Category: Uncategorized

By Sam Simon

Transcript Reporter

The Women’s Resource Center is going through some major changes this semester, due largely to the changes in Counseling Services.

The center is stocked with books, condoms, pamphlets and, presently, one intern to answer questions and offer advice for six hours a week—senior Skylar Drake.

Drake, who was hired last year through the Student Assistantship Program (StAP), said she is always looking for more resources that are relevant to the center and for opportunities that would allow the center to provide services to students. As an intern, she said she is there to help women on campus, raise awareness, look at literature and assist with current issues pertaining to women’s rights on campus.

This year the WRC also has a new advisor, Sarah DelPropost, who is an OWU graduate and now works in Counseling Services. DelPropost is replacing the previous advisor, Colleen Cook, who left the university this year.

“It is clear that the Women’s Resource Center has quite a legacy here at OWU,” she said. “As the adviser, with the help of the interns, I hope to honor the dedication and vision of those who have worked hard here before us by carrying the torch of activism and education regarding women’s and human rights issues.”

Additionally, the center was looking to fill two more six-hour a week positions through Sept. 25, the end of its application period.

“We intend to extend and complete interviews to a select few, and secure an additional two interns by the second week in October,” DelPropost said. “The center will then be alive with energy not just…Drake, but with the extra pizzazz of two additional, passionate interns.”

Drake said with the new interns, the center would be open an additional six hours a week.

“I believe there is a potential need for more resources, and new interns will hopefully help broaden the reach of the center beyond campus,” she said.

Getting the word out about the center and the new resources available to students is an something Drake hopes to publicize.

The WRC has a Facebook page that DelPropost said it plans on utilizing to get information out regarding sponsored events and current events pertaining to women’s issues.

DelPropost said the WRC’s budget for this year is “on par” with last year’s. As long as the interns continue to make connections with other organizations where there is an overlap in the interest area on campus, she thinks the staff will have a successful year.

Drake said they currently do not have any events planned for the upcoming year, but she and DelPropost have been working on programming.

“We have already been contacted regarding sponsorship for an event in the spring by OMSA (Office of Multicultural Student Affairs), we are discussing the screening of a film on the topic of ‘virginity’ and the cultural roots and implications, and we are currently planning for the return of a body image speak-out (called ‘Written on the Body’),” DelPropost said.

Junior Meredith Harrison, an intern in the Spectrum Resource Center (SRC), said her organization has previously collaborated with the WRC to put on programs like this past spring’s “I Love Female Orgasm” and “Written on the Body.” She said the SRC and the WRC are mutually supportive, and said the latter plays an important role on campus.

“WRC is important to campus because women on campus need a resource where sexual identity is de-stigmatized and where they can be empowered as a repressed gender in society,” she said. “WRC makes a point not to identify as a feminist organization so that they can be available to all women on campus, even those who do not identify as feminists or supporters of the women’s movement.”

DelPropost said she thinks one positive aspects of the WRC’s history has been its ability to work in collaboration with other resources and organizations on campus.

“Women’s issues do not exist independently of race, class, gender, ethnicity, sexual identity, etc.,” she said. “As such, I look forward to continuing to forge relationships with organizations that also seek to affirm and reflect the intersectionality of various identities with the identity of ‘woman,’ and work together to make (the) campus and the world a more informed and passionate community for justice.”

By Sadie Slager

Transcript Reporter

Someone other than students may have been “Stuyin’ Up All Night” during the second annual event presented by Residential Life.

Several people reported paranormal experiences that took place during the ghost tours, a portion of the late night event open to the entire campus.

Public Safety Officer John Ciochetty led students on ghost tours where they recorded noises in the tunnel between Stuyvesant and Hayes Halls.

Sophomore Luke Steffen said he heard a brief, faint singing in the tunnel.

“It was dark, though there was light coming from the door to Hayes,” he said. “There were at least twenty of us in the tunnel, lined up on each side.”

Steffen said after Ciochetty asked “the spirits” several questions, he heard a woman singing for a few seconds.

“I thought it might be a ringtone going off, but suddenly everyone screamed and, perhaps in placebo, I was struck with a sense of terror and jumped to the other side of the tunnel and grabbed the closest person to me,” he said.

It turned out the singing sounds might have been a ringtone after all, Steffen said, but he still “felt a strange sense of exhilaration” during the experience.

Steffen said he was “kind of surprised” by what happened during the ghost tour.

“We were a large, cynical crowd, one that I thought would not encounter a ghost,” he said. “After all, most ghost stories involved one to five people.”

