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tan cardinal
otterbein university wednesday, feb. 15, 2012 vol. 93, issue 18 www.otterbein360.com
Kennels or campus?
Policy keeps students from housing pets that bark, squeak or meow Comedy group to premiere on campus for kicks and giggles 6 sit, stay:
Wide-eyed pooches are one of the many adorable pets not permitted on campus.
Senior hurdles his way to setting national record 10 photo by blythe malone
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t&c editorial staff
Mike Cirelli Lindsay Paulsen Katie Taggart Holly Takach Sabrina Kohls
news Student pets pose problems in dorms wednesday, feb. 15, 2012
Tan & Cardinal
Editor-in-Chief News Editor Assistant News Editor Opinion Editor
Assistant Opinion Editor Laina Thompson Arts & Entertainment Editor Ally Nagle Sports Editor Katelyn Hanzel Copy Editor Donny Shallahamer Copy Editor Kristen Davis Photography Editor Blythe Malone Assistant Photography Editor Anna Schiffbauer Business Manager Lindsey Hobbs Web Editor assistant editors Josh Adkins Monica Begazo Steven Collins Leah Driscoll Kathleen Quigley contributing staff Morgan Hendrickson JT Hillier Kyle Lewis Evan Matsumoto Josh Park Dennison Sleeper Rob Szabo contact us 614-823-1159 TCeditor@otterbein360.com Tan & Cardinal Otterbein University Westerville, OH 43081 advertising For advertising information, contact Anna Schiffbauer at 614-823-1159 or by email at sales@otterbein360.com policies The views expressed on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the faculty and administration of Otterbein University. Opinions expressed in signed columns are those of the writer and not of the newspaper staff. Positions in unsigned editorials represent a consensus of the editorial staff. The first copy of the Tan & Cardinal is free to the public. Each additional copy is $0.50, and payment can be made at the office at 33 Collegeview, Westerville, OH 43081. Offenders will be prosecuted. The T&C staff would love to hear from you. Write a letter to the editor and tell us what you’re thinking. Letters to the editor are letters responding to a writer or an article published in the Tan & Cardinal. Please keep your letter to 300 words or less. It is at the discretion of the Tan & Cardinal staff as to whether or not the letter will be published. Letters attacking an individual will not be accepted. Letters must include the author’s first and last name, signature, phone number, address and affiliation to Otterbein University.
University animal policy prohibits fuzzy creatures from moving into campus residence halls BY LINDSAY PAULSEN, KATIE TAGGART AND JT HILLER News Editor, Assistant News Editor and Contributing Writer
If you are a student living on campus at Otterbein University, tiny critters in dorms could cause big problems. According to the Student Code of Conduct, only aquarium fish, hermit crabs and small turtles are allowed in any residential area on campus, and according to Tracy Benner, director of residence life, this has been the campus standard for a while. Under Otterbein’s current supervision and pet policy, violations per semester remain consistently in single digits, according to Benner. This trend continued with only four reports of the level-I violation last fall. According to Julie Saker, director of student conduct and wellness, this low number reflects the policy’s success rather than failure. “In general we feel like there aren’t a lot of pets in the residence halls, and if there are, they usually end up getting caught, frequently because other students complain. The main (goal is to limit) the potential for damage from having the pet,” Saker said. There has been a decrease in the number of pet violations over the past three years, and they have only involved cats or dogs, Benner said. According to Jazmyne Flowe, an RA in Davis Hall, hamsters, guinea pigs and lizards tend to be the most common violation in the pet policy. She said that only major housing issues are typically reported to the upper staff of Residence Life, and therefore, the administration does not usually find out about minor breeches in the pet policy. Recently, sophomore public relations major Meredith Ulmer and sophomore art major Stacey Endicott were caught with a pet mouse in their room. They kept their mouse, Watson, for the first semester of the year, but an RA from another hall overheard that they had a nonregulation pet and had it removed. In addition to having the pet taken away, Endicott and
sCURRy:
thaeasy/ FliCKR
Hamsters, gerbils, guinea pigs and lizards are among the most common illegal residents in dorms.
