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Professor on cutting edge of water filtration

By: Cassie Ingram, Transcript correspondent

Kristina Bogdanov, associate professor of fine arts. Photo courtesy of owu.edu

A professor at Ohio Wesleyan University makes dirty clay water almost clean enough to drink using clay filtration pots.

In 2009 the Fine Arts department hosted Peter Chartrand, the director of Potters for Peace organization (PFP), where he introduced the filtration pots to some of the professors and explained the organization’s intentions and goals.

Their goal as an organization is to create a simple and easy to use water purifier for developing nations.

After hearing about PFP Kristina Bogdanov, associate professor of Fine Arts, was encouraged to create these similar pots for her classes in hopes of developing them and making them even better. Although her first intentions were to make them to be sent across the world she was unable to, so she stuck to using them on campus.

“Thanks to the suggestion from Joan McLean, professor of politics and government, I began using the clay filters to filter waste water from the ceramics studio,” said Bogdanov. Her objectives are to keep harsh chemicals out of our tap and drinking water.

Student in the ceramics studios were instructed to use a certain wash bucket to wash out containers with glazes in them, brushes, sponges, and any tools that are dirty. After that, the dirty water gets poured into one of the clay pots. After a few days the water filters through the clay leaving clay residue and other chemicals in the bottom of the clay pot and clean water in the bucket underneath.

How do these clay pots work? When the clay is fired the partials create a chain like affect, making it very difficult for anything besides water to get through.

According to the PFP website, this alone cleans about 98 percent of the water, but that still leaves two percent of unclean water. So for that two percent they coat the pots with a silver lining. The silver penetrates the pours of the pots and bonds with the iron oxide in the clay.

This boost the effectiveness of the filter to 99.98 percent.

Currently, Bogdanov is working on a new design for the filter in hopes of making it portable. Her hope is to create them so they can be sent and used in other countries to make safe drinking water.

PFP stands to educate and get people to understand how big of a problem unsafe drinking water is in other countries, and now Ohio Wesleyan has the opportunity to be a part of this movement and help other countries.

Softball continues mental and physical preparation

By: Holly Krampitz, Transcript correspondent

After a challenging preseason and a successful Florida trip, the Ohio Wesleyan softball team starts their spring season with chemistry that could possibly make them more successful than in the past.

The softball team has been training all year long, a preseason filled with exercises designed to prepare them for the regular season.

“It got us in shape so we won’t be tired in the games, we got to prepare plays and learn more about the game,” freshman softball player Erin Ferguson said.

But preseason was not just about conditioning the players physically, it also helped the team mentally.

“Preseason is a lot of mental preparation right off the bat, it prepares us to push when there is only a little bit of fuel left,” sophomore Kayla Pelham said.

During spring break the team traveled to Florida where they played two games a day, coming out with a record of 7-3. The trip consisted of constant softball, but was a bonding experience for the players.

“We were constantly with each other so we bonded and had better chemistry,” Ferguson said. This was the first time the team got to play together in actual games and found that they work very well together.

“Florida is really where we became a family, playing with everyone was so natural,” Pelham said. The team improved from last year’s record in Florida which was 5-5.

Senior lefthander Sarah Flint throws the ball from the pitcher's mound. Photo courtesy of battlingbishops.com. — Senior lefthander Sarah Flint throws the ball from the pitcher’s mound. Photo courtesy of battlingbishops.com.

The team is hopeful that this season will go successfully. Their record is currently 8-6 and have games almost every week and practice every day.

“We lost some games that we shouldn’t have but we are learning and growing from our mistakes,” Ferguson said. Even with the losses, some players are confident that with the right attitude they can win.

“We have a lot of talent and are very close, so as long as we keep having fun we should be pretty successful,” Pelham said. Some players say that this season is different because of the connection the players have with one another.

“It is more like a family, and that makes us play better because we are so close,” Ferguson said. Another reason that this season is seemingly different from the past ones is because of the amount of flexibility the players have.

