The Harbinger
March 26, 2007
Tuesday: Lecture by Phi Beta Kappa visiting scholar Eric Heller
Eric J. Heller, professor of physics and chemistry at Harvard University, is this year’s Phi Beta
Kappa visiting scholar. On Tuesday, March 27, 2007, he will deliver a public
lecture titled, “Picture-Perfect Persuasion: Politics and Prejudice Surrounding
the Scientific Image, 1800-2006.”
The lecture will explore the role played by the scientific
image in enhancing science, the public understanding and funding of science,
scientific theories, and scientists’ careers. Heller also will discuss why some
scientists view scientific images as if they were craven. Using the colorful
history of wave physics, including some of Heller’s own work and images, he
will illustrate how the scientific image convinces and conveys.
Heller has been a member of the physics faculty at Harvard
since 1993 and from 1993 – 98 served as director of Institute for Theoretical,
Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center
for Astrophysics. Since 1998, he has also been a member of Harvard’s chemistry
faculty. Heller previously taught at UCLA and the University of Washington
and was a staff scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory. A fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the
American Physical Society, he is the recipient of the 2005 American Chemical
Society Award in Theoretical Chemistry. Professor Heller’s current research
involves theoretical investigation of wave behavior, chaos and quantum mechanics,
and collision theory. He is also interested in science-based art as a way to
convey insights about complex subject matter.
The lecture will begin at 8 p.m. in the Kennedy Center
Ballroom.
The public is invited and encouraged to attend.
China’s
past traditions and current conditions to converge in Thursday events
American filmmaker to explore Zen Buddhist tradition;
Chinese professor to discuss environmental issues
China
will become the focus at Hiram
College on Thursday,
March 29, during events featuring Beijing University Professor of Environmental
History Bao Maohong and filmmaker Edward Burger.
While Maohong may be new to Northeast Ohio, Burger will have
come full-circle, returning to the familiar ground of a Northeast
Ohio college campus when he brings his film Amongst White Clouds
to the College.
A 1998 religious studies graduate of the College of Wooster,
Burger’s feature film examines the hidden lives of China’s Zen Buddhist hermits, a
tradition thought to have been eliminated.
Burger, the director, will speak in the Alumni Heritage Room
of Teachout-Price Hall at 4:30 p.m. and show his film at the same location at 7
p.m.
Maohong will present a convocation titled “Environmental NGOs in
China:
Past, Present, and Future,” at 12:30 p.m. in the Kennedy Center Ballroom. His
presentation will chronicle the recent growth of Chinese civil society and is
intended to stimulate discussion regarding the effects on the environment of China’s rapid
emergence into the global economy.
Professor Maohong will also attend the history department Senior
Seminar presentations from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Tuesday, March 27, spend time
networking with Hiram students interested in China, and meet with Assistant
Professor of Philosophy Colin Anderson’s Environmental Ethics class.
The China
that Maohong will be discussing is different, in many ways, from the one Burger
found in the Zhongnan
Mountains that have been
home to recluses since the time of the Yellow Emperor, some 5,000 years ago,
according to Cosmos Pictures, Inc. After graduating from Wooster,
Berger spent five years living in China.
He became fluent in Chinese Mandarin, which, in part,
allowed him to live with and film the “zealot students, gaunt ascetics, and
wise masters living in the isolated hermitages dotting the peaks and valleys of
the Zhongnan Mountains.”
According to a story from the College of Wooster,
Burger became interested in his subject after reading Road to Heaven, by Bill
Porter. Burger hoped to meet and learn from the Zen Buddhist masters but first
had to learn Chinese. That accomplished, he explored China’s mountain trails, looking
for traces of smoke to identify the location of inhabitants. In this way,
Burger found a master who would teach him.
“I’d spent years studying the books and trying to do
meditation,” he told Wooster,
“but I needed a teacher…. I was nervous at first, being so far out in the
mountains, but it didn’t take long for me to really feel part of that place and
feel that a very precious master-disciple relationship forming.
