A spooktacular weekend event

By Shamayeta Rahman, Transcript Reporter

The prospect of Halloween on a Monday did not discourage Halloween festivities at Ohio Wesleyan University; instead, they simply took on a head start on Friday, Oct. 28.

Leaflets and Facebook shares for the events led them to skyrocket and words like “Zombie Bash” and “Ghoulish Gala” spread.

Zombie Bash was held in the Schimmel-Conrades Science Center Atrium from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. It was organized by the student board of the botany-microbiology (BOMI) and zoology department.

“Most other departments have picnics and receptions; we decided to change things up,” said senior Jemil Seid, a member of the BOMI student board.

Seid said he did not expect it to garner this much attention, but was pleased that he had done his job well.

“It was a unique event that really captured the essence of the departments, and Halloween is always fun,” said senior Connor Payne, a microbiology major.

Stations and props lined the atrium. The fan favorites were the carnivorous plants and the crawling critters. They had also set up a showing of “Hocus Pocus” and Halloween-themed snacks were also in place.

Later that night, at 7 p.m., the atrium was redecorated, this time for the Ghoulish Gala.

The event lasted three hours and included Halloween-themed cupcakes and drinks. The organizers also arranged costume contests and both students and faculty alike took home the coveted ‘golden skeleton’ trophies.

“It was really fun, but I wish that it didn’t look so empty for the first hour or so,” said senior Urvija Rishi, a student who attended the gala.

Annual Fall Festival celebrated

By Evan Walsh, Transcript Reporter

Ohio Wesleyan added a new chapter to its haunted history by hosting the second annual Fall Festival on Fraternity Hill.

Nearly 200 members of the OWU and Delaware communities were present Oct. 28, building on the success of last year’s Fall Festival.

Most families came dressed for the occasion even though it wasn’t held on Halloween night. Children were encouraged to go to the fraternities, where affiliated men handed out candy.

Other Halloween related activities were of- fered, including pumpkin carving, themed face paint, cornhole and a bouncy house.

Organized by OWU’s Faith and Justice Club, planning began earlier this semester and funding was approved by the Wesleyan Council on Student Affairs shortly after.

Lisa Ho, assistant chaplain and faculty supervisor of Faith and Justice, thanked Luke Waters’16 for coming up with the idea last year.

Ho recognized the importance of the event as a way to continue to develop the relationship between OWU and the Delaware community. She applauded the efforts of members of Faith and Justice as well as OWU’s Greek life.

“[Fall Festival] has done a good job building a bridge between the Delaware community and our school and its students,” Ho said.

Several OWU faculty members and their families showed up. Dana Behum, assistant director of student involvement for fraternity and sorority life, brought her children.

Behum said she was impressed with the level of engagement the students passing out candy showed.

“Everyone was super respectful and I really enjoyed seeing my children interact with the [affiliated men],” Behum said.

The students who participated shared a similar sentiment.

Sufi musician shares his talent

 By Reilly Wright, Transcript Correspondent

The Benes Rooms celebrated Islamic culture as Ohio Wesleyan students sang and read poetry with a guest Sufi musician Oct. 25.

Sufism is a mystic Islamic belief where followers aim being one with God and following the Sufi path. Sufis focus on philosophy, poetry, music and dance to feel ecstasy and unify with God.

Latif Bolat presented to an audience of 70 people. He played the baglama, a long-necked lute, and sang as the audience recited Sufi poetry and joined in his chorus.

Bolat began his presentation of “The Mirror of the Unseen: Sufi” by discussing the Middle East’s territory and the history of Sufism. From one of the first Sufis, a woman named Rabi’a, to Sufism’s intent on being one with God through music and poetry.

“It took me a long time to gather this knowledge, so I want it out,” Bolat said.

Bolat visited OWU classes during his visit, including Susan Gunasti’s, associate professor of religion, Introduction to Islam, to discuss Sufism and Islam with students.

“It’s one thing to read a primary source … it’s another thing to see an example of what your teacher’s talking about and to experience that,” Gunasti, said.

“That is a different type of learning, so any opportunity I have to expose my students to those interactions, learning opportunities, I mean, that’s just golden.”

Freshman Lauren Mangold, a student in Gunasti’s Islam course, also attended the event hosted by OWU’s comparative literature and religion departments.

“I’m a very visual and also applicational learner, so to be able to learn about [Sufism] in my Islam class and then see a presentation of what I am learning about, it just reinforces my understanding of the subject,” Mangold said.