Junior Kate Hudson said some mysterious photographs were taken on cellphones during her ghost tour, but her group did not hear a woman’s voice like Steffen’s group did.

“During our trip through the tunnel, two photos were taken that may show a headless body and two bodiless heads,” she said. “Someone else claimed to have captured a recording of laughing right before another student’s ringtone went off.”

Hudson said after the tour, several students realized their cell phones were doing strange things.

“Several people claimed their phones were dead or close to shutting off even though they had charged them earlier that day,” she said. “Many of those phones lost any recordings or pictures taken during the tour.”

According to Hudson, One student in that group had his phone slapped from his hand and his recording erased on his way out of the tunnel.

Hudson, who also visited the Stuyvesant bell tower during her tour, said she was surprised when she heard the second group screaming from inside the tunnel and was fascinated with the tour overall.

“Whether ghosts are real or not was not my main concern, but rather hearing the ghost stories,” she said.  “Each story has at least a grain of truth to it.  These stories are based on historical figures from past (Ohio Wesleyan) presidents to civil war victims to even beloved professors. Through these stories, I learn more about my own school and community, but in an entertaining way.”

Senior Alyson Michael said it was her friend’s cell phone that caused the noise of the “woman’s voice” Steffen spoke of, but said she was “terrified” before she realized where the noise came from.

“It was completely silent and dark when I heard a hushed woman’s voice singing,” she said. “It was similar to an alleged recording of a supposed ghost in Stuy that had been played at the beginning of the tour.”

Officer Ciochetty said he saw something in the tunnel that was a little bit “fuzzy,” but it was captured on his camera.

“For years, there has been paranormal activity in the tunnel,” he said. “Around 16 EVP recordings of spirit voices were captured earlier this year.”

He said a few years ago he chased a “shadow person” out of the tunnel and into the daylight along with an assistant from a radio internet station.

Although the sound of a woman singing may have been a ringtone, Ciochetty said, students noticed some strange things happening at the same time.

“Two of the students noticed an object around me which traveled rapidly to the exit door,” he said. “Some of us heard the distinct and clear sound of someone walking on the concrete floor with hard shoes, but we could not see them.”

Aside from possible ghost tours, Stuyin’ Up All Night included many different kinds of activities for students to take part in.

Residential Life Coordinator Meredith Dixon, who had a lead role in planning the event, said she was looking forward to seeing how the event turned out as compared to last year.

“Last year it was planned as a way to celebrate the re-opening of Stuy after the renovation, and we’ve decided to continue the event again because it was so well-received and people had a lot of fun,” she said. “I’m excited about the possibility of this becoming an event students will want to see on an annual basis.”

Dixon said the evening’s events included an outdoor screening of “Ghostbusters a game show organized by the Campus Programming Board, giant board games, a photo booth, henna tattoos, chocolate fountains and a dance party.

“Its purpose is to provide fun and entertainment for our students right here on campus,” she said.

Also involved in planning and hosting the event were CPB, Order of Omega, VIVA, Rafiki Wa Afrika and Horizons International.

Seats were almost completely filled in the Milligan Hub as CPB’s game show was underway.

CPB President Nicole Nitti said the game show had a “great turnout” and was “well-received.”

“We found and booked Grant Edmonds, who was the game show host,” she said. “There was a pretty large and enthusiastic crowd, plus a ton of audience involvement.”

Nitti said CPB also held a raffle for students to win a pair tickets to see Drake and Miguel in October.

She said students also seemed to really enjoy the henna artist because there was a consistently long line to get a tattoo throughout the night.

CPB also had a station set up where students could make their own stuffed animals while Order of Omega provided snacks. Students not watching the game show played games like giant Jenga and giant checkers or sat by one of Stuyvesant Hall’s outdoor bonfire pits.

By Julianne Zala

The fall semester opened with the reveal of a newly renovated food court in the Hamilton Williams Campus Center, ongoing renovations on the roof of Edwards Gym and the news of Merrick Hall awaiting restorations.

An outside design firm worked with university officials to plan the renovations to the still un-named HWCC food court. University President Rock Jones said the project’s objective was to “create spaces that become destinations for students at all hours of the day.”

“The serving area is much larger and provides an opportunity to present a larger and more pleasing selection of food choices for students and other guests,” he said.

Freshman Emily Eichenauer said she “likes the checkouts on the side because it gives you more room to get your food, and it’s not as congested.”

