El Salvador mission trip raises funds to help children

Students and members of the mission trip team sit with one another after enjoying their lunch and supporting a great cause.

By Ellin Youse
Transcript Reporter

Although they may have been primarily focused on the guacamole, the students gathered in Benes Room C last Wednesday were supporting the Love and Hope Ministries’ efforts to assist dispossessed children of El Salvadore.

The Love and Hope Ministries hosted its “Taco Fiesta” luncheon Nov.28 to raise money for their annual mission trip to El Salvadore as part of a Chaplin’s Office Spring Break Mission Trip.

Six students will travel with David Eastman, assistant professor of religion, and Lisa Jackson, assistant to the president/secretary to the Board of Trustees, the advisors for the trip.

Each year the group travels to the Love and Hope Children’s Home, founded by Cleveland native Rachel Sanson in 2003 after visiting Nejapa, El Salvadore with her church in 2001. The home houses around 20-30 children.

In past years, students visited the original home in Nejapa, but in September 2012 the home relocated to Los Planes de Renderos to better serve the needs of the children.

Once in El Salvadore, the mission team will work around the house attending to everything from painting the home to building chicken coops.
Senior Katie Jacob is the team leader for next semester’s trip.

An active participant in the Love and Hope Mission Trip since her freshman year, Jacob said the Children’s Home is dear to her heart.

“The home provides a loving environment for kids who would probably be living on the street without it,” Jacob said.

“The kids call the woman who founded the home ‘Mamacita’ which in Spanish means little mother. I think this is a testament of the environment of the home. The kids love Rachel so much and she loves them so much that the children really view her as a mother.

“Rachel has given these children the life and love they deserve, a life and love that all children deserve.

Junior Ane Shoemaker enjoys the buffet at the Love and Hope Ministries Taco bar Wednesday, Nov. 28.
“I truly admire Rachel and all of the people who work in the Home and I feel blessed to have been able to take part in the ministry of Love and Hope Children’s Home.”

Junior Laurel Fuller has participated in two mission trips in the past, but will be traveling to El Salvadore for the first time this spring.

“I was very excited to be selected to be a part of this incredible group,” Fuller said.

“I think that this cause is very important because I believe we are all global citizens and have a responsibility to help when we are able.”

Jacob said because the opportunity to participate in the mission trip program is part of the reason she decided to come to OWU, they are the most important and influential experience of her college years.

“Meeting kids and playing with them is easily the most rewarding part (of the trip),” Jacob said.

“They have taught me a great deal about myself and the world.”

Fuller also said the children are the most exciting aspect of the trip.

“I love to see the enduring impact of service in a person’s life,” she said.

“We are going to be working closely with the children of the home and I am excited to see the positive change that will result in their life from being given the opportunity to succeed.”

Get to know the SLUs in time for SLUsh

By Transcript Staff, Katie Wiskofske and Nicole Barhorst
Transcript Correspondents

Every year, the Small Living Units hold their version of rush: “SLUsh.” SLUsh is a series of events held at each of the SLUs for students interested becoming part of the community to learn more about the individual houses, their missions and members.

This is the first part of a series of profiles on the SLUs so the campus can get to know them better house by house.

House of Thought

Many students may walk by the House of Thought (HoT) on Rowland Avenue and not know what the mission of this SLU is.

The HoT mission is to encourage and enable critical thinking on campus and examine issues in the world. According to Ohio Wesleyan’s website, HoT “inculcates inspired inquiry and action.”

HoT, located on the corner of Rowland Avenue and Liberty Street, is one of the smallest SLUs on campus, with 10 current members. Currently the house has five seniors members, all of which must be replaced by the end of the year.

Senior Erinn Colmenares, a second year member of the house, said she likes living in HoT because she gets to live with the “closest people” she has on the OWU campus.

“There’s nothing to beat that,” she said.

She said she first became interested in HoT after attending a free write project by one of the previous house members.

“I was just inherently interested in a collection of students that had critical thinking at a top of a pile,” Colmenares said.

Senior Natasha Francyzk, a second year member and moderator of the house, said she just had to join the house because of the community it represented.

“I joined the house because I could do nothing else,” she said. “HoT is, was, and forever will represent my family.”

