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Update on Emergency Response Preparedness

Coinciding with water problems and outages, faculty will be meeting with the Board of Trustees this Friday, February 14 to finalize an emergency response plan. The plan, which covers emergency situations ranging from bomb scares, electrical outages, floods, and hazmat spills, details a communications plan amongst faculty and responders in the community in the event of an emergency situation. Dr. Robert Pool, vice president for student life and head of the emergency plan, describes the plan as allowing for a “coordinated response” amongst faculty and staff on campus.

Fire Drill 2013The changes to the plan, which was partially reworked by previous vice president Sharra Hynes, includes new protocol on active shooter scenarios and “some new information in ways to handle suicide, death threats …  serious injury of a community member,” according to Pool. Also added to the plan was a piece drawing on support from Sodexo, which provided that in the event of a disaster preventing those on campus from leaving and blocking outsiders from entry to campus, an extra few days’ supply of food would be kept on hand for rationing.

These changes coincide with two water pipe breaks over the past month, as well as separate internet and power outages in the past few weeks.

The internet outage, which occurred between 11:28 am and 2:48 pm on January 29, was campus-wide. While internal services such as Moodle and faculty email worked for those on the campus internet connection, the outage left the campus cut off from internet communication with the outside world. According to Don Haingray, director of technology services, the outage was caused by a hardware issue on the end of ION, the company which set up the fiber route through which the college gains internet access. ION, which operates more than 2200 miles of fiber optic cable across New York state, is currently working on establishing a dual fiber route in the state’s southern tier, which would allow internet customers to rely on a second cable for service in case of damage to one. Also affected by the outage was Alfred University, which relies on the same route for internet access.

While tech services does have a single cellular modem used for troubleshooting, there are no alternate internet connections capable of servicing the entire campus. Erin Bard, network administrator, even stated that “one of the problems that I noticed at the time, trying to use [the modem], was that Verizon was having issues as well.”

Also of recent interest was a campus-wide power outage, which occurred February 3 at around 5:40 am. The main cause of the outage was a blown transformer at a nearby substation belonging to Rochester Gas & Electric. In addition to the college campus, the outage also affected residents in Fillmore, Houghton, and parts of other surrounding towns. However, power was restored within an hour of the beginning of the outage.

With more serious outages in mind, Pool states that the college keeps two main generators on hand for backup, one which powers the Paine science building and another which powers the Nielsen athletic center. Haingray also adds that there is a backup generator available to tech services to keep servers running during an outage.

Regardless of any effects of internet and power outages on campus, Pool states that communication of any emergencies to students will still be made via phone calls and text messages. Using software from the Wireless Emergency Notification System (WENS), students may opt to sign up for emergency notifications sent out by the college. As such notifications are sent from offsite, they would not be affected by an outage on campus.

The operation of WENS on campus, which is overseen by Ray Parlett, director of safety and security, is stunted by the fact that only 25 to 30 percent of students are signed up for the service. The service is one of the main tools used in a situation of an urgent or emergency nature. Said Dr. Pool, “We were almost to that point last week when the power went out, but … within 10 minutes it was back up. So, we didn’t have to institute the WENS notification system.”

Also laid out in the emergency response plan are procedures for fires, most of which were tested in a comprehensive drill in Gillette Hall last semester. The drill, which used fog machines and resident actors with imitated injuries and called in emergency responders from the area, proved to be an overview of the competence of the college’s emergency responders. Parlett, the coordinator of the drill, explained that the college worked with “the fire department, ambulance [services] from Houghton, but they brought in Fillmore, and they might have brought in some folks from Hornell and Belfast as well. We worked with the Allegany county emergency services department … and we worked with the state police, who were there for observational purposes. We actually had a couple of fire investigators on the scene for investigational purposes as well.” Faculty involved in the emergency response plan were also present on the scene “to work through some of the exercises” as Parlett explained.

As for the outcome of the drill, Parlett stated that “in terms of the actual response, I was pretty encouraged.” The smoke alarms responded to the smoke “quicker, two or three minutes quicker than I thought” The local fire department also responded “within seven or eight minutes [and] … had a truck up here for an initial response.” According to Parlett, all residents were successfully evacuated by the fire department, including those planted in the building with simulated injuries. The only weak point highlighted by the drill was a glitch in the WENS program which prevented emergency notifications from reaching about a dozen of the faculty. Since then, the issue has been fixed.

