Comparative literature launches new era of technology

Meg Edwards

Transcript Correspondent

mmedward@owu.edu

Balloons, glow bracelets and colorful flashing rings last night brightened Sturges Hall to celebrate the conversion of a former janitors closet into a digital work space for comparative literature students.

About thirty students, faculty and members of the Ohio Wesleyan community came to celebrate the launch of Lit Hatch, a new collaborative space where students can work on digital humanities projects, which the comparative literature department has increasingly been incorporating into its curriculum.

Lit Hatch is furnished with a large computer monitor, two chairs, a small bookshelf and a wall to be used for green screen filming in the small but organized space to the left of the building’s entrance.

“It used to be a janitor’s closet,” said Stephanie Merkel, a comparative literature associate professor who led the effort to create Lit Hatch. “We wanted to dedicate a space in Sturges Hall where our students would feel like it was their space.”

OWU junior Humza Nasir, a comparative literature student board member, said he was glad the department is incorporating more technology into its projects.

“Learning how to use this tech does open a lot of doors,” he said.

Knowing how to use specific technologies, such as the online publishing tool Scalar, “gives me an edge” when applying to graduate schools, Nasir said.

Although Lit Hatch accommodates only a few people at a time, the celebration took place in several rooms on the first floor, with each room exhibiting a different student project. A screening of the 1929 silent film “Woman in the Moon” ran in the snack room.

One project from the English department, a website created by Nancy Comorau, an associate English professor and other students, explored queer literature.

In another room, students could explore the blog created by students in Michal Raizen’s course Graphic and Experimental Novels of the Middle East. Raizen, an assistant professor of comparative literature, said each year her class learned to navigate the platform WordPress more quickly, and that the blog was becoming a large part of her curriculum.

“More than anything we use it collectively,” she said.

Some former students have continued to post and comment on the sites, giving current students a prior body of work to build upon.

Several students congregated in another room to play interactive fiction games designed by students in the CMLT 110 class, Myth, Legend, and Folklore. Designed like an online choose-your-own-adventure using a software called Twine, the games were inspired by common themes in folklore, which were then subverted to create a series of surprising twists for players.

Merkel said that incorporating tools such as Twine and Scalar help comparative literature majors apply their learning to relevant work. Some developers pay experts to evaluate game narratives, she said.

“Frankly, there are cool jobs for comp lit majors in game development,” she said. “You can be a ‘Happiness Engineer.’”

OWU sophomore Sarah Jonassen, an English and psychology major who attended the event, seemed to agree, and cited the folklore game as her favorite part of the event.

“I really like books,” she said. “But I think sometimes the perception of English is that it’s dusty old books 
 it’s important to cater to different interests, especially since video games are so popular.”

Bishops’ late comeback falls short

By Peter Lujan

Transcript Correspondent

pllujan@owu.edu

The game appeared to be spiraling out of control halfway through the first half for Ohio Wesleyan’s men in their basketball matchup against Wabash College Wednesday night.

The Bishops’ trailed the Little Giants of Wabash 24-7, but they stepped up the pace before the half ended and also in the second half. Although it was close at the end, it still wasn’t enough and OWU lost in Branch Rickey Arena with a final score of 80-77.

Senior guard Jaret Gerber led the way for the Bishops, scoring 17 points on the strength of five three-pointers.

The poor start was partially due to the Bishops’ shooting 5 of 22 from the 3-point range in the first half. That shot eluded the Bishops as they finished the game shooting 11 of 44 from 3-point range.

“Our offense is very high volume, we take a lot of shots, we shoot a lot of threes.  Some nights, it’s just not going in,” said freshman guard Jack Clement.

During the second half, Gerber and Clement created momentum after trailing at the half, 37-31. A layup by Clement tied the game at 39 after a quick 8-2 run to start the second half.

“When we’re out there running, when we’re getting up and down, that’s when we’re at our best,” Clement said.

The Bishops’ and Little Giants’ battled for the rest of the game, but Wabash was able to maintain a double-digit lead for the most part. Freshman point guard Bryson Lane hit some very important shots down the stretch, scoring 11 points in the second half.

The Bishops relied on the strength of their defense and the hot hand of Gerber down the stretch.

“When Gerb gets hot, he gets hot,” Clement said.

