Love is a battlefield: Which side are you on?

By Evan Walsh and Sara Hollabaugh

By Evan Walsh, Chief Copy Editor

Boxes of chocolates, roses, dinners your college budget can’t afford—Valentine’s Day just came and went. I want to leave you bachelorettes and bachelors with some survival tips for Valentine’s Day 2018.

Now, while it may seem like everyone is making preparations for this holiday (is it actually that?), you shouldn’t get discouraged if you spent Tuesday alone.

Being single in college has its perks, so let’s look at the proverbial (wine) glass half-full.

For starters, you avoided having to prepare.

Making the perfect plans is stressful, and among couples there is an unwritten rule that each couple has to outdo the other couples they know. Valentine’s Day should not be about you winning and everyone else losing. But if that’s how you choose to celebrate, that is your decision.

Just remember, you’ll have to anticipate what that lucky lady or man in your life wants and then go way past their expectations. That, to me at least, sounds really hard.

In doing so, you run the risk of failure and the unfortunate feeling that you have failed your better half.

Valentine’s Day is not the only holiday to have this effect. New Year’s Eve often ends poorly when friends make plans so unrealistic that they might actually need a New Year’s Miracle.

Second, as a single man or woman, you can fly under the radar.

If you aren’t doing anything special in the first place, then you will never feel the need to let everyone know how awesome your evening was.

You have spared your friends and social network from having to endure hearing about it, and that deserves a big thanks.

Also, please do your best not to misconstrue what seems like cynicism for honest skepticism.

My parents have been married for 38 years and I’d be surprised if they even realized Valentine’s Day happened. Why do they, or any other couple, need a special day to validate their love for each other?

Last, when you’re single you can give yourself the gift of Valentine’s Day.

Maybe, instead of booking a trip to a bourgeois restaurant, you’ve freed some time to read that book you started, polish off a Netflix series, prepare for tests and papers, or get drunk and try your luck at Clancey’s. The choice is yours.

So that is what you, my failed fellow Casanovas and Casanovettes, are not missing. I hope all you single college students will consider this Hallmark advice.

By Sara Hollabaugh, Online Editor

Look, I’ll be the first one to say it’s stupid to celebrate your better half only one day out of the 365 days a year gives you.

I get it.

If you love someone, show them every day. But honestly, I do that with the guy in my life, as he does with me.

So let me play devil’s advocate to Evan’s well-intentioned “tips for Valentine’s Day success,” which in summary tells everyone to stop trying to validate their love.

I don’t get excited for Valentine’s Day because I need the attention or want everyone else to be miserable by sharing my excitement over plans, gifts and obligatory social media posts.

I just want people to know that genuine love is out there.

If I were to ignore Valentine’s Day and tell my significant other I wanted him to basically delete it from his calendar, he’d say no. He’d say no because he likes celebrating me. And you know what, I’d never even suggest it because I like celebrating him, too.

I found someone I like to go out to dinner with and spoil with my college budget on a thoughtful gift.

I know I can do this any other day, but I mean come on—Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Grandparents Day, birthdays and every other holiday exists.

Let one that applies to me at 22 years old, other than my day of birth, get celebrated. I’m not a mother or a father, and by cause and effect, I’m not a grandparent, either.

So I get this one day to be outwardly mushy with the one I love.

If you have a problem with that, I’m sorry. Like I said, I don’t do it for attention or to one-up my boyfriend. I do it, in part, because it’s America’s tradition that I’ve grown up loving.

I know many of you will find flaws in that sentence, but trust me, I have the best intentions when it comes to celebrating this Hallmark holiday.

So here’s my overarching tip: enjoy the day and don’t let those who want to bring you down feel insecure about celebrating love.

After all, it’s love we’re celebrating. Not hatred. And I think that’s the most important part of it all.

Ohio Wesleyan senior to create neurological supplement “Rise”

By Aleksei Pavloff, Sports Editor

An Ohio Wesleyan student is in the works of creating a supplement that could be more than just a replacement for your typical cup of coffee.

