In this issue...

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New Year, New Website

ScHolarsThis fall a new Cutler Scholars website went

online. The old website was redesigned into a sleek and interactive portal that gives a window into the world of the Cutler Scholars.

The project has been in the works since January 2014 and was headed by Associate Director Kristine Daugherty. In March of the same year the program was able to start working with a local web design company to start reworking, retooling, and redesigning the site.

The new site is visually appealing, accessible from many different kinds of devices, and fi ts in with the OHIO brand standards.

“One of our main goals for the project was to communicate the unique aspects of our program in a more engaging way” said Daugherty on what she wanted the website redesign to accomplish.

Nominees that visit the new website will

Cutler Newsletter

now have more access to information about colloquium, enrichment experiences, and one- on-one advising, all of which are very important aspects of the program.

The new site also goes into more detail about the individual awards, providing prospective stu-dents better guidance about the program.

This new design will help visitors to the website better understand what the Cutler Scholars Program is and what it does.

Daugherty is looking forward to many aspectsof the new site, “I am very excited about thepages dedicated to the Cutler Scholar experience. I also love that our current Scholar pages include Scholar bios, and that our alumni’s academic information is available.”

Find us on Facebook at Ohio University’s Manasseh CutlerScholars Program

Find us on Instagram @cutlerscholars

Fall2014

by Alexis Zabor

Director’s Note 2•

3D Printer 3•

Summer Experiences

4-5,6

• First Year Retreat 10•

Alumni Update 8-9•

Alumni Reunion 7•

Instagram 11•

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We didn’t solve the problem of gun violence in our 1999 colloquia, and I don’t imagine that we’ll fi nd an easy solution this semester, either. Our last session will be a Skype conversation with author Dan Baum, and I have promised him that the Scholars would share their suggestions for diminishing gun violence. My personal hope is that thoughtful conversations such as ours will have an impact, and that my successor will not need to bring the topic back in 2029.

Dr. Herman “Butch” Hill Jr.Chief Powers didn’t reply immediately when I made my request. Probably stalling for time, he

repeated it: “You want someone to bring an assortment of fi rearms to your classroom?” It was only at that moment that I realized how much the climate at Ohio University (and at all of higher education) had changed in fi fteen years.

In fall 1999, right after Columbine, America’s gun culture was our colloquium topic. I knew that retired purchasing agent Mike Worley was a fi rearms instructor, so I just called him up and he came for a show–and–tell. It was a great session, and it really was no big deal to have several guns in Trisolini.

Now there are policies about fi rearms and Powers suggested that some OUPD lieutenants who were also fi rearms instructors visit our classroom. I eagerly accepted, and four of them showed up earlier this month, bringing so many guns that we had to bring in extra tables into the meeting room to hold them all. It was a veritable history of guns right there in front of us, from muzzle-loaders to AR-15s and beyond.

You will remember that the Trisolini basement conference room has many large windows, so the guns were not only in front of us, but also in front of the many students changing classes at the time! Many frowning faces watched us passing around those weapons, and I would be surprised if OUPD didn’t get alerted about a possible armed militia on campus.

Cutler Scholars now do blog posts before each colloquium; the themes of those posts are usually quite varied, but this time anxiety was a nearly universal theme. Some compared the idea of holding a gun to holding a poisonous snake. During colloquia though, most people seemed to get comfort-able with the fi rearms—some a little too comfortable for me. I could have done without those “selfi es” taken in gangster poses!

We came back to the subject of gun culture after 15 years for three reasons: the problem of gun violence has not been solved (in fact may have gotten worse); my discovery of Dan Baum’s even-handed book Gun Guys; and the development of 3D printers, raising the specter of the base-ment manufacture of unlicensed guns. I write this as we have just returned from a visit to Ohio University’s 3D printer lab, where Joe Jollick gave us a reassuring assessment of these printers’ capabilities.

“ Chief Powers didn’t reply immediately when I made my request. Probably stalling for time, he “ Chief Powers didn’t reply immediately when I made my request. Probably stalling for time, he repeated it: “You want someone to bring an assortment of fi rearms to your classroom?” It was only “ repeated it: “You want someone to bring an assortment of fi rearms to your classroom?” It was only

“

Baum, and I have promised him that the Scholars would share their suggestions for diminishing gun

“

Baum, and I have promised him that the Scholars would share their suggestions for diminishing gun violence. My personal hope is that thoughtful conversations such as ours will have an impact, and

“

violence. My personal hope is that thoughtful conversations such as ours will have an impact, and

DDirectorNote From the

3D Printing LabThis semester Cutler Scholars were

able to visit a new 3D printer housed at the Innovation Center at Ohio University. Scholars were given a tour of the lab and were able to see the printer in action. Additionally they were able to feel and interact with objects the printer had printed.