“So few people in the world have access to these monks or
their tradition,” Burger said. “I wanted to be able to share their way of life
and wisdom.” As he does so at Hiram
College, the event will
be free and open to the public.
Hiram students create their own art gallery
Members of the Hiram Fine Arts Guild, a student-run
organization, have established a gallery for student art on the second floor of
Teachout-Price Hall. The group’s inaugural exhibition is now on display.
Students Charles Eppley, Mason Milani, and Michelle
Zychowski identified the space as suitable, obtained permission to use it, and
coordinated with the physical plant staff for installation of materials
required to facilitate display.
A variety of student work is exhibited in the first show,
including Eppley’s “Physical Remains” project, which is located near the
business office.
Other students whose work appears are: Zychowski, Joel
Milani, Rachel Somoskey, Matthew Mullane, Rachel Speaker, Peggy Beebe, Maggie
Wilterdink, Mason Milani, Chuck Kraus, Amanda Cagle, and Chris Grady.
The gallery is available for viewing during regular Teachout-Price hours.
Womack receives Ohio Student Teacher of the Year accolades
Jeffrey Womack, a senior at Hiram
College and native of Olmsted Township,
has been named the Ohio Student Teacher of the Year for his work in the fall of
2006 at Chagrin Falls High School.
With cooperating teacher Brian McKenna, Womack did his
student teaching in ninth-grade and tenth-grade U.S. history and world history.
Eileen Vance, Director of Student Teaching and Field
Experience at Hiram
College, nominated Womack
for the award. Vance said there were two reasons she nominated Womack.
“He has a fabulous passion for what he is doing,” she said.
“He lives it and breathes it.”
Womack is also passionate outside the classroom. He helped coach the speech and debate team,
helped with the track team, and chaperoned dances.
Student teaching in the Chagrin Falls
school district also helped Womack stand out from thousands of other student teachers
throughout the state. The high school, named one of the top 100 high schools in
the country by Newsweek, is known for demanding excellence from both teachers
and students.
Katherine Feather, Dean of the College and former education
professor, raves about Womack’s teaching ability. “He is an absolute natural in
the classroom,” she said.
Feather also praises Hiram
College’s relationship with Northeast Ohio public schools in helping Womack and other
students discover their talents as teachers.
In the fall of 2004, Womack was placed at Cardinal Middle School
in Middlefield for field experience with cooperating teacher Debbie Barthelmes.
“He suddenly discovered his talents in the classroom,”
Feather said. “He was an average teacher
when he started, but once he saw theories of teaching and learning in action,
he came alive and was brilliant in the classroom.”
This awakening led to Womack’s growth as an educator.
Vance calls Womack a unique and creative teacher, known for
antics that include reenacting the French Revolution and dressing in character.
In a letter of recommendation, two Chagrin Falls
students wrote of Womack: “He always does something creative to get our minds
thinking in complex ways.”
“In my 12 years of teaching,” said cooperating teacher
McKenna, “I have not encountered a student teacher that is as well prepared for
the profession. His professionalism, passion, and work ethic have made an
impression on our entire staff and administration.”
Of his 12-week student teaching experience at Chagrin Falls, Womack said, “I don’t think I
could have had a better experience.” He raved about the quality of student the
district produces.
Womack, who spent four years in the Marines prior to coming
to Hiram College,
credits his experiences abroad in Japan,
Thailand, and South Korea
with helping him bring both knowledge and maturity to the classroom.
The mission of the Education Department at Hiram College
is “to prepare intellectually alive, socially responsible, ethically grounded
educational leaders,” Womack said. “When I first came to Hiram, I read that
mission and felt I had to uphold those three statements. I apply them daily in
the classroom. I take them very seriously.”