Senior Zack Katona’s supplement Rise aims to help college students and young professionals get a neurological jumpstart. The concept came up in a project in a business class that involved creating a product that would appeal to a mass consumer audience, he said.

His experience started when he became a representative for Campus Protein, a distributor for dietary supplements and workout at- tire. He has been with the company for a few years and is now a territory manager, which puts him in charge of 14 states. The company is based in New York City, where he interned this past summer.

“Anyone can take [Rise], it is meant to promote neurological health,” Katona said.

Before Katona initially thought of Rise, he said that getting up in the morning to work out was hard to do.

“I realized that what I was doing wasn’t really cost effective,” Katona said.

So far, the product is still in the works, but Katona said the ingredients for the supplement will come from natural ingredients.

“A lot of people are not familiar and do not understand the specific ingredients found in most supplements,” Katona said, adding that he is combining ingredients commonly found in foods people are familiar with.

Senior Josh Pyles said, “I always had a lot of respect for [Katona]. He would let me know what [supplements were] good and what [weren’t]. Usually when he shows something to me, I am going see results.”

Katona is studying business administration and sports management and is also a part of Sigma Phi Epsilon and a member of the President’s Club. Katona also previously played football at OWU.

Third OWU SLUplex construction underway

By Gopika Nair, Editor-in-Chief

Come fall semester, a new Small Living Unit (SLU) will emerge on the block.

The third SLUplex is going to be located at 110 Rowland Ave. between 94 and 118 Rowland, according to an email from Wendy Piper, assistant dean of student af- fairs and director of residential life at Ohio Wesleyan University.

Members of House of Spiritual Athletes and Tree House will reside in the new SLU-plex when it opens in fall 2017, said Dwayne Todd, vice president for student engagement and success.

“The SLUs are an important part of our campus, and with the continued decline of the condition of many previous SLU homes, it was time to relocate them to new facilities,” Todd said. “We plan to build four SLU buildings, each one housing two SLU communities, and are constructing them as funding becomes available.”

Todd said the funding for the third SLU-plex came from “a generous donor who will be named publicly soon.”

In Piper’s email to members residing in Inter-Faith House, Sexuality and Gender Equality House, Peace and Justice House and House of Linguistic Diversity, she said the new SLUplex will be similar in size and features to the current SLUplexes, but will have a slightly modified designed and a different color palette.

All the SLUs share similar features and will house 12 students, but each will have design aspects that are distinctive from the other SLUs, Todd said.

“Just as our SLU communities are all unique, we wanted to be sure to preserve some unique features to each SLU building that houses them,” he said.

The timing of the fourth SLU’s construction is yet to be determined.

Students compete in national Moot Court tournament

By Sara Hollabaugh, Online Editor

Senior Caroline Hamilton and junior Madeleine Juszynski participated in the American Collegiate Moot Court Association’s 2016-17 national tournament, held in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Hamilton described Moot Court as a Supreme Court simulation.

“Every year, the Moot Court Association writes a new case to be argued in front of a panel of judges, usually local attorneys,” Hamilton said. “This activity is closed, which means we can only use the cases re- leased or referenced in the case we are to argue.”

Hamilton said they spent the semester using cases they were provided with to make their arguments.

“Because we argue both sides, we have to be ready for both sides,” Hamilton said. “Usually, oral arguments last

around 10 minutes [with 20 per team] and the judges are allowed to interject and ask us questions at any time.”

Hamilton added that each team participates in a regional tournament to try and qualify for nationals.

“Essentially you only have one chance to get to nationals,” Hamilton said.

Partners since fall 2016, Hamilton and Juszynski’s topic at the national tournament was voter fraud.

Juszynski said she argued the 14th Amendment and Hamilton argued the standing and First Amendment issues 

They both argued for the government and the federal appeals court, which is required of Moot Court participants, Juszynski added.

Juszynski said the tournament in Florida was rewarding and Hamilton said they spent 12 hours competing at Stetson Law School.

