News – Page 64 – The Transcript

Verne Edwards, an ‘angel on the shoulder’

Ohio Wesleyan faculty, staff, alumni and Delaware residents will honor Verne Edwards, the former journalism professor who set higher standards for his students than many of their future editors, on Nov. 22 in the Benes rooms at Hamilton-Williams Campus Center.

Edwards, who died at 90 on Nov. 4, joined the OWU faculty in 1952, teaching courses and serving as The Transcript’s adviser until his retirement in 1986, according to a statement from University President Rock Jones. In that time he mentored many of the university’s most successful journalists, including Pulitzer Prize and Emmy Award winners.

“If we judge educators by the success of their former students, then Verne Edwards stood at the top of his profession,” Jones wrote.

Edwards thought the best trained journalists should have “the broadest understanding of the world as possible,” said Tom Jolly ‘77, a former student of Edwards’s who is now an associate managing editor for The New York Times.

He was known to give his classes pop quizzes about current affairs — for example, asking them to name the Supreme Court justices, or the capital of a particular foreign country. If students failed, it wasn’t uncommon to see the same quiz again the next day.

That philosophy of broad knowledge continues to undergird the OWU journalism program today as it did in Edwards’ tenure. When Jolly was a student, he said, he took relatively few journalism courses for the major. Current journalism students must take at least eight courses of the 15.5 units required for the major outside of the department.

Edwards placed great importance on fairness in reporting without fear of offense or favor, a principle that influenced Trace Regan, whom he hired to the OWU journalism faculty in 1983. In working with Edwards, fairness became essential to how he dealt with students and what he taught them in the classroom until his retirement last year.

As The Transcript’s adviser, Edwards was famous to students for marking up each issue of the paper with a red pencil to point out mistakes, writing an “F” next to egregious errors. He was a tougher editor than any of his students would ever have, Jolly said, but with his high standards came invaluable lessons they would carry throughout their careers.

“He’s kind of that angel on your shoulder,” Jolly said. “He’s a presence reminding you what’s expected, what’s fair, what’s right, what’s wrong.”

Edwards was also an active and engaged citizen of Delaware, said University Chaplain Jon Powers. He served as an assistant to the publisher of the Delaware Gazette for 12 years after he retired from teaching, and would write “sharply focused” columns about local and national issues.

“He wasn’t a partisan,” Powers said. “He was more of a statesman.”

Edwards’s memorial service is set for 2 p.m. on Saturday in the Benes Rooms of the Hamilton-Williams Campus Center.

WCSA treasurer now an appointed position

Starting this year, the treasurer for the Wesleyan Council of Student Affairs (WCSA) will be appointed by current WCSA members, instead of elected by the student body.

Sophomore treasurer Sam Schurer said the change was made because an election was “a little bit too risky.”

“We wanted to avoid anyone being elected that wasn’t necessarily qualified, and so this is just kind of another level of security,” Schurer said.

Junior Emma Drongowski, newly elected vice president, said the treasurer needs to have special knowledge of the software WCSA uses and know general accounting. In the past, treasurers have not always had the necessary expertise and “the position suffered for it.”

The decision to make treasurer an appointed position was made about a month ago during a full body meeting, though the idea was “tossed around” for awhile, said senior President Lauren Holler, who was the treasurer two years ago.

She said having to run in an election can be intimidating for students, and in past years sometimes only one person ran for treasurer.

“Seeing that there’s not a lot of candidate turnout for that position, generally we thought it would be better to make it an application so that maybe more people would be encouraged to apply,” Holler said.

Typically, WCSA members hold their positions from January to December. Schurer said he was appointed at the end of last semester because the previous treasurer, Connor Latz, is not on campus this semester.

Holler said having to replace Latz halfway through his term did not really impact WCSA’s decision to appoint treasurers from now on and said she believes Schurer has done a great job as treasurer.

She said having a treasurer who has experience with making budgets is important because WCSA has three different budgets to make: one for clubs and organizations, one for special initiatives, and one for WCSA’s operational expenses.

“We would really like to just get cleaner, more precise budgets,” Holler said. “We feel that if there’s someone who was appointed who has different qualifications or better knowledge of excel, or things like that, they might be able to do that.”

Schurer said it is becoming even more important that WCSA funds be handled properly.

“The number of students we have is going down, so the amount of money we have to work with is going down,” Schurer said. “Meanwhile, the number of active clubs on campus is going up, and so, especially with that tightening, we wanted to make sure everything is being done responsibly.”

