Names Make News
Friday, May 09, 2008
Area students named to dean's lists at colleges
Brian Allison of Oxford has been named to the Berklee College of Music dean's list for achieving a GPA of 3.4 or above during the 2007 fall semester. Allison is a senior majoring in music production and engineering. He is a 2004 graduate of Talawanda High School and is the son of Chris and Debra Allison of Oxford.
Extras
Michael Weisman, Lori Biggs and Marissa Page, all of Oxford; and Jessica Ziepfel of Somerville have been named to the Ohio University dean's list during winter 2008.
Oxford student earns degree
at Bowling Green
Monica Alice Hershberger of Oxford graduated magna cum laude from Bowling Green State University during the school's spring graduation ceremonies held May 2 and 3.
Hershberger earned a bachelor of music degree in a class of approximately 2,300 graduates representing 75 of Ohio University's 88 counties, 41 states and 25 nations.
Researcher says FDR did not hide disability of polio
James Tobin, a Miami University associate professor of journalism, has been awarded a 2008-09 fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities to pursue research about Franklin D. Roosevelt and the experience of disability. He will spend fall semester 2008 writing a book for general readership.
Roosevelt, known to have been paralyzed from polio, has been remembered incorrectly as hiding his disability, according to Tobin. In his NEH application, Tobin, a historian, cites the example of columnist Charles Krauthammer, himself a polio survivor, during the 1990s debate over the design of the Roosevelt memorial in Washington, D.C. Krauthammer had asserted that FDR "relentlessly, obsessively hid his condition from the American people (and in the age of radio could get away with it)."
"Statements like this — flat wrong — confirmed my suspicion that our collective memory of Roosevelt as a disabled man has fallen prey not only to the errors of historians but to the cynicism of our era," Tobin wrote.
Women of Color awards presented during March
Jean Dockery (nursing emerita) and Karen White (former assistant to the president for event planning) were honored with the Jennie Elder Suel Distinguished Woman of Color Award at the annual Women of Color Celebration held March 5. Samantha "Sami" Schalk, a senior women's studies and English/creative writing major, received the Myrtis H. Powell Scholarship.
Dockery has focused on care for others in both her professional and her personal life. She volunteers at the Oxford Senior Center and has worked with the city of Oxford Planning Commission to help ensure services to senior citizens.
White, who served at Miami from 1988 through March 2008, was president of the board of directors of YWCA of Butler County, and helped to "remove barriers in the organizational culture" to move the organization forward in both areas of its mission — eliminating racism and empowering women — according to her nomination letters. Her "warmth, wisdom, skill, persistence and personal courage have made a major difference in the lives of those whom she touches."
The Woman of Color award recognizes spirited women of color, particularly those who have been warm and welcoming to others, and their efforts in furthering others above and beyond their official job responsibilities.
Schalk, from Southgate, Ky., is a Benjamin Harrison Scholar, a women's center ambassador and a diversity affairs council member at Miami. She has worked in the greater Cincinnati area with the Women Writing for Change community, helping high school girls develop their leadership skills and eventually lead their own writing circles. The Myrtis H. Powell Scholarship is awarded to any full-time Miami University student who has demonstrated leadership in creating an inclusive campus climate and has evidence of involvement in community activities.
The women's center also awarded scholarships this year to Jamie Viars, senior women's studies, sociology and criminology major, and Adeline Kikam, senior political science major.
