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Beezin’: The New Buzz?

Written by: Ben Miller and Matt Cohen, arts & entertainment editor and sports editor, respectively

Frigid temperatures and brisk winds make it perfectly normal to see Burt’s Bees™ lip balm being applied to chapped lips, but a new craze is changing how college students use the nourishing mango butter formula.

The trend referred to as “beezin’” began when some thrill seeker applied BB lip balm to his or her upper eyelid. The sensation of beezin’ is described by one UrbanDictionary.com entry as “a freaky yet pleasurable tingling.”

This trend has spread to the Ohio Wesleyan campus. We’ve even seen it firsthand at parties. Parties! This raises one question in our minds: Why?

After completing some intense research, we’ve come the conclusion that this can’t possibly be good for your eyelids, eyes or reputation. Nobody sees a kid at a party applying lip wax to his eyelids and says, “Man, I want to hang out with him.” Nobody even says “man” anymore.

“The peppermint oil in the lip balm is a very strong irritant and can cause inflammation,” Dr. Brett Cauthen said in an article published by reason.com.

This brings us back to our earlier question: Why? This stupid trend can cause pink eye-like symptoms. But then again, college students will do anything to get weird on the weekends.

In the same article by Dr. Cauthen, some teens said that “beezin’” simulates the experience of being drunk or high. Let’s say this does actually get a person “high.” Do the benefits of the short-lived tingle outweigh the cost of irritating your eyes and causing damage to your dignity?

In an article published on gothamist.com, Scott Heins gives some insight into this “beezin’.” “Having Burt’s Bees™ on your eyelids feels like riding in a convertible through a mint field in January. It’s cold yet somehow comforting,” Heins wrote.

Honestly, we’re scared for our generation. What could we possibly come up with next? We’ve made it through the glue-sniffing era and the horrific cinnamon challenge epidemic, but how many lives do we have left?

Women’s lacrosse switches focus of practices to team building

Women Lax 2 — Members of the women’s lacrosse team. Photo courtesy of Coach Chelsea Huguenard.

Ohio Wesleyan women’s lacrosse is changing their focus: Team chemistry is taking the front burner.

“I think we have always been a very bonded team, but then on the field, our play doesn’t reflect that,” senior Abbie Love said. “So this season, we are taking the steps to learn to work more as a cohesive unit and build each other up.”

Last season, the women’s lacrosse team finished 8-9 and 2-6 in the NCAC, according to team captain senior Eileen Foley.

In order to perform better in the NCAC, Foley said the team has been trying a revamped style of practice.

“We are doing a lot more conditioning this season,” Foley said. “We’re dedicating one day per week just to yoga and stretching.”

Foley also said the team is learning from last season in other ways.

“We learned that we do a lot better when we are less structured,” Foley said. “Plus it helps that our coaches live and breathe OWU lacrosse.”

Foley said last season was more of a building year. It was Coach Chelsea Huguenard’s first year coaching at OWU.

“This season, we’re also a lot more focused on the process,” Huguenard said. She added the practices include not only drills and 11 vs. 11 scrimmages, but also on team-building exercises to improve the team’s chemistry.

Before coming to OWU, Huguenard coached at Olentangey High School for three years and at Kenyon College for two years.

“Coming to coach at OWU has pretty much been a dream come true for me,” Huguenard said.

Pitch Black finishes fourth in ICCA quarterfinal

BOWLING GREEN — Though they didn’t make the ICCA quarterfinal top three this year, OWU’s all-female a cappella group Pitch Black came very close on Jan. 31.

They finished fourth, behind Bowling Green’s Ten40, Michigan State’s State of Fifths and Kent State’s the Kent Clarks. In total, 10 groups competed; Pitch Black was the only all-female group.

Bowling Green's 10-40 performs an original group song after they win. — Bowling Green’s Ten40 performs an original group song after they win.

