The Transcript

By Nicole Barhorst

Transcript Correspondent

Students, faculty and Delaware residents witnessed the world premiere of “The Secret War of Emma Edmonds” last weekend.

According to the production’s flyer, the play is “based on the true story of a woman who disguised herself as a man to serve in the Civil War, also known as Franklin Thompson of the 2nd Michigan Infantry.”

The play is an original work by Ohio Wesleyan theatre professor Bonnie Milne Gardner. According to the theatre and dance department’s website, more than 20 of Gardner’s plays have been produced in professional, community and academic theaters.

“The best part was the emotional moments on stage, but I wasn’t a huge fan of the ending of the play,” sophomore Sam Borchart said. “It felt abrupt and didn’t work very well in my opinion.

Borchart said he attended the play because he “loves to support the arts” and wanted to see several of his friends act in the production.

“Seeing how well the actors recomposed themselves after a line slip-up was good to see,” said Borchart, who participated in theater while in high school.

Costume designer Jacqueline Shelley said the biggest challenge for her has been getting the play’s star, sophomore Margot Reed, in and out of her many costumes smoothly.

“She has nine costume changes and they are all quick changes,” she said. “We rehearsed the changes two nights in a row and timed them accordingly.”

Shelley said this was her first time working with military attire and creating historically accurate costumes has been a major task. A re-enactment historian was enlisted for help.

“We’ve tried to get things as near to true as possible, but sometimes the budget plays a big [role] in what we can achieve and what we can only come close to,” she said.

Director Kerry Shanklin said the biggest challenge has been “creating a smooth flow with so many different locales and with the title character’s many changes.” Throughout the play, Reed appears as both a man and a woman, as well as at various ages.

Sophomore Lauren Kiebler said she enjoyed seeing Edmonds’ life across a few different decades.

“I didn’t even know women served in the Civil War,” Kiebler said.

Although junior Colin Moore said he “did not care much for the ending,” he still thinks the OWU theatre department is “top notch” and will continue to attend its plays.

Moore said his favorite scene occurred when Edmonds was speaking with a wounded confederate soldier because it was “harrowing.”

Sophomore Nathan LaFrombois said he too favored that scene and found the overall play to be “touching.”

“I will absolutely attend more plays at OWU,” he said. “I have always enjoyed events put on by the theater department. They have quality shows and great actors.”

Kiebler also said she enjoyed the “women’s empowerment” aspect of the production and said she looks up to people like Emma.

Junior Ryan Haddad said producing the play for the first time didn’t add extra pressure on him as the show’s co-assistant dramaturg, or researcher.

“As this is a premiere, the actors and design team really get a chance to create unique performances and visuals,” he said. “There is no precedent for how the play should be done or has been done before, so they get to start fresh, which is very exciting.”

Gardner served as lead dramaturg, while Haddad and senior Matthew Jamison were both assistant dramaturgs.

As dramaturg, Haddad said he was one of the people in charge of researching information about the Civil War time period and giving it to “the cast, director, and technical staff, usually upon their request.” He said he spent 10 to 15 hours doing research during the rehearsal process.

Haddad said he and Jamison also helped with outreach for the show. He was in charge of contacting local schools and historical organizations that might be interested in attending the production.

“The Secret War of Emma Edmonds” will close its run in the Chappelear Drama Center this weekend. Performances are on Oct. 11 and 12 at 8 p.m. and Oct. 13 at 2 p.m.

By Sadie Slager

Transcript Reporter

To prevent copyright infringement and potential lawsuits against students and the university, Information Services has blocked file sharing applications like BitTorrent from being run on campus.

These peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing and systems are used to share legal content among millions of computers. They are also used to illegally distribute copyrighted content, which leads to copyright violations. Copyright violations consist of unauthorized copying and distribution.

Chief Information Officer Brian Rellinger said Information Services receives 15 to 20 copyright violation notifications per semester, but some violations go unnoticed.

