Phi Alpha Theta meets

Phi Alpha Theta, the History Honorary met to discuss fund raising ideas. The group still has several wooden models of the Hill Building that we can sell. Members were urged to try to move these as soon as possible. Ideas for group T Shirts were also discussed. Some debate swirled around whether to sell only Phi Alpha Theta shirts or to expand this to encompass the entire HPJ Department.

Also discussed was what to do about Honor Chords. The University does not want organization honors chords to be worn during graduation, so members can wear these to Honors Day instead.

Baseball Class hears about Internship at the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown

Heather Rivet, who served as an intern at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY, visited class on Friday to tell students of her experiences there. Heather, who is the daughter of ONU professors Harold and Susan Putt, told the students about the controversies surrounding the Hall of Fame, her views toward banned players such as Pete Rose, and the activities that she engaged in as an intern.

she began by mentioning the controversy of who actually invented baseball. According to myth, Abner Doubleday began the game in Cooperstown in 1839. That however, was just a myth. the game actually evolved from English games such as townball and rounders that had been played for more than a century before Doubleday's alleged entrance.

She also discussed the method for selection to the Hall. In order to be eligible, a player must have competed in the Major Leagues for ten full seasons, and be retired for five seasons. The player must then be elected by the Baseball Writers of America, or by the Veterans Committee. In order to remain eligible, a player must receive at least 10% of the votes on each year's ballots to remain in contention. Any player banned from baseball, such as Shoeless Joe Jackson, Buck Weaver, or Rose, are ineligible for consideration.

Heather told the class, that after considerable discussion with her father, she felt that Rose should be eligible, based on his career on the field. She also said that Rose was a constant feature of the Induction Week ceremonies in Cooperstown, reminding voters that he was still around and signing autographs. In this, her opinion was in line with most of the class. One student asked what she thought would happen with players who used steroids, and she answered that this would be something to watch in coming years as the steroid generation was only now becoming eligible for the Hall.

She then descried her tenure as an intern at the Hall, describing the programs that she worked on, that included creating artifact spotlights, the All Star Gala, and working with various youth oriented programs such as Ozzie Smith day. She mentioned that she was able to chat for a time with Wade Boggs, when he mistakenly arrived hours early for the day. She also described a youth day where young boys and girls had the opportunity to be coached by former major leaguers such as Bill Lee, nicknamed the Spaceman for his bizarre behavior.

Her experience as an intern was a fantastic one, and she told students how to go about applying for the Frank and Peggy Steele Internship Program, which places undergraduate and graduate student interns in a variety of departments at the Hall. She also left a number of brochures for the program, which can be picked up by contacting Dr. Crawford.

Model UN Team Competes at Dayton

The Ohio Northern Model United Nations team attended the Dayton Model United Nations Conference, held at Sinclair Community College ( Dayton OH) on February 19 and 20, 2010. The team participated in both the General Assembly Plenary and World Health Organization committees, representing the countries of Ecuador, Ghana, Jordan, Sri Lanka, Hungary, and Colombia. The members of the team in attendance were Kerrie Bell, Brandon Bryant, Zachary Esterline, Dan Jones, Megan Piersol, Rochelle Reamy, Steven Saunier, Hannah Shreffler, and Leeann Sullivan, with Professor Kofi Nsia-Pepra as the student advisor.

The General Assembly Plenary worked on two topics at the conference:

Environmental Degradation as a Source of Climate Change and the Control of Conflict Resources. In regard to the first topic, Environmental Degradation, the committee tackled solutions to water as a source of conflict, the effects of migration as a result of climate change, oil as a source of climate change, and desertification leading to migration and human rights difficulties. The second topic also garnered much work, as the committee addressed conflicts as a result of water, oil, and diamonds. Further, the committee addressed non- state actors' role in conflict as a result of climate change.

The World Health Organization worked on establishing more direct resources to limiting the impact of HIV/AIDS in Africa. The committee worked to address transparency of funding toward this issue and utilizing international nongovernmental organizations in order to quell the impact of HIV/AIDS. The team had success working in both committees, drafting and passing resolutions, to address all mentioned global problems, and used the opportunity to prepare for the National Model United Nations Conference, to be held in New York City at the end of March.

New Perspectives in Public Management

The students in PLSC 391 Public Administration turned the tables, literally, on Dr. Alexander this week. Alexander told the class early in the week that diverse perspectives in organizations can facilitate institutional creativity, and since then, the students have been rearranging themselves each day around the classroom.

