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It’s not as simple as “Stranger Danger”

We all know about the man in the dark alley at night. We’ve heard all about him since we were little. Heard about his hunger, his violence, his hands. He’s always a man. He’s always in an alley. It’s always at night.

Wake up.

Among female college students, nine out of ten rape and sexual assault survivors say they knew their attacker.

That “man in the dark alley” is the guy we worked with on a group project last semester. That man is the upperclassman we’re in a club with who we thought we could trust. That man is the suitemate, the adviser, the neighbor, the friend and, yes, sometimes it’s also the man in the dark alley at night.

This is a small campus, guys. We all know everyone by just a few degrees of separation, if that.

But if we’re all so familiar with each other, then why do I feel the need to run from my car to my house when I get back from the library late at night? Why don’t I feel safe going to parties at certain fraternities by myself? Why do I always feel like I’m one moment away from becoming a statistic?

This is not the life I want for myself, or for my little sister, or my friends, or anyone. Ever.

We need to start recognizing that people who have been sexually assaulted at OWU walk among us, and so do their attackers. Chances are they even knew each other beforehand and still run into each other sometimes.

We focus on the man in the dark alley because it’s an easier image to swallow. We think if we can just avoid strangers and alleys we’ll be safe, that no one who knows us would ever want to hurt us like that. This is a lie we choose to spread, and we need to stop.

But then, where exactly does the truth leave us? Are we supposed to live in constant fear of everyone we know? Never leave our rooms, just in case? No.

Instead, we should quit projecting our own perceptions of sexual assault onto survivors and stop perpetuating harmful misconceptions. Rape culture exists, and we’re part of it, but we can choose not to be.

If you have been assaulted and need help and support, call the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 800.656.HOPE (4673) to be connected with a trained staff member from a sexual assault service provider in your area.

We maintain our independence

By: The Transcript‘s editors

Recently, Butler University in Indiana made a startling change in the leadership of their student newspaper. The paper’s faculty adviser, Loni McKown, was fired from her advising position after nearly six years, and was replaced by a member of the school’s public relations department. That’s right–an administrator with a vested interest in making Butler University look good now has official input regarding what the reporters and editors of the student paper write about and publish.

That’s not how we do it at The Transcript. Not now, not ever.

The Transcript has two advisers: a faculty adviser, Dr. Paul Kostyu, and a media adviser, Jo Ingles. They share their extensive wisdom and experience and offer support when asked, and the rest is up to us, the paper’s six editors.

We decide which stories and editorials will be written. We assign the stories to ourselves and to our reporters. We find sources, interview them, gather information and write stories, along with the reporters. We design pages, publish stories online and promote our paper.

We make the judgment calls, the hard decisions.

There is not a single administrator, faculty or staff member or interested party who has the power to sway us.

This is an integral part of what being a college student newspaper is all about. This system provides us with the autonomy and freedom necessary to find out what is really happening on campus and publish that information how we see fit, even if some people would rather that information stay concealed.

The Transcript has a long legacy at OWU. We were founded in 1867 under the name Western Collegian. Over the course of nearly a century-and-a-half, the paper’s many editors have felt pressure from OWU’s administration numerous times while breaking controversial news.

There have been many instances throughout The Transcript’s illustrious career when the administration has asked us to change the angle of a story or to promote an event. And time and time again, we have maintained our independence.

Some of that news includes drug busts and other on-campus crimes, powerful administrators being fired, a now-obsolete residence hall having its fire escape doors nailed shut and so much more.

There has been criticism, both by the university and by students, but as a paper, we feel what we’re doing is important. And that importance is maintained by our independence.

The importance of publishing these stories for all of campus to read and maintaining the independence of The Transcript cannot be overstated. And while preserving our autonomy over the years hasn’t always been easy, it’s something that we as editors will continue to fight for.

A change of schedule provides real life experience

For a number of health and human kinetics (HHK) students, Welch Gym is no longer a fitness center. It’s a classroom.

