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Ceasefire in Ukraine

A ceasefire was called in Ukraine last Friday, when the Ukrainian government and separatist leaders agreed to stop conflict that has left 2,200 people dead since April. While this is not the first attempt at a ceasefire agreement between the two groups, it is the first time that Russian president Vladimir Putin actively endorsed this action. His endorsement revolved around a 7-part peace plan that he had laid out two days earlier.

Jared CramIn spite of this, Putin has still been under heavy scrutiny by Western leaders for what they believe to be suspicious political motives in Russian involvement with Ukraine. In spite of this skepticism, Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko expressed cautious optimism about the cease-fire. In a White House press conference following the recent North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit in Wales, President Obama spoke to the Associated Press saying he remained “hopeful but, based on past experience, also skeptical” about the strength of this ceasefire.

For now, the focus of the U.S., and other members of NATO have been to support Ukraine in its endeavors, without directly supplying weaponry or allowing the Ukraine to join the treaty organization. In an interview with Time magazine, president of the Atlantic Council of Ukraine, Vadim Grechaninov, stated that he is disappointed, but not surprised. If Ukraine were to be accepted into NATO every member of the organization would be bound to protect Ukraine in this conflict. Many of the allies are hesitant to involve themselves in that type of confrontation with Russia, who is armed with nuclear weapons.

However, NATO has attempted to provide some support for Ukrainian people in a few ways. During the NATO summit in Wales, the five most powerful nations in the organization met with Poroshenko to discuss the conflict with Russia, and collectively pledged $16 million dollars in trust funds to help modernize the Ukrainian military. The most influential tactic used by NATO members, however, are the sanctions against trade with Russia. A CNN article wrote that the European Union, in addition to their current sanctions against any arms or dual-purpose items, is looking to restrict capital investments with Russia within their union, as well as sensitive technologies and certain energy-related equipment.

In his interview, Grechaninov recognizes the actions taken by members of NATO to help restore peace to the region, but doesn’t believe they are sufficient. “Putin can only be stopped by a force greater than his,” he said. “We waited for this force from NATO, and they have it. They can stop Putin. But right now they don’t consider it. “President Obama has a different opinion on the impact that NATO has had in the Ukrainian conflict. During his White House press conference, he stated that the only reason that Russia was agreeing to a ceasefire is because of the impact that current sanctions, as well as threat of future sanctions will have on the Russian economy.

The future remains unclear in Ukraine as current world leaders are still cautious about the stability and strength of the current ceasefire between the two groups. A diplomatic solution cannot currently be reached, as many separatists are divided on their goals for the conflict. In response to the future, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy P. Yatsenyuk told the New York Times that lasting peace would only come about in response to three things: a long term cease fire, a withdrawal of the Russian army, and a wall along the border. According to CNN, the last unilateral ceasefire declared by the Ukrainian government in June broke down after ten days.

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KPAC Nearing Completion

In the summer of 2012, Houghton College broke ground on phase one of the Kerr-Pegula Athletic Complex and now, over two years later, the third and final phase is just weeks away from completion.

Projected to have been completed several months ago, KPAC faced numerous setbacks resulting in the still unfinished facility. “It’s pretty complex. There were some original design issues early in the project that had to do with sinking the shop drawings,” explained Harold Lord, executive director of athletics.  He added that,  “The ultra cold winter delayed things further.”

KPAApart from the extended process of creating shop drawings for the beams and structure of the facility, the most recent and most significant setback was in regards to the flooring of the facility. Originally set to begin in April, Beynon Sports Surfacing was unable to begin laying the flooring due to the delays that took place earlier on in the completion of the project. Then, as Dale Wright, Houghton’s chief business officer, explained, “The athletic flooring company was delayed in a job they were doing before they came to Houghton. Therefore, they were later than we would have liked once everything was ready for them.”

Lord said that that this week he expects a large bulk of the flooring to be completed. This includes the completed track and tennis surfaces ready to be lined. Wright added, “The athletic flooring is scheduled to be completed September 18th and the MVP deck should be finished within the next two weeks”

Despite these setbacks, key areas of the facility have been completed. Coaches and other faculty were able to move into their offices during the week of August 11th, in time for the beginning of preseason. The facilities training room was also up and running beginning August 18th.