Gerber knocked down three triples. The Bishops’ aggressive play brought the team within one point with 14 seconds left, forcing them to foul Tyler Watson of Wabash. Watson nailed both free throws to give the Little Giants’ a 3-point lead with 11 seconds left.

The Bishops’ had one last chance to tie the game and send it to overtime, but a heavily guarded corner three from Lane was no good. Time expired and the Bishops’ had come up just short.

“We drew up a really good play, we just didn’t get open,” Clement said.

The Bishops’ next game is at 3 p.m. Saturday against Hiram College in Hiram, Ohio.

From politics to leisure, OWU clubs cover many bases

Alex Emerson

Transcript Correspondent

aaemerso@owu.edu

For whatever interest an Ohio Wesleyan student might have, it’s likely they can find a club on campus to help them pursue that passion.

Club recruitment was in full swing yesterday at the Hamilton Williams Campus Center at the Student Involvement Fair. A wide variety of clubs and their members were on hand, pitching their organizations and trying to enlist new members.

The 16 clubs represented ranged from academia to greek life to video game enthusiasts. A full list of OWU clubs can be found here.

One organization that will draw attention this semester and which has been an OWU tradition since 1884 is Mock Convention. The clubmeets every four years during the presidential election cycle to teach students more about the electoral process, said Ahmed Hamed, the organization’s president.

The “Mock” represents the party not in control of the White House, with the aim of predicting the party’s nominee for the coming election.

Some clubs are focused on activism. One example is the Citizens Climate Lobby.

“Our focus right now is that civic engagement is important. Helping people realize that their voice matters … and (offering) a bipartisan climate solution,” said Juniper Deitering, the group’s treasurer.

Pride is another activist club.

“The club is an inclusive space for the LGBT community and allies, attempting to connect queer people so they can express themselves, socialize and support queer related activism,” said Ben Acuna, the organization’s vice president. “It’s a casual student space, more so than student counseling or something.”

Fun is another element for many clubs, including the Game Club, which is also designed to promote new friendships.

“It’s a really relaxed club where people who like tabletop games and video games can hang out,” said President Ocheme Connell. “Occasionally, we hold events like the Super Smash Brothers Tournament. It meets Friday from 8 p.m. until we feel like going to bed.”

All clubs have signup sheets which include non-committal email lists.

Embrace the “o” of your own personal potential

Tiffany Moore

Transcript Correspondent

tpmoore@owu.edu

For many, the Hollywood sign is simply a famous Los Angeles landmark, but for a performer who appeared at Ohio Wesleyan Monday night, those o’s in the sign represent personal potential.

Tim Miller, who has taken his solo act around the world, likens those letters to Shakespeare’s notion of making the most out of theatre space, like the Globe Theatre of London built in 1599 by Shakespeare’s theater company and known as “The Wooden O.”

Shakespeare’s goal was to have his audience forget their surroundings as they immersed themselves in a play. Miller made a similar pitch, issuing a call to action for about 40 in the captivated audience at OWU’s Chappelear Drama Center to claim their potential.

In a presentation of his written works, Miller explored racism, homophobia and the fight for a better future. He also discussed his autobiography, “A body in the O” and sold signed copies at the end of his performance.

“I don’t want them to just listen to my story, I want them to be thinking of what’s a story like that, that [they’ve] felt in [their] life and if they got it then, maybe they’ll start telling it to other people or maybe that becomes a deeper knowledge of their own life,” Miller said in an interview.

A lot of Miller’s work focuses on marriage equality and the injustices that same-sex couples face in this country. Miller said his next goal is to bring more awareness to the climate crisis.

“I’m old enough that it may not affect me as much, but it’s going to affect you much more and it’ll affect someone whose four years old now more than you,” Miller said. “The idea of 100 years from now people not having this beautiful planet working, or just whole parts of the world being uninhabitable is pretty … what a horrible thing to have not done everything we could.”

Miller’s performance was filled with thought provoking moments, putting the audience on the edge of their seats as they listened to stories from the perspective of both a young and older gay male struggling to survive in a society where homophobia is ubiquitous.

OWU sophomore Aaron Eicher said, “It was cool to see and also made me think about what a performance is because it was just storytelling for an hour, but it still captivated you.”

