The Transcript

By Taylor Stoudt
Transcript Reporter

The lonely gray building to the east of University Hall is receiving some love as donors express interest in its future.

University President Rock Jones said a particular donor started “preliminary conversations” about how to best use the building and “the resources available to fund its restoration.” He then formed a committee chaired by Dale Swartzentruber, associate dean for institutional research, to explore the university’s options for Merrick Hall. Swartzentruber presented details about the potential uses for the building were discussed at the faculty meeting on Feb. 11.

“A couple of months ago Rock (Jones) asked me to put together a task force of what turned out to be 17 faculty and staff, to come up with some ideas for the renovation of Merrick Hall should funds become available for that renovation,” Swartzentruber said.

The committee held two meetings. In the first, the group toured the building and was asked by Jones to compile a list of ideas that Ohio Wesleyan might want to execute and a donor would be excited about funding. In the second, the committee opened up two discussion groups, one for students and another for faculty and staff, to share ideas and hopes for the building.

“It was a consensus of the surveys and the committee that this proposal would essentially look at the building as a home for a students-centered approach to the curricular initiative for co-curricular as well as academic engagement,” Swartzentruber said.

In working with the idea of co-curricular engagement and a move towards academic excellence, Swartzentruber said it would be fitting if the building included space for the Office of Academic Advising, the Academic Resource Center, the Office of International Studies and Off-Campus Programming, and the Office of Career Services.

In addition to using the building as a student-centered space, there are hopes for classrooms in Merrick that would be shared among the different departments and groups looking for more space.

“What we do with the building has to be consistent with the school mission and the faculty has to feel comfortable with it,” Swartzentruber said. “But if a donor comes along and gives us however many millions of dollars we need then the donor has a lot to say with what we do with the building.”

Currently, the building consists of three floors and a basement. The first two floors are about 15 feet tall; the third is upwards of 20 feet. The building also houses a lecture hall with stadium seating divided into into two separate classrooms.

The basement could be made taller by digging further into the ground, and the walls currently dividing the floor into small offices could be removed to make it one large room.
“Virtually everyone agrees that that room should be opened up and used in all its majesty,” Swartzentruber said. “It could be a really nice space with the wooden beams that go the entire width of that top floor, and the tall windows are just beautiful. It’s an impressive space that, given the resources, I think we would all be very proud to make good use of.”

In the 20 years Swartzentruber has worked at Ohio Wesleyan, he has never seen the building used for university purposes.

“I think it’s a real shame to have a building in that location and that is that dominant and not have any use for it,” Swartzentruber said. “It’s a huge stone building made from stone from our local Blue Limestone quarry, but it’s very excit(ing) to think that there’s a good possibility that we’re going to be able to make use of it.”

The restoration of the building is estimated between $5 million and $10 million. The donor who expressed interest in the project wishes to remain anonymous.

“The only reason we’re not using it is because it would cost millions of dollars to make it useful,” Swartzentruber said. “And we’re functioning well without it. We just want to function better. So it’s not that we require the use of the building, but we’ll be a better school if we make good use of it.”

Jones said the university is currently “issuing a request for proposals” from design contractors that could be helpful in completing the project.

No university money has been spent.

“In the mean time, I’ll be having additional conversations with the individual who first proposed the question and we remain open to any and all input that the campus might have to share,” he said.

By Jacob Beach
Transcript Reporter

In an effort to bring better food and service to campus, Chartwells has recently extended a hand to both students and the Wesleyan Council on Student Affairs.
This semester Gene Castelli, resident district manager for Chartwells, has been meeting with students for lunch on a regular basis.

Junior Martin Clark, WCSA president, said the idea was conceived by the WCSA executive body as a way for students to “interact directly with Gene (Castelli), to tell him what they liked and did not like about food on campus.”

According to junior Alex Kerensky, WCSA representative, the meetings address “small specific issues at Thomson and Smith to larger issues like labeling of food, vegetarian options and how Chartwells deals with different allergies.”

Clark said WCSA and Chartwells have previously worked together on a number of occasions.

