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Postel: Current water use unsustainable

Director and Founder of the Global Water Policy Project Sandra Postel urged communities and individuals to reconsider their relationship with water systems in their area.

The Freshwater Fellow of the National Geographic Society discussed several solutions to the ways human have mismanaged the water supply. Her talk on took place on Tuesday Sept. 23, as part of the Sagan National Colloquium’s H2OWU: Water in Our World lecture series.

Postel began by addressing the difference between the amount of water covering the planet and the amount of fresh water available for humans to actually make use of.

“We are lucky to live on a water wealthy planet, but only 2.5 percent is freshwater and most of that is locked underground,” Postel said. “That is a finite supply for increasing worldwide demand.”

The raise in demand, Postel explained, is linked to emerging economies where more people are entering the middle class. Finite water sources are being stretched thin to meet the demands associated with the growing population, and not just for uses that are immediately apparent such as drinking.

The use of water for agriculture makes up about fifty percent of all consumption, and those plants are used for much more than eating.

“If we think about how many gallons of water it takes to make a simple cotton shirt,” Postel said. “It’s 700 gallons, most of that is to grow the cotton in the field. A typical hamburger takes about 600 gallons…the average American uses about 600 gallons a week.”

Postel described the way we use and manage water as “unsustainable”. She noted groundwater depletion – the water most often used for drinking and other domestic consumption – has “more than doubled” since 1960. Many of the government’s choices in regards to their water supply have focused mainly on serving the needs of people, while the value of water left in its environment has been largely overlooked.

Postel used examples of governments who chose to disrupt water systems, most jarringly the case of the Aral Sea. The Aral Sea was once the fourth largest lake in the world, until Soviet planners in the 1960s diverted the two rivers which fed the body of water to aid crop irrigation efforts. Today, the lake is all but gone, its total volume decreased by roughly 80 percent according to Postel. Fisheries that used to line the Aral dried up as the lake did, leaving those communities with no livelihood, and pollution caused by fertilisers used in the irrigated farmlands polluted the sediment and caused disease among the people who stayed there.

Another example would be the missing 35 million acres of wetlands in the upper Mississippi River. The loss of this natural flood mitigating resource has led to erratic flooding and droughts along that stretch of the river, most notably in 2011 where the largest flood in a century took place followed by a summer of drought so severe that levy’s along the river had to be raised in order for commerce to continue as planned. According to Postel, a 3-5% restoration of those wetlands would have helped mitigate the floods and kept the water flow more normally the following summer.

To mitigate all of this, Postel said we have to make the most out of the water around us and leave as much in place as we can. Citing new agricultural innovations such as “Drip” or “Micro Irrigation” that delivers water directly to the roots of plants without wasting as much water as traditional irrigation, and sensors that can monitor soil saturation, Postel asserted that we can be smarter about the ways we use and manage water supplies.

Strategic removal of obsolete dams and investment of watershed services that use natural means such as incentivising farmers to keep runoff out of rivers to keep reservoirs clean in place of water treatment plants were other tested solutions that Postel offered.

Finally, Postel introduced her “Changing the Course” program that seeks to unite businesses, conservation groups and the public in communities on the ground in an effort to shrink the water footprint and raise productivity. A big victory for the project, which also seeks to get universities involved in their efforts in the near future, came when the U.S. and Mexican governments negotiated a temporary amendment to an existing water usage treaty to allow water to flow back into the Colorado River Delta. The five year pilot program led the Colorado river reaching the Sea of Cortez for the first time since drying up.

New students take OWU stage for the first time

Junior Christopher MacDonald is one of seven students directing freshman in short scenes excerpted from longer plays.

MacDonald is directing Kacie Iuvara and Chris Shanley, in “Vanna and Sonia and Masha and Spike,” a play written by Christopher Durang. Iuvara is a theatre major, and Shanley said he is thinking about pursuing a theatre minor.

“The play is about four siblings, two of whom are staying in their dead parent’s house,” MacDonald said. “I chose this play because it’s so over-the-top — there are a lot of heightened emotions, so you can really have a lot of fun with it. Kind of like a soap opera.”

