Category: News

There are no plays planned for this semester at Houghton. The school’s theater clubs have experienced a dearth of interest from the student body. This loss of momentum is a result of several factors, yet there is movement on the part of the faculty to breathe life into Houghton theater.

Wynn Horton, ’15, has been deeply involved with theater in his time at Houghton. He expressed his concern, “2014-2015 is the first of several years at Houghton in which there has been no theatre. We have had a plethora of plays and musicals over the last 4 years and now hit a drought.”

There are two active theater groups on campus: Encore and Houghton Musical Theater Players. Formerly, the Shakespeare Players put on works by their namesake before being subsumed into Encore. These groups have faced an economic challenge over the past few years as the cost of copyright has become greater than net revenue from the production.

With the reduction of the student body, there are fewer students participating in productions though the overall percentage of students interested in the performing arts may not have changed. Encore president Sarah Wright views the problem as a, “vicious circle.” As a result of fewer students participating in productions, other students know less about the productions because they don’t permeate as much of the campus population, thus even fewer students participate in later productions. This cycle runs parallel to another. The lack of funding for the plays means that they cannot have as high a quality as they would otherwise. This results in a lack of attendance, and therefore a lack of funding for further performance ventures. The solution might be to change ticket prices, however, if they are raised, the audience will shrink. If they are lowered, the overall revenue might shrink as well.

It is difficult to find a clear answer to breaking this cycle. It may not be able to raise itself up from its current status without outside help. Encore has made several efforts to increase its appeal to students. They have held an activity themed workshop on stage make-up that they had hoped would be joined by other theater-centric workshops. The low attendance of the first workshop cancelled any further plans of this kind. They have also looked into performing smaller plays, such as one-acts. Professor Wardwell suggested they participate in a 72-hour “Theater Blitz” wherein a play is written, cast, and performed in 3 days. The size of these productions make them a better fit for the present interest and funding. Their short term involvement means students aren’t required to commit as much time to them.

These efforts have been matched by further challenges. Theater groups have had trouble renting spaces to practice and even perform plays, relegating them to classrooms until opening night. The Encore Theater Group recently had to relocate their props and equipment from the building now occupied by Addie’s Ice Cream. The group understands the need for the move, but found the replacement location provided by the college meant having to throw away half of their props due to size constraints.

There is a chance that the dry spell of theater interest could be part of a larger cycle. Horton thinks that it parallels other Houghton activities, “It makes sense that one group of students had the momentum to pull off large theatre productions while others don’t. In the same way, other student organizations or campus events go through similar ebb and flow patterns. For example, the student government’s presence and interest in it comes and goes, SPOT and its talent/entertainment value comes and goes, and clubs like the Pro-life Club or Math Clubs come and go depending on whether or not there are students to lead them.” Horton said, “Theatre clubs are the same, if no one steps up or there’s no interest, then there’s no theatre. The only difference is, when musicals and plays have become almost habitual – people notice when they’re missing. I’d love to see someone make theatre happen again.”

Professor Susan Lipscomb wants to encourage a rekindled interest in Houghton productions through faculty intervention. She, along with professors Gaerte and Wardwell are working towards bringing a director as resident on campus for the upcoming three years. The director would come and spend four weeks working solely on producing a play alongside Houghton students. The cost of this residency would be paid for by an application of the Van Gorden Fund, which is dedicated to nurturing English, theater, and the arts. The three-year pilot will be vetted for a continuation of the program in subsequent years.

Professor Wardwell sees theater as an important component to life on a college campus. In his view, theater serves a human, not just educational, benefit. Horton agrees, “The stage is a medium that can truly be used as a platform or arena for conversations of all kinds and of all temperatures – perhaps even some of the edgy conversations Houghton has been avoiding over the last few years? Acting also encourages those on stage to truly put themselves in the shoes of others, and sometimes even legitimize estranged people groups or taboo topics. Regardless of theatre’s social value, it is entertaining, and we all know Houghton can never have enough of that during the cold winter months.”

This semester, Houghton became the first liberal arts college in the country to offer an undergraduate class in data science. It is also the first Christian liberal arts college to offer any class in data science according to Carmen McKell, cofounder of BaseMetrics.

“Data Science is the art of turning data into actions,” says The Field Guide for Data Science.

Seminar in Data Science hosted guest speaker Paul Yacci, data scientist at Booz Allen Hamilton and co-author of The Field Guide for Data Science, on Jan. 21, marking the first official class of the semester. Yacci said, “It will certainly will be interesting to see what comes out of liberal arts background towards data science.” He said he was “excited to kick of the series” and is the first of many guest speakers to be part of the weekly seminar.