Ulmer had to write a paper on how having an animal could be harmful to others in the dorm. Ulmer said that she does not think that all animals should be allowed in the dorm since some people have pet allergies. Both students said that the size of the animal should be a factor in determining what is acceptable. “I think having a dog or cat is too big, but if you have a kind of rodent, that’s OK,” Endicott said. Ashley Wallace, senior religion and art history major, said, “There are people who are less mature who probably shouldn’t have animals, but if people are mature about it and responsible about it then I don’t see a problem with (having a pet on campus).” Based on campus policy, Otterbein students found with unsanctioned pets face potential for monetary fines that are determined on an individual basis and must additionally pay for any potential damages to rooms and facilities, such as carpet cleanings and wall marks. Like any other level-I violation, the consequenc-
es are generally less severe than a level-II or -III violation. “Initially we try to deal with it as much on a personal basis as we possibly can,” Benner said. Melinda Latas, Clements Hall director, said that if there is a violation of the policy, students are generally compliant with the consequences. “Students will be upset if they feel like the policy is extremely unfair or without grounds ... My strategy to overcome that is to make sure the sanction addresses the community to make up for what they did, like making a bulletin board to educate the community or their peers or writing a letter of apology to the roommate who had been inconvenienced (by the pet) or to the RA who had to deal with it or something of that nature ... as long as the sanction feels like it fits the crime, I don’t usually have issues (with student compliance),” she said. According to Benner, the current policy has been in place since before she came to the school. “The fact is I haven’t done anything to try to adjust our
policy. I have seen other policies at other places and I’ve seen pros and cons of that,” she said. While it is not common for universities to offer pet-friendly housing, there are a few schools that are breaking the mold. “There are some universities that are beginning to offer (pet accommodations) as a possibility, but I’m guessing they would charge a lot more for their cost of living. In fact they’d have to have a more sound policy and stricter supervision,” Saker said. According to petside.com, a few of these differing policies and places are closer than you might think, at least in location. Students at Washington & Jefferson, a liberal arts college located in Washington, Pa., can bring family pets like cats, dogs and small birds to school, given that they live in the school’s sanctioned “Pet House” dorm. Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Fla., offers four petfriendly, air-conditioned dorm “clusters” where residents are permitted to have cats and dogs under 40 pounds. t&c
news 3 Recent Otterbein graduate ventures into the wild www.otterbein360.com
vol. 93, issue 18
Alumna Meredith Lum recounts her time spent volunteering with rescued animals in the Guatemalan jungle BY LINDSAY PAULSEN News Editor
While Meredith Lum graduated from Otterbein in 2011 with an extensive knowledge in veterinary medicine, molecular biology and women’s studies, she couldn’t speak a word of Spanish. Yet she found herself in Guatemala, nursing baby monkeys back to health, just a few short months after receiving her diploma. During her time at Otterbein, Lum juggled an equine pre-veterinary and molecular biology double major with a women’s studies minor, and also served as the president for VOX, Otterbein’s Voices for Planned Parenthood. She said that she managed to accomplish all of her goals by overloading on credit hours every quarter and by appropriately managing her time. “If you’re really passionate about something,” Lum said, “you make time to do it.” The recent graduate’s passion for women’s studies was evident when she said, “I still have my feminist studies textbook that I read for fun.”
To apply her interest in women’s studies, Lum involved herself in VOX and became president. She said that her happiest Otterbein memories came from her involvement in the organization. “It came naturally to me,” she said, attributing her willingness to discuss sexual health to the fact that her father is a gynecologist. When she wasn’t preoccupied with VOX, Lum spent a portion of her last year at Otterbein studying gene variation in primates for her senior research project. The project, combined with her honors senior year experience class, provided the push for her to study animals abroad after graduation. “I was looking for some sort of international internship opportunity that dealt with (veterinary-related things) or wildlife conservation,” she said. Lum chose to work with an organization called ARCAS. “They do really incredible work,” she said. “The animals were from illegal pet trade.” ARCAS is based out of Guatemala, where she stayed for three months and acted as a
aDVentURe:
photo pRoViDeD by meReDith lUm
Meredith Lum is up high in the trees exploring the ancient sights of the Guatemalan landscape.
surrogate mother to baby spider monkeys. According to Lum, the babies needed a parental figure after people involved in illegal pet trade murdered their mothers. “It wasn’t a very glamorous job. (I did) a lot of cage cleaning,” she said. In spite of the dirty work and the fact that she also got sick on the trip, she found the experience to be gratifying. She said
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that one of the most rewarding moments of her trip was when the babies first accepted her as their parental figure. According to Lum, when the monkeys first arrived at the facility, they were terrified and had a difficult time transitioning to their surrogate mother. About four weeks into the trip, the babies automatically came to her one day when she
POLICE REPORT
went to bring them inside after being out in the rain. “It was really cool to see (the babies’) full development ... I would go back in a heartbeat and I would do it again,” Lum said. Since returning from Guatemala, Lum is currently in the process of looking for a laboratory position at a zoo, where she can apply her experiences from Otterbein and abroad. t&c
According to the Otterbein University Police Daily Crime Log, the following has been reported Feb. 12.