Despite not placing in the top three, Pitch Black leaders were in high spirits. Had they placed in first or second, they would have had to compete during OWU’s spring break. Several of their members are on mission trip teams and would be unable to participate.

“It doesn’t feel lower, not in terms of the numbers,” said president Grace Thompson, a senior. “…We keep getting better every year, just like we thought we would.”

For new Pitch Black member Emily Phillips, a sophomore who watched last year’s ICCA from the audience, participating in ICCA this year showed her how much work goes into a performance.

“I feel so incredibly blessed for this opportunity, and to have the opportunity to meet new people, and see what they’re about, and this talent that I’m developing, it’s amazing,” she said.

“We worked really hard on all of this…places don’t really matter,” added music director Brianna Robinson, a senior.

“The group that won, Ten40, was incredible.”

Junior Emma Sparks moves to the center to start “Diamond Chandelier.”

Juniors Emma Sparks (left) and Emily Slee lead the vocals on “Diamond Chandelier.”

Junior Emily Slee solos during “Diamond Chandelier.”

Pitch Black performs “Run To You” as one harmonious group.

Pitch Black shifts into the opening motions of their “Boy Band Mashup.”

Junior Alanna Spalsbury solos during “Boy Band Mashup.”

Senior Audrey Bell solos during “Boy Band Mashup.”

Pitch Black’s left column grooves to “Boy Band Mashup.”

Senior Brianna Robinson solos during “Boy Band Mashup.”

Senior Audrey Bell (left) and junior Alanna Spalsbury (right) lead the vocals during “Boy Band Mashup.”

Pitch Black waves goodbye at the end of “Boy Band Mashup.”

One of Ten40’s leaders, Will Baughman, praised Pitch Black for its performance this year and at last year’s ICCA, where they placed third.

“Their second song (Run To You), best singing of the night – hands down,” Baughman said.

“I couldn’t find one person who disagrees with that…I was convinced that they won at that point.”

Former Ten40 member and current Delaware resident Clay Thomson also praised Pitch Black’s cover of “Run To You.”

“The vocals, especially, I thought were very strong,” he said. “The middle number, the ballad, was very moving. Very good balance, great blend, very well done.”

Following the competition, the a cappella groups and their fans mingled together in the lobby. A large number of OWU students were in attendance, many of them wearing Pitch Black’s “I heart PB” t-shirts.

Sophomore Reggie Hemphill and junior Hannah Simpson.

Pitch Black members and fans Anna Jones, Jackie Amanna, Emma Sparks and Emma Nuiry.

Senior T.J. Clark waves as his sister Alyssa exits the group area backstage.

Pitch Black singers Audrey Bell, Anna Jones and Brooke Waite with their sisters in Kappa Kappa Gamma.

Sophomore Emma Nuiry (right) surprises junior Pitch Black singer Emma Sparks with flowers.

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More photos from the performance can be viewed here.

Kenyon students make more, OWU students pay less

While Kenyon College graduates may end up making more money in their first five years than graduates from Ohio Wesleyan University, OWU alumnis won’t have to pay as much for their degrees.

According to a recent article published by Money Magazine, Kenyon graduates will earn an average of $44,400 within their first five years in the workforce. Graduates from OWU, within five years of entering the workforce, will earn an average of $38,900.

Susan Dileno, vice president for enrollment at OWU, said it’s all about how you compare the demographics of a student body.

“When you look at students who go to Harvard, you’re typically going to find more wealthier students,” Dileno said. “OWU, Denison, Wooster and Kenyon all attract similar types of students. It’s all about comparing schools with similar student bodies.”

Dileno said Money Magazine based their decision off three factors: graduation rate, percentage of graduates who are employed and affordability.

Despite the $41,920 “sticker price,” as Dileno put it, 97 percent of students currently receive financial aid to help pay for OWU. This was another factor which Money Magazine included in making their decision.

