The Black & Magenta Blog

NEW CONCORD — Undergraduate classes scheduled to meet at 3:00 PM or later today are cancelled due to hazardous weather conditions, according to an email sent out to students and faculty.

Students should consult faculty for information about plans for coverage of assignments missed due to the cancellation, according to the message from Dr. Paul Reichardt, vice president for academic affairs.

The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning through 6 p.m. Saturday for Coshocton, Guernsey and Muskingum counties, according to WBNS 10TV.

Snow is expected to continue falling Friday night, Live Doppler 10 chief meteorologist Chris Bradley said. Snow will be heavy at times with a low dropping to 27, and snow will continue into the morning with 5-8 inches of total accumulation expected.

Due to a “major power outage on several parts of campus,” evening classes at Muskingum University for tonight, Monday, Nov. 23, are canceled.

The cancellation was announced by Muskingum University President Anne C. Steele in an email to students. at around 6:15 p.m. today.

Check back on bandmonline.com and our Twitter and Facebook sites for further cancellation updates.

Students often joke that they never want to leave college. Construction of a columbarium, underway on campus might provide the opportunity for former students, faculty and staff to fulfill those wishes.

The columbarium, being built on the hillside below the Library, offers a memorial wall with niches in which to inter the ashes of those who have opted for cremation. Use of the columbarium will generally be reserved for alumni, full-time degree-seeking students, faculty and staff, trustees, and retirees.

“The Muskingum campus is a place that many alumni call ‘home,’” explained Carson Walburn, vice president for institutional advancement at Muskingum. “The Muskingum University Columbarium provides a final resting place for those alumni.”

The word “columbarium” comes from the Latin word, “columbary,” the dwelling place of a dove, which Christians believe is the symbol of the Holy Spirit.

The structure is being built of sandstone, granite, and brick and features a wall, about five feet high, composed of individual niches that can accommodate up to two urns. Each niche will be engraved with the individuals’ names. The area around the columbarium will offer space for reflection and meditation.

In addition to Muskingum, a handful of universities and colleges have followed the practice of churches in offering columbaria. The University of Richmond, University of Virginia, The Citadel, Notre Dame University, Hendrix College, Centre College, and Chapman University have built columbaria.

A niche at Muskingum can be purchased at any time. The current purchase price of a full niche is $4,000 and a partial niche is $2,000. Muskingum University owns the property and assumes the responsibility of perpetual care for the columbarium. For more information, contact Muskingum’s Office of Institutional Advancement at 740-826-8130.

A Muskingum sophomore and Geology professor have been invited to travel to Oregon over fall break to present their work at the Geological Society of America’s (GSA) annual meeting in Portland.

Elizabeth M. Bullard, a geology major from Chardon, Ohio, and Assistant Professor of Geology Dr. David Rodland will present “Shell Size and Sclerobiont Colonization: Area Effects on Encrustation and Boring Frequency, Abundance, Diversity and Recruitment in Hard-Substrate Communities.”

Schlerobionts are organisms that colonize the skeletl remains of other creatures, and the study focuses on what can be learned from this activity in various environments, according to a university press release.

A memorial service for Dr. Schlacks will be held at the New Concord United Methodist Church, 20 East High St., New Concord at 11 a.m. Wednesday, according to an obituary in Monday’s Times Recorder. The Reverend Steve Sullivan will officiate. Burial will be in New Concord Cemetery.

Muskingum commuters are being asked not to park in the church parking lot Wednesday.

Dr. William Schlacks, professor of music and chair of the music department, passed away this morning. Thoughts and condolences can be left in the comments section below. Look for more information on the life and legacy of Dr. Schlacks in the first, Fall 2009 edition of the B&M.

Muskingum President Dr. Anne C. Steele sent the following to students today:

To: Muskingum University students
Fm: Anne C. Steele

With profound sadness and deepest grief, I am writing to let you know that Dr. William Schlacks, The Ruth Dorsey Neptune Distinguished Professor of Music, passed away this morning. Dr. Schlacks inspired us all. He was a truly gifted educator and renowned musician. Please keep his wife Mary, daughters Erin and Samantha, and the entire Schlacks’ family in your prayers.

Our Chaplain, Rev. Will Mullins and our University Counselor, Ms. Tracy Bugglin, will be available in the Chapel and in the Top of the Center this afternoon. Please know that all of  our faculty and staff are here to help you in any way they can.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sent the popular cereal producer General Mills a thinly-veiled warning earlier this week. The reason? Under President Obama’s administration, claiming a cereal, such as Cheerios, may drop a person’s cholesterol by ten percent or more qualifies it as a “drug”.

The FDA argues that unless General Mills “properly” markets Cheerios as a medicinal product, all Cheerios products shall have to be seized by the FDA. In addition, General Mills is ordered to submit samples for proper testing.

I wish I was making this up. Despite General Mills producing Cheerios since 1941, President Obama’s administration is the first to, in my opinion, waste time on such matters, and then follow it up by threatening to seize the cereal completely. What shall they do then, I wonder? Eat it in their offices and mock the public for their naievte? Hold public “Cheerio burnings” to destroy the so-called “threat” once and for all?

Perhaps I am overreacting, but an emphasis on such a trivial matter, when there are other, much more pressing matters at hand are the definiton of “asinine”.

Recently I received news of the death of Amy Adams, a junior here at Muskingum. Though I never knew her very well, my interactions with her, albeit limited, were nonetheless memorable.

Every Sunday when I would walk into the Kelly Coffeehouse for Mass, she would always be there with a smile on her face, ready and willing to help out in any capacity. I myself simply wanted to get through the service so I could back to dorm room and goof around before starting on my homework much later in the evening. Despite my grumblings, I never saw her once complain, gripe, or beg for more than any had ever given. Instead, she sang along with the psalms, and offered her services for any sort of need in our small congregation with her steadfast piety and humility.

To Amy’s family, I would just like to say Amy was an amazing person, and easily a role model for anyone, Christian or otherwise. She certainly inspired me to give more and be more than any inspirational speaker or story ever had. You will be in my thoughts and prayers and I wish you well these next few months. Having had lost a much younger brother six years ago, I know from experience just how hard the first few months may be.

To Amy’s friends, I offer my time and a sympathetic ear should they ever desire it. My e-mail is listed on the directory, and my Facebook account is open to any and all.

R.I.P. Amy Adams. You will be missed.

I’ve started a new blog focusing on new media: The Next Journalism. Take a look at my latest posts about Facebook journalism, virtual journalism, New Concord Gifts, and paper sentimentality.  I’d love to have you join in the conversation!

As Josh talked about in a previous post, I’ve recently started an app on Facebook called New Concord Gifts. I started it as an experiment, just to see what would happen. For a number of years, I’ve been keeping a photo blog called the New Concord Journal, but I wanted to try something more interactive. New Concord Gifts is similar in spirit to my blog, since it publishes photos of local people, events, and places, but the difference is that with NC Gifts people can interact with the photos, send them to friends, comment on them, etc. The app has taken off in a kind of viral way, with over 700 users in less than a week, and thousands of photos sent so far.

I’m especially interested in this app as a kind a journalism. It lets people tell stories and interact with each other and with their community, and those activities are at the heart of the best journalism. It might be just for fun now, but New Concord Gifts could be a model for a new kind of interactive journalism. We’re in a new era in journalism, and it’s a time to re-think and re-shape our profession. I’d love to start a conversation on new models of journalism with anyone who’s interested!