News – Page 60 – The Transcript

Admissions files accessible to all

Students at Stanford University opened the floodgates when they cited the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) to open access to college admission files. But at Ohio Wesleyan, interest has seen barely a trickle.

Director of Admissions Alisha Couch said only two students requested to see their admissions files, requests via emails directly copy and pasted from the original Stanford request forms.

“I think they just wanted to test us to see if they could get [the files],” Couch said. “We had to tell them to send the requests to the registrar’s office.”

Though Couch said students should be able to look at their files – without being able to take them from the office or photocopy them – she said the admissions process at OWU is straightforward and relatively transparent.

“Mainly we’re using a highlighter, like highlighting comments from letters of recommendation,” Couch said. “For our admissions files we just write general notes on the students…we use our notes to kind of connect them to the university, such as if a student is involved in LGBQTA issues, we can connect them to someone on campus who is in that community.”

Couch also said admissions counselors are willing to sit down with denied students and discuss why their applications were refused. In addition, Couch said the admissions office usually only keeps files up to two years; permanent files such as high school transcripts, standardized test scores, letters of recommendation and personal essays get sent to the Registrar.

Among OWU students, there isn’t a consensus on the appeal of looking at the files. Senior Abby Bennett said she would “definitely be interested” in seeing her admissions files while junior Max Hara said he wouldn’t because he has already been accepted into OWU.

“Why look at something that doesn’t matter anymore?” Hara said.

Though sources have been inconsistent on whether FERPA covers schools students were denied admission to, both Hara and Bennett said they wouldn’t be interested in seeing those files.

Couch said, at a bigger or more selective school, she could see why students might want access to their files.

“A lot of people want the magic formula,” Couch said, adding she could see the system potentially changing at bigger schools if more students requested admissions files. Both Bennett and Couch said there was value to having transparency in the admissions process.

“I definitely think that we [should] have a right to see the information that the school keeps on us, but I don’t think that the information has much value in general,” Bennett said.

FERPA may not cover some files, such as letters of recommendation. Students interested in accessing permanent files should send their requests to the Registrar.

Senior goes the distance for change

In May 2015, senior Caitlen Sellers will join a team of runners on a 300 kilometer journey across the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The seven-day trek is meant to raise support for gender equality and coffee-farming communities.

Run Across Congo, organized by the nonprofit On the Ground, will take the team through unpaved trails in the Congo and bring them into contact with communities destabilized by unfair labor practices. Sellers said the goal for each runner is to raise $15,000. This money will go to programs empowering women, including self-esteem workshops, business initiatives and efforts toward increasing the visibility of women in agriculture.

“It’s investing to create these programs to really educate the people and empower the women,” Sellers said of the project. “We want to help them stay together by talking about fair trade.”

Sellers said she was interested in participating because she sees a separation between coffee-farming communities and the people who consume the product of their labor. According to the CIA World Factbook, 71 percent of the population of the Congo was below the poverty line in 2006, while agriculture made up almost half of the gross domestic product composition (by 2013 estimate).

“I see myself as more of an advocate than a runner just because it’s so important to me that people see how their purchases affect the lives of people halfway around the world,” Sellers said. “Responsible consumerism helps to de-fetishize commodities, humanize the farmers who live and work in harsh, unfair conditions and create positive impacts.”

Democratic Republic of the Congo. Photo courtesy of wikipedia.org.

The total distance covered divides roughly to one marathon a day, and Sellers said the team can’t be sure of accommodations at their destinations.

“We might be camping out a few nights,” she said, though she added vans will ensure the team doesn’t go without food or supplies.

“Running inspires people because it’s a really difficult thing to do,” Sellers said. “I think people will get excited because they see what we’re willing to do to get on the ground and really see what’s going on.”

Sellers said because the team was only established a week ago, she hasn’t had the chance to research the culture of the Congo, meet many of her teammates or begin fundraising efforts. However, Sellers said each member of the team has a Razoo account, and Sellers has a PayPal for larger donations. Sellers also said she will be going to local businesses to request sponsorship, passing out flyers and potentially putting on interactive educational events.

On the Ground funds runs in other depleted regions, such as Ethiopia and Palestine. More information on On the Ground and Run Across Congo can be found at http://onthegroundglobal.org/.

Caitlen Seller’s Razoo can be accessed at http://www.razoo.com/story/Caitlen-Sellers-Fundraising-For-Run-Across-Congo?referral_code=share.

Hall of Excellence inducts OWU grad

One Ohio Wesleyan alumnus added another accolade to his already accomplished career.

Greg Moore, Editor of the Denver Post and graduate of OWU, joined three other individuals who were elected into the Ohio Foundation of Independent Colleges’ (OFIC) Hall of Excellence. This award was created in 1987 to honor distinguished alumni of the 34 Ohio schools in the organization.