According to Dennis Stack, dean of students, “by law, we need to do one type of drill per year, although it can be something called a ‘tabletop,’ which is more of a theory-driven drill of something that could happen,” adding that “we are actually looking at another scenario for maybe even this spring.” Pool added that while months of training might help in preparation, “you’re never perfectly prepared for what’s going to happen.”

 

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Values Collide During Olympic Games

Last summer, on June 30, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into a law a piece of legislation banning the “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations” in regions or areas exposed to minors. Article 6.21 reads as follows:

“Propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations among minors: 1. Propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations among minors expressed in distribution of information that is aimed at the formation among minors of nontraditional sexual attitudes, attractiveness of nontraditional sexual relations, misperceptions of the social equivalence of traditional and nontraditional sexual relations, or enforcing information about nontraditional sexual relations that evokes interest to such relations, if these actions do not constitute a criminal offence, – is punishable by an administrative fine for citizens in the amount of four thousand to five thousand rubles.”

Courtesy of www.theguardian.com
Courtesy of www.theguardian.com

This move sparked an outcry from activists and organizations both inside and outside of Russia.  In the United States in particular, many urban bars and clubs began refusing to sell Russian vodka as a protest against the discrimination happening on the other side of the world.  More public figures–Tilda Swinton, Cher, Madonna, Lady Gaga, Stephen Fry, and others–raised their voices in protest of Russia hosting an Olympic event meant to “unite the world.”

After calls for a boycott of the Sochi games seemed to fade into the background, attention turned instead to the Obama administration and whether or not the United States would make a statement regarding President Putin’s anti-LGBTQ stance. Months later President Obama’s office published the list of his hand-selected delegation to be sent to Sochi to represent the United State’s government. Topping the list were former Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, Ambassador Michael McFaul, White House aide Rob Nabors, and two openly gay American Olympic Champions – two-time ice-hockey gold medalist Caitlin Cahow, and 1988 figure skating gold medalist Brian Boitano.  In a recent interview Boitano informed USA Today, “Everyone knows why we’re here. We’ve made it obvious and quite public as to why Caitlin and I are supporting the delegation and are here. I think Russians know that and I think Americans know that and we’re proud to come from a country who supports tolerance and diversity and we stand strong.”

Since the Olympic Games began last week, other international athletes have voiced their opinions about Putin’s continued stance against gay rights in the face of Western opposition. “Homosexuality is not propaganda,” writes New Zealand Olympian Blake Skjellerup, “Anyone, no matter their sexuality, religion, or race, can play sports. One facet of who you are does not make you a weaker athlete. Being proud of who you are, and representing that makes you a stronger athlete, and the Olympic Games should be actioned in a place that provides that safety and opportunity.”

Putin, however, staunchly continues to defend the law he signed into effect. In his State of the Nation address this past December, two months before the opening ceremony in Sochi, Putin attacked the “norms of morality” of the West. “This destruction of traditional values from above not only entails negative consequences for society, but is also inherently anti-democratic because it is based on an abstract notion and runs counter to the will of the majority of people,” he said. As the games continue to unfold, it is predicted that athletes of multiple countries will pursue gestures of tolerance, bearing little regard for Putin’s disdain.

 

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Europa Galante Performs at Wesley Chapel

Last Monday night at 7:30 the Houghton community was audience to a rare night of Baroque music courtesy of twice-Grammy-nominated period ensemble Europa Galante. Period-appropriate performance practice is a matter of involved study. Ensembles reviving Renaissance and Baroque music in period-appropriate performances have grown in popularity since the second World War. Despite interest falling off slightly since the 1990s, they now fit in with the mainstream of classical music.

Artist_SeriesEuropa Galante was created by their director, Fabio Biondi, for the purpose of performing and reviving works from the Italian Baroque and early Classical period. With the Fondazione Santa Cecilia, Bondi and Europa Galante have worked to rediscover 18th century Italian operas by almost forgotten composers. They are one of the most widely acclaimed and awarded early music ensembles currently and have performed in La Scala in Milan, Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall in New York.  In fact, their next concert following the Houghton concert was in Carnegie Hall.