Schurer said WCSA had been considering developing an internship for someone who would “handle everything on more of an accounting end” but they decided to not do that this year, so the WCSA treasurer remains an unpaid position.

The application for WCSA treasurer can be found at wsca.owu.edu and should be submitted to wcsaexec@owu.edu. The deadline is Nov. 21.

Global Grab: ISIL beheads fifth captive, Japan’s economy shrinks

The Issue: ISIL

Over the weekend, the Islamic State released a video showing the beheading of Peter Kassig, an American aid worker. He was the fifth Western hostage the group has killed and the third American, according to the Washington Post. The New York Times reported he was beheaded in retaliation for airstrikes carried out by the United States in Iraq and Syria. President Barack Obama and the United States government confirmed the identity of Kassig and the authenticity of the video. “Mr. Kassig was taken from us in an act of pure evil by a terrorist group,” Obama said in a statement.

Kassig was captured in eastern Syria in October 2013 while traveling in an ambulance, the Washington Post reported. During his captivity, Kassig converted to Islam while sharing a cell with a devout Syrian Muslim and changed his name to Abdul-Rahman. Kassig founded an aid group to help Syrians that were in the middle of the country’s civil war, according to the Associated Press.

The AP also reported Kassig served in the U.S. Army’s 75th Ranger Regiment and was deployed to Iraq in 2007. He was captured doing relief work with Special Emergency Response and Assistance, a group he founded after his discharge from the Army.

Now, the BBC reported, “Western intelligence officials are trying to identify Islamic State militants seen in the video…using facial recognition software to identify those involved in the mass beheading, matching their real names and origins to their adopted battle names.” It’s reported one of the militants is French and another is British.

The Islamic State is currently holding two women, one a 26-year-old American, according to the Washington Post.

The Issue: Japan’s Economy

While the rest of the world is recovering from the devastating 2008 recession, it seems as though Japan has unexpectedly fallen back into one in the third financial quarter, the New York Times reported.

Japanese cabinet officials said the economy shrunk by 1.6 percent in the three months to the end of September, compared with a year earlier, the Washington Post reported, the second straight quarterly drop. “Economists had been expecting the statistics to show that the economy had grown by 2 percent in the quarter.”

There is a possibility of an economic stimulus package, according to Reuters, but Japan’s Economy Minister said it would “be heard to craft an exceptionally big package because of the need for financial discipline.”

Reuters also reported some economists are thinking growth could improve in the October-December quarter.

Honda reps’ campus visit met with low turnout

Representatives from Honda North America came to speak to Ohio Wesleyan University students interested in internships at one of the company’s nearby plants.

Lindsay Rippingale and Sarah Pumphry, the two recruiters from Honda North America, spoke about the roles of each Ohio plant, the ‘culture of Honda,’ as well as the responsibilities of a Honda intern.

“Students who intern for Honda will be working roughly 20 hours per week,” Rippingale said to the three students who wanted to learn about the company.

Rippingale said interns will make a minimum of $14 per hour.

“In the fall and spring, we have about 58 interns working at our different plants, however, in the summer, we typically have over 100 interns,” Pumphry said.

“Many of the interns come from the Ohio State University, however, we also get a lot from the University of Toledo, as well as Rochester Institute of Technology,” she added.

When asked about ‘Honda culture’, Rippingale explained, “Everyone wears white uniforms, so as to represent equality – everyone in the company, from the president, to entry level associates wears an all-white uniform,” Rippingale said.

“So you could be walking down the hallway and might not be able to tell apart one of my colleagues from, say, the president of the company,” she added.

Attendance at the information session dwindled, with only a handful of students present. Professor of economics, Alice Simon, said the lack of attendance will not affect the relationship the university has with the Honda company.

“There are many reasons students may not choose to attend a particular event.”

Students support People In Need

By Haley Walls
Transcript Correspondent

Ohio Wesleyan University is conducting a Thanksgiving Food Drive to support People In Need (PIN), a local social services agency, from Oct. 28 through Nov. 21.

Collection boxes are located in participating campus departments, including Buildings and Grounds and the Ohio Wesleyan Junior League (OWjL) office, for non-perishable food donations.

This is the third year university offices have collaborated on the Thanksgiving Food Drive.

Buildings and Grounds will pick up the donation boxes from each office at the end of the event and drop them off at PIN’s warehouse.

