Category Archives: Students

The Phoenix Lives On as Haven for Student Expression

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Double the age of most current IWU students and the result will be the number of years the Phoenix, a student performance space located in the basement of the Memorial Center (104 E. University St., Bloomington), has been a part of Illinois Wesleyan’s campus.

Aptly named the Phoenix after a mythical bird that dies and is reborn out of its own ashes, the space has been through its own set of rebirths. Continuously evolving throughout its 42 years as a campus fixture from use as a coffeehouse to its current operation as a small theater, at one time the Phoenix even hosted disco-dance nights. Currently, the Phoenix is configured as an adaptable black-box theater, comprised simply of bare, black walls with minimal furnishings.

In recent years, the Phoenix has supplied a space for students of any major to stage a variety of creative presentations, particularly short plays and musicals. Unlike other performance spaces on campus, the theater is open for use by any student or faculty production, not reserved solely for use by the School of Theatre Arts.

Shows staged in the past school year have included everything from two short operas, A Hand of Bridge and Gallantry, to a musical, Edges. Other shows have included student adaptations of literary works in particular, James Billings’ The Nutley Papers and J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan.

Born in 1966 as a student-run coffeehouse, the Phoenix provided entertainment including poetry readings, folk singers, speakers, and student performances. Reminiscent of the “beat” generation, the coffeehouse catered to an independent and expressive minded audience.

“It was a place for students to talk about issues and exchange their own ideas,” according to Professor Paul Bushnell, who began teaching at IWU the same year the Phoenix opened.

Students Organize Campus Book Drive

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan University students will be conducting a campus book drive to raise money for Alternative Spring Break and the organization, Books for Africa.

The book drive began April 16 and will continue until May 30.

Students can bring new and used college-level books to the green and white bins labeled “Book Drive,” which will be placed in the Hansen Student Center (300 Beecher St., Bloomington), IWU Bookstore in Hansen Student Center, The Ames Library (1 Ames Plaza East), Center for Natural Sciences (CNS) (201 E. Beecher St., Bloomington), Center for Liberal Arts (CLA) (310 E. Beecher St., Bloomington), Shaw Hall (1312 N. Park St., Bloomington), Memorial Center Main Desk (104 E. University St., Bloomington) and at the steps of the Bertholf Commons in Memorial Center.

Alternative Spring Break began in 2007, offering Illinois Wesleyan Students the opportunity to spend their spring break helping those in need. This spring 60 students and staff aided with Hurricane Katrina disaster relief in New Orleans.

Books for Africa, which began in 1988, is an organization that collects textbooks from publishers, schools, libraries, individuals and organizations to distribute to children in Africa. Books for Africa has shipped over 18 millions books and is the largest provider of donated textbooks in Africa.

For more information on the book drive contact Gulick Residence Hall Director Jacob Meltzer at (309) 556-3129. For more information on Alternative Spring Break of Books for Africa contact the Student Volunteer Center at (309) 556-3850.

Students Vote Theune Professor of the Year

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan students have voted Associate Professor of English Michael Theune the 2008 Professor of the Year in the annual election run by Student Senate.

Since joining the faculty in 2002, Theune has served as faculty advisor of Illinois Wesleyan’s award-winning chapter of the international English honor society Sigma Tau Delta. The chapter organizes the annual undergraduate literature conference MUSE and produces The Delta, a journal of undergraduate academic literary essays. He recently received the 2008 Elaine W. Hughes Outstanding Sponsor Award from Sigma Tau Delta for his contributions to the chapter. He is also the faculty advisor of Tributaries, which produces a student fine arts magazine by the same name and organizes the annual Tongue and Ink Undergraduate Writing Conference.

Theune earned a bachelor of arts from Hope College and from Oxford University, a master of fine arts from the University of Iowa, and a doctorate from the University of Houston. He is a working poet and scholar who, in 2007, published his first book, Structure and Surprise: Engaging Poetic Turns. His poems, essays, and reviews have appeared in a variety of journals, including The Iowa Review, The New Republic, Pleiades: A Journal of New Writing, and Verse.

Technos Prize Awarded to Student Heading to Africa

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Camille DeLisi, a senior biology major at Illinois Wesleyan University, has already been to the refugee camps of Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania, and seen the horrors produced by war. And more than anything, she wants to go back.