Junior Alex D’Amore-Braver, a second year member of the house, said he became interested in living in Hot as a freshman. He said he preferred HoT to living in the dorms.

“(I like the) communal feeling of a SLU, in which you know and hangout with everyone you live with,” he said. “We have more open space to call our own, which to me creates a more homey feel. Also, we have our own kitchen, and I love to cook.”

Junior Maxwell MacKenzie, a first year member of the house, said he likes the community feel of the house.

“The 10 members really get along,” he said. “They’ll always help me out.”

D’Amore-Braver said he was also interested in the house because of the members.

“It was a community of people who were intelligent and engaged, but also knew how to have a good time,” he said.

“I really liked how they pursued academic issues all the time, engaging in long and dynamic discussion about issues within and outside of their major. The house has always had members with a wide variety of interests both academic and non, and therefore tackles every issue from multiple perspectives.”

Franczyk said the atmosphere in the house has been a special thing to see this year.

“The house has grown very close this year,” she said. “House of Thought, like all SLUs, has periods of greater and lesser closeness. My freshman year, the house was very close, and it is very close again this year. It has been inspiring to watch my housemates strive to ‘be better’ this year, per our house motto.
We all try to take care of one another, in a way that I love.”

House projects HoT has put on include Connect the Dots, a musical concert, “Res Nova” the literary magazine and Socrates CafĂ©.

Socrates Café is a discussion-based event where a question is asked and answered with several perspectives. A professor and a student take a major position on the question posed and a small debate takes place with one rebuttal to each side. The discussion is then opened up to others perspectives from the rest of the gathered students.

Socrates CafĂ© was Colmenares’ house project this semester, and she said the event is important because it broadens the idea of a debate.

“The point of this is to promote the notion that students can find an engaging discussion without the necessary experience in argumentative environments or formal debating,” she said.

“It is also meant to challenge the belief in there only being ‘two sides’ to a question in which one is correct and the other is differentially wrong by showing a multitude of possible (and) probable answers or replies.”

D’Amore-Braver and MacKenzie worked together for their house project this year. They compiled a cookbook full of recipes from students and faculty. The cookbooks were then sold to benefit Local Matters, a local food charity.

The only thing Colmenares would change about HoT is she would like to “add insulation to the walls.”

“Please interview if you like having yelling matches, wolfing down sarcasm and thinking in plus outside the box,” she said.

D’Amore-Braver said the thing he would like to change is the fact the house theme is too general.

“Critical thinking applies to the themes of all the other SLUs and most projects that you could do!” he said. “I feel that sometimes this can cause a lack of unity and sometimes even apathy in our doings.”

MacKenzie said he would change the house projects so that they would be more open, “allowing us to help different groups on campus, and not so focused on SLU life.”
Franczyk said HoT has many opportunities for new members.

“The house offers new members a supportive, dynamic environment in which to grow and learn. We provide a safe place to think critically all day, every day,” she said. “House of Thought is a place where your ideas and beliefs will be challenged constantly, not antagonistically, but so that we might all grow intellectually.”

The Women’s House

This year, the Women’s House (WoHo) is looking to continue its legacy of a supportive, loving environment for people of all sexes and walks of life by attracting new members through SLUsh events.

WoHo was established at Ohio Wesleyan as SLU in the 1980s, and is one of three SLUs located on Rowland Avenue, right next to the Modern Foreign Languages House (MFL) and the empty lot where the Creative Arts Houses (CAH) used to be.

It is the mission of the house’s members to “encourage diversity while creating a community framework through which successful programming can occur; provide a resource for women on campus; provide a safe place for women on campus; and fight oppression and the restriction of freedoms, with special consideration towards women and members of the (LGBTIQA) community,” according to the Ohio Wesleyan website.

Junior Jenna Culina, a second year member of the house, said she became a member of the house because of its members as well as its mission.

“(Deciding to join WoHo was) a spur of the moment decision that was more so spawned by my love for the people that were living in the house,” she said.

Senior Leah Shaeffer, a third year member of the house, said she joined the house to grow as a person and a feminist.

“I joined the house because I was looking for a way to branch out, make new friends, and become more involved with and educated about social justice issues,” she said. “It worked.”