“One reason I like this piece so much is because I get to break a mug on stage,” Iuvara said.

MacDonald said he was first inspired to direct this piece after seeing it performed in Los Angeles.

Another director, Gabriel Caldwell, is the first sophomore to take the directing class in a long time. Caldwell said he began his directing career in high school at the Columbus School for Girls.

Caldwell grew up in Columbus, Ohio, where he started the theatre department at his high school during his junior year. He is now majoring in theatre and education.

For the Freshman Scenes, Caldwell is directing two freshmen, Matthew Pheneger and Charlie Lennon, in “The History Boys,” written by Alan Bennett. Caldwell said the piece is filled with sexual tension.

“The piece has very dry, very British humor,” Caldwell said. “It’s like a gin martini your friends are making you drink, but you really don’t want to,” Caldwell described of his piece.

Caldwell said the reason he loves the Freshman Scenes idea is because it helps the freshmen learn how to “ really delve into the characters,” he said.

The Freshman Scenes will be performed this coming Saturday at 8 p.m. in the Chappellear Drama Center. There is no charge and is open to the public.

Walking on the Olentangy’s wild side

Next to a bustling highway, Ohio Wesleyan students and faculty explored the tranquil biodiversity of the Olentangy River.

While exploring, students took samples of foliage, poured weak acid on rocks, ventured into the water and even tasted wild carrots.

The event, Walk on the Wild Side, was hosted by the American Landscape Course Connection (ALCC), which sponsors a landscape-based event every semester. It took place on Sept. 23 from 5-7 p.m.

Geology Professor Karen Fryer said she liked the “juxtaposition of the natural and the human contribution.” The most beautiful thing Fryer said she saw was a blue heron in flight.

Students participating were split up into groups of eight, given instructions, a sheet to identify plants, and binoculars before setting out. Along the river, areas roughly 100 yards long were marked for students to observe.

Several classes participated and therefore were looking at the land in a truly interdisciplinary way.

“Well, with the help of the botany majors I was able to identify pretty much all the plants,” said junior Scott Woodward. He said that he would have only been able to identify a few without them.

Junior Daisy Von Glaeser is in Professor David Johnson’s Biodiversity of Flowering Plants course and said her group “only saw one or two native plants”.

One of the groups saw a few historical markers, one marking a place the Underground Railroad passed through. Another marked the site of Ohio’s Worst Natural Disaster, a 1913 flood where about 20,000 homes were destroyed and more than 400 people died.

One student even found a stone with a “W” etched into it as the mason’s mark.

Freshman Sharon Hayes, who is taking Geology 110, said that she was able to identify a few rock specimens. “We found calcite, we got a weak acid from Fryer, poured it on the rock and it reacted,” she said. A few people in her group ventured into the water and saw minnows, freshwater clam shells and some crawfish, she said.

One group saw a single person tent and realized they were no longer surveying “the wild” but also someone’s makeshift home.

Planning for the event took place at a meeting of ALCC faculty in August said coordinator English Professoor Lynette Carpenter. “We started with the bioblitz concept of recording every species and expanded it to include, for example, geological concerns and cultural artifacts, as well as sound and touch and feelings.” said Carpenter.

The event’s aim was to promote course connections and “to let students experience a multidisciplinary approach to the landscape and have fun doing it,” said Carpenter.

After groups spent roughly 45 minutes exploring their segment of land, they returned to the Science Center Atrium for snacks and refreshments.

Each of the six groups sent pictures to professor of music Nancy Gamso, who put together presentations on site.

“I thought students seemed interested, and invested in their presentations, which went very well, so I was quite pleased with the event,” said Carpenter

“An interesting take-away was that there were both commonalities and distinct differences along different stretches of the river,” said Fryer.

Overall, the event was positively received.

“I got to walk outside, I got to identify plants with my friends, and I got to eat some snacks,” said Woodward.

Offensive firepower fuels football

The Ohio Wesleyan high-powered read-option rushing attack led by sophomore quarterback Dom Orsini and senior running back Kevin Herman has sliced through defenses in their first three games like a hot knife through butter.