In a previous interview with Dr. Stephen Plate, director of the Greatbatch School of Music, about this year’s Artist Series concerts, he expressed his excitement at having an internationally-renowned group perform at Houghton and fulfill one of the goals of the Artist Series concerts, which is to bringing to Houghton performances not often found in western New York, much less Allegany county.

Their program Monday included Vivaldi’s Four Seasons concertos as well his oboe concerto in G. They played a similar program at Carnegie on Tuesday. “It has been so long since I have heard music like this!” said graduate organ/collaborative-piano major William Strydhorst. The selection is unique in period repertory for being a programmatic work, an instrumental piece based on a poem or story rather than preset form, over a hundred years before it became common practice. Their distinctiveness as well as the driving rhythms characteristic of Vivaldi’s music and characteristic Italian lines have ensured that these pieces have endured in the concert repertory for centuries. For some listeners, however, nothing is quite the same as hearing them performed on instruments they were made to be played on, making for a more accurate production of the music and enabling listeners to hear the music as the composer himself may have, or as near as can be had three hundred years later.

Europa Galante has been known for their performances of Vivaldi since their founding in 1990, recently receiving Grammy nominations for recordings of Vivialdi Concerti and Bajazet and most recently receiving the Diaspason D’Or for Vivaldi’s opera L’Oracolo. Monday’s performance displayed some of the reasons for these nominations.  Fabio Biondi’s magical solos, particularly in “Winter,” mixed with the accompaniment of the ensemble. Biondi started performing internationally when he was 12, receiving continual acclaim since then.

The next Artist Series concert will be on March 29th featuring Houghton alumni Robert Joubert in the recital hall.

 

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New Endowed Chair of Music

Today, February 14, 2014, Houghton will celebrate the endowment of the Horne-Blanchard Chair in Music. This is the first fully endowed chair in Houghton’s 131 year history.

MusicChair_CMYKWhat is an endowed chair? Linda Mills Woolsey, Vice-President of Academic Affairs, explained that by way of funding an endowed chair, “donors have an opportunity to give a gift that will underwrite the salary of a professor” which will establish a perpetual chair of instruction in addition to relieving the college budget. In addition to providing for a faculty member’s salary, “the fund also provides for an extra fund that the professor can use for projects, whether that is their own research or collaborative research with students.”

While Houghton has many partially endowed chairs (such as the Hoselton Chair in Business and Economics, the Moreland Chair in Biology, and the Van Gorden Chair in Communications and Writing) the Horne-Blanchard Chair is the first one that is fully endowed. According to Rick Melson, it takes approximately $1.5 million to fund an endowed chair. The Blanchards have been contributing to this endowment since 1987, when David Blanchard was a member of the Board of Trustees, but the fund had only come to maturity this past fall semester.

The donors, David and Allene Blanchard have been invested in Houghton since Allene Blanchard (nee Horne) matriculated here in 1954. Allene Blanchard, a graduate of 1957 with a degree in applied piano, expressed her own experience as a student here. “I was privileged to have highly qualified instructors in piano and music at Houghton. The value of this teaching and coaching was worth far more than it cost me. It was made affordable for me by the sacrificial service of staff and faculty at Houghton and by financial support from several individuals.” By providing the funding for the Horne-Blanchard chair, Allene Blanchard hopes that it will be a vehicle “to attract first-class talent to Houghton College and to subsidize the cost of this academic pursuit for talented students.”

David and Allene Blanchard have been heavily involved in the business of the college in the years since Allene Blanchard’s graduation. From 1987-2003 (excepting a one-year leave of absence), David Blanchard was a member of the Board of Trustees and served for eight years as the Chair of the Finance Committee and for several years as Chair of the Willard J. Houghton Foundation. As part of his work with the latter organization, David Blanchard was instrumental in developing the Inn at Houghton Creek and bringing in the Subway franchise near the townhouses. In addition, while he was a member of the board, David Blanchard was also “asked to Chair a Capital Campaign. In this campaign, Wilson Greatbatch endowed the School of Music and Masters in Music programs with $15M and we raised a total of about $30M in the Campaign.”

Regarding the endowment, Allene Blanchard said, “”To God be the Glory, that He has enabled us to be able to pass on to others some of His magnanimous Blessings to us.” David Blanchard echoed her statements saying, “We both firmly believe the admonition of Paul in II Corinthians 9: 6-7: ‘Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each person should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.’”