Summer Enrichment Experiences

Hannah ClouserCommunity Service

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Students travel abroad, as well as close to home, to experience new things

Dawasamu Secondary School Silana, Fiji IslandsWhat was the best part?“Interacting with the villagers every day, talking and learning their stories.”

What was the biggest lesson you learned? “I learned that happiness is not having an iPhone or a new pair of shoes. It’s being surrounded by people who love and care for you and appreciating life, even if you are sleeping on a floor with rats.”

Kara Frisina Internship

Danielle Levitt Inc. inNew York, New York

What was the most important thing you learned?“That sometimes entering a certain career is entering a completely different world.”

Why did you choose this company?“I chose Danielle Levitt because I really admired her work.”

What was the most eye-opening part of the trip?“The happiness of all of the people. The locals were always smiling and extremely welcoming. You don’t needmaterial things to be happy. These people are proof it comes from within.”

What was the most rewarding aspect of the trip?“Seeing the improvements in the kids I worked with one on one.”

How did your trip change you?“I became aware of all the unnecessary material goods I had in my life that I thought made me “happy.” I learned more about what it means to be happy and realized how lucky I am.”

What was the best part?“Living in New York for a short period of time.”

How was this expe-rience different from your previous one? “My previous experience was in rural Guatemala, photographing corn farmers with a non-profit. I absolutely loved it. I think that is what ruined me though. After taking portraits of those strong, proud farmers and their families who survive happily off of solittle, it is hard for me to take Head and Shoulder models dancing around a studio with balloons very seriously.”

Stocker-Cutler Scholar Konneker-Cutler Scholar

5

Outdoor Leadership Tanner Wick

Backpacking and whitewater canoeing in the Pisgah National Forest in Asheville, North CarolinaWhat is something you learned on the trip about yourself?“The value of conservation and the unnecessary waste people produce today.”

What was the most rewarding aspect of the trip?“The most rewarding aspect of the trip was the transformation of the students. We started out as strangers in an airport, and left the organization as a tightly unified group.”

How did Outward Bound change you?“Outward Bound gave me a great appreciation for the phrase “enjoy the little things”. Pudding for dinner was gold to us. By being in the wilderness and away from the business of the working world, there was time to relax and really get to know people.”

What was the most difficult part?“The most difficult part of the trip was when a member fell sick and the rest of us decided to distribute her gear to carry.”

What was the most eye-opening part of the internship?“The most eye-opening part was during a big Head and Shoulders photo shoot. There were all these glamorous NYC hotshots, retouchers, fancy equipment and I thought wow, this is not what I want to do.”

What was the most difficult/challenging part?“The most difficult part was keeping my mouth shut! There were a lot of ridiculous jobs I had to do; it was like The Devil Wears Prada sometimes”

Did your internship make you want to change your major or future career?“Absolutely. I realized that the standards for Commercial Photographers are not something that I am morally comfortable with. I also want to do more hands-on work in my future career.”

Russ Legacy-Cutler Scholar

Enrichment 2014 Outdoor Leadership: Tanner Wick Backpacking & Whitewater Canoeing, NCBrandon MahrColorado Rockies Mountaineering, CONate Arnett Northwest Sea Kayaking & Mountain Backpacking, WA Ryan Klein Southwest Rafting, UT Charlie Cobb Chesapeake Bay Sea Kayaking & Backpacking, MDTylisha Allen Appalachian Mountains Backpacking, NCOlivia Malmsten Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, MNMadison Carlson Alpine Rock Climbing, CAKayla Swann Boundary Waters Dog Sledding & Cross Country Skiing, MN

Olivia Malmsten Community ServiceSouth Lebanon Early Learning Center, Ohio

Because of privacy laws Olivia was unable to take photos with her students.

International:Kelsey Davis Center for Rehabilitation of the Paralyzed, Bangladesh, IndiaJennifer Robinson Universidade Federal do Rio de Janiero Research Assistant, Rio de Janiero, BrazilNicole Sova Universidade Federal do Rio de Janiero Research Assistant,Rio de Janiero, BrazilRob Hammer Mayab Program, Merida, MexicoMatt Reinke University of Surrey Research Assistant, Guilford, UKKalei EdenfieldJungle Conservation, Cusco, Peru

Internship:Kara Frisina Danielle Levitt Studios, NYKit John Highlights Corporation, OH

Service:Caden Brooker United Through Sport Sports Coach, Port Elizabeth, South AfricaHannah Clouser Dawasamu Secondary School Vol-unteer and Teacher, Dawasamu, FijiSophia Hendrix Teaching English, Rabat, MoroccoOlivia Malmsten South Lebanon Early Learning Center Preschool Teacher,OH Cheryl Mukosiku Botswana Harvard AIDS Institute, Gaborone, BotswanaChloe Music Preschool Teacher, Cusco, Peru Makenzie Olaker Women’s Empowerment, Jaipur, IndiaEmma Perrin Teaching English, Cartenga, ColumbiaTrevor Walsh Conservation Work and Teaching English, Cusco, PeruCaroline Wilson Turtle conservation, Costa Rica

Gibby-Cutler ScholarWhat was the most eye-opening part of the experience?“A few of my students spent time living in a homeless shelter. For me, this was the most eye-opening part. These children were facing extreme poverty at a very young age. For some, the lunch we provided them would be the only family style meal they would eat that day.”