Senior Alex Crump, a third year member of the house, said she joined WoHo mainly because of the house’s mission.

“I joined because the mission of the house really spoke to me, I really felt I would fit there,” Crump said.

Senior Paige Ruppel, a third year member and the moderator of the house, said she had similar reasons for joining WoHo.

“I joined the women’s house because feminism, women’s rights and equality for all are issues that have implications for me politically and personally,” Ruppel said.

“Being moderator the past two years has been a wonderful experience and has helped me grow a lot personally and as a feminist. I have been able to incorporate feminist values into my leadership style, and more greatly influence the community within the house.”

Sophomore Kyle Simon, a first year WoHo member, said he joined the house because he wanted to live in an environment where he wouldn’t be judged for his sexuality and where he would be encouraged to be more involved in service and activism.

The Women’s House provides a voice for feminists and members of the LGBTIQA community at OWU. The members of the house put on events revolving around these issues every semester as a requirement for living there.

While there are some projects that are consistently put on by the house, such as Love Your Body Day and Take Back the Night, but members also organize unique projects from semester to semester. House projects from this semester include “Anatomy of Hate,” slam poet Theresa Davis and SlutWalk.

Ruppel said she has watched the house improve over the past two years as moderator.

“I am very proud of the ways in which we have grown as a community and the improvements in some of our programming,” she said.

WoHo members also participate in activities to strengthen relationships within the house, such as a retreat and brunches.

Simon said these events are beneficial to the dynamic of the house.

“(The events help us become) more emotionally attached to one another,” he said.

“(It was) surprising to see how many of us had intersecting lives, not in a physical way, but in how we experienced life individually. Even though all of us are uniquely different people, we come together and share in a passion that brings all of us together.”

Culina said some of her favorite memories of living with this “all-inclusive group” have been of sitting in the common room talking with her roommates, whether they are a “having a heart-to-heart discussion or simply being idiots.”

Crump said she also likes the variety of conversation in the house is her favorite part of living there.

“The ability for me to come in the common room and have a really serious conversation about feminism or a relevant issue one day, and to come in the next and be laughing so hard I’m crying about something stupid (is my favorite part),” she said.

Shaeffer said the community aspect of the house is her favorite part of living there.

“There is almost always someone to hang out with, and who will listen to you, be excited for you or sympathize with you,” she said.

“My favorite times have been when we have all been hanging out together and being really silly, like during SLU wars or our murder mystery party.”
The WoHo has eight seniors currently living in the house, meaning all those positions in the house must be filled by the end of this year’s SLUsh and interview process.

Simon said prospective members of WoHo should be able to balance involvement in the OWU community with having a great time.

Culina said the WoHo is a place not just for women but also for anyone interested in “the blossoming of knowledge and intelligence.”

“We strive to build bridges and not create drawbridges (some may cross while others have to wait for their turn), as our society is so apt to do,” Culina said.

Crump said new members have many opportunities in the house, both personally and within the mission of the house.

“I think the house can offer new members a place to grow and to find their place in feminism,” she said.

Shaeffer said new members would have a strong community at the WoHo.

“Not only is WoHo a way to make new friends and contacts, become more educated about and involved with social justice issues like feminism, LGBTIQA issues, body image and more, but it also offers you a support system,” she said. “Your housemates will always be there for you.”

Sophomore Meredith Harrison, a first year member of the house, said the WoHo has a lot to offer new members, especially in the area of personal growth.
“The Women’s House offers a safe environment for people regardless of gender identity, sexual orientation and expression, racial and ethnic identity, and social class,” she said.

“As a new member this semester, I have become tremendously involved in clubs, organizations, and programming, and I owe that living in this house. I have a better understanding of who I am and what I believe in. I don’t think I would have figured that out this semester if I were living in a dorm.”

Faculty and staff create a gingerbread OWU

Wikipedia can only go so far

By Thomas Wolber
Associate Professor of MFL

This is the time of year when student papers are due. So, let’s have a closer look at what constitutes proper, original research as opposed to dubious, unreliable second-hand information based on misconceptions.

Wikipedia, widely used by students, is a good case study to investigate the question.

Students are sure to have been told that “Wikipedia is not an authoritative source of information and should not be used as evidence when writing a paper,” to quote an OSU history professor.

