May 2008

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Selected from hundreds of applicants by the Golden Apple Scholars of Illinois and Teach For America programs, 10 Illinois Wesleyan students are honoring their commitments to provide students in schools of need with highly trained teachers.

Illinois Wesleyan class of 2008 graduates Amanda Cordes, an English and Spanish double major with a secondary education concentration from Naperville; Michael Lawton, a music education major from River Forest; Kristine Madigan, an educational studies and sociology double major from Skokie and Amy Sipovic, a history major with a secondary education concentration from LaSalle are fulfilling their promise to the Golden Apple Foundation as they embark on their teaching careers throughout the state of Illinois. Also, Sophomore Anne Marie Casa, an English major with a secondary education concentration from Berwyn was recently selected as a Golden Apple Pathway Scholar.

Illinois Wesleyan has additionally learned that three incoming 2008-2009 first-year students have recently joined the Golden Apple Scholars program: Claire Current, an educational studies major from Bloomington; Tristan Rogers, an educational studies major from Oak Park, and Rebekah Park, a biology major with a secondary education concentration from Wilmette.

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BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Two Illinois Wesleyan students, Marie-Claudine Villacorta and Monica Shah, are the latest additions to the Peace Fellows Program, which names two students as Peace Fellows annually. The students agree to a two-year commitment during which they will complete three courses outside their major devoted to the study of peace, complete an independent study and complete an off-campus internship in the United States or abroad.

The Peace Fellows Program was established in 2007 by alumnus John Stutzman and his wife, Erma. The program is open to first and second year Illinois Wesleyan students from all disciplines who are interested in commitment and dedication to peace and social justice.

Qualifications require the students to undergo an application process involving writing a personal statement, submitting a plan for their two years of study, expected coursework, ideas for a research topic and internship and an interview with the selection committee of the Peace Fellows Program.

The selection committee for this year’s Peace Fellows Program included Irving Epstein, professor of educational studies; James Simeone, associate professor of political science; Paul Bushnell, professor of history and Abigail Jahiel, associate professor of environmental and international studies.

As part of her mission in life, Villacorta, a senior international studies and French double major, has developed an interest in discovering peace and conflict resolutions based on her personal knowledge of growing up in the Philippines where she learned, firsthand, the consequences of unstable governments, civil wars, bombings and terrorism.

“Being a Peace Fellow will allow me to contribute toward achieving the goal of eventually helping my family, fellow Filipinos and people from different parts of the world who struggle with the issues of living in a conflicted area,” said Villacorta.

In addition to being a part of the Peace Fellows Program, Villacorta will partake in the Washington Semester Program in the fall, during which students study for an entire semester in Washington, D.C. at American University. She will intern with an international organization that works toward development in Africa and this internship will fulfill the Peace Fellows requirement. Villacorta will also research non-genocidal societies in Africa, in hopes of finding sustainable solutions for resolving conflict and preventing violence as her independent study project.

“My study will be interdisciplinary. I believe that conflicts are not only political but also anthropological and at their core, economic in nature. Conflict resolution incorporating all of these disciplines provides a process platform to address differences rooted in social justice,” said Villacorta.

Shah, a junior international studies major, applied to become a Peace Fellow because it will aid her in achieving her future goals of working with an international organization and teaching at the high school or college level, introducing international and peace issues to her classes.

This past semester Shah studied in Washington D.C., interning at the Council of Hemispheric Affairs, a nonprofit research organization that increases awareness of political affairs in Latin America and their relations with the United States, writing articles for their journal, Washington Report on the Hemisphere, and their Web site, www.coha.org. This summer she will intern in Chicago at the office of Senator Barack Obama.

While in Washington D.C., Shah also researched peaceful resolution of conflict through diplomatic efforts of international organizations as her independent study project. She conducted interviews with United Nations (U.N.) officials, did a study of the U.N. Security Council and will continue to research the effectiveness of the U.N. in promoting peacekeeping and using diplomacy and the promotion of human rights.

“Many people think that institutions like the U.N. are ineffective. However, many of their peacekeeping and diplomatic missions are ‘quiet successes,’” said Shah.

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BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – 2008 Illinois Wesleyan University graduate Nicholas Timme, a philosophy and physics double major, has been awarded a Fellowship by The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi for the 2008-2009 academic year.

The fellowship will enable Timme, of Bloomington, to pursue a doctorate in physics at Indiana University. Timme is one of 100 students nationwide to receive the Phi Kappa Phi Fellowship and Award of Excellence this year. Currently, 60 Fellowships of $5,000 and 40 Awards of Excellence of $2,000 are given each year to deserving students for first-year graduate study.

The selection process for the Phi Kappa Phi Fellowships and awards of Excellence is based on the applicants’ undergraduate academic performance; leadership and service on campus and in the community; evidence of undergraduate potential; a personal statement of educational perspective, purpose and objectives; and evaluation reports from three individuals who are in a position to attest to the student’s performance, citizenship and character.

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BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – While looking at the grand architecture of the early 1900s, many people see stoic red brick or sweeping lines of sculpture carved into stone. Illinois Wesleyan University Director of the Physical Plant Bud Jorgensen sees missed opportunities.

“When this building was constructed about 80 years ago, they were practically giving energy away,” said Jorgensen as he walked past Presser Hall on the edge of the University’s Eckley Quadrangle. “It was built without any insulation. And why not? It was cheaper to pay for the energy than it was to install insulation.”

Nearly a century has passed, and now the University faces a world of soaring energy prices, and a dawning global awareness of the environmental impact of decades of unchecked energy consumption. “The United States is six percent of the world’s population, which uses 30 percent of the world’s energy, and it is taking a toll,” said Jorgensen, who is one of the people helping oversee the construction of the Minor Myers jr. Welcome Center, scheduled to open this fall. “We know something has to change.”

As part of Illinois Wesleyan’s continuing efforts to create a more ecologically friendly or “sustainable” campus, the University leaders decided to install geothermal heating and cooling units in the Welcome Center. The units are just one of many sustainable features planned for the new Center, which leaders expect will be certified as a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building by the U.S. Green Building Council. It will be the first LEED-certified building on campus and in the city of Bloomington.

What is geothermal?

Geothermal technology has been around in some form since the Roman Empire, but has only recently emerged into prominence for modern builders over the last few decades. “The whole idea is taking advantage of heat stored in the ground and using it like a large solar battery,” said Jorgensen, who noted the earth absorbs about 47 percent of solar radiation, keeping the planet’s crust at a relatively constant temperature of 55 degrees.

The geothermal system will consist of a series of pipes and small pumps, which push an antifreeze solution through the pipes and circulate it throughout the building. The Welcome Center will have 18 “wells,” or series of pipes descending 250 feet into the earth. Compressors will help regulate the building’s temperature at 72 degrees.

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BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Author of American Jesus: How the Son of God Became a National Icon and The New York Times bestseller Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know—And Doesn’t, Stephen Prothero will speak at Illinois Wesleyan University on Tuesday, May 27 at 7 p.m. in the Hansen Student Center (300 E. Beecher St., Bloomington).

The event is free and open to the public.

Prothero, chair of Boston University’s Department of Religion, will discuss the issue of religious illiteracy in America. He will also examine society’s perspective of religion based on its concepts of the embodiment of Jesus Christ throughout various time periods.

Drawing from his latest book, Prothero argues that public schools should reinstate the study of the Bible as well as various world religions. He contends that without a thorough education of the principles of religion, Americans cannot understand essential aspects of the Iraqi war, current social concerns, or political debate and conduct.

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