The recipient of the chair is Brandon Johnson, associate professor of vocal music and conducting and director of choral activities, and was chosen particularly for the number and quality of projects that he has been undertaking over the years. Johnson is a tenured faculty member who has been teaching at Houghton for 11 years and has been instrumental in expanding choral activities at Houghton, according to Stephen Plate, director of the Greatbatch School of Music.

Plate “couldn’t be prouder to have the first endowed chair at the Greatbatch School.” Plate also expressed the he was proud to have Johnson as the recipient. “Brandon Johnson represents everything right and he has a great vision for building choral music,” said Plate. Plate concluded by remarking on “what a phenomenal thing this is for this school.”

 

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Houghton Students attend Faith and International Development Conference

Between February 6 and February 8, a group of 22 Houghton students attended Calvin College’s Faith and International Development Conference (FIDC) in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

According to Ndunge Kiiti, intercultural studies, Houghton students have been consistently attending this conference since 2006, though “we’ve missed maybe one (or maybe even two) years.” However while intercultural studies and political science faculty typically organize the trip to Calvin, this year the organization of the trip was mainly due to student initiatives from Sarah Slater and Hanna Kahler, juniors.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAKahler was most interested in attending this conference because of the influence her older sister who attended a few years prior and found the conference to be “wonderful.” To Kahler, “it was always something on my bucket list.”

However, because of budgetary problems, it appeared at the beginning of this year that the trip to Calvin might not run after all. According to Slater, “usually there’s several thousand dollars in the budget in the intercultural studies department to do a conference trip but there wasn’t that money allocated this year” which prompted Slater and Kahler to take charge.

Slater and Kahler were mostly in charge of raising funds across many organization on campus, which included the SGA, the Intercultural Studies department, and GCF, in order to help assist the costs of transportation. Said Slater, many of the challenges revolved around funding and “keeping sane” during the two and a half week period that she and Kahler were given to organize the trip.

The group representing Houghton at Calvin was the largest at the conference at 22 students. Compared with years past, there were also more diversity of Houghton’s majors represented. Said Slater, “I’m pleased that we had more majors than usual. Usually it is just upper-level intercultural and political science majors, but this year we also had students from business, art, psychology, and physical therapy. We had a lot of student diversity.” Slater was particularly pleased because, “Part of the nature of international development is that you’re trying to include everyone so I feel like a conference about international development should reflect that.”

The focus of the conference revolved around the idea of “cultivating community” and, according to the conference handbook, to answer the questions, “Who is cultivating community? How? Who belongs where? Why? What does community look like?” by looking at these questions through the light of “Christ’s work on the cross.”

The keynote speaker at the conference was Brian Fikkert, a professor of economics and community development and author of “When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor… And Yourself.” Fikkert spoke about his work involving microfinancing in developing countries and also, in keeping with the theme of the conference, his core belief that human beings were made for relationships with God and each other.

Other speakers at the conference included: Rob and Tara Cahill, directors of Community Cloud Forest Conservation; Dr. Minus Hiruy of Hope University College in Ethiopia; and Tarek Abuata, Palestine Coordinator for the Christian Peacemakers Team.

For Kahler, “it was pretty cool to meet these professors that were foundational in their field and had written these books…. Overall, it was nice to get a feel for the development organizations that are out there.”

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Bible Department Adjusts to Cuts

With recent budget and staff cuts, every academic department essentially feels the weight of such changes and the restrictions that often follow; the Bible department specifically is struggling with current academic burdens.

The aforementioned budget cuts elicited the elimination of the adjunct professor position in the Bible department, a person previously depended upon to take up some of the load of teaching classes. The result, along with a current professor’s absence due to a year of sabbatical, created a deficiency of course offerings within the Bible major this semester.

Sarah Derck, Old Testament, acknowledged the restrictions applied to the department due to the budget cuts. One result is, she said, “for this academic year we had to rearrange the offerings, and not have quite as many upper level Bible courses available.”

From the perspective of a current senior Bible major, such a deficiency comes as a sudden inconvenience. The majority of seniors in the department accepted independent study courses this spring as a means of meeting course requirements in order to complete their degrees.