Why is that?

Isn’t Wikipedia a great source of valuable factual and verifiable information for all kinds of things?

It is, and I myself use it frequently when I am in a hurry and need to have a quick look at an unfamiliar topic.

But just because a source of information appears in print or on the Internet does not make it trustworthy and truthful.

Before adopting something as a fact, you should always scrupulously investigate its authority, accuracy and currency.

The main problem with Wikipedia and similar data-delivery systems, as I see it, is that they rely heavily on conventional wisdom and established viewpoints.

Opposing and unpopular viewpoints get marginalized or even rejected. The majority view trumps the minority view, regardless whether it is right or wrong.

Therefore, it must be understood that Wikipedia is not in the business of weighing claims and ascertaining the truth.

As a result, untrue myths get perpetuated whereas new knowledge on the forefront of scholarship and science gets short shifted.

Wikipedia, built on mass consensus, is open and democratic. But factual, empirical knowledge is not a matter to be voted on.

A million people may indeed believe that the earth is coming to an end soon, but that does not necessarily make it true.

The use of Wikipedia is especially problematical when it comes to the discovery and creation of new, cutting-edge knowledge on the frontiers of contemporary inquiry. As any avant-gardist artist or researcher knows, sometimes it is necessary to go against the prevailing wisdom.

Whenever there is such a paradigm shift – for example the paradigm shift from a geocentric to a heliocentric world view – the old and the new philosophy are in direct competition with each other.

Initially, the new viewpoint has a hard time asserting itself.

It will be ignored, ridiculed, censored, suppressed, attacked, etc., before it is finally accepted and becomes the prevailing view.

Today’s paradigm shift is sustainability, climate change and the world moving toward a post-industrial and post-consumer world.

In the U.S., the green movement is still widely ignored and attacked, although that is slowly beginning to change. Adherents are marginalized and – unlike in other countries – not yet in leadership positions.

It will take decades and generations for this paradigm shift to reach full attainment.

Eventually, however, yesterday’s heretics and dissidents will become tomorrow’s movers and shakers, and their view will become the prevailing one while it will be proponents of the “ancien rĂ©gime” who will be on the defensive.

In these epic battles of minds and ideas Wikipedia is of little help.

Original,out-of-the-box research, thinking and perceptive knowledge is needed, not the mindless repetition of old bromides.

Colleges and universities such as Ohio Wesleyan are the places where true knowledge is discovered, described, and imparted to new generations of students and scholars.

Wikipedia provides you with factoids and is a good starting point.

However, it does not give you the deeper insights and wisdom needed to understand and navigate the many intricacies and mysteries of both the physical and the metaphysical world.

College liberal regrets attitude of Democratic peers

By Spenser Hickey
Transcript Correspondent

As a proud liberal, a member of OWU’s College Democrats, and a former volunteer with President Obama’s re-election campaign, I am ashamed of the judgemental behavior referenced in last week’s editorial “I’m not stupid. I’m a Republican.”

I am writing to express my sympathies for the closeted Republican who wrote it – and anyone else here on campus in a similar situation – and to make it clear that such negative attitudes are not the position of all College Democrats or, I hope, those of the majority of Democrats on OWU’s campus.

No one should be dismissed as unintelligent or idiotic simply because of party affiliation, and I am discouraged to hear that some of my liberal peers on campus have acted so inappropriately.

I would argue that those, like the anonymous writer, who identify with a party – either one – but take the time to look at each issue and determine their own position, even if it’s against the party line, are the smartest and best of us all.

I admit I am not entirely blameless in this; I have dismissed those in the ‘Obama is a Kenyan/Muslim/communist’ camp as deluded and candidates such as Todd Akin as ignorant on basic science.

Perhaps I should not have done so.

Regardless of this, these groups are but a fringe of the GOP – though a frighteningly vocal one – and their views should not be applied to all Republicans.
Throughout the campaigning season, I saw Republican candidates pushing each other to go farther and farther into ultra conservative territory in order to appeal to the more fanatical members of their party.

As a Democrat, I watched this with some trepidation, fearing what would happen if they were elected and retained their views in office, but mostly I was pleased to know that their far right stances were handing us moderate votes on a platter.

