed by the concept and price. From there sales representatives offered to send a demo unit.
“IPEVO is a young company but they have a compelling product at a great price.” Soliday said. “These systems, and other IPEVO products, are gaining traction in primary schools, and I’m sure colleges will find the IS-01 appealing for its versatility and its price.”
By offering a space for students to discuss personal experiences and difficulties with mental health, Active Minds is attempting to shift the negative light away from disorders such as depression and anxiety.
Thursday, April 24, Ohio Wesleyan’s Active Minds chapter hosted their second speak out. Despite the seemingly minimal turn out to Bishop Café—only a handful of students outside of the club were present— club president junior Alyssa Lucas still felt optimistic about the event.
Lucas said she would rather have a small and welcoming audience that will be enthusiastic rather than a large and possibly unresponsive one. The club’s first speak out was in 2014. Lucas said it had much higher attendance, “It was a huge success last year, we actually had to cut it short because so many people were sharing their stories. It was really great though, so we decided to do it again.”
Five members of Active Minds pose in the Milligan Hub at one of their events earlier this semester. Photo courtesy of Facebook.
Compared to other related events on campus, such as Anthology of Survival, the speak outs are designed with little restriction. Attendees are invited to share any sort of story that they find so “pertinent” as Lucas described. Speakers are not required to submit a pre-written story beforehand, and are free to share spontaneously.
“We want people to be able to stand up and say whatever they want to,” Lucas said. “Whether it be their story, or someone else’s story that has affected them, it is a pretty open place to talk.”
Active Minds vice president junior Abby Hanson said speak outs can also be an opportunity for people to learn more about their own mental health. Hanson said that sometimes people recognize their own problems in the remarks that speakers make and realize that they may need to seek assistance. In order to help attendees, two members from Counseling Services were present at the event.
Despite a small audience, the speak out lasted over an hour. At first only members from Active Minds shared their stories, but as the room seemed to grow more comfortable, other students spoke as well. A range of issues were discussed such as suicide and self-harm, difficulty with medication, acceptance of diagnoses and hope for the future.
The sisters of Kappa Alpha Theta pose together on the Hill at their KATs and Bats event. Photo courtesy of Facebook.
Kappa Alpha Theta raised over $900 at their seventh annual spring philanthropy event, KATs and BATs, on Sunday, April 19, in support of the Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA).
CASA is a network of 951 community-based programs that recruit, train and support citizen-volunteers in order to help the abused and neglected children in courtrooms and communities to the best of their abilities, according to CASA’s website.
CASA helps abused and neglected children get through the legal system. The kids that benefit from CASA often do not have a stable adult figure in their lives. So giving them one person that will work with them consistently is really beneficial for them, Theta’s service and philanthropy director, sophomore Emma Beale said.
Within the U.S., each day 1,900 children become victims of abuse or neglect, and four of them will die, according to CASA’s website.
“CASA has the power to save lives. Not directly, like pulling a kid out of a burning building, but still powerfully, saving them from abuse and neglect which can be life threatening,” Beale said.
CASA also directly impacts the lives of children who need it the most. It provides them with a guaranteed support system no matter where they go or what foster family they’re put with, junior Mira Singhal said.
“To me, it means that theses kids will have someone to motivate them to be better and reach higher heights, no matter their previous circumstances,” Singhal said. “It builds trust for these kids who are vulnerable and allows them to be themselves.”
“My favorite thing about CASA is the incredible impact that one volunteer has on a child’s life,” freshmen Dominique Garrett said. “To me, CASA means a child will be gaining their childhood back again.”
As the service and philanthropy director of Theta, Beale’s main job is putting on successful philanthropy events each semester that help raise money and awareness for CASA, yet she does not stop at just this.
“I hope to be a good resource to my sisters for finding opportunities for service and to always be on the look out for service opportunities to share with the house,” Beale said.
Writer Ta-Nehisi Coates. Photo courtesy of uchicagodc.org.