For those not familiar with the term; read-option is a play where the quarterback has the choice to hand the ball off to the running back, run himself, or give to a receiver. When properly executed it can be painfully difficult for defenses to figure out.

“(The goal of the read-option) is to confuse the defense and keep them on their toes, making them guess every play who the ball is going to,” Orsini said. “That’s the beauty of our offense.”

In their first three games Orsini has rushed for five touchdowns and 236 yards.

“Since he is a talented runner and our slot receivers are as well, the run option has been effective so far,” said Herman. “Everyone is really happy with how he is doing.”

Herman, who has been a key part of the team in all of his three previous seasons as a Bishop, has proved his worth yet again with 153 yards and two touchdowns total.

“He takes the work load off me as the game goes on, which makes my job a lot easier,” Orsini said about the senior running back. “We are always picking each other up and playing as one big unit.”

To start the 2014 campaign, the team has averaged 35 points per game and 177 rushing yards, which ranks third in the North Coast Athletic Conference. The only thing keeping the Bishops from a 3-0 start was a last second game-winning field goal by Denison last Saturday.

Coach Tom Watts said he is optimistic about the rest of the season.

Women’s soccer looks to restore winning tradition

The Ohio Wesleyan women’s soccer team has been collecting loses since the previous season, where their record was 5-12.

This year, the Bishops have achieved one victory in seven games, as well as two ties. However, the players are hopeful for the rest of the season and see many opportunities to improve.

“From what I have seen at practice we have more potential than we did last year,” said senior forward Lindsay Reed. “Hopefully we can translate that into some wins in the upcoming games.”

The Bishops won the NCAA Division III title in 2001 and 2002, and were known as a powerhouse in the NCAC. Those golden years seem to be getting further and further away, with the last NCAA tourney appearance being in the 2011 season – where OWU was knocked out in the first round.

Despite the recent struggles, freshmen players have brought new talent and excitement to the Bishops.

Freshman winger Brooke Zinader scored one of OWU’s goals in the 2-1 over time victory against Washington & Jefferson last week.

“I think our program is great,” she said. “We could definitely be doing better though.”

Seasoned players also have some solutions in mind to get out of this slump. “We play our best soccer when we focus on little things, like two-touch passing and winning 50/50 balls,” Reed said. “If we’re able to focus on that we can get better results.”

Zinader had a more tactical view of what needs to be done in order to achieve better results. She said the team needs to “improve checking to the ball” and “play quicker all around”.

The Bishops face Wilmington College on Wednesday Sept. 24th, at 5pm, at Roy Rike Field.

With large membership, PRIDE looks toward week of programs

Club often works with Spectrum Resource Center

By Spenser Hickey and Jamell Brown-Smith
Managing Editor and Transcript Reporter

With more than thirty consistent members at each meeting, PRIDE has become one of the largest non-Greek organizations on campus this year.

Coming together each Thursday night, the group provides a safe space for members of marginalized sexual orientations and gender identities, as well as their supporters.

“We try to discuss as many different identities as possible, in order to bring awareness to those identities, and in order to create a safe space for people with identities that might be less understood,” said sophomore Natalie French, president, in an email.

As an example, French listed asexuality as a sexual orientation and nonbinary – not male or female – as a gender identity.

As a safe space, the discussions at each meeting are very private; officers caution all members not to discuss anything mentioned there outside the meeting unless explicit permission is given.

At the start, members regularly introduce themselves with their name, class year, preferred gender pronouns and answer to a question of the week, such as favorite ice cream flavor.

“We also discuss current events and popular media,” French said. “This past meeting, we heard Kyle Simon speak about the scientific logistics behind ‘gaydar,’ and the role of genetics in sexuality and gender identity.”

Simon, a senior who’s co-teaching a course on the biological foundations of sexuality this semester, described how research shows humans can unconsciously distinguish whether someone is heterosexual or non-heterosexual – though this includes a wide range of identities – even if they’ve only seen a cutout of their face or just their eyes.

In general, women are better at this than men, Simon said. Due to issues in finding a large enough sample, participants who identify as nonbinary were not included.

French, who joined PRIDE last year and is also a resident of the Women’s House (WoHo), got involved after her experiences as a member of the queer community at a high school she considers conservative.