Edwards Gym is currently being renovated to repair roof damage.  According to Dan Hitchell, Vice President for Administration and Finance, once the roof is renovated, the original 1904 roof will last another 60 to 70 years.

Additionally, it was announced this summer that an $8 million-dollar donation by an anonymous couple made it possible to renovate Merrick Hall.

Erected in 1873, Merrick is registered as one of eleven locations on campus on the National Register of Historic Places.

The building, originally devoted to the study of science, will serve as an additional resource for students and faculty once it reopens.

According to Hitchell, who serves on the Merrick Hall project committee, the restoration “(will) bring a beautiful building back to life.”

Craig Ullom, vice-president for Student Affairs, said each floor of Merrick will have a specific purpose.

“The first floor would be a resource center for connections, theory to practice opportunities, and other avenues for student engagement and learning,” he said. “The concept for the second floor would be focused on innovative learning spaces and the third floor would be event space.”

The renovations to Merrick Hall are estimated to be completed by 2015.

According to Jones, OWU’s campus is a “laboratory for living and learning.”

“We are blessed by numerous historic buildings that remind us of the longstanding commitment to excellence in undergraduate liberal arts education at OWU,” he said. “Bringing these buildings back to life and restoring their beauty and grandeur in ways that serve students in the 21st century allows us to claim our rich history while building the future in ways that best serve our students now and in the years ahead. It is important to provide the best possible space for faculty and students to do their work. These renovations contribute to that important goal.”

The weather was warm and so was the atmosphere at this year’s third annual Bishop Champion Games.

The Ohio Wesleyan Athletic Council sponsored the event; proceeds went to expenses for next year’s games. The games’ website said its events are geared to participants with special needs ages 8 and up.

Sophmore Kylea Davis was in charge of the Games this year. She said she was “honored” to put on the event.
“We can all learn a lot from each other, I feel it’s not the responsibility but we, as athletes, should be using our abilities to celebrate the abilities of other athletes,” she said.

Student-athlete volunteers staffed the event. Some helped set up and cheer on the athletes, while others were assigned to be buddies of athletes. Buddies helped athletes find their way around and perform better in each event. Freshman Sara Johnson, a member of the OWAC, was assigned as a buddy.

“He was a bit shy and wanted to sit with his parents first but after I showed him that we had balloon toss, he came out of his shell,” she said.

After 10 minutes for the athletes to get to know their buddies, they were directed to their respective competitions, starting with the Softball Toss and the Football Toss.

The athlete’s throws were measured and the top results were recorded, but the real point of the events was to have fun. After their turns, competitors would throw the balls around between themselves and with the volunteers, creating a friendly environment for everyone.

Next up, the athletes competed in 20- and 50-meter dashes. The races went by quickly, and they were very interested to see how fast they could run.

Senior Emily Johnson, an OWU athlete, has volunteered at all three Bishop Champion Games events. She said working with this year’s competitors “brought tears to (her) eyes.”

“I run cross country and track here at OWU, and often forget to be grateful for the fact that I am blessed with the ability to run, let alone walk,” she said. “Just seeing the participants in these events reminds me to be thankful for what I have. Instead of being upset that I didn’t run two seconds faster in my race, I should be thankful that I have to legs to run with at all.”

Junior Holly Fouch, another OWU student-athlete who helped with the games, said she learned a lot from the event that she plans to apply to her own athletic career.

“Winning is always fun, but it’s the relationships with others and the memories from them that will last throughout the years,” she said. “It just help(s) put everything in perspective that regardless of physical capabilities every athlete involved was giving their best and it was incredibly inspiring to watch.”

OWAC had a little more help with this year’s game from fellow NCAC school Hiram College.

Hiram recently started its own athletic council and was looking for way to expand their program and give back to their community.

“Going to other people’s events and seeing how they run them is definitely going to help us,” said Hiram freshmen Emily Mortimer.

Hiram brought about 10 student athletes two hours and 15 minutes by van to the games to help and learn from the experience. Hiram senior Katie Valaitis said the collaboration with OWU is an effort to “raise awareness and knowledge,” building on other service-oriented campaigns like Relay for Life to garner support for a similar event there.

I think it’s great and is something that more colleges should do,” she said.

Johnson recalls the games’ closing ceremonies as her favorite part, and one of the most emotional.
“(We all lined) up to create a tunnel for the athletes to run through during the awards ceremony,” she said.

“As they ran through, all of the OWU athletes held out or hands for high fives and cheered for them.”

Week of Feb. 5 to Feb. 11

Feb. 5, 8:05 a.m. – A Hayes Hall resident was transported to Grady Hospital on a welfare concern.