DeLisi was named the recipient of the Technos International Prize through the Tanaka Ikueikai Educational Trust in Japan. The trust, founded by Japanese businessman and honorary Illinois Wesleyan trustee Kenji Tanaka, honors those who are committed to improving and promoting international relations around the world. The announcement of the prize, which is given annually, was made Tuesday, April 15, at a luncheon at Illinois Wesleyan.

“The prize is such an honor and has given me further motivation to help people in nations ravaged by war, and also to help others understand what they are experiencing,” said DeLisi, who has a minor in African Studies and journeyed to East Africa in 2006 with School of International Training. “I met people in the camps and saw the unbelievable challenges they face. I promised them I would tell their story, so living a life of apathy is not an option for me.”

Since her return from Africa, the Crystal, Minn., native has been educating others on campus about the conflicts in East Africa and the plight of the refugees. She lectured at the annual John Wesley Powell Research Conference in the spring of 2007, and helped organize the Displace Me Event at Illinois Wesleyan, bringing light to the horrific conditions of the camps.

Student Studies Effects of Potential Alzheimer’s Drug on Rats

Illinois Wesleyan University student Andrew Tharp and Renee Countryman, assistant professor of psychology, have been conducting research related to newer pharmaceutical treatments for Alzheimer’s disease.

Tharp, a senior psychology major from Lake in the Hills, Ill., and Countryman are studying the effects of the drug Guanfacine on rats with induced memory deficiencies similar to Alzheimer’s.

Alzheimer’s disease, a brain disorder that usually affects people age 65 and older, causes memory loss and behavioral issues associated with dementia.

A known cause of Alzheimer’s symptoms is a decrease of acetylcholine in the brain. Acetylcholine, a chemical neurotransmitter, carries messages between neurons and other cells. In order to mimic this condition in rats Tharp and Countryman administered a drug that decreases acetylcholine thereby affecting the rats’ memory.

According to Countryman, current drugs are designed to increase the level of acetylcholine in the brain by inhibiting an enzyme that normally functions to destroy any excess amounts of acetylcholine. However, as Alzheimer’s disease progresses, acetylcholine naturally becomes less available in the brain. Drugs that inhibit this enzyme eventually become ineffective when there is little or no acetylcholine left to prevent from being destroyed.

“The problem is Alzheimer’s treatments just don’t work for humans in the long-term, they may work for a short period, but they always stop working over time,” says Countryman.

The drug that Tharp and Countryman are studying, however, takes a different approach to improving memory loss by focusing on a different neurotransmitter. Guanfacine increases the levels of the neurotransmitter norepinephrine, associated with attention and awareness. By increasing norepinephrine levels in the brain, the drug boosts attention and awareness thereby enhancing perceptions and hopefully improving memory.

Chemistry Major Will Present Research on Capitol Hill

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan University student Jamie Rogers has been chosen by the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) to present her research on Capitol Hill at the annual Posters on the Hill session in April.

Rogers, a senior chemistry major from St. Louis, is one of 60 students from across the nation who has been invited to Washington, D.C. According to CUR, which hosts the event, Posters on the Hill allows members of Congress to gain an understanding of the importance of funding undergraduate scientific research.

“Undergraduate research can sometimes be forgotten because it is not on the vast scale of graduate schools,” said Rogers. “But quality undergraduate programs like Illinois Wesleyan are key building blocks for all students. I know this presentation is important not just for me, but for all future undergraduate students.”

Rogers will present a poster of her research on “Environmentally Friendly Organic Synthesis Using Bismuth Compounds” that will be viewed by U.S. Senators during the Posters on the Hill session. “The research is about achieving chemical reactions in a green way, using a catalyst like bismuth bromide. Catalysts make reactions go more smoothly. A green catalyst means it is better for the environment and the chemists working with them,” said Rogers, who works on the project with Illinois Wesleyan chemistry Professor Ram Mohan.

Beyond Blu-Ray: Senior Researches Blue Lasers

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan University senior Dan Haeger spent a ten-week summer internship at the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB) investigating various ways to manufacture blue lasers so that their products can be more consumer friendly. Blue laser devices are being developed by researchers as the next step in cutting-edge electronics, with the hopes of replacing red laser products such as DVD players.“We’re trying to make a certain generation of electronics cheaper and more affordable for the public,” says Haeger, a physics and economics double-major from Wheaton, Ill.