“It was a great opportunity to meet students doing Moot Court from all over the country and argue against the best [in] the country,” Juszynski said.

Though the duo did not advance to the second day, Juszynski attributed the loss to the strength of the competition.

Hamilton added that her partner- ship with Juszynski made her experience in Florida wonderful.

“She is so incredibly smart, hard- working, and dedicated to Moot Court,” Hamilton said. “I think we worked well as partners, as we have similar argumentation styles. I consider her a close friend, so it was fun to be able to travel to Florida and experience nationals together.”

Since Hamilton is set to graduate in May, her time with Moot Court has ended, but Juszynski plans on continuing next year as a senior.

Olivina Taproom opens on Sandusky Street

By Sara Hollabaugh, Online Editor

Olivina Taproom, located at 44 S. Sandusky St., next to Clancey’s Pub, opened December  2016.

Owned by Chris Schobert, the downtown Delaware location is the first for Olivina Taproom.

Offering olive oils, vinegar, pasta and other cooking additives, Olivina Taproom gets its products from all over the world.

“[The olive oils come from] Spain, Chile, Italy and our balsamic vinegars are from Modena, Italy. Our pastas come to us directly from Italy as well,” Schobert said.

According to Schobert, Olivina Taproom’s most popular product is the Tuscan Herb Extra Virgin Infused Olive Oil and the Dark Balsamic favorite is Italian Fig.

Having opened recently, Schobert said he uses both paid and earned media to spread the word about the store.

“[We use] Facebook targeted advertising and boosts to Instagram promotions to print,” Schobert said. “We also use some print ads in local directories and newspapers, and unpaid and earned channels by way of local community and chamber involvement, public relations events and news coverage.”

Sophomore Mackenzie Colgan has not been to Olivina Taproom yet, but said her parents went when they came to visit her.

“They went to try it out and said it was really cute inside and everyone was really nice,” Colgan said. “My parents got a bottle of olive oil and it was amazing.”

Colgan said she wants to go and will probably buy more of the olive oil.

Schobert said Olivina Taproom is a premier provider of super premium olive oils and vinegars.

“We endorse a rich-food culture driven by promoting healthy eating, in-store education and community involvement….and 15% off all purchases with a student ID,” Schobert added.

 

First OWU sub-community house introduced on campus

By Liz Hardaway, Arts & Entertainment Editor

Residential Life offers alternatives for groups of  students who share similar interests and want to live together. There are theme houses, SLUs, fraternities and now, introducing, a sub-community.

The first of its kind, the proposed Mental Health Small Living Unit (SLU) seeks to provide students with a comfortable space to discuss mental health related topics.

“In college, there’s your three healths …physical health, spiritual health [and] mental health, [which] was the one area where something could be improved,” said freshman Dylan Hays. “Our retention rate was not good, and I think this is a reflection of that. So why not do something to try to improve that?”

Since all the current SLU houses are occupied, the Mental Health SLU was not approved to move into a house, said Wendy Piper, the assistant dean of student affairs and director of residential life.

Although there are counseling services for students to visit if they are having concerns about their mental health, the sub-community is striving to create a more accepting environment to have these conversations.

“We wanted to be a more casual way to discuss mental health,” said freshman Katy Tuggle, president of Active Minds and one of the creators of the sub-community. “For a lot of people, there’s a stigma for going to counseling services. You have to have a really, full, legitimate problem, so this is the middle ground between it.”

Unlike legitimate SLUs, the sub-community will not have a moderator nor a dedicated budget for planning activities, said Piper.

The sub-community plans to re-apply again next year to get into a house.

In the meantime, some members might be living near each other in the same residence hall. They also have the option to apply for funding through the Wesleyan Student Council on Affairs (WCSA) to plan future events.

“Instead of everything being theoretical, we will have actual experience to back [our plans] up,” said Tuggle.

New living opportunity presented for Ohio Wesleyan sorority women

By Sara Hollabaugh, Online Editor

The Panhellenic House, a new themed house for Panhellenic women has been approved and will be located in the old Sigma Chi house at 30 Williams Drive.