As an American, though, it made me sad.

If the Republican Party continues to put more emphasis on appealing to the uber conservative, rather than the moderate American, they may jeopardize their position as an equal opponent to the Democratic Party.

The need to maintain that balance is far more important to me than the benefit an overwhelming majority it would give my party.

So bravo to you, sir or miss, for having the courage to retain your political affiliation while also having the integrity to determine your own view on issues today.

I am sorry you have been victimized for being a Republican.

I hope that those around you will recognize your views and the thought you have put into developing them, rather than disparaging you on account of your informed party allegiance.

I would be honored to hear from you and to discuss the issues as Americans, rather than opponents.

You are, in this humble Democrat’s opinion, an exemplary Republican and citizen.

You are not stupid.

Muses celebrate the holidays with musical talent

The JAY Walkers, Ohio Wesleyan’s all-male a capella group, performs fun.’s “Some Nights” with the help of Pitch Black, OWU’s all-female a capella group.

By Jenna Rodcay, Liz
Anderson and Julia Stone
Transcript Reporter
and Correspondents

Milligan Hub, formerly known as the Stuy Smoker, was filled with people on Friday for the Muses’ first ever cabaret show.

The Muses is a student run musical theatre group that works to encourage and promote student performances.

The cabaret was the Muses’ first event of the year and was a winter themed event featuring holiday music and snacks, such as hot chocolate and baked goods. They asked for a donations at the door.

“The event was a fundraiser for the group,” said junior Nick Ehlers, performer and member of the Muses, “Every spring semester, we put on a show and the proceeds are going to support it. Next year we’re thinking about doing a show using music that already exists but writing our own text and storyline, but it’s still just in the idea phase.”

There were a total of 11 student performances, including Pitch Black and the JAYWalkers, along with other duets and solo pieces by students.

“There were a wide variety of acts,” said senior Elizabeth Bartz. “It wasn’t just theatre kids singing show tunes. There were some Christmas songs and pop tunes. It was a great time.”

Robert Nims, a part time faculty member in the Music Department, played the piano for each performance that required it.

After deciding on the winter theme, the Muses supplied potential performers with inspiration “to supply performers an idea of what kind of songs would be appropriate for the Cabaret,” said junior Hillary Fowler, a member of the Muses said. Fowler helped plan the cabaret with several other members of the organization.

She said the cabaret began with showcases, in which student performers were able to audition for the show. The Muses use the word “showcase” instead of “audition” to help students avoid being nervous and not wanting to participate in the show.

“We did not want to turn people away from performing for this event,” Fowler said.

Student a cappella groups, such as the JAYWalkers and Pitch Black, were invited to perform.

Fowler said Muses utilized Facebook to help advertise for the cabaret; students were invited to Facebook events for both the showcases and the cabaret itself.
She said she utilized the OWU Music Group, on Facebook, to invite people to audition and attend the cabaret.

Junior Kati Sweigard performed three different times, for a total of seven songs.

“I felt like all three (performances) were well received,” Sweigard said. “The most fun for me was performing with Cara Slotkin, because we just like to have fun. Our duets come from 1 a.m. jam sessions when we’re avoiding homework, and they’re very low stress.”

Sweigard said she enjoyed the “many genres of performance music.”

“It was so cool to see people just do what they love in a fun, stress-free environment,” she said.

She said the JAYWalkers were her favorite part of the show.

“They are all really talented, sweet guys and I love watching them perform because you can tell they’re having fun,” Sweigard said.

Fowler said she was extremely pleased with the amount of people that attended the event and thought the cabaret was a success.

“We had people standing and sitting on the stairs to watch the performances because all the seats were filled,” she said. “For the cabaret not being a large Ohio Wesleyan theatre or music production, and with little preparation time, I thought the quality of the performances was outstanding. This exemplifies how many talented students and performers there are at our tiny liberal arts school.”

Sophomore Sam Walter attended the cabaret to support her friends who were performing.

“It was really nice to see a lot of people on campus that I didn’t even know could sing,” Walter said.

Junior Kenda Patterson said she also enjoyed the cabaret.

“It was a lot of fun,” Patterson said. “There was a good variety of music and it’s always great to see the talent in our friends and classmates.”