Chartwells, in another effort to reach out to students about its dining servers and buildings, recently conducted a student survey asking questions about what types of food they would like to see more of to what they thought of the current seating situations in certain facilities.

Castelli referred to the survey as a “gut check” to make sure student views are in line with the future of the food courts and services, specifically Chartwells’s plans for the summer.

The first question—the most important, according to Castelli—asked the participating 163 students which food they would prefer to have served in the Food Court.
59 percent of the 163 respondents prioritized healthy food options; 51.5 percent favored a rotating weekly food schedule.

Among other issues that received overwhelming responses was Bishop Café—64.9 percent of students said they wanted “improved speed of service.”

Castelli said Chartwells will order Turbochef, a toaster oven able to cook four to six sandwiches at once. The current machine can only cook one sandwich at that time.
Students also responded strongly when asked about bringing a national brand to campus. Castelli said Chartwells is considering installing Chickendippity, an internal chicken franchise, at OWU. A contract with Papa John’s Pizza is also a strong possibility.

“They wouldn’t deliver, but would be available to students to make personal 8-inch pans and would be fast, clearing up a lot of congestion in the Food Court,” Castelli said.
In an attempt to reduce congestion in the Food Court it was suggested the salad bar be removed, since pre-packaged salads are offered. Survey results proved correct Castelli’s prediction students would not like the idea.

About 57 percent of respondents said they would rather make a salad from the salad bar, while 10.2 percent said they preferred pre-packaged salad.

Castelli said much of the information used in the survey has and will be considered during the planning process for renovations of the HWCC Food Court and dining areas.

By Breanne Riley
Trancript Correspondent

More than 800 Ohio Wesleyan students and staff have signed a petition addressing the counseling services wait list and a need for counseling services to become more available.
The petition states, “Administrators, we are counting on you to demonstrate a commitment to the mental health of students and employees on campus. Please pay attention to the needs of our counseling services staff and make funding choices that reflect our shared commitment to a healthy community.”

Senior Kami Goldin, resident of the Peace and Justice House, said the petition is not an attack on the administration, but an attempt to engage in conversation about the importance of all students’ mental health.

“The petition is symbolic and we’re not looking to pressure or strongarm anyone,” she said. “I’m sure that the administration will care about what students care about.”
The petition also states, “The mental health of students must be a priority for this university… Too often, students must wait days or weeks to see one of the wonderful therapists available through Ohio Wesleyan University’s Counseling Services. Please, help ensure the mental health of our students and the mental health of the counselors who support them by ensuring that they have the funding and resources they need.”

“We’d like to start a conversation, in which the petition represents student concern over this issue, but isn’t the central focus,” Goldin said. The conversation should be one in which we all talk about whether access to counseling services is an issue (because an important step is just getting everyone to agree on this premise) and then start to creatively plan ways to improve the situation.”

Goldin said the petition started at the house of peace and justice at a SLUSH event in January. She created the petition and circulated it along with others dealing with national issues.

The petition was based on conversations Goldin had with many classmates about their experiences trying to access counseling services at OWU.

“When I collected the petitions again after the event, I saw that most of them had gathered between eight and 18 signatures, except for the one about mental health at OWU, which had gathered 45 signatures,” she said. “This indicated to me that there was a real energy on campus about accessing counseling services.”

Goldin then set her goal to collect 1000 signatures, “because it’s a nice round number and represents a significant population of students,” into a house project, and approached Active Minds to collaborate.

Goldin said people generally have three types of reactions to the petition: concern, gratitude or defiance.

She said signers who are concerned say they hadn’t known that this was an issue or that mental health services are available as a resource. Those who are grateful know it is a huge problem, either for themselves or for their friends who have sought counseling, and sign the petition. A minority of people say the issue does not affect them and that they think it is not important.

The Office of Counseling Services in Hamilton-Williams Campus Center room 324 currently has three counselors. According to Colleen Cook, director of counseling services and assistant dean of student affairs, the counseling services wait list has existed for two years.