1.
2/12 Disorderly conduct was reported at 25 W. Home St. Two students were charged judicially after a pool table was overturned.
2.
2/12
Two students were charged with fighting at 88 Cochran Alley. inFoRmation CompileD by Katie taGGaRt
25 W. Home St.
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Cochran Ally monKey bUsiness:
photo pRoViDeD by meReDith lUm
Nursing two baby monkeys can be a handful.
GRaphiC by KRisten sapp
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news 4 New internship coordinator The new addition to university faculty, Ashley Strausser, helps students with internships and the post-graduate planning process BY JOSH PARK Staff Writer
Ashley Strausser joined the Otterbein staff four weeks ago as the associate director for the Center of Career Planning, a title that was created upon her employment. Strausser comes to Otterbein with experience working at Denison University and Ohio State University. With this experience, Strausser said she was able to “build a program from the ground up.” With the help of Ryan Brechbill, director of the Center of Career Planning, the two are trying to promote the office to help students become more aware of the services and resources available to them.
What do you do as internship coordinator?
loved this and I want to move forward, so now I have professional experience ... to be more marketable.” It’s getting that realworld experience putting theory to practice, all of those types of things. We’re really about student success and utilizing the internship program as one of the avenues to help ensure that success.
credit at the same time. If it’s a paid internship, it’s an opportunity to, hopefully, get some money. It’s a great way to get a foot in the door of an organization. If you’re thinking, “This is the organization that I would like to work at after graduation,” many organizations will hire from their internship pool, and so “If I can get in and impress them in 10 weeks, the greater chance that I might get an offer. If I’m not a senior, I might get the offer to come back next summer and intern with them again.” Which again only increases the opportunity to get an offer your senior year, so there’s a lot. In my opinion, there aren’t good reasons not to do it.
How can you help students who don’t have a clear vision for career paths find internships?
My role, not unlike Ryan’s within the office, What we would try to is to meet with students, do is identify or help them really around all kinds of narrow down where their facets and aspects of career interests lie. We have a great development ... (I do) a lot online assessment and it’s of general career counselcalled Focus, so we might ing stuff, but also obvistart with Focus and what it photo by blythe malone ously assisting students with will do is ask them questions their internship search, their QUestion?: Ashley Strausser answers student about their interests, their job search, if they’re think- questions about finding internships. skills, their values, their ing about graduate school, morals, how they enjoy resume and cover letter develspending leisure time, and opment (and) we do practice then it’s going to give them a list interviews. What are the perks of doing an of occupations that might be a It kind of spans the spectrum internship? good fit. in terms of what the day-to-day I think they’re critical. First Typically, what I’d say is to really looks like. As far as the and foremost, I think it’s that take Focus, and then if you can internship coordinator piece, “Is this a good fit for me?” It bring five or seven ideas that there has never been anyone at gives students the ability to try sound interesting the next time Otterbein kind of dedicated to on a career with no strings atwe meet, and then let’s try to this, so really what I’m trying to tached. “If I love it, great. I had prioritize them. We might look at do right now is to get a sense of that experience; I’m making an your top three and try to do an how things are working. informed decision,” whereas, “If informational interview. Maybe What we’re really trying to it’s not a good fit for me, it’s still do a morning or afternoon shadfigure out is how we can share a great experience, I can put that owing experience to try to help opportunities broadly with our experience on my resume and I you narrow it down a little bit students and how we can create need to try something else.” The more. We want to obviously help a centralized process for doing opportunities are vast. (It’s) really them identify an internship that that. an opportunity to go out and is going to be interesting. (We’re) really trying to ensure make an informed decision, put Being willing and being enthat our students are completely theory to practice. With the state gaged to staying in that process taking advantage of these opof our economy and the comand trying out different internportunities so that they’re as petitiveness, the more experience ships. Maybe we’ll meet two or competitive as possible and as that you have, the more comthree times to hone in on that prepared as possible ... when you petitive you’re going to look to as opposed to the student that gain that practical experience, an employer. It’s to give you the comes in and knows he wants one, it’s going to give you a sense advantage. For the students that to do a marketing internship ... of “Is this something I really do need credit, it’s a way to gain Both are really great types of stuwant to do?” and two, “I really practical experience and earn dents to work with. t&c
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wednesday, feb. 15, 2012
Tan & Cardinal
Congratulations to the Tan & Cardinal for winning the following Ohio Newspaper Association Awards: 3rd in News Coverage 1st in Editorial Writing 2nd in Design 2nd in Photojournalism 2nd in Website
vol. 93, issue 18
arts & entertainment
www.otterbein360.com
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Love our music but live outside the 97.5FM radio range? No problem! Simply go to www.wobn.net and click on the “Listen LIVE!” link. Anywhere, anytime - we’re streaming!