According to Money Magazine, the net cost of an Ohio Wesleyan degree is $143,848. However, it will only cost 3 percent of OWU students that amount to attain their degree; the rest of the student body receives financial aid.

At Kenyon College, however, the net cost of a degree is almost $50,000 more than a degree from OWU. And at Kenyon, only 50 percent of students receive financial aid.

Another factor which Money Magazine used in making their decision was the percentage of OWU alumni who are currently employed.

Rock Jones, president of OWU, said 97 percent of the class of 2014 reported to being employed or pursuing graduate degrees.

The final aspect Money Magazine took into consideration was the average mid-career income for OWU graduates.

Jones said the company PayScale, Inc. collected data which showed average mid-career salaries for alumni.

How to improve our ranking

The Transcript asked university administrators what they were doing to improve the school’s ranking.

Cole Hatcher, director of communications and media relations, said the primary thing the university can do to improve its ranking is to increase student scholarship funds.

Not only does this make OWU more appealing to prospective students, but it would increase the number of students who might not otherwise be able to attend OWU.

“Until they get like bigger endowments or more students who can pay the full freight, it’s going to continue to get harder,” Dileno said.

Woltemade Center appoints alum to new position

Ohio Wesleyan alumna Megan (Sanders) Ellis (‘05) took on the new role as administrative director for the Woltemade Center in response to the continued growth of the economics department.

Over 100 applications were received for the position. Alice Simon, faculty director of the Woltemade Center, said that Ellis’ application “rose to the top.”

“She had the best set of credentials and most impressive impact on the committee,” Simon said.

The creation of an administrative director position had been discussed for a few years. The alumni advisory board for the Woltemade Center, along with the economics department and OWU administration representation agreed that because the Woltemade Center has grown a considerable amount since beginning in 1985 it was time to take the Center to “the next level” for the enhancement of our students.

“Discussions centered on maintaining a liberal arts approach to economics, business, entrepreneurship and leadership while increasing the Center’s visibility locally and nationally,” Simon said. “Working together with business leaders, alumni, the OWU administration and faculty, it is hoped that this new position will allow expansion of resources and programs that all students at OWU can benefit from.”.

Simon said that the work necessary was more than any of the faculty could realistically be responsible for.

The position calls for an “overarching organizer” who can assist faculty in executing new programs. Ellis said she will strive to “bring events to campus such as alumni presentations and increase the awareness of these events.”

Ellis also stressed her desire to engage other departments in Woltemade events and putting “Theory into Practice” ideas into action. Ellis also said that she will strive to raise awareness of the Woltemade Center for prospective students, working to increase recruitment. Finally, she will help students find internships and become integrated into careers after graduation.

The administrative director position is a two-year pilot position. The position is currently being funded by the Woltemade Center’s alumni advisory board.

“The continuation of the position is dependent upon endowing the position as well as endowing student programs and other opportunities,” Simon said. “It is in our hopes that Ellis’ success will yield programs, students and funds across the campus.”

Ellis received a degree in economics management with a management concentration and a minor in psychology. Shortly after, she worked for a running company that is currently known as M3S Sports in Columbus.

During her time as a student, Ellis worked at the front desk in the economics department, tutored in the department and participated in the Philadelphia Center program. After graduating, Ellis said she “stayed in touch with the economics department whenever possible.”

She also explained that this position is bringing all of her “experiences together with a whole new set of challenges.”

Sophomore Economics Fellow student Kellie Garvin is excited for this position.

“It will be perfect to help make new connections and by students having connections, it will make the department that much better,” Garvin said.

Freshman standout gains momentum

Ohio Wesleyan freshman exceeds expectations and leaps past competition to stand out at the OWU Triangular track meet on Friday.

Emily Brown, a freshman from New Concord, Ohio, won the long jump, 200-meter race and played a part in the 800-meter relay victory at the event in Gordon Field House. Brown completed the 200-meter dash with a time of 27.69 seconds and jumped 5.15 meters to win in the long jump.