Students, faculty, and community members are awaiting for the completion of KPAC and to be begin using the new gym. Houghton sophomore and member of the cross country and track and field teams, Joanna Friesen, expressed her anticipation for the facility saying, “I’m excited to have a legitimate place to do speed workouts in the winter, a place where it’s spacious and safe to practice. For my whole running career a good indoor facility has been two or more hours away, it’s unbelievable that we have one.” She went on to say, “The first day of indoor track practice will be a wonderful privilege, even if it’s a mile repeat day.”

Robert Pool, vice president of student life said, “I’m just excited because for this little place called Houghton, because of this Kerr-Pegula gift we have a facility that many division one schools would love to have. I hope that students feel blessed by this. To have two gyms on campus where they can pursue their wellness goals. It’s a blessing.”

Lord added, “If I was speaking for the coaches, it’s a little bit like Christmas. They’re all excited. It’s a beautiful facility, and it’s so much more convenient. It’s going to enhance recruiting, they’re thankful.”

The completion of KPAC will also bring a lot for students, faculty, and community members. A ribbon cutting ceremony will occur over homecoming and family weekend, October 3-5.

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Internationally Known Artist, Willie Cole, Comes to Houghton

Houghton College’s Ortlip Gallery is currently exhibiting the works of internationally known contemporary artist, Willie Cole. This collection spans over a 35 year period of Cole’s life and incorporates various forms of media, including: drawings, paintings, sculpture and prints. The exhibition, titled “Complex Conversations: Willie Cole Sculptures and Wall Works” gives light to the “urban African-American male experience,” according to Cole’s artist statement.
“Complex Conversations . . .” is a traveling exhibition, having already been shown at Western Michigan University, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Elbert Art Center, and Grinnell College before arriving at Houghton College. The exhibition is curated by Patterson Sims, Chairman of the Board of Independent Curators International (ICI) and President of the Leon Polk Smith Foundation.Willie Cole
Cole’s work was introduced to Houghton College by Professor Jillian Sokso during the 2013-14 Faculty Lecture Series. In her lecture, Sokso examined the discourse of race, gender, and identity between the Cole’s work and African American artist Allison Saar. Sokso said Cole’s work “references African cultures and people groups. . . [also found] in the Hudgin’s Collection.”
The Hudgin’s Collection, donated by the late Charles Hudgins to Houghton College shortly before his passing in June 2011, consists of a wide assortment of African Art. A selection of this work is also available for viewing in the Center for the Arts Atrium at this time.
Cole’s artistic sensibility was noticed at an early age and only expanded as time went on. Cole was mainly influenced by exposure to the manipulation of objects through his father’s work as a factory mechanic, the African art and culture he studied at the School for Visual Arts in New York.
Cole’s work utilizes a variety of used consumer products such as irons, high-heels, hair dryers, and many other items. The use of domestic objects gives viewers a glimpse of Cole’s personal life, while remaining universally relatable.
Director of the Ortlip Gallery, Alicia Taylor. said, “Cole’s process creates an expansive dialog, exploring and transforming objects in a carefully crafted rhythm that prompts a shift in our perception. . . Pushing our sense of familiarity by converting household goods into symbols of culture, spirituality and politics, the work provides provocative and fresh entry points for connection”.
Cole’s artwork is currently represented through Alexander and Bonin, New York and is found around the world in numerous collections and museums, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, and the FRAC-Lorraine in Metz, France. "Complex Conversations"
“Complex Conversations: Willie Cole Sculptures and Wall works” will be available to view in the Ortlip Gallery until October 15, Monday through Saturday, 9am to 6pm. A public reception will be held in the Center for the Arts Friday, September 12th at 7pm. Willie Cole will also be giving an artist lecture on Saturday, September 13 at 11:30 a.m. in the Recital Hall.
Taylor states “‘Complex Conversations . . .’ is not just for artists” and“such distinguished work on campus is an opportunity to challenge ourselves with engaging with the work, connecting with culture, and experience.”