Bolat, a Turkish native, studied classical opera in college before working in computer coding in California.

Bolat realized his passion for Turkish music presents the 28 years ago and began a career in performing and lecturing Sufism across the globe.

“In Turkey, I cannot do any of this because that is a place that everybody thinks that they know everything,” Bolat said. “But here, there is that openness, the questioning, things like that. There are curious minds.”

“It was such a unique opportunity to have a Sufi musician come,” Gunasti said. “It’s so wonderful to find this way for my students to have this real au- thentic cultural experience. The caliber of the music for the students to experience, it was all top-notch.”

Bolat holds accomplishments such as performing music for the soundtrack of George Lucas Studios’ “Young Indiana Jones” and writing the book “Quarrelling with God: Mystic Rebel Sufi Poems of the Dervishes of Turkey.”

Beeghly Library celebrates 50 years

By Matt Maier, Transcript Reporter

The Ohio Wesleyan campus celebrated a monumental birthday Oct. 21.

OWU’s Beeghly Library turned 50 years old. The celebration included cupcakes, alumni, a chance to win an Amazon Fire and pictures which showed changes the li- brary has undergone over the years.

L.A. Beeghly donated the library 50 years ago in recognition of his children and grandchildren who had attended OWU. One of his great-grandchildren is currently an OWU student.

“Celebrating 50 years is definitely an amazing accomplishment for OWU,” said junior Jeb Beeghly. “It’s humbling to know my family had something to do with this milestone.”

Current students who work in the library said they can feel its history every day.

“Although I’ve only worked in the library for a short time, I feel as though I learn something new about it each day,” said senior Clara Ellis. “The history is rich and I always am finding out new things.”

This birthday both marks an accomplishment for the univer- sity, but it also serves as reminder that the library needs to strive for greatness, said Dee Peterson, in- terim director of libraries and coordinator of user services.

“Physically, we have returned to a more open floor plan simi- lar to when the building first opened,” Peterson said. “We now have more tables and areas for group study and collaboration, especially on the first floor with the creation of the ICEcube. We have worked to accommodate different studying styles and user needs with our spaces.”

Beeghly Library is home to one of the country’s oldest government document depositories, as well as rare books, manuscripts and artifacts collection.

New Honors House plans in place

By Leah Miza, Photo Editor

A new Honors House is being funded by anonymous donors and will be built where the former Inter-Faith House stands.

Twenty-seven students will be able to move into the new house by fall 2017.

Amanda Barry, student honors program coordinator, said the honors program has been seeking to create a larger sense of community for the past several years.

“It was expressed that having a larger house where more students—30, give or take—could live and interact together would help to achieve this goal,” she said.

Amy McClure, co-director of the honors program, said the new structure will possibly host seminars, classes and study rooms.

“We have an office and study area but we can’t get in it,” she said. “It’s locked all the time. So, we don’t really have a space that’s viable.”

McClure discussed another idea that was tossed around. “For the upstairs, we’re looking at different configurations of rooms. One of the things that they have suggested are special singles that are very small. That encourages people to mingle in the common area.”

Amy Downing, co-director of the program, said, “The house will have more common spaces and some teaching spaces in the form of small seminar rooms. The Honors Board will be working closely with students to determine how to best utilize these new resources in the context of the broader Honors Program at OWU.”

Although not much can be said on the donors, McClure said, “They’re very interested in the honors program, so it just became a natural fit.”

The current Honors House will be passed on to a current Small Living Unit, said Colleen Garland, director of development.

Bashford renovation put on indefinite hold

 By John Bonus, Transcript Reporter

Ohio Wesleyan’s plans to renovate Bashford Hall this year have been canceled, despite students not mov- ing into the facility this semester.

Bashford was previously scheduled to be demolished this year and replaced with a new residence facility mainly for first-year students, which is why the hall is empty.

The project is not happening this year because the school doesn’t currently possess the funds for renova- tion of residence halls, said President Rock Jones.

Decisions have not been made in regard to students moving into the hall in the near future and this will likely be the case until administration knows exactly how many students will be coming to campus next year.

Jones said one possible scenario in the long-term future would be to replace both Bashford and Thomson with complex housing for all first-year students. However, no source of funds have been identified for this kind of project.

While the project for Bashford may be dead, Jones said, there are still plans to improve student living situations.