“We had at least the back of a pick-up truck full of food donations last year,” said Barbara Stults, OWjL office worker and PIN volunteer.

The food drive collects items for PIN’s food pantry, a year-round service that provides nutritious food packages to families in need. Each package includes enough food for multiple meals and is designed specifically for the size and needs of the family being served, according to the organization’s website.

“Every day of the year we’re open, we provide 50 people with at least 9 meals,” PIN’s executive director, Kevin Crowley, said.

Over 600 pounds of the food distributed by the organization in the last fiscal year were from OWU donations, according to PIN’s records.

The items provided by the food pantry come from donations as well as items purchased by PIN. Both the U.S. and Ohio Department of Agricultures regulate the program.

Other services provided by the organization include rent, utility and medical assistance as well as a school shoe program that provides children from low-income families with a new pair of shoes at the beginning of the school year.

From July 2013 to July 2014, the organization provided assistance to more than 17,600 people in Delaware County through their services.

PIN’s signature fundraising event is their Holiday Clearing House, a service that provides new coats, toys and gift cards to families in need on the second Sunday of December each year.

627 families were served during last year’s Holiday Clearing House, including 1,241 children, 765 adults and 214 senior and disabled citizens, according to PIN’s annual report.

The event was started by the Community Chest in 1954 and has been organized by PIN since their first year of operation in 1981.

OWU receives interfaith award

By Maddie Oslejsek
Transcript Correspondent

President Barack Obama and the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) recognized Ohio Wesleyan in September for its achievements in interfaith community service this year.

The university has been recognized on the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll every year since 2008. The award is divided into four categories: Top Award, Finalist, Honor Roll With Distinction and Honor Roll.

Of the ninety-eight schools honored for their efforts, thirty-eight were recognized on the Honor Roll With Distinction. OWU was recognized in this category under Interfaith Community Service, a new distinction that was introduced this year.

All documentable community service completed during the year by OWU students is recorded and reported to the CNCS by the men and women involved. To qualify for recognition under the new distinction, they included information and personal narratives about specific people and projects that reflected the university’s interfaith involvement locally, regionally, nationally and internationally.

“Interfaith for us means engaging, voicing and acting on our love and respect of other faiths,” said University Chaplain Jon Powers.

The OWU Charter of 1842, which states, “The University is forever to be conducted on the most liberal principals, accessible to all religious denominations, and designed for the benefit of our citizens in general,” drives the university to embody the ideas of interfaith throughout the campus community, according to Powers.

The honor roll annually recognizes institutions that achieve meaningful and measurable outcomes in the communities they serve by solving community problems and directing more students on a lifelong path of civic engagement, according to the CNCS website.

“This award affirms, at the highest national level, the exceptional quality of interfaith life at Ohio Wesleyan and lets others know that OWU is a superb place to live and learn,” Powers said.

Forum continues conversation about SLUs’ future

By Leah Budde
Copy Editor

President Rock Jones posed three questions to members of the Small Living Unit (SLU) community during a forum on Oct. 21st, starting a conversation about the collective future of the residences.

Several of the themed houses have been deemed physically and economically beyond repair. Ohio Wesleyan Residential Life and administration are beginning to share their plans for the future of the residences, and gather student opinions about those propositions.

“What do we value most about the SLU community?” Jones asked the forum attendees, including SLU house members and other interested students.

Jones also inquired about what the group desired in terms of physical facilities, and where on campus SLU members would most like to be relocated in the event that their houses are torn down.

Students were forward—and unified—with their opinions, stating that what they most value about being SLU members is living with like-minded people who have common passions, having a sense of privacy and independence from the rest of the campus and being able to support each other’s house projects – a requirement of each SLU once per year.

Many of the historical houses hold a large amount of sentimental value for their respective members. But, Jones explained that the cost of repairing the House of Peace and Justice, for example, would be comparable to building two entirely new SLUs.

Despite house members’ feelings of attachment, starting fresh would be “short term loss for long term gain,” according to senior Citizens of the World house member Ben Danielson.

Now, Jones said the university’s tentative plan is to build a “SLU village” of duplex-style residences on the lawn beside the House of Black Culture.

Sufficient funds have not yet been raised for the project, but Jones said that the university would like to begin demolition of two SLUs by the fall semester of 2016.

The main concern of younger SLU members is what will happen to them in the transition period before new houses are built.