When referring to either orientation or identity, members use the term “queer” as a reclaimed slur that has been redefined as a more inclusive term.

Fellow WoHo resident Claudia Bauman, a junior, joined PRIDE this year and compared the experience to her membership in Sisters United (SU), a club that focus on issues affecting women of color.

“(SU) is a lot of reading articles and talking about them,” Bauman said. “I really enjoyed that, I learned a lot about certain authors and journalists and ideas, but PRIDE is more about talking to people about their personal stories. It’s a different way to learn the issues, more personal.”

Partnering with Spectrum Resource Center

In addition to regular meetings, PRIDE also works closely with the Spectrum Resource Center, an office in Hamilton-Williams Campus Center that provides information and programming to the OWU community.

“While I cannot speak for the entire resource center, as an intern I can say that I personally am excited about the growing number of visible queer students on Ohio Wesleyan’s campus, particularly the number of first year students who identify on the queer spectrum,” said senior Spectrum intern Liz Dickson.

“It is also encouraging to see such enthusiastic attendance from first year students as a senior because it means that there will be a significant number of queer student leaders on this campus after I graduate,” Dickson said.

Dickson is also a resident of the Women’s House, and they noted several ways Spectrum and PRIDE will be working together.

“Annual collaborations include our National Coming Out Day event, which provides a safe space for students to share their identities with peers, faculty and administration,” they said.

“We also jointly fund a group of students to go to MBLGTACC (the Midwestern Bisexual Lesbian Gay Transgender Ally College Conference) every year in February. This semester, the Spectrum Resource Center and PRIDE are teaming up to bring a disabled transgender Filipino martial artist to campus to do a poetry performance and self defense workshop for the queer community.”

Junior Zoe Morris, a WoHo resident as well, is another Spectrum intern and leads the Queer Artist of the Month events. For September, she selected Frida Kahlo, a famous Mexican painter who was bisexual and open about her relationships both with women and her husband Diego Rivera.

Kahlo, who lived from 1907 to 1954, was also a strong Mexican nationalist who resisted traditional European styles despite criticism from artistic elites.

“(Kahlo) said that she would be better off essentially selling tortillas in a market than in this culture,” Morris said. “She is most famous for her self-portraits.”

During the event, students were invited to create their own self-portraits, often featuring flowers in Kahlo’s style – and many did.

PRIDE Week

So far, PRIDE hasn’t made their presence felt on the campus-wide stage, but that will change next week with PRIDE week, which takes place from Monday Oct. 6 to Friday Oct. 10; National Coming Out Day is Oct. 11.

“During PRIDE Week, we organize ways to bring awareness and recognition to the community,” French said.

They will be tabling throughout the week; events include a performance by spoken word artist J Mase III, a queer trans person of color on Oct. 7. This event was organized by PRIDE Treasurer Alicia Brown, a senior and WoHo resident.

The week closes with PRIDE Prom on Friday, October 10. Other events for PRIDE members specifically will be held during the week.

Beyond PRIDE Week, the club is also focused on increasing membership and discussion of issues in the short term, and an eventual goal of achieving all-gender housing.

“All-gender housing would provide a safe space for trans and non-binary students,” French said.

“As of right now, incoming trans students are placed in medical singles, as the school does not allow them to room with others who share their gender identity.”

“…As members of PRIDE Exec, we have noticed and heard PRIDE members who have a huge need for gender-inclusive housing on campus.”

Past events aimed at raising awareness of the need for gender inclusivity in campus housing have included a presentation on all-gender housing by Rebecca Mosely, then-Assistant Director of Residential Education at Oberlin College, which has all-gender housing options. Her presentation and a following discussion were held at last year’s PRIDE week.

The “Trans-ition Your Outlook” workshops held toward the end of last semester also promoted gender inclusivity, though in more general terms.

Pair of hospital transfers raises alcohol concerns

On Sept. 13, Public Safety transported two Ohio Wesleyan students to Grady Memorial Hospital. OWU typically sends around 5 to 10 students to the hospital per year, making the number unusually high for so early in the academic year.