OWU senior Ran Ye said, “I don’t have any of his experiences so he reminds me of a lot of new things … because something comes up in my mind and I haven’t thought about that before.”

Miller began performing at OWU in 2008. Most of his visits included workshops, working with about 20 students in writing an hour long piece of work over the course of one week. His latest performance was funded by the OWU Theory-to-Practice Grant program.

OWU professor’s novel honored again

Alex Emerson

Transcript Correspondent

aaemerso@owu.edu

An award-winning, Civil War era-novel about a boy’s search for his father led by a mysterious black horse and written by an Ohio Wesleyan creative writing professor has once again been honored.

The Ohioana Library Association chose Robert Olmstead’s book “Coal Black Horse” as one of 90 books by Ohio authors to celebrate the organization’s 90th anniversary. The winners are divided by decade on the “90 Years 
 90 Books” list going back to the founding of the library association. The books can be found on the organization’s blog.

Olmstead’s book is on the list for 2007, the year it was published.  He said he is in good company.

“I have a good relationship with Ohioana. Looking at the list, it’s surprising to see how many great authors are from Ohio,” said Olmstead, an English professor and OWU’s director of creative writing.

This isn’t the first time “Coal Black Horse” has received critical acclaim. The book received the 2007 Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize for Fiction. In 2008, it earned an Ohioana award for fiction and the American Library Association award as the Best Book for Young Adults.

Olmstead’s story takes place during the Civil War in the wake of the battle of Gettysburg after a boy’s mother has a premonition her husband was killed. She sends her 14-year-old son out to search for him astride an unusual black horse, which leads and protects the boy throughout their journey.

Olmstead said he happened upon the idea for the plot while living in Gettysburg.

“I’m more interested in what runs through the history than the history itself. I was living in Gettysburg as a tourist and had no intention of writing a historical novel,” Olmstead said. “But as I explored the town, its history drew me in irrevocably.”

The book was aimed at focusing on the relationship between American people and war.

“More Americans died in the Civil War than in all of America’s following wars combined,” he said. “This legacy of war, this inheritance of violence literally passes down through families. America has been fighting wars as long as my students have been alive.”

“Coal Black Horse” is the first book of a trilogy. The second novel is “Far Bright Star” and the third is “The Coldest Night.”

“Far Bright Star” has also received recognition. Chauncey Mabe, a writer for the Chicago Tribune, said it is “guided by Hemingway,” and that “a writer as skillful and subtle as Olmstead deserves to be judged on his own merits, influences be damned.”

The last two books continue to explore an inheritance of violence. The protagonist in each story is the child of the protagonist from the last book, living through a different war, Olmstead said.

Olmstead plans to publish more books in the future.

(Editor’s Note: after this interview our correspondent enrolled in Olmstead’s fiction writing class)

Another power crash across campus

Azmeh Talha

Transcript Editor

aatalha@owu.edu

Power outages across Ohio Wesleyan’s campus yesterday interrupted schedules and shuttered some dining halls, forcing some faculty and students to find a Plan B for classes and meals.

Connection problems between Selby Stadium West and East caused the power to go out at about 8:45 a.m. and fluctuate throughout the midday.  OWU’s power also crashed during the fall semester.

The problem was the equivalent of a blown fuse, said Cole Hatcher, OWU’s director of media and community relations.

The process of testing different connections to determine which ones were stable caused the power to fluctuate. The root cause of the problem was discovered on the east side of the stadium, Hatcher said.

The west side of Selby Stadium consists of OWU’s sports teams’ lockers and the east side is for visiting sports teams.

The power outage occurred on the central and academic side of campus. Dining facilities in both these areas were closed down as a result.

Michele Nobel, Director of the Special Education Program and Assistant Professor of Education had an advanced theatre class from Dublin Coffman High School come to OWU to perform on the day of the power outage. The performance was supposed to take place in the auditorium in Phillips Hall but could not due to lack of power and light. The performance was then moved to classroom 210 in Phillips Hall.

The change of venue was not easy, Nobel said.

“They had to carry their set pieces up the stairs instead of the elevator,” Nobel said.

The Hamilton Williams Campus Center Food Court and Bishop Café were temporarily closed and the Science Center Café was closed all day, according to an email from AVI. The Thomson Corner Store, Merrick Café and Smith Dining Hall remained open all day.

