Tag: news

By Tung Nguyen, Online Editor

How to succeed in businesses and how to effectively work in banks have been discussed year to year but “Morality in Business” does not seem so familiar for many people, both outside and inside the system.

G. Scott McComb made a visit to Ohio Wesleyan campus to share his knowledge as well as his experience about such subject on Apr. 12 in Benes Room B.

McComb is currently the president and chief executive officer of Ohio-based Heartland Bank. Before joining Heartland Bank in 1999, McComb was also an entrepreneur who has launched many successful businesses.

McComb started his lecture with the general basics of community banking. In fact, 92% of the United States’ banks are Community banks. Even though they only control less than 38% of the national assets, Community banks still stand a chance against the large-scale ones and people’s trust plays a big role in keeping these Community banks alive.

While large-scale banks use automated services to deal with a huge number of standardized accounts, Community banks put their eggs in maintaining long-term relationships with their core
customers by offering customized services, which require a substantial amount of people’s trust.

“There will be someone who really know their stuffs and will be able to guide you,” McComb said. “So don’t undermine the power of your Community banks.”

Heartland Bank itself largely relies on the confidence of its long-term customers to make incomes with the total assets of more than $683 million.

The financial crisis 2008 was also mentioned by McComb as one of the examples of how bad morality leads to devastated consequences. The crisis started when mortgage brokers initiated free loans to many homeowners without asking for pre-requisites and checking on their capabilities of paying.

Evan Cook, an OWU Economics major, said: “I definitely agree with him. Mortgage companies were pretty much giving out free loans to people that didn’t deserve them. The banks didn’t do their jobs and make sure the mortgage brokers were doing good works. When the bubble burst, people stopped trusting those banks, which helped cause the recession.”

Regarding to the decision-making process and the existing peer pressures in the working environments, McComb said: “There is no other way to put it. You just have to do the right thing, even if
the majority aren’t doing it. Let us keep it simple that way.”

After the lecture, Samantha Merino, an OWU freshman, said: “It was a nice reminder of the impact that small things contribute to the workplace. Mr. McComb did a great job on explaining these
complicated ideas to business oriented people.”

By Reilly Wright, Managing Editor

Ohio Wesleyan’s Chaplain Jon R. Powers became one of 26 preachers inducted into the Martin Luther King Jr. Board of Preachers in Atlanta, Georgia.

Located at Morehouse College, King’s alma mater, the board claims to honor faith leaders from multiple traditions. Inductees are chosen for their commitment to “promote peace, tolerance, interfaith understanding” and other ideals exemplified by King.

Rev. Dr. Lawrence Edward Carter Sr., dean of the Martin Luther King Jr. Chapel and director of the Martin Luther King Jr. College of Pastoral Leadership selected Powers for induction. The induction ceremony took place on April 5.

“To be only one of two white persons in this nationally honored group of 26 MLK preachers at the 50th anniversary of Dr. King’s assassination was a powerful and humbling experience for me,” Powers said.

King was assassinated on April 4, 1968 and this year’s ceremony took place one day after its anniversary. Powers said the consecutive assassinations of his longtime heroes of King, Senator Robert F. Kennedy and then the suicide of his beloved father was traumatic.

“Those three deaths, so close together, marked my soul for eternity, and more than any other thing, made me the chaplain I have been for the rest of my life,” he said.

Powers, who joined OWU in 1988, was raised in rural Michigan exposed to racial diversity by his black grandmother. Until he joined a city school, he said he did not recognize the racial prejudice in the world.

He said teachers told his parents that the Martin Luther King Jr. books he brought to class were “communist literature” that was causing trouble with classmates.

“I have been creating trouble among my classmates and my peers ever since!” he said. 

When meeting this year’s other inductees, Powers said there was an immediate link as they shared stories and compared notes on their lives of religious dedication.

“For each of us, I sensed this was a snapshot in time of our curiously collective lives that none of us will ever forget, and none of us will ever totally comprehend,” Powers said.

Powers’ honor is something that comes from a life of devotion toward acceptance according to Ohio Wesleyan President Rock Jones.

“Jon Powers has devoted his life to the work of justice, equality and inclusion for all people,” Jones said. “His ministry, including his ministry of preaching, reflect these commitments in every way and now is recognized by the Martin Luther King, Jr. Board of Preachers.”

Ultimately, Powers expresses his gratitude to be part of a community that embraces King’s principles as core values, but asks that these values be used as often and as diversely as possible.

When it comes to the OWU community, Powers said students, staff and faculty see the face of “an old, white bearded white man.” But, underneath, he said he has a vulnerable soul raised past racial boundaries and proud to love God by loving everyone he meets. 

“Maybe we all need to stop assuming that the person we meet on the Jay or in class is one-dimensional?” he said.

By Gopika Nair, Transcript Correspondent

The pale, yellow walls inside the Strand Theatre hold pieces of history.

A poster advertising the 1938 version of “Marie Antoinette,” starring Norma Shearer and Tyrone Power, hangs on the far right, near where Tracey Peyton, the managing director of the Strand Theatre sits. In the middle is a poster of Victor Fleming’s “Gone with the Wind.”