One student was reportedly admitted for a welfare concern regarding an unspecified illness. However, the other was for “acute alcohol poisoning.”

Typically, if PS encounters a student showing symptoms of acute alcohol poisoning, they will transport that individual to a hospital for medical attention.

PS officer Christopher Mickens said that when a student is clearly unable to take care of his or herself, then overconsumption of alcohol is the probable cause, if not the worst-case scenario of alcohol poisoning.

Mickens added that he uses several questions in order to gauge how much a student has had to drink. Incorrectly answering questions such as one’s name, the date or day of the week, current location, and an inability to locate friends are potential indicators for Mickens.

Symptoms of alcohol poisoning as summarized from awarealertalive.com including mental confusion, unresponsive, snoring or gasping for air, throwing up and loss of consciousness.

And incidents like this aren’t just happening at OWU.

According to the ‘College Drinking’ page from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) website, “an estimated 599,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are unintentionally injured under the influence of alcohol.”

The statistics are taken from a 2009 study published in from the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs titled “Magnitude of and trends in alcohol-related mortality and morbidity among U.S. college students ages 18-24, 1998-2005.”

The NIAAA also states that “an estimated 1,825 college students between the ages of 18 and 24 die from alcohol-related unintentional injuries, including motor vehicle crashes.”

Commonly, OWU students fear receiving a violation or a fine for contacting PS in an emergency. Even knowing these fears, PS highly encourages students to call.

Director of Public Safety Bob Wood said, “it’s a violation, but it’s better than getting hurt or losing your life.”

While on night shifts in previous years, Mickens and other officers have noted that there are intoxicated students being dropped off at their dorms, or even the emergency room without ever contacting PS. This led to the addition of the medical amnesty policy, which is meant to be “an educational process, not a punitive one,” said Mickens.

The OWU Student Code of Conduct includes the following policy:

“Students who seek medical attention for themselves or others because of the over-consumption of alcohol or other drugs will not be charged with violations of the alcohol or illegal drugs policies through the Office of Student Conduct.”

But Mickens cautions students that there aren’t an unlimited number of “free passes” and a conversation will likely take place in an attempt to prevent any situation from escalating to this level.

Public Safety is also considered the first responders to the scene of a medical emergency if they arrive before an ambulance. But often, the Delaware City Police comes with ambulances and they aren’t as likely to give a pass.

Mickens stated that he doesn’t think that there is a large increase in the number of incidents from years past. He said that several factors contribute to these statistics. The circumstances: who you decide to surround yourself with when you drink, how attentive those people are and the location.

He dismisses the common scapegoat of blaming the newest freshman class. And the numbers back it up.

According to Public safety, there were 33 reports of alcohol-related concerns in 2011, 22 in 2012, 26 in 2013 and 14 so far in 2014. These figures are calculated by calendar year and they represent all alcohol-related issues, not just alcohol poisoning incidents.

In his 15 years at OWU, Mickens feels he has noticed a shift toward health-conscientiousness in the younger generations.

“I think that you all are more in tune with ‘What it is to be healthy?’ I’ve noticed less of our students smoking and less true binge drinking, ” said Mickens.

As a parent himself, Mickens wants students to keep future goals and loved ones in mind when making decisions about their safety and health.

“The best Mother’s day gift you can give is to walk across that stage,” he said.

Global Grab: Activists occupy Hong Kong, U.S. leads attacks on ISIL

The Issue: Hong Kong

What started off as peaceful protests in Hong Kong escalated to involve tear gas and riot police on Sunday. Occupy Central with Love and Peace (Occupy Central, for short), a civil disobedience movement proposed by democracy activists in Hong Kong, organized the protests, according to the BBC. They want political reform and democratic elections and plan on protesting the Chinese government’s ruling against open elections in 2017. The BBC reported the group took its name from the 2011 Occupy Wall Street Protests.

The protests turned violent on Sunday when another group, the Hong Kong Federation of Students, organized a sit-in urging students to boycott classes and workers to strike, said the New York Times. Their main reason for the protesting? “The protestors focused their anger at a plan for electoral changes introduced by Beijing last month for the first time would let the public vote for the city’s chief executive, beginning in 2017,” the Times reported.