Phi Gamma Delta hosts ‘World Cup’ for charity

By Margaux Erilane
Transcript Correspondent

This Sunday, Phi Gamma Delta (Fiji) will be hosting its first philanthropy event since the unsuccessful lawn mower races it sponsored with Delta Delta Delta sorority at the beginning of the semester.

Fiji’s World Cup will consist of a series of soccer games beginning with pool play. The top team in each pool will then advance on to single elimination bracket play. Bracket play will continue until a winner is determined. Each game will be 5-on-5 with two 10 minute halves.

According to the Facebook event page, “Substitutions can be made on the fly” and there’s to be “no bribing the ref.”

Sophomore Philippe Chauveau, the social co-chair of Fiji, said he expects there to be a great turnout with a variety of participation.

“Often, only other Greek organizations will participate in philanthropy events on campus,” he said. “I know the track team plans to sign and I’m expecting a lot of other clubs to also register.”

It costs $30 to register a team and all proceeds will go towards Fiji’s philanthropy, the American Red Cross, benefitting victims of Hurricane Sandy.

Sophomore Michael Cook, the historian of Fiji, said the Red Cross is already working with Hurricane Sandy victims providing shelter, food and emotional support throughout the Northeast.

“We aren’t splitting the proceeds between the Red Cross and Sandy,” he said. “All of the money is still going to the Red Cross; we just want to specifically help the hurricane victims.”

Sophomore Kyle Hendershot, the social co-chair of Fiji, said the event is designed so non-participants can come and enjoy it.

“It’s an open event and every one is encouraged to come whether or not they’re participating,” he said. “We’ll be accepting donations at the door. Any help for the cause is encouraged and greatly appreciated.”

Chauveau said there are a lot of prizes up for grabs, too.

“Aside from the grand prize that the champions will be awarded, we have gift cards to local restaurants and shops downtown,” he said
Cook said he thinks it’s going to be a worthy event to attend.

“It’s going to be a great competition and a ton of fun,” he said. “Everyone should make an effort to be there.”

The event is this Sunday at 1 p.m. in the Gordon Field House.

Members of Fiji will be tabling in Hamilton William Campus Center tomorrow at noon for people who still wish to register a team.

Track and field breaks records at Marietta

By Liza Bennett
Transcript Reporter

Ohio Wesleyan University Track and Field kicked off its season at the First Glimpse meet, hosted by Marietta College on Saturday.

The meet, which included competitors from Allegheny, Charleston, Concord, Malone, Marietta, Ohio University and Ohio Wesleyan, was not scored.

Strong performances were made by many OWU track and field members, specifically senior Hannah Benzing.

Benzing won the weight throw with a throw of 51-9œ, breaking the school record of 48-4Ÿ set by Sharon Rymut in 2009.

Benzing said for the first meet she set no expectations, and had in her mind where she wanted to be and was pleased with her personal performance as well as the team’s performance.

“I was hoping for a further distance but I can’t be disappointed with a new personal best starting off in the first meet,” Benzing said. “I imagine I’ll be breaking my own record a few more times this season.”

Junior Sarah Bechtel, who took a first-place finish, winning the pole vault by clearing 11-0, said the meet gave the Bishops an opportunity to gauge how prepared they are for the upcoming season.

“The Marietta meet is mostly just to shake off the dust and prepare for the season ahead,” Bechtel said. “We’ve put in a lot of work so far this year and it’s nice to see where we’re at.”

Bechtel said she is hopeful for a repeat of last year’s successful season.

“We have a lot of work ahead of us but so far all signs say it will be successful season and I’m sure we’ll have a lot of fun along the way,” she said.

Senior Ethan Freet won two events at the meet. He won the 200 and 400-meter dashes in respective times of :22.67 and :49.71. Freet said he was pleased with where he and the team are in their training.

“We are well ahead of where we were at this point last year and this was a very positive start, we still have a lot of work to do, but this was a good meet to show that the time that we have put in thus far is paying off,” Freet said.

“As a team, we hope to win the All-Ohio championships as well as the conference title, and to ultimately qualify as many individuals as possible to the national championships as we can, I think this is the strongest team that I have been a part of and there is a lot of potential and we just have to stay focused and keep working hard to turn that potential into success.”

