Author Archives: Ann Aubry

Collection of Political Paraphernalia a Reminder That Every Campaign is Historic

Wesleyan University students, faculty and staff join the rest of the world in anxiously awaiting the results of the 2008 election. A collection of campaign memorabilia dating back to 1904, which is on display in The Ames Library rotunda (1 Ames Plaza, Bloomington), offers a reminder to campus that win or lose, political campaigns are historic in their own right.

More than 100 buttons, ticket stubs and other campaign items make up the display, from a time when holographic imaging was the latest technology. Campaign buttons span the last 25 presidential contests, documenting the unsuccessful – Barry Goldwater ’64, the Rev. Jesse Jackson ’88 – and the victorious – Clinton-Gore ’92, Bush-Cheney ’00 – in equal measure.

The collection belongs to Steve Peterson, a member of Illinois Wesleyan’s Physical Plant staff and self-proclaimed “political junkie.” Peterson, who spent 18 years as a political commentator on a local radio station, inherited the first pieces from his grandmother but said the advent of eBay has made his collection balloon to more than 300 items.

“I used to pick up these things one at a time. I’d go into an antique store in New Orleans, and I might spend 80 dollars on an inauguration press pass,” said Peterson. “Some collectors pay thousands of dollars for a spoon used by Andrew Jackson,” but Peterson likes his postcard from former President Theodore Roosevelt just fine.

Speaker to Honor Native American Heritage Month

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. –The Office of Multicultural Students Affairs will host Bobby Gonzalez in celebration of Native American Heritage Month at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 6 in the Beckman Auditorium of The Ames Library (1211 Park St., Bloomington). The event is free and open to the public.

Gonzalez will present the program, “Somos Indios,” which examines history, art, leaders and important events of the indigenous people of Latin America. He will discuss how the Aztec, the Maya, the Inca, the Taino and other Native nations made important contribution to the fields of science, math, agriculture, linguistics and cuisine. He also considers contemporary issues like illegal aliens and the war on drugs.

Gonzalez, a multicultural motivational speaker, grew up in a bicultural environment in the South Bronx of New York City. He is part Native American (Taino) and part Latino (Puerto Rican) and uses his diverse background in his poetry and his storytelling. Gonzalez has given lectures at Yale University, the University of Alaska, Fairbanks and the University of Alabama, Huntsville. He has told his stories at Carnegie Hall, the Museum of Television and Radio and the Detroit Institute of Arts, Gonzalez has also performed his poetry at the National Museum of the American Indian, the University of North Dakota and the Nuyorican Poets Café in New York City.

Goldfish Owned by Illinois Wesleyan Student Makes a Splash

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan University sophomore Stephanie Nudelman’s family was surprised when they received a letter a few months ago. The letter, urging the recipient to register to vote, was addressed to her deceased goldfish: Princess Nudelman the Second. The family had no idea of the national attention that letter would draw.

The letter came from Women’s Voices Women Vote, hoping to convince Princess Nudelman to register so she could vote in the upcoming presidential election. The Nudelmans assumed their dearly departed goldfish’s name landed on their list because they had put a second phone line under their pet’s name to avoid spam e-mails and junk mail.

“When we got the forms this summer, my mom and I thought it was really funny,” said Stephanie Nudelman. “So we sent a Post-It to the county clerk’s office saying, ‘We regret to inform you that Princess Nudelman will not be voting this year because, one, she is dead, and, two, she is a goldfish. Please remove her from your mailing list.’ We thought that would be the end of it.”

Local news organizations broke the goldfish tale, and the yarn was spun by The Associated Press which declared, “Princess Nudelman won’t be voting on Nov. 4 because she is dead. And she is a goldfish.” National news media were drawn to the quirky tale, from The Chicago Sun-Times, The New York Times and National Public Radio, to TIME magazine, The Drudge Report, The Huffington Report, FOXNews. Even Saturday Night Live weighed in during their election special. “Weekend Update” co-host Amy Poehler speculated that Princess Nudelman received the registration materials because “she has the world’s most awesome goldfish name.”

The story, however, does not end there. What started months ago as a humorous mistake has turned into a political flashpoint. Lake County Clerk William Helander informed The Associated Press he intends to investigate the incident in conjunction with other instances of voter registration problems. U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) has gone as far as to link the case to “massive voter fraud efforts” in the area, according to reports of a recent town hall meeting.

Biology Student Named Lincoln Laureate

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — Sandy Tun, a senior from Spring Valley, Ill., has been selected as Illinois Wesleyan University’s recipient of the 2008 Lincoln Academy of Illinois Student Laureate Award. The award recognizes outstanding academic achievement and extracurricular activities among college seniors.

A campus-wide committee directed by Associate Provost Roger Schnaitter selected Tun, a biology major with a pre-medicine concentration, from a pool of qualified Illinois Wesleyan students. Tun has served as a Bromenn Regional Medical Center volunteer in acute rehab, a summer intern with the McLean County Health Department and has participated in the Summer Undergraduate Medical Science Training Program at the University of Iowa and an NSF funded summer Research Experiences for Undergraduates program in ecology at Bradley University.