“From what I’ve heard, this team is really different because we have a lot of depth,” freshman Phoebe Bush said. “You can put the 18th man out on the field and they will do a really good job, so I feel like we are going to go a lot farther than previous seasons.”

With the addition of six new freshman to the team this year, the team has had to make adjustments. Although the time to get acclimated can sometimes be difficult, Bush and Ferguson said they were welcomed and treated equally.

“The upperclassman are there to help us whenever we need and since we are new to the program they really helped us learn,” Ferguson said. Along with Ferguson, Ashley Day and Kayla Richard are freshman starters this year.

Because of their family-like attitude, the team is always there to motivate each other. The softball coach, Cassie Cunningham, has been coaching for 15 years and puts a strong emphasis on remaining positive.

“Everything is a learning experience with our coach. She is a really positive person and wants us to learn from our mistakes,” Ferguson said. Ohio Wesleyan softball is a tight-knit group of girls who are dedicated to the sport.

Why Matt Youse should come to OWU

My brother, Matt, is a senior in high school. He just received his letter of acceptance to OWU a few weeks ago, and even though I know OWU is not his first (or second…) choice, I’ve decided to make a case for my school. This column is for him, but it is also for all prospective students questioning why they should come to a school that is chronically under construction.

Matt, as my brother, you pretty much know the cliff notes on everything that’s going on with me this year. You know that I’m over being in college. You know I’m frustrated the university is essentially cutting my department in half for the third year in a row.

But for as much as I have to complain about, I have a lot more to love about OWU that I want you to know. And in an effort to be as transparent as possible, I want to be explicitly clear about what OWU cannot give you.

OWU does not have a fancy film programs like the ones you are looking at in Boston College or NYU. James Franco will never teach any of your classes. You will not have access to expensive new equipment. You won’t be able to intern at a major production company and still live on campus.

Delaware, Ohio cannot offer you sushi delivery at midnight. You won’t be able to easily get from one place to the other via public transportation. There are no Broadway theaters. You won’t be seeing any political marches down Sandusky Street.

You will see a glaring poverty gap between students and the university employees who serve them lunch. You will see your friends fail after your first semester because even though OWU is easy to get into, it’s not easy to stay here. You will see every treadmill in Welch occupied because the weight room was cut in half for construction, so now all the bros are infiltrating the mostly-female gym and hogging all the cardio machines.

If you have a one-night stand, you will run into her the next day on the Jay. Guaranteed. If you send an angry email to your professors, you will most likely still have to take another class with them. You won’t be able to blow off your classes and sleep in. You won’t be able to get away with parking in the wrong spaces, and your car will get booted and you’ll have to pay $50 cash to get it off.

You will really hate it here sometimes. But most of the time, you will love it.

You will love it because you will have professors like Paul Kostyu, who even though you hate him because he is literally the hardest grader in history, you love him because he will do everything he can for you, from getting you internships to getting you new equipment to use. You will depend on him, and he will pull out all the stops for you.

You will love it because you will have advisers like Joan McLean, who will be able to take 150 percent of the credit for why you’re graduating on time. She will sit with you and talk about life for four hours at a time, give you hugs and wipe your tears.

You will love it because you will have friends that make your life so full, when things are right with them, things are right with the whole world. You will love it because even though you might hook up with some rando at Clancy’s and run into them everywhere, that person will eventually become your friend and you’ll be able to joke about all the dumb stuff that happened between you.

You will love it because social justice issues on campus are addressed publically by Chaplin Jon Powers. You will love it because when you email President Rock Jones, he will personally respond to you and schedule a time to meet with you. You will love it because your professors will play in a rock band at Roops Bar on Sunday nights. You will love it because the members of the SLU community will teach you about the kinds of people we never got to meet in our tiny cornfield town.

