Along the Esplanade | Spring 2015
Hanging Out
Photo by Bob Christy '95
Kent State police dog Coco and her partner, Officer Anne Spahr, recently participated in a specialized training exercise at the climbing wall in Kent State’s Student Recreation and Wellness Center, along with K-9 dogs from around the state—including Kent State’s other police dog, Dexter, and his handler, Officer Miguel Witt.
The dogs were practicing in case they ever need to be flown by helicopter to an incident as part of a statewide response to a bomb threat. “It’s unlikely but possible, so we have to get the dogs ready,” says Spahr. “In addition, it builds trust and bonding between the dog and its handler. Coco did very well; she’s a confident dog.”
On a normal day, Coco—a three-year-old German Shepherd—is on patrol with Spahr around Kent State, and they’re on call in case she’s needed anywhere in the state to sniff out explosives, search for evidence or track a missing person. It’s an active life, and Coco thrives on doing her job.
“She doesn’t enjoy her time off quite as much as I do,” laughs Spahr. “I usually have to take her out several times a day to play because she’s very energetic and high drive. These K-9 dogs don’t make good house pets because they bore easily and are always on the go. Coco loves to play ball; she’s absolutely ball obsessed. And she harasses our pet German shepherd, who likes to chill by the fire and sleep in. He’s trying to teach her to relax, but she’s not picking it up!”
Campus Quote
Photo by Jeff Gliden '87
"Jim Crow may be dead, but racism is alive and well. That’s a central fact of life for every nonwhite American, including the president of the United States. It eclipses income, position, education—race trumps them all. So we have work to do, none of it easy, but we never wished our way to freedom. Instead we’ve always worked our way."
Julian Bond, civil rights leader, “Crossing the Color Line,” keynote address at Kent State’s 13th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration, January 22, 2014
Hat Tip
Photo by Bob Christy '95
What do Willy Wonka, Fred Astaire and Mr. Peanut have in common? They all wear top hats—and they all were represented in a recent exhibit, What’s Real? Investigating Multimodality, which was created, designed and installed by a group of 40 students from the School of Visual Communication Design and the School of Library and Information Science in spring 2014.
Installed in the MuseLab, a 20-by-20-foot space on the third floor of the University Library where museum studies students can get hands-on experience, the collaborative exhibit focused on using four modes of interaction—sound, movement, touch and text—to explore the topic of a top hat.
Why a top hat? “It’s just one example of how an ordinary object can take on multiple new meanings when displayed in a museum context,” says Kiersten Latham, Ph.D., assistant professor at the School of Library and Information Science and curator of the MuseLab. “A top hat is more complex than you’d think!”
The exhibit ran from May to December; a new MuseLab exhibit, created by nine graduate students in a spring semester museum studies course, opens April 15. It’s related to The Big Read, a program of the National Endowment for the Arts that supports community reading programs and is based on characters in the novel Old School by Tobias Wolff.
Old School
Photo by Bob Christy '95
Kent State College diploma, 1934, Blue flocked cover, 8 x 10 in.
When integrated social studies major Elijah Baker ’16 tweeted a photo of his great-grandmother’s 1934 diploma from Kent State College, we asked for a closer look.
“I had no idea any of my relatives had gone to Kent State,” says Baker, whose grandmother recently found the diploma and gave it to him. “I learned my great-grandmother was a teacher, and I’m training to be one. What stands out to me, though, are the signatures.”
The diploma is signed by J.O. Engleman, the third president of Kent State College (1928 to 1938) and Engleman Hall’s namesake, and C.W. Seiberling, president of the board of trustees and vice president of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, which he founded with his brother F.A. Seiberling in 1898. The company made Akron the “Rubber Capital of the World” and financed F.A.’s family estate, Stan Hywet Hall, Akron’s first and largest National Historic Landmark.
As for his piece of history, Baker plans to keep it. “When I get my diploma, I’ll put it next to this one,” he says. “That would be cool.”
Birds-Eye View
Photo by Jeff Gliden '87
Students living in the recently renovated Tri-Towers residence hall complex are enjoying the new Sky Lounges on the entire 10th floors of both Koonce and Wright halls, as well as the 12th floor lounge in Leebrick Hall. “We created space for students to engage in group activities or just hang out,” says Jill Church, Kent State’s director of residence services. “I think the renovations make it feel more like a place for students to call home.”
Morgan LaRue, a sophomore psychology major living in Wright Hall, uses the lounge to be with her peers while studying or taking a break. “There is a complete sense of community up there,” LaRue says. “It’s so serene.”
In addition, all three halls (originally built in 1968) now have new roofs, windows, carpet and paint, as well as new metal paneling on the exterior of the buildings. “This should give them at least another 20 years of good use,” Church says.
Construction on the halls was completed during the summers of 2013 and 2014. This summer the Rotunda, which connects the halls and contains dining and student activities, will undergo exterior repairs and receive a new roof.
Green Energy
Kent State University's Field House 463-kilowatt solar array is made up of 1,716 solar panels and covers about 1 acre of the roof. It generated 1,061,042 kWh of electricity between July 2012 and September 2014. That equals the electricity use of about 88 homes for 1 year, equivalent to avoiding carbon dioxide emissions of 785,867 pounds of coal burned.
U.S. EPA Greenhouse Gas Emissions Calculator
In CHAARG!
Photo by Melissa Olson
Madison Jordan ’16 (Columbus, Ohio), a nutrition major and fitness enthusiast, introduces the energetic new organization she’s in charge of at Kent State:
What it is: CHAARG (Changing Health, Attitudes and Actions to Recreate Girls) is a health and fitness organization for college-age girls, but it’s also a huge supportive community. It started at Ohio State University in 2012 and now has about 2,500 members at 18 universities, including a virtual chapter.
How I got involved: I heard about it from friends at other universities and through social media. I saw how fun it was, so when they advertised for five new ambassadors, I applied and was chosen to open a chapter at Kent State this fall. I went through training in the summer, and before school even started, my exec team and I had recruited over 100 members—and now we’re up to almost 300. We’re growing fast.
Who it’s for: It’s for any college girl, no matter her size, shape or fitness level. We want to empower every CHAARG girl to become her happiest, healthiest self.
What we do: We have two sessions of workouts every Monday night from
8 to 10 p.m., and small groups meet for an hour once a week. Our motto is “to liberate girls from the elliptical” and show them fitness can be fun. We partner with volunteer instructors from local studios to expose members to a whole range of exercises. So far, we’ve done Zumba, CrossFit, self-defense karate, muscle conditioning and Bokwa, a cardio dance workout.
How it helps: The other weekend when I woke up I wasn’t in the mood for a workout. But I went on Instagram, I saw photos of other CHAARG girls running—and then I ran five miles. This community is really motivating!