20090319

Page 1

OLD GOLD&BLACK W A K E

F O R E S T

U N I V E R S I T Y

T H U R S D AY, M A RC H 1 9 , 2 0 0 9

VOL. 92, NO. 24

“Covers the campus like the magnolias”

Outside the Bubble... Missing hiker found in Northern Arizona

Several students dedicate their spring break to serving others By Elliot Engstrom | Managing editor “It’s amazing what water can do when it gets moving,” Sarah Romeo, a site supervisor for the St. Bernard Project, told university students as they worked to destroy the immense amounts of mold in the remains of a house just outside of New Orleans. Despite the fact that it has been over three years since Hurricane Katrina flooded the entire region and claimed more than 1,800 lives, the need for help remains as great as it was weeks after the storm made landfall.

This cry for help is hardly limited to New Orleans. Communities all over the country and world are in need of volunteers to come give them a variety of aid, and this is why a multitude of students opted to spend their spring breaks working to answer this call. Students served in a vast variety of places, including domestic locations such as Louisiana, Georgia, Washington, D.C., South Carolina and Florida, as well as international locations such as the Dominican Republic and Greece. AJ Warr, a junior at the university, went to Comer, Ga., with the Baptist Student Union to work with Burmese refugees currently living with an association called Jubillee Partners. “I think the trip to Jubille Partners helped the community out a lot because we did work that would

have been difficult for the community to do themselves,” he said. Jubilee Partners is a community that hosts refugees who have gained United States citizenship. Throughout the course of the trip, students taught English to Burmese adults and children, mulched a blueberry field, painted cabins and worked in a garden. Wesley Campus Ministry and Intervarsity Christian fellowship teamed up to send a group containing dozens of students to the New Orleans area to aid in Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. The group divided into teams that engaged in activities ranging from helping in reconstruction to working with area children to participating in day care at a local church. “At first it was kind of hard to see the

impact of our work,” junior Amanda Slemp said, “but there was just so much satisfaction in the homeowners’ eyes when they saw the work we had done on their houses.” However, while students certainly had an impact on those whom they helped, students themselves were impacted by the people and communities in which they worked. “I think the impact was very profound on the students,” Wesley Campus Minister Larry Jones said of the trip to New Orleans. “The experience awoke us to the realities the people of New Orleans have been struggling with since the headlines went away.” Some students traveled extremely far to serve others in other parts of

See Break, Page A3

Math teacher Divinity dean announces honored he will step down in 2010 nationally By Cheryl Johnson | Staff writer

By Caitlin Brooks | News editor

When Hugh Howards, associate professor of mathematics, began his undergraduate education at Williams College in 1988, he was looking for anything but a math degree. “Math just always seemed like a tool for other things,” Howards said. He could not have foreseen his successful decade -spanning career as a mathematics professor at the university, much less the highly prestigious award naming him the 2009 Distinguished Teacher of the Southeastern Section of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA), which he received March 14. Howards is the first university faculty member ever to win this prize, which singles him out from a pool of professors representing five states and more than 210 colleges and universities within those states. Fortunately for Howards, a throw-away course, “Discrete Math,” taken during his sophomore year of undergraduate work for extra hours, changed his perspective on the entire mathematical discipline. “Math was finally fascinating for its own sake. The questions in the course were so elegant and so fun; I had always considered them games and

See Howards, Page A3

The founding dean of the university’s School of Divinity, Bill J. Leonard, will step down from his position on June 30, 2010. He will, however, remain at the university as Chair of Church History in the divinity school and religion department. A national search for Leonard’s successor will begin later in the year. Leonard joined the university as dean on July 1, 1996, with a bachelor’s degree from Texas Wesleyan University and a Master of Divinity from a Baptist seminary. Before arriving at the university, he was a professor at Samford University in Birmingham where he taught religion and acted as chair of the religion and philosophy departments. Leonard has also taught courses at Yale Divinity School and Seinan Gakuin University in Fukuoka, Japan. The Wake Forest School of Divinity is one of only five divinity schools in the United States with no formal denominational affiliation because it identified itself as “Christian by tradition, ecumenical in outlook and Baptist in heritage.” When the school first opened, it only offered a threeyear Master of Divinity program, but throughout Leonard’s tenure, the school has begun expanding its list of degree programs. The school now also offers several dual degree programs including a Master of Divinity/Master of Counseling and a Master of Divinity/Juris Doctor as well as a Certificate in Spirituality and Health, which is

Michael Sandoval, a 7-year-old child, was found on March 17 after being separated from his hiking group the day before. He had been hiking in the Red Mountain area with three adults and 10 clients from the Coconino Community Guidance Center. Sandoval had to spend a freezing night alone and was taken to a local hospital for observation, but he is described as being in good condition.

