The Transcript – Page 73 – This is the archive of our old website

Men’s rugby tournament hopes come to an end

By: Emily Rupp, Transcript Correspondent

The OWU rugby logo for both the men’s and women’s teams. Photo courtesy of Facebook.

The road to nationals for the Ohio Wesleyan men’s rugby team came to an early end in the final four, semifinal showdown.

The team lost their first game of the season on Nov. 7 against Calvin College at the Great Lakes Conference (GLC). Despite their early tournament, they ended the season with a record of 7-1.

“Unfortunately, the loss on Saturday knocked us out of the contention for nationals,” coach Cody Albright said.

Rugby player Carlos Jackson, a sophomore, said, “Being knocked out of the competition was really tough. We had high expectations for ourselves going into the playoffs because of our perfect regular season so it was really hard to see it all slip away.”

Coach John English said that although they did not qualify this year for nationals, it is their “ultimate goal in the future.”

With a past season record 33, the team improved dramatically over the one year period. They hope to continue this trend and finish with a perfect season this spring.

Jackson said, “I’ve been with the club since the first practice two years ago so it’s been amazing for me to watch how far this club has come.”

Albright said that the biggest difference in the team is the level of experience some players have.

“The vast majority of our players had never seen a rugby ball until they stepped onto campus,” Albright said. “Our players are focused and committed to getting better and growing every single day.”

That commitment involves lifting weights Monday and Wednesday and practicing Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. The team also watches film as often as possible to help improve their techniques, English said.

The team will continue to work out on their own to advance their strength, speed and fitness until the spring season of rugby starts.

Jackson said, “I know we have a very talented team and if we put in a lot of work this winter we can definitely make it to nationals this spring.”

OWU chamber orchestra continues to impress

On Nov. 10, the Chamber Orchestra performed their fall concert in Gray Chapel. The group was conducted by Michael Malone.

Malone has been the conductor for the Chamber Orchestra since 2010.

Malone explained that a chamber orchestra is a smaller version of a full orchestra. OWU’s consists of six first violins, four second violins, three violas, three cellos, two basses, one flute, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns and timpani.

According to his website, Malone “holds the PhD in historical musicology from The University of Texas at Austin,” and has taught courses in conducting, orchestration, music history and history of jazz.

The orchestra rehearses once a week as a group, however, the string section has a weekly sectional at which they practice separately.

Malone said, “It is my job to make sure that we are playing together as a group. I help them understand how their parts fit in with what else is happening in the music around them so that their individual parts make sense within the whole piece.”

Senior ZoAnn Schutte was appointed department concerto competition and therefore aided the process of selecting pieces for the performance.

“The most substantial piece on the program is Mozart’s Symphony No. 40, which is one of those pieces I have known and loved for a long time, so it is a great pleasure to have a chance to conduct it for the first time,” said Malone. “I always try to choose a big piece that will stretch the capabilities of the orchestra. This is a big, difficult piece, and so the students have had to work hard to learn it, but they have done an amazing job.”

Every year, the orchestra has a Concertmaster who is always a violinist.

Junior Chris Brinich is the current Concertmaster of the chamber orchestra. Brinich said that as Concertmaster he needs to “to be able to lead their section, as well as the whole orchestra in some instances. The concertmaster is generally the one who is most expected to know their part in the violin section. It also includes organizing separate string sectional rehearsals for the orchestra.”

Brinich has been involved in the Chamber Orchestra since his freshman year and has held other positions such as Principal Violinist.

Dinner with Jones

The Honors House, located at 123 Oak Hill Avenue, houses 11 students. Photo courtesy of the OWU website.

It’s not Breakfast at Tiffany’s, but it is dinner with Rock Jones.

The president of Ohio Wesleyan has either met, or is going to meet with Small Living Units around campus to talk about the SLU community.

Dinners, teas and meetings have been hosted in the past couple weeks and they have gone just as planned. Jones decided the timing was perfect because of the transition the SLU community is undergoing.