A new twist in this year’s schedule was the latest attempt to encourage students to be aware of fitness as HHK majors gather real-life experience.

The FitOWU program has been pairing students up with faculty and staff for fitness assessments for 11 years now, but student-to-student interaction is new. All HHK majors who are a part of the Welch Gym program had to complete the FitOWU program first. Nancy Knop, a HHK professor, knew the program would eventually head in this direction.

“We have always wanted to reach out to the students more and have been experimenting with ways to create and deliver programming for students,” she said. “The students are now engaged in either a less mentored apprenticeship or a work study position helping to manage, maintain, deliver programming, provide fitness education, and perform fitness assessments of students.”

Figuring out how to get students to attend the classes has been one challenge with the new program. Dance and spinning classes will be the main use of the new open space in Welch.

However, the biggest challenge Knop has noticed is that by the time students have completed the course needed to start training, their time to graduate is quickly approaching.

“By the time they are ready to program well and deliver, they are nearing the end of their OWU career, so we are constantly losing trainers and recruiting new people to step in,” Knop said.

In addition to the new fitness classes during the week, which are Monday to Thursday from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m., there are weekend classes on Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m.

“The student trainer positions are intended to support the HHK major by providing our students with an applied experience that is also proving a needed service to the university,” Knop said.

Senior Ricardo Balmaceda, who has attended a handful of classes, likes the student-to-student interaction.

“It’s cool because the instructors are students as well,” he said. “They get everything you’re going through and dealing with as a student. They can really relate to you.”

*Free t-shirt not included

Forgetting About An Assignment. Cartoon by Blake Fajack '16. — Just Need A Minute. Cartoon by Blake Fajack ’16.

Suite restrooms on campus see changes

By Ross Hickenbottom, Transcript reporter

The Aramark logo. Image courtesy of ifma.org.

Get your mops ready. The Ohio Wesleyan housekeeping department and their partners, Aramark, are doing things a little different this year.

On the residential side of campus, suite restrooms will only be cleaned once every three weeks. In years past, they were cleaned weekly.

Dorms affected will include Thomson Hall, Bashford Hall and 4 Williams Drive.

Aramark Services Manager Darryl Phelps described how Aramark will change their cleaning agenda for the rest of the school year.

“The restrooms are stocked to last a threeweek period, but if something comes up, if toilet paper gets stolen or anything like that, we have a system worked out with the Residential Life staff in place where they can sign a sheet posted on the custodial closet,” Phelps said.

Darryl went on to explain that “We’re told by our Aramark partner that we are the only place that cleans the suite restrooms at all. Everywhere else they work, the students are responsible for cleaning up after themselves in their restrooms. We’re not taking that step, we’re still participating in the cleaning of suite restrooms, but we have reduced the frequency.”

Though no schools in the surrounding area partner with Aramark, Wittenberg University does. There, “every Sunday they clean and replace everything. Midweek a couple days they clean but don’t replace items,” Wittenberg junior Landon Hormann said.

As far as cost effectiveness goes, Dan Hitchell, vice president of finances, said the changes are going to have a positive impact on the budget.

“There were cost savings by doing this. We’re bringing Merrick Hall back online, we’re bringing part of Edwards Gym as well as Simpson Querry Fitness Center,” said Hitchell. “So we are adding square footage to campus by making these changes; therefore by changing the cleaning schedule we are able to save some money and bring the facilities back online without an increase in budget.”

Freshman Jake Riddell, who lives in Thomson Hall, is glad the campus is being cost effective.

But he doesn’t agree with how they’re doing it.

“It’s great that OWU is saving money, I get that,” Riddell said. “But the restrooms get out of hand, so if anything, I think they should be maintained more often.”

Bishops dominate in volleyball invitational

By: Ross Hickenbottom, Transcript Reporter

It was one for the record books. The Bishop Invitational took place on Sept. 25 and 26 at Ohio Wesleyan’s Branch Rickey Arena and with a record of four wins, zero losses, the volleyball team extended their winning streak season to 13 matches. A school record.

