Professor and PublishedAuthor Wins NationalAward“Students often come into class saying,‘I can’t write!’. I start with the premisethat not everyone is going to write theway Picasso painted … but we can alllearn to write better, and that is animportant asset no matter what youdecide to do in life.”–Elizabeth Weiser, Ph.D.

It’s obvious that dedicated facultymember and published author,Elizabeth Weiser, Ph.D., enjoys bothteaching and learning. A rising starin the field of rhetoric, she wasrecently honored with the EmergingScholar Award from the KennethBurke Society. This national award isgiven only every third year to a topnew scholar in modern rhetoricaltheory. (Kenneth Burke was the 20thcentury’s pre-eminent rhetorician.)Her book on Burke’s wartimetheories, Burke, War, Words:Rhetoricizing Dramatism, will bepublished this fall.

Assistant Professor in Rhetoric andComposit ion in the English

Department, Weiser also serves as thefaculty advisor to the student journal,Taproot. Begun started three yearsago at Ohio State Newark, in 2008,the journal project was incorporatedinto the Literary Publishing course,where students learn about thehistory of publishing and gain hands-on experience. Students participatein allaspects of the publishing process,from creating publicity to editingand designing both print and onlineversions. “They become editorialassistants—experience they can addto their resumes,” added Wesier.

In spring of 2008, Weiser experienceda very proud moment when a groupof undergraduate students who sheadvised were chosen to present apanel at the College EnglishAssociat ion’s (CEA) annualconference. The students’ panelpresentation, “Identifying the Other,Masking the Self: The Rhetoric ofTravel Writing,” was the firstundergraduate panel ever selected topresent during the 39 years of theCEA conference.

In addition to advising and teaching,Weiser manages to write and publish.Her article on “Burke and War” wasnamed one of the two best articles in

Rhetoric Review in 2007. Other articleshave appeared or will soon in JAC andPhilosophy and Rhetoric, and she hasseveral book chapters coming out in2009. She is co-editing two collectionsof essays.

Weiser received the 2007 FacultyService Award at Ohio State Newark,along with her colleague, Jose Cabral.This annual award is given torecognize outstanding contributionsin the area of service by Ohio StateNewark faculty.

Elizabeth Weiser holds a Ph.D. withdistinction in English from TexasChristian University, a Master of FineArts in Creative Writing/ English fromTexas State University, a Master ofArts in Education, and a Bachelor ofArts in Anthropology.

“Writing is the way our societyexpresses itself beyond personalconversation. Good writing can bethe best method to state your case,”stated Weiser.

For more information, visitwww.newark.osu.edu/eweiser

Engaging the Community:The John L. andChristine WarnerLibrary and StudentCenter

In keeping with a continuedcommitment to engagement, TheOhio State University at Newark andCentral Ohio Technical College havedeveloped a unique environmentdesigned to nurture the hearts, mindsand souls of all who enter theirrespective institution. Outstandingfacilities are one of the keys to thecampus’ success, such as the JohnGilbert Reese Center and LeFevreHall, facilities named in honor of thecampus’ co-founders.

The campus is proud to announce itslatest addition: The John L. andChristine Warner Library and StudentCenter (The Warner Center).

The Warner Center was developedto provide the highest qualityinstitutional structure to address theneeds of students, faculty, staff, andcommunity members as they engagewith one another. This is much morethan a new building; it serves as thecenter for student and communitylife, including academic support andcampus enrichment. The libraryresources and services are greatly

expanded and enhanced—more thandouble the previous library space oncampus.

This facility also impacts thecommunity by fostering a heightenedsense of the environment. As part ofits strategic plan, Ohio State Newarkis dedicated to green practices. TheWarner Center’s systems weredesigned to be very energy-efficient.Recycling, buying locally-grownproducts, composting, and offeringreusable materials, are all part of theenvironmental focus of The Table ofContents contemporary diningfacility.