Scattered on the walls throughout are numerous framed certificates from the Delaware Gazette, recognizing the Strand Theatre as the “best date place” and “best family fun entertainment.”

Affixed by the entrance is the Strand Theatre’s opening announcement, published by the Journal-
Herald on April 8, 1916.

“To the public: Your handsome new motion picture home will be opened on the above date with a program of clean, wholesome, highly interesting and educational moving pictures,”
the first line reads.

But since Peyton began her term as the managing director of the Strand Theatre in 2015, she has lost count of the number of times someone has told her, “Oh, you’re a real movie
theatre.”

“The very thing that makes [the Strand] special is the thing that’s our Achilles’ heel, both to the public and the studios,” Peyton says.

Marketing the Strand Theatre is tough despite the fact that it has operated for 102 years and is the tenth longest operating movie theatre in the U.S. In addition to being nonprofit, the theatre currently has three screens and most moviegoers are charged $5 a ticket, a price that’s often paltry to break even.

“We sometimes can’t get the film we want because we can’t produce the revenue the studio wants and if we can’t produce the revenue the studio wants to see, we can’t get the
[movie],” Peyton says.

She cuts me off before I can finish asking whether the Strand Theatre’s historic reputation helps her and her booker get the movies they want.

“They don’t care,” she says. “I know where you’re going with that and they don’t care.”

Peyton’s booker represents 300 theatres across the nation. Citing the upcoming summer film “Ocean’s 8,” produced by Warner Brothers, as an example of a movie that could either do
well or poorly in Delaware County, Peyton says the studio might tell the booker that only 80 of the theatres he represents can play “Ocean’s 8.”

“They protect the radius like they do with radio stations,” Peyton says, which means that Marcus Crosswood Cinema in Columbus, Rave Cinemas in Polaris and the Strand Theatre are unlikely to get “Ocean’s 8” all at the same time.

Instead, the studio will give the movie to theatres that are guaranteed to generate the best revenue, such as Rave Cinemas, a theatre complex.

“It doesn’t matter that we’re [more than] a century old, it doesn’t matter that we’re nonprofit,” Peyton says. “What matters is how many people we can get to these shows, how long we can keep it there and [whether] it will give us the returns we want because … there is a loose expectation that each theatre has to provide or produce a certain amount of revenue.”

While the Strand Theatre tries to appeal to Ohio Wesleyan students, its main demographic is families in Delaware County. Keeping that in mind, Peyton and her booker consult past history to determine what kind of films generate the most revenue and book films accordingly.

Though nearly every Best Picture Oscar-nominated movies have been shown at the Strand in the coming weeks, Luca Guadagnino’s “Call Me By Your Name” did not snag a spot
on the theatre’s marquee.

“It would never flow in [Delaware] because it’s a conservative city, but I would love to see it,” Peyton says.

By contrast, “Love, Simon,” an upcoming film about a closeted 17-year- old boy might do well. Though the two movies share similar themes, “Love, Simon” contains a bullying subplot.

“Anything with kids and bullying resonates [here],” Peyton says.
Family, superhero and animated movies are Delaware’s top picks. Additionally, based on a recurring pattern, Peyton says Delaware is a hero-oriented town and movies such as “American
Sniper” and “15:17 to Paris” did well.

“I have tried to explore different movie niches [to appeal to OWU students], but … we can’t [play] cult favorites because as a first run theatre, we have to protect our primary times for Sony, Universal and Warner Brothers,” Peyton says.

Peyton’s attention is diverted when she catches sight of an employee working, projectionist Peyton Ennis.

“Any word on that video?” she asks Ennis.

“What video?”

“That you’re doing for—”

“Oh, I really haven’t had any time.”

“Do you think we should try it?”

“Well, I don’t know.”

“‘The Room’ and then—”

After a pause, Ennis grins. “I think we should try those movies, yeah.” Ennis goes back to standing behind the ticket counter and Peyton explains that the two of them have been toying with the idea of showing Tommy Wiseau’s “The Room” and James
Franco’s “The Disaster Artist” as a double feature. “The Disaster Artist” shows the making of Wiseau’s “The Room,” which is simultaneously a cult-favorite and regarded as one of the worst
films ever made.

Getting the two films will cost the Strand nearly $800 and to break even, at least 160 patrons must attend.

Coming from a corporate background, Peyton says working at the Strand Theatre has been a different experience. Her last job was at the Nationwide Hotel and Conference Center in Lewis Center, but she has previously worked at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton. While her past jobs provided her with an expense account, every dollar the Strand Theatre makes goes back into maintaining the building.

“But that’s what’s so charming about this place,” Peyton says. “Everyone here loves it and wants it to stay and do well, so we’re kind of like the underdog of movie theatres.”

OWU, too, has a strong connection with the Strand and has supported the theatre for several years. In 2002, OWU owned the Strand, but the university transferred the property to the Strand Theatre and Cultural Arts Association in 2006. But if the Strand Theatre and Cultural Arts Association stops operating as a theatre and cultural arts association, the property would revert
back to OWU, according to President Rock Jones.