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loVinG hanD:
photo bt blythe malone
Valentine’s Day celebrates love; however, not everyone spends this holiday with someone special.
Weekly dose of Adventures entertainment
in speed dating
Writer ventures to campus speed dating event to find a valentine Valentine’s Day is over. No more annoying “Every kiss begins with Kay” or pink heart overload. However, if you were disappointed this year because you didn’t have someone to share the STEVEN holiday with, COLLINS why not try something a little crazy next year? As I learned from my experience last week at the speed “friend” dating event put on by the Campus Programming Board in the Otterbein Campus Center, the game of speed dating can be a lot of fun. You just have to know what you’re getting yourself into. Pregame: After it was decided (more by my friends and supporters than myself) that I was going speed dating, I wanted to get a little research and background on what was about to unfold. I asked a couple of my friends for any tips or advice they could offer. While they told me to be honest and be my usual self, all that a few of them could give me was a nice “Remember the Alamo.” (I’ve been known to randomly say this.) Remember the Alamo? A 13day long failed negotiation that ended in roughly 600 casualties.
Normally I’m all for violence, but on this occasion I’m going to have to take a pass. So after going online and seeing some tips, I decided that it’d be best to just go into this thing with an open mind and a relaxed attitude with no expectations, and that mindset would get me through it just fine. I’ve got to be totally honest: I was a little anxious for the event. Not nervous, but I was generally curious as to what would happen. And I wasn’t let down. The Game: Speed dating started a little later than it was intended to, mostly because it had a rather small turnout. There were only a handful of students at first, but later on it ballooned to around a dozen or so. Meeting the first person was somewhat strange, kind of like seeing a polar bear run on a treadmill. Everyone has to get through that awkward “What the hell am I doing here?” phase and find his or her comfort zone, which for some is a made-up character or some other version of themselves. This is something that interested me. I’m generally not a conspiracy theorist, except for, say, JFK’s assassination, but I wondered if the people I was talking to were being generally honest. I didn’t know them, and the chances were that after this thing was over I would probably never talk to them again.
So, I turned on the BS alarm in my head and just talked. I was completely honest with everyone that I met in the short amount of time that we had together. I talked about my love of baseball and the Reds, how I make a pretty good spaghetti sauce and about the time I saw Aaron Boone, my favorite baseball player of all time, go for the cycle in the final year of Cinergy Field. (I’ll always call it Riverfront Stadium.) With so few people there, I got the opportunity to have about 10 minutes with just about everyone. Who I was talking to didn’t matter; I discovered that it was really more about trying something different and wanting to open up than it was about finding a connection. Postgame: So did I hit anyone up on Facebook after speed dating? Nope. There is something to the gamesmanship that says you don’t call the other team after a big game. If I’m Obi-Wan, I’m not calling Darth Vader to congratulate him after he defeats me on the Death Star. But I didn’t really expect anything to come of going speed dating anyway. Overall, I have to say that it was a lot of fun and I would suggest looking around the city for some speed dating events. You never know what could happen. Who knows, you might just find next year’s valentine.
t&c
Keep your eyes open as we post new shows and sports programs here throughout the semester! And as always, keep it locked on The Wild Card!
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arts & entertainment
Tan & Cardinal
wednesday, feb. 15, 2012
photos by blythe malone
the FUn bUnCh:
The improv comedy troupe consists of nine members, all of who have theater and acting-related majors, though the group is not exclusive to students in these majors.