Billy Marshall, senior Bible major, expressed his frustration in this current lack of course offerings. He said, “The lack of courses being offered for Bible majors is more than a simple inconvenience–it’s frustrating beyond belief…. As a Christian college we shouldn’t just offer Bible courses that cover the fundamentals.”

As Biblical Literature remains a required introductory-level course for all graduates, the remaining Bible professors, namely Sarah Derck and Terrence Paige, now must dedicate more of their time teaching that specific class this semester. The remaining few upper-level classes are currently offered every year, and as a result senior Bible majors find the classes offered those already taken, and therefore must resort to independent study courses.

BibleDept_2Unlike Marshall, other students see an independent study course as an opportunity to study something they find specific interest in.  One such senior, Christine Brienen, spoke of her experience within the Bible major.  While expressing disappointment in the fact that the Bible department withdrew a two credit, upper-level course on the book of Psalms due to lack of staff this spring, Brienen said, regarding her current independent study course, “It’s an opportunity I wouldn’t have had if Psalms would have been offered, and it’s a more focused course in what I want to be doing after school.”

Although the department faces these cuts and lack of course offerings, Derck places emphasis on the future.  Concerning the shortage of upper-level courses, she said, “It’s a temporary thing… and it’s actually a great opportunity to think creatively and strategically.”

Such creative thinking resulted in Derck’s anticipation of a “broader range of Bible courses” in the coming year.  The normally offered courses, such as the Pentateuch, will be offered every other spring, as opposed to every spring, leaving room for new course offerings in the semesters its absence leaves.

The department also plans on offering some future classes as two or three credit courses, in order to create flexibility within the major.

One consolation found amid the current deficiencies and frustrations of the department is the fact that these issues are not unique to the Bible department.  As Derck said, “Going forward we are engaging in what folks all across the college are doing, and that’s trying to figure out how to balance the offerings that our students need, and create a way that allows us to move into the 21st century of higher education, which is, as everybody knows, a totally new ball game.”

 

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Campus Celebrates Purple and Gold Week

Purple and Gold Week is a well-known tradition at Houghton. The week’s events include free t-shirts for students to show their loyalty for either purple or gold and participate in the “Houghton Out” at the basketball games, and campus-wide entertainment such as the Pyramid Game Show and SPOT.

CAB is in the organization most involved in Purple and Gold week, organizing and overseeing most of the week’s events. Other groups such as the athletics department and the Class of 2015 co-sponsor some of the events as well. Due to its extended run, CAB devotes a significant amount of time toward planning and running the week’s events. Events such as SPOT and the Pyramid Game especially require advanced planning. For example, the selection of SPOT hosts Luke Ogden and John Carpenter took place at the end of last semester. Alongside planning for these larger-scale events is what CAB member Joshua Duttweiler said were the “usual steps in planning a party; decorations, food, etc.”

P&GfrontpagerThe planning for this year’s events was similar to last year’s, said Duttweiler, “with the exception of changing the game show to Pyramid which is a better known game “than last year’s ‘Match Game.’” Zina Teague, a Houghton alumna who has been selected to be a contestant on the Pyramid Game, said that she loves participating in Purple and Gold week events as an alumna, even if it is just to “simply share her goofiness with others” on campus. Additionally, the “Just Dance” Tournament, which was new to last year, was brought back due to its popularity and Duttweiler said CAB expects it be a success again. Most of the events are chosen “based on tradition,” said Duttweiler; “the shirts, CAB Couch during the basketball game, the game show, SPOT, and the dodgeball tournament have been going on for many years now and are looked forward to every year.”

Vice President for Student Life Robert Pool added that he had been working with SGA to help them think of “ways to relight the fire” encouraging student involvement, and to “make Purple and Gold week better, stronger, and more institutionally adopted.” Pool said that the purpose of Purple and Gold week is to not only “have fun” but to “boost school spirit” and “encourage a common experience among all students.”

Pool said that student response has “met and even exceeded expectations.” This week is rooted in Houghton tradition that goes back even to its “heyday” in the mid to late 1960s when “freshmen were divided into purple and gold, [it] was their identity…they bled purple and gold,” said Pool, who added that some Houghton alums, such as Paul Mills, “really remember those times.” Pool said of Mills that he remains “very loyal to his Gold team,” continuing tradition instilled over 50 years ago.