“We remain very engaged and are grateful for many opportunities to partner with the Strand,” Jones says.

The university collaborates with the theatre to host various student events, encouraging students to seek employment, co-sponsoring the annual International Film Festival with OWU’s Film Studies program, among other partnerships.

Lynette Carpenter and Martin Hipsky, professors of English, both teach the Introduction to Film course at OWU. As part of the course, students are required to view select films, which
are screened at the Strand for $6. The movies selected are chosen by Carpenter and Hipsky and they change every year, according to Carpenter. Typically, the selection includes two to three American genre films, an adaptation, several foreign films and a recent independent film.

“The Strand is the only movie theatre within walking distance of the campus, and showing our films there allows students to see them as they were meant to be seen – on a full- size movie screen in an audience of others who are also watching and reacting to the film,” Carpenter says.

Though scheduling the film series can be challenging because of the Strand’s contractual obligation as a first-run theatre, Carpenter says OWU’s Film Studies program is fortunate to have the theatre’s cooperation.

“Few colleges can say that their introductory film students watch movies in an actual movie theatre,” Carpenter says.

While some might view high school or college as the most special part of their lives, several members of the Delaware community give that recognition to the Strand.

“The Strand is a part of their lives; it’s a part of their families; it’s a place where they’ve made memories,” Peyton says. “There no doubt in my mind that people, long after I’m gone, will continue to support this place because it’s important to them and it represents their history.”

By Casey O’Toole, Transcript Correspondent 

Mechanical bulls, Dan’s Deli and dogs are just a few of the perks in attending this Saturday’s Deltas on the Block.

The sisters of Delta Delta Delta (Tri Delta) are hosting their second annual philanthropy event Deltas on the Block Saturday April 21, from noon through 3 p.m. on Fraternity Hill.

Anyone interested in attending will be supporting Tri Delta’s philanthropy, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. President of the sorority, Leah Crawford, is optimistic about the funds being raised this year.

“Our goal for this event, specifically, is [raising] upwards of $5,000,” Crawford said. “Last year we raised around $4,000 at the event, which was phenomenal, but we think this year’s event is going to be even bigger and even better.”

Tri Delta does not keep any of the raised money and it does not toward marketing their event either.

Encompassing the hill will be a multitude of activities for families and even younger children. Many of the sorority members’ siblings are planning to be in attendance to show support for their sisters. Tri Delta’s Philanthropy Chair Emily Black is in charge of setting up the whole event.

“Some of the different events that will be happening are food trucks, a succulent stand, ‘surviving cancer’ obstacle course, Kendra Scott Jewelry, a mechanical bull and, of course, dogs,” Black said.

Many of the Tri Delta members have close connections to St. Jude. Whether through personal experience, past connections or other ties, St. Jude holds a close place in members’ hearts.

“St. Jude to me means freedom, financial freedom and knowing that your child will be taken care of with the highest and best minds in the country,” said member Nathalie Bidwell.

By Tung Nguyen, Online Editor

Mathematics and biology are two subjects that many non-scientists would think of as completely separate fields. Yet, by using specific mathematical equations, biologists can understand more of how
protein molecules move and organize for cells to function properly.

Veronica Ciocanel, a postdoctoral fellow with the Mathematical Biosciences Institute at The Ohio State University, presented her recent research on this subject to the Ohio Wesleyan community on April 12.

Titled “Modeling the Cytoskeleton Roads in Transport and Localization of Protein Cargoes,” Ciocanel
spoke in the Schimmel/Conrades Science Center as part of this year’s Science Lecture Series.

At the beginning of her talk, Ciocanel laid out two main questions: How do the protein molecules move in the precise time and spatial scales? What are the mechanisms of transport?

“Intracellular transport of different cargoes is fascinating,” Ciocanel said. “Mathematical techniques can help us study transport mechanism.”

As Ciocanel explained later in her talk, cargoes switch between different dynamical states and interact differently with motors and filament roads. Microtubules were used as an example for this biological process. Microtubules are component of the cytoskeleton and are vital in the means of creating
particular platforms for many intracellular transportation processes.

“Microtubules are the longest and largest in diameter and they are kind of like a highway,” she said. “Because they are the longest, microtubules are important in cargoes transferring across the cells.”

Ciocanel also answered her second question by pointing out that active transport on microtubules is a key mechanism. Therefore, investigating the role of microtubule geometry is considered essential.

Ciocanel explained the fundamental mathematical equations to draw the transport models of mRNA (messenger RNA) along the microtubules, along with the help of a specific microscopy data analysis. The analysis shows that these orientations are key in predicting how the mRNA particles spread.

“Differential equations modeling gives us insight into the mechanisms of the messenger RNA journey along microtubule highways and ultimately into its localization, which ensures proper embryo development,” she said. “In neurons, stochastic simulations are used to understand how neurofilaments
navigate axons and their constrictions, to maintain a healthy speed of neuronal communication.”

“I never experienced lecture talk like this before,” said Andy Xie, an OWU senior. “It made me realize the importance of collaboration and the value of open source knowledge.”