According to sophomore Emma Nuiry, a member of the House of Peace and Justic, “what we heard was they would basically be putting us in whatever open rooms they have on campus, which is really annoying because they are essentially revoking our SLU status. But then again I understand…the administration is going to do whatever is the most economically savvy choice.”

OWU Greeks speak to over-involvement

Image: Ohio Wesleyan University Greek Life Recruitment on Facebook

Some might call junior Dara Markus and seniors Jennifer Lloyd and Zach Paull over-involved. Markus is on the varsity women’s soccer team while also being philanthropy chair of Delta Delta Delta. Lloyd is on the education department student board, a member of Presidents Club, Orchesis, Terpsicorps and also holds the position of membership chair for Kappa Kappa Gamma. Paull serves on the Wesleyan Council of Student Affairs, works as a tour guide, is a member of the Owtsiders and is the secretary for Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity.

These impressive campus leaders have learned to juggle their classes, clubs and Greek organizations. Time management has been an asset and a skill throughout their OWU careers and they were willing to share their knowledge with the rest of the campus community.

The Transcript: How do you balance all the events in your life?

Dara Markus: I balance all the events in my life through careful planning and time management. The fall is always particularly hectic because I am in season so often times I find myself prioritizing events to complete them in an efficient and timely manner.

Zach Paull: I try to stay organized and keep a pretty detailed schedule with all of my responsibilities and have learned to regularly reflect on where my limits are at and where to find a balance.

Jennifer Lloyd: I definitely could not live without my planner and Google calendar. I try to update both as frequently as possible. Also, I often make to-do lists to track my daily assignments and responsibilities.

T: Do you ever feel like you’re overwhelmed?

DM: In college it is easy to feel overwhelmed, but am blessed to say I have such a strong support system within my house that always keeps me going.

If I ever feel overwhelmed with planning a philanthropy event, I know there are girls who would be more than willing to assist me in any way possible. It’s truly touching how strong the bonds of sisterhood are in Greek life. No matter what you are going through, you are never alone.

ZP: It’s easy to feel a bit overwhelmed when papers and projects are due or when it is a busy time in the semester, but I have learned to create a balance in my organizational involvement, schoolwork, and fraternity responsibilities.

JL: I try to keep everything in perspective and just take it one day at a time. If I do have too much on my plate, I will reach out to my sisters, especially those on my committee, for their assistance. They are always willing to help.

T: Do you prioritize Greek events over other clubs or organizations?

DM: I prioritize all events in my life because it is so important to live up to commitments. To get the most out of something you have to give it your all. Greek life has always and will always have a special place in my heart. Going Greek and joining Tri Delta and meeting my best friends has been the greatest experience and joy of my life.

ZP: My fraternity is a family to me, so if there is a scheduling conflict with another organization and a specifically important fraternal event like initiation, my fraternity would generally take precedent.

However, my fraternity does a very good job at trying not to have our events overlap with other large-scale campus events, especially those that are put on by student groups that our members that are involved in.

JL: It’s all about finding balance. I am involved with other organizations on campus because I want a broad experience at Ohio Wesleyan and it’s important to me to honor the commitments that I have made to all the groups that I’m a part of. With that said, I always enjoy going to the Greek events on campus, so I make time for as many as I can.

T: What advice do you have to freshmen going into Greek life and other organizations?

DM: The greatest advice I can give to freshman is to keep an open mind. You’ll never know what you’ll miss out on if you don’t branch out and try something new. The best part of getting is involved is meeting new people. Through my involvement on campus, I have met life long friends who I couldn’t imagine my life without

ZP: Joining a Greek organization is a definite commitment. However, the commitment that you make is worth the amazing experience and the close family like structure that you can make out of it. The level of involvement that you have can also vary depending on whether you hold a position or not. Generally, becoming a part of any organization requires a level of commitment that both benefits the group you are a part of. It is up to you to decide if it is something that you can donate your time and energy to and be happy at the end of the day.

JL: I would encourage freshmen to explore all that Ohio Wesleyan has to offer. For me, joining Kappa was the best decision I have made in college. The sorority experience has only enhanced my opportunities to be involved in other organizations on campus.

It requires time management and planning, but it is doable to achieve balance with a variety of commitments. Sororities are seeking well-rounded women who have a variety of interests and want to make it possible for their members to be involved in a variety of ways.

Admissions mobilizes efforts to increase enrollment

Ohio Wesleyan University administrators are working hard to build student enrollment numbers, pondering the big picture while focusing on small details that can make a difference, like how the school gives tours to potential freshmen.

