Spring 2009

THE DEPARTMENTS

Finding Denison in the City of Light
As Denisonians around the world united on Jan. 30 for the “After Work with Denison … Everywhere!” event, seven came together for the very first...
A Whole New Ball Game
Close your eyes and picture it, this curious moment, framed like something out of a film. A couple of hale lads on a sunny afternoon...
There’s Something About Mary
Celebrity alumna Mary Worth was back on campus for Big Red Weekend, doing what she does best—asking personal questions, passing warm hors d’oeuvres and cool...
A Note from Denison’s…Mayor?
Denison, in many ways, is like a town within the village. After all, more than 650 people are employed by the college in diverse faculty and...
Talk of the Walk
A Menu of Memories When I think back on my college days, food plays a lead role. When I lived in the dorms back in...
In Memoriam: Virginia Northrop, professor emeritus
Uncommon Ground
50th Spring of Silent Spring
Born in 1907 to a working-class family, Rachel Carson grew up less than a mile from the American Glue Factory in Springdale, Pa. The smoke stacks from...
Big on Bluegrass
It was a Saturday afternoon in February when sophomore Mackenzie Maynard ’15 and other members of Denison’s Bluegrass Ensemble gathered in Burke Hall to practice and perform works...
From the Archives
This christening cup was a gift from the Class of 1892 to Carter Barnett, the second black student to graduate from Denison, or more specifically to his son, Carl,...
It’s All in the Details
  Michelle Clark ’13 Track and Field, Biochemistry Major Clark makes a playlist before every season and must listen to all the songs—in order—before she races. She...
Talk Back
For the first time since he was a toddler, Michael McKinney ’15 had to think about speech. Tasked with promoting an iPad app designed for nonverbal students,...
Hey Baby, What’s On Your Mind?
Babies are cute. They have always been objects of our attention. But infants don’t just merit observation for their overall adorability. As it turns out, their minds are...
The Birthday Swim
At 6:45 a.m. on a chilly Saturday in September, Sarah Peck ’05 stripped down to nothing but a swim cap and goggles and dove—rather quickly—into the...
Thanks for the Earworm
For the people bopping in and out of Slayter on September 5th, the sounds of a piano playing Erik Satie’s “Vexations” might have been a nice little treat....
Rock Hound
In early August a vast and mysterious raft of pumice was spotted floating in the South Pacific relatively near New Zealand. Seen first by an aircraft pilot,...
Denison’s Next President
Just days before this issue went to press, Denison’s Board of Trustees announced that Adam Weinberg will become the college’s 20th president, succeeding Dale Knobel, who will retire on...
Not Forgotten
On Feb. 10, 1966, the plane that Navy Lt. Gary Hopps ’60 was flying in Vietnam was shot down. For several years, Hopps was MIA. In the meantime,...
Moving On Up
When construction crews began renovating and expanding Chamberlin Lodge (formerly the Phi Gamma Delta house) last spring, they found a few reminders of the past. An old...
The Next Big Thing
This summer, a score card from a veryimportant golf game hung in the kitchen of Brynn FitzGerald’s home in Pepper Pike, Ohio. Her older brother Ryan had...
Everyday People: Mark Moller
My own first year, at Bucknell, was difficult for me. I struggled academically and socially. By the end of that year I was in danger of failing...
From the Archives
Daily morning services at Swasey Chapel—a mix of the Lord’s Prayer, hymns, and a sermon—were once a requirement for Denison students. The services were a chance for students and faculty...
A Family Film
To trace the roots of the short film The Feed, you’d have to go back to Idaho in 2003, when a father and his 17-year-old...
Dear Emerald Ash Borer: Make Like a Tree
Back in 2002 in Michigan, entomologists and arborists began finding a beetle native to Asia emerging from the state’s trees—and the beetles were not welcome...
LAX on Fire
With a 60-year history of winning, breaking new ground can be tough, but the 2012 Denison men’s lacrosse team won big and won often, further...
Long-lost
Chelsea Eastman ’14 is a natural sleuth. On a spring field trip to Sugar Loaf with her Science and the Environment class, she was climbing...
From the Archives
Mike Gregory ’29 certainly wasn’t afraid of hard work. When he was a student at Denison, he rose every day at 5 a.m. (and sometimes...
Light Bulb Moment
It’s been a problem for a long time. Pre-med students have to take at least two math courses in addition to their chemistry and biology...