According to course coordinator and technology librarian, Glen Avery, the course has weekly guest speakers from the field of data science lined up. McKell, also course coordinator and Houghton alumna is connecting with data scientists to speak at the seminar.

Stefan Heeke, executive director of SumAll.org, was the second speaker, via Skype, last Wednesday. Some other future speakers include Amanda Stent, principal research scientist at Yahoo Labs; Michael Lyons, director of analytics for the Buffalo Bills; and Philip Martin, SumAll.org data scientist. Avery is also trying to get in contact with a digital historian in Australia.

As part of the seminar, McKell said students will, “have a great opportunity to connect with some of the top Data Scientists in many areas including sports analytics, healthcare, business etc.” Grace Baleno, senior and class participant, said “it is good exposure to the field [data science] and making good connections.”

In addition to connections, Martin will become a mentor for students, according to Avery. Martin will advise students on their final project of data evaluation, analysis, and visualization. “Students will get a chance to work with real datasets as part of this course to tell their stories with data,” said McKell. The semester will end with students giving a presentation on their project.

Sarah Slater, senior and class participant, said the class has already “been really interesting because the teachers are people who are in the industry. I think this is an opportunity you don’t have in a lot of classes.”

“Glen Avery and I are very impressed with the diversity of students in the class,” said McKell. “They come from a variety of backgrounds, including psychology, computer science, business, biology, math, accounting, communications, and international development.”

Concerning students of the class and discussion during his presentation, Yacci said, “Bringing all those people together really fostered an interesting discussion surrounding some of the topics. One of the things I find is working with someone from a different field field often makes you have to force yourself to really think outside the box a little bit.”

McKell said, “At the end of the course it is our hope that these students will have a better understanding of the basics behind data science, and see how it fits in with their future careers.”

“I think the area of using data science for social good is a lot more interesting and intriguing to me,” said Baleno. Yacci said, “I think Houghton has a real interesting opportunity here to do a lot of good in the social good arena. I think there is still a lot that could be done as far as social good problems. I think the liberal arts perspective really would bring a lot from their end.”

Longtime professor, Michael Walters, will be retiring from his current position as Associate Dean of the Area of Religion and Global Service and Chair of the Department of Biblical Studies, Theology, and Philosophy, bringing to an end a career on the faculty at Houghton spanning two decades.

Walters first came to Houghton as the pastor of Houghton Wesleyan Church in 1982, remarking “I originally came thinking it was going to be for one year, and I still haven’t left. So it was kind of a surprise.” In 1995, the college asked Walters to join the faculty as a professor in what is now the Department of Biblical Studies, Theology, and Philosophy. During his time here, as well being named Chair and Associate Dean, he has assisted with the hiring of faculty like professor Jonathan Case, the establishment of the Woolsey lectures, and the recent accreditation of the theology major. Additionally, Walters created the Spiritual Formation class which has been “probably [his] favorite course over the years”.

Kristina Lacelle-Peterson, fellow theology professor, remarked on Walters’ “amazing service” to the college. She particularly noted his importance as an “inspirational” mentor in the ministerial program, which is “a service that this college offers to the Wesleyan Church in particular, but offers in general to students who are preparing for ministry.” The ministry program at Houghton is important, she said, because it is “central to the faith development of most Christians to have strong preaching and pastoral care and fellowship and worship” at their churches.

Building relationships with other faculty members and students was one of the most rewarding parts of teaching at Houghton for Walters, who said it was “a wonderful thing to watch [students] develop… and to know that you had just a small part helping to form them”. Former student, Veronica Gerace, said she admired Walters’ wisdom and stated that he teaches theology in a “very clear and concise way.” She also said she used the lessons she learned during the class to answer the questions of summer camp kids she worked with during her time on the Houghton travelling ministry team last summer.

According to Lacelle-Peterson, the ministry courses Walters currently teaches will be distributed among the Biblical Studies and Theology faculty, all of whom are ordained and who have worked in churches. The department is currently undergoing a search for a new Associate Dean as well as a Chair of the department. Any positions will be hired internally. She stated both of these topics are an “on-going conversation” between members of the department and Academic Dean Linda Mill-Woolsey.

