The Harbinger

November 13, 2005

 

Conference Will Show How Liberal Arts and Careers Connect

Hiram College will play host on November 30 and December 1 to “Education That Works: A Conference on the Liberal Arts and Careers.”

The idea of Hiram Board of Visitors member Roger Herman (pictured), a workforce futurist and author, the conference will bring to the College keynote speakers Bob Danzig and Ellen Yerman, as well as executives, artists, authors, government officials, and other subject matter experts.

These experts will meet with Thursday, December 1 morning and afternoon classes of their host professors and students to explore how a liberal arts education prepares students well for a career in each expert’s field.

There also are two sessions open to everyone at the College – the morning plenary session with Danzig and the luncheon address by Yerman.

Danzig, who grew up in five foster homes, retired from 6,000-employee Hearst Newspapers as chief executive officer. A magna cum laude graduate of Siena College, he has become a motivational speaker and champion of foster children, but his first expertise was in growing a newspaper company.

During his 20-year career as head of Hearst newspapers, the group had a renaissance of talent, technology and reputation. Cash flow increased 100 fold. Danzig will speak, during a 10:50 a.m. plenary session, about how liberal arts graduates fit well into journalism and other businesses from “The Corporate Perspective.” The public is also invited to attend the session in Hayden Auditorium.

Hiram College Dean Michael A. Grajek is encouraging campus involvement in the conference beyond the classes the visiting experts will attend. A lunch will be held at noon in the Coleman Sports Center, where Ellen Yerman, executive director of Career Services and Cooperative Education at Villa Julie College near Baltimore, Maryland, will give the keynote address, again stressing the value of a liberal arts education in today’s job market.

Yerman has more than 30 years of professional experience in government, with for profit and non-profit organizations. She led Villa Julie College’s creation of Career Architecture, a process for students that includes self-discovery, career-development, foundations, career exploration, and career preparation. She will speak on “Liberal Arts and Careers: The Vital Connection.”

At a reception and dinner for visitors, professors and administrators on November 30, Herman will give the conference’s opening address on “Trends, Shortages, and Demand for Talent.”

In addition to the three keynote speakers, among the subject-matter experts who will be featured are:
·    Ted Daywalt, CEO of VetJobs.com
·    Don Drumm, who began his art career at Hiram in 1952-54 and owns Don Drumm studio in Akron
·    Daniel Gauntner, Chief of the Engineering Systems Division, Glenn NASA Research Center in Cleveland
·    Joyce Gioia, president of The Herman Group and co-executive director of the Human Capital Research Institute
·    Dr. Michael Meador, Chief of the Polymers Branch, Glenn NASA Research Center
·    Fred Messing, Life Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives
·    Randy Myeroff, CEO of Cohen and Company of Cleveland
·    Dr. Leonor Osorio, a physician
·    James Pennline, Computer Scientist/Mathematician, NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland.
·    Steve Patrick, Director of Workforce Development & Training for the U.S. Printing Office in Washington, D.C.
·    Joel Reaser, Senior Vice President of the National Older Worker Career Center in Arlington, Virginia
·    Kevin Wheeler, speaker author, teacher and consultant in human capital acquisition and development and corporate education
·    Margaret Wong, attorney and owner of MWW Immigration Center in Cleveland

Hiram Welcomes Hurricane Survivors

Hiram College will welcome artists Jeff Schmuki (pictured) and his partner Lee Renninger to the College community with a potluck reception in the Frohring Art Building foyer and upstairs gallery on Wednesday, November 16, between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Jeff and Lee come to the College from William Carey College in Gulfport, Mississippi. They were among the victims of Hurricane Katrina. They lost their home, their college, and their jobs, but they were not defeated.

They painted a sign on their home, which had been torn apart by high wind speeds and a 28-foot storm surge. It read: “We are still alive.”

When Jeff, an associate professor of ceramics and art history at William Carey, began contacting colleges and universities in an attempt to rebuild his life and career, Hiram responded.

Jeff and Lee will be available to work with Hiram art students and to speak to other classes.

“In my work I consider what may lie beyond the horizon regarding landscape in art,” Jeff has written on his website http://www.jeffschmuki.com.

From Hiram College Jeff and Lee will begin to explore new horizons. For the past 10 weeks they have been cleaning up the muck, sleeping on floors and preparing to begin their lives again.