Moore graduated in 1976 with a double major in journalism and politics and government. He joined the Denver Post in 2002 and has led the paper to four consecutive Pulitzer Prizes.

On his way to the Denver Post, Moore worked in many different capacities at The Boston Globe, The Cleveland Plain Dealer and Dayton’s The Journal Herald.

“Not only has Moore excelled as a journalist, leading the Denver Post to four Pulitzer Prizes, but he also has selflessly shared his time and talent for the betterment of others,” said Rock Jones, president of OWU.

According to ofic.org, each school belonging to the OFIC nominates an individual to be reviewed by the Hall of Excellence committee. The election of nominees is based on the candidates’ “professional achievement; impact on society through service, leadership, scholarship, minority affairs, sciences, research, arts or elected office; and service to alma mater, all of which exemplify the value of a liberal arts education.”

“I was surprised when Rock called me and asked if I would accept the nomination,” Moore said. “After a couple seconds of silence, I said ‘Of course I would.’”

OWU’s Office of Multicultural Student Affairs granted Moore the alumni of the year award in 2012 for his work mentoring OWU students.

“When I was a student a lot of graduates came back and talked with us. I like to do that as well, OWU means a lot to me.”

Moore has become the 10th Ohio Wesleyan graduate to receive the award from the OFIC. The most recent was Jean Carper, class of 1953, who was honored in 2014.

He will be officially inducted into the Hall of Excellence on April 16 and will be visiting OWU to talk with students and friends the week leading up to the ceremony.

“I’ll be on campus for as long as I can,” said Moore.

Until then, Moore is taking it one day at a time and doesn’t have set plans for the next chapter.

“As long as you’re living, I think you can do great things,” said Moore. “I don’t know what’s next.”

Near-campus arrests go unreported

The Delaware Police Department arrested three men in close proximity to Ohio Wesleyan’s campus.

According to the Sunday, Jan. 24 police report, Mary Jo Kerns, who lives at 100 Oak Hill Ave., called police to report suspicious behavior and a suspicious vehicle on her property. The call came in at 12:56 p.m.

Three men were arrested, according to the same report, two for disorderly conduct related to intoxication, and one for violation of parole.

The report also indicated the men were homeless.

100 Oak Hill is between two OWU small living units (SLUs) – the Citizens of the World House and the Tree House. It is across the street from the Inter-Faith House.

Students who live in the SLUs on Oak Hill Avenue did not find out about the incident until the next day. The rest of the student body has yet to be informed of the incident by the university or Public Safety.

Senior Abbie Love, a resident of the Inter-Faith House, which is located across the street from 100 Oak Hill, said she was not told about the incident until the next day.

“The next day, PS came to tell us that everything was fine, and I had no idea anything was ever not fine,” Love said.

After an incident involving an OWU student or near OWU property, the university will often send out an email to students informing them of what is going on around them and if a crime has occurred on or near campus.

Robert Wood, director of PS, said his office discussed sending out a campus warning.

“We did not [send out a warning] because by the time we were aware of the incident, Delaware Police had the subjects in police custody,” said Wood. “There was no ongoing threat to the campus or community.”

Second Senate talks holiday breaks

A guest speaker addressed the Wesleyan Council on Student Affairs (WCSA) second full senate meeting Monday, Feb. 9. Her topic of discussion: proposed changes to the academic calendar.

Paula White, professor of education and chair of the academic policy committee (APC), introduced proposed amendments to the Ohio Wesleyan semester schedule. These changes range from extending spring break an extra week, reducing Thanksgiving break to three days and leaving the schedule as is. White noted that any changes would not take effect until at least the 2016-2017 calendar year.

White also explained that the APC “won’t generate an absolute schedule until [it] can get everyone’s thoughts.”

The next faculty meeting, on Feb. 19, marks the deadline for any changes to the calendar. With that date approaching, several WCSA senators suggested that a table be set up in the Hamilton-Williams Campus Center to inform students of the proposed amendments and to receive their feedback.

Sophomore Graham Littlehale, treasurer of WCSA, presented the budget requests for the women’s rugby club and Tauheed. Both were approved.

A frequent topic of discussion at the meeting was the Board of Trustees dinner, an annual gathering of select OWU students and board members set to take place Feb. 7. Junior Emma Drongowski, vice president of WCSA, explained that the dinner is “an unique opportunity for students to interact with professionals.”

The senate also voted to suspend indefinitely a resolution on gender-inclusive housing. Despite support for the resolution by most members of WCSA, the policy requires prior university approval to be advanced further. Junior Jerry Lherisson, president of WCSA, said he “does not want to bring [the resolution] forward without [university] officer support behind it.”

Finally, the senate voted on the appointment of a new at-large senator. As a result, sophomore Diana Muzina was unanimously selected to join WCSA representatives at the table.