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Campus Highlights Stewardship on Earth Day

This week, Houghton College was invited to celebrate Earth Day. Brian Webb oversaw and organized activities educating students to preserve the livelihood and the health of the planet. Events focused on appreciating and educating students on how best to live in harmony with our terraqueous nursery. They spanned both Earth Day itself–Tuesday, April 22–and the following day.

On Tuesday, the Brown House hosted a lecture titled “Social Justice and the Built Environment.” On Wednesday was hosted both a chapel on environmentalism and a clothing swap.

At the Brown House, Dr. Rusty Pritchard spoke informally about how our constructed world impacts human life and the well being of the poor. Students were invited to interact with Dr. Pritchard who holds a Ph.D. in Resource Economics. He is the founder and president of Flourish, an organization that helps churches tend to humanity through their treatment of the environment.

TEarthday2_CMYKhe chapel, also led by Dr. Rusty Pritchard, took a lighthearted yet focused approach to the christian imperative of environmentalism. He opened the talk joking, “Let me take a few minutes to make you feel guilty.” Growing up, Dr. Pritchard saw environmentalists as “Debbie Downers,” disliking their fatalistic view of the world. He discovered, however, that they instead understood the effects of their actions at a distance in the context of the environment.

Dr. Pritchard demonstrated the convergence of environmentalism and Christianity. As the environment affects those who live off its fruits – all people, but most notably the impoverished – so too does our damage to environment affect them. In this light, environmentalism is an issue of social justice. Instead of embracing the judgement and blame that often comes from environmentalism, he encouraged Christians to care for creation as an act of compassion for humanity.

The clothing swap was coordinated by junior Hanna Kahler, one of the college’s Eco-Reps. This is the first year that Houghton has Eco-Reps. The program selects students who are interested to help promote a mindset of sustainability to their peers, led by Webb.

“The clothing swap idea came about because it’s something that my little sister and I have done with our friends before, and so I thought that it would be a fun thing to do on a college-wide level. It was my Eco-Rep project this year and has come about with a lot of help from friends and other Eco-Reps.” said Kahler.

In early April, bins were placed in each dorm in which students were encouraged to drop items of clothing that they no longer needed or wanted. On Wednesday, the clothes were set out in the basement of the Campus Center. Anyone was free to take as they pleased from the collection. The remaining clothes were donated to a local clothing shelter for the poor.

 

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Trouble with Peacekeeping Bases in South Sudan

United Nations peacekeepers are struggling to stop a humanitarian catastrophe in South Sudan after hundreds of civilians were killed last week by anti-government forces. Attempting to escape a conflict between government and rebel forces that is growing increasingly ethnic in nature, up to 22,000 civilians are seeking refuge within the U.N. base in the city of Bentiu. Water and sanitary facilities, however, are running low and peacekeepers fear that hundreds more could die within days as a result of these conditions.

Courtesy of www.france24.com
Courtesy of www.france24.com

The U.N. reports that on April 15 and 16, hundreds of people were massacred in Bentiu after rebel forces took the town from government forces in a conflict that first began in the summer of 2013. In one mosque alone, the rebels are accused of killing up to 200 people who had sought shelter there from the violence. The Washington Post reported that a top U.N. aid official described how “piles and piles” of bodies littered the streets, the mosque, and even hospitals during the rebel rampage. Currently, U.N. peacekeepers are helping to collect the bodies throughout Bentiu.

Violence in South Sudan, a volatile country that recently voted for independence from Sudan in 2011, erupted after President Salva Kiir accused his vice president, Riek Machar, of attempting a coup in July 2013. Machar was subsequently dismissed as vice president and now leads a rebel group seeking to overthrow Kiir’s government. Exacerbating the conflict, however, is the growing importance of ethnicity in determining who is friend or foe. President Kiir is an ethnic Dinka while Machar is a Nuer. Al-Jazeera reports that in Bentiu, the capital of the ironically named Unity province where the recent massacre occurred, one can find numerous ethnic groups, including Dinka, Nuer, Darfuri, and Misseriya Arabs. Insecurities regarding whether one’s neighbor is a potential enemy for being a different ethnicity is thus polarizing the city, resulting in thousands of people fleeing the possibility of future massacres.

