Category Archives: Students

Students Get Legal Lessons in Simulated Trial

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Robert Kearney’s final exam gets taken to court – literally.

As the final examination for the Illinois Wesleyan professor’s business law class, students take a real case and argue it in front of a real judge. “We take cases that are ripped from the headlines, just like ‘Law & Order,’” joked Kearney, associate professor and chair of business administration who has been teaching at Illinois Wesleyan since 2002. “It’s much more interesting to do a companion case to something real and truly complex.”

This year, the class will argue the case of the Chicago “cable murders,” in which a cable installer was accused of raping and murdering two women while installing their Comcast cable systems. The students will deal with the suit against Comcast and a subsidiary contract company that employed the installer. The trial will be 1 p.m. Wednesday, April 25 at the McLean County Law & Justice Center (115 E. Washington St., Bloomington).

Though this is the first time the class has tackled murder cases, the trials for the last four years have similar qualities. “I always pick cases that are business-related, involve deep pockets and have complex litigation,” said Kearney, whose past topics included a suit against the airlines for negligence in 9/11, and the Midway plane crash that killed a 6-year-old.

The business law class is unique and intense for students, said Kearney. The entire class is dedicated to one case with the 20 seniors planning and executing every part of litigation. “In law school, you take a class on how to file a complaint. You take another class on how to present yourself in front of a jury,” said Kearney. “In this class, the students spend four months doing everything an actual, practicing lawyer does. There is nothing like it in any law school I know, not to mention an undergraduate class.”

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Patrick Beary Wins Technos International Prize

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan University student Patrick Beary, a senior international studies major from New Lenox, Ill., was awarded the Technos International Prize by the Tanaka Ikueikai Educational Trust in Japan. The public announcement of the award was made at the Illinois Wesleyan Honors Convocation on Wednesday, April 18 in Westbrook Auditorium of Presser Hall.

“This is such an honor for me, because I know Technos does so much in developing international relations,” said Beary, who plans to follow a career in human rights and foreign policy.

While selection of the Technos award recipient is up to the discretion of the University, it is preferred that the student be connected by studies or activities to the international spirit of the award. Beary is no stranger to international travel, having spent time studying in South Africa, Switzerland and Guatemala.

After graduation, he will become a Rotary Ambassador Scholar at the Universidad Torcuato Di Tella in Argentina. An Illinois Wesleyan football player in the 2003-2004 season, Beary is a member of the honorary societies of Alpha Lambda Delta, Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Eta Sigma.

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New Spanish Class Encourages Community Interaction, Service

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – For Illinois Wesleyan University sophomore Danny Burke, the end of the semester will mean more than taking tests and heading home—he’ll have to say goodbye to Jorge, the third-grader he has mentored this spring as part of his coursework for Spanish 240: Spanish for Social Justice.

The course, offered for the first time this spring, is part of an effort by the Hispanic Studies department to “strengthen course offerings at the 200-level, as well as involvement in the community,” said Professor of Hispanic Studies Carolyn Nadeau. The 10 students in the class spend three hours each week using their Spanish language skills to serve the community in a variety of field projects.

Burke mentors for the Grade-school Achievement Program (GAP) at Bent Elementary School and helps at the Immigration Project at the Western Avenue Community Center. Other projects include State Farm’s PALS program (high-school tutoring) and working with families of pre-school children at Heartland Head Start.

Spanish 240 is comparable to the established 230 course, Medical Spanish and Cultural Competency for Healthcare, in which students learn the vocabulary to speak about medical issues and then apply their skills as volunteers in a local clinic. Instead of healthcare, the new course focuses on five other social justice issues: immigration, housing, education, employment and citizenship.

“This course is unique in that it offers students both theory in the classroom and practice in the community,” Nadeau said. “We are also serving as a model of possibilities for classroom collaboration with with IWU’s Action Resource Center.”

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Volunteering Highlights Study Abroad Experience for IWU Sophomore

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Lauren Booth, an Illinois Wesleyan University sophomore, is finding her study abroad program is about more than textbooks and tourist sites – it’s also about a hammer and nails. Booth is part of a new kind of study abroad opportunity allowing students to perform volunteer work in the developing nations where they study.

“I wanted to experience life in a developing country, and I knew there were volunteer options integrated into the program,” said Booth, a Hispanic studies major, who is currently studying in Santiago of the Dominican Republic.

Students in the program spend time with local residents. Booth, who arrived in the Dominican Republic in January of 2007, has been in the country for four months. During her time there, the Des Plaines, Ill., native has taught English to residents in Santiago, traveled to a rural village to build latrines with the Peace Corps, and helped at a local orphanage. “We painted furniture, cooked meals and played with the children,” said Booth of her time at the orphanage. “We also had a ‘salon day’ for the kids. It was an amazing experience.”

The goal of any study abroad program is to immerse students in the life and culture of a different country. In developing nations such as the Dominican Republic, that means seeing day-to-day struggles. “I learned first-hand the effects of extreme poverty,” said Booth. “I also learned about myself, and what I am capable of doing to help.”

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State Farm Provides Summer Internship Opportunity for Students

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Ten Illinois Wesleyan University students have been selected for the State Farm summer internship program, sponsored by the Action Research Center. The internship blends both for-profit and not-for-profit work to help students understand how both sectors work together to serve a shared community.

This year’s program participants, chosen on the basis of experience, skills, and interest in community work, are: Jack Bentley (junior political science major and philosophy minor from Downer’s Grove, Ill.), Chris Burrichter (junior political science major from Batavia, Ill.), Kyle Charles (political science major and sociology minor from Davenport, Iowa), Erin Cox (junior political science and Hispanic studies double major and art history minor from Rockford, Ill.), Josh Haraf (junior business administration-marketing major from Justice, Ill.), Diana Lopez (political science and philosophy double major from Aurora, Ill.), Emily Meade (sophomore business administration and music double major from Canton, Ill.), Katie Nelson (sophomore English-writing major and psychology minor from Mason City, Ill.), Jessica Olsen (junior English-literature and secondary education double major and German minor from Rockford, Ill.), and Jennifer Schnupp (junior psychology major and biology minor from Schaumburg, Ill.).

Interns will spend two days per week at a community partner organization such as Big Brothers Big Sisters, American Red Cross, and the Day Care Center of McLean County. The students will conduct program evaluations, devise return on investment models, assess community needs, participate in board development activities, and oversee resource management.

“The program is a valuable opportunity to serve the community and bring value to the students, university, partnership organizations and families they serve,” said Deborah Halperin at the Action Research Center.