Historically the Associate Dean and Department Chair have been the same position, but Lacelle-Peterson stated because of the re-alignment of the academic area to include the department of intercultural studies and world languages, it is possible that will not be the case going forward. Because of Houghton’s position as a college in the Wesleyan church, there are certain requirements that have to be fulfilled regarding representation of Wesleyans in leadership positions of the college, particularly in the Department of Biblical Studies, Theology, and Philosophy. This is intended to “maintain Wesleyan identity in the school,” said Lacelle-Peterson.

Walters said retirement will allow him more time to spend time with family, including his children and grandchildren. His immediate plans are to stay in the area. Despite not initially intending to live in Western New York for so many years of his career, Walters remarked, “I obviously love this institution and have been shaped and formed by it and this community in a variety of ways.”

With the opening of the Kerr-Pegula Field House (KPFH) this past fall, the future of the Nielsen Physical Education Center (NPEC) is in question. Athletic Director, Harold “Skip” Lord, said the KPFH is an “enhancement” rather than a replacement for the NPEC. Although the Nielsen was a replacement for the old Bedford gym, which sat between the Campus Center and Gillette until the late 1970s, the intention for how each of the two current athletic facilities will be used is much different. Lord stated that the KPFH is an “enhancement,” not a replacement.

The NPEC still sees quite a bit of use, though it is not as crowded as it has been in previous years. The building still houses the training and sports medicine staff, physical education classes, as well as men’s and women’s basketball and women’s volleyball. Varsity spring sports teams also may use the NPEC due to weather conditions, though this would occur only if the KPFH was unavailable.

Lord also observed that before the KPFH was open, crowding from spring and winter sports practices often squeezed out non-varsity athlete students looking to use the NPEC. This was due to the fact that Houghton has added more athletic teams since becoming an NCAA Division lll institution. The existence of the KPFH serves to allow for a spreading out of indoor winter sports and outdoor spring sports as well as track and field (which is both indoor and outdoor). This allows for more traditional practice times and more time for recreational and intramural use of both facilities. Lord emphasized the KPFH and the NPEC “are Houghton College facilities”and all students have priority, not just athletic teams.

Lord stated this semester offers a wider variety of intramurals, with the future possibility of indoor ultimate frisbee in the KPFH.

The new arrangement is beneficial to current student-athletes. Emily Cronin, a member of both the women’s basketball and softball teams, said, “As a basketball player it is nice having all of the spring and most of the fall sports down at the KPFH because we have better practice times, and the gym (Nielsen) is available more often.”

Melissa Bell, a member of the track and field team, agreed stating, “Practice times are more consistent.” Bell also believes the dual use of both facilities has had a positive effect on the health habits of students,  “I think the addition of KPAC has encouraged more students to work out…because they (NPEC and KPFH) are less crowded.”

According to Lord, the NPEC fitness center and weight room will remain open for the remainder of the year, and the decision to keep them in operation will be evaluated based on how often they are used.

Plans for the NPEC, which are still on the drawing board, include creating a wellness center at the location. “Wellness involves the whole person,” stated Rob Pool, Vice President of Student Life. The whole person refers to one’s academics, spirituality, mental health, and fitness. “Each of those aspects are really just available …  á la carte  currently” Pool added. A wellness program would be an intentional integration of every aspect of wellness. Though nothing has been decided, Pool stated that Houghton is “seriously looking” for funding for such a program.

With all the emphasis on wellness and fitness, as well as two facilities in which to practice them, Lord spoke to the overall fitness level of the Houghton College community stating, “According to our wellness and fitness professors, we are below average [in physical fitness]”.

Lord hopes that the added space the KPFH adds to both facilities will encourage community fitness. “People need to find something they enjoy doing, so that they can stay fit,” he said. One thing he hopes will help is “easily being able to find an open racquetball court, use a treadmill, or have a basketball court to play 3-on-3 with friends.”

A landmark moment in Cuban-American relations occurred mid-December when President Obama loosened regulations on the interactions between the two nations. The changes, which were brought about after negotiations to release American government subcontractor Alan Gross from Cuban custody, include a variety of different points. Among them, a much freer trade between the two countries, a quadrupling of the amount of remittances Cuban-Americans may send home (from $500 to $2000 each quarter),  as well as the ability of travelers who meet certain criteria to fly directly to Cuba. These changes continue an overall trend in recent years of diluted sanctions present in the American embargo of Cuba.

The origins of the Cuban Embargo begin with the rise to power of Fidel Castro in 1959 after his successful militarized revolt over then leader Fulgensio Batista. American leaders viewed Castro’s ideologies as extremist, which led to the implementation of a trade embargo, as well as a severing of all diplomatic relations with Cuba the following year. In 1993, the U.S. tightened the embargo, forcing Cuban leadership to sign an agreement with the U.S. allowing the emigration of 20,000 Cuban refugees per year to quell protests from its citizens.