According to Reuters, Communist Party leaders in Beijing are concerned about these calls for democracy spreading to mainland China. That led to the phrase “Occupy Central” being blocked on Weibo, a Chinese social network. So far, there have been 78 arrests in the protests

The Issue: ISIL

The New York Times reported the Pentagon confirmed it had conducted its first strikes against ISIL targets in Syria, along the Turkish border. “Symbolically, though, the modest strikes around Kobani (the area that was targeted) demonstrated some American and Arab commitment to the direct defense of the Kurds in an area that, village by village, has been falling to Islamic State forces,” the Times reported.

The BBC reports United States-led coalition aircraft have targeted four makeshift ISIL-controlled oil refineries. Along with the U.S., countries such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates participated in the attacks. There are approximately 40 countries in the coalition, including five Arab states.

On Friday Great Britain, Belgium and Denmark joined the coalition and committed warplanes to its efforts, the Associated Press reported. Denmark is planning on sending seven F-16 fighter jets, plus four operational planes and three reserve jets, along with 250 pilots and support staff for 12 months, according to the AP. Lawmakers there have yet to approve this measure, but it is expected to pass.

Delivery service brings restaurants a little bit closer

You can now order anything from any restaurant in Delaware, and have it delivered to your door.

James Encracion, the founder of Delaware Delivered, said he has seven drivers who will pick up food from any restaurant in the city of Delaware and deliver it anywhere within city limits.

“My wife and I came up with the idea when we were trying to decide what to order for dinner,” said Encracion. “The only options for delivery were either Chinese or pizza.”

Encracion also said that he has spoken to several restaurants in town and has their menus available on the Delaware Delivered website for consumer convenience.

Junior Ruchi Kansal said she definitely plans on using the service to order food.

“Chipotle is so far away, and for people who don’t have cars, this will be a game changer,” Kansal said.

Kansal said there is nothing like the business in her home in Dubai, so the idea of the business model coming to small town Ohio “is pretty cool.”

There are several businesses around the country whose sole purpose is to deliver foods from restaurants that don’t typically deliver. One such business is BringMeThat.com, which serves several cities in Ohio.

However, the national site does not accommodate Delaware, giving Delaware Delivered a competitive advantage. They have a monopoly over the delivery industry.

“As a college student, and to be on a budget, it will be very helpful to have someone deliver food that isn’t pizza or campus food,” said freshman Brooke Butterworth.

“Coming from California to a more suburban neighborhood, the biggest change was adapting to the very different food scene in Delaware,” Butterworth said. “It has been challenging finding healthy, affordable food anywhere near campus.”

Anyone can order food by going to Delaware Delivered’s website. Their hours of operation are 10 a.m. until 10 p.m., and they will be able to take orders over the phone beginning at 9 a.m. Orders must be a minimum of $10, and a delivery fee is $3.95 plus gratuity. Customers will also be subject to a minimum of one hour’s wait time.

Student Involvement sells art collection

The Student Involvement Office (SIO) will be selling artwork to raise money for student programs the week before homecoming weekend.

The artwork being sold has been collected in the office over the years and is now being removed after a recent renovation. Performers and presenters that have visited Ohio Wesleyan University have contributed to the collection, leading to the diversity of content that will be on sale. Framed class year shirts, signed posters and student artwork are just some of the subjects framed in the pieces that will be on sale.

“The money will go towards getting some kind of special programming for students,” SIO Office manager Mona Spalsbury said. “Some of these are from the 90’s when the building was first built…Everything was professionally framed and mounted…none of it will be more than 50 dollars.”

O.A.R., Bill Cosby, Counting Crows and Ben Folds are just some of the artists and autographs featured in the sale, alongside OWU memorabilia from the ages since. Pieces range from framed posters to larger compilations of signed shirts and other artwork in clean, twenty inch or larger frames.

“If nothing else, the frames are beautiful,” Spalsbury said. “They’re huge, you could frame just about anything in some of them.”

The sale, which is the second of its kind from the SIO this year, will take place the Friday before homecoming weekend in atrium of Hamilton-Williams from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.