“Certainly more students are using these applications but do not get caught,” he said.

Rellinger said other universities have similar policies in regards to file sharing.

“More and more are blocking the applications just as we are to reduce the exposure,” he said.

When the university receives notices of copyright infringement, Rellinger said, Information Services is required to stop the student who has done it.

“Failure to do so could lead to lawsuits against the student and university,” he said.

Recent copyright infringements on campus include illegal viewing, copying and distribution of popular television shows, such as the fifth season of “Breaking Bad.” In this case, the student was committing an infringement on Sony Pictures Television, Inc., who owns the show’s copyright.

Rellinger said Information Services does not seek out P2P activity, but rather copyright owners are the ones who track it.

“Copyright owners monitor traffic and report violations to the university,” he said. “Once we are notified, we trace the IP address back to the specific student so that we can address the issue….This typically involves shutting off that student’s network connection, finding the illegal content, and deleting the files along with the program used to download it.”

According to Rellinger, blocking P2P applications serves a number of purposes, including freeing up bandwidth for all students.

“P2P applications can consume the network’s capacity if unregulated on a college campus,” he said.

Rellinger said blocking the applications also greatly reduces legal warnings of copyright infringement on campus.

“We believe that this is the correct course of action to provide a better level of service to all students, as well as reduce the amount of illegal content being shared on the OWU campus,” he said.

By Samantha Simon

Transcript Reporter

Students and recent graduates now have all the benefits and free access to a new program called SALT.

SALT is a money management education resource that helps students reach their financial and educational goals.

American Student Assistance (ASA), a non-profit organization, created the program to help students reach their financial goals while working for a diploma. Students can access online and offline support to figure out the best ways to borrow less, take out the right type of loans and learn life financial skills.

When users log onto saltmoney.org, they can access a personal dashboard where they can review all their federal and private loans in one area.

SALT teaches students and alums the basic financial fundamentals including income, expenses and savings. Students can review SALT’s tips on paying for next semester, repaying student loan debt, paying bills and making a large purchase right after signing up for an account.

Another benefit SALT offers is career advice and guidance. After enrolling in the program, you can access SALT’s database with over 50,000 jobs and internship opportunities from more than 23,000 employers.

Along with those benefits, there is also a continuously updated list of more than 2 million scholarships worth $15 billion.

According to SALTmoney.org, SALT manages a portfolio of 1.4 million college student borrowers, and is proud to say that 94 percent of these loans are in good standing. For four years in a row SALT has beaten the national cohort default rate by 54 percent.

Director of Financial Aid Kevin Paskvan said the university felt the need to partner with a company like SALT because of the national increase in student loan borrowing.

According to a U.S News & World Report, students suffer from a lack of financial literacy that leaves them unable to navigate the complex maze of financial aid applications and loan options, further adding to their money troubles even after they leave school.

The report also said national student loan debt now tops $1.1 trillion, with the average student accruing more than $26,000 in debt upon graduating.

In some instances, this debt occurs from students simply not understanding the loan process, and not being educated in personal finance.

Paskvan said that having access to SALT could assist students with their personal finance goals and with managing their overall loan debt. The program includes important financial literacy to help students become more aware of what they are getting into, and how to manage everything.

Paskvan came to the university in July, and at that time the decision to implement SALT had already been made. Paskvan said he has been responsible for getting the service up and running.

According to Paskvan, since the program just recently went live it is hard to tell how many students have actually enrolled.

Paskvan said the university had not participated in a program like SALT in the past, and that its yearly membership is approximately $5,000.

“I really do feel this is a great benefit for our students and families. Anyone can sign up free of charge to use SALT,” he said. “There is a lot of great information on the site, and I would encourage everyone to use it.”

By Jija Dutt

Transcript Reporter

Ohio Wesleyan students, faculty, family and alumni from around the country gathered to celebrate yet another homecoming weekend from Friday, October 4, to Sunday, October 6.