Award-winning writer and current senior editor and blogger for The Atlantic inspired students by discussing his ideas about writing.
As part of the David Osborne Lecture Series, funded by the English department, Ta-Nehisi Coates visited Ohio Wesleyan on April 21.
The series provides opportunities for first-year writing students and others to learn about some of the challenges of being a writer.
Coates is the author of The Beautiful Struggle: A Father, Two Sons, and an Unlikely Road to Manhood, which is a memoir of his childhood as a black American in Baltimore.
During the talk, Coates discussed how black American writers influence his writing. Coates said, “one of the most influential pieces of writing I encountered while growing up was James Baldwin.”
Coates said, “We didn’t get the chance to bear witness to the great American disputes that fought for our rights, and therefore I wanted to have a say in writing my own history and portraying the truth in the purest form.”
Coates explained that his need for writing “started with a need to do something and make a change.” A large majority of Coates writing discusses growing up as a black American and the challenges and lessons that came with it.
“It’s okay to be inspired by other people; it’s good to take literary inspiration from other things,” he explained to students.
The main focus of Coates’ presentation was explaining to students the importance of writing for the correct reasons and finding joy in writing. “I want students to share the romance or pleasure of writing and not focus on the business side of writing because you have to. I think a lot of people lose sight of the romance and pleasure of writing.”
Coates said he has “always had a love for reading and writing. I would cut class and go to the library.”
Students listen to Coates in the Benes Room. Photo courtesy of Sara Schneider.
“I often question why things are the way they are for African Americans today, this is what often drives a lot of my writing,” Coates said.
Senior Mariah Bockbrader said “It was inspiring to hear someone who is not only good at writing, but who makes writing his passion and his life. I could tell that he writes more for enjoyment than for his career. It was definitely a message that everyone needs to hear: writing is a beautiful process and shouldn’t be a dreadful prospect. We should be looking at our papers as a way to improve our writing and as a way to garner creativity.”
Coates was a unanimous decision to bring to campus. Assistant professor of English Nancy Comorau said, “the department has a meeting for possible speakers for the David Osborne Lecture Series. Because we had a little extra endowment money than usual, I brought him up in the meeting.”
From there Comorau “hunted down his agency and he luckily had time to come to campus.”
The Osborne Lecture Series is a common event geared towards freshman students in English 105. Comorau said “we hope these events brought to campus can help students think through their writing and the process.”
“Him being here spoke to a lot of different groups of students on campus. What he does and the conversation he has gets to the very spirit of liberal arts. It’s not just a question of appealing to everyone but appealing to different interests, but having them all connect,” Comorau said.
Following his visit to OWU, Coates headed to speak at Johns Hopkins University.
Quoting Ohio Wesleyan alumnus Branch Rickey, sophomore Lee LeBoeuf began her secretary’s report to the Wesleyan Council on Student Affairs (WCSA) by saying, “It is not the honor you take with you but the heritage you leave behind.”
Despite these words on legacy, the final full senate meeting of the semester focused on things to come.
Junior Jerry Lherisson, president of WCSA, did thank the senators and representatives for their dedication to the council and for “the hard work that resulted in change.” And junior Emma Drongowski, vice president of WCSA, echoed Lherisson’s sentiment.
But Drongowski also mentioned that top members of WCSA are looking to fill a vacancy on the executive committee left by Jess Sanford, a sophomore who will be traveling abroad in the fall. They will begin their search within Sanford’s administrative policy committee but will look elsewhere if necessary.
The academic affairs committee informed senators of plans to host another academic forum next semester. This forum would bring administrators, faculty and students together to discuss OWU’s general education requirements.
Sophomore Jess Choate announced that her residential affairs committee was able to purchase sports equipment for Edwards Gym. Soccer balls, footballs, volleyballs and more will be available to rent in the fall.
Finally, the meeting closed after the allocation of the fall budget was unanimously adopted.