Visiting scholar brings artifacts, new perspective

About once a semester, an established Phi Beta Kappa scholar engages with Ohio Wesleyan students and faculty on wide ranging topics and issues.

On Monday, Feb. 2, Christine M. Thomas gave a lecture titled “Ordinary Bodies and Divine Intervention: Illness and Healing in the Hinterlands of the Roman Empire.”

Thomas, from The University of California, Santa Barbara, based her talk on “artifacts from Turkey, circa 200 CE, which were found in 1998.” The objects were discovered by Thomas, who graduated with a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1995.

Each artifact presented had a story, all linked to the ancient human beings who created and used them. “It’s important to consider the lives of the people during this time period and in these countries while observing the artifacts” said Thomas.

According to the Phi Beta Kappa web page, the organization, the “oldest of the learned societies in the United States, was founded in 1776. It is recognized world-wide as the most prestigious liberal-arts honor society.” The OWU Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa was founded in 1907.

The speakers from the program typically stay in Delaware for two days. “During this time, the individual will interact with students in the classroom as well as giving the lecture” said David Eastman, assistant professor of religion. “Christine stressed the importance of religious studies to the students,” he continued.

Joe Musser, president of the local Phi Beta Kappa Chapter, said, “bringing in Phi Beta Kappa scholars is very beneficial to students. They develop a new prospective on unique topics and can make important connections for postgraduation.”

In the fall, Phi Beta Kappa brought Wendy Brown to campus for a lecture seminar, where she discussed feminist issues. Future speakers have yet to be announced.

U.S. faces risk with Ukraine involvement

Dr. Sean Kay, professor of Politics and Government. Photo courtesy of the OWU website.

The 2015 Great Decisions lecture series opened on Feb. 6 with “Russia and the Near Abroad,” a hot topic about Russia’s recent aggression in Ukraine and its impact on the western world.

The lecture took place from noon to 1 p.m. in the crowded basement of the William Street United Methodist Church in Delaware. The keynote speaker was Sean Kay, a politics and government professor at Ohio Wesleyan University and the chair of the International Studies Program.

Kay was introduced by retired Major General Dennis Laich.

“We have in our community a world class performer in the arena of ideas and national security,” Laich announced during his introduction of Kay.

Kay began his talk by briefly mentioning the great divide between liberals and conservatives in Washington D.C. and how the United States, ever since the war in Iraq, has continuously struggled to balance doing the right thing and the realistic thing.

“It is about time that our allies stand up for themselves, I would argue that today that is actually happening,” Kay said as he listed off examples of how Germany and France – among other countries – are dealing with Russia’s recent aggression in eastern Ukraine.

“We are powerful when we are united with our allies,” Kay said after mentioning how Vladimir Putin’s ideal plan would be to cause fighting between NATO countries.

Kay warned that the involvement of the United States in Ukraine, including the addition of the Ukraine to NATO, could potentially be dangerous.

“It would mean America would have to defend the border of Russia and Ukraine, 300 miles away from Moscow,” Kay said.

On the other side of the argument, Kay brought up that Ukraine alone does not have the power to out leverage Russia. This is partially due to the unrest in the Ukrainian government – or lack thereof – and the large amount of Russians residing in eastern Ukraine who are in favor of Russian involvement.

According to Kay, the largest threat to Europe is Russia potentially penetrating the Eurozone (euro area). The Eurozone is a union of 19 European states that have taken in the Euro as their main form of currency. A small portion of these 19 states include territories formerly under USSR control during the cold war.

Kay finished off the lecture by suggesting that the United States move back to a geopolitical approach.

“We’re here today because we dealt with the Russians on the Cuban Missile Crisis,” Kay said. “Somehow we have lost the ability to play geopolitics.”

“Russia and the Near Abroad” concluded with a short Q&A.

The next lecture for Great Decisions will take place at William Street United Methodist Church on Feb. 13 from noon to 1 p.m. where privacy in the digital age will be discussed by Kirk Herath, chief privacy officer of Nationwide Insurance.

The path back to 35

Recruitment for both men and women is not the only recent news involving Greek life on campus. An Ohio Wesleyan fraternity was given permission to move back into the place they once called home.

After seven years without a house, the Phi Gamma Delta (Fiji) fraternity received approval to return to 35 Williams Drive.

Members of the fraternity approached Dana Behum, assistant director of fraternity and sorority life, and Wendy Piper, director of residential life, about a year ago to express interest in starting the procedure.

“Dana and I met with individuals from the chapter and the chapter’s advisory board in September,” Piper said. “We invited them to submit an application for Fiji to occupy a residence on campus.”

After meeting with the members, Piper and Behum provided leaders of Fiji with a housing agreement, which would eventually be signed and approved.

The process was not always easy. According to Fiji president sophomore Ben Farynowski, there was a thick stack of paperwork to complete and a lot of disagreement among insurance companies.