In an attempt to protect civilians from reprisal attacks throughout the country, U.N. peacekeepers have allowed thousands to seek refuge within their bases. While attempting to ensure safety for these civilians, however, the results are mixed. Reuters reports that after the mainly Nuer rebels seized Bentiu, Dinka residents of the town of Bor in South Sudan’s Jonglei state attacked a U.N. base that sheltered up to 5,000 mostly Nuer people. Some 58 people died and 98 were injured after the Dinka had deceived the peacekeepers into believing that their protest was peaceful before opening fire on the base.

Furthermore, sanitation and water supplies within the bases are being stretched thin as more and more civilians arrive to seek refuge by the day. Tony Lanzer, the U.N.’s representative in South Sudan, stated that the base in Bentiu only had one liter of water per person available per day. Additionally, a growing public health crisis is emerging as sanitary facilities can no longer sustain the growing number of people inside the bases. Some 350 people, for example, are forced to share one toilet. Raphael Gorgeu, the head of Doctors Without Borders in South Sudan, warns that people will die inside Bentiu’s U.N. base within days because of the bleak water and sanitation situation.

Prospects for a quick resolution to the conflict in South Sudan are nil. Reuters reports that a January ceasefire between the belligerent parties has never taken hold. Meanwhile, the East African IGAD group has attempted to organize peace talks. The recent massacre, however, has led to the postponement of these talks until April 28. How this conflict will end is uncertain, but for a multiethnic country with one of the world’s lowest standards of living, one can assume that a successful resolution will not come quickly or easily.

 

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3 Bums Pizza to Open Location in Houghton

Start lining up: 3 Bums Pizza is coming to Houghton.

The local favorite is preparing to move its operations from its current Belfast location into the building formerly occupied by the Allegany Harvest Cooperative Market at Houghton.

3Bums_facebookThe reason for the move, according to owner Jake Hillman, is to better service the business that 3 Bums receives from the Houghton-Fillmore area.

The business “hopes to move fairly quickly” to Houghton, said Hillman, with a projected opening date of June 1. The business will be transferring some of its equipment from the Belfast location, but will also be renovating the new building to better suit the needs of a pizza restaurant.

In preparation for the move to Houghton, Hillman has been assisted by the Houghton College business department’s Marketing Research class who have been surveying the student body to assess what students would prefer at a pizza place. Said Ken Bates, professor of business, “the owner is really interested in student opinion” and how the business could best appeal to students.

According to Bates, the new business is sure to meet a particular demand among the college-aged set. “A college community without pizza delivery is almost unheard of,” said Bates, “I think they will do very well here.”

Said Phyllis Gaerte on behalf of the Houghton River Group, an organization dedicated to promoting the Houghton community’s economic development, “We are very excited about the prospect of 3 Bums coming to Houghton and what that will mean for our students.”

“We’re looking forward to it,” said Hillman, “I hope our relationship with Houghton will last a long time.”

 

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New Data Science Program in Discussion

Luckey_1After a long period of deliberation, Houghton may well add a data science program to its educational offerings in the near future.

A key player in initiating data science at Houghton is alumna Carmen McKell, a data science professional who graduated from Houghton in 1987 with a degree in psychology. After graduation, McKell went on to attain a masters degree in statistics and applied research at the University of New Brunswick as well as another Masters in psychology. McKell has over twenty years of experience working in the field of data science. She is the co-founder and president of BaseMetrics which, according to its website, is “a full service Predictive Analytics and Software Development enterprise.” BaseMetrics is centered in Ontario, Canada, with offices in the United States, Mexico, and India.

McKell approached the President’s office last fall with the proposal to initiate a data science program at Houghton. Since that time, her company, BaseMetrics, has produced a report analyzing the demand and Houghton’s ability to offer the program. According to Paul Young, professor of psychology, the results were positive and the program is now being in “the process of deciding to whether to go ahead.”