Sophomore Matt Hunter had a notable performance that included first place in the long jump with a leap of 21-7Πand third place in the 55-meter hurdles. Hunter said it felt great to start the season off with a win the long jump, his favorite event.

“I could not have been happier with my performance at the meet, I competed in four events and set four personal records,” Hunter said. “A lot of returning athletes had the best season opener of their career along with a strong showing from the freshmen class in their collegiate premier.”

The Bishops said they are hopeful for a successful season and Benzing said she thinks many of her teammates will make it to nationals this season.

“We’ve always been a good team, but I know we have what it takes to be national caliber,” Benzing said.

Hunter agreed with Benzing and said the team is most definitely in a position for an impressive post-season performance.

“We are exactly where we want to be right now to set ourselves up for this indoor season where we are looking to defend our All-Ohio Championship and reclaim the conference title,” Hunter said. “After those meets we also expect to have an increasing presence at the national championships.”

The Bishops first home meet will be on Jan. 18 when they host the OWU Triangular at the Gordon Field House.

Armistice Day recognizes unsung heroes

Jim Underwood, adjunct professor of Journalism, speaks in front of Beeghly Library on Armistice Day, Nov. 9, about his experiences as a United States Marine in Vietnam. Underwood recognizes his time in Vietnam as why he celebrates the sacrifices men and women have made in times of war.
By Noah Manskar
and Taylor Stout
Transcript Correspondent
and Reporter

While Armistice Day may be a single day of the year, the effects of war are felt daily. The goal of Armistice Day is not to glorify war or justify conflict, but it is about recognizing and appreciating the sacrifices made by those who have served and are still serving.

On Nov. 9, OWU students, faculty and staff recognized Armistice Day near the war memorial plaques outside Beeghly Library. The plaques list the names of OWU alumini who have died in war.

Speakers at the event were Shari Stone-Mediatore, professor of philosophy, Chaplain Jon Powers, junior Erika Nininger, Jim Underwood, adjunct professor of journalism and a Vietnam War veteran, and 2011 alumni Matthew Jordan.

Nininger planned the event as part of her independent study with Stone-Mediatore. Nininger said the event started as a way of acknowledging the plaques outside Beeghly Library.

Nininger said her goal for the event was “to spark, as well as contribute to, the discourse about war,” and “to get people thinking about the current war, which is hidden from us.”

She also said she wanted to remind the campus community of Armistice Day’s history.

“It’s good to critically think about what this holiday stands for, and understanding our history is very important because it can prevent us from automatically going with ideologies that are otherwise made attractive to us,” she said.

Armistice Day was originally a day to recognize the moment in 1918 when World War I was declared over. The end of the war was declared on the eleventh minute of the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. At this moment, millions of Americans held two minutes of silence as a recognition of the end of all wars.

“Armistice Day, which is still called Armistice Day in some countries, Remembrance Day in others, is now called Veteran’s Day here,” Nininger said. “We call it Veteran’s Day because a World War II veteran proposed to congress to change the name so that we are honoring all veterans rather than just those in World War I.”

In her opening statements, Stone-Mediatore spoke about the aim of the Armistice Day event as a way to reiterate the original spirit of the day dedicated to peace and ending military conflict.

“We find this message particularly important at this time because we are currently enduring the longest lasting war in U.S. history,” Stone-Mediatore said. “The war in Afghanistan, which began in October 2001, has now been going on for over 12 years. Together with the war in Iraq it has taken the lives of over 41,000 U.S. soldiers not to mention the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and Afghans who have died.”

In addition to remembering those who have died in war, Stone-Mediatore also stressed the importance of remembering the men and women who return from war physically and emotionally scarred.

“The [Veterans Administration] has reported over 100,000 soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and that number, 100,000 soldiers, has not even registered all of those soldiers with serious mental trauma because the military ethos pressures young men to ‘tough it out’ and not to admit that they are suffering from after-effects of the war,” Stone-Mediatore said.

“So many soldiers
have lied on their military questioners and have claimed that they don’t have any emotional stress or any problems that they’re suffering from their military duty.