“These [will be] some of the cherished memories that all of us want to have to tell your children and grandchildren what college is like. [Purple and Gold week] has a lot of cherished value that will help students connect with their alma mater,” said Pool.

 

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New Chapel Time Proposed for 2014-2015 School Year

TheInfamousMonday_chapel

The infamous Monday-Wednesday-Friday lunch rush after chapel may become a thing of the past next fall semester. After alterations from former Student Government Association presidents Garrett Fitzsimmons and Joel Ernst as well as two scrapped plans for a new schedule for next year, a third plan is up for approval by SGA and Academic Council.

Previous chapel times were early enough to evade the long lines in the dining hall immediately after chapel. According to Margery Avery, director of academic records, “Back when chapel was at 11:05, students either went to class after chapel or they went to lunch. Normally 65% of them went to class after chapel. And, lunch wasn’t open from 7:00 to 7:00, so there was just a certain amount of time. So, if 65% of people walked out of chapel and went to class, then you still had a number of students who could go to lunch. Students ate in shifts.” This pattern continued even after a time change to 10:15.

The current starting time of 11:30 was originally changed to fit in science labs or three non-lab classes prior to chapel and provide enough room to schedule four-hour credit courses afterward. However, for many students with multiple afternoon classes scheduled, the only window for them to eat lunch was between the 12:10 ending time for chapel and the 12:45 time for their first afternoon class. Avery states that the time period “was never intended to be lunch. The theory was they would go to class or they would go to lunch. They wouldn’t wind up doing both. But, the students tried to do both.”

A version C of next year’s campus schedule has chapel set from 11:00 to 11:40. However, Avery stresses that there is no guarantee this will be the official schedule for the 2014-2015. For now, the schedule is to be proposed to SGA for input from the student body.

 

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Pyschology and Sociology Transfer to Three-Credit System

Several years back the College transformed its credits system by implementing a required 4- credit hour structure. One of the leading voices of the new system was Dr. Peter Meilaender, political science. The shift was made in order to fulfill what he described as: “Paired desires, faculty would be able to teach more effectively by teaching one less course simultaneously, and students – also taking fewer courses simultaneously – would be able to learn more effectively.” Dr. Linda Mills Woolsey, Dean of the College, further explained, saying, “A lot of study went into the shift and it did reflect a trend among selective liberal arts colleges. We did the best we could with the information we had and from the outset made some exceptions to the rule.  We have, however, continued to wrestle with issues inherent in any attempt at a ‘one size fits all’ approach.”

SocDept1As of last fall, however, departments struggling with this structuring requirement can freely adjust their courses to better suit their needs.

In November of 2013, the Academic Council approved a motion allowing for departments to freely re-organize their curriculum by whatever structure they feel to be most appropriate for facilitating student learning. The resolution as follows was later approved by the faculty: “The general requirements of a four-credit curriculum are hereby relaxed, permitting departments to propose curricula organized in such a way as to provide the best courses and programs for students.”  This motion opened the door for several departments to restructure their programs using three-hour or two-hour structures or a functional combination of 2, 3, and 4-hour courses.

As of yet, the most significant changes are happening within the Psychology department, chaired by Dr. Paul Young. “Different disciplines organize their content in different ways,” said Young. “Organizing psychology by time period, for example, just does not fit the field – this is a more topically organized field. With the 4-hour curriculum, the majors would have to be very large.”

More than 10 psychology courses will be adjusted to a three-hour system as of the fall of 2014. Young emphasized the “focus of the shift back as an attempt to allow students to be “more flexible in students setting up their own schedules.” So as to further prohibit scheduling complications the Psychology Department is also allowing for a 3 plus 1 option for students who need a 4 hour course. Young hoped that the transition would be smooth and students would be provided with “enough different courses to fill out their majors.”

Not all voices are united in support of these types of changes, however. Meilaender’s original support for the four-hour system has not wavered. “It is not obvious to me why varieties of content organization (historical, topical, etc.) point to one hours system or another.” Concerning the strain on professors, Meilaender continues to disagree, explaining that from his perspective, “There is equal demand on your time with 3 four hour classes or with 4 three hour classes – it is simply easier to give your attention to fewer classes.”