The Spirit and Homecoming Organization (SHO) planned events for students throughout the week leading up to homecoming weekend. Free cookies in the campus center, a tie-dye shirts day on Williams Drive, banner making competition among various organizations and a homecoming dance were among a host of other events.

A student-faculty soccer game scheduled fore Thursday, October 3, was later canceled due to lack of participation.

Senior Sarah Hartzheim, vice-president of SHO, said her favorite part of homecoming is involving people from across the community in a fun, stress free celebration of everyone’s time at OWU.

“Homecoming this year involved a lot more people as SHO has grown significantly this year.,” she said. “We’re really excited about all the underclass men getting involved and showing such leadership potential.”

Hartzheim also said every year SHO increases the amount of shirts, cups and food allotted for the week and weekend because the number of people attending increases each year.

The homecoming football game between Ohio Wesleyan and Allegheny was won by the bishops (50-7).

This year’s homecoming court winners were crowned at halftime during the football game. The new OWU royalty are seniors Tim O’Keefe  andMarilyn Baer as king and queen respectively along with juniors Morgan McBride as prince and Ayana Colwin as princess.

According to Brenda DeWitt, director of Alumni Relations, homecoming is an OWU tradition.

“Over the years, there have been many different types of activities associated with the weekend,” she said. “Currently our focus is engaging alumni through various affinity groups such as Greek, athletic, and activity.”

This year’s special events included Alpha Sigma Phi’s sesquicentennial celebration and 25th “Cluster Reunions” for the classes of 1987, 1988, and 1989. Former members of OWU’s now-defunct chapter Sigma Alpha Epsilon also had their reunion, and OWU held the 53rd annual Athletics Hall of Fame and the Alumni Association Board of Directors also met during the week.

DeWitt said “a student-focused event” was Munch and Mingle, a networking program held at noon on Friday, October 4. It was an opportunity for students to interact with alumni in their field of interest.

Emily Roudebush, assistant director of Alumni Relations and Event Planning, said planning for homecoming begins in the early spring of each year. She and her colleagues “get down to the nitty-gritty details” after Alumni Weekend in mid-May.

Much like family weekend, Roudebush said all of the University Advancement office pitches in to help plan Homecoming.

“Also, many student activities take place during the weekend, so I try to work with all of them to make sure their events are on the Homecoming Weekend schedule,” she said.

DeWitt said close to 500 alumni were scheduled to be on campus attending various events throughout the weekend. Roudebbush said the office sends a mailing to alumni in the 13 states closest to OWU: Connecticut, DC, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virgina, West Virginia and the District of Columbia. Multiple emails about the weekend are also sent out to all alumni.

Tricia DiFranco ’09 said it was a good to be back “catching up with old friends and seeing the improvements to campus.”

Freshman Becca Manning said her favorite part of her first homecoming weekend was seeing all the students of each class “dancing together and having fun.”

Roudebush said her favorite part of homecoming is usually the affinity reunion dinners.

“Those groups are usually so enthusiastic and excited to be back on campus with their respective groups,” she said. “It’s fun to get to see them all interact with current students as well.”

DeWitt said she enjoys “watching alumni reconnect with each other, with the campus and with students.”

“There are some alumni who haven’t been back to campus for years and it is fun to see them get excited about the changes on campus,” she said.

By Sarah Schneider

Transcript Reporter

Ohio Wesleyan’s new table tennis club aims to foster friendly competition within the university and between OWU and other schools.

According to senior Anuk Yingrotetarakul, the club’s current president, the motivation to form the group was to gain access to “proper” equipment to enhance the playing experience.

“I came to OWU and got to play with some friends during my freshman year at Smith Hall,” Yingrotetarakul said “However, the tables were in poor condition and were soon removed. I never got to play again until my junior year….The idea of forming a club led to thoughts about competing as well,” he said.