“Prior to that, our office worked to do everything we could to avoid a wait list since we know that it can often be difficult for students to make the decision to set up an appointment, and we didn’t want to discourage them when they did,” she said. “Unfortunately the demands for counseling have continued to increase every year, and the demands became too great for our office to continue to keep up.”

Cook said the term “understaffed” is likely relative to there being a waitlist. Nationally, there are offices with less staffing than Ohio Wesleyan, as well as many offices with better staffing. She said it should be noted that OWU is not alone, as several schools across the country are facing similar challenges in effectively responding to students’ mental health needs.

Psychology professor Richard Leavy, faculty advisor for Active Minds, said there is evidence of a nationwide increase in students with psychological disorders. There has also been a decrease in the stigma attached to needing counseling services.

“Expectations are also different about how much health should be accessible,” Leavy said. Frankly, the good thing on this campus is the stigma of going to counseling services is lower than it’s ever been. The reputation of counseling services on this campus is very positive. If you couple the two it stands to reason that people are going to regrettably be waiting in line to get help.”

A rape survivor said she was put on a wait list when she went into counseling services after her attack.

“It was very clear that they wanted to help me, but they couldn’t schedule me,” she said. “I was wait-listed and they saw me a week later.”
The survivor said the counselor asked if she was in any immediate danger; she said she was not. She was referred to Delaware County HelpLine and told to contact them if she felt she needed immediate help. She has been to counseling services since then, but does not see the same counselor each time. She said it took a lot of courage to reach out each time, but counseling has helped her grow stronger.

Cook said counselors typically try and triage rape survivors immediately, knowing it would be crucial to get that person the support they need as soon as possible. She said students are waitlisted when there are no openings available with any counselors.

If a student is waitlisted, a counselor contacts the student to make sure they are not at risk for harm. If the student is not at imminent risk, they are offered the opportunity to be placed on the wait list and be referred to an outside counselor. Cook said students deemed at immediate risk or are not functioning are typically seen immediately.

“As the Director of Counseling Services, I would obviously like to immediately serve all students who are in need of support, which we currently are not able to do with the resources available to us,” Cook said

Senior Tim O’Keefe, vice-president of the Wesleyan Council on Student Affairs (WCSA), said the petition was brought to his attention when a student presented it at a WCSA meeting. Most members signed the petition. Since then, he and junior Martin Clark, WCSA president, have been working with Rock Jones and the vice-presidents on campus to discuss possible solutions to the wait list problem.

“The school now has a helpline set up for students to call when the counseling services office is not open,” O’Keefe said. “(There is) Also the possibility of hiring another full time counselor.”

Kimberlie Goldsberry, dean of students and WCSA advisor, said students have brought the wait list up in meetings. She discussed the possibility of a referral to local counselors and encouraged students to stay on the wait list and schedule an appointment even if it is further out.

“It is important to remember that medical and mental health operations on college campuses and the community are typically appointment driven with a triage for emergency cases,” she said. “College operations are not typically set up like an urgent care setting, where the service is basically on a walk-in basis.”

Cook said mindfulness and grief groups are offered for those who can’t immediately get individual counseling.

According to Leavy, students will usually choose to be waitlisted despite these group therapy options.

“Now, with the percentage of students with serious mental illness who are ignoring that need, I think it is a significant worry,” he said. Every year, about 1000 college students commit suicide. And we don’t want to have suffering.”

According to the Counseling Services website, students in crisis can contact the office, open weekdays 8:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m. and 1:00-5:00 p.m.; Public Safety at (740) 368-2222; Delaware County HelpLine at (740) 369-3316; or Residential Life staff for assistance.

Cook looks forward to a resolution to the issue.

“I continue to hope for a creative solution that will allow us to serve all students who come in to our office in a timely fashion,” she said.

By Emily Hostetler
Transcript Correspondent

Colleges Against Cancer (CAC) will unite the campus to walk for a cure through the Relay for Life program.

On March 22, teams of students, faculty and staff will gather in the Gordon Field House, where at least one person from each team will be walking laps for 18 hours.
Junior Jessica Martin, president of CAC, said the organization has been planning Relay for Life since September.