The student center complements theacademic experience through anextensive variety of cultural,educational, social, and recreationalprograms. On the second floor, theHoward E. LeFevre LearningCommons encompasses a variety ofacademic spaces to enhance theteaching and learning experiences.The incorporation of both acomprehensive library and studentcenter into one grand, shared facilityis unique in higher education acrossthe country.

Embodying the notion of openness,the Warner Center welcomes visitorsinto a barrier-free environment,complete with three fireplaces, acoffee bar, a food court, study

facilities, a library, tutoring andresource centers and the Norman R.and Alethea E. Sleight CommunityRoom. The community room is abeautiful, state-of-the-art conferencefacility designed to encouragecommunity organizations to meet onthe Newark campus. Visitors to theWarner Center are welcome to enjoytheir coffee while reading in TheConstance Corkwell Baldwin FiresideLounge and to bring a library bookinto the Table of Contents food court.Openness and access are thecornerstones of this inviting campusfacility.

After touring the nearly-completefacility, Christine Warner commented:“I didn’t fully realize what the resultsof this project would be as we wereplanning the building. The impact thisbuilding will have is much larger thanI would have anticipated. It isn’t justfor today; it will serve students forgenerations to come.”

The John L. and Christine WarnerLibrary and Student Center openedwith the start of the autumn quarter2008 and the Newark campuscontinues to feel a renewed sense ofpride and excitement as students,faculty, staff and the communityengage with the campus.

SERVING THE COMMUNITYOpportunities abound at The

Ohio State University at Newark— intellectual, cultural, social anddevelopmental. In addition, acritical component of Ohio State’scommitment to serving the wholeindividual is the developmentof social awareness throughvolunteerism and civic engagement.

Throughout the year, the StudentActivities Office offers a wide arrayof campus-wide community serviceactivities, including: CampusCommitment, Spring into the City,American Red Cross Blood Drives,Read to Me, Safe Trick or Treat,Make a Difference Day Ohio,Licking Co. United Way Day ofCaring, and donation drives.

“Campus Commitment is thelargest of our campus serviceprograms,” noted Derek Thatcher,director for career development andexperimential learning services, andstudent activities program manager.A half day service project thatexposes students to volunteeragencies in the community, CampusCommitment has been a regularpart of Welcome Week activities forsix consecutive years, with eachsuccessive year growing in scopeand participation. In 2005 there were46 participants, in 2006 – 52 , and in2007 – 91. Local non-profit groupsparticipating include, the Coalitionfor Housing, the Carol StrawnCenter, the Salvation Army, theSharon Kraner Behavioral HealthCampus, and the Newark CampusChild Development Center.

“We have had a very positiveexperience with the studentsp a r t i c i p a t i n g i n C a m p u sCommitment; I look forward to itevery year, ” said Linda Juarbe,marketing/fiscal coordinator for theLicking County Coalition forHousing.

Another significant campus serviceproject is Habitat for Humanity. InMarch 2008, sixteen students fromOhio State Newark spent theirspring break building homes withHabitat for Humanity’s CollegiateChallenge. The group traveled torural Morehead, KY, March 16 – 23.The small town of Morehead,located at the edge of Daniel BooneNational Forest, has a populationin which more than 23 percent ofthe people live at the poverty levelor below, according to the Habitatfor Humanity web site.

The Ohio State Newark Habitatgroup participated in a two-homeblitz (completing two homes duringthe week), and served alongsidestudents from Morehead StateUniversity and Yale University. Thiswas the sixth year that Ohio StateNewark has participated in theCollegiate Challenge.

Junior Ian Davis liked the idea ofusing his spring break to help othersand joined the Ohio State group ontheir trip to Kentucky. “I learnedthat I can make a difference,” saidthe mechanical engineering majorfrom Batavia, Ohio. “I especiallyliked it when we got to meet thefamily who would be moving intothe Habitat house we built.”