“It’s honestly one of the best feelings ever,” said junior Shelby Ksiazek in regards to breaking the record. “We have put a lot of work in on the court and the weight room, and we have such great team chemistry on the court.”

Opposing teams participating in the tournament included Hanover College, John Carroll University, Defiance College, Alma College, Mount Union College, Grove City College and Manchester College. This many participants meant that the winning team had to play and win four total games, including the championship game.

Sophomore Iris Anderson explained the process of winning a tournament as well as the fatigue that naturally follows. “When you’re playing four games, and you’re going hard every game, of course you’re going to be tired. But when you’re playing for your teammates, because you see how tired they are and that they are still giving it everything they have, you push through it.”

In matches against Defiance, Mount Union, Hanover and John Carroll, two Bishops managed to receive alltournament honors, including Anderson and sophomore Brianna La Croix. In addition to alltournament team, Anderson also received the honor of being named The Bishop Invitational’s MVP.

“I feel very honored to receive that title. I just try to play my hardest for my teammates,” Anderson said. “The harder they play and give all of their effort, the more it makes me want to work even harder.”

In her second season as head coach, Kirsta Cobb, who last year led the Bishops to one of their best seasons since 2006, emphasizes daily improvements in her players’ games in order to complete a successful season.

“We want to continue to get better each day. Get better in fundamentals, team play and volleyball IQ. The ultimate team goal is to win a conference championship and make it into the NCAA tournament,” said Cobb.

The OWU volleyball squad will continue their action with their last non-conference contest before NCAC play: Capital on Tuesday, Sept. 22 7 p.m. at Branch Rickey Arena.

Political scientist makes the case for drug decriminalization

With Ohio’s upcoming ballot initiative to legalize the sale of marijuana, it is fitting that Ana Arjona, a political scientist and professor at Northwestern University, recently opened a dialogue on the drug war both at home and in Latin America.

Her lecture took place on Thursday, Sept. 24, in the Benes Rooms at Ohio Wesleyan, where students, faculty and Delaware residents filled the room.

Arjona’s primary goal for her presentation was to shed light on an issue that society has a tendency to avoid: drug laws.

“I think we need to have both a political and moral debate about the war on drugs in order for any real progress to be made,” said Arjona.

She explained the allure of drugs and the fact that decriminalization leads to higher rates of both consumption and production. The more government policies that are enacted against drugs, she argued, the higher the likelihood that drug abuse and crime will increase. Arjona called this “The Balloon Effect.”

She showed the audience data documenting high rates of death from drugrelated gang wars.

“Most of the deaths happen to innocent people who are caught in the crossfire,” said Arjona.

She went on to talk about her support for decriminalization of marijuana in Ohio and in all US states.

“There are countries like Portugal who have refocused their drug policies in a way that targets health and that has been much more effective,” said Arjona. “Decriminalization doesn’t mean no regulation, it just means we change how we look at drug charges.”

“The ‘war on drugs’ is a humanitarian, political and economic issue,” said Arjona. “It is one with a widespread impact.”

After Arjona’s lecture, freshman Nicholas Melvin felt that he knew much more about the topic than he had before. “I attended this talk so that I could learn more about a subject I knew very little about,” he said. “I thought this presentation was very informative and did give me a deeper awareness on the subject.”

The program was hosted by the International Studies Program and introduced by the department chair professor Sean Kay.

“This was exciting for Ohio Wesleyan students because it is the kind of expertise that is presented in the corridors of strategic thinking and policy in the United States and Latin America,” said Kay.

Career workshop aims to help students find future careers

Career Services department is now offering a series of workshops to students which include narrowing down a career path to helping freshmen begin to think about postgrad employment.

These workshops were set to take place Sept. 9, Sept. 16 and Sept. 24. The final workshop takes place Tuesday, Sept. 29.

Assistant director of the department of career services Nancy Westfield said, “While the actual program, First Year to Career, is new, the information detailed in the workshop combines the years of experience we have in working with freshmen to help them begin their career journey.”