Remembering a Friend
Even if Denisonians don’t know the Shorney family, they know the name. In 1967, Shorney Hall was built and named for G. Herbert Shorney ’18,...
Survivors
When a downdraft began to pull his plane toward the Rocky Mountains, pilot James Michaels had only seconds to make the decisions that would save his life and that of his daughter, Tonie.
The Difference a Year Makes
Just like last year, Denison and rival Kenyon College led the competition at the NCAA Division III Men’s Swimming and Diving Championship as the schools...
A New Odette
Gill Wright Miller '74 talks with world-renowned dance artist Dada Masilo during Masilo's visit to campus.
The Columns
Little Things in Small Places
Even if you have no idea what a “Large Hadron Collider” is, you can guess that it won’t fit in your broom closet. Headlines around...
Reading Frenzy
Finding a way to impact thousands of lives wasn’t part of the plan when Chris Noel Bradshaw ’75 went back to Africa in 2004. The...
Leadership
The mystery of women's literary work: where is it?
Artistry
Hina Jamelle's architectural work is more than buildings made from concrete and glass. It's art in the third dimension.
Carried Away
Lauren Sabo '11 had planned to present a quick lesson to a few students during a recent mission trip to Haiti. But the 100-plus students who showed up for class were eager for more.
Ebola and Barbed Wire
Senator Richard Lugar '54 and Grant Hartanov '08 took a tour of weapons caches and biological research facilities in East Africa in November. What they saw might keep you up at night.
Peace of Mind
When the parents couldn't be with their children receiving treatment at the German Urquidi Women and Children's Hospital in Bolivia, Dana Meyer '09 was there with a puzzle and a few crayons.
Easy Being Green
As Denison's first campus sustainability coordinator, Jeremy King '97 will guide the college along the right environmental path.
Artistry
Using a photographic technique from the 1800s, artist and organic farmer Woody Woodruff '88 proves that even garlic plants can be beautiful.
Scholarship
Psychology professors Bryan Karazsia '03 and Janis Crowther '75 join forces to combat the increasing number of body image disorders in men. And G.I. Joe's bulging pectorals play a role.
Bound With Love
In a world of super-sized bookstores specializing in soft covers (not to mention hand-held book readers), Pamela Leutz '77 works to save a dying art: bookbinding.
Cows for Cash
Steve Denne '78 is working to help the hungry and the poor through charitable donations. But instead of checks, he's sending them cows and goats.
14 Kids and Counting
  Photo: Tine Hoffmann, TM Photography Before the Ingle kids come home from school, their mom sets out snacks and a plastic cup for each...
A Star Is Born
Photo: Tim Black Meet Steve Doty, obstetrician to the stars. No, not those stars. The real ones. You know, like our sun. “Stars are like...
The Life of David
  Mary Zepernick’s activism career began in 1972 with an ad–a little announcement in the back pages of a local Washington, D.C., newsweekly for a...
A Lasting Legacy
The mission and music of Tehillah The nine members of Tehillah are standing side by side in a single line, facing the audience in Herrick...
Working the Border
  After announcing the Gun Runner Impact Teams initiative at a press conference in April, Melson (left) sits down with Jeffrey Kaye, producer of PBS’...
In Search of Press Freedom
Scott Schurz ’57 has spent a career in newspapers. Now he works to make sure journalists around the world get that same chance. Newspapers have...
Leadership
By the Book William Bowen ’55 reaffirms his role as a leader among leaders with his latest book on organizational governance As the firm’s stock...
Scholarship
Flipping Through the Pages of Time, Slowly Shanan Peters ’98 makes his mark on the fields of geology and paleontology with new insight into the...
Center Stage
Susan Booth ’85 leads the Southeast’s largest theatre into the 2007 Tony Awards spotlight. As the actor’s voice rises, speeding towards the climax of the...
Life of the Streets
Art History professor Karl Sandin and his students help a struggling town envision its future. The City of Newark, located right between the Appalachian foothills...
With Thoughts of Home
The message had gone out early: “All seniors are to vacate their residence halls by 7 p.m. on May 14.” In the early evening after...
Healing the Global Body
IN THE YEAR 2000, THE GOVERNMENTS OF 191 United Nations member-states approved eight Millennium Development Goals to be reached by 2015: Eradicate extreme poverty and...
Scholarship
Photo: John Forasté Unsafe at Home FOR A STARTLING GLIMPSE OF HOW PERVASIVE violence has become in our society, simply look to the symbol of...