“We would like to throw them a really fun get-together,” said Professor of Art Linda Bourassa in a campus e-mail.

Hiram College is providing Jeff and Lee with a place to live, studio workspace, and dining hall privileges for seven months as they search for jobs.

Bourassa asks members of the Hiram College community to bring a dish, beverage, or picnic ware to the reception. Those who would like to donate items to Jeff and Lee can bring them as well. There also will be envelopes and a gift box for those who wish to make a monetary donation.

“If you’re too busy, too broke, or too stressed,” Bourassa said, “stop by anyway and we’ll make your day, too, with good will and snacks.”

Students may provide music in the spirit of the South in order to make the newest members of our community feel at home.

Physician-Author Bergman to Address Fall Convocation

Stephen Bergman, who writes under the pen name of Sam Shem, has been named the first Margaret Clark Morgan Scholar and will be the final speaker in the Fall Convocation Series.

He will speak on “Conversations in Addictions and Mental Health” Thursday at 12:30 p.m. in the Kennedy Center Ballroom. Bergman also will meet with biomedical humanities classes.

The Morgan Scholar is an endowed lecture position. In providing the College $50,000 toward its $1 million National Endowment for the Humanities challenge grant, the Margaret Clark Morgan Foundation specified that a portion of the interest from the larger endowment be directed toward helping enrich the College community’s understanding of mental health issues.

Bergman graduated from Harvard Medical School and earned a doctorate in physiology from Oxford. He is on the faculty of Harvard Medical School and the Stone Center at Wellesley College.

Bergman has said he was a writer before he was a doctor, deciding that he could understand people better by writing about experiences with them. His novels include “The House of God,” “Fine,” and “Mount Misery.” “The House of God” is virtually mandatory reading for every medical student.

Bergman is not a newcomer to Hiram College. He helped to celebrate the Center for Literature and Medicine’s 10th anniversary in 2001. Before he arrives on campus Thursday, Bergman will make Grand Rounds for the Department of Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic.

 

Jazz Groups Present Fall Concert

The Hiram College Jazz Ensemble, Jazz Combo and Advanced Afro-Cuban Drum Circle will present the Fall Concert Wednesday, November 16, in Frohring Music Hall at 8 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public.

Kiwanis Art Auction and Wine Tasting Friday Night

The Kiwanis Club of the Western Reserve will hold their third annual Art Auction and Wine Tasting on Friday, November 18 in the Kennedy Center Ballroom.  The preview and wine tasting begin at 6 pm, with the art auction beginning at 7 pm.

This year's event will be a little different than in previous years.  Co-sponsoring the event with Kiwanis will be Candlelight Winery in Garrettsville.  There will also be auctions for some local items, such as a night's stay at the Hiram Inn, some things from the bookstore, gift certificates from area restaurants, and a private wine-tasting party for ten people.  Finally, a different company is bringing a wide variety of things, including memorabilia from sports, politics, and entertainment (as well as great art).

Hiram College President Tom Chema will be the Honorary Chairperson for this year's Art Auction, with proceeds going to benefit the needy children in Portage County and Northeast Ohio.  For more information, contact President Mike Corr or Vice-President Dottie Summerlin.

Madrigal Tickets Available for All Performances

Yuletide Revels, Hiram College’s annual Madrigal performance, will be held in the Kennedy Center Ballroom on Friday and Saturday nights, December 9 and 10, and Sunday afternoon December 11.

The Friday and Saturday dinners begin at 6:15 p.m. and the performances follow at 7:30 p.m. The Sunday brunch starts at 12:15 p.m. with the performance following at 1:30 p.m.

Tickets cost $37.50 for the dinner and evening Revels and $15 for the Revels only. Sunday prices are $30 for brunch and Revels and $12 for Revels only. Reservations may be made by calling the College at (330) 569-5900.

Vance, McCarty Recognized with Moeller Commendations

Eileen Vance and Vi McCarty received the 2005 Nancy L. Moeller Outstanding Achievement Commendations, which were announced during the College’s 18th Employee Recognition Convocation.

Vance (pictured, left), Director of Student Teaching and Field Experience, was honored with the professional staff commendation, and McCarty, a development associate, with the commendation for non-exempt staff.

The Moeller Commendation was created to honor Nancy, who served the Weekend College for 15 years and as its Dean from 1990 until her untimely death in 1994.