Reese Fuchs, a pizza maker in Ham-Will Food Court, said workers had to scramble.

“We had to put all the food in safety areas so that it didn’t go bad and we had to close down for a little bit,” Fuchs said.

Fuchs said some students were upset the food court was closed.

But Hatcher said AVI did a good job of getting information out on Facebook.

Transcript welcomes new staff for the spring 2020 semester

The Transcript is pleased to announce its new staff for the spring 2020 semester

Azmeh Talha: Editor, aatalha@owu.edu

Erin Ross: Online Design Editor, emross@owu.edu

Hailey de la Vara: Arts and Entertainment Editor, Social Media Editor, hhdelava@owu.edu

Peter Lujan: Sports Editor, pllujan@owu.edu

Jacey Scheffel: Photographer, jsscheff@owu.edu

Tiffany Moore: Staff reporter, tpmoore@owu.edu

Katie Cantrell: Staff reporter, kmcantre@owu.edu

Alex Emerson: Staff reporter, aaemerso@owu.edu

TC Brown: Faculty Adviser, tcbrown@owu.edu

The staff hope to serve the Ohio Wesleyan University community to the best of its ability.

Time has come to pursue the dream

By Katie Cantrell

Transcript Correspondent

kmcantre@owu.edu

With our nation torn by divisiveness, college students today, more than ever, must embrace courage and be driven by a “fierce urgency” to stand up and speak out for equality for all Americans

That message was the central theme of keynote speaker Korie L. Edwards, an associate professor of sociology at The Ohio State University, at Ohio Wesleyan’s Martin Luther King Jr. celebration on Monday.

The Pursuing the Dream event was the beginning of a plan to celebrate MLK’s legacy annually, with multicultural students leading the way, said Juan Armando Rojas Joo, OWU’s associate dean for diversity and inclusion. He welcomed students to the observance, which ran from noon to 1 p.m. on the third floor of Merrick Hall.

The celebration kicked off with a performance by OWU’s Gospel Lyres, singing “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”

Edwards began her speech with one of the most repeated lines of King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, which he gave on Aug. 28, 1963 in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. before a massive group of civil rights marchers.

“I have a dream that little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers,” King had said.

While Edwards repeated many of King’s quotes, the perplexities in the joining hands line have become the essence of the entire speech, Edwards said.

“Somehow, I have a dream has morphed into simply a call for diversity,” Edwards said.

King began to follow that stirring at age 26, when he became a leader of the Civil Rights Movement in 1955, Edwards said, in conclusion.

“Perhaps today you have a fierce urgency stirring in you that the moment is now,” she said. “My hope is you won’t allow that fire to die, but that you will seize your moment, your fierce urgency in now to speak, to stand, to fight for love and truth.”

OWU junior Aliyah Owens introduced the speaker.

“She speaks in a way that is understandable to everyone, but she presents these complex ideas that you learn so much from in such a way that doesn’t feel overloading and doesn’t feel unreachable,” Owens said.

OWU Juniors Hope Lopez and Mukami Wamalwa along with sophomore Anna duSaire also said they enjoyed Edwards’ speech.

“I thought it was really informative and it explained a lot of things step-by-step, or it like unfolded a lot things that I didn’t really think about critically (before),” Lopez said.

Wamalwa said Edwards explained many concepts well.

“Like especially when it came down to white supremacy and white hegemony and like kind of breaking those down and understanding how one can lead to the other and how they kind of contribute to each other,” Wamalwa said.

The speech helped duSaire put things in context.

“I thought it was really thought provoking,” she said. “It really made me think about things I see on campus and things I’ve experienced in my life and how that relates to our history and how these patterns are still continuing, so I thought it was really good.”

Rojas Joo said his favorite quote was ‘I have a dream.’

“Why? Because I do have a dream. I do have the dream that we can become very inclusive at Ohio Wesleyan,” he said.

OWU’s MLK committee scheduled Edwards a year in advance to secure her as a guest speaker, Rojas Joo said.

Students will be even more involved in planning activities and speakers for future MLK celebrations at OWU.

“We want to integrate some of the Ohio Wesleyan students into the MLK committee,” Rojas Joo said.