“With coming transitions in the SLU community and the construction of new buildings, I thought it was a good time for me to be in touch directly with each SLU and to experience the dynamic sense of community and purpose that exists in the SLUs,” Jones said.

One of the most recent dinners was with the Honors house. The residents of the house prepared breakfast for dinner and discussed the history of OWU. Junior resident and RA Lee LeBoeuf enjoyed the shared experience, along with Jones.

“I think he liked the food. He mentioned that his family used to have breakfast for dinner once a week,” she said. “We talked about our house’s history, how it became part of the OWU campus and about all the individual members of our house.”

Jones also recently met with the newest SLU on campus, the House of Spiritual Athletes (HSA).

HSA is located in Welch for the time being until they move into one of the new renovated houses next year. Junior Scott Harmanis, along with his housemates, talked about their current situation with the president.

“He wanted to get to know us so we all introduced ourselves and talked about our majors and what we’d like to do,” he said. “We also talked about how the year was going so far and how living in Welch as a SLU was going.”

Like Harmanis said, Jones does want to get the know the SLU community, which is a big reason for the dinners.

“The dinners give me an opportunity to visit with members of the SLU community, to hear about various house projects, to gain new perspectives on life in the SLU community and to talk about any concerns relating to transitions that will come with the construction of new buildings for the SLUs. I have thoroughly enjoyed the conversations and have learned a lot about how the SLUs are functioning this year.”

Jones wants to do this with the whole student body.

“I hope to find a way to replicate this experience with other student groups beyond the SLU community.”

WCSA discusses where to spend rollover funds

WCSA crest. Photo courtesy of the owu website.

Elections have closed for all positions on the Wesleyan Council of Student Affairs (WCSA) except treasurer, and applications are still being accepted.

Senior Jerry Lherisson, president of WCSA, began the Nov. 16 meeting by offering his congratulations to the new position holders.

“I’m looking forward to seeing what you guys can do,” Lherisson said.

The next president will be Jessica Choate, the vice president will be Sam Schurer and the secretary will be Caroline Anderson, all juniors.

Freshmen Nick Melvin and Caroline Hamlin have been elected as the class of 2019 representatives, sophomores Kaden Thompson and Mallory Griffith as the class of 2018 representatives and juniors Andrew Stock and Jo Meyer as the class of 2017 representatives.

Elections for the full senate are this Friday.

Senior Emma Drongowski, vice president of WCSA, encouraged senators to keep working hard as winter break approaches.

“We still have three weeks in our semester and we still have time to do good work here,” Drongowski said.

The next order of business was to discuss how rollover funds would be spent.

“The funds come from pots of money that weren’t used at the end of the semester or events that were cancelled,” Drongowski said.

The executive members would like the funds to go toward three areas: safety, sustainability and residential affairs.

“We really want to spend this on things that will impact the students in the best way possible,” Drongowski said.

Safety items include adding a crosswalk on Oak Hill Avenue in the area between Welch and Smith and the “Let There Be Lights” project, which aims to add lights to dimly lit areas on campus.

Sustainability items include adding a community garden near Stuyvesant Hall and developing post-consumer composting.

Residential affairs had the most items, and these include replacing the carpet and seating in the Hamilton-Williams atrium, getting wireless printing in the Welch and Hayes Hall computer labs and purchasing swipe cards to track campus involvement and attendance.

Drongowski said all of these ideas were viable, but there was no guarantee every single idea would be accomplished.

The exact amount of rollover funds won’t be known until the end of the semester, but Drongowski said it will be “a substantial amount of money.”

Faculty shuts students out of their November meeting

In an unprecedented move, student representatives from the Wesleyan Council on Student Affairs (WCSA) and The Transcript were denied access to the Nov. 16 faculty meeting.

For the short period of time that students were outside Merrick Hall’s third floor meeting space, the monthly gathering of OWU faculty and staff simmered with controversy. Following the usual invocation, Provost Chuck Stinemetz moved to allow the student guests to enter the room.