Today: Environmental Studies Senior Seminar presentations
The Environmental Studies Senior Seminar will be held today,
March 26, in Colton
120 at 7 p.m. Light refreshments will be served. Presenters and topics are as
follows:
-
Sara Morato-Querejazu: “Private
Land Conservation in Bolivia”
- Christina Dobos: “Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: To Drill or Not to Drill for Oil”
- Peggy Beebe: “Controlling the Invasive Weed: Water Hyacinth”
- Emmy Fabich: “Ethanol Fuel: An Issue of Feasibility”
- Kallie Washington: “Yucca Mountain, NV: Nuclear Waste Repository?”
- Serena Shaw: “Art as Communication”
- Katie Moore: “Disappearance of Wetlands in Ohio”
- Dave Monro: “Environmental Land Use: A Bioregional Approach”
- Ally Talbott: “Lake Erie: The Saudi Arabia of Wind?”
- Justin Evans: “Lake Erie and the Impact of Invasive Species”
Each presentation will be 12 minutes, followed by three minutes for questions.
Tuesday & Thursday: History department Senior Seminar presentations
The History Department’s Senior Seminar presentations will
be held on Tuesday, March 27, and Thursday, March 29, at 7 p.m. in the Library Instruction Room. Presenters and
topics are:
Tuesday, March 27
- Will Dahlberg: “Unburying the Hatchet—Traditions and Customs in Student Life at Hiram College”
- Chris Richards: “Nuclear Giants and Ethical Infants: American Discourse on the Atomic Bomb from 1945 to 1955”
- Sarah Woodford: “In the Company of Ladies and Wenches: English Regency Society on Sea and Land”
Thursday, March 29
- Will Boose: “Intercultural Alliances and Iroquois History: Clarifying the Covenant Chain”
- Dan Falk: “Racism Uncovered: The Plight of the Aleuts”
- John Somerville: “Deception at Tianjin: Quislings and Concessions in China’s Ports”
Tuesday & Thursday: Communication department Senior Seminar presentations
The senior communication majors will be sharing the results
of their year-long research work. All presentations will be held in the
Pritchard Room of the Hiram College Library and will begin at 7 p.m.
Tuesday, March 27
- Matt Saenz: “Sports Common Ground: A Study of Success and Goals Surrounding Player/Coach Compatibility”
- Shane Tonkavich: “Radio Ads: Are They Really More Personal?”
- Colin McCormack: “The Agenda-Setting of Regional and National Newspapers Found in the Coverage of the Columbine High School Shootings”
Thursday, March 29
- Jahmal Edwards: “The Clash of Two Giants: Broadcasting and Digital Technology”
- Meghan Urbon: “Anonymity in Computer-Mediated Relationships and the Perceptions of Similarities Leading to Satisfying Relationships”
- Erin Kelly: “Consumer Behavior: Have Men and Women’s Consumer Behaviors Become Androgynous?”
Wednesday: Reception for winners of the Barbara Thompson Short Fiction contest
There will be a public reception to honor the 2007 winners
of the Barbara Thompson Short Fiction Contest on Wednesday, March 28, at 4:15
p.m. in the Writing Center
(217 Hinsdale). Please come to
congratulate Hiram
College’s talented
writers and hear them read from their work. Refreshments will be served.
Winners
- First Place: It’s All Right, Mama, by Jessica Hammack ($500)
- Second Place: Grellow, by Brittany Stone ($300)
- Third Place: A Letter from the Philippines, by Eli Walker ($200)
Honorable Mentions
- Back-ups, by Lisa Roubic (Book Prize)
- Old Mrs. Silverfish’s Story, by Amanda Cagle (Book Prize)
Wednesday: Jazz Ensemble and Afro-Cuban Drum Ensemble spring concert
The Hiram College Jazz Ensemble and Afro-Cuban Drum Ensemble will present their spring concert on Wednesday, March 28, at 7:30 p.m. in the Kennedy Center Ballroom. Refreshments will be available at a minimum charge during the concert from the Hiram College Drill Team.