Getting in the groove

By Peter Lujan

Transcript Correspondent

pllujan@owu.edu

The Ohio Wesleyan men’s basketball team burst from the gate Saturday afternoon, playing with tempo and shooting the lights out in defeating DePauw University 77-55 at Branch Rickey Arena.

The victory extended the Battling Bishops’ winning streak to three. Freshman power forward Grant Spicer led the charge with 16 points and seven rebounds, shooting 77% from the field. Spicer said it was part of the team’s game plan.

“One thing we like to go to is just throwing it into the post,” Spicer said. “Not necessarily even to score all the time, but to just play out of the post.”

It was a different story Jan. 15, when the Bishops struggled in the first half of their last game in Kenyon against Kenyon College, scoring only two points in the first ten minutes of the game. In the first half, the Bishops shot just 62% from the field and 50% from three-point range.

One key for Saturday’s win was to move the ball better and get it from sideline to sideline a couple of times, Spicer said.

“DePauw is a very good defensive team and that’s what you have to do to really good defensive teams like that,” he said.

The long ball was huge for the Bishops Saturday night, with six out of the ten players ringing up three-point field goals. It’s a big part of the team’s offense, said freshman guard Jack Clement.

“Our offense is built around the three point shot, mainly because all five guys who are out there on the floor are able to hit that shot,” Clement said.

Coach Mike DeWitt trusts his players to make those shots because of their chemistry, Spicer said.

“[ He] knows we all have the ability to knock down open shots,” Spicer said. “As soon as somebody gets hot, everyone starts to get into a groove.”

With a focus on pushing the tempo of the game and playing fast, the Bishops ensured DePauw paid for its errors Saturday. The Bishops’ scored 16 points off DePauw’s turnovers while DePauwscored only 2 points off the Bishops’ turnovers.

Clement said the team does agood job of taking care of the ball.

“So we make it a point in our offense to make sure that we capitalize off of turnovers that we do cause,” he said. “So if they make a turnover, we want to make sure that they pay for that, because that’s just a free possession.”

The Bishops will try to extend their winning streak Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. against Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio.

OWU Greek Organizations Serve the Delaware Community

By Lauren Kocsis

Transcript Correspondent

Ohio Wesleyan’s greek members impacted the lives of a mother and her eight children with their service this year in the Delaware community.

The fraternities and sororities served the Delaware community in a new way this year. In the past, greek organization members came together on one day during the semester and did a service project. This year, the service was spread throughout the semester and called Greek Season of Service.

“I wanted to do more service than one day a semester,” said senior Kate Wallrabenstein, greek service coordinator. “This way it was also more flexible because everyone got to pick service opportunities that worked best with their schedule.”

Greek life service initiatives changed from environmental service projects in the past, such as planting trees and picking up trash around Delaware, to members engaging with people in the community, according to Wallrabenstein.

“This changed our goals from bettering the community aesthetically to helping the people within it,” Wallrabenstein said.

Greek Season of Service took place at the Common Ground Free Store in Delaware. Common Ground, 193 E. Central Ave., is a non-profit organization that provides essentials such clothing, shoes, diapers and toiletries to the shoppers at no cost. The staff also prepares a hot meal for their shoppers to enjoy at the store.

Greek members signed up for different dates to serve, and 10 to 15 members attended each event. Greek members sorted donated clothes, served food and assisted in running the store while families shopped and dined.

“We receive a lot of donations, which is a good thing,” said Jill Ignaszewski, Common Ground volunteer manager. “The sorority and fraternity volunteers from OWU were a tremendous help with sorting through those, as well as helping where needed and being a smiling face to talk to shoppers.”

Common Ground is an important service for many families. Isabel Baker is the mother of eight children all under the age of 15. She and her husband both work full-time, but struggle to maintain financial stability.

“I am so grateful for this store,” Baker said. “Common Ground helps take some of the burden off so we can use our income to pay for food, bills and rent. It really helps not having to buy as many clothes for eight kids.”

Delaware County is usually regarded as a wealthy county, but there are many families and individuals who live in poverty, according to Ignaszewski. An average of 50 to 75 families served each day the store is open, which is four days a week.

Many of these people are working hard, but there is still not enough income to make ends meet, according to its website.