Student group brings improvised comedy to campus Mainstage Improv has its debut show Feb. 25 at 8 p.m. in the Philomathean Room of Towers Hall BY LAINA THOMPSON Arts & Entertainment Editor
“I hate the audience. I hope that no one shows up,” Sean Murphy, sophomore acting major and head of Mainstage Improv, jokingly said. In reality, an improvisational comedy show is highly dependent on the audience. “Everything we do will be based on audience suggestions,” Murphy said. “If the audience throws out the word ‘dildo,’ we have to go with it.” Murphy is one of the founding members of Otterbein’s improv troupe, Mainstage Improv, a fairly new group on campus. The troupe was started midway through last semester, when several people in the Theatre Department pointed out the absence of such a group. The actual idea started in the minds of Murphy, Corinne Munsch and Marina Pires last year, when they were freshmen. “We would sit in our dorm room, eat pizza and talk about how cool it would be,” said Munsch, a sophomore musical theater major. The name came as more of a joke, when the group found
out they would not be able to get quality theater space for their shows and rehearsals. They practice in the downstairs lobby of the Campus Center and will be holding their shows in the Philomathean Room on the fourth floor of Towers Hall. “It smells like cat piss,” troupe member and sophomore acting major Nina Anderton said of the Philomathean Room.
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Everything we do will be based on audience suggestions.
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Sean Murphy sophomore, acting However, the funny smell of the room is taken as more of an endearing quality to the group, rather than a burden. Their first show will be Feb. 25 at 8 p.m. It will be free. They have never performed outside of rehearsal, and Murphy is curious to see how they will be received.
“I think a lot of people are going to be expecting ‘Whose Line is it Anyway?’” Murphy said. He says the show won’t be like the popular improv comedy TV program. However, with improv it is hard to tell just how the show will be. It will consist of eight games with different members of the troupe performing in each game. Murphy expects the show will last anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half. Again, the length will really depend on the audience, its input and its reactions. They are expecting a big turnout from what they have heard by word of mouth around the Theatre Department and campus, but they aren’t worried about running out of room. Since food is not allowed in the Philomathean Room, Murphy urges everyone to eat beforehand. The group plans to have one show per month, keeping it near the end of the month like the show at the end of February. Murphy plans on future shows being longer than the first one, reaching two hours. Aside from Murphy, Munsch, Pires and Anderton, there
are five other members in the troupe. They are Pascal Domicone, Topher Loos, Mariah Parris, Harry Sanderson and Joyah Spangler. There are two freshmen in the troupe, four sophomores and three juniors. Next year, since there will be no senior spots to replace, the troupe plans on add-
lol:
ing one or two more freshmen or someone from the list who almost made it in last year. “I just want to keep the troupe around seven to nine people,” Murphy said.
t&c
photo by blythe malone
Mariah Parris and Marina Pires improv a scene in a barber shop, a suggestion from a troupe member.
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opinion
Tan & Cardinal
wednesday, feb. 15, 2012
Student saddened by school ban on furry friends Otterbein sophomore disputes pet policy for on-campus residents, suggests healthy living tips for students with pets Sadly, if you want a pet at Otterbein, you can’t have one with fur. That’s right, the pet policy at Otterbein University states, “For purposes of health and sanitation, only aquarium fish, hermit crabs and small turtles KYLE are allowed in LEWIS any residential area with the agreement of roommate(s). Students are permitted one fish tank of 20 gallons or less per residential room.” However, I think we should be able to have small rodents in our rooms, too. As long as the
animal doesn’t have total freedom and as long as all persons of the room consent to the new pet, I would be perfectly okay with it. If they’re in the cage they can’t cause any destruction. The handbook also says that you need to provide a clean and healthy environment for your fish, so why can’t we do the same for other pets? But what are the health and sanitation reasons? Sure, there’s bound to be somebody with an allergy to animal dandruff, but I’ve never heard of anybody having an attack through a door. But allergies aren’t the main concern. Tracy Benner, director of Residence Life, said that allowing other pets in dorms would lead
to questions like, “How many? Are they allowed to have babies? What if somehow they pick up fleas?” Students should only be allowed to have one small animal such as a rodent or small reptile per room. Limiting the number of pets to one would eliminate the fear of reproduction, and the owner should take care of their animal so that the possibility of fleas won’t be an issue. Themed housing is a completely different story to me. I believe that on-campus theme house residents should be able to have any kind of animal they want. As a person who lives in a Greek house, I know that nothing in the house I live in even
belongs to Otterbein. Everything in the house belongs solely to my fraternity and to the members of the organization. They are the ones responsible for anything that becomes damaged. Fewer people mean fewer risks of allergies. If everybody approves of the pet, then there should be no problem. In my room, I have a 10-gallon tank with neon fish. But honestly, the school rejected my first choice, a chinchilla, because it had fur. What I wonder is how much different is a fish from a small mammal when it comes to pets? They’re both in a container that they can’t escape from, and they both require much care in order to survive.