After the motion was seconded, professor Bart Martin of the geology department raised his hand with a comment.

Citing the recent publication of Transcript articles in the Delaware Gazette reporting on faculty business, Martin asked that his colleagues consider barring student entry to the Monday meeting in the interest of confidentiality.

Martin’s speech was immediately condemned by an impassioned Paul Kostyu, an associate professor in the journalism department. He reminded the faculty that “we are members of the Delaware community,” and that “they have a right to know what goes on here.”

Kostyu also added that the faculty serves the students and that everything discussed at the faculty meeting “becomes public eventually.”

Professor Chris Wolverton of the botany department stood up to rebut this claim. “It is not unreasonable for faculty members to be allowed to make comments without fear of it being published in the newspaper the next day,” he argued.

As the tension grew between colleagues, one non-faculty member weighed in on the controversial motion. Deborah Peoples, head of collection services for Beeghly Library, said she supported Wolverton’s sentiment.

“I am thinking we deserve a place to air our feelings in relative safety where we are not feeling that it is going to be on the front page the next day,” Peoples said.

Peoples continued, suggesting that, “there are ways to make The Transcript widely accessible to every student and faculty member on this campus in its online form without having to make it accessible to the whole community.”

Sensing the emotion driving both sides of the argument, professor Thomas Wolber of the department of modern foreign languages noted that the issue at hand was indeed contentious.

“We have to find the right balance between transparency and valid argument,” Wolber reasoned, “but we also need to protect the integrity of the institution and the privacy of faculty.”

“I would recommend we not make a quick motion on this issue,” Wolber concluded. “I think somebody should study the issue carefully, weigh the pros and cons and come up with a decision that is rational and logical and that we can defend to the public.”

But professor Carol Neuman De Vegvar of the fine arts department objected to the idea that the faculty’s already precious time be further diminished. And if the faculty open the meeting to students, she argued, the entire Delaware community should be invited to sit in.

“Why don’t we just open the meeting to the entire township,” De Vegvar said. “Why don’t we put it on video and immediately broadcast it as it is happening. The answer is plain: we have business to do as a faculty, we admit people on vote. It is not a matter for the entire community.”

During the brief pause in debate that followed De Vegvar’s suggestion, Stinemetz interjected with a call for remaining comments. When no faculty members raised their hand, he requested a vote.

The faculty were at first asked to speak “yea” or “nay” on the motion to allow student representatives into the meeting, but with the sides being so close, a vote-by-hand was required.

After a silent minute, the motion to allow students into the faculty meeting failed.

With that announcement, Kostyu collected his coat and hat and walked out of the meeting.

As he left the building, Kostyu said his “principles prevent me from being a part of this.”

For the members of WCSA in attendance, the decision to bar their entry was a disappointment.

Junior Jessica Choate, president-elect of WCSA, hoped that her future “communication with the faculty can be open.”

Seniors Emma Drongowski, vice president of WCSA, and Jerry Lherisson, president of WCSA, reported similar feelings.

Speaking on both of their behalf, Drongowski said, “I am very disappointed that students were not granted access to the faculty meeting today. We believe that it is important for students to fully understand decisions that faculty members make, as it directly impacts us as students and as members of the OWU community. We sincerely hope that we, as students, will be included in these meetings and conversations in the future.”

Let’s step outside the western state of mind

Beirut, Lebanon. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.

As I woke up from my weekly Friday nap on Nov. 13, I checked my phone. Expecting a few texts or a Snapchat or two, I was instead greeted with alerts about the Paris terrorist attack. That woke me up immediately.

After the deadly terrorist attacks in Beirut the day before, I didn’t know what to expect. When I heard a concert hall was attacked, my heart broke. People going to end their week with some great music were instead greeted with terror and death. The Islamic State (ISIS) has taken credit for both attacks.

It’s an unfortunate reality we live in now. We hear about these atrocities all the time, and this point, some people might not have the visceral reaction they once had. And honestly, who could blame them? When something like attacks on innocent civilians seems to occur almost everyday, we almost become numb.