What was the most rewarding aspect?“Seeing the children grow over the course of the summer. I watched them learn to share, learn to read, and learn to talk about their feelings.”

What was the most challenging part?“Knowing that some of the kids were going home to a less than ideal home environment.”

What was the biggest lesson you learned?“I learned that attention is one of the most important things you can give a child. They want to be loved and respected, just like any adult. It is crucial to their development that they have an adult in their lives who provides this.”

What was the best part?“After the students got to know me, they would watch for me every morning. When I pulled up to the center, they would run to me and give me hugs. It was the best part of every day.”

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Alumni Reunion 2014

7

Alumni Update

8

Elizabeth CockerillKonneker-Cutler Scholar ’05And Husband Chauncey Creachbaum welcomed baby Kaylin in April 2014.

Jonathan Ashton Stocker-Cutler Scholar ’05Married Ana Tindall in May 2014.

Carrie Chute TorrRiedel-Cutler Scholar ’06Started a three year fellowship in Neonatology at the University of Utah.

Lynzee TuckerJewell-Cutler Scholar ’14Started working at Fluke Networks in Everett, WA as a Solutions Development Representative.

Jalynn KeyserRiedel-Cutler Scholar ’14Started graduate school at West Virginia State University for a Masters in Science in Mathematics.

Jackson LavelleMcClure/Fuller-Cutler Scholar ’13Is attending Georgetown University Law Center.

Lauren LoftusRiedel-Cutler Scholar ’14Is attending Ohio State University for a PhD in Inorganic Chemistry.

Steven CarlsonDiagnostic Hybrids Inc.-Cutler Scholar ’08And wife Jamie welcomed baby Henry in October 2014.

Alumni Update

9

Alison LeonardHughes-Cutler Scholar ’13Is now working at Southern Ohio Medical Center as a nurse in the Surgical and Vascular Department.

Shalia MeekerRiedel-Cutler Scholar ’13Married Brandon Lias in June. Shaila also started working with Americorp’s Guiding Ohio Online program in Athens, Ohio.

Annette RatcliffEllis-Cutler Scholar ’06Is now a technology licensing analyst at Ohio State University.

Alex BillPattison-Cutler Scholar ’13Started graduate school at the University of South Carolina for a Masters in Human Resources.

Emily GrannisGrasselli Brown-Cutler Scholar ’10Is now an associate at Squires Patton Boggs in Cleveland, Ohio.

Michael TaylorKonneker-Cutler Scholar ’05And wife Delana welcomed son Gideon in summer 2014.

Matt HunklerRiedel-Cutler Scholar ’05And wife Laurie welcomed baby Olivia in June 2014.

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For the Class of 2018 the first-year retreat was full of fun and fufillment. The Scholars were able to get to know one another, zip line, work on their leadership skills, and learn more about the Cutler Scholars program.

“The Retreat is a fantastic way to meet fellow incoming freshmen Scholars and some of the upperclassmen Scholars.”

“I enjoyed the conversation overall and really feel as if it expanded our minds and forced us to think outside the box.”

First-Year Retreat

My name is Alexis Zabor and this fall I started as the new Communication Assis-tant for the Cutler Scholars program. I am currently a freshman and starting this upcoming semester I will be majoring in graphic design. I could not have asked for a

better place to spend some of my precious time here at Ohio University than at the Trisolini House. It is a won-derful thing to come into work and be surrounded by the wonderful staff and students of the Cutler Scholar Pro-gram.I am so happy to be work-

ing here and to see what the future holds!I would love to hear what

you think about the newslet-ter so please don’t hesitate to contact me with comments, questions, or suggestions. My email is az393513@ohio.edu

Hello! Cutler Scholars Instagram

Make sure to follow us on Instagram @cutlerscholars

Scholars “take over” the Cutler Scholars Instagram. Here are a couple of highlights from the fall semester take overs:

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Make sure to follow us on

www.ohio.edu/cutlerManasseh Cutler Scholars Program

201 Trisolini HouseAthens, OH 45701

740-593-4266

Dr. Herman “Butch” Hill Jr., Director hill@ohio.edu

Kristine Daugherty,Associate Directorhoke@ohio.edu

Dr. Charles Ping,Director Emeritus ping@ohio.edu

Alexis Zabor, Communication Assistant az393513@ohio.edu

Sharon Romina,Administrative Services Associate romina@ohio.edu