Since that time, sanctions within the embargo have been gradually reduced, allowing for freer travel and the promise of remittances to families and small businesses in Cuba. President Obama has been a sizable advocate for these reforms according to the New York Times. On December 17, President Obama announced his newest change to the embargo. In it, diplomatic relations with Cuba would be restored for the first time in over 50 years. Additionally, American citizens wishing to travel to Cuba for educational, cultural, or religious reasons, as well as humanitarian work, now have the right to do so. In the financial sector, American banks now will have the ability to open branches in Cuba, as well as to allow American customers to use United States credit or debit cards during their time in Cuba. Finally, imports and exports will be restored in a limited fashion, with American citizens being able to export up to $400 worth of Cuban goods, and up to $100 worth of articles like alcohol and tobacco. “I’m going to leave a shell, but it’s going to be a proverbial Easter egg – it’s going to be hollow” said Obama referring to the remaining sanctions within the Cuban embargo.

Reactions from Congress and other government officials from these changes have been mixed. Nowhere is this more obvious than the fact that the embargo against Cuba still stands in a limited sense. To lift the embargo would require action by Congress. In an interview with the New York Times, Senator Robert Menendez said Obama’s changes were “clearly intended to circumvent the intent and spirit of the U.S. law and the U.S. Congress.” Others quoted concerns about the implications of these changes, like Florida Senator Marco Rubio. “These new policies will have the effect of enriching the tyrant without benefitting Cubans,” he said in a statement to CNN.

However, others in power feel differently. On January 19, a group of 78 lawmakers and other officials signed a document stating their advocacy for the Obama administration’s changes in preparation for the upcoming State of the Union address. Notable among the signed are Secretary of State, George Schultz; President Clinton’s National Security Advisor, Sandy Berger; and former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. and New Mexico governor, Bill Richardson; among others. In the letter, they were quoted saying, “We may disagree on a number of issues, but we’ve found common ground for a simple reason; our fifty-four-year-old approach intended to promote human rights and democracy in Cuba has failed.”

Every Thursday morning at 11:30 a.m. in the Lennox Dining Hall, a group of students and faculty meet to discuss issues regarding gender and women’s rights issues. This group, Students for Gender Equality, is a new addition to the Houghton community. The discussion for the group started last fall with junior, Jessica Vaughn, and, Sarah Derck, assistant professor of Old Testament.

That discussion, Vaughn said, generated the idea for the group and the need for it’s presence on campus, “Dr. Derck and I were talking about how Houghton is not always friendly when it comes to gender issues, and how there might be a need for a place for women who felt like the atmosphere was hurting them to go and meet.”

According to Vaughn, from there the idea of the group snowballed. After leaving campus for a  semester, Vaughn reconvened in this fall with the group, who, in her absence, had done a mentoring program, formed a name, and now had a sense of direction. The group of students and faculty, originally known as Deborah’s Daughters, included Vaughn; Houghton professor, Kristina Lacelle-Peterson; 2011 alumni, Rebecca Rowley; VOCA director, Kim Pool; junior, Carly Congilosi; senior, Megan Miles; and senior, Hope Schwartz.

The group then began meeting in peoples’ homes and discussing their options for the current academic year. From these meetings came the idea of a lunch discussion open to students and faculty, including both men and women alike. According to Vaughn, the idea of lunch discussions combined both the idea of talking about gender related justice issues, “along with the idea that we might be able to bring the conversation to a more public sphere” outside of the lunch conversations.

Since then the group has met almost every Thursday this semester, has discussed a variety of topics, and even took a trip to Seneca Falls, the location of the first women’s rights convention. According to junior, Emma Brittain, some of the topics talked about during lunches have included “using gender neutral language for God, the negative impacts of certain gender related expectations on society and the church, and basically how we as the church can improve how we handle issues like this.”

While the original intent of the group was an open discussion for both men and women, junior, Stacia Gehman, said one thing the group is lacking is a male presence. “It makes me sad that they don’t feel comfortable enough to come,” Gehman said. “I feel like a lot of them feel like a lot of them feel like it’s just going to be this feminist hate fest, and we’re all going to be like ‘you suck’ and that’s really not how it is.”