Feb. 6, 12:23 a.m. – Public Safety was dispatched to Corns on a trouble fire alarm.

Feb. 7, 3:16 p.m. – Public Safety was dispatched to the Science Center to meet with staff about a fire in a lab machine.

Feb. 7, 10:30 p.m. – Public Safety was dispatched to Austin Manor to meet an OWU student on a welfare concern following up on a previous incident.

Feb. 9, 2:00 a.m. – Public Safety was dispatched to Corns for a trouble alarm. After the building was declared all clear, and electrician was called to reset the system.

Feb. 9, 3:50 p.m. – An Aramark housekeeper called to document an injury from a trip and fall that occurred in Benes Room A. No first aid was required.

Feb. 9, 11:10 p.m. – Public Safety was dispatched to Smith Hall for alcohol discovered in the room by RA’s. No one was in the room and the owner of the alcohol could not be found. The alcohol was confiscated and destroyed.

Feb. 11, 12:05 a.m. – Public Safety was dispatched on a fire alarm in Hayes Hall.

Feb. 11, 12:20 a.m. – Public Safety was dispatched to the House of Thought on a trouble alarm. The smoke detector was activated without reason and an electrician was called.

Watchdog ads, debates, press releases and outrageous accusations are in the air as the primary elections reach their peak. For people into politics, the next year is going to be exciting. For those who hate politics, this next year is going to be a confusing overload of political ads and messages.
I am the president of College Republicans here at OWU, and I want to start by saying that nothing I say represents the view of College Republicans; the OWU chapter, the state chapter, or the national organization. College Republicans is not about telling members what to believe, it is about meeting together and being aware of the current events and issues so that members can draw their own conclusions.
The Republican Party has a massive internal battle between the moderates, who generally tend to support Mitt Romney, and conservatives, who generally tend to support Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum. Ron Paul will always be hanging around, since he has the money to spend and the Libertarians to support him.
The Arizona Republican Debate, which was held on Wednesday, brought up many different kinds of issues, ranging from the economy, border control, social issues and international affairs. All of these topics certainly have their place in the debates, but my problem comes down to what the main focus tends to be in these debates.
Most Republicans want Obamacare repealed. Every candidate keeps saying why they want to repeal it, but the fact is that there is a good chance the Supreme Court will declare it unconstitutional before a candidate even gets to debate health care with Obama.
Also, some states, including Ohio, voted against Obamacare, so it will not go into law in those states anyway. My point with this is that candidates need to stop the thunderous speeches ending with, “and I will REPEAL Obamacare!” because chances are, they will not even have to.
Now this does not mean that I am against all government programs, because I’m not. I think that some governmental programs are good for the country. However, I do not want everything being regulated to the extent that has been proposed this past year. In the end, I believe that decisions regarding some of the regulation should be left up to the states.
International affairs, I feel, are not getting enough attention. I think every candidate needs to ask himself what he would do if he is woken up in the middle of the night to a phone call saying a massive war has broken out, and one of our allies is involved.
Worse yet, they need to think what they would do if our country was attacked. Virtually any country at any time could decide to snap and wage war, especially countries with unstable governments like North Korea and Iran.
Now I know the common argument, that we need to figure out things domestically first before we get involved in anything. However, the weaker Obama continues to make our military and the more he pulls us out of countries, the less prepared we will be if something does happen. We have no control as to when something happens, but we must have a president who is capable of handling the situation if something does happen.
While I think it is difficult for any candidate to answer exactly how he would deal with an attack on an ally or our country itself, I believe that the two front runners, Santorum and Romney, are better capable of handling an international issue than Obama.
Economically, I am tired of hearing what Obama has done wrong. I am ready to hear what the Republican candidates are going to do about it. It does not matter to me as much how the candidates voted in the past in Congress or what they passed in their states, because the situations in the country are always changing. I want to see them stop looking in the past, and telling me what they will do now. While the debt issue will not likely go away in one presidency, it is a problem that has not been fixed and needs to be talked about more.
Another issue I think needs to be considered is working together as parties. Yes, I know that Republicans have been increasingly guilty of filibustering every bill until it dies. I do think that compromise needs to become a word used more often in Congress.
It used to be that the most liberal Republican was more liberal than the most conservative Democrat. What was wrong with that? Our government could get more things done if the extremely conservative and extremely liberal congressmen would relax a little and strike a compromise.
I firmly believe in standing up for your values and your beliefs, but I think that it is time Republicans and Democrats work together to advance our nation, rather than working against each other and bringing it to a standstill.
The intense bickering between the parties probably has something to do with the bickering within the party. The more moderate Republicans try to bring in the independent vote, the more conservative other Republicans, especially the Tea Party, try to push. This has led to the nasty political campaign where the moderate-leaning Romney has been the target of conservative candidates such as Santorum and Gingrich.
To moderate and conservative Republicans, I say that we need to remember that we all are in the same party with the same mission of getting Obama out of office.
At the end of the day, only one thing matters to Republicans in this upcoming election: defeat Barack Obama. Santorum and Romney are in the lead, and I believe they both could do a better job as president than Obama.
While I have some personal feelings as to who I want to be nominated to presidency, if the Republicans take control of the White House, I will be happy.