Clinton and Palin star in new comic books Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin are being featured in a comic book series released by Bluewater Productions on March 11. The company wanted to show female role models and reach a larger demographic with its comics. It is planning to release comics featuring Michelle Obama and Caroline Kennedy in the future.

Actress Natasha Richardson dies at age 45 On March 18. Tony Award-winning actress Natasha Richardson died in a Manhattan hospital, where she had been flown after suffering from head injuries after a skiing accident on March 16 north of Montreal. Lyne Lortie, Mont Tremblant ski resort spokeswoman, reported that Richarson had fallen during a beginner’s skiing lesson and had not been wearing a helmet.

Indiana man missing since 1993 found alive Monty Stutzman, a man who disappeared in 1993, was found alive and well in Mississippi. When Stutzman, then 23, had disappeared he had been on probation for a burglary charge and had a warrant for theft. He was found living under an assumed name and Social Security number, has started a new life, is married, and works full time. The charges against him were dropped and he was reunited with his family.

Resort employees protest cutting down of trees

Photo courtesy of University News Service

Leonard joined the university as dean in the summer of 1996. open to School of Divinity and School of Medicine Students. Leonard recruited faculty who developed an interdisciplinary approach to educating ministers

See Dean, Page A3

Employees of Westgate Resorts in Florida protested and tried to block Progress Energy workers from cutting down trees on March 17. Progress Energy had a work order to cut down the trees because they are too near high-tension power lines, but Westgate’s employees insisted it was not true. They stationed themselves in the heat until the workers left without cutting down the trees. Westgate is in the process of getting an injunction to stop the work order.

Great Decisions series examines foreign policy topics By Lauren Mahomes | Staff writer

From March 19 through April 23, the Center of International Studies will host Great Decisions 2009, a lecture/discussion series focusing on certain foreign policy topics, every Thursday at 7 p.m. in Scales Fine Arts Center, room A102. Great Decisions is an educational program sponsored by the non-profit organization, Foreign Policy Association (FPA). Great Decisions was created to facilitate intelligent discourse as well as awareness of critical inter-

national topics. Each event in the series will include a the lecture from an expert in the field as well as a discussion directly following that allows the audience to directly engage the topic along with the expert. 2009 will mark the Great Decisions Discussion Program’s 55th year. On March 19 Dr. Hank Kennedy, professor of political science, will speak on Afghanistan and Pakistan. This topic will explore what the FPA describes as “one of the most volatile regions in the world” and the impact of America’s push for sta-

bility in Iraq on the two countries. Dr. Kennedy has spoken about South Asia and the PalestinianIsraeli conflict in several Great Decisions series on campus, as well as at other universities. Sarah Lischer, assistant professor of political science, will speak on March 26 about Human Rights in a New Era: War on Peace. Lischer has spoken twice in the series about military intervention, international humanitarian law and migration. Her interest began in college with a focus on African studies which

Life | B7

INSIDE:

Gimme Shelter

Brieflies

A2

Police Beat

A2

Spotlight

B2

Discover the pros and cons of living either on-campus or off as the housing process approaches.

The Hot List

B8

In Other News

Sudoku

B8

• Eating disorders a reality among students | A2 • WAKE TV prepares for film festival | A3

led to an interest in humanitarian crises, refugees, and the application of international law. Her approach to the discussion will provide holistic information and explain her analysis as well as spark further discussion for the question and answer session that follows the lecture. “I’m going to talk about why human rights abuses occur and what underlies that. I want to answer questions such as why do we have international law prohibiting these abuses, and why is that law often violated? Do we

need an international response to these abuses? I’m also going to touch on some dilemmas about U.S. actions. There’s been a lot of press about coalitions causing casualties with civilians for example,” she said. On April 2, Wei-Chin Lee, professor of political science, will lecture on the U.S. and the Rising Powers, specifically that of China due to its rise in political power and the world economy. Lee contends that the topic of rising superpowers other than the United States is a staple within the study of

Sports | B1 March Through March After a short stay in the ACC Tournament, the Deacs look for success in the first NCAA Tournament game against Cleveland State.

international politics because “we want to know more about the continuity, changes and challenges of the international system and try to find ways to improve international peace and security, if possible,” he said. Lee is also a veteran of the Great Decisions series, speaking previously about China and International Politics. On April 9, Joseph Daniels, visiting professor of international economics, will provide a lecture on Global

See Decisions, Page A6

Opinion | A4 Equalize support Intra-national programs deserve same funding as their international counterparts.


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.