Matt, OWU will not look shiny and fancy until you after you graduate. But honestly? Who cares. The community here speaks for itself. For as much as I can complain about it, I love it. After a terrible high school experience, OWU brought me back to life. OWU is the reason I made the 10 best friends of my life. OWU is the reason I found confidence. OWU gave me the four best years yet.

You will succeed tremendously wherever you decide to go, but I hope you come here. Partly because it’s the best, and partly so I can come back and visit you.

Drake Bell talks musical influences, performing at OWU

Sports editor Matt Cohen interviewed Drake Bell on Saturday, March 28 shortly before he went onstage in the Gordon Field House.

Transcript: What’s your go-to pick up line?

Drake Bell: Um, I don’t know I don’t have a favorite.

T:Who influenced you the most when going into music?

Bell: Elvis, The Beatles, Beach Boys, Lil Richard, Eddie Clarke, Stray Cats, a lot of old people.

T: Growing up, did you like music or acting more?

Bell: There’s nothing to compare to playing live on stage in front of a live audience. It’s awesome being creative and being on a movie set, but there’s a lot of sitting around, a lot of waiting until they’re ready for you. Working on sitcoms is fun because it’s fast passed and you do have a live audience. But there’s nothing to compare to live performing. That’s the best.

T: What’s the coolest venues you’ve played at?

Bell: The coolest ones are actually in South America and Central America. Brazil, Mexico, the latin fans take “fan” to the whole next level. It’s the most intense and a lot of fun.

T: What were your first thoughts when hearing about the OWU concert?

Bell: That it would be awesome to come play. I love playing, seeing new places, meeting new people. Doing these colleges have been a lot of fun because all the people in the crowd are usually just a little younger than me. So it’s awesome I can do whatever I want, you know? I don’t have to cater my performance toward the younger kids.

T: Have you played a lot of colleges during the tour?

Bell: Yeah a few, don’t ask me which ones. Notre Dame, Berkeley was a lot of fun. Yeah the college thing has been a lot of fun.

T: Have you kept in touch with anyone on Drake and Josh?

Bell: Yeah I talk to Josh all the time and I just saw Miranda the other day we went to the Children’s Hospital together. We worked on a cartoon together not that long ago. I’m actually working with the Dad from the show, Jonathan Goldstein, on a new project that I’m producing and he’s directing. We were a pretty tight knit group.

T: What’s coming up next for you?

Bell: Touring and now I’m doing the voice of the Flash. Now I’m the Spiderman and the Flash, that’s pretty cool.

*Free t-shirt not included

Ohio Wesleyan to host Tournées French film festival

Ohio Wesleyan will be hosting six different French films on campus as part of the Tournées French film festival.

These six films will be March 27 through April 16 and will be presented in French with English subtitles.

The professor organizing the festival, Ana Oancea, teaches French in the Modern Foreign Languages department, is in charge of “obtaining the grant funding, liaising with distributors, scheduling the screenings and inviting students and professors to introduce the films.”

“The Tournées film festival is a highly regarded event, one which I first attended when I was an undergraduate,” Oancea said. “Now a professor, I saw hosting the festival as a rite of passage.”

“Together with other colleges and universities, OWU was chosen to host the festival from a large pool of applicants based on an application I prepared,” said Oancea. “The film selection was made by my composition and conversation students. I think the selection committee was pleased to see students and faculty cooperate so closely.”

The films will be shown on the following days; March 27, Dans la Maison; March 31, Le Passé; April 4, La Grande Illusion; April 6, Elle s’en Va; April 14, Augustine; and April 16, Grigris. The films will be shown in Benes B at 7 p.m. These six films were selected by students in a French composition class taught by Oancea.

Elle S'en Va movie poster. Photo courtesy of allocene.fr. — Elle s’en Va movie poster. Photo courtesy of allocene.fr.

Junior Victor Soder said, “The company that owns the rights to the film festival puts out a list of recent and classic films and we picked films we thought would be interesting to watch.”