“We will be making small improvements that I am confident students will appreciate as we seek to in- crease the quality of life in our residence halls,” Jones said.

One of these improvements will be the installation of new lounge furniture in some of the residence halls by the spring semester. The furniture will be placed in Smith and Welch.

The addition of new furniture was recently approved by the Wesleyan Council on Student Affairs (WCSA).

Nick Melvin, a class of 2019 representative for WCSA, said the council decided the new furniture was a good use of its resources for improving residential life.

“WCSA passed the bill for new furniture to make more comfortable living situations for students that will hopefully contribute to a better community overall,” Melvin said.

Repairs and renovations around campus

By Sara Hollabaugh, Online Editor
Recently renovated and constructed buildings on campus have already received repairs this semester.

Before the repairs, steps outside of Merrick Hall were cracked and part of the Sexuality and Gender Equality (SAGE) house had a water leak in the ceiling of the newly constructed Dittrick House.

According to Thomas Wolber, associate professor of modern foreign lan- guages, it was announced in the faculty meeting on Oct. 21 that the university needs $15 million worth of repairs made to the campus.

Wolber said Ohio Wesleyan currently has $300,000 allocated for repairs to be made this year.

Merrick Hall’s renovations were nearly finished before the graduation ceremony in 2015, but was officially rededicated and opened Aug. 20, 2015.

A little over a year after the rededication, the steps cracked.

According to Peter Schantz, director of physical plant planning and operations, the contractor used a non-water-proof sealant during the construction of the stairs.

“Around the handrail posts where the posts are cored into the concrete … the sealant took on water and froze over the last winter, cracking the corners of the steps,” Schantz said.

Schantz said the contractor made the necessary repairs under warranty.

SAGE was completed before students moved back to school in August, and was dedicated Oct. 6.

Since students have lived in SAGE this semester, a shower drain leaked on the upper level, resulting in a ceiling stain.

Schantz said the contractor repaired the leak under warranty, but the ceiling stain has not been repaired.

Senior Natalie French, SAGE resident, said Buildings and Grounds told SAGE they would paint the ceiling when they were positive the leak was fixed.

Schantz said the leak was fixed over two months ago.

“We haven’t heard anything since then,” French said.

Schantz said, “We plan to repaint the kitchen ceiling over Thanksgiving break when it’s more convenient for students.”

In addition to the leak in SAGE, Inter- Faith House’s (IF) residents said outlets were not working in their part of the Dittrick House when they first moved in.

Schantz said they’ve received three work orders since students moved into the house in August and believes each issue was taken care of.

“Two of the work orders were for outlets in the upstairs bathroom, where the ground fault circuit interrupter breaker tripped,” Schantz said. “This is not uncommon in damp environments. The contractor showed a resident how to reset this breaker at the outlet when it tripped.”

Schantz said the breaker is likely to trip again, but the outlets themselves do not have any issues.

Aside from new construction repairs, there was a steam leak on the academic side of campus that affected Sturges Hall, Elliott Hall, Slocum Hall and University Hall.

On Oct. 24, Cole Hatcher, director of media and community relations, sent out a school-wide email about the issue.

The next day, Oct. 25, Hatcher, on behalf of Schantz, followed up with the campus community.

“While working to fix the steam line issue affecting Sturges Hall, we discov- ered a condensate leak involving the main line as well,” Schantz said in the email. “To enable us to make repairs, we will not be able to heat these build- ings overnight: Beeghly, Corns, Elliott, Slocum, Sturges and University.”

Schantz continued to send out updates and assured the OWU community that repairs were being made overnight.

By Oct. 28, Schantz said the repairs were complete and warned the commu- nity about potential temperature fluctua- tions in buildings surrounding the former leak.

“We know it is older and could de- velop issues again,” Schantz said. “We are reviewing options for replacing the line or installing stand-alone boilers in each of these buildings.”

“We are gathering invoices from the repair crews that worked on the steam line,” Schantz said. “The university is reviewing options for funding steam line replacement or boiler installations.”

As of now, Schantz said warranty is covering the repairs.