According to Haeger, blue lasers provide the latest advances in technology, but they are more expensive to manufacture than red lasers. Blue lasers currently cost around $200-$300 to produce, while the price of red lasers is drastically lower at $0.99. Prior to the mid 1990s, popular electronics such as DVD players, laser printers and medical equipment commonly used red lasers because of their availability. Over the past five years, however, red laser products have been replaced by blue laser technologies to provide consumers with higher sound and image quality with more storage capacity.

Sophomore Selected to Study at Oxford

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Anne Marquette, a sophomore psychology major with an English minor, has been selected to study at Pembroke College in Oxford, England. As part of the Pembroke College Visiting Students Programme, Marquette will spend the 2008-2009 academic school year at the university.

Marquette, a native of Naperville, Ill., says she is ” really grateful for this opportunity and is looking forward to the chance to study psychology and English literature at this prestigious university.”

Founded in 1624, Pembroke College admits less than 100 undergraduate students each year from schools throughout Great Britain and a small number of students from other countries with a total enrollment of approximately 400 students. Pembroke is one of 32 colleges that make up Oxford University, which has a relationship with 13 U.S. colleges and universities: Brown, Bryn Mawr, Boston College, Columbia, Cornell, Duke, George Washington, Hamilton, Haverford, Illinois Wesleyan, Swarthmore, Tufts and the University of Pennsylvania. Illinois Wesleyan students have studied at Pembroke College since 1997.

Illinois Wesleyan Ranks High for Students Abroad

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan University is opening international doors.

The University ranked in the top 40 of the Institute of International Education’s (IIE) most recent Open Doors report, which looks at the number of total students studying abroad and international students and scholars coming to the United States. Illinois Wesleyan ranked 37 in the nation among baccalaureate institutions for the total number of students studying abroad during the 2005-2006 academic year.Open Doors is an apt title of the report because of the opportunities students receive, said Stacey Shimizu, interm director of the International Office at Illinois Wesleyan. “We’re preparing students for global citizenship, and studying abroad is a key tool for that,” Shimizu said of students who take part in study programs and faculty-led coursework abroad. This semester, there are 56 students spending semesters studying abroad, and 52 students from other countries studying at Illinois Wesleyan.

Studying abroad can come in the guise of a year-long exchange, a semester in foreign halls through the multitude of programs with the International Office, or an intensive few weeks with a May Term travel course. “They have access to so many programs here, that students can fill almost any need,” said Shimizu. During their travels, students find themselves immersed in new cultures and ancient histories. From the mountains of the Middle East to the wetlands of Australia, many students discover their future in traveling abroad, or simply discover something about themselves.

Students Heading to New Orleans for Alternative Spring Break

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – At 5 a.m. on Saturday, March 15, 50 Illinois Wesleyan University students and 10 faculty and staff members will board a charter bus headed for their spring break destination: a work site in a New Orleans district heavily hit by hurricane Katrina. They will volunteer with Operation Nehemiah through Friday, March 21.

Upon arrival, participants in the program known as Alternative Spring Break (ASB) will explore the Ninth Ward and French Quarter regions of New Orleans in which they will work, said ASB sponsor Kevin Clark, assistant dean of students.

Most of the volunteers will perform a variety of tasks that will change daily, but special arrangements have been made for a group of nursing students and Associate Professor of Nursing Kathy Scherck. “They are going to work specifically with healthcare issues,” said Clark. “They will be able to go into the community and use the skills they have from classroom training and clinical experience.”

“We don’t know exactly what we will be doing while we are there so I am keeping a really open mind to everything,” said Sara Baldocchi, a senior psychology major from Glen Ellyn, Ill.

The trip was arranged through Break Away, a service trip organization company that provides a list of sites across the country and the world that want to work with or have worked with colleges or universities. ASB programs have been available at schools across the United States for a number of years, but the program was inaugurated at Illinois Wesleyan last year when Clark, Director of Fraternity and Sorority Life Danielle Kuglin, and a student organized an ASB trip to Pascagoula, Miss.

ASB publicity began at first-year orientation and during the first week of classes last August. “I think catching students right away made a difference in the number of volunteers,” said Clark, who expects that the program will continue to grow in future years.

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