“This event means creating more birthdays,” she said. “It’s a really powerful event to show people the small part of the journey a cancer patient would go through.”
This year, the theme for the event is “holidays,” and each team has to pick a holiday to plan fundraising events around.

“We thought holidays would be fun because people can have fun with it,” Martin said. “We are planning an Easter egg hunt, caroling and a Halloween dress up contest at the event.”

Martin also said one of her favorite parts about the event is the annual cross-dressing contest.

“We always have a cross-dressing contest with (professional) drag queens and all the contestants are encouraged to cross dress and have a pageant,” she said.

While there are many events to keep students awake and active during the event, there will also be a Luminaire ceremony, at which candles are lit, and memorials for Jeffrey Thongsawath ’10, who recently died from pancreatic cancer.

Junior Jija Dutt, team development recruitment chair for CAC, said she is really happy with how the year of planning the event has gone so far.

“I am most looking forward to everyone coming together,” she said. “We have all the fun stuff and ceremonies like the Luminaire to honor people who have lost their lives and are battling cancer and take moments to be thankful.”

Meghan Feran ’06, American Cancer Society staff partner to the Relay For Life of OWU, said there are 23 teams signed up to date—the most OWU has ever had—with over $6,000 raised for the cause.

“Seeing collegiate committees collaborate and pull together such a life-saving event out of selflessness and passion to the cause in the fight against cancer is simply amazing,” she said. “The committee is small but mighty and doing a phenomenal job.”

CAC is a national organization committed to implementing programs in colleges aimed at eliminating cancer.

The organization is a main sponsor of Relay for Life and holds events such as the Great American Smokeout to encourage people to stop smoking and focuses on raising awareness about all cancer types.

“Freshman year I lost my mom to Leukemia,” Dutt said. “I had to fly back home to India… I came back all charged up and ready to be involved. While we are still here and still have time to do something about it (cancer) we should.”

Dutt said cancer can be unpredictable, which is one of the scariest things about it.

“Something like cancer should be important to everyone,” she said. “It affects people in more ways than one. You never know who is going to be touched by it.”

Martin said she joined CAC because her mom survived Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia as a child and because of that she has always been really passionate about cancer.
“I’ve seen the effects of cancer and I really believe that if dedicate ourselves to research, we will find a cure,” Martin said.

By Emily Feldmesser
Transcript Correspondent

On February 18 the “I Love Female Orgasm” event, sponsored by Sisters United (SU) and the Women’s Resource Center (WRC), was presented to Ohio Wesleyan students, male and female alike.

Hosted by sex educators Marshall Miller and Kate Weinberg, the event “combines sex education and women’s empowerment with a hearty dose of laughter,” according to the program’s website, to “illuminat(e) the subject of female orgasm for everyone.”

“Events like this put women’s health and pleasure on people’s radars, and help educate all of us on healthy sexuality,” said senior Kamila Goldin, a WRC intern.

“I think programs like this are important to have because it’s a form of sex education but its fun at the same time. I think the fact that they made it fun made it more enjoyable for people,” said sophomore Mariah Powell, president of SU.

Junior Madeleine Leader, vice-president of SU, said their role in the program was marketing, student involvement and providing the financial backing.

“It wasn’t too difficult to get this program to OWU, thanks to the support of Sisters United and WCSA, who helped secure and provide the funding or else it would have been too expensive,” Goldin said.

Leader also said OWU is very open to different kinds of events, which is why it was easy to get this event to campus.

One aspect of this program was that it was a part of the Panhellenic trilogy events. According to senior Amber Callen-Ward, Panhellenic Council president, trilogy events require at least 75 percent of each sorority chapter to attend programs “that we believe will be educational or informative for our community.”

“I would say that many women were excited by the event, which can seen by the fact that all the sororities had over 75 percent of their chapters there,” Callen-Ward said.
Leader said because “Female Orgasm” was a trilogy event, attendance was quite high, but “there were so many people that came by their own volition.”

Powell said she noticed the event was so full, that students were sitting on the floor in order to be a part of the talk.

Fraternities were also required to send 75 percent of their members to this event, which the organizers were glad to see.