WCSA Today: Senate passes amendment to close meetings

By Gopika Nair, Copy Editor
Election season is forthcoming both in the U.S. and Ohio Wesleyan’s student government.
The Wesleyan Council on Student Affairs (WCSA) is currently accepting applications for executive positions, including president, vice president and secretary, for the 2017 calendar year.
Senior Caroline Anderson, secretary, said WCSA hadn’t received many applications for the positions thus far and urged current members to spread the word about available positions at the Oct. 31 meeting.
Election for executive and senator positions will be held Nov. 11 and 18 respectively.
WCSA also recently passed an amendment to its constitution to allow closed meetings. For the first time at its Oct. 31 meeting, WCSA advisers, those unaffiliated with WCSA and The Transcript were asked to leave while the student government discussed a budget.
Following the closed session, junior Ryan Bishop of the Public Relations Committee, proposed including members from Student Inclusion Advocacy Committee (SIAC) to OWU’s Search Committee.
Two members from SIAC should be included in the search for high-ranking positions such as vice president, dean and director of administrative division, while one member should be included in the search for at least two faculty searches per year, Bishop said.
Bishop’s proposal passed.
At WCSA’s Oct. 24 meeting, senior Diana Muzina of the Student Life Committee said the committee had arranged to meet with Chartwells and OWU’s vegetarian club to discuss including more vegetarian options for students.
Muzina also said the green containers in Hamilton-Williams Campus Center are only getting a 3 percent usage and encouraged other members to spread the word about using it more.
Toward the end of the meeting, Dwayne Todd, vice president for student engagement and success and one of the WCSA advisers, said the administration has been discussing residential fees for students who stay over breaks, but nothing has been finalized yet.

OWU professor of 28 years passes away

By The Transcript Staff

Ohio Wesleyan professor of 28 years, Kim Lance passed away the evening of Nov. 3. 

Lance “became ill as he was leaving campus and passed away at Grady Hospital shortly afterwards,” said an email from President Rock Jones Nov. 4.

President Rock Jones sent a campus-wide email on Nov. 8 telling students of Dr. Kim Allen Lance’s memorial service.

He said the service will be held on Friday, Nov. 11 at 4 p.m. at the Delaware Asbury United Methodist Church located at 55 W. Lincoln Avenue.

The Delaware Police Department was contacted via 911 at 6:18 p.m. on Nov. 3 and an ambulance arrived at the Schimmel-Conrades Science Center at 6:24 p.m, according to the Delaware City Police incident run sheet.

Lance is survived by his wife Judy and three children, James, Marie and Paul, according to his faculty bio on the OWU website. He was 56 years old.

Kim A. Lance. Photo via Facebook
Professor Kim A. Lance. Photo via Facebook

In a Facebook post shared by his wife Judy Maxwell, the family has asked not to be contacted at this time as they plan to post information about memorial services when plans are made.

A professor of chemistry, Lance was teaching two sessions of CHEM 110 (General Chemistry I) courses along with a lab this semester with a combined enrollment of 58 students. He was also teaching an Independent Studies course.

Chaplains and counselors will be available, Jones said in his email.

Jones said, “I am especially mindful of those of you who were students of Dr. Lance. Provost Stinemetz and the faculty in the chemistry department will work together to support you as you complete the semester.”

Counseling Services is open for walk-in appointments at 11 a.m. on Monday and Tuesday and 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. They are open from 8 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. everyday and can be reached at 740-368-3145.

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.

*last updated Nov. 8 at 6:27 a.m.

The BEAT: Zeds Dead visits Newport Music Hall

By John Bonus, Transcript Reporter

Electronic music fans gathered at the Newport Music Hall for a sold-out show put on by artist Zeds Dead.

Newport, located right next to the Ohio State campus, welcomed concertgoers Oct. 6 for a night of loud music and intricate light shows.

Zeds Dead is an electronic music duo comprising Dylan Mamid and Zachary Rapp-Rovan, both from Toronto, Canada.

The two producers make music ranging from house to dubstep, with some hip hop as well. They came to Columbus as part of their nationwide “Northern Lights” tour, named after their album that was released on Oct. 14.

Electronic artists Unlike Pluto and Ghastly opened for Zeds Dead. The two acts got the crowd moving, but the party really started when Zeds Dead hit the stage.

Zeds Dead brought its own light system that added elaborate visuals to the entire show. The venue was packed all the way to the wall in the back, but that did not stop anyone from dancing and getting into the music.

A handful of students from Ohio Wesleyan attended the event, one of whom was Caroline Hamlin. She said she went with a group of OWU students and had a memorable night.

“Seeing Zeds Dead was an unforgettable experience,” Hamlin said. “I danced all night with my friends and it was really a bonding experience for all of us.”