Featured on the program will be works by Billy Strayhorn,
James Van Heusen, Sammy Nestico, Burt Bacharach, Kenny G, Ben Tucker, Josef
Zawinul, and David Clayton Thomas.
Admission is free and open to the public.
Friday: Concert Band spring concert
The Hiram College Concert Band will present its spring concert
on Friday, March 30, in Hayden Auditorium at 7:30 p.m.
The program will include: President Garfield’s Inaugural
March (John Philip Sousa), Second Suite in F (Gustav Holst), Symphonic Suite
(James Clifton Williams), Pirates of the Caribbean:
Dead Man’s Chest (Hans Zimmer), and Jupiter (Gustav Holst).
Admission is free and open to the public.
April 3 convocation to explore insanity plea as legal defense
Phillip Resnick, M.D., has testified as an expert witness regarding the mental state of defendants for a number of high profile jury trials, including the trials of Jeffrey Dahlmer, the Unabomber, and many homicide and rape cases. On Tuesday, April 3, Resnick will deliver a convocation at Hiram College. The topic of his talk is, “The Andrea Yates Case: Insanity on Trial.”
Dr. Resnick is a professor of psychiatry at Case Western
Reserve University.
His visit to campus is part of the annual Margaret Clark Morgan Convocation at Hiram College.
April 6: Concert by United Voices of Hiram College
Hiram’s gospel choir, United Voices of Hiram, invites you to
take a break from preparing for finals and attend a gospel celebration. The
concert will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the Kennedy Center Ballroom.
This Week at Hiram
Monday, March 26
- Open Christianity chapel service
5 p.m., Fisher Chapel
- Environmental Studies Senior Seminar presentations
7 p.m., Colton 120
Tuesday, March 27
- History department Senior Seminar presentations
7 p.m., Library Instruction Room
- Communication department Senior Seminar presentations
7 p.m., Pritchard Room, Library
- Lecture by Phi Beta Kappa visiting scholar Eric Heller, “Picture-Perfect
Persuasion: Politics and Prejudice Surrounding the Scientific Image, 1800-2006”
8 p.m., Kennedy Center Ballroom
Wednesday, March 28
-
Baseball v. Grove City College (9 innings)
3 p.m., Robert O. Fishel Field
- Softball @ Case
Western Reserve University
(double-header)
3:30 p.m., Cleveland, Ohio
- Reception for the winners of the Barbara Thompson Short
Fiction contest
4:15 p.m., Hinsdale 217 (Writing Center)
- Jazz Ensemble and Afro-Cuban Drum Ensemble spring concert
7:30 p.m., Kennedy Center Ballroom
Thursday, March 29
- Convocation: “Environmental NGOs in China: Past, Present, and Future” by Professor
of Environmental History at Beijing
University Bao Maohong
12:30 p.m., Kennedy Center Ballroom
- Discussion by filmmaker Edward Burger
4:30 p.m., Alumni Heritage Room, Teachout-Price Hall
- Bread & Soup (guests: $4.50; students: meal swipe)
5 p.m., Dix Dining Hall
- Film: Amongst White Clouds
7 p.m., Alumni Heritage Room, Teachout-Price Hall
- Communication department Senior Seminar presentations
7 p.m., Pritchard Room, Library
- History department Senior Seminar presentations
7 p.m., Library Instruction Room
Friday, March 30
- Concert Band spring concert
7:30 p.m., Hayden Auditorium
Saturday, March 31
- Track & Field @ College of Wooster
Invitational
10 a.m., Wooster, Ohio
- Baseball @ Oberlin
College
1 p.m., Oberlin, Ohio
- Softball v. Malone
College (double-header)
1 p.m., Myrtis E. Herndon Field
Sunday, April 1
- Baseball @ Oberlin
College
1 p.m., Oberlin, Ohio
Terrier Athletics
http://www.hiram.edu/athletics/index.html.
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