An NPR investigation found 40 percent of soldiers returning to Fort Carson, Colo., had some kind of brain injury that was missed by military health screening.”

Nininger said she and Stone-Mediatore contacted a variety of possible speakers, including veterans and alumni who are working for peace.

“We foremost tried to find veterans so that there could be a first-hand story,” Nininger said.

Underwood spoke of his experiences as a member of the United States Marines during the Vietnam War.

“I know of the horror of war,” Underwood said.

“As a young Marine who served in the I-Corps region of South Vietnam in the late 1960s, my feet were barely on the tarmac of Danang Air Base when I saw the body bags waiting to be processed at the morgue located only yards away from where our plane landed.”

Underwood said to this day, the memory of stepping off the plane still resonates with him.

“Today that image of those body bags is seared in my mind, an indelible, almost iconic memory of why I will celebrate with you today the service and sacrifice of the young men and women who have risen up in defense of our nation, but I will not celebrate with you the love of war or the glorification of conflict,” Underwood said.

When Underwood returned home from Vietnam, he joined a group called Vietnam Veterans Against the War, a national veterans’ organization dedicated to the fight for peace and the rights for all veterans.

“While I am proud of my service as a U.S. Marine, I am also proud that I stood shoulder to shoulder with other veterans some years ago to turn our nation toward peace instead of war,” Underwood said.

Powers, who spoke at both Nininger’s event and the Kristallnacht commemoration, said their concurrence was moving and “profoundly significant.”

“Here we are, such a united yet eclectic campus community, celebrating two amazingly powerful moments in history at the same hour—both a compelling symbol of the need for peace and understanding,” he said.

“Both a cultural memorial to the destruction of humanity that occurs when we allow hate, ignorance and prejudice to prevail.”

Powers said Armistice Day gives him an opportunity to “celebrate annually both perspectives” on war.

“Personally, as an officially registered Christian Conscientious Objector (to war of any kind), whose father was a decorated WWII Navy torpedo instructor/combatant, and who had six brothers who served during the Vietnam War era, I am particularly sensitive to the profound tension we as Americans feel between our deep dedication to military service and our deep abhorrence for war itself,” he said.

“I have lived that tension in my bones (and in my family) most of my life, and I take it seriously.

“I hold a deep sense of honor and gratitude for every veteran and every member of the military, even as I hold a profound respect for every conscientious objector.”

Jordan also spoke about his efforts in working towards peace.

Jordan works at the Christ House in Washington, D.C., a medical facility for homeless men and women in the D.C. area.

“Something that occurs to me a lot, working in Washington, D.C., is that how, a lot of the time, the discourse of the national narrative is very much driven by force, and force is used as the only way to accomplish things,” Jordan said.

“What it really comes down to is a lack of imagination.

“When we’ve come to think of security only in terms of force we’ve truly lost sight of the core concept of securing the daily lives of Americans.

“When we’re unable to imagine the terribleness of war, to recognize history and to really bare witness to it, we can’t really see that there is an alternative to using force and I think this brings us to the question, what does it mean to work for peace?”

For Jordan, working for peace starts by working on a small scale.

He said it’s working to restore security in ones community by bettering education and early childhood development, by decreasing poverty and by helping to eliminate crime.

“We can’t achieve economic security or peace without first eradicating poverty, and I think that comes down to working to address poverty in our communities,” Jordan said.

Armistice Day is a day about recognizing those who fight for peace as well as honoring those who fight for freedom through serving the country, Jordan said.
Sophomore Jonathan King-Kaplan is a member of the Unites States Marine Corps and has served for the last four years.

“I don’t think it should be one day dedicated to supporting the troops,” King-Kaplan said.

“I think it should be a day of reflecting on the sacrifices made so that people can have the luxury of not having to worry about how they’re going to get food or where they’re going to get medicine.

“There are people that don’t realize the sacrifices that kids just like them have made.

“It’s people down the street from you that join the military and sacrifice their bodies so that the rest of America doesn’t have to,” he said.
Nininger said she hopes to plan a similar event next year.

“(I want to) to shed light on Veteran’s Day as a holiday with historical significance,” she said.

“(I want to) demonstrate against the current wars and raise awareness on a lot of pretty devastating facts that I think many students are not aware of.”