There have been a few violations of this policy. “Usually, our pet violations are cats and dogs,” Benner said. But the pets have been well taken care of, and if people are willing to put in the work and responsibility of having a pet, they should be able to keep them. Contained animals pose no real health issue if taken care of properly. If everything stays clean like it should under normal conditions, then we should have a more diverse pet selection. t&c KYLE LEWIS IS A JUNIOR SPANISH MAJOR AND A CONTRIBUTING WRITER FOR THE t&c.
Sophomore urges students to act against ACTA T&C writer discusses life after the SOPA bill and what will become of downloading if ACTA wins
I’m not saying that I’m a thief, but I may have borrowed a few songs from the Internet at times. Maybe I downloaded the finale of “Friends” because I don’t want the boxset, but I want to find out if any of them ever get killed off (spoiler alert, they don’t). DENNISON And maybe I also SLEEPER got the entire works of Celine Dion because I like romantic showers but hate getting laughed at by the judgmental clerks at Best Buy. The point is, there is an attempt to crack down on illegal file sharing that could harm our privacy, threaten us with fines and jail time and censor free speech and information across the Web. The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, or ACTA, is aimed at reducing illegal downloads of copyrighted materials, like movies and music. It was created in secret by 39 countries including the United States, Japan, South Korea and the European Union, and was negotiated between these countries instead of being shared with the public and voted on democratically.
Popular peer-to-peer file sharing sites MegaUpload and BTJunkie have shut down due to increased scrutiny and indictments of policy because some users shared copyrighted material through their websites. The ACTA bill gives the government the power to shut down websites that the entertainment industry claims violate their rules. Websites can be shut down for the content they host, the things they say and for user activity on their site. More importantly, the act is a huge violation of individuals’ privacy. If you’ve ever deleted your history, then you admit there are things on the Internet you don’t want anyone to see, probably some things you want to un-see also. Well, ACTA requires Internet providers to send the government reports of your Internet use. How much you use it, what you say, where you say it, what you buy and watch. If you violate their laws, your access to the Internet will be shut down. Here at Otterbein, they consider Internet theft to be a level-III violation, equal to that of an alcohol violation. The freedom and anonymity that helped create the Internet could be lost, allowing the gov-
anti-aCta:
photo by pieRReee/FliCKR.Com
Geeks and “noobs” alike thought SOPA was the end, but ACTA threatens Web freedom.
ernment to decide what information is distributed and who gets to see it. Internationally, doctors are concerned that provisions in the act will limit what medicine can be distributed to poor countries. The act also places limits on counterfeit medication that allows generic medications that resemble name-brand to be seized. This means that cheap medications given to poor countries could be taken unless they have the stamp of an expensive popular brand, allowing big phar-
maceutical companies to make more money. The good news is that you can do something about ACTA right now. You can go to www. stopacta.com for more information, but basically it comes down to contacting your representatives. It takes about five minutes, and some websites will even call or email them for you; you just need to put your name on it. When the similar act SOPA was in Congress last month, popular sites like Reddit, Wikipedia
and WordPress blacked out to raise awareness for the dangers of censorship. Members of Congress received thousands of messages from people protesting the act, which was eventually defeated. Keep freedom of speech in the Internet, and keep the government out of your history tab. t&c DENNISON SLEEPER IS A SOPHOMORE PUBLIC RELATIONS MAJOR AND A CONTRIBUTING WRITER FOR THE t&c.
opinion
vol. 93, issue 18
www.otterbein360.com
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thUmbs Up thUmbs DoWn BY HOLLY TAKACH Opinion Editor
We whined and they listened. Quesadillas are a “special” in the OtterDen until Friday. So stock up, ladies and gentlemen.
photo by KRisten DaVis
CURb yoUR enthUsiasm:
Despite the plethora of signage that has been posted up and down Grove Street, drivers continue to pull over to the side of the road and park their cars. Whether it’s done out of habit or convenience, people are going to have to start adjusting to this change to avoid getting a ticket.