Available only to sorority women, the house will be listed on the 2017-2018 housing application, according to Dana Behum, assistant director of student involvement for fraternity and sorority life.

“Each chapter will have four members living in the space,” Behum said. “Additionally, the house will be staffed by an RA, who would preferably be a Panhellenic woman, and one additional spot will be available to a member of the Panhellenic Council.”

Behum added that as a theme house, the Panhellenic House will be an option based on what’s best for the campus.

“It can change from year to year based on the needs of the campus,” Behum said. “We hope that members of the Panhellenic community find this option to be attractive and support filling the space for years to come.”

Behum said she had the idea for the house years ago but did not outwardly move forward with it until last spring.

“When two facilities on Williams Drive became available, I knew it was the right time to start discussing the option of expanding the community members on the Hill with our Greek members,” Behum said.

Behum said the Panhellenic Council started discussing the opportunity in August 2016.

“They, with the support of the collegiate affiliated women, and the national offices of their organizations, submitted an application to residential life in October of 2016,” Behum said.

Senior Lydia Hall, former vice president of the OWU Panhellenic Council, officially submitted the application on behalf of the council members.

“There was a narrative in the application [to get the house approved] that asked questions about how the house would be beneficial to the entire OWU community,” Hall said.

Hall said there was a financial section and letters of support section as well.

“We had to have letters of support which five members, one from each chapter, had to write about how the house would benefit them personally and how it would benefit their chapter,” Hall said.

“I worked closely with Dana and the rest of the council and they gave me their input,” Hall said. “It took a lot of emails and a lot of support.”

Behum added that they faced some challenges during the process of gaining approval.

“[The challenges] were related to concerns with risk and liability and responsibility for the physical facility,” Behum said. “The national organizations of each of our chapters needed confirmation that this house was not the responsibility of any one specific chapter.”

“Once each organization received information explaining that the facility was property of OWU and responsible facility the process was fully supported,” Behum said.

Behum said the house was officially approved in January 2017.

At this point in the process of establishing the house, Behum said the Panhellenic community has been discussing what members will live in the house, such as only seniors, officers or new members.

As of now, the community has chosen to give first preference to officers as they begin to submit their housing applications, Hall added.

Enrollment update: OWU gets closer to achieving 2,020 by 2020

By Sara Hollabaugh, Online Editor

Members of the administration are enjoying considerable progress related to the 2,020 by 2020 enrollment plan.

President Rock Jones said there have been eight new majors added since the plan was initiated. One of the new majors, business administration, has drawn attention to Ohio Wesleyan.

“Nearly 10 percent of the students who have applied for admission list business administration as their top interest,” Jones said.

Jones added that business administration, social justice, computer science and communications have been popular additions to the OWU website and course catalogue.

“[The new majors] were the four most frequently visited majors in our website in the months of October, November and December,” Jones said.

In addition to the new majors, Jones said OWU is adding two new varsity sports in 2018: women’s crew and men’s wrestling.

Jones added that major changes are being made to the programs that are part of the first year experience.

“A new orientation program and a new first-year residential program … are underway to impact student success and retention,” Jones said.

The addition of a Chicago regional recruiter has already had positive results. Jones said that applications to OWU from students living in that area have doubled within the past year.

“Completed applications from international students have doubled over last year,” Jones said. “[And] we enrolled a total of 33 transfer students in fall and spring, compared to 31 the previous year and 26 two years ago.”

Jones said a third SLUplex and a new Honors House are also in the works, as well as an endowment by the Board of Trustees supporting the 2,020 by 2020 efforts.

Susan Dileno, vice president for enrollment, said her department has been hard at work.

“We have been doing quite a bit to increase our domestic student applications,” Dileno said. “Some of which include admitted student receptions, faculty calling, student over nights and programs, alumni contacting students on the OWU Facebook site, alumni and parent letters and [creating an] admitted student microsite.”

In an administrative report sent to faculty in January, Dileno provided an update on OWU’s fall 2017 applications.