Their practical application of the theory culminated Friday when the students physically rearranged the seats and the classroom podium so that Alexander and presenting students had to speak from the back of the classroom. Alexander reported that the diversity in this class has indeed spurred innovation, particularly in the students!

Western Civilization Series Adresses the Law of War

Dr. Michael Lewis of the Pettit College of Law addressed students on the law of war Tuesday afternoon. Lewis has published on the subject and also served in the U.S. Navy as a fighter pilot during the Gulf War (1991) before earning his law degree.

Lewis outlined the evolution of the law of war from St. Augustine's theory of a just war to the Geneva Accords and the United Nations Charter. In addition to the theoretical background, he discussed how the law of war had been observed, or ignored, in various wars, including the Battle of Verdun in World War I, the Rape of Nanking, and the Battle of Stalingrad in World War II. He also told students that the United States has had difficulty accepting the Geneva Accords in the past due to those accords failure to define who a combatant is.

Alexander Presents at Conference on Teaching and Learning

Professor Rob Alexander (seen here with wife Shelliegh during the "snowmegeddon" that blanketed the East Coast) attended a recent conference in Philadelphia on Teaching and Learning sponsored by American Political Science Association and presented his ideas on how honorary societies such as Pi Sigma Alpha can integrate its efforts with student learning.

Along with Alexander's session, the conference featured speakers such as former U.S. Senator and Governor of Florida Bob Graham and Rogers M. Smith from the University of Pennsylvania. Graham, who now directs the Graham Center for Public Service at the University of Florida, delivered the opening address entitled "Salvaging Citizenship: A Partnership for Pols and Scholars." Professor Smith is the Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor and was a former Vice President of the APSA Council. His Keynote Address was entitled "Teaching as Redemption."

Alexander's gave his talk during the Pi Sigma Alpha session on "The Honor Society's Role in Student Education and Professional Development," which focused on topics such as increasing submissions to PSA's scholarship programs; encouraging inactive chapters to resume initiating students and encouraging chapter activity and student learning.

Alexander was able to tell attendees about the many activities that ONU's chapter has been involved in under his guidance. Students here have taken part in surveys of presidential electors, some have co-published articles with him and have presented their own papers at conferences, including the prestigious Midwest Political Science Association. Last year, the ONU chapter was awarded with a Model Chapter award by PSA's national organization for all of their efforts.

Lomax Presents at Star-Studded Conference

John Phillip Lomax, Professor of History, delivered a paper entitled “Faithless?: Gregory IX and Frederick II , 1227-1241” at a conference in honor Professor Peter Landau of the University of Munich. The conference on the topic of “Church, Law, and Society in the Middle Ages” took place at Millersville University of Pennsylvania on January 29-30, 2010. The conference was sponsored by Millersville University and the Society of Medieval Canon Law.

Professor Landau is a leading historian of medieval law and the head of the Stephen Kuttner Institute of Medieval Canon Law in Munich. His student, Dr. Mary E. Sommar of Millersville University, organized the conference. Many of the top scholars of medieval law from all over the world came to honor Dr. Landau, including Brian Tierney of Cornell University, who is widely regarded as the dean of medieval legal and ecclesiastical historians in North America. Others included Uta-Renate Blumenthal and Kenneth Pennington of the Catholic University of America, Richard Helmholz of the University of Chicago, Anders Winroth of Yale University, and Tatsushi Genka of Tokyo University.

Dr. Lomax’s paper examined the issue of fidelity, both religious and feudal, as it played out in the thirteeth-century conflicts between the papacy and Emperor Frederick II Hohenstaufen. Lomax argued that papal and imperial encyclicals and letters show that these adversaries attempted to gain political and military support with appeals based on the canonical, civil, and feudal jurisprudence that dealt with secular and spiritual infidelity. These polemics deployed shocking charges of perjury and a heresy to draw the prelates and princes of western Christendom into the political dance of death that Gregory’s excommunication of Frederick set in motion in 1239.

Dr. Lomax has been a member of the Ohio Northern University faculty since 1988. His research focuses on the church-state conflicts of the high Middle Ages. He teaches Western Civilization, ancient history, medieval history, legal history, and military history at the university. He is a member of the Medieval Academy of America, the American Historical Association, and the Society of Medieval Canon Law.