Additionally, she has presented her own research results at the Illinois Wesleyan John Wesley Powell Student Research Conference and served as a teaching assistant in courses in Parasitology and Invertebrate Zoology at the University.

Tun’s extracurricular involvements include co-coordinator of the IWU Red Cross Blood Drive and a team leader for ALANA, an IWU multicultural organization. She was awarded the Silas Purnell Minority Scholarship and is a member of Tri-Beta, biology honor society, and Phi Eta Sigma and Alpha Lambda Delta, first-year honor societies.

On Oct. 18, Tun attended an awards ceremony in the Old State Capitol in Springfield and a luncheon hosted by Governor Rod Blagojevich in the Executive Mansion, where she received a certificate, medallion and financial stipend from the Lincoln Academy.

Author Tim O’Brien Describes Fiction Inspired by Life

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Novelist Tim O’Brien made a confession.

When it comes to writing his many celebrated books, the author said has no set process in mind. “I’m more of a trial and error guy,” O’Brien said, adding that stories usually find him. “My novels are always born in what might be just a scrap of language – a bit of word spoken in the real world.” According to O’Brien, his Pulitzer Prize-nominated novel The Things They Carried was inspired by the phrase “This is true.”

“Out of those three words The Things They Carried was born,” he said. “I thought of how much is not true that we think of as true, how illusive truth is, and does it matter if a thing is true? What is truth?”

O’Brien spoke at Illinois Wesleyan University as part of the Seventh Annual Ames/Milner Visiting Author Program. A joint venture between Illinois Wesleyan’s The Ames Library and the Milner Library of Illinois State University (ISU), O’Brien presided over a question and answer period in Illinois Wesleyan’s Hansen Student Center in the afternoon, and spoke at ISU in the evening.

The afternoon session was filled with anecdotes and stories from O’Brien. “Sorry, I tend to answer questions with stories.” O’Brien said with a laugh. “I trust stories. When I hear or give exact, theoretical answers, they don’t really convince me. It is almost a distraction. But a story flows through that type of generalization.” In answer to one question, the author recounted receiving a letter from a woman who had broken off her engagement to a man who falsely claimed to be the author Tim O’Brien. “Everyone knows what it is to lie to someone, to be lied to,” said O’Brien, adjusting one of the ballcaps he traditionally wears everywhere. “That letter inspired [the 2001 New Yorker short story] ‘Too Skinny.’”

O’Brien also shared the story of his first novel, written when he was 10 years old, which he calls a “straight-forward plagerization” of a story called Larry and the Little League. “I read it after a particularly dismal little league practice. It was a bad day, I was really down,” said O’Brien, who played shortstop in his hometown of Wortington, Minn. “Larry could do all the things I couldn’t do – hit, field, run and throw.” O’Brien asked the librarian for a pencil and a pad of a paper, and proceeded to write a story called Timmy and the Little League. “When I felt my hand on that pencil writing this story, I was seeing another Timmy. I was seeing a Timmy who could have been a great shortstop, should have been. I was learning through doing what fiction wall about. That there are occasions when we do not have to write about what happened, but what almost happened, what could have happened.”

O’Brien said this idea of being inspired by life runs through his fiction. Most of his books, like The Things They Carried, are based around events and people from his time serving in the Vietnam War, but are not exact recitations of what happened. “That is what fiction is for. In a way I am inventing my own Vietnam, my own childhood, my own loves, but they are based on a reality beneath it – a dead father, a lost girlfriend, or a Vietnam that is now 40 years in my past – that I hope opens a door to you the reader that makes you feel something of what I felt,” said O’Brien, who lost his own father two years ago. “In those last hours and days, I could have and should have taken him in my arms. And I could have and should have told him I loved him, but I didn’t. Why? I don’t know. But you see, in a story, miracles can happen. My dad can sit up from the dead, and in the story my father can say, ‘That’s okay, I know you love me.’”

Teichman Named to New Downtown Planning Group

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan University has always called Bloomington home. And the connection between the city and the University continues with the appointment of Director of Government and Community Relations Carl Teichman to the Downtown Strategy Steering Committee for the City of Bloomington.

“The University and the city have grown up together,” said Teichman, who will help offer guidance on the continuing redevelopment. “The work that is going on in downtown Bloomington will benefit more than one neighborhood. It will benefit the entire city. ”

The 10-member committee will work in partnership with Farr Associates to create a comprehensive “action” plan for the downtown, as well as commenting on and assessing the plan throughout the process of redevelopment. Teichman and other committee members will also participate in a series of public meetings to gain the input of residents. “The city has made a significant investment in the downtown, and it shows a great deal of fiscal responsibility that they are forming this committee,” said Teichman.

