Phi Beta Delta Talk: Students Present their Study Abroad Experiences

The Phi Beta Delta International Forum sponsored a presentation on March 29 at 7:00 p.m. in the Dicke Forum. Presentations were moderated by Senior Political Science and International Studies major Megan Piersol. The students involved discussed their study, travel, and general learning experiences in Thailand, Israel, and Japan.

Daniella Chambers, an International Studies and Political Science major, discussed her tour to Israel sponsored by the United Jewish Fund.

Ayumi Murabayashi, an International Studies and Spanish major, discussed her study in Thailand.

Jiro Kondo, who is studying Creative Writing at ONU, was an officer of Japanese government who retired 3 years ago from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports , Science and Technology. Jiro talked about the relationship between Parliament and Administration in Parliamentary Cabinet System of Japan through concrete episodes of his thirty's experience. He also compared college study in the US and Japan.

Taking advantage of the opportunity to study abroad is something that is encouraged of students in the HPJ Department as well as the ONU community in general. The lessons learned in these experiences go far beyond the classroom and can set students on a totally un-planned course in life. For more information on study abroad opportunities, click on this link

Well done Megan, Ayumi, Daniella, and Jiro!

Bethany Miller Presents at Purdue Calumet

Bethany Miller, a Senior majoring in Social Studies and History presented her paper, written along with Alexander Koenig, that explored the role of group dynamics in peoples obedience to authority. Bethany and Alex wrote the paper Psychological Examination of Obedience in Historical and Philosophical Contexts for their Social Psychology course. The paper explored the social pressure that individuals felt to obey authority figures in extreme situations such as the Holocaust, the My Lai Massacre.

Alex was unable to attend and so Bethany presented alone. She did a very nice job of presenting from notes rather than reading her paper verbatim, which allowed the presentation to flow. She handled audience questions with aplomb including a question about the Nuremburg Trials asked by Dr. Crawford who went along with her to the conference.

Well done Bethany!

Students Present at Phi Alpha Theta Conference in Ashland

Drs. John Lomax and Robert Waters escorted several students to the Phi Alpha Theta 2012 Ohio Regional Meeting in Ashland on March 31. Students presenting papers included:

Adam Orlando Black
“Lords of the Lightning Bolt: The Electrifying Story of the First Standards War in America”

Patrick M. Blasius
“Opium: The Poison in British-Chinese Relations, 1830-39”

Lisa R. Bradley
“Woman Suffrage in the United States: The Endgame”

Andrew Crozier
“The Red Nile: Collapse of an Empire, Birth of a Nation”

Amarilla R. Fair
“The Castles of Men: Two Views on the Fourth Amendment”

Nicholas Evan Hills
“A Humble Executive: The President’s Role in Foreign Policy, 1789-1809”

Megan M. Piersol
“A Tale of Two Programs: Politics and the Race to Develop the Atomic Bomb”

Adam Orlando Black won the prize for best paper for the session on "The Age of Enterprise" for his paper, "Lords of the Lightening Bolt: The Electrifying Story of the First Standards War in America."

Megan M. Piersol won the prize for best paper in the session on "World War II" for her paper, "A Tale of Two Programs: Politics and the Race to Develop the Atomic Bomb."

Well done to all presenters and to Adam and Megan! Opportunities such as these will help separate you from all of the others who are competing with you for employment and positions in graduate or law school!

Graduate Parlays Washington Center Internship into Career with the U.S. Marshalls

Darrick Oswald, who graduated last year with a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice, reported to Dr. Alexander that he has accepted a position with the U.S. Marshal Service. Darrick maintained a busy schedule of external experiences while at ONU. In addition to his internship with the Marshals through the Washington Center that led to his current position, Darrick also spent a semester at the University of Queensland in Brisbane Australia.

Darrick emailed Dr. Alexander permission to use his good news in this blog, and told Dr. A that "I want to make it apparent that it was the teaching and leadership examples I received as a student that helped contribute to my work ethic and subsequent job offer. I cannot help but think about how things would be different if I had done a quickie internship last spring and graduated on time, but because I waited and did the TWC program, I was able to make the connections that led to a job offer upon graduation."

Well done Darrick! It is always great news when our graduates do well after their time here. We love hearing these stories and wish you great success in your new career!

Alumna Returns in Triumph

Kelly Morman, who graduated in 2011 with a BA in Political Science visited last week from her teaching job in Mississippi. Morman was accepted into the exclusive Teach for America Program and has been teaching disadvantaged students in the Mississippi Delta for the past year.

PMCP Sponsors Talk on Lucasville Prison Riot

Art Tate, the warden at Lucasville prison during the prisoner rebellion in 1993 was on campus on Wednesday, March 28 to present a discussion of the causes and consequences of the Lucasville Prison Riot. The lecture was held in the large moot courtroom of the law school. Dr. Jo Ann Scott and the Prison Management Certificate Program brought Tate to campus and reports of his talk were also broadcast on WLIO in Lima.

Tate began by describing the conditions that led to the riot, including rampant violence and drug use among prisoners, aided by the casual attitude and outright illegal activities of some staff. The riot was precipitated when Muslim and Skinhead prisoners joined in common cause to resist efforts to test all prisoners for tuberculosis. When news of the plan to begin testing leaked, the prisoners in one cell block rioted, killing several of their fellow prisoners and one guard.

Tate told an nearly overflow audience made up of PMCP officers, law students, and other students that the riot ended when security forces closed off the cell block and many of the Muslim prisoners were granted the ability to transfer to another prison.

photos by Jose Nogueras of ONU Communication and Marketing

Civil War Class Learns How to March

Several students from The HIST 4331 Civil War and Reconstruction class, team taught by Dr. Waters and Dr. Crawford, traveled to the University's Wetland Preserve south of Alger and spent a few hours learning the skills that soldiers during the American Civil War (1861-1865) had to know. Under the tutelage of Brendan Kinder and his fellow reenactors, the students first learned how to march, then the manual of arms.

The weather cooperated and the students enjoyed learning what the soldiers they are learning about must have gone through. Some of the more amusing, but likely historically accurate moments came when one of the officers gave the command for the students to turn right, then turned left. In another instance, when practicing bayonet thrusts, one student found her bayonet not well attached, and the device flew off the rifle barrel.

This was not only fun, but valuable in giving the students a taste of what type of training soldiers went through. The difficulty they had in mastering close-order drill makes the initial debacle at the First Battle of Bull Run more understandable as poorly trained union soldiers broke in the confusion of their first battle.

Thank you very much to Brendan and your comrades in arms!