Rowland Avenue was shut down for Rock the Block, a two-hour event featuring a band, food trucks, lawn games, and more. Photo courtesy of Spenser Hickey.
With an higher turnout of around 100 more students, this year’s Rock the Block ramped up the post-Day on the Jay concept begun last spring by bringing in more food trucks and a band from Columbus.
The event was a collaboration of several organizations, including the Campus Programming Board (CPB), Residential Life, the Student Involvement Office and CLEAR (Choosing and Learning Environments with Alcohol Respect).
“We have a new musical group (the Floorwalkers)…this year we’re getting a band from Columbus,” said Residential Life Coordinator Levi Harrel, also an advisor to CPB.
“They were one of the bands we’ve been looking at for a while,” said CPB co-president Elle Benak, a freshman.
The Floorwalkers, who just released their sophomore album, started in Cleveland and were named best band in Columbus by readers of (614) Magazine in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2014.
Two members of The Floorwalkers play an original song in the gazebo. Photo courtesy of Spenser Hickey.
Their Facebook page lists them as a garage soul band, and an OSU Lantern article said they draw influences from “blues, rock ‘n’ roll, funk and soul.”
Last year, music was provided by students ‒ Wahoo Sam Crawford, a band of mostly class of 2014 graduates, and the Arjune DJs.
The Floorwalkers drew less of a direct crowd to Delaware’s nearby Bicentennial Park, but were still listened to by students eating dinner and taking part in other activities on Rowland Avenue.
Whit’s Frozen Custard brought ice cream cups for students, which were provided free and were a big hit.
“I got free Whit’s, and there’s flower pot painting ‒ it’s good,” freshman Emily Burns said.
Senior Luke Peters said he liked the free Whit’s, but didn’t want to spend a lot of money at a food truck, particularly Kinetic, which charges $8 for its signature wraps and bowls.
President Rock Jones and his daughter, senior Anna Jones, pet the family dog at Rock the Block. Photo courtesy of Spenser Hickey.
For freshman Sarah Kohn, the food truck options were a relatively new experience; she went with Kinetic for dinner.
“OWU doesn’t have avocados and I’m eating avocados,” she said. “I’m really happy.”
Freshman Abigale Lyon also got Kinetic, though she came to the event to see the flower pot painting run by Modern Foreign Language House and its moderator junior Alanna Spalsbury, a fellow member of Delta Gamma.
The food trucks included PhillyBuster, Holy Smoke BBQ and Kinetic, co-managed by Andrew Tuchow (class of 2013).
Most students got Kinetic, but freshman Bailee Bonanno went with Holy Smoke BBQ and liked her meal a lot.
Eric Smith, a post-graduate intern with the Student Involvement Office, led the food truck selection effort and said variety was the main goal.
“We have a really good variety of food for everyone to enjoy,” Smith said.
Freshman Laura Benson hands cash to Andrew Tuchow ’13 for her food purchase at the Kinetic food truck. Photo courtesy of Spenser Hickey.
Last year, OWU brought Kinetic and local favorite Dan’s Deli to Rock the Block but Smith decided against Dan’s this time since students can eat there most Wednesday, Friday and Saturday nights.
“We wanted to spice it up (and) see what else we could throw in the mix.”
“I think the event overall went very well,” Harrel said afterward, noting the crowd seemed very energized.
For next year, the organizers plan to expand even further.
“We’re going to have more tables, more games, more events for students to participate in,” Harrel said.
Making interdisciplinary connections and improving waste reduction methods are the goals of the team of faculty recently awarded a $50,000 grant.
The grant is one of five awarded nationwide and comes from the Henry Luce Foundation, a nonprofit with a variety of grant programs.
John Krygier, professor of geology and geography, is one of the grant’s campus coordinators and helped write the proposal.
He said the money will be used for exploratory research in Taiwan, South Korea and Japan that will promote collaboration between professors and students involved with environmental studies and East Asian studies, and possibly other disciplines.