Yingrotetarakul said the club was approved late last spring and only took action in fall of 2013. He and sophomore Shashwat Rijal, the club’s treasurer, petitioned to start the group.

“We organize practice/meetings and provide better equipment,” he said. “We are also currently attempting to organize friendlies against other universities to get a feel for the competitive nature of the game.”

Rijal said he wants to participate in tournaments. The table tennis season spans the entire school year, beginning in the fall and ending in the spring.

Senior Daniel Khan, a member of the club said, “My buddies and I played ping pong in the senior housing for a while and thought it will be a good idea to make a formal club.”

The club meets every Thursday from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. in Branch Rickey Arena, where tables are set up and all equipment is provided.

After mid-semester break, depending on the athletic facilities available, the club is hoping to add Tuesdays to their meeting time, as well as their original Thursdays.

By Brian Cook

Transcript Reporter

The Board of Trustees set many different objectives for the year at its first meeting of the academic year last Friday.

One of the objectives set in the meeting, according to a statement to the faculty from university President Rock Jones is to increase retention rates and graduation rates, with a comprehensive report to be prepared for the Board meeting in May 2014.

In terms of facilities, the Board wants to start the restoration on Merrick Hall, as well as fundraise for the renovation of Edwards Gym and the Pfeiffer Building.

The Board officially passed a resolution to go forward with the restoration of Merrick Hall, with construction to begin in February.

Notably, no resolution was passed to fund the position of sustainability coordinator despite student protests.

However, Michael Long ’66, Chairperson of the Board of Trustees, said he was pleased with the students who showed their support for sustainability. He said he also appreciated their respectful demeanor and their useful information on the issue.

The students held signs supporting a sustainability coordinator outside the Benes rooms in a demonstration during the Board of Trustees and Faculty dinner the previous evening.

Another talking point of the meeting was the need to improve student housing. According to Jones, the Board directed the administration to bring a plan to the winter meeting about implementing what the Board calls the “Student Housing Master Plan.” Some Board members recommended the administration consider debt as a way to finance the plan as quickly as possible.

The Board also charged the administration to consider how it distributed need-based aid versus merit-based aid.

“In the coming year, we will… (c)onsider the relationship between need-based and merit-based financial aid and the impacts of each on the composition of the student body and net tuition revenue,” Jones said.

The Board said it wants to improve technology on campus, and to that end they encouraged the administration to start a campus-wide conversation about the role of technology on campus.

They commended Rebecca Eckstein for her work as Vice President for University Enrollment and Communication. According to the Board, Eckstein plans on leaving the university in November.

To that end, Jones formally announced the hiring of Dave Wottle, Eckstein’s interim replacement, to university employees.

Wottle previously worked at Rhodes College for 27 years as Dean of Admission and Financial Aid. He also won a gold medal in the 800-meter run at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, tying a then-world record. He is the most recent American to win the gold medal in the Olympics in the 800-meter run.

Jones said the Board and he both agreed that the future at Ohio Wesleyan is bright.

“Clearly, we have an ambitious year ahead, and the Board commended all of you for helping to create such a wonderful beginning,” said Jones to the employees. “The Trustees also expressed their continuing faith—as do I—that together we can achieve our strategic objectives and establish OWU as an exemplar of liberal arts teaching and learning for this century—and those to come. As always, thank you for all you do that makes us distinctively Ohio Wesleyan.”

The Board also welcomed six new trustees at the meeting: Doreen DeLaney Crawley ’91, Jason Downey ’02, Kamila Goldin ’13, Rob Kail ’71, Jack Luikart ’71, and Frank Quinn ’78. Goldin is the class of 2013 Representative to the Board.

Additionally, the Board passed a measure that formalized how the university stores critical and non-critical documents.

“The Record Retention Policy is effective immediately, and all OWU employees are responsible for following its guidelines,” Jones said in a statement to employees. “The policy reflects good practice and also allows us to answer in the affirmative an important question on IRS Form 990.”