ONU Phi Beta Delta Earns Midwest Chapter of the Year Recognition

Ohio Northern University's Gamma Upsilon Chapter of Phi Beta Delta, the Honor Society for International Scholars, has received the Outstanding Midwest Chapter Award for 2010-2011. ONU's Gamma Upsilon Chapter also received that award in 2002. The ONU campus coordinator for Phi Beta Delta, Michael Loughlin, was nominated for the national award as one of the outstanding Phi Beta Delta organizers and contributors. Other Gamma Upsilon officials for Phi Beta Delta include: Khalid al-Olimat as President; Howard Fenton as Vice President, Roseanna Dufault as Secretary, and Suzanne Morrison as Treasurer. The student representative for the last two years has been Political Science major Kelly Morman and the alternate representative is International Studies major Megan Piersol. Loughlin hopes to be able to pick up the ONU Gamma Upsilon Chapter Award at the Phi Beta Delta annual conference in Long Beach, California later this month.

The next major event planned by Phi Beta Delta this year is an April 6, 2011 panel and debate from 7:30 until 8:30 in the Dicke Forum between ONU Associate Professor of Law Michael W. Lewis and an ACLU Washington representative named Ben Wizner. Professor Lewis has just published a volume with the Oxford University Press entitled "The War on Terror and the Laws of War: A Military Perspective." The tentative title of the debate and panel will be "The Predator Program: Legalized Assassination or Legitimate Defense?" Former ONU Student Senate President Michael Hamper and former Vice President Kelly Morman were instrumental in getting the funding for this event.

Well done Phi Beta Delta!

On Saturday, March 5, 2011, Kevin Cieplowski, B.A. in Criminal Justice, 2009 and Dr. H. "Jimmy" Wilson presented their research on crime analysis at the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS) annual conference, held in Toronto, Canada. Their research focuses on utilizing GIS to analyze crime and socio-economic variables in the community. Specifically, their research focused on a spatial analysis of property crime in Garfield Heights, Ohio committed between May 2004 and April 2009, and trying to geographically correlate the occurrence of these crimes with social, economic, and foreclosure data. As a result of their research and presentation, they were contacted about turning their research into a book chapter for an upcoming textbook on crime analysis.

Caitlin Kegley Named Honors Council Secretary

Caitlin Kegley, a senior majoring in Social Studies and History, with a minor in Public History/Museum Studies was named Secretary of the Honors Council last week. As part of her duties, Kegley will be charged with reading the roll of organizations during the spring Honors' Day celebration. Caitlin is a member of Phi Alpha Theta, is president of Studia Socialia Americae, and is also active in several other campus organizations.

Well done Caitlin!

Mock Trial Team Concludes Season

The Polar Bear Mock Trial Team concluded their 2010-2011 season with Regional competition that was held at the Hamilton County courthouse in Cincinnati. The competition was a disappointment for the Bears, as they failed to qualify either team for nationals for the first time in three years. Dr. Jo Ann Scott felt that the talent on the teams this year should have taken them farther, but that they seemed to have a mental block when competing against larger schools such as OSU or Miami of Ohio. Next year, Scott plans to replace one tournament with a weekend in Chicago scrimmaging against top teams from the city.

The only bright spot came when Brandon Bryant was named an Outstanding Attorney for the Regional. Wait 'til next year Bears!

Phi Beta Delta Talk: Students Share Study Abroad Experiences

Phi Beta Delta hosted a recent forum for students who have studied abroad in the past year. Among the speakers were Megan Piersol, Kelly Morman, Vicky Sheppard, and Jacob Jeffire. Piersol studied in Scotland, Morman in Spain, Sheppard in South Korea, and Jeffire in Germany. They regaled the assembled students and faculty with the stories of their adventures, which included trips to cathedrals, museums, and impromptu road trips across Europe. Not all of their adventures were educational in nature, of course, but they uniformly reported learning a great deal, both about their host-countries and about themselves. Such is the advantage of study abroad.

All students who are able should think long and hard about taking such a trip. This will add to the value of your degree while enriching your life. For more information, students should talk to Mitch Lawson in Lehr 122, or with Dr. Alexander, our campus representative for the Washington Center.

East Asia Class Takes to the Field

The HIST 313 East Asia to 1800 class decided to sample Asian food and culture by going off-campus. They went downtown to the New China restaurant where they sampled the cuisine of East Asia, China in particular. This is the second time the East Asia courses have ventured downtown for lunch, and this time nearly all students tried out using chopsticks. Dr. Crawford had experience eating for five weeks with only chopsticks, and some of the students, including one from South Korea, had experience as well, so things went smoothly. The most popular dish turned out to be General Tso’s Chicken, named for one of the officers who helped put down the Taipeng Rebellion (1850-1864). As usual, a good time was had by all!

Alumna's Triumphant Return: Telling Students About the Washington Center

Johni Amos, who earned her BA majoring in Political Science, is now the Associate Director of the Washington Center. Amos was on campus recently to share the programs available from the Washington Center with ONU students. She spoke in several classes and held informational sessions for students, telling them about the outstanding opportunities that are available through the Center. Students have the chance to work in offices in the federal government, with non-profit corporations, and even intern abroad.

ONU students have recently completed internships with the U.S. Marshall Service, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Commonwealth Association in Great Britain, to name only a few. During Spring Quarter, HPJ students are doing internships with the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee, the United States Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, and with Financial Executives International.

Plans are also in the works through the center to take students to the National Nominating Conventions for the Democratic and Republican Parties in 2012. Thirteen students attended one of the conventions in 2008, and had great experiences. Maybe you could be one of those students next time?