The group travelled to Louisiana in2007 as part of the rebuilding effortfollowing Hurricanes Katrina andRita. During the week of March 18– 24, they were based at CampHope, a volunteer camp in Violet,Louisiana, with about 1,000 othercollege students from around thecountry. Violet is located southeastof New Orleans, in St. BernardParish, an area that sustained criticaldamage during the hurricanes. “Weslept in a gutted elementary school— 30 people to a room,” saidThatcher. “But the students workedhard, never complained, and tookpride in their work,” he said. “I’mextremely proud of them.”

FACULTY LECTURE SERIES: BEES, LBJ,ACCORDIONS AND DRUMMINGSOMETHING FOR EVERYONEHosted by William L. MacDonald,Dean and Director of The Ohio StateNewark, the Faculty Lecture Seriesis a forum in which faculty sharetheir areas of expertise whilestudents learn outside theclassroom and the community canparticipate in lively discussion andexchange of ideas.

The annual series is free and opento the public. Each lecture beginsat 7 p.m. in the John Gilbert ReeseCenter Ballroom and is followedby a reception with l ightrefreshments.

The 2007 – 2008 Faculty LectureSeries began on Thursday,

November 1, when Karen Goodell,Ph.D., assistant professor in theDepartment of Evolution, Ecologyand Organismal Biology, discussedher research with over 75 people.Goodell presented “Buzziness asusual? The status of bees andpol l inat ion in a changingenvironment,” which addressed onefactor that influences native beecommunities: the invasion of exoticplants species and how theseinteractions can have cascadingimpacts on the reproduction ofnative plants and other plant speciesof interest, like crops.

The series continued in 2008 whenMitchell Lerner, Ph.D., associateprofessor of history, discussed “Re-examining Lyndon Johnson” onFebruary 7. Dr. Lerner addressednearly 70 guests during his talkabout the thirty-sixth U.S. president.

He explained how recently releasedsecret recordings of phoneconversations and high-levelmeetings that Johnson taped whilein the White House have changedviews of his presidency.

The 2007-08 series closed on May 1when Ron Emoff, Ph.D., associateprofessor of music, presented“Resurrecting Place in the Non-Nation: Accordions, Drumming andthe Subsurreal on Marie-Galante,French Antilles.”

Dr. Emoff has spent considerabletime on this small francophoneisland in the Caribbean performingethnographic research on musicalperformance there. He includedaudio-visual samples from MarieGalante in his presentation.

WELCOME TO NEW FACULTYKenneth Madsen joins the full-timefaculty at Ohio State Newark beginningautumn quarter, 2008, as AssistantProfessor of Geography. Madsenreceived his Ph.D. in Geography fromArizona State University (ASU, TempeArizona) in 2005, and his been aninstructor at Tohono O’odhamCommunity College (TOCC) since2006. Previously, he was coordinatorof distance education at TOCC.To date, Madsen’s research has beenfocused on “how cultural differencesand international economic disparitiesare manifest along internationalboundaries.” His doctoral dissertationtitle was, “A Nation Across Nations:The Tohono O’odham and the U.S.-Mexico Border.” He earned his M.A.in Geography from ASU, and his thesiswas also focused on the U.S.-Mexicoborder.

Madsen’s teaching experience includesIntroduction to Cultural Geography,

Introduction to Human Geography,Geography of Arizona and theSouthwestern U.S., Introduction toPhysical Geography, Public Speaking,computer literacy and software classes.His interests in terms of future researchinclude globalization, borderlands,migration, ethnographic research, andMexico/Latin America.

He has participated in numerous grantproposals, service learning projects, andconference presentations. In 2007,Madsen was invited to present“Indigenous Research, Publishing, andIntellectual Property” to the Associationof Pacific Coast Geographers inCalifornia. His manuscript by the sametitle is currently in review. The articleemphasizes understanding the culturaldynamics between academia and Nativepeople.