Dileno said Ohio’s application numbers have increased by six percent, and reiterated Jones’ statement regarding Chicago with Illinois’ numbers being up by 26 percent.

Dileno said OWU’s target markets, Columbus and Cleveland, have changed as well with Columbus’ applications being up by 29 percent and Cleveland down by 7 percent.

Dileno also said the number of international applicants has increased, with applications submitted by prospective Pakistani students up by 78 percent.

Dileno also touched on the average ACT score remaining at 26, the average GPA declining to 3.5 from last year’s 3.6 average and SAT changes.

According to Dileno, there have been 274 applicants for the new business administration major, 26 for communications and 13 for data analytics, with one Middle East studies, three neuroscience, 10 nutrition and eight social justice.

Dileno ended her update with what the low numbers for some of the new departments mean and what steps are next.

“It may take a little more time for our new majors to gain awareness,” Dileno said. “We are doing all we can now to promote them on our website and to prospective students via email and postcards, and by pursuing names of students interested in these programs.”

NASTY Women’s club proposed after President Trump’s remarks

By Alanna Henderson, Managing Editor

Late night thoughts can often lead to change and positive impacts.

Ohio Wesleyan senior Kayla Eggleston is the founder of Never Allow Shaming Toward Young (NASTY) Women’s Club.  The idea for the club came to her after President Donald Trump called Hillary Clinton a ‘nasty woman’ during the campaign season.  

Clinton’s advocates showed their support for her at the Women’s March on Washington, sporting pink hats and pink shirts with the words “nasty woman” on it.

NASTY currently comprises 13 members and aims to support equality of all and end shaming.

“I think it’s really important to take something that is negative and turn it into something positive,” Eggleston said about Trump’s remarks.

NASTY’s purpose is to stop shaming toward young women of all color, race, ethnicity, origin and sexual orientation. The club stands to support women’s equality in all aspects of life.

But NASTY isn’t just supportive of women’s equality, but all walks of life and if approved as a club, plan to raise awareness for other issues, as well. The members of NASTY hope to raise awareness on President Trump’s immigration ban and how this ban is affecting women and children.

“Everything we do will be done peacefully and support all equality,” Eggleston said. “I hope that whatever we do we can make an impact, because at least we are making good a positive effect.”

Other current officers of NASTY include secretary Mahnoor Ansari and treasurer Zhen Holmes. Eggleston said she plans to have more OWU Daily advertisements for how to become a member once the club is fully approved.

“I hope the club evolves to become a place where everyone feel safe. A place to talk have questions answered, gain a sense of inclusion and companionship. I wanted to join because recent turmoil has people thinking with anger and fear, when what we need most is kindness and understanding,” Zhen Holmes.

Two students create their own OWUber service for weekends

By Alanna Henderson, Managing Editor

Uber is in Columbus and 524 other cities worldwide, but Delaware, Ohio is not on the list.

Ohio Wesleyan juniors Conner Brown and Scott Harmanis have begun offering rides to OWU students via OWUber for 3 dollars per person, which can be paid via cash or the app Venmo.

Brown and Harmanis came up with the idea of OWUber not just to make money, but also out of concern for the safety and overall good of fellow classmates walking back and forth from the bars.

Brown said he has given just as many or even more free rides than he has for money simply because he wants to.

OWUber eventually wants to donate the money earned from rides to a charity in the Delaware area or organizations such as Young Life.

Brown and Harmanis are offering rides on Fridays and Saturdays from 11:30 p.m. until 2:30 a.m. They each drive their individual cars that offer four or five seats per car.

“We prefer to stick with just OWU students so we know who we are putting in the car and there’s less liability that way,” Brown said.

OWUber had its opening weekend the first weekend of February. Brown and Harmanis said it was successful for their first time being out on the town and gave rides to at least two to three people per ride.

The availability of rides will be weather dependent – on cold, winter nights, it’s more likely rides will be offered versus warm, spring nights.

Follow OWUber on Instagram or on Snapchat at OWUber for the latest updates on when rides are available.