“This recognition is special in that staff members are nominated by faculty and staff,” President Thomas V. Chema said in presenting the commendations. “Nancy would not have wanted this award to be a competition, and it is not. It is a meaningful way in which members of the campus can honor the tremendous contributions made to the institution by the professional staff and non-exempt staff.”

A faculty subcommittee of the College Life Steering Committee reviews the nominations and summarizes the results for the President’s office.

One of Nancy’s nominators wrote: “It may sound trite to say that Eileen is a ray of sunshine, but she really is. She often takes some teasing for her sunny disposition, but it is an essential part of her character and something that makes her so successful at what she does. Our students are at the heart of everything Eileen does. Especially when it comes to making student teaching placements, Eileen takes the time to sit down and talk with each candidate…to try to make the best possible placement.”

Nominators for Vi (pictured, right) were equally effusive. One wrote: “Her unfailing good humor and generous spirit have been essential to the smooth operation of the Development Office. Vi has kept us all on task. Got a question? Ask Vi. Need to have something done in a hurry but correctly? Vi will do it. Need to know when a certain practice began? Vi will know. Vi is a true gift to Hiram College.”

Finalists in each category also were honored. In the non-exempt category, the finalists were Lynda Bernard, from the physical plant, and Dorothy Meyers, from the admission office. Among professional staff members, the finalists were Athletic Trainer Jim Johnston and Library Coordinator of Government Documents Jeff Wanser.
 

Mark Taylor Paper on Polymers Published in Chemical Physics Journal

Assistant Professor of Physics Mark Taylor has published a paper in The Journal of Chemical Physics. His paper is titled “Comment on: The effect of density on the properties of short chain fluids.” Taylor reports on exact and computer simulation results for model polymer molecules in a solution. A pdf version of Taylor’s paper is available at: http://home.hiram.edu/www/physics/Taylor/Publications/JCP123_167101_05.pdf

HCOSS Fundraising Effort Will Give the Gift of Sustenance

With the holiday season approaching, Hiram College Office Support Staff (HCOSS) has coordinated a charitable giving program with Heifer International. Heifer International works to end world hunger by providing needy families with livestock and training to help them move toward self-reliance. To date, more than seven million families in 125 countries have received livestock through the Heifer International program.

HCOSS would like to raise enough funds from the Hiram community to purchase a llama (cost: $150) and a water buffalo (cost: $250). Both animals are very useful within agrarian communities. Llamas are disease-resistant, require minimal care, and provide wool, transportation, and fertilizer for topsoil. Water buffalos are good for hauling heavy loads, plowing, providing milk, supplying manure for fuel and fertilizer, and for renting to other farmers.

Within the next few weeks, a representative of HCOSS will be coming around to campus offices to request donations for this project. For more information, please call 330.569.5380 or 330.569.5215.

Ryder Family’s Roots Run Deep at Hiram College and in Soil

The Hiram College community probably thinks Jack Groselle ’76 is a famous former Terriers swimmer who has gone on to equal fame as the College’s swimming and diving coach.

Groselle is, of course, all this. But these accomplishments are only the aquatic tip of Groselle’s fame.

He also is son of the soil, a famous farmer from a farming family whose roots run deep in the Hiram soil. Just check American Farmer magazine.

The magazine, which serves Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and Michigan, made the Farmers Groselle its September cover story.

Written by Jack’s mother, Vesta Ryder Clarke ’47, who lives in Hiram Village with her husband, Keylon W. Clarke ’48, the story traces the Rider/Ryder family’s move to Hiram in 1815 from Hartford, Vermont, and the family’s subsequent influence not only agriculturally but also educationally.

According to Vesta Clarke, Symonds Ryder, who scouted this new home for his family in 1814 when he was 22, “played an active role in the founding of the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute, later to become Hiram College.”

Though a city boy, Jack Groselle worked on his grandfather’s farm while in high school and at Hiram College. He and wife Nancy (Fedoryshyn ’78), who teaches math at Crestwood High School, have expanded the former Ryder holdings to 630 acres and also farm an additional 200 rented acres, growing corn, soybeans, and hay and maintaining 100-plus milk cows.

John ’03 and Jason ’04 Groselle also graduated from Hiram College, and Jason has joined his father in the family farming enterprise, the eighth generation to live on and work the farm.