Asuman Turkmen also joins the full-time faculty as assistant professor ofStatistics. Turkmen recently completedhis Ph.D. in Statistics from AuburnUniversity in Auburn, Alabama. A

citizen of Turkey, the new facultymember is fluent in both Turkish andEnglish languages.

Turkmen’s research interests are focusedon multivariate data analysis, especiallyclassification and regression. Hisdissertation title was, “Robust PartialLeast Squares Regression.” Joined bya colleague, Turkmen co-presented apaper on a similar topic at the JointStatistical Meeting in Salt Lake City in2007.

At Auburn University, Turkmen taughtCalculus and a variety of statisticsclasses. In addition, he assisted inteaching graduate-level courses suchas Experimental Statistics andRegression Analysis. Prior to hisdoctoral work, Turkmen earned hisBachelor of Science and Master ofScience in Statistics at CukurovaUniversi ty in Adana, Turkey.

Ohio State Newark is delighted towelcome these new faculty membersto our growing campus.

NON-TRADITIONALSTUDENT: FULL COLLEGEEXPERIENCEStephanie Volbrecht does it all: Afull time student at The Ohio StateUniversity at Newark, she alsoworks part time in the studentactivities office and is married withtwo children. Undaunted bychallenges, she is president of thestudent government, the newly-appointed student trustee to theOhio State Newark board oftrustees and participatesin numerous student groups.

Volbrecht is a non-traditionalstudent – that is, she’s a little olderthan many of her fellow collegestudents (in 2007 1,681 out of 2,505students were under age 21). Now34, Volbrecht returned to academiclife after a six year hiatus, duringwhich she worked full time andtended to her family. Prior to that,she had earned an associate degreein human services from RhodesState College (formerly LimaTechnical College) in 2001.

When she returned to college inMarch 2007 at Ohio State Newark,“I was put off because it seemedlike I was older than many of theother students,” she said. But shequickly gained her comfort level— as well as a drive to succeed.

Pursuing a B.A. in psychology, shealternates between taking three andfour classes each quarter. She doesthis in order to keep balance in herlife; it is important to spend qualitytime with her children, Kayla, age13, and Derrick, 5. Volbrecht’shusband, Robert, is also a student,attending Central Ohio TechnicalCollege. “Robert is the reason I getto be so active on campus,”Volbrecht said. “He stays with thekids when I’m at school and hasencouraged me to be involved.”Involvement in campus activities isvery important to her, Volbrechtsaid. ”Education doesn’t stop withthe grade; everything I do on campusis helping to prepare me for life aftergraduation.”

In addition to her coursework,Volbrecht is actively involved inmany student organizations,including the Psi Chi PsychologyHonor Society, the IntrospectPsychology Club, the Social Justiceprogram, and the TeachingExcellence Award Subcommittee.She is also a Student Ambassador,assisting with new studentorientation, facilitating campus toursand representing Ohio State Newark.

“Stephanie is passionate aboutdeveloping a very positiveexperience for students on ourcampus, she leads by example andis a role model,” said John M. Berry,Director of Student Affairs for OhioState Newark.

Volbrecht has been recognized forher accomplishments on and offcampus. She is the recipient ofthe William Allan KilpatrickOutstanding Student Award for2008; in early 2008, she earnedCertified Leader credentials at theNational Conference on StudentLeadership.

Holly Mason, assistant director ofstudent affairs, Ohio State Newark,said, “Stephanie is a very involvedstudent. She enjoys getting to knowpeople and developing herleadership skills, especially in herrole as a student ambassador andStudent Government president.”

“Through her involvement,Stephanie has found a niche that isleading her to further her educationin student affairs administration,”said Mason.

With an anticipated graduation dateof summer 2009, Volbrecht plans topursue a master’s degree in studentaffairs. Her plans were originally togo on for a ,master’s in social work(MSW), but working in the studentaffairs office changed her mind.

“My dream is to one day be adirector of student affairs,” she said.“It would thrill me to come backto Ohio State Newark to work, too.After everything the university hasgiven me, I would love to be ableto give something back.”