Brittain describes Students for Gender Equality as “a discussion group on campus that hopes to be men and women uniting in Christ to fight injustices related to gender issues.” Vaughn said her goal for the group would a ultimately to be a consistent group that is affiliated with SGA which continues on a yearly basis and is not contingent based on the amount participation the group experiences in each given year. The group has already begun the paperwork to gain unofficial club status within the SGA, which will hopefully lead to the establishment of Students for Gender Equality as an official student club on campus. In addition to attempting to gain club status, the group is also hoping to have an active role in the planning of Take Back the Night, a world-wide event that promotes the safety of women and the hope that one day woman will be able to walk in the dark without fear.

Houghton College has made progress on the proposed new data science major this semester, which opened up new opportunities for current students. Internships, job opportunities, and new classes in data science are already available for students.

Alumna Carmen McKell, said of data science, it is a “new field designed to fill the demand for data-savvy professionals in virtually every part of the economy.” Ken Bates, department chair of business and economics, said managing and marketing cannot be done properly, “unless we can somehow harness the streams of information flowing at us all the time,” which is a good visual for what data science is about.

According to Bates, the curriculum is in progress. Originally, he said, curriculum had a lot of computer science courses, but Bates, McKell, and Garfield Fisher, McKell’s husband, who are involved in creating the curriculum, are worried about excluding communication, business, and psychology majors who do not want to take all the computer science classes. Now they are considering a more interdisciplinary approach, and perhaps adding several tracks in the major. In conjunction with a liberal arts education, McKell said, the data science major will prepare students “to communicate complicated findings to a wide range of people in several different ways such as written text, or infographics, as visual stories or data dashboards.”

McKell and Fisher will be on campus Dec. 11-12 to work further on the curriculum with faculty and meet with students. Bates aims to have the curriculum sent to Albany, New York for the state’s approval sometime early next semester.

Bates does not expect a new hire in data science. However, he said, because of the pending major as the business department searches for one finance and one accounting faculty, they will likely favor candidates with some expertise in data science.

As the data science curriculum progresses, the college is already offering two new classes: Data Science Senior Seminar during the spring semester and Social Media Marketing and Data Analytics during Mayterm. The one credit hour spring class will “help expose them [current seniors] to some aspect of data science right away so they hit the ground running with a little more knowledge about the industry,” said Bates. Glen Avery, instructional technology librarian, is the coordinator of the course. The course will likely involve guest speakers on various topics in the course. Taught by alumnus Shane Fraser, The four credit Mayterm class will expose students to everything social media and look at how organizations are, and can use data gathered from social media.

Kim Pool, director of VOCA, said the three branches of the proposed data science major, are social good, learning analytics, and sports analytics. Social good is concerned with humanitarian, nonprofit, and government efforts; learning involves higher education such as admissions or alumni relations; sports will involve Houghton’s own sporting data, possible connections with the Buffalo Bills and Sabres, and concussion analysis of athletes. Along with this, Pool anticipates a new concussion lab in the KPFH.

In October, Pool attended the data science Strata Hadoop Conference in New York City. McKell and Fisher, who own BaseMetrics, an advanced analytics and visualization company based out of Ottawa, Canada, also attended the conference. Amanda Stent, alumna and principal research scientist at Yahoo Labs met with Pool and McKell at the conference, who shared some of data work at Yahoo. McKell said, “Much of the Strata conference was devoted to the best practices in data science, with presentations from some of the worlds’ leading data scientists on to to make data work in business, health, finance, media, fashion, retail and government.”

Pool, McKell, and Fisher met with employers such as: SAS, a business analysis company, Microsoft, RapidMiner, Bloomberg, and Bell Canada to inquire about data science internships for Houghton College students. They also met with Stefan Heeke, CEO of SumAll, a data and impact analytics company, who has a nonprofit organization branch. According to Pool, they also discussed creating a fellowship in New York City for Houghton students “Students would bring their own research data and be given guidance and instruction on analytics, dashboard visualization and policy implementation,” she said “It would be a great experiential learning opportunity for students interested in applying data science to a humanitarian effort.” McKell and Fisher also discussed opportunities to use business’s data software software in classes within the major.

Bates said there is no other Christian college offering a data science major. He hopes for Houghton to be the first, or among the first, especially from a liberal arts perspective.

Concerning the application of the major in the workplace, McKell said “Let’s just say, there is not a job that can’t be enhanced with the understanding and use of data.” Bates said, “Right away there are job opportunities for our students.” He adds the VOCA office is already lining up contacts.

Bates said he asked employers, “if they were open at all to entry level liberal arts students and they all said absolutely ‘yes!’ They prefer to hire those kinds of students, our kinds of students, as opposed to someone who’s finished a masters degree in data science.”