“Long jump is my absolute favorite,” Brown said. “I’ve just always liked it and it’s my best event.”

Coach Kris Boey was pleased with Brown’s performance as well as the team’s, especially after a long break from training.

“Emily is off to an outstanding start, but the best is yet to come for her,” Boey said. “The same can be said for our team as a whole.”

College coaches contacted Brown at the end of her junior year of high school. That is when she became interested in OWU.

“When I came to visit, I liked how the team actually came together and was more of a family,” Brown said. “I liked the environment.”

Teammate Amy Greenwood, a junior, sees the potential in Brown.

“[Brown] had a personal record at her first collegiate meet,” Greenwood said. “She has a good shot to break some school records.”

Even as a freshman, Brown has some impressive goals for the rest of the season. “I want to (personal record) in everything,” she said. “At least get better after each meet.”

But having personal records alone is not enough for Brown. She also has visions for her team’s success.

“Our seniors this year are going for the grand slam for the fourth time,” Brown said. “That would be pretty cool.”

A grand slam is achieved when the team wins both indoor and outdoor conferences and all the events in Ohio.

Senior’s recital brings crowd to tears

Tears and a standing ovation from a crowd of 60 people marked the end of Brianna Robinson’s senior recital on Jan. 20 in Jemison Auditorium.

Robinson, a soprano, performed works from Bach, Mozart and Britten, to name a few. She sang in English, French, Italian, German and Latin.

Much of the music was chosen by Robinson, but it “doesn’t usually happen that way,” she said.

“When I learn music I do a lot of listening, so it’s very important to me to have role models—female singers whose voices sound like mine or who I love to listen to,” Robinson said.

Her favorite female vocalist is Anna Netrebko, a Russian opera singer. Robinson said she also likes Jessye Norman and Cecilia Bartoli.

She said she memorized her music by spending time over winter break “just walking around the house spouting them.”

One of the biggest challenges she faced in her singing career occurred during her sophomore year of college and had nothing to do with memorization.

“I found out that I had blisters on my [vocal] cords that caused a lot of air in my sound,” Robinson said.

She remembers auditioning for a few different parts, not getting them, and finding out afterward it was because her voice had a breathiness that was not liked.

“The blisters are not all the way gone,” Robinson said. “I have to understand and work on how to actually close my cords. It’s still a struggle.”

Robinson said being able to share her music is what keeps her singing.

“I’ve always felt more like myself when I’m on a stage,” Robinson said. “Not because I’m in the spotlight because I don’t necessarily think that’s what it is. I think it’s being able to share my voice because I’ve put so much hard work into it.”

Sophomore Teona Council said she attended the event to support Robinson.

“She has a really beautiful voice, and she’s a senior so I wanted to hear her before she leaves,” Council said.

“Impressive” was how freshman Patrick Puracchio described Robinson’s ability to hit certain high notes.

Robinson plans to graduate this May with a bachelor of music in performance degree and is thinking about attending Northwestern University to pursue music.

Pitch Black nears fourth consecutive ICCA

Pitch Black members sell tickets, shirts and stickers Jan. 27. Front row: Abi Horvat, Hannah Simpson and Alanna Spalsbury. In back: Abby Hanson, Alyssa Clark, Audrey Bell and Brianna Robinson. — Pitch Black members sell tickets, shirts and stickers Jan. 27. Front row: Abi Horvat, Hannah Simpson and Alanna Spalsbury. Photo courtesy of Spenser Hickey.

With three rehearsals to go, group leader Brianna Robinson reminded the women of Pitch Black what they represent and what’s at stakes.

“We’re damn good and we all know that,” she said. “… It’s our responsibility to hold the name.”

When she spoke, she had the gravity of a football coach at the goal line, and like a coach she demands 110 percent. Everyone listened.

“I feel like the campus knows who we are,” she explained afterward. “… They know that we go to ICCA every year and I think there is a responsibility in that.”