Parking changes hold no benefits
Junior gives tips as to how students can survive the current parking situation on campus Changes in signs, zones and an endless supply of vehicles all add to the parking problem we have here on campus. Now, the removal of parking on Grove Street has made it impossible to park there at ROBERT all, Sundays SZABO excluded. This alteration, however, was made in part by the city of Westerville. It was made so that emergency response vehicles have the ability to drive through quickly. Because of poor signage in the parking lot north of Garst Hall and the Rike Center, it is unknown to many that the lot is specifically for faculty and staff. Enforcement was at ease prior to the recent sign upgrade, but the following morning, students were issued tickets before timely notification was given. The DeVore and Triad parking, which is linked to that lot, has always had parking issues — too many cars and not enough
space. People have resorted to parking elsewhere, even off campus, and this simply should not be happening. Remember walking to your car to find a yellow ticket on the driver’s side window for the violation of a rule you were unaware of breaking? How about that Sunday night you drove back from home and pulled up to your building’s lot, only to turn around and park unnecessarily far away because of the lack of spot availability? Included in the last issue of the T&C was the university’s plan for more parking. The only addition The Collaborative Inc. has hinted at is to demolish Garst Hall, Engle Hall and Scott Hall, build new residence quarters and add parking. Where exactly do they plan on adding parking if they are simply rebuilding the demolished residence halls? Only time will tell. Otterbein needs to look at this problem head on and deal with the issue at hand. There are major flaws with the parking zones, and we are not working at an efficient level. We need to contact the faculty and work
together — student involvement is key. For the time being, I suggest a few simple rules to go by when attempting to park on campus.
of the stadium. People actually pay good money to live in the residence halls and expect to find parking nearby.
1. Park closer to your own dorm,
and email notifications.
and if you plan on not using your car for many days, possibly transfer it to a less desirable lot, such as the stadium parking.
2. Carpool more. Not only is it better for the environment, but it keeps the number of cars at Otterbein down; even a little help goes a long away. 3. Even though your parents
6. Always look for sign changes 7. It would also be in your best
interest to purchase a decal for your vehicle the moment it enters Otterbein’s campus. It’s been a popular occurrence to wait until you recieve a ticket to go to the station to pick one up, seeing as you can get out of paying for your first ticket by simply buying the parking decal.
may have just purchased you a new Hummer H2, try not to take up multiple spaces. If I had a nickel for every car I’ve seen that was parked skewed, I would have paid off my tuition years ago.
8. If you switch cars, be sure to
4. Try to obey the speed limits and watch for pedestrians; your riced-up Honda Civic is only getting the attention of the campus police.
9. Contact the campus police at 614-823-1222 if you have any questions regarding parking zones and permit issues. t&c
5. Commuters, I would sug-
gest you pick a lot on either side
grab the decal off of your old window and update the Police Department on your vehicle change. If you forget, you’re required to purchase a new one.
ROBERT SZABO IS A JUNIOR BIOCHEMISTRY MAJOR AND A CONTRIBUTING WRITER FOR THE
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Free movie night is this week. It’s the one event where Otterbein students will actually show up and enjoy themselves.
All the groups at the tables in the Campus
Center feel compelled to hand out candy during Valentine’s week. Who cares about a lover when you have a handful of Dum Dums?
Whitney Houston passed away this weekend, and it dominated social media websites. #andiwillalwaysloveyou
After all my complaining about the Cardinal Cab last year, the 15-minute walk in the snow to the Art and Communication building makes me cherish the warm memories of the ill-timed and smelly bus.
My fingers were frozen after the walk to Towers Hall, and it took me four attempts to open the lock to my mailbox.
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leaps anD boUnDs:
wednesday, feb. 15, 2012
photo by KRisten DaVis
This past weekend freshman Abbey Gray placed sixth in the 60-meter hurdles with 9.47 seconds and finished fourth in women’s long jump with 5.32 meters.
Track teams making a name for themselves
The men and women finish latest meet with strong results and a national record thanks to Austin Curbow BY MORGAN HENDRICKSON Staff Writer
On Feb. 11, a frigid Saturday, the Otterbein Cardinals hosted the All-Ohio Division III track meet at the Rike Center. The men’s team scored 35 points and placed eighth in the 18-team meet while the women continued their hot streak and scored 57.5 and placed fourth in the 19-team meet. The atmosphere was electric, the meet was filled with great competition and both the male and female Cardinals were ready to deliver.
The day started out with the field events. “The All-Ohio atmosphere is much more intense than normal track meetings. I was excited and ready to go,” senior Karl Wunderle said before his pole vaulting event. At the event, Wunderle and junior Aaric Milligan tied for third place. “I got back to where I need to compete at the national level, but my height cleared did not reflect it,” Wunderle said. The women’s long jump had three Cardinals placing in the top eight.
Junior Kristen Bennett came into the meet having previously completed a 5.41 seed mark. She placed second in long jump with 18 feet 2.5 inches, which was only half an inch away from first place. But the jump set an Otterbein indoor track record. Bennett said she is proud of her performance, but is still very competitive. She said, “I am proud of my teammates, freshman Abbey Gray and freshman Kristen Norris. They both set their personal records and were in the top eight as well.”