“The idea is to look at some ways that faculty and classes in those two different areas interact,” Krygier said. “It comes down to helping faculty get more Asian content in their environmental courses and get more environmental content in Asian courses.”
He said there is money available for students to get involved, and interested students should contact him.
The exploratory grant encourages faculty to collaborate with colleagues who have different, but complementary perspectives on the world, he said.
“Nobody here is an expert on waste, but you get smart faculty and students together and you just pick a topic, like waste, and say ‘How would that be looked at in your field?’” Krygier said.
Taiwan, South Korea and Japan have been innovators in waste reduction, and some of the methods they have developed could be applied in the United States, he said.
The grant money will also be used to examine the waste reduction practices of nearby companies with Asian roots. One such company is Honda, which aims to reduce its waste to zero.
“That is to a reasonable degree inspired by their Japanese headquarters, though it plays out in the United States very differently,” Krygier said. “So, it’s interesting to look at how ideas about waste management have diffused to the United States.”
Much of the research will occur this summer and fall. Next semester, there will be a symposium and workshop in which faculty and students will present their research.
Krygier said if the project goes well, they have the opportunity to be awarded an additional $400,000 to expand on their work.
Junior Reilly Reynolds, moderator of Tree House, said it is great OWU can connect with other countries on sustainability issues because they should be important to everyone.
“The majority of people at OWU are white, privileged, middle to upper class Americans who will never be affected firsthand by climate change by being forced to live in areas where the environment is unsafe,” Reynolds said. “So, in order to find the purpose of caring, we must look outside of ourselves.”
Ohio Wesleyan University offers an investment club, allowing students to explore the world of investing and finance by participating in the stock market with no real fear of loss.
The Investment Club is a student managed investment fund comprised currently of 18 equities that are traded on the New York Stock Exchange, said sophomore Graham Littlehale, president of the Investment Club.
The club was founded to expose students who wish to learn more about investing in the stock market. The club provides an opportunity for students to receive investment experience without risking their own money, Littlehale said.
“I have learned enough that I feel as though I could start my own stock portfolio,” Littlehale said. “I would say that anyone who is an active member for a year and has a basic understanding of accounting, should be able to start their own portfolio.”
OWU received a one-time $50,000 grant in 1998 from Jim Oelschlager, founder and chairman of Oaks Associates, designated for students to gain real life experience in trading stocks. The university receives five percent of the portfolio at the end of each calendar year, according to the Ohio Wesleyan Investment Club.
Generally, the club meets or exceeds the investing benchmark. One problem that occurred a few years ago was due to holding a large position in cash. The club did not invest their cash soon enough when market went up, Barbara MacLeod, professor of management, said.
“This year we did very well; we happened to own Kraft when the announcement of a merger came out. That day the stock went up 35 percent,” MacLeod said. “Sometimes you just win, sometimes you lose.”
“The numbers have been increasing and the sophistication of the discussion has really improved,” MacLeod said. “I don’t want the club to lose money, but I let the students make decisions that I might not make in order to further their education, and this has done very well at that goal.”
To encourage students to become more involved in the organization, or just for educational purposes, professor MacLeod also offers a quarter credit course in the fall called Investment Practicum. It provides students with the skills to analyze equities, MacLeod said.
While there are no formal requirements for joining the club, background knowledge is helpful. The organization currently meets Tuesdays from 4:10-5:00 p.m. in the Corns Building. The club president runs almost all of the meetings, but other members are encouraged to assist, Littlehale said.
“Some people, as in life, are more verbal than others, so we are a safe place for people who do not have a background in investing,” MacLeod said. “We meet in the Corns computer lab so we can all be looking up information and answering questions.”
Students generally attend more meetings in the fall, when around 20 members usually participate. However, the spring semester usually sees anywhere between 10 to 15 students. Students also tend to fall off at the end of the semester, MacLeod said.