Pitch Black is entering the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA) for the fourth consecutive year, but over half their members are newcomers. Their intensity isn’t driven by arrogance, Robinson made a point of saying, but by a love of singing.

Even on non-rehearsal days, Robinson tells the singers they need to practice. The competition is days away, and everyone can feel it.

“I’m so excited,” Audrey Bell told the group.

“Who, in their life, gets to do this, right here? Not many.”

Bell is a new member, but also a senior, so her first ICCA will be her last, she added sadly.

Last year, Pitch Black placed third in the quarterfinal, their best finish so far, and this has inspired them to aim even higher.

Because of this, junior Emma Sparks said, “we can continue to (perform)…and continue placing, or not, and that’s fine, we still have a great time.”

They’ll be debuting three entirely new songs: “Diamond Chandelier,” led by Sparks and junior Emily Slee; “Run to You,” led by the entire group; and a mashup of boy band songs led by Robinson, Bell and junior Alanna Spalsbury.

This year’s competition is in Bowling Green, and that brings family connections: freshman Zoe Sares has an uncle who owns a restaurant there, and Abi Horvat’s sister will be in attendance.

She’s only 10, Horvat said, but she already plans to go to OWU and wants to join Pitch Black.

“If you don’t mind, I might introduce her,” Horvat said; everyone was enthusiastic.

While the women of Pitch Black take their work seriously, it’s humorous moments like these that keep them close. When it’s time to sing, they sing, but when there are breaks anything goes.

During an interview with the group, for instance, jokes, snapping, unexpected singing and even horseplay were frequent; at one point Sares hit fellow freshman Dagny Tracy with a wristband.

When ICCA’s aren’t looming overhead, it’s common for them to spontaneously start singing, sophomore Emily Phillips said. Sometimes, like before the interview, they’ll sing a rhythm while only saying “meow.”

“Brianna and Grace (Thompson) do a great job of keeping us on task, because that’s not always easy,” Phillips said.

One of the reasons Robinson is so insistent that they focus is because Pitch Black is all women; she says this requires a higher bar than their all-male counterparts.

All-male groups tend to have lower expectations than women’s groups; she’s seen videos where male groups get higher ratings for a goofy performance than all-women groups that did the same thing.

“I really wanted to do the boy band mashup because we’re just having fun the whole time,” Robinson said. “We’re doing boy band motions, we’re bringing back old songs that people are going to know and I think that gives us power and makes us feel we can do whatever we want to, just like anybody else can.”

“There’s no reason that we should be lower on a judge’s scale just because we’re women and we’re doing these ‘silly moves’ and whatever like that…we always try and have music that makes us feel strong and empowered.”

Coming with that identity of empowerment, Spalsbury and Sparks said they take after women such as Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, lawyer Michelle Obama and pop singer Whitney Houston.

Many of the newer members, though, find their a cappella inspiration in Pitch Black’s veterans, including Spalsbury and Sparks.

Left to right: Freshman Zoe Sares, senior Grace Thompson, junior Emily Slee and sophomore Abi Horvat clap during "Boy Band Mashup." — Left to right: Freshman Zoe Sares, senior Grace Thompson, junior Emily Slee and sophomore Abi Horvat clap during “Boy Band Mashup.” Photo courtesy of Spenser Hickey.

Phillips decided to join because Spalsbury was trying to recruit a beatboxer; now Phillips, a percussion major, will be anchoring the beat at ICCA.

She’ll have some big shoes to fill. Last year, junior Maeve Nash won Best Vocal Percussionist at the ICCA quarterfinal but she’s studying in Ireland this semester.

For Sares, interest in Pitch Black was one of the primary things that led her from sunny Colorado to not-so-sunny Delaware.

“(At a college fair) that lady that was there, all she could talk about was (OWU’s) a cappella groups, especially the all-women’s a cappella group, so I was like, ‘sign me up!’” Sares said.

