Professor Alexander on the News

With political events taking center stage in the past few weeks, Dr. Alexander has been a frequent guest on local news programs. Among the topics that he discussed with WLIO News were the debate over gun control in the wake of the shooting of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords,' the challenges faced by the new Republican Kasich administration in Ohio, and President Obama's State of the Union speech.

Alexander is routinely interviewed on the latest political news, and aside from local coverage has also been interviewed by national news sources such as CNN and CSPAN.

Keep your eyes on WLIO and you may just see a familiar face!

Professor Geistman Publishes Book Review

Dr. Jim Geistman recently had a book review published in Terrorism and Political Violence. Geistman reviewed American Swastika: Inside the White Power Movement's Hidden Spaces of Hate by Pete Simi and Robert Futrell.

Mock Trial Brings Home More Hardware

Mock Trial Team 1014 placed brought home the Third Place trophy from the Illini Tournament. The photo of Team 1014 to the left includes: Left to right: Melody Smith, Alexandra Habbouche, Lisa Bradley, Autumn Manley (coach holding the trophy), Nicole Bratton, JaMesha Williamson. The men in the back row are left to right Brandon Bryant, Franklin Howard, and Rob Kidd.

In addition to team honors, Kelly White from Team 1015 in the photo to the right also won individual honors as Top Witness.

Well done Polar Bears!

Social Studies Students Enjoy Pizza and Fun

Several of the Social Studies students, along with Dr. Crawford and Dr. Lomax gathered last week for the Winter Quarter gathering. They enjoyed pizza, although maintaining that they prefer cheese pizza to vegetarian, and talked about issues in the major and the profession. Jennifer Sherman reported on her student teaching experience, and talked about opportunities for presentations, among other topics. This was also a chance for freshmen to get to know the other majors who can help them avoid the various pitfalls that can befall students.

Thanks to Student Senate for buying the pizza and Mock Trial for providing the drinks - left over from the Polar Bear Invitational. We will do this again in during Spring Quarter.

ONU Alumni Back on Campus for Polar Bear Invitational

Several HPJ alums traveled through cold and snow to help out with the recent Polar Bear Invitational. Among those helping out were

From left to right (back row): Ricky Stahl (white shirt) graduated from ONU undergraduate (major was criminal justice) and law school, he is in private practice in Cleveland, Ohio and is the mock trial coach for Case Western Reserve University. Hank Swearingen is a third year law student at ONU law, he was a criminal justice undergraduate at ONU. Andrew Wick just graduated from ONU law in December is will be going into JAG (the Navy's Judge Advocate General service) in the summer. He was a criminal justice undergraduate at ONU and participated in mock trial all four years.

Front Row: Stephanie Pearce Burke, graduated from ONU undergraduate (major was criminal justice and political science) and law school. She is currently a District Court Judge in Louisville, Kentucky. Autumn Manley graduated from ONU undergraduate (major was criminal justice). She attend Cal Western law school in San Diego, California. She is an attorney and is currently one of the two attorney coaches for ONU’s undergraduate mock trial team.

Not pictured, but also helping out was Dan Jones, who graduated with a Political Science major and is now at ONU law.

Congratulations to all of them for their achievements after graduating from HPJ!

ONU Hosts Polar Bear Invitational for Mock Trial

the HPJ Department sponsored their annual ONU Mock Trial Invitational last weekend. More than 41 teams from 27 colleges and universities from around the nation competed in the tournament. In a strong field that included teams from the University of Michigan, Notre Dame, Loyola University, and last years' winner Central Florida, which repeated as victors, Team 1014 from ONU finished in fifth place.

students and professors from HPJ and ONU's Petit College of Law served as workers and judges, in a tournament that ran smoothly despite the cold and snow. In an article by John Curiel and published in the Northern Review, ONU' Assistant Coach Nicole Winget commented "I want to thank all of the faculty, law students and alumni who made this tournament possible. Never before has the Polar Bear Invitational gone so smoothly, and it was all due to everyone's combined efforts."

The top ten teams included:

1. Central Florida, Team 1025, Record 8-0

2. 2. Michigan, Team 1187, Record 7-1

3. 3. Eastern Michigan, Team 1009, Record 6-2*

4. 4. Loyola, Team 1274, Record 6-2*

5. 5. Ohio Northern University, Team 1014, Record 5.5-2.5*

6. 6. Michigan State, Team 1094, Record 5.5-2.5*

7. 7. Case Western, Team 1614, Record 5.5-2.5*

8. 8. Northwood, Team 1221, Record 5.5-2/5*

9. 9. Central Florida, Team 1026, Record 5-3*

10. Drexel, Team 1224, Record 5-3*

Miranda Wade Attends Inaugural Events

Miranda Wade, a Senior Political Science Major, recently attended the midnight swearing in ceremony and inaugural events at the capitol in Columbus. The left photo is Wade pictured next to Dave Yost, the new State Auditor, and at right with new Governor John Kasich and his wife Karen, worked as an assistant campaign manager for Yost. After graduation, Miranda plans to work in state government and the connections she made during the campaign will no doubt be a great help.

Well done Miranda! You are 1-0 in campaigning!

NPR Correspondent Talks with Students

Rose Previte, BA ’03, and her husband NPR News correspondent David Greene visited the ONU campus on Jan. 7 and took time to talk with several classes in the Department of History, Politics, and Justice.

Greene, who spent five years on NPR’s national desk, covered the White House during the second term of former President George W. Bush, Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the first days of President Obama. After intensive study of Russian at Moscow State University, he is now reporting from Moscow and covering the entire region, including the Ukraine, the Baltics and Siberia.

Greene shared his observations with students about impediments to democracy in Belarus as well as the obstacles reporters face in the region. He also spoke to students about his concerns over “gotcha” journalism and the need for civil discourse in the American media. Both Rose and David eagerly answered a number of questions from students and encouraged them to stretch their undergraduate studies through internships and study abroad opportunities.

A native of Lancaster, Pa., Greene is a graduate of Harvard with a degree in government. He spent seven years as a reporter for the Baltimore Sun before joining NPR in 2005. He and Rose live in Moscow.

Alum Proves That it is a Small World

Justin Dickerson, who graduated with a history major in 2008, met up with Professor Pitts of the English Department at a conference in Turkey. Dickerson is working on his Masters in History at Loyola University and was presenting a paper at the conference.

Dickerson presented his paper on Daniel Burnham, who was a leader in the civic improvement of Chicago and a pioneer in the city planning movement. Pitts is spending the year teaching English at a university in Turkey.