Torch, Summer 2004

Senior Featured in USA TODAY W hen Ronald Reagan’s casket lay in state in Washington, D.C., Cedarville senior Ian Ellis spent hours waiting in line to pay his respects. “I should be able to do that for a man who changed the world,” he told Reporter Dennis Cauchon. Cauchon featured Ellis in the June 11, 2004, USA TODAY article “Young Republican Discovers His Idol in ‘Man Who Changed the World.’” Cauchon’s article revealed how the Martinsburg, W.Va., native has been greatly influenced by Reagan, even though Ellis wasn’t yet born when Reagan was first elected president. A political science major, Ellis is a member of the Cedarville University College Republicans and chair of the Ohio College Republican Federation. He plans to attend law school after graduation. To read Cauchon’s article, visit http://www.usatoday.com/news/washi ngton/2004-06-10-ellis- vignette_x.htm. Student EngineersWin ASMEHonors C edarville mechanical engineering students placed first and third in the Region V ASME Student Conference, held April 1-3 at The Ohio State University. Cedarville students have placed in the top five of Region V ASME for seven straight years. Graduating senior Anthony Gianettino finished third for his presentation of his senior design project. His project involved designing a device which can more accurately size a prosthetic hip implant before it is permanently inserted into a patient. Graduating senior Brian Montague finished first for his presentation describing his design of the boat hull which was fabricated for the Solar Splash® competition. Montague’s win earns him an all-expenses-paid trip to the International Congress of ASME, which will be held in Anaheim, Ca., in November 2004. Faculty and Staff Members of the Year Named A t the 2004 annual Honors Day ceremony, Cedarville University students named Dr. Timothy Dewhurst and Mark Button as Faculty and Staff Member of the Year, respectively. Their selection was based on their quality service and dedication to students. Dewhurst, professor of mechanical engineering, was named Faculty Member of the Year. A part of the Cedarville University family since 1996, he advises the Solar Splash® team in the design, construction, and racing of solar- powered boats. He has also found time to play on a student intramural soccer team. Dewhurst and his wife, Kim, are well-known for their New England day and Maine night celebrations in which they invite New England students to their home for traditional New England cuisine. Button, the house manager for the production services group, was named Staff Member of the Year. Button manages stage set-up and the production of chapel and special events while building friendships with students. He and his wife, Amy, have mentored engaged students in the Fit to Be Tied program, led two Cedarville University missions trips, served as class advisors, and assisted the Junior/Senior Banquet committees. Button has worked at Cedarville for seven years. Experiencing Homelessness C heetos and Kool-Aid … breakfast is served to 18 hungry students. Dr. Jeff Cook explains to them, “Mom ‘smoked up’ all the money and this is all that’s left.” The students don’t seem surprised. Disappointment is the only thing they can be sure of in the Homelessness Immersion Experience. At the start of each year’s “Intro to Urban Ministry” class at Cedarville University, Cook, an associate professor of Bible, takes his students to inner-city Springfield, Ohio, to dress, sleep, eat, and live as homeless people. The experience gives them insight into the struggles of the poor and how to best minister to them. The students begin with nothing but the thrift store clothes on their backs. They never know where their next meal is coming from, and they experience the humiliation and embarrassment of panhandling. Showers aren’t available. A fenced-in yard serves as their bed. They are scorned by society and chided for “not being thankful enough.” They even find themselves digging through dumpsters. The students also use the weekend as a ministry. They canvass the streets with a group that ministers to prostitutes. They learn about the Adopt-A-Block program and go house to house to “get a feel for what people’s lives are like and the pain that’s a mark of people who live in the city,” said Cook. At the end of the weekend, the students feed and minister to the homeless at Urban Light Ministries. “They get so engaged in ministry as they serve these folks that they don’t want to leave and go back to campus,” shared Cook. Some return to Urban Light as volunteers. “Their paradigm of ministry is changed,” explained Cook. “They will never be the same about how they think about the poor.” Matt Reno, a youth ministries major from Indianapolis, Ind., testified, “They say that to understand someone you have to walk a mile in their shoes. I walked only a few feet, and it totally opened my eyes to the ways I need to minister to the homeless.” The “Intro to Urban Ministry” class, which earned Cook a Faculty Innovator of the Year Award and a SOCHE Teaching Excellence Award, is now expanding to accommodate student interest. “God will use people who are willing to stretch themselves out of their comfort zones,” Cook said. “He is doing great things in the city and we want to ride the wave with Him.” Summer 2004 / TORCH 17