My social media accounts are littered with posts about standing in solidarity with Paris. What about the attacks in Beirut? I don’t see anything about standing in solidarity with them on my social media accounts. Whenever a country experiences a terrorist attack, or any type of attack, we have to support them, even if they are not a Western country.

Admittedly, it’s hard to think outside such an American-centric bubble. France is one of our oldest allies, so of course our support extends to them. But we need to be reminded that these brutalities carried out by ISIS happen everyday in Iraq. Other than some articles in various news outlets, how much attention do we really pay to countries like Syria and Iraq, which are going through attacks like these almost everyday?

I don’t want anyone to think I’m downplaying the Paris attacks, because I am not. They are horrific and despicable. But we need to step outside our typical Western mindset. If as much attention was being paid to the attacks in Beirut as in Paris, who knows what the response would be. Granted, the Beirut attacks didn’t kill as many people as the ones in Paris, but they were still devastating.

Maybe I’m thinking like this because I’m an international studies major and I’m currently taking a class that focuses on terrorism. Or maybe I’m thinking about this because I see news reports about ISIS beheading ethnic Afghanis, including children. Or maybe I’m thinking about this because I’m feeling completely hopeless about this world.

If we open our eyes a little bit more, we will see that we aren’t the only ones affected by these atrocious acts of terror. We can grieve with others who have experienced something like we have. Maybe we could even try working with them. If we look outside our typical Western viewpoint, who knows what we’ll find.

Calling all artists: the OWL

By: Ross Hickenbottom, Transcript Correspondent

Do you love writing? Do you want others to see your writing? The OWL is your answer.

The OWL is Ohio Wesleyan’s annual literary magazine and is published during the spring semester for students to showcase their creative writing pieces.

Pieces submitted to the journal include poetry, journalism, fiction, nonfiction and art, making the OWL open to anyone wanting to create.

Robert Olmstead, assistant professor of English and adviser to the OWL, assures students that “anyone can make a submission.”

“Like Ohio Wesleyan, the possibilities for the OWL are endless,” Olmstead added.

The OWU English department funds the magazine and encourages any “satisfying piece of writing and art” to be submitted. In the past, faculty interviews, academic essays and even music have been selected for its pages.

The magazine is put together by English department students. This year, there are six students on the staff, who have been looking at submissions from last year’s literary awards and collecting submissions via email.

Julia Stone, a senior who just joined the OWL this year explained the selection process.

“Each member of the staff reads the piece and says yes, no or maybe,” Stone said. “If a piece gets two nos, it is cut out of the running. If there is a tie between yes’s and no’s then we discuss as a group to decide whether we include the piece in the OWL or not.”

The OWL receives around one hundred submissions each year, and with nearly 2,000 students on campus, that is not much.

“I want people to look at The OWL and see something substantial and not something disposable,” said Olmstead.

The OWL is currently taking submissions and reminds students that they can only be limited by their imagination and energy.

Axelrod, men’s basketball open season with high hopes

By: Evan Walsh, Transcript correspondent

In basketball, size matters.

Don’t tell sophomore Nate Axelrod that. Despite his small stature, last year’s National Freshman of the Year is ready to lead the Ohio Wesleyan men’s basketball team to another conference title.

“I’m not tall,” Axelrod said. “But you can’t let what you don’t have define you.”

Axelrod has found other ways to compensate for his size, or lack thereof. With technical precision that belies his 5’7 frame, the young man from Dublin, Ohio, has spent his life developing his skill set as a player.

“He’s constantly looking for ways to improve. Coaches and other players appreciate a blue collar work ethic,” said Matt Jeske, a senior forward and team captain.

That hard work bore fruit in a 2014-2015 season in which he took home National Freshman of the Year, First Team all NCAC and Third Team All-American honors. No small feat for a small man.