“I would hope that the males who attended this event learned more about the female body and they became more comfortable talking about sex,” Powell said.

Goldin said she hoped the event “underscored the importance of consent and communication in sex.”

Freshman Kristina Wheeler said she thought the event was “fantastic.”

“It put a spotlight on the often taboo subject of female sexuality,” she said.

Goldin said she thinks the information presented is important to disseminate for two reasons.

“The first is immediate: it makes life better,” she said. It makes it easier to communicate with partners. The second reason is because most cultures are horribly disrespectful to women. By focusing on female pleasure and empowerment now, we hope to affect the culture of the future.”

By Sadie Slager
Transcript Correspondent

With a new system of daily or weekly custodial checklists posted throughout common areas and dormitory bathrooms, students are told who cleaned their bathroom, when they did it and which duties were performed.

In many common areas and buildings cleaned by the Ohio Wesleyan Aramark Custodial Department, pink flyers outline days the spaces are cleaned and differentiate between deep cleaning and regular cleaning.

Deep cleaning procedures include dry mopping of floors, emptying of trash, dusting of surfaces and cleansing of fixtures.

In student bathrooms, custodial services are responsible for replenishing toilet paper, cleaning the shower, emptying trash, wiping down surfaces and mopping the floor. Once custodial workers have finished these weekly tasks, they leave a checklist with the date, time and their signature.

Freshman Ann Sharpe said she is satisfied with the current state of custodial services. She said her bathroom is “cleaned thoroughly each week” and always has sufficient supplies.

“We currently have 8 rolls of toilet paper ready to be used,” she said.

Sharpe said when she and her suitemates leave belongings out in the bathroom, the custodial services staff leave a reminder and give them a second chance to clear the room.
“When we forget to take our belongings out of the bathroom she usually writes a note that she’ll be back the next day to clean if we remember to clear out our things,” she said.

Sharpe said OWU is unique in that weekly custodial services are provided for each student’s room.

“I feel like I can’t complain about our cleaning services because most of my friends at other schools have to clean their own bathroom,” she said.

Sophomore Saige Bell said the cleanliness of her bathroom depends on whose job it is to clean it that week.

“One person doesn’t give us enough toilet paper; one does,” she said. “Sometimes I think they check things off on the checklist that they didn’t really do. The walls of the shower aren’t always cleaned.”

Sophomore Sam Weeks said her bathroom is not always cleaned frequently because she doesn’t always completely clear the area of personal belongings.

“They always leave a note saying they couldn’t clean because I had stuff in the way,” she said. “But I don’t get why they can’t just clean around it.”

Weeks, who now lives in Stuyvesant Hall, said she was more satisfied with how her bathroom in Smith Hall was cleaned last year.

“My bathroom in Smith was always cleaned wonderfully,” she said. “I think it depends on who’s cleaning.”

Weeks said while some spaces are always well-cleaned in the dormitories, she would like to see some more changes.

“I feel like the common areas in Stuy are cleaned very well, and the common bathrooms,” she said.

“I’d like them to clean around the stuff I have on my sink and not skip the days they’re supposed to clean. And I don’t have enough toilet paper.”

By Hannah Urano
Transcript Correspondent

The modern foreign language department continues its search for two full-time French professors as finalists visit campus.

According to German Professor Thomas Wolber, it’s been a long process of trial and error that the department hopes will end successfully before the end of the academic year.
When French professors Margaret Fete and Susanna Bellocq died last winter, Susan Binkley and Adela Lechintan were hired as visiting assistant professors to fill their spots.
Meanwhile, Wolber said, the department was in the early phases of finding permanent replacements.

According to the faculty handbook, it is university policy to hold a nationwide search to fill tenure positions.

“In my opinion, it is always preferable to have a tenure track position over people who come and go,” Wolber said. “You want continuity, you want stability, you want someone who is totally committed and does not always have one foot in the job market.”

According to Wolber, the Academic Policy Committee approved the department’s request to hire two new professors last fall and job descriptions were distributed nationally: one for a metropolitan French literature professor and another for a Francophone studies professor.