“Zoe, you were one of the most excited people to come up to the table (at club fair), like low-key excited,” Spalsbury told her in response.

Like Sares, junior Hannah Simpson came to college wanting to join a cappella, along with leading tours, and as the rest of the group quickly pointed out, she mentioned this while wearing an official OWU Tour Guide shirt.

For her, both goals have been accomplished.

Whether Pitch Black will accomplish their ICCA goals will be decided Jan. 31st, on the stage of Bowling Green High School.

Coach DeWitt reaches 300 win milestone

Coach Mike DeWitt. Photo courtesy of the Battling Bishops website.

Coach Mike Krzyzewski of Duke University isn’t the only men’s college basketball coach earning milestone wins.

With a 76-64 victory over DePauw University on Jan. 17, Coach Mike DeWitt of the Ohio Wesleyan University men’s basketball team earned his 300th career win, 250 of which have been with OWU.

The 300 wins are not the only thing that have marked success for Coach DeWitt. He has led OWU to three consecutive, 20-plus win seasons as well as three consecutive NCAA Division III playoff appearances.

The very next game, a win over Oberlin College on Jan. 21, gave him the best winning percentage (.595) for an OWU men’s basketball coach since Raymond Detrick in 1938-1939.

But DeWitt is not one to stop and celebrate such accomplishments. It is difficult for most coaches to do so in basketball with the seasons being so fast paced.

“If you coach long enough, coaching milestones are going to happen naturally,” DeWitt said. “These milestones are a direct reflection of the quality of players I’ve had the opportunity to coach here at Ohio Wesleyan.”

One of those quality players is senior guard Nick Felhaber who has played for DeWitt for four years.

“It’s been a great experience,” Felhaber said. “For me as a player I’ve had some ups and downs with injuries and stuff. He’s remained patient with me and now that it’s my senior year, I’ve stepped up and have a big role.”

Felhaber and his fellow teammates didn’t know about the milestone going into the game against DePauw.

“We had no idea, nobody on the team knew. We found out after the game. Actually somebody put it in a group message that we have for all the players to communicate,” Felhaber said.

Now, with the 300th win behind them and a winning pace that could see another 20-plus win season, the men’s basketball team has their sights on the NCAC regular season title.

Comedy duo draws laughs from OWU students

Frangela 2 — There were more than 70 people in attendance. Photo courtesy of Caleb Dorfman.

The stand-up comedy duo Frangela had many Ohio Wesleyan University students cheering and laughing at their Jan. 21 performance.

Levi Harrel, co-adviser for the Campus Planning Board (CPB), said there were more than 70 students in attendance.

“Student feedback from the event was overwhelmingly positive,” Harrel said.

Some students, like senior Ibrahim Urooj-Santana, said they were nervous that Frangela would fail to draw laughs from the crowd, recalling the reception of the last comedian to perform on campus in 2012.

“I was worried this wasn’t going to be good at all, but it was actually really funny,” Urooj-Santana said.

Harrel said that he saw the duo perform at the National Association of Campus Activities Mid-America conference in November.

“We saw them perform, and we just knew we wanted them to perform at OWU,” Harrel said.

According to Frangela’s website, “Frances Callier and Angela V. Shelton are real life best friends who talk to each other all day long. This used to be more convenient when Angela lived upstairs from Frances in Chicago when they met at the world famous Second City Theatre, where they polished their talents as writers and comedy satirists.”

Callier and Shelton have appeared on various television and radio shows together and as separate acts. Such shows include NBC’s I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, Twentieth Century Fox’s Wedlock or Deadlock and VH1’s Best Week Ever. They’ve also appeared as “Pop Cultural Pundits” on NBC’s The Today Show and Dateline, Fox’s Mike and Juliet Show, CNN’s Showbiz Tonight and Headline News.

Nathan LaFrombois, co-president internal of CPB, said the board’s next event will be a Guardians of the Galaxy screening on Jan. 29.