Ohio Wesleyan students and faculty will lead pre-screening discussions before each movie begins. “The faculty members introducing the films are free to take discussion wherever they think will be most interesting,” said Oancea. “They will seek to enrich the audience’s understanding of the film, delving into both artistic and technical aspects, and because these are foreign films, they will also invite us to ponder the cultural differences.”

Oancea said, “The festival lets students and faculty put the topics discussed in our classes in larger, and very current, context. It also gives us a chance to share our interests with the wider community: the festival was advertised to the local high schools, and film enthusiasts in Columbus.”

“The grant application of the French-American Cultural Exchange Foundation entailed explaining the rationale for the film selection, and how the films relate to the French curriculum at OWU,” said Oancea.

Juan Rojas, professor of Spanish in MFL said, “through the showings we have the chance to experience elements of other cultures, and in this case it also represents an extension of what our students are learning in their French courses – a unique opportunity.”

This is the first time OWU has hosted the Tournées.

It happens at home, too

Growing up as a Jewish woman, I was always surrounded by other Jews. I went to Hebrew school, a Jewish overnight camp, the Jewish Community Center and part of a large, vocal Jewish family. So being Jewish was part of my blood.

I can’t remember the first anti-Semitic incident I encountered. I remember hearing rumblings in my high school that someone threw coins at another student and said, “Jew, pick them up. You don’t want money to go to waste.” There were some casual incidents I encountered, like people saying, “You don’t look Jewish!” or “Speak Jewish!” One time, my hairdresser told me I don’t have Jewish hair like my sister. When I came to Ohio Wesleyan, I met people who have never met a Jew before. They would ask me if I celebrated Christmas. I said no, and they asked me if I was sure. Was I sure I didn’t celebrate Christmas? Yeah, I’m positive.

But those incidents are minor compared to what’s going on for Jews around the world. In January, the French newspaper Charlie Hebdo was attacked. And outside Paris, a Kosher grocery store was also attacked, and is suspected to be connected with those attacks. There has been a rise in anti-Semitic attacks in Europe, which The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg illustrated in his brilliant feature “Is It Time for the Jews to Leave Europe?” But it’s happening at home, too.

I’m from Milwaukee, which has a large and active Jewish population. But go anywhere outside Milwaukee and our state capital, Madison, and Jews in Wisconsin are sparse. Unfortunately, Wisconsin saw a rise in anti-Semitic incidents in 2014, “more than twice those seen in recent decades,” the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. There were 33 confirmed incidents in 2014, compared with the 13 in 2013. One example of an incident was “at one business, a hairdresser told a potential client that she doesn’t cut ‘Jewish hair.’” And no, that hairdresser was not mine.

Even more disturbingly, over a two-day period, there were 39 acts of vandalism in Madison, which is supposed to be the bastion of liberalism in Wisconsin. The acts ranged from swastikas on garage doors and KKK spray painted on a side of a house, the Wisconsin Gazette reports.

So, what are American Jews supposed to do? Do we follow Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu’s advice and move to Israel? Do we stop openly calling ourselves Jewish? Do we wear yellow stars on our clothes? No. The answer is not as simple. Anti-Semitism has been around for thousands of years, and it will be around long after we’re gone. There is no easy way to combat or ignore it.

My concern is these incidents will get worse, possibly to the point in which people will be afraid to openly identify themselves as Jewish. There is no easy fix for this issue; there are some people who will just be ignorant or narrow-minded. Education could be an option, but there will always be people who will not want to learn.

I want a world where people can proudly wear their Star of David necklace or their tallit. I want a world where people don’t feel like they need to flee their homes in fear of their lives just because they have a mezuzah on their doorframe. My wish is for my children to be proud of their Jewish heritage and not have to be quiet about their religion. I also hope they will not be asked if they’re sure if they don’t celebrate Christmas.