Francophone studies involve non-metropolitan French speaking areas including the Caribbean, Maghreb, Sub-Saharan Africa, North America and Southeast Asia.
“We have many French students,” Wolber said.

“We didn’t want the program to die. I think it is fair to state that the university is very committed to maintaining French and seeing the program rejuvenated.”

According to Wolber the university has since received almost 100 applications for each position. A search committee “narrow(ed) down the candidates,” conducted interviews and brought the finalists to OWU.

Six candidates have visited or will visit the university in the final leg of the job search, three for each position.

“We are close to the end of the search,” Wolber said. “We have excellent candidates; we are happy with the quality.”

While on campus, each candidate gives a “scholarly presentation” to the search committee that’s open to students. They also have a chance to meet with students at an informal lunch.

Sophomore Kerrigan Boyd is not a French major, but has met with many of the candidates, as she is a member of the MFL student board.

“Most of the candidates I’ve talked to seem like their areas of study would fit quite well with the Ohio Wesleyan cross-disciplinary learning philosophy,” she said. “Even though I’m not a French major, it’s still important to me to find a professor that would fit well with the department and help it grow as a whole.”

Wolber said it is important to him students’ opinions are heard.

“I think student sentiment is always taken very seriously,” he said.

“If that were not the case I would not be very happy. Students need to be heard. Ultimately our business is all about the students, I think it would be unconscionable not to consult them.”

Junior Nora Anderson, who is majoring in French, said all of the candidates she’s interacted with “are lovely people and they have much broader takes on the Francophone world than I’m used to, and I’m glad to see that.”

“I’m excited to finally get permanent faculty, and I hope to work with them next year,” she said.

By Cecilia Smith
Transcript Correspondent

Students in Small Living Units may be less likely to leave Ohio Wesleyan due to increased campus activity and a heightened sense of community, according to members of the SLU community.

Many SLU residents said they would have transferred if they had not been able to be a part of the community.

Senior Erinn Colmenares, a resident of House of Thought (HoT), said she definitely believes SLUs have a higher retention rate within OWU, partly because students who decide to live in SLUs are already less inclined to leave.

“It’s like a commitment,” she said. “We make a series of subconscious agreements during the interview process. It’s like, ‘OK, you seem really interested and we’ll see what you’re like.’ By interviewing and us accepting you, the people we interviewed still have the power to say no. I’d say that happens more than people leaving school when they’re already living in (a) SLU.”

HoT lost one member this year, though not for reasons related to the university itself, according to senior Mikala Back.

Dale Swartzentruber, associate dean for institutional research, said 87.2 percent of last year’s sophomores returned in fall 2012. He also said in an email 93.2 percent of juniors returned as seniors in fall 2012. Overall, the university’s retention rate between the 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 academic years was 87.4 percent.

Senior Aubrey Alamshah, who has been an RA at Hayes Hall for the past two years, said most of the upperclassmen she has known who’ve left OWU did so because they either failed out or had difficulty paying tuition. Alamshah said students in SLUs might have an easier time with acadmics at OWU.

“I find that people who join SLUs tend to be more committed and more focused on academics,” she said. “I think the good thing about SLUs is that they force (the students living in them) to be more accountable. I think there’s a sense of responsibility that people in SLUs have that makes them more committed.”

Back said living in HoT gave her a bigger sense of community than she had living in the dorms on campus.

“I lived in the dorms the past three years and it wasn’t horrible but I didn’t know people very well,” Back said. “I never really felt like I identified with my roommates in the way I identify with the people here. And being in the dorms, it’s easier to be a homebody but here there are new people coming in the house every day….If you live with one roommate who’s a great roommate it does a lot for your college experience but if you’re living with 10 good roommates it does even more.”

Colmenares said living in a SLU is like interviewing for a dream job.

“There are the jobs that you’re thinking of seeing how it goes, the jobs you want to leave and the jobs where you know you want to stay,” she said. “Living in a SLU is kind of like the job where you know it’s not like you’re saying you’ll do it but you’re already thinking of leaving. It’s not like working at McDonald’s.”