What is data science? According to Young, the modern age is awash in data but “our ability to collect data has outpaced our ability to understand it.” The discipline of data science, then, has formed in recent decades to “make sense” of the large amounts of data. The meanings that are then derived from sets of data could be applicable to nearly every field of study. For instance, according to Wei Hu, professor of computer science, it is not unrealistic that an analysis of tweets on the social media site, Twitter, could generate information about the general health of a community–thereby providing valuable information to the field of healthcare.

To Hu, this is what makes data science an “exciting” field of study to introduce at Houghton in particular. “Data science is a connector that connects different disciplines together, which makes it very powerful at a liberal arts college,” said Hu. At its core, said Hu, the field is based in a thorough understanding of computer science and statistics, but it bleeds into a number of the disciplines already offered at Houghton: business, the sciences, linguistics, economics, political science, international development, and others.

Additionally, though data can provide seemingly innumerable insights to various disciplines, the use and analysis of data often involves ethical questions. Hu said that this is also what makes it a “powerful” program to add at Houghton, an institution that regularly engages in ethics.

This was confirmed by Dean Linda Mills Woolsey who said in an email, “We have a proposed curriculum and are working on a business plan…We hope to pilot a course or two next year, and, if Data Science emerges as a priority, to bring it to the faculty for approval next year.”

Though “the program is still far from settled,” according to Young, it would most likely involve a core in computer science and statistics from which students would apply into a content area (such as business, political science, etc.), operating in much the same way as the intercultural studies major in which students are required to take on a second major.

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College Processes Applications from Prospective Chinese Students

With 11 processed applications from the Mainland and Hong Kong, it seems as though the college’s efforts to recruit more incoming students from China has made some progress. According to Eric Currie, vice president for enrollment management, nine of the processed have been accepted and three of the nine students have confirmed their enrollment for next semester and made their initial deposits. Current numbers may increase, though, as international students have until a June deadline to make deposits. Additionally, as of Wednesday, one of the committed students is enrolled in the Science Honors program.

While the college’s focus last year was on Zinch, a social networking site which allows students to communicate with admissions officers from various undergraduate institutions across the United States, it has this year worked with a more hands-on approach, working with Dr. Richard Liu of Panda North America to reach out to high schools in China. About six or seven of the applicants to Houghton have applied through Liu or his contacts. Others have applied through Houghton contacts, while others still learned of Houghton through internet searches.

According to Currie, the majority of the applicants “had an expression of the Christian faith shared by the college.” He added, “for a lot of families, that has been a positive expression because they know we’re not a ‘party school;’ we hold to a ‘moral code’ in their words.”

As is required for other international students, the incoming students will arrive on campus a week before regular fall orientation to attend informative sessions and further acclimate to living on an American campus. Students who score below an 80 on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) are required to attend intensive English classes in addition to regular classes.

Also in development, most likely for next summer, is a summer camp for high school students aged 16 and under who are interested in attending Houghton in the future. Currie described it as “kind of like an American cultural camp.” He explained, “We have the dates already solidified and the space reserved; it’s just to get families prepared financially to make that kind of commitment and come over” and added that “there are some other schools here locally that do similar programs.”

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Faculty Members Say Goodbye

Courtesy of topchristiancolleges.com

At the end of this spring semester, Houghton will be bidding farewell to six of its current faculty: Mark Hijleh, associate dean for academic affairs and professor of composition and conducting; Keith Horn, associate dean for the natural sciences and mathematics; Brandon Johnson, associate professor of vocal music and conducting and director of choral activities; Jun-Koo Park, assistant professor of applied mathematics; Trini Rangel, assistant professor of physical education and chair of the department of physical education; and Jillian Sokso, associate professor of art and art department chair.

While Johnson, Park, Rangel, and Sokso will be departing voluntarily for varied reasons, Horn’s departure after five years at Houghton will be happening with budget cuts passed as part of recent austerity measures enacted by the college. Linda Mills-Woolsey, dean of the college and vice president for academic affairs, explained the reasoning behind the cut, stating that the goal is to “administratively have fewer areas so we’re not investing in so many associate deans,” adding that the priority is to cut administratively before cutting faculty.