While not in opposition to the recent changes, Mills Woolsey similarly pointed out, “The three hour system tends to mean more separate preparations for faculty, and [in the past] failed to satisfy student and faculty desires to create more in-depth courses.”

Preferences aside, the motion by the faculty has created a more flexible code for departments to determine course designations and semester schedules. Next fall, psychology majors and professors will put the old system to the test. Mills Woolsey, when asked to predict this decisions impact on the campus as a whole, summarized concisely: “At this point I envision a move toward a structure that allows for 1,2, 3, and 4 hour courses. I will be interested to see how students in the psychology major respond to the changes.”

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War in South Sudan

South Sudan is the newest country in the world, born in July of 2011. For the first time in history people were able to go to the polls and over 99% of them voted for freedom. It was a time of joy and excitement as people looked forward to living in a free and prosperous country. But it was not to be. For much of the past 50 years the black southern Sudanese have been at war with the Arabs of northern Sudan – over 2 million lives have been lost. Having a common enemy forced the southerners to unite. But now the common enemy is no longer there and they have turned on themselves.

To understand South Sudan it is important to realize it is made up of over 90 ethnic groups – each having their own identity and speaking their own language. The largest group by far is the Dinka, numbering about 3 million people. The second largest is the Nuer, numbering over 1 million. When the new government was formed these two groups immediately dominated the new administration. The President of the country is Salva Kiir, a Dinka. The Vice President is Riek Machar, a Nuer. These two ethnic groups have similar cultural backgrounds. They are both pastoralist societies who love their cattle. But over the centuries they have fought each other for cattle and access to pasture and water. Sadly they have brought these longstanding enmities into the new government.

Courtesy of en.wikipedia.org
Courtesy of en.wikipedia.org

Many western countries have come to help get this country started. South Sudan is a country with great potential, having large quantities of oil, gold, wildlife and arable land. Juba, the southern capital, has become a boomtown with expatriate organizations struggling to find housing. When I visited there last year I saw apartments going for $6000 a month and offices renting for $80,000 a year. Money has poured in to help prop up the new government, but much of it has disappeared into the private accounts of corrupt politicians. South Sudan is presently rated as one of the three most corrupt countries in the entire world.

Several months ago President Kiir decided to do something about it and dismissed most of the ministers in his government – this included his Vice President Machar and the other Nuer ministers. This caused ill feelings and in December fighting erupted in the capital Juba. Each politician had his own unit of trained bodyguards made up of either Dinka or Nuer soldiers and they started fighting each other. The fighting quickly spread and engulfed the town of Juba. The Dinka soon controlled the town, but actively pursued and killed Nuer people. The opposite happened in other towns where Nuer dominated and they killed Dinka people. Many civilians fled to the various UN compounds for safety. The UN compound in Juba is protecting over 20,000 people who are camping on the premises.

The fighting has become increasingly ugly across Jonglei province with armed militias killing anyone of the opposing ethnic group – often targeting women, children and old people. They are even entering hospitals and shooting sick people in their beds. The latest figures estimate that over 10,000 people have been killed and over 700,000 people are displaced – hiding in the bush without adequate food and water. Even humanitarian groups trying to supply emergency aid have been attacked and been forced to withdraw their services.

There have been ongoing peace talks in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Initially these were heading nowhere as each side continued to fight. But a peace agreement has now been signed by negotiators on both sides. It is well worded and demands an immediate cessation of hostilities. However, many of the militias operate in remote areas and there is no central control over these fighting groups. So fighting continues. Word needs to get out to these militias with orders to stop fighting. There also needs to be guarantees of safety so the humanitarian organizations can get into the country and offer immediate aid.

Civilians are fleeing to Uganda at the rate of over 1000 a day – joining the 50,000 refugees that are already there. Most of them are walking and are in bad physical shape. The high numbers have seriously stretched the ability of the humanitarian organizations to feed and house them. The refugees interviewed have no faith in the peace agreement and many are stating that they want to live in Uganda and never return to South Sudan.

Sadly the atrocities and killings have renewed deep hatreds between the ethnic groups and created a desire for revenge. A diplomat stated that this fighting has set the country back 20 years. Fortunately there is a strong church in South Sudan. The church leaders are united and pleading with their people to forgive and live in peace. Forgiveness is their only hope.