Triumph of Alumni

Jared Hardesty, who graduated with a degree in History in 2008, recently passed his Oral Comprehensive Examinations with High Distinction! Jared is attending Boston College and finishing his Masters Program.

Well done Jared and best of luck in your future endeavors!

Veterans Share Their Experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan

On Tuesday December 10, three ONU students spoke with students about their experiences serving in the military in Afghanistan and Iraq. The veterans included:

Marcus Quinones - Married, father of three, Forensic Biology Major. Marcus began his service by joining the Marine Corp as an Infantryman. Because of his ability, Marcus was also asked to join an elite unit within the Marine Corp called the Scout Swimmers. He deployed to Iraq with the Marines. After returning home, he decided to allow his contract to expire due to the birth of his son. However, mere months after returning to civilian life, Marcus realized it was not for him and thus he decided to join the Army where he could retain the rank that he held in the Marine Corp. He redeployed to Iraq with the Army after being sent to his new unit. During this deployment, an enemy explosive hit Marcus and caused severe damage to his leg and knee. After returning from Iraq, he was medically discharged from the Army due to his wounds.

Bradley Nungester- Divorced, no children, Criminal Justice Major. Bradley began his service by joining the Army as an Infantryman. He received orders to be assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division and then deployed with this unit to Iraq in late 2006 to early 2007. One day in Baghdad, Iraq, Bradley's unit was conducting a mounted vehicular patrol when the patrol was forced to stop. He exited his vehicle and was immediately shot in the chest 3 times by an enemy sniper. Luckily, lethal damage was avoided due to his body armor. However, he did suffer several broken ribs. Later, Bradley suffered a series of heart attacks. It is not known whether a correlation existed between his being shot and the heart attacks as he may have suffered from a preexisting genetic condition. The heart condition led to Bradley being medically discharged from the Army.

Brandon J. Bryant- Single, no children, Political Science/International Studies Majors. I began my career by joining the Army as an Airborne Infantryman. After graduating from Advanced Infantry Training at Ft. Benning, GA, I went on to Airborne School and graduated as a Paratrooper. I then received orders to be assigned to the 1st of the 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment in Ft. Richardson, Alaska. I deployed to Afghanistan with this unit in October of 2003. I returned home in August of 2004 where I received orders to be reassigned to Ft. Hood, TX to the 1st Batallion of the 22nd Infantry Regimment, 4th Infantry Division. I deployed with this unit to Iraq in December of 2005 and returned home in December of 2006. In March of 2007, my contract expired and I was honorably discharged from active service in the Army.

All of the veterans above received the Purple Heart for wounds received in combat, including myself. All of us ended our military careers as highly decorated veterans.

Jones Named Mr. ONU

Trey Jones, a Junior majoring in Social Studies, was recently crowned Mr. ONU last week. The event was sponsored by Kappa Alpha Theta and was held to raise money for the sorority's philanthropic efforts.

Well done Trey!

Pi Sigma Alpha Receives Grant to Bring Scholar to Campus

HPJ's Pi Sigma Alpha chapter has received a grant of $848 from the national organization, which makes this the ninth consecutive year that the chapter has received external funding. During that time, the organization has brought in over $11,000 to be used in their programing.

This grant will be used to bring Dr. Jack Shaheen to campus to talk about his book Reel Bad Arabs that discusses Arab stereotyping in film and television. Shaheen, who published his book in 2001, is also the author of six other books, many of which deal with the theme of the popular culture's depiction of Arab Americans. In addition to his prime time talk, he will possibly also talk in some of Dr. Alexander's classes during the day.

Given HPJ's Saudi Prison Management Certificate Program (PMCP) that has brought a large number of Arab students to campus, his talk will be a timely and important one. The PMCP and the ONU Cultural and Special Events Committee will also help provide funding for Dr. Shaheen's talk.

Mock Trial Brings Home Hardware

The Mock Trial Team came home from the University of Saint Francis Mock Trial Invitational with considerable success. Team 1014 placed 5th out of 18 teams at the invitational, as well as winning the Spirit of AMTA (American Mock Trial Association) Award. A truly nice trophy, which changes colors as you watch, can be seen in the Mock Trial Team's packed award case on the second floor of Hill Building.

In addition to team success, the 1014 Team also earned individual awards. Brendan Bryant once again won Outstanding Attorney (scoring a perfect 20!), and Franklin Howard also repeated as Outstanding Witness.

The ONU teams litigate into action next at home. The ONU Mock Trial Invitational will be held on January 15th and 16th, and some 42 teams from across the nation are scheduled to attend.

Social Studies Students to Nature Center for Teacher Licensure Orientation

Eleven students and Dr. Crawford went off to the Metzger Nature Center for Teacher Licensure Orientation last weekend. While there, they watched the documentary Harvard beats Yale 29-29, and discussed how sports can be used to teach the Social Studies. On Sunday, the students presented lesson plans that they made to accomplish that goal, and all did a great job! Another purpose of the weekend was to familiarize Social Studies candidates with the Ten Themes of the National Council for the Social Studies. Dr. Crawford also went over the requirements of the Center for Teacher Education and discussed opportunities and challenges that students will face as they make the transition from student to teacher.

As always, the food, supplied by Nature Center caretakers Wayne and Carol King was first rate, and the class traveled to a local mall to forestall cabin fever. It was a fun and productive weekend!

Pictured above are (L-R) Kevin Obarski, Scott Russell, Dustin Scott, Dr. Crawford, Lawren Neeley, Ben Buehler, Amarilla Fair, Jasmine Goldsmith, Annie Hertzler, Aaron Craft, Michael King (back), and Sadie Wiley (front).

Students Take Part in DC Internship Opportunities

Several students including Richelle McMannis and Alex Habbouche (O and H in the photo below) spent Fall Quarter in Washington DC interning with the Washington Center. McMannis interned with the U.S. Marshalls, and Habbouche worked with the Federal Trade Commission. Also in DC last quarter was Matt Wiseman, who worked with the law firm of Kohn, Kohn, and Colapinto, who specializes in representing whistleblowers, or people who report employers for violating the law.

All of them report fantastic experiences at their internships. We have several more students who plan to do their internships with the Washington Center during Spring Quarter.

ONU Students in DC for Rally

Several ONU students and alumni gathered in the nation's capitol to take part in the Restore Sanity Rally put on by the Comedy Channel's John Stewart. Students who traveled from ONU included Kelly Morman and Mike Hamper (not pictured, but he was on TV). While there, they met up with other current and former students such as Alex Habbouche, Matt Wiseman, alumna Patti Stiger and

All attendees reported having a great time, and enjoying being able to meet up with those who haven't been on campus for a while.

Mock Trial Gets On-Track

The ONU Mock Trial teams turned in their best effort of the year so far, when Team 1014 finished 3rd and Team 1015 finished 5th at the Lewis University Mock Trial Tournament. Up until the Lewis tournament, held in Romeoville, Il, the ONU teams had little team success. Their fortunes turned in Illinois, however. In addition to the team's success, individual members Brendan Bryant, who was named an Outstanding Attorney, and Franklin Howard, who was named an Outstanding Witness continued to shine.

The Mock Trial team litigates into action again this Friday when they travel to Fort Wayne, IN for the Saint Francis University Tournament that begins Friday and ends Sunday.

Good Luck Mock Trial!