Overall, both the men’s and women’s teams experienced success. Their family-like unity could be seen throughout the meet as they exchanged kind words and motivated each other. “I feel like we brought a lot of energy to the track,” Wunderle said. “Everyone was cheering their teammates on, and even those who weren’t competing were out there being loud and supporting their teammates. It was a great atmosphere from a team’s perspective. The excitement really helped us compete well.”
Senior sets national and school record at latest meet Senior Austin Curbow ran the 60-meter hurdles and had an outstanding performance at the Feb. 11 meet. Curbow blew his seed time of 8.14 seconds out of the water and broke the school record with a time of 8.01.
Along with breaking the school record, Curbow also gained the title of No. 1 in the nation with his newly recorded time. This has been a personal goal of his, along with winning the OAC (check) and a national championship (still trying).
Before the race, Curbow was excited because of the high level of competition. Curbow, who just recently came back from an injury, prepared for the meet by doing as many drills as he could in order to get his form back.
Does he feel pressure now that he is No. 1 in the nation? “No, I feel like a weight has been lifted off my chest. I know what I can do and how I can perform,” he said. t&c photo by KRisten DaVis
The men and women will travel across town to take on rival Capital University Feb. 18.
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nUmbeR one: Austin
Curbow set the national record in hurdles with a time of 8.01 seconds.
UniteD:
photo by KRisten DaVis
Coach Richardson shares her favorite memories of the seniors.
Seniors remember Basketball seniors reflect on the past four years BY EVAN MATSUMOTO Staff Writer
When the lights flicker on in the Rike, seniors Kristi Kotterman and Shea McCoy can be seen quietly leading by example while Julie Macioce can be heard, keeping everyone in the game as the team’s vocal leader. Standing at 17-6 with two games remaining and fighting for third place in the OAC, the women’s basketball team looks to Kotterman, McCoy and Macioce to lead this Wednesday and Saturday. With six varsity letters, two Second Team All-OAC finishers and over 2,300 total points between them, the seniors on the team are its backbone. Both McCoy and Kotterman broke the 1,000-point mark for their respective careers this season. McCoy broke the barrier early in the season in a win against Washington and Jefferson College, and Kotterman topped 1,000 in a December matchup against John Carroll. “I’m just proud of what they have accomplished by scoring 1,000 points,” Macioce said. But when the lights fade and the clock is switched off, memories of the past four years come back. “I’ve been playing basketball for as long as I was physically able to,” McCoy said. “(I) went to Indiana Tech (as a freshman), but got homesick and decided to come closer to home.” McCoy, a psychology major from Delaware, Ohio, considers “right now” to be the favorite moment of her career. With the team fighting to make the NCAA tournament, she is just excited to
see where the rest of the season takes them. As for the 1,000 points, she said she never really thought she could obtain it. “When I did — I can’t really explain it. It’s definitely a huge milestone and I’m thankful for that,” McCoy said. Kotterman, a 5-foot-7-inch allied health major, shared the same sentiment. This season in particular is quickly becoming her favorite memory. “This season is memorable for us … we’re going to fight in the OAC Tournament,” Kotterman said. Making the memories even fonder is the 1,000-point benchmark she broke earlier in the season. “Coming here, (it) wasn’t even a thought,” Kotterman said. “Achieving that and having a great season made it one thousand times better; it means so much more (to have) a great season.” Described as the team’s voice by both McCoy and Kotterman, Macioce said that some of her favorite memories are the times the team beat Capital. A native of Gahanna, Ohio, Macioce is a health promotion and fitness major with aspirations of becoming a wellness coordinator. The trio’s final two games are looming on the horizon: The ladies host Heidelberg on Wednesday before traveling to Wilmington on Saturday to round out the regular season. OAC Tournament play begins Feb. 21. However the season ends, it is going to cement itself in the memories of these seniors for the rest of their lives.
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Tan & Cardinal
cardinal candids
wednesday, feb. 15, 2012
(Top left) It’s Abuse provides “Bro Tips” to help promote healthy relationships; (top right) Kelsie Randall and Heather Doerschuk spread the word about MEISA’s Music and Romance event; (middle right) the members of Mainstage Improv comedy troupe put their game faces on; (bottom right) Ayla Starcher soars at the Division III All-Ohio Championships; (bottom left) Students hurry to class on a winter day.
PHOTOS BY BLYTHE MALONE AND KRISTEN DAVIS