The cutting of Horn’s position will require faculty will require some transition. “What we are going to move toward there is a dean position that’s more like the deans of the other areas, which would be a teaching dean,” explained Mills-Woolsey. “Dr. Horn has been a consulting dean; he’s done a wonderful job for us when he first came on as associate dean. [But] it was going to be a temporary thing.” Mills-Woolsey went on to say that “because Dr. Horn has done such a good job and been very invested in the sciences and really provided some spiritual leadership as well as divisional and area leadership, obviously they [the faculty] are very sad, some of them are angry. They will be going through a grieving process over this, partly because there’s never a time when you feel like it’s a good time for it to happen.”

Also terminated was Hijleh’s position as associate dean for academic affairs. However, after considering an offer for a similar but distinct position at Houghton, he opted instead to head to The King’s College, a Christian institution with a student body of around 500, in New York City and take up a position as vice president for academic administration and dean of the faculty. “Both Dean-Mills Woolsey and President Mullen offered me something that I thought had a lot of good potential and was an exciting possibility,” said Hijleh, who has been at Houghton for 21 years. “As is always the case with these kinds of decisions, there was a weighing of a number of factors involved in that.” He explained, “I have been pursuing this kind of chief academic officer position for some time. Certainly, [with] the kind of role I will be able to have there, I’m convinced that’s where the Lord wants me to be at this point in my career.”

Park, on the other hand, is making a move to Georgia Gwinnett College after two years at Houghton in order to better accommodate his growing family. “I’ll never forget the support that I have received from my department, area and the college,” he said. “There are many things; however, the one thing I would like to emphasize is being a Project NExT Fellow. Houghton College was a sponsor for me to be the Project NExT Fellow. I have learned a lot from the experience.”

Johnson, after 11 years at Houghton, is planning to move to Ann Arbor, Michigan in order to work as the director of choral activities at Eastern Michigan University, a secular institution of around 25,000 undergraduates. “My family and I have been looking for opportunities to get a little bit closer to our home, which is in Minnesota,” he explained. “Houghton College has taught me far more than I have taught at Houghton,” he said. “While I’m excited to start this new chapter in my family’s life and in my professional life, I will cherish the time I had here at Houghton.”

 

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Student Filmmakers Participate in CAB’s Eighth Annual Film Festival

This year’s Film Fest, which took place last Saturday, April 5, boasted an array of student films ranging from animation to drama to commercial work.

Houghton’s Film Fest is an annual CAB-produced event. Students were asked to submit their own work earlier this semester, to be judged by a panel of faculty, staff, and students. The final nominations were announced on April 3 into the following categories: best picture, direction, editing, cinematography, sound, and actor. Other awards included: best animation, comedy, commercial, creating awareness, documentary, drama, and narrative.

1072141_468925699902982_8848747968318661368_oThis is the eighth year that CAB has hosted the Film Fest, but according to Greg Bish, director of student programs, this year showcased some of the finest work in Film Fest history. “Eight years ago, we created Film Fest when there was minimum academic support for video…in the past few years we’ve seen a dramatic improvement.” Bish credited this to the expansions of Communications major, but stressed that, “we continue to look for ways to encourage all students to submit films.”

The black-tie event was hosted by David Davies, assistant professor of composition and theory, and Mike Jordan, dean of the chapel, who announced the winners of each of the categories. CAB members presented each of the winners with “Willies” and prizes such as newly-released Hollywood films such as Frozen and The Hobbit.

Cory Martin, a senior majoring in communications, was awarded a total of six “Willies” during the evening, including “best picture” for his short drama, “Rivers and Roads.” In an interview, Martin said that all of the films he presented “were from a digital video class that I took last semester.” “Rivers and Roads,” according to Martin, was a project that was helped by conversations and assistance from friends.

Other winners included Raphael Derungs, senior; Evan Symanski, junior; Mason Wilkes, sophomore; Joshua Duttweiler, junior; and Steve McCord, senior.