The inclusion of a member of Illinois Wesleyan on the committee is another example of how the city and the University are active partners, said Teichman. “From our President Richard F. Wilson’s interest in the Main Street Corridor, to our students from the Action Research Center working with the West Side Development Project, the University has been involved in building a momentum that will keep our community strong.”

The Ames Library Receives Grant To Study How Students Study

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The Ames Library at Illinois Wesleyan University is one of the recipients of a grant from the Illinois State Library, which has awarded $177,000 to be shared by five Illinois universities to study the research methods of non-traditional and underserved students.

“Librarians think we know how students conduct their research, or we know how we wish they would conduct their research,” said Lynda Duke, academic outreach librarian and associate professor for The Ames Library, and lead researcher on the project for Illinois Wesleyan. “The reality is we do not have data that allows us to say that we truly understand their research process.” The study will assist the library in tailoring resources to better fit the needs of students, according to Duke. “As a result of this study, we hope to adjust our current services, or offer new options. Changes might range from adjusting the physical layout in different areas of the library, making modifications to our Web site or offering a new resource or service.”

The grant comes from the Library Services and Technology Act under the Illinois Secretary of State’s Office, and was awarded to help answer the question, What do students, especially those in the underserved and non-traditional group identified by each library, actually do when they are assigned a research project for one of their class assignments and what are the expectations of students, faculty and librarians of each other with regard to this assignment? Illinois Wesleyan librarians will focus their research on international, African-American, Latino-American, Asian-American and Native American students, as well as library and teaching faculty. The library will employ methods such as mapping diaries, interviews, photo surveys and observation to gain understanding of how research assignments are approached by students. University Librarian Karen Schmidt notes, “This approach to understanding student use of library programs and spaces represents an emerging field of study for academic libraries. We are honored that Illinois Wesleyan was selected to be involved in this exciting venture.”

Student to Represent U.S. as Young Leader in Berlin

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Cassie Stachniw, a junior German and Russian and Eastern European Studies double major from Galesburg, Ill. has been selected to participate in “The United States Meets Germany: A Forum for Young Leaders.” The event will take place from Nov. 10-14 in Berlin.

Stachniw, who is currently studying abroad in Berlin through the Institute for International Education of Students (IES) program, applied to participate in the conference. The Institute for Cultural Diplomacy (ICD), which sponsors the forum, seeks students from the United States and Germany, as well as the wider international community to participate in the forum. Students must also have a strong academic background and/or professional experience and should demonstrate leadership skills and have an active interest in international affairs with particular emphasis on the US-German bilateral relationship.

Award-Winning War Novelist to Speak on Campus

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The Seventh Annual Ames/Milner Visiting Author Program will welcome novelist Tim O’Brien on Thursday, Oct. 23.

Hailed as “the best American writer of his generation” by the San Francisco Chronicle, O’Brien is the author of eight books, most notably The Things They Carried, a collection of related stories about a platoon of American soldiers in the Vietnam War. He received much acclaim following the novel’s 1990 publication and subsequent nomination for the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Critics Circle Award. The book won the Chicago Tribune Heartland Award in fiction, the New York Times named it one of the 20 best books of the last quarter century and noted author John Updike selected the title story for inclusion in The Best American Short Stories of the Century.

Following is the schedule for the Visiting Author program on Oct. 23:

• 2 p.m.-3 p.m.: Presentation followed by a question and answer session at the Center Court of the Hansen Student Center (300 Beecher St., Bloomington), Illinois Wesleyan University

• 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.: Presentation followed by a question and answer session at Braden Auditorium of the Bone Student Center (100 University St., Normal), Illinois State University. A book signing will follow in the Barnes and Noble College Bookstore, also in the Bone Student Center

Green-Thinking Students Launch Vintage Clothing Store

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Thinking green now comes in all colors, and styles. Illinois Wesleyan University students have established a vintage clothing store, and all in the name of environmental awareness.

The store, called PreShrunk, will have its grand opening from 1:30-3:30 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 25 in the basement of Adams Hall (1401 N. Main St., Bloomington), with a direct entrance from Main Street.

“Clothing can have a huge impact on the environment, whether it is the chemicals used to make the clothes or the growing landfills where people throw away clothes,” said Josh Clouse, who graduated from Illinois Wesleyan in May and is one of the original planners of the store. “Something as small as a store can reduce our footprint on the environment.”

Manned entirely by Illinois Wesleyan volunteers, PreShrunk is a not-for-profit effort, with all profits to be donated to local sustainable or ecological efforts. “We know we are limited in the resources we have,” said junior Mari Mermelstein, who will act as the executive manager for PreShrunk. “Not everything has to be new to be fun or useful.”

Mermelstein, a math education major, said the effort will also act as an educational tool for students. “We have an executive board of five students who help make administrative decisions,” she said. “We’re learning the ins and outs of a small business.”

Even locating the store on campus will be a small sustainability boon, said Clouse. “It may be one less time a student needs to get into their car to buy clothes. They can walk to the store on campus and reduce car emissions,” he said.

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