Confidence leads to success on field

Confidence is one of the reasons the Ohio Wesleyan men’s lacrosse team is seeing more wins this season compared to last season.

This season, the team has been ranked number seven in the nation among other division three schools, coach Mike Plantholt said.

Three of the team’s ten seniors are scoring a high amount of goals compared to last season.

Senior Kyle Foster said another reason the team has been so successful is the addition of assistant coach Trey Keeley.

“Coach Keeley’s main suggestion is to play fast,” said Foster. “But a lot of our success has been building off last year’s success.”

Plantholt said the team only lost three seniors at the end of last season, so mostly everyone returned.

“With such a huge senior class, we have a highly experienced team that has been here all four years,” senior Brenden Bouchard said. “When you have the majority of your starting offense, it’s kind of easy to just build off what you’ve already got.”

Bouchard and Foster said they think the team has been so successful this season is because of the new coaching staff, combined with a large amount of seniors on the team.

“We were a very talented team last year,” Bouchard said. “But we weren’t having the success that we are having this season. If you look at our record and the teams that we were playing, we were losing by one goal. We were losing to these very competitive top ten teams that we’ve had, but I think now you will see that we are just winning those games.”

Senior attacker Tommy Winkler seizes up his opponents. Photo courtesy of battlingbishops.com.

Winning games translates to confidence on the field, which then results in more wins.

“Once you start to see success, you can feel it in the locker room now, you can feel the energy, people are excited to be at practice, people want to get better,” Foster said.

Senior John Umbach said this confidence stems from the team’s first big game of the season.

“After that first big game of the season, the [Franklin and Marshal] game, what we did there in third quarter,” Umbach said. “When we saw we had eight goals in one quarter, I mean, John had five goals in the span of two minutes, that’s when people started realizing what we had and what we were capable of doing.”

“The confidence started to build off of that, and in the Roanoke game we saw what we could do in four quarters of lacrosse, and that’s when we started to realize that when we put in four quarters of good lacrosse then we could start doing some damage to these other teams,” Umbach added.

“Psychologically, I think it’s nice to see yourself beating those teams cause then you know you can beat them, as opposed to trying to convince yourself in your head that you can beat them,” Foster said.

Bouchard said the team isn’t always confident.

“You definitely get nervous before those big games, because there is nothing like playing a top ranked opponent,” Bouchard said. “But it’s a number that gets put on their back, it’s a giant, all of a sudden, so it’s natural for an athlete to get nervous before those games, but after winning that game, I think everybody is excited at the opportunity to maybe just demoralize or smash another opponent. Now you are on the other side of it. You know, you are now no longer the underdog.”

Run-off elections to be held for senior class council

Those thought to be elected into the senior class council will have to continue pulling for votes from the junior class.

On Wednesday and Thursday, March 25 and 26, the senior class council elections were held. The positions on the ballot were president, vice president, secretary and treasurer. Only juniors could run.

Three members of the class of 2016 ran for both president and vice president, two ran for secretary and one ran for treasurer.

Ben Miller, Brittany Spicer, and Kelly Johnson were told they won their respective postions. However, it was clear that in order to confirm these results, a run-off election must be held.

On Wednesday, Post-Grad Intern for University Involvement Hillary Fowler informed the candidates of the run-off via email.

“I apologize to each of you for the miscommunication of the announcement of last week’s election results,” Fowler stated in the email.

“There will need to be a run-off to determine the President, Vice President, and Secretary between the two candidates receiving the highest percentage of the votes.”

Sean Roskamp was elected as treasurer and will remain certain in his position since he ran unopposed.

The run-off election will be held from Wednesday April 8 through Thursday April 9. Juniors will be able to vote through the same online process through the My OWU portal.

Each of the candidates particpated in the election for different reasons. Each is looking to improve the OWU community in varying manners.