Westfield said, “Research has demonstrated that students engaged in the career development process earlier in their collegiate careers are better prepared for employment opportunities upon graduation.”

Both Westfield and career services director Leslie Melton worked to bring the workshop to campus.

“We realized the need for students to engage in the career planning process earlier in their academic careers. Aligning with recent data from the National Association of Colleges and Employers and institutional assessment, we have worked with the Assistant Dean for Academic Advising to provide first year students with a targeted program to provide them with the necessary tools and resources to be successful in their future careers,” said Melton.

Following the workshop, Westfield encourages students to meet with one of the coaches individually in the career services department.

Westfield said, “The actual process of making career decisions varies with each student, but our goal is to inform first year students of the important aspects of self-assessment, career research and experience in beginning to focus on their career goals.”

Senior Macie Maisel said, “I have attended some of the career services department’s events and have found them helpful and insightful.”

Westfield said they “also seek to introduce students to potential career options.”

The program being sponsored by the Office of Career Services and the assistant dean of academic advising.

Academic forum will consider online science classes

WCSA crest. Photo courtesy of the owu website.

On Sept. 28, when senator Mackenzie Sommers told the Wesleyan Council on Student Affairs (WCSA) that the 2015 academic forum’s agenda will include online classes, one WCSA advisor was especially interested.

Broadly, the academic forum will be about “Course Offerings,” but one of the specific issues faculty and students will address is the possibility of online science classes for non-majors.

“Did that idea come from you or the provost?” professor Mark Mitton-Fry of the chemistry department wondered.

Sommers, a senior and member of the academic affairs committee, told MittonFry and all assembled that the idea had come from the students themselves. Many nonscience majors were concerned about taking classes with labs, Sommers reported, and they thought online classes might be an easier way of fulfilling their distribution requirements.

“As a science person, that’s the number one reason that I would be against that,” Mitton-Fry responded. “Purposely designing a class for relaxed rigor doesn’t do it for me.”

The back and forth ended on this last point, but the debate concerning online classes is sure to continue at the academic forum. Though a date has not been set, the meeting typically takes place in October. This semester’s forum will be OWU’s second.

Bob Wood, director of Public Safety (PS), had less contentious news for WCSA’s senators. He told the group that PS had made some changes to various parking lots on campus. Near the fraternities and Williams drive houses, B lots were converted to C lots. The same change has been made to a lot outside of the Honors House.

Jerry Lherisson, president of WCSA, also announced that after the next Archway meeting, he and Emma Drongowski, WCSA’s vice president, would have more information about the vacant dean of students position and the termination of Martin Eisenberg, OWU’s former dean of academic affairs.

Enrollment on the decline

Admission and enrollment rates are used by universities across the country like team records are used in sports: they show who is ahead. And though they are both small liberal arts schools in the Ohio 5, Ohio Wesleyan University and Denison University are putting up very different stats.

Just this year, Denison was able to reach some of its highest application rates; some 6,100 applications from a wide mix of students were compiled by their admissions office. On top of that, according to their website, Denison’s class of 2019 is among the university’s strongest academically, compared to past rankings.

When asked about these exceptional rates of application, Denison’s senior associate director of admissions Mike Hills said that his office’s hard work has paid off.

“Our reputation as a premier liberal arts college is among the best in the country, which makes our job easier in a challenging admissions climate,” Hills said. “In addition to the Midwest and Northeast, which have always been good places for us to enroll high-achieving students, we’ve been working really hard to recruit equally qualified students from the South and West.”

In contrast, Ohio Wesleyan faced an incredibly low rate of enrollment last year with a freshman class of 490, which was significantly below OWU’s annual goal of 600. It was the lowest rate in the past five years.

To counteract those numbers, OWU began re-branding and underwent tremendous budget cuts this year.

As reported in an article on the OWU website, authored by vice president for enrollment Susan Dileno, “Our applicant and admit pool hasn’t really changed that much, but at the end of the day, it is impossible for us to control who does or does not enroll.”