“Instituted this last year, students have to attend two club meetings before they are allowed to vote, so there are more educated voters to determine whether we should buy or sell a stock,” Macleod said.
Susan Schnall. Photo courtesy of american-buddha.com.
As thunder began to rumble in the distance, a veteran Navy nurse spoke to a packed crowd at Ohio Wesleyan on the lasting impacts of the chemical Agent Orange and implored everyone to get involved to help those suffering.
Susan Schnall is a core member and co-coordinator of the Vietnam Agent Orange Relief and Responsibility Campaign and is involved with Veterans for Peace and Vietnam Veterans Against the War.
President Rock Jones began the lecture on Monday night by presenting an honorary degree of Doctor of Humanities to Schnall for her work with these organizations.
Rock said this is the highest honor and needs approval from both the faculty and board of trustees.
True to Schnall’s character, she said she accepted this honor on behalf of Veterans of Peace who do the real work.
Schnall spoke about the use of the chemical Agent Orange in Vietnam during the Vietnam War from 1961-1971. Most importantly, she focused on how this harmful chemical is still affecting the landscape and the people-both the Vietnamese and the U.S. soldiers.
The chemical destroyed the mangrove forests, farmland and other crops.
“We kinda destroyed the ecology in Vietnam,” she said.
More than that, recent studies have shown correlations between exposure to Agent Orange and various health problems.
Currently, the Department of Veterans Affairs provides services and compensation for veterans exposed to Agent Orange for 12 health problems, including Parkinson’s disease, Type 2 diabetes and prostate cancer.
No such compensation is provided for the Vietnamese.
If there is this much damage to people who have only been there for two years, Schnall said, what is the damage to the people who live in the country?
And more than just the initial exposure to the chemical, the children of these men and women are often born with severe birth defects.
VA provides support to the children of female veterans for more than 20 diseases and birth defects, while descendants of male veterans only receive compensation for spina bifida.
But once again, there is little aid provided for these children in Vietnam, besides the care family members can provide.
“I would suggest to you all that we really do have a responsibility to help take care of these children,” Schnall said.
The Vietnam Agent Orange Relief & Responsibility Campaign is currently working on legislation to help take care of children of service men and women in both countries, clean up the land in southern Vietnam and provide services for Vietnamese Americans.
Old newspaper clipping featuring Susan Schnall. Photo courtesy of american-buddha.com.
Chaplain Jon Powers said he had led a spring break mission trip to parts of northern Vietnam several years ago. They even had an Agent Orange Awareness Week on campus with Vietnamese students, though attendance was low.
“My favorite thing she said is to beware of labeling people as the other,” Powers said. “I grew up in the Vietnamese era and that’s what we do. ‘There’s nothing better than a dead Gook,’ that’s just the way the culture was. It was an unthinking era.”
Powers said he had worked indirectly with Schnall before but was excited to officially meet her.
“As a military veteran, she brings both the commitment to service plus an awareness of the dangers and evils of warfare,” he said.
GMOs
Monsanto, self-defined as a sustainable agriculture company, is often critiqued for its use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and other chemicals in their seeds.
Schnall said that this company is a descendent of Dow Chemical, the company who produced the Agent Orange chemical.
She went on to say that the chemical glyphosate can be found in both Monsanto’s GMOs and in Agent Orange, which studies have shown could produce cancer.
In addition to helping move along legislation for veterans, Schnall encouraged those present to also boycott the products that use crops by Monsanto.
Senior Michelle Smith said she liked the accessibility of Schnall.
“She brought something from the past that was kind of forgotten about into our present lives with the GMOs debate and Monsanto,” Smith said.
This lecture was also a part of Green Week on campus and was sponsored by the university’s Honors Program; Poverty, Equity, and Social Justice Course Connection; Department of Philosophy; Office of the Chaplain; Women’s and Gender Studies Program; and Andy Anderson Symposium Fund.