Madison Snider said she decided to run for secretary because “I felt that secretary would be fun, considering that I enjoy typing and keeping notes. I could’ve joined clubs or groups, but this to me felt like a better use of my talents and would allow me to be part of something that helps makes all seniors enjoy our last year.”

Kelly Johnson said, that as “secretary I would want to ensure that majority of the Class of 2016 attends the events being planned by the senior class council through the help of the marketing team. It is important for seniors who pay their dues to get the most out of their money and their senior year.”

Johnson also added, “The events planned by the senior class council are a fun way to bring the senior class together and I would not want anyone to miss out on this.”

Milagros Green said, “I will still be working to support the student body. I am currently trying to push for free housing over Thanksgiving and spring break for students who cannot afford to travel home and prefer to stay in their own room.”

“Our liberal arts university is a place to grow as a person, and I would love to strengthen the communication and interaction among different groups on campus to make that growth happen,” said Green.

N’Toia Hawkins, who ran for vice president, said, “I think that getting people together as a class is one thing that could be improved. They tell us that convocation and graduation are the only times that our entire class will be together, but I don’t think that these should be the only times.”

Shelli Reeves, who is in the running for president said, “I view the OWU community is a place of various people and various ideas. This makes us unique because we as a whole are leaders of tomorrow. I think that everyone has immense potential and we are welcomed to learn from each other.”

An American crisis: police brutality

During the racially heated 1960s, civil rights characterized a decade of social combat. This time period also saw plenty of physical conflict that was taken to the streets. Black and white photos of black and brown people being mangled by government dogs, blasted by fire hoses or just straight assaulted with police nightsticks have been permanently burned into our past, all while they were only fighting for their humanity. As Americans, some us believed those hardships marked a point of social growth.

However, it is 2015 and the same old crap still continues. Police brutality needs to be treated as a national crisis. The topic was finally brought to national attention following the murder of Trayvon Martin. His bag of Skittles must have been a very menacing weapon in the eyes of neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman.

Next, the murder of Michael Brown brought the predominately black city of Ferguson, Missouri into the spotlight. This case was problematic for the black community because Brown was already stereotyped as a thug. Whether you’re a Michael Brown opponent or supporter, witnessing a grieving mother who just lost her child to those who are meant to “protect and serve” is resonating.

The 2014 Staten Island case of Eric Garner was particularly disturbing because the entire execution of the father of three was caught on video, and perpetually played by news organizations here to Timbuktu. According to the New York Times, from 2009 to 2013 over 1,022 complaints were filed by New Yorkers in which they said New York Police Department officers used chokeholds, which were banned since the death of Michael Stewart in 1983. Of the 1,022 complaints, only nine were substantiated. Nine out of 1,022? To make matters worse, NYPD Police Commissioner Bill Bratton doesn’t believe race is relevant to his officers when making split-second, life-ending decisions; go figure.

The most recent occurrence of police brutality bloodied a black UVA student, Martese Johnson. His bloodied face which was mashed into the concrete while being cuffed has made the front-page of publications all over. The Alcoholic Beverage Control cops who arrested Johnson, an honor student, claimed he possessed a fake id, which he was never charged with having, and was publicly intoxicated. Witnessing this video imparted some fear in me; all you have to do is swap Martese for Graham.

The elemental root of these events is easy to see Slavery was only abolished 150 years ago. Black and brown folk are the only bodies in this country ever accounted by the state as valueless. The Nation.com columnist Mychal Denzel Smith said it best, “History is present whether we invite it to the table or not. We don’t escape America’s history of racism because we believe ourselves to be good people, or that we’re just doing our jobs. It’s already defined our lives.” Aside from our shameful history of slavery and genocide of native people, the modern root is veiled racism and unconscious stereotyping. How can we come to trust our community protectors if they are racially profiling? Sad thing is, many local law enforcement makes people feel anxious and unsafe, watched and controlled. A solution lies somewhere, but where? Changing these sentiments will be one hell of a task for the American mind.