Still, basketball is a team game, and Axelrod knows his personal accomplishments mean nothing when it comes to the team’s success. “I get to suffer through the emotional highs and lows with my best friends, my teammates,” Axelrod said. “I need their support. Without it I never could have won those awards.”

Coach Mike Dewitt draws comparisons to former Battling Bishop and All-American, Andy Winters, class of 2013. “Both guys are undersized, but they work hard to control the rhythm of the game by getting teammates involved,” Dewitt said.

“It’s his selflessness that separates Nate from the other players and young men I’ve coached,” Dewitt said. “He’s a leader in everything he does.”

Axelrod is an equally capable student, making the Dean’s List each semester while mentoring at-risk students for several hours each week.

Through the first three weeks of practice Axelrod is optimistic about this year’s team. All five of last years starters return this year and look to redeem themselves after last year’s loss to St. Olaf College in the first round of the NCAA Division III tournament.

“We’re going to win the regular season conference title and the conference championship,” Axelrod said.

The No. 13 ranked team in the nation open their begin their season Saturday, Nov. 14 against conference rival, Otterbein University.

Card office does more than give student IDs: just ask Nancy Tumeo

Nancy Tumeo. Photo courtesy of the OWU website.

Need a hug? Just go to the card office in the Hamilton-Williams Campus Center.

Most students, faculty and staff probably know Nancy Tumeo as “the card office lady,” but Tumeo does a lot more than generate student IDs and track food points.

In nearly 20 years at Ohio Wesleyan, Tumeo has held her position in the card office and in the hearts of students. She has plenty to share about the struggles of adjusting to college, dial-up technology and the power of 47 cents.

Q: So how long have you been working at OWU?

A: I started fall semester 1997. They hired me for three months and I’m still here. They were going to change the position, which they’ve never done. Actually, I went home that summer and my boss came and asked me to come back, and I said, “No, I don’t want to come back.” But, he begged me to come back, and so I did. And, I have to tell you, it’s probably one of the most rewarding jobs, not because of what I do but because of the students.

Q: How did you get your start in the card office?

A: There was an ad in the paper… I was in the process of buying a new house and the bank said, “You’ve got to have a job.” I saw this position and so I came in and I got hired. I really had no intentions of coming back [after the three months], and here I am going on my nineteenth year.

Q: What has kept you at OWU for so long?

A: The flexibility in my job. I have a lot of time off and can carry my medical benefits year around. But again, it comes back to the students. While I furnish reports to every department and everybody on campus, I deal mainly with the students. Everybody has to come through here to get a card, and that way I get to know all the students and get to know all the faculty and staff.

Q: What is it about interacting with students that makes you enjoy your job?

A: I’ve adopted many students. Bought hats and gloves for them in the wintertime. Approached professors to help a student. I’ve gone to see if the student was properly coded for what they’re being charged. Students talk to me. They tell me a lot, and that’s the reason I like my job.

Q: What part of your job do most students not know about?

A: Not only do I make ID cards, I control everything [students] do with that card: security, their food points—on-campus, off-campus—accounting, their debit money, library card, replacing the cards. Not only helping the students, but also speaking to their parents. The accounting depends on all my records for balancing accounts. Anything you use that card for has to come through here, and I control all that with this equipment… The equipment is very, very old. It’s still dial-up. The only thing I’d wish for is to have newer equipment.

Q: Are there any weird or crazy ways a student has lost their ID?

A: I have probably heard every excuse. And I think two years ago there were two girls in a race. One had replaced her card 27 times and one 28 times, and I went at them just like they were my own kids: “Do you know how much money you’ve spent on cards?” Some kids just leave their cards in their dorms and they just don’t want to go back and get them, and I yell at them like their parents because I can give them a charge card to eat on, but I can’t get them back into their dorm without a card. Lots of different excuses why they’ve lost them. Dogs chewed them up. Put them in the dryer. Just can’t find them.

Q: What is the most difficult part of your job?