As a relatively young band, Sleigh Bells have made a name for themselves with volume.
Their 2009 debut, “Treats,” bore a trademark of incredible loudness. From the opening “Tell ‘Em” to the closing title track, every song—even the slowest and softest of them—was unrelenting and unrefined; but listeners never neglected to turn the record up because the music was so fun to listen to.
Sleigh Bells’ sophomore effort, “Reign of Terror,” brings a new, more polished sound to the band’s repertoire.
There are a greater number of slower songs and more emotional lyrics, and they sound less like they were recorded with an iPhone.
But make no mistake—the volume is still there.
On “Reign of Terror,” it’s simply reincarnated in a variety of different elements. “True Shred Guitar,” the opening track, suggests an overtone of arena rock—the first third of it is a live recording of Sleigh Bells in New Orleans, complete with heavy, echoing guitars by Derek Miller and a screaming crowd led by vocalist Alexis Krauss.
These overtones remain present throughout the record. Instead of synthesized beats holding prevalence as they did on “Treats,” Miller’s guitar takes the lead. The riffs are minimalistic, but they’re loud and propel all the other musical elements. Coupled with Krauss’s pop background, the product sounds like the love child of Cyndi Lauper and Def Leppard
This is exactly what Miller wanted to achieve on “Reign of Terror”—in an interview with Spin Magazine, he said he was at a crossroads with the conflicting pop and rock elements of “Treats.”
“With ‘Treats’ it was less clear to me whether Sleigh Bells was going to be a guitar band or if we were going to do more sample-heavy stuff,” he said in an interview with Spin’s David Marchese in late 2011. “With this record I had to pick sides. The beats are still important to me, but the guitar won.”
Sleigh Bells allow those beats to play a major role on “Reign of Terror” through their ingenious use of layering.
The guitars, synths, percussion and Krauss’s floating vocals are inserted at different intervals in each song to create a noise-pop fugue.
This is most evident on “End of the Line.” The track begins with a foundation of steady percussion, an understated guitar and a chanting vocal from Krauss; then a comparatively blistering hi-hat permeates at the start of the verse.
In the chorus the guitar becomes more strident and apparent, and later the hi-hat gets a subtle but equally swift bass drum to accompany it. All these pieces fit together so seamlessly that the listener is compelled to sing and dance along.
Layers are also used hypnotically well on “Never Say Die,” the penultimate track.
The entire instrumentation maintains a rapid pace; the guitar’s range stays within just a few notes; and Krauss’s vocal hooks and quick cadence induce a sonic trance.
The lyrics don’t quite rhyme, but the phonetic dissonance isn’t noticeable because the music is so bewitching.
Despite pushing their sound in a new direction, Sleigh Bells were sure to keep some of the essential features of “Treats” that worked so well. “Demons” is to “Reign of Terror” as “Infinity Guitars” was to “Treats”
The guitar is commanding, the percussion is driving and bombastic, and Krauss’s spoken vocals bid listeners to scream along with her.
Additionally, the pulsing bass drum cadence and spatial guitars of “Born to Lose,” the record’s lead single, are somewhat reminiscent of the aforementioned “Tell ‘Em.”
Some songs, like the closing “D.O.A.,” effectively use the gasping vocal samples that were an underplayed trademark of several tracks on “Treats.”
This perfectly mixed concoction of old and new gives “Reign of Terror” a diversity its predecessor lacked. It’s a bit difficult to adjust to at first, since “Treats” conditioned Sleigh Bells’ listeners to its raw volume.
But the new sound is one all their own. It proves Krauss and Miller have a great deal of maturity and are willing to push themselves creatively, and know how to have a good time doing it.
This album, “Reign of Terror” surely heralds more good—and loud—things to come from Sleigh Bells.