“The big issue we had was insurance,” Farynowski said. “OWU’s insurance and Fiji’s insurance couldn’t agree, which took two and half months to figure out.”

Fiji’s advisor Dan Bennington, who was a member of the fraternity at OWU, lived in the house when he was a college student and was helpful during the process.

The current 35 Williams Drive House. Photo courtesy of owu.edu.

“It was great to have Dan help us along with the process,” Farynowski said. “Especially because he had lived in this same house when he was a student so it meant a lot to him to get the house back.”

OWU’s president Rock Jones noticed Fiji’s past record and commended them for completing the process.

“I congratulate the Phil Delta Gamma fraternity,” Jones said. “The fraternity includes a diverse group of men who provide leadership throughout the campus and consistently are at or near the top of fraternity academic performance lists.”

After Fiji heard the news, it was time to celebrate according to Farynowski. All the members were ecstatic to get the house back and to have one place to call home.

“We we’re getting pretty down toward the end of the process because we didn’t think the insurance would get figured out,” Farynowski said. “But it all got figured out thankfully and it’s pretty awesome.”

No more running out of food points

Many Ohio Wesleyan students struggle to budget their meal points throughout the semester. Can a new meal plan fix this problem?

“The new meal plans are designed to be more in line with the meal plans most universities offer,” said Gene Castelli, resident district manager for Chartwells. “They are considered a ‘traditional’ plan in that they offer a set number of meals per week as well as some flex dollars. All plans will have the off campus points as well. The difference is the new plans offer the student the confidence that they will never run out of meal at the end of the semester.”

The new plan will be available to upperclassmen who choose to participate and mandatory for this fall’s incoming freshmen.

According to Castelli, the final rate for the new meal plan has not been set. However, pricing should remain consistent with existing meal plan rates.

Leah Miza is Smith Dining Hall. Photo courtesy of Alex Gross.

As for individual food item cost, Castelli said they “work with the administration to keep pricing based on consumer price index increases and other market factors. The new plans will not have any effect on pricing going forward as they were designed to work within the pricing schedule we currently use.”

Junior Jerry Leherisson, Wesleyan Council on Student Affairs president, believes the new meal plan is “a great way to ensure that students are able to utilize the money they paid at the beginning of the semester.” Leherisson did mention that he will choose to use the current meal plan system for the fall semester.

According to Castelli, during their first year, “Freshmen are negotiating their new world of classes, self-directed studying as well as the social environment our university has. In the past they also needed to worry about budgeting their points so they last the entire semester. This will help them in that they will not run out of meals.”

Junior Mira Singhal said the new meal is “a great idea. Hopefully it will help students who normally run out meal points allocate their swipes more efficiently.”

Fresh faces bring fresh ambitions to WCSA

WCSA crest. Photo courtesy of the owu website.

The Wesleyan Council on Student Affairs (WCSA) kicked off the year with more new members than last semester and with new goals for the future.

First on the Feb. 2 meeting’s agenda was the appointment of several senators, a title that reflects the recent name-change of WCSA Full Body to WCSA Full Senate.

“This year’s Senate has a lot less juniors on it then we have typically had in past years,” President Jerry Lherison said.

That swing from the norm has led to the majority of WCSA members serving their first-ever term. There are still at least 10 members who have previous WCSA experience, and with the blend of veteran members coupled with renewed enthusiasm, there should be a lot of positive energy and things to come, Lherison said. That energy will be focused, among other things, on two goals: a bottle-free initiative and gender-inclusive housing.

“We are starting the discussions of trying to eliminate bottled water on campus and being completely renewable in that regard,” junior and senator Scout Trogstad-Isaacson said. A resolution that supports efforts by the Spectrum Resource Center to introduce gender inclusive housing to Ohio Wesleyan University was read as well, and will be introduced next week.

Resolutions and bills must go through a several week-long process of readings at full Senate meetings, followed by time to debate the issue at hand and make amendments. Once they successfully complete this process, the Senate can pass legislation.

Resolutions were not the only thing introduced. The executive committee welcomed new personnel to their side of the table. Graham Littlehale was approved as the Senate’s treasurer. Sophomore Andy Lowenbaum was welcomed as a senator, filling the vacancy left by junior Matt McCord’s resignation.

“I realized that the current administration and I had a fundamental difference of opinion regarding the way forward for WCSA’s structure, and so I decided to refocus my energies to better serve the organization and its constituents,” McCord said.

“Matt is still involved with what we do, it just won’t be on a week to week basis,” Lherison said. That involvement will center around work on the WCSA website. According to Lherison, the site is very outdated and is a project that the executive committee has wanted to prioritize.

According to Lherison, this first meeting was a positive start to the term and serves a great indicator of the potential that this year’s student government will show.