A: Maintaining the old equipment, especially offcampus. I’m still using dial up communications and we now have seven restaurants off-campus [where students can use food points]… When the registers go down on campus the cashiers call me. Every time the electric flickers off and on this old equipment goes down.

Q: Do you have any thoughts or advice you’d like to share with students?

A: I kind of see students blossom in their sophomore year, and I see them laid-back as freshmen. They’re scared to go get somebody to eat with them or afraid to walk up to the table to sit down with strangers. Some of them have a hard time introducing themselves with others and they’ll come in and talk to me. I’ve had so many kids come back and talk to me and thank me upon graduation. One student stood in front of me as a freshman and he just had tears in his eyes every day, and I made him come in and give me a hug me every day. And upon graduation he said, “I would never have stayed if it hadn’t been for you.” Comments like that are why I like my job so much. And I still stay in touch with some of the international students that have moved on… Their parents have invited me to many countries, but I won’t go. There’s a girl that graduated in 2010 and she’s studying to be a doctor, and I went up to Johns Hopkins [University] in Baltimore to spend the day with her. It’s just fun to stay in touch with the students and have them come back. I get many hugs. I can’t explain how wonderful it is because I’ll do a lot of little favors for kids. I know how to help them. And they’re like my own kids… They tell me lots of secrets, and I keep them. A little girl came up the other day and she was practically in tears and she wanted to buy a blue book…and she didn’t have any money, so I dug out 47 cents and said, “Go get your book.” I just ask them to do a good deed for somebody else. Now, 47 cents isn’t much money, but she needed that blue book and if I can help somebody for 47 cents and make them happy, it’s made me happy. One year school started and a father called me and he said, “My daughter’s standing in the middle of the university outside.” I asked him what building she’s facing, and he told me, and I said, “Tell her not to move.” I ran out and found her. She was lost. She didn’t know where to go. It amazes me. I always said they should have higher classmen out there with a sign: “Ask me. Are you lost?” Because the freshmen are always lost… It’s just a job that I come to every day and I just take it as everyday work. Other people may not find it so interesting or fun, but I enjoy the interaction with the students.

Q: So do think you’ll stick around in this position?

A: I hope to. I hope so.

Senioritis? No such thing in college

About four years ago, I was suffering from a case of senioritis. I was a high school senior, already admitted to college and enrolled in said college. School didn’t matter much anymore, and other than maintaining my grades, I became very relaxed about everything. That’s not really the case this time around.

Here I am, a senior again. However, I have a different case of senioritis. I don’t know what I’m doing upon graduation, and that scares me. A lot. I don’t think I have senioritis, I think I have something else. I think I have a case of “Oh my god, I am a college senior and I have no idea what I’m doing when I graduate”itis.

This time, it’s much different. Last time I was a senior, I had a clear idea of the future. I was set in my choice of college and all I had to worry about was maintaining my grade average, which wasn’t hard. Now, it’s a different ballgame. No, this time it’s a whole other sport. What sport, I cannot tell you. Maybe it’s something very complicated that many don’t understand but it’s very alluring and people want to know about it. Or something like that.

When I was younger, up until last year, I was incredibly excited to graduate and start my life.

After having a taste of “freedom” when I spent my semester in Washington, D.C. made me even more excited. But as soon as I started my last first day of classes, it became real. I won’t be a student forever. I cannot pull a Buster Bluth and be a professional student.

Just thinking about the future makes me anxious. My heart starts pounding, my palms sweaty and my mind swimming. Yeah, I’ve applied for jobs, but as of Nov. 8 at 2:17 p.m., I am still unemployed. Here’s hoping that won’t be for long. But I need to remind myself, it’s still early to find a job. At least I’m not applying to law school or graduate school, like many people I know. I need to take a deep breath and calm down. Easier said than done.

I don’t think senioritis in college exists. Maybe once I become employed I will amend that statement, but the unknown is too scary. I wish I could go back to high school senior me and say, enjoy the relaxation while you can, enjoy having the next four years of your life set, because that’s not going to happen again for a while.