Beth Groselle (pictured), a Hiram senior, is following her father’s wake as well. She’s an NCAA Division III national champion and nine-time All-American swimmer.

Author Bowls over Convocation Audience

Author Quinn Dalton grew up a college professor’s daughter. She knows how much a college education can mean to a young woman, and she made this need palpable to those participating in the Fall Convocation Series in the College’s Kennedy Center Ballroom.

Quinn was the second novelist to appear at Hiram College this fall, and she left an impression.

“Her work is astonishing,” said Professor of English Joyce Dyer, who met the North Carolina author at the Buckeye Book Fair in Wooster and asked her to speak at the College.

Rather than explain the value of an education, Dalton, who has degrees from Kent State University and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, read from her book, Bulletproof Girl, a series of short stories about women are “tough but vulnerable at the same time.”

Tess, Dalton’s protagonist in “Midnight Bowling”, the story from which she read, is a funny, edgy, determined young woman who can bowl with the best but wants more. She wants to attend a state college instead of becoming a Savior Missionary, as her mother would prefer, or settling down with her boyfriend, who loves her but is headed for a life of working in the bowling alley.

The characters and conflict, cast with painstaking detail, impressed Senior Daniel Brown, an English major and writing minor, who introduced Quinn.

“She really knows how to use different details,” Brown said.

One of the details is bowling. Set in Ohio, where the Profession Bowling Association was born, this story, with a backdrop of father and daughter building a lasting relationship through bowling, was written by a non-bowler.

“I hate research, but I do it if I need to,” said Quinn, who explained she had found information about the sport in bowling chat rooms and by talking with two bowling professionals.

Experience fuels Quinn’s writing more than research, which is a why she said she recommended that students who are considering seeking a Master of Fine Arts take a year off and work.

“I wish I had done that,” she said. “You’ll know the value of your time. You won’t think like a student (when you return to graduate school). You’ll understand that work means you just have to keep doing (the job), that it doesn’t end with turning in an assignment.”

Quinn, who also has written a novel titled High Strung, has sold cameras, ladies shoes, water filters, antiques, her wedding dress, and an old van. She has worked as a waiter, bartender, fundraiser, teacher, freelance writer, and spin doctor, all of which, she said, have been good sources of material.

She even has bowled twice in her life.

Athletics Update

Last week was highlighted by the end of Volleyball, Cross Country, and Football and the beginning of Swimming and Diving. In addition the post-season awards began to roll in.  The volleyball team may have lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament, but that hasn’t stopped the team from raking in the post-season honors. Four players received recognition by the North Coast Athletic Conference last week for their play throughout the season. Juniors Jen Hlebovy and Michelle Kozempa received 2nd Team All-NCAC honors, while senior Shana Toth and sophomore Megan Taylor received 1st Team All-NCAC honors. In addition, Toth (pictured) was named the NCAC Player of the Year and head coach Ellen Dempsey was named Coach of the Year.

The honors didn’t stop for both Toth and Taylor, who over the weekend received American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Honorable Mention All American honors. It’s the first time in school history that a player from Hiram has received this prestigious honor. Hiram also accomplished another first with Toth and Taylor taking home AVCA All-Great Lakes Region honors, along with Jen Hlebovy, who received Honorable Mention All-Great Lakes Region honors.

The volleyball team finished 28-5 overall and 8-0 in the conference, losing their only match of the week. The team’s first visit trip the NCAA tournament was not as successful as they hoped. The Terriers lost to Calvin 3-0, but the future looks bright for Coach Dempsey and her squad, who will only have to replace two players next fall.

The football team finished 1-9 overall and 1-6 in the conference, losing to Oberlin 52-17 to conclude the year. The season will be remembered as one that saw numerous records fall and a 9th place finish in the NCAC, the team’s best since the 2001 season.

The cross country teams competed in the NCAA Regional Meet last weekend. The women placed 30th overall, while the men competed as individuals.

The swimming and diving teams opened their seasons against Mount Union last Friday. The women came away victorious by a score of 123-97. The men battled hard but dropped a 127-92 decision. Both teams return to action on Thursday, November 17th as they play host to conference foe Wittenberg.

The men’s and women’s basketball teams continued their preseason scrimmage schedules with the women taking on Grove City and the men squaring off against Malone. The men tip off the season as they travel to La Roche on November 23rd. The women kick off their campaign as they travel to Manchester on November 26th.