The Office of Admissions is going mobile, changing its walking-only tours to part walking and driving with its newly acquired 14-passenger bus. Public Safety officers will provide additional driving practice to student tour guides.

With the current enrollment figures coming in at a marked decrease of 106 students from Fall 2013, the admissions staff is altering their tours to include a bus ride.

As one student drives, another will dispense information, describing OWU’s assets, its academic and residential buildings and information about the city of Delaware.

Alisha Couch, director of admissions, recruited PS by asking PS Director Bob Wood to help with driver training. For now, two sessions are scheduled on Nov. 11 from 12-1 p.m. and Nov. 12 from 2-3:30 p.m.

“We knew we’d have students driving it, so I thought it would be nice if Public Safety could set up an obstacle course in one of the empty parking lots just for our students to get used to driving, and specifically practice making right hand turns,” Couch said. “Chances are, no student has driven a vehicle like this before.”

Couch said the extra practice isn’t required but is going to be offered so students can feel more comfortable. With the exception of a few senior student tours guides who already have van certification, admissions staff is currently driving the tours until more students are certified.

“We were contacted by admissions and asked if we could put together some kind of driving program. We said what we always say, ‘Sure’,” Wood said.

It’s not their first rodeo together.

“Bob is such a great advocate for our office. We just met with him recently when he gave us some updates and he asked if there was any way he could help and I was like ‘Maybe you could help us with this’,” Couch said.

Wood said police officers usually receive additional training in defense driving. Drawing from personal experience and from PS officer Ramon Walls’ Army experience driving buses and tanks, PS will plan a series of cone obstacles for students.

“I talked with the Delaware Area Transit Agency and they have a two week training for their bus drivers, so (a representative) is going to send some of the diagrams so (PS) is going to put some cones up, ” Wood said.

Driving safety is relevant due to a risk for vehicular injury or death, Wood said. Van certification is also processed and approved through PS, while the motor pool houses the vans and maintains them.

The new bus has more room than OWU’s 12 passenger vans and is being leased for six years.

Former chaplain remembered by OWU community

Former Ohio Wesleyan Chaplain James Leslie. Photo: chaplain.owu.edu

Ohio Wesleyan University’s former chaplain, Reverend Doctor James Leslie, died Friday, October 31.

According to current chaplain Rev. Jon Powers, Leslie was the first full time chaplain at Ohio Wesleyan, serving from 1960 until 1988.

According to Powers, Leslie was instrumental in helping establish many current groups on campus, such as Horizons International, the Student Union on Black Awareness (SUBA), and The House of Black Culture.

“He and his wife, Betty, raised five children in their home, but if a student needed to get off campus, he would always give them a meal and a place to stay. He would always find room to help people,” Powers added. “He was very close to our faculty, as well as our students. And he was very close to custodians and food service people. He knew everybody’s name. He was deeply loved by everyone who knew him.”

Leslie will be missed by many professors at OWU. One of these professors is Doctor Mary Howard, professor of Sociology-Anthropology, who is on sabbatical this semester.

“What a kind soul he was! And yet, he was driven by a passionate sense of justice and helped to inspire the campus to action whether it was a protest about our own country’s support of dictatorships or apartheid in South Africa,” said Howard. “He was the first person I knew of at OWU who worked to get students involved overseas with his Crossroads Africa and the Africa University in Zimbabwe.”

According to Powers, Leslie was a world traveler. Powers said when Leslie was fourteen years old, he traveled with his father to India, and sat in a hut talking with a man named Mahatma Ghandi.

Ghandi was not only influential person Leslie met in his lifetime of service.

“At the graduation ceremony from undergraduate school at Boston University, Leslie sat right next to … Martin Luther King, Jr.. They were classmates and friends,” Powers said.

Larry Heinzerling, OWU class of 1962, also knew Leslie very well:

“Jim was a very special person and great support in a time of tumult in the country over the Vietnam War, racial segregation in the South, urban poverty and other key issues of the 1960s. I was Transcript Editor when he helped raise funds so I could go to Washington with other student leaders from across the country to meet with Secretary of State Dean Rusk to protest the war, we worked together to bring a key Vietnamese diplomat to OWU to spend time with students explaining Vietnam,’s culture, and shared many conversations on a multitude of topical issues.”

Heizerling added that Leslie married he and his wife in 2001.

James (Jim) Leslie is survived by his wife, Betty, and his five children, 10 grandchildren, and one great grand child. He was 89 years old.