Inspire, Summer 2007

Summer 2007 Inspire WHAT’ S ABUZZ Students Choose Faculty and Staff Members of the Year Students recently selected faculty and staff members of the year. Teresa Cooper Clark ’75, associate professor of exercise and sport science, was the students’ choice for faculty member of the year. Student Academic Advisory Board president Stacey Henness ’07 explained, “She is a professor who teaches with passion and motivates students to learn.” Teresa has been on the Cedarville faculty since 1996 and is the former coach of the Cedarville University women’s volleyball team. Door hardware specialist Larry Reid was named staff member of the year. Caretaker of the 6,000 doors on campus, Larry is well known among students for his friendly spirit and sense of humor. Supervisors say that character is Larry’s defining quality. Larry, who came to Cedarville in 2000, has shown his genuine heart for people not only through his hard work, but also through his involvement in campus life, singing in chapel on several occasions. Nationally Ranked … Again In the last four years, the Cedarville University Debate Team has been advancing through the upper ranks of the National Parliamentary Debate Association, which boasts 350 top debate programs. This year’s team has continued the tradition of national prominence. The team finished the season in 11th place in the NPDA, improving on their previous rankings of 14th in 2006, 40th in 2005, and 72nd in 2004. The ranking follows another dynamic Cedarville debate season, which included three first-place wins and one second-place finish. Meanwhile, the Cedarville University Forensics Team traveled to Berry College in Rome, Georgia recently for the national speech tournament of the National Forensics Association. Nearly 75 teams from across the country competed in this five-day tournament. Cedarville’s team placed eighth in the President’s I Division and 20th overall. Karen Williams ’08 vied against 180 other students in the impromptu speaking category and took fifth in the nation. She is the second student in Cedarville’s history to advance to the finals at nationals. Track and Field Teams Perform at NCCAA Outdoor Championships The Cedarville University women’s track and field team won the NCCAA Outdoor Championships at Taylor University in May, while the men’s team came in a close second to Malone, finishing just one point behind. This marks the Lady Jackets’ eighth NCCAA title. At the outdoor championship, Courtney Reid ’08 was a double winner, taking the 100-meter hurdles for the second straight year with a time of 15.01 seconds. She also won the 400-meter hurdles in 1:02.04. Sarah Ensslen ’07 registered her third consecutive triple jump victory with a leap of 39’ 11.50”, while Elisabeth Pyles ’09 repeated as the 3,000-meter steeplechase champion in 11:08.94. The men had a trio of individual champions. Jason Scott ’07 won his second straight pole vault title by clearing 17’. Ben Michaud ’09 repeated as the shot put champion with a heave of 54’ 9.50”, while Kevin Kuhn ’09 was a repeat winner in the 3,000 meter steeplechase with a time of 9:32.77. Senior Honored as Social Work Student of the Year The National Association of Social Workers recently selected Melanie Beatty ’07 as Student of the Year for their Dayton chapter, an honor that reflects Melanie’s dedication to serving those around her. Melanie interned at Project Woman in the Dayton area, assisting victims of domestic abuse and working as a child advocate. She led Cedarville students in a project on North Korean refugees, which culminated in a presentation at the Ohio Association of Social Work Educators Conference. A large part of her time was also spent at her senior internship with Graceworks Lutheran Services, where she assisted with adoption placements. But the impact of Melanie’s service has not been limited to Ohio. She has participated in other social work projects in Chicago, New York City, and Calcutta, India. While Melanie does not yet know exactly what her future holds, she does hope to continue working with children and families, eventually going overseas to serve. She plans to pursue a master’s degree in social work in the near future. Saving at the Pump With gas prices on the rise, the pressure to find alternative fuels and improve fuel economy just keeps increasing. To encourage creative research on these issues, Shell held its Shell Eco-marathon Americas competition in April to see which engineering students could come up with the best “supermileage” on their self-designed and self-built vehicles. Ready for the challenge, 10 Cedarville engineering students and their advisor headed to California for the competition. The Cedarville students had designed and built three sleek cars, all made to run on high-octane fuel. Cedarville was the only school to enter three cars, and on their first runs, all three broke the Cedarville supermileage record set in 1995. In competition against schools such as California Polytechnic, Rose- Hulman, Purdue, and Penn State, Cedarville University’s best-placing car took fourth place, attaining 1,135.3 miles per gallon. To put this into perspective, the car could have driven to California on less than two gallons of gas! CU Business Students Win SIFE Regionals Taxes, cookies, and hotels. This unlikely combination helped Cedarville University’s Students in Free Enterprise chapter win the regional SIFE tournament in the spring. SIFE teams develop and carry out community service projects that cover real-world economic issues. At SIFE competitions, each team presents their projects to a panel of business leaders. Cedarville’s winning finish was based in part on their work to create and run an elementary school business program, aid a local hotel with business practices, and organize tax seminars for college students. The elementary school program, named “Ready, Sell, Dough,” helped fourth and fifth graders create a cookie company and learn how to finance and organize their business while manufacturing and marketing a product. The Hearthstone Inn in Cedarville was also a recipient of the SIFE team’s help. Five SIFE members worked with the owners in writing a training manual, job application, job descriptions, and procedures for the business. The SIFE team also partnered with CU’s Accounting Society to host Tax Days on March 24 and 25. Charles Hartman, associate professor of business law